Saturday, January 24, 2015
New attempt to lift AirAsia wreckage fails
Pims security: Lapses galore highlight need for better controls
In a span of just three weeks, the capital’s largest public hospital has been the scene of two crimes. The case of a stolen newborn — whose family has yet to receive any positive news from the police officials investigating the crime — and the recent shooting of a nurse inside the premises have raised doubts about security arrangements, or lack thereof, at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
“It is too early to say if it was a suicide attempt or if she was shot by someone else,” said Pims spokesperson Dr Ayesha Ishani.
Talking to The Express Tribune, she said the 22-year-old nursing student who was shot in front of the Nursing Hostel is in stable condition.
“She was shot once in the upper abdomen. The bullet was removed during surgery,” Ishani said.
The spokesperson said the student is unable to talk at present and the actual situation will become clear once she starts talking.
Meanwhile, the police are still investigating the incident. The gunshot victim had been on leave for three weeks and only recently rejoined the hospital.
Meanwhile, a senior Pims official speaking on the condition of anonymity blamed the incident on a security lapse.
“If it was a suicide attempt, then the issue is who allowed her to bring a pistol inside the hospital. It shows there is no security check at entry or exit points of the hospital, including the nursing hostel,” he said.
He said that if it was indeed a suicide attempt brought on by depression or other factors, the student could also have used the same gun to attack her colleagues.
Margalla Police ASI Amir Khan said the incident was a suicide attempt. “The nursing student shot herself,” he said.
He said a pistol was recovered from her and her cell phone was checked. Evidence from the latter suggested she had a family dispute which may have led her to attempt suicide, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
In absentia: Prayers for Saudi king held
The funeral prayer in absentia of late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, organised by the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), was offered at Faisal Mosque on Saturday.
The prayer was led by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf.
Top Saudi diplomats, officials of other Islamic countries, Prime Minister’s Adviser Sartaj Aziz, former chairman Senate Mian Muhammad Soomro, acting IIUI President Dr Mohammad Bashir Khan, students and teachers of the varsity and members of civil society attended the prayers.
Yousaf, while talking to the media at the Faisal Mosque campus of IIUI, said Abdullah’s death was an irreparable loss, adding that the Pakistani nation stands with the late king’s family and Saudi nation in this hour of grief.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
Sri Lanka scraps military training for teachers, students
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new government said Saturday it is scrapping compulsory military training for school teachers and undergraduates.
The three-week army training, mandatory under ousted leader Mahinda Rajapakse’s administration, had resulted in at least three deaths in recent years and was deeply unpopular among student and teacher unions.
The new government that came to power following the January 8 presidential election, won by Maithripala Sirisena, has vowed to reduce the role of the military in Sri Lankan society.
Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said the government had “concluded that military training is not necessary for school teachers”.
The government has decided to remove the military ranks given to school principals, the minister told reporters.
Sri Lanka’s security forces wielded huge influence in civil society after they crushed Tamil rebels in May 2009 and declared an end to decades of ethnic conflict that had claimed 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.
After the war ended, the military was deployed to run even the country’s main performing arts centre, while army officers replaced civil servants at key institutions.
The previous government also used the military in retail trade, including the sale of vegetables and fish and in the operation of hotels, travel companies and even barber saloons.
Former president Rajapakse and his immediate family members, including his retired colonel brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse who was the then defence secretary, face allegations of abuse of power and huge corruption.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse has been accused of killing dissidents, including a prominent editor of a publication that was highly critical of the then ruling family.
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President’s Cup Silver League: Naseem shines as Falcons upset HBL
KARACHI: Naseem Khan’s 58-run flurry helped Abbottabad Falcons stun star-studded HBL with a four-wicket win in their Group-II match of the Haier President’s Silver Cup One-Day Tournament played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore yesterday.
Chasing a target of 257, Abbottabad neared the target slowly with Sohail Akhtar (45) , Khalilullah (42) and Sajjad Ali (39) chipping in with important knocks.
But it was the onslaught by Naseem which left HBL in shock as he scored a 41-ball 58, hitting a six and eight boundaries as Falcons finished at 257-6 with two balls to spare.
Aftab Khan picked up two wickets for the losing side to remain the only standout bowler for HBL.
Earlier, HBL had posted 256-7 in their allotted quota of 50 overs after being asked to bat first. Hasan Raza remained unbeaten on 59 runs, which came off 55 balls, while Asad Shafiq scored 47.
Falcon’s trio of Azizur Rehman, Ikramullah and Shakeel Ahmed claimed two wickets apiece.
In another match, Rana Navedul Hasan’s century propelled Wapda to an emphatic 138-run win over Silakot.
Batting first, Wapda were bowled out for 264 in 49 overs as Rana made an exact 100 runs with three sixes and six strikes to the fence, while Adnan Raees chipped in with a valuable 81-run knock as Hasan Ali and Bilal Asif took four wickets each.
In reply, Stallions crashed on 126 in 39.4 overs as Waqas Maqsood took three wickets for Wapda, while two scalps each went to Asif Afridi and Khalid Usman.
Meanwhile, Kashif Naved’s all-round show – an unbeaten 43-run knock and two wickets – gave Multan Tigers a shocking four-wicket triumph over SSGC at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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Security upgrade: Home Dept orders action against illegal weapons
The government has decided to launch a crackdown against illegal weapons in the province, The Express Tribune has learnt. Requesting anonymity, a Home Department official, said that the crackdown would be part of a new security plan.
“The new plan has been devised by the department in consultation with police and other security agencies. Along with the crackdown, police and other law enforcement agencies have been asked to act more vigorously against those involved in firing in the air, public display of weapons and possession of illegal arms,” he said.
He said that illegal weapons posed a great danger to peace in the province. “Orders for a crackdown have been forwarded to the Police Department,” he said.
The official said that 9,000 applications for new weapons licences were pending with the department. “However, no new licence will be issued until the security conditions in the province improve,” he said.
He said that the Home Department had also directed police to send it reports on security situation on a daily basis. Hammad Raza, the PRO to Operations DIG, confirmed that the orders had been received. “Police have already launched a crackdown against possession of unlicensed weapons and firing in the air and public display of weapons,” he said. He said Lahore police had registered 4,581 cases of possession of illegal arms in 2014. “Of these, 4,657 suspects were taken into custody. Police seized 61 AK-47s, 190-rifles, 358 shot guns, 4,287-revolvers and 190 pistols, 11-carbines, 57 daggers and 113,643 bullets from the possession of the suspects,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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Asian cup: Iraq hero Mahmoud dreaming of 2007 final repeat
Iraq hero Younis Mahmoud said he’s dreaming of an incredible repeat Asian Cup win after taking centre-stage once again as they reached the semi-finals in dramatic fashion.
The veteran was on target against arch-rivals Iran before starring in the penalty shoot-out with an audacious spot-kick.
Mahmoud, 31, made light of a cauldron atmosphere in Canberra to chip a ‘panenka’ penalty past Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi as Iraq snatched the shoot-out 7-6.
“I did it because I wanted to send a message to my players not to worry, look how easy it is to score,” said Mahmoud, who scored Iraq’s second as it finished 3-3 after extra time.
Friday’s upset win over Iran puts Iraq into a semi-final clash against South Korea.
Mahmoud admitted his thoughts keep returning to 2007, when Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final in Jakarta, as he faces up to tomorrow’s semi-final with the Taeguk Warriors.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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Families plead for lives of Australians on death row in Indonesia
SYDNEY: The families of two Australian drug convicts facing execution in Indonesia pleaded for their lives in an emotional interview Saturday, and said they would not give up on them.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, members of an Australian group dubbed the “Bali Nine” who were arrested on the Indonesia island of the same name in 2005, have lost their final appeals for clemency.
“I’ve been told that my son will be taken out and shot at any time. I don’t know what to do,” mother Raji Sukumaran told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“He’s done something stupid, he made a mistake, he’s apologised for that and he’s rehabilitated. Now I’ve been told he could just be given 72 hours and he’ll be taken out and shot.”
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday urged Indonesia to show mercy to the pair who were sentenced to death in 2006 for attempting to smuggle eight kilogrammes (18 pounds) of heroin out of Bali.
Last weekend, Indonesia put to death five foreigners and one local woman convicted of drugs offences, unleashing a diplomatic storm as Brazil and the Netherlands condemned the execution of their citizens.
Both Raji Sukumaran and Chan’s brother Michael Chan said they had confidence that the Australian government would do everything it could to prevent the executions.
“I’m not giving up, and I know the Australian government will do everything it can to bring the boys home, or even to stop the execution,” Sukumaran said.
Michael Chan, who will soon travel to Bali to visit his brother, said he too was hopeful, even though he conceded “to know that we’re sort of nearing the end of the road is heartbreaking”.
“We need to save the boys. They deserve a second chance,” he said.
Earlier Saturday a lawyer for the two Australians said a legal team was preparing a bid for a judicial review for the pair involving “very serious, meritorious legal options”.
“This is not some kind of scramble to gain a few weeks of life, or something like that,” Julian McMahon told the ABC.
“These are serious applications which, if they’re able to be argued in the courts, would have a real chance of obtaining a result of a jail sentence rather than execution.”
McMahon said the men were holding up well, despite their appeals for presidential clemency being rejected.
“I’ve had quite a number of long talks with them in the last few days and they’re coping pretty well but, you know, like anybody who has been told that they can expect to be taken out and shot pretty soon, they’re obviously, you know, challenged by the whole thing. But they’re doing very well.”
Both men sought presidential clemency after losing appeals to Indonesia’s Supreme Court in 2011.
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Why was Gandhi killed?
This month we mark the 67th anniversary of the murder of India’s most famous figure. So why exactly did Nathuram Godse kill Gandhi?
After his arrest, he spotted Gandhi’s son Devdas who was editor of Hindustan Times. The encounter was described by Nathuram’s brother and co-conspirator and fellow convict (though he was only jailed and not hanged), Gopal Godse, in his book Gandhiji’s Murder And After. The younger Gandhi has come to the police station in Parliament Street to see his father’s killer. Gopal Godse writes that Devdas “had perhaps come there expecting to find some horrid-looking, blood-thirsty monster, without a trace of politeness; Nathuram’s gentle and clear words and his self-composure were quite inconsistent with what he had expected to see.”
Of course, we do not know if this was the case. Nathuram tells Devdas: “I am Nathuram Vinayak Godse, the editor of a daily, Hindu Rashtra. I too was present there (at Gandhi’s murder). Today you have lost your father and I am the cause of that tragedy. I am very much grieved at the bereavement that has befallen you and the rest of your family. Kindly believe me, I was not prompted to do this with any personal hatred, or any grudge or any evil intention towards you.”
Devdas replies: “Then why did you do it?”
Nathuram says, “The reason is purely political and political alone!” He asks for time to explain his case but the police do not allow this. In court, Nathuram explained himself in a statement, but the court banned it. Gopal Godse reprints Nathuram’s will in an annexure to his book. The last line reads: “If and when the government lifts the ban on my statement made in the court, I authorise you to publish it.”
So what is in that statement? In it Nathuram felt about Gandhi that “the accumulating provocation of 32 years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well-being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way.”
The other charge is Gandhi helped create Pakistan: “When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country — which we consider a deity of worship — my mind was filled with direful anger. I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi.”
Nathuram thinks Gandhi was enthusiastic about dividing India when everything in history tells us the case was the opposite. He says Gandhi was a tyrant in Congress but also says Gandhi fasted to get the Congress to see his point of view. Why would a tyrant need to do anything other than just command? Nathuram objects to Gandhi’s final fast (against India’s refusal to release funds to Pakistan), but that was after India went back on its promise. It was Gandhi who made India act correctly and decently in that instance.
Little of what Nathuram says makes sense. It is, contrary to his statement to Devdas, not politics that shaped his actions. It was his hatred of the secular ideology of Gandhi, the true Hindu spirit that he is finally opposed to, having been brainwashed thoroughly by the RSS.
There is no action and no teaching of Gandhi that is exceptionable and this is why his global reputation as a politician has survived the decades intact.
Writing on Gandhi in 1949, George Orwell said: “One may feel, as I do, a sort of aesthetic distaste for Gandhi, one may reject the claims of sainthood made on his behalf (he never made any such claim himself, by the way), one may also reject sainthood as an ideal and therefore feel that Gandhi’s basic aims were anti-human and reactionary: but regarded simply as a politician, and compared with the other leading political figures of our time, how clean a smell he has managed to leave behind!”
This is still the case in 2015, while Nathuram Godse’s complaints have vanished in the mists of time.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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Stimulating decentralised markets in the energy sector
The persistent load-shedding crisis in Pakistan has severely crippled economic and social development in the country. While there is no dearth of energy policy reform proposals, here are some practical policy actions that the federal government can readily implement to resolve operational and strategic challenges.
Among operational challenges, enforcement against the theft of electricity and non-payment of electricity bills is perhaps, the greatest challenge faced in Pakistan. This issue could be resolved by decentralising the utility industry in the country to district or even to the tehsil level. The current centralised energy governance system incentivises electricity theft. Political patronage of electricity thieves will be relatively difficult to sustain in a market-based governance system of decentralised and privatised utility companies at the local levels. Centralised institutions (e.g. Wapda) can rather be empowered to focus on improving the efficiency of the energy transmission system, reducing line losses, and above all, bridging the supply and demand gap. The federal government must, therefore, set up a task force to evaluate all feasible policy actions for reducing electricity theft, including but not limited to utility market reform and assessing the supply-demand gap. The greatest major operational challenge concerns the shortage in energy supply compared with the anticipated demand. According to some credible analysts, this gap hovers between 55 per cent to 65 per cent of the total energy needed, which translates into a shortfall of about 5.5-6.5 gigawatts in a 10-gigawatt energy demand system. While reductions in thefts through utility reforms could narrow this gap to 40 per cent, both short-term and long-term policy actions must be initiated to completely eliminate the gap in energy supply and demand. Pakistan can sign electricity supply agreements with its neighbours (in particular China, Iran and/or India) to narrow the supply-demand gap in the short run.
For the medium term, independent bids from energy providers at the global scale could be invited and implemented within six-month to five-year time-scales. This would require the settlement of the existing $ 1.3 billion dues to independent power producers that can be settled through a long-term agreement with the Aid to Pakistan consortium. The prime minister must call an emergency meeting of all Aid to Pakistan consortium members with a one-point agenda of settling this outstanding payment. Strategically, the potential of energy generation in Pakistan is very high. However, this potential cannot be harnessed under the current institutional and governance system. The lack of funding for energy generation is perhaps, the greatest challenge. The vast hydropower potential aside, there are a mix of fossil fuel (e.g. natural gas) and renewable energy resources that Pakistan is blessed with, but the lack of political leadership and bureaucratic short-sightedness have led to the current frustrating situation. Instead of developing mega-scale hydropower projects, the government can pass comprehensive energy policy reform legislation that can stimulate the development of decentralised energy production technologies. Tariffs on renewable energy systems must be completely eliminated. Special trade agreements with China and other neighbours could be signed to facilitate the import and local production of solar, wind, biomass and other renewable energy technologies in Pakistan.
Furthermore, to balance the renewable portfolio with secure and stable sources of energy supply, new natural gas and (small- to medium-scale) hydropower projects must be prepared and implemented within the next one year. The government does not need to take the responsibility of energy production, rather it should only focus on designing the energy policy, providing a stable transmission grid system and correcting the inequities. The remaining goals could be met through stimulating private markets and establishing decentralised governance systems. One common argument against privatising and decentralising energy production and provision systems in Pakistan is that this will raise the electricity tariffs too high and make it impossible for relatively poor consumers to afford electricity. I do not buy this argument. All across Pakistan, people have different levels of willingness and capacity to pay their electricity consumption costs. In the common trade-off between reliability and cost of energy supply, many people will choose reliability. Many analysts have shown that consumer demand is very elastic in the energy sectors of developing countries. While upper and upper to middle income families will adjust to the increasing prices, the government could subsidise energy provision for poor and low to middle income families. These subsidies could be coupled with subsidies for decentralised renewable energy technologies. The revenue for these subsidies could be generated through taxing the fossil fuel-intensive utility firms.
There are many other pathways possible to compensate and reduce the burden of increased energy prices for low income families, but the upshot is that there could be no load-shedding in such a decentralised and privatised system. The stimulation of local scale energy markets would also create new firms and new jobs, an important co-benefit that is not possible under the current system.
Simultaneous policy actions at both operational and strategic levels could transition the system out of the current persistent load-shedding. Reducing approximately six gigawatts of energy shortage is not going to be an easy task, but the policy steps proposed here could be immediately taken to reduce it. There are many developing countries in the world that have successfully overcome challenges pertaining to energy supply shortages through market-based, decentralised and balanced energy policy reforms. The vision presented here is doable and practical if the political leadership is sincere about resolving the energy crisis in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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South Korean children navigate rocky road to K-pop stardom
SEOL: Nine-year-old Kim Si-yoon has no time to throw tantrums. She wakes up at half-past seven for school, followed by hours of voice training, dance lessons and cram school before crashing into bed at midnight. Kim is a wannabe K-pop star.
Thousands of Korean children dream of becoming household names like rapper Psy, whose 2012 Gangnam Style video was a global YouTube hit, often putting up with punishing schedules in the hope of one day making it big in the music industry.
A new generation of younger and prettier music idols is further influencing impressionable minds, with a recent survey of pre-teens showing 21 per cent of respondents wanted to be K-pop stars when they grow up, the most popular career choice.
Kim, a third-grader at elementary school, said she recognized the sacrifices needed to realise her dream. “It is tough. So I am trying to have fun and when I make efforts, I can perform better,” she said, as she prepared to run through a sample dance routine, despite a bad cold.
Kim’s desk is decorated with photos of her favorite boy and girl bands. A microphone is propped up beside her pens and pencils, and a pink guitar rests on her bedroom wall. A treasured pair of black high heels with a white floral print lies in her closet.
Her stay-at-home mom drives Kim around Seoul each day, determined to see her own thwarted ambition of becoming a singer fulfilled by her daughter. “Competition is very intense, and there are so many good kids,” said Park Sook-hee, who spends around 700,000 won ($ 639) each month on Kim’s voice modulation and dance lessons.
Kim is training for auditions to get into reputed talent management companies such as YG Entertainment or SM Entertainment. Success would bring a tougher schedule, perhaps even leading her to drop out of school.
“She knows that she can’t help but work harder,” said Park.
Jang Ha-jin made it to SM Entertainment’s coveted training program a decade ago after winning a talent contest.
She stuck to a seven-day regimen for nearly three years, before giving it all up to return to a more sedate life.
Now an engineering major, Jang remembers being trapped in an energy-sapping timetable that included lessons in Chinese, since many K-pop bands were trying to make inroads into China.
Trainees had no access to mobile phones and each week, about 40 pupils were assessed on camera for their star potential. Jang constantly compared herself to her peers, and felt pressured to impress heavy-handed instructors.
Worse, there was no guarantee she would be picked for a K-pop debut.
“The most difficult part in fact was when I saw myself and felt like I didn’t grow up,” said Jang, 23, remembering her stressful teenage years.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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Are TV soundtracks hitting the right note?
What do famous television shows, such as Scrubs, Friends and Cheers, have in common apart from their lengthy run on television? All these shows boast a popular soundtrack as their opening credit. Despite being only a small part of the episodes, soundtracks of these shows went on to have a life of their own and created enough recall value to contribute to their popularity.
Although theme songs are a longstanding favourite among TV enthusiasts across the globe, the trend seems to have caught up late in Pakistan. But, according to Ehteshamuddin, director of TV serials, including the ongoing Sadqay Tumhare, Original Soundtracks (OSTs) are not a new addition to Pakistani television. He says that they were being made for dramas even as early as the 1980s and 1990s.
He cited examples of dramas, such as Teesra Kinara, which was among the first Pakistani TV serials, to have featured an OST. But he acknowledged that this trend rose in popularity during early 2000 and attributed this change to the arrival of satellite television. “The arrival of satellite television brought about a host of changes to local television. Our audiences were shifting towards Indian soaps and it was then that producers felt the need to package local products,” he commented.
Music composer Waqar Ali, the composer of famous OSTs, such as Aansoo, Teri Yaad and Humsafar, echoed this sentiment in an earlier interview to The Express Tribune. He had said that it was the private media boom of early 2000, which led to an increase in the drama serials being made and, eventually, resulted in the churning out of more OSTs. “Soundtracks were present in dramas, such as Dhoop Kinare, but they were never really a necessity. However, after the success of Aansoo’s soundtrack, it almost became a necessity,” he had stated.
On the question of whether OSTs add any value to the drama, Ehteshamuddin responded, “Of course! Not only do they add aesthetic value [to the drama], but are also significant from a marketing perspective. As the song helps the drama serial reach out to a wider audience.”
Immu, music composer and Fuzon frontman, explained, “Music is one of the best ways to create recall value for anything, and the best example of this is Humsafar. It also helps generate interest in visual content as OSTs are a useful way of engaging audiences.”
Despite the increase in the number of OSTs being produced these days, music composers are quick to clarify that the mechanics of composing an OST or theme song are different from those of composing a song for a band or musician. “When composing a theme song for a drama serial, musicians are usually given a creative brief about what sort of mood it should have and at which point there should be a crescendo or hype,” said Sohaib Lari, who has composed theme songs for several television shows, such as Meinay Shaam Haari.
When making music for television, there are essentially two parties working together, Immu stated. “The director provides music composers with the brief as to whether the opening credits should set the mood for the show or provide a synopsis of the television serial.” Regardless of the success of soundtracks on television, industry stakeholders had conflicting views about whether OSTs can help revive the Pakistani music industry.
Immu said that OSTs are “a small part of a much bigger picture.” “Although several musicians have emerged through television shows, like Fuzon emerged with the song Saagar (drama Jab Jab Dil Miley), Ahmed Jahanzeb with Ik Baar Kaho Tum Mere Ho (drama Laila Majnoo) and Quratulain Balouch with Woh Humsafar Tha (drama Humsafar), we can’t solely rely on these OST to springboard a revival.”
Lari also holds that OSTs won’t kickstart the revival of music in Pakistan, noting that, “There are only a handful of music producers composing OSTs in the country. And all these songs are recorded, they are not live. So, at most, they can help sustain the industry but not help it grow or flourish.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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Lahore police removes 13 fund collection boxes of banned outfits
LAHORE: As part of measures to clamp down on terror financing, Lahore Police on Saturday removed 13 fund collection boxes of different banned outfits in the civil lines.
The boxes belonged to different outfits but all of them were fixed along Mall road.
Operation DIG told reporters at his office on Saturday that they were going to launch a city-wide operation to remove fund collection boxes of banned organisations, adding that they can be used by terrorists.
He instructed all the divisional SPs, DSPs and SHOs to remove fund collection boxes within their jurisdictions.
He appreciated Civil Lines SP Imtiaz Sarwar and SHO civil lines Abid Rasheed for this campaign.
Aisam crashed out of Australian Open
KARACHI: Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his partner Alla Kudryavtseva crashed out from the Australian Open’s mixed doubles event first round in Sydney.
Aisam played his mixed doubles event with Cara Black last.
However, with new partner, they lost their first match in the tournament to local pair Daria Gavrilova and Luke Saville 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 after a close match.
Aisam and Kudryavtseva battled with the Australian duo in the first set that went on for 45 minute, pushing to a tie-break to decide the set.
Gavrilova and Saville broke Aisam and Kudryavtseva’s serve twice to seal the win in the second set. They will face second seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Marcelo Melo in their next match. Aisam will continue in the third round at Australian Open with Nenad Zimonjic in the doubles event.
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Diana’s journey from defending to fast-bowling
KARACHI: With the cricket fever gripping the country ahead of the 2015 ICC World Cup, national female footballer Diana Baig is also gearing up for the cricket season in the country.
The 19-year-old recently represented Pakistan in the women’s South Asian Football Federation (Saff) Championship in November, but switched back to cricket in December to play the national U21 championship, where she led Islamabad to the semi-finals as captain.
According to Diana, the transition from being a defender for the national football team to becoming a fast-bowler for the University College Lahore has been an exciting journey.
“It’s all good and cricket is my life right now,” Diana told The Express Tribune. “I’m here in Lahore, and now I’ll be representing my university in the Benazir Cup in February. This event is very important for me as players will get selected for the national camp from here.”
The Gilgit-Baltistan based player added that she has been working hard on her bowling skills and has also been tuning up her batting talent.
“My performance at the U21 championship gave me a lot of confidence. My team went through to the semi-finals and I was the captain, so it has given me the scope to prove my talent.”
Diana further said that she is encouraged by the Pakistan women’s recent surge in form, where they lost the T20 series but won the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
“My favourite format is T20,” said Diana. “I would want to get selected for the next women’s T20 World Cup squad. That’s my dream. Pakistan women’s cricket is definitely improving, with the level of competition also increasing in the local circuit.”
The teenager revealed that she had gained admission in her university on a sports scholarship for cricket, and she plans to take the sport more seriously.
She concluded that while she would want to see Pakistan win the trophy in the upcoming men’s World Cup, India seem top contenders for the title.
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Australian Open: Top seeds Djokovic, Serena advance to last 16
MELBOURNE: Fired-up top seed Novak Djokovic powered into the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday, joining sizzling fellow world number one Serena Williams as Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was sent packing.
The Serb, whose chances of a fifth Australian crown have vastly improved after Roger Federer’s shock exit on Friday, ground down tenacious Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic said he was highly motivated and over the virus that hampered his lead up to the season’s opening Grand Slam. “He [Verdasco] was a former top-10 player, somebody that loves playing a powerful game on the big stage. I’m glad to go through in straight sets,” he said.
Serena, vying for a sixth Australian title and the first since 2010, was slow to find her groove against 26th-ranked Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, going down 6-4 in the first set. But she shook off the cobwebs under the blazing sun on Rod Laver Arena to rattle through the next two sets 6-2, 6-0.
It keeps alive her quest to add a 19th Grand Slam title, which would take her to clear second on the all-time Open Era Grand Slam winners list.
She currently has 18 alongside Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and is four behind Steffi Graf’s 22.
“When in doubt, just start running as fast as you can, that’s what [my sister] Venus always told me,” said Serena, whose world number one ranking is on the line if she fails to win the tournament.
Serena will now face Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, who beat Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
Venus, Azarenka, Wawrinka through
Meanwhile, sister Venus Williams rallied from behind to defeat Camila Giorgi of Italy 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 to make the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2011, setting up a fourth round clash with dangerous Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.
But there was heartbreak for Kvitova, a semi-finalist in 2012, as Lindsay Davenport-coached American teen Madison Keys pulled off a big 6-4, 7-5 upset.
“My hands are still shaking. Right now I can’t even process this,” said Keys, who set up an all-American fourth round showdown with Madison Brengle.
Victoria Azarenka also kept going, continuing her impressive comeback by downing Czech 25th seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-4 to set up a clash with last year’s beaten finalist Dominika Cibulkova.
Defending men’s champion Stan Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal in the final last year, could meet Djokovic in the semi-finals and stayed on track with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
The Swiss, who was always in control, was pleased with his progress.
“It’s been three really good matches, I think my game is there and I’m really happy to get through again,” said Wawrinka, who will now meet Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Eighth seed Canadian Milos Raonic also went through as did Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori.
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