Arsenal beat Liverpool to open gap at the top

Arsenal maintained their challenge for a first trophy in nine seasons when they beat Liverpool 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium to open up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.

A brilliantly taken opener from Santi Cazorla, who smacked in a rebound after 19 minutes, and an even better goal from Aaron Ramsey, who struck a swerving shot with the outside of his right boot after 59 minutes, took Arsenal to 25 points from their 10 matches.

Chelsea, who lost 2-0 at Newcastle United after winning their previous six games in all competitions, are second, level on 20 points with third-placed Liverpool.

But Chelsea's performance did not please their boss, Jose Mourinho, who said: "I did not like my team today, I am disappointed."

Manchester City, who beat Norwich City 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium; Southampton, who drew 1-1 at Stoke; and Tottenham Hotspur, who play at Everton on Sunday, all have 19 points, but Spurs can move into second place on 22 if they win at Everton on Sunday.

Champions Manchester United continued their improvement after their sluggish start to the season with a 3-1 win at Fulham, and although they stayed eighth, they gained points on some of the teams above them.

Liverpool, who had won three of their last four league games and drawn the other, started brightly at Arsenal but the home side took a grip on the game after breaking the deadlock.

Ramsey, who has now scored 10 goals this season, told BT Sport: "We got stuck into them and managed to get a goal early, which put us in good shape for the second half, and we managed to finish the job.

"They were full of confidence, they have been in fine form and they showed that early on, but we managed to weather the storm and got the goals."

SLUGGISH CHELSEA

Chelsea, who had also been in good form recently, never got going against Newcastle, and after a drab first half played in the rain at St James' Park, they allowed Newcastle to take control of the game in the second half.

The Magpies went ahead when Yoan Gouffran headed in Yohan Cabaye's accurate free kick directed to the far post after 68 minutes, and Loic Remy stabbed Newcastle's second in off a post after 89 minutes to seal the points.

"I did not like my team today," Mourinho told BT Sport.

"We had a couple of chances to equalise but they were more in the game than us, fought more than us and they were much more committed than us, so they were the best team on the pitch."

HART DROPPED

Manchester City dropped England goalkeeper Joe Hart, although his replacement, Costel Pantilimon, hardly had a shot to save as Manuel Pellegrini's men crushed woeful Norwich.

Hart, who has made a number of errors in recent weeks, watched from the substitutes' bench as six different scorers and an own goal gave City their biggest win in the top flight since 1968 and took them into the top four.

If Norwich's John Ruddy, Hart's England deputy, was hoping to capitalise on his rival's situation, City had other ideas, and Ruddy spent the afternoon picking the ball out of his net seven times.

Pellegrini told the BBC: "Norwich did not have a chance to score, we scored seven and could have scored more."

It was Norwich's second heavy defeat in Manchester in five days, having lost 4-0 to United in the League Cup fourth round on Tuesday, and coach Chris Hughton looked stunned afterwards.

"It's very difficult, I've never suffered a scoreline like that as a manager," he said. "Man City were outstanding today, but if you gift them the types of goals we did, then it becomes difficult to win any football match. We were nowhere near it today."

The rout started when Bradley Johnson put through his own net after 16 minutes and the goals then flowed from David Silva (20th), Matija Nastasic (25th), Alvaro Negredo (36th), Yaya Toure (60th) with a superb free-kick, Sergio Aguero (71st), and a smart finish from Edin Dzeko (86th).

The result left Hughton under increased pressure with his team in the bottom three.

UNITED STROLL

Manchester United, putting their shaky start to the season under new manager David Moyes behind them, were convincing 3-1 winners at Fulham with Antonio Valencia, Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney wrapping up the points in the first 22 minutes.

Elsewhere, Sunderland finished with nine men at Hull City after Lee Cattermole and Andrea Dossena were sent off in first-half stoppage time during their 1-0 defeat.

Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic scored one of the quickest goals in English league history, hoofing a huge clearance into Southampton's net with the goal timed at 14 seconds.

Southampton scored a more orthodox equaliser through a Jay Rodriguez header to rescue a point.

10 Things You Should Know About Cristiano Ronaldo

1. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Birthday Date 
Cristiano Ronaldo was born in 1985, on February 5th. He shares his birthday with Whitney Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown and he shares his birthday date with Ivory Coast’s Sven Goran Eriksson.Coincidentally, Cristiano Ronaldo also shares his birthday date with Ivory Coast’s Sven Goran Eriksson against whom he’ll come up in Portugal’s first match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa! 

2. Cristiano Ronaldo’s First Club Trophy 
Cristiano Ronaldo won his first trophy in 2004 with Manchester Utd in his first year at the club.He motivated and inspired the Red Devils to lift the 2003/2004 FA Cup after defeating Aston Villa and he opened the score sheet after 44 minutes. 

3.Cristiano Ronaldo's Name 
He was actually born as Cristiano Dos Santos Aveiro, but his father who was a huge fan of then-USA president and former actor Ronald Reagan decided to give Cristiano the name “Ronaldo” as his second name, and he has carried his second name on his Real Madrid jersey. 

4. Cristiano Ronaldo For Manchester United’s No. 1000 EPL goal 

5. Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese Record Maker 
He arrived ahead of the 2003-2004 season for a fee of 12.24 Million Pounds after impressing SAF and the rest of the United squad during a Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester Utd friendly match. 

6. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United’s No. 7 Jersey 
The former Sporting Lisbon young player was ordained by Sir Alex Ferguson to wear the Red Devils’ famous number 7 jersey which had been carried by legends such as Georges Best and David Beckham in the past.”After I joined, the manager asked me what number I would like. I said 28. But Ferguson said ‘No, you’re going to have No. 7,’ and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honor” said Ronaldo. 

7. Cristiano Ronaldo, The EPL Hero 
Cristiano Ronaldo broke yet another record in January 2009 when he became the first player from the English Premier League to lift the FIFA World Player of the Year award.He beat Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Fernando Torres to create a new record in the history of the English Premier League and of the FIFA World Player of the year award.Note that Cristiano Ronaldo was also the first Portuguese player to clinch that title since Luis Figo in 2001. 

8. Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Maradona’s Record Breaker 

9. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Best Young Player Title in Germany 2006 

10. Cristiano Ronaldo, FIFA Ferenc Puskas Award Winner

UK PM to unveil plans for Islamic Market Index

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron is launching a new Islamic Market Index on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, part of a wider British effort to tap into the burgeoning market in Islamic finance.

According to prepared remarks released to journalists ahead of time, Cameron is expected to say that the British capital is ''the biggest center for Islamic finance outside the Islamic world. And today our ambition is to go further still.''

''I don't just want London to be a great capital of Islamic finance in the Western world,'' he is due to say. ''I want London to stand alongside Dubai as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the World.''

The market in Islamic investments has grown dramatically since 2006, and its value is expected to hit GBP1.3 trillion ($2 trillion) next year. Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, is regarded as its hub, but London has been courting the industry aggressively.

Islamic finance conforms to Islamic law, or Shariah, which forbids charging interest and requires deals to be based on tangible assets. Speculation is banned, as is dealing in futures. Although still small compared to the world of mainstream finance, Islamic finance is expected to hold growing appeal for Gulf investors seeking to invest oil revenue or pious Muslims who want retail Islamic banking services.

The London index – which would track the ups-and-downs of Shariah-compliant investments – is being launched as Cameron seeks to make Britain the first country outside of the Muslim world to issue an Islamic bond sometime next year. It is expected to be worth around GBP200 million.

The announcements are meant to coincide with the World Islamic Economic Forum being held in London. King Abdullah II of Jordan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are among the nearly 1,800 political and business leaders expected in London for the meeting, which for the first time is being held in a non-Muslim country.

FBR eyes billions in tax from Gulf investments

KARACHI: After having failed to expand the tax net within the country, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is embarking on an highly ambitious mission to collect data of rich Pakistanis who have invested hundreds of billions of rupees in real estate in the Gulf countries, mainly the UAE, with the aim to tap into the alleged laundered money for collecting income tax.

At present the authorities have absolutely no clue of the amount that may have been laundered out of Pakistan, and invested into property there.

However, senior officials believe that with the help of the UAE authorities they would identify the tax evaders and collect between Rs300bn to Rs400bn in additional taxes.

A high-ranking official of FBR confided to Dawn on telephone from Islamabad that up to Rs400bn could be collected in direct taxes (income tax) once the government invokes the treaty between Pakistan and UAE for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, and the authorities in the Gulf state agree to provide data of the last five years of all the Pakistani investors.

It is a daunting task as the UAE authorities may not like to disturb their booming property market. The key to this entire exercise is the implementation of the tax evasion treaty.

The official said that sub article (1) of Article 27 of the treaty between the two countries explicitly states: “The competent authorities of the contracting states shall exchange such information (including documents) as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of the convention or of the domestic laws of the contracting states concerning taxes covered by the convention, in so far as the taxation there under is not contrary to the convention, in particular for the prevention of fraud or evasion of such taxes.”

Apart from invoking the bilateral treaty, the FBR’s proposal is based on various conventions of the United Nations, according to which, member states could not become or prove to be safe havens for three types of laundered money: that which is generated through illicit drug trafficking, money from tax evasion and money from malpractices and corruption.

Although all the money invested by Pakistanis in the Dubai real estate market is not illegal or laundered, the official insisted that a substantial amount had been siphoned off or transferred through illegal sources and is unaccounted for in Pakistan.

The official said the government should immediately invoke the treaty so that billions could be recovered in income tax (direct tax), or about 30 per cent of the invested amount, through various sections of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.

However, the official suggested that the government should give amnesty to those Pakistani investors in Dubai real estate who would bring the laundered money back to the country through proper banking channels, and the law has the provision about it under section 111 (4) of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.

This would greatly help the country improve its fast-depleting foreign exchange reserves, he said, adding that strong political will was needed to take such a measure because most of the laundered money belonged to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, industrialists, feudal lords and illicit drug and arms traffickers.

Responding to a question, the FBR official said the allegedly laundered money was huge and it was difficult to evaluate its real size.

Can Nawaz Sharif fix the economy?

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told a business gathering in Washington last week, “there are few places in the world today that so uniquely offer the promise of land, geography and people as does Pakistan”. This sounds a bit delusionary.

On the other hand, within five months into his term, he seems to have lost both the opportunity and the momentum to launch some desperately needed economic reforms.

Foreign exchange reserves continue to fall and are down to $4.1 billion; just enough to cover five weeks of imports. Getting the $6.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund was hardly an achievement. The IMF didn’t have a choice with letting Pakistan default being the only other option.

Some believe the elimination of $4.8 billion in circular debt (it’s accumulating again and touched the one billion dollar mark this month), raising electricity tariffs and thereby reducing subsidies, hiking sales tax, and announcing the privatisation of 31 state enterprises are measures in the right direction. This is a simplistic and superficial view.

Pakistan has been down this path many times before and back to square one. Is this time any different? It is not an industrialised country like Britain, where major issues could be addressed by just privatisation. The Asian Development Bank recently warned that the IMF’s new programme is at risk, as “most of the required reforms have political and governance dimensions which posed formidable barriers in the past”.

The greatest barrier is the unwillingness of the ruling elite to tax the rich and powerful, that is, themselves. The second is the patronage-based personalised style of governance.

These barriers, not the IMF, are principally responsible for persistent fiscal deficits, inflation, misallocation/abuse of resources, and under-investment in physical, social, and administrative infrastructure.

If the PML-N believes it can produce a miracle by attracting huge foreign investment through privatisation and by launching mega projects while doing just enough to get the next few tranches from the IMF, it is wishful thinking, not a plan.

Pakistan is unlikely to attract large-scale private sector foreign investment now or in the foreseeable future, given its precarious security situation and a weak state with dysfunctional institutions that are often at odds with each other.

Pakistan’s chronic economic issues are affecting the viability of state structures, and can no longer be addressed by prescriptions offered by conventional thinking (of both local and foreign experts), because it mostly focuses on the symptoms, while the rot turns into a gangrenous mess.

Take, for example, the energy crisis. The core problem revolves around the energy mix and the generous terms given to the independent power producers. Subsidy in that context is a misnomer, because it’s a consequence of a structurally flawed energy policy and not a simple case of providing goods below a price determined by the free market.

Re taxes: it would not take more than a few months to raise the rate of collections from direct taxes, but no government wants to do it, as one World Bank official once told me.

The security situation needs a revolutionary approach to strengthen the capacity of an out-of-date state apparatus to control terrorism. For instance, why do we need 20-22 infantry army divisions, given the tectonic changes in the nature of both external and internal threats? Shouldn’t we at least think about redeploying resources away from 4-5 of these divisions to form a well-trained, well-equipped and technologically sophisticated modern counter-terrorism force?

The very act of convening the all parties’ conference to initiate talks with the un-named militants signified the government’s lack of will to do what’s really needed: take the bull by the horns. Instead, it chose to pass the buck. Sharif does not want to assume responsibility for making tough decisions and take any risks. He would have to take risks — unless he just wants to survive in the office like his predecessor — to address issues of the state’s credibility and investor confidence.

These intangibles are of far greater importance than some traditional economists might believe, and are directly linked to Pakistan’s acute crisis of governance. If the state is widely perceived as weak and ineffective, rest of the issues become rather secondary.

Mr Sharif’s style of personalised governance hasn’t changed much since the 1990s, although Pakistan has become too big and complex — with its society violently fractured and institutions dangerously weak — to be governed by a kitchen cabinet of loyalists and relatives. It must restructure its predatory institutions — particularly the police, lower judiciary, and bureaucracy — through radical reforms to institutionalise governance.

Unfortunately, the federal government is in a limbo for many practical purposes after the devolution of significant powers to the provinces, because while it has taken place on paper, the provinces’ governing capacity is quite limited, as they have long suffered from under-investment and been undermined by a meddling security establishment.

What does it all mean for businesses and investors? I had stated in an interview given to a foreign news agency, published May 15, 2008: “Pakistan’s economic performance in the next few years will be weak, with an average GDP growth of not more than around 3.5 per cent, high inflation, weak currency, dwindling foreign exchange reserves, a large current account deficit and low investment levels.”

The outlook is even more clouded now, given the worsened situation and because the government has demonstrated neither the will nor the capacity to meet the extraordinary challenges Pakistan faces.

Mr Sharif’s own conduct has done little to inspire much confidence. One hoped that his clear majority would enable him to start a new era of an assertive civilian leadership, but he apparently wants to please every ‘stakeholder’ and rule with ‘consensus’. Mr Sharif may draw on Machiavelli, who wrote in his classic political treatise The Prince, “any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good”.

Pakistan is in urgent need of a bold and courageous leadership style at this point and not a dithering one which hopes to somehow muddle through whilst wishing the problems would just go away when they are actually getting worse.

Privatisation mode for state units and assets

The PML-N government has given final touches to the mode of divestment of public sector entities and assets identified for the first phase of privatisation.

Documents from the privatisation commission reveal that the government has updated the list of upcoming transactions with management control, along with the 32 assets and state enterprises that are to be sold off.

The list approved by the cabinet’s committee on privatisation includes 10 enterprises whose shares will be offloaded in either the domestic or international capital market.

The government will preferably sell its shares in the Oil and Gas Development Company (85 per cent government share) in the international capital market. Shares in Pakistan Petroleum Limited (78 per cent government stake) will be offloaded both in the international and domestic markets.

Shares in Mari Petroleum (20 per cent government stake) will be sold through a secondary public offering (SPO) or offered as block sale to joint venture partners. Similarly, 100 per cent state-owned Holdings Private Limited will either be listed on the stock market or the working interests in its specific blocks will be sold off.

Pak-Arab Refinery Company’s shares (60 per cent owned by the government) will be offered in the stock market, subject to the consent of the joint venture partner.

In the oil and gas sector, it was decided to segregate business segments. The suitable business segment of Pakistan State Oil (25 per cent government stake) will then be divested.

Similarly, in the case of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and Sui Southern Gas Company, the government will first segregate various operations of these companies and then offer some of them for privatisation, where possible.

Shares in Habib Bank Limited (42 per cent government share), United Bank Limited (20 per cent government share) and Allied Bank Limited (10 per cent government share) will be offloaded in the stock market through secondary public offerings.

In the case of the National Bank of Pakistan (76 per cent shareholding), the government will preferably reduce its share with management control, or offer the bank as a block sale to qualified investors. But there may be strong resistance, because the bank also managed to post profits in the past few years despite the huge manpower inducted into it by the previous government.

State Life Insurance Corporation (100 per cent state-owned) will be listed on the stock market, while shares in the National Insurance Company Limited (100 per cent state unit) will be divested along with management control. Government shareholding (51 per cent) in the Pakistan Reinsurance Company will be reduced, and its management control will also be given away.

Heavy Electrical Complex (100 per cent state-owned) and the National Investment Trust (also 100 per cent state-owned) will be privatised as well, while Small and Medium Enterprise Bank (94 per cent government share) will either be privatised or offered for merger with a second or third-tier bank.

In the power sector, the enterprises to be privatised through bidding with management controls include the Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, Jamshoro Power Generation Company, Northern Power Generation Company, Lakhra Power Generation Company and National Power Construction Company.

However, in case of Kot Addu Power Company (46 per cent government share), further shares will be offloaded in both domestic and international capital markets.

Interestingly, the list does not include loss-making power supply companies of Peshawar, tribal areas and Gujranwala etc. Meanwhile, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company, which has been rated as one of the most efficient companies in the power sector, has still been placed on the list of state entities to be privatised.

The government has decided to reduce its shareholding in the Pakistan Steel Mills and approved giving it under the control of the private sector. In the case of the Pakistan International Airlines, restructuring of the carrier will be carried out before 26 per cent of its stakes are sold off to a strategic partner, along with management control.

In the case of the Pakistan Engineering Company, the government’s liabilities will initially be retired. This will be followed by the transfer of management to the private sector. The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation will be offered for privatisation with management control as well.

In the real estate sector, the government has approved the sale of Roosevelt Hotel New York, Scribe Hotel Paris and the Islamabad Convention Centre. In the case of the convention centre, which is at a very prime location, some business tycoons are reported to be interested in building a multi-story hotel.

However, the government needs to consider five factors in the current phase of privatisation. It should not be motivated by fiscal considerations, but a carefully conceived industrial policy. The privatisation policy needs to be designed to spur industrialisation.

The new policy should also be free from the influence of powerful business tycoons, who were major beneficiaries of previous privatisation programmes. Privatisation should be transparent and not result in rent-seeking. Nor should it lead to distress sales.

The government should award the management contracts for the operation of state enterprises for specific time periods and under well-defined performance criteria.

Lastly, the privatisation policy should ensure that fresh investment is not fully diverted to the buying of state-owned enterprises, and is used to do away with imbalances in the industrial economy and the building of physical infrastructure

Ferrer stuns Nadal, Djokovic beats Federer in Paris Masters semis

Published 2013-11-03 01:32:41

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PARIS: David Ferrer stunned top-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-5 and Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer from a set and break down in the Paris Masters semifinals on Saturday.

Djokovic prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his 16th straight match win.

Ferrer had lost nine straight times to Nadal, including in this year's French Open final, and hadn't beaten his fellow Spaniard in almost three years. But this time the defending champion hit 29 winners to 19 and won 14 of 18 net points.

“I played maybe my best match this season,” Ferrer said, “very aggressive with my forehand and with my shots.” Ferrer broke for 3-1 and went a set up with a low forehand volley. He capitalised on a wide forehand from Nadal to lead 2-1 in the second set.

Ferrer saved five break points in that set but failed to serve out the match at 5-4, allowing Nadal to break back. Nadal gave Ferrer another chance as he hit a forehand long to drop serve. Ferrer went on to seal the victory with a forehand winner.

“I was slow,” Nadal said. “Always I was a little bit late on the ball. So against a player like David, he's quick and he plays inside the court, and he puts pressure on you all the time, you are dead, no?”

Nadal's best result at the Paris Masters was runner-up in 2007. He still leads 20-5 against Ferrer but acknowledged his successful year is taking its toll on him.

“At the end of the season, a lot of times the body, the mind, and the tennis are tougher for me,” Nadal said. “I arrived a bit more tired, and the condition of these courts didn't help me a lot.”

Nadal unseated Djokovic atop the rankings by reaching the final of the China Open last month. He looks to finish the season as No. 1 for the first time since 2010. In the other semifinal, Djokovic was facing Federer for the 30th time but the first this year.

Djokovic struggled with his serve early, making two straight double faults to hand Federer a break point. Federer converted it for 2-1 with a backhand volley after hitting a drop shot to draw the Serb to the net. The 17-time Grand Slam champion saved four break points at 5-4 and took the first set when Djokovic hit a backhand return long.

“The key was just to hang in there and stay with him,” Djokovic said. “I knew that he's going to be very aggressive from the start coming to the net. He used his opportunities really well. He was very efficient at the net. Then, I tried to decrease the number of unforced errors and step in when it's needed.”

Federer, who won the Paris Masters two years ago, capitalised on an unforced error from Djokovic to break the Serb in the opening game of the second set. But Djokovic immediately broke back before taking a 4-2 lead when Federer netted a routine forehand volley.

The second-seeded Serb now seemed in control of the match, hitting 11 winners to five for Federer in the second set. “My serve was better towards the end of the second set,” Djokovic said. “And I got more free points, let's say, on my first serves, which was one of the keys today.”

''I needed to have better placement on my serve and just not go too much for the power but rather accuracy, and it worked well afterwards.”

The Australian Open champion broke Federer twice in the final set and clinched the victory with a forehand winner.

Djokovic still has a slim chance to finish the season ahead of Nadal in the rankings.

Despite the loss, Federer still leads 16-14 against Djokovic. “I was pretty happy with my level of play,” the Swiss said. “I wish I could have kept it up for a bit longer and put him under pressure.”