TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014 INTERNATIONAL

Supreme court orders new PCB chairman election

ISLAMABAD: The supreme court directed im PCB chairman within seven days. The temporary Khan said the supreme court also set aside an ing all the decisions taken by Sethi. yesterday to continue as the country’s chief will also act as election commissioner.”The Islamabad High Court order to reinstate But Pakistan prime minister , who is cricket board chief for one week before an acting government will now follow the directions of the as PCB chairman. The power tussle at the top of the also patron of the PCB, dissolved the governing chairman can be appointed supreme court and will also implement the new PCB started in May 2013 soon after Ashraf became board and appointed a five-member management to oversee new elections. Pakistani cricket has been constitution of the PCB,” Irfanullah Khan, a govern- the first elected chairman of the PCB. committee that later elected Sethi as PCB chairman. embroiled in administrative turmoil for more than a ment legal adviser said. Sethi told the court that he Ashraf was suspended by the Islamabad High But Ashraf continued to resist and he was twice year with three chairmen taking the helm in the would not be contesting the elections but said he Court after a petition was filed by a former official of reinstated by the IHC this year before being past seven months. could be part of the new governing board, which the Rawalpindi Cricket Association. The court replaced by Sethi within days. Earlier this month, A two-member bench of the supreme court will be announced later. described his election process as “polluted.” the government appointed a retired judge of the heard the case for five hours in on Monday The supreme court has also asked the govern- The government appointed Sethi as interim PCB supreme court as interim PCB chairman, who will after which judges Saqib Nisar and Anwar Zaheer ment to implement a new cricket board constitu- chairman before the IHC asked the country’s elec- also act as election commissioner, but a day later Jamali directed the government to appoint an inter- tion. tion commission to conduct elections while overrul- the supreme court reinstated Sethi. — AP

Armed bandits demand water in dry north India LUCKNOW: Armed bandits are threatening villagers with death unless they deliver 35 buckets of water each day in northern India, where water is scarce thanks to an ongoing drought and a poor supply. So far, 28 villages have been obeying the order, tak- ing turns to deliver what the bandits are calling a daily “water tax,” police said. “Water itself is very scarce in this region. Villagers can hardly meet their demand,” officer Suresh Kumar Singh said by telephone from Banda, a city on the southern border of central Uttar Pradesh state and caught within what is known in India as bandit coun- try. Though the number of bandits has declined drasti- cally in recent decades, India’s bandit tradition, which began more than 800 years ago when emperors still ruled, has continued in the hard-toreach forests and mountains of the Bundelkhand region. The area is cut off from supply lines, leaving the bandits, reliant on surrounding villages. Since 2007, it has been starved for rain, with the yearly monsoon bringing only half the usual number of 52 rainy days a year. “A few bandits are still active in the ravines,” Singh said. “They ask for water, food and shelter from the vil- lages.” But while the bandits were once admired as caste warlords with a touch of Robin Hood about them, as they fought to protest feudal orders or to avenge personal wrongs, today’s bandits are consid- ered mostly opportunistic thugs seeking personal wealth and power. Small lakes and streams have dried up, and the bandits are reluctant to risk running into police by leaving the area to fetch water supplies. India has set a $4,200 reward for information leading to the gang leader’s arrest on charges of murder, looting and kid- KABUL: Afghan girls hold their certificates during their graduation ceremony at the Pir Massoudia Islamic madrassa in Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, yes- napping. — AP terday. About 50 boys and girls have graduated yesterday from the Pir Massoudia madrassa which took them two and a half years to finish up their Islamic studies at the madrassa. — AP Indian police beat back protesters of alleged rape Roller-skating instructor to appear in court BANGALORE: Indian police beat back angry tion over levels of sexual violence in the a student on a moving bus in New Delhi, protesters who attempted to storm the prem- country. which led to a public outcry and new tougher ises of a top Bangalore school where a six- Police on Sunday arrested a 30-year-old laws to deter rapists. year-old girl was allegedly raped, an officer roller-skating instructor who was expected to Police said the girl had complained of the said yesterday. appear in a local court later over the attack. July 2 attack to a teacher at the school, but Several hundred activists from a student Police seized a laptop containing images of her parents only learned of the incident a group gathered outside the school in the children being raped from the instructor, who week later when she shared details with them. southern city to demand action against man- had worked at the school since 2011, the city’s The child was allegedly assaulted in a class- agement whom they accuse of initially trying police commissioner, Raghavendra Auradkar, room at the top fee-paying institution, to hush up the case. told reporters. favoured by local politicians and business “We resorted to caning the activists to “The videos were downloaded from porn leaders. bring the situation under control, as some of sites through the Internet,” Auradkar said late The instructor apparently supervised roller- them were attempting to pull down barri- on Sunday. skating activities as part of the sports pro- cades and barge into the school premises,” a “He is married and has a three-year-old gramme at the school, which has closed its police official told AFP outside Vibgyor High child too. We will produce him in the local doors since the uproar. COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu devotees smash coconuts on the ground during School. court on Monday and seek his custody for fur- Monday’s protestors chanted slogans and the Vel Hinduism festival in Colombo yesterday. Ethnic Tamils, who are mainly fol- Hundreds of enraged parents have held a ther interrogation and investigation,” submitted a letter demanding improved stu- lowers of Hinduism, are the main minority community in the island which is emerg- series of protests in Bangalore since the Auradkar said. dent safety. A school official, under security ing from nearly four decades of ethnic conflict which had claimed up to 100,000 alleged incident was revealed last week, as India is especially sensitive to cases of sex- escort, assured the crowd that changes were lives. — AFP India struggles to rebuild its battered reputa- ual violence after the 2012 fatal gang-rape of being made. — AFP Taiwanese face firing Afghan suicide China will not fill US squad over massacre bomber kills void in Afghanistan BEIJING: China does not seek to fill a void was essential for stability. “In the long-term, TAIPEI: Taiwanese prosecutors yesterday not in a state of mental disorder when two in south left in Afghanistan by the withdrawal of US an even greater portion of our cooperation said they were seeking the death penal- he committed the crime, and that he is KABUL: A suicide bomber targeted a police convoy in troops but will play a “huge” commercial role and participation in economic rebuilding ty for a man accused of killing four peo- fit to stand trial. Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province yesterday, in helping rebuild the country, a newly will be carried out in a commercial way. This ple and wounding nearly two dozen They described him as “anti-society, killing two people, a policeman and a civilian, a local appointed Chinese special envoy said yes- amount will be huge,” he said. terday. “Preserving Afghanistan’s stability is not a official said. others in a stabbing spree on the Taipei narcissistic, immature and pessimistic”. China, which is connected to Afghanistan matter of adding troops but of helping The attack took place in the Helmand provincial subway that shocked the island. In elementary school, he vowed to “kill by a narrow, almost impassable mountain Afghanistan to quickly rebuild. We hope to Cheng Chieh, a 21-year-old college people in revenge” after having trouble capital of Lashkar Gah, said Omar Zwak, the corridor, has been quietly preparing for see a rapid decrease in weaponry and a rap- student, was charged with four accounts with classmates, they said. Local media spokesman for the provincial governor. He said the more responsibility there after the bulk of id increase in wealth.” explosion also wounded 15 people - eight policemen of murder and 22 accounts of attempted said he had been obsessed with online US-led troops pull out by the end of this and seven civilians. The police convoy was en route to year. ‘Highlights’ murder for the fatal attack on May 21, killing games and had written horror the district of Sangin for an operation there, he added. the first of its kind on the city’s subway stories since high school. Some Western officials have said China is Sun, a veteran diplomat with experience No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but likely to emerge as a strategic player in of Afghanistan since the late 1970s, said US- system since it began operating in 1996. Cheng’s parents spoke to reporters on the Taleban frequently use roadside bombs and sui- Afghanistan but Sun Yuxi, who was appoint- China cooperation on Afghanistan had been “The accused’s actions fit the defini- May 27 at the subway station outside cide attacks against Afghan and NATO forces and gov- ed special representative to the country on one of the “very bright highlights” in ties tion of mass murders, his means were Taipei where the killings took place. ernment offices in the country. Friday, said China’s involvement would between the powers, whose relations are ruthless and inhuman, and caused Although he is our child, the crime he Helmand is one of the most dangerous and inse- remain largely commercial. often testy. irreparable harm to the victims and their committed is unforgivable,” Cheng’s sob- cure of the country’s provinces. Last month, hundreds “This idea about filling a void after the He welcomed the withdrawal of the bulk families. We demand the court sentence bing father said. of Taleban insurgents attacked several Afghan security withdrawal of troops, I think it doesn’t exist,” of US-led troops and also welcomed the him to death,” prosecutors said in a “I think he should be sentenced to checkpoints in Sangin district. After a week of inten- Sun told reporters in Beijing before heading expected maintenance of a small, residual sive battles, more than 100 people were killed and to Afghanistan today for talks. US force. statement. death... he should face it himself. Only by Some Western officials have criticised “The new Afghan government should The incident shocked Taiwan, other- so doing may the pains inflicted on the dozens were displaced from their homes. The govern- ment subsequently deployed nearly 2,000 reinforce- China for piggy-backing off the US-led secu- mainly be responsible for security. The wise proud of its low levels of violent victims and the wounded and their fami- ments there. rity operation that has eliminated an al United States is preparing to withdraw, and crime, and resulted in several minor lies be slightly eased.” Insurgents also targeted Afghan security forces in Qaeda enclave on China’s door-step and we welcome that,” he said. opened up Afghanistan’s resources to inter- “We also welcome the United States injuries as edgy commuters fled trains He urged judges to pass sentence on overnight attacks. In northern Afghanistan, national exploitation. retaining some military bases to observe for over false alarms in the following week. his son as soon as possible. “We hope fighters ambushed a local police checkpoint in the Cheng’s parents had asked for him to Cheng Chieh can act in a correct manner China’s commitment to Afghan recon- a time and cooperate to help the Afghan Qaysar district of Faryab province, an official said. struction since the ouster of a hardline people and government fight terrorism.” be sentenced to death to help ease the during his next life,” he added. At least eight local policemen and 27 Taliban fight- Islamist regime in 2001 has been a relatively A major worry for China is that ethnic pain inflicted on the victims and their Security has been strengthened on ers were killed in the firefight that ensued, according paltry $250 million and its security support Uighur separatist militants from its western families, calling their son’s actions the metro, which transports around 1.85 to the provincial governor, Mohamadullha Batash. has been mostly limited to counter-nar- Xinjiang region will take advantage if “unforgivable”. million people a day. In southern Uruzgan province, four Afghan police- cotics training. Afghanistan again descends into chaos. Executions are carried out in Taiwan The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation men were shot to death at a checkpoint in Shahid But a consortium of Chinese investors is Uighur fighters are believed to be based by a single shot to the heart from the is seeking a compensation of Tw$20.61 Asass district, said Dost Mohammad Nayuib, involved in a landmark $3 billion deal to pro- in militant strongholds in ungoverned back-or, if the prisoner agrees to donate million ($687,000) from Cheng for opera- spokesman for the Uruzgan governor. The attackers duce copper in Afghanistan although work stretches of the Afghan-Pakistani border. were two other policemen from the same unit who on the deposit, among the world’s largest, Sun said he did not know how many were his organs, a bullet to the back of the tional losses after it lost around 945,000 fled the scene, said Nayuib. Another policeman was has been largely halted by insurgent attacks. there but there had been hundreds before head. Prosecutors said psychological passengers in the 10 days following the wounded in the attack, he added. — AP Sun said China looked forward to much the US invasion of Afghanistan to oust the evaluations have shown that Cheng was attack. — AFP more economic involvement which he said Taleban in 2001. — Reuters