The Express Tribune Newsletter: May 12, 2012

Today's Headlines

 

Storm in a tea-cup: Premier Gilani sugarcoats tenuous Pak-US ties

Gibran Peshimam

The prime minister has rubbished reports that Pakistan would not be invited to Chicago summit, but stressed that negotiations regarding the reopening of Nato supply routes are still under way – and that it was premature to say anything in this regard till the negotiations are over.

Charting the Afghan course: Chicago invite to take NATO supply route

Kamran Yousaf

Even as the Nato secretary general on Friday hinted that Pakistan may not attend the Chicago summit later this month, Islamabad still expects to participate in the historic gathering to discuss the Afghan endgame.

Punjab power politics: Amidst violent protests govt offers 'respite'

Sumera Khan

Amidst violent protests across Punjab over frequent power cuts in the sizzling hot weather, the government promised on Friday that 'unannounced load shedding will end within 24 hours'.

Budget 2012-13: Pakistan includes $1.1b in evasive coalition support

Shahbaz Rana

The coalition's support may not be forthcoming but that has not stopped Pakistan from including $1.1 billion in next year's budget as reimbursements from the United States on account of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF).

Business

Pay for other's inefficiency: Power consumers to bear interest cost of TFCs

Shahbaz Rana

Electricity consumers will now pay the cost of inefficiencies of the government, as the authorities have planned to pass on roughly Rs10.6 billion to the consumers on account of mark-up on the debt instrument that it wants to issue to raise Rs80 billion for unclogging the power system.

Tug of war: Ministries differ over incentive package for IPPs

Zafar Bhutta

As widening power shortfall sparks protests in many cities, the ministries of Finance and Water and Power are locked in a row over an incentive package for the independent power producers (IPPs), which may improve their financial position and encourage them to run plants at maximum capacity.

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Sports

Madrid Open: Aisam falls in battle of friends

Natasha Raheel

In a battle of former partners, Rohan Bopanna, pairing up with Mahesh Bhupathi, prevailed.

Pakistan Champions League: Canadian club's Indian members denied visa

Nabeel Hashmi

Canada's Berry Cricket Club (BCC), comprising national players, has pulled out of the second edition of Pakistan Champions League (PCL) after three of its players, of Indian background, were denied visas by the Pakistan authorities. 

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Life & Style

'Taming of the Shrew' with a desi twist

Sher Khan

The much-awaited premiere of the Urdu rendition of the Shakespearean play "Taming of the Shrew" or "Ilaaj-e-Zid Dastayaab Hai", took place on Wednesday night at the Alhamra Arts Complex in Lahore.

The art archive: Sublime feeling

Maha Malik

There is a way in which sublime feeling no longer fits with contemporary visual experience. This may be especially true for big city life. A landscape established by human density (ethnoscapes) — or a great visual vitality borne of multiplicity, juxtaposition, occasional excrement — it has in its bombast simply no time for the solitary refinements of the sublime. Or so it seems.

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Opinion

Prejudice engendering violence

Ajmal Kamal

A nation abandoned

Syed Talat Hussain

The legend of Dodo Chanesar

Salman Rashid

Not even the cradle

Amina Jilani

Our stunted society

Tazeen Javed
 

Blogs

Perils of reporting in Balochistan

Shehzad Baloch

Street harassment: The blame lies with you

Madiha Saeed

The rat race of KGS admissions

H. Masood

Manto doesn't let you forget

Hani Taha

Poll

Should the US help Pakistan and India resolve the Kashmir dispute?

No (68%, 212 Votes)

Yes (32%, 98 Votes)

Total Voters: 310

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PPP to show strength on Sindh, Punjab border today

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Pakistan People&rsquo;s Party (PPP) will hold a public rally at Kamon Shaheed area on the Sindh, Punjab border today. The PPP leaders have claimed that it would be a historic public meeting.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The National Highway from Sukkur to Kamon Shaheed has been closed for heavy traffic due to expected participation of a large people in the public meeting. The traffic has been diverted to alternative routes.<br /><br />&nbsp;</p>


Reference against Sharif family sent to PAC

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>According to sources, it is maintained in the National Crisis Management Cell reference sent to Public Account Committee (PAC) that companies owned by Sharif family are defaulters of Rs 3 billion from 1998.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It is said that the Sharifs have borrowed more that Rs 3 billion from eight banks and other institutions. The reference was signed by Director General National Crisis Management Cell, Brig Javed Iqbal Lodhy. It is stated in the reference that the plundered money should be recovered from the Sharif family.<br />&nbsp;</p>


NAB recovers Rs 350 million more from RPPs

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>According to sources, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has so far recovered more than one billion rupees from the Rental Power Projects (RPPs).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The NAB teams have been dispatched investigation teams to Rental Power Projects in the country to examine machinery at these RPPs. The investigation teams will also interrogate officials of the Rental Power Projects.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Rs 7 billion dues paid for improvement in power crisis

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The meeting of National Assembly standing committee on finance held in Islamabad which was presided by Fozia Wahab.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Secretary Finance, Wajid Rana, informed the committee that the total production of electricity will reach 11,500 today which will help in reducing the power crisis.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The meeting was informed that a shortfall of 1,500 to 2,000MW in hydro generation was due to slow process of melting of snow on the mountains but the Finance ministry has provided Rs 7 billion for improvement in the power crisis.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Answering a question, he said that Punjab is not victimized as there is six hour power shut down in Islamabad also. <br />&nbsp;</p>


The ArcelorMittal Orbit tower opens

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The ArcelorMittal Orbit tower, a steel sculpture 114 metres high, was opened to visitors on Friday in the Olympic park of east London, just over two months before the Olympic Games begin. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>London Mayor Boris Johnson repeated how he had encountered steel magnate Lakshami Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal the world&nbsp;s largest steelmaker, at a washroom in Davros, Switzerland.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;I said look we need something in the Olympic park that gave a sign of the confidence of London, a city coming out of recession, the stuff we can do, a way of bringing people to east London, bringing tourists, bringing visitors to buy and live here, and he got it immediately and after a while we got this,&quot; said Johnson.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mittal said he had agreed as long as the project used his steel but he was thinking about a more modest structure.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;We got into a discussion and we began scribbling what sort of sculpture we should make. From a 20-30 metre height we ended with a 114-metre sculpture,&quot; he said with a smile.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The sculpture features three or four different helixes, bands or walkways and also doubles as an observation tower. It gives views over the Olympic stadium and park as well as towards the river Thames, the Canary Wharf development of Docklands and towards London&nbsp;s West End.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The structure has been described as a construction toy, a crazy helter-skelter (tornado slide) and a mutant trombone.<br />&nbsp;</p>


US lawmakers want Haqqani declared a terror group

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Lawmakers from both parties urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday to designate the Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organization.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, they argued that the Pakistan-based militant group &quot;continues to launch sensational and indiscriminate attacks against U.S. interests in Afghanistan.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Haqqani network &quot;poses a continuing threat to innocent men, women and children in the region,&quot; said the letter from California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Maryland Rep. C.A. &quot;Dutch&quot; Ruppersberger, both Democrats, and Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, both Republicans.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The State Department says Clinton has been reviewing whether the amorphous group meets the criteria for a terrorist organization. In the meantime, many of its leaders have been individually listed as terrorists.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;When we designate these individuals, it allows us to freeze any U.S.-based assets and to pursue civil and criminal penalties against U.S. individuals who conduct any transactions with them,&quot; State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Haqqani network itself has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Americans, and was blamed for an audacious attack last year on NATO&nbsp;s headquarters and on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. It has ties to both al-Qaida and the Taliban and has emerged as perhaps the biggest threat to stability in Afghanistan.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Nuland did not dispute the threat posed by the Haqqani militants. She said the department was still reviewing the case to determine if a blanket designation of all the network&nbsp;s members would &quot;increase our ability to get to their money, to get to their ability to operate.&quot;<br />&nbsp;</p>


Bill against US aid to Pakistan introduced in Congress

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has introduced yet another bill, in the House of representative, called the &ldquo;Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act of 2012.&rdquo; The legislation would require the Department of Defense to list all Americans killed by terrorist groups operating with impunity inside Pakistan and Afghanistan and supported by elements of the Pakistani government. For each person killed, $50 million would be subtracted from US foreign assistance to Pakistan, a requested $2.2 billion, and given to the victim&rsquo;s family.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;For too long America has funded the Pakistani government, giving&nbsp; it free money, while elements of the ISI and Pakistan&rsquo;s military operate radical Islamic groups that are actively murdering Americans,&rdquo; said Rohrabacher.&nbsp; &ldquo;Americans will not accept this,&quot; he added.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;Pakistan has for decades leveraged radical terrorist groups to carry out attacks in India and Afghanistan,&rdquo; continued Rohrabacher.&nbsp;&nbsp; &ldquo;Pakistan helped to create the Taliban and Pakistan&rsquo;s intelligence service hid Osama Bin Laden from the U.S. for years. Today, one of the most dangerous and sophisticated groups killing American troops in Afghanistan is the Haqqani Network, which is closely operated by the Pakistani government.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;</p>


US says its team in Pakistan working on supply routes issue

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The United States on Friday said it continues to work with Islamabad on reopening the Pakistani land routes for NATO supplies but declined to expand on the alliance&rsquo;s suggestion that an invitation to Pakistan for this month&rsquo;s Chicago summit was linked to resumption of supplies.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke very clearly on the issue earlier in the day in Brussels.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Both US and NATO consider the Pakistani land routes as crucial to transportation of supplies into landlocked Afghanistan, but the routes have closed for almost six months since a NATO war plane killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border on the security posts. The incident enraged Islamabad, a longtime ally in the fight against Al Qaeda in the region.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;When Ambassador Grossman was in Pakistan, some ten days ago, he had substantive conversations himself with regard to the opening of the land routes.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;And then he brought with him an expert team to work with the Pakistani expert team,&rdquo; Nuland said, when asked to comment on the issue.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;That team is still in Pakistan. They are continuing to work together on this issue,&rdquo; she added.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;I think Secretary General Rasmussen spoke pretty clearly where NATO is on this set of issues. He did remind that the supply routes are blocked and that we are continuing our dialogue and that we are looking for a solution. So I don&rsquo;t think I can improve on that,&rdquo; she remarked.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Nuland confirmed that the Secretary of State has received a letter from members of Congress urging designating the Afghan Haqqani network as a terrorist organization and said the US administration continues to review the issue.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>She added the US and the UN have already designated several leaders of the group as terrorists, which is an effective step.<br />&ldquo;We are continuing to review the question of the larger group.&rdquo;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile, US Senator John Kerry, a leading proponent of US aid for Pakistan, has said called for Pakistan to be more cooperative in eliminating alleged sanctuary of the Afghan militants in Pakistan.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee raised the issue of the &ldquo;continued danger of a sanctuary war being prosecuted against the forces&rdquo; in Afghanistan at a hearing on upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;I am a veteran of a sanctuary war and I know how insidious it can be, and I personally think that it is unacceptable to have a zone of immunity for acts of war against armed forces and against the collective community that is trying accomplish what it is trying to accomplish,&rdquo; the Democratic senator said in a statement.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;That means Pakistan has to become more assertive and more cooperative, and we may have to resort to other kinds of self-help depending on what they decide to do,&rdquo; the influential lawmaker added.<br />&nbsp;</p>


LPG price reduced by Rs 5

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) producers and marketing companies reduced the prices by Rs 5 and after this reduction the prices of domestic cylinder would be reduced by Rs 60 and commercial cylinder would be reduced by Rs 240.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>After reduction of Rs 5 per kilogram, the prices in Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad would be Rs 90 per kg.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The LPG prices in Peshawar, Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be Rs 100 per kg. In Murree the LPG prices would be Rs 105 per kg while in Gilgit Baltistan, Swat and Kashmir it would be Rs 110.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The OGDC has issued notification of reduction in LPG prices. Chairman of LPG distribution association Irfan Khokhar said that the new prices would be implemented immediately.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Energy crisis result of rulers inefficiency: Imran

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran khan has strongly condemned the unprecedented loadshedding in the country that has affected not only businesses and industry, but the common masses also.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Imran said the rulers had no concern for the suffering people and prime minister&rsquo;s visit to London, along with an entourage of eighty people, was an example of this apathy. &ldquo;This extravaganza is happening at a time when the country is engulfed by energy crisis with widespread demonstrations all over,&rdquo; Imran said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Imran said that PTI stood with the people of Pakistan and if no solid steps were taken by the government, it would spearhead the drive to oust the government. He said people were fed up with the coalition of the corrupt politicians. <br />&nbsp;</p>


Judiciary diverting attention from terrorism: Haqqani

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>In an article in the New York Times Hussain Haqqani has said that media and judiciary have helped redirect the attention away from the threat of terrorism by constantly targeting the ruling party.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He wrote that a Supreme Court justice cited poetry instead of law while sentencing the elected leader on questionable charges, adding it reflected that Pakistan was not ready to accept its real national priorities at a time when the country is threatened by religious extremism and terrorism.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Instead of raising questions as to how Bin Laden managed to live in Pakistan for years, the Pakistani Supreme Court chose to punish Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani by charging him with contempt, Haqqani wrote in the article.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He said Pakistan&rsquo;s returned to democracy after the elections of 2008 and this offered some hope to country but the elected government has since been hobbled by political infighting and judicial activism on every issue, except extremism and terrorism. <br />&nbsp;</p>


Sheikh Rasheed to launch anti-govt movement

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Addressing a public gathering, Sheikh Rasheed announced to make Rawalpndi as the Tahreer Square of Pakistan. He said &nbsp;the government would have to go before August 13th. He maintained that Prime Minister Gilani was confronting the Supreme Court of Pakistan. All institutions have been destroyed, he said and added students were beating teachers and lawyer were manhandling judges.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He also announced to contest elections from Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Exercise boosts memory: research

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>For instance, running and other kinds of endurance exercise can boost the number of memory and learning neurons in the brain.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>According to the study, when we exercise, our muscles create substances that produce even bigger, stronger muscles. The study&rsquo;s lead scientist, Henriette van Praag of the National Institute on Aging, hypothesized that some of those compounds might travel to the brain.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Nation ashamed of convicted PM: Shahbaz

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Chief Minister of the Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif Saturday said that the industrial sector of the province had been badly damaged by excessive power outages and faulty policies of the government.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He was addressing the ceremony organized for the distribution of 2500 laptops among the students of Fatima Jinnah University.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>CM Punjab said that the country had fallen prey to economic downfall due to the faulty policies of the central government.<br />Noting that the country did not lack resources, he said, that the crisis of natural gas and electricity had been engineered to damage the national industries. As a result of all this the rate of unemployment was on the rise, he added.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif further noted that PM Yusuf Raza Gilani defied decision of the apex court and did not resign from premiership despite being convicted. He said that the Pakistani nation was ashamed of the reports published about the premier in English media.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He claimed that his party would get the looted money back, from the Swiss banks and would spend it for bettering health and education.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He also blamed the chanters of the slogan, &ldquo;Pakistan First,&rdquo; for ruining the departments of health and education.<br />He noted that the corrupt rulers are selling blood of the innocent Pakistani martyrs by giving permission of drone attacks. <br />CM Punjab said that the rulers had been perplexed by the scheme under which laptops were being distributed among the intelligent students of the Punjab on merit.<br />&nbsp;</p>


PAF plane crashes near hub

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A Pakistani fighter jet crashed in the south of the country Friday while on routine training, an air force official said, but the pilot ejected safely and there were no casualties on the ground.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Mirage-V plane took off from the Pakistan Air Force&nbsp;s Masroor Base in Karachi and crashed near the town of Sonmiani in southwestern Baluchistan province, air force spokesman Squadron Leader Mohammad Nadeem told AFP.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Sonmiani is around 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Karachi. &quot;The pilot ejected successfully and safely,&quot; the spokesman said, adding the cause of the accident would be determined after investigation.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>No loss of civilian life or property was reported on ground.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Pakistan Air Force has a fleet of Chinese aircraft including F-7PGs and A-5s, plus US-built F-16s and French Mirages. It recently acquired JF-17, or Thunder jets, manufactured jointly by China and Pakistan.<br />&nbsp;</p>


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