Pak News Wire

Giants to collide

Giants to collide

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova -- the two highest-ranked players in the world -- advanced to the Australian Open final after straight-s...

Kendrick Johnson’s parents will likely avoid jail

Kendrick Johnson’s parents will likely avoid jail

A jury found Kendrick Johnson's parents and five other family members guilty of misdemeanor charges related to a 2013 protest, attorney ...

Canada-Iraq bombing case: ‘Not guilty’ plea

Canada-Iraq bombing case: ‘Not guilty’ plea

When a suicide bomber detonated his truck outside Forward Operating Base Marez in Iraq in 2009, it wasn't the first time such an attack ...

Supreme Court stays executions of 3 over drug protocol

Supreme Court stays executions of 3 over drug protocol

In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a stay of execution to three inmates bringing a challenge to Oklahoma's ...

No drones: FAA only wants pigskin in air at Super Bowl

No drones: FAA only wants pigskin in air at Super Bowl

What might Hernandez’s fiancée say on the stand?

What might Hernandez’s fiancée say on the stand?

Christmas tree caused mansion fire

Christmas tree caused mansion fire

A dry Christmas tree likely fueled a raging fire that destroyed a 16,000-square-foot Annapolis, Maryland, mansion, killing four children and...

Driven by mobile ads, Facebook posts strong profit gains

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829447/driven-by-mobile-ads-facebook-posts-strong-profit-gains/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829447-Facebook-1422501277-726-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Wednesday reported that its quarterly profit jumped 33.8 per cent from last year to $ 696 million as ad revenue and membership grew at the leading social network. The California-based Internet titan said that revenue in the final quarter of last year hit $ 3.85 billion as the number of active monthly users increased 13 per cent to 1.39 billion. “We got a lot done in 2014,” said Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. “Our community continues to grow and we’re making progress towards connecting the world.” A strong showing in ads served up on smartphones or tablet computers helped Facebook earnings beat analyst forecasts. Shares sank slightly more than a per cent to $ 75.40 in after-market trades that followed release of the figures. Facebook saw its first quarter of taking in more than $ 3 billion overall from ads, with about two-thirds of that coming from mobile advertising revenue which soared 69 per cent from the same period a year earlier. An average of 745 million Facebook members daily used mobile devices to visit the social network in December of last year, the company reported. Facebook said that its properties Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp recently topped 300 million, 500 million, and 700 million monthly active users respectively. The net profit including dividends paid to preferred shareholders was $ 701 million in the fourth quarter. For the full year, Facebook’s profit nearly doubled to $ 2.9 billion and revenue jumped 58 per cent to $ 12.8 billion. Investors may be concerned by an 87 per cent jump in costs and expenses to $ 2.72 billion at Facebook that shrank the social networks profit margin to 29 per cent from 44 per cent in the same period a year earlier. Advertising and mobile Facebook’s growth has helped it become a major player in online advertising. According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook accounted for a 7.75 per cent share of all global digital ad revenues last year, an increase from 5.75 per cent in 2013. That compares with 31 per cent for Google. In mobile, Facebook’s share was 18.4 per cent in 2014, the research firm said. Zuckerberg in prior earnings calls has laid out a long-term vision for Facebook that includes pouring resources into technology such as virtual reality and ways for Internet service to reach more people in developing countries. Facebook said Monday it is testing a lightweight version of its mobile app for mobile phones with poor-quality Internet connections in emerging markets. A spokesperson told AFP that the “<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/827967/facebook-unveils-lite-app-for-emerging-markets/">Facebook Lite</a>” Android app is designed “for people on 2G (second-generation) connections or in areas of limited Internet accessibility.” Most of Facebook’s growth is coming from emerging markets, but many people lack the phones or computers needed for the full-featured app.

Driven by mobile ads, Facebook posts strong profit gains

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Wednesday reported that its quarterly profit jumped 33.8 per cent from last year to $ 696...

16 dead in Egypt revolution protests

16 dead in Egypt revolution protests

Libyan ISIS branch: We’re behind hotel attack

Libyan ISIS branch: We’re behind hotel attack

The Libyan branch of ISIS has claimed responsibility for a deadly gun and bomb attack on a luxury hotel in the Libyan capital in which five ...

Prosecutor ‘afraid before death’

Prosecutor ‘afraid before death’

Diego Lagomarsino is among the few who can offer clues about the puzzling death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

Parents seeking liver donor to save twins

Parents seeking liver donor to save twins

UK Jews and Muslims team up against hate

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/828933/uk-jews-and-muslims-team-up-against-hate/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/828933-ecdbcfaecaa_-1422440337-529-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			LONDON: The aftermath of the attacks on the office of Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket in Paris has left both Muslims and Jews living in Europe exposed to hate crime and concerns of an increased threat to both communities. In a bid to combat this threat, Muslims and Jews living in the same north London neighbourhood are making a stand together against hate crime, reports <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/01/uk-jews-muslims-team-hate-150127091540305.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a>. Community leaders of both faiths in the Stamford Hill neighbourhood of Hackney, north London state that they stand united. “The Jewish community and the Muslim community are facing difficult times at the moment, but it is not a case of them or us. We are all in the same boat,” Munaf Zeena, chairman of the North London Muslim Community Centre, told Al Jazeera. “We have a big Jewish community here, and they have been victims in Paris. I think we have a responsibility to make sure that those who feel uncomfortable or unsafe feel supported. It is our role to give them that moral support and to stand by them in every way we can.” Rabbi Herschel Gluck, a veteran international conflict mediator and founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum, a local initiative established in 2000, said Jews and Muslims were “not just living side by side”. “There is a palpable feeling of warmth when one sees members of the other community in the street or going about our business,” Gluck told Al Jazeera. “It is not just that we tolerate each other. We actually engage constructively as very good neighbours with each other.” Gluck said that the idea of the first ever Muslim-Jewish interfaith organisation in the world evolved when he worked in conflict zones including the Middle East, Kashmir, Bosnia and Sudan. “I thought, ‘Hang on a second, here I am working throughout the world, what’s happening in my own backyard? Is everything as rosy as it could be?’” he said “I felt that while things were okay, we were living in a changing world and you never know what tomorrow is going to bring. I thought, ‘Is our relationship strong enough to stand a crisis in the future?’” Relations between the two communities dates back to the 1950s when Muslim migrants from South Asia arrived at Stamford Hill and were initially welcomed and helped settled by Hindi-speaking Indian-born Jews. “When we came we had nothing, and a lot of the estate agents and solicitors were Jews. Many of them were very helpful at a grassroots level. We never forget someone who helps us and the relationship grew and blossomed,” Eusoof Amerat, a community advocate, told Al Jazeera. “It isn’t just that we acknowledge each other’s faith, cultures and ways of life. It is more to do with justice and fairness. When we deal with things we try to be just. If it is our side that is wrong we will accept that. Whether at a local, national or international level, where justice and fairness are not there, division grows.” A recent initiative that was endorsed by both communities is the work of ‘Shomrim,’ a police-trained voluntary Jewish community patrol that responds to crime reports, anti-social behavior and other such incidents. In recent months, information provided by the Shomrim has helped police make arrests following a number of cases of apparently anti-Semitic vandalism, with vehicles and a school sign daubed with swastikas, and dozens of cars, including many belonging to Muslim families, having their tyres slashed. But Ian Sharer, a local councillor, said none of the reported incidents had involved anyone from the local Muslim or Jewish communities. “There have been a few nasty things, but the number of incidents involving Muslims and Jews in the past year is nil and despite everything that has happened in the Middle East and Paris it is still nil. Relationships are not strained at all,” Sharer told Al Jazeera. In 2013 Al Jazeera reported on how the Shomrim had added local mosques and other Muslim institutions to the sites monitored on their patrols following attacks on places of Islamic worship in the aftermath of the killing of a British soldier in London. Stamford Hill’s Muslim leaders have also been praised for standing in solidarity with their Jewish neighbours. “I was greatly impressed with the cooperation between the Jewish and Muslim communities, and particularly with the work done at the North London Muslim Community Centre, which is available to everyone in the area,” Gillian Merron, chief executive of the Board of Deputies, the representative body of the British Jewish community, said. “This is a great model of local cooperative engagement and something we all could learn from. It feels as if the community is really reaping the rewards of the many years of work through the Muslim-Jewish Forum.” Munaf Zeena admitted that maintaining neighbourly relations sometimes meant agreeing to disagree on divisive issues, such as Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. Yet, he said, when local Muslims raised money for the victims of Israel’s assault on Gaza last year, a substantial donation was made by the Jewish community. “Everything we do here, we have a bigger picture in mind,” he said. “Sometimes you ignore problems that exist because if you want to have peace in the world, if you want people to be able to live side by side, then you look at the bigger picture.”

UK Jews and Muslims team up against hate

LONDON: The aftermath of the attacks on the office of Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket in Paris has left both...

Losses show limits of ISIS

Losses show limits of ISIS

ISIS fighters have been driven out of Kobani in Syria and pushed back in Iraq -- but it is still controls vast areas.

California measles outbreak grows to 73 cases

California measles outbreak grows to 73 cases

California has reported more measles cases.

More than 50 online threats received against airlines since Jan. 17

More than 50 online threats received against airlines since Jan. 17

Fans call for boycott after chocolate ban

Fans call for boycott after chocolate ban

Chocolate buffs are clamoring for the Hershey Co. to "gimme a break" after the chocolate manufacturer reached a settlement with an...

‘Exploding Kittens’ most backed Kickstarter ever

‘Exploding Kittens’ most backed Kickstarter ever

President’s Cup Silver League: Maqsood, Usman guide WAPDA to seven-wicket win

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829213/presidents-cup-silver-league-maqsood-usman-guide-wapda-to-seven-wicket-win/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829213-PresidentsCup-1422464350-999-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			KARACHI: A three-wicket haul each for Waqas Maqsood and Khalid Usman guided Wapda to their seven-wicket victory over Bahawalpur Stags in the third round of the Haier President’s Cup Silver League at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore yesterday. Batting first, Stags were restricted to 121 as Maqsood and Usman bagged three scalps apiece, while Moinuddin (54) was the top scorer for Stags. In reply, Wapda reached the target in 18.5 overs as Iftikhar Ahmed scored 38, while Muhammad Fayyaz scored 36 and Hassan 28. In another match, centuries by captain Awaiz Zia and Muzammil Nizam guided SSGC to an impressive 102-run victory over Lahore Eagles. Batting first, SSGC posted 310 runs, with Nizam unbeaten on 114 and Zia scoring 112. Asif Raza picked up three wickets for Eagles. Chasing 311, Eagles were restricted to 208 runs as Adnan Ghaus took three wickets with Nasir Malik and Faheed Ahmed claiming two each. In another match at Mirpur Khas, a 92-run knock by Faisal Akhtar helped Hyderabad Hawks reach their 293-run target with four wickets to spare against UBL. Azeem Ghumman aided Akhtar with his 69-run knock. Earlier, Bismillah Khan scored 145 runs for UBL as Lal Kumar took three wickets. At the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala, Haris Khan’s three-for helped Abbottabad Falcons defeat Sialkot Stallions by 26 runs. Batting first, Falcons posted 241 as Nasir Khan and Sohail Akhtar scored 57 runs each, while Hasan Ali took four wickets for Stallions. Chasing 242, Stallions were dismissed on 215 as Haris bagged three and Shakeel Ahmed and Inam Khan picked up two wickets each. In another match, centuries by Muhammad Naeem and Raheel Majeed led PTV to their seven-wicket win over Multan Tigers. Chasing 269, PTV reached the target courtesy of Naeem’s unbeaten 115 and Majeed’s 102. At the Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground in Karachi, Kamran Sajid (135) and Faisal Iqbal (119) posted centuries and guided PIA to a 37-run victory over Quetta Bears. PIA posted a total of 306 runs with the help of Sajid and Iqbal, while Bears were sent packing on 269 as Muhammad Ibrahim dismissed three batsmen. Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th,  2015. Like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EtribuneSports">Sports on Facebook</a>, follow <a href="https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports">@ETribuneSports</a> on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

President’s Cup Silver League: Maqsood, Usman guide WAPDA to seven-wicket win

KARACHI: A three-wicket haul each for Waqas Maqsood and Khalid Usman guided Wapda to their seven-wicket victory over ...

Mom: Family that refused vaccination put my baby in quarantine

Mom: Family that refused vaccination put my baby in quarantine

An unvaccinated child who went to the doctor with measles sends another baby to quarantine, leaving one mom to ask why. "Their choice e...

Figo: The man who could be King of FIFA

Figo: The man who could be King of FIFA

It was FIFA's handling of the report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that convinced Luis Figo it was time to take a stand.

Guinea and Mali must draw lots, Ivory Coast through

Guinea and Mali must draw lots, Ivory Coast through

Ivory Coast reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 African Cup of Nations with a narrow victory over Cameroon -- but Guinea and Mali now face...

Mrs. Obama shakes king’s hands

Mrs. Obama shakes king’s hands

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made a quick stop in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to pay respects to the late King Abdullah,...

A 70-year-old message

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829163/a-70-year-old-message/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829163-ChrisCorkNew-1422463667-731-160x120.JPG" width="160" /> 			</a> 			<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakopane">Zakopane</a>… a picturesque little town at the foot of the Tatra Mountains in Poland and it is Christmas, 1990. An old mate and I used to escape the madness of Christmas in the UK in those days, and take ourselves off for a week somewhere cold, snowy and good to look at in Eastern Europe. Along with the holiday came packages, trips here and there to places of interest and our ever-helpful tour guide appeared one evening and announced that there was to be a trip to <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/828309/last-survivors-recall-auschwitz-ask-if-lessons-learned/">Auschwitz</a> the next morning, warning that it was a long bus ride and thus an early start. There were about 40 in the group and half of us signed up. Little did we know what we were in for. Auschwitz. A word from the history books synonymous with horror and the Holocaust. A place where the Nazis had killed 1.1 million people in an industrialised process over several years. Mostly they were European Jews, but gay men and women, gypsies and the mentally handicapped were all brought here to have their bodies harvested for work if they were able, and their hair, spectacles, gold teeth fillings and body fat to be rendered into soap if they were not fit to work. They were killed in bunkers by having a gas called <a href="https://www.google.com.pk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FZyklon_B&ei=UTjJVNreI8bt8gWsr4L4Bw&usg=AFQjCNF5q3G0EmcDjah9VYkzESgqqouDgw&sig2=p8ADeVnwvv-vAOZmc4sopg">Zyklon B</a> pumped in, and then incinerated in vast crematoria and their ashes finally disposed of in a large pond to the north of the camp. For those interested, go to Google Earth and search for ‘<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oswiecim,+Poland/@50.0351136,19.2582577,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x471694e04f384c31:0x1e1c6b2131976ebd">Oswiecim</a>’ the town nearest to the camp and there it is, neat lines of elongated rectangles that were the accommodation, the administrative blocks, The Ramp where the trains bearing those soon to die arrived and were sorted. All very orderly. Nothing prepares you for the feeling of cold and inner terror that comes over you as you walk through the main gates of the camp. The guides, mostly local women, said that some people just fell over and got no further than the gate. We walked in silence mostly, through rooms that were thick with death and its imagery. We stood at the top of the ramp that led down into the gas chamber. There was a Jewish man and his young son in our party. The group was hesitant, the visit to the gas chamber was ‘optional’ said the guide. You do not have to go in if you do not want to. The Jewish man turned to us and said, “Let me go first.” And holding his son’s hand he walked into a place where the very air screamed. Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians on January 27, 1945, 70 years ago this week. It came into being because it was state policy to exterminate — literally completely wipe out — certain groups of people who were defined by law. They were to be wiped from the face of the earth, all trace of them removed. Institutionalised mass murder given the grace of legality. There were similar camps with the same purpose built in Germany and other parts of Poland. There was little or no protest among the population of either Germany or Poland, nobody raised a voice, few raised a questioning hand, and the butchery went on until the end of the war when the vast scale of it was revealed. The bedrock of hatred and intolerance that underpinned places like Auschwitz has not gone away and it is alive and well in Pakistan. Although there is no state policy of extermination of a minority, there is a constitutional amendment that discriminates against a minority group. A minority group that is regularly targeted by terrorists who are rarely caught or prosecuted and whose actions have the unspoken support of many, perhaps millions. Many of that group have fled abroad, as have members of other minority groups including members of my own family. There are no gas chambers in Pakistan, no crematoria where living people may be thrust into the fire. But there are brick kilns. Most Germans looked the other way as the Holocaust burned around them, closed their ears to the screams. Do you hear any screams, Dear Reader? No? Well I do. Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th,  2015. Like <a href="http://www.facebook.com/EToped">Opinion & Editorial on Facebook</a>, follow <a href="https://twitter.com/ETOpEd">@ETOpEd</a> on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.

A 70-year-old message

Zakopane … a picturesque little town at the foot of the Tatra Mountains in Poland and it is Christmas, 1990. An old ma...

The challenge of change

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829069/the-challenge-of-change/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829069-AyeshaSiddiqaNews-1422463673-301-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			It is good to see the state take some action in Punjab. Apparently, members of some militant groups are being picked up. Even more heartening is the fact that the police, which were considered useless till a few months ago, have begun to do some <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/828651/five-suspected-terrorists-killed-in-dera-ismail-khan/">tidying up of the place</a>. Resultantly, in some parts of south Punjab, people have even begun to talk about reduction in the overall crime rate. Members of certain groups are now worried. More importantly, there isn’t even a reaction from both good and bad militants which means that controlling such people in Punjab was always doable. I remember many seasoned journalists often arguing that since a military operation was not possible in Punjab, it was a better tactic to ignore these groups and fight other battles. No one heeded the fact that Punjab could always have been cleaned by combined efforts of the intelligence and the police. It was always just a matter of allowing them to proceed and not hold back their reins. Surely, this also means that if the state develops a will, it can be assertive against militants. <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Remember-the-ideologues.jpg" /> But before we pat ourselves on the back, let’s not forget that people were picked and locked up before also. They <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/812086/malik-ishaq-held-for-two-more-weeks-in-murder-case/">would get released after a few months</a>, if not weeks. Every district maintains a list of suspects who get rounded up every time the temperature went up as far as security is concerned. One wonders if this pattern would be repeated again. The police will have to develop the capacity to watch over these people even if many of them are to be set free eventually. The task of surveillance becomes doubly hard not just due to the lack of capacity, but also due to the continued operation of some militant groups. Many argue that the government and the military have not clamped down on some groups because they were not creating any trouble for the state. More importantly, we are told the best approach is to tread carefully and go step by step. So, the plan is to first eliminate all the bad groups and then <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/818271/shades-of-grey-2/">extend the definition to others</a>. This is not what has explicitly been said but this is what the civil society has interpreted. There are several loopholes with such a plan. First, it is well known that in the past, individual militants would get restless and leave parent groups to join those that could promise action and an uninterrupted show of violence. There has to be security against such leaks from these so-called safe groups. After all, people were promised jihad and recruited for that. Second, ideologically there is little difference between those who are picked up and others who are left behind. These groups are rational players and would not antagonise the state if there is a better way for them to survive. However, their pragmatism will make them consolidate themselves in a manner that would enable them to survive and regroup when the need arises again. Let’s not forget that their mainstay is their ideology, which remains fairly intact. The safe groups which are not targeted as yet have already begun to recreate themselves. Going through their material on social media, as well as printed material, it is visible that they can adopt options that will seemingly not threaten the state, yet keep them relevant amongst the people. The issue of blasphemy and the ongoing <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/charliehebdo/">Charlie Hebdo</a> issue have been picked up by most of these organisations. Looking at their publicity, they have successfully mingled with religious groups that are termed peaceful. For instance, in the context of condemning Charlie Hebdo, the position taken by the Pakistan Ulema Council and these groups is similar. Socio-politically, you can find nothing wrong with their position. However, this means their relevance remains and they will continue to impress ordinary people. The civil society movement is right about people being shocked by the Peshawar attack and has condemned the killings. Nevertheless, it is also possible that many still buy into the narrative of militant organisations because their narrative still makes sense. We have to be very clear on one thing: radicalism is more dangerous than even terrorism because it can survive longer and remain undetected due to the fact that it does not necessarily result in any immediate act of violence. Similarly, it is also a fallacy that these groups can ever get mainstreamed. Allowing groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and others to expand their welfare infrastructure does not help. Such activities assist the groups to hide their real intent and not change. In any case, the entire episode of the <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/826213/fighting-terror-jamaatud-dawa-assets-frozen-fo/">Foreign Office announcing an older ban on the Jamaatud Dawa</a> followed by Hafiz Saeed denying the claim and later suggesting that the asset freeze had just affected him personally as his pension funds came into the account, indicate that he or his organisation feel perfectly intact and undisturbed. In any case, the other components of the organisation were not even touched. Nor was any mention made of other outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s Al Rehman Trust. Lately, some analysts have also come to Hafiz Saeed’s defence citing the lack of evidence as a reason behind the state not disturbing him. However, there is sufficient material available within Pakistan or other parts of the world, indicating the LeT’s involvement on other war fronts and links with al Qaeda. Let’s for a minute sympathise with the argument that some militant networks have to be kept as a guarantee against troublesome neighbours. The counter-argument is that with regional and global dynamics changing rapidly, it may become increasingly expensive for Pakistan to use or keep such militants. The plan for their disposal thus has to be made now. Remember the ideologues catch on faster. They have the ability to take on sensitive issues and build a narrative around them that will neutralise the ground the civil society and the state think they have gained lately. There are no simple recipes. Even if the state does not take two fundamental actions — putting a distance between religion and power politics, and admitting openly that the militants are not foreign, but our own and have to be fought — it must find ways to neutralise the militants’ narrative, which finds them support in society. Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th,  2015. Like <a href="http://www.facebook.com/EToped">Opinion & Editorial on Facebook</a>, follow <a href="https://twitter.com/ETOpEd">@ETOpEd</a> on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.

The challenge of change

It is good to see the state take some action in Punjab. Apparently, members of some militant groups are being picked u...

India’s great opera-tunity

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829094/indias-great-opera-tunity/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829094-AnandoMukerjee-1422458070-932-160x120.JPG" width="160" /> 			</a> 			NEW DELHI: When Anando Mukerjee tells people in India that he’s an opera singer, they are both intrigued and impressed. Opera is almost unheard of in the country and Mukerjee wants to change that. As India’s only male tenor performing on the global stage, the 30-something singer has made it his mission to demystify the art form through live shows, social media and by adapting opera to an Indian context. “The youth, they don’t have an interest, not because of any fault of their own,” he said in an interview. “It’s because they haven’t been exposed to it.” Mukerjee, who calls himself the face of opera in India, hopes to collaborate with music societies in the country. His plans include bringing noted European operatic works to India, with an Indian cast and a setting that local audiences would relate to. Mukerjee cites the example of Carmen, a four-act opera set in 19th-century Spain, which he said could easily be moved to India’s desert state of Rajasthan and sung in Indian languages. “Just as we’ve had adaptations of Shakespeare in Bollywood, one can easily adapt great operatic masterpieces to an Indian narrative,” he said. A few operas with an Indian context have been staged in the country over the years, including a 2013 production that relocated Orpheus’ descent into the underworld to India, with the mythical Greek hero required to cross the Ganges River. Mukerjee said he was in touch with several Indian filmmakers keen to feature him in the movies. He was 13 when he discovered his love for music, tuning in to crooner Al Martino’s 1952 hit single Here in My Heart on India’s state-run radio. He quit academics for opera after a degree in molecular biology from Cambridge. At 23, he took singing lessons from vocal coaches, such as Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda, and made his debut in 2006 at Belgrade’s National Theatre, singing the part of Rodolfo in Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème. His first name often leads overseas audiences to mistake him for a South American or someone from the Mediterranean. The London-based singer describes himself as a lirico-spinto tenor, versatile enough to sing within limits of both the lyrical and dramatic roles of the operatic repertoire. At his December concerts in New Delhi and Mumbai this year, Mukerjee plans to sing at least one aria or key solo as an encore in the Hindi language. “If you don’t compromise on artistic integrity and don’t dilute it artistically, and you make it accessible and really Indian, it’s a win-win formula,” he said.  Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2015. Like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ETLifeandStyle">Life & Style on Facebook, </a>follow <a href="https://twitter.com/ETLifeandStyle">@ETLifeandStyle</a> on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.

India’s great opera-tunity

NEW DELHI: When Anando Mukerjee tells people in India that he’s an opera singer, they are both intrigued and impresse...