India beat Pakistan 4-1 in hockey World Cup

New Delhi: Sandeep Singh scored twice to help India beat their arch-rival Pakistan 4-1 in the hockey World Cup clash at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium on Sunday.
Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas converted one penalty corner in the 60th minute to bring a sigh of relief which went in vain just after Man of the Match Sandeep scored his second goal.
India dominated the second-half of the match also when Prabhjot Singh scored the third goal as the hosts took 3-0 lead.
In the first-half, Sandeep Singh gave India an upper hand as he converted one penalty corner to a goal to give India 2-0 lead in the 35th minute.
Earlier in the 27th minute, India took a 1-0 lead over arch-rival Pakistan when Shivendra Singh converted one penalty corner.
The World Cup clash between India and Pakistan got underway with the hosts missing their first choice goalkeeper Adrian D'souza, who has been replaced by PR Sreejesh.
The two nations, which ruled world hockey for years, are now shadows of their past, but they still evoke a lot of tension, excitement and suspense both on the field as well as in the overflowing galleries.
The recent track record of the two teams gives Pakistan a definite edge, their staggering 6-3 victory in the Champions Challenge semi-final in Salta, Argentina, staring India in the face. The Indians know that Sunday is a different day and it is going to be a different ball game altogether playing at home.

Goals scored For India - Shivendra Singh, Sandeep Singh (2) and Prabhjot Singh

Pakistan rejects Kasab's "under pressure" confessions

Islamabad: Pakistan has rejected Ajmal Amir Kasab's confessions regarding his involvement in the 26/11 carnage.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar termed Kasab's confessions as "one sided" and said that it was made "under pressure".

"I don't know how much one can value them (statements) in the court of law. The statements are one-sided and they were made by a person who is under the custody of Indian jail authorities. If he has stood up and given this statement I don't know under what pressure he was," Mukhtar told televisions channels.

He also questioned the credibility of confessions, saying Kasab has changed his statements in court on several previous occasions.

"There cannot be any credibility of the statement of a person who has changed his statements a couple of times," The Nation quoted Mukhtar, as saying.

When enquired that whether the confessions would lead to crackdown on terrorist groups operating in the country, Mukhtar said one cannot crack down on groups on the basis of confessions by a person behind bars.

"They (confessions) are no evidences. These were provided by a person who is behind the bars. We cannot crackdown on people based on his statements," he said.

Mukhtar reiterated that New Delhi should hand over all evidence against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, and said Islamabad is committed to bring the masterminds to justice.

Earlier, Kasab, the lone surviving attacker of November 2008 attack, pleaded guilty to the offence before a Mumbai court.
For the first time in his confession, Kasab said, "Mujhe mera gunha kabool hai (I plead guilty to my crime)."

Narrating the entire plot, he confessed that he came along with nine other terrorists in a boat from Karachi.

Kasab also owned up for his involvement in attacks at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and at Cama Hospital.

He named Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and alleged mastermind Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as the key conspirator, saying he was instructed to conduct a fidayeen (suicide) attack in Mumbai.

Kasab has been charged with murder, conspiracy and waging war against India along with other crimes. His trial was to have started on April 15 but was put off as his lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, had been dismissed for a conflict of interest. He has sicne been represented by a new lawyer named Abbas Kazmi.

Kasab's confession came two days after the Pakistan Government filed a chargesheet against five 26/11 prime accused suspects.

Pakistan's Supreme Court quashes conviction against Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has quashed a nine-year-old criminal conviction for hijacking against the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The ruling clears the way for the leader of the country’s biggest opposition party to hold public office again.

Mr Sharif was charged and convicted after he ordered the diversion of a plane carrying Pervez Musharraf, the then chief of the Army, to Pakistan from Sri Lanka on October 12, 1999. Mr Sharif was ousted by Mr Musharraf in a military coup on the same day.

The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction.

After the coup, Mr Musharraf went on to rule Pakistan until last August, when he resigned as President under the threat of impeachment.

Pakistan promises to catch India attackers

Pakistan promised India on Thursday that it will do everything in its power to bring the Mumbai terror attackers to justice, a key demand by New Delhi to improve relations.

The prime ministers of the two nuclear powers also agreed that action on terrorism should not be linked to their peace talks, the joint statement said, something that has been asked for by Islamabad.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Gilani met on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit in Sharm el-Sheik, in a much anticipated meeting that comes after a seven-month freeze in dialogue due to an attack by Pakistani gunmen on India's financial capital of Mumbai that killed 166 people.

"Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will do everything in their power in this regard," said the statement.

The two prime ministers agreed to cooperate on the investigation into the incident, with India maintains was planned and launched from Pakistan.

"Pakistan has provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks and (the prime minister) has sought additional information and evidence," the statement said.

The leaders also agreed that they would "share real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threat."

In move of great importance to Pakistan, the two leaders also agreed to delink their wider talks on issues such as water, demilitarization and the dispute territory of Kashmir from the discussions over terrorism.

India previously had been unwilling to continue the composite talks until its concerns over Pakistan response to terrorism had been addressed.

"The most important thing is that what we were hoping, for that there should be constructive engagement, (happened)," said Pakistani minister of state for foreign affairs, Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan.

"They decided in the future there will be constant engagement and that will help us break the deadlock," he told The Associated Press.

In India, meanwhile, Lalit Mansingh, the former foreign secretary, described the meeting as a step forward and welcomed Pakistan's commitment to go after the attacks, nothing that they are scheduled to try five suspects for plotting the attacks.

"These are steps forward. If there is actually a trial and we see that it is proper trial I think it would restore (India's) confidence in Pakistan," he told India's NDTV network. "The prime minister is giving flexibility to Pakistan and Pakistan will be tested on that."

Earlier this month India reacted with anger when a Pakistani court ordered the release of Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the founder of the group India blames for the Mumbai siege.

India and Pakistan have been adversaries for decades. They have fought three wars, two over the disputed territory of Kashmir, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

In 2001, a suicide attack on the Indian Parliament pushed them to the brink of war again, but tensions eventually subsided. They began formal peace talks in 2004, but they were put on hold after the Mumbai attacks.

India has accused Pakistani authorities of supporting militants fighting in Kashmir. India, the U.S. and other nations have urged Pakistan to do more to curb Islamic militant groups.

Gilani seeks global help for displaced Pakistanis

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the international community should come forward to help the displaced people in the country's northwest battered by the war against the Taliban.

The displaced people in the Malakand Division will start returning to their homes from July 13 onwards, the Online news agency said Thursday citing the Pakistani leader.

Gilani made the remarks during a meeting at his home with the visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

He also stressed the need to train and equip local law enforcement officials who would take over the security of the area after the military offensives against the militants are completed.

The prime minister said although the global community had promised to help Pakistan in rehabilitating the displaced people, it is yet to receive the funds.

He said a major portion of the aid pledged by Britain to Pakistan for 2009-2012 would be spent on the education and health sectors and hence the government still need more money to improve the infrastructure in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Gilani lauded the British help in efforts to reform the Madrassas in the country.

The British foreign secretary, while acknowledging Pakistan's colossal human and economic sacrifices in fighting the militancy, expressed his grief at the loss of lives of the Pakistani security forces.

Pakistan stripped of 2011 World Cup hosting rights

Pakistan no longer remained one of the host nations for the 2011 World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday (April 17) dropped Pakistan from the list of Asian nations hosting the cricket World Cup, citing security concerns. According to ICC president David Morgan, it is very unfortunate that Pakistan will not be allowed to organise the mega cricketing event. He added that ICC has doubts over Pakistan's ability to host the tournament.

The recent decision of ICC has come much because of the last month's terror attack on Sri Lankan team. The audacious attack on March 3 in Lahore has killed seven Pakistanis and injured six Sri Lankan cricket players. After the brutal incident in Lahore, the fear among all the cricket palying nations has intensified over touring Pakistan. Earlier it was decided that Pakistan will play the host nation along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for the 2011 World Cup.