Rs 17.00 Vol III No 237 19 Pages Karachi Edition Saturday, 23 February, 2013 Rabi us Sani 12, 1434

Gov MaGsi’s

Rule in

Balochistan

to Go By

MaRch 14

The Pakistan People’s

Party-led coalition

government has

decided to revoke the

Governor’s Rule in

Balochistan and

reinstate the provincial

government in the

province by March 14.

story on page 03

story on page 03

President Asif Ali Zardari has called for unity and harmony to

address the challenge of extremism and terrorism, as he said

that global politics had used religion as a weapon of war.

lJ leader Malikishaq ‘surrenders’to police in ryK

The leader of the Lashkar-e-

Jhangvi (LJ) has surrendered

himself to authorities, police

said on Friday, a week after

the banned religious outfit

claimed responsibility for a

deadly bombing in Quetta

killing over 90 people.

china to help commission twonuclear power plants by 2016

no legislation required for overseas pakistanis’ voting rights, says sc

Mps on fire over lost Kishangangacase, demand fixing responsibility

story page 24 story page 04 story page 18

irked by ip deal, us suggests ‘better way’ to meet energy needs

pakistan wantstrade, not usaid, says nawaz

story page 02 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif hasurged the Obama administration to shiftthe focus of its relationship with Pakistan away from aid to one based ontrade, investment and greater people-to-people contacts.

story page 02

global politics usedreligion as a weapon of war

story on page 02

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 1

NSaturday, 23 February, 2013

02

NewS

PML-N has no shortage of candidates nor it has

the need for support of any extremist group.

— Punjab govt spokesman Pervez Rasheed

19 dead aS bUSPlUnGeS Intocanal InPeShawar

PESHAWAR: At least 19 people were

killed and another eight were injured

when a bus, carrying wedding guests,

plunged into a canal on Charsadda

Road in Peshawar on Friday. Five of

the 19 killed were women. Rescue

teams took the dead and the injured

to Lady Reading Hospital. According

to rescue sources, most of the injured

were women and children. nni

SbP SayS GovernormISqUoted on loandefaUlterS’ lIStKARACHI: The

State Bank of

Pakistan

(SBP) has

clarified

that SBP

Governor

Yaseen

Anwar’s

statement

regarding the

submission of loan defaulters’ list to

the Election Commission of Pakistan

(ECP) on February 26 has been

incorrectly reported in a section of

the press on Friday. Clarifying the

statement of the governor, the SBP

spokesman pointed out that Anwar,

while making submission to the

Senate Standing Committee on

Finance on Thursday, had not said

the loan defaulters’ list would be

furnished to the ECP on February

26. “What the governor told the

Senate Standing Committee was

that the defaulters’ list would be

updated by February 25 and be

readily available thereafter to the

Election Commission provided a

request is received by the State

Bank from ECP regarding the

clearance of any candidate

contesting the elections,” the

spokesman said. The spokesman

said the SBP governor neither

informed the Standing Committee

nor the Election Commission about

the submission of defaulters’ list to

the ECP. STAFF RePORT

ISLAMABADSTAFF RePORT

PReSIDeNT Asif AliZardari has called for unityand harmony to address thechallenge of extremism andterrorism, as he said that

global politics had used religion as aweapon of war.

Speaking at the concluding session ofNational Conference on Interfaith Har-mony titled “Living together with diversity- Interfaith and inter-cultural dialogue” inIslamabad on Friday, the president said hebelieved in tolerant Islam and had tocounter those who believe in hate.

He said he had been pleading with theworld community that the way the issue ofterrorism was being addressed would notlead us to success. He said there was aneed for adopting an approach of peaceand reconciliation.

He pointed out that more than threedecades of war in Afghanistan had notbrought peace to that country and Pakistanwas worst affected by the turmoil inAfghanistan.

The president pointed out that therewas time when no one in Pakistan could

imagine blowing himself up as suicidebomber, as Islam was against suicide.

He said people at that time lived inpeace and harmony and there were no sec-tarian issues, but then global politicschanged the situation and religion wasused as weapon of war.

Retired chief justice Rana Bhagwan-das said Pakistanis could address the chal-lenge of extremism and terrorism throughunity and tolerance. He said the countrywas passing through a critical phase andthere was need to take practical steps to

promote inter-faith harmony.Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee

Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman readout declaration of the conference thatcalled among other things establishment ofa National Council for Interfaith Harmonyconsisting of representatives from variousfaiths.

The conference also recommendedformation of local level committees to pro-mote national harmony.

It proposed discarding the use of theword ‘minorities’ replacing it with some

appropriate word like Non-Muslim Pak-istanis.

The conference recommended encour-agement of inter-faith dialogue and stepsby the international community to addressroot causes of terrorism.

It condemned terrorism in all its formsand manifestations. It emphasised that ter-rorism should not be attributed to a partic-ular group or nation.

A copy of the declaration was also pre-sented to the president who said he ac-cepted the recommendations.

Global politics used religionas a weapon of war: Zardari

PRESIDENT TELLS INTER-FAITH MOOT HE BELIEVESIN TOLERANT ISLAM

LAHOREOnline

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) President MuhammadNawaz Sharif has urged theObama administration to shift thefocus of its relationship with Pak-istan away from aid to one basedon trade, investment and greaterpeople-to-people contacts.

The former prime ministerwas talking to Senator RobertMenendez, the newly-electedchairman of the US Senate com-mittee on foreign relations, whocalled on him at Raiwind on Fri-day.

During the course of the meet-ing, the two sides were able tohave a comprehensive exchangeon a number of issues of mutual

interest.The former prime minister

congratulated Senator Menendezon his election to this importantoffice, recalling that his predeces-sor, Senator John Kerry, who hasbeen appointed as the new secre-tary of state, had played an impor-tant role in promotingUS-Pakistan relations.

He added that he was confi-dent that under his guidance, theUS policy towards Pakistan wouldbe based on the principle of mu-tual trust and mutual interest.Nawaz emphasised that Pakistanwas an important country in a sen-sitive region, whose contributionto confronting terrorism and pro-moting peace and security inSouth Asia should be recognisedand appreciated.

The PML-N chief emphasisedthat given the complexity of thesituation in the region, it was im-portant that the two countriesworked closely and in an atmos-phere of trust and understanding.

Senator Menendez thankedthe former prime minister for themeeting and remarked that the UShad deep respect for him and forhis contribution to strengtheningdemocracy in Pakistan. He addedthat the US was following closelydevelopments in Pakistan leadingup to the forthcoming elections.

“This would be an importantevent, as it would mark the firstpeaceful transition from oneelected government to anotherelected one, in accordance withthe provisions of the constitution,”the senator added.

WASHINGTONAPP

The United States has said thatthere were “better and morecost-effective” ways availablewith Pakistan than projectslike the Pak-Iran gas pipelinedeal for the country to addressits energy needs.

“We understand that Pak-istan has significant energyneeds and requirements, butthere are other long-term solu-tions to Pakistan’s energyneeds that we would believewould have better potential forsuccess and would better meetPakistan’s needs than spendingscarce resources on projectslike this,” a State Departmentspokesperson told reporters atthe daily press briefing onThursday. She was respondingto a question about press re-ports that Pakistan would faceUS sanctions if it went aheadwith the Pak-Iran pipelineproject. “Let me just saybroadly that we continue ourdialogue with Pakistan with re-gard to Iran,” Nuland said.“We’ve made clear to coun-tries around the world, includ-

ing Pakistan, that we believethat it’s in their interest toavoid activities that could beprohibited by UN sanctions orthat could be sanctionableunder US law.” The US wasinvolved in many ways to helpPakistan address its energyneeds, including ones thatwould add some 900megawatts of power to the gridby 2013, enough power to sup-ply an estimated 2 millionhouseholds.

These include renovatingthe power plant at Tarbela andMangla Dams, modernisingthe thermal power plant atGuddu and Jamshoro, Muzaf-fargarh and building newplants at Satpara and theGomal Dam.

When specifically asked ifthe proposed gas pipeline withPakistan came under the sanc-tionable items, Nuland said asthese were being developed,she was not in a position tomake that kind of an assess-ment. “But we believe thereare better ways and more se-cure ways and more cost-effi-cient ways for Pakistan to getits power,” she added.

US says ‘better’alternatives to IP gaspipeline available

Pakistan wants trade,not US aid, says Nawaz

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 2

NewS N

03

Saturday, 23 February, 2013

The legal, political and administrative reforms introduced by

the government are far-reaching in nature and would take some

time to bear fruit. — Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf

KARACHISTAFF RePORT

Acting Sindh Governor Nisar Khuhroon Friday signed the Local Govern-ment Bill 1979 into law, despiteprotests by the Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM).

The Local Government Ordinance1979 stands restored across Sindh afterthe signing. A few hours earlier,Khuhro appointed MQM MPA SyedSardar Ahmed as leader of the opposi-tion in the Sindh Assembly.

On Thursday, the Sindh Assemblyannounced the repeal of Sindh Peoples’Local Government Ordinance(SPLGO) 2012. The move came a fewdays after the MQM parted ways withthe PPP both in the Centre as well asthe province. The move has infuriatedthe MQM, whose members staged awalkout from the National Assembly

session on Friday.The MQM lawmakers had already

submitted a letter to the Sindh Assem-bly speaker on February 18 for alloca-tion of seats to the members todischarge their duties as members ofthe opposition.

The MQM on Friday decided tonominate Syed Sardar Ahmed, electedon PS-116, as leader of the opposition.

The MQM is the second largestparty in the Sindh Assembly after thePPP with 51 MPAs and parted wayswith the PPP over a host of issues, in-cluding withdrawal of criminal casesagainst alleged Lyari gangsters.

Still, certain sections of the mediabelieve that there is some “understand-ing” between the PPP and MQM overthe latter’s going into the opposition.‘NO UNDERSTANDING’: Talkingto reporters, MQM’s Deputy Parlia-mentary Leader Syed Faisal Sabzwari

rejected reports that there was an “un-derstanding” with the PPP over theMQM’s going into opposition.

He said they were in majority inthe opposition as they enjoyed supportof 51 legislators.

Sabzwari said even barring theirparty’s ministers, they had support of40 MPAs, thus they were in majority tobe allotted the opposition leader’s slotto their nominee.EBAD LEAVES FOR UK: Mean-while, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratulebad left for London to meet MQMchief Altaf Hussain, sources said onFriday.

The party chief decided to hold ameeting with the governor after the im-position of the Local Government Act1979 in Sindh. Sources said the MQMwould likely opt for ebad’s resignation,as it could benefit the party before thegeneral election.

ISLAMABADAnweR AbbAS

The Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition govern-ment has decided to revoke the Governor’s Rulein Balochistan and reinstate the provincial govern-ment in the province by March 14.

FederalMinister forLaw, Justiceand Parlia-mentary Af-fairs FarooqH Naik toldjournalistsoutside theParliamentHouse thatthe govern-ment haddecided torevoke the Governor’s Rule and rein-state the provincial government byMarch 14, as it was the requirementunder the constitution for coming polls.

Naik said that setting up a civiliangovernment was the requirement underthe constitution, so that the caretakersetup may be introduced in theprovince prior to the polls.

The imposition of the Governor’s Rule wasmade through an executive order and would be re-

voked through the same procedure, he added. To aquestion, the minister said no suggestion for sum-moning the joint sitting of parliament was underreview to confirm the Governor’s Rule. Afterrestoration, the re-instated civilian set-up in theprovince would elect its own leader of the House.

The Governor’s Rule was imposed in theprovince after the deadly bombings against the

Hazara community that resulted inover a 100 deaths. Following the Jan-uary bombings, the Hazara commu-nity staged a protest sit-in that spreadthroughout the country, followingwhich Prime Minister Raja PervaizAshraf reached Quetta to negotiatewith the protesters. He announced im-posing the Governor’s Rule. A visible

i m -prove-ment inthe lawa n dorder int h e

province was witnessed after the governor tookcontrol of the province.

Governor’s rulein balochistan togo by march 14

RAWALPINDIAMiR SAeeD

The Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) sub-mitted its final report on the ephedrineQuota Case, in which it declaredMakhdoom Shahabuddin, Ali MusaGilani and seven others as principal ac-cused whereas principal secretary offormer prime minister was declared aproclaimed offender.

Control of Narcotics Substances(CNS) judge Arshad Mehmood Tabas-sum heard the case, during the courseof which investigating officer of thecase Abid Zulfiqar presented a reportcomprising 4,000 pages.

Federal minister Makhdoom Sha-habuddin, son of former premierYousuf Raza Gilani, MNA Ali MusaGillani, Col (r) Tahir Lahoti, Ansar Fa-rooq, Ansaar Ahmed, Asad Hafeez,Abdul Sattar Sorani, Iftikhar AhmedBabar and Abdul Khaliq have beentermed as the main accused.

Former principal secretary of primeminister Khushnood Lashari, Tauqir AliKhan and Anjum Shah have been de-clared as proclaimed offenders.

Former Health director general DrRasheed Juma and Danas Pharmaceu-tical director Rizwan Ahmed Khanhave been declared approvers of the

ephedrine quota. Four of the alleged of-fenders have been declared as second-ary accused, which gives the courtdiscretion to indict or acquit HashimKhan, Ahsanur Rehman, ChaudaryWaheed and Tanveer Sherazi.

According to the final report, the ac-cused were involved in illegal allocationof 9,500 kg ephedrine to two pharma-ceutical companies—Berlex andDanas—who allegedly smuggled itabroad. Under the law, the investigationagency was bound to submit the reportof the case within 14 days after registra-tion of the FIR but it took ANF morethan one and a half to come up with one.The case was registered with the ANFdirectorate, Rawalpindi, on October 10,2011. On Friday, Makhdoom Shahabud-din filed an application before the courtin which he pleaded that he will be con-testing elections and would be involvedin campaigning, and therefore requestedexemption from appearing in court.Lawyers of accused requested the courtto provide them with copies of the finalreport and copies of ANF’s applicationregarding frozen accounts of theirclients. The court accepted the applica-tion of Shahabuddin and issued noticesto ANF. It also directed the prosecutionto submit a reply. The hearing was ad-journed until April 20.

RAHIM YAR KHANAGenCieS

The leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ)has surrendered himself to authorities,police said on Friday, a week after thebanned religious outfit claimed responsi-bility for a deadly bombing in Quettakilling over 90 people.

Senior police officer Ashfaq Gujarsaid Malik Ishaq was arrested from hisresidence at the Airport Road in RahimYar Khan on Friday. It was not immedi-ately clear on what charges he was ar-rested. According to reports, Ishaq hasbeen detained for a period of one month,although it could not be verified as police

refrained from commenting on thecharges of his arrest.

Ishaq is one of the founders of theLashkar-e-Jhangvi group, which is ac-cused of sectarian violence and hasclaimed several attacks on the ethnicHazara Shia population in Balochistan.Ishaq, who also belongs to the now de-funct Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, was alsodetained last year on accusations of fan-ning sectarian hatred. The arrest comes aday after the Pakistan Army emphaticallydenied it maintained any links with thebanned terror outfit. “The armed forceswere not in contact with any militant or-ganisation, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,” ISPR chief Maj Gen Asim

Bajwa told a media briefing on Thursday.“There is no reason to think about

army’s involvement with LJ,” GenBajwa had said. Human rights organisa-tions have accused the army and its intel-ligence agencies of maintaining linkswith Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The allegationsstem from the army using Ishaq for ne-gotiating with the terrorists who had at-tacked the military headquarters inOctober 2009. Ishaq’s subsequent releasefrom jail was sceptically seen as a deal.The escape of LJ’s operational com-mander in Balochistan, Usman SaifullahKurd, in 2008 from a detention facility inthe military Cantonment in Quetta hasalso raised questions.

LJ leader Malik Ishaq ‘surrenders’

SLGO 1979 signed into law

Senator abIdIwIthdrawSreSIGnatIon

ISLAMABAD:

PPP Senator Syed

Faisal Raza

Abidi has

withdrawn his

resignation

which he had

submitted

earlier. Abidi

withdrew his

resignation during a

meeting with PPP Chairman Bilawal

Bhutto Zardari. He expressed his

complete confidence in the party

leadership. The senator pledged that he

would continue to struggle for the

mission of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and

Benazir Bhutto and would play his role

for the rights of the downtrodden people

and democracy under the leadership of

President Asif Zardari and PPP Chairman

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Online

mIra PhaIlbUS

becomeS fIrSt

ombUdSwoman

PUnjabLAHORE: The Punjab government

has appointed former principal of

Kinnaird College of Women Mira

Phailbus as the first Ombudswoman

of the province. Notification in this

regard has been issued, Punjab

Women’s Development Department

Secretary Irum Bukhari said.

Appointment of ombudswoman in

Punjab first time in the history of the

country has completed

implementation package for women’s

development, empowerment and

social protection, she added. APP

ephedrine case: ANFterms Shahabuddin, AliMusa as primary accused

reinstateMent ofprovincial govtconstitutionalrequireMent forelections

LAW MiNiStER fAROOq NAEk

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 3

NewSN

04

Saturday, 23 February, 2013

We will create 15 to 20 new provinces consisting

of one or two divisions if we come into power.

– Minhajul Quran chief Dr Tahirul Qadri

QUETTASHAHZADA ZUlFiQAR

On the demand of the Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ),local police registered a murdercase against Frontier Corps per-sonnel for killing two suspectedterrorists on Friday.

The ASWJ, whose over100 activists have been killed,staged a sit-in outside the Gov-ernor’s House that lasted 10hours. They had blocked themain VVIP road by placing thebodies of two suspected terror-ists killed by the FC personnelearlier in the day in Nawab Killiarea of Quetta. The FC had alsoarrested four suspected terror-ists while four of the securityforce’s personnel were also in-jured. The protesters had beeninsisting that a murder case beregistered against the FC per-sonnel. They said they wouldnot end the sit-in until their de-

mand was accepted.Provincial authorities, led

by Balochistan Home SecretaryAkbar Hussain Durrani, tried topersuade the protesters to endtheir sit-in, but in vain. Ulti-mately, the government gave inand agreed to register a caseagainst the FC personnel. No

name was mentioned in the FIRbut just that it was being regis-tered against “FC personnel”.

After the registration of thecase, the protesters dispersedpeacefully.

Neither any police officernor the home secretary wasavailable for comment.

ISLAMABADSTAFF RePORT

Ath ree-memberSupreme Courtbench on Fridayobserved that

without the participation of el-igible overseas Pakistani vot-ers, elections could not becalled fair and transparent.

The bench, comprisingChief Justice Iftikhar Muham-mad Chaudhry, Justice KhiljiArif Hussain and JusticeSheikh Azmat Saeed, washearing a petition filed by PTIchief Imran Khan seeking vot-ing rights for Pakistanis livingabroad. The bench noted thatparticipation of overseas Pak-

istanis in the upcoming generalelections was possible givenright steps are taken by con-cerned authorities.

The chief justice noted thatthe election Commission ofPakistan (eCP) should takeconcrete steps to enable partic-ipation of overseas Pakistanisin the polls. He said there wasno need to pass a separate lawfor giving voting rights to theeligible overseas Pakistanis.

The apex court on Feb 14had handed out a set of propos-als for ensuring voting rights tooverseas Pakistanis in the com-ing general election. The courthad noted that the task appearedto be arduous, but it suggestedan immediate meeting between

the election commission andthe ministries of interior andoverseas Pakistanis to devise amechanism for the purpose andwanted the outcome to be sub-mitted by Feb 22.

During the hearing on Fri-day, Muhammad MunirPiracha, counsel for eCP, con-tended that a legislation wasnecessary to enable the over-seas Pakistanis to cast theirvotes. But the court rejected hiscontention, noting that no anysuch legislation was required.

The chief justice said that ifvote could be cast throughpostal ballot within the country,then why not it could be castfrom outside the country. Hesaid vote could be cast from

outside the country by writingthe name of constituency on theballot paper and such ballot pa-pers could be issued and re-ceived by the concernedPakistani embassy. The chiefjustice observed that the eCPhad vast powers for holding theelections, adding the eCP coulddevise a mechanism for the reg-istered voters facilitating themto cast their votes. JusticeChaudhry asked the eCP’scounsel as what steps had beentaken to declare casting of votemandatory. The bench alsosought a report on meetingsheld under the chairmanship ofthe Attorney General with theconcerned officials and ad-journed the hearing to Feb 27.

ISLAMABADSTAFF RePORT

The Supreme Court has di-rected an anti-terrorism court(ATC) to dispose of theShahzeb Khan murder casewithin seven days.

A three-member SC bench,headed by Chief JusticeIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry,was hearing the case here onFriday.

The chief justice expresseddissatisfaction on the perform-ance of the Federal Investiga-tion Agency (FIA) and rejectedits report in the case. The benchalso ordered the FIA directorgeneral to submit a reply overa false report presented earlierin the court within three days.

In its short order, the SC re-marked that Shahrukh Jatoi, thekey accused in the Shahzebmurder case, misled the FIA,Customs, Immigration andASF officials.

FIA Director MohammadMalik submitted before the

court that PIA’s protocol staffwas involved in Shahrukh’s es-cape. He said the Sindh Policehad obtained a CCTV footageand had given an assurance thatthose responsible for the escapewould be arrested soon. Hesaid several people cross theVIP lounge along with one VIP.

The Sindh DIG said therewas no footage of the escape ofthe accused at which JusticeSheikh Azmat Saeed ques-tioned whether Shahrukh hadreached the plane through ahelicopter.

earlier, the court had re-marked that the role of the FIAin providing the video footagewas unsatisfactory, adding thatthere should be action againstpolice and FIA officials in-volved in the escape of theprime accused in the case,Shahrukh.

The Karachi Police hadsubmitted the file pertaining toShahzeb’s murder at the begin-ning of Friday’s hearing in theSupreme Court.

qadri favoursSouth Punjabprovince

MULTANAPP

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)chief Dr Tahirul Qadri said thathe was in favour of establish-ment of South Punjab provinceand announced to create 15 to20 new provinces consisting ofone or two divisions if theycome into power. Addressing apublic gathering at sportsground here, he said that theywould introduce unilateral edu-cation system and accountabil-ity across the country afterreaching the power corridors.Qadri said that he would an-nounce future strategy at a pub-lic meeting at Liaqat Bagh inRawalpindi on March 17. Heclaimed that it was the biggestpublic meeting in such weatherin the history of Multan. ThePAT chief said that the youthwas future of the country andadded that women shared equalparticipation with men in theprogress of Pakistan. Dr TahirulQadri said the country was fac-ing double standard and addedthat terrorism, extremism andinflation had made the life diffi-cult. He suggested ten point na-tional agenda for the solution ofproblems faced by the country.

BRUSSELSAGenCieS

Allies are discussing keepinga NATO force of between8,000 and 12,000 troops inAfghanistan after 2014, theUnited States said on Fridayin the first official indicationof how many foreign troopswill stay in the country aftermost combat troops leave.

US President BarackObama has not decided howmany American troops willremain in Afghanistan after2014, Pentagon spokesmanGeorge Little said.

"The president is still re-

viewing options and has notmade a decision about thesize of a possible U.S. pres-ence after 2014, and we willcontinue to discuss with alliesand the Afghans how we canbest carry out two basic mis-sions: targeting the remnantsof al Qaeda and its affiliates,and training and equippingAfghan forces," Little saidafter a NATO defence minis-ters' meeting in Brussels.

US Defence SecretaryLeon Panetta earlier deniedcomments by German De-fence Minister Thomas deMaiziere that the UnitedStates had told allies in Brus-

sels that the United Statesalone could keep 8,000 to12,000 troops inAfghanistan.

"A range of 8-12,000troops was discussed as thepossible size of the overallNATO mission, not the U.S.contribution," Little said.

NATO-led forces inAfghanistan are graduallyhanding over responsibilityfor security to their Afghancounterparts as most foreigncombat forces prepare toleave the country by the endof 2014. NATO will lead asmaller training mission inAfghanistan after 2014.

no legislation requiredfor overseas Pakistanis’voting rights: Sc

FC personnel booked forkilling ASwJ ‘terrorists’

SC orders ATCto dispose ofShahzeb murdercase within 7 days

NATO considerspost-2014 Afghanforce of 8,000-12,000

KARACHI: Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat activists stage a sit-in

against the killing of two party workers in Quetta. Staff Photo

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 4

KARACHI

kSaturday, 23 February, 2013

05

Low

high

140CSunny

Weather uPdateS

290C

fajr Sunrise Zuhr asr maghrib Isha

5:44 6:59 12:46 4:04 6:31 7:48

Sunday monday tueSday

28°C I 15°C 28°C I 15°C 27°C I 15°C

PRAyeR TiMinGS

KARACHInni

SINDHAssembly’sPublic AccountsCommittee wasinformed onFriday thatShaheedBenazirabad

district government committedfinancial irregularities worthRs 114 million during theyear 2010-11.

During scrutiny ofthe audit, it waspointed out bythe auditofficialsthatdistrict

coordination officer (DCO) was notcompetent to hire the services of legaladvisor at the fee of Rs 4,75,000. Itwas contended that permission fromthe Sindh law department should havebeen obtained which was not done inthis case.

The PAC issued directions to theassembly secretariat to seek opinionfrom the finance department to this

effect.Over Rs

7,00,

000 expenditures without invitingopen tenders, the district govtcontended the money was spent atdifferent times within the prescribedlimit and no tender was required.However, the audit officials arguedthe expenditure was incurred bysplitting up of purchase orders inseven months to avoid tenderingprocess.

About expenditures Rs 4.243million incurred on repair andrenovation of the mosque inBenazirabad, the audit official arguedthe district administration had not

provided satisfactory evidence toverify the expenditures.

The PAC was alsoinformed that district

govt had failed torecover

outstanding dues of Rs 1.522 millionfrom tenants and no efforts had beenmade to this effect so far.

Meanwhile, at the start of PACproceedings, Sindh Audit DirectorGeneral Ghulam Akbar Sohucomplained that the districtBenazirabad officials did notcooperate with their team for auditpurposes.

Benazirabad DC Rashid Zardarisaid they showed ‘a lot of care’ to theaudit team’s requirements and alsooffered them drink, meal and othernecessary things.

The PAC meeting was chaired bySardar Jam Tamachi Unnar whileonly one MPA Muhammad AmirMoin Pirzada attended it.

At the end of proceedings,the audit official said there weretotal 16 paras of Benazirabaddistrict govt involving financialirregularities of Rs 114million out of which sevenparas were settledcontaining Rs 53 million.

maSSIve corrUPtIonIn benaZIrabad

though belated, IG’sadvises prudently!

KARACHI: Sindh Inspector Generalof Police (IGP) Fayyaz AhmedLeghari presided a meeting here onFriday regarding the law and order.The meeting held at the central policeoffice reviewed in detail theperformance report of crimes branch,CID police and operationsinvestigation.The IGP directed that intelligencereports from the law enforcementagencies and special branch befollowed to ensure prompt action.He also instructed deployment ofplain-clothed police officers andjawans in the crimes-prone andsensitive areas of the metropolis.Leghari asked all the units of thepolice to coordinate for making theaction against the criminals moremeaningful.He also emphasised effective andacross-the-board action against thecriminals and their sponsors.The IGP also stressed the need ofstrict checking at the main highwaysand link roads in the main cities,province as well as the entry pointsfrom other provinces. APP

KARACHInni

eminent Shia religious scholars andprayer leaders have announced their allout support to the Shia leadership andtheir decision for calling-off the sit-inthat they had appealed to stage againstHazaras killings in Quetta. More than

40 scholars and prayer leaders spoke ata joint press conference and issued ajoint communiqué at the Karachi PressClub on Friday.

Those who attended the pressconference included Allama MirzaYousuf Hussain of All Pakistan ShiaAction Committee, Allama ShahenshahNaqvi of Shia Ulema Council, MaulanaSadiq Taqvi of Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, Maulana Ghulam AliWaziri, Maulana Baqar Abbas Zaidi,Maulana Haider Abbas Abidi, MaulanaNaeem-ul-Hassan Hussaini, MaulanaShaikh Ghulam Mohammad Saleem,Maulana Razi Haider, Maulana AhmedAli Amini, Maulana Ali Afzaal Rizvi,Maulana Mohammad Hussain Karimi,Maulana Ali Anwar Jafri and manyothers.

They appreciated the dynamicleadership of Shia religious scholarsand endorsed their decision to call-offthe sit-in protest saying it was right andjustified since the government hadaccepted all 20 demands with minoramendments in three demands only.

They disclosed that a 3-members

committee was formed to coordinatewith the government and oversee theimplementation of the demands. Thecommittee comprises of Sardar SaadatAli Hazara, Sardar Qayoom Changeziand Ms Ruqayya Hashmi.

They said the Shia religiousleadership, heirs and relatives of themartyrs of Hazara Town Tragedy andQuetta Yakjehti Council jointly put 20demands that included: Targetedoperation against terrorists in andaround Quetta, stern action against theleaders of outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangviand Sipah-e-Sahaba (now workingunder new name Ahl-e-Sunnat WalJamaat), release of all the innocentShiites and Hazara Shia Muslims,immediate payment of compensatoryamounts to the heirs of martyrs ofprevious tragedies, payment ofcompensation to the heirs of martyrs ofHazara Town tragedy, injured victimsand to those who suffered colossalfinancial losses due to havoc wroughtby the huge twin blasts, withdrawal offalse cases registered against Shianotables in the wake of al-Quds Dayand other events, foolproof securityagainst the biased attitude towardsHazaras and non-Hazara ShiaMuslims, students, traders andgovernment employees in Quetta andother areas of Baluchistan, registration

of cases against those outlawed terroristgroups which claimed responsibilityfor massacre of Shia Muslims, armslicenses under easy procedure for self-protection of Shias, removal ofanti-Shia graffiti and punishment tothose who write such graffiti, up-gradation of Benazir Bhutto Hospital,recruitment of 5,000 Shias in securityforces in Quetta, government jobs toeach heir of martyrs, at least Rs 2million compensation for the injuredvictims, allotment of a free plot of 200square yards to each martyr’s heirs, freeeducation up to graduation level to thechildren of martyrs, establishment ofgirls and boys colleges in HazaraTown.

The Shia leaders said all of thesedemands were accepted as legitimate.However, the Baluchistan governorsaid that plots would be allotted in JhalMagsi, 1,000 Shia youths will berecruited in forces and Rs 1 million willbe paid as compensatory amount. Theysaid targeted operation was launchedforthwith and many terrorists werekilled and arrested.

They said a party that had launcheda media war against Shia leadership didnot represent the martyrs and they alsodid not enjoy moral authority to sayanything on the behalf of Hazara andnon-Hazara Shia community.

fayyaz ahMed leghariINSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE

Intelligence reports

from the law

enforcement agencies

and special branch

should be followed to

ensure prompt action Call to end sit-in justifiedEMINENT SCHOLARS, PRAYER LEADERS ENDORSE SHIALEADERSHIP’S DECISION TO CALL OFF THE SIT-IN ASTHEY SAY ALL OF THEIR DEMANDS HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED

KARACHI: KPK Shia Ulema Council

President Allama Ramzan along with

others talks to media persons. Online

With every passing day, the province is emerging as a top choice for foreign and

local investment including relocation of industries from the developed economies.

– Chairman Sindh Board of Investment Muhammad Zubair Motiwala

ghulaM aKbar sohuSINDH AUDIT DIRECTOR GENERAL

District Benazirabadofficials did not

cooperate with ourteam for audit

purposes

PAC INFORMED THAT BENAZIRABAD DISTRICT GOVTCOMMITTED FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES OF RS 114MILLION DURING THE YEAR 2010-11

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 5

KARACHISaturday, 23 February, 2013

06

k

kARACHi: Students of a local school present a tableau during a ceremony in connection with World Scouts Day. Online

KARACHISTAFF RePORT

HeAVY contin-gents of policeand Rangersconducted anovernight tar-geted operationin the metropolis

area of Kharadar and killed a notoriousgang-war criminal Rashid Rekha and ar-rested eight other suspected people.

Meantime, two others groups enteredan armed clash in Malir area of Bakra

Peerhi, triggering panic in the area.It should be mentioned here that

Kharadar hitherto remained a virtual bat-tleground for two days now and wit-nessed exchange of fire between twoarmed factions that culminated tonightinto the targeted operation by the law-en-forcers during which the proclaimed of-fender Rashid Rekha was killed.

The unarmed citizens remained be-sieged back at their houses, shops andmosques.

Rashid Rekha had a bounty worth Rs500,000 on his head for involvement ingruesome offences. The exchange of fire

is still in progress in the area.According to Ranger sources, eight

other miscreants including a notoriousterrorist Abdul Jabbar alias Jingo has alsobeen arrested.

Meanwhile, police arrested 10 sus-pects during targeted operations in differ-ent parts of Sohrab Goth here on Friday.

The late night operation waslaunched keeping in view increasingcrimes in Faqeera Goth and Jamali Gothareas.

Police said the suspects were in-volved in robberies, murder, attemptedmurder and other crimes. Weapons were

also recovered during the operation25 INDIAN FISHERMEN SENT TO

jAIL: A local court has sent 25 Indianfishermen to jail on judicial remand hereon Friday.

On Friday, Docks Police presented 25Indian fishermen, who were arrested forillegal fishing in Pakistani territorial wa-ters, before the Judicial MagistrateGharbi Aziz Allah Khoso.

The arrested fishermen were sent tojail on judicial remand till March 10.Maritime security agency had arrested the25 fishermen and also took into custodyfive of their vessels.

rashid rekha killed in rangers operation

KARACHISTAFF RePORT

The largest solo exhibition in Pakistan tilldate, Mohatta Palace Museum presents‘Labyrinth of Reflections: The Art ofRashid Rana’.

The much-anticipated contemporary artexhibition entitled ‘Labyrinth of Reflec-tions: The Art of Rashid Rana 1992 – 2012’is due to open at the Mohatta Palace Mu-seum on the 17th of February 2013. RashidRana is undoubtedly the most critically ac-claimed artist in Pakistan today and one ofthe most prominent modern artists in SouthAsia. His works have been acquired by var-ious collectors and exhibited at prestigiousinstitutions such as the British Museum inLondon, the Modern Museum of Art inNew York, the Fukuoka Museum in Japan,the Asia Society Museum in New York andthe Queensland Art Gallery in Australiaamongst various others.

This retrospective which opens at Mo-hatta Palace Museum will be the largestsurvey show of a contemporary Pakistaniartist to be exhibited in Pakistan till date en-

compassing more than 60 of his works. Theworks exhibited in Rana’s mid career ret-rospective trace the artist’s journey from itsnaissance to present day – his early yearsas a painter to his more recent digital photomosaics and photo sculptures. The processof aggregating, juxtaposing and re-imagin-ing imagery is one of the primary strategiesin Rana’s latest body of works. Althoughtrained as a painter, the artist has tran-

scended the notion of tradition in art, ratherusing it as a blueprint for modificationwhilst not confining to it completely –which is visible in his digital prints and in-stallations.

Having received a huge amount ofglobal recognition, this is the first time thata solo exhibition of this scale of Rana’sworks will be displayed in Pakistan. Duringthe course of his artistic career which has

spanned over two decades, Rana has soughtto communicate not only with a small frac-tion of society but to the masses at large. Theuse of familiar symbols and archetypes inthe artist’s work engage a larger audience asthey address the contradictions and negativestereotypes that exist in our world today.Rana’s art works know no territories, cul-tural limits, geographical and politicalboundaries – his works are not a reflection

of occurrences in marginal society but ratherin the world as a composite whole. Hisworks do not speak in a dialect, rather in auniversal language – one that every memberof society can comprehend and relate to.Rana fixates on dissonances and pluralityand how they manifest in our everyday liv-ing. Through images and stimulations in hisworks, he reveals that many ideas and no-tions are deceptively different than what theywould originally seem once viewed closely– a similar idea which runs fluently in all hisworks. It is this practice and Rana’s height-ened sensitivity to his surroundings thatmake his works susceptible to huge appraisalat every corner of the globe.

Apart from the critical acclaim that hisworks have received, Rashid Rana’s workshave been valued and acquired at priceshigher than any Pakistani artist in the past.In 2008, his Red Carpet-1, 2007, was soldby Sotheby’s for US $623,000, makingRana’s work the most expensive by anyPakistani artist in history. Labyrinth of Re-flections: The Art of Rashid Rana is an ex-hibition which can be interpreted oncompeting levels; allowing multiple per-spectives on the artist’s potent political andcultural commentary whilst successfullytracing the tireless path of his journey. It isan all encompassing solo exhibition whichshows his works to be instinctively interac-tive and consuming for the spectator andboth jarring and intoxicating for visitors.

Shair-e-Inqilab andShair-e-Shabab -josh malihabadi

KARACHI: The 31st death anniversary ofgreat revolutionary poet Josh Malihabadi wasobserved here on Friday.His real name was Shabbir Hasan Khan and hewas born on December 5‚ 1894, and died asShair-e-Inqilab and Shair-e-Shabab (poet ofrevolution and youth) on February 22, 1982.Josh Malihabadi is reputed to have had a mas-terful command over Urdu and was quite strictabout respecting the grammar and rules of thelanguage. The first collection of his poetry waspublished in 1921. He was not only a poet butalso an intellectual and prolific writer as hewrote about religion, history and politics aswell. He fought for the independence of theIndian sub-continent through his writings. Anumber of his poems were written against theBritish rule. He is remembered as the greatestrevolutionary poet of the pre-independenceera. Some of his poems were broadcast byGerman radio during the Second World War.He was awarded the highest Indian medal‘Padma Bhoshan’ in 1954. His poetry and pub-lications include Shola-o-Shabnam‚ Junoon-o-Hikmat‚ Fikr-o-Nishaat‚ Sunbal-o-Salaasal‚Harf-o-Hikaayat‚ Sarod-o-Kharosh‚ Irfaniyat-e-Josh and Yaadon ki Baraat. Literary and re-search work on ‘Josh Malihabadi’ efforts fromsome experts have become a movement of‘Josh Shanasi’ in Pakistan. The main objectiveof the literary movement is to authenticallydiscover the hidden but luminous features ofthe great poet especially among the admirersof Urdu literature. inP

labour leaderassumes office KARACHI: A prominent labour leaderHabibuddin Junaidi has been appointed asmember of the Sindh Workers Welfare Board. A reception would be arranged in this connec-tion at a local hotel today, said an announce-ment here on Friday by the Habib BankWorkers Front of Pakistan (CBA). APP

Mohatta presents ‘Labyrinth of Reflections’RASHID RANASHOWCASES HIS ART WORKS

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 6

tUnISIa’S ennahdha nameScandIdate for PmtuNiS: Tunisia’s main Islamist Ennahdha party has

named Ali Larayedh as its candidate for prime minister

after Hamdi Jebali declined to head the next government.

Larayedh, the country’s interior minister, was a founding

member of Ennahdha, and served as the party’s

secretary-general in the 1980s, up until his arrest in

1992. He served 14 years in prison.

“He is the official candidate of Ennahdha for prime

minister,” Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of party chief Rached

Ghannouchi, said on Friday. Larayedh became interior

minister when Jebali’s government was formed in

December 2011 after an election in October.

The party leader and Larayedh, 57, will now meet with

President Moncef Marzouki, who is expected to task the

interior minister with forming a new government. Larayedh

is viewed as belonging to Ennahdha’s hardline wing, which

rejects any political role for parties linked to the era of

deposed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Jebali, who is

secretary-general of Ennahdha, resigned on Tuesday after

his plan for a non-partisan cabinet of technocrats to

prepare for elections collapsed, largely because of

opposition from within his own party and its leader, Rached

Ghannouchi. “Jebali declined to accept nomination [for next

prime minister],” Ennahdha said. AGenCieS

renewed claSheSbreak oUt In malIBAMAKO: French and Malian troops have fought rebel

fighters on the streets of Gao, and a car bomb has

exploded in Kidal as fighting shows little sign of abating

weeks before France plans to start withdrawing some

forces. Reuters reporters in Gao in the country’s desert

north said on Thursday that French and Malian forces

fired at the mayor’s office with heavy machine-guns

after fighters were reported to have infiltrated the Niger

River town during a night of explosions and gunfire. Jean-

Yves Le Drian, the French defence minister, said in

Brussels that Gao was back under control after clashes

earlier in the day. “Malian troops supported by French

soldiers killed five jihadists and the situation is back to

normal,” he said. In Kidal, a remote far north town where

the French are hunting fighters, residents said a car

bomb killed two. A French defence ministry source

reported no French casualties. AGenCieS

07

NewSSaturday, 23 February, 2013

Well, you know, I had been a peanut farmer. I had - you

know who was the first president - Democratic

president I ever met? Bill Clinton. - Jimmy Carter N

PAMPLONA: Spanish demonstrators protest

against government austerity measures in front

the regional parliament on friday. AGenCieS

MOSCOWAGenCieS

RUSSIAN has accused the US of ap-plying double standards over Syriaand blamed Washington for blockinga UN Security Council statementcondemning a car bomb attack in

Damascus. Moscow’s statement on Friday came aday after Syrian state television reported the deathsof dozens in the blast on a busy highway in Mazraadistrict, damaging nearby Russian embassy build-ings in the capital.

“We are disappointed that, as a result of theUnited States’ position at the United Nations Secu-rity Council, the terrorist act in Syria was not con-demned,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovtold a joint news conference after talks with China’sforeign minister.

“We believe this is double standards and see in ita very dangerous tendency by our American col-leagues to depart from the fundamental principle ofunconditional condemnation of any terrorist act, aprinciple which secures the unity of the internationalcommunity in the fight against terrorism.”

Russia has used its status as a permanent memberof the UN Security Council to protect PresidentBashar al-Assad from three consecutive resolutionsaimed at putting pressure on him to end the nearlytwo-year-old conflict.

The US has called for Assad’s departure butMoscow says his removal must not be a preconditionfor any solution of the conflict.

‘Deadliest day’Besides the car bomb that struck in central Dam-

ascus on Thursday, activist groups reported threeother blasts across the capital on the same day.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights(SOHR) said at least 90 people died in Thursday’sfour bombings, making it one of the bloodiest days inthe city since the outbreak of a revolt against Assad.

The monitoring group, quoting figures itsaid were compiled from hospitals and othermedical sources, said at least 60 of the deadwere killed in the car bomb blast in Mazraa dis-trict, near the Russian embassy and offices ofAssad’s ruling Baath Party.

Syrian state media put the death toll from theMazraa bombing at 53, with more than 200 wounded.

At least 30 other people died in three co-ordinatedbombings in the northeastern district of Barzeh,SOHR reported. Both activists and officials said mostof those killed were civilians, including children.

Outside the capital, more than 200 people werekilled, including in the Damascus suburbs, the south-ern city of Deraa and the northern commercial hub ofAleppo, bringing Thursday’s death to about 300 - oneof the highest in a single day.

The UN says more than 70,000 people have diedin Syria’s conflict, which began in March, 2011.

rUSSIa SlamS USreSPonSe overdamaScUS blaSt

SANA’AAGenCieS

Police in Yemen have shot dead three peo-ple who were heading to a rally inAden for southern independence, as thedeeply divided country marked a yearsince the ousting of Ali Abdullah Saleh,the former president.

Officers said on Thursday that apasser-by was also killed when, accordingto Southern Movement member Fathi BenLazraq, “they [the police] fired on activiststrying to reach the place where the rallywas being held” in the city’s ParadeSquare.

Reports said police were trying to pre-vent clashes between them and the Al-Islah (Reform) party, which held ademonstration in the same square in sup-port of national unity and of interim Pres-ident Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

Naser al-Khabji, a Southern Move-ment leader, said that “clashes could breakout” if pro-Hadi supporters demonstrated.

Security sources said police alsowounded 34 southerners in clashes aroundAden, with the Southern Movement sayingthey were trying to prevent protesters fromentering the port city from neighbouringprovinces.

Two policemen were hurt by sniper

fire from the rooftops of buildings sur-rounding the square, security officials said.

Aden was paralysed as security forcesdeployed heavily around the city.

Thousands of Al-Islah supporterswaved Yemeni flags and held portraits ofHadi as well as banners reading “unity isour strength,” chanting “for dialogue, wewill pursue our march”.

That was an allusion to a delayed na-tional dialogue aimed at drafting a newconstitution in readiness for presidentialand parliamentary elections in February2014 that would end a two-year transitionperiod.

Southern Movement leaders have said

they are ready to join the dialogue, but ahardline separatist faction led by exiled AliSalem al-Baid has refused to take part.

Abdullah al-Alimi, organiser of theAl-Islah rally, said the “cause of the south-erners is just, but it should be resolvedthrough dialogue”.

For their part, southern activists car-ried flags of the former South Yemen,which was a separate state before unifica-tion with the north in 1990.

They also displayed pictures of Baid,who served as the last president of the re-gion before union, and leads a hardline,pro-independence faction of the SouthernMovement.

Un rejects haiticholeradamages claim

UNITED NATIONSAGenCieS

The UN has formally rejected claims fordamages over a cholera epidemic in Haitithat has been widely blamed on UN peace-keepers. About 8,000 people died in theepidemic but Martin Nesirky, UNspokesman, said on Thursday that theglobal body had told lawyers the damagesclaim was “non-receivable” under a 1946convention laying out the UN’s immuni-ties for its actions. In November 2011, theBoston-based Institute for Justice andDemocracy in Haiti filed a petition at UNheadquarters in New York seeking a mini-mum of $100,000 for the families or next-of-kin of each person killed by cholera andat least $50,000 for each victim who suf-fered illness or injury from cholera.Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, tele-phoned Haiti’s President Michel Martelly“to inform him of the decision and to reit-erate the commitment of the United Na-tions to the elimination of cholera inHaiti”, Nesirky said.Certain health experts have said thecholera epidemic, which erupted in late2010, was introduced to Haiti by Nepalesepeacekeepers. The UN has never acknowl-edged responsibility, insisting it was im-possible to pinpoint blame definitively.Lawyers for the families of some of thedead and the 635,000 people estimated tohave been made sick by the cholera hadpredicted a damages award could cost theUN more than $1bn. “The secretary-gen-eral again expresses his profound sympa-thy for the terrible suffering caused by thecholera epidemic, and calls on all partnersin Haiti and the international communityto work together to ensure better healthand a better future for the people of Haiti,”Nesirky said.Duvalier hearingIn a separate development on Thursday,former Haitian leader Jean-Claude “BabyDoc” Duvalier defied a judge’s order andrefused to attend a hearing to determinewhether he will again face charges forhuman-rights abuses committed during thenearly 15 years of his regime. ReynoldGeorges, Duvalier defence lawyer, showedup 90 minutes after the hearing was aboutto start and announced that he had filed anappeal of the judge’s order.The session then began in a courtroomcrowded with reporters and observers.Georges said he was confident that theSupreme Court would not only overturnthe order to compel Duvalier’s presence incourt but also block the effort by victimsof the Duvalier government from gettingthe court to reinstate the charges.

Three killed in Yemen ahead of protest rally

4 kIlled In banGladeSh claSheSover ‘atheISt bloGGerS’DHAkA: At least four people were killed and over 200

injured in Bangladesh on Friday as hundreds of Islamists

clashed with police here and other major cities

demanding execution of “atheist bloggers” they accused

of blasphemy. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas

canisters to disperse Islamists backed by Jamaat-e-

Islami (JI) party whose leaders are facing trial in special

tribunals for “crimes against humanity” during the 1971

liberation war against Pakistan. While two deaths were

reported from western Jhinaidah and northeaster Sylhet,

two others died in northwestern Gaibandha. Parts of the

capital Dhaka and southeastern port city of Chittagong

turned into battlefields as protesters attacked police,

damaged or torched shops and vehicles.

In Dhaka, the violence broke out outside the Baitul

Mukarram national mosque, where the protesters also

attacked around a dozen journalists. Several worshippers

were trapped inside the mosque as police tried to thwart

the protest by locking the gates. Doctors at Dhaka’s

main state-run Medical College Hospital said they were

treating several people with critical wounds caused by

rubber bullets. Newly formed “12 Like Minded Islamic

Parties”, backed by JI, took to the street after Friday

prayers in the capital and other cities and attacked

journalists. AGenCieS

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 7

NewSNSaturday, 23 February, 2013

08 BISP focusing on

women’s empowerment.

— Farzana Raja

ISLAMABADAnweR AbbAS

MeMBeRS of the LowerHouse of parliament onFriday expressed their se-rious reservations overthe country losing the

case of Kishanganga Hydro Power Projectat the International Arbitrary Court, de-manding the government fix responsibilitiesresponsibility and roll heads.

The MNAs also demanded the govern-ment take the House on-board regardingterms and conditions on handing over ofGwadar Port to China, while the MQMMPs staged a walkout over withdrawal of

SPLGA Repeal Bill in Sindh. The fifth sit-ting of the National Assembly’s 49th sessionresumed without the speaker, deputyspeaker, leader of the house or the leader ofthe opposition.

The session once again witnessed lowattendance of members, as only 47 werepresent at the outset, while 67 were there atthe time of adjournment. Moved by fivePML-N Members, a calling attention noticeabout 20 percent increase in the price of gasfor domestic as well as commercial con-sumers was taken up by the House.

The Fiscal and Debt Policy Statementfor the year 2012-2013 was presented bySyed Khurshid Shah. Following a point oforder, PML-N’s Abdul Qadir Balochpointed out that the Gwadar Port washanded over to China, but any decision onGwadar Port was the responsibility of theCouncil of Common Interest. Baloch saidthe Balochistan government was not takenon board prior to the decision, followingwhich any negative impact of the decisioncould not be ruled out.

He demanded the authorities concerned

take on board the House on the move to handover Gwadar Port to the Chinese govern-ment. Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s mem-ber National Assembly Dr Abdul QadirKhanzada demanded the government takenotice of salaries’ issue in connection with theAGPR office, informing the members thatAGPR employees were on strike and hurdleswere being made in payments of theirsalaries. He told the House that the govern-ment announced to raise the salary packagesof the government employees by 20 percent,however, AGPR and some other governmentinstitutions were still not ready to implementon the particular government directives.PML-Q Likeminded MNA Kashmala Tariqexpressed fear that a majority of the Housewas unaware of the draft of Defence HousingAuthority bill, and it might be bulldozed bythe treasury benches, demanding the author-ities concerned provide the details of the par-ticular bill to the members of the House.Federal Minister Syed Khurshid Shah toldthe House that the government was review-ing the issues regarding the salaries of AGPRemployees, adding that the government had

raised salaries of government employees byup to 122 percent.

The minister assured the House that onMonday, the House would be taken onboard over the terms and conditions onwhich the Gwadar Port was handed over toChina, while assuring that the DefenceHousing Authority bill would not be bull-dozed. He rejected the impression that thename of founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was removed.

He said the names of various roads,parks and places were named after variouspolitical figures, so it was not a big deal if auniversity was named after former PM Zul-fiqar Ali Bhutto.MQM WALKOUT: earlier, MQM MNASyed Asif Husnain said that by withdrawingthe SPLGA Bill in Sindh, legislation intro-duced by a dictator had been strengthened.He pointed out that from the last five years,no local bodies’ elections were conducted inSindh and it was in violation of rules ofdemocracy. At this occasion, the MQMstaged a protest walkout that lasted for 14minutes.

mPs on fire over lost kishangangacase, demand fixing responsibility

MQM STAGES WALKOUTOVER WITHDRAWALOF SPLGA REPEALBILL IN SINDH

fake deGree-holderScannot chanGecoUntry’S fUtUre,SayS Imran khan

ISLAMABAD: It is imprudent to expect fake

degree-holders to improve the deplorable

situation in the country, Pakistan Tehreek-e-

Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said on

Wednesday. Imran spelt out his party’s

education emergency policy, which pledges to

introduce a uniform and free education

system for all. “The PTI will aim to eradicate

the difference in the standard of facilities for

the rich and poor and vows to introduce one

curriculum for all,” Imran said. He said one of

the main reasons why “we as a nation stand

at a juncture where more than 50 percent of

our population is illiterate is that none of the

previous governments, who have come into

power time and again, have been able to

implement Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for an

educated Pakistan”. Imran said the

government in its entire tenure had not paid

any heed towards the education sector “rather

have successfully managed to completely

destroy it”. He emphasised that the PTI

considered education to be a critical subject

and a pre-requisite for improving the

deteriorating plight of the country, adding that

the party would recover looted money from

the corrupt politicians, who sometimes in the

name of Daanish Schools and sometimes

under the head of laptop and solar energy

schemes, had emptied the national exchequer.

“This recovered money will be diverted

towards the education sector,” Imran said. The

PTI chief said the ground realities were that

more than 40 percent of government-run

schools lacked basic structure and facilities.

“Those who have spent around Rs 800 million

in erecting a ‘Taj Mahal’ for just one Daanish

School, have completely ignored the provision

of basic problems being faced by the sector.”

Imran said the PTI’s education policy aimed at

educating the entire population at a uniform

level with also providing opportunities to excel

further in their careers. “If these incompetent

rulers continue to run the country in the same

manner, the millennium goal of achieving a

100 percent literacy rate in 2015 will not be

achieved until 2025.” nni

KABULinP

The US military launched 506 strikesfrom unmanned aircraft in Afghanistanlast year, according to Pentagon data, a72 percent increase from 2011 and a signthat American commanders may begin torely more heavily on remote-controlledair power to kill Taliban insurgents asthey reduce the number of troops on theground.

Though drone strikes represented afraction of all US air attacks inAfghanistan last year, their use is on therise even as American troops have pulledback from ground and air operations andpushed Afghan soldiers and police intothe lead.

In 2011, drone strikes accounted for5 percent of US air attacks inAfghanistan; in 2012, the figure rose to12 percent.

Military spokesmen in Kabuland at the Pentagon declined to ex-plain the increase. But officers famil-iar with the operation said it was due inpart to the growing number of armedReaper and Predator drones inAfghanistan and better availability of

live video feeds beamed directly totroops on the ground.

The increase has coincided with ashift by the Obama administration to-ward a new strategy in Afghanistan thatrelies on a smaller military footprint togo after the Taliban and remaining alQaeda fighters.

The use of armed drones is likely toaccelerate as most of the 66,000 UStroops in the country are due to withdrawby the end of 2014. The remotely pilotedlong-range aircraft, which kill targetswith virtually no risk to American lives,carry an unmistakable attraction for mil-

itary commanders.“ W i t h

fewer

troops, and even withfewer manned aircraftflying overhead, it’s harder to gettraditional support in combatmissions,” Joshua Foust, a Wash-

ington-based analyst who has advised theUS military in Afghanistan, told Los An-geles Times. “Drones provide a goodway to do that without importing a bunchof pilots and the support infrastructurethey’d need to remain based there.”

After Marine Gen John R Allen, theformer coalition commander, issued anorder limiting airstrikes in populatedareas last year, US and NATO forces re-duced civilian casualties in air attacks by42 percent in 2012, according to United

Nations figures.But after an

airstrike this monththat reportedly killed 10

civilians in addi-

tionto four Talibanleaders, AfghanPresident Hamid Karzai banned his

forces from requesting coalitionairstrikes in residential areas, a decreethat also would apply to drones.

Defenders of drones say they aremore accurate and less prone to causingcivilian casualties than manned aircraft,because they can watch a potential targetlonger and often use smaller munitions.

When civilians are inadvertentlykilled, it is sometimes because they areclose to a location where an airstrike iscarried out, one US officer said. But therealso are instances when troops on theground mistakenly called for an airstrikeagainst a target whereo n l y

c i v i l i a n swere present.

Last year, five coalition dronestrikes killed 16 civilians and injuredthree, according to the UN mission inAfghanistan, which documented just onesuch incident in 2011. It wasn’t immedi-ately clear whether those were strikesfrom US drones, Britain’s Royal AirForce also flies armed Reaper drones inAfghanistan, although the vast majorityof the coalition’s unmanned aircraft be-long to the US.

US drone strikes up sharply in Afghanistanarmy has assured govt

it won’t interfere in

political mattersISLAMABAD Online

Minister forInformationandBroadcastingQamar ZamanKaira has saidall institutionsincluding thearmy want free‚fair and transparentelections in thecountry. Talking toreporters outside the Parliament House inIslamabad on Friday‚ Kaira said the army was apart of the government and it had assured thegovernment not to interfere in political matters.To a question‚ the information minister saidelection expenditure will definitely come downafter certain decisions taken by the electionCommission of Pakistan. Kaira said electionexpenses need to be reduced but not to the extentwhere people begin violating law.

PESHAWAR: A man pushes his pick-up van on an inundated road following heavy rain in the city on friday. inP

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:20 AM Page 8

NewS N

09

Saturday, 23 February, 2013

Free media is a blessing for Pakistan and we still

have journalists who dare to expose the misdeeds

of the rulers. — Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa

LAHOREnni

PA K I S TA N MuslimLeague-Quaid (PML-Q)senior central leader andDeputy Prime MinisterParvez elahi alleged the

biggest corruption in Asia had beencommitted in the “Jangla Bus” project(referring to the Bus Rapid Transit Sys-tem).

He said the Lahore DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) Director General(DG) openly flouted rules and regula-tions and will not escape accountabilityfor such rampant violation. elahi al-leged that a huge amount of money wasillegally accumulated in procurement ofbuses, and the ill-planned project hadheavily drained the national exchequer.

elahi also said other officers in-volved in this corruption were headedby the LDA DG and will have to ac-count for embezzlement worth billionsof rupees. elahi said unlike the Sharifswanted the public to believe, the JanglaBus is not a big achievement, adding

that it is a system that has become re-dundant throughout the world.

He said funds of hospitals andschools of entire Punjab had beendumped into this project, which hadcaused great inconvenience to peopleduring construction and even after itscompletion is making life miserable forresidents of Lahore.

elahi said the actual cost of theJangla Bus is being kept hidden, addingthat no rules and procedure was fol-lowed and planning and ground reali-ties were completely ignored in a rushto finish the project. He said the Sharifbrothers are claiming to have com-pleted the project in Rs 30 billionwhereas according to the Planning andDevelopment Department, so far aboutRs 75 billion have been spent whilemillions of rupees are being incurreddaily on operations. He further claimedthat a large number of affected peoplehad not been paid compensation fortheir demolished houses and shops.

He said roads, electric poles, waterand gas pipes and telephones lines weredestroyed during construction and ex-

penses being incurred on re-installationare also not being disclosed, stressingfor a high level inquiry into the issue.

elahi said the current Punjabgovernment had discarded the MetroTrain Project envisaged by his gov-ernment, despite availability of for-eign assistance from internationalfinancial institutions such as the AsianDevelopment Bank. The train project,he claimed, would have been a state ofthe art project in comparison to the re-dundant bus project and would nothave caused problems beingfaced currently, primarily be-cause it was to be an under-ground project. He said theunderground train systemwas the biggest engineer-ing project after TarbelaDam which would haveenhanced the beauty ofLahore whereas theJangla Bus has de-prived the city of itshistorical beautyand divided it intotwo parts forever.

‘jangla bus’ the biggestcorruption scandal in asia: elahi

PESHAWARSTAFF RePORT

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa InformationMinister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Fri-day said the recent rise in terrorismaimed at delaying the upcoming elec-tions.

“First militants are bent upon de-laying of polls otherwise they aremaking best for electing their like-minded people to parliament,” Hus-sain said this while addressing theoath-taking ceremony of the SwatPress Club (SPC) office-bearers in Pe-shawar.

SPC President Rashid Iqbal, MPASher Shah and MPA Rahmat Ali Khanalso addressed the ceremony.

The information minister said thatcontinuation of democratic processwas not only essential for curtailingmilitants and anti-democratic forces.He said that despite hurdles and prob-lems, the government had not only de-clared war on terror but made avaluable contribution in constitutionalreforms. Hussain said that people fromall over the country needed to extendsupport to the democratic forces to en-sure on-time general elections. He re-called that ANP leader Bashir Bilour’sassassination was part of a plot aimedat delaying general elections.

Without mentioning name ofJamiat Ulema–e-Islam-Fazl, the infor-mation minister said that certain polit-ical forces were “staging dramas” inthe name of the all parties’ conference.In fact, leaders of such religio-politicalforces had never denounced violenceand terrorism as they were “like-minded of those who are engaged inviolence and terrorism in the name of

Taliban”. Hussain claimed that theANP had pioneered the APC on mili-tancy and terrorism. He said the KPhad held APCs in 2008 and 2009 aswell. As a result of these confer-ences, the nation became unitedagainst militants and terroristsand all political forces hadbacked military action, headded. He said that now wasthe time for all political forcesto adopt a clear stance on mili-tancy.

Hussain said that since com-ing into power in March 2008,the ANP adopted a clear stanceon terrorism. The ANP had re-quested the Taliban for dia-logue, but response isvery negative. TheANP was determinedto taking all stake-holders into confi-dence for return ofpeace and tran-quility in thecountry, heconcluded.

two fata mnasjoin PPP

ISLAMABAD Online

Independent members of the NationalAssembly from NA-39 Orakzai Agency, JawadHussain, and NA-37 Kurram Agency, SajidHussain Turi, called on Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf in Islamabad on Friday andannounced joining the Pakistan People’s Party.Talking to Ashraf, they said they had taken thedecision to join the PPP keeping in view thepolitical situation in the country, particularly,that prevailing in FATA.They said the PPP was the only political partythat worked for the welfare of people of FATA. They particularly referred to reforms in FCRand implementation of Political PartiesOrdinance in FATA undertaken by the presentgovernment‚ which demonstrated the party’scommitment to giving rights to people of theregion.They said that the scope and scale ofdevelopment work carried out by the PPP-ledgovernment in FATA had influenced theirdecision to join the party. Welcoming their decision, the prime ministersaid it was a testimony to fruits of policy ofreconciliation and understanding that thepresent government had been following to dealwith national issues. He said that this reflectedpeople’s confidence in the performance of thePPP-led government.The prime minister said that with their joining‚the party would become stronger in FATA.

fAiSALABAD: More than 1,000 people were arrested by police for violating the ban on kite-flying in the city as people of this industrial hub of Pakistan celebrated Basant on friday in spite of the

provincial government’s ban on the event for the last five years. inP

Militants want to delay polls: Mian IftikharSc summons nab report onISaf containers in 15 days ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice (CJ) of Pakistan IftikharChaudhary ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)to present the report relevant to ISAF containers within 15days and file reference against those responsible during thesame time period, while hearing of the ISAF ContainersImplementation Case. A three-member bench headed by CJIftikhar Chaudhary heard the case on Friday. Rana Shameemrepresented the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) while RanaShahid represented NAB. The court noted that earlier it hadbeen revealed that the total number of containers was 7,000whereas now it is being said that the figure is more than28,000. If FBR receives an amount based on ISAF containers,this can lead to a decrease in the budget deficit, the courtclaimed. In a report already submitted by the FBR, it wasmentioned that 148 cases had been disposed off while noticeshad been issued in 36 cases that are under consideration.Responding to this, the CJ said if the process of receiving taxwas not expedited, positive results would not be obtained.Sindh NAB informed the court that it might give time forfiling reference against those responsible, at which the apexcourt noted that only Rs 5.6 million had been recoveredinstead of billions of rupees. Later, the court gave NAB 15days to file reference against those responsible. On theother hand, FBR officials were asked to appear before thecourt on February 25 with record of tax receipts. Hearingof the case was adjourned till February 25. Online

KP INFO MINISTERSAYS ANP IS DETERMINEDTO TAKE ALLSTAKEHOLDERS INTOCONFIDENCE FORCOUNTRY’S PEACE

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:21 AM Page 9

COMMeNT

CSaturday, 23 February, 2013

10Success is not final, failure is not

fatal: it is the courage to continue

that counts. –Winston Churchill

whitelieSaPoLLo

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

eVeN the Army wants timelyelections. So the militaryspokesman tells us.The government is not onlyat the end of its term, but

also at the end of its tether. Hence it iswelcome news that the military has givenits NOC (no objection certificate) for theelections to be held on time.

The politicians can pride themselvesof their vast propaganda machines welloiled by enormous amounts of funds. Butnothing beats the spin doctoring of themilitary.

What was the need for the DirectorGeneral of the ISPR (Inter-services Pub-lic Relations) to issue a carefully wordedstatement, ostensibly a Q and A sessionwith journalists, at this juncture? We areinformed by the major general who headsit that the military had been supportingthe incumbent democratic setup for thepast five years and will continue to do so.

No one can challenge the fact that themilitary has studiously given the civiliansspace. Admittedly in the past it hassacked elected governments for muchless. But this does not mean that the gov-ernment has had a free reign without al-ways looking over its shoulder forBonapartists.

The PPP-led coalition prides itself oncompleting its full term and announcingthe elections when it deems fit. This iscertainly a first in Pakistan. And credit isdue to President Asif Zardari as well asGeneral Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. More soto Zardari for assiduously avoiding tostep on the military’s toes.

Unlike his predecessors Zardari is adeal maker rather than a deal breaker.Nawaz Sharif, paradoxically enough, de-spite representing the Punjab, the heart-land of the army, has had an uneasyrelationship with the khakis.

As prime minister he never got along

with any of the military chiefs, but evenwhile in opposition Sharif, to say theleast, has awkward relations with thepresent military leadership.

His Leader of the Opposition in theNational Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Alihas done no service to him by taking onthe military hierarchy much too often. Hisboss has often restrained him but thedamage by then had been done.

even when elections are about to beannounced deep mistrust persists in thePML-N circles about the intentions of theubiquitous establishment. The conven-tional thinking prevalent in the PML-N isthat the military is somehow uneasy aboutthe ‘inevitable victory’ of the party at theelections. In this context, both ImranKhan and Tahirul Qadri are painted asmilitary-sponsored trial balloons out tocut into the vote bank of the PML-N.

The other day in my television pro-gramme, the PML-N spokesmanMushahidullah Khan wondered loudly asto why Qadri’s long marches were con-fined to the Central Punjab? SimilarlyRana Sanaullah, the Punjab law minister,claims rather unconvincingly that Imran’sballoon has deflated and Qadri’s too willmeet the same fate.

Of course it is ludicrous to assumethat somehow Zardari and the military arein cahoots to block Nawaz in the nextelections. However, if Imran and to alesser extent Qadri cut into the Sharif votebank the ultimate beneficiary will beZardari. If Zardari is deriving politicalmileage from the prevailing situation hecannot be blamed for it.

With the military endorsing timelyelections and the Supreme Court walkingthe talk by showing the door to Qadri, the-oretically speaking elections will be heldsooner than later. But the situation on theground is still germane with uncertainty.

The election Commission tasked withholding free and fair elections is not help-ing matters by its increasingly impracticaledicts in the name of transparency. In thelight of articles 62 and 63 of the constitu-tion some of the preconditions being laidout by the Commission might blackballquite a few known faces from the race.

For example, under the new regula-tions incumbent members of the nationaland provincial assemblies are to give inwriting their major achievement as publicrepresentatives and also to append a listof development projects undertaken withpublic money. How and under what crite-ria such data will be scrutinised has notbeen spelt out.

It is fair enough to ask those who are

contesting elections to declare their andtheir dependents’ assets and the amountof tax they contribute to the exchequer.However, the use of such provisions arbi-trarily can give draconian powers to theCommission.

That is why, perhaps ominously, theChief election Commissioner FakhruddinG Ibrahim inquired from a journalistwhether elections are going to be held atall. He should have been answering thisquestion rather than asking it.

Perhaps the CeC was wonderingaloud whether the elections can be heldwhen the country was infested with ram-pant terrorism. Post carnage of HazaraShias in Quetta the situation has becomeeven more precarious.

Those protesting against the ethniccleansing of the Hazaras were able toparalyse life in the country. Islamabad, La-hore and Karachi airports were blocked forhours as a result of sit-ins. The demonstra-tors proved beyond doubt that only a fewhundred people in each of the major citiesof the country can bring life to a standstill.

The demand of the Hazaras to handover Quetta to the army was augural.Ironically during Musharraf’s rule theomnipresent agencies were the bane ofthe province.

It is a sad reflection on the so-calledpublic representatives of Balochistan thatthey have little relevance to the problemsof the province. In fact they are part of theproblem rather than the solution.

The army spokesman has also cate-gorically denied that the military has anytruck with the banned terror outfitLashkar-e-Jhangvi that claimed responsi-bility for massacre of the Hazaras. De-spite such denials, outfits like LJ and LeT(Lashkar-e-Taiba) are perceived by manyto be the Army’s cat’s paw.

But why blame the military alone?Substantial swathes of political and reli-gious parties as well as section of themedia are sympathetic towards such ji-hadi organisations.

elections will be held and should beheld on time. Any other alternative is lessattractive. Shahbaz Sharif’s warning thatif present law and order situation contin-ued Pakistan may turn into a ‘failed state’is alarming.

After all Sharif is the chief executiveof the largest province. He should comeout clean on allegations that the PML-Nhas tacit political alliances in Punjab withthe very elements responsible for pushingthe country to the brink of abyss.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today

Sindh’s two local government lawsan election curveball?

Is there a better alternative?

elections on time

Political space for terrorists

eLeCTIONS in the country are around the corner. every party worth thesalt is busy fielding its candidates for various constituencies, as is theirpolitical right. And this is a good thing to happen. But military’s

statement that it wants the elections to go ahead begs the question whatprompted the military to talk about an entirely political issue. Though DG ISPRMaj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa was quick to point out that army had supportedthe civilian setup in the past years and would continue to do so, many wouldcast aspersions on military’s intentions. Still it sounds good and might translatemuch better in reality if the men in khaki actually stand by their claim.However, there really are some issues that need to be sorted out for a smoothpower transition. The recent attacks on Hazara Shias in Quetta have not onlyrattled the country emotionally, but also cropped up questions on the readinessof country’s security and law enforcement agencies. But that’s an operationalproblem, the one that can be managed with a little work. What really isbothersome is the fact that the perpetrators of these attacks are well knownterrorists, who proudly take responsibility of their actions and most of whom areworking under the banner of a banned terrorist organisation or its successor.After the Quetta massacres whose responsibility Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) wasquick to accept, the federal government has confronted the Punjab governmentof PML-N to take action against the LeJ and defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan(SSP), another well known sectarian terrorist organisation. But the PML-Nappears to be unwilling to comply with the request because of its close contactswith these terrorist organisations and, as reports suggest, it has cut a deal withthe Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), which is just a re-branding of SSP, for seatadjustment in South Punjab on at least 14 National Assembly seats.The culprit here is not only these militant oganisations, for that’s what they do,but also the PML-N is to be blamed equally, for it has an ambiguous stance onterrorism and many of its stalwarts have close contacts with these parties. Atleast in one instance, the Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah stirred quite acontroversy by openly campaigning for by-elections in Jhang with the leaders ofLeJ. Allowing them political space would be devastating, at least until they giveup arms, renounce violence and submit to the law of the land. The PML-Nshould also come clean on its stance on terrorism and sever contacts with allmilitant organsiations.

THe Musharraf era local bodies system introduced by the PPP-dominated Sindh Assembly in the teeth of strong reaction from acrossSindh was scrapped by the same legislature on Thursday. Instead the

1979 system was reintroduced despite opposition this time from the MQM.Interestingly the change has been affected only three weeks before the demiseof the assembly. The news has led to jubilation in Sindh where it is beinginterpreted as a victory for the opposition. Saner elements though see it as anelection curveball. With one move the PPP has taken much wind out of the sailsof its opponents. A combination of political forces including Pagara’s PML-F,the nationalist parties, PML-N, ANP, JUI-F and Jamaat-e-Islami had opposedthe Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance calling it a measure aimed atlaying the basis of the future division of Sindh. This struck a chord with manyand hurt the PPP the most. The PPP’s opponents had depended on the issue todeprive the ruling party of a good chunk of its voters. With the PPP wrappingup the system it had itself introduced, the opposition has been left high and dry.But does the decision taken by the Sindh Assembly on Thursday indicate achange of heart in the PPP leadership? It appears from the speeches delivered bysome of the PPP MPAs that the leadership thinks there was nothing wrong withthe previous system and its decision to replace it is dictated by circumstancesrelated to elections. As Agha Siraj Durrani put it, there was nothing wrong withthe former law and it is being changed only due to public opposition. Fourmonths back the public opinion didn’t matter. With the elections due in May, itdoes now. Qaim Ali Shah too made it clear later that the change was beingmade only because the Sindhis were opposed to the Musharraf era system.Interestingly the PPP still wants to keep the MQM as an ally.The new bill has been sent to Governor Ishratul Ibad who according to Article116(2) and (3) of the Constitution has ten days to sign it into law or return itwith objections. In case it is passed again by the Assembly, it will have to beagain sent to the Governor who has another ten days to sign it. After this,irrespective of his views, the bill would automatically become a law. GovernorIshartul Ibad has left for London. He can thus keep the bill for twenty days. Itremains to be seen if the process can be completed by the time the assembly isdissolved. As Speaker Nisar Khuhro put it, “If the local bodies systemapproved by the Assembly is not implemented now, the next assembly wouldconsider it.”

ARiF niZAMi

PML-N should rethink its ties with militant organisations

ONe wouldn’t have pegged theSharifs for patrons of the art,barring the culinary variety.

Don’t expect them to be fascinatingparticipants in such discussions onliterature, say. The plot of Mirza HadiRuswa’s Umrao Jaan Ada? Somenawab had the hots for this courtesan.The plot of Imtiaz Ali Taj’s Anarkali?Umrao Jan’s plot, except with a prince.Oliver Twist? Orphan makes it but notbefore some time with a gang ofandroon ne’er-do-well kan tuts. Theentire subject of history? One damn

thing after the other.But bring up the subject of the correctway to let nihari simmer and expect anuanced tour de force on the brilliantfugue of tastes that comes with doingthe thing well.Well, they’ve decided to bring someculture in. They’ve owned the LahoreLiterature Festival fully and ShahbazSharif had a dinner at Huzoori Bagh justthe other day, which included adiscussion by William Dalrymple on hisnew book, a flute recital by HaiderRehman and a recitation of Zehra

Nigah’s poetry, afterwhich she, alongwith Intezar Hussainand Bapsi Sidhwa,got lifetimeachievement awards.Is this change aresult of the CM’smarriage to writerTehmina Durrani?Perhaps. Decadeslater, her book stilloutsells more‘literary’ endeavoursby other writers.

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

APak-India publishers’ conferencewas recently organised by theAPNS, Pakistan’s premier press

body. It was attended by many pressbarons from across the border. Pakistaninewspapermen were much impressed byhow far behind they were when comparedto their Indian counterparts. The Indiansconcerns were like smoothly run,proactive corporations, employing focusgroups, surveys and the like, andtranslating all of that into increasedcirculation and advertisements.How we can do the same in Pakistan,asked a local publisher. Come to India,said an Indian media mogul, in asinoffensive a manner as something likethis could be said, and we’ll show youhow to run a paper.

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:21 AM Page 10

COMMeNT CSaturday, 23 February, 2013

11A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for

then both parties nobly are subdued, and

neither party loser. –William Shakespeare

BORN of Muslim parents andbrought up in an Islamic environ-ment, one’s religious credentialswere taken for granted. Rather

late in age, one has started wonderingwhether one would still be qualified to becalled a Muslim. More so, whether one wouldactually like to be called one!

Growing through all those years, one didnot have to carry the tag of a Sunni or a Shia,a Deobandi or a Wahabi or an Aslafi. One’srecognition, and in certain cases even sur-vival, did not really depend on one’s associa-tion with one sect or the other. That appearsto be no longer the case. One’s head is bowedin shame at the manner in which violence hasbecome an every-day norm in the country andthe barbarity and brutality with which it isbeing perpetrated in the name of religion. Itis harrowing, it is humiliating, it is inhuman.Bombs are being hurled at innocent peoplesimply because they are Shias. This is a bla-

tant contravention of the teach-ings which our saints and sageshave been passing on fromgeneration to generation. Butreligion is no longer a means tofinding peace with oneself andwith one’s surroundings. It hasbeen reduced to becoming avehicle for death visiting thehomes and hearth of peoplewho have done no wrong ex-cept opening eyes in the laps ofparents who do not subscribe toone regimented thoughtprocess or the other.

The manner in which hun-dreds of innocent Hazaras havebeen mowed down in the lastfew months makes a mockeryof the Islamic injunctions thatwe never tire of preaching tothe world. What relevance andweight these injunctions carrywhen our fellow brethren arenot safe in our midst, when webomb their peaceful congrega-tions, when we ambush themin buses and vans and target-kill them to satiate our ap-petite for blood?

I’ th’ last night’s storm Isuch a fellow saw,

Which made me think aman a worm. My son

Came then into my mind,and yet my mind

Was then scarce friends

with him. I have heard more since.As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods,They kill us for their sport.–Shakespeare (King Lear)The stark failure of the intelligence agen-

cies, the utter ineffec-tiveness of the securityoutfits and the con-demnable unwillingnessof the government/s toaddress the symptomsand causes of the gorymanifestations of vio-lence have rendered thiscountry literally unlive-able for its people. Un-fortunately, it is the fakeproponents of peacegarbed as politicianswho are, in fact, in-volved in the detestableact of fanning sectarian-ism. They do so becausethey want to make use ofthese crominal groups tofurther perpetuate their hold on power forget-ting that, in doing so, they are jeopardisingthe prospect of national survival.

Among other places, the nurseries of thisgruesome sectarianism can be traced to thebackyards of the government of Punjab. Theiralleged links with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)have never been a secret. A senior minister ofthe provincial cabinet was once shown ridingan open vehicle in the company of one of theterrorist masterminds. In a recent article car-ried by a leading publication that was later re-moved in haste from their website ostensiblyunder pressure from the political party, thecontours of an alleged understanding betweenPML-N and Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ),which formerly operated as Sipah-e-SahabaPakistan, regarding seat adjustment in SouthPunjab for the next elections have been out-lined. It is worth mentioning here that the al-leged terrorist kingpin Malik Ishaq of thebanned LeJ who has recently joined ASWJwas given a monthly stipend by the govern-ment of Punjab during his internment in La-hore. According to the alleged deal, PML-Nwill extend support on three seats to the ASWJcandidates in exchange for their support fortwelve PML-N candidates in Punjab. Lud-hyanvi of ASWJ has allegedly confirmed thetalks saying that “both parties could not dowithout each other and history shows that ourvoters are willing to see us united”.

It is in such illicit contracts that thesaplings of terrorism blossom. There are

many faces that the rulers of Punjab have hid-den behind that contrived face that they wantthe world to see. Their traditional predilectionto curry religious vote during their electioncampaigns in exchange for striking mortally

dangerous compromiseswith the proponents ofsectarianism is possiblythe most fatal of theseharrowing occupations.Thanks to WikiLeaks,their behind-closed-doors effort to strikedeals with foreign repre-sentatives to clip thewings of the burgeoningjudiciary is also a matterof record. Paradoxically,they were doing this inthe backdrop of the pub-lic oath that they had sopainstakingly securedfrom their party candi-dates to uphold thecause of an independent

judiciary. What hypocrisy, what duality, whatutter lack of self-respect! They will not stopat anything in their frenzied quest for power.They would even take the devil for their men-tor. It is such patrons of violence that peopleshould be wary of if the dream of peace in thecountry is ever to be realised.

Not that the rest of the political mafias arepacks of angels. They, too, have their under-bellies which grossly outweigh the cumula-tive good intentions that they may ever have,intentionally or unintentionally, demonstratedfor the country. They, too, would be quick instriking belittling deals to aggrandise per-sonal interests and objectives. They wouldalso willingly embrace terrorists and sectarianlinchpins for the sake of expanding theirpower base. In the process, the Hazaraswould continue to get massacred. Withdreams of their youth inscribed on their tomb-stones, they fight for provision of securitywhich is their inalienable right.

The fear syndrome which engulfs the na-tional expanse has already prompted mass ex-odus of various communities and minorities.In the end, what we’ll be left with are thesebands of sectarian war-mongers and terroristbandits, protected and patronised by politicalmafias, ruling the streets of the country turn-ing it into a virtual no-go area for its citizens.It appears, the evil is here to stay.

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

evil comes visiting“...which made me think a man a worm”

But keep clam and carry onyou might be next

Candid CornerRAOOF HASAn

ONe cancome upwith thou-sand differ-

ent excuses when yourheart and mind are not onthe same page. There wasyet another deadly attackon Hazara Shia commu-nity and hence it was fol-lowed (in factlegitimised) by a tirade offresh balderdash explain-ing who is controlled bywhom, what proxies areactive and our mostfavourite of all: where America and India fit into all this. For thoseimplying yet again that this is not a religious but a political issueneed to realise that it is in fact their retarded identity, which is nota religious or political but a mental issue. My words are bitter be-cause I see no point in being soft on pettifoggers who indulge inlegitimising and apologising for ruthless killers.

The facility and propensity with which we take refuge in ‘mulkdusman anaser’, one can only feel elated and thankful to the everlooming infidel enemies of the state for lurking just around the cor-ner and not letting us fall short of lame explanations every time wesee a big ugly question mark lingering on our respective ideologies.

As far as reality is concerned those (un)intelligent conspira-cies are as shallow as the dumb ideologies they are used to sup-port. For anyone entertaining these questions on regular basisdesperately need to run a double self mental checkup and makesure if his/her imagination has any (or at least farfetched)causative relationship with the reality. But that’s just a wild wish.

Kudos to our imagination, that so far we have successfullymanaged to come up with thousand different ways on how to at-tack citadel of Islam, because one fine day a bunch of infidelcountries might decide to pick up Pakistan (just like that) andmake it a point to destroy it (again just because they might feellike doing so despite the fact that there are some 50 odd otherMuslim majority states in the world as well). One such book thatcould come pretty handy if some day certain super intelligentshadowy force might actually want to stir things up could be: ‘Athousand different ways to destroy the Islami qila of illusions: apractical guide for dummies – because we are oh so special’.

Those braggarts who are content by naming just the LeJ and in-directly sanctifying the rest of the terrorist outfits are walking on athin rope. At best its only going to save their face, not the rest of in-nocent citizens. Mind telling us the difference between TTP and Lej?Or let us hope that by now apologists have invented a yard stick tomeasure the anomalies between all those Jihadi outfits that work within Pakistan and Afghanistan. Perhaps start with telling us, which oneof these has a knack for attacking in a less deadly manner (becauseafter all they are supposed to be the good guys). The fact of the matteris that attacks on Hazaras did not begin to occur only in the pastdecade. Destruction of Bamiyan statues located in Afghnaistan,revered by the Hazaras as the remnant of their forefathers was per-haps the first most prominent manifestation of Taliban’s hatred to-wards Hazara community. And we know very well that TTP is anextension of Afghan Taliban, same goes for the rest of them.

As sit-in entered into its third consecutive day, an agreementwas reached and a targeted operation began. The governmentclaimed to have killed four LeJ militants and about over a hun-dred suspects arrested. Sounds good enough to send the heartbroken relatives back to their homes and hurriedly sweep dustunder the carpet for now. But who is going to give a guaranteethat just like several other LeJ terrorists, this time there will beno easy escapes from right under the nose of security agencies?Can anyone tell for sure that this time it’s different because therewill be no divine acquittals and no rose petals showered onkillers? Is there going to be a conscious effort to stop those so-called clerics, anchorpersons and intellectual terrorists from le-gitimising and advocating fundamentalism? Who is going to askthat one person to be answerable to the court for eulogising Tal-iban rule in Afghanistan and giving them a clean chit? And mostimportantly, does anyone has the power to shout it out loud andclear that from now on killers will be treated as killers and justthat, both on particle and intellectual grounds?

Or are we going too wild with wishful thinking again?As much as you would like to proclaim all this a bunch of

concocted lies, Bengalis are not the only one to have suffered atthe hands of army and its puppet politicians, Blaochis are verymuch made to stand in the line as well. God knows if, likeBangladesh, Balochistan too will ask for an apology some yearslater. Yeah that sounds incomprehensible and outrageous forthose who are still adamant on pretending to believe (and makeothers believe) that the army always dips itself in aab-e zam zambefore messing up with country’s affairs.

Those who say lines cannot be drawn and there must be talksare seemingly not yet shaken by a blast near them. Lines havebeen drawn; that is, either stand with Taliban or stand with therest of us because there is no space for middle ground anymore.Otherwise your condolences are no different than those preten-tious aunties exclaiming with fake sobs “bohat afsoos huabhabhi” while enjoying samosas.

The need of the hour is to name and shame the apologists andin case if you are one of them then I’d propose get done with thisdrama of shedding crocodile’s tears on Shia killings and wait tillthey get you or your loved one of these days. As one widely sharedmeme said; keep clam and carry on – you might be next. Till thenwith a broken and heavy heart one can propose we fix a permanent+ (plus) sign with the number of deaths reported because after allit’s an ever increasing number with no full stops in sight.

The writer is a political satirist. She can be reached atmariam.goraya@hotmail.com

MARyAM SHAFQAT GORAyA

Thanks to WikiLeaks,their behind-closed-doorseffort to strike deals withforeign representatives to

clip the wings of theburgeoning judiciary isalso a matter of record.

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:21 AM Page 11

The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die

nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is

that he wants to live humbly for one.— Wilhelm Stekel

arts

ASaturday, 23 February, 2013

12

matthew Perrysells hollywoodhills mansion for $4.7 million

MATTHEW Perry has sold his

Hollywood Hills mansion for

4.685 million dollars - a full 1

million dollars less than the original list

price. It's the latest come-down for the 43-

year-old actor, who became a mega-star

with the 1990s sitcom 'Friends,' but has

seen his marketability drop after a number

of big- and small-screen flops, the New

York Daily News reported. Built in 1955, the

mid-century modern three-bedroom house

combines glass, stone, and white marble

and boasts of indoor/outdoor fireplaces, a

Corian bathroom, gourmet kitchen, and

sleek terraces with wire railings. The

bedroom has a sliding glass wall that opens

out onto a manicured backyard with pool

and hot tub that looks out over the city.

The 4,093-square-foot home also has a

screening room. newS DeSk

would like to do alove scene withalba: Piers morgan

PIERS Morgan has admitted

that he wants to do a big

screen love scene with Jessica

Alba. The married chat show host,

who returns to ITV with a new series

of Life Stories, has put the fantasy

bunk-up with the sexy actress top of

his list of goals for 2013. "I am

looking to expand my movie career

this year. I had a cameo in a film with

Denzel Washington last year and I

have done comedy and drama. So

this year I would hopefully like to do

a love scene with Jessica Alba," the

Sun quoted him as saying. He

appeared with Washington in 'Flight'

and was also in 'The Campaign' with

Will Ferrell a year ago. He also

desires to buy Arsenal, his beloved

"but currently disappointing" football

team. newS DeSk

Guns, attitude, slick action and a whole lot of good oldfun are back with the fifth instalment of the Die Hardfranchise. Die Hard, one of the most successful actionfilm series in Hollywood, exploded into theatres 25years ago, launching a new cinematic hero, John Mc-Clane, and changing the paradigm of action movies.The films follow action guru Bruce Willis as he findshimself in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and ineach film, the action just gets bigger. Having attainedcult status, Die Hard has influenced pop culture and in-spired several tributes. Here are a few reasons to watchJohn Moore's A Good Day To Die Hard.the relatable action hero: Unlike other cinematic heroes,McClane is a human being first, action hero second. JohnMcClane is the regular everyman hero, relatable andidentifiable. McClane established Bruce Willis as one ofHollywood's most loved and revered action stars, the in-spiration behind many of today's action heroes.the realistic story: Die Hard changed the face of modernaction cinema with believable situations and human char-acters, providing a level of realism that audiences craved.The new one centres on family members in peril and JohnMcClane's willingness to do anything to save them. thehigh octane action and draMa: The world's best stunt-men came together and created 58 sets with almost5,00,000 square feet of set construction. Along with theMi: 24, the movie features the Russian-made Mi: 26"Halo" — the largest helicopter in the world, the firsttime for a Western movie. There are adrenaline-pump-ing car chase sequences, for which Mercedes Benz do-nated several million dollars worth of cars and trucksto the production. Die Hard 5 has all the spills andthrills an action fan can ask for.witty dialogues: The Die Hard films have always hadsome of the most memorable and funny dialogues inthe history of films, including "Yippee-ki-yay,mother....!" It's a 24-hour trip that gives you an adren-aline rush — whether the setting is a skyscraper (theoriginal), an airport (Die Hard 2), or whole cities (parts3 and 4) —the one constant is that John McClane mustdefeat the baddies in about a day; without any back up.This time, John is out to find his son in Russia; and theadrenaline rush to save the world in 24 hours is whatmakes even this Die Hard a must-watch. Fox Star Studios' A Good Day To Die Hard opens intheatres and Imax today in english, Hindi, Tamil, Tel-ugu and Punjabi.

all you need to Knowabout the foo fighters

Why are Dave Grohl and his fellow rockers in the news?Because he confirmed that the band will re-group in LosAngeles in a few days to start work on new material.ONE-MAN ARMy: The Foo Fighters is a band formed bythe former drummer of the seminal band Nirvana. DaveGrohl was Nirvana's drummer, but on their self-titled debutalbum in 1995, he plays ALL the instruments because hehadn't found any other members yet!WHAT'S IN A NAME? The term 'foo fighter' was used byAllied aircraft pilots in World War II to describe variousUFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skiesover both the european and Pacific Theater of Operations.It was also the name given to the US 415th Night FighterSquadron, which Grohl borrowed for his own group.HOW THEy MAKE MUSIC: When Grohl first started theband, its music was often compared to that of his previousgroup, Nirvana. Grohl acknowledged that Nirvana singer/gui-tarist Kurt Cobain was a major influence on his songwriting.Grohl said, "Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalismand the importance of music that's stripped down." The mem-bers of Foo Fighters meld melodic elements with heavier ones.Grohl noted said in 1997, "We all love music, whether it's theBeatles or Queen or punk rock. Foo Fighters also utilise thetechnique of shifting between quiet verses and loud choruses,which Grohl said was influenced by the members of Nirvana"liking the Knack, Bay City Rollers, Beatles, and ABBA asmuch as we liked Flipper and Black Flag."NOTABLE AppEARANCES: On June 7, 2008, the bandplayed Wembley Stadium, London and was joined byJimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin to playRock and Roll and Ramble On. As Page and Jones left thestage before a final encore of Best Of You, an ecstatic Grohlshouted: "Welcome to the greatest f*****g day of mywhole entire life!" They performed at John Kerry campaignevents in advance of the 2004 US presidential election.HURRAHS!: Over the course of the band's career, four ofits albums have won 11 Grammy Awards, winning BestRock Album four times. Over the years, they have featuredin lists that feature everything from 'best video' and 'greatesthard rock artiste' to 'sexiest band'.

in order to celebrate and support young Pakistani talent, this february 17, Walnut Studios,

in collaboration with Levi’s hosted a musical event which was webcast LiVE. An exclusive

crowd of 30 was also invited to the gig’s venue itself – the Levi’s flagship store in Lahore.

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:21 AM Page 12

It had long since come to my attention that people of

accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.

They went out and happened to things. — Leonardo da Vinci

13ARTSSaturday, 23 February, 2013

A

humaima malik toperform at hUm tv awardswith mika Singh

WITH one major awards

ceremony, Lux Style

Awards, already on the

calendar, we now have another now. At

a press conference held at their office

in Karachi last week, Hum Network

Limited announced that it would hold

HUM Awards 2013 in Karachi during

March.This would be the first awards

ceremony of this scale organised by the

HUM Network with various stars and

celebrities, including Humaima Malik.

Malik will be the only film star

performing at the award ceremony

alongside Mika Singh. Humaima, who

made her transition from modeling to

serious acting by her flawless acting

skills as the star of an ensemble cast in

Hum TV’s “Ishq Junoon Aur Deewangi”

produced by Moomal Prodcutions and

“Akbari-Asghari” produced by Six

Sigma. newS DeSk

national museumfor writers

tHERE is a museum for almost

anything in America.

Albuquerque, NM is home to the

American National Rattlesnake

Museum. Philadelphia boasts the

Mütter Museum, a collection of

medical oddities. Besides all its famed

art museums, New York also has the

Museum of Sex. But where is the

museum for writers?By 2015, Chicago

will have the first national museum

for writers, the American Writers

Museum, made possible by a second

grant from the National Endowment

for the Humanities awarded on

February 4th according to Fine Books

& Collections. Malcolm O'Hagan

founded the American Writers

Museum Foundation in Washington,

D.C. more than three years ago with

the dream of opening a museum for

lovers of literature. After hearing

pitches from several cities, he picked

Chicago. "When I grew up in Ireland,

it was Chicago I would think of as the

real America," he told the Chicago

Tribune in 2011 when the city was

chosen for the prospective proejct.

O'Hagan, an Irish immigrant and

retired engineer, may seem like an

unlikely champion of the American

Writers Museum, but Dublin has

always had a rich literary history as

home to James Joyce, Samuel

Beckett, and Oscar Wilde just to name

a few. The city's own writers museum

houses an impressive 300 years of

literary tradition. Chicago may be

turing into America's Dublin. Ernest

Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, and

Gwendolyn Brooks were all born in

Chicago. The city is also home of the

Poetry Foundation and the American

Library Association. newS DeSk

Deviating a little from Manto, we alsowanted to know that as a historian howdoes she analyse Muslim identities inmodern South Asia and read Pakistan'sidentity as a 'modern' country. "Therehas always been a certain amount oftension between Pakistan as ahomeland for the subcontinent'sMuslims and its quest to be a modernnation-state. However, the conceits ofhigh modernism have been called intoquestion the world over in the last twodecades. Historians have learned toquestion any simplistic modernityversus tradition dichotomy. Pakistan(and India too) needs a state structureand ideology that can accommodateregional distinctions and multipleidentities of its citizens. To be a moderncountry one does not require an over-centralized state," asserts Ayesha whowill be discussing this question of'identity' in an age of transition withFrancis Robinson and Tariq Ali as otherpanelists at the festival.THE COURTESAN IN

LITERATURE: WHO WAS

UMRAO jAN ADA? When we thinkof Umrao Jan Ada, our imaginationstops best at our admiration for her as apoetess or perhaps her repute as the mostattractive courtesan in 19th CenturyLucknow. But does she have more to heror is her existence all together a bigdispute for scholars? The discussion on'Courtesans in Literature: Umrao Jan toGohar Jan' with panelists M.A. Farooqi,Afzal Ahmed Syed, Navid Shahzad andZehra Nigah is precisely going toachieve a reconciliation to thisconundrum or so it seems. "Both UmraoJan and Gohar Jan as depicted in the twonovels are fictitious characters, so theyreally do not have histories beyond whatis known to the readers. And in thissession I hope the discussion will notremain confined to only the novels.Courtesans have played a very importantrole in Japanese literature as well, and,culturally, the Japanese 'geisha' comesclosest to the 'tawaif' of the sub-continent. In Japanese society the word'geisha' still retains its worth as a culturalicon which is not the case in our society.

So I think there could be an interestingconversation on the transformation ofthe connotations of the word 'tawaif' inour culture, and the degeneration itsuggests from a courtesan to aprostitute," explains M.A. Farooqi, theauthor of the much acclaimed book'Between Clay and Dust'.

bondInG overbookS beyondborderS In lahoreBooks are windows to a world of imagination; spaces notguided by intentions of division but that, which harbour aspirit of coming together under one roof. Almost like apleasant discovery, we now have a new address to celebrateliterature in Pakistan's cultural capital city of Lahore. Witha cross-border intermingling of writers and artists betweenIndia and Pakistan, Lahore in its very first edition ofhosting a literature festival promises to bring long-distancesiblings together. The 2-day festival comprises an array ofserious discussions interspersed with mushairas (poeticsymposium), musical bands performing live and Kathakrecitals. From exploring political realities and culturalidentities on the historical map of the country,understanding the theme of resistance in literature or

examining the impact of globalisation on the written word;deconstructing voices of women writers since colonialtimes to a 'modern' Pakistan to of course relishing talesabout the quintessential Manto; the poster child of people'sstruggles during the partition years, the Lahore LiteraryFestival (LLF) 2013 will keep listeners, thinkers andaspiring writers captivated this weekend. In a bid to reviveand resurrect the cultural richness of Lahore, FoundingDirector and writer Razi Ahmed said, "Lahore historicallyhas had a vibrant literary tradition, and it continues to firethe imagination of artists and writers. To celebrate itsgloried past and catalyse new thinking and writing, theLahore Literary Festival has been undertaken as an annualevent".COURTeSy TOi

paKistan, a Modern country?

only if saadat hasanManto were aliveIt was in Lahore thatSaadat Hasan Manto,charged with'obscenity' for hisshort stories wasreeling under courttrials before and afterpartition years. Hadthe 'oft-misinterpreted'Manto been alivetoday and discernedthe shift of hisliterary works fromawaiting a legaljudgment to beingread and understoodin the open air of aliterary stage, theman would have beenhappier. When weasked Pakistani-American historian (also the grand niece of Manto)Professor Ayesha Jalal to elaborate on the aspects ofManto's writings she would be discussing at the festival,she said, "I hope to discuss Manto's life, times and workacross the temporal and spatial divide of 1947. Hisletters, essays and stories reveal the cosmopolitanism ofeveryday life and enduring friendships that provedresilient despite the cataclysmic violence of partition.Manto is also an excellent source for historical insightsinto the post-colonial moment in Pakistan". And on whatwas it like being a family to the master storyteller of alltimes, Prof. Jalal said, "Manto passed away a year beforeI was born. But I grew up in Lahore's Lakshmi Mansionswith his conspicuously absent presence in our jointfamily. I knew several of his short stories even before Icould read. Later, his partition stories informed my yearsas a graduate student of history".

globalisation: futureof urdu literatureThe future of Urduliterature has been anage-old question doingthe rounds in literaryfraternities and asession titled'Globalisation ofPakistan's Literature'at LLF will open thedebate for freshperspectives. M.A.Farooqi questions,"can we really speakabout the globalisationof literature sitting in aplace which does nothave a robustpublishing culture?"and adds, "Urduliterature itself isdoing well. A lot morenon-fiction is beingpublished in Urdu currently. The Urdu readership is growingin satellite towns, but all publishers are having problemswith distribution, even within major cities," he concludes.Other participating authors: Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi, IntizarHussain, Mohsin Hamid, Tehseen Firaqi, Mohammed Hanif,Moni Mohsin and Tariq Ali are among other authors whowill engage listeners into gripping discussions on narrativeforms in Urdu fiction and poetry, satire and art of story-telling. Author Jeet Thayil, Indian feminist and historianUrvashi Butalia, British historian and writer WilliamDalrymple and Penguin India's head Chiki Sarkar are otherprominent participating speakers at LLF 2013.

where: alhaMra art centerwhen: feb 23 and 24, 2013tiMings: 9:30 aM onwardsentry: free

ali zafar – anelite twitterattiAli Zafar has been making internationalheadlines for many years not just as a tal-ented singer, but also as an accomplishedactor, painter, model and humanitarian.However, the most impressive of his ac-complishments is his active socio-politicalprofile. Ali has never refrained from speak-ing his mind and is one of the few celebri-ties in Pakistan who takes time out to offerdiscourse on issues that pertain to the coun-try and its state. He may not be the only ac-tive Pakistani celebrity on Twitter, but he isdefinitely the most popular with over208,000 followers in January 2013 alone.He continues to channel this celebrity forthe good. Not only does Ali Zafar continueto represent Pakistan as a cultural ambassa-dor promoting peace wherever he goes, butalso does not hesitate to motivate his im-

pressive fan base and allwho follow his ac-tivities and accom-

plishmentstowards noblecauses. Recently,not only did Aliendorse an art

auction which facili-tated the education of

some 40 Pakistani girls,but also spoke at cross-

border forums ofAajTak Agenda

and the IndiaTodayMindRocksSummit.Not toolong agowefoundhimpas-

sionately cam-paigning onTwitter for thecut on the en-tertainment taxlevied by thePakistan’s gov-ernment on allentertainmentevents. newS

DeSk

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:22 AM Page 13

NEWS DESK

Google is at work on a new kind of Chromebook: onewith touchscreen capabilities, the Wall Street Journal re-ports. The laptops should be outlater this year, though the exactdate is still unclear, as is theidentity of the company han-dling the hardware. While salesof existing Chromebooks are in-creasing—up to 100,000 were soldlast year— Chrome hasn’t yet made serious inroads intoMicrosoft’s market share. It will also face competitionfrom within Google, in the form of Android, the Journal

notes. Now, Google will have to get software makers tostart writing Chrome-compatible touch programs. Basedon Google’s previous forays into hardware, odds are the

new machines to be “frighteningly af-fordable,” speculates Adam

estes at the Atlantic Wire.Microsoft is already in thetouchscreen-laptop game; a

quarter of Windows 8 laptopssold in the US last month had

the capability. But Apple hasn’t gotten in-volved in the fun, meaning that, for a

change, Google is actually making something Appledoesn’t—at least not yet, estes notes.

NEWS DESK

Scientists at Cornell have put 3Dprinting to an incredible medicaluse: They’ve made an ear remark-ably similar to a naturalone. Using 3D images of ahuman ear, they printed amold to be injected withgel containing collagenfrom rats’ tails, HealthDayreports. Next, they addedcartilage from cows’ ears.“It takes half a day to de-sign the mold, a day or soto print it, 30 minutes toinject the gel, and we canremove the ear 15 minutes

later,” says a researcher. Cartilagegrows around the collagen, ulti-mately replacing it afterthree months,the Cornell

Chronicle reports. Scientists aim touse the technology to help childrenborn with microtia, a condition in

which the external ear fails to fullygrow, though the inner ear has

developed, LiveSciencenotes. It could also servepeople who have lost theirears due to illness or acci-dent, a researcher notes.“This is such a win-winfor both medicine andbasic science,” says a leadauthor behind the project.Another medical break-through, a bionic eye, was

approved by the FDA earlierthis month.

NEWS DESK

YeS, you read that correctly. An en-trepreneur wants to charter aSpaceX rocket to launch two inter-planetary buddies on the ultimatejoyride: A mission to Mars. But the

timeline is tight — as in 5 years time “tight.”This random piece of spaceflight news is

brought to you by Dennis Tito, multimillionaireand founder of the non-profit Inspiration MarsFoundation. Tito also knows a thing or two aboutspace — he was the world’s first space touristwho, in 2001, spent a little over a week living onboard the International Space Station. He report-edly spent $20 million for his orbital trek.

And now, it seems, he has far loftier goals.Tito will host a press conference on Feb. 27

detailing his “Mars-shot” plan. But what is knownis that he intends to hire elon Musk’s Space ex-ploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, toblast a spaceship beyond low-earth orbit.SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket — that is currentlyin development — should fit the bill quite nicely.According to a NewSpace Journal report based onan Inspiration Mars paper detailing the proposed

mission, a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule willbe the spaceship of choice.

Because of the short timeframe to develop thenecessary technology to make this mission possi-ble, the mission will be strictly no-frills. It will useexisting tech for life support and will not make anyattempt to land on the Martian surface or orbit theplanet. It will simply be a fly-there, fly-by, fly-back mission. Attempting such a feat would be onefor the history books, surely catapulting the hopesand dreams on earth to the Red Planet where fargrander missions will be attempted later on.

By Tito’s team’s reckoning, the mission willlaunch in the January 2018 launch window (whenearth and Mars are in a favorable positions) andlast 501 days.

“This ‘Mission for America’ will generate newknowledge, experience and momentum for thenext great era of space exploration,” officials fromthe Inspiration Mars Foundation wrote in a mediaadvisory on Feb. 20 (via NASAWatch.com). “It isintended to encourage all Americans to believeagain, in doing the hard things that make our na-tion great, while inspiring youth through Science,Technology, engineering and Mathematics(STeM) education and motivation.”

tallest volcano ofeurope astonisheswith overnighteruptionEurope’s tallest volcano tended to

erupt overnight on Tuesday, making a

very much familiar sound. It has been

found that the eruption of the volcano

woke up residents of the tiny Sicily

Island in Italy. The active

stratovolcano named Mount Etna is,

however, not close to any of the

population centers. But, as per the

findings, the Sicilian city of Catania

falls closest to the same. It is,

therefore, that the residents could

hear the sound of eruption. It has

been found that gas and lava were

spewed out by the volcano that moved

straight up to the skies. The incident,

the first big eruption in 2013, was

captured in a video by videographer

and webmaster, Klaus Dorschfeldt,

from Italy’s National Institute of

Geophysics and Volcanology. The

mountain that is some 10,922 feet

high, dependent on summit eruptions,

had erupted earlier as well this year. It

was seen erupting in January for two

times, but this time it just burst to life.

The report finds that the mountain has

six different craters, which erupt from

time to time, mostly at the summit.

“Following it constantly learn to be a

keen observer and a minor change

can lead to something important”,

said Dorschfeldt. newS DeSk

Geeks flock to classon...light sabersA group of San Francisco Star

Wars fans who want to travel to a

galaxy not that far away have created

a combat choreography class for

Jedis-in-training with their weapon of

choice: the light saber. The “Golden

Gate Knights” club is run by self-

proclaimed Jedi Master Alain Block,

who has a background in martial arts

and stage combat.

Clutching the neon-glowing light

sabers, the self-proclaimed “Star

Wars geeks” slice and parry as they

follow Bloch’s lead, and get a little

exercise, too. People in a recent class

in the city’s South of Market district,

including a couple on a date, say they

embrace their quirkiness and have

even converted some of the skeptical

into the “Jedi order.” newS DeSk

infotainMent

ISaturday, 23 February, 2013

14Float like a butterfly,

sting like a bee.

–Muhammad Ali

NEWS DESK

Three major Zendesk clients were affected by the secu-rity breach this week that allowed hackers into their sys-tems. Zendesk is a customerservice software providerand it announced thisweek that its system hadbeen compromised. Thethree major clients af-fected by the securitybreach include twitter, Pinterest,and Tumblr. Zendesk announced the security breach viaa blog post early Thursday night. Tumblr notified af-fected users via e-mail at 6:35 PM PST on Thursdaynight that their accounts may have been affected by thesecurity breach. Both twitter and Pinterest are expectedto begin notifying affected users soon. Zendesk wrote

that it had become aware that a hacker had access to itssystem this week and as soon as it learned about the at-tack it patched the vulnerability and closed the hackersaccess. The company says that the hacker had access tosupport information that three of its major customerstore on it system. The hacker is believed to have down-

loaded e-mail addresses ofusers that had contactedthose three companiesfor support. Thehacker was also ableto obtain support e-

mail subject lines. Wired reports that it has a sourceclaiming that some customers could have had theirphone number revealed as well, but no passwords, pass-word hashes, or encrypted passwords were stolen by thehacker. None of the three companies affected in the hackare aware of any user accounts being compromised.

angry egyptians try to send morsi to spaceEgypt has found a new

way to express political

discontent. An opposition

group has entered

President Mohamed

Morsi in a contest to win

a space flight, the AP

reports. It’s a way of

showing their desire to

eject the leader, the April

6 Youth Movement says

on its Facebook page. Members are hoping allies

will vote for him to win the contest. “No one in the

universe can put up with blatant lies ... except for

the brotherly people of the moon,” the group says.

“It is for this reason that the president needs your

votes. President Morsi, we wish you safe travels.”

The contest is the product of an interesting

alliance: It’s run by Axe, the personal grooming

brand, in a partnership with Buzz Aldrin. newS DeSk

apple files patent forpossible SmartwatchThe “iWatch” gossip watch is

continuing to tick down. Apple filed a

patent application today

outlining a flexible screen

with a “slap-wrap”

bracelet you can wear on

your wrist, described as

a “wearable accessory

device,” reports Mashable.

Among the possibilities

described for the device: “a

sensor for detecting a change

between the flat state and the curled state of the

bi-stable spring substrate,” a “kinetic energy

gathering component,” and a battery that can be

recharged “by way of a plurality of ambient light

energy collectors disposed across a portion of one

surface of the accessory device.” All of which is a

mouthful, but they all sound like pretty neat

ideas for a digital watch. newS DeSk

boy calls 911 to avoid bedtimePolice in Massachusetts say a 10-year-old boy

called 911 because he didn’t want to go to bed.

Brockton police say the boy called just after 8 last

night and told the dispatcher he was calling to

report his mother because he

did not want to go to bed.

There was no

emergency. According

to the police log, an

officer went to the

boy’s home and

explained to him

when it was

appropriate to call

911. No charges

were issued.

newS DeSk

Private mars mission in 2018?

Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest affected by Zendesk security breach

Scientists create newear with 3D printer

New Google project: Touchscreen laptops

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:22 AM Page 14

CHENNAIAGenCieS

NOT a single observer onthe opening day ofIndia’s series againstAustralia was surprisedby the sight of MichaelClarke conjuring his

side’s spinal innings. And not one of themwould have been game to predict thatClarke’s partner for a rousing stand of 151,after some major early stutters on a parchedpitch, would be the debutant MoisesHenriques.

Arriving at the wicket soon after lunch,his team floundering at 153 for 5,Henriques showed enormous composureand exemplary technique to construct asupporting innings in the company of hiscaptain, fulfilling the potential first evidentwhen he starred for Australia’s Under-19World Cup team when only 16 years old adecade ago. Clarke’s century, which tookhim past Sir Donald Bradman on thenation’s list of Test aggregates, was less ofa surprise but no less an achievement, hispacing and poise only briefly interrupted ata critical moment shortly before tea.

India’s outstanding bowler R Ashwinappealed vehemently for a bat-pad catch,and replays showed a fat inside edge.Seldom have India cursed the lack of DRSgiven their opposition to its vagaries, butthey were left to gnash their teeth this time.A wicket then would have opened upAustralia’s tail to a ball that was reverseswinging and spinning. Instead Clarke andHenriques were not separated until the finalhalf-hour, the allrounder missing a sweepat Ashwin before Ravindra Jadeja skiddedone past Mitchell Starc.

Clarke had showed rare glee at winningthe toss on a surface more clay court thancricket pitch, and the visitors made a rapidstart before stuttering twice. First when edCowan’s intemperate charge down thewicket was followed by the swift exit of avulnerable Phillip Hughes, and again whenShane Watson, David Warner and MatthewWade fell swiftly after lunch.

Ashwin gained spin, dip and bounce

while harvesting six wickets, but the resttended to pitch too short and gave theAustralians room to manoeuvre the ballaround the MA Chidambaram Stadium.Ishant Sharma and the debutantBhuvneshwar Kumar appeared peripheralmembers of the attack; the omitted PragyanOjha can feel justly aggrieved.

Cowan and Warner made a cheery start,swatting the ball around with ease againstKumar and Ishant. Warner was thescratchier of the two, having battedproperly in the nets for only a few daysbefore the match due to his rehab from afractured thumb. Twice Ashwin beatWarner outside off stump, first drawing anedge that an incredulous Virender Sehwagcontrived to spill at slip, then creating adifficult stumping chance that MS Dhonifailed to complete due to the bounceextracted.

Meanwhile Cowan looked serene, somuch so that he advanced to loft Harbhajandown the ground for only the second six ofhis 14-Test career. If that stroke showedhow good Cowan was feeling, his nextaggressive measure was to smack ofmisplaced comfort. Trying to belt anothersix, he was beaten by Ashwin’s greater dropand bounce, and failed to get back to hiscrease before Dhoni tipped the bails off. Onthe first morning of the series, it was hardto imagine a more wasteful exit.

Unlike Cowan, Hughes had failed tomake a decent score in the warm-up, and hisindecisiveness was evident in a stay thatfeatured plenty of shuffling and ended witha horrid, half-hearted cut at Ashwin thatdragged the ball onto leg stump. Watsonfound the middle of the bat from his first ball,and with Warner had formed the foundation

of a potentially handsome union by lunch.However the interval disrupted their

rhythm, and moments after resumptionWatson was pinned lbw on the crease by aquicker, straighter delivery that skidded.Warner fell in similar fashion, fooled byAshwin’s change in trajectory and struck infront on the back foot when he might have

leaned forward.Wade fought to get himself established

but on 12 was too imprecise with placementof bat and pad and was ruled lbw to anoffbreak that pitched on middle andstraightened. After their rapid startAustralia were sinking fast.

Henriques walked to the middle in this

dire scenario, but showed the good sense ofa maturing cricketer, and the skills of oneraised on Sydney’s often slow and turningpitches. He helped Clarke in manning thepumps, then setting a steady course, andwas not unduly troubled despite the pitch’stendency to offer the odd ball that jumpedand fizzed or scuttled through low.

Ashwin was absent for most of thisphase, inconvenienced by a jammed finger.His return to the crease should havebrought an instant wicket in the shadows ofthe tea break, as Clarke squeezed off batand pad to short leg. But the umpire KumarDharmasena was deaf to the appeals.Clarke’s mastery of body language wasapparent, too, holding the bat up and re-marking his guard as though nothing hadhappened.

Aware of how the afternoon began,Clarke and Henriques did not dally aftertea, jumping on India’s bowlers with intent.Their attack soon had Dhoni reverting tothe timid captaincy and modest fieldplacings he has become increasingly reliantupon in recent times, and the hosts’ bowlingand fielding lost much of their earlier vim.

Clarke appeared handicapped by a soreright shoulder at times, but was otherwisein control. Henriques, his confidencegrowing by the ball, did not look likegetting out until he aimed a sweep atAshwin in the 90th over of play, Maraiserasmus handing a line-ball verdict to thehosts. Starc’s swift exit provided a reminderof what may have unfolded had the tailbeen exposed earlier, but Clarke was stillthere at the close, going to his hundred witha lofted drive. With Henriques’ help, he hadgiven Australia a chance.

SPORTS

SSaturday, 23 February, 2013

15It`s a big game. (The previous) 99 are gone. Obviously a bit

nervous but I am sure I will be fine. I have faced these

situations before. –Harbanjan Singh

clarke helPS aUStralIa PaSS SPIn teSt

AUSTRAliA 1st innings

eJM Cowan st †Dhoni b Ashwin 29

DA warner lbw b Ashwin 59

PJ Hughes b Ashwin 6

SR watson lbw b Ashwin 28

MJ Clarke* not out 103

MS wade† lbw b Ashwin 12

MC Henriques lbw b Ashwin 68

MA Starc b Jadeja 3

PM Siddle not out 1

eXTRAS (lb 7) 7

TOTAl 316

TO bAT Jl Pattinson, nM lyon

FAll OF wiCkeTS 1-64 (Cowan, 14.3 ov), 2-72 (Hughes, 18.3 ov),

3-126 (watson, 34.4 ov), 4-131 (warner, 36.4 ov), 5-153 (wade,

46.6 ov), 6-304 (Henriques, 89.2 ov), 7-307 (Starc, 90.1 ov)

bOwlinG: b kumar 11-1-48-0, i Sharma 11-2-46-0, Harbhajan

Singh 19-1-71-0, R Ashwin 30-5-88-6, RA Jadeja 24-5-56-1

inDiA TeAM

V Sehwag, M Vijay, CA Pujara, SR Tendulkar, V kohli, RA Jadeja,

MS Dhoni*†, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, b kumar, i Sharma

Match details

Toss Australia, who chose to bat

Test debuts MC Henriques (Australia); b kumar (india)

Player of the match tba

Umpires HDPk Dharmasena (lanka) and M erasmus (S Africa)

TV umpire VA kulkarni

Match referee bC broad (england)

Reserve umpire k Srinath

SCORebOARD

SYDNEYAGenCieS

Australia plan to play the second Test against Indiain Hyderabad as scheduled next week despitedeadly bomb attacks in the city on the eve of theTest series opener, reports said on Friday.

The twin blasts on Thursday killed 14 peopleand wounded dozens more in a busy neighbourhoodin the southern Indian city, raising questions overwhether Australia would play the second Teststarting on March 2.

But Cricket Australia chief executive JamesSutherland told Fairfax newspapers the match wasstill on as planned as Australia prepared for theopening match in the four-Test series in Chennaistarting later Friday.

“As far as I’m concerned we are playing thesecond Test in Hyderabad next week. That’s wherewe are at,” said Sutherland, who is with the team inChennai.

Sutherland told Fairfax he was happy tocontinue to Hyderabad where the team is scheduledto arrive on Wednesday.

“We’ve got great confidence in the BCCI(Board of Control for Cricket in India) and therelevant authorities here to be able to prepare as bestas possible for whatever issues may change fromday to day,” he said.

“We’re very comfortable with everything thathas been done so far on this tour.”

“We’ll obviously take advice from relevantauthorities and work with the BCCI and others hereto make assessments around Hyderabad but at thesame time plans have been in place for a long time,”Sutherland said.

“At this stage I wouldn’t be calling intoquestion things going ahead in Hyderabad.”

He added that team manager Gavin Dovey hadsent players text messages overnight updating them

on the blasts and that security had been stepped up.Dozens of extra police reportedly surrounded

the Chennai hotel where the Australian and Indianteams are staying.

Captain Michael Clarke said his players werefocused on the Chennai game.

“From the team’s point of view, our focus iswholly and solely on the field because we’ve gotpeople off the field who are experts in what is goingon. We’ll be advised by them,” he said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all thepeople of Hyderabad who have been affected.”

earlier, media reports raised doubts over thetour.

“Australia’s cricket tour of India has beenplunged into uncertainty,” said the Herald-Sunnewspaper, while the Sydney Morning Heraldcarried a headline “Hyderabad Test in doubt asbombings rock city”. Australia pulled out of a tourto Pakistan in 2008 over security concerns after aseries of bombings in the troubled country. Theyalso refused to play any matches in the 1996 WorldCup in Sri Lanka after bombings there.

CHENNAIAGenCieS

If Steven Finn needed any furtherincentive to drop his habit of kneeingthe stumps in his delivery stride, it hasbeen provided by the announcementthat it will in future be called a no-ball.The change to the Laws, rubber-stamped by the the MCC Committee,has been brought about specifically inresponse to Finn’s persistent problem,which the england bowler is stilltrying to eradicate. The new ruling willcome into effect from October 2013but it is possible for the ICC to changethe playing conditions for internationalcricket to immediately reflect the Law.

The issue came to widerattention during england’s homeseries against South Africa lastsummer, after a complaint from thebatsmen that it was causing adistraction during the second Test atHeadingley. Graeme Smith wascaught at slip off a delivery that wascalled dead-ball by the umpires, asFinn had clipped the stumps at thenon-striker’s end. At the time, theMCC announced that it wouldreview the Laws. Although Finn hasbeen working to deal with theproblem in his delivery stride, thehabit has seen umpires call dead-ball

with regularity since last August andcost Finn another wicket during theODI series in India, when SureshRaina edged to slip. In his mostrecent outing, the second ODIagainst New Zealand, Finn trialled anew, shortened run-up, with fourstrides removed - but still clipped the

stumps at one point during thematch. Until now, umpires only hadrecourse to Law 23.4(b)(iv) whichstates a dead-ball should be calledwhenever a batsman is “distracted byany noise or movement or in anyother way while he is preparing toreceive, or receiving a delivery”.

Australia to play in HyderabadFinn stumps problemto become no-ball

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:22 AM Page 16

SPORTS SSaturday, 23 February, 2013

16“Congratulations @harbhajan_singh on playing his 100th Test

tomorrow. Let this series be an encore of 2001. Good luck!” BCCI

tweeted, confirming the news of his selection in the playing XI.

CENTURIONAGenCieS

ON day one SouthAfrica was 334 for6 with AB deVilliers and VeronPhilander battingat 98 and 45respectively.

Before the start of the Test Pakistanreceived the unpleasant news that two oftheir main bowlers won’t be available -Umar Gul out due to a sore throat andJunaid Khan still recovering from the injurythat kept him out of the Newlands Test -leaving their pace attack with a total of onlytwo caps coming into the match. SouthAfrica also had an injury-related jolt asJacques Kallis was forced out with a calfproblem he picked up during an optionaltraining session.

Two sessions into the game, it wasPakistan who were dealing with the lossesbetter than South Africa. Though thevisitors’ raw attack wasn’t consistentlythreatening and offered plenty of freebies,they managed to strike regularly to dismisshalf the South Africa side by tea. Till abouthalf an hour to the end of the secondsession, the hosts were ahead as HashimAmla extended the form that made him theworld’s No. 1 Test batsman to serve up astylish 92. Towards the end of the session,though, Rahat Ali struck twice, firstremoving Amla and then Dean elgar to liftPakistan.

Rahat had also provided the earlybreakthrough after Graeme Smith won histhird toss in a row and chose to bat on asunny day in Centurion. Rahat began witha wayward over, in which he was caned fora couple of boundaries by Alviro Petersen,bringing back memories of his ineffectiveTest debut earlier this month inJohannesburg. He made amends in hissecond over, though, as an incutter hadPetersen lbw for 10.

ehsan Adil, the third fast bowler todebut for Pakistan this series, had an evenbetter start as he struck on the third ball ofhis Test career, getting Smith to nick a catchto a diving Younis Khan at second slip.

South Africa were 38 for 2, and withKallis missing, they were a batsman light.Amla, however, led the recovery with aninnings filled with the whiplash drives andthe high-risk strokes that he makes seemroutine. He was involved in a couple ofsubstantial partnerships, first with Faf duPlessis and later with AB de Villiers to keepSouth Africa motoring along at four anover.

The pressure Pakistan had appliedthrough the early wickets quickly dissipatedas their bowlers sprayed the ball around,regularly overpitching or providing toomuch width. There were plenty ofboundaries and towards the end of thesession, du Plessis took Rahat for three foursin four deliveries as South Africa took 35runs off the final seven overs before lunch.

Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan’s hero in theNewlands Test, was unable to keep the runs

down initially, but he exerted more controlafter lunch. With only two runs coming offthe first three overs after the break, duPlessis decided to try throw Adil off hislength by skipping down the track but hecould only nick the shortish ball through tothe keeper.

Still, there was no let-up in the scoringas Amla and de Villiers provided a treat ofshots. De Villiers was felled by a beamer

from Mohammad Irfan, but that didn’tprevent him from playing his usualinventive strokes, including reverse-sweepsand late dabs past slips. He also regularlypicked up singles, and with Amlacapitalising on the many overpitched, hit-me deliveries on offer, South Africa coastedtowards 200.

Amla showed how confident he was byskipping down the track and launching

Ajmal over mid-on for four to move to 80.There was a lull in his scoring after that andhe survived a loud appeal for caught-behindeven after Pakistan used the DRS. Soonafter, though, he attempted a drive awayfrom his body - usually not advisable, butAmla plays it perfectly often - andfeathered to the keeper. Dean elgar didn’tlast long, becoming Rahat’s third wicket for1 and South Africa were 196 for 5.

rahat, adIl StrIkeS faIl toPrevent Sa from croSSInG 300

SOUTH AFRiCA 1st innings

GC Smith* c younis khan b ehsan Adil 5

An Petersen lbw b Rahat Ali 10

HM Amla c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Rahat Ali 92

F du Plessis c †Sarfraz Ahmed b ehsan Adil 29

Ab de Villiers† not out 98

D elgar lbw b Rahat Ali 7

RJ Peterson run out (Mohammad irfan) 28

VD Philander not out 45

eXTRAS (b 1, lb 4, w 4, nb 11) 20

TOTAl 334

TO bAT kJ Abbott, Dw Steyn, Rk kleinveldt

FAll OF wiCkeTS 1-13 (Petersen, 3.1 ov), 2-38 (Smith, 9.3 ov),

3-107 (du Plessis, 28.3 ov), 4-186 (Amla, 46.3 ov), 5-196 (elgar,

48.3 ov), 6-248 (Peterson, 62.5 ov)

bOwlinG

Mohammad irfan 16.5-3-59-0, Rahat Ali 20-1-95-3, ehsan Adil

12.1-2-54-2, Saeed Ajmal 26-5-70-0, younis khan 3-0-14-0,

Mohammad Hafeez 5-0-24-0

Azhar Ali 2-0-13-0

PAkiSTAn TeAM

Mohammad Hafeez, imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, younis khan,

Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Saeed Ajmal,

Mohammad irfan, Rahat Ali, ehsan Adil

Match details

Toss South Africa, who chose to bat

Test debuts ehsan Adil (Pakistan); kJ Abbott (South Africa)

Player of the match tba

Umpires bF bowden (new Zealand) and SJ Davis (Australia)

TV umpire bnJ Oxenford (Australia)

Match referee JJ Crowe (new Zealand)

Reserve umpire S George

SCORebOARD

SPORTS DESK

Mike McKenna’s contentious dual role asCricket Australia’s chief of commercialoperations and custodian of itsdisciplinary codes is expected to beplaced under the spotlight as part of theformer AFL executive Adrian Anderson’sreview of CA integrity.

While McKenna’s job as CA’scommercial head and executive in chargeof the Big Bash League is not in question,eSPNcricinfo understands there havebeen mounting concerns within thegoverning body about the management ofdisciplinary matters.

McKenna has overseen this area sincethe departure of the former head ofcricket, Michael Brown, in 2011, and themove of the former general manager ofcricket operations, Geoff Allardice, to theICC in 2012.

Anderson is expected to submit hisreport into CA’s integrity management bythe middle of 2013, with his review to

include, according to a CA statement,“anti-doping policies and disciplinaryprocesses, domestic cricket anti-corruption and CA’s involvement in theICC’s global anti-corruption program”.There is the strong possibility McKenna’srole will be re-shaped, with responsibilityfor disciplinary process moved elsewherewithin the organisation to guard againstconflict, and perceptions of conflict.

Standards of on-field behaviourduring this summer’s BBL degenerated,culminating in the ugly bust-up betweenShane Warne and Marlon Samuels at theMCG. As BBL chief and also disciplinaryczar, McKenna was in the invidiousposition of trying to increase thecommercial value of the tournament whilealso having oversight for the code ofconduct hearings that had Warne let offwith a one game ban and $5000 fine whileMarlon Samuels subsequently escapedwith a mere reprimand.

Other incidents prior to theWarne/Samuels affair were not pursued at

all, and while some elements of CA werecontent to have the BBL publicised by anymeans, others were unnerved by theappearance of poor player behaviourbeing effectively condoned. This raisedalarms given the tournament’s aggressivemarketing towards families and children:CA’s spirit of cricket initiatives weremade to appear empty commitments tothe conduct of the game.

Since the end of the BBL, closerattention has been paid to playerbehaviour in domestic matches, asdemonstrated by CA’s insistence thatRicky Ponting front a hearing and befined for throwing his bat when dismissedin a limited overs match at the WACAground on Tuesday. It is expected that allcontracted players will be briefed againabout their behavioural responsibilitiesbefore next summer.

“Public faith in the integrity of sportsresults they see on the playing field isabsolutely critical and we want everythingwe do pressure-tested by an independent

specialist expert to be sure we are as goodas we can be,” CA chief executive JamesSutherland said in announcing the review.“While the timing is coincidental, andwhile the ACC report had no evidence ofcricket concerns, its publication is atimely reminder that no modern elite sportis immune from risk.”

Anderson was the AFL’s generalmanager of operations from 2003 to 2012,responsible for a raft of changes to thegovernance of the game, its rules anddisciplinary procedures. He wasinstrumental in the revamp of the leaguetribunal, and in setting up the competitionintegrity unit that investigated allegationsthe Melbourne Football Club “tanked”games in 2007.

The exit of Anderson from the AFLfollowed indications that the league’schief executive Andrew Demetriou hadpassed him over in order to anoint theformer head of commercial operations,Gillon McLachlan, as his futuresuccessor.

CHENNAIAGenCieS

As he walked out to bat in his first Testinnings, Moises Henriques felt like his legswere made of jelly. The first-afternoon pitchlooked like something that had been playedon for a full five days already. R Ashwin wasspinning Australia into a trance. Wicketswere falling much too quickly for theirliking. Plenty of fans and pundits back homehad questioned the selection of Henriques,not that he was thinking about that as hewalked out. Still, by the end of his innings of68, he had silenced a few critics.

In the post-war era, only three otherAustralians had scored as many as Henriqueson debut from No.7 or lower. Two of thosemen, Greg Chappell and Adam Gilchrist,went on to become legendary figures inAustralian cricket. The other, Greg

Matthews, had a more than handy career overthe course of a decade. Of course it is muchtoo early to judge what sort of Test playerHenriques will become, but he has made afine start. If he can add a few wickets he willbe hard to budge for the rest of this tour atleast. Throughout his innings he batted withthe captain Michael Clarke, who must havebeen impressed by the patience displayed byHenriques during his 132-ball innings andtheir 151-run partnership. Clarke, who in thelead-up to the match said batsmen who madea start in this series could not afford to throwit away, will be pleased with the wayHenriques admonished himself after fallinglbw to a sweep.

“I certainly think I had the opportunityto make it my best innings [in all cricket] butit was a little bit disappointing, I reallywanted to get through the day and make surewe finished five wickets down,” Henriques

said. “I could have been a little bit moreruthless at the end. But if someone saidyou’re going to have 60-odd on debut I’dtake it.” He didn’t try to copy Clarke’snimble-footed approach against the spinnersbut he benefited from his captain’s ability tothrow Ashwin and his colleagues off theirrhythm. Henriques said Ashwin had been ahandful but he believed the pitch would alsooffer some assistance for Australia’s fastmen, given that Ishant Sharma andBhuvneshwar Kumar both found somereverse swing as the day wore on.

“He [Ashwin] is a little bit taller and putssome really good work on the ball, the ball isfizzing and can bounce or not bounce, or spinor not spin,” Henriques said. “But the other[spinners] are still really disciplined. It wasn’ttheir day today but guys like Harbhajan havetaken 400 Test wickets and come day threeor four when the wicket is really starting to

play some tricks, they’re certainly going tocome to the game.

“[There was] not much seam movementor anything like that but both their quickswere getting it to reverse and I think with ourquicks they’ll probably penetrate the wicketa little bit more than what those guys did.Hopefully with guys like Jimmy [Pattinson]and Peter [Siddle] and Mitch [Starc] with alittle bit more airspeed, there [will be] reverseswing. The key with reverse swing is to tryto bowl to new batsmen with it and be smartwith your fields.” Henriques batted on asurface that threw up clouds of dustwhenever the players kicked away a stone,and it will only become much more difficultto bat on as the match progresses. Australiareached 316 for 7 at stumps and if Clarke andthe tail-enders can push the total up towards400 on the second day, India might have theirwork cut out for them.

If Sachin retires,test cricket will die:arjuna ranatungaBANGALORE: Sri Lanka`s World Cup-winning former captain Arjuna Ranatungafeels Test cricket would “die” if playerslike Sachin Tendulkar call it quits.“If players like him (Tendulkar) don`t playthe longer version of the game, Testcricket will die. I pray to God hecontinues to play Test cricket. I was veryhappy to know he has retried from ODIs.For me Test is education and the shorterversions are entertainment,” Ranatungatold PTI.Ranatunga, who guided Sri Lanka to theirfirst and only World Cup title in 1996,said Tendulkar still has a lot of cricket leftin him.Asked about Mahendra Singh Dhoni`scaptaincy, Ranatunga said nobody shouldcomment on his leadership because he isthe only Indian who has won two WorldCups.“I think India should allow Dhoni tocaptain,” he said. Online

Could have been more ruthless: Henriques

BBL chief McKenna’s dual roles under spotlight

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:22 AM Page 17

SPORTSS

Saturday, 23 February, 2013

17Watching Wenger in that press conference hurt me.It made me feel very,

very sad because as much as I don’t think he would ever admit it, everything

that is happening right now is ultimately down to him.–Wright

tyson, holyfieldhug it out

CHICAGOAGenCieS

Mike Tyson and evander Holyfield shareda hug recently, and both came awaywithout missing any ears. Well, not counting the amount bitten offof Holyfield’s ear back in 1997, of course. The Chicago Tribune reports that Tysonstopped by a Jewel-Osco grocery store,where his old rival was unveiling a newbarbecue sauce.No, the oddest part of the story isn’t thatHolyfield has a barbecue sauce calledReal Deal; it’s that he got what was asurprise visit from the man who once bitoff a chunk of his ear. Holyfield had thisto say about the chance meeting:It sent a message and let the world knowthat two fighters can come and forgiveeach other and move on for the best andthe world can do the same thing. everyoneknows we were arch-rivals and all that,but when all is said and done, I forgavehim and he forgave himself. Here’s a manwho changed his life and changed my life,and that’s the way the world is supposedto be. Tyson, proving once again that hehas moved beyond playing the role ofvilified bully, embraced Holyfield in onesuper bear hug. The former boxer, who isnow something of a comedic star, was inChicago for his one-man show. BusinessInsider (via the Associated Press) reportsthat Tyson’s reasoning for making astopover to see his former opponent is “he‘just wanted to see evander’ and that ‘Ilove’ him.”Let’s go back to June 1997. In the thirdround, Tyson was asked kindly not to biteHolyfield’s ear. The fight continued, onlyfor Tyson to once again chomp down onhis opponent’s other ear.

Pak hockey team tobe named todayLAHORE: The Pakistan hockey teamwill be named today, Saturday for takingpart in the 22ndSultan Azlan Shah CupHockey Tournament to be played inIpoh/Malaysia from March 9-17.“Pak hockey players are attending atraining camp here at national hockeystadium and the selection will be made onthe recommendation of the teammanagement,” said a spokesman ofPakistan Hockey Federation here onFriday. Manger and head coach of theteam, Akhtar Rasool Chaudhary willannounce the final lineup. STAFF RePORT

Ponting set forSurrey stintSyDNEy: Former Australia captainRicky Ponting has agreed a two-monthdeal to join Surrey this summer, the clubhave confirmed. The 38-year-old has beensigned to replace South Africa skipperGraeme Smith while he is expected toplay in the Champions Trophy with theProteas. Ponting, who retired frominternational cricket in December, will beavailable in all formats in June and July.The veteran right-hander will therefore bein england at the same time as Australiaas they prepare for this summer’s Ashesseries. Ponting made an emotionalfarewell to Test cricket, as the all-timesecond-leading runscorer, against Smith’sSouth Africa in Perth in December.Since then Mike Hussey also called timeon his Australia career to leave MichaelClarke’s side with an inexperiencedbatting line-up. While there has been noindication Ponting would look to reversehis retirement call, he has previouslystated his desire to play in one last Ashesseries before the end of his career.Ponting, who surrendered the past twoAshes series in england as captain at theOval, is the second major coup for theclub following Smith’s signature.“I’m really excited to be playing for Surreythis season,” Ponting said in a statement onSurrey’s official website. “They are aforward thinking and historic club - andplay at one of the greatest grounds in theworld. It hasn’t been the friendliest placefor me but now it will be my home for twomonths this summer. AGenCieS

BUENOS AIRESAGenCieS

SPANISH top seedDavid Ferrer led theway at the CopaClaro in BuenosAires on Thursday ashe defeated DavidNalbandian 2-6 6-4

6-0. The seeds had it all their own

way, with five out of five safelythrough to the third round.

Ferrer’s compatriot and secondseed Nicolas Almagro also progressed,seeing off Russian Andrey Kuznetsov7-6(5) 6-2.

The Spanish contingent in thethird round swelled to four aseighth seed Albert Ramosdefeated Leonardo Mayer 6-3 7-6(3) and Tommy Robredo came

past Diego Sebast ianSchwartzmann 6-3 6-1.

Stanislas Wawrinka, ranked thid inthe draw, was a 6-1 6-4 winner overDaniel Gimeno-Traver.

Italian Fabio Fognini, seededsixth, despatched MarcoTrungelli t i 7-5 6-2, whileunseeded duo Julian Reister andFederico Del Bonis also won aplace in the next stage.

murray, henman toplay charity match

LONDON: Andy Murray and TimHenman will take part in a charity doublesmatch at Queen’s Club this summer toraise money for the Royal Marsdenhospital. British tennis player RossHutchins is currently receiving cancertreatment at the hospital. Hutchins, a closefriend of Davis Cup team-mate Murray,was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphomain December and began an expected sixmonths of chemotherapy last month.‘Rally Against Cancer’ will take place onfinals day at the AeGON Championshipson June 16, with Henman and Murray tobe joined by other big-name players andcelebrities. Hutchins said: “ever since Iwas diagnosed and began treatment at theRoyal Marsden hospital I have wanted todo something to raise money for them tothank them for their kindness. “It’s goingto be a really great day, and for a charitythat helps a lot of people and obviouslyone that means a lot to me.” Ten poundsfrom each finals day ticket will go to theRoyal Marsden Cancer Charity while theLawn Tennis Association will contribute£10 for each ace hit during the tournamentand there will also be an auction.Murray said: “As soon as Ross startedtalking about the idea, I knew I wanted toget involved. We want to make it a day toremember, so we are talking to a fewcelebrities who love their tennis aboutcoming down and getting involved on theday. AGenCieS

ferrer dominatesnalbandian

Kvitova ousts radwansKa to reach dubai seMisDuBAi: Petra Kvitova upset defending

champion Agnieszka Radwanska to reach

the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free

Tennis Championships on Thursday

evening. The Czech has struggled since

finishing 2011 on the brink of becoming

world number one but last week she

pushed Serena Williams hard in Doha

and today she was far too strong for

world number four Radwanska. Kvitova’s

6-2 6-4 victory was her first over a top-

five player since 2011 and in the last

four she will meet former world number

one Caroline Wozniacki, who came from

a set down to defeat Marion Bartoli. In a

match full of service breaks, it was unorthodox Frenchwoman Bartoli who edged the first set but

Wozniacki hit back to level and then withstood a Bartoli fightback from 2-5 down in the decider to win

4-6 6-1 6-4. The other semi-final will pit best friends and doubles partners Sara Errani and Roberta

Vinci against each other. Vinci continued her giant-killing run, following up her victory over Angelique

Kerber by dumping out seventh seed Sam Stosur 6-2 6-4 to reach the biggest singles semi-final of her

career. Fellow Italian Errani, who beat Vinci in the quarter-finals of the US Open last year, failed to win a

game in the second set against Russia’s Nadia Petrova but recovered to win 6-4 0-6 6-3. AgENCiES

AuStRALiA: David ferrer of Spain plays a backhand in his second round match against tim

Smyczek of the united States during day three of the 2013 Australian Open at Melbourne.

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:22 AM Page 18

SPORTS SSaturday, 23 February, 2013

18

wAtCh It LIve

PTV SPORTS3rd test: Pakistan South Africa01:30 PM

There is nobody better for City than manager

Roberto Mancini. Most importantly, the

players like him. –Balotelli

STAR SPORTSBARCLAYS LEAGUE:ARSENAL V ASTON VILLA8:24 PM

ESPNBarclays League: Fulham v Stoke City06:10 AM

Indian wells prizemoney to riseINDIAN WELLS: A big prize-moneyincrease for next month’s ATP BNPParibas Open at Indian Wells has finallybeen approved.ATP executives and tournament officialshad been at loggerheads over the increaseof US$800,000 which had been plannedby tournament owner Larry ellison, one ofthe world’s richest men.However, the ATP has now finallyaccepted the move which will seetournament prize money rise to just over$5million.The ATP initially blocked the move at theend of last season, saying the moneydistribution did not follow its rules - theplanned increase had been due to go toplayers reaching the quarter-finals andbeyond. There were also fears that a largeincrease by Indian Wells would demeanthe other eight Masters 1000 tournaments.Many players had been angered by thestance, with the ATP being a body set upto represent the players’ interests.Announcing that an agreement was now inplace, ATP executive chairman BradDrewett said: “Prize money increases arealways a positive reflection on the state ofour sport, however there are a number ofsafeguards in place in accordance withATP rules to ensure that prize moneybeing invested into the sport is distributedin a manner that benefits our playersproportionately from one round to another.“We have worked with tournamentorganisers over a number of weeks inorder to get as close to the ATP prizemoney distribution rules as possible.We’re pleased to have reached a decisionfor 2013.” Drewett added a new rulewould be implemented to prevent a repeatof the Indian Wells situation. Americanstar Mardy Fish welcomed the move,saying on Twitter: “Great that the easiestdecision of all-time was finally agreed on!Thanks Larry ellison and (ATP playerrepresentative) Justin Gimelstob (for)getting it done.”AGenCieS

Rose, Colsaerts set to clash in TucsonTUCSONAGenCieS

Two of europe’s Ryder Cup heroes willplay each other in the second round after theAccenture Match Play Championshipfinally got going again.

It will be Justin Rose against NicolasColsaerts following contrasting victories.

The first world championship of theyear is playing catch-up after an amazingsnowstorm cut short the opening day andthen another overnight meant theresumption was delayed until 1pm.

Belgian Colsaerts easily dispatchedAmerican Bill Haas 5&4, but Rose breatheda huge sigh of relief when he saw off South

Korean KJ Choi following the loss of afour-hole lead.

Fifth seed Rose was even in danger offalling behind at the 15th, but sank a 15-footbirdie putt and Choi missed from 12.

He did not even need to putt two holeslater as his 42-year-old opponent got introuble and conceded, but Rose said: “I saidat the beginning of the week it comes downto that one moment in the round where youneed to make something happen.

“That moment for me was on 15. I waslooking like I was going one down. To makea putt when I really needed it feels good andI felt like that’s what I’ve begun to do a lotrecently.” He did, of course, produce abreathtaking finish to beat Phil Mickelson

at the Ryder Cup and then won the WorldGolf Final in Turkey two weeks later withwins over Westwood (twice), Tiger Woods,US Open champion Webb Simpson and thisweek’s defending champion Hunter Mahan.

“It’ll be a tough game,” Rose said of hismatch against Colsaerts.

“But it’s obviously one that I’m lookingforward to - and I’ll have to make somebirdies.”

Another all-Ryder Cup clash was on thecards, but Medinah match-winner MartinKaymer, who beat South African GeorgeCoetzee 2&1, was kept waiting to discoverhis opponent when Lee Westwood lost athree-hole lead and was taken into suddendeath by Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello.

SSGc, army share

national cycling

honoursLAHORE: Honours were equally sharedby Sui Southern Gas Company and Armywhen their cyclists won one gold medaleach on the third day of the 60th NationalCycling Championship here on Friday.SSGC won the one kilometer individualsprint gold at velodrome as Army stampedits supremacy in the 70 kilometre time trialsat DHA Phase VIII. Noor Alam of SSGCsecured gold medal in the individualsprint by completing the race in 12.4seconds. Mohammad Sajid ofArmy won second position whereas 3rd to6thpositions were achieved by Awais Ali,Mohammad Atif, Bilal Riaz and Asif ofPunjab, Army, Islamabad and SSGCrespectively. In the host toughest event, the70km time trial , thirty two ridersparticipated and Army;s team completed therace in 1:36:43:56. Second position wonby SSGC, third by Sindh, fourth, Fifth andsixth positions were won by Balochistan,Punjab& Islamabad respectively. In the lastevent of the day, 1 Km team sprintqualification rounds, SSGC, Army, Punjaband Sindh qualified for final roundwhere SSGC& Army will compete for1st place whereas Sindh & Punjab willcompete for 3rdplace. STAFF RePORT

aslam county club, quetta shine in karachiKARACHI: Aslam County Cricket Club(a Quetta based cricket club) visitedKarachi in the first week of February2013. Aslam County Cricket Club playedtwo matches with Quereshi Dolphins. Inthe first match, after winning the toss,Aslam County Cricket Club scored 128 in25 overs having contribution ofMohammad Aslam of 67 runs. AslamCounty’s Fazal-ur-Rehman andMohammad Alsam took 3, 3 wickets.Quereshi Dolphins Mohammad Mushtaqand Haseeb took 3 wickets each. QuereshiDolphins chased this target in the last ballof match and won the match by 6 wickets.Mohammad Mushtaq scored 42 andZeeshan scored 25 runs. From AslamCounty Cricket Club, Fazal-ur-Rehmanand Mohammad Alsam took 2, 2 wickets.In the second match, Aslam CountyCricket Club beat Quereshi Dolphins by27 runs through the courtesy of its captainMohammad Aslam’s all roundperformance. Bating first, Aslam CountyCricket Club scored 276 runs in 40 overshaving brilliantly scored 122 runs byMohammad Aslam. From QuereshiDolphins Mohammad Asif and Ibrahimtook 3 wickets each. STAFF RePORT

ARIZONAAGenCieS

RORY McIlroyand Tiger Woodsboth fell at thefirst hurdle as thesnow-affectedAccenture MatchPlay

Championship finally got under way inearnest in Arizona.

Woods, beaten 2&1 by fellowAmerican Charles Howell in a firstround still to be completed followingWednesday’s snow, has the comfort ofknowing he has already won a title thisyear.

But world number one McIlroy, wholost on the final green to 68th-rankedfellow Irishman Shane Lowry, will knowthere are more questions coming afterwhat has to go down as a shocking startto the season.

The 23-year-old began it last monthby missing the halfway cut in Abu Dhabiin the very week he signed a multi-million pound contract to use Nike clubs.

He shot two rounds of 75 there andexited last night after an approximatefour-over-par 76. Next week he defendsthe Honda Classic in Florida.

“I drove really well, but couldn’ttake advantage of that,” he said. “If I’dhit my irons better it could have been adifferent story.

“I could have been three or four upearly on, but let him get back into thematch and he had a nice little run.”

Lowry, meanwhile said: “My kneeswere knocking over that final (three-foot) putt. I was very nervous going outand quite mad at myself for that, but Ihad a bit of luck that I needed and said

to my caddie that he’s not going to beliking this at all.”

McIlroy becomes the third top seedin the last four years to go outstraightaway. Steve Stricker lost to RossMcGowan in 2010 and last year it wasLuke Donald to ernie els.

Donald, seeded third this time, wasrelieved to be still in the event today, abirdie on the last needed to see off thechallenge of German Marcel Siem.

Lee Westwood did go out, though,losing on the first extra hole to SpaniardRafael Cabrera Bello, while in the otherall-Irish clash Graeme McDowelldefeated Padraig Harrington one-up.

There were wins too for Ian Poulterand Justin Rose, but all three Scots in thefield went out.

Dubai Desert Classic winnerStephen Gallacher lost 2&1 to 2010winner Ian Poulter, Paul Lawrie foundAmerican Scott Piercy too hot to handleand lost 4&3, then Richie Ramsay couldnot hold onto a two-hole after 11 playingfourth seed Louis Oosthuizen. The SouthAfrican won on the 17th.

Jamie Donaldson, the only Welshrepresentative, was going home too. Helost 3&2 to Thorbjorn Olesen, the Danehe pushed into second place in AbuDhabi last month.

LAHORESTAFF RePORT

The Dar Hockey Academy on Fridaydistributed modern hockey equipmentreceived from Holland among theplayers of the academy here.

Test cricketer Wahab Riaz was thechief guest of the ceremony where theequipment was distributed among theyoung players at the outer ground ofNational Hockey Stadium. President DarAcademy, Olympian Tauqir Dar wasalso present along with coaches of theacademy.

A full container of hockeyequipment was sent to Dar Academy byFlying Dutch Veteran Hockey teamwhich toured Pakistan last December asa sign of goodwill to further cementsports relations between the two

countries. The equipment includeshockey shoes, small goal posts, track-suits, goalkeepers kit, sticks, protectivegears and allied stuff being used byplayers during practice and matches.

“In the first phases we havedistributed pairs of shoes and otherequipment to the players of the academyand in the second phase we will bedistributing it among the deservingplayers and academies throughout thecountry,” said Taquir.

He said during their visit to Pakistanthe Dutch veteran team promised to sendhockey equipment and a desso turf toDar Academy for the revival of hockeyat grass root level.

He said Dar Academy which isstriving for the promotion of hockey atgrass root level for past many years willprovide equipment to clubs and

academies which are working at earlylevel for the cause of hockey.

He said a full goalkeepers kit waspresented to to veteran Olympians andformer Pakistan captain Wasim Ahmedfor his academy at Vehari.

He said the Dutch team will also beproviding a desso turf which will be laidat the outer ground of national stadiumwhose plastic surface has worn out.

“We are thankful to the Dutch teamfor their generous contribution for thefurther uplift of hockey,” he said.

He said Dar Academy has signed aplaying agreement with PHF academywhich under both the academies willplay two practice matches in a week inorder to improve their game .

Showing a good gesture Wahab Riazalso gifted thirty six internationalstandard hockey balls to Dar hockey.

Dar Academy distributes hockeyequipment received from Holland

mcIlroy, woods bowout early in arizona

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:23 AM Page 19

LAHORE STAFF RePORT

pAKISTAN Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Per-vaiz Rasheed on Friday saidhis party had no shortage of

candidates for general elections nor it hasthe need for support of any extremistgroup or to borrow its candidates.

In a press statement, Senator Rasheedsaid the PML-N was the country’s mostpopular political party and had candidatesfor every constituency to contest generalelections. He said that due to a large

number of candidates, the short listingwas in the final stage. He said the party’splatform was already full and there wasno room for more candidates. He said thePML-N had no need to make seat adjust-ment with any extremist party or sectariangroup by disregarding its own candidates.

He said the PML-N, during its lastand present tenure, had been determinedin containing the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi andhad also arrested Malik Ishaq and otherextremists. He said former presidentGeneral (r) Pervez Musharraf did notshow a serious attitude against the ex-tremists and the elements involved in sec-tarian activities while some extremistswere given bail by the courts due to weakprosecution or were acquitted by them.

He said that the Punjab governmenthad never supported any group or organ-isation on the issue of sectarianism andhad rather been firm in maintenance ofinter-faith harmony.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi. Editor: Arif Nizami

Saturday, 23 February, 2013

QUETTA: Hazara Shia children hold candles during a vigil for the victims of the Kirani Road bombing.

ISLAMABAD STAFF RePORT

THe Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) on Friday expressedconcern over the media reportsof seat adjustment between the

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)and the banned outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pak-istan (SSP).

The PTI spokesman said the reportssuggested how opportunist politicians werelegitimising the killing of thousands of in-nocent people for “petty political gains”,adding that the Sharifs were hell-bent on

crossing all limits to grab power.A media report claimed that the Ahle

Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), previously theSSP, confirmed that following extensivediscussions, the two parties had agreed onseat adjustments in the upcoming electionson at least 15 seats of the National Assem-bly from the southern Punjab. A statementissued by the PTI Media Centre read thatthe reports had exposed the nexus betweenthe PML-N and the banned outfit for whichmedia, academia, scholars and civil societyhad long been raising fingers squarely atthe Punjab government. “The people ofPakistan still remember the public state-ment of Chief Minister of Punjab ShahbazSharif made soon after successive terror at-tacks in Lahore, requesting Taliban not totarget his government as the PML-N andTaliban had the same ideology,” said thePTI spokesman, adding that the CM’sstatement had jeopardised lives of the peo-ple across Pakistan.

PtI to ‘n’: Stopdealing with aSwj

no need foraSwj support: ‘n’

ISLAMABADOnline

Supreme Court Chief JusticeIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry hassaid that no one should remainunder any delusion, as the courtwas fully cognisant of its powersand knew how to exercise them.

He gave these remarks duringcourse of hearing of missing pris-oners of Adiala prison case.

FATA Secretary Jamal Nasir,Attorney General (AG) Irfan Qadirand counsel for petitioners ap-peared in the court.

The CJ admonished DeputyAttorney General Ali Zai for com-ing in the court late, saying the“court starts functioning from 9amand you people reach your office at11am. Punctuality of time normsshould be followed in the future”.

The AG told the court that ap-plications in respect of seven per-sons had been received inconnection with their release fromthe detention centres.

However, medical check-up ofall persons would be carried outfirst and their applications wouldbe decided later.

The CJ said, “It seems youhave got no evidence, therefore,you are talking in this fashion.”

The AG said, “You will alsohave to see if the court is empow-ered to hear this case in the per-spective of FATA.”

The CJ said, “Don’t tell thecourt about its powers. We fullyknow what our powers are. Thecourt knows how to exercise itspowers. Do you us to remain silentwhile innocent people get con-victed. Injustice will not to be al-lowed. The missing persons matteris highly sensitive. The court can-

not shut its eyes to it. No evidencecame forward for putting Adialajail’s missing prisoners to trial”.

FATA Secretary Jamal Nasirtold the court that medical check-up of all prisoners had been com-pleted and reports had been sent tothe governor. “The court can sum-mon these reports from the gover-nor,” he said.

The CJ said, “We know noth-ing more. You please provide therevised reports and all the record tothe court.”

The hearing of the case was ad-journed until February 26.

Court knows well its powers, says CJ

china to helpcommission twonuclear powerplants by 2016

ISLAMABADAPP

Two nuclear power plants, 340 MWeach, are under construction at Chashmaand are expected to be commissioned by2016, with Chinese assistance. Con-struction of these power plants becamepossible after a long-standing agree-ment, whereas three other nuclearpower plants already commissioned inthe country are performing well. Ac-cording to official sources, a majorchunk of the Pakistan Atomic energyCommission (PAeC) budget has beenallocated to the two plants. PAeC envis-ages production of 8,800 MW by theyear 2030 through nuclear power reac-tors, sources added. “An amount of Rs 34.6 billion has beenset aside for Chashma Nuclear PowerPlants, C3 and C4. The total cost ofthese two projects is Rs 190 billionwhich will be partially funded by a Rs136 billion Chinese loan,” said a source.The government has so far spent Rs62.4 billion on the mega project havinga 660 MW generation capacity. With Rs34.6 billion additional spending, thegovernment will be able to complete al-most half of the work by June 2013, anofficial said.

fuel prices likelyto be increasedfrom march 1

ISLAMABADnni

The Ministry of Petroleum on Fridaysaid petroleum prices were likely to goup from March 1 across the country.According to the ministry, the prices ofdiesel and petrol would be raised by Rs3 and Rs 2.80 respectively while theprice of light diesel would be increasedby Rs 2.40. The prices of Kerosene oiland High Octane would also be raisedby Rs 2 and Rs 3.5.

Syed Imran Gardeziappointed as PIo

ISLAMABADSTAFF RePORT

Senior Officer of Information Services,Syed Imran Gardezi, has been appointedas the Principal Information Officer(PIO). Prior to his appointment as headof PID, Syed Imran Gardezi served asPakistan’s minister information in Wash-ington DC, press minister in London,general manager PIA, and press secretaryto former prime minister Syed YousafRaza Gilani. Gardezi got Masters degreeon presidential scholarship from CityUniversity, London. He was awardedPakistan’s best media manager award byAPNS in 2003.

no leeway onfake degrees formPs, clarifies ecP

ISLAMABADOnline

The election Commission of Pakistan(eCP) on Friday clarified that it had notwithdrawn the issue of fake degrees’ of par-liamentarians. The eCP said in a statementthat “An impression has been created in asection of the press suggesting the eCP sur-rendered on the fake degrees’ issue”. Thecommission clarified that it had not with-drawn the fake degrees’ issue of parliamen-tarians. “The eCP is steadfastly determinedto implement the judgment of the SupremeCourt of Pakistan in letter and spirit and theprocess of verification of degrees shall becompleted so as to achieve the objective ofArticle 62 and 63 of the constitution,” theeCP said. earlier, a section of press hadcreated an impression through news re-ports that the eCP had almost surrenderedto the pressure from parliamentarians onthe issue of unverified degrees, includinghighly influential members belonging toboth sides of the political divide.

ISLAMABADnni

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf hassaid it was for the first time in Pakistan’shistory that smooth transition of powerwas going to take place in the country.

The prime minister was talking toMinister for Climate Change Rana FarooqSaeed Khan, Minister for Postal ServicesSardar Al-Haj Umar Gorgaij, Minister forScience and Technology Changez Jamali

and Senate Deputy Chairman Sabir Balochwho called on him separately on Friday.

He said consensus among politicalforces and other stakeholders on the needfor continuity of democracy was a goodomen for the system.

The prime minister said in a demo-cratic system, it was electorate’s right tovote in and vote out governments.

He directed the ministers to step upcontacts with the masses and apprise thepeople about various measures adopted by

the democratic government for their well-being.

Ashraf said during its five-year tenure,the government addressed structural issuesthat had traditionally bedeviled the feder-ation.

He added that the legal, political andadministrative reforms introduced by thegovernment were far-reaching in natureand would take some time to bear fruit.

The ministers apprised the prime min-ister about the working of their ministries.

Consensus on democracy good omen for country: PM

PML-N SENATOR SAYSPARTY POPULAR INMASSES, NOT SHORT OFELECTION CANDIDATES

PTI SPOKESMAN SAYSSHARIFS HELL-BENT ONCROSSING ALL LIMITSTO GRAB POWER

KHI 23-02-2013_Layout 1 2/23/2013 2:23 AM Page 20