The Express Tribune Newsletter: May 01, 2012

Today's Headlines

National security: The army supports democracy, says Gen Kayani

Naveed Akbar

As the political scene heats up with the government and the opposition drawing battle lines, Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said that the army supports the democratic process in the country.

Unseating the premier: Nawaz warns of grand opposition alliance

Zia Khan

Nawaz Sharif is still not forthcoming with his exact plan to ensure the prime minister leaves his office – but the chief of the main opposition party dropped some potent hints on Monday, among them a move to form a grand opposition alliance against the government.

Key position: PPP, PML-N to battle over new CEC

Abdul Manan

The office of the chief election commissioner (CEC) is a key one in process of disqualifying the prime minister. With the office being occupied by a caretaker, the appointment of a new CEC is set to become the new battleground between the government and the opposition.

US drone strikes wise, legal, just, defends White House official

Huma Imtiaz

After facing condemnation, and a fresh protest lodged by Pakistan over its controversial drone program, the US finds that the programme is wise, legal and just.

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Business

Monthly revision: Ignoring OGRA, govt leaves oil prices unchanged

Zafar Bhutta

The government on Monday turned down a proposal of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to reduce petroleum product prices in line with the decline in global crude prices and kept most of the prices unchanged.

Circular debt: Independent power producers feel the heat

Shahram Haq

Independent power producers have warned of power outages to increase in the coming days as operational levels drop and cash flows dry up. 

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Sports

Focus on domestic cricket now

Nabeel Hashmi

Former players have urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to focus on improving the standard of domestic events in the country before the next season instead of investing its energy on the return of international cricket.

Fallen hero: Mohammad Asif to be released on May 5

Our Correspondents

Once Pakistan's star cricketer and now fallen hero, Mohammad Asif, is scheduled to be released on May 5, after serving his sentence in the United Kingdom, The Times of India reported on Monday.

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Life & Style

Roomi Syed: The multitasking Miss Pakistan

Saadia Qamar

Former Miss Pakistan Roomi Syed is not just a model, poet and writer — she's now a fashion designer too. She recently opened up a boutique and production house in Karachi's Khadda Market. The Express Tribune spoke to the former pageant queen about her fashion inspiration and her latest endeavours.

Opera without the Gala

Anwer Mooraj

A Hawaiian guitar would be strung in the background, while a wahine draped in a sarong, with a face and figure like Dorothy Lamour, would waft by singing "Moon of Manakoora". I was therefore a little surprised to discover that the Grand Opera Gala held at the Sheraton Hotel, Karachi on April 28 was not staged at the pool but in the Grand Ballroom.

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Opinion

How true judicial independence can be achieved

Ali Zafar

Pakistan's key role in regional peace

Palwasha Khan

What's in a name?

Yaqoob Khan Bangash

The power of suo motu

Khurram Hashmi

Flexing missile muscle

Talat Masood
 

Blogs

My priority list for PCB

Raja Yousuf

The beginning and end of Anders Breivik

Sana Hameed Baba

Child labour in Pakistan: They have dreams like ours

Qaiser Roonjha

Saving Face: A masterpiece documentary

Noman Ansari

 

Poll

How often do you use the mobile phone while driving?

Rarely: 69% (351 votes)

Often: 31% (160 votes)

Total Voters: 511

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Dunya TV

Dunya TV


Romney says he would have ordered bin Laden killed

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Monday that &quot;of course&quot; he would have ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden, pushing back after President Barack Obama&nbsp;s re-election campaign raised questions about Romney&nbsp;s willingness to assassinate the former terrorist leader.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>With the Americans remembering the anniversary of the Obama authorized U.S. military raid in Pakistan that ended with bin Laden&nbsp;s death, campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said on Sunday that it was unclear whether Romney would have made the same decision as Obama.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Look, just a few years ago, President Obama then a candidate said in a speech that if we had actionable intelligence of a high-value target in Pakistan, we&nbsp;d go in and get that high value target,&quot; Gibbs said on NBC&nbsp;s &quot;Meet the Press.&quot; &nbsp;&nbsp;Mitt Romney said that was foolish. He wouldn&nbsp;t do such a thing. That he wouldn&nbsp;t move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire on Monday, Romney said he would have made the same decision.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Of course. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,&quot; Romney said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Many Americans remember Carter&nbsp;s foreign policy record as weak, primarily because of his inability to win the release of the Americans who were taken hostage in Iran and held for 444 days during his 1977-81presidency.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Altaf expresses solidarity with people of Lyari

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain during his telephonic conversation with Pakistan People&rsquo;s Party leader Nabeel Gabol said that a handful of terrorists have made the people of Lyari hostage.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The MQM chief expressed heartfelt sympathy with the people of Lyari who are suffering at the hands of terrorists. He also expressed solidarity with the residents of Lyari.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Altaf Hussain also directed MQM leaders and activists to provide food and water to the resident of Lyari who have been confined to their homes due to continuous violence in the area.<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>


Multan: Residents beat up dacoit

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>According to details, four dacoits entered a house in Rashidabad area of Multan for robbery. The residents raised alarm on seeing dacoits upon which three of the robbers managed to escape while the fourth, Muhammad Sadiq, was caught by residents and was severely beaten.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The dacoit was handed over to police in injured condition who shifted him to the Nishtar Hospital for treatment. <br />&nbsp;</p>


Multan: Aerial firing during PML-N Youth Wing rally

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A rally was organized to welcome Rana Faraz and Zahid Gudu who were elected PML-N Youth Wing city president and general secretary respectively.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The participants of the rally danced at the beat of the drum and also resorted to aerial firing while police remain a silent spectator on the occasion. Panic gripped the area after the massive aerial firing.<br />&nbsp;</p>


PHF steps in for treatment of former coach Aslam Roda

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Aslam Roda, who coached more than 100 Olympians and international players was under treatment for heart and kidney ailment in Faisalabad.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) took notice on the news of Aslam Roda ailment flashed on Dunya News and invited him to Lahore for treatment.<br />Aslam Roda has thanked Dunya News and also appealed to his well wishers to pray for his early recovery.<br />&nbsp;</p>


National beach kabaddi A team leave for Iran

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Ten members and the coach of national beach kabaddi A team left Lahore for Karachi on train from where the team will leave for Iran.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The national A team will also play practice matches in Tehran during their 8-day training tour. Coach Haji Muhammad Sharif was of the view that the tour will provide good training to the players. He said that the purpose of Iran tour is preparation for the Asian Beach Kabaddi Championship to be held in China.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Terror drill at world's 2nd tallest building

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Japanese police, fire fighters and military officials deployed attack dogs and bomb disposal unit on Monday to protect Japan&nbsp;s tallest building from possible terrorist attacks ahead of its opening next month.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Sky Tree, standing 634 metres (2,080 feet) tall, is the world&nbsp;s second tallest structure after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and will open to the public next month.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>One of the drills was conducted at the observation platform 350-metres (1,148-feet) above the ground, where a mock terrorist caused panic as he sprayed around a can of toxic chemical paralysing a dozen visitors including himself.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A joint team of police, fire fighters and Japan Self Defence Force (JSDF) rushed in immediately with protective clothes and gear. After checking the level of contamination in the air, officials carried away all victims and arrested the suspect.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Tokyo Sky Tree is now the world&nbsp;s tallest free-standing broadcast tower ahead of the Canton Tower in China which scales 600 metres (1,968 feet).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The tower&nbsp;s the upper observation area, over 450 metres (1,476 feet) above the ground, is now the tallest observation deck in Japan.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The tower and surrounding shopping complex took nearly four years and nearly 65 billion yen (800 million USD) to complete and is scheduled to open to the public on May 22.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Angelelli, Taylor win Grand Prix of Miami

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor won the rain-shortened Grand Prix of Miami on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette DP.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It marked the 19th victory for SunTrust Racing -- second in Grand-AM Rolex Series history, in the headlining DP (Daytona Prototype) class.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The third race of the Rolex Series season, scheduled for 2 hours, 45 minutes, was halted 52 minutes early because of rain, which hampered visibility and caused huge puddles on some portions of the 2.3-mile road course.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Twenty-four of the race&nbsp;s 54 laps were run under caution because of the weather.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Every year we come here, we&nbsp;re not really looking forward to it because our car doesn&nbsp;t normally suit this track, but our guys did a great job, said Taylor, son of team owner Wayne Taylor. &quot;I think that even in the dry&nbsp; we had a winning car.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, the series&nbsp; reigning DP class champions, finished second in the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley and in the process took over the DP point lead.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The production-based GT (Grand Touring) class was won by Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato in the No. 69 FXDD Ferrari 458.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It was the first win for the new 458 model, which is debuting this year in Grand-Am competition. Segal and Assentato, who shared the 2010 GT class championship, took the 2012 GT point lead with the win.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Kayani vows to be committed to democratic system

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Addressing to the &lsquo;Yaum-e-Shuhada&rsquo; ceremony at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Monday, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said that all nations should respect Pakistan&rsquo;s sovereignty. He said that security of the country and defence of its sovereignty is Pakistan Army&rsquo;s top priority.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The COAS urged that all the institutions to work within their jurisdictions according to the constitution.&nbsp;He said objective of the democratic system is to strengthen prosperity and self respect of the people.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Kiyani said that the nation and the army was aggrieved on the incident of the Giyari sector and the way the nation has supported army in this disaster was an example.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He said that Giyari operation would be continued until and unless a single army personnel remains under the avalanche.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;We are thankful to all foreign countries who have provided assistance in the rescue work,&rdquo; he said adding the Pakistani nation regards their rescue work with great respect.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>On the occasion the relatives of the martyrs, high officials of civil and military leadership and foreign dignitaries were also present.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Peshawar: child killed, three hurt in blast

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A remote controlled bomb planted near Scheme chowk in the Budh Bher area of Peshawar exploded due to which a child was killed while three others badly hurt.</p><p><br />According to the police the bomb had been planted near a shop. The blast partially damaged the shop.</p><p><br />Police officials confirmed the death of one child and said that the injured (two children and a man) had been transferred to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.</p><p><br />The police added that the person who had allegedly planted the bomb has been taken into custody and investigations are underway.</p><p><br />Nobody claimed the responsibility for the blast.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Yuvraj Singh receives his World Cup gift

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Samriddha Jivan Foundation, which had promised to gift a Tata Manza car to each player of Team India which had won the World Cup. Yuvraj was gifted the car on Sunday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Speaking at a function, Yuvraj Singh appealed to his fans to pray for him so that he could again play for the country and win laurels for India.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Addressing his fans, Yuvraj Singh said, I do not have the strength to play cricket presently. You had been praying for my health and I would appeal to you to continue to pray for me so that I can win laurels for my country.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>While delivering his speech, Yuvraj got a call on his cellphone from his mother Shabnam. Yuvraj told the crowd, my mother says, let your live become &nbsp;samriddh&nbsp; (prosperous).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yuvraj is recovering from a rare germ cell cancer between his lungs. He has come to Pune to cheer up his Pune Warrior team-mates and was seen in good spirits, enjoying his side&nbsp;s IPL match against Deccan Chargers on Thursday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yuvraj returned to India earlier this month after treatment in the US for more than two months.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Light Diesel price reduced by Rs 1.64 per litre

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>According to a notification issued here on Monday by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) it has been said that prices of petroleum products would remain unchanged during May except Light Diesel Oil.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Price of Light Diesel Oil has been reduced by Rs 1.64 per liter and after this decrease new price of light diesel oil would be Rs 97.10 per liter.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Prices of other petroleum products including Petrol High speed oil (HSD), High octane blended component (HOBC) and kerosene oil would remain unchanged.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Price of petrol (motor spirit) would be Rs 103.36 per liter, High Speed Diesel (HSD) would be Rs 107 per liter, High Octane Blended Component (HOBC) would be Rs 135.81 per liter while price of Kerosene oil would be Rs 99.95 per liter.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Earlier OGRA had suggested the ministry of finance to decrease price of petrol by Rs 1 per litre, Rs4.89 per litre in the price of high octane blending component, Rs1.13 per litre in price of high speed diesel and Rs2.13 per litre reduction in the price of kerosene oil.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>However, ministry of finance has rejected the proposal of OGRA and prices would remain unchanged.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>On the other hand OGRA has announced to increase the price of LPG by RS 5 and the notification ion this regard would be issued on May 3.<br />&nbsp;</p>


3 killed, many hurt as terror and horror hover Lyari

Posted:

<p><br />Operation tended to prove as failure on the four day due poor planning and management of police which could not exceed to Cheel Crossroad.</p><p><br />Terror elements started firing as early in the morning and targeted security forces and civilians. As a result, two police employees sustained injuries.</p><p><br />A hand grenade was also fired near Lea Market where five persons were badly injured while unknown miscreants targeted Juma Baloch Road where unluckily one person was killed while 10 were hurt.</p><p><br />Likewise, Jona mosque was also hit by grenade which caused injuries for three people who were shifted to hospital.</p><p><br />Miscreants are still sound and stable in their dens while security forces are bound to retreat due to their mismanagement.</p><p><br />It is worthy of note that about 25 people have been victimized during four days. <br />&nbsp;</p>


35 dead, 165 missing as Indian ferry capsizes

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A packed ferry boat capsized in heavy winds and rain in remote northeastern India late Monday, leaving at least 35 people dead and 165 others feared missing, police said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Assam state police chief J.N. Choudhury said the boat was carrying about 350 passengers and broke into two pieces. About 150 people who were traveling on the top level were rescued or swam to safety, he said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Details were sketchy because bad weather and the remoteness of the area hampered communication.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Choudhury said the accident occurred on the Brahmaputra river near Fakiragram in west Dhubri district. The area is about 350 kilometers (215 miles) west of the state capital, Gauhati, and close to where the river enters Bangladesh. He said officials in that country had been contacted for help.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The area is dotted with riverside settlements and small islands, and boats are the most common mode of transport. Most ferries are overcrowded, with little regard for safety regulations.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Strong winds and rain likely caused the accident, Choudhury said. Police and paramilitary soldiers were sent to help local villagers with rescue efforts, he said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mohan Lal, a senior officer with the Border Security Force, said 35 troops were at the accident site on boats and were using hand-held searchlights. He said a team of federal rescue workers was also on its way.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Lal said troops had located the upturned and broken pieces of the boat but were unable to lift them without a crane.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued a statement expressing shock and grief at the loss of life.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Bosnian war crimes court jails first woman

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A Bosnian Muslim woman was jailed on Monday for the wartime murders of Croat civilians and prisoners of war, in the country&nbsp;s first conviction of a woman for crimes committed during the 1992-95 conflict.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Rasema Handanovic, 39, a single mother and naturalized U.S. citizen, had pleaded guilty to the killings of six Bosnian Croats during an attack on the southern village of Trusina in April 1993.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The judge, Jasmina Kosovic, said Handanovic had been the victim of a wartime rape before committing the Trusina crimes and had lost several family members in the conflict.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Handanovic was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, after she struck a plea bargain and agreed to testify against six other members of the &quot;Zulfikar&quot; special unit of the Bosnian army which carried out the attack.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;The court has taken into account that Handanovic admitted the crimes, was willing to provide all information and evidence related to the attack and the fact that she expressed remorse to the relatives of the victims,&quot; Kosovic told the court.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A total of 18 Croat civilians and four prisoners of war were killed in the attack, in which Handanovic was accused of taking part in a firing squad-style execution.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Handanovic was extradited from the United States to Bosnia. She had been living in a suburb of Portland, Oregon.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The only other woman to have been convicted of war crimes during the Bosnian war was Biljana Plavsic, the former Bosnian Serb president who was found guilty of persecution and crimes against humanity by the Hague-based war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Plavsic was sentenced in 2003 to 11 years in jail and released after serving two-thirds of her term.<br />&nbsp;</p>


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