Twenty20 to be included in the 2012 Olympics

While the news of the sports of cricket back in to the Olympics is already making headlines around the world, the latest advancement to come in this regard is the definite nod from the International Olympics Committee that the Twenty20 form of the game will be a demonstration sport in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The opportunity could not have come at a better time. The venue is perfect too. London being home to the Lords and the Oval will ensure that there are no additional construction costs involved in this regard and the cricket loving nation will definitely welcome the Twenty20 championship with open arms.

It will however take till atleast 2020 Summer Games for cricket to be fully integrated in to the Olympic Games but nevertheless, these are exciting times to look forward to.  

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Suicide Bomb Blast @ Kamra – Children Wounded

Herald Tribune is reporting of a suicide bomber who struck a bus carrying schoolchildren today morning at a military base in Kamra, wounding at least five of the children. According to Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the wounded children have been transported to a nearby hospital. Stay tuned for more updates on this.

First Burns Care Center opened at PIMS

President Pervez Musharraf inaugurated the first ever Burns Care Center of Pakistan at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) today.  The Burns Care Centre is a state-of-the-art unit at PIMS, equipped with modern facilities to cater to the needs of patients with burn injuries coming from across the country. The 20-bed facility is the country’s first ever Burns Care Centre established in public sector, which was started in 2003 and completed with a cost of Rs 398 million.

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Aisam dismisses match-fixing rumors

“If you love the sport then I don’t think anybody would ever think of it. Representing your country as a player, you go out on the court to give your best and I don’t think anybody would throw a match for money. After all, tennis is a sport which pays you well!”

According to Pakistan’s ace professional Tennis player, Aisam Qureshi, it is hard to believe that the recent allegations and rumors of extensive match-fixing in professional tennis are substantial claims.

The famous sport has been rocked by allegations of match-fixing at a level as high as the Davis Cup after unusual betting patterns were observed by the ATP. Russian Nicolay Davydenko is one of the few big names under the scanner for being “deliberately” below-par in some matches.

“If it happens then it is unfortunate. It takes away the beauty of the game. It is disappointing for the millions of fans as well. Ultimately it’s about respecting the game that has given you so much and I don’t think anybody who loves the game would fall to the lure,” he added.

Aisam is currently ranked 129th in the ATP rankings. He has his eyes set on pushing in to the top 100 slots and also representing Pakistan in the upcoming Olympics in Beijing in 2008.

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37 Judges Including Former CJP Retired

Pakistan government has formally retired 37 judges including the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chowdhury. The retired judges also includes the lone Hindu judge in Pakistan, Rana Bhagwandas.

“Thirteen judges of the Supreme Court and 24 judges of the high courts of Lahore, Peshawar and Sindh stand retired with the issuance of notification by the law ministry,” Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum.

The notification was issued last night. The judges will also not be entitled to their post-retirement benefits and will have to vacate their official residences to facilitate their successors.

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Boycott option is still open – Pakistan Opposition Parties

Pakistan’s major opposition parties joined forces on Tuesday in drawing up a list of demands for President Pervez Musharraf to meet if he wants to avoid a threatened boycott of next month’s elections. As conditions for their participation in parliamentary elections, the parties are preparing to demand the end of emergency rule and the release of former Supreme Court judges.

The move raises the stakes for Musharraf’s government as part of efforts that Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, likened to a war to “save Pakistan from further destruction.”

Om Puri to play Gen Zia-ul-Haq in ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’

Veteran Bollywood actor, Om Puri, will be seen getting in to the skin of the character of General Zia-ul Haq, the late Pakistan President, in the upcoming international venture Charlie Wilson’s War that also stars Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks.

It will be interesting to see how Om Puri will fair as the late General who died in a mysterious airline accident when his plan blew up in mid air back in August 1988.

Charlie Wilson’s War is a 2007 drama film about Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who conspired with a rogue CIA operative named Gust Avrakotos to launch an operation to help the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It is based on a 2003 book of the same title by George Crile. The film is directed by Mike Nichols, is written by Aaron Sorkin.

The release date for the movie is December 21, 2007 and has been shot in Morocco.

Official Website

Movie Trailer

Nawaz Sharif: REJECTED!

Just in. Pakistan authorities have rejected former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s candidacy for General Elections to be held on January 8.

“The nomination papers of Nawaz Sharif are hereby rejected,” returning officer Raja Qamaruz Zaman said, after hearing a challenge against Sharif on the grounds that he was convicted of hijacking in 2000. The case involved Sharif’s attempt to stop a plane carrying his then army chief, Pervez Musharraf, from landing in Pakistan in October 1999. Musharraf and the army ousted Sharif as a result of that incident.

The leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is said to schedule a meeting with another major opposition party People’s Party (PPP), led by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a bid to convince the latter to take part in the opposition parties’ boycott of the general elections. Chances of a mutual boycott of the General Elections are quite low considering that Benazir Bhutto has stated on a number of occasions that PPP intends to fully participate in the upcoming elections.

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Book street set to open in Lahore

The country’s first ever book street will be opening soon in Lahore. Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) officials said the 1200-yard long street would be situated on the Thornton Road, a side lane on The Mall. The international standard book street would offer books at cheaper prices, they said. The project would be completed within three months.

PHA director Asif Zaheer said gates would be erected at the ends of the street – a blend of Mogul and British architectures. He said the Water and Power Development Authority had completed its work. “Once the sewerage work is completed, the shops will be leased out to vendors,” he said. “About 40 people have been nominated for the allotments. No shopkeeper will be allotted two shops.”

In 2004, book vendors had been told to remove their stalls from outside the Government College University, the Oriental College and the Punjab University, he pointed out. Zaheer said the then district co-ordination officer Khalid Sultan had initiated the street’s proposal to accommodate the book vendors. Old Book Vendors Association President Yousaf Chishti said Jugnu Mohsin had played a key role in the project proposal.

The book street would help Lahoris get all sorts of books. The government had been delaying the project since 2006. Chisti, however, said book vendors have not been allotted documents so far. “The government has set up two food streets in the city,” Kaleem, a book vendor, said. “But the book street project is in limbo.” The street would help students buy books at affordable prices and is bound to attract people from across the country.

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Desperate Geo Looks To India

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Such are the attempts being made by GEO TV when on Tuesday, it urged the leading media houses of India including Zee News to extend an arm of help in the face of their ban in Pakistan.

Geo has asked these Indian media houses to ‘move the Pakistani establishment including President Musharraf for the restoration of GEO’s services’.In a letter sent by the group, it informed Indian media about the atrocities and hardships that media is facing after the imposition of Emergency in Pakistan on Nov 3, 2007.

They requested Indian media to take their cause to the world and continue the coverage of incidents in Pakistan through establishing contact with GEO TV.

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Emergency to be lifted on Dec 16

Hours after being sworn in for a second five-year term last night, President Pervez Musharraf announced on television and radio that he intended to lift Pakistan’s state of emergency on Dec. 16.If he goes ahead with the move, it could be an important step in Pakistan’s recent tumultuous politics, which has seen the president impose emergency rule on Nov. 3, suspending the Constitution, dismissing the Supreme Court and arresting thousands of opponents. It remains unclear what the step could actually mean, and whether Musharraf will release all of the political opponents that remain in detention, or try to prosecute them, and what his response will be if protesters take to the streets after the emergency is lifted. Hundreds of lawyers clashed with the police in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday demonstrating against his new term.

“Right now, I think the dust is settling down and everything is under control,” said Musharraf, speaking on television beside a Pakistan flag. “I have my intention that I will make this move on Dec. 16.”

He also praised the newly appointed COAS, General Kayani and stated that he was the best person and a the most responsible commander to lead the Pakistan Army in to the future.

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Gul to be replaced by Yasir Arafat

All-rounder Yasir Arafat will replace injured fast bowler Umar Gul in the Pakistan squad preparing for the second test against India starting in Kolkata on Friday. Arafat would fly to India on Thursday night and would be available for selection.Gul, who missed the first test which India won by six wickets, has been ruled out of the three-match series because of a nagging back injury. Arafat, 25, last played for Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.

The Pakistani squad has been riddled with several fitness issues lately much to the concern of fans back home. Strike bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami did not bowl at the nets on Thursday for the second consecutive day because of chest infections and captain Shoaib Malik is doubtful because of an ankle injury. Opening bat Salman Butt has influenza and batsman Misbah-ul-Haq is recovering from a viral infection.

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Pakistan rejects Bush’s remarks on anti-al-Qaeda operation

While on one hand, Washington has praised the steps taken by Islamabad with General Musharraf stepping off the position of COAS, it has prompted an angry response from Pakistan over remarks from U.S. President George W. Bush that he would still send U.S. troops into Pakistan if he had actionable intelligence that Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were hiding somewhere in the country.

“Such concerns have been expressed on a number of occasions. We have made it clear that any such action would be unacceptable,” Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said stating that any direct action by U.S. troops would be counter-productive.

Bush declared that he would authorize direct U.S. military action if he had actionable intelligence that senior al-Qaeda leaders were hiding in Pakistan. In a recent interview with CNN, Bush said his stance had not changed when questioned about his declaration.

Sadiq said that Pakistan and the U.S. were partners in the anti-terror war and the positions of both were well defined and understood. He said operations against al-Qaeda and other “terrorist entities” had been carried out by Pakistan’s own forces and would pursue the same policy in future.

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PIA off EU banned airline list

The European Commission has lifted all restrictions on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flying in the 27-nation bloc while keeping Indonesian airlines on its list of banned carriers.

Updating its list of carriers banned throughout the European Union, the European Union’s executive arm also lifted its ban on Surinam’s Blue Wing Airlines. In March the Commission banned most of the Pakistan airline’s planes amid safety fears concerning the ageing fleet. PIA and Blue Wing “have successfully completed the implementation of a corrective action plan following their inclusion in the list,” the Commission said in a statement.

“Their oversight authorities have produced evidence that they verified the measures taken by the airlines and that these measures provide for long-lasting sustainable solutions to avoid the same problems recurring in the future,” it added. EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said the latest airline blacklist shows “that when airlines take rapid and sound corrective action to comply with safety standards, they can be withdrawn from the list quickly.”

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Fact File: General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani

With General Pervez Musharraf stepping down as COAS yesterday, his successor, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the former head of Pakistan’s main spy agency (ISI) has been brought in to the limelight in a time when the image of Pakistan Armed Forces is being heavily undermined owing to the recent geo-political events taking place in the country. General Kayani has been spoken of as a ‘quiet soldier’ who gets ‘a lot done without making much noise’. A clear indication of this fact being that he has so far ensured that he remains sidelined from the political grapevine. Will he be able to keep that up in times to come is a question everyone is asking. A lot is expected of him with regards to reforming not only the image of Pakistan Army but also establish and promote its credibility while keeping at distance from the unstable political environment.

Here are five important facts about General Kayani that you may or may not know:

1- Born into one of northern Punjab province’s largest and most powerful clans, Kayani, 55, studied at a Military College Jhelum, before training at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and also graduating from the National Defense College in Islamabad.

2- After fighting as a lieutenant in the 1971 war against India, Kayani was appointed as the deputy military secretary to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1988. He won accolades for sensitively overseeing troop movements in a tense 2001-2002 border standoff between Pakistan and India as the army’s chief operational commander.