OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Supreme Courthas rejected the ‘demand’ of formerprime minister Raja Pervez Ashraffor setting up a commission toinvestigate the issue of RPP case.A three-member bench headed by

Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry Wednesday, whilereviewing the letter written by formerPM, strongly criticized the act, saying:“The letter written in the capacity of aPrime Minister, Raja Pervez Ashrafhad tried to influence the HighestCourt of Pakistan, and this was notthe normal court procedures.Raja Pervez Ashraf advocate

Waseem Sajjad prayed that Raja hadnot sent the letter to the Court,directly, but through the registrar. The CJ called for the letter and

displaying it in court said “Incapacity of prime minister, RajaPervez Ashraf should not havewritten this letter. we areadmonishing him (rather) in thesoftest of manner”.“This letter has been penned on

Prime Minister’s letter pad, and alsocontains the seal of PM secretariat”, theCJ said, adding: “This gives theimpression that notice has only beentaken over this (VVIP) letter, while thepoor and the ordinary have no access tosuch exclusive legal privileges”. “Courtgets more than 500 letters daily, butnever has been there such kind ofletter,(demanding VVIP hearingprocedures) ”, the CJP regretted. JusticeGulzar Ahmad said the PM had all the

resources available at his disposal, andhe should have directed his requestthrough some lawyer, but “writing sucha demanding letter, after being no morea PM, is definitely inappropriate”. TheCJ said NAB had indicted Raja PervezAshraf among 22 culprits, and hadrequested due action; upon which theprosecutor general prayed that thisissue should be forwarded to federalombudsman: to which the CJacquiesced. The CJ said “being PMdoes not gives one liberty to addresscourt(s) directly through letters”,adding that after PM had acceptedthe court verdict and any appeals hadexpired after being withdrawn, thecourt could review the case, anew.Prosecutor general NAB, K.K. Aghainformed the apex court thatalthough he did not approve thecontents of letter, but if the courthanded over the investigations toanother person or organization, NABwould have no objections.The CJP remarked that “ if

investigations are to be carried outthrough others, than what wouldNAB do about another of its cases?”An aghast CJP wanted to know as to“(then) what is NAB for?” He advisedWaseem Sajjad that a chance wasbeing provided to hold immediateconsensus with “your client Raja”about withdrawing or notwithdrawing this letter, lest “ theCourt be forced to take notice of itscontents and pass its judgment”. Thenext hearing of the appeal to form anexclusive commission for hearing theRPP case would be held Thursday.

tHUrsday March 28, 2013 Jamadi-ul-awwal 15, 1434 I rawalpindi/Islamabad I Vol, V, No. 343 I www.thespokesman.pk Pages 12 I Price 10/-

TTOODDAAYY’’SS WWEEAATTHHEERR

a shower orthunderstorm

HIGH: 30 loW: 14

PG I 07

SELFSABOTAGE– TAHIR MALIK

PG I 06

THE IMPORTANCEOF GWADAR– FAKHAR KAKAKHEL

CMyK

HAMAYUN DITCHESTHE LIKE-MINDED – KASHMALA TOO

PG I 03

SNEAK PEEKCapital Police refuses toacknowledge abductions

Though the number ofkidnapping cases in thefederal capital is rising bythe day, the Capital Policeinstead of preventingsuch cases insist the

“abductions are not actually abductions”.During the last two months, 13 girls havebeen kidnapped from the capital territoryand in last 20 days alone the CapitalPolice has registered 10 abduction casesbut they seem not interested in resolvingthese cases.

Page 02

PMl-N to keep applicantsguessing until april 18th

With the ElectionCommission of Pakistangoing to strictly followthe provisions of Articles62 and 63 of theconstitution for scrutiny

of the candidates, the PML-N has decidedto hold formal award of party tickets tothe candidates till the applicants get aclean chit from the concerning returningoOcers and final list of the candidates ispublished on April 18th so as to avertdilemma in case a ticket holder isdisqualified.

Page 04

a daredevil from Malakandwith multiple talents

Qari Nadim Khan, 26,from Thana town ofMalakand Agency, is ablind person but withmultiple talents. Being askilled electrician, he

runs a small workshop in his street wherehe fixes electronic appliances. He alsoteaches the Holy Quran to around sixtychildren in the nearby mosque.

Page 05

NesPaK Md in hot waterafter apex court notice

Accepting the petition tobe made a party to theCMA by formermanaging director AsadI. A. Khan as challengingthe appointment of

sitting managing director NESPAK, ApexCourt on Wednesday issued notices toministry of water and power,establishment division and the MD toappear before court today.

Page 09

atif aslam gettingmarried today

Atif Aslam, one of the mostrenowned pop singers ofPakistan has finallydecided to tie the knot withhis long-time girlfriendSara Bharwana. According

to sources, the Nikah ceremony has alreadytaken place whereas his wedding receptionand Valima will take place on the 28th and29th of March respectively at Royal PalmClub.

Page 10

Veteran Haas ends djokovicdominance in Miami Masters

Two-time defendingchampion NovakDjokovic crashed out inthe fourth round of theMiami Masters Tuesdaywhile last year's runner-

up Andy Murray eased through to thequarterfinals in straight sets.

Page 11

PPP struggles, Sharifs stick to old guard in PunjabMOHAMMED RIZWAN

LLAAHHOORREE:: Though the final line-up of all threemajor political players – PML-N, PPP and PTI– will be announced not before Thursdayevening – the early ticket-awarding trends showthat challengers PML-N is sticking with the oldguard while PPP that rode to power onsympathy wave crest in 2008 is finding it hardto bag enough electables in Punjab.In PML-N the main thrust of election strategy

seems to go along with ‘tried and tested’ and itreflects in ticket trends trickling out of ModelTown where the interviews and awards arebeing held under tight secrecy. To secureLahore, the party’s parliamentary board hasinvested a great deal of time and energy,dropping oP seven incumbents due to whatparty insiders are calling ‘unsatisfactoryperformance reports’. Barring a last-minute

pull-oP, PML-N board has dropped six MNAsfrom the 11 constituencies that it won in 2008elections.This is the biggest number of drop-outs in a single district for the PML-N.Mohammad Riaz, Bilal Yasin, Mian Marghoob,Pervez Malik, Rohail Asghar, Umer Sohail ZiaButt and Naseer Bhutta are unlikely to makethe cut due to multiple factors.In other districts especially party’s spine – the

GT Road – PML-N stuck to the veterans andawarded tickets to mostly incumbents. Theparty’s parliamentary board is headed byShahbaz Sharif with Ch Nisar and Khwaja Asifits members and the tickets are being awardedon division by division and constituency byconstituency basis. Three factors, so far, haveemerged as most important in PML-N decisionmaking - loyalty to party, association withNawaz and Shahbaz Sharif and opinion ofdistrict organization in this order. The single

most important that played a big hand indeciding the tickets has been, though,electability of the candidate and his power tospend the money. If this factor was absent, allthree were not worth a dime for the candidate.The new entrants like Legharis, Bosans,

Raisanis proved to be biggest headache so far inthe ticket-awarding decisions. Compared to2008 elections, the new entries were stronglyresisted by the district big-wigs. That is whyLegharis of DG Khan feel stranded at theplatform as they have all but ended theirassociation with the previous party while PML-N is not guaranteeing them the ticket. RajaSafdar of Jhelum, Nauraiz Shakoor of Sahiwal,Saif Khosa of DG Khan and many others fall inthis category. They have packed their bags butdon’t know where to go.For PPP, the challenge is to find the suitable

candidate. But there are not many available.

Most of the party’s top slot in the absence ofinterest from the top brass feel abandonedand orphaned. Voters are hostile due toabsolutely dismal performance in the last fiveyears while the Bhutto clan does not look thatinterested in reviving and uplifting the party.So most of those who have applied for thetickets, do not have a party to go, especially inPunjab. PML-N already has erected ‘housefull’ notice while Kaptan has on more thanone occasion vowed not to collect ‘lotas’ fromPPP and PML-N.For PTI, in absence of electables and a burden

of incumbency, the ride looks fun. They havepromises to make and Khan’s face and cleantrack record to show. The party is heavilybanking on the 70-like wave that propelledBhutto to power. If that wave hits, there will be ahuge windfall for the entire party and if it doesn’tthere won’t be much to lose anyway.

SAEED MINHAS

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: American have begunanother shuttle diplomacy to calmdown rising temperatures betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan over theissue of talks with Taliban as Afghanshave accused ISI of undermining thepeace talks during their recentexchanges with Americans.US Secretary of State John Kerry was

on a surprise visit to Kabul but onlyafter meeting COAS General Kayani inJordan to highlight the importance of

peace talks and stressing upon the needfor continued and sincere ePorts ofPakistan in this regard.As Kerry returned home, one his

deputies and Acting US SpecialRepresentative for Af-Pak, David D.Pearce arrived in Pakistan. His purposehas been to convey the feelings ofAfghan government besides ensuringthat no hostilities should break out at atime when Pakistan is undergoing atense and maiden political transition,informed the oOcials at Foreign OOce.Pearce visited Foreign Secretary Jalil

Abbas Jilani besides meeting with theANP and PML-Q senators AfrasiabKhattak and Mushahid Hussain. TheUS Embassy in Islamabad confirmed bysaying that Ambassador Pearce arrivedfrom Kabul, where he had participatedin the oOcial visit to Afghanistan of USSecretary of State John Kerry. Theembassy note reads that AmbassadorPearce noted the importance ofPakistan’s support for the Afghanreconciliation process, includingthrough the US-Afghanistan-PakistanCore Group. He said the US wanted to

continue this coordination in support ofpeace in Afghanistan as well as a securestable, and prosperous region.Ambassador Pearce congratulated

Pakistan on its upcoming electionssaying, “The US looks forward to freeand fair elections that will result in thefirst civilian democratic transition inPakistan’s history. This is truly anhistoric moment for Pakistan.”AAggeenncciieerrss aadddd:: Afghanistan is

shocked by “Pakistan’s complacency”in the nascent Afghan peace processand is ready to work without

Islamabad’s help on reconciliation,Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludinsaid in an interview. Regional powerPakistan is seen as critical tostabilising Afghanistan because of itslong ties to insurgent groups. Ludinalso said the government would lookto senior Taliban prisoners recentlyhanded over by the US in Bagramprison to urge militants to pursuepeace. He did not elaborate. ButLudin, who is widely believed to shapeforeign policy, said in an interviewthat Afghanistan had noted a shift in

Pakistan’s position towards peaceePorts that are gaining more urgencyas foreign forces prepare to leave bythe end of 2014. Afghanistan alsocancelled a military trip to Pakistandue to what the foreign ministry called“unacceptable Pakistani shelling” ofthe country’s mountainous easternborderlands. The Afghan foreignministry claimed more than twodozen Pakistani artillery shells werefired into its eastern province of Kunaron March 25 and 26.

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mahmud administering oath to Najam Aziz Sethi as Caretaker Chief Minister ofPunjab at Governor’s House. –ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: Senior journalistNajam Sethi took oath ascaretaker Punjab chiefminister Wednesday. The oath was administered

by Punjab GovernorMakhdoom AhmedMehmood at the Governor’sHouse. Speaking to reportersafter taking oath, Sethi saidthe interim setup would beapolitical, and that politicalappointments would not bemade during the tenure ofthe caretaker government.“There is no political

agenda of this interimadministration. Thecaretaker government’s job isto ensure support for free andfair elections,” said Sethi. “Noconcessions will be made forthose who break law andorder. Corruption would notbe tolerated at any cost.”Saying that he was not

willing to give any favours,Sethi said he was “nobody’sfriend or relative” as long ashe was caretaker CM. Hesaid he was looking forwardto a cabinet of roughly notmore than “two or three”members, though he hadbeen recommended to keep8-10 people in the cabinet.

Af-Pak chief arrives to lower the temperature� Kabul snubs Pakistan, wants to go solo on reconciliation � Cancels military trip over ‘unacceptable Pak shelling’

Commanders okayallout support to EC

‘Nobody’s friend or relative’

New setup tobe apolitical,says Najam

� Review Afghan peace process, talks with US

PM’s letter to court called inappropriate

No commissionon RPPs: SC

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Believing that foreignfunded terrorist outfits are out tosabotage the current elections inPakistan, an especially convenedmeeting of the Corps CommandersWednesday resolved to fully supportthe Election Commission of Pakistanand caretaker government inproviding security to most sensitivepolling stations during the upcomingelections.The meeting , chaired by Chief of

Army Staff General Ashfaque ParvezKayani at the General Headquarters(GHQ), also reviewed the latestthreats being posed by Afghansupported Tehrik-e-Taliban Splinters,commonly termed as TTS by Pakistanisecurity officials and recent talksbetween Gen Kiyani and US secretaryof State John Kerry.Sources confirmed that the meeting

discussed country’s internal andexternal security situation as well asprofessional matters relating to thearmed forces. In first such meetingconvened after the installation of acaretaker setup, corps commanders alsodiscussed the request sent by ECP andbacked up by the caretaker premierduring his recent meeting the COAS onTuesday morning.

The commanders also expressedsatisfaction that Taliban’s ability to actat will and to face security forces openlyhas been substantially curtailed.Security analyst believe that internalrifts within the main Pakistani Talibangroup has led to the creation of manysplinter groups. They agree that since TTS has been

received severe blows at the hands ofPakistan Army thus it has becomeoperationally very weak. Their defeatand inability to face the militaryoperation has now led them to resort tosuicide bombings and improvisedexplosive device (IED) attacks on law-enforcement agencies and otherofficials, added the sources. In such a suicide attack Pakistan army

had lost 17 of its soldiers in NorthWaziristan on 23 of this month.Statements and accusations of

Afghan government in this regard,which has surfaced in internationalmedia were also considered by themilitary leadership to assess the latestlevel of threats.A counter strategy was devised for

TTS during this meeting, informed thesources adding that assurances weresecured to ensure not only peacefulelections but to continue the sustainedeffort against militants throughout thetroubled regions.

� Says Raja’s letter amounts to influencingcourt � Calls for withdrawal of letter

� UN urges talibanto join peace process –Page 8

related story

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Even after the lapse of three days,water supply from Khanpur Dam to the twincities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi could not berestored due to nonpayment of dues by CapitalDevelopment Authority to Islamabad ElectricSupply Company. The lack of action from the civicbody has created enormous hardships for theresidents of the federal capital as water supplyremain closed to many of the sectors onWednesday due to the same factor. It is pertinentto mention here that a couple of months ago, theIESCO disconnected power supply to KhanpurDam due to nonpayment of dues by the CDA. It has been learnt that the CDA has to clear

outstanding amount of Rs200 million payable toIESC due to which the power supply has been

disconnected and as a result CDA has also stopwater supply to Water and Sanitation Agency(WASA) Rawalpindi. “WASA pays its monthlyinstallments to CDA for electricity chargeswithout any delay or break. Despite paying shareof electricity charges of Khanpur, the CDA, whichfails to pay the outstanding amount of utility bills,suspends water share to WASA from KhanpurDam,” a WASA oMcial said. Water supply toseveral sectors of capital city also remainssuspended on Wednesday which createdhardships for the residents. “We have submittedour complaint before the CDA 24 hours ago butstill waiting for CDA water tanker,” said MahtabHamid, a resident of Sector I-10. He said that theCDA has been spending million of funds on wasteprojects but seems reluctant to ensure the basicfacilities to the citizens.

No water for twin cities asCDA fails to pay IESC dues

IISSLLAAMMAABBDD:: First Lady Nusrt Pervez Ashrafhas said educated women of a nation lead ittowards the destinations of prosperity anddevelopment and no society can achieve the goalof progress in the absence of role of women. Shewas addressing to inaugural ceremony of 25thCultural Week and Silver Jubilee celebrations ofInternational Islamic University Islamabad infemale campus on Wednesday.Dr. Ahmad Yousif Al Draiweesh, President

IIUI, Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed, Vice President IIUIand Ambassadors of various Muslim countrieswere also present on the occasion. She said it isour religion Islam which 1400 years earlier gavethe due rights to women and allowed them tocontribute foe the betterment of society. NusrtPervez said that today west pretends itself

champion of women rights while it is Islamwhich honoured the women with respectcenturies ago.She said organized nations achieve the height

of glory and today’s organised ceremony andpreparations of IIUI female cultural week revealthat we are an organized nation which isheading towards destination of success. Whilecongratulating the IIUI administration forsuccessfully organizing the mega event, NusratPervez said IIUI is a unique institution whichbrings the Muslim countries on a single plateform and gives opportunities to their studentsfor promotion of their cultures.Earlier, in his welcome remarks President

IIUI Ahmad Yousif Al Draiweesh said femalestudents of IIUI deserve appreciation for their

dynamic role in this Cultural Week and SilverJubilee celebrations. He said it is a prerequisitefor the development of society that women mustbe given opportunities to play their role inprogress of society. He said IIUI keenly focuseson education of women and in this regardseparate campus for them is visible example. He said IIUI is biggest and unique institution

in the country which has established not onlyseparate campus for female but througheducating Islamic values it also develops balancedand harmonious women personalities which maycompete to the contemporary challenges. Heurged Muslim Ummah that education of womenmust be their top priority because it is one of theleading solutions of contemporary problems facedby Muslims. ONLINE

Cultural activities start at female campus

CMYK

CMYK

Ban on open display ofweapons, tinted glassesIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD: The Interior Ministryhas decided to ban open display ofweapons, and tinted glasses forvehicles with immediate eNect. Thenew policy, as announced in an oMcialannouncement on Tuesday, and to beimplemented soon, aims to cancelprevious permissions regarding thesetwo issues aNective March 31. A policyregarding the issues is also beingformulated. ONLINE

PAL ‘Literary Reference’ for Khalid AhmedIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan Academy ofLetters is organising a “LiteraryReference” in the memory ofprominent poet, intellectual, writerand columnist “Khalid Ahmed” onMarch 29, in the Conference Hall ofPAL, Pitras Bukhari Road, Sector H-8/1, Islamabad. Abdul Hameed,Chairman, PAL will present Key noteaddress while Haleem Qureshi, AsgharAbid and Yusuf Alamgirien will readtheir papers and Mohsin Sheikh andAftab Zia will paid tribute. PR

Special police teams to curb beggingIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Islamabad Policehas constituted special teams to curbthe menace of begging and takeprompt legal action against theprofessional alm-seekers. Followingthe directives of Inspector General ofPolice Islamabad Bani Amin Khan,heads of all police stations havelaunched eNective crackdown againstalm-seekers and cases will beregistered after their arrest. The IGPhas directed all police oMcials toconstitute special police teams as wellas squads to patrol in the shoppingcentres and markets for the arrest ofprofessional beggars. He was told thatIslamabad police arrested 15 beggarsduring last three days while action wasalso taken as per law againstprofessional alm-seekers. ONLINE

IIUI seminar on causes,prevention of extremismIISSLLAAMMAABBDD:: In connection with 25thCultural Week and Silver JubileeCelebrations, Faculty of Shariah andLaw of the International IslamicUniversity, Islamabad organised aseminar on “Causes and Preventions ofExtremism” at university. Dr. ZiaulHaq, Dean FSL presided over theceremony while IIUI faculty membersbelonging Saudi Arabia, Egypt andPalestine also spoke on the occasion.Dr. Zafar Ullah Baigh, Dean Faculty ofIslamic Studies, including largenumber of students attended theseminar. ONLINE

SALMAN ABBAS

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: A division bench ofthe Islamabad High Court onWednesday gave stay order againstthe decision of a single bench inwhich the Estate OMce and InspectorGeneral of Islamabad Police weredirected to ensure within one weekthe vacation of oMcial flats illegally

occupied by cops.On February 21, the single bench

comprising Justice Shaukat AzizSiddiqui had given one week toIslamabad IG and the Estate OMce toget 200 flats in Sector G-6 vacated.However, during the course ofhearing on Wednesday, a divisionbench comprising Justice Norrul HaqQureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmad

Khan hearing the case filed by 12police oMcials against the order ofJustice Siddique.Advocate Afrasyab Khattack,

counsel for the police personnel,submitted before the court onWednesday that during the LalMasjid operation interior ministryallowed a number of police oMcials tostay in the flats. He said that court

had also directed the interior ministerto issue them allotment letters.However, the ministry did not complywith the court orders. He alleged theEstate OMce oMcials were givingbackdated allotment to those peoplewho bribed them, but ignoring policeoMcers.Previously, Justice Siddique had

issued order to vacate the government

flats from police corps came on anumber of identical petitions filedagainst allotment of governmentaccommodations.Besides, the judge had also ordered

the Estate OMce to provide details ofthose houses which had been retainedby the retired employees after sixmonths grace period and those whichthey had handed over to their

relatives. He had directed the EstateOMce to furnish the list of the houseswhich had been allotted on therecommendations of ministers orother high ranking oMcials.However, the counsel for police

oMcials requested the court to nullifythe previous order of the single benchafter which the court gave stay againstthe previous order.

Respite for Estate OMce, Islamabad police chief� Islamabad High Court’s division bench overrules single bench’s decision on vacation of flats occupied by cops in one week

A group of lawyers from the twin cities returning to job after a quarrel at a Jinnah Park restaurant. ONLINE

HOMER BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Though the number ofkidnapping cases in the federal capital is risingby the day, the Capital Police instead ofpreventing such cases insist the “abductions arenot actually abductions”. During the last twomonths, 13 girls have been kidnapped from thecapital territory and in last 20 days alone theCapital Police has registered 10 abduction casesbut they seem not interested in resolving thesecases. Rather they insist that the girls inquestion actually ran away on their own.The Kohsar police have lodged an FIR against

three men and a woman for kidnapping a girl, inwhich the application complained that herdaughter was abducted when she was visitingrelatives. The victim’s father, Nazir, whencontacted, told “The Spokesman” that herdaughter has been kidnapped when she wasvisiting her grandmother’s house is located inSector F-7/4 where Manga along with Riasatand George abducted her. “On March 21, my daughter went to visit her

grandmother at French Colony and afterpassing some time there she again left to visither friend in neighborhood only not to return,”says Nazir. He further said that he has doubt on

Manga Maseeh for kidnapping her daughter ashe is also missing from his from after theincident. “On March 15, Maqsooda Bibi alongwith Riasat and George arrived at our homewith a proposal of marrying her son, Manga,with my daughter, but I could not reply thempositively as my daughter is not old enough and,secondly, I wanted to consult from my elderbrother. But they were not pleased with myanswer,” said Nazir. He said when he contacted Maqsooda Bibi in

this regard, she apologized for the act of her sonand said soon my daughter will be recovered butwhen I asked them about the whereabouts ofManga, they kept complete silence which isdoubts their role of supporting us.The investigating oMcer ASI Nadeem Tahir

told “The Spokesman” that initially it seems thatthe incident has been caused by a love aNairbetween the accused and the abducted girl. “Theinvestigation of the case has been started andpolice have taken only the statement of theapplicants whilst the statement of the accusedfamily yet to be taken”, says ASI Nadeem. “However”, he fadded, “Maqsooda Bibi, the

mother of the accused when contacted told methat the girl has gone with her son willingly asthey have an aNair and she was not abducted.”

On the other hand, on March 25, SyedYounas also registered an FIR in Bhara Kahupolice station, stating that her daughterMaryam Bibi has been abducted by Abid andfour other men and a woman, when she wasvisiting a market along with her family.However, investigating oMcer ASI MuhammadNawaz when contacted said neither anyprogress has been made regarding investigation,nor he knows much about the case. After thiscase, the total number of kidnapping casesregistered in Bhara Kahu police station duringlast 20 day has reached to 04. Mehboob Ahmad, SHO of Bhara Kahu police

station, refused the allegations of a rise inkidnapping cases in his area. He said, “The 95pckidnapping cases actually do not fall in thiscategory, as most of the girls after beingrecovered give their statement in court that theywere not kidnapped and went with their loverson their own.” To strengthen his statement, hegave an example of the case in which the FIRagainst the accused for kidnapping wascancelled on the request of the abducted girl.“Noor al-Ain Bibi who was kidnapped fromBhara Kahu told a court that she and the manaccused of kidnapping her have married, addingthat she was not kidnapped.”

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Supreme Courthas admitted for hearing petition filedby Dr Mubashar Hassan withreference to transparent election. Athree-member bench of SC led by theChief Justice of Pakistan IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry resumed thehearing of petition filed by DrMubashar Hassan on transparentelections.Azhar Siddique, counsel for

petitioner said Election Commissionhas failed in discharging itsobligations. The CJP remarked, “Thematter of implementation of Article62 and Article 63 of the constitutionhas been focused in your petitionwhile those conducting scrutiny of thepapers of candidates know betterabout implementation of clauses 62and 63. “The voter should know the

credentials of the candidatecontesting election; they can file hisobjections in this respect. It is notknown to the court the voter is goingto file what objection. Fake degreeassumes no more importance now.There is difference between the 2008election and the upcoming one. Nocondition of BA degree is in placenow. All the stakeholders are agreedon it that the elections be held in fairand transparent manner.”The CJP further remarked,

“Legislating and determining theprocedure for legislating is notdomain of the court. What relief youwant?” The petitioner said, “We wantdetermination of law so that corruptpeople could not contest theelections.”The CJP remarked, “Court has given

the verdict in dual nationality caseand it can do nothing more than this.You have made members of theElection Commission party fornothing as there was no need of it.Should the EC hold election or appearin the court?”Azhar Siddique said, “Higher

Education Commission is sayingelection commission has lied withregard to verification of fake degrees.”The CJP observed, “You pleasedetermine those who have lied, we willsummon them in court. The ElectionCommission has completed its workin most of the matters and theremaining will also be completed.”The court adjourned the hearing of

the case for one week. ONLINE

Legislatingnot domainof court,says CJP

Capital Police refuses toacknowledge abductions� 13 girls kidnapped from capital during last two months

A view of Interactive Theatre Performance on women protection at National Press Club. ONLINE

A bike rider driving in the wrong direction, inviting a mishap. ONLINE

Hamayun Khan of Faisalabad demonstratingoutside National Press Club against supply offake medicines.

The Like-minded faction of PML is oNciallyclosed.

The credit for finally sealing the fate of whatwas already a ‘tongua party’ goes to HamayunAkhtar Khan. When it came down to seekingelectoral ticket, the perpetually dubious Khansold oO his group without batting an eyelid.The group was supposed to get 12 national

seats from the Nawaz League. It has come downto two. No points for guessing that one of themis Hamayun. The other seat promised to thedefunct group is for Hamid Nasir Chatha, whofaces double jeopardy because of Cheemas andSaif Chattha contesting against him.

Arbab Rahim has agreed to contestindependently in the name of People’s PML.Remember how Hamayun was there at theairport to receive him. But he was used as a baitto retrieve the ticket from the PML (N). SaleemSaifullah will contest from Laki Marwat as anindependent candidate. It’s a family understanding as his brother

Anwer Saifullah is the PPP President andHamayun was already a sitting MNA fromPML (N)—what a farce.This left the rest of the group out including

Naveed Rizvi, Major Abbass. But the biggestbetrayal was dealt to Kashmala Tariq who wasleft high and dry in the end.Funny thing is that Hamayun still claimed in

a talk show that the party was intact. Andannouncied, in the same breath, that he wouldcontest the elections under the sign of PML (N)tiger. Stupid, isn’t it. Even his late father, thesupposed master of deception as ISI chief, couldnot have pulled a faster one.But then Hamayun has always been a

professional ‘ditcher.’He ditched Ijazul Haq to latch on to Nawaz

Sharif. Then he ditched Nawaz Sharif to joinMusharraf. Then came the turn of Musharraf tobe ditched when he tagged along witChaudhary Shujaat. Then he moved on to makehis own like-minded group.Interestingly, the party by the name of PML

(like-minded) is registered with the ElectionCommission with its President named as oneMulazim Hussain. It turns out that MulazimHussain is actually a ‘Mulazam’ in Hamaun’shousehold. His mother got him as a permanent

orderly from the army after the death of hisfarher. Hamayun got the party registered in hisservant’s name. The party’s AdditionalSecretary is his personal secretary, Nasir Jatt.This is a permanent habit with him as heearlier got his munshi, one Mohammad Ashraf,elected as Town Nazim from Lahore

Cantonment.So this remains an easy aOair to wind up what

was always a ‘suitcase’ party.He is being supported in the PML (N) by

Anusha Rehman who, we are told, has someinfluence on Ishaq Dar. But the questionremains as to how much ‘ditching’ capacity does

this man has.And what if he gets ditched by Nawaz Sharif

in the end? For all we know, the seat that he isasking for in Lahore has some other veryimportant contenders in the PML (N). It wouldbe so much fun to see the ditcher being ditched.Haina! Kashmala?

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

Venom Inc. This should not be

held against me in a court of

law as I solemnly declare that

these are absolute lies, dirty whispers

and wild speculation that I have heard

while crawling in the dark power

corridors of the creepy Capital. You

will believe them at your own risk

Shh...If you have venom to spill please

don’t hesitate to share with us on our

blog at www.thespokesman.pk

POWER ALLEYS|CMYK

MIRZA KHURRAM SHAHZAD

ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Baluchistanbelieve that peace in the trouble hitprovince is largely linked to the results ofthe upcoming elections on May 11.“If you ask about the future of

Baluchistan, I will say it is very muchdependent on the results of polling onMay 11,” said a senior security oNcialwhen asked about the future securitysituation in the province.“If good people will be elected in the

election, it will be blessing for the provinceand will ultimately lead to completepeace,” said a senior oNcial of the FrontierCorps (FC), heading an importantstrategic wing.He added: “If a good leadership emerges

in the province, it will be great. They willhelp us to fix law and order by engaging

the disturbing elements and controllingthe sentiments,” he said.A senior police oNcial, who has just

completed a study of good policing in theprovince, said the government of Mengalsand Pakhtuns in the province will not beanything less than a great gift.“If Mengals and Pakhtun get to the

provincial and national assemblies andform the government in the province, itwill be good for the administrative aOairsand law and order situation,” he said.The oNcial said that the political

situation will be improved in the provinceafter representatives of these tribes willtake charge of the administration.Almost all groups are expected to take

part in the elections, especially those whohad resorted to boycotting the lastelections in 2008.“Those who did not participate in the

elections last time are expected to go in tothe electoral process with full power. It isgood for democracy and also thedemocratic solutions of the problems inthe province,” he said. He also welcomedthe return of Akhter Mengal.“It is a good omen that Mengal has

returned to the country. If a person likehim comes in power, it will help the lawenforcement agencies to improve thesituation,” he said,A senior administration oNcial said that

the unavailability of opposition in the lastprovincial assembly was one of the majornegatives during the previous five years.“There was no opposition in the last

assembly and there was no criticism onthe government, so it left a negativeimpact because the government had nopressure from the opponents and thingswent wrong,” said Akbar Durrani, the

home secretary of Baluchistan.“The Nationalists had also opted to

boycott the last elections, so therepresentation of people in the lastassembly was not proper. We expect thatall groups will come in elections this time,and it will improve political as well asadministrative situation of the province. Akram Shah, the secretary general of

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party(PKMAP), agreed with the hopes but saidthat engineered elections will furtherdeteriorate the situation.“It’s true that free and fair elections will

improve the situation. But if theauthorities fail to ensure fair elections, itmay further worsen the crisis,” he told TheSpokesman.“PKMAP, Jmahuri Watan Party (JWP),

National Party (NP) and BalochistanNational Party (BNP) are all gearing up tocontest these elections. I am sure thesituation will improve after elections, ifthey are not rigged,” said Shah.A senior leader of BNP, however, said

that the environment was notencouraging for elections in Baluchistan.“Political and sectarian violence is

increasing in Baluchistan. Hazaras,Balochs and Punjabis are being killed. Sothis situation is really not encouraging forthe polling process,” said Agha HassanBaloch, secretary information of BNP.“Baloch militants are trying to stop us

from the election process. But I think allpolitical parties will participate in theelections. We also hope that the situationwill improve after the electoral process,”he said.

SALMAN ABBAS

ISLAMABAD: In clear defiance of Islamabad High Court (IHC)directives, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has, untilnow, failed to take action against the Bahria Town administrationfor encroaching upon the government land in front of PakistanInstitute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). On February 18, the IHC directed the CDA Enforcement director

to take action against all illegal set-ups, including land being usedby the administration of Bahria Town in the name of ‘BahriaDastarkhwan’, after which the authority sent notice to the Bahriamanagement to vacate the plot of land but have failed to demolishthe encroachment so far.Sources in the CDA, seeking anonymity, told The Spokesman that

the authority has been demolishing kiosks set up by middle classpeople in the federal capital but seems reluctant to act against theencroachment made by the property tycoon under the name of foodcharity service. He said that in 2012, the authority once tried to put the Bahria

administration on notice over the illegal use of the land by themand their name was also included in the list of those kiosks whichhad question marks over their legality, but the oNcial who dared todo so had to face a lot of pressure from his high-ups for trying toinclude Bahria in the list. This year too, the CDA has sent a noticeto Bahria administration for vacating the government land, buttasking practical setps against the Dastarkhwan administration isproving to be quite tough. The source added it is interesting that the authority has

demolished all other encroachments made on the same location,including the Edhi center, but does not dare to touch the illegalsetup by the Bahria administration.He further stated that during the tenure of former CDA chairman

Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, the CDA Directorate of MunicipalAdministration had issued a license to the management of theBahria Dastarkhwan for the establishment of a makeshift podium,not higher than one foot from the ground, so that attendants of thepatients could sit over it to have a free meal. “But what appearsillegal is that the license was issued only for one year and theadministration never got it renewed after the completion of theperiod,” said the source. On one hand the duration of license hasbeen cancelled and, on the other, the Bahria administration hasconstructed a concrete walls structure at a huge piece of land worthbillions of rupees, with the capacity to accommodate 160 people,he pointed out.CDA Director Enforcement Naveed-ul-Haq was not available for

his comments. This scribe also tried to approach him in his oNcebut he was busy in a meeting.However, Administrator of Bahria Dastarkhwan Mr Naeem told

that they had seek some time from The CDA and will vacate theland within one week. He said that the closing of charity servicewould be a major blow to the poor masses who take meals there fortwo times a day.He claimed that property tycoon had oOered the CDA to sell the

piece of land to Bahria town management so that the charity servicecould remain continued. While dismissing the petition of Bahria Town for withdrawal of

CDA notice to them, the court had also remarked that there weremany other ways to do good deeds and running a charity servicedid not mean filling the federal capital with encroachments.

Malik Riaz:Invincible orInvisible?

MOHAMMED RIZWAN

LAHORE: The political turf battles of Lahore have shotto national prominence as major players – incumbentsPML-N, fading PPP and heir apparent PTI – are set tomake them relishing contests with national heavyweightsNawaz, Shahbaz and Imran Khan picking commandersand digging trenches to capture what is considered as theBastille of Pakistan’s electoral politics.All political players, barring none, know whoever rules

Lahore, rules Punjab and whoever reigns in Punjab,reigns the country. With Khan announcing his re-entryafter the party organization and elections, with a bang onMarch 23, both Nawaz and Shahbaz are set to fight it outfor Lahore by contesting from NA 120 and NA 123respectively. On the other hand Khan, in a much-anticipated move,

also announced his arrival in Lahore by picking NA 126(a posh upper-middle class constituency consisting ofareas such as garden Town, Muslim Town and Gulberg).The PML-N, till the filing of this report, had notannounced their candidate for this constituency held byOmar Sohail Zia Butt (son of Sharif ’s close relativeSohail Zia Butt). From PPP, city president Aslam Gill,would face up to Khan and whoever PML-N decides tofield.At the moment the city is in the virtual political

stranglehold of PML-N that controls 11 of its 13 nationalassembly constituencies with the other two going to PPP,held by Tariq Shabbir Mayo and Samina Khalid Ghurki.The PML-N, the way tickets were awarded tillWednesday evening, confirmed the tickets of MianNawaz Sharif (NA 120, held by Bilal Yasin) and ShahbazSharif (NA 123, held by Pervez Malik). TheBaghbanpura-Mughalpura constituency was originallywon by Makhdoom Javed Hashmi in 2008 elections andlater it was won by the Sharifs’ close associate PervezMalik. But now Malik looks set to vacate the seat forShahbaz Sharif, who is aspiring for Prime Ministershipshould PML-N get majority in the assembly.The other confirmed candidates from Lahore are

Hamza Shahbaz, the originally groomed heir of theSharifs’ throne, from NA 119, formerly NA 96 that spansthe walled city. From NA 118 (Shahdra) an interesting battle is

emerging as incumbent Malik Riaz has been given theboot by PML-N but in Asif Hashmi from PPP and MianAzhar from PTI, a memorable contest ensues forwhoever gets the PML-N ticket here. In NA 119, HamzaShahbaz will be up against watch and electronic traderof PPP, Sohail Malik, and there will be no prizes forguessing who would have the upper edge. But the PML-N supremacy in the constituency would be in danger ifPTI and Jamaat-i-Islami field Salman Butt from here. InNA 120, Nawaz Sharif would be returning to his oldconstituency of NA 95 and he’ll be up against a politicalnovice Zubair Kardar of the PPP and possibly Bhalli Buttfrom PTI. In NA 121, incumbent Mian Marghoob will notbe getting a party ticket; the PML-N candidate will beannounced later while PPP will be fielding AurangzebBurki, a loser last time out. In NA 122, incumbent PML-N MNA Ayaz Sadiq will

be up against a strong PTI candidate Aleem Khan while

PPP will field Mahmoodul Hasan Advocate. NA 124 isheld by PML-N’s Rohail Asghar who will not be gettingthe ticket this time. PPP’s Bushra Aitzaz and PTI’sWaleed Iqbal (Iqbal’s grandson) will face up to the PML-N candidate.In 125, Saad Rafiq will defend his constituency against

PPP’s Naveed Chaudhry and PTI’s Ibrarul Haq. In NA127 Khurram Latif Khosa of the PPP will be up againstpossibly Humayun Akhtar Khan from PML-N andFarooq Amjad Mir or Dr Yasmin Rashid of PTI. Thecontest will be mouth-watering to watch as NaseerBhutta is unlikely to get the ticket again. In NA 128, asPPP searches for a candidate, PML-N’s Afzal Khokharwill be up against Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar of PTI ina straight fight. In NA 129, Tariq Shabbir Mayo willdefend his seat against Mansha Sindhu of PTI whilePML-N has yet to announce its candidate. From NA 130,PPP’s Samina Khalid Ghurki is likely to confront EjazDayal of PML-N and Usman Hamza from PTI. TheGhurki-Dayal clash always served up a thriller and thistime the Ghurkis, who have won most of the contests, willreally be tested.

Nawaz, Shahbaz, Imran set to viefor desicive Lahore battles�Pervez Malik, Omer Sohail, Mian Marghoob, Rohail Asghar and Naseer Bhutta likely to be dropped

Elections likely to improve situation in Baluchistan

Hamayun ditches the like-minded - Kashmala too

PTI to contest pollson all Karachi seatsKKAARRAACCHHII:: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafon Wednesday announced to contestthe forthcoming polls from all seatsof Karachi while tickets are yet to beallocated. In a statement, deputysecretary general of PTI, ImranIsmail instructed not to leave anyconstituency vacant and submitnomination papers in accordancewith the recommendations of electedparty leadership. Meanwhile, Dr. ArifAlvi and Najeeb Haroon submittedforms for NA-250 whereas SubhanAli Sahil and Syed Hafeezuddinsubmitted for NA-239. Ali Zaidi forNA-252, Zubair Khan for NA-251,Dr. Saeed Afridi for NA-241, RiazHaider for NA-245, Hafeezuddinsubmitted the form for NA-240 aswell. Many others have submittedforms for provincial assemblies’seats. ONLINE

Old woman, two otherskilled in Karachi violenceKKAARRAACCHHII:: Two persons were killedin a firing incident in Lyari while atortured dead body of an old womanwas found from Malir, media reportssaid on Wednesday. According torescue sources, two persons werekilled near Meeran Naka, Lyari.Sources said that the victims wereshot in the head. On the other hand, atortured dead body of an 85-year-oldwoman was found from a housesituated in Rafah-e-Aam Society,Malir. ONLINE

Over 100 Pak, Chinesecompanies gather at forumIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: In pursuit ofnarrowing the gap between academicand industrial stakeholders, over 100Pakistani and Chinese companiesand universities gathered at Pak-China Business Forum. The eventkicked off with the aim to strengthenthe bond between the duo and helpcountry's economy throughtechnology. COMSATS Institute ofInformation Technology andIslamabad Chamber of Commerceand Industries put collaborativeefforts in organising the event.Organisations and universities ofdifferent genre and size, both fromPakistan and China participated inthe event. One of the main features ofthe event is an exhibition of productsby local and Chinese companies anduniversities. Product lines of thecompanies, exhibiting in the forumare mainly based on alternateenergies and home appliances thatconsume solar energies as energycrisis have been major hurdle tocountry’s economy Pakistan’s fastgrowing IT/ITeS Industry alsoparticipated in the event with manylocal firms exhibiting their smart ITsolutions. The ready availability ofskilled professionals, an appropriateIT infrastructure, and affordable ratesfor connectivity result in considerabletime and cost-savings forentrepreneurs across borders whichhas brought this industry in the limelight in last few years. ONLINE

Dr. Phailbus visits arson-hit Christian colonyLLAAHHOORREE:: Punjab’s womanombudsperson Dr. Mira Phailbus onWednesday visited the arson-hitJoseph Colony along with a team ofChildren Complaint Office. She metwith women and children of theaffected area, enquired about theirstate and problems and observed theefforts made to provide to them reliefand comfort. Dr. Mira said thatnecessary measures were to be takenimmediately in order to get thetraumatized women and children outof the agony and the anguish. Shesaid that they needed special care sothat they could lead normal life again.“It is our responsibility to bring smileback on the faces of these children.”Dr. Phailbus said she advised thewomen to take care of their children’seducation. Before leaving the griefstricken area, Dr. Mira Phailbus andthe Focal Person of the CCO, EhsanGhani distributed books, colorpencils, card caps and edibles amongthe children. PR

LLAAHHOORREE:: Families and friends dance to celebrate Hindu festival of Holi. ONLINE

TAHIR NIAZ

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The caretaker PrimeMinister Justice ® Mir Hazar Khan Khosois likely to take all the stakeholders intoconfidence over the formation of hiscabinet, to avoid any controversy with thethree doctors already under considerationof the authorities concerned to be includedin the caretaker cabinet.Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, Dr. Isharat Hussain,and Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, and JavedJabbar are under consideration of the PMto be included in the caretaker cabinet,sources told The Spokesman on Tuesday.Maleeha Lodhi is being considered for theslot of foreign minister while Dr. IshratHussain and Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh arebeing considered for the post of caretakerfinance minister. Javed Jabbar, former Senator (between1985–91) and three-time Federal Ministeris being considered as the caretaker federalinformation minister, the sources said.Maleeha Lodhi is a political scientist andis a former envoy to the US and the UK. The sources said that PM Khoso is likelyto hold meetings with all the politicalstakeholders in the coming days on theissue of formation of the cabinet. “The PMwants nobody points finger over him. Hewants to develop consensus over the issueof cabinet before holding the elections in afree and fair manner”, the sources believed.They said that Balochistan province willget its due share in the caretaker federalcabinet so that the Baloch people don’thave any reservations over the same. ThePM is likely to announce his cabinet withinnext few days.

3 doctors underconsideration forfederal cabinet

TAHIR NIAZ

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: With the Election Commissionof Pakistan going to strictly follow theprovisions of Articles 62 and 63 of theconstitution for scrutiny of the candidates, thePML-N has decided to hold formal award ofparty tickets to the candidates till theapplicants get a clean chit from the concerningreturning oMcers and final list of thecandidates is published on April 18th so as toavert dilemma in case a ticket holder isdisqualified.The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz willkeep the applicants for party ticket for theupcoming general elections guessing until April18, the date on which the returning oMcerswould issue final list of the candidatescontesting the elections. Sources in the PML-N told ‘The Spokesman’ on Wednesday that theparty wants the applicants for party ticket gotthemselves cleared at the returning oMcer leveland then it would pick the ‘best’ to be awardedparty ticket to avoid any technical hitch for theparty candidate in contesting election.

They said that the party would consider onlythose applicants for award of party ticket whowould get a clean chit from the concernedreturning oMcers for contesting the elections.“In other words, the party would own only fromamongst the qualified applicants as the partycandidates so as to avoid embarrassment andmedia criticism in case its ticket holder isdisqualified by the returning oMcer,” the PML-N sources said. The party would formally awardtickets to its candidates on April 18 after thereturning oMcers published the final list ofqualified candidates, however, some of themwould get a green signal to start electioncampaign as a party candidate within few days,the sources added.On Wednesday, the ECP issued a directive tothe returning oMcers, saying that the certificateof political party showing that a candidate isnominee of that party may be filed either at thetime of filing nomination paper or at the time ofscrutiny or at the time of allocation of symbolsby the ROs. The candidates would be allottedelection symbols after issuance of final list ofthe candidates contesting elections on April 18.

The sources believed that the party decisionof holding party tickets until April 18 wouldalso help avert possible disintegration withinthe party at constituency level at the earlierstage, as few of those denied tickets in eachconstituency may announce contesting electionas independents. “If they are denied party ticketafter April 18, they would be left with little timeto run their election campaign and would notbe in a position to hurt the party candidate,” theparty believed.According to the schedule for general election2013, the candidates can file nominationpapers with the returning oMcer from March24-29. Scrutiny of the candidates will be donefrom March 30 to April 5. From April 6 to 9,the candidates and their opponents can fileappeals, which will be reviewed by the tribunalsuntil April 16. Any candidate can bedisqualified from contesting the elections untilApril 17 and final list of candidates, who will becontesting the elections, will be issued onMarch 18. Following that, the candidates willhave 22 days for the election campaign andgeneral elections will be held on May 11, 2013.

PML-N to keep applicantsguessing until April 18th� Move aims at averting disintegration within party as some of those denied tickets may take solo flight

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

KKAARRAACCHHII:: The demand for bullet-proof cars in Karachi is increasingdue to crumbling law and order inthe hub of Pakistan’s industrial andcommercial activities, said ToyotaCentral Motors Director ShahzadGodil.Briefing the media on theoccasion of Toyota Dream CarContest on Wednesday, Godil saidthat it was unusual that at least 20orders are being placed with thefactories for bullet proofing everymonth by the private sectorparticularly businessmen. He said

that only politicians, law enforcingagencies use to order for bulletproof vehicles.He disclosed that there are fourfactories are working in Karachifor bullet-proofing the vehicle andcost of bullet-proofing of eachvehicle comes to about Rs3 million.He said that it can be proofed up tothe AK 47. Shahzad said that demand forbullet-proofing vehicles has alsoincreased as three bullet-proofingfactories working upcountry arereceiving about 15 to 20 orders per

monthly for bullet-proofing thevehicles and they are mostly fromKhyber Pakhtoonkhwa andIslamabad. He said that demand for bullet-proofing from Punjab is almost nil.To a question, he said that there isabout only 20 to 30 per cent costdeference in localized bullet proofvehicles and imported ones. Hesaid that TCM has a contract forsupply of bullet proofingcomponents with world’s topmanufactures. He said that outthree bullet-proofing factories one

is in Lahore and one each is inIslamabad and Peshawar.He said that as the weight of thebullet-proof vehicle increases 50 percent the fuel consumption tooincreases with the same proportion.Shahzad while replying a questionsaid that the cash sale of locallymanufactured cars has increased ascompared to the sale of vehicles tothe corporate sector. “This year cashbuying surpassed the sale to thecorporate and public sectororganizations.”He said that there not much impact

of government’s Amnesty Scheme onautomobile’s sale as people arestaying away from purchasing illegalor smuggled cars. He explained thatcars purchased under AmnestyScheme are real hard to resell andcustomers just do not want to theirhard-earned money stuck up oncars having no documents. He saidthat the 7thToyota Dream CarContest has proved to be veryexciting and successful as most ofthe prominent schools participatedin the painting contest of the futurecar’s concept. ONLINE

Karachi businessmen switching to bullet-proof cars

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Council of Pakistan NewspapersEditors has constituted its provincial Committeefor Punjab to promote and safeguard interest ofmembers publications in the province. Accordingto a press release issued by Secretary General,CPNE Aamer Mahmood here today Rehmat AliRazi (Weekly AZM) has been appointedChairman, Punjab Committee while SyedMuhammad Munir Jillani (Daily Paigham) asDeputy Chairman.The other members of the committee are: ArifNizami (Daily Pakistan Today), Zia Shahid (DailyKhabrain), Imtiaz Alam (South Asian Journal),Altaf Hussain Qureshi (Monthly Urdu Digest),Rameeza Majid Nizami (Daily Nawa-i-Waqt),Rashid Rehman (Daily Times), Shaheen Qureshi(Daily Times), Mumtaz A. Tahir (Daily Aftab),

Tanveer Shoukat (Daily Ghareeb), Shahid Amin(Daily Islam), Ayaz Khan (Daily Express), UmerShami (Daily Pakistan), Mian Habibullah (DailyDin), Syed Mumtaz Shah (Daily Mashriq), SyedSajjad Bokhari (Daily Abtak), Humayun Gulzar(Daily Syadaat), Syed Intizar Hussain Zanjan(Monthly Aina-i-Qismat), Sardar TahirMahmood (Monthly Hina Digest), Irfan AtherQazi (Daily Jurrat), Mohsin Naqvi (Daily City-42), Humayun Tariq (Daily Business Report),Malik Muhammad Mozzam (Daily Manshoor),Raja Asad Munir Bhatti (Daily Mussawat),Ahmad Ali Baloch (Daily Kaynaat), and M.Akmal Chohan (Daily Wafa).The committee will also formulate activities, holdfunctions, seminars and workshops, etc., to developthe standard of print media in Punjab. ONLINE

CPNPE committee for Punjab

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Rangers personnel taking their positions during search in Lyari. ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: Punjab Election Commissioner Mehboob Anwarhas said parliamentarians who have been disqualified by thecourt for holding fake degrees and dual nationality cannotcontest the elections. He said this while talking to mediamen here Wednesday after taking over charge of his oMce.He announced that the parliamentarians who were declareddisqualified by the court for holding dual citizenship wouldnot be authorized to participate in the upcoming generalelections. He told the journalists that stringent measureshave been taken with reference to scrutiny of thenomination papers. All the preparations had been made forholding the elections, he added. To a question, he saidcomprehensive security arrangements will be made on theoccasion of upcoming polls and additional strength of policewill be deployed at sensitive polling stations. ONLINE

LLAAHHOORREE:: Punjab’s Woman Ombudsperson Dr. Mira Phailbus visiting the arson-hit Joseph Colony alongwith a team of Children Complaint O,ce.

KKAARRAACCHHII:: TheAnti-TerrorismCourt onWednesday declareda witness in theShahzeb murdercase, MuhammadAli Aamir, a ‘liar’,who decided tochallenge this remark in the court.While hearing the Shahzeb murder casehere, the court in its remark said thatMuhammad Ali Aamir recorded his falseevidence in favour of the accused onMarch 25. While the lawyer of the witnessMuhammad Ali Aamir, B. N. Quraishi hasfiled his power of attorney in the court forchallenging the remark that declared hima ‘liar’. ONLINE

Witness declared‘liar’ by ATC

Dual nationality,fake degrees costcondidates dearly

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan and Moldova have heldtheir first-ever bilateral talks at Chisinau.Additional Secretary (Europe), Ministry ofForeign ANairs Ayesha Riyaz led the Pakistandelegation, which included Pakistan’sAmbassador to Moldova (resident in Romania)Rab Nawaz Khan, while the Moldovandelegation was headed by Ala Beleavschi,Director General (Bilateral Relations Division)at the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign ANairs andEuropean Integration. The two sides reviewedthe entire range of bilateral relations anddiscussed ways to enhance the profile of existingbilateral ties. A draft MoU on Bilateral PoliticalConsultations as well as a draft visa abolitionagreement on diplomatic and oMcial passportswas presented by the Pakistan side forconsideration by the Moldovan side. ONLINE

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Election Commissionhas issued notification of all 148 politicalparties contesting upcoming generalelections and symbols allotted to them. Thesymbol of arrow has been allotted toPakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians‚tiger to PML-N‚ bicycle to PML‚ scale toJamaat-e-Islami‚ lantern to Awami NationalParty‚ kite to MQM‚ bat to Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf‚ tree to PMAP‚ inkpot with pen toAwami Muslim League Pakistan‚ camel toBalochistan National Party Awami‚ rose toPakistan Muslim League-F‚ wheel toJamhoori Watan Party‚ leaf to PakistanMuslim League Like-Minded and missile toTehrik-e-Tahafuz Pakistan. ONLINE

ECP allotssymbols to all148 parties

First bilateral talks

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

TAHIR ALI

BBAATTKKHHEELLAA:: Qari Nadim Khan, 26,from Thana town of MalakandAgency, is a blind person but withmultiple talents. Being a skilledelectrician, he runs a small workshopin his street where he fixes electronicappliances. He also teaches the HolyQuran to around sixty children in thenearby mosque. In leisure time, heplays musical instruments like rubab,sitar, flute and piano. He is a goodswimmer too who can cross thenearby River Swat and rides amotorbike in the streets of Thanatown like others but the onlydiPerence is that he is totally blind.Until 1996, Qari Nadim Khan was a

normal child who was enrolled inclass two at the government primaryschool in Gul Bahar Colony. One day,there was a marriage in hisneighbourhood from where hebrought some material used infireworks during the ceremony. “I washitting a round thing with a hammer;the explosive went oP; I got a bang onthe head; as I got consciousness I wastotally blind,” said Qari Nadim.His parents took him to various

etymologists but Nadim’s eyesight wasnot restored. There were chances of

regaining eyesight but according toQari, Nadim the doctors asked for halfa million rupees that was notaPordable for his poor parents. Nowthere was no other choice for him butto accept leading life as a blind.Qari Nadim left his studies and was

restricted to his home. His father usedto go for work while he remained at

home with his mother along with hislittle brothers and sisters.He was curious to explore new

things. Slowly and gradually hestarted opening electronic deviceslike fans, electric motors of juicerand washing machine. And one dayhe learned the skill to fix suchmachines. In the beginning, he lost

many electronic appliances whilemaking an experience. But a timecame when he not only managedsuccessfully assembling the devicesbut also fixing the problems of theout-of-order machines.Slowly and gradually, he developed

his skills as electrician and heestablished a workshop adjacent to

his home. Today, Nadim earns a goodamount with his skill as electrician.Interestingly, he has no teacher inthis field and he has learnteverything on his own.In leisure time, Qari Nadim plays

rubab, sitar, piano and flute; he isskilled like a musician. In 2006, QariNadim inclined towards religion and

he started memorising the holy Quran.“It took me only nine months tomemories the Quran; and at themoment I teach Quran to around 60children in the nearby by Masjid-ul-Umsan,” he said.Qari Nadim used to swim in nearby

River Swat since his childhood; he cancross the river like a skilled swimmer.In 2010, the inquisitive guy wished toride a bicycle and succeeded in thisadventure, too. In the following year hestarted riding motorbike; today he canride a motorbike.“I ride motorbike in my own area; I

go to the nearby bazaar with it,” he said.Qari Nadim while riding bike does notuse the method of echolocation thatworks as sonar but he recognizes routeswhile using his powerful mind. “I can’texplain what guides me but I ride thebike and you can see it,” he added.Two years back Qari Nadim married

a girl in his own town and today he isfather a nine-month-old Aliyan. Themarital life of Qari Nadim is goingwell; he is thankful to Allah that he isnot dependent on others. “The onlydesire I have to regain my eyesight tosee my near and dear ones once again.Doctors have suggested that it ispossible but it needs a huge amountthat I can’t aPord,” he said.

A daredevil from Malakand with multiple talents�Qari Nadim became blind in an explosion caused by fireworks �He manages many things, from running an electrical workshop to swimming across River Swat

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: According to a GilaniResearch Foundation survey carried out byGallup Pakistan, 39 per cent of Pakistanissay ‘throwing acid’ is the worst crimecommitted against women.A nationally representative sample of

men and women from across the fourprovinces was asked “In your opinion, whatis the worst crime committed againstwomen?” Responding to this, 39 per centsaid throwing acid, 24 per cent saiddomestic violence, 21 per cent said honourkilling and 13 per cent said vani (childmarriage). However, three per cent did notgive a response.Comparing results between localities,

there is not much diPerence between rural(39 per cent) and urban (40 per cent) areasin identifying ‘throwing acid’ as the worstcrime committed against women. However,32% of people living in urban areas thinkdomestic violence is the second worst crimecommitted against women, whereas it wasonly identified by 20% in rural areas.The study was released by Gilani

foundation and carried out by GallupPakistan, the Pakistani aOliate of GallupInternational. The recent survey was carriedout among a sample of 2659 men andwomen in rural and urban areas of all fourprovinces of the country, during February 18,2013 – February 25, 2013. Error margin isestimated to be approximately ± 2-3 percent at 95% confidence level.The survey comes as the country is

heading towards general elections. It is aknown fact that women are not allowed touse their right to franchise in some areas.

But in a pleasant development, all politicaland religious parties in Lower Dir agreed theother day to back women’s participation invoting and follow the election code ofconduct during the upcoming generalelection.In this regard, an all parties’ meeting was

held at Timergara Rest House, which wasattended by contesting candidates andlocal heads of diPerent political andreligious parties, sources privy to themeeting told Dawn.JI district chief Maulana Asadullah and its

candidate for NA-34 Yaqub Khan, JUI-Fdistrict amir Qazi Fazlullah, ANP districtgeneral secretary and candidate for PK-94Mohammad Ayub, PTI district presidentFakhruz Zaman, PPP district presidentKhurshid Ali and general secretaryKhadimul Islam, PML-N’s Samiullah Khatirand QWP district president MohammadUmar attended the meeting.The sources said that issues discussed on

the occasion included Election Commissionof Pakistan’s code of conduct for politicalparties, law and order situation, hatespeeches, women’s participation and electioncampaign. The parties agreed to strictlyfollow the ECP code of conduct and avoidhate speeches against each other.The issue of women’s participation was

discussed in detail and it was announced thatno political or religious party would barwomen from voting. However, theyexpressed concern over the establishment ofonly six separate polling stations for womenin the district. They urged the ECP toincrease their number. –AGENCIES

Majority ratesacid throwingas worst crime

Nadim owns a workshop adjacent to his house in Batkhela. Despite having a religious mind, he still likes to play rubab in leisure time. –STAFF PHOTOS

�Survey says most people in urban areas considersdomestic violence as the biggest issue

AABBBBOOTTTTAABBAADD:: Childhood innocence – A boy taking interest in a political gathering (not in the picture) while sitting ontree branches. Election campaign has begun across the country as political parties are finalising their candidates. –ONLINE

JJAAMMPPUURR:: At least twelve persons,including women and children, diedand several wounded, when a passengerbus overturned on the Indus Highwayon Wednesday.Police said that the mishap occurred on

Indus Highway at Hameedwala in TehsilJampur of District Rajanpur, when aspeeding passenger bus on way from DeraGhazi Khan to Kot Mithan trying to avoida head-on clash with a tractor trolleyturned turtle, which resulted in the deathof twelve persons including women andchildren, while several persons out of over40 on board were wounded. The bodiesand the injured have been shifted to theJampur Tehsil Headquarter Hospital,where some of the injured are reported tobe in critical condition. –ONLINE

OUR STAFF REPORTER

MMAARRDDAANN:: The Pakhtunkhwa MilliAwami party (PkMAP) and JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) haveannounced their candidates for the threenational and eight provincialconstituencies of Mardan.Naeem khan will be the candidate of

PkMAP for NA-9, Gohar Khan for NA-10and Ikram Khan for NA-11. For the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Assembly, the PkMAPcandidates are: Maqsood Khan PK-23,Inam Khan for PK-24, Yasir Ali Shah PK-25, Malik Taj PK-26, Essa Khan PK-27, AliHaider Khan for PK-28, Khair MuhammadPK-29 and Humayun Khan PK-30.The JUI-F has also announced its

candidates, according to which, thedistrict chief of the party and former MNAMaulana Shuja-ul-Mulk in the race forNA-9, while former MNA MaulanaMuhammad Qasim and Maulana MuftiMehmood are the party candidates forNA-10 and for NA-11 respectively. For theprovincial assembly, the JUI-F nomineesare: Mufti Ajmal Khan PK-23, formerMPA Maulana Amanat Shah PK-24,former MPA Maulana Israr-ul-Haq PK-25, Kishwar Khan PK-26, Shahid KhanPK-27, former provincial minister HafizAkhtar Ali PK-28, Haji Tawos Khan PK-29 and ex-MPA Taj-ul-Amin Jabal PK-30.

PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: In a latestincident, a governmentoOcial belonging to Shia sectwas shot dead on Wednesdayby unidentified armed menin an apparent sectarianattack, police said.According to police,

Peshawar MunicipalCorporation Sub-DivisionalOOcer Khawaja Imran wason his way in his car alongwith his son in Gulberg areawhen unknown armed menopened fire at him, killinghim on the spot, while hisson sustained injuries. Theattackers fled the scene aftercommitting the crime. Nooutfit claimed responsibilityfor the killing till filing ofthis report. –AGENCIES

OUR STAFF REPORTER

PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: Speakers at a day-longFATA Youth Media festival, held atNishtar Hall Peshawar on Wednesday,highlighted the importance of mediaand role of youth in the developmentof society and take the steps to bringthe problems of internally displacedpersons (living in Jalozai camp and oPcamp) on government agenda.The festival was organised by the

United Rural DevelopmentOrganization (URDO), a Peshawarbase national organization working onto make people about goodgovernance, bring peace and promoteeducation and human rights. Caretaker Minister for Information

and Education of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Musarat Qadeem wasthe chief guest while Information

Secretary Azmat Hanif Orakzai andpeople from all walks of life were alsopresent on the occasion.Around 200 photographs were

displayed in Nishtar Hall captured bythe IDPs youth living in Jalozai campand host localities in Peshawar andadjacent areas. The photographsenthralled a large number ofspectators and trainees’ families, whocame over to witness the success ofthe work produced by the youthwhile attending three diPerentstreams of trainings in learning thetechniques of storytelling throughthree entirely diPerent media.While addressing on the occasion,

Musarat Qadeem, said that in currentwaves of terrorism mostly aPectedpeople of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andFata, adding that everyone thoughthow to end terrorism and extremism

in the country. She said that Pakistanwas passing through critical situation.“The only way to bring normalcy in theregion is promotion of such activitieswhich leads towards peace andstability,” she viewed. “We are the key factors to bring

peace in Pakhtun region. Social mediaand main stream media playsimportant role to highlight the issuesand problems of the people either theylive in camps or in host localities. Wehave to project our issues throughmedia and show to the rest of theworld that we are not terrorists andthat foreign hands have imposed themenace of terrorism on us,” she said.While appreciating the work done

by IDPs youth, she said that throughsuch pictures and video reports onecould show miserable lives andproblems of people living in camps

to the rest of the world, adding shehoped that other nations would beable to realize that Pakhtuns werenot terrorists while they were thereal victims of terrorism. Shementioned that such creativeactivities were necessary for theyouth as it channelize the abilities ofyouth, adding that she had the desireto revive cultural activities for theyouth and polish their hiddenpotential and skills.She said that she had full confidence

over the youth and they would not bemisled by anti-state elements. In midof the program, students of a localschool performed Khatak Dance withPashtu music which greatlyentertained the spectators.URDO offered total 20 trainings

of 5-day each, including nine onphotography, six on video

storytelling and five trainings onaudio storytelling, in which almost200 IDPs youths including 150male students and 50 female tookparticipation. InformationSecretary Azmat Hanif Orakzai saidthat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andFederally Administered Tribal areaswere playing front role in waragainst terrorism and insurgency inPakhtun belt. He added that theaim of this organisation was to giveplatform to the youth and makethem aware how to use media forthe betterment society. Irum Javaid belonging to Khyber

Agency said that she had desire ofvideo storytelling and she learnedskills of it, adding that she would nowtry her best to highlight the issues ofIDPs families living either in campsor host localities of the province.

Pakhtuns not terrorists but victims of terrorism: Minister

OUR STAFF REPORTER

GGHHAALLAANNAAII:: A grand jirga ofMohmand tribesmen was heldat the hujra of Senator MalikIdrees Safi in which tribesmenfrom Haleemzai, Safi, Baizai,Khewezai, Utman Khel,Tarakzai, Musa Khel and EssaKhel participated.Addressing the jirga, Malik

Haji Jan Said Musa Khel, MalikMuhammad Anwar, Malik HajiUmar Said Haleemzai, HajiHabib Said Danish Kool, MalikMual Din Utaman Khel, LalBacha Tarakzai, Malik MisalKhan, Mohammad Rahim, HajiJalat Khan Musa Khel andKhanzada Essa Khel said thatSenator Mohammad Idrees Safihas done lot of services for the

Mohmand tribesmen andresolved the basic issues faced bytribesmen. They said that thesenator also resolved the basicissue of Mohmand tribesmen(slum) in Rawalpindi. They alsodecided that they would supportMalik Dawood Safi, anindependent candidate in theupcoming election.They said that now they

wanted to send the young andtalented candidate to theparliament who will point outvoice for the tribesmen on thefloor of parliament.On the occasion Senator

Mohammad Idrees Safi told thathe will resolve all the basic issuesof Mohmand tribesmen. Heassured that he would notdisappoint the tribesmen.

Mohmand tribesmen support new candidate

Senator Mohammad Idrees Safi addressing a jirga. –STAFF PHOTO

OUR STAFF REPORTER

AATTTTOOCCKK:: In a tragic incident, thekidnappers killed a young boy evenafter receiving the ransom amountof Rs 0.3 million.According to details, Noor Alam,

son of Noor Muhammad andresident of village Dakhnair, hadinformed the police that his son,studying in Attock city, did returnedhome. Police registered an FIR andstarted a search for the boy.After a day, the father received a

telephone call during which theunidentified kidnappers demandedransom for the release of his child.Resultantly, they paid the demand ofthe kidnappers but they did notreturn the boy. On the other hand,the oOcials from Attock City Police

Station City continued andinvestigating the matter. Theymanaged to trace the abductors byusing the mobile number fromwhich they had called Noor Alam. Asa result, they arrested a personZeeshan who is also a resident ofDakhnair. During interrogation, herevealed that he had killed the childand dumped his body in Sheen BaghKalan, a village located at a distanceof four kilometers from Dakhnair.Police raided the area the other dayand recovered the body from thelocation disclosed by Zeeshan.Sources say Zeeshan has also

shared the names of two of hisaccomplices involved in the crime,but police are reluctant to revealtheir names so that they are able toarrest the culprits.

Boy killed even afterreceiving ransom

PkMAP, JUI-Fin final shape forMardan race

PPEESSHHAAWWAARR:: The Met OOce hereWednesday forecasted scattered-rainthunderstorm in Peshawar, DI Khan andBannu divisions during next 24 hours.According to Met OOce here, a shallow

trough of westerly wave is aPectingBalochistan and is likely to persist duringnext 24-48 hours. The weather ofParachinar, Peshawar, Bannu and DI Khanwill remain cloudy with chances of rain inthe said period.Also, scattered rain-thunderstorm is

expected in Quetta, Zhob, Kalat, DIKhan, Bannu, DG Khan, While atisolated places in Sukkur, Larkana,Hyderabad, Multan, Makran, Peshawardivisions and Kashmir. Dry weather isexpected elsewhere in the country.In next 48 hours, scattered rain-

thunderstorm is predicted in northeastBalochistan (Quetta, Zhob, Kalatdivisions), while isolated places in KP,upper and central Punjab, Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan is also expected. –AGENCIES

Rain predictedin Peshawar,Bannu, DI Khan

Twelve dead inIndus Highwaybus crash

Govt oOcialshot dead

Violence against women

Sectarian killing

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

THE SPOKESMANChief Editor: Huma Ali

Executive Editor: Atif MateenResident Editor: Saeed Minhas

Consulting Editors: Jalees Hazir Samina Choonara

The importance of Gwadar

So, Gwadar seems to be the placewhere another century of the greatgame is likely to take off. The ideaseems awe-inspiring, although theinfrastructure for it seemsridiculously lacking.I had travelled throughoutBalochistan and was searching foranswers to my question: why isBalochistan on fire? Why hashatred and violence hit this part ofthe country? Is it the fight overaccess to natural resources orsomething else hidden from view?I held prolonged meetings withfriends from different ethnic andsocial backgrounds, and the longjourney ended at Gwadar - theworld’s one and only, shortest andcheapest gateway to Central Asia.A few years back, when I wasreporting from the Afghan-Pakistan border region, I hadcoined the term “Two-G’s”. I alwaysquestioned why there is so muchchaos and disturbance in the2500-kilometer area starting fromGilgit and going right down toGwadar. Particularly, whenever Ivisited Dera Ismail Khan, itseemed torn by violence includingsuicide bombings, bombings andtarget killings. I kept askingmyself: why Dera Ismail Khan?Now, after visiting Balochistan Ifound my answer. There is areason: Dera Ismail Khan fallsright in the middle of the Two-G’s.This Two-G’s area is basically aconnecting route for the emergingsuper power, China, to theinternational marine leadershiptrophy: Gwadar.With the USmarines stationed inthe Indian and Gulf oceans, closelywatching the situation with theirpermanent bases in Afghanistan, theUS already has a dominant role in thecontrol of the vast energy resources ofunited Eurasia. US administrativestrategic interest is clear access toaTordable energy resources in thisregion. US Energy Secretary, BillRichardson, is on record, (reportedon 8 November 1998), about thepolicies of the US regarding theenergy resources of Eurasia.According to him, there are fourbasic objectives of the energy

policy. One, to overcome Russiancontrol over the energy transportroutes from Central Asia; two, tofind diversified energy resourcesupplies for promoting US energysecurity; three, to help in theconstruction of numerouspipelines in the lands controlled bythe US; and four, to stop theregional powers of Asia like China,India and Japan to approachCentral Asian oil and gasreservoirs.Now coming back to Gwadar,where is it placed in this globalchessboard of super powers? Theroad distance from Kushka-Turkmenistan to Gwadar is only 1200kilometers, whereas the nearest

Black Sea port of Odessa-Ukraineis approximately 3 400 kilometersaway from Central Asian states.Therefore, Gwadar is the mostviable option available for tradewith Central Asian Republics(CARs). It is even reasonable toassume that, once the port isoperational, trade as far as fromRussia can find its way through theGwadar port. This route isexpected to offer quicker andcheaper transportation than thefirst alternative. This is what adocument researched andprepared by Khyber PakhtunkhwaChamber of Commerce andIndustry says on page 186 of“Study on Trade Potential withAfghanistan and CARs”.This study discusses almost allmajor routes to the resources of

Central Asia. It states that from theUSA East Coast, Baltimore and NewYork ports via Baltic ports ofRiga/Tallin, Kotka via St. Petersburg(Russia) to Almaty would take 60days and cost 10,500 US dollars percontainer. As the business would beon the volume of the container, itcould go up with the size. Thesecond route is from the USAWestCoast, Port Seattle, Los Angeles viaChinese ports Qindao, Xiamen,Tianjin to Almaty, which would take60 days and cost 8,500 US dollarsfor the same size of container. Thethird route may be from England toAlmaty-Kazakhstan via Baltic portto Almaty, which would take 50 daysand would cost 6,200 Euros. The

fourth route is from South Africaand Australia, presently sendingcargo through Middle East, Indiaand Africa via Iran’s Port BandarAbbas to Almaty that would take 60days and cost 8,900 US dollars. Thefifth route is from Japan via China toAlmaty which would take 50 daysand cost 8,800 US dollars.Now just take a look at whatGwadar offers from the remotestport to Central Asia. There are tworoutes from New York to Almaty.One is from New York to Almatyvia Gwadar. It would take 35 daysand cost 8,500 US dollars for each40-feet container, which would bethe biggest size. There is anotherpossible route from New York toTashkent via Gwadar. It would takejust 30 days and cost 6,500 USdollars for each 40-feet container.

These are all the possible routes toCentral Asia. The given statisticsshow that only a lunatic wouldavoid Gwadar to Central Asia, asit’s almost half the cost and timetaken by other possible routes.So the line between the Two-G’sis basically a lifeline for globalpowers and likely to decide whichcountry leads in this century. Aftertaking over Gwadar, China hasshowed one of its cards, while theUS is eyeing the rest of its cards.This is one of the major reasons ofconflict and disturbance in thisregion. All the major players whoseinterests are rooted in Gwadar andCentral Asia are playing out theirpolitics from Gilgit to Gwadar. FViviano in its journal on Oil andGas rightly pointed out on 10September 2001:’ “Terroristsanctuaries” is a map of the world’sprinciple energy resources’. Thesituation is quite clear that it is notextremism, nationalism orsectarianism that is destroyingBalochistan and other areas butthese are merely different toolsemployed by imperialists to keepthis region in chaos for their ownvested interests.But what does China think aboutthis? China’s 2006 DefenseWhitepapers say, ‘Security issuesrelated to energy resources,finance, information andinternational shipping routes aremounting’. Since then, the securitychallenges have become bigger,and the new leadership in China islikely to get more involved insecuring its interests in the region.The US would like to retain itshold over the region and would notlike to allow Gwadar to developinto an alternative outside theircontrol. In my understanding, thatis the basic reason of the risingtensions in Balochistan, DeraIsmail Khan, FATA and Giligit andfor the slow development ofGwadar port. Gwadar is one issuewhich can be part of the solutionfor us, but due to our own folliesand lack of visionary leadership,has turned out to be part ofour problems.

THE WRITER IS AN INDEPENDENTJOURNALIST BASED IN PESHAWAR

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

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

It is not extremism, nationalism orsectarianism that is destroyingBalochistan but these are merelytools employed by imperialists tokeep this region in chaos for their ownvested interests. All the major playerswhose interests are rooted in Gwadarand Central Asia are playing out theirpolitics from Gilgit to Gwadar

A non-performingdemocracy is itself athreat to democracyCan anyone deny that democracy inPakistan has always been a non-performing one? One only wishes onecould. It is true down the core thatunfortunately democracy in thiscountry, for whatever period and inwhatever shape it existed, has been a

non-performing democracy. Themillion dollar question is, whoshould be held responsible for this;the politicians, the bureaucracy orthe people? If this vital issue is putto vote, spontaneous response fromevery segment of the society wouldnaturally be the politicians.Undoubtedly, the politicians (publicrepresentatives) who are voted topower by the people with theexpressed intent to manage theaffairs of the country must be heldultimately responsible for thefailure of democracy to deliver.Can we, however, overlook thefact that there are other players toowho are involved in the process ofgovernance of the country, and areequally responsible for makingdemocracy perform effectively orineffectively. The bureaucracy ofPakistan is equally responsible forthe poor or non-performance ofdemocracy in this country. By doingso, they, like the politicians of thiscountry, have brought undesirable

threat to democracy by theundemocratic forces. Thebureaucrats of this country havealways attributed their failure togovern effectively to the gratuitousdiktats of the ruling politicians. Isthis stance of theirs justifiable? No,it is totally invalid particularlywhen seen in the backdrop of thepolicies and rules and regulationsthat are there to run the affairs ofevery government ministry andorganisation.This amply proves that thepoliticians and the bureaucrats ofthis country are equally responsiblefor making democracy non-performing in our part of the world.Their personal gains and interestshave always been supreme to themand obviously, therefore, they havedeliberately kept the benefit andinterest of this nation always on theback burner. In the attainment oftheir personal goals the politicianshave always exerted undue pressureon the bureaucracy and other state

institutions, and compelled them todo things that were in their benefitand interest. The bureaucracy hasnot been different either. Most ofthe time, they audaciously compliedwith the unlawful orders of theirpolitical bosses. They had done soon the pretext of saving their jobs.Getting undue personal benefits forthemselves is yet another reasonwhy they have always gone out ofthe way to oblige their benefactors.The people are also partlyresponsible for the deep mess thiscountry is in today. They certainlycannot be absolved of thisresponsibility. In a democraticdispensation it is the people whoelect and place their representativesat the helm to govern the countryand bring progress and prosperityto the nation. Had the people ofPakistan exercised their right toelect their representativesjudiciously, and sent men ofintegrity and competence to thecitadel of power, democracy in this

country would not have been a non-performing democracy. It wouldhave delivered well and restrainedthe undemocratic forces fromdislodging the democraticdispensations on the basis of pooror non-performance.

M FAZAL ELAHIISLAMABAD

Closure of roads causingtraffic jams in Peshawar

It’s true that Peshawarites have tosuffer chaotic traffic in theireveryday lives. TraSc jams in ShobaBazzar and Ferdos create a lot ofproblems for the patients andattendants as well, who visit LadyReading Hospital while theconcerned authorities do not take any

step regarding the matter. AbdurRazzaq

ZOBIA BIBIZOBIABIBI@GMAIL.COM

PTI wins first of 15 rounds

Amir Sahab, I came across this blogfrom Yousuf Nazar's tweet. I have tosay you not only write good but youhave a very good grasp of details andhow they roll up to materialconsequences. I would love to readmore of your analyses.

FALCONYOUSAFMANZOOR@HOTMAIL.COM

Thanks for explaining the term"cosmetic liberalism". A citizen

ASHF.KHN@GMAIL.COM

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

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has banned postingsand transfers of government oScials in the country. According toa notification issued by the ECP on Tuesday, the president,caretaker prime minister, chairman and deputy chairman Senate,federal ministers, ministers of state, governors, chief ministers,provincial ministers, advisors to the prime minister and chiefministers and other public oScials have been barred from visitingany constituency for electioneering. The notification says theexecutive authorities in the federation and in the provinces shallnot use state resources anywhere in Pakistan for unfair advantageof a particular candidate or political party nor exercise undueinfluence aTecting the interest of a candidate or party. While allthis is very well, the notification raises a few pertinent issues.Critics of the ECP see the notification as little more than thecommission passing a routine order that it is not serious inimplementing. They point out ECP’s past conduct to drive homethis point. However, they overlook the fact that while thecommission in the past was appointed by the government, thepresent Chief Election Commissioner and members of thecommission are backed by bipartisan consensus and hence morelikely to be independent. On occasions, the commission hasshown that independence as well.At the same time, the ECP has been rather ineTective inkeeping in check the political governments at the centre and inthe provinces that have now been replaced by the caretakers.Right up to their last days in power, members of thesegovernments had flouted rules and principles of fairness throughpublic spending in constituencies, addressing election ralliesdisguised as ceremonies, postings and transfers and doling out ofgovernment jobs in bulk. The ECP had failed to take any actionagainst those indulging in these activities aimed at influencingelections. Stopping the caretakers from such activities might notbe such a big deal as they are not contesting elections and do nothave distinct political loyalties in most cases.Elections in the country have been marred by the unprincipleduse of public funds and state machinery by the sittinggovernments to their advantage. Despite the new constitutionalarrangement for appointing the ECP and the caretakers that isaimed at ridding the elections of such interference, the parties inthe just-ended governments did all they could to use theirpowers to influence the upcoming elections, including postingtheir loyal officers to important positions and places. In therun-up to the elections, and on the election day, the partisanconduct of such officers becomes a source of contention andcontroversy. Has the recent ECP notification made such taintedofficers invincible then?The ECP and the caretakers must devise a mechanism toreplace officers directly involved in the conduct of elections whoare found to be acting against the principles of impartiality andfairplay. Otherwise, the routine rule of banning transfers andpostings, meant to rein in partial caretakers, might prove to becounter-productive and actually pose a hurdle in the holding offree and fair elections.

Contentious postings

They are essentially dead men who justhappen to breathe. That is the grimassessment of the legal representative for theinmates in the American concentration camp,otherwise known as Guantanamo Bay.More than 11 years after this penal colonywas opened on the American-occupiedterritory of Cuba, there remains some 166prisoners who live in a nightmarish world ofindefinite detention.Hundreds of others have been groundthrough the machine, spewed out likehuman waste. Denial of human freedom istorture; denial of any sense of when thattorture ends adds a whole new barbarousdimension of cruelty.American vanity likes to indulge in beratingother countries for human rights violations:Russia, China, North Korea and Iran areparaded in the American media as pariahstates, accused of failing international legalstandards. In the past, the Soviet Union andits system of gulags was a particular favouritefeature for Americans to contrast theirsupposed freedoms. How the “high andmighty” self-proclaimed moral titans nowstand exposed as hypocrites and charlatans.Thanks to the suTering of prisoners at

Guantanamo, the world is seeing someshocking home truths about the real nature ofAmerican government and its formerlygrandiose pretensions. Without Guantanamo,the world may have been duped a little longerby the American art of deception. But notanymore. The American style of dictatorshiphas everything that the old Soviet system had,but with an added insidious trait - theAmerican delusion of exceptionalism.Think about it. In Guantanamo, they havebeen rendered from all over the world by theircaptors like so much wild animals, physicallyand mentally tortured, humiliated anddefiled. Most of them are Muslim, comingfrom Africa, the Middle East and Asia, wherethe US has been waging its permanentcharade “War on Terror” since 2001.Such is the cruel vindictiveness of theircaptor country that these men’s only freedom- to read their holy Korans in the solitude oftheir cells - has been denied to them. More.Their sacred beliefs have been stamped on.Not only have their captors incarcerated theirbodies; their tormentors want to hunt downtheir victims’ inner-most thoughts. This istaking human barbarity to scientific levels of

depravity where the human spirit is soughtout to be murdered.Ninety percent of the Guantanamo hostages- a more appropriate description than“inmate” - have never been charged with anyoTence. They are being held merely on thebasis of suspicion by an Americangovernment that has lost all credibility andmoral bearing in the eyes of the world.For nearly 50 days now, 26 of the men atGuantanamo have been on a hunger strike. Itis the only freedom left to these men. Torefuse the most basic means of subsistence.That length of time without food is pushingthe human body into a fatal condition. Themuscles have been eaten away now by thebody’s own metabolism to survive againstdeprivation; at this stage, the last vital organof the brain becomes internally digested.‘These men have figured out that probablythe only way for them to go home - cleared ornot - is in a wooden box,’ said their American-military appointed defence lawyer, Lt ColBarry Wingard, in a recent interview withRussia Today.Wingard, who has been granted only limitedaccess to consult with the prisoners said that

he was shocked by the “animal cage”conditions of the men when he last saw themthree weeks ago. ‘They will never get a trialbased upon the evidence that is against them,’adds Wingard.Let’s recap. Hundreds of men - in allprobability innocent of suspected wrongdoing- are held for up to 11 years without charge,tortured and denied proper legal support - allperpetrated by the government of the US thatproclaims to be the world’s standard bearer ofdemocratic and human rights andinternational law. This is the samegovernment that has overseen the invasionand illegal occupation of Afghanistan andIraq, murdering millions of innocents, in thename of establishing democracy andinternational law. But don’t confuse it.Guantanamo is not a vile contradiction ofAmerica’s lofty claims. It is in fact amicrocosm of the reality of how truly barbaricthe American government has become.Five years ago, when Barack Obama wasrunning for the US presidency, the closure ofGuantanamo was a central promise. To thecredit of the American people, they voted himinto the White House in order to tear down

this abomination of human rights andinternational law and all the associatedtorture that it represented under Bush andthe neocons.Into his second administration, Obama hasreiterated that Guantanamo is here to stay.How is that for a brazen betrayal and snub todemocratic demand of the people?Appropriately, Obama has outdone Bush,Cheney, Rumsfeld and Co. The imperialistpermanent war on the world is being steppedand expanded to target Syria, Iran, China andRussia and whoever else dares to stand in theway of American hegemony. Obama’swielding of secretive executive powers toexecute any one, any time, any place in theworld exceeds the fantasies of the Bushneocons.The abomination that is Guantanamo istherefore an important moment of truth as tohow far America has gone down the road toall-out fascism.Ironically, it is men who have been deprivedof everything even to the point of death whoare exposing this powerful truth.

(PRESSTV.IR)

Guantanamo exposes reality of US fascismFINIAN CUNNINGHAM Guantanamo is not a vile contradiction of America’s lofty claims. It is in fact a microcosm of the reality of

how truly barbaric the American government has become

Feedback from the web

FAKHAR KAKAKHEL

Given stats show that only a lunatic would avoid Gwadar as a route to the naturalresources of Central Asia, as it’s almost half the cost and time taken by other routes.As another great game begins, trouble is intensifying all along this golden route

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

The world was always a beautifulplace before humans took overthe land in huge numbers;learning how to survive, makingsocieties and laws anddeveloping new ideas. There isno limit to the imagination.There’s no limit to how we seethings, to analyse them and towonder.“Wonder” sounds like a wordextracted from a fantasy story butactually it is this exceptionalability to question the “why,where, when and how”, thatenables us to progress, developand improve our ways. Criticism isa strong word, often perceived asbeing negative, but life has provedthat people, groups and nationswho have practiced criticalthinking have prospered rapidly.As a critical thinker, one developsthe habit of analysing a situation,looking at a problem fromnumerous perspectives. Hence,this comprehensive approachoTers a better opportunity to drawclear conclusions and come to adecision to solve the problem athand.Looking for loopholes in aplan, keeping in mind the prosand cons of a decision to betaken, or to deeply analyse anissue, equips you with improvedlogical thinking. Enhanced logiccomes in handy during debate orwhere scientific reasoning isneeded to counter an argument.It is not a tool that helps youaccept the challenge of any exam,rather it becomes yourcompanion throughout the toughjourney of life.Thousands of years of struggleand man is still devising ways tomodel a perfect lifestyle, a rulebook or a system that wouldprovide all the necessaryingredients to form a flawlesssociety. It is a never-endingjourney. Times change, and withthe development of inventionsand problems, man has to evokehis ability to reason again, tosolve new hindrances andmysteries of life.Today, nations that give peoplethe right to question,economically and culturallydominate the rest. Conversely,nations that are rich in humanresource, despite the talents andskills of its people, have been leftbehind for the mere reason thattheir education system is notdesigned to trigger curiosity, togive confidence, to inquire or the

means to answer the secrets thathold the key to many problemsthat plague societies. Eventually,the weak and uneducated areforced to see life through theeyes of the rich, powerful andwicked; creating an imbalanceand unjust societies.Education plays a pivotal rolein crafting a vibrant society.Imagine passing through a darktunnel not knowing where itwould lead you and with no oneto guide you. Imagine a classwhere you are not allowed to askquestions. The books we areteaching today are not thought-provoking; our teachingmethodologies are just based onrote learning. Studying the seaon a beach for a Karachite is asextraordinary as it would be for aLahorite. And the types ofmountains in the north are asalien a piece of information for alad from Peshawar as theformation of a plateau must befor a dedicated student inQuetta. They are all memorisingthe heaps of paper and ink in thename of the syllabus. This has tochange!Education is a vast debate thatdeserves at least one separatearticle. I leave that for someother time. However, here Iwould like to request schoolmanagements to allow theteaching faculty to do the part oftheir jobs they were primarilyhired for, i.e, teaching. I implorethem to act like educationistsand not like businessinstitutions. Encourage your staffto refine their knowledge andskills further so that they grow asbetter guides each day. Researchwork must be considered anessential part of teaching. Today,we see schools wasting theirprecious human resource(teachers) working as guards inthe name of break and sportsduties, in certain cases for five tosix hours per week. This isclearly a loss of valuable time.Get an additional substituteteacher, hire a professionalsports trainer, for only healthybodies will result in healthyminds, and spare your front-lineassets to do their work to thebest of their abilities. How canwe bring forward inquisitiveyoung minds if we fail to exhibitthat as teachers?Critical thinking paves the wayto success. From individuals tonations, in order to survive in thebest manner, life has to beanalysed from multiple vistas.The right to assess and questionhas to be introduced, for a lifedeserves to be decorated with thebest frame one can pick.

THE WRITER IS A FREELANCER

In Paragraph 70 of its judgment in SanjayDutt’s appeal, the Supreme Court hasobserved thus: “In the case of Sanjay Dutt,the Designated Court took a view on thebasis of his own confession that theweapons were not acquired for any terroristactivity but they were acquired for self-defence, therefore, acquittal was recordedin respect of charge under Section 5 ofTADA. We fully agree with the same.”Section 96 of the Indian Penal Codeprovides: “Nothing is an offence which isdone in the exercise of the right of privatedefence.” Section 40 of the IPC providesthat Chapter 4 of the code is applicable tonot only offences punishable under IPCbut also to offences punishable underother special laws like the Arms Act, 1949.Section 96, which has been extractedabove, is in chapter 4 of the IPC. It is thusclear that if the weapons for the possessionof which Sanjay Dutt has been convictedunder the Arms Act had been acquired forself-defence, their possession without alicence would not, on the findings of theSupreme Court, in itself constitute apunishable offence.This important aspect of the matter hasbeen completely overlooked by theSupreme Court and constitutes a clearerror of law on the face of the judgmentitself. A review of the judgment on thisground would clearly lie and should beallowed by the same bench of the SupremeCourt to which it will go.However, generally, the judges of theSupreme Court hesitate to accept that theyhave made a mistake even when they have

made one. It is only really great andeminent judges who do not hesitate inaccepting their own mistake because it ishuman to err.In any case, even if the Bench rejects thereview application, it would be open toSanjay Dutt to file a curative petition,which right was evolved by the five-judgeConstitution Bench of the Supreme Courtin Rupa Hurra’s case (2002 (4) SCC 388).This curative petition can be filed onlyafter the remedy of a review petition hasbeen availed of and has been unsuccessful.According to the law laid down by theSupreme Court in Hurra’s case, such apetition will not go before the same benchwhich had decided Sanjay Dutt’s case butwill go before a larger bench which willhave to include not only the Chief Justiceof India but also the two senior mostjudges of the Supreme Court after theChief Justice.It is this larger bench that will have todecide the curative petition. There is noreason to feel that when this new benchdecides this question of law, which is soclear, it will not set aside the convictionand sentence of Sanjay Dutt.The evidence in the case fully establishesthat well before the Bombay blasts(12/03/1993), for which the entire trialhad taken place, there had been seriousriots in Bombay (December 1992-January

1993). Subsequent to the demolition of theBabri Masjid (06/12/1992), Muslims ofBombay were being targeted by the ShivSena and its mobs. The evidence furthershows that Sanjay Dutt’s father, SunilDutt, and the whole family was helping toprotect innocent Muslims being targetedby the Shiv Sena mobs. This had alsooccasioned an attack on Sunil Dutt himself(January 1993) for which he had written tothe authorities.It was evident that there was a cleardanger of a mob attack on Sanjay Dutt andhis family, including his parents. An attackby such a mob could not have beendeterred except by the threat of anautomatic weapon and it was for this veryreason that Sanjay Dutt had agreed toacquire the automatic weapon, namely, theAK-56 Rifle (in mid-January 1993). It isalso clear that no private person is evergranted a licence for acquiring anautomatic weapon and therefore the onlypossible way for Sanjay Dutt to protect hisfamily against a mob attack was to acquirethe automatic weapon through alternativechannels, so long as the purpose ofacquiring this automatic weapon was todefend his family from a mob attack, asboth the designated court and theSupreme Court clearly found on theevidence recorded. This act of acquiringthe possession of the automatic weapon

would not constitute the offence as shownabove from the relevant provisions of theIPC.The relevant facts and circumstances inwhich Sanjay Dutt had to acquire theautomatic weapon have been noticed inparagraph 74 of the judgment which isreproduced herein below:“It was also contended from the side ofthe appellant that in the year 1992-93, theappellant and his family members wereinvolved in helping people residing in riotaffected areas, more particularly,Behrampada, predominantly having aMuslim population which wasobjectionable to a certain group of personswho were of the opinion that the Duttfamily was sympathisers of only theMuslim community. In fact, this led to anattack on Sunil Dutt in January 1993, aswell as threatening phone calls were beingreceived at their residence, includingthreats to the family members being killedas well as the sisters of the appellant beingkidnapped and raped. This led to a greatand serious apprehension that an attackcould be perpetrated upon the Dutt familyin view of the fact that Shri Sunil Dutt hadalready been attacked.This apprehension was clearly set out inthe letter of Shri Sunil Dutt to the thenDCP of Zone VII dated 06.01.1993,wherein he asked for enhancing security

arrangements further and for more policeprotection at his house as deposed by PW-219 in this case.”It was in view of these circumstancesthat the Supreme Court reduced thesentence given to Sanjay Dutt from sixyears to five years as five years was theminimum prescribed term under Section25(1A) for being in possession of anautomatic weapon.It is clear from the above facts thatSanjay Dutt is an honourable person whoaccording to the Supreme Court had madea voluntary confession setting out all thefacts and circumstances in which he hadacquired the automatic weapon, theconfession which the Supreme Courtfound to be voluntary and true and hisconviction is also based on his ownvoluntary and truthful confession.It would be a travesty of justice if such aperson has to go to jail now merelybecause an important provision of law hasbeen overlooked by the Supreme Court.Either the Supreme Court in a review orcurative petition or any otherconstitutional authority which is entitledto grant him relief must do justice bymaking an order so that an honourableperson like Sanjay Dutt does not have tosuffer any more.

(THE HINDU)

Surprisingly, while the wholeworld seems concerned with howthe seventh-largest population ofthe world is drenched in terror,with poverty and scarcity affectingour lives and where peace andhappiness have become estrangedfrom our society, the rulers ofPakistan are silent.We have seen the Peoples’ Partymaking life hell for the people inthe last five years in office, all inthe name of serving the nation.There has been a tremendous hikein the price of the basiccommodities and a comparisonbetween the prices of essentials in2008 and now is quite revealing.Petrol now costs 104 Rupees perliter when it was only worth 56Rupees before the PPP came intopower. In 2008, diesel was worth39 Rupees per litre and now itcosts 111 Rupees. CNG that was 30Rupees per kilo is now priced 75Rupees per kilo. Purchasing amotor bike used to be priced at44,000 Rupees but now cost68,000, an air conditioner thatcost 15,000 Rupees is now priced42,000 Rupees. The Dollar hasrisen from 60 to 100 Rupees.Similarly, there is tremendousinflation in food prices. The priceof flour has increased from 12Rupees per kilo to 42; rice hasclimbed up from 60 to 130 Rupeesper kilo; sugar has gone up from27 Rupees to 55 Rupees per kilo;milk has risen from 30 to 70Rupees per kilo, oil price has goneup from 70 Rupees to 190 Rupeesper kilo, and electricity’s cost hasgone up from 3 Rupees per unit to9 Rupees in the past five years.

In reality, there is no othernation like us in the world interms of tolerating injustice. Citiesand villages do not have electricityfor 12 and 18 hours respectively. Totravel a few miles in the car, youhave to wait for several hours inlines for the CNG. In houses,women start praying for thesupply of gas right from the startof the day. PIA’s aircrafts andRailway’s trains are delayed by twodays without any technicalproblems or any explanations. Wesee more doctors of publichospitals protesting on the streetsrather than at work in thehospitals. The police is feared forbeing extortionists and fortorturing suspects to death atpolice stations even before anyoneis brought to trial.As for anything related to apublic participation in a healthy,joyous activity, all roads to thatseem blocked. No one from abroadcomes here to play cricket and ournational team keeps on losingwhen it travels. We do not evenfollow the decent norms of kiteflying, and hence, a ban oncelebrating Basant altogether hasbeen imposed.Politicians have grown used tolavish lifestyles. State institutionsare only concerned with their ownsurvival. The media considersfailure on the part of thegovernment and state institutionsas the reason for this chaos anddestruction. No organisation,political party, state figure or stateinstitution is heard or seen sayingthat the problems of Pakistan havebecome serious and that is whywe must rethink our priorities toplan ahead.

The problem is not just one ofgood governance and theperformance of police or othersecurity agencies. The problems ofPakistan require another kind ofthinking, one based on innovativeeducation and logical thinking.For me, the time has come for usto stop trying to solve Pakistan’sproblems through surface-levelanalysis and talk shows filled withthe advertisements and dictated bytheir ratings. The time for selfanalysis means we ask ourselvesinstead of laying the blame oneveryone else what is wrong withthe way we think.We are trying in vain to livethrough the support of lies, deceitand delusion. The claim is that wefollow the best religion in theworld and that in the past, weruled Europe and Spain. But as forour condition today, we have noanswers. Are we not the part of themodern world?All the philosophers andintellectuals of the world seem toagree that problems are caused bynegative thinking. We cannotchange our lives without changingour way of thinking. Here, thegovernment, politicians, mediaand all other institutions say thatchanging people will change theinstitutions. But no one everpoints to how events prove that weare not a normal and healthysociety but the victims ofpsychological and emotionalturmoil. Hurting others andsuffering has become the norm ofour lives. We cannot acceptdivergent points of view, and havelost the capacity to questionourselves. We want to settle everydifference and every problem

through the use of aggression.This is evident everywhere in theway we live and how we behavewith each other. There is so muchanger in public dealing and muchshow of power to establish who isin charge. It is generally the faultof the victim for being vulnerableand the poor have nowhere to gobut at each other’s throats.Differentiating between right andwrong and obliterating negativeand diseased ideas from our mindsdoes not interest us much. Thisattitude is a result of this societybecoming progressively antiknowledge.The honest truth is that thePakistan today is a victim of thedeceit of its rulers andthoughtlessness on the part ofeveryone else. What is happeninghere and why? This cycle of terror,insensitivity, poverty andlawlessness is continuing withouta break. There is no end to thepain. The question is who is theenemy of Pakistan? Who isresponsible for all this? Each oneof us is responsible for how weconduct ourselves around othersand to me, it is the sickness in ourthinking where it is not onlyothers who are responsible for thischaos but I am implicated too.When a nation spends heaps ofmoney on taxes related to police,army, weaponry, courts andprotocol, and invests very littletowards education, research,health and hygiene, then thatnation is an enemy to itself anddoes not believe in a future.

THE WRITER IS AN INDEPENDENTJOURNALIST CURRENTLY TEACHING

MEDIA STUDIES IN THE US

Self sabotage

This Sanjay Dutt plot needs a new ending

Nations that give people the right to question,economically and culturally dominate therest. Conversely, nations that are rich inhuman resource, despite the talents andskills of its people, have been left behind forthe mere reason that their education systemis not designed to trigger curiosity

HAFSA SIDDIQUE

TAHIR MALIK

It would be a travesty of justice if such a person has to go to jail now merely because an important provisionof law has been overlooked by the Supreme Court. Either the Supreme Court in a review or curative petitionor any other constitutional authority which is entitled to grant him relief must do justice by making anorder so that an honourable person like Sanjay Dutt does not have to su'er any more

SHANTI BHUSHAN

When a nation spends heaps of money on taxes related to police, army,weaponry, courts and protocol, and invests very little towards education,research, health and hygiene, then that nation is an enemy to itself

Critical inquiry

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

5 dead, 25 woundedas explosions rock IraqBBAAGGHHDDAADD:: Iraqi oPcials arereporting that at least 5 people havebeen killed in two separate explosionsin towns near Baghdad. A policeoPcer has told AP that a car bombexploded in the town of Musayyib onWednseday, killing 3 civilians andleaving 14 wounded. The explosionhappened in a resedential part of thetown, which is situated around 60 kmsouth of the capital. A second policeoPcer told the agency that a bombhad exploded at a restaurant inMadain, leaving 2 people dead andwounding 11. The town's 20 kmsoutheast of Baghdad. Security is amajor concern for the Iraqi army, withfrequent bomb attacks adding to theinstability in the country. –AGENCIES

Thai peacetalks begin todayKKUUAALLAA LLUUMMPPUURR:: Landmark peacetalks are due to begin between theThai government and Muslim rebelgroups today (thursday) in Malaysia'scapital Kuala Lumpur. The aim is tobring an end to nine years of violencewhich has killed more than 5-thousand people. Insurgents inThailand's far southern provinceswho have been fighting for anindependent Muslim state agreed tothe talks just a few weeks ago. But itsunclear to what extent thenegotiations are supported by theThai military or whether all rebelgroups are represented. –AGENCIES

Center-left fails to formgovernment in ItalyRROOMMEE:: Center-left head Pier LuigiBersani on Wednesday failed to strikea deal for forming a new Italiangovernment with the grassroots Five-Star Movement (M5S) which holdsthe balance of power after February'sinconclusive elections. Bersani metwith M5S's representatives in the firstformal consultation of this kind to bebroadcast live stream in Italy'spolitical history. M5S, which rejectsmainstream parties and won thesupport of eight millions of Italiansnauseated by scandal-hit politics,came third in the elections afterBersani's coalition and the center-right alliance of former premier SilvioBerlusconi. None of the three partiescame out strong enough to rule alone.Bersani told the M5S he was open tocollaborate on an eight-pointprogram which shares themovement's key objectives of moreequal social reforms and reduction ofhuge political expenditure. –AGENCIES

Quake sways buildingsin Taiwan, kills oneTTAAIIPPEEII:: A strong earthquake struckcentral Taiwan on Wednesday, killingat one person and injuring 19 as itdamaged buildings on the quake-prone island. The Central WeatherBureau said the magnitude 6.1earthquake was felt throughout theisland. Buildings swayed in thecapital, Taipei, and sections of thehigh-speed rail line were suspendedfrom service to be inspected fordamage. The US Geological Surveyplaced the magnitude at 6.0. Thequake’s depth was a relatively shallow15 kilometers (9 miles). EmergencyoPcials said a 72-year-old womandied when a temple wall she wasstanding next to collapsed andcrushed her in the mostly rural countyof Nantou. –AGENCIES

MICHAEL BRENNER

DRONES are still hoveringover the capital –figuratively, for the timebeing. The imagesgenerated by Eric

Holder’s disquieting testimony and RandPaul’s filibuster are lingering. They havenot ignited an uproar of protest againsttargeted assassinations, signature strikesor even the liquidating of Americancitizens when the White House judges itnecessary for the sake of nationalsecurity. There is, though, a measure ofconcerned discussion for the first time.Admittedly, that debate is being distortedby the kinds of specious arguments thatare a feature of the fearful atmosphericsproduced by the “war on terror”.There are a lot of red herrings being

trailed around Washington to distractfrom the dangerous path we are goingdown. They are being swallowed wholeby the media as per usual. One is toraise the prospect of having to dealwith another high-jacked plane headedto a populous target a la 9/11 - asbrought up by Senate Majority WhipDick Durbin during the filibuster. The most extreme situation is the one

that has captured the frightenedimagination via endless TV thrillers:the diabolical terrorist, perhaps anAmerican citizen, hovering over anuclear bomb that he is about todetonate. The stakes may be dire butthe situational logic is pretty mundane.You don’t need extraordinarypresidential authority that infringes onconstitutional protections to deal withthis situation. It is the same in kind asthe apprehension of a criminal with agun or any other weapon who raises itto shoot a hostage or police oPcer. Theauthoritative right to kill him isinherent in the police function –happens every week.There are very sound reasons why

certain prohibitions are written intolaw/ constitution/moral codes asabsolute. Provision for exceptions aresimply too laden with risk. There isnothing in the post-9/11 reality thatobliges us to call that prudentialwisdom into question. More than adecade after the horror of the TwinTowers we remain in the emotionalthrall of that event. Our deliberatethinking is easily compromised themoment its appalling imagery isreawakened by those who are selling a

particular policy or program thatotherwise cannot stand the test ofreasoned analysis. This has beenmanifest over the past few weeks by theObama administration’s evasiveness inrefusing to come clean on the droneprogram or to oQer an honest defense of it.Rand Paul was able to squeeze out of

Holder the following declaration: ‘Doesthe President have the authority to usea weaponized drone to kill anAmerican not engaged in combat onAmerican soil?’ The answer to thatquestion is no. Unequivocal? Not quite.Who defines what “combat” is? Onnumerous occasions, successiveadministrations have expanded on itsmeaning to cover anyone aiding andabetting those who may be planningterrorist acts. That inclusive conceptioncovers thousands of persons. Let usrecall that of all those who have beendetained at Guantanamo, only a smallminority were either engaged incombat or ready for combat asconventionally understood. Aclarification is imperative. Afghanistan and Pakistan, of course,

have the theater of combat wheredrones have been deployed and usedmost extensively. Despite the Obama

administration’s assiduous attempts tomask these activities in a veil of secrecy,they have revealed much in theircampaign to publicise supposedsuccesses. Others have added to therecord by revealing the large number ofcivilian casualties, target errors and theadverse eQect on our standing amongthe Afghans. Yet we have no idea at thispoint what the point of our costlyengagement there is. This has becomea mindless war in the literal sense.Today, no one in Washington canexplain our purpose in Afghanistan.There was a logic behind the decision

in 2002 to stay on after we unseatedthe Taliban and decimated al-Qaida;namely, to eliminate the Taliban as apolitical contender so that never in thefuture would they be in a position tohost a terrorist group on any part ofAfghan soil. When that objectivebecame unrealisable, we reverted toanother, weaker logic: we aimed tocoerce/persuade the Taliban to disarmand join the political process asstructured by the existing constitution.Now that, too, has gone up is smoke.Remember the 50 metrics that Obamapromised us in December 2009 – themetrics that would be scrupulously

monitored to gauge progress of theAfghan surge? The quicksilver fromthat set of barometers has long sincescattered with no one paying theslightest attention.So what’s left?: Hopes are pinned on

the Afghan National Army acquiringthe ability to suppress the insurgencywhile some as yet unidentified post-Karzai figure builds a politicalfoundation in Kabul. Good luck. TheANA has been a work in progress formore than a decade. It has only one unitassessed as fully operational; it harborsethnic tensions among Pashtuns, Tajiksand Hazaras; much of it is corrupt. Asfor the conjectured rise of a charismaticnational leader, that is a pipe dream. Whether Washington manages to

persuade Karzai et al to accept aresidual American force of 10-15thousand or not, whether we hangaround for 5 years or 10, the result willbe little aQected. The inevitableoutcome is a prominent place for theTaliban in Afghan politics, civil strife ofsome unknowable scope and intensity,a weak central government, andprogressively declining Americaninfluence (as in Iraq). All of this wasforeseeable. That means little if any

benefit to the national interest – butquite a bit still at stake in terms ofnational pride and individuals’career/political interests. That is thedefinition of mindless.It is becoming clear that the White

House’s reference date for getting theAfghan monkey oQ Uncle Sam’s back isnot 31 December 2014 – despitesolemn avowals. It is 21 January 2017when Obama leaves oPce and retiresto write his memoirs. Between nowand then there will be more reviews,more task forces, more meetings spenthaggling over tactical options. Ourleaders, following precedent, will belike blind men who spend endlesshours rigorously cleansing, fitting andinserting their contact lenses. “Withfaith everything is possible” – so we areencouraged to believe. Achieving acoherent approach to Afghanistan willprovide the sternest of tests for thatoptimistic proposition.There is some small hope that we can

escape from its suQocating weightinsofar as targeted killings ofAmericans is concerned. Liberationfrom the tentacles of the 9/11 decadeon other matters is even less probable.

(Counterpunch)

Droning on

CONGO: British Foreign Secretary William Hague and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie visit Nzolo refugee camp in Democratic Republic ofCongo. Jolie joined William Hague in a bid to encourage world powers to do more to tackle rape and sexual assault in war zones. –WIRE SERVICE

SSEEOOUULL:: North Korea cut oQ thelast remaining military hotlineswith South Korea on Wednesday,accusing President Park Geun-hyeof South Korea of pursuing thesame hard-line policy of herpredecessor that the North blamedfor a prolonged chill in inter-Korean relations. Amid tensions over the North’s

third nuclear test last month andensuing United Nations sanctions,North Korea had already shut downRed Cross hotlines with SouthKorea and a communication linewith the American militarycommand in South Korea. But itsdecision to cut oQ military hotlineswith South Korea on Wednesdaywas taken more seriously in Seoulbecause the two Koreas have usedthose four telephone lines to controldaily cross-border traPc of workersand cargo travelling to the NorthKorean border town of Kaesong. The two countries run a joint

industrial park at Kaesong, the laststanding symbol of inter-Koreancooperation that has survived thepolitical tensions of recent years.Seoul oPcials said 887 South

Korean workers were in Kaesong onWednesday. The traPc was runningnormal on Wednesday, SouthKorean oPcials said, indicating thatthe North Korean military did notgo so far as to stop cross-bordereconomic exchanges. “There do not exist any dialogue

channel and communicationsmeans between the DPRK and theUS and between the North and theSouth,” said a North Koreanstatement sent to the South Koreanmilitary by telephone and latercarried by the North’s oPcialKorean Central News Agency. “Notwords but only arms will work onthe US and the South Koreanpuppet forces.” The North’s action came a day

after its top military commandordered all its missile and artilleryunits to be on “the highest alert”and ready to strike the UnitedStates and South Korea. It alsovowed to take “substantialmilitary actions” to retaliateagainst joint US-South Koreanmilitary drills, which involvedAmerican B-52 bomber sortiesover South Korea. –AGENCIES

DPRK shutslast hotline toSouth Korea

CCAAIIRROO:: Egyptian PresidentMohamed Mursi said onWednesday parliamentaryelections could be delayeduntil October, apostponement that wouldgive his cash-strappedgovernment breathing roomto negotiate an IMF deal.Mursi's original plan was

for a four-stage election thatwould start in late April andput a parliament in place byJuly. But the schedule wasturned on its head thismonth when a courtcanceled the presidentialdecree setting the dates."Perhaps the elections will

be held in the comingOctober," state news agencyMENA quoted Mursi assaying. He expected thelower house to convene bythe end of the year. It willtake two and a half monthsto complete a new electionlaw and another two monthsto prepare for the vote.The postponement

removes one source of frictionbetween Mursi and thesecular-minded oppositionthat had planned to boycottthe vote, saying the electionlaw had been drawn up to suitMursi's Muslim Brotherhoodand other Islamists. –AGENCIES

KKAABBUULL:: The United Nations envoy toAfghanistan is calling on the Taliban totake part in peace talks, as most NATOcombat troops mobilize to leave thecountry by the end of 2014.Speaking at a news conference in

Kabul Wednesday, Jan Kubis told theinsurgents to take into account thatthere will be no international fightingforce at the end of next year inAfghanistan. He urged them to take thenecessary measures to contribute totheir country's long-term peace.Although Afghan President Hamid

Karzai has been championing a moveto have the Taliban open an office forpeace negotiations in Qatar, overturesfor peace by the internationalcommunity and Afghan governmenthave largely failed.The Taliban refuse to hold direct talks

with the Karzai administration, callingit a "puppet regime" of the internationalcoalition. Meanwhile, Afghanauthorities in eastern Logar provincesay joint military operations with NATOkilled at least 23 Taliban militants andwounded 26 others. The two-daymilitary operation in the village ofSajwan ended late Tuesday.Police officials say authorities

captured more than 40 militants. Otherlocal officials say five civilians died inthe operation. The Taliban confirmedthe deaths of only 12 Taliban fighters.Pointing out that a "strong motivation"for insurgents was the fight againstforeign troops, Kubis said: "There will

be no international fighting force at theend of 2014. "Take this into account.Adjust and take necessary measures tocontribute to the surge of a peaceful andstable Afghanistan after 2014." Efforts by the international communityand the Afghan government to bring theTaliban to meaningful negotiations havelargely been thwarted. The Talibanpublicly refuse to hold direct talks withKabul, considering it a US puppet. The militia broke off tentative contactswith the United States in Qatar inMarch 2012 after the failure ofattempts to negotiate a prisonerexchange as a confidence-buildingmeasure. Karzai said he plans to visitQatar, with US backing, to discuss theproposed opening of a Taliban office inthe emirate as a prelude to possiblepeace talks. The UN envoy welcomed Karzai's visit."We took good note of the plan of MrPresident to visit Qatar these days andagain we hope that some messages arecoming after this visit," Kubis said.Until earlier this year, Karzai rejectedthe idea of a Taliban office in Qatarbecause of fears that his governmentwould be frozen out of any deal betweenthe United States and the militants. The president has often called theTaliban "brothers" in a gesture topromote reconciliation, but he alsoaccuses them of holding secret talkswith the US at the same time as theylaunch suicide attacks that killcivilians. –AGENCIES

UN urges Talibanto join peace process

Mursi seesEgypt votedelayed bysix months

DDOOHHAA:: The refusal of internationalpowers to provide Patriot missilesupport for rebel-held areas ofnorthern Syria sends a message toPresident Bashar al-Assad to "dowhat you want", Syrian oppositionleader Moaz Alkhatib said onWednesdayAlkhatib, a popular figure in the

opposition, also said he would notrescind his resignation as leader ofthe main anti-Assad alliance but hewould still perform leadership dutiesfor the time being.NATO said on Tuesday it had no

intention of intervening militarily inSyria after Alkhatib said he had askedthe United States to use Patriotmissiles to protect rebel-held areas

from Assad's air power."Yesterday I was really surprised by

the comment issued from the WhiteHouse that it was not possible toincrease the range of the Patriotmissiles to protect the Syrian people,"Alkhatib told Reuters in an interview."I'm scared that this will be a

message to the Syrian regime tellingit 'Do what you want'."Asked about his resignation on

Sunday as leader of the rebel coalition- which he has said was motivatedmainly by frustration at Westernreluctance to increase support for theopposition - he said: "I have given myresignation and I have not withdrawnit. But I have to continue my dutiesuntil the general committee meets."

Alkhatib took Syria's vacant seat atan Arab League summit in Qatar onTuesday, deepening the Assadgovernment's diplomatic isolationtwo years into a conflict that has costan estimated 70,000 lives. The 22-nation League lent its support togiving military aid to the Syrian rebelsand a summit communique alsooQered some of its sternest languageyet against Assad, aPrming memberstates had a right to oQer help.But Tuesday's proceedings oQered

no clarity on Alkhatib's position in theleadership, a question central to Araband Western eQorts to shore up thepolitical credibility of the oppositionand heighten pressure on Assad andhis inner circle. –AGENCIES

‘Refusal of missile request fortifies Syrian govt’

Knox case puts Italianjustice under scrutinyRROOMMEE:: When crooked American financier Bernie MadoQ wassentenced in New York, the leading Italian newspaper Corriere dellaSera published a front-page cartoon mocking Italy's trial system. Onone side was a US courtroom, where a judge was handing down a 150-year sentence after a six-month trial. On the other, an Italiancourtroom with a judge handing down a six-month sentence after a150-year trial. That's how the country's No. 1 newspaper summed upItaly's slow-moving, and at times inconclusive, justice system. Thedecision by Italy's highest criminal appeals court to overturn theacquittals of American student Amanda Knox and her former Italianboyfriend, and order a new trial in the 2007 slaying of her Britishroommate, is once again raising concerns both at home and abroadabout how justice works in Italy. It's a system where people cleared ofserious crimes can have the threat of prison hanging over them foryears, while powerful politicians such as former premier SilvioBerlusconi can avoid jail sentences almost indefinitely by filing appealafter appeal until the statute of limitations runs out. –AGENCIES

Afghanistan and Pakistan have the theater of combat where drones have been deployed and used most extensively. Despite the Obamaadministration’s assiduous attempts to mask these activities, they have revealed much in their campaign to publicise supposed successes

� North Korean army says not words but onlyarms will work on US and S Korean puppet forces

Russia criticises giving Arabsummit seat to Syrian oppositionMMOOSSCCOOWW:: Russia criticized the Arab League on Wednesday forgiving a seat formerly held by Syria's government to a representativeof the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad at a summit in Doha.Opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib took Syria's vacant seat onTuesday at the Arab summit, which also lent its support to givingmilitary aid to the rebels fighting to oust Assad. "In Doha, anotheranti-Syria step was taken," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in astatement. "Developments at the Arab League summit in Doha anddecisions taken there, regardless of objections by some memberstates, cause bewilderment to say the least." Russia is Assad's mostpowerful ally and a long-time arms supplier to his government. Ithas blocked three UN Security Council resolutions that wouldmount pressure on Assad to end the violence that killed more than70,000 people in two years. –AGENCIES

Euro plummets tofour-month low vs dollarNNEEWW YYOORRKK::The euro tumbled to itslowest level against the U.S. dollar inover four months on Wednesday,weighed down by a weak Italian bondauction and concerns that Cyprus'srecent rescue deal could serve as anarchetype for future bailouts in theregion. A stalemate over the formationof a new Italian government also hurtdemand at an Italian debt auction.Meanwhile capital controls likely to beimposed when Cyprus banks re-openon Thursday were restricting foreigntransactions. Cyprus and the EU,European Central Bank and the IMFagreed Monday to restructure its twolargest banks forcing shareholders andlarge depositors at the Bank of Cyprusand Popular Bank of Cyprus to takelosses in return for 10 billion eurobailout. "Cyprus is certainly stillweighing on the euro, but the bulk ofthe move lower today was triggered bythe Italian debt auction," said GregAnderson, G10 strategist at CitiFX, adivision of Citigroup in New York."Rising Italian borrowing costs and itspolitical situation are both negatives,"he said. –AGENCIES

Global shares, euro tumbleon Italy, Cyprus worriesNNEEWW YYOORRKK: Major stock markets felland the euro slumped to a four-monthlow against the dollar on Wednesday,hit by a disappointing Italian bondauction and concern about the widerimpact of the Cyprus bailout on theeuro zone. Safe-haven governmentbonds rallied. U.S. Treasuries debtprices jumped, driving benchmarkyields to their lowest levels in threeweeks. German bunds also gained.Italy, at a debt auction on Wednesday,paid more to borrow over five yearsthan it has since October as lack ofprogress in forming a newgovernment and worries aboutCyprus's bailout hurt demand. Cyprusis finalizing capital control measures toprevent a run on banks by depositorsafter the country agreed a bailout dealthat will wipe out some senior bankbondholders and impose losses onlarge depositors. –AGENCIES

Reliance on DeutscheBank outweighs scandalsFFRRAANNKKFFUURRTT:: Germany hasbecome so dependent on DeutscheBank to grease the wheels of itsexport driven economy that it lookswilling to gloss over scandalsinvolving its largest bank. Deutscheis one of several European banksunder investigation by regulators inEurope and the United States for itssuspected role in rigging benchmarkinterest rates. It is cooperating withGerman authorities in a separateinquiry into alleged tax fraud.Deutsche has denied allegations itmisvalued derivatives and mis-soldmortgage-backed securities. Such anarray of inquiries could be expectedto damage any bank's reputation.But back-up from business leadersand key members of the bank'ssupervisory board appear to behelping Deutsche's new co-chiefexecutives Anshu Jain and JuergenFitschen put the scandals behindthem. The two men, with more than40 years experience at Deutschebetween them, took over as co-CEOson June 1. –AGENCIES

CURREnCY BUYInG SELLInGUS DOLLAR 99.00 99.25EURO 124.88 125.10BRITISH POUND 147.48 147.71UAE DIRHAM 26.65 26.90SAUDI RIYAL 26.15 26.38KUWAITI DINAR 342.16 348.72CANADIAN DOLLAR 95.59 97.29

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

Why Cyprus is a special caseThe Cyprus bailout deal is a big improvement over

the first botched attempt. It doesn’t repeat the errorof breaching the guarantee on bank deposits up to

100,000 euros. Instead, it restructures the two biggestbanks and forces their creditors, including large depositors,to take huge losses. Yet the euro area’s leaders must do a lotmore to convince Europeans and the markets that theyhave drawn the right lessons from this debacle. They needto say clearly why Cyprus is an exception and commit tointegrating the euro area further so that it’s less vulnerableto such crises. They’re failing on both points. The head ofthe euro area group of finance ministers, JeroenDijsselbloem, appeared to draw all the wrong conclusionsin a March 25 interview, after the new deal was struck. Hesuggested that the Cyprus pact oQered a new template forresolving the debt crisis.Under this new model, the burden of repairing banks

would shift from taxpayers to private creditors. Specifically,Dijsselbloem said he hoped the new approach meant thatthe 500- billion-euro European Stability Mechanismwould never be used to directly recapitalize banks.Leaders from the wealthier northern-tier countries,

including Germany, Finland and the Netherlands(Dijsselbloem is Dutch) advocate such an approachbecause it would avoid further transfers from north tosouth. This would be fine if it were possible. It isn’t -- notif the euro area is to remain intact. Upon hearingDijsselbloem’s remarks, any bondholder or depositor in aweak Spanish or Italian bank would be inclined to run,leading banks in those countries to collapse. Thankfully,he quickly recanted in a short statement, which saidCyprus is not a model. Such fumbling is another exampleof the whiplash euro-area leaders have been causing. Isthere, or isn’t there, a guarantee on deposits below100,000 euros, for example? Just a week ago, the so-calledtroika of euro area creditors -- the European Commission,the European Central Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund -- said there wasn’t: They agreed to a dealin which the Cypriot government would take 6.75 percentfrom all deposits below the threshold. The latest Cyprusbailout is peppered with commitments to the “principle” ofa deposit guarantee. So which version of euro-areaintentions should depositors in Spain believe?National leaders and the IMF should state clearly why

Cyprus is diQerent. Unlike Spain, Portugal or Ireland, Cypriotbanks are in trouble because they’ve attracted waves of hotmoney from abroad, in particular Russia. Cypriot banks haveassets eight times bigger than the nation’s gross domesticproduct. It’s wrong to ask taxpayers, whether in Cyprus orGermany, to guarantee such investments. The banks’ ownersshould have to take any losses, and the banks should bereduced to a more sustainable size. Luxembourg (a euro-areamember with an even higher ratio of bank assets to GDPthan Cyprus) should face similar treatment if it gets introuble -- but not Spain or Italy. This needs to be spelled outclearly and consistently. Dijsselbloem and others need to beequally clear that they’ve learned their lesson from thedebacle over deposit guarantees. It isn’t enough to statesupport for a “principle” that governments can honor or not.The region needs a common deposit insurance policy as partof the banking union that the EU is contemplating. Thelesson of Cyprus isn’t that Germany and the northerncreditors have finally gotten their way and can leave it to theprivate sector to pay for the next crisis, whether in Greece,Slovenia or some other country. The lesson is that Cyprusreally is diQerent, and that more than ever the euro areaneeds the institutions that a single-currency systemdemands. The EU must pool its risks and accept some levelof fiscal transfers. Action, realistically, will have to wait untilafter the German elections in September. But in themeantime the EU should at least avoid sowing confusion --or, worse, committing itself to ideas that will doom the euro.

–BLOOMBERG EDITORIAL

AnALYSIS

Gold (oz)

Rs. 1,605.08 Rs. 98.15

Dollar Interbank Cement (Bag)

457.00 6,900.00

Cotton (Maund) Urea/Bag

1,704

Coal Spot

$87.90/Ton 11.42%

10-Y PIB Furnace oil

76,188/MT

WASHINGTON: A pair of 2013 Fiat 500's are seen at the Washington Auto show.

NNIICCOOSSIIAA: Cyprus is expected to stop peopletaking their money out of the country but willnot restrict dealings at home as it tries to averta run on its banks after agreeing a toughrescue package with international lenders.Cypriots have taken to the streets of Nicosiain their thousands to protest against a bailoutdeal that will push their country into aneconomic slump and cost many their jobs.European leaders said the deal averted a

chaotic national bankruptcy that might haveforced Cyprus out of the euro. With banksdue to reopen on Thursday after nearly twoweeks, Finance Minister Michael Sarris saidcapital controls will be "within the realms ofreason" and a business leader said he hadbeen told they would aQect only internationaltransactions. "We will look at the best way tolimit the possibility of large sums of moneyleaving, and not imposing punitive conditionson the economy, businesses and individuals,"Sarris told local television.Speaking after meeting government

oPcials, the head of the Cyprus chamber ofcommerce said: "We have been assured thatlimitations will not aQect transactions withinCyprus at all." "Where there will belimitations is on what we spend abroad andalso on capital outflows," Phidias Pelides told

reporters.The central bank governor said earlier that

"loose" controls would apply temporarily toall banks. Earlier, the finance minister saidthey could be in place for weeks. Banks havebeen shut since final bailout talks got underway in mid-March.Russia, whose citizens have billions of euros

in Cyprus and use Cypriot banks to movemoney around even among Russian firms,cautioned Nicosia against imposing onerouscontrols on healthy banks and noted thatMoscow was reviewing loan terms to Cyprus."If there are such measures, this will notfoster trust but only provoke additionalproblems for participants, depositors,"Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanovsaid on Tuesday.He cautioned that Russian willingness to

restructure and extend a 2.5-billion euro loanmade to Cyprus in 2011 would depend on theisland's decision on capital controls. "We willdiscuss (restructuring of the loan) in thecontext of the decisions the parliamentadopts," he said. "We are prepared to discusswithin these parameters."State-controlled Russian bank VTB has a

subsidiary in Cyprus, Russian CommercialBank, which has not been directly aQected by

a bailout deal which focuses on big localbanks that lost badly in the restructuring ofdebts in neighboring Greece.The terms of the 10-billion euro ($13-

billion) rescue from the European Union,International Monetary Fund andEuropean Central Bank have stirredpopular anger within Cyprus at thecountry's partners in the EU, notablyGermany, the bloc's main paymaster andfiercest advocate of austerity.On Tuesday, many hundreds of high school

students protested at parliament, in the firstmajor expression of popular anger since thebailout was agreed in the early hours ofMonday in Brussels. The deal largely side-stepped the Cypriot parliament, and hastriggered opposition calls for a referendum."They've just got rid of all our dreams," said

one student, named Thomas.Outside the central bank on Tuesday, about

200 employees of the country's biggestcommercial lender, the Bank of Cyprus,demanded the resignation of central bankgovernor Panicos Demetriades, chanting"Hands oQ Cyprus" and "Disgrace". DimosDimosthenous, a veteran Bank of Cyprusemployee, said: "The bank is being driven toclosure. That will be the end." –AGENCIES

ZEESHAN JAVAID

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Accepting the petition to bemade a party to the Civil MiscellaneousApplication (CMA) by former managingdirector Asad.I.A.Khan as challenging theappointment of sitting managing directorNational Engineering Services Pakistan(NESPAK), Apex Court on Wednesday issuednotices to ministry of water and power,establishment division and the MD to appearbefore court today.Adopting the petition filed by formed MD

NESPAK, Asad.I.A.Khan, two-member benchcomprising Justice Jawad.S.Khawaja andJustice Khilji Arif Hussain issued notices toministry water and power, EstablishmentDivision (ED) and sitting MD NESPAK TahirShamshad to appear before court today.Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf,

who is allegedly, involved in Rs.22 billion Rental

Power Plants (RPPs) scam approved the nameof Shamshad as new MD of NESPAK despitethe fact that ministry water and power withdrewthe controversial summary of new appointment.The court also directed the secretary

establishment to provide a list of names of allindividuals who had been posted andappointed by the government in autonomousbodies from March 1st to 16th.Sources informed “The Spokesman” that

secretary establishment confirmed in Apexcourt that he had received and endorsed theMinistry of Water and Power's Summary forcontinuation of Mr. Asad I Khan, but the secondSummary, that of Mr. Shamshad, had been sentdirectly by the Ministry of Water and Power toPM Secretariat and that Establishment Divisionhad nothing to do with the second Summary.Former MD NESPAK in his petition

maintained that Shamshad sitting managingdirector, who is sixth on the seniority list of

NESPAK and no means deserving, wasnotified as Managing Director NESPAKduring the early hours of March 16, 2013 videnotification dated March 15th 2013.Petitioner was of the view that the

appointment of new MD was totally withoutany moral or professional justification andwas entirely motivated by political andextraneous pressure. It has created a direprecedent by demonstrating that suchdecisions can be implemented on the whimsof a politically controlled bureaucracy at anytime; something never experienced before inNESPAK’s forty year history. A summary for the approval of prime minister

for appointing a new MD NESPAK was sent onMarch 11 under signed secretary water andpower Sikander Ahmed Rai with three namesQazi Iftikhar Ahmed, Amjad Khan and finallyTahir Shamshad, taking plea that the term offormer MD Asad I.A.Khan has been expiring on

6th April 2013 therefore an emergentappointment is needed.However, secretary water and power

withdrawal the last summary and immediatelywrote to Prime Minister Secretariat in the nameof principle secretary to premier saying “Thesummary referred to ibid may be treated aswithdrawn and the present incumbent Mr. AsadI.A. Khan will continue as Managing Director,NESPAK till the age of his superannuation.”Very next day of oPcial communication on

March 12th, secretary water and power moveda new summary to PM secretariat forapproval, sated that former federal ministerwater and power Ch. Ahmed Mukhtaralready approved the submission of saidsummary regarding the continuation of MDNESPAK oPce by Asad. I.A.Khan, till the ageof his superannuation April 6th 2014.An oPcial of ministry water and power

confirmed that on March 15, former premier

picked the name of Tahir Shamshad from thewithdrawal summary by ministry of waterand power.The ministry wrote back to PM secretariat on

March 15 informing them that the summarysubmitted on March 11 was withdrawn on thesame day and requested that approval of theprime minister on the fresh summaryregarding continuation of Asad I.A Khan asMD NESPAK till the age of superannuationApril 06, 2014, moved by the Ministry onMarch 12 may kindly be conveyed.As early as the mid night of March 15-16

deputy secretary water and power, UmarFarooq prepared a notification of appointmentof new MD and issued with immediate eQectas breeching the rules of business against itsown withdrawal summary.Shamshad urgently rushed to NESPAK house

Lahore and had the oPce opened Saturdaybeing a holiday at 4:00 P.m and gave his joiningreport, without relinquishing the charge byformer MD.

NESPAK MD in hot water after apex court notice

Cyprus controls expected to hit foreign transactions

Fiat bets on SUVs and sportycars in India rebootMMUUMMBBAAII//MMIILLAANN:: Go specialist and goalone. That's Fiat SpA's (FIA.MI) newmantra for India as the Italian carmakertries, once again, to crack the world'sseventh-largest car market. Fiat, one ofthe first Western carmakers to enter Indiabut now the worst performing, opens anew, fully-owned 57-dealer network onApril 1, hoping to attract more of the 1.2billion people in the world's second mostpopulous country.Rather than launch a new model in the

cheap, small car segment that dominatesIndia and is ruled by Hyundai (005380.KS)and Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.NS), Fiat plansto tap into fast-growing areas like sportsutility vehicles (SUVs) and sporty cars. Itwill bring its Chrysler Jeep SUV to thecountry this year and build a small versionof the car there by 2015, as well as take aimat the higher end of the market with Abarth,the sports version of its 500 and Puntomodels. Analysts think it will be a challenge,but could work. "I think Fiat's focus is onlaunching a couple of niche products andrebuilding the customer experience," saidDeepesh Rathore, Managing Director ofIHS Automotive India. "It's painful but it'sthe time to tell the customer that Fiat isdiQerent from the image he or she has hadin mind." –AGENCIES

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD: Chairman Senate, NayyerHussain Bukhari has said that Pakistan iskeen to enhance investment and traderelations with Korea under the vision of EastAsia Policy (EAP). He expressed these viewsin a meeting with South Korean Ambassadorin Pakistan, Chong-Joo Choi at theParliament House here on Wednesday.“Our relations are ever progressing from the

very day of engagement and it is dire need ofthe hour to enhance our trade co-operationand investment in various sectors”, he added.While talking on the occasion, he said that

both Pakistan and Korea should furtherstrengthen their engagement in economicsphere where huge potential exists. ChairmanSenate reiterated that Korea could particularlyinvest in energy sector and technology fieldsand also emphasized the need to enhancenumber of scholarships for Pakistani studentsas they can act as a bridge between the twocountries. He recalled that large number ofskilled labour from Pakistan is working inKorea and if needed, more skilled labour canbe sent. Talking about Afghanistan, theChairman said that Pakistan wishes a stableand peaceful Afghanistan because the peaceof Pakistan is chained with the peace ofAfghanistan, adding that Pakistan hasrendered immense sacrifices against war onterror being a frontline state. –ONLINE

� Tahir Shamshad had been appointed by Raja Pervaiz Ashraf despite water and power ministry’s withdrawal

Pakistan keen to beef up tradeties with Korea: Bokhari

Development of power plantsfrom waste under frameworkfor power generationIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan is passing through a challengingphase in terms of meeting its energy requirements Prices ofconventional energy sources are souring day after day,causing negative impact on the country’s economy. Thesolution lies in exploring locally available energy resources,especially Alternative / Renewable Energy (ARE)technologies in the country.Sugar Mills waste (Bagasse), is one of a cheaper renewable

fuel, utilized in co-generation power systems with highpressure boilers (minimum 60 bar); this would not only helpsugar mills to meet their own energy requirements, but theywould also be able to export surplus electricity to the grid.Bagasse is environmentally friendly and can help mitigate

greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s power sector.Other benefits includes, precious savings in foreign exchangespent on import of furnace oil. US$ 500 million can be savedby consumers in fuel cost if 2,000 MW is generated bycheaper bagasse instead of HFO. –PR

LCCI backs PRGMEA call for SRO 154 withdrawalLLAAHHOORREE: While putting its weightbehind Pakistan Readymade GarmentsManufacturers and ExportersAssociation (PRGMEA), call forwithdrawal of 2 per cent sales tax onexport-oriented industry, the LahoreChamber of Commerce and IndustryWednesday urged the Federal Board ofRevenue to stop taking such anti-business measures that are detrimentalto much-needed industrial growth.In a statement issued here, the LCCI

President Farooq Iftikhar said that asper international law and under WTOregime no export sector can be taxed."Since the whole industry has alreadyrejected the SRO 154, therefore theFBR has no justification to remain stickto this anti-business proposition." It isunethical the FBR is playing arm-twisting with those who are generatingrevenue for the government and thuspushing them to wall, the LCCIPresident said. –ONLINE

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

Atif Aslam getting married todayLAHORE: Atif Aslam, one of the most renowned pop singersof Pakistan has finally decided to tie the knot with his long-time sweetheart Sara Bharwana. According to Atif ’s oMcialFacebook page, the Nikah ceremony has already taken placewhereas his wedding reception and Valima will take place onthe 28th and 29th of March respectively at Royal Palm Club,Lahore. Reportedly, his colorful and glittering Mehndiceremony, which took place another day, was attended by hisrelatives, close friends, members of the social elite andrenowned personalities from the world of music. We wish thecouple best of luck and look forward to bringing moreinteresting updates from the event. -SHOWBIZ DESK

Kim Kardashian slams weight gain reportsLOS ANGELES: Reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who is expecting her firstchild with boyfriend KanyeWest, says she has not gained as manypregnancy pounds as people think. The 32-year-old socialite said she iseating super healthy, reported Radar online. "I'm not going to lie and be like,'Oh, it's been amazing and I've adjusted great. At the beginning it was toughfor me when your body changes so much... I don't think anyone will reallyprepare you for what the changes are, but once you kind of grasp that andembrace it, It's amazing," she said. "There are maybe two or three covers justthis week that say I am 200 pounds. I'm like, 'You are 60 pounds oN here, Itwouldn't even bother me if I gained all the weight," she added.-SHOWBIZ DESK

CMYK

CONGO: Actress Angelina Jolie was spotted wearing a gold band on her ringfinger during a recent trip to a rescue camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo.The 37-year-old, who is engaged to Brad Pitt and raises six kids with him, replacedher giant platinum engagement sparkler with the band, sparking rumours that shehas tied the knot with Pitt, reported Usmagazine. The 'Maleficent' actress andspecial envoy of the United Nations' refugee agency was in Africa with BritishForeign SecretaryWilliamHague to raise awareness of war zone rape in the Congoand Rwanda. Earlier Pitt and Jolie had said that they wouldn't tie the knot untilthe ban on gay marriage would be lifted, but in January 2012, the actor hinted thatthey had changed their minds. Some reports also suggested that the couple wereplanning to wed in summer in France. -SHOWBIZ DESK

Angelina Joliespotted wearinga gold band

SHOWBIZ DESK

LOS ANGELES: ‘Twilight’ authorStephenieMeyer brings her romanticfuturistic thriller "TheHost" to moviefans on Friday, trading the vampiresand werewolves for aliens who invadeplanet Earth, taking over humanbodies. The film stars, Saoirse RonanasMelanie Stryder, whose body istaken over by an alien soul calledWanda. Eventually the two-in-onefemale teamwork to save the humanrace from total annihilation.Meyer,who was raisedMormon and attendschurch regularly, talked with Reutersabout "TheHost," working as aproducer on the project and how herlife has changed since the first"Twilight" film came out in 2008.Q:Howdid SaoirseRonan play

Melanie andWanda in the samebody?A: They have conversations

throughout the entire film, but (sheplays) two diNerent characters thathave diNerent chemistry with two

diNerent guys. She's one person, butemoting a separate person when she'swith Jared and another when she'swith Ian.Q:Howdid things evolve for you

that you are nowproducing youradaptations?A: It's not normal for an author to

be very involved. On "Twilight," Ithink they were nervous about me, butI totally behaved. I came on set, I wasexcited, so they didn't mind havingmearound.With eachmovie I was able tobemore involved.Q:Did the success of "Twilight"

give you producing clout?A: After "Twilight" did really well, I

thinkmy opinion hadmore weight.With "TheHost," from the verybeginning (producer) NickWechslercame tome and said, 'Let's do thistogether.' And hemeant it. I was goingover the (script) notes with Andrew

and the actors would come tome andsay, 'What do you think?' It was a nicegroup. All our opinions were valued byeach of us.Q:Do you ever think you should

move to LosAngeles andwork full-time inHollywood?A: I would never come and live here.

No oNense to the people that do, but Ican't imagine raising kids in this town.There are a lot of plastics, even kidsgetting plastic surgery. And thematerialism - that overwhelmingsense of what you look like being themost important thing, I think that

would be really diMcult to live withevery day.Q:Your sons think you're the

coolestmomever because youcreated "Twilight?"A: I think it's a detriment for them.

It's embarrassing to have yourmombe that "Twilight" lady. They would alllove it if nobody knewmy name.(Withmy oldest), people tease him alittle bit. I know a lot of girls talk tohimwhomight not otherwise. Mymiddle son (Seth), he has a fake name.For a while it was Bernard. 'He'd belike, Hi I'm Bernard.' He doesn't like

the reaction when people say, 'Ohyou're that kid.'Q:Howhas life changed for you

since your film success?A: People let memakemovies,

which is kind of cool. That certainlywasn't something anyone was going tolet me do before. I've grown a lot inmy confidence and inmy ability to dointerviews. I don't freak out as muchabout all these people taking pictures.I do have to be away frommy kidsmore than I'd like, but they're so coolandmellow about it.Q:Have you been able to fulfill

any personalwishes since "Twilight"brought you to the pop cultureforefront?A: I'll tell you a story that's in the

first "Twilight" book, where a littlepiece of me sank through to the novel.When Bella sees Edward's piano forthe first time, she (vows) if she everhad a windfall, she would want to gether mom a piano like that.Well I wasable to get mymom a piano like that.

A minute with ‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer on ‘The Host’

MUMBAI: The grand finale at theLakme FashionWeekSummer/Resort 2013 was asurprising aNair as Kareena Kapoorwalked the ramp for Delhi baseddesigner Namrata Joshipura. Wearinga peach pink coat shirt with loosehigh waisted pallazo pants, Kareenalooked ravishing in the avatar. Thefinale set was elaborately decoratedwith glass flooring.Kareena was the show stopper for

the Grand Finale which waspresented by designer NamrataJoshipura. For her this was her debutat LFWGrand finale. The finale byNamrata was inspired byLakme Absolute's latestcollection - Pop Tints.Lakme, every season,puts out a collectionthat defines beautyand fashionstatement for theseason. Thistime it is 'PopTints', which isinspired by brightneon colourstrending worldwide.Namrata's signaturecolour is black but shechose to experiment withshads of Neon like greenand pink, majorly as it isspring summer andthese are the colours ofthis season. Thecollection had moreor less a western feel.Kareena had walkedthe ramp fordesigners KallolDatta andhusband-wife duoPankaj and Nidhiat Lakme Fashionweek last year. -SHOWBIZ DESK

Kareena bringsdown thecurtain at LFW

SHOWBIZ DESK

LONDON: Film director James Cameronis donating the Deepsea Challenger crafthe used to make a record-setting solo divea year ago to theWoods HoleOceanographic Institution to speedresearch into the deepest parts of theworld's oceans. Cameron, who is focusednow on pre-production for the sequels tohis blockbuster movie "Avatar," said hehoped the donation to the non-profitresearch facility in Cape Cod,Massachusetts, would bring thetechnology he developed for the undersea

craft into the mainstream.In a telephone interview marking the

one-year anniversary of his nearly 7-mile-deep dive in the western Pacific, theOscar-winning director said that scientistshad identified more than 60 new species,including bacteria, frommaterial hebrought back. Cameron expects to releasea long-awaited 3Dmovie of the dive inmovie theaters in the fall of 2013.Cameron also directed the 1997 movie"Titanic" as well as undertaking andfilming several underwater expeditionsexploring the wreck of the ship in theNorth Atlantic.

‘Avatar’ director donates dive craft�Says 3D movie due in fall

BEIJING: A model showcases designs on the catwalk during the MGPIN Collection on the fourth day ofMercedes-Benz China FashionWeek.

KOREA: South Korean rapper Psy wants his fans to turn upin white at his April concert where he will launch a new songthat he hopes will cement the success of his "Gangnam Style"Youtube hit. "See this pic and let's be white on 0413", Psytweeted. Twitter feed onWednesday, referring to the April 13concert to be held in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Thechubby rapper, who shot to fame with over a billion Youtubehits in 2012, subsequently poses in a variety of white clothing,ranging from a spacesuit to tennis whites and even a bridalgown and skimpy figure-skating dress. His stylist says the 35-year old is more likely to reprise a concert style based on thesuit used in "Gangnam Style" than anythingmore racy. Psyhas not yet revealed what song he will release. -SHOWBIZ DESK

Sunny is not aproperty: TussharMUMBAI: Tusshar Kapoor is all praise for his ‘Shootoutat Wadala’ co-star. When asked about his opinion on thebelief that item songs influence the youth in anundesirable way, Tusshar Kapoor who will next be seen in‘Shootout at Wadala’ said, “As a young boy, I had heard thesong ‘Choli ke peeche kya hai?’ but that never influencedme. I grew up a normal and spiritual person, despite thefact that I used to listen to the song repeatedly on a taperecorder. The first time I heard this song and others like‘sarkayi lee khatia’ I did like to overhear these numbersrepeatedly. But let me tell you, our culture in Indiadefinitely enables us to strike a balance between thelimitations of literally doing something, which may soundor look vulgur. Our culture, that we imbibe from ourparents and other guardians, helps us keep our head onthe shoulders.” Tusshar is yet not married but is open tomarrying women like Sunny Leone. “Why not? Sunny is avery disciplined and a strong woman. She is a focusedactor and also puts in her best into the character. Sunny isconfident enough and her talent seeks no boundaries. She isnot a property in the film, but plays a vital role in carryingthe story forward.” However, in one of the earlier interviewsTuski had told us that he would be interested even ingettingmarried to women belonging to the village outskirts.Tusshar will be seen donning the role of SheikhMunir whois depicted as the sidekick ofManya Surve in Sanjay Gupta’snext outing ‘Shootout AtWadala’. -SHOWBIZ DESK

Dress in white for Psy,rapper tells fans

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013

CMYK

CMYK

SHANEL KHALIQ

Besides all the glory associatedwith Pakistan women’s footballin recent years, the inner

working of the Pakistan FootballFederation (PFF) is plagued with theusual malfunctions of a bureaucraticstructure accompanied with favoredappointments. Like many otherdepartments in the state apparatus,appointments based on references alsoplague thePFF.Lack of encouragementand a support structure for sports is anage-old phenomenon in the countryandwomen sports especially has laggedfar behind. Whether it is due to theconservativemindset of themajority ofthe populace orwhether it is because oflack of government attention, thepursuit of professional sports for allfemale athletes in the country has beena journey full of hindrances andobstacles. However with the changinginterface of the social fabric and thepositive role of the media, women’steams have made a name forthemselves in many quarters and have

been given the chance to represent thecountry internationally.Women’s football at the national level

is a recent phenomenon as it began in2005. In 2010, the team representedPakistan in the 1st SAFFChampionshipin Bangladesh where they qualified forthe semifinal by winning two matches,one against Maldives and anotheragainstAfghanistan. “Before leaving forthe tournament we were told that bytheFederation that theywould invest inus even if we won just a single match,but they failed to live up to thoseclaims,” remarks the captain SanaMahmud. The team was told that

regular camps would be arranged andfriendly matches be organised withinternational teams, once the teamproved its mantle on internationalground, however, much to thedisappointment of the players, nothingof the kind happened.In 2012 for the 2nd SAFF

Championship inSri Lanka, the playerswere once again called to attendtraining for thenational campwith only

a week’s notice. “We have jobs, studiesand other commitments, but theFederation fails to take that intoaccount,” complains one of the players.Moreover the monitory compensationto attend camp is a meager Rs.300 perday and does not present an attractiveprospect when players have to weighthe opportunity cost. One of the most

remarkable players of the team didthree diVerent jobs but she had to quitthem to attend training for the camp.She was promised monetarycompensation equal to her salary butshe never received it.Moreover the lack of regular practice

and training shows on a player’s skilland game and this is exactly whathappened with the team. A two-yeargap in training aVected the

performance of the team as well in thesecond championship. Playerscomplain that they try their best topractice throughout the year but thereare no grounds reserved for females toplay in the country. Those who play inmajor clubs such asDiya inKarachi getan opportunity to practice but otherclubs do not have the same kind of

facilities and investments. The teamwas quite dissatisfiedwith themanagerUzma Zaidi who accompanied them tothe championship in 2012.“The team was not satisfied with the

food provided to us by the hosts in SriLanka, it was hard for us to getaccustomed to the taste and there wereother logistical issues related to therooms, but the manager failed to helpus out,” says one of the star players ofthe team. She also added that it aVectedthe mental peace of the players whenthey were unhappy with thearrangements and this in turn is likelyto aVect their performance.The players argue that until and

unless the Federation fulfills itspromises of investment and bettertraining opportunities, they cannotexpect better results againstinternational teams. Afghanistan lostall three of their matches in the 1stSAFF Championship. However, theycame back in the second event with abetter outlook. “Despite the fact thatthey failed to win a single match in thechampionship, their Federation still

invested in them and supported them,made them kits and sent them to thesecond event, they even had a budgetfor food,” says the Pakistan teamcaptain.On the other hand the Pakistan team

were not provided any of that despitewinning two matches in the firstchampionship. “If the Federation doesnot have enough money they shouldlook for sponsorships and similarmethods to improve the level of thesport andworkon the team,” she added.“We were totally discouraged after wereturned from the 2nd Championshipwhere we were able to win only onematch,” one of the players remarked.The team members also criticised themedia somewhat in this regard as theycalled them the ‘losing team.’ “If yourfive year old child fails a test would youcall them a failure or would youencourage them to study more?”questions the captain. Encouragementand investment from the Federation iswhatwomen’s football needs if Pakistanwants to portray a softer image throughthis medium internationally.

Encouragement and investment from theFederation is what women’s football

needs if Pakistan wants to portray a softer imagethrough this medium internationally

PFF’s step-motherly treatment with women’s soccer

OOSSLLOO::Norwegianspeed skategreat HjalmarAndersen, whowon three goldmedals at the1952 OsloWinterOlympics, hasdied at the ageof 90, local media reported onWednesday. Andersen, who sweptthe board in Oslo over 1,500m,5000m and 10,000m to becomethat Games most successfulathlete, was also a triple worldchampion between 1950 and 1952,and a triple European champion. “Alegend” was how Norway’sminister described him forCulture and Sports, Hadia Tajik. Heset four world records during hiscareer, including setting thefirst sub-17 minute 10,000m-worldrecord in 1949. On his retirementfrom his chosen sport Andersenenjoyed a second career inthe welfare service formerchant shipping. –AGENCIES

Poland-Slovakia back2022 Winter Olympics bidPPRRAAGGUUEE:: Poland and Slovakiabacked a joint bid to host the 2022Winter Olympics on Wednesdayhoping to win the first Games forthe two central European countries.The countries' prime ministersannounced the bid after meeting inthe Slovak town of Poprad, at thefoot of the Tatra Mountains wherealpine skiing disciplines would beheld to make up for a lack ofsuitable terrain in mostly flatPoland. "We have a clear vision. Weare not interested in anymegalomania," Slovak PrimeMinister Robert Fico said in atelevised news conference with hiscounterpart Donald Tusk. TheGames would build on Poland'sEuro 2012 soccer tournament, co-hosted with Ukraine, and Slovakia'sexperience with hosting the icehockey world championships in2011.The historic southern Polishcity of Krakow would be the centrefor the Games. Germany's Munich,beaten by South Korea'sPyeongchang for the 2018 WinterOlympics, is a possible candidatewhile local citizens rejected aplanned Swiss candidacy of Davosand St Moritz. –AGENCIES

Reformed Tomic back onAustralia Davis Cup teamSSYYDDNNEEYY:: Bernard Tomic wasrecalled to Australia's Davis Cupteam Wednesday to face Uzbekistanafter ending his feud with captainPat Rafter. In January, the 20-year-old said he would not be availablefor Davis Cup duties until at least aWorld Group playoff in September,should Australia qualify, afterRafter axed him for a tie againstTaiwan. At the time, Rafter said itwas to "teach him a lesson" afterTomic last year created moreheadlines off the court than on it,including run-ins with police in hissports car and claims he was nottrying hard enough. The world No.45admitted he was on a "slippery slope"but says he is now reformed and willbe an asset in the Asia-Oceania Zonesecond-round tie, having won eight ofhis 10 Davis Cup singles rubbers. "Ialways want to play Davis Cup. I wantto thank Pat for picking me. Whereverit is I'll always be happy to play for(my) country," said Tomic. Rafteralso included stalwart LleytonHewitt, Marinko Matosevic and MattEbden for the Uzbekistan clashstarting on April 5. –AGENCIES

Olympic great speedskater Andersen dies at 90

PPAALLLLEEKKEELLEE:: After defeatingBangladesh emphatically in the firstODI and with the 2nd ODI washedaway, Sri Lanka will be looking toseal the deal in the third and the finalODI to be played at Pallekele here onFriday. After a competitive Testseries, Sri Lanka blew away thevisitor's challenge in the first ODIcourtesy a bludgeoning attack fromopener Tilakaratne Dilshan.Tamim Iqbal too scored a century

but was ruled out of the remainingtour due to a hairline fracture on hisright thumb. Jahurul Islam replacedthe opener in the 2nd ODI but didnot get a chance to bat. For the finalODI Bangladesh are most likely tostick with Islam. Bangladesh hadalso included the 21-year-old all-rounder Mominul Haque in place ofAbul Hasan in the 2nd ODI andHaque too would be a part of theplaying XI for the third ODI.The hosts, Sri Lanka, have

announced five uncapped players fortheir only T20 international but forthe third ODI Sri Lanka in alllikelihood would be playing the sameXI they had for the first two ODIs.Tilakaratne Dilshan and KaushalPerera have proved to be a handypair at the top of the order for thehosts but for Bangladesh, the form oftheir top two players, MohammedAshraful and Mushfiqur Rahim willbe a worry. Nasir Hossain has

continued his good formcontributing with the bat in thelower-order and also doing a decentjob with the ball. At Pallekele, SriLanka have played seven ODIswinning four and losing threewhereas Bangladesh will be playing

their first game here on Friday.Probable XI: Sri Lanka: KaushalPerera, Tilakaratne Dilshan, KumarSangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal,Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews(capt), Jeevan Mendis, ThisaraPerera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachitra

Senanayake, Lasith Malinga.Bangladesh: Jahurul Islam, AnamulHaque, M Ashraful, MushfiqurRahim (capt/wk), Mahmudullah,Nasir Hossain, Ziaur Rahman, RubelHossain, Mominul Haque, SohagGazi, Abdur Razzak. –AGENCIES

Sri Lanka aim to sealBangladesh ODI series today

Sri Lankan cricketers warm up during a practice session at the Pallekele International Stadium on Wednesday, ahead of their thirdand final one-day international against Bangladesh on Thursday (today). –AGENCIES

OUR STAFF REPORTER

LLAAHHOORREE:: Sialkot Stallions and LahoreLions defeated their respective opponents onthe second day of the National Twenty20Cup at Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday.In the first match, Stallions defeatedAbbottabad Falcons by 5e wickets whileLions overcame Multan Tigers by 47 runs.Brief scores:1: Abbottabad Falcons: 135-9 in 20 overs(Yasir Hameed 43, 2x4s, 2x6s, 39 balls,Hammad Ali 30, 4x4s, 28 balls, Yasir Shah18, 1x6, 12 balls, Raza Hasan 3-35, RanaNaveed –ul-Hasan 2-26) VS SialkotStallions: 141-5 in 19.2 overs (ShoaibMalik 68, 7x4s, 2x6s, 53 balls, Adeel Malik36, 5x4s, 31 balls, Fazal-e-Rabi 2-13,Ahmed Jamal 2-12)Result: Sialkot Stallions won by 5 wickets Man of the match: Shoaib Malik (Sialkot Stallions)Toss: Abbottabad FalconsUmpires: Akram Raza & Tahir Hussain TV umpire: Saleem Badar Referee: Ishtiaq Ahmed2: Lahore Loins: 174-4 in overs (Muhammad Hafeez102*, 16x4s, 2x6s, 64 balls, Ali Azmat 29*, 3x4s, 1x6, 19balls, Nasir Jamshed 26, 3x4s, 1x6, 25 balls, Rahat Ali 1-47,Shoaib Maqsood 1-22) VS Multan Tigers: 127 in 19.4 overs(Rameez Alam 45, 5x4s, 1x6, 38 balls, Kashif Naveed 37,5x4s, 1x6, 29 balls, Zia-ul-Haq 2-20, Aizaz Cheema 2-23,Adnan Rasool 2-26, Wahab Riaz 2-29 )Result: Lahore Loins won by 47 runs Man of the match: M Hafeez (Lahore Loins)Toss: Lahore LoinsUmpires: Saleem Badar & Nadeem Iqbal TV umpire: Ahmed ShahabReferee: Muhammad Javed

MMIIAAMMII:: Two-time defending championNovak Djokovic crashed out in the fourthround of the Miami Masters Tuesday whilelast year's runner-up Andy Murray easedthrough to the quarterfinals in straight sets.World number one Djokovic was stunned6-2, 6-4 by German 15th seed Tommy Haasbut US Open winner Murray had no suchdiUculties, breezing past Italy's AndreasSeppi by the same score in the $8.5 millionATP and WTA hardcourt event. "There aredays when you don't feel good on the courtand this is one of those days," AustralianOpen champion Djokovic said.The Serb lost for just the second time this

season, never getting to grips with Haas,who kept Djokovic oV his game with anumber of skillful shots. "All the credit tohim. He was the better player. As far I amconcerned it is the worst match I haveplayed in a long time," Djokovic said. "I justdidn't feel good on the court. Theconditions were diVerent. The balls didn'tbounce at all and he used a variety of shotsvery well. "I just didn't find a solution tocome back into the match." Haas, whoturns 35 next week; advances to the lasteight where he will face Frenchman GillesSimon who outlasted Djokovic'scountryman Janko Tipsarevic 5-7, 6-2, 6-2."I had the mentality tonight going out therebelieving in it," Haas said. "You've got to. I

had a good game plan."Haas hit seven forehand winners and

won 76 percent of his first-serve points,snapping Djokovic's 14 match-winningstreak in Miami. Haas easily won the firstset then clinched victory on his secondmatch point with a forehand winner to the

open court, ending the 80-minute match.Djokovic, who had won this event threetimes (2007, 2011, 2012), had one doublefault and won just 54 percent of his secondserves. This is the first time since 1999Haas has beaten a world number one. Hedefeated Andre Agassi in three sets at theGrand Slam Cup for his only other win overworld No. 1 in 15 contests.Scotsman Murray, the 2009 Miami

winner who lost to Djokovic in last year'sfinal, needed only 86 minutes to book adate in the last eight with ninth seedCroatian Marin Cilic. World number threeMurray only lost three points (28/31) onhis first serve all match. He also fired threeaces and had two double faults. "Today Iserved well," Murray said. "When I wasdown in games I served pretty good, too.Cilic advanced with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) winover French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.Spanish third seed David Ferrer advancedto the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victoryover Japan's 13th-seeded Kei Nishikori. Hewill play Austria's Jurgen Melzer, whodefeated Spain's Albert Ramos 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. French eighth seed Richard Gasquetoutlasted Spanish 10th seed NicolasAlmagro 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) and willnext face Czech fourth seed TomasBerdych, who dispatched US 17th seedSam Querrey 6-1, 6-1. –AGENCIES

CCOOLLOOMMBBOO:: Sri Lanka's cricket board saidWednesday it would allow its players to takepart in the IPL Twenty20 tournament inIndia next month after receiving assurancesabout their safety. The government inColombo had threatened to prevent any ofthe 13 Sri Lankan players contracted to playin the Indian Premier League from takingpart after they were all eVectively barredfrom playing in the southern Indian state ofTamil Nadu. But after talks with the sportsministry on Wednesday, the board said itwould give the green light to the playersprovided they were happy to go and also didnot play in Tamil Nadu.

"If and when the players express theirintention to play in the IPL 2013, they wouldbe permitted to proceed with the restrictionindicated on playing in the state of TamilNadu," said a statement from the board.There was no immediate comment from theSri Lankan government. The safety concernssurfaced after signs of growing anger amongIndian Tamils over the Sri Lankangovernment's treatment of their ethnickinsmen. There have been several anti-SriLanka protests in recent weeks and TamilNadu lawmakers called Wednesday for NewDelhi to impose an economic embargo onthe Colombo government.

Tamil Nadu's chief minister said Tuesdayshe would bar any Sri Lankans from playingin her state, prompting organisers to ban all13 players from taking the field in games inthe state capital Chennai. Rights groupshave said Sri Lankan troops killed up to40,000 members of the minority Tamilpopulation in 2009 in the last months of thecivil war, a charge denied by Colombo. TheIndian government, which has traditionallybeen wary of upsetting its neighbour, wasamong 25 nations which last week backeda resolution at the UN Human RightsCouncil calling for a probe of alleged warcrimes on the island. –AGENCIES

Sri Lanka allows players to join IPL

Stallions andLions downopponents

National Twenty20 Cup

Veteran Haas ends Djokovicdominance in Miami Masters

Tommy Haas of Germany acknowledges the crowdafter defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia. –AGENCIES

OORRLLAANNDDOO:: Tiger Woods,back atop the worldrankings for the first timesince October of 2010,resumes his quest for a15th major title in twoweeks at the Masters witha hot putter and newconfidence. "It has been afew years," Woods said,since he has felt soconfident heading toAugusta National, wherethe 14-time major champion will try to close the gap nextmonth on the all-time record of 18 majors won by JackNicklaus. "Over a period of time it has been years since I'vehit the ball this consistently day-in and day-out. "I'm verypleased that some of the shots that I struggled with last yearare now strengths. One of the things that we need tocontinue to work on is getting it more refined because mygood ones are really good."Woods jumped over Rory McIlroy to become golf 's world

No.1 with a victory Monday in the storm-delayed finalround of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, collecting hiseighth title at Bay Hill and third victory so far this year.Woods, who has won this year at Torrey Pines and Doral aswell, says he has not putted with such confidence in a longtime. And putting will be vital April 11-14 on the undulatinggreens of Augusta National, where he won in 1997, 2001,2002 and 2005. "The three events that I've won, I've puttedwell," Woods said. "That feels good. You've got to hit it pure,and I've been able to do that and I've made my share ofputts, especially some really key putts."Woods has had to overcome knee injuries and an infamous

sex scandal that erupted in late 2009, but he seems to havedone both, announcing last week that he is dating US ski starLindsey Vonn and then reclaiming his top ranking. Askedwhat relevance the romance announcement and return tothe top have with each other, Woods replied, "You're readingway too much into this." When told that many others will aswell, Woods answered: "shocker." What has been as shockingas Woods sliding to 58th in the world rankings has been theway he has rebuilt his game since then. "If I get healthy, Iknow I can play this game at a high level," Woods said. "Iknow I can be where I'm contending in every event,contending in major championships and being consistentday-in and day-out. That was the first step in the process.Once I got there, then my game turned."But it's not a full return to form until Woods starts winning

majors once again. "You've got to be able to do it at home first,that's where it all starts, and do it consistently," Woods said."Then it feeds into coming out here and being able to do itThursday, Friday and then ultimately down the stretch onSunday of a tournament.” –AGENCIES

Tiger is prowlingfor 15th major title

CEC to meet estrangedBalochs todayIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The ElectionCommission has convened a meetingof political‚ religious and nationalistparties of Balochistan in Quetta onThursday (today). A delegation ofElection Commission led by CECFakhruddin G Ebrahim will hold talkswith estranged Baloch leaders on theirreservations about elections. Talking tonewsmen in Islamabad‚ SecretaryElection Commission Ishtiaq Ahmedsaid members of the ProvincialElection Commission are also incontact with the Baloch leaders. Hesaid members of the Commission willmeet all political leaders includingBrahamdakh Bugti and Sardar AkhtarMengal and persuade them to takepart in looming elections. He said thecommission will also visit Punjab‚Sindh and KP.–AGENCIES

2 foreign aircraft escapecollision in Pak air spaceQQUUEETTTTAA:: Two foreign aircraftcarrying at least 600 passengersescaped mid-air collision inBalochistan on Wednesday. Quotingsources in the Civil AviationAuthority, a private TV channel said aLondon-bound flight from Mumbaicame too close to another plane whichwas flying from Beijing to Doha. Themidair collision was averted due tosophisticated equipment fitted in thetwo aircraft and guidance by the airtraPc controller. The air trafficcontroller has been facingdifficulties due to malfunctioningof a radar which could not properlylocate airplanes flying throughPakistan. –MONITORING DESK

Several rounded upduring Lyari operationKKAARRAACCHHII:: Rangers have detainedseveral persons during a targetedoperation in diQerent areas of Lyariafter getting a tip oQ regarding thepresence of criminals. Rangers arecontinuing operation in Lyari areaswhere female personnel and trainedcommandos are also taking part. Raidswere conducted after gettinginformation from the intelligenceagencies about the presence ofcriminal elements in the area. Theentry and exit points of the area weresealed during the operation. The areaswhere raids were conducted includedJaman Shah plot, Kashti Chowk, GulMohammad Lane, Shah Baig Lane,Kalakot and Ath Chowk. –AGENCIES

Haraj quitsas ERRA chairmanIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Chairman ofEarthquake Reconstruction &Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA)Hamid Yar Haraj has resigned fromhis post. He remained on the slot foralmost three years on honorary basis,but recently quitted his job. ERRAoPcials held an informal farewellceremony in his honour. He returnedall the perks and facilities to thedepartment after resignation exceptone vehicle which is in the use of hisfamily, which he would hand over toERRA soon, the sources said. –ONLINE

Exams put offdue to curfew in NWAMMIIRRAANNSSHHAAHH:: Papers of 9th and10th classes have been postponed dueto curfew which has entered fourthday, causing tremendous frustrationamong students. Politicaladministration has imposed curfewafter attacks on the security forces’checkpost in Miranshah. Newschedule for the students of 9th and10th classes would be announcedsoon. –AGENCIES

THURSDAYMARCH 28, 2013THE SPOKESMAN - RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD

CMyk

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi meeting Prime Minister Justice (r) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso at PM’s House. –ONLINE

SAHTAK BALOCH

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Pakistan’s PlanningCommission has now recommendedan astronomical 14 per cent annualhike in electricity prices to 'resolvecontinued long hours power crisis andthe worsening circular debt issues ofthe country' now Rs 872.4 billion. “ Yes these issues persisted from

2008 and the PPP-led coalitiongovernment failed to address theelectricity crisis and circular debtissues. The commission — at the endof PPP-led government — has nowissued a Rs. 592 billion worth chargesheet. But after five long years of deepslumber the Planning Commissionhas now woken up and sprung intoaction,” a senior oPcial of planning

commission told The Spokesman.The 14 per cent increase is

projected to jack up the price per unitof electricity by Rs. 6 per unit. Thecommission also disclosed that thepower sector faced a Rs. 592 billiondeficit in financial year 2012-13. On the other hand water and power

ministry, apparently disheartened bythe Planning Commission's reportthat it was performing poorly,reportedly boycotted a PlanningCommission ceremony.Chairman Advisory Council of

Independent Power Producers (IPPs)Abdullah Yususf was of the view thatPakistan could save $4 billion annuallyby converting power plants to coal. Healso said the government shouldformulate a policy for owners to bear

the expenses of the plants (IPPs). Iffour IPPs are allowed 200 mmcfd ofgas, Rs. 80 billion could be savedannually. But it seems that thePlanning Commission is not botheredto resolve the problem because fleecingconsumers to resolve the circular debtis an easy way out, he remarked.The Planning Commission and

United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) have jointlycalculated that power sector circulardebt reached Rs 872.4 billion by June30, 2012 from Rs 84 billion in 2005.In a report titled Circular Debt

Report, the Planning Commissionand USAID revealed that the circulardebt increased because Rs 384.5billion in revenue was not collected,Rs. 72.2 billion was lost owing to

delay in tariQ notification, loss of Rs53.3 billion under the head of non-implementation of fuel priceadjustment, Rs 292.91 billion lossbecause of tariQ diQerential subsidyand Rs 69.55 billion was lost becauseof not allowing the actual losses to berecovered. The report also said that afurther loss of Rs. 115 billion on theaccount of structural anomalies intariQ regime is also on the horizon.According to the report, the

primary causes of circular debtinclude poor governance, delays intariQ determination by an adequatelyempowered regulator compoundedby interference and delay innotification by the Government ofPakistan; a fuel price methodologythat delays the infusion of cash to the

power sector; poor revenue collectionby Discos, payment by the FinanceMinistry on TariQ DiQerentialSubsidy (TDS) and Karachi ElectricSupply Company (KESC) whichrewards the incompetent, contractpayments, prolonged stays on fuelprice adjustments granted by thecourts and transmission anddistribution loss improvements thatcannot be achieved based on theregulator’s targets in the tariQ. The report said that government-

provided fuel subsidy has led to directgovernment allocation of fuel amongconsuming sectors of the economy,thus further distorting energy marketsand contributing to shortages of fuelto generate power and add to thecircular debt problem.

14pc yearly raise in power tariff planned

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The Supreme Court(SC) has ordered caretaker governmentto take steps for legislating on grant ofright to vote to overseas Pakistanis.

A 3-member bench led by ChiefJustice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhryresumed the hearing of case on grant ofright to vote to overseas PakistanisWednesday. Munir Paracha, counsel forElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP)and additional secretary ECP appearedin the court and presented the reportthat there were several diPculties on theway to grant right of vote to overseasPakistanis in the upcoming elections.“Legislation will have to be enacted andnew staQ will have to be posted on thiscount,” they said, adding that district

and sessions judges will have to beappointed in other countries. Separatearrangements will have to be made foroverseas Pakistanis who are settled inother countries on temporary basis andfor those who are settled there onpermanent basis.”Justice Gulzar remarked “you have

given report that right to vote can notbe given to overseas Pakistanis despitethe fact you have to do this job.The CJ remarked: “We are not

understanding it. Munir Parachareplied: “ECP is of the view that thiscan not be done so at present.”Justice Gulzar observed “ leave aside

your own thinking. No work isimpossible in the world.

The CJP remarked “you can notprovide polling stations in the streetsin other countries. You don’t want to dothis job. Had you any intention to doso, you would have developed softwareon this matter so far. On one hand allmiss overseas Pakistanis but no onecomes forward. Only politicallymotivated statements are being given.If all political persons show couragethen a lot can be done. Trained personscan be sent to other countries to impartknowledge to the people. Don’t looktowards media. If you have couragethen we can say to high courts toprovide you 10 district sessions judgesfor their induction in other countries.Munir Paracha said “ we have never

stated earlier that it is not workable.”The CJ remarked “then what is

your objective. Date upon date islapsing. Overseas Pakistanis isrunning your country and they aresending you foreign exchange. You arenot ready to do any thing for them.We had asked the previousgovernment but two years have beenelapsed and now we are asking thecaretaker government. WhatdiPculties ECP is facing on thiscount. How long we will continue tobe called developing country or itdoes not look good to us to be calleddeveloped country. Several personscan do work voluntarily. Polling has totake place on May 11. Foreign oPce

would have done the job ofappointing the people. People wouldhave been given briefing withreference to election.”The CJ observed “ overseas

Pakistanis are registered with you asvoters. NADRA is having set up andit is beyond understanding as to whythe process is being hampered. Weshould not be forced otherwise wewould give decision and you peoplewould have to implement thisdecision at every cost. Caretakergovernment has come and old thingsbe abandoned now. Do practical jobinstead of paying lip service. Court isbeing befooled that such and suchthing cannot be done. You are not

ready to do any thing then courtshould do what.Munir Paracha said “it is our best

endeavor that right to vote is given tooverseas Pakistanis. It is duty ofcaretaker government to hold electionsin transparent manner. Amendmentsare needed and caretake governmentwill do it. Justice Gulzar said ECP hasdeclared this job is protracted andprolonged. Munir Paracha said”Attorney General says this job can takeone month. ECP has no objection ifgovernment makes any arrangement inthis connection. The CJ remarked “Attorney General should give it inwriting what he has to say. Help can besought from IT experts on this matter.The hearing of the case was

adjourned till March, 29.

EC pinpoints diPculties in overseas voting

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: JudicialCommission constitutedon missing persons hasfiled report in SupremeCourt (SC) with respect tomissing persons.The commission led by

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbaltold the SC in its reportthat 138 cases of missingpersons were received by itduring March, 2011. Thenumber of missing personsstood at 138 till December,31, 2010 which had nowreached 873. Total cases registered in

this regard stand at 1011and 316 missing personshave been recovered uptillnow. Data of 47 missingpersons is not availablewhile the cases of 15missing persons arepending for some otherreasons.As many as 378 cases of

missing persons weredisposed of till March, 20,2013. 310 missing personshave been recovered.Other 62 cases have alsobeen disposed of by thecommission during thelast two years. 633 missing persons

have not been traced outso far. 20 among thembelong to Islamabad, 148to Punjab, 100 to Sindh,279 to KP, 26 to FATA, 11to AJK and 1 to GilgatBaltistan.

873 missing,Commissiontells SC

OUR STAFF REPORTER

IISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The ECP Wednesdayre-described hundreds ofconstituencies of national andprovincial assemblies. A notification was issued, saying

128 National Assemblyconstituencies and 292 provincialconstituencies have been re-described. The reason given forre-description is geographicalchanges in the constituencies’respective areas.The election commission has

made the changes under Section 10-A of the Delimitation Act of 1974which authorizes the ECP to makeany changes in the constituenciesprior to the elections. NationalAssembly constituencies where re-description has been done includeboth constituencies of the federalcapital, 19 constituencies in KhyberPakthunkhwa, 17 in Punjab, 34constituencies in Sindh and three inBalochistan. Changes have beenmade in 292 provincialconstituencies that include 73

constituencies in KP, 137 inPunjab, 66 constituencies in Sindhand 16 in Balochistan.The Election Commission also

fixed 15th April, 2013 as the last datefor receipt of applications for postalballot papers for general elections tothe National Assembly and theProvincial Assemblies.The ECP said the last date in this

behalf for such polling personneland police personnel as are posted ata polling station other than one atwhich they are entitled to cast theirvote, has been fixed as 25th April,2013. Separately, the ECP onWednesday ordered the removal ofDeputy Governor State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) Ashraf Mehmoodwithin 24 hours. Sources said theCommission has rejected the reply offinance ministry and orderedremoval of the deputy governor SBPin 24 hours. It also sought reportover the sacking. It may be notedhere that the finance ministry hadrefused to sack deputy governor andstated that he was appointed by thefederal government under SBP Act.

KKAARRAACCHHII:: Former President General(Retd) Pervez Musharraf Wednesdaysaid he had not struck a deal withanybody and returned to Pakistan inthe country’s interest.

“I am among those people who think ofthe country and people,” Musharraf toldreporters during his first press conferenceafter returning to Pakistan. He said that hecannot say how many constituencies hewill be able to win but that he will run forelections from Karachi, adding that he hasold relations with MQM. he formerpresident said his supporters hadrecommended he run for elections fromNA-250 Defence constituency in Karachi.He claimed that Pakistan had prospered

during his eight year tenure, adding that hehad been the only one to raise his voiceagainst anti-state elements and thosespreading terrorism. He said others wereeither scared to raise their voice or were

safeguarding their own interests.Asked about the Kargil issue, the former

president replied that he was proud of theKargil operation. Muhsarraf deniedhanding over Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to theUnited States calling whoever did so atraitor. According to Musharraf, thedecision to join the US led war on terrorwas in the interest of Pakistan and if he hadno taken that decision the country’s destinywould have been drastically diQerent.Musharraf said he was ready to face all

challenges come what may. “I’m sittinghere and I challenge my opponents to dowhatever they can. I’ve come here to faceall challenges,” said he. Musharraf facesthreats from extremist militant groups.Musharraf brushed aside all fears ofsecurity and assassination attempts. “Therehave been attacks on me in the past. Ididn’t back oQ then and I won’t back oQnow,” said he. –AGENCIES

No deal madefor return: Mush� To contest polls from Defence, Karachi

Published by Ahmad Waleed from Nai Baat Printers, Plot No. 93, Street N0. 7, I-10/3, Islamabad

PTA’s Enforcement DGrefuses to give up lucrative jobIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: Director General Enforcement Sajjad Latif (who has a fake degree)has refused to ive up his 'lucrative' job despite a decision against him by the PTA andthe Chairman of Senate Standing Committee on IT writing to the government tosend him packing. Documents show that a ex-PTA chief Farooq Awan appointedSajjad latif to the important slot on November 26, 2012. His appointment was madeto draw benefits worth billions of rupees from the tender/auction of 3G licenses tothe telecom sector. The service rules & regulation 27 of PTA about the appointmentof DG Enforcement necessarily requires certification of Pakistan EngineeringCouncil while an inquiry has shown that Sajjad Latif 's engineering degree was notregistered with PEC. Sajjad after receiving removal order from PTA approached IHCbut the court rejected his plea seeking some cushion from the court. However, theinfluential personality of power corridors has advised him to continue work and payno heed to the criticism and the authority decision, sources said.–SAHTAK BALOCH

� SC orders caretakers to make arrangements

Over 400constituenciesre-described� EC orders removal of SBP’s Dy Governor in24 hours � April 15 last date for postal ballots

284 former MPs oweover Rs 12m to NTCIISSLLAAMMAABBAADD:: The National Telecommunication Corporation(NTC) has shared a list of 284 former lawmakers with the ElectionCommission of Pakistan, who collectively owe over Rs 12 million tothe Corporation and also face disqualification for contesting theelection if they did not clear the outstanding dues. The sources inthe ECP said that the commission has forwarded the names of thelawmakers to the Returning officers concerned so as to use againstthem at the time of scrutiny if they file nomination papers for theupcoming general elections. According to the details, Leader of theOpposition Ch. Nisar Ali Khan owes Rs 80166 to the NTC in thehead of telephone bill, Fehmida Mirza Rs 34642, Abdul HafeezSheikh Rs 93541, Kaira Rs 96807, Asfand Yar Wali Rs 2244,Rehman Malik Rs 195556, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Rs 52931,Mian Manzoor Wattoo Rs 271880, Nadeem Afzal Chan Rs 31034,Pervez Elahi Rs 26897, Hina Rabbani Khar Rs 38431, MakhdoomAmin Faheem Rs 37434, Firdous Ashiq Awan Rs 147869, FarooqSattar Rs 213269, Faisal Karim Kundi Rs 126079, Farooq H NaekRs 7516, Jamshed Dasti 13152, Makhdoom Shahabuddin Rs 846,Ayetullah Durrani Rs 110059, Ayyaz Amir Rs 20063, SheryRehman Rs 510, Ahmed Mukhtar Rs 86225, Imtiaz SafdarWarraich Rs 22258, Abdul Qadir Patel Rs 41678, Abdul QayyumJatoi Rs 12000, Anusha Rehman Rs 12720, Tehmina Doultana Rs5878, Jehangir Badar Rs 2585, Mushahid Hussain Rs 5651,Mushahidullah Rs 3238, Noor Alam Khan Rs 4868. Otherlawmakers also owe thousands of rupees to the NTC under thesame head, the sources said. However, according to the nationalassembly secretariat, it is the responsibility of the CDA to pay thetelephone bills of the Speaker NA, Deputy Speaker NA, OppositionLeader and the ministers. –STAFF REPORTER