Result: India won by 6 wkts

Result: India won by 6 wkts         Pak: 329/6 in 50 ovrs               Ind: 330/4 in 47.5 ovrs

                       

         Run Rate : 6.90
Last Wicket : Virat Kohli c M Hafeez & b U Gul 183(148) - 318/4, 47.1 Ovs
Previous Overs : 2 . 1 4 1 .   |  4 . 1 . W Wd 1   |  4 1 1 1 . 4   |  W Wd . 6 1 4



Kohli (MoM): I still can't believe what happened out there. It was a crunch game for us and to execute the plans in such a tight game is very pleasing. It was a good wicket to bat on so if you have around 130-140 runs to get and then you start picking up a few boundaries it puts on a lot of pressure on the opposition. I am a big fan of Rohit and I love watching him bat. This knock is as special as the one I played in Hobart. Pakistan have a great bowling unit and to be able to chase 330 against them feels extremely good.



Dhoni: To start off I think when they were batting I felt as a skipper I couldn't do much. We used 8 bowlers so that clearly showed that things weren't going our way. Once Gautam got out I thought Sachin and Virat batted very well. Rohit was very good as well and he can turn out to be a very good finisher for us. I think Virat didn't slog he just played some good cricketing shots. Once the target goes beyond 300 it is always very difficult to chase on any sort of wicket. But we had done it recently so we knew we had the potential to do so and that gave us confidence and we picked the right deliveries. We have talent in the batting and the bowling department. It is just about how you handle the pressure. I think they will just learn from such experiences and get better as they play.

Misbah: I think India played very well especially the way they started. Sachin played really well. I think credit goes to their batsmen, they played really well. It is really easy to bat under lights but still 329 is a good score. I would still like to praise India for the way they batted. Virat played one of the best innings that I have ever seen.

Asia Cup Latest Updates: India 2/2 after 44 overs

DHAKA: India have begun their chase of 330 against Pakistan in their Asia Cup match.

Over 01: India 03/1

Over 02: India 10/1

Over 03: India 22/1

Over 04: India 30/1

Over 05: India 38/1

Over 06: India 42/1

Over 07: India 45/1

Over 08: India 49/1

Over 09: India 56/1

Over 10: India 58/1

Over 11: India 63/1

Over 12: India 67/1

Over 13: India 79/1

Over 14: India 87/1

Over 15: India 98/1

Over 16: India 104/1
-Virat Kohli scores half century

Over 17: India 113/1
-Sachin Tendulkar scores half century

Over 18: India 114/1

Over 19: India 131/1

Over 20: India 133/2
-Ajmal claims Tendulkar's wicket

Over 21: India 136/2

Over 22: India 146/2

Over 23: India 153/2

Over 24: India 157/2

Over 25: India 161/2

Over 26: India 164/2

Over 27: India 170/2

Over 28: India 174/2

Over 29: India 180/2

Over 30: India 187/2

Over 31: India 194/2

Over 32: India 198/2

Over 33: India 202/2

Over 34: India 207/2

Over 35: India 215/2

Over 36: India 225/2

Over 37: India 233/2

Over 38: India 237/2

Over 39: India 241/2

Over 40: India 247/2

Over 41: India 263/2

Over 42: India 276/2
- Virat Kohli scores 150

Over 43: India 283/2

Over 44: India 292/2

Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed dominated the Indian attack hammering brilliant centuries to help Pakistan reach a formidable total of 329-6 in the fifth match of the Asia Cup one-day tournament here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.

Batting first after captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss, both openers provided a solid start playing all Indian bowlers with ease to help Pakistan reach 329-6 in 50 overs.

They made 224 runs, their second century partnership for the first wicket in this tournament - just four runs short of Pakistan record set by Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat against Zimbabwe at Harare last September.

Hafeez made 105 off 113 balls with nine fours and a six. This was his fourth ODI century while Nasir scored 112 from 104 balls with ten fours and a six for his maiden hundred in One-day International cricket.

Veteran batsman Younis Khan also batted well to hit 52 runs from 34 balls with six boundaries. This was his 47th half-century in one-day international career.

Among other batsmen, Umar Akmal made 28 off 24 balls.

Allrounder Shahid Afridi could make only nine runs but he crossed a milestone of 7000 runs in his 341st one-dayer.

For India, pacemen Praveen Kumar and Ashok Dinda claimed two wickets each.

Pakistan were already on top of the points table with nine from two matches and by winning their last league match they will qualify for the final.

Occupy Wall Street celebrates 6 months since start

NEW YORK: Chanting and cheering down Wall Street on Saturday to mark six months since the birth of the Occupy movement, some protesters applauded the Goldman Sachs employee who days ago gave the firm a public drubbing, echoing the movement's indictment of a financial system demonstrators say is fueled by reckless greed.

"I kind of like to think that the Occupy movement helped him to say, 'Yeah, I really can't do this anymore,'" retired librarian Connie Bartusis said of the op-ed piece by Goldman Sachs manager Greg Smith, who claimed the company regularly foisted failing products on clients as it sought to make more money.

Carrying a sign with the words "Regulate Regulate Regulate," Bartusis said the loss of governmental checks on the financial system helped create the climate of unfettered self-interest described by Smith in his piece, although Goldman's leadership suggested he had not portrayed the bank's culture accurately.

"Greed is a very powerful force," Bartusis said. "That's what got us in trouble."

On Saturday, six months after the protesters first took over Zuccotti Park near the city's financial district, the protesters gathered there again, drawing slogans in chalk on the pavement and waving flags as they marched through lower Manhattan.

Asia Cup 2012: Pakistan cross swords with India today

DHAKA: The battle is being predicted to be bloody as well as beautiful when traditional rivals, Pakistan and India, cross swords in Asia Cup Cricket Tournament’s One Day International match in Dhaka on Sunday (today),

With a few hours remaining in the clash of titans --after almost a year’s hiatus-- the excitement is peaking across the divide.

Cricket crazy fans have set up giant screens in public and amusement parks to make every moment sheer fun for friends and families.

For many Pakistanis the Asia Cup encounter is a chance for their country to avenge the World Cup semi-final defeat in Mohali exactly a year ago.

As expected most of the television channels have also prepared special programmes for the match, with advertisers and sponsors keen to cash in on the hype.

Pakistan is in high spirits after defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets on Thursday almost booking their place in the final of the Asia Cup.

On the other hand India was under pressure as, Bangladesh beat the former by five wickets, despite Sachin Tendulkar's 100th ton making India's next match versus Pakistan crucial for the team.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, whose team were blanked 4-0 by England recently, said the match against India would be a highlight.” Against India it is something special because of the supporters of Pakistan and India,” he said.

“Everyone wants to enjoy India-Pakistan rivalry and that adds to the pressure. But we want to play good cricket and improve our own performance. It’s going to be a tough tournament.” India severed cricket links with its neighbour after the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border in Pakistan.

The Asia Cup will be the first assignment for new Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore, the former Australian international who guided Sri Lanka to World Cup glory in 1996. The tournament provides Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar with yet another opportunity to record an unprecedented 100th international century.

The world record-holder has gone a year without a three-figure knock since scoring his 99th ton in a World Cup match against South Africa in Nagpur last March. India hope to make amends after their disastrous tours of England and Australia, where they lost both the Test and one-day series.

India, who won the last Asia Cup title in Sri Lanka in 2010, have rested hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag and key paceman Zaheer Khan, but will feel at home on the low, slow pitches in Dhaka.

Sri Lanka, who finished runners-up to India in the World Cup, have produced encouraging results after reappointing Mahela Jayawardene as captain and South African Graham Ford as coach.

They not only knocked India out of the recent tri-series in Australia, but also gave the hosts a close run before losing the best-of-three final 2-1. Bangladesh are boosted by the return of opener Tamim Iqbal, who was initially dropped by the country’s cricket chief before being added as a 15th member of the squad on Thursday.

Each side will play the other once in the round-robin league, with the top two advancing to the final on March 22.

China exerts rare public pressure on North Korea over missile plan

SHANGHAI: China put rare public pressure on ally North Korea over the reclusive state's plan to launch a long-range rocket which is raising tension in the region and could scupper a recent aid deal with the United States.

The announcement of the launch immediately threw into doubt recent hopes that the new young head of the family dynasty ruling North Korea was ready open up more to the international community.

Experts said the planned launch is clearly a ballistic missile test, banned by U.N. resolutions, and would be in line with North Korea's long practiced diplomacy of using threats to regional security to leverage concessions from the international community, and the United States in particular.

It would also be used to boost the stature of the North's new young leader Kim Jong-un, who took over the family dynasty after his father's death late last year.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun expressed China's "worry" when he met North Korean ambassador Ji Jae Ryong on Friday, the Xinhua news agency said.

"We sincerely hope parties concerned stay calm and exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension that may lead to a more complicated situation," Xinhua on Saturday quoted Zhang as saying.

Though he stopped well short of condemning the planned launch, Beijing only rarely goes public with pressure on the isolated North which relies heavily on its giant neighbor for its economic survival.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday called the announcement highly provocative, telling North Korea to honor its obligations including U.N. Security Council resolutions banning ballistic missiles.

Washington said a launch carrying a satellite could violate Pyongyang's agreement last month to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches - and thereby scuttle U.S. plans to resume food aid.

Those talks were in part brokered by China and had triggered expectations of a thaw in relations with North Korea under Kim Jong-un.

Their unraveling in less than a month is a major blow to any serious multilateral talks on denuclearizing North Korea and analysts said it was unlikely Pyongyang would back down on the launch planned to coincide with celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the birth of its founder Kim Il-sung, the current leader's grandfather.

"It certainly suggests that Pyongyang places greater emphasis on promoting the Kim Family Cult than on its external relations," Richard Bush, Director, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution wrote after the North Korean announcement.

Japan said any such launch would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution. One Tokyo daily quoted sources on Saturday as saying that if the probability of a launch was deemed to be high, Japan would consider deploying PAC3 missile interceptors as is did during a 2009 rocket launch.

TOUGH LANGUAGE FROM MOSCOW

Russia, resorting to tough language, warned Pyongyang not to defy the international community. It stressed that the launch would undermine the chances for a revival of long-stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program. South Korea, Japan, Britain, France and others also expressed concern.

North Korea pledged that next month's launch would have no impact on neighboring countries. Pyongyang has provided few details on the new satellite, but has said it will be a "working" satellite developed using indigenous technology.

The launch will take place between April 12-16, around the time South Korea holds a parliamentary election, and just over three weeks after a global nuclear security summit in Seoul.

In April 2009, North Korea conducted a similar ballistic rocket launch that resulted in a new round of toughened U.N. sanctions, squeezing the secretive state's already troubled economy and deepening its isolation.

That launch, dismissed as a failure after the first stage fell into the Sea of Japan without placing a satellite in orbit, provoked outrage in Tokyo. Another test failed in similar circumstances in 1998. (Reuters)

National Security versus Civil Liberty

The threat of military intervention in political affairs has always loomed large in Pakistan.
 
Click

Such intervention – whether through overt military rule or covert operations during democratic rule – has been frequently defended on grounds of national security. Since the army is responsible for security and because political actions have security implications, the army must manage political affairs.

But a country needs more than mere security to thrive. There is also a need to protect political civil liberties such as freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial. Not to mention the freedom of assembly.

It is this particular freedom that the Mehrangate scandal revolves around. After all, the freedom to assemble and express popular will is useless if that popular will is replaced by the will of an army chief, an ISI chief, and a banker.

By choosing to hear the Asghar Khan case while Gilani’s contempt-of-court case is ongoing, the Supreme Court has shown that it isn’t unfairly targeting the civilian government and supporting the military in the battle between state institutions. Rather, the Supreme Court understands the importance of both a corruption-free civilian government and a restrained but effective military establishment.

Such a balanced approach has been on display on numerous occasions. At one point during the case hearing, the Chief Justice remarked that there were conflicting statements from all the players involved in the case and that, as a result, a judicial commission would be required to launch a full inquiry into the case.

The Supreme Court also displayed an understanding of unnecessary versus necessary national security concerns.

At one point, the counsel for Mirza Aslam Beg requested that the court proceedings be held behind closed doors in the interests of national security. However, the court refused the request and pointed out that most of the information relating to the case had already been laid bare. On another occasion, however, the Chief Justice requested that reports relating to the workings of security and intelligence agencies be kept confidential in the interests of national security.

Do such actions indicate a court intent on jeopardizing national security?

Contrast that with the actions of Beg. In the affidavit that he submitted to the court, Beg mocked the Supreme Court by thanking it for allowing Beg to complete a “hat-trick” of appearances before Chief Justices – an “honour” that no other Chief of Army Staff could claim. He mocked the Chief Justice by sarcastically referring to Chaudhry’s “dynamic leadership”.

Regardless of the truth of the allegations, it is clear that the Supreme Court understands the gravity of the situation while Beg doesn’t.

What is troubling is that the case has taken 15 years to be heard. The players involved have long since lost their power. The events that are being discussed occurred 20 years ago. Even the petitioner of the case, Asghar Khan, has stated that he is only looking for a “symbolic” judgment from this case. Nonetheless, the public illumination of such state secrets will go a long way towards correcting the military establishment’s perception that the fear of national insecurity can be used to continually abuse civil liberties.

Congo under scrutiny over Hezbollah business links

LONDON: Democratic Republic of Congo has awarded lucrative forestry concessions to a company controlled by a Lebanese businessman who also runs a firm subject to sanctions by the United States as a front for Hezbollah.

The 2011 concessions issued by Congo's environment ministry to the Trans-M company, seen by Reuters, could complicate Washington's efforts to curb what it says are the Lebanese militant movement's growing business activities in Africa.

The concessions cover 25-year leases for hundreds of thousands of hectares of rainforest in the central African country, the world's second forest "lung" after the Amazon. The concessions are capable of generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues over 25 years, if fully exploited, forestry experts say.

Trans-M is controlled by businessman Ahmed Tajideen (whose name is also given as Tajeddine in U.S. Treasury documents). He also runs another company, Congo Futur, which the U.S. government says is a front for Hezbollah. Congo Futur cites sawmilling as one of its businesses.

The U.S. Treasury Department put Congo Futur under targeted sanctions in 2010, saying the firm was part of a network of businesses ultimately controlled by Tajideen's three brothers, Kassim, Husayn and Ali, and that this generated "millions of dollars in funding" for Hezbollah.

The sanctions aim to block U.S. dollar transfers linked to the trio, part of wider U.S. efforts to counter what Washington sees as increasing business activity in Africa by Hezbollah, which it calls "among the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world". Hezbollah has denied U.S. accusations that it is linked to money-laundering and the international narcotics trade.

Ahmed Tajideen, who is not subject to U.S. Treasury sanctions, says his brothers have no share of Congo Futur or Trans-M and that the companies are neither directly related to each other nor act as front companies for Hezbollah.

"I am the majority shareholder of both companies," Tajideen told Reuters earlier this month.

"I created both companies independently of each other", he said. "My brothers have nothing to do with the companies".

EMBARRASSING FOR KABILA

But leaked U.S. diplomatic cables produced in 2000 quote Ahmed Tajideen as saying Congo Futur established Trans-M, which is also described as a "subsidiary" of Congo Futur on the website of Congo's official investment authority, ANAPI.

"The question for the Congolese government is whether they really want to continue doing business with a company that is linked to a terrorist organization?" said a U.S. official who monitors Congo, but asked not to be named.

John Sullivan, a U.S. Treasury spokesman, told Reuters that if Trans-M was majority owned by Congo Futur, it would face sanctions. He would not comment on the immediate status of Ahmed Tajideen or Trans-M.

"Treasury does not comment on possible enforcement actions or designations," he said.

The Trans-M forestry concessions are an embarrassment for the government of President Joseph Kabila, who was returned to office in last year's troubled presidential elections that were criticized by the United States as "seriously flawed".

Seraphim Ngwej, a senior advisor to president Kabila, told Reuters the U.S. government had not officially communicated any allegations about the concessions to Congo's government.

He said he would be willing to assist. "But there must be proof," Ngwej said.

Leopold Kalala Ndjibu-Kalema, a senior legal adviser to Congo's environment ministry, said in an official statement that there is "no concrete proof" that Trans-M is involved in Hezbollah activities and insisted its concessions had nothing to do with Congo Futur.

But a European Union-funded forestry publication in 2011 refers to Congo Futur as the "parent company" of Trans-M. Employees and a business partner of Congo Futur contacted by Reuters have also stated Trans-M is a "subsidiary" of Congo Futur and is owned by all the Tajideen brothers.

"WEAK STATES"

U.S. officials are concerned that Congo, whose location in the heart of Africa makes it important for the continent's stability, may become a safe haven for Hezbollah financiers looking to take advantage of weak financial regulation in the lawless and commodity rich central African giant.

"We do have major concerns about all weak states, and especially places like Congo," said one U.S. official who asked not to be named. "The attention here in Washington is pretty high," he added.

U.S. authorities last year put the spotlight on Hezbollah's Africa-based activities by unveiling a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) probe alleging the Iranian-backed group was involved in money laundering activities in West Africa linked to the narcotics and second hand car trade.

The Tajideen family has operated real estate, diamond export, supermarket and food processing businesses across Angola, Gambia and Sierra Leone and Congo for many years, the U.S. Treasury says.

West and Central Africa host significant and long-established Lebanese diaspora communities. But U.S. interest in the Tajideen family sharpened in 2003 when Belgian police raided the Antwerp offices of a company managed by Kassim Tajideen and accused it of "large scale tax fraud, money laundering and trade in diamonds of doubtful origin". No charges were brought in Belgium.

The U.S. Treasury made Kassim Tajideen subject to sanctions in 2009 and in 2010 also sanctioned Husayn Tajideen and Ali Tajideen, who it says was once a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. The Treasury says Husayn and Ali are amongst Hezbollah's "top financiers in Africa".

A Hezbollah official declined to comment on the U.S. allegations. When the Treasury sanctioned some of the family's companies in 2010, U.S. citizens were barred from doing business with them. But some of the companies continued to operate freely in their host countries, including Congo Futur.

Israel has also expressed concern about what it says are growing Hezbollah financial interests in Africa.

Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council last month that he was particularly concerned that West Africa had become a "hub" for Hezbollah. But he did not refer to central Africa or Congo.

Powerful Israeli businessmen still retain good relations with president Kabila, notably Dan Gertler, a wealthy diamond merchant who controls numerous mining and other interests in Congo, many managed via offshore companies.

Damascus bombs kill police, civilians: state TV

DAMASCUS: Twin bombings hit security buildings in the Syrian capital early on Saturday killing several police and civilians, state television said, amid fears Al-Qaeda is trying to exploit the anti-regime revolt.
 
"Two terrorist bombings struck Damascus this morning," the television said, adding that preliminary reports suggested the bombers had blown up vehicles packed with explosives.

It said the attacks targeted the criminal police headquarters and an office of Syria's intelligence services, killing several police and civilians, but it did not give immediate numbers.

The blasts hit on Baghdad Boulevard in Al-Qasaa district and in the Duwar al-Jamarek area.

"According to our initial information, they were car bombs," the television said.

The state broadcaster showed gruesome pictures of a smoking vehicle in Duwar al-Jamarek.

"First pictures of the body of one of the terrorists who targeted Damascus today in Duwar al-Jamarek," a message running on the screen said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier that two powerful explosions targeted security service buildings in the capital.

A spate of bombings have hit Syria's big cities in recent months amid growing concerns that Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of a year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad to shift its focus of operations from neighbouring Iraq. 

Apple cements tablet market lead with new iPad

LONDON/NEW YORK: Apple Inc's newest iPad looked like another hot seller on Friday as hundreds lined up at stores around the world to get their hands on the tablet, though the crowds and waiting times in some cities were less than in previous years.

The third-generation iPad has only a few new features including faster wireless connectivity and a crisper display, but analysts nonetheless expect Apple to dominate the tablet market well into next year.

"I just got hyped into it, I guess," said David Tarasenko, a 34-year-old construction manager who was the first to pick one up from a Telstra wireless store at midnight in Sydney.

The buzz helped propel Apple shares to touch a record high of $600 on the Nasdaq on Thursday, though they later erased gains and were trading at around $585 on Friday afternoon.

In New York, the queues were nothing compared with previous years. "I came by at midnight and nobody was here," said Peter Brown, 51, who owns a marketing and communications company in London and was waiting in line at Apple's flagship New York City store on Fifth Avenue.

The new iPad - Apple has refrained from calling it iPad 3 - has faster chips, fourth-generation wireless, a sharper display and a better camera, making it harder for competitors like Samsung's Galaxy, which also lack Apple's range of apps and content, to catch up.

On price, too, Apple's rivals will struggle to beat it. The new iPad starts at $499 in the United States, 479 euros ($630) in Germany and 42,800 yen ($510) in Japan. Only Amazon Inc's far more basic Kindle Fire is significantly cheaper.

Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 but has dropped its price by $100 to start at $399. Some analysts expect sales of the new iPad to overtake the old. So far, the company has sold 55 million tablets since the first iPad was launched in 2010.

Even in a tough economic climate in some parts of the world, many buyers, like 27-year-old Steve Henry in Paris, said they would scrimp elsewhere if necessary.

"I save money on my other purchases for high-tech shopping," said Henry, a systems engineer at a railway company who was hoping to buy his first iPad mainly to watch films and read during his more than two hours of travel per day.

Some U.S. retailers offered special deals. At Target, customers who traded in their working iPad 2 could receive up to $350 in store credit, a spokeswoman said.

MARKET LEAD

Tablet sales are expected to increase to 326 million by 2015 with Apple largely dominating the market, according to research firm Gartner. By then tablets could rival sales of desktop computers, which Gartner expects to total 368 million units this year.

The enduring popularity of Apple products, and stock, have provided Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over after the death of Steve Jobs last year, with a good start. The stock has jumped 45 percent this year to a market value of about $550 billion.

Canaccord Genuity analysts raised their target price on Apple stock to $710 from $665. Dickie Chang, an analyst with technology research firm IDC, said Cook will need to do more in future to keep up the company's astonishing momentum.

"The iPad is already a pretty mature product and it's hard to revolutionize it any further," he said. "I think he may have to come up with another product to mark his stamp. That could come in the form of launching a smaller iPad with a longer battery life, for instance."

UBS raised its target price to $675 from $550, and said the expected launch of the redesigned iPhone 5 in October was the big catalyst ahead.

Apple's top manufacturer is Foxconn Technology Group, whose factories in China are under scrutiny over labor practices. Small groups of labor activists tried to draw attention to the issue at stores in New York and San Francisco, where Apple employees handed out umbrellas to customers waiting in the rain.

Charlotte Hill, a representative of change.org, called for better worker protection. "We are hoping Apple's workers and people higher up in the corporate chain will hear us," she said in San Francisco, where about 200 to 300 people had lined up prior to the opening of the downtown store.

Amanda Bell, a law student and part of a group of protesters in New York, said: "There is a cognitive dissonance for most people between loving the product and hating the way it's made."

SMUGGLERS

The new iPad went on sale on Friday in 10 regions including Britain, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Switzerland. Most of the countries outside the United States do not yet have the faster, fourth-generation telecoms networks that the new iPad supports, but that did not stop Apple's fans.

"I've come from Russia to buy an iPad for my three-year-old son David," Oleg Konovalov, a newspaper salesman, told Reuters in Tokyo. "Everyone in Russia wants an iPad, but to buy it there I will have to wait several months."

"This reminds me of the time 30 years ago when I waited 8 hours in the cold to see Lenin's Mausoleum."

In London, 21-year-old Piotr, who works at noodle bar Wagamama, said: "It's not for me, it's to sell. I will bring them to Russia to sell them."

In the Chinese city of Shenzhen, people keen to get their hands on the new iPad waited for them to be smuggled across the border from Hong Kong.

"We don't have iPad3s yet, but some will arrive later in the day when the students deliver them to us. We'll have more supplies over this weekend," said a store operator in Shenzhen.

"Customs has become stricter, but if you take one at a time across the border, that's still pretty safe. At most they'll ask you to take it out of the box to prove that it's for self use."

Online reviews of the new iPad overwhelmingly praised Apple for its improved screen resolution. "My epiphany came when I placed my iPad 2 next to the new model, with the same text on the screen. Letters and words that had seemed sharp on the older model five minutes earlier suddenly looked fuzzier," said one reviewer.

Shintaro Aizawa, 16, who waited 15 hours outside a Tokyo store, said: "After this, well, I'll first of all open it up and check it's as beautiful as I thought. Then I'll get some sleep."

GOLD STANDARD

As consumers lined up around city streets to buy the iPad, one firm that took the new device apart said Qualcomm Inc, Broadcom Corp and Samsung Electronics had all held on to their prized roles as key parts suppliers.

The inner workings of the iPad are similar to previous models, based on a "teardown" by a tinkerer from California gadget-repair firm iFixit, who queued up in Australia to get one of the new tablets and quickly took it apart for a Web blog.

IFixit said the iPad's display appears to be from Samsung, Apple's closest rival in the tablet market. It includes a Qualcomm LTE cellphone chip and a Qualcomm wireless modem for 3G and 4G. Broadcom supplies a semiconductor handling wireless tasks like WiFi and Bluetooth, according to iFixit.

Other technology partners include ARM Holdings Plc, Toshiba Corp, Elpida Memory Inc, Avago Technologies Ltd, Triquint Semiconductor Inc and Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc.

Analysts said Cupertino, California-based Apple sometimes uses more than one supplier for a part, so what is found in one iPad may not be present in others. Still, teardowns are a key source of information for investors and the appearance of unexpected chips can move stocks. (Reuters)

All set for traders shutterdown strike against extortionists in Karachi

KARACHI: Business community in Karachi as well as other major cities of Sindh would observe complete shutterdown strike today (Saturday) against the scourge of extortionism, Geo News reported.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other political/social groups have vowed full solidarity with the extortion-stricken traders to make this strike a “strong joint warning” to the elements trying to jeopardize business activities in the city.

Following the call to observe a "Black Day", the signature pre-strike-day activities started on the night between Friday and Saturday.

According to eyewitnesses, ‘activists’ made sure certain “late-night markets” and petrol pumps were closed across the city.

Moreover, the traffic on the roads was also thinner than usual as fuel was nowhere to be found in parts of metropolis.

Matriculation examinations set for Saturday have also been postponed. A new schedule for the same would be announced later.

Earlier, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmakers protested inside Sindh Assembly while a large number of its workers outside the House against extortion and Parchi Mafia.

The MQM legislators chanted slogans against extortion inside the provincial assembly in front of the desk of Speaker.

Deputy Speaker Shahla Raza presided over the session, which was later adjourned till Monday, 10 am. The speaker held MQM's attitude responsible for the adjournment.

MQM MPAs were holding placards inscribed with slogans against extortion and asking Sindh Chief Minister to take notice of the situation.

Earlier, a joint emergent meeting of MQM Coordination Committee Pakistan and London chapters decided to protest against extortionist mafia in and outside Sindh Assembly on Friday.

Sources privy to the minutes of the meeting said that MQM leaders, in the strongest of words warned unruly feudal lords under whose aegis the extortionists were thriving.

They said MQM believed in peaceful co-existence, which they said should not be mistaken for cowardice.

The leadership also said that they were only held back by their Quaid Altaf Hussian, who has always preached peace otherwise those feudal lords would have had it.

Claiming that most of the oppressed population of Sindh as well as journalists and students were on their side, the party leadership urged Altaf Hussian to let them give those overlords a taste of their own medicine.

Alleged US shooter in Afghan massacre identified

WASHINGTON: The US soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 civilians in Afghanistan was identified Friday by a US official, and a picture emerged of a battle-hardened veteran who saw tough battles in Iraq.

US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales had served three combat tours in Iraq, and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

US media identified Bales, 38, as the alleged shooter, and a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP the reports were "correct."

On Friday the soldier was en route from Kuwait to the US military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after Sunday's attack in the southern province of Kandahar, in which mainly women and children were killed, plunged US-Afghan relations into a deep crisis.

Several websites containing pictures and stories about Bales, including a 2009 Department of Defense page, were taken down by the time his identity was revealed Friday, but some versions of the webpages could still be accessed.

Bales participated in one of the bloodiest clashes of the Iraq war -- a January 2007 battle in southern Iraq against a messianic Shiite sect known as the Soldiers of Heaven, according to a cached online article, dated February 2009, from the official US army homepage.

Bales is quoted in the article describing the battle, in which 250 militia members were killed, but no US soldiers.

Separately, in a photograph appearing on cached webpage of the High Desert Warrior, an online military publication, dated March 4, Bales appears in camouflage fatigues and wearing body armor during a training exercise at an army training center in California's Mojave desert.

The decorated soldier's civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, stressed to US media that his client had been upset by a serious injury sustained by a comrade the day before the massacre, but held no animosity toward Muslims.

"Investigators have reason to believe that alcohol may have been a factor in this tragic incident," a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues -- he just snapped," another unnamed official told the New York Times on Thursday.

Afghan leaders have demanded the shooting suspect face a public trial in Afghanistan over the killings.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday again lashed out at Washington over the massacre, one day after he said international forces should leave villages in his country, potentially jeopardizing NATO operations two years before combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan.

In a phone conversation between the leaders Friday, US President Barack Obama agreed to resolve Karzai's concerns over night raids as the two said they would discuss complaints about NATO troops in villages. (AFP)

Panetta says no sign he was target of airport attack

KABUL: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday he had no reason to believe he was the target of an attempted attack as he landed a day earlier at a military airfield in Afghanistan.

"I have absolutely no reason to believe that this was directed at me," Panetta told a press conference, but added: "This is a war area" and "we're going to get these kind of incidents". (AFP)

The Joys of Reading Fiction

I have to begin by making a confession. I love to read fiction. Or, let me put it this way, I still love to read fiction. Being as old as I am, doing the job that I do (you could call me a journalist, the ‘senior staff member’ is off-putting I know!) and still wanting to read fiction appears a little odd; even to me sometimes.


But that’s how it has always been. I enjoy good fiction like no other piece of writing.


A colleague in office finds that heartening and tells me that fiction is understood to be the ‘ultimate’ or ‘high’ reality. Conversely, autobiography is the biggest lie, he says. In fiction, you are not compelled to hide anything, so that’s the ultimate truth; everything else is a lie.


Some consolation his words but my sheer inability to read non-fiction makes me think that, perhaps, it’s time to problematise the issue. The issue in question being: why is fiction such a joy and where does it leave a reader who happens to be a journalist.


In my mind, there had always been a linear self-constructed rule — the teens and some part of the twenties are reserved for fiction; soon after, one must turn to non-fiction — history, politics, biography, philosophy, literary criticism, linguistics and what not.


Logistically speaking, I worked as per the linear rule in my mind. I got all the right books (or always had them) placed neatly on the shelves — from Seervai to Hamza Alavi to Feroze Ahmed to Ayeha Jalal. The more than one biography of Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah keep each other company as well as to that of Mandela, Clinton and Gian Singh Shatir in the shelf. I even have my share of feminist literature (the Germaine Greers and all), philosophy and literary criticism.


Every few months, this huge collection needs to be dusted thoroughly. I do that lovingly but with a profound sense of guilt; for not having read most of it.


Because, to fiction I must return, and with a fondness and interest that is unmatched. The plans of a chronological reading of non-fiction (Taliban must come first before Descent into Chaos) never seem to materialise. I find fiction more liberating because you can break all chronological rules; an Oscar Wilde can be read before or after a Mirza Waheed, and Dickens, Milan Kundera or Rohinton Mistry can all be read together and enjoyed.


This has not been for want of trying I tell you. I have tried reading almost every single non-fiction book that would turn me into a smart reader/analyst/opinion-maker. Somehow I couldn’t finish it. The only books I could read till the end were those that read like fiction. I know that’s a silly un-definable criterion but, to me, that’s that.


In the process of trying, I developed a love for a genre other than fiction and that is the essay. George Orwell has amazed me with his clarity of thought and lucid prose, and Mencken I am still discovering.


But essay I found is closer to journalism; hence limited. The possibilities of fiction, on the other hand, are endless.


Close to home are Intizar Husain and Manto and so many more. The discovery that Manto is a pure genius came to me a little late. To me, Manto is literature, history, politics, biography, philosophy, society and journalism all rolled into one. A master of irony, he is a story-teller par excellence who had the courage to challenge God.


Must I then crib why I’m reading fiction only?

All six Arab Gulf states to close embassies in Syria

RIYADH: All six Arab Gulf states will close their embassies in Syria in protest at the year-long crackdown in the country, said Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) head Abdullatif al-Zayani early Friday.

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait took the step, he said, citing the regime's "massacring its people, choosing the military option and rejecting all initiatives aimed at finding a solution to the crisis."

Zayani asked the international community to "act urgently and decisively to stop the killings and massacres in Syria as well as the gross violations of the dignity and legitimate rights of the Syrians."

Before this collective decision, two GCC countries -- Saudi Arabia and Bahrain -- had announced the closure of their missions in Damascus.

Saudi Arabia took the step Wednesday and announced the return of its diplomats from Syria, followed the next day by Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia, the Arab world heavyweight, has been highly critical of the Syrian regime. Last August, it withdrew its ambassador from Damascus and expelled the Syrian ambassador.

Its five partners in the council have done the same to denounce the "mass slaughter" committed by the regime.

Swiss will follow if Pakistan removes presidential immunity: lawyer

GENEVA: The Attorney-at-law who represented Pakistan in high-profile Swiss corruption cases involving President Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Bhutto has opined that the re-opening of the Swiss cases is a simple matter and not many complications were involved if only the government of Pakistan willed so.

François Micheli's law firm represented Pakistan in around a dozen cases with the Switzerland authorities from 1997 to mid 2008 when, under the infamous National Reconciliation Order (NRO), the attorneys representing Pakistan were instructed to drop the criminal proceedings against the accused couple, President Zardari and Benazir Bhutto.

As the Supreme Court presses ahead with its determination to get Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to write to the Swiss authorities to re-open the corruption cases, a lot of speculation in Pakistan swirls around the statutory limitation and it is suggested that after 15 years, taking into count 1997 when the famous money laundering SGS/Cotecna cases were opened against the duo, are lapsed the cases could not be opened.

But the former Pakistani state attorney has revealed that the 15 year limitation rule doesn't apply as simply in this matter as, when and if Pakistan makes a request for the reopening of the cases, it will be of paramount importance that what happened to the assets (65 million Dollars) unfrozen in 2008.

“If the assets were moved elsewhere then that’s a new offence and that’s a new period of limitation,” he said, implying that the emphasis on the cut off time was misplaced and he was not aware what happened to the assets after his firm seazed representing Pakistan.

This assertion means that even if a single penny was moved out of the unfrozen accounts then that date will form the start date of any new prosecution – the new start period of statutory limitation.

He said it would be a complex matter if the assets were still in Switzerland and not moved but “it needs a close examination under Swiss law”.

"If the assets were moved elsewhere then that's a new offence and that's a new period of limitation," he said, implying that the emphasis on the cut off time was misplaced and he was not aware what happened to the assets after his firm ceased representing Pakistan.

This assertion means that even if a single penny was moved out of the unfrozen accounts then that date will form the start date of any new prosecution - the new start period of statutory limitation.

He said it would be a complex matter if the assets were still in Switzerland and not moved but "it needs a close examination under Swiss law".

He explained that his law firm represented Pakistan in the mutual legal assistance proceedings where it was on Pakistan's request that the Swiss authorities were cooperating to assist Pakistan's investigations by helping with bank records, money movement etc.

He also represented Pakistan in his country's own Penal proceedings, where the money laundering case was probed.

He said the system for mutual legal assistance was simple; it was more complex when it comes to the local Swiss penal proceedings.

He doubted that the Swiss will re-open their own penal investigations although it was legally possible, but confirmed that Swiss will actively cooperate with Pakistan's own penal proceedings if a request was made through the attorney general.

"It is significantly simpler to reactivate the mutual legal assistance proceedings. What Pakistani authorities must do is to file a request to the Swiss authorities to know what has happened to the assets that were unfrozen in 2008.

It's quite simple to do. What is required is that Pakistan penal authorities actively investigate and prosecute the concerned cases and if that's fulfilled Switzerland will help Pakistan and provide its support. That's the basic requirement under mutual legal assistance."

When asked what would happen if Pakistan requested of Swiss to probe these cases under the Swiss under penal laws, Mr. Micheli replied that “that’s legally possible. There is a question of opportuneness. The centre of gravity of various cases we have been dealing with is in Pakistan, rather than in Switzerland.

The main suspects and offenders are in Pakistan so the natural place where such penal proceedings should be conducted is definitely Pakistan. The Pakistani penal authorities are better placed to cut the Gordian knot.”

When asked what would happen if Pakistan requested of Swiss to probe these cases under the Swiss under penal laws, Mr. Micheli replied that "that's legally possible. There is a question of opportuneness. The centre of gravity of various cases we have been dealing with is in Pakistan, rather than in Switzerland. The main suspects and offenders
are in Pakistan so the natural place where such penal proceedings should be conducted is definitely Pakistan. The Pakistani penal authorities are better placed to cut the Gordian knot."

Explaining the Swiss position relating to immunity, the attorney said the Swiss Department for Foreign Affairs will go by what the foreign state has decided. "If Pakistan lifts this immunity then Swiss will go by what Pakistan has decided. If Pakistan doesn't recognize immunity to head of state or its public officials Swiss will not either".

It was from Mr Micheli’s office in December 2009 when Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s envoy to London, and a National Accountability Bureau official removed the files and the scenes of files being transported to the Pakistani diplomatic car made headlines. The attorney stressed that his firm is under legal obligation of carrying “at least a copy of what we have done for our client” and “our obligations is to keep the records for ten years after the closing of the case.

The prosecutor general of Geneva who was dealing with penal cases also keeps his records for a long duration too. I believe that the time period is until the period of limitation is reached which is 15 years for the offences or aggravated money laundering charges”.

It was from Mr Micheli's office in December 2009 when wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's envoy to London, and a National Accountability Bureau official removed the files and the scenes of files being transported to the Pakistani diplomatic car made headlines. The attorney stressed that his firm is under legal obligation of carrying "at least a copy of what we have done for our client" and "our obligations is to keep the records for ten years after the closing of the case".

The prosecutor general of Geneva who was dealing with penal cases also keeps his records for a long duration too. I believe that the time period is at least until the period of limitation is reached which is 15 years for the offences or aggravated money laundering charges".

He said if there has been any movement of the money transferred after 2008 then it can be traced and are evidenced by banking records.

He said if the Swiss cases are reopened, the first thing the Swiss authorities will do is to determine where the monies went. “They will probably also freeze them if they are still in Switzerland. The Swiss authorities have the means of coercion of the penal authorrities in general: hearing witnesses, raiding premises, seizing evidence and assets. It's an easy thing. If assets are moved then the paper trail should be easy to reconstruct too.”

He said if there has been any movement of the money transferred after 2008 then it can be traced and are evidenced by banking records.

He said if the Swiss cases are reopened, the first thing the Swiss authorities will do is to determine where the monies went. "They will probably also freeze them if they are still in Switzerland. The Swiss authorities have the means of coercion of the penal authorities in general: hearing witnesses, raiding premises, seizing evidence and assets. It's an easy thing. If assets are moved then the paper trail should be easy to reconstruct too."

He said the guilty verdicts against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zaradri in money laundering proceedings in which each was condemned to a 6 months prison term didn’t make any progress to the logical conclusion because “the criminal procedures in Pakistan were not making visible progress”. They both opposed the sentences, and the cases were brought to a trial court, comprising 3 judges.

They concluded that the matter was too serious and sent the case back to the Prosecutor and the examining magistrate who indicted the couple also for aggravated money laundering.

“The investigation was then ruled as being complete. There have been no significant procedural progress thereafter, also because the criminal procedures in Pakistan were not making visible progress. We don’t know what actions was taken by the Swiss prosecutor after we stopped representing the interests of the State of Pakistan.”

The attorney said Pakistani authorities - ambassador in Switzerland, law minister, Attorney General for Pakistan, Prosecutor general NAB and Ehtesab cell - offered satisfactory and promising cooperation up to Spring 2001 and then they went slow.

"We were of course disappointed but were hoping that the cases would tried again shortly thereafter by the competent court, as all material evidence was already on record. There were many postponements, delays, reports of hearings, and in general adjournments.

Cross-examination of Mansoor Ijaz underway

ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Zahid Bukhari, the lawyer for former Pakistan ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani said on Thursday that the memogate star Mansoor Ijaz had not travelled to the US in over a year.

The proceedings of the memo commission are simultaneously underway at the Islamabad High Court and Pakistani High Commission in London via video-link.

Bukhari requested the memo commission to seek Ijaz’s passport so it could be examined for entry and exit stamps.

Meanwhile, Haqqani also appeared before the memo commission via video-link.

Prior to cross-examination, when Bukhari had arrived at the Pakistani High Commission he claimed he would be successful in proving that Ijaz was an enemy of Pakistan.

Bukhari while speaking to the media added that he was appearing before the commission to prove that Haqqani was not a liar.

The counsel for the former ambassador further said that it was not a big deal for the Blackberry sim to be lost, and Ijaz was formulating a conspiracy which is why he was so careful with his sim.

Mansoor Ijaz prior to appearing before the commission said that during his cross-examination, Haqqani counsel will try to use misleading tactics rather than answering the charge of what was his (Haqqani’s) role in the memo issue.

“If he can’t answer any of those questions than his best defence is diversion” Ijaz said.

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka to reach Asia Cup final

DHAKA: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets on Thursday to virtually book their place in the final of the Asia Cup one-day tournament here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.

Chasing 189, Pakistan made a disastrous start losing three early wickets for 33 but captain Misbah-ul-Haq and young Umar Akmal came to rescue and steered their team to a comfortable victory in 39.5 overs.

This was Pakistan’s second successive win after a 21-run victory over Bangladesh on March 13. Now, Pakistan will face India in their last league match on March 18.

Both hit half-centuries, 19th for Misbah and 14th for Umar in one-day international cricket.

They were involved in an impressive fourth wicket partnership of 152 runs which was Pakistan’s second century stand for any wicket in this tournament.

Misbah remained not out on 72, scored off 93 balls with a six and nine fours while Umar hammered 77 from 72 balls with two sixes and seven boundaries.

For Sri Lanka, paceman Suranga Lakmal claimed two wickets for 37.

Earlier, the defending champions were bowled out for 188 runs in 45.4 overs after captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and decided to bat first.

Kumar Sangakkara (71) and Upul Tharanga (57) hit half-centuries while only openers Jayawardene (12) and Tillekaratne Dilshan (20) were the only other batsmen to get into double figures.

Paceman Aizaz Cheema was the most successful bowler with four wickets for 43 runs and later won the man-of-the-match award while off-break bowler Saeed Ajmal captured three for 27 and pacer Umar Gul two for 20.

Umar Gul also completed his 150 ODI wickets – the tenth Pakistani bowler to reach this milestone.

Sri Lanka were well-placed at 161-4 following a 96-run fifth wicket stand between former skipper Sangakkara before losing their last six wickets for 27 runs.

Saeed Ajmal started the slide when he bowled Tharanga and then removed Farveez Maharoof and last-man Suranga Lakmal.

Cheema, who conceded 21 runs in his first two overs, came back strongly to dismiss openers Mahela Jayawardene (12) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (20) in quick succession before removing Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga.

The Pakistani bowlers were backed by their fielders, with Younis Khan taking a superb catch to his left in the slips to account for Dinesh Chandimal off Gul.

Sri Lanka raced to 33 in the opening five overs before they were reduced to 65-4, with Cheema taking two wickets and Gul and Hammad Azam one apiece.

Modi’s Gujarat defies Gandhi’s India

The past is never dead, wrote William Faulkner, in fact it’s not even past. The past lives on and smoulders in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat. Ten years after the worst communal massacre in the 21st century India under the watchful eyes of the state, the ghosts of Gujarat are yet to be put to rest. Even if the victims of the 2002 pogrom wanted to move on, Modi has seen to it they do not. As India marks the tenth anniversary of the anti-Muslim massacre, justice still remains elusive for the families of more than 2000 victims. The wounds have turned into festering ulcers.

 

After a decade of endless investigations, testimonies of top cops and the supreme court interventions and above all substantial evidence, those who presided over the slaughter haven’t just managed to evade the long arm of the law, they continue in power as defiant and far from repentant as ever.

While India has had a long history of recurring communal violence, Gujarat 2002 remains unique in many ways. The obscene dance of death that went on for weeks in full media glare wasn’t spontaneous. It was carefully calibrated and executed with surgical precision with those high in power enabling, overseeing and encouraging it.

The state didn’t merely watch the madness for weeks on end; it joined in the fun with all the power and resources at its disposal. The findings of the three judicial commissions and special investigative team, not to mention numerous eyewitness accounts, including those by courageous policemen like Rahul Sharma, Sanjiv Bhatt and Sreekumar and investigations by independent media prove the collusion of the state government beyond doubt.

You had senior cabinet ministers like Maya Kodnani, in jail now, personally monitoring the ‘punishment’ meted out to Muslims on the streets of Ahmadabad. Two ministers, Ashok Bhatt and I K Jadeja, took over Ahmadabad and the state police control rooms to ensure no help reached the victims, desperately begging for it even as they were raped, hacked to death or set on fire within their homes.

Mobs armed with swords, trishuls and kerosene and acid bottles went around with voter lists in their hands, systematically identifying and eliminating Muslim families. One such mob surrounded the Gulbarg Society, a largely Muslim gated community. Ehsan Jafri, a former MP and prominent Congress politician, who lived in Gulbarg, made hundreds of desperate calls to senior officials, including to chief minister Modi, even as the mob blasted its way through his apartment block. Help of course never arrived and Jafri – along with 68 others – was hacked to pieces and burnt right before his septuagenarian wife who’s now running from pillar to post for justice.

Which isn’t surprising since the chief minister had issued clear instructions to the top police and administration officials the night before at a meeting at his residence to shut their eyes and ears and allow “Hindus to vent their anger” over the Sabarmati Express blaze, promptly blamed on Muslims without any probe or proof even as many experts discounted the possibility of a running train being torched from the outside.

But then who said this had anything to do with Godhra? It was an excuse for Modi and his party to penalise the minority community, burnishing their own credentials as the protectors of Hindus and the motherland. The love of all things Muslim is the raison d’être of the BJP-RSS-VHP combine. Gujarat 2002 was no aberration. Given an opportunity, they would do it again and again.

The question is, how long will the rest of India tolerate this worldview and treat the bloodthirsty killers with kid gloves? If the 2002 bloodbath in the land of Gandhi’s birth and failure to prevent and stop it was disgraceful, even more scandalous has been the state’s inability to bring the perpetrators to justice. Words like rule of law, fair play and human rights remain just that – mere words. Except in one case, the Sardarpura massacre where 33 people were burnt alive, there has been no conviction.

Let alone finding justice, Muslims are facing continuous witch-hunt at the hands of a vindictive state administration. Locked in their ghettos and deprived of basic amenities, they find themselves totally marginalised and ostracised – politically, economically and socially. They can’t even sell their homes and business to move to safer neighbourhoods for a fresh start, thanks to the new laws.

During a much sobering visit in 2009, one experienced, almost physically, the palpable pall of fear and gloom that has enveloped Gujarat’s Muslims since February 2002. Scores of young Muslims have been bumped off in staged police encounters. Hundreds have been languishing in prisons as ‘terrorists’ and ‘Pakistani spies.’ No wonder thousands of Muslim families have fled to neighbouring states.

What’s most disturbing is the fact that no one seems able or willing to confront Modi or the mindset that he represents. Instead of confronting him on his crimes, the increasingly shrill, TRP-driven media has been lionising the chief minister and portraying him as a market-savvy and forward-looking CEO, committed to good governance.

Indeed, whitewashing his bloody past and numerous cases pending in courts, Modi is increasingly being projected as the prime minister-in-waiting and the hope and future of the billion plus nation. The Congress-led UPA coalition too has failed to rein him in. Ever mindful of its electoral calculations and majoritarian sensibilities, the party has gone to great lengths to avoid a confrontation with the Gujarat satrap.

But is this just the problem of one party or community? The fascist worldview that is at the heart of what is going on in Gujarat, often described as the Hindutva’s lab, has emerged as a challenge to Gandhi’s India and all that it stands for – pluralism, democracy and social justice.

As CPM leader Sitaram Yechury warned this week, ten years after the pogrom, the RSS and BJP have sharpened communal polarisation all across the country, weakening the foundations of India’s secular polity. The creeping saffronisation isn’t limited to Gujarat or other BJP-ruled states. It’s a national project, with thousands of RSS schools and shakhas and saffronised textbooks driving it. With the terror attacks on the Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid and Ajmer shrine now being traced to Hindutva groups, it seems this war for India’s soul is being waged on all fronts.

Where will all this end? I do not know but it’s not going to be pretty. And we will all pay for it. If anyone could defeat these fascist designs, it is the Hindu majority of the country which is peace-loving, reasonable and incredibly tolerant. They have demonstrated the generosity of their spirit time and again, which was seen in the tenacity with which cops like Sharma and Bhatt have confronted the chief minister at great cost to their careers. Let’s hope that spirit will prevail in the end.

The article is printed in today’s newspaper February 28, 2012

Kidney Talk

‘The ratio of kidney diseases in Pakistan is higher as compared to other countries owing to ‘variable’ reasons and a deceased donor can save up to 17 lives by donating different organs with the consent of their families’, reflected Director of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant (SIUT) Prof Dr Adeeb Rizvi.

 

Professor Dr Adeeb told that the interior areas of Sindh and Punjab are ‘breeding grounds’ for diseases, owing to the poor hygine and healthy facilities, absence of maternity care and unavailability of safe drinking water. Here’s a brief interview with Dr Adeeb Rizvi on kidney issues and organ donations trend in Pakistan.

1) What are the underlying causes that contribute to renal failures and kidney ailments?

Dr. Adeeb: Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, malnutrition, unattended bacterial infections, self-medication and especially on- the-counter analgesic pills are ‘Kidney Killers’.

2) How can kidney diseases be prevented in the first place?

Dr. Adeeb: A healthy living guarantees prevention from almost all diseases especially this one. Balanced nutrition, clean drinking water, proper drainage system, adequate maternity care, routine check-ups combined with education and awareness structure a healthy society that safeguards people against kidney diseases.
.
<3> Are kidney failures deathly?

Dr. Adeeb: In earlier days, kidney failure was considered to be a ‘ black death warrant’, but let me tell you, they are treatable. There are two ways to counter kidney failures. Transplant and `Dialysis. Both are expensive and are somehow meant only for those who can afford it. A normal person needs 10 dialysis to keep him alive and each dialysis cost around Rs.3500 to 5000, while a transplant costs around Rs. 700,000. How many people can afford this much?

4 What are the trends of organ donation in Pakistan? Do people respond to your call?

Dr. Adeeb: For a strange set of societal preconceptions, people are somehow reluctant in donating organs. Knowing a son may expire soon; the father shies away from donating his organ to save the son’s life. A lot needs to be done to change this patterned mindset. They need to understand, it is a Sadqa-e-Jariya which is encouraged in all religions, and has no legal restrictions as well.

5. Your message.

Dr. Adeeb: One deceased/brain-dead person can save 17 lives. So, people should feel encouraged to come forward and pledge their organs and save many precious lives.

Film for Change

Cinema is an extraordinarily powerful medium, much more powerful than television and newspaper. Cinema has been used all over the world to engender positive social change. In our neighbouring India, the film industry has done an admirable job by promoting communal and ethnic harmony, highlighting the ways of corrupt politicians, and pointing out other social issues.

 

In Pakistan, however, the medium has been grossly underutilised—never utilised in fact—for the purpose. Our filmmakers have miserably failed to do justice with their job because of their lack of creativity. They have stuck to the old themes of love triangle and family revenge without bothering about several other cancerous issues.



As a nation, we need films because 70 percent of us are illiterate and few of the literates like to read. In this scenario, there is a huge cultural void in our country that has made our people unimaginative. This unimaginativeness can be cured by developing a healthy film industry. Without giving convincing movies to our people, we cannot hope to make our people creative. And creativity is what makes a nation prosperous.



We have to give our people thought-stimulating movies. Through cinema we can make people fight against injustice, rebel against the rotten system of governance and reform the social environment.



If we manage to stir the thoughts of the common man through cinema we can hope to achieve some harmony in this country of several ethnicities and creeds, a goal that our educational institutions have failed to achieve.



The recent success of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s documentary film ‘Saving Face’ is one testimony to the potential of the medium of cinema. The documentary has won accolades from across the world for highlighting a problem that has remained largely unheeded in the country.



Looking at the success of this documentary, one can imagine what can be achieved by making purposeful films. And we must remember that it is only a documentary. A documentary is always less forceful than a fiction movie. Documentaries do not appeal to the minds of the ordinary, non-educated folk. Fiction movies do.



If our writers and directors start making worthwhile films about the issues that the common man faces in his everyday life, there is no reason why our industry should not flourish.



A flourishing film industry will also be good for the economy of the country. In India, the film making industry provides jobs to tens of millions. If we develop our film industry, tens of thousands of our people can also get decent jobs. It will be the same as has happened in the television industry in the last 12 years where a large number of job opportunities have been created.



It is time someone made a meaningful, captivating movie aimed at building a new Pakistan and realizing the true potential of its people.

President Zardari holds high-level meeting with PM, COAS

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari is holding a high-level meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Sources add that the overall situation in the country along with the status of NATO supplies is being discussed during this meeting.

Israel, India and the Persian Puzzle

This is perhaps what the expression ‘setting the cat among the pigeons’ means.  Just when Israel was putting up that little show,  going around the world crying about the way Iran was targeting its peaceful diplomats around the world, the Ayatollahs come up with their own little performance taking everyone’s breath away.

Not that Ahmadinejad didn’t warn us.  As always, everyone was sufficiently intimated of the glad tidings on the nuclear front were on their way.  Yet it was a master stroke. Give the Iranians their due.  If the Israelis are known for their cunning and craft of obfuscation and manipulation, it’s not easy beating the Persians at mind games either.  After all, they invented the game of chess.
 
Defying years of Western sanctions and the endless talk of war by Israel, the Iranians seem to have gotten another decisive step closer to their goal.And they have all the players and pawns where they want them to be. And for all their bluff and bluster, Israel and its guardian angels can’t do much about it.

As a former Indian envoy to Iran put it, this is like the classic Persian puzzle.  Iran takes one step forward and waits and watches for the reaction of adversaries before taking the next cautious step. Call it the Persian incrementalism or whatever but it seems to have worked so far.

The calibrated ‘diplomatic incidents’ in New Delhi, Georgia and Bangkok were of course a stroke of brilliance.  They were apparently meant to hit two birds with one stone:  First, pin the blame on Iran, as Netanyahu did within minutes of the Delhi blast calling Tehran ‘the biggest exporter of international terror,’ and create a credible pretext to hit the Islamic republic.

Second, derail the growing Iran-India relationship.The Israelis and Americans haven’t been too pleased with India’s refusal to stop buying the Iranian oil after recent sanctions.  By the way India isn’t the only one to do so.China, Japan and South Korea too have refused to toe the Western line.

But Israel has been there and done it all so many times before that these shenanigans do not fool the world anymore.  These attacks purportedly targeting Israeli diplomats are rather too convenient and perfect to be genuine.  Notwithstanding Ahmadinejad’s punch-drunk love of Israel andpreoccupation with its past and future, the Iranians are not stupid.

At a time when they are isolated internationally and the West is looking for an excuse to punish it, why would they stick out their neck and resort to something as suicidal as this? As Dr Trita Parsi, the Iran hand at Johns Hopkins University and author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States agues, why would they do something so foolish as this and that too in New Delhi? It’s an insult to the Iranians’ intelligence.

India is, after China, Iran’s biggest trading partner and importer of Iranian oil.  Besides, the two have shared a quiet partnership since Russians left Afghanistan.  It has even survived the Indian vote against Iran in the IAEA.  Incidentally, Thailand is another major trading partner of the Islamic republic.  So why would the Iranians choose the distant tourist paradise to settle scores with the Israelis, hurting their own interests?

Secondly, in both India and Thailand, it’s the Israelis who have been quick to declare that the sticky bombs used in Delhi, Bangkok and Tbilisi are similar to the ones used in killing four Iranian nuclear scientists over the past two years.  Be that as it may, how does that link them to Tehran? Indeed, having repeatedly used the device to deadly effect against the Iranians, why couldn’t the Israelis have used it again in Indian, Georgian and Thai capitals?

The detention of an Iranian, who blew up his legs while handling the explosives, proves nothing.  It’s hardly a secret the Israelis and Americans have been using the Mujahideen-e-Khalq terrorists against Iran.

The Israeli embassy on Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi exists in the sniffing distance of the Prime Minister’s residence. It’s a high security zone with theelite ‘Z’ security force monitoring every inch of the area every minute.  So how come that red bike got so close to the embassy car and got away after sticking that bomb? No wonder Israeli watchers suspect all this is part of a campaign to corner Iran and fortify the case for the war that the world has been waiting with bated breath for some time.

I hate a triumphal I-told-you-so but this is what many of us have feared and warned about all along.  That Israel and its enablers in the US establishment are hell-bent on sparking another Western war to destroy another oil-rich Muslim country.  This is what happened in the case of Iraq.  Remember the comical claims linking Iraq to 9/11 and Niger uranium, not to mention Tony Blair’s 45-minute strike talk?

As the West turns up the heat on Iran by way of economic sanctions, trade blockade, and crippling of its banks, coupled with the rising chatter of coming war, the region has been on the razor’s edge for months now.  All that is needed is a tiny spark to blow it all up.  A minor skirmish here, a misunderstanding there or a perfect false flag in distant lands could prove excuse enough for a full blown conflagration with catastrophic consequences.

That moment seems to have arrived with the explosions in India, Georgia and Thailand.  Israel is desperately looking for a pretext–or a provocation–to punish Iran.  With the arrival of US poll season and Europe being preoccupied with its economic mess, perhaps there cannot be a better time to do so. But it’s easier said than done. Israel cannot do so on its own without the US help. If it was doable, Israel would have done it by now.  Iran is not Iraq.

Unlike Iraq’s Osirak plant which Israel bombed in 1981, Iranian nuclear installations are heavily fortified, many of them underground and spread all across the country, not to mention the forbidding distance. Besides, an Israeli strike might put back the nuclear clock but wouldn’t stop it, especially now when Tehran appears to be a screw-turn away from going full nuclear if it wants.  Iran’s leaders of course insist it is for ‘peaceful’ purposes and that they aren’t interested in the ‘satanic arms.’

Even though a demonstration of the capacity doesn’t mean willingness, would you be terribly surprised if Tehran indeed goes for the nukes? GivenIsrael’s terrorizing of the region over the past six decades and West’s hegemonic wars, it’s actually tempting and makes sense to go for the comforting reassurance that a couple of nukes seem to inspire.
More to the point, what right does Israel–and other world powers–have to lord over their nuclear arsenal while the rest of the world has to submit itself to the IAEA scrutiny? If the international community is indeed serious about a nuke-free world, it has to first address this NPT duplicity. Nuclear weapons are a clear and present danger to the Middle East and the world, no matter who owns them.