Rajab 14, 1434Saturday, 25 May, 2013 Rs 17.00 Vol III No 328 19 Pages Karachi-Peshawar Edition

PAKISTAN SHOULD CONSIDER IMFDEAL AFTER

REFORMS IN PLACEPAGE 04

PAGE 04

IMRAN WANTS CJP TO PROBE POLL RIGGING

STORY ON PAGE 03

FAMILY ROW DIVERTSPIA FLIGHT, BRITAINSCRAMBLES JETS

FAMILY ROW DIVERTSPIA FLIGHT, BRITAINSCRAMBLES JETS

CRITICISM AGAINST ECP NOT BASEDON FACTS: SECRETARY STORY ON PAGE 03

STORY ON PAGE 02

SC directs Khoso to submit response ontransfers, postings

Law Ministry moves toscuttle PM’s CNG ban

PAGE 04

AS TEMPERATURE SOARS, SO DOES POWER SHORTFALL

Pakistan ranks second in least liked countries: pollBBC World Service annual poll on

Friday revealed that Pakistan is one

of the most unpopular countries in

the world and only a rank above the

least popular Iran. More than

26,000 people from around the

world were asked to rate 16

countries on whether their global

influence was “mainly positive” or

“mainly negative”. PAGE 04

Former jihadi leaderescapes Peshawar suicide attack, 3 killedAt least three people were killed and two

others injured in a suicide attack targeting

former Afghan jihadi leader Haji

Hayatullah on Pachaggi Road of Peshawar

on Friday. Hayat survived the attack, but

the dead included his driver and a personal

bodyguard. Police said a suicide bomber

exploded blew up when Hayat’s vehicle

reached the main gate of Jamia Uloomul

Islamia on Pachaggi Road. PAGE 02

NEPRA stoppedfrom taking fuel adjustment chargesThe Senate Standing Committee on

Water and Power on Friday directed

the National Electric Power

Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to

stop taking fuel adjustment charges

as it was mandated to secure the

interests of consumers. The

committee met under the

Chairmanship of Senator Zahid Khan

in Parliament House. PAGE 16

PML-Q leadership ina bind as memberswant to join PTIPakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)

top leadership is deliberating on how to

keep their party relevant and intact

after the drubbing they received on May

11. The Chaudhrys have called a party

meeting in Lahore today (Saturday) to

figure out what to do with what is left of

the party. With two MNAs and seven

MPAs, it is very difficult to stay relevant

in any power equation. PAGE 09

STORY ON PAGE 03

MISBAH SEEKS IMPROVEMENTAFTER IRISH TIE

PAGE 16

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news

LONDON/LAHORESTAFF REPORT

BRITISH police on Friday ar-rested two air travelers onsuspicion of endangerment ofthe aircraft after forcing a

Pakistan International Airways (PIA)Manchester-bound flight with 297 pas-sengers on board to land at Stansted air-port following a mid-air alert. Accordingto sources both the British nationality-holder Pakistanis were arrested after theyreportedly had a spat with the crew.

According to PIA sources the sus-pects had allegedly threatened to bombthe plane with explosives. A panickedstewardess alarmed the pilot, CaptainNadeem Sufi, who sent a stress signal toLondon control tower triggering the se-curity alert, which led to the forced land-ing of the plane.

Initially Essex Police said a man anda woman had been arrested and removedfrom the plane, which is on an isolatedrunway at the airport.

Reportedly, it all started after Mo-hammad Shafqat and Ammara Ashraf,traveling with a number of other familymembers, engaged in an argument,which went out of control forcing thecrew to intervene, who were warned tostay out of it.

The quarreling family went as far asthreatening the crew that they were goingto blow the plane up, which caused the

panic. However, they were released afterpolice found out it was a petty domesticsquabble. Earlier, Royal Air Force (RAF)Typhoon jets were scrambled to interceptthe PIA flight, which escorted the Man-chester-bound flight to Stansted.

Flight PK709 from Lahore was dueto land at Manchester Airport in north-west England at 1230 GMT. The planewas diverted to Stansted airport, east ofcentral London, according to a Manches-ter Airport spokesman. The news comes

two days after a soldier was hacked todeath on a London street in an incidentthe government are treating as a terroristincident.PILOT AT FAULT: In Lahore, seniorPIA officials blamed Captain Sufi for theincident.

"There is a standard operation proce-dure (SOP) that if there is an unruly pas-senger on the plane, the pilot can seekpolice intervention upon landing of theplane. This is what should have hap-

pened. Instead, the pilot mishandled thesituation bringing a bad name to thecountry and the airline," a senior PIA of-ficial said on the condition of anonymity.

"The PIA is an airline which runs onethnic basis—mostly expats fly the air-line and passengers often engage in ver-bal arguments. In most cases thearguments have involved Kashmiris," headded. He said the PIA should conductassessment and psychological analysis ofits employees so that they can managesuch situations without creating a crisisand bringing a bad name to the country.PIA’S SIDE OF THE STORY: A PIAstatement said that Flight PK 709 fromLahore to Manchester was diverted toStansted as a safety measure. “The flightwas diverted to Stansted airport on re-ceiving a threat to the aircraft from twopassengers to a PIA crew member whoinformed the captain. The captain of theaircraft immediately contacted the airtraffic control UK and on the instructionsreceived, the captain landed the aircraftat Stansted airport. The two passengershave been taken into custody by UK au-thorities and are being questioned,” thestatement said.CRIMINAL INCIDENT: The Britishpolice said they are treating the incidentas criminal rather than as terror-related.

"It's a criminal investigation underthe direction of Essex police," Superin-tendent Darrin Tomkins told reporters atStansted airport.

Asked if it could be terror related, headded: "This incident is being treated asa criminal offence." "The plane will re-main at its current location and will sub-ject to forensic examination by specialistofficers. At this point in time no suspi-cious items have been recovered."

Family row diverts PIA flight,Britain scrambles jets

UK POLICE ARRESTTWO BRITISH-PAKISTANISFOR ENDANGERINGAIRCRAFT

PESHAWARShAmIm ShAhId

At least three people were killed andtwo others injured in a suicide attacktargeting former Afghan jihadi leaderHaji Hayatullah on Pachaggi Road ofPeshawar on Friday. Hayat survivedthe attack, but the dead included hisdriver and a personal bodyguard.

Police said a suicide bomber ex-ploded blew up when Hayat’s vehiclereached the main gate of JamiaUloomul Islamia on Pachaggi Road.The massive explosion was heard allacross Peshawar and the cantonmentarea. Hayat’s vehicle was completelydestroyed in the attack. Those killed in-cluded Hadiur Rahman and AbdulHadi, Hayat’s driver and bodyguard.The identity of the third deceased wasyet to be ascertained. However, policesaid that he was a passer-by.

Assistant Inspector General (BombDisposal Squad) Shafqat Malik said theattack was a suicide bombing carriedout by a boy aged 17-18 years, addingthat around 10 kilogrammes of explo-sives were used in the attack. This wasthe second attempt on Hayat’s life.

About four years ago, he had survivedan IED attack. Belonging to Kunarprovince of Afghanistan, Hayat is thenephew of late Maulvi Jamilur Rah-man, chief of Jamatul Dawa Illal QuranWa Sunnah. Jamil was shot dead by un-known persons in Khar area of BajaurAgency in 1992. Hizb-e-IslamiAfghanistan was blamed for the killing.

After the Taliban took overAfghanistan in 1996, Hayat joined theCouncil for Understanding and NationalUnity of Afghanistan commonly known

as Shura–e-Tafahum Afghanistan. Heserved the council as its chief for morethan four years. Hayat and his familyinitially welcomed President HamidKarzai’s government, but later opposedthe regime when Hayat’s cousinRoohullah was apprehended by US of-ficials in 2004 and was held in Guan-tanamo Bay prison. Hayat and almost allhis family members have been neutralfor the past several years, althoughHayat has favoured an early pullout ofUS-led allied troops from Afghanistan.

Former jihadi leader escapesPeshawar suicide attack, 3 killed

3 PeoPle kIlleDIn AttAck on nAtocontAIner

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

At least three persons were killed on Fridaywhen unknown militants attacked a containerloaded with NATO goods at Shagai in KhyberAgency. The container carrying NATO goodswas on its way from Afghanistan to Karachi viaKhyber Agency and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).According to details, a container loaded withNATO goods, vehicles and other logisticalitems when was ambushed by armed militants.As a result of indiscriminate firing, two occu-pants of the vehicle lost their lives on the spotwhereas third person sustained injuries.The injured person later succumbed to his in-juries before reaching the hospital. The as-sailants managed to escape from the scene. Itis the second attack against NATO containersin the last five days.Taliban militants have already threateneddeadly attacks against the NATO good beingshifted from Afghanistan to US via Pakistan.So far, no one has claimed responsibility forlatest attack on the NATO container. However,officials in Khyber Agency believe involve-ment of Taliban militants in the attack. Talibanmilitants having dens and sanctuaries fromJamrud till the border town of Landi Kotal.

Appointment ofIGP Bani Amin’sson as BDS directorchallenged

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The appointment of Umar Amin, son of Is-lamabad Inspector General Police (IGP)Bani Amin as Islamabad Bomb DisposalSquad director has been challenged in theIslamabad High Court (IHC). The petitionwas field by former Bomb Disposal SqaudDirector Major (r) Muhammad Tabassum,who served the post for seven years. InMarch 2013, the IGP did not extend thecontract and appointed his son Umar Aminin Tabassum’s place. Major (r) Tabassum –who is internationally renowned for hiscommand on handling explosive and hasbeen represented Pakistan in various coun-tries to deliver lectures on this subject –challenged Amin’s appointment and movedthe court through his counsel FarooqAhmad Seemab. He was appointed as BDSdirector after open competition for the jobwas advertised in the media. The petitionerhas around 27 years of experience and he isauthor of book titled Bomb Disposal Squad.On the other hand, the IGP appointed hisson on the basis of only a week’s experi-ence. In his petition, Tabassum made the in-terior secretary, Islamabad IGP, Islamabadchief commissioner and Islamabad BDSSpecial Branch Director Umar Amin as re-spondents. The petitioner contended that theappointment of Amin was against the pre-scribed recruitment rules and acceptednorms being ineligible and unqualified forthe said post. He added that he had beenworking as the BDS director in BPS-18 oncontract basis for the last seven years andwas fully eligible to be appointed the BDSdirector on permanent basis. Tabassum ar-gued that Amin was neither qualified norhad such expertise at all required for thepost. He said the action of the respondentsleading to the appointment of Amin wasvoid ab initio being mala fide and moti-vated by vested interest, as he was directlyrelated to the IGP. He prayed the court issuean order in the nature of mandamus quash-

ing the decisionof the IGP. Hefurther prayedthat the respon-dents may bedirected to con-sider him forfilling up the

post on merit.

PESHAWAR:

The damaged

vehicle of

Afghan jihadi

leader Haji

Hayatullah. INP

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saturday, 25 May, 2013

ISLAMABADTAYYAB huSSAIN

PAKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan onFriday urged the chief justice ofPakistan (CJP) to investigate the

allegations of rigging in the May 11 generalelections to save the democratic process inthe country. Khan was addressing a chargedcrowd of thousands of PTI supportersthrough a video-link. He was discharged bydoctors at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hos-pital two days ago but because of his backinjuries, has been advised bed rest.

Khan also urged the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) to play its obliga-tory role by conducting a thorough probeinto the allegations of vote rigging, at leastin the four constituencies the PTI has men-tioned. He said voters, who had turned outin record numbers in the polls, had been

staging sit-ins in various parts of the coun-try as their right to vote had been ‘hi-jacked’. Khan appealed to Chief Justice

Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to order athorough investigation into poll rigging al-legations to save the democratic process in

the country. The PTI chief said he wantedrechecking of thumb-impressions in onlyfour constituencies as a litmus test to eval-

uate the rigging allegations and to set thepolling process straight. "Since the return-ing officers were working under your con-trol, it is your responsibility to probe theallegations. This election is being termed asthe ROs’ election. ROs have never been ac-cused of being involved in rigging before.If those involved in rigging are not pun-ished, who will take part in the next elec-tions?" he asked. He said it was not only thePTI which was crying foul but all politicalparties had been leveling allegations ofmassive vote rigging in the general elec-tions and all wanted a fair probe into the al-legations. "We are sure you will investigatethe matter for the sake of the future of Pak-istan. This will help make future pollstransparent. The ECP should also take ac-tion," he said addressing the CJP.

Khan said his party workers had strug-gled for the restoration of the sacked judgesfor the sake of the institution and not forany individual. "We did not come on to theroads for individuals. We wanted tostrengthen the institution. Probe into pollfraud will help save Pakistan. The voterswho had come to vote are holding sponta-neous protests," he said.

Despite the scorching heat, PTI work-ers gathered at D-Chowk to protest againstthe alleged vote rigging in various con-stituencies in the May 11 general elections.PTI leaders including Shah MahmoodQureshi, Shafqat Mahmood, JahangirTareen, Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, IshaqKhakwani, Amin Aslam, Malik SohailKamriyal, Ijaz Chaudhry, Dr YasminRashid, Dr Wasim Shehzad and others alsoaddressed the gathering.

The party's workers, including a largenumber of youth, were waving PTI flagsand were carrying placards inscribed withslogans condemning rigging in the elec-tions. Special poems were recited by partyworkers and supporters praising the leader-ship qualities of the PTI chairman. Theyalso criticised the ECP for not taking actionagainst the alleged vote rigging. Talking toPakistan Today, Shagufta Tasnim, a PTIworker, said Khan was being missed.

ImrAn wAntS cJP toProBe Poll rIGGInG

PTI CHIEF ALSO URGESECP TO PLAY ITSOBLIGATORY ROLE BYCONDUCTING THOROUGHPROBE INTO ALLEGATIONSOF VOTE RIGGING

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

People across the country are facing the worst-ever electricity load shedding this summer amidrecord temperatures, as the power shortfallcrossed the 7,500 megawatt mark on Friday andload shedding duration rose to 20 hours a day inmost areas.

Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) havebeen particularly subjected to prolonged and un-scheduled electricity load shedding, facing out-ages varying between 18 to 20 hours a day.Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujran-wala and other cities in Punjab have been experi-encing 18 to 20 hours load shedding for the past

few days. Urban areas are facing 18-20 hours ofload shedding amid soaring temperature. Continu-ous power outage has affected domestic life to agreat extent and caused water shortage in severalareas. Traders and business outlets have also beenhit hard by load shedding.

According to officials, tripping of Guddupower station affected power generation of about1,300MW.

At present, the power supply across the coun-try is 9,000MW and the demand around16,500MW.

Meanwhile, Water and Power Secretary AnwarAhmed Khan has said that approximately Rs 3.27billion were required on a daily basis to deal withthe electricity deficit.

During the session of Senate standing commit-tee on water and power, senators protested againstthe prolonged hours of load shedding and hike inpower tariff.

Senator Zahid Khan lamented that incorrectload shedding schedule had been provided, addingthat 18 hours of unannounced power cuts werebeing carried out. He demanded suspension of

those responsible for misleading the committee. The committee asked the officials to carry out

load shedding in the President’s House, PrimeMinister’s House, Parliament House, SupremeCourt, Judges Colony, Ministers Enclave andDiplomatic Enclave and no one should be givenexemption. They said employees of WAPDAshould also not be given any relaxation in this re-gard to provide maximum relief to the masses.

Officials of the Water and Power Ministry in-formed the committee that the Finance Ministrywas not cooperating and was not releasing fundsto purchase fuel for power generation.

“We held certain meetings with them, theyhave now agreed to provide Rs 10 billion on May28,” they said.

The committee said monitoring system of thepower sector had failed because officials of de-partments working under the Ministry of Waterand Power were giving different statements.

Zahid Khan showed displeasure over the per-formance of NEPRA, recommending NEPRA notto include recently-approved fuel adjustmentcharges in the electricity bills and leave the matterto the coming government.

It also recommended the ministry stop supplyof 650MW to the Karachi Electric Supply Com-pany (KESC) immediately.

ELECTRICITY SHORTFALLCROSSES 7,500MW LEADING TO18-20 HOURS OF LOAD SHEDDINGIN PUNJAB AND KP

POWER MINISTRY TO GETRS 5BN MORE ON MONDAYISLAMABAD: The Finance Ministry would

release another Rs five billion for the Water and

Power Ministry on Monday to help produce

more energy to meet the growing demand of

electricity. Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso

on Monday had ordered immediate release of

Rs 22 billion for Water and Power Ministry to

help meet the supply-demand gap of electricity.

However, the Finance Ministry has so far

released only Rs 5 billion. On Tuesday, the

Finance Ministry had claimed that Rs 15 billion

would be provided soon to the Water and Power

Ministry. However, this did not happen and

Caretaker Water and Power Minister Dr

Musaddiq Malik on Thursday had expressed his

helplessness due to non release of funds

despite the PM’s orders. A source in the Finance

Ministry said that due to the government’s

commitment to release funds for IMF

installment, the amount could not be paid to

the Water and Power Ministry. However, the

remaining amount would also be released in

the next few days, he added. STAFF REPORT

crItIcISm AGAInStecP not BASeD onFActS: SecretAry

ISLAMABADONLINE

Election Commission of Pakistan Secretary Ish-tiak Ahmad said every humanly possible effortwas made to conduct peaceful and fair electionsand criticism against the ECP was not based onfacts. Talking to reporters in Islamabad on Fri-day‚ he said every possible effort was made toensure peace and impartiality in the polls. Hesaid undue criticism had been made absent thecommission by some circles, but it was notbased on facts. He said the time had come to re-spond to the objections of the people. Khansaid the stance of Ishaq Khakwani of PTI wasfully heard by the commission and it was de-cided that re-polling would not be held in thatconstituency, as Khakwani could not satisfy thecommission. The secretary regretted that an-chorpersons of two private television channelswere engaged in propaganda campaign againstthe general elections. He said positive criticismwas welcome but character assassination couldnot be allowed. He said the democratic systemand the country should not suffer due to unduecriticism. Khan said with the exception of somestray incidents‚ elections were held peacefullyand this had been acknowledged by the interna-tional community. He said the election petitionswould be disposed of by tribunals consisting ofretired sessions’ judges in 120 days.

As temperature soars,so does power shortfall

LAHORE: A man takes a nap in

sweltering heat on Friday as power

outages continue to test the patience

of citizens across Punjab. muRTAzA ALI

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf hold a

placard during a sit-in at D-Chowk

on Friday against alleged rigging

in the election. ONLINE

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:40 AM Page 3

ISLAMABADONLINE

AMID pressurefrom CNG sta-tion owners, thefederal govern-ment on Friday

withdrew its decision to bansupply of CNG to vehicles ofengine capacity above 1,000cc.

According to reports, thecaretaker prime minister de-cided to withdraw the deci-sion following objections bythe Ministry of Law. Officialsof the Law Ministry main-tained that the decision wasagainst basic human rights.Moreover, the decision wasdifficult to implement acrossthe country, they added.

It may be pointed out thatthe caretaker prime minister

on Tuesday signed a summarysent by the Ministry of Petro-leum to ban sale of CNG tovehicles above 1000cc citingsevere shortage of natural gas.

The decision was imme-diately rejected by the CNGstation owners’ associationsacross the country. Earlier, theLaw Ministry said the recentdecision of caretaker PMHazar Khan Khoso to ban ve-hicles of over 1,000cc enginecapacity from utilising CNGwas illegal. “Caretakers can-not make key changes, the de-cision was against theconstitution and that every cit-izen has right over hydrocar-bon resources,” the LawMinistry observed during acritical meeting on Friday.

The PM has issued an exec-utive order after which the Pe-

troleum Ministry asked OGRAto implement the decision andslap fine from Rs 50,000 to Rs100,000 on CNG stations vio-lating the orders. It also askedOGRA to suspend licences ofCNG stations if found violatingorders persistently. However,the Law Ministry said the care-takers were exceeding their au-thority by taking such importantpolicy decisions.

Ghiyas AbdullahParacha, APCNGA chair-man, welcomed the decisionof the Law Ministry. He saidthe decision was discrimina-tory and a result of collusionbetween Petroleum MinisterSohail Wajahat Siddiqui andall powerful captive powerlobby. Paracha said the LawMinistry had taken a deci-sion based on merit.

newsN

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saturday, 25 May, 2013

LAHOREAGENCIES

The country’s new leadership expectsfirst results of its planned steps to shore upits finances and ease a power crisis in twoor three months and only then should de-cide whether and on what terms to seek anInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout,senior policy adviser and former federal fi-nance minister Sartaj Aziz said on Friday.

Most economists, lenders and ratingagencies say that the nation’s finances havereached such a critical stage that a deal withthe IMF will be necessary and the sooner itcomes the better.

But Aziz, 84, who has been advising in-coming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, andis expected to take over as his chief eco-nomic and foreign policy adviser when thenew government is sworn in coming days,said a deal with the IMF now would be self-defeating.“Right now, you can’t reach anagreement with the IMF because the kind ofconditions they would impose on you wouldnot allow you to grow,” said Aziz, who

served as finance and foreign minister inSharif’s two previous cabinets in the 1990s.“But if our economic revival package startsworking in two months, three months’ time,and it is clear that exports are picking up, ourrevenues are going up, then you need muchless adjustment than indicated by the presentsituation.” The Asian Development Bank,one of Pakistan’s major lenders, estimates itwill need $6 billion to $9 billion to meet itsobligations, including about $5 billion inoutstanding debt on an earlier $11 billionIMF package suspended in 2011.

But Aziz said those needs may provesmaller if the economy responded to newpolicies. “We may have to go to the IMF,but if we go with the revived economy thenprobably all we will need is a loan to coverthe repayments,” he said.

Aziz said talks with the IMF were goingon and did not rule out a decision sooner if athorough review of state finances by the in-coming government showed that the situa-tion was more serious than thought. Sharif,toppled by the military 14 years ago, sweptback to power in a landmark May 11 election

that marked the first transfer of power be-tween civilian governments in Pakistan’s 66-year history, about half of which has beenspent under military rule.NEARLY BROkE: That, combined with

a strong voter turnout and a clear majoritycaptured by Sharif’s Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N), raised hopes for

economic revival and greater stability.But he takes over a country that is al-

most broke, plagued by a Taliban insur-gency and sectarian violence, cripplingpower cuts and a growing army of unem-ployed. The nuclear-armed country of 180million, the world’s sixth most populous,has long been an economic underachiever,habitually relying on aid from internationalpartners concerned about its strategic im-portance. Aziz, who led work on the PML-N’s policy manifesto, said the new cabinetwould tackle in its first 100 days the mostpressing challenges of power shortages andfinancial haemorrhage with a series of stepsto cut waste and improve efficiency. Azizsaid tackling inefficiencies, clamping downon those who don’t pay bills, should helpsqueeze 10-12 percent more energy fromthe existing system, and the Pakistani peo-ple, some of whom have no electricity for20 hours a day, should feel the differencein coming weeks.

On the budget side, the government willoverhaul loss-making state firms by in-stalling managers with private sector cre-

dentials, tighten tax collection by buildingcomputerised databases and freeze hiring bygovernment agencies, Aziz said. But he sug-gested the new administration had little ap-petite for quick, but painful fixes prescribedby the IMF and others – an increase in elec-tricity tariffs and subsidy cuts and abolitionof special tax exemptions granted to well-connected businesses and individuals.

Asked what concrete steps would fol-low Sharif’s declared intention to improveties with India strained by a long-standingdispute over the Kashmir region, Azizbrought as examples relaxation of visa re-quirements, removal of non-tariff barriersand the better integration of energy sys-tems. Asked what concrete steps the newgovernment would take to improve Pak-istan’s security, essential to boost its invest-ment appeal, Aziz acknowledged there wasno blueprint. “The problem is that securityand foreign policy are not entirely underour control. Economic vision is under ourcontrol so we can spell it out, but what hap-pens to Afghanistan after the Americanswithdraw in 2014 also plays a role.”

PAKISTAN SHOULD CONSIDER IMF DEAL AFTER REFORMS IN PLACE: SARTAJ

Right now, you can’t reachan agreement with the IMF

because the kind ofconditions they would

impose on you would notallow you to grow

LAW MINISTRYMOVES TO SCUTTLEPM’S CNG BAN

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court on Fridaygave caretaker Prime MinisterMir Hazar Khan Khoso untilJune 6 to submit his response ina contempt notice issued againsthim and other senior officers forviolating a court judgement.

Earlier, a three–judgebench headed by JusticeJawwad S Khawaja had ob-served that “prima facie thepremature transfer and post-ing of at least 20 senior gov-ernment officers violated theapex court’s judgement in the

Anita Turab case”.The bench had taken notice

of the transfers and postingsgovernment of 20 senior offi-cers by the caretakers, includ-ing Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, on apetition filed by senior bureau-crat Shafqat Hussain Naghmi.Besides the competent author-ity (caretaker prime minister),notices under Section 3 of theContempt of the Court Ordi-nance 2003, read with article204 of the Constitution, werealso issued to Principal Secre-tary to the Prime MinisterKhawaja Siddiq Akbar and Es-tablishment Secretary Taimur

Azmat Usman.On Friday, the bench re-

sumed the hearing of the con-tempt notice issued againstthe caretaker premier.

During the hearing, JusticeKhawaja remarked that thecase was of an individual na-ture, adding that the notice wasissued to Khoso, caretakerprime minister at the time.Moreover, Justice Khawajasaid the court had not requiredKhoso to make a personal ap-pearance before the bench.However, the caretaker PMmight be asked to appear ifthere was a need after the sub-

mission of his response. Peti-tioner Naghmi said his transferfrom the position of industriessecretary to the Capital Admin-istration and Development Di-vision (CADD) was a moveinfluenced by Akbar andUsman, adding that theyshould also be asked to submittheir response on the matter.

Elahi, who was anotherofficial affected as a result ofthe transfers and postings,said corrupt personnel en-joyed key positions in thegovernment. The court subse-quently adjourned the hearinguntil June 6.

SC directs Khoso to submit response on transfers, postings

ShAkIl AFrIDIDenIeDASylum In uS

WASHINGTONINP

The jailed doctor who helpedthe US track down Osama binLaden was denied asylum inUnited States. Portions of thevoluminous 357-pageAbbottobad CommissionReport, which has yet to bemade public , said that DrShakil Afridi’s conviction lastyear by a jirga underminedPakistan’s credibility. Thereport called for Afridi to begiven a new trial. The reportalso acknowledged that DrShakeel Afridi was convictedby a tribal court on boguscharges. The report claimedAfridi joined the CIA search forBin Laden five years ago, whilehe was staying in the US with acousin. The State Departmentdeclined to comment on thereport’s claims that Afridi hadapplied for asylum whilestaying in the US.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

A US diplomat crushed a Pak-istani citizen to death in a roadaccident on Friday. Accordingto details, the accident occurredat 7th Avenue, where a speedingBMW car bearing registrationnumber PE-214 crashed into apedestrian, killing him on thespot. The victim was identifiedas Zahoor Ahmed, aged 63.

According to the police,the car was driven by US Em-bassy General Service Officer

(GSO) Monica Sajal. Soonafter the accident, she man-aged to flee from the scene.However, later the embassystaff cooperated with the vic-tim’s family and the police.

Station House Officer(SHO) of Abpara Police stationAbdul Majeed told PakistanToday that police had started in-vestigation into the case. Heclaimed that the car involved inthe accident had been im-pounded. However, the SHOinsisted that the FIR of the inci-dent was being delayed on the

request of deceased’s son as hewas busy in the funeral of hisfather. Meanwhile, in a state-ment, US embassy said that anaccredited US diplomat was in-volved in a road accident onMay 24 on 7th Avenue in thevicinity of Melody Market.

“The embassy employee’svehicle collided with a pedes-trian. Tragically, the pedes-trian died as a result of hisinjuries. We extend our heart-felt condolences to the familyaffected by this tragedy,” saidthe statement.

Us diplomat’s speeding BMw runsover elderly man in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: NawabGhaus Bakhsh Barozai, thecaretaker chief minister ofBalochistan, on Fri-day used a per-sonal vehicle ofa police assis-tant sub-in-spector toreachBalochistanHouse, fearingattempts on his lifeduring a half-kilometerdrive from the Islamabad RedZone. According to details,Barozai visited the NationalPress Club (NPC) and held asitting with local journalists.

During the period, dozens ofprotesters from the JamhooriWatan Party (JWP) staging a

sit-in outside the NPCchanted slogans

against him, de-manding the gov-ernmentrepatriate them toDera Bugti. After

the event, the con-voy of the caretaker

chief minister, re-turned to Balocistan

House along with the CM’sofficial car, but Barozai leftthe venue after 15 minutes –in the police official’s per-sonal vehicle. ANwER ABBAS

olSon cAllS onImrAn khAn

LAHORE: United States (US)Ambassador to PakistanRichard Olson visited PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chiefImran Khan on Friday toenquire about his health. PTIleader Shah Mahmood Qureshiwas also present on theoccasion. Later, Olson andQureshi talked to mediapersonnel. The American envoysaid he had visited Khan toenquire about his health. He saidthe massive turnout in recentelections was a sign of successof democracy in Pakistan.Qureshi said the PTI would be aconstructive and strongopposition in the National andPunjab Assembly. APP

LONDONAGENCIES

BBC World Service annualpoll on Friday revealed thatPakistan is one of the most un-popular countries in the worldand only a rank above theleast popular Iran.

More than 26,000 peoplefrom around the world wereasked to rate 16 countries onwhether their global influ-ence was “mainly positive”or “mainly negative”. Pak-istan came second last withonly 15 percent looking uponit favourably, while 55 per-cent rating it as “mainly neg-ative.” The poll wasconducted for the BBC byGlobeScan and PIPA, andquizzed randomly selectedpeople in 25 countries.MOST POPULAR: Germanyis the most popular country in

the world despite well-publi-cised protests against its insis-tence on austerity measureswithin the European Union.

Some 59 percent of thosepolled rated Germany as hav-ing a positive influence,while at the other end of thespectrum, Iran came last withonly 15 percent looking uponit favourably. Even in Spain,which is suffering from strin-gent austerity measures dueto a German-led financialrescue package, 68 percentsaid they felt Germany had“a mainly positive influencein the world”. Respondentsin Greece, which has seenanti-German protests depict-ing Chancellor AngelaMerkel as a Nazi for her in-sistence on fiscal belt-tight-ening, gave it the worstrating with 52 percent sayingit was a bad influence.

US OFFERS ENERGYASSISTANCE TO PAKISTAN WASHINGTON:AfterChina, the US governmenton Friday offered to help theupcoming government ofPakistan overcome the pre-vailing energy crisis. Talkingto newsmen, US State De-partment’s spokespersonPatrick Ventrell said that anew government was com-ing to power in Pakistan andthe US government lookedforward to working withthem. Furthermore, the USgovernment hailed thepeaceful transition of powerin Pakistan. To a question,he said that the US govern-ment had a deep relationshipwith Pakistan. He said thatissues like counterterrorismand energy were top priori-ties, but US had offered awide range of assistance toPakistan. ONLINE

Pakistan ranks number 2 in leastliked countries in the world: poll

Barozai uses police official’scar fearing life attempt

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KARACHI

ksaturday, 25 May, 2013

05

Low

high

SUndAy MondAy tUeSdAy34°C I 29°C 35°C I 28°C 35°C I 28°C

PRAYER TImINGS

SUnny

WeAther UpdAteS

340C

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

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

290C

Beautification work on Shara-e-Faisal should start immediately and

all banners, flags, posters and bill boards installed during elections

should be removed – KMC Administrator Hashim Raza Zaidi

KARACHIINP

ARMED men on Fridaygunned down sixmore innocent personsand injured two othersin various parts of themetropolis.

In the first incident, police recoveredthe bodies of a man and a woman fromMalir Chaman Colony in New Karachiarea and shifted them to a hospital toundergo postmortem. Another dead bodywas also found on Maripur Road near DuaHotel.

Moreover, two men identified as TajMani and Musa were shot dead in the cityrailway colony. According to police, bothwere from Mansehra.

Meanwhile, another incident occurredin the area of Chakewara in Bahar Colonywhere unidentified armed men opened fireat a man that killed him on the spot.

Moreover, in Pak Colony, tworickshaw drivers, Rafiq and Shah Nawaz,sustained injuries when unidentifiedarmed man opened fire at them. Theywere shifted to a nearby hospital wheretheir condition was stated to be stable.POLICE ARREST 45 ACCUSED IN

ONGOING DRIvE AGAINST

CRIMINALS: The Karachi Police, intheir ongoing drive against criminals,arrested 45 accused during the past 24hours.

A police statement released here onFriday said that those arrested includedfive absconders and three proclaimedoffenders.

Four of the arrested were accused in amurder case that took place in thejurisdiction of Mominabad Police Station

It further said that 19 weapons ofdifferent calibres were also recoveredfrom those arrested.

VIolence clAImSSIx more lIVeS

THREE INJURED IN GRENADEATTACK ON SCHOOL IN ORANGI

KARACHI: Unknown culprits hurled a hand grenade at a school in Orangi Town on Friday that injured

three children. According to police, unidentified miscreants threw a hand grenade inside a private school

through a classroom window that injured three students. SSP West Asif Aijaz Shaikh told reporters that two

injured children, 7-year-old Fatima and 10-year-old Izhar Ahmed, have been shifted to Qatar Hospital to

receive medical treatment. The incharge of emergency unit Dr Subhash told reporters that the wounded

children were out of danger. INP

DenGue StrIkeSAGAIn, SIx newcASeS rePorteD

KARACHIAPP

Six new cases of dengue fever positivewere reported in the metropolis onFriday, coupled with five othersregistered with Sindh DengueSurveillance Cell during the last twodays.Dengue Surveillance Cell In-charge DrAamir Shakeel Mullick said on Fridaythat details of the dengue fever casesreported in the current year put themetropolis on top with 133 dengue feverpositive cases, while eight cases werereported from other parts of the province.The eight reported cases outside theprovincial metropolis were fromHyderabad (two), Larkana (one),

Khairpur (one), Shikarpur(two) and

Thatta(two).

KARACHIAPP

Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice MushirAlam has said that online verification systemof sureties and securities is being evolved withthe assistance of the excise and taxationdepartment for the convenience of thepeople.

Speaking at a certificates-distribution ceremony onThursday, the Sindh High Court(SHC) Chief Justice said thissystem would help peoplewho want to submitsureties in the shapeof vehicles orproperty documents in

connection with bails and other cases.Presently, it was being done through

courier service, which took time andpeople faced hardships, he added.

He asked the lawyers to submitworkable proposals through development

commit tee of the SHC for in t roducingonline verification system at the SHC and

dis t r ic t cour ts . Later on, theSindh High Court (SHC) Chief

Jus t ice d is t r ibutedapprecia t ion cer t i f ica tes

among the part icipants of athree-day medical camp

which was organised bya lawyers’ bodyfrom May 16 to18.

Online sureties’ verification system being evolved

HYDERABAD: Activists of Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal

Jamaat hold a demonstration in support of

their demands outside the press club. ONLINE

VeterAn comeDIAnrAnGeelArememBereD

kARACHI: Legend comedian actorRangeela was remembered on his deathanniversary on Friday. Rangeela originallynamed as Mohammad Saeed Khan was bornin 1937 in Parachinar, Pakistan. Rangeelamade his professional cinematic debut in a1958 Punjabi film ‘Jatti’. The super hit film‘Diya Aur Toofan’, May 9, 1969, wasRangeela’s directional debut. Additionally,he was also the producer, singer, writer andactor of the movie. He directed numerousmovies under the banner of ‘Rangeelaproductions’. Excellence of his actingpotential was enormous in the super hit film‘Rangeela’, September 11, 1970, whereinwhich he played the title role of Rangeela.Director cum producer cum actor cum writerRangeela earned plaudits from his adorersfor his third consecutive super hit film ‘DilAur Duniya’, October 1, 1971, with Habib,Aasia and Rangeela as cast of the movie.The above three films were big hits at thebox office in a row. Thus, Rangeelasuccessfully completed the ‘hat trick’ of hismovies. He brought to the film ‘Dil AurDuniya’, the sobering sense of a director’sprowess which is quite opposite to hiscelluloid persona. Rangeela had been adominant force in the Pakistani cinema forover forty years. He won many awards.With the passage of time, his healthdeteriorated and Rangeela died on May 24,2005, in Lahore. INP

Power supply resumedafter technical glitchat Guddu fixedJACOBABAD: A technical fault in GudduThermal Power, which tripped Guddu, Uchand Habibullah coastal power plants, hasbeen fixed while power supply has also beenrestored in various areas. According to thesources, the power supply to affected partsof Sindh and Balochistan provinces havebeen restored. Earlier, a fire had broken outat Guddu Power House Unit-4 following atechnical glitch due to which 1,450 MWelectricity was lost from the system. INP

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 5

KARACHIsaturday, 25 May, 2013

06

k

Women along with men will have to play an effective roletowards the betterment of the society and economic developmentof the country – Provincial Minister Anis Haroon

KARACHIAPP

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)Karachi division leaders reviewedthe performance of party men at ameeting on Friday. The meeting ofPPP Karachi Division’s executivecommittee was held with PPP

Karachi President Abdul Qadir Patelin the chair. Members of the execu-tive committee Syed Najmi Alam,Lateef Mughal, Fareed Ansari, Shah-jahan Khan, Raja Abdul RazzaqBaloch, Saeed Chawla and others at-tended the meeting.

The meeting held a detailed re-view of the performance of office-

bearers of the party. It was also de-cided that action would be takenagainst those party men againstwhom written complaints werebeing received. The Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party Karachi president hasbeen given authority to take actionon complaints against the party menand consult the party leadership in

this regard. The meeting also re-posed full confidence in the leader-ship of party chairman BilawalBhutto Zardari and President AsifAli Zardari. The participants of themeeting also expressed concernsover the announced and unan-nounced load shedding of electricityin Karachi.

PPP kArAchI reVIewS PArty PerFormAnce

nIcl ScAm: FIA ArreStS ABSconDer AAmIr huSSAIn

KARACHI ONLINE

Aamir Hussain, a key accused in the National Insurance Com-pany Limited (NICL) multibillion scam, was arrested by theFederal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the metropolis.According to FIA Sindh Director Muhammad Malik, Hussainwas taken into custody in the metropolis, adding that theagency was in contact with the Interpol to arrest other abscon-ders as well, including Ameen Qasim Dada and KhalidAnwer. Sources revealed that the arrested accused Hussainwas allegedly involved in irregularities in acquiring lands,while Pakistan People’s Party’s veteran leader and formercommerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and former sec-retary trade Suleman Ghani were on bail in the NICL case.

PArtly clouDy weAtherForecASt For metroPolIS

KARACHIAPP

Partly cloudy weather with chances of drizzle early in themorning has been forecast for Saturday in the metropolis, saida weather report on Monday. According to the weather reportissued by Pakistan Meteorological Department, the maximumtemperature was expected to remain in the range of 34 to 36degree Celsius. It said mainly hot/very hot and dry weatherwas expected elsewhere in the region.

commISSIoner PrAISeS role oFmeDIA In hIGhlIGhtInG ISSueS

KARACHIAPP

Karachi Commissioner ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui has said that vi-

brant media plays a significantrole in highlighting the issuesof public importance and helpthem resolve. He was talking to a delega-tion of APP Employees Union

(CBA) Sindh led by its Presi-dent Ehsan Qureshi at his office

here on Thursday evening.He recognised the contribution of APP

- Pakistan’s premier news agency - in different fields of na-tional life and noted that the men holding its flag had workeddedicatedly keeping national interests foremost.He informed the delegation that this was first time in the his-tory of the office of Commissioner Karachi that the APP Em-ployees Union’s elected office-bearers have visited the sittingcommissioner of the commercial hub. The commissioner offered every support for welfare of de-ceased senior reporters of this organisation and assured to ex-tend all support and assistance needed for the good cause.Shoaib, who took over as commissioner last month, said he al-ways received big support from APP and promised to help inraising funds for the late chief reporter of APP KarachiKhushnood Ali Shaikh, who lost his life in an accident in Feb-ruary this year as well as for Rafi Nasir, another senior re-porter who died of brain haemorrhage last year.“We will join hands with APP Sindh Union in their endeav-ours for extending support to the families of the late re-porters,” he announced. He lauded the services of lateKhushnood Shaikh and Rafi Nasir in their journalistic field.On the occasion, Vice President of the Union Arshad AhmedKhan briefed the commissioner of various plans chalked outfor the welfare of members of APP Employees Sindh and in-troducing the annual awards for them.He said plans are also afoot for holding a reunion of retiredAPP staffers. He said the national news agency had alwaysplayed a positive role in projecting the real public issuesthrough their reporting skills, photo journalism and videonews service (VNS).

kArAchI SItuAtIon BADFor 10 to 15 yeArS

KARACHIONLINE

Federal Interior Minister MalikHabib has said that the caretaker

government was installed twomonths ago while the law andorder situation in Karachi isbad for the last 10 to 15years. Talking to media at theKarachi airport, the interim

interior minister congratulatedthe nation for casting their votes

in the general elections. He said nomajor untoward incident took place on

the polling day. He said complaints regarding alleged riggingin the elections were being investigated.

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 6

07

newssaturday, 25 May, 2013

The moment you are old enough to

take the wheel, responsibility lies

with you. — JK RowlingN

PARIS AGENCIES

Christine Lagarde, the head of the Interna-tional Monetary Fund, has been questionedby French prosecutors in order to decide ifshe should be charged over a state payoutto a well-connected entrepreneur during hertime as finance minister.

Lagarde has played down the investi-gation, which continued for a second dayon Friday, but the stakes are high for bothher and the IMF, which has expressed con-fidence in Lagarde. “The executive boardhas been briefed on that matter, includingrecently, and continues to express its con-fidence in the managing director’s abilityto effectively carry out her duties,” GerryRice, IMF spokesman, said in Washingtonon Thursday. Lagarde, 57, was seen leaving

a Paris court late on Thursday after beingquizzed by prosecutors for around 12hours. “See you tomorrow,” she saidas she left the building.

The Court of Justice ofthe Republic (CJR), whichinvestigates cases of min-isterial misconduct, isseeking an explanationof her 2007 handlingof a row that resulted in$515m being paid toBernard Tapie, the entre-preneur. Criminal chargesagainst Lagarde wouldmark the second straightscandal for an IMF chief, afterher predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also from France, resigned in dis-grace in 2011 over an alleged assault on a

New York hotel maid. Lagarde, the firstwoman to run an organisation considered

the pillar of the international finan-cial system, was named the

world’s seventh most power-ful woman by Forbes mag-

azine on Wednesday.‘ N U M E R O U S

ANOMALIES’: Tapie,a former politician, wentto prison for match-fix-ing during his time aspresident of French foot-

ball club Olympique deMarse i l l e .Prosecu tors

working for the CJR suspecthe received favourable treatment

in return for supporting NicolasSarkozy in the 2007 presidential election.

They have suggested Lagarde - who at

the time was finance minister - was partlyresponsible for “numerous anomalies andirregularities” which could lead to chargesfor complicity in fraud and misappropria-tion of public funds. The investigation cen-tres on her 2007 move to ask a panel ofjudges to arbitrate in a dispute betweenTapie and Credit Lyonnais, the collapsed,partly state-owned bank, over his 1993 saleof sports group Adidas.

Tapie had accused Credit Lyonnais ofdefrauding him by consciously undervalu-ing Adidas at the time of the sale and ar-gued that the state, as the former principalshareholder in the bank, should compensatehim. His arguments were upheld by the ar-bitration panel but critics claimed the stateshould not have taken the risk of beingforced to pay compensation to a convictedcriminal who, as he was bankrupt at the

time, would not have been able to pursuethe case through the courts. The paymentTapie received enabled him to clear hishuge debts and tax liabilities and, accordingto media reports, left him with millions ofdollars which he has used to relaunch hisbusiness career. Lagarde has said the arbi-tration was necessary to put an end to acostly dispute, and has always denied hav-ing acted under orders from Sarkozy.

Lagarde would not automatically beforced to resign as IMF chief if she ischarged, but such a ruling would certainlyweaken her position and undermine her fu-ture ambitions on the world stage. NajatVallaud-Belkacem, French governmentspokeswoman, told BFMTV that “objec-tively speaking and knowing the IMF... Itend to think that if she is charged, they willwithout doubt ask her to quit her post”.

2 MORE ARRESTEDOVER UK SOLDIER’SKILLING

LONDON AGENCIES

POLICE in London have arrested a man and awoman in connection with the murder of a Britishsoldier near a military barrack. Detectives said onThursday they had arrested the unidentifiedsuspects, both aged 29, over the murder of

Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, who was hacked to death inWoolwich on Wednesday. “This is a large, complex and fast-moving investigation which continues to develop,” Londonpolice said in a statement. “Many lines of inquiry are beingfollowed by detectives and the investigation is progressingwell.” Detectives said they were searching six houses; three inGreenwich in south London, one in Romford, east London,one in north London, and a property in Lincoln in centralEngland. Meanwhile, Rigby’s two main suspected attackerswere in separate hospitals being treated for gun shot wounds.They were fired at by officers at the scene of the killing.A new video has emerged of the two suspects, who appear torun at the police as they arrived at the scene of the crime.They had been known to MI5 security services before theattack, reports said. One man is believed to be 28-year-oldLondoner Michael Adebolajo, who is of Nigerian descent, andis said to have converted to Islam 10 years ago. Rigby servedin Afghanistan in 2009, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said.“An extremely popular and witty soldier, Drummer Rigbywas a larger than life personality within the Corps of Drumsand was well known, liked and respected across the SecondFusiliers” a statement from the ministry said. The attackershad made references to Islam in amateur footage broadcaston television. Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting fromLondon’s Scotland Yard, said the government is “makingthis gesture to calm down people’s fears”.“People are shocked and scared from what they saw, but thegovernment wants to make sure that there is no blameattributed to minorities. These extra police are on streets toreassure people,” our correspondent said. Footage broadcastby Britain’s ITV news channel showed a man, with handssoaked in blood and holding a meat cleaver and a knife,claiming that he had, motivated by Britain’s foreign policy,killed a soldier. Witnesses said he requested to be filmed by apasserby and shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the killing.In the amateur video, he said: “I apologise that women had towitness this today but in our lands, our women have to see thesame ... you people will never be safe. Remove yourgovernment, they don’t care about you.”The second attacker is believed to be 22 years old.‘Standing together’Later on Thursday, President Barack Obama offered hissupport to Britain saying the US “stands resolute with theUnited Kingdom, our ally and friend, against violentextremism and terror,” in a statement. “I look forward to mytrip to the United Kingdom to participate in the June G-8Summit, hosted by Prime Minister Cameron, which willinclude discussions on the important global securitychallenges our countries face together.” After a secondmeeting of the government’s emergency COBRA securitycouncil on Thursday, Cameron said the country would “defeatviolent extremism by standing together”.“This action was a betrayal of Islam and the Muslimcommunities that give so much to our country ... we will notrest until we know every detail.” Cameron also praised theactions of Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, a cub scout leader whoconfronted the attackers immediately after the violence andtried to talk them down. “They told her they wanted to start awar in London and she replied, ‘you are going to lose, it isyou against many,” Cameron said. “She speaks for all of us.”

5 thAI SolDIerSkIlleD IntArGeteD AttAck

BANGKOKAGENCIES

Five paramilitary soldiers have been killed and one other hasbeen wounded by a roadside bomb in southern Thailand, localpolice say. Police said on Friday that the soldiers were travellingin a pick-up vehicle to meet Muslim community leaders in theSaiburi district of Pattani, one of Thailand’s southernmostprovinces hit by a near-decade long rebellion which has claimedmore than 5,500 lives. “Five rangers are dead, including thecommander who was intially severely wounded,” SergeantMontri Prommee of Saiburi police told AFP news agency, addingthe explosive device was buried in the road. “They [theinsurgents] want to create situations [unrest] on important days,”he added, referring to the timing of the attack on one of the mostimportant Buddhist holidays of the Thai calendar. The Muslim-majority deep south has yet to curb violence against Thaisecurity forces, or civilians, despite ongoing peace talks inneighbouring Malaysia. The attacks come after the first officialpeace talks between Thai authorities and representatives of rebelgroup the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) in Malaysia inMarch and another round in April. Since then, near-daily deadlyattacks have renewed questions over whether Thailand is talkingto rebel leaders who can control the violence. Analysts say rebelsare using increasingly sophisticated bomb-making anddetonation techniques to cause more casualties. On Thursdayanother ranger was killed alongside a suspected fighter in a late-night shootout in Narathiwat, which borders Malaysia, while aBuddhist grocer was gunned down in broad daylight the previousday. Buddhist and Muslims alike fall victim to the fighters, whotarget security forces, civilians and perceived representatives ofstate authority such as teachers. In April rebels involved in thetalks said they wanted “liberation” from Thailand, somethingthat General Prayut, Thai army chief, rejected on Wednesdayduring a trip to the southern province of Yala.

MOSCOW AGENCIES

Russia says the Syrian government hadagreed in principle to attend an internationalpeace conference proposed by Russia andthe US, and criticised what it called at-tempts to undermine peace efforts.

The summit has been suggested by theUS and Russia and could take place in theSwiss city of Geneva. “We note with satis-faction that we have received an agreementin principle from Damascus to attend the in-ternational conference, in the interest ofSyrians themselves finding a political pathto resolve the conflict, which is ruinous forthe nation and region,” Alexander Lukashe-vich, Russian foreign ministry spokesman,said on Friday. Faisal Mekdad, Syriandeputy foreign minister, said after talks inMoscow on Wednesday the governmentwould soon decide whether to take part inthe conference aimed at bringing govern-ment and opposition representatives to-gether for talks.

Lukashevich said international actionincluding a May 15 UN General Assemblyresolution that praised the opposition andcondemned President Bashar al-Assad’sforces has “essentially pushed [the opposi-tion)]to reject negotiations”.

Some European media have reportedthat the conference has been tentativelyscheduled to be held on June 10. But Luka-shevich said such reports “cannot be taken

seriously” because the ranks of SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad’s foes remain sodivided. “Demands to immediately name aspecific date for the conference withouthaving clarity about who, and with whatauthority, will speak in the name of the op-position, cannot be taken seriously,” Luka-shevich said. The opposition SyrianNational Coalition, which is currentlymeeting in Istanbul, to discuss an interimgovernment, has said it will only go to“Geneva II” if Assad steps down as presi-dent. Louai Safi, a senior member ofSyria’s main opposition, told Al Jazeera,“The fact that it has been announced inMoscow, rather than in Damascus, is aworrying point, as we want to hear thespokesperson of the Syrian governmentmaking that statement with clarity.”

“There is alot of ambiguity. What doesit mean, ‘in principle’?,” he said. “We wantto hear definitive answers....We want to seea clarity of the purpose of Geneva.” TheSyrian National Coalition, which is main op-position group based outside the country, en-tered a second day of talks on Friday aimedat finding an approach to the joint Russian-US peace push. The first Geneva meeting inJune last year ended in a broad agreementaimed at forming a transition government inSyria and introducing a long-lasting truce.But the deal was never implemented be-cause of disagreements over Assad’s role inthe new government and neither side’s de-cision to lay down their arms.

IMF chief’s trial over payout resumes

LIuzHOu: A Chinese

man carries his

makeshift dwelling

as he walks along a

road. Five years

ago, Liu Lingchao,

38, decided to walk

back to his

hometown in

Guangxi from

Shenzhen. His

portable room

weighs 60kg, which

he carries on

average 12 miles a

day. – AGENCIES

Russia claims syriais ready for talks

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 7

newsNsaturday 25 May, 2013

08

PRESS RELEASE

We refer to an article recently publishedreferring to a letter written by Trans-parency International Pakistan (TIP) tothe Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistanregarding allegation of insider trading byJS Group in the shares of Azgard NineLimited (ANL).

It may be pointed out that the socalled investigation report mentioned inthe news article was initiated by unautho-rized officers in violation of law in theyear 2007 and was completed by theSECP investigation team in April 2009.Thereafter it remained dormant for 4years without any action. However, sud-denly SECP filed the Complaint on10.4.13 within hours after the HonorableSupreme Court reserved order on theissue of illegal appointment of the thenSECP Chairman on 9.4.13. The Chairmanwas removed by order of the Supreme

Court on 12.4.13. The rivals businessGroups taking full advantage of this dor-mant Complaint by SECP launched a ma-licious propaganda campaign to damagethe good name and reputation of the com-panies that were falsely accused. JS In-vestments Limited, Jahangir Siddiqui &Sons Limited and Jahangir Siddiqui Se-curities Services Limited being so ag-grieved with this illegal and mala fideComplaint / proceedings by SECP, chal-lenged the same before Sindh High Court.The Honorable High Court heard the mat-ter and stayed the trial proceedings of theComplaint. The matter is now pendingand sub judice before Sindh High Court.

With reference to the statement thatTIP has also sought action against Ja-hangir Siddiqui & Co. Limited (JSCL) forawarding fee of $4.2 million dollars to adirector in 2013, the true facts about thereported advisory fee paid to the Directorare that the Company held a large number

of shares in a well known company,which the Company sold at a very highpremium, resulting in huge capital gainfor the company many times more thanthe advisory fee paid. The particulars ofthe sale, being material price sensitive in-formation, were disclosed in a timelymanner to the Karachi Stock Exchange.Furthermore, the Transaction was ap-proved by the Board of Directors and theshareholders were fully explained about itat the Company’s Annual General Meet-ing where after the Annual Accounts wereapproved by the shareholders. The advi-sory fee paid has also been adequatelydisclosed in the Annual Report for 2012.Thus, there was absolutely nothing illegalor improper about this.

It is however very unfortunate that theTransparency International Pakistan (TIP)did not contact JSCL before making falseallegations to the respective regulator andmedia. Furthermore, most of the matters

are public knowledge and some of themare sub judice.

Adil Gilani who claims to be a repre-sentative of TIP is himself facing seriousallegations of corruption but has been mis-using the name of TIP to malign variousCompanies at the instance of a self pro-claimed business rival even though AdilGilani has been proved to be an employee/ business associate of that person. Thisissue has been taken to the High Court ofSindh and restraining orders have beenpassed against TIP and Adil Gilani.

JS Group is one of the largest Con-glomerates in Pakistan and has beenknown for its impeccable record withPublic, Investors and the Regulators forover 40 years now. We are a firm believerin good governance. It has always beenand shall remain our policy and practiceto abide by the law and regulations of ourregulators. This clarification has been is-sued as a matter of record.

Js Group rejects TIP’s assertions

ISLAMABADONLINE

CHIEF Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry has expresseddispleasure over National

Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) fail-ure to file references against AhmadRiaz Sheikh and Adnan Khawaja.

A three-member bench of theSupreme Court (SC) headed by theCJP took up the NRO implementationcase for hearing on Friday.

Ibrahim Satti and other lawyersappeared before the court on behalf ofthe accused.

At the inception of hearing, NABProsecutor General KK Agha ap-peared in court and took the plea thatNAB was reviewing the matter if anyjustification existed to initiate pro-ceedings against the persons with re-spect to whom the court had ordered

to file reference. “It is a technicalmatter,” he added.

The CJP inquired why NAB had

not filed reference against these per-sons.

KK Agha said Adnan Khawaja was

appointed in OGDCL and Ahmad RiazSheikh was appointed as additionalDG in FIA.

Ibrahim Satti said NAB filed refer-ence against Ahsan Raja instead ofAhmad Riaz Sheikh and AdnanKhawaja. “Qamarul Zaman was alsosuspended.”

“During this time, Raja was as-signed temporary charge. NAB alsodid not file reference against formerprime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, asthe real power to make these appoint-ments rested with him,” he said.

The CJP observed, “We will haveto see summary worked out by Qa-marul Zaman and then the matter willbecome clear”.

The court summoned the summaryevolved by former establishment sec-retary Qamarul Zaman with referenceto appointment of Ahmad Riaz Sheikhand Adnan Khawaja on May 31 andadjourned the hearing.

cJP displeased with noaction against riaz, khawaja

Sc disqualifiesPml-n’s winningcandidateISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday

disqualified Ghafoor Lahri, a winning candidate

of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N)

from PB-29 on grounds of having a fake degree

and making false statements before the

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The

decision was made by a three-member bench

headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad

Chaudhry during the hearing of a petition

regarding the disqualification of Lahri by an

election tribunal. The court noted that it was

logically impossible to get a bachelor's degree

just after two years of passing matriculation.

Lahri contested Union Council's election in 2001

and had then declared that he had completed

his matriculation in 1983 while during the 2002

general elections, he had presented a

bachelor's degree to the ECP that had been

allegedly awarded to him in 1985. Earlier, the

SC conditionally allowed Lahri to contest the

general elections stating that his winning

notification would not be issued until the

decision on his petition was made by the court.

Now, as Lahri won in Balochistan’s PB-29

Nasirabad constituency, the court directed the

ECP to not issue his winning notification. The

court also put a fiscal penalty on him for

misguiding the ECP and making false

statements before the commission. APP

5 DeAD, SeVerAlFAInt BecAuSe oFGAStroenterItISIn multAn

ISLAMABADAPP

At least five people were killed and severalwere affected due to gastroenteritis in Mul-tan, a private news channel reported on Fri-day. The deaths were reported fromMajanwara village. Per details, people af-fected by the disease reported complaintsof diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach achedue to consumption of contaminated waterand unhygienic food in the prevalent hotweather. Hospital sources said at least fivepeople expired and more than 20 wereunder observation in special ward. Theysaid hundreds of such cases were being re-ported in local hospitals. Meanwhile, 15people, including three women and nineminors, fell unconscious due to scorchingheat. Over 600 people, including womenand children, suffering from stomach dis-eases and sunstroke were treated at DHQHospital the other day.

SuSPecteDkAShmIrImIlItAntS kIll 3InDIAn SolDIerS

SRINAGARmONITORING dESK

An official on Friday said suspected mili-tants had ambushed and fatally shot threeIndian army soldiers in Indian-adminis-tered Kashmir.Lt Col Ankur Vashist, an army spokesman,said the soldiers were on their way tosearch Buchoo village on Friday followingintelligence that some Kashmiri militantswere hiding there. The attack took place40 kilometres south of Srinagar, the maincity in Indian-administered Kashmir.Militant groups have been fighting for in-dependence from India or merger withPakistan since 1989.More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians,have been killed in the fighting since 1989.India accuses Pakistan of arming and train-ing the insurgents, a charge denied by Is-lamabad.Kashmir is divided between India and Pak-istan and the two have fought two warsover its control.

QuETTA: Unknown assailants on Friday

lobbed a hand grenade at a shop on Quetta’s

Sariab Road killing its owner. The shop which

dealt in CDs was located near the Awami

petrol pump on Sariab Road. The owner of

the shop who was initially injured in the at-

tack was taken to a nearby hospital where

he succumbed to his wounds. The proprietor

was a resident of Quetta’s Ittehad Colony lo-

cated on the provincial capital’s Kirani Road.

After the attack, the assailants managed to

escape from the scene. STAFF REPORT

Owner of CD shopkilled in grenade attack

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 8

news N

09

saturday 25 May, 2013

BAHAWALPuR:

The city’s roads

were deserted

due to intense

heat on Friday. INP

LAHORENAdEEm SYEd

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)top leadership is deliberating on how tokeep their party relevant and intact afterthe drubbing they received on May 11. TheChaudhrys have called a party meeting inLahore today (Saturday) to figure out whatto do with what is left of the party. Withtwo MNAs and seven MPAs, it is very dif-ficult to stay relevant in any power equa-tion. With little success in the generalelections, PML-Q is weighing various op-tions on individual and collective levels.

Senior party leaders may be in troubleas members of the party have been eyeingPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after itachieved a much more impressive winthan PML-Q. The fact that many membersmay leave to join PTI has now become areality for PML-Q. A senior party leadersaid that after his defeat in the recent elec-tions, workers from his constituency wereapproaching on him on a daily basis withthe intention to join PTI. “They find no fu-ture in PML-Q anymore and they want to

join PTI. Right now, the challenge for usis how to preempt these individuals fromleaving the party,” he said. For theChaudhrys, it was a crucial election frompersonal as well party’s point of view.They had set a modest target of 10 to 15seats in National Assembly. They thoughtthat with this much strength, they wouldbe relevant to any party having ambitionsto form a government. This strategy would

have kept them afloat in power corridors.However, much to their shock and dismay,election results were contrary to their ex-pectations and those of their key allies.They are still not sure how PML-Q got thefigures they did in general elections. Ontheir own performance in the elections,they are equally clueless. As they arenowhere near the goal they had set forthemselves, it is quite challenging for

Chaudhrys to stay relevant personally andsave party from further disintegration.Right now Chaudhrys are highly cautious,if not nervous, about what to do in the faceof Nawaz Sharif forming governmentsboth in the centre and Punjab with very lit-tle room for the PML-Q leadership to theirparliamentary strength.

They have no clue what treatment theSharif brothers might dish out to them thistime around. In the last government, Shar-ifs tried their best to malign the Chaudhryswith corruption charges. As such the newbeginning of Sharifs is challenging forChaudhrys from a personal angle. Thereis likelihood that they will try to make acommon cause with PTI, both in theprovince and the centre. They expect littlefrom PPP as an opposition party. And forthe party at large, they would like the indi-vidual members to think twice before leav-ing. “The Chaudhrys will ask on Saturdayto their party members not to make hurryin changing loyalties. Individual depar-tures will be hardly beneficial for anybody.Let the party deal with other parties collec-tively,” the senior leader said.

Pml-Q leadership in a bindas members want to join PtI

Sindh Assemblysession convenedon 29th

KARACHISTAFF REPORT

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan on Fri-day convened the Sindh Assembly session onWednesday (May 29). The newly-electedprovincial lawmakers would be sworn in dur-ing the first session of the Sindh legislature,said a spokesman to Speaker Nisar Khuhro.Quoting Acting Secretary Sindh AssemblyGhulam Umer Farooq, the spokesman said thesession would start at 10am. Speaker Khuhrowould administer oath to the members of theHouse. The May 11 election once again sawthe PPP taking the lead in terms of representa-tion in Sindh province where the former rulingparty at the Centre has won 69 of the provin-cial assembly seats. In the 2008 general elec-tion, the PPP won 71 general seats which werecomplemented with the seats reserved for mi-norities and women, raising the total to 93.This time two ANP lawmakers, Amir Nawaband Amanullah Mehsud, would be missingfrom the Sindh Assembly as the party faced acountrywide electoral loss. The PML-N, PTIand some independent candidates would bethe new comers in the 168-member house.

musharraf movesIhc against Atc'sbail cancellation

ISLAMABADAPP

Former president Pervez Musharraf on Fridaymoved the Islamabad High Court, challengingthe cancellation of his bail by the anti terrorismcourt in the judges' detention case. In his petition,filed through his counsel Ilyas Siddiqui, Mushar-raf said being a former president, he could not betried under the Anti-Terrorism Act and thecharges levelled against him were bailable. "Thepetitioner was supreme commander of the armedforces and was president of Pakistan and a presi-dent cannot be a terrorist,” the petitioner said,adding that in any case, none of the provisions ofthe Anti Terrorism Act was applicable in thecase. He said no order or evidence was availableon record that said the petitioner was the personwho had detained the judges of the superior judi-ciary or had put them under restraint. He saideven the complainant had withdrawn the allega-tions and had addressed a press conferenceshowing his reluctance to pursue the case. "Thatpetitioner moved the Islamabad High Court forpre-arrest bail where certain observations werepassed by the single judge in chamber of theIHC and the observations made by the singlejudge influenced the trial court hearing the peti-tion for bail after arrest," the petitioner said. Thecounsel said there was no apprehension that thepetitioner would abscond or tamper with theprosecution evidence. "The petitioner is ready tofurnish an adequate surety bond to the satisfac-tion of this court," he pledged. He said Mushar-raf was no more required for furtherinvestigation so the petition for bail should beaccepted until final disposal of the case.

ISLAMABADINP

The matter regarding alleged offer of illegal gratifi-cation to a former PPP government influential byan officer of the Pakistan Audit Department hasbeen referred to the Interior Ministry for a thor-ough probe. The Auditor General of Pakistan hasmade a request to the interior secretary in this re-gard and informed the prime minister about his re-quest. The Auditor General, it may be added, hastaken serious note of the alleged telephone talk be-tween an officer of the Pakistan Audit Departmentand influential persons of the former PPP govern-ment as reported in a column of a section of the

press. According to contents of the telephone con-versation, the said officer allegedly offered an ille-gal gratification of Rs 250 million to an influentiallady of the former PPP government. Later this offi-cer was hassled to arrange an additional amount ofRs 200 million. The news report gives detailed ac-count of this phone talk and states that a senior re-porter of an Urdu daily is in possession of thistelephone conversation. A spokesman for the Au-ditor General’s office added that it is in view of theseriousness of the allegation, credibility of thecolumnist and the newspaper that the Auditor Gen-eral has asked the Ministry of Interior to step inand properly investigate the matter to identify theculprits for initiation of disciplinary action.

Interior Ministry to probeoffer of illegal gratificationby Audit Dept officer ISLAMABAD

ANwER ABBAS

Former speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirzais likely to administer the oath taking ceremony of thenewly-elected members in the first formal session of the Na-tional Assembly under the new regime, Pakistan Today haslearnt. A source privy to the National Assembly said that DrFehmida Mirza would administer the oaths of the new mem-bers as well as her own oath. Fehmida Mirza has securedher seat in the recent elections from NA-225, Karachi. Noneof the former speakers of the National Assembly managedto regain their seats in the general elections. In the first ses-sion of the National Assembly, after the conclusion of theoath taking of members administered by Dr FehmidaMirza, the newly elected National Assembly would choosethe new speaker and deputy speaker who would lead thebusiness of the House for next term.

Fehmida to administeroath to new MnAs

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 9

EVER since the PML-N has wonthe elections convincingly allroads are leading to

Raiwind. Hopefuls for top positionsin the civil bureaucracy arelobbying their respective contactsin the Sharif clan. New to the taskof putting a kind word or two inthe ears of her Sharif father isMaryam Nawaz. A plethora ofwomen, qualified (and not) aretrying to win her favour withsome flattery, and a gift ortwo. Surely, her charismaticaura and charming smilewhich swayed the votebank could sway herfather to allocate a fewchoice jobs to herfavourites – as atoken of appreciationfor her staunchcampaign work.

COMMenT

Csaturday, 25 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

THE spectre of violence isboth present and incisive,but the remedy being for-warded by various stake-holders fails in offering a

sustainable solution that would free thecountry of its tentacles and cure it of itsshort- and long-term effects.

Even before taking oath as prime min-ister, Nawaz Sharif has extended an olivebranch to the Taliban. Offering dialogue tothe militant outfits, he reasoned: “Forty-thousand precious lives have been lost andthe national economy is suffering a loss ofbillions of dollars. Why shouldn’t we sitfor a dialogue to restore peace?” He wenton to state: “It is the best available option.”

Simultaneously, inviting the Taliban toinitiate peace talks, the PTI CM-designatein the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)has said: “We have no enmity with the Tal-iban”. Stating that the Taliban were alsoPakistanis, he requested the militant groupsin a patently apologetic manner to holdtalks for establishing peace in the region.

These two statements are in sharp con-trast with the Chief of Army Staff’s procla-

mation on theMartyrs Day( Y u a m - e -Shuhada) when heembraced the waron terror unequiv-ocally: “The men-ace of terrorismand extremism hasclaimed thousandsof lives. However,despite all thisbloodshed, certainquarters still wantto remain em-broiled in the de-bate concerningthe causes of thiswar and who im-posed it on us. If asmall factionwants to imposeits distorted ideol-ogy over the entirenation by takingup arms and, forthis purpose, de-fies the constitu-tion of Pakistanand the demo-cratic process andconsiders allforms of blood-shed justified,then does the fightagainst this enemyof the state consti-

tute someone else’s war?” The COAS re-iterated this unambiguous perception ofthe militant mindset in his address at theInternational Symposium on CounteringImprovised Explosive Devices (IEDs) onMay 20 in Rawalpindi: “In these elec-tions, people of Pakistan not only coura-geously withstood the threat of terrorism,they also defied unfounded dictates of aninsignificant and misguided minority”.

So, the gnawing question is how arethese two seemingly contrasting positionsgoing to be reconciled and what would bethe shape and thrust of any national anti-terrorism policy that eluded the full fiveyears of the previous ‘democratic’ govern-ment? While the victorious political lead-erships at the centre and in the restive KPKhave come out strongly advocating the pol-icy of engagement with the militants whohave inflicted grievous damage in men andmaterial on the country in the last ten years,the military mindset seems fully convincednot to compromise with the spectre of mil-itancy in the country. It would also be in-teresting to see how would an anti-terrorpolicy based on negotiations with the mili-tants, symbolising the current mindset ofthe political leaderships, assuage the senti-ments of those families, in the civil and themilitary who have paid the ultimate pricein the national fight against a morbid ap-proach that uses terror as a principalweapon to advance its obscurantist agenda?

Add to this the barbarity of anotherkind that has been consistently unleashedon Karachi resulting in the elimination ofthousands of innocent people at the handsof extortionists and ransom-seekers. Thekilling spree has only escalated with thepassage of time and no one is safe fromthese criminal bandits. Seemingly, there isirrefutable evidence available with the ad-ministrative and security agencies of thecountry regarding the involvement of themilitant wings of political parties in thisunceasing murderous spree, but no one isquite willing to confront the onslaught forfear of their own lives. Imagine the familyof Zahra Shahid Hussain refusing to reg-ister an FIR because they had receivedthreats of elimination if they dared do so.The whole city comes to a standstill everso frequently on the call of the leadershipof a political party and the writ of the stateis nowhere to be seen. The city has beenforfeited to the mercy of these criminalmafias which operate with gleeful aban-don while the security apparatus of theprovince is either too ill-equipped to offerany meaningful resistance, or is wantonlycomplicit in the gory orgies inflicted upona hapless people with murderous consis-tency and frequency. The whole city is

perpetually trapped in the tentacles of fear.The twin-problem encompassing ex-

ternal militancy and internal bloodlettingoffers the gravest challenge to the yet-to-be inducted governments at the centre andin the provinces. The policy to combatthese existential challenges should notsuffer from any ambiguities or contradic-tions: the civil and the military mindsetsshould be in perfect harmony on the needto eliminate the menace of terrorism andmilitancy by formulating a comprehen-sive policy and an effective operationalmechanism. Any conflict in perceptionand approach could be fatal.

With the potential of the KPK govern-ment yet to be gauged, the confrontationalpast of the prime-ministerial hopeful andhis unbending infatuation with accumulat-ing and exercising princely dictatorial pre-rogatives could be a monumental negativeat the outset. Much may seem to havechanged and one may be at the receivingend of sweet-sounding invocations, but, inessence, it remains a mindset that is doggedwith an inherent paucity of intelligence andeven-headedness and a lack of capacity toengage conflicting viewpoints to helpevolve sustainable strategies and policiesthat would suit the national security para-digm. The approach, by and large, is likelyto remain self-righteous and obduracy-dri-ven concentrating on advancing agendasthat are centric to satiating petulant whimsand proclivities rather than the need ofdefining a meaningful national roadmap toeffectively address the menace of mili-tancy and escalating internal strife. Politi-cal compromises are likely to be made inthe name of forging ‘national consensus’which would gravely dent the institutionalability to confront the patrons and manip-ulators of criminal mafias in the country.The principal objective would be to furtheradvance the Machiavellian understandingwith other stakeholders of taking turns todeprive the country of its resources andpurge it of its resolve. Consequently, thenext five years would be mostly pock-marked by debilitating compromises tofurther perpetuate the hold of the forces ofthe status-quo. Owing to the largesse ofits patrons, the new administration mayeven be able to show some cosmetic im-provements, but, predominantly, andnotwithstanding the array of slaves it mayhave at its command from a servile andhighly politicised bureaucracy, it wouldbe a rule of indescribable mediocrity sig-nifying grandiose egos, but afflicted withpaucity of vision and inverted priorities.

The writer is a political analyst. He canbe reached at raoofhasan@hotmail.com

Caretakers should stay within their mandateAvoid becoming controversial The prospect of a self-righteous and obduracy-driven approach

Grandiose egos,inverted priorities

FORTY-SEVEN degrees Celsius was the temperature in Lahore. A 29-year-oldrecord had been broken. The question on the lips of citizens getting a taste oftheir own sweat was: when will the electricity supply be restored? At least

six people died of hope in the simmering heat. Some citizens got a little agitatedand attacked a few LESCO offices. Perhaps someone, somewhere in the caretakerset up, the Ministry of Water and Power or WAPDA would be listening to their woes.But no respite was to be found and another hot day was spent sweating and usinghand fans to provide brief bouts of respite across the plains of Punjab and Sindh.

The protests all over Punjab, including Lahore and Faisalabad, areunremarkable in such a situation. The last year saw worse – and perhaps what isholding people back for now is that there is no one to blame. The Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) which soared into power in the May 11 elections has yetto take the reins of government – and apart from the magic pill offered by apossible Saudi facility of $15 billion in petroleum products – it comes with nowand to weave over the crisis that is corroding the power sector in Pakistan. Thecaretaker set ups solution has been to ban air-conditioners in public offices andissue a new dress code of sandals and moccasins –and no socks. Certainly not themost promising of solutions – it has provoked a plethora of jokes on theeffectiveness of the caretaker set up.

With the overall power shortage being reported at 7,500MW, it is theineffectiveness of the caretaker set up to implement its orders that is raisingquestions about the fiscal health of the state and the bureaucracy. Caretaker primeminister Khoso issued a directive to pump Rs22 billion into the power sector, butthe Minister for Power Musaddaq Malik raised the white flag and claimed theMinistry of Finance had only released Rs 5 billion of the said amount. Malik alsoexpressed “their inability to overcome the crisis,” identifying “financial constraintsas a major, and incompetence as a minor, hurdle in resolving the issue.” The shortterm response has been to up the price of electricity. Surely it is a bitter pill forpeople suffering over 20 hours of power outages to swallow. The chief minister ofPunjab in waiting Shahbaz Sharif on Friday upped the pressure on the caretaker setup, asking it to resolve the issue pronto. However, the scale of the crisis awaitingthe PML-N at the centre is only just greeting them. Nawaz Sharif’s promise ofresolving the power crisis within two years seems too far away, the question is:what does the government have to offer this summer? The WAPDA special thissummer is not going down to well and someone will have to explain why the entireRs22 billion required were not issued? The health of the economy is at stake.

SOME of the measures taken by the caretaker prime minister have createdmisunderstandings between the political parties while they have also beencriticized by the media. When nearly 20 major officials – including MDs and

CEOs of major corporations – were transferred by PM Khoso, Shahbaz Sharif accusedhim of acting on the instructions of President Asif Zardari. This led presidentialspokesman to rebuke Shahbaz for leveling baseless accusations against the symbolof the federation. The issue of transfers ultimately landed in the Supreme Court whichissued a contempt notice to the interim PM for violating the apex court’s judgmentin Anita Turab case. The transfers of high officials was criticized by the media onthe ground that the caretaker setup had no mandate to do so in such vast numbersespecially when they were in no position to influence the outcome of the elections.

Khoso’s ‘mini-budget’ summary recommending Rs152 billion in extra taxeshas kicked up another controversy. Qamar Zaman Kaira has called it an“unconstitutional” step at the behest of “someone”. He has argued that only aparliament elected by the people of Pakistan can levy taxes including the GSTwhich can only be imposed in consultation with the provincial governments andthe Council of Common Interests. According to Kaira, the summary which hasbeen rejected by the president is “tantamount to crossing the limits set by theconstitution.” Another newspaper report tells about pressure being avowedlyexerted by the caretaker PM’s office on Dr Sania Nishter, who also has the chargeof ministry of Professional Training and Education, to withdraw a notification ofdevolution of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) from the federalgovernment to the Sindh government. According to the report Dr Nishter had alsoexpressed her irritation when the prime minister transferred the then secretary ofinformation technology without prior knowledge of the minister and an officer onspecial duty (OSD) was appointed as secretary information technology. The JPMCwas devolved in year 2012 under the 18th constitutional amendment. One is yet tosee the caretaker government’s version regarding the report. But in case there isany truth in withdrawing the devolution of JPMC to Sindh government, this shouldbe no business of the caretaker setup.

One does not understand what motivated the caretaker government to takedecisions that are being criticized in the media and by the political parties. Thebest way to remain uncontroversial was to leave issues like transfers, devolution ofthe JPMC and what is being referred to as a ‘mini budget’ to the next governmentwhich is poised to take over by the first week of June.

Candid CornerRAOOF hASAN

Electricity outages making life miserable amidst record heatwAPDA’s summer special

THE event: the Chinese premier’s reception at theSenate. Now the Senate seats only the senators. Butat an event like this, the hall had to accommodate the

federal (caretaker) cabinet members and some otherdignitaries as well. This was bound to lead to some spaceproblems, but the sort that would rile only kindergarten kids.

Speaking of which: in walks Jehangir “Badarr” Badr.Along with Chaudhry Shujaat and another senator. The Qchief found his designated vacant and sat there. So did theother guy. But our Lahori jayala was plenty peeved. He gotinto an argument with the gentleman (a minister) who wassitting in what Badr thought was his seat. The argumentstarted, attracting glances from the Press Gallery as well.Luckily an ugly scene was avoided as the problem wasresolved before the Chinese PM arrived.

* * * * * * *

AT the same event, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsen spoke onbehalf of the PPP. He recalled an incident where thefounder of the nation made a speech, in the English

that he was most comfortable with. In the audience was arustic, uneducated for the most part, man, who was veryenthusiastic and clapped loudly at the end. When asked atthe end whether he understood the speech, he replied: no,but I could see that this man was sincere and honest.

In a jab at the official interpreter, Ahsen told the premierthat he couldn’t understand his speech but was sure of hissincerity.

There is a force more powerful

than steam and electricity: the

will. –Fernán Caballero

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

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 10

COMMenT Csaturday, 25 May, 2013

11

the plank of friendship

IT was an emotional ex-pression of the incum-bent prime ministerNawaz Sharif after

winning at the polls in Pak-istan. By inviting Prime Min-ister Manmohan Singh at hisoath-taking ceremony, he ful-filled the desire to strike realfriendship with India. But itshould not come as a surprise.Nawaz Sharif had earlierfought and won an electionagainst Benazir Bhutto on theplank of friendship with India.

Unfortunately, NewDelhi’s response to the invita-tion was tepid. I wish therehad been an Atal Behari Vajpayee to travel by bus from Amritsar to La-hore. Then the two prime ministers advocated a new path of normalcywhich they were trying to pave. Alas, the amity did not last long. NawazSharif is not to blame for the Kargil misadventure. It was GeneralParvez Musharraf, then the chief of the army staff and later militarydictator, who thought that he could occupy the strategic heights to ha-rass India. Nawaz Sharif did not know about the infiltrators.

Musharraf even today claims that “all were on board.” But this is nottrue. Nawaz Sharif is being unnecessarily dragged into a war whichMusharraf waged, fought and lost. Now that Nawaz Sharif will be PrimeMinister he has done well to order an inquiry to find out what happened atKargil. I believe that Nawaz Sharif took up the matter of Pakistan forces’withdrawal from Kargil with the help of America to sustain the morale ofthe armed forces. He placed before President Clinton the case of the Pak-istan armed forces although both knew that Kargil was Musharraf’s doing.However, an inquiry will put an official seal on the mistakes committedand who is responsible. A similar kind of probe into the militants’ attackon Mumbai (26/11) will be in order. Nawaz Sharif has assured that suchan attack from across the border will never take place in the future.

Elections in Pakistan are noisy, somewhat disorderly and tamasha-like.Even the kidnapping of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s son didnot come as a surprise. Yet political parties were particular about arrangingtheir candidates contest in a manner which would make them winnable.Parties were calculating and knew their strength. Even before the polling, itwas known that Nawas Sharif, representing his Muslim League, was strongin Punjab, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) under Asif Ali Zardari in Sindhand Imran Khan’s Tehrik-e-Insaaf in Khyber Pakhtankhwa in the north-west. The results are more or less on the same lines, although NawazSharif’s victory is convincing, winning both urban and rural seats in Punjab.

One slogan which has been there but was never reckoned with is Pak-istan’s friendship with India. All political parties asking for good relationswith New Delhi was an important plank in elections. I am not surprisedbecause I have always found the common man on both sides wishing goodrelations. The governments play politics. They realize that hostility withIndia or Pakistan does not sell any longer. It is no more a rewarding elec-toral slogan. Still they emphasize differences, not common points.

I recall the sweep of Nawaz Sharif on his stand of friendship withIndia. Why political parties have woken up so late is something to intro-spect. Nawaz Sharif has said that he would pick up the thread from wherehe had left off with Atal Behari Vajpayee. This is a positive developmentbecause it means the supremacy of liberalism over parochialism.

The heavy turnout of polling goes to the credit of the electorate becausethe Taliban had threatened voters. The blasts all over Pakistan were anotherimpediment. Yet the people were determined to sustain the democraticprocess. Nawaz Sharif occupies the position of prime ministership for thethird time. This speaks volumes in favour of Pakistanis because they haveelected a person who has said that the PM is the boss of the army.

Nawaz Sharif has his task cut out. He will have to undo most of whatthe previous government did. The first and foremost would be to meetthe poll promises, including providing uninterrupted power supply, tothe people. The unemployment problem in Pakistan has made a numberof misguided youth an easy target for the religious and radical outfits.

Sharif’s government will have to address them to the satisfactionof the people who voted his party to power. He will have to attend tothe problem of rampant corruption in political parties and the bureau-cracy, the main worry for the people. Another onerous job at hand forhim is to strike a balance between his civil administration and the mil-itary against which he has nursed a long grievance.

Sharif will be well advised to strengthen the institutions and buildup people’s faith in them. That is the only way to keep the military out.It has extended its stronghold even on trade and commerce. Corpora-tions by ex-military hands dominate 70 per cent of Pakistan’s businessand the real estate. Government contracts first go to them.

No democratic government can be witness to this state of affairs.The military’s task is to defend the country, not to administer it. Thepolls have shown the sign of maturity in Pakistan. This is the first elec-tion held by an elected political party since the country’s independence.The army has had a centre-stage so far. Probably, it still has. Frag-mented political scene suits the army which still gives a message ofnormalcy in an otherwise unstable country.

Zardari will remain the president until September. Soon after the PML-N leader will have to look for an acceptable president who will not meddlein the affairs of Sharif’s day-to-day functioning. Similarly, Sharif will haveto keep his eyes open on the judiciary which has, of late, been over reactive.Pakistan’s chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary is due for retirement in Decemberand Sharif will have an interest in who replaces the long-serving incumbent.All this will matter for Sharif to keep a tight leash on his government so thathe can function independently before he sorts out things one by one.

Institutions are important for a democratic polity. Musharraf de-molished them to establish his personal rule. No doubt, this electionproved that democratic forces have won yet again. People have madesure that democracy which had begun to take roots some years ago inPakistan was not uprooted again. One only hopes this does not turn outto be a pyrrhic victory. It is up to Nawaz Sharif to live up to the people’sexpectations and keep their faith intact. The comment of The Economistshould help Nawaz Sharif.

The writer is a senior Indian journalist.

PREDATOR drones. UAVs. Hellfiremissiles. Collateral damage. Innocentbystanders. These words have be-come a part of our national vocabu-

lary. Every instance of these drone attacks is apiece of breaking news for all major channels.

The news angrily flashes in red across thescreen, then plays a remarkably well-animatedCGI representation of a drone targeting anddecimating mud huts in some mountainous re-gion of North Waziristan. And then an ani-mated anchor regurgitates estimated damageand recounts a random figure that is feared tobe dead, including civilians and children. Thisgoes on for the next few minutes. Perhapsthere is a brief conversation with a local asset,or an analyst who has something to say aboutthe “irresponsibility of the American govern-ment” or “international laws regarding extra-judicial killings”. And then we forget about it.Out of sight, out of mind!

Until the next drone hits and the cyclestarts all over again.

When did this happen? When did we be-come a nation that is actually bored with mur-der? Is it the nature of our national psyche? Orhave we been rendered immune by the cycle ofviolence and violent crimes that is so promi-nently touted in the media? When did a child’sdeath simply become just another statistic?Why is it that when Malala gets shot, every-one, including us, is up in arms about the brutalnature of this injustice, but an estimated 411 to884 civilian deaths in Pakistan are simply anumber in an excel spreadsheet?

The problem is exacerbated by the scale ofcomplexity it boasts. The resolve and might ofa global power was challenged. The US went towar against what it considered threats. The warmetamorphosed, evolved, shifted. New forms ofhorrific terrorism tactics emerged, and sophis-ticated, but equally deadly counterterrorism

measures responded in kind. 2004 saw the firstdrone attack in Pakistan. There have been an es-timated 367 since. Civilians, including men,women and children have been killed. Whiledata on the subject is circumstantial, and highlypoliticized by the reporting faction, it stands toreason that the loss of civilian life further aggra-vates an already volatile situation, and generatespowerful recruitment tools for the Taliban.

Yet, the program has resulted in the deathsof known extremist commanders, local leaders,and in some cases, major figureheads, such asMoulvi Nazir on January 2, 2013. The argu-ments for their use, while strictly a matter ofperspective, make sense in the interests ofAmerican national security and sovereignty.This is not to say that it is completely justified,or even rational, but that perhaps in the eyes ofthe American administration, this is sometimesthe only course of action, civilian loss of lifenotwithstanding. To oversimplify a convolutedmess, if you had the choice between allowingknown extremists to plot to kill your familyversus eliminating the extremist threat by anymeans necessary, what would you do?

“… For the families of those civilians, nowords or legal construct can justify their loss”,said President Barack Obama, two days ago,on May 23, 2013, addressing an audience atthe National Defense University in WashingtonD.C. He was outlining his administration’sdrone and counterterrorism policies, whichsome senior officials claim, had been in theworks since February. Under Obama, the droneprogramme was expanded aggressively, withan estimated 122 drone strikes in Pakistan in2010 alone. The number of strikes has de-creased significantly since, and 2013 has seenthe sharpest decline. Drone precision is alsoimproving, but the shift from “personalitystrikes” (where a clear target has been identi-fied), to “signature strikes” (where a group ofmen is targeted based on behavior patterns as-sociated with terrorists) has resulted in the no-tion that target selection is more arbitrary thananything else. Many think tanks, such as theNew America Foundation, the InternationalCrisis Group claim that drone strikes are notthe long term solution.

Perhaps this was an omen for things tocome, as this was the first time we saw amarked transformation of Obama’s policies inhis address. He unequivocally accepted thatdrones had resulted in civilian deaths, and thatbecause drones appear to be a much cleaner al-ternative to troop deployment, it can lead himand his administration to believe that dronestrikes are a cure-all for terrorism. He calledfor “strong oversight of all lethal action”,

which may be construed as rhetoric withoutany real significance. But there is an argumentto be made about the shift in the mindset thatdrives the drone programme, both in the sub-stance of the president’s speech, as well as thestatistical information indicating a sharp de-cline in drone attacks on Pakistani soil.

“We must define the nature and scope ofthis struggle, or else it will define us”, he said.We must do the same at home. Pakistan mustalso define the scope and nature of our strugglewith extremism and militancy, as well as ourstance on drone strikes within our borders thatgo beyond lodging a strong complaint with theAmerican embassy. As it stands, our apparentlack of empathy and seemingly tacit approvalof the drone program implicitly lays bare ourhypocrisy, especially when juxtaposed againstincessant verbal protests following everystrike. As it stands, we are a nation that is sodeeply entrenched in internal hatreds and ex-ternal threats, that we have grown immune tothe terrifying nature of contemporary warfare.As it stands, we are a nation that is defined bythis struggle, instead of the other way around.

It is time to make a stand. Imran Khan ve-hemently opposes drone strikes. Nawaz Sharifclaims the same, but his statements, the latestfrom March, 2013 when the PML-N presentedits manifesto, seem to perpetuate the same rhet-oric that plagued and crippled the previous ad-ministration. His party, however, clearly statesin the manifesto that they wish to curb terror-ism through dialogue, and aim to bring FATAinto the national fold. There are simply two op-tions: oppose it, or support it, with the govern-ments forming in the center and three of theprovinces favoring the former than the later.

Passive condoning serves no purpose. Itweakens Pakistan’s position as a sovereign na-tion that is equipped with a powerful military,renders us numb to the stark realities of warand its consequences, and further disenfran-chises a people that have been historicallyalienated from the national discourse. Thestand we must take could be explicit approval,a joint intelligence operation against knownhideouts, a complete overhaul or a completehalt to the drone programme. Whichever pathis chosen, it must be explicitly labeled, clearlyidentified and shared with the Pakistani public(or at the very least, the public representatives)in the interests of transparency, accountabilityand a larger national dialogue on the issue.

The writer is the Executive Producer forPlanning and Research at Capital TV. He canbe reached at @zeesalahuddin on Twitter orzeeshan.salahuddin@gmail.com

Whichever path the US chooses, it must be explicitly labelled

zEEShAN SALAhuddIN

‘killing them Softly’

Border CrossingKuLdIP NAYAR

Bijli fails in the dead of night/Won’t help to call

“I need a light”/Night is falling and you just cant

see/ Is this illusion or KESC. –Kamila Shamsie

Nawaz Sharif has his task cut out

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 11

BRAD Pitt, who broke up with Gwyneth Paltrow more than 15

years ago, has revealed that one of the most memorable bits of

advice he has ever received came from the actress' late father.

Pitt told Esquire magazine that Bruce Paltrow taught him to describe

his line of work as "self-employed" instead of calling himself as an

"actor", Us magazine reported. He said that it is a humble way to

describe what they do. The 49-year-old actor said that if a stranger

were to ask him what he does, he'd say, "Well, I'd be very Midwest

about it, very Missouri. I'd say, 'This and that.' I'd say, 'I'm a dad,

just like you." NEwS dESK

JImmy SherGIlllookInG ForwArDto workInGwIth PAkIStAnFIlm InDuStryJimmy Shergill has said that Hindi and

Punjabi films have a huge audience

from Pakistan - especially in Canada.

It's been a super busy year for the

Bollywood actor. With over 50 Hindi and

Punjabi films under his belt, Shergill

has proven himself as the versatile

actor he always dreamt of being, even

if it took him 17 years. While he loves

to do Punjabi films , Shergill says that

his bread and butter comes from

Bollywood films. While there aren't

many ardent lovers of local films

outside of Pakistan, Shergill says he is

a fan. He said that there is a huge

amount of talent in Pakistan, especially

in their drama and theatre, which are

inspired by real stories. Talking about

a possible Indo-Pak "co-production,"

Shergill said "Somewhere in the future

the two industries will merge. With so

many festivals taking place and films

being made outside of Pakistan and

about Pakistan, there is a lot of talent

coming into the foreign limelight," a

newspaper reported. NEwS dESK

ARTS

Asaturday, 25 May, 2013

12Learning is either a continuingthing or it is nothing. –Frank Tyger

ZAch GetSromAntIc In‘hAnGoVer 3’Actor Zach Galifianakis, who plays Alan

in the popular movie franchise "The

Hangover", will have a romantic side to

his personality in the third and final

part of the trilogy. The character is

likely to have a few tender moments on

screen. Melissa McCarthy, who essays

the role of Cassie in the upcoming

movie, plays Alan's love interest, said a

statement. The length and magnitude

of McCarthy's role is yet unknown, but

her casting opposite Galifianakis seems

interesting. "The Hangover Part III"

released in the US Monday. NEwS dESK

NEWS DESK

SANA Khan, Salman Khan's leading lady in his

next film 'Mental', is on the run after being

booked by the Navi Mumbai police for trying to

kidnap a 15-year-old girl who had rebuffed her cousin

Naved Khan's advances. While Naved and his two

friends - Kshitij Gopinath Dubey and Vismit Vilas

Ambre - were arrested, Sana has gone into hiding,

disrupting Mental's shooting schedule. A 17-year old

boy, who was with Sana, Naved and their friends when

they tried to kidnap the girl, has been booked under

the Juvenile Act.

Sana, who was Salman's favourite in Bigg Boss's 6th

edition, has not reported on Mental's sets since April

30, when the mother of the minor she had attempted

to abduct filed a complaint against her at the Turbhe

police station. The complaint says that Sana had tried

to kidnap the girl when she was returning from her

class X tuitions. Sana has featured in three TV

commercials with Salman. She has also appeared in

advertisements with Akshay Kumar and Hrithik

Roshan. While she did grab some attention when she

was in the Bigg Boss house, Mental is Sana's big

break.

In March 2007, Sana's TV commercial for a men's

underwear brand had created a huge controversy and

the advertisement was banned by the Indian

government on the grounds of obscenity. However, the

company re-hired Sana, shot a sequel to that

commercial with a different theme, and released it on

TV in February 2008.

A production assistant, who deals with cast and crew

of Mental, said the team has no information about

Sana going underground. "Our next shoot is scheduled

early next week in Lavasa. If what you are telling me is

true, then we are in big trouble," she said. Mental's

producer Sohail Khan remained unavailable for

comment despite repeated calls.

Senior Police Inspector Rajesh Katkar of Turbhe police

station said his teams are looking for Sana. "One team

had gone to the Oshiwara residence of the accused,

but she was not there." According to the complaint,

the minor, who can't be named, met Naved on

Facebook in November last year. They became friends

and began hanging out together with a group of

mutual friends.

It was all fine till Naved proposed marriage to the girl

in May. Though she rejected the proposal, Naved kept

pursuing her. He did not give up even after she

stopped meeting him and shut her Facebook account.

When the girl stayed firm on her decision, Naved

began issuing her threats, often invoking Sana and her

powerful friends' names.

On April 30 around 5.30 pm, when the girl was

returning home from her tuition in Sanpada, Naved

stopped her on the way. He was accompanied by three

of his friends and Sana, who was at the wheel of a

BMW car. Naved and his friends tried to drag the girl

into Sana's car, but she managed to wriggle out and

ran towards her house. When she reached home,

Sana, Naved and their friends were already there and

were arguing with her mother. Sana accused the girl of

robbing her cousin of his peace of mind and threatened

to teach her a lesson.

When Sana, Naved and their friends left, the girl's

mother lodged a police complaint and Naved, Kshitij

and Vismit were arrested the same evening. They were

charged with kidnapping, wrongful restraint, and

trespass. While nobody from Sana's family was

available for comment, her spokesman Ismail Sheikh

denied Sana is on the run. "How can Sana kidnap

anybody? Yes, an FIR has been lodged against her but

that's because she was wrongly accused of forcing a

minor girl to marry an 18-year-old boy." When asked if

that 18-year-old boy was Sana's cousin, Sheikh

refused to comment.

Cops hunting for Sana Khan overattempted abduction of a 15-year-old girl

NEWS DESK

PARIS Hilton has become the newest member of one of hip-hop's hottest la-bels - Cash Money Records. The heiress and reality star has signed with therecord label, which is home to hitmakers Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Drake,CNN reported. Cash Money's co-founder Bryan " Birdman" Williamstweeted a welcome to Hilton on Wednesday, causing Hilton's name to cruise

at the top of the social media's trending topics forhours. Hilton replied saying, "Thanks BO$$!

Happy to be apart of the family." Thehotel heiress brought up her second

album, which she's previously saidwould involve Afrojack as an exec-

utive producer, and revealed thatthe record will be released by

Cash Money and will featurehip-hop acts. Many wereskeptical of Hilton's con-firmed new deal with thelabel, but Williams told theLos Angeles Times that thedecision to sign the 32-

year-old was pretty sim-ple. "She's always

supported us, andwe've supported her,"he said. Hilton hasbeen working on herfollow-up to 2006's'Paris' for more than a

year, and hopes to re-lease it this summer.

PARIS HILTONSIGNS DEAL WITHHIP-HOP LABEL

PAlTROw’s dAdBRUCe TAUGHTMe TO Be HUMBle,sAys BRAd PITT

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 12

13ARTssaturday, 25 May, 2013

A

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist

but the ability to start over. –F. Scott Fitzgerald

It’S SexIStto ASk womenABout AGe, SAySJulIAnne mooreJulianne Moore has said that it is sexist

to question women about her age. The

52-year-old actress told DuJour

magazine that neither are men asked

about their age nor are they asked

about their children, the New York Daily

News reported. Moore said that she

feels like it becomes reductive when a

woman's life becomes, "Talk to me

about your kids and how you feel about

plastic surgery." She said that she finds

these conversations "boring," and it's

may be because she has no plans of

slowing down. NEwS dESKLOS ANGELES: Denise Richards, the super-mom gets an assist from daughter Sam while

taking Charlie Sheen's twin sons, Max and Bob, to school on Thursday.

COuRTESy TOI

s ONAM Kapoor, 27, is content living

in her own world of books and

films. She is idealistic and

considers herself an idiot when it comes

to judging people or matters of money,

where she listens only to her best friend

and sister Rhea. After 'Saawariya', she

had lost her way but seems to have

finally found it back with her upcoming

film 'Raanjhanaa'. Over an hour- long

conversation, she talks to TOI about her

idealistic father, her favourite cousin

Arjun and why she would not date a

married man ever. Excerpts:

Was being a part of Bollywood your

obvious career choice?

We lived in Chembur when I was born

and my parents named me Sonam,

which means lucky. I was a month old

when my parents moved to our current

Juhu house and my dad became a huge

star. We had only one apartment at that

time with just one room furnished. With

time, my dad built the entire house. I

studied at Arya Vidya Mandir, which was

a five-minute walk from our house and I

would walk to school every day. My mom

wanted us to have a normal childhood

and we did not even get film magazines

at home. I went to a boarding school in

Singapore for my +2 where I studied

theatre and arts and realised I wanted to

become a director and writer. When I

returned to India, our family friend Rani

Mukerji, who I really love, was about to

shoot Black with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I

loved his aesthetics and started assisting

him on Black and, while I was assisting

him, he said he wanted to cast me in his

film and started training me. Prior to

Black, I had been on a film set only once

— for my father's film Roop Ki Rani

Choron Ka Raja. After that, I trained

under Roshan Taneja sahab, Jayati

Bhatia and Feroz Abbas Khan, who

trained me and were instrumental in me

becoming an actor. I did my first film

Saawariya, loved acting and knew that I

would be acting till I die.

You are an avid reader. Has reading

books impacted your personality?

My mom would always read a book to

me at night from when I was three.

Now, I can't go to sleep without reading

a book. At the same time, once I read,

it's difficult for me to go to sleep as I

have an overactive imagination and I

start thinking. I am a fast reader and an

early riser. Every night and every

morning I have to read and have dark

circles and bad eyesight because of that.

Since I only studied till the 12th, reading

also became my way of balancing my

education. I like reading both love

stories and literature. Reading has made

me more open, has improved my

understanding and has made me a

better artiste, but it also makes me live

in my own bubble. My mom keeps

asking me, 'What do you read in that

room the whole day?' Once I am into a

book, I will finish it. For me, a holiday is

about taking a book and going to a

mountain and reading. Books have also

ruined me and made me extremely

idealistic as I look at the world as black

and white and cannot compromise vis-a-

vis people or ideals. Books have also

made me honest and ethical.

Do you have friends in the industry?

Yes I have friends and they are heroines.

Jacqueline Fernandez, Asin, Kareena and

Shehla Khan are my friends. Kareena is

real and says it the way it is, Jacky and

Asin are fun and we gossip with each

other. Shehla is my soulmate and we

have been friends since we were

teenagers and are both interested in

books and old songs. Also Imran Khan

and now after Raanjhanaa, Dhanush, are

my friends.

What is Dhanush like?

He is amazing and is humble and

honest. He is constantly flummoxed by

me being sophisticated and yet normal.

He tells me there are two you's. One

that uses big English words and the

other who is a normal girl, who likes her

dog and her grandmother and street

food and likes to be barefoot all the

time. I like the fact that he is soft-

spoken, has a clear mind and is a

thorough gentleman. I have never felt

uncomfortable with him. We are friends,

but there is this line that is drawn which

is great and I like that. He is intelligent

and reads a lot and, again, we discuss

music and books.

Have you ever dated your co-star?

All my co-stars except Ranbir have been

married or hooked be it Abhishek,

Imran, Abhay or Dhanush. I would never

do that to another woman as I feel it's

bad karma and extremely callous. Even

when I was shooting Saawariya, I was

single.

Let's talk about your relationship

with your cousin Arjun Kapoor?

Arjun and me were born just 15 days

apart and I am extremely attached to

him. He is overtly sensitive and is a good

son to his father, was a good son to his

mom and is a good brother. He is a good

grandson as well. For someone who has

had such a hard life, it takes a lot to be

not messed up. He is sorted and is a

good person.

Who are you most attached to?

I am mentally strong, but physically I'm

constantly unwell. I internalise a lot of

things and if something stresses me or

disturbs me, I don't talk about it and

make myself sick with it. My mom gets

that whereas my dad tries to protect me

from that. He can't take my feeling

upset, while my mom can talk about it to

me. My sister Rhea is my best friend and

while I am most attached to my mother,

the person who I respect the most in my

family who is intelligent and logically has

my best interest in mind, is my sister. I

don't take a step without asking her. She

is extremely bright and is way smarter

and sharper than I am. I am more

intellectual and more philosophical. But

she understands money, people and

investments. She judges people better

and has hated all my three boyfriends so

far. I am an idiot. I have read all these

stupid books that make me live in this

fairytale world and can find romance

even in a Tarantino film. Also I give so

much of my emotion into acting that I

don't think anyone has ever made me

fall in love with them completely so far.

Have you been heartbroken?

Not heartbroken, but let down. I am an

extremely loyal and a giving person. I

don't need a tall, dark and handsome

man, but he needs to be principled and

honest, who knows the difference

between right and wrong. My consistent

breaking point in relationships is that I

expect him to be an idealistic person.

That's why I have always been the one

breaking my relationships. I move on

quite fast and start weaning myself away

six months before I break up. I don't

know when, but I would like to get

married and have babies.

Who do you idealise in your life?

My father. He is dedicated to his family

and his work and has lived a life that is

extremely pure. It may sound old-

fashioned but, like my nani says, it is

difficult to find a man like him in kalyug.

I don’t need a tall, dark and handsome man: sonam

AmAnDAByneSArreSteDIn nyc

NEWS DESK

FORMER actressAmanda Bynes, whohas made headlinesdozens of times in re-

cent months for erratic be-havior, was arrested at herapartment in New YorkCity on Thursday for reck-less endangerment, tamper-ing with physical evidence,and physical possession ofmarijuana, law enforcementauthorities confirm to"omg! Insider." Accordingto WNBC, officers werecalled to her MidtownManhattan West 47th Streetapartment following fol-lowing a report that a disor-derly person on the premises. The doorman reported that shewas smoking marijuana in the lobby, but when police arrived,she had gone back to her apartment on the 36th floor. The ac-tress was wearing the same blond wig at the time of her arrestthat she's been seen wearing around town frequently. Officersreportedly headed to her apartment and observed a marijuana-smoking bong as Bynes opened the door to answer. She al-legedly then tossed the bong out the window. Officersreported a "heavy" smell of marijuana in the apartment. Shewas then reportedly taken to Roosevelt Hospital for a psychi-atric evaluation before heading to a Midtown police stationfor processing, according to sources. Bynes remains underprobation for driving in California with a suspended license,and still faces a pending suspicion of DUI case in BeverlyHills, Calif. Omg! spoke with a source close to the formerNickelodeon star who says she sounded "wasted" and "out ofit" on Thursday night. The source adds that she faces big legalproblems since she just pled no contest in Burbank, Calif. lastweek, and this arrest is a probation violation.

KHI 25-05-2013_Layout 1 5/25/2013 5:41 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

LONG a mystery, the sensa-tion of itch has yielded aclue. The neurons that de-tect itch rely on a newlyidentified chemical to send

the “I need to scratch!” message to thebrain, according to a study in mice. Re-move the molecule, and the mice don’titch, researchers report in the May 24 Sci-ence. For people, an itch can be annoyingor it can be debilitating. But researchersdon’t know yet how the brain senses anitch. Treatments for itch often don’t work.The new study takes a big step forward,says Glenn Giesler Jr., a neuroscientist atthe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.“Now we’re beginning to understand themechanisms, and that’s got to lead to bettertreatments.” Scientists believe that detec-tion of itch starts in neurons with fibersthat extend to the skin. Using chemicalmessengers called neurotransmitters, thesecells relay their signal to other neu-rons in a region of the spinalcord called the dorsal horn.Once there, the signal passesfrom neuron to neuron until itreaches the brain. To find outhow this signaling starts, MarkHoon and Santosh Mishra of theNational Institute of Dental andCraniofacial Research inBethesda, Md., measured whichchemicals the neurons with fibers in

the skin produced the most. One of thechemicals that topped the list was a neuro-transmitter called Nppb, for natriureticpolypeptide b. They engineered mice thatlack the gene to make Nppb and injecteditch-inducing substances under the ani-mals’ skin. The animals barely scratched;they must have needed Nppb in theprocess that sends itch signals to the brain,the researchers surmise. Hoon and Mishranext turned to the dorsal horn, where neu-rons must be receiving the Nppb mole-cules, they figured. When the researchersblocked Nppb receptors in the dorsal hornor used toxins to remove dorsalhorn neurons, themice scratchedfar less.I n

mice that still had these neurons, injectingNppb into their dorsal horns made the an-imals scratch. Because mice share manybiological similarities with humans, thefindings could help scientists understandhow people sense itch. Hoon notes that heand Mishra found Nppb in just asmall subset of the neurons thathave fibers in the skin, whichcould mean that only certainsensory neurons are responsi-ble for detecting itch. Othersmay detect pain or tempera-

ture. However,Hoon

cautions that blocking Nppb may not bea good strategy to treat itching. Nppbcould play a role in other processes inthe body, so blocking the moleculefrom working may have side effects.

INFOTAINMENT

ISaturday, 25 May, 2013

14

Glow-In-the-DArkcockroAchAmonG toP 10new SPecIeS

Ideology has very little to do with

‘consciousness’ - it is profoundly

unconscious. –Louis Althusser

The European launch of the

“Facebook phone” has been delayed

following disappointing US sales and

negative feedback. The HTC handset

runs Facebook’s enhanced Home

software, designed to be more

integrated into the smartphone than a

normal app. UK mobile operator EE

confirmed that “following customer

feedback” the Europe launch had

been stalled.

It follows a raft of high-profile

employee departures from HTC.

In recent months, chief product

officer Kouji Koudera, Asian chief

executive Lennard Hoornik and the

firm’s director of global

communications Jason Gordon have

all departed.

Signs of discontent were played out in

public when Eric Lin, an ex-HTC

product strategy manager, tweeted:

“To all my friends still at @HTC - just

quit. Leave now.

“It’s tough to do, but you’ll be so

much happier, I swear.”

Mr Lin had left HTC in February to join

Microsoft-owned Skype. NEwS dESK

A glowing cockroach, a monkey with

a blue behind and a meat-eating

sponge snagged spots on a list of top

10 new species named in 2012,

scientists announced Thursday.

In its sixth year, the Top 10 New

Species list is compiled by the

International Institute for Species

Exploration at Arizona State

University and is announced on the

anniversary of the birth of Carolus

Linnaeus. An 18th-century botanist,

Linnaeus created the modern system

for naming and classifying species.

The panel plucked the top 10 new

species from more than 140

nominations; to be considered, the

species had to have been officially

named in 2012 and described with the

appropriate code of nomenclature.

One such creature with an odd

feature is the glow-in-the-dark

cockroach, named Lucihormetica

luckae, whose luminescence may help

the creepy-crawly mimic toxic click

beetles and thereby avoid predators.

In addition, a carnivorous sponge

shaped like a harp also made the list.

The sponge (Chondrocladia lyra),

which lives nearly 2 miles beneath

the Pacific Ocean, sports 20 barbed

vanes that resemble a harp’s strings.

Once it captures meaty prey, the

sponge envelops it in a thin

membrane and slowly begins to

digest the animal. NEwS dESK

FAlterInGFAceBook Phone’S euroPelAunch DelAyeD

Son’S Fury AS mouStAche cut Short AFter 70 yeArS

A molecular window on itch

Ring Nebula’s true shape is like ajelly doughnut, astronomers say

Ian Perkin said nurses forcibly shaved off 86-year-

old Ken’s moustache, first cultivated when he was

16, and then told him he was “lucky” to be

receiving care at all, after Mr Perkin junior raised

concerns. After 12 weeks, Ken Perkin was finally

discharged on Monday - but his son is still furious

with his treatment at Kingston Hospital in London

before he was moved to Tolworth. And he said if

the shaving had occurred outside of the hospital,

the perpetrator could have faced a jail sentence.

Ian Perkin, who works for Surrey Police and Crime

Commissioner Kevin Hurley as chief finance officer,

said: “In policing terms, removing somebody’s

moustache against their will is assault. “If I did

that to somebody at a bus stop, I’d probably get

six months.” Ken Perkin was admitted to hospital in

February following a fall at his home.

He was taken first to St George’s Hospital in

Tooting, before being transferred to Kingston two

weeks later. Although he was meant to be moved

to Tolworth Hospital almost immediately, he spent

five weeks in Kingston due to several infections

acquired in hospital, Mr Perkin said. It was there

on April 3 that Ian visited his father to find his

moustache - which he had worn since he was

sergeant major in the Army almost 70 years ago -

had been removed. But after raising concerns with

the ward matron, Mr Perkin claims his father was

threatened by a nurse unhappy with the complaint.

Ian Perkin said: “He told me a nurse said, ‘You are

lucky we are still caring for you after your son

complained about us.’ “You hear the Health

Secretary saying it is important elderly patients are

treated with dignity and respect.

“Well that definitely is not the case at Kingston.”

A spokeswoman for Kingston Hospital NHS Trust

said: “We want all of our patients to have a good

experience and were sorry to learn the Perkin

family were not happy with our care. “We are

looking into their complaint and will be providing a

full response to Mr Perkin’s son.” NEwS dESK

NEWS DESK

The Ring Nebula’s unique shapemakes it extremely popular with as-tronomers, but NASA’s HubbleSpace Telescope recently revealedthe nebula’s true shape.

According to C. Robert O’Dellof Vanderbilt University, the RingNebula’s true shape is more like ajelly doughnut than a bagel, becauseit contains material in the middle.

O’Dell and his colleagues turnedto Hubble and several ground-basedtelescopes to obtain the most detailedimage yet of the Ring Nebula. Uponanalyzing the image, they discovereda much more complex structure thanpreviously thought. Using thisimage, astronomers built a more ac-curate 3-D model of the nebula.

O’Dell points out that Hubble’sdetail allows astronomers to view awildly different shape of the iconicnebula than what’s been viewed fordecades. Found in the constellationLyra, the nebula is approximately2,000 light-years from Earth and

measures about one light-yearacross. Earlier observations by sev-eral telescopes had detected the“jelly” in the Ring Nebula, but ittook the Hubble’s Wide Field Cam-era 3 to reveal the ring’s central re-gion in greater detail. According toOdell’s team, the ring wraps arounda blue, football-shaped structure.Each side of the structure sticks outof opposite sides of the ring.

In the Hubble image above, theblue structure is the glow of helium,which glows due to radiation fromthe white dwarf star (the white dotin the center of the ring). The whitedwarf is the stellar remnant of a sun-like star that has used up all of itshydrogen fuel and has gotten rid ofits outer layers of gas to gravitation-ally collapse to a compact object.

Hubble also gave astronomers amore detailed look at the randomknots of dense gas entrenched alongthe inner rim of the ring. These knotsof gas formed when expanding hotgas made its way into cool gas ejectedpreviously by the ill-fated star. The

astronomers matched up the knotswith the spikes of light around themain ring, which are a shadow effect.The original star was a lot more mas-sive than our sun. After billions ofyears turning hydrogen into helium inits core, the star started to run out offuel. It grew into a red giant. Duringthis phase, the star got rid of its outergaseous layers and started to collapseas fusion reactions began to diet out.Ultraviolet light from the dying starenergized the gas, giving it its glow.

The outer rings were createdwhen faster-moving gas collidedwith slower-moving material. Thenebula is amplifying at more than43,000 miles an hour, but the centeris moving a lot quicker than the ex-pansion of the main ring. Over thenext 10,000 years the iconic nebulawill continue to expand, becomingfainter and fainter until it becomeslost in the interstellar medium. Hub-ble’s stunning image of the RingNebula gives scientists a better ideaof what will happen to the sun in an-other six billion years.

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Ssaturday, 25 May, 2013

15 Lynn is alleged to have breached rule 6:Unbecoming Behaviour regarding posts he madeon Twitter on Wednesday night. – CA statement

CAvE HILL (BARBADOS)AGENCIES

Vice-captain Denesh Ramdin has backedthe West Indies to make a smoothtransition to the 50-over format when theyopen their campaign in the ICCChampions Trophy starting next month.

Several leading members of the squadhave been campaigning in the IndianPremier League over the last six weeksbut Ramdin said here on Thursday heexpected no fallout from this.

In fact, he contended that the IPLwould be good preparation for the playersheading into the Champions Trophy.

“Most of the guys are professionalcricketers and they have the ability tomake that transition - the Chris Gayles,the Dwayne Bravos, the Kieron Pollards.Those guys - they can sit down and batand play long innings,” Ramdin said priorto a training session at the 3Ws Oval.

“They’ve been doing well in the IPLso that will be good for their confidencegoing into England. I’m sure they’ve donewell in England before so it’s just aboutgelling together and the batters battinglong in the middle.” “Fifty overs are a lotof balls so we’re not going to bash itaround. We have a strong middle andlower order so if we get a good start withGayle and the other guys at the top of theorder we can capitalise lower down.”

The West Indies are currently winding

down a five-day camp which started fromMonday, as they prepare for the June 6-23tournament in England and Wales.

The regional side, who captured the2004 edition which was also played inEngland, have been installed in Group Balongside reigning World championsIndia, Pakistan and South Africa.

While acknowledging the quality ofthe opposition, Ramdin said he believedthe West Indies possessed the ability to

spring a few surprises.“The first game is very important.

Once we can overcome in that game, itwill give us some form of confidence,”Ramdin pointed out.

“Pakistan is a team, you know, whereanything can happen on the day withthose guys. India is one of the best teamsin the world along with Australia andSouth Africa. Those teams are playingreally good one-day cricket but with the

conditions you never know.”“If you win the toss and put in a team,

it’s two new balls that you’re using nowso if you pick up four or five wickets inthe first 20 overs you can set up a matchand it can go either way as we have a goodbowling unit as well.”

The West Indies have endured mixedresults in the one-day format of recent,sweeping minnows Zimbabwe 3-0 in theCaribbean last February but suffering aheavy 5-0 drubbing Down Under at thestart of the year.

Ramdin pointed out, however, that theWindies were improving and had the rightbalance in the side to begin to producepositive results in the one-day format.

“I believe in the past we have beencompetitive in patches. We have theability to be competitive. We have guyslike Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuelswho can sit down and bat in the middle.We would like to get the big starts fromthe Gayles (and company) which will bevery important for us to overcome theopposition.”

“Conditions are going to be toughespecially playing in May, June inEngland. Every player who goes up therefinds it challenging. We will try to get thatcombination right and see how it goes.”

The West Indies leave the CaribbeanSaturday for another camp in Walesbefore taking on Australia and Sri Lankain official warm-up fixtures.

NEW DELHIAGENCIES

WITH the spot-fixingprobe widening andMumbai Police likely toquestion GurunatMeiyappan, the son-in-

law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan, theNationalist Congress Party (NCP) has saidthat Mr Srinivasan should step down.

“N Srinivasan should immediatelyresign keeping morality in mind, until theinvestigation is complete,” NCP leader DPTripathi said today.

“Match fixing is there from a long time.I believe people involved in match fixingshould be punished strictly. People foundguilty should be given rigorous punishmentof 10 years,” he added.

Mr Meiyappan has been summonedby the Mumbai Police to appear before itin connection with the spot-fixingscandal that has hit the latest edition ofthe Indian Premier League (IPL). ActorVindoo Dara Singh, who was arrestedearlier this week for his alleged linkswith bookies, has told the MumbaiPolice that he bet on games on MrMeiyappan’s behalf, claim sources.Vindoo has also reportedly said that MrMeiyappan lost Rs. 1 crore in betting.

However, Mr Srinivasan has reportedlyrefused to quit as the BCCI president,saying he has done no wrong. He has saidthat he was unaware of any bettingactivities by his son-in-law, claim sourcesin the Chennai franchise. He will beheading to Kolkata for the remaining twogames of the IPL.

Mr Srinivasan, apart from being BCCIpresident is the Vice-Chairman andManaging Director of India Cements,which owns Chennai Super Kings.

In a statement today, Indian Cementsclarified that Mr Meiyappan is neither theOwner, nor CEO or Team Principal ofChennai Super Kings. He just an honorarymember of the management, the statementsaid.INDIAN CRICkET BOSS’S

RELATIvE FACES FIxING PROBE:

The son-in-law of the most powerful manin Indian cricket is likely to be questionedby police in Mumbai later on Friday as partof investigations into spot-fixing in theIndian Premier League.

Gurunath Meiyappan, whose father-in-law is Board of Control for Cricket in Indiapresident Narainswamy Srinivasan, isreported to have been in touch withBollywood actor Vindoo Randhawa.

Randhawa is alleged to be close tobookmakers at the centre of an ongoingprobe.

“We’ve affixed one summons on thedoor of Meiyappa’s residence (inChennai),” Mumbai Joint Commissioner ofPolice Himanshu Roy told reporters.

A second summons was served at theChennai Super Kings office to a managerwho accepted it. Legally the summons hasnow been served.”

Meiyappan is the chief executive of theSuper Kings IPL team.

Australians Michael Hussey and BenHilfenhaus play for the Super Kings, asdoes Indian captain M.S. Dhoni.

Test cricketer ShantakumaranSreesanth, Ajit Chandila and AnkeetChavan were arrested last week forallegedly manipulating certain parts ofIPL games for their Rajasthan Royalsteam and receiving money frombookmakers in return. Sreesanth hasdenied involvement in spot-fixing butcharges of cheating, criminal conspiracyand criminal breach of trust have beenbrought against the three for conceding afixed minimum number of runs per overin exchange for up to six million rupees

from bookmakers for every over.Several bookmakers have been arrested

across the country over the past week alongwith their associates, which include threedomestic-level cricketers and Randhawa.

The BCCI said on Friday it was keento see a law to curb spot-fixing.

“The strongest possible law for match-fixing is needed as quickly as possible,”IPL commissioner and BCCI vice-president

Rajeev Shukla told reporters in New Delhi.“The absence of a proper law is being takenadvantage of. We’ve met the law ministerand will also be meeting the sports ministerin this regard.”

ncP asks cricket board chiefn Srinivasan to step down

SPORTS DESK

India Cements, the company that ownsChennai Super Kings, has distanced itselffrom Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan.Meiyappan has been summoned byMumbai Police for questioning inconnection with betting and is reported tobe on his way to Mumbai.

“India Cements clarifies that Mr.Gurunath Meiyappan is neither the Owner,nor CEO /Team Principal of ChennaiSuper Kings,” an Indian Cements releasesaid. “Mr. Gurunath is only one of theMembers (Honorary) of the ManagementTeam of Chennai Super Kings.

“India Cements follows zerotolerance policy and if anyone is provedguilty, strict action will be takenimmediately. India Cements assures fullco-operation with BCCI and the LawEnforcement authorities.”

However, Meiyappan was a frequentpresence in the Super Kings dug-out andwas also at the franchise’s table at IPLauctions. The bio on his verified Twitteraccount read ‘Team Principal ChennaiSuper Kings’ till it was changed, half anhour after the India Cements press release,to remove the CSK reference.

It is reliably learnt that Meiyappan hada gold accreditation card for the IPL,reserved for team owners. He alsorepresented the franchise at team owners’meetings organised by the IPL.

The police issued summons toMeiyappan on Friday to “verify certainissues raised and claims made by”Virender “Vindoo” Dara Singh, whowas arrested on Tuesday in Mumbai

for links with bookies.There were reports circulating in the

media since Tuesday on the proximity ofVindoo to the Super Kings franchise.

Those reports, which included pictures ofVindoo watching IPL matches in thecompany of Super Kings captain MSDhoni’s wife, were not denied since.

Meiyappan not CsK owner or CeO: India Cements

trescothick‘devasted’ bythrashing

HORSHAM: Marcus Trescothick, theSomerset captain, has said he was“embarrassed” by his team’s performanceagainst Sussex where they crumbled to aninnings defeat in little more than foursessions at Horsham. They were bowledout before lunch on the first day for 76 andonly crept into double figures second timearound with 108. It was their thirdChampionship defeat in six matches andthey are seventh in table without a victoryjust three points clear of the relegationspots. “It’s not an easy performance to take,and I’m quite embarrassed by what we’vedone,” Trescothick told BBC Somerset.“We’ve got to try and turn it around. That’sall we can do. “I’m devastated. It’s a hardsituation to be involved in and I’m notunderstanding why we’re playing like weare. We’ve got to find a solution. It’s beengoing on for a couple of games and we’venot been near what we expect. “But there’sno easy answer. If I knew that we could putour finger on it and go from there.”Following the two-day defeat the squad hadan extra training session at Taunton onFriday and their coach, Andy Hurry, echoedTrescothick’s sentiments about theperformance. SPORTS dESK

T20s won`t hamper windies`chances in CT, says Ramdin

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sPORTs S

saturday, 25 May, 2013

16“He and Dale Steyn are ahead of the competition. It’s no

surprise that the two best sides in world cricket have the

two best bowling attacks in world cricket. – Ian Botham

DuBLIN AGENCIES

ALL-ROUNDER KevinO’Brien is confidentIreland can claim aseries win overPakistan afterThursday’s dramatic tie

in the first RSA Insurance one-dayinternational in Dublin. O’Brien swept thefinal ball from Saeed Ajmal to the boundaryto level the scores and leave the hostsagonisingly short of a first-ever win againsta Test-playing nation in the Republic.

Asked if he thought Ireland could winSunday’s decider and claim a first serieswin over a full-member nation, he said:“Yeah definitely, there’s no reason to fearPakistan.” He continued: “They areobviously a great side, you have to givethem the respect they deserve, but we’vecome so close here.

“If the ball bounces another way onSunday we come away with a victory.

“We just have to look at where wedidn’t quite perform as a team and comeback on Sunday and improve it.”

Pakistan had appeared in full controlwhen Mohammad Hafeez’s fifth ODIcentury helped them to 266 for five - a totalbumped up to 275 on the Duckworth-LewisMethod after three over were lost to rain.

Ireland were, however, on track for the

majority of their chase after opener PaulStirling scored his second century againstPakistan in as many games. O’Brien thenalmost completed the job, thrashing anunbeaten 84 from 47 balls, to leave theseries poised heading into Sunday’sdecider. Due to the all-rounder’s brilliantpower-hitting, the encounter ended in a tie,with the second match scheduled to beplayed at the same venue on Sunday.

Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and optedto bat first in excellent batting conditions,although the overhead conditions remainedcloudy in the morning. Because of asplendid 188-run partnership betweenMohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq, theGreen Shirts posted a healthy total of 266runs for the loss of five wickets on theboard in their allotted 47 overs.

Needing 276 runs to win as per theDuckworth Lewis Method, the home teamwere off to a superb start through PaulStirling, who registered a wonder ton.However, it was O’Brien, who took it uponhimself and guided his side to safety butonly managed a tie. While speaking toreporters after the fixture, the 29-year-oldcricketer expressed his disappointment andrues the fact that he failed to help his teamcross the line against Pakistan. “It feels likea loss as we came so close, but just couldn’tget over the line,” O’Brien said. “If I hadleft [Saeed] Ajmal’s delivery, it could havebeen a wide, but that is hindsight.

o’BrIen tArGetS SerIeS wInMISBAH SEEKS IMPROVEMENT AFTER IRISH TIE

DuBLIN: Misbah ul-Haq has told his Pakistan team they must improve in

all three departments ahead of Sunday’s series decider with Ireland.

Kevin O’Brien hit a dramatic four off the last ball of the first one-

day international on Thursday to deny Pakistan victory and earn

Ireland a dramatic tie — the 28th in ODI history. “Full credit to

Ireland. They needed almost 10 an over for the last 12 overs

but they batted well and we know we will have to improve

our performance,” said Misbah. In contrast, Ireland got so

close to their victory target of 276 in 47 overs that the tie

felt like a loss, according to O’Brien, whose unbeaten 84

was his highest score for Ireland since his century

masterminded the shock of the 2011 World Cup, when the

Irish defeated England in Bangalore. “To come so close and

not get over the line is tough to take but when we have

time to reflect I suppose it will be easier to take,” said

O’Brien. “Irish cricket is ever improving, we just need to get a

bit more consistency. Everyone knows we are a good team, we

just need to put five, six, seven good performances in a row.

“We definitely feel we can win the series. We respect Pakistan,

they are a great team but we have nothing to fear having come so

close here, we know a different bounce of the ball and we come out with

a victory and that’s what we will be targeting on Sunday.” In contrast,

Pakistan were trying to take the positives from a game they were always winning until the last ball of the game.

They hit 144 off the last 16 overs, after the fourth and final rain delay of the match, to reach 266 for five with

Mohammad Hafeez scoring 122 not out, and would have been confident of defending Ireland’s revised target of

276. In cold conditions, Paul Stirling got Ireland off to the perfect start with a 102-ball century but Mohammad

Irfan got his wicket just five balls later and Hafeez finished with two for 34, the best bowling of the match.

Crucially, Irfan dropped O’Brien on 19 and that was the miss that ensured an exciting finish. AGENCIES

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has launchedthe official event site for ICC Champions Trophy,which will be staged in England and Wales between 6and 23 June 2013.

Containing all the latest information on thetournament, the site, accessible from www.icc-cricket.com on any device, will be an essential resourcefor supporters wishing to follow the event. The site willhave short form match highlights from all matches inthe tournament as well as exclusive behind the scenescontent with all the teams and leading players, as wellas special pieces around the event.

The official match centre will be one of the mostinformative and interactive to date, allowing fans tofollow live ball-by-ball coverage, including anexclusive interactive video scorecard, of all warm-upand event matches. Fans will also get a chance to usethe integrated Reliance Rankings predictor along withan opportunity to post comments using their socialmedia accounts. Containing exclusive event features,supporters will also be able to catch the latest eventnews, and there will be profiles on all of thetournament participants.

A new feature of the site will allow fans to enterthe ‘Hot or Not’ contest to choose the ‘hottest’ momentin ODI cricket from among a selection of the 50 bestmoments in the format. The supporters of the game willreceive an opportunity to pick, for example, whetherSachin Tendulkar of India’s double hundred inFebruary 2010 against South Africa in an ODI is hotterthan Javed Miandad’s last ball six to seal Pakistan’sfamous win against India at Sharjah in 1986.

The site has been developed by global digitalmedia company, Pulse Innovations. Pulse specialisesin the sports sector, providing Sports Federations andMedia Publishers with a turn-key solution in thecapture and delivery of sports content across internet-enabled devices.

ICC GM commercial Campbell Jamieson said,“The ICC Champions Trophy 2013 website will allowfans to connect with the official voice of thetournament with a number of exclusive behind thescenes content from across the tournament in all varietyof formats, be it video, photo or text.

“The concept of the ICC Champions Trophy is ofcourse the best versus best in the ODI format and thisseems an ideal time for us to have launched theopportunity for fans to pick their best moment in theODI format.”

ICC launches official Champions Trophy website LEEDS

AGENCIES

Play was abandoned without a ballbeing bowled on the opening dayof the second and final testbetween England and NewZealand at Headingley due topersistent rain. The downpours leftthe outfield saturated on a chillyday.

A better forecast is in prospectfor the weekend with sunny spellsand warmer temperatures.

England won the first test by170 runs at Lord’s. The start of thesecond and final test was delayedby rain on Friday.

Play was due to get underwayat 1000 GMT but the coversremained across the pitch half anhour before the start with theumpires not due to inspect until therain stopped. Dark clouds hoveredover the ground on a chilly daywith prolonged showers forecast.

no play possible on first day of second test

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sPORTsS

saturday, 25 May, 2013

17I started boxing when I was nine years old, my

father put me in a boxing gym, so I’ve been training

and boxing for 15 years. – Paulius Kasiulevicius

PunJAB wInnAtIonAl womenGymnAStIc tItleLAHORE: Punjab female gymnastsdemonstrated astute control and superiortechniques to win the title of the NationalGirls Gymnastic Championship here onFriday at the Government College Hall.Punjab girls laboured over three hours ontheir way to the title success to completethe ground work and vaulting horse.Behind them at second place wereRailways as Sindh took the third place.Punjab gained another distinction whentheir ace gymnast Komal Gill wasdeclared the best gymnast. Mrs RubinaFarooq, President Pakistan GymnasticsFederation was the chief guest on theoccasion and gave away the prizes. Thenational men championship willcommence tomorrow, Saturday at 10.30am at the same venue. ‘Nine affiliatedunits of Pakistan Gymnastic federationwill take part in different events,” said aspokesman of Pakistan GymnasticFederation. The closing ceremony willtake place on May 26 at 5 and the ViceChancellor Government CollegeUniversity Dr. M. Khaliq-ur-Rehmanand Mian GhulamMurtazaShoukat ChiefExecutive Fast Cables will be the chiefguests on the occasion. STAFF REPORT

ShInInG cluB moVeto QuArterSLAHORE: Shining club has moved toquarterfinal of 28th M Yaseen AkhterMemorial cricket Event when theyoutplay strong Aligarh club by 4wickets in the pre quarterfinal played atModel own Aligarh ground on Fridayafternoon. SCORES: Aligarh Club 136/7 in 20overs. Shakil MAlik 48, Imran Nazir27, Sami Aslam 18. Humayon Farhat3/20, Usman Malik 1/21, Mubashar1/21, Moazam 1/16, M Irfan 1/18. Shining Club 140/6 in 19.3 overs. RanaAdnan 33, Asif Khan 28, Humayonfarhat 27, NAeem Khan 14(no). Shakil1/30, Mubashar 1/25, Bilawal 1/10, ZiaShehzad 1/22, Mateen 1/20. STAFF REPORT

JAllo Gym ADVAnceto SemIFInAlLAHORE: Jallo Gym has advanced intothe semifinal of 28th M Yaseen AkhterMemorial cricket Event when they beatrising stars club by 38 runs in thequarterfinal played at Model TownAligarh Ground on Friday morning. Scores: JAllo Gym 170/7 in 20 overs.Asif Butt 24, Amir Usman 10, IrfanJunior 34, M Ramzan 53, Irfan Senior25, Ashar NAzir 12. Mohsin Mehmood1/29, Yasir Ali 1/19, Abdul Muqeet2/29, Waleed Arshad 3/37. Rising Stars Club 132 all out in 19.2overs. NAsir Sher 37, Yasir ALi 24,Arslan Ahmed 17, Abdul Muqeet 18,Ali NAwaz 10. Khuram Raza 2/18, MRamzan 2/23, Asif 2/31, MNAwaz 1/7,Irfan 1/15. STAFF REPORT

cABleS BeAt rAVI Inwomen t20 crIcketLAHORE: Amar Cables scoredimpressive five-wicket win over RaviClub in the first All Pakistan AmarCables Women T20 CricketChampionship here on Friday at PunjabWomen Cricket Academy Model Town. SCORES: Ravi Club batted first 102/9in 20 overs. Ayesha Naz 27, HinaAzam21 andMaham Rafique 12 runs. AmarCables bowling Almas Akram2/16, SabaNadir 2/8 andNida Dar 2/25 Wickets.Amar Cables answered with 103/5 in17.4 overs. Ayesha Qazi top scored with40 followed by Marina Iqbal 14, andNida Dar 28 runs notout. Ravi Clubbowling Sabeen 3/19 and BakhtawarIqbal 1/27 . Irfan Dilshad andAdnanRaseed stood as umpires and MuhammadArif was the Scorer.Nida Dar wasdeclared player of the match.STAFF REPORT

lOCAl news

PARISAGENCIES

DEFENDING FrenchOpen championRafael Nadal wasdrawn in the same halfas world number oneNovak Djokovic on

Friday as the Spanish claycourt machinechases a record eighth title at RolandGarros. Third seed Nadal, who beatDjokovic in last year’s final, could facethe Serbian in the semis.

“But is not in the first round, no?,”Nadal joked when asked how he felt abouthis potential meeting with Djokovic in anews conference.

Nadal has won five titles on clay thisseason after missing more than sevenmonths of tennis and sitting out the U.S.and Australian Opens.

“If you can ask me if I win one grandslam during the whole year or win sixtournaments like I already did, I willchoose win six tournaments,” he said.

Nadal plays Daniel Brands ofGermany in the first round and could facehome hope Richard Gasquet in a potentialquarter-final clash as the French men lookto end a 30-year grand slam title drought.

Djokovic, who opens his Pariscampaign against Belgian David Goffin,is also lined up for a possible third-roundmatch against talented Bulgarianyoungster Grigor Dimitrov.

Swiss Roger Federer, who has arecord 17 grand slam titles to his name,has a smooth-looking path until a potentialquarter-final against French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. World number two AndyMurray pulled out with back problems andArgentine Juan Martin del Potro, rankedseventh, is also missing from the draw dueto illness.

On the women’s side, defendingchampion Maria Sharapova of Russia, the

second seed, is in the same half asBelarussian third seed Victoria Azarenka.

World number one Serena Williamscould meet Agnieszka Radwanska ofPoland, the fourth seed, in the semi-finals.

Williams will take on Georgia’s AnnaTatishvili in the first round on her way toa potential quarter-final match-up withformer world number one CarolineWozniacki who will start against Britain’sLaura Robson.

Asked if she felt as good as in hergolden years, Williams told a newsconference: “I think so. Just looking backat a few of my matches years ago andlooking now, I definitely feel like I’mgetting into that zone that I have always

wanted to be in, and I feel a lot betterabout it.”

Sharapova’s main threat could comefrom Australian ninth seed SamanthaStosur, the 2010 runner-up, in a possiblequarter-final.

Sharapova, who was drawn againstTaipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei in the first round,withdrew from the Italian Open becauseof illness last week, but she is now fine.

“I have been practising for almost fiveor six days now, which has been nice,” shetold a news conference.

“I haven’t been back since my victory(at the French Open), so it has been niceto be able to practise on the courts whenit’s quiet and be back on centre court.”

nadal, Djokovic on semi-finalcollision course in Paris

monAco BeAtS PellA to reAch FInAl In DueSSelDorF DUESSELDORF: Juan Monaco reached the final of the Power Horse Cup bybeating Guido Pella 6-4, 7-6 (8) on Friday. Monaco is seeded third and thehighest-ranked player left in the field. But he needed nearly 2 hours toovercome his left-handed, 101th-ranked opponent, who was playing in his firstsemifinal match on the tour after going through qualifying. Pella saved twomatch points - and wasted one set point - before whipping a backhand into thenet to end the grueling battle from the baseline. Monaco finished with eightaces, while Pella had one. The 19th-ranked Monaco will play either sixth-seedJarkko Nieminen of Finland or Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands. AGENCIES

two yeArS on, lIStIll StAnDS Alone

PARISAGENCIES

Li Na’s momentous French Open titlewin of 2011 was expected to open thefloodgates for Asian — and inparticular Chinese — players in worldtennis. Two years on, little has changedwith sixth-ranked Li being the onlyAsian player currently ranked insidethe woman’s global top 30. CompatriotPeng Shuai is 34th, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei is 42nd and Ayumi Morita of Japanis one step further back. India’s SaniaMirza is now more focussed on herdoubles play, while at 35 years oldTamarine Tanasugarn is firmly in thetwilight of her career. Li apart, none ofthe Asian contingent is expected toprogress far in the draw on the claycourts at Roland Garros and that willcome as a blow to the head of theWomen’s Tennis Association (WTA)Stacey Allaster, who has identified Asiaas the bright future of tennis. Allaster,who has recognised the importance ofLi to the sport, is pulling out all thestops to commercialise the women’sgame on the continent, especially withflagging interest in the United States.“She is the most important player ofthe decade for me,” Allaster saidrecently. “Tennis in the Asian-Pacificregion has a lot of growth potentialand the region could have ninetournaments next year if the season-ending WTA Championships is movedto Singapore or China’s Tianjin.” As itturned out, Singapore won that contestto host the biggest tournament in thewomen’s game outside of the fourGrand Slam events.

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PTV SPORTS2nd Test, Day 2: England vsNew Zealand

3:00 PM

STAR SPORTSAUTO RACING - Qualifying

5:20 PM

sPORTs Ssaturday, 25 May, 2013

18“Obviously I was very disappointed to

miss out on London and it was a

difficult time for me. – Charlie Edwards

wAtCh It LIve

MONACOAGENCIES

Kimi Raikkonen would much rather be leftalone but he is happy to admit that sometimeshe does not know what he is doing. Socialmedia is never going to be the Finn’s thingand the Lotus driver has never hidden hisdistaste for interviews but he overcame hisreluctance and spoke to Reuters at theMonaco Grand Prix - albeit stressing: “That’snot the reason why I am here.

“I am here for driving and racing andto try to win races and it’s as simple asthat,” added Formula One’s 2007 worldchampion and current title contender, hispenetrating gaze shielded by sunglasseseven inside the team motorhome.Raikkonen’s directness, his refusal to playthe PR game and pretend to be someone heis not, may not have endeared him to all hissponsors over the years but his army of fanswould not have it any other way. They lovethe party animal who wants to be left alone,the technophobe who earns his living in themost technologically advanced sport in the

world, the snowmobile racer and JamesHunt fan with ‘Iceman’ tattooed in gothicscript on his left forearm.

Beneath the taciturn exterior, andbehind the growling monosyllabic replies ingroup interviews, Raikkonen is a racer whocould be leading the championship after theweekend and is on course to chalk up his23rd successive race in the points - one short

of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.LEAvE ME ALONE: On his way tovictory in Abu Dhabi last year, the 33-year-old added to the legend that is KimiRaikkonen by telling his race engineer overthe radio in decisive terms to “leave mealone, I know what I’m doing.”The outburstspawned T-shirts and mugs with the phraseon it, one of the latter proudly owned by

Frank Williams who tried to sign the Finnfor his eponymous team in late 2011.

For many it has become Raikkonen’smotto, but he does not see it that way.

“It’s not that. For sure, sometimes Idon’t know what I am doing,” he laughed,perhaps mindful of those old photographsof him drunkenly embracing an inflatabledolphin outside a nightclub or powerboatracing in a gorilla suit.

“But that happens to everybody. Thewhole story came out of proportion. It wasa normal thing. “It sounds like we areshouting, because the radio is not verygood and you will shout as loud as you canto make sure that they hear what you say.It happens always. I am not a big fan ofgetting messages. I am sure I will ask if Ineed something. “For sure it has happenedin a Ferrari and a McLaren,” he added. “Isaid many things but on those days youdidn’t get them on TV. Even now you getoften in the races some odd things comingthrough but they don’t put it in a live formfor whatever reason. It’s not like a newthing for the team.”

Raikkonen would rather be left alone

ueFA rAmPS uPPunIShmentS ForrAcISt BehAVIour

LONDONAGENCIES

UEFA is standing by its promise to crackdown, at long last, on racist behaviour byfans, player and officials.The European federation’s executivecommittee, meeting in London yesterdayand today ahead of tomorrow’s annualcongress, approved changes proposed toits disciplinary code earlier this year.Fans guilty of racist chanting will attract,in the first instance, a partial closure of astadium; a second offence will result in afull stadium closure plus a E50,000 fine.Players or officials guilty of racistbehaviour would incur a minimum 10-match ban.Gianni Infantino, UEFA’s generalsecretary, said: “We will now havetougher sanctions to fight against racistbehaviour. This is absolutely in line withUEFA’s zero tolerance policy to act andnot talk and do something concrete andthat’s why the executive committee took astrong stance on this. UEFA stood accused, for years, of nottaking racist behaviour seriously. On onenotorious occasion it fined then Arsenalcaptain Patrick Vieira for criticising itsdisciplinary body for an insufficientreaction to racist chanting by Valenciafans. A minimum ban for insulting a referee hasbeen increased from two to three matcheswith a minimum tariff for an assault beinglifted from 10 to 15 matches.Infantino added: “We feel the word‘respect’ has to have a concrete meaningand so sanctions for insulting or assaultingmatch officials have also beenstrengthened.”In addition UEFA’s disciplinary bodieshave been granted wider authority topunish member associations which, itfeels, have not been rigorous enough topunishing matchfixing, corruption ingeneral and doping.This includes scrapping all statutes oflimitations so UEFA may pursue even theoldest cases of matchfixing.Infantino said: “This means that if itcomes out that a match was fixed, say, 15years ago then the disciplinary body candeal with the matter.”

‘ZAkA’S electIonProceSSeD In ADemocrAtIc wAy’

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The people with vested interests areunreasonably making the election of PCBchairman Chaudhry Muhammad ZakaAshraf controversial although it has beenprocessed in a democratic way andtransparent manner, said Mian Javed Ali,former Secretary of the Lahore CityCricket Association in a statement onFriday. “I was surprised to see a statement offormer Multan Cricket AssociationPresident Mian Munir in a section of thepress in which he has unlogically tried totwist the things,” he said. He further said: “Having longassociation with the game of cricket Ihave thoroughly gone through the newconstitution of the PCB and the processof the election of Zaka Ashraf aschairman of PCB. Nothing unlawfuland unconstitutional has been doneduring the entire process of the electionof the chairman PCB and that theconstitution has been followed in itstrue letter and spirit. He said the peoplewho were criticising the Zaka electionjust for the sake of criticism were livingin fools’ paradise as the new PCB chiefhas already been legally andconstitutionally elected chairman PCBfor term of four years. “More over all the formalities andrequirements, as laid down in the ICC-approved constitution were fulfilledwhile electing Zaka ashraf as the PCBchairman,” he noted. He further saidZaka has done nothing wrong during histenure so far as PCB Chairman forputting the Pakistan cricket on the righttrack and his this contribution shouldalso be given due recognition.

SOIRTS DESK

ITALIAN cyclist Danilo DiLuca faces a lifetime banafter testing positive for EPObefore this year’s Girod’Italia. Di Luca, who wonthe Giro in 2007, has been

provisionally suspended by theInternational Cycling Union from therace [EPA] Former Giro d’Italia winnerDanilo Di Luca tested positive for EPOin a surprise test at his home before thisyear’s race, organisers announced onFriday.

If confirmed in a backup ‘B’ sample,Di Luca risks a lifetime ban since this ishis third offence. “I wasn’t expectingthis. It was a surprise for me. I’mdisappointed,” Di Luca said uponleaving the team hotel. “Di Luca is anidiot. I never wanted him... Di Luca issick. He needs to be helped “

- Vini Fantini team director LucaScinto “I’ll ask for the backup analysisthen we can talk again.”

The UCI provisionally suspended DiLuca pending a hearing with the Italiancycling federation and the Vini Fantini-Selle Italia squad fired the 37-year-oldItalian rider. “Danilo has betrayedcycling once again,” Giro race directorMauro Vegni said. “But I’m happy itwasn’t a young rider. Danilo belongs toa generation that has navigated throughthe doping system.”

The test was carried out April 29,five days before the Giro started, and theresult drew a harsh rebuke from ViniFantini team director Luca Scinto.

“Di Luca is an idiot. I never wantedhim,” Scinto said. “Di Luca is sick. Heneeds to be helped.” Seemingly headedfor retirement just a few months ago, DiLuca signed with Vini Fantini on April

26. Scinto and others were against hiringhim but sponsors eventually prevailed.

“The sponsors chose him and nowthey’ve got to take responsibility,”Scinto said. The team is consideringsuing Di Luca for damaging its image.The race ends on Sunday and Di Lucadeparts in 26th place overall, 33 minutes,33 seconds behind overall leaderVincenzo Nibali.WEATHER FORCES CHANGES TO

GIRO’S 20TH STAGE: Heavysnowfall and sub-zero temperatures haveforced organisers of the Giro d’Italia tomake changes to the race’s 20th stage onSaturday, it emerged Friday.

The first of two consecutive days inthe Dolomite mountains, Friday’s 19thstage was cancelled altogether as itemerged that even plans for analternative route had to be abandoneddue to heavy snowfall and freezingconditions above 1500 metres.

The 20th stage on Saturday,featuring five mountain passes and afinish on the legendary Tre Cime deLavaredo, was considered the ‘Queen’mountain stage of the race. However thesevere conditions mean the stage’s firstthree climbs — the Costalunga, SanPellegrino, and Giau — are off the menu,said organisers RCS. Instead, the pelotonwill race through the valleys of Brunicoand Dobbiaco in order to reach Cortinad’Ampezzo, from where the climb to TreCime di Lavaredo begins.

third doping strike for Giro winner Di luca

ATHENSAGENCIES

It’s not every year that a senior gets toclose out her career playing her homecourse on the biggest stage in collegegolf—the NCAA Women’sChampionship. But Emilie Burger, whowon the Mason Rudolph Championshiplast fall and the Bryan NationalCollegiate this spring, is doing just that.Though the Bulldogs failed to qualify asa team, the 22-year-old from Hoschton,Ga.,, a three-time All-American,qualified for her first nationalchampionship by shooting one-under212 at the West Regional at Stanford GC.

“It’s a dream come true to be playingin this event on my home course. I startedout playing junior golf here. The wholegolf program has been such a blessing,”said Burger, who through three rounds thisweek at the University of Georgia GC hasplayed solid stretches of golf despite

scores of 75, 77 and 75. Big numbers havebeen her problem with three doublebogeys and a quadruple bogey over 54holes. Burger began attending annualsummer golf camps at Georgia as a childand still uses the Bulldog headcover shereceived from Todd McCorkle, the formerGeorgia women’s coach, for being named“Camper of the Week” as a kid.

As you’d expect, the headcover is a bitratty. Joan Berger, Emilie’s mother, hasdone some serious knitting and patching topreserve the memento throughout the years.“There are plenty of new ones around, butshe refuses to give it up,” said Joan, whoalong with her husband, Gary, has missedonly one of Emilie’s college events. “Eversince I got that headcover I’ve wanted to bea Bulldog,” said Emilie. At the end of themonth, Burger will play in a U.S. Women’sOpen qualifier in Sanford, N.C., then willplay a schedule of Symetra Tour events forthe rest of the season. She’ll turn pro afterFriday’s final round.

Georgia’s Burger happy to be at home

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

saturday, 25 May, 2013

ISLAMABADANwER ABBAS

THE new government will notaffect agreements, includingthat of the IP gas pipelineproject, signed by the previ-ous regime, Foreign Secre-

tary Jalil Abbas Jilani said on Friday. Addressing a special news briefing at

the Foreign Office, Jilani said Gwadar hadbeen officially handed over to China.

The foreign secretary, flanked by Pak-istan’s envoy to China, Masood Khan andthe newly-appointed spokesman, saidchange in the Pakistani administrationwould not affect the foreign policy of thecountry. He said “governments come andgo but that does not mean deals and ac-cords with others countries are annulled”.

He said the energy crisis in the countywas the biggest test for the upcoming gov-

ernment, adding that all options would bereviewed to meet the energy needs of Pak-istan. He said Pakistan would continuewith the previous foreign policy,adding that projects, includ-ing the Iran-Pakistan gaspipeline, signed by theprevious regimewould also not be af-fected.

Jilani said anychange introducedby the US adminis-tration in the policiesregarding the waragainst terrorism werebeing reviewed andmonitored deeply, how-ever, he added there was nolegal justification for drone strikesinside Pakistani territory. Calling dronestrikes a sheer violation of basic human

rights, he said the government would urgethe US to revise its policies regarding

drones. To a question, the foreign secre-tary said China was in coopera-

tion with Pakistan oncivilian nuclear technol-

ogy and would con-tinue supportingPakistan, howeverhe revealed that thatno new deal hadbeen struck withChina in this con-nection. “Both

countries are sharingcooperation in ther-

mal, wind and hydropower generations proj-

ects to meet the country’s en-ergy needs.” Lauding the Chinese

premier’s recent visit to Pakistan, Jilanisaid the visit was successful and was the

proof of the trust between the leadershipof the two countries had in each other. Hesaid Gwadar had been handed over toChina in connection with administrativeand development aspects.

Jilani said Pakistan was trying to pro-mote ties with China, adding that 4,000students were learning Chinese in Islam-abad and another institute would beopened in Karachi soon for which a dealhad been struck. “China also enjoys inter-ests in Afghanistan, following which a tri-lateral forum comprising Pakistan, China,and Russia is working and soon its thirdsitting will be called.” To a question, Ji-lani said Afghan President HamidKarzai’s Indian visit was an internal mat-ter of Afghanistan. To another question,he said like other countries India andChina also enjoyed close ties, “as everycountry enjoys relation with other coun-tries at different levels”.

Foreign policy, previous govt’saccords to remain unchanged: Jilani

ISLAMABADTAYYAB huSSAIN

The Pakistani government on Fridayreiterated its principled stance on droneattacks by the US forces on its soil, with aForeign Office spokesman saying dronestrikes violated Pakistan’s nationalsovereignty and were counter-productivedue to collateral damage.The statement came in the backdrop ofUS counterterrorism strategy outlined byPresident Barrack Obama on Thursday.

“On the use of drone strikes, thegovernment of Pakistan has consistentlymaintained that the drone strikes arecounter-productive, entail loss of innocentcivilian lives, have human rights andhumanitarian implications and violate theprinciples of national sovereignty,territorial integrity and international law,”said a statement issued in a rejoinder tothe US president’s counterterrorismstrategy. However, Pakistan appreciatedPresident Obama’s acknowledgement that“force alone cannot make the US safer”.This has been a long lasting stanceadopted by the Pakistan Army who hastime and again called for start ofnegotiations with the Taliban involved in

the war against the NATO forces. “Thisalso has been Pakistan’s longstandingstance that a comprehensive strategy isrequired to address the root causes thatfoster terrorism and extremism,” thestatement added. It said as a frontline statein the fight against terrorism, Pakistanitroops had borne the brunt and given theultimate sacrifice for it.“We appreciate President Obama’sacknowledgement and recognition of thesacrifices made by Pakistan particularlyby our law enforcement authorities,” thestatement stated, adding, “We welcomethe resolve expressed by President Obamato continue efforts to rebuilding theimportant bilateral relationship, which we

believe should be based on mutual respectand benefit,” the Foreign Office statementconcluded. However, eminent defenceanalyst Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi termedthe FO statement “vague”, adding that thenew Pakistani government should take upthe drone issue with the US government.“Pakistan should not only take up thedrones issue with the US but it shouldalso take into account the fact that whyPakistan does not have much internationalsupport over this issue,” he said.He said President Obama had hinted at afact that the US administration was goingto scale down the drone attacks, but wasnot going to give it up. “The US is notgoing to give a categorical guarantee to

Pakistan that they will abandon droneoperations in totality. However, they agreeto reduced attacks”. Calling drone strikespart of the psychological warfare, Rizvisaid they wanted to keep fear in the mindsof militants and “they will keep the swordhanging over the Taliban especially on alQaeda-related groups”.He said President Obama was talking tohis own audience in the US as there werehuman rights activists who opposed dronestrikes. “There are left wing and humanrights activists who are opposing drones.The second opposition came from withinthe US when four US citizens were killed.This triggered a debate within the US asto how could you illegally kill your owncitizens with drones. Pakistan factor alsocontributed. So they have decided tocontinue with the drones policy but theywill use it selectively,” he added.Askari said one thing was sure that thefrequency of drone attacks was going tobe reduced. “But the US says, why doesPakistan not take control of its territory sothat there is no need to use drones. TheUS has never given up the option of talkswith the militants. By reducing droneattacks, the US administration wasaddressing the sentiments of Pakistan andArab population who oppose droneattacks,” he said.

PAKISTAN REITERATES DRONESVIOLATE SOVEREIGNTY

US COUNTERTERRORISM POLICY(

(DR RIZVI SAYS DRONEATTACKS BEING REDUCEDDUE TO ANTI-DRONEPRESSURE FROM WITHIN US

NEW GOVT SHOULD TAKEUP DRONES ISSUE WITH US, TAKE CONTROLOF ITS TERRITORY

DecISIon on DroneStrIkeS centre’SPreroGAtIVe: khAttAk

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief

minister-designate and Pakistan Tehreek-

e-Insaf (PTI) Central General Secretary

Pervez Khattak on Friday said the PTI’s

stance on drone attacks was very clear

but it was for the federal government to

devise a future policy to deal with the

issue. Talking to reporters, Khattak said

the policy regarding drone attacks was

the sole prerogative of the federal

government and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

government would extend complete

support to the Centre in this regard.

He said the PTI would strongly protest

against drone attacks and if found

necessary, a resolution against it would

also be passed by the KP Assembly.

“Drone strikes are against our country’s

sovereignty and international human

rights laws,” Khattak said. APP

SIx PolIcemen kIlleD In PeShAwArmIlItAnt AttAck

PESHAWAR: As many as six policemen

were killed in an attack on the convoy of

DPO Kohat in Mattani late on Friday. Two

policemen were also reported injured as

militants and policemen continued to

exchange fire long after the attack began.

DPO Kohat Dilawar Bangash was later

admitted to the Combined Military

Hospital (CMH) in critical condition.

Earlier this week, a woman was also killed

and three other people seriously injured

when dozens of armed militants attacked

and torched four houses in Sheikh Nala,

Mattani. STAFF REPORT

mQm workerS muStchAnGe or they wIllloSe me ForeVer: AltAF

LONDON: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement

(MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Friday said if

his party workers did not amend themselves,

they would lose their leader forever. In a

telephonic address to members of the

Interim Rabita (Coordinating) Committee

and other party workers, Altaf said he

initiated the MQM in Karachi University (KU)

to identify the rights of people who migrated

during the partition, but over the time,

ninety eight percent of the party’s population

had become the voice of the poor and

oppressed citizens in the country. He added

that his party was not formed to perpetrate

hatred towards any nationality or class, but

to work for the rights of marginalised people.

Moreover, he said the linguistic and regional-

based problems that he had to face in his

student life were not seen in the history of

the region. AGENCIES

KARACHI: Indian fishermen carrying

their luggage after their release from

Malir Jail on Friday. Pakistan released 45

Indian fishermen, who were arrested

while fishing in Pakistani waters, as a

gesture of goodwill. INP

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