Demba Ba could make €8.5 million move to Valencia to fund Chelsea’s Lewandowski transfer

According to British newspaper, the Daily Mail, Chelsea looks like the front runners to land Lewandowski, but will need to land one of the many striker’s they’ve acquired over the years, with Demba Be looking to be the odd man out.

Fernando Torres looked to be the likeliest candidate to be sold, especially to a club in Spain, but his recent turn of form under Mourinho has thrown that idea on the back-burner for the time being, leaving former Newcastle goal-scorer, Demba Ba as the one who will leave this January.

Chelsea have found a suitor in struggling La Liga side, Valencia, who, according to the report, are willing to pay the €8.5 million asking price for Ba, which is the same that Dortmund reportedly wants for Lewandowski this January.

However, Chelsea may face stiff competition as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United, as well as Bayern Munich have all been previously linked to the striker, while West Ham United is set to rival Valencia for the services of Ba.

Kagawa wants January Transfer..

Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa wants to quit Old Trafford in January

Japanese playmaker fears he could miss out on World Cup place as he struggles on the sidelines under David Moyes
Kag-away? Shinji Kagawa doesn't want to jeopardise his World Cup place Kag-away? Shinji Kagawa doesn't want to jeopardise his World Cup place
Alex Livesey

Shinji Kagawa wants to quit Manchester United in January, writes the Sunday People's Dean Jones.

The Japanese midfielder has struggled for games since David Moyes took over and has now told team-mates that he needs to leave Old Trafford in the transfer window.

Kagawa, 24, fears he will continue to be frozen out of the United side in the build-up to the World Cup, and does not want to risk a lack of fitness and form as he heads to Brazil.

His uncertain future has been highlighted ever since Moyes arrived as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor, and the fact he now accepts he needs a new club will come as a blow to fans who believe he gives the side a more creative outlook.

But the emergence of teen sensation Adnan Januzaj has certainly not helped Kagawa’s chances of gaining a regular starting role at United.

Kagawa arrived in June 2012 in a deal worth around £17million from Borussia Dortmund.

The German club enquired about re-signing him in the summer, and Bundesliga side Wolfsburg have declared that they will be in the hunt to snap him up too if he becomes available.

The Town Where Every one have to Wear Mask

The age old adage home is where the heart is finds its true meaning in Miyakejima, a small island located in southeast Japan. Despite the high level of volcanic activity that causes poisonous gas to leak from the earth that forced the 3,600 island residents to evacuate in 2000, the citizens just won’t stay away. Thus, the self-appointed gas mask town rose from the, very literal, ashes.

Resting atop a chain of volcanoes, Miyakejima is a hub for volcanic activity. For the past century, the volcanoes have erupted six times. The worst of these occurred in June 2000 when, after a repose interval of 17 years, Mount Oyama erupted. The eruption was proceeded by 17,500 (yes, 17 thousand) earthquakes, which hit the island between June 26 and July 21.

During the assault of eruptions and earthquakes, Miyakejima was enveloped in ash plumes reaching 10 miles in height, pyroclastic flow (fast flow of superheated gas), and heavy ash fall alongside crater collapses. The disaster also led to high levels of toxic sulfur dioxide regularly leaking up through the ground, making 20% of the land uninhabitable. After three months, the government took action and forced a mass evacuation in September.

For five years, Miyakejima was declared off-limits, with the barren island resembling a post-apocalyptic world: all dead trees, rusted cars, and abandoned buildings. For two years after the eruption, Mount Oyama continued to emit 10,000 to 20,000 tons of sulfuric dioxide gas from its summit daily. Slowly though, the evacuation order began to lift, and in 2005 citizens were allowed to return to their homes. Though some opted to remain in their relocated houses in Tokyo, about 2,800 chose to return, laden with gas masks and dire warnings about noxious gas still seeping through the land. Despite the re-populating of the island, nearly a third of Miyakejima remains permanently off-limits and the government conducts regular health checks and enforces age restrictions in certain areas.

Regardless of the dangers posed by living in the gas-soaked village, locals and tourists are in abundance. Gas mask tourism is a huge draw card for the region, with disposable masks sold at ferry stations and local stores. The volcanic destruction is also a money spinner, with sight-seeing tours of abandoned houses, flattened cars and a school gym half-destroyed by lava, as well as hot spring baths.

Jose Mourinho set to spend again in January

Chelsea Striker : Fernando Torres

The 50 million pound man Fernando Torres & Champions League 2010 winner Samuel Eto’o have each scored just one goal in this season’s Barclays Premier League for Chelsea. While the third choice striker Demba ba has not been among the scorers after netting the winner against West Brom on 2nd of March.
With their shock defeat against Newcastle this weekend, Chelsea currently find themselves 5 point behind the leaders Arsenal and ahead of third place Liverpool on the basis of goal difference. This result forced the special one to make necessary changes upfront.

Samual Eto’o

This challenge makes the Chelsea boss to add goals to his Chelsea side in the second half of the season as the search for the attacking  option has already begun.

The priorities of Cheslea FC is to search such a player who is not cup tied in the Champions league however this condition will not restrict them from finding a perfect match.

One possible solution for this problem might be Liverpool’s Luis Suarez who is not cup tied for Champions league however Liverpool this time are determined not to sell their star striker for any amount of money.

Even though some signs are seen for the possible return of old Fernando Torres after matches against Manchester City   Tottenham but against Newcastle, he was not as impressive as he was against Man city where he netted the winner in 90th min. As a result he was replaced by Samual Eto’o who had won Champions league with Mourinho but the move has not been impressive so far. He has scored only once for Chelsea in the 4-1 victory over Cardiff on Oct 19.

Demba Ba, Mourinho’s third attacking option is not considered for the selection at the highest level.

Lukaku: Currently in Loan At Everton

Cultural exchange: Swiss cheese, chocolates centre of attraction

Families, especially children, enjoyed their food in the shade on a grassy knoll near the food stalls. PHOTO: WAQAS NAEEM/EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: 

The aroma of melted Swiss cheese, wafting through the air at the Swiss Embassy on Saturday, did not just excite the taste buds. It also appeared to accentuate the happiness and spirit of generosity which seemed aplenty at the Swiss Food Festival 2013.

With the festival, the Embassy of Switzerland in Islamabad continued its annual tradition of bringing authentic Swiss food and internationally renowned Swiss products to the federal capital.

Ambassador of Switzerland to Pakistan Christoph Bubb said food is an important part of cultural exchange.

“The food festival offers a unique opportunity for Pakistanis and expatriates to meet and learn about each other’s traditions,” the ambassador said.

Switzerland is famous worldwide for its dairy products and chocolates and, among the Swiss delicacies on offer at the festival, the stall serving Raclette — melted cheese with potatoes and pickles — saw the longest queue.

“The cheese is warmed so it melts and becomes creamy,” explained Laurent Gross, who works at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and supervised the Raclette stall. “It’s from Valais province in Switzerland, my hometown.”

Raclette got its name because of the manner in which it is served. The name of the cheese, Gross said, is derived from the French word racler which means to scrape off.

At the festival, Gross and his fellow servers warmed halves of cheese wheels in a device called a “Raclette oven” and then simply scraped off the melted cheese from the unmelted part with a knife, pouring it on boiled potatoes. Gross also proudly presented a “charcoal Raclette oven” which he said was the only one in the world, since he had designed and built it himself.

Other food items available at the festival included sausages, cheese cakes and several desserts. People were also seen buying varieties of packaged Swiss cheeses, chocolates, Buendnerfleisch — a kind of dried beef — and products such as Swiss army knives and mugs from different stalls. A lucky draw was also held during the event with Swiss watches and airline tickets being some of the top prizes.

An estimated 1,000 people, including guests from the business community, government officials, representatives from Islamabad’s civil society and members of the diplomatic community, attended the festival, which began in the morning and went on till the late afternoon.

Families, especially children, enjoyed their food in the shade on a grassy knoll near the food stalls and a kid’s corner offered activities such as face painting to keep the kids busy.

The sunny November afternoon provided an almost picnic-like setting for the food festival.

“It’s a very pleasant afternoon and everything at the festival is great,” Nari Suleman Khan, the wife of the Swiss Honourary Consul General in Lahore, said.

While Khan said she thought the cheese cake was “out of this world,” Harris Shafique said he loved the carrot cake.

Shafique, who works with New Era Watches, a dealer of the Swiss Omega watches in Pakistan, said he had visited Switzerland and was all praise for the Swiss.

Bubb said the proceeds from the festival would go to the Mashal Model School, a charity educational institute that educates underprivileged children near the Bari Imam shrine.

“We want to contribute in our modest manner to the work of the school’s laudable cause,” he said.

From the crowd’s response, it seemed the festival was on its way to raising a generous donation for the school. By 2pm, Marianne Baumeyer at the stall selling Swiss army knives said around 120 knives and most of the 200 mugs had already been sold.

Property: Real estate market in Lahore undergoes correction

Due to the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and the resultant drop in costs, foreign investors have also purchased property in Pakistan.

LAHORE: After reaching new highs, the real estate market of Lahore has remained stagnant for the last couple of months. It is now going through a correction phase, tweaking down the prices by up to Rs2.5 million for plots in Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

Since DHA properties are the engine of the real estate sector in Lahore, changes in prices there affects prices in other areas too. Investors were waiting for this correction, terming it a positive sign for the real estate market.

Though the stagnation period is taking longer than expected, with minor fluctuations in between, experts are confident of a sharp recovery once the land deals, which have been stalled midway, are settled.

Property prices, primarily in phase six and seven, have already been slashed by up to Rs1.5 million on average, though the correction roughly ranges between 10-17% depending on the prices in different phases.

Property prices in phase six, for instance, were around Rs18.5 million at their peak, whereas phase seven saw prices as high as Rs13 million.

In areas where property prices are low, like phase nine where prices are below Rs5 million, will be connected to the main city through infrastructure investments, and investors are hopeful for a sharp increase in such areas.

The prices of real estate in other popular societies, like Bahria Town and Johar Town, are also stagnant, and are expected to gain momentum once DHA clears stalled property deals, reviving the process.

The depreciation of the rupee against the dollar has also contributed towards a boom in the market. Owing to the resultant drop in costs, foreign investors have also purchased property in Pakistan, though their share in the total is still small.

“If a foreign investor is investing in Pakistani market, after exchanging the currency let’s suppose at Rs100 per dollar, and making a profit and clearing the transaction he will want to buy back the dollars at the same rate,” said Ramzan Sheikh, Chairman of Mainland Husnain Limited, a construction company, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Since the rupee is relatively stable now, foreign investors are cautious as the currency could strengthen now, in which case their profits will be hurt.

However, the fluctuating exchange rate has also hurt property development firms who import most of the material required for their development schemes. This is also playing a role in stagnation of the real estate market, as companies put development schemes on hold. However, a majority of the private investors are now relying heavily on this sector, making it unlikely for the market to be stagnant for too long.

Looking ahead: Textile industry optimistic about growth prospects

While the standard GSP allows 176 developing countries and territories to enjoy easy access to EU markets, the upcoming GSP Plus will be limited to 89. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: 

The textile industry has seen a strong growth in recent months but most industry players are pinning their hopes on the expected approval of European Union’s (EU) Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status for Pakistan in January 2014.

For them, the GSP Plus is a game changer for the Pakistani textile industry, as it is expected to boost annual exports by $1 billion.

“Textile exports have increased by 4% in the first three months of fiscal year 2013-14 but this increase is below our expectations. What is more important for us is the expected grant of GSP Plus status by the EU. If we get that, our textile exports will jump by at least $1 billion a year,” All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman Yasin Siddik told The Express Tribune.

Textile exports in September 2013 sharply increased by 16% compared to August 2013. Overall textile exports in the first three months (July to September) of 2013-14 jumped to $3.58 billion, up a significant 9% year-on-year (YoY) and a decent 4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).

“I am hoping to see more growth in exports in the ongoing quarter (October to December),” said Siddik, who believes that exports of both value added and non-value added products would see a decent rise in coming months.

Siddik added that textile exports must increase by at least $1 billion in case Pakistan wins the GSP Plus trade preference facility.

Analysts believe that the increase in textile exports is mainly aided by stable cotton prices – a key raw material – and depreciating rupee against the dollar over the last few months.

Any increase in cotton prices, they say, will increase profit margins of textile companies, especially in the second half of fiscal year 2013-14.

Analysts also stress that textile exporters that have higher share of finished or value added products will benefit more if Pakistan gets the GSP Plus status.

“Whatever increase we see in textile exports in coming months, it will never be comparable to the jump that we may enjoy after GSP Plus,” said Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Executive Director Ziad Bashir.

“Exports are expected to sustain themselves in the ongoing quarter but I do not think they will increase significantly,” added Bashir.

Pakistan has assured the EU that it is going to implement most of the international conventions required to qualify for the GSP Plus. Most importantly, Pakistan has told the Europeans that it will continue the moratorium on capital punishment – one of the most important EU demands before granting the GSP Plus facility.

GSP Plus is a trade arrangement that allows exporters from developing countries to pay lower or no duties on their exports to the EU.

Countries that want to get GSP Plus need to effectively implement as many as 27 international conventions on environment issues, good governance, labour rights and human rights.

While the standard GSP – which will stay in force until the end of 2013 – allows 176 developing countries and territories to enjoy easy access to EU markets through various duty reductions for certain product lines, the upcoming GSP Plus will be limited to 89 low and lower middle-income countries.

Since many of the countries that enjoy the GSP status are not expected to fall in the GSP Plus group, Pakistan would be in a position to export more of its products to the EU on low duties.