Falcao: Ronaldo ban 'totally unjustified

The Colombian believes that suspension effectively means that there is no longer any "difference between the player who does nothing and one that throws a real punch"

Monaco forward Radamel Falcao has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo's current ban is "totally unjustified", arguing that it makes a mockery of Spain's disciplinary system.

The Real Madrid ace was dismissed after squaring up to Athletic Bilbao duo Carlos Gurpegui and Ander Iturraspe during last weekend's clash between the two sides at San Mames.

Ronaldo was then hit with a three-game ban by the Spanish Football Association (RFEF) - one for the incident itself and an additional two matches for an allegedly offensive gesture made after the dismissal - much to the shock of Falcao, who feels that the Portuguese did not even deserve to be sent off in the first place.

"I think that it's a totally unjustified ban," the former Atletico Madrid striker told AS. "Everyone in the world of football without exception knows that Ronaldo did nothing.

"Now, with this measure, there is no difference between the player who does nothing and one that throws a real punch. The offence will be the same because the punishment is the same. 

"Compared to some other provocative attitudes among players, what Cristiano did was nothing."

A furious Madrid challenged the severity of the suspension but their appeal was rejected on Friday.

Ronaldo 'convinced' Madrid can win La Decima

The forward says the team are focused on lifting the Champions League this season but are not burdened by the wait for a 10th European Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo insists that La Decima is not an obsession for Real Madrid with the Champions League round of 16 around the corner.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have been drawn against Schalke in the first knockout phase as they look to progress beyond the semi-final stage after three successive seasons of being knocked out at the penultimate hurdle.

Ronaldo, 29, defended the club's pursuit of becoming the first club to take their European Cup tally to double figures and admitted the players are focused on usurping Bayern Munich as champions of Europe.

"Winning the 10th Champions League cannot be seen as an obsession," the Ballon d'Or-winning forward told Sky Sport Italia.

"The fans, players and everyone else has expected that achievement for a while. Real Madrid always think they can win and, of course, it is a goal for all of us."

However, the Portugal international thinks that los Blancos have a great chance of winning the competition this season and hopes head coach Carlo Ancelotti can lift the trophy for a fifth time in his career.

"I am convinced that this year we can win it," Ronaldo added. "We have a great team, a great coach in Carlo Ancelotti, who we got lucky getting. Hopefully he proves he can win it with us also."

Ronaldo begins his three-match suspension on Saturday as Real Madrid host Villarreal in the knowledge that victory could temporarily see them leapfrog La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid and second-placed Barcelona.

Martinez won't leave for Madrid - Guardiola

The coach dismissed the possibility of the former Athletic Bilbao midfielder departing the Allianz Arena for the Liga giants

Pep Guardiola has insisted that Javi Martinez will snub reported interest from Real Madrid to stay at Bayern Munich.

The Bavarians midfielder joined from Athletic Bilbao for €40 million in 2012 and remains the Bundesliga giants' record signing.

However, he has been linked with a return to La Liga, but the former Barcelona boss has insisted that the 25-year-old will remain at the Allianz Arena while he is in charge.

"That is a question for the player, no?" he responded when asked if the player wanted to join the Santiago Bernabeu side,

"I do not think that a move will happen. I am of the opinion that as long as I'm here, Javi is here. We need him, Javi is 100 per cent important to us."

Martinez has finally rid himself of a long-term ankle injury and is in line to feature for die Roten in Saturday's clash with Nurnberg.

Twitter notes 22% jump in account information requests from governments

Twitter publishes transparency report for Jun - Dec 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

As social media network Twitter reported a year on year 26 per cent growth in timeline views, it noted that governments were increasingly requesting  Twitter for information on accounts.

In its half yearly transparency report of June – December 2013 notes that information requests jumped 22 per cent to 1,410 requests from the corresponding time period last year.

Pakistan is among the 10 new countries who requisitioned information pertaining to Twitter accounts, bringing the total number of countries seeking information to 46. Pakistan made no removal requests in the period under review.

Twitter said it only releases an indicative range of the information requests it receives if the requests are fewer than 10. From Pakistan, the social media reported it had received requests about less than 10 accounts. Of these, Twitter said it complied with none of the requests.

In comparison, India made 19 information requests about 27 accounts and Twitter complied with only 32 per cent of the requests. It also received two court orders for removal of defamatory content. They received six requests from the government and 54 accounts were specified of which Twitter complied with 13 per cent of requests. Twitter also withheld 13 tweets in India.

Eight countries including Saudi Arabia requested emergency closure requests only.

United States remained the top requester with 69 per cent requests followed by Japan 23 per cent and Saudi Arabia five per cent.

However, it was France with the highest removal requests with 306 with 146 accounts specified about illegal discriminatory content. Twitter said it complied with 35 per cent of the requests and withheld 133 tweets.

Towards greater heights: Varsity rewards ski champ with free education

Amina and her sister Ifrah. PHOTO: FILE

GILGIT: Karakoram International University (KIU) has announced free education for Gilgit-Baltistan’s skiing champion Amina Wali, who is studying environment sciences at the varsity.

In 2011, Amina and her sister Ifrah won gold and silver medals, respectively, in the first South Asian Winter Games held in India, beating contestants from Sri Lanka, Nepal and India in the giant slalom. Ifrah studies at the National University of Sciences and Technology.

This month, Amina again won a gold medal in one of the events during the four-day National Sadia Khan Memorial Ski Championship held at Naltar Valley, about 50 kilometres from Gilgit. The event was organised by the Pakistan Air Force.

“She (Amina) has been part of the KIU team and has been an inspiration for the rest of her colleagues,” KIU spokesperson Shahid Shigri said. “In recognition of her achievements, the vice chancellor has waived her fee and awarded her with a cash prize of Rs10,000,” said the official.

Amina is also a member of the Higher Education Commission’s skiing team.

Plan International, an NGO, is also intending to give the talented sisters the status of goodwill ambassadors for their outstanding achievement in the field of skiing.

Amina and Ifrah, the progeny of the Gushpur family – the former royal family in Ghizer district – excel in skiing as they spent most of their childhood near the snow-capped mountains of G-B. The duo was recently selected for the qualifying rounds of the Winter Olympics to be held in Russia this year.

Amina could not be reached for comments despite several attempt

Diamer-Bhasha construction: Giving a dam comes at a price for G-B locals

Giving a dam comes at a price for G-B locals. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

“We are ceding our ancestral land, our homes, our culture and everything for the country,” said Asadullah, a shopkeeper in Chilas, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). “But the reward isn’t what we expected.”

As the construction of the mega Diamer-Bhasha Dam is about to get under way, people whose homes are destined to go under huge swathes of water have some major apprehensions.

“Just look at the compensation issue. There is considerable delay – and we’ve lost a sufficient amount to inflation,” explained Asadullah.

Participants of a discussion forum held recently in Islamabad pointed out that the environmental and economic impact assessments for the project have either not been carried out or have not been shared with the stakeholders. Compensation for the displaced people is not timely either.

The government fixed the rates for land and non-land assets in 2009 whereas now the prices of lands have multiplied, experts claimed at the forum organised by the Gilgit-Baltistan Policy Institute (GBPI).

Moreover, establishing a revenue-sharing mechanism with the federal government remains unresolved, and so does G-B’s boundary dispute with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The project is located on the Indus River, about 315 km upstream of Tarbela Dam and 180 km downstream of the G-B capital Gilgit city covering an area of 110 km with the reservoir extending 100 km upstream of the dam.  The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved it in 2006 and the ground-breaking ceremony was held in 2009.

The federal government is all set to construct the mega dam with an energy generation capacity of 4,500 MW.

(AS APPEARED IN DOCUMENT ON WAPDA’S WEBSITE UPDATED TILL 11.10.2013)

Boundary dispute

However, among other constraints, the boundary dispute between G-B and K-P is a major hurdle, which needs to be settled so that it is not only built in time but the issue of the dam’s royalty, compensation for the displaced and hydel profit are also decided.

Bashir Ahmed, the G-B Minister for Works, said the federal government should first settle the boundary dispute before going ahead with the compensation and royalty plan. The people of Kohistan have made an unlawful claim on the eight-kilometre territory, which has been part of G-B for centuries, he contended.

Historically, the disputed territory has been part of the Diamer district and a grand Jirga from both sides had taken this decision. “Now I think a neutral commission can decide the issue in light of historical records,” he said, adding that the United India and British-era maps will also be helpful.

G-B lawmakers say if the issues were not resolved and the people of the region are not taken into confidence, the construction plan of the dam may hit a snag.

Meanwhile, former G-B finance minister Mirza Hussain said the royalty of the dam and its hydel profit is to be distributed as per the Constitution, but G-B is still not part of the constitution.

Ecology in distress?

Mirza also said that building the dam will carry huge environmental and economic implications for the region. According to experts, thick fog will perpetually settle on the high mountains of G-B and therefore, there will hardly be any flights to the landlocked area.

Environmental specialist Jahanzeb Murad, while speaking to The Express Tribune, said that such big projects should be initiated only after proper environmental impact assessment (EIA), and the findings of those assessments should be made public.

“The humidity caused by the 100-kilometre water reservoir may potentially have disastrous consequences for the glaciers that govern the regional climate. These glaciers don’t belong just to us; they belong to the world.”

However, WAPDA officials have tried to convince the public in G-B that the dam wouldn’t affect the ecology, the apprehension are still there. “Contrary to speculations, we are being told by experts that there wouldn’t be extraordinary rains and thunderstorms in G-B even after the construction of the Dam,” says resident Noshad Alam, referring to public consultation sessions held by WAPDA.

Microsoft wants to swap your iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, or Galaxy S2 for a Lumia 1020 or Lumia 1520

Earlier this week, we wrote about a Microsoft Store deal offering to buy your smartphone or tablet for up to $250, and speculated that “device-specific deals” would come later. The first one is already here: you can now get a new Windows Phone (Lumia 1020 or Lumia 1520) in exchange for your iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, or Galaxy S2.

As you can see, Microsoft has included a cute image of the Android and Applelogos in the trash. The deal is only valid until March 2, 2014, or “while supplies last.” There are also some important caveats worth noting (we’ve highlighted the important parts in the following fine print):

To be eligible for trade-in, product must power on and be in fully functional, working condition without broken/missing components, cracked display/housing or liquid damage, cannot be password protected, and include original chargers/accessories. To receive maximum trade in value, you must purchase an eligible Nokia Lumia 1020 or Nokia Lumia 1520 with a qualifying new or renewal mobile contract or upgrade (2 years) at the same time.

Any appraised value will be determined at trade-in and provided as store credit, subject to Microsoft’s discretion and approval. All trade-ins are final. Not valid on prior orders or purchases; cannot be transferred or otherwise redeemed for cash or gift cards. Not combinable with other offers. Discount does not include taxes, shipping or other fees. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Microsoft reserves the right to modify or discontinue offers at any time.

If you have old devices lying around, you can either get a fairly recent Lumia device in exchange, or some in-store credit. As has been pointed out a few times with these deals, however, you’ll need to find a store (US and Canada only) that is close to you, and make sure the deal is available.

This is a smart strategy for Microsoft, though it also highlights the company’s problem in retail: it doesn’t have many stores.