ISLAMABAD: The government and the prime

minister have gone home but Raja Pervez

Ashraf’s brother continues hanging on to the

executive’s coat tails.

This was evident on Monday when he brought the

news to the protesting non-teaching staff that the

Ministry of Capital Administration and

Development (CAD) had issued a notification for

their time-scale promotion. In fact, he handed

over the notification to the employees. It is an

open secret in the capital that Raja Imran Ashraf,

brother of former prime minister Raja Pervez

Ashraf, is hoping to contest the coming elections

on the PPP ticket. No wonder then the opposition

is very critical of the manner in which Imran

Ashraf, who held no position in the government,

is acting as if he is an official. The local leaders of

the PML-N termed his move on Monday an

attempt to gain an edge in the upcoming elections.

“PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Choudhry visited the

sit-ins three times and spent hours in the ministry

of finance for the issuance of the notification but

now it was handed over to the employees by the

brother of the former PM,” said Ali Khan, the

personal secretary to Mr Chaudhry. “I cannot

understand in which capacity Mr Ashraf had

distributed the notification. Though the PPP

government has gone, it seems the bureaucracy is

still following the instructions of the PPP

leaders,” he said. He added: “Everyone knows

that the credit to get the notification issued goes

to the PML-N leader.”

On the other hand, the non-teaching staff in 465

educational institutions seemed happy as they

finally got the notification, which will benefit

over 5,000 employees from Basic Pay Scale 1 to

15. The Secretariat police registered a case

against the employees and two leaders of the non-

teaching staff — Mohammad Bilal and Sardar

Sidique — were arrested. Abdul Rauf, the senior

vice-president of the non-teaching staff

association, told Dawn that only one out of their

three demands had been accepted. “However,

Joint Education Adviser Rafique Tahir has

assured us that after the completion of the interim

government CAD will try to resolve the other

issues. “We have decided to postpone our strike

because our major demand has been met.

Now every employee will get promotion after

every five years and those who have been

working for the last 15 years in the same scale

will get three promotions simultaneously,” he

said. Saddaqat Abbasi, the chairman of the

association, said the non-teaching staff would

resume work from Tuesday. “But still we demand

that education allowance and 20 per cent increase

in salary should be given to the employees,” he

said. —Ikram Junaidi

Canadian Pakistani Times Thursday March28, 2013 Volume 1, 51

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan

Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal

Bhutto Zardari will not be leading the

party’s election campaign as party

officials confirmed his departure for

Dubai on Tuesday, days before the party

launches its official campaignon April 4.

The news comes amid reports that

he left after an argument with his father,

President Asif Ali Zardari.

However, Latif Khosa, recently

elected secretary general of the PPP, told the

Press Trust of India that “Bilawal may not

attend election rallies due to security

concerns and is likely to address gatherings

on telephone or via video-conferencing.”

PPP spokesman Qamar Zaman

Kaira too confirmed Bilawal would not

partake in rallies because he was facing an

extraordinary amount of threats. According

to the report by the Press Trust of India

though, the PPP chairman had a quarrel with

President Zardari and his sister Faryal

Talpur over the party’s stance on several

importance issues including militancy,

sectarianism and the awarding of party

tickets for the upcoming general elections.

Sources told the news agency that

Bilawal had an issue in particular with PPP’s

weak reaction to the Malala Yousufzai

shooting and the bomb attacks on the Shia

community in Karachi and Quetta.

In addition, Bilawal is concerned

with the PPP’s handling of the ‘youth

factor’, keeping in mind that Pakistan Tehrik

-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s strong

point is his popularity with Pakistan’s youth.

Bilawal was also angered by

Talpur’s decision to not hand over party

tickets to candidates in Sindh whom he

favoured, a source told the Press Trust of

India. “Last month, Bilawal had

recommended the names of some 200 PPP

workers and asked former Sindh chief

minister Qaim Ali Shah to give them jobs

but Talpur had intervened, causing bad

blood between them,” according to the

source.

When he discussed the issue with

his father, the president allegedly sided with

his sister.

“When Zardari told him that he

would be handed over the command of the

party after he is groomed politically, Bilawal

got upset and left for Dubai,” a source said.

Tensions rose so high that

reportedly, at one point, Bilawal said: “If I

had to vote, even I wouldn’t vote for the

PPP.” The departure of the PPP’s chairman

has caused some trouble within the party,

which has been counting on him to appeal to

voters as a member of the Bhutto progeny.

The PPP is to launch its election

campaign on April 4 in Garhi Khuda Buksh.

“Bilawal had been projected as the

PPP’s star campaigner as the president

cannot participate in the campaign due to

pressure from the courts,” a PPP leader said.

“Without Bilawal, the PPP cannot

touch the emotions of the people, especially

the hard core PPP workers,” added the PPP

leader, speaking on the condition of

anonymity.

Meanwhile, former prime minister

Yousuf Raza Gilani tried to downplay

Bilawal’s departure for Dubai, saying there

were no tensions between Bilawal, his father

and his aunt. “In our families, our children

give immense respect to their elders,” Gilani

told the news agency.

Hasham Riaz, Bilawal’s chief of

staff, said Bilawal had gone to Dubai for

“routine business”. He said the reports of

tensions between Bilawal and President

Zardari were “mere rumours”. Asked if

Bilawal would come back to Pakistan, Riaz

said: “Of course.” Meanwhile, a source told

Dawn.com that Bilawal, who turns 25 this

September and will be of eligible age to

contest elections by the time of the by-

elections, has decided not to take part in

even the by-polls.

Bilawal leaves Pakistan, not to lead PPP election campaign

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (L), son of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, sits next to his father, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, during the fifth anniversary of his mother’s death, at the Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, near Larkana December December 27, 2012.—Reuters/File Photo

The PM has left but not his brother

Raja Pervez Ashraf addressing the

02 March 28, 2013

Two giant pandas a five year old female, Er Shun,& a four year-old male, Da Mao are expected to arrived at Toronto Zoo this week. We welcome them to Canada.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF: A scrum of 150

horse riders fighting over a headless carcass

might look chaotic, but Afghan “buzkashi”

players insist their sport demands skill and

guile as well as brute force.

At the biggest tournament of the

season, held in Mazar-i-Sharif to celebrate

the Afghan New Year, riders explained that

the best horses understand the rules of the

game and enjoy the excitement despite all

the dangers.

The action is fast and furious as

riders wrestle over the dead calf, trying to

grab it and then charge across the dusty

pitch, swerve around a pole and drop the

animal into a chalk circle. Players often

hold their whips between their teeth, or use

them to hit other competitors as much as

their horses. The area of play is flexible and

spectators flee as they try to avoid getting

caught up in the fray.

The game in Mazar-i-Sharif on

Friday, the climax of the buzkashi calendar,

was set against a backdrop of the snow-

peaked Hindu Kush mountains on one side

and a huge bakery built during the Soviet

occupation of the 1980s.

“There are a lot of techniques to

buzkashi,” Mirwais Hootkhil, a veteran

competitor who hails from a famous family

of players, told AFP. “For example, this big

horse does things that other horses can’t

do,” he said as he stood where the horses

are prepared before the game. “When we

grab the carcass, he knows what to do.”

“But he’s so big that he can’t be

used to pick up the carcass from the ground.

So we pick up the carcass with a smaller

horse, and we give it to the person who’s

riding this one.”

Buzkhasi players certainly have to

be talented horsemen, as they stay balanced

at high speeds and must remain onboard

despite rivals trying to push them to the

ground.

“When I was born, my father

took me home on a horse,” said Hootkhil.

“I married the daughter of a chapendaz

(buzkashi rider). I have 15 children and

my five boys want to become chapendaz

too.”

“It’s a great sport for us. I’m

from a family of chapendaz. It’s a great

honour for me.”Hootkhil, who is coy

about his age, retains the film star looks

of his youth, but buzkashi takes its toll.”

The little finger of his right hand

is badly twisted after many breaks, and

he admits that these days he does not ride in

the thick of the action, instead shouting

advice from the fringes.

“Now I’m a farmer and a trainer for

other people,” he said. “During buzkashi,

I’ve seen men breaking their legs, their arms,

their head. I’m seen people and horses dying

on the field, but I have never been afraid.”

For Haji Saleh Mohammad, 65, who

owns some of the best horses competing in

Friday’s game, buzkashi – which was banned

under the 1996-2001 hardline Taliban regime

– is the ultimate test of the Afghan male.

“When I look at my horse for just

five minutes, it is worth one million dollars.”

he said. “It’s a very tough out there and you

need skills.”

“This sport is a religion. As a man, you need

to have a rifle, a horse and a woman. The last

of those three things I would get rid of is my

horse.”

The New Year game in Mazar-i-

Sharif attracted thousands of spectators

despite fears of insurgent attack after a

suicide bomber killed several people at a

game in Kunduz province earlier this month.

Players compete for individual as

well as team glory, and the overall winner,

after scoring five times, was Najibullah, a

huge 24-year-old man in a fur hat who is paid

to play by a wealthy general during the

November-to-April season.

Najibullah’s hard-fought victory had

required raw aggression, horsemanship and a

fierce competitive instinct, but he said the

game itself was a symbol of peace and

harmony in a nation decimated by decades of

war.

“I’m happy. I’m proud but not

overwhelmed. I don’t show off,” he said. “If

we can play buzkashi, it shows that there’s

some peace in the country”. —Photos and

text by AFP

03 March 28, 2013

Glimpses of the 11th Annual Fundraising Gala Dinner to celebrate Pakistani Resolution Day (23rd March 1947) & in

support of Markham Stouffville Hospital, West Park Health Centre & Yellow Brink House was held on 22nd March

2013 in Markham, a superbly arranged event organized by Mr Khalid Usman & Canadians of Pakistani Origin in

Ontario. A very well attended event as well with over 750 guests in attendance where over $100,000.00 was raised for

local charities.

Are the days of ‘Maula Bux’ numbered? - Zofeen Ebrahim

04 March 28, 2013

KARACHI: No more contorting

the child’s body into a ‘murgha’,

n o w h i p p i n g f ro m t h e

frightening cane, notoriously

known as the Maula Bux, and no

verbal lashing. Children will, it

is hoped, no longer be

humiliated in class.

“They may not know it, but Malaika

and Zohab have saved thousands of

Pakistani children from the clutches of

sadistic teachers who believe in the adage

that you spoiled the child if you spared the

rod,” says Shehzad Roy.

Roy, a Pakistani singer, was

speaking in the wake of a bill to ban

corporal punishment which was passed in

the National Assembly early last week.

“Malaika, studying in a private

school in Lahore, was just five when her

teacher threw a pen at her because she was

unable to get the child’s attention during roll

call. It went straight into her right eye and

damaged her cornea and led to detachment

of the retina,” Liaqat Ali, Malaika’s father,

tells Dawn.com, adding: “She lost her sight

forever”.

Zohab’s hearing became impaired

after his teacher boxed him in the ear for

indiscipline, thereby damaging his eardrum.

Today it seems the government,

which had so far been soft-peddling the

issue, has finally made up its mind that

physical punishment is no remedy for a

recalcitrant child.

Soon after Malaika and Zohab’s

stories were shown on Roy’s television

programme Chal Parha, already a runway

hit, the Punjab Assembly adopted a

resolution for the repeal of Section 89 of the

Pakistan Penal Code, which allows

guardians to punish children in good faith

‘for their benefit’. The Sindh and Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa assemblies then followed suit.

At the same time, Pakistan Muslim

League- Q’s legislator Dr Attiya

Inayatullah’s bill, which calls for

criminalising corporal punishment was

unanimously passed by the National

Assembly. The bill had been tabled back in

2010 and had gone through “three years of

rigorous labour”.

Talking to Dawn.com, Inayatullah

termed the bill’s passage “historic”. Once it

becomes a law (after it is passed in Senate)

it will apply “to the whole country,” she

said.

Roy is jubilant that the first step, at

least, has been taken. “No one wants to be

cruel to children, but sometimes we lose

perspective. My idea was to show a mirror

to the adults so that they can see for

themselves what kind of hurt physical or

verbal punishment can impose on a child,”

he said.

In the bargain, his highly publicised

show probably helped push through the bill

which had been tabled in the NA three years

ago.

The bill has declared any form of

corporal punishment of children in academic

institutions illegal. Individuals involved in

the acts will be sentenced to one year in

prison, Rs 50,000 fine or both.

In addition, Inayatullah also moved

a resolution which will be transmitted from

the recently dissolved 13th assembly to the

14th one: The resolution urges “them to pass

legislation whereby any individual,

community or an institution which prevents

a girl from going to school will be

considered as committing a crime”.

Interestingly, education departments

had banned corporal punishment in

government schools since the mid 1990s.

Directives were issued to all government-

run schools but unfortunately, the teachers

were either never made aware of these

orders or they were never taken seriously.

Ironically, the earlier code of

conduct found in government schools

allowed teachers to use various forms of

punishment, including resorting to

humiliation, to discipline a child. The bill

calls for scrapping that and gives

alternatives to discipline an unruly child.

While there are no nation-wide

studies to show the exact percentage of

children dropping out of schools due to

beatings or being humiliated in school,

Rashid Aziz of the Islamabad-based Society

for the Protection of the Rights of the Child

(SPARC), said corporal punishment

contributes significantly to the high dropout

rate of children from the education system in

Pakistan.

Inayatullah, meanwhile, estimated

that of the “40 percent of children that

drop out of school in Pakistan, almost 30

percent do so for fear of being physically

beaten”.

But it’s not just the beatings in

school alone; studies also show that a

major reason why children run away from

home is to get away from the regular

beatings they receive at home.

While childhood abuse isn’t the

only factor contributing to a violence-

plagued society, Dr Asha Bedar, a

Karachi-based psychologist, conceded

that a child who is regularly beaten or

given verbal lashings both at home and in

school, would grow up to resolve

differences in a similar manner.

“Yes, child abuse does affect how

children resolve conflicts later in life. And

that [physical abuse] could certainly be a

significant factor in the violence in our

society,” she told Dawn.com.

However, she was quick to add

that not every child who is physically or

verbally abused grows up to be violent.

“But there is strong evidence to suggest

the likelihood increases.”

A long way to go

Many people familiar with

Pakistan’s school system, however, were

sceptical about the passage od the bill.

“Bills will get passed, but does

that mean anything?” asks Sami Mustafa,

a Karachi-based educationist, adding:

“Have they thought about how they will

implement it?”

“Malaika, studying in a private

school in Lahore, was just five when her

teacher threw a pen at her because she

was unable to get the child’s attention

during roll call. It went straight into her

right eye and damaged her cornea and led

to detachment of the retina,” Liaqat Ali,

Malaika’s father, tells Dawn.com, adding:

“She lost her sight forever”.

According to Mustafa, even if the

‘Maula Bux’ and ‘Murgha’ tactics are

eliminated in schools, how will it be

ensured that teachers do not use other

tactics to humiliate and degrade the child?

Senior journalist, Zubeida

Mustafa, said there are already laws in

place for the aggrieved party to take legal

recourse, but added, these became useful only

if a “child is seriously hurt” like in the case of

Malaika, whose father took her school to

court.

“We need schools … where teachers

are trained and sensitised to the damage that

corporal punishment does. Shehzad’s

programme will certainly bring more

awareness but will it stop the punishment? I

am not sure,” says Zubeida.

What’s been done so far

SPARC, for one, has been doing

exactly that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since

2009. It has developed manuals to sensitise

teachers and school administrations about

child rights, about this particular problem and

to build the capacity of teachers to providing

alternatives to corporal punishment.

These manuals provide training on

class room management, positive disciplining

and alternatives to such punishment.

“It’s quite simple,” says Muhammad

Imtiaz, national manager at SPARC. “When

we did the baseline survey back in 2009 we

found that almost 85 percent of the times the

child was being beaten up to ‘discipline him’,

rather than for academic reasons. So we

showed the teachers an alternative, like

giving the child more responsibility instead of

lashing out at him, throwing him out of the

class or beating him.”

Imtiaz said the teachers came back

with a positive response and said the

alternatives worked like magic and they

didn’t have to resort to harsher methods.

SPARC has completed this training

in 75 schools in five of 24 of KP’s districts

(where there are over 10,000 government

schools and 21,000 teachers). They will be

working in three more districts and have built

up the capacity of almost 5,500 teachers,

which probably is just a drop in the ocean.

Imtiaz points out: “It is not possible

for us to cover the entire province; we don’t

have the resources. Our aim is to show a

model to the education department so that

they can then train the teachers.”

Plan Pakistan, which supports Punjab

Education Foundation’s 2,000 schools has

already adopted their model.

05 March 28, 2013

SPORTS

OKD Field Hockey Club won the Field Hockey Ontario indoor Junior Championship

March 23-24- Waterloo, ON- Field

Hockey Ontario hosted their Junior

Championship Tournament at RIM Park

Stadium in Waterloo. The OKD (Ontario

Khalsa Darbar) Field Hockey Club U-18

boys team were the winners of the gold

medal by beating all three teams who they

played against in this tournament.

The three teams who were defeated were

CFHCC, Nepean (Ottawa) and Mississauga.

The main thing here to note is that the three

teams whom OKD beat, had players playing

for them who are in the U-17 squad for the

Canadian team.

CFHCC has three players in the U-17

Canada team and six players who are getting

scholarships from FHO (Field Hockey of

Ontario). They sadly fell to third position in

the tournament.

Similarly, the Nepean (Ottawa) team also

had three players from the U-17 Canada

team and five players who are getting

scholarships from FHO who were also

beaten very badly by the OKD team in the

final match.

OKD’s strength is the fact that they have the

best head coach, Ehsan Ali, who had

committed to the club. Ehsan Ali has

coached Team Canada for years, has also

helped the players of OKD to learn and

develop the skills needed to play

exceptionally well and win.

Sean Pereira is another coach who has

played for the Indian National team has also

brought much added value towards the

development of the OKD team to help

position them for this historic win.

The Ontario Khalsa Darbar (Dixie

Gurdwara ) Committee is commended for

their great efforts to build this strong

hockey club which led to their great win.

The OKD Field Hockey club is

hosting a medal ceremony on April 6, 2012

from 5-6pm at the Dixie Gurdwara to

honour the gold medal winning U-18 boys

team and also to recognize the other teams

at the end of their season. All are welcome.

To register for the summer season,

please visit www.okdfieldhockeyclub.com

or call Gurjinder Singh at 416 731 1602.

06 March 28, 2013

LONDON: British author

James Herbert, best known for

penning classic horror novel

“The Rats”, has died aged 69,

his publisher said Wednesday.

Pan Macmillan, confirmed that the

best-selling writer, who was honoured by

the Queen in 2010, had died at his home in

Sussex, southeast England, early

Wednesday.

No cause of death was given.

Editor Jeremy Trevathan called him

“one of the keystone authors in a genre that

had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s” and

“one of the giants of popular fiction in the

20th Century”.

His breakthrough 1974 book “The

Rats” imagined a London terrorised by

mutant, flesh-eating rodents and its first

printing of 100,000 copies sold out in three

weeks, paving the way for Herbert to

become Britain’s leading writer of horror.

He went on to publish 23 novels

and sold 54 million copies worldwide.

He wrote 23 novels – the last of

which, “Ash”, was released last week – that

were published in 34 languages and sold

more than 54 million copies worldwide

during a writing career which spanned

nearly 40 years.

Four of his novels were made into

films: “The Survivor”, “Fluke”, “Haunted”

and “The Rats”, whose silver screen title

was “Deadly Eyes”.

Herbert, who designed his own

book covers, was awarded the OBE in 2010,

the same year he was made the Grand

Master of Horror by the World of Horror

Convention.

“ It’s a true testament to his writing

and his enduring creativity that his books

continued to be huge bestsellers right up

until his death,” Trevathan added.

“He has the rare distinction that his

novels were considered classics of the genre

within his lifetime,” he said.

He is survived by his wife, Eileen,

and three daughters Kerry, Emma and

Casey.

Agencies

Best-selling horror writer Herbert dies aged 69

The grand master of horror, James Herbert, had written 23 best-selling

novels. —Photo (File) AP

07 March 28, 2013

Napa performing arts festival 2013

KARACHI:News wise Pakistan

is one of the best places to get

yourself a story. The reason

being that, despite paddling

around in fountainhead of tales

of the overly dramatic and

sensational, no one can tell a

story as colourfully as us.

Such is the case with Lau Tau Qatal Nama

Mera. Adapted from Dario Fo’s Accidental

Death of an Anarchist, this Urdu play starts

off with two stout Pakistani police officers,

played by Sayyid Hammad Sartaj and Faraz

Chhotani who begin by giving us some

background on the infamy of their

headquarters. Not long ago, a man

suspected of a terrorist act, allegedly

jumped to his death from the fourth floor.

The catalyst of the play is Shahjehan

Narejo, who plays a character simply

named Maniac in Fo’s original and Jaali

in Farhan Alam Siddiqui’s adaptation. He

is a shape shifting, Aladin-esque rogue

who has been apprehended eleven times

previously under the guise of different

professions. With his wit and gift of

manipulation he can disorient the officers

enough for them to beg him to leave the

premises, despite him being a wanted

criminal. He returns to the headquarters to

collect his things and dispose of criminal

records he considers petty, sort of like Robin

Hood. Due to a series of events involving

him intercepting a phone call from a judge

who wishes to investigate the alleged suicide

from before, whose identity Jaali naturally

decides to assume.

From there on it’s an unfolding of events

how they happened according to witness and

police testimony. While cross examining the

other police officers (Hammad Khan and

Farhad Alam) who were also in charge of the

alleged terrorists’ interrogation, it comes to

light that maybe something sinister was

taking place. On a scale much grander than

first conceived.

Shahjehan Narejo plays his character with

energy, exuberance and is exceedingly

engaging throughout. There were some

technical slip ups with the phone ringing

even after it had been picked up on stage, but

on the whole the set and lighting were far too

minimalist to leave a wide enough margin for

faux pas. There are some bits of the play that

delighted the audience considerably but the

dialogue delivery could have been more

animated and heartfelt. Overall it’s an apt

play to lay bare how the nation feels in

general about being lied to by those with who

possess authority but have little sense to

deserve it.

Text by Mehar Khursheed/Dawn.com

08 March 28, 2013

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s top

court on Monday threw out a

landmark case that would have

given hundreds of thousands of

foreign maids the right to seek

permanent residency, ending a

legal battle that split the city.

In rejecting the bid to give maids

the same residency rights as other

foreigners, the Court of Final Appeal ruled

that there was no need to refer the case to

Beijing for a final say, which would have

sparked new controversy.

Authorities in semi-autonomous

Hong Kong had suggested enlisting the

advice of the Chinese central government

on the immigration question, sparking

warnings that they were jeopardising the

t e r r i t o r y ’ s c h e r i s h e d j u d i c i a l

independence.

In the event, the top court drew a

line under the matter by rejecting the two-

year legal battle brought by Filipina maid

Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a mother of

five who has lived in Hong Kong since

1986.

“With the court’s ruling today, it

gave its judicial seal to unfair treatment

and the social exclusion of foreign

domestic workers in Hong Kong,” Eman

Villanueva, spokesman for the Asian

Migrants’ Coordinating Body, said outside.

Vallejos won a High Court ruling in

2011 granting her the right to request

permanent residency status, which most

foreigners can seek after seven years’

stay but which is denied to the city’s

300,000 foreign domestic helpers.

Labour rights activists had hailed

the ruling as a big step for equal rights for

maids, who are a backbone of society in

richer Asian economies and a financial

lifeline to their home nations, notably the

Philippines and Indonesia.

But the Court of Final Appeal

sided with an appeal lodged by the Hong

Kong government, which warned that the

ruling would swamp the cramped city’s

population of seven million.

“The FDH (foreign domestic

helper) is obliged to return to the

country of origin at the end of the

contract, and is told from the outset that

admission is not for the purposes of

settlement and that dependents cannot

be brought to reside in Hong Kong,” the

appeals court said in a written

judgement.

The ruling means that maids will

continue to be specifically excluded

from eligibility to settle in Hong Kong,

which would give them access to voting

rights and the right to live in the former

British colony without a work visa.

Mark Daly, a lawyer for Vallejos,

said his client was “speechless but

calmly resigned and said ‘no problem’”.

Hong Kong’s foreign maids

receive a minimum wage of HK$3,920

(US$505) a month and benefits such as

one guaranteed day off a week, but rights

groups say they face discrimination and a

lack of legal protection from abusive

employers.

The Vallejos’s case threw new light

on Hong Kong’s often uneasy relationship

with authorities in mainland China and the

full extent of the territory’s autonomy under

its mini-constitution, known as the Basic

Law.

While there have been repeated

outcries from the Hong Kong public against

perceived mainland interference, the

southern city’s own government stands

accused of undermining its autonomy by

seeking Beijing’s adjudication.

That was the case regarding a long

-running legal question about children of

Hong Kong permanent residents from

mainland China, which like the foreign

maids case had created anxiety over the

potential strain on the city.

Hong Kong court rejects landmark residency bid by maids

Eman Villanueva (centre L), spokesperson for the labor rights group Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, addresses the media after a decision was

handed down in a domestic helper permanent residency legal case, outside of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on March 25, 2013. Hong

Kong’s top court ruled that foreign maids were not eligible to seek permanent residency in a legal battle that has split the city. Foreigners can

apply to settle in Hong Kong after seven years of uninterrupted residency, gaining access to voting rights and the right to live in the city without a

work visa. Maids were specifically excluded. – AFP Photo

09 March 28, 2013

Today Charles Sousa, Minister of

Finance, released the following statement

on the 2013 Federal Budget:

"Today we were looking for action

on four key areas of importance to the

people of Ontario - the closing of corporate

tax loopholes, combating the underground

economy, skills and training and

infrastructure.

We are happy to see the federal

government has taken action on each of

these areas of priority to the people of

Ontario.

However, we have some concerns about the

way in which some of this action is

proposed to be taken.

There are elements in this budget -

particularly in the area of skills and training

- that appear to remove much of the

flexibility we need to adapt federal funding

to meet the specific needs of the Ontario

economy and labour market.

Because of changes in the structure

of our economy, cooperation and a strong

partnership between our governments are

more important now than ever.

Integrity of the Tax System

We are pleased to see federal action being

taken in this budget to close corporate tax

loopholes, and address the underground

economy.

While these actions are important to

ensuring everyone is paying their fair share

so both orders of government can fund vital

public services, more opportunities to

collaborate exist, and we need to continue to

work together to continue to enhance the

integrity and fairness of our tax system.

Labour Market

We also called on the federal

government to renew funding for labour

market transfers that are going to expire.

We are concerned that the conditions on a

large portion of the renewed funding to

deliver the new Canada Job Grant could

force the Province to divert existing

resources that serve under-represented

groups, to this new federally-designed

program.

After all, we have always said we

need maximum flexibility to respond to the

specific labour market needs of the Ontario

economy.

Ontario already invests significant

resources, supported by existing federal

funding, to achieve results for both

employers and those looking to upgrade

their skills and find work.

Employment Ontario has helped

more than 290,000 Ontarians access

training and find work in 2012.

Employment Ontario also connected more

than 90,000 employers with the qualified

employees they needed.

Today's budget suggests that the federal

government thinks it is better placed to

design programs that meet the needs of

Ontario's workers. We believe Ontario

has the best understanding of the labour

market requirements in this province, and

how best to meet them.

Infrastructure and Affordable Housing

Ontario is pleased that the federal

government is committing to continued

investments in infrastructure through its

new Building Canada Plan.

Today's Budget shows that the federal

government is prepared to provide the

financial investment needed to fulfill this

role through a long-term funding

commitment.

The Province expects the federal

government to allow provinces to use

these investments to support provincial

priorities- like public transit, roads and

bridges, highways and wastewater - and do so

in a way that is smart and strategic, and

provide value-for-money to citizens.

We are also pleased that the federal budget

has made a commitment to continue investing

in affordable housing. While we will continue

to look for a longer-term commitment from

the federal government to affordable housing,

this is an important step forward.

Moving Forward

We look forward to working with the

federal government in the coming months to

ensure flexibility in these programs.

Overall, the federal government has today

made some progress in moving Ontario

forward.

However, the federal government

needs to provide greater flexibility to

provinces that are in the best position to

determine provincial needs.

The people of Ontario expect all

orders of government to work together to

create good jobs, build strong, healthy

communities and protect vital public

services."

Statement By Minister Of Finance On 2013 Federal Budget

GUWAHATI: A gang of

poachers killed a rare one-

horned rhino at a wildlife park

in northeast India, taking to 15

the number of such beasts

slaughtered this year, an official

said on Sunday.

Heavily-armed poachers fired at the

rhino late Saturday inside Assam state’s

Kaziranga National Park and its horn was

gouged out, just a day after another giant

pachyderm was killed, a wildlife official

said.

“Two rhinos have been killed in two

days and it is a matter of concern for all of

us,” a park ranger told AFP by telephone,

requesting not to be named since the state

government has gagged officials from

speaking to the media.

“Poachers used AK-47 and 303

rifles to shoot dead the rhino. We have

recovered empty cartridges from the site of

the incident,” the official said.

Kaziranga has fought a sustained

battle against rhino poachers who kill the

animals for their horns, which fetch huge

prices in some Asian countries. The main

market for the horn is China where it is

used for making medicine and jewelry

while in Vietnam many believe the horn

has cancer curing and aphrodisiac

qualities.

At least 21 rhinos were killed last

year by poachers in Kaziranga, about 200

kilometres (120 miles) from Assam’s

main city Guwahati.

A 2012 census in the park put the

number of the rhinos at 2,290 out of a

global one-horned rhinoceros population

of 3,300. The species fell to near extinction in

the early 1990s and is currently listed as

“vulnerable” by the International Union for

Conservation of Nature, one notch away from

“endangered”.

The opposition parties have hit out

against the state government for failing to

combat rampant poaching. “Poaching has

been going on and the government is unable

to check it. We see a definite nexus between

forest officials and poachers,” Sarbananda

Sonowal, a local leader of the Bharatiya

Janata Party, told AFP.

Poachers kill rare rhinos in India’s remote northeast

In this photograph taken on March 23, 2013, an Indian forest official walks past a dead rhino that was killed by poachers in Nagon. A gang of poachers killed a rare one-horned rhino at a wildlife park in northeast India, taking to 15 the number of beasts slaughtered this year, an official said on March 24, 2013. - AFP File Photo

10 March 28, 2013

The Honourable Bal Gosal

Bramalea-Gore-Malton

Minister of State (Sport)

Media Release

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Bal Gosal Welcomes Giant Pandas to Canada

March 25, 2013- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hon. Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport) and MP for Bramalea-Gore-Malton, was pleased to join the Honourable Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for the arrival of the two Giant Pandas, Da Mao, a four year old male, and Er Shun, a five year old female at the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The two pandas will be staying in Canada for the next 10 years and will be splitting their time between the Toronto Zoo, which will host them first, and the Calgary Zoo. The pandas will spend five years in each zoo.

The arrival of the Pandas to Canada builds on a conservation partnership agreement between Canada and China, signed during the Prime Minister’s last trip to China in 2012.

“Having Er Shun and Da Mao here in Canada will have far reaching effects, as it will help strengthen the ties between Canada-China. Their presence in Canada will remind us of the strong relationship between our countries.” said Minister Gosal, “the pandas will delight the many Canadians who will visit the zoos to see them and will provide a great opportunity to educate our youth on wildlife conservation”.

Giant pandas are unique to China and serve as unofficial national mascots. They are seen as symbols of peace, friendship and good fortune.

Office of the Hon. Bal Gosal, P.C., M.P.

Minister of State (Sport)

Bramalea—Gore—Malton

Bal.gosal@parl.gc.ca

Tel.: 613-992-9105

Holi (Hindi: होली, Nepali: होली) is

a religious spring festival

celebrated by Hindus as a festival

of colours.

It is primarily observed in India

and Nepal. It is also observed by

the minority Hindus in Bangladesh

and Pakistan as well in countries

with large Indic diaspora

populations following Hinduism,

such as Suriname, Malaysia,

Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad

and Tobago, the United Kingdom,

the United States, Mauritius, and

Fiji.

Holi is also known as Phagwah

(Assamese: ফাকুৱা), Festival of

Colours, or Doḷajātra (Oriya:

ଦ ୋଳଯୋତ୍ରୋ) in Odisha, and as Dol

Jatra (Bengali: দ ালযাত্রা) or

Basantotsav ("spring festival")

(Bengali: বসন্তাৎসব) in West

Bengal and Assam.

Holi is of particular significance

in the Braj region, which includes

locations traditionally connected to

the Lord Krishna: Mathura,

Vrindavan, Nandagaon, and

Barsana, which become tourist

destinations during the season of

Holi. Holi in 2013 will fall on 27th

of March.

11 March 28, 2013

KABUL: Afghanistan on

Monday took full control of the

Bagram military prison from the

United States, healing one

running sore in their testy

relationship as US-led forces

wind down more than a decade

of war.

President Hamid Karzai had made

the fate of the detention centre north of

Kabul part of his ill-tempered push to regain

sovereignty over key matters from the

Americans, ahead of next year’s pullout of

foreign combat troops.

The US was long concerned that a

total handover to Afghanistan’s weak and

corruption-prone security forces would

allow suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda

militants housed at Bagram to return to the

battlefield.

But US Defence Secretary Chuck

Hagel clinched an agreement with Karzai in

a telephone call on Saturday, the Pentagon

said, and the handover ceremony took place

on Monday.

“This ceremony highlights an

increasingly confident, capable and

sovereign Afghanistan,” General Joseph

Dunford, the commander of the international

coalition in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

Bagram was due to be turned over to Afghan

forces on March 9, but the transfer was

postponed at the last minute after Karzai

indicated that “innocent” prisoners held

there would be released.

In September, the US gave Afghan

authorities control over more than 3,000

detainees at Bagram, once dubbed the

Guantanamo Bay of Afghanistan because

some inmates are detained without trial or

knowledge of any charges.

But the Americans continued to

guard 50 foreigners not covered by the

agreement, as well as hundreds of Afghans

arrested since a transfer deal was first signed

in March 2012.

Their extended control sparked

angry outbursts from Karzai and a warning

from Afghanistan’s top Islamic body that the

US military was coming to be seen as an

“occupation” force as it battles a long-

running Taliban insurgency.

“US control of Bagram was a

rallying cry for the Taliban and an important

issue for much of the Afghan public,” Kate

Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts’ Network

said.

“This looks like a victory for Karzai

as he has got what he wanted. Bagram was a

huge stumbling block before they get onto

a long list of other issues to sort out – and

time is of the essence.”

Karzai, who leaves office next year, has

also long been chafing at the activities of

US special forces and at civilian

casualties. He recently triggered outrage

by accusing the US of colluding with the

Taliban to justify the presence of

foreign troops.

Last week he won a limited

agreement for Afghan forces to take

charge of one district of Wardak province,

a key front of the insurgency pitting

insurgents against the US-led

International Security Assistance Force

(Isaf).

The agreement made no mention

of Karzai’s demand for US special forces

to withdraw entirely from Wardak, and

ISAF said that it was “business as usual”

for its troops in the rest of the flashpoint

province.

Afghan army and police are

gradually taking on responsibility for

battling the Taliban insurgency as most of

the 100,000 foreign troops prepare to exit

by the end of next year under a timetable

laid down by US President Barack

Obama.

Karzai is due to step down at elections next

year, 13 years after he came to power with

US backing when the hardline Taliban regime

was ousted in the aftermath of the Sept 11

attacks of 2001.

The military and political calendars are

lending added urgency to the search for a

negotiated sett lement to resolve

Afghanistan’s decades of conflict.

Karzai plans to visit Qatar “within

weeks” to discuss the proposed opening of a

Taliban office in the Gulf emirate as a prelude

to possible peace talks, the Afghan foreign

ministry said Sunday.

Until earlier this year, Karzai rejected

the idea of a Taliban office in Qatar because

of fears that his government would be frozen

out of any deal between the US and the

militants.

The Taliban have refused to negotiate

directly with Karzai and the foreign ministry

stressed that it would only start negotiations if

the militants “break all relations with Al-

Qaeda and give up terrorism”.

US cedes full control of Bagram to Afghan forces

This March 23, 2011, file photo shows Afghan detainees through a wire mesh fence inside the Parwan detention facility near Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. Saturday, March 23, 2013, the Pentagon said the US has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the facility to Afghan control. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday as officials finalised the agreement after days of intense negotiations. – AP File Photo

12 March 28, 2013

WASHINGTON: After 12 long

years of war in Afghanistan the

best US intelligence can say is

that a reslient Taliban is

“diminished in some areas,” spy

agencies said Tuesday in a

notably pessimistic report.

The US military habitually issues

positive assessments of its progress in

pushing back the Taliban and building up

Afghan forces, but an annual report to

Congress from the intelligence community

was downbeat.

The agencies warned that the

Afghan economy is headed for a downturn

when Western aid declines after most Nato

troops leave next year, while battlefield

progress is tentative and fragile in areas due

to be handed to Afghan forces.

“We assess that the Taliban-led insurgency

has diminished in some areas of

Afghanistan but remains resilient and

capable of challenging US and international

goals,” according to the report.

The assessment was presented by

National Intelligence Director James

Clapper at a Senate hearing Tuesday.

According to the document, the

Taliban’s leadership continues to shelter in

cross-border sanctuaries in Pakistan, “which

allows them to provide strategic guidance to

the insurgency without fear for their safety.”

Progress in security was

“especially fragile” in areas where large

numbers of US-led forces were deployed

as part of a troop surge in 2010. Those

areas are now being handed over to

Afghan government army and police.

The intelligence assessment

contrasted with upbeat statements often

put out by the Pentagon and its field

commanders, which have touted major

progress and painted the Taliban as

severely damaged and divided.

The report to Congress said

Afghan security forces had proven

capable of safeguarding major cities and

key roads near “government-controlled

areas.”

But the Afghan air force, which is

trying to build up a fleet of helicopters and

small aircraft, has made little headway.

The report played down Al Qaeda’s

influence, saying the group had only limited

reach and that it was mainly seeking

propaganda victories rather than having a

genuine impact on the battlefield.

Afghanistan’s economy, which has

grown steadily in recent years, is expected to

slow after 2014, the report said, when

international funds will begin tapering off

after Nato forces pull out.

US spy agencies more pessimistic on Afghan war

“We assess that the Taliban-led insurgency has diminished in some areas of Afghanistan but remains resilient

and capable of challenging US and international goals,” according to the report. — Photo by Reuters