Saturday, 18 May, 2013 Rajab 7, 1434

With the newly-elected government

of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

(PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif set to

take over the reins in around a

fortnight’s time, the caretaker

regime is hectically involved in

nursing the bleeding economy to

facilitate the process of budget

making - the biggest challenge

awaiting the prime minister-in

waiting. pa g e 0 4

Caretakers nursingeconomy to helpnawaz manage budget

An appeal made by Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Chairman Imran Khan for

vote re-count in NA-122

constituency of Lahore has been

rejected by the Election Commission

of Pakistan (ECP). The returning

officer on Friday rejected Imran’s

plea on the basis that there was not

enough evidence to support his

claim. pa g e 0 3

eCp turns downimran’s plea for voterecount in na-122

Ahead of its President Hamid Karzai’s

visit next week, the Afghan has

asked India to supply lethal defence

hardware as part of an intensified

bilateral cooperation and even

seemed to indicate that it would

welcome troop deployment on its

soil. Afghan President Hamid Karzai

will be arriving in New Delhi on

Monday for a three-day visit, his

second in six months. pa g e 0 8

Karzai wouldn’t mindindian troop presenceon afghan soil

The head of Hizbul Mujahideen has

said that no government would be

able to survive in Islamabad if it

abandoned the Kashmir cause and

warned the new regime not to make

the mistake of pursuing a friendship

with New Delhi at the cost of Kashmir.

"No government in Pakistan, whether

it under Nawaz Sharif or anybody

else, will remain in power if it

abandons the Kashmir cause. pa g e 0 8

do not be friendswith india, hizbwarns pml-n

Rs 17.00 Vol III No 321 19 Pages Lahore — Peshawar Edition

no enmity with taliban: Kp Cm-designate

story on page 02

story on page 03

story on page 02

story on page 20

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:38 AM Page 1

Nsaturday, 18 May, 2013

02

NewsPeshawar

ShamIm ShahId

AT least 20 people were killedand more than 100 others in-jured in two explosions tar-geting two mosques in

Malakand on Friday. Malakand DeputyCommissioner Amjad Ali confirmed that20 people were killed and dozens othersinjured in the two blasts.

"The explosives were fixed to atimed device planted apparently amongthe pillows and sheets of worshipers in-side the mosque," said Amjad, addingthat both mosques remained openthroughout the night, which is when theculprits may have planted the bomb.

An eye witness, Salim, said that twoblasts rocked the Bar Kalley and themain Jamia Masjid of the Bazdara regionimmediately after Friday prayers.

Another eyewitness Israrullah saidthe first explosion rocked the Upper Baz-dara mosque.

“People from the mosque in theLower Bazdara area immediately rushedto the site of the first blast. This is whenthe second blast rocked the Lower Baz-dara mosque,” he said, adding that thesecond explosion caused the mosque’sroof to collapse, killing one person.

“The huge blast occurred as soon asthe prayer leader had finished the Fridaysermon,” said another witness.

Dr Nasir, medical superintendent ofCivil Hospital Palai, told Pakistan Todaythey received 120 injured people. Hesaid six injured expired at the hospital,while doctors in Dargai Tehsil Hospitalconfirmed receiving 33 injured people.

Three injured expired in Dargai hos-

pital. Officials have so far confirmed 20dead in both explosions. A few hours ear-lier, an explosion occurred outside thehouse of a retired Subedar of security

forces. However, no loss to life or prop-erty was reported. Following the inci-dents, contingents of security forceswere deployed all over Baazdara and its

surrounding areas. A curfew was im-posed and door-to-door search is inprogress. No group has claimed respon-sibility for the terrorist attacks so far.

malakand mosques bombed,20 worshippers killed

Peshawar

INP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seniorleader and the party’s chief minister-nominee for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) Pervez Khattak on Friday saidthe incoming provincial governmentwas ready to hold talks with the out-lawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) and had no enmity with them.

Addressing a joint press confer-ence along with PTI provincial pres-ident Asad Qaiser, he said, “We haveno enmity with the Taliban.” He saidthe Taliban were also Pakistanis andthat they request the militant group tohold peace talks and work for peacein the region.

Khattak termed corruption acurse and said it will not be toleratedin their government, adding that re-forms within the existing system willbe carried out in a period of threemonths.

He said the PTI-led governmentwill take all possible measures for es-tablishment of sustainable peace, andwill practically deliver in education,health and the social sector. For man-aging better law and order and cre-

ation of a workable environment be-tween the police and masses, Khattakalso hinted at introducing a commu-nity policing system in the province.

He claimed that PTI will lead anexemplary government in KP withprovision of indiscriminate justice toall segments of society.

He went on to say that the bu-reaucracy will be controlled for com-plete eradication of corruption fromgovernment departments, adding thatsignificant increases will be made insalaries of government employees in

the province. He dispelled the impression that

JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman will forma coalition government in KP, addingthat PTI’s coalition partners will foilany attempt of horse-trading since themasses had given a verdict in thefavour of PTI.

Talking on the power sharing for-mula among coalition partners, thechief minister-designate said PTI wasnot concerned with grabbing highprofile portfolios but focused insteadon serving the masses.

No enmity with Taliban,says KP CM-designate

alleged gaNgleader iNvolvediN ali gilaNi’skidNappiNgarrested

Peshawar

agENcy

The security forces operation for the recovery offormer prime-minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's son,Ali Haider Gilani, is continuing as on Thursdaythe police arrested the head of the suspectedgroup, which might have kidnapped Ali HaiderGilani from Multan.According to sources, the arrested accused hasbeen identified as Wazir Gul who is the brother ofMullah arrested by police earlier from Marhatiarea of Akora Khattak in Nowshera. Police saythat Wazir Gul is running an interprovincial gangof kidnappers and police is investigating him tofind a clue to Gilani's son.On Thursday, a rescue operation was conducted torecover a person believed to be Gilani in a com-pound in Nowshera, but the person recovered wasan individual named Abdul Wahab, who said thatGilani was kept with him in the compound alongwith five other kidnapped persons.The police have extended the hunt for Gilani tothe subarban areas of Nowshera and the adjoiningCharsadda distric after the arrest of Wazir Gulfrom Charsadda road in Nowshera.

Nawaz urges NatioN,political partiesto joiN haNds forcouNtry’s progress

LahOre: PML-N President Nawaz

Sharif has urged the nation and all

political parties to join hands for the

development and progress of the

country. Talking to reporters on Friday‚

Nawaz said steering the country out of

crises and ensuring sustainable socio-

economic development would be the

PML-N government’s top priority. He

said his party had finalised priorities

and expressed confidence that it would

produce positive results within 100

days of coming to power. Earlier, the

PML-N leaders, Nawaz and Shahbaz

Sharif offered prayers to thank the

Almighty for the party’s victory in the

May 13 general elections. ONLINE

zehri NomiNatedas pml-NparliameNtaryleader iNBalochistaN QUetta: Pakistan Muslim League-

Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday nominated

Nawab Sanaullah Zehri as the

parliamentary leader in the Balochistan

Assembly. According to details, former

Balochistan chief minister Jan

Muhammad Jamali presented the name

of Nawab Zehri as parliamentary leader

during a meeting of senior PML-N

leadership. Zehri was nominated as

parliamentary leader by a majority of

PML-N members. A total of 10

members participated in the meeting.

However, an influential MPA from

Balochistan’s troubled district of Kohlu,

Nawabzada Jangaiz Marri, abstained

from the meeting.

Former chief minister and newly

elected MPA Sardar Saleh Bhootani and

other members of the PML-N

participated in the meeting. The PML-N

now enjoys the support of 18 members

in the house of 65. The Pakistan Muslim

League-Quaid (PML-Q) and three

independents have already backed the

future ruling party in the province for

the formation of a coalition provincial

government. Staff REPORt

MaLaKaND: residents

look at the damage

following a bombing at

a mosque on Friday. INP

Pervez KhattaK

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 2

News N

03

saturday, 18 May, 2013

KaraChI/IsLaMaBaD

Staff REPORt

ANGERED by the ElectionCommission of Pakistan’s re-fusal on Friday to hold re-elec-tions in the entire NA-250

constituency of Karachi, the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) announced that itwill boycott the re-polling on 43 polling sta-tions scheduled for May 19 (tomorrow). Ad-dressing a press conference, MQM leaderRaza Haroon said that after the ECP rejectedthe MQM’s request to hold re-elections in theentire NA-250 constituency instead of 43 se-lected polling stations, the party was withinits rights to boycott the elections.

“MQM reject’s the ECP’s decision toconduct re-polls in only 43 polling stations,”Haroon said, adding that the party will beraising the matter in every competent forum.

Raza Haroon added that the matter wasabout the public’s right to vote and re-enforc-ing the faith in voting. “The ECP should have

looked at the larger interest of the people.”“This was a golden opportunity for the

ECP to demonstrate to the people thatwhile they could not conduct flawless elec-tions everywhere, they could have con-ducted exemplary elections in NA-250,”the MQM leader said. Earlier on Friday, theECP had rejected the Muttahida QaumiMovement’s (MQM) request to conduct re-

polling in the entire constituency of NA-250Karachi. After the hearing in Islamabad, theECP issued directives to the Sindh chief sec-retary and IGP to ensure proper security onthe day of election for 43 selected polling sta-tions of the constituency.

The commission also directed the de-ployment of army personnel inside pollingbooths. Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

(PTI), MQM and other parties appeared be-fore the commission and presented theirpoints of view on the issue.

The case was heard by Chief ElectionCommissioner Justice (r) Fakhruddin GEbrahim. Commission members, includingSindh Justice (r) Muhammad Roshan, PunjabJustice (r) Riaz Kiyani and memberBalochistan Justice (r) Fazalur Rehman were

also present. Talking to reporters later, MQMleader Farooq Sattar said the decision to holdre-polling at 43 polling stations would be un-just. “We demand re-election in the entireNA-250 constituency, not just selectedpolling stations.” He said the turnout in restof the polling stations in NA-250 was around30 percent, which was very low.

According to Sattar, the remaining 142polling stations of NA-250 experienced thesame disorganisation and chaos the 43 se-lected stations faced. “Ballot boxes did notreach on time and in some cases, theynever reached at all,” he said, adding that“It’s not about us, it’s about the disenfran-chisement of voters.”PTI DEMANDS: Meanwhile the PTI’s ArifAlvi asked for re-polling across Karachi.

According to Alvi, polling conducted inthe city of Karachi was not free and fair andreferred to video evidence of rigging aired onvarious television channels.

“Our stance is that free and fair electionsare key to the success of Pakistan,” he said.PTI ENDS SIT-IN: Meanwhile, soon afterthe MQM’s announcement of boycotting re-polling in NA-250 constituency, PTI support-ers who had been staging a sit-indemonstration at Karachi’s Teen TalwaarChowk against alleged rigging in the con-stituency ended their protest.

mQm boycotts Na-250 re-polling, pti rejoicesECP DENIES MQM’SPLEA FOR RE-POLLINGIN ENTIRE NA-250CONSTITUENCY

LahOre

Staff REPORt

The National People’s Party on Fridayannounced its merger with the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) whilerecently elected independent candidatesfrom Dera Ghazi Khan, Awais Leghariand Jamal Leghari announced joiningthe PML-N in a meeting with primeminister-in waiting Nawaz Sharif.

Addressing a news conferencealong with PML-N leader ShahbazSharif‚ National People’s Party Presi-dent Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi announcedthat his party was merging with thePML-N.

Expressing complete confidence inthe leadership of Nawaz Sharif, Jatoihoped that the PML-N would focus onthe revival of national institutions de-stroyed by the previous government.

Shahbaz vowed to focus on accel-erating development projects‚ over-coming energy crisis and creating jobopportunities.

Separately, the sons of former pres-ident Farooq Leghari, Awais Leghariand Jamal Leghari along with three in-

dependent candidates from Dera GhaziKhan met the PML-N leader NawazSharif at Raiwind. At the occasion, the

Legharis expressed confidence in thePML-N leadership and announced tojoin the biggest party of the country. It

merits mentioning here that theLegharis are old-time rivals of theKhosas of DG Khan.

Jatoi merges NPP with PML-N,Legharis also join Nawaz

ecp turNs dowNimraN’s pleafor vote recouNtiN Na-122

IsLaMaBaD

Staff REPORt

An appeal made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for vote re-count inNA-122 constituency of Lahore has been rejectedby the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).The returning officer on Friday rejected Imran’splea on the basis that there was not enough evi-dence to support his claim. The PTI chief secured84,417 votes but lost NA-122 Lahore-5 seat to thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candi-date Sardar Ayaz Sadiq who had a total of 93,362votes. PTI supporters have been staging a sit-in inLahore against “rigging” in the May 11 generalelections. The sit-in is organised at Lalik Chowk,Defence where dozens of party workers and sup-porters have camped out calling for re-election inNA-122 to NA-125 constituencies.

imraN urges uk toact agaiNst altaf

LahOre

NNI

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman ImranKhan on Friday urged the British governmentto take notice of Muttahida Qaumi MovementChairman’s Altaf Hussain inflammatoryspeeches. Talking to British High Commis-sioner Adam Thomson, who telephoned thePTI chief to enquire about his health, Imransaid Altaf, being a British citizen, had vio-lated British laws by issuing controversialstatements. He said the British governmentshould take action against him per the Britishlaw, adding that the UK government shouldalso issue a warning to the MQM chief. TheLondon Metropolitan Police have alreadystarted an investigation against Hussain afterreceiving complaints by hundreds of Britishand Pakistani citizens.

IsLaMaBaD

aNwER abbaS

The civil society on Friday called uponstate authorities and political parties to haltharassment, intimidation, persecution, andprosecution of the Free and Fair ElectionNetwork (FAFEN) and its officials formaking significant contributions to thetransparency of the 2013 general elections.

Addressing a press conference at theNational Press Club, a FAFEN official,Malik Sarwar Bari, flanked by civil soci-ety activist Marvi Sarmad, informed re-porters that the network had not filed anywritten apology to the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP), and urged the ECPverify the votes cast through thumb im-pressions, as well as demanded it uploadforms 14, 15 and 16 on the its website tomaintain its creditability. To a question,Bari said the ECP had not directly threat-ened FAFEN, adding that it only rejectedFAFEN’s report not its demands.

The FAFEN official demanded aforensic investigation of the rigging andasked that votes cast in controversial con-stituencies be verified though the National

Database and Registration Authority(NADRA) by seeking counter files. “Notonly FAFEN, but all major political partieshave expressed their concerns on the re-cent polls,” Bari said. Quoting a few ex-amples, the FAFEN official said PML-N’sNisar Ali Khan lost a seat after recount,“so what does it mean?... either the firstcounting was correct or the second one?And what was punishment for the personresponsible for the wrong facts?”

With regards to Ishaq Khakwani’s ap-plication for recounting, he said the return-ing officer was not permitting it.

Bari also said the FAFEN head, Mu-dasir Rizvi, was directly threatened byPML-N MNA Ayaz Sadiq, because Rizvihad demanded the Cyber Crimes Depart-ment probe the case and bring those re-sponsible to the court. He said Rizvi hadbeen reportedly implicated in 16 casesunder Section 505 (b) of the PPC with asmany FIRs registered against him. He saidRizvi was also being threatened by someMNAs. Bari also urged the ECP to releaseofficial documents from all 69,801 pollingstations and all constituencies’ returningofficers nationwide.

FAFEN demands ECP verify thumb impressions on votes

Cases filed against fafen formisreporting poll resultsPunjab police are reported to have registered at least 16 cases against

the Fair and Free Election Network (FAFEN), a polling observer

organisation, for allegedly misreporting results of some polling stations in

the province and releasing them to the media. Deputy IG (operations)

Jawad Ahmad Dogar told reporters that up to 10 FIRs had been lodged in

as many city police stations on the instructions of district returning

officers who stated that the results of some polling stations had been

misreported by FAFEN which claimed that the number of votes cast had

exceeded the total number of votes. However, FAFEN’s Chief Executive

Officer Mudassir Rizvi said the organisation had already withdrawn its list

of ‘controversial’ results of 40 polling stations across the country,

including 22 in Punjab. Over 40,000 FAFEN observers were engaged in

the exercise. He said the cases were registered against the organisation

after it had pressed the ECP for placing statements of count by presiding

officers on its website for the purpose of correction before announcing

the results. Mr Rizvi said that according to his information police had so

far nominated him in 16 cases registered in Lahore and Rahim Yar Khan,

adding that he did not know if cases had also been registered in other

cities. He said section 505 (B) (statements conducing to public mischief)

of the PPC had been invoked in the FIR. mONItORINg dESk

LahOre: Shahbaz Sharif briefs reporters

about the merger of Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi’s

National People’s Party with the Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz on Friday. NNI

KaraChI: Muttahida Qaumi

Movement leader raza haroon

announces the party’s decision

to boycott re-polling in 43

polling stations of Na-250

constituency during a press

conference on Friday. Staff PhOtO

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 3

NewsN

04

saturday, 18 May, 2013

pm orders releaseof 51 indianfishermen asgoodwill gesture ISLaMaBaD: Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan

Khoso has decided to release 51 Indian

fishermen on humanitarian grounds as a

gesture of goodwill. These prisoners have

already served their sentences. The prime

minister directed the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs to initiate dialogue with India for the

release of Pakistani prisoners and return of

other Indian prisoners. The decision was

taken at a high-level meeting attended by

Minister for Law Ahmer Bilal Sufi, Sindh Chief

Minister Zahid Qurban Alvi and senior officials

of the ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs,

Law and Justice and the PM’s Secretariat, a

press release issued by PM’s house said on

Friday. It said the prime minister expressed

hope that the Indian government will

reciprocate the gesture and release Pakistani

prisoners incarcerated in Indian jails. Khoso

was informed that currently 482 Indian

prisoners were held in Pakistani jails whereas

496 Pakistanis were in Indian jails. He was

informed that the government of Pakistan

was awaiting the confirmation of national

status of other Indian prisoners. Staff REPORt

lhc issues notice topml-N officials overdisplay of tigerLahOre: The Green Bench of the Lahore

High Court (LHC) on Friday issued notices to

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and

officials of Wildlife and Environment

department for public display of endangered

white tigers. The PML-N had emerged

victorious in the historic May 11 polls and is

set to form governments in centre, Punjab

and Balochistan. Public display of tigers was

a regular feature in the election rallies of the

PML-N which had contested polls with ‘tiger’

as its symbol. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah

heard the petition filed by animal rights’

activist Faryal Ali Gohar supported by World

Wildlife Fund (WWF) asking the court to take

notice of the issue. The bench after

preliminary hearing, issued notices to

Secretary Environment, Secretary Wildlife,

Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim

League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Ministry of

Climate Change. The court sought a detailed

response on the number of licenses that

have been issued in the past five years for

the import of endangered wildlife animals.

Moreover, the respondents were also asked

to provide information on the capacity in

which the endangered animals were publicly

displayed. The case was subsequently

adjourned till June 21st. mONItORINg dESk

pti’s ishaqkhakwani losesafter re-countveharI: Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

(PTI) leader Ishaq Khan Khakwani lost to a

PML-N candidate after re-count on National

Assembly seat. Khankwani contested

elections on PTI ticket from Vehari, NA-168.

Speaking to media persons, Khaqwani

expressed lack of trust over performance of

the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He said that he had got 55, 000 votes, but

returning officers did not cooperate and

refused to show votes. ONLINE

Naveed chaudhry’smother-in-lawpasses awayLahOre: The mother-in-law of Naveed

Chaudhry, Coordinator to President Asif

Zardari passed away on Friday after a brief

illness. She was 80. She left behind two

sons and four daughters. Her funeral

prayers will be offered today (Saturday) at

Eidgah Bahawalpur Road near Mozang

Chungi at 10:30 am. aPP

IsLaMaBaD

tayyab huSSaIN

wITH the newly-elected governmentof Pakistan MuslimL e a g u e - N a w a z

(PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif setto take over the reins in arounda fortnight’s time, the caretakerregime is hectically involved innursing the bleeding economy tofacilitate the process of budgetmaking - the biggest challengeawaiting the prime minister-inwaiting. A well-placed source inthe Ministry of Finance toldPakistan Today that Adviser toPM on Finance Dr ShahidAmjad Chaudhry was spear-heading a drive to streamline theeconomic matters so as the nextgovernment could be facilitatedin the budget-making process.

“Though the caretaker primeminister and his team are set toleave in about two weeks, butlike true patriots, they are in-

volved in hectic efforts to pre-pare ground for the newly-elected government in managingthe budget-making process. Inthis regard, some drastic stepshave already been taken whilesome proposals have also beenlaid down,” the source added.LoAN rEPAyMENT To IMF& NEw LoANS: “The adviseron finance has also been involvedin ensuring front-loading of theloan payment so as the new gov-ernment could also negotiate fornew loan on low mark-up and oneasy instalments,” the source said.The source said that the adviserhad already paid a visit to the USrecently where he had gone to at-tend the annual meeting of the In-ternational Monetary Fund.Besides, the adviser also heldtalks with the IMF on the side-lines of the moot, seeking someconcessions for Pakistan in loanrepayment. He also held meetingswith heads of international finan-cial institutions and delegations.

“The initiative aims at facilitatingthe new government in loan re-payment and holding negotiationsfor new loans on low markup aswas done by the Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party government in year2008. This would greatly helpbuild the economic strength”. STrEAMLININg SubSI-DIES IN ENErgy SEcTor:The source said that the financeadviser was also involved instreamlining the finances relatedto energy sector, adding thatsubsidies for energy sector werebeing streamlined and ratherthan blanket subsidies, targetedsubsidies were being proposed.“One of the proposals beingmade is that the provincial gov-ernments should generate theirown electricity. Moreover,measures are also being adoptedto plug the line losses and otherleakages in the power sector tosave energy,” the source added.TAxES: The adviser has alsodirected the revenue department

to take drastic steps that guaran-tee an increase in revenue col-lection. “The ministry has takensome new measures to expandthe tax net. We hope that thiswould greatly help the new gov-ernment,” the source added.LowErINg FIScALDEFIcIT: The source said thatthe focus of the adviser on financewas making hectic efforts to bringdown the fiscal deficit to five or5.5 percent that would greatlyhelp the new government. More-over, Prime Minister Mir HazarKhan Khoso had already launchedan austerity campaign to save en-ergy by banning the use of air con-ditioners in offices and officialresidences of the bureaucracy.NEgoTIATIoNS wITH IMFFormer finance minister DrSalman Shah opined that nego-tiations with the IMF were ofparamount significance keepingin view the economic mess andtransparent measures may nothelp to a great extent. “Foreign

funding is a must for the newgovernment so they would haveto go to the IMF,” Shah said.

He said the paralysed econ-omy needed immediate attentionby the new prime minister and thenew government would have toplug loopholes in tax collectionsystem and exemptions wouldhave to be removed forthwith. “Ithink the government would haveto improve the tax collection sys-tem and taxation should be mademandatory across-the-board,” hesaid, adding that transparency infinancial matters was mandatory.“I think IMF should be the imme-diate stopover for the new govern-ment and the new PM would alsohave to initiate dialogue seekingsome review in balance of pay-ments. If new loans are not re-ceived and instalments are notpaid on a regular basis, the newgovernment may face a financialcrisis as the foreign exchange re-serves are not for more than fourmonths,” he added.

IsLaMaBaD

agENcIES

As temperatures increase announcing thearrival of summer, electricity shortfall inthe country increased to 5,000 MW on Fri-day when the total power generation wasrecorded at 9,750 MW against a demandof 14,008 MW during the last 24 hours.

The country was hit by a severe en-ergy crisis on Friday, as electricity short-age swelled to a higher rate.The nationwide electricity shortfallswelled beyond 60 percent, causing be-tween 10 to 12 hours of load shedding in

urban areas and between 14 to 20 hoursof power outage in rural areas.The current gas crisis coupled with severefuel shortage had already robbed the sec-tor of more than 4,000 MW. Meanwhile,a heat wave will engulf most parts of thecountry from next week including plainregions of Punjab, Balochistan and Sindhhinting towards a worsening load shed-ding situation with energy demands ris-ing. An official of Meteorologicaldepartment said on Friday that the currenttemperature fell under normal category asthe mercury raised three degrees abovethe average temperature for summer.

“When the temperature increases five ormore degrees from the normal range it isconsidered to be hit by a heat wave and fromnext week it is expected that the mercurywould cross the normal limit,” he added. Thewave, the official said, would affect plainareas of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan andpeople would have to face severe hotweather in these areas. During the next 24hours, hot and dry weather is expected overmost parts of the country. Seasonal low hasencompassed Balochistan and adjoiningareas as a continental air prevails over mostparts of the country. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP), Sindh and Balochistan, hot and dry

weather is expected mainly over most partsduring the next 24 hours. While in Kashmirand Gilgit, dry weather is expected in mostparts during the next 24 hours. The highesttemperatures recorded during the last 24hours were Larkana at 48° Celsius, ShaheedBenazirabad, Turbat and Jaccobabad at 47°Celsius and Rohri, Padidan, Dadu, Sukkar,Moenjodaro and RY Khan at 46° Celsius. InIslamabad the recorded mercury level was36° Celcius, Lahore 41° Celsius, Karachi 36°Celsius, Peshawar 40° Celsius, Quetta 34°Celsius, Murree 26° Celsius, Muzaffarabad38° Celsius, Gilgit 35° Celsius, Faisalabad40° Celsius and Multan 42° Celsius.

New DeLhI

INP

Ahead of its President HamidKarzai’s visit next week, theAfghan has asked India to supplylethal defence hardware as part ofan intensified bilateral coopera-tion and even seemed to indicatethat it would welcome troop de-ployment on its soil.

Afghan President HamidKarzai will be arriving in NewDelhi on Monday for a three-dayvisit, his second in six months, butat a crucial juncture with only ayear left for the foreign troopspullout from Afghanistan.

Vigorously batting for astepped-up Indian role, Afghan

Ambassador to India Shaida Mo-hammad Abdali said, “Investmentin the security of Afghanistan is inIndia’s interest.” He noted thatwhile India had been trainingAfghan security personnel, it wasnot adequate to address the issuesof a difficult security situation.

“Given the time, we are re-quired to sit down and discuss thecontours of our defence coopera-tion to ensure predictability,” hesaid, adding that current level ofcooperation was hardly enough to“take preventive and pre-emptiveaction” against common threats.

India has so far been trainingAfghan security personnel only inIndian institutions. It has also sup-plied limited number of non-lethal

equipment like jeeps and trucksand plans to hand over transporthelicopters. “So, we would like tohave both lethal and non-lethal as-sistance to our forces inAfghanistan,” he said.

Better engagement in defencecooperation is likely to be a majortopic of discussion during Karzai’svisit, which will also see him trav-elling to Jalandhar to receive a doc-torate from a university. Abdali saidPakistan had to realise that Indiawas building institutions inAfghanistan, which would ensurethat terrorism wouldn’t come backand affect the war-torn country evenmore. He said India’s cooperation inAfghanistan would ultimately servePakistan’s national interests too.

IsLaMaBaD

kaShIf abbaSI

Owing to mismanagement andan ambiguous policy of the In-terior Ministry, weapon licenceseekers and those wanting torenew their licences are facingmultiple problems, PakistanToday has learnt.

There is no clear policy ofthe ministry and NADRA re-garding renewal of licenceswhile on the other hand someofficials are also involved infake license revalidation. OnWednesday night, Federal In-vestigations Agency (FIA) ar-rested two senior officers ofNADRA from its headquar-ters for their alleged involve-ment in a fake licence scam.

“I visited a NADRA officein Lahore for renewal of mypistol’s license, but I was toldthat licences’ renewal isbanned. Then, I moved to Is-lamabad but here too I ambeing asked to visit after June30,” said Ali Arshad, whiletalking to Pakistan Today at anoutlet of NADRA in JinnahSuper Market. When PakistanToday inquired about the pol-icy of Interior Ministry fromthe NADRA officer dealingwith revalidation of licences atthe said outlet, he said that thedirector general concerned ver-bally informed him that there isa ban on renewal of licences till

June 30. “I’m doing what I wastold to do. I was asked only torevalidate old licences. When-ever I am asked to renew li-censes I will happily oblige,”he said. Responding to a query,he said, under the policy, all ex-pired licences till June 30would be treated as valid.

On the other hand, a numberof people, who wanted to gettheir licenses renewed, ex-pressed dissatisfaction over theambiguous policy. “I have noidea what type of policies theyare adopting. Despite having agenuine license, we are facingproblems,” said Liaqat Naz, whovisited the said outlet for renewalof a 12-bore gun license.

Another applicant seekinga licence renewal said, “WhenNADRA officials are unawareabout the notification of theministry, how could we con-vince police officials deputedat spot checking that we areallowed to carry weapons.”

Meanwhile, NADRAChairman Tariq Malik said thereis no ban on renewal of licenses.He said the G-10 NADRA officeis supposed to renew licenses.“Due to some reasons, we haveslowed down the renewalprocess. But, it doesn’t mean weare not renewing licenses. OurG-10 office is dealing with thematter. If anyone wants to get hislicence renewed, he may visitthat office,” Malik said.

washINGTON

INP

As Nawaz Sharif prepares to form hisgovernment, the US has said that it isup to the leaders of India and Pak-istan to work on their relationship.

“In terms of the scope and howa developing relationship with Pak-istan and India would take place, itwould be up to those two parties towork out amongst themselves,”

State Department spokesperson JenPsaki told reporters. Meanwhile,Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff General Martin Dempseypraised the role of the Pakistan’smilitary and Army Chief GeneralAshfaq Pervez Kayani in the re-cently concluded general electionsin the country. “I give a lot of creditto General Kayani and the Pakistanimilitary for their behavior during theelection,” Dempsey said.

zardari will be in lahore on sunday

MONITOrING DesK

President Asif Zardari is arriv-ing in Lahore on Sunday (to-morrow) on a one-day visit, aprivate TV channel reported.

The channel said thatZardari will hold meetingswith leaders of his PakistanPeople’s Party to assess thereasons behind the party’s dis-mal performance in Punjab inthe recent general election.

caretakers nursing bleeding economyto help Nawaz manage budget

Karzai seeks lethal weapons from india,wouldn’t mind troop presence on afghan soil

weapons’ licenserenewal a headache!

us won’t interfere inindo-pak relations

electricity shortfall rises as heat wave engulfs the country

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 4

It is impossible to practice parliamentary

politics without having patience, decency,

politeness and courtesy. –Khaleda Zia

LahOre

umaIR aZIZ

wITH two morechildren falling victimto measles on Fridaythe death toll hascrossed 50 in the

metropolitan while the figures cross 80across the province due to the deadlyepidemic, Pakistan Today has learnt.

What has now become a test of the nervesfor the health officials, the epidemic has beenseverest since the outbreak of dengue in theprevious years. To their credit the healthofficials have successfully broken the cycle ofthe dengue epidemic for the current year atleast, while to everyone’s concern the measlesdeaths keep coming despite comprehensivemeasures taken by the authorities.

The Health Department carried out animmunisation campaign in the metropolitanin the first week of May spending millionsof rupees and utilising thousands of itstrained human resource. Around Rs 1.5billion were spent on the exercise in which

1125 teams, each consisting of injectors,social mobilisers and assistants participated.Logistics including vaccine, syringes andsafety boxes were also arranged while 850injectors were provided by teachinghospitals to address staff shortage.

According to the 1998 census, theprojected population of Punjab in 2013 is 9million and children from 6 months tobelow 10 years of age are estimated to beabout 2.65 million. The city is divided into10 towns and 150 union councils. Thecampaign was designed to bring the effect

of immunization to the grass root byassigning them various UCs, which werealso being supervised by the union councilmedical officers. Besides, these teams alsovisited the public sector schools, while thedirections were issued to private schools toensure vaccination.

However, despite such acomprehensive plan carried out only a fewweeks ago, the number of deaths is on therise, while the total number of measlescases has crossed 12,000 in the provinceand still increasing.

A senior health expert who managedthe campaign told the scribe on thecondition of anonymity that the surveyconducted on the efficacy of the measlescampaign reports that 41 percent of parentsdid not know about the campaign, while 26percent children were not at school or homeat the day of vaccination.

The official said all steps are takenwhen the misfortune is at the door step andhas done the ill. “Just like the authoritiesdid not pay any heed to recommendationsto preempt the outbreak of dengue, they

treated measles the same way; the planswere formulated and steps taken when toomuch water had already passed under thebridge,” the official added.

To a question on the campaign, he saida comprehensive training program shouldbe formulated for technical, non-technicalstaff of teams and supervisors should beplanned, while the maps should also berevised for the measles campaign.

While the official reports estimatearound 98 percent of targeted childrencovered during the epidemic, the number ofcases appearing in the hospitals on a daily

basis belies the official claim.Health Department’s senior officials

say that the deaths occur only among thosechildren who are brought to a health facilityreally late.

Health Minister Saleema Hashmihowever said the department is facing somany challenges at the same time andmeasles was just one of their top priorities.“There must be lags in the implementationbecause the challenge is so big; but thegovernment is doing a lot to mitigate thecrisis,” she added.

Low

high

SUndAy MondAy tUeSdAy43°C I 25°C 44°C I 25°C 44°C I 25°C

PRayER tImINgS

SUnny

WeAther UpdAteS

410C

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

3:33 5:06 11:59 3:39 6:52 8:25

230C

Lahoresaturday, 18 May, 2013

L05

goverNmeNt sweats asmeasles calls the shotsMEASLES AFFECTS 12,000IN PROVINCE, KILLS 50ONLY IN CITY

HEALTH DEPARTMENT’SIMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGNFAILS TO COUNTER MEASLES

41% OF PARENTS UNAWARE OFCAMPAIGN, 26% CHILDREN UNAVAILABLEFOR VACCINATION: REPORT

offiCialHEALTH DEPARTMENT

Just like the authorities did not

pay any heed to

recommendations to preempt

the outbreak of dengue, they

treated measles the same way;

the plans were formulated and

steps taken when too much

water had already passed

under the bridge.

LahOre

umaIR aZ IZ

No new film, Indian or Hollywood, is beinggiven the censor clearance due to the absenceof the chairman in the Film Censor Board,Pakistan Today has learnt. The situation isnot only irking the cinema goers but is alsoproving to be a financial blow for thestakeholders involved.

The cinema-going culture was recentlyrevived after the screening of foreign filmswas allowed. This also resulted in opening upof new cinemas in all big cities across thecountry reversing the previous trend ofconverting movie-houses into commercialplazas. However, the chairman’s absence hasturned out to be another blow to the recentlyreviving industry.

The board previously operated under theMinistry of National Regulations andServices headed by Firdous Ashiq Awan,while currently these powers have beenshifted to the Cabinet Division which has thepower to appoint the board’s chairman.

Sources said the Cabinet Division

proposed Masoud Ali Khan’s name for thechairman’s seat and a summary was sent inthis regard to the prime minister. However,the division has not received a reply yet.

The four movies which are currentlywaiting in the queue for the censor certificateis Iron Man 3, Go Goa Gone, Aurangzeb andThe Great Gatsby, which are not probablygoing to be screened anytime soon. Just thesefour films if not screened will cause a loss ofUS$ 400,000.

Ahsan Ali, a banker said, “Thegovernment should take this seriously;culture is an important part of our lives. Thecinema-going culture had just revived andnow the government cannot appoint thechairman, which is just signing a singledocument.”

Saad Baig MD of a distribution firmFootprint distributing Iron Man 3 said this isthe first time such a situation has beencreated, because normally in such situationsthere is always a vice chairman who acts asthe chairman and the routine businesscontinues while this time around there is noacting chairman.

No CLearaNCe for foreigN fiLMsCENSOR BOARD CONTINUES TO AWAIT ITS CHAIRMAN’SAPPOINTMENT

COMPANIES TO INCUR $400,000 LOSS IFIRON MAN 3, GO GOA GONE, AURANGZEB,THE GREAT GATSBY NOT RELEASED

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 5

L

06

saturday, 18 May, 2013Lahore

CIne StAr AAShIqUI 2 02:30pM

ph: 35157462 ChAMbeLI 05:00AM

AAShIqUI 2 07:45pM

ChAMbeLI 10:30pM

SoZo WorLd AAShIqUI 2 12:00, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00 & 10:45pM

ph: 36674271

SoZo GoLd ChAMbeLI 12:00, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00 & 10:45pM

ph: 111-999-977 AAShIqUI 2 05:30pM

pAF AAShIqUI 2 03:00, 08:30, 11:30pM

ph: 36688880 ChAMbeLI 05:30pM

audI-1SUper CIneMA AAShIqUI 2 06:00pM

At royAL pALM AAShIqUI 2 8:30pM

ph: 111-602-602, ek thI dAAyAn 11:00pM

36118679

audI-2AAShIqUI 2 04:00pM

the CroodS (3d) 06:30pM

ChAMbeLI 08:15pM

obLIvIon 10:45pM

audI-3the CroodS (3d) 04:30pM

ChAMbeLI 06:15 pM

obLIvIon 08:45pM

AAShIqUI 2 11:00pM

If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news

or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand

that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly. –Thomas Sowell

LahOre

Staff REPORt

After spending barely two years in office,Lahore University of Management Sciences(LUMS) Vice Chancellor Dr Adil Najamhas announced his decision to step downin an official email to the student body.According to details, the surprisingdecision was made public through anupdate on the university’s officialwebsite on Thursday. The website alsocarries brief details of the decisionalong with the content of the e-mail. DrNajam said he would be stepping down from his post atthe end of the academic year, on June 30. Explaining his suddendecision, Dr Najam simply said it was “time to move on.” Having joined as vice chancellor in2011, he said he missed the opportunity to give more time to teaching and research –both of which he defined as his first love. The e-mail also mentioned his desire todedicate more time to his family. Describing it as ‘not an easy decision to make’, the500-word emotional mail thanked the LUMS community for their support andencouragement. He went on to say that the experience was one of the most “rewardingand meaningful” for him. Dr Najam’s tenure has seen the establishment of the fourthschool, School of Law in addition to the three schools at LUMS, that of business,humanities and social sciences and sciences and engineering. Despite his resignation, hewill lead the LUMS 2013 convocation, scheduled for June 22, as the university’s vicechancellor. Pro-chancellor of LUMS Syed Babar Ali commended the efforts by DrNajam during his tenure at LUMS.

estaBlishmeNtwoN, people lostelectioNs: ji chiefLahOre: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer

Syed Munawar Hasan has termed the

elections a contest between the people and

the establishment which the later had won.

He dissuaded the masses from hoping for

a change. Addressing the Friday

congregation at Mansoora, he said the

newly-elected government should work out

a way to end bloodshed in the name of war

on terror. Munawwar claimed that the

establishment had ‘facilitated’ MQM for an

electoral victory and the elections in

Karachi and Hyderabad had not been fair.

He alleged that polling stations were

captured by force and the polling material

including ballot papers were seized. Polling

could not be started till mid day but

despite that, at the end of the day, as

much as two lakh ballot papers were

recovered from the ballot papers. He

pointed out that the Supreme Court’s

orders for verification of electoral lists

under the army’s supervision and fresh

delimitation of the constituencies had not

been implemented and the people of

Karachi were facing its fall out. INP

LahOre

aPP

THE Lahore High Court(LHC) on Fridayissued notices toPunjab chief secretary,Lahore Development

Authority (LDA) director general,City District Government Lahore(CDGL) administrator and others forJuly 5 on a petition seeking actionagainst LDA officials for loss of

lives in LDA plaza blaze.Petitioner’s counsel

Noshab A Khan submittedthat the LDA constructed theplaza almost 35 yearsago in violation ofbuilding rules. Hesaid it was alarmingto mention that fireor smokedetectors and firehydrants were notinstalled in the building

and it did not have fire exits.The petitioner also pointed

out that helicopters facedproblems in rescuing the

people from therooftop due toinstallation of towers

on the buildingrooftop. He

mentioned thatRescue 1122 was

informed almost40 minutes after the fire

erupted and it did not haveappropriate ladders which made itimpossible to rescue those trappedon the 9th floor or on the rooftop.

The petitioner said the fire hadburnt important data of various landgrabbing cases which might benefitcertain individuals or groups. Heprayed the court to issue directionsfor initiation of criminal proceedingsagainst the present and formerdirector general of the LDA for theloss of lives and billions of rupees.

LahOre

NNI

Awami National Party(ANP) leader GhulamAhmed Bilour onFriday visited PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)chief Imran Khan atthe Shaukat KhanumHospital and inquiredabout his health.

Bilour, who was Khan’srival candidate in National

Assembly constituency NA-1in Peshawar, congratulated

Khan on his victory in theelections.

Khan was admittedat the ShaukatKhanum Hospital onMay 7 after hesuffered head andback injuries when he

fell from a forklift thatwas carrying him up to

the dais to address a publicmeeting in Gulberg.

Bilour visits imran

LUMS VC decides to step down

pti-loversjust woN’t goBack home

LahOre

Staff REPORt

The sit-in protest by thesupporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the allegedrigging in NA-125 entered itssixth day on Friday.The PTI supporters havingcamps in the Defence are notwilling to go back home indefiance of the directives givenby their party leaders whoannounced two-hour dailyschedule for the protestdemonstration. The protesters demand theElection Commission ofPakistan (ECP) to take notice ofrigging in the general elections,saying they would continue thedemonstration until theirdemand was granted.

LHC calls high-ups to explain their position in LDA plaza blaze

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 6

07

Newssaturday, 18 May, 2013

When you are happy

you can forgive a great

deal. – Princess DianaN

BaGhDaD

agENcIES

tWO bombs near aSunni mosque north ofBaghdad have killed 48people and wounded

89, police and a doctor say,after two days of attacks tar-geting Iraqi Shia Muslims inwhich dozens died.

One bomb exploded onFriday as worshippers weredeparting the Saria mosque inthe city of Baquba while asecond went off after peoplegathered at the scene of thefirst blast, the sources said.

The violence raises thespecter of tit-for-tat killings

common during the height ofsectarian violence in Iraq thatkilled tens of thousands ofpeople, and comes at a time offestering sectarian tensionsbetween Iraq’s Sunni minorityand Shia majority.

The bombings are the lat-est in a series of attacks thathave targeted both Sunni andShia places of worship in pastweeks, and follow two days ofattacks targeting Iraqi Shia.

On Thursday, a suicidebomber killed 12 people atthe entrance of Al-ZahraaHusseiniyah, a Shia place ofworship in the city ofKirkuk, where relatives ofvictims from violence the

day before were receivingcondolences.

Car bombs also hit threeShia-majority areas of Bagh-dad on Thursday, killing 10people, while 21 people diedin a series of bombings thatmainly hit Shia areas of thecapital the day before.

Armed men also shotdead the brother of a SunniMP in Baghdad on Thursday.

Violence in Iraq has fallenfrom its peak, but attacks arestill common, killing morethan 200 people in each of thefirst four months of this year,including more than 460 inApril, according to figuresfrom the AFP news agency.

UNITeD NaTIONs

agENcIES

An international peace conference forSyria, where government and opposi-tion forces will be represented, shouldhappen as soon as possible, the UNchief Ban Ki-moon said during a visitto Russia. On Friday, Ban met withForeign Minister Sergey Lavrov inthe Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Ban’s trip and a recent visit toSochi by British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron follow Putin’s early

May talks in Moscow with US Sec-retary of State John Kerry, duringwhich the two sides agreed to set upa new round of Syria negotiationswithin a matter of weeks.

At a press conference withLavrov, Ban said: “We should notlose the momentum,” generated bythe US-Russian proposal to bring theSyrian government and oppositionrepresentatives to a peace conference.Ban said that the conference shouldbe held as soon as possible, but addedthat no date had yet been agreed.

Lavrov said: “The sooner thisconference is held, the better ... thekey thing now is who is ready to takepart on the Syrian side.” Ban is alsodue to meet Russian PresidentVladimir Putin as global pressuregrows on Moscow to end arms sup-plies to the Syrian regime and drop itssupport for President Bashar al-Assad.PEAcE coNFErENcE: Else-where, Ban used the visit to renew acall on Damascus to allow UN ex-perts in to assess claims over allegedchemical weapons use.

Lavrov called alleged chemicalweapons use “a serious problem”and supported the call for an inves-tigation. The international meeting -now expected to take place inGeneva in early June - hopes to buildon a failed June 2012 peace initiativethat called for the quick creation ofa transitional government but de-fined no clear role for Assad.wEAPoNS SuPPLy: Russia contin-ues to deliver arms to Syria - theregime’s most powerful remaining ally- but claims that it has no real interest

in seeing Assad remain in power.But many continue to express alarm

at Russia’s decision to supply Syria withvarious powerful missiles and questionhow this fits in with Russia’s commit-ment to a negotiated end to the crisis.

“I do not understand why themedia is trying to create a sensationout of this,” said Lavrov, during Fri-day’s press conference. “We havenot hidden that we supply weaponsto Syria under signed contracts,without violating any internationalagreements, or our own legislation.”

TeL aVIV

agENcIES

THE Israeli government says it is taking

steps to approve four new settler

outposts in the Occupied West Bank,

in a decision condemned by

Palestinian officials.

The announcement was made on Thursday, just

days before the US Secretary of State John

Kerry is due to meet the Israeli and Palestinian

leaders in attempt to revive peace talks.

Israel has been sending mixed signals on its

policy as Kerry pursues efforts to revive

negotiations that the Palestinians quit in 2010 in

anger over Israeli settlement building on

occupied land they seek for a state.

The announcement that the settlements would

be authorised was made in response to a

Supreme Court petition by the Israeli anti-

settlement group Peace Now.

“The intention to legalise outposts as new

settlements is no less than a slap in the face of

Secretary Kerry’s new process and is blatant

reassurance to settler interests,” Peace Now said

in a statement.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman of

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,

condemned the move.

“Israel continues to put obstacles and to

sabotage US efforts to resume negotiation,” he

said. “Our position is clear and that is all

settlement is illegal and must be stopped.”

A spokesman for Prime Minister Binyamin

Netanyahu declined to comment on the

government’s response to the Supreme Court.

‘COUNterPrODUCtIve’: In Washington, US

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said

a decision to give validity to the four outposts

would be counterproductive.

“We don’t accept the legitimacy of continued

Israeli settlement activity,” she said.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which

Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, are

considered illegal under international law.

Israel disputes this and distinguishes between

about 120 government-authorised

settlements and dozens of outposts built by

settlers without permission.

Last week, Peace Now and Israeli media reports

said Netanyahu has been curbing some

settlement activity by freezing tenders for new

housing projects, in an apparent effort to help

efforts to renew peace talks.

Peace Now said at the time construction already

under way was continuing, and Israel

announced last week that it had given

preliminary approval for 300 new homes in Beit

El settlement as part of a plan Netanyahu

announced a year ago.

Kerry, due to meet Netanyahu and Abbas

separately next week, has said he believed

“the parties were serious” about finding a way

back into talks.

The main issues that have to be resolved

include the borders between Israel and a

Palestinian state, the future of Israeli

settlements, the fate of Palestinian refugees

and the status of Jerusalem.

israel to approve

four west BaNksettlemeNts

turkish pmand obamadiscuss syria

washINGTON

agENcIES

US President Barack Obamaand Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan havepledged to increase pressure onSyria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Obamasaid in a news conference withErdogan at the White House onThursday that the only way toresolve Syria’s two-year crisiswas for Assad to hand overpower to a transitionalgovernment. He said Turkeywould play a critical role in thatprocess. “We’re going to keepincreasing the pressure on theAssad regime and working withthe Syrian opposition,’’ Obamasaid. “We both agree that Assadneeds to go.’’ The leaders saidthat they had made Syria top oftheir agenda, as they agreed thatthe issue of chemical weaponswas an important one andObama said that the use ofchemical arms should alwaysbe out of bounds. Obama haswarned that use of chemicalweapons by the Syrian regimewould be a “red line” thatwould require action by theinternational community.Erdogan said that there wasevidence of chemical weaponsuse in Syria but that it isimportant to get “more specificinformation” to confirm thisbefore deciding how torespond. Reviewing optionsObama said he was constantlyreviewing options over Syria, asthe US placed four Syrianministers andJabhat al-Nusra,leader of the al-Qaeda linkedrebel group Muhammad al-Jawlani, to a terrorism blacklist.Syrian Arab Airlines and theprivately held Al-DunyaTelevision were also added tothe sanctions list for helping theregime. “I preserve the optionof taking additional steps, bothdiplomatic and military,” thepresident said. Erdogan’s visitcame as the UNHCR said thatthe number of people who havefled Syria since the start of theuprising in March, 2011, hasreached 1,5 million. About400,000 refugees are registeredin Turkey. Obama said the USwould continue helping nationsin the region deal with refugees.

TehraN

agENcIES

A member of Iran’s constitu-tional watchdog group has saidwomen cannot be presidentialcandidates, effectively killingthe largely symbolic bids byabout 30 women seeking torun in the June 14 election.

The semiofficial Mehrnews agency quoted AyatollahMohammad Yazdi as sayingon Thursday that the “lawdoes not approve’’ of a womanin the presidency and a womanon the ballot is “not allowed”.The Guardian Council, whereYazdi is a member, vets allcandidates for the presidencyand parliament.

A total of 686 people haveregistered to replace PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad, whocannot run for a third mandatebecause of term limits.

The final list will be an-nounced on May 21, with onlya handful of names expectedon the ballot. Even before thecomments by Ayatollah Mo-hammad Yazdi, chances for awoman candidate in Iran’spresidential election wereconsidered nearly impossible.

Women also have regis-tered as potential candidatesin past presidential elections,but the Guardian Council ap-pears to follow interpretationsof the constitution that suggest

only a man may hold Iran’shighest elected office.coNSTITuTIoN’S worD-INg: Women are cleared to runfor Iran’s parliament and haveserved as legislators.

While women have greaterfreedom in Iran than many othercountries in the region, particu-larly Saudi Arabia and neigh-bouring Afghanistan, it is widelybelieved that the wording of theconstitution closes the door onthe presidency. It says the presi-dent will be elected from reli-gious-political men, or “rijal,’’ aplural for man in Arabic that iscommon in Farsi, too. Presumedcandidates include former Pres-ident Akbar Hashemi Rafsan-jani, who is backed bypro-reform groups, and rivalssupported by the ruling ayatol-lahs such as Saeed Jalili, the topnuclear negotiator; Moham-mad Bagher Qalibaf, Tehranmayor’s; and Ali Akbar Velay-ati, the former foreign minister.A major question is whether theGuardian Council will clearAhmadinejad’s choice, Esfan-diar Rahim Mashaei, who isalso his close aide.

Mashaei’s chances are se-verely hampered by his asso-ciation with Ahmadinejad,who has fallen out of favourwith the ruling theocracy overhis challenges to the authorityof Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,the Supreme Leader.

48 killed iN iraQ BomBiNg

iran rejects womenpresidential hopefuls

un chief in russia as syria crisis deepens

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 7

NewsNsaturday 18 May, 2013

08

IsLaMaBaD

INP

THE head of Hizbul Mujahideen has saidthat no government would be able to sur-vive in Islamabad if it abandoned the Kash-mir cause and warned the new regime not

to make the mistake of pursuing a friendship with NewDelhi at the cost of Kashmir. "No government in Pak-istan, whether it under Nawaz Sharif or anybody else,will remain in power if it abandons the Kashmircause," Syed Salahuddin, head of the United JihadCouncil and leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, told In-dian media.

Salahuddin advised the incoming government notto repeat the mistake of putting Kashmir on the backburner and try to foster friendship with New Delhithrough trade, cultural exchanges and tourism.

“Because the PML-N has won a strong mandate,we will expect them to follow Pakistan's traditionalpolicy on Kashmir, which is to resolve the issue in ac-cordance with the wishes and aspirations of the peopleof Kashmir through UN resolutions," he said.

"Nawaz Sharif and his party's leadership must un-derstand that till the time Kashmir is under India's oc-cupation, national security of Pakistan, the safety andsecurity of its borders, and its economic stability is atstake," Salahuddin said.

“Pakistan's agriculture and energy needs depend onthe waters that flow down from Kashmir,” Salahuddin

said. "So oure x p e c t a t i o n sfrom NawazSharif's gov-ernment arethat he willmake this thefirst priorityand give it cen-tral place in theIndo-Pak rela-tionship. Other-wise, it will belethal to the in-terests of Pak-istan and Kashmir.” "In the name ofconfidence-building measures, in thename of friendship, in the name of tradeand culture, moving ahead to establish arelationship with India and going for aone-sided surrender on Kashmir wouldhurt the feelings of the Kashmiri peopleand do irreparable damage to their con-fidence," Salahuddin said. "If Pakistanis not able to help us militarily, it mustcontinue to help us in diplomatic and political forums,”he added. Salahuddin challenged Pakistan to stop ad-vocating Kashmir's cause if it felt that doing so wouldharm it. "In 2001 there was a ceasefire between Indiaand Pakistan and a fence was erected across the border,

but the Mujahideen continued theiractivity. We can sustain our armedstruggle without any foreign supportfor a hundred years, the topography ofKashmir is very favourable," he said.Salahuddin said he disagreed with thebroad political consensus in Pakistanthat Kashmir was not the immediatepriority. "We disagree with that," hesaid. "We were trying to explain to

P r e s i d e n tM u s h a r r a ftoo that ifyou want totake anymeasures onthe diplo-matic or po-litical front,please dothat, but themilitant in-frastructureon theground is

your basic leverage and provides you with your bar-gaining power. If you get anything, it is only becauseof that. And when your bargaining power is gone, whatwill you go to the table with? What have the weak everachieved through negotiations?"

in the name of confidence-buildingmeasures, in the name of friendship, inthe name of trade and culture, movingahead to establish a relationship withindia and going for a one-sidedsurrender on Kashmir would hurt thefeelings of the Kashmiri people and doirreparable damage to their confidence.

do Not Be frieNds withiNdia, hizB warNs pml-N

MONITOrING DesK

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, calling tocongratulate Pakistan’s prime minister-electthis week on his victory in parliamentary elec-tions, said he hoped the new government in Is-lamabad would create a brotherly and peacefulatmosphere with Afghanistan and cooperatein efforts to destroy terrorist hideouts so both“brother nations” can be saved.

However, across Afghan society, manypeople scoffed at the notions that NawazSharif, a former two-time prime minister,might feel any goodwill toward Pakistan’s fel-low Muslim neighbour or seek to improve arelationship long dogged by mutual charges ofbad faith, political interference and militantskulduggery. In interviews in the Afghan cap-ital, political figures, experts and residents ex-pressed strong negative opinions to theWashington Post about Pakistan’s trustworthi-ness and Sharif’s political record and religiousviews, especially his support for the AfghanTaliban while he was prime minister in the late1990s and his continued tolerance of armedreligious groups in Pakistan.

“It is a mistake to test someone who hasalready been tested and failed you,” saidAtiqullah Amarkhel, a retired Afghan armygeneral. “Nawaz Sharif did his utmost to fanthe civil war in Afghanistan. He was the mainfigure behind the disintegration of our armyand then he helped the Taliban.” Sharif’sgoals, Amarkhel said, would be the same as

previous Pakistani regimes — to “keepAfghanistan unstable, weak and dependent.”

Sharif has said little about his intended ap-proach to Afghanistan, in contrast with his nu-merous assertions that he wants to mendfences with Pakistan’s other problematicneighbour, India. Some analysts here said hewill probably wait to see how events inAfghanistan play out in 2014, when nationalelections and the final pullout of NATO troopsare scheduled to take place.

Afghan analysts also noted that other ac-tors in Pakistan may have as much of a say inAfghanistan policy as Sharif, especially thepowerful military and intelligence establish-ment that dominates foreign policy and ap-pears inclined to support Islamist militantgroups as long as they focus their crusadeacross the border. Asked to comment onSharif’s election, several Afghan residents andpolitical leaders accused Pakistan’s major spyagency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, ofworking to interfere in and harm their country,and they suggested that Sharif would be eitherunwilling or unable to challenge it.

“The ISI is the biggest enemy ofAfghanistan, and they have had a key role inour deteriorating situation in recent decades,”said Mozhda Walizad, a journalism student atKabul University. “Unfortunately, the ISI hasinfluence on people, politicians and even thepress. This is why civilian governments, in-cluding Nawaz’s party, cannot do anythingagainst them.” Pakistani analyst Ahmed

Rashid, however, pointed out that Sharif’ssweeping electoral victory, combined withPakistan’s need for international economicsupport, would give him the means and themotive to help Afghanistan by putting pres-sure on the Taliban to move forward on long-stalled peace talks with the Karzaigovernment. “With the heavy mandate Sharifhas obtained and his own desire to be more in-volved with foreign policy, there will be moreinterlocutors to influence policy toward theTaliban,” Rashid said in a panel discussion or-ganized by the Afghanistan Analysts Network.“After many years, there will be civilian input

into the military’s policy toward Afghanistanand the Taliban, which is a good thing.”

One complicating factor, several Afghanexperts said, is the strong electoral showing ofSharif’s main rival, former cricket star ImranKhan, as well as the poor performance of sev-eral secular parties. Khan, a onetime liberal,reached out to Pakistani militant groups in hiscampaign, fulminated against US dronestrikes and defended the fighting inAfghanistan as a jihad. His party garneredenough votes to give it political dominance inthe volatile northwest border province of Khy-ber Pakhtunkhwa.

“President Karzai has asked Pakistan re-peatedly to cooperate in going after militantstrongholds, but both Imran and Nawaz saythey want to solve the problem through nego-tiations,” said Waheed Mojdah, an Afghan po-litical analyst. “That means letting Pakistanimilitants come into Afghanistan to support theTaliban. It means more tensions and problemsfor us.” Pakistan has long denied backing anti-Kabul militants and has accused Afghanistanof exporting its problems across the border. Inrecent weeks, several clashes have erupted be-tween Afghan security forces and Pakistanismanning border outposts, resulting in thedeath of an Afghan police officer. The vio-lence triggered protests in Afghan cities andreignited a perennial dispute over a British-drawn boundary known as the Durand Line.

Despite its cordial language, Karzai’smessage to Sharif this week focused pointedly

on the issue of Pakistan sheltering anti-Afghanmilitants in the tribal border region. He hascomplained about this covert policy to Sharif’spredecessors for a decade and has met with re-peated denials. After the recent violence, heangrily suggested that the Taliban “turn andtake aim” at the “real enemy” across the bor-der. Sharif, despite his experience on the worldstage, is also widely viewed here as a religiousfundamentalist who has coddled Islamicgroups. He was repeatedly quoted during hiscampaign as vowing to withdraw Pakistanfrom the U.S.-led war on international terror-ism. “Sharif has been extremely ambiguouson the issue of extremism,” said Imtiaz Gul,an author and director of the Center for Re-search and Security Studies in Islamabad. “Hispeople will have to come clean on what theythink are the real threats to Pakistan.”

A few Afghans said this week that theywished Sharif well and hoped his electionwould provide a fresh start for bilateral rela-tions. Pakistani leaders often point out thatboth countries have suffered from terrorismand that establishing peace and security inAfghanistan would also benefit Pakistan. Per-haps at age 63, one man said hopefully, anolder and wiser Sharif will take those slogansseriously. “If he continues his past policies, notonly will we suffer, but they will, too,” saidObaidullah Ramin, a lawmaker and formeraide to Karzai. “He needs to learn from hispast times in power and chart an honest, sin-cere strategy with Afghanistan.”

afghans vary of Nawaz sharif

poorly-executedcyber attacks fromindia target pakistan

washINGTON

SPEcIaL cORRESPONdENt

Cyber-security researchers have discovered afamily of information-stealing malware target-ing Pakistan that originates out of India, a lead-ing portal reported on Friday. Dark Reading, acomprehensive news and information portal fo-cusing on IT security, said unlike other knowncyber-espionage campaigns, this one appearedoddly rudimentary in that it used publicly avail-able tools and basic obfuscation methods, anddidn't encrypt its command-and-control com-munications. "String obfuscation using simplerotation (a shift cipher), no cryptography usedin network communication, persistenceachieved through the startup menu and use ofexisting, publicly-available tools to gather in-formation on infected systems shows that theattackers did not go to great lengths to covertheir tracks. “On the other hand, maybe they seeno need to implement stealthier techniques be-cause the simple ways still work," wrote Jean-Ian Boutin, a malware researcher with Eset.The malware campaign is at least two years oldand is spread via phishing emails with riggedWord and PDF files, according to Eset. It stealssensitive information via keyloggers, screen-shots, and uploading stolen documents, unen-crypted. "The decision not to use encryption ispuzzling considering that adding basic encryp-tion would be easy and provide additionalstealth to the operation," Boutin says. Accord-ing to the report, the attack uses a code-signingcertificate issued in 2011 to New Delhi-basedTechnical and Commercial Consulting Pvt Ltd,and is designed to ensure the malware binariescould spread within the victim organisation.The certificate had been revoked in late March2012, but was still in use. Eset contactedVeriSign, which revoked the certificate. Esetfound more than 70 binary files signed with themalicious certificate. According to the report,among the attachments was one that appearedto be about Indian military secrets. "We do nothave precise information as to which individu-als or organisations were really, specifically tar-geted by these files but based on ourinvestigations, it is our assumption that peopleand institutions in Pakistan were targeted,"Boutin says. Nearly 80 percent of the infectionsare in Pakistan, according to Eset. One versionof the attack exploits a known and patched Mi-crosoft Office flaw, CVE-2012-0158. The mal-ware executes once the victim opens amalicious Word attachment; the other methodused in the attack uses PE files that appear to beWord or PDF attachments. The report said thatthe attackers used NirSoft's WebPassView andMail PassView tools for recovering passwordsin email clients and browser stores; the toolswere signed by the malicious certificates.

india preparing for atwo-front war: reportBeIJING: India is adjusting its military strat-

egy to include the possibility of a limited two-

front war with both Pakistan and China, the

first Blue Book on India published by a Chi-

nese think tank said. Indian military deploy-

ment is mainly fixated against Pakistan but in

recent times, it is also being adjusted for both

China and Pakistan, the summary of the Blue

Book released by the Chinese Academy of So-

cial Sciences, (CASS) said. The book in Chi-

nese language, the first ever on India, said,

New Delhi is focusing to deal with limited war

with China and Pakistan at the same time. It

spoke of large increase in troops at the bor-

ders and upgrading of border forces with new

weapons and equipment. The report spoke

about India’s maritime military deployment in

recent years, the prime cause of China’s

worry as it regards India’s fast expanding

blue water navy as a major threat. NNI

zhOB: a shutter-down

strike was observed in the

city on the call of Jamiat

Ulema-e-Islam-Nazaryati

(JUI-N) on Friday against

alleged vote rigging in

the general election. INP

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 8

News N

09

saturday 18 May, 2013

LahOre

NNI

INTERIM Federal Minister forInformation and BroadcastingArif Nizami on Friday urgedall political parties to respect

each other's mandate and avoid mak-ing general elections controversial.

Responding to a question at anews conference in Lahore ‚ the min-ister said elections were held‚ by andlarge‚ in a fair and transparent manner.

He said there have been com-plaints about irregularities in electionsand the Election Commission of Pak-istan (ECP) is taking care of them asre-polling or recounting has been or-dered in several cases. The informa-tion minister said the caretakergovernment had fulfilled its responsi-bility of holding elections in a trans-parent manner.

He said despite a host of chal-lenges including the most significantthreat of terrorism‚ elections wereheld and no major untoward incidenttook place on May 11.

He said the caretaker governmentwas able to maintain law and order onpolling day without blocking mobilephone service as was repeatedly donein the past, harming commercial inter-

ests of companies and creating prob-lems for users. Nizami said the nextstage of transfer of power would becompleted as soon as the ECP com-pletes formalities, especially officialnotification of victorious candidates.

He said the future political sce-nario was now almost clear since thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) had attained simple majorityin the National Assembly to form thegovernment at the Centre.

“The party has also achieved ma-

jority in the Punjab Assembly whilePakistan People’s Party (PPP) andMutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM)would form the government in Sindh.Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in co-operation with Jamaat-e-Islami wouldform the government in KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) while there are in-dications that PML-N would form thegovernment in Balochistan with thehelp of other parties,” said Nizami.

The federal minister said as resultof elections‚ democratic institutions

would be strengthened. He said for thefirst time a smooth democratic transi-tion was taking place in Pakistan.

Referring to the forthcoming visitof the Chinese premier to Pakistan‚ hesaid it was economically and strategi-cally a very important visit.

Nizami said the interim govern-ment instituted an endowment fund tohelp families of journalist who laiddown their lives during performanceof their professional responsibilities inconflict zones.

Nizami urges political parties torespect each other’s mandate

washINGTON

ONLINE

A senior official of the US Defense De-partment on Thursday said that the Pen-tagon saw no need to change broadcongressional authorisation under whichthe military conducted lethal dronestrikes against terrorist targets and esti-mated that the war with al Qaeda couldcontinue for up to two decades. Accord-ing to a report published in the Washing-ton Post, Assistant Defense SecretaryMichael Sheehan said, “At this pointwe’re comfortable with the AUMF as itis currently structured.” Furthermore, hesaid that Authorisation for the Use ofMilitary Force passed by Congress in2001 “served its purpose.” PresidentObama has pledged to be more transpar-ent about the secret targeted killing pro-gram that has included nearly 400 CIAand military drone strikes during his ad-ministration. In a series of speeches overthe past year, senior administration offi-

cials have laid out their legal justificationfor the program, including the AUMF.Lawmakers have questioned whether theAUMF, enacted days after the September11, 2001 should be scrapped or rewrittento apply to what has become a starklydifferent anti-terrorist campaign nearly12 years later. The law authorised thepresident to use whatever military forcehe deemed necessary against thosewho “planned, authorised, com-mitted or aided” the 2001 attacks or“harbored such organisations or per-sons, in order to prevent any future actsof international terrorism against theUnited States by such nations, organisa-tions or persons.” Originally inter-preted to apply to al Qaedaand the Taliban inAfghanistan, in recent years,the AUMF has been expandedto authorise drone strikes against whatthe administration calls al Qaeda “associ-ates” as far afield as Yemen and Somalia.Sheehan and the Defense Department’s

acting counsel Robert S Taylor said therewere no geographic boundaries on futureuse against groups deemed affiliates ofthe main al Qaeda organisation. Sheehansaid that while the president must ap-prove each military strike, the Pentagondefined which groups were designated as“associates” that posed a threat to US se-

curity. Several lawmakers expressed out-rage at what they saw as the lack ofspecificity in the interpretation of thelaw. “Here we are, 12 years later, and

you come beforeus and tell us thatyou don’t think it

needs to be up-

dated. Well, clearly it does,” SenatorJohn McCain said, who described his tes-timony as “disturbing.” The committeeappeared divided on whether a new ver-sion should be written to curtail the lawor whether its current expansive interpre-tation should be authorised. Be-

cause the administration has describedal Qaeda’s leadership core in Pakistan asgravely wounded by the strikes andAfghanistan is seeking peace negotia-tions with the Taliban, several questionedhow any of the group’s “associates”could still be targeted under the law. “Inother words, could we be in a situation inwhich Afghanistan is no longer at waragainst Mullah Omar’s Taliban, but westill are?” Senator Mark Udall asked.

US Defense Department defiant over drone strike policy

delhi allowspro-indiakashmiri leadersto visit pakistan

IsLaMaBaD

aPP

India has approved a proposal to send a delega-tion comprising pro-India members of the Kash-mir Legislature to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.Media reports say that a few months ago, thepresiding officers of both the houses, LegislativeCouncil Chairman Amrit Malhotra, and Legisla-tive Assembly Speaker Muhammad Akbar Lonehad forwarded a written proposal to Chief Minis-ter Omar Abdullah seeking approval of a "goodwill delegation" of legislators to visit Pakistan,KMS reported. The chief minister forwarded theproposal to the government of India for approval.New Delhi recently gave a nod to the proposalthus clearing the way for the delegation's visit toPakistan, the reports added. After the clearance,the Law Department of Indian-held Kashmir(IHK) has asked the presiding officers to furnishthe names of at least three members, each fromboth houses, who would be part of this delega-tion to visit Pakistan. Apart from these six mem-bers, Malhotra, Speaker Mubarak Gul, LawMinister Saifullah Mir, Law Secretary FarhatTasneem, Assembly Secretary MohammadRamzan and LC Secretary Mohammad AshrafMir would also be part of this delegation, the re-ports added. Political observers, however, be-lieve that selective permission to only thepro-India Kashmiri leaders will not help make aprogress on resolution of the Kashmir disputeunless India allows all the Kashmiri leaders irre-spective of their political ideologies to pay a visitto Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. They say thatNew Delhi until now has been reluctant to grantpermission to freedom leaders like Syed Ali Gi-lani to visit Pakistan to even offer condolencesover the death of former Jamaat-e-Islami Pak-istan chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad with his familymembers in Peshawar.

chinese pm toaddress specialsenate sessionon thursday

KaraChI

Staff REPORt

President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned aspecial session of the Senate on Thursday thatwould be addressed by the visiting Chineseprime minister, Li Keqiang. The sitting wouldbe held at 10am in the Parliament House andwould stand prorogued the same day, a state-ment issued by President spokesman SenatorFarhatullah Babar said on Friday. It said thejoint session of parliament was not possible bythe given date so the visiting Chinese leaderwould only address the Upper House.

zardari has no plansof resigning: Babar

IsLaMaBaD

ONLINE

Dispelling rumours, Presidential Spokesper-son Senator Farhatullah Babar announcedthat President Asif Ali Zardari will not beresigning any time soon. Babar’s remarkscame following rumors that PresidentZardari was planning to resign in light of hisparty’s crushing defeat in the general elec-tion. There is no question of Zardari leavingthe presidency, according to Babar. Despitesuffering a historic defeat at the centre andin three provinces, the Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) has surprised many by retaininga solid position in Sindh by once again win-ning a simple majority in the provincial leg-islature. The party bagged 67 seats in theprovince, according to unofficial results ofthe 2013 elections. It had received 68 seatsin the 2008 elections. Some analysts andpoliticians expected that the party will loseits mandate in Sindh owing to unpopularpolicies pursued during its reign.

MULTaN

ShEIkh haQ NawaZ

Former prime minister and centralleader of Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) Yousaf Raza Gilani has saidthat there was no time for regret ashis party was gearing up to analysethe reasons behind PPP’s defeat inthe May 11 elections. He furthersaid that once it was clear why thePPP had failed to secure desiredvotes, the party would work to re-gain the trust of the masses and re-turn to power democratically.

Talking to Pakistan Today, theformer premier said that hisparty’s election strategy hadproved ineffective, but added thatirrespective of election gains andlosses, history would rememberPPP’s democratic, constitutional,economic and state-institutionalstructural developmental. He saidthese services would have long-term effects for the country and its

people. Commenting on his resig-nation from a key party post, theformer premier said that he hadnot left the party and it had beenhis moral obligation to step downfrom a central post as he had failedto achieve the electoral victorygoal he had been tasked with. Hesaid he had been under no direct orindirect pressure from the partywhen he had made the decision tooffer his resignation.

Interestingly, Gilani also men-tioned that he was aware of thereason he had failed to accomplishhis goals but did not elaborate fur-ther.

However, the former premierlamented that his government hadcontinuously been targeted byforces that were working withother institutions of the state. Ex-pressing his disappointment, hesaid that his disqualification fromthe election was also a “deep-rooted” action taken against him,

his party and his political action. Moreover, Gilani complained

that his government had been vic-timised constantly on the bases offabricated and “incredible” rea-sons.

Gilani was not without regret,however. He admitted that hisparty had committed some blun-ders which had caused PPP’s elec-toral defeat. He admitted that PPPhad neglected real and basic prob-lems of the people and had, in-stead, remained occupied withdemocratic and constitutionaldeadlocks.

He also blamed the media fornot celebrating the successes ofthe former government and saidthat it had, instead, maliciously fo-cused on the failures.

On the future of the PPP, Gi-lani stressed that there was an im-mediate need to reorganise theparty once more to steer it in theright direction.

Keep calm and move on: gilani

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 9

CoMMeNT

Csaturday, 18 May, 2013

10

whiteLIESApoLLo

Aziz-ud-Din AhmadEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

ALTAF Hussain’s hate-speech of May 12 was aspate of threats hurled atjust about everyone in thecountry – be it institu-

tions, political parties, or individuals. Noone quite escaped the venom of his excru-ciatingly painful outburst.

Accusing the establishment for itspartisan role, he cautioned: “If you don’tstop playing with fire, it would burn theentire Pakistan down”.

He threatened the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) “to reach a deci-sion with honesty or else they would notbe able to find a shelter”.

Warning the workers of another polit-ical party who have been protesting the al-leged rigging in the May 11 elections atthe Teen Talwar Chowk in Karachi, theBritish national thundered that they shouldbehave or else he could unleash his partyworkers on them who “would dismemberthem into pieces with their swords”.

He demanded that if the (allegedlyrigged) mandate in the city was not re-spected, “Karachi should be separatedfrom the rest of the country”.

He threatened that if opposition wasnot stopped, he would let his followers“act freely on their own. How can I con-trol them and for how long? Altaf Hussainshould not be blamed if a war breaks outamong the people. Whoever attempted to

conduct propa-ganda will facewar”.

When hish a t e - s p e e c helicited the obvi-ous negative re-action from thepublic and themedia, and thephone lines ofthe London Met-ropolitan Policewere literallyjammed withcalls to theBritish govern-ment to initiatep r o c e e d i n g sagainst theQueen’s subject,he came up withanother fiery out-burst on May 15,this time againstthe media, morenotably its an-chorpersons: “Ifyou don’t mendyour ways,somebody fromthe organisationof millions ofpeople mightlose his mind. Ifthat person doessomething bad toone of you, don’tblame the MQM

or Altaf Hussain”.He continued puking venom: “If the

MQM ran out of patience, then neither theanchors nor the owners of the mediahouses would find a place to hide”.

A spokesperson of the London Met-ropolitan Police confirmed the receipt of‘floods’ of calls from Pakistan, the UK andelsewhere against Altaf Hussain’s hate-speech. He also said that an investigation(against the MQM chief) was underway”.

The British High Commissioner toPakistan Adam Thomson also com-mented on the episode. He confirmed thereceipt of complaints, but tried to absolvethe government of the UK from any re-sponsibility in the matter saying that “un-like some countries of the world, theBritish police are fiercely independent ofthe British government and it is for theBritish police to investigate allegations ofincitement to violence or hatred”.

The High Commissioner, however,conceded that the London MetropolitanPolice have been flooded with complaintsabout (Altaf Hussain’s) remarks. “Whatwe say is that wherever somebody has aconcern that hatred or violence is beingincited, that one community or another isbeing turned against others, this should bereported to the police. And I know thatthey take such allegations very, very seri-ously indeed”. He further said that “ifproved guilty, the MQM chief could facea jail sentence”.

He did not rule out the prospect ofhanding over Altaf Hussain to Pakistan,but said that, in the absence of a UK-Pak-istan Extradition Treaty, it would have togo through the whole process which iscomplicated: “It does not make it impos-sible, but it does make it quite difficult”.

Karachi has been a hostage to violentand hateful machinations for over thirtyyears now, which the MQM and its lead-ership have unleashed on its hapless peo-ple with murderous abandon. The MQMare decidedly the original architects of thephenomena of extortion and murder inKarachi which has been used to perpetu-ate an environment of fear in the city.Thousands have been tortured and bru-tally exterminated with blood-soakedpieces of their bodies thrown all over thecity in gunny bags. It has let lose a spreeof murder ever so often to caution the res-idents against the prospect of freeingthemselves from perpetual enslavement.The threatening demeanour and the foullanguage used by the MQM leadershipleave little to the imagination.

These endless threats have been un-duly rewarded by various governmentswith invitations to the MQM to becomepartners in ‘democracy’ and dictatorshipalike. Quite literally, the MQM has beena part of all provincial governments ofSindh and the federal governments overthe last thirty years or so. No principles.No qualms. The extortion must continue.The killing spree should not end.

The governments have been aware ofthis. The security agencies know of this.

The intelligence agencies cannot feign ig-norance either. What has the combinedmight of the state done to undo this har-rowing spectre that threatens to dismem-ber the country and advancingself-promoting gory objectives? Encour-age them further by inducting them aspartners in the governments and awardingthem lucrative ministries to add to their il-licit earnings? Seek their support to savetheir failing governments by issuing end-less statements acknowledging their con-tribution to ‘democracy’? Quite simply, ithas been a case of unremitting shame.

What was the cause for this latestvenomous outburst of the supremo? Quitesimply, for the first time since the incep-tion of the MQM, the supporters of an-other political party were able to break theshackles of fear and go to the polling sta-tions to cast their ballots. So, true to tra-dition, the MQM literally hijacked theentire election process in connivance withthe Returning Officers and other ECP of-ficials who were just too scared to standup to their murderous tactics. The MQMexpects this mandate of fear to be ac-cepted without questioning.

For once, the people are angry. Theyappear unwilling to surrender their rightto choose the leadership of their liking.They are protesting. They want justice.They are demanding re-polling under thearmy supervision in all constituencies ofthe city. They want an end of the politicsof murder and extortion that has beenpractised through the last thirty years.They have a right to that and it is thestate’s responsibility to ensure it.

There are no two ways about it. Thepolitics of fraud must cease. The people ofKarachi want their freedom from fear andviolence that they suffered from endlessly– and they must have it. They must alsohave their freedom to choose the leaders oftheir liking. The ECP must ensure that. Thestate must ensure that. It should not be leftto the goons of terrorist outfits garbed aspolitical parties to decide the fate of thepeople of Karachi, and that of Pakistan.

A word for the British High Commis-sioner: instead of hedging your responsi-bility in the case of investigating theconduct of one of your citizens, youshould advise your government to expe-dite the enquiry against him. For youradded information, the two laws underwhich he can be tried and punished are theAnti-Terrorism Act 2008 and the Racialand Religious Hatred Act 2006. Mean-while, and pending the results of the en-quiry, appropriate restrictions should beclamped on his speech so that he wouldnot be able to incite the people of Karachito violence and hatred. They have hadenough of that. It is time for them to moveon – towards turning Karachi into the glo-rious city of lights that it used to be, nottoo long ago!

The writer is a political analyst. Hecan be reached atraoofhasan@hotmail.com

Is there a method behind this madness?transgressing the mandate

A hate-speech that elicits unprecedented protestincitement to violence

WITH the US Secretary of State John Kerry due to arrive next month topresent a new proposal to Pakistan to impose “limits” on the droneprogram, it has emerged that the Pentagon is adamant to continue the

drone program for the next two decades, at least. With the State Department and thePentagon in apparent conflict and the US Senate undertaking its first public hearingover the mechanical death squads operated by the CIA, there are questions overwhether Kerry will bring anything new to the table. Nonetheless, it also presents thenew Nawaz league government an opportunity to lay out its terms to the USgovernment, and take a stance on what the previous government continued tomaintain are “illegal and unapproved” drone strikes.

What would be the Sharif governments response to the new Kerry doctrine? Willthe proposal to “limit the attacks to high-value targets of al Qaeda and the Talibanonly” be accepted by Pakistan? Will another clandestine deal be brokered tocontinue the unpopular programme? Whatever be the case, there is much to discuss,with the US keen to discuss its exit strategy from Afghanistan, with the US keen tobring the Afghan Taliban on the negotiating table. But what is Pakistan to make ofthe statement of the Assistant Defense Secretary before the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee that “this is going to go on for quite a while. I think it’s another 10 to 20years.” This is as lawmakers in the US grapple with whether to scrap or change thelaws that authorised the campaign in the first place. The official also revealed thatwhile “the president must approve each military strike, the Pentagon defines whichgroups are designated as “associates” that pose a threat to US security.”

With the Pentagon insisting that the drones need to keep buzzing, there isperhaps little that Kerry will bring to the table. With PML-N chief Nawaz Sharifalready having gone on record to state that he wants to “strengthen ties with US,” itis thought that the new government may not take such a hard line on the drones, ifthe US agrees to reduce the number of strikes. The words of one of the UScongressmen are worth repeating, ““In other words, could we be in a situation inwhich Afghanistan is no longer at war against Mullah Omar’s Taliban, but we stillare (fighting them in Pakistan)?” Such is the contradiction of the US drone war thattwo different policy lines are emerging. One led by the State Department, one led bythe Pentagon. If the US wishes for Pakistan’s assistance, the State Department willhave to assert itself. Hopefully a compromise will be found between the twocountries to move forward.

WHILE politicians take years to be exposed, accusing fingers are beingpointed at a number of caretakers in less than two months. The motivesbehind crucial transfers and appointment are being discussed widely in

the media. The caretaker setup is tasked only to make arrangements for holdingtimely elections. The interim administration is supposed to comprise neutralindividuals known for their integrity. They can retain the image only if they are fullyfocused on their one item agenda. No doubt there are several weaknesses in thesystem which need to be rectified and numerous injustices that have to be undone.There is however no need for urgency as the elected government is likely be inoffice in less than two weeks. The caretakers must use their powers sparingly andonly in the limited sphere allotted to them. The caretakers are of course required toundertake administrative measures to help the ECP hold fair and free elections.Early last month the ECP ordered the federal and provincial administrations tochange certain federal and provincial secretaries who were supposedly loyal to theoutgoing administration. This was needed to provide all candidates a level playingfield. Suspicions about civil servants lurk because the bureaucracy in general and inSindh and Punjab in particular, has been stuffed with lateral entrants and politicalappointees often at the cost of merit, thanks to the patronage-driven political systemprevalent in the country. These transfers were therefore understandable.

But the matter did not remain confined to carrying out the orders of the ECP.There were stories in the media of government officers being transferred becausethey reportedly refused to carry out illegal orders. One minister, avowedly an NHAcontractor, desired the termination of the services of two NHA officials working oncontract. An additional secretary of ministry of communications who refused toimplement the order was transferred without mentioning any reason. Acts of the sorthave given birth to suspicions about the ulterior motives of some of the caretakers.What is more it is in violation of the Supreme Court verdict in Anita Turab case.

It is not a matter of transferring one or two officers only. At least 20 high rankingofficers have been dislodged without being assigned any reason. This is highlyunjust because this impairs the working of the concerned departments, delays crucialdecisions and causes unnecessary hassle to the officials who have to hire lawyersand make appearances at the court. The glaring high-handedness has finally led theSupreme Court to issue a contempt notice to the caretaker prime minister. What ishighly disturbing is that the cycle of transfers has continued even after the elections.On Tuesday managing directors of three petroleum and natural resources companieswere removed arbitrarily. One simply fails to understand the reason behind thehighhanded activity. Is it just a brainwave or is there a method behind this madness?

candid cornerRaOOf haSaN

Kerry promise to limit war and 20 year drone war plans contradictthe new drone plan

“Every election is determined

by the people who show up.”

–Larry J. Sabato

THE PTI’s fan following - orInsafians, as some have taken tocalling them, in order to avoid the

delightful but crass portmanteau“Youthias” - are up in arms.

Anyone with even a slight grasp ofpolitics would classify the PTI’sperformance in the elections as stellar.They’ve destroyed some pretty heavyhitters and have even managed to formthe government in one province. But theInsafians aren’t having any of it. We hadbeen winning in the Punjab as well, theyclaim.

Now their claim about that oneKarachi seat is sort of understandable;who doesn’t view any seat the MQMwins with suspicion? But the claim aboutthe Punjab is a hard sell.

Now the high-maintenance, dolled-upDHA babes have as much of a right toprotest as subsistence level farmers in

Rahimyar Khan – let no one sayotherwise. But, also, let no one say theydon’t look “fabulous, jaani, simplyfabulous” while doing it. First there wastalk of “election tans”, then there were thesartorial discussions on “protest chic.”

After the PML-N’s SaadRafiq ate the PTI’s HamidKhan for supper on a TV talkshow, with the latter,surprising for a seasonedlawyer, bumbling andsweating, the Lahore protest’splug was pulled out. In fact, “Inever asked them to do this,”he said. But the protesters stillaren’t willing to take any suchcall, even if it is theircandidate’s, till, perhaps, HisLordship himself recovers andmakes a drive from SKMH toLalak Jaan Chowk.

I don’t blame them. It is a spot ofoutdoors fun. Hotspot Ice-cream, Subwayand OPTP are a stone’s throw away fromthe protest site. As is DHA cinema; a bitof Aashiqui 2 to while away the lulls inthe protest.

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 10

CoMMeNT Csaturday, 18 May, 2013

11“Democracy is not just the right

to vote, it is the right to live in

dignity.” –Naomi Klein

youth andchange

ADDRESSING thePunjabi Muslim Stu-dents Federation at

Lahore on October 31, 1947,Jinnah said: “Pakistan is proudof her youth, particularly thestudents who have always beenin the forefront in the hour oftrial and need. You are the na-tion’s leaders of tomorrow andyou must fully equip yourselfby discipline, education andtraining for the arduous tasklying ahead of you. You shouldrealise the magnitude of yourresponsibility and be ready tobear it.”

It is clear from Jinnah’s statement that youth is an integralpart of the state as they are the leaders of tomorrow. However,in today’s world, leadership is not the only trait one should lookfor in the youth, another closely related quality is also of greatimport: the aptitude to bring change in society.

Youth today has whatever it wants at its disposal and ourlaws provide them the rights to freedom of speech, assembly andassociation, but using law for personal petty interests is not good.Instead, they should be used to create pathways for the sake ofnational interests. By doing this, they sure will create a windowof opportunity not only for themselves but also for other people.

Youth also needs to come forward to voice their opinion andnot be afraid of learning from experiences of others. One of theways where they can put their collective efforts is on how to im-prove the education system because it is they who are goingthrough it and they know well what they need. If it doesn’t bringany change, it will at least lay down ground work for this debateto become mainstream and national.

Youth is often attributed to change and change is good. With-out change there would only be stagnation and then decay willtake over. Change is not an event that can happen overnight, it’sa process, a slow and steady process. If people expected theyouth to change the future of Pakistan in the elections, they werein for a surprise. Youth brings change through their fresh intel-lectual fervor and the results can differ from region to region andcontext to context. However, in Pakistan’s case, what they havedone is that they have opened up for discussion the very possi-bility of change in the country. People should not fall prey to theutopian ideals of change; they should know that it is a slow,sometimes painfully slow, process.

Answering that all too important question as to how youthcan utilise their abilities to bring change is simple and complexat the same time. They need an ideology to initiate the processof change and awareness level about any initiative they mighttake needs to be in-creased. Educating themasses of Pakistan willbe equivalent to achiev-ing a milestone in itself.It is here the youth canplay an important role,by educating people. Forexample, informing peo-ple about the importanceof vote, why to vote andwho to vote for was achallenging task, stillthey did it and with suchhuge success.

More important thanall, a process of dialogueshould be initiated as di-alogue has the power tochange things upsidedown. The youth of Pak-istan has the potential to work as one of the agents for change;they can prove to be an important part of this dialogue.

Apart from bringing a change in the system, the issue ofconflict resolution also needs to be addressed. Pakistan is in astate of constant conflicts with its neighbours and a number ofinternal ones. In this age of globalisation, one should addressthe conflicts and indentify the problems. Our problem is thatwe start the process of conflict resolution without even identi-fying the problem. Bangladesh, once our part, seceded from usin 1971 but no effort was made to stop this secession nor wasthe conflict addressed in a proper manner. For closure,Bangladesh wants our apology which is not too outlandish toask for from their perspective. If the government is not up foran apology, at least a dialogue process can be started. Here theyouth can also work better than most of the others. If someonehas to take initiative for a dialogue, why not youth? Let’s keeppolitics out of this matter and see the results. Our youth can getin touch with the youth of Bangladesh and get to know theirperception and then after having a dialogue, the issue shouldbe taken on the state level. Things might actually turn up pos-itively after this attempt.

Youth has an opportunity to prove their worth, and not justthe one they had in elections. If they work hard, their agendais positive and they have a vision, a positive change shouldnot be out of reach. Not all is black and white, so to speak.Much is grey still, and that’s where the youth has a chance toprove their worth.

THERE is an argument to be made thatPakistanis favour the status quo over therevolution. The other side of this coin in-

sists that the status quo has been challenged, andperhaps even changed. Both sides are right.Nawaz Sharif maintained the status quo, ImranKhan changed it.

The lion of Punjab now rules this familiarjungle. Promising motorways, airports and busservices, Nawaz Sharif rode on the tidal wave ofrhetoric generated by his urban development proj-ects and his six nuclear detonations establishingPakistan as a nuclear power, and swept throughthe country. With the tally hovering between 125and 130 seats for the PML-N in the centre, thegreat lions of Punjab need literally no other partyto form the federal government. They might ex-tend an olive branch to old compatriots likeMaulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F, perhaps in anattempt to weaken an opposition that will in-evitably be forged out with some permutation ofrival parties, but the lion reigns supreme.

Despite allegations, it stands to reason thatnational rigging of this scale and calibre is im-plausible and improbable. The Sharifs’ love-haterelationship with the general population, demon-strated most visibly by the on-again, off-again re-lationship they have had with the central seat ofpower, continues unabated by the political pen-dulum that seems to swing only between thePML-N and the PPP.

On the other side of this coin are you, the PTIsupporters, who rose to the occasion for ImranKhan. You stood in line for 10 hours in certaincases, rode around urban centers in vehiclesadorned with party flags, and made a stand be-yond the relatively safe comfort zones of yourhomes. You ought to be lauded for your re-silience, your affinity for what you perceive to bepositive change, and your dedication in the streetprotests post-elections. The protests are war-

ranted, and as citizens you are well within yourrights to demonstrate and share your dissatisfac-tion with the results. But all of it is for naught, asbeyond the scope of what you “burgers” wish tosee, the “illiterates” have already chosen our col-lective fate. There are three reasons you shouldrethink your role, go home and prepare for thecoming fight.

First, you are leading to class warfare that willinevitably hurt your long-term goals. Voting yourmind is not backwards or wrong. Outside the secu-rity blankets of the urbanites, there lives a Pakistanthat is so disenfranchised, so far out on the fringes,that it cannot imagine voting for leaders with no po-litical track record and no sense of real identifica-tion with their problems. Just because thegalvanized upper class and upper middle class canafford to look past putting food on their tables andinto what the future may hold, does not mean theseconcerns are shared by the rest of the population.Their idea of democracy and the strength of theirvote matters no less and no more than yours does.Former Law Minister Punjab Rana Sanaullah al-ready referred to the protestors as “mummy daddy”in order to alienate them further from those thatsimply do not place much faith in Imran Khan’sideology. And the ruse is working, as the other sideis already labeling this as class warfare, saying therich are trying to impose their version of democ-racy, truth and liberty on the uneducated ‘paindoos’.Imran Khan’s battle has only just begun, and thefact that his message was not able to permeate themindset of the middle and lower classes will needto be categorically and systematically addressed bythe PTI in the coming years. Because one thing isfor certain: without these votes, there can be no de-cisive victory in the centre, and these very votes arebeing ridiculed and estranged further. Go home PTIsupporters, you’re disillusioned!

Second, you are on a fine line between sup-porting your favourite leader, and being seen asworshippers of a one-man cult. Imran Khan, inless than two years, has become a force to bereckoned with, a new political awakening that hascaused the Pakistani Twitteratti and the drawingroom warriors to turn out in droves, cast theirvotes, and flood Facebook with photos of purplethumbs. It was not enough for a clean sweep, butit was enough to forever change the status quo.The PTI secured 30-plus seats in the national as-sembly, and it will likely form the government inthe highly volatile KP.

The PTI supporters should celebrate this, itis a remarkable accomplishment. But at thispoint, with protests that have been largely reg-istered, and the ECP re-polling/recounting incertain constituencies, as well as FAFEN’s pre-liminary report stating that these elections do

“reflect the free will of the electorate througha relatively fair process”, this is becoming a tadpointless. You wear the Kardar shirts, wail fora lost future where you could swing the Bat ofJustice against the forces of Corruption, andimagine Imran Khan as the long-awaited mes-siah who has been thwarted by widespread rig-ging and widespread ‘jaahils’. He has his workcut out for him. He has a tough fight in the cen-tre, trying to keep the government in check, andhe has to bring transformation to the KP inorder to forever cement his reputation as anagent of change. Help him move forward, don’tentrench him in what is done and mostly overwith. Go home PTI supporters, you’re disillu-sioned!

Third and finally, you fail to see what thiscountry has gained in the process. We are a longway from the ever-elusive idea of democraticmaturity, but we have crawled a few inches to-wards it, and we have fought and bled and suf-fered to gain every last inch. We are the firstpeople in the 66-year history of the country tonot only witness a civilian handover of power,but also to figure out how this process works,and how we can continue to improve on it. De-spite 180 killings in 30-plus incidents of electionviolence, the public defiantly turned out to vote,with initial ECP estimates at 60 per cent, upfrom the 44.4 per cent in 2008. The marginalizedtransvestites were not only allowed to vote in theelections, several transvestite candidates ran forelections. Badam Zarri rose for her people inwhat the foreign media describes as “the lawlesstribal frontier”. Despite vast differences in po-litical ideologies, all parties united to push thegovernment and the ECP for timely elections,and as promised we all voted on May 11, 2013.A lion roared, an arrow missed the mark, and abat scored a few crucial runs. And right afterelections, Nawaz Sharif paid a friendly visit toImran Khan in the hospital.

This is unprecedented. This is history in themaking. We cannot be held back by our collec-tive need to impose our individualistic versionof how it should be on everyone else. We mustcome together, support the system. Go home PTIsupporters, you’re disillusioned! Instead of de-crying the results, you can appreciate and recog-nize how far we have come, and maybe, justmaybe, these small victories will lead to some-thing bigger, better and beautiful.

Change takes time. This is not the end. Thisis just the beginning.

The writer is the Executive Producer forthe Planning and Research Department atCapital TV,

Change takes time

go home pti supporters

Change is a slow process,sometimes painfully slow

ZEEShaN SaLahuddIN

ZOya aShRaf

People should notfall prey to the

utopian ideals ofchange; they should

know that it is aslow, sometimes

painfully slow,process.

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 11

Bea arthur'stoplessportraitfetchesNearly $2mA 1991 painting depicting actress Bea

Arthur - best known for her roles in 70s

and 80s shows 'Maude' and 'Golden

Girls'- nude from the waist up was sold

for nearly 2 million dollars at an auction

in Manhattan on Wednesday. According

to Christie's, the John Currin portrait

aptly named 'Bea Arthur Naked' was

imagined from an image of the sitcom

star with her clothes on, the New York

Daily News reported. The painting was

described by Christie's website as both

"nostalgic and repelling." The 22-year-

old controversial piece of art created a

new storm after The Daily Beast's

social media editors were locked out of

their Facebook accounts for posting an

image of the portrait - an action the

social network initially considered a

violation of its terms. NEwS dESk

arts

Asaturday, 18 May, 2013

12Failure is only postponed success as long ascourage coaches ambition. The habit of persistenceis the habit of victory. –Herbert Kaufman

i coNsidermyself to Be aromaNtic, saysBradley cooperBradley Cooper, who has been linked to

a number of hot Hollywood beauties,

has admitted that he considers himself

to be a romantic. The 'Silver Linings

Playbook' star said that he loves the

company of a great woman, and thinks

a relationship works best when both

partners have a certain ease in the way

they relate to each other, the Mirror

reported. He said that there's a level of

harmony that goes beyond just

physical attraction. "There's nothing

better when you're able to share that

kind of closeness," he said. NEwS dESk

doN't have apersoNalitylike srk orsalmaN: raNBir Ranbir Kapoor, who is riding high on

success of Barfi! has spent five years in

Bollywood and has been blessed with

success. However, the actor claims that

there is no strategy for it and he is just

a passionate actor. While talking about

his career, Ranbir claimed, "I got the op-

portunities and my stardom is part of

my characters. I don't have a personal-

ity like Salman Khan or Shah Rukh Khan

that I can be myself and be successful. I

have to play a character, I have to sup-

port the film by playing the role. Today

cinema has changed, we can play differ-

ent characters. I have been at the right

time at the right place." On being asked

about what really works for Ranbir, the

star said, "It's about time and there is

no planning behind my career. There is

no formula for success and I guess I

work hard and I am very passionate

about work. I got good opportunities

and got family, who is very supportive.

In fact, all these things work for me and

my luck is also strong." "You can be star

when you can understand Indian cul-

ture. You have to constantly reinvent

yourself and come up with new ideas,"

concluded Ranbir. NEwS dESk

News DesK

"The Office" closed its doors on

Thursday night after eight years and

nine seasons.

That is not to say that Dunder Mifflin,

the paper company in whose Scranton,

PA, branch the series has largely been

set, is itself going out of business. It's

not uncommon that when a workplace

sitcom concludes it takes the

workplace with it, but there have been

no signs of that this season.

Still, anything can happen in 75

minutes. (The extra-long, "supersized"

finale that will end the series makes a

total of 201 episodes –13.4 times as

many episodes as the Ricky Gervais UK

series upon which it was based.)

The ninth season has been at times a

strange and ungainly one, due to the

mechanics of winding things up; to the

somewhat forced (though not

implausible) friction between Jim (John

Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer),

the show's main love interest; to the

wildly shifting character, and long mid-

season absence, of office manager

Andy (Ed Helms); and to the decision

to make the conceit of the series --

that it is a public-television

documentary, nine improbable years in

the making – concrete, to the point of

bringing a crew member into the story.

The last episode left off just as the

staff was sitting down to watch it.

It is not quite the same show as the

one that debuted in March 2005, but it

has continued to be a show I watch,

grumbling occasionally, with great and

in many respects increasing pleasure.

It has become more fanciful -- closer

in tone to "Parks & Recreation," which

was co-created by Greg Daniels, who

adapted "The Office" for American

television -- while remaining true to its

emotional core. (And it does have

one.) For some, the series might as

well have ended with the departure of

Steve Carell, whose inept and

confident Michael Scott occupied the

chair Gervais originally built for

himself. I like Carell, and I appreciate

Michael more in retrospect. (I have

been grazing in the fields of seasons

past.)

Still, Michael's loud neediness

consumed a lot of oxygen, and his

departure -- to a happy ending with his

one true love, Holly (Amy Ryan) --

gave his employees room to breathe. It

became more equitably an ensemble

piece, which brought familiar

characters into deeper or different

focus, and which found room for some

valuable new ones, most particularly

Catherine Tate's brash-yet-lost Nellie

and James Spader's gnomic season 8

overseer, Robert California. But even

final-year new kids Clark Green and

Pete Miller, as service reps Clark and

Pete, made a stronger impression than

they would have in earlier seasons.

Along with Michael, the show has most

heavily depended on Rainn Wilson's

Dwight Schrute, living permanently at

a state of Defcon One, and Jim and

Pam, whose relationship, in its

measured naturalism, has been the

series' heart; "The Office" would have

felt their loss more fatally than it did

Michael's.

Krasinski and Fischer and the writers

who created Jim and Pam knew the

characters well from the start, and

even though they were put through

their share of hoops -- though one was

always in love with the other, they

were kept apart until season four --

they have remained consistent, and

constant, through the years. Although

they were pushed apart in the current

season in the name of narrative

tension, their reunion last week

redeemed all that felt artificial in their

separation.

Situation comedy is almost always

about family, whether or not the

characters are related: "A lot of these

people, this is the only family they

have," Michael says in an early

episode, showing the camera a mug

that reads "World's Best Boss." "So, as

far as I'm concerned, this says 'World's

Best Dad.'"

You can think of it as a sort of popular-

art "Waiting for Godot," in which the

characters irritate and entertain one

another to pass their blurring days.

They pull pranks, play games, plan

parties and throw parties. ("When do

people work?" Phyllis is asked. ""We

find little times during the day," she

responds.) But in this kind of comedy,

there is also the possibility for change,

for advancement, for meaning, for

love.

Love. It's one of the things we come to

TV for: Not only for the love one

character might bear another within an

ongoing fiction, but for the perceptible

love between the real people who play

them. Even children know that there is

a difference between an actor and the

person he plays; and even adults feel

that they are somehow one and the

same. It is true, of course, that actors

have to pretend to love people they

don't actually like, or to hate people

they care about it.

So it is gratifying to learn that the note

Jim gave Pam in last week's episode,

which put the seal on their

reconciliation -- its contents were

unrevealed to the audience -- was in

fact a note that John Krasinski wrote

Jenna Fischer, and that she was

reading it for the first time as the

cameras rolled, and that what crossed

her face came straight from the heart.

‘the office’ stays true to its heart, even after 9 seasons

SANTOSH is back in town in a lean avatar - allthanks to Salman Khan Actor Santosh Shukla, whowas last seen in Bigg Boss, is on cloud nine thesedays. "Aur hoon bhi kyun na, I am getting training

for my next film directly under the Khan of all Khans - SalmanKhan for Sohail Khan's Mental," he gushes.

Adding further, he says, "I trained for the action sequenceswith a special trainer but Salman bhai was not happy with my train-ing and looks. So, he decided to train me with the help of his per-sonal trainer Rakesh. All three of us go to bhai's farmhouse inMumbai and then he runs with me for 10 kms. Once we are done withthat, he makes me do 400 push-ups of 25 sets each and 300 crunches.

He has made me lose 15 kgs! And finally, after so much training, he ishappy with my new lean avatar."

And Santosh seems to be reaping the benefits of his newfoundfriendship with Salman Khan. "After Mental, I have signed anothermovie with Bhai, Kick, to be directed by Sajid Nadiadwala. Salmanbhai's company has proved really lucky for me," he smiles.

Talking of TV, we ask if Santosh has bid goodbye to the medium. "Iwas offered Jhalak Dikhlaja and Maharana Pratap on TV, which I re-fused. As of now, I am not interested in doing anything on TV. My focus

is to make a place for myself in Bollywood," he says.Back to his hometown, Lucknow, Santosh is happy to be with his

friends and family. "Sohail bhai (Khan) gave us a 10-day break fromshooting and I immediately came down to Lucknow to be with my family

and friends. I am the kind of a person who gets homesick very soon," hesays. And he sure is having fun back home. "I am spending time partyingwith friends every night. They keep asking me to tell them stories aboutBollywood and my movie. More than me, they are excited about the releaseof Mental. On Wednesday, I rode around in Hazratganj on my bike and itwas an awesome experience. It was fun with everyone staring at me andtrying to place who I am." NEwS dESk

salmaN khaNtraiNssaNtoshshukla

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 12

ali zafar’sost ‘ziNdagigulzar hai’ afaN favorite

LahOre

Staff REPORt

Ali Zafar’s Original sound track “ZindagiGulzar Hai” for a HUM TV play has be-come a big hit with the public. Sung byAli Zafar and Hadiqa Kiani and composedby Shani Haider, the song has recentlybeen nominated in Lux Style Awards 2013in Best Original Sound Track (Ost) cate-gory. The drama series itself is prettypopular; revolving around two protago-nists from different backgrounds trying tomake a marriage work. Ali Zafar’s voicein the Ost has given the audience a senseof association with the play’s essence.“This was the first time I was composing asound track for a television play. I am gladthat people liked it and the play did sowell. I got to realise how popular it hadbecome during my United States tourwhen people from the audience wouldstart screaming re-questing this song.My gratitude andrespect to Sul-tana Aapa andthe entire castand crew of theplay,” remarkedAli Zafar.

This weekend, stars may sport a little less bling and the par-ties could be a little less sparkly. According to France 24 ofITV news, thieves broke in the hotel room of a Chopard em-ployee, where the jewels were being kept in a safe in a hotelroom. The robbers ripped the safe off the wall and left witheverything in it, about $1 million in jewels. Those jewelswere meant to be lent to the stars. Chopard is one of the offi-cial sponsors of the film festival. This isn't the first time thatthere's been a robbery at Cannes. In 2009, a lone gunmanwalked into a Chopard jewelry store and made off with $8million worth of bling. Also in 2009, a group of armed menwearing Hawaiian shirts and masks riding motorbikes nabbed$21 million in jewelry from a Cartier store in Paris. NEwS dESk

KiM to tAKE bAbyoN toUr witHKANyE wESt, 3MoNtHS AFtErbirtH: rEPort

13arTssaturday, 18 May, 2013

A

Just because I look sexy on the

cover of Rolling Stone doesn’t mean

I’m naughty. –Britney Spears

News DesK

Candice defeated Kree Harrison, a 22-

year-old from Nashville, TN, after she re-

ceived the majority of home viewer votes

cast immediately following Wednesday

night's performance broadcast which fea-

tured the Top 2 finalists each singing

three songs. Candice joins original Idol

champion Kelly Clarkson, second-season

winner Ruben Studdard, third-season

champ Fantasia Barrino, fourth-season

winner Carrie Underwood, fifth-season

champ Taylor Hicks, sixth-season winner

Jordin Sparks, seventh-season champ

David Cook, eighth-season winner Kris

Allen, ninth-season champ Lee Dewyze,

tenth-season winner Scotty McCreery, and

eleventh-season champion Phillip Phillips

as the recipient of a million-dollar record-

ing contract. On Wednesday night, Kree

and Candice battled it out for America's

vote. Round 1 -- which was themed "Idol

creator Simon Fuller's choice" -- featured

Candice performing "Chasing Pavements"

by Adele, and Idol judge Randy Jackson

made it clear he preferred Candice's per-

formance over Kree's choice. "Listen, I

must say I got to give the edge in Round

1 to Candice. At least she took the song

and tried to make more of it. It had some

interesting choices and [I liked] seeing

more of her lower register because it's so

rangey," Randy noted. Round 2 featured

each finalist singing the single that would

be released if they were to win American

Idol. Candice's song is entitled "I Am

Beautiful," and Idol judge Nicki Minaj

raved about the performance. "I loved

Candice's song because it makes so much

sense for her to sing it... It's so meaning-

ful. I love that song," Nicki said. "It fits

her like a glover," fellow judge Keith Ur-

ban joked. Round 3 featured the ladies

each singing their favorite song of the

season. Candice sang a rendition of "I

Who Have Nothing" and blew the judges

away. "You're such a powerhouse singer

Candice. And that song, God, it's just like

a planet exploding to life. It's amazing,"

Keith noted. "I loved that performance... I

think what comes across from you is su-

perstar, commands the stage. And this is

a big stage. This is a big place for you to

perform in. And the fact you always walk

on there and own it immediately, salute,"

Nicki said. "This is how you do it! That's

like the winning performance. You just

shot this night to a whole other level, and

that's what I've been waiting on because

it's about singing, and baby, you got it

all!" Randy exclaimed. "It doesn't matter

if we heard you sing this particular song

every single night of this competition.

What you have is the ability, the innate

ability, to take any song and turn it into a

vehicle for that amazing voice, that no-

body can deny. You have an undeniable

talent. It just surpasses what I could have

ever even imagined I'd see here [on

Idol]," Mariah explained. All of

Idol's Top 10 twelfth-season finalists par-

ticipated in Thursday night's finale, as

they all opened the show as a group. Af-

terward, the Top 5 male finalists per-

formed a medley with singer Frankie Valli,

while the Top 5 female finalists performed

a variety of classics with Aretha Franklin.

The filler-packed finale broadcast also in-

cluded the twelfth season's fourth-place

finisher Amber Holcomb performing "Next

To Me" featuring Emeli Sande, Candice

singing "Inseparable" in a duet with Jen-

nifer Hudson, third-place finisher Angela

"Angie" Miller performing "Titanium" with

Adam Lambert and then "Domino" with

Jessie J, Kree performing "Where the

Black Top Ends" alongside Keith and

Randy on guitar, and Kree and Candice

singing one last duet together. Several

more famous artists were highlighted.

Mariah sang a medley of some of her

most memorable hits, leading into her

new single "#Beautiful." PSY performed

"Gentleman." Keith sang his new song

"Little Bit Of Everything," and former Idol

judge Jennifer Lopez returned and per-

formed "Live it Up" with Pitbull. During

Thursday night's broadcast, a video

montage was also shown re-living some

of Randy's best moments on American

Idol throughout its 12 seasons on the

air. Randy, the only original judge re-

maining, shared some final words since

he's leaving the show after this season.

"Randy, I think I speak on behalf of a lot

of people in America and our producers

when I say the door is always open my

brother," Idol host Ryan Seacrest told

Randy. "Yo, appreciate you, Ryan. Love

all my fans. Love everybody that's

worked on this show. Love, love you.

And hopefully all these amazing contest-

ants over 12 seasons -- I'm so blessed

and so honored and so lucky -- hopefully

I touched their lives a little bit. They cer-

tainly touched mine!" Randy replied.

Viewers also saw a video montage in

which Kree and Candice asked their own

personal music mentors from home to

attend the finale. During the live broad-

cast, the two finalists each handed their

mentors the keys to a brand new Fiesta

vehicle, after which Kree and Candice

were each given their own Ford vehicle

selected by America. American Idol's fi-

nal twelfth-season episode concluded

with Candice taking the stage and

singing "I Am Beautiful," her new single.

‘american idol’ crowns Candice Glover twelfth-season champion over Kree Harrison

Kim Kardashian is packing her bags and heading on the roadwith her boyfriend Kanye West come October andshe's taking their expectant bundle of joy with her,according to a TMZ report. Sources close tothe tour told the gossip site that even thoughWest will be touring for his new albumjust three months after Kardashian is due,"Kim and the baby are coming alongfor the ride." According to the report,the new mama-to-be is not messingaround, the touring company has al-legedly said the reality starlet hasgiven orders "to arrange for cribsand soundproof hotel rooms at everystop." Kardashian is currently veryheavily pregnant but has not givenup on her fashion sense quite yet, the32-year-old was just spotted Thurs-day in Los Angeles donning a whitedress and squeezing her swollen feetinto a pair of heels, Meanwhile herbeau, who just went on a fiery rantWednesday on stage at a New York showtelling the audience he "ain't no moth-erf--king celebrity," has not announcedwhich cities his tour will definitively begoing to just yet. NEwS dESk

$1m in jewellery stolenat Cannes film festival

george michaeliNjured iNm1 crashSinger George Michael has been

airlifted to hospital with a head injury

following a crash on the M1. The former

Wham! star, 49, remains in hospital

after the crash at junction 6A, near St

Albans, Hertfordshire, A spokesman for

Michael confirmed he had been involved

in an accident on Thursday but said the

singer only had "superficial cuts" and

was "fine". Michael was a passenger in

a Range Rover and no other vehicles

were involved, the spokesman added.

Connie Filippello, spokesman for

Michael, said: "George Michael was a

passenger in a vehicle involved in a

traffic accident yesterday evening. No

third party was involved. "We have no

further comment at this time."

'CIrCUMStaNCeS UNCLear':

Ambulance spokesman Gary Sanderson

said: "The man who we believe to be in

his 40s sustained a head injury and

following treatment, stabilisation and

immobilisation by land and air

ambulance crews, he was flown to

hospital for further care." Hertfordshire

Police said the northbound carriageway

of the road was closed for an hour

while emergency services dealt with

the incident. Two people were in the

car at the time of the crash at about

17:50 BST. No arrests have been

made. A police spokesman said: "The

exact circumstances of what happened

are unclear at this time and until

further investigations have been

carried out it would be inappropriate

for us to comment further." In

September 2010, Michael was given an

eight-week sentence for crashing his

car while under the influence of

cannabis. NEwS dESk

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 13

COUrTesy hUMaNs INVeNT

LEO kENt

Smartphones have shown that com-plex computing can be done on avery small scale but the next gener-ation of computing will see devicesshrinking even more dramatically.What is known as smart dust incomputing parlance, these nanocomputers will be used to monitorand control infrastructure such asbridges and buildings and couldeven be implanted into the humanbody to monitor biological functions(not too dissimilar from the conceptof nanorobots as discussed by SharpLaboratories’ of Europe scientists).

At Michigan University theyhave recently created prototypes ofthese miniature computers whichthey are calling Michigan MicroMotes. Professor Prabal Dutta tellsHumans Invent, “We take things thatare on traditional computers like theprocessor, the ability to store data,the ability to communicate and theability to sense the environment andyou really just miniaturise them.”

oNE cubIc MILLIMETrEInterestingly, when it comes to

creating such minuscule computers,which are only one cubic millimetrein size, the main barrier is not makingthe functioning parts tiny but creatinga power source that is the real issue.

Dutta says, “If you look at a lap-top or mobile phone, the batterydominates the volume of the deviceso we’ve had to spend a lot of efforton figuring out how to reduce thepower needed for all the parts. Youcan’t plug these things in or rechargethem because they are so small.”

The way they’ve got round thisproblem is to make these microcom-

puters harvest the energy from theenvironment around them, for ex-ample, solar energy if the mote isnear a light source. The micro moteswill be able to communicate throughinbuilt radios as well as optical re-ceivers. Dutta says, “By modulatingLED lighting we can communicatewith these devices optically.”

HArvESTINg THEENvIroNMENT

As well as using these comput-ers in buildings to collect tempera-ture and humidity data or foroccupancy sensing for examplethere are also plans afoot to insertthem into human beings. Dutta saysthey could be used for, ‘monitoringhuman pressure, such as intraocularpressure which is the pressure ofyour eye, or intracranial pressuresensing for detecting when a con-cussion might become dangerous.”

He adds, however, “These arevery preliminary, I don’t think we’veactually implanted anything in anyhuman to date but there have been acouple of laboratory experiments withimplanting in rats and understandingwhat happens when you do that.”

But these kinds of computers

could be used for anything and every-thing. Dutta says, “We are making thebasic pieces of these systems avail-able so other people can go and buildapplications on their own, things thatwe can’t even begin to imagine.”

THE FuTurEDutta believes these nano com-

puters could become mainstream inas little as five years time. He says,“If you look at the history of com-puting, roughly every decade we endup with a new computing class. Wewent from mainframe to the minis toworkstations to PCs to laptops tomobile phones and the next genera-tion or two is really going to be acomputer that is far more pervasivethan cell phones even.

What we are building today arethe fundamental pieces to this nextevolution in computing and we thinkthey are going to far out number ourcell phones. These computers aregoing to be the things that monitor theworld for us and give us information.”

The question is: where do we goafter this? Will computers keepshrinking and if so, when will theystop? Will the day come when wehave created sub-atomic computers?

News DesK

IN 1996, a ranger flying a heli-copter over Death Valley, Calif.,spotted a minivan in a wash nearAnvil Canyon. That was omi-nous for several reasons: There

was no road leading up to the spot, andthe area wasn’t passable without a four-wheel vehicle. After investigating the ve-hicle, park rangers determined that fourGerman tourists — a man, a woman, andtheir two sons, ages 4 and 11 — had lastrented the minivan. But there was notrace of the family itself.

Their remains were not found forabout 15 years, until Tom Mahood, aphysicist-turned-adventurer, retraced theirsteps. As he recounts on his website, a se-ries of reasonable mistakes, such as mis-reading the steepness of a canyon descentand being led astray by culturally confus-ing map landmarks, likely led to the deci-sions that ended in them separating, thendying in the scorching desert heat.

The story reveals how easy it is forpeople to become hopelessly lost in thewilderness. Humans get lost in part be-cause we don’t pay attention and have lostancient ways of reading the environmentto navigate. But humans’ way-finding abil-ities are also less precise than the abilitiesof other animals. While innate naviga-tional ability differs, “just about everyonecan get better,” said Daniel Montello, a ge-ographer and psychologist at the Univer-sity of California Santa Barbara.

ANcIENT TooLSHistorically, not getting lost was a

matter of life or death. One wrong turncould lead to a hyena’s den or a nastydeath from thirst. As a result, all indige-nous cultures navigate in part by trackingthe sun or the stars’ positions in the sky rel-ative to the fixed star Polaris, said TristanGooley, author of “The Natural Navigator”(The Experiment, 2012) and owner of nat-uralnavigator.com. Those cues “are asgood if not better than a compass in manysituations,” Gooley told LiveScience.

For instance, Polynesian seafarerstrack direction using ocean swells, the nat-

ural rise and fall of the water caused whena huge storm generates waves deep at sea.Because swells can linger for days, theycan reliably be used to fine-tune direction,Gooley said. The Polynesians can track upto eight swells at a time, he said.

Both land and sea bear traces of long-and short-term directional cues. For in-stance, grass may wave in the direction ofthe winds on a given day, but a tree maylean toward the direction the winds blowover long periods of time, Gooley said.

uSE IT or LoSE ITHuman mental-mapping stems in part

from a brain region called the hippocam-pus, and studies suggest it can be strength-ened with practice. For instance, one studyfound cab drivers in London have biggerand thicker hippocampi than the averageperson, said Colin Ellard, a psychologist at

the University of Waterloo in Canada andauthor of the book “You Are Here” (Dou-bleday, 2009). But the sense of directionmay also wither with disuse. Small studieshave found that using a GPS for just a fewhours seems to impair people’s naviga-tional skills in the short term, Montellosaid. Many people get lost because theysimply aren’t paying attention, he added.

It’s also true that the human sense ofdirection is simply less precise than that ofmany animals. For instance, migratorybirds can use internal magnetic compassesor sonar maps to create incredibly detailedmental maps. And many animals’ sense ofdirection is instinctual and is geneticallyhard-wired. In addition, humans havefaulty internal senses of direction. For in-stance, several studies have found thatpeople walk in circles when blindfolded or

disoriented (for instance, in an unfamiliar,heavily forested area), Ellard said. Africandesert ants, by contrast, can march in astraight line for miles.

“They have this prodigious ability tokeep track of where they are with respect totheir initial starting point,” Ellard told Live-Science. “They have a very accurate inter-nal odometer.” But while animals’ sense ofdirection is more precise, we have a muchmore flexible way-finding ability, Mon-tello said. For instance, migrating animalstravel thousands of miles but usually go tospecific, pre-determined locations. But hu-mans use landmarks, directional cues, asense of how far they’ve travelled, as wellas myriad other cues to go vastly moreplaces, often with no prior knowledge.

“We travel much wider and fartherthan a lot of other animals,” Montello said.

infotainment

ISaturday, 18 May, 2013

14

poop fouNd iNmost swimmiNgpools

us congress demandsgoogle explain glassprivacy policies

why humaNs get lost

When a man tells you that he

got rich through hard work, ask

him: ‘Whose?’ –Don Marquis

Smart dust: Computers as small as a grain of sand

The United States Congress

has sent a letter to Google

outlining privacy concerns

about its augmented reality

eyewear Google Glass. Signed

by eight members of

Congress, the letter requests

answers from the Silicon

Valley based company, such as

how it will prevent Glass from

collecting sensitive private

data without user consent.

Congress gave Google until 14 June to respond. “As

members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy

Caucus, we are curious whether this new

technology could infringe on the privacy of the

average American,” said the letter addressed

Google CEO Larry Page. Composed by Bipartisan

Congressional Privacy Caucus led by Representative

Joe Barton (R-Texas), the letter continued, “Because

Google Glass has not yet been released and we are

uncertain of Google’s plans to incorporate privacy

protections into the device, there are still a number

of unanswered questions that we share.” The

document goes on to ask eight questions, some

stranger than others, including whether the space-

age spectacles will be able to use Facial Recognition

Technology to discover personal information about

not only people, but even “inanimate objects” that

the user is viewing. “Would a user be able to

request such information? Can a non-user or human

subject opt out of this collection of personal data?

If so, how? If not, why not?,” the letter probed.

Other congressmen signing the letter included

Representatives John Barrow (D-GA), Steve Chabot

(R-OH), Henry C. Johnson Jr. (D-GA), Walter Jones

(R-NC), Richard Nugent (R-FL), Bobby Rush (D-IL)

and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA). Google refused to

comment on the letter, with a representative

saying that it wasn’t yet clear if it had even been

opened or read by Page yet. NEwS dESk

The CDC sampled 161 public

swimming pools and discovered a

very good reason to keep your

mouth closed in the water: 58% of

them had fecal contamination,

reports USA Today. The pools were

in Atlanta, but a CDC official says

the findings would almost certainly

apply to any city. Researchers

chalked it up to swimmers’ hygiene,

either because they were unclean

when they got in the water or they

had an accident. The CDC found

another type of bacteria, one that

causes rashes and ear infections, in

59% of the pools, reports

LiveScience. NEwS dESk

wiNNiNg Bidfor coffee withtim cook: $610kSomeone just paid $610,000 to

have coffee with Tim Cook sometime

in the next year. A charity auction

for up to one hour with the Apple

CEO closed yesterday, and the

winning bid was quite a bit higher

than Charitybuzz’s suggested value

of $50,000, NPR reports. The winner

is still anonymous at this point, but

NPR earlier looked at the list of

bidders and figures many of them

wanted to talk with Cook about their

businesses or projects. The site

required any bids higher than

$500,000 to be authenticated using

bank records. NEwS dESk

paiNtiNg fetcheshighest price everfor liviNg artist

A huge oil painting by German artist

Gerhard Richter sold for $37 million

at Sotheby’s yesterday, making it

the highest price ever paid for a

work by a living artist, reports the

Guardian. Richter painted the 9-foot-

by-9-footDomplatz, Mailand, in

1968, and it last sold 15 years ago

for “only” $3.5 million to Hyatt

Hotels. The work depicts Milan’s

Cathedral Square in the 81-year-old

Richter’s distinctive style—it looks

like a blurred photograph. The new

owner is Don Bryant, founder of a

Napa Valley vineyard, reports

Reuters. “This just knocks me over,”

he says. NEwS dESk

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:39 AM Page 14

New DeLhI

agENcIES

INDIAN cricketer and RajasthanRoyals player S Sreesanth on Fridayconfessed to spot-fixing in the IndianPremier League (IPL), police said.“Sreesanth has confessed to spot-fixing. He was teary eyed during

interrogation,” a Delhi Police official said. Rajasthan Royals cricketer Ankeet Chavan

was the first to accept his role in spot-fixingduring questioned by Delhi Police while thethird player, Ajit Chandila, has not yet acceptedthe charges. The three were sent to five-daypolice custody on Thursday after being broughtto Delhi from Mumbai, where they werearrested. The trio was questioned on Friday byofficials of Delhi Police special cell. Besidesthe three cricketers, Delhi Police have alsoarrested 11 bookies for alleged spot-fixing.

‘INNocENT’ Earlier, Ankeet Chavan too reportedly

confessed to spot-fixing in IPL matches. Even asthe families and lawyers of the three arrestedRajasthan Royals players on Friday maintainedthey were innocent. According to police, the threeaccused, have been kept at the Lodhi Colonyspecial cell of Delhi Police. The first to breakdown was Chavan, a senior police official said.

“He broke down when we questioned him.He accepted that he made a mistake. He alsoaccepted his role in the spot-fixing,” he added.The three IPL players were on Thursdayremanded to five days’ police custody aftertheir arrest in Mumbai late the previous day.

But, the official said Chavan’s other twoteammates - Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila -

have, however, not yet accepted the charges. Chavan’s family and lawyers claimed the

cricketer was innocent. “It is said that small fishare easier to catch, that is what has happened heretoo,” Chavan’s brother said. “He is innocent, weknow that. He has struggled a lot,” he toldreporters. Deepak Prakash, Sreesanth’s lawyer,said, “Sreesanth has been falsely or mistakenlyarrested. They (Delhi Police) have got somewrong information or mistakenly arrested him.”Asked about Chavan’s confession, he said, “They(players) have to confess before the court. Policecan say anything, it has no value at all.

“Anyway, Sreesanth has not confessed.Though his name has been involved, there is noissue with Sreesanth. He will fight it out,”Prakash told reporters outside the special celloffice. The third cricketer’s lawyer RakeshKumar, however, accused the Delhi Police offraming the cricketer. “He is innocent, there isno evidence against him. It is a cooked-up storyby police. It is a scandal,” Kumar said.

“Delhi Police is deliberately raking thecontroversy to divert media attention fromother issues. Unlawful and illegal procedureswere adopted to tape his conversations,” hesaid. Delhi Police said more teams have beensent to other states to conduct raids.

Besides the three cricketers, Delhi Policealso arrested 11 bookies for alleged spot-fixing.

Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde,meanwhile, congratulated Delhi Police for theinvestigation. “I congratulate the Delhi Police.Whenever they do good work, I appreciatethem,” he said on the sidelines of a function here.

Asked about the underworld link in thebetting racket, he said: “Police is investigating,it is a preliminary comment.”

ipl spot-fixing(

(

sPorTs

Ssaturday, 18 May, 2013

15It is shameful what has happened. It is a sad day that

again we have a situation where players might be sent

to jail for corruption –Former captain Wasim Bari

guilty as charged: teary-eyedsreesaNth coNfessed to fixiNg

scandal again taintedgame’s image: Zaheer

police to quiz

dravid, shilpa

New DeLhI

agENcIES

The Delhi Police is likely to quiz Rajasthan

Royals captain Rahul Dravid and co-owners

Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra in the IPL

spot-fixing case. All three have to appear

before Delhi Police on May 21.

Three players of Rajasthan Royals —

Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet

Chavan were arrested by Delhi police on

Thursday on the charges of spot-fixing.

S Sreesanth and Chavan confessed to spot-

fixing on Friday morning, police said.

“Sreesanth has confessed to spot-fixing. He

was teary eyed during interrogation,” a

Delhi Police official said.

Ajit Chandila, has not yet accepted the

charges.

The three were sent to five-day police

custody on Thursday after being brought to

Delhi from Mumbai, where they were

arrested.

Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar

has hinted at possibility of several IPL

matches being fixed.

According to Times Now, the May 3 match

between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata

Knight Riders at Eden Gardens has come

under police scanner for match-fixing. KKR

won the match by eight wickets.

Rajasthan had fielded only two spinners -

Ankeet Chavan and Brad Hogg — on the

spin friendly Eden track.

New DeLhI

agENcIES

A day after suspending three RajasthanRoyals cricketers who were arrested fortheir alleged involvement in spot-fixingduring the IPL, the BCCI has convened anemergency meeting of its workingcommittee, the panel responsible for itsfunctioning, in Chennai on Sunday.

“The Working Committee willdiscuss, among other things, the fallout ofthe spot-fixing controversy in the ongoingIPL, in which three playershave been arrested bythe Delhi Police,”BCCI secretarySanjay Jagdalesaid in as t a t e m e n tissued onF r i d a y .Jagdale alsoc o n f i r m e dthe arrest andsuspension ofAmit Singh,the Gujarat andformer RajasthanRoyals cricketer whowas caught in the spot-fixing scandal as a bookie.

Despite the Delhi Policeinterrogating all the fourcricketers that have been arrested sofar, there is a growing feeling among theBCCI members that all the players shouldbe “banned for life” even before theinvestigations are over. “These playershave tarnished the image of the game somuch that it would take a long time for usto restore it,” a member toldESPNcricinfo, preferring anonymity. “Itwould be prudent to act swiftly and notlose the BCCI’s and Indian cricket’scredibility any further.”

However, the BCCI president NSrinivasan is likely to play it safe andconstitute an internal inquiry panel

that will work with BCCI’sdisciplinary committee.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla,addressing the media for the first timesince the controversy erupted, statedthat the board would take action againstplayers found guilty of spot-fixing. “Wewill be taking some important decisions[at the working committee meeting].The strongest possible action will betaken against the guilty. Whoever isfound to be involved in spot-fixing willnot be spared,” Shukla said.

Shukla also revealed that BCCI’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU),

headed by Ravi Sawani, has beenasked to investigate the matter

and submit its report. “Ifwe have Sawani’s

preliminary report bySunday, we willgo through it and

discuss it,”Shukla said. Ithas also been

learned thatSrinivasanhas also

asked theACSU to berepresented at

the meeting.While

Srinivasan hadstarted consultations

with his colleagues for the Chennaimeeting, the city also had a lot of actionon the spot-fixing front since Thursdaynight. The Tamil Nadu police took a cuefrom their Delhi counterparts andconducted several raids on bookies,arresting six of them, besides seizingnumerous gadgets and Rs 40 lakh(US$73,000) in cash.

However, the Chennai Police clarifiedin a media briefing that their raids hadrevealed only “betting” syndicates andhadn’t established links between thebookies and IPL players.

Bookiearrested is formerroyals player

New DeLhI

agENcIES

One of the bookies arrested, and named

as Amit Kumar, is actually Amit Singh, a

former Rajasthan Royals player who was

released by the franchise last year.

ESPNcricinfo reported that that Singh, a

fast bowler who played in several matches

in the 2012 season, was picked up for

questioning five days ago but was

formally arrested on Thursday in

connection with the spot-fixing case that

also allegedly involves three current

Royals players. Singh, 31, has been

identified in the first information report

(FIR) as “Amit Kumar r/o Ahmedabad,

Gujarat”.

Singh has now been suspended by the

BCCI pending inquiry.

Singh, who resides in the Bopal suburb of

Ahmedabad, played 23 IPL games for the

Royals between 2009-2012. He was also

part of the Gujarat Ranji Trophy team in

the 2012-13 season, last playing against

Saurashtra. He’d been in the news for

having been reported twice for a suspect

action during the 2009 IPL.

BCCi to discuss spot-fixingissue on sunday

LahOre

Staff REPORt

Former Pakistan players feel

that the recent spot-fixing

scandal has further tarnished

the image of the game of cricket

and has rocked the ongoing

Indian Premier League.

Former test captain zaheer

abbas reported to have said that

he was shocked by the scandal

involving Indian test player, S

Sreesanth and two others — ajit

Chandila and ankeet Chavan.

“What worries me is that this

apparently is just the tip of the

iceberg as fas as corruption in

cricket is concerned. there have

always been fears that the IPL

was a soft target for

bookmakers but no one took this

seriously,” he said.

he pointed out that the

involvement of players in spot

fixing or any sort of corruption

had badly tainted the

image of the sport.

“It doesn’t

matter which

country you

belong to but if

you are corrupt

you are

causing

irreparable

damage to

cricket.”

abbas said that

the spot fixing

scandal had only

confirmed the

fact that

asia

had

become a hotbed for cricket

bookmakers and gamblers who

were always out to lure and

corrupt players.

“this menace is only increasing

in asia and everyone now needs

to come out with strong

legislation and measures to

ensure this menace doesn’t

spread further,” he added.

Former captain Wasim Bari

blamed the influx of money into

cricket as the primary reason for

the growing greed among some

players.

“It is shameful what has

happened. It is a sad day that

again we have a situation where

players might be sent to jail for

corruption.”

Bari, who heads the anti-

corruption and education wing

of the Pakistan Cricket Board,

said he was appalled that

despite several measures taken

by the ICC to educate players,

there are some who still risk

everything for a few

bucks. “this incident is

not only a blot on the

IPL but also on cricket

as a whole,” he said.

Former wicketkeeper-

batsman Moin Khan

said cricket had

suffered more

damage with the

latest spot fixing

scandal.

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:40 AM Page 16

sPorTs S

saturday, 18 May, 2013

16I am very pleased that Galliani

has praised me. –Cristian Zapata

eDINBUrGh

agENcIES

SAEED Ajmal, held backuntil the 27th over, toyedwith the Scottish middleorder picking up three

wickets and running out another.Junaid Khan had struck in his first overand returned to take two-in-two tohasten the end of Scots.

Chasing 232 to win, Scotland lostCarter early to Junaid and runs driedup briefly. However, Davey andCoetzer steadily found their range andPakistan helped their cause by someatrocious outfielding as fielders slidover the ball to concede boundariestwice. For a while it raised hopes of anupset. It wasn't entire convincing butDavey fell to Ehsan Adil just as he wasbeginning to assert himself. Hafeezthen struck with an arm-ball to haveCoetzer edge behind, before Machanplayed on against Irfan as hopes of aScottish upset began to recede.Moneeb Iqbal and Mommsenprevented immediate damage but gotbogged down as the asking rate wentover soared to nearly 7.

Ajmal was held back until the 27thover, and he got Iqbal immediately asthe Scots sunk deeper. Their last hopeRichie Berrington , a fine attackingbatsman, looked to take the attack withsome crisp strokes. But Ajmal tossedone up and Berrington's swipe wastaken by Shafiq at the boundary todash Scottish hopes. Mommsen wentinto a shell, while Murphy was playingthe 'deer-in-headlights' game againstAjmal's varieties as Scotland wereoverpowered by Ajmal's guile. Soon

Mommsen was stumped, beaten inflight; Junaid then returned to picktwo-in-two as Murphy and Haq were

dispensed off quickly. Rob Taylordelayed the inevitable with some 'hitand giggle' moments before Ajmalended the fun trapping him LBW.

Pakistan won the toss and electedto bat on a bright morning as theysought first use of a sunny day. ImranFarhat duly began putting some nicelytimed boundaries away. Nasir Jamshedremained largely subdued beforemistiming a slower one from RobTaylor to hand the first breakthroughto the Scots. His excellent first spell offive overs cost only 12 runs (of which7 came in the last over). Iain Wardlawmixed some jaffas with boundary ballsat the other end. Majid Haq, ofPakistani descent and Scotland's mostsuccessful bowler of all time came onnext and immediately got Hafeez, whogifted away his wicket to slip with asilly late-cut attempt. He got the patientFarhat soon after and when MattMachan got Asad Shafiq cheaply too,Pakistan were looking wobbly at thehalfway mark. Umar Amin showed hisinexperience, trying to slog Haq andending up with a high shot which wascaught well by Taylor at the ropes. Atthe 30 overs mark - the visitors werestruggling with 116/5. Kamran Akmalyet again flattered to decieve. For awhile it looked like he is going toknuckle down and support Misbah,who was timing everything beautifully.But Akmal got into a shell, and thenmissed a straighter one from Carter toruin Pakistan's powerplay chances.Saeed Ajmal finally injected someurgency with a quick 28 off 29 balls,though it ended with a terrible, pre-meditated paddle sweep which hecompletely missed to get bowled.

Misbah and bowlersknock out scotland

DharaMsaLa

agENcIES

A late onslaught by Ben Rohrer was notenough for the Delhi Daredevils as theyslumped to a seven-run defeat against theKings XI Punjab in the Pepsi IndianPremier League clash at the HimachalPradesh Cricket Association Stadium inDharamsala on Thursday.

After being sent in to bat, Punjabposted 171 for four in their 20 overs thanksto an undefeated 44 from South AfricanDavid Miller. Delhi were down and out,but a late surge from the Australian, Rohrer(49), brought Delhi close, as they ended on

164 for seven, with Sandeep Sharmaclaiming 3-23 in four overs, which put thevisitors on the back foot.

Adam Gilchrist (42) and fellowAustralian Shaun Marsh (45) made theperfect start for the home side as theyadded 60 for the first wicket off just 46deliveries. Gilchrist hit five fours and twosixes in his 26-ball innings, after beingdropped on eight by Umesh Yadav offMorne Morkel in the third over. AzharMahmood (nine) struggled before beingbrilliantly caught by Siddarth Kaul on theboundary. Once Mahmood departed,Miller and Marsh added 34 for the thirdwicket before Marsh’s pedestrian innings

came to an end, being caught by IrfanPathan off Morkel (1-22).

The departure of Marsh signalled thebeginning of the Miller onslaught, as thebig-hitting Proteas batsman andRajagopal Sathish (22) smashed 47 offonly 21 balls for the fourth wicket.

Morkel and Pathan (1-28) were theonly bowlers to escape the wrath ofMiller and Sathish as Kaul (0-39), Yadav(0-38) and Ashish Nehra (2-38) allconceded more than nine runs to the over.

The Delhi reply began slowly, withMahela Jayawardene (39) and UnmuktChand (seven) scoring 11 off 16 ballsbefore Chand was cleaned bowled byPraveen Kumar (1-19) in the third over.

Sharma then struck twice in his firstover, claiming the wickets of Pathan (one)and David Warner, with successivedeliveries. The Daredevils had slumped to12 for three at the end of the fourth over.

The visitors struggled to regroup,with Jayawardene consistently leavingthe ball outside off-stump. A 49-runpartnership for the fourth wicketbetween Jayawardene and his regularopening partner, Virender Sehwag (30),brought some respectability to the score.

Parvinder Awana (1-28) then gotSehwag to edge one to Gilchrist behindthe stumps, giving the formerAustralian wicketkeeper his secondcatch of the night. Rohrer then joinedhis captain and added a quick-fire 50off 34 balls for the fifth wicket.

Jayawardene, who had been droppedthree times already in the innings, waseventually caught by Manan Vohra on thedeep square-leg boundary off Sharma,giving the 19-year old right-arm mediumbowler his third wicket on the night.Muralidharen Gautam (12 not out) thenjoined Rohrer for a swash-buckling 39 offonly 18 deliveries. With 41 runs neededoff the final two overs, Delhi seemed wellshort, but then Rohrer clobberedMahmood (0-40) for two consecutivesixes, as the former Pakistan all-rounderconceded 19 runs off his final over.

Kings Xi pip Daredevils cricket australiaback tait in iplscandal

sPOrTs DesK

Cricket Australia has backed up claims

Shaun Tait was not in any way involved

in the spot-fixing scandal that has

engulfed the Indian Premier League.

Three of the South Australian’s

Rajasthan Royals team-mates were

questioned by police on Thursday

following allegations of spot-fixing in

the Twenty20 tournament.

Rumours then emerged via social

media regarding Tait, prompting

Australian cricket’s governing body to

come out in strong defence of the

paceman.

“Shaun reiterated to CA that he had

absolutely no involvement in any of

the issues that are currently being

investigated,” the statement read.

“CA is comfortable that Shaun is being

appropriately supported in India and

reminds those who have been

speculating on the ongoing

investigations to base their comments

on known facts, not unsubstantiated

rumour.”

The head of CA’s anti-corruption unit

Sean Carroll confirmed he had spoken

to Tait, and he is not involved in Delhi

Police’s investigations into the Royals

trio.

icc offer to help iN iplspot-fixiNg case

sPOrTs DesK

The ICC has

offered to

assist the

investigation

of a spot-

fixing case

that has led

to the arrest

of Rajasthan Royals trio Sreesanth,

Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan. In

addition to the three players involved,

Delhi Police have confirmed that 11

other people have been arrested for

suspected involvement in spot-fixing

in Indian Premier League matches this

month.

The Board of Control for Cricket in

India have duly moved to suspend the

players, of whom former Test bowler

Sreesanth is the most prominent.

A statement released by Delhi Police

read: “During investigation it was

found that a group of bookies was in

touch with various groups of match-

fixers who were involved in spot-fixing

in connivance with some team

members of Rajasthan Royals, namely

Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit

Chavan. “The modus operandi adopted

to spot-fix during the progress of

matches included asking bowlers to

give pre-decided signals with the help

of their accessories like wrist watches,

wrist bands, neck chains, towels etc.

at the time of starting the over.

“The bowlers were asked to concede

at least a given number of runs in a

pre-determined and mutually decided

over. “After receipt of the signal from

the bowler, the bookies would bet

heavily and make huge profits.”

Police also confirmed that a total of 51

mobile phones, five laptops and one

recording device have been seized as

part of their investigations.

PakIStaN

Imran farhat b haq 49

Nasir Jamshed c mommsen b taylor 20

mohammad hafeez c davey b haq 18

asad Shafiq b machan 7

misbah-ul-haq* not out 78

umar amin c taylor b haq 3

kamran akmal† lbw b carter 12

Saeed ajmal b wardlaw 28

Ehsan adil not out 10

EXtRaS (lb 3, w 3) 6

tOtaL 231

dId NOt bat mohammad Irfan, Junaid khan

faLL Of wIckEtS 1-50 (Nasir Jamshed, 11.5 ov), 2-80

(mohammad hafeez, 19.6 ov), 3-96 (asad Shafiq, 24.3

ov), 4-100 (Imran farhat, 25.3 ov), 5-115 (umar amin,

29.3 ov), 6-144 (kamran akmal, 36.3 ov), 7-195 (Saeed

ajmal, 45.3 ov)

bowling: Nm carter 10-0-56-1, I wardlaw 10-0-47-1,

RmL taylor 10-2-35-1, mw machan 10-0-53-1, Rm haq

10-1-39-3,

ScOtLaNd

kJ coetzer c kamran akmal b m hafeez 32

Nm carter b Junaid khan 0

Jh davey c †kamran akmal b Ehsan adil 20

mw machan b mohammad Irfan 11

mm Iqbal run out (Saeed ajmal) 10

PL mommsen st †kamran akmal b Saeed ajmal 15

Rd berrington c asad Shafiq b Saeed ajmal 10

d murphy† lbw b Junaid khan 7

RmL taylor lbw b Saeed ajmal 13

Rm haq lbw b Junaid khan 0

I wardlaw not out 4

EXtRaS (lb 8, w 4, nb 1) 13

tOtaL 135

faLL Of wIckEtS 1-0 (carter, 1.6 ov), 2-52 (davey,

12.2 ov), 3-67 (coetzer, 17.2 ov), 4-71 (machan, 20.1

ov), 5-88 (Iqbal, 27.5 ov), 6-103 (berrington, 31.3 ov),

7-112 (mommsen, 35.6 ov), 8-112 (murphy, 36.1 ov), 9-

112 (haq, 36.2 ov), 10-135 (taylor, 39.4 ov)

bOwLINg: mohammad Irfan 7-1-28-1, Junaid khan 7-2-

19-3, Ehsan adil 7-0-32-1, mohammad hafeez 8-0-12-1,

Saeed ajmal 6.4-0-25-3, umar amin 4-0-11-0

match details: toss Pakistan, who chose to bat

OdI debuts Ehsan adil (Pakistan); Nm carter

(Scotland)

umpires Ra kettleborough (England) and IN Ramage

match referee JJ crowe (New Zealand)

Reserve umpire aJt dowdalls

ScOREbOaRdLONDON

agENcIES

New Zealand reached 153-4 in reply to England's232 at the close on the second day of the first testat Lord's on Friday. Taylor 66, Williamson 44 notout and Anderson 3-42 were the prominentplayers of the day for both the sides. England 232all out (Bairstow 41, Root 40, Southee 4-58,Wagner 3-70) Earlier, England's James Andersontook his 300th test wicket as New Zealand limpedto 54 for two in reply to the hosts' 232 at tea onthe second day of the first test at Lord's on Friday.The touring side lost opener Hamish Rutherfordin the first over, caught by Alastair Cook at firstslip off Anderson, and the right-arm fast bowlerreached his milestone when Peter Fulton was wellheld by Graeme Swann at second slip.

New Zealand were reeling at seven for twobut Kane Williamson (11 not out) and Ross Taylor(32 not out) survived a testing examination fromthe England pace attack to reach the intervalwithout further loss. Taylor looked to attack whenpossible, hitting six fours, and Williamsonadopted a more defensive approach as the NewZealanders edged past 50. England had lost fourwickets in 17 balls to crumble to 209 for eight atlunch and Steven Finn and Jonny Bairstow, whotop-scored with 41, did not last long in theafternoon session. Finn was trapped lbw by TimSouthee and the paceman took a sharp catch offhis own bowling to end Bairstow's patient inningsand complete figures of four for 58.

After resuming at 160 for four, Joe Root andBairstow survived the first hour and the second newball, but Root, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad and Swannfell in quick succession to put New Zealand incontrol of the match. It was a dramatic collapse byEngland who had continued to bat with grimdetermination after their painstaking progress on theopening day when they scored at a rate of two runsan over. Root became the first England batsman toreach 40 but his watchful vigil ended when he edged

a ball from Southee going down leg-side through toBJ Watling. Prior, whose battling century secured aseries draw for England on the final day of therecent third test against New Zealand in Auckland,was deceived by Southee's line.Although Broadsurvived the hat-trick ball, he was trapped lbw by afull-length delivery in Neil Wagner's next over.Swann drove loosely at Wagner to give Watling aneasy catch, leaving England, the world's second-ranked team, in deep trouble against a side sixplaces below them in the rankings.

Anderson turnsthe heat on NZ

ENgLaNd 1st innings

JE Root c †watling b Southee 40

Jm bairstow c & b Southee 41

mJ Prior† lbw b Southee 0

ScJ broad lbw b wagner 0

gP Swann c †watling b wagner 5

St finn lbw b Southee 4

Jm anderson not out 7

EXtRaS (b 1, lb 9, w 2, nb 5) 17

tOtaL 232

faLL Of wIckEtS 1-43 (compton, 22.1 ov), 2-67 (cook, 34.6 ov), 3-112

(trott, 53.5 ov), 4-157 (bell, 78.2 ov), 5-192 (Root, 95.3 ov), 6-192 (Prior,

95.4 ov), 7-195 (broad, 96.2 ov), 8-201 (Swann, 98.1 ov), 9-221 (finn, 110.1

ov), 10-232 (bairstow, 112.2 ov)

bOwLINg

ta boult 27-10-48-2, tg Southee 28.2-8-58-4, N wagner 28-8-70-3, bP

martin 26-12-38-1, kS williamson 3-1-8-0

NEw ZEaLaNd 1st innings

Pg fulton c Swann b anderson 2

hd Rutherford c cook b anderson 4

kS williamson not out 44

LRPL taylor lbw b anderson 66

dg brownlie lbw b finn 23

bb mccullum* not out 1

EXtRaS (b 4, lb 7, nb 2) 13

tOtaL 153

tO bat bJ watling†, tg Southee, bP martin, N wagner, ta boult

fall of wickets 1-5 (Rutherford, 0.6 ov), 2-7 (fulton, 6.4 ov), 3-100 (taylor,

31.2 ov), 4-147 (brownlie, 44.6 ov)

bOwLINg

Jm anderson 15-7-32-3, ScJ broad 15-3-48-0, St finn 11-2-42-1, gP Swann

8-0-19-0, IJL trott 0.4-0-1-0

match details

toss England, who chose to bat

Player of the match tba

umpires aleem dar (Pakistan) and SJ davis (australia)

tV umpire m Erasmus (South africa)

match referee dc boon (australia), Reserve umpire PJ hartley

ScOREbOaRd

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:40 AM Page 17

sPorTsS

saturday, 18 May, 2013

17He's won another championship at PSG,

that's four in four countries now, and he

just wants to come home. –Gary Neville

hyderabad, pindi regionscongratulate zakaLahOre: Maj ® Syed Naeem Akhtar

Ghani, president of Rawalpindi

Regional cricket Association felicitated

Ch Zaka Ashraf on becoming the first

elected chairman of the Pakistan

cricket Board.

Zaka has given the PCB, a democratic

constitution and I whole-heartedly

endorse his constitutional election. The

new constitution has been well taken

and appreciated by International Cricket

Council as it was made accordingly to

rules in vogue,” he added.

“I earnestly feel that his election to this

coveted post will go a longway in

promoting cricket and strengthening

the system in Pakistan,” he added.

Similar views were expressed by Mir

Suleman Khan Talpur President RCA

Hyderabad and Wahid Hussain

Pahilwani, Secretary Hyderabad. “We

feel that the democratic process in the

PCB was meant to be completed at the

hands of Zaka because he was the

creation of democracy and understands

the importance of the democratic

norms.

“We feel that the game of cricket will

no flourish all ends with the completion

of the process constitutionally and we

not only congratulate him but also

extend full support to Zaka in the

strengthening of cricket in the country,”

they added.

WaPDa, PUNJaB earN SeCOND

Day hONOUr: On the second day of

the 10th Women’s National Cycling

Championship two road events were

held at DHA Phase-VIII here.

The event was started at 7.00 a.m and

in the first competition 50 KM road

race of Elite and 6 KM road race of

junior cyclists Provincial and

Departmental were held. Chief Guest

Major Tariq gave a start to the race.In the 50 km Road Race [Elite], 35 cyclists took part and

miss Rehalla banno of waPda got first position by

completing the race in 01.47.20. miss. Sabeha Zahid of Pak

army got the Second position by completing the race in

01.47.30 and miss.Rashida munir of waPda got the third

position by completing the race in 01.47.50

In the second 06 km Road Race wJProvincial, miss Ishrat

of Punjab got first position by completing the race in

00.10.04.28 followed by miss. ayesha Punjab as 2nd by

completing the race in 00.10.04.38. third position got by

miss. haleema of khyber Pakhtunkhwa by completing the

race in 00.10.04.48.

the 06 km.Road Race Junioir department saw miss anam

mehmood of SSgc got the first position by completing the

race in 00.10.04.28. Second position got by miss. fiza Riaz

of waPda by completing the race in 00.10.12.15. thirst

position got by miss. ayesha Javed of SSgc by completing

the race in 00.11.20.40.

the qualifying round track event of 1000 meter Sprint

heats was held at 5.00 p.m at cycling Velodrome. miss

Sabeha Zahid of Pak army and Raheela bano waPda

qualify for final round, they got 1st and 2nd position

respectively. miss. Rashida munir of waPda and Rajia

Shahid of Pak army will compete for 3rd and 4th position

tomorrow on 18.5.2013

DFra reFereeS COUrSe eNDS: The

Lahore District Football Association

organized a seven days referee course

at Model Town Football Club ground

from May 6-15.

A total number of 30 referee candidate

participated FIFA referee instructor Arif

Sadiqui, Anees Javed and National

referee Nasim Ud Din Conducted the

course. On the final day Mian Rizwan

Ali President LDFA was the Chief Guest

and awarded the certificates to the

participants.

NatION athLetICS tO BeGIN

FrOM May 24: The 45th National

Athletics Championships 2013 is being

organized by the Athletics Federation

of Pakistan from May 24 – 26 at Jinnah

Stadium, Islamabad.

Over 500 athletes from all the affiliated

Units (i.e. all Provinces, AJ&K, FATA,

Gilgit Baltistan and Departments) will

be competing for top honors in this

three days extravaganza. Acording to

an official of the AFP, it is mandatory

perennial event in which champion

athletes display their prowess in the

sports arena. The National

Championships is being dedicated to

the memory of Syed Zakir Hussain, Ex-

Director General Pakistan Sports Board

due to his outstanding contributions in

the field of sports. Late Syed Zakir

Hussain was a well known Sports

Administrator and Journalist. May Allah

rest his soul in peace. Staff REPORt

LoCaL News

rOMe

agENcIES

ROGER Federer easedinto the quarter-finals ofthe Internazionali d’Italiain Rome after a straight-sets victory over Gilles

Simon. The Swiss ran out a 6-1 6-2winner to set up a match with worldnumber 24 Jerzy Janowicz who beat ninthseed Richard Gasquet 3-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4.

Federer needed just 23 minutes towin the first set against Simon, makinguse of all three of his break points andwas never troubled on serve as heclinched the emphatic win in an hour andtwo minutes. Rafael Nadal recoveredfrom a nightmare first set to edge pastLatvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis 1-6 7-56-4 in two hours and 37 minutes.

“I thought I was the better player inthe match and also in the second andthird sets but he is thechampion,” said Gulbiswho raced into a 5-0lead in the first set..“I lost againsthim in IndianWells when Ialso thought Iplayed betterthan him. Heis solid andhe didn’t doa n y t h i n gspecial and Imade mistakesand so he won.”Nadal will playcompatriot DavidFerrer in the last eightafter the Spaniard wasgiven a walkover against

injured opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber.Earlier top seed and world number oneNovak Djokovic found the going easier

against Ukraine’s AlexandrDolgopolov, holding serve

throughout and breakingthree times for a

straightforward 6-16-4 success. Sixth

seed TomasB e r d y c htoppled KevinAnderson ofSouth Africa7-5 6-2 intheir third-round clash,but seventh

seed JuanMartin del

Potro was on theend of an upset as

he fell 6-4 7-6 (7/3)to French world number

36 Benoit Paire.

SIck SHArAPovA SPArkSFrENcH oPEN FEArS: MariaSharapova has withdrawn from the ItalianOpen in Rome due to illness, sparkingfears over the defence of her French Opentitle at Roland Garros. Sharapova, aformer two-time winner in Rome,announced her decision to pull out prior toher scheduled semi-final meeting withItalian seventh seed Sara Errani on Friday.Sharapova wrote on her Twitter feed: “I’msorry for having to withdraw from thetournament this morning. Didn’t recoverafter being sick last week and it got meagain last night [Thursday].” Sharapovahad come into the tournament in goodform after reaching the final in Madrid lastweek, and showed no ill effects in beatingAmerican Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-1 in thethird round on Thursday. Sharapova is setto begin the defence of her French Opentitle in 10 days’ time. She ended a four-year wait for her fourth career grand slamtitle in Paris last year, coincidentallyby beating Errani in the final.

Federer makes short workof Simon in rome

top 100 men set for wimbledonThe world’s top 100 men have all entered this year’s Wimbledon. No injury

withdrawals mean the field includes the top 103 players in the ATP rankings.

They are led by world number one Novak Djokovic and followed by British

star Andy Murray, who is currently nursing a back injury. The man who beat

Murray in last year’s final, Roger Federer, will bid for a record eighth title this

summer. Estonia’s Jurgen Zopp, out since October due to a back problem, is

on the entry list on a protected ranking. However, he is yet to confirm he will

play in SW19. If anyone pulls out, France’s Guillaume Rufin is next in line for

a main-draw spot. Of those to narrowly miss out on main-draw places, former

top-10 star Gael Monfils is probably the biggest name. The Frenchman, who

has slipped down the rankings after being troubled by a knee injury, will

either have to qualify or hope for a wild card from the organisers. The

tournament takes place in London from June 24 to July 7. SPORtS dESk

National gymadvance to semisLahOre: National Gym has advanced

into the semifinal of 10th M Siddiq

Memorial cricket event when they

outplay strong Aligarh club by 32 runs

played at Model Town Aligarh ground on

Thursday afternoon.ScORES: National gym 218/6 in 20 overs. khuram 75, waqas

62, mohsin 42, ahsan 15(no). bilawal 1/37, Zahoor Ilahi 1/36.

Shakeel 1/39, Rehan Rauf 2/40.

aligarh club 186/9 in 20 overs. mubeen 11,bilawal 20, adnan

37, mateen 30(no), Shekkel 14, Rehan Rauf 13(no). mudasar

2/23, asim 2/24, kamran 1/31, waheed 1/36, waqas 3/29,

fahad 1/22. Staff REPORt

wahdat eagletsbeatenLahOre: Model Town club has moved into

the next round of 10th M Siddiq Memorial

cricket event when they beat Wahdat

Eaglets club by 6 wickets played at Model

Town Nawab ground on Thursday afternoon.Scores: wahdat Eaglets 131/7 in 20 overs. m Zahid 43, madad

ali 17, haris Nazar 23, ali tipu Sultan 13(no). Sohail ahmed

3/20, m asif 1/24, hassan Rizwan 2/26. model town club

132/4 in 15.4 overs. Sohail ahmed 39, Rashid Riaz 28, Shahid

Iqbal 15, farukh Rabani 22. madad ali 1/34, ali tipu Sultan 1/39,

m ali Shah 2/18. Staff REPORt

model towNgreeNs,ghulam QadirQuarters oN may 21LahOre: The quarterfinal of 28th M

Yaseen Akhter Memorial cricket Event

between Model Town Greens and Ghulam

Qadir memorial will be played on May 21

at Model Town Grens ground. The pre-

quarterfinal between Shining club and

Aligarh club will be played on May 24 at

Aligarh ground. National Gym has

marched into semifinal while Jallo Gym ,

Rising Stars and cantonment gym have

qualified for quarters. Staff REPORt

sereNa wiNs to reach Quarters

iN romerOMe: Serena Williams made it 21 wins on the bounce with an easy

victory over Dominika Cibulkova to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA

Italian Open. The world number one beat the Slovakian 14th seed 6-0 6-

1 to set up a last-eight clash with Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro.

But the American ace is taking nothing for granted ahead of the game

with the unseeded Navarro, who beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2 6-3 to

reach the quarter-finals. "Nothing is ever perfect - I learned that last year

when I felt perfect," said Williams, referring to her stunning first-round

loss at the French Open in 2012. "I am still in the danger zone."

Williams added: "I can't remember the other winning streaks, but I hope

I can get to 22 and the rest of the matches that I have here.

"Plus seven, and Wimbledon too, so it would be dangerous to lose now."

Second seed Maria Sharapova, winner of the last two editions, out-hit

Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour to progress.

She will play Sara Errani, the last remaining Italian in the tournament

who advanced when 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia retired with a

left knee injury while trailing 6-3 2-0. Unseeded two-time champion

Jelena Jankovic upset 2011 Roland Garros winner Li Na, the Chinese fifth

seed, 7-6 (7/2) 7-5. "I felt like I wasn't playing so badly today, it was just

a really long, tough match between me and JJ," Li said.

"I was trying a lot of things out there on the court today. Sometimes it was

working, sometimes it didn't." Jankovic will next face Romanian qualifier

Simona Halep, who beat 13th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4 6-2. Third-

seeded Victoria Azarenka also went through when Ayumi Morita retired

through injury in the second set. She will face ninth seed Samantha

Stosur, who beat eighth seed Petra Kvitova 7-5 2-6 6-1. agENcIES

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:40 AM Page 18

LahOre

Staff REPORt

Veteran test cricketer MuhammadYousuf has described putting LahoreCity Cricket Association under aninterim setup “unjustified and unwanted”and a negative move to harm the interestof the game at grassroots level. “It is avery wrong step taken by the presentregime of the Pakistan Cricket Board andit will serve no purpose but will greatlyharm the interest of cricket at earlylevel,” he said in a statement here.

Yousuf said regional cricket bodies

are working for the development of thegame at grassroots level and they are thebasic institutions to develop the game byengaging clubs in cricket activities andamong them the LCCA is a role model forits valuable contribution for the betterment

of cricket. “For me it is an illegal decisiontaken by an unconstitutionally electedchairman against an elected president andI strongly condemn it,” he asserted.

Yousuf said LCCA under the dynamicleadership of its President, KhawajaNadim Ahmed was putting in devoted ef-forts to revive cricket in Lahore which isthe hub of cricket activities in recent yearsas a lot of emphasis is being laid by gen-erating cricket activities. He said it wasunfortunate that the PCB set aside the con-tribution of LCCA and its President andput it under interim setup which hasshocked the entire cricket family in Lahore.

icc was madeaware about fixingin five not threeipl matches

MUMBaI: There are at least five

corrupted matches in the current IPL,

and not just the three, as claimed by

the Delhi police, it is learnt here.

According to highly placed sources, the

information about spot-fixing taking

place in the on-going IPL season was

communicated to the ICC by the British

betting expert, Edward Hawkins.

It may be recalled here that Ed

Hawkins was first to allege that the

India-Pakistan World Cup semi final

match in 2011 was fixed.

The three players-Sreesanth, Ajit

Chandila and Ankeet Chavan-had

agreed to concede a specified

minimum number of runs in a pre-

decided over.

“The bowler cannot guarantee it but a

professional bowler can pretty much

(say) where he wants”, the betting

expert Ed Hawkins, speaking

exclusively, said, when asked how can

the bowler ensure that the batsman

scores exactly the number of runs he

(bowler) wants. Cricket is believed to

be a batsmen’s game. Yes, “but he

(bowler) might bowl on the leg side, or

ensure there are extras. It is simple

enough”, the expert added. Atul Kumar,

who revealed the fixing-saga in his

book (Inside the Boundary Line)

sought meeting with the ICC’s Anti-

Corruption head, Y.P.Singh, a few

weeks back. bIPIN daNI

GEO SUPERKings XI v Mum Indians

03:30 PM

STAR SPORTSMotor Cycle Racing - Qualifying

04:00 PM

sPorTs Ssaturday, 18 May, 2013

18Myself and the team

believe that we can beat

Bayern. –Sebastien Kehl

wAtCh It LIve

STAR CRICKET1st Test, Day 3: England vs. Netherlands3:28 PM

sPOrTsDesK

FORMER Pakistan captainSalman Butt and fast bowlerMohammad Asif, who lost theirappeal at the Court of

Abritration for Sport against spot-fixingbans, were the first players with team-mate Mohammad Amir to be punished bythe International Cricket Council (ICC).

PLAyErS IMPLIcATED INcorruPTIoN cASES:

LIFE bANSA timeline of the corruption cases that

have put a serious question mark on thecredibility of the gentleman\’s game.

May 2000: Former Pakistan captainSalim Malik banned for life by a judicialinquiry conducted by judge MalikMohammad Qayyum. Malik was allegedto have fixed matches on Pakistan’s tourof New Zealand in 1993, South Africa andZimbabwe (1994-95). Australian playersShane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim Mayalso alleged Malik offered them bribes tounderperform during Australia’s tour toPakistan in 1994. Team-mate Rashid Latifalso accused Malik of wrongdoing.

Pakistan paceman Ata-ur-Rehmanbanned for life for perjury during theQayyum inquiry. His ban was overturned

by the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2003 —a decision accepted by the ICC in 2006.

october 2000: Former South Africancaptain Hansie Cronje banned for life bythe United Cricket Board of South Africaafter he admitted to match-fixing andhaving contacts with book-makers. Cronjedied in a place crash in June 2002.

December 2000: Former Indian captainMohammad Azharuddin banned for life afteran investigation conducted by India’sCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Hewas found to have contacts with book-makers and manipulated match results.

December 2000: Former Indian off-spinner Ajay Sharma banned for life in thesame CBI inquiry.

June 2012: Indian paceman TPSudhindra given a life-ban after he wasfound guilty of “receiving a considerationto spot-fix” in a domestic match.

Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria wasbanned for life by the the England and WalesCricket Board after he was found guilty ofcorruption. The PCB subsequently extendedthe ban to include his native country.

bANSDecember 2000: The same CBI

inquiry found Ajay Jadeja to have linkswith bookmakers. He was banned for fiveyears but on appeal allowed to play in

domestic cricket in India three years later.october 2000: South African opener

Herschelle Gibbs banned for six monthsafter admitting being offered money tounder-perform.

october 2000: South Africanpaceman Henry Williams banned for sixmonths after admitting taking money fromCronje to under-perform.

August 2004: Kenyan cricketerMaurice Odume banned for five years bythe Kenyan Cricket Association after itwas found that he received money frombookmakers.

May 2008: West Indian all-rounderMarlon Samuels banned for two yearsafter it was proved he took money from abookie to give match-related information.

February 2011: Salman Butt bannedfor 10 for spot-fixing. Mohammad Asifbanned for seven years and MohammadAmir for five years.

January 2012: Former Essex quickbowler Mervyn Westfield received a five-year ban after he pleaded guilty tospot-fixing in a Pro40 tie against Durhamin 2009.

June 2012: Indian trio Mohnish Mishra,Amit Yadav, Abhinav Bali were banned byfor a year by the BCCI’s disciplinarycommittee for bringing the game into

disrepute following an Indian TV sting.Shalabh Srivastava, also caught up in

the sting, was barred from cricket for fiveyears after he was deemed guilty of agreeingand negotiating terms to fix a match, thoughno fixing ultimately took place.

September 2012: Ex-Bangladeshcricketer Sheriful Haque was handed anindefinite suspension after allegations ofspot-fixing made by compatriot MashrafeMortaza were substantiated.

FINESDecember 1998: Warne fined (10,000

Australian dollars) and Mark Waugh (Aus$8,000) for taking money from abookmaker for providing match-relatedinformation during a tour to Sri Lanka in1994. The matter was only brought to lightafter four years.

May 2000: Pakistan’s Wasim Akramwas fined 300,000 rupees ($4,000)on hisrole in match-fixing and offering bribes toother players to under-perform. He wasalso censured and banned from leadingPakistan again.

Five other players, leg-spinnerMushtaq Ahmed (300,000 rupees),Inzamam-ul-Haq, Waqar Younis, SaeedAnwar and Akram Raza (100,000 rupees)all fined for their roles in match-fixingafter Qayyum inquiry.

when corruption brought cricket into disrepute

LahOre

Staff REPORt

THE National OlympicsCommittee has takenserious not of reports thatwould have extremeconsequences.

In a statement, the POA (PakistanOlympics Association) took cognisanceof reports that quotes directly from theletter purportedly written by the federaljoint secretary of the Inter-ProvincialCoordination (IPC) Mohammad Javed tothe International Olympic Committee,the POA is constrained to remind theGovernment of Pakistan and theconcerned ministry that consequences ofsuch brinkmanship could really be grave.

The POA holds that the letter is yetanother misguided attempt to underminethe authority of the National OlympicCommittee, and is seriously detrimentalto Pakistan sports, jeopardises thenation’s international standing and itsparticipation in global and continentalevents – starting from the 4th AsianIndoor Games in June and Asian YouthGames in China in August 2013.

It is indeed preposterous. How canthe federal ministry and its subsidiaryPakistan Sports Board (PSB) vouch tothe International Olympic Committee(IOC) on behalf of the so-called InterimCommittee of the POA, an illegitimatebody of its own creation– which wasformed and ‘recognized’ with mala fideintent, through largely unrepresentedparticipation – “would develop, promoteand protect the Olympic Movement inthe country in accordance with theOlympic charter” when the IOC alreadyholds the said body in violation of itsOlympic Charter?

This letter is another lame attemptthat is only likely to displease thesupreme International sporting authority,the IOC, as well as the highestcontinental body, the Olympic Councilof Asia (OCA), both of whom haverepeatedly reposed confidence in thelegitimacy of the POA under Lt. Gen.(Retd) Syed Arif Hasan and havehighlighted the illegitimacy of the so-called interim committee. Reportedlythey had also written to the Ministry ofForeign Affairs to take up the issuethrough its Embassy in Switzerland,something the Foreign Office rightlyavoided for the reason of theembarrassment it may have caused.

It is regrettable that the federal jointsecretary has chosen to write the letter ata moment when it has become crystalclear where the IOC stands on suchissues, the case of India being a primeexample. The IOC makes it quite clearthat an IOC suspended India has re-engaged with the global sportingauthority on the IOC's terms to end itssporting isolation. It is pertinent to pointout here that even Kuwait remainedunder suspension for the same veryreason. It was only re admitted into theOlympic fold after its parliament hadpassed a law upholding the OlympicCharter.

It would be to the benefit of theGovernment of Pakistan and the IPCministry to carefully read the abovementioned press release, which states thatthe Indian government through its SportsMinister Jitendra Singh has reassured theIOC that it shall bring all its nationallegislation in line with IOC’s Charter.

The IOC for its part has already beenon record and the Government ofPakistan is aware of its clear and

unambiguous verdict communicatedthrough IOC’s letter dated February 5.The letter states: “As per the OlympicCharter, the IOC is the sole body that isentitled to recognise a National OlympicCommittee (in this case the PakistanOlympic Association currently headedby its President, Lt Gen. (Retired) SyedArif Hasan) and to authorise suchorganisation to designate, identify orrefer to itself as a “National OlympicCommittee”. In essence the existence ofan NOC, as such, is therefore derivedfrom its recognition by the IOC.

“Consequently, no organisationother than the POA, currently headed byits President, Lt. Gen. (Retired) SyedArif Hasan, can claim to represent thePOA or act on its behalf or play the roleof an “NOC” in Pakistan. In particular,the IOC and OCA will not recognise anydecision, resolution or action of anybody or so-called “interim committee”claiming to act on behalf of the POA.Any such decision, resolution or actionwould indeed violate the OlympicCharter and would therefore beautomatically null and void.

“It is regrettable to note that therepeated attempts of a number ofindividuals/bodies to act against theOlympic Charter and to destabilise thelegitimate POA currently headed by itsPresident, Lt Gen. (Retired) Syed ArifHasan, do not serve at all the interests ofthe Olympic Movement and the athletesin Pakistan. On the contrary, this affectsnegatively the development of theOlympic Movement in Pakistan and hasno effect but to expose unnecessarily thePOA to protective measures from theIOC Executive Board, for which theseindividuals/bodies should be heldresponsible.”

poa tells concerned quartersof extreme consequences

interim setup on LCCa unjustified, unwanted: Yousuf

greens highperformancecricket campconcludesLAHorE: The Greens HighPerformance Cricket Camp 2013 thatbegan last month here with thecooperation of National CricketAcademy, on which 40 talented playersunder the age group of 19 are selectedconcluded on Friday.This camp is organized by MuhammadShoaib Dar (Chairman: Model TownGreens cricket Club/ Academy) thiscamp continued till from April 27 toMay 14. In this camp players trained inthe field of batting, bowling &physically fitness.The closing ceremony of camp washeld at Model Town Greens SportsComplex and Ali Zia (Senior GeneralManager: National Cricket Academy)was the chief guest. In the ceremonyparticipant certificate are awarded tothe players. Staff REPORt

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:41 AM Page 19

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

saturday, 18 May, 2013

IsLaMaBaD

tayyab huSSaIN

tHOUGH names of would-be chief ministers of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Punjab andBalochistan have almost

been finalised, the name of would-be chief minister of Sindh is stillbeing kept under the wraps withsome Pakistan People’s Party lead-ers stating that there was a stand-offbetween President Asif Zardari andPPPP President Makhdoom AminFahim who both wanted their nom-inees to get the prized slot, PakistanToday has learnt.

The PPP has emerged as thelargest party in Sindh Assembly bywinning 68 seats, followed by 37 ofMQM. A source in the PPP saidFahim was pressing to get hisbrother, Makhdoom RafiquzZaman, named chief minister ofSindh and he had been lobbying in

this regard within the PPP to winmaximum political support.

“Fahim has held two successivemeeting with President Asif AliZardari in the past two days. He saysthat his family has since long servedthe party but they have never beengiven the top slot either in Sindh orthe Centre. He is claiming that thistime around, his brother should beaccommodated as per commitmentmade by Zardari, who had visitedHala in year 2010-11 to woo RafiquzZaman who had parted ways withthe PPP,” the source said. The sourceadded that former chief ministerQaim Ali Shah, Syed Khurshid Shahand some other senior party MPswere also supporting Fahim.

Fahim has also proposed QaimAli Shah’s name for chief minis-ter’s office if the party has issues inappointing his brother RafiquzZaman, a source said.

However, a source close toZardari said Mir Hazar Khan Bi-

jarani could prove to be a dark horseas he had been given a word by thepresident to handle Sindh’s affairs.“In past, Bijarani has never contestedfrom Sindh Assembly seat and hehas always been elected as memberof National Assembly. However, thistime around, he submitted papers foronly Sindh Assembly constituency

on Zardari’s orders,” the source said,adding that the president wanted aman of his choice as the Sindh CMas he would be the de-facto SindhCM after completion of his tenure inSeptember this year. Another PPPleader from Sindh said Owais Muzaf-far Tappi, half-brother of PresidentAsif Ali Zardari, was also lobbying

for his nomination for the top slot inSindh. “The press conference byManzoor Wassan held on Wednesdaywas a part of the same plan, trying toput pressure on Makhdoom AminFahim to withdraw his assertion forhis brother, as it was Benazir Bhutto’swish to name a young and dynamicperson as the Sindh chief minister,”

the source added.Wassan had told reporters in

Karachi that he had a dream in whichlate Benazir Bhutto had told him thata young and nice-looking leaderwould be the [next] chief minister ofSindh. Moreover, Sharjeel Memon isanother aspirant for the top slot andhe is pushing for the crown as well.“Memon has the backing of someheavyweights like Dr Fehmida Mirzaand Dr Zulfiqar Mirza. Besides, thereare around half a dozen MPs who arebacking him,” the source added.When contacted, Taj Haider, a PPPveteran, expressed ignorance aboutthe new chief minister of Sindh, butsaid the new CM should be young,dynamic and seasoned who could in-troduce good governance in Sindh.“Only the president and MakhdoomAmin Fahim can give you the name,”he said. “One thing I know. If wecould not deliver this time around inSindh, we could also be wiped outfrom Sindh,” he said.

KaraChI

Staff REPORt

The critically-ill 14-year-old patient ofbrain eating amoeba died in LiaquatNational Hospital (LNH), doctors saidon Friday.

In this year’s first case of NaegleriaFowleri, Adeel Hussain a resident ofKarachi’s Korangi area was brought toLNH in a semi-conscious condition withhigh fever on May 10.

Though he was instantly put on ven-tilators of LNH’s intensive care unit, thechild succumbed to the disease lateThursday evening.

The survival rate in this disease isquite low.

According to head of National Insti-tute of Child Health, Dr Jamal Raza, theNaegleria Fowleri is a special organismfound in warm water or puddles.

Swimming in public pools, with im-

proper arrangements for chlorination, isconsidered to be a major reason for con-tracting the disease.

Dr Raza said that if Naegleria in-fested water passes through the digestivetrack after ingestion, it does not inflict asmuch damage as a nasal transfer would.

The germs travel through the nasalcavity and damage the brain. The ageof Naegleria victims has ranged be-tween 4-49 years.

“So far, we can only confirm thedisease through medical tests. Thesymptoms can be high fever, stiffeningof neck, and vomiting. It appears threeto seven days after the person has beenexposed to contaminated water. Butapart from that we need to treat thechlorine level in water reservoirs,which is being done, to avoid more in-cidents,” Dr Raza added.

But most doctors are still cluelessabout the disease that killed over 10 peo-

ple in Karachi last year.According to a report in Dawn,

health expert suggested that physiciansand clinicians go beyond international re-search and deduce an indigenous opinionon the issue.

Also, apart from one case, other pa-tients had no history of swimming.

At present, the health departmentand the Karachi Metropolitan Corpo-ration is launching a campaign to gen-erate awareness for people’sprotection in the city.

A renowned pediatrician Dr GhaffarBillo said that science had progressedconsiderably adding that a cure for thedisease would soon be developed alongthe same line as other diseases previouslyperceived incurable.

“New challenges will keep on com-ing in, we only need to have the sensibil-ity to tackle them with better techniquesand technology,” he added.

Nepra increasespower tariff byrs 5.80 per unit

IsLaMaBaD

ONLINE

The National Electric Power RegulatoryAuthority (NEPRA) on Friday approved anincrease in the power tariff by Rs 5.80 perunit for commercial and industrial sectors.

Per details, after vacation of a stayorder‚ NEPRA issued a notification for therecovery of fuel adjustment charges onelectricity bills from August, 2012 toMarch this year. NEPRA however clarifiedthat there was no increase in the tariff fordomestic consumers.

pervez ashrafsubmits writtenstatement to NaB

IsLaMaBaD

Staff REPORt

Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashrafon Friday appeared before the National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) and submitteda written statement in the Rs 22 billionRental Power Projects (RPP) case.

According to details, Ashraf appearedbefore the accountability watchdog andsubmitted his written reply. He was inter-rogated for 30 minutes over the NAB’s in-vestigations into 12 power projects initiatedduring his term as water and power minis-ter in the previous government.

The Supreme Court had declared inMarch last year that the Rental PowerProject contracts were not transparent andhad asked NAB to recover the moneyfrom the contractors with interest for theperiod they had kept it.

religiousparties notwell-receivedthis election

IsLaMaBaD

Staff REPORt

Religious parties once again failed to getpublic recognition in general elections bysecuring just five percent of the total votes.However, secular and mainstream politicalparties got the major share of votes.According to accumulated statistics, theoverall popularity of religious politicalparties slumped to less than five percent.The self-proclaimed liberal PakistanPeoples’ Party (PPP), which could notget as many seats as expected, was ableto secure 15.7 percent votes. ImranKhan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),which bagged fewer seats than PPP,emerged as the second largest party atnational level by getting 17.8 percentvotes. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) gained maximumnumber of seats at the Center and inPunjab. However, its overall vote ratioremained at 35 percent.The Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM), largely an urban partyrepresenting Karachi and Hyderabad,secured 6.6 percent votes. The JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) got 2.09percent votes while Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)ended up by having 1.1 percent votes inthis election. This absence of supportbase for conservative forces has notgone unnoticed. INT’L AgENDA AgAINSTrELIgIouS PArTIES: JI SecretaryGeneral Liaqat Baloch alleged that theelections results revealed an internationalagenda to push the religious parties to thewall under the cover of impartial andtransparent elections. Talking to reportersat the residence of former chief justiceIrshad Ahmed Khan where he had gone tocondole the death his wife, the JI leadersaid public pressure for fresh polling inKarachi and Hyderabad was increasingday by day and the Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP) should announce re-polling in the two cities to regain itsimage as an impartial and transparentwatchdog. He said that religious partieswould make every effort for religiousharmony and for the protection of thecountry’s Islamic identity. He added thatthe US and NATO bases would not beaccepted in the country.

who would be new sindh cm - makhdoom,Bijarani, tappi or will it be Qaim again?

‘brain eating amoeba’ claimslife of 14-year-old in Karachi

ISLaMaBaD: Supporters of Ahle Sunnat

Wal Jamaat protest outside the Election

Commission office on Friday against alleged

rigging in general election. INP

Mir hazar Khan Bijarani Owais Muzaffar tappi Qaim ali Shah

19

LHR 18-05-2013_Layout 1 5/18/2013 5:41 AM Page 20