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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: The special court, constituted to try former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf for high treason, stopped on Friday his lawyer from presenting arguments in the case.
    The court’s three-member bench was hearing the high treason case, during which it refused to hear the arguments of the former president’s lawyer Farogh Naseem, saying that it has already declared Musharraf ‘an absconder’.
    The court ordered prosecutor Akram Sheikh to submit a written response over the petition regarding the former president’s security.
    The special court also ordered the Interior Ministry to reverify Musharraf’s properties and provide details of his current assets and bank transactions.
    The court, during the proceedings, expressed a lack of satisfaction over the details of Musharraf’s properties, saying that the details are only up till 2008.
    The hearing of the case was adjourned until May 19.
    In March 2014, Musharraf was formally indicted over treason charges for imposing emergency and the Provisional Constitutional Order on November 3, 2007.


  2. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The third International Sufi Conference was organised by the Culture, Tourism &Antiquities Department of Sindh at a private hotel here.
    The two-day conference was inaugurated by Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and was Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, NIsar Khuhro and other ministers as well as by foreign dignitaries.
    The first day of the conference will include four different sessions.

    Provincial Minister for Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that the conference is aimed at furthering the message of peace.
    “PPP has always been at the forefront of promoting peace,” he said.


  3. Waqas Dar
    RIYADH: Saudi women no longer need a man´s consent to carry out certain activities, local media reported on Friday.
    Saudi Arabia has some of the world´s tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.
    Under the guardianship system a male family member, normally the father, husband or brother, must grant permission for a woman´s study, travel and other activities.
    But the Arab News said a royal decree issued by King Salman ordered that women are no longer required to obtain a guardian´s consent for official services "unless there is a legal basis for this request" under Islamic law.
    Government agencies were advised of this directive, the report said.
    Other Saudi media including the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities, have carried similar reports.
    Sahar Hassan Nasief, a women´s rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, welcomed royal attention to the issue but said it remained unclear what will change under the decree.
    "We still need more. We still need to get rid of the guardianship completely," she told AFP.
    Nassima al-Sadah, an activist in the Gulf coast city of Qatif, said she does not think the government is about to end guardianship.
    "Maybe they will just reduce it," she said.
    Last year thousands of people signed a petition calling for an end to guardianship.
    United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston, on a visit to Saudi Arabia in January, said the guardianship system needs reform.
    Activists say that even female prisoners have to be received by the guardian upon their release, meaning some have to languish in jail or a shelter beyond their sentences if the man does not want to accept them.
    Although the government no longer requires guardian permission for women to work, Human Rights Watch said in an earlier report that many employers still demand guardian consent in order to hire a woman.
    Some hospitals also require a guardian´s approval before carrying out medical procedures, it said.
    Activists say that if they have open-minded male family members, getting their consent is not a problem.


  4. Waqas Dar
    NOWSHERA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said that his lifelong struggle is not to become Prime Minister but to make a poverty-free Pakistan.
    He said that the poverty can only be reduced when corruption is eliminated, further adding that a nation stands with a Saadiq and Ameen leader, however, our PM Nawaz has been exposed as a liar.
    “China pulled out 50 crores of its people from poverty, that's exactly what I want to do in Pakistan,” he said. “We can only do this by eradicating the cancer of corruption. Nawaz Sharif is standing in the way of my dream to make Pakistan a better place to live.”
    My aim is to make Pakistan a country whose green passport is respected in the world.
    “We lost our respect in the world because we are a nation in debt, we aren't self-sufficient.”
    Khan claimed that International Monetary Fund has ordered Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to impose further taxes worth 40 billion on common people, he added that Inflation will further rise ultimately leading to increase in poverty.
    Earlier while addressing his supporters in Karachi, Imran Khan said: “Karachi used to raise voice against injustice before anyone else. Why is Karachi, which stood up for the rest of the country, not coming out for its own rights,” asked Imran addressing the march.
    The PTI chief said that the city contributes 60% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan. He threatened that in future when they come out on streets it would be a different scene.
    Imran said that the Panama case verdict will prove whether the country will be rid of corruption or will be “a Pakistan of Zardari and Nawaz Sharif”.
    “A liar cannot be a prime minister of the country,” he said.
    He while announcing the march had said that the walk aims to bring to the spotlight issues such as loadshedding, water shortage and garbage disposal.
    Earlier in the day, PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s workers came face to face outside the Karachi Press Club. Workers of both the parties started chanting slogans and hurled stones at each other, although the situation was brought under control later on.
    The PTI chief reached Karachi today, where he also spoke to media personnel. He claimed that the person who offered to pay Rs10 billion to him to be silent on the Supreme Court's decision over Panama leaks case, was ready to pay even more.
    Speaking on the problems facing Karachi residents, Khan said the issue of water scarcity was the most serious and would be the focus of today’s march.
    “Karachi is buried in filth. Money that should be spent on development of Sindh goes to Dubai instead,” the PTI chairman said.
    “I had promised the people of Karachi I would come here after getting done with the Panama case, and I am here now,” he remarked.


  5. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan will be addressing a rally in Naushera on Friday.
    According to reports, the PTI leader has left for the rally from his Bani Gala residence. He is accompanied by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen and Sheikh Rasheed. 
    On Sunday, PTI held ‘Huqooq-e-Karachi’ march to protest against the day-to-day problems faced by the city’s residents. 
    Chairman Imran Khan said that he is fighting a “mafia” and a “godfather”, alluding to Justice Asif Saeed Khosa’s reference to the famous novel “The Godfather” in his dissenting note in the Panama Papers case verdict.
    Imran Khan led the rally from Mazar-e-Quaid to Jail Chowrangi. 
    Addressing his supporters in the city, he asked them why do they not come out on streets to protest against lack of clean water and heaps of garbage lining the city.
    “Karachi used to raise voice against injustice before anyone else. Why is Karachi, which stood up for the rest of the country, not coming out for its own rights,” asked Imran addressing the march.
    The PTI chief said that the city contributes 60% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan.
    He threatened that in future when they come out on streets it would be a different scene.
    Imran said that the Panama case verdict will prove whether the country will be rid of corruption or will be “a Pakistan of Zardari and Nawaz Sharif”.
    “A liar cannot be a prime minister of the country,” he said.
    He while announcing the march had said that the walk aims to bring to the spotlight issues such as loadshedding, water shortage and garbage disposal.
    Earlier in the day, PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s workers came face to face outside the Karachi Press Club. Workers of both the parties started chanting slogans and hurled stones at each other, although the situation was brought under control later on.
    The PTI chief reached Karachi today, where he also spoke to media personnel. He claimed that the person who offered to pay Rs10 billion to him to be silent on the Supreme Court's decision over Panama leaks case, was ready to pay even more.
    Speaking on the problems facing Karachi residents, Khan said the issue of water scarcity was the most serious and would be the focus of today’s march.
    “Karachi is buried in filth. Money that should be spent on development of Sindh goes to Dubai instead,” the PTI chairman said.
    “I had promised the people of Karachi I would come here after getting done with the Panama case, and I am here now,” he remarked.


  6. Waqas Dar
    The US military said on Thursday it will offer recommendations on the war in Afghanistan to President Donald Trump within the next week, amid expectations of a request for thousands of more troops to break a stalemate with Taliban insurgents.
    Theresa Whelan, acting assistant secretary of defence for special operations, low-intensity conflict, testified to the Senate that the Pentagon was completing its review of potential adjustments to US war plans.
    "I expect that these proposals will go to the President within the next week and the intent is to do just that, to move beyond the stalemate," Whelan said.
    It has been three months since Army General John Nicholson, who leads US and international forces in Afghanistan, said he needed "a few thousand" additional forces, some potentially drawn from US allies.
    Current and former US officials say discussions revolve around adding 3,000 to 5,000 troops. Those forces are expected to be largely comprised of trainers to support Afghan forces, as well as air crews.
    So far, Trump has offered little clarity about whether he might approve more forces for Afghanistan, where some 8,400 US troops remain more than 15 years after the Taliban government was toppled by US-backed Afghan forces.
    But Trump has so far consistently appeared to defer to his military on matters of battlefield strategy. That includes in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he has given Defence Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to reset a system of US troop limits.
    Since Trump took office on Jan 20, the Taliban have staged brazen, deadly attacks, including one last month inside a northern Afghan army base where Taliban fighters killed more than 140 soldiers.
    It was believed be the deadliest attack on Afghan forces since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
    General Raymond Thomas, the commander of US Special Operations Command, testified alongside Whelan and said that beyond more troops, changes to the rules of engagement in Afghanistan were also being considered.
    Although he acknowledged more US forces were being considered for Afghanistan, he did not believe more US special operations forces should be among them.
    "Right now I think we have an adequate number of my troops, special operations forces on the ground," Thomas said.
    Any increase of several thousand troops would leave American forces in Afghanistan well below their 2011 peak of more than 100,000 troops.
    Still, some US officials question the benefit of sending more troops to Afghanistan. To date, more than 2,300 Americans have been killed and over 17,000 wounded.
    These officials, who agreed to discuss political deliberations only on the condition of anonymity, said the situation in Afghanistan is even worse than they had expected, and that any politically palatable number would not be enough to turn the tide, much less create stability and security.


  7. Waqas Dar
    IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
    (ORIGINAL JURISDICTION)
    PRESENT:
    MR. JUSTICE EJAZ AFZAL KHAN
    MR. JUSTICE SH. AZMAT SAEED
    MR. JUSTICE IJAZ UL AHSAN
     
    C. M. A. NO. 2939 OF 2017 IN CONSTITUTION PETITION NO. 29 OF 2016 ETC.
     
    Imran Ahmed Khan and others.                                 Applicant(s)
     
    Versus
     
    Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif,
    Prime Minister of Pakistan.                                        Respondent(s)
     
    In attendance :                   
    Mr. Ashtar Ausaf Ali, A. G. for Pakistan
    Mr. Riaz Riazuddin, Governor State Bank of Pakistan
    Mr. Zafar Hijazi, Chairman SECP
                                                   
    Date of Hearing:                        05.05.2017
     
    O R D E R 
    On the last date of hearing we observed as under :-
    “Pursuant to our directions, names of the Officers have been sent by all the Departments/Institutions but since we have reservations about the names given by the Governor State Bank of Pakistan and the Chairman Security & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, let both of them appear before us day after tomorrow i.e. 05.05.2017 at 11:00 a.m. with the lists of all the scale 18 and above Officers or equivalent so that we may consider them for approval as Members of JIT. 
     2.                     Today, the Governor State Bank of Pakistan and the Chairman SECP appeared with the lists they were directed to produce. We examined the lists and deliberated over our choice. We from the list submitted by the Governor State Bank of Pakistan select and nominate Mr. Amer Aziz, an Officer of (BS-21) who is on deputation with NIBAF, as a Member JIT. We also examined the list submitted by the Chairman SECP and deliberated over the names. We from the said list select and nominate Mr. Bilal Rasool who is Executive Director, SECP, presently working at the Commission’s Secretariat, Media and Corporate Communication and Translation Department as a Member JIT. We have also examined the lists submitted by the Chairman NAB. We after due deliberation select and nominate Mr. Irfan Naeem Mangi, Director (BS-20) as a Member JIT. We also examined the list submitted by the Director General ISI. We after due thought and deliberation select and nominate Brig. Muhammad Nauman Saeed as a Member JIT. We have also examined the list submitted by the Military Intelligence (M.I.). We after due consideration select and nominate Brig. Kamran Khurshid as a Member JIT. We also examined the list submitted by the Director General, FIA. We having considered the background and antecedents of the Officers in the list decided to select and nominate Mr. Wajid Zia, Additional Director General (Immigration), FIA to head the JIT.  
    3.                     We further direct as follows :-
     i)          The Secretariat of the JIT shall be housed in the Building of the Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad where they shall be provided adequate office accommodation and related facilities. The requisite approval has been obtained from Hon’ble The Chief Justice of Pakistan.
    ii)         Since the JIT in connection with the investigation would need funds, the Federal Government is directed to provide them necessary funds. We direct the Federal Government to initially provide an amount to the tune of rupees twenty million forthwith so that the JIT may not feel handicapped in its movement in any direction. The funds shall be placed at the disposal of the Head of the JIT.
    iii)                 The Head and Members of the JIT shall arrange secretarial staff of their choice from their respective departments. The JIT would also be at liberty to utilize the expertise available in their departments and any other department of the Federal or Provincial Governments as and when required by it.
    iv)        The boarding, lodging and transportation of the Members of JIT shall also be provided by their respective Departments in accordance with the rules.  
    v)        The JIT shall have the power to engage and associate local and/or foreign experts to facilitate the investigation and collection of evidence in line with the letter and spirit of order dated 20.04.2017 of this Court.
    vi)        The JIT shall have all the powers given by the law relating to investigation including those available in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999 and the Federal Investigation Agency Act, 1975.
    vii)       As the JIT, in essence and substance, is acting on the direction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, all the Executive Authorities throughout Pakistan shall act in aid of the JIT.
    viii)      If and when any person fails or refuses to associate with or appear before the JIT or refuses to cooperate or provide oral or documentary information required by it, the same be immediately brought to the notice of the Court for taking appropriate action.
    ix)        The Secretary Interior, Government of Pakistan is directed to ensure necessary security arrangements for the Secretariat and the Members of the JIT.
    4.                     The JIT is directed to commence and complete the investigation and submit its final report in terms of the order dated 20.04.2017. It shall also submit fortnightly progress reports as stipulated in the said order.
    5.                     For further proceedings to come up on 22.05.2017.


  8. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The city magistrate on Friday sent two suspects arrested in the Mashal lynching case on a two-day remand in police custody.
    Suspect Khayal Syed was identified by video clips by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), formed to conduct investigations in the case, while Ali Khan was arrested earlier by the police.
    The JIT had sought help from administration, students and teachers of the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, which helped the team land these video clips.
    More suspects have been identified by the videos and efforts for their arrest are under way.
    The total number of arrested suspects in the case now stands at 49.
    Also Read: Mardan lynching case: Ten suspects refuse to accept charges
    On Thursday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police approached the Federal Investigation Agency to put the name of main accused in the case, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tehsil councillor Arif, on the Exit Control List.
    The main suspect Arif is reportedly on the run and police is searching for him.
    Mashal Khan was a student at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan and was lynched to death by an enraged mob on April 13 on the premises of the university after on unfound blasphemy allegations.


  9. Waqas Dar
    KASHMIR: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that when his government came into power, load shedding in the country was at its peak, people were predicting that Pakistan would default in 2012 but today the country is going through a revolution.
    He said that the people of Pakistan are now tired of the day to day allegations.    
    Speaking at a ceremony in connection with breakthrough of right head-race tunnel of the Neelum-Jhelum power project.
    According to official reports, 92% construction work has been completed on the project, involving extensive tunnels excavation work in one of the hardest terrains.  
    The first unit of Neelum Jhelum Hydro Power Project will start electricity generation by the end of February next year while the second unit in mid-March, whereas the third and the fourth unit will be completed in April next year.
    The strategically important 969 MW-Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project will mark a major milestone towards its completion, as the excavation of about 68-kilometer long tunnels system of the project will stand completed when the second Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) deployed on the project will break through the Right Headrace Tunnel.
    With this significant development, the waterway system of the project will enter the final phase which is scheduled to be completed in seven months. Thereafter, the tunnels will be ready to divert water from Dam site to Power House.


  10. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday strongly condemned the "grave incident" of firing by Afghan border police targeting personnel of the Frontier Corps and the population census team near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Chaman.
    Terming the incident as "most unfortunate", the Prime Minister said the recurrence of such incidents was contrary to Pakistan's efforts for achieving peace and stability in the region.
    The prime minister expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives and injuries caused to the civilian and personnel of law enforcement agencies.
    He said it was the responsibility of the Afghan government to ensure that such incidents were permanently stopped.
    Sharif extended his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the affected families and directed concerned authorities for treatment of the injured.
    Pakistan summons Afghan chargé d’affaires
    At least nine civilians have lost their lives in the unprovoked cross-border firing incident, which took place near the Chaman border crossing in Balochistan earlier today. As many as 42 others have been injured in the attack.
    Pakistan summoned Afghan chargé d’affaires Abdul Nasir Yousufi to the Foreign Office in Islamabad and handed over a demarche to record its protest over the unprovoked cross-border firing and shelling.
    Earlier today, Pakistan warned the Afghan government of retaliatory action if Kabul fails to stop its forces from carrying out unprovoked firing and shelling on innocent Pakistani civilians.
    Addressing a press briefing in Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan was deeply concerned at Afghan forces opening fire on a census team and security personnel near the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman this morning.
    "The census team was carrying out its duties on Pakistani side of the border. We had informed Afghanistan in advance about the census exercise. Census exercise was being carried out inside Pakistani territory," Zakaria told reporters in Islamabad.
    He said that Afghan forces were continuously carrying out cross-border firing and shelling on Pakistani border villages since early Friday morning.
    "We urge Afghan government to immediately halt firing on Pakistani villages. If Afghanistan does not stop this, then Pakistan reserves the right to carry out retaliatory action," he said in a clear warning to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government in Kabul.


  11. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: India's top court on Friday upheld the death sentences of four men convicted for the fatal 2012 gang rape of a Delhi student, an attack that triggered global outrage and national soul-searching about the treatment of women.
    The Supreme Court said the 23-year-old woman had suffered a "devastating hour of darkness" as it rejected an appeal against the death penalty, which was handed down in 2013.
    "If at all a case warrants the death sentence it is this case," said Judge R Bhanumati.
    Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, was raped and left for dead by a gang of five men and a teenager after she boarded a private bus while going home from the cinema with a male friend.
    She died of grievous internal injuries 13 days later.
    The brutality of the attack, and her determination to survive long enough to identify her attackers to police, triggered large-scale street protests in Delhi.
    Four men were convicted in September 2013 for murder, gang rape, theft, conspiracy and "unnatural acts" after a seven-month trial in a fast-track court.
    A fifth man, the suspected ringleader, was found dead in jail in a suspected suicide, while the 17-year-old was sentenced to three years in a detention centre and has since been released.
    Sentencing the four in 2013, Judge Yogesh Khanna said the case fell into the "rarest of rare category" which justifies capital punishment in India.
    But defence lawyer A P Singh called the sentence "unjust" and said he would file a review petition – the next stage in the appeals process – after examining the ruling.
    "We are sure the court will change its decision once we appeal and justice will be delivered to the poor," he said outside the court.
    Round of applause
    Media reports said a round of applause went up in court as the judgement was read out on Friday at the end of an appeal hearing that began last year.
    Women's rights activist Ranjana Kumari called it a "historic judgement".
    "This is a historic message to all the people, the criminal mindset who wrong women, who inflict violence on women, to know that if you do something like this you will be also paying for it by the severest punishment that exists in our laws of the land," she said on Indian news channel NDTV.
    The accused, low-paid migrants to New Delhi, brutally assaulted Singh behind tinted windows for 45 minutes, penetrating her with an iron bar.
    Her injuries were so severe that she died nearly a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. She had only briefly regained consciousness, telling family and friends of her desire to see her attackers burn to death.
    The case led to mass protests in Delhi and prompted the government to amend the law to introduce tougher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty for repeat offenders.
    Nonetheless, levels of sexual assault remain extremely high in the Indian capital, which registered 2,199 rape cases in 2015 – an average of six a day.
    Activists say the true number is likely much higher, with many attacks going unreported because of the social stigma attached to sexual crimes.


  12. Waqas Dar
    LONDON: May 5 London's Heathrow airport briefly suspended flights from one of its terminals due to a security issue earlier on Friday, a spokeswoman said.
    "Departures were suspended for a short time from Terminal 3 due to a security issue. We are very sorry to any passengers whose journeys are affected," the airport spokeswoman said without elaborating.
    Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports and the affected terminal mainly services long-haul flights, although it also offers some European destinations.


  13. Waqas Dar
    SEOUL: North Korea on Friday accused the CIA of plotting with South Korea to assassinate the isolated country´s leader Kim Jong-Un, amid soaring tensions in the flashpoint region.
    The CIA and Seoul´s Intelligence Services have "hatched a vicious plot" involving unspecified "biochemical substances" to assassinate the hermit state´s young leader during public ceremonial events in Pyongyang, the Ministry said in a statement carried by state media.


  14. Waqas Dar
    MUMBAI: The 2017 Women´s World Cup will see a 10 times increase in prize money to $2 million with every ball of the tournament broadcast live, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has said.
    The 2013 Women´s World Cup in India, when Australia won its sixth title by defeating West Indies in the final, had just $200,000 on offer as prize money.
    "The ICC Women´s World Cup is the pinnacle of the women´s game and as such the players should be rewarded appropriately," ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said in a statement.
    "Two million dollars is the first step towards greater parity and recognition. The change will not happen overnight but the women´s game is crucial to the global growth of cricket."
    The ICC said 10 matches of the June 24-July 23 tournament in England would be live on television while the remaining 21 matches will be live-streamed.
    The Decision Review System will be used in the women´s game for the first time and a drone camera as well as a Spidercam will be deployed for the July 23 final at Lord´s, also firsts for the women´s game.
    Cricket Australia welcomed the ICC´s decisions and said they were important steps to promote the women´s game.
    "This demonstrates a welcome, long-term commitment to the global growth of the women´s game, and it recognises the opportunity presented by women´s sport," CA Chief Executive James Sutherland said.
    "We have seen huge interest in our women cricketers here in Australia through the two seasons of WBBL, and part of the success of this league is that every game is available to fans through livestreaming.
    "Cricket Australia is also pleased that the ICC is working towards prize money parity with the men´s game within 15 years."
    Cricket Australia has made improving the lot of women cricketers a key part of their negotiations with their players over a new pay deal.


  15. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: India is coming under increasing pressure to name a squad for the impending Champions Trophy, with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid joining calls for the cricket board to quit stalling.
    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) missed an April deadline for announcing a team, and will hold a special meeting on Sunday to discuss a potential withdrawal from the 50-over international tournament.
    But the powerful BCCI is facing mounting criticism over its stalling tactics, which stem from a dispute with cricket´s global governing body over changes to revenue sharing.
    Last month the International Cricket Council received a thumping mandate from its members to amend rules around revenue so that less money and power is held by cricket´s "Big Three" -- England, India and Australia.
    India opposed the changes from the outset and has been hinting at withdrawing from the ICC Champions Trophy in protest, a move that would deal a huge blow to the eight-team tournament beginning in England on June 1.
    "We are of course unhappy with what India is getting in the latest revenue sharing plan, but to be honest a pull-out was always our last option," a senior BCCI official told AFP on condition on anonymity.
    "Things will certainly be sorted in Sunday´s special general meeting, keeping our fingers crossed."
    But their tactics have agitated a number of Indian cricketing greats including Dravid and Tendulkar, who told ESPNcricinfo they want the side to compete at the prestigious event.
    Meanwhile a panel of administrators appointed by India´s top court to oversee the scandal-ridden BCCI has urged the board to make a swift decision.
    "Please convene a meeting of the selection committee for selecting the squad immediately," the administrators told BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary in an email on Thursday.
    "The squad can then be submitted to the ICC without prejudice to BCCI´s legal rights."
    The BCCI stands to lose $277 million revenue over the next eight years under the sweeping changes approved by ICC members.
    It reverses a much-criticised ICC decision in 2014 to relinquish more control to Australia, England and India, the world´s most powerful cricketing boards.


  16. Waqas Dar
    While cows are considered sacred in India and mostly in Uttar Pradesh, it seems like there is no value of a human, even after death.
    This bitter reality was realised by a man in Uttar Pradesh when his son passed away.
    After his teen son died at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh, this father was offered no transport to return home.
    In a devastated condition, the man carried his 15-year-old's body first on his shoulders and then on a bike in Etawah in the western part of the state till he reached his village, seven kilometres away.
    The tragic incident is ironic with the fancy new ambulance service for cows in Lucknow that was launched on the same day - Monday.
    The scheme, which provides a total five equipped with enough tools for a basic surgery, is paid for and run by an NGO.
    It was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya and plans to cover large parts of the state in time.
    The ambulance service was reportedly launched so that it can rescue injured and ill cows, and to take them to 'gao shalas' or a veterinary clinic for treatment.
     


  17. Waqas Dar
    The US House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly approved a bill to repeal Obamacare, handing Republican President Donald Trump a victory that could prove short-lived as the healthcare legislation heads into a likely tough battle in the Senate.
    The vote to repeal former President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement, which enabled 20 million more Americans to get health insurance, was Trump's biggest legislative win since he took office in January, putting him on a path to fulfilling one of his key campaign promises as well as a seven-year quest by Republican lawmakers.
    It marked a reversal of fortune for the Republican president who suffered a stunning defeat in late March when House Republican leaders pulled legislation to scrap Obamacare after they and the White House could not resolve the clashing interests of Republican moderates and the party's most conservative lawmakers.
    Trump has called Obamacare a "disaster" and congressional Republicans have long targeted the 2010 law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, calling it government overreach.
    But despite holding the White House and controlling both houses of Congress, Republicans have found overturning Obamacare politically perilous, partly because of voter fears, loudly expressed at constituents' town-hall meetings, that many people would lose their health insurance as a result.
    With Thursday's 217-213 vote, Republicans obtained just enough support to push the legislation through the House, sending it to the Senate for consideration. No Democratic House members voted for the bill. Democrats say it would make insurance unaffordable for those who need it most and leave millions more uninsured. They accuse Republicans of seeking tax cuts for the rich, partly paid for by cutting health benefits.
    The legislation, called the American Health Care Act, is by no means a sure thing in the Senate, where the Republicans hold a slender 52-48 majority in the 100-seat chamber and where only a few Republican defections could sink it.
    As Republicans crossed over the vote threshold to pass the bill, Democrats in the House began singing "Na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye," a rowdy suggestion that Republicans will lose seats in the 2018 congressional elections because of their vote.
    Within an hour of the vote, Trump celebrated with House lawmakers in the White House Rose Garden.
    "I went through two years of campaigning and I'm telling you, no matter where I went, people were suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare," Trump said. "We are going to get this passed through the Senate. I am so confident."

    US President Donald Trump (C) gathers with Vice President Mike Pence (R) and Congressional Republicans in the Rose Garden of the White House after the House of Representatives approved the American Healthcare Act - Reuters
    PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
    The treatment of people with "pre-existing" conditions was one of the central issues in the House debate on the bill and is sure to resurface in the Senate.
    Obamacare prevented insurers from charging those with pre-existing conditions higher rates, a common practice before its implementation. It also required them to cover 10 essential health benefits such as maternity care and prescription drugs.
    The Republican bill passed on Thursday would allow states to opt out of those provisions. While insurers could not deny people insurance because of pre-existing conditions, they would be allowed to charge them as much as they want.
    In an analysis released on Thursday, healthcare consultancy and research firm Avalere Health said the Republican bill would cover only 5 percent of enrollees with pre-existing conditions in the individual insurance markets.
     
     


  18. Waqas Dar
    Liam Hemsworth has signed up to star in the independent action-thriller “Killerman”
    The shooting of the movie is planned for August.
    The film is being produced by John and Michael Schwarz, who teamed on “Hunter Prayer,” along with the Solution’s Myles Nestel.
    The Solution’s Lisa Wilson will be the executive producer.
    While the Solution is fully financing and handling international rights and will introduce the project to buyers in Cannes the WME is handling the domestic rights.
    Malik Bader will direct “Killerman” from his own script. Hemsworth will play a money launderer suffering from amnesia after a freak accident during a deal gone wrong.
    Hemsworth broke out in Disney’s 2010 romance drama “The Last Song” opposite Miley Cyrus. He then starred as Gale Hawthorne in the four Hunger Games films opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Hemsworth’s most recent credits are “Independence Day: Resurgence” as a fighter pilot and “The Dressmaker” with Kate Winslet.

    Bader directed the 2015 crime thriller “Cash Only,” starring Nickola Shreli as a landlord forced to resort to desperate measures to pay off his debts to banks, a loan shark and a local mob boss. It premiered at the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival.
    Hemsworth is repped by WME, Roar and Morris Yorne. Bader is repped by CAA, Principato-Young Entertainment, and Marks Law Group.Attention all.


  19. Waqas Dar
    The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into Uber Technologies Inc's use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, two sources familiar with the situation said.
    Uber has acknowledged the software, known as "Greyball," helped it identify and circumvent government officials who were trying to clamp down on Uber in areas where its service had not yet been approved, such as Portland, Oregon.
    The company prohibited the use of Greyball for this purpose shortly after the New York Times revealed its existence in March, saying the program was created to check ride requests to prevent fraud and safeguard drivers. The Times report triggered a barrage of negative publicity for the company.
    The criminal probe could become a significant problem facing the company that is already struggling with an array of recent business and legal issues.
    An Uber spokesman and the Justice Department declined to comment. Uber lawyers said in letters to Portland authorities, which Portland made public in a report last week, that the Greyball technology was used ”exceedingly sparingly” in that city before the service was approved there in 2015.
    The nature of any potential federal criminal violation and the likelihood of anyone being charged is unclear. The investigation is still in its early stages, the sources said.
    Bloomberg news service reported the existence of a federal probe last week but did not identify it as criminal.
    Uber received a subpoena from a Northern California grand jury seeking documents concerning how the software tool functioned and where it was deployed, one person familiar with the request said. That indicates a criminal investigation is underway. The second source confirmed that was the case.
    A subpoena from a grand jury is a formal request for documents or testimony concerning a potential crime. It does not, in itself, indicate wrongdoing or mean charges will be brought.
    The ride services company's board has retained an outside law firm, Shearman & Sterling LLP, to conduct its own internal investigation into what transpired, those two sources and a third said.
    A Shearman spokeswoman did not return a message seeking comment.
    Uber, a venture capital-backed firm most recently valued at $68 billion, has long had a reputation as an aggressive startup.
    It has been battered with multiple controversies over the last few months that have raised questions about Chief Executive Travis Kalanick and led him to say he needed "leadership help."
    The technology at issue in the criminal probe helped Uber tag some users so that they saw a different version of its standard app, the company said in a blog post in March.
    Uber said Greyball obscured the real location of Uber cars in various circumstances, including the possibility of physical threats or merely to test new features.
    The program was part of a broader Uber system, called Violation of Terms of Service, that analyzed credit card, device identification, location data and other factors to predict whether a request for a ride was legitimate, current and former employees said.
    The technology was used partly to prevent fraud and protect drivers from harm, the company blog post said. If a ride request was deemed illegitimate, Uber's app showed bogus information and the requester would not be picked up, the employees told Reuters.
    However, the Greyball technique was also used against suspected local officials who could have been looking to fine drivers, impound cars or otherwise prevent Uber from operating, the employees said.
    The system might have gone farther than suggested by Uber's terms of service for app users. For example, it mined credit card information to see if the owner was affiliated with a credit union used by police and checked social media profiles to assess the likelihood that the person was in law enforcement.
    After the Times exposed the program in March, regulators who had been unable to catch Uber in places where it was banned accused the company of obstructing their inquiries.
    Transportation officials in Portland investigated and reported last week that Uber had used Greyball to evade 16 Portland Bureau of Transportation officials, denying them dozens of rides, in December 2014 before Uber was authorized to operate there.
    The city said it found no evidence that the behavior was repeated when Uber re-entered the market in April 2015.
    Uber said it used the Greyball technology in December 2014, while it was operating without approval because it was “deeply concerned that its driver-partners would be penalized financially” or otherwise for their driving.


  20. Waqas Dar
    PARIS: French centrist Emmanuel Macron sought to cement his frontrunner status Friday on the last day of campaigning for the weekend´s election run-off after a bruising and divisive race.
    Pro-European Macron and far-right anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen have offered starkly different visions for France during a campaign that has been closely watched in Europe and the rest of the world.
    And the battle has only increased in intensity in the final days after a bad-tempered debate, with Macron filing a legal complaint over rumours he has an offshore account.
    Both candidates plan high-profile television appearances on the final day as they seek to win over voters, with polls suggesting the 39-year-old Macron enjoys a 20-point lead over his opponent.
    At a final rally Thursday in the northern village of Ennemain, Le Pen told supporters she would give them back the keys to the Elysee Palace.
    "France cannot wait five more years to hold its head high," she said.
    At an earlier stop in the western town of Dol-de-Bretagne, protesters threw eggs at her entourage, although she was not hit.
    During a final rally in the southwest town of Albi, Macron told cheering supporters: "We will keep our promise of change to the end".
    The former economy minister came under fire however from dozens of union activists demanding the abolition of France´s controversial 2016 labour reforms.
    ´Fake news´
    Macron´s legal complaint came after Le Pen repeated rumours he had an offshore account during Wednesday´s TV debate, during which the pair clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe watched by 16.5 million people.
    "I hope that we will not find out that you have an offshore account in the Bahamas," Le Pen said during the debate, which was her last chance to narrow the gap.
    The 39-year-old ex-economy minister described his rival´s insinuation as "defamation" and after his complaint, French prosecutors launched a probe Thursday into who started the rumour.
    Macron´s campaign team called it a "textbook case" of "fake news", saying it was spread on Twitter by accounts close to Kremlin-friendly news sites like Sputnik and RT as well as supporters of US President Donald Trump.
    Le Pen hit back on French radio on Friday saying she was "not at all" the target of the legal suit and her National Front (FN) party had "absolutely nothing to do" with the rumours.
    The FN party said her campaign website had been repeatedly targeted by a hacker close to the far-left, who was arrested last week.
    After the debate, a snap poll by French broadcaster BFMTV found that nearly two-thirds of viewers thought Macron was the "most convincing" of the two, broadly mirroring forecasts for the decisive election on Sunday.
    In the first round of the election on April 23, Le Pen finished second behind Macron with 21.3 percent after softening the FN´s image over the past six years -- but without fully removing doubt about the party´s core beliefs.
    Greenpeace militants sought to highlight Le Pen´s potentially divisive message by unfurling a banner reading "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" ("Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood") on the Eiffel Tower.
    Le Pen has tried to portray Macron as being soft on Islamic fundamentalism, playing to the concerns of many of her supporters after a string of terror attacks in France.
    She sees her rise as the consequence of growing right-wing nationalism and a backlash against globalisation reflected in the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Britain´s shock vote to leave the European Union.
    Meanwhile, Macron won high-profile backing from former US president Barack Obama, who said in a video he "appeals to people´s hopes and not their fears".
    Obama said Macron had "put forward a vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world" and added "Vive la France!"


  21. Waqas Dar
    After ripped jeans and muddy jeans being sold for hundred of dollars, the fashionistas are up with something new.
    As though the fashion industry hasn't put us through enough in 2017, Maison Margiela is now selling "destroyed" sneakers for $1,425.

    Um.. yes! It's actually true.
    The sneakers — for sale at Neiman Marcus — with its distressed look and torn pieces of leather that appear stapled to the body of the shoe are worth more than you can even imagine.

    While the chunks of the sneaker's exterior are missing, the tongue's been slashed to reveal its interior stuffing and any remaining leather is scuffed beyond repair. 


    And if you're planning to buy them we are here to tell you that it can all be yours for the price of your house rent or something. 
    So, why not tear your own shoes apart and head out?


  22. Waqas Dar
    Who doesn't like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her majestic beauty?
    Well, Aish has just provided another reason for it.
    Aishwarya recently shot for a leading brand she has been endorsing for years and has left everyone in awe of her beauty.
    Shot by ace photographer Prasad Naik, Aishwarya's picture was shared on his Instagram page with a caption stating, "@aishwaryaraibachchan_fc #aishwaryaraibachchan @lorealmakeup #shoot #campaign
    In the picture, the former beauty queen is wearing a baby pink attire while she looks adorably cute as she flashes her mesmerising blue eyes.
    Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set to grace the Cannes Film Festival this year.


  23. Waqas Dar
    BEIJING: China could pour more than half a trillion dollars into its Belt and Road Initiative, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.
    The plan could funnel investments worth $313-502 billion into 62 Belt-Road countries over the next five years, Hong Kong-based analyst Shen Hu wrote in a report. China may make additional investments of as much as $79 billion in 13 countries in Africa, she said.
    Most funds may flow into India, Russia, Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, the Philippines and Pakistan, Shen and other analysts said.
    Chinese President Xi Jinping has championed the "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR) initiative to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe.
    Leaders from 28 countries will gather in Beijing on May 14-15 to discuss the plan, which involves investing billions of dollars in infrastructure.
    China will allow firms to tap domestic and overseas stock markets to finance projects related to the initiative, a senior securities regulator said in comments seen on Friday.
    China will develop direct financing to meet huge funding needs for the OBOR programme, which has been relying on China´s policy banks and big commercial banks, Fang Xinghai, a vice head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said in an article published in the central bank´s China Finance magazine.
    China will encourage high-quality local firms to raise funds on the domestic A-share market to "safeguard financing demand for key OBOR projects" and also raise funds from overseas stock markets, including Hong Kong´s H-share market, Fang said.
    Firms will be allowed to issue bonds, including panda bonds issued by foreign companies in China, to support such projects, he said.
    China will also quicken the development of offshore yuan markets, open up financial markets wider to foreign investors, and provide more trading tools and investment channels for foreign investors, the analyst said.
    Fang said project financing involved in the "One Belt One Road" programme would mainly use the US dollar, raising the risk of exchange rate fluctuations.
    Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in an article published in the same magazine that using local currencies instead of dollars or other major currencies for OBOR initiative investments would reduce that risk.
    With additional input from Reuters 


  24. Waqas Dar
    WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The US Department of State has proposed tougher questioning of visa applicants believed to warrant extra scrutiny, according to a document published Thursday, in a push toward the "extreme vetting" that President Donald Trump has said is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks.
    Questions about social media accounts would be part of the stepped-up criteria, which would apply to 65,000 people per year, or about 0.5 percent of US visa applicants worldwide, the State Department estimated. It did not target nationals of any particular countries.
    A set of new questions would apply to visa applicants "who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities," the State Department said in a notice to the Federal Register.
    Those applicants would be required to provide all prior passport numbers, five years' worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers, as well as 15 years of biographical information, when applying for a US visa. Consular officers would not request user passwords for social media accounts, the document said.
    If granted, the new criteria would mark the first concrete step toward more stringent vetting that Trump asked federal agencies to apply toward travellers from countries he deemed a threat to the United States in an executive order issued in January and revised in March.
    While parts of the travel order, including a temporary ban on the entry of nationals from several majority-Muslim countries, were halted by federal courts, the review of vetting procedures detailed in an accompanying memorandum remains in place.
    "Collecting additional information from visa applicants whose circumstances suggest a need for further scrutiny will strengthen our process for vetting these applicants and confirming their identity," a State Department official said.
    The State Department's proposal also says that applicants may be asked to provide additional travel dates if a consular officer determines they have been in an area which was "under the operational control of a terrorist organization."
    The proposed changes must undergo a public comment period before being approved or denied by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by May 18. OMB did not respond to a request for comment.
    The Department of Homeland Security, which was also tasked with reviewing vetting procedures for visa applicants, said the State Department request does not preclude DHS from identifying new "ways to protect the American people."
    "Some improvement will be classified, others will be public, but the Department has only just begun ways to enhance the security of our immigration system," DHS spokesman David Lapan said.
    SOCIAL MEDIA SNAGS
    Immigration lawyers and advocates say the request for 15 years of detailed biographical information, as well as the expectation that applicants remember all their social media handles, is likely to catch applicants who make innocent mistakes or do not remember all the information requested.
    They also question whether the time-consuming screening can achieve its intended goal of identifying potential terrorists.
    "The more effective tactics are the methods that we currently use to monitor terrorist organizations, not just stumbling into the terrorist who is dumb enough to post on his Facebook page 'I am going to blow up something in the United States,'" said John Sandweg, a former senior official at DHS who is now with the firm Frontier Solutions, which provides investigatory, crisis management and other services.
    Applicants may not necessarily be denied a visa if they fail to provide all the information if it is determined they can provide a "credible explanation," the notice said.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson first introduced similar measures in a March cable to American consular officers that outlined questions officers should ask in order to tighten vetting of visa applicants.
    But Tillerson had to withdraw that guidance just days later because the OMB had not approved those specific questions.
    The State Department estimated that the additional screening measures would take approximately an hour per applicant, meaning an additional 65,000 additional hours of work per year.
    Tillerson's cables anticipated delays as a result of the rules implementation.
    "Somebody's got to do the work," said Greg Siskind, an immigration attorney in Memphis. "It's going to cause operations at a lot of consulates slow to a crawl."


  25. Waqas Dar
    Delta Air Lines apologised on Thursday to customers, who were forced off its flight last month, and said it would refund them and provide additional compensation.
    A video was posted online by Brian Schear on Wednesday, claiming that Delta "booted" him off a flight, along with his wife and two infants, due to overbooking. 
    "We are sorry for the unfortunate experience our customers had with Delta," the company said in a statement on Thursday. The flight was departing from Maui to Los Angeles on April 23.
    This comes nearly a month after United sparked outrage for dragging a passenger by his hands, out of an overbooked flight. However, the airline reached a settlement with the passenger last month.
    Following the United incident, Southwest Airlines said it would stop overbooking its flights.
    American Airlines Group also experienced its own public relations fiasco last month when a video went viral, showing an onboard clash over a baby stroller.


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