Dr Arsalan announces open global tender for Reko Diq

 

DUBAI: The son of the ex-chief justice of Pakistan, now at the centre of a huge controversy over his appointment, says the multi-billion dollar Reko Diq gold mines will be awarded through an open global tender to the highest bidder.
Dr Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry, now vice chairman of the Balochistan Board of Investment, told me in a telephone talk that his father came to know about his new job through the media but then asked him to serve the people with full responsibility.

He dismissed the conspiracy theories about his appointment to sell multi-billion dollars gold mine Reko Diq through a backdoor deal as rubbish.“I would ensure that Reko Diq was given through an international tender, with maximum transparency, to ensure the rights of the Balochistan people,” he stated categorically several times during the talk.

PTI leader Imran Khan had stated at a huge rally in Bahawalpur that Arsalan was appointed VC of the BOI to repay ex-chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry for his complicity in rigging the 2013 elections in favour of Nawaz Sharif.

In an upbeat mood and dismissing his critics as just politicians playing politics, Arsalan emphasised repeatedly that neither Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, nor his sons or anyone in the federal government had any role in his appointment.

“I am a Baloch and now my fourth generation lives in this province. I have a right to serve it. The federal government has nothing to do with my appointment. The CM has said on the floor of the house that it was his personal decision. He is an honourable, clean and a nationalist person. He wanted to bring a team which could do something and deliver for the province.”

Arsalan revealed that he had in the past two years brought investments of millions of dollars into Balochistan. “Since 2007, I have been doing my independent business and I am an entrepreneur, everything is my own, my business, social life, everything is my own thing. I have contacts with people in Balochistan from my childhood and we have been living here for four generations now. My father came to know about this through the media. He knew nothing but when he heard it the only thing he told me was that I have a heavy responsibility and I will have to serve the people in any capacity.”

Asked wheter this meant his father had approved of the appointment, he said: “He never interferes in my matters, He never approves or disapproves anything concerning my matters. He has kept it like this. Neither I will interfere in his matters and nor he will do so in my matters.”

Asked about Reko Diq and how would he respond to criticism that he, Dr Malik, Hasil Bizenjo, the PM’s family and some old ousted companies had ganged up to give Reko Diq to them through a deal, Dr Arsalan said: “I laugh at political leaders who say things and make allegations on hearsay. In BOI our work is to channelise things. There are other opportunities and projects in Balochistan. We are there to project it and then put up to the govt, cabinet and provincial assembly. Our job is limited. Whatever project it is, we will ensure transparency and interests of the people of Balochistan. We will not compromise that in any case, come what may. We have been stopping corruption. To expect anything out of the way for anyone would be wrong. Whatever will be in the interest of the people, for their good, we will do. No favourtism will be done.”

Dr Arsalan has already made plans for the road forward. “Our first presentation to the chief minister will be given soon and we will place two core things before the CM. First will be the law and order and security for investors and the second would be complete transparency in projects, including Reko Diq.

“Before starting anything, we will hold external audits, from 2010 to-date. Every year an external audit by international companies will be done. It will be as crystal clear as a glass.”

On Reko Diq, Dr Arsalan is very clear. “It would be an international open tender. That’s how it should be done. The best bid and the option should be accepted. It would be open for all and advertised in international magazines, newspapers. We will see what the people get and the major share comes to the locals”.

“And let me tell you the father I represent, I can assure that with me around nothing like a backdoor deal is possible. The way forward will be given in a presentation within a week or 10 days as everyone was busy in the budget. The way forward will be opened to the public.”

Maria Sharapova wins French Open in second longest final

PARIS: Maria Sharapova won her second French Open and fifth career major on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win over Romania´s Simona Halep in the tournament´s second longest final.

At 3hr 02min, it was just two minutes shy of the 1996 final between Steffi Graf and Aranxta Sanchez.

Sharapova, the seventh seed, won her first Roland Garros title in 2012 and was runner-up last year to Serena Williams.

Halep, the fourth seed, was playing in her maiden final at a Grand Slam and was hoping to become the first Romanian champion since Virginia Ruzici in 1978.

Saturday´s win took Sharapova, 27, level with Martina Hingis as a five-time Grand Slam title champion. (AFP)

Nadal to play Djokovic in French Open final

PARIS: The world´s top two players, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, will contest Sunday´s French Open final following the Spaniard´s 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 centre court demolition of Andy Murray on Friday.

Earlier Djokovic had won through his semi-final with a 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Ernests Gulbis Of Latvia.

Top seed and eight-time winner Nadal now stands just one win away from becoming the first man to take the French Open title five times in a row, surpassing Bjorn Borg.

He also is on the cusp of a 14th Grand Slam title, which would put him level at second best on the all-time list with Pete Sampras and three behind Roger Federer.

Murray failed in his bid to become the first British player to contest the French Open final since Bunny Austin 77 years ago and will now turn his attention to defending his Wimbledon crown.

It was his worst loss to Nadal in nine Grand Slam match-ups between the two, surpassing the nine games he managed in the 2008 Wimbledon quarter-finals. "I think that today I played my best tennis at Roland Garros this year," said Nadal. "After 10 years of coming here and to be back in the final for the ninth time - it´s something I never believed would happen in my life. "He (Djokovic) is an unbelievable opponent. He is always a big challenge and I need to play at my very best. He beat me the last few times we played."

Nadal was aware that the last time he played Murray -- on clay in Rome last month -- the Scot won the first set 6-1, before losing in three.This time it was a very different scenario as the Spaniard, who turned 28 on Tuesday, hit the deck running, winning the first three games in just 10 minutes and for the loss of just three points.

Murray finally opened his account, but the one break of serve was enough for Nadal to take the first set 6-3.

It was another storming start to the second set from Nadal who bludgeoned two big forehand winners past Murray to set up breakpoint which he took when the seventh seed weakly hit a high forehand wide.

Murray was failing to make any impression on the Nadal serve with not a single break point offering him any hope, and it became an even steeper mountain to climb for him when he dropped serve for the third time to put Nadal 5-2 up.

The Majorcan duly pocketed the set by serving out to love and such was the one-sided nature of the contest that there was no sign of Murray´s habitual angry outbursts aimed at getting himself going.

The outcome looked a formality and when Nadal broke the Murray serve for the fourth time to lead 2-1 in the third the end was in sight for the 27-year-old Scot.

It came 18 minutes later when a dispirited Murray lost serve for the fifth and final time.

The win brought Nadal´s formidable record on the claycourts at Roland Garros, since making his debut in 2005, to 65 wins against the one loss, conceded to Robin Soderling of Sweden in a fourth round tie in 2009.

And it meant that he has now won 20 of the 23 Grand Slam semi-finals he has contested in his career, the last time he lost in the last four being against Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open. (AFP)

Djokovic makes it back into French Open final

PARIS: Novak Djokovic worked his way back into the French Open final, taking care of Ernests Gulbis and his big serve 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Friday on the first sunny day of this year´s tournament.

The second-seeded Serb was able to control the pace of the match on Court Philippe Chatrier while letting Gulbis´ unforced errors mount.

The powerful Latvian, who was playing in his first Grand Slam semifinal, finished with 44 errors.

Djokovic is a six-time major champion who needs to win the title at the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

He also reached the final at Roland Garros in 2012, but lost to eight-time champion Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic will next face either Nadal or Andy Murray in Sunday´s final.

Djokovic was first to get into trouble in the first semifinal, but he managed to save two break points and hold to 2-2 in the opening set.

A few minutes later, he was ahead for good. Djokovic needed three attempts to earn his first break of the match, and he finally got it when Gulbis sent one of his many forehands long.

It was also in that game that Gulbis had his first of five double-faults. His second double came in the final game of the set, when Djokovic broke again. And his third came when trailing Djokovic 4-3 in the second, when the Serb broke yet again. "I´m not used to (playing) these kind of big matches," Gulbis said. "It´s just normal I felt extra nervous and extra tense."

Gulbis fared better in the third set. He again had two break points while leading 3-2, but again failed to win the game. However, he didn´t waste his chance two games later, breaking Djokovic to take a 5-3 lead before serving out the set with his 11th ace.

The two traded breaks early in the fourth set, and Djokovic broke again to lead 5-3 when Gulbis, again double-faulting once in the game, sent a backhand long.

Djokovic won the last game at love. "It was a struggle out there," Gulbis said. "I felt maybe throughout the match I hit five really clean shots, from either side, backhand or forehand. Even serve."

After nearly two weeks of overcast skies and cool temperatures, the sun was shining on center court and Djokovic and Gulbis were more interested in staying cool than staying warm.

Both players used ice wrapped in towels around their necks, like players often do at the sweltering Australian Open, as the temperature reached 28 degrees C (82 degrees F) on Friday.

Djokovic is now 5-1 against Gulbis, a 25-year-old player who as a teen showed the potential for becoming a star. But Gulbis has said recently that he is only now playing his best tennis, and only because he has decided to leave the party lifestyle behind and focus on his sport.

He certainly showed that at Roland Garros.Gulbis had reached the quarterfinals at a major only once before, and that was way back in 2008 at the French Open.

In that match, he also lost to Djokovic, but in straight sets. This year, he eliminated 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the fourth round and sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. "The more I play these kind of matches, the more I´m going to get used to these situations," Gulbis said. "For me, I take only the positive stuff out of it. Yeah, I need to be in these situations once, twice, three times, and then I can maybe make that extra step."

Djokovic, however, is playing even better. He has won three titles so far this season, and has beaten Nadal the last four times they have played, including on clay in the final in Rome last month. (AFP)

Djokovic beats Cilic to reach French Open 4th rd

PARIS: Second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Marin Cilic for the ninth straight time Friday to reach the fourth round of the French Open, laboring to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4 win.

Djokovic has never lost to the Croat since they first played each other six years ago. But he dropped serve early to trail 3-1, made sloppy unforced errors in the tiebreaker, and was broken back in the fourth set after leading 4-2. He won when Cilic double faulted.

The six-time Grand Slam champion next plays either 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France or No. 22 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who played later Thursday.

Djokovic is looking to win the French Open for the first time and lost to eight-time champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals last year. (AP)

Federer advances to 4th round at French Open

PARIS: Roger Federer needed four sets to make it through to the fourth round of the French Open on Friday, beating Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4.

Federer, who had won his opening two matches in straight sets, converted only four of his 21 break-point opportunities against the 31st-seeded Russian.

Shortly after winning the second-set tiebreaker, Tursunov appeared to have a minor meltdown while trailing 2-1 in the third.

He argued with the chair umpire and took a medical timeout. He left the court for several minutes, leaving Federer to practice some serves while awaiting his opponent´s return.

Federer is trying to win the title at Roland Garros for the second time. He is the 2009 champion, but lost in the quarterfinals last year. (AP)

Kuznetsova advances to third round in French Open

Former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia advanced to the third round by beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Kuznetsova, seeded 27th, broke Giorgi´s serve four times and next faces either fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova or Marina Erakovic, who were playing later Thursday.Sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and 15th-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States also advanced in straight sets.

Jankovic won 7-5, 6-0 against Japan´s Kurumi Nara and Stephens won 6-1, 6-3 against Slovenia´s Polona Hercog.

Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands was leading 5-7, 6-4, 3-0 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova when the Russian retired, and in Israel´s Julia Glushko won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 against No. 21 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.Bertens next plays Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who downed Belgium´s Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-4. (AP)

David Ferrer into French Open 3rd round

PARIS: Fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain comfortably advanced to the third round of the French Open by beating Italy´s Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 Thursday.

Ferrer, last year´s runner-up to Rafael Nadal, broke Bolleli´s serve five times and saved all four break points he faced.

Also, 19th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat Frenchman Axel Michon 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, and American Donald Young won 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-3 against No. 26 Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal of Spain was playing Dominic Thiem of Austria, while seventh-seeded Andy Murray took on Marinko Matosevic later Thursday.

Giraldo, Nishikori to contest Barcelona Open final

MADRID: Colombian Santiago Giraldo beat Rafael Nadal´s conqueror Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 at the Barcelona Open on Saturday to reach just his second ever ATP final.

Almagro had described his win over Nadal, an eight-time champion in Barcelona, on Friday as possibly a turning point in his career. However, the Spaniard was unable to find the same form against the world number 65 as one break in the 11th game was enough to give Giraldo the first set. The second set was a tale of missed opportunities for Almagro as he could only convert one of five break points and was broken twice himself as Giraldo sealed victory in an hour and 26 minutes.

Japan´s Kei Nishikori will be Giraldo´s opponent in the final as he continued his fine form this season with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

Nishikori, playing for the first time on clay under new coach and former French Open champion Michael Chang, was dominant on serve throughout and never faced a break point on his way to sealing victory. "I was very happy to see lots of Japanese people congratulating me after the match," said the world number 17. "I love coming to Spain to play. There have not been any easy matches. I am playing great and I am particularly pleased with my serve and forehand against (Marin) Cilic (in the quarter-finals) and today." (AFP)

Ukraine separatists open to swap for OSCE release

 

AP A Lithuanian paratrooper gets to hold a US solder's weapon as the first American troops arrived at the Lithuanian air force base in Siauliai, Lithuania, on Saturday.

A leader for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Saturday that a group of foreign military observers who have been detained as suspected “NATO spies” could be released in exchange for jailed pro-Russian activists.

“They are officers from NATO member states,” said Vyacheslav Ponomaryev, self-proclaimed mayor of the eastern city of Slovyansk. “As we found maps on them containing information about the location of our checkpoints, we get the impression that they are officers carrying out a certain spying mission.”

The German-led, eight-member team was travelling under the auspices of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe when they were detained in Slovyansk.

Germany’s Defense Ministry said it had had lost contact with the team, which it said also included five Ukrainians. Tim Guldimann, the OSCE’s special envoy for Ukraine, told German public radio WDR on Saturday that “efforts are being made to solve this issue.” He declined to elaborate.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on late Friday to press for the release of the observers. A Russian embassy official was also called into the German Foreign Ministry to receive the same message.

Russia’s envoy to the OSCE, Andrei Kelin, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti in Vienna that Russia was taking “all possible steps” to free the military observers.

With tensions rising in Ukraine, the United States and its partners in the Group of Seven said on Friday night by the White House that they were prepared to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia. The White House said an announcement could come as early as Monday.

The West has accused Russia of using covert forces to encourage unrest in Ukraine, and says Moscow has done nothing to pressure separatist militias to free police stations and government buildings in at least 10 cities across the region.

Condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the G-7 said- “We will now follow through on the full legal and practical consequences of this illegal annexation, including but not limited to the economic, trade and financial areas.”

Tokyo stocks open 1.17 percent lower

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened 1.17 percent lower on Wednesday after the yen soared on fading hopes for near-term monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.

The Nikkei 225 index was down 170.83 points at 14,436.05 at the start. "The yen´s rise is a big negative for exporters and financials," SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi said as he predicted a bearish market Wednesday.

The yen gathered momentum on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) held off further monetary easing measures as it wrapped up a policy meeting.

BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda told a post-meeting press conference that no new stimulus was needed at this time.

The dollar was at 101.89 yen early Wednesday, up from 101.75 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon but steeply down from 102.56 yen in Tokyo earlier Tuesday.

The euro bought 140.55 yen and $1.3792 on Wednesday, compared with 140.44 yen and $1.3797 in New York where the common unit fell after the International Monetary Fund urged the European Central Bank to take action to head off deflation.

US stocks rallied on Tuesday with the recently battered tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumping 0.81 percent to 4,112.99.

The Dow Jones industrial Average advanced 0.06 percent to 16,256.14.

Polls open in Turkey local vote seen as referendum

ANKARA: Polls opened Sunday in Turkey for municipal elections that are seen as a referendum on the rule of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has faced anti-government protests and a major corruption scandal.

More than 50 million voters were to cast their ballots for mayors and local assemblies at almost 200,000 pollings stations, pitting Erdogan´s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development party against secular, nationalist and other groups.

The polls opened first in eastern Turkey and will open later in the west.

Tokyo shares open lower

TOKYO: Tokyo shares opened lower Wednesday, following overnight falls of Wall Street stocks on profit taking, while the dollar slipped.
The Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gave up 216.67 points or 1.42 percent to 15,007.44 in the first minutes of trading.
A lack of fresh trading incentives was also partly to blame for the weakness at the Tokyo bourse, said Kenichi Hirano, Tachinbana Securities market analyst.
"There is a real dearth of trading cues right now, which is in part responsible for the low volume we´ve seen in recent days," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
Traders have been squaring positions for technical reasons, ahead of expirations of major options and futures contracts on Friday, he added.
US shares´ weakness overnight on profit-taking also weighed on the Tokyo market.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 67.43 (0.41 percent) to 16,351.25 on Tuesday.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 9.54 (0.51 percent) to 1,867.63, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 27.26 (0.63 percent) at 4,307.19, its fourth loss in as many sessions.
Analysts also blamed the yen´s strength against the dollar for adding pressure on Tokyo shares.
The greenback stood at 102.88 yen, falling from 102.94 yen in New York Tuesday. The euro was $1.3855 and 142.50 yen, mixed from $1.3863 142.73 yen in New York.