10th february 2012

Volume XIII Issue No. 06 48 Pages Friday, February 10, 2012 | Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1433 A.H. www.pakistanchronicle.com

WeeklyThe Largest Pakistans Weekly Circulating Coast to CoastDistribution in TX, LA, OK, AZ, TN, CA, NC, AK, AL, MO, IL, MN,MI, WS, MA, CT, VA, MD, PA, NJ & NY

PakistanChronicle

“The Newspaper you read”

Main Section

First Pakistani American Bilingual Newspaper printed from USA & Canada Toll-Free : 1-888-914-0786 E-mail: [email protected]

6666 Harwin, Dr. Suite # 365, Houston, TX 77036 Tel: 713-914-0786 Fax: 713-914-0906

AUSTIN, Texas: Texans politicianslike to tout the state’s economicgrowth, but more and more Texansare finding themselves teetering onthe edge of poverty.

A study by the Corporation forEnterprise Development found that27.7 percent of Texas householdshave no financial cushion in case

Continued on page 21

Many Texans earn lowpay, hold few assets

Pakistani actress Veena Malik is controversy'sfavourite child but it would be unfair to judgethe entire country on the basis of what shedoes in India, actor-singer Ali Zafar says.

"You have to understand that she's anindividual and you can't judge the entirecommunity on the basis of one person'sbehaviour. You shouldn't even judgePakistan through me. The wholePakistan is not like Ali Zafar or VeenaMalik," Ali told Indian news agency.

"And such individuals are there in veryentertainment industry. In India also thereare women who ride on controversies. Ithappens everywhere. It happens even inHollywood," he added.

Veena came to limelight after her link upwith tainted Pakistani bowler MohammadAsif. She rose to fame in India after


Don't judge Pakistanthrough VeenaMalik: Ali Zafar

Ambassador of Pakistan to USA, Sherry Rehman and some other participants celebrating Milad-e-Nabi at the Embassy of Pakistan,Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s ambas-sador to the United States SherryRehman said that Pakistan-USengagement has to be reinvented onthe basis of parliamentary review onthe current status of relationshipbetween the two countries.

In her remarks at a luncheongathering arranged by Ambassador-at-large and leading social worker,Riffat Mahmood at his residence,

Ambassador Rehman said the currentphase of mistrust would not helpeither side. She hoped that both sideswould strive to build a future rela-tionship on the basis of mutual trust,interest and respect.

Agreeing with AmbassadorRehman’s views on the importanceof relationship, US Special envoy forPakistan and Afghanistan


Pakistan-US ties should bereinvented: Sherry Rehman

KARACHI: Officials in the UnitedStates Department of State are said tohave been supporting a proposal cir-culating in the administration for theUS to issue a formal apology over thedeaths of Pakistani soldiers in theNovember 26 Nato airstrike, TheNew York Times reported.

The daily quoted a US official,

briefed on the State Department'sview, as saying, "We've felt anapology would be helpful in creat-ing some space."

Earlier, the White House had saidthat US President Barack Obama willnot issue a formal apology or condo-lences on the deaths.


US considering formal apologyfor NATO attacks: Report

WASHINGTON: Boosted by risingUS jobs figures, president BarackObama's approval rating has hit themagical 50% mark and he has openedup a double-digit lead over his likelyRepublican opponent in November, apoll showed on Monday.

The poll by the Washington Postand ABC television found


Ratings up, Obamaeyes second term

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan onTuesday said that the trio of PresidentAsif Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif andJamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)chief MaulanaFazlur

Rehman has brought much harm toPakistan, Local TV reported.

Speaking at a press conference inIslamabad, the PTI chief said that cor-ruption and incompetence has cost thecountry over Rs3.1 trillion. He allegedthat Zardari, Nawaz and Fazl wereresponsible for the losses.

The former cricketer added that PTIwas ready to “topple all three wickets inone delivery”, and that the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) was not anissue for his party.

Imran blames “politicaltrio” for massive corruption

For the latest news, events, sports and more visit www.pakistanchronicle.com

ADVERTISEMENT PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201202


ADVERTISEMENTPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 3


EDITORIAL PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 20124

IN addition to those living in Pakistan’s con-flict zones, in recent years the urban citizen-ry too has become uncomfortably familiarwith acts of terrorism. The perpetrators seemto consider no place or occasion off limits.From public areas to places of worship, reli-gious and political gatherings all have atsome point come under attack.

Has the law-enforcement apparatus metwith any success in quelling such attacks? Inpockets, it does seem that the situation isimproving. Consider Karachi, which has seenterrorist attacks in places frequented by thepublic — as delineated from law-enforce-ment and military installations that the terror-ists claim are their main targets. Suchinstances include the bombing of the Ashuraprocession in December 2009 and that of theshrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in 2010. Yet,over the past year, various events and occa-sions that both ordinary people and the law-enforcement set-up feared would be targetedthankfully passed off without incident. Also,a number of high-profile militants have beenarrested, implying that protecting the peopleis possible if there is sufficient will on thepart of law-enforcement personnel.

While this is encouraging, it is clearly notenough. Combating the monster of terrorismrequires a multi-pronged and holisticapproach where different methods achievesuccess in concert.

One area where law-enforcement effortscontinue to under-perform is at the level ofprosecution. Trials of suspected terrorists ormilitants tend to yield little because of eitherpoor investigation or prosecution. A case inpoint is the 2006 Nishtar Park bombing, forwhich three men believed to be associatedwith the proscribed Lashkar-i-Jhangviremain in custody. In the six years that havepassed, the prosecution has presented merelyone witness.

This pattern is repeated around the coun-try in terms of prosecution, and sends out allthe wrong signals.

True, there are difficulties: hard evidencein such cases can be difficult to gather and,given the profiles of the terrorists involved,there is always the possibility of witnesses,prosecutors and judges being intimidated. Ifthe police and prosecution could improvetheir performance in this regard, we wouldsee greater success in combating terrorism.

Fight against terrorism

COMING a day after the massacre by thesecurity forces at Homs, the second Russian-Chinese veto on Saturday seems to have madea diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis dif-ficult. The Arab League plan is in tatters, thepossibility of a fresh P-5 consensus appearsremote, and President Bashar Al Assad seemsdetermined to stay on, no matter what the costin terms of blood. Friday’s massacre in Homshas been described as the worst of the ‘ArabSpring’.Even though the absence of foreign journal-ists has made an assessment of the extent ofcarnage difficult, whatever has emerged con-firms that the Syrian army used mortar bombsand artillery on a city called “the heart of therevolution”.People’s homes turned into debris or were setablaze, and there were bodies everywhere.According to Syrian opposition sources, 260people were killed, with burials taking placeat night to avoid sniper firing. The UN hadstopped counting the dead after the figurecrossed 4,500 in January. But neutralobservers say nearly 7,000 people have beenkilled, while the government claims that2,000 soldiers have died in clashes with“armed gangs and terrorists” since the troublebegan last March.Russia and China have come under interna-tional criticism for vetoing the resolution,which contained elements of the original Arab

League plan and had been watered down toaccommodate Russian objections. The resolu-tion, voted for by 13 nations, includingPakistan, had been worked out after intensenegotiations. It avoided threats of sanctionsand arms embargo, much less military inter-vention, and did not include that part of theAL plan which called upon President Assad tohand over power to his deputy to organise afresh election. Nevertheless, the motion con-demned the government for human rights vio-lations, “arbitrary executions”, enforced dis-appearances and the persecution of protestersand media persons. As a sop to Russia andChina it appealed to “all parties in Syria,including armed groups” to cease violenceand reprisals.It is true western delegates tried to accommo-date Russian and Chinese views, butSaturday’s failure at the UN is now likely tolead to a diplomatic impasse. While the west-ern governments showed haste in tabling theresolution, Moscow and Beijing were obvi-ously guided less by what is going on in Syriaand more by economic and strategic interestsin the region. At the same time, one cannotbut note the contradiction in the western atti-tudes. While in Libya, the US and Nato man-aged a military intervention to oust a dictator,they sat idle while foreign forces moved intoBahrain to save the regime and crush a popu-lar uprising.

Respite for Assad

PAKISTANIS have a habit of finding formand fortune in the Gulf. But bar a six byJaved Miandad that got the better of Indiain Sharjah ages ago, perhaps no happeningin the UAE has given the Pakistani nationmore pleasure than the whitewash ofEngland in the Test series that concludedyesterday. The third victory was all themore remarkable given the side’s poor firstinnings score — making it a rare instancein history where a team went on to winafter having been bowled out for less than100 in its first outing. It is a spectacularseries win against the world’s top-rankedteam especially given the scandals involv-ing Pakistan cricket. Only cricket couldhave effectively answered the criticism.Pakistan are going about fixing it the rightway in not-so-familiar conditions, even ifit will go down in the record books as ahome series.Under Misbah-ul-Haq’s visibly democratic

leadership, Pakistan outplayed England inthe first Test. They checked the Englishupsurge in the second and dominated thethird after a couple of sessions.Younis Khan was there when he was des-

perately needed and Azhar Ali played amarathon knock to help seal the last Test. The series confirmed Saeed Ajmal’sexpertise and he found an able partner inAbdul Rehman. Not to forget Umar Gul’scontribution as a bowler and Asad Shafiq,Muhammad Hafiz and Misbah himself inthe batting department. There are areas thatcould do with debate — the batting, field-ing, the right combination in bowling tosuit all seasons and surfaces and, above all,the absence of international cricket inPakistan. But this is not the time to take upthese issues in detail.Let’s celebrate before we start wondering

what more could a coach be asked to deliv-er. What more?

It’s a whitewash

IT is unfortunate that some Palestinians should haveexpressed their anger the way they did. On Thursday,Ban Ki-moon was pelted with shoes, stones and sandas he crossed into the Gaza Strip. Those who demonstrated against the UN secretarygeneral were angry over Mr Ban's refusal to meet therelatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israel - estimatedat 5,000. Their hurt was the greater, because Mr Banhad met the family of Gilad Shalit, the lone Israelisoldier held by Hamas and released last October. The demonstrators accused Mr Ban of a 'bias' infavor of Israel. Once in Khan Yunis, the UN chief criticized "peoplefrom Gaza" for firing rockets into Israel, while ask-ing Tel Aviv to ease its blockade of theMediterranean strip. Throughout his tenure as secre-tary general, Mr Ban has tried to maintain what hewould consider a 'balance' in his criticism of the twosides.

While he urges the Palestinian side to resume talks,he has often criticized Israel for its settlement policy.It is 'safe' for Mr Ban to follow this policy, becauseAmerica, too, disapproves of Israel's settlement poli-cy publicly. Beyond words, however, successiveAmerican administrations since Jimmy Carter's dayshave done nothing practical to make Israel behave.President Barack Obama was condemnatory ofIsrael's settlements policy in his 2009 speech to theMuslim world but has repeatedly surrendered to theIsrael lobby's pressures. Mr Ban's refusal to meet prisoners' relatives is less ofan offence committed by default by the world body,considering the more serious issues it has on its con-science, like the failure to get two of its crucial reso-lutions - 242 and 338 which call upon Israel to vacatethe occupied territories - implemented. The two-state solution is a good myth, and the UNchief is as helpless as President Obama.

An unfortunate incident

DESPITE the fact that madressah reforms have beenon the national agenda for a number of years inPakistan, it is clear that on the state level these aregoing nowhere. As reported, the federal interior min-ister recently told a cabinet meeting he was 'holdingtalks' with the relevant quarters regarding the estab-lishment of a madressah regulatory authority.Rehman Malik claimed it was difficult getting differ-ent schools of thought on a single platform in thisrespect. The minister had initially been tasked inNovember 2009 with setting up the authority. Overtwo years have passed but there has been no progresson this front. What is more, a spokesperson for theIttehad-i-Tanzeemat Madaris, an umbrella body thatgroups together five different madressah boards, hascontested Mr Malik's claims, saying that the state hasmade no effort to set up the authority.

In this regard, one important argument is that de-radicalization should not be limited to madressahs,but should be a societal Endeavour, considering wehave become a highly intolerant society. For exam-ple, it is said the curriculum taught in public schools

is perhaps more effective in breeding intolerancethan what seminaries teach. Also, it is fair to say thata significant number of college and university stu-dents in this country share the narrow worldview oftheir more radical madressah counterparts. It is alsowrong to assume all madressahs preach violence. Yetthe fact remains that some seminaries are indeedteaching their students extremist ideologies. Hence itis essential that madressahs be regulated, especiallywhere the curriculum is concerned.

As we have stated before, madressah reform is asubject the interior ministry is incapable of handling.It is an educational matter, not one of law enforce-ment, hence educationists should be at the forefrontof the reform initiative. Since education has beendevolved, the respective provincial education depart-ments should be handling madressah reform, with thefederal government maintaining a supervisory role toensure uniformity. Making sure the state knows howmany madressahs exist and what they are teachingseems like an entirely achievable Endeavour - if thestate has the political will, of course.

Stalled reforms


OPINIONSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 5

Editorial BoardFounder & CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . Tariq Nehal Khan Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nasreen Tariq KhanManaging Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arif Nehal Khan Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faiz-ur-RehmanEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ilyas ChoudhryDirector Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . M. Jamil Siddiqui

Resident EditorRaja Zahid Khanzada (for North TX)

Cell 682-551-6500

Manzoor Cheema Reporter at Large (Ph# 919-412-7008)

Bureau Chiefs

San Antario Sami Ullah Abbasi (210-302-3766)Dallas Mir Mohsin Ali (214-680-9535)Karachi Arshad Javed (0343-285-3670)

Market Research AnalystLos Angeles Rashid Malik (562-991-7706)

Pakistan Chronicle is published weekly on every Friday (for a subscription of $50 per year) by The Pakistan Publication Inc.

located at 6666 Harwin Dr. Suite # 365, Houston, TX-77036.Tel: (713) 914-0786, Toll Free 1-888-914-0786,

Fax # : [email protected]

Postmaster: Please send address changes to Pakistan Chronicle Weekly at 6666 Harwin Dr. Suite # 365, Houston, TX-77036

Shada Islam BELIEVE it or not, the world is fascinated byPakistan. This may come as a surprise to many inthe country who believe that Pakistan is the victimof an evil western/Indian/Jewish conspiracy todestroy the state and undermine its values.

But in fact the opposite is true: Pakistan, with itsmultiple facets, stark contrasts and colorful, com-plex realities intrigues and fascinates the rest of theworld. Admittedly, the interest Pakistan generates isnot always on a par with the largely positive globalfocus on China's turbo-charged economy or India'sstatus as a rising power. The world media and ana-lysts

follow the twists and turns of China's upwardtrajectory in open-mouthed wonder. The Chinaobsession is not surprising: as the West grappleswith multiple crises - financial, political, social -China marches to a different, self-confident andupbeat tune.

The interest in India is similarly understandablegiven the country's new global assertiveness - andoptimistic economic prospects. The current interna-tional scrutiny of Pakistan is due to different rea-sons. Yes, there are concerns about Pakistan's linkswith terrorists, fears that the nuclear arsenal couldfall into Taliban hands and the general rise of intol-erance and extremism across the country. In addi-tion, tense relations with India and Afghanistanprompt fear.

But as illustrated by the countless books andarticles written about Pakistan and Pakistanis, the

worldwide consensus appears to be that despite thesquabbling politicians, a ruthless army, immoralsecurity forces and fierce militants, the people ofPakistan are what make the country special - andintriguing.

Whatever the problem, no matter how acute thecrisis, Pakistan and Pakistanis muddle through. Ofcourse, that's not how a country becomes an objectof worldwide admiration - or joins the G20 group ofemerging nations. But it does mean that even as theylash out against Pakistan's two-faced military andpolitical leaders, American and European policy-makers raise their hats to the resilient, strong andupbeat spirit of the people of Pakistan. That's themessage I have received over the years from thelikes of the late Richard Holbrooke and others.

Member of European Parliament Sajjad Karimwho is also founder and chairman of the assembly'sFriends of Pakistan Group, says that Pakistan islucky to have a vibrant civil society which has"developed by default". He told this correspondentrecently, "Because the state has failed the people, thepeople have decided not to fail the state." He addedthat one of the most promising - though difficult toquantify - features that Pakistan has is the sense that,when seemingly insurmountable challenges to thecountry rear their head, "a glimmer of hope invari-ably appears, not from government structures orauthoritative bodies but from the people".

"Individuals or civil groups provide the glim-mer of hope that allows the country to pull itself outof adversity," he insists. Karim is not alone in admir-

ing the resilience of Pakistan's civil society. Afterhaving worked almost exclusively with state institu-tions in the past, the US and the EU are also turningtheir focus on civil society groups to nurse the coun-try back to health.

The general impression appears to be that whilemany in Pakistan are unable or unwilling to rock theboat and have decided to stay silent in the fact ofrepression and oppression, there are others who areready to stand up and be counted.

This is the case for the many hardworkinghuman rights activists who stand firm in the face ofattacks on minorities, women and children. Theinternational press writes about such people regular-ly as it did about the Ghairat Brigade rock bandwhich so successfully mocked the seemingly con-servative morals of many Pakistanis.

The decision by Samaa TV to fire Maya Khanfor her unforgivable witch-hunt of couples seekingsome much-needed private romantic downtime alsosecured worldwide attention.

(Actually I would also like others in her posseof self-appointed vigilantes to be taken to task.)

There is interest of course in the latest mass ral-lies organized by Imran Khan and the sulks of boththe president and the prime minister as well as thestrutting of the army and security chieftains. Butwhile these men and women come and go, the peo-ple of Pakistan are increasingly being viewed as thecountry's main asset - whether living at home orabroad.

The truth is that while China and India have

been successful in establishing strong ties with theirdiaspora communities, Pakistan maintains an awk-ward love-hate relationship with its brothers and sis-ters abroad. This correspondent fought for manyyears to secure Pakistani passports for her children.The request was initially refused because theirfather is Spanish - although Pervez Musharraf didintroduce legislation which allows them to be rec-ognized as non-resident Pakistanis.

Sajjad Karim is angry that Pakistan is consider-ing legislation that would ban Pakistanis with dualnationalities from standing for office in Pakistan. "Itis quite clear, looking at China and India, that thediaspora has had a huge role in their economicrevivals," he says. In each of these cases, the coun-tries reached out to their respective diasporas andhelped bring

them into the fold. In the same way, Pakistanneeds to harness the resources and energy of its cit-izens abroad as a starting point for its own revival,he says.

I have attended many lunches and dinnerswhere visiting Pakistani leaders waft in and out,begging bowls in hand, asking for contributionsfrom 'loyal' Pakistanis living abroad to bring pros-perity to the motherland. The truth is that manymembers of the diasporas are working very hard toensure the development of their country of birth. Butto partially

quote the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, most wouldrather eat grass than trust a Pakistani politician withtheir hard-earned euros and dollars.

Interest in Pakistan

Cyril Almeida WRITE the letter, don’t write the let-ter, write the letter, don’t write the let-ter … Sit down with a flower andpluck at its petals and if you’re nameisn’t Asif Ali Zardari your almost sureto end at ‘write the letter’.

But it’s Zardari who will decidewhether the letter is to be written ornot and his petals all appear to be say-ing the same thing, ‘don’t write theletter’. Why? As with so much else,there are only theories here.

Let’s start with the legal ones.There’s something in Switzerland thatZardari is genuinely afraid of, is themain theory. The justices of theSupreme Court also have a hunch thata gotcha moment lies within grasp, ifonly the legal process in Switzerlandcould be kick-started somehow. Ergo,the insistence on the Swiss letter.

What bombshell, if any, lies inSwitzerland is hard to say sitting herein Pakistan because so little is knownabout Swiss law.

Looking backwards, though,Ehtesabur Rehman and NAB weren’table to nail Zardari despite throwingfistfuls of cash and the best legalminds at the problem.

Realistically, then, what greatlegal minefield could await Zardarinow when it would be his own gov-

ernment going through the charade oftrying to nab its boss? InspectorClouseau minus the success, that’swhat a PPP-guided process wouldlook like.No,

it’s all about some kind of statuteof limitations, is another theory. BothZardari and the SC know that thebook will be shut on the Swiss casesforever if the letter isn’t written soon.Whether the cut-off is April or May orSeptember is difficult to say

definitively — remember, so littleis known about Swiss law — butthere’s an unspoken battle over time-lines. That’s why the SC has pushedthe NRO case so hard after a period ofrelative quiet, this theory suggests.

If this theory is true, it still doesn’texplain why Zardari would be willingto risk sacrificing his presidency overa statute of limitations. Option 1 of the‘six options’ given in the NRO imple-mentation judgment suggests Zardarihimself could be permanently barredfrom holding public office for violat-ing his presidential oath by preventingthe NRO judgment from being imple-mented in totality.

So, Zardari wants to get past thedeadline for reopening the Swiss

cases to make sure he doesn’t faceprosecution, now or ever.

The court, sensing the deadline isnear, is pushing hard to prevent thecases from being chucked into obliv-ion. They have hauled the PM up forcontempt, just one step away from theoption of directly knocking Zardariout of the presidency.

No presidency, no immunity,which would mean all the local casesagainst Zardari could be reactivated.So why dare the court to go for thenuclear option when writing the lettercould, at worst, merely reopen aprocess that may have some seriousconsequences for Zardari down theroad? There are just too many ifs onone side versus the SC’s determina-tion to get its order implemented onthe other.

Aha, but that’s the problem. Writethe letter and it will become the thinedge of the wedge, causing all mannerof new legal woes for Zardari, accord-ing to yet another theory. The moneyin the Swiss accounts has been with-drawn and were the Swiss to try as afirst step to figure out where it hasgone, it might be traced to you-know-who. Or, write the letter and immuni-

ty could be read down further here,leading to the reopening of old casesinside Pakistan.

Outside the legal thicket, there arethe political calculations. Writing theletter would open the door to all man-ner of lurid accusations, old and new,that Zardari is determined to avoid,goes one of the political theories.

Imagine the PM does write theletter. The media and the oppositionwould run with it to the far cornersof Pakistan, breathlessly announc-ing that even Zardari’s own primeminister thinks he’s corrupt. Or theletter would trigger a drip-drip ofstories from Switzerland andPakistan, reminding everyone thatZardari and his cronies aren’t justincompetent, they’re epically cor-rupt, and this just as campaign sea-son gets under way. Zardari justdoesn’t want the bad publicity, thistheory goes.

The problem with this theory isthat Zardari and his cronies’ reputa-tions are already toast. No story aboutZardari, here or abroad, ends withoutsome mention of his corruption. Takethe Swiss cases out of the picture andZardari’s reputation doesn’t exactly

bounce back.The martyr theory is even less

probable. Zardari wants to be chuckedout because he can run to the base andcry foul, yet another PPP governmentbeing chucked out before its time. Butpolitical victimisation has to be plau-sible. With memogate receding andthe main political opposition, thePML-N, once again making coopera-tive noises, the government doesn’texactly look like it’s under siege. Ifanything, it looks like it can plod ontowards general elections on its ownterms.

While anything is possible inPakistan, building a grand theory ofpersecution over a Supreme Courtorder to write a letter to Switzerland isseriously unlikely at this point in time.To claim persecution it has to looklike persecution or else it’s just thewail of players who can’t acceptthey’ve been outsmarted.

So, any which way you cut it,the most practical thing to do wouldbe to write the letter, take yourchances in Switzerland and yourlumps in Pakistan, and live to fightanother day.

Write the letter, don’t write theletter, write the letter …

Maybe someone needs to handZardari a different set of petals.

The Swiss conundrum


OPINION PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 20126

The Prophet’s (PBUH) lifeSir: Human rights as outlined in the Holy Quran and trans-

formed into a practical reality by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)are not subject to the whims of nations, indigenous laws or indi-viduals. If one examines the three most celebrated documents onhuman rights — the British Magna Carta, the American consti-tution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — it isdiscovered that these intelligently written human documentsseem to fade away in comparison to just one sermon of ProphetMohammad (PBUH)! The practical reality of this sermon lies insuch revealing examples as the emancipated black slave ofEthiopia, Bilal (RA); the poor labourer of Rome, Suhaib (RA);and the lonely wanderer of Persia, Salman (RA); who were equalto, and had the same rights as, the most powerful men. The UNpreamble includes the provision: “To establish conditions underwhich justice and respect for the obligations arising from treatiesand other sources of international law can be maintained.”However, it is totally a different story in practice where the‘might is right’ practice steals the show in international affairs.For example, the transition from a bi-polar to a uni-polar world,the provision of the UN veto power and ‘aid with strings’ of the‘haves’ for the ‘have-nots’ speak volumes for the flouting ofinternational law. Human respect, grace, dignity and honour arereflected in the life and teachings of Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) for children, women, senior citizens, minorities, prison-ers of war (POWs) and in interpersonal communication, busi-ness dealings, civic, public and political affairs towards account-ability, justice and fair play in all walks of life. The Prophet(PBUH) was by far the most remarkable man that ever set footon this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built anation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social andpolitical reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society topractice and represent his teachings and completely revolu-tionised the worlds of human thought and behaviour for all timesto come.

___ PARVEZ JAMIL

Bureaucracy politicisedA BUREAUCRACY is pivotal to modern government. This

is recognised by both proponents and opponents of bureaucracy.In a developing country the function of the bureaucracy

could vary depending on the culture of a society, its level of

socioeconomic development and the nature of its political sys-tem. In a traditional sense, bureaucracy in most political systemshas been expected to ensure continuity of policies, politicalorder/stability, uphold the rule of law, promote economic devel-opment and cultural cohesion. These traditional functions havebeen forcefully defended by proponents of bureaucracy.

If one were to look at the performance of the bureaucracy inthe Third World, the results are mixed. In most countries ofSouth Asia the authority and social elite status of the bureaucra-cy is still recognised despite erosion of power and politicisation.

Its major failure is in its inability to promote welfare, devel-opment, equity and provide justice to citizens. The bureaucracyreaches this point of people’s dismay for sheer reason of absenceof rule of law and a comprehensive mechanism of accountabili-ty within and without. Pakistan’s bureaucracy, least to say, canbe bracketed in the latter explanation.

But it is Pakistan’s politician who, in fact, exploited theworking of bureaucracy for their own interest which ultimatelycreated individual interests for their own benefits among thebureaucracy paving the way for it to accumulate the fortunes butnot without at the cost of good governance.

President Asif Zardari’s recent remarks during a ceremonyof Waseela-i-Haq scheme of BISP in Karachi, about bureaucra-cy being a hurdle in the government and people’s prosperitymust be viewed in the historic perspective when every succeed-ing ruling lot of politicians treated the merit in induction andpostings of bureaucracy with disdain.

They considered their inherent right to place the bureaucra-cy of their choice no matter the individual fulfils the criteria ofqualification and integrity for the given assignment.

This apathy on the part of ruling politicians has sowed theseed of inefficiency and corruption which democratic govern-ments will reap for years to come.

Now one should look forward that the government consider-ing the importance of bureaucracy for a viable state will ensuremerit and transparency as our president claims to be working forfuture generation.

___ ABDUL SAMAD CHANNA

Negotiating with Taliban withoutPakistan?

AS the US began preliminary talks with Taliban negotiatorsin Qatar on plans for peace talks aimed at ending the war in

Afghanistan, amid reports that Pakistan and Afghanistan areseeking peace talks with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia separatefrom the US-brokered talks in Doha, it is now established thatthings are shaping up rapidly in Afghanistan as the US is treat-ing the Taliban as a political force and a political stakeholder.

For that the US even agreed to transfer four to eight impor-tant Taliban figures from Guantanamo Bay to set up a politicaloffice for the exiled Afghan insurgent group.

In another effort to soothe President Karzai’s doubts, a dele-gation from the Qatar government is expected to visit Kabul toexplain its role in the talks as the Afghan president feels uncom-fortable over the sharp change in the US stance and policy.

He has his suspicions over the direct negotiations; to himopening of the Taliban office in Qatar means giving Talibanrecognition by the US against whom it fought for over a decade.Despite his suspicions, Karzai had no option but to back theQatar initiative.

Pakistan has been sidelined in the process, but it is not out ofthe game. The Taliban declared that they could not ignorePakistan and would not like to annoy it, even if they sought moreindependence, and less interference by Islamabad in their deci-sion-making.

That’s why it seems, as a BBC report indicates, the Afghangovernment, not fully agreeing to the US-Qatar initiative andPakistan, partially sidelined, have plans for talks in Saudi Arabiathat both Kabul and Islamabad were looking for their own talkswith the Taliban.

The US administration is of the view that its strong militarypresence in Afghanistan and an indecisive long-term plan of itsmilitary’s presence beyond 2014 can be used as a leverage toconvince the Taliban on the necessity of Kabul’s participation intalks and cutting down on its other demands to let the talksprocess take off the ground.

The reason cited is that if Kabul is not a part of the negotia-tions, then it will not be possible to bring the Taliban in main-stream political parties. Therefore, it seems difficult to under-stand that the negotiations will bring an end to the Afghan con-flict.

Moreover, sidelining Pakistan and the actual stakeholders inAfghanistan is not likely to bring in the desired results. Theissues of Nato supplies, drone attacks and border violations needto be resolved as immediately as possible.

___ F. Z. KHAN

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Post letters to Letters to the Editor, The Pakistan Chronicle, 6666 Harwin Dr. Houston, TX 77036 Phone: 713-914-0786; Fax: 713-914-0906E-mail: [email protected] Letters may be edited for length and clarity

Irfan Husain AS Pakistan continues its unend-

ing exercise in navel-gazing, thethreat of further turbulence in theregion seems to be escaping us as wepick away at the ‘memogate’ andNRO scabs.

Even in my remote bit of SriLanka, the drumbeat of an impendingattack on Iran grow louder. As a newround of US and EU sanctions bitedeep, and the Iranian economy reelsfrom their impact, nobody inPakistan seems to be focused on whatthe implications of events in ourimmediate neighbourhood can be forus.

From articles and leaked hints ofwar plans appearing in the interna-tional media, it seems clear that weare on a collision course. While theprecise outcome of a possible con-flict remains unclear, it is obviousthat an attack on Iran will have disas-trous consequences for the globaleconomy.

Thus far, it is Israel that is beat-ing the war drum the loudest. Israeligenerals and politicians are paintinglurid scenarios of the Armageddon anuclear-armed Iran would unleashagainst the Jewish state. Americanand European leaders are more cau-tious. The fragile state of theireconomies dictates circumspection:an attack on Iran would cause animmediate doubling of the price ofoil. Any prospect of economic recov-

ery would be greatly hampered, withdire consequences for Obama’s re-election chances.

But indications emerging fromIsrael suggest that its powerful mili-tary might launch an attack withoutAmerican approval. In fact, there istalk of Israeli aircraft launching aseries of strikes against Iraniannuclear installations. In this scenario,should Iran retaliate by closing theHormuz Straits as it has threatenedto, it would face the full force of anAmerican riposte.

American leaders have repeated-ly said they will not accept the clo-sure of this international waterway.

As we struggle to work out theconsequences of this confrontation, itwould be useful to look at how wegot to where we are.

Iran’s covert nuclear programmehad set alarm bells ringing inWestern and Arab capitals longbefore President Ahmadinejad’sthreatening, anti-Semitic rhetoricgave Israel justification for its ownbelligerence.

As it is, Iran’s long anti-Weststance starting with its occupation ofthe American embassy in Tehran in1979, and holding scores of diplo-mats hostage, has fed this conflict. Itssupport of anti-American groups inAfghanistan and Iraq, as well as ofHamas and Hezbollah, has added tothe tension.

For its part, Iran feels threatened

by a hostile American presence in theGulf and in Afghanistan. In addition,it has nuclear-armed Russia, Pakistanand India in its immediate neigh-bourhood. Finally, Israel, an implaca-ble foe, has a large but undeclarednuclear arsenal, together with sophis-ticated delivery systems in place.

Given this background, the stageis set for a possible attack, should theongoing sanctions and the policy ofcovert sabotage and assassinationsnot succeed in crippling Iran’snuclear programme. DespiteAyatollah Khamenei’s repeatedclaims about the peaceful nature ofhis country’s nuclear ambitions, thefact is that nobody really believeshim. Iran is sitting on a sea of gas andoil, and the suggestion that it needsnuclear power plants is difficult toswallow.It is not only Washingtonand Tel Aviv that feel threatened byTehran’s attempt to develop nuclearweapons: its Arab neighbours fear anaggressive, nuclear-armed Iran ontheir doorstep. The Shia-Sunni rival-ry for regional dominance is certain-ly a major factor in the ongoing con-frontation, with Saudi Arabia and theUAE quietly urging on theirAmerican patron to act.

CHOICES FOR PAKISTAN:All these mean painful choices forPakistan. Already, it is under pressurefrom Washington to give up plans tobuild a gas pipeline from Iran. Wehave stopped importing crude oil

from Iran as a result of sanctionsimposed by the US on the country’scentral bank, making it difficult toopen Letters of Credit. India andChina have refused to succumb topressure, but Iran’s oil exports arebound to be severely hit.

What options does Iran have inthe face of this global squeeze?Already, the value of the Iranian rialhas fallen by 50 per cent against thedollar, and travellers are facing diffi-culty in buying foreign exchange.People are stocking up on essentials,fearing shortages.

Faced with the economic falloutof its nuclear policy, Iran will turn toits neighbours for help. Turkey is animportant trading partner, and will bereluctant to fall into line withWestern sanctions. Its large andbooming economy will insulate itfrom American-led pressure.Pakistan, with its fragile economy,will be more vulnerable.

Given our isolation, we cannotafford to antagonise Iran by fallinginto line with Western efforts to bringour neighbour to its knees. Already,many Iranian goods are smuggledinto Pakistan via Balochistan. Assanctions bite, we can expect sanc-tions-busting traders to import goodsinto Pakistan for onward shipment toIran.

But it is the worst-case scenarioof an attack by Israel with Americanconnivance that will test our resolve.

America might choose to use our air-space to hit Iranian targets. Iranmight request our assistance in pro-viding shelter to its aircraft. All kindsof scenarios could place us in themiddle of the fight.

Navigating these dangerouswaters will require a keen apprecia-tion of the strategic situation, and asound grasp of our self-interest.Neither our political nor our militaryleadership has displayed much ofeither thus far. We will find ourselvesbeing forced to choose betweenalienating our friend and neighbour,or being subjected to Western sanc-tions. Between a rock and a hardplace is not a good place to be.

In a long recent article in theNew York Times, Ronan Bergman,an Israeli journalist, cites severalconversations he had with politi-cians, intelligence agency officialsand military commanders. The con-sensus seems to be that if an attackon Iranian nuclear sites is deferredfor another year, the window ofopportunity will close as Iran willhave achieved nuclear capability.

Hence the rush to war.In an effort to rein in its Israeli

ally, Washington has tightenedsanctions in the hope that Iran willbe pushed to halt its efforts at ura-nium enrichment. But in the midstof so much sabre-rattling, a mis-calculation by either side couldlead to catastrophe.

Between a rock and a hard place


PAKISTAN NEWSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 7

Pakistani security personnel and volunteers search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed factory in Lahore.

WASHINGTON: A United States(US) Congressman has submitted abill to the House of Representativesasking to grant US citizenship to DrShakil Afridi, the doctor who provid-ed vital help to the US in findingOsama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

The bill submitted byCongressman Dana Rohrabacher onFriday, called for Dr Afridi to bedeemed “a naturalized citizen of theUnited States.”

In his speech in Congress,Rohrabacher, who is also the Chair ofthe House Foreign AffairsSubcommittee on Oversight, said,“Pakistan’s Inquiry Commission onthe Abbottabad Operation, the USmission which killed bin Laden, hasrecommended that Dr Afridi be triedfor treason for helping the US. If con-victed, he could be executed. My billwould grant him US citizenship andsend a direct and powerful messageto those in the Pakistani governmentand military who protected the mas-

termind of 9/11 for all those yearsand who are now seeking retributionon those who helped to execute binLaden.”

Rohrabacher cited media reportsthat Dr Afridi’s wife, an Americancitizen of Pakistani origin was alsomissing. “This bill shows the worldthat America does not abandon itsfriends,” adding that 21 members ofCongress had endorsed the bill aswell.

The bill, which was referred tothe Committee on Judiciary, comesafter US Secretary of Defense LeonPanetta said in an interview last weekthat Dr Afridi had provided key intel-ligence that led to the raid inAbbottabad.

Media reports had earlier saidthat Dr Afridi had organized a poliovaccination campaign in the city forthe Central Intelligence Agency, inorder to collect DNA sample to provethat the al Qaeda leader was presentin the Abbottabad compound.

US citizenship for Dr ShakilAfridi, says congressman

WASHINGTON: The InternationalMonetary Fund warned PakistanMonday over its widening fiscaldeficit and slow growth, saying theeconomy remains deeply at risk toboth internal and external shocks.

The IMF said Pakistan’s econo-my would speed up to a 3.4 per centgrowth pace in fiscal 2011-2012,which runs to June 30, compared to2.4 per cent last year.

But that was less than half thepace needed to absorb two millionnew workers in the market everyyear, it said, while unemploymentand underemployment remain high-er than the official 6.6 per cent rate.

At the same time, loose moneypolicies by the State Bank ofPakistan, meant to help the economy

grow, continue to feed double-digitinflation.

The economy is “highly vulner-able with few buffers to absorbshocks,” the Fund said in an annualreport.

It noted that political resistancehas prevented a needed effort by thegovernment to increase revenues tocover its budget shortfall, with theresult that the deficit will expand toabout 7.0 per cent of gross domesticproduct this year from 6.6 per centlast year.

The country’s foreign balance isweakening, with exports expected tofall in US dollar value by 1.8 percent percent, partly due to fallingcotton prices.

Meanwhile the central bank’s

intervention to support the rupee hadled to a $2 billion fall in reserves inthe past six months, the fund said.

The IMF warned of “consider-able downside risks to this alreadydifficult baseline,” citing both thechallenging global economic envi-ronment and, inside Pakistan, com-ing senate and parliamentary elec-tions.

In their comment on the report,the IMF executive directors urgedthe government to boost revenuesand tighten its “too accommodative”monetary policy.

“Central bank financing of thebudget needs to be curtailed, andgreater operational independence ofthe central bank needs to besecured.”

IMF warns Pakistan overslow growth, high deficit

ISLAMABAD: Water and PowerMinister Naveed Qamar said in theNational Assembly that there willbe no loadshedding in Pakistanfrom Monday onwards.

He made this announcement inresponse to a question related topower outages by MNA SardarSaleem Haider.

“We have taken steps to pro-duce more electricity to overcomethe dilemma of power outage,”

Qamar said on floor of the House.He, however, could not explain

how the government will succeed inits claim that there will be no load-shedding from Tuesday.

Private Power andInfrastructure Board Bill- 2011

Earlier, the Senate passed thePrivate Power and InfrastructureBoard Bill- 2011 despite oppositionfrom the Awami National Party(ANP).

The bill, aimed at attracting andfacilitating private investment in

the power sector, was alreadypassed by the National Assembly.The bill will now be sent toPresident Asif Ali Zardari for finalapproval.

The Private PowerInfrastructure Board was estab-lished in 1994 by the federal gov-ernment through a notification andlater was given legal cover throughlegislation.

Power minister Qamar had

highlighted the benefits of the bill,saying it would help the federalgovernment implement its powerpolicy fully, award projects andfacilitate private power companies.

According to the minister, thebill will empower the concernedministry to coordinate with provin-cial governments, including AzadKashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and otherregulatory bodies over the imple-mentation of power policies.

No more loadshedding in Pakistan: Naveed Qamar

The bill submitted by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher on Friday, called for Dr Afridi to bedeemed “a naturalized citizen of the United States.”

ISLAMABAD: Interior MinisterRehman Malik on Saturday askedLeader of Opposition in theNational Assembly Chudhry NisarAli Khan to withdraw his unparlia-mentary remarks he used againstthe Army and security agencies.

In a statement issued here, hesaid, Chaudhry Nisar shouldappologize with the nation as heinsulted the whole nation and the

Army by passing such derogatoryremarks.

The minister said the Army andsecurity agencies were renderingunmatched sacrifices to safeguardfrontiers of the country.

Rehman Malik said he wouldtake up the matter in the NationalAssembly on Monday requestingto expunge these remarks fromproceeding of the House.

Malik asks Nisar to withdrawremarks against Army

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Courton Monday ordered the Punjabgovernment to resolve the issue ofthe Drug Regulatory Authority(DRA) within 10 days, DawnNewsreported.

A bench of the SC, presidedover by Justice Tasdeeq HussainJilani, heard the case of the fakemedicines on Monday.

During the hearing, the FederalInvestigation Agency (FIA) pre-sented their report and admittedthat a case had been wrongly filedagainst two drug-manufacturingcompanies, while evidence againstonly one of the companies had beenfound.

Advocate General (AG) PunjabAshtar Ausaf informed the bench

that the names of the owners ofEfroze Chemicals Ltd had been puton the Exit-Control List (ECL).Answering a question by the bench,Ausaf said that the authority forregistration of medicines and fortheir import and export lies with thefederal government.

The hearing was adjourned tillFebruary 17.

Fake medicines: Pharma owners put on ECL list


PAKISTAN NEWS PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201208

DOHA: Prime Minister SyedYusuf Raza Gilani and his Qataricounterpart Sheikh Hamad binJassim bin Jabar Al Thani onMonday agreed to collaborate indiverse areas mainly energy,trade, agriculture and infrastruc-ture development.The two leadersdiscussed ways to further promotetrade and investment ties compati-ble to their bilateral relations in ameeting held here at the AmiriDiwan - the office of Qatar’sPrime Minister.The two sides dis-cussed diverse issues, includingjoint development of hydropowersector, identification of sources offinancing, exploration of invest-ment opportunities in energy sec-

tor, rehabilitation of existinghydropower plants and infrastruc-ture development.

Pointing out the issue of final-ization of transnational formali-ties to import Liquified NaturalGas (LNG) at the earliest, PrimeMinister Gilani said Pakistan wasinterested in importing 500 mil-lion cubic feet LNG per day fromQatar that produces 77 milliontonnes per annum of LNG.

The Qatar’s Minister forEnergy will visit Pakistan duringthis month to hold talks with hiscounterpart in which substantialprogress is expected.

Gilani offered Sheikh HamadBin Jassim to absorb Pakistani

skilled and semi-skilled labour inQatar and said that already 87,000Pakistani expatriates were effi-ciently contributing to Qatar’seconomy.

He said that a separateMinistry for Professional andTechnical Training had been setup to impart technical and profes-sional training to Pakistanisenabling them to work in the Arabcountries in general and Qatar inparticular.

He mentioned that morePakistanis could effectively bepart of Qatar’s demand of twomillion workforce for its infra-structure projects for FIFA 2022World Cup to be held in Doha.

Prime Minister Gilani stressedthe need for diversifying the tradepotential between the two coun-tries. He expressed satisfactionover the remittances from Qatarthat increased substantially.

On the Afghan issue, thePrime Minister said Pakistanwanted a stable, prosperous andindependent Afghanistan andwould support any reconciliationprocess which was Afghan-led andAfghan-owned and did not causeinstability in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister appreciat-ed the initiatives of the QatariGovernment for facilitating theefforts for peace in Afghanistan.

He said that Pakistan wantedgood relations with all its neigh-bours, including Afghanistan andIndia.

He referred to his meetingwith Indian Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and said thatboth the countries were committedto bring peace in the Sub-conti-nent.

He also expressed satisfactionover the security and defencecooperation between the twocountries.

The Qatar’s Prime Ministersaid his country was ready toinvest up to five billion dollars inPakistan in agriculture, tourismand infrastructure and other sec-tors.

He proposed Pakistan to hold

an exhibition of its products inQatar and offered assistance inholding the exhibition aimed atcreating demands for the productsof high quality.

The Qatar’s Prime Ministerbriefed Prime Minister Gilani onthe situation in Syria and thestance taken by the Arab worldand the GCC (Gulf CooperationCouncil) countries.

He vowed that Qatar wouldsupport Pakistan to initiate a FreeTrade Agreement with the GCCcountries.

Foreign Minister HinaRabbani Khar said Pakistan hasalways supported peace and sta-bility in the Middle East.

She called for expediting thePak-GCC Free Trade Agreementon which two rounds had alreadytaken place.

The meeting was attended byMinister for Foreign Affairs HinaRabbani Khar, Minister forPetroleum and Natural ResourcesDr Asim Hussain, Minister forTechnical and VocationalEducation Riaz Hussain Pirzadaand Member of the NationalAssembly Munir Aurakzai.

Earlier, a guard of honour cer-emony was held on the arrival ofPrime Minister Gilani at the AmiriDiwan. The Prime Ministerreviewed the parade after thenational anthems of two countrieswere played.

Pakistan, Qatar agree on cooperationin energy, trade, infrastructure

DOHA: Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani on Mondaytermed the visit of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to Qatar “another hearteningmoment” at the time when the Arab world rejoiced the nomination of Mahmoud Abbas asthe head of Palestine’s interim government.In a meeting at the Diwan Amiri, the Qatar’sprime minister said the visit of Prime Minister Gilani would prove beneficial for the strength-ening of bilateral ties between Pakistan and Qatar.Gilani said Pakistan is desirous of peace-ful and orderly transformation in the Middle East ensuring respect for sovereignty and terri-torial integrity.He mentioned that Pakistan always supported the sovereignty of Palestine atall international fora.

Gilani invited the Qatar’s prime minister to visit Pakistan and said the people of Pakistanlooked forward to welcome him.

The Qatar’s prime minister accepted the invitation and said that he would come toPakistan at the dates mutually agreed by the Foreign Offices of the two countries.

Qatar’s PM term Gilani’s visit an additionto heartening moments for Arab world



DOHA, QATAR: Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesdaythat forces were conspiring to bringdown the incumbent governmentand they were not allowed to work.

Speaking to a gathering ofQatar based Pakistanis, Gilani saidthat his party had come in to powerby contesting the elections and notthrough a backdoor deal.

The Prime Minister, in anapparent jibe towards the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N),claimed that his government hadmanaged to accomplish that whichthose having a two-thirds majoritycould not. The PML-N had a two-

thirds majority in its second stint inpower before being removed in acoup by the then Chief of ArmyStaff, General Pervez Musharraf.

Stressing that he and his partyhad worked as per the charter ofdemocracy, Gilani said that he wasthe longest serving prime ministerin the history of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister added thathis government had also removedthe bars from assuming a third termas prime minister. This, Gilanipointed out, favoured NawazSharif, who has already served two,albeit abridged terms as PrimeMinister.

Conspiracies abound tobring down the

government: Gilani

LAHORE: Rescue workers & local people busy if rescue works after a locals pharmaceutical factory collapse due to bursting of a boiler atMultan Road. Four people were killed while eight others were rescued alive from the debris of a factory building.

ISLAMABAD: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday admitted a peti-tion asking the court to stop thesacking of Chief of Army StaffGeneral Ashfaq Parvez Kayani andDirector-General Inter-ServicesIntelligence Chief Shuja AhmedPasha for regular hearing.Hearing the petition filed by lawyerFazal Karim Butt, Chief JusticeIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhryobserved that a judicial bench willbe constituted to hear the plea.

Rebuffing the registrar’s earlierobjection on the the petition’smaintainability, the chief justicesaid that the registrar “cannot raisesuch objections.”The chief justice asked AttorneyGeneral Maulvi Anwarul Haq totake directives from the govern-ment and inform the court if thegovernment had any reservationson the plea. AG Haq replied to thecourt saying that the court canadmit the petition for regular hear-

ing as per its rules and if the gov-ernment has any reservations onthe maintainability of the petition,it will be informed to the court.The Supreme Court directed theregistrar to present the plea to ajudicial bench.Chief Justice Chaudhry alsoremarked that the petition could beheard in a chamber, but that thecourt wanted to keep the publicaware of the court’s proceedings inthe case.

SC admits plea against removal of Kayani, PashaPESHAWAR: Peace talks between

the US and the Taliban are going tobe successful, predicts chief of hisfaction of the Jamiat Ulema-Islam(JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

While talking to the media onMonday following a meeting of JUI-F’s provincial parliamentary party inPeshawar, the Maulana said his partyagreed in principle with the negotia-tions as they are centred on with-drawal of foreign forces fromAfghanistan and the release ofTaliban prisoners from GuantanamoBay.

The Maulana, however, added

that the US was to blame for thebloodshed in Afghanistan and that theAmericans should ‘confess’ to thekilling of innocent civilians in thewar-torn country.

The Maulana also questioned USPresident Barack Obama on what hetermed his contradictory statements,including saying that the US hadlaunched an offensive against theTaliban because they were terrorists –but now, was backtracking on thesame term.

“If the Taliban are not terrorists,then why did the US announce a waron Afghanistan?” he asked.

JUI-F chief upbeat aboutUS-Taliban talks



ISLAMABAD: Renowned Scientist Dr. Samar Mubarik Mand giving awayshield to the students who participate in different events in connection withWorld Cancer Day during prize distribution ceremony at ShifaInternational Hospital.

ISLAMABAD: The government sufferedanother blow on Monday when theSupreme Court ordered suspension of 28members of the Senate and national andprovincial assemblies elected in by-pollsconducted by an Election Commissionwithout meeting the criteria of the 18thAmendment. Their membership willremain suspended till approval by parlia-ment of the 20th Amendment to give con-stitutional cover to by-elections held in theabsence of a properly-constituted ECP.

The government changed the status ofsome key cabinet members affected by thecourt’s order, including Finance MinisterHafeez Sheikh and Petroleum Minister DrAsim Hussain, to advisers.

“We are disappointed; these membersshould have refused perks and privilegesthemselves when the parliament is yet tolegitimise their election,” observed a spe-cial bench comprising Chief JusticeIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, JusticeKhilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Parvezand Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani.

The bench issued the order during thehearing of petitions filed by PakistanTehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan and for-mer prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Bothhave challenged the inclusion of bogusentries in the electoral roll putting a ques-tion mark on the credibility of the Feb2008 general election.

The court said it had been exercisingrestraint since the passage of the 18thAmendment and pointed out that theElection Commission had not been consti-tuted in accordance with constitutionalrules, but no progress had been made. Insuch a situation, the functionaries couldhave voluntarily restrained themselves

from performing functions till the consti-tution was amended.

“Essentially, when the voter’s listswere found bogus, the by-elections shouldnot have been held,” the court observed.Those who will be affected by the orderinclude three senators, nine MNAs and 11MPAs.

Senators are: Abdul Hafeez Shaikh,Dr Asif Hussain and Syed Sajid HussainZaidi; MNAs: Chaudhry Asghar Ali Jutt(NA-167, Vehari-I), Jamshed AhmedDasti (NA-178, Muzaffargarh-III),Mohammad Akhtar Khan Kanju (NA-155, Lodhran-II), Sardar MuhammadShafqat Hayat Khan (NA-68, Sargodha-V), Chaudhry Tassadaq Masud Khan(NA-100, Gujranwala-VI), Haji KhudaBux Rajar (NA-235, Old Sanghar-II), MsKhadija Aamir Yar Malik (NA-184,Bahawalpur-II), Sardar Mumtaz Khan(NA-61, Chakwal-II) and Awais AhmedKhan Leghari (NA-172, D.G. Khan-II).

The MPAs are: Ghula Qadir KhanBettani (PK-69, Tank), MuhammadRashad Khan (PK-87, Shangla-I), MolviMuhammad Sarwar Musakhel (PB-15,Musakhel), Saifuddin Khalid (PS-94,Karachi-VI), Syed Basit Ahmed Sultan(PP-259, Muzaffargarh-IV), MianMuhammad Ajmal Asif (PP-63,Faisalabad-XII), Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani(PP-206, Multan-XIII), Sardar MeerBadshah Qaisrani (PP-240, D.G. Khan-I),Malik Saiful Malook Khokhar (PP-160Lahore-XXIV), Ijaz Ahmad Kahloon (PP-34, Sargodha-VI) and Malik Ghulam Raza(PP-13, Rawalpindi-XIII).

At the outset of the proceedings,Chairperson of the National Assembly’sStanding Committee on Law Begum

Naseem Akhtar Chaudhry requested fortime, saying the constitutional amendmenthad been tabled in parliament.

But the court said it would not de-seatthe elected members bout would issue aninterim order. It postponed the hearing toFeb 21. The court observed that there wereno two opinions that the by-elections hadnot been conducted by the commissionunder its constitutional mandate. Thecommission under Article 218 shouldcomprise a chairman and one membereach from the four provinces. “Unless aconstitutional ratification is made subjectto all exceptions, the members could notbe regarded as elected representatives,”the bench said, adding: “This fact was ear-lier pointed out to the members. So muchso Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haqcandidly accepted that after April 20,2011, it was the duty of the commission tofill up casual vacancies, and since it hadnot been constitutionally formed, the by-elections could not be held.” The courtsaid it could have passed an order butexercised restraint and referred the matterto the ECP. Unfortunately the issue wasnot taken up and after the lapse of consid-erable period, the matter was again heardon Dec 21, 2011, but no progress tookplace. The bench noted that even onMonday no progress was made, exceptsome efforts to place the 20th Amendmentbefore parliament. Meanwhile, the benchdismissed another application of ImranKhan requesting the court to stay the Feb25 by-elections on six seats of theNational Assembly and four of provincialassemblies. The PTI chief sought the sus-pension of ECP’s Jan 27 notification aboutthe schedule for by-elections.

Supreme Court suspends 28 legislators

Adil Ahmed, 17, makes a snow sculpture of Mickey Mouse to attract cus-tomers during heavy snowfall in Murree, 60 km (38 miles) north east ofcapital Islamabad.



SUKKUR: US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter talking to media persons. Dr Marilyn Wyatt, wife of USAmbassador also present.

WASHINGTON: A US Army officer hasaccused the American military of painting amisleading picture of progress in the war inAfghanistan while glossing over the Kabulgovernment’s many failings.

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis delib-erately broke ranks with the official portray-al of the war after spending a year in thecountry, issuing a grim assessment andaccusing his superiors of covering up theharsh realities that plague the mission.

“What I saw bore no resemblance torosy official statements by US military lead-ers about conditions on the ground,” Daviswrote in an article published in ArmedForces Journal, a private newspaper notaffiliated with the Pentagon.

“Instead, I witnessed the absence of suc-cess on virtually every level,” he wroteunder the headline, “Truth, Lies AndAfghanistan: How military leaders have letus down.”

Local Afghan government officials arefailing to serve the Afghan population andtheir security forces are reluctant to fightinsurgents or are colluding with the Taliban,he wrote.

“How many more men must die in sup-port of a mission that is not succeeding andbehind an array of more than seven years ofoptimistic statements by US senior leadersin Afghanistan?” he said in his article.

Davis has also reportedly shared hispessimistic view with some members ofCongress and written a classified version ofhis article for the Defence Department, ahighly unusual move that he expects willanger his commanders and short-circuit his

professional career.“I’m going to get nuked,” he was quot-

ed as saying by the New York Times.The Pentagon politely disagreed with

Davis’s portrayal of the war but stoppedshort of suggesting any disciplinary action.

“Lieutenant Colonel Davis is obviouslyentitled to his opinion,” spokesman GeorgeLittle told reporters, adding that DefenseSecretary Leon Panetta “has very strongconfidence in his commanders inAfghanistan, as they provide assessments ofwhat’s happening on the ground in the war.”

The military’s evaluation of the wareffort is based on “rigorous analysis” from amyriad of sources and does not depend onone person’s view, he said.

Working with the US military’s RapidEquipping Force, Davis said he traveled9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) aroundAfghanistan and spoke with more than 250soldiers during his 12-month deployment.

His comments and anecdotes reflectopinions often expressed by American andcoalition troops, who make no secret of theirfrustrations with Afghan security forces.

Davis recounted a conversation with anAfghan police officer in eastern Afghanistanin Kunar province less than three hours afteran insurgent attack.

Through an interpreter, Davis asked thepolice captain how his forces usuallyresponded to such an incident and if hissquad would go after the insurgent fighters.

The Afghan police officer gave him anincredulous look, laughed and said: “‘No!We don’t go after them,’ he said. ‘Thatwould be dangerous!’”

US paints false picture ofAfghan war: Officer

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)chief Altaf Hussain has said that he sees 'politicalmartyrdoms' in near future due to chaotic situationin the country, Local TV Channel reported.

In a statement issued Thursday, Altafexpressed concern over prevailing situation in thecountry and advised all the stakeholders to avoidcreating more.

He said all the confrontations should be endedfor the integrity and stability of the country.

Altaf appealed to the nation to pray for theintegrity and stability of Pakistan.

Altaf sees 'political martyrdoms' in near future


COMMUNITY PHOTOS PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201214

Prominent Community Activist Dr,Anwar hosted luncheon at MezbanRestaurant in honor of Secretary ofAssociation of Pakistani Physicians

of North America (APPNA), Mr.Asif Rehman. Photos by: Pakistan Chronicle


COMMUNITY PHOTOSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 15

Pictorial Highlights of 2012convenience store and Food Trade

Show organized by Susser PetroleumCompany at Stafford Centre.

Photos by: Pakistan Chronicle



ISLAMABAD: The PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA) willstart acquiring new aircraft this yearto provide better services to its cus-tomers.

According to official sources,under a phased programme, 30 newaircraft will be included in the fleetraising the strength to 70 withimproved and younger look.

Initially, the planes under theplan, which is scheduled to be com-pleted by 2020, will be acquired ona five-year lease. .

The government has alreadyapproved the plan and the PIA ispresently engaged in working out itsmodalities.

Idea behind induction of newplanes in the fleet is to turn the PIAinto a profitable organization withfocus on cost cutting measures andnot compromising quality, thesources added.

This procurement will be madethrough financial institutions with-out any budgetary allocations or

special government funds anddirectly from the manufacturers ofBoeing and Airbus aircraft, theysaid.

The sources said priority wouldbe to acquire modern, fuel efficientand operationally cost effectiveplanes.

The PIA is currently maintain-ing its domestic and internationalflights’ schedule with a fleet of 34aircraft while five are under sched-uled maintenance after completingtheir required number of flyinghours.

The operational fleet consists ofnine Boeing 777, four Boeing 737,nine Airbus 310 and six ATRs whilesix Boeing 747s are mostly used forHajj, Umrah and chartered opera-tions.

Besides, the Boeing 747s arealso used for supplementing thescheduled flights in replacement, ifan aircraft is taken out of the opera-tion for some correction or mainte-nance.

PIA to start acquiring newaircraft this year

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Dr.Firdous Ashiq Awan offers Dua (pray) during Mehfil-e-Milad program organizedby School System held in Sialkot.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif AliZardari has urged Muslims to adopt theteachings of Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) toimprove their lives and for the better-ment of Muslim Ummah. The President,in a message on the auspicious occasionof Eid Milad- un-Nabi (SAWW) beingcelebrated on Sunday, congratulatedMuslims on the auspicious birthday ofbenefactor of humanity and the lastProphet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

The day of Eid Milad-un-Nabi(SAWW) is spent with respect and hap-piness, he said.

The President said, "The day attracts

us to continue to make efforts to brightenour days and nights in the light of teach-ings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)."

On this day, he said, with the arrivalof benefactor of humanity HazratMuhammad (PBUH), not only springcame to the land of Arabs but also to theworld.

He said the effort of HazratMuhammad (PBUH) created such a rev-olution that it changed the lives of peopleand the auspicious personality of HazratMuhammad (PBUH) united MuslimUmmah and weaved it into a thread.

He said this was compassion ofHazrat Muhammad (PBUH) that

those people who went astray and fellinto an abyss, came out of it as astrong power.

He said, "the reality is that in today'sworld the teachings of ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) are needed morethan ever and as the adherents of ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) it was our respon-sibility that we should improve our livesby following good deeds of our Prophet(PBUH) and make it an example for therest of the world."

"We should make our name indeeds of welfare and charity by keepingin view the life and teachings of ProphetMuhammad (PBUH)," he added.

President urges Muslims to follow teachingsof Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)



KARACHI: A large number of people participating in rally on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) pass-ing through M.A. Jinnah Road to Nishtar Park.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior RehmanMalik on Friday apprised the Senate that themurder of wife and daughter of Mir BakhtiarDomki, member of the Balochistan Assemblywas a conspiracy against the country.Replying to various points of order, Malik saidit was not an ordinary incident and the conspir-

ators would not be spared.“Whenever we head towards positive develop-ment in Balochistan such things start happen-ing,” he said and added that it was an attempt todisrupt peace in the province.Malik said the government was taking the mat-ter seriously and on the directives of PresidentAsif Ali Zardari, a high-level committee was setup under the supervision of Additional InspectorGeneral of Police, comprising intelligence andsecurity agencies officials to probe the incident.He said that it was decided that four public rep-resentatives, including two MPAs each fromSindh and Balochistan would also be includedin the committee.

urder of MPA’s wife, daughtera conspiracy, says Malik

WASHINGTON: Current and former USofficials have told The Associated Pressthat reclusive Taliban leader MullahMohammed Omar wrote to US PresidentBarack Obama last year, indicating aninterest in talks key to ending the war inAfghanistan. The previously undisclosedcommunication was considered authenticby people who saw it, but sceptical admin-istration officials say they cannot deter-mine if it actually came from Omar.The unsigned letter was passed through aTaliban intermediary in July. An adminis-tration official says it represented viewsconsistent with what Taliban emissarieshad been telling US officials. The officialsspoke on the condition of anonymitybecause the letter and its contents are partof sensitive diplomacy.

Mullah Omarwrote to Obama



A beautiful view of Faisal Avenue during rain in the capital. The country is facing the6th spell of rains in this season.

ISLAMABAD: Member of India’s Rajya SabhaMani Shankar Aiyer on Thursday praised thePakistani government for making decisive movestowards normalising Indo-Pak trade, and hoped thatthe two countries could “realistically” become eachother’s most-favoured nations.“History may have divided us but geography bindsus, and a shared inheritance holds as much potentialto keep India and Pakistan apart as it has in keepingthem apart,” Aiyer said at a policy discussion semi-nar titled, ‘India and Pakistan: Retrospect andProspect?’. The event had been organised by theJinnah Institute.He said that it was not communal animosity, butnational hostility that keeps India and Pakistanapart. Mani Shankar Aiyer, who was a minister inIndia’s Union Cabinet for Petroleum and NaturalGas (2004-2006), for Youth Affairs and Sports(2006-2008) and for Development of the NorthernRegion (2006-2009), has also served in the IndianForeign Service for 26 years. He has also served asconsul general of India in Karachi (1978-1982).“Pakistan is a modern nation-state, now under seri-ous threat from armed religious fanatics, but it is notabout to succumb as a society or as a state to ele-ments who, even in a moderate garb, have rarelymanaged to win more than a tiny handful of seats inany election,” he said. The Indian leader said thatany strategy built on the presumption that Pakistancould not survive is misconceived, misplaced, anddangerously misleading. He also regretted the wide-ly accepted view in Indian circles that Pakistan is a‘failed’ or a ‘failing’ state, and said that such viewsneeded to be countered.“No state has suffered as much from terrorism asPakistan itself,” he said, adding, “I do believe that ajoint strategy to counter terrorism will enable bothIndia and Pakistan to overcome what is, in effect, a

joint threat to our people.” Aiyer concluded by say-ing, “Let us give peace a chance; we have nothing tolose but our chains, and we have a world to gain.”His lecture was preceded by opening remarks fromAziz Ahmed Khan, honorary vice president of theJinnah Institute and a former ambassador. He saidthat Indo-Pak relations had experienced many highsand lows but a leap of faith was needed to find asolution. Jinnah Institute Executive Director EjazHaider said that modern experiences were crucial informing individual identities. He urged India torecognise Pakistan as a reality that would not goaway. During the question-answer session, the audi-ence asked what effect opposing mindsets had onthe Indo-Pak peace process. Responding to this,Aiyer said that mindsets could change “and there isa symbiotic relationship between mindsets andground realities, and that the narrative of hate mustdefinitely be countered”.Aiyer was the second distinguished speaker for JI’songoing Indo-Pak Track-II engagement titled,‘Chaophraya Dialogue’. Previously, Dr ShashiTharoor, member of Lok Sabha and former Indianminister of state for external affairs, delivered a lec-ture at the Islamabad Club under the aegis of theDistinguished Speaker Series in January 2012.Among future invitees of the Distinguished SpeakerSeries are Prof Najib Jung, vice chancellor JamiaMillia Islamia Delhi. The Jinnah Institute is anIslamabad-based public policy think-tank that leadstwo institutionalised Track II processes betweenIndia and Pakistan. It was conceptualised and set upby Sherry Rehman in 2010. Sherry Rehman is nowserving as Pakistan's ambassador to the UnitedStates. The institute has partnered with the AustraliaIndia Institute (AII) for the Chaophraya Dialogue. Italso plans multiple interactions between policyexperts and audiences on both sides of the border.

Pakistan not a ‘failed’ state: Mani Shankar



JEDDAH: Pakistan would continue topursue a resolution of the Kashmirdispute based on the wishes ofKashmiri people, Consul GeneralAbdul Salik Khan said. At a functionto mark Kashmir Solidarity Day, hereiterated Government’s unwaveringpolitical, moral and diplomatic sup-port to the just struggle of theKashmiri brethren for their right toself-determination, as enshrined in theUNCharter and relevant UN resolu-tions. A large number of Pakistani andSaudi nationals attended the function,organized by Kashmir CommitteeJeddah. Former SpecialRepresentative of OIC SecretaryGeneral on Kashmir AmbassadorEzzat Kamil Mufti was Chief Guest.

Ambassador Yahya Fatehullahfrom OIC and Abdul Ellah Al AjailaanDirector on behalf of SecretaryGeneral WAMY attended the functionand also addressed the gathering.

Those who spoke on the occasionincluded Masud Puri, Riaz Ghumman,Masud Javed and Ayaz Iqbal.

Ambassador Ezzat Kamil Muftisaid Kashmir Solidarity Day remindsof the countless sacrifices of thevaliant people of Kashmir who haveremained resolute and steadfast in theface of oppression spanning more thansix decades.

He recalled his six visits toPakistan in connection with dialogueon Kashmir and mentioned that whole

Muslim Ummah was fully committedto finding a just and peaceful solutionof the Kashmir dispute in accordancewith the aspirations of the people ofKashmir.

Ambassador Yahya Fatehullah,Representing Secretary General OICsaid the organisation has consistentlyand constantly strived hard on alloccasions to shed light and to mobilizegreater support and firmer solidarityfor the struggle of the Kashmiri peoplein various international forums.

“We are fully committed to end-ing this long lasting conflict so theylive in peace, security and prosperity,”he said.

Abdul Ellah Al Ajailan,speakingon behalf of Secretary GeneralWAMY severely criticized India forits illegal occupation and brutalitiescommitted by Indian forces on inno-cent Kashmiris.

He called for an end to the humanrights violations in the IndianOccupied Kashmir.

President Kashmir CommitteeJeddah Masud Puri, AzamChoudhry, Riaz Ghumman, MasudJaved and Ayaz Iqbal highlightedIndian atrocities against innocentKashmiri people and paid tributes tothe countless sacrifices of the valiantpeople of Kashmir who haveremained resolute and steadfast inthe face of oppression unleashed byIndian Security forces.

Pakistan to continue topursue resolution of

Kashmir dispute

Dr.Fouzia Siddiqui is protesting for release of her sister, Neuroscientist Dr.Aafia Siddiqui, a demonstration at Karachi press club on Friday,February 03, 2012.

NEW YORK: The United States plansto maintain special forces inAfghanistan after it winds down itscombat operations in the war-torncountry, using them to hunt downinsurgent leaders and train localtroops, a leading American newspaperreported Sunday. Citing unnamed sen-ior Pentagon officials, The New YorkTimes said these forces could remainin the country well after the NATOmission ends in late 2014. The plan, ifapproved by President Barack Obama,would amount to the most significantevolution in the military campaignsince the U.S. leader sent in 32,000more troops to wage an intensive and

costly counterinsurgency effort.NATO defence ministers, meeting

in Germany last week, voiced hopethat Afghan forces can take the leadacross the country in 2013, while for-eign troops shift to a backup role.

US Defense Secretary LeonPanetta had caused a stir before arriv-ing in Europe on Wednesday when hesuggested that the United States hopedto wind down the combat mission asearly as mid-2013.

Under the emerging plan, thou-sands of US special forces will remainafter the bulk of US conventionaltroops leave, The Times said.

Pentagon officials and military

planners say the new plan forAfghanistan is not a direct response tothe deteriorating conditions in Iraq,the paper said.

Even so, the shift could givePresident Obama a political shieldagainst attacks from his Republicanrivals, who have already begun criti-cizing him for moving too swiftly toextract troops from Afghanistan, TheTimes noted.

The new focus builds on a desireto use the elite troops to counter anyresidual terrorist threat as well as todevote the military’s top trainers to thetask of preparing Afghan securityforces, the report said.

US to boost elite forces in Afghanistan: NYT

CONTINUATIONSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • February 10, 2012 21


Continued from front pageappearing in the fourth season of

controversial reality show "BiggBoss".

Ever since she has been makingheadlines for her alleged link up withher "Bigg Boss" inmate, actor AshmitPatel, or her sudden disappearancewhile shooting for the Bollywoodmovie "Mumbai 125 kilometres".

Ali says he makes sure he doesn'tdo anything that gives a bad name tohis country.

"I pay all my taxes. I make sureall paper work is in place and stream-lined. I want to work in a manner sothat I stay away from controversies,"he said.

"Whatever films I do, I makesure that I don't do scenes or say dia-logues or do stuff that could hurt peo-ple back home. In my capacity, I tryand keep everyone happy but that'sjust me. Everybody has their ownstyle of working," he added.

For Ali, being controversial is notthe best method to boost one's career.

"It's unfortunate...I think oneshould avoid controversies as long aspossible, they may help you in theshort run, but I don't think those whoare talented need controversies toboost their career," he said.

"It's always good to stay away sothat you can work smoothly. You tryto stay away from trouble for your

own sake and for the sake of otherpeople. I think anybody who comesfrom there (Pakistan) to here (India)should be cautious and conscious,otherwise it puts others into badlight," he added.

After making a name in his homecountry with his albums, Ali forayedinto Bollywood with debutant direc-tor Abhishek Sharma's "Tere BinLaden" (2010), which won him criti-cal acclaim from all over.

He was later seen in Yash Raj's"Mere Brother Ki Dulhan" and rightnow he is looking forward to therelease of his new Hindi film "London Paris New York", which hitsthe silver screen March 2.

Don't judge Pakistan throughVeena Malik: Ali Zafar

Continued from front pageAmbassador Marc Grossman,

said the two countries need to coop-erate at this critical time.

He said the US administrationlooks forward to working withAmbassador Rehman on taking therelationship forward.

Host Riffat Mahmood, whilewelcoming ambassador Rehman

said, the Pakistani community willextend its full cooperation to the newambassador and support her in real-ization of the objective she has beenassigned.

The event was attended byCongressmen including Jim Moran,senior diplomats, US administrationofficials, and leaders of Pakistani -American community.

Pakistan-US ties should bereinvented: Sherry Rehman

Continued from front pageof an emergency. If you exclude

homes and automobiles from thecalculation, a full 50 percent ofTexans have no assets they could useto survive if they suddenly lost theirincome.

The poverty rate in Texas hasalso been inching up.

When compared to the rest ofthe country, Texans ranks 41st infinancial security. Economicinequality will be an important issuein the 2012 election. Conservativessay the key is less governmentspending, while progressives arearguing for smarter health and edu-cation spending.

Many Texans earn low pay, hold few assets

Continued from front pageObama reaching the 50% barrier

- seen as a critical threshold for anincumbent seeking reelection - forthe first time since Osama bin Ladenwas killed.

Earlier Obama had told NBC thathe deserved another term. He was

responding to a question on hisremarks before the 2009 Super Bowlin which he had said that he will be aone-term president if the economydoes not improve by then. "If I don'thave this done in three years, then it'sgoing to be a one-term proposition,"he had said.

Ratings up, Obamaeyes second term

Continued from front pageAdditionally, as a first step

towards thawing frosty strategic tiesbetween United States and Pakistanby the Obama administration, thehead of United States military'sCentral Command (Centcom)General James N Mattis is scheduledto arrive in Pakistan this month tomeet Chief of Army Staff GeneralAshfaq Parvez Kayani.

The New York Times reportedthat General Mattis is likely to dis-cuss investigations of the November26 attack by Nato forces that killed24 Pakistani soldiers, along withnew border coordination proceduresto avoid such incidents in the future.

US Department of Statespokesperson Mark Toner had earliercountered a report that GeneralMattis' trip to brief Pakistan over theNato-Isaf investigation report of theattack had been cancelled, saying

that the trip had postponed due tointernal political dynamics ofPakistan.

Officials in the US and Pakistanthink that the talks between GeneralMattis and General Kayani will setoff a sequence of negotiations andengagements that will revive the tat-tered relationships between the twocountries.

Pakistan, hours after the Nato-Isaf report was launched had rejectedit, calling it "short on facts" and alsohad declined US' offer to become apart of the joint probe. While the USinquiry places major blame on Nato,it maintains that Pakistani soldiersfired first.

The US, through back channels,has hinted at coming up with a clearstance on the Nato attacks in order topacify resentment in Pakistan.

Pakistan has also recently hintedat resuming Nato supply lines which

have been closed down for over aperiod of two months.

Pakistan Ambassador to USSherry Rehman had met withGeneral Mattis in Washington. In themeeting, Rehman had stressed theneed for both countries to worktogether to build a relationship that is"equitable, transparent and pre-dictable."

Rehman had added that Pakistanendured the most sacrifices out ofany country in the war against terror,and that they had also contributedthe most towards successes in thewar. The Centcom Commander hadacknowledged Pakistan's contribu-tion, especially the close cooperationof Pakistani military with Nato/Isafforces stationed in Afghanistan.General Mattis had also stressed theimportance of continued collabora-tion between both countries at alllevels.

US considering formal apologyfor NATO attacks: Report

A long queue of trucks seen stuck at Quetta-Chaman Highway as heavy snowfall was blocked the road at Kojak Pass.

NEW DELHI: India is mulling softening visa regulationfor Pakistanis, Geo News reported.

A summary in this regard will be tabled in the Indiancabinet shortly.

Restrictions would be relaxed in at least a fortnight.

The new regulations will allow Pakistanis visitingIndia to have wider access to the neighbournig country.

Previously Pakistanis were restricted to just threecities only, but under the new laws they would be able tovisit five Indian cities.

India to ease visa laws for Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Rescue workers onTuesday pulled a 65-year-old womanout alive after she was trapped for 31hours in the rubble of a collapsed fac-tory in Lahore, as the death toll fromthe accident rose to 18.

The three-story factory manufac-tured medicine and collapsedMonday after several gas cylindersinside exploded. It had been set upillegally in a residential area of thecity and continued operations eventhough the government tried to shut itdown three times, officials said.

Rescue workers on Tuesdayheard 65-year-old Saleha Bibiscreaming for help, and it took themseveral hours to pull her out from thejagged pile of concrete blocks, saidRizwan Naseer, head of the state-runrescue service.

Bibi said she hid underneath a

machine when the roof of the roomwhere she was working started tocave in.

”Allah saved me,” she said in aninterview with the private TV chan-nel. ”I was praying to Allah thewhole night.”

The woman appeared exhaustedbut otherwise unharmed as the work-ers pulled her free, according to localTV footage. She drank from a bottleof water and took a deep breathbefore being led away from the site.

She was the 15th person to besaved and told the rescuers therewere others who were still trappedalive, said Naseer.

Around 30 people are stillbelieved to be under the rubble, saidanother rescue official, Asad Ahmad.Workers have retrieved 18 dead bod-ies so far, he said.

Woman saved after 31 hoursunder Lahore factory rubble

ISLAMABAD: President Asif AliZardari on Tuesday said Pakistanwas committed to early implemen-tation of Iran-Pakistan Gas PipelineProject in order to meet the evergrowing demand of the country forenergy and power.

He said the government wasalso pursuing a trade liberalisationpolicy across the border and pro-posed for elimination of tariff andnon tariff barriers between Pakistanand Iran to further boost trade tiesand realise the true business andtrade potential.

The President said the recentagreement between the two coun-tries to work towards expandingPakistan-Iran Preferential TradeAgreement (PTA) to include addi-tional items from both sides andmaking it an agenda item for thenext meeting of the trade committeewas a welcome move to enhancetrade links between the two coun-tries.

This was stated by the presidentduring his meeting with the visitingIranian Vice President Ali Seedlouhere at the Presidency.

Pakistan committed to gas pipelineproject with Iran: Zardari


COMMUNITY PHOTOS PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201222

Pictorial Highlights of Mehfil-e-Eid-Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) held at Al-noor Masjid.

Photos by Pakistan Chronicle

COMMUNITY PHOTOSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 23


Dallas: Imam of Zia-ul Quran (Masjid) Center, and Prominent Islamic Scholar, Allama,Ghulam Subhani distributing gifts to children in a Special Program on the Occasion of Meelad-un-Nabi (Salallaho Alaihi Wasallam) held at Zia-ul-Quran Center in Arlington.

Dallas: Mehfil-e-Milad, (Peace Be Upon Him) held at Makkah Masjid, Garland, Mufti, Hafeez-ur-Rehman led the special Dua, Qari Bilal presented Naatsin the honor of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Prominent Islamic Leader, Ghulam Jeghanda, Syed Faiyaz Hussain, Iqbal Hyder in a group photograph with

Resident Editor of Pakistan Chronicle, Mr, Raja Zahid Khanzada, The program came to an end with the recitation of Durood-o-Salam by Qari Bilal.

PakistanChronicle

CommunityWeekly

Friday, February 10, 2012

“The Newspaper you read”

The Largest Pakistans Weekly Circulating Coast to CoastDistribution in TX, LA, OK, AZ, TN, CA, NC, AK, AL, MO, IL, MN,MI, WS, MA, CT, VA, MD, PA, NJ & NY

By Raja zahid A Khanzada DALLAS :In Dallas TexasCelebrated Eid Milad-un-Nabi withgreat zeal and fervor by arranging aMilad at Makkah Masjid Graland ,

Barkaat-Ul-Quran, MadinahMasjid of Carrollton and Zia-Ul-Quran Masjid in Arlington Texas atMakkah Masjid Grland


Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAWW)in Makkah Masjid Celebrated

with great zeal and fervor

DALLAS: Saveral Masajids ofJamaat-e-Ahle-Sunnat wal Jamatincluding Makkah Masjid, Garland,Madina Masjid, Keralton, Barkat-ul-Quran Center, Irving and Zia-ul-Quran Masjid Center have finalizedarrangements for the procession topay homage to the Holy Prophet(PBUH).

The Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH)procession will be taken out from

City Hall, Dallas on Sunday,Feburary 12, 1:00 PM. The proces-sion will pass through the streets ofDownTown and will end at the samepoint.

Prominent Islamic Scholar, Dr.Jameel Rathor will deliver specialaddress on the occasion. Dr. JameelRathore is a well renowned scholarwho has hosted multiple


Arrangements for Eid Miladun Nabi Procession finalized

Procession will be taken out on Sunday, February 12.

Picture taken during the recent visit of Prominent Religious Scholar and Chairman of Rooyat Hilal (Moon Sighting) Committee of Pakistan,Mufti, Muneeb-ur-Rehman with children at Al-Noor Masjid.

NATIONAL NEWSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 27


First Lady Michelle Obama walks past shelves of produce as she arrives to speak at the future site of a Northgate Gonzales Market to high-light progress of the California FreshWorks Fund, a $264 million public-private financing fund that invests in bringing grocery stores andother forms of healthy food retailers to underserved communities in Inglewood, California.

Taco Bell food may have sickened68 people in 10 states, includingTexas, during a salmonella outbreakin October 2011, according to a newreport.

The CDC only referred to "aMexican-style fast food restaurantchain" in its final update on the out-break in January.

Afte seeing the vague descrip-tion of the outbreak’s source, edi-tors from Food Safety News con-ducted their own investigation and

linked the illnesses to exposure toTaco Bell food.

In Texas, 43 people were sick-ened by the outbreak.

While the CDC still has not pub-licly identified the outbreak’ssource, Taco Bell released a state-ment:

"The CDC has stated the publichealth is not at any risk and this inci-dent is completely over," Taco Bellsaid in a statement sent toHealthPop. "The CDC indicated that

some of the people who were ill ateat Taco Bell, while others did not.They believe that the problem likelyoccurred at the supplier level beforeit was delivered to any restaurant orfood outlet. We take food qualityand safety very seriously."

Salmonella bacteria are the mostfrequently reported cause of food-borne illness. Infection results infever, cramps, and diarrhea that lastsfor several days and can require hos-pitalization.

Report: Taco Bell tied to 2011 salmonella outbreak that sickened 68

NAIROBI - President Obama'sgrandmother, Sarah Obama, is homerecovering at her home in westernKenya after an accident that, judgingby the condition of the vehicle, couldhave been much worse.

"God is with me, because if youcould have seen the wreckage that wecame out of safe, one would wonder,"Sarah Obama said Monday.

Police in the town of Kisumu saythe 91-year-old was traveling to herhome in the village of KogeloSaturday night when the driver lostcontrol, and the vehicle rolled into aditch.

All five people in the car, includ-ing her two bodyguards, were takento a hospital for treatment. All werereleased with minor injuries.

A hospital spokesperson saysSarah Obama was bruised and in

shock when she arrived at the hospi-tal. She was released about two hourslater.

"You can see I was not injuredsave for this small scar on my righthand and I am not even using a walk-ing stick," Obama said.

She said friends from as far awayas the United States and the MiddleEast have been calling to check onher, but she assures them, "Hakunatabu!" That means 'no problem' inSwahili.

Sarah Obama is the step-motherof President Obama's Kenyanfather. She has been to the U.S. afew times, and the President hasbeen to the village to visit with herand other relatives three times. Inhis memoir, "Dream from myFather," Obama called her"Granny."

President Obama'sGrandmother in Car Accident

LOS ANGELES: Stung by election-year criticism of a program used byone in seven Americans, administra-tors of U.S. food stamp benefits areintensifying efforts to combat fraudand protect the $75.3 billion planfrom the budget axe.

Enrollment in the food aid pro-gram that helps the poor, elderly anddisabled is running at record highlevels, with 46.1 million people nowparticipating.

High joblessness, persistentwoes in the housing market and atepid economic recovery have drivenmore that 14 million people to signup for the benefits since U.S.President Barack Obama took officethree years ago.

That number includes many dis-placed workers, who are nowattempting to eke out a living withlow-wage or part-time jobs. In manystates, a family of four with netincome of just over $23,000 wouldqualify for food stamps.

The spike in enrollment prompt-ed Republican presidential candidateNewt Gingrich to dub Obama the"food stamp president" and hasfueled calls for cuts to assistance

programs that critics say are turningthe United States into a welfare state.

In the face of such criticism,officials responsible for food stampsare trumpeting the program's effi-ciency and vowing further improve-ments.

Kevin Concannon, U.S.Department of Agriculture undersec-retary for food, nutrition and con-sumer services, said his agency wasdoubling efforts to prevent fraud,which accounts for just 1 percent offood stamp benefits, but equalsabout $750 million each year.

"This is $750 million that isn'tbeing used to provide food to indi-viduals and families and that issueisn't lost on us," Concannon said in arecent phone interview.

"We want to maintain the confi-dence of American taxpayersbecause everyone is challenged inthis economy - the payers as well asthe folks who are benefiting from theprogram," he said.

The program's biggest step for-ward in fraud prevention came in2004, when the government replacedpaper coupons with plastic cards thatare loaded electronically like debit

cards. In 2008, the USDA changedthe name of the program to theSupplemental Nutritional AssistanceProgram, or SNAP, but the benefitsare still commonly referred to asfood stamps.

Concannon said the programwas adding high-tech strategies to itsenforcement quiver.

Those include working withsocial media firms and data miningcompany SRA International Inc toroot out abuse. It also debuted a newwebsite for public whistleblowers atw w w . f n s . u s d a . g o v / f i g h t -ingsnapfraud.

While administrators work toreduce payment errors, the USDA iscollaborating with state agencies toinvestigate recipients suspected ofcommitting fraud or misusing bene-fits. It also will seek tougher penal-ties for stores engaged in trafficking.

Trafficking generally takes theform of users "selling" their benefitsfor roughly 50 cents on the dollar tobrick-and-mortar retailers or to indi-viduals found via websites like eBayor Facebook.

From October 1 throughDecember 31, the USDA sanctioned

more than 225 stores found to beviolating program rules and perma-nently disqualified 350 stores fortrafficking in SNAP benefits , aroughly 14 percent increase in disci-plinary actions overall.

"Fraud is not a static concept --we know that where there is a will tocommit malfeasance, bad actors willtry to find a way," Concannon said.

ASSET TESTConcannon and other supporters

of the food stamp program are alsowarning against efforts by somestates to toughen eligibility rules.The program is funded by the feder-al government but administered atthe state level.

Programs in 36 states as well asthe District of Columbia, Guam andthe U.S. Virgin Islands have no assettest for food stamp eligibility.

Such rules came under scrutinylast year, when it came to light that aMichigan man who won a $2 millionlottery jackpot was collecting foodstamps under a state loophole thatcounted only income, not assets. Theman took his winnings in a lumpsum, which categorized them asassets.

Michigan has since closed theloophole and adopted an asset test.

Pennsylvania Governor TomCorbett has proposed denying foodstamps to households with assets ofmore than $5,500. The limit wouldbe $9,000 for households thatinclude a person who is disabled orage 60 or older. His original propos-al, which had significantly lowerasset limits, hit a wall of resistancefrom anti-hunger advocates, whocalled it unusually punitive.

Some U.S. lawmakers havecalled for asset tests for all recipi-ents.

Concannon said the food stampprogram was designed to help peo-ple weather tough times brought onby a job loss or illness. Requiringparticipants to exhaust theirresources in order to qualify for ben-efits could leave them in a weakenedposition when the economy recov-ers, Concannon said.

"We would caution states tobe wary of just running down theroad without thinking throughthe impact on their citizens,especially in what is still a toughjobs economy," he said.

U.S. targets food stamp fraud as election loomsU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends the 48th Conference on Security Policy in Munich.

NATIONAL/LOCAL PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201228


U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan (L) points to a chocolate someone left on the lectern for Press SecretaryJay Carney (R) during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington

DALLAS: Rachael Suman hasdestroyed her wardrobe and test-ed her confidence because shesweats so much.

"I got these dress shields,kind of like liners for your under-arms, that you stick in your jack-et," Suman said. "But some out-fits you just can't hide it."

Topical medicines didn'twork, and her Botox underarmtherapy was temporary.

So she is one of the first inNorth Texas to try miraDry, anew FDA-approved procedure.

First, Dr. Michael Maris mapsout the sweat glands to create agrid that mirrors one on themiraDry machine.

Then, local anesthesia numbsthe area. Next, the miraDry wandsuctions the skin, bringing thesweat glands closer.

While the heat works to getrid of sweat glands usingmicrowaves, a cooling cycle ismeant to keep the skin safe fromdamage.

"I feel, like, pressure and suc-

tion," Suman said. "But I don'tfeel any pain."

Your entire body has about 4million sweat glands, and abouttwo percent of those are underthe arm. This procedure is meantto get rid of the sweat glands andthe odor in just a few days.

But did it work? We checked in with Suman

one week later. “I feel really dry right now,"

Suman explained as she walkedher dog around the block."Normally, I would start havingsweat rings."

Suman says she's 90 percentdry. However that's afterswelling and soreness lasted afull week.

"The first day ... I couldn'tput my arms down comfortably,"she said.

Dr. Maris studied the yearsof research for concerns beforebringing miraDry to North Texas.

"There have not been anycases of tissue breakdown, orlymph node or nerve involve-ment, but sometimes you can geta little numbness outside thetreated area there, that a can losta few weeks or longer," he said.

"I haven't used an anti-per-spirant since the procedure,"Suman said. "The fact I can saythat, and not be dripping wet, isamazing."

And now that means she canwalk without wondering if she'llneed a change of clothes.

No sweat! Treatment aims toshut down underarm stains

Storm chaser Andy Gabrielson was killed ina head-on crash southwest of Tulsa,Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon.

HOUSTON - Children who have been abused,neglected or abandoned received an opportuni-ty only they can fully appreciate. They got achance to find a “forever family" Saturday.

For six years and counting, Texas ChildProtective Services organizes a “Heart forChildren Festival.” A spokesperson likened itto speed dating where families licensed andlooking to adopt meet with foster children, whofor a number of reasons are used to being over-looked.

In a room where a game of Connect-4brought smiles, the focus was on what is miss-ing in each child’s life.

“I’m missing the part where, you know,people care about me,” said John, a 14-year-oldhoping to be adopted.

He and 99 others in the room are in fostercare. They are anxious to find “forever fami-lies.”

“The (foster) families that I’ve been to(have been) hard and some of them are not eventhat fun,” John said. “If I could have a re-dobutton, I would push it.”

To help, CPS invited people like Jim

Mauldin and his wife tomeet the children.

“We’re looking for amatch,” Mauldin said.

For three hours, people licensed and look-ing to adopt met with children ages 8 and older,have special needs or are part of a sibling group.Those factors keep many in foster care, CPSsaid.

“As my wife and I have talked about quitefrequently, we can’t imagine the thousands ofchildren who age-out of the system every year,”Mauldin said. “They never get a family. Theynever had a family that is theirs. They just leavethe foster care system. They go out on their ownwithout support and I can hardly imagine start-ing out life that way.”

Jose can. He is 17-years-old and -alongwith his three siblings -he’s been through pastfestivals without being adopted. So, theirdreams remain simple.

“My dream is that we can have a good timeand make sure we’re okay and that everythingwill be alright,” said Hector, Jose’s youngerbrother.

Festival gives foster childrenchance to be matched with

'forever families'

Andy Gabrielson is being remembered as a father, afriend, and a man who took risks to save countlesslives.

News 8 rode along with the storm-chaser onFriday night, unaware that this would be his laststorm.

His final night.Gabrielson was killed Saturday afternoon when

his SUV was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver nearTulsa, Oklahoma.

The storm-chasing community remembers him asone of their own — and one of the best.

"I didn't drive from Minnesota to see rain show-ers," Gabrielson told News 8 on Friday. He chased tor-nadoes in 26 states.

His hunt took him to North Texas for what turnedout to be a disappointing hail storm.

"Tornado threat definitely not what we thought itwould be today," he said.

Gabrielson's shocking death knocked the wind outof storm-chasers across the country.

"He's one of those guys you hate to see leave. It'sgut-wrenching," said News 8 storm-chaser CraigCurlee. He remembers Gabrielson as a severe weatherexpert who had a knack for getting to the right spot fortornado video. Curlee also knows that Gabrielson'sbigger goal was protecting innocent lives.

"He wil never be forgotten. He has totally raisedthe level of storm-chasing," Curlee said.

On Saturday, storm-chasers coordinated their GPSlog-ins to spell out Gabrielson's initials on Internetmaps, and Facebook pages were tagged with supportfor his family. Severe weather season won't be thesame for the chasers who knew him best, but they willcontinue to venture into the storms to honor his mem-ory.

"It's kind of like racing," Gabrielson said in hisfinal interview. "Once it's in your blood, it's somethingyou love doing."

Storm-chasers are making bumper stickers fortheir vehicles. Proceeds will go to Gabrielson's fami-ly.

Tributes pour in for stormchaser killed in crash

AUSTIN, Texas: A nearly 4-month-long cam-pout by Occupy Austin participants in front ofAustin’s City Hall has been ended with policeclearing out the demonstrators.

Austin police moved in late Friday night, aday after a new city policy took effect banningpeople from the building area during overnighthours.

At least seven people were arrested and

protesters were moved to a temporary shelter.Some three dozen people had been campingsince early October.

Assistant City Manager MichaelMcDonald told the Austin AmericanStatesman that overtime costs for police andfor maintenance to keep the site clean werecosting taxpayers as much as $115,000 everytwo weeks.

Police clear City Hall of Occupy Austin campers

LOCAL NEWSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 29


PECOS: A West Texas city councilhas given preliminary approval to aban on single-use plastic bags in thetown.

The Pecos City Council will takea final vote on the ban Thursday.Pecos Mayor Venetta Seals says thecity will require the use of biodegrad-able and multi-use bags that will costowners up to 40 cents each. The sin-

gle-use bags cost about 2 cents each.Businesses will be given six

months to exhaust their present stockof single-use bags and switch to newbags or paper bags. Violators could befined $500.

The mayor says Pecos got the ideafrom Fort Stockton, another city in theTrans-Pecos region of West Texas thatbanned single-use plastic bags Sept. 1.

Pecos gives preliminaryOK to plastic bag ban

SAN ANTONIO—A judge hasordered a mental evaluation of aFlorida man accused of smokingon a commercial flight andprompting an unscheduled land-ing in Texas.

The FBI in San Antonio saysManolin Jesus Villaverde ofMiami was arrested Jan. 24 andcharged with interfering withflight crew members. He faces abail hearing Feb. 14.

The San Antonio Express-News reported Thursday that a

magistrate this week approved adefense request for the psychi-atric evaluation.

Investigators say Villaverdetried to smoke—twice—onContinental Flight 1287 fromHouston to Ontario, Calif., andbecame unruly. Other passengershelped a flight attendant subdueVillaverde.

The jet landed in SanAntonio, Villaverde wasremoved and the plane continuedon to California.

Texas judge: Mental testfor smoking passenger

DALLAS: The hacking group knownas 'Anonymous' has published thenames, addresses and police depart-ments of more than 700 officers acrossthe state, including dozens in NorthTexas, after stealing the data from theTexas Police Association's web site.

The hacking is apparently inresponse to a story News 8 broke lastweek about a Wylie policeman put onadministrative leave while he's investi-gated for child pornography.

In a web site posting with the dataon Wednesday night, 'Anonymous' said"administrative leave" should bereserved for "injured cops," not whathackers called a "kiddie porn collectingcop." The stolen information alsoincluded a link to the WFAA storyabout the Wylie officer.

Hackers stole officers names andaddresses (many of them officers'homes), along with logins and pass-words for the Texas Police Association.

"This is very serious, not just fromthe standpoint of law enforcement, butfor every private citizen out there as faras their privacy," said Erwin Ballarta,Executive Director of the Texas PoliceAssociation.

"I wasn't surprised, because in the

past, they've done similar acts with theTexas Police Chiefs web site," saidDavid Henderson, a suburban police-man in North Texas and expert oncyber crime with CSG Analysis.

He said leaking personal informa-tion on police could threaten their safe-ty.

"I think that [affected officers]should be more concerned today thanthey were two days ago," Hendersoncontinued.

The Texas Police Association toldits member officers that the web site

had been breached.Ballarta said his organization sent

letters and he even made personal callsin some cases.

This is the second time the TexasPolice Association's web site has beenhacked, Ballarta revealed, but the firsttime any personal information on offi-cers was revealed.

The FBI was notified, according toBallarta.

'Anonymous' has become notori-ous for cyber crime after hacking andattacking high-profile websites.

Hackers publish names, addressesof hundreds of Texas police officers

The hacking group known as 'Anonymous' has published the names, addresses and policedepartments of more than 700 officers across the state, including dozens in North Texas,after taking the data from the Texas Police Association's website.

NATIONAL NEWS PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201230


HOUSTON—If you’re an expectant parent, one serviceyou might want to consider is using a baby planner, anup and coming trend in Houston. They can help witheverything from products to birth plans, and it’s becom-ing especially popular with first-time parents.

Stephanie and Jeffrey Frey just became parents tonewborn Wesley, and are enjoying every second of it.But nine months ago, the couple was singing quite a dif-ferent tune.

“(I was) quickly feeling overwhelmed at what I hadto do, everything that was in front of us,” said StephanieFrey.

A quick Google search and the Frey’s came acrossPremier Baby Planning, the brainchild of SheneqAranda. Aranda found that while researching productsduring her own pregnancy, other mothers would seek outher advice.

“I found myself counseling them on how to find thebest stroller. I thought ‘hmm, maybe this is a good busi-ness model’ and so Premier Baby Planning was born,”said Aranda.

Baby planning itself is a somewhat new industrycast into the limelight by Rosie Pope of the now-can-celled Bravo show “Pregnancy in Heels.”

Most mothers may not have a nude pregnancy por-trait at the top of their to-do list, but Aranda could makeit happen if she wanted to.

Stephanie had more common concerns, like how tostay healthy during her pregnancy, and where to deliver.

She says Aranda helped her with all of it.“She went and researched, called all of the offices,

found office hours, what they offered. She just did a lotof the leg work so that when she gave us a list of pedia-tricians, she said, ‘these are the ones that best fit foryou,’” said Mrs. Frey.

Jeff’s main worry was space. The couple lives on theRice University campus as resident associates. ButAranda made room for the child in their 850-square-foothome by making every purchase count.

“She showed up at (Babies R’ Us) and out of all thedifferent stroller that are there, she picked up about four,said ‘these are the ones that you’re probably going towant, your probably going to buy these two,’” Jeff Freysaid.

Aranda tells expecting parents to only buy threemonths in advance, so as not to clutter their home.

“Planning for a baby can be stressful,” said Aranda.“Buying all of those things can be stressful and over-whelming, so most of the time I see that people are over-buying things. I actually help with that and in the endproably actually save them some money.”

And saving money and time was invaluable for theFrey’s, who can now spend that precious time with theirbaby.

“It’s just like a wedding planner. You do that foryour wedding, (but) this is much more important I thinkthan a wedding,” Jeff Frey said. “So why wouldn’t youget somebody to help you out through this process.”

'Baby planner' becoming more popular with first-time parents

Members of the Yemeni-American community hold a press conference and protest to con-demn the visit to the US of embattled outgoing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh outsidethe hotel where Saleh is believed to be staying in New York.

AUSTIN, Texas: Police are investigatinga case of hoarding involving more than50 animals.

More than 30 cats, 18 rabbits andeight guinea pigs were all living in thesame cramped conditions when theywere discovered by officials.

A week later, animal experts say the

cats are making a remarkable recovery.In fact, most of them are ready to beadopted. “When they first came in, a lotof them were dirty. They had feces stuckin their coats," said Rachel Hays, a vet-

erinarian at the Austin Animal Center."Some of them were dehydrated, and alot of them were sneezing.” Animal con-trol workers will not unveil where theanimals were taken from a week ago

because of the ongoing investigation.However, it’s believed a concernedneighbor was the first to alert authorities.While the Austin Animal Center is hous-ing the cats, the guinea pigs and rabbits

are at the Austin Humane Society inNorth Austin.

“They're definitely getting friend-lier. They're coming up to the front oftheir cages when we come by. They'retaking food from our hands and allowingus to pet,” said Lisa Starr with the AustinHumane Society.

More than 50 animals rescued from hoarder

LOCAL NEWSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 31


DALLAS: A North Texas mother has been fea-tured all week on the new ABC show "TheRevolution," a program helping women re-work every angle of their lives, including theway they look, feel and communicate andrelate to others.

The program hopes to strengthen womenlike Mercedes Ramirez Johnson's future, andhelp the rest of us along the way.

Johnson is a mother of four boys, two withdevelopmental disabilities. She has a busy lifewith a full-time job and work as a full-timemom.

"Three times a week we have physicaltherapists, occupational therapists, speech ther-apists, it's non-stop," she said.

In 1995, a plane Johnson was riding inalong with her parents crashed in the AndesMountain in Columbia. She survived, but herparents did not.

"They've always been in my mind and myheart, where I feel like I have to prove that Iwas worthy of a second chance," shes said. "Ididn't even realize I was putting that pressureon myself."

Through her revolution, Johnson went

back to the site of the crash. "Because the lasttime I was on that mountain, I was in the mid-dle of plane wreckage, surrounded by bodies,"she said.

Now, she calls the location serene and haslearned that she can honor the fallen by honor-ing herself, and that means making herself apriority again.

"It's okay to invest in yourself," Johnsonsaid. "It's just taking more pride into myself. Itmay seem that it's an exterior thing, but reallyit's an interior thing."

Fifty-six pounds later, she's proving shecan do it, using the tools shared on the show.

One week on her own, without the help of"The Revolution," she's more motivated thatever, waking up at 5 a.m. for a date with herelliptical.

"That before and after picture, I will put iton my fridge, on my pantry, on the elliptical,"she said. "I'll get tired of seeing it, but that willmotivate me that there is no excuse for me toever go back to that." Ramirez said she hopesto lose 15 more pounds on her own.

"The Revolution" airs every day at 1 p.m.on ABC.

North Texas mom-planecrash survivor revitalizes

self with weight loss

U.S. President Barack Obama talks about the economy at Fire Station Number Five in Arlington, Virginia.

Before and after photos of Mercedes Ramirez Johnson after "The Revolution."

Mercedes Ramirez Johnson holds her son. A photo of Mercedes Ramirez Johnson with her family.

NEW YORK: A Dallas teen who was mistak-enly deported to Colombia is talking, for thefirst time, about her lies and the nightmare thatled to her being mistakenly deported toColumbia.

Jakadrien Turner's story starts in Dallas,then moves to Colombia where she wasdeported.

Now, she is in New York where she willdescribe her ordeal to a national televisionaudience.

"I made a lot of horrible mistakes, did a lotof things I'm not proud of," Jakadrien said,explaining that she ran away from homebecause her parents were strict. That bad deci-sion led her down a dangerous path.

She ended up in Houston in the hands of atrafficker. "He told me that he loved me multi-ple times," Jakadrien said.

But like many traffickers, he ultimatelyturned violent. "He monitored me, he lookedat me every time and he basically, he tells me,if you go, that I will get killed," she recalled."If you leave, then you're going to die."

The trafficker beat Jakadrien and threat-ened to hurt her family, she said.

"The main thing that I cared about was myfamily," she said. "I didn't want him to go tomy family."

Jakadrien ended up being arrested forshoplifting in Houston and was arrested underthe name "Tika Cortez."

"I made that name up out of the top of myhead," Jakadrien said.

Once in jail, she said she tried to tellHouston police she was really JakadrienTurner, but they did not believe her.

"It's like the story of the boy that criedwolf. I've lied multiple times before. I'venever been honest. I've made a lot of storiesup. I made the name up 'Tika Cortez,'"

Jadadrien said. "But at a certain point, I justgave up because I said it multiple times: 'I'mJakadrien Turner, I'm 15 years old, and whyam I here?'"

She said she never told police she wasColombian and isn't sure where the authoritiesgot that idea, but the next thing she knew shewas on her way to an immigration facility.Jakadrien said she was confused.

"I don't know nothing about immigrants; Idon't know nothing about fugitives, becauseI'm a United States citizen," she said. "I'velived in Dallas my whole life."

After realizing she was in a federal facili-ty, Jakadrien said she tried to tell three differ-ent immigration officials her true identity.They did not believe her.

"It's the same saying they had: 'The systemdoes not lie,'" she said.

Jakadrien said immigration officials whomaintain that she never told them her realname are lying.

"I think a lot of people say things to try tocover themselves up," she said. "I made thechoices I made, and officials, they made thechoices they made."

Jakadrien was eventually shackled andhandcuffed and dispatched to South America.She was afraid that if she told the truth inColombia, she would be imprisoned in a for-eign land.

Jakadrien Turner says she is not lookingfor sympathy. She simply wants to tell her sideof the story and warn other girls about the per-ils of leaving home.

"Hopefully my story will help them torealize that they need to go back home."

Jakadrien says she has learned some valu-able life lessons. She admits that she waswrong, and hopes other young women canlearn from her mistakes.

Deported teen shares herhorror story for first time

Jakadrien Turner.

TECHNOLOGY PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201232


Appointment.

LONDON: Mars is too dry a planet tohost any form of life, British scientistshave concluded. An analysis of soil,collected during 2008 Nasa Phoenixmission to Mars, by Imperial CollegeLondon has revealed the Red Planet hasexperienced a 600-million-year 'super-drought', Geophysical Research Lettersjournal reported.

The three-year-long research found thatthe surface of Mars had been dry forsuch a long time that any life wouldhave to be lurking deep underground.The scientists deduced that there hadbeen water present during a warmerperiod lasting up to 5,000 years in dis-tant past, but this would have been toolittle time for life to establish itself on

the surface.Tom Pike, who led the research, wasquoted by the Daily Telegraph as say-ing, "We found that even though there isan abundance of ice, Mars has beenexperiencing a super-drought that maywell have lasted hundreds of millions ofyears. "The Mars we know today con-trasts sharply with its earlier history."

Drought-hit Mars too dry for life, say British scientists

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image obtained February 3, 2012 of the nearby spiral galaxy M74. Bright knots of glowing gaslight up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation.

LOS ANGELES: A glimpse beyondour solar system reveals the neigh-borhood just outside the sun's influ-ence is different and stranger thanexpected, scientists reported.

One oddity is the amount of oxy-gen. There are more oxygen atomsfloating freely in the solar systemthan in the immediate interstellarspace, or the vast region betweenstars.

Scientists were unsure why, butthey said it's possible some of thelife-supporting element could be hid-den in dust or ice.

"We discovered this big puzzle— that the matter just outside of oursolar system doesn't look like thematerial inside," said DavidMcComas of the Southwest ResearchInstitute in San Antonio, Texas.

The discovery came fromNASA's Interstellar BoundaryExplorer spacecraft, which launchedin 2008 to study the chaotic boundarywhere the solar wind from the sunclashes with cold gases from inter-stellar space.

Circling 200,000 miles aboveEarth, the Ibex spacecraft spots parti-

cles streaming into the solar system.A protective bubble surroundingaround the sun and planets preventsdangerous cosmic radiation fromseeping through, but neutral particlescan pass freely, allowing Ibex to maptheir distribution.

The presence of less oxygen out-side the solar system should not haveany bearing on the search for Earth-like planets, scientists involved in theexoplanet hunt said.

There's plenty of oxygen in allthe stars in the galaxy and in thematerial out of which stars and plan-ets form, Geoff Marcy of Universityof California, Berkeley said in anemail.

While Ibex probes the edge ofthe solar system from Earth orbit,NASA's long-running, nuclear-pow-ered twin Voyager spacecraft are atthe fringes. Launched in 1977, thespacecraft have been exploring thesolar system boundary since 2004.

Scientists have said it'll bemonths or years before Voyager 1exits the solar system and becomesthe first manmade probe to cross intointerstellar space.

Scientists puzzled by regionoutside solar system

HEALTHPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 33


Even the most disciplined and themost hard working people find their

Waterloo when fighting thestomach bulge.

From bloatingbecause of water reten-tion to the sheer frustra-tion brought on by thestomach's refusal tofall flat, abdominalweight is a tough battleto win. Today we'vepicked out our top 5tips about how tocontrol the stomach

bulge - 5 tips and bitsof awareness that

everyone entering thisstomach bulgearena needs toknow. So, let'sget started!

Are stom-ach crunchesenough forabs?

For six-pack abs oneneeds tostrengthen thea b d o m i n a lmuscles andlose body fat.Unfortunatelythere is noescaping car-

d i o v a s c u l a rexercise and

weight (or resistance) training to lose weightin a healthy way. That aside, in order tostrengthen your abs you will have to followexercises related to both, the abdomen and theback. There are different types of crunches andother abdominal exercises that focus on theentire abdomen, from the upper to the lowersections. These exercises are ideal to strength-en your abdominal muscles.

However, training your abs without train-ing your back creates an imbalance in the mus-culature that supports your spine. And thesemuscles are not just for show! Therefore, thebest exercises for your abdominal muscles arethe ones that force your entire core to go intooverdrive to support your spine as well. Someexercises that do this are squats and lifts.

Some more exercises, other than crunches,squats and lifts, that will help strengthen boththe back and abdominal muscles: Sit ups, jack-knife sit ups , leg lifts, static holds and sidestatics.

So, while crunches, squats and otherabdominal exercises will strengthen your core,overall fat loss will make this strengthenedcore visible.

The truth about beer belly fatBeer drinkers around the world tend to be

a part of the not-so-cute-n-cuddly beer bellyband wagon.

What causes the dreaded beer belly?A beer belly is caused by excess calorie

intake and reduced calorie expenditurebecause of a sedentary lifestyle.

Consumption of excess calories (overeat-ing or over-drinking) and having a sedentarylifestyle is the main cause of this kind of obe-sity. It can also be due to cushing's syndrome(it is a health condition which stems fromlong-standing contact of the body's tissues tohigh levels of the hormone cortisol) and cer-tain drugs can also be the cause.

Can people with a beer belly be consid-ered obese?

People with beer belly are not healthy. Onthe contrary the visceral fat (fat that lies deepinside the abdomen surrounding vital organs)deposited leads to secretion of cytokineswhich cause chronic inflammation and dis-ease. People with beer belly are consideredobese only if body mass index (a measure ofbody fatness) is more than 24.9 kg/m.

People with abdominal fat deposition areconsidered obese if the waist circumference ismore than 102 cm (40inches) in men and morethan 88 cm (35 inches) in women.

What are the prevention and treatmentof beer belly? Is liposuction a safe and onlymethod to get rid of it?

. Prevention and treatment of beer bellyinvolves:

Losing weight.De-stressing by meditation and breath-

ing exercise.Drinking plenty of water to flush out salt

from the tissues so as to feel lighter and notbloated.

Eating a proper diet by including anti-

inflammatory foods like oats, wheat bran,brown rice, green vegetables, fruits, green tea,nuts, fish etc and avoid inflammatory foodslike refined cereals, sweets, fried foods etc.

Liposuction removes subcutaneous fatand not the visceral fat because it is too closeto the internal organs which would make itunsafe.

For the prevention and treatment of obesi-ty one needs to have a healthy balanced dietwith a regular exercise routine. One should notover eat. Eat a healthy balanced diet of threemain meals along with two high fiber snacksin betweens every day. 30 minutes of exerciseeach day is enough to keep one in shape.

How yoga helps tone your abs?Been dreaming of the perfect midriff,

those sexy obliques, or that six pack? Here aresome tips on yoga for core strength, and final-ly - great abs.

Why is development of core strengthrequired for great abs?

Your core (your complete mid section) isthe most instrumental for developing a fit,strong and lean body. This is because it sup-ports the upper body, as well as the lower bodyand unless you have strong back and ab mus-cles, you won't be able to lift heavy, or run fast.And you should be able to lift heavy and runfast in order to get the perfect mid section.

Some functional workouts for a strongcore are:

Squats - The most basic of all functionalexercises and a full body workout, strengthen-ing, the core, glutes, hips, upper thighs andcalves.

Dead lifts - An extremely useful exercisewhereby you bend down and pick up a weightusing your back, arms, hips and hamstring.

Overhead press - Lifting dumbbells overyour head not only works out your arms butyour torso does a lot of work too, by balancingand supporting your arms that are lifting theweights.

To get rid of belly fat and strengthen yourtorso a good mix of the above weight trainingexercises as well as yoga works wonders.

So how does yoga help you get greatlooking abs?

Yoga postures - Take almost any yoga pos-ture like the (shoulder stand, warrior pose orthe bow pose. How well you are able to emu-late these poses almost always depends onhow strong your core is. Being flexible, buthaving a weak core, will allow you to do somebasic postures like bending forward and touch-ing your toes, but will not allow you to makemuch headway in the slightly more advancedpostures.

Yoga stretches - Basic stretches like thecow and cat pose (getting down on all foursand stretching your back in and out) and themountain pose where you stand on your toes,extend your arms upwards and stretch yourwhole body out, are very essential in increas-ing flexibility to your core. Doing this willmake you far

Continued on Page 34

How to control thestomach bulge

HEALTH PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201234


Continued From Page 33less susceptible to injuries and will

allow you to push your body more dur-ing weight training and/ or running.

Breathing - Yoga teaches you tech-niques of how to breathe in a way thatpromotes lung capacity, clears blockagesand even clenches and unclenches stom-ach muscles. This, once again, promotesmovement and flexibility of core mus-cles and all round core strength.

Although yoga alone will not helpyou achieve that six-pack, it is a vitaladdition to your fitness routine so thatyou can strengthen your core, which inturn will help you perform better in allyour other fat burning endeavors.Strengthening your core in itself is vitalif you want to tone your body for a sleek-er torso and finally sexy abs.

How to get that V-shaped bodyThis one is for all the men out there.

The fabled V shape is the epitome ofmanhood, just like the hourglass plaguesmany women's dreams. Here's how toget that V Shape:

A natural body deserves naturalmovements - Having identified that theV shape is the natural shape of the maleanatomy, it's important to ensure that youworkout in a way that is natural for yourbody to get into shape. Many men tryputting on excessive amount of bulk andtherefore get stuck with exaggeratedframes like very large shoulders or areunable to workout in a way that reducesthe belly fat.

In order to workout the whole bodyand get leanness in the midsection aswell as over all, bodyweight workouts,functional training, and high intensityinterval training is a must.

Hard gainers - For those who findit hard to gain muscle on their shoul-ders, which is important to get that Vshape here are two must dos -

- Lift really heavy things. The foun-dation of your routine should be the bigcompound lifts: Squats, deadlifts, press-es (bench and overhead), pull-ups,rows, clean and jerks. These engagemultiple muscles while triggering yourhormonal response systems.

- Eat lots and lots of healthy veg-etables and meat. You are going to haveto eat far more than before if you wantto gain weight. Since body compositionis 80% diet, you are going to have tostuff yourself. You need to provide lotsand lots of proteins for those hormonesto synthesize.

Flexibility and yoga - Working on

flexibility helps towards achieving a leanand strong frame. In order to be lean andstrong, you need to gain lean musclemass and not bulk up on excessiveunnatural muscle. Many men make themistake of trying to convert fat intobulky muscle when they start going tothe gym. In the process, this hinders thebody shape. You would be far better offworking towards a naturally lean bodyand once you manage to do this, the Vshape will come automatically. Yogahelps to gain core strength and to makethe limbs supple and lean.

How to tackle water retentionWater retention is everyone's

favorite reason for explaining weightgain, or difficulty in achieving weightloss. Nutritionist Sushila Sharangdharhelps us understand what water retentionis and how we can tackle it.

What is water retention? Waterretention is a condition in which thebody retains water. It is a condition thatresults from water leaking from body tis-sues to blood. It causes tenderness andswelling, especially in the abdomen.Sometimes it also causes swelling in thefeet, legs, arms or abdomen.

Causes of water retention: Waterretention occurs due to several factorslike the body's reaction to humid weath-er, hormonal changes during menstrualcycle, pregnancy, menopause and sideeffects of oral contraceptive pills amongwomen. Nutritional deficiencies,hypothyroidism, heart or liver disorderscould be the reasons behind water reten-tion for both, men and women.

Water retention can be diagnosedwith the help of the patient's medical his-tory, a physical examination and other

tests like blood test, urine test, liver andkidney function test, chest X-ray orElectro Cardiogram, so that any heart,liver or kidney problems are ruled out.

How to fight water retention withfood

Eating a well balanced diet willhelp you fight water retention.

Foods high in calcium such asmilk, curd or buttermilk helpeliminate excess fluidfrom the body.

Include foodsrich in potassiumand Vitamin Bcomplex: Fruits likebananas, papayaand pear; citrusfruits like orangeand pineapplewill help too.

C r a n b e r r y ,grapefruit, melon( w a t e r m e l o n ,muskmelon), and avocadojuices help fight water retention.

Nuts like almonds or wal-nuts and flax seeds are good forwater retention too.

Other foods that will helpfight water retention are lean meatslike chicken, egg whites and vegeta-bles that belong to the gourd familylike bitter gourd, snake gourd etc.

Increase your fluid intake:Drinking plenty of water (around 2-3 liters everyday), lime water, bar-ley water or coconut water can alsospeed- up the process of eliminat-ing unwanted fluids from thebody.

How to control the stomach bulge


PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201236 ENTERTAINMENT

Indian Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor (L) and Imran Khan pose during a photography exhibition for the Hindi film "Ek Main Aur EkkTu" in Mumbai.

P riyanka Chopra has ben hint-ing that she is in talks withanother film with Karan

Johar. And KJo who is friends withGauri Khan isn't taking this too kind-ly.

PC is banned from that cliqueand he is quite clear that she won't bedoing another Dharma film. Says asource from Dharma, "Priyanka hasbeen telling people that she's signedanother film produced by Karan'sbanner and that has upset the mild-tempered filmmaker. Karan has toldhis close friends categorically that

she is not part of any of his nexthome productions and not likely tobe for the next couple of years atleast!"

The source close to Dharma stress-es, "This year Karan has many films

lined up none of them feature PC.There's Punit Malhotra's next withShahid Kapoor, Ayaan Mukerji's filmwith Deepika Padukone and RanbirKapoor, Rensil D Silva's film withEmraan Hashmi, Tarun Mansukhani's

Karan Johar has no film for Priyanka

T hey fell in love whileshooting for their first filmTujhe Meri Kasam in

2003. And on February 3, 2012,they had a 'happily ever after' end-ing to their love story. RiteishDeshmukh and Genelia D'Souzatied the knot in full blownMaharashtrian style at a suburbanfive star on Friday afternoon.

The baraat left Riteish's juhuresidence at 11 am. Genelia's par-ents and brothers waited at thevenue to receive them. The wed-ding began at 12.48 pm, accordingto the pre-decided mahurat.

While Genelia looked lovelyin a Neeta Lulla saree, Riteish

wore the quintessential sherwani.The actor also tweeted his ownwedding picture right after the cer-emony was over.

Spotted at the wedding wereBollywood celebrities AkshayKumar, Ajay Devgn, Kajol,Suniel Shetty, AshutoshGowariker, Karan Johar, HirooJohar, Shahid Kapoor, Asin, SajidKhan, Sajid Nadiadwala,Abhishek Bachchan, JayaBachchan, Ken Ghosh, RahulDev, Indra Kumar, Maria Goretti,Subhash Ghai and more. Toppoliticians, friends opf Riteish'sfather Vilasrao Deshmukh werealso spotted at the do.

Riteish-Genelia's bigfat Indian wedding

T he status of a relationship these days are mostly con-veyed through status messages – whether on Facebookor blackberry messenger. And it appears that like any

other girl her age, Deepika Padukone too believes in using thismedium to tell the world about the direction her relationship is tak-ing.

A tabloid reports that a few days after the grapevine said that shehad broken up with Siddharth Mallya, Deepika has not just changedher Blackberry messenger status but also her display picture. Herdisplay picture (DP) on her blackberry now has a black patch. Themore telling comment comes from her status which now reads‘game over’.

Sources say that though Deepika is heartbroken she isn’tas affected by this break-up the way she was when she had afallout with Ranbir Kapoor. On the other hand, Siddharth hasapparently confirmed the break up. Insiders say he was heard telling hisfriends that the relationship was heading nowhere.

It looks like Deepika will have to wait longer for her Mr Right.

Deepika says‘game over’ Was she referring to her

alleged break up withSiddharth Mallya?

Dostana2 and the film that Ekta Kapoorand Karan are jointly producing whichwill feature Kareena Kapoor or Kat.Priyanka is not even in the running forany film." The source adds that

Agneepath director Karan Malhotra'snext film will also be produced by Joharbut it's too soon to talk about it as eventhe script is not complete. So what filmis PC talking about here?

B ollywood has scored yet anotherhigh. "Dabangg 2" has beaten "RA.One" and others by fetching

an all time high price of 140 cr.Salman Khan has not only topped the

Times' 50 Most Desirable Men lists. He isalso the king of Bollywood. TheBollywood business just went through theroof.

Thanks to the advent of multiplexesand over 12000 single screens acrossIndia, Hindi cinema has been bettering itscollections every quarter.

"Agneepath" just joined the 100 crclub today, though the producers adver-tised it two days ago. Now news has comein that Salman Khan's Dabangg-2 hasbeen picked up by UTV Motion Picturesfor an unheard of 140 cr including theprint and advertising costs.

Says trade consultant Amod Mehra,"This just proves Salman Khan'ssupremacy as the leading actor."

''Dabangg-2" has beaten "Ra.One".For the longest time the trade gup was that"RA.One" was sold to Eros Internationalreportedly for 150 cr. However the pro-ducers later issued a statement saying thatthe official figure is under 100 cr.

"If that is the case thenDabangg-2 is the leader," saysMehra. "Once again Salman hasbeaten the competition hollow."

'Dabangg 2' soldfor 140 cr


ENTERTAINMENTPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 37

Indian Bollywood personalities (L-R) Shreyas Talpade, Mugdha Godse and Muzammil Ibrahim pose during a promotional event for theforthcoming Hindi film "Will You Marry Me?" in Mumbai.

It looks like Bollywood is in a mood to celebrateromance like never before. 2012 began withthe big fat Riteish-Genelia wedding and wehear Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan will walkdown the aisle sometime in March as well.

Now yet another couple has decided to take theirrelationship to the next level – the pretty Dia Mirzaand her suave boyfriend and business partner,Sahil Sangha. Buzz is that the duo, who hadplanned to tie the knot at the end of 2012, hasnow mutually decided to shift the date to2013. The wedding is most likely to takeplace in Mumbai.

Dia has been dating Sahil, the director ofher first home production ‘Love BreakupsZindagi’ for the last couple of years. Whencontacted, the actress didn’t confirm thedate but admitted that Sahil and she arelooking at sometime next year and havebegun planning for the big day. Apparently, thecouple has taken the families into confidence aswell.

We wish them all the luck!

Dia Mirza to tiethe knot soon?Apparently, the actress andher boyfriend Sahil Sanghahave set a 2013 date

A ctor Sonu Sood, who became popular asChhedi Singh in the blockbuster "Dabangg", won't mind playing a boxer on

the big screen but in real life he would like to stayaway from the boxing ring.

"If you are an actor, than it is not very safe to doboxing. We do it in films, but that is definitely notreal action. If the actors get injured, the producersface a lot of loss," Sonu said at a World Series ofBoxing match in Mumbai.

Talking about taking up a boxer's role in reel, hesaid: "Definitely, why not. Many scripts come wherethe character of a boxer is offered, but like I said,you need to be prepared for it... you better get pre-pared as an actor," he said.

Meanwhile, Sonu is busy shooting for "Maximum" with Naseerudin Shah and his home pro-duction " Lucky Unlucky" with Mallika Sherawat.

Sonu Sood findsboxing unsafe

A fter the shoot his Ek ThaTiger gets over, SalmanKhan will face the camera

for Dabangg 2, the much anticipatedsequel to the 2010 blockbusterDabangg that had Salman playing thecorrupt cop Chulbul Pandey.

Now, in the sequel, to be directedby Arbaaz Khan, Chulbul Pandeydoesn’t mend his ways but, on thecontrary, becomes more corrupt. Thistime, he operates not from Lalganj,but from Mumbai, which meansheftier bribes but alsobigger troubles.

Those expect-ing another show-down between SonuSood and SalmanKhan might be disap-pointed as Sonu Soodisn’t part of the sequel.The villain is now

played by Prakash Raj, seen inSingham and Wanted.

However, the sequel will repeatthe actors Vinod Khanna (asChulbul’s father), Arbaaz Khan (asbrother) and Sonakshi Sinha (as hiswife and love). Salman Khan has dis-closed that Dabangg 2 will have aninteresting romantic track betweenChulbul and Rajjo.

Dabangg 2 will release onChristmas in 2012.

Salman Khan is presentlyshooting in Cuba for Ek ThaTiger with Katrina Kaif. He

will soon make a visit tothe US to get medically

checked up for TrigeminalNeuralgia for which he under-

went a surgery last year. Thedoctors will reportedly try tofigure out how big the

aneurysm is.

Salman Khan’s ChulbulPandey becomes morecorrupt in 'Dabangg 2'

I t looks like a certain Punit Malhotra doesn’t exist in the life of SonamKapoor. The world might talk about their link-up but the ‘Mausam’ actresswould have us believe she is still single. Sonam, it appears, wants to clear

every controversy including her alleged animosity for Shahid Kapoor.A few days ago it was reported that Sonam, who had worked in Punit’s

directorial debut ‘I Hate Luv Storys’ (her only hit so far!) had turneddown his next film because Shahid, her ‘Mausam’ co-star had been

signed on as the male lead.However, the actress took to twitter to shoot down all the

reports: "I'm hearing the funniest rumours about myself! InThailand, and all I can say is I'm on the floor laughing."

"Okay morning guys I'm not mad at Shahid Kapoor or PunitMalhotra and I'm not dating anyone! I'm minding my own busi-ness and working," she further tweeted.

Sonam: ‘I am notdating anyone’


ENTERTAINMENT PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201238

K atrina Kaif was always known for her ami-able attitude and professionalism but oflate, several stories of her alleged tantrumshave been doing the rounds. Apparently,the actress has too many demands which isnot going down well with some big namesin the industry. The first person who isreportedly miffed with her is cinematogra-pher Ravi K Chandran. A tabloid reportsthat Katrina got the ace cinematographer

replaced in a commercial because she wanted her friend Ayananka Boseto shoot it. Chandran then tweeted about his ousting by an actress thoughhe refused to say who it was.The second person who hasn’t taken tookindly to her new-found attitude is none other than Karan Johar as Katkept dilly-dallying about director Ayaan Mukerji’s offer of ‘Yeh Jawani HaiDeewani’ opposite Ranbir Kapoor. She finally said no to the film. But whenshe realised that Karan wasn’t too pleased with her she allegedly agreedto the ‘Chikni Chameli’ number in ‘Agneepath’.

Katrina, sources say, even displeased Prakash Jha who had given hera great break in ‘Raajneeti’. She opted to do Karan’s ‘Dostana 2’ insteadthough the film has been delayed and most probably shelved.

However, when contacted, Katrina refuted all allegations. While sheclaimed she hadn’t received any offer from Prakash Jha to do his film, onChandran’s outburst, she said she had no role to play in deciding theteam. “I am shooting for shooting for another ad with him,” she was quot-ed. She also denied any problems with Karan Johar or Ayaan Mukherjee.

Well Kat needn’t worry. The stories and controversies only go to showher demand and popularity in Bollywood. After all, who doesn’t want towork with Katrina and it isn’t possible to please everyone all the time, isn’tit Kat?

Is Katrina gettingtoo arrogant?

Rumours suggest she is irking a lot ofindustry bigwigs with her attitude

Indian Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu attends the wedding reception of actors RiteshDeshmukh and Genelia D'Souza in Mumbai.

T he casting of ‘Race 2’, the sequel to the 2008Abbas-Mustan thriller is fast turning out to be agame of musical chairs with actors walking out

and others being signed in as replacement. The latest is that DeepikaPadukone (who had been one of the first stars to be signed) has walkedout after the film has already gone on floors. In fact, the movie had made

news a few weeks ago because of its reported steamy scenes betweenSaif and Deepika.

The filmmakers are now in a quandary and producerRamesh Taurani, we hear, has sent an SOS message to

Priyanka Chopra requesting her to fill in for Deepika.Apparently, the actress has liked the script and is mostlikely to sign on the dotted line.

Incidentally, Priyanka had been considered for therole earlier too. In October 2011, when Deepy was

approached she had told the producers that the dates of‘Race 2’ clashed with her dates for Ayaan Mukherjee’s film

with Ranbir Kapoor. That’s when Priyanka was summoned.But by the time PC gave her approval, Deepika sorted out her

dates and said ‘yes’ to ‘Race 2’.But now it appears that Deepika would rather concentrate

on Ayaan’s film than this thriller. Has it got to do something witha certain Mr Kapoor with whom she is reportedly getting pallywith again?

Meanwhile Priyanka, who has her plate full with ‘Krrish 3’and ‘Barfee’ is seriously considering ‘Race 2.’ As they say, oneactress’ loss is another’s gain in Bollywood. But with all the con-fusion, let’s hope the movie gets made!

WillPriyankajoin the‘race’?

Deepika had walked outof ‘Race 2’ leaving thefilm in lurch

IMMIGRATIONPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 39


LEGAL CORNERT his article will be a weekly feature

courtesy of the Law Office of RehanAlimohammad, PC (see detailed ad

on p. 24 of main section) to inform the com-munity about the latest in U.S. ImmigrationLaw. You can always e-mail us questions [email protected]. You can subscribeto our e-newsletter to stay current on thelatest Immigration developments by e-mailing us at [email protected] can visit our website at www.attor-neyrehan.com or call our offices at (281)340-2074 or (866) 814-3920 for more infor-mation.

245(i): Who is covered?*Please note that this is a complicated topic.

As always, you should consult with an attorneyregarding your individual case.

Q: What is 245(i): A: 245(i) is a section in the law that allows

one to qualify (see requirements below) for agreen card even if the person entered withoutinspection or their status expired. It does NOTprotect a person who already had a prior depor-tation order.

Q: What does the current version of245(i) require?

A: It requires all of the following: 1)aproperly filed and approvable labor certificationor an immigrant petition (see definition below)filed before April 30, 2001, 2)person needs to bephysically in the U.S. on December 21, 2000,and 3)needs to pay $1,000 when filing for greencard.

Q: What is an immigrant petition?A: It includes an I-130 (filed through fam-

ily) and an I-140 (filed through employment).Q: What is the prior version of 245(i)?A. It had all the same requirements except

that the petition or labor certification had to befiled before January 15, 1998 and there is nodate that the person had to be physically pres-ent. However, the person must already be in theU.S. This prior version can still help if youqualify.

Q: Who is covered?A: Anyone who meets the above 3 require-

ments AND a qualifiying beneficiary.Q: Who is a qualifying beneficiary?A: It is a dependent spouse or child (below

21) at the time of filing before April 30, 2001.Q: What does it mean to be grandfa-

thered? A: It means you met the requirements

under the law and you can still file for greencard even if you have to re-file your labor certi-fication or petition later because the originalcase was closed, withdrawn, or denied. Also, ifyou later get divorced or turn 21, you will stillbe grandfathered. As always, consult an attor-ney regarding your individual case.

Q: What if I am grandfathered but my I-485 case was denied, can I file a new case?

A: Originally the INS/DHS had issued amemo in December 2003 saying that a personcould only attempt to apply for green card underthis law once, and if denied they could not applyagain. However, in a memo issued in March,2005 the INS/DHS has corrected itself andallows more than one filing of a green cardapplication under 245(i).

Q: Example 1: I was 19 when my fatherfiled a labor certification in April, 2001, andI was here on December 15, 2000. But myfather's employer for the labor certificationis now closed? Can I file a labor cert or get agreen card on my own if I'm over 21 now?

A: Yes, you were grandfathered becauseyou met the requirements above. Now you canfile a labor certification and apply for green cardon your own.

Q: What if I am grandfathered and gotmarried after April 30, 2001. Is my spousegrandfathered?

A: Your spouse is not grandfathered, butcan still get a green card if filing as a dependentthrough you. In other words, your spouse can-not get a green card if filing their own labor cer-tification, but can use the benefits if you are fil-ing for a green card after marriage. These ques-tions were so difficult for the INS/DHS thatthey just recently issued a memo in March,2005 to clarify.

Q: What if I am grandfathered (meet therequirements above) but leave the countrybefore I get my green card?

A: You may have problems returningbecause of the 3/10 year bar rule.

Q: What is the 3/10 year bar rule?A: If a person is out of status in the U.S.

between 6 months and less than 1 year, theywould have a bar of 3 years. This means thatif you have this bar and leave the country,you may not be able to re-enter for 3 years.If you are out of status in the U.S. for 1 yearor more, you may not be able to re-enter for10 years. There are waivers that can allowyou to come back prior to this time, but theyhave very specific requirements. You need toconsult with an attorney about your individ-ual case.

Q: What if I apply for a green card anda travel document, will the bars stop me fromcoming back?

A: When you apply for a travel document,there is a disclaimer that says even with the doc-ument, you still may not be able to come back.The bars will apply unless waived. A traveldocument will not change that.

Reminder: Our office will be providing anarticle weekly in this section.

Next Week topic: Various U.S.Immigration Topics

Disclaimer: This article is not meant asspecific advice regarding a person's individualcase. An attorney should be consulted. Thisarticle does not create an Attorney-Client rela-tionship.

Article #278

BUSINESS PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201240


People walk at the Dubai International Financial Center near the Emirates Towers in Dubai.

FORT WORTH, Texas: American Airlines’parent company proposed reducing its work-force by 13,000 employees affecting pilots,flight attendants, ground workers, mechanicsand management as the company cuts costs inbankruptcy.

AMR Corp. said the approximate num-bers of layoffs will include 400 pilots, 2,300flight attendants, 1,400 management and sup-port staff positions and 8,800 ground workersand mechanics.

The company said "agents, reps and plan-ners" will also face job cuts though it didn’timmediately pinpoint a number.

Currently, AMR employs almost 87,000people worldwide at American Airlines andAmerican Eagle.

"There is no avoiding the fact that the costreductions will be deep," Tom Horton, AMRCEO, told employees in a letter Wednesdaymorning. "And there is no sugarcoating theeffect on our people."

"It looks really bad," said Darrin Pierce, aTWU local president, who attendedWednesday’s meeting with airline manage-ment.

Pierce said the company will meet withunion representing pilots, flight attendantsand ground workers individually at 2 p.m. tofurther outline what the 20 percent across theboard cuts will entail.

American said it also planned to savemoney by restructuring debt and leases,

grounding older planes and improving suppli-er contracts. At least, $1.25 billion in savingswill be in employee-related costs, the compa-ny said.

But even as it makes cuts, American saidit also planned to spend money by investing$2 billion annually in aircraft to create thenation’s youngest fleet by 2017.

In addition, American plans to increasedepartures across in its five cornerstone cities– Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, Miami, LosAngeles and New York – by 20 percent overthe next five years.

"You will hear more detail later today aswe share it with our union work groups, andwe will have more information for our non-union groups in weeks to come as we addressfeedback from them," read Horton’s letter."While we are now firmly on a path to a suc-cessful growing future, we must acknowledgethe near-term pain these changes will require.That’s especially true because we will end thisjourney with many fewer people."

Union leaders said the FAA is watchingthe situation to make sure emotions of the daydo not affect the quality of work performed.

American Airlines’ parent company saysit lost $904 million in December which ismore than in the first nine months of 2011combined.

AMR Corp. also listed $4 billion in cashand short-term investments. That’s down from$4.3 billion at the end of September.

The company disclosed the numbers in afiling Tuesday with a federal bankruptcy courtin New York.

AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protec-tion on Nov. 29 after losing $884 million inthe first nine months of 2011 and about $11billion since 2001.

WFAA’s Casey Norton and TheAssociated Press contributed to this report.

American Airlines proposescutting 13K jobs

GENEVA: The United States hasended a nine-year spat with theEuropean Union and Japan over theway Washington imposes anti-dump-ing charges on foreign goods.

U.S. trade officials say under adeal signed Monday in Geneva theU.S. will bring the way it determinestariffs on goods exported at below-market price into line with WorldTrade Organization rules.

WTO panels had in the past con-cluded that a U.S. practice known as'zeroing' breached international tradeagreements, opening the way for theEU and Japan to impose hundreds ofmillions of dollars in trade retaliation.

U.S. Trade Representative RonKirk said the resolution of the long-running dispute would allow the U.S.to focus on other more pressing tradeissues.

US ends 9-yearspat with EU, Japan

over dumpingNEW YORK: US Treasuries pricesplunged as a surge in US payrolls sur-prised investors who had bought bondsaggressively last week after the FederalReserve vowed to keep ultra-low interestrates until late 2014.

Benchmark 10-year Treasuries lostone point in price after the US LaborDepartment said the economy createdjobs at the fastest pace in nine months inJanuary, driving the unemployment rateto 8.3 percent, a near-three year low.

The numbers, which came in wayabove market expectations, corroboratedweeks of strong US economic data andstoked the appetite for risk.

The data reduced the chance of fur-ther monetary stimulus from the Fed,economists said. Some traders evenstarted to bet that interest rates could risein early 2014, causing investors in gen-eral to reassess their long Treasuries

positions.“We’re seeing widespread gains

across the economy,” said Russell Price,senior economist with AmeripriseFinancial in Detroit. “It significantlycurtails the expectations for any furtherQE3, or the need for any further quanti-tative easing.”

Ten-year notes dropped 1-4/32 inprice to yield 1.95 percent, the highestyield in more than one week and up from1.82 percent late on Thursday. Thirty-year bonds plunged 1-26/32 in price toyield 3.15 percent, up from 3.01 percent.Also curtailing demand for safe-havenTreasuries was a report by the Instituteof Supply Management showing the USservices sector, which accounts for morethan two-thirds of the country’s econom-ic activity, notched its strongest growthrate in nearly one year in January as neworders and employment jumped.

Bonds sell off as jobs reportcuts bets on stimulusKARACHI: The dollar increased

against the rupee in the interbankmarket throughout the week, dealerssaid.It commenced the week’s trading at

Rs 90.20 for buying, rose 17 paisasand closed at Rs 90.37 for buying andRs 90.42 for selling. The Europeancurrency witnessed gain against therupee as it started the week’s tradingat Rs 118.19 for buying, gained 63paisas and closed at Rs 118.82 forbuying and Rs 119.02 for selling.The British pound recorded strength

against the local currency as it initiat-ed the week’s trading at Rs 141.60 forbuying, registered a Rs 1.44 gain andclosed at Rs 143.04 for buying and

Rs 143.24 for selling.Open market: The dollar rose

against the rupee, dealers said. Itstarted the week’s trading at Rs 90.20for buying, appreciated 20 paisas andclosed at Rs 90.40 for buying and Rs90.80 for selling. The euro remainedunchanged against the rupee as itbegan the week’s trading at Rs118.20 for buying, did not registerany variation and closed at Rs 118.20for buying and Rs 119.40 for selling.The British currency witnessedstrength against the local currency asit initiated the week’s trading at Rs141 for buying, went Rs 1.5 up andclosed at Rs 142.50 for buying andRs 144 for selling.

Dollar outshines rupee

TOKYO: Panasonic Corp expects arecord net loss of more than 700 bil-lion yen ($9.2 billion) for the year toMarch, Japanese media said, hit bywrite-downs for its Sanyo Electricacquisition and restructuring of itsailing TV division.

Japanese electronics makers havealso been battered by a strong yen, asluggish economy and natural disas-ters in Japan and Thailand, withrivals Sony Corp and Sharp Corpboth posting much worse thanexpected results earlier in the week.

The Japanese manufacturers

have struggled with hefty losses intheir once-dominant TV operations,outflanked by more aggressive andnimble rivals such as South Korea’sSamsung Electronics, while they laginnovators in key new technologiessuch as smartphones and tablet PCs.

“Panasonic like Sharp and Sonyhas structural problems,” saidMakoto Kikuchi, CEO of MyojoAsset Management in Tokyo, notingthat all three needed to come to gripswith problems in their TV business-es.

Moody’s Investors Service

Panasonic yearly netloss to top $9 billion

downgraded the debt ratings of Sonyand Panasonic last month andretained a negative outlook for both,citing their continued losses on TVs.

The Mainichi newspaper said onFriday that Panasonic was stillexpecting to achieve a profit on anoperating basis. Analysts polled byThomson Reuters I/B/E/S on averagehave forecast a 124.2 billion yenoperating profit for the year toMarch, compared with Panasonic’slast forecast of 130 billion yen.

Panasonic shares rebound:Panasonic, which is due to announce

quarterly results and full-year fore-casts later on Friday, said in a state-ment the reports on its earnings werenot based on a company announce-ment.

The company’s president, FumioOhtsubo, is due to hold a news con-ference after the earnings announce-ment regarding the company’sgrowth strategy.

Panasonic shares initially fell inearly trade, extending the previousday’s slide to their lowest in morethan 30 years on the relentless suc-cession of bad news from the elec-

tronics sector. By mid-morning, how-ever, they had rebounded, to trade up2.2 percent at 605 yen.

Sony’s shares also rebounded,surging 6.7 percent to 1,417 yen,despite a forecast after the marketclosed on Thursday of a worse-than-expected $2.9 billion annual net loss.

Market sources noted views thatthe stock had become cheap, whilesome investors took a positive viewof incoming president Kazuo Hirai,who will replace Howard Stringer onApril 1 and vowed to move quicklyto turn the company around.

ENTERTAINMENTPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 41


A fter being part of enter-taining films, AbhishekBachchan is keen now tomake a movie on climatechange but says it is

important to have the right story that canstrike a chord with the audiences.

"I want to make a film about savingthe environment and bring about a change.I don't know if anyone of you is willing tofund a movie like this, but I plan to act init," Abhishek, who is busy shooting forRohit Shetty's "Bol Bachchan", toldIANS.

But the challenge lies in finding anengaging story that can convey the mes-sage in an interesting manner and help inbringing footfalls to the theatres.

"The challenge is to get a story that iscompelling enough for Indian audiencesto see. I know there are one or two filmslike 'Day After Tomorrow' that have beensuccessful in the West and people cameout thinking what if this actually happenstomorrow," said Abhishek.

"If I make a film just talking about cli-mate change, it would be boring to watch.The real challenge is to make a film thatwould be engrossing enough for the audi-ences to come out and watch and deal with

the issues. If we come across somethinglike that, I am on and I'll sign on the dot-ted line any day," he added.

A bevy of Bollywood stars have asso-ciated themselves with various socialcauses and Abhishek is one of them. Hehas been honoured with the Green Globeaward for his efforts towards creating agreener environment.

The actor, who featured in films like"Yuva" and " Guru", feels celebrities canbring about a change by lending theirvoice for causes.

"I am not talking about myself, but alot of my colleagues the world over havelent their voice for saving the environmentor other social issues. I think if a celebrityhas the ability to make a difference andinfluence even two people, then he shouldhelp...," the 35-year-old told IANS.

"There is some kind of purpose to so-called celebrityhood; hopefully some peo-ple would listen and follow suit...I think ifa celebrity has a voice, one should go outthere and make it work. Thankfully, if oneof us shows up, we have the media writingabout it, and media is the actual agent tobring about a change the world over," headded.

Youth can play an important role in

bringing about a change,feels Abhishek, as young-sters know what they want.

"I really feel that youth willmake the change. Youth are notwilling to be told what they haveto do because they are verysure what they need to do.So more to the youth ofthe nation as theywould play animportant role inbringing achange," he said.

He has beendoing his bittowards creat-ing a cleaner,greener andenergy-e ff i -cient futureby creatinga w a r e n e s sthrough vari-ous endeav-ours oni s s u e sa f f e c t i n gthe earth.

Abhishek wants to work in film on climate change

A mrita's son turns two It's celebration time inB-town and we don't mean the Riteish-Genelia wedding.

After the big, fat Indian wedding got over, it wastime for two celebs to celebrate birthdays. WhileAmrita Arora Ladak celebrated the second birthday ofher son Azaan on February 5, Junior Bachchan alsoturned a year older on this day.

Sharing her thoughts for the day, Amu wrote on amicroblogging site on Sunday, "My baby boy,s 2ndb'day today...woww...2 yrs of being mom to Azaan hasbeen blessed n fulfilling...Time flies....(sic)" Following itup with another post, "B'day party done....baby boy turns

2 wit all his friends n family....super time...thankyouevery1 for being thr...(sic)" towards the end of the day.

A visibly happy Sophie Choudry, who had attendedAzaan's birthday party also wrote on her blog, "Grt day cel-

ebrating a friend's b'day & then my darl @amuarora 's baby's2nd b'day!What a cool party & my lil ""boyfriend"" looked so

handsome!"On his part, Abhishek Bachchan wrote, "A HUGE

thank you to all of you for all your birthdaywishes. They have truly made my

day. Have read each andevery one. Thank you

so so much". All thelove and luck to the

birthday boys!

AmritaArora'sson turnstwo

Indian Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal with wife Mehr Jesia attend the wedding reception of actors RiteshDeshmukh and Genelia D'Souza in Mumbai.

He may be out the race for the White House, but a com-bative Rick Perry said Monday he would keep fighting forthe conservative ideals he championed on the campaigntrail.

“I’m not slipping off into the sunset. I’m not riding offinto the west,” Perry told Republican activists in RoundRock. “We’ve got plenty of work to do right here in thestate of Texas. And I got plenty of fight left in this old 61-year-old body.”

It was Perry’s first public appearance since pulling ofout the presidential race on Jan. 19. He was treated to ahero’s welcome — including two standing ovations — atthe event, a fundraiser for the Republican Party ofWilliamson County.

Perry, who had never lost an election before, leaned onthe sports culture of Texas A&M University, his almamater, to explain what happened to him in the 2012 race.Aggies don’t like to use terms like “lose” or “defeat.” “Wejust ran out of time,” Perry said. “I’m not used to runningout of time.”

The governor said he would remain engaged in thefight against what he sees as federal overreach and the“misguided socialist policies from President Obama.”

“This movement is bigger than any one man orwoman,” Perry said.

“It goes forward at a ballot box near you in 2012."Perry said he would continue to promote Texas nationallyas a “beacon of responsible conservative governance.”What role he will play isn’t exactly clear, but Perry is still

seeking the national spotlight.He travels to Washington this week to address the

Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, andhe will serve as the Republican speaker at the spring dinnerof the Gridiron Club and Foundation in Washington in lateMarch.

Perry hasn’t ruled out running again for governor in2014 — or for president again, perhaps in 2016.

“I’d do it all over again,” Texas first lady Anita Perrysaid in an interview on Fox News that aired Monday. “Ihope he will.” The governor said in the same interview thatif he could change anything about the 2012 race he wouldhave gotten in the race “substantially sooner.”

Perry announced on Aug. 13 and quickly rocketed tothe top of the polls. But a series of missteps, gaffes androokie mistakes sunk his campaign, prompting him to pullout two days before the South Carolina primary.

Republican leaders are doingtheir best to give Perry a Texas-size welcome back home. Lt.Gov.

David Dewhurst who intro-duced Perry on Monday night,borrowed a few lines fromTheodore Roosevelt, who oncehailed the kind of man who “failswhile daring greatly.” “He’sback,” Dewhurst said of the gov-ernor. “And he’s stronger.”

NEW & CONTINUATION PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201242


Continued from page 25HOUSTON: Police say fake IDs

are getting so good, it can be hard tospot them. But critics say, someTexas businesses aren’t interested inknowing which IDs are bogus, andwhich are not.

For the 20- to 30-million illegalimmigrants living in the U.S., coun-terfeit or tampered ID cards canhelp secure a job.

"I mean, the equipment outthere to duplicate has gotten sophis-ticated now, and much more reason-able to purchase. So it is becominga more prevalent problem,"Sergeant Frank Quinn with the HPDMajor Offenders Division said.

And because work is hard tocome by these days, someAmericans who are upset that ille-gal immigrants are taking jobs areturning those immigrants in.

"They know individuals who aredoing this, and they are making a lotof money, and that may aggravatethem and they know that a lot ofpeople are getting into the countryand getting jobs," Quinn said.

Over the past few months, HPD has been focusing on fake

IDs and making arrests.Ricardo DeVall and Martin Diaz

are two of the suspects who’ve been

arrested for trying to sell fake dri-ver’s licenses.

Both have since pleaded guiltyand were sentenced to two years inprison.

Marco Contreras and AlfonsoCabello are accused of doing thesame thing, but they are fighting thecharges.

KHOU 11 News learned thatemployers have the ability to checkand verify the ID documents of theiremployees, but that’s only requiredby law in 10 states.

Texas is not one of them.The employers can use a gov-

ernment-sponsored program tocheck the IDs called E-Verify. It’sfree.

But many employers who don’twant to pay higher wages to legalworkers are willing to look the otherway. In fact, Quinn said many U.S.citizens are actually responsible forproducing the fake IDs for illegalimmigrants, but they are hard tocatch. "They will use other peopleto do the distributing. In otherwords, they will give somebody acut for what they can sell. They willactually do the producing, so a lot oftimes it is hard to get back to them,and they will stay in the back-ground," Quinn said.

HPD cracking down on thosewho buy and sell fake IDs

The world's largest chocolate bar made by World's Finest Chocolate came to Assumption Catholic School as part of the company's "ThinkBig, Eat Smart" campaign 60-city tour Tuesday in Houston.

HOUSTON:After giving what manysay was an amazing Super Bowl per-formance, Madonna is going on tourand is coming to Houston.

The “Material Girl” will be per-forming at the Toyota Center on

October 24 and tickets will go on saleFebruary 27. Madonna will also per-form in Dallas on Saturday, October20.

There is no word on how much thetickets will cost.

Madonna bringing tour to Houston

Perry: 'I'm not slipping off into the sunset'

Continued from page 25renowned Naat-Khuan Qari Bilal captivated the audi-

ence. He recited Naats in the most melodic voice andreceived great appreciation. Khitab and Duwa recited byMufti Hafeezur Rehman Makkah Masjid was decoratedto complement the event; the stage was beautifully gar-nished with fresh flowers drapes and dais, The flowers andlights, creating an excellent ambiance. Such events serve tocelebrate but also involve the young generation in. TheMilad concluded with a delicious Niyaz and Langar

Eid Milad-un-Nabi(SAWW) in MakkahMasjid Celebratedwith great zeal and

fervor

Continued from page 25programs of various TV chan-

nels including, PTV, ARY, and QTV.He will highlight the teachings ofthe Holy Prophet (PBUH) and deliv-er lectures emphasizing the need tofollow the Holy Prophet's (PBUH)Sunnah.

Talking to the PakistanChronicle, Prade Organizer, Mr.Ghulam Jeghanda urged to the com-munity to get together and celebrate(Eid-E-Milad un Nabi) the birth ofProphet Muhammad (PBUH).

Langer (Charity Food) will alsobe served on the occasion.

Arrangements forEid Milad un NabiProcession finalized

INTERNATIONALPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 43


WASHINGTON: US PresidentBarack Obama said on Sundaythat he did not think Israel hadmade a decision on whether tolaunch a pre-emptive strike onIran’s nuclear installations, athreat that has rattled the region.

Obama – seeking to reassureAmericans over the danger posedby Tehran’s suspect nuclear pro-gram, and any negative side-effects for the United States –said Washington was working “inlockstep” with Israel to bringIran to heel.

“I don’t think Israel has madea decision” to strike Iranianfacilities, Obama said in a pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC.

When asked if Washingtonwould be consulted first shouldIsrael move ahead with thoseplans, he said he could not gointo specifics but added that thetwo allies had “closer intelli-gence and military consultations”than ever before.

“My number one priority con-tinues to be the security of theUnited States. But also, the secu-rity of Israel is important. Andwe’re going to make sure that wework in lockstep, as we proceedto try to solve this – hopefullydiplomatically.”

Obama said the Islamicrepublic was “feeling the pinch”of ever tougher sanctionsimposed by the internationalcommunity, and dismissed con-cerns that Tehran could retaliate

by striking US soil, saying such astrike was unlikely.

“I’ve been very clear – we’regoing to do everything we can toprevent Iran from getting anuclear weapon and creating anuclear arms race in a volatileregion,” he said.

“We have mobilised the inter-national community, in a waythat is unprecedented. They arefeeling the pinch. They are feel-ing the pressure,” he said.

Iran maintains that its nuclearprogram is for strictly peacefulpurposes.

On whether Tehran could pos-sibly strike US targets, Obamasaid: “We don’t see any evidencethey have those intentions orcapabilities.”

He added: “Again, our goal isto resolve this diplomatically.That would be preferable. We’renot going to take options off thetable, though.”

Last week, a Washington Postopinion column said US DefenseSecretary Leon Panetta believesthere is a “strong likelihood” thatIsrael will strike Iran’s nuclearinstallations this spring.

When asked about the news-paper’s article by reporters trav-eling with him to a Nato meetingin Brussels, Panetta brushed itaside.

“I’m not going to commenton that. Israel indicated they’reconsidering this (a strike), we’veindicated our concerns,” he said.

Israeli Foreign MinisterAvigdor Lieberman was due inWashington on Monday, andPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu will visit the UnitedStates in early March, though ameeting between Netanyahu andObama was not yet confirmed.

In the interview with NBC,Obama cautioned that “any kindof additional military activityinside the Gulf is disruptive. Andhas a big effect on us. It canaffect oil prices.”

Obama says no Israel decision on Iran attack

NEW YORK: Facebook's billion-aire CEO Mark Zuckerberg callshimself a "hacker".

For most people, that wordmeans something malicious —shady criminals who listen in onprivate voicemails, or anonymousvillains who cripple websites andbreak into email accounts.

For Facebook, though, "hack-er" means something different. It'san ideal that permeates the compa-ny's culture. It explains the push totry new ideas (even if they fail),

and to promote new productsquickly (even if they're imperfect).The hacker approach has madeFacebook one of the world's mostvaluable Internet companies.

Hackers "believe that some-thing can always be better, and thatnothing is ever complete,"Zuckerberg explains. "They justhave to go fix it — often in theface of people who say it's impos-sible or are content with the statusquo."

Zuckerberg penned those

words in a 479-word essay called"The Hacker Way", which heincluded in the document the com-pany filed with government regula-tors about its plans for an initialpublic offering. The company isseeking $5 billion from investorsin a deal that could value Facebookat as much as $100 billion.

The 27-year-old, who has a$28.4 billion stake in the stockdeal, uses the H-word 12 times inthe essay; "shareholder" appearsjust once. Should Zuckerberg have

left those references out of his IPOmanifesto, knowing full-well itcould scare off potential investors?He could easily have describedFacebook as "nimble" or "agile"instead.

"Symbolically, it doesn't bodewell to Facebook and to potentialinvestors," says Robert D'Ovidio,an associate professor of criminaljustice at Drexel University inPhiladelphia who studies computercrime. "I think it shows maybe animmaturity on his part. He should

definitely know better."By using the word, Zuckerberg

is also trying to reclaim it. To him,Steve Jobs and the founders ofmany of the world's biggest tech-nology companies were hackers.

"The word 'hacker' has anunfairly negative connotation frombeing portrayed in the media aspeople who break into computers,"Zuckerberg writes. "In reality,hacking just means building some-thing quickly or testing the bound-aries of what can be done."

Face Book founder says he's a hacker

MANILA: A magnitude 6.7 earth-quake off the central Philippineisland of Negros killed at least sevenpeople on Monday, including twochildren, with government officesand schools ordered to close after atleast 40 aftershocks.

A grade-six pupil died after beingplucked out from a collapsed chapelwall while a nine-year-old girl waskilled when the concrete wall of aschool collapsed, officials said.

A three-storey building caved inand some seaside cottages weredestroyed by waves in La Libertad,Negros Oriental, near the epicentre ofthe quake five km off the shore ofTayasan town and at a depth of 10km, according to local calculations.

The US Geological Survey hadmeasured the quake at magnitude 6.7and at a depth of 12.4 miles.

The volcanology and seismologyinstitute lifted a tsunami alert. Someroads, bridges and houses sustainedcracks, but major roads remainedpassable.

“While the threat of immediatedanger appears to have passed, weurge the people in affected areas to

remain watchful and calm, and tocooperate with the authorities,” apresidential spokesman said.

Television footage showed peo-ple scurrying out of buildings, resi-dents converging in open spaces andfrightened school children in tears.

“I have advised our people toreturn to their homes and stay calm. Iappeal to our president for help.We’re just recovering from TyphoonSending and now this earthquake,”Negros Oriental Governor RoelDegamo said in a television inter-view, referring to a typhoon whichkilled about 1,250 people in thesouthern Philippines in December.

The quake was felt in areas with-in a radius of about 70 miles.

Over the weekend, the USGSalso recorded a magnitude 5.6 quakeoff the shore of Samar province alsoin central Philippines and situatednorthwest of Negros.

The Philippines lies on thePacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone toearthquakes and volcanic eruptions.A 7.8 magnitude quake in 1990 in thenorthern Philippines killed more than1,600 people.

Children among seven deadas quake hits Philippines

Indonesian Muslim women pray during a ceremony to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed or Milad an-Nabi, locally called"Mawlid" or "Maulud" in Jakarta.

A carnival float showing US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian prime minister Mario Monti and FrenchPresident Nikolas Sarkozy dresses as ecclesiasts parade during the carnival in Viareggio.

ENTERTAINMENT PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201244


Indian Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit with husband Shriram Madhav Nene attend the wedding reception ofactors Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza in Mumbai.

Ranbir Kapoor and ImranKhan are perhaps the best inthe younger lot in Bollywoodcurrently, and undoubtedlythey are fierce rivals.Since both of them startedtheir career around the sametime there are constant com-parisons drawn between thetwo on the films they chooseand, of course, their perform-ances.And recently, around the timeof Kareena-Imran-starrer EkMain Aur Ekk Tupromotions,when Imran was quoted say-ing that he has an edge over

Ranbir because he can beromantically paired withKareena whereas Ranbir can't,the controversial statement ledto many tongues wagging.But, when Imran was askedupfront about it, Imran deniedmaking the statement. "That isnot my quote. Some one saidthat I can work with Kareenaand Ranbir can't, and I merelysaid, "Yes, that is true.""I don't make such antagonis-tic and aggressive statements.That is the fabrication of someeager journalist," the actor fur-ther said laughing. Coming to

her co-star's defense, Kareenasays, "Imran is too sweet aguy to make such statements.And I don't think there is anedge because everyone knowsthat Ranbir and I am brotherand sister (laughs). So it is nobig deal."Quoted or misquoted, we don'tknow, but many movie-buffsdefinitely feel sad about thefact that huge talents andbeautiful actors like Kareenaand Ranbir who are known fortheir cinematic brilliance can-not be romantically paired in afilm. What a pity.

Imran denies saying hehas an edge over Ranbir

SPORTS PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201246


JEREZ, Spain (Reuters) - The tidehas turned for French drivers inFormula One and Toro Rosso rook-ie Jean-Eric Vergne hopes one dayto be riding the crest of a wave.The 21-year-old, despite his lack ofexperience, can dream of scoring onhis race debut in Melbourne onMarch 18 but the glittering prizecould be further down the road witha possible vacancy at championsRed Bull in 2013.Vergne, known simply as 'Jev' bythe Italian-based team, was reluc-tant to look that far ahead onTuesday as the new Toro Rossotook to the track for the first time intesting."I don't have much mileage in an F1car but I can learn quick and I feeldefinitely ready," he told reportersat a bright but chilly Jerez circuit.

Toro Rosso are Red Bull-owned andseen as a feeder team for the cham-pions, who could lose Mark Webberat the end of this season with hiscontract up."I am not thinking about2013...obviously there is probably achance for 2013 with Red BullRacing but I will not answer thesekinds of questions because at themoment I don't want to see too farahead," Vergne said."2012 is Toro Rosso. I will do mybest for this year and then see whathappens for the future," added theFrenchman, one of three compatri-ots on the starting grid this year.It has been quite a renaissance forthe French. When Olivier Panisretired at the end of 2004, the coun-try that gave motor racing much ofits language and heritage as well as

four-times champion Alain Prostwas left without a driver in FormulaOne.HAIR SALONFrank Montagny, whose other inter-ests included owning a hair salon inBarcelona, put in a brief appearancein 2006 while Sebastien Bourdaisarrived at Toro Rosso in 2008.He was replaced halfway through2009, the year in which RomainGrosjean played a stand-in role atRenault, and the French were againabsent in 2010 and 2011.The last time the sport saw threeFrenchmen start a race was in 1999with Jean Alesi, Panis and StephaneSarrazin.This year there is Vergne, Grosjeanat Lotus, Charles Pic at Marussiaand Jules Bianchi enlisted as ForceIndia reserve.

VVeerrggnnee wwaarryy ooff llooookkiinngg ttoooo ffaarr iinnttoo tthhee ffuuttuurree

PORTLAND: A satisfying victory forOklahoma City was a head-scratcherfor Portland.Kevin Durant had 33 points, includinga dunk with 2.9 seconds left in over-time, and the Thunder defeated theTrail Blazers 111-107 on Mondaynight.But the focus of the game fell on agoaltending call on Blazers forwardLaMarcus Aldridge with 6 seconds leftin regulation that tied the game at 103and would send it into overtime.The Rose Garden Crowd wailed whenthe replay was shown on the videoscoreboard. Coach Nate McMillanrushed to the nearest official to com-plain. Aldridge, who finished with aseason-high 39 points, just lookedstunned."I said, 'Y'all should go look at it,'"Aldridge said. "And the ref said,'Nope.'"And that was that.Russell Westbrook added 28 pointsand 11 rebounds for the Thunder, whoupped their NBA-best record to 19-5(.792). Oklahoma City outscored thedeflated Blazers 8-4 in overtime to

clinch it.Westbrook hit a jumper and JamesHarden added a fast-break dunk togive the Thunder a 107-103 lead.Jamal Crawford's pull-up jumper nar-rowed it to 109-107 for the Blazers,but Durant dunked with 2.9 secondsleft to put it away."It was a tough game," Thunder coachScott Brooks said. "It could have goneeither way. I don't think one call is adifference-maker."It was just the second loss for theBlazers (13-11) at the Rose Garden."It's tough. We definitely played wellenough to win this game," Aldridgesaid. "We had some tough calls andthen we had some bad bounces late inthe game. We have to learn from it."The Blazers trailed by as many as 12points in the second half, but NicolasBatum hit a 3-pointer that tied it at 63with 6:52 left. Aldridge added ajumper to put Portland ahead.Aldridge hit a turnaround jumper with3:37 to go to make it 99-95 for theBlazers. After a pair of free throws,Durant made a 3-pointer to close to101-98. Westbrook made free throws

to tie it for Oklahoma City, and thenCrawford's jumper with 55.9 secondsleft pulled the Blazers back ahead.Portland clung to the narrow leadwhen, with 6 seconds left, Aldridgewas called for goaltending on Durant'slayup."It didn't hit the glass. I put it on theglass, so I figured it was a cleanblock," Aldridge said. "The ref whocalled it was the furthest one from thebasket, so that's pretty interesting."Coach Nate McMillan was much moredirect: "I thought it was a good block.That game should have been over."Durant felt otherwise."I saw the lane to the rim and I tried toget it up there quick becauseLaMarcus Aldridge is a long, athleticdefender," he said. "So I got it up therequick enough that it hit the glass first.It was a goaltend, so it was a good playfor us."Batum missed a layup for Portland'sfinal possession and the game went toovertime and the Rose Garden crowdjeered the officials. The boos cameagain after the game when the refsquickly exited the floor.

NBA-best Thunder beatBlazers 111-107 in OT

Retired Brazilian football player Rai Souza Vieira de Oliveiraposes for photographs with the award he received at the 2012Laureus World Sports Awards, central London, February2012.

Tennis player Novak Djokovic of Serbia poses for photographs with hisaward at the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards, central London,February 2012.

Naman Ojha celebrates his century, South Zone v Central Zone, Duleep Trophy 2011-12semi-final, 3rd day, February 2012.

Shanghai Shenhua are trying to signStoke City defender Matthew Upson,while talks continue about DidierDrogba joining his former Chelseastrike partner Nicolas Anelka at theChinese club.

Shenhua official Ma Yue toldReuters on Tuesday that the SuperLeague side were in talks with for-mer England defender Upson butdeclined to give a timeline for thenegotiations with the 32-year-oldcentreback.

Shenhua have already turned

heads in recent months after signingformer France striker Anelka andappointing his compatriot JeanTigana as coach.

The club have also been stronglylinked with Ivory Coast strikerDrogba and Ma again refused to ruleout the signing.

Asked about both Drogba, 33,and Upson joining, Ma said: "Thereis nothing confirmed. We are still inthe midst of discussions."

Drogba's contract with Chelseaexpires at the end of June.

Upson joins Drogba onShanghai's wish-list

DUBAI: Pakistan cricket authoritiesand the International Cricket Council(ICC) on Tuesday clarified the confu-sion over Saeed Ajmal's bowlingaction, saying the spinner had beencleared within the specified limits.Ajmal himself created more confu-sion, by claiming he has special dis-pensation from the ICC to straightenhis arm beyond the allowed 15degrees.The 34-year-old off-spinner, whotook 24 wickets in the 3-0 Test serieswhitewash of England, claimed thatthe ICC has allowed him extra lenien-cy, up to 23.5 degrees.As per the ICC rules a bowler canonly straighten his arm up to 15degrees, beyond which his action willbe deemed illegal."I don't know about my bowlingaction, but somebody was telling meyour action is bad. ICC has allowedme 23.5 because my arm is not goodbecause of an accident, that is why aproblem," Ajmal told BBC televisionon Monday after being declared man-of-the-series."Otherwise no problem, straightawaycleared by ICC."The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)said Ajmal was referring to elbowextension, and not the arm."Ajmal was referring to the angle ofelbow abduction i.e. the angle of theupper arm to the forearm and not thedegree of elbow extension. This angleis approximately 23 degrees inAjmal's case," the PCB said in a state-ment."The ICC's level of tolerance of 15degrees relates to the degree of elbowextension that is permitted in thebowling action i.e. the amount bywhich the arm is straightening," itadded.

The PCB said the previous tests con-ducted on the action of Ajmal showedthat the degree of elbow extension iswell within ICC's tolerance levels.ICC general manager cricket DavidRichardson also backed the PCB'sstance."There is a big difference between theelbow carry angle (elbow abduction)and the degree of elbow extension.There is nothing preventing a bowlerbowling with a bent arm, provided hedoes not straighten it beyond the per-mitted degrees of tolerance," saidRichardson.Pakistan won the third and final Testhere by 71 runs.Ajmal's bowling action, reported bymatch officials during a one-dayseries against Australia here in 2009before it was cleared after remedialwork by experts, once again cameunder suspicions following his career-best 7-55 in the first Test, also playedin Dubai.Former England paceman Bob Willisraised suspicions over his 'doosra'(second one) -- a ball which turns theother way than a normal off-break --while England coach Andy Flowersaid he has his own opinion and leftthe matter to the ICC.But after Ajmal's claim on relaxation,Flower on Tuesday showed surprise."If that's the degree, then there's aproblem, said Flower when askedabout Ajmal's claim of special dispen-sation. "That's ridiculous.""That is an ICC issue, though. Theyare there to police the game, andmake sure that it is played within therules, so they've got to scrutinise hisaction. "We've all got our own views,but our job is to combat whoever isput against us, and part of it is also toplay the game in the right spirit."

PCB, ICC clarifies confusionover Ajmal's bowling

SPORTSPAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 2012 47


ARLINGTON, Texas -- TexasRangers outfielder and recoveringdrug addict Josh Hamilton said Fridaythat he had a relapse that started with“three or four” drinks at a Dallas-areabar this week, apologizing for a “weakmoment” and insisting he will try tomake sure it doesn’t happen again.

The 30-year-old Hamilton said hisactions “are mine that hurt a lot of peo-ple very close to me.”

Hamilton was suspended for morethan three years for drug and alcoholuse while in the Tampa Bay organiza-tion. The former No. 1 overall draftpick missed the entire 2004 and 2005seasons, but has become one of thebest players in baseball on a team that

has won the last two American Leaguepennants. He was the AL MVP in2010. But Hamilton this week had hissecond known alcohol-related relapsein three years. Both came during theoffseason. In January 2009, he drankto excess in a bar in Tempe, Ariz.Before that, Hamilton said he had beensober since Oct. 6, 2005.

Without being specific, Hamiltonsaid his weak moment Monday nightcame for “personal reasons” with a

family member. He said he walked toa restaurant to have dinner and endedup ordering “three or four drinks.”

Hamilton said he has not takenany drugs, and had no thoughts ofdoing so. He said he has been testedfor drugs twice this week, part of hisnormal routine. He said he expects tomeet soon with Major LeagueBaseball doctors and counselors inNew York for an evaluation in his con-tinued recovery. Hamilton spoke forabout 12 minutes without using anyprepared notes or taking any questions.Though there were no tears, he strug-gled with his emotions at times. Heclosed his eyes at one point, forced asmile at another time.

Rangers’ Hamilton confirms alcohol relapse

LONDON: The convicted former cricketagent of Pakistani players MazharMajeed has reportedly found himself acleaner’s job in a jail in Britain.

The mastermind of the spot-fixingscam that involved Test match cheatingby Pakistan’s then captain Salman Buttand two fast bowlers Mohammed Asifand Mohammed Amir gets £9.50 a week(about 1,350 Rupees per week).

Mazhar Majeed is serving his time atthe Ford open prison in West Sussex.

The Sun newspaper reported onMonday that Mazhar also gets his owncell with freeview TV.

“He’s over the moon. He could havebeen given harder jobs,” a source toldThe Sun about the cricket agent who isserving two years and eight months jailsentence.

Captain Salman Butt, 27, andbowlers Mohammad Asif, 28, andMohammad Amir, 19, were also lockedup for the no-ball fixing scandal in 2010against England.

The Prison Service said: "We do notcomment on individual prisoners.Prisoners located in open conditions arerigorously risk-assessed."

Mazhar Majeedworking as cleanerin jail: UK paper

Pakistan gather to celebrate their 3-0 whitewash of England, Pakistan v England, 3rd Test, Dubai, 4th day, February 6, 2012.

DUBAI: Pakistan’s bowlers sealed anemphatic 71-run win in the third andfinal Test against England here onMonday, wrapping up a humiliating3-0 series whitewash in the process.

Set a daunting 324-run target,England were bowled out for 252with paceman Umar Gul taking 4-61and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal 4-67 tohelp Pakistan achieve a first-ever Testcleansweep against their opponents.

With the ball turning again it wasalways going to be a difficult task forEngland’s batsmen, who have strug-gled to play the Pakistani spinnersthroughout the series, on a wearyfourth day pitch at Dubai Stadium.

Pakistan won the first Test hereby ten wickets and the second by 72runs in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan have also become thefirst team to win a Test after beingbowled out for under 100 since 1907when England, shot out for 76, beatSouth Africa at Leeds.

It was England’s seventh serieswhitewash, their first at the hands ofPakistan. Pakistan have now recordedfive series whitewashes, their lastcoming in a 3-0 win over Bangladeshin 2003.

England’s last series whitewashcame in 2007 when they were routedby Australia 5-0.

So dominating have beenPakistanis spinners that Ajmal fin-ished the series with 24 and Rehmanwith 19.

An elated Pakistan captainMisbah-ul Haq praised his team.

“It’s a wonderful team effort,”said Misbah, who now has won nineof the 15 Tests as captain, with oneloss and five draws. “It’s a big winagainst a big team, achieved throughhard work.”England captain AndrewStrauss said the lack of run-making

had left him disappointed.“It’s a bit of surprise as well as

disappointment because we did notput scores on the board, and we mustgive credit to Pakistan,” said Strausswho has lost his first series since los-ing to the West Indies in 2009.

“We have important lessons tolearn from this defeat.”England, 89-2at lunch, were still in with a chancewith Alastair Cook (49) and KevinPietersen (18) batting well but theylost four wickets in the space of 84runs. They went to tea at 173-6.

Pietersen, who struggled for runsin the series, hit Abdul Rehman for aboundary and then hoisted him for asix to post England’s 100. But Ajmalstruck from the other end.

The off-spinner produced a beau-tiful delivery to bowl Pietersenthrough the gate for 18. He had a mere67 runs for the series during which hewas out to spinners on five occasions.

In his next over, Ajmal producedanother sharp turning delivery whichcaught the edge of Cook’s bat and wassmartly held by a diving Younis Khanin the lone slip.

Ian Bell (10) and Eoin Morgan(31) added 37 for the fifth wicket butagain failed to produce a big score inthe series as Gul dismissed them inthe space of just three runs.

Pakistan whitewash Englandwith third Test win

England's field hockey team celebrate their second place during the award ceremony of theChampions Trophy 2012, in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina.

New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw (R) comes in to score the winning touch-down as New England Patriots outside linebacker Brandon Spikes (L) and offensive tackleSebastian Vollmer look on during the fourth quarter in the NFL Super Bowl XLVI footballgame in Indianapolis, Indiana.

NEW DELHI: Yuvraj Singh, the heroof India's victorious World Cup cam-paign last year, is being treated forlung cancer in the United States, hisphysiotherapist said.

Jatin Choudhary told televisionchannel Headlines Today that the all-rounder was diagnosed in Octoberand was being treated in Boston, butsaid the disease was in its early stages.

"Once he is done with chemo inMarch, his rehabilitation would becomplete by April end and he wouldbe perfectly fit to play in May,"Choudhary told the Press Trust ofIndia news agency.

Yuvraj's family said lastNovember that the all-rounder hadbeen battling a golf ball-sized non-

malignant lung tumour which firstaffected him during the World Cup.

His mother said he had been"constantly" troubled by bouts ofcoughing and vomiting throughoutthe tournament, which India won onhome soil in April.

Despite this, the left-handerscored 362 runs and took 15 wicketsin nine matches to earn the player ofthe tournament award as India tookthe title for the first time since 1983.

Yuvraj, known as an aggressivehitter and useful left-arm spin bowler,wrote on Twitter that he hoped todraw inspiration from LanceArmstrong, the cyclist who overcametesticular cancer to win numerousTour de France titles.

Yuvraj 'fit to play in Mayafter cancer treatment'

Pakistan celebrate completing a 3-0 serieswhitewash, Pakistan v England, 3rd Test,Dubai, 4th day, February 6, 2012


ADVERTISIMENT PAKISTAN CHRONICLE • Friday, February 10, 201248

10th february 2012

Documents

pakistanus ties

us official

embassy of pakistan

actorsinger ali zafar

us special envoy forpakistan

ambassador rehman

basis of mutual trust

formal apologyfor nato