Pakistan, Afghanistan set for historic one-dayer

 

Pakistan and Afghanistan play a historic first-ever one-day international between the two countries here on Friday with both captains vowing to make the game a memorable one.

 

“It is a very important game for both countries and we will try to make the occasion memorable with some quality cricket,” Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said.

 

“It is important for countries like Afghanistan to play a top team which will help them improve and we are going to play with our full strength team as they have some good players.”

 

Friday s match in Sharjah Stadium — which holds the world record of staging the most one-day internationals with 201 — is fitting because most of the Afghan players learnt the game in Pakistan while staying as refugees after the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979.

 

Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal thanked Pakistan for giving them chances.

 

“We thank Pakistan for allowing us to play this one-day and also giving us opportunity to play in their domestic competitions which raised our confidence,” said Mangal, who led Afghanistan to one-day status.

 

“It is a history making match against a top team like Pakistan and we will try our best to put up a good fight in a contest which is a big challenge for us,” said the 27-year-old Mangal, an off-spin bowler.

 

Mangal said his team had prepared well for Pakistan s spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman who were behind the 3-0 destruction of England in their three-Test series: Ajmal finished with 24 wickets while Rehman took 19.

 

“We have prepped well for Pakistan s spin duo and I am confident my batsmen will do their best,” said Mangal, adding that paceman Hamid Hassan, who has 24 wickets in 14 one-day internationals, will miss the match through knee injury.

 

They still have Mohammad Nabi, an off-spinner who took five wickets while playing for an ICC Combined XI against England last month and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Shahzad who scored 51 and 74 in the same match.

 

Pakistan will be further boosted by the return of all-rounder Shahid Afridi who will add variety to team s spin attack.

 

Mangal hoped a sell-out crowd of 15,000 largely Afghan and Pakistan expats, enjoying the weekly holiday here, will show their support.

 

“We want the public to share this historic moment with both the teams,” said Mangal.

 

War-ravaged Afghanistan gained a notable foot up on the world cricket stage by finishing fifth in the 2011 World Cup qualifiers which earned them the right to play one-day internationals.

 

They also won the right to play the third edition of World Twenty20, held in the Caribbean in 2010, by winning the qualifying tournament and then finished with a silver medal in the Asian Games in China in November that same year.

 

Afghanistan, one of the 59 associate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), are also the title holders of the Inter-Continental Cup meant for the Associate nations.

 

The ICC, which contributes approximately 700,000 dollars a year to help Afghanistan s development in cricket, has shown great delight in their progress, terming it as “a success story in cricket”.
 

US recognises new government of Maldives

 

The United States said Thursday it recognizes the new government of Maldives President Mohamed Waheed as the legitimate and urged him to fulfill a pledge to form a national unity government.

 

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also said Robert Blake, the top US diplomat for south Asia, telephoned former president Mohamed Nasheed to tell him Washington backed a “peaceful resolution” of the crisis on the archipelago.

 

“We do,” Nuland told reporters when asked if Washington recognizes the new government as the legitimate government of the Maldives. She called Waheed the president and Nasheed the former president.

 

Blake, the assistant secretary of state for south Asian affairs, will travel Saturday to the Maldives to meet with both Waheed and Nasheed, who charges he was ousted in a coup, as well as civil society.

 

“He will be encouraging this national unity conversation,” she added.

 

“Blake spoke this morning to former president Nasheed, conveying assurances that the United States supports a peaceful resolution of this,” Nuland said.

 

Blake assured Nasheed who is facing arrest “that we are also expressing our views to the government that his security should be protected,” Nuland said.

 

Unrest has spread to the far corners of the nation of more than 1,000 islands, as Waheed struggles to maintain order.
 

Greeks agree on austerity, unions call strike

 

This cleared the way for the eurozone to decide on a bailout package, but unions called a new strike against the terms.

 

A  final agreement  has been reached among Greek political leaders on additional austerity measures demanded by EU-IMF creditors in return for a loan bailout, a government source said on Thursday.

 

“There is a final agreement on the measures,” the source told AFP hours before eurozone finance were set to decide on a new bailout worth 130 billion euros ($171 billion), averting a default and ending a chapter in the eurozone crisis.

 

A deal by banks to write-down Greek debt was also at hand, an EU diplomat said.

 

The Greek government coalition parties had balked overnight at cutting 650 million euros in supplementary pensions, and argued until almost the last minute on Thursday over finding savings in other areas of the budget.

 

The message from Brussels meanwhile was that the shortfall in cuts, however small, had to be bridged, by whatever means.

 

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told reporters in Frankfurt that he had received a phone call from Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos just minutes earlier and “he told me that agreement has been reached and has been endorsed by major parties.”

 

An EU diplomat told AFP there is also “consensus” on the voluntary writedown by private creditors of their holdings of Greek bonds — “the biggest debt restructuring ever.”

 

Private creditors, who are negotiating an exchange of bonds that will save Greece at least 100 billion euros, are to meet on Thursday in Paris before the Europgroup meeting, according to a spokesman.

 

Greece has run up total debt of about 350 billion euros, roughly 160 percent of its gross domestic product, and the IMF has insisted that level be brought down to a maximum of 120 percent of GDP in 2020 in order for a further bailout to go ahead.

 

The deal would likely see the face value of the 200 billion euros in bonds that private creditors hold be cut in half, but their total losses may hit 70 percent given they will receive 30-year bonds at lower interest rates.

 

The bond exchange will take several weeks to perform, raising concerns whether it can completed before Greece faces 14.5 billion euros in payments due on March 20 and defaults, which could spark a domino effect that undermines the entire euro common currency project.

 

The main private and public-sector unions called a 48-hour general strike on Friday and Saturday to fight “barbaric” new wage and pension cuts.

 

“We categorically reject this framework to impoverish and bankrupt society and the economy,” the leading union GSEE said.

 

According to the Greek press, the measures under consideration included slashing the minimum wage by 22 percent, sweeping cuts to salaries and pensions and 15,000 public sector job losses.

 

Anguish over the measures was exacerbated as official data showed the jobless rate exceeding a million people, or 20.9 percent of the workforce.

 

If eurozone finance ministers approve the deal at a meeting due to begin at 1700 GMT the programme of reforms will be put before the Greek parliament on Friday, ahead of a vote on Sunday.

 

In principle, the government coalition can rely on support from 255 of the 300 deputies, but the political stakes are high as the parties prepare for early legislative elections in April.

 

Far-right leader Georgios Karatzaferis, the first to emerge from the coalition talks, denounced the troika for heaping unreasonable pressure on the Greek government to enact more painful cuts to public spending.

 

“I made clear my intentions right at the start of the meeting. I cannot in one hour sign up to a plan which will affect the country for 40 or 50 years with receiving (legal) assurances that the measures are going to get the country out of its impasse,” he told reporters.–AFP

 

Factory collapse: SC takes suo motu notice

According to News Trends, the Supreme Court has ordered the Chief Secretary Punjab, IG Punjab, DCO Lahore and the Director General of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to appear in the court and express their stance.

It should be recalled that a pharmaceutical factory situated on Multan Road, in Lahore, collapsed due to explosion of a boiler.

Till now, about 25 ill-fated workers have lost their lives in this mishap while the factory owners have escaped.

District administration and the 1122 rescue teams are removing the debris at the site of occurrence.

Karachi:firefighters demand overtime

A large number of firefighters gathered at their Headquarters with placards and banners and shouted slogans against the government.

They complained that they have been kept deprived of their overtime for four months, adding that it is impossible for them to meet their needs.

 

They warned that if their charges were not paid in time, they would take out a rally to the CM House.

$3.3m aid for frogs, others

 

The threatened species on the list would benefit from a $3.3 million (2.4 million euro) aid award, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said Thursday.

 

The conservation fund Save Our Species (SOS), set up by the IUCN, the World Bank and others, has announced it is to allocate the cash to more than 20 projects.

 

SOS is involved in the protection of the Cross River Gorilla and Black Rhino in Africa and the Snow Leopard in Pakistan.

 

Asia s Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Madagascar s Golden Mantella Frog are also on its list.

 

The body is meanwhile working to re-introduce the Philippine Cockatoo to its native land.

 

“By implementing on the ground conservation action, the projects (that) SOS select help protect entire habitats which both people and wildlife depend on,” said SOS director Jean-Christophe Vie.

 

The body was established in 2010 by IUCN, the World Bank and the GEF (Global Environment Facility) with more than $10 million funding to help protect threatened species.–AFP
 

Worchestershire contract Ajmal for 2nd stint

 

Ajmal got boost following his clutch of wickets for Pakistan in their Test series whitewash of England.

 

Ajmal will join the Midlands county as their second overseas player for the domestic Twenty20 competition, along with Australia batsman Phil Hughes who will be at New Road for the whole of the 2012 English county season.

 

The in-form Ajmal took 24 wickets in Pakistan s 3-0 rout of England in the United Arab Emirates, including a Test-best seven for 55 in the series opener.

 

He spent the second half of last term with Worcestershire and helped them avoid relegation from the First Division of the County Championship.

 

Ajmal also collected up 16 Twenty20 wickets for the county at an average of just over 11 apiece.

 

“Saeed showed last summer when playing for us what a quality bowler he is,” said Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes.

 

“His recent performances against England only serve to back this up,” the former England wicket-keeper added.

 

“We are delighted that he has agreed to return to New Road for a second time.”

 

The 34-year-old Ajmal, in a Worcestershire statement, said: “I really enjoyed my time at New Road in 2011 and look forward to returning this summer to help inspire the club to Twenty20 success.”–AFP
 

CCI meeting continues in Islamabad

 

A meeting of the Council of Common Interest in Islamabad is discussing matters of national importance.

 

The meeting is being attended by the Chief Ministers of Punjab‚ Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

 

In his opening address‚ Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said the council of common interests is playing an important role in the resolution of national issues. He said this is the eight meeting of the council after 18th amendment.
He expressed the confidence that the council will continue to hold meaningful deliberations for the resolution of all the issues.

 

The Prime Minister said the federal cabinet has approved Pakistan becoming a member of the forum of federation‚ a global body established at Ottawa‚ Canada. This membership will provide us an opportunity to benefit from the experiences of other federations.

 

The CCI will consider seven issues including its Annual Report for the year 2010-11 which will then be presented before the Parliament.

 

The Prime Minister directed Advisor on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh to hold meetings with the Planning Commission and Economic Affairs Division and expedite the issues pertaining to provision of electricity from baggas of Sugar Mills and laying of transmission line for the Thar Coal Project on top priority basis.

 

Prime Minister Gilani also directed the Advisor to convene Energy Conference at the earliest to remove the snags regarding the expeditious implementation of power generation projects in Sindh‚ Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa.
 

WADA wants ban on Indian runners to be extended

 

The World Anti Doping Agency has appealed against the leniency of one-year doping bans given to six Indian female runners last year.

 

India s National Anti Doping Agency director-general Rahul Bhatnagar said the world body was seeking two-year bans on the six 400-meter runners.

 

A NADA panel handed down lighter punishments in December because it believed the runners had consumed banned substances unknowingly.

 

The athletes included three members of the winning relay quartet at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2010: Ashwini Akkunji, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose. The others were Jauna Murmu, Tiana Mary and Priyanka Panwar.

 

All of them tested positive for one or more of three banned steroids: methandienone, epimethandiol and stanozolol.
 

Trilateral summit to be held next week in Islamabad

 

The third trilateral will discuss the regional security situation.

 

President Asif Ali Zardari‚ Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad will attend the summit and discuss the host of issues pertaining to regional peace‚ security and stability.

 

At the weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday‚ Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said it is important for the three sides to get together and discuss the important issues faced by the region including the transnational organized crimes.

 

Responding to a question about the US pressure on Islamabad for pulling out of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project‚ the foreign office spokesman said there is no change and shift in our policy on the gas pipeline project. He said Pakistan is committed to the completion of the gas pipeline project by 2014. This project‚ he said‚ is important for our economy and meets the energy deficit.

 

Abdul Basit said during the visit of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Moscow‚ Russia has expressed its interest in financing different energy related projects including CASA 1000 and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India TAPI gas pipeline project. He said Pakistan would also welcome Russia s or any other country s investment in important Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.

 

When asked about the US-Taliban talks in Qatar‚ Abdul Basit said Pakistan has been kept informed of these talks through the diplomatic channels. He said as far as the visit of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to Qatar is concerned‚ it was purely a bilateral visit aimed at further strengthening relationship in different fields.

 

There was no meeting of the Prime Minister and the Taliban in Qatar. He said during talks with the Qatari leadership‚ Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani discussed the regional situation including the Afghan issue.
 

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