Cricket series: Pakistan cleared to tour India, says BCCI

NEW DEHLI:
India’s cricket board said Tuesday it has secured government clearance to host Pakistan for a short tour later this year.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has invited Pakistan to play three one-dayers and two Twenty20 matches in December-January, the first bilateral contests between the arch-rivals in five years.

“We have discussed all security aspects (and) the tour is on,” board spokesman Rajiv Shukla told reporters after a meeting between its officials and Indian Home Secretary RK Singh in New Delhi.

A report by the Press Trust of India said the venues for the ODI games would most likely be Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi while the Twenty20 matches would take place in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

The rivals have not played a series since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2007, after cricket ties were snapped following the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have only met in international tournaments since 2007.

They clashed in the ODI World Cup semi-final in the northern Indian town of Mohali last year, a match that was attended by both countries’ prime ministers

New anti-terrorism law must not violate privacy: Rabbani

ISLAMABAD:

The proposed anti-terrorism law must not be allowed to undermine people’s privacy, urged the head of a bi-partisan parliamentary panel on national security on Wednesday.

Senator Raza Rabbani, who chaired a meeting of the parliamentary committee, told reporters that while the country needed new legislation to counter terrorism, it must not be used to put the fundamental rights of people at stake.

His remarks came in response to criticism over the new law, which some fear may allow the country’s security agencies to operate with impunity .

The Fair Trial Act, which has already been tabled in the National Assembly, allows the state to tap phones and intercept all other private communications in order to arrest terror suspects. Emails, SMSs, phone calls and audio-visual recordings will be admissible evidence, while suspects will be held for six months after a warrant issued by the courts.

The new law is being enacted in the wake of strong criticism over the lack of comprehensive counter-terrorism laws, which allow several suspects to go unpunished.

Military authorities have raised concern over the lack of prosecution of terror suspects and have urged the government to amend existing anti-terrorism laws.

The proposed act provides security agencies and other related institutions with modern techniques not only to arrest suspects but also ensure their successful prosecution.

“We must strike a balance between adopting modern techniques of investigations and the fundamental rights of the people,” cautioned Barrister Zafarullah Khan.

The parliamentary committee was also briefed by Lord Alexander Charles Carlyle, a British lawyer and an expert on anti-terrorism law.

Lord Carlyle briefed the committee members on Britain’s counter-terrorism laws.

Senator Rabbani said it was important to learn from the experiences of other countries since Pakistan was in the process of introducing the legislation.

The proposed law was introduced in the National Assembly on October 8.

The law, if passed in its current form, would apply to Pakistanis in the country and abroad.

A sessions judge would be authorised to issue a warrant for surveillance of a citizen in the country to a government entity, including the Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and the police.

SC rules CNG prices to remain same during 14-day adjournment

ISLAMABAD:
While hearing the CNG and petrol price assessment case on Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered that during the 14-day adjournment of the case, CNG prices will remain the same – Rs54.16 per kg, Pakistan News reported.

The Oil and Gas Regulartory Authority (Ogra) presented a formula of linking prices of gas with prices of petroleum products before a two-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja.

The judicial bench sought a forensic audit report from the managing directors of Sui Southern Gas Company and Sui Northern Gas Company, during the next hearing scheduled after a fortnight.

Justice Chaudhry asked Secretary Petroleum Waqar Masood to submit an explanation in the court, justifying former senator Dr Asim Hussain’s statement during a television show in which he had said that there was a dearth in petroleum products due to a court’s verdict given regarding petroleum surcharge.

The chief justice said that he was surprised to see Hussain could give such a statement.

Explaining Hussain’s statement, Masood told the bench that he was referring to the Lahore High Court’s verdict against petroleum levy, which had held back the implementation of petroleum policy.