Can Younis Khan, Shoaib Akhtar give Pakistan a big boost?

Shahid Afridi on Tuesday took over as Pakistan’s captain for all three formats and then declared that he would not tolerate the sort of ‘conspiracies’ that have dogged the country’s cricket in recent years.

According to a press report, the dashing all-rounder in an interview told that he has forced himself to come out of a self-imposed Test exile for the sake of Pakistan cricket and will make all out efforts to lift it out of the prevailing crisis.

“My main task is to make a team out of this talented bunch of players,” he stressed. “I also want to promote unity and harmony among the boys because that’s the only way to get the best out of them.”

Pakistan cricket was rocked by a major controversy when the players got involved in a lot of mud-slinging during a probe conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board in the aftermath of a catastrophic tour of Australia that concluded last February.

Several leading players accused each other of indiscipline during the proceedings of the probe committee after which seven of the country’s leading cricketers were slapped with strict penalties.

Afridi, 30, said that as Pakistan’s new captain he would crack down on such negative behaviour.

“I will not tolerate any sort of conspiracies in my team,” he said. “I will encourage the boys to discuss their problems openly and I will tell them to bury their differences each time they play for Pakistan. When we leave on a tour I will ask them to leave all their problems behind and just focus on giving their best for the country.”

Afridi, who will be leading Pakistan in next month’s Asia Cup and more importantly during the challenging tour of England, made it clear that his is very demanding task.

“It’s a very tough task. I haven’t played Test cricket for quite some time but will have to somehow lead the team from the front on the tour of England.

“To play against Australia and England in English conditions would need a lot of guts. But I’m hopeful that the boys will rise to the challenge.”

Afridi, however, was quick to warn his fans against raising their expectations.

“It would be unwise to raise our expectations, especially for Tests,” he said. “We are good in limited-overs cricket, but will take time to settle down in Tests, which is why we need to be patient.”

That said Afridi is hopeful that a likely return of experienced players like Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar will boost Pakistan’s chances in the Asia Cup and in England where his team will play back-to-back series against Australia and the hosts from July to September.

“Younis is coming back, Shoaib is coming back and that’s going to help me a lot.”

Afridi is also optimistic that a few youngsters whom Pakistan are likely to include for the two assignments will also shine in Sri Lanka and in England.

“Almost as important as senior players are the newcomers because they hold the key to our team’s future,” he said. “We are planning to try out a few youngsters in the forthcoming events and I’m hopeful that they will not disappoint us.”

Afridi played the last of his 26 Tests almost four years back in Manchester and his critics doubt his chances of making a successful comeback in the longest version of the game.

But Afridi is confident he can be the sort of Test all-rounder, Pakistan has been looking for quite some time now.

“I will focus on my batting and my bowling because that’s the way I can contribute properly in Tests. It won’t be easy but I’m mentally prepared to take up this challenge for the sake of the team.”

Cervical cancer: myth or reality?

Documented evidence suggests cervical cancer to be accountable for approximately 3.6 per cent of all cancers in Pakistani females and for being the sixth most common malignancy in women.

“The pattern of cervical cancer in Karachi and almost all Muslim countries appears to be linked to the comparatively conservative lifestyle, resulting in lesser exposure to risk factors,” writes Professor Yasmin Bhurgri in her discussion, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention.

“For now (in Pakistan), the incident rates in younger females are marginally lower than that in the developed countries, however, the incidental pattern is expected to translate into a substantial increase in the occurrence of cervical cancer in Karachi and probably Pakistan,” discusses Dr. Bhurgri. “On account of the absence of preventive interventions such as vaccination and timely screening, cervical cancer rates may parallel those in the high-risk zones,” she suggests.

Another cause of concern is the unwillingness and lack of system for registering cancer cases in hospital settings. Furthermore, social taboos associated with sexually transmitted diseases also hinder women from coming forward and undergoing the requisite tests and treatments.

“About 80 per cent women take smears at a very late stage and thus fall prey to this deadly disease, which can easily be prevented, and if detected early, can be cured,” laments Dr. Bhurgri. “Like other diseases, women feel shy and really don’t bother to go for these tests until it is too late,” she complains.

Pap smears, a simple and easy-to-perform outpatients test, serves as an early warning about this malicious disease. The test collects and examines cervical cells for any abnormality or dysplasia — the pathological term referring to the abnormality of maturation of cells within the tissue.

According to the National Cancer Institute, US National Institute of Health, other factors that make women prone to cervical cancer are smoking, weakened immune system, use of birth control pills over a long period of time, and giving many births.

The threat of cervical cancer is avoidable through the implementation of a stringent cervical cancer control programme. Vigilant screening and consistent follow-ups do provide better management, yet vaccination is the only comprehensive defence against this malicious disease. Additionally, population-wide health education programmes and eradication of taboos as in the case of HIV are the need of the hour.

Globally, 270,000 women die of cervical cancer each year and the disease accounts for nine per cent of female cancer deaths. The annual cervical cancer prevalence is estimated at 500,000 new cases. However, during the last 25 years, the incidence of cervical cancer has greatly been reduced in the developed world. In contrast, there is a marked increase amongst women of the developing countries.

The incidence is highest in Africa, India and Central-South America where approximately 29 out of 100,000 women fall in this trap, annually. These infections are lowest in Oceania and North America.

Cervical cancer is a cancerous tumour, which develops at the cervix as a result of persistent infection with a cancer-causing virus known as Human Pappillomavirus (HPV). Developing or underdeveloped countries bear the major brunt of the disease due to risk factors such as early marriages, lack of screening and low socio-economic status of their women citizenry, imply various studies. In addition to these, sexual appetite and multi-parity is also one of the major causes of spread of cervical cancer.
By MIAN SAUD

As fashion, music industries expand; concern over declining sponsorship, fragile security rises.

As the fashion and music industries of the country gain more importance, concern has been shown about the lack of adequate publicity and fear among event managers due to fragile security situation, said a report.

Many sponsors have pulled out their investments from many events scheduled this year. Recently, the blast that took place at the Peeru’s Café during a ghazal night has made the message of the extremist forces clear that “they are not in favour of cultural expansion, as they want to impose their own ideology”. Speaking at the Ajoka Theatre in connection with the banning of their play ‘Burqavaganza’, Faizan Peerzada said there was a dearth of cultural events in Pakistan and that only Afghanistan had participated in the recent Sufi Music Festival this year. “Countries including Syria, Algeria, Egypt and a few others had backed out from the event due to security reasons. The already small cultural industry has been targeted by people that promote an extreme agenda in society,” he added.

Faizan said that 22,000 people had come to Pakistan in the past 19 years for different events, which had also contributed to the economy. The government should acknowledge this fact and provide adequate security arrangements and backing to people working for the promotion of art and culture, he added.

Even when the cultural capital of the country is going through a cold phase, painters have shown persistency in showing their talent as a number of art exhibitions continue to be held all over the city.

During this time of ‘cultural uneasiness’, the five-day theatre festival organised by the Punjab Lok Rahs at the Ali Institute of Education also received great feedback from spectators. The entertainment-starved crowds of Lahore were of the view that such events should be held at the national level and awards should be given to young performers.

On the lighter side, women in Lahore do not have to travel to Karachi to add style to their wardrobes anymore, as the Fashion Pakistan Forum launched its official platform in Lahore by the name of Fashion Pakistan Lounge. The lounge gives space to designers registered with either the Karachi Fashion Council or Lahore Fashion Council. However, the country lacks a united fashion forum, a ‘mother body’, which could bring together and manage all the little fashion industries from across the country.

Fashion designer, Ather Ali Hafeez said, “The idea of having a national fashion body was ideal but the existing bodies are not being properly managed. There is a power struggle going on in the industry and the new comers hit by the ‘celebrity syndrome’. Everyone wants to get famous and rich overnight and are neglecting the crux of what fashion is, which is generating new ideas and coming up with new designs.”
Mian Saud