Khursheed seeks end to jurist condition for CEC

ISLAMABAD: PPP stalwart and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Tuesday proposed an amendment to the Constitution, paving way for senior bureaucrats and lawyers to head the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

“It is a mandatory requirement that the chief election commissioner (CEC) should be a retired judge, but I propose an amendment to the Constitution so that not only a retired judge but also senior bureaucrats and lawyers, could make it to the post,” said Khursheed while talking to media persons at the Parliament House.

He said limiting the post in question to a retired judge blocked other options and the clause concerned should be amended to do the needful.The PPP leader suggested a number of proposals for reforms in the electoral process.He also proposed a constitutional amendment for reducing the government’s constitutional term from five to four years. “Reducing the tenure to four years will resolve all issues,” he argued.

He further said once democracy took roots, the government’s term could be reverted to five years. Khursheed said he had proposed the constitutional amendments after much brainstorming and added that the amendments would accrue positive results.

Operation to continue till end of last terrorist: PM

 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed officials to continue the operation till the end of the last terrorist and the establishment of complete peace in the tribal region of the country.
According to information, the prime minister approved the launching of the operation during the national security meeting held last week. A private TV channel quoted the prime minister as saying that the operation should continue till the end of the last terrorist and establishment of complete peace in the territory.

Nawaz Sharif said that the security of life and property of the citizens was the top priority and all resources should be utilised to flush out terrorism from the country.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the government had made full-fledged efforts for dialogue with full responsibility and now the operation will continue till the elimination of the last terrorist.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said a decisive battle would be fought against the terrorists.In a statement, the minister said the launch of a full-scale military operation, Zarb-e-Azb, against terrorists in North Waziristan was a well-thought-out decision of the government.

Khawaja Asif said the decision was taken after the failure of peace negotiations with the Taliban militants. He said it was a decision of the entire nation as the people of Pakistan had unanimously decided that terrorists should be neutralised once and for all.

“The whole nation is standing by the armed forces, which are fully capable of annihilating these elements,” the minister said.He said the Pakistan Army has been directed to crush the terrorists completely and the armed forces will not refrain from any sacrifice for the defence and security of the country.

Khawaja Asif said, “This time the operation will continue until its logical conclusion.”Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Sunday appealed to all politicians and the nation to stand united behind the government and the armed forces in the war against terror.

In his statement after the launch of the military operation in North Waziristan to flush out the terrorists, the minister said that as a democratic government they have exercised the option of dialogue with the terrorists but contrary to the peace overtures the terrorists continued killing our people. But now either they will have to surrender or face defeat, he added.

The federal minister stressed upon the nation to stand united behind the men and women in uniforms. The Pakistani nation has decided that those who want to disrupt their lives will be taken to task, he added. The federal minister said this terror network will now meet its fate with the ultimate might of the state, adding they know that people of Pakistan are peace loving and will defend their way of life.

No timeframe to end Karachi operation, says Qaim

‘Action to be extended to other areas; people to be provided relief in budget’

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the timeframe to end the operation against criminals in Karachi could not be given and it could continue for the indefinite period.

He said that the operation was moving ahead positively and had started giving dividends.The Sindh chief minister said that the provincial government would do its utmost to provide the people of the province with maximum relief.

He said that the ‘targeted’ operation would also be extended to other parts of the province. Regarding the budget, the chief minister said the provincial government had talked to the federal government about 11 big projects for Karachi. “The federation has assured us of providing funds for key projects in Sindh, especially in Karachi.”He said, “We will present Sindh with good news in the budget”. However, he added that Sindh’s due share should be given to it.

This issue must end now

ISLAMABAD: A six-word tweet — “Pemra action: ISI ruling, Govt retreating!” — by one Dr Nadia Khan on Friday said it all.

Geo’s suspension for 15 days and Rs10 million fine by the government-backed Pemra is an extreme step that the civilian leadership has been compelled to take after the military establishment was not ready for anything less than the closure of the Geo Network.

Rightly or wrongly, the rank and file of the Pakistan Army were badly hurt by the controversial April 19 telecast of Geo and more so by the consequent stoking of the fire by the anti-Jang Group vultures in the media. The Geo’s apology did not work which has now taken all of us to the present suspension of the Geo News for 15 days by Pemra.

The matter must end now. We all now need to move forward for the sake of Pakistan, its institutions and the rule of law. If Geo did something wrong on April 19, the subsequent days and weeks witnessed the repeated wrongs and flexing of muscles by the other side. If the DG ISI was unfairly treated by Geo on April 19, the whole world knows that all channels of Geo network were also illegally blocked, copies of Jang and The News were set on fire, Jang-Geo’s properties were destroyed, its employees were beaten and harassed.

To this day, I could not understand how the coverage relating to DG ISI became an attack on Pakistan Army but the reality is it was made to look like so. We the media people could not think of fighting against any of our institutions, what to talk of the Pakistan Army, which is already faced with serious challenges, including the Musharraf-gifted terrorism. But still it was made a Geo-Pak Army/ISI fight.

The ISI is undoubtedly our first line of defence and is critically important for the national security of the country. We the media will defend and protect our freedom but cannot think of doing anything aimed at demolishing any of our state institutions, including the army and the ISI. However, mistakes and wrong editorial judgments should not be taken as conspiracies unless proven. The media does make mistakes and so do other institutions, including the Pakistan Army and the ISI. If Geo wrongly handled the post-Hamid Mir attack situation, there are too serious and too many blunders that were made by our defence institutions in the past. If the media crosses the limits or the red lines, it should be proceeded against as per the law of the land. But being a watchdog of the society, it is the prime responsibility of the media to highlight the wrongs of the state institutions, governments, rulers and the mighty ones to safeguard the interest of the people and to uphold the rule of law and constitutionalism.

Geo had made a public apology and has now even been penalised for its mistake. Whether we like it or not, Pemra, despite being a controversial and toothless body, has given a judgment against Geo, which has the right to challenge it in the court of law but Pemra’s decision should be implemented in letter and spirit.

The other side, particularly the ISI, also needs to review its grey areas like the controversial role that it had played during the recent weeks. We love our ISI for what it does for the security and defence of Pakistan, including its double games against the enemy states.

However, the ISI is badly required to make corrections for those wrongs which make it controversial at home and in the eyes of its own people. The ISI needs to learn that it should never use its muscles against its own people, institutions and governments. Like any other institution, the ISI should also ensure that all its officials do not go or act beyond legal and constitutional limits. The Geo-ISI/army tiff must end now because furthering it would destroy and damage all of us.

Dispute should end after Geo apology: PPC

CHAKWAL: Pakistan Press Council Chairman Shafqat Mahmood Abbasi has said that apology and regret are the two things that amount to a big punishment and these two things are very significant in an Islamic society and the civilized countries.

Addressing the concluding session of the two-day journalism training workshop of the CPDI, he said while Geo News has sought apology and regretted committing a mistake then the dispute should end.

The Press Council chairman said the media itself prepares its code of conduct and it is acknowledged that the media is not free of moral and social values. Parliament is a supreme institution and is also bound by certain rules and regulations. He said that journalists have won press freedom with much struggle and has not been gifted by any ruler.

The chairman said the press freedom allowed in Pakistan is not granted to the media even in India, which is the biggest democracy of the world. He said while a vibrant media and independent judiciary are necessary for a strong democracy, media suffers greatest danger from within. He said the media should hold internecine talks. He said the print media in Pakistan is very responsible and the electronic media is only 12 years old and requires to be made more responsible. Shafqat said the law of right to information in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will strengthen the media. He expressed hope that the situation of the media will improve.

Some people want to end democracy in country: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Ameer Maulana Sirajul Haq has said that some people wanted to bring democracy to an end in the country as the issues being faced by the country could not be discussed while sitting in London.

He rejected the plan to form an opposition alliance in London and demanded of the leaders gathered there to come back to the country and try to correct things here.Talking to the media after chairing a party meeting at Mansoora on Sunday, Sirajul Haq said a clash among the institutions would harm democracy. JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, other leaders and workers were also present.

The JI Ameer said instead of destabilising the government, the opposition should give the rulers time to deliver and find out solutions to people’s problems.He said the PTI Chairman Imran Khan had the right to protest against the ‘rigging’ in elections as “the Election Commission had failed to conduct impartial, free and fair elections”.

The JI Ameer asked the government to announce a special package of Rs100 billion each for Karachi and the tribal areas for rehabilitation of the people affected by terrorism there. He urged the PM to expose those who wanted to sabotage the peace talks with the Taliban.

The JI leader alleged that the PM’s evasion of Kashmir and water issues during his visit to India and avoiding a meeting with the Hurriyat Conference leadership sent a negative message to the people of Kashmir. He said the people of Pakistan were standing with their Kashmiri brothers in their struggle for freedom.

He advised the government to go through its election manifesto once again and implement it instead of complaining against the people’s wrath.Sirajul Haq said the tribal people were patriotic and had equal rights to the country’s resources. The government should launch education and health schemes in the tribal areas and create jobs for them.

He said the political parties had given the government the mandate for peace talks, but it had started an operation there without taking the parties into confidence. As a result, the tribal people had become sandwiched between the government and the Taliban.

He urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit North and South Waziristan to get cooperation from the tribal people. Meanwhile, addressing the annual meeting of the IJT, the JI chief said the elements talking of secularism were in fact going against the will of the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the Constitution.

Nawaz approves end of hundreds of SROs

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved withdrawal of hundreds of concessions given through SROs to net Rs 230-240 billion in the national kitty in the new budget.

“Yes the PM has approved 90 to 95 percent of proposals finalised by Finance Ministry and FBR during the budget-making process on the subject of withdrawal of SROs and exemptions through the coming Finance Bill, 2014-15 on Friday evening,” official sources who participated in high-level meeting confided to The News here on Friday night.

The PM, according to these sources, has directed the authorities to protect the poor and middle classes from the increasing tax burden and to ensure that the prices of essential items do not go up.

On the issue of surrendering the powers of SROs to Parliament, the sources said that it is up to the government to take a decision on this subject. “The FBR has shown its willingness to surrender this power to Parliament,” added the sources.

There are certain free trade agreements, preferential trade agreements and avoidance of double taxation agreements with other countries so these SROs would be protected. The government has decided to withdraw those SROs which are individual or company-specific in their nature. In case of huge involvement of tax revenues, the FBR will bring those sectors into normal tariff regime after withdrawal of SROs.

“We have committed to the IMF to withdraw SROs and abolish tax exemptions in the next three years so in the upcoming budget only first phase will be made part of the Finance Bill,” added the official.

Prof. Ibrahim urges Taliban, army to end war

SWAT: Member Taliban negotiating committee, Professor Ibrahim has stated that neither military operation brought peace nor Taliban attacks enforced shariah in the country, Geo News reported.

Talking to media here Sunday, Professor Ibrahim said this war had claimed thousands of lives from both sides, therefore, this should be ended now.

He said efforts were underway to hold meeting between Tahrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and government committees, adding they were making efforts so that time and venue of the meeting could be arranged at the earliest.

Thousands of innocent people are present in the jails and they are not being presented in the courts, he claimed.

Nawaz must end clash among institutions: Altaf

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must come forward and play his role in ending clash among the institutions.

He said that if there were any harm to democracy, they all would be responsible for this.Altaf made an appeal to the prime minister to play a constructive role in steering Pakistan out of crises.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif holds an important post. Pakistan is facing internal and external challenges. The situation demands that he should not waste time and take into confidence the lawmakers in the National Assembly and Senate to build a consensus to tackle internal challenges being faced by the nation. He can also convene an all parties’ conference for this purpose”, Altaf said in a statement released from London.

“In this crisis, the prime minister should not desert the nation. He must come forward and lead the nation. We have got this democracy after rendering enormous sacrifices”, he said.Altaf added that he had made this appeal because Pakistan’s security and survival was at stake.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif is the prime minister of Pakistan. The person who holds this post must be responsible and generous,” the MQM chief added.“Our country is economically weak and needs foreign aids for its survival. We need national solidarity, unity and harmony among people and good relations among the institutions,” he said.Altaf said that prime minister and colleagues should pay attention to his recommendations.

Threatening calls were made at end of PPP's tenure: Mir’s wife

KARACHI: Wife of senior Geo News anchor Hamid Mir has said that the matter of threatening phone calls to her husband were made at the end of the PPP's term in government.

In a response issued through his wife to Chaudhry Nisar's statements, Hamid Mir said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had raised the matter of threatening phone calls in the National Assembly.

Mir's wife said that over PPP leader Khurshid Shah's advice the speaker of the assembly constituted a committee led by the opposition member Ahsan Iqbal. The committee's report is available in the record of the National Assembly, she added.

Earlier, talking to media, Nisar said that former Islamabad police officials denied that any complaint was lodged over an attack on Mr. Mir's wife and children.

However, Mir's wife said that the incident had taken place in Islamabad after which Geo News Islamabad's Admin Officer Younis Arain had lodged the complaint, Mir's wife said. Younis Arain lodged complaint over the attack on Hamid Mir's wife and his children.

She said Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had issued a statement in 2010 against the secret agencies harassment to Hamid Mir. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had also issued condemnation over the issue, she added.

Mir's wife said phone numbers were sent to IG Islamabad through speaker National Assembly.

The security provided to Hamid Mir by the PPP-led government was withdrawn by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, she said.

She asked as to where the investigation has reached over the issue of bomb planted under Mir's car in Islamabad.

COAS must act to end retaliatory steps from various segments: APNS

KARACHI: Hameed Haroon, the President of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), appealed to Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif to rein in the knee-jerk retaliatory measures that had been initiated by various segments of the armed forces.

“This will lessen any public misperceptions with respect to what the security establishment sees as its principled stand in the matter. It is grossly unfair that Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam or any other member of the security establishment be presumed guilty unless the substance of such guilt can be irrefutably proved in a commission of enquiry. If he is found innocent, the media group found guilty of publishing and broadcasting such allegations against him must tender an unqualified apology as per the valid international norms that govern such situations.”

He expressed concern that “the freedom of the press envisioned in Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan is now facing the gravest threat it has encountered in the past decade, and if press freedoms are allowed to deteriorate further, irreversible damage will be

inflicted on Pakistan’s democracy and the constitutionally stipulated freedoms associated with it”.

According to a press release, he emphasised that apart from the dangers of targeting the lives of journalists by extremist elements in the country, a dangerous drift towards anarchy has reared its ugly head in the past week where the unbridled behaviour on the part of certain sections of the security establishment and the media, coupled with confused signals emanating from the government, have resulted in damaging the freedom of expression and the freedom of press enshrined in the Constitution.

“The signs on the horizon are clear. The fundamental problem appears to be that every one of the principal players involved in this crisis is responsible for a saddening deterioration of public affairs. The apparent undue haste with which the Independent Media Corporation and the Independent Newspaper Corporation, the twin media firms controlling the Geo-Jang group, pointed an accusatory finger at the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as being complicit in what can only be described as a murderous attack upon television anchor and columnist Hamid Mir, is only one part of the problem. The promptness with which the ISI through its Deputy Director General responded with a complaint through the Defence Ministry to Pemra to seek revocation of the broadcasting licences and the declarations of the GEO-Jang group, has clearly demonstrated that the institution of the armed forces has acted in haste and has not critically examined the validity of their positions nor of subsequent actions that have stemmed from a misconceived interpretation of press laws.”

“At first the government appeared to be dealing wisely with the new threat to press freedoms posed by the murderous attacks on Raza Rumi in Lahore and Hamid Mir in Karachi. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Nawaz Sharif, speedily acted to form a judicial commission to investigate the attempt on Mir’s life at the highest level. One would have thought with an appropriate high-level commission of enquiry, composed of the superior judiciary, any investigation of the incident of the attempt on Hamid Mir’s life appeared to be in capable hands.

“However, within a day of the prime minister’s announcement, the ISI through the Defence Ministry called for the revocation of the licenses and declarations of the GEO-Jang group, with Pemra officials making suitably supportive statements. Thus despite a wise move by the prime minister to constitute a commission immediately, the guilt of the offending party had been prejudged, well in advance of the verdict.”

“Clearly the need of the hour is to immediately force a cooling down of tempers in all sections of the state and security apparatus as well as, critically, within the media itself. If we are to speak of ensuring the ‘preservation of the sovereignty, security and integrity of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ then the imperative is for all contending parties to exercise restraint.”

“Additionally, the damage in this potentially explosive powder-keg needs to be contained. The Judicial Commission of Enquiry should begin work immediately and avail of the services of Hamid Mir, among others, to reach a satisfactory conclusion as to which persons were responsible for engineering this attempt. Only when the findings are made public can it be determined whether the management and journalists of the newspaper (who have both been alleged as complicit in a slander campaign according to the ISI complaint to the Defence Ministry), were justified in levelling their early allegations. Nor would it be just to proceed with any retaliatory actions against this media group, awaiting the results of the high-level judicial enquiry that has been instituted. Such a travesty of justice is not becoming for any credible democracy.”

“In the meantime I also appeal to all sections of the media to exercise credible restraint and desist from publishing or broadcasting any statement which might be considered prima facie as defamatory or slanderous either against the ISI chief or against the media group.

“Concurrently it is imperative for the prime minister and the federal minister for information to immediately commence a formal dialogue with all the major national bodies - the APNS, the CPNE, the PBA and the PFUJ - to attempt to provide a meaningful framework in which journalists can tell the truth and be protected from life-threats while doing so. This alone will ensure the ordered functioning of a nascent democracy and encourage the government to clamp down with unbridled severity on the spiralling incidents of violence against the media.”

MH370 mini-sub search of ocean zone will end within week: PM

PERTH: The mini-submarine hunting for flight MH370 will finish scouring its current strip of the Indian Ocean within a week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said, adding that if unsuccessful the operation will be forced to move into a new phase.

Abbott told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that authorities will need to rethink their approach if the US Navy mini-submarine fails to find wreckage from the missing Malaysian jet in its current search zone, 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) off Perth.

"We believe that search will be completed within a week or so," Abbott told the US newspaper.

"If we don´t find wreckage, we stop, we regroup, we reconsider."

The unmanned Bluefin-21 submersible on Thursday completed its first full mission in the search zone, where underwater signals -- believed to be from the missing plane´s black box -- were detected earlier this month.

Data retrieved by the mini-submarine is being analysed.

Australian officials said the Bluefin had searched around approximately 90 square kilometres (35 square miles) so far.

The mini-sub´s first two attempts to scan the seabed for signs of the Boeing 777, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, had to be cut short -- on Tuesday because the water was deeper than its 4,500-metre operating limits, and on Wednesday because of an unspecified technical problem.

"My determination for Australia is that we will do whatever we reasonably can to resolve the mystery," Abbott said.

"If the current search turns up nothing, we won´t abandon it, we will simply move to a different phase," he added, reiterating his confidence that searchers were looking in the right place.

The Bluefin´s aborted first two missions have raised the spectre of a prolonged, difficult search that may require even more sophisticated equipment to be deployed.

The US Navy has estimated it would take the sophisticated device "anywhere from six weeks to two months to scan the entire search area".

MH370 mini-sub search of ocean zone will end within week: PM

PERTH: The mini-submarine hunting for flight MH370 will finish scouring its current strip of the Indian Ocean within a week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said, adding that if unsuccessful the operation will be forced to move into a new phase.

Abbott told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that authorities will need to rethink their approach if the US Navy mini-submarine fails to find wreckage from the missing Malaysian jet in its current search zone, 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) off Perth.

"We believe that search will be completed within a week or so," Abbott told the US newspaper.

"If we don´t find wreckage, we stop, we regroup, we reconsider."

The unmanned Bluefin-21 submersible on Thursday completed its first full mission in the search zone, where underwater signals -- believed to be from the missing plane´s black box -- were detected earlier this month.

Data retrieved by the mini-submarine is being analysed.

Australian officials said the Bluefin had searched around approximately 90 square kilometres (35 square miles) so far.

The mini-sub´s first two attempts to scan the seabed for signs of the Boeing 777, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, had to be cut short -- on Tuesday because the water was deeper than its 4,500-metre operating limits, and on Wednesday because of an unspecified technical problem.

"My determination for Australia is that we will do whatever we reasonably can to resolve the mystery," Abbott said.

"If the current search turns up nothing, we won´t abandon it, we will simply move to a different phase," he added, reiterating his confidence that searchers were looking in the right place.

The Bluefin´s aborted first two missions have raised the spectre of a prolonged, difficult search that may require even more sophisticated equipment to be deployed.

The US Navy has estimated it would take the sophisticated device "anywhere from six weeks to two months to scan the entire search area".

Mullah Omar wants TTP to end infighting, join spring offensive

ISLAMABAD: The latest call by the ameer of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Mohammad Omar to the Pakistani Taliban to end their infighting in South Waziristan is actually aimed at securing their support against foreign troops in Afghanistan to launch the annual spring offensive with full force which is about to begin with the end of the winter season.

As bloody clashes intensify between two major factions of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Khalid Mehsud alias Said Khan Sajna and Sheharyar Mehsud alias Shahbaz to capture the command of the Taliban in South Waziristan, Mullah Omar has appealed to the militants in a pamphlet [written in Pashto and distributed in the Miramshah area of North Waziristan on April 14] to work out their differences and end their internal strife.

It is for the first time that such a pamphlet has been distributed in Pakistan on behalf of Mullah Omar who is the supreme leader of both the Afghan and the Pakistani Taliban.

The pamphlet states that all the Muslims and particularly the Mujahideen are informed about the serious differences and clashes between two Mehsud Mujahideen groups. Mentioning verses from the Holy Quran, Mullah Omar has been quoted in the pamphlet as asking the people to recite it 100 times a day so that the hostilities between the warring militant groups of Mehsud tribe could come to an end.

According to well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, the ameer of the Afghan Taliban’s call to the Pakistani Taliban for a truce between the two key warring factions has confirmed earlier reports that Mullah Omar had used his influence to persuade the TTP ameer Mullah Fazlullah for initiating peace talks with the Pakistan government primarily to prevent a Pakistani military action in Waziristan before the withdrawal of the US-led Allied Forces from

Afghanistan. The ameer of the Afghan Taliban was of the view that instead of wasting their energies in battling with Pakistan Army, the Taliban on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border should prepare themselves for a decisive battle in Afghanistan after the American withdrawal for the revival of the Taliban Emirates of Afghanistan.

Mullah Omar had been influencing the Pakistani Taliban in the past as well by using his influence with TTP leadership to help broker numerous peace deals with the Taliban in the tribal belt. The authority of Mullah Omar, who has been in hiding ever since the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001, extends beyond the Pak-Afghan border as the Pakistani Taliban also recognize him as their supreme leader, being their Ameerul Momineen, just like the Afghan Taliban. Therefore, Mullah Omar’s anguish over TTP’s infighting is but natural which has forced him to ask the Pakistani Taliban to end their infighting in South Waziristan. The TTP leadership also realises the fact that the current infighting was weakening their position with every passing day at a time when they are holding talks with the Pakistan government being the representative of the Pakistani Taliban.

Diplomatic circles in Islamabad believe that the TTP’s ongoing talks with the PML-N government were a tactical ploy to ensure a short-term truce which would be used to whole-heartedly support the Afghan Taliban in their upcoming spring offensive against the US-led allied forces stationed in Afghanistan. A spring offensive is launched every year by the Afghan Taliban after the winter season is over. In fact, due to harsh weather conditions, the Taliban slowdown their military activities and resume it as the spring approaches and the weather conditions improve. As yet another spring approaches, another offensive is being planned. But the Afghan Taliban believe that unlike in the previous spring offensives since they were booted out of power from Afghanistan, they are better placed than before, especially when the US-led coalition forces are scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014.

The Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, led by Mullah Omar, are still a strong force and are openly mocking the Nato and Isaf troops by saying that they are fleeing their country in disgrace and humiliation. To recall, the TTP had struck a clandestine peace deal with the Pakistani establishment in January 2013, before the start of the spring offensive that year, as per which the Taliban had agreed that they won’t attack the Pakistani security forces in the Fata. The deal was motivated by Mullah Omar who wanted to unite all the Taliban groups in Waziristan on a single platform to reorient the direction of their battle away from Pakistan and towards the allied forces in Afghanistan.

Subsequently, the Shura-e-Muraqaba, an anti-US war body consisting of five key al-Qaeda-linked Afghan Taliban groups, was launched. The five members of the Shura included the Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Haqqani Militant Network led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Tehrik-e-Taliban led by Hakimullah Mehsud and two more groups of militants led by the South Waziristan-based Maulvi Nazir and the North Waziristan-based Hafiz Gul Bahadar. The TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan had made public the formation of the Shura through a press release, saying all the militant groups have reposed their confidence in Mullah Omar’s leadership and accepted him as the consensus leader of Afghanistan. He had added that the unity among the militants came after a call by Mullah Omar, telling the Pakistani Taliban to stop fighting at home to join the battle to liberate Afghanistan.

Ehsanullah had said the TTP would send its fighters to Afghanistan after March for waging jehad against the US-led “infidel” forces.

“Convey my message to the Pakistani Taliban that you have forgotten the real purpose, which is to fight the US-led invading forces in Afghanistan and liberate it from their occupation. Forget all your differences and give us fighters to boost the battle against America in Afghanistan”, a reported statement by Mullah Omar had cautioned the TTP leadership at that time.

However, what remained hidden was finally made public by Commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, the chief operational commander of the Haqqani network who conceded the existence of a peace deal with the Pakistani security establishment as per which the Pakistan Taliban, Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network and Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur groups won’t attack the Pakistani troops and instead they would focus their attention on the Allied Forces. The revelation came in a statement by Sirajuddin Haqqani, directing the Pakistani Taliban to stop attacking the Pakistani security forces in accordance with a peace deal, thus giving credence to media reports that the militants and the military have struck a clandestine ceasefire. Sirajuddin had issued these directives as the ameer of the Shura-e-Muraqaba.

Shortly afterwards, the spring offensive was launched with multiple attacks targeting Western embassies, the Nato force’s headquarters as well as the parliament building in Kabul. As the spring of 2014 has almost approached, the TTP is already busy holding talks with the Pakistan government amid reports that the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan have secretly agreed to focus on carrying out operations in Afghanistan, with Pakistani militants announcing a ceasefire with their government in order to preserve militant bases used to stage cross-border attacks. An Afghan military commander Major General Sharif Yaftali has already blamed Pakistan on April 12 for exporting terrorism to Afghanistan.

The current level of relationship between the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban was well-described by TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid on October 6, 2013 in these words: “The Afghan Taliban not only financially support the Pakistani Taliban in their war with Islamabad but they also provide them sanctuary in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban are our jehadi brothers. In the beginning, we were helping them. But now they are strong enough to support us financially”, said Shahidullah Shahid while conceding that Mullah Fazlullah is being given shelter in Kunar province by the Afghan Taliban.

Prosecutor accuses Pistorius at end of questioning

Wrapping up five days of relentless cross-examination of Oscar Pistorius at his murder trial, the chief prosecutor insisted on Tuesday that he intentionally shot his girlfriend to death after they argued and in a final exchange urged the Olympic athlete to take responsibility for the Valentine’s Day killing.

“Who should we blame for the fact that you shot her?” prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked Mr. Pistorius. It came right at the end of Mr. Nel’s intense scrutiny of nearly every aspect of the double-amputee runner’s story that he killed Reeva Steenkamp last year after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder.

“I don’t know, my lady, I was scared,” Mr. Pistorius replied, his voice cracking slightly as he addressed the judge and maintained his argument that he shot through a toilet cubicle door in his home at a perceived intruder who he thought was about to attack him.

It’s a story the prosecutor dismissed as “improbable”.

Mr. Nel accused Mr. Pistorius, the one-time star of disabled sport, of tailoring evidence and concocting the version to cover up that he killed Steenkamp intentionally after a late night fight.

Mr. Pistorius steered away from a direct response to the prosecutor’s invitation to take the blame for Steenkamp’s killing, saying only that he opened fire because he believed his life was under threat. That remark drew barbed follow-up questions from Mr. Nel.

“We should blame somebody ... Should we blame Reeva?” asked Mr. Nel, who has harshly criticised Mr. Pistorius as someone who is unwilling to take responsibility for his actions.

“No, my lady,” Mr. Pistorius replied, addressing Judge Thokozile Masipa in line with court custom.

“She never told you she was going to the toilet,” Mr. Nel said. Then he asked, “Should we blame the government?”

When Mr. Pistorius responded with another reference to a perceived attacker in his toilet, Mr. Nel asked, “Who should we blame for the Black Talon rounds that ripped through her body?”

Mr. Nel said the court “will” find that Mr. Pistorius, 27, is lying and intentionally killed the 29-year-old model and rising reality TV star. That drew an objection from defence lawyer Barry Roux.

In the adjournment after his cross-examination, Mr. Pistorius rubbed his eyes and briefly sank his head onto the shoulder of a man who had been sitting with his family. He took a tissue from his sister Aimee, who squeezed his arm reassuringly. Shortly afterward, he listened attentively as Mr. Roux spoke to him in a low voice.

Mr. Nel asserted that the couple fought during the night of the shooting and Steenkamp wanted to leave, and then fled to the bathroom screaming before Mr. Pistorius shot her through the door with his 9 mm pistol. Mr. Pistorius said he never heard Steenkamp scream, or say anything in the minutes before he shot her.

The prosecutor even charged that Mr. Pistorius fired the four shots from about three metres away from Steenkamp as he was talking and arguing with Steenkamp, and changed his aim with later shots to ensure that he hit her as she fell back. Mr. Nel’s unrelenting questioning and accusations provoked many denials by Mr. Pistorius and caused the athlete to break down in sobs on numerous occasions.

“Unfortunately I have to put it to you that it’s getting more and more improbable,” Mr. Nel said to Mr. Pistorius of his story.

Mr. Pistorius struggled at times to explain alleged inconsistencies during his testimony and the Paralympic champion faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder.

“I was terrified. I feared for my life. I was just scared,” Mr. Pistorius said. “I was thinking about what could happen to me, to Reeva. I was just extremely fearful.”

During cross-examination, Mr. Pistorius gave a sometimes muddled account of the shooting, saying he feared for his life but also didn’t intentionally shoot at anyone, prompting Mr. Nel to query if his defence was self-defence or “involuntary action”.

Mr. Pistorius also told Mr. Roux he didn’t consciously pull the trigger on his gun and said it happened “before I could think”.

IOC welcomes Saudi end to girls´ sports ban

GENEVA: The International Olympic Committee on Sunday urged the Saudi government to push forward with moves to lift a ban on sports in girls´ state schools.

The conservative Muslim kingdom´s consultative Shura Council last week recommended an end to the ban, which was relaxed in private schools last year, state media reported. "We welcome this development and look forward to approval by the Education Ministry," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said in a statement.

The ministry must officially lift the ban as the council is influential, but only advisory. Adams noted that IOC president Thomas Bach had raised women´s involvement in sport when he visited Saudi Arabia. "On the IOC President´s visit to Saudi Arabia last week the National Olympic Committee outlined plans to increase women´s participation in sport in the kingdom at university level, which we fully support," Adams said. "And following participation by female athletes from Saudi Arabia at the Olympic Games in London and the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this would be a further step towards full participation by girls and women at all levels of sport in the country," he added.

All education in Saudi Arabia is single-sex, but sports in girls schools remains a sensitive issue in a country where women have to cover from head to toe when in public.

The kingdom bowed to international pressure and sent its first ever female participants to an Olympics at the 2012 London Games.

The IOC agreed to allow the two Saudi women -- a judo player and a middle-distance runner -- to compete with their heads and bodies covered in deference to the Islamic dress code enforced at home.

Human rights campaigners say that millions of Saudi women remain effectively barred from sports. Saudi authorities shut down private gyms for women in 2009 and 2010, and women are effectively barred from sports arenas by strict rules banning men and women mixing in public.

The kingdom follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law, forbidding women to work or travel without the authorisation of their male guardians. It is the only country in the world that bans women from driving. "Saudi Arabia has a long way to go to end discriminatory practices against women, but allowing girls to play sports in government schools would move the ball down the field in ways that could have major long-term impact," said Human Rights Watch. (AFP)

TTP commanders move to end infighting

PESHWAR: Taliban commanders have redoubled their efforts to bring about a lasting ceasefire between two rival factions of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), the BBC reported on Saturday.

Some sources claimed that the two warring factions had ceased fire; however, this couldn’t be verified independently.According to reports received from South Waziristan, TTP senior commanders on Saturday met Commander Khan Said alias Sajna and Commander Sheharyar separately and asked them to end the fighting.

Local sources said some JUI-F MNAs and senators were also using their good offices to ensure a ceasefire to prevent further loss of life on both sides.Meanwhile, talking to media representatives, TTP Commander Azam Tariq claimed that the two warring factions had ceased the fighting that had led to scores of deaths on both sides due to some misunderstanding.Tariq contested media reports about the number of fatalities.It was also reported that not a single skirmish had taken place in South Waziristan from dawn to dusk on Saturday.

US lawmakers urge Pentagon to end ban on Sikhs serving in army

Sikhs are also able to wear protective equipment, including helmets and gas masks, in conformity with safety requirements, said US lawmakers.

A group of 105 US lawmakers has urged the Pentagon to lift the presumptive ban on the Sikhs serving in the military by easing restrictions on beard, turbans, and other religious accoutrements.
“Given the achievements of these soldiers and their demonstrated ability to comply with operational requirements while practising their faith, we believe it is time for our military to make inclusion of practicing Sikh Americans the rule, not the exception,” the lawmakers said in a letter to US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Led by Congressmen Joe Crowley, vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, and Rodney Frelinghuysen, Chairman of the House Defence Appropriations Subcommittee, the 105 members of the US House of Representatives requested that the US armed forces update their appearance regulations to once again allow Sikh Americans to serve while abiding by their articles of faith, such as wearing a turban or beard.
They said the Sikhs have served in the US army since World War I, and are permitted to serve in the armed forces of Canada and the UK, as well as key partner India.
The three Sikh Americans who have been granted individualised accommodations to serve in the US army wear turbans and maintain beards in a neat and conservative manner, both in accordance with operational requirements and their Sikh religious beliefs.
They are also able to wear protective equipment, including helmets and gas masks, in conformity with safety requirements.
Sikh Coalition applauded lawmaker’s move calling for an end to the presumptive ban on devout Sikh service in the US military.
“Today’s letter from Congress is a big step forward in our campaign to ensure equal opportunity for Sikh Americans in the  US military,” said Rajdeep Singh, director of Law and Policy for the Sikh Coalition.
“Sikhs have proven time and again around the world that they are excellent soldiers. It’s time for the Pentagon to realise that Sikh Americans are here to stay and that policies of exclusion are inevitably going to fail,” Singh said.

US natgas futures end 1 pct lower; little changed for the week

NEW YORK: US natural gas futures eased about 1 percent on Friday but were little changed for the week on forecasts for warmer weather and weaker heating demand in the next couple of weeks. Front-month natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down 4.4 cents at $4.618 per million British thermal units, down 1 percent for the day. For the week, the front-month contract eased just 0.2 percent after last week's dramatic 24 percent decline which ranked as the largest weekly fall in 17 years.

For the year, gas futures are up 9 percent.

"Winter is winding down and cold temperatures in March are going to quickly become much less of an upside price driver," said Dominick Chirichella from the Energy Management Institute in New Jersey.

Utilities pulled 152 billion cubic feet from storage last week, over the year-ago draw of 149 bcf and the five-year average draw of 105 bcf, the US Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.

Analysts had forecast a draw of just 138 bcf, according to a Reuters poll.

Utilities have withdrawn a record 2.638 trillion cubic feet of gas since the start of the heating season in November, leaving just 1.196 tcf in storage. That is the lowest storage level for this time of year since 2004.

Gas producers speaking at the IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston expressed confidence in the industry's ability to rebuild gas in storage.

The number of rigs drilling for gas in North America rose by 10 to 345 in the week to March 7, according to oil services firm Baker Hughes.

MDA Weather Services forecast mostly warmer weather during the next 15 days over much of the United States, except for a cold shot in the Great Lakes and Northeast over the next six to 10 days.

The latest computer weather model showed slightly below-normal temperatures over the next 15 days across the country but a little more cold than the previous model, according to Thomson Reuters Analytics.

The April 2014 futures contract ended at a 5.1-cent premium over the May 2014 contract Friday versus a 5.9-cent premium Thursday.

Gas futures for the balance of the year and the summer of 2014 both lost about 3 cents to $4.61 and $4.59 per mmBtu, respectively, according to Reuters data.

NEXT-DAY GAS, POWER

Next-day gas prices mostly declined on forecasts for warmer temperatures and weaker overall heating demand while wholesale electricity prices were steady to higher for Monday delivery as weekday demand returns.

Next-day Henry Hub gas, the benchmark US supply point in Louisiana, on the IntercontinentalExchange fell 13 cents to average $4.77 per mmBtu Friday, holding at the lowest in five trading days.

Next-day Henry Hub gas ended Friday at a 15-cent premium over the NYMEX front-month contract, down from a 17-cent premium earlier in the day.

In New York, next-day gas continued to fall, sliding $1.33 to $4.97 per mmBtu.

Chicago gas gained $2.23 to average $9.27 on Friday after falling to the lowest level in 13 trading days.

On the power front, PJM West power in the Mid-Atlantic rose from a 10-day low, climbing $2.07 to average $65 per megawatt-hour. New England power at the Nepool hub, which has been holding about $100, did not trade.

In Texas, next-day power in Ercot North rose from a five-day low, adding $6 to average $46 per MWh for Monday.

In the West, power at the SP-15 Hub in Southern California was steady at $50 per MWh, the lowest since the middle of January. The Mid Columbia Hub in the Pacific Northwest, meanwhile, slid $7 to average $28.64.

More than 440,000 homes and businesses were without power in North Carolina and South Carolina on Friday due to a strong ice storm.

Projected water runoff at The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon climbed to 100 percent of normal for January-July, the US Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC) said on Friday.

Nuclear plant outages, which create demand for natural gas as a substitute fuel for electricity generation, were at 14,000 megawatts on Friday versus 14,600 MW on Thursday. That compared with 15,600 MW out a year ago and a five-year average outage rate of 14,800 MW.

Samsung's Android 4.4 update reportedly puts an end to benchmark rigging

inShar

Last July, Samsung was caught in a bit of controversy when its flagship smartphone of the time, the Galaxy S4, was seen optimising its behaviour to score higher in commonly-used benchmarking apps.
According to the findings, the Samsung Galaxy S4 would expose higher-speed cores to certain applications like GLBenchmark 2.5.1, AnTuTu, Linpack, and Quadrant apps, while the power available to other apps would be capped at a lower speed, in an attempt to increase the battery life of the phone. This meant that the CPU power available to your typical apps was lesser than what you would expect based on the benchmarks score. Samsung allegedly did this 'optimisation' for GPU speeds as well.
However, it seems this practise has been put to an end with Samsung's Android 4.4 update for the Galaxy S4. According to a report by Ars Technica:

Moving to Android 4.4, that strange CPU activity stops happening. Every single benchmark we ran prompted variable-but-normal fluctuations in CPU speed based on actual activity. Speeds would ramp up for a couple of seconds while the app launched, but once it became idle, the speeds settled back down to where they would normally be.

Compare this to the behaviour in Android 4.3 "where all four cores go right to the maximum speed of 1.9GHz when a benchmark app is opened."
So has Samsung just hidden the new set of optimisations deeper in the code, or given up on the practice? Seems like it's the latter.
John Poole of Primate Labs, the developers of popular benchmarking app Geekbench told Ars, "I'm inclined to think that the change between 4.2.2 and 4.4.2 is due to Samsung tweaking the overall power and performance settings rather than a new harder-to-detect boost."
Similar optimisations were also noted in the Galaxy Note 3, so it would be interesting to see if a software update makes an impact on the phablet's performance in benchmarks as well.
To be fair to Samsung, it's not the only manufacturer that has been caught optimising its hardware for benchmarks. Anandtech noted last year that almost all manufacturers indulge in the practice. However, it seems that like almost everything else that it does, Samsung is (or at least was) better than others in this department as well.