Please don’t hate me
for what I’m about to do
But the good times we’ve had together
are just about now through
Please don’t misunderstand me
I hate to see you cry
But I think that it might look better
if I told you now goodbye

I’m back on the road again
it’s time I leave you now
And maybe I’ll see you next time
that I’m around
Until then I hope your happy baby
and good times come your way
I’m back on the road again
I’m on my way

Well I’ve loved you since the day I met you
and I’ll love you till the day I die
But we both know the life I’m livin
and we both know the reason why
That I’ve got to leave ya
and I’ve got to leave today
But you know that I’ll see you next time
that I come through your town to play

10-12 hour load shedding till January?
The Pakistan Electric Power Company has announced that up to 10 -12 hours loadshedding will continue by the end of January when the supply position of hydal power generations will start improving.
“The situation is likely to improve by the start of the fourth week of January 2009, when present canal closure is expected to end.”
According to a press release issued here on Sunday, Pepco said due to canal closure and massive reduction of water releases by IRSA from Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs, hydro generation with an installed capacity of 6,500 MW has plummeted sharply for the last one week.

Ahmedabad, November 16, 2008: The third final of three finals for the ICL 20s Indian Championship featured defending champions Hyderabad Heroes, take on the mighty Lahore Badshahs for top honors at Sardar Patel stadium Ahmedabad. It was the mighty Lahore Badshahs who in the end conquered the final Fortier in ICL, thrashing their arch rivals Hyderabad Heroes by a comprehensive margin of 8 wickets, with 6 overs to spare.

The highlight of the win was a sparkling unbeaten century from the dashing Imran Nazir plundering 111 runs off only 44 balls; studded with 7 fours & 11 mighty sixes. The Knock also too Imran Nazir to the top of the leading scorer list for the tournament. Imran Nazir was fittingly declared man of the match. Nazir also won the Haywards Soda Solid Six award of US $10,000 for longest six of that went 140mts in the same match.

Chirs Harris won the all important toss and elected to bat. Lahore came out with a serious purpose in the field, with Azhar Mahmood striking early; castling the experienced Jimmy Maher in the 2nd over with only 8 runs on the board. Harris promoted the talented Anirudh Singh up the order at the no3 position. The move however did not pay dividends, as double strikes from the impressive Shahid Nazir in form of Singh & Razzaq’s wicket, had the defending champions in a bit of a bother at 58/3 at the end of the 7th over.

Inzamam introduced his premiere spinner Saqlain in the 10th over who struck immediately with the big wicket of the inform Khaleel out for a well made 45 off 25 balls, including 7 fours and 1 six. The half way mark of their innings had the defending champions placed precariously at 76/4. Rayudu’s wicket as Shahid Nazir’s third scalp of the match set the stage for Boje & Binny to play the resurrection role for the Hyderabad Heroes. 19 runs off the 14th Saqlian over, took the score to 120/5, brining Hyderabad back in the match.

The pacy Sami however had other plans, getting Boje to nick one to a diving Humayun Farhat, ending the 42 run partnership for the 6th wicket in the 15th over. With 5 overs to go Hyderabad were placed at 125/6 needing a major onslaught in the death overs to set up a decent target. The crafty Lahore bowling machinery was at its best, not giving any leeway to the Hyderabad batsmen, restricting their batting scorecard to 158/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Lahore chase got off to a blistering start with Nazir going hammer & tongs after Razzaq to plunder 24 runs off the first over. Nazir was carrying out a complete carnage on the Hyderabad bowing brining the Lahore fifty off only 20 balls in the 4th over. It was a Nazir show all the way at the start of the Lahore innings; brining his half century off only 16 balls in the 5th over; studded with 4 fours and five sixes. The 100 run partnership for the opening wicket came about in only the 8th over with the defending champions. The 108 run partnership was finally ended by Razzaq with the wicket of Farhat out for a well made 28 in the 9th over.

Nazir was toying with the Hyderabad bowling bringing about his maiden ICL hundred off only 42 balls; studded with 7 fours and 10 sixes. Imran went on the finish the match with his unbeaten knock off 111 coming off only 44 balls, made of Champagne stuff; single handedly finishing the match in only the 14th over.

Lahore Badshahs defeat Hyderabad Heroes by 4 wickets

Imran Farhat declared man of the match

Detailed Scores

Lahore Badshahs beat Chennai Superstars by 6 wickets

Inzamam Ul Haq was declared man of the match

Ahmedabad: The first semifinal ICL 20s Indian Championship featured the clash of the titans, with former champions Chennai Superstars take on last years’ finalist Lahore Badshahs at the Sardar Patel stadium Ahmedabad. In the end it was the Lahore Badshahs who proved their might with a comprehensive 6 wicket victory over the talented Chennai Superstars, to storm into their second straight ICL finals. Inzamam Ul Haq was declared man of the match for his brilliant half century.
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Earlier in the evening Inzamam, won the toss & choose to field first. The Chennai’s formidable opening combination of Vignesh & Harvey was off to a busy start till the quick Sami castled the dangerous Vignesh for 6 in the 3rd over. Harvey was taking over from his brilliant innings of the previous night, playing some breathtaking strokes all across the park. At the end of the5th over Chennai Superstars were placed at 49/1.

Inzamam brought on his inform bowler Rana Naved in the 6th over who struck immediately with the big wicket of Harvey, out for well made 29 off 21 balls; including 5 hits to the boundary. Arnold took over the batting mantel & in company of Badani put on a 33 run partnership for the third wicket, till the wily Saqlain bamboozled him with his new mystery ball “ The Jalebi”, for the second time in two consecutive days. The half way mark of their innings had the Chennai side placed at 86/3.

The crucial middle overs had the backbone of the Chennai batting Badani & Sathish battling it out in the middle. Both batsmen were looking in great touch countering the formidable Lahore bowling to take the score to 133/3 at the 15th over mark. Both batsmen brought about the fifty partnership off only 34 balls in the 16th over, till Badani was scalped by Saqlain in the same over for a well made 37 runs.

A lot depended on the prodigal Sathish who was playing another fighting innings for the second consecutive day; displaying his humongous talent against one of the craftiest bowling machinery of the world. Nazir however had other ideas scalping the talented Chennai lad in the 18th over. Sathish’s cameo was worth 37 runs off only 28 balls, laced with five fours. Chennai finally folded their innings on a healthy 165/7 in their allotted 20 overs. For the Lahore side Naved with 3/30 & Saqlain with 2/26 emerged as the most successful bowlers.

The Chennai side was looking determined to defend their average total. Jesuraj struck early packing back the dangerous Imran Nazir in the 2nd over to leave the Lahore side at 15/1. Nazir’s wicket however had no effect on the batting approach of the mighty Lahore Badshahs, with Rana Naved & Farhat racing off to 43/1 at the end of 4 overs. Naved got out to a soft dismissal at in the 5th over to leave the Lahore score card reading 47/2.

Farhat took over the batting mantel racing off to 40 off only 20 balls in only the 7th over of the game. Just when it seemed that Farhat was running away with the match, Sathish struck his second blow of the match with the wicket of Farhat, out for a well made 46 off only 24 balls; including 5 fours and 3 mighty sixes. The 10 over mark had the game fascinatingly poised at the Lahore score of 85/3 needing another 81 runs off 60 balls & their most experienced batsmen Mohammad Yousuf & Inzamam holding fort in the center.

The great Inzamam was just proving his batting prowess, playing a clinical knock to take the score to 130 /3 putting the Lahore Badshahs in the front at the end of the 15th over in company of Mohammad Yousuf. Inzamam brought his second ICL fifty in the 17th over coming off only 28 balls; laced with 6 fours and 2 sixes. In the end a clinical 87 run partnership for the forth wicket, powered by a 62 run knock from the Lahore skipper Inzamam saw the Lahore Badshahs romp home to a 6 wicket victory in the 19th over.

Brief Scores: Chennai Superstars165/7 in 20 overs (Sathish 37, Badani 37, Rana Naved 3/30) lost by 6 wickets to Lahore Badshahs 168/4 in 18.5 overs (Inzamam 62, Farhat 46, and Sathish 2/34)

While all this begging is going on, 40 new cabinet members have taken oath. The government already spends Rs 600 billion a year more than its income and now, we have 40 new ministers. The government already incurs a loss of Rs 2 billion a day — every day of the year — but the strength of our federal cabinet now stands at 55. Don’t forget that we also have a dozen ambassadors-at-large, advisers and others with the status of a minister.

How much does a minister cost? Well, there’s the salary and then there are allowances, financial benefits, rights, privileges and concessions. There are ‘Equipment Allowances’, travelling expenses for the minister and his family, cost of transporting personal servants, cost of transporting house-hold effects, sumptuary allowances, a furnished residence, travelling allowances for touring in Pakistan, Business Class air fare for minister and his wife, travelling allowances for tours abroad, First Class air fare, unlimited medical allowances and reimbursements, police escorts, fuel expenses, security, personal staff, office staff, utilities, entertainment allowances, entitlements of staff and telephone allowances.

Amazingly, the Auditor General of Pakistan got hold of a medical bill submitted by a JUI-F male MNA that sought reimbursement for a pregnancy test. A federal minister for health, for instance, was found using a Toyota Land Cruiser from the National Institute of Health, a five-door Prado from the Expanded Programme for Immunisation, a double cabin 4X4 from the Global Alliance for Vaccine & Immunisation and a Suzuki car from the PIMS (July 2005 to June 2007).

To be certain, only some of the above allowances, privileges and concessions are regulated under ‘The Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Act, 2005 (Act No V of 2005)’. To be sure, most of what is spent by a minister, his family and his relatives is extracted out of a whole host of projects that are under the administrative control of the respective minister’s ministry (that’s where Prados, double cabins and Land Cruisers come from).

Based on the current strength of the federal cabinet, all the ambassadors-at-large, advisers and others with the status of a minister, their accumulated spending in the following 12 months will not be less than Rs 500 crore; Rs 500 crore that we must beg and then spend. That translates into an average of Rs 6 crore per minister per year. The poorest of all countries, the richest of all ministers.

Just look at Islamabad’s priorities: Rs 6 crore per minister per year; Rs 144 per Pakistani per year for health; and Rs 145 per Pakistani per year for education. What’s the solution? Monetise all allowances, financial benefits, rights, privileges and concessions.

Intriguingly, this was only the second cabinet expansion. There are certainly going to be more. Remember, all these ministers and individuals with the rank of a minister are for the Islamabad Capital Territory, which is 1,165 square km and of which the Islamabad city covers an area of 906 square km (or 350 square miles). In Lahore, the government of Punjab runs 80 departments and 29 autonomous bodies. The government of the NWFP has 53 ministers and the government of Sindh has 41. The last time I checked, Balochistan, the poorest of all our provinces, had 41 ministers.

Author ( Farrukh Saleem) Url……………. http://tiny.cc/alibaba40thiefs

Al-Hamra Lahore 2008

The 25th World Performing Arts Festival will kick off at the Alhamra Cultural Complex on November 13 and would host drama, puppetry and music performances from 300 foreign delegates and 500 local artistes from across the country. The 10-day long festival  has brought together 16,000 artistes from 85 countries that would allow the locals to experience a variety of art forms.

Imran Nazir declared man of the match

Imran Nazir & Imran Farhat set fastest fifty-partnership world record

The 16th match of the ICL 20s Indian Championship featured the two ICL sides Mumbai Champs and Lahore Badshahs representing the cricketing nerve centers of India & Pakistan respectively, battle it out at the Sardar Patel stadium Ahmedabad. In the end it was a Lahore Badshahs night scoring a comprehensive win by 8 wickets, to register their second consecutive victory of the tournament sending a strong reminder to all other competing sides at ICL season-2. Imran Nazir was declared man of the match for his explosive knock of 83, off only 38 balls; including 5 fours and 9 mighty sixes; sealed an eight wicket victory for the Lahore Badshahs in only the 14th over of their innings.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Champs 140/5 in 20 overs (Jadhav57, Taufeeq 41, Mughal 3/28) lost by 8 wickets Lahore Badshahs 141/2 in 13.2 overs( Nazir 83* Inzamam 27* Van Der Wath 1/40)