Aug 10, 2011 ~ Public View

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

India batsmen collapse in England cricket Test

9:57 PM

No comments

India batsmen collapse in England cricket Test

Released on - Wednesday,10 August , 2011 -15:03

Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan inflicted fresh misery upon India as the tourists collapsed to 75 for four at lunch on the first day of the third Test at Edgbaston here on Wednesday.

The recalled Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar managed just one run between them while Rahul Dravid was out for 22 to what turned out to be the last ball before lunch.

It all left England, already 2-0 up, in command of a match where a victory would not only see them win this four-match series but also replace India at the top of the ICC's Test Championship table.

Bresnan, who starred with both bat and ball in England's crushing 319-run second Test win at Trent Bridge, had lunch figures of two for 13 in 7.2 overs, including a spell of two for five in 10 balls.

Meanwhile Broad, who took a hat-trick on his Nottinghamshire home ground last time out and scored valuable runs, had two for 32 in nine overs.

England, who saw captain Andrew Strauss elect to field after winning the toss in overcast, seam-bowler friendly conditions saw Broad strike first ball to remove Sehwag for a golden duck.

Sehwag, playing his first match of the series after shoulder surgery and one of the world's most dynamic opening batsman, tried to sway out of the way of a short ball from Broad but gloved through to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Steve Davis initially said not out but England immediately asked for a review and third umpire Rod Tucker, Davis's fellow Australian, correctly ruled in their favour.

Dravid, back in his familar number three spot after making a century while opening in Gambhir's injury absence at Trent Bridge, drove Broad for two fours in successive balls.

But first-change Bresnan ended a stand worth 51 when left-hander Gambhir inside-edged onto his stumps for a 38 featuring seven boundaries.

Gambhir's exit brought in Tendulkar who, as he has done all series, received a standing ovation as he walked to the crease in pursuit of an unprecedented 100th international hundred.

But Tendulkar made just one who before he was lured into playing a Broad delivery outside off-stump he might have left and edged to third slip Anderson.

Dravid, nicknamed 'the Wall' for his resilience was then bowled off-stump by a superb Bresnan delivery, having hit eight fours.

Read more »

Pakistani art makes US debut

9:56 PM

No comments

Pakistani art makes US debut

Released on - Wednesday,10 August , 2011 -00:27

An exhibit of rare Buddhist sculptures, architectural reliefs and works of gold and bronze is opening at the Asia Society Museum on Tuesday after a long and tumultuous journey from Pakistan.

The works, many of which have never been shown before in the United States, are from the historically rich Gandhara.

They had originally been scheduled to be shown in March but roadblocks, US visa problems for Pakistani officials accompanying the works and a new Pakistani law delayed the opening until this month.

'Bringing the show was a major feat,' said Melissa Chiu, the director of the Asia Society’s Museum. 'Within the political arena, the US and Pakistan have had challenges over the past six months to a year. Even if we are not a government organisation, this obviously has a broader impact.'

Most of the works in the three-month exhibit, 'The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara,' are on loan from the National Museum in Karachi and Lahore Museum in Lahore. Buddhist art flourished in the region, near present-day Peshawar, between the second and fourth centuries.
'It was an early culture. It was a Buddhist culture and it was one of the first occasions where we see Buddha represented in his figurative form,' Chiu explained.

Among the highlights of the exhibit are Vision of a Buddha Paradise from the
4th Century and a winged Aphrodite leaning against a pillar from the 1st Century.

The start of the exhibit was also hampered by a new Pakistani law that shifted decisions about art loans from a central department to the provinces where the museums were located. 'It was not just us on the US side that wanted to bring objects, but people in Pakistan really wanted to see the show happen,' Chiu said.

The show is the first Gandharan art exhibit in the US since 1960 when the Asia Society held the first exhibit on Gandharan sculptures.
'We want people to see the very rich cultural heritage of Pakistan that is lesser known here in the US'.

Read more »

Zardari Surrenders – MQM Triumphs

9:55 PM

No comments

Zardari Surrenders – MQM Triumphs

Released on - Wednesday,10 August , 2011 -09:10

It was on 11 July that Rifah party welcomed the adoption of Commissionrate System in the wake of the MQM minsters resigning from the federal and provincial cabinet. Rural Sindh – the strong base of the PPP – was ecstatic with joy and its leaders claimed that it was the policy of the PPP all along to revoke the changes carried out by General Musharraf to make Karachi and Hyderabad a veritable den of the MQM mafia. But the ecstasy was short lived. The MQM responded to the challenge by unleashing a reign of terror in Karachi. It turned out that the death squads of the MQM were more organised and efficient than those of the PPP or the ANP.

The police in Karachi have learnt over the last three years of PPP rule that the provincial government will not defy the writ of the MQM in Karachi. It keeps a safe distance away when the MQM unleashes its death squads. The Command and Control Centre established by former Karachi Nazim Mustafa Kamal is aiding target killers and terrorists in their activities. It has since been reported in the press that the ‘Centre’ keeps a close watch on various parts of the city through CCTV cameras installed all across Karachi. The Centre provides the death squads and other anti-social elements with information about the movement of the police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies as well as instructions for terror activities. During recent incidents of violence, ISI recorded conversations between Command and Control Centre officials and target killers. On Feb 28, SHC ordered the handing over of the centre to the Home Department, but the directives not complied with so far.

After the resignation of MQM ministers, President Asif Zardari took direct charge of negotiations with the MQM. It was surprising indeed that surrender by him was as quick and complete. After first submitting to the demand for restoration of the Musharraf system for Karachi and Hyderabad only, he restored the System in the entire province of Sindh. Questions are being asked what caused the quick surrender after more than three years of preparation. The consensus among political observers is that it is that pressure for the humiliating climb down came from the very same ‘foreign hands’ which give money, weapons and training to the MQM i.e. India and Israel. The route through which President Zardari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik receive their orders is via London (where the MQM leader resides and has his HQ) or Washington DC. Indo-Zionist control of Zardari- Geelani Administration is now complete. There is no wriggle room any more.

The other explanation for the surrender of President Zardari is that he has realised how far advanced is the readiness of the MQM for a civil war in Karachi. The Community Police Department established by the former city Nazim enrolled some 7,500 activists of the MQM into the department without conducting any interviews to determine their eligibility. The order by SHC to hand over the Command and Control Centre to the Sindh Home Department has not been complied with despite the passage of over five months, due to PPP’s ‘policy of reconciliation’. With the restoration of the Musharraf System, the Community Police and Command & Control Centre for keeping an eye on the federal forces in Karachi would come under the City Government and there would be no need for a hand over to the Sindh Home Department any more.

When the PPP inducted its former sworn enemies (PML-Q) into the ruling coalition, it was a considered a ‘master stroke’ of politics as it eliminated dependence on MQM votes in the National Assembly to secure majority. The ability of Zardari-Geelani kleptomaniac Administration to provide honest and effective management of the economy was always doubtful but its mastery over wheeling dealing politics earned it much praise. The people of Pakistan had come to fear that the present coalition may well win in the next elections also. The dreaded prospect still looms large over the political horizon but the humiliation inflicted on President Zardari by the MQM in Karachi has raised hopes that the nightmare scenario may be avoided.

While the deindustrialisation of Pakistan is proceeding rapidly because of the load shedding of electricity and gas, the pain of watching the socio-political slide of Pakistan is becoming too much to bear. The Army will not intervene in the quagmire of Karachi and it should not. The people are looking towards the Supreme Court to dismiss the Geelani Administration and induct an interim government. President Zardari, hopefully chastened by his experience, may well agree to the assemblies being dissolved if that is the only way he can retain some of all he now controls. There appears to be no other way.

by (R)Brig Usman Khalid

(We value your opinions and encourages you to ontribute with Your Article/blog. You can send your Articles/Stories/Blogs to news@statestimes.com)

Read more »