PALLEKELE: New Zealand stopped Pakistan’s winning streak by giving them a shocking defeat of 110 runs in their key World Cup Group A match against Pakistan at the new Pallekele stadium on Tuesday.

Pakistan who were leading the Group A points table with three wins in a row has now went down to second position as New Zealand are now on top.

Pakistan batsmen, who were chasing for the first time in the tournament, could not go for runs against a huge target of 303 and were bundled out for 192 in 41.4 overs.

Abdul Razzaq gave Pakistan some respectability with a defiant 62 from 74 balls with nine fours. He was supported by Umar Akmal (38) and Umar Gul (34 not out).

During his innings, Abdul Razzaq reached 5,000 runs in ODI cricket. He became the fourth allrounder with 5,000 runs and 250 wickets.

The openers failed again as both, Mohammad Hafeez (5) and Ahmed Shahzad (10) went back and then Younis Khan (nought) and Kamran Akmal (8) also departed and Pakistan were reeling at 23-4.

Later, Pakistan’s most in-form batsman Misbah-ul-Haq resisted against the Kiwi attack for a while but he was also dismissed for seven when score reached 45.

Then, captain Shahid Afridi displayed some aggression, hitting two fours and a six, but he was bowled by Jacob Oram for 17, made off nine balls.

However, Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq provided some resistance and took the score to 100 before Umar getting out for 38.

Abdul Razzaq, then found a good partner in Umar Gul and both added 66 runs for the ninth wicket partnership.

Umar Gul, hitting a six and three fours, remained not out on 34.

Earlier, Ross Taylor smashed a brilliant career-best hundred to lift New Zealand to an emphatic 302 for seven after captain Daniel Vettori won the toss.

Taylor was given two 27th birthday gifts by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal who dropped him on zero and eight off Shoaib Akhtar.

Later, Taylor unleashed some of the most incredible slugging ever inflicted on an attack in a one-day international cricket match never mind the World Cup.

He struck seven towering sixes and eight boundaries in his unbeaten knock of 131 scored off 124 balls for his fourth ODI hundred.

Taylor made the most of his good fortune and ran riot in the 47th over of the innings, hitting paceman Akhtar for two boundaries and three sixes — 28 runs in all — to reach his first World Cup hundred off 117 deliveries.

He then hit two boundaries and three sixes to take 30 off Abdul Razzaq’s 49th over, helping New Zealand add 100 in the last five overs.

Taylor added a blistering 85 for the seventh wicket with Jacob Oram (25 off just nine balls, with three sixes and a boundary) off just 22 balls to punish a hapless Pakistan bowling attack.

Taylor’s previous best of 128 not out came against Sri Lanka at Napier in 2006.

In all, New Zealand blasted 92 runs off the last four overs.

Gadget lovers in Pakistan are desperate to get their hands on iPad 2, however, those who had bought iPad (1) are somewhat confused about their current/old iPads. This is due to a fact that iPad 2 (WiFi only version) comes with the same price as of iPad 1.

Now, as in Pakistan, we don’t have 3G, so vendors will ship WiFi only version of iPad 2.

When to Expect iPad 2 in Pakistan?

We don’t have any words from vendors about the availability of iPad in Pakistan. However, we have heard from various online retailers that iPad 2 will be made available in Pakistan by late March. In fact HomeShopping is claiming that iPad 2 will hit their stores in Pakistan on March 17th, 2011.

iPad 2 Price in Pakistan?

HomeShopping.PK is already accepting pre-orders, they are offering iPad 2 (WiFi only – 16 GB) in Pakistan at the price of Rs. Rs 69,990/ - Rs. 74,990

Anticipated iPad 2 Prices in Pakistan:

iPad 2 3G Price in Pakistan: 16GB: Rs. 75,000, 32GB: Rs. 85,000, 64GB: Rs. 95,000

iPad 2 WiFi Price in Pakistan: 16GB: Rs. 65,000, 32GB: Rs. 72,000, 64GB: Rs. 83,000

Just in case, if you missed yesterday’s conference by Apple,  where the New iPad which is known as iPad 2 was introduced, following are few details about it.

A new birth in the Apple family and as usual it’s beautiful. We even have choices of Black or White and this time the “White iPad 2” will be available from the first date of launch whereas we are still finding iPhone 4 White.

It’s lighter in weight then the previous one (1.3 pounds from 1.5 pounds previous). It’s even thinner then the iPhone, 4 which is 13.4 millimeters where as iPad 2 is 8.8 millimeters. As what Steve Jobs said it’s the 3^rd thinner.

The biggest feature is the “A5 Chip” introduced by Apple, It’s a Dual Core Processor, up to 2x faster CPU and up to 9x faster graphics. It’s the first dual core tablet in the market.

As predicted it’s with dual camera, front VGA and features to take self snaps via Photo Booth App (which is by Apple with various filters). We have Facetime now in the iPad 2 which is just ideal by its size for Facetiming as said in the conference.

The rear / back camera is 720 p capability standard which is again a big improvement to this new product.

HDMI cable (US$39) mirrored video output upto 1080p, works with all apps, supports rotation, 10 hours battery time and charges your iPad while using.

A new Smartcover has also been introduced officially by Apple, which features to magnetically attach and folds down to support the iPad 2 to lift it up or stand while being kept somewhere, whereas in normal situation it protects the screen. It’s actually to remove the hectic of pouches, bags etc and still keep it awesome.

Apple has announced for the iPad 2 to reach the outlets on 11th March 2011 within U.S whereas in the time period of 2 weeks later, it will be out in 26 countries. The price is same as the first iPad.

iPad 2 will be with the new iOS that is to be 4.3 which promises to enable better performance to the new hot product in market.

The Major Improved Performance will be in Safari Browser, iTunes Home Sharing and couple of Airplay improvements.

Comparison Via iJafri

via ProPakistani.PK

For the past nine years, I have been in a dysfunctional relationship. My liaison started somewhat unexpectedly, quickly becoming an all-consuming passionate love affair. My partner reciprocated strongly, bestowing deep affection and adoration upon me. Blinded by love, I was naive to her failings. Yes, at times she was self-destructive, irrational and grossly irresponsible, but I hoped by appealing to her nature’s better angles she could change. Instead, as the years progressed, and, supported by her ‘friends’ in the media, she corroded, simultaneously displaying signs of megalomania and paranoia. Once the relationship turned abusive and I feared for my life, I decide to call it quits. Today, the divorce comes through. Her name is Pakistan. And today, I am leaving her for good.

This was not a difficult decision to make. In fact, I didn’t make the decision. It was made for me. You do not chart your own destiny in Pakistan; Pakistan charts it for you. It’s emigration by a thousand news stories. I am aware that bemoaning the state of Pakistan as a final shot appears churlish and arrogant. After all, I have the luxury to leave — many others do not. Nor do I want to discredit the tireless work of the thousands who remain to improve the lives of millions of Pakistanis. They are better men and women than I. Pakistan has also given me so much over the years. It was Pakistan who introduced me to the love of my life. And it was upon her manicured lawns that we married, and upon her reclaimed soil that we set up our first home. She brought the love of a new family and new friends into my life. And it was Pakistan that witnessed the birth of my son, Faiz — named after one of her greatest sons.

She embraced me like no other gora post-9/11. I appeared in a documentary/reality series titled “George Ka Pakistan”. It allowed me to explore the country. I ploughed fields in the Punjab, built Kalashnikovs in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (probably couldn’t do that now), and mended fishing boats in Balochistan. The culmination of the series saw the then prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, confer Pakistani citizenship upon me, after the viewing public voted overwhelmingly to make me one of them. I was their George. Fame and affection followed.

But that love was conditional. Conditional upon me playing the role cast — the naïve gora. The moment I abandoned the Uncle Tom persona and questioned the defined establishment narratives — whether through my television work or columns — excommunication began. No longer a Pakistani in the eyes of others, my citizenship evidently was not equitable to others.

So, as I depart, I could go with my reputation tarnished, but still largely intact. Or I could leave you with some final words of honesty. Well, true love values honesty far more than a feel-good legacy. So here goes.

Pakistan, you are on a precipice. A wafer-thin sliver is all that stands between you and becoming a failed state. A state that was the culmination of a search for a ‘Muslim space’ by the wealthy Muslims of Northern India has ended up, as MJ Akbar recently pointed out, becoming “one of the most violent nations on earth, not because Hindus were killing Muslims but because Muslims were killings Muslims”.

The assassination of Salmaan Taseer saw not only the death of a man but also represented for me the death of hope in Pakistan. I did not mourn Taseer’s death. I did not know the man. But I mourned what he represented — the death of liberal Pakistan. The governor’s murder reminded us how far the extremist cancer has spread in our society. A cancer in which I saw colleagues and friends on Facebook celebrate his murder. A man murdered for standing up for the most vulnerable in our society — a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. He committed no crime. Instead, he questioned the validity of a man-made law — a law created by the British — that was being used as a tool of repression.

In death, the governor was shunned, unlike his killer, who was praised, garlanded and lionised for shooting Taseer in the back. Mumtaz Qadri became a hero overnight. But Qadri is not just a man — he’s a mindset, as eloquently put by Fifi Haroon. Fascism with an Islamic face is no longer a political or an economic problem in Pakistan, it’s now become a cultural issue. Extremism permeates all strata and socio-economic groups within society. Violent extremists may still make up a minority but extremism now enjoys popular support. As for the dwindling moderates and liberals, they are scared.

Pakistan does not require a secret police, we are in the process of turning upon ourselves. But then what do you expect when your military/intelligence nexus — and their jihadi proxies — have used religious bigotry as a tool of both foreign and domestic policy. It is ironic that the one institution that was designed to protect the idea of Pakistan is the catalyst for its cannibalisation. Christians, Ahmadis, Shias and Barelvis have all been attacked in the past year. Who will be next? Groups once funded and supported by the state have carried out many of these attacks. And many jihadi groups still remain in cahoots with the agencies.

So as I leave Pakistan, I leave her with a sense of melancholy. Personally, for all my early wide-eyed excitement and love for the country and its people, Pakistan has made me cynical, disillusioned and bitter over time. I came here with high hopes, adopting the country, its people and the language. I did find redemption here — but no longer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2011.

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has raised the prices of petroleum products by 9.9 percent, to be applicable from Monday midnight (March 1, 2011), Geo News reported

According to OGRA spokesman Jawad Nasim, petrol price has been hiked by Rs7.23 per litre to Rs80.19; High Speed Diesel by Rs7.76 to Rs86.09 per litre; Light Speed Deisel made expensive by Rs.6.60; HOBC Rs8.58 to Rs95.25; and Kerosene Oil Rs7 to Rs77.95 per litre.

The government had kept the price of petroleum products unchanged for the past two months as a result of pressure from all the mainstream political parties.

KARACHI: The Pakistan petroleum dealers’ association decided to call off their token strike on Monday.

Earlier, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association suspended the supply of petroleum products and announced a strike in Karachi due to a proposed increase in petroleum prices. The association warned that the strike may soon spill over into other parts of the country if its demands are not met.

Resultantly, a large number of people came out on the streets on Rashid Minhas road, in Nazimabad and Shahrah-e-Faisal road in Karachi following the announcement of a strike by petroleum dealers. The protesters clashed with the police and rangers personnel who tried to control of the situation.

The demonstrators blamed the pump owners for halting supplies fearing a possible increase in the petrol prices today.

Long queues of vehicles were seen in the city outside the few stations still running.

10 to 13 per cent increase in petroleum prices expected

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had advised a 10 to 13 per cent increase in prices of petroleum products. The government is likely to announce the decision today.

According to sources, the finance ministry has endorsed the recommendations made by OGRA.

OGRA authorities said an increase in the prices is necessary according to levy collected two months ago, whereas six to seven per cent increase should be made in accordance to the levy collected in current situation.

Sources informed that the government is providing a subsidy of Rs15 billion on petroleum products and it will have to give an additional subsidy of Rs10 billion if current prices are not increased.

CNG prices revised

Ogra has revised its CNG prices keeping in view the Gross Calorific Value (GCV). The new prices will become effective from March 1.

Four different prices will be followed in the country’s four provinces. CNG prices will rise in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and in areas from Attock to Jhelum. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, CNG will be available at Rs57 per kilogramme.

In inner Sindh and Balochistan, CNG will be availabe at Rs55.2 per kg. In Punjab and adjoining areas, CNG will now be available at Rs53.45 per kg.

According to All Pakistan CNG Association, OGRA’s revised prices will raise gas prices in 2,600 CNG stations and reduce them in 500 gas stations across the country.