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Deadly Dzeko gives Man City precious victory

LONDON: Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko’s first Premier League goal gave Manchester City a 1-0 win at struggling Blackburn Rovers on Monday to keeptheir hopes of a top-three finish alive.

Second-half substitute Dzeko, bought for 30 million pounds ($47.81 million) from VfL Wolfsburg in January, pounced on a loose ball eight metres out after 75 minutes to leave City on 59 points from 33 matches, five points behind third-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.
This season’s FA Cup finalists also pulled four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur who, like City, have played 33 games, and the relief on Dzeko’s face after notching his first Premier League goal was clear to see after the match.
“I’m not the first one who hasn’t made the best of himself,” he said, referring to Chelsea’s January signing Fernando Torres who scored his first goal for the London club on Saturday.
“I’m happy also for him. I know what the pressure is,” Dzeko told Sky Sports.
FRENZIED START
The visitors started at a frenzied pace and could have scored inside three minutes when David Silva cracked a left-footed volley on to the post.
After weathering Blackburn pressure in the second half, City struck when Silva’s shot was diverted into Dzeko’s path and he finished clinically although television replays suggested fellow striker Mario Balotelli was offside and impeding goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
Keeper Joe Hart produced a smart save from Blackburn’s Martin Olsson late on, leaving City manager Roberto Mancini with a big grin after the game.
“I am very happy for Edin. He deserves to score because he is a good player, a good man,” said Mancini.
Midfielder Nigel de Jong said Manchester City, who also play Stoke City in next month’s FA Cup final at Wembley, were looking to end the season in style.
“We have to aim at the highest possible place in the league.
We have to keep focused and maybe we can come third, you never know,” said De Jong.
Blackburn are in a relegation battle, one point ahead of 18th-placed Wigan Athletic and only three in front of bottom club West Ham United.

FBR chief orders recovery of Rs150bn arrears

ISLAMABAD: Facing an imminent shortfall in revenue collection, chairman, Federal Board of Revenue, on Monday asked top tax officials to work out a mechanism to expedite clearance of around Rs150 billion revenue stuck up in litigation for the past few years, an official source told.
The tax machinery will have to collect Rs568 billion at any cost in the last quarter (April-June) to reach the downward revised revenue target of Rs1588 billion by end June 2011.
Tax officials have collected Rs1020 billion during the past nine months of the current fiscal year.
But experts estimated that this target seems unlikely keeping in view the paltry growth in revenue collection despite the fact
that revenue target was revised thrice.
An official source privy to the board-in-council (BIC) meeting held here on Monday told Dawn that FBR Chairman Salman Siddique has asked tax members to clear arrears for bridging the shortfall to reach a conservative total by end June 2011.
“We need this revenue as revenue is not coming from other sources,” the chairman remarked.
An official in the finance ministry said that the revenue collection will hardly reach Rs1500 billion marks. Even the IMF has also informed the Pakistani officials that the Rs1588 billion revenue target is unlikely to be achieved.
A review team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also expected to visit Pakistan in the first week of May to discuss the next year 2011-12 revenue target along with revenue measures to be taken in the upcoming budget.
The tax target was revised from Rs1604 billion to Rs1588 billion despite mid-term revenue measures including withdrawal of exemptions on agriculture products through presidential ordinances.
As per FBR estimations, it was projected to raise an amount of Rs25 billion from 15 per cent one time surcharge on income tax payable during the tax year 2011, and another Rs25 billion would come to the government’s kitty from withdrawal of exemptions of sales tax from fertilizers, pesticides and input tax on agriculture tractors and raising of special excise duty to 2.5 percent.
According to the official, the revenue collection in the month of April will determine whether the tax officials will be in a position to reach the target or not.
Shortages in gas and electricity also lead to low revenue collection, the official said, adding the highest ever food inflation also diverted maximum budget of taxpayers to food items, which did not attract general sales tax.
As a result, the revenue from general sales tax also did not yield substantial growth.
The large scale manufacturing sector which contributes maximum portion in revenue collection also witnessed a negative growth during the past eight months of the current fiscal year. And low pace of growth in economy also leads to low revenue collection.
However, the most worrying factor for the government will be that customs duty has witnessed a negative growth since February following massive growth recorded in the previous months.
“This is the imminent fallout of the massive reshuffle of all most all collectors and other senior officers of the tax machinery in the mid-fiscal year”, a senior tax official commented.
In the current fiscal year, income tax collection largely remained short of the target followed by the federal excise duty. The only taxes that posted growth were the customs duty and general sales tax collection. The customs growth was because of rising import volume, while the sale tax collection partly because of higher collections at import stage and double digit growth in inflation that dragged collection at domestic sales.

US evacuates some staff, ups pressure on Syria

WASHINGTON: The United States has ordered embassy families and some staff out of Syria as it has hardened its tone on Damascus’s crackdown on protests without calling for President Bashar al-Assad to go.
The State Department late Monday ordered embassy family members and some non-emergency personnel to leave Syria, after an earlier travel warning telling US citizens to leave the country because of escalating attacks on protesters.
At the same time, Washington has defended the presence of a US ambassador in Damascus, who only arrived after a six-year absence in January, as Assad’s forces deployed tanks and snipers, killing at least 25 people in a key town.
“The brutal violence used by the government of Syria against its people is completely deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Monday.
The United States is pursuing a range of possible policy options, including targeted sanctions, to respond to the crackdown and make clear that this behavior is unacceptable.
The Syrian people’s call for freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and the ability to freely choose their leaders must be heard.”Washington has issued repeated statements by senior officials including President Barack Obama calling for an end to violence and political reform in Syria, but has faced criticism for not taking more concrete steps.
But Monday’s crackdown appeared to mark a point at which the administration – which has sought to engage Syria as a key regional power player – had little choice but to be seen to act more robustly.
As well as the crackdown in the town of Daraa, a focal point of protests, Syrian troops also on Monday launched assaults on the Damascus suburbs of Douma and Al-Maadamiyeh, witnesses said.
Some 390 people have been killed in security crackdowns since protests erupted in Syria in mid-March, according to rights activists and witnesses.
New US sanctions would have a strong symbolic element but the Wall Street Journal reported that they would not have much impact on Assad’s inner circle as few regime kingpins have substantial holdings in the United States.
But should similar measures be adopted by Europe, they could have more bite, given more substantial holdings in the continent by the Assad family, it said.
Syria is already subject to American sanctions, aid restrictions and export bans, due to its presence on Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
So far, Washington has not threatened to recall its ambassador, a post filled in January after a six-year absence, as Obama sought to court Damascus as part of a broader Middle East diplomatic push.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the presence of the ambassador had allowed Washington “to make our views known directly and not be a long distance (away).”
Carney was also pressed on why Obama had not personally called for Assad to heed calls of protesters and leave – raising an apparent contradiction with US policy in Libya, which has seen the president call for Moamer Kadhafi’s ouster.
“Libya was, again, a unique situation,” Carney said, citing the international consensus to intervene.

“We had large portions of the country that were out of the control of Moamer Kadhafi, we had a Kadhafi regime that was moving against its own people in a coordinated military fashion and was about to assault a very large city.”Late Monday, the State Department urged US citizens to depart while commercial transportation is readily available and limit travel within the country, citing “the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation.”The crackdown in Syria poses a dilemma for the Obama administration, which has found its regional policy repeatedly challenged by unrest.

Washington could stand to profit from a fall of Assad’s minority Alawite regime, which is allied to Shiite Iran, a longtime US foe, and which wields power detrimental to US goals in Lebanon.
On Friday, Obama accused Syria of blaming outsiders for its troubles, and specifically said it was seeking Iranian help to suppress its citizens.
But though it may welcome a weakening of Syrian ties to Iran, Washington also fears a more radical government could replace the Assad regime.

Four killed, 56 injured in twin Karachi blasts

KARACHI: Bomb attacks hit two buses carrying Pakistani navy officials in Karachi Tuesday, killing four people in the latest sign of rampant insecurity in a nation key to US hopes of beating the Taliban.
Nearly 60 people were wounded when remote-controlled bombs exploded beside the buses at rush hour in different parts of Pakistan’s politically tense economic capital.
Officials said four people were killed in the attacks and the navy, which is based largely in Karachi, identified them all as its employees.
“The four dead were navy officials including a lady doctor, a sub lieutenant, a sailor and a civilian employee,” navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali told AFP.
“Fifty-seven people were injured in the two attacks and of them, 50 were navy officials,” he added.
Provincial government official Sharfuddin Memon told AFP that the first bomb was planted on a motorbike parked in the upmarket Defence Housing Scheme and the second hidden in rubbish in the impoverished Baldia town neighbourhood.
Intelligence officials said that the bombs were triggered by remote control near buses carrying naval personnel.
“We suspect the signature of terrorist organisations like Jundallah or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,” Memon told AFP.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack, saying it “cannot deter the resolve of the nation and our armed forces to curb the menace of militancy and extremism”.
Television footage of the scene showed navy passenger buses with smashed-out windows and the remains of a destroyed motorcycle, as security officials collected the debris and marshalled the rescue effort.
“It appears to be part of the same militant campaign but I don’t see any logic in targeting the navy because unlike army and air force they are not    involved in any operations against the militants,” said Tasneem Noorani, a security analyst and former interior secretary.
“They may have targeted navy out of desperation because the other forces (air force and army) may have become very careful and are difficult to attack.”

Almodovar, Malick films among 19 selected for Cannes competition

PARIS: Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s “The Skin That I Inhabit” and British director Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” are among 19 films competing at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, organisers said Thursday.

Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia” was also selected from a total 1,715 films watched, festival head of selection Thierry Fremaux told journalists alongside festival president Gilles Jacob “We have a special thought for Japan this year, but also for Tunisia and Egypt,” Jacob said, adding that Egypt would be the festival’s special guest at its 64 edition which begins in the Mediterranean resort on May 12.

Steering the Palme d’Or jury this year will be US actor and director Robert de Niro, while South Korean director Boon Joon-Ho will chair the panel that picks the winner of the Camera d’Or prize for best first film.

Italian cinema legend Bernardo Bertolucci, whose silver screen classics include “Last Tango in Paris” and “The Last Emperor,” will meanwhile be given an honourary Palme d’Or for his life work.

Woody Allen’s latest comedy “Midnight in Paris” – in which French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has a bit part – will open the festival, and Gus Van Sant’s teen drama “Restless” will kick off the Un Certain Regard screenings.

Last year Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul took the Palme d’Or with a surreal and hypnotic reincarnation tale set in the jungle, titled “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”.

Pakistan team leaves for West Indies tour

LAHORE: The Pakistan cricket team on Thursday departed for their tour to the West Indies, according .

Team Manager Intikhab Alam said he was hopeful that the young players included in the squad would prove their merit during this tour.

Shahid Afridi will captain Pakistan in the limited over format while Misbah-Ul-Haq will lead the test squad. Pakistan will play a warm-up match on April 18, while the tour formally starts from the April 21.

Meanwhile, West Indian selectors also on Thursday unveiled a thirteen-member squad for the first two ODIs against Pakistan.

The men from the Caribbean will play a five-match ODI series, in addition to one Twenty20, and two test matches against Pakistan scheduled to start from 21st April, 2011 in St.Lucia.

The Chairman of the West Indian selection panel, Clyde Butts stated that the core of the team is capable of serving for years to come.

According to him, the fresh blood inducted in the squad has the potential and the desire to succeed, and hence received the nod.

Butts added that the time was rife for making wholesome changes as the West Indians vowed to regain their lost glory at the highest level of the game.

Gilani to visit Afghanistan, hold talks with Karzai

SLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit Afghanistan for weekend talks with President Hamid Karzai, Islamabad said Thursday.

Gilani will fly to Kabul on Saturday at the invitation of Karzai, Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told a weekly news briefing.

“The prime minster will have in-depth discussions with President Karzai on bilateral relations and regional matters,” she said.

“This visit is part of our joint commitment to consult, cooperate and coordinate on all issues of mutual interest and concern,” Janjua said, adding that both countries were “determined to promote development” in Afghanistan.

Supreme Court hears presidential reference on ZAB case

ISLAMABAD: A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftihkar Muhammed Chaudhry heard the presidential reference of the judicial murder of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on Thursday.

Babar Awan, who resigned yesterday as the law minister to appear in reference, argued that the former prime minister had suffered injustices at every stage of the case.

The Supreme Court said that it was the court’s constitutional responsibility to re-visit the case as ordered by the president and said that it would give its opinion on the case in accordance with the law and constitution.

The hearing of the case has been adjourned until April 18.

Libya: Nato foreign ministers hold talks in Berlin

Foreign ministers from Nato countries are meeting in Berlin, amid differences among members over the air campaign to protect civilians in Libya.

The UK and France have been pushing for other countries to increase military pressure on Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Air strikes led by the US, France and Britain began last month. Nato has since taken leadership of the mission.

Several key member countries, including Spain and Italy, have not taken part in attacks on ground targets.

Tasks in Nato's Libya mission include policing the arms embargo with ships and enforcing the UN-backed no-fly zone.

The UK and France want more countries involved in the most aggressive role, that of attacking targets on the ground.

Only six out of Nato's 28 members - France, the UK, Canada, Belgium, Norway, Denmark - are conducting air strikes.

There are divisions within the alliance over the campaign, with Turkey and Germany opposed to the Libya mission.

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez on Thursday said her country would continue to help police the no-fly zone and arms embargo, but reiterated that it would not send combat aircraft to Libya.

Although Italy is also refraining from carrying out air strikes, it allows missions to be flown from its territory.

The Jon Leyne in Benghazi, the rebels' stronghold in eastern Libya, says the Berlin meeting must be seen as a diplomatic counter-offensive by Britain and France to try to increase the tempo, in the face of members that are reluctant to do so.Arming the rebelsIn his opening address at the Berlin meeting, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen focused on concerns for Libyans civilians.He said the alliance was "acting with care and precision to maximise the effects of our actions, while minimising the danger to citizens".On Wednesday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is attending the meeting in Berlin, condemned the "continued brutal attacks on the Libyan people" by Col Gaddafi's forces.The US has scaled back its role in Libya, though on Wednesday it clarified that its jets were still carrying out bombing raids on Libya's air defences to enforce the no-fly zone.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated Moscow's view that the UN resolution on Libya did not authorise the use of force.He was speaking at a meeting of the "Brics" group of five emerging nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.After the meeting in China, the five said they shared "the principle that the use of force should be avoided".

The Libya conflict is also being discussed by officials from the African Union and Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Cairo.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Arab League head Amr Moussa are among those attending.

Meanwhile fighting is continuing in rebel-held city of Misrata, in western Libya, which has been besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces for almost two months.

A rebel spokesman told Reuters news agency that an early morning attack by Col Gaddafi's forces had killed 23 people on Thursday.

In a interview, Hardi, a rebel leader in the city, urged Nato to carry out more strikes.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who met in Paris on Wednesday, agreed to step up military pressure on Col Gaddafi, a French official said.

The official said the coalition should have "all the means it needs", and that it should show "total determination" to end the sieges of Misrata and Zintan.

Britain said it was to provide the rebels with 1,000 sets of body armour, and that 100 satellite phones had already been sent.

On Wednesday the "contact group" on Libya, which includes Western powers, their Middle Eastern allies and international organisations, met rebel leaders in Doha, Qatar.

It agreed to continue to provide the rebels with "material support", and to consider channelling funds to them.

A Sri Lankan vendor sorts clay pots in Colombo on April 11, 2011, ahead of the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

An employee works at the production line of an edible oil company in Sanhe, Hebei April 12, 2011. China's imports of corn, soybean and edible oil all registered declines in volume amid rising prices in the first quarter of this year.

MULTAN: Lal Kurti Road in Multan Cantt, gives a look of canal due to water accumulation because of poor sewerage system.

Jennifer Lopez named People's most beautiful woman

 NEW YORK: Jennifer Lopez was named People Magazine's most beautiful woman in the world on Wednesday, capping a career comeback fueled by her new job on top-rated TV show "American Idol". 

The 41-year-old New York City-born singer and actress joined former winners Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner and Beyonce Knowles to top People's annual list of the world's most beautiful people.

"It's so crazy. Rarely am I left speechless, but I feel honored," Lopez told People of their accolade. "I feel not worthy, you know? I feel happy and proud. Proud that I'm not 25!."

The "Wedding Planner" actress, who is married to singer Marc Anthony and took time off to have twins in 2008, has enjoyed a revival in popularity since becoming a judge this year on talent show "American Idol".

Her new single, the dance pop hit, "On The Floor," has been topping charts around the world, giving Lopez her first Top 10 Billboard single since "All I Have" in 2003.

Lopez, who was dropped by her record label in 2010 after disappointing sales, releases her first new studio album in four years in May, called "Love?".

Lopez told People she felt better now than she did in her 20s. "In my 20s, I just wasn't there in my mind and my soul and my spirit. It's just great to be in the position I'm in now and be able to share that with the world."

Known for her flawless skin and curvy figure, she attributed looking good to her personal life. "I think it's because I have a lot of love in my life. I feel lucky to be an attractive person, but I've always felt that real beauty always comes from your heart."

Since signing up last year for "American Idol", -- the most-watched TV show in the United States -- Lopez has been named the celebrity face of products ranging from beauty firm L'Oreal, to Venus razors and the Gucci children's clothes collection.

Sesame Street beams American dream to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The United States has turned to oversized puppets in its newest attempt to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, funding a $20 million remake of popular children’s TV programme Sesame Street.

The US show that popularised characters like Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and the Cookie Monster is being remade for a Pakistani audience, to promote “shared values and ideas” said USAID’s education chief in Islamabad, Larry Dolan.

Girl power and tolerance are among the messages to be spread by colourful puppets such as “Rani”, a science-loving 6-year-old girl with plaits who is friends with a teenage bookworm and a hard-working donkey.

But in a conservative Muslim country where the Taliban and militants bomb girls’ schools and millions of women live in “purdah”, such values are hardly universal.

The “Pakistan Children’s Television” show will broadcast 78 episodes from September, but in an impoverished country of up to 180 million people, only three million children are estimated to have access to the small screen.

The show’s makers hope to reach 700,000 children and 300,000 parents in total with the help of spin-off projects – 600 live performances are planned across 90 districts, and books and multi-media versions are in the works.

Dolan says the show has entertained not only the West for more than 40 years, but been used to striking effect in other developing nations – encouraging understanding of HIV in South Africa and girls’ freedom in Egypt.

“It’s role is simply – look at the society here and intolerance lies at the root of many complex problems. The approach we are taking here with Pakistan TV is to promote tolerance,” said Dolan.

Rani’s father is a flower gardener and her mother a housewife, not educated but “adamant her daughter should have every opportunity in life,” according to a written brief of the characters, shown to AFP.

The donkey longs to be a pop star, “illustrating how, through hard work all dreams are possible” says the brief, encapsulating the American dream.

Dolan said USAID was giving $20 million to the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop in the city of Lahore, the creative directors of the show.

But he conceded that a portion of the funds – albeit “less than half” – would be given to the US-based “Sesame Workshop”, who would advise on bringing children’s television to Pakistan.

Elmo – the inquisitive high-energy fluffy red puppet who is one of the main characters of the American version of the show – is the only character to make the cut in the South Asian remake.

“Elmo’s Pakistani cousin ‘illustrates the idea that questions are good and the world is a playground for exploration and discovery’” says the brief.

But the show will be set, not along “Sesame Street”, but around a rural street stall cafe.

“All the elements that represent Pakistan,” said the show’s maker Faizaan Peerzada. “This programme is a gift to the children of Pakistan from the American people,” he said.

The US government’s international aid agency spends billions of dollars of civilian aid, partly in a bid to assuage trenchant anti-Americanism throughout Pakistan, inflamed by a covert US drone war on its soil.

But as Islamabad and Washington wage diplomatic battles over the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda on Pakistan’s lawless frontier with Afghanistan, the cultural battle may be no easier to win.

A critical report by USAID’s inspector general in February said such investments were failing to “demonstrate measurable progress”.

The national language Urdu is spoken as a first language by only a fraction of the country, and most of the shows will be translated into the regional tongues of Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi.

Sesame Street has been in Pakistan before – televised in the early 1990s in English and later dubbed into national language Urdu.

But Peerzada said it is an ambitious project for a country with very limited children’s programming.

And he admits the workshop has been targeted in the past by Islamist militants waging war on anything seen to smack of Western liberalism.

“There’s a certain section of the Islamists who feel they must come and disrupt the whole country,” said Peerzada.

“But i think the programme itself is the answer… to teach children in a joyful and colourful way.

Real, Schalke in hunt for CL glory

PARIS: Nine-time champions Real Madrid and surprise packets Schalke 04 made no mistake in securing their places in the last four of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Real beat English side Tottenham 1-0 in London to win 5-0 on aggregate after a howler by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes saw Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot go over the line and set up a mouthwatering semi-final clash with bitter rivals Barcelona.

It also kept alive the hopes of coach Jose Mourinho of winning the trophy with three different sides, having won with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan last year – the latter having beaten Barcelona in the semi-finals.

Schalke’s former Real legend Raul made sure that Inter would not be able to repeat their success.

He scored his 71st Champions League goal in Schalke’s 2-1 win in Germany to wrap up a 7-3 aggregate triumph and give the veteran Spanish striker hope of an unlikely fourth Champions League winners medal.

However the formidable obstacle of Manchester United lie in wait in the semi-finals.

Spurs had to make Champions League history in coming from 4-0 down after the first leg and while they made a good fist of it in the first-half, having a goal ruled out and two penalty appeals turned down Gomes’s error put them out of their misery.

Mourinho had fielded a full strength side despite the huge lead from the first leg which paid off but also came at a cost as central defender Carvalho was booked and is suspended for the first leg of the Barcelona clash.

“I had to field a first choice side because Spurs are a top class side and capable of scoring early on which would have rattled us and made it a more nervous match,” said Mourinho.

“As it was I was right because they had one or two chances in the first-half but Ronaldo’s goal killed the game.”He said that his side had a chance against Barca.

“Lets see what happens. A semi-final is a semi-final. Anything can happen, though, we have not been as fortunate as Barcelona in avoiding suspensions for the match,” said Mourinho.

His Spurs counterpart Harry Redknapp said that their successful run on their maiden campaign had whetted his and the players appetite for more.

“It isn’t good to play it once and then not be in it the year after,” said Redknapp.

“It is imperative that we improve so we can go further. We have seen that we have the players who can play at this level, we just need to tinker with the squad like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.”

Raul’s goal on the stroke of half-time was the death knell for Inter Milan and even though they levelled through Thiago Motta Benedikt Howedes sealed a well-deserved win nine minutes from time.

Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick must be barely able to believe his change in fortune – he started the year by being sacked as coach of Hoffenheim but was appointed to the Schalke post after Felix Magath was sacked on March 16.

However, he preferred to pay tribute to the players rather than his contribution.

“The team has produced two great performances, if you only allow the Champions League winners just two chances, you know you have done well,” he said.

“Every player worked for his team-mates and that was the key to our success, the boys can be proud of their achievement.”Inter coach Leonardo was gracious in defeat.

“Schalke deserved the win,” said the Brazilian.

“They were the better team over the two legs and were were a bit tired, we have played a lot of football in the league and we showed it.

“They have a chance against Manchester United, it will depend on what happens on the day.”

Eight gunned down in Karachi

KARACHI: At least eight people, five political activists among them, were gunned down in different areas of Karachi on Wednesday as target killings remerged in full fury, prompting fresh fears among people that the scourge is beyond the control of political and security administrations in the province.
There was no word from key officials in the provincial set-up about government efforts to put an end to the bloodshed as death toll swelled to 15 in three days of violence. However, police officials claimed that efforts were being made to stop the menace from spreading to so far unaffected parts of the city.

In the deadliest incident on Wednesday, four men on two motorbikes attacked a group of four people in Sector 10 of Orangi Town, killing three of them on the spot and leaving one severely injured.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) claimed that the victims were its activists.

“The armed men fired on them when they were sitting at the corner of a street popularly known as Mohajir Chowk,” said SP Khurram Waris of Orangi Town.

“They fled after the firing, leaving 24-year-old Waqas Tariq, 44-year-old Zaheer Hanif and 38-year-old Habib Rafiq dead.

Another man, Muhammad Irfan, sustained a bullet wound in the abdomen and survived.”

The incident sparked panic in the locality and traders closed of their shops. Transport disappeared from the streets in densely populated neighborhood.

A large number of MQM activists and leaders of the party went to the hospital to offer condolences to the family and fellow workers.

The MQM, which is a coalition partner of the PPP-led provincial government, demanded immediate arrest of the killers and swift measures from the federal and provincial authorities to curb the new cycle of violence.

“Armed terrorists have been given a free hand to target MQM workers and over the past 24 hours some seven party activists have been killed,” an MQM statement said.

The Orangi incident triggered violence in New Karachi where a bus driver was shot dead near Saba Cinema.

“The driver has been identified as 53-year-old Barkatullah. He was a resident of Malir and originally hailed from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa,” said an official at the New Karachi Industrial Area police station.

A few minutes later, more than half a dozen armed men on four motorbikes attacked a restaurant on the University Road near Old Sabzi Mandi, killing a 45-year-old man who was there with friends.

The victim was identified as Chaudhry Saqib Nadim. But some people attacked the assailants and killed one of them and injured another, said an official of the New Town police station. The injured suspect was later handed over to police.

Earlier in the day, tit-for-tat killings claimed the lives of an Awami National Party (ANP) activist and an elderly member of MQM in New Karachi area. The two incidents took place in Ayub Goth, a poor neighbourhood between Super Highway and New Karachi.

“In first incident, 26-year-old Hazrat Ali alias Hero was intercepted by two men on a motorbike near Street No 1 of Sindh Cooperative Housing Society in Ayub Goth area,” DSP Iftikhar Lodhi, the area’s supervisory police officer (SPO), said.

Ten to 15 minutes later, armed men on two motorcycles attacked 60-year-old Shahbaz alias Shabbu. He had a poultry shop in the area and was said to be associated with MQM.

The fresh wave of violence coincided with the presence of Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the city.

BRICS speaks out against use of force in Libya

SANYA: The leaders of the world’s top emerging BRICS powers said Thursday the use of force “should be avoided” in Libya and across the Arab world, according to a draft statement obtained by AFP.

“We share the principle that the use of force should be avoided,” said the statement by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, released as they met in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan.

South Africa was the only BRICS nation to approve a UN Security Council resolution establishing a no-fly zone over Libya and authorising “all necessary measures” to protect civilians, opening the door to coalition air strikes.

The other four countries have expressed concern that the Nato-led campaign — which aims to thwart Muammer Qadhafi’s assault on rebels seeking to end his 41-year rule — is causing civilian casualties.

The statement, however, did not specifically single out the Nato campaign.

“We wish to continue our cooperation in the UN Security Council on Libya,” the statement said.

It added that BRICS leaders meeting in the resort city of Sanya also supported the African Union’s mediating initiative to end hostilities in the war-torn country.

“We are of the view that all the parties should resolve their differences through peaceful means and dialogue in which the UN and regional organisations should as appropriate play their role,” the joint statement said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma gathered for the talks on Thursday.

It marked the third annual meeting for the leaders of China, India, Russia and Brazil and the first in the expanded that included South Africa.

Together, the five countries represent more than 40 percent of the world’s population, and their combined GDP accounted for 18 percent of the global total in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Obama sets deficit target, rips Republican plan

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed spending cuts and higher taxes on the rich to slash the US budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years, saying Republican plans for deeper reductions were too radical.

Accused by critics of failing to lead on the issue of a ballooning deficit, Obama tried to take the initiative in a sharply political speech that was his first since he announced last week that he was running for re-election in 2012.

The deficit, projected to hit $1.4 trillion this fiscal year, is deeply troubling many Americans.

Obama’s vow to reduce the deficit boosted the dollar and US Treasuries as investors said the $4 trillion target was higher than many had expected from the president.

But defense company stocks fell after Obama promised to wring savings out of the Pentagon budget. The iShares Dow Jones US Aerospace & Defense Index Fund fell 1.6 per cent.

While calling for talks with Republicans on spending cuts, Obama devoted much of his speech to attacking their plan to overhaul the government health programs Medicare and Medicaid while reducing taxes on wealthy individuals and businesses.

Obama said the Republican plan by Paul Ryan, the House of Representatives Budget Committee chairman, offered a “deeply pessimistic” view of the country’s future and would change the “basic social compact.”

“There’s nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires,” Obama said as Ryan listened in the audience at George Washington University.

Short on Specifics

Obama offered few specifics on how to curb spending. But he said he wanted to end tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans enacted under President George W. Bush.

He also pledged to save $480 billion in Medicare and Medicaid, programs for the elderly and poor, by 2023 and, significantly, proposed a “debt fail-safe” trigger to force spending cuts if debt levels did not decline as planned.

Republicans said Obama’s speech showed he was not serious about deficit reduction. They said the steps he outlined would not fix the problem and his proposed tax hikes would hurt the economy.

Obama’s aides have tried to present him as a leader above partisan politics in the budget debate, but the speech was aimed at voters — both independents clamoring for spending cuts and liberal supporters who want to get rid of the Bush-era tax cuts. He needs both to be re-elected to a second term.

“He actually did what he wanted to do, which is to reframe this debate and give himself both a credible plan that won’t have the left going ballistic but also gave him the running room to criticize the Ryan plan,” said Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

“The Republicans have captured the narrative for the last month or two months. Now he’s got a plan that’s credible enough to really begin to talk about two different visions.”

The deficit issue has become entangled with the coming debate in Congress on raising the federal government’s borrowing limit.

Republicans say they will not vote to lift the limit without commitments to rein in long-term deficits. The debt is expected to hit its $14.3 trillion ceiling as early as mid-May and failing to lift it could raise the specter of default.

The top Republican in the House, John Boehner, said any plan that included tax increases was a “non-starter”.

“He is asking Congress to raise the debt limit to continue paying Washington’s bills,” Boehner said. “The American people will not stand for that unless it is accompanied by serious action to reduce our deficit. More promises, hollow targets, and Washington commissions simply won’t get the job done.”

In a sign that Obama has some work to shore up his political base, his approval rating dipped for the second consecutive month, now to 46 per cent, in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday. The drop was largely driven by a downturn in approval from Democrats.

Liberal Democrats were furious last week after Obama agreed to $38 billion in spending cuts for the rest of this fiscal year that ends September 30 as part of a deal to avert a government shutdown. Many felt Obama had ceded far too much ground to Republicans.

Several liberal Democrats said they were reserving judgment on Obama’s speech.

“This administration has a tendency of getting people’s hopes that they’ll go in one direction, then reversing field. So we’ll have to see,” said Representative Dennis Kucinich.

Two US citizens arrested over Bosnian war crimes

SEATTLE: Two naturalized US citizens of Bosnian origin, a man and a woman, were arrested on Wednesday at the request of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to face accusations that they committed war crimes there 18 years ago.

Edin Dzeko, 39, and Rasema Handanovic, 38, were members of the Bosnian army’s special unit “Zulfikar,” according to papers filed in a US court.

On April 16, 1993, the unit attacked Trusina village and killed more than a dozen Croat civilians and prisoners of war, and wounded four civilians including two infants, according to the extradition request.

Dzeko became a naturalized US citizen in 2006 after coming to the United States in 2001 and has lived in Everett, Washington. The extradition request describes him as a former senior staff member of the Bosnian army unit.

During the village attack he allegedly threw a man into the yard of a house, then shot and killed him, according to US authorities. When the dead man’s wife would not stop grieving, Dzeko allegedly shot her in the head and killed her.

Handanovic, who became a naturalized US. citizen in 2002, was living in a suburb of Portland, Oregon.

US authorities coordinated her arrest with that of Dzeko, and both are named in the same court papers.

During the attack on Trusina, Handanovic shot a civilian woman two or three times in the chest, killing her, and also shot an elderly couple, according to the extradition request.

Both Dzeko and Handanovic are accused of having joined a firing squad-style execution of unarmed Croatian solders and civilians that day.

In Bosnia, the charges against Dzeko and Handanovic are punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, US officials said.

The killings occurred during a 1993-94 war between Bosnian Muslims and Croats, which was ended by a Washington-brokered peace agreement.

A Bosnian state war crimes court was set up in 2005 to try thousands of war crimes suspects from that time period and take over mid- and low-ranking cases from the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Pakistan attack lodges protest against US

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lodged a protest with the United States on Wednesday over the Angoor Adda drone attack, describing the continued drone raids as a ‘core irritant’ in counter-terrorism cooperation.
An unusual aspect of the remonstration was that it was the first time in a couple of years that a démarche was made on a missile strike targeting militants — an indication that Islamabad may be revisiting its tacit tolerance of hits by pilotless predators on militant sites.Military sources confirmed to that those killed and injured in the drone attack on Wednesday were Afghans.“Pakistan strongly condemns the drone attack at Angoor Adda today. We have repeatedly said that such attacks are counter-productive and only contribute to strengthening the hands of terrorists,” Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told US Ambassador Cameron Munter while lodging the protest with him.Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua, however, emphasised that Mr Munter had not been summoned and he was at the Foreign Office to discuss bilateral issues when he was handed over the démarche.Drone attacks, usually denounced using clichés like ‘unacceptable’, ‘violation of sovereignty’ and ‘flagrant violation of humanitarian norms and law’, were probably for the first time identified as a core irritant in counter-terrorism cooperation.“Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terror campaign,” a statement by the Foreign Office said.The timing of the latest attack is also being seen as meaningful because it took place at a time when ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha was on his way home from Washington after talks with his counterpart, CIA Director Leon Panetta. Gen Pasha had called for limiting the scope of drone attacks to North Waziristan as a precondition for reviving the stalled counter-terrorism cooperation.The CIA-ISI cooperation has been on hold since January when CIA operative Raymond Davis fatally shot two youths in Lahore. The two agencies were close to resolving their operational differences last month (Davis release being part of that deal), but drone attacks on a jirga one day after the release killed the prospects for a rapprochement.However, fresh efforts were made to normalise the ties and Gen Pasha’s visit to Washington was an effort in that direction.It is not yet clear what impact the latest drone strike will have on what was described by Ambassador Munter a couple of days ago as ‘renewal in ties’.Although drone strikes have been unpopular with the public, military commanders and civilian leadership started acknowledging their usefulness in targeting militants.The General Officer Commanding 7-Division, Maj-Gen Ghayur Mehmood, had last month told reporters that “myths and rumours” about US predator strikes and casualty figures were many, but it was a reality that many of those killed in these strikes were “hardcore elements”, a sizable number of them foreigners.If anything the latest protest indicates is that problems in bilateral ties may have compelled the civilian leadership and the military to probably rethink their tacit endorsement of drone attacks on militant targets.

A Taiwan Air Force IDF fighter jet takes off on a highway used as an emergency landing strip during the Han Kuang military exercise in Madou, Tainan, southern Taiwan, April 12, 2011.

A boy holds a sign that reads "Mother! Can I go outside to play?" during an anti-radioactivity rally to urge the government to quickly release information about "radioactive rain" and risks of radioactivity, near the Integrated Government Complex in Seoul April 12, 2011.

Aamir on 100 most influential people list

MUMBAI: It was just after India's World Cup Cricket triumph that a very important news did not get the coverage that it deserved from the media.

Ironically, it was about the man whose first film as a producer, 'Lagaan', took cricket to the Oscars! Yes, it is non other than Hindi cinema's superstar Aamir Khan!

Aamir Khan has made it to the list of nominees of TIME magazine's poll for 100 Most Influential People of the World. The actor-producer has been nominated among 204 world leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes encompassing people from all walks of life and countries.

In fact Aamir Khan is the only Indian actor nominated in this year's TIME 100 poll. Other Indians nominated this year include, Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Indian-American physician Siddhartha Mukherjee and Indian-American neuroscientist-author V.S. Ramachandran.

Aamir Khan is currently ranking at #31, and is the highest ranking Indian in this list - even beating US President Barack Obama and Hollywood giants like Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Colin Firth.

Syrian opposition says 200 killed in protests

AMMAN: Syria’s main human rights movement said the death toll from pro-democracy protests against President Bashar al-Assad had reached 200 and urged the Arab League to impose sanctions on the ruling hierarchy.

 Syria, the latest Arab country shaken by mass uprisings against authoritarian rulers, has witnessed unprecedented protests across the tightly-controlled country for the last three weeks.

Assad has responded with force — witnesses say security forces have opened fire on protesters — vague pledges of reform and attempts at appeasing minority Kurds. Protests have shown no sign of abating but have not yet reached the levels seen in Tunisia and Egypt where leaders were ultimately overthrown.

“Syria’s uprising is screaming with 200 martyrs, hundreds of injured and a similar number of arrests,” the Damascus Declaration group said in a letter sent on Monday to the secretary general of the Arab League.

The Damascus Declaration is named after a document signed in 2005 by prominent civic, Islamist and liberal leaders calling for the end of 41 years of Assad family rule and its replacement with a democratic system.

“The regime unleashes its forces to besiege cities and terrorise civilians, while protesters across Syria thunder with the same chant ‘peaceful peaceful’,” it added.

“We ask you to… impose political, diplomatic and economic sanctions on the Syrian regime, which continues to be the faithful guardian of Hafez al-Assad’s legacy,” the letter said, referring to the iron-fisted rule of President Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000 after 30 years in power.

“RESPONDING WITH REPRESSION”

The protests, which erupted in the southern city of Deraa last month before spreading, have demanded freedom of expression and assembly and an end to corruption.

The authorities blame “armed groups” and “infiltrators” for the violence, in which they said soldiers and police have also been killed. On Tuesday, state news agency SANA named six security service personnel it said had been killed and 168 wounded in Deraa, suburbs of Damascus, Homs and Latakia.

“President Assad has been only giving promises for the last 11 years. Instead of solutions he talks, as the regime usually does, about an outside conspiracy,” the letter said.

Last Friday was one of the deadliest since the uprising began in Deraa, an agricultural city near the border with Jordan where many Sunni Muslim tribes resent the wealth and power amassed by minority Alawites, the sect to which Assad belongs.

Human Rights Watch, which said 27 people were killed in Deraa, condemned Syria’s security forces for preventing wounded protesters reaching hospitals and stopping medical teams from treating them in two towns.

“The Syrian authorities are responding to protests against repression with more repression: killings, mass arbitrary arrests, beatings and torture,” HRW’s Sarah Leah Whitson said.

HRW said protesters told the rights group that demonstrators seized weapons from an abandoned army checkpoint and shot at security forces, killing at least a dozen of them and setting on fire two cars belonging to the army and security services.

“SLOW-MOTION REVOLUTION”

Western governments who have been trying to coax Syria out of its anti-Israeli alliance with Iran as well as to give up its support for militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, have denounced the violence against the protesters and urged Assad to take more vigorous steps towards reforms such as lifting emergency law.

“Time is running out as every new casualty makes the clock tick faster,” said the International Crisis Group’s Peter Harling on the Foreign Policy blog.

“To open the space required for a radical reform agenda to take hold, the regime’s top priority must be to ensure a period of relative calm. Prospects will look grim were the country to witness yet another bloody Friday,” he said, describing Syria as a “slow-motion revolution”.

Assad has said the protests are part of a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife. His father used similar language when he crushed leftist and Islamist challenges to his rule in the 1980s, killing thousands.

Syrian security forces sealed off the coastal city of Banias on Monday following pro-democracy protests and killings by irregulars loyal to Assad, residents said.

Since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, authorities have intensified a campaign of arrests against dissidents and civic activists. Authorities generally embark on a round of arrests after protests, according to activists and witnesses, before later releasing some.

Fayez Sara, a journalist who was jailed for two-and-a-half years along with 11 Damascus Declaration members and released in 2010, was arrested again on Sunday, rights activists said.

“The secret police have been rounding up every outspoken figure they can get their hands on. They either call them in for ‘interrogation’ and keep them, pick them up from the street or break into their homes,” one of the rights defenders said.

Most of the Damascus Declaration members have spent long periods as political prisoners, including leading opposition figure Raid al-Turk, who spent more than 17 years in solitary confinement under Hafez al-Assad.

Japan raises nuclear crisis to same level as Chernobyl

TOKYO: Japan put its nuclear calamity on par with the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, on Tuesday after new data showed that more radiation had leaked from its earthquake-crippled power plant in the early days of the crisis than first thought.

Officials said it had taken time to measure radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi facility after it was smashed by March 11′s massive quake and tsunami, and the upgrade in its severity rating to the highest level on a globally recognised scale did not mean the situation had suddenly become more critical.

“Our preparations for how to measure (the radiation leakage) when such a tsunami and earthquake occurred were insufficient and, as a result, we were late in disseminating information internationally,” said a senior official in Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s office.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said the decision to raise the severity of the incident from level 5 to 7 – the same as the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 – was based on cumulative quantities of radiation released.

“Even before this, we had considered this a very serious incident so, in that sense, there will be no big change in the way we deal with it just because it has been designated level 7,” an agency official said.

As another major aftershock rattled the earthquake-ravaged east of the country, a fire broke out at the plant, but engineers later extinguished the blaze.

However, the operator of the stricken facility appears to be no closer to restoring cooling systems at the reactors, critical to lowering the temperature of overheated nuclear fuel rods.

The official in Kan’s official said that, at a news conference expected later on Tuesday, the prime minister would instruct plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) to set target dates for when it would halt the radiation leakage as well as restore the cooling systems.

No radiation-linked deaths have been reported since the earthquake struck, and only 21 plant workers have been affected by minor radiation sickness, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

“Nowhere near Chernobyl”

A level 7 incident means a major release of radiation with a widespread health and environmental impact, while a 5 level is a limited release of radioactive material, with several deaths, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Several experts said the new rating exaggerated the severity of the crisis, and that the Chernobyl disaster was far worse.

“It’s nowhere near that level. Chernobyl was terrible – it blew and they had no containment, and they were stuck,” said nuclear industry specialist Murray Jennex, an associate professor at San Diego State University in California.

“Their (Japan’s) containment has been holding, the only thing that hasn’t is the fuel pool that caught fire.”

The blast at Chernobyl blew the roof off a reactor and sent large amounts of radiation wafting across Europe. The accident contaminated vast areas, particularly in Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus, led to the evacuation of well over 100,000 and affected livestock as far away as Scandinavia and Britain.

Nevertheless, the increase in the severity level heightens the risk of diplomatic tension with Japan’s neighbours over radioactive fallout. China and South Korea have already been critical of the operator’s decision to pump radioactive water into the sea, a process it has now stopped.

“Raising the level to a 7 has serious diplomatic implications. It is telling people that the accident has the potential to cause trouble to our neighbours,” said Kenji Sumita, a nuclear expert at Osaka University.

Huge economic damage

The March earthquake and tsunami killed up to 28,000 lives and the estimated cost stands at $300 billion, making it the world’s most expensive disaster.

Japan’s economics minister warned the economic damage was likely to be worse than first thought as power shortages will cut factory output and disrupt supply chains.

The Bank of Japan governor said the economy was in a “severe state”, while central bankers were uncertain when efforts to rebuild the northeast would boost growth, according to minutes from a meeting held three days after the earthquake struck.

NISA said the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was around 10 per cent that of Chernobyl.

“Radiation released into the atmosphere peaked from March 15 to 16. Radiation is still being released, but the amount now has fallen considerably,” said NISA’s Nishiyama. – Reuters

Meditation better than drugs at giving pain relief

 NEW YORK: According to a new study, meditation practice is actually more powerful than medication in terms of its ability to relieve pain.

Researchers from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina worked on this breakthrough study to take a closer look at the type of impact meditation had on pain, and how much relief it could provide.

Meditation is extremely complex, but breaking it down into simpler terms, it is a state you put your body in where your mind of free from the world around you.

The idea was to see how meditation compared to pain relief medication.

In a lab setting, researchers applied heat probes to male and female participants at a temperature of 120F.

They did this first while they were on medications or pain relief drugs, and then while they were meditating.

What researchers found is that the meditation allowed for further pain relief than the drugs.

Participants in meditation during this were 57% less unpleasant under these painful circumstances. They also stated that the heat was not as intense.

The study has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

TV, stage actor Mastana passes away

 BAHAWALPUR: Prominent figure of TV and stage shows comedian actor Mastana died of liver cancer in Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital here on Monday. He was 57.Murtaza Hassan alias Mastana was born in Gujranwala. He served TV and stage for nearly 43 years. He played different roles of them ‘Mr. Kiyun’ is one of his best.Deceased Mastana worked in more than 2000 TV and stage dramas. He fell prey of ‘Hepatitis C’ that was reached to liver cancer level.Mastana left behind a son Hafiz Saad Hassan and widow.

Federer eases into second round at Monte Carlo Masters

MONACO: Roger Federer reminded the tennis world of his destructive power with a 6-2 6-1 rout of German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Monte Carlo Masters second round on Tuesday.

All the talk in the buildup to the first men’s clay-court tournament of the year had been about the in-form Novak Djokovic and his recent domination of world number one Rafael Nadal.

But record 16-times grand slam champion Federer took the chance to lay down a marker and show he is not yet a spent force by immediately finding his rhythm against Kohlschreiber with forehand and backhand.

“It’s clearly a good start for me to the clay-court season,” the 29-year-old told reporters.

“I was able to do all the things I wanted to. I was consistent. I could finish a point almost when I wanted to.”

The day had started grey and cold but just as the Swiss stepped on court the sun burst through the clouds, the stands filled up and the crowd gave him a superb reception despite their love of six-times Monte Carlo champion Nadal.

MINI WOBBLE

Second seed Federer, who has never won the title here, has long battled an inferiority complex on clay despite his 2009 French Open title but there was no sign of nerves against the hapless German apart from a mini wobble late in the first set.

Top seed Nadal starts his quest for a record seventh straight title in the principality on Wednesday when he takes on Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the second round.

World number two Djokovic, who beat Nadal in the final in his last two tournaments, has skipped the event because of a minor knee injury.

“Nadal will be hard to beat,” added Federer who could meet the Spaniard in Sunday’s final at one of the circuit’s most glitzy events.

“He is clearly the overwhelming favourite even though I haven’t seen him play yet. But I still wouldn’t be happy losing to him in the final.”

In first-round matches, Frenchman Gilles Simon cheered the home crowd with a 6-3 6-2 win over Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci and Spain’s Feliciano Lopez beat Serb Janko Tipsarevic 4-6 6-3 7-6.

Argentine qualifier Maximo Gonzalez also disposed of Romanian Victor Hanescu 3-6 7-5 6-1.

ECC allows sale, export of 200,000 tons of wheat

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet expressed concern on Monday over non-implementation of its decisions and observed that it was being dragged into issues outside its jurisdiction.

“The overall sense of an ECC meeting was that the decisions were falling prey to the bureaucratic system,” an official said. The members were so upset over the situation that they decided to make their point of view public, albeit through a soft official statement which said: “The minister for finance, as the chairman of the committee, observed that the pace of the implementation of the decisions is slow and instructed the secretaries concerned to accelerate it.”

The meeting presided over by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh approved the sale and export of 200,000 tons of wheat currently lying with the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation to create space for the fresh stock procured from farmers.

The committee decided to ban institutional investments in the National Saving Schemes (NSS) because of its higher returns, although investments by individual funds like pension, gratuity, superannuation, contributory provident funds and trusts would remain unaffected.

According to sources, the committee held a prolonged discussion on the criteria on which summaries were being brought before it and on reasons for the slow pace of implementation of its decisions. It was observed that many cases which should be disposed of by the ministries or taken to the cabinet for policy decisions were also brought to the ECC.

The minister expressed disappointment over lack of preparation by federal secretaries to defend their summaries as most of the questions raised by ECC members were not responded to satisfactorily, the sources said.

Minister for Housing and Works Makhdoom Shahabuddin and Minister of State for Foreign and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar also expressed disappointment over lack of implementation of ECC decisions.

The summaries for disposal of Passco’s wheat stock, provision of Rs12.22 billion subsidy on urea prices and ban on institutional investment in the NSS were elaborately discussed, an official said.

The sources said the committee remained at a loss about fixing fertiliser prices. “Who determines the urea prices? Is there a board or a committee or is it the private sector that controls the prices?”, a member was quoted as having asked the industries ministry.

“The Trading Corporation of Pakistan and the secretaries of the ministries of industries and food and agriculture did not have an answer,” the official said.

The ministry of industries and production had sought a subsidy of Rs12.22 billion on urea for the last two crop seasons and then a uniform price comparable with the private sector from now onward.

The ECC was also perplexed that the price of urea imported through open tenders was much less than that of 225,000 tons imported from the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) — a government-owned manufacturer of Saudi Arabia.

The committee had been informed that urea had been imported through open tenders during January-July last year at Rs1,902 per 50kg against Rs2,102 of Sabic.

The urea price charged by local manufacturers averages at Rs2,350.As a result, the 313,000 tons of urea imported from Sabic for Kharif 2010 involved a subsidy of Rs4.72 billion against Rs3.18 billion for 287,000 tons imported through open tenders.

Another Rs4.32 billion subsidy was involved in import of 400,000 tons of urea through open tenders between June and December, taking the total amount to Rs12.22 billion.

The industries ministry had also proposed to sell imported urea at official storages at Rs50 less than the domestic price to allow the dealers to absorb the transportation cost.

In view of the complexities and because of an impression of vested interests, the ECC constituted a committee comprising the secretaries of finance, planning, commerce, industries and food and agriculture and the TCP chairman to submit a detailed report on the subject at the next meeting.

A participant said the decision on institutional investments in the NSS should have been taken by the prime minister. The finance ministry had earlier submitted the proposal to the prime minister who had said it should be discussed by the ECC.