e-paper pakistantoday 04th july, 2012

18
Wednesday, 4 July, 2012 Shaban 13, 1433 islamabad — peshawar edition Rs 15.00 Vol iii no 9 18 pages PAGE | 05 PAGE | 18 Constitution doesn’t bar PM from having a deputy, rules SHC Speaker exceeded lawful authority in PM’s contempt case: SC Veena Malik says she has a split personality PAGE |13 MAGIC WORD REOPENS NATO SUPPLIES g Clinton says US sorry for losses suffered in Salala airstrike, Washington working to ensure such incidents do not happen again g Pakistan to get $1.1 billion under border deal WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD speciAl correspondent/tAyyAb HussAin P AKISTAN on Tuesday an- nounced it would re-open the supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was sorry for the losses suffered by Pakistan Army in an errant airstrike last November 26 on a border checkpost along the border with Afghanistan. The US had earlier refused to apolo- gise for the mistaken attack – contend- ing there were errors on both sides – but Clinton broke that impasse in a phone call with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. “We are sorry for the losses suf- fered by the Pakistani military,” Clinton told Khar, a statement issued by the State Department said. “We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again.” The deal re-opening the so-called ground lines of communi- cation – GLOCs – also had face-saving gestures by both sides: Pakistan agreed not to increase its tolls for such ship- ments, and the US agreed it would not ship lethal aid via the routes unless it is intended for Afghan security forces. But a US official asking not to be named told AFP that Washington will re- lease about $1.1 billion to Pakistan as part of the deal. The money, from a US “coali- tion support fund” designed to reimburse Pakistan for the cost of counter-insur- gency operations, had been withheld due to tensions between the two countries and Islamabad’s closure of the supply routes. The coalition support fund is often the subject of wrangling between US and Pakistani officials, with Islamabad’s claims often rejected and smaller sums ap- proved by Wash- ington for reimbursement. The $1.1 bil- lion that will be freed up under the border deal does not include large sums that Pakistan says it is owed, said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This is the amount that has been approved and already gone through the process,” the US official told AFP. But Pakistan’s decision not to charge transit fee from the US raised many eyebrows in the country as Islamabad had been demanding a heavy tax on each NATO truck passing through the coun- try. The US has termed the decision Pak- istan’s commitment to peace efforts in Afghanistan. “I once again reiterate our deepest re- grets for the tragic incident in Salala last November. I offer our sincere condo- lences to the families of the Pakistani sol- diers who lost their lives. Foreign Minister Khar and I acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pak- istani military lives. We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military,” Clinton said. The chief US diplomat struck a number of notes of interest to Pakistan in the statement, including respect for Pakistani sovereignty, enduring partner- ship, appreciation for Pakistani sacrifices and cooperation in trade and develop- ment areas. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, who had been reaching out to American lawmakers to convey her country’s perspective on var- ious issues, appreciated Clinton’s state- ment and hoped that “bilateral ties can move to a better place from here”. “I am confident that both countries can agree on many critical issues, espe- cially on bringing peace to the region,” Sherry said in a statement released by the embassy. “Today, as we announce the opening of the GLOC, I am glad that this breakthrough is not part of any transac- tion. We are playing our role as responsi- ble global partner in stabilising the region.” Earlier in the day, the Defence Committee of Cabinet (DCC) in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf made the crucial decision of re- opening ground supply lines of communi- cation (GLOCs) into Afghanistan for NATO troops. Following the meeting, In- formation Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira announced the DCC decision during a press talk. “Keeping in view the statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton .... the DCC in principle has decided to re- open GLOCs ... No transit fee would be charged against the NATO supplies as fi- nancial gains were never a consideration for Pakistan. Rather, we wanted the world community to respect our sovereignty,” Kaira said. A source told Pakistan Today that the DCC had decided to accept the US regret offered by Secretary Clinton despite the fact that Secretary Clinton did ISLAMABAD Agencies The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly cannot carry out the audit of the apex judiciary as according to Article 68 of the constitution, parliament cannot discuss the conduct of judges. According to a report presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, three existing and twelve retired judges of the Supreme Court received two residential plots each worth millions of rupees in expensive sectors of the federal capital. The Supreme Court (SC) refused to provide audit report details to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) saying the parliament cannot review judges’ conduct. This was said in a reply written by the Registrar Supreme Court to the Chairman Public Accounts Committee with the consent of full court bench of the Supreme Court in which it is mentioned that the constitution prohibits PAC to call any official including the registrar of the apex judiciary, however the president, being the head of the state, has the authority to decide about the consultative sphere of the Supreme Court, so the committee should consult the President of Pakistan. ‘If the committee is interested in a formal court order, it should approach the president,’ the letter said. The letter referred to Article 68 which said: “No discussion shall take place in [Majlis- e-Shoora (Parliament)] with respect to the conduct of any Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court in the discharge of his duties”. The PAC, during the chairmanship of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, had sent the letter to the SC asking for the audit report. The NA body, under the instructions of present Chairman Nadeem Afzal Chan, made the letter public it received recently that had been issued by the SC’s full court. According to the PAC report, as many as 21 judges of the apex court, including Justice (r) Khalilur Rehman Ramday, and around 214 bureaucrats received residential plots in G-12 and G-13 sectors of Islamabad. Justice Ramday was among 15 judges of the higher judiciary and around 56 bureaucrats who received two plots each in Islamabad. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) presented lists of 21 judges before the committee, saying all judges who acquired one or more plots in Islamabad were either sitting or retired judges of the SC. The lists showed that around 15 judges acquired two or more plots in Islamabad. The name of judges who received residential plots include Justice (r) Mansoor Ahmed, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Muhammad Javed Buttar, Justice Syed Ashad, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Falak Sher, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali, Justice Ghulam Rabbani, Justice Syed Zahid Hussain, Justice Chaudhary Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Mohammed Sair Ali, Justice Anwar Zaheer Ali and Justice Khliji Arif Hussain. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry did not receive any plot, according to the list. The PAC chairman said the judge’s plots issue resembled the NRO case. off limitS? Judges not to be judged: SC SC says apex judiciary’s conduct can’t be debated in parliament after PAC report says three existing and 12 retired SC judges received two expensive plots each in posh sectors of Islamabad Continued on page 04 ISB 04-07-2012_Layout 1 7/4/2012 3:21 AM Page 1

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Page 1: e-paper pakistantoday 04th july, 2012

Wednesday, 4 July, 2012 Shaban 13, 1433islamabad — peshawar editionRs 15.00 Vol iii no 9 18 pages

PAGE | 05 PAGE | 18

Constitution doesn’tbar PM from having adeputy, rules SHC

Speaker exceededlawful authority inPM’s contempt case: SC

Veena Malik says she has a split personality

PAGE |13

MAGIC WORD REOPENS NATO SUPPLIESg Clinton says US sorry for losses suffered in Salala airstrike,Washington working to ensure such incidents do not happenagain g Pakistan to get $1.1 billion under border deal

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD speciAl correspondent/tAyyAb HussAin

P AKISTAN on Tuesday an-nounced it would re-open thesupply routes to NATO forces inAfghanistan after US Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton said

Washington was sorry for the losses sufferedby Pakistan Army in an errant airstrike lastNovember 26 on a border checkpost alongthe border with Afghanistan.

The US had earlier refused to apolo-gise for the mistaken attack – contend-ing there were errors on both sides – butClinton broke that impasse in a phonecall with Foreign Minister Hina RabbaniKhar. “We are sorry for the losses suf-fered by the Pakistani military,” Clintontold Khar, a statement issued by theState Department said.“We are committed to

working closely with Pakistan andAfghanistan to prevent this from everhappening again.” The deal re-openingthe so-called ground lines of communi-cation – GLOCs – also had face-savinggestures by both sides: Pakistan agreednot to increase its tolls for such ship-ments, and the US agreed it would notship lethal aid via the routes unless it isintended for Afghan security forces.

But a US official asking not to benamed told AFP that Washington will re-lease about $1.1 billion to Pakistan as partof the deal. The money, from a US “coali-tion support fund” designed to reimbursePakistan for the cost of counter-insur-gency operations, had been withheld dueto tensions between the two countries andIslamabad’s closure of the supply routes.

The coalition support fund is oftenthe subject of wrangling between

US and Pakistani officials,with Islamabad’s claims

often rejected andsmaller sums ap-

proved by Wash-ington forreimbursement.

The $1.1 bil-lion that will be

freed up under theborder deal does

not include largesums that Pakistan

says it is owed, said theUS official, who spoke on

condition of anonymity.“This is the amount

that has been approved andalready gone through the

process,” the US official toldAFP. But Pakistan’s decision not

to charge transit fee from the USraised many eyebrows in the

country as Islamabad hadbeen demanding a

heavy tax on each

NATO truck passing through the coun-try. The US has termed the decision Pak-istan’s commitment to peace efforts inAfghanistan.

“I once again reiterate our deepest re-grets for the tragic incident in Salala lastNovember. I offer our sincere condo-lences to the families of the Pakistani sol-diers who lost their lives. ForeignMinister Khar and I acknowledged themistakes that resulted in the loss of Pak-istani military lives. We are sorry for thelosses suffered by the Pakistani military,”Clinton said. The chief US diplomat strucka number of notes of interest to Pakistanin the statement, including respect forPakistani sovereignty, enduring partner-ship, appreciation for Pakistani sacrificesand cooperation in trade and develop-ment areas. Pakistan’s Ambassador tothe US, Sherry Rehman, who had beenreaching out to American lawmakers toconvey her country’s perspective on var-ious issues, appreciated Clinton’s state-ment and hoped that “bilateral ties canmove to a better place from here”.

“I am confident that both countriescan agree on many critical issues, espe-cially on bringing peace to the region,”Sherry said in a statement released by theembassy. “Today, as we announce theopening of the GLOC, I am glad that thisbreakthrough is not part of any transac-tion. We are playing our role as responsi-ble global partner in stabilising theregion.” Earlier in the day, the DefenceCommittee of Cabinet (DCC) in a meetingchaired by Prime Minister Raja PervaizAshraf made the crucial decision of re-opening ground supply lines of communi-cation (GLOCs) into Afghanistan forNATO troops. Following the meeting, In-formation Minister Qamar Zaman Kairaannounced the DCC decision during apress talk. “Keeping in view the statementby US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ....the DCC in principle has decided to re-open GLOCs ... No transit fee would becharged against the NATO supplies as fi-nancial gains were never a considerationfor Pakistan. Rather, we wanted the worldcommunity to respect our sovereignty,”Kaira said. A source told Pakistan Todaythat the DCC had decided to accept the USregret offered by Secretary Clinton despitethe fact that Secretary Clinton did

ISLAMABADAgencies

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said thatthe Public Accounts Committee of theNational Assembly cannot carry out theaudit of the apex judiciary as according toArticle 68 of the constitution, parliamentcannot discuss the conduct of judges.According to a report presented to thePublic Accounts Committee (PAC) onTuesday, three existing and twelve retiredjudges of the Supreme Court received tworesidential plots each worth millions ofrupees in expensive sectors of the federalcapital. The Supreme Court (SC) refused toprovide audit report details to the PublicAccounts Committee (PAC) saying theparliament cannot review judges’ conduct.This was said in a reply written by theRegistrar Supreme Court to the ChairmanPublic Accounts Committee with the consentof full court bench of the Supreme Court inwhich it is mentioned that the constitutionprohibits PAC to call any official includingthe registrar of the apex judiciary, howeverthe president, being the head of the state,has the authority to decide about theconsultative sphere of the Supreme Court, sothe committee should consult the Presidentof Pakistan. ‘If the committee is interested ina formal court order, it should approach thepresident,’ the letter said. The letter referred to Article 68 which said:“No discussion shall take place in [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] with respect to theconduct of any Judge of the Supreme Courtor of a High Court in the discharge of hisduties”. The PAC, during the chairmanshipof Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, had sent theletter to the SC asking for the audit report.The NA body, under the instructions ofpresent Chairman Nadeem Afzal Chan,made the letter public it received recentlythat had been issued by the SC’s full court.According to the PAC report, as many as 21judges of the apex court, including Justice(r) Khalilur Rehman Ramday, and around214 bureaucrats received residential plotsin G-12 and G-13 sectors of Islamabad.

Justice Ramday was among 15 judges ofthe higher judiciary and around 56bureaucrats who received two plots each inIslamabad. The Capital DevelopmentAuthority (CDA) presented lists of 21judges before the committee, saying alljudges who acquired one or more plots inIslamabad were either sitting or retiredjudges of the SC. The lists showed thataround 15 judges acquired two or moreplots in Islamabad.The name of judges who receivedresidential plots include Justice (r)Mansoor Ahmed, Justice MuhammadNawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir MuhammadKhokhar, Justice Muhammad JavedButtar, Justice Syed Ashad, Justice AbdulHameed Dogar, Justice SardarMuhammad Raza Khan, Justice MianShakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq HussainJillani, Justice Javed Iqbal, JusticeKhalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice FalakSher, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice RajaFayyaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali,Justice Ghulam Rabbani, Justice SyedZahid Hussain, Justice Chaudhary IjazAhmed, Justice Mohammed Sair Ali,Justice Anwar Zaheer Ali and Justice KhlijiArif Hussain. Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry did not receive anyplot, according to the list. The PACchairman said the judge’s plots issueresembled the NRO case.

off limitS?

Judges not to be judged: SC

SC says apex judiciary’sconduct can’t be debated inparliament after PAC reportsays three existing and 12retired SC judges receivedtwo expensive plots each inposh sectors of Islamabad

Continued on page 04

ISB 04-07-2012_Layout 1 7/4/2012 3:21 AM Page 1

Page 2: e-paper pakistantoday 04th july, 2012

02wednesday, 4 July, 2012

News

Today’s

LookQuick

NewS

Story on Page 05

CArTooN

Page 11

constitution doesn’t bar pm from having a deputy: sHcedITorIALfriends, not masters:

CoMMeNT

Articles on Page 14

Pak-Afghan cooperation critical.

dr Hasan Askari rizvi says;The political endgame: No country for elected men.

Ali Aftab saeed says;Not the whole truth: Is that 60 milllion dollars the only money worth retrieving?

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD Agencies

SENIOR doctors at the Punjab Instituteof Cardiology (PIC) announced clo-sure of all departments at the hospitalother than the Emergency Ward anddemanded immediate release of the

arrested doctors as the Young Doctors Associa-tion’s (YDA) strike entered 18th day on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, MedicalTeachers Association (MTA) President Dr IjazAhsan said senior doctors were withdrawingtheir services from all departments, includingthe Outpatient Department (OPDs) and IndoorDepartments.

“Young doctors are the backbone of our sys-tem. All arrested young doctors, particularlyyoung doctors of the PIC should be released im-mediately,” said Ahsan.

He said the doctors currently deputed at PICwere untrained and could not handle heart pa-tients. “It takes a doctor 10 years to do FCPS andthen another five-year training to become a car-diologist. How could you expect new doctors tocome and replace those who have already com-pleted their training?”

Ahsan said only two doctors were present inthe Emergency Ward at PIC on Monday night,adding that they had been “abused and threat-ened” by the attendants as they had been unableto handle the situation.

“Senior doctors are in their 50s and cannotdo rigorous work for 24 hours. That is why weare demanding that our doctors should be re-leased immediately,” Ahsan said.

He said the government was beguiling pa-tients and the media by showing that they haddeployed doctors at all hospitals.

YDA spokesman Dr Salman Kazmi said fivemeetings between the Health Department andthe office bearers of the YDA and the PMA wereheld which remained inconclusive.Solidarity: Expressing solidarity with theMTA, representatives of the Paramedical Al-liance of the PIC and the Young Nurses Associ-

ation (YNA) also announced that they wouldstop working at PIC.25 call off Strike: Meanwhile, 25 doc-tors ended their strike and resumed their dutiesat DHQ hospital in Gujranwala on Tuesday, asthe City District Government Lahore (CDGL) re-leased 24 of the 33 doctors from Kot LakhpatJail. According to a private TV channel, the re-leased doctors dissociated themselves from theprotest movement and promised to extend co-operation to the authorities.

An official at the Central Jail told reportersthat the doctors, who had been shifted to theCM’s Secretariat, had signed affidavits statingthat they were tendering an unconditional apol-ogy and would not strike again. YDA office bear-ers, on the other hand, refuted the statement,saying these doctors were not YDA members butwere students of medical colleges who were ar-rested by police without verification.

The Punjab law minister has said theprovincial government would not hold talks withthe doctors on strike, adding that the ones whoare persistent on holding strikes would be black-listed and terminated.

Meanwhile, Lahore High Court Justice Ai-jazul Hassan issued notices to the health secre-tary, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council(PMDC), and the YDA for July 6 and remarkedthat young doctors’ strike in Punjab was againsttheir oath. Hearing a case against young doctors’strike, Justice Hassan said the law and the con-stitution did not give the doctors any right to goon a strike. yda iSlamabad chapter: The protestsspread to the north with the YDA Islamabadchapter holding a demonstration outside theFederal Government Poly Clinic (FGPC) againstmanhandling of young doctors by the PunjabPolice. The protesters chanted slogans againstthe Punjab government and asked it to meet thedemands of the young doctors.budget: Late in the night a private TV chan-nel reported that the Punjab government had re-duced the budget allocated for medicine anduplift projects by 43 percent.

About Rs 26 billion have been spent on thepayment of salaries of doctors, vehicles andother facilities while Rs 1.10 billion were spentfor Health Professional Allowance.

ISLAMABADinp

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sus-pended the National Assembly mem-bership of PML-N’s Malik JameelAwan in the dual nationality case.

A three-member bench headedby Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry and comprising JusticeJawwad S Khawaja and Justice KhiljiArif Hussain heard the case initiatedon a petition against lawmakers hold-ing dual nationality. The PML-NMNA from Gujrat, Malik Jameel, con-fessed before the court of having dualnationality. Suspending the NA mem-bership of Awan, the chief justice saidall lawmakers having dual nationali-ties should be treated uniformly.

The petitioner, Waheed Anjum,

had claimed that as many as 14 law-makers belonging to the PPP, PML-Nand MQM were holding foreign pass-ports despite a clear bar in the consti-tution on dual nationality holdersfrom becoming a lawmaker. Thebench also remarked that there was akind of discrepancy between clausesof citizenship and nationality in Arti-cle-63/1-C of the constitution. Thebench in its previous hearings sus-pended the memberships of adviser toPM on internal affairs Rehman Malik,Amina Buttar and Farah Naz Ispha-hani. Rehman Malik’s counsel AnwarMansoor Khan gave arguments aboutthe legality of parliamentarians notbeing disqualified before the electionsif they held dual nationality. The courtlater adjourned the hearing untilWednesday (today).

No breakthrough ingovt-doctors standoffg Senior doctors withdraw services from PIC g Paramedical Alliance of the PIC, Young NursesAssociation side with MTA, announce to stop working at PIC g 25 doctors call off strike, as 24others are released from jail

ISLAMABADAfp

NATO truckers late Tuesday wel-comed Pakistan’s decision to reopensupply lines into Afghanistan, butdemanded security guarantees be-fore the resumption as Taliban mil-itants threatened to attack supplytrucks.

The Pakistani Taliban threat-ened to attack NATO supply trucksand kill its drivers if they tried to re-sume supplies to troops inAfghanistan, a spokesman said.Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP that theTaliban “will not allow any truck topass and will attack it,” hours afterPakistan confirmed it had decidedto reopen vital NATO supply routesinto Afghanistan which have been

closed since November. Mir Mohammad Yousuf Shah-

wani, head of the largest oil tankerowners association in Pakistan, toldAFP that supply trucks and tankerscould be en route in “days” but in-sisted they needed protection first.“It is a sudden decision but eventhen we can start supplies in days.The thing is, who will protect us,”Shahwani said. “We need security,we need protection. Taliban havekilled dozens of our drivers andtorched hundreds of vehicles,” headded. Pakistani Taliban have car-ried out dozens of attacks, disrupt-ing supplies for 130,000 US-ledinternational troops fighting inAfghanistan, and have repeatedlywarned of more if Pakistan re-opened supply routes.

NATO supply truckers

demand security after

Taliban warning

PML-N’s Malik Jameel suspended

from National Assembly

DUal nationality CaSe

LAHOREstAff report

Since the Mediagate scandal that hit theheadlines a few weeks ago, the media in Pak-istan has been shaken to the core. Each de-velopment in this story is as bizarre as thenext.

In early June, Mubashir Luqman quitDunya News following the leakage of an off-air footage of an interview with property ty-coon Malik Riaz. All hell broke loose as theTV channel and the anchorpersons of the

show, Luqman and Mehr Bukhari, were ac-cused of running a planted interview. Ru-mours were rife on the social media thatLuqman was rejoining Dunya News but he

rejected the reports, while confirming that hewas joining ARY TV network and would soonbe hosting a show on the channel. “I’m join-ing ARY after resolving my issues amicablywith Dunya News,” he told Pakistan Today.There were also reports that Sana Bucha, an-

chorperson of Geo News talk show Lekin,had left the channel in protest against the re-hiring of Amir Liaqat Hussain of the AlamOnline fame. However, Sana has denied thatshe has resigned from her position at Geo, say-ing she has no issues with Amir Liaqat’s hiringas the Vice President of the entire Geo Net-work, Group Executive Director and EditorReligious Affairs. The “Doctor” had embar-rassed himself and the entire network when aleaked YouTube video showed Liaqat makingfun of a woman who had called him with aproblem and using street language off-air.

luqmAn teAms up WitH Ary

media WAtcH

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04wednesday, 4 July, 2012

News

RAWALPINDIinp

TH ER a w a l p i n d iBench of theLahore HighCourt on Tues-

day extended the bail offederal ministerMakhdoom Shahabuddinand former Health directorgeneral Abdul RashidJumma in the Ephedrinequota case until July 9.

During the hearing thetwo-member divisionbench comprising JusticeIjaz Ahmad and Justice AliBaqir Najfi asked Sha-habuddin to appear beforethe ANF’s investigationteam and record his state-ment. Counsel for the min-ister, Shah Khawar arguedthat the ANF had becomeparty in the case which isreflected in the attitude ofthe investigation officers.

He said it appeared that theinvestigation agencies weregong beyond their limits totarget someone or to fulfillsomebody’s desire. Thecounsel said after bail fromthe court, his client himselfwent to the ANF but the in-vestigation team did notbother to meet him and no-body was ready to recordhis statement. He said noofficer was ready to evenmeet him and ultimately hehad to hand over his writ-ten statement to a consta-

ble.Shah Khawar said his

client remained federalminister thrice and therehad been no allegation ofcorruption of a single rupeeagainst him. He said hisclient had been involved inthe case under a preplannedconspiracy. Later, Sha-habuddin went to the ANFand recorded his statement.He said he had come to theANF to prove his innocence.He said a letter had beenwritten to the ANF to checkthe authenticity of the phar-maceutical company.

The court ordered therelease of a pharmaceuticalcompany director, Rizwanon bail. His counsel arguedthat the product was pur-chased from the market ac-cording to fixed rates and ifit was imported beyondquota, his client was not in-volved in it and had doneno crime.

Shahabuddin gets extension in bail till July 9g Minister records statement before ANF in Ephedrine case

not use the word “apolo-gise” - a demand Pakistanhad been making as a pre-condition for NATO routes’reopening.

The DCC also decidedthat no lethal cargo will gointo Afghanistan throughPakistan except equipmentfor Afghan National SecurityForces (ANSF) essential forensuring peace and stability inAfghanistan. The DCCstressed that it was in Pak-istan’s interest to support thetransition and the peace andreconciliation process inAfghanistan, reaffirming Pak-istan’s commitment to elimi-nating terrorism for the sakeof a secure future for Pakistan.

The DCC also reiteratedPakistan’s stance on dronesand agreed to continue to en-gage the US on counterter-rorism cooperation andcounterterrorism tools thatwere in line with interna-tional law and practice. Ad-dressing the DCC, PrimeMinister Ashraf said the con-

tinued closure of supply lineswas not only damaging rela-tions with the US, but alsoPakistan’s ties with 49 othermember states ofNATO/ISAF. Pentagon chiefLeon Panetta welcomed themove, saying the UnitedStates remained “committedto improving our partnershipwith Pakistan and to workingclosely together as our twonations confront commonsecurity challenges in the re-gion”. Sources said prior tothe decision, ISAF com-mander General John Allenhad held talks in Islamabadtwice in the last six days, andoffered a private and per-sonal soft apology to Chief ofArmy Staff Gen AshfaqKayani, which the army chiefhad politely rejected, callingit insufficient. General JohnAllen also praised Pakistan’sdecision to allow supplies toNATO forces. “I look forwardto future opportunities towork together toward ourcommon goals, by taking co-ordinated action against ter-rorists,” he said.

WANAinp

Tribesmen and tribal elders de-cried the move of the local po-litical administration to closethe major Angoor Adda Roadafter some unknown miscre-ants launched a suicide attackon an army camp in the area.Due to the closure, hundreds ofpassengers were facing difficul-ties in reaching Wana and itwas also causing losses to localfruit-related businesses.

Tribal elders Malik Hafizul-lah, Malik Gul Khan, MalikHabib Charg, Malik DilawarKhan Mehsud, Maulvi Anayatul-lah and several others while talk-

ing to the media said that au-thorities had blocked the majorAngoor Adda Road for the lastfour months and demanded ofthe government to immediatelyre-open the road which is theonly route connecting remoteareas with Wana, headquartersof South Waziristan Agency. Theelders said that local fruit sellerswere especially in a fix. Becauseof the closure of road, they arenot able to transport their fruitsto major fruit markets and it iscausing losses worth millions tothem. Moreover, several petrolpumps on the blocked roadshave closed down since the roadwas blocked. They also addedthat aged people and females

were especially facing extremedifficulties in crossing the area toreach Wana.

The elders stressed thatevery matter could be solvedthrough talks and it would bebetter if the government sortedout the matter through talkswith the elders of tribe ratherthan taking decision such asblocking routes without consul-tation and, thus, creating diffi-culties for the poor citizens.

The elders demanded of thegovernment for opening of theroad at the earliest and warnedthat government would be re-sponsible for any untoward in-cident if the road was notre-opened for traffic.

WASHINGTONinp/nni

Former military rulerGeneral (r) PervezMusharraf has said that hetried as president toconvince Iran to make peacewith Israel and abandon itsnuclear ambitions.

Musharraf, during aninterview conducted byAtlantic Media Companyowner David Bradley, spokeabout his 2006 “peace effort”to bring reconciliation betweenIsrael and the Arab world.Musharraf flew to Iran to visitPresident Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad, and said hetried to get Iran to pursue apath to peace with Israel, theForeign Policy magazinereports. He said that he urgedthe Islamic nation to moveaway from the development ofnuclear weapons, but that hemade no progress. “They aredetermined to develop anuclear arsenal... I did notsucceed,” the report quotedhim as saying. “But Iran hasnot posed any threat, so theyneed not go nuclear,” headded. In another interview,Musharraf said that he wasreturning to Pakistan nextyear to help the failing state.

In a recent interview toAspen Ideas Festival MediaCompany, Musharrafresembled himself withformer US presidentAbraham Lincoin, saying hehad broken the constitutionto save the country.Defending the military coup,the former military dictatorsaid that the state is beingrun to the ground at themoment, and people areagain running to the militaryto save the country.Musharraf said that he wasready to return to thecountry by putting his life indanger.

TOKYOAfp

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek $3.9 billion inannual international assistance to rebuild the economywhen he attends a conference this weekend in Tokyo,Japanese media reported Tuesday. Karzai voiced therequest when Japanese reporters interviewed him inKabul on Tuesday ahead of the one-day international aidconference for Afghanistan on Sunday, public broadcasterNHK reported. He said his country needs a combined $3.9billion from the international community every year torebuild the Afghan economy starting from 2015, followingthe pullout of NATO forces from Afghanistan, NHK said.During the interview, Karzai reiterated his call for theTaliban to join mainstream politics in Afghanistan bytaking part in forthcoming presidential and generalelections. “My recommendation to Taliban is to join thepeace process and become a political force inAfghanistan,” the Afghan president was quoted by KyodoNews as saying.

SC gives govt 7-day deadline toappoint judgesin special courts

ISLAMABADinp

The Supreme Court onTuesday gave thegovernment a deadline ofseven days for theappointment of judges inspecial courts. A three-member bench comprisingChief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, Justice Jawad SKhwaja and Justice KhiljiArif Hussain heard the case.Deputy Attorney GeneralRaja Haleem Abbassi told thecourt that the “homework”for the appointment of judgeshad been completed, but thegovernment needed another15 to 20 days to fill the posts.In response, the court refusedto offer more time in thisregard. Justice Khwaja saidthat the posts had been lyingvacant for the last 14 monthsand no action had been taken.

1 security official

killed, 4 injured

in Bajaur blast

KHAR/MARDAN Agencies

A security forces personnelwas killed and another fourwere injured in a remote-controlled blast in BajaurAgency on Tuesday. Anofficial of the NawagaiPolitical Administrationsaid Frontier Corps (FC)personnel had launched asearch operation in the areaafter an early morning blast.The second blast occurredin the Bara Kamangra areaof Nawagai tehsil when aremote-controlled bombwas detonated near the FCpersonnel, killing one ofthem and injuring four.

Five-member JITformed to probeArsalan-riaz graftcase

ISLAMABADstAff report

National AccountabilityBureau (NAB)Chairman Admiral (r)Fasih Bukhari hasconstituted a five-member JointInvestigation Team(JIT) to probe thealleged graft caseinvolving ArsalanIftikhar and real estatetycoon Malik Riaz. Peran official handout, theJIT would be headed byNAB’s director-general(DG) of the FinancialCrimes InvestigationWing (FCIW). Thecommittee also includesone member each fromthe federal investigationagency (FIA) and police,while three membersare from NAB. Thecommittee held its firstmeeting on Tuesday atNAB headquarters withDG FCIW in the chair.The committee hasdecided to procure allrelevant material fromthe quarters concernedwithin a week toproceed ahead.

reinstatement of sacked employees

in accord with PPP manifesto: PMiSlamabad: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Tuesday said thereinstatement of sacked employees was in line with the policy of the democraticgovernment as provision of employment to people was one of major planks ofPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) manifesto. The prime minister expressed theseviews while speaking with Syed Khursheed Shah, Federal Minister forReligious Affairs and Chairman of Cabinet Committee on Reinstatement andRegularisation of Sacked Employees, who met him at the PM House onTuesday. The prime minister said that Lady Health Workers (LHW) was aflagship programme, which aimed at providing healthcare services to womenliving in inaccessible regions of Pakistan. He said that the project won globalrecognition. Shah told the Ashraf that the Cabinet Committee had approvedregularization of the services of 106,000 LHWs and the summary was sent tothe prime minister for his approval. Shah said that the federal government haddecided to continue paying salaries and allowances of LHWs up to 2015 but theprovinces were insisting to extend the payment of salaries to 2017. INP

Cricket star

Afridi to front

Pakistan

polio fightKARACHI

Afp

Cricketer Shahid Afridi is tofront efforts to eradicatepolio from the country,going head-to-head withmilitants who have bannedvaccinations in an alQaeda-linked strongholdon the Afghan border. Theformer Pakistan captainwas born in KhyberAgency, and campaignershope his Pashto credentialscan persuade parents toinoculate their children. “Itis a noble cause and I amhappy to be part ofsmashing polio fromPakistan which hascrippled many children,”Afridi told AFP. He said themain target was remoteareas of Pakistan, such asthe al Qaeda and Talibaninfested tribal belt on theAfghan border. “I am fromthat area and speak theirlanguage, so I will try to godoor-to-door to remove anynegative concept about thecampaign and I hope thiswill help us raise healthyfuture generations,” addedAfridi. The campaign isbeing run by Pakistan andUNICEF.

ThE rOAd NOT TAkENg Tribal elders demand opening of wana-Angoor Adda road

musharraf says tried persuading iranto make peace with israel

Karzai to seek $3.9b annual

aid at donors meeting

MAGIC WORD REOPENS Continued fRom page 01

neW delHi: foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani being received by an indian official at the indira gandhi international Airport on tues-

day. Jilani will meet his indian counterpart today. ONLINE

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ISLAMABADAmer siAl

THE Economic Coordination Com-mittee (ECC) of the cabinet onTuesday approved a Ramadan re-lief package of Rs 2.5 billion on es-sential food items, providing

sovereign guarantee of Rs 19.1 billion andwavier of demurrage charges Rs 856.5 millionfor the 425MW Nandipur Power Project,while principally approving new gas supplypriority and LPG air-mix project.

Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikhchaired the ECC meeting that approved theRamadan relief package effective from July15, under which prices of 13 essential fooditems would be reduced on 5,700 state-ownedUtility Store Corporations stores. The subsidywould be Rs 6 on 1 kg of flour, Rs 15 per kg on

ghee, Rs 10 per kg each on gram pulse, baisen,dates, basmati, sela and broken rice, black tea,packed milked and spices. An official sourcesaid an untoward situation arose in the meet-ing when the Oil and Gas Regulatory Author-ity (OGRA) chairman opposed the Ministry ofPetroleum’s policy guideline on LPG air mixproject for the industrial sector. Abruptly in-tervening, Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hus-sain said the OGRA chairman was goingbeyond his mandate by intervening in the pol-icy issues which were only the prerogative ofthe ministry. A perturbed minister said theregulator could only implement, monitor andregulate the policy finalised by the govern-ment and could not express any views on thepolicy which was beyond its mandate.

However, the source said the financeminister had to intervene and ask the petro-leum minister to at least allow the ECC mem-

bers to listen to the other’s point of view.The OGRA chairman said the weighted

average cost of gas formula proposed by theministry would be significantly increasinggas prices from the current level of $4mmBTU considering the imported cost of$9 mmBTU. After a detailed discussion theECC approved import of LPG equivalent to250 tonnes with a cost computed on thebasis of weighted average cost of gas. How-ever, the key decision of procurementmethodology and tendering will be broughtto the ECC through a detailed presentationin the next meeting. The ECC also requestedthe Law Ministry to look further into thematter regarding price determination ofLPG on a monthly or six-monthly basis.

The ECC also approved the summaryfor increasing sovereign guarantee from Rs5.3 billion to Rs 19.1 billion in favour of

local banks syndicate as a time gaparrangement until effectiveness of foreignloans for 425MW Nandipur Power Project.The committee also decided to waive de-murrage and detention charges Rs 856.5million on the machinery of the project.

The ECC also approved natural gas loadmanagement plan proposed by the Ministryof Petroleum but subject to approval from theprime minister. The Petroleum Ministry pro-posed that the supply of natural gas to powersector should be given priority over supply tofertilizer sector after domestic sector in thewake of current load shedding in the country.

There was a lengthy discussion on theproposal of changes in composition of busi-ness express moved by the Ministry of Rail-ways, in which it contented that joint venturepartners had from the very outset failed tomeet most of major contractual obligations

like guaranteed revenue of Rs 3.1 million wasto be paid in advance, a commitment that hadnever been fulfilled. In the same way, guaran-teed revenue was to be paid in full whereas thejoint venture partners had been making partpayments and so on. After the detailed discus-sion, the ECC formed a committee comprisinginformation minister, Board of Investmentchairman, Railways secretary and the Plan-ning Commission deputy chairman, whichwill look further into the matter. The sourcesaid the committee was formed as it was as-sessed that the babus were trying to derail theprivatisation process in the Railways.

The ECC also discussed summary regard-ing protection to the motorcycle industrywhich proposed that new eight-digit tarifflines be created in Pakistan Custom Tariff forall the parts of 125CC motorcycles with fivepercent tariff in case of new entrants.

ECC approves Rs 2.5b Ramadan relief packageg Cotton cess enhanced from rs 20 to rs 50 per bale g New gas supply priority approved g Petroleum minister clashes with oGrA chairman

eC ready to holdpolls after July: CeC

PESHAWARApp

Acting Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) Justice Shakirullah Jan has saidthat voter lists would be completed bythe end of the ongoing month and theECP would be in a position to holdgeneral elections after July. Addressinga ceremony on Tuesday, JusticeShakirullah Jan said the delay inpreparation of voters’ lists was not anegligence of the CEC, but a laxity ofStatistics Division. He said due toinattention of Statistics Division, theEC had to suffer and bear additionalburden to complete the voters’ lists.The acting chief election commissionerwas of the view that the ECP was onlyresponsible for monitoring the polls,and it was the government’s job tomaintain law and order.

raiding cops come under

attack, 2 killed, 4 hurtJHANG

nni

At least two policemen were killed andfour others were injured in an attack ona police vehicle on Tuesday morning.Officials said that police sent a team ofcommandos to raid a suspected hideoutof criminals in Jhang district afterreceiving information about thepresence of dangerous absconders. Theraid team, riding on four vehicles,reached the district’s rural area, andwhile it was cordoning off the suspectedhideout, the criminals opened fire at apolice vehicle. All the six policemen onboard got injured in the attack, officialssaid, adding that they were quicklytaken to a hospital where two of themsuccumbed to their injuries, while fourothers were reported in stable condition.After the attack, crossfire startedbetween police and criminals but thelatter succeeded to escape from the area.

Four women killed, fourinjured in grenade attack

KHYBER AGENCYonline

As many as four women were killed andfour others, including women andchildren, were injured in a grenade attackat a house in Khyber Agency on Tuesday.According to details, unidentifiedpersons hurled a hand grenade inside ahouse in Malik Din Khel, a remote area ofKhyber Agency. The explosion killed fourwomen and injured four others, whichincluded women and children. Theinjured were shifted to a hospital. Tribalofficials and Khasadar force reached thescene after the attack however no arrestscould be made until the filing of thisreport. Sources said that the attack was aresult of tribal enmity.

Constitution doesn’tbar PM from havinga deputy: SHC

karachi: The Sindh High Court (SHC) onTuesday rejected a petition challenging theappointment of deputy prime minister. Whilehearing the petition, Justice Munib Akhtarobserved that there was no restriction in theconstitution to appoint a deputy PM, addingthat the prime minister could appoint anyone ashis assistant. The judge remarked that ChaudhryPervaiz Elahi was part of the cabinet as a federalminister, while the government was being runby Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. The petitioner, MoulviIqbal Haider, argued that the Constitution ofPakistan does not have any provision for thepost of deputy prime minister, and such anappointment was illegal. He requested the courtto declare the notification of Chaudhry PervaizElahi’s appointment as deputy PM“unconstitutional and illegal”. The court saidthat the notification on Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’sappointment as Deputy PM also stated that hecould not exercise the prime minister’s powers.Therefore, the notification cannot be declarednull and void, the court ruled. Agencies

QUETTA: A boy quenches

his thirst as temperatures

soared across the country

on Tuesday. ONLINE

NEWS DESK

Unnerved by Pakistan’s new approachof talking trade over Kashmir, sepa-ratists from the valley have lined up tomeet visiting Pakistan foreign secre-tary Jalil Abbas Jilani in New Delhi onhis invitation.

“It’s unfortunate that no headwayis being made vis-à-vis Kashmir.Nothing has moved despite severalrounds of Indo-Pak talks. Talks seem

not serving any purpose. We stressedthe need to push for final resolution tothe dispute during our interaction,”said moderate Hurriyat chairman Mir-waiz Umar Farooq, who met Jilani onTuesday afternoon.

Most separatists are unhappy withIndo-Pak relation making headway ontrade issues and not Kashmir problem.

“Relations between India and Pak-istan cannot be strong enough till theKashmir issue is resolved,” said hard-

line Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali ShahGeelani, who opposed Pakistan’s deci-sion to grant most favoured nation toIndia.

The 83-year-old separatists said hereminded the Pakistan foreign secre-tary that “it’s incumbent upon Pak-istan to push for Kashmir solutionfirst”

“It’s moral, diplomatic and demo-cratic responsibility of Pakistan topressure India to resolve the six-decade old dispute…Kashmir is not aborder issue that the two countrieswill sit across and resolve it. Kashmiris an international dispute,” Geelanitold the Hindustan Times after meet-ing Jilani.

The hardline separatist, who advo-cates for right to self determination,told the Pakistan delegation to pushfor a Kashmir resolution that consid-ers “its historical background”.

Geelani is learnt to have raised theissue of alleged human rights abuses,use of Public safety Act against youthand his “round-the-clock detention” athis Srinagar residence with Jilani.

Both the Mirwaiz and Geelani saidthey do not oppose improved relationsbetween India and Pakistan but

“Kashmir should be at the core of thetalks”.

“Neither are we against Indo-Pakparleys nor CBMs. Our sole concern isKashmir issue should be resolved ac-cording to wishes and aspirations ofpeople of Kashmir,” said the Mirwaiz.

Another separatist leader, YasinMalik, who heads pro-independenceJammu and Kashmir Liberation Front,asked both the countries to seize thepresent moment to resolve the prob-lem.

“Kashmir has witnessed transitionfrom violent movement to peacefulstruggle. This should be acknowledgedby the two countries and push for res-olution as soon as possible. India andPakistan cannot afford to freeze theKashmir issue. If they don’t resolvethe problem, it will have far reachingconsequences and younger generationcan once again explore the option oftaking up the arms,” said Malik.

All the separatist leaders —- theMirwaiz, Geelani and Malik —- met Ji-lani separately in New Delhi. It hasbeen a ritualistic diplomatic gesturefrom Pakistan, much to chagrin ofNew Delhi, to invite separatist leaderswhenever senior official visits India.

SeParatiStSPUSh PakiStanfor kaShmiriSSUe

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islAmAbAd: A vendor sells ice at his roadside setup. STAFF PhOTO

48 murdercases tracedthis year

ISLAMABADstAff report

The city police on Tuesday claimed to havetraced 36 murder cases, including 12 blindmurder cases, during the current year, a po-lice spokesman said.He said the IGP had directed all police offi-cers to give priority to investigation of mur-der cases and book the culprits. Followingthese directions, Islamabad police workedhard to trace the blind murder cases andsucceeded in tracing 36 murders after col-lecting forensic as well as other vital evi-dences. Every available resource and latestinvestigation techniques were used to re-solve these cases. Due to these efforts, thecity zone traced four murder cases and Sad-dar zone 11 murder cases, the spokesmansaid. He further said that the industrial areazone police traced four murder cases whilethe rural zone traced 17 murder cases. Atotal of 81 accused were arrested due totheir involvement in these murder casesand challans of these cases were submittedin courts after arresting the culprits andcollection of evidences against them.

dC orders inspectionof patwar offices iSlamabad: Islamabad Deputy Commis-sioner Amer Ali Ahmed has directed the as-sistant commissioners of Secretariat andrural areas to carry out inspection of patwaroffices in the rural areas regularly and en-sure availability of patwaris at their work-places during office timing. The DC alsodirected the ACs to direct patwaris to redresspublic complaints on the spot and submittheir inspection reports to the district collec-tor fortnightly. He issued these instructionsto the ACs during a meeting chaired by himto review the performance of the revenue ad-ministration. The DC directed the officials toensure quick action on public complaints,warning if any patwari was found involved inany malpractice, stern action would be takenagainst him. stAff report

PBC to broadcast programmes to mark Black DayAPP

islAmAbAd

Radio Pakistan will air special pro-grammes on the occasion of the BlackDay being observed tomorrow (Thurs-day) against the overthrowing of dem-ocratic government of ShaheedZulfikar Ali Bhutto by military dicta-tor Ziaul Haq on this day in 1977.

The speeches of Shaheed ZulfikarAli Bhutto, interviews and specialsongs will be aired by FM-101 net-work throughout the day. The Na-tional Broadcasting Service, currentaffairs channel of Radio Pakistan, willair special programmes from 7:10amto 11pm while the English channel of

Radio Pakistan, Planet FM-94 willpresent English speeches and inter-views of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Community channel FM-93 andmedium wave stations will air specialmessages of President Asif Ali Zardariand Prime Minister Raja PervaizAshraf as well as the interviews andimpressions of political leaders andfederal ministers. Excerpts from thespeeches of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto onnegation of despotic rule, uplift of thecountry and people and rule by thepeople will also be presented.

Special interview of prominentbroadcaster and intellectual, AslamAzhar, will also be broadcast. DirectorGeneral Radio Pakistan, Murtaza

Solangi, will be the host of the pro-gramme. Special programmes com-prising interviews of leading politicaland social figures, intellectuals andleading journalists will be the part ofprogrammes being aired on the occa-sion of the black day.

A special seminar on impositionof marital law in country on July 5and beginning of the darkest era isbeing organised by PBC Peshawar.Special songs and impressions of thepeople will be aired to mark the blackday.

Discussion programmes ondemocracy and dictatorship, humanrights, trampling down of constitu-tion and fundamental rights, and tele-

phone call by listeners will be thehallmark of the black day pro-grammes. Prominent poets, AslamGordaspuri, Shahzad Ahmed, ZafarIqbal, Abbas Ather, Najeeb Ahmed,Amjad Islam Amjad, Nasir Zaidi, As-ghar Nadim Syed, Neelma Sarwar,Naheed Ishtiaq, Ahmed Aqil Rubi andRabia Rehman will pay homage toShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in amushaira being organasied by PBCLahore.

Excerpts of former military dicta-tor General Ziaul Haq will also be in-cluded in `Naiy Ufaq’ programme tobe aired at 8:05pm along with com-ments by leading intellectuals, jour-nalists, and analysts.

RAWALPINDI,App

THE Rawal Town munici-pal administration hasdecided to demolish ille-gal constructions in thecity. Earlier, during a re-

cent operation, the TMA demolishedillegal extensions of five commercialbuildings while one house was sealedin the town.

According to a TMA Rawal Townspokesman, the ongoing operationagainst illegal constructions hadbeen accelerated on the special in-structions of the administrator ofRawal Town and strict action wasbeing taken against the violators ofthe law.

Rawal Town Administrator SaifAnwar Jappa has directed the offi-cials concerned to conduct a compre-hensive survey in this regard so thata strategy could be adopted and theviolators of the rules could be dealt

with in accordance with the law. Thestaff of the department concernedconducts raids and demolishes illegalconstructions in the city areas, hesaid. He said that after the solid stepstaken in this regard, the revenue gen-eration has also increased consider-ably as now the citizens aresubmitting their building plans to getformal approval.

It is pertinent to mention herethat a special demolition squad forremoving illegal structures from thecity areas has recently been formedby the TMA.

Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO)Chauhdry Liaquat Ali said that theincreasing number of constructionswithout getting prior approval fromthe TMA has compelled the adminis-tration to take solid steps in this re-gard. He said the TMA officials havealso been warned to improve theirperformance otherwise stern actionwould be taken against those violat-ing the rules. He said officials with

bad reputation would not be toler-ated.Water Shortage iN potohartoWN irkS reSideNtS: Shortageof water supply in the different areasof Potohar Town has made lives ofthe residents miserable.

The residents of Adiala Road,Dhamial Road, Chakri Road, DhamaSeydian, Munwar Colony, Kalial,Dhoke Juma, Dhamial, Bank Colony,Liaquat Colony, Quaid Azam Colony,Nai Abadi and Dhoke Munshi havebeen facing water shortage but theauthorities concerned are least inter-ested to resolve the issue.

Talking to APP, MuhammadSajid, Waleed, Iqbal, Ansar Khan,Ahsan and other residents of the af-fected areas said they were facinggreat difficulties due to water short-age, but the authorities concernedwere paying no heed. A number ofcomplaints have been registered, butthe water supply situation could notbe improved, they added.

CdA to revive

Saidpur’s

rustic lookISLAMABAD

stAff repoprt

The Capital Development Authority (CDA)has decided to launch an operation to re-move all illegal structures and encroach-ment at historical Saidpur village to reviveits original rustic look. CDA Chairman Engineer Farkhand Iqbal onTuesday said that all illegal structures andencroachments would be removed in Said-pur village to revive its rustic look.The CDA chairman said this on the occasionof his visit to model village Saidpur andSector F-6/4 to inspect developmental ac-tivities in the areas. The officials concerned of environment,sanitation, enforcement, municipal admin-istration, and engineering wing were alsopresent during the visit.The chairman said that rich cultural andtraditional heritage is the real identity ofSaidpur village while foreign as well as localvisitors have been showing their deep inter-est in the cultural activities initiated by theCDA in Saidpur village. The CDA chairman directed carpeting ofroad and parking to avoid hindrance. Hefurther ordered formation of an authority toensure sanitation on daily basis to avoid un-hygienic condition.

Jobless youth

immolates self raWalpiNdi: A youngster tried to com-mit suicide by self immolating himself due todomestic problems and unemployment.According to details, resident of Gawal-mandhi Muhammad Ashfaq put fuel on hisbody and then with the help of matchstickset himself ablaze. The nearby residentstook him to PIMS where his condition wasserious and he is said to be suffering fromsecond degree burns. Police has lodged acase in this regard. online

ANF seizes 15kg heroin iSlamabad: The Anti Narcotic Force ar-rested one person for attempting to smugglea large amount of heroin.ANF officials deployed at Benazir Interna-tional Airport said that Zulfiqar, a residentof Sargodha, was a passenger of Abu Dhabiflight and upon checking his luggage theANF officials found 15 kilogram heroin. Hewas carrying 11 kg brown heroin and 4 anda half kg white heroinAccording to officials, Zulfiqar was attempt-ing to smuggle heroin to Greece via AbuDhabi. The ANF took him into custody andstarted interrogations. online

Rawal Town TMA set to demolish illegal buildings

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Islamabad

islAmAbAd: J salik addresses a conference on rights of minorities in south Asia at a local hotel. STAFF PHOTO

ISLAMABADstAff report

INDIAN scholar Prof Dr RamPuniyami has described as dis-mal the general lot of IndianMuslims in secular India as thesituation of minority rights has

worsened over the last three decades.Ghettoized and alienated for long fromthe mainstream, the Indian Muslimswere now awakening and realizing thatthe way out for them was acquisition ofmodern knowledge. Still the dream ofequity for the Muslims was a far thingand their security had been made pre-carious by the infiltration of communalelements in the state organs.

Dr Puniyami was speaking here at theregional conference on the “Rights of Re-ligious Minorities in South Asia: Learningfrom Mutual Experiences” organised bythe Islamabad Policy Research Institute(IPRI) and Hanns Seidel Foundation(HSF) of Germany in Islamabad. The In-dian scholar said the growth of commu-nalism was not something new as it was

the existence of two communal streamsof religious nationalism which hadcaused the division of the British India.

However, India’s secular constitu-tion which exhorts affirmative action tosafeguard the minorities had all alongstruggled against the forces of Hindutvaled by the RSS. He said the Sangh Pari-var was persecuting the Muslims. Theother religious minority that was beingoppressed was Christians. He said com-munalism in South Asia was of a com-petitive nature as persecution of theMuslims in India aroused negative sen-timents in Pakistan and vice versa.

The visiting speaker further said vi-olation of human rights anywhereshould be treated as a violation every-where. He said there were many menand women in India who had devotedtheir lives to fighting the menace of com-munalism and evolving a polity that wastruly secular. They were trying for thepassage of a communal violence bill thatwould hold the state apparatus respon-sible if violence against a minority per-sisted for more than 24 hours.

He also advocated reservation injobs for the Muslims to bring them upto a threshold of economic and socialsurvival. But it was going to be a longand hard fight.

Former federal minister and minor-ity rights activist J Salik called upon theUnited Nations to devote a day to therights of the minorities and create abody to monitor violations of minorities’rights in various countries. He said thatminorities were not represented at theUN and in Pakistan they did not enjoyequal rights as no member of the minor-ity community could become the head ofthe state or the chief executive.

Professor Imtiaz Ahmad ofBangladesh said that polity in Bengalwas more tolerant as public reasoningthere was enriched by the Sufi traditionand the influence of Hanafi school ofthought which tended to separate reli-gion from politics. Ambassador NihalRodrigo who spoke on the Sri Lankancivil war said the Muslims had also suf-fered a lot during the conflict and faceddislocation a t a large scale. The country

was now engaged in the task of resettle-ment and rehabilitation.

Pandit Channa Lal, senior represen-tative of the Hindu community in Pak-istan, said the community faced noproblem in the observance and celebra-tion of religious rites and festivals, butthe children of his community did notconsider them part of the mainstream.Hindus could not climb to the top inservice careers; there were no foreign of-fice jobs for them and the doors of thepresidency and the PM House wereclosed to them, he said. He added thePPP was no more a liberal party as itused to be in the time of ZA Bhutto andBenazir Bhutto.

Dr Maqsudul Hassan Nuri, actingpresident of IPRI, in his welcome ad-dress, said that it was an ‘age of rage’and that there had been a marked rise inreligiosity in South Asia over the years.“We need to understand the causes be-hind this phenomenon and devise prag-matic solutions”. He said the IPRI washolding a series of conferences to delib-erate on the burning issues of the day.

moot on minority riGhtS

Minority rights being violated in secular Indiag ram Puniyami says Muslims and Christians are worst affected g J Salik asks UN to form a body to monitor violations of minorities’ rights

ISLAMABADonline

A photographic exhibition has been organ-ized at National Heritage Museum here atGarden Avenue, Shakarparian.

The exhibition is held under the aegis ofTourism Development Corporation of Punjab(TDCP) in collaboration

With Lok Virsa (National Institute ofFolk & Traditional Heritage), Ministry of Na-tional Heritage & Integration, Government ofPakistan, Islamabad.

The opening ceremony was performed byCommissioner Rawalpindi, ImdadullahBosal as chief guest. Managing directorTDCP Habibur Rehman Gilani and LokVirsa’s Executive Director Khalid Javaid werealso present on the occasion.

The exhibition presented works of twostudents from National College of Arts, La-hore Ubaid ur Rehman and Naeem Jatoi.They undertook an extensive tour of entirePakistan in four months in cooperation withTDCP to capture scenic beauty, nationalmonuments and cultures of different areasthrough the lens of camera.

Talking to media, the chief guest Im-dadullah Bosal said “Youth is considered asbackbone in any society and efforts of theseyoung students are praiseworthy. We canpromote our tourism by highlighting various

aspects and colours of our diverse and beau-tiful culture”.

Speaking on the occasion, Managing Di-rector TDCP Habibur Rehman Gilani appre-ciated the contribution of Lok Virsamanagement for their support and collabo-ration in holding the exhibition. In his re-maks, Lok Virsa’s Executive Director KhalidJavaid lauded the efforts of the students forcreating such a beautiful exhibition. He said“Lok Virsa’s major focus was currently onyouth who was the future of Pakistan.ieSco poWer SuSpeNSioN pro-gramme: The Islamabad Electric SupplyCompany (IESCO) on Tuesday issued apower suspension programme for variousareas of its region due to necessary mainte-nance and development work. According toan IESCO spokesman, power supply of theareas falling under following grid stations /feeders would remain suspended as under:July 4-9: From 07am to 12pm, TenchBhatta feeder, Capt. Aamir feeder, RadioPakistan feeder, Azizabad feeder, TenchBhatta, Radio Pakistan, Dk Syedan, Aziz-abad and surrounding area; July 5-7-9:from 7am to 11am, Peshawar Road feeder,Millatabad feeder, Peshawar Road, ChourChowk and Millatabad and July 10: from7am to 11am, Saghri feeder, K/Syedanfeeder, Redco feeder, Saghri, Mankiala,Bashndot, Kallar Syedan & Redco.

Photo exhibitionopens at Lok Virsa

drive against

illegal water

connections failsISLAMABAD

online

With the connivance of the CDA, around500 illegal water connections have beeninstalled on the water supply lines com-ing from Simly Dam. Following the illegalwater connections, water pressure inpipelines, which are supplying water tothe city and Bara Kahu area becomes verylow while these illegal water connectionsare also causing huge loss to the CDA interms of water revenue. Accepting thathundreds of illegal connections have beeninstalled on water supply lines comingfrom Simly dam, Director Water SupplyCDA, Zulfiqar Khan said that the CDA di-rected enforcement directorate to takestern action in this regard. Meanwhile,encroachments have been setup on theCDA’s land near Korang water works areabut the CDA has yet to take any initiativeto demolish these illegal structures.

Illegal parking areas

established in

commercial areas raWalpiNdi: Illegal parking areashave become endemic around majorcommercial areas of cities and Canttboard with the backing of police and po-litical organization. These illegal sites inmajor commercial hubs are not only af-fecting the normal flow of traffic but alsocausing millions of rupees loss in revenueto Tehsil municipal administration andcantonment board. Criminal groups oper-ating in these illegal areas collect parkingfee and upon non-payment the police ei-ther takes the cars into custody or theyare damaged. online

Stale meat being

sold in G-10 MarkaziSlamabad: Despite tall claims of theauthorities, sale of stale and artificiallyprepared meat (beef and mutton) is beingsold in G-10 Markaz putting lives of thepeople at risk. The residents and the cus-tomers have lodged several complaintsbut in vain as no heed has been paid totheir agony. It has been told that the meatis being washed in gutters while the samemeat is being sold and people are forcedto eat it hence ending in hospitals. Resi-dents have demanded high ups to take se-rious action and notice against suchbutchers who are selling stale meat onhefty rates. online

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Islamabad

Low

High

THUrSdAY FrIdAY SATUrdAY32°C I 26°C 31°C I 26°C 30°C I 26°C

PrAYer TIMINGSFajr Sunrise zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

03:20 05:02 12:12 15:57 19:22 21:04

CITY dIreCTorY

PoLICe eMerGeNCY 15

AMBULANCe 115

reSCUe 1122

HILAL-e-AHMer 9250488

edHI FoUNdATIoN 2827844

BoMB dISPoSAL 9270698

FIre BrIGAde CeNTre 16

CIVIL deFeNCe 9262830

eMerGeNCY HeLP

HoSPITALS

BLood BANK

PIMS BLood BANK 9261272

PoLY CLINIC BLood BANK 9209123

CoMPLAINT

wAPdA 111-000-118

SUI GAS 1199

rAILwAYS

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ISLAMABAD,App

THE Lok Virsa (National Institute ofFolk and Traditional Heritage) isholding a series of master artisans’training workshops here from today(Wednesday) to provide capacity

building for 768 marginalised craft persons/ar-tisans, mainly from rural areas with poor lowerincome groups.

The workshops have been arranged in collab-oration with the SUNGI Development Founda-tion, GIZ and DAACHI. Lok Virsa ExecutiveDirector Khalid Javaid and Executive DirectorSUNGI Sheikh Asad Rehman briefed the mediapersons about details, objectives and schedule ofthe workshops here on Tuesday. They announcedthat five batches will be trained in workshops of14-day each.

The first workshop will be held from July 4 to17, 2nd from August 30 to September 12 and the3rd from September 14 to 27. During workshops,daily training and exhibition will be arranged, in-cluding display and sale of products of the masterartisans. According to the organisers, the craft per-sons/artisans, are home-based workers living infar flung deprived areas, with no or limited linkagewith big markets to sell their products.

The training package includes GALS (GenderAction Learning System), group management,skill development/enhancement, colour schem-ing, product design and development, qualitycontrol, pricing, raw material purchasing, mar-keting as well as economic rights of home based/informal workers, health, for sustainable im-provement in their earnings.

There would be 768 beneficiaries of the train-

ing workshops, including 128 master artisans and768 artisan apprentices. The training methodol-ogy includes 14 days training module for mastertrainers (men and women) skilled artisans fromvarious areas of Pakistan. The master trainers willbe trained on Lok Virsa premises.

The important aspect of these trainings is toprovide exposure to the skilled artisans in valuechain development and marketing practicesthrough hands-on experience in theexhibition/marketing facility at Lok Virsa. Arti-sans will be bringing their hand-made productsalong with them and they will also be making it onthe spot at training sessions and shops that will besold to customers directly.

Each master trainer after successful comple-tion of training will be responsible to train 5 otherlocal artisans from his/her own locality for twomonths. Master artisan will get Rs. 5,000 as hon-orarium for training 5 fellow crafts persons andthis will be given to them on successful completionof the training during the marketing exposure/ex-hibition at provincial level such as craft exhibi-tions, industrial exhibitions, exhibitions bychambers of commerce etc.iNNovatioN Summit to improve educatioN Sector: Sheikh abdulla:World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)Chairman Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani has saidthat this initiative will play a pivotal role in sup-porting a change in Pakistan’s education systemby bringing the students of far-flung areas at parwith urbanites and inculcating in them modernteaching techniques and skills.

He said the 2012 WISE summit being held inDoha, Qatar, in November this year, will be at-tended by a galaxy of educationists, students andexperts who will contribute a lot to the improve-

ment of the education sector. Dr Abdulla said theWISE would provide young students with an op-portunity to take part in amazing global experi-ences throughout the year 2013.

He said that every year participants from Pak-istan attend the Summit. “I am very proud to tellyou that we will have Dr Shams Kassim Lakha, thefounding chairman of the Board of the PakistanCentre for Philanthropy and the founding presi-dent of the Aga Khan University, as a member ofthe 2012 WISE Awards Jury.

“I would also like to take this opportunity toask Pakistani students to send us their applica-tions for ‘Learners’ Voice’ project,” he said.

The World Innovation Summit for Education(WISE) is a year-round global platform dedi-cated to nurturing innovation in education byharnessing the expertise of multiple sectors. Itwas created in 2009 on the initiative of HerHighness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairper-son of Qatar Foundation.

Sheikh Abdulla said the WISE believes educa-tion is a passport to inclusion. Furthermore, inno-vation in all its forms, is not just technological, itis a key to enabling education to play a pivotal rolein tackling the 21st century global challenges.

The WISE has developed a unique approachwhich gives a voice to innovators from all coun-tries and all sectors during a summit that takesplace every year in Doha.

The WISE Awards, for instance, is a programthat identifies, shares and helps scale up best prac-ticesby bringing new approaches to education.

He said that the WISE gathers more than1,000 participants from 120 countries everyyear. They form part of the WISE community,which today represents thousands of peoplearound the world.

Capacity building of 768 craftpersons to begin tomorrow

islAmAbAd: children enjoy swings at a slum in the outskirts of the capital. STAFF PhOTO

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09wednesday, 4 July, 2012

Foreign News

DIWANIYAHAfp

Atruck bomb blamed on alQaeda killed 26 people at acrowded market in centralIraq on Tuesday while at-tacks elsewhere claimed 11

lives, the latest victims of a spike in na-tionwide unrest.

The violence, the bloodiest of whichwas in predominantly Shiite areas,came ahead of commemoration cere-monies on Friday for the birth of a keyfigure in Shiite Islam, and left nearly100 people wounded in the worst un-rest to hit Iraq in three weeks.

Tuesday’s violence was swiftly con-demned by the UN special envoy to Iraqand the country’s parliament speaker.

The morning blast struck a popularmarket in Diwaniyah, 160 kilometres

(100 miles) south of Baghdad, killing26 people and wounding 50, accordingto Adnan Turki, head of the provincialhealth department.

“This attack has the fingerprints ofAl-Qaeda,” provincial governor SalimHussein Alwan told a news conference,adding authorities were investigatingthe explosion.

Shortly after the attack, Diwaniyahofficials imposed a curfew across thecity of some 440,000 people.

Women and children were amongthe victims of the attack that hit themain vegetable market, where 15 shopsand stalls were destroyed, the officialsadded.

“The explosion led to a huge fireball in the sky,” said Muslim Farhan,who was nearby at the time of the blast.“Everyone was running in different di-rections.”

The blast came just hours afternear-simultaneous car bombs targetingShiite pilgrims in Freyha, a village onthe outskirts of the central shrine cityof Karbala, killed four people.

“There were four killed and 13wounded by two car bombs at around7:00 am, (0400 GMT) east of Karbala,”provincial police spokesman Lieu-tenant Colonel Ahmed al-Hasnawi said.

Two separate gun and bomb attacksin the restive province of Diyala, northof Baghdad, killed four people — thesons of two anti-Qaeda militiamen andtwo farmers — security and medical of-ficials said.

Also north of the capital in Taji, apoliceman was among two people killedin simultaneous bomb attacks, an inte-rior ministry official said. A hospital of-ficial said three people died in theblasts.

Iraq attacks kill 37

ahead of Shia rituals

BEIRUTAfp

Syrian troops pounded several rebel-held districts in the central city of Homson Tuesday, as the death toll mountedacross the country, said the Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights.

In total, at least 48 people werekilled on Tuesday, bringing to more than120 the death toll over two days, theBritain-based watchdog reported.

Two civilians and three rebels werekilled in Homs, as clashes raged in andaround the neighbourhood of Baba Amr,a former rebel stronghold that the armyseized on March 1 after a fierce 27-dayassault.

Rebels and troops also battled forthe district of Khaldiyeh, the monitoringgroup said. Khaldiyeh is one of severalrebel-held districts of Homs that havebeen besieged by the army for almost amonth.

On Monday troops tried to storm theencircled district of Jourat al-Shiah, ac-cording to the Observatory.

Troops also rained shells in thesouthern province of Daraa, cradle of the16-month uprising against PresidentBashar al-Assad, killing six people, thewatchdog said. Among the victims werea woman and her three children.

In the eastern province of DeirEzzor, much of which is rebel-con-trolled, violent clashes broke out with

regime forces, at least four of whomwere killed, the Observatory said.

The Local Coordination Committees— a network of activists on the ground —said “125 families fled the city of DeirEzzor and its suburbs ... as a result of theunrelenting military attacks.”

Several areas of Damascus provincealso saw heavy violence, the Observatorysaid. Troops shelled the town of Arbeen,killing one child, while two people were shotdead by snipers near the city of Douma.

Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday he regretted that hiscountry’s defence forces shot down aTurkish fighter jet on June 22, but stillinsisted the plane was in Syrian airspace.

“I would have wished 100 percent

that we had not attacked it,” he said twoweeks after the F-4 Phantom jet on atraining mission was shot at and crashedinto the Mediterranean off Syria.

“The plane was flying in an air corri-dor used three times in the past by theIsraeli airforce,” Assad said as an expla-nation of his military’s action in an in-terview with a Turkish newspaperCumhuriyet.

“A country at war always acts likethis, this plane was flying at a very lowaltitude and was shot down by anti-air-craft defences which mistook it for an Is-raeli plane, which attacked Syria in2007,” Assad said, rejecting Turkey’s ac-cusations that the Syrians intentionallytargeted the jet.

trooPS PoUnD Syria’S homS, 48 killeDg Assad regrets downing of Turkish plane

Suu Kyi defiantin ‘Burma’ rowyaNgoN:Opposition leaderAung San SuuKyi on Tuesdaybrushed offorders fromMyanmar’sgovernment tostop calling thecountry “Burma”, aname widely used by democracycampaigners to defy the former junta. Theold regime changed the country’s officialname some two decades ago to Myanmar,saying “Burma” was a relic from Britishcolonial rule and implied the diverse landbelonged only to the Burman ethnicmajority. The country’s electioncommission castigated Suu Kyi last weekfor repeatedly using the term duringrecent overseas trips, accusing her andthe opposition National League forDemocracy (NLD) of flouting theconstitution. But a defiant Suu Kyi toldreporters in Yangon that she would callthe country whatever she liked. “In ademocratic nation, things should be doneafter viewing the desire of the people,” shesaid, adding the army had renamed thecountry without consultation. “Freedomof speech... and the right to speak one’smind freely doesn’t insult anyone. This isalso about democratic principles andpolicy. “So I assume that I can usewhatever I want to use as I believe indemocracy.” Afp

Police raid Sarkozyoffice in campaignfinance probepariS: French police searched NicolasSarkozy’s offices and home Tuesday aspart of their probe into claims the formerpresident was involved in illegal politicalcampaign financing, his lawyer said.Magistrates are investigating claims thatstaff for Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to theL’Oreal cosmetics empire and France’srichest woman, gave envelopes stuffedwith cash to Sarkozy aides to finance his2007 campaign. Around ten policeofficers accompanied investigatingmagistrate Jean-Michel Gentil on the raidon his home and on offices he hasrecently rented in Paris, a source close tothe enquiry said. Sarkozy’s lawyer ThierryHerzog said that the president, who wasdefeated in his re-election bid in May bythe Socialist Francois Hollande, iscurrently in Canada with his family. LeMonde newspaper’s website said thatinvestigators had also searched thelawyers’ offices where Sarkozy was oncean associate. Sarkozy, who has denied anywrongdoing and whose presidentialimmunity from prosecution expired lastmonth, has supplied his diary to judges todisprove claims from witnesses that heattended meetings in the Bettencourthousehold. The witnesses, whosetestimony was reported in the Frenchpress, claimed that Sarkozy held meetingson at least two occasions in theBettencourt home ahead of hispresidential election win in 2007. Afp

MOSCOWAfp

Russia on Tuesday accused the Westof seeking to “distort” the agreementreached last weekend in Geneva on aplan for a political transition to endthe escalating conflict in Syria.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovhailed the accord based on proposalsby envoy Kofi Annan as an “importantstep” but said that Western capitals

had already read more into the finalstatement than what was written onpaper.

“Unfortunately... some Westernparticipants have started in their pub-lic statements to distort the agree-ments that were reached” in Geneva,he told reporters at a news conferencewith his Vietnamese counterpart.

“These (Geneva) agreements arenot there to be interpreted. Theymean exactly what is said in the com-

munique and we need to follow theagreements that were made,” Lavrovadded.

“Our (Russian) position is honestand we are not trying to make it seemmore than what is written in the text.”

His comments came just afterAnnan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzitold reporters Tuesday that a “shift”in positions by Russia and its diplo-matic ally China at the Geneva talksshould not be underestimated.

russia accuses west of distortingGeneva Syria accord

Mali boosts effortsto save northfrom Islamists

BAMAKOAfp

Mali’s embattled interim governmentramped up diplomatic efforts Tuesdayto save the north from Islamist fighterswho have smashed World Heritageshrines in Timbuktu and rigged anothercity with mines. The post-couptransition authorities in Bamako arepowerless in the face of the armed AlQaeda-allied groups occupying thenorth, and Mali’s neighbours in westAfrica have proposed a stronger unitygovernment be formed. West Africanleaders will meet in Burkina Faso’scapital on Saturday to discuss thisoption with senior Malian politicalfigures, as the Islamists escalate effortsto exert their control in the country’snorth. In Timbuktu, where they haveenforced sharia law for the past threemonths, Islamist group Ansar Dine(Defenders of Faith) have smashedseven tombs of ancient Muslim saints aswell as the ‘sacred door’ to a 15thcentury mosque. The UN culturalagency UNESCO on Tuesday called foran end to the “repugnant acts” ofdestruction and called for the head ofthe body to create an emergency fundfor the cultural treasures and send amission to assess the damage. Thedestruction has deeply upset Maliansand prompted outpourings ofcondemnation from abroad.

Unknown diseasekills 60 children inCambodia: WHO

PHNOM PENHAfp

An unidentified disease has killed 60 youngchildren in Cambodia in three months, theWorld Health Organization said Tuesday asit raced to identify the cause. “The numberof deaths reported to WHO is 60 cases andthey have all been in young children,” saidDr Nima Asgari, a public health specialistfor the UN body in Cambodia, adding thatthe first casualties were reported in April.The WHO is currently working with theCambodian Ministry of Health “to identifythe cause and the route of spread of thisdisease”, he said. With the investigationstill at an early stage, Asgari said it wasdifficult to specify the symptoms, which“include high fever and severe chest diseasesymptoms, plus in some children therewere signs of neurological involvement”.There have been 61 reported cases so far,Asgari said, with just one patient surviving.The victims, all aged seven and under, wereadmitted to hospitals in the capital PhnomPenh and the northwestern tourist hub ofSiem Reap.

NALENI: An Indian child stands in floodwaters in Naleni

Village, some 45 kms from Guwahati, the capital city of

India’s northeastern state of Assam, on Tuesday. AFP

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Comment10wednesday, 4 July, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

pak-Afghan cooperation critical

Friends, not masters

Two incidents have recently taken place that can marrelations with Afghanistan if not dealt withrealistically. The attack in Upper Dir by TTP militantsfrom shelters in neighbouring Kunar province led to

casualties on the part of Pakistani troops. The only practicalway to deal with attacks of the sort by militant networks iscoordinated action against them by Pakistani and US troops. Itwas an unwise policy to prolong the standoff between the USand Pakistan for nearly seven months. It is time for therequired give-and-take leading to the cleansing of the safehavens of the militants on both sides of the Durand Line. Totreat any militant outfit as a possible client is the height of follyin a world fed up with terrorists and their patrons. There is aneed meanwhile to address the complaint from Afghanistanregarding the launching of rockets in Kunar by Pakistan. Earlierboth Islamabad and Kabul used to blame the militants for anyincident of the type. That now Kabul points a finger atIslamabad indicates a reduction in the level of mutualunderstanding.

Islamabad has claimed that men in Afghan National Armyuniforms entered Pakistan’s territory on Monday and killed twopeople; it is not clear if the attackers were really Afghan soldiersor the TTP elements wearing their uniform. The incident againshows lack of understanding between the two sides which couldbe dangerous.

It is in Pakistan’s supreme national interest to help restorepeace and strengthen security in Afghanistan. The terroristattacks inside Pakistan will multiply if Afghanistan remainsunstable after the allied troops leave it in 2014. Pakistan’sindustry and business is in shambles on account of powershortages. To put them on back on track, Islamabad needsCentral Asian gas and electricity which can reach it only ifthere is stability in Afghanistan. With a power cum tradecorridor established from Central Asia to India on the onehand and to Gwadar Port on the other Pakistan will emerge asthe major beneficiary from the trade which will bring it feesworth billions of dollars. This would make it permanentlyindependent of foreign aid. To improve ties with Afghanistan,Islamabad has to get rid of some of the traditionalmisperceptions. To start with, Afghanistan has to be treated asan equal sovereign state instead of Pakistan’s backyard.Attempts to foist on Kabul a government of the agencies’choice have to be abandoned. Nations need friends but hatethose posing as masters.

We often talk of theendgame inAfghanistan but we willhave to wait for 2014 tosee how this endgame

is fully played out by competing interestsinside and outside Afghanistan.

However, another endgame is al-ready unfolding in Pakistan. It is a polit-ical endgame raising doubts about thefuture of democracy and creating thespectre of Pakistan becoming a non-functioning state. The growing institu-tional conflict and the effort of thesuperior judiciary to stretch its domainof authority at the expense of electedcivilian institutions like the parliamentand the executive adds a new dangerousdimension to the increasingly conflict-ridden politics in the country.

The superior judiciary, especiallythe Supreme Court, has adopted ahighly activist role since the restorationof the chief justice and other judges in2009. They may see their role in purelylegalistic terms but the widespread con-sensus in the political circles is that thesuperior judiciary is stretching its do-main at the expense of the elected par-liament and the federal executive. Onewonders if the courts need to fix sugarprice which was not implemented, re-

move and post officials,and seek legal actionagainst the presidentand the prime minister.The comments made bythe judges during thecourt proceedings getpublished in the news-papers that become apart of the on-going po-litical confrontation be-tween the governmentand the opposition.

Three importantfacts seem to highlightthe current judicial ac-tivism. First, it is a well-known fact that thePPP federal govern-ment and especiallyPresident Asif AliZardari were not keenon restoring the currentchief justice and fewother judges. It was thethreat of the longmarch by the opposi-tion and pressure bythe army chief that thechief justice was re-stored in mid-March2009. Second, the re-stored chief justice andother judges adoptedjudicial activism that

often targeted the federal governmentand some of its key officials. Since 2009,the Supreme Court judges have shownremarkable unanimity of views in judg-ments. We have seen in the past thatsometimes the court gives split judg-ments, some judges diverging from themain judgment. We now see unanimityamong the judges in the cases dealingwith the federal government, the primeminister and the president. Third, theopposition activists are filing more peti-tions against the federal governmentand its leadership in the High Courtsand the Supreme Court than ever be-fore. For them, the courts have becomeanother arena of political contestation.

In any democratic system, theelected institutions enjoy precedenceover non-elected state institutions. Intheir mutual interaction, the state andsocietal institutions observe restraintand show deference towards one an-other. If an institution attempts to over-whelm other institutions for anyreason, institutional imbalance is thenatural consequence which distorts thepolitical process.

In the past, the military over-whelmed civilian institutions andprocesses with a savior complex. This didnot remove the deficiencies in the civilianinstitutions. Rather the civilian institu-tions lost the sense of direction. Thepresent day judges may have the nobledesire of establishing the rule of law andimprove the performance of the execu-tive, the current method of keeping civil-ian institutions under pressure is notgoing to help to achieve the objective. Ifthe judiciary uses activism to place acheck on elected civilian institution, thejudiciary cannot exercise this power as aself-articulated discretion. Judicial ac-tivism need to be accompanied by re-straint and moderation and it cannot beexercised in a manner that it contributesto political uncertainty and chaos.

The disqualification of Yousaf RazaGilani and his removal from the officeof prime minister will continue to bedebated in legal and political circles. Itis also well known that there are twoconflicting views on the writing of let-ter by the Government of Pakistan forreopening corruption cases againstPakistan’s sitting president in a foreigncountry. There may not be any legaland political precedent of the insis-tence by the highest court in a countryto put its own sitting president on trialin another country. The memo case willalso involve the presidency.

The matter has become more polit-ically sensitive with the demand of theSupreme Court to the new prime min-ister to explain his position on this

matter by July 12. What adds to theconcern about the future of the presentday democratic order is that the LahoreHigh Court has also taken up an issuerelating the president. It has asked himto quit his political party office in orderto continue as president? This is aquestion of political morality andshould the issues of political moralitybe settled in courts or the parliament?

Does all this mean that we are nowheading towards an institutional clashas the superior judiciary takes upthese matters involving the president.Interestingly enough, the support ofopposition to the executive-judiciaryconfrontation is based on the existingpolitical divisions which have becomesharper after the removal of the primeminister.

The PML(N), the PTI and the Ja-maat-e-Islami and the legal communityaffiliated with or sympathise of theseparties support the Supreme Court inits bid to revive the case against thepresident. Those supporting the PPPand its allied parties view this as a bidby the superior judiciary to removethem from power. The independent po-litical observers are perturbed that thecurrent political tensions will accentu-ate when a new round of court casesstarts against the new prime ministerand the president.

Pakistan is currently facing devastat-ing socio-economic problems with fal-tering economy, growing internaldisorder, sectarian killings, religious ex-tremism and terrorism. These issuescannot be addressed by a court judg-ment. Similarly, if the executive and ju-diciary engage in another confrontation,Pakistan is likely to experience adminis-trative paralysis and political anarchy.

Any interim political arrangementdominated by the judiciary and sup-ported by the military may remove thePPP-led federal government but it doesnot offer a credible solution to the mul-tiple crises of the state and society.

The only practical solution is that thesuperior judiciary should step back andgive a breathing space to the federal gov-ernment which would make arrange-ments for early general elections;perhaps before the end of the year. ThePML(N) and the PPP-led coalitionshould agree on a new Chief ElectionCommissioner and then evolve consen-sus on caretaker prime minister andchief ministers so that new elections areannounced. Any other strategy to resolvePakistan’s problems will have unman-ageable negative consequences.

The writer is an independentpolitical and defence analyst.

The political endgameno country for elected men

By Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi

is that 60 milllion dollars the only money worth retrieving?

Not the whole truth

The court has asked the new PM tomake it clear by 12th of July if he isgoing to write to the Swiss govern-

ment. This confrontation has to end orthis all will turn into a disaster. Unfortu-nately, the PPP can’t play a major role insurrendering completely since it is a po-litical party with emotional voters to takecare of and it is the judiciary who seemsto be in an attacking mode. By saying at-

tacking mode, I don’t wish to be held incontempt of the judges but it is a matterof few months only that the new govern-ment is ushered in after the elections,when the much needed Swiss action ontheir behalf can be affected without leav-ing a bad taste in the mouth. After all, wehave waited for the whole of 65 years…afew months won’t bring the skies down.

Most of the analysts believe, with orwithout much logic, that the PPP can’tearn the martyrdom status they wish foreven if SC keeps on disqualifying theirprime ministers one after the other. Ifthat be the case, why have we startedhearing voices even though not so assur-ing, casting unflattering shadows on therole of the judiciary and its adamant ac-tivism. After all, it has only been lessthan four years since their restorationafter a heroic movement and no un-savoury practices have been detectedever since in the higher halls of justice?

For the SC, respect for its decisionsis much more important than their abil-ity to get them implemented, which may

prove to be another bugger’s muddle.The initial outburst against it accusing itof being Sharif Court instead of SupremeCourt wasn’t as bad as the silent whis-pers we hear these days about it deliber-ately or unconsciously paving the pathfor yet another army take over.

I say ‘unconsciously’ because I find alot of convincing arguments that thecourts wants to deal evenhandedly withboth the civil and military arms of the gov-ernment but the military is better placedto twist their arm to create some space forthemselves. Moreover, I’m inclined to be-lieve that the military had more of a handin the Malik Riaz fiasco (which took placejust six months before the termination ofthis government) as it had more to gainfrom it than the PPP. It makes no sense forthe clever-by-a-half contractor and theinept PPP government to risk more of theSC’s ire when all they have is, by popularestimates, less than half a year to sink. TheSC has talked about summoning the armychief regarding the missing persons. Ifneither the PPP, nor the army is behind

this ill-fated Dr Arsalan case, then itstands to reason that the 36 odd outstand-ing Bahria cases may have been the solecause. But still, even if it was just to putthe CJ on the back foot, it is the army topbrass that the magician land developer hasa partnership with through the DHA.

Those not so happy with the judiciarythese days argue that the judges restora-tion movement was against Musharraf’sdecision to unconstitutionally sack them,not against his dictatorship. Had theybeen against his dictatorship, theywouldn’t have taken the oath on PCO inthe first place. With this, they try to aug-ment their stance the judges are powerhungry and not concerned about the direstate the country is in.

The situation with governmentshould never go to a point where the SCwill need to look to other power playersfor help. The image building of militarydoctors coming for the replacement oftheir protesting civilian counterpartsdoes not portend well for the country.The military has already wrested the case

of the three NLC generals from NABsince 2010. The case of railway landunder army occupation is not to be re-turned but the rent paid by the latteragain is a favourable one for the army.We are only aware of fact the Royal PalmGolf Club land worth billions was sold fora pittance to or through the army. ButWapda has also alleged that huge tractsof its land are under the army’s control.Who would be more in favour of theSupreme Court than the majority of thecommon people that includes us, for ac-countability to be across the board andnot just the measly $60m holding up thestate to ransom? Many hundreds of mil-lions of dollars that the Sharif familycreamed off in the Motorways and othercontracts also need going into. We wishall the luck to this CJ and his team andpray he clears up the country of rampantcorruption without undue harm to thesystem, good or bad.

The writer is a member of the bandBeygairat Brigade.

By Ali Aftab Saeed

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Comment 11wednesday, 4 July, 2012

The strike of the Young Doctors could be deemed tobe unethical. The biggest sufferers are the poorest of thepoor, pensioners and widows who cannot afford to payfor private medical services. But while we condemn themethods of their protest, we need to understand thatthese doctors must be respected and well rewarded interms of emoluments. It is the moral obligation of thepolitical executive to prevent them from ridicule andharassment of our snobbish civil bureaucracy, who lookdown upon everybody and have assumed role of mastersinstead of public servants. Our Grade 21/22 civilservants who at time of retirement justify the unethicaland immoral allotment of two plots in Islamabad’s CDA

should desist from sermonising the doctors on ethicsand morals.

In a country where lawlessness and crime thrives,the DPO or DCO lives in a spacious house spread overacres, while government employed doctors, professorsand teachers live in small quarters. Merely stating thatdoctors belong to an honourable professional committedto healing the sick or wounded is not enough. All overthe developed world, doctors, professors and otherprofessionals are better paid than civil servants, policeofficers and members of security apparatus.Remuneration by the state reflects upon its priorities.

Our bureaucracy, inspite of its perks, is riddled with

corruption; it sends shivers down my spine when Iimagine what would happen if doctors were to indulgein similar behaviour and start to seek bribes from poorpatients for their services. As it is, our medico legaldoctors who in a manner administratively report topolice are notorious for corruption, issuing wrongreports to save murderers and rapists.

While the state cannot give doctors a salarycompared to those prevailing in the internationalmarket, their emoluments and perks should becomparable to other civil servants.

SHAHZAD KHALILSialkot

Caveat emptor?Consumers of the country have been

badly hit by the government’s policies andinflationary pressures. Their budgetconstraints change every week due to hikein consumer price index. Every week,news reports shed light on how bundle ofgoods are not in the reach of consumers.Moreover, big private companiesespecially wholesalers have designed newstrategies to worsen the situation forconsumers. Recently, it was reported insome sections of that two big superstoresmerged and were now asking highermargins of their suppliers. It is obviousthat as soon as this information reachesother retailers, they too would demandhigher selling margins equivalent to thosebeing given to these merged mega stores.Eventually, all these high selling marginswill have to be paid by the consumers.

It is time for the concerned authoritiesto take action against cartelisation anddo the needful to reduce the prices whichwill go up in disguise of discounts andpromos offered by these big stores.

ABU BAKAR KAREEMLahore

The dual nationality issueThe SC has cancelled the membership

of a number of MNAs and MPAs belongingto PPP, PML(N) and other politicalparties for holding dual nationality.

The nation is also divided on thisissue as no national debate has been heldon this important matter. The logicprevailing in the judiciary is that in thepast, PMs were imported from abroadwho left the country after improving theirpersonal CV because of a lack of theircommitment to Pakistan. The pertinentquestion is, who was responsible forcalling dual nationals to serve in thesepositions of importance and why?

Is it not fair that all these civilbureaucrats, defence forces officers andtechnocrats who have positions ofauthority and access to confidential

information be removed from theirpositions and asked to abandon theirother nationality?

To appreciate those Pakistanis whoare sending billions of dollars annually tokeep the Pakistani economy afloat, thereshould be some sort of recognition fortheir love for Pakistan. They should begiven special incentives to invest inPakistan by providing them free of costgovernment land for the established ofhospitals, schools, colleges and universityprojects. Those who remit more thanUS$100,000 in a year should be a given acertification of a Very ImportantPakistani (VIP) and given specialprotocol on their visit to Pakistan.

Those who have looted Pakistanimoney and have invested abroad inproperty and business must not be allowedto contest elections unless they repatriatetheir wealth from abroad. Thesepoliticians also do not have an interest inPakistan’s future or the welfare of thePakistanis as their stakes lie elsewhere.

S T HUSSAINLahore

The open roadsPakistan and the US looked close to a

breakthrough as the meeting of theDefence Committee of Cabinet came onthe heels of overnight talks between topPakistan and US officials to narrow downtheir differences. It was the second timein less than a week that the ISAFCommander, John Allen, landed inPakistan to help break the impasse onrestoration of NATO supplies. He, alongwith US deputy secretary of state TomNides held extensive talks with theirPakistani interlocutors including ForeignMinister Hina Rabbani Khar and Chief ofArmy Staff Gen Kayani. To keep media atbay, the talks were held at Hina Rabbani’sresidence and at the GHQ. The two sideshad finally reached an agreement.

In the meeting at Ms Khar’sresidence at the Ministers’ Enclave, thetwo sides took to finalising the nitty-gritty of a proposed agreement for

reopening of the NATO supplies andother contentious matters between thetwo states. As per the agreement the USwould come up with some sort of apologyon the Salala attack; and the US wouldannounce immediate release of paymentsunder CSF. The issue of charges to bepaid by NATO to Pakistan for usingcountry’s road network was also settleddownward from what Pakistan haddemanded –$5,000 per container – toaround $1,000. The US has givenassurance that it would compensatePakistan in some other way. Pakistan-USrelations hit snags when a month or soago the US had recalled its technical staffengaged in drafting and finalisingmutually acceptable terms for restorationof NATO supply routes.

Obviously the opening of NATOsupply would help (a) end the bilateralimpasse, diplomatic stalemate and theensuing blame-game; (b) enough hasbeen done in terms of ‘punishment’ tothe ally for ‘deliberate’ attack on Salalathat killed 24 Pakistan soldiers; (c) themessage is clearly sent across that anysuch attempt by the US would beconsidered as an act of aggression andthat it would carry more severerepercussions; (d) the hostile elementswithin Pakistan like the DPC must alsobe convinced that hostility must not begiven way to spoil the relations out ofemotionalism; (e) if the formula ofpayment is agreed upon, the ultimatebeneficiary of this deal would obviouslybe the nation; (f) with this Pakistan hasonce again proved that its strategicimportance cannot be undermined (g)this also goes to the credit of PrimeMinister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf that suchan important issue has been amicablysolved within the first week of himassuming his office.

ESCHMALL SARDARPeshawar

(ii)It has been reported by the media

that the opening of GLOCs for NATOthrough Pakistan is imminent. In thisregard, the conditions decided entail that

besides other things, the US will pay toPakistan within one week, an amount of$400 million, out of the overdue CSFpayment of $2.4billion. It will payanother $400 million by December 2012.There is no mention of the paymentschedule for the remaining $1.6 billion ofthe CSF.

Firstly, this small instalment lookslike a joke of a condition. Secondly, whyis Pakistan allowing CSF overduepayment to be made in instalments, letalone measly instalments, in the firstplace? Pakistan is not demanding thispayment from a poor man or anorganisation. Moreover, this is not aid orcharity but Pakistan’s right as a coalitionpartner of the US.

Pakistan must also be wary that theUS will definitely attach its ownconditions with regards to these overduepayments. Given the US’ track record ofusing the stoppage of payments as abrokerage and pressurisation tactic, wemust insist on this amount being paidlump-sum. Because, payments paid inbroken instalments are as good aspayments denied. Because while $2.4billion may be a big sum for Pakistan, itis peanuts for the US.

SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMADLahore

down the drainNAB has disclosed that Pakistan

loses up to Rs 8 billionn per day due tocorruption. The TIP had previouslyevaluated that corruption of Rs 8500billion had taken place during four year;but the per day corruption figure of Rs8bn now given by NAB means thatcorruption of a whopping Rs 11.6 trillionhas taken place in four years. Now thequestion arises: what is NAB doing? Areother related institutions not failing?Who is responsible? Is it only thejudiciary’s job to take suo moto notices tostem this rot? If so, then what is thefunction of other state institutions?

TARIQ HUSAIN KHANKarachi

Probation officers neededThe probation system was

founded on the concepts ofrehabilitation and diversion but theidea has not been materialised yet intrue spirit in Pakistan. The majorproblem is that the government is notinterested in non-custodial measuresand there is also a lack of politicalsupport coupled with lack of properdevelopment of the probation andparole department.

Currently there are 81 juvenileoffenders in Youthful OffenderIndustrial School (YOIS) Karachi, 26in YOIS Hyderabad, 03 in RemandHome Karachi, 20 in Juvenile WardSukkur and 16 in Juvenile WardLarkana who could be released undersection 11 of the Juvenile JusticeSystem Ordinance 2000 and undersection 05 of Probation OffendersOrdinance 1960. But owning to the factthere are only three Probation OfficersIn Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkurworking out of 23 districts of Sindh,the system of diversion of the juvenileoffenders seems doomed to fail.Moreover, the delay in the trailprocesses further aggravates thesituation.

The Sindh Government hadannounced 16 posts of probationofficers while 13 posts of parole officersin 2010 through the Sindh PublicService Commission. Though thecommission has given its finalrecommendations for successfulcandidates, yet the notification ofappointment has long been delayed.This delay in the process of inductionthrough the SPSC frustrates theaspiring candidates as they usually sitwaiting for the issuing of the finalnotification.

But the delay is not only frustratingthe aspirants to the posts of probationand parole officers but it alsohampering the diversion system and therehabilitation of juvenile offenders. TheGovernment of Sindh should nowexpedite the process of issuingnotifications.

RAJA SHARJEEL HASSAN SOOMROKarachi

Fair demands; unfair methods?

Editor’s mailSend your letters to: Letters to

Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-ShaareyFatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: [email protected].

Letters should be addressed to Pakistan

Today exclusively.

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Adele’s beau planning to propose

ADELE, who recently announced that she ispregnant, may also be expecting a weddingas her boyfriend is reportedly planning to

propose to her. The 23-year-old announced onFriday that she and her boyfriend of nearly a year,Simon Konecki, a 38-year-old nonprofit CEO, areexpecting their first child together. Konecki wasplanning to go down his knees marriage to thesinger before he learned she was pregnant,according to sources. “He was planning to proposeanyway!” a source said. Raised by a single mom, apal of the singer told the tabloid that Adele “wantsa low-key affair where her mother gives her away.”More than anything, “she wants to be a wife andmom,” the friend added. Agencies

Beyonce shines at BET awards

BEYONCE shone like the sun at Sunday’s BETAwards in L.A. on Sunday! Dressed in agorgeous chartreuse Stephane Rolland gown,

the “Love on Top” singer showed off her incredible legsin the number’s hip-high slit. She paired theasymmetrical dress with Givenchy heels and LorraineSchwartz diamond and platinum earrings. It was a bignight for the 30-year-old superstar, who walked out withthe award for Best Female R&B Artist, plus a VideoDirector Of The Year honor for her and Alan Ferguson’s“Dance for You and Party.” Her hubby Jay-Z, 42, alsowas a big winner. He and his Watch the Thronecollaborator Kanye West won for Best Group and saw“Otis” take the Video Of The Year category, in whichBeyonce held two nods! Agencies

Chris Brown tweetsabout Rihanna’sgrandmother’s death

CHRIS Brown showed his support for his ex-girlfriendRihanna, after the singer recently lost hergrandmother, Clara “Dolly” Braithwaite, to cancer.

Brown took to his Twitter account on Sunday to express hiscondolences prior to his appearance at the 2012 BETAwards. ‘Praying for family and the lost loved one. She waslike my grandmother. Love you GRAN GRAN! RIP’ ChrisBrown (@chrisbrown) Brown was among the manywinners, including Beyoncé, Kanye West and Jay-Z, atSunday’s awards ceremony, taking home theFandemonium and Best Male R&B Artist award. Agencies

HOLLYWOODCELEBRITY K

IDS

OUT AND ABOUT

Angelina Jolie exits Grauman's ChineseTheatre after the "Kung Fu Panda 2"premiere, holding the hands of two ofher six kids, Shiloh and Maddox.

Ben Affleck is on daddy

duty as he spends the

day out with daughters

Violet and Seraphina.

Reese Witherspoon enjoye on the beach with her dau and some friends during a July party in Malibu, Califo

Nicole Richie and Joel

Madden took their kids

out for some fun in the

sun in Santa Monica, Calif.

Jessica Alba

grabs a treat

with her

daughter Honor.

Jennifer Lopez

hits The Grov

with twins Ma

and Emme.

Heidi Klum spends a funfilled day with daughtersLeni and Lou at a park inthe Tribeca section ofNew York City.

Halle Berry wears a bluedress over her bikini asshe takes her daughterNahla shopping forgroceries at Bristol Farms.

Nicole Kidman

steps out with

baby Faith,

13 months.

KATIE’S REASONS FORDIVORCING TOMREVEALED! Tom Cruise, 50, tied the knot with Katie Holmes, 33, in a storybook Italiancastle in November 2006. Unfortunately, their fairytale romance has gonesour and Holmes has filed for a divorce from Cruise. Here’s why: to keepSuri away from Scientology. TMZ.com claims Holmes filed for divorcemainly over Cruise’s ties to Scientology, “fearing that Tom would drag Surideep into the church.” “We’re told the couple had been arguing over Suri -that she’s now of the age where Scientology becomes a significant part ofher life,” says the tabloid. “Suri faced an inquisition of 99 sinister questionsat a Scientology boot camp. The chilling prospect helped to convince KatieHolmes to divorce the movie superstar,” reports the Sun. Katie Holmes’friends believe that the actress’ career will be relaunched following hermulti-million divorce from husband Tom Cruise. The star, who posedseductively in a bathing suit earlier this year for Brazilian jewellery label HStern, is expected to build on the acclaim she won as Jackie Kennedy in themini TV series The Kennedys. Agencies

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13

A magazine report claimsthat Salman Khan beat upex-flame Katrina Kaif whenshe walked in wearing a“figurehugging, cleavage-revealing dress that showedtoo much skin.” Katrina’sfriend vehemently deniesthe incident saying thereport is completelyuntrue. Salman wassupposedly sitting out onthe set, waiting for hisheroine to emerge from hervanity van. When she did,it was allegedly in afigurehugging, cleavage-revealing dress that showedtoo much skin. Or soSalman is said to have felt.Irritated, he supposedlyquestioned her about whatshe was wearing and why.Katrina apparentlyshrugged her slimshoulders and quipped thatit was the director’sdecision. …A perfectlylegitimate response but one

that evidently caused herex-beau to flip his lid.‘I’ll see your director!’ heis supposed to haveretorted hotly, beforeallegedly breaking outinto a torrent of foullanguage. But worse wasapparently yet to come.“This is completelyuntrue. Salman andKatrina chose to work inthe same film becausethere was no animositybetween them. They gotalong famously duringthe Dublin and theIstanbul schedules.Salman cares for Katrinaa lot. She is like family,”a friend commented“People make up a lot ofstories. Only becausethey couldn’t keep up totheir commitment ofmaking an appearance atan awards function,rumours started flying,”she added. Agencies

Shahid Kapoor goes back to class!

Amagazine Being a Bollywood actor is notjust about looking good and spreadingyour arms wide for romantic songs. And

after Ranbir Kapoor’s sign-language lessons forthe yet-to-release Barfi! and AyushmannKhurrana’s eyebrow-threading training for VickyDonor, it’s time for Shahid Kapoor to go back tothe classroom. The actor’s focus is now on a yet-untitled Yash Raj project. And to convincinglyportray a middle-class Marwari boy in the film, heis all set to undergo a workshop to learn theaccent and the nuances of the language. “Shahidwill learn the tone and the manner in which thelanguage is spoken,” a source tells us. So far, weknow that the script for the romantic-drama hasbeen written by Jaideep Sahni and is beingdirected by Maneesh Sharma. In fact, it wasManeesh who insisted that Shahid learn the finercharacteristics and accent for the part. Theworkshop will be held around mid-July forapproximately 10-12 days. After that, the unit willhead to Jaipur where they will commence shootingfrom the first week of August. Agencies

Kate Winslet is not a diva

EDDIE Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet says shehates diva-like behaviour on set and does her bestto put big-headed young actors in their place. The

Titanic star is critical of the way some young actorsbehave behind the scenes on films. “I had greatexamples set to me at a very young age and to this day Iam still grateful for that because whenever I am workingwith a younger actor who I think might be slightly out ofline, or getting a little bit too pleased with themselves, Iknow I have to set my good example and really set itwell. “I might be playing the lead but no one’s trailer isgoing to be bigger than anyone else’s, no one is going tohave all these stars flopping around, no one is going tohave a great big entourage,” she said. Agencies

First Look: Naomi Watts asPrincess Di in upcoming movie

DOWNFALL director Oliver Hirschbiegel’sPrincess Diana biopic is currently filming inCroatia, and today brings us a first look at

headliner Naomi Watts in character as the late Englishrose. Caught in Flight will follow Princess Di’s lifeduring the two years leading up to her tragic death in1997. Particularly, the film will focus on the royal’srelationship with British-Pakistani heart and lungsurgeon Dr. Hasnat Kahn, which ended shortly beforethe fatal accident. “She is a part of our history, anincredible woman and fascinating but a tragic ending,”Watts said, after landing the lead role back inFebruary. “The filmmakers came to me and it’s a goodscript and it’s very scary and I kind of wanted to say‘no’ but I couldn’t.”desk

DID SALMAN BEAT KATRINA?

AGENCIES

RUMORS that Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcherare dating are getting harder for the pair todeny after they were spotted looking like waymore than just friends on a recent lunch date.

On Saturday, the two actors grabbed lunch at SohoHouse in Los Angeles and eyewitnesses told Us Weeklythey couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

“They were seated on a couch on the same side ofthe table and Mila was running her hands through Ash-ton’s hair. She had her elbow resting on his back andcouldn’t stop playing with his hair and rubbing hisshoulders. He leaned in and whispered to her and kissedher cheek. They were holding hands,” said the source.

Rumors the two were dating began in April, and arep for the 28-year-old actress told reporters the twowere not dating, but had “been friends for a long time.”

The pair met on the set of “That ‘70s Show” in 1998and played an on-screen couple for several seasons. In2001 Kunis told People magazine that Kutcher was herfirst real on-camera kiss, and revealed that she had ahuge crush on him back when she was just 15 years old:

Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcherdating: rumored coupleget cozy on lunch date

ed a stroll ughter Ava a Fourth of ornia.

.

z

ve

ax

Veena says she has a split personality Pakistani model-turned-actor VeenaMalik, who was born as Zahida, says

that she has a dual personality inreal life. “I have a split personal-

ity. Veena Malik was bornwhen I was 10 years old. Za-

hida Malik’s personality isvery elusive, quite. She

would sit in the cornerand cry all the time.She falls in love very

easily. She wants tostick to one

person.

She has no interest in cameras andlights. She is a very simple person,”Veena said in an interview “Veena is avery different person. I have pulledZahida out of wrong relationship.Veena is a brave person. She hardlycries. She is a very strong person. Iam so thankful to my studies like psy-chology that helped me understandmyself. I am two people at one,” sheadded. Veena played a double role inher debut Bollywood film Daal MeinKuch Kaala Hai released on Friday.

HindustAn times

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Dilshan, Sangakkara lift gloom with tonsCOLOMBO

Afp

SRI Lanka's Tillakaratne Dil-shan and Kumar Sangakkarasmashed successive cen-turies against Pakistan tolight up the rain-hit second

Test in Colombo on Tuesday.The hosts, replying to Pakistan's first

innings total of 551-6 declared, took theirovernight score of 70-1 to 278-5 bystumps on the fourth day at the SinhaleseSports Club.

Dilshan scored 121 and Sangakkarawas unbeaten on 144 as the pair put on225 runs for the second wicket afteropener Tharanga Paranavitana fell forzero on Monday.

Pakistan grabbed four wickets in thefinal session to leave Sri Lanka still need-ing 74 more runs to save the follow-on onthe last day.

But a draw appears likely as rain onceagain wiped off two hours of play in thepost-lunch session after bad weather onthe previous two days restricted thebowlers to only 71 of the stipulated 180overs.

More rain has been forecast for thefinal day on Wednesday.

Sangakkara had scored an unbeaten199 and Dilshan made 101 in the first Testin Galle last week which Sri Lanka won by209 runs to take the lead in the three-match series.

Both settled down once again topound the Pakistani attack on a deadpitch that provided no assistance to the

bowlers.Dilshan was the first to the landmark,

lofting off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for a sixto bring up his 14th Test hundred and thethird against Pakistan.

Left-handed Sangakkara surpassedAustralian legend Don Bradman's tally of29 centuries with a single off Ajmal in thenext over.

When Sangakkara reached 60, he be-come the highest run-getter against Pak-istan, surpassing Indian great SunilGavaskar's tally of 2,089 runs from 24Tests.

Sangakkara, who is playing his 15thTest against Pakistan, has scored ninecenturies against them with a top score of230 in Lahore in March, 2002.

Dilshan was dismissed in the finalhour of play when he was trapped leg-be-fore by left-arm seamer Junaid Khan. Hehit 13 fours and a six.

Junaid then picked up his third

wicket as skipper Mahela Jayawardenepadded up to an incoming delivery andwas declared leg-before by umpire SimonTaufel for no score. Ajmal removed Thi-lan Samaraweera for zero and Abdur

Rehman sent back nightwatchman SurajRandiv in the day's last over to enablePakistan to end the day on a high.

The third Test will be played inPallekele from July 8.

pAkistAn 1st innings 551-6 declared (mohammad Hafeez 196,

taufeeq umar 65, Azhar Ali 157, misbah-ul Haq 66 not out, r.

Herath 3-164)

sri lAnkA 1st innings (overnight 70-1):

t. paranavitana c Azhar b Junaid 0

t. dilshan lbw b Junaid 121

k. sangakkara not out 144

m. Jayawardene lbw b Junaid 0

t. samaraweera lbw b Ajmal 0

s. randiv lbw b rehman 5

extras: (b4, lb4) 8

total (for five wickets, 85.4 overs) 278

fall of wickets: 1-11 (paranavitana), 2-236 (dilshan), 3-250 (m.

Jayawardene), 4-259 (samaraweera), 5-278 (randiv).

bowling: cheema 18-5-66-0, Junaid 19-3-56-3, Ajmal 26-0-77-

1, rehman 16.4-3-50-1, Hafeez 6-0-21-0.

sri lanka trail by 273 runs with five wickets in hand

toss: sri lanka

umpires: ian gould (eng) and simon taufel (Aus)

tV umpire: ruchira palliyaguruge (sri)

match referee: david boon (Aus).

scoreboArd

LAHOREstAff report

The Pakistan cricket Board on Tuesdayconfirmed the participation of the do-mestic T20 champions Sialkot Stal-lions in the October's Twenty20Champions League

An official of the PCB said thatthey received an invitation from Indiainviting the national champions toplay the qualification round of theLeague, which he believes is a step to-wards reviving cricket ties between thearch-rivals which have been sus-pended since 2008.

The Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) last month gave the goahead to include Pakistan's Twenty20champions in the multinationalleague, which brings together 10 topteams, including those from India,

Australia and South Africa."PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board)

confirms that an invitation has beenreceived from the Champions LtagueTwenty20, inviting the winners of Pak-istan Twenty20 event to participate inthe qualifying tournament," a state-ment issued by the PCB said.

"The invitation will be discussed inthe PCB's Executive CoordinationCommittee meeting on Wednesday."

The PCB last month called the in-vitation "the first step towards reviv-ing cricketing ties between the twocountries". According to a foreignnews agency, the main league will beheld from October 9-28 in SouthAfrica, with qualifying rounds takingplace before the main event.

The Sialkot Stallions won the do-mestic Twenty20 event in Pakistanearlier this year. They were due to fea-

ture in the inaugural ChampionsLeague in 2009 but were not invitedafter India severed bilateral relationswith Pakistan in the wake of terroristattacks on Mumbai.

New Delhi blamed militants basedin Pakistan for the attacks which left166 people dead. Both Pakistan andIndia have since come a long way innormalising ties, with the opening oftrade earlier this year.

Pakistan's President Asif AliZardari toured India for a day earlierthis year, requesting prime ministerManmohan Singh to revive cricketingties, prompting BCCI's decision to in-clude a Pakistani team in the league.

Pakistan expects a breakthroughin relations later this year but theBCCI said the Indian team's hecticschedule is the main hurdle in arrang-ing any series in the near future.

PCB receives ChampionsLeague invite from India

Kamran summoned by PCB integrity committeeKARACHI

Afp

A Pakistani cricket committee hassummoned wicket-keeper batsmanKamran Akmal in a bid to clear himfrom suspicion of match-fixing and re-vive his derailed career, an official saidTuesday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)integrity committee will questionKamran on Wednesday, following hisinclusion in the preliminary 30-mansquad for the World Twenty20 in SriLanka in September and October.

"Kamran has been summoned bythe committee and he has been askedto submit some material," PCBspokesman Nadeem Sarwar told AFP,without giving further details.

The 30 year old has not been se-

lected for Pakistan since the 2011World Cup, and the board said he wasnot considered for selection becausehe had not been cleared by the com-mittee.

"Kamran is among the 30 proba-bles for the World Twenty20 but hisinclusion in the final team is subject toclearance from the integrity commit-tee," chief selector Iqbal Qasim toldAFP.

Kamran's name was mentioned atlast year's spot-fixing trial in England,but he was neither summoned by theLondon court nor banned by the Inter-national Cricket Council (ICC).

Former Test captain Salman Buttand pacemen Mohammad Asif andMohammad Aamer were banned andjailed for contriving deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test against

England in 2010.Kamran was also accused of delib-

erately under-performing during Pak-istan's surprise defeat againstAustralia in the 2010 Sydney Test,where he failed to run out Shane Wat-son and dropped three chances onMichael Hussey.

Despite the allegations, Kamranclaimed to have a clearance letter fromthe ICC saying he is not being investi-gated.

He also vowed to clear his namethrough the integrity committee,which reportedly asked for details ofhis assets and bank accounts.

He was axed from the team after adismal keeping behind the stumps atthe World Cup where he dropped NewZealand's Ross Taylor twice in pace-man Shoaib Akhtar's one over.

Lords to hostolympic event

LONDONAfp

It's been 112 years since cricket made a briefOlympic Games appearance. At the LondonGames, the sport will still be absent, but itsspiritual home of Lord's will at least providea support role when it hosts the archerycompetition. The sport, which once againwill be dominated by South Korea, has al-ready had its test event at the famousvenue, albeit played out on a very chillyweek in October last year in front of emptystands. But the ground got the thumbs upfrom competitors and officials. "They likeit," said Tom Dielen, the secretary-generalof International Archery. "They haven't hadtoo many problems with the slope. Archeryhas fallen in love with Lord's."South Korea has won 18 golds since archeryreturned to the Olympics in 1972 after a 52-year absence, double the tally of their clos-est challengers, the United States.They also took gold and silver at the 2009world championships.But at the Beijing Olympics four years, thecountry, although dominating the teamevents, missed out on the individual golds, asurprising development given that Koreanarchers hold the world records. In London,South Korea men's team will be led by 2008team champion Im Dong Hyun, the 2011world championship runner-up Oh JinHyek and newcomer Kim Bubmin.The United States has the top ranked BradyEllison, Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie.France, which will be competing in their12th Games, will look to ThomasFaucheron, Romain Girouille and Gael Pre-vost. In the women's tournament, SouthKorea's strongest rivals are expected to beIndia, China, Taiwan and reigning worldchampions Italy. South Korea's team will be made up of top-ranked Ki Bo Bae, 2004 Olympic teamchampion Lee Sun Jin and rookie ChoiHyeonju. India will rely on Bombayla Devi,Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro. TheOlympic archery tournament consists of fourmedal events -- men's individual, women'sindividual, men's team, and women's team.In all four events, the distance from thearcher to the target is 70 metres.

Gillespie adds toKiwis injury problemsWelliNgtoN: Paceman Mark Gille-spie will miss New Zealand's tour of theWest Indies after damaging his anklewhile running, adding to the Black Caps'injury list, officials said Tuesday.Gillespie was due to travel to Antigua forthe first of two Tests beginning on July25 but chief selector Kim Littlejohn saidhe would remain in New Zealand aftersuffering ligament damage and severebruising to his ankle."As a precautionary measure Mark feelsthat it would be the right decision to stayin Wellington to continue working on hisrehabilitation," Littlejohn said.New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor has al-ready confirmed he will miss the five-match one-day series beginning inKingston on Friday after injuring hisshoulder during a pre-tour Twenty20 in-ternational series in Florida.Taylor, whose side were crushed by theWest Indies in both the Florida T20matches, is also in doubt for the Testseries. Afp

CoLoMBo: Pakistani cricketer Abdur rehman (C) celebrates with his

teammates after dismissing Suraj randiv. AFP

Kumar Sangakkara celebrates after scoring a century during the

fourth day of the second Test match. AFP

Murray, Ferrer set-up wimbledonquarter-final clash

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Sports 15wednesday, 4 July, 2012

LAHOREstAff report

WEST Indies openerChris Gayle and Pak-istan allrounderShahid Afridi,among the biggest

entertainers in the Twenty20 format,have been named the two internationalicon players in the inaugural Sri LankaPremier League that begins August 10.

The presence of the duo, who will joinfive other Sri Lanka players as icons oftheir respective teams, lends the fledglingleague some star power and has the po-tential to boost viewership.

Gayle, who is set to play New Zealandin five ODIs and two Tests at home in aseries that ends August 6, will representthe Uva province, while Afridi will playfor Nagenahira, reported ESPNcricinfo.

Last week Sri Lanka Cricket auc-tioned the seven Sri Lanka PremierLeague teams for an average price of $4.3million. A number of Indian companiesare believed to have successfully bid forteams in the Sri Lanka Premier League(SLPL), highlighting the lure of the fran-chise model in cricket's largest marketdespite the BCCI's reluctance to allow In-dian players to participate.

Among the companies are the Wad-hawan Group, a business conglomeratewith interests in real estate, retail and ed-ucation, India Cricket Dundee, an Indianfan organisation along the lines of theBarmy Army, and the Delhi-based RudraGroup, which also has interests in real es-tate.

A player draft will be conducted onJuly 5 and 6, with a lottery held to deter-

mine the order in which players arepicked. SLC will determine the value ofthe contract for each player in advanceand the franchises will be made aware ofthe cost of the player. The players will bedrafted in two groups - the first consist-ing of players from Sri Lanka and the sec-ond, the foreign players. The draft isbeing seen as the best way to ensure thatplayers are evenly distributed among theteams, making it a level playing field.

The SLPL will run for three weeks,

with the final to be held on August 31.There will be 24 games in total, split be-tween Colombo and Pallekele. Teams willbe allowed a maximum of 18 players, outof which six can be foreign players.Teams will be allowed play a maximum offour foreign players per game. Out of theremaining seven players in the XI, onemust be a Sri Lanka Under-21 interna-tional.viSa haSSleS to deNy afridi,taNvir participatioN iN eNg-

laNd t20 : Meanwhile, Sohail Tanvirand Shahid Afridi, the Pakistani crick-eters, will not feature in this the FriendsLife Twenty20 championships in Englandthis year due to visa-related hassles.

Worcestershire had initially plannedto have Tanvir for the entire T20 season,but his recall to the Pakistan squad forthe One-Day International series in SriLanka last month deemed him unavail-able for the first half of the tournament.And now, with visa issues refusing to be

resolved, the county will have to do with-out the lef-arm paceman for rest of thetournament too.

"It has been well documented thatobtaining visa for overseas professionalsis becoming more and more difficult,"said David Leatherdale, Chief Executiveof Worcestershire County Cricket Club."We are very disappointed that Sohailwon't be joining us. But with just fourgroup matches remaining, and still noguarantee that the visa process has beencompleted in Pakistan, his stay with theclub is no longer practical."

Sohail's unavailability meant Worces-tershire have only one overseas player inPhil Hughes, the Australian opener, fortheir T20 campaign. The team, though, ison course for a quarterfinal berth afterfour wins in their first six matches.

Afridi, the former Pakistan captain,who was supposed to be available forHampshire's entire T20 campaign, is alsounavailable. The delay in obtaining a visameant that Hampshire stuck to their cur-rent set of players for the remainder ofthe tournament.

"We are deep into the 2012 competi-tion and the side is settled so we don't feelit is right to change that now," said GilesWhite, manager of Hampshire CountyCricket Club.

Afridi was one of the shining stars inthe county's campaign in 2011. His 17wickets in ten matches helped the sidequalify for the semifinal, which they lostto Somerset in the one-over eliminator.Hamsphire, however, did not rule Afridiout for the future. "The door is still openfor him to return to Hampshire in futureyears should circumstances suit both par-ties," said White.

Gayle, Afridi named icon players in SL League

Aisam loses in third round thriller

loNdoN: The doubles team of Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshiand Jean-Julein Roger lost in the third round of the Wim-bledon tennis tournament. Aisam Qureshi and Roger lostto J.Marray of United Kingdom and F.Nielsen of Den-mark in a tough five set match (6-7, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 5-7). Afp

Junior open

Squash semis

today

LAHOREstAff reports

The Lahore Junior Open Squash Cham-pionship 2012 has reached the semi-finalstage here on Tuesday. In the quarterfi-nal matches were started at 1000 hourstoday at Punjab Squash Complex, OldClub Road, Davis Road Lahore. In all theunder-11, 13 and 15 age categories quar-ter-final matches were decided while inthe girls category first round encountersand then quarter-finals were held. Quarterfinal results:Boys under-11: Farhan Hashmi beatAhmed Anwar 11-3, 11-7, 11-3, Hamza AliShahid beat Khakan Farooq Malik 11-6,11-4, 11-5, Hamad Khan beat IbtisamRiaz 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, Baaz Ali Khan beatUzair Raja 11-5, 11-0, 11-3Boys under-13: Darosham Khan beatSaram Bin Shoukat 11-4, 11-4, 11-3, HarisQasim beat Rehan Tahir 11-4, 11-1, 13-11,Shahzad Ali Khan beat Aun Abbas 11-6,7-11, 11-8, 11-9, Uzair Rashid beatSalman Khan 11-7, 11-5, 11-3Boys under-15: Abdul Qadir beat AsaadAbid Khan 11-2, 11-9, 11-2, Khizar Qasimbeat Ijaz Khan 11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9,Usmar Hassan beat M. Kibria 11-4, 11-6,11-13, 11-4, Arslan Ramzan beat WajidAkbar 19-17, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2Girls under-15: Nimra Shahid beat BismaAshraf 11-1, 11-2, Aiman Shahbaz beatSana Muneer 11-0, 11-1, Noor Ul Ain beatRoma Yousaf 12-10, 11-3, Kaiynat Li-aquat beat Farah Manzoor 11-2, 11-1.Girls under-15 1ST round: Nimra Shahidbeat Bye, Bisma Ashraf beat Hina Riaz12-10, 11-4, Sana Muneer beat FatimaMuneer 11-1, 11-4, Aiman Shahbaz beatBye, Roma Yousaf beat Bye, Noor Ul Ainbeat Laiba Shahid 11-2, 11-2, Farah Man-zoor beat Sidra M. Ayoub 11-7, 11-6,Kaiynat Liaquat beat Bye.

PCB appreciates

BCCI's invitation LAHORE

stAff report

Hailing the decision of the ChampionsLeague organising committee, which in-cludes Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI), to invite Pakistan's SialkotStallions in the qualifying stage of thetournament, Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) chief operating officer SubhanAhmed said this could be the first steptowards the revival of bilateral ties withIndia.Pakistan's domestic T20 champions gotan official invitation from the organisingcommittee of the Champions League,which includes the boards of India,South Africa and Australia, to be one ofthe six teams to play in the qualifyingstage this year."We see this as a very positive develop-ment and since India is one of the mainstake holders in the Champions Leagueobviously it is the first step towards therevival of bilateral ties with India,"Ahmed said.Sialkot Stallions will have to competewith five other teams in the qualifyingstage to grab one of the two spots avail-able to qualify for the main round of thecompetition.Due to strained relations after the Mum-bai terror attacks in November, 2008India has avoided inviting either Pak-istani players for the Indian PremierLeague or a team from Pakistan for theChampions League.But at the Indian Cricket Board's work-ing committee meeting two months back,it was decided to invite a team from Pak-istan for the Champions League, whichwas initially to be held in India. .Ahmed said now that an official invita-tion had come from the organisers, theexecutive coordination committee of thePCB would discuss it on July 4."Pakistan has a very strong T20 domesticbase and obviously we were always keento have representation in the ChampionsLeague," Ahmed said.The cricket boards of India, Australiaand South Africa jointly own and operatethe Champions League, which is a tour-nament contested by the domestic T20champions from Test playing nations.Sialkot Stallions a team led by Pakistan'sformer captain and all-rounder ShoaibMalik are the reigning national andsuper eights T20 champions.

From Athens to LondonPERvEz QASAR

First Olympic Games in 1896Venue: Athens, GreeceDates: April 6-15, 1896Numbers of Sports: 9 (43 events)Numbers of Nations: 14Numbers of Participant: 241 (all male)Youngest Gold medallist: Alfred Hajos( Hungary) aged 18 years 70 days inswiminngOldest medallist: Georgios Orphandis(Greece) aged 37 years in shootingfinal medals tallycountry g s b total

united states 11 7 1 19

greece 10 19 17 46

germany 7 5 2 14

france 5 4 2 11

great britain 3 3 1 7

Hungary 2 1 2 5

Austria 2 - 3 5

Australia 2 - - 2

denmark 1 2 4 7

switzerland 1 2 - 3

total 44 43 32 119

trivia: Greek businessman GeorgesAveroff from Alexandria, Egypt paid

920,000 drachma (£ 36,500 at the 1896exchange rate) for the reconstruction ofthe Panathenean Stadium at Athens.

The Panathenean Stadium at Athens,the venue for the first Olympic Games in1896 was actually been built in 330 BC bythe orator Luycurgus, a disciple of Plato.Australia, France, Greece, Great Britainand Switzerland are the only five coun-tries have never failed to be representedat all Olympic Games since 1896.James Connolly (United Sates) wonthe triple jump on 6 April 1896,and thus became the firstOlympic champion sincethe AncientGames. Healso finishedsecond in thehigh jumpand third inthe long jump.

Alfred Hajos (Hungary) won the100m and the 1,200m events. For thelonger race, the swimmers were trans-ported by boat and left to swim back toshore alone. Only first and second placefinishers of first Olympic Games were

awarded medals. The winners receivedsilver medals and crowns of olivebranches, while second place finishers re-ceived bronze medals.QuiZ:Q 1: What was the unique achieve-ment of the Soviet union wrestlingteam at montreal olympics in1976?

A. All the 10 members ofthe team returned home

with medals.Q 2: Which coun-try won the men’shandball title at

montreal in 1976?A. Soviet Union

Q 3: When did the mod-ern pentathlon make its

debut in olympics ?A. 1912

Q 4: What was the name of themain stadium at mexico city, thevenue of the 1968 games ?

A. Estodio OlympicoQ 5: Who is the only olympic gymnastto win five gold in one celebration ?

A. Anton Heide (United States).

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Sports16wednesday, 4 July, 2012

LONDONAfp

aNDY Murray on Tuesdayreached a fifth successiveWimbledon quarter-finalwhere he will meet Span-ish bulldozer David Ferrer

who has made the last eight for the firsttime at the 10th attempt.

British fourth seed Murray beatCroatian 16th seed Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 as organisers scrambled tomake up for lost time caused by heavyrain.

He will now attempt to go on to afourth All England Club semi-final onthe trot, but will first have to get pastseventh-seeded Ferrer who put outformer US Open champion Juan Mar-tin del Potro 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

Murray had led Queen's Club win-ner Cilic, against whom he was de-fending a 5-1 career record, 7-5, 3-1overnight when play was suspendeddue to Monday's downpours.

They played twogames Tuesday

before morerain sentthem offCourt Onefor an hour.

But onthe resump-tion, the

S c o t

was rarely troubled as Cilic struggledwith his opponent and the damp,chilly conditions.

Murray was playing his last 16 tieagainst a background of controversyafter it was suggested that, as thecountry's best hope for a finalist sinceBunny Austin in 1938, he should playall his matches on Centre Court.

"I honestly don't care which courtI play on. It makes no difference butobviously every player would rather beon Centre Court because you know youare going to get your match in regard-less of the weather," Murray said.

"I don't think I deserve to playevery match on Centre Court. It's justannoying when the weather is bad.

"I haven't always dealt with raindelays that well in the past, so it'sgood experience for me. Probably fromnow on I will play on Centre so it won'tbe a problem."

Only three of the scheduled last 16men's ties had been completed onMonday with Novak Djokovic, RogerFederer and Mikhail Youzhny able toenjoy a day-off before Wednesday'squarter-finals.

Federer will play Youzhny lookingfor a 14th win in 14 matches againstthe Russian.

Defending champion Djokovic willtackle German 31stseed Florian Mayer,who reached thequarter-finals for the

second time, eightyears after his first

appearance, witha 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win overFrench 18thseed RichardGasquet.

It wasMayer's firstwin over 2007semi- f inal is t

Gasquet since 2004 and was sweet re-venge for losing a Davis Cup quarter-final rubber to the French player in2011 after being two sets to loveahead. "It's an unbelievable feeling.Eight years ago I was here in the quar-ters, and now eight years later it's hap-pened again. So it's a wonderful dreamfor me," said Mayer.

Ferrer never got the chance tostart his match on Monday, but the30-year-old, now carrying Spain'shopes after the shock elimination ofRafael Nadal, wasted no time againstninth seed Del Potro, racing home be-neath the Centre Court roof in undertwo hours.

Del Potro, who had also made thelast 16 in 2011, was undone by 20 un-forced errors compared to Ferrer's

more conservative eight."Of course I prefer Rafael or an-

other Spaniard here with me because Iam only with my team," said Ferrer,who is tied 5-5 in career meetings withMurray.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 27thseed, became the second German intothe last eight, ending US qualifierBrian Baker's fairytale run with a 6-1,7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win in an hour and 55minutes on Court 12.

He will faces either French fifthseed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or US 10thseed Mardy Fish in the last eight.

Kohlschreiber, who fired 23 aces,goes fourth on the list of the mostGrand Slams played before reachingthe last eight, having got there on the33rd attempt.

Bahria Garden hostsAmbassador’s Golf

LAHOREstAff report

The Opening ceremony of 1st Ambas-sador’s Golf Association Tournament2012 was held at Garden City Golf &Country Club, Phase 8, Bahria TownRawalpindi.Rodolfo J. Martin Saravia, AmbassadorArgentina ad President AGAP was thechief guest on the prize distribution cer-emony. Vice Chief Executive Cdr (r) MIlyas (President Garden City Golf &Country Club), Vice Chief ExecutiveProjects II Marium Rehman & manyother distinguished guests were presenton the occasion.Chief Guest Rodolfo J. Martin awardedprizes to the winner & Runner ups.1stPrize in Category (A) goes to MikkoLainejoki 43 points. In Category (B) LTGeneral Mr Syed Sabahat was the win-ner, Category (C)Mr Rodolfo J. MartinSaravia win 1st prize.

Young rising stars triumphant

LAHOREstAff report

In the 5th National Inter-Club WomenFootball Championship-2012YoungRising Stars registered a big win onTuesday at the Islamabad ground. Young Rising Star WFC Rawalpindibeat Hazara Shaheen WFC Abbotabad4:0 @ Jinnah Sports Complex Sta-dium, Islamabad. Scorer Rising Star:Nabeela Hashmi 1 Goal @ 2 Minute,Zara Kiani 1 Goal @ 20 Minute,Bushra Jamali 1 Goal @ 27 Minute andSaher Zaman 1 Goal @ 30 Minute, As-mara Kiani 1 Goal @ 40 Minute andMaapara 1 Goal @ 55 Minute.

Ushna wins in egyptLAHORE

stAff report

Ushna Suhail of Pakistan defeatedItalian to qualify for main draw of theITF Pro-circuit Women Tennis inEgyptUshna Suhail, who has been bothwomen and junior tennis champion inPakistan, is currently working hard totrain and compete in ITF ProcircuitWomens Tennis. Currently she is inShrem ul Sheikh, Egypt participatingin a tournament. She lost in doublesquarters last week.On Monday she qualified for the nextmain round by defeating her oppo-nent from Italy, Emy Damiani. Ushnaplayed a very aggressive game andfinished the match in straight setswith a scoreline of 6-1, 6-1.She is playing her next single firstround against 3 seed from Kazak-istan, Kamila Kerimbayeva. For thedoubles, her partner is Adnya Naikfrom India.

CondolenceLAHORE

stAff report

Cricket Organiser and Chairman ofEast Zone Cricket Association Tourn-ment Committee Waqqar-ul-Munirand Sye Tauqeer Ali Shah presidentWest Zone cricket Association,Tauseef Club, Wahdat Eaglets, ServiceClub, Rising Stars, MughalpuraWhites, Model Town Club, AkhterAbdul Rehman Club, Mehboob ParkGymkhana, Aamir Memorial, PrinceClub, ,Ghari Shaho Gym and manyother clubs of the city have expressedtheir deep shock and grief over thesad demise on the death of PCB Um-pire, President Of Rising star club andjoint secretary of EAst Zone cricketAssociation Hanif Muhammad. In acondolence message they conveyedtheir sorrow on the death of HanifMuhammad.

Murray, Ferrer set-upWimbledon quarters clash

kohlschreiber ends Baker'sfairytale run

loNdoN: Philipp Kohlschreiber made it intothe quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the firsttime, ending US qualifier Brian Baker's fairytalerun in a straight sets win at Wimbledon on Tues-day. The German 27th seed won 6-1, 7-6 (7/4),6-3 in an hour and 55 minutes on Court 12 andnow faces either French fifth seed Jo-WilfriedTsonga or US 10th seed Mardy Fish in the lasteight. Baker lost six years of his career after fivedifferent operations on a hernia, then his leftand right hips and finally his right elbow. Heeventually felt ready to return to tennis in July2011 and the 27-year-old has enjoyed a remark-ably successful time back on the circuit. Bakerstarted the year ranked 458 but the world num-ber 126 will break into the top 100 after hisWimbledon run, with the American likely toenter at around 77. Kohlschreiber goes fourth on

the list of the most Grand Slams played before reaching the last eight, having got thereon the 33rd attempt. Fabrice Santoro holds the unenviable record at 54, followed byAustralian doubles duo Mark Woodforde on 38 and Todd Woodbridge on 34. TheGerman made it into the last eight thanks to some 23 aces and superb net play.Kohlschreiber was 3-1 up in the first set when the players went off for a rain break. Afp

MAdrId: Spanish national football team players parade on a open bus in

Madrid after winning the euro Cup for the second time 4-0 against Italy. AFP

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eUro 2012 WinnerS watch it Live

TEN SPORTS2nd Test: Pakistanvs Sri Lanka 09:30AM

STAR SPORTSWimbledonTennis04:00PM

Sports 17wednesday, 4 July, 2012

US stars eye

30-medal

olympic haulEUGENE

Afp

USA Track and Field officials and USOlympic coaches are confident ofachieving their goal of a 30-medal haulfrom the London Olympics after watch-ing competitors qualify over the past 10days. "There's a real opportunity forthat," US Olympic men's track coach An-drew Valmon said. "We have a strongteam. If we are clicking on all cylindersanything is possible."A blend of talented veterans, some hop-ing for a return to the medal podium,and top newcomers advancing from theUS Olympic Track and Field Trialsstaged at Hayward Field give the Ameri-cans a chance to improve on 2008 dis-appointment."That is a reachable goal," USA Trackand Field chief executive Max Siegelsaid of 30 US athletics medals. "I'm con-fident we will have a good showing inLondon. The athletes performed well.We have a strong team."Americans claimed 23 medals from ath-letics at Beijing with seven golds, ninesilvers and seven bronzes. But the 2008US men produced only 14 medals, thesecond-fewest at any Olympics, and onlyfour golds, the fewest of any Olympics.And most of the disappointments at thetrials came on the men's side. WalterDix, second in the 100 and 200 meters atlast year's worlds and third in the sameevents at the 2008 Olympics, failed toqualify in either after a leg injury.Beijing Olympic decathlon winner BryanClay, former world shot put championAdam Nelson and 2004 400m winnerJeremy Wariner also missed London. Sodid 2008 Olympic 110 hurdles medalistDavid Oliver and 400 hurdles medalistBershawn Jackson.But some of the trials stars were on themen's side as well, including world de-cathlon record-setter Ashton Eaton,5,000 and 10,000 doubler Galen Ruppand 110 hurdles stars Jason Richardsonand Aries Merritt, each under 13 sec-onds for the first time in their lives.

Bolt, Blake prepped to make track and field centre stagePARIS

Afp

The doping-tarnished world of athleticsneeded a boost at the 2008 Beijing Olympicsand duly received a massive one from Ja-maican sprint star Usain Bolt, who changedthe face of track and field as we know it. Thegood news for organisers of next month'sLondon Games is that the ebullient 25-year-old remains in tip-top form and professeshimself desperate to defend his double sprintgold medal-showing from four years ago.

But he will have a battle on his hands,having recently been pipped in both the100 and 200m in the Jamaican Olympictrials by training partner Yohan Blake,crowned world champion in Daegu lastyear after Bolt sensationally false started inthe final. Bolt truly revolutionised athleticswith his performances in a captivated Bird'sNest stadium in the Chinese capital, settingthen-world records in both the 100 and200m and also going on to claim a thirdgold as part of Jamaica's WR-setting4x100m relay team. He went on to replicatehis three golds in the 2009 world champi-

onships in Berlin, remarkably setting thecurrent world records of 9.58 and 19.19secin the 100 and 200m respectively.

"I am the Olympic champion and Ihave to show the world I am the best," Boltsaid after his double losses in the trials toBlake. "I will always make a comeback. It isnot like I was blown away. I know what Ineed to do to get it right."

Blake said he had not been shocked byrecording a rare double defeat of Bolt.

"I have been working hard and am see-ing it paying off now," Blake said. "I was notsurprised by the big win. I know what Bolthas to offer and I know he was not at 100percent. I just tried to keep my form."

Contenders for the blue riband event ofthe 100m will come from another Jamaicanin the shape of Asafa Powell and the Amer-ican duo of Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin,the 2004 Olympic 100m champion barredfrom defending his title in Beijing afterbeing banned for doping offences.

Gay, who has committed to racing justthe 100m come London, has made a slowstart to the season, but came through theUS trials alongside Gatlin, the latter insist-

ing they were ready to face the Jamaicanchallenge.

"We all have our eyes on that prize wewant to get at the end," Gatlin said. "If thereare three Jamaicans we have to get out ofthe way, that will be our goal." But athleticsis not all about one man and his roadshow,although meeting organisers and the gen-eral public may beg to differ...

Track and field will be held from Au-gust 3-12, the last 10 days of the Games, atthe newly-built Olympic Stadium, with anestimated 2,000 athletes competing in 47events. The men will compete in 24 eventsand the women in 23, with the latter'sschedule lacking the gruelling 50km racewalk. The US team suffered one of its worstshowings in Olympics history but still fin-ished atop the gold medal standings in Bei-jing thanks to its men's 4x400m relaysquad winning the penultimate race of thecompetition. The Americans finished withseven golds, nine silvers and seven bronzesfor a total of 23. Russia came second with18 medals (six gold, five silver, sevenbronze and Jamaica third with six golds,three silvers and two bronzes.

Kenya bumped up their medal count to14 (5-5-4) with gold medal-winning per-formances in the men's 800m andwomen's 1500m, and the late Samuel Wan-jiru claiming the men's marathon title. TheUS team, always happy to make their "mi-nority" sport centre stage, will again bestrong, with incredible strength in depth inthe sprints and hurdles. On the track it re-mains to be seen how the Ethiopian duo ofKenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibabashape up against a formidable-lookingKenyan middle and long-distance team ledby 800m world record holder David Rud-isha. The two multi-medal-winning long-distance runners claimed the men andwomen's 5000m and 10,000m doubleswithin a day of each other.

But Bekele is battling to regain his formafter a two-year-long battle with an achillestendon problem, and has so far looked offthe pace. Dibaba, meanwhile, won in the5000m at the New York Diamond Leaguebut will have her work cut out against stand-out Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot, who claimedan impressive 5000-10,000m double at theworld championships in Daegu.

Villas-Boas confirmednew Tottenham boss

LONDONAfp

Former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boaswas confirmed as the new manager of Tot-tenham on Tuesday following the shockdeparture of Harry Redknapp last month."The club is delighted to announce AndreVillas-Boas as Head Coach," Spurs con-firmed on their official Twitter feed follow-ing days of speculation concerning thePortuguese coach. The appointment marksa dramatic return to the English PremierLeague for Villas-Boas, who was fired asmanager of Chelsea in March just eightmonths into a three-year contract.Villas-Boas' ill-fated reign at StamfordBridge ended in dismissal after months ofunrest behind the scenes, with rumours ofplayer mutinies and a breakdown in rela-tions with the manager. However the 34-year-old -- who arrived at Chelsea after astellar quadruple-winning season withPorto -- has successfully convinced Spurschairman Daniel Levy that he is the bestman to build on Redknapp's legacy.

Beaten butunbowed, Italysquad returns home

ROMEAfp

Italy's footballers were welcomed back by asmall group of just a few dozen fans onMonday after defeat by Spain in the Euro2012 final but said they were already look-ing forward to the World Cup in 2014. Ar-riving on a flight from Krakow in Poland atRome's Fiumicino airport, the footballersdressed in suits and ties were greeted withshouts of encouragement and later attendeda high-pomp ceremony with President Gior-gio Napolitano. Fans chanted the nationalanthem and asked the players to autographa placard reading "Go Italy" before the foot-ballers boarded their buses. One player,Leonardo Bonucci, admitted to AFP beforegetting on that there was an overwhelmingfeeling of disappointment among his teammates. "There is always sadness because wewere there -- one step away from the dream,from realising something important," hesighed. "Unfortunately we did not manageto impose ourselves against a great team.Now we are leaving this Euro with the willto put into practice the tactics that (coach)Cesare Prandelli taught us," he said.

Sea of fans throw agiant party for heroes

MADRIDAfp

SPAIN'S triumphant Euro2012 heroes parted a red-and-yellow sea of fans incentral Madrid on Mondayin a giant, deafening na-

tional fiesta that swept aside all thoughtsof economic crisis. An open-top double-decker bus ferried the team like a smallboat picking its way through a vast oceanof hundreds of thousands of adoringSpaniards waving flags, cheering anddancing to thumping rock music.

Helicopters hovering above filmeda crowd that seemed to carpet the en-tire heart of the capital to rejoice inSpain's historic 4-0 thrashing of Italyin the Ukrainian capital Kiev. At the cli-max of the party, the players basked inglory in the central Plaza de Cibelessquare, where Queen's "We are theChampions" blared from loudspeakers.

In the centre of the square, a hugeSpain flag was draped around the neck ofan emblematic stone fountain of the god-dess of nature riding a chariot hauled bylions. The team joined a rock group tosing and dance on a huge stage in thesquare, with towering video screens be-hind. Rappers blared out the song "Nohay dos sin tres (You can't have two with-out three)" in praise of Spain's unprece-dented third straight title and the teamdanced along, wearing red T-shirds read-

ing "Champions of Europe.""For me it is a great pride to be able

to captain this team of great players andgreat people," Spain goalkeeper and cap-tain Iker Casillas told fans from the stage.

"Thank you for being here!"Left winger Andres Iniesta, who was

crowned the player of the tournament,said he was humbled to be part of a leg-endary squad.

"But more than anything I feel veryproud to see your expressions of joy inthese difficult times for us -- it is a matterof pride to see you happy," he said.

During the victory parade, Spaniardspacked the streets from the buildingsright to the edge of the bus, which was es-corted by mounted police as it gingerlymade its way to the city centre.

Leaning over the edge of the bus, for-ward Cesc Fabregas brandished the silvertrophy, adding to an unprecedented col-lection that includes the 2008 Euro andthe 2010 World Cup. Residents hungfrom apartment balconies to get a glimpseof their heroes, waving wildly as the teampassed and throwing buckets of water tocool fellow party-goers on the streetbelow. Giant red balloons bobbed abovesupporters' heads.

One fan, 42-year-old Jaime Barea,brought a group of 14 children, his ownand his friends' offspring.

"It will give them an unforgettablememory," he said. "When I was small Idid not have this chance. Spain went for

40 years without winning."Fernando Torres, winner of the

Golden Boot for his three goals and oneassist in the tournament, perched non-chalantly at one point with one leg hang-ing over the edge of the bus.

Barcelona forward Cesc Fabregaslaughed and waved to fans. Real Madrid'sSergio Ramos danced in his seat.

Smiling coach Vicente del Bosque, ina white business shirt, leaned over, wavedgingerly and even swayed to the music.

Chants of "Champions, Champions!"rang through the Spanish capital.

King Juan Carlos, 74, still hobblingafter injuring his hip during an Africanelephant-hunting safari, joined with theroyal family in hailing the victors at thePalacio de la Zarzuela in Madrid.

"Spaniards are proud of you, reallyproud, and not only because each of youare good players but because as a teamyou are terrific," he said before the playersjoined the national fiesta.

Casillas gave the king a Spain shirtwith the number 1, signed by the entireteam.

"The country is more united and peo-ple can forget their problems for a while,"said 27-year-old Jessica Pino in a teamshirt, draped in the Spanish flag and witha Viking hat in the national colours. Theparty erupted from the end of the first halfof the match on Sunday night, whenSpain was already 2-0 up, and huge num-bers of fans invaded the Plaza de Cibeles.

Bonus frozen as French quartet face probePARIS

Afp

Bonuses owed to the France team for hav-ing made the quarter-finals of the re-cently-concluded EuropeanChampionships have been frozen, theFrench football federation announced onTuesday. Each member of the Frenchteam, which lost 2-0 in the quarters toeventual winners Spain, was eligible for abonus of 100,000 euros.

But in light of the in-fighting and ill-discipline that dogged the country's Eurocampaign, federation president Noel LeGraet said: "The whole of the bonuses ofthe France team at Euro 2012 are frozen.

"It's blocked money, which may be re-distributed or maybe not."

Le Graet, up for re-election in Decem-ber, added that four players from thesquad would appear at a disciplinarycommittee "as soon as possible after theirholidays" to explain their behaviour at thetournament hosted by Poland and

Ukraine. "Four players will go before thedisciplinary committee: (Hatem) BenArfa, (Yann) Mvila, (Samir) Nasri and(Jeremy) Menez," Le Graet said after ameeting of the executive committee, abody he said was unable to impose sanc-tions. "The players must be punished,sanctioned, but I don't want to make vic-tims out of them.

"Financial sanctions are detailed inour statutes, and (possible) suspensionsfor the upcoming cases will be examined

most fairly." Nasri verbally abused anAFP journalist after the loss to Spain andwas seen as a disruptive influencethroughout, while Ben Arfa had a dress-ing room row with Laurent Blanc, whostood down as coach after the tourna-ment. Menez railed at a referee, and ges-tured at captain Hugo Lloris during theSpain game, telling him to shut up, whileM'Vila did not shake hands with Blanc orhis replacement when he was substitutedby Olivier Giroud.

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

ISLAMABADAgencies

THE Supreme Court on Tues-day issued a 42-page de-tailed verdict of the

disqualification of former primeminister Yousaf Raza Gilani, stat-ing that the National Assemblyspeaker had no discretion left inthe matter when a court of compe-tent jurisdiction had found a mem-ber of parliament guilty of anoffence falling under Article63(1)(g) of the constitution.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Moham-mad Chaudhry himself wrote 42-page ruling in Urdu language while

it also include a six-page additionalnote written by Justice Jawwad SKhawaja. The verdict states that thedisqualification ruling was finalisedafter the government decided not tofile an appeal against the convictionverdict by the seven-member bench.

The order said Gilani’s lawyerscould not satisfied the court that aperson guilty of contempt of courtcan remain prime minister. Theorder said the CJP had ruled thatwhen a court of competent juris-diction found a member of parlia-ment guilty of an offence fallingunder Article 63(1)(g) of the con-stitution, the speaker had no dis-cretion left in the matter. In such

circumstances, the constitution re-quired the speaker to refer thematter of disqualification to theElection Commission. Therefore,by not referring the matter to theElection Commission, the NationalAssembly speaker exceeded herlawful authority. Her decisiontherefore was liable to be struckdown upon judicial review.

Earlier on June 19, a three-member bench, issuing shortorder, disqualified the former pre-mier. The SC declared Gilani dis-qualified from holding a seat inparliament from the date of hisconviction on April 26 by a seven-member bench for contempt of

court. However, National Assem-bly Speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza as-serted the position that noreference was binding, so she didnot move the Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP) against Gilanifor his disqualification. Later, nu-merous identical petitions werefiled against the NA speaker’s rul-ing. Hearing the petition, thebench disqualified Gilani from pre-miership as well as the member-ship of the assembly. Hours afterthe pronouncement of the shortorder, the Election Commissionde-notified Gilani as member ofthe National Assembly and de-clared his seat vacant.

NEW DELHIinp

Pakistan on Tuesday asked India to share evi-dence and information regarding Abu Jundal,the 26/11 handler arrested by Saudi Arabiaand deported to India.

Visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary JalilAbbas Jilani said his government had re-quested New Delhi to share evidence on AbuJundal.

Jundal has admitted being involved in the26/11 attacks conspiracy.

The foreign secretary further said his gov-ernment would extend to India every possiblehelp in its fight against terrorism. Pakistaniauthorities had on Monday claimed that 40Indian nationals were also involved in theMumbai attacks. “Our information is thatthere were at least 40 Indian nationals whohelped the attackers. We want India to comeclean on this,” an unnamed official of Pak-istan’s Foreign Office was quoted as saying.

The official further claimed Indian author-ities had “always been reluctant to give us thefull picture” of the investigation into the Mum-bai attacks. “When a Pakistani judicial com-mission visited India to collect evidence, it wasstopped from cross-examining the witnesses,”he claimed.

Pakistan could take “decisive action” if it

is provided details of the investigation, the of-ficial claimed. “We cannot act on hearsay,” hesaid.

Indian officials have maintained that anagreement finalised between Delhi and Islam-abad before the commission’s visit made itvery clear that the panel would not be allowedto cross-examine witnesses.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Ji-lani arrived in New Delhi to hold talks with hisIndian counterpart Ranjan Mathai on variousbilateral issues including visa, trade, disputeson Siachin, Sir Creek, Kashmir, and others.

Talking to reporters, Jilani said Pakistanwanted peace with all its neighbors especiallywith India and wanted to resolve every disputewith New Delhi which would benefit people ofboth countries.

About the much hyped case of Indian pris-oner on death row in Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh,he said the issue had already been taken at thelevel of home ministers of two countries whowere looking into it.

The foreign secretaries of India and Pak-istan will meet today (Wednesday) to discussvarious outstanding issues. The two diplomatsare also likely to finalise a date for External Af-fairs Minister SM Krishna’s visit to Islamabadto review the progress in the dialogue processwith his Pakistani counterpart Hina RabbaniKhar.

Speaker exceeded lawful authority: SCdetailed verdict says NA speaker had no discretion left in matter as court had found a parliamentarian guilty of offence under Article 63(1)(g)

Pakistan to helpindia in fightagainst terrorismg Asks India to share evidence regarding Abu Jundal

load shedding backwith a vengeanceg Hot, humid weather coupled with unannounced

power cuts making life miserable for citizens

islAmAbAd: prime minister raja pervaiz Ashraf chairs a meeting of the defence committee of cabinet on tuesday.

LAHOREAgencies

With the summer making itselfat home and humidity climbingup the percentage chart,continued unannounced loadshedding is wreaking havoc withthe people’s peace of mind,forcing them to lie awake atnights and find shade during thedays in wait for that elusive“spark” of electricity.The duration of load sheddinghas increased in the last coupleof days owing to the suspensionof oil supply to various powerplants. Sources in the NationalTransmission and DespacthCompany (NTDC) said the supplyof oil had been suspended to KotAddu, Orient and Saif powerplants, adding that due totechnical faults, Foundationpower plant had dropped out ofthe system, resulting in theelectricity shortfall climbing to5,830 megawatts. NTDC said theproduction of electricity wasrecorded at 12,570MW anddemand at 18,507MW onTuesday.However, PEPCO said electricitygeneration currently stood at13,230MW against a demand of18,507MW. Load shedding

continued for up to 14 to 16hours in Lahore and up to 16 to20 hours in rural areas in theprovincial metropolis’ suburbs.The federal capital was alsosubjected to severe power cuts.Residents, traders and civilsociety expressed seriousconcern over the unannouncedload shedding in various sectorsof Islamabad, with some facingthree to eight hours of loadshedding at a go. Traders saidload shedding was affectingbusinesses, while residents saidunannounced load shedding hadmade it impossible to get a goodnight’s sleep.Taking notice of the worseningcrisis, President Asif Ali Zardariagain ordered emergencymeasures for mitigating thepeople’s misery. A high-levelmeeting chaired by PrimeMinister Pervaiz Ashraf decidedto clear the circular debt andenhance recoveries fromdefaulters. It also decided toimmediately cut powerconnections of companies andindividuals who were not payingtheir bills. Finance MinisterAbdul Hafiz Shaikh gave abriefing on the financial issues,while Petroleum Minister DrAsim explained the reasons forlow power generation.

US moves newforces to Gulf in sign to iran

WASHINGTONAfp

Iran and the United States on Tuesdayunderlined their military readiness forconflict should faltering diplomacy overTehran’s atomic activities fail, as tensionsrose over tougher Western sanctions. Iransaid it successfully fired several dozenmissiles — including a medium-rangeShahab-3 ballistic weapon with a rangecapable of striking Israel — in war games inits central desert region designed to show itscapacity for counter-attack. The UnitedStates has moved new forces into the Gulf tokeep strategic waterways open and strikedeep within Iran in the event of a regionalmilitary escalation, the New York Timesreported Tuesday. The Times cited seniorofficials as saying the quiet build-up wasaimed at reassuring Israel that Washington isserious about addressing Iran’s nuclearprogram and keeping the Straits of Hormuz— a key oil choke point — open. “Don’t eventhink about closing the strait. We’ll clear themines. Don’t even think about sending yourfast boats out to harass our vessels orcommercial shipping. We’ll put them on thebottom of the Gulf.” Some 120 lawmakers inIran’s 290-seat parliament have also signedon to a draft bill calling for the strategic Straitof Hormuz at the entrance to the oil-rich Gulfto be closed to oil tankers headed to Europein retaliation for an EU embargo on Iraniancrude that came into effect on Sunday. USPresident Barack Obama has sought to rollback Iran’s nuclear program thoughdiplomatic means — ramping up sanctions tounprecedented levels in recent months —while not ruling out a military strike.

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