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FO: Non-proliferationprocess must benon-discriminatoryISLAMABAD—Pakistan hasemphasized that it iscommitted to the objectiveof nuclear disarmament andnon-proliferation but theprocess must be non-discriminatory.

Responding to ques-tions by newsmen at theweekly news briefing hereon Thursday‚ ForeignOffice spokesman AizazAhmad Chaudhary saidPakistan firmly believedthat the issue of nucleardisarmament should betaken up in the Conferenceof Disarmament in Genevain a comprehensive manner.

He said talks should be

Minister asksofficials to achievetargets or leaveISLAMABAD—CaretakerMinister for Water andPower Dr Musssadiq Malikhas told the heads of powerdistribution companies andofficers of the Ministry toimprove their working andachieve targets or theywould have to leave theposts.

Addressing a meetingof heads of power distribu-tion companies and officersof the Ministry, DrMussadiq Malik saidwarned that no hurdlewould be allowed in theimplementation of decisionsfor improvement in powersupply system.

He directed the officialsto take steps which giverelief to the people fromload shedding.

No irrelevantquestions,ROs toldISLAMABAD—TheElection Commission ofPakistan (ECP) on Thurs-day issued new directivesfor the scrutiny ofnomination papers aheadof polls.

According to thenotification, the ElectionCommission has barredreturning officers (ROs)from asking irrelevantquestions from the candi-dates.

The commissiondirected that questionsaimed at ridiculing thecandidates should beavoided. The fresh direc-tives were issued afterstrong criticism by thecandidates.—INP

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Elections 2013: Screening begins in body politicGilani family, Pervez Ashraf in trouble Jamshed Dasti jailed for three years Faisal Saleh, Abid papers

rejected Waqas A-Level certificate fake Salman declared POEx-KP minister Aqil Shah sent to jail

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Writing against the Ideology of Pakistan, Islam

Ayaz Amir’s nomination papers rejectedOUR CORRESPONDENT

CHAKWAL—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan hasrejected the nomination pa-pers of renowned columnistand Pakistan MuslimLeague–N leader Ayaz Amir‘for writing against the ide-ology of Pakistan’ in his col-umns.

Witnesses said resi-dents Arif Mehmood andBabar Saleem had registeredtheir objections with the lo-

cal office of the ElectionCommission saying Amir’scolumns were in conflictwith the ideology of Paki-stan. Over which, the return-ing office rejected Amir’spapers and referred themback to the ECP.

Amir, who had filednomination papers for theNA-60 seat from Chakwal,confirmed that his papershad been rejected by the re-turning officer. “Some local

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The NationalAccountability Bureau Thurs-day objected to the candida-ture of Nawaz Sharif andShahbaz Sharif in the upcom-ing general elections over al-leged scam of Hudaibiya Pa-per Mills, a senior NAB offi-cial told media. The PakistanMuslim League-N Punjabpresident and the former chiefminister, along with his brotherPML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, areaccused in the Rs3,486 millionloan default case.

They have been accusedof accumulating money andassets beyond their declared

means of income by misusingauthority. The case was filedwith the Attock NAB Court onMarch 27, 2000. Abbas Sharif,Hussain Nawaz, HamzaShahbaz, Shamim Akhtar,Sabiha Abbas, Maryam Safdarand Ishaq Dar are other ac-cused in the case.

The bureau has conveyedits recommendations to theelection commission in this re-gard. The NAB had set up elec-tion cells to help the electioncommission in the scrutiny ofcandidates for the May 11 elec-tions. The decision to estab-lish the cells was taken at ameeting held on Feb 20. Themeeting, presided over by

Chief Election CommissionerFakharuddin G. Ebrahim, wasattended by heads of NAB,Federal Bureau of Revenue,State Bank of Pakistan andNational Database Registra-tion Authority.

The meeting had decidedthat the ECP, with the help ofrelevant organisations, willidentify tax-evaders, loan andutility bill defaulters and ben-eficiaries of written-off loansto prevent them from contest-ing polls.

Meanwhile, PML-N hasrejected the NAB charges andannounced that it will hold apress conference to clarifytheir position today (Friday).

NAB objects to Sharif brothers’candidacy over Hudaibiya Mills case

PML-N rejects objections as baseless

UK aid increase to Pak linkedwith better tax collection

M A KAISERIMAM

LONDON—Britain mustonly go ahead with a majorincrease in aid to Pakistan ifthe nation boosts theamount of tax it collectsfrom its own elite, a Com-mons committee has recom-mended.

Pakistan will become thelargest recipient of UK aidnext year, a controversialmove given the backdrop ofcorruption, tax avoidanceand political instability,

MPs warned.Although there is a “pow-

erful case” for continuing aidto the nation, British taxpay-ers must not be left to footthe growing bill unlessPakistan’s wealthy are madeto pay their fair share, theCommons International De-velopment Select Committeesaid.

“Any increase in theUK’s official developmentassistance to Pakistan mustbe conditional on Pakistanincreasing its tax collection

and widening the tax base,”its report states. “We cannotexpect the people in the UKto pay taxes to improve edu-cation and health in Pakistanif the Pakistan elite is not pay-ing income tax.

“We cannot advocatethat the British people fi-nance, through taxation, theproposed substantial in-crease in development assis-tance to Pakistan unless thereis clear evidence that thenewly elected Pakistan gov-ernment is also willing to

make the necessarychanges so as to contrib-ute more to improving thelivelihood of its people.

“In the past, donormoney has not been spenteffectively in Pakistan for avariety of reasons. Corrup-tion is rife in a social orderbased on patronage andkinship networks.Pakistan’s rich do not paytaxes and exhibit little inter-est in improving conditionsand opportunities for

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RAWALPINDI—Chief ofArmy Staff (COAS) GeneralAshfaq Parvez Kayani vis-ited Quetta on Wednesday,April 3, 2013 and held meet-ings with GovernorBalochistan Nawab ZulfiqarAli Magsi and caretakerChief Minister Nawab GhousBaksh Barozai.

According to ISPR press

release, the security situationand smooth conduct of up-coming General Electionswere discussed in the meet-ings.

The COAS reiterated PakArmy’s commitment to ex-tend all possible assistanceto the Election Commissionof Pakistan for holding free,fair and peaceful elections.

The release said that theProvincial leadership wasassured by COAS that Armywould wholeheartedly wel-come an all inclusive elec-tions. COAS emphasized theneed for participation by allpolitical parties in the Mayelections. Army is preparedto extend all necessary sup-

COAS meets Balochistan governor, interim CM

Army welcomes all-inclusive electionsNo restriction on

media in name of codeof conduct: Nizami

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Caretaker In-formation Minister ArifNizami has ruled out any re-

striction on media in thename of election code of con-duct.

Talking to media inIslamabad after attending abriefing at Postal ServicesMinistry‚ he said guidelinesfor media coverage of the

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LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—At last, thetime has come when big wigsin political field have startedpassing through a test ofparameters set by ElectionCommission of Pakistan forcleansing body politic of Pa-kistan. The cell in EC consist-ing of officials of State Bank,NAB, FIA, FBR and NADRAhas started receiving reportsfor scrutiny of the candi-dates. At first stage, FaisalSaleh Hayat, Ayaz Amir andAbid Imam have been dis-qualified by Returning Offic-ers on Thursday while re-ports have been submitted toEC by NAB raising objec-tions over candidatures ofNawaz Sharif, Shabaz Sharifand their family members be-ing accused in the Rs. 3,486million loan defaulter case.

It was also a bad day forfake degree holders asJamshed Dasti, Aqil Shah andothers have been jailed bythe courts. More decisionsare in the pipeline by thecourts as HEC ChairmanJaved Leghari has warnedthat April 5 (today) will thedeadline for 185 ex-parlia-mentarians to get their de-grees verified otherwise theirdegrees will be declared fake.The Islamabad High Courthas already raised questionson the integrity of formerPrime Minister Raja PervezAshraf in roads building con-tract in his constituency. TheGilani family is also facingcases in the courts for theircorruption.Agencies add: A local court

STAFF REPORTER

K A R A C H I — D u r i n gThursday’s hearing of theKarachi law and order case,the Supreme Court orderedfor all ‘no-go’ areas in the cityto be eliminated within aweek.

A five-judge larger benchof the Supreme Court,headed by Chief JusticeIftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, was hearing thecase pertaining to implemen-tation of its 2011 order in asuo motu notice over unrestin Karachi.

The bench ordered for ajudicial tribunal to be set upwithin three days over theland grabbing issue inKarachi. The court also re-jected police reports regard-ing ‘no-go areas in Karachi’saying they were identical incontent.

The bench observed thatit appeared that the reports

were authored by one personand ordered reports from all112 police stations in the cityto be submitted within 30minutes’ time. MoreoverLyari’s SSP police was or-dered to submit a report fromfour police stations within hisjurisdiction.

Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry re-marked during the hearingthat in the caretaker setup thegovernment had onlychanged the faces but thepolicies remained the same.The bench also rejected a re-port submitted by Rangerofficials over the law and or-der situation in the city overthe grounds that the reportdid not exhibit seriousnessover the issue.

Justice Iftikhar further re-marked that despite the pres-ence of 11,500 Rangers per-sonnel, certain areas inKarachi like Lyari could not

SC orders end toKarachi ‘no-go areas’

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in Muzzafargarh sentencedthe former MNA to threeyears in prison. Dasti wasarrested from outside thecourtroom following his sen-tencing. District and Ses-sions Judge Abdur RehmanNiazi announced the verdictwhich also imposed a fine ofRs 5000 on the former law-maker.

The former lawmaker hadbeen elected from theMuzaffargarh NA-178 con-stituency in 2008 and laterreturned from the same seatin a by-election. He later re-signed as member of the Na-tional Assembly in 2010 afterthe Supreme Court orderedhim to present his graduationdegree.

Also on Thursday, a Dis-trict and Sessions Judge inPakpattan declared a formerMember of National Assem-bly, Syed Salman MohsinGilani, of Pakistan MuslimLeague–N a proclaimed of-fender over possessing afake degree. Gilani waselected as an MNA from NA-

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CJ directs ROsnot to succumbto any pressure

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI: Chief JusticeIftikhar MuhammadChaudhry Thursday empha-sizing the role of subordinatecourts towards dispensationof justice, directed the return-ing officers (ROs) not to bowdown before any pressure indischarging their responsi-bilities. “Fair and transpar-ent elections are essential tostrengthen democracy,” theChief Justice said while ad-dressing a gathering of ROsand assistant returning offic-ers here.

Pointing to the returningofficers, Justice IftikharChuadhry said ‘keep dis-charging your duties profes-sionally, giving no regard toany pressure’.

He said the nation is inneed of judiciary in its timeof trial, stressing that the ROs

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Roots Millen-nium Schools (RMS) is

spreading widely nationwidewith consistency and aca-demic excellence under thedynamic leadership of CEORMS Chaudhry FaisalMushtaq. Another milestonein the history of Roots Mil-lennium Schools was createdwhen state of the art purposebuilt Khyber Campus havingnumerous facilities inside itfor the students and teach-ers inaugurated last day inthe City of Peshawar.

Roots MillenniumSchools – Khyber CampusPeshawar set on 2 Acres isequipped with latesttechnology & world classacademic setup to achievethe heights of success inacademics andextracurricular activities.Honorable Chief GuestEngineer Ishaq KhattakMinister for Science &Technology/Communication& Works on his arrival was

warmly welcomed by theCEO RMS Chaudhry FaisalMushtaq, Principal RMSKhyber Campus Mrs. Deeba

Nazir & Management Staff ofRMS Community.

Engineer Ishaq KhattakKPK Minister assured his fullsupport for the objective ofRoots Millennium Schools toprovide heights of academicexcellence and pleased forthis initiative of Mr. FaisalMushtaq for initiation up apurpose built campus ofRoots Millennium Schools inthe city of Peshawar. ChineseLanguage Initiative of RootsMillennium Schools was re-ally praised by the ChiefGuest and they assured theirfull cooperation for scalingChinese Language programin the city of Peshawar. Jubi-lant and excited PrincipalMrs. Deeba Nazir while ad-dressing the media said, “Justwhen Peshawar needed anacademic change, Roots Mil-lennium Schools took thisbold initiative to open up astate of the art educational

facility which will embark his-tory in Peshawar.

This will not only bringpassion and hope among thesociety but also it will bringopportunity and academic ex-cellence for the children andresidence of Peshawar andKPK.” CEO RMS ChaudhryFaisal Mushtaq-TI shared hisviews: “I enjoy rather lovescaling literacy, development,educational change, opportu-nity, empowerment, excellenceand excitement across commu-nities, towns, and cities acrossPakistan. Roots MillenniumSchools is beyond educationand schooling; it is changingthe national education para-digm and landscape throughits award winning curriculum,beyond the classroom teach-ing and learning initiatives,teacher training programs,qualifications, results, achieve-ments; thus promoting socialchange and community re-en-gineering.

As we are moving to-wards growth and develop-ment it gives me immensesatisfaction that we areproudly celebrating our dis-tinctions and accomplish-ments earned through thededication and hard work ofstudents, faculty membersand the support of parents.Today at this InaugurationCeremony I assure you allthat the same academic excel-lence and opportunities shallbe enjoyed and observedhere in our Khyber Campuslike in our other campuses inIslamabad and Pakistan. Myheartiest congratulations toall those who have been apart of this great Institutionand have contributed to itssuccess and glory; togetherwe make it ONE WORLD-ONE SCHOOL.”

Roots Millennium Schools’Khyber Campus inaugurated

MULTAN—Secretary gen-eral Jamaat-e-Islami (JI),Liaqat Baloch said that JIwould settle the issue ofseat-adjustment within aweek, saying that this mat-ter would be settled withone political party only.Addressing a press briefing,Liaqat Baloch informed thatJI delegation headed bySyed Munawar Hassan metImran Khan and formed com-mittees for “dialogue” onseat-adjustment.

However, he added thatPTI had not moved aheadon the matter so far, sayingthat “perhaps PTI was busyin meeting of parliamentarycommittee”. Liaqat statedthe possibility of seat-ad-justment with PML (N), PTIor of the religious parties.Baloch maintained that JIwould try its best to avoiddivision of votes of reli-gious parties. He observedthat the upcoming electionswould be crucial and deci-sive. “Its crucial time tosteer the country in the rightdirection”, the JI leadersaid.

He claimed that JI wasstriving to encourage theimplementation of the deci-sions of Supreme Court.Heremarked that JI wanted fairdistribution of resources inthe country. He informed thathis party has awarded 40 per-

cent tickets to young candi-dates with the objective topromote youth’s participa-tion for the country’s

progress.About his candidature,

Liaqat Baloch informed thathe would contest electionsfrom NA-149 (Multan) andNA-126 (Lahore). About re-cent transfers and postingsin bureaucracy,he observedthat Election Commission ofPakistan enjoys soundcredibility and all politicalparties had shown consen-sus on it.

However, to a questionon adding blank-box in theballet paper, Liaqat Balochdeclined to favour the idea.JI candidates for PP-194,Asif Mehmood Akhwani,PP-195 Dr Hafeez, Rao ZafarIqbal and Kanwar Siddiquewere also present.—APP

Seat-adjustment in aweek: Liaqat Baloch

Wheat procurementdrive from April 20

FAISALABAD—Wheat pro-curement campaign 2013-14will commence in Punjabfrom April 20 at a rate of Rs1200 per 40 kg. In a meetingheld with Divisional Com-missioner Dr Ejaz Muneer inthe chair here on Thursday,Director Food PunjabUsman Younus said a tar-get of 4 million metric tonwheat had been set for thewhole province while 4.95lakh metric ton wheat wouldbe purchased fromFaisalabad.

He said all arrangementswould be made in place onprocurement centers onApril 10 and issuance ofBardana would be startedfrom April 15. He said un-der growers friendly policy,the delivery charges at arate of Rs 7.50 per 100 kgwheat in addition to wheatprice would be paid to farm-ers through purchase bills.He said fair average qualitywheat would be purchasedwith maximum moisturecontents of 10% andmiddleman would not be al-lowed to sell wheat to thedepartment.— APP

HALEEM ASAD

TIMERGARA—The firstwoman candidate for NA-34in the history of Dir NusratBegum on Thursday did notanswer any question of thereturning officer (RO) of theconstituency Peer Bakhashduring scrutiny of nominationpapers and objections onthem. The RO had summonedall the candidates for NA-34for scrutiny of their nomina-tion papers. The RO askedformer senator and leader ofthe JUI-F Maulana GulNaseeb Khan to provide sepa-rate and detailed informationof his dependents. The ROasked Maulana Gul NaseebKhan to describe whetherwomen and children inMalakand division had theirdue Islamic rights.

Answering the question indetail Maulana Gul NaseebKhan admitted that women andchildren of the area had beendeprived of their basic rights.The JUI-F leader answered inphilosophical way to some ofthe questions. Similarly formerstate minister for inter-provin-cial coordination Malik AzmatKhan admitted that Pakistanhad been facing the menace ofcorruption from top to bottomwhen the judge asked himabout the role of politicians inending corruption.

The RO asked him to ex-plain his big achievements dur-ing the last three years as MNAand state minister. Answeringthe question Malik Azmatcounted water supplyschemes, supply of Sui gas andconstruction of Malik MuzaffarKhan Memorial Stadium.

Meanwhile, a formerunion council nazim affiliatedwith the PPP objected onMalik Azmat Khan and de-manded of the RO to dis-qualify him for making con-tradictory statements in hisnomination form. He said thestate minister had been dis-appeared from the area for thelast five years and he hadbeen involved in corruptioncases. Clarifying his positionMalik Azmat Khan asked theRO to seek documentaryproofs from the complainants.

Malik Azmat Khan facedtough questions not only fromthe RO but participants too.Sahibzada Yaqub Khan of theJI while responding to a ques-tion said that ideal Islamic sys-tem was not existing in theworld at the moment. He saidthat democracy was the saf-

est way for imposing Islamicsharia law in Pakistan. “Allother ways are dangerous andbloody,” he answered when hewas asked to tell how Islamiclaw could be imposed in Paki-stan.

Peer Bakhash asked inter-esting and important ques-tions from the aspirants on theoccasion and allowed the gath-ering to raise objection openlyagainst the candidates if therewere any. He asked about pro-vincial autonomy, democracyand dictatorship, creation ofnew provinces, verses of theHoly Quran, creation of Paki-stan, present justice systemand ‘sharia regulation’ inMalakand division. When heasked questions from the lonewoman aspirant Mrs NusratBegum she replied that shecould not answer the question

in front of so many people.She did not answer any ques-tion but vowed to contest elec-tion to solve the problems ofunemployment, health, edu-cation and infrastructure in DirLower. When the RO askedher about the PTI ticket forNA 34 another aspirantBashir Khan rose in the courtroom and said that the partyhad awarded ticket to him.Four candidates of the PPP,two of the JI, three of the JUI-F, four of the PTI appearedand one each from other po-litical parties besides severalindependent appeared be-fore the RO. A candidate rep-resenting the APML evendid not answer to in whichmonth Pakistan had comeinto being. Two of the aspir-ants remained absent fromthe process.

Candidates face tough questions during scrutinyLone lady candidate Nusrat did not answer any question

LARKANA: Chairperson PPP (Shaheed Bhutto) Ghinwa Bhutto addressing the people to mark the 34 death anniver-sary of Shaheed Zalfikar Ali Bhutto at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

QUETTA—The returning of-ficer Quetta on Thursdayscrutinized submitted nomi-nation papers of total 62 can-didates for PB-1, Quetta seatand rejected the forms of 18.Official sources in the Elec-

PB-1 Quetta: 18 candidates rejectedtion Commission Balochistantold APP that total 62 candi-dates including the partyticket holders and indepen-dents have filed their nomi-nation papers for PB-1,Quetta constituency and af-

ter scrutiny process of allpapers, the returning officerrejected the forms of 18 can-didates while the nominationpapers of remaining 44 can-didates were accepted con-ditionally.

The nomination papersof Amir Ali Agha were re-jected as he was 23-year-oldat the time of submission ofthe forms and could not meetthe criteria. The cause behindthe rejection of forms of 17other candidates is told thattheir proposers and second-ers belonged to another con-stituency. “The other candi-dates, of whom papers wererejected include former pro-vincial minister JaffarGeorge, Imran Ali, AbdulRehman Dahwar, ShamsulIslam, Arif, Mir Hassan,Ziauddin, and Ismail,” theofficial sources said addingthat the candidates of AllPakistan Muslim League,Mutahida Qaumi Movementand Majlis WahdatulMuslimeen were among, ofwhom nomination papers re-jected. The rejected candi-dates have filed appeal withthe Balochistan HighCourt.—APP

QUETTA: World Food Programme Pakistan head Johan Luc and Chairman NMDAMajor General Saeed Alam unveiling the plaque to inaugurate the warehouse project.

Rashid assureswell-beingof locals

STAFF REPORTER

ABBOTTABAD—District Re-turning Officer has acceptedthe papers of Rashid Awan,Secretary General, AwamiMuslim League KP for NA-18 after scrutiny to contestforthcoming general elec-tions here on Thursday Mr.Rashid Awan a nominatedcandidate of Awami MuslimLeague is a renowned youngenergetic personality ofGalyat district Abbottabad,talking to media men afteracceptance of documents bythe DRO Abbottabad, saidthat after coming into powerhe will do his best for thewell-being of the locals of hisconstituency, especially forunemployed youth and forpoverty alleviation.

Earlier, addressing partymeetings at NA 18 on Thurs-day Rashid Awan said thatpeople has reposed confi-dence in Aftab Ahmed KhanSherpao and SikandarSherpao in the past and bothleaders have lived up to thetrust of the people. He saidthat AML leaders have raisedthe problems of public at ev-ery forum and expressed thehope that people would votefor them in the upcominggeneral elections.

Sherpaos to winin upcoming

electionsSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Senior leader ofQaumi Watan Party SherBahadur Khan of Landaki hassaid that people of NA 8 andPK 21 would support AftabAhmed Khan Sherpao andSikandar Sherpao in the up-coming general elections andboth leaders would win fromthe national and provincialassembly seats.

He said that head ofQaumi Watan party AftabAhmed Khan Sherpao andprovincial president SikandarHayat Khan Sherpao hasspread a network of roads intheir native districtCharsadda, provided gas.

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W R A — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Governor, En-gineer Shaukatullah Thurs-day said that establishmentof peace in tribal regionswas his priority in order toensure smooth conduct ofthe general elections in a fairand transparent manner inFata. Like other parts of thecountry, general electionswould be held in peacefulenvironment in tribal belt.

He was addressing abig tribal jirga atLandikotal in KhyberAgency during his day

long visit on Thursday.People of tribal areas werepeace loving and believedin democracy, he said add-ing that it was a good omenthat the political partieshave fielded their candi-dates from the tribal areaswhich he said would createa political awareness amongthe tribal people. He saidthat no effort is beingspared to rehabilitate theinternally dispalaced per-sons from Khyber Agency.

The Governor said thatFATA Disaster Manage-ment Authority was activelyengaged apart from other

concerned national and in-ternational organizations inrehabilitation of the af-fected people of Bara andWaziristan. The Governorsaid that he was personallytaking care of the situationfor rehabilitation ofnternally dislocated tribesfrom Tirah valley.

Referring to the pointsraised by a prominent tribalelder, Malik Darya Khan onthis occasion, the Governorsaid, that installation of so-lar energy based six tubewells was already at thecompletion stage. He alsoannounced approval for es-

tablishing six more tubewells on similar lines inTehsil Landikotal.

About the demand toredress difficulties beingfaced with regard to provi-sion of electricity facility inBazar Zakha Khel area, theGovernor assured to lookinto the matter and take nec-essary steps for this pur-pose.

Engineer Shaukatullahalso declared provision of fi-nancial assistance to the tuneof Rs 10,000 per month to tenwidows hailing from eachtehsil of Khyber Agency; ex-pediting pace of work on the

under construction grid sta-tion at Jamrud, taking nec-essary steps for construc-tion of residences for doc-tors at the tehsil headquar-ter hospital, Landikotal, re-pair of schools and estab-lishment of press clubs atLandikotal and Jamrud.

Prominent elders, MalikAbdul Razzaq and HajiHameedul Haq presentedtraditional tribal gifts to thegovernor on this occasion.Earlier on his arrival atLandikotal, the Governorwas warmly welcomed bythe tribal elders of theagency.

‘Holding peaceful elections in Fata top priority’

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa (KP), CaretakerMinister for Museums andArchaeology, Sameen JanBabar Thursday directed theArchaeology Department totake effective measures forsaving valuable national heri-tage sites. Presiding over ameeting at his office, he saidthat our province is rich inarchaeological sites addingtheir preservation is one ofour prime duty and need ofthe hour. The meeting amongothers was attended by Di-rector Archives, Shah NazarKhan, Dr Morine of UK andPresident Peshawar PressClub, Nasir Hussain. Theminister formed a committee

and directed ArchaeologyDepartment to take effectivesteps for preserving nationalheritage sites of the provinceincluding Gor Gathri, SethiHouse and Houses ofDaleep and Raj Kumar.

Earlier, the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Caretaker Min-ister for Culture, MussaratQadeem has said that cultureis very identity of a nationand keeping its significanceefforts are under way to fi-nalize Cultural policy ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sheexpressed these views in ameeting with Culture Journal-ists Forum (CJF) led byIhtisham Toru and noted TVactor Arshad Hussain here.She said culture is a compre-hensive subject which cov-

ers norms and values of lifeadding that KhyberPakhtunkhwa is rich in diver-sity of literary and culturalheritage. She said that stepsare needed for preservingand protecting our asset.

Musarrat Qadeem saidthat efforts would be madeto provide security to artistsand singers who could playa vital role in boosting a softimage of the society. She saidPashtuns are peace-lovingpeople and also loved theirtraditions and culture morethan anything else. Deathcomes to a nation when theirart and culture embracedeath and Pashtuns willnever die because of theirvibrant and lively culture im-age, she added.

Committee to save KP heritage

Mine awarenessday observed

IS L A M A B A D—The UnitedNations International Dayfor Mine Awareness andAssistance in Mine Actionwas observed internation-ally including PakistanThursday to raise aware-ness about landmines andprogress toward their eradi-cation. On December 8, 2005,the General Assembly de-clared that April 4 of eachyear shall be observed as theInternational Day for MineAwareness and Assistancein Mine Action. —APP

Teachers urged to perform with dedicationStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—The KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Caretaker Minister forEducation and Information, MossaratQadeem has directed the Elementaryand Secondary Education Departmentto initiate actions against teachers whohave not reported to their stations de-spite issuance of duty orders. Chairinga meeting of District Education Officerhere Thursday, she said that safeguard-ing the future of our children was one

of our prime responsibilities and dereliction of duties inthis regard would not be tolerated. Mossarat said that teach-ing was a noble profession and the people associated withthis noble cause should perform duties with dedicationand professional obligations. She urged teachers to judi-ciously utilize their abilities for promotion of educationand enhancing its quality. The meeting besides others wasattended by Additional Secretary Elementary and Second-ary Education, Sharafat Rabi, Director, Rafique Khattakand concerned officials. Earlier, she called upon the chair-men of all the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Edu-cation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to work out a viable strat-egy for revamping and streamlining of affairs of their re-spective boards and making the exam system in line withthe international standard so as to compete the devel-oped world effectively. This, she said, while chairing ameeting of the Chairmen of all the Boards of Intermediateand Secondary Education (BISE) at Peshawar. SecretaryElementary and Secondary Education Humayyun Khanand Special Secretary Mussarat Hussain also attended themeeting. The Chairmen informed the minister of the issuesand problems of the boards in detail.

Bhutto sarcrified life for peopleSARGODHA—Divisional coordinatorPPP/nominated candidate NA-66Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi said ShaheedZulfikar Ali Bhutto was the unanimousleader of the Islamic World. Address-ing a gathering on the 34th death anni-versary of ZA Bhutto at BenazirShaheed Park on Thursday, he saidShaheed Zulfikar had united leaders ofIslamic countries at one point. Quershisaid Bhutto worked day and night for

prosperity of the downtrodden, farmers and labours andgave them voice to achieve their rights. He added thatfor the first time in history Shaheed Zulfikar started five-marla scheme for the poor at every town and villagethroughout the country and gave possession rights tolandless farmers. He said Bhutto sacrificed his life butdid not compromise with dictator and accepted the gal-lows for the poor and democracy. PPP district presidentRana Hakim Khan, vice president Malik Hamid Nawaz,nominated candidates Nusrat Ali Shah, Shahzad Hassanand Nadeem Warriach also addressed. Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP), observed the 34th death anniversary offounder chairman of PPP and former prime ministerShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in the metropolis on Thurs-day. Various programmes were organised in different ar-eas of the city including Shah Faisal Colony, Green Town,Natha Khan, Azeem Pura, Golden Town, Pehelwan Gothand Gulistan-e-Johar in connection with the death anni-versary of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali. Addressing the occa-sion, the PPP leaders paid rich tribute to Shaheed ZulfikarAli for his struggle and sacrifices for the cause of democ-racy. Quran khawani and Fateha were also organised forthe soul of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali.—APP

Dr Nabi Baloch death anniversaryHYDERABAD—The second death an-niversary of renowned educationist,writer and intellectual Dr Nabi BuxBaloch will be observed on April 5. Inthis connection Sindhi Language Au-thority with collaboration of Endow-ment Fund Trust for preservation ofthe Heritage of Sindh has organised aone day remembrance lectureprogramme on April 5 at Shaikh AyazAuditorium, Arts Faculty, University

of Sindh. Vice Chancellor, University of Sindh Dr NazirMughal will preside over the programme while Amar Jalilwill deliver the lecture. VC holds meeting with SPLA:The Vice Chancellor University of Sindh Jamshoro Dr.Nazir Ahmed Mughal held a meeting with the newlyelected office bearers of Sindh Professors and LecturersAssociation (SPLA) and discussed with them the affairspertaining to conduct of college side annual examina-tions. According to university spokesman, the Vice Chan-cellor asked the SPLA office bearers to submit the list ofthe teachers of the colleges of Hyderabad and MirpurkhasRegions so that they could be selected as external in thenext college side annual examinations. The Vice Chancel-lor assured the participants of the meeting that paymentwill be made to those teachers within one week who willact as the external in the annual examinations while thosewho will check the examination papers will get their pay-ment within two weeks. Bangkok varsity picks two IBAstudents for scholarship: In connection with the Aca-demic Linkage Programme between the University ofSindh Jamshoro and National Institute of DevelopmentUniversity of Bangkok Thailand.—APP

CE inspects damaged grid stationStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Chief Executive PescoTariq Saddozai Tuesday visited thedamaged Sheikh Muhammadi Grid Sta-tion and inspected the damages re-ceived due to sabotage activities at500 KV Sheikh Muhammadi Grid onthe other day. On this occasion ChiefEngineer NTDC Saeedullah Babar werealso present. Chief Executive PescoTariq Saddozai and Chief EngineerSaeedullah Babar listened the Union

demands. Chief Engineer NTDC approved some of thesedemands immediately. He said that Rs Ten Lacs will begiven to the family of each deceased immediately andthese cheques will be handed over to the deceased fami-lies today, while employment will be given to the onelegal heir of each deceased. Chief Engineer NTDC alsoannounced that Rs 5 Lacs will be given to deceasedPolice- Men, in addition to compensation given to themby the parent department. Prior to that Union Represen-tatives gave an ultimatum of 3 days to the Managementto recover the abducted employees and security of thegrids to be given toArmy or FC, otherwise the powersupply will be switched off to all the Province. ChiefExecutive Pesco and Chief Engineer NTDC assured theUnion that deployment of FC or Army in not in theirjurisdiction and it is the central issue and Centre will becontacted for the provision of FC or Army. On this oc-casion CEO Pesco Tariq Saddozai offered fateha for thedeparted souls of the deceased employees. He assuredhis full co-operation. He said that the safe recovery ofabducted employees is our top priority and hectic ef-forts are being made for this purpose. Restoration andrehabilitation works have been started on the grid. It isclarified that only routine load shedding is being car-ried out in the province and no area is in dark.

QUETTA—Balochistan Na-tional Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has threatened not to par-ticipate in general elections2013 if incidents of killing ofits workers continued and“No Go Areas” in Khuzdarwere not abolished. This wasstated by Acting PresidentBNP-M, Dr JahanzebJamaldini who along with theparty Secretary InformationAgha Hassan Baloch andother party leaders was ad-dressing a press conferenceat Quetta Press Club hereThursday.

“Khuzdar has become Nogo area and a specific armedgroup is involved in killing ofBNP-M activists while ourparty leadership and workers

in Kalat were also receivingthreats,” he alleged.

He said that althoughChief Election CommissionerFakhruddin G. Ibrahim andcaretaker Chief MinisterBalochistan, Nawab GhousBakhsh Barozai had heldmeetings with BNP-M chiefSardar Akhtar Jan Mengal inKarachi and assured him ofproviding a peaceful envi-ronment for conducting free,fair and transparent elections.However, the party was stillfacing difficulties in continu-ing its election campaign andto approach the voters.

“BNP-M is fully prepareto participate in general elec-tions 2013 with full enthusi-asm, but, hardships and dif-

ficulties were being put in theway of the party,” he claimed.He said that his party hasfielded candidates in 28 dis-tricts of Balochistan to con-test general elections. He in-formed that his party wasready to make alliance withlike-minded political partiesadding that next chief minis-ter of Balochistan might befrom nationalist Baloch andPashtoon political parties. Hedemanded of the federal gov-ernment to induct anotherBaloch minister in the federalcabinet. On this occasion,Haji Zahid, a tribal and politi-cal leader from Panjgur an-nounced to join BNP-M.

Meanwhile, it is also re-ported that Balochistan law-

yers on Thursday boycottedthe courts and took out protestrally on Thursday against theabduction of former AdvocateGeneral (AG) of BalochistanSalahuddin Mengal. Mengalwas kidnapped by unidentifiedarmed men from outside hishome in Raza Mohammad streeton Sariab Road.

Responding to the callgiven by the Balochistan BarAssociation (BBA) and HighCourt Bar Association(HCBA), legal fraternity didnot attend the court proceed-ings for complete day caus-ing great inconvenience tothe litigants. Earlier, BBAheld meeting Rehmatullah inchair and discussed futurecourse of action.—APP

Electricity loadshedding continues

to disrupt lifeSHER MUHAMMAD KHAN

MULTAN—The electricityload shedding continued todisrupt routine life in the cityon Thursday. The feeders inurban limits of Multan(Peraan Gaib Power Station)are conducting 12-hour shut-down while stretching be-yond 14 hours in rural areasof MEPCO (Multan ElectricPower Company). Sourcestold to Pakistan Observerthat national grid and theTharmal Power Station(Muzaffargarh) were facingsevere shortage between de-mand and supply due to shut-down of major power plantsover the furnace oil fuelshortage.

The officials of theMEPCO have the view thatthe PSO is not providing usthe furnace oil properly dueto this they were facinghurdles to supply the elec-tricity to the Multan city. Thedemand and supply gap onThursday was hoveringaround 7000MW whichmeans 14 hours average loadshedding across the country.Hydel power plants, IPPs andGencos are jointly sharing10,000MW in energy basket.Around 600MW, from theavailable generation goes toKESC on daily basis whilesome 1500MW are fixed forVVIPs feeders. The remain-ing 8000MW is being distrib-uted among five power dis-tribution companies ofPunjab, two in Sindh and oneeach in KPK, FATA andBalochistan.

Balochistan lawyers boycott courts against colleague’s abduction

BNP-M threatens boycotting elections

ISLAMABAD—Director Gen-eral Meterological Depart-ment Arif Mehmood has pre-dicted mainly dry weather inmost parts of the countryduring next 24 hours. Tem-perature is likely to rise inplain areas of the country.However, rain with thunder-storm is expected at isolatedplaces of Malakand, Hazaradivisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Temperature ofsome major cities recordedthis morning in Islamabadwas 15 degree centigrade,Lahore 19, Karachi 24,Peshawar 18 , Quetta 17, Gilgitand Murree 9 andMuzaffarabad 13 degree cen-tigrade.

Yesterday, rain lashed dif-ferent areas in Malakand,Hazara divisions and Kash-mir. Chief Amount of Rainfallrecorded during last 24 hoursin Dir & Parachinar was05mm, Chitral 03mm, SaiduSharif & Malamjabba 02mm,Kohat, Kotli and Lower Dir01mm. The KP Met Officehere Thursday predictedthunderstorm rain at isolatedplaces of mountainousMalakand and Hazara divi-sions during next 24 hours.

According to Met Officehere, continental air is prevail-ing over most parts of the

Weather to remain drycountry and that a shallowwesterly wave is also persist-ing over northern areas. Innext 24 hours, mainly dryweather is expected in mostparts of the country, howeverrain-thunderstorm is expectedat isolated places ofMalakand, Hazara divisions,Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan

whereas day temperatures arelikely to rise in plain areas ofthe country.

The weather ofAbbottabad and Malakanddistricts will remain partlycloudy with chances of rainwith thunderstorms at isolatedplaces during the said period.In next 48 hours, mainly dryweather is expected in mostparts of the country, howeverrain-thunderstorm is predictedat isolated places of Malakand,Hazara divisions, Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan. Dry weatherremained in most parts andisolated rain-thunderstormoccurred in Malakand, Hazaradivisions and Kashmir.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—District admin-istration arrested 95 personsincluding butchers and steaksellers for violation of meatholiday from different partsof the provincial metropolis,said a press release issuedhere on Thursday. Accordingto details Deputy Commis-sioner (D.C) PeshawarMohammad Javed Marwathave received complaints re-garding selling of meat onholiday and its cooking inrestaurants.

The DC while expressingsevere anguish over thematter also convened anemergency meeting, whichbeside Assistant Commis-sioner (A.C) SikandarZeeshan was also attendedby all additional assistantcommissioners of the dis-trict. During the meeting, DCdirected all additional assis-

tant commissioners for initi-ating indiscrimination actionagainst all butchers, restau-rants and hotels for violationof the holiday while A.CSikandar Zeeshan was ap-pointed focal person for theoperation.

Following the directivesof D.C, Additional AssistantCommissioner (AAC)-I,Habibullah Arif while takingaction Nauthia, StadiumChowk, Gulberg, FawaraChowk, Khyber Bazaar andShoba Bazaar in the jurisdic-tions of Police Station EastCantt, West Cantt andGulberg arrested five per-sons while AAC-III, AbdulNaseer Khan arrested 30 per-sons including butchers andhoteliers from Kabuli Bazaar,Qissa Khwani, Karimpura,Sikandar pura andHashtnagri in the jurisdictionof police stations KhanRaziq and Hashtnagri.

95 arrested for violationof meat holiday

HYDERABAD—Political ac-tivities started gaining pacein three national and six pro-vincial assembly constituen-cies of Hyderabad district asscrutiny of nomination pa-pers continued for the thirdday running. All political par-ties who have fielded theircandidates have set up theirelection cells and offices indifferent areas to carry outelectioneering. Hyderabad,second most populated dis-trict of the Sindh, also outnumbers other eight districtsof the electoral region, with atally of 9,23,373 voters thatincludes 5,09,719 male and4,13,654 female voters, ac-cording to the statistics is-

Political activities pick up paceas scrutiny process continues

sued by Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP).

For three national assem-bly seats, NA 219, NA 220and NA 221, total 122 candi-dates had filed nominationpapers. Scrutiny of the can-didates is under way thatwould continue till April 7,followed by filing of appealsagainst acceptance or rejec-tion of nomination papers.Revised list of candidateswould be published on April18. Meanwhile political par-ties would finalize the namesof their candidates and de-vise election strategies.

On the third day of scru-tiny returning officers ac-cepted 84 nomination papers,

among them 24 for National and60 for Sindh Assembly, while 4were rejected. Main candi-dates, who got their nomina-tions accepted on Wednesday,include Sharjeel Memon, Pa-sha Qazi, Ali Ahmed Sehto,Mehboob Abro, KhalidMaqbool Siddiqui, KunwarNaveed Jameel, Tahir MajeedRajput, Sahibzada ShabeerHussain Ansari, AbdulWaheed Qureshi andAkhlaque Ahmed Khan Lodhi.According to the data ob-tained from the Regional Elec-tion Commissioner’s office 262polling stations and 889 poll-ing booths were proposed for302,248 registered voters ofNA 219 Hyderabad.—APP

SWAT: Social Activists Naseem Chattan and other women hold a demonstration against thetorture by police on the journalists in Swat and registration of fake cases against them.

BUNER—At least 3 peopledied while 5 other sustainedinjuries in a road accidentnear Buner district, PTV re-ported Thursday. The rescueteams and police reached thescene and shifted the injuredto the District HeadquartersHospital. According to re-ports, the wedding party ve-hicle was overturned due tofast speeding. Police haveregistered a case and startedvestigation.

Dalbandin: Two realbrothers were gunned downover an old enmity on Thurs-day in Dalbandin area ofChagai district. According toLevies force, the victims were

Two brothers killed in Dalbandin

3 die, 5 injured in a road mishapidentified as Haji Tahir andHaji Waheed Ahmad were onway to home when armed as-sailants opened indiscrimi-nately fire on them due to overan old feud. As a result, bothbrothers received multiplebullet wounds and died on thespot.

Faisalabad: A man was hitto death by a train in MillatTown police station limits onThursday. Police said NaeemAhmad of Bhai Wala wascrossing tracks when the trainhit him. Resultantly, Naeemdied on the spot. Meanwhile,a movie-maker was killed whilea child received injuries dur-ing aerial firing in a wedding

ceremony here on Thursday.According to police, Naseemwas making movie of a mar-riage function at Khurpalawhere guests resorted to aerialfiring.

Meanwhile, a stray bul-let hit Naseem in his headwho died on the spot while aminor child, Shafiq, receivedinjuries and was shifted to ahospital. Kasur: A minor wascrushed to death by a loadeddonkey cart in a nearby townIllah Abad here on Thursday.According to police sources,Shabnam 3 was run over bya donkey cart while playingin the street, as a result shedied on the spot.—APP

GUJRAT: PML-Q candidate from NA-105 Ch Pervez Elahitalking to media after the scrutiny of his nomination pa-pers for the upcoming general elections.

89 Afghannationals held

QUETTA—Frontier Corps(FC) detained 89 Afghan na-tionals who were travellingwithout legal documents un-der foreign act in Nokundiarea of Chagai district. Lev-ies force said Thursday thatthese Afghan nationals wereapprehended from passen-ger coaches during checkingat check post by FC. Later,they were handed over toFederal InvestigationAgency (FIA) for further in-terrogation.

Zhob: Security forces ar-rested four Afghan nationalswithout having legal traveldocuments, sources said.According to the details,Frontier Corps (FC) person-nel arrested four Afghan na-tionals, when they were trav-eling in a car AYR-927 fromQuetta to Dera Ismail Khanvia Zhob on Radio Pakistancheck post. Sources saidnone of the arrestedAfghanis had their validtravel documents.—APP

RAZA NAQVI

ATTOCK—As many as 184polling stations, out of total788, have been declared verysensitive for the election -2013,where army and Rangerswould be deployed taking oth-ers extra security measures toensure holding of May 11’selection process in very peace-ful and discipline manner. Itwas disclosed by the districtReturning officer (DRO)Attock Mujahid MustaqeemAhmed while briefing localnewsmen here on Thursdayabout the major key’s mea-sures for election-2013.

The DRO MrMustaqeem, who is also thedistrict and Sessions JudgeAttock, has informed that outof total 184 sensitive (A-cat-egory) polling stations, the42 polling stations are in NA-57 Attock-1, 98 in NA -58Attock-II and 44 are in NA-59 Attock-III. Owing the situ-ation, the six companies ofArmy and 10 companies ofRangers have already been

demanded from the con-cerned higher authorities ofthe government for it provi-sion to ensure foolproof se-curity of such sensitive poll-ing stations, he further said.Whereas about 5000 person-nel of the Police and eliteforce would also be de-ployed for election securityduties, he maintained.

Code of conduct of electioncommission of Pakistan (ECP)for election -2013 is being imple-mented in very smooth manneras the chief election commis-sioner has given free hand tothe judiciary, police and execu-tive in it implementation in let-ter and spirit and also initiatingstrict legal action on any viola-tion with zero tolerance. Evenhonourbale Chief Justice ofPakistan, a day back, have alsoespecially instructed the all ju-dicial officials, who were as-signed for the election’s con-duct, for holding of free, fair andtransparent election process onany cost as it is prime task andobjective to conduct electionunder the judiciary’s supervi-

sion, he said. Due to strictimplementation of ESP’s pre-scribed code of conduct, so farnot a single complaint of anyviolation was either reportedfrom any contesting candidateand citizen or come into the no-tice of monitoring teams, whichformed to keep check and vigi-lance on the violations acrossthe district, he claimed.

He has also warned thegovernment officials particu-larly locals to keep themselvesaway from the electioneeringand avoid their direct and in-direct interference in theelection’s process or supportto any intending candidate.Otherwise he would face strictlegal punishment and evencould be expel from the ser-vice, he cautioned. Whereasthe all intending candidateshave already been given veryloud message to the all intend-ing candidates to fully followthe described code of conductof election particularly displayof publicity material, otherwiserelevant action will takeagainst them.

184 polling stations declared sensitive

RAWALPINDI: Kids and Teachers of Littlefellow Day Care and Montessori celebratingMehfil-e-Melad function at their school.

Disenchantment ofyouth with democracyAS elections are fast approaching, a survey has indicated extreme

disenchantment of the youth with the existing system of governanceas an overwhelming 96 percent of those surveyed said the country

was heading in the wrong direction. Such is the frustration of youth, asdemonstrated in British Council sponsored survey “Next Generation Goesto the Ballot Box” that almost a third said they would prefer military rule todemocracy. Thirty-eight percent favoured Shariah as compared to 29% whochose democracy as the best system for Pakistan.

Democracy is considered to be the best form of Government and thishas successfully been demonstrated by many countries of the world.Churchill once said “Democracy is the worst form of government, exceptfor all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” He wasessentially saying that democracy has many flaws and problems but allother forms have more problems. In fact, there is nothing wrong with thedemocracy and of course, with the type of democracy that our country haschosen to follow but the real problem is the people who are supposed togive practical shape to the democratic traditions, values and principles.The disappointment displayed by the youth during the course of the surveyis understandable as they themselves witnessed the joke that the rulersplayed with the country during the last five years in the name of democ-racy. We have been frequently hearing the slogan, ‘democracy is the bestrevenge’ but unfortunately people of Pakistan have become victim of thisrevenge as their plight has become worse as compared to what it was fiveyears ago. There has been a steep fall all around and people got almostnothing except total breakdown in law and order, rising crime graph,skyrocketing prices, all-pervasive corruption, economic mismanagement,energy crisis and above all the havoc played with institutions – big orsmall. The survey should, therefore, serve as an eye-opener for not onlythe interim Government but also the future administration emerging outof next elections. Hopefully, clean people would come forward as a re-sult of the process of screening and they would take steps to restore confi-dence of the people in democracy and politicians.

PTCL defaultersreflect feudal mindsetMEDIA reports indicate that most of those who have submitted nomi

nation papers for National or Provincial Assemblies owe huge duesto PTCL and there is mad rush to clear these dues to become eligible tocontest elections. Thanks to the strict scrutiny process that is helping theprestigious institution of Pakistan to realize otherwise risky receipts as de-faulters included influential and well-connected people.

PTCL is only one example as same is the case with WAPDA, SuiGas, rest houses, tax departments and banks who were unable to realizetheir dues from these wealthy but powerful class. This is reflective of thefeudal mindset of digesting public money considering it as their birthright. This loot and plunder of the national wealth is going on for decadeswithout any substantial checks and this is for the first time that an at-tempt is being made to establish rule of the law. The same class is treat-ing the poor with disgust, meets out all sorts of injustices to commonman and misuses power and authority for personal gains. This is timethat people of Pakistan should reject money and land grabbers and thosewho have been plundering national resources. But we may point outthat the process has to be expanded as it is not just the parliamentariansand those seeking to become elected representatives that owe dues todifferent organizations but there are other sections of the society aswell that are sitting over billions of rupees. Some of the former minis-ters and advisors are still occupying official accommodation, misusinggovernment resources and even issuing instructions to their previousministries. At least, caretakers should set good precedents by ensuringacross the board application of rules, regulations and laws.

Karachi fastreturning to normalcyTHOUGH stray incidents of killings are still taking place but on the

whole the situation is limping back to near normalcy in Karachi. Ac-cording to police some unidentified terrorists hurled explosive material onto a moving Rangers van as it was about to enter the base on Wednesdaykilling four personnel but it appears to be a reaction to the arrest of twoterrorists and a target killer of fifty persons in the city the same day.

Police and Rangers are busy in operations to nab the hardened crimi-nals and reportedly they have achieved some success. Since the caretakergovernment took charge and the law enforcement agencies got a freehand, a number of arrests have been made and it appears that many havegone underground fearing that their political masters would no more beable to come to their rescue. We strongly believe that if the law enforce-ment agencies are determined and have the resolve to uproot the gangs,no criminal could challenge the writ of the state. There is general im-pression among the people of Karachi that the situation in the city isreturning fast to normalcy as the incidents of firing, target killingsand kidnapping have shown a downward trend. While the electionsare fast approaching foreign diplomats are keeping a close watch onthe law and order situation. On Saturday last British High Commis-sioner Adam Thomson while inaugurating a UK beauty care retailerin the city also promoted Pakistan as a key place for British businessto invest. He said Pakistan has the potential to be primary target forBritish brands who want to benefit from this relatively untapped mar-ket. All these are encouraging developments and we hope that byMay 11,2013, the law enforcement agencies would be in control of thesituation in Karachi for peaceful and orderly elections.

When businesses become WMD

No man thinks thereis much ado aboutnothing when the adois about himself.

Symbols,substance

in MEOne of the sore spots in the

foreign policy of US President Barack Obama has

been his relationship with Israel.The special relationship betweenWashington and Tel Aviv has beenone of the cornerstones of US di-plomacy, a lodestar for US presi-dents since the founding of the stateof Israel. The strength of that rela-tionship reflects Israel’s status asthe first and strongest democracyin the Middle East, the alliance withthe US and, to the consternation ofsome, the power of the Israeli lobbyin Washington.

Since taking office, Mr. Obamahas been accused of ignoring Israeland showing favouritism towardthe Palestinians. In one of his firstoverseas trips as president, he wentto Egypt to deliver a speech thataimed to re-establish the US rela-tionship with the Arab and Islamicworld. Ever since, critics havecharged that Mr. Obama is less thancommitted to the defence of Israel,pointing to his criticism of Israelisettlements and statements that en-dorsed returning to borders thatexisted before the 1967 Arab-Israelwar. Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu made commoncause with those critics to increasehis leverage in negotiations withMr. Obama. The result has beenconsiderable tension between thetwo men. In truth, Mr. Obama’scommitment to the defence of Is-rael has not wavered. His overturesto the Islamic world reflected a de-sire to undo the damage done bythe Bush administration’s globalwar on terror. He kept a distancefrom the Middle East peace process— although he created a specialenvoy to the negotiations — be-cause neither Israelis nor Palestin-ians were ready to take hard stepsneeded for a durable peace. Cogni-zant that the region has long been agraveyard of US diplomats’dreams, Mr. Obama decided to pre-serve his diplomatic capital untilcircumstances indicated that therewas a real chance of success. Thatmoment is not yet here. But dynam-ics in the region, along with his re-election, demanded that he refocuson the Middle East, and a visit wasoverdue. The trip had several ob-jectives. Mr. Obama had to win theconfidence of the Israeli people,and assure them — and others —of the strength of their relationshipwith the US. At the same time, hehad to make the case for the Pales-tinians without suggesting thatthere is a zero-sum relationshipbetween the two.

He needed to remind all coun-tries of the region that the US re-mains a credible and potent force.And, related to that, he had to re-mind Iran that it remains the focusof concern and that Tehran has notbeen able to divide the coalition offorces that is determined to stop itsnuclear ambitions. And while manyPalestinians faulted him for notingthat the state of Israel is permanent,he still made a powerful case forPalestinian statehood and the needto restart the peace process. A visitto the West Bank shored up the po-sition of Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas relative to that ofHamas, his rival that controls theGaza Strip. A final stop in Jordan,a long time US supporter, demon-strated commitment to old friendsin the Arab world, as well as sup-port for peaceful democratization.Mr. Obama’s promise to provide$200 million to ease the plight ofthe 400,000 refugees from the vio-lence in Syria is another importantsign of US determination to stayinvolved and relevant to the region.Some will note that Mr. Obama’ssuccess is the product of low ex-pectations.

True, his trip was initially por-trayed as something of a touristvisit, more symbol than substance,but his efforts have signalled UScommitment and focus. He hasagain shown the ability to reach outto both sides in a conflict while alsodemonstrating US resolve. Thequestion now is whether Mr.Obama will follow up and committhe resources — both personnel andtime — to push for progress. USSecretary of State John Kerry is setto return to both Israel and Pales-tine to press for the resumption ofpeace talks. Deep engagement byMr. Kerry will be one sign that Mr.Obama is now committed to sub-stance rather than symbolism whenapproaching this intractable prob-lem. — The Japan Times

MEDIA WATCH

—Anthony Trollope British novelist

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are feared forthe immense loss of life

that they can cause, once unleashed.Thus far, the term has referred tochemical, biological and nuclearweapons used in situations of con-flict. However, the reality is that sev-eral hundreds of thousands of deathsof innocents get caused by agenciesthat are pampered and protected bythe very governments that constantlytalk of (someone else’s) WMD.These are businesses dealing in com-modities important to life, such aspharmaceuticals. Huge pharmacompanies based in the US and Eu-rope have for the past two decadessought to prevent competitors inpoorer countries from developingand marketing medicines asefficaceous as the ones the pharmagiants peddle, but which often costless than 10% of the prices chargedby NATO Bloc-based entities andtheir allied states.

Each year, millions die of dis-eases that could have been cured, butonly if the treatment were afford-able. The pharma giants who arebased in countries which daily lec-ture the world about “human rights”and “civilisational values” gouge thesick by making available their prod-ucts only at very high prices. Take

Foreign interests in Pak elections

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: magazinesocialdiary@hotmail.com

The strategic location of Pakistan, its vicinity to the Straitof Hormuz, its close proxim-

ity to China, India, Iran and Af-ghanistan, make it viable for foreignintervention. With the war in Af-ghanistan, drawing to a close andthe scramble for vested interests tosecure the energy corridor from theCentral Asian States to the ArabianSea, make Pakistan a juicy targetfor control. Foreign occupation hasgiven way to foreign interventioninstalling a pliable government inIslamabad so that vested interestscan continue to call the shots.

Pakistan’s eastern neighbourIndia has a vested interest as to whowill hold the reins of the next gov-ernment. Iran would be interestedtoo but would not meddle inPakistan’s domestic politics sinceit can backfire on Tehran. China hastremendous interests in Pakistan butit does not need to worry as anyfuture political dispensation inIslamabad too would continue toharbour excellent relations with thePeople’s Republic of China and se-cure PRC’s interests. That leavesthe US of A and the UK.

As the election date in the coun-try approaches closer, a tremendousincrease in diplomatic maneuvering,social activity and interaction is be-coming pronounced. Foreign diplo-mats especially those hailing fromUK and US are leaving no stoneunturned to collect significant infor-mation pertaining to seat adjust-ments, political alliances and an-nouncement or making of the caretaker cabinet in the future set up de-signed to conduct the general elec-tions in the country. Their social con-tacts and socio-political interactive

sessions are mainly focused onkey political figures and insid-ers of different political parties.Such meetings of political lead-ers with foreign diplomats ob-viously carry serious implica-tions for the state of Pakistan

with long-term repercussions for thepeople of Pakistan. Unfortunately owndomestic media remains dormant onthis significant development ignoringnational interests. This also exhibitstheir general trend to remain indiffer-ent to palpable national cause and in-directly facilitate foreign influence inown political system.

There is a dire need for domesticmedia to get involved in the execu-tion of transparent, free and fair elec-tions in Pakistan. Whereas it is theprimary duty of the Election Com-mission of Pakistan to ensure that thegeneral elections in Pakistan are freeand fair, but media is the watchdogof the society. It is very much in-volved in the electoral process but itis fulfilling only its secondary andtertiary responsibilities. It is generat-ing debate among the various partici-pants; thrashing out various issuesand presenting the contestants in theelections’ views and stance on the is-sues so that the voters can decide towhom they should present their vote.However, there is a need to generatemedia response on the interactivemeetings of foreign dignitaries (dip-lomats) with the key political figuresat a time when the elections arearound the corner. Our media houses,both print and electronic must focuson forestalling foreign influence onown political system. Some cases inthe point are: US officials of politi-cal section, US consulate Lahore in-cluding Mr. Michael Gray PoliticalConsular, Zahir Shah Durrani Politi-cal Advisor and Consulate General(CG) herself have increased interac-tion with political figures of differ-ent political parties. Mostly meetingsare held at Consul General’s resi-dence, politician’s residences and

even at different restaurants of thecity. Frequent meetings between MsNina Maria (CG) and different poli-ticians have taken place whileMichael Gray, Political Consular UsConsulate and Mr. Rick PoliticalConsular US Embassy, Islamabadhave been discussing political situa-tion in the country with different po-litical figures. On 23rd February2013, a delegation from British HighCommission Islamabad, visitedLahore and held meetings with SyedIhsan Ullah Waqas, Liaqat Balochand Farid Paracha, (JI), MianManzoor Ahmed Watto (PPP), MsAsma Jahangir (Former PresidentSCBA/President HRCP), MianImran Maqsood (PML-Q), NajamSethi (Journalist and now caretakerChief Minister of the most populousprovince Punjab), Ishaq Dar (PML-N) and Senator Jahangir Badar (PPP).

A high profile delegation headedby US Ambassador Richard Olsonand Robert Menandez Chairman Sen-ate Committee for Foreign Affairsvisited Lahore twice and met politi-cians including Mian Nawaz Sharif.Some politicians from all major po-litical parties act as informers for USand UK diplomats. These includeRana Mashood Ahmed (PML-N),Fawad Ch (PPP) and Umar SarfrazCheema (PTI).

Office of CM Punjab offers ex-ceptional protocol to US ConsulateLahore. Foreign Services Nationals(FSN) of US Consulate are used tointeract with politicians and bureau-cracy. In order to hide the informationon interactive meetings of foreign dip-lomats, political parties use office ofSecretary Information to suppress thenews on electronic media. SimilarlyUS Consulate also uses its office ofPress Attaché’ and FSN to stop thepress in highlighting the subject meet-ings. A different type of foreign inter-vention has been observed. On 24thMarch 2013 a few selected Pakistaniswere conferred with “Foreign Friendsof Bangladesh Award” by Bangladeshi

the Swiss-based Novartis asan example. Presumably, theprincipal shareholders of thecompany belong to theChristian faith. It is likelythat they would be regularchurchgoers and that theywould be making small (inrelation to their total wealth)donations to charity in orderto make themselves believe

that they are moral human beings.However, by placing individual

profit above social needs, they are be-traying the example of Jesus Christ,the scourge of the money changersin the temple, who insisted that heand his followers should voluntarilylive a life of poverty. For the pastseven years, Novartis has engaged thehighest-priced lawyers in India toprevent domestic companies fromproducing medicines for cancerwhich it claims infringe upon itspatent for a drug,Glivec.

In common with other pharnagiants based in the NATO bloc andthat alliance’s ancillary partners,oncethe patent on Glivec expired,Novartismade a few small changes in its com-position and passed off the resultingvariant as a new drug, thereby merit-ing a fresh patent. Shamefully, sev-eral authorities and even courts inselected countries accepted this trans-parent effort at squeezing the lastbanknote of profit from the deaths ofthousands condemned because theycannot afford the extortionate priceof Glivec, which is reported to costnearly US$ 60,000 for a year’s treat-ment, or a hundred times more thanthe India-produced substitutes thatNovartis was seeking to drive out ofthe market Hundreds of thousands ofvictims of AIDS are alive today be-

cause Chairman Hameed ofCIPLA,an Indian pharna companywith conscience and not greed at itscore,is producing anti-AIDS drugs ata small fraction of the prices chargedby US and European companies.Hameed is saving lives that less scru-pulous companies do not careabout,because they have no money,the only attribute which the ownersof such WMD in corporate form careabout. This has made CIPLA a targetof several vicious legal and mediaattacks designed to drive the companyout of business. Shamefully,the Eu-ropean Union is seeking toblocktranshipment through its terri-tory of low-cost medicines bound forAfrica,by the use of legal and admin-istrative measures which are openlyprotectionist.

Of course, no human rights”campaigner in Europe or the US caresto hold the bureaucrats of Brussels toaccount for seeking - albeit indirectly-the deaths of thousands in Africa bydenying them access at an affordableprice to life-saving drugs producedin India Former President of the USB Ill Clinton, who during the 1990sensured the freedom from regulationof US financial giants that led directlyto the 2008 meltdown, controls foun-dations with a corpus reported to bein excess of US$ 16 billion. BecauseClinton has not yet made public thesources of funds for his enterprises,there is no public record of how muchpharna giants engaged in keeping theprices of formulations beyond thereach of the common man have con-tributed to his kitty. Certainly whilein office Clinton ensured that cheapersubstitutes for extortionately priceddrugs were denied access to US mar-kets in the same way as they were

banned in the EU. The principal rea-son why the healthcare system in theUS is helping to bankrupt the coun-try is because of the control that hugedrug companies have overpolicymakers across both sides of theAtlantic. The only way that healthcarein both the US as well as the EU canbe made affordable is to source medi-cines and other services from the manylow cost but high quality providers thathave sprung up in countries such asIndia. However, instead of followingsuch a citizen-friendly policy, govern-ments in countries which constantlysermonize to the rest of the world part-ner with the few against the many,securing profit to a handful in ex-change for misery to millions.

Those pharma companies whichplace greed above morality claim thatthe high prices are needed to ensureresearch costs get covered. This ar-gument is false. Much of the researchtakes place in government-fundedlabs rather than in those of the druggiants.Also,much of the researchdone by the latter get carried out inThird World locations where staff arepaid a pittance compared to what theircounterparts earn at home. Were theUN - especially its human rights wing- less deferential to NATO and itsallies,an investigation would getlaunched into the way in which Cor-porate WMD has killed innocentlives by ensuring that prices of es-sentials such as food and medicationsoar beyond the reach of the over-whelming mass of humanity. How-ever, such a day seems distant, at best.—The writer is Vice-Chair,Manipal Advanced ResearchGroup, UNESCO Peace Chair &Professor of Geopolitics, ManipalUniversity, Haryana State, India.

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh HasinaWajid. The recipients of awards fromPakistan were mainly those whosefathers had opposed Army Action inthe erstwhile East Pakistan and sup-ported the Indian supported seces-sionist movement spearheaded byMukti Bahini. The award of late FaizAhmed Faiz was received by MsSaleema Hashmi who obliged herhost by resorting to anti Pakistanrhetoric, which was music to the In-dia leaning Bangladeshi Govern-ment. She said,” The Pakistan Gov-ernment should formally apologizefrom the people of Bangladesh forthe atrocities committed by Pakistanoccupation army during the War ofIndependence in 1971”. Virtuallywithin days of her anti Pakistan state-ment in Bangladesh, she was selectedas a Minister in the interim PunjabGovernment by Najam Sethi, whohimself had remained embroiled inanti state activities during the Balochinsurgency of the seventies. The el-evation of these individuals to promi-nence in the care taker set up despitetheir well known anti state bent ispuzzle that is hard unravel. It has onlyencouraged the people who leave nostone unturned to defame Pakistan tofurther their agenda even on foreignplatforms and or at the cost of belit-tling the nation.

The people of Pakistan havelearned a lot from their past experi-ence. The voters hopefully will casttheir votes with intelligence and sin-cerity and elect the right people forthe right job. The political candidatestoo must have learnt their lesson bynow and realized that holding publicoffice is a trust and once elected, theycannot abuse that trust. To upholdtheir electability, they must serve theconstituencies they represent andwork hard to uplift their state.—The author, a retired PAFGroup Captain, served as Air &Naval attaché at Riyadh and iscurrently a columnist, analyst andTV talk show host.

Sultan M HaliEmail: sm_hali@yahoo.com

M D NalapatEmail: mgnalapat@gmail.com

GeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalnotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from India

Voice of the PeopleSocial solidarity is one of the

principles that Islam has established to enable man to lead a

decent life. Solidarity among Mus-lims is a Shari‘ah-based obligation,enjoined by Allah Almighty in theQur’an and in the Sunnah of theProphet (Peace and Blessings Beupon Him). The greatest obligatoryduty in this time is to work for theIslamic Unity. The Islam has broughtimportant duties and rules which re-sult in Mutual Assistance. Islam is areligion of brotherhood, kindness,cooperation and solidarity. SocialSolidarity in Islam is one of the basesof society through which it canachieve its permanent happiness,goodwill, security, unity, and peace.Simply, each member of societyshould help those in need so that theycan lead even the least decent life andmeet their basic needs.

Just as loyalty and sincere devo-tion to Allah, brotherhood and soli-darity are the important attributes ofbelievers. In order to preserve thisbrotherhood and that mutual love,Islam introduced matter that main-tains the human dignity of the soci-ety by imposing the amount by whichthe poor’s need could be met. Each

Solidarity in Muslim communityUtilise Thar Coal

DR ALI AKBAR DHAKAN

Sindh has a big coal deposit suit-able for generating electricity andother applications. It is about 98 percent of the total coal deposit in thecountry. It is better than lignite coalbeing used for power generation inmany countries in the world. Itsheating value is about 6,000 btu/l.b. which exceeds about 8,000 btu/l.b. on drying of coal, and heatingvalue increases to over 10,000 btu/l.b.The share of coal in power gen-eration globally is 37 per cent,which is the highest as comparedto other fuels. The share of coal inelectric power generation in Asiawas 26 per cent in 1980, which roseto 45 per cent and is projected togo up to 60 per cent in 2020.

Until the 1960s coal was thesingle largest source of primaryenergy. Large discoveries of oiland gas in Sindh resulted in mas-sive switchover from coal to fur-nace oil and gas. However, onceagain there is a shift back to theuse of coal as a major source ofenergy. It has been observed thatSindh coal is suitable for electricpower generation, cement indus-try, sugar industry and other ap-plications like steel mills. In south-ern parts of Sindh, Thar coal de-posits are the largest in the worldand are sufficient to meet fuel re-quirements of the country. It is,therefore, suggested that the Sindhgovernment must simplify proce-dures and encourage environmentfor private investments.

In this way Sindh can achieveobjectives of self-reliance and saveforeign exchange required for im-port of fuel. If coal is used in placeof oil and gas, the cost of produc-tion in manufacturing/processingindustries will be cut. This will leadto massive economic activity in thecountry, generate direct and indi-rect employment and business op-portunities. The Sindh governmentshould immediately start work ondeveloping coal mines in Thar, aswell as coal-based projects withthe help of private sectors. TheSindh government must also pro-vide the required facilities to theprivate sector including duty-freeimport of the plant and machinery,Establishment of coal processingand distribution companies; incen-tives for upgrading infrastructure;allocation of special funds for ex-ploitation of Thar coal and estab-lishment of coal-based power gen-eration plants.—Karachi

Chitral forestsbeing plunderedREHMAT ALI JAFFAR DOST

Chitral is the largest district ofKhyber Pukhtunkhwa and greatlyimpacts the environment in thecountry due to its geographical lo-cation. The Chitral river, known inrest of the country as the Kabulriver, originates from the north ofChitral and contributes to meetingwater requirements in KhyberPukhtunkhwa, as well as in otherregions. Owing to the greenery andpeaceful environment, large num-bers of local and foreign touristsalso visit this paradise on earth toenjoy local festivals of the district,such as Shandur festival, QalQaqlash festival and many otherevents in Kalash valleys.If there isany unrest in the country in theform of terrorist activities and mili-tancy, Chitral is the only area whichprovides a little bit of relief to thepeople to enjoy their summer va-cation in the district and enjoy thenatural beauty of the area.

Unfortunately, the previous ad-ministration gave a free hand to thetimber mafia that led to terrific de-forestation in this district in the pastfive years. Although environmen-tal activists brought this problemto the notice of the then KhyberPukhtunkhwa administration, notangible efforts were made to con-trol the ruthless cutting of greendeodar trees in the forest of Chitralby timber contractors, in collabo-ration with the forest department.Even now the practice is inprogress. Recently the district for-est officer, Chitral, accorded sanc-tion for marking (artificial harvest-ing) different sections of forests,which is regarded as a legal tech-nique of deforestation and hiddenweapons in the hands of the timbermafia to annihilate forests in con-nivance with the forest department.

Basically the Forest Develop-ment Corporation (FDC) intro-duced artificial harvesting of dis-eased, dry standing and windfalltrees in order to enhance regenera-tion of plants to provide a suitableenvironment for green trees. Thetimber contractors benefited fromthis weak and impracticable strat-egy of the Forest DevelopmentCorporation and ruthlessly cutgreen trees instead of dry standingor diseased or windfall trees so that

Lower Judiciary & justiceSANA ASHRAF ROSHAN

This is apropos of the letter ‘Need to observe institutional balance’ by Abraiz Muzaffar Shaikh (March 28). Indeed, there is a

dire need to maintain institutional balance in judicial authority. Onthe one hand, the Supreme Court takes suo motu notice which iswithin the ambit of the constitution. Such notices are also in favourof the vast majority of the people. The Supreme Court’s stance onShahzeb murder case and arrest of three accused of corruption likeTouqir Sadiq testify the above fact. On the other hand, there is bothdelay and denial of justice in the lower judiciary. While people mustbe provided with prompt and quick justice, they roam aimlesslywithin the boundaries of the courts. Sometimes, in the pursuit ofjustice, they have to grease the palms of not only judges but alsoreaders and peons of the court. There is, therefore, a dire need tomake the lower judiciary active and dynamic. The policies of ChiefJustice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry are in conformity with theidea of dispensation of quick and prompt justice. But there is still aneed to ensure pragmatic and concrete efforts in this connection.—Sukkur

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

are requested to typetheir letters legibly withdouble spacing and only onone side of the paper.

—Editor

they could get financial benefitsfrom this illegal business. Duringharvesting the forest department of-ficials should monitor timber con-tractors but unfortunately they do notdo it properly. Thus the timber mafiaplays havoc with Chitral’s forests.Chief Minister Justice (r) TariqParvez should take notice and haltartificial harvesting in Chitral till thecompletion of the inquiry.—Chitral

Make Pak betterSUMAIRA AHMED

Hopefully, elections will be heldsoon if there no disrupting incidentsoccur to postpone them. Since thecountry is passing through a verycritical time, it is the duty of everyable man and woman to cast theirvote. Generally, people think that ifan individual refrains from castinghis/her vote it would not make anydifference. This is a false perceptionfor, if everybody thinks this way,there would be a very poor turnouton election day, and unworthy can-didates would likely be elected,which would result in further dete-rioration of the very infrastructureof our beloved country. You, as acitizen of Pakistan, do not want thisto happen. You are dreaming of bet-ter conditions to prevail in the coun-try, and for that you by now musthave decided which candidate or po-litical party to choose. Your dreamwill only come true if you and othercitizens like yourself cast their votes.

The appointment of JusticeFakhruddin Ebrahim to the electioncommission is a positive step. Letus pray that other election officialsand workers also play a fair game,and that there is no rigging — physi-cal, electronic or digital. The com-ing elections will decide the futureof the country, which is presently inturmoil and riddled with multipledomestic problems and a poor inter-national image. There is not a daywithout an incident of a bomb blastor target killings, bringing sheer dev-astation and loss of human lives. Avast majority of the people are pov-erty-ridden, living in unhygienicplaces, unable to get even the basicnecessities of life like clean, uncon-taminated water and proper educa-tion for their children. Then there isextreme shortage of affordable orfree medical facilities, scarcity ofelectricity and gas, lack of job op-portunities for the youth who do nothave any link with influential peopleand soaring prices of everyday com-modities. Corruption and briberyprevail everywhere and there is nosecurity for lives and properties.

It is said that the prosperity of anation is directly proportional to thecontentment of the people; and ourpeople are not content. Pakistanneeds sincere, conscientious, knowl-edgeable and incorruptible leaders inthe government who understand theplight of the people and are preparedto take radical steps towards the bet-terment of the nation and the people.It is now up to you, the people, tochoose the right candidates withoutbeing pressurised by powerful, cor-rupt people so that the new govern-ment is comprised of dedicated per-sons, working for the bright futureof the country.—Via email

Politicalinstability

MUHAMMAD SALEEM

The territorial issues and border con-flicts with India, the socio-economicdifferences within the country, thestruggle for a share of power betweenthe provinces and the early death ofthe founder of Pakistan MohammadAli Jinnah, are some of those reali-ties which not only politicized thepolicy making elites and their will-ingness in introducing the fair demo-cratic procedures but also encouragedthe non-democratic elements in thecountry including the army. Even af-ter 63 years, as a corollary, the coun-try could not get cleaned from feu-dal, tribal, punchayt system and sec-tarian segregation. In this grim situa-tion the public has been left untutored

Pakistan squanders British aid

For years, campaigners andcharities have told us thatspending more on aid is the way

to reduce poverty and improve gov-ernance in poor countries. Our poli-ticians have fallen in line: the suddenlargesse for DfID will ensure thatBritain keeps a cross-party pledge tospend 0.7 per cent of national incomeon overseas development.

So we are about to discover whathappens when a big country givespro-aid campaigners just about every-thing they have wanted for years.Now we should find out whether aiddoes indeed “work”. First things first:DfID’s budget increase will certainlydo much good. By 2015, Britishmoney will have helped to vaccinate55 million children against killer dis-eases and put nine million throughprimary school.

The truth is that the governmentsrunning the countries concerned of-ten have the money to achieve all of

the above. They could educate andvaccinate millions more childrenwithout a penny from us. But theydon’t because they choose instead tospend their national budgets in dis-graceful ways. Put bluntly, they relyon us to fund useful things, like healthand education, while they spend theirown money on guns and palaces.

Take Pakistan, which will get£450 million from DfID in 2014/15,making it the biggest recipient of Brit-ish aid in the world. Some of that willgo to the “Benazir Income SupportProgramme”, a welfare scheme pro-viding money to poor families. Theclue to the possible problem lies inthe name: “Benazir” is BenazirBhutto, the late prime minister whosehusband is now president and whosePakistan People’s Party runs the gov-ernment. It would require almostsaintly forbearance – something forwhich Pakistan’s politicians are notwidely famed – for the ruling partyto refrain from using cash handoutsin the name of their assassinated stan-dard-bearer to win votes in nextmonth’s election. DfID has already

been accused of inadvertently fund-ing the PPP’s re-election campaign.

But leaving that aside, the prob-lem in Pakistan is not that the statelacks money to build schools and helpthe poor. Instead, the central issue ishow the government spends its re-sources. Pakistan’s national budgetfor 2012/13 shows that 54 per centof all federal public spending goes onthe army and debt servicing. Educa-tion, meanwhile, receives only 1.9 percent. Still more egregiously, only atiny minority of Pakistanis bothers topay tax. In a country with 180 mil-lion people, fewer than 860,000 con-tribute anything from their incomes.

President Asif Ali Zardari, whosepersonal finances are famously com-plicated, set a notable example in2011 by failing to file a tax return. Inthat year, 35 out of 55 Pakistani cabi-net ministers paid no income taxwhatever, along with 251 out of 341members of the National Assembly.If Pakistan’s fabulously wealthy poli-ticians actually paid tax – and if thegovernment spent less on the army –then it could fund everything that

David Blair

male and female Muslim should takeinto consideration the fact that thewhole Muslim Nation, both individu-als and Governments,have the responsibil-ity of solving the cri-sis of poverty, corrup-tion, and iniquity suf-fered by millions ofMuslims all over theIslamic World. Weshould take the initia-tive and encourageone another to en-hance social solidar-ity. Thus, we wouldbe able to be absolvedby God on the Day ofJudgment as we exertevery effort to en-hance donation and justice, which isthe least of faith.

The Qur’an tells that all believ-ers are brothers; they are the peoplesharing the same feelings who strivefor the same end, adhere to the samebook and struggle to reach the samegoal. The Prophet Muhammad,(Peace Be Upon Him) said: “He isnot a believer who goes to bed hav-ing eaten his fill while his neighbourremains hungry and he is aware of

Views From Abroad

in the kind of vigilance usuallyneeded to hold political leaders ac-countable. Pakistan failed to estab-lish a stable democratic governmentdue to constitutional conflict. Due topolitical instability, Pakistan’s eco-nomic and social growth has beencurtailed. The root cause of Pakistanpolitical woes lies in its feudal sys-tem and the winner-take-all approachto governing that has been practicedby successive civilian and militaryleaders. The Muslim League thatbrought independence to Pakistan,lacked internal democracy.

Once partition and statehoodhad been achieved, provincial andlocal political parties confinedMuslim League just a paper-party.There were no opposition party tocounter Muslim League initially,but latter on, Muslim league itselfwas disappeared. Coupled with thepolitical legacy of Muslim League,the civil and military bureaucracy,that was of much importance dueto its scarce number, gained somuch power that they depressed thepolitical institution. The constitu-tion-less 10 years-history from 1947to 1956-was an ill exercise of thepolitical actors, which invoked themilitary to interfere in the politics.

The judiciary has also dual strat-egies all over the history. Mostly therole of the judiciary has been vul-nerable. It has always provided a so-called legal way to the dictators toassume the power. The constitutionhas been abrogated many a time withthe help of the judiciary. Beside thejudiciary and Army’s role in politics,the intelligence agencies have be-come a major actor on the nationalpolitical scene. In these situationhow a true democratic governmentwould be formed to realizes thedreams of the great Quaid? Anotherelements which has vitiated the de-mocracy in Pakistan is violence inpolitics. The patience require for ademocratic system is highly tackingin almost all the parties and theirleaders. Democracy accommodatesthe presence of dissent party. De-mocracy is the product of wishes ofthe people and not of the desires ofan elite few. But political player ofPakistan could not do so. Illiteratevoters, family ties a among politi-cians and feudalism has constraineddemocracy in Pakistan.

The nation political partiesshould embrace a new spirit of co-operation and constructive opposi-tion, moving beyond out dated con-frontational and self-defeating streetaction and walk-outs and boycottpolitics to engage in vigorous politi-cal debates free of violence.—Karachi

Crisis all aroundMIR MURTAZA HUSSAIN

I would like to draw the attention ofthe concerned authorities includinga typical reader who reflects effec-tively on usual living incidents. Oursociety lacks in management in ev-ery institution, from the governmentto the Private sector. Political insta-bility cannot be phrased as the rootfactor of mismanagement, As theSense Of Responsibility is the bit-ter reality lacking in our society re-sulting in many of the crisis such asHealth issues, Poverty, illiteracy,Economic Crisis and Energy Crisisetc. The Budget from the initialshould be revised wisely and equal-ity should be kept in concern. Sec-ondly payment of taxes and utilitybills on time will also support astrong state. The state should be cor-ruption free and lucid form of circu-lation of money in society should bemade a habit. But the most impor-tant of all is to develop the sense ofresponsibility in every one as it isthe key factor of success.—Karachi

that fact.” Also, He (Peace Be UponHim) said: “If someone grows hun-gry among residences of a town, God

and His Messengerwill reject them.”Simply, each memberof society should helpthose in need so thatthey can meet theirbasic needs. The Al-mighty Allah says: Oye who believe!Spend out of (thebounties) We haveprovided for you, be-fore the Day comeswhen no bargaining(will avail), norfriendship nor inter-cession. Those who

reject Faith- they are the wrong-do-ers (Al Baqra Verse 2:254).

As a servant, any Muslim pos-sesses true sincerity and helps thepoor and needy, even if he himself isin need, even giving up the things heloves (Surat al-Insan: 8). In Surat adh-Dhariyat: 19, which reads, “And beg-gars and the destitute received a dueshare of their wealth,” Allah has re-vealed that rendering assistance, help-ing others and doing good are all in-

For many years my youngerone ended her prayers saying,“Lord send your guardian an-

gels to guard over mummy, daddy,my sister and myself!”

I could imagine her visuallypicturing the angels standing guardover all of us, and I am sure theydid, because I’ve always felt thepresence of a protective force: Iwonder how children think of an-gels, and here below are a few

thoughts expressed by children aboutthese divine beings: I only know thenames of two angels, Hark andHarold: Gregory, age 5. Everybody’sgot it all wrong. Angels don’t wearhalos anymore.

I forget why, but scientists areworking on it: -Olive, age 9. It’s noteasy to become an angel! First, youdie. Then you go to Heaven, and thenthere’s still the flight training to gothrough. And then you got to agreeto wear those angel clothes. -Mat-thew, age 9. Angels work for Godand watch over kids when God hasto go do something else.-Mitchell,age 7. My guardian angel helps mewith math, but he’s not much goodfor science. -Henry, age 8. Angels

don’t eat, but they do drink milk fromHoly Cows -Jack, age 6. Angels talkall the way while they’re flying youup to heaven. The main subject iswhere you went wrong before you gotdead. Daniel, age 9. When an angelgets mad, he takes a deep breath andcounts to ten.

And when he lets out his breathagain, somewhere there’s a tornado.-Reagan, age 10. Angels have a lot todo and they keep very busy. If youlose a tooth, an angel comes inthrough your window and leavesmoney under your pillow.

Then when it gets cold, angels gosouth for the winter. Angels live incloud houses made by God and hisson, who’s a very good carpenter. -

Guardian Angels..!Jared, age 8. All angels are girls be-cause they gotta wear dresses andboys didn’t go for it. -Antonio, age9. My angel is my grandma whodied last year. She got a big headstart on helping me while she wasstill down here on earth. -Ashley ~age 9. Some of the angels are incharge of helping heal sick animalsand pets. And if they don’t makethe animals get better, they help thechild get over it. -Vicki, age 8.

What I don’t get about angelsis why, when someone is in love,they shoot arrows at them. -Sarah,age 7. I’ sure angels above arelaughing at some of these you’vejust read..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

cumbent upon Muslims. Today theworld of Islam is in an exceptionalsituation. There are about one andhalf billion Muslims having uniqueenvironmental, geographical, natu-ral and human capacity could forma great and united group, but are di-vided. Muslims are facing persecu-tion and subjected to killing likewhat is happening to the Muslimsin Myanmar, and Palestinians.Western colonial powers are stilllooting the riches of the Muslims.

All Islamic nations must beunited. Strenuous efforts should bemade to help upgrade religious soli-darity and dialogue among Muslimnations across the globe. Excellencein knowledge, research and innova-tion is imperative for the Muslimworld to reclaim its rightful placein the international arena. Islamicworld must defeat injustice andcounter extremism through a uni-fied solution and urged all Muslimsto embody the values of Islam. OurReligion, our nation, our countriescan only be protected from allkinds of dangers and enemiesthrough the enormous Power gen-erated by the religious brotherhoodand solidarity of Muslims.

DfID provides many times over.And that raises the most crucialquestion of all: does the fact thatwe step in and pay for schools andhospitals make it easier forPakistan’s elite to dodge tax andspend money on weapons? Thegreat danger is that we end up per-petuating the grotesque way inwhich Pakistan’s governmentsquanders the nation’s resources.

What would happen if westopped giving aid to Pakistan?Would rich Pakistanis suddenly de-velop a conscience and pay tax?Would the generals relax their gripand allow more spending onPakistan’s schools? The reality, ofcourse, is that the men who rule thecountry are so rotten that they arecontent to let their people suffer. Andso we pay up in order to at least miti-gate the consequences of their amo-rality. Far from being an act of vi-sionary idealism, DfID’s budgetwindfall is actually a bleakly realis-tic gesture. In truth, the case for aidis profoundly pessimistic.— Courtesy: The Telegraph

Prospects of fair elections

The country is fast approachingthe elections 2013 due to thecompletion of the 5 years ten-

ure of the present PPP governmentand the prevailing circumstances arequite depressing and alarming. Theeconomy is in bad shape, the law andorder situation is precarious, terror-ism is rampant and gloom and uncer-tainty prevails amongst the citizens.On the surface, it looks as if the com-ing elections will be like all previouspolls and the result would be in theform of a loose coalition government.Obviously, all Conventional politi-cians will return to the assemblies andthe Jagirdars, waderas, mill ownersand the other mafias will misgovernthe country, as usual. It is howeverpertinent to take note of those inter-nal and external factors which maybe the cause of a welcome change inthe political culture. These factors are:

Internal Factors: Awarenessamong the masses about their rightsand responsibilities. Role of an en-lightened media which is not onlyeducating the masses but also actingas the vigilant watchdog. Pro-activeJudiciary which is now acting as theguardian of the state , its constitutionand the people. The active role (rather

proactive role) beingevolved for the youngergeneration which is begin-ning to realize its obliga-tion in the well-being andcontinuation of the state ,its integrity , ensuring a

better standard of living for the com-mon man and enlarging the scope aswell as quality of education amongstthe masses. Consensus among all po-litical parties to defeat the menace ofterrorism. Neutrality of the establish-ment in the process and will to en-sure free and fair election

External Factors: Likely end ofthe war in Afghanistan and subsequentdeparture of US & NATO forces fromAfghanistan. Emergence of Afghani-stan as an independent and sovereignstate. Realization in India that theycannot isolate or encircle Pakistan andthat they have to befriend Pakistan formutual benefits of both countries.Realization in the USA that Pakistanhas a special place in the communityof Nations and that it’s peculiar ‘geo-political’ position renders it “relevant”to the peace process in the region. Thefact that we have been accepted as aresponsible nuclear state / power byall countries of the world includingthe UN. Chinese firm support to theintegrity, solidarity and viability aswell as economic stability of Paki-stan. As a recent example we haveseen the Gawadar port being awardedto the Chinese. Change in the attitudeof Russia towards Pakistan and treat-

ing in the perspective of an indepen-dent nation rather than in the previ-ous perspective of ‘the enemy of its‘close friend’ Bharat. Affirmation ofspirit of brotherhood and mutual sup-port between Iran and Pakistan aswell as Turkey.

If we take a deep and long –termview of the above factors, we see aquantitative and qualitative change inthe total internal and external per-spective of and the better prospectsof our country. The internal factorspoint towards maturity, strength, self-reliance and confidence in our ownexistence, well being and prospectivecontinued improvement in the level,style and quality of life. The externalfactors indicate the worlds acclaimof our country’s independence, vi-ability, credibility and pro-active rolein the overall well being of all na-tions. Our relationship with neigh-bors, trade partners and even adver-saries is a clear proof of our resolveto exist as an independent, sovereignand self-respecting state whichknows how to co-exist under all cir-cumstances.

We need to do something in ourpart to ensure that the best advantagecomes out of the critical yet verymuch needed process of elections:Firstly, on our own, we must do alldo that we can to ensure that we keepthe process peaceful and calm. Sec-ondly, we must realize the value ofown ‘vote’ and the far reaching im-pact it is going to have on our lives

and those of coming generations.Thus, we must vote for the candi-date and party who really deserve“to represent” us as our true electedrepresentatives. Thirdly, it is notenough to go all alone to cast ourvote, it is necessary that we convinceothers to also cast their votes andput their share in shaping the des-tiny of our country. Finally, we mustbe positive and fair in assessing thesuitability of persons and parties tak-ing part in the electoral process. Pastperformance, present profile, valueand content of the promises beingmade as well as credibility of theprospective candidates need to becarefully studied.

Of course it is essential to keepin mind that Pakistan came up onthe map of the world by “divine”will and the contribution of all per-sons in carving out an independentnation was incumbent upon this na-tures designs and process. Let usput our share in ensuring that ourcountry continues as an indepen-dent, sovereign and respected mem-ber of the international community.Let us not be counted amongst thosewho opposed and earned the wrathof nature in trying to harm Pakistan.Let positivity glow out of us andshun negativity out of our lives. Restassured that Pakistan is moving for-ward towards a vibrant bright andglowing future, Insha’Allah.—The author is a Dubai-basedsenior columnist.

Rakhshanda PakistaniEmail: rakhshanda rakhshy@gmail.com

The Spirit Of Islam

Shaukat M Zafar

LAHORE: PML-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif chairing a meeting with KP and Balochistan ParliamentaryBoards of the party.

UK aid increase to Pak linkedwith better tax collection

From Page 1Pakistan’s poor.”

The Government plans toincrease its £267 million bi-lateral aid programme in Pa-kistan, which has one of thesmallest tax bases in theworld, for the financial yearthat ends today to £446 mil-lion in 2014/15.

During their inquiry, MPswere told that while one inthree people in Pakistan liveon less than 30p a day,around 70% of the nation’sMPs do not file a tax return.The committee indicated itwants Prime Minister DavidCameron to push for actionon corruption and tax eva-sion with Pakistan’s leader-ship and called for the Gov-ernment to use its influencewithin the International Mon-etary Fund to press for ur-gent reform of the tax system.

It criticised the Depart-ment for International Devel-opment (DFID) for failing toput action to tackle corrup-tion, frequent absences inthe rule of law and low taxcollection at the top of the

agenda for its governancework in Pakistan.

The committee also saidit was sceptical of the “scal-ing-up” of DFID’s maternaland new-born healthprogramme, which is aimed atcutting the number of deathsamong babies and new moth-ers by training communitymidwives, after it was givena “very poor review” by in-ternational assessors.

It also found that while theGovernment believes educa-tional programmes would helpcounter extremism, the con-nection was “unclear”. Mean-while, Islamabad’s failure tocollect income tax makes Brit-ish aid harder to justify, saysThe Times in an editorial onThursday.

The newspaper furthersaid that:British aid to Paki-stan is set to double to about£450 million a year by 2015.Pakistan will thus become thebiggest recipient of UK over-seas aid. Quite apart from theobvious humanitarian as-pect, there are good reasons

for the British Government toprioritise Pakistan.

Aid is a form of diplo-macy, and it is strategicallyvital that Pakistan is not takenover by those actively hos-tile to the West. Improvededucation, which accountsfor half of the UK aid sent,can provide a vital bulwarkagainst extremism. Pakistan isa potentially large market forBritish exports. Moreover,the two countries share his-toric ties. There are more thanone million British citizens ofPakistani descent.

A stable, enlightened,healthy and prosperous Pa-kistan while admittedly manyyears away would be of con-siderable benefit to Britishtaxpayers, just as it would beof rather more benefit to Pa-kistani taxpayers. Unfortu-nately, members of the lattergroup are a rare breed. Ben-jamin Franklin’s dictumclearly does not apply inKarachi or Lahore. Death maystill be certain; taxes are any-thing but.—AP

held on all the four elementsof nuclear disarmament‚ non-proliferation‚ arms race inouter space and negative se-curity assurances. Replyingto a question‚ the spokesmansaid Pakistan and China havenormal cooperation in civilnuclear matters. He alsopointed out that the civilnuclear cooperation betweenthe two countries is in fullcompliance of the regulationsof the International AtomicEnergy Agency.

To another question, hesaid Pakistan and India areengaged in different waysand channels and compositedialogue was centre piece ofthat process.

He told a question thatForeign Ministry is in con-tact with Interior Ministryand Punjab Government inconnection with autopsy re-port of an Indian prisoner whodied in Lahore. —NNI

FO: Non-proliferationprocess must be

non-discriminatoryFrom Page 1

The Water and Power Minis-ter said in addition to im-provement in power genera-tion, he asked them to keep awatch on water availability forirrigation. He said increasedwter supply would improveagricultural production.

Dr Mussadiq said thoughhe was looking after the minis-try for a limited period but theneed was to take decisions hav-ing lasting and far reaching im-pact in improvement of powersector. He said every one willhave to join hand to do some-thing for the country and itspeople.—INP

Minister askedofficials to achieve

targets or leaveFrom Page 1

port in this regard.Earlier, Lieutenant Gen-

eral Muhammad AlamKhattak, Commander of theSouthern Command, briefedthe COAS regarding securitysituation and developmentprojects being undertaken bythe Army in Balochistan, itadded.—INP

Army welcomesall-inclusive

electionsFrom Page 1

CJ directs ROsnot to succumbto any pressure

From Page 1

elections were made by theElection Commission and hisministry will follow thatpolicy in letter and spirit.

Nizami said there wereforums like Pakistan Elec-tronic Media Regulatory Au-thority (PEMRA)‚ ECP itself‚Press Council of Pakistanand the court. If somebodyor party feels that media wasbiased‚ they can approachthem.

The minister said thestate media should adopt abalanced approach and main-tain a level of neutrality inreporting events.

To a question‚ ArifNizami said holding of freeand fair elections is the toppriority of the interim gov-ernment.

The minister alsochaired media chiefs meet-ing also attended by Secre-tary Information AghaNadeem and senior officialsof Ministry.

Information Minister wasalso given briefing about elec-tion coverage by PTV inIslamabad. The Minister ap-preciated the PTV policy.

No restriction onmedia in name of code

of conduct: NizamiFrom Page 1

be cleared even after opera-tions were conducted in the‘no-go’ areas. Justice ArifHussain Khilji said in his re-marks that the report appearsto indicate that either theRangers had submitted mis-leading statement or that theywere complicit.

During the previous hear-ing, top law enforcement of-ficials who had failed to con-trol criminal activities in thecity were severely repri-manded.

The officials had admit-ted before the apex courtbench that their men lackedthe ‘will’ to combat the grow-ing number of militants andgangsters in the city. Thiswas on account of sluggishfollow-up of cases of theircolleagues who had beenkilled by criminals.

The Supreme Court hasbeen hearing the matter per-taining to the implementationof its 2011 verdict in the suomotu notice taken onKarachi’s worsening law andorder situation.

SC ordersend to

Karachi‘no-go areas’

From Page 1

165 Pakpattan in the 2008election.

Similarly, a District andSessions Judge inBahawalpur declared formerlawmaker Amir Yar Waran,associated with the PPP as aproclaimed offender for pos-session of a fake degree. Thecourt also ordered the freez-ing of his assets. The localcourt had issued arrest war-rants against the former law-maker on Wednesday. More-over, a local court in Quettareserved its ruling in a casepertaining to possession offake degree against formerprovincial minister fromBalochistan Mir Ali MadadJattak.

Jattak of PPP was electedas a member of BalochistanAssembly’s PB-5 constitu-ency. Education certificate ofShaikh Waqas Akram, ex-fed-eral minister for educationand a leader of the PakistanMuslim League (N), has beendeclared fake by the HigherEducation Commission onThursday. Source said thatCambridge University hassaid that it has no record ofWaqas’s record with them.

An Inter-Board Commit-tee submitted its finding tothe HEC in which Waqas’s‘A-level’ has been termed asfake. It may be mentionedthat Waqas Akram had notsubmitted his O-level certifi-cate. Waqas is the first high-profile leader whose educa-tional certificate has beendeclared dubious. Severalmembers of the former na-tional and provincial as-semblies are already behindbars on charges of submit-

ting fake degrees.Prominent politician

Faisal Saleh Hayat and AbidHussain Imam, son of politi-cians Syeda Abida Hussainand Fakhar Imam, on Thurs-day joined the list of electoralcandidates whose nomina-tion papers are rejected by theElection Commission of Pa-kistan. The nomination pa-pers of both candidates wererejected over allegations ofstealing electricity and irriga-tion water.

Hayat, belonging to Pa-kistan Muslim League-Quaid(PML-Q), had filed his nomi-nation papers to contest elec-tions from his hometownconstituency NA-88 inJhang, Punjab. Having wonprevious polls from the sameconstituency in 1988, 1990,1993, 2002 and 2008, the PML-Q leader was considered astrong candidate to win theMay 11 polls also.

Imam, who was contest-ing the elections for the firsttime, was also disqualified forthe said reason. Faisal SalehHayat, after hearing the un-expected news by the return-ing officer in Jhang, has al-leged Imam for being behindthe disqualification. The lat-ter denies the allegation.

In Sukkur, Returning of-ficer has not approved nomi-nation papers filed by PPPcen-tral leader and formerfederal minister KhurshidShah being objected and hassummoned the latter on April6 on this count. KhurshidShah had filed nominationpapers from NA-199 and PS-04 Sukkar while ShahzadaDreho advocate raised objec-

tions over the papers.He pointed out that

Khurshid Shah concealedthe facts about his assets,therefore, he be proceededagainst under section 193PPC and section 177/1999.Shahzada Dreho pointed outin his application thatKhurshid Shah had recordedprice of his bunglow locatedin DHA Karachi as Rs 3.5million and his plot at Sukkaras Rs 1.2 million in nomina-tion paper filed by him in2008. But in the nominationpapers filed now he had men-tioned price of his bungalowas Rs 1.9 million and price ofplot less than Rs 1.2 million.This way Khurshid Shah hasgiven false statement; there-fore, he is not eligible to con-test the polls under article 62and 63, the applicant said.

InPeshawar, formerKhyber Pakhtunkhwa SportsMinister, Syed Aqil Shah hasbeen sentenced to one yearin prison and three thousandrupees fine in the fake degreecase against him. Shah wassentenced by additional dis-trict and sessions JudgeSheibar Khan on Thursday.Aqil Shah was elected as anMPA from PK-4 constitu-ency of Peshawar.The formerMPA was arrested by policepersonnel at the conclusionof the hearing.

Meanwhile a non-bail-able arrest warrant hasbeen issued for formerMPA Mir BadhshahQaisrani and verdicts havebeen reserved in fake de-gree cases against JamshedDasti, Ali Madad Jatak andJavaid Hasnain Shah.

Elections 2013: Screeningbegins in body politic

From Page 1

Ayaz Amir’snomination

papers rejectedFrom Page 1

journalist raised objectionson some of my columns,claiming they were againstthe ideology of Pakistan andIslam,” he said.

According to the Con-stitution of Pakistan, onecannot be a member of Par-liament if he “violates Is-lamic injunctions,” or has“worked against the integ-rity of the country or op-posed the ideology of Pa-kistan.”

“This is the first time inPakistan that nominationpapers have been rejectedon the basis of journalisticwrit ing. Not everyonewrites weekly columns. I’mamong the few who do, I’mnot sure if this would beapplicable to other candi-dates.” Regarding his fu-ture course of action, Amirsaid he would file an appealagainst the decision.

KARACHI—Chief of the Na-val Staff Admiral MuhammadAsif Sandila Thursday con-ferred military awards on Pa-kistan Navy officers and menin an impressive investitureceremony held here at BahriaAuditorium.

The recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) are Vice Ad-miral Shafqat Jawed, ViceAdmiral Sayyid Khawar Ali,Vice Admiral Tahseen UllahKhan and Rear AdmiralSaleem Akhtar.

Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military)was awarded to CommodoreShahid Habib, CommodoreAltaf Habib, CommodoreImran Saeed, Commodre AliAbbas, Commodore AsifKhaliq, Commodore AyazAhmed Nasir, CommodoreArshad Mahmood Khan,Commodore Baber BilalHaider, Commodore Mateenur Rehman, Commodore AsimRaza, Commodore M SohailAhmad, Commodore MIshaq, Commodore BaburSattar and CommodoreNaveed Ahmed Rizvi.

Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Mili-tary) was awarded to Capt.

Dr. Muhammad Junaid Khan,Capt. Syed Hashim RazaRizvi, Commander HamidShakil, Commander JamilAkhtar, Commander Atif IjazDar, Commander MuhammadZia, Commander Mahmood ulHaq, Commander ArshadMehmood, Commander S MAmir Ahtesham, CommanderKhalid Habib, CommanderSaqib Ilyas, CommanderLiaqut Ali, Commander SyedMuhammad Khalid, Com-mander Zahid Rauf, Com-mander Zeeshan Shahid,Lieut Commander OzairAbdul Latif, Lieut Com-mander Muhammad Zubair,Lieut Commander KashifMehmood, Lieut CommanderRana Saeed Ahmed and LieutCommander Muzaffar AminShah. Tamgha-i-Basalat wereawarded to Commodore MSohail Ahmad, SurgeonCommodore Najm us SaqibKhan, Capt. Azhar Naeem,Commander MohammadShahzad, CommanderShahzad Hamid, Lieut Com-mander Aijaz Ahmed, Lieu-tenant Farrukh Naveed, Lieu-tenant Abdullah Gulzar, Lieu-

tenant Bilal Hasan, Sub LieutMaqsood Tabasum,Mohammad Ali CMA(OT),Tasawar Hussain CDA-I,Fazal Muhammad CDA-I,Muhammad Khalid PervezCDA-III, Muhammad AnwarHameed MGA(G)-III, KhaliqHussain CDA-IV, ShahidNaseer MGA(M)-IV, NazirBadshah L/MAR, ShoukatKhan MGT(G)-I, Tahir HabibLPM, M Saleem Akhtar LPM,Khalid Farooq CDT-I,Mazhar Hayat CDT-I, AbidAli PM, M Haroon STD-I,Izhar Hussain MAR-II andAli Raza PM.

In addition, 20 Tamgha-i-Khidmat (Military) Class-Iwere awarded to PN sailors.Muhammad Nawaz AsimMEA-III was declared thebest sailor of the year 2012whereas Muhammad IshaqDraughtsman and S NehalAhmed LM were proclaimedthe best civilian employeesof the year 2012.

The ceremony was at-tended by a large number ofserving and retired officers ofthe Armed Forces and fami-lies of the award winners.

Military awards conferredupon officers, men

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Q senior leaderChaudhary Pervez Elahisaid PML-Q will defeat PPPand PML-N candidatesfrom NA-104 and NA-105while the alliance of PPPand PML-N will not suc-ceed against them.

He was talking to themedia after acceptance ofhis nomination papers fromNA-61 Chakwal and NA-105 Gurjat.

Pervez Elahi said the realcontest in Gujrat is betweena party doing nothing andone performing. “PML–Nand PPP are contestingjointly in NA-104 and NA-105against us, in other wordsthey are coalition against usbut on 11 May 2013 we willbe victorious with huge ma-jority,” he added.

He said PML-Q servedthe people during its ten-ure in the government andthey would continue thesame in future.

Elahi optimistic forNA-104, 105 seats

ISLAMABAD—A four-mem-ber committee comprisingrepresentatives of Ministryof Water & Power, Financeand Petroleum and chairedby Principal Secretary toPrime Minister (PSPM) has

been constituted to reviewthe entire power sector andsuggest recommendationsso that the issues relatingto power generation anddistribution can be ad-dressed.

This decision was takenin a meeting chaired by PrimeMinister Justice (R) Mir

Hazar Khan Khoso at PrimeMinister’s house on Thurs-day afternoon. The meetingwas also attended by repre-sentatives from Ministry ofPetroleum, Water and Power,Finance, WAPDA and Paki-stan State Oil (PSO) and se-nior officials of PrimeMinister’s Secretariat. —INP

PM forms 4-member committeeto resolve power crisis

OGDC kidnappedengineer killed

LAHORE—Dead body of kid-napped engineer of Oil andGas Development CompanyLimited (OGDCL) was foundfrom Nullah in Lahore whilepolice have arrested a womanamong three accused onThursday.

District Superintendentof Police (DSP) AtherFarooqi said that a womanamong three accused havebeen arrested for their allegedinvolvement in kidnappingand killing of the OGDCL en-gineer. The police said thatthe accused have also con-fessed their crime.—INP

have to deliver equal justiceto both the voters and can-didates.

The CJ said that theprogress of any nation islinked to the continuity of ademocratic system. In orderto achieve this, principles willhave to be strictly followed,he stressed.

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Many eye-brows were raised when theCricket Australia (CA)wished to keep their list of30-probables for the forth-coming Champions Trophysecret, but ICC doesn’t findit a big deal.

“Custom and practice isthat countries announcetheir provisional squads 60days before the first ball isscheduled to be bowled inthe tournament. But thisisn’t compulsory”, Sami ulHasan, the ICC’s media of-ficial said from Dubai.

Announcing 30-probables forICC event is not compulsory

“Our National SelectionPanel have a strong idea ofthe 15 players we expect toselect for the ICC ChampionsTrophy and CA doesn’t seethe value of raising public ex-pectation by publishing thenames of a group of playersoutside that core group thatcurrently don’t feature in theNSP’s thinking for that tour-nament”, Philip Pope, the CAofficial said from Melbourne.

“There is no ICC require-ment for individual Boards topublish the ‘long-list’ of 30names, which are taken bythe ICC for administrativepurposes”, he added.

“For your backgroundonly, having worked for a

major National OlympicCommittee previously, Iwould point out to you thatlarger NOC’s like the Brit-ish Olympic Association(for whom I used to work)do not release the ‘long-list’of possible athletes thatthey submit to the Interna-tional Olympic Committee(IOC) for IOC’s administra-tive purposes in advance ofthe Olympic Games. TheseNOC’s only publish the se-lected athletes who qualifyand are confirmed as se-lected by the NOC for theOlympic Games. So this ap-proach is quite common inother major global sportingevents”, he explained.

HYDERABAD: Director Colleges Shahida Parveen Abro awarding a prize to a winning player during Sports Day atFG Girls College.

MADRID: Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain celebrates his goal against Galatasaray with captain Sergio Ramos andRaphael Varane.

ISLAMABAD—The PakistanCricket Board (PCB) de-cided that after the SouthAfrican tour ’s difficultiesthe team needs special fast

pitches for the trainingcamp for eight-nation Cham-pions Trophy to be heldfrom June 6-23.

The 10-day camp will beheld at Abbottabad, northof Islamabad, while legend-

PCB decides to train team onfast pitches as of England

ary paceman Wasim Akramwill lead a separate 10-dayfast bowling clinic inKarachi. Wasim will laterjoin the camp inAbbottabad for a few days,reported PTV.

Accroding to Experts,Teams from the sub-conti-nent raised on slow, drypitches have traditionallystruggled in countries likeEngland and South Africa,where condit ions offermore help to quick bowlers.

Team Pakistan needsfast pitches for the tourna-ment, in which Pakistanface the West Indies, SouthAfrica and arch-rivals Indiain the initial group stage.

Pakistani batsmen hadunsatisfactory tour on thefast and bouncy tracks inSouth Africa where theywere whitewashed 3-0 inTests and edged out 3-2 inthe one-day series lastmonth.

During the South Africatour batsmen struggled and

considering the venue ofthe Champions Trophy itwas decided that intensepreparation forthetournament is must forbetter performance of Paki-s tan.

Captain Misbah-ul Haqhad also suggested theteam should prepare on fastpitches for the tournament,in which Pakistan face theWest Indies, South Africaand arch-rivals India in theinitial group stage.

Defending championsAustral ia , England, NewZealand and Sri Lankamake up the other group.Former skipper WasimAkram will supervise acamp for fast bowler inKarachi before the nationalteam’s camp for the ICCChampions Trophy.

National team bowlersalong with upcoming andyoung bowlers will partici-pate in the camp, a PCBnews release said onWednesday.

Around 15-17 bowlersare expected to participatein the 10-day camp.

The decision to holdthe camp was taken duringa meeting of PakistanCricket Board (PCB) Execu-tive Coordination Commit-tee (ECC) held earlier thisweek. Akram will also jointhe national team camp inAbbotabad for a couple ofdays .

The ECC noted thatduring South Africa tour,batsmen struggled due tothe difference in pitch con-ditions. Considering the dif-ferent conditions at thevenue of the ICC Champi-ons Trophy, it was decidedin the ECC meeting that spe-cial pitches, which are closeto the English conditions,would be prepared for thetraining camp to help theplayers in preparation forthe tour.

The final dates of boththe camps will be an-nounced later.—APP

MADRID—Real Madrid tooka huge step towards reach-ing the Champions Leaguesemi-finals for the third con-secutive year as they beatGalatasaray 3-0 at theSantiago Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo got thehosts off to the perfect startas he calmly chipped homefrom Mesut Ozil’s wonderfulthrough ball after just nineminutes.

Karim Benzema thendoubled Madrid’s lead on 29minutes with a simple finishat the back post fromMichael Essien’s cross andGonzalo Higuain headedhome the third 17 minutesfrom time to seal a highly sat-isfactory evening for thehosts.

And Higuain said i twas important to build upa first-leg advantage to tryand take the st ing out oftheir t r ip to Istanbul onTuesday.

“We knew the returnwould be very difficult andthe truth is we can go therehappy because 3-0 is a veryfavourable result,” he told re-porters.

It was an especially goodnight for the Madrid strikersas both Benzema andHiguain silenced their criticsof late by finding the back ofthe net, but Higuain claimedhe hasn’t felt under pressureof late.

“The strikers are calm. Ihave already said the coachhas never pressured us withour goals but only with thework we do for the team.”

Galatasaray managerFatih Terim had signalled hisintent to attack by namingthe trio of Wesley Sneijder,Didier Drogba and BurakYilmaz in his starting line-up.

Real Madrid cruise to 3-0win over Galatasaray

However, as a result theTurkish champions giftedway too much for Madrid tocreate in midfield, with Ozilin particular shining in thefirst-half.

The German internationalset-up the opener as he re-ceived Xabi Alonso’s passbefore turning and feedingRonaldo to dink the ball overthe advancing FernandoMuslera for his ninth Cham-pions League goal of the cam-paign.

Drogba nearly producedan immediate reply for thevisitors as he spun RaphaelVarane on the edge of thebox, but with a clear sight ofgoal the Ivorian lashed wildlywide of the target.

However, that was open-ing up gaps that Madrid loveto exploit on the counter-at-tack and from anothersprightly break Ozil forcedMuslera into a good low

save.Drogba did hit the target

with another long-rangestrike that Diego Lopez couldonly turn behind for a cornerand Galatasaray had a goodclaim for a penalty turneddown when Sami Khediraappeared to handle inside hisown area.

Yet, they were still strug-gling to cope at the back andwent further behind whenEssien’s cross just evadedRonaldo but fell perfectly forBenzema to slot in off the nearpost.

Emmanuel Eboue had agreat chance to give Terim’smen a lifeline just beforehalf-time as he brokethrough on goal after a neatexchange of passes withDrogba, but the former Ar-senal defender fired his shottoo close to Lopez, whomade a comfortable save.—AFP

LAHORE—Pakistan CricketBoard doctors have saidSaeed Ajmal is “fully fit” andnot suffering from a hernia,as initially feared. Ajmal hadbeen suffering from pain inhis lower abdomen, suspect-ing he had a hernia, but a re-cent assessment by thePCB’s panel of doctors havecleared him. The panel hadsuggested he meet with asports hernia specialist in ei-ther England or Australia toget further clarification.

“As far as his hernia isconcerned, doctors haveruled out this possibility af-ter consulting his reports,” aPCB spokesman toldESPNcricinfo. “He is restingat the moment and is fully fitto play any upcoming se-ries.”

Ajmal, 35, has been suf-fering from mild pain in hislower abdomen for the lasttwo months and was sus-

Ajmal has no hernia, fit to playpected to have sustained ahernia. After the South Africa

tour, he was unavailable foralmost the entirety of theFaysal Bank Super Eight T20Cup. He featured in the finalagainst Sialkot Stallions, af-

ter doctors had cleared himto play.

Pakistan’s next major as-signment is the ICC Champi-ons Trophy in England inJune, with a few ODIs sched-uled prior in Scotland and Ire-land. Ajmal however, in anycase, is available for selec-tion.

The PCB’s doctors havebeen criticised for their han-dling of player fitness andinjury issues. Last year, be-fore the India tour, HarrisSohail twisted his ankle dur-ing a training camp at GaddafiStadium, but after an initialassessment, was cleared totravel with the team. He re-turned without playing anymatch on the India tour, butwas retained for the SouthAfrica Test series, where heredeveloped a strain in hisankle, and was subsequentlysent home without play-ing.—Agencies

CHARLESTON (South Caro-lina)—Ex-champions SamStosur cruised into the thirdround of the WTA Tour’sFamily Circle Cup Wednes-day, while Venus Williams hadto battle her way through.

The third-seeded AussieStosur routed New Zealand’sMarina Erakovic 6-1, 6-2 onthe green clay at Daniel IslandTennis Center.

Stosur won here in 2010,while Wozniacki claimed thetitle in 2011.

Stosur was playing herfirst match since withdrawingprior to the quarter-finals atIndian Wells in March with acalf injury.

“But as the match went onI felt really good and the wayI was playing all came to-gether,” Stosur said. “And ofcourse, I really enjoy playingon this court, so I always tryto do my best every time I’mout there.”

Williams, the fifth seedwho won the title here in 2004,had to work harder to get past19-year-old Puerto RicanMonica Puig.

Puig pushed the seven-time Grand Slam winner tothree sets, Williams-advanc-ing 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Yet another former cham-pion was taken to the limit asseventh-seeded JelenaJankovic, the winner here in2007, rallied to beat Frenchqualifier Caroline Garcia 5-7,7-6 (12-10), 6-3. Americanqualifier Mallory Burdettesurprised 15th-seeded 2009champion. Sabine Lisicki 3-6,7-6 (7/5), 7-5 in their second-round match.

Burdette booked a third-round clash with world No. 1and reigning Charleston

Stosur advances at Charleston

Wozniacki opens with win at Family Circlechamp Serena Williams.

Second-seeded CarolineWozniacki opened with astrong showing at the FamilyCircle on Wednesday, crush-ing Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1,6-1 for her sixth straight vic-tory here.

Wozniacki only enteredthe tournament Saturdaywhen a scheduled trip to Haitiwith boyfriend Rory McIlroywas postponed. The 2011

Family Circle championshowed little rust from herlast-minute decision to play.She broke Soler-Espinosatwice to win the final fivegames of the opening set.

Wozniacki continued touse her big serves — she tooka 3-1 lead in the second setwith an ace — to keep Soler-Espinosa on the defensiveand wrapped up the match in59 minutes..—AFP

Islamia Collegeclinch overall trophy

of BISEInter-College GamesPESHAWAR—Islamia Collegeclinched the overall trophy ofthe Board of Intermediateand Secondary Education(BISE) Peshawar Inter-Col-lege Boys Games in an An-nual Sports Day ceremonyheld here at BISE premises onThursday.

Secretary BISEPeshawar, Hakeem UllahKhan was the chief guest onthis occasion.Director SportsManzar Khan, Principals ofthe various participating col-leges, officials and playerswere also present.

Islamia College made aclear sweep by winning allmajor and minor games tro-phies and recorded morepoints for winning the gen-eral trophy.Two of the prom-ising players Abdul Wahaband Sami Ullah were declaredbest players of the Year 2012-13 and was also awardedcash prizes.

Islamia College woncricket winning trophy, fol-lowed by GC, Peshawar andSuperior Science College,Peshawar.

Islamia College also gotthe winning trophy of Foot-ball, GDC Landi Kotal andEdwards College Peshawarremained at third.

Winning the cross coun-try trophy, Islamia Collegealso won trophies of Volley-ball, Kabaddi, Handball,Lawn Tennis, Basketball,Hockey, Badminton,Squash and Table Tenniswhile got second positionin Cycling.—APP

Younis shouldquit int’l

cricket: RashidLAHORE—Former Pakistancricket captain, Rashid Latifhas suggested that formerskipper Younis Khan whowas dropped from Pakistan’sinitial squad of 30 players forChampions Trophy, to quitone day cricket and to takeup coaching of the nationalside.

“I feel that it is high timefor Younis to call it a day asfar as one day internationalcricket is concerned as hiscareers seems to be over inODI after being droppedfrom the squad “,he said onThursday .

The former wicket-keeper batsman was of theview that such a juncturecomes in every player’s ca-reer when he passes hisprime in a particular formatof the game and Younisshould retire from ODI andto serve the game in a dif-ferent role by taking upcoaching of the nationalside.—APP

Hockey: Pak U-16team routs China

in Asia CupLAHORE—Pakistan U16hockey team opened up itscampaign in the 2nd Asia U16Cup on a rousing note rout-ing China 16-1 in Singaporeon Thursday.

Pak young side domi-nated the game with persis-tent attacking and coordina-tion scoring goals on regularintervals, said the informationmade available here.

Pak goal scorers were,Muhammad Atiq (5 goals),Shan Irshad (4 Goals),Nohaid Zahid Malik (3goals), Junaid Kamal (1 goal),Adeel Latif (1 goal), JunaidManzoor (1 goal) andSikandar Mustafa (1 goal) =16.

On Friday, Pak team willplay two matches, at 0700hours (PST) and against Ja-pan at 1300 hours (PST).

The matches are beingplayed on a shorter arenawith each half of the game isof 12 minutes with two min-utes rest with four halves ofplay.—APP

KARACHI: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila congratulating Vice Admiral Shafqat Jawed afterhe conferred upon him Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) during investiture ceremony at Bahria Auditorium. (Story on Page-6)

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—As the naked ag-gression from across the Afghanborder continued unabated inPakistani Tribal belt, the Afghanmilitants’ fresh attack at a se-curity check post near Pak-Af-ghan border in Kurram agencyThursday morning seriouslywounded three security men. Inthe retaliatory fire the troopsgunned down five miscreantsand wounded equal number ofothers.

Reports reaching here fromKurram agency said the intrud-ers from Afghanistan armedwith sophisticated weapons am-bushed the security check postcalled as Bhatti post situated inAli Zai border village of LowerKurram agency around 5.30 in

Afghan Taliban ambushPakistani security post3 security men injured, 5 intruders gunned down

the morning injuring at leastthree men in uniform guardingthe Check post.

The security forces engagedthe trouble makers for more thanan hour that led to the killing offive miscreants and injuries tofive others.

“The Afghan Taliban at-tacked a security check post inLower Kurram early Thursdaymorning and injured three secu-rity personnel”, security officialssaid adding four militants werekilled and five of them were in-jured when the security forcesretaliated after the attack thatcontinued for an hour.

High-ranking security offi-cials reached the attack site andwere analyzing the situation.Several assaulters managed toflee from the scene after during

the clash with the securityforces. A number of ambusheswere launched on the securitycheck posts in Dir, Chitral andMohmand agency in the year2011 wherein according torough estimates over hundredsecurity men embracedShahadat and scores sustainedwounds. Scores of Pakistani se-curity men were martyred by theAfghan intruders during attacksin Dir, Bajaur, Mohmand andother areas.

While the Taliban militantshave paced up attacks on the Pa-kistani security forces striving tomaintain the government writ inthe troubled tribal belt, the cred-ible sources are convinced thatmost of the attacks are launchedeither by the Afghan Taliban orwith their connivance.

BEIJING—China, Russia andPakistan have agreed to makeconsented efforts to safeguardpeace, stability and security inAfghanistan and the region, andsupport the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process.

The agreement came duringthe trilateral dialogue on Af-ghanistan in Beijing.

The dialogue was chaired byDirector General of the Depart-ment of Asian Affairs of the Min-

China, Russia & Pak agree topeace efforts in Afghanistan

istry of Foreign Affairs of ChinaLuo Zhaohui, and attended by theRussian delegation led by SpecialRepresentative of the President ofthe Russian Federation for

Afghanistan Zamir Kabulovand Additional Secretary of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs ofPakistan Syed Ibne abbas. The 3sides had an exchange of viewson Afghanistan issue, the re-gional situation and internationaland regional cooperation on Af-

ghanistan. They agreed that thechanging situation in Afghanistanconcerns the regional stabilityand security.

The 3 countries also agreedto support the Shanghai coopera-tion Organization in playing agreater role on the Afghanistanissue and discuss increased co-operation on counter-terrorismand anti-narcotics within theframework of the Istanbul Pro-cess— Online

KABUL—New Zealand has sentan honour guard to Afghanistanto mark the withdrawal of NewZealand troops from the regionthis month.

A number of dignitaries arein Bamyan to formally closeKiwi Base, including the Gover-nor General, the Minister of De-fence, the Defence Force Chiefand Police Commissioner.

Earlier, in Kabul, the groupmet Afghan President HarmidKarzai, where the work of NewZealand’s provincial reconstruc-tion team was lauded.

“He was speaking at lengthabout our contribution,” Gover-nor General Sir Jerry Mateparaesays. “He knew a lot about whatwe were doing, he was quite keento reinforce that the Afghanpeople valued what we’d done. Iwas quite pleased that he’d un-derstood the commitment thatNew Zealand had made.”

And that commitment is cer-tainly not lost on Bamyan’s pro-vincial police chief who seemedgenuinely upset the Kiwis areleaving, saying he wished the

NZ officials in Afghanistanto mark end of mission

New Zealanders could staylonger. Last August NewZealand soldiers came to the res-cue of Afghan forces caught ina fire fight, reportedly savingmany lives.

New Zealand provincial re-construction team director JohnMataira says it’s understandablethe Afghans don’t want to seeNew Zealand soldiers go. “Wecertainly don’t blame them,they’re all somewhat nervousabout the future,” he says. “Therewas a survey done recently by theAsia Foundation that suggestedbetween 80 and 85 percent ofBamyan people were confidentabout their future and security.”

The New Zealanders cantake heart from that, and they’llbe taking a lot more as well. Atotal of 35 plane loads and morethan 100 truck loads of cargo willbe moved from Bamyan.

Two former Afghan inter-preters are also hoping they’ll bemaking the trip to New Zealand,despite being excluded from a re-settlement package offered tomany other interpreters.—INP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Caretaker Inte-rior Minister Malik MuhammadHabib Khan said on Thursdaythat the Pakistan Army will notbe directly deployed in the forth-coming general elections, but itwould be used as a “rapid re-sponse force” for the sensitivepolling stations.

Addressing a press confer-ence here at the Interior Minis-try, Habib Khan said his topmost priority will be to ensurethe holding of free and fair elec-tions in a peaceful environment.He said he will take some stepson the emergency basis for theelections.

However, he said, he willnot be able to set all the thingsright. He said he has asked all

Army to be used as‘quick response force’

in elections: Habibhis relatives not to seek anyfavours from him. The ministersaid provision of timely intelli-gence to the provinces will beensured, so that they could taketimely action. He said the pro-vincial governments were mak-ing plans for deployment ofArmy at the sensitive pollingstations.

He said he will not onlymake visits to certain areas, butwill address the problems aswell. He said he will take noticeof any incident happening any-where. He urged the law en-forcement agencies to givetimely spot information so thatprompt action could be taken.

Habib Khan said the provin-cial police chiefs will be fullyempowered, adding that he hasasked all the IGPs to work de-

cently. He said all the directionsof the Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP) will be imple-mented and all players will beonboard on a single page. Hesaid controversial police offic-ers will be sidelined.

The minister said strict ac-tion would be taken againstthose displaying arms and us-ing tinted glasses. He said thelawbreakers, no matter howpowerful they are, will not bespared.

“I will become a hurdle inthe way of any powerful personwho tried to change any IGP,”he said. He said some negativereports have been received aboutsome departments under the In-terior Ministry, adding that thosecausing problems for the prob-lems will not be spared.

High Court Judgesto hear Tribunalsfor disposal of

election appealsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Election Com-mission with the approval ofPresident of Pakistan has nomi-nated the Judges of high courtsas Tribunals for disposal of ap-peals against the decisions ofReturning Officers‚ rejecting oraccepting the nomination papersof the candidates for the constitu-encies of National and ProvincialAssemblies.

US think-tankcalls for peacefulKashmir solutionJEDDAH—The Center for Dia-logue and Peace in the UnitedStates has asked India to listento the saner voices of the Kash-mir movement to bring peace toits people. Raja Muzaffar, whois currently heading the KashmirCommittee at the Peace Center,said yesterday in Jeddah that theworld has enormously changedand that there is no longer anyroom for lingering on an issuethat has been festering for de-cades, and which has consumedthousands of lives.

The center is a Dallas-basedthink tank to promote peace in theworld and has a specific commit-tee for peace in the Middle East,besides focusing on the Kashmirissue. Formerly vice chairman ofthe Jammu and Kashmir Libera-tion Front (JKLF) that had armeditself to liberate the region, RajaMuzaffar has since eschewed vio-lence to take the path of peace tosolve the issue. JKLF, now underthe charge of Yasin Malik, has alsoturned into an organization thatfocuses on peaceful politicalmovement.—INP

Customs officialsreinstatedLAHORE—The Federal ServiceTribunal (FST) Lahore Benchheaded by its Chairman AbdulGhani Sheikh Thursday reinstatedtwo customs officials. The peti-tioners Tasauwar and Qamar UzZaman, customs officials servingin anti-smuggling wing of theCollectorate of Customs Lahorethrough their counsel Mian JafferHussain pleaded that they caughtred handed accepting the illegalgratification by the FIA and laterwere dismissed from service with-out observing laid down properprocedure for awarding majorpunishment.—APP

LHC bars SBP DeputyGovernor from workingLAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt (LHC) has barred theState Bank of Pakistan (SBP)Deputy Governor Ashraf Wahtrafrom working. LHC judge Jus-tice Mansoor remarked as tohow the SBP Deputy Governorwas appointed despite the ban onrecruitment in the governmentdepartments. The bench alsosought a detailed report from thefederal government on Mondayover the hiring of AshrafWathra.—INP

APML gets eagleelection symbolISLAMABAD—A 4-memberbench of the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan has allotted thesymbol of ‘Eagle’ to All Paki-stan Muslim League (APMLL).The bench heard the case inIslamabad. Now the formermilitary President PervezMusharraf would take part in theupcoming general elections withthe symbol of Eagle. The benchin this connection rejected theapplication of Pakistan FreedomParty.—NNI

Security tightenedfor KP caretaker CMPESHAWAR—The security forcaretaker Chief Minister ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa TariqPervaiz has been increased dueto threats. According to policesources, the security has beenbeefed up around the caretakerCM of KP Tariq Pervaiz whilehe has been restricted from at-tending any ceremonies or func-tions.—INP

Facilities forReturning OfficersISLAMABAD—Election Com-mission has issued directives toall Chief Secretaries‚ additionalsecretary FATA and DeputyCommissioner Islamabad toprovide immediately all facili-ties to the Returning Officers.The directives have been issuedin the light of a letter written bythe Registrar Supreme Courtstating the problems being facedby the Returning Officers in-cluding load shedding‚ insuffi-cient security and logistic prob-lems.—NNI

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday de-manded the caretaker ChiefMinister Punjab Najam Sethito take immediate notice of theSharif family’s misuse of gov-ernment resources.

In a statement issued here,PTI Information SecretaryShafqat Mahmood said theSharif family was getting se-curity and other benefits far be-yond their entitlement. He saidthe Punjab government wasdissolved on the 23th of March2013 but the Sharif family con-

tinues to enjoy extraordinary se-curity provided by theprovince’s elite police and ve-hicles with green license plates.

He further added that afterthe provincial government wasdissolved all cars, homes, proto-col, security etc should have beenwithdrawn from previous politi-cal office holders. All orderspassed in this regard by depart-ing governments should be dis-regarded by the caretaker CM toestablish a totally level playingfield for all political parties.

Official data claims thatNawaz Sharif, chief of PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-

N) has around 100 comman-does and five special securityvehicles at his disposal,around the clock. He is notentitled to this much securityafter the dissolution of thePunjab government.

According to rules heshould only have access to twosecurity vehicles and a maxi-mum of 12 police security per-sonnel in the name of security.

Shahbaz Sharif, meanwhile,has 95 elite police commandoesand a number of elite police ve-hicles at his disposal, even afterthe completion of his provincialgovernment’s five year tenure.

PTI asks govt to take notice ofSharif’s misusing govt resources

Anti-denguecampaign finalisedStaff Reporter

LAHORE—The Local Govern-ment Department has finalized allanti-dengue campaign arrange-ments, whereas, 144 Tehsil andTown Municipal administrationshave been activated. Senior of-ficers of Local Govt. Departmentare visiting various districts topersonally monitor anti-denguecampaign related pesticides, ma-chinery and equipments. Theywill also monitor pace of imple-mentation of Tyre Regulationsand Junkyard Regulations.

EATING two portions of oily fish likemackerel per week in old age could extend life by more than two years, ac-

cording to a new study.Omega 3 fatty acids, which are found

in oily fish and seafood,are good for the heart andreduce the risk of dyingfrom heart disease by upto 35 per cent.

The link betweenOmega 3 and heart healthis well established, butthe new study by expertsfrom the Harvard Schoolof Public Health was thefirst to examine the directlink between levels of thefatty acids in the bloodand death rates.

Another type ofOmega 3 acid, known asdocosapentaenoic acid orDPA, appeared to lowerthe risk of death fromstroke while eicosapentaenoic acid, orEPA, was linked to a lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks.

Overall, patients with the highest lev-els of all three fatty acid types in theirblood were 27 per cent less likely to dieearly from any cause, researchers re-ported in the Annals of Internal Medi-cine journal.

Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, who led thestudy, said: “Although eating fish haslong been considered part of a healthydiet, few studies have assessed bloodomega-3 levels and total deaths in older

adults”.“Our findings support the impor-

tance of adequate blood omega-3 lev-els for cardiovascular health, and sug-gest that later in life these benefits could

actually extend the years ofremaining life.”

Examination of thepatients’ diets revealed thatthe biggest boost in Omega3 levels came when mov-ing from a very low intaketo about 400mg per day -the equivalent of some-body who never eats oilyfish starting to have twoportions a week.

Consuming higheramounts of Omega 3 onlycaused a slight increase inlevels of fatty acids in theblood. Dr Mozaffariansaid: “The findings suggestthat the biggest bang-for-your-buck is for going

from no intake to modest intake, orabout two servings of fatty fish perweek.”

American doctors have previouslyadvised that healthy people should aimto consume 500mg of Omega 3 fish oilper day, and those with heart failure orheart disease should include between800 and 1,000mg in their daily diet.Mackerel, tuna and herring are amongthe best common sources of “good”fatty acids, but they can also be takenas supplements, according to the FoodStandards Agency.

Sea food in old ageincreases life span

ISLAMABAD: No traffic discipline in the capital. Vehicles using green belt instead of U-turn on Jinnah Avenue.

RAWALPINDI: PPP workers showering rose petals at the site of Phansi Ghaat of Old Jailon the death anniversary of founder of PPP Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

AIOU-IIUI join hands to establishIslamic Centre of Excellence

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama IqbalOpen University (AIOU) andInternational Islamic Univer-sity Islamabad (IIUI) here onThursday decided to set up anInternational Centre of Excel-lence for teaching Islamicthoughts (ICEIT) through jointcollaboration.

An understanding to thiseffect was reached at ceremonyheld at the University’s maincampus. It was presided overby the AIOU’s Vice Chancel-lor Prof. Dr. Nazir AhmedSangi. The IIUI’s President Dr.Ahmed Yousif A. Al-Draiweesh was the Chief

Guest. Vice Chancellor GomalUniversity Prof. Dr. AhmedMansoor Kundi and the IIUI’sVice President Dr. MumtazAhmed were also present on theoccasion.

The ICEIT to be set up dur-ing the next financial year willprovide a solid platform forpropagating Islamic teaching,enabling the youth to address thesocio-economic challenges, be-ing faced by the Ummah today.It would work to revive the lead-ing and progressive role of Is-lamic Ummah , as well as torestore Islamic culture and civi-lization. Both Universities willalso collaborate to form researchgroups on Islamic thoughts.

Addressing the ceremony,Dr. Sangi said that the AIOU wasconstantly engaged in spreadingthe message of Quran andSunnah through its variousprogrammes from primary tohigher level. The AIOU, he said,is a unique institution in the Is-lamic world for educating thepeople of all age-groups, throughadvanced technology and dis-tance learning system. The net-work of the proposed centre willalso be extended to Saudi Arabiaand other countries of Arab andMiddle East, he added.

The universal message ofIslam, providing knowledge toALL, is being aggressive fol-lowed by the AIOU, by extend-

ing its infrastructural networkto every nook and corner of thecountry, he said adding “ Wewish to ensure equal access toquality education for all seg-ments of the society.

The President of IIUI as-sured that they would fully co-operate with AIOU for estab-lishing the ICEIT and makingit an effective body for project-ing the Islamic thoughts, in or-der to effectively address thepresent day’s challenges. Hehoped that ICEIT would serveas a good example of existingpartnership between Pakistanand Saudi Arabia in the educa-tion field.

He noted that the AIOU is

ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, President Awami Muslim League flanked by PTIChairman Imran Khan addressing a press conference concerning general elections.

possessed with the latest tech-nology and had an advancededucational network that couldbe compared with any othercountry of the developedworld. Dr. Draiweesh after tak-ing round of the University’svarious departments furthersaid that he is highly impressedby its teaching’s system.

The two Universities alsosigned an agreement on the oc-casion to establish linkage be-tween their Islamic researchdepartments. It also providesnecessary framework for ex-changing faculty members andresources sharing as well as in-ternships and transfer opportu-nities of students.

RAWALPINDI—The 34th mar-tyrdom anniversary of PakistanPeople’s Party’s founding chair-man and former prime ministerZulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) wasobserved on Thursday with apledge to continue his mission.

ZAB was hanged on April4, 1979, inside the RawalpindiCentral Jail (Jinnah Park), whichwas levelled to the ground afterthe hanging and a new prisonwas built at Adiala by the thenmilitary regime. The local PPPleadership with a large numberof party workers participated inthe event. On the occasionQuran Khawani was held at10am in Jinnah Park and Duawas also offered for the departedsoul.

Bhutto Lunger was also dis-

ZA Bhutto’s martyrdom anniversarytributed among the participants.The function was arranged bythe local PPP leadership. FormerBaitul Maal Managing DirectorZumrad Khan on the occasionsaid ZAB devoted his life to thepeople and democracy. He cre-ated awareness about the social,civil, economic and politicalrights among the masses and sta-bilized the country by unitingthe four provinces.

Speaking at the occasion,Rawalpindi city President AmirFida Pircha said that the consti-tution of 1973, which waspassed with the consensus of allpolitical parties present in par-liament at the time, was a monu-mental achievement of ZAB.

“ZAB wanted to strengthendemocracy in the country and

accepted death in the struggle forthe rights of the poor and power-less of the society” he said, add-ing that Bhutto refused to bowbefore the then military dictatorZiaul Haq PPP leaders includingCentral Executive CommitteeMember Qazi Sultan Mehmood,AJK Minister Abdul Islam Butt,Rashid Mir, Raja KhalidMehmood, Shujaat Haider Naqvi,Nasir Mir, Tahir Gondal, KhalidNawaz,Mian Imran Hayat,JameelQureshi,Haji Sher Zaman SohailMukhtar and ex-nazims and naibnazims attended the function.People Students Federation (PSF),People Youth Organisation(PYO), Lady Wing (LW) PeopleLawyers Forums (PLF)andPeople’s Unity of PIA also par-ticipated in the event.—APP

NUML and GraftonCollege signs MoU

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) wassigned by the National Univer-sity and Modern Languages(NUML), Islamabad, andGrafton College of ManagementSciences for academic collabo-ration between both the institu-tions at the campus of GraftonCollege Islamabad, Thursday.

The MOU was signed by theRector Maj Gen (R) MasoodHasan from NUML side andChairman Grafton group of Col-leges, Mr Saeed ur Rehman,from Grafton College side.

Rector NUML Maj Gen (R)Masood Hasan while talking atMoU signature ceremony saidthat “Education without valuesis like a tree without fruit, shadeor utility. We need to be proudof our values and guide ouryounger generations to that end.Therefore, it is our duty to leavean imprint, a mark of humanity,humility, kindness, brotherhood,tolerance amongst our students.This is education and this is asafe investment, he added.

Speaking at occasion Chair-man Grafton group of Colleges,Mr Saeed ur Rehman, said thatour aim is to serve the Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD—Federation of allPakistan Universities AcademicStaff Association (FAPUASA)on Thursday demanded of thegovernment to allocate at least4% of GDP for education sectorand 25% of total education bud-get for higher education sector.

In a meeting with Chairper-son HEC, Dr. Javaid R. Laghariand Executive DirectorProf.Dr.Mukhtar Ahmed, themembers said the employees ofpublic sector universities are notgetting their salaries and devel-opment projects are being af-fected due to non-timely re-leases of higher education bud-get.

FAPUASA office bearersshowed deep concern over fi-nancial crisis being faced byhigher education sector in thecountry.

FAPUASA calls forincreasing education budget

They also demanded fromthe federal government to ap-prove supplementary grantagainst the 20% recent increasein salaries for all the employeesof public sector universities.

The FAPUASA office bear-ers also discussed restoration of11 terminated faculty membersof Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Uni-versity, Benazir Abad(SBBU,SBA) (NawabshahSindh).

They also raised that uni-form criteria for the appointmentof vice chancellors should beadopted throughout the countryand experienced academicianswith Ph.D should be appointedthrough a transparent and meritbased process. No retired personshould be appointed on admin-istrative posts.

Chairman HEC, Dr Javaid

Laghari assured that these issueswould be taken up by HEC onpriority basis.

He said HEC with its stake-holders would continue its rolefor the development of countryand betterment of the society.

He also assured that HECwould stay in touch withFAPUASA and he would him-self try to resolve the mattersbeing faced by university fac-ulty.

The executive directorHEC said that HEC is trying toresolve the issues being faced byhigher education sector in Paki-stan.

It was mutually agreed byHEC and FAPUASA to under-take collaborative efforts forimproving of quality of teach-ing and research in higher edu-cation sector.—APP

CDA launchesHealth Equity

ModelSHARAFAAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—The Capital De-velopment Authority (CDA) hasformally launched IslamabadHealth Equity Model to enhancethe quality of health care in thefederal capital. Under the HealthEquity Model, CDA will pro-vide basic health facilities to theresidents of the federal capitalwithout any discrimination.

The residents of both therural and urban areas includingdwellers of katchi abadis ofIslamabad would enjoy thehealth benefits.

Member AdministrationCDA, Munir Ahmed Chaudhryformally inaugurated theworkshop on Islamabad HealthEquity Model and Base lineAssessment here at Pak-ChinaFriendship Centre on Thurs-day. The workshop was orga-nized by the Health ServicesDirectorate of CDA in collabo-ration with World Health Or-ganization (WHO) and UnitedNation InternationalChildren’s Emergency Fund(UNICEF).

On this occasion officers ofHealth Services Directorate,representatives of WHO andUNICEF and health expertsfrom different institutes werealso present.

Speaking on the occasion,Munir Ahmed Chaudhry, Mem-ber Administration said that thehealth programme was launchedon the direction of ChairmanCDA, Syed Tahir Shahbaz. Un-der the health programme,health facilities would be pro-vided to all the inhabitants of thecity including urban, rural andslum dwellers without any dis-crimination.

Main purpose of the healthprogramme is to make thepeople health conscious anderadication of various diseasesfrom the respective areas.

CITY REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — L e a d i n gorganisations have endorsed theuse of international observationstandards for the upcoming gen-eral elections at a conference inIslamabad Thursday.

The Aurat Foundation, Freeand Fair Elections Network(FAFEN), Human Rights Com-mission of Pakistan (HRCP) andSpecial Talent Exchange Pro-gram (STEP) all pledged to useinternationally recognised meth-odology for their own observa-tion work.

The methodology, defined inthe Declaration of Global Prin-ciples for Non-Partisan ElectionObservation and Monitoring byCitizen Organizations, is en-dorsed by 180 independent elec-tion monitoring organisations in

Int’l standards inobserving elections

over 75 countries around theworld.

Khawar Mumtaz, Chairper-son of the National Commissionon the Status of Women, openedthe conference by commendingPakistani organisations for tak-ing this important step towardsensuring credible election ob-servation: “Accountability andtransparency in elections are atwo way street – we expect itfrom the election commission,and we equally seek it from ob-servers who should be transpar-ent and share the standards be-ing used.”

The standards, which willbe used by national and inter-national observer groups tomonitor and assess the generalelection, are an extension of theobligations and commitmentsPakistan made under the Uni-

versal Declaration of HumanRights and International Cov-enant on Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR). These treatiesinclude the obligation to facili-tate election observation.

International organisationsattending the conference voicedtheir support for the pledge, in-cluding United Nations Devel-opment Program (UNDP), De-mocracy Reporting International(DRI), National Democratic In-stitute (NDI) and various citizenelection observation groupsfrom Asia, the Middle East andSouthern Africa.

Hussain Naqi, the NationalCoordinator of the HRCP, saidthat the HRCP plans to moni-tor the elections in the 56 con-stituencies which are sensitivein the context of human rightsviolations.

Who likes not hisbusiness, his business

likes not him.

— William Hazlitt

FPCCI leader Fazal Kader Sherani presenting CSR Impact Award to Ishtiaq Baig, found-ing President Make-A-Wish Foundation Pakistan in recognition of his services to socialwelfare sector. Dr Ikhtiar Baig, Ruth Pao and Naeem Qureshi also seen in the picture.

Overseas investors seek reforms in tax system

The USAID Mission, comprising Sajjad Akhtar, Team Leaderand Shahid Shaikh, Consultant with KCCI officials.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Oil & Gas De-velopment Company Limited(OGDCL) and TransparencyInternational Pakistan (TIP)

signed a Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MOU) for theImplementation of the “Integ-rity Pact” here today atIslamabad..

Masood Siddiqui MD/CEOOGDCL and Saad Rasheed Ex-ecutive Director signed the

OGDCL signs MoU with TIPMOU for maintaining completetransparency in the procurementprocesses and would avail TIP’sexpertise to adopt best practiceswhile applying the laws, rules,regulations, procedures and

policies for transparency andbetter management. Both theorganizations showed their com-mitment to work together toachieve the objectives of thisMOU and agreed that TIP willprovide assistance to OGDCLon gratis basis.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Business in Paki-stan suffering from double edgeimplication of advices issuedagainst travelling Pakistan bydifferent western countrieswhile corruption at passport of-fices in Pakistan creatinghurdles for businessmen totravel abroad for business nega-tions.

Haroon Agar PresidentKarachi Chamber of Commerce

Travel advices scary to foreign buyers visiting Pakistan

Rampant corruption stucks up 7 lakhpassports within passport office

and Industry (KCCI) HAS la-mented that due to negativetravel advisories by the foreignmissions, the foreign buyers arereluctant to visit Pakistan leav-ing no choice to the business andindustrial community to proceedabroad to buyer’s country or anyother destination for businessmeetings and materialize busi-ness deals bearing additionalburden of international travel-ling adding to the cost of doingbusiness.

He stated that the perceptionof Pakistan has been negatively

distorted abroad as a country withunrest and precarious law andorder situation which need cor-rection. The Government has alsomiserably failed to portray thereal and true picture of Pakistanin the countries around the globewith all its strength and potentialand to revive the confidence ofthe international investors andbuyers to visit Pakistan for in-vestment and to meet their Paki-stani business counterparts andnow delay in passport renewal isadding to hardships faced by thePakistani Business Community.

AMANULLAH KHAN

ISLAMABAD—Timely parlia-mentary elections and a stableand credible government arecrucial for Pakistan to obtainfresh external funding and ad-dress its dwindling foreign ex-change reserves. That’s accord-ing to a report, titled “Success-ful Elections Are Crucial AsPakistan’s Balance Of PaymentsPressures Mount,” that Standard& Poor’s Ratings Services pub-lished today.

“Little likely improvementin Pakistan’s trade and capitalflows, and the lack of alterna-tive sources of bilateral or mul-tilateral funding make it impera-

Timely elections, effective new Govtkey to Pakistan’s creditworthiness

tive for the country to securefresh International MonetaryFund (IMF) funding to shore upits reserves and boost donor andinvestor confidence,” said Stan-dard & Poor’s credit analystAgost Benard.

Securing access to renewedexternal funding is likely only af-ter a new government takes officefollowing parliamentary electionsscheduled for May 11, 2013. Itwill also require credible plans tocorrect Pakistan’s unsustainablefiscal and economic policies.

The postelection honey-moon period should allow thenew government to take un-popular decisions that a newIMF loan would certainly entail,

Mr. Benard said. As with theprevious IMF program, fiscaladjustments in the form of sub-sidy cuts or tax increases arelikely to be key demands for thedeal. But any new coalition willfind these hard to implementbecause of popular opposition.

In our base-case scenario, weexpect a new coalition govern-ment to be formed in June and anew IMF arrangement to be inplace in July or August. Thiswould help stabilize the sovereignratings on Pakistan (B-/Stable/B)at the current level. The ratingscould come under downwardpressure if the formation of thenew government or signing theIMF deal is delayed.

SECP issues7 show-cause

notices to insurancecompanies

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Securitiesand Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) has issuedseven show-cause notices andthree warning letters to variousinsurance/takaful companies forfailing to comply with corporatelaws, insurance laws and ac-counting standards and regula-tions. The Commission has alsopassed two order under section130(2) of Insurance Ordinance,2000.

These warnings, show-causenotices and order were issued bythe Insurance Division in themonth of March 2013. Amongshow cause notices, five were is-sued to takaful operators and twowere issued to conventional insur-ance companies for not comply-ing with the provisions of the 1984Companies Ordinance, the 2000Insurance Ordinance, and Rulesand Regulations made thereunder.The Insurance Division also con-ducted four hearing against theshow cause notices. Tickers:SECP issues 7 show-cause noticesand 3 warning letters to insurancecompanies Show-cause noticeswere issued by the Insurance Di-vision of the SECP in March:SECP A show-cause notice wasissued to a takaful operator forfailing to comply with corporatelaws: SECP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A French diplo-mat on Thursday said Franceand Pakistan need each other toattain common goal of peaceand prosperity.

Gilles Angles, FrenchAttaché of Cultural and Coop-eration Ties said that Pakistancan become a global economicpower with the help of its in-credible natural and human re-sources.

This he said while speakingat annual day ceremony at a lo-cal school, Mrs. Azra WasimSajjad, Rukhsia Waqas, and oth-ers were also present on the oc-casion.

Gilles Angles said that re-cent signs of Pakistan’s eco-nomic growth are encouragingas this country fulfils the condi-tions to become a highly devel-oped country.

Paris has been cooperatingwith Islamabad to enhance itsexports to the European marketsand overcome energy crisis,improve level of education and

Pakistan can become world’sleading economic power

civic facilities, he added.He said that France can help

Pakistan exploit Thar coal aspromoting relations withIslamabad has remained our toppriority.

Angles added that Francehas second largest presence inPakistan after Germany, pres-ently 80 French companies aredoing business in Pakistanwhile 180 companies of twocountries promoting bilateraltrade.

He said that Pakistani busi-nessmen can explore opportuni-ties by learning French which isthe official language in 34 coun-tries. Over 600 Master’s andPhD students are studying inFrance while more is being doneto assist them, he added.

Pakistan is gateway to en-ergy rich central Asia, finan-cially liquid Gulf and advancedFar Eastern countries, he saidadding that Pakistan has world’ssecond largest salt mine, fifthlargest gold mine, fifth largestcoal reserves, and seventh larg-est copper mine.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh Governordr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan saidthat poverty and illiteracycould only be removedpeople’s lives through makingimprovements in bilateraltrade and economic relationswith the neighbouring coun-tries. Thus the living standardof the people of either coun-try could be lifted and sup-ported to sustain.

It was a pleasant develop-ment in the region that thebusinessmen and industrialistsof India and Pakistan werewell aware of the need of thehour and thus were playingtheir roles for the promotionof bilateral trade. The results

Bilateral trade must for friendlyties between India, Pakistan: Ebad

of the South Asia StrategicLeadership Conference wouldemerge in form of establishmentof bilateral relations between thetwo countries.

The Governor expressedthese views while talking to adelegation of businessmen fromIndia and Pakistan Thursday.

The Governor said that al-though the country was passingthrough difficult time as regardsto econo9my but the Pakistanibusinessmen had enough poten-tial to pull the country out of theongoing economic hardship.

He said that the situation inKarachi was portrayed quitenegatively across the world butthose foreigners that had visitedthe city had learnt that the ac-tual picture was totally different.

Currently, Pakistan was goingto hold general elections andcaretaker governments had al-ready been formed, which ma-jority in cabinets was from cor-porate sector.

He said that the mutualcontacts among the traders andbusinessmen of the two coun-try was an important factor tothe way of promoting peaceand friendly ties between thetwo countries. It was impera-tive that the bilateral trade andeconomic relations be pro-moted in order to resolve issuesthat led to confrontation.

The Governor suggestedthat exchange of informationcould be made simple throughvideo conferencing betweenthe two countries.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—In haste to issue anRFP (Request for Proposal) forthe Procurement Tax Labels andSupervision System to tackle il-licit trade of tobacco in Pakistan,the Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) has resorted to sheer vio-lation of the PPRA Rules 2004.,through its tendering processadvertised on March 13, 2013.

Legal experts believe thatThe current RFP does not re-spect the PPRA Rules 2004, inparticular Rule 10 (Specifica-tions), Rule 13 (Response Time)and Rule 15 and 16 (1) (Pre-Qualification Process).

Expressing their concerns inapress conference, the tobacco

Illicit trade intobacco products

manufacturers here the other daysaid that the system will fail toincrease revenues for the gov-ernment on the one hand andburden the legitimate, taxpayingtobacco industry and its custom-ers on the other.

They were of the opinionthat, FBR’s plan to introduceProcurement Tax Labels andSupervision System in its cur-rent shape will not result inachieving the objective of curb-ing the illicit trade in Tobaccoproducts, as the system specifiedin the RFP has already failed tocurb illicit trade or increase rev-enues in number of countries,including Malaysia, Turkey,Brazil, and was rejected in manystates of the USA.

LPG decantinggoes unchecked

in capitalSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Several Lique-fied Petroleum Gas (LPG) de-canting outlets are operating inthe capital in the absence of stan-dard safety measures, puttingthe lives of citizens at risk.

A number of such gas shopsin Bani Gala, Bhara Kahu andKhanna Pul areas are also oper-ating without getting a licence.

Although LPG decantingfrom one cylinder to anotherusing electric motors is prohib-ited, the practice is ongoing dueto absence of monitoring by thegovernment.

An LPG sale point is onlyallowed to sell the gas in formof cylinders, but owners of LPGoutlets often decant the gas,making it a dangerous trade.This not only risks lives but alsothe property of people.

PIEDMCchairman urged toexpedite work on

power projectsSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Lahore Chamberof Commerce and Industry(LCCI) Thursday urged the Chair-man Punjab Industrial EstatesDevelopment and ManagementCompany (PIEDMC) to expeditework on power projects and alsoensure uninterrupted gas supply inthe Sundar Industrial Estate.

The LCCI President FarooqIftikhar was addressing the ac-tion committee of Sundar Indus-trial Estate Owners Association(SIEOA) here at Lahore Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry.The LCCI Vice President MianAbuzar Shad, Chairman SIEOAAmjad Ali Jawa, former LCCISenior Vice President SheikhMohammad Arshad, HabibullahCheema, Babar MehmoodChaudhry and Nadeem Shamialso spoke on the occasion.

The LCCI President said thatunavailability of electricity andgas are the major impediments tothe industrialization process there-fore the Chairman and the man-agement of PIEDMC should uti-lize their energies to this issue.

Ufone SIPStaff ReporterISLAMABAD—Following thesuccess of its SummerInternship Program (SIP) 2012,Ufone the most populartelecom company of Pakistan,is now re-launching theprogram for 2013. SIP 2013will commence in April atnational level with campusdrives being held across thecountry during which studentswill have to take a test and givean interview for final selection.The campus drives will be heldin all major universities incities including Islamabad,Sawabi, Lahore and Karachi.Individuals have to be studentsof Bachelor’s program (6th or7th semester) or students ofMaster’s program; possessing aminimum CGPA of 2.5 orabove and currently notemployed in any company withno more than 3-6 months ofwork experience.

IMC competitionAmanullah KhanKARACHI—Parvez Ghias,CEO, Indus Motor Companyspeaking at “Battle of theBrains” competition” as atalent hunt scheme has saidthat it is testament to theimmense talent present in theyouth of Pakistan. “the ideabehind this activity is to enableyoung minds to use theirenergies constructively andprovide solutions to actualproblems related to trade andindustry. The youth is thefuture of our country and thiscompetition is an effectiveplatform to train them for thetask that lies ahead of them.”The competition was gearedtowards generating ideas fromPakistan’s top two businessschools – Lahore University ofManagement Sciences(LUMS) and Institute ofBusiness Administration (IBA)in Karachi. The focus of thecompetition was to encouragestudents to think of innovativeideas and practical solutions tothe problems presented tothem. Each business schoolhad four participating teamsthat were provided with a casestudy on issues related to theautomobile industry. All teamswere required to evaluate thestudy by summarising itsfindings and giving recom-mendations. Students then puttogether their recommenda-tions in final presentation thatwas assessed by a panel ofjurists from IMC.

PFC to organizefirst-ever

Interiors PakistanExpo

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Pakistan Furni-ture Council (PFC), a non-profit balanced coalition offurniture manufacturers anddesigners, on Thursday an-nounced first ever interiorsPakistan Expo 2013 to be heldfrom 12th April with a aim togive solutions for job oppor-tunities, furniture industry,exposure to young interior de-signers and future goals andgrowth of interior designers inPakistan.

A number of senior design-ers and architects attendedPress Lounge held at La Atriumhere on today. Among theprominent were Mian KashifAshfaq, CEO PFC, Tina Khan,CEO TKID, Shahzad Mughal,CEO Workman, Hamza Tarar,CEO Casa Hamza, Omer Nabi,CEO Studio O, Hina Tayyaba,Vice-Chancellor PIFD andFarooq Malik shared their ex-periences and their proposedsolutions with the presence ofPFC in Pakistan. Juggan Kazimwas the moderator for the Q&Asession.Introducing the purposeof PFC, Mian Kashif Ashfaqsaid the aims of PFC was topromote furniture trade in Pa-kistan and it was working forthe interests of designers,manufacturers and retailers offurniture.

He said Pakistan has astrong heritage of furnituremanufacturing and PFC aimedto target government to enhancethe trade and manufacturingthat would not be limited to fur-niture hubs of Chiniot, Gujrat,Peshawar and Gojra. “Our pri-mary goal is to support the de-signers and architects so theirfuture would get solid supportwhich would take the furniturebusiness to the future,” headded.

ISE sheds8 points

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad StockExchange (ISE-10) here on Thurs-day witnessed bearish trend as theindex was down by 8.33 points toclose at 3467.40 as compared tothe previous day’s trading. StockAnalyst, M.M Hassan told mediathat the pressure was seen in thelocal stock market due to profittaking by the investors.

“The punter had off-loadedthe major positions, which wereheld by them since many con-secutive trading sessions, tobook profits”, he added.

He said that there were notany negative sentiments whichcould lead the capital market todownward trend and it was dueto specially improving the situ-ations of the economic indica-tors in the country.

Gold importssurge 48.2pc

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The gold im-ports during first eight monthsof current fiscal year surged by48.2 percent as against the sameperiod of last year.

About 2,645 kilogram ofgold worth of $143.633 mil-lion was imported during theperiod under review as com-pared to the import of 1,805 kgvaluing $96.917 million duringsame period of last year (2011-12).

All Sindh Sarafa Associa-tion President Haroon RasheedChand when contacted attrib-uted the increase in gold importsinto the country mainly to thedecrease in the internationalgold price which is witnessingdeclining trend since September2012 when its price touched thehighest level of $1795 perounce.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Small and MediumEnterprises Development Au-thority (SMEDA) is going toformulate the first ever SMEdevelopment strategy for AzadJammu and Kashmir. The mo-ralities of the proposed strategywere discussed today at a meet-ing with Mr. MuhammadSaleem Bismal, Secretary AJKfor Industries, Labor and Min-erals, who visited SMEDA headoffice today along with an offi-cial delegation of AJK to iden-tify potential sectors of SMEsrequiring SMEDA support.CEO SMEDA Sardar AhmadNawaz Sukhera welcomed theAJK delegation on this occasionand apprised them aboutSMEDA’s projects and services.

AJK Secretary appreciated

SMEDA all set to formulatefirst ever SME strategy for AJK

SMEDA for inviting suggestionsand opinions across the countryto improve SMEDA’s role in SMEdevelopment. He expressed grati-tude to SMEDA management forincluding AJK in the new five yearbusiness plan of SMEDA and pro-posed to evolve development ini-tiatives also for AJK while formu-lating strategies for Mineral, Hor-ticulture and Tourism sectors inthe national plan. He said that AJKwas rich in minerals, preciousstones, fresh fruits and wood,which had developed a wide baseof SME sector. Similarly, hemarked the Neelam Valley as agreat potential of growth for tour-ism industry. He was confidentthat SMEDA development strat-egies focused on AJK could cre-ate a large number of new SMEspaving way for plenty of the em-ployments and job opportunities.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The Overseas In-vestors Chamber of Commerceand Industry (OICCI) urgedsubstantive tax reforms in its2013 – 2014 proposals submit-ted to the Federal Board ofRevenue (FBR). The tradebody has also forwarded gen-eral and industry-specific sug-gestions to broaden and ratio-nalize the country’s revenue

base to help overcome the pre-vailing economic crunch facedby the country.

The proposal include imple-mentation of a consultative taxand revenue enhancement regimeinvolving all key stakeholders,using every legitimate means towithdraw tax and duty exemp-tions as well as amnesty schemesbarring those impacting the poor,effective monitoring and scrutinyto identify tax evasion and nota-

bly, bringing agricultural incomeinto the tax net.

OICCI suggested FBR tocome up with a five year tax andrevenue enhancement strategywith the engagement and ap-proval of all key stakeholders.To boost corporatization, it sug-gested, a uniform tax rate beapplied to all business income,irrespective of the legal structureof the business entity.

It suggested that all individu-

als, traders and organizationsshould be made liable to file in-come tax return and statement ofnet wealth. FBR should be em-powered to seek details of all cus-tomers of financial institutionswhose accounts show turnover inexcess of Rs one million duringthe year. Effective use should bemade of all available data basesto identify potential tax payers,including retailers, through asimple and effective automated

tax collection infrastructure.The chamber advocated the

gradual reduction of GeneralSales Tax (GST) rates to encour-age documentation and furtherrationalization of the exemp-tions in Sales Tax system. More-over, a transparent and system-atic mechanism should beframed to settle down all refundsof Sales Tax within an agreedtime-frame of 30 days.

It further suggested the gov-

ernment to ensure the imple-mentation of Reformed salestax/ VAT taking all stakehold-ers on board from large busi-nesses to retailers.

OICCI suggested FBR ex-empting companies from with-holding tax regime which areregistered with Large TaxpayerUnits (LTUs) beside minimumtax should be eliminated forcompanies with a high turn-over and low profit.

Save ship-breakingIndustryIrfan AligiKARACHI—Naveed JanBaloch, Shaheen Ilyas Sarwanaand Muhammad Ali VicePresidents of the Federation ofPakistan Chambers of Com-merce and Industry (FPCCI)urged Ali Arshad Hakim,Chairman of the Federal Boardof Revenue (FBR) to save theship-breaking industry fromtotal collapse, as it had beenoverburdened from the arbitraryimposition of huge taxes. In thisrespect, They gave the exampleof SRO 140(1)/2013 increasingincome tax from 1percent to5percent; that is, an increase of500percent. He proposed toprovide the industry the reliefunder SRO 212(1) 2013 bytreating them as an industry andreduction of income tax rate to1percent.

EATING two portions of oily fish likemackerel per week in old age could extend life by more than two years, accord-

ing to a new study.Omega 3 fatty acids, which are found

in oily fish and seafood,are good for the heart andreduce the risk of dyingfrom heart disease by upto 35 per cent.

The l ink betweenOmega 3 and heart healthis well established, but thenew study by experts fromthe Harvard School ofPublic Health was the firstto examine the direct linkbetween levels of the fattyacids in the blood anddeath rates.

Another type ofOmega 3 acid, known asdocosapentaenoic acid orDPA, appeared to lowerthe risk of death fromstroke whileeicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, was linkedto a lower risk of non- fatal heart attacks.

Overall, patients with the highest lev-els of all three fatty acid types in theirblood were 27 per cent less likely to dieearly from any cause, researchers reportedin the Annals of Internal Medicine jour-nal.

Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, who led thestudy, said: “Although eating fish haslong been considered part of a healthydiet, few studies have assessed bloodomega-3 levels and total deaths in older

Sea food in old ageincreases life span

adults”.“Our findings support the impor-

tance of adequate blood omega-3 levelsfor cardiovascular health, and suggestthat later in life these benefits could

actually extend the years ofremaining life.”

Examination of thepatients’ diets revealed thatthe biggest boost in Omega3 levels came when movingfrom a very low intake toabout 400mg per day - theequivalent of somebodywho never eats oily fishstarting to have two por-tions a week.

Consuming higheramounts of Omega 3 onlycaused a slight increase inlevels of fatty acids in theblood. Dr Mozaffarian said:“The findings suggest thatthe biggest bang-for-your-buck is for going from nointake to modest intake, or

about two servings of fatty fish perweek.”

American doctors have previouslyadvised that healthy people should aimto consume 500mg of Omega 3 fish oilper day, and those with heart failure orheart disease should include between800 and 1,000mg in their daily diet.Mackerel, tuna and herring are amongthe best common sources of “good” fattyacids, but they can also be taken assupplements, according to the FoodStandards Agency.

KARACHI: Faryal Naseer receiving best teacher’s award at the Annual Day of Education-ist Grammar School from chief guest Nadeem Sheikh.—PO Photo by Sultan Chaki

KARACHI: Rangers’ soldiers standing alert outside Supreme Court Registry during the hearing of Karachi unrest case.

KARACHI: Workers are busy in the construction work of an overhead bridge on MAJinnah Road.

KARACHI. Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Zahid Kurban Alvi addressing a ceremony hostedby Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Law University to commemorate the death anniversary ofZ A Bhutto.—PO photo

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The civil society,professional bodies and tradeunions expressed strong disap-proval of the tactics being usedto push the election process in acertain direction. The forthcom-ing elections were of crucialimportance to the future of thecountry and no attempt must bemade by any quarter to vitiatethe atmosphere that could leadto subverting the will of thepeople. The members of civilsociety also expressed their con-cern on the process of scrutinyof the candidates by the Elec-tion Commission, whichamounted to Zia-era vigilantismand a disguised return to the ‘ac-

Scrutiny on basis of Articles 62, 63 mala fide movecountability before elections’mantra. The whole exercise smeltof mala fide intentions.

Those that made this state-ment included I A Rehman ofHuman Rights Commission ofPakistan, Muhammad Tahseen ofSouth Asia Partnership Pakistan,Karamat Ali of Pakistan Instituteof Labour Education and Re-search, Suleman Abro of SindhAgriculture Forestry WorkersCoordination Organization,Naseer Memon of StrengtheningParticipatory Organisation, JamiChandio of Centre for Peace andCivil Society, Dr Tipu Sultan ofPakistan Medical Association, DrManzoor Awan of Sungi Devel-opment Foundation, SamsonSalamat of Centre for Human

Rights Education, Farhat Parveenand Mir Zulfiqar of NOW Com-munities, Uzma Noorani ofWomen’s Action Forum, JavedQazi of Forum for a Secular Pa-kistan, Nasir Mansoor of NationalTrade Unions Federation, SaeedBaloch of Pakistan FisherfolkForum and Zahida Detho of SindhRural Partners Organisation andDr Kaiser Bengali, Dr A HNayyar, B M Kutty and ZulfiqarHalepoto.

They said that the right tochoose public representatives inParliament belongs solely to thepeople and no agency, Courts,Election Commission, ReturningOfficers, bureaucrats, etc. can ar-rogate this right to themselves byattempting to pre-select candi-

dates on any pretext, leave alonetaking recourse to Articles 62 and63 of the Constitutions. TheseArticles, as they appeared in theConstitution, were not the onesthat were in the original 1973 con-stitution.

These were gerrymanderedby the military dictator GeneralZia Ul Haq through the infamous8th Amendment to perpetuate hisdictatorial rule by promoting hisown outlandish scheme of Islam-ization. Unfortunately, the fram-ers of the 18th Amendment alsofailed to do away with these in-congruities.

It was the consistent demandthat Articles 62 and 63 of the Con-stitution should be repealed, asthey provided a handle to right-

wing religious fanatics and anti-democracy elements in the Es-tablishment to hound the politi-cal sections that they oppose.They reiterated this demand andcall for the reinstatement of theoriginal Articles as contained in1973 constitution. They alsocalled for the repeal of all pro-visions introduced into the Con-stitution by the military dictatorGeneral Zia Ul Haq.

They said that the questionof ‘fake’ degrees also needed tobe seen in its proper context. Thelaw that required legislators tobe graduates was introduced bya military dictator, GeneralPervez Musharraf, with malafide intentions in order to keepcertain politicians out of office.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh AssemblySpeaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhrusaid that the Pakistan People’sparty (PPP) had presented it tothe people for accountability.The results of the electionswould be accepted and it wouldbe the PPP to form the nextgovernment with the support ofallies and the next Chief Min-ister of Sindh would also befrom the PPP.

Khuhru said that free and fairelections were in the interest of

PPP won’t allow anyoneto hijack polls: Khuhru

the country and the people of thecountry. The PPP would neverallow anyone to hijack the com-ing polls because the back-doorsfor entering the power corridorshad been closed for good. He saidthat powers would be transferredto that political party, whichwould secure majority of seats.

He said that the PPP was thecustodian of Sindh soil and thepeople of tye province wouldnever be left alone. It would bethe PPP to offer sacrifices intimes of difficulties, if any be-cause the PPP believed in pro-

viding the essentials to the peopleincluding jobs as the party hadconfirmed jobs of thousands ofcontractual workers.He urgedthe youth not to enter into a stateof despondency because the PPPwas standing beside them andwould ensure their well-being inall conditions.

He said that the formationof alliances against the PPPwould prove ineffective becausethe party had defeated the frus-trated elements and had surviveddespite the tyranny of the dicta-torial rule in the country.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The candidate ofthe Jamaat-e Islami (JI) has chal-lenged the dual nationality ofMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) candidate Nabeel Gabolon NA-248.

According to the details, JIcandidate Jan Muhammad onThursday challenged his con-tender Gabol on NA-248 before

JI candidate challenges MQM candidateNabeel Gabol on dual nationality

the Retuning Officer.The petitioner while present-

ing the evidence of the dual na-tionality of Gabol adopted a viewpoint that the person holding dualnationality cannot participate inthe elections and the MQM con-tender Nabeel Gabol also possessa nationality of Oman.

Meanwhile, JI contenderwhile talking to media said thatthe dual national was not al-

lowed to contest elections ac-cording to the Public Act-1976.Therefore, the Election Com-mission has already barred thosefrom contesting elections, whichpossessed dual nationality.

He further informed thatthe EC has directed the Return-ing Officers to take oath fromcandidates on dual nationalityat the time of submitting nomi-nation papers.

JI terms blankbox on ballot

paper as illogicalSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e Islami(JI) former lawmakers includingMuzaffar Hashmi, LaeeqAhmed Khan, Nasrullah KhanShajih, Hameedullah Advocateand Younus Barai demanded ofthe Chief Justice of Pakistan totake notice of the blank box onthe ballot paper and refrain theElection Commission from suchkind of steps.

They said the step of theElection Commission ‘illogical’and said that the blank box inballot paper will pave the wayfor undemocratic forces.

Condemning the said deci-sion of ECP, they said that thevoters’ turn out in the countryhad already been low and intro-ducing empty box on the ballotpaper will definitely pave wayfor undemocratic forces.

They were of the views thatoptions, from which the democ-racy could be stronger, shouldbe introduced. They said thatsuch type of steps being intro-duced in Bangladesh had pro-duced terrible results. Theyfeared that if the people willexpress their discontent over thecandidates, then the existence ofparliament could be in danger.

They demanded of the care-taker Prime Minister Mir HazarKhan Khoso to take immediatenotice of the matter.

Rangers continueoperation inBaldia Town

KARACHI—Despite being tar-geted by suspected militants, theparamilitary Rangers continuedtheir operation in different areasof Karachi on Thursday.

Officials said house-to-housesearch was conducted in Baldia’sIttehad Town where Rangers ar-rested 14 suspects, among themfive members of a banned outfit,and seized a large number of ille-gal arms. Over 1000 personnel aretaking part in Thursday’s opera-tion, sources said. On Wednesday,four Rangers men were killed andfour other injured in an explosionnear their checkpost in Korangiarea. It was a planted bomb blastwhich targeted a vehicle of secu-rity forces.—Online

IG for expeditinginvestigation onregistered cases

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Inspector Generalof Police (IGP), Sindh ShahidNadeem Baloch yesterday pre-sided over a meeting at CentralPolice Office held at the Policehead office Thursday. The meet-ing reviewed the progress of in-vestigation on registered cases.

Additional IG KarachiGhulam Shabbir Shaikh, Addi-tional IG CID along with DIGheadquarters Sindh, DIG CID,DIG Training, DIG Establishment,DIG Finance, DIGs of Ranges andZones, SSPs CID, SSP ACLC,AIG operations Sindh and otherpolice officers attended.

It was decided in the meet-ing that special teams would beformed for investigating andcooperating investigating partiesof police stations in target kill-ing and other high profile casesat zones and ranges level.

IG Sindh directed DIG train-ing to start refresher courses forthose investigating police offic-ers who would be nominated byAdditional IG Karachi. He saidtraining should be given to thosepolice officers in groups. IGSindh said training of investiga-tion should be upgraded.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Karachi TimberMerchants Group (KTMG) Chair-man Muhammad SharjeelGoplani demanded of the govern-ment to patronize the Gunniesworld record holder PakistaniMartial Arts talent MuhammadRashid, who had brought a goodname to the country by securingfour world records that were re-corded in the Gunnies Book ofWorld record.

Goplani said that the youthlike Rashid were the real asset tothe country but was still not ap-preciated for his excellent contri-bution in the field of Martial Arts.Patronizing Rashid would encour-age the youth to struggle for se-

Goplani demands reward forPakistani world record breaker talent

curing world ranking awards invarious brands of sports. Thiswould also send a soft messageacross the world and the worldwould be compelled to reviewtheir stances against the country.

He was addressing a recep-tion hosted in honour ofMuhammad Rashid, a PakistaniMartial Arts expert, who had re-cently secured four world recordsin the field of Martial Arts.

All Karachi Tajir Ittehad(AKTI) Chairman Atiq Mir,Karachi Chambers of Commerceand Industry former President andExport Processing Zone formerChairman Abdul Aziz HajiYaqoob, Muhammad HussainTurk, Maqsood Basathia, SyedDilawar Hussain, Usman

Jafferani, Muzammal Gua wala,Aun Ali, Hussain Khan Turk,Muhammad Zahid Peerani, AbdulHameed Bagla and other repre-sentatives of business communitywere present.Goplani said that theworld records that Rashid had se-cured in the Gunnies Book ofWorld Record were made withextra-long margins and would bea difficult task for any challengerto break them.

All Karachi Tajir Ittehad(AKTI) Chairman Atiq Mir,Karachi Chambers of Commerceand Industry former President andExport Processing Zone formerChairman Abdul Aziz HajiYaqoob also addressed. On theoccasion, Rashid was presentedwith a shield.

SMOKING a cigarette immediately after waking up in the morning may increase the risk of developing lung or

oral cancer, a new study has warned. “Smokers who consume cigarettes im-

mediately after waking have higher levelsof NNAL-a metabolite ofthe tobacco-specific car-cinogen NNK-in theirblood than those who re-frain from smoking a halfhour or more after waking,regardless of how manycigarettes they smoke perday,” said StevenBranstetter, assistant pro-fessor of biobehaviouralhealth in PennsylvaniaState University, The In-dian Express reported onSunday.

Branstetter and hiscolleague Joshua Muscat,professor of public healthsciences, examined dataon 1,945 smoking adultparticipants from the National Health andNutrition Examination Survey who hadprovided urine samples for analysis.

These participants also had providedinformation about their smokingbehaviour, including how soon they typi-cally smoked after waking.

The researchers found that around 32per cent of the participants they examinedsmoked their first cigarette of the daywithin 5 minutes of waking; 31 per centsmoked within 6 to 30 minutes of waking;18 per cent smoked within 31 to 60 minutesof waking; and 19 per cent smoked more

Morning smoking mayup cancer risk: study

than one hour after waking. “Most importantly, we found that

NNAL level was highest among peoplewho smoked the soonest upon waking,regardless of the frequency of smokingand other factors that predict NNAL con-

centrations,” Branstettersaid.

“We believe thesepeople who smoke soonerafter waking inhale moredeeply and more thor-oughly, which could explainthe higher levels of NNALin their blood, as well astheir higher risk of develop-ing oral or lung cancer.

“As a result, time tofirst cigarette might be an im-portant factor in the identi-fication of high-risk smok-ers and in the developmentof interventions targetedtoward early-morning smok-ers,” Branstetter said.

The study was pub-lished in the journal Cancer, Epidemiol-ogy, Biomarkers and Prevention.

In another research smoking maybe a sign of psychiatric illness, accord-ing to a new UK report, which found athird of smokers to have mental disor-ders .

According to the report, almost onein three cigarettes consumed in UK issmoked by someone with a mental disor-der, The Indian Express reported.

When people with drug and alcoholproblems are included, the proportion iseven higher, the report said.

LAHORE: Ambassador of European Union to Pakistan Lars Gunnar Wigemark calledon caretaker chief minister, Najam Sethi.

LAHORE: PML-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif chairing a meeting with KP and Balochistan ParliamentaryBoards of the party.

LAHORE: US Ambassador Richard Oslon visiting a stall at agriculture expo onThursday.

Customsofficials

reinstatedLAHORE—The Federal Ser-vice Tribunal (FST) LahoreBench headed by its Chair-man Abdul Ghani SheikhThursday reinstated twocustoms officials.

The petitioners Tasauwarand Qamar Uz Zaman, cus-toms officials serving in anti-smuggling wing of theCollectorate of CustomsLahore through their coun-sel Mian Jaffer Hussainpleaded that they caught redhanded accepting the illegalgratification by the FIA andlater were dismissed from ser-vice without observing laiddown proper procedure forawarding major punishment.

The bench comprisingAbdul Ghani Sheikh andSheikh Iqbal after hearing thedetailed arguments, seizedtheir annual increments forthree years and reinstatedinto service. —APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—PPP SecretaryGeneral Latif Khan Khosahas appealed the ElectionCommission of Pakistan(ECP) not to include ‘blankcolumn’ in a ballot paper.

In a statement hereThursday, he said inclusionof such a column will surelyjeopardize the prospects ofdemocratic process ratherthan strengthening it.

He said the ECP, underthe Constitution, was com-mitted to the cause of demo-cratic process and, therefore,should contemplate to guardsanctity of the ballot paper

adding it should take all pos-sible steps to save it fromdangers of desecration.

He said the inclusion ofthe blank column was un-precedented in the history ofthe democratic process andindeed against the spirit ofdemocracy because it gavethe voters the right to rejectalong with right to vote.

“There is no right to re-ject in the democratic pro-cess,” he added. Khosa saidthe column also underminedpoliticians and the demo-cratic and electoral processby any stretch of imagination.

He pointed out that theblank column would also dis-

courage voters to go to poll-ing stations to cast theirvotes and in return the turnout could be much lower rais-ing the question of the legiti-macy of the whole process.

He said low turnout dueto blank column would pro-vide the justification to theanti-democratic forces to in-tervene and annihilate thewhole structure of democ-racy in the country.

He said other politicianshad also expressed their se-rious reservations on thisand therefore the ECPshould not consider the in-clusion of a blank column inthe ballot paper.

PPP opposes blankcolumn in ballot papers

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt Thursday disposed ofpetitions seeking disqualifi-cation of five former parlia-mentarians, including formerMNA Liaqat Ali Bhatti,former MNA Rana ZahidHussain, former MPA MianMuhammad Azam Chella,former MPA KhawajaMuhammad Islam and FarahDeeba for having fake de-grees.

The court observed thatthe petitions had becomeinfructuous as assemblieshad been dissolved aftercompleting their term.

The single bench com-prising Justice MuhammadKhalid Mehmood Khan washearing the petitions filed byfour different petitioners, in-cluding Muhammad BukshTarar, Waheed Sabir, WajidAli,Khawaja Ijaz and Shahida

parveenOn Wednesday, the court

reserved verdict on petitionsagainst former MNA LiaqatAli Bhatti, former MNA RanaZahid Hussain, former MPAMian Muhammad AzamChella, former MPA KhawajaMuhammad Islam which wasannounced Friday in opencourt and all petitions weredisposed of.

The petitioner’s throughtheir different petitions sub-mitted the former parliamen-tarians were elected in 2008elections. They alleged thatthe respondents had submit-ted fake degrees to the elec-tion Commission for contest-ing elections.

They contended that therespondents did not fulfil cri-teria set in article 62 and 63of the Constitution. There-fore, they should be disquali-fied, they pleaded.

The court after hearing

arguments of all partiesThursday reserved verdicton petitions.

Meanwhile, the court alsodisposed of petition seekingdisqualification of formerPML-N MPA Farah Deebafor having fake degrees.

The petition filed byShahida Parveen challengingthe election of former MPAFarah Deeba for allegedlyhaving a fake degree.

The petitioner, saidFarah, daughter of comic leg-end Rangeela, was elected asa member of the Punjab As-sembly on a special seat re-served for women, addingthat she had allegedly lied tothe Election Commission andthat her degree was fake.

She submitted thatFarah’s actions were a viola-tion of articles 62 and 63 ofthe constitution and re-quested that the court de-clare her election illegal.

Petitions against fiveformer MPs disposed of

Prisoners appealto CEC for

postal ballotLAHORE—As many as48,792 prisoners housed in32 jails of the Punjab ap-pealed to the Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC) to allowthem exercise their right tovote in the forthcoming gen-eral elections through postalballot.

Former President LahoreHigh Court Bar Association,Shehram Sarwar Chaudhryand the relatives of the in-mates told APP here Thurs-day that a majority of prison-ers are registered voters andthey should not be deprivedof their constitutional rightof casting vote in the com-ing polls.

They said that if CEC orChief Justice of SupremeCourt issued direction to Re-turning Officers then theycan obtain postal ballot andsend back to Returning Of-ficers concerned timely.

When contacted Inspec-tor General of Prisons,Punjab Mian Farooq Nazeersaid “we will abide by the in-structions of Election Com-mission of Pakistan in trueletter and spirit in this regard,but majority of prisoners donot have computerized na-tional identity cards and itwould be difficult for the Su-perintendent Jail to verify thegenuineness of prisoners inabsence of original CNIC”.—APP

Art eventsLAHORE—Ninth Annual Ex-hibition of paintings, sculp-ture, ceramics & graphic artsby young artists will be in-augurated here on Monday(April 8) at the Alhamra ArtGallery.

Titled ‘Memoirs of Fu-ture’ the event would also bemarked by a prize distributionceremony the same evening.A renowned artists’ Jurywould evaluate the creativeworks and address the gath-ering to highlight their ap-praisal of the art works.

This exhibition, beingorganised by Lahore ArtsCouncil, is to continue tillApril 27.

Meanwhile, one of theoldest art galleries of the city,Coopera at the Mall wouldalso host a solo art show byProf. Zammurad Safdar fromFriday (April 5) onwards till13 of current month.

Dr. Sabiha Mansoor,ViceChancellor Lahore College forWomen University would in-augurate the exhibition “Im-age makes reputation” beingcurated by ShibleeMuneer.—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister Najam Sethi has saidthat maximum resources willbe provided for the provisionof modern treatment facilitiesto the patients in governmenthospitals. He directed im-provement of the perfor-mance of hospitals with re-gard to medical facilities be-sides setting up monitoringunits for checking the effi-ciency of doctors and para-medics in all public sectorhospitals.

Monitoring units willdirectly inform the special cellset up at the Chief Minister’sSecretariat about publiccomplaints. He directedSecretary Health to present anaction plan in this regardimmediately.

The Chief Minister waspresiding over a high levelmeeting to review treatment

Provision of moderntreatment facilities extendedto patients in govt hospitals

facilities in hospitals andthe measures taken to pre-vent the outbreak ofmeasles, at Chief Minister’sSecretariat, here Thursday.Minister for Health SalimaHashmi, Secretary Health,Secretary Information, Di-rector General Health Ser-vices, Director General Pub-lic Relations, medical ex-perts and officers con-cerned were present.

Addressing the meeting,Chief Minister Najam Sethidirected that availability ofthe best treatment facilitiesshould be ensured in govern-ment hospitals and their stan-dard should be in accordancewith the expectations of thepeople.

He said that satisfactionof the people is the only yard-stick for evaluating the per-formance of hospitals. Hesaid that modern medical fa-cilities should be available to

the patients in governmenthospitals.

He said that measuresshould be taken on war foot-ing to save the children frommeasles.

He said that vaccinationof children against measlesshould be ensured and all outpreventive measures shouldbe adopted to curb this dis-ease.

He said that promotion ofawareness in the masses isof vital importance to protectthe children against measles,therefore a vigorous publicawareness campaign shouldbe launched regarding pre-ventive measures againstthis disease.

Secretary Health in-formed the Chief Ministerabout the steps taken for theprovision of medical facilitiesto the patients in hospitalsand protection againstmeasles.

EU diplomat meetsNajam SethiSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—European Union(EU) Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark called onthe Punjab Chief MinisterNajam Sethi at ChiefMinister’s House, here Mon-day. During the meeting, vari-ous matters of mutual inter-est and promotion of traderelations came under discus-sion.

Chief Minister NajamSethi said that strengtheningof economic and commercialties between Pakistan andEuropean Union is the needof the hour and effectivesteps should be taken to in-crease volume of trade be-tween them. Ambassador ofEuropean Union Lars-Gunnar Wigemark said thatEuropean Union attachesgreat importance to its tradeties with Pakistan. He saidthere is need to take furthersteps to enhance economicrelations between Pakistanand European Union.

Meanwhile, former ChiefSecretary Nasir MehmoodKhosa paid a farewell visit toPunjab Chief Minister NajamSethi at Chief Minister’s Secre-tariat here today. The ChiefMinister thanked the formerChief Secretary for his coopera-tion with the caretaker govern-ment, and expressed his goodwishes for Nasir MehmoodKhosa.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Lahore HighCourt, Lahore, will launch itsupdated website and helpline1134 on Friday meeting therequirements of modern age.

The aim of this exerciseis to facilitate the masses ingeneral and members of theBar, in particular. With thisfacility information regardingthe cases at the PrincipalSeat as well as at the alliedBenches would also be avail-able on the website with up-to-date data regarding re-spective dates of hearing.

Due to link with courts,stay orders as well as othershort results of cases will bereadily available. To facilitatethe holding of general elec-tions, an election portal is

LHC website updatedalso being launched on thewebsite for viewing of allelection related orders.

It will also contain the sta-tus of the judgments ap-proved for reporting with thename of journals wherein theyhave been published and theexact citation besides infor-mation regarding the status ofthe judgments challengedbefore Supreme Court. Up-to-date data regarding GreenBenches with status of caseswould also be uploaded.

News/events with photogallery of the LHC, informa-tion about the former as wellas the sitting Chief Justice (s)and the Judges along withtheir snaps would also beavailable on the web.

Reports of Judicial Com-missions appointed to probe

into different incidents willalso be accessible.

With the launching ofhelpline 1134 (IVR – Interac-tive Voice Response) peoplewill be able to get informa-tion regarding the status oftheir case telephonically. Thishelpline could respond inEnglish, Urdu, Punjabi andSeraiki languages.

A world renowned infor-mation technology consultantMr. Kek Wee hailing fromSingapore has been engagedby Punjab Information Tech-nology Board for this purpose.He enjoys rich experience incase management system forcourts. Presently he is han-dling a China based companyHiSoft Technology having itsoffices in North America, AsiaPacific and Europe.

Anti-denguecampaign

arrangementsfinalised

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—On the directiveof Punjab Chief MinisterNajam Sethi, the Local Gov-ernment Department has fi-nalized all anti-dengue cam-paign arrangements,whereas, 144 Tehsil andTown Municipal administra-tions have been activated.Senior officers of Local Govt.Department are visiting vari-ous districts to personallymonitor anti-dengue cam-paign related pesticides, ma-chinery and equipments.They will also monitor paceof implementation of TyreRegulations and JunkyardRegulations.

These views were ex-pressed in a special meetingof senior officers of LocalGovt. Department, held underProvincial Secretary LocalGovernment Punjab SultanSikandar Raja, who conveyedto the officers the directives ofPunjab Chief Minister NajamSethi about anti-dengue cam-paign. The Secretary LocalGovt. informed that 61 denguebrigades, consisting of fog-ging machines and pickup ve-hicles, have been activatedagainst dengue virus.