Polls Show Media Destabilizing Pakistan, Threaten Freedom

A recent Gilani poll (Gallup Pakistan) found that almost one-third of all Pakistanis (31%) blame media for political instability in Pakistan. These findings have two important implications: First, the media is creating confusion and chaos during a time of war; Second, by discrediting themselves, members of the media threaten the freedom of the press.

Pakistan is currently in a state of war. A few days ago, TTP suicide bombers attacked the regional headquarters of the ISI in Peshawar. Despite the fact that TTP claimed responsibility for the ISI HQ bombing, media outlets continue to focus on conspiracy fantasies at the expense of actual reporting. By distracting politicians and the public from the real issues facing our nation, media conspiracy theorists destabilize the country during an already fragile time.

Additionally, by discrediting themselves with wild conspiracy stories, members of the media are undermining their own profession. As Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani, Chairman Gallup Pakistan and Gilani Foundation correctly noted in his report:

These findings surely cause a concern among those who value media freedom because the freedom of media rests on and emanates from popular support rather than the barrel of gun. The findings highlight some introspection as well as the issue of image making, After all ‘image makers should also address the issue of their own image’.

One of the basic building blocks of a successful democracy is the freedom of the press. In order to make proper decisions about the important issues of the day, free citizens must be able to trust the information being reported by the news. If there is a breakdown in the trust between the people and the news journalists, there quickly becomes a breakdown in democracy. And, as we have experienced under Gen. Zia and Gen. Musharraf, without democracy there is no free press.
(According to Media Watch)

ICC Cricket Team Ratings & Rankings





ICC Cricket Team Ratings & Rankings
ICC Cricket Rankings - Test Teams
Sno ICC Cricket Teams ICC Matches ICC Points ICC Cricket Rating
1 ICC Cricket India Team 35 4359 125
2 ICC Cricket South Africa Team 35 4197 120
3 ICC Cricket Australia Team 39 4586 118
4 ICC Cricket Sri Lanka Team 31 3574 115
5 ICC Cricket England Team 44 4712 107
6 ICC Cricket New Zealand Team 29 2337 81
7 ICC Cricket Pakistan Team 25 2008 80
8 ICC Cricket West Indies Team 29 2224 77
9 ICC Cricket Bangladesh Team 22 264 12



ICC Cricket Rankings - ODI Teams
Sno ICC Cricket Teams ICC Matches ICC Points ICC Cricket Rating
1 ICC Cricket Australia Team 46 6146 134
2 ICC Cricket India Team 46 5581 121
3 ICC Cricket South Africa Team 26 3085 119
4 ICC Cricket New Zealand Team 27 3033 112
5 ICC Cricket England Team 33 3606 109
6 ICC Cricket Sri Lanka Team 40 4336 108
7 ICC Cricket Pakistan Team 33 3420 104
8 ICC Cricket West Indies Team 23 1720 75
9 ICC Cricket Bangladesh Team 34 1815 53
10 ICC Cricket Zimbabwe Team 32 823 26
11 ICC Cricket Ireland Team 6 152 25
12 ICC Cricket Kenya Team 14 28 2



ICC Cricket Ratings - Twenty20 Teams
Sno ICC Cricket Teams ICC Matches ICC Points ICC Cricket Rating
1 ICC Cricket Pakistan Team 23 5378 239
2 ICC Cricket South Africa Team 23 4904 232
3 ICC Cricket Sri Lanka Team 22 4637 207
4 ICC Cricket Australia Team 22 4780 206
5 ICC Cricket India Team 17 2614 202
6 ICC Cricket West Indies Team 17 3328 197
7 ICC Cricket England Team 20 4067 195
8 ICC Cricket New Zealand Team 28 5398 189
9 ICC Cricket Bangladesh Team 13 2221 145
10 ICC Cricket Zimbabwe Team 6 1106 138
11 ICC Cricket Ireland Team 4 659 82
12 ICC Cricket Canada Team 4 590 74
13 ICC Cricket Kenya Team 4 421 53
14 ICC Cricket Netherlands Team 2 350 44
15 ICC Cricket Scotland Team 3 310 39


ICC Top ranked players in Test Cricket
Date Batsman Country Bowler Country
31 December 2009 Gambhir India Dale Steyn South Africa
31 December 2008 Chanderpaul West Indies Muralitharan Sri Lanka
31 December 2007 Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka
31 December 2006 Ricky Ponting Australia Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka
31 December 2005 Ricky Ponting Australia Shane Warne Australia
31 December 2004 Rahul Dravid India Glenn McGrath Australia
31 December 2003 Ricky Ponting Australia Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka
31 December 2002 Matthew Hayden Australia Glenn McGrath Australia
31 December 2001 Brian Lara West Indies Glenn McGrath Australia
31 December 2000 Sachin Tendulkar India Shaun Pollock South Africa


ICC Top ranked players in ODI Cricket
Date Batsman Country Bowler Country
31 December 2009 Dhoni India Vettori New Zealand
31 December 2008 Dhoni India Bracken Australia
31 December 2007 Ricky Ponting Australia Shaun Pollock South Africa
31 December 2006 Michael Hussey Australia Shaun Pollock South Africa
31 December 2005 Ricky Ponting Australia Glenn McGrath Australia
31 December 2004 Adam Gilchrist Australia Shaun Pollock South Africa
31 December 2003 Sachin Tendulkar India Shaun Pollock South Africa
31 December 2002 Matthew Hayden Australia Shaun Pollock South Africa
31 December 2001 Michael Bevan Australia Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka
31 December 2000 Michael Bevan Australia Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka


ICC Batsmen rating More than 900 points
Rank Name Team Rating
1 Sir Don Bradman Australia 961
2 Sir Len Hutton England 945
3 Sir Jack Hobbs England 942
3 Ricky Ponting Australia 942
5 Peter May England 941
6 Sir Vivian Richards West Indies 938
6 Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka 938
6 Sir Garry Sobers West Indies 938
6 Sir Clyde Walcott West Indies 938
10 Matthew Hayden Australia 935
10 Jacques Kallis South Africa 935
12 Mohammad Yousuf Pakistan 933
13 Sir Everton Weekes West Indies 927
13 Graeme Pollock South Africa 927
15 Dudley Nourse South Africa 922
15 Doug Walters Australia 922
17 Neil Harvey Australia 921
18 Denis Compton England 917
19 Sunil Gavaskar India 916
20 George Headley West Indies 915
21 Ken Barrington England 914
22 Mike Hussey Australia 912
23 Brian Lara West Indies 911
24 Kevin Pietersen England 909
25 Chanderpaul West Indies 900


ICC Bowlers rating More than 900 points
Rank Name Team Rating
1 Sydney Barnes England 932
2 George Lohmann England 931
3 Imran Khan Pakistan 922
4 Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka 920
5 Glenn McGrath Australia 914
6 Curtly Ambrose West Indies 912
6 Tony Lock England 912
8 Sir Ian Botham England 911
9 Malcolm Marshall West Indies 910
10 Waqar Younis Pakistan 909
10 Sir Richard Hadlee New Zealand 909
10 Shaun Pollock South Africa 909
13 Alan Davidson Australia 908
14 Derek Underwood England 907
15 Shane Warne Australia 905
16 Sir Alec Bedser England 903
17 Clarrie Grimmett Australia 901
17 Bill O'Reilly Australia 901
19 Bill Johnston Australia 900


ICC All time highest ODI Batting Rankings
Rank Name Team Rating Year
1 Sir Vivian Richards West Indies 935 1985
2 Zaheer Abbas Pakistan 931 1983
3 Greg Chappell Australia 921 1981
4 David Gower England 919 1983
5 Dean Jones Australia 918 1991
6 Javed Miandad Pakistan 910 1987
7 Brian Lara West Indies 908 1993
8 Desmond Haynes West Indies 900 1985
8 Gary Kirsten South Africa 900 1996
10 Allan Lamb England 897 1985


ICC All time highest ODI Bowling Rankings
Rank Name Team Rating Year
1 Joel Garner West Indies 940 1985
2 Sir Richard Hadlee New Zealand 923 1983
3 Shaun Pollock South Africa 920 2006
4 Muralitharan Sri Lanka 913 2002
5 Glenn McGrath Australia 903 2002
6 Ewen Chatfield New Zealand 892 1984
7 Malcolm Marshall West Indies 891 1985
7 Dennis Lillee Australia 891 1982
9 Curtly Ambrose West Indies 877 1991
10 Michael Holding West Indies 875 1985

SC suspends judges’ appointment notification

Updated at: 2106 PST, Saturday, February 13, 2010
SC suspends judges’ appointment notification ISLAMABAD: A 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has suspended the notification of judges’ appointment hours after its issuance by the government on Saturday.

The special bench held a meeting soon after its formation by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and suspended the President’s decision of judges’ appointment, declaring it a violation of Article-177 of the Constitution. Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif and Justice Mian Saqib Nisar will continue to serve as Chief Justice of Lahore High Court (LHC) and senior judge LHC respectively, the bench said.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry taking suo motto notice of the notification of judges’ appointment Saturday evening formed a 3-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan with Justice Raja Fayaz and Justice Jawad S. Khwaja as its members.

Meanwhile, Additional Registrar Supreme Court Qasi Sajid provided the details/ records in connection with judges appointment to the special bench.

Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari elevated Justice Khwaja Sharif as SC judge and Justice
Saqib Nisar as Acting CJ of LHC through an official notification.

However, Justice Khwaja Sharif and Justice Saqib Nisar refused to accept the decision of the government.

Later, the special bench adjourned its proceeding till February 18.

The 5-member SC bench which had been constituted for taking up the case of delay in judges’ appointment will take the proceeding ahead.

Additional Secretary Law, Attorney Generals of Pakistan and the four advocate generals have been summoned. (Source Geo)

President honours winning women athletes

Updated at: 2151 PST, Friday, February 12, 2010
President honours winning women athletes ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday invited the two winner sportswomen of South Asian Games to the Presidency and gave them cheques of one million rupees each.

The President awarded the outstanding sportswomen Naseem Hamid and Sarah Nasir, who brought laurels to the country by winning gold medals in athletics and Karate respectively for the first time in quarter of a century. (Source Geo)


The athletics coach Maqsood Ahmad and Karate coach Mohammad Riaz were also invited. The President felicitated them and awarded them Rs one million cheques to each coach.

The President felicitated Naseem Hameed, South Asia’s fastest woman player and Sarah Nasir, the gold medal winner in Karate and said the nation was proud of them for their tremendous achievement in 11th South Asian Games.

Paying glowing tribute to the national flag hoisters at Dhaka, Zardari said the sportswomen’s glaring achievement would act as a model for other women and would boost the morale of other women of the country to excel in the field of sports.

The President advised the government to devise a policy framework whereby distinguished sportswomen above a certain threshold were also sent abroad for training and coaching to further improve their skills for competing in international sports events.
He stressed for adopting same policy for the coaches as well.

The President said other Pakistani winners of gold medals in South Asian Games and their respective coaches would also be appropriately rewarded.

He also advised the government that the outstanding sportswomen could be made sports ambassadors.

The cheque distribution ceremony was attended among others by Mir Ajaz Hussain Jakhrani, Minister for Sports, Lt Gen (R) Syed Arif Hassan, President Olympic Association.

Pakistan’s Naseem becomes fastest woman in South Asia

Pakistan’s Naseem becomes fastest woman in South Asia
Updated at: 1447 PST, Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Pakistan’s Naseem becomes fastest woman in South Asia DHAKA: Pakistan’s Naseem Hameed created history on Monday when she sprinted her way to becoming the fastest woman in South Asia by winning the 100-metre crown of the South Asian Games in Dhaka.

Naseem, who represents Army at the domestic level, bagged her first gold medal before a strong crowd at Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The 22-year-old from Rawalpindi clocked 11.81seconds, 0.12seconds, followed by Sri Lankans Pramila Priyadarshani and Achala Shalika Dias who finished with 11.93 and 12.12 seconds respectively.

For Naseem Akhtar to win the 100-metre sprint was a historic moment as no Pakistani woman had achieved this feat in 26-year history of the regional games.

Wearing national green tights, she led the field among the eight runners after her easy qualification for the finals. (source Geo)