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Homer Simpson named greatest TV character

Beer-swilling, doughtnut-lover Homer Simpson has been named the greatest character created for television and film in the past 20 years. The star character of long-running US cartoon series “The Simpsons” beat schoolboy wizard Harry Potter and vampire slayer Buffy to take top place in the survey for US entertainment magazine Entertainment Weekly.

Simpson's creator Matt Groening said millions of people were able to identify with Homer with his catchphrase “D’oh”.The Simpsons, broadcast in more than 90 countries, is the longest-running US TV series in prime time, now in its 21st season.

“People can relate to Homer because we're all secretly propelled by desires we can't admit to,” Groening was quoted as telling Entertainment Weekly. Homer is launching himself head-first into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him. His love of whatever is a joy to witness. Harry Potter, created by British author JK Rowling and played by actor Daniel Radcliffe in six films, was described as a “global icon” to take the second place in the magazine's poll.

The star of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, came third in the list followed by Tony Soprano from HBO drama series “The Sopranos” and comic book villain the Joker played by late Australian actor Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight.”

Pakistani shuttlers to olympics

Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF) senior vice president Syed Naqi Mohsin believes that if the Pakistan’s top doubles pair of Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulehri feature in international tournaments as their Indian counterparts do, they can easily qualify for London Olympics 2012.
The two players didn’t undergo any camp and have featured in only two tournaments during the last year. However, their performance in the recently concluded Maldives International Badminton Championship shows that they have great potential and if they get proper exposure in the international arena they can easily break into World top 50 rankings in the doubles ranking which is enough to qualify for the Olympics,” Naqi told PPI. Rizwan and Kashif clinched the doubles title in Maldives Challenge after pulling some sensational upsets throughout their winning spree in the event. Maldives Challenge, which had participants from 15 countries, offered world ranking points and a total prize of US$ 15,000.

Aisam, Rohan in French Open pre-quarters

PARIS: Pakistani tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his Indian teammate Rohan Bopanna cruised into the pre-quarter finals of French Open. They made their way into pre-quarter finals after defeating Italian Fabio Fognini and American Michael Russell in Paris. The Indo-Pak combination were dominant throughout the match and eventually they won both sets of the game by 6-2 and 6-3.

Threat to destroy Indian N-plant stopped attack on Kahuta

Pakistan had warned India in the early 80s that an attack on nuclear assets in Kahuta would evoke a retaliatory strike on its Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay.This has been revealed by the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal M. Anwar Shamim, in his book “Cutting Edge PAF” launched here on Thursday. According to Air Chief Marshal (retd) Shamim, he was called by the then president Gen Zia Ul haq in 1979 to discuss air defence of the nuclear assets in Kahuta. Gen Zia had reliable information that India was planning to attack and destroy Kahuta.

He says he told the president that Kahuta was an indefensible site because it was at three minutes flying time from the border. The reaction time was about eight minutes and by the time the PAF aircraft would reach the area the enemy would have completed the job and would be safe in their territory.

Gen Zia asked how could the most vital deterrent in the country’s armoury be defended and the answer was to acquire most modern aircraft and advanced weapons and the PAF would destroy India’s advanced nuclear facility at Trombay, if they embarked upon this rash course of action. We will inflict more damage to them than they can do to us”.

He says he told the president that the multi-role F-16 aircraft with the latest weapons were the best and most suited to meet PAF’s needs.He says that in 1981 the US administration offered F-5Es to be later augmented by F-5Gs, but Pakistan refused to accept any aircraft other than F-16s. This was finally accepted by the United States. Pakistan received the first batch of F-16 aircraft in January 1983, and he wrote a letter to the president about the task given to him.

“I am now in a position to confirm that Indians will not attack Kahuta because it is amply clear to them that we will retaliate and launch an attack on their atomic station in Trombay, and knowing that they will suffer much more devastation than us, will desist from taking any unwise action”.

Pakistan disappointed at Champions League exclusion

The Pakistan board has expressed its disappointment at not having a domestic team invited to participate in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. This appears to be a u-turn on an earlier stance it had taken, when in the aftermath of the IPL snub to Pakistan players, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, had ruled out the participation of any Pakistan team in the Champions League. That, says the chairman however, was not what he had said at the time.

"Those comments of mine were about the IPL and our participation in that event and not at all about the Champions League," Butt told Cricinfo. "I had said our players would not be in the IPL because of what had happened at the auction. I did not say that our domestic teams would not go to the Champions League. Why would I deprive them of that opportunity? My comments were misinterpreted."

Nevertheless, the confusion means that Sialkot Stallions, Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions five years running now, will again miss out on the most lucrative global club tournament in cricket. Sialkot, which won the RBS Twenty20 in March this year, could potentially include Pakistan players such as Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Rehman and Abdul Razzaq. They were invited to take part in what would have been the inaugural Champions League at the end of 2008 but the terror attacks on Mumbai in November that year forced a postponement to 2009. By that time, relations between India and Pakistan having deteriorated, no team was invited from Pakistan.

"Nobody has invited us this year and that is disappointing," Butt said. "We asked them about it and we received no reply at all. We will take up this issue with the ICC. After all, why are we being discriminated against like this? Clubs from so many other countries are invited and our Sialkot side has done so well over the last few years."

What a bunch of clowns........

Millat facebook....

Pakistanis outraged with Facebook over “blasphemous” caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed have created a spin-off networking site that they dream can connect the world's 1.6 billion Muslims. A group of six young IT professionals from Lahore, the cultural and entertainment capital of Pakistan, Launched www.millatfacebook.com on Tuesday for Muslims to interact online and protest against blasphemy.

The private venture came after a Pakistani court ordered a block on Facebook until May 31, following deep offence over an “Everyone Draw Mohammed Day” page considered “blasphemous” and “sacrilegious”.

“Millatfacebook is Pakistan's very own, first social networking site. A site for Muslims by Muslims where sweet people of other religions are also welcome,” the website tells people interested in signing up.

Peraonlly, i think the name could have been kept other than facebook....

70 percent of Pakistanis want permanent ban on Facebook: Poll

KARACHI: A new poll has revealed that 70 percent people in Pakistan want a permanent ban on the social networking website Facebook, while another 15 percent support the Lahore High Court's order to ban the website till May 31.

According to the poll, the participants expressed their sheer anger on Facebook for displaying blasphemous drawings of Prophet Muhammad. In the first three days of the poll, which is still running, eight percent participants were of the opinion that a single URL ban was enough, while the remaining seven percent said they did not want ban on Facebook at all.

Shahid Afridi to lead in Asia Cup and England tour

Shahid Afridi has been named Pakistan's Test and ODI captain ahead of a busy summer which takes in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and then six Tests, five ODIs, as well as four T20Is, in England against Australia and the hosts. Pakistan's board and selectors also opened the door on a possible return for Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik, two men only recently banned by the board for indiscipline. Another old hand at the indiscipline game, Shoaib Akhtar, has been called up in a 35-man list of probables, which will be culled down before the two events.
Probables: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hassan, Azhar Ali, Azeem Ghumman, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Hasan Raza, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Aamer Sajjad, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Tanvir Ahmed, Aizaz Cheema, Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Kamran Akmal (wk), Zulqarnain Haider (wk)

Pakistan wins asian baseball!!

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan won the 9th Asia Cup Baseball Championship by defeating Hong Kong 18-0 in the final here on Monday. Hong Kong, who are ranked 18th in the world, proved to be a wall of sand against Pakistan, ranked 31st in the world. Farooq, Asif, Iftikhar, Sumair, Zaheer and Imtiaz were the key scorers for Pakistan. After the final, Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) president Shaukat Javed announced that Pakistan would feature in the forthcoming Asian Games to be held in China in November this year.

Fix it

Pakistan balls short on World Cup goals

Twenty years ago, Faqeer Hussain took pride in his work, starry-eyed that the balls he hand-stitched in a grubby backroom in Pakistan were destined for the world's greatest players. Gracing the pitch of World Cups in glamorous Western cities, Hussain saw beyond the grind of his job and dreamed of the beautiful game, and the players he admired but could never hope to meet. A decade ago, 70 per cent of the world's soccer balls were made in the Pakistani town of Sialkot, but footballs that Hussain stitches from leather panels today will be offside at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Outrage in the West over child labour and the onset of machine-made balls mean that the five million balls suppliers are readying for South Africa will be for training and promotional uses only.

I used to take a lot of pride in stitching soccer balls, because the world's best players would play with it but now it's only my job,” said Hussain, 58. As with countless other industries built on labour in developing countries, workers like him are at the bottom of the food chain. He says he gets the equivalent of 80 cents a ball, sold for 10 dollars (840 rupees) to international retailers who in turn make four times the profit. Sialkot gained international celebrity status when it produced the “Tango” ball for the 1982 World Cup inSpain, kicking off a lucrative industry. The town now manufactures sports equipment sold all over the world. For years it has been a beacon of commercial success in Punjab, where unemployment runs high and the Taliban have stepped up recruitment from the morass of disaffected youth in the south of the province.

But recession exacerbated by instability from Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked suicide attacks in the country, a crippling power crisis and a preference for machine-made balls, have hit the football cottage industry. China is where Adidas chose to produce the 2010 World Cup ball -- the thermally bonded “Jabulani”, which means “celebrate” in Zulu and billed on the FIFA website as “the most stable and most accurate Adidas ball ever”. Demand is not even 20 per cent of what it used to be,” admits Zia-ur-Rehman, chairman of the Pakistan Sports Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PSGMEA). “We badly need government support. If it comes only then we would be able to keep the industry kicking,” he said.

London olympics mascot......What were they thinking?

Moulded from steel left over from the last girder on the Olympic stadium, London's 2012 mascots are neither cuddly nor cute but organisers say the gleaming one-eyed metallic forms will strike a chord with children. As the covers were removed by two pupils in front of wide-eyed classmates and LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe at an east London school a mere javelin throw from the heart of the Games, Wenlock and Mandeville were introduced to the world.

It was the culmination of an 18-month project to come up with an enduring image for the Games and a merchandising gimmick to keep the cash tills ringing as 2012 targets 16 millions ($22.80 million) in revenue from Games memorabilia.

Facebook, now you tube blocked in pakistan

Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube in a bid to contain “blasphemous” material, officials said on Thursday. The blockade came hours after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) directed Internet service providers to stop access to social network Facebook indefinitely on Wednesday because of an online competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad.

Wahaj-us-Siraj, the CEO of Nayatel, an Internet service provider, said PTA issued an order late on Wednesday seeking an “immediate” blockade of YouTube. “It was a serious instruction as they wanted us to do it quickly and let them know after that,” he told Reuters.YouTube was also blocked in Pakistan in 2007 for about a day for what it called un-Islamic videos.

Interesting formation of clouds....

'I am still heartbroken' - Ajmal

Pakistan offspinner Saeed Ajmal has said the pain of losing the semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20 to Australia still lingers, having bowled the last over which conceded the game. Pakistan were firm favourites with Australia needing 18 off the final over, but Michael Hussey bludgeoned Ajmal for three sixes and a four to hand his team a miraculous win, with a ball to spare.

"When Hussey hit the last six I was absolutely heartbroken, I am still heartbroken," Ajmal told PakPassion.net. "It was a very emotional and difficult time for me. My team-mates all came up to me and consoled me and told me not to worry, but I was very upset. The pain is there, when you lose a game of this magnitude it hurts really badly".

"All of the squad, from the players to the coaches to the backroom staff have said to me that I wasn't to blame for the defeat and they have all said that we played as a unit, we won matches as a unit and we all take responsibility as a unit for the defeat," Ajmal said. "There is no question of anyone pointing the finger at any individuals".

That Ajmal bowled the over was part of a plan, having succeeded in shutting South Africa out of the contest in their previous game. He said he wanted to fire in yorkers to keep Hussey in check, but things didn't go according to script.

"The first delivery was perfect, it was what I had planned, it was a perfect yorker to Mitchell Johnson and it only went for a single," he said. "However, then the wind seemed to pick up and I was bowling into the wind which made me lose my line and length. I dragged the next delivery down and instead of bowling yorkers into the blockhole for the remaining deliveries as I tried to fire the ball in at the batsman, the deliveries ended up being quick and became length deliveries, which was what Hussey was hoping for. He was then able to get the elevation on the deliveries, instead of having to dig them out".

Ajmal said the best way to shrug off the disappointment was to start bowling again. "The best way for me to get over this match is to start playing cricket again, get the ball in my hand and to start bowling again.

"Thankfully the Asia Cup is not far away and I am looking forward to playing in that tournament in Sri Lanka. I have faith in my ability and I am confident that I can bounce back after the match in St Lucia".

Tikka guy!!

Found an interesting post about the chicken tikka guy. This is for all those guys who lived in kuwait during 80s....

The actor who played the “I like it spicy” character was Galal Zaki. He wasn’t an actor, he worked in the ad agency that came up with the idea. Like Alfred Hitchcock, Galal liked to star in his own work and that’s how he ended up becoming the Tikka guy. the picture below is of Galal Zaki which I found on Google and is dated 2007. Although a lot older now you can still see some resemblance.

Hitler just found out that pak lost in semifinal!

Khan dominates Malignaggi in 11th round stoppage

NEW YORK: Junior welterweight champion Amir Khan stopped former titleholder Paulie Malignaggi in the 11th round of a brutally efficient, one-sided fight Saturday to retain is WBA title. Using superior speed and crisp right hands, the former British Olympian made good on his promise to quiet the flamboyant Malignaggi, who was fighting just across the river from his home in Brooklyn.

Malignaggi's face was red and swollen from the middle rounds on, and he had to lobby the ringside doctor before the 11th round just to let him continue. Khan (23-1, 17 KOs) backed Malignaggi against the ropes and threw a series of unanswered blows before referee Steve Smoger finally stepped between them at 1:25 of the round. Malignaggi (27-4) didn't argue with the decision, tapping his chest and congratulating Khan on the victory.

''He knows how to win rounds, man,'' Malignaggi said. ''He has a lot of ability.''

The crowd of about 5,000 inside Madison Square Garden was just as revved up before the fight, when a contingent of fans in the middle of the arena stood up and began waving two British flags flanking a Pakistani flag.

No shame in St Lucia

Pakistan went out of the Twenty20 World Cup with their heads held high. Until the very last over they had confounded all expectations and had the match in their grasp. But an incredible finish from Michael Hussey stole one of the most incredible matches in Twenty20 history.

The cut and thrust of this format is such that a match can be won or lost within moments, and so it transpired. Australia are an immensely powerful team and it is to Pakistan's credit that they pushed them so close.

Pakistan fans should feel proud of the way their players applied themselves. There is no shame in this defeat, or in this valiant defence of their title. In some ways, it would have been undesirable for another World Cup victory to paper over the failings of the PCB or of squad selection. Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis have produced a decent outcome from the shambles they inherited.

Defeat can divide but sometimes it can be a platform to build upon. That's how Pakistan must view this day. Fortune helped them to another semi-final, and the semi-final gave them a glimpse of a better future.

With the right management of Pakistan cricket, the team can become a serious force. But that requires a major overhaul of the PCB - and that's a longer shot than Hussey scoring 18 off a Saeed Ajmal over.

singh is king!

About a century or two ago, the Pope decided that all the Sikhs had to leave Italy. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Sikh community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Sikh community. If the Sikh won, the Sikhs could stay. If the Pope won, the Sikhs would leave.

The Sikhs realized that they had no choice. So they picked a middle-aged man named Harbinder Singh to represent them. Harbinder asked for one additional condition to the debate. To make it more interesting, neither side would be allowed to talk.

The Pope agreed.

The day of the great debate came. Harbinder Singh and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute. Then the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers.
Harbinder looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Harbinder pointed to the ground where he sat.
The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Harbinder pulled out an apple.
The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This man is too good. The Sikhs can stay.

An hour later, the cardinals were gathered around the Pope asking him what had happened. The Pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the holy trinity; he responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still One God common to both our religions. Then, I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that God was also right here with us. Then, I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"

Meanwhile, the Sikh community had crowded around Harbinder Singh.
"What happened?" they asked. "Well," said Harbinder, "First he said to me that the Sikhs had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Sikhs. I let him know that we were staying right here." "Yes, and then???" asked the crowd.
"I don't know", said Harbinder, "He took out his lunch, and I took out mine!!

Pakistan coach Waqar lauds “amazing” Hussey

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis refused to blame his side after they were on the receiving end of an astonishing Australia fightback in Friday’s Twenty20 World Cup semi-final in St Lucia. Australia needed an unlikely 53 to win from 21 balls but Michael Hussey turned the game on its head with a breathtaking 60 not out in just 24 balls, including three sixes and a four in successive balls in the last over. I can’t really blame anyone. I thought we bowled pretty well and batted outstandingly,” Waqar told reporters after his team’s three-wicket defeat. “I still can’t believe it. All you can do is just smile about it. You can only try your best. I thought we did our best. What else can you do?

It was an unbelievable innings (by Hussey), you don’t see many like that around. The way he maneouvered the ball was excellent ... the way he struck it was just amazing,” said the former Pakistan paceman. Waqar said Cameron White’s 43 in 31 balls set the tone for the opposition’s successful run-chase after Pakistan had totalled a mighty 191 for six. The Australians were too good for us today,” he said. “I don’t think we went wrong anywhere, we did a good job but you’ve just got to give credit to the Australians for the way they batted. They kept the momentum with them all the way especially Cameron White’s innings ... then Hussey did the real damage. It’s hard to beat them when they’ve still got (good) batters coming in at number nine. They can maybe improve a little bit in their bowling but they are a very fine batting side. Waqar attached no blame to spinner Saeed Ajmal, who bowled the last over, or on skipper Shahid Afridi who handed him the ball. Saeed Ajmal bowled superbly in the last game we played but what can you do when someone is batting like that?” said the coach. Saeed Ajmal has been our best bowler in this entire tournament, and in the last couple of years. You cannot really blame him. Waqar expects a classic final when Australia take on England in Barbados on Sunday. It’s going to be a very good game,” he said. “We’ve seen a great game here and I’m looking forward to another thriller in the final. They are both playing really well. England are on top of their form.

It’s just a matter of holding your nerves in the final. But the way Australia played today, they are very dangerous,” added Waqar.

Khan hopes to make name for himself in America

Like so many boxers before him, Amir Khan has arrived in the United States seeking the twin pillars of success: fame and fortune. The junior welterweight champion from Britain is armed with a charming personality, natural charisma, 24-karat smile and an almost unparalleled ability to throw a stiff right cross. Yet none of that matters here, at least not yet. Because even though Khan is well known in Europe, where he's fought his entire career, he is starting all over in America. His fight Saturday night on HBO against Paulie Malignaggi would have filled the biggest arenas in London, but only about 7,000 fans will squeeze into the small theater at Madison Square Garden to see him defend his title.

The 23-year-old former Olympian also knows it won't be easy. That much became clear when it took several weeks and a trip to Canada just to get the paperwork to fight in the US. He'd been preparing with trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under a tourist visa, but his application for one that would have allowed him to work was ensnared in red tape. Khan went to the British consulate in Vancouver, British Columbia, to expedite the process, but he was constantly stonewalled by the Department of Homeland Security. “I knew he was going to get it, I just didn't know when,” Roach said of the visa. Neither did his promoters, nor the executives at HBO, who grew more nervous as the days melted away. It reached the point where the fight was only a day or two from being called off. Then the news came Friday that Khan's work visa had been approved, without any reason given for the delay. He assumes it had something to do with his Pakistani heritage — his grandparents migrated from the Punjab province to England in the 1950’s — and the investigation linking the Pakistani Taliban to the recent failed Times Square bombing.

Samsung earphones!

Gatecrashing the party

Many critics and fans alike may term Pakistan’s backdoor route into the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup as a travesty of justice, a lucky break, a gross coincidence of errors, maybe even a cardinal sin. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who is of that opinion. In fact, I’d nod my head in solemn agreement if an incensed non-Pakistani cricket follower got in my face and spluttered his discontent about how we hadn’t even earned our place in the second round, let alone the semis.

Pakistan’s ascension to the semifinal has been a story of failure, desperation, kismet, and fortuitousness. In getting this far, we have defied the bookmakers’ odds, as well as our own meagre form, and confounded most analysts. By refusing to go away despite several attempts to slam the door in our faces we have probably irritated and upset a lot of people.

And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Let me tell you something: merit is way overrated. “You get what you deserve,” “you reap what you sow.” Whatever. We won the last Twenty20 World Cup on merit and where did that get us? I’ll tell you where.

For one thing, we were publicly humiliated by being excluded from the Indian Premier League. I mean, couldn’t the franchises have just told us that we were too much of a security and political risk to invest in? Why make us go through a farcical auction process. They had to embarrass the Twenty20 champs by laughing them out of the auction house and telling them that none of their franchises had a place in their squad for the men who mastered the format.

“No Shahid bhai, Rajasthan would rather bank on the explosive talent of Aaron Finch.” “Sorry Razzaq, Delhi feel that Andrew McDonald is the next Richard Hadlee.” “Can’t help you, Umar Gul. Kolkata would rather spend its vast reserves of cash on keeping the redoubtable talent of Ajit Agarkar in the team.” By the way, how did the season turn out for you guys, then?

So if you’re looking for a travesty of justice, look no further than our snubbing at the hands of Lalit Modi’s circus. Which is why I’m quite pleased at the manner we’ve stumbled into the semi-finals. It’s like our team collectively slapped the rest of the cricketing world in their faces. Earn ICC silverware? Not on your life. We’ll play club cricket and still manage to outlast the better teams.

Secondly, you know another problem with success based on merit? Once you achieve it, you start to expect more of it. You begin to think that the momentum earned through hard work is going to pay off in this future. You’re on cloud nine and brimming with confidence. And then Australia happens and you get smacked back down to the bowels of the earth. It still hurts to reflect on what the country expected from the team in that series in Australia and what we ended up getting. Our massacre down under will leave a scar on the national psyche so deep it will take years to erase.

Or perhaps just a potential final or semi-final victory.

Does anyone still believe that to be unlikely? Unlikely is our middle name, apparently. And now that fate has conspired to put us in a position we don’t deserve to be in, it is only fair that we return the favour by eliminating a team that is rightfully entitled to be in a similar position. It’s not like we haven’t done it before.

You’ll hear a lot of 1992 World Cup references over the next few days, a tournament in which we weren’t the masters of our own destiny and were counting on various permutations to progress to the semi-finals. We also weren’t a good team by any stretch of the imagination over the first three quarters of that tournament, but managed to pull it all together when it really mattered.

Things have come full circle since then. Now, we’re coming off a string of three successive losses and our most recent victory was against a puzzlingly uninspired South African side. Umar Akmal and Afridi may have impressed with the bat, but 140 odd wasn’t a competitive total by any means. Yet, against all reason, it proved adequate. There was a point when AB DeVilliers threatened to make a game out of it in the space of one over and the Pakistan team’s hearts were in their mouths. However, AB played a needlessly cute ramp shot into Kamran’s flimsy hands and suddenly we had toppled a giant.

Then came the waiting and praying game. The freedom fighters who gave their lives for liberation from British imperialist hegemony in 1947 must have turned over in their graves upon feeling the aura of pro-English sentiment emanating from Pakistan. Luckily for us, our prayers were answered and we managed to sneak into the semi-finals like a bunch of thieves.

So I say merit, justice, and logic can go to hell. Been there, done that, don’t want to go through the repercussions again. It’s time we turned back the clocks and attempted to win a tournament like the good old days of 1992. Back in those days, no one had high expectations and yet we ended up winning the whole tournament. Face it, unpredictability is in our blood. We have madness down to a science. If our players are going to be accused of being ‘retards‘, might as well win the trophy in as retarded a fashion as possible. Here’s to a Duckworth-Lewis technicality taking us to the final.

Hindi sadhu's 83 years without food and water?!

AHMEDABAD: An 83-year-old Indian holy man who says he has spent seven decades without food or water has astounded a team of military doctors who studied him during a two-week observation period.

Prahlad Jani spent a fortnight in a hospital in the western India state of Gujarat under constant surveillance from a team of 30 medics equipped with cameras and closed circuit television.

During the period, he neither ate nor drank and did not go to the toilet. We still do not know how he survives,” neurologist Sudhir Shah told reporters after the end of the experiment. “It is still a mystery what kind of phenomenon this is. The long-haired and bearded yogi was sealed in a hospital in the city of Ahmedabad in a study initiated by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the state defence and military research institute.

The DRDO hopes that the findings, set to be released in greater detail in several months, could help soldiers survive without food and drink, assist astronauts or even save the lives of people trapped in natural disasters.

“(Jani's) only contact with any kind of fluid was during gargling and bathing periodically during the period,” G. Ilavazahagan, director of India's Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), said in a statement.

Jani has since returned to his village near Ambaji in northern Gujarat where he will resume his routine of yoga and meditation. He says that he was blessed by a goddess at a young age, which gave him special powers.

During the 15-day observation, which ended on Thursday, the doctors took scans of Jani's organs, brain, and blood vessels, as well as doing tests on his heart, lungs and memory capacity. The reports were all in the pre-determined safety range through the observation period,” Shah told reporters at a press conference last week. Other results from DNA analysis, molecular biological studies and tests on his hormones, enzymes, energy metabolism and genes will take months to come through.

“If Jani does not derive energy from food and water, he must be doing that from energy sources around him, sunlight being one,” said Shah. As medical practitioners we cannot shut our eyes to possibilities, to a source of energy other than calories.”

PAK IN SEMIS!!!!

Pakistan might not win this World Cup but this day in May will become legend in the history of Pakistan cricket. Improbable odds of qualification for the semi-finals were lengthened when Shahid Afridi announced his team. Khalid Latif in, Mohammad Sami out. A batsman for a bowler, leaving one genuine pace bowler in the starting XI. Brave or bonkers? It was a gamble that convulsed Pakistan fans. It turned out to be a stroke of genius.

When Latif played a lame stroke to end his innings, Pakistan's innings was a mess, South Africa were rampant. Contests between Pakistan and South Africa are always visually fascinating. In the flesh, the South Africans are gigantic, each man several times thicker in stature than his Pakistani opponent. Yet for the second World Cup running, the wiry frames of Pakistan's players were controlled by cooler nerves.

The revival by the Akmal brothers and Pakistan's captain was thrilling enough. But the bowling performance, supported by another efficient fielding display, was exceptional. Saeed Ajmal and Afridi rejoined their compelling Twenty20 partnership, with Ajmal possibly producing the spell of the tournament. In the field, Afridi was passionate, encouraging, and foul-mouthed. An ideal combination for a Pakistan captain.

Nonetheless, it would be daft to pretend that Pakistan deserve to be semi-finalists. Afridi's team have been generally awful, struggling to find the right balance and any kind of strategy. But after such a desperate tour of Australia and the destructive infighting of recent months, players and fans were due some better fortune.

Encouragingly, Pakistan's bowling has returned to form in the last two games. The fielding has become helpful. Afridi has generally gone with his heart, his impulses; a more natural method for his captaincy. He has found form, a vital pillar of credibility for any leader. Passage to the semi-final should help settle him further. Pakistan have got off death row and go into the final rounds exhilarated.

But they could not have done it without England, every Pakistani's second favourite team. When Pakistan required England to win, not once but twice, England delivered. Now Pakistan's route to the semi final echoes the 1992 World Cup. Indeed, England's helping hand could come back to haunt them as it did then.

Pakistan will probably have to overcome a formidable Australian team. Afridi's men will be clear underdogs but that means they have nothing to lose. Moreover, Pakistan's batsmen will prefer to tackle Australia's lightning attack on the Lahori wicket of St Lucia. Pakistan now have momentum and anything is possible in Twenty20.

A semi-final berth was as much as Pakistan fans realistically hoped for. The title defence continues. Whatever the turmoil and conspiracies in the background, fans will always support their team, especially if they battle as they have done in the last two matches. But it is the sudden twists in fortune that make Pakistan compelling viewing. Doubly so when they come on the back of an utterly surprising team selection.

Brave and bonkers is the Afridi method. The rollercoaster just got steeper and deeper.

Top ten buildlings of kuwait

Two pakistani women elected in british parliament!

LONDON: Two Pakistani-British women were among three women who became the first Muslim females to be elected to the British parliament following their success in Thursday’s national polls. Yasmin Qureshi, a 47-year-old practising barrister, held on to the Labour seat from Bolton south east constituency (north west England), by taking 18,782 votes against her Conservative party rival Andy Morgan who polled 15,827 votes. The other successful woman was Oxford-educated Barrister Shabana Mahmood, a Labour candidate, who won with 19,950 votes. The third successful woman was Roshan Ara Ali of Bangladeshi-descent, who won East London constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow with 21,784 votes.

Pakistan successfully test-fires two missiles

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has successfully test-fired two ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

According to ISPR, Shaheen-1 missile has range of about 400 miles (650kilometers), while the second Ghaznavi missile could hit target at a distance of 180 miles (290 kilometers).

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, General Tariq Pervaiz and Admital Nauman Bashir witnessed Saturday’s launch.

PCB unveils inquiry report on Australian tour

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) inquiry committee report regarding team’s poor performance in Australia has been unveiled which reveals that match fixing, oath taking of players on the Holy Quran against Younis Khan, chit chat with girls at boundary line and disputes among the players. According to report, Pakistan former captain Muhammad Yousuf called six players to his room and forced them to take an oath on the Holy Quran that they would not accept Younis Khan as captain. The inquiry committee recommendations led to the board banning Younis Khan, Muhammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved and fining Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal.

The inquiry report also said that former Test bowler, Aaqib Javed who was sacked as assistant manager after the tours had told the inquiry committee that Younis Khan was not liked by anyone in the team when he was captain. "Younis was not liked by any player and they were at least six players who were vocal against him. Younis was an arrogant captain who didn't listen to anyone," Aaqib told the inquiry committee.

The former pacer is also claimed to have told the committee that Younis, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi were the main troublemakers in the team. Other excerpts of the report said that pacer Rana Naved had told the inquiry committee that there were players in the Indian Premier League who had links with bookmakers. Former Pakitan coach Intikhab Alam has said some of the national team players behaved as if they were "mentally retarded" during a woeful tour of Australia. Alam told the committee that some of the players did not understand how to conduct themselves when representing the country. The former coach also pointed fingers at Shoaib Malik as "someone with a negative attitude and active in intrigues in the team."

Jordanian woman body-builder takes on world of prejudice

AMMAN: Her highly muscled body is smothered in tattoos, she is constantly criticised by her fellow Jordanians and she suffers deep inner torment.

No matter what it takes, however, 26-year-old Farah Malhass is determined to become the first Arab woman to enter an international body-building competition."Everyone is against me. No one understands why I want to become an international star in figure body-building," she told AFP.

Her pursuit comes at great personal cost; many Jordanian men have strict views on "correct" behaviour for women, as witnessed by the frequent so-called honour killings –of female family members suspected of having sex before marriage.

Malhass is a sitting target for Jordan's hardliners, not least of all because her body is covered in tattoos: a bare-breasted angel is depicted on her upper thighs, angel wings cover her back, and edgy statements are branded across her arms.

"You are somebody when you stop being nobody," reads one. "Only the one who hurts you can heal your pain," reads another.

"The tattoo is vital for me. It reveals my identity and the path I want to follow," says Malhass, who travels regularly to Beirut to get her tattoos after receiving her first one at the age of 17. "Yes, it hurts, but it is therapeutic at the same time because the pain allows me to overcome the inner suffering that eats away at me," she says.

Hailing from a well-off Jordanian family as one of two daughters, Malhass's parents are divorced. She has no contact with her businessman father and her mother is often away on travels."It was my grandfather who looked after us. He always spoiled me, but when I was 20 I wanted to live alone and achieve my dream."

A rebel from an early age, she has nurtured the dream since the age of 14, when she swore that one day it would be her pictures splashed out across the walls of the gym.

Malhass began training at 20, but soon came up against the disapproval of her family, who could not understand why she should chose to "deform my body and make myself look ugly."

So she enrolled at Saint Martins College in London to study fine art, but soon dropped out.
Back in Jordan, she joined the International Organisation for Migration in 2007 and worked with Iraqi immigrants, "an experience that scarred me with their stories of torture and abuse." Malhass left the IOM last year and is now totally committed to her ambition of taking part in international body-building competitions.

Today, she is on the verge of seeing her dream come true.

She is to travel to Canada in September to take part in an amateur body-building competition in the "figure" category, for muscle men and women who do not aim to develop huge biceps."If I win first prize, I would then be able to participate in professional competitions," she says.

But in Amman her plans are met with scepticism and derision far more than encouragement.

The Jordanian body-building federation has difficulty accepting a woman into its ranks. "Aren't you ashamed of parading in front of the world in a bikini," she is asked.

So far only one Jordanian athlete, Zeid al-Far, has supported her. He is also competing in Toronto and they are sharing the cost of their training.

They are also seeking sponsorship together but this is proving elusive, with just one radio station manager in Amman and a nightclub owner in Beirut taking any interest. "Preparations for the competition are expensive, with all the vitamins and other health supplements, gym membership, food – I've even sold my car to meet the costs," she says.

She insists she wants to reach her goal by herself, without family help.

"Besides, my grandfather is ill and if he ever learned that I was taking part in this kind of competition, he would certainly never recover."

Calling on Super Sahib

I will always love Superman: he fights for peace, justice, and the American (err… Pakistani?) way. I think he embodies all that we wish for in today’s corruption- and violence-ridden world. He is that rare individual who is unflappably decent (severe lack of grey moral areas), courageous (well not really, given that next to nothing can hurt him), and unstoppably awesome (like an earthquake, tsunami, or other national disaster).

But given the wave of anti-Americanism sweeping Pakistan, I think it’s time we coined a realistic desi Superman. What would he be like? What qualities would he embody? What would he look like? And what would he spend his time doing?

For starters, he would not want to be called Superman – he’s a Pakistani, dammit! He would have the option of being Super seth or Super saeen, but would probably opt for Super Sahib.

Moreover, he would be fat. I’m sorry, but if you have the ability to fly or float, you’re not going to spend a lot of time running, working out, or even walking for that matter. And let’s get real – cardio burns fat; natural floating buoyancy doesn’t.

Since Super Sahib would have a pot belly rivaling the entire consolidated Sharif clan, there is no way he would prance around in physique-hugging tights. Instead, the man would dress for comfort and rock out in a shalwar kameez – they are darn comfortable, after all.

Do you honestly think the most powerful being in this country would roam around in tights and wear his underwear on the outside? Let’s get real. He doesn’t need to prove anything or impress anyone! He’s Super Sahib. Besides, his desi Super Mummy would cry a river if he dressed like the spokesperson for the Gay Pride Parade.

In the fine tradition of chairmen, politicians, and mill owners, Super Sahib would probably wear a plain white shalwar kameez in the finest available latha. But given his stature, he’d probably have at least a few sponsors – Pepsi, McDonalds, etc. And when the likes of Shahid Afridi come to whack him for siphoning off their sponsorships, he’ll simply fly away.

Super Sahib’s favorite pastimes would include chilling on his farm in Chak Shehzad on a La-Z-Boy with multiple cup-holders, drinking sweet lassi, and watching his crops grow while the damsel in distress he just saved cooks vats of biryani and nihari for him.

Super Sahib won’t disguise himself or pass as a lame, non-descript news reporter; he’d be Super Sahib all the time and occasionally work as a ‘consultant’, charging fees that would make even Pakistani politicians look reasonable. Forget the superpower – Super Sahib will give us hydro-electric projects, drone technology, and economic development in a matter of minutes.

In keeping with Pakistanis’ reputation for philanthropy, Super Sahib would be extremely charitable. In addition to attending all the charity balls, fund-raisers, fashion shows, and flower shows that he is invited to, Super Sahib will donate (read: sell) all his toenail clippings for cancer research. He will regularly show off his sensitive side by crying when Pakistan loses a cricket match, or when Sania Saeed or Nadia Jamil appear in a televised drama serial.

The fact is, we are a country that yearns for the help of supermen and their superpowers, because we refuse to do anything for ourselves. Our hearts, minds, and our history are filled with different supermen (the only problem is, we can’t seem to agree on who the real superman or superpower at any given time was). And so it is that we await, with bated breath, the coming of Super Sahib, who will (inshallah) fix all our nation’s problems.

WOMEN AS EXPLAINED BY ENGINEERS!‏

The beauty of watching Pakistan play

Cricket has this wonderful way of throwing up extraordinary events that sometimes teaches us to simply accept the beautiful unpredictability of sport without reading any sinister intentions into it. Struggling to stay awake at about 5 am this morning (Australia time), I was enthralled by a five-wicket maiden over at the end of Australia’s innings in the Twenty20 World Cup match in St Lucia. That an amazing finish to an innings that was rocketing along at breakneck speed just a few overs earlier when David Hussey collared Mohammad Sami.

When was the last time a team that lost 5 wickets for no runs in an over comfortably won a cricket match? That says a lot about how good this Australian team is. It also served as a sobering reminder that when such extraordinary events happen, we should sometimes dispense with our cynicism and appreciate the theatre and drama of sport for what it is. Watching that last over, there was no doubt in my mind that this was a bizarre but brilliant passage of play by Pakistan and an equally poor performance by Australia. Nothing more, nothing less. Just one of those things that can happen sometimes.


Very little else about Australia’s play was poor and Pakistan had little else to celebrate but for this single over. If the situation had been reversed, I wonder if there would have been the usual murmurings and suspicions about how Pakistan could possibly have lost five wickets for no runs in six balls. And that would have been most terribly unfair on Pakistan because as we’ve just seen, amazing things can happen sometimes without having to question the integrity of such events.

Like in Sydney a few months ago, Australia fought back brilliantly and Pakistan stumbled at the last hurdle to complete a memorable game of cricket. It was compelling cricket and Pakistan played their part in one of the most enjoyable Test matches in recent memory, only to have to defend themselves against some scurrilous suggestions that something was rotten in the camp. And sadly for Pakistan, they seem to unfairly have to put up with frequent innuendo of this nature, even when there is little evidence to point to anything but brilliant, poor, inspired, imaginative, freakish moments in a cricket match. It’s the beauty of the way they play cricket, richly talented, often unpredictable, capable of the brilliant and bizarre in the space of a few minutes. That’s one of the reasons I’ve always loved watching Pakistan play – you never quite know what to expect but you expect to be entertained, frustrated or bewitched at every twist and turn of the game. Sure, there have been some integrity issues with Pakistani cricket that have been well documented but we sometimes forget that just about every country has been implicated in the murky world of match-fixing and betting scandals.

Pakistan seem to be forever defending themselves against such accusations but that a roller-coaster ride is the very reason why they are such a watchable side. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve watched Pakistan chase a total and fall hopelessly behind the run rate, only to see the most amazing acceleration that defied the 40 overs that preceded it. Even this morning, despite feeling desperately sleepy and seeing Australia comfortably on top, I could not bring myself to switch off the TV in case Afridi, Misbah or Razzaq just exploded and pulled off a miracle. I only truly relaxed when Misbah was dismissed, despite the scoreboard willing me to call it quits and take an Aussie victory for granted.

There are not too many other sides in world cricket that make me that nervous, even when Australia are seemingly cruising towards victory. Perhaps South Africa with Boucher and Morkel still at the crease but theirs is a more clinical assault rather than the sheer unpredictability of a Pakistani cyclone. It’s Boom-boom or Bust! Whatever the criticisms of modern cricket, one cannot argue that it lacks for entertainment, sheer skill and firepower. I love watching Australia bat for that reason. I love watching Australia in the field for that reason. Even on their bad days, even when the eyelids are heavy from watching two consecutive games of cricket in the middle of the night and a warm bed is calling, when Pakistan are chasing down an impossible target, it’s easy to see why Bon Jovi said “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”.

Who is this idiot faisal shahzad?

Not long ago, Faisal Shahzad had a pretty enviable life: He became an American citizen after emigrating from Pakistan, where he came from a wealthy family. He earned an MBA. He had a well-educated wife and two kids and owned a house in a middle-class Connecticut suburb.

In the past couple of years, though, his life seemed to unravel: He left a job at a global marketing firm he'd held for three years, lost his home to foreclosure and moved into an apartment in an impoverished neighborhood in Bridgeport. And last weekend, authorities say, he drove an SUV loaded with explosives into Times Square intent on blowing it up.

The bomb didn't go off, and Shahzad was arrested on a plane in New York as he tried to leave the country. He was in custody Tuesday and couldn't be reached for comment. Authorities say he is cooperating and has admitted getting explosives training in his native Pakistan.

Shahzad's behavior sometimes seemed odd to his neighbors, and he surprised a real estate broker he hardly knew with his outspokenness about President George W. Bush and the Iraq war.

"He mentioned that he didn't like Bush policies in Iraq," said Igor Djuric, who represented Shahzad in 2004 when he was buying a home.

Djuric said he couldn't remember the exact words Shahzad used about Bush but "something to the effect of he doesn't know what he's doing and it's the wrong thing that he's doing."

"I don't know if he mentioned 9/11," Djuric said, "but something like that, Iraq has nothing to do with anything."

Shahzad, 30, is the son of a former top Pakistani air force officer, according to Kifyat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad's father. He came to the United States in late 1998 on a student visa, according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the investigation into Saturday's failed car bombing.

He took classes at the now-defunct Southeastern University in Washington, D.C., then enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, where he received a bachelor's degree in computer applications and information systems in 2000.

"He was personable, a nice guy, but unremarkable," said William Greenspan, adviser for undergraduate business students at the University of Bridgeport. "He would just come in and take the course as needed so he could graduate in a timely manner."

"If this didn't happen, I probably would have forgotten him," Greenspan said. "He didn't stand out."

Shahzad was granted an H1-B visa for skilled workers in 2002, according to the official who spoke to the AP. He later returned to the University of Bridgeport to earn a master's in business administration, awarded in 2005.

In 2004, he and his wife, Huma Mian, bought a newly built home for $273,000 at the height of the market in Shelton, a Fairfield County town that in recent years has attracted companies relocating to Connecticut's Gold Coast.

Like her husband, Mian was well educated. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2004 with a bachelor of science in business with an emphasis in accounting, the school said.

On her profile on the social networking site Orkut, she described herself as "not political" and said she spoke English, Pashto, Urdu and French. She listed her passions as "fashion, shoes, bags, shopping!! And of course, Faisal." She posted a picture of Shahzad, smiling, with the caption, "what can I say ... he's my everything. Authorities say Shahzad returned to Pakistan then came back to the United States. He took an apartment in Bridgeport, and his landlord told investigators the apartment came with a garage that he alone had access to. The landlord also told police that he spotted two bags of fertilizer when he saw Shahzad entering the garage May 3.

He usually walks around alone, looking lonely and kind of depressed usually," Nejilia Gayden said.

Since Shahzad's arrest late Monday, investigators have removed fireworks and fertilizer from the property. They also recovered a gun from the car Shahzad had driven to the airport.

Federal agents also searched the empty home in Shelton on Tuesday after The Connecticut Post and The New York Times said its reporters had discovered a trove of rain-soaked documents outside the home. The Post's find included an old passport from Pakistan, an academic transcript from Southeastern University listing a grade point average of 2.78 and tax returns showing Shahzad earned $22,650 income as an account analyst in 2001.

The newspaper also found greeting cards, including one in which someone named Fayeza addressed him as "sweetest Faisal."

"Wish you happiness and joy now and always," the card said. "Praying for your bright future."

Beyond beauty

Far from the firestorm in Pakistan, Fatima Bhutto is currently launching her controversial memoir, Songs of Blood and Sword, in London. A recent launch event at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts was well attended by Pakistani expatriates, attired in their designer best and armed with fierce opinions about the Bhutto family. For the most part, that is.

At the post-launch reception, an acquaintance complained that Bhutto had not made any revelations, jibed that Pakistanis ask dumb (read tame) questions, and concluded that all political blather is a waste of time. “In that case, why are you here?” I asked. His pat answer: “Because Fatima is smoking hot.”

This crass response is not an uncommon reaction to Bhutto, whose good looks have been reviewed almost as vigorously as her latest book. In a profile for TheTelegraph, Janine di Giovanni wrote: “Fatima is tiny and beautiful, but largely unaware of her beauty.... Her face is clear of make-up (unlike her aunt, who adored red lipstick and thick foundation).” The Guardian’s Susanna Rustin opted for similar adjectives, painting Bhutto as “beautiful, small and elegant”.

Esteemed writer Khushwant Singh was more profuse in his praise, describing Bhutto as a “stunner” and waxing eloquent about the “pinhead of a diamond sparkling on the left side of her nose and her long jet-black curly hair falling on her shoulders”. Even Bhutto’s publishers felt that her looks should be exploited to sell her books — the back flap of the book jacket is virtually free of text, plastered instead with a striking, softly lit profile picture of the writer.

In 2010, in an era that has often been described as post-feminist, this sort of commentary about a female writer should be unacceptable. It should be considered inappropriate to blatantly objectify someone who has put herself in the public sphere in the capacity of a journalist, a historian, a memoirist, and even a political figure. What, after all, does Bhutto’s presence have to do with her prose, political convictions and propensity for historical research?

Bhutto’s detractors, who have described her as naïve and biased, and her work as fictionalised or poorly researched, are showing her more respect than those who gush over her beauty. Such critics are engaging with her on the terms that she has asked the world to engage with her on — as a writer, a historian, an intellectual. In taking her to task, they have placed her memoir — not her appearance — under scrutiny.

Unfortunately, Bhutto is not the first Pakistani woman who has braved the public sphere on the might of her brains, only to be judged on the basis of her beauty. One of Pakistan’s leading novelists, a brilliant and witty woman, laughingly confessed that for a while, if you Googled her name, the search engine would toss up the word ‘husband’ as a popular prompt. In other words, this writer’s fans were more interested in finding out if she’s snagged a man than in her titles, teaching experience or book tours.

It is also well known that no women are more attacked or appraised for their fashion choices than Pakistan’s ministers and parliamentarians. Female politicians who care for their appearance are often accused of indulging in inappropriate acts to get to the top; those who don’t are mercilessly mocked. Precious little is said about their policy initiatives as compared to the hefty debate on their kurtas and kajol.

Further, among female columnists I know, there is a running joke that our best work incites the most marriage proposals. Indeed, feedback to these columns is regularly peppered with propositions and judgments (both good and bad) on my looks. By including an email address at the end of this column, I open myself up to criticism, correction, education, and, yes, on a good day, praise. Having my profile picture evaluated is not part of my job description.

Given the who-killed-who proportions of the controversy that Bhutto’s book has generated, making the point that people should not be obsessing about her beauty may seem insignificant. And I apologise to those who feel a feminist rant is a bit much to deal with on a Sunday morning. But the fact is, this is a crucial time for Pakistani women to demand that men — and for that matter, other women — stop objectifying them, and start taking them seriously.

In a post-Zia era, Pakistani women are starting to take flight on the wings of women’s rights activists (the term ‘feminist’ has been out of vogue most of my adult life). They are making their mark as professionals, academics, athletes, journalists, writers, bankers and more. Granted, most of these women are educated, urban, and hail from the middle or upper classes. But that trend, too, is changing. As increasing poverty, unemployment and inflation put enormous pressure on families, women from all social strata are being compelled to contribute to the household income.

And here’s a little advance lesson based on global economic trends: women who work enjoy a disposable income, and are good about saving a little something at the end of each month. They often spend these savings on themselves; on their education, health, fitness, beauty and fashion. That means the more learned, financially empowered and self-sufficient women get, the better they look. This is why Pakistanis need to train themselves for a future in which women — beautiful, stylish, well-groomed women — will succeed in different arenas. And like Bhutto today, these women will deserve to be evaluated on the strength of their formulations, not their form.

For once, our government has set the right precedent. On an abstract level, the recently approved Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill was calling for just this: that women who work no longer be objectified, sexualised, harassed, or privileged on the basis of their looks. If our law has enshrined a value, we should embrace it. More importantly, we should celebrate Pakistani women for the skills, talent, professionalism and intellectual merit that they have to offer.

Pakistani arrested in NYC

NEW YORK – A Pakistan-born U.S. citizen accused of driving a bomb-laden SUV into Times Square and parking it on a street lined with restaurants and Broadway theaters was to appear in court Tuesday to face charges that he tried to set off a massive fireball and kill Americans, federal authorities said.

The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was taken into custody late Monday by FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives at Kennedy Airport while trying to board a flight to Dubai, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other officials. He was identified by customs agents and stopped before boarding, Holder said early Tuesday in Washington.

Shahzad is a naturalized U.S. citizen and had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he had a wife, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation into the failed car bombing.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan was handling the case and said Shahzad would appear in court Tuesday, but the charges were not made public. FBI agents searched the home at a known address for Shahzad in Bridgeport, Conn., early Tuesday, said agent Kimberly Mertz, who wouldn't answer questions about the search.

Authorities removed filled plastic bags from the house overnight in a mixed-race, working-class neighborhood of multi-family homes in Connecticut's largest city. A bomb squad came and went without entering as local police and FBI agents gathered in the cordoned-off street.

Shahzad was being held in New York overnight and couldn't be contacted. A phone number at a listed address for Shahzad in Shelton, Conn., wasn't in service.

Pakistan without Muslims, a village in India’s Bihar state

PATNA: There is not a single Muslim living in this village, yet it is named Pakistan. This Pakistan is situated in Purnea district of Bihar.

Notwithstanding recent tension and four wars the people of that village oppose change in the name of the village. This is notwithstanding the demand by some people to change the name. The villagers do not want the two countries to fight.

A Lahore datelined report in a Pakistani daily quoting BBC said that the villagers want to spread the message of peace and brotherhood.

This Indian––or rather Bihari––Pakistan is a village situated on the border with West Bengal and the native Muslim population migrated to the then East Pakistan in 1947. It is in the memory of those Muslims that the locals had named the village Pakistan, said the report.

Before the State Re-organization Commission’s recommendation in 1956, the then undivided district of Purnea was contiguous to East Pakistan. However, in 1956 Islampur sub-division was given to West Bengal, which now forms the international border with Bangladesh.

Many Pakistanis have their roots in India and many of them root for India. There is Bihar Colony, Delhi Colony, Aligarh Colony etc in Pakistan, especially Karachi.

Similarly many western Punjabis living in India do not hesitate in declaring their roots. Shops like Lahori Halwa, Sialkot Sports, Peshawar Store etc can be found in many places.

But, there is perhaps no India, Bharat or Hindustan in Pakistan and no Pakistan, barring this one, in India.

Aamer delivers five-wicket maiden

There was a bizarre finish to the Australia innings as five wickets fell for no runs in the final over, from Pakistan's left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer during their Group A match at the Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia.

Brad Haddin was caught off the first ball, Mitchell Johnson clean bowled off the second with both Michael Hussey and Steven Smith run out by direct hits from wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal as they tried to run byes. Tait survived the fifth ball but was bowled off the last for nought. Aamer finished with three for 23 from his four overs.

Aamer's feat is yet another bowling record for Pakistan in Twenty20 internationals and prompted former Australian captain Ian Chappell to say, “I don't think I'll get over saying 'five-wicket maiden', ever.”

How internet reaches you!

Best catch in IPL3

Police car clamped!!!

Egyptian painting fetches record $2.43m

A work by Egyptian master Mahmud Said sold for $2.43 million at an auction in Dubai, a record for a modern painting by a Middle Eastern artist, auction house Christie’s said.

The painting, ‘Les Chadoufs’, portrays Egyptian peasants drawing water from the Nile. Christie’s, which organised Tuesday night’s auction at a luxury hotel in Dubai, had estimated its value at between 150,000 and $200,000. The identity of the buyer was not revealed. The British auction house said the price was a “record for any modern painting by any Middle Eastern artist.” The auction was attended by dozens of buyers, with others participating by telephone or online.

A statement by Christie’s said the sale netted a total of $15.1 million s - more than double the $6.7 million raised during its auction last October in Dubai, which was hard hit by the global financial crisis.

The painting by Said, an Egyptian artist who died in 1964 aged 67, belonged to former mayor of the Saudi city of Jeddah, Mohammed Said Farsi. It was auctioned along with 25 other works from Farsi’s private collection at a total price of $8.7 million. afp

Taliban cash in on Pakistan’s untapped gem wealth

In the narrow lanes of a market in Pakistan's northwest capital Peshawar, dealers squat on carpets and spread out a rainbow of precious gems on the floor for potential buyers.

Chunks of bright blue lapis lazuli, and rough rocks studded with flashes of light and colour clutter window displays, but no one is buying in a city hit by a wave of deadly bombings blamed on Taliban militia.

A treasure trove of precious stones is locked in the rocks of Pakistan's rugged northwest. Violence, legal tussles and state mismanagement have deterred investors but allowed the Taliban to cash in on the bounty, dealers say.

‘God has given us enormous wealth in terms of emeralds from Swat, rubies, pink topaz, beautiful tourmaline,’ said Ilyas Ali Shah, a gemologist with the government-run Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company.

Shah said that if Pakistan properly mines these deposits the impoverished country could reverse its hefty foreign debt: ‘But we need peace.’

In February this year, militants waging a bloody insurgency to expand control opened three shuttered emerald mines in the northwest Swat valley around the main town Mingora and invited villagers to blast away.

The military says it has reclaimed all Swat mines from the Taliban during a fierce offensive, but for at least three months proceeds from emerald sales lined the militants' coffers and helped bankroll their insurgency.

‘They would collect the emeralds and there would be an open tender every Sunday,’ said Azhar ul Islam, a 44-year-old gem trader from Swat. ‘The profits were divided up — two-thirds for the miner and one-third for the Taliban.’

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are believed to hold up to 30-40 per cent of the world's emerald deposits, Shah says, with the precious stone fetching up to 2,000 dollars per carat depending on quality.

Azhar told AFP the Taliban earned about four million rupees a week from Mingora's main mine — shuttered since 1995 because of a legal battle — money he said was spent on ‘buying explosives, making weapons.’

‘I was frightened what would happen if the government re-established control, so I didn't buy those emeralds from the mines, but most of my friends bought these emeralds from the Taliban,’ he said.

At the Namak Mandi market in Peshawar, another dealer from Swat who did not want to be named estimated that the militants made between five and six million rupees a week from the stones.

No one in the market would admit buying Swat emeralds from the Taliban, but one dealer said he procures green garnet from a Taliban-owned mine over the border in Afghanistan, where the militants are also waging an insurgency.

‘We don't like the Taliban, we don't buy it because we want to help them, but we want the stones,’ 30-year-old Ali Akbar told AFP.

He says his business has been crushed by spiralling insecurity in Pakistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States thrust the country into the heart of the ‘war on terror’.

‘For five months I had no customers,’ he said.

Shah says Pakistan's gem-industry profits have plunged up to 50 per cent in one year because of the instability, with foreign investors staying away.

Most of the country's gems, including emeralds, garnet, pink topaz, spinel and tourmaline are located underground in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the heartland of the Taliban insurgency.

Experts say the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) — a mountainous area largely outside government control along the Afghan border and stronghold of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud — hides deposits of rare quartz and precious stones.

‘I think we have explored three per cent of the whole of NWFP. We have large areas of Fata that are not under control, so we have a lot of precious material untapped which needs to be explored and exploited,’ Shah said.

Pervez Elahi Malik, former chairman of the main gem exporters' association, blames the local NWFP government for not sorting out legal tussles and getting potentially lucrative mines up and running under state control years ago.

At the moment, local villagers and tribesmen blast away at the rocks and transport their haul to Namak Mandi — a damaging mining process that experts say can destroy 80 per cent of the stones.

‘We are lacking in technical knowledge, we are lacking stability in the country,’ said Shah. ‘Our mining is not technically sound and safe — we are destroying our wealth.’ — AFP

Wasim tips Pakistan, India for World T20

KARACHI: Famed Pakistani paceman Wasim Akram tipped India and Pakistan on Wednesday as joint favourites to win the World Twenty20, saying the sub-continental giants have the talent and passion to triumph.

Pakistan will defend their title in the third edition of the World Twenty20, which starts in the West Indies on Friday. India won the first edition held in South Africa in 2007.

Wasim said both India and Pakistan are eager to win. “Pakistan have been starved of cricket, so they have the thirst to win the title again,” Wasim told AFP before leaving for New Delhi where he is booked as an expert television commentator the World Twenty20. Wasim said Pakistan have a leader in Shahid Afridi. “You need someone like Afridi as captain in Twenty20 cricket. He has aggression needed in a leader and in a short Twenty20 match he will always sparkle,” said Wasim, a member of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning team.

He said Pakistan can rise to the occasion despite being short on international cricket. “Pakistan has played very limited international cricket and their players were not in the Indian league, then they have off-field problems resulting in bans, but whenever there is a World Cup Pakistani players rise to the occasion.“Look at the available talent, Afridi can single-handedly win a Twenty20 match as he is equally lethal with bat and ball, and then the depth in bowling makes Pakistan favourites.”

Wasim said India was also eager to win.

“What I have seen is a remarkable passion in the Indian players as well as in the public to win this title, and they too have a very good team,” he said. The famous left-arm paceman, who has never played a Twenty20 international as the format started after his 2003 retirement, took 414 Test and 502 one-day wickets, and also played for Lancashire county with distinction.

“You cannot rule out an Indo-Pak final, which will do a world of good for international cricket.”Pakistan is placed in Group A alongwith Bangladesh and Australia, while India is in Group C with South Africa and Afghanistan. Two teams from each of four groups will qualify for Super Eight Stages. Wasim said Australia and South Africa were also strong. Australia and South Africa are also capable of winning but the nature of the West Indies pitches make Pakistan and India favourites, because they will help sub-continent spinners,” said Wasim.

“But to win a Twenty20 match you need to play good cricket for three and a half hours because the match can swing with one good performance, so teams on their toes all the time have good chances,” said Wasim.

T20 world cup: Teams from the subcontinent start favourites

A Going by past record alone, Pakistan are the firm favourites to lift the ICC World Twenty20 (if there can be anything called favourites in a format as fickle as this). They won the tournament last year, were the finalist in 2007, and have a much better overall record in 20-over cricket than any other side.

South Africa come closest to them, and in fact have a better win-loss ratio in the World Twenty20, but they've lost out in crucial games - to India in 2007, and to Pakistan in the 2009 edition. Australia, on the other hand, have a good record overall but a very poor one in World Cups. India, after a closely fought win over Pakistan in the 2007 final, have not had a very good time in the Twenty20 format. They have won just five and lost seven of the 12 games played since their victory. Sri Lanka, the finalists in 2009, are the only other team with a win-loss ratio of more than two in World Cups.

Performance of teams in T20 matches played Matches won Matches lost win-loss ratio T20 World Cup matches played Matches won Matches lost Win-loss ratio
Pakistan 30 22 7 3.14 14 10 3 3.33
South Africa 26 17 9 1.88 11 9 2 4.50
Australia 29 15 12 1.25 8 3 5 0.60
Sri Lanka 25 15 10 1.50 12 9 3 3.00
New Zealand 33 13 17 0.76 11 5 6 0.83
England 25 10 14 0.71 10 3 7 0.42
India 20 10 8 1.25 12 6 4 1.50
West Indies 21 8 11 0.72 8 3 5 0.60
Bangladesh 14 3 11 0.27 7 1 6 0.16
ZImbabwe 8 3 4 0.75 2 1 1 1.00

Madhuri the spy!

Madhuri Gupta, the 53-year-old second secretary at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad who has been arrested on charges of allegedly spying for Pakistan, was hoping for a plum diplomatic posting in either London or Washington.

"I should get London or Washington," a confident Gupta had told PTI a few months ago. Gupta had earlier served in the Indian mission in Baghdad and admitted that she was looking forward to another good posting sometime later this year.

Gupta made friends easily and could make great small talk. She could talk about clothes, hair styles or Pakistan's Urdu press -- 'where the real news was' -- with equal ease.

"English newspapers are boring. They always pick up news a day late. If you want to read real news, real gossip, read Urdu newspapers," she told PTI.

Gupta learnt Urdu in New Delhi shortly before she was posted to Pakistan in late 2007. She hired a Muslim woman as a private tutor to teach her.

"She taught me from scratch. I didn't even know my alif-bays," said Gupta, who had earlier learnt another foreign language at Jawaharlal Nehru [ Images ] University's school of languages.

Gupta spoke perfect Urdu and could have easily passed off as a Pakistani because of her accent. Like locals, she was always well dressed, her make-up was in place and her hair was coloured

"I bought this in Lajpat Nagar on my last trip to India [ Images ]," she said when friends recently praised her stylish new coat.

Gupta sometimes came across as brash and fearless, especially when she regaled friends with tales of driving to India via the Islamabad-Lahore motorway, often at breakneck speed.

"I did the Lahore motorway in three-and-a-half hours," she would tell friends, most of whom admired her guts for driving to and fro alone.

Most Indian diplomats travel in groups or with their families on such drives to the Indian border.

The small Indian community of diplomats and staffers of the High Commission in Islamabad would also bank on Gupta for getting them firecrackers or Holi colours during her trips to India.

"I will get natural colours, they won't harm your skin," she announced before a planned Holi celebration to those who didn't want to play with colours.

On a picnic to the picturesque Pir Sohawa viewpoint overlooking Islamabad sometime ago, she decided to be the spokeswoman for a group of Indian women, when a Pakistani woman entered their bus in the parking lot and asked if they had a cassette of 'bhajans'.

While most of the women were wondering how the Pakistani lady had figured out that they were Indians, Gupta dealt with her politely but firmly, ensuring that she got off the vehicle. "You give us your address and we will send you a cassette," Gupta said, taking the woman's address.

When she returned from her last trip to India, she told friends, "I am so tired. There is so much to do when you are in India. There is no time to relax. I feel I am back home now."

Gupta was quick to notice the expression on her friends' faces following her remark. "Home is where you live. Good or bad, this is home," she laughed out loud.

The new tobacco

Remember the Gold Leaf man? Suavely strolling through museum exhibits in his fine suit and riding thoroughbreds in his jodhpurs, as if a cigarette bestowed the gift of dandyism. Unfortunately for Mr. Dandy Cigarette-Smoking Man, cigarette ads in Pakistan went the way of the British and were kicked off the airwaves in 2003. I hear he’s currently looking for a job as Bilawal Zardari’s butler.

But a ‘new tobacco’ is on the block. It’s called junk food and its suffusing children’s programming like the second-hand smoke of four-pack-a-dayers in a small room. According to a consumer protection NGO, 50 to 70 per cent of ads on channels for children in Pakistan are about food – candies, toffees, jellies, ready-made cakes, cookies, noodles, juices and flavoured milk. It’s a cocktail high on salt, sugar, fats, artificial flavours, colours and preservatives.

You could argue that it’s the parents’ job to give their children the healthier option. I’ve seen a six-year-old sucking coke out of a milk bottle and a toddler wailing for his Fanta-filled sippy cup, and I’ve been properly horrified each time. In fact, 73 per cent of Pakistani children perceive soft drinks to be healthy for frequent consumption. But as every parent knows all too well to their dismay, beyond a certain point, the media, peers and society can easily override years of training. What do you do when all the kids are drinking soft drinks at a birthday party and you insist your little angel has the milk? That’s just uncool.

My daughter was not allowed to watch television until she turned two. Her intake of soft drinks is limited to the occasional Fanta or Seven-Up as a treat perhaps twice a month. Even then, if she insists on market-bought drinks, my husband and I prefer to give her the flavoured milk over the fizzy drink. I did not allow her chocolates or candies either until she turned two, and lollipops were proscribed until she was three. Even now, she watches about two hours of television a day, more on weekends and when she’s sick.

But like jihadi outfits that refuse to go away, junk food has better propaganda than evil, draconian mommy. The irresistible tug of advertising with its annoyingly catchy jingles, elaborate story lines lifted from animated movies and cute cartoon characters gets them like years of a controlling diet never be able to. It’s Willy Wonka’s world of chocolate rivers and never-ending gobstoppers, a hallucinogenic world of rainbow colours and sugar highs.

Take an ad for flavoured milk: plain white milk morphs into a lumbering monster which is eventually conquered by sipping packaged milk full of artificial flavours and sugar. Another shows that sucking lollipops is a substitute for thumb-sucking – candy triumphs over queer oral fixation! This particular one should be banned on more than one ground.

Only there is no regulation in Pakistan. Guidelines for advertising tend to look at vulgarity rather than nutritional claims or benefits. Studies have shown a correlation between increased consumption of junk food and media messages on television. The World Health Organisation (WHO) – which has collaborated with the Pakistani government on regulating tobacco – has “issued white papers in several … countries documenting the relationship between food advertising and childhood obesity.” Several EU countries have as a result placed restrictions on food advertising. The answer is not regulation, but self-regulation, as several advertising associations and food companies have done in the US, Canada and the UK. Pakistan needs to have the equivalent of an Advertising Standards Authority, an international watchdog body, whose functions include the monitoring of ethical advertising. Junk food advertising – with its dubious nutritional claims and free toys – needs to be curtailed. Bad food habits lead to obesity, certain forms of diabetes, malnutrition and rotting teeth.

Meanwhile, what can parents do? They could write to consumer rights groups like The Network or WHO in Pakistan so they can campaign about this issue. They can control what their children watch and eat. They can contact their children’s schools and volunteer time for a media literacy workshop so that children become responsible and informed consumers. There’s a great The Network or WHO in Pakistan so they can campaign about this issue. They can control what their children watch and eat. They can contact their children’s schools and volunteer time for a media literacy workshop so that children become responsible and informed consumers. There’s a great website that provides games and ready-made tools for kids, parents and teachers on media literacy.

Consumer rights groups, elected representatives and parents groups have managed to make a difference in other countries, why not in Pakistan?