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Archive for February 23rd, 2011
Afridi bamboozles Kenya as Pakistan romp to big win
HAMBANTOTA: Shahid Afridi took his maiden five-wicket World Cup haul as Pakistan crushed sloppy Kenya by 205 runs in a one-sided Group A match played on Wednesday.
In reply to Pakistan’s total of 317-7, Kenya were bundled out for 112 in 33.1 overs.
The Kenyan batsmen had no answer to captain Afridi’s tantalising leg-spinners as he ended up with figures of five for 16 off eight overs.
Pakistan, with a little help from a massive extras total, got their batting into top gear to reach a big score.
Akmal brothers Kamran and Umar, Younus Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq all made contrasting half-centuries after Pakistan had got off to an unsteady beginning, stuttering to 12-2.
Thomas Odoyo was the most successful bowler for the Africans with figures of three for 41 but he was also responsible for sending down 20 of the 37 wides bowled by Kenya out of a huge total of 46 extras.
Popular uprising: Qaddafi vows to crush revolt
TRIPOLI:A defiant Muammar Qaddafi vowed on Tuesday to die “a martyr” in Libya and said he would crush a revolt which has seen eastern regions already break free from his rule.Swathed in brown robes, Qaddafi seethed with anger as he banged the podium outside one of his residences that was heavily damaged in a 1986 US bombing raid that attempted to kill him. Nearby stood a monument of a giant fist crushing a US fighter jet.
“I am not going to leave this land, I will die here as a martyr,” Qaddafi said on state television, refusing to bow to calls from his own diplomats, soldiers and protesters clamouring in the streets for an end to his four decades at the helm.
Anti-government protesters were “rats and mercenaries”, he said, who under Libyan law deserved the death penalty. Qaddafi said he would call the people to “cleanse Libya house by house” unless protesters surrendered. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Qaddafi’s speech as very frightening and said he had virtually declared war on his own people.
The Libyan leader urged his countrymen to take to the streets on Wednesday to show their loyalty to his government.
However, refugees streaming across the Libyan border into Egypt said Qaddafi was using tanks, warplanes and foreign mercenaries to fight the growing rebellion. Eastern Libya is no longer under Qaddafi’s control, rebel soldiers in the city of Tobruk told a Reuters correspondent there.
Tobruk residents said the city was in the hands of the people and had been for three days. They said smoke rising above the city was from a munitions store bombed by troops loyal to one of Qaddafi’s sons. There was the occasional explosion.
“All the eastern regions are out of Qaddafi’s control …The people and the army are hand-in-hand here,” said the now former army major Hany Saad Marjaa.
The Arab League said it has barred Libya from attending its meetings until Tripoli responds to the demands of anti-regime protesters, following clashes that have killed hundreds. It has decided to “stop the government of Libya from participating in meetings of the Arab League and all bodies affiliated to it, until the Libyan authorities respond to demands, guaranteeing the security and stability of its people,” it said.
‘No surrender’
In the eastern town of Al Bayda, resident Marai Al Mahry told Reuters by telephone that 26 people including his brother Ahmed had been shot dead overnight by Qaddafi loyalists. “They shoot you just for walking on the street,” he said, sobbing uncontrollably.
Protesters were attacked with tanks and warplanes, he said. “The only thing we can do now is not give up, no surrender, no going back. We will die anyways, whether we like it or not.
Human Rights Watch said 62 people had died in clashes in Tripoli in the past two days, on top of its previous toll of 233 dead. Opposition groups put the figure far much higher.
Defiance and condemnation
World powers have condemned the use of force against protesters, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accusing Libya of firing on civilians from warplanes and helicopters. The Security Council met in closed session to discuss Libya.
Washington and Europe have demanded an end to the violence and Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: “A ruling family, threatening its people with civil war, has reached the end of the line.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2011.
Our Senior Member Hafeez Mughal takes The interview of Lord Qurban
Qurban Hussain
Party
Liberal Democrat
Address as
Lord Hussain
Contact details
WestminsterHouse of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW
Tel: 020 7219 5353
Biography
Electoral history
Contested Luton South 2005 and 2010 general elections
Party groups
Member: Labour Party 1996-2003, Liberal Democrats 2003-
Councils, public bodies
Luton Borough Council: Councillor 2003-, Deputy leader 2005-07
Name, style and title
Raised to the peerage as Baron Hussain, of Luton in the County of Bedfordshire 2011
Register of Interests
2: Remunerated employment, office, profession etc.Partner, BMQ Properties (property management)
Councillor, Biscot Ward, Luton Borough Council
10: Non-financial interests (e)Member of Management Committee, Luton Law Centre.
The formal introduction in to the House of Lords of the deputy leader of Luton Liberal Democrats, Qurban Hussain has taken place. Lord Hussain was introduced to the House by Liberal Democrat peers Lord Rennard and Baroness Hussein-Ece at 2.24 on Tuesday afternoon with his proud family looking on.
He gave the solemn affirmation and an undertaking to abide by the code of conduct in a formal ceremony in which new peers Dame Joan Bakewell and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint were also introduced.
Role of Agents of different agencies in all over the world including Pakistan, other matters and issues
Nazeer Naji (urdu:نذیر ناجی) is a senior columnist in Pakistan’s Urdu press. He frequently writes in the country’s largest newspaper, Daily Jang, published from Karachi. with Nazeer Naji regarding Mr Naji’s plot allotment in Islamabad. The verified audio recordings of these phone calls were published on the internet on 19 April 2009 by popular Pakistani blog PkPolitics . Contents of this conversation are inappropriate because Naji have used a very abusive and slang language and threatened Ahmed Noorani and Ansar Abbasi (also an investigative journalist), which shows a new face of his personality.
PML(N) and PPP conflicts, Charter of democracy
Irfan Siddiqui is the Urdu columnist, known to be the great supporter of former prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. He started writing his columns on Nawaiwaqt. In July 2008, Irfan Siddiqui left Nawaiwaqt and joined Jang. He has been found criticizing Pervez Musharraf and his regime in Pakistan, very bluntly. He was also unhappy with the late Benazir Bhutto and her Pakistan Peoples Party, and wrote the same in the columns. He is currently serving the Jang group of newspapers.
Issue of charter of democracy between PPP and PML(N)
Social justice and Social equality, Increasing poverty, Problems of people
Zahida Hina (Urdu: زاہدہ حنا) (born 1946) is a noted Urdu columnist, essayist, short story writer, novelist and dramatist from Pakistan.Zahida was born on October 5, 1946 in the Sasaram town of Bihar, India. After the partition of India, her father, Muhammad Abul Khair, emigrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, where Zahida was brought up and educated. She wrote her first story when she was nine years old. She graduated from University of Karachi, and her first essay was published in the monthly Insha in 1962. She chose journalism as a career in mid 60s. In 1970, she married the well-known poet Jon Elia. Zahida Hina was associated with the daily Jang from 1988 until 2005, when she moved to the Daily Express, Pakistan. She now lives in Karachi.zahida hina also worked inradio Pakistan,bbcurdu and voice of America.
Afridi desperate to avoid repeat of upsets
HAMBANTOTA: Pakistan face Kenya in their opening World Cup match tomorrow, desperate to atone for their tragedy-hit 2007 tournament.
Four years ago, Pakistan suffered an embarrassing three-wicket defeat by Ireland and crashed out in the first round. Captain Shahid Afridi said his team will take all opponents here seriously.
“There have been so many upsets in the World Cup in the past, like the one against Ireland four years ago,” said Afridi. “So we have that in mind and we will be on our toes in every match, be it Kenya or Sri Lanka.”
Waqar staying clear of controversy
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said that the spot-fixing scandal, which sparked lengthy bans for three players, will not haunt his embattled team at the World Cup.
“I don’t think it will haunt Pakistan at all,” said Waqar. “We all know that we have been through tough times in the recent past but that does not mean that we don’t have talent. “Despite the problems we are a good enough team to beat anybody.”
Meanwhile, Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team was looking forward to their first real test in the World Cup against Pakistan after crushing Canada in their opening match.
“We’re looking forward to our next match against Pakistan who are a very good side,” said Jayawardene. “Pakistan have got some great individual players and we know how dangerous they can be, so we have to prepare ourselves and go in with a very positive mindset.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2011.
England labour to victory over Netherlands
NAGPUR: England laboured to a thrilling six-wicket victory completed with eight balls to spare over the Netherlands in a Group B match to avert what would have been the first upset of the World Cup on Tuesday.
The Netherlands batsmen, especially the South Africa-born Ryan ten Doeschate (119), thrived on England’s shoddy bowling and sloppy fielding to power the team to 292-6, a target that seemed quite a test for their opponents’ tweaked batting order.
“We got the result we wanted … we just need to be a bit more consistent at putting in good performances over the 100 overs altogether. Sometimes we’re letting each other down. We’ve just got to pull our socks up and get on with it,” said England’s Jonathan Trott.
England’s chase got off to a resounding start with Andrew Strauss (88) and Kevin Pietersen (39) providing a rollicking 105-run stand before they lost four wickets to find themselves in a spot of bother.
Paul Collingwood’s (30) experience and Ravi Bopara’s (30) improvisation came in handy as England survived some torrid times before completing the tricky chase in the penultimate over.
Having stunned England in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup, the Dutch upstarts seemed up to more mischief at the Vidarbha Cricket Association where they batted as if to salvage the reputation of the associate teams which, the game’s governing body believes, have no business being in the World Cup.
Ten Doeschate clobbered three sixes and nine fours in his 110-ball knock and starred in three 50-plus partnerships to provide the cornerstone of the Netherlands’s innings.
He added 78 runs with Tom Cooper (47), 64 with Tom de Grooth (28) and 61 with skipper Peter Borren (35 not out) to set a stiff target for Strauss and his men.
After Borren had opted to set a target rather than chasing one, openers Alexei Kervezee (16) and Wesley Barresi (29) looked quite at ease against the English pacers before change bowlers collaborated with stumper Matt Prior to remove both.
Barresi, having hit three fours off Stuart Broad’s third over, top edged a Tim Bresnan delivery and Kervezee fell to Prior’s sharp stumping in Graeme Swann’s first over.
Ten Doeschate ensured there was no panic in the Dutch camp.
He offered dogged resistance in the company of former Australia under-19 player Cooper, consolidated the innings with de Grooth before providing the late charge with Borren.
Borren was fortunate to be called back despite being bowled by Broad as England had one extra fielder outside the circle in that powerplay over.
Punjab tussle: Final round of talks inconclusive
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) held the final round of talks in Islamabad on Tuesday.
This round of talks comes in the wake of several days of hostilities between the two parties.
PPP’s economic team met the PML-N delegation and discussed the PML-N’s 10-point agenda to improve Pakistan’s economy.
The PPP has summoned a meeting of its Punjab ministers in Islamabad on Thursday while the PML-N has summoned a meeting of its leaders on Friday.
IMF defers talks
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday deferred talks with Pakistan for a standby loan arrangement programme until the talks between the PML-N and the government conclude.
Negotiations between Pakistan and IMF team were due to be held in Dubai on today but IMF officials asked Pakistan to defer the talks at the last moment.
The reason for the delay is that the IMF thinks the talks are essential in context to the terms of the standby loan arrangement.
IMF’s country head for Pakistan, Paul Ross, said the time and place of the talks is yet to be finalised.
Updated from print edition (below)
Final meeting today: Frantic efforts to appease PML-N, buy more time
In what is being considered a ‘decisive’ meeting, the government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) teams will be facing each other here today (Tuesday) to analyse progress on the 10-point reforms agenda.
The fate of their coalition in Punjab, and their future relationship, hinges on the outcome of this meeting.
PML-N members insist it would be their last meeting with the government as the 45-day deadline for the implementation of its demands ends on February 24.
“There will be no extension in the deadline,” said PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rasheed when contacted by The Express Tribune. PML-N will subsequently hold a party meeting on February 25 to take a final decision, on the basis of Tuesday’s meeting with the government team, Rasheed added.
While the PML-N top leadership has indicated its willingness to kick out PPP from the coalition in Punjab, sources say the government is making frantic efforts to save the alliance. It has fielded some important interlocutors to convince PML-N leadership that the government is sincerely working on, and needs more time for, the implementation of the reforms agenda.
Sources say it is likely that the government will give timelines for the implementation of the remaining reforms, in order to buy more time.
Meanwhile a strong group within PML-N is advocating parting of ways with the PPP in Punjab and coming up as a vibrant opposition in the centre. The group has put in place a contingency plan whereby the ‘Unification Bloc,’ comprising dissident lawmakers from PML-Quaid, will be allotted seats in the provincial assembly, ensuring the PML-N does not lose its majority in Punjab after PPP’s departure from the coalition.
However sources within PML-N say the party is not willing to pitch a final showdown with the PPP, at least not in the centre, due to ‘political compulsions.’
In a last-ditch effort to lurethe parting PML-N, the government’s chief negotiator Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh held a private, ‘informal meeting’ with his counterpart Senator Ishaq Dar. Dar confirmed that the meeting took place but said it was private business.
“[Shaikh] met me informally and did not say anything about the implementation status of the 10-point agenda,” he said while talking to The Express Tribune.
The ten points:
Election commission reforms
Framing a new accountability law
Reduction in cabinet size
Implementation of Supreme Court decisions
Recovering of defaulted loans
Formulating an energy plan
Restructuring loss making public sector enterprises
Revising the formula for determining fuel prices
Thirty per cent cut in expenditure
Resolving chronic sugar crisis
Implementation status of reforms agenda Implemented
The government has trimmed the size of the cabinet to 21 federal ministers and one minister of state from 38 federal ministers, 18 ministers of states.
Partially implemented
Both sides have agreed to recover loans from 1,300 defaulters of 16 public financial institutions and banks but cannot go ahead with it because there is reportedly no law to recover the written off loans.
They have agreed to election commission reforms but have yet to notify a parliamentary committee for carrying these forward. The PPP and the PML-N agreed to form a Judicial Commission to probe sugar crisis but the commission has yet to hold a meeting.
Not implemented
The parties have not agreed on a unanimous draft of an accountability law. There is no progress on complete implementation of the Supreme Court decisions. They have not been able to formulate a plan to address the energy crisis or the restructuring of the 8 bleeding public sector enterprises. A 30 per cent cut on spending and a new formula to determine petroleum prices also remains elusive.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2011.
