e-paper pakistantoday 07th february, 2013

19
Rs 17.00 Vol III No 221 24 Pages Lahore Edition Thursday, 7 February, 2013 Rabiul Awal 25, 1434 STORY ON PAGE 04 STORY ON PAGE 07 STORY ON PAGE 02 In a twist to the Shahzeb Khan murder case, a fresh medical examination conducted on Shahrukh Jatoi, the prime accused in Shahzeb’s murder, has revealed that the accused is an adult. According to the medical report, Shahrukh is at least 18 years old as he possesses all 32 teeth, including four wisdom teeth. PAGE 02 Shahzeb’s murderer Shahrukh ‘is an adult’ The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to lift the ban on hiring in constitutional institutions, including the Supreme Court. According to the ECP secretary, 25 government departments had sent references to them seeking revocation of the ban on appointments in the public sector. He said the ECP would review the references on a case- to-case basis. The ECP has also decided to contact the State Bank of Pakistan and Federal Board of Revenue to scrutinize electoral candidates. PAGE 24 Only constitutional institutions may hire: ECP Questioning the role of the Sindh lawmakers in enforcing law and order in the violence-stricken province where at least 2,300 people had been killed in 2012 and criminals were moving about freely in the city, the Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its concern over holding of transparent elections in the city. PAGE 24 SC doubts holding of polls in ‘paranoid Karachi’ Not often is the build up to an India versus Pakistan clash – whatever the occasion – as low-key as the one for the seventh-place playoff at the 2013 ICC Women's World Cup. With the two teams failing to qualify for the Super Sixes, the match at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Thursday (February 7) holds very little significance except academic. PAGE 21 Pakistan, India plan to end World Cup on a high Chinese presence at Gwadar port annoying India Pakistan’s decision to hand over its strategic Gwadar port to China has become a matter of “serious concern” for India, Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said on Wednesday. PAGE 18 STORY ON PAGE 02 LHR 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:21 AM Page 1

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Page 1: e-paper pakistantoday 07th February, 2013

Rs 17.00 Vol III No 221 24 Pages Lahore Edition Thursday, 7 February, 2013 Rabiul Awal 25, 1434

STORY ON PAGE 04 STORY ON PAGE 07

STORY ON PAGE 02

In a twist to the Shahzeb Khanmurder case, a fresh medicalexamination conducted onShahrukh Jatoi, the prime accusedin Shahzeb’s murder, has revealedthat the accused is an adult.According to the medical report,Shahrukh is at least 18 years old ashe possesses all 32 teeth, includingfour wisdom teeth. PAGE 02

Shahzeb’s murdererShahrukh ‘is an adult’

The Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) has decided to liftthe ban on hiring in constitutionalinstitutions, including the SupremeCourt. According to the ECPsecretary, 25 governmentdepartments had sent referencesto them seeking revocation of theban on appointments in the publicsector. He said the ECP wouldreview the references on a case-to-case basis. The ECP has alsodecided to contact the State Bankof Pakistan and Federal Board ofRevenue to scrutinize electoralcandidates. PAGE 24

Only constitutionalinstitutions mayhire: ECP

Questioning the role of the Sindhlawmakers in enforcing law and orderin the violence-stricken province whereat least 2,300 people had been killedin 2012 and criminals were movingabout freely in the city, the SupremeCourt on Wednesday expressed itsconcern over holding of transparentelections in the city. PAGE 24

SC doubts holding of polls in ‘paranoid Karachi’

Not often is the build up to an Indiaversus Pakistan clash – whatever theoccasion – as low-key as the one for theseventh-place playoff at the 2013 ICCWomen's World Cup. With the two teamsfailing to qualify for the Super Sixes, thematch at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack onThursday (February 7) holds very littlesignificance except academic. PAGE 21

Pakistan, India planto end World Cup on a high

Chinese presence atGwadar portannoying India

Pakistan’s decision to hand

over its strategic Gwadar

port to China has become a

matter of “serious concern”

for India, Indian Defence

Minister AK Antony said

on Wednesday. PAGE 18

STORY ON PAGE 02

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Page 2: e-paper pakistantoday 07th February, 2013

Demand for the reconstitution of the Election Commission is

unconstitutional and unprincipled when the general elections

are just around the corner. — PPP leader Manzoor Wattoo

NThursday, 7 February, 2013

02

nEws

TTP iNviTeS Ji, JUi,PML-N DeLegaTioN ToviSiT TribaL areaSMIRANSHAH/ISLAMABAD: Afterdemanding the PML-N, JUI-F and JI chiefsstand guarantors for the peace talks withthe government, the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) has invited theirrepresentative delegation to visit the TribalAreas. Talking to reporters over phone froman undisclosed location, TTP spokesmanIhsanullah Ihsan said the delegation ofpolitical parties would be guaranteed fullsecurity if they it visited the Tribal Areas.He said the purpose of inviting thedelegation to the Tribal Areas was toconvey the Taliban’s point of view. He saidthe Taliban wanted to make talks with thegovernment successful. The TTP spokesmansaid the Taliban did not trust the army,which was why they wanted direct talkswith the government without militaryinvolvement. About ignoring PTI chiefImran Khan for the talks process,Ihsanullah said Imran was not a seriousperson like Rehman Malik. inp

afghaNS fire 5 MorTar

SheLLS iNTo PakiSTaNMIRANSHAH: At least five mortar shells werefired from the Afghan side of the border onWednesday that landed in Ghulam Khan areaof North Waziristan Agency, security sourcesaid. The sources said the shelling byunidentified people, believed to be Afghansecurity personnel, did not cause anycasualties. The shelling, sourced at Tarkhobiarea in Afghanistan’s Khost province,continued for half an hour. Cross-bordershelling has heightened tension betweenPakistan and Afghanistan, as the two countriesaccuse each other of firing. Islamabad hasprotested and asked Kabul to stop the cross-border attacks. However, Afghan officials denythe charges. online

LAHORE

staff report

PRESIDENT Asif AliZardari will soon give up hispolitical office and the Pres-idency will not be used forpolitical activities of the

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), WasimSajjad, counsel for the federation, toldthe Lahore High Court (LHC) onWednesday.

A full bench headed by Chief Jus-tice Umar Ata Bandial heard the con-tempt of court petition moved by MunirAhmad against President Zardari fornot relinquishing his political office asthe PPP co-chairperson in light of anLHC verdict.

The counsel, Wasim Sajjad, sub-mitted the federation’s viewpoint on thematter in writing, informing the courtthat the president would soon give up

his political office and the President’sHouse would not be used for the polit-ical activities by the PPP.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah en-quired from the counsel whether polit-ical activities would not be held in thePresidency only or in the President’sHouse in Karachi as well?

Sajjad said that the President’sHouse was located in Islamabad, whilethe rest were the president’s personalresidences. To this, LHC CJ Umar AtaBandial said the federation’s counsel’spledge to stop political activities in thePresident’s House augured well.

Sajjad said the issue had been set-tled finally. “The president would soongive up the political office.”

The counsel told the court that thepresident was not the chief of the partyand the slot was occupied byMakhdoom Amin Faheem. Sajjad as-serted that the president was not thehead of the Pakistan People’s PartyParliamentarians (PPP-P).

During the hearing Sajjad and ad-ditional attorney general exchangedheated arguments with the petitioner’scounsel AK Dogar.

Earlier during the hearing, Attor-ney General of Pakistan (AGP) IrfanQadir had requested the court to ad-journ the hearing.

The bench rejected the request andreplied that the case was significant innature and the hearing would carry oneven if the AGP was not available toappear for proceedings.

ISLAMABAD

agencies

The Election Commission of Pak-istan (ECP) on Wednesday issuednotices to another 12 members of thePunjab Assembly for allegedly hold-ing dual nationalities.

The notices were sent after ChiefElection Commissioner (CEC)Fakhruddin G Ebrahim presided overa high-level meeting and reviewedvarious matters, including the law-makers’ dual nationalities and delimi-tation of constituencies in Karachi inlight of Supreme Court’s orders.

On Tuesday, the ECP issued no-tices to 23 MPAs of the Punjab As-sembly. Those served notices include21 current and two former members ofthe provincial assembly (MPAs).

Fifteen of the 21 belong to thePML-N and four are from the PPP.

They include former MPAsJameel Ashraf and Tahir Ali Javed andcurrent MPAs Zaeem Qadri, Shaukat

Aziz Bhatti, Rana Babar Hussain, Far-rukh Javed, Raza Ali Gilani, PirKashif Chishti, Imran Shaukat,Muhammad Yar Hiraj, Tahir KhalilSindhu, Makhdoom Muhammad Ir-tiqa, Arfa Khalid Pervez, Maira Malik,Ghulam Sarwar, Imran Khalid, Shah-jahan Ahmed Wattoo, Ali HaiderNoor, Hafiz Mian Noman, MohsinLateef, Tariq Mehmood andShamsheer Haider Wattoo. The SChad ruled in September last year thatMNAs and MPAs holding dual na-tionalities were not eligible to holdany public office and had declaredthem disqualified.

Drone kills three inNorth Waziristan

PESHAWAR

staff report

At least three suspected militants were killed andseveral others were injured when a US dronetargeted a compound near the Pakistan-Afghanborder in North Waziristan on Wednesday.Officials at Miranshah said that a compoundestablished in an abandon house at MatalMountain area in Banngdar area of TehsilGhulam Khan had been targeted and razed to theground at noon. The official said that soon afterthe drone attack, other militants surrounded thesite and shifted the dead bodies and injured tounidentified location, adding that the identity ofthe victims could not be ascertained. Meanwhile,an official said that at least eight militants hadbeen killed when jet fighters bombed theirhideouts in two different places of UpperOrakzai on Wednesday. However, there is noconfirmation from independent sources due tolack of media access.

Medical report saysShahrukh an adult

RAWALPINDI

staff report

The medical examination conducted on ShahrukhJatoi, prime accused in the Shahzeb murder case,has revealed that the accused is an adult. After amedical examination of his teeth, it has beenproven that Shahrukh is at least 18-year-old as hepossesses all 32 teeth, including four wisdom teeth.According to medical experts, an individual mustbe at least 18 years of age to have a complete set of32 teeth. Earlier in the day, six X-rays shots ofShahrukh were taken by the medical board taskedwith determining his age. Shahzeb was shot deadin the Defence area of Karachi on December 25.Shahrukh is the prime suspect in the case and hadfled the country. He was later extradited to Pakistanfrom Dubai. Sharukh has been identified as thekiller by witnesses during the identificationprocess. An anti-terrorism court had on January 17directed the medical superintendent of ServicesHospital to constitute a medical board to conductShahrukh’s ossification test. The previous medicalreport was rejected as police surgeon Dr Jalil Qadirwas not eligible to pronounce Shahrukh a minor.Dr Qadri was then presented a show-cause noticeand he fled the scene thereafter. It was thenannounced that Professor Junaid Ashraf, Principalof Dow Medical College, would head the board.The medical board comprises two forensicspecialists, including Dr Farhat Mirza, threeradiologists and a dental surgeon.

Zardari to give upparty post ‘soon’

COUNSEL TELLS LHCAMIN FAHIM, NOTZARDARI, IS CHIEF OFTHE RULING PARTY

DUAL NATIONALITY(

(

ECP issues notices to12 more Punjab MPAs

23 MPAS TOAPPEAR BEFORECOMMISSION TODAY

LAHORE

staff report

Expressing strong reservations over theperformance of the Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan AwamiTehreek (PAT) have demanded that thecommission be reformed to ensure free andfair elections. Top leaders of the PTI metPAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in Lahore onWednesday to discuss their reservationsover the current ECP. Talking to reporters,PTI President Javed Hashmi said that hisparty was not satisfied with the present ECPand the suggested caretaker setup. Hashmisaid that only the reservations had been dis-cussed during the meeting, but his party wasyet to decide on whether it wanted to file apetition in the Supreme Court (SC) withQadri or not, adding that his party would sup-port everyone working to change the destiny

of the people.PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi

said that free and fair elections were theonly way to bring change in the country,adding that without an autonomous ECP,transparent elections could not be held. Hesaid the government was claiming that itcould not dissolve the ECP under Article209, but that its argument was invalid. “Wewill raise the question of composition andconstitution of the ECP,” he said, adding

that he had not given any commentsagainst Qadri since peaceful protests werepart of democracy. Speaking on the occa-sion, Qadri said the parliament had failedto deliver and resolve the problems of thepeople and stressed the need for ensuringa complete neutral caretaker setup to en-sure free and fair election. He said thatafter a long time, two institutions in thecountry – the judiciary and the army –were working in favour of democracy.

ISLAMABAD

staff report

The National Assembly’sStanding Committee on De-fence has been informed thatdefence installations havebeen attacked 16 times in thecountry since 2009. The meet-ing of the standing committeewas chaired by Azra FazalPechuho on Wednesday. De-fence Secretary LieutenantGeneral (r) Asif Yasin Malikinformed the committee thatdefence installations havebeen attacked 16 times since2009, adding that the last at-tacks were in Peshawar andthe Kamra airbase. The de-fence secretary said that in theattack on the Kamra airbasean Airborne Warning and

Control System (AWACS)plane was destroyed, whileten attackers were also killed.Terrorists attacked Peshawar

Air Base from all four sides,but fortunately all defence in-stallations remained safe,Malik told the committee.

PTI, Qadri on same page on reforming ECP

LAHORE: Minhajul Quran chief Dr Tahirul Qadri talks to PTI leaders JavedHashmi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a meeting on Wednesday. inp

16 defence installations attacked since 2009‘BUSINESS TRAIN OWES RAILWAYS RS 345M’ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Railways secretary onWednesday revealed that the Business Express project didnot succeed in fulfilling people’s expectations and that thePak-Business Express (PBE) currently owed the PakistanRailways Rs 345 million. This was revealed in a meeting ofthe Public Accounts Committee — chaired by Nadeem AfzalGondal – and called to review audit paras and objections inconnection with the Ministry of Railways. Railways SecretaryArif Azeem informed the members of the committee that theproject was initiated keeping in mind the business communityof the country. However, he said it failed to perform its dueobjective. He said the issue was taken up by the EconomicsCoordination Council (ECC) and following the directions of theECC, a third party evaluation of the project had been carriedout which was presented to the ECC. staff report

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AdvErTisEMEnT Thursday, 7 February, 2013 03

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Obama must release his own legal memos and not

just a Cliffs Notes version. — Vincent Warren, executive

director of the Center for Constitutional RightsnEwsN

04

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

Earlier in the meeting, the com-mission discussed a letter sentby Federal Tax Ombudsman’soffice, in which the ECP wasapprised that 70 percent of theparliamentarians had failed tofile their tax return in 2011. Theletter requested the ECP tomake it mandatory that tax doc-uments be submitted togetherwith nomination papers.

The secretary said in orderto conduct free and transparentelections, the ECP had decidedto stop tax evaders and bank de-faulting candidates from con-testing elections. “We haveforward a request for makinglegislation, in which ECP re-quests one month period forscrutinising the candidates. If anew law is passed, we will haveone month to scrutinise the can-didates,” Khan said.

He said the ECP also de-cided to contact the State Bankof Pakistan and Federal Board

of Revenue to help ECP scruti-nise electoral candidates.

Khan said after holding ameeting with FBR and StateBank, the ECP would chalk outa mechanism to stop taxevaders and bank defaulters.

To a query, the secretarysaid fake degree-holders whocontested last elections on thebasis of fake degrees would notbe allowed to take part in elec-tions. The meeting also re-viewed ineligibility ofparliaments and implementa-tion of Articles 62 and 63 of theconstitutions. The commissionwill also hold a meeting withopposition parties today(Thursday) to discuss charter ofdemands submitted by them onMonday. The opposition par-ties have requested the ECP toconducting fresh delimitationof constituencies and verifica-tion of voters’ list in Karachiand removal of 27 bureaucratsfrom important positions be-fore the general elections.

Justice Khawaja said themasses may then decide,through balloting, the fate oftheir elected representativeswho were reluctant to makelaws for their protection. Ear-lier, Sindh Additional Inspec-tor General (AIG) IqbalMehmood told the bench thatduring 2012, at least 2,300people fell victim to targetedkillings in the city, while22,000 declared criminalswere wandering with im-punity. He said 105 incidentsof kidnapping for ransom hadbeen reported during the pastyear. Justice Khawaja ex-pressed his concern about thepossibility of a free and fair

election in a city like Karachiwhere the voters were highlyparanoid. Sindh SSP NiazKhoso said the situationwould not take more than amonth to improve if witnesseswere protected through prom-ulgating the relevant laws. Hesaid no one in the city wasready to register a case againstcriminals or at least become astate witness in a case.

Calling the strength ofpolice department inadequatefor maintaining peace in thecity, the bench asked howmany IOs were there in themetropolis. The IGP saidaround 2,000, the additionalIGP said 700 to 800, whilethe DIG investigation quotedthe number at 250.

Cia operating

secret drone

base in SaudiLONDON

inp

The US Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA) has been oper-ating a clandestine airbase forunmanned drones in SaudiArabia for the past two years.The base was established forthe purpose of hunting downal Qaeda members in the Ara-bian Peninsula, reported aUK-based news agency. Adrone took flight from this fa-cility in September 2011 tokill Anwar al Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric who wassuspected to be the head of alQaeda Arabian Peninsula’s(AQAP) external operations.The report further assertedthat the American media hadbeen aware of its existencesince then, but had not re-ported on it.

PML-N, JUi-f,bNP-a walk outof Senate

ISLAMABAD

app

Senators from the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz(PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) andBalochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) walked outof the Senate on Wednesdayagainst the imposition of gov-ernor rule in Balochistan andlaw and order situation inother parts of the country.Speaking on a point of order,JUI-F Chief Whip AbdulGhafoor Haidri said religiousscholars and common peoplewere being killed in Quetta,Karachi and KhyberPakhtunkhwa. He said theelected government inBalochistan had been removedfollowing a bomb blast despitethe fact that the law and ordersituation in other provinceswas not much different.Kalsoom Perveen of BNP-A,said a decision to impose gov-ernor rule should have beentaken earlier and that a demo-cratic government should nothave been removed at the timewhen the assembly was goingto complete its term.

Only constitutional

SC doubts impartial pollsin ‘paranoid’ Karachi

ISLAMABAD

staff report

aformer head of the In-telligence Bureau onWednesday told theSupreme Court that

the forces behind the no-confi-dence vote against the electedgovernment of Benazir Bhuttoin 1989 were not political.

Submitting a detailedreply in the secret funds case,former IB chief MasoodSharif Khattak said that latePresident Ghulam Ishaq Khanand former Chief of the ArmyStaff Gen Mirza Aslam Baigwanted to keep late BenazirBhutto out of power throughtheir pre-polls efforts in the1988 elections, which startedwith the formation of IslamiJamhoori Ittehad (IJI).

He said that being head ofthe IB, it was his duty to keep

a watch over all such activitiesthat were aimed at destabilis-ing the then constitutionallyelected government. He main-tained that they knew aboutsuch a move ahead of itstabling in the parliament.

“I must say here in veryunambiguous terms, that evenif any government of Pakistanwhen placed under extremeunconstitutional pressures,does spend any funds to wardoff unconstitutional stepsaimed at dismantling that gov-ernment there would be noth-ing illegal about,” he said.

He said that he was on theright side of the Constitutionagainst extra-constitutionalefforts and had to suffer ex-tensively for that reason. Re-futing claims made by AsadKharal, a reporter of a localEnglish daily, Khattak saidthat he had denied the asper-

sions that the amounts duringhis period as IB chief weredistributed right, left and cen-ter with ulterior motives. Hesaid that he had appeared be-fore the Lahore High Courtduring February 1992 andmaintained that those fundswere indeed spent towardsfurthering national interest.

During the hearing, for-mer DG IB Tariq Lodhi ad-mitted that the amount waswithdrawn from the IB’s ac-counts during his tenure. Thecourt sought a detailed replyfrom him within two days,and directed the SC registrarto seek the Lahore HighCourt’s decision on a refer-ence filed by former presidentGhulam Ishaq Khan in con-nection with the disqualifica-tion of Benazir Bhutto in1992, and present it before theapex court. Lodhi filed a brief

but sealed reply in the court,while Masood Sharif filed adetailed reply. However, theincumbent DGIB filed a ques-tionnaire containing threelegal points in the court ratherthan furnishing a reply.

The court said the ques-tionnaire would be seen laterand he should first file thereply, which has sought bythe court. The court askedMasood Sharif if he wantedto keep his reply secret. Ma-sood Sharif said the contentsof his reply had already ap-peared before the LHC,therefore, it would be futileto keep it secret. “I have al-ready filed all the details withthe Lahore High Court whenformer president GhulamIshaq Khan had filed a refer-ence seeking the disqualifica-tion of Benazir Bhutto’sgovernment,” he stated.

forces behind benazir govt’s ousterin 1989 were not political, SC told

SHOE HURLED ATAHMEDINEJAD IN EGYPTCAIRO: Iranian President MahmoudAhmedinejad faced a shoe-hurlingepisode in Egypt on Wednesday, butthe hurler never got any close tohitting his target. Egypt’s securityarrested four men who were protestingoutside a Cairo mosque, where theIranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad was praying. The men,including a Syrian, belong to the ultra-conservative Sunni Salafist movement.one man threw a shoe atAhmadinejad, a Shia, who was neverin any danger. The Al-Hussein Mosqueis revered by Shia Muslims, who arewidely disliked by conservative SunniMuslims, including members of theMuslim Brotherhood. Egypt’s PresidentMohammed Morsi was previously amember of the Brotherhood. ManySunni Muslim groups have denouncedthe Iranian president’s visit to Cairoand have called on Egypt’s governmentto prevent Ahmadinejad from visitingany religious sites that are significantto Shia Muslims. inp

TURKEY TO BUILD WARSHIP FOR PAKISTAN

AZERBAIJAN: Turkey won a tenderannounced earlier by the Naval Forcesof Pakistan for construction of awarship, the Hurriyet newspaperreported. Turkish company producingdefence-related equipment SavunmaTeknolojileri Mühendislik (STM) signedan agreement with the DefenceMinistry of Pakistan. Under theagreement, the warship will beconstructed at a shipyard in Karachi,and all of the parts of the ship will bemanufactured in Turkey. It is reportedthat the agreement also covers trainingof ship personnel and its testing. Costof the agreement and date of startingthe construction of the ship has notbeen announced yet. online

FILE PHoTo

CoNTINuEd FRom PAgE 24

CoNTINuEd FRom PAgE 24

Militants attack police in NowsheraNOWSHERA: Unidentified militants attacked Malangipolice checkpost using heavy weapons in Nowshera onWednesday night. According to reports, the militantsattacked the police post with rockets and heavy weapons.Retaliation by the police force forced the militants to fleethe area. Police later cordoned off the area and launcheda search operation against the militants. online

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lAhOrEThursday, 7 February, 2013

low

high

070C

FrIday satUrday sUnday

19°C I06°C 19°C I07°C 20°CI07°C

prayer tiMings

Fajr sunrise Zuhr asr Maghrib Isha

5:28 6:51 12:17 3:21 5:43 7:06

partly CloUdy

Weather Updates

180C

05

L74% Pakistanis trust religious leaders

– Gallup poll

LAHORE

WaleeD MalHi

DESPITE the fact that tobacco is banned inpublic places, Pakistan is the largestconsumer of tobacco in South Asia.Reports have revealed that tobaccosmoking is very common among

youngsters, and is responsible for various healthproblems in the young generation.

A cigarette consists of various chemicals, whichwhen consumed either in high doses or at low doses, buton a regular basis, can be toxic. Examples of suchchemicals include nicotine, carbon monoxide and taralong with heavy metals and several carcinogens likenitrosamines, aromatic amines and polycyclichydrocarbons.

Around 2,000 to 4,000 different noxious chemicalsare released when a single cigarette is lit. The adverseeffects of these chemicals include systemic cancers,peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease,emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructivepulmonary disease.

In developing countries like Pakistan, which haveweak anti-tobacco legislation and lack of awarenessamong the people regarding smoking, tobacco relateddiseases have shown a significant increase. Tobacco useis not only capable of damaging nearly every organ of thehuman body but also aids at least 15 different cancers andis single-handedly responsible for 30 percent of all cancerrelated deaths.

The number of cases of lung cancers, chronicobstructive pulmonary disease and myocardialinfarction are increasing with the increasing sale of

cigarettes. Moreover, lung cancer is causingmalignancy among the Pakistani males where around40 percent of males and 8 percent of females areregular smokers.

Tobacco-smoking parents are believed to have playeda key role in the spread of this habit among the youth.Studies have revealed that every teenager has at least onetobacco-smoking parent and such children weresignificantly more likely to start smoking tobacco ascompared to children of non-smoking parents.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO)tobacco use is currently responsible for the death of onein ten adults’ worldwide (about 5 million deaths eachyear). Moreover, unless circumstances changes, within25 years the annual death toll will double; millions morewill prematurely develop tobacco related illnesses thatmay lead to chronic disability.

Taking to Pakistan Today, Heath EDO Dr InamulHaq said, “It is alarming that a huge number ofyoungsters are heading towards tobacco-smoking. Thereis law on cigarette smoking in public places but there isa lack of implementation. The government is trying totake steps for save our generation from this menace.”

Pakistan’s tobacco consumption:The most in South asia!

PAKISTAN BECOMES THE LARGESTCONSUMER OF TOBACCO IN SOUTH ASIADESPITE BAN ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC

REPORT SAYS SMOKING BECOMING VERY COMMON IN TEENAGERS

LAHORE

rana Ha iDer

Local factories manufacturingLiquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)cylinders are using low qualitymaterial, and the city districtgovernment has so far not takenany step in this regard.

Per reports, there have beenmore than 12 incidents of gascylinder blasts in January alonein the areas of Gulberg, DHA andHarbunspura. Several peoplehave lost their lives while dozensothers have been injured due tothese blasts.

According to sources, a

factory manufacturing fourkilogramme gas cylinders, hasbeen relocated from Gujranwalato Lahore. It has been selling itscylinders for Rs 500 to Rs 2,500whereas the price of imported gascylinders starts from Rs 3,000 toRs 5,000.

“Fifty percent of gas cylinderblasts occur during loading andunloading of cylinders fromtrucks,” a source said.

Although heavier LPGcylinders have less chances ofexplosion, local factories aremaking light weight cylinders inorder to save money.

Talking to Pakistan Today,

Shaukat, a cylinder vendor, saidpeople use LPG cylinders due tohindered supply of gas. “Locallymade LPG cylinders were beingused in rickshaws and cars. Weknow this is very dangerous buthe we have no other choice. Weneed to fulfill the needs of ourfamilies,” he said.

Another gas cylinder seller,Adnan, said that he sold twotypes of cylinders –good qualityand cheap quality. “It’s up to thebuyer which one he would like tobuy. It’s the government’s duty tostop the manufacturing of lowquality cylinders,” he added.

Tariq Zaman, an official of

the district government, said thatlow quality cylinders were beingmade in Misri Shah and they hadsealed all factories making suchcylinders. “Whenever someonegives us information regardingthis, we quickly raid and seal thefactory,” he said.

He said LPG cylinders werenot allowed in rickshaws, vansand cars. Answering a question,he said there was no notificationissued regarding the low qualitygas cylinders being brought intoLahore from other cities.

“When the notification willbe issued we will ban the entry ofall such cylinders,” he said.

Cheap but risky LpG CyLinders

thrivinG on Govt’s siLenCe

Drunken copsmanhandle womanLAHORE: Two drunken policemenmisbehaved with a woman and tried tokidnap her in South Cantonment onWednesday. A report said that constablesnamed Ashiq Hussain, Abdul Hameed andtheir drug pusher friend Sami Masihmisbehaved with a woman and tried tokidnap her. However, the SHo reached thespot, beat the culprits in the market andthen filed an FIR against them. staff report

CCPo’s vacant postdisrupting routineLAHORE: official activities of Lahore Policewere being affected as Punjab government isyet to appoint a new CCPo Lahore despitethe passage of almost one week. According todetails, after CCPo Lahore Aslam Tareenretired following completion of his term, threenames, including Naseemuz Zaman, AhmedMubarik and Ameen Venus were beingconsidered for the slot. However, despiteseveral days, provincial authorities had notyet finalised the name for the vacant slot,neither was the charge handed over on atemporary basis, due to which the officialwork was being affected. staff report

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06

Thursday, 7 February, 2013lAhOrE

The Election Commission of Pakistan

needs to be reformulated

– Deputy Prime Minister Pervaiz Elahi

Heavy traffic, motorcycle rickshawsbarred from New Ravi Bridge

LAHORE

staff report

New Ravi Bridge was closed forheavy vehicles and motorcyclerickshaws on Wednesday to ensurean unhindered path for buses ofMetro Bus Service.

The Metro Bus Service is set tobe inaugurated on February 10 and allthe departments are rushing tocomplete their tasks before theannounced date. Only cars, smallvans, motorcycles and other lightvehicles can use the New Ravi Bridgewhile trucks, buses, mini buses andall other slow moving vehicles,particularly motorcycles rickshaws,are being diverted to Saggian Bridge.Extra traffic wardens had beendeployed at Saggian Bridge to controlthe diverted traffic.

However, traffic wardensseemed helpless to the traffic jamswitnessed at Saggian Bridge.

Passengers and transportersstaged demonstrations in protestand chanted slogans against the citygovernment and traffic police.

Passengers complained thatdifficulties were being created forthe citizens in order to make theMetro Bus Service successful.

Transporters complained that itwas time consuming and expensive touse the alternative route as SaggianBridge was quite far from the City BusStand. Passengers and transportersappealed to the government to takenotice of the situation and called formeasures to ease the passengers’ andthe transporters’ miseries.

young doctors’hunger strikeenters third day

CITIZENS, TRANSPORTERSHOLD PROTESTS, SAY THEYSHOULD NOT BE MADE TOSUFFER TO MAKE THE METROBUS PROJECT A SUCCESS

CavaLry

reSiDeNT robbeD

of rS 20 MiLLioN!LAHORE: Robbery took place in thehouse of a citizen named BashirAhmed in the area of Cavalry Groundon Wednesday. According to areport, robbers took Rs 20 millioncash, prize bounds, gold worth Rs 5million and other valuables andescaped from the scene. “I have leda life of honesty and these robberstook away everything I had everearned. They even took the jewelrymy wife’s parents had given here.There is no law in this land,” Ahmedsaid. The police have registered acase against three robbers. Inanother report, robbery took place ina medical store situated inMustafabad. Report said that therobbers took Rs 300,000 cash andescaped from the scene. In anotherincident, a man named HajiMuhammad Jaga was robbed of Rs500,000 in cash and other valuables.A Dubai-returned family was alsorobbed of gold worth millions,foreign and Pakistani currency in HBlock, Defense. staff report

‘SoCiaL ServiCe

DePT aiMS aT

SoCiaL ServiCe’LAHORE: District Social Welfareofficer Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed hassaid that Social Welfare Departmentis a public department which hasvision of social service. He wasaddressing the inaugural ceremonyof second two-days departmentaltraining session of the supervisors atDistrict office Town Hall of SocialWelfare Department on Wednesday.Deputy District officers BushraYasmeen, Sajid Hussain, RanaAmjad, Arif Siddiqui, M Fayyaz andAmna Akbar also addressed theceremony and threw light on theaims and objectives of the training.Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed stressedupon the under-training supervisorsto establish better relationship withthe social welfare organisations.staff report

LAHORE: Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab onWednesday continued their hunger strike on the thirdconsecutive day. The young doctors had set up a hungerstrike camp in front of the Services Hospital in Lahorewhere a large number of young doctors were observingthe hunger strike. YDA representatives vowed to continuethe hunger strike until all of their demands were met.

The doctors chanted slogans against the governmentfor not fulfilling their demands of free medical treatmentfor the patients in hospitals, implementation of youngdoctors’ service structure, release of their colleaguesarrested in the Gujranwala incident and end to the“victimization” of young doctors by termination ofcontracts, suspensions and transfers. staff report

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07

nEwsThursday, 7 February, 2013

No amount of political

freedom will satisfy the hungry

masses — Vladimir Lenin N

TuNIS

agencies

atop Tunisian opposition figure,Shokri Belaid, leader of the left-leaning opposition Democratic Patri-ots party, has been shot dead as he

was leaving his home.He was transported to a hospital in the

suburbs of Tunis on Wednesday, where hedied of his wounds, his bother confirmed.

“My brother was assassinated. I am des-perate and depressed,” Abdelmajid Belaidsaid. The wife of the opposition leader,speaking to Radio Mosaique, said he hadbeen hit by two bullets. Ziad Lakhader, aleader of the Popular Front, the umbrella or-ganisation of the Democratic Patriots, saidBelaid was killed by bullets to the head andchest; “Doctors told us that he has died. Thisis a sad day for Tunisia.”

Belaid had been critical of Tunisia’sleadership, especially the Islamic party En-nahda that dominates the government.

He had accused authorities of not doingenough to stop violence by ultraconserva-tives who have targeted mausoleums, art ex-hibits and other things seen as out of keepingwith their strict interpretation of Islam.

Government spokesperson Samir Diloucalled it an “odious crime”. Tunisian Presi-dent Moncef Marzouki said he would fightthose who opposed the political transition inhis country after the death of Belaid.

Marzouki, who cut short a visit to Franceon Wednesday, told lawmakers at the Euro-pean Parliament in Strasbourg to applause:“We will continue to fight the enemies of therevolution.” The president also cancelled avisit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday after thekilling, which brought thousands of protestersonto the streets outside the Interior Ministry.Chanting for the fall of the Ennahda-led gov-ernment, demonstrators shouted “Shame,shame Shokri died”, “Where is the govern-ment?”, and “The government should fall”.

Omar bin Ali, a member of the TunisianTrade Unions, was present at the demonstrationsite and said “the Islamists were responsible forBelaid’s death”. “This is what they have beencalling for in mosques,” Bin Ali told AlJazeera’s Ahmed Janabi outside of the ministry.

Ruling out the possibility of external fac-tors, Bin Ali said “Tunisia is a friend of all

nations. It is hard to think of anyone fromabroad to do this to us,” adding that “the peo-ple want the whole government out as theyproved to be useless”.WARNINg SHOtS: As the number of pro-testers swelled, security forces fired warningshots and cordoned off the area in the directvicinity of the ministry.

The killing comes as Tunisia is strug-gling to maintain stability and revive itseconomy after its longtime dictator wasoverthrown in an uprising two years ago.

That revolution set off revolts acrossthe Arab world and unleashed new socialand religious tensions. Ennahda won 42percent of seats in the first post-Arab upris-ing elections in October 2011 and formed agovernment in coalition with two secularparties, President Marzouki’s Congress forthe Republic and Ettakatol.

However, the government has facedmany protests over economic hardship.Hampered by declining trade with the crisis-hit eurozone, it has struggled to deliver thebetter living standards that many Tunisianshad hoped for. France condemned the mur-der of Belaid, describing him as a coura-geous fighter for human rights. “This murderrobs Tunisia of one of its most courageousand free voices,” President Francois Hol-lande said hours after Belaid was shot dead.

LONDON

agencies

British legislators have approved gaymarriage despite fierce oppositionfrom members of Prime MinisterDavid Cameron’s Conservative party.Members of the House of Commons- the lower House - voted on Tuesdayby 400 to 175 to approve the draftlaw allowing same-sex couples tomarry in England and Wales.The move puts Britain on track tojoin the ten countries that allow

same-sex couples to marry, butCameron had the embarrassmentof seeing more than half of hisConservative legislators refusing

to back him.Just 127 of 303 Conservatives

voted in favour of the plans, with136 voting against and 40 moreeither formally abstaining or notvoting. “Strong views exist on bothsides but I believe MPs voting forgay people being able to marry too,is a step forward for our country,”Cameron wrote on his Twitter pageafter the vote. The government-proposed bill would enable gaycouples to get married in both civiland religious ceremonies, providedthat the religious institutions consent.The vote was warmly welcomed byCameron’s junior coalition partners,the Liberal Democrats, and by theopposition Labour party, while gayrights group Stonewall called theresult “a truly historic step forward”.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg,the Liberal Democrats leader, calledthe result a “landmark for equality”.“Tonight’s vote shows parliament isvery strongly in favour of equalmarriage,” he said. “Marriage isabout love and commitment, and itshould no longer be denied to peoplejust because they are gay.”Currently, same-sex couples onlyhave the option of a civil partnership,which offers the same legal rightsand protections on issues such asinheritance, pensions, and childmaintenance. During a debate thatlasted more than six hours, manyConservative MPs denounced thelegislation, saying it was morallywrong, not a public priority, andunnecessarily divisive.Conservative lawmaker GeraldHowarth told parliament that thegovernment had no mandate to pushthrough a “massive social andcultural change”.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller, theminister responsible for thelegislation, insisted the bill wouldprotect religious freedoms and “notmarginalise those who believemarriage should be between a manand a woman”. The Church ofEngland, the country’s officialfaith, is barred from performingsuch ceremonies. That provisionaims to ensure that the Church,which opposes gay marriage, isprotected from legal claims that asthe official state religion it mustmarry anyone who requests it. Thebill must next be scrutinised by acommittee of legislators and thengo before the upper chamber theHouse of Lords before becominglaw. While a majority of people inBritain back gay marriage, pollsshow that Cameron’s strongsupport for the issue couldundermine his party’s chances atthe next general election in 2015.

DAMAScuS

agencies

At least 12 members of Syria’s securityforces have been killed in two suicidecar bombings targeting a military intel-ligence headquarters in the south-centralcity of Palmyra, a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatory for HumanRights said that more than 20 troopswere also wounded, some in criticalcondition, after Wednesday’s simultane-ous attacks against the intelligencebranch and a nearby security building.It said rebel fighters attacked the build-ings soon after the double blasts, whilethe army deployed security forces in thecity renowned for its Roman ruins andwhich has been designated as a worldheritage site by UNESCO.

A shootout around the intelligencebuildings erupted after the bombingsleaving eight civilians wounded asclashes broke out elsewhere in the cen-tral Homs province city. Heavy fightinghas also erupted in Damascus as rebelslaunched an offensive against PresidentBashar al-Assad’s forces, breaking a lullin the conflict, opposition activists said.Authorities in Damascus closed the main

Abbasid Square and the Fares al-Khourythoroughfare as fighters attacked road-blocks and fortifications with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

“The areas of Jobar, Zamalka, al-Zab-latani and parts of Qaboun and the ringroad have become a battleground,” ac-tivist Fida Mohammad said from the dis-trict of Qaboun. Another activist said anarmy tank stationed at the main al-Kabbasroadblock on the ring road had been de-stroyed. Residents reported explosionsacross the east and north of the capital. InJobar, a working-class Sunni Muslim areaadjacent to Abbasid Square, mosquespeakers chanted “God is Greatest” insupport of opposition fighters who at-tacked roadblocks in the neighbourhood,activists told the Reuters news agency.

They said tanks stationed on the edgeof the central district of Midan, just outsidethe walls of Old Damascus, shelled south-ern districts of the city. Syrian state televi-sion said: “Our noble army is continuing itsoperations against the fighters in Irbeen, Za-malka and Harasta and Sbeineg, destroyingthe criminal lairs”. Assad’s symbols ofpower came under attack in Palmyra,220km northeast of Damascus, on the mainroad to the oil-producing east of the country.

hezbollah

suspected in

bulgarian bus

bombingSOfIA

agencies

Bulgaria has pointed an accusing fingerat the Lebanese armed groupHezbollah over a bus bombing last Julythat killed five Israeli tourists. TsvetanTsevtnov, Bulgarian interior minister, saidon Tuesday that two of the suspects had en-tered the country respectively with an Aus-tralian and a Canadian passport. “We haveestablished that the two were members ofthe military wing of Hezbollah,” he said.“They had Canadian and Australian pass-ports ... [and] lived in Lebanon since 2006and 2010.” Speaking after a meeting of thecountry’s National SecurityCouncil, Tsevtnov said Bulgaria expects“the government of Lebanon to assist” inthe investigation. Following his comments,Najib Mikati, Lebanese prime minister,said in a statement: “Lebanon trusts thatthe Bulgarian authorities will undertake aserious evaluation of the results of the in-vestigation, and affirms that it is ready tocooperate with Bulgaria to shed light onthe circumstances” of the attack.

Britain approvessame-sex marriageStrong views exist on

both sides but I believeMPs voting for gaypeople being able tomarry too, is a step

forward for our country

Top Tunisianopposition leadershot dead

‘Many killed’ insyrian car bombings

CARACAS: Venezuelan soldiersattend a military parade tocommemorate the 21st anniversaryof President Hugo Chávez’sattempted coup d’état. agencies

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RAIN DEATH TOLL INCREASES TO 40ISLAMABAD: The death toll of citizens killed intorrential rains across the country increased to 40on Wednesday. The worst-hit region was KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) with at least 31 people killedand 65 injured as a result of heavy rainfall. At leastone person was killed in Peshawar, one inNowshera, two in Malakand and a woman and herchild in Landi Kotal, bringing the day’s death toll tosix. Eight people were also injured as a result. Allthe deaths were a result of roof collapses.Moreover, three soldiers were also reported missingafter they were hit by a snow avalanche in thenorthwestern district of Lower Dir. Punjab DisasterManagement Authority spokesman Shahzad Abbasisaid that at least eight people were killed in centralPunjab Furthermore, one person died and anotherwas injured when they were hit by lightning inPakistani-administered Kashmir. online

The government is committed to securing the

life and property of citizens at all costs

— Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz AshrafnEwsN

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

08

ISLAMABAD

app

PRIME Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf onWednesday urged for greater cooperationand coordination among different law-en-forcement agencies to cope with extrem-ism and terrorism and to improve peace

and security in the country.Addressing the passing-out parade of assistant su-

perintendents of police (ASPs), he said the menace ofterrorism was threatening the society, and its nexus withcrime had made the task of police more challenging.

He said the nature of extremism and terrorismneeded proactive role by the police to rise to the occa-sion to nip this evil in the bud. The prime minister urgedpolice to maintain close relationship with the local com-munity, adding that such interaction would not only pro-vide the police information about anti-social elementsbut also deny criminals any refuge in the locality.

He directed the police to be courteous with thecommunity in order to seek more cooperation fromthem. The prime minister said policing was a dynamicand demanding profession, and keeping in view thechallenges, old concepts must give way to innovativeapproach for crime control.

Expressing concerns over poor state of investiga-

tion, he said those accused were not convicted by thecourts due to poor investigation. “We cannot allow crim-inals and terrorists to get away due to our failure togather information,” he added. He said that outdatedmethods of investigation should be replaced with scien-tific approaches, and “there is a need to strengthen foren-sic capabilities and modernise the investigationprocess.” While referring to the recent passage of fairtrial bill by the parliament, Ashraf expressed the confi-dence that it would help bring culprits to justice.

He expressed the confidence that the newly in-ducted police officials would play their due role inchanging the negative perception about police. He saidthe police service was a public face of the state apparatusand the dreaded “Thana Culture” had cast a dark shadowon its performance. Acknowledging the role of the Po-lice Academy, he said that he was confident that it hadproperly taught the graduating officers. Congratulatingthe newly passed out ASPs, the prime minister said,“You have joined a profession which places a great re-sponsibility on your shoulders and it demands an un-flinching dedication, utmost devotion andcommitment.” Earlier, the Prime Minister was presentedguard of honour by police when he arrived at the Acad-emy. He distributed shields and awards among the offi-cers who had shown best performance during theirtraining at the academy.

PM urges moreproactive anti-terrorrole by police

KABuL

agencies

A Taliban spokesman on Wednesday dismissed the out-come of a conference in London between the leaders ofAfghanistan, Pakistan and Britain which aimed to worktowards a peace deal within six months.

But Zabihullah Mujahid, writing on the militia’swebsite, did not appear to reject the possibility ofprogress in other peace talks.

The Taliban have demanded that any negotiationsshould be between themselves and the United States.

The conference and other “horse trading” were “thereal obstacles of effective and fruitful negotiations be-tween the factual sides”, wrote Mujahid in English in anapparent reference to that longstanding demand.

The Islamist militants broke off tentative contacts

with the US in Qatar in March last year after the failureof attempts to negotiate a prisoner exchange as a confi-dence-building measure.

The Taliban have consistently refused to negotiatedirectly with the Western-backed Kabul government,which they have been battling since they were oustedfrom power in a 2001 US-led invasion.

Mujahid accused Western forces of facing militarydefeat and using such conferences as propaganda to con-ceal the deadlock in the country and to “show that someactivity and progress is going on”.

US-led NATO combat forces are due to leaveAfghanistan next year, and efforts to negotiate peacehave gained urgency as they seek to leave with some dig-nity.

Mujahid told AFP by telephone that the views in thelengthy website “article” would be followed soon by an

official Taliban response to the conference.The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan said in Lon-

don on Monday they would work to reach a peace dealwithin six months, while throwing their weight behindmoves for the Taliban to open an office in Doha.

Following talks hosted by British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and hisPakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari also urged the Is-lamists to join the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

But with neither the Taliban nor the United States atthe talks, and the militants refusing to talk to Kabul, an-alysts said the commitment by the three leaders riskedbeing one-sided.

Mujahid indicated that this was indeed the view ofthe Taliban, saying “they are taking propaganda gainfrom the peace slogan and are not trying to take any prac-tical step to fulfill the prerequisites of negotiations”.

LAHORE

app

A group of at least 50 Muftis be-longing to Brelvi school of thoughton Wednesday declared the killingof innocent people, target killingand suicide bombings as un-Is-lamic and forbidden.

According to reports, 50Ulema, under the aegis of theSunni Ittehad Council, an allianceof several religious parties ofBrelvi sect, issued the fatwa(edict) in which they unanimouslycondemned all forms of terrorismin the country.

The decree asked religiousscholars and Khateeb of mosques tohighlight the sanctity of life andblood of innocent human beings asprescribed in Islam so that thekillings of masses could be stopped.

The Ulema condemned dronesattacks in Pakistan and urged thegovernment to seek cooperationfrom the Islamic world and the UNto stop the drone strikes.

The Ulema said that killing ofinnocent people as revenge fromthe US was also a tyranny anddeemed it an un-Islamic act.

The decree said that the Jihadwas a tenet of Islam and also a sa-cred obligation for every Muslim.However, it added that to start

Jihad without fulfilment of all itsprescribed conditions, the act ofanyone in the name of Jihad couldbecome the reason of chaos onland which was a disgrace toIslam and Pakistan.

People attacking mosques,shrines, bazaars, public places, fu-neral gatherings, hospitals, defenceinstitutions and security forces ofPakistan were terrorists and therebels of Islam, the decree added.

In the fatwa, the Ulema termedthe target killings in Karachi andBalochistan, along with sectarian-ism and suicide attacks as forbiddenand against the spirit of Islam,adding that those involved in thekilling of innocent people werecondemned to hell. The fatwa alsoincluded that suicides attacks andrelated violence smeared the nameof Islam and weakened Pakistan.

Those who signed the fatwawere: Allama Muhammad SharifRizvi, Mufti Faiz Rasool Rizvi,Mufti Muhammad Imran Hanfi,Mufti Muhammad Saeed Rizvi, Al-lama Nawaz Bashir Jalali, MuftiMuhammad Haseeb QadriAllamaShamsuddin Bukhari,MuftiMuhammad Karim Khan,MoulanaPeer Atharul Qadri, Moulana BaghAli, Allama Zahid Shah Qadri, Al-lama Syed Fida Hussain Hafiz-abadi, Allama Zulfiqar Mustafa

Hashmi, Maulana SahibzadaMuhammad Dawood, MuftiMuhammad Hussain Siddiqi, Al-lama Hamid Sarfraz Qadri, MuftiRamzan Jami, Mufti MuhammadFarooq Qadri,Mufti Mazhar Saeed,Mufti Muhammad ShoaibMuneer,Mufti Muhammad FarooqAttari, Maulana Ghulam HussainFarooqi, Mufti Masood ur Rehman,Moulana Akbar Naqshbandi,Al-lama Faiz Bakhsh Rizvi,HafizMuhammad Yaqoob Fareedi,MuftiZafar Jabbar Chishti, Maulana Ab-dullah Saqib,Allama Syed KhurramRiaz Shah,Moulana Sabir HussainGardezi, Maulana Muhammad AliNaqashbandi, Maulana MukhtarSiddiqi, Maulana MuhammadAzam Naeemi, Maulana Muham-mad Saleem Hamdi, AllamaMuhammad Ashraf Saeedi,Maulana Qari Feroze Siddiqi,Maulana Qari Nazeer Qadri, Al-lama Syed Saleh MuhammadHashmi, Maulana Pir ZiaulMastafa Haqqani, Maulana SyedZiaul Hassan Mashhadi, MaulanaQari Manzoor Ahmad Asad,Maulana Qari Habib Ur Rehman,Pirzada Riazuddin,Maulana Man-zoor Alam Sialvi, Mufti Ikramul-lah Junaidi,Mufti Ghulam MujtabaGhafoori, Allama Hafiz FarooqKhan Saeedi, Maulana SahibzadaZiaullah Rizvi and others.

Another against targetkillings, suicide attacks

Taliban dismiss london talks

PESHAWAR: A boy looks at the wreckage of his house on Wednesday following two days of

heavy rainfall. INP

hiMaLayaN avaLaNChe

kiLLS five iN iNDiaSHIMLA: An avalanche in theHimalayan region of northern India killedat least five villagers on Wednesday.Officials said that at least give peoplewere killed when their houses wereburied under snow in an avalanchecaused by poor weather conditions.Furthermore, the avalanche trapped eightpeople in the remote Kafnu village in thestate of Himachal Pradesh but three ofthem were later rescued, officials said.“The victims were in two houses. Theother six houses in the village had beenvacated earlier,” an official said. app

Workshop held for

Customs, Wildlife officialsISLAMABAD: Falcon FoundationInternational Pakistan organised yet anotherone-day Training Workshop in Islamabad,thus bringing to a country-wide completionthe joint project of Awareness and Capacity-building Workshops held in collaborationwith Federal Board of Revenue, WWF-Pakistan, Ministry of Climate Change andFalcon Foundation International Pakistan. Alarge number of officials of PakistanCustoms and Provincial WildlifeDepartments from Peshawar, Islamabad,Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Multan, Karachi,Hyderabad and Quetta who watch the exitpoints and airports and sea-ports to preventsmuggling of wildlife, most notably falconsand houbara, have been trained. pr

BANGALORE

online

Pakistan’s decision to hand over its strategic Gwadarport to China is a matter of “serious concern” for India,Defence Minister AK Antony said on Wednesday.

“The Chinese are now constructing that port onPakistan’s request. In one sentence, I can say that it is amatter of concern to us. My answer is simple andstraightforward,” he was quoted as saying by the PressTrust of India (PTI) at the Aero India press conference.The minister was responding to a question if the hand-ing over of Gwadar port in Pakistan to China wouldmake India’s western frontiers more vulnerable. TheGwadar port is situated at a strategic location at the apexof the Arabian Sea and the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

It is also only about 400 kilometres away from the Straitof Hormuz, a key global oil supply route. Pakistan hadrecently approved a deal that transfers operational con-trol of Gwadar port from Singapore’s PSA Internationalto Chinese Overseas Port Holdings Ltd.

Asked about how India is preparing to deal withthe post-2014 situation when American troops pulloutfrom Afghanistan, Antony said, “Even before Afghanpullout, geopolitical situation around us is very criticaland the government is aware of it and we are takingsteps to meet any eventuality.”

“The pullout by US and others from there 2014 on-wards is a matter of serious concern to us. We are takingsufficient steps to safeguard our security. Our armedforces are also confident to face any challenges and weare equipping them for this purpose,” he added.

Chinese presence at Gwadarport annoying india

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Drone strikes major

stimulant to terrorism.

— Imran KhannEws N

09

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

cAIRO

app

THE Contact Group onJammu and Kashmir of theOrganisation of Islamic Con-ference (OIC) which met inCairo on the sidelines of the

12th Islamic Summit Conference reaf-firmed its full support to Kashmir cause.

The meeting coincided with theKashmir Solidarity Day, observed inPakistan on February 5, on which thePakistanis express their solidarity withthe Kashmiris. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Minister (FM) HinaRabbani Khar and OIC Secretary Gen-eral Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Addressing the meeting, Khar saidthat Pakistan seeks to resolve the Kash-mir dispute on the basis of UN resolu-tions and aspirations of the Kashmiris.She said that Pakistan has entered into di-alogue process with India and wants tohave meaningful and result-oriented dia-logue for the resolution of the longstand-ing disputes. She also underscored the

need to stop human rights violations inIndian-held Kashmir and requested theOIC secretary general to compile a reporton these violations. It was also attendedby officials of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Ara-bia and Niger. Azad Jammu and KashmirPresident Sardar Yaqoob Khan, All Par-ties Hurriyat Conference member Ghu-lam Muhammad Safi also attended themeeting. OIC Secretary General Ek-meleddin Ihsanoglu reaffirmed OIC’scommitment and support to the Kash-miris for their struggle to self determina-tion, as enshrined in the UN SecurityCouncil resolutions.

The secretary general said that soona joint team of OIC with representationfrom the Islamic Development Bank, theIslamic Solidarity Fund and ISESCO, ledby Special Representative of OIC Secre-tary General on Kashmir AmbassadorAlim will visit Azad Jammu and Kashmirto assess their needs and find more prac-tical and effective measures to help thepeople of Kashmir. He also shared withthe meeting OIC’s intention to call ameeting of Kashmiri representatives tolook at making OIC’s role more effec-tive. The representatives of Turkey, SaudiArabia, and Niger reiterated their supportfor Kashmiris’ right to self-determinationin accordance with the UN resolutionsand the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

The AJK president highlighted the

human rights violations by Indian secu-rity forces in occupied Kashmir. The rep-resentatives of the Kashmiris gave anupdate on the latest situation in the Indianoccupied Kashmir. They also presented amemorandum to the secretary generalwhich contained proposals for both theOIC member states as well as OIC sec-retary general to peacefully resolve theKashmir dispute in accordance with theUN Security Council Resolutions.

The contact group decided to inviteAzerbaijan to join the group and attend thefuture meetings of the contact group. Thegroup adopted a report and a declarationon Jammu and Kashmir to be presented tothe OIC Summit. Later on, Hina RabbaniKhar met her Iranian counterpart AliAkbar Salehi. Both the leaders discussedmatters of mutual interests. Current situa-tion of Syria and Afghanistan also cameunder discussion.

oiC Contact group reaffirmssupport to kashmir cause

FM SAYS PAKISTAN WANTSTO RESOLVE KASHMIRDISPUTE ON BASIS OF UNRESOLUTIONS

LAHORE

staff report

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ChairmanImran Khan on Wednesday said the PTI’sintra-party polls would be completed byMarch 15 and 80,000 elected office-bearersof the PTI would gather at Minar-e-Pakistanon March 23 to take oath.

“A positive change is taking place andpeople from the working class are beingelected in PTI’s elections. These people, whoare from the working class, can help bringabout a change in the country,” added the PTIchief. “Look at Humayon Chaha who is ahard working man from the working class and

has been elected district president of Kohat.Likewise, many office bearers have beenelected from the working class in PTI polls,”said Khan. He said first the political partiesshould bring change within their own partiesadding that it was the only way to bringchange in the country. He said all the politicalparties should be truly democratic in nature.He further said no party other than the PTI hascourage to hold intra-party elections.

Responding to a question, Khan said thePTI was consulting all political forces, eventhose that had no representation in the incum-bent assemblies but no alliance had beenmade by the PTI with any political force, in-cluding the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

He added that the PTI would soon hold nego-tiations with political leaders including Pir Pa-gara, Ayaz Latif Paleejo and also theleadership of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

About PTI’s reservations on the ECP’sperformance, Khan said it had been clearlymentioned in the 1973 constitution that theElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP)should be neutral but the members of theincumbent ECP, he alleged, were not im-partial. He said Tahirul Qadri wanted todissolve assemblies through the longmarch but PTI wants to bring changethrough constitutional means.

“We have conveyed our reservations tothe ECP with evidence but they paid no

heed towards them,” said Khan. Hesaid the PTI wants free, fair and im-partial elections because the up-coming elections are crucial forthe country.

Khan said Asma Jahangirhad claimed on several occasionsthat PTI had the support of estab-lishment, which is a major allega-tion, adding that the caretakerprime minister should be aneutral person. “I will quitpolitics if Asma comes upwith proof that the estab-lishment has supported myparty,” said the PTI chief.

“If both the PPP and PML-Nwant to conspire against PTI,

they can do so, but our onlydemand is that the ECP

should be neutral,” Khansaid. He said there shouldbe a proper consultationon the name of caretakerPM and all political par-

ties should be taken onboard regarding

the matter.

80,000 elected office-bearers to take oath on March 23 at Minar-e-Pakistan: imran

Provincial assemblieshave powers to makelaws, says CJ

ISLAMABAD

inp

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) IftikharChaudhry on Wednesday said the provincialassemblies have the powers to make laws. Healso said the court was only concerned thatnothing should be done in violation of theconstitution. He said this while heading a three-member bench to hear petitions against theSindh Local Government Act. The Sindhadvocate general could not appear before thecourt due to simultaneous Karachi law andorder case hearing. Petitioners’ lawyer AbdulRauf requested the court to declare the SindhLocal Government Act void. The CJP askedhim to cite any reference to a case where thecourt had undone a law made by the assemblyand added that the court was not concernedwhat was happening in the assembly. Raufcontended that the court had declared NROvoid. Justice Chaudhry said two months weregiven to the government to get the NROapproved by the assembly, which, thereafter,was thrown out of the assembly. Later, thehearing was adjourned until February 12.

Zardari to inauguratebilawal housein Lahore

LAHORE

online

President Asif Ali Zardari will inaugurateBilawal House in Lahore on Saturday, February9. During his three-day trip to Lahore,President Zardari would also meet PML-Nchief Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind to condole thedeath of his brother Abbas Sharif. According toa private TV channel, Zardari would bearriving in Lahore on Saturday directly fromLondon. During his visit he would inauguratethe Bilawal House in Bahria Town. PPPsources have confirmed that Zardari would bevisiting Raiwind but no confirmation in thisregard has been made by PML-N.

Muhammad aliDurrani joins PML-f

KARAcHI

inp

Former federal minister Muhammad AliDurrani has joined the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Functional (PML-F) on Wednesday.According to a PML-F spokesman, Pir Pagarohas nominated Durrani as senior vice presidentof the party.

MULTAN: Young doctors sit at their hunger strike camp in front of Nishtar Hospital on Wednesday. INP

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If the current Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP)-led coalitiongovernment had ever been se-rious about the creation of anew province in the Punjab,

the rushed proposal to create the Ba-hawalpur-Janoobi Punjab provinceappears to have rid us of any suchpretensions.

How the coalition partners imag-ined it would not be opposed by Pun-jab’s government party, the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), ifpresented on the eve of the next gen-eral election is outside comprehen-sion.

The proposal itself, presented bythe National Assembly Committee onNew Provinces in Punjab, has at-tempted to placate two contradictorydemands: to either create one Seraikiprovince or create two provinces,Southern Punjab and Bahawalpur.The earlier demand has been seen asadvantageous for the PPP, which cansee itself forming government andtaking key from such a province. Thelatter demand is seen as to advanta-geous for the PML-N, whose supportin Bahawalpur has traditionally beenmore than the rest of Southern Pun-jab, and it could find itself in the rul-ing coalition in such a regional block.

With the PPP controlling the Na-tional Assembly and the PML-N con-trolling the Punjab Assembly, both areseeing the division of the province ofPunjab through the narrow lens ofconsolidating their control in bothcentre and region. Some of the criti-cism for the emergence of such a sit-uation must be driven at those pushingthe Seraiki national movement forhaving let mainstream political partiescontrol public opinion around theissue of the new province.

No dissenting opinions have beenheard as the Gilanis, the Durranis andthe Abbasis debate the future of theSeraiki people. The raison d'être ofthe demand for the Seraiki provincewas three-fold: to get rid of the‘crown of Lahore’ (or Takht-e-La-hore), to consolidate the culturalethos of the Seraiki people (whichhas much to share with the peoples ofthe Indus Valley) and to let the toiling

people of theSouthern partof the Punjabto concentratetheir struggleagainst thelocal feudalsetup.

The cur-rent proposalto create ap r o v i n c ecalled Ba-h a w a l p u rSouth Punjabappears toonly promisethe deliver-ance of thefirst whilestrengtheningthe position ofexisting feu-dal powers.The campaignfor the cre-ation of theBahawalpurprovince, inparticular, hasrevived thedwindling in-

fluence of the family of the formerNawab of Bahawalpur. The campaignhas continued to centre itself aroundthe Nawab Salahuddin and giving himnew political life by making him chiefof the Bahawalpur National AwamiParty and thus a ‘stakeholder’ beingreached out to by both the PPP andPML-N.

The unfortunate part is that therehas been no notable mass mobilisa-tion against the growing power of tra-ditional power holders in theSouthern Punjab under the guise ofSeraiki or regional nationalism. Theneed to decentralise political powerand recognise the cultural and eco-nomic rights of the Seraiki peoplenotwithstanding, it is the fact that thepowers that be are using it to consol-idate local fiefdoms that is most trou-bling.

The potential of the idea of theSeraiki Wasaib and the powerful re-articulation of the ecological, eco-nomic and cultural life of the peoplesof the province amongst Seraiki intel-lectuals and poets has been unable tospill over into the logos behind thenew province proposal. The failurehas been its inability to translate intothe everyday of Seraiki politics. Thehistory of the emergence of theSeraiki identity appears to be one ofmaterial deprivation consolidating it-self into a cultural contradiction.However, the debate on material dep-rivation appears to now be confinedto the role of central Punjab and La-hore in creating regional deprivation.

That said, the fundamental pro-posal to create a Seraiki province, isa progressive one. That industrialzones, education and health care fa-cilities continue to be better in centralPunjab is a fact. The Punjab govern-ment has continued to spend need-lessly on Lahore – the most recentexample of which is the Rs 32 billionspent out of the provincial coffers onthe chief minister’s pet project: theMetro Bus Service. The ruling partyof Punjab has all but forgotten thatsouthern Punjab was inundated byfloods only two summers ago and thecurrent deadly measles outbreak inthe region is a consequence of suchneglect. Some of Pakistan’s mostneglected and impoverished districtsremain in Punjab’s south. Separatingthe region and creating a provincewould mean such neglect shall haveboth immediate and electoral conse-quences for ruling elites which fail todeliver.

The other progressive possibilityin the demand to create the Seraikiprovince was of a departure from theadministrative logic imposed duringthe colonial period and continued bythe Pakistani state. This logic wasseen in action in the division and re-unification of Bengal and the divisionof Sindh in the early 1900s, the divi-sion of Punjab in 1947 and theproclamation of the ‘One Unit’ in1955. However, the hope that Pak-istan’s ruling elites would recognisethe need to depart from self-inter-ested, short-term measures has beenbanished in the current PPP-PML-Ntussle over the shape and contours ofthe southern province. Moreover,their continued refusal to acceptSeraiki cultural identity reeks of thesame mentality of denying local tra-ditions that led to the independencemovement in East Pakistan.

The Seraiki area is in itself cultur-

ally diverse. The settlement of Balochtribes began 200 years ago whilefarmers from eastern Punjab began tosettle a hundred years ago. UnlikeSindh, these settlers integrated cultur-ally with the local populations. Someregions included in the Punjab duringthe colonial period, especially DeraGhazi Khan, remained dominated bythe Baloch ethnicity. Once the ques-tion of re-demarcating boundariescame about, political elites shouldhave calmly began to examine exist-ing boundaries and begun consultinglocal populations on the new bound-aries to be drawn. However, perhapsfor lack of experience, the processhas produced more antagonism thanreconciliation amongst the diversepopulations of the region. An MNAfrom Mianwali told the National As-sembly, “Mianwali should not bemade a colony of South Punjab.”While one may ask the gentlemen inquestion as to why Mianwali washappy at being a colony of (Western)Punjab, the real point is that theprocess has been mismanaged to theextreme.

Especially cynical is the promiseby Abdur Qadir Gilani to start a longmarch to Lahore if the PML-N op-poses the creation of the BJPprovince. The Gilani family may bebest advised to drive to their familyhome in DHA, Lahore, where theyoung Gilani was schooled. The movemay be to ensure the political familieswho have moved to Lahore that theyare still able to win elections in theMultan and Mianwali belt. The Gilanifamily, the Qureshi family, the Khosafamily and Imran Khan, all now livein Lahore. This could produce astrange situation if a member of oneof these families is elected chief min-ister or governor of the new province.

While one has to accept and beopen to the fact that the boundaries ofthe Punjab have continued to shiftacross history and that there is a need,both administrative and more funda-mental, to create a new province inthe Punjab, one fails to see how thecurrent attempt to rush through theproposal shall deliver the promisedprovince.

While the current PPP-led pro-posal attempts to make both Multanand Bahawalpur centres of power inthe new province, the PML-N’s deci-sion to boycott the NA committee inthe first place does not bode well forthe possibility that a new province isactually carved out before the currentassemblies are dissolved within thenext month and a week.

If nothing else: the March 15 dead-line for dissolving the National As-sembly is an indicator that the currentproposal is merely an attempt to usethe Seraiki province issue as an elec-toral gambit. On one side, there is norealistic possibility of the creation ofa new province before the deadline; onthe other, if elected assemblies are se-rious about attempting to split Punjabas their way of saying ‘goodbye’, thenit is certainly a recipe for disaster.

With the genuine need for aSeraiki province being trivialised onthe eve of the next general elections,it appears best that it be left asideuntil the electoral storm withers.

The writer is the general secretary(Lahore) of the Awami Workers Party.He is also a journalist and a re-searcher.

COMMEnT

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

Govt should swiftly settle election related issuesDelay dangerous for democracy

The bJP provinceproposal

resigned

The Balochistan government’s performance in the last five years canbe described in a single word: pathetic. The manner, though, inwhich it has been run is full of so much drama and farce that it is

hard to explain in an easy way. The absentee former chief minister, whowas disgracefully booted out of his post by the federal government, hassent in his resignation from the UAE. He was perhaps a unique case of allthe planted politicians in a way that he never tried to learn the ropes ofpolitics or at least present a semblance of electoral democracy by livingand working among those who he ruled over.

Most of his time was spent in the federal capital or Gulf states, mainlyenjoying luxury rides and hunting rare birds. And yet he claimed he waswrongfully dethroned. With a feudal mindset, he ran the province as hisfiefdom, often absent yet so demanding. The law and order situation furtherlends credence to his government being an incompetent dispensation.However, it is Reko Diq copper and gold mines project that takes the veil offtheir twisted use of the word democracy. Posing as the elected members ofprovincial parliament, they have worked in unison in manipulating deals,getting kickbacks, embezzling huge amounts of funds in the name ofdevelopment funds, or other grants. With virtually no one in the opposition inBalochistan Assembly, all the MPAs worked as a figurative pack of wolves.

Now the man who was chiefly, if not entirely, responsible for all thisfarce has tendered his resignation to JUI-F and BNP leaders in theBalochistan Assembly in an attempt to defuse the tension and help in asmooth democratic transition. JUI-F has already given a three-point agendato the PPP-led coalition government for a democratic transition. The PPPand its allies have, however, rejected the proposal though after theresignation one might think that they are considering giving it a shot.

Whether the PPP does decide to go ahead with the JUI-F’s proposal orbrings along one of its own, either way it has to end Governor’s rule andrestore democratic setup in the province. JUI-F’s Secretary GeneralSenator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri’s claim on Tuesday that theRaisani-led coalition government would be restored within a week, hints ata backdoor understanding between the provincial and federal governments.It is up to the federal government now to tread the waters carefully andinstall a democratic setup before the elections.

Important PPP leaders had already warned of anti-democracy forces,who they maintained were out to derail the system. Now Mian NawazSharif has sounded a similar warning. Tahirul Qadri’s entry on the

political scene combined with a long march aimed at postponing theelections was bound to set the alarm bells ringing. Many think theannouncement by Qadri of the so- called ‘second phase of revolution’ is apart of the conspiracy. Building on the neglect of the common man by theincumbent dispensation, Qadri announced a series of ‘rallies of therevolution” to highlight “the anti-poor system of the country” that he saysneeds to be replaced as it violates Articles 3 and 38 of the Constitution.Qadri could have left the matter for the SC, but wary of the apex court’sinsistence on holding the elections on time he decided to resort to populisttactics to keep the court also under pressure.

Imran Khan whose ratings have continued to decline over the last fewmonths has joined hands with Qadri now. He has put up a demand for theresignation of the president, which has no constitutional support. WithZardari willing to relinquish the party post soon and assuring the LahoreHigh Court that the presidency would not be used for any politicalactivities, little justification is left for seeking his resignation. Like TahirulQadri, the PTI chief too wants the four provincial members of the ECP tobe appointed afresh. The PTI has criticized the poor performance of the ECin implementation of the apex court orders, a perceived failure to check themisuse of state resources by the federal and Punjab governments and laxityshown in the implementation of the ban on new jobs. Interestingly thegovernment has approached the EC to seek lifting of ban on new jobs anddiversion of funds maintaining that the EC cannot enforce the ban beforethe announcement of the election date. The matter is bound to land in theSC. One hopes the issue would be resolved at the earliest in line with thecourt’s stand about timely elections.

Delay on the part of the government to settle the election related issuespromptly has provided an opportunity to those who want to upset thesystem. While it is not mandatory to consult those outside parliament onthe caretaker set up, one hopes that all significant parties will be consultedbefore the new caretakers are announced. Hopefully the matter would besettled at the expected meeting between Zardari and Nawaz Sharif soon.

After being booted out of the post

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

10

The legitimate demand for a Seraiki province is being trivialised

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by

moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the

dawn before the rest of the world. –Oscar Wilde

comradely speakingHasHiM bin rasHiD

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As our government mulls over thequestionable fate of the Seraikiprovince, protests have erupted allover the country with calls for all

kinds of provinces – provinces based on eth-nicities, provinces based on “administrativegrounds”, provinces based on linguistic differ-ences. So while there are calls to permanentlydamage Pakistan’s already-frayed map, hereare my two cents on a concern Maula FazalurRehman raised at the meeting where the com-mission came up with recommendations forthe new province.

A brief history of Dera Ghazi Khan is inorder. The city goes back as far as 1476 whenBaloch chieftain Nawab Ghazi Khan Miranideclared independence from the Langah Dy-nasty of Multan. Along with two other deras(encampments) – Dera Ismail Khan and DeraFateh Khan – Derajat was born.

Derajat eventually came into the posses-sion of the British rule after the Sikh War of1849. It was then divided into two districts,Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. A lit-tle known fact about this division is that thetribal leaders were presented the option ofgoing with Balochistan or Punjab. The Balochleaders of DG Khan, under an agreement withthe British rulers, chose to side with Punjab.While the exact terms of the agreement are notknown, the general principles of the agreementwere that the tribal leaders would be allowedto continue to uphold their Jirga traditions andlargely remain separate from direct govern-ment intervention in their affairs. This is, ofcourse, largely conjecture but a layman in DGKhan today would tell you the same story.There is also a widely held view that another

agreement was signed at the time of the parti-tion with similar conditions.

Naturally, both these agreements do notstand anymore. However, the Baloch presencein Southern Punjab is still there. The popula-tion of DG Khan today roughly comprises of80 percent Baloch. This is largely due to theproximity of Balochistan to the city – DeraGhazi Khan is nestled right at the tail ofSuleiman Range that opens in Punjab. Theseare not the Seraiki speaking Baloch, as is thewidely-held belief. Instead, Balochi is thecommonly spoken language of the area. An-other reason for the large number of theBaloch in the city is the presence of the Balochtribal families and their landholdings sur-rounding the region.

So, if this new province is being createdalong ethnic lines, it is surprising that no onehas taken into account the presence of theBaloch in the new Seraiki province. Who isgoing to speak for them? There has been nosurvey conducted to see if the people of South-ern Punjab actually want the new province, letalone a referendum, giving a choice to theBaloch of the province to side with Balochis-tan if they so wanted.

Naturally, one would ask why DG Khanwould want to go over to Balochistan. Thatprovince, after all, is in deep turmoil itself.There is little economic growth and develop-ment, poor law and order situation and a gen-erally volatile ethnic balance.

It is precisely for this very reason that DGKhan going under the provincial control ofBalochistan might just end up benefittingBalochistan and DG Khan.

While Balochistan is the largest provinceof Pakistan in terms of area, it is also the poor-est. Balochistan has the lowest literacy rateamong all of Pakistan’s provinces. Accordingto National Economic Survey, the provincealso has the least number of educational insti-tutions, the lowest literacy rate among bothmales and females, the lowest ranking in theGender Parity Index (GPI) and the smallestpresence of private educational institutes inthe country. Furthermore, about six percent ofthe schools in Balochistan do not have build-ings, nine percent lack electricity, 12 percentare devoid of clean drinking water and 11 per-cent are without proper latrine.

So now imagine a city, a relatively poorcity of Punjab, entering Balochistan’s sphere.This city has a literacy rate of 60 percent –quite a feat for such a small, poor district.

There are at least 15 different institutes in thecity. There is a medical school, a college ofagriculture, several law institutes, colleges ofcommerce and colleges of education. Further-more, there are a number of public and privatesector primary education institutes functioningin the area.

Similarly, the economy in Dera GhaziKhan is relatively rich for such a small city. Itis located in rich agricultural land with cotton,wheat, sugarcane, rice, tobacco being the majorcrops being grown. The city is also famous forits dates. Furthermore, the city has access toother parts of the country via railway, includ-ing Multan, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta.

One cannot, as well, forget the all-impor-tant DG Khan Cement Company Limited, Pak-istan Atomic Energy Commission, theAl-Ghazi Tractors and Rahim Bux TextileMills. A commonly held, if also commonlyforgotten, belief is that these companies alongwith several other flour, cotton, chemical andrice mills in the area form the backbone ofPunjab.

Balochistan, as a province, could do wellwith a city that boasts of educational and eco-nomic development. And DG Khan, similarly,could do well with Balochistan as its vital city,bustling with economic growth and educa-tional strength (yes, I am hinting as DG Khanbeing the capital city of Balochistan). Onemust not forget that Balochistan also has a vastsupply of natural gas, coal and other minerals.Other untapped aspects of Balochistan’s econ-omy are fisheries, mining, manufacturing in-dustries and trade. With a close proximity toPunjab via DG Khan, and with the benefits ofDG Khan pouring in to Balochistan, theBaloch on either side of the Suleiman Rangecould do well together.

DG Khan also has a relatively balancedethnic ratio. It is a safer and more stable city.Balochistan, as a province, needs a city likethat under its sphere. And DG Khan, as a city,needs a stronger recognition and a presence ina province that would actually benefit from it.

So while our leaders mull and debate andwhile our intellectuals tweet and argue, thequestion remains, who will speak for theBaloch of DG Khan? What is their place in thenew Seraiki province, when they, after all, notSeraiki?

The writer is a research analyst at Spear-head Research and tweets at @aimamk. This ar-ticle was also carried by Spearhead Research

viewingeach other

As part of their workexamining theEast-West divide,my students at

New York University's AbuDhabi campus designed a sur-vey to be administered in the USand an Arab country in order tobetter understand how Ameri-cans and people in the ArabWorld understand themselvesand each other. Last year we ex-amined the perceptions thatAmericans and Egyptians had ofeach other. This year we focusedour study on the US and the UAE. The survey, conducted online by“jzanalytics”, a New York-based polling company, found a strikinggap in understanding between the two peoples.

There were a few caveats that had to be considered in conductingthese two surveys and in evaluating the results. Both countries havenear universal internet penetration and jzanalytics' extensive workin conducting online surveys in the US has demonstrated that thisapproach can provide an accurate measure of US public opinion. Butbecause we have not yet tested the reliability of online methodologyin the UAE, we cannot be as certain about the accuracy of our resultsin that country. And given the enormous diversity of the populationin the UAE, where Emirati citizens represent only about 20 percentof the overall population, the results for the UAE, of necessity, rep-resent all residents in the country, including its large non-EmiratiArab and Asian communities. Nevertheless, even with these consid-erations, the findings of the two surveys can provide a useful measureof the different perceptions both societies have of each other.

Firstly, while residents of the UAE demonstrate very favourableattitudes toward the US (a 64 percent positive rating), only 19 percentof Americans have a positive view of the UAE. Thirty-eight percentof Americans give the UAE a negative rating, while a substantial 43percent say they are "not sure" and "do not know enough" about thecountry. In a pattern that repeats throughout the survey findings,African Americans have significantly more favourable attitudes (al-most 3 to 1 favourable) while a majority of women report being "notsure". It is also important to note that while there is a very high per-centage of Americans who say they are "not sure" or "do not haveenough information" to give an assessment about the UAE, that does-n't appear to stop them from making negative assessments about theculture and values of the UAE.

Fifty-one percent of the UAE residents agree that the US is anally or friend of the UAE, while only 14 percent of Americans feelthat the same can be said about the UAE. At the same time, one-thirdof Americans describe the UAE as a "country with whom we do busi-ness, but not a friend" and another 38 percent say they are "not sure".

When asked to describe which society is "more respectful ofthe rights of others" and in which society is it "more possible toenjoy life" 60 percent of Americans chose the US, while in bothinstances, a plurality of residents of the UAE chose the UAE.Again, 64 percent of Americans feel that the US is "more gener-ous", while 57 percent of people in the UAE say that the UAE isthe more generous country.

There are some areas where American attitudes appear to be lesscertain. When asked which country is "more violent", 67 percent inthe Emirates say the US is more violent country, but only 39 percentof Americans point to the UAE as being more violent. And again,while 75 percent of people in the UAE say that UAE is "more re-spectful of families and traditions", only 38 percent of Americanssay that the US leads in this area.

The bottom line is that while Americans appear to be supremelyconfident in their cultural superiority as the society that is more gen-erous and more respectful of individual rights, they are less sureabout whether their society is less violent and more respectful offamilies, tradition, religion and values.

Other real differences appear when residents in both countriesare asked to identify "the most important aspect of living in yourcountry" and "what do you expect from the government" in yourcountry? Fifty-five percent of Americans point to "the freedom tolive life as I choose" as the most import aspect of living in the US,with "economic opportunity" receiving 13 percent, "freedom of re-ligion" receiving 11 percent, and other options like "respect for di-versity" and "our history and culture" each receiving only scantmention. In the UAE, on the other hand, a plurality of 40 percentpoint to "economic opportunity" as the most important aspect of lifein that country, followed by 21 percent who identify the "freedom tolive life as I choose" and 14 percent saying "respect for diversity".

Forty-one percent of Americans say that "protecting my rightsand freedoms" is what they most expect from government, with be-tween 16 percent to 13 percent choosing "keeping me safe", "pro-viding needed services", and "providing economic opportunity". Onthe other side, what 31 percent of residents in the UAE "most expectfrom government" is "keeping me safe", followed by 27 percent whopoint to "protecting my rights and freedoms" and 22 percent who saythat "providing economic opportunity" is the most important thinggovernment does for them.

What we can conclude is that there appears to be a real gap inperception and understanding between people in the UAE and theUS, with Americans not fully appreciating or reciprocating thefavourable feelings residents in the UAE have toward the US Nordo Americans fully understand how positively people in the UAEfeel about the culture of the country or the quality of life and oppor-tunities provided for them by the government in the UAE.

The writer is President of the Arab-American Institute.

COMMEnT CThursday, 7 February, 2013

Who speaks for thebaloch of Dg khan?

11

aiMa KHosa

Courage is what it takes to stand up and

speak; courage is also what it takes to

sit down and listen. –Winston Churchill

Washington WatchDr JaMes J Zogby

The US and UAE

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I find television very educating. Every time

somebody turns on the set, I go into the other

room and read a book — Groucho Marx

i WaNT beyoNCe To

be The MoTher of

My ChiLDreN: LiveLy

Everyone wasraving aboutBeyonce’sincredibleperformanceduringSunday’sSuper Bowlhalftime show,but it sounds like noone loved it quite as much as BlakeLively. The “Gossip Girl” star discussedher obsession with Beyonce whilepromoting the launch of Gucci’sPremiere fragrance in NYC yesterday(Feb. 4), gushing about thebootylicious singer’s untouchabletalent. “oh, my gosh! I just wantBeyonce to be the mother of mychildren,” the 26-year-old newlywedjoked to E! News, adding, “She wasamazing! I can’t ... I can’t even. Idon’t even have words for her.” Andalthough she was at a loss for words,Lively — who has been keeping a lowprofile with her hubby, Ryan Reynolds,since “Gossip Girl” wrapped its finalseason — couldn’t stop talking abouthow incredible Jay-Z’s wife was onstage. “She just stood there and shesang and she danced and there wereno big crazy stunts,” the blond beautycontinued. neWs DesK

ARTS

AThursday, 7 February, 2013

12

NEWS DESK

Over the decades India and Pakistan have sparred overa variety of issues. The decades-old conflict inKashmir, accusations of sponsoring terrorism and adispute over water supply all come to mind. However,a recent bone of contention between the two nuclear-armed neighbours should also be a cause ofutmost concern for the internationalcommunity. Caustic statements weregiven by Pakistan’s Interior MinisterRehman Malik and the Indian HomeSecretary RK Singh, wars havebeen fought on social media, andanalysts (including yours truly)have been queuing to offer theirown two cents. So what is it thathas irked the two neighbours?Was it a border dispute or athreat of nuclear war? Was itsome new long-range missiletested by the Indian military? Orthe code name for a Pakistani spycaught red-handed in Delhi? Infact, it was none of the above; itwas Bollywood superstar Shah RukhKhan. Recently the actor - known tohis fans as ‘SRK’ - wrote an article inwhich he mentioned some of his viewson religion, identity and terrorism. Init he referenced the problems hehas faced travelling aboard, asa result of his

religious background - problems which also inspiredhis hit film My Name is Khan, and its tagline “...And Iam not a terrorist.” He wrote: “Ironically, I wasinterrogated at the airport for hours about my last namewhen I was going to present the film in America for thefirst time. I wonder, at times, whether the same

treatment is given to everyone whose lastname just happens to be McVeigh (as in

Timothy)” However, where thearticle attracted most

controversy was overtroubles the actor faced

closer to home. “Isometimes become theinadvertent object ofpolitical leaders whochoose to make me a

symbol of all that theythink is wrong and

unpatriotic aboutMuslims in India,” he

wrote. “There have beenoccasions when I have been

accused of bearingallegiance to our neighboring

nation rather than my owncountry – this even though I

am an Indian whose fatherfought for the freedom of India.

Rallies have been held whereleaders have exhorted me to leavemy home and return to what they

refer to as my ‘originalhomeland’.” The

controversygained

momentum when Hafiz Saeed, chief of extremistgroup Jamaatud Dawa, advised Khan to move toPakistan, if he feels unsafe in India. “Shah Rukh willbe welcome here”, he said. Then, at a reception hostedby the Indian High Commission, Pakistan’s InteriorMinister also waded into the controversy, saying “Hewas born Indian and would like to remain Indian, but Iwill request the government of India to please providehim [with] security. I would like to request all Indianbrothers and sisters and all those who are talking in anegative way about Shah Rukh that they should knowhe is a movie star.” These comments irked many inIndia. The Home Secretary RK Singh commented:“We are capable of looking at the security of our owncitizens. Let him (Rehman Malik) worry about hisown,” Singh said. Frankly, he is correct. Pakistan hasits own Pandora’s box full of problems with minorities,including discrimination against the Hindu community,some of whom have migrated to India as a result. Onehas to wonder what the Interior Minister was thinkingby making such a statement? Malik later tried to coolmatters down. He tweeted “Shahrukh Khan is equallyfamous in Pakistan and India. I am sure that threats toMr.S. Khan are being handled as per the relevantIndian law.” And Khan himself clarified: “I would liketo tell all those who are offering me unsolicited advicethat we in India are extremely safe and happy. We havean amazing democratic, free and secular way of life.”Yet the question arises why there was a need for thetwo countries to engage in such a childish squabbleover some comments by a celebrity? Why was there aneed to try and turn Khan into a disputed territory?Some people spend a lifetime looking for externalenemies, and playing the victim card. However thebiggest enemy is often the one which lurks within.Pakistan and India have enough of their own problemswith endless poverty, environmental degradation andmammoth corruption. Relations have already beentense between the two countries in recent weeks. Totop it by indulging in such petty spats is a useful wayfor politicians to play to the gallery and keep thepeople distracted from their ineptitude. That is theonly lesson, if there was one, to have come out fromthis unfortunate episode.

NEWS DESK

WHAt IS It ABOut?

It is a series of short thoughts, personalessays, criticism about books, reading andwriting.

WHy ARE WE tALkINg ABOut

It?

As Books Editors, how could we helpreading about reading? Also, Shields is astunning, acclaimed writer.

WHO WROtE It?

David Shields is the author of 13 previousbooks. Reality Hunger was named one ofthe best books of 2010 by more than 30different publications. He has alsopublished articles and stories in numerouspublications, such as The New YorkTimes Magazine, Harper’s, and Slate.

WHO WILL READ It?

People who understand the magicalpower of reading.

WHAt DO tHE

REvIEWERS SAy?

NEW yORk tIMES:

“There are good sentencesthroughout HowLiterature Saved MyLife, about Mr.Shields’s stutteringand about his manic-depressive father,who went throughseveral bouts ofelectroshocktherapy. (“I’llnever forget hisrunning backand forth in theliving room andrepeating, ‘I need

the juice,’ while my third-grade friendsand I tried to play indoor miniature golf.”)But these moments don’t amount to much.Forswearing traditional storytelling, Mr.Shields doesn’t allow himself to dwell onany subject long enough to say muchthat’s meaningful about it.”SLAtE: “In his latest effort, Shieldscontinues the crusade for a “bleeding edgebetween genres” and against narrativefiction, but less effectively.”BOStON gLOBE: “Does HowLiterature Saved My Life live up toShields’s expectations? In a word: yes. Inthis wonderful, vastly entertaining book,he weaves together literary criticism,quotations, and his own fragmentaryrecollections to illustrate, in form andcontent, how art — real art, the kind thatengages and reflects the world around it— has made his life meaningful as bothcreator and beholder.”IMpRESS yOuR fRIENDS: DavidShields graduated from Brown University.He is certainly NOT the only author to doso. Other famous writer grads includeJeffrey Eugenides, Edwidge Danticat,Meg Wolitzer, and Marilynn Robinson,among others.

OpENINg LINE: “All criticismis a form of autobiography.”

typIcAL pASSAgE:

“Yeats said that we can’tarticulate the truth, but

we can embody it. Ithink that’s wrong or

at least beside thepoint. What’s ofinterest to me is

exactly how we tryto articulate the

truth, and what it saysabout us, and about

‘truth.’”

how shah rukh Khan brought indiaand Pakistan to the brink of war

abhishek bachchanto do dad’s remakefor the first timeNEWS DESK

There have beeninnumerable offersasking AbhishekBachchan to do arole that has beenmade famous by hisfather AmitabhBachchan. But AB Jrhas steered clear of thetemptation until nowas he rightfully feltthat no actor,including him, coulddo justice to a roledone by Big B.However, it seems thatproducer Kunal Kohli hasmanaged to convince him, asword is, for the first time,Abhishek will reprise a roleplayed by Big B. Almost 33 yearsafter the release Do Aur Do Paanch(1980), he will step into his dad’s shoes inthe remake of the yesteryear fun caperthat also had Shashi Kapoor. BobbyDeol will play Shashi’s role and thegirls, originally played by HemaMalini and Parveen Babi, are stillbeing finalised. The filmmaker says,“It’s too early to reveal anything, wewill make a formal announcementas soon as we are ready with alldetails.” The film will bedirected by newcomer AkshayePuri, who is a maternal cousinof designer Manish Malhotraand actor Varun Dhawan.

Children’simprint launchedwith Pakistaniauthor’s novel

NEWS DESK

A children’s novelin English byacclaimedPakistani authorMusharraf AliFarooqi figuresamong two bookslaunched by RupaPublications India aspart of its exclusive kidsand young adult imprint. From fiction to non-fiction, short story and poetry collections to quizbooks and illustrated books, the Red Turtleimprint will publish for children from age eightupwards and for teenagers. The first two booksin the imprint are “Tik-Tik, The Master ofTime” by the award-winning Farooqi and“Speak Up, Speak Out; My Favourite ElocutionPieces and How to Deliver Them” by quizmaster-politician Derek O’Brien. The authorslist also includes the likes of Ruskin Bond,Gulzar, Paro Anand, Samit Basu and SubhadraSen Gupta. “Children’s publishing in India ispoised for greater growth, and it made perfectsense for us to enter this space with a well-thought-out publishing programme. Year on yearwe are seeing imported and Indian children’sbooks and authors gain popularity, and we wantedRed Turtle to be part of the story backed by ourpublishing and sales experience,” says KapishMehra, managing director of Rupa Publications.“Our list is an eclectic mix of genres, where themain criteria for selecting the titles were theirreadability, appeal to children, and their relevance.We are combining these with high design andproduction standards, so that Red Turtle willbecome a name that is synonymous with the bestof children’s publishing in India,” says SudeshnaShome Ghosh, publisher of Red Turtle.

‘How literature saved my life’ by

dAvid shiElds

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There are worse crimes than burning

books. One of them is not reading

them. — Ray Bradbury

13ArTsThursday, 7 February, 2013

A

BILAL KHAN Producing a song is likearranging furniture in yourhouse.

ADEEL HASHMI Someone sent this to me:“Real eyes realize the reallies”Main nay guzarish kiiss jumlay ko Angraizonkay rickshayy k peechaylikhva dein.

RAZA RUMI(Just so that) you know#Fountainhead wasrendered as Teesra Kinaraon TV

ROWAN ATKINSON Did you know if youscream “Bloody marry” 3times in the mirror at 3AM,your mom will tell you toshut up and go to bed.

STEVE MARTIN Super Bowl 47 joinsmoon landing as fakegovernment TVbroadcast.

NOTABLE TWEETS

NEWS DESK

Priyanka Chopra’s family has found theperfect match for her in the form of TVactor Mohit Raina who plays Mahadev inthe popular mythological series. PriyankaChopra had been avoiding the question ofmarriage stating that she is eagerlywaiting for her Dulhe Miya. However,things seem to have changed and herfamily has taken keen interest in findingher an appropriate partner.Recently zoOmfound out that PC’s maasi has found asuitable man for her niece. No it’s not aBollywood star or a business man! zoOmcaught up with Priyanka to find out whois the lucky guy. A blushing Piggy Chopsrevealed that it’s none other than the king

of small screen, the most adoredMahadev himself! Priyanka’s maasiis smitten by the omniscient yogiand considers him to be a well-behaved, honest young man who isalso an exceptionally good actor. Onthe other hand when zoOm informedactor Mohit Raina aka Mahadev aboutthe same, he was left speechless! Hewas at loss of words to express hisfeelings. All he managed to mumblewas that he was grateful to PC’smaasi for considering him as anappropriate life partner for thereigning Bollywwod Diva! Whatremains to be seen is whetherPC will take her maasi’schoice seriously.

PriyaNka ChoPra’Sfamily finds a match for her

NEWS DESK

Flying Sikh Milkha Singh tookjust one rupee from RakeyshOmprakash Mehra to allow himto make a film on his life.What’s special about thecurrency note is that itwas printed in 1958,the year when theathlete won thefirst gold medalfor independentIndia in the

Commonwealth Games.The biopic titled “ BhaagMilkha Bhaag” featuresactor Farhan Akhtar inthe lead role and isslated for a Julyrelease. “We wanted togive a priceless tokenof appreciation toMilkhaji for letting ustell his story throughour film. We looked forthat something specialfor a very long time.Then we finally ended upsourcing a special Re.1currency note that wasprinted in 1958,” Rajiv

Tandon, CEO, RakeyshOmprakash Mehra PicturesPvt. Ltd, said in astatement. The relevance ofthe note is that “in 1958independent India won its

first gold medal inCommonwealth Games

because of Milkhajiand he also wontwo gold medals inAsian Games”,added Tandon.

Money was notMilkha’spriority — heonly wantedMehra tomake thefilm. The

legendaryathlete

wantedthat “itshould be

made insuch a way that itinspires more youngsters

to earn medals inathletics”, said Tandon. Asource close to Singh said:“The legend (MilkhaSingh) was extremelymoved. It (Re.one note)was like a souvenir forhim.”

Milkha Singhcharged onerupee for biopic!

america’s youngestfemale billionairerevealed

NEWS DESK

Lynsi Torres, the 30-year-old president and owner of In-N-Out Burger, is the youngest female billionaire in theU.S., Bloomberg reports. Her grandparents Harry andEsther Snyder founded the hamburger chain. Torres doesnot have a college degree or much formal managementtraining, Bloomberg reports. Thanks to In-N-Out’s largefan base at its nearly 280 restaurants in five states, thechain is now worth roughly $1.1 billion, according toestimates — 19,298 times more than the median U.S.household in 2010. Bloomberg has uncovered othersecret billionaires over the past year. It reported inSeptember that the private ElaineMarshall, 70, is the fourth-richestwoman in the United States,thanks to her 15 percent stake inKoch Industries. Bloombergrevealed in August that DirceNavarro de Camargo is Brazil’srichest woman. AndBloomberg reported last weekthat four step-grandchildren offormer Nazi propagandaminister JosephGoebbels arebillionaires.Bloomberg founderMichaelBloomberg,currently mayor ofNew York City,is a prominentbillionaire. Heis the 11th-richestperson inthe U.S.and 20th-richestperson inthe world,according toForbes, with anestimated worth of $22 billion.

sunnylEOnE

NEWS DESK

SUNNY Leone lashes out at Kamaal R Khan for attributingcomments on rape to her Sunny Leone lodged a complaint with theCyber Crime Investigation Cell of Mumbai Police against KamaalR Khan on Monday evening for falsely attributing controversialcomments on rape to her on his microblogging page. A fewdays back, Kamaal had written, “Ye lo... Sunny Leone says— Rape is not a Crime, It’s just a Surprise Sex.”However, the actress tells us that she never saidanything like that. She says, “This whole issue isquite sad. I never made this statement at all. Nowoman in this entire world would. He has writtenit and tagged me on it. He has not ‘retweeted’ mycomment. I believe rapists need psychologicalhelp. They need to be institutionalised.” She furthersays, “This is a silly comment made by some idiot. Ididn’t want to encourage him by responding to suchthings, but it’s a sensitive issue, especially after whathappened in Delhi. Questions should be turned to him.If he thinks the comment was ok, his ethics should bequestioned. The world that I come from may or may notbe accepted here, but I am someone’s wife and daughter.I don’t care what people think about me. Call me everyname in the book, but don’t associate me with acriminal act.” Sunny says her husbandrecollected that Kamaal wanted to make afilm with her. “We couldn’t do it as I wasshooting for other films. We don’t wantpeople to be offended because wecannot work with them,” she says. Onher next course of action, the actresssays, “Post the incident, my web teamhas been diligently blocking peoplewho have been retweeting hiscomments.”

NEWS DESK

It’s time for some celebration in Oberoihousehold as actor Vivek Oberoi andwife Priyanka have been blessed with ababy boy, today. Vivek revealed thegood news on twitter: “Today is themost special day of my life! Priyankaand I welcomed our little angel into ourworld, a beautiful, healthy,divine babyboy!”. Since then congratulatorymessages and tweets have been pouringin for the couple. He further tweeted: “Ithank all of u frm the bottom of myheart for all the love, duas, blessings,prayers & aashirwaad u have sent us!Our son is truly blessed!” TheBollywood fraternity too sent their bestwishes to the couple through Twitter.“Congratulations Vivek Oberoi and

Priyanka, I am sure its the most specialday ever, can’t wait to see the little one.Big hugg,” posted actress GeneliaD’Souza. Her husband, actor RiteishDeshmukh posted: “Vivek Oberoicongratulationssssssssssss brother- loveto Priyanka and the entire family.”“Congratulations Vivek Oberoi onarrival of chota Vivek... god blessmother, little one, you and entire Oberoifamily,” posted filmmaker KumarTaurani, while director Sangeeth Sivanwrote: “Vivek Oberoi congrats.” Theactor who is remembered for his iconicperformances in Saathiya and Company,has two films; Jayantabhai Ki LoveStory and Zilla Ghaziabad lined up forrelease in February. Our heartiestcongratulations to the couple onembracing parenthood.

It’s a baby boy for Vivek and Priyanka Oberoi

files complaint againstKamaal R Khan

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Next king to be dugup: alfred the great?

NoW that Richard III’s skeletonhas been found in a parking lot,archaeologists are turning their

attention to Alfred the Great. The Anglo-Saxon king, who ruled from 871 to 899,is believed to be buried in an unmarkedgrave at England’s St. Bartholomew’sChurch, and researchers are applying forpermission to dig up the spot in question.But it could prove to be a harder job thanidentifying Richard III, the Telegraphreports, citing an article in the Times.Whereas Richard still has two livingrelatives, in Alfred’s case, anarchaeologist explains: “The problem is,where would we get a comparativesample from? It’s a hell of a lot further togo back to trace a living descendant.” Butthe team believes their evidence that theremains might belong to Alfred is evengreater than the evidence the Richard IIIteam had. Their plan is to radiocarbon-date the bones, and if they’re from thecorrect era, start a search for livingrelatives. neWs DesK

holocaustsurvivors to liveon... as holograms

HoLoCAUST survivors’estimated average age is 79,but researchers and activists

are making sure they’ll be telling theirstories two decades from now, andbeyond—in person. Well, almost. TheUniversity of Southern California’sShoah Foundation is working with theschool’s Institute for CreativeTechnologies (whose resumé includeswinning an oscar and working onAvatar) to create some pretty amazingholograms of survivors: ones that areprojected into space, not onto a screen,and that are able to answer questions.The USC teams have spent 18 monthsdeveloping 3D holograms of almost adozen people, the AP reports, and one,of Pinchus Gutter, could be ready forvisitors to the Holocaust Museum inWashington as soon as next year. The80-year-old spent five days beingfilmed about his experience—he saw hisparents and 10-year-old twin sisterbeing led to the gas chambers—andanswering questions in front of a greenscreen. Those answers will be editedand paired with voice-recognitionsoftware that will allow his hologram toboth tell his story and recognize andanswer questions. Being able to do thatoften required asking as many as 50follow-up questions to one of theoriginal ones, the AP notes. neWs DesK

Rule number one: Never lose money.

Rule number two never forget rule

number one — Warren Buffet

INFOTAINMENTThursday, 7 February, 2013

I14

THE Great Internet Mersenne PrimeSearch (GIMPS) project has scoredits 14th consecutive victory,discovering the largest prime

number so far.The number, 2 to the power of

57,885,161 minus 1, is a digit that’s17,425,170 digits long. That’s big enough thatif you want to see the full text, you’ll have tobrace yourself for a 22.5MB download.GIMPS, a cooperative project splitting thesearch across thousands of independentcomputers, announced the find yesterdayafter it had been confirmed by other checks.At present, there are 98,980 people and 574teams involved in the GIMPS project; their730,562 processors perform about 129 trillioncalculations per second.

The project has a lock on the market formongo new prime numbers. The discovererof this particular prime is Curtis Cooper, aprofessor at the University of CentralMissouri who runs the prime-huntingsoftware on a network of computers andwho’s found record primes in 2005 and2006. It’s not just his effort that’s important,though; it relied also on others’ machinesruling out other candidates.

A prime number is divisible only by

itself and the number 1. Once amathematical curiosity, primes now arecrucial to encrypted communications.Mersenne primes are named after MarinMersenne, a French monk born in 1588who investigated a particular type of primenumber: 2 to the power of “p” minus one,in which “p” is an ordinary prime number.

Cooper’s find is the 48th Mersenneprime so far discovered. GIMPS has foundthe 14 largest Mersenne primes, theorganization said.

Discovering Mersenne primes is not a

get-rich-quick scheme, though Cooperwon a $3,000 prize. It could be morelucrative at some point: An ElectronicFrontier Foundation award of $150,000will go to the discoverer of the first primenumber with at least 100 million digits. It’salready awarded prizes for primes 1-million and 10-million digits, and it’s gota $250,000 prize queued up for a billion-digit prime. GIMPS is steadily advancingon the bigger numbers.

In 1998, the project found 2^3021377-1, a number 909,526 digits long. By 2001,

GIMPS found the 39th Mersenne prime, anumber 4,053,946 digits long. The 43rdMersenne prime, which Cooper’s effortfound, is a 9,152,052-digit numeral.

Searching for prime numbers is aproject that can easily be split acrosscountless computers through an ideacalled distributed computing. Not allcomputing chores are so amenable tocooperation, though.

Some, such fluid dynamics researchthat can be used to model nuclear weaponsexplosions or car aerodynamics, can be runon closely independent computing nodesconnected by a high-speed network.

Other computing chores can’t bebroken down into parallel tasks at all, aproblem given that power-consumptionlimits stalled processor clock speedincreases in recent years.

A computer-science idea calledAmdahl’s Law, named after mainframecomputer designer Gene Amdahl, showsthe limits of parallel computation. If someportion of a computer program can’t besped up by parallel processing, at a certainpoint throwing more processors at theproblem will stop producing any speedupin the computation.

amateur effort finds newlargest prime number

G ETTING a cortisoneinjection won’t curetennis elbow any

better than a drug-free salineshot, according to a newstudy - and it might actuallyslow recovery.Researchers found that a fewweeks after receiving thesteroid shots, people reportedless pain and disability thanthose who’d been givenplacebo injections. But ayear later, the same patientslagged behind the placebogroup in their likelihood ofcomplete recovery.“This absolutely confirmsthat steroid injections are nota good idea,” said Dr. AllanMishra, an orthopedicsurgeon at StanfordUniversity in Menlo Park,California. “This isimportant, because peoplethink that it’s okay to get acortisone injection (fortennis elbow), and it’s notokay. It puts you at adisadvantage long term interms of getting better,”Mishra, who has studiedtennis elbow treatment butwasn’t involved in the new

study, told Reuters Health.The condition is caused byoveruse of tendons in theelbow and typically treatedwith non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, physicaltherapy and steroid shots.Last month, a study fromDenmark found neithersteroid nor platelet injectionsimproved pain andfunctioning among peoplewith tennis elbow any betterthan saline shots, over aperiod of three months (seeReuters Health story ofJanuary 22, 2013 here:reut.rs/Wl9Ckw).Researchers at the timecautioned that the study’sfollow-up period was shortand the results might lookdifferent at six months or ayear post-injections.By following patients longer,the new report shines a lighton the possible long-termtendon damage that can becaused by cortisone shots,Mishra said.Bill Vicenzino from theUniversity of Queensland inAustralia and his colleaguesrandomly assigned 165

adults with tennis elbow toone of four treatment groups:cortisone shots with physicaltherapy, placebo shots withphysical therapy, cortisoneshots without physicaltherapy and placebo shotswithout physical therapy.After one year, there was nodifference in people’simprovement in pain orfunctioning based on whetherthey’d had the eight sessionsof prescribed therapy.Among those who’d receiveda cortisone shot, 83 percentreported they had completelyrecovered from tennis elbowby one year. That comparedto 96 percent of those who’dreceived a placebo injection,according to findingspublished Tuesday in theJournal of the AmericanMedical Association.Symptoms were also morelikely to come back after acortisone injection. The research team calculatedthat one more person wouldhave a recurrence for everytwo or three treated withsteroids instead of a salineshot. neWs DesK

steroid shots for tenniselbow may hurt, not help

PEOPLE with mentalillness are 70 percentmore likely to smoke

cigarettes than people withoutmental illness, two federal healthagencies reported Tuesday.

New data from the Centersfor Disease Control andPrevention and the SubstanceAbuse and Mental HealthServices Administration showthat one of every three adults withmental illness smokes, comparedwith one in five adults withoutmental illness.

Adults with mental illnesssmoke about a third of all thecigarettes in the United States,and they smoke more cigarettesper month and are significantlyless likely to quit than peoplewithout mental illness, thereport said. There are nearly 46million adults with mentalillness in the United States,about a fifth of the population.

“Many people with mentalillness are at greater risk of dyingearly from smoking than of dyingfrom their mental healthconditions,” said Dr. Thomas R.Frieden, director of the Centersfor Disease Control, during apress briefing.

The report is based oninformation from the NationalSurvey on Drug Use and Health,

which interviewed 138,000adults in their homes from 2009to 2011. People were asked 14questions to assess psychologicaldistress and disability, and weredeemed to have mental illness iftheir responses indicated theyhad a mental, behavior oremotional disorder in the past 12months. Those with substanceabuse or developmental disorderswere not considered people withmental illness. The report did notinclude patients in psychiatrichospitals or individuals servingin the military.

People who reportedsmoking all or part of a cigarettein the previous 30 days werecounted as smokers.

The study found that smokingrates for people with mentalillness were generally higher instates where overall smokingrates were high. Utah had thelowest rate of smoking amongpeople with mental illness —18.1 percent — while WestVirginia had the highest rate, at48.7 percent. Smoking amongpeople with mental illness washigher among the poor and lesseducated, and among AmericanIndians and Alaska Natives,although every ethnic group hadsignificant percentages ofsmokers. neWs DesK

People with mentalillness more likelyto be smokers

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WILLINGTON

agencies

Sir Richard Hadlee has questioned RossTaylor's response to his sacking as NewZealand captain and believes he shouldhave played on after the fall-out ratherthan take time away from the game. Tay-lor, who was relieved of the captaincyafter the Sri Lanka tour despite drawingthe Test series 1-1, opted out of the fol-lowing trip to South Africa saying heneeded a break from the internationalgame. He will return to the New Zealandside for the Twenty20 series againstEngland which starts on Saturday andis also in the one-day squad. Barringany dramatic change in events, he willresume his Test career next month.

In Taylor's absence, New Zealandwere crushed in the Tests against SouthAfrica, including being bowled out for45 in Cape Town, and also lost theTwenty20 series, although they foughtback impressively to take the one-daycontest.

Hadlee, while sympathising with thepoor handling of the situation, would havepreferred to see Taylor move on quicklyfrom losing the leadership and return tothe ranks immediately. "I find it very in-teresting how Taylor reacted. In someways I'm a little disappointed that Taylor

decided to exile himself for a period oftime," Hadlee told ESPNcricinfo. "If youfall off the horse you get back on it, and Ican't imagine an All Black rugby playerwho was captain then was replaced notmake himself available to play again assoon as possible. "Clearly Taylor had been

affected in some way and needed to gethis mind right. It was his call, but I'm notsure it was good thing because when hegets back into the side it's going to bequite an uneasy period for him, and otherteam-mates, knowing that he walkedaway." Hadlee, though, added his voiceto those unimpressed by the handling ofthe whole situation, which saw Mike Hes-son, the New Zealand coach, tell Taylorbefore the Test series in Sri Lanka hewanted a change of captain but, it lateremerged, only in the limited-oversformats. Taylor has recentlymet with Hesson for the firsttime since losing his posi-tion and is ready to move on,though he admitted that the re-lationship will take time to de-velop. "There were clearlymixed messages, which havebeen well documented," Hadleesaid. "Taylor had clearly beenhurt and offended, perhaps

not so much by the

decision but how it came about becauseit was done before the first Test. That de-cision should have been made in the re-view after the tour." Hadlee would havebeen comfortable if New Zealand hadgone down the split-captaincy route nowused by England, Australia, South Africa,Sri Lanka and Pakistan. But, despite thecircumstances of the change, he seesBrendon McCullum as someone with theright qualities to lead New Zealand anddoes not think he should be judged tooharshly on the Test performances. "At the

moment Brendon McCullum is doingall forms and clearly struggling inthe Test team, but I think that ismore to do with resources avail-able rather than issues with himpersonally," he said. "He hasshown his true colours, espe-cially as a leader, in the one-day

format so that is pretty encourag-ing." Of greater concern for Mc-

Cullum, according to Hadlee, is thathe works out what sort of batsman he

wants to be in the longer format. Afterbeing elevated to opener, partly due tothe lack of other options as much as hissuitability for the position, he has largelyshelved his natural attacking game totry and set a more cautious tone for histeam-mates but that may not be makingbest use of his ability.

cAPE TOWN

cricinfo

NOT rotating their Test bowlersis South Africa's main focusas they look ahead to back-to-back Tests against Pakistan.

The squad dispersed after their 211-run winin Johannesburg and will reconvene onMonday, with the bowlers ordered to takea few days off to prepare for the Cape Townand Centurion Tests, which are only threedays apart later in the month.

Bowling workloads are a worldwideconcern and have resulted in player rota-tion in other countries, most notably Aus-tralia. South Africa's coach Gary Kirstensaid management understand the need tomonitor game time but they do not wantto swap players in the Test side and wouldprefer that to happen in limited-oversmatches. As a result, Dale Steyn andMorne Morkel do not feature in all SouthAfrica's ODI and T20 games so they arekept fit for Test cricket. They are, however,likely to play in all the Tests and so it isrequired that they are managed carefullyto achieve that aim. Robin Peterson doesnot face the same physical demands butplays in all formats for South Africa whileVernon Philander has played largely as aTest specialist but has had niggles in recenttimes that will benefit from a break.

"Sunday and Monday, to a certainextent, were heavy bowling days so it isimportant for us to give them the ade-quate recovery periods but enough timeto prepare properly for the upcomingback-to-backTest matches,"Rob Walter,strength andcondi t ion ingcoach, said."The tricky partis that we don'tknow whetheror not the Testin Cape Townwill go fivedays and if itdoes, we need the bowlers fresh enoughto deal with the short turnaround in time."

South Africa spent 100.4 overs in thefield in Pakistan's second innings fromthe first session on day three to just afterlunch on day four. They had a light load

earlier in the match,when they bowled Pak-istan out for 49 inside30 overs.

The entire squad could theoreticallyplay in the final round of first-classmatches, which take place from Thurs-day, but only those who were not part ofthe starting XI will. Rory Kleinveldt andJacques Rudolph will play for the Cobras

and Titans respectively while ImranTahir, who was added to the squad ascover for Peterson, will turn out for theLions, as he did last weekend when Pe-terson was declared fit.

The playing XI "have been given spe-cific schedules for the week," Walter said."The bowlers have been given a few daysoff and will begin bowling on Thursdayand Friday. The rest of the players in the

squad have been given gym strength andconditioning programmes to follow."

Contrastingly, Pakistan hope to putin as much practice as possible in theten-day break before the second Test.They will play a two-day match againsta Western Province XI in Cape Townfrom Sunday but have practices sched-uled in the city from tomorrow, whenthey are due to arrive there.

sPOrTs

SThursday, 7 February, 2013

15I have pleaded my innocence all along

these last two years which have been terrible

for me and my family. – Salman Butt

No roTaTioN for SoUThafriCa TeST

DALE STEYN'SWORKLOAD ISMANAGED TO HELPKEEP HIM FIT FORSOUTH AFRICA'S TESTCOMMITMENTS

akhtar termsPakistanicricketers as‘chicken-hearted’

LAHORE

staff report

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan speedster,is extremely disappointed with the nationalteam’s performance in the first Test of thethree-match series against South Africa andhas labeled the Pakistani cricketers as‘chicken-hearted’. The Proteas defeated theGreen Shirts by a massive margin of 211 runsin the est, taking an important lead of 1-0 inthe series and look favourites to outclass thevisitors in the remaining two encounters aswell. There was always a doubt aboutPakistan’s ability to cope with the threatposed by one of the most lethal bowlingattacks of the globe in the presence of DaleSteyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel.Having done well to restrict the hosts to 253in their first innings, Pakistan’s batting line-up collapsed like ‘a house of cards ‘on daytwo of the match, being bowled out formerely 49 runs in their first innings. The‘Rawalpindi Express’ was all praise forSteyn, who grabbed 11 wickets in the matchto secure a handsome victory for his country.Akhtar predicts a sterner test of Pakistan’sinexperienced batting line-up in the secondTest at Cape Town and feels that the pitchwill be more in favour of the seam bowlers.“Pakistan players are chicken-hearted. DaleSteyn bowled his heart out. His intention wascommendable,” the former pacer added. “Thepitch in Newlands will be even harder anddon’t expect any spin on it. We lack stalwarts.We don’t have brave batsmen like Inzamam,Miandad, Yousuf or Saeed Anwar. Ourbatsmen can’t even bat out a session or seeoff the new ball.” Akhtar slammed the sloppydismissal of Nasir Jamshed in the secondinnings, after the left-hander had scored animpressive 46. The former cricketer is of theview that in order to be a regarded as aworld-class player, Jamshed needs to deliverthe goods in the longer format of the game,which is the ultimate test of a player’s ability.don’t become a star by getting runs in limitedovers’ cricket. Test cricket is the real deal,”he added.

injured harrisout of Sa tour

LAHORE

staff report

Pakistan lost a second injured player ontheir tour of South Africa when uncappedbatsman Haris Sohail was sent home onTuesday without playing a match. "Harishas developed a strain in his left ankle andrequires four to five weeks to recover sohe is returning home," Pakistan CricketBoard official Nadeem Sarwar reported tohave said. The visitors had already lostexperienced test opener Taufiq Umarbecause of a leg injury and hisreplacement, Imran Farhat has yet to jointhe squad in South Africa. South Africawon the first test by 211 runs inJohannesburg. The second match in CapeTown starts on Feb. 14.

Tough for Taylor to return: hadlee

boWLerS

ross Taylor’sabsence fromthe Test team

was sorely feltby n Zealand

in s Africa

LHR 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:22 AM Page 16

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LAHORE

staff report

Pakistan’s former captain and one of the greatest fastbowlers Waqar Younus will conduct a bowling clinic atthe Sharjah Cricket Stadium from Friday.

According to Gulf News, Mazhar Khan, secretary ofthe Sharjah Cricket Council, said: “We will conduct athree-day clinic with Waqar (Younus). It would be alifetime opportunity for budding pacers in the UAE tolearn the art of bowling from a legendary pacer like him.”

Younus, who grew up in Sharjah and learned the basicsof the game here during his school days, has expressedhis delight in sharing his knowledge and experience to theyoungsters here. Younus was also the former Pakistanteam coach and one of the leading commentators in theworld today. His yorkers, known as toe-crushers, hadtrapped even the best of batsmen in the world.

The clinic is being conducted by Sharjah CricketAcademy under the auspices of Sharjah Cricket Council.“Younus will hold two sessions each day from February8 to 10 and provide valuable tips to strengthen as a bowlerwith the participants. The first session will be held from3pm to 5pm, and the second session will commence from6pm to 8pm,” said Khan. Younus has played in 87 Testsand 262 One-day internationals for Pakistan. Players whoare above 15 years of age are eligible to apply.

sPOrTs SThursday, 7 February, 2013

16Good luck to the Protea ladies at the World

Cup. They’re playing in the Super Sixes

which starts Thursday!– AB de Villiers

cANBERRA

agencies

Shane Watson celebrated his return to in-ternational cricket with a sparkling inningsof 122 to drive Australia to a 39-run victoryover West Indies in the third one-dayer andan unassailable 3-0 series lead. The 31-year-old opener's 111-ball knock on Wednesday

helped Australia to 329 for seven in their50 overs and West Indies flirted with reach-ing the big victory target before JamesFaulkner (4-48) polished them off for 290with 15 balls to spare. Darren Bravo topscored with 86 for West Indies, who will beplaying only for pride in the remaining twomatches in Sydney and Melbourne after athird emphatic defeat. It was the first one-day international ever played in the nation'scapital and the Manuka Oval track certainlygave the batsmen plenty of opportunity toscore runs. Watson, who missed much ofthe domestic season through injury, reachedhis seventh ODI century in 102 balls andthen conjured up two fours and two sixes inthe next nine balls before holing out toKieron Pollard at backward square leg.

"I've been dreaming of that for the lastfour weeks," Watson, one of whose sixeswas measured at 114 metres, said in a tele-vised interview. "It was one of those daysthat you dream of when even from the firstball it feels like everything's coming off themiddle of your bat. I'm just so excited to beout here and playing." Phil Hughes offeredable support with 86 runs before beingcaught behind off the bowling of DarrenSammy, while the innings of Glenn Maxwell(4) and George Bailey (44) were both endedby stunning leaping catches from Pollard on

the boundary. West Indies started their run-chase at a slow pace but soon picked up withtypical flourish to match Australia's run rateat around the 30 over mark. Left-arm seamerFaulkner made two crucial interventions,however, the first when he bowled danger-

man Chris Gayle (2) and Darren Bravo inthe space of four balls to leave West Indiesat 215-5. He returned to end the match byclaiming the wickets of Sunil Narine (1) andDarren Sammy (8) in three deliveries. Allfour of his victims in the match were bowled.

Watson ton drives Australia to Canberra winaustralia innings

s. Watson c pollard b roach 122

a. finch c thomas b sammy 38

p. Hughes c thomas b sammy 86

M. clarke c & b pollard 15

g. bailey c pollard b narine 44

g. Maxwell c pollard b narine 4

M. Wade not out 4

J. faulkner b Dwayne bravo 2

M. Johnson not out 8

extras (b-1, w-3, nb-2) 6

total (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 329

Did not bat: M. starc, c. McKay

fall of wickets: 1-89 2-201 3-242 4-284 5-299 6-317 7-321

bowling: roach 9-1-72-1 (1w), russell 5-0-41-0, sammy 8-0-

49-2 (2nb), Dwayne bravo 7-0-39-1, narine 10-0-55-2 (1w),

gayle 5-0-36-0 (1w), pollard 6-0-36-1

West inDies innings

K. powell c Wade b Maxwell 47

D. thomas c Hughes b McKay 19

Darren bravo b faulkner 86

Dwayne bravo b starc 51

c. gayle b faulkner 2

K. pollard run out 9

a. russell c Wade b McKay 43

r. sarwan b Johnson 12

D. sammy b faulkner 8

s. narine b faulkner 1

K. roach not out 1

extras (lb-4, w-6, nb-1) 11

total (all out, 47.3 overs) 290

fall of wickets: 1-54 2-81 3-195 4-214 5-215 6-234 7-264 8-281

9-289

bowling: McKay 10-1-62-2, starc 7-0-50-1 (1nb, 1w), Johnson 9-

1-59-1 (1w), faulkner 8.3-1-48-4, Maxwell 10-0-44-1 (2w), clarke

3-0-23-0 (2w)

australia won the toss and elected to bat

australia won by 39 runs.

australia lead the five-match series 3-0.

scoreboarD

Lorgat tryingto convinceCSa for players’participation

MuMBAI

bipin Dani

Haroon Lorgat, thePCB's consultantfor the PakistanSuper League(PSL) is trying toconvince theCricket SouthAfrica (CSA) boardmembers to issue"No ObjectionCertificates" to

their players to play in Pakistan, it islearnt. It was believed that CricketAustralia and CSA have denied theirplayers to participate in PSL for thesecurity reason. However, according tothe new CSA president, Chris Nenzani,no decision has been taken in this regardyet. Speaking exclusively over telephonefrom SA, he said, "at this stage I am notaware of any approach / request byPakistan Cricket Board to Cricket SouthAfrica regarding the possibility of SouthAfrican players playing in Pakistan.When such a request is received we willdeal with it having due regard to allrelevant factors." Haroon Lorgat, theformer ICC CEO is believed to be one ofthe candidates for the similar post withCSA board. "The process of theappointment of a CEO for CSA is at itsinfancy stage and the closing date wasFebruary 5, 2013. Whether or not Lorgatis one of the applicants is something Icannot confirm at this stage". "The newBoard will apply its mind and make thenecessary announcements at theappropriate time", Nenzani added. Thereseems to be a possibility of shifting thePSL out of Pakistan. Though no officialword has been out in this regard,however, one of the venues in UAE(Sharjah, Dubai or Abu Dhabi) is notruled out either. UAE has been a most-common hunting venue for the PCB asinternational matches have not beenplayed in Pakistan after the Lahore Testattack on Sri Lankan players four yearsago. Syed B. Refaie, the executivedirector and the man behind the show forthe PSL has been approaching players allover the world and is also hopeful ofsigning IPL's non-sold players soon.

cuTTAcK

agencies

NOT often is the build up toan India versus Pakistanclash – whatever the occa-sion – as low-key as the one

for the seventh-place playoff at the 2013ICC Women's World Cup. With the twoteams failing to qualify for the SuperSixes, the match at Barabati Stadium inCuttack on Thursday (February 7) holdsvery little significance except academic.

India's 139-run loss to Sri Lanka notonly knocked it out of the tournament,but also meant the team has to now gothrough the qualifiers for the next editionin 2017, which is why it stands to losemore than it could gain against a sidecoming off three straightforward defeats.What could come as a silver lining forIndia, though, is an opportunity to changeguard at the top and provide a platformfor the younger players to express them-selves as a means of keeping an eye onthe future.

After India's loss to England in itssecond league match, Mithali Raj, thecaptain, went to the extent of billing theSri Lanka game a 'perform or perish'contest. While that has now been sortedout, it remains to be seen how India ap-proaches its final game in the tourna-ment.

While expecting a quick turnaroundto its fortunes any time in the near futuremay be too far-fetched, India will stillfancy its chances of overcoming Pakistan

purely going by its superior battingstrength. But a long travel day meansthat the team heads into the gameafter very little time to intro-spect on the loss to SriLanka. From India’spoint of view, the talenton display in the firstthree games was hard toignore. ThirushKamini, making acomeback to the squadafter nearly three years,set the tone with a magnif-icent century in the win overWest Indies. In the next gameagainst England, Harmanpreet Kaur

showed why she is the next big thing inthe Indian batting department, when she

smashed an unbeaten century, albeitin a losing cause. But while

the batting showed promisein patches, the bowling,with the exception of Jhu-lan Goswami, waslargely unimpressive,conceding 250-plus inconsecutive games. Thepace attack, against Sri

Lanka in particular, lookedpedestrian and in the ab-

sence of Niranjana Nagarajan,there was hardly any penetration.

Pakistan's familiarity with the conditions

at Barabati Stadium, where it has beenlodged since its arrival in India, will def-initely play to its advantage. While thepitches have tended to be on the slowerside, its bowling line-up has adjustedvery well to the conditions, often causinga bit of a flutter, like it did against Aus-tralia, who was bowled out for 175.Qanita Jalil and Asmavia Khokhar havetroubled sides with their accuracy, andthe fielding too has looked quite sharp.

The worry lies in its batting. With ahighest team total of 104 in three outings,there is very little to be optimistic about,but Sana Mir, the captain, and NainAbidi, touted to be the best batter in theteam, would hope to set things straight.

Pakistan will approach the game asanother opportunity to get one over Indiaand end its campaign on a winning note.And for inspiration, all it needs to do isgo back five months to the ICC WorldTwenty20 where it beat India. A repeatof that would be the perfect way to endwhat has been a very difficult tour onvarious fronts.TEAMS (FROM):

PAKISTAN: Sana Mir (capt), Bismah Maroof,

Nain Abidi, Sidra Amin, Diana Baig, Elizebath

Barkat, Nahida Bibi, Qanita Jalil, Asmavia Iqbal

Khokhar, Syeda Batool Fatima Naqvi, Nida

Rashid, Rabiya Shah, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Jave-

ria Wadood, Sadia Yousaf.

INDIA: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur,

Ekta Bisht, Karu Jain, Jhulan Goswami, Reema

Malhotra, Mona Meshram, Sulakshana Naik,

Nagarajan Niranjana, Rasanara Parwin,

Poonam Raut, Amita Sharma, Shubhlakshmi

Sharma, Thirush Kamini, Gouher Sultana.

PakiSTaN, iNDia PLaN ToeND WorLD CUP oN a high

Pakistan willapproach the

game as anotheropportunity

to get oneover india

Waqar to conduct bowling clinic at SharjahFORMER PAKISTAN CAPTAIN TO SHARETIPS WITH UPCOMING BOWLERS

WHEN SUCH A REQUESTIS RECEIVED WE’LL DEALIT HAVING DUE REGARDTO ALL RELEVANT FACTORS

CENTURY OF SIXES IN ONE-DAYERSShane Watson became the fourth Australian and 22nd batsman overall to

smash 100 or more sixes in one-day internationals. The right-hand openingbatsman from Ipswich, reached this milestone, in the 135th innings of 155thmatch, by hitting the first six off Chris Gayle during his 122-run knock in thethird one-day international match against West Indies at Manuka oval,Canberra on Wednesday (February 6). Watson, smashed 18 sixes in 38 inningsof 46 matches at home while he hit 83 sixes in 97 innings of 109 matchesoutside Australia. The 31-year old batsman, smashed 15 sixes during hisunbeaten 185-run knock against Bangladesh at Dhaka on April 11,2011 whichis a world record of most sixes in an innings in one-day international cricket.Pakistan's Shahid Afridi who hit 298 sixes in 323 innings of 349 matches, holdsthe record of hitting the highest number of sixes in one-day internationalswhile Ricky Ponting's 162 sixes in 365 innings of 376 matches is the Australianrecord of most sixes in instant cricket. s.perveZ Qaiser

MOST SIXES FOR AUSTRALIA IN ONE DAYERS:

Batsman M I N.O Runs AVG H.S 100 50 0 4s 6s

Picky Ponting 375 365 39 13704 42.03 164 30 82 20 1231 162

Adam Gilchrist 287 279 11 9619 35.89 172 16 55 19 1162 149

Andrew Symonds 198 161 33 5088 39.75 156 6 30 15 449 103

Shane Watson 155 135 24 4685 42.20 185* 7 28 8 462 101

Matthew Hayden 161 155 15 6133 43.80 181* 10 36 9 636 87

LHR 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:22 AM Page 17

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sPOrTsS

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

17England are a good team with very good players,

but I don't look at them as one of our main

rivals for the World Cup. – Brazil striker Neymar

Nadal winsdoubles match onChilean comeback

VINA DEL MAR

agencies

Rafa Nadal made a successful comebackafter a seven-month injury absence withvictory in the first round of the ChileanOpen doubles on Tuesday. The formerworld number one and Argentine partnerJuan Monaco overpowered second-seededCzechs Frantisek Cermak and LukasDlouhy 6-3 6-2 in 65 minutes at thePacific coastal city of Vina del Mar.Spanish left-hander Nadal had been outwith a knee problem since losing to CzechLukas Rosol in the second round atWimbledon in June. "It's a good feeling tobe back. We'll see how the knee reacts,"Nadal told a news conference. "Themoment and the surfaces were the rightones and playing for the first time in thiscountry was a great opportunity. "Playingdoubles is less aggressive, so we'll seehow things go tomorrow in singles," headded after he and Monaco had takenadvantage of four of their seven chancesto break the Czechs' service. The 26-year-old's planned return at the end of last yearwas delayed due to illness but he willcompete on his favourite clay surface atthree Latin American events this month.

Teen Christiangarin impressesin Chile

VINA DEL MAR

agencies

Sixteen-year-old Christian Garin producedan assured display to move into the secondround of the VTR Open in Vina del Mar,Chile. The world number 920 showed nosigns of nerves on his ATP Tour debut infront of his home crowd and claimed a 6-36-4 win over Serbian qualifier DusanLajovic. Garin faced just two break pointsand wrapped up the win after 84 minutes toseal a clash with French third seed JeremyChardy. Federico Delbonis set up ameeting with top seed Rafael Nadal afterbattling back to see off fellow ArgentineGuido Pella 2-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/1). Nadalmade his return to competitive tennis onTuesday after eight months out throughinjury and illness when he partnered JuanMonaco to a straight sets doubles victoryover second seeds Frantisek Cermak andLukas Dlouhy. Eighth seed Carlos Berlocqwas in imperious form as he blitzed pastRussia's Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2 6-1, whileformer world number five Tommy Robredoeased to a 6-2 6-2 win over Spanishcompatriot Pere Riba. Albert Montanesedged out Nicolas Massu 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-4,while there were also wins for HoracioZeballos and Guillaume Rufin.

LONDON

agencies

Judy Murray is confident progressmade by Laura Robson and HeatherWatson gives her Fed Cup team achance of advancing to the WorldGroup. Great Britain open their 2013campaign on Wednesday in Eilat,Israel with a Europe/Africa Pool Bfixture against Bosnia-Herzegovinabefore clashes with Portugal andHungary.

Should they top the pool and thencome through a weekend meeting withthe winners of Pool D, they will moveinto a World Group II play-off in April.

They got to that stage last year only tolose 4-1 to Sweden. Fast forward 10months and team captain Murraybelieves they are well placed to go onebetter and take their place in the top 16nations in the world. She said: "Elena(Baltacha) and Annie (Keothavong)headed up the singles last year and didan unbelievable job out here to get usout of the group.

"The younger members of thesquad - Laura and Heather - have hada very exciting 12 months, they havepushed their ranking inside the top 50and they are getting towards the top 40which is a fabulous achievement. "Itmeans there is a slightly different

dynamic in the team with regards thesingles rankings. "It puts us in a verystrong position, the team is fighting fitand I think we are ready to fight for aplace in the World Group.

"We have a great blend of youthand experience. It's a great platformand opportunity for us to moveforward." Murray was also delightedby a draw which means not only haveher side avoided Poland - and worldnumber four Agnieszka Radwanska -in the pool phase but also a possibleweekend play-off. She added: "Thedraw has probably been quite kind tous. "There are a number of teams wehad hoped to avoid and we have

avoided them. Not just in the poolphase. "With the format being just twosingles and one doubles, if you comeup against a team with a very strongnumber one like Poland it is a veryhard obstacle to overcome."

Another boost is the schedulewhich means Britain will play theirmatches in the morning calm - unlikelast year. "The conditions are quitedifferent in the morning compared tothe afternoon," Murray said.

"In the morning it is relativelycalm and pretty warm. Later in theafternoon is when the wind gets up alittle bit - it's very strong between 5pmand 6pm and it can also get cold.

LAHORE

staff report

In what is tantamount to a ringing endorse-ment of the Pakistan Olympic Association(POA) and negation of the recent resolutionpassed by some rogue organisations and in-dividuals, the International Olympic Com-mittee (IOC) has in a letter duly counter-signed by the Olympic Council of Asia(OCA) reaffirmed the status of POA headedby the elected President Lt. Gen. (retd) SyedArif Hasan as the legitimate NationalOlympic Committee of Pakistan.

The letter, issued under the subject ‘Towhom it may concern’, has been copied tothe IOC President, Jacques Rogge and theOCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad AlSabah, the POA President and the IOC Mem-ber from Pakistan, Syed Shahid Ali, said aspokesman of POA here on Wednesday.“This not only reflects the highest global andcontinental bodies concern on the eventshappening in Pakistan against the POA andthe Olympic Movement, but also that these

have been noticed with some unease at thesummit level,” he added. The letter makes ita point to mention that the February 4, 2012elections were held in the presence of theIOC and the OCA observers, who gave it aclean bill of health with regards to havingbeen “duly and democraticallyelected” and specifically itsPresident. The letter at thevery outset specificallynotes: “This is to confirmthat the Pakistan OlympicAssociation (POA) cur-rently headed by its Presi-dent, Lt Gen. (Retd) SyedArif Hasan, and the office-bearers duly and democrati-cally elected by the General As-sembly of the POA on 4 February2012, in the presence of observers fromthe International Olympic Committee (IOC)and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), isthe sole and unique legitimate body recog-nised by the IOC (and affiliated to the OCA)to act as a National Olympic Committee

(NOC) in Pakistan.” The grim tone adoptedwhile enunciating the POA’s status and sub-sequently warning the elements involved intrying to create a parallel body is also needsto be noted: “As per the Olympic Charter,

the IOC is the sole body that is entitledto recognise a National Olympic

Committee (in this case thePakistan Olympic Associa-

tion currently headed by itsPresident, Arif Hasan andto authorise such organi-sation to designate, iden-tify or refer to itself as a"National Olympic Com-

mittee" In essence the exis-tence of an NOC, as such, is

therefore derived from its recog-nition by the IOC.

“Consequently, no organisation otherthan the POA, currently headed by its Pres-ident, Arif Hasan, can claim to represent thePOA or act on its behalf or play the role ofan "NOC" in Pakistan. In particular, the IOCand OCA will not recognise any decision,

resolution or action of any body or so-called"interim committee" claiming to act on be-half of the POA Any such decision, resolu-tion or action would indeed violate theOlympic Charter and would therefore beautomatically null and void.

“It is regrettable to note that the repeatedattempts of a number of individuals/bodiesto act against the Olympic Charter and todestabilise the legitimate POA currentlyheaded by its President Arif Hasan, do notserve at all the interests of the OlympicMovement and the athletes in Pakistan. Onthe contrary, this affects negatively the de-velopment of the Olympic Movement inPakistan and has no effect but to expose un-necessarily the POA to protective measuresfrom the IOC Executive Board, for whichthese individuals/bodies should be held re-sponsible.”

“This is about time the miscreants sawthe drift and the gravity of the situation anddesisted from taking Pakistan Sports to aperilous point of no return”, commentedGen. Arif.

Judy Murray targets Fed Cup progress

iOC shows concern overgovt’s interest in POA

it reflects thehighest global

and continentalbodies concernon the events

in Pakistan

VINA DEL MAR:

Rafa Nadal hits

the ball in his

return from injury

doubles match of

the Chilean Open.

LHR 07-02-2013_Layout 1 2/7/2013 4:22 AM Page 18

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sPOrTs SThursday, 7 February, 2013

18

wAtCh It LIveESPNBangladesh League: SylhetRoyals v Rangpur Riders07:00PM

STAR SPORTSFIELD HOCKEY:Mumbai v Ranchi08:00PM

The past two seasons in GP2 have been

all about proving that I have what it takes

and that I'm ready. – Brazilian Luiz Razia

Pakistan get slender

margin win over

Nepal in a friendly

LAHORE

staff report

The Pakistan football team opened its tourof Nepal on a victorious note beating thehome side 1-0 in its first friendly match atDasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmanduon Wednesday. Pakistan team is on a tour ofNeal and Maldives to gain useful practicefor its coming international assignments,said the message received here. StrikerHassan Bashir scored the all important goalin the last minute of the game after crowingsolo efforts. Pakistan were made to workhard by the hosts who enjoyed the homeconditions and the large supporting crowd,whilst Pakistan took their time to settle intothe game. Pakistan team showed itsexpertise in the game of football byexhibiting a formidable offensive anddefensive line. This match was equallyimportant for Nepal whose team stuck tothe defensive formation. Though Nepalteam is consider a favorite team but wasbulldozed in this match by a better planningand offensive strategy of the Pakistani teamunder the expert coaching of Zavisa.

i’d rather have ribery

than ronaldo: Lahm

MADRID

agencies

Bayern Munichskipper PhilippLahm has revealedthat he would ratherplay alongsideFrank Ribery thanCristiano Ronaldo.The formerMarseille attackerhas been in splendidform this season,notching four goalsand seven assists inBayern Munich's charge up the Bundesligatable. Speaking to Kicker, Lahm expressedhis delight at having the Frenchman as histeam-mate in the Bavarian club.

WaPDa-NbPin final ofU-21 hockey

LAHORE

staff report

WAPDA and National Bank of Pakistanscored identical 2-1 victories againsttheir respective rivals ,Sui Southern GasCompany and PIA to set a clash in thefinal of National at Faisalabad hockeystadium on Wednesday. WAPDA played a full time 1-1 withSSGC which caused panic for them byending the first half 1-0. Wapdademonstrated a higher level of mid fieldplay to infuse life in the attacks andstruck the match winning goal in theextra time.Scorers,WAPDA:Waseem Abbas 62ndminute (PC) & Mohammad Suleman80thminute (FG). SSGC:Sohail34thminute (PC). In a match marred byugly incident of mis conduct , NBP andPIA were locked in a 1-1 draw at halftime and the same score was seen at theend of the full time. NBP struck betterperformance in the extra time to scorethe match winning goal.Scorers,NBP:Mohammad Dilber 2 Goals 7th &71st minutes (FG).PIA:Ammad Butt 20thminute(FG).After the match the tournamentdirector , Muhammad Farooqannounced the disciplinary actionagainst the players PIA Hockey Teamand Managers/Coaches of both theteams. Players Ammad Shakeel Buttand Afsar Yaqoob were banned for onemonth and Mohammad Sultan Amir forsixth months. Managers of both theteams Qamar Ibrahim (PIA) andMuhammad Arshad (NBP) have beenwarned to be careful in their futureconduct. Whereas Coaches of both theteams Muhammad Akhlaq (NBP) andMuhammad Irfan Mehmood (PIA) havebeen banned for the next five matches.The final will be played between NBPand Wapda tomorrow, Thursday at1430hrs and SSGC will take on PIA ina classification match for the 3rd and4thplace.

JEREZ

agencies

Lewis Hamilton's first day behind thewheel of his Mercedes resulted in a crashinto a tyre barrier.

Team-mate Nico Rosberg on Tuesdaycompleted just 14 laps following anelectrical fault which led to a small, shortfire and the replacement of the wiringloom on the W02. Following lengthyrepairs by the team, Hamilton was at leastable to make his debut on time for thesecond day of the opening pre-season testat the Circuito de Jerez.

But after 15 laps, the 28-year-oldlocked up at the turn-six hairpin knownas 'Dry Sack' at 170mph beforeploughing through a wide expanse ofgravel and eventually pushing his frontwing into the tyres. Given the tyre markson the asphalt on approach to the corner,and the fact Hamilton's car simplycareered straight on for 70 metres, theearly diagnosis is a fault to the frontsuspension.

Hamilton emerged unscathed from acar that was soon recovered from thebarrier, covered with a black tarpaulinand craned on to the back of a flatbedtruck before being taken back to thegarage. It means Mercedes face anotherinvestigation into their second successive

testing incident, and with more repairsrequired, it remains to be seen whetherHamilton will make it back out on tracklater Wednesday. Mercedes later

diagnosed the issue on Hamilton's car asa loss of rear brake pressure. A teamspokesperson said; "The front brakesenabled him to slow the car but he

couldn't avoid the barrier. "There isobvious damage to the front wing andnose; we are checking the car over now.Lewis himself is fine."

Hamilton crashes his new Mercedes

LONDON

agencies

FORMER U.S.Masters and BritishOpen championSandy Lyle can

once again dream of leadingEurope's Ryder Cup team,having given up two years agoon the prospect of beingnamed skipper. Lyle, the onlymember of 'big five' in the1980s to miss out on thecaptaincy, had the bouncerestored to his 54-year-old stepfollowing a phone call lastmonth from Players'Committee chairman ThomasBjorn. Bjorn told the Scot,who sat at the top of Europe'sgolfing tree along with NickFaldo, Seve Ballesteros,Bernhard Langer and IanWoosnam three decades ago,he was one of five candidatesdiscussed before Ireland's PaulMcGinley got the vote as 2014skipper.

"That was very nice tohear," Lyle told Reuters in aninterview. "At least I'm stillbeing considered because twoyears ago I thought that was it

and I was regarded as too oldfor the captaincy."

Lyle said it came as asurprise to learn he wasmentioned in dispatches alongwith McGinley, ColinMontgomerie, Paul Lawrieand Miguel Angel Jimenez forthe next Ryder Cup againstUnited States at Gleneagles

next year."They never told me I was

under consideration for thecaptaincy," said the 1985British Open winner and 1988U.S. Masters champion. "Itwas only when I got a phonecall from Thomas the verynight they made their decisionthat I knew.

"They seem to havedeleted the unwritten rule thatsays when you reach 50 it isthe end of your Ryder Cupchances. "We live in hope andI shall keep my ears and eyesopen from now on. TomWatson being chosen to leadthe U.S. has opened the doorfor us oldies," said Lyle. "Tomwill be 65 in 2014. Maybe Icould be considered now for aRyder Cup in the States,especially with my experienceof playing over there."

One thing the amiableScot will not be doing,though, is entering into thesort of unseemlyelectioneering that went onbefore McGinley wasannounced as skipper. "I'mnot going to campaign for it,"said Lyle.

"If they want me it'll bemost welcome but I'm notgoing to cry about it or loseany sleep if they don't." Lylemay have been overlooked asskipper for the next RyderCup in his native land but hehas not given up hope ofgetting the nod as one ofMcGinley's vice-captains.

LyLe’S DreaMCoULD be baCk oN

RYDER CUP (

(

LAHORE

staff report

Amir Khan, British-Pakistaniboxer, is busy shopping inLahore for his wedding withPakistani-American FaryalMakhdoom in May.

Khan visited the DataDarbar shrine on Tuesday. Hewas accompanied by hisparents, uncle and brother. Thefamily laid a floral wreath atthe shrine. They also prayedfor Khan’s success.

Khan said the weddingceremony would take place inNew York and valima wouldbe held in London.

The boxer said that hisidentity is Pakistan whereverhe lives in the world. He saidthat Pakistani cricketer ShahidAfridi is his friend and heinvited him to his wedding. Healso said that he wanted tomake Pakistan proud bywinning.

In 2011, Khan visitedPakistan and participated in the

second Benazir BhuttoInternational BoxingTournament as a chief guest.

Khan urged the Pakistanigovernment to providefacilities to Pakistani boxers.

Khan is the youngestBritish Olympic boxingmedalist. He won silver at the2004 Athens Olympics at theage of 17. He is also one of theyoungest British worldchampions ever, who won theWBA light-welterweight titlewhen he was 22.

Amir Khan busy shopping for wedding in Lahore

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Page 19: e-paper pakistantoday 07th February, 2013

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

Thursday, 7 February, 2013

KARAcHI

isMail DilaWar

THE Supreme Court on Wednes-day said there remained seriousquestion over the possibility ofholding transparent election in

Karachi where the masses had been ren-dered “paranoid” by continued violence.

Hearing the implementation case ofits suo motu notice of law and order inKarachi at the Supreme Court’s KarachiRegistry, the bench of Justice Jawwad SKhawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain,Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and JusticeAmir Hani Muslim questioned the role oflegislature in Sindh after police told thecourt that around 2,300 people werekilled in the port city in 2012, whileabout 22,000 declared absconders and

criminals were still at large in the vio-lence-hit financial capital.

To the utter surprise of judges, seniorpolice officials came up with highly con-tradictory figures when the court askedthem to tell the number of investigation of-ficers (IOs) currently working in the me-tropolis. The bench also rejected acompliance report submitted by SindhAdvocate General Abdul Fattah Malikand sought a “para-wise” clarification ofthe court’s orders issued last year. Theclarification is to be made in today(Thursday’s) hearing.

The bench questioned the role of theSindh Assembly when SSP Niaz Khoso saidthe city’s law and order could improve withina month’s time if the long-pending laws onarms control and witness protection werepromulgated. Sindh Additional Chief Secre-

tary (ACS) Wasim Ahmed told the bench thathis department had sent a summary to thefederal law secretary in this regard.

The bench said after the 18th Amend-ment, the provinces were enjoying auton-omy and could therefore legislatethemselves. The ACS, however, said thegovernment wanted to introduce a uniformlaw across the country to protect witnessesand discourage arms.

Sindh AG Abdul Fattah Malik toldthe court that he had attended a meetingat the Sindh CM House where it was ob-served that the legislation on arms controlin the city had become a political issue.

Justice Khilji asked if Malik meantthat the Sindh Assembly was not readyto legislate on what he (AG) and thecourt would order.

SC doubts impartial polls in ‘paranoid’ karachi Only constitutional institutions may hire: ECPISLAMABAD

staff report

Rejecting the government’s request of lifting banon recruitments in all government departmentsand diversion of funds, the Election Commissionof Pakistan (EC) on Wednesday allowed onlyconstitutional bodies to make fresh hiring.

However, the commission decided to reviewreferences filed by 25 government organisationsseeking revocation of the ban. “On Thursday, thecommission will review the request of govern-ment organisations for recruitments on a case-to-case basis. We will also consider some requestsof diversion of funds. There will be no issue ofdiversion of funds for strategically importantprojects,” said ECP Secretary Ishtiak AhmedKhan in a press conference. He said the commis-sion would also consider requests made by somedonor agencies of diversion of funds. The Elec-

tion Commission on Wednesday met with ChiefElection Commissioner Justice (r) Fakhruddin GEbrahim in the chair. In the meeting, the commis-sion thoroughly discussed the government’s re-quest of lifting ban on recruitments. However,after a detailed briefing, the commission decidedto lift ban on recruitments in constitutional bodieslike the Supreme Court, high courts, districtcourts, ombudsman office and provincial assem-blies. Khan said the departments that advertisedvacant positions before August 31, 2012 were al-lowed to fill positions. The commission also re-jected the government’s request of allowing it todivert funds that were originally allocated forsome other projects. The secretary said 25 gov-ernment departments had sent references to theECP seeking lifting of ban on fresh hiring and itwas decided that the commission would reviewtheir request on a case-to-case basis.

CoNTINuEd oN PAgE 04 CoNTINuEd oN PAgE 04

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