NAB investigatorin RPPs case dies

mysteriouslySHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Kamran Faisal,NAB investigation officer inRPPs corruption case was founddead at his residence here on Fri-day.

The RPPs case also involvesPrime Minister Raja PervezAshraf. The officer was living inFederal Lodges and allegedlycommitted suicide. However, in-vestigations were underway.

Body of Kamran Faisal wasfound hanging from the ceilingfan. Sources in NAB said that theofficer had been under strain forbeing part of the Rental Powercase.

Faisal hailed from MianChunnu in Punjab and is survivedby two daughters and widow.NAB Chairman Admiral (Retd)Fasih Bukhari visited Kamran’sresidence and expressed sorrowover the death of the NAB of-ficer. Faisal was among two of-

ficials who had been suspendedfor recommending to DirectorGeneral of NAB Rawalpindi Col(retd) Subeh Sadiq that he shouldsubmit references against the ac-cused in the two RPP cases to the

NAB’s head office, a bureau of-ficial had told the Supreme Courtlast week. Sadiq, who had heededthe advice of the investigating

ALI SYED

ISLAMABAD—IslamabadElectric Supply Company(Iesco) has landed into deep fi-nancial trouble of Rs 12.10 bil-lion as the government of AzadJammu and Kashmir (AJK) hasrefused to pay the power tariffof Rs 5.63 per unit fixed byNational Electric Power Regu-latory Authority (Nepra), seniorofficials told Pakistan Ob-server. However, the powerconsumers in the whole Paki-stan are paying almost over Rs

AJK power dues cause trouble for IESCOIESCO ‘lethal plan’ to recover arrears from consumers

9 per unit where as the AJK con-sumers pay Rs 5.63 per unitwhich the AJK government is notfully paying.

It is pertinent to mention thatthe federal government has al-ready inked an agreement withthe AJK government underwhich the consumers of AJK areto be provided electricity at sub-sidized rates because of theMangla dam.

The Iesco has sought the in-tervention of finance ministryand asked the financial manag-ers of the government to exert the

pressure on AJK governmentpayment of huge amount of Rs12.10 billion.

The Iesco has also carvedout a lethal plan under which thepower consumers of Iesco inIslamabad, and Rawalpindi,Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum,Murree and their suburban areaswill be made bound to pay addi-tional amount of Rs 12.10 bil-lion in their power tariff to wardoff the impact of the huge injuryof Rs 12.10 billion it braved inthe last financial year of 2011-12 on account of refusal by AJK

government in paying the powertariff determined for the con-sumers in AJK. “However,Nepra has rejected the said planof Iesco.”

The AJK government ispaying Rs 1.50 per unit less inthe tariff determined by theNepra, which has inflicted thehuge loss of Rs 12.10 billion toIseco in the financial year of2011-12.

The administration ofIesco, which is to finalize thefinancial sheet of 2011-12 un-

KARACHI: MA Jinnah Road gives a deserted look during observance of three-day mourn-ing on the death of MQM MPA Manzar Imam who was gunned down by unknown persons.

FC commandantBara Tehsilreplaced overtribesmen killingsSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—CommandantFrontier Corps Bara, Col.Jawad Zia has reportedly beenremoved from his position anda new commandant for theforce has been deployed inBara Tehsil of Khyber Agency,official sources said.

The development comesafter continuing pressure andprotests from the Baratribesmen, elders andparliamentarians over thekillings of 18 tribesmen inAlamgudar area.

“Col Naeem Sarwar hastaken over charge as the newcommandant of the force inBara in place of Col Jawad Ziawho has been relieved of hisduties,” official sources said.

The Frontier Corps sources,however said that postings andtransfers are routine affairs andCol Jawad Zia has beenreposted as per routine.

“It has nothing to do withthe killings of the tribesmen,security forces do not killinnocent people, but themilitants might have beenbehind the incident,” sourcessaid. “Col Jawad is still in Baraand has not been postedanywhere else, but yes he hasbeen relieved of his presentposting as Commandant FCBara,” the FC sources said.

HAMEED SHAHEEN

RAWALPINDI—The All PartiesKashmir Conference today- Sat-urday at 11.00 am called by theMuslim Conference chief/ex-Premier of AJK Sardar AttiqueAhmed Khan is expected to makesome important announcementregarding Kashmir in the light ofthe current tense conditions cre-ated by the persistent Indianforces violation of the Line ofControl (LoC) as well as future

All Parties KashmirConference today

Important joint announcement expectedstrategy of Kashmiri political inre-sensitization of this disputeworld-wide.

Kashmiris on both sides ofthe dividing line irrefutably be-lieve that it is India whosechronic intransigence stands inthe way of peaceful settlement ofthe Kashmir dispute, a tightenedcork on the Kashmiris right toself-determination. The vacationof Afghanistan by the foreignforces has also given a fresh agi-

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

LoC tension:India defers

NIA Pak visitNEW DELHI—The proposedvisit of the National InvestigationTeam (NIA) to Pakistan slated totake place in January has beendeferred, government officialssaid.

The NIA was slated to meetthe Federal Investigation Agency(FIA) sleuths on the 26/11 caseand build counter-terror coopera-tion during its proposed visit toIslamabad this month.

Pakistan interior ministerRehman Malik , who visited NewDelhi in December, had said the

Continued on Page 7

Oil priceslikely to upfrom Jan 22ISLAMABAD—Prices ofpetroleum products, excepthigh speed diesel, are expectedto rise from January 22.

According to sources,petrol price is likely to go upby Rs1.80/litre, light speeddiesel by Rs1.05 and keroseneoil by Rs1.75 a litre. Highspeed diesel is expected to beslashed by 30 paisas a litre.The Oil and Gas RegulatoryAuthority (OGRA) willforward a summary of freshreshuffle in petroleum pricesto the Ministry of Petroleumon January 21. New prices willbe applicable from January 22.—NNI

SC admits pleaon removal ofministersSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan on Fridayadmitted a plea for hearingagainst sacking of fiveministers belonging to thePakistan People’s Party inPunjab.

The petition was filed byShahid Orakzai against theruling passed by theRawalpindi bench of theLahore High Court.

The petition stated that theministers had been sackedwithout being informed aboutany reason.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The InternationalMonetary Fund expressed con-cern over Pakistan’s falling ex-change reserves on Friday, butstopped short of echoing ana-lysts’ warnings that it could facea new balance of payments cri-sis within months without a newloan package.

“There is still a balance ofpayments concern … the foreignexchange reserves in the centralbank have declined,” JeffreyFranks, the regional adviser to the

Fund on Pakistan told a newsconference. “Foreign direct in-vestment has fallen sharply butother capital inflows are also veryweak.”

Franks said that Pakistan hasnot sought a new loanprogramme. However, if it did,it would have to implement strictmeasures for achieving economictargets needed to qualify for anew IMF programme,DawnNews reported.

Pakistan’s state bank cur-rently has about $9 billion,enough to cover about twomonths’ worth of imports, if cash

deposits in private dollar ac-counts are not counted, Frankssaid.

In 2008, the country averteda balance of payments crisis bysecuring an $11 billion IMF loanpackage. The IMF suspended theprogramme in 2011 after eco-nomic and reform targets weremissed.

Some analysts have sincewarned about the prospect of anew balance of payments crisis.Pakistan owes the IMF just over$6.2 billion. It is due to repay$1.6 billion in the first six monthsof 2013, Franks said, a schedule

that will strain reserves and mayaccelerate the slide of the rupeecurrency.

The rupee currently stands at98.6 to the dollar, a depreciationof about 8 per cent over thecourse of 2012.

“Those reserves are not yetat a critical level but it’s impor-tant to address the policy – theunderlying policy issue well be-fore you get to the point wherethey become critical,” saidFranks.

But the current governmenthas failed to enact the reformsneeded to boost reserves and

qualify for a new IMFprogramme.

The Fund wants Pakistan tobroaden its narrow tax base andslash subsidies it says mainlybenefit the wealthy.

Franks said further fundingwas contingent on a consensusbeing reached by political partieson comprehensive, permanentfinancial reforms and firm imple-mentation of them.

Analysts think the IMF isunlikely to cut a deal soon as thegovernment will probably lackthe political will to take bold

IMF refuses to write off, restructure loansExpresses concern over Pakistan’s falling reserves

Continued on Page 7

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-N and Pakistan MuslimLeague- Functional (PML-F)have decided to join hands tosteer the country out of crises.

Head of Pakistan MuslimLeague- Functional (PML-F) PirPagara accompanied by leadersof his party called on PML-NChief Mian Nawaz Sharif on Fri-day.

During the meeting, leader-ship of PML-N and PML-F ex-changed views on country’s pre-vailing political and economicsituation particularly with refer-ence to situation in Sindh.

Sources claimed that Nawazheld consultation with Pir Pagaraabout caretaker set up and gen-eral elections. Nawaz and PirPagara also vowed to furtherstrengthen the opposition,sources added.

Matters pertaining to elec-toral alliance between the PML-N and PML-F were also dis-cussed during the meeting,sources claimed. Both the partieswere unanimous in rejecting theSindh Peoples Local Govern-

ment Ordinance and any deal oncaretaker set up in Sindh wouldbe opposed vehemently. Both theparties demanded that like cen-

tre, due process of consultationon caretaker set up in Sindh andother provinces be initiated. PirPagara also offered condolence

to PML-N President over saddemise of his brother AbbasSharif.

PML-N&F reject deal over caretaker setup

LAHORE: PML-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, along with Chief of Pakistan MuslimLeague Functional Pir Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi (Pir Sahib of Pagaro) talking to media onFriday. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader in National Assem-bly Ch Nisar Ali Khan are also present.

Continued on Page 7

Qadri assurance:Pact to be

implementedMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Tehrik-e-Minhaj-ul-Quran leader Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri arrived Lahore after endof his four-day long protest inIslamabad following an agree-ment with the government.

Speaking to reporters, DrQadri said the long march wassuccessful and congratulatedthe entire nation. The Tehrik-e-Minhaj-ul-Quran leaderadded that if the agreementsigned with the governmentwas not implemented, they re-served the right to take extrememeasures.

He said he congratulatedthe whole nation after success-ful long march. He said themarchers remained calm andpeaceful throughout this mil-lion long march and the federal

Continued on Page 7

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan on Friday ex-pressed its displeasure over Na-tional Accountability Bureau’sinability to produce Tauqir Sadiq,ex-chairman of the Oil and GasRegulatory Authority (OGRA).

A three-member benchheaded by Chief Justice of Paki-

NAB failure to arrest Tauqir irks SCstan Iftikhar MohammadChoudhry and Justice Jawwad SKhawaja heard the case pertain-ing to corruption in OGRA whenSadiq was chairman.

The court was displeased af-ter NAB presented a report on thecase rather than producing Sadiqbefore the bench as per the court’s

orders. The CJ said that the ac-cused escaped from NAB’s of-fice after his arrest warrants wereissued. He said that Tauqir Sadiqwas not arrested despite a policeteam was present in Dubai for thepurpose. Justice Jawad SKhawaja remarked that the NAB

Continued on Page 7

3-day mourning to protest Manzar’s killing

Karachi comes to standstillKARACHI—Businesses, mar-kets and educational institutionsremained shut on Friday inKarachi, Hyderabad and otherinterior cities on Sindh after theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) announced a three-daymourning over the killing of itsprovincial lawmaker ManzarImam in Karachi a day earlier.

The transport association hadannounced on Tuesday thattransporters would keep theirvehicles off the road and the AllKarachi Traders’ Alliance saidbusinesses and markets in the citywould remain closed on Friday.

Public and private transportremained sparse as roads pre-sented a desolated look.

Private and government edu-cational institutions announcedhad also closure Day and theKarachi University’s and FederalUrdu University’s examinationsscheduled for the day were post-

poned. Manzar Imam was killedalong with three guards inKarachi’s Orangi town area onJan 17.

The murder sparked violencein Karachi and several other cit-ies and towns of interior Sindh.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) later claimed responsibil-ity for the killing of the provin-cial lawmaker, a spokesman forthe banned outfit told media.

Funeral prayers of SyedManzar Imam and three otherswere offered in Jinnah Ground,Azizabad amid tight security andmourning across the city on Fri-day. Hundreds of people includ-ing MQM leaders, activists, of-ficials and citizens attended thefunerals procession of ManzarImam, his security guard and twopolice cops deployed for his se-curity who were shot dead.Thedeceased were later laid to restat Azizabad graveyard.—INP

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—After the deci-sion of Allama Tahir-ul-Qadri,leader of Tehrik-e-MinhajulQuran not to return to Canada,Pakistan Awami Tehrik, a po-litical wing of TMQ has hinted

to participate in the general elec-tions.

Encouraged by the success ofsit-in of tens of thousands ofpeople on the main boulevard ofIslamabad in the coldest days ofthe year, TMQ spokesman onThursday has hinted to contest

the forthcoming polls. PATleaders have already given someclues in the veiled words.

It was learnt from politicalsources that a new election alli-ance consisting of TehrikeInsaaf and PAT with some re-

New election alliance in makingPAT to contest polls

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

Pak to release allAfghan Taliban: FO

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan plans torelease all Afghan Taliban prison-ers still in its detention, includingthe group’s former second-in-command, an official said on Fri-day, the clearest signal yet that itbacks reconciliation efforts inneighbouring Afghanistan, says areport received from Abu Dhabi.

“The remaining detainees, weare coordinating, and they will bereleased subsequently,” Jalil Jilani,Pakistan’s foreign secretary, said ata news conference in Abu Dhabi.

Ex-ministers signfiles showing

fake datesGHULAM TAHIR

QUETTA—A few ex-provincialministers of Balochistan arestated to have signed on someimportant cases writing take pre-vious dates. The senior function-aries of the government directedthe concerned officials to ignoreillegal orders failing which dis-ciplinary action would be taken.

The files signed with old

ISLAMABAD—Almost all of themain express trains have beenarriving late at Lahore andRawalpindi railway stations. Atevery railway station, the pas-sengers have to wait for hoursto get their trains as the de-layed arrival has become amatter of the day. The trainsfrom Karachi and Quetta werearriving beyond the actual timeat Lahore Railway Station dueto which the passengers ofboth up and down sides weresuffering, but no steps havebeen taken.

Due to the constant de-lay in the arrival of major ex-press trains mostly theKarachi and Quetta-boundpassengers suffered. Due toless number of pessangercoaches, the PR has beenplying the same coaches onboth up and down sections.Iftikhar Ahmed, a passengerKarachi-bound train, said hehad come from Kasur as hehad to reach Karachi on Fri-day to attend the “qul” of hisfather-in-law. He said, “I thinkit will be difficult for me to

reach Karachi on time.”Aman Ullah, who arrived

via Awan Express along withhis family, said he would nomore travel through train as ithad disappointed him a lot.According to an official of Pa-kistan Railways, among the fac-tors causing delay, the old andobsolete signal system was oneof them. Moreover, the enginesbeing used for passenger trainare also not in good health. Therailway’s signal system wasoutdated and it always stopsfunctioning during rains add-ing that not even a single loco-motive has been added to rail-ways fleet since 2008.

However, he said, work onreplacement of obsolete sig-naling system on Lodhran-Shahdara Bagh section wouldbe completed by 2013. ThePC-1 for the project of re-placement of Old ObsoleteSignaling Gear (OBSG) onLodhran-Shahadra Baghsection was approved by Ex-ecutive Committee of theNational Economic Council(ECNEC).—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Metrologi-cal Department has predictedisolated rain likely to persist inIslamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore,Gujranwala, Sahiwal divisionson Friday. While snowfall overthe hilly areas of Malakand,Hazara, Gilgit-Baltistan andKashmir is expected duringnext 24 hours. Temperature ofsome major cities on Fridaymorning was: Islamabad,Lahore, Peshawar andMuzaffarabad 5 C, Karachi 12C, Quetta -7 C, Gilgit 1 C andMurree -1 C degree centigrade.A dry weather with certain de-cline in day as well as nighttemperatures has been fore-cast for Karachi, Hyderabadand Sukkur regions by Paki-stan Meteorological Depart-ment on Friday.

Day temperatures werealso reported to have droppedby two to seven degrees indifferent parts of the provinceduring Thursday and first halfof Friday. According to Me-teorological Department

sources dry continental airalso prevailed over the region.Very light rain was also re-ported from different areas inthe province including partsof Karachi. The provincialcapital and adjoining areasbraved bitter cold weather onFriday as the minimum tem-perature was recorded at mi-nus 11 C.

According to Met Office,the lowest temperature wasrecorded in the metropolis onFriday at minus 11 C. TheMet Office has forecast verycold/frosty weather for theprovincial capital for Satur-day. The lowest minimumtemperature of minus 13 Cwas recorded in Kalat.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Chief MinisterKhyber Pakhtunkhwa AmirHaider Khan Hoti Friday saidthe ANP-led provincial gov-ernment has completed recordnumber of developmentprojects in KhyberPakhtunkhwa despite havingseveral unfavourable chal-lenges and circumstances.Talking to a delegation fromMardan here, he said ANPimplemented its electoralmanifesto in letter and spiritand delivered to the masses,adding that ANP workers andleaders rendered sacrifices forthe cause of peace and pros-perity in the province.

He said though many is-sues are still there, however,the provincial governmenttried best to address the 60years sense of deprivationamong the masses by pro-viding maximum facilities in-

cluding communication net-work, education, employ-ment and others to thepeople. He said that fundswere also provided for con-struction of mosques acrossthe province.

Earlier, the Chief Minis-ter approved elevation ofGovernment Higher Second-ary School Chagharmati,Peshawar to GovernmentDegree College. Hoti alsosanctioned 28 different postsfrom Grade 1 to 19 for thedegree college and said thatthe elevation of the schoolto college would facilitate thestudents to get higher edu-cation in their own area.Azam for completion of wel-fare projects: KhyberPakhtinkhwa Minister forLabour & Provincial VicePresident of PPP, Sher AzamWazir Friday undertook de-tailed review of five yearsperformance of his depart-

ment and directed the rel-evant officials to serve thelabourers community with-out any favouritism.

Chairing a high level meet-ing of Labour Departmenthere, Sher Azam Wazir di-rected Anwar Khan Yousafzai,Director General EmployeesSocial Security KhyberPakhtunkhwa to provide besthealthcare facilities to the fami-lies of labourers in the prov-ince. Provincial Minister di-rected the concerned officialsto improve healthcare deliv-ery mechanism in the existingsocial security hospitals anddispensaries to ensure roundthe clock service in these hos-pitals. He said that labourerswere backbone of theeconomy and unless theywere happy and contentedprogress the country couldnever make progress in indus-trially and economically.

Sher Azam Wazir asked

the concerned officials toperform their duties withhonesty and to complete thewelfare projects initiated forthe welfare of the labourerson emergent basis. Gilgit-Baltistan government has al-located more than five crorerupees in current fiscal yearfor implementing a compre-hensive plan to develop In-dustries and mineral re-sources of the region.

According to radio Paki-stan quoting official sources,under the plan preciousstone of the Gilgit Baltistanwill be brought in the marketafter their proper cutting forwhich marketing center andlabs will be established whilebuilding of mineral develop-ment and directoration will beconstructed. The sourcesfurther said check post willbe set up on Karakurum high-way to prevent smuggling ofprecious stone.

Shafiq electedKamalia PressClub president

M.ZAFAR ANSARI

KAMALIA—Rai Shafiq Iqbalhas been elected as presi-dent of Press Club Kamaliaduring annual elections. Elec-tion process was monitoredby Advocate MohammadTahir Riaz Ansari. The otheroffice-bearers elected areMohammad Zafar Ansari,Senior Vice President, SyedImran Shah, Vice President,Chaudhry Tariq Jatt, GeneralSecretary, Mian Arshad Fi-nance Secretary, MalikManzoor Hussain Faridi,Chairman and Dr Hanif, ViceChairman. City’s social andcommercial organizationshave congratulated thenewly elected office-bearersof the Press Club.

Bank deprivedof Rs 5 million

SHAFFAAT MALIK

TALAGANG—Three robbersstormed into a UBL bankbranch in Talagang on Fridayafternoon and made awaywith Rs 5 million. After hold-ing the staff and other therehostage at gunpoint, they col-lected Rs 5 million. The bankmanager Yasir told the news-men that the robbers enteredthe bank as customers andheld entire staff hostage atgunpoint. He added that thebank was robbed within 10or 15 minutes. The robberswere middle-aged. The ban-dits took the CCTV camerawith them.

*****With the start of Rabi-ul-Awwal, celebrations of EidMilad-un-Nabi (PBUH) havestarted in Talagang. Citizenshave illuminated themosques, houses andstreets with decoration lightsand started arranging Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) events inthe town. Flags linked withEid Milad-un-Nabi can beseen in houses, mosques andother buildings.

Meanwhile, Tehsil Mu-nicipal AdministrationTalagang has prepared fool-proof plan for the securityof the processions to betaken out on the day ofJashn-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi(PBUH) on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal.

ChairmanNEPRA visitsWapda House

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H AW A R — C h a i r m a nNEPRA, Habibullah Khilji andMember NEPRA KhyberPukhtunkhwa, Shaukat Kundivisited Wapda HousePeshawar and hold a meetingwith Chief Executive Pesco,Tariq Saddozai, here on Friday.The facilities provided to pub-lic were reviewed by the Chair-man in the meeting while, ChiefExecutive briefed the meetingregarding steps taken for con-sumer facilitation.

CEO Pesco told that anumber of Customers Ser-vices Centers were estab-lished throughout the prov-ince at circle level and CentralComplaints Cell is fully opera-tive at Headquarters levelround the clock for address-ing consumer’s complaint. Hesaid complaints offices havealready working on Sub-Divi-sional and Divisional level.

CEO told the meeting thataccording to new proceduredomestic electricity connec-tions are being providedwithin 20 days.

IS L A M A B A D —Pakis tan’sAmbassador to ChinaMasood Khalid said here onFriday, that all-weather, time-tested friendship and strate-gic partnership between thetwo countries will furtherdeepen in coming years. Wehave strong cooperative re-lations in all dimensionsspread over the past sixtyyears, and it is now up to theyouths of both the countriesto carry forward this torch offriendship to new heights,said Ambassador Khalidwhile addressing a large

group of students from theChina Foreign Affairs Uni-versity, says a message re-ceived hre from Bejing.

The reception was ar-ranged at the Pakistan Em-bassy to celebrate the Chi-nese Spring Festival takingplace on February 10. TheAmbassador, who arrived inBeijing two weeks ago, toassume his new responsibili-ties, said he is delighted tomeet and welcome the Chi-nese students at the PakistanEmbassy. While addressingthe students he said “You

belong to one of the presti-gious higher learning institu-tions and you are the futureof your country to shoulderimportant responsibilities ascountry’s diplomats.”

“Youths are the real assetof both the countries,” he said,adding the young generationof both the sides has the re-sponsibility to carry forwardthe legacy of our friendship.“In this evergreen and uniquerelationship we have seenmany highs but no lows,” hesaid adding that our most last-ing bond is based on the mu-

tual trust that we have betweenour two countries. Referring tothe performances from the uni-versity students and Pakistanidiplomats who presentedsongs, music and skits to markthe occasion, AmbassadorKhalid expressed his delightand said he was exceptionallyimpressed with the Chinesegirl who sang popular Paki-stani song—Jeevay jeevayPakistan. During the Q&A ses-sion, Ambassador Khalid saidthat people of Pakistan arelearning Chinese languagewith keen interest.—APP

GB govt allocates Rs 5 crore for industrial development

Unprecedented developmentprojects completed in KP: Hoti

Pak-China friendship to furtherheighten in coming years: Envoy

HYDERABAD: A gypsy lady preparing food for her familyoutside makeshift hut at Hala Naka Area.

SKARDU: A beautiful view of snow covered mountains in the Valley.

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

THE PML (N) chief, indisputably the frontrank opposition leader,

does give a look of a quiet,calm and un-a s s u m i n gperson, buthas beenplaying hiscards remark-ably well,much moreasser t ive ly,and in cool,

calm, and composed manner.While the governmentseemed panicky and dis-played undue haste in orga-nizing the committee to nego-tiate peace with Tahirul Qadrithis Thursday, Nawaz Sharifshowed tremendous politicalsagacity and wisdom. By or-

ganizing the conference ofpractically the entire opposi-tion at his Raiwind House, hemanaged to raise his staturefar too higher than he has beenable to achieve so far.

On the face of it, the dec-laration, delivered after theday-long moot, may haveappeared pro-Zardari in na-ture, but a cooler reflectionwould convince even themost ordinary of the ordinaryanalysts, that he alone wasthe beneficiary of his trans-formed thinking. The moveto summon principle leadersof different parties may haveappeared as an attempt toserve warning to MinhajulQuran chief or to many otherimportant segments of thesociety, but in the long termperspective, it meant muchmore. The get-together and

the declaration coming out ofthe marathon meeting, hadactually sent meaningful sig-nals to concerned quarters,that compromising on theestablished norms and defi-nition of democracy beingthe sole custodian ofcountry’s integrity, and itsonly pillar of strength, wouldbe totally out of question.

That declaration alone,had perhaps, brought farmore bigger pressure on thepreacher protestor than anyother single factor on thepolitical contours of a State,sinking sharply towards anabyss and a morass, pullingout from which will be diffi-cult, and may well nigh beimpossible if any further timeis allowed to be wasted ingimmicks or “tamasha’ ,which the rulers have been

busy staging till date. A fullerimpact of the “operationRaiwind” will begin to be vis-ible sooner than anticipated,but even at this stage it hadimpacted the political spec-trum. The second classymove, Mian sahib made, wasto join hands with Pir Pagara,whose announcement thathe will feel relieved if muslimleague factions are united atone platform, brought smileson the face of Nawaz SharifFriday.

He tried to hide it fromthose present at the jointpress conference with PirPagara, and Murtaza Jatoi,but eyes focused on thePML chief, could very wellnotice it. He was gleeful atthe Pir’s unequivocal state-ment. A help of such volumeand size coming from a lead-

ership of substantial follow-ing in Sindh, would be like adream come true for a person,twice prime minister of Paki-stan, and is once again in therace for heading thecountry’s administration. PirPagara’s visit to Raiwind,meant to express condo-lences with Nawaz Sharif onhis younger brother’s de-mise, lasted for hours.

Naturally, this was no in-significant event. PresidentZardari also telephonedNawaz to condole AbbasSharif ’s death, and yet an-other leader, Imran Khandrove to Raiwind to be withNawaz who he had all alongbeen attacking as his enemynumber one, were all merecourtesies. But Pagara’s pro-longed stay with the PML (N)leader, and his colleagues,

clearly had a purpose, whichwas ultimately expressed atthe press talk later.

Both talked of Sindh situa-tion, and of grievances of itsinhabitants, mainly the peas-ants, called “haris” in local par-lance. Mian saheb fully cashedon the situation to question thePPP’s inability to help the na-tive Sindhis or to bring aboutany change in their life style innearly five years of their rulesince March 2008. The Sindhscenario looks set for a change.Whether the change will reallycome this time, is difficult topredict at this stage. Sindhis stillconsider Zulfikar Ali Bhutto astheir real benefactor, and mayperhaps vote for the PPP againthis time.

They do have complaintsagainst Zardari and his partyassociates, but they con-

tinue to seem committed toBhuuttoism. But then, PirPagara, and the Sindhi na-tionalist parties could joinhands to dent the PPP votebank is quite possible. AyazLateef Palejo, Qadir Magsietc, have their followingsamong extremists and diehard Sindhi nationalists.Their real test in election isstill to come. Sindhi nation-alism has been effectivelynipped in the bud by late Z ABhutto who defeated theGodfather of the concept, GM Syed in 1970 elections,and Rasul Bux Palejo toofailed to impress in electoralpolitics, It remains to be seennow as to how Ayaz Lateefpalejo and Qadir Magsi canreally be instrumental in dis-tancing their followers fromBhuttoism.

They can do that pro-vided they work hard. But sofar their performance hasbeen not very impressive.However Nawaz Sharif hashis eyes on Sindhi votes. In1997 elections he did winseats from Sindh and alsofrom Karachi. Whether he willbe able to repeat the perfor-mance in coming elections,or improve upon his past per-formance, has a big questionmark. Elections this summermay be different from thoseof 1997. Nawaaz has his onhis side, Pagara, and Jatois,both do win quite a few seatsin Sindh. They have theirown pockets of strength. ThePagara-Jatoi factor will defi-nitely be a big help for him.Nawaz is trying hard never-theless. Let us see what is instore for him.

Nawaz seems quiet but playing his cards well

Passengers suffer as allmain trains reach late

Quetta mercury dips to minus 11

Isolated rain withsnowfall expected

M HALEEM ASAD

TIMERGARA—More than 3,000government schools’ teachersof the Dir Lower are expectedto be promoted to higher gradesas per provincial governmentde-cision, reliable sources toldthis corre-spondent here on Fri-day. A meeting of the depart-mental promotion committee,headed by Director Elementaryand Secondary Education,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, RafiqueKhattak, was held at the edu-cation complex, Balam-bat.

Members of the committee Dep-uty Director EducationMustafa Khan, District Educa-tion Officer MuhammadMutahir Khan, District OfficerBashir Ahmad, principals KhizarHayat Khan and clerical expertsattended the meeting.

The committee worked formore than eight hours andchecked service books andother relevant documents ofthe ex-pected teachers forpromotion, sources said. Theysaid that as per governmentpolicy 669 primary school

teachers (PST) male and 425female teachers would be pro-moted to grade 15 while 813male and 469 female PSTswould get promotion to grade14, sources said, adding therest of PSTs had already beenpromoted to grade 12. Simi-larly 211 CT male, 86 CT fe-male, 57 DM male, 37 DM fe-male, 63 AT male, 37 AT fe-male, 63 TT male, 35 TT fe-male, 32 Qari male and 15 Qarifemale would be promoted tograde 16.

A member of the commit-

tee Khi-zar Hayat Khan, talk-ing to this reporter, said thatwork of the committee had beenfinished and more than 3,000teachers of different cadresbelonging to Dir Lower hadbeen proposed for further pro-motion. He said that propernotification of all proposed sec-ondary schools’ teachers in thisregard would be issued from thedirec-torate at the end of thismonth. While no-tification ofthe primary school teacherswould be issued by the DEOeducation, Dir Lower.

BASHIR AHMAD RAHMANI

HAFIZABAD—MPA and Presi-dent Pakistan People’s Party,district Hafizabad chapter,Malik Fayyaz Ahmad Awanhas said that present federalgovernment of PPP is takingpeople-friendly measures forproviding various amenitiesto the masses at their door-steps according to the mani-festo of the party. He was talk-ing to media here on Friday.Local leader of PPP Malik GulNawaz Phole Awan was alsopresent on this occasion.Malik Fayyaz Ahmad Awansaid that federal governmenthad taken revolu-tionarysteps to overcome terrorism,energy and other crises withgood faith.

He said that people’s partyalways success in the court ofpeople and vote to power anddid not came into power thor-ough back door. He said thatnew machinery has been in-stalled to improve pressure ofgas supply in the city, low pres-sure was a long standing prob-

lem of the people of the cityand pressure would be fur-therimproved in the city after fewdays.

****District President Pakistan

Awami Tehreek, Hafizabd,Malik Muhammad Shafiquehas said that Pakistan AwamiTehreek has given massage ofpeace in the globe throughpeaceful long march. He wasaddressing the workers of theTehreek after returning from Is-lamabad on Friday. He said thatby the grace of Almighty Al-lah no untoward in-cident hadoccurred during the longmarch. He said that they werestruggling for making the coun-try a fort of peace and time wasnot far off to achieve our goal.

****A delegation of Pakistan

Sunni Tehreek led by SyedUsman Shah met the DSP,Hafizabad, TAriq Warraichand demanded foolproof se-curity arrangements on theeve of Eid Milad-un-Nabi.The DSP As-sured the del-egation that no one would be

allowed to take law into hishand and fool-proof arrange-ments were his top prop-ertyaccording to the orders ofhigher authority. The delega-tion also visited TMA officeand demanded the officers toensure repair of routes of pro-cessions and im-prove hy-gienic conditions in the cityparticularly during this month.

****District Administration

Hafiza-bad is taking effectivemeasures against profiteersto ensure daily use items tothe people on fixed rates. Onelakh and seventeen thousandrupees fine was imposed on157 shopkeepers for viola-tion of price list provided bythe Administration duringcurrent month. This was dis-closed in a handout issuedhere today by districtadministra-tion. Handoutsaid that District Co-ordina-tion Officer, Farah Masoodwarned the all officer to en-sure implementation of thepolicy of the Punjab govern-ment in his letter.

3,000 teachers to be promoted in Lower Dir

Revolutionary steps taken toovercome terror, energy deficit

Funeral prayersHYDERABAD—Funeral Prayer (GhaibanaNamaz-e-Janaza) of assassinated MPAManzar Imam has offered here on Fridayat the premises of Mutahida QaumiMovement (MQM) Hyderabad Zone.The party’s Zone Incharge MuhammadShareef, Joint Zonal Incharge NaveedShamsi, members of Hyderabad ZonalCommittee, political workers belongingto various parties and a large number ofcitizens offered the prayers for the de-

parted soul. On this occasion, Quran Khwani was also heldand participants prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the de-parted soul in eternal peace and grant courage of the be-reaved family to bear this loss with fortitude. Speaking onthe occasion Muhammad Shareef and others said that suchcowardly acts of terrorism and intimidation could not intimi-date the workers of MQM and they will continue theirstruggle for the rights of the common man. They also de-manded that culprits of this heinous crime should immedi-ately be brought to book. Sufi actor, comedian Nazar M.Janwary passes away: Renowned sufi actor and comedianof Sindh Nazar Muhammad Janwary passed away on Thurs-day in a local hospital after prolonged illness. He was 50. Hewas laid to rest here on Friday at his ancestral graveyard. Alarge number of people from various walks of life attendedthe funeral prayer. They expressed deep grief over his saddemise and condoled with the family. They also prayed theAlmighty to rest the departed soul in peace. University ofSindh has announced that trials for Inter-University CricketChampionship 2013 will be conducted on January 22. Direc-tor Sports University of Sindh (SU) Muhammad AkramAnsari, in a press release issued here on Thursday, said thattrials will be held at University cricket ground at 2.00 pm andselected players will represent the University in the Cham-pionship.—APP

Bara victims reliefStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Pakistan Tehrik-e-InsafChairman Imran Khan Friday called forprovision of immediate relief to the vic-tim families of Tehsil Bara, KhyberAgency and strongly condemned po-lice action on protesting bereaved fami-lies. Talking to PTI KP delegation ledby Atif Khan, Iqbal Afridi and others,Imran Khan expressed grief over lossof lives in Tehsil Bara and urged thegovernment to take the notice of the

incident. He said Bara Bazaar should immediately be re-opened and a compensation package for the bereaved fami-lies be announced. He said PTI believes in dialogue ratherin use of force for resolution of all disputes. The HumanRights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) earlier also con-demned the killing of around 20 civilians in Khyber Agencyand demanded that the claims made by the families thatthe deceased were killed by security forces personnel mustbe probed independently and to the families’ satisfaction.In a statement issued on Thursday, the commission said,“The HRCP condemns unreservedly the brutal killing ofaround 20 people in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency. Thefamilies of the deceased had brought their bodies toPeshawar, where they protested outside the Governor’sHouse and later the Peshawar Press Club, demanding ac-tion against the murderers of their dear ones, many of whothey claimed were in military custody before their bodieswere found. This is about the most serious charge that canbe brought against any security force and needs to beinvestigated independently and in a manner that inspiresconfidence of the families.

PPP protects democracyISLAMABAD—Deputy Speaker NationalAssembly Faisal Karim Kundi on Fridaysaid that Pakistan Peoples Party led gov-ernment has been protecting democracyin the country through dialogue and tak-ing all possible measures for strength-ening it. Talking to APP, Kundi said thedemocracy always listens to the people’sgrievances and resolve the problemsfaced by the country. He said the de-mocracy had been strengthened in the

country and the politicians were confident to resolve issueswith collective efforts. Govt completing tenure due to rec-onciliatory policy: Federal Minister for Political Affairs MaulaBakhsh Chandio has said that the democratically electedgovernment was completing its constitutional tenure dueto the policy of reconciliation. He said that all the politicalparties were fully committed to fight against the anti-demo-cratic forces. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)believed in the political reconciliation as it was imperative tostabilize the democratic institutions in the country. Talkingto a private television channel, he said “We have acceptedall the constitutional demands of Tahirul Qadri after nego-tiations.” The minister said that Chief Election CommissionerFakhruddin G Ebrahim was a capable and honest person toconduct free and fair elections. He said, “We will follow thedemocratic norms to evolve consensus of all the politicalparties on all the issues.” Replying to a question, he saidthat free media, independent judiciary, strong Election Com-mission were working in the country in their defined param-eters. He said, “We will follow the democratic norms toevolve consensus of all the political parties on all the is-sues.”—APP

Major Balochistan reshuffleQUETTA—Chief Executive and Gover-nor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi orderedfor major reshuffle in top bureaucracyof Balochistan. According to the direc-tives received from the official sources,Mohammad Hashim Tareen has beenposted as Secretary Agriculture & Co-operative and Mathar Rana posted asSecretary Prosecution. Secretary Plan-ning and Development DepartmentMiran Jan Kakar transferred and posted

as Senior Member Board of Revenue, Secretary Implemen-tation P&D Department Shakeel Qadir as Secretary P&DDepartment, Secretary Information Department NasibullahKhan Bazai as Secretary Health, Asmatullah Khan Kakaras Secretary Implementation P&D Department, DosteenKhan Jamali as Secretary Finance, Mushtaq Ahmed Raisanias Secretary Mines, Ikhtiar Khan Bangulzai as SecretaryPHE, Secretary Prosecution Department, Asad-ur-RehmanGilani as Secretary Law and Parliamentary Affairs Depart-ment, and Senior Member Board of Revenue Sarwar Javedas Secretary Information. Secretary PHE Mohammad GulMengal has been directed to report at PHE Departmentand Secretary Agriculture & Cooperative DepartmentMohammad Aslam Mengal to report at Agriculture Col-lege Quetta. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB)Balochistan will soon file references against a number offormer provincial cabinet members for their alleged misap-propriation in the accountablilty courts. According to NABBalochistan sources, the bureau had already completedan inquiry report in this regard which has been send to itsheadquarters for formal approval to file refrences againstsome of former provincial cabinent members, who alleg-edly caused billions of ruppees losses to the national ex-chequer.—APP

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—Socialcircles, including lawyers,members of civil society andex-servicemen, have con-gratulated participants of thelong march and their sit-in atIslamabad on their successto press demands for elec-toral reforms and appoint-ment of a neutral caretakerPrime Minister for holdingtransparent elections.

Afzal Warraich Advocateof Shahidanwali said Tehrik-e-Minhajul Quran leader Dr.Tahirul Qadri’s demands arethe demands of public in gen-eral who felt neglected andoppressed by the rulers. Hesaid our election system isfaulty and brings the samepeople in power every timedue to their hold on nationalresources. People want hon-est and competent leadershipand to achieve this objectiveelectoral reform wereindispensible, he added.

Senior Vice President Pa-kistan ex-Servicemen Soci-ety, Mandi Bahauddin, Ma-jor Nasir Javed said TMQlong march has given a seri-ous jolt to all traditional poli-ticians who have been ex-ploiting the poor in the nameof democracy. He said thelong march united all politi-cal forces to defeat longmarch just to maintain statusquo in their favour.

He said the long marchhad made every citizen con-scious to vote for honest andcompetent candidates in theupcoming election, adding ithad brought almost an end ofdynastic and traditional rul-ers. President Human RightsForum Raja Sarwar said TMQwas fighting a battle for thebasic rights of lower classesof the society and its longmarch would go a long wayto bring changes in their life.

He congratulated partici-pants of the long march andsit-in at Islamabad for brav-

ing inclement and severe coldweather for four days evenduring rain. He saidIslamabad Long March Dec-laration could not be termedas victory of either party butit had at least forced the rul-ers to accept the demandspartially with realization oftheir weaknesses regardingtheir in competency to rulethe country in transparentand effective manner. Partici-pants of the sit-in returningfrom Islamabad were jubilantand termed the IslamabadLong March Declaration asvictory of TMQ.

Subedar Major (Retd)Bashir said morale of partici-pants during the March andsit-in was high and they werewilling to continue the sit-intill fulfillment of their de-mands. He said the longmarch and sit-in was carriedout in an organized andpeaceful manner and till itsend no damage was causedto any property.

DR RAMZAN ABDULLAH

TAXILA—The local and for-eign tourists have calledupon UNESCO and federal aswell as provincial govern-ment to take stock of the con-struction of wall around ear-liest Buddhist stupa andmonastery known asDharmarajika Stupa datedback to second century ADnear Taxila by private devel-opers as tourists entrance hasbeen completely restrictedleaving no place to visitors.Dharmarajika Stupa is one ofeight shrines constructed inthe 3rd century BC during thereign of Emperor Ashoka ofthe Mauryan dynasty tohouse relics of the Buddha.The shrine gradually ex-panded, reaching its largestsize in the 2nd century A.D.The name Dhararajika stupacomes from an inscription ofthe time of the Parthian rulerAzes. The main stupa wasprobably built by Dhararaja,a title of the Mauryan em-peror Asoka. The site is di-vided into two parts: thestupa area in the south andhis monastic area in the north.

The main attraction on araised terrace, approachedby four flights of steps. Itwas long known as ChirTope because in the 19th

century it was torn asunder(Chir) and the relics robbedby a French general of RanjitSingh. The foundation con-sists of a wheel of spokes(Dharam-Chakra). Aroundthe stupa is a paved ambula-tory passage outside wehave a number of votivestupa erected later by the pil-grims. On the floor of themain stupa three hoards ofcoins were found, as a ritualburial by the visiting pil-grims. The coins belong tothe Scythian, Parthian,Kushana and Indo-Sassa-nian rulers. The votivestupas are of different kinds,from one of which a relic cas-ket was recovered and pre-sented to Sri Lanka in 1924.In between can also be seensmall chapels containingBuddhas and Bodhisattvasof stucco.

The whole constructionhere continued to the end ofthe seventh century A.D.when Buddhism declined andmeets its doom for lack ofpatronage. Keeping in viewits importance and signifi-cance, UNESCO owned it,declared the site as “worldcultural heritage” in 1984while Government of Paki-stan notified them as “pro-tected sites” under the An-tiquities Act 1975. It is impor-

tant to mention here that Sec-tion 22 of Antiquities Act 1975prohibits any structure orconstruction within 200 feetof protected sites’ outer por-tion. The rule stats” Not with-standing any thing con-tained in any other law forthe time being in force, nodevelopment plan or scheme,or new construction or, orwithin, distance of two hun-dred feet of a protected im-movable antiquity shall beundertaken without approvalof the Director General”.

The construction of wallby the private developers atthe entrance of earliest Bud-dhist stupa and monasteryknown as Dharmarajika Stupadated back to 2nd century ADhas banned the entry of thedomestic and foreign tourists,already collapsed tourismsector of the country. On thelocal and foreign tourists’complaints when this reportervisited the site, it was ob-served that local developerhas erected concrete wall anda huge gate at the entrance ofsite completely banning en-trance to the site.

The sign board installedby the department at the en-trance of the site for informa-tion and guidance of touristsand visitors has also been re-moved at throw away at

nearby poultry farm and thesite seems some private build-ing rather than an ancient site.Local and foreign touristswander on the road leadingto the site in search of the sitewhich is available on theguide map for the tourists butnot present on the spot. VjwalProdhar, a tourist from Nepalhas said that he was stunnedto see that a wall has beenerected by non-governmentelements around Buddhistsite. He said it has great reli-gious importance to Bud-dhists and such constructionis like trashing its sanity. Hesaid that UNESCO shouldtake stock of the sorry stateof affairs. Sukan Yacha, a tour-ist from Thailand expressedhis utmost grief over restrict-ing the entry of the tourists atthe Buddhist site. He said thatthe site has great religiousimportance to the followers ofBuddhism and such act hashurt their sentiments.

Akongi, a tourist fromJapan said that after visitingthe site it looks like that it ispersonal property rather thatthe world cultural heritage.He said that it seems thatnational and internationalorganizations who claim tobe custodians of the worldcultural heritage have turnedblind eye to the issue due to

reasons best known to them.He said that the situation isintolerable to the Buddhistsand the Buddhist organiza-tions should play their roleto free the site from personal“captivity”.

I came from Rawalpindialong with my some friendswho came from Multan to seethe ancient sites at Taxila andwe travel five times on theroad but failed to find thestupa. Said Asad Shah, a lo-cal tourist. He said that it isridiculous that informationsign board has been removedfrom the site and the authori-ties are in deep slumber overthe issue. Dr Aneesa Khan,another tourist who came fromIslamabad has condemnedthe apathy of the departmentof archaeology, provincial andfederal government turningtheir back to this serious is-sue and looking the whole is-sue as idle spectator. She saidthat construction of wall andinstalling a gate at the entranceis like making this world cul-tural heritage site as personalproperty.

When contacted DeputyDirector Department of Ar-chaeology Irshad Hussainsaid that the matter has beenbrought into the notice of thelocal administration and Rev-enue Department and it

would be resolved after de-marcation of land. He saidthat the entrance of the tour-ists would be ensured andapproach road to the sitewould be made with the con-sultation of private devel-oper with the help of Rev-enue Department soon.

It may be recalled herethat the Supreme Court ofPakistan on August 6, 2007,had ordered removal of allencroachments in andaround the archeologicalsites throughout the coun-try. The order was passed byapex court while hearing anidentical matter of Lahorecity under Human Rightscase No. 179 of 2007. In thecase, the two-member bench,comprising Chief JusticeIftikhar MuhammadChaudhry and Justice M.Javed Buttar, has directed thePunjab government to re-move encroachments fromhistorical places within threemonths. The court also di-rected the chief secretaries ofall the four provinces to takeproper action to remove theencroachments around thehistorical places in their re-spective provinces. Subse-quently all the Chief Secre-taries were directed by thefederal government with re-gard to court’s directives.

Call to construct protective wall around Buddhist stupa

Electoral reforms must to electhonest, dedicated leadership

MANSEHRA—Five personswere killed when a speedingcar plunged into a deep ra-vine here Friday. Accordingto details, the car was head-ing to Kaghan when itplunged into a deep ravinedue to overspeeding nearGhanol. As a result,Muhammad Kareem,Saleem, Naseer Ahmed, ZiaRehman and another uniden-tified died on the spot. Po-lice have registered a caseand started investigation.

Quetta: Unknown armedmen on Friday shot killedPrincipal of a private schooland his child in Kharan. Po-lice sources said that uniden-tified armed assailants en-tered school office of a prin-cipal, Ikram Mengal andopened indiscriminate fire athim and his child. The at-tackers managed to escapefrom the scene. The princi-pal and his child receivedserious bullet wounds anddied on the spot. The policerushed to the site andshifted the bodies to hospi-tal those after autopsy werehanded over to the heirs.

According to police,cause of the attack could not

be ascertained. Kharan po-lice have registered a case.In another incident at leasttwo children were killed andfour others injured, two ofthem seriously, when roof ofa snooker club and videogame in the Chaman town ofBalochistan caved in, policesaid. Dilapidated condition ofbuilding caused collapse ofroof and subsequently a hu-man loss, police added.“Majority of teenagers wereplaying video games andsnooker while some of theyouth were sitting on therooftop of the dilapidatedbuilding when it caved in,”police official said adding asa result, two children, both13 years old, died on the spotand four others sustainedcritical injuries.

The injured were movedto the Chaman hospitalwhere condition of two in-jured is stated to be critical.Soon after the incident, thearea people and policerushed to the site and re-trieved the dead from the de-bris and rescued 14 peopletrapped inside the snookerclub. Local administrationwas looking into the inci-

dent. At least two suspectswere killed in an operationcarried out in the Mastungtown of the province. A largequantity of hand grenadesand other arms, ammunitionwere also seized, officialsources said on Friday.

Chaghi: A 50 year old per-son was killed by speedingmotorcycle here on Friday.According to Levis Forces, 50years old Gohram khan wascrossing the road near DrumBazar when a speeding Mo-torcycle ran over him. He sus-tained serious injuries anddied on way to hospital. Po-lice have arrested the motor-cycle owner MuhammadHashim and registered a case.

Layyah: Two widowswere killed in a road mishapwhen a speeding tractor overran them here Friday. Ac-cording to details, NasreenBibi and Faizan Mai wereheading to Chaman Shah ona rickshaw when a speedingtractor coming from the op-posite direction hit them as aresult of which Faizan Maidied on the spot whileNasreen bibi succumbed toher injuries on way to hospi-tal.—APP

5 dead in car plunge, Principal,son gunned down in Kharan

Cash prizesdistributedM ZAFAR ANSARI

TOBA TEK SINGH—A prizeaward ceremony was held atsports stadium the other daywhere MNA ChaudhryMohammad Junaid Anwarwas the chief guest. The awardceremony was attended byformer MNA Asad Rehman,DCO Syed Javed IqbalBukhari and Malik KhadimHussain ADC. TMO officerswere also present on the occa-sion. Speaking at the cer-emony, MNA Junaid AnwarChaudhry, Chaudhry AsadRehman and DCO Syed JavedIqbal Bukhari said that PunjabChief Minister Mian ShahbazSharif has the vision to en-hance the positive activities ofyouth, therefore, he wanted toplan such activities to helpyouth to use their energy in away which would prove ben-eficial to them. They said thatpositive activities would pre-vent youth from falling in trapof harmful acts.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The Youth Tour-ism Program of Tourism Cor-poration KhyberPakhtunkhwa planned amonthly students tours forthe students of governmentschools of KhyberPakhtunkhwa. The aim of thisprogram is to increase aware-ness among the young gen-eration and inform them abouttheir cultural heritage sites.One such plan is being for-mulated for the month of Janu-ary where students will visitTakh bhai and Shahbaz Gari.The program is fully spon-sored by TCKP along with theDirectorate of Archeology.

A total of 30 students ofSecondary School Nowsheravisited first Takhbhai and thenShahbaz Gari. The ManagingDirector TCKP Syed JamalUddin Shah was the chief guestat the opening ceremony ofthis program in the Secondary

TCKP supports healthystudents tourism activities

School Nowshera. In hisspeech he emphasized on theneed to enhance the knowl-edge of the younger genera-tion who will be the new lead-ers of Pakistan. He said that astudent learns 60 percent morefrom such study tours ratherthan from books.

The students were givenrefreshment in the form oflunch boxes which they en-joyed during their ride. Tra-ditional lunch was arrangedfor the teachers there by theDirector Archeology Dr ShahNazar. The MD TCKP alsodecided to plan teachers’tours also in the future. Thedecision came after the teach-ers of Secondary SchoolNowshera informed the MDof their problems. The MDalso announced provinciallevel competitions among allthe schools where the stu-dents will share their experi-ences of such study tours andwill be given prizes also.

WAQAS ASHRAF

KASUR—Another child losthis life due to measles inKasur on Friday raising thedeath toll to three in a week.Three nephews and oneniece of Bilal Ahmed, atraffice warden, had con-tracted measles a week ago.They were taken to a localdoctor but Ahmed and Ijaddied with the interval of twodays. Later, the other twochildren Azam and Tayybawere admitted to DHQ hos-pital Kasur on Thursday butAzam died on Friday due tonon-availability of propervaccine in the hospital.

The funeral prayer of allthe three children were of-fered in Bhasarpura grave-yard. The uncle of the chil-dren had appealed to the au-thorities to take proper steps

Another dies of measlesDeaths number fall by 70pc: WHO

to stop the spread of deadlydisease in the area but thechild could not be providedproper care. His nieceTayyaba had also measlesand has been struggling forlife for the last four days.

APP Adds: The globalnumber of measles deathsdropped by 71 percent be-tween 2000 and 2011 largelythanks to a boost in vaccina-tion efforts, the UN WorldHealth Organisation saidThursday. The number ofmortalities from measles overthat period fell from 542,000to 158,000, it said in a state-ment, while the number ofnew cases fell by 58 percentto 355,000 in 2011. The UNhealth agency recommendsthat all children receive twodoses of measles vaccine tobe protected from the highlycontagious disease.

PESHAWAR: Activists of Wantan Paal Youth (QWP) chanting slogans during a protestdemonstration in favour of Bara affectees at Ring Road on Friday.

MULTAN: Traders of Cattle Market protesting against local government at Nawan Shehr Chowk.

It was an electoralreforms day

THE signing of Islamabad Long March Declaration by leaders ofthe coalition Government and chief of Tehrik Minhajul Quran DrTahirul Qadri has led to happy drop scene of the five day episode

that began from Lahore and continued at the famous D-Chowk of theFederal Capital against many odds. Moments came when the entire na-tion felt pangs of an impending disaster but credit really goes to the ne-gotiators from the two sides that brought things back from the brink.

Different interpretations are being given to the understandingreached between the two parties on the points that were being agitatedby Dr Qadri and supported by almost the entire nation. Some circlesdescribe it as a ‘face saving, others an underhand deal and still othersbelieve it was a shake hand between ‘reformer and rotten’. Everyone isviewing the entire development and the outcome from his/her point ofview but the fact remains that it was an electoral reforms day. No doubt,Dr Qadri did achieve everything he wanted but it is quite understoodthat abrupt and total change can only be brought about through a bloodyrevolution and not through a peaceful movement that Qadri is champi-oning. Critics may point accusing fingers towards Qadri but he willdefinitely go down in the history of the country as a leader who laidfoundation of a change for the better. He had done his homework andtherefore, succeeded in convincing all saner elements of the societythat the prevailing system of election and governance is tilted towardsthe corrupt and dishonest and that is why he was listened to and re-sponded by the nation. Another important aspect of his movement wasthat despite commanding a mammoth and charged gathering with manyof participants carrying sticks, no one can say that any of the marchersdamaged anything, which is an appreciable distinction in a violent so-ciety. It will surely take sometime to reap full benefits of what Dr Qadrienvisaged but a good beginning has been made and one can expect asomewhat cleaner lot would reach to the assemblies if the yardstick ofcandidature as envisioned in articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution isapplied in letter and spirit and there is no reason why not. There is aclear message to all that people of Pakistan are weary of the presentcorrupt practices and want reforms in the system and any attempt toblock the way could lead to unimaginable consequences next time.

TTP surfacesin Karachi

IN a tragic incident, Manzar Imam, a member of provincial assembly ofSindh, belonging to MQM, and three of his guards were gunned down

in Karachi on Thursday. Four armed men riding motorcycles interceptedhis vehicle and sprayed them with bullets with automatic weapons. ATTP spokesman has reportedly accepted responsibility for the dastardlytarget killing that has once again disturbed peace of the city.

The claim of the TTP owning responsibility for this high profilemurder has come as a shock to not only MQM but the whole of Pakistan.MQM Quaid Altaf Hussain has long been repeatedly pointing out thatTaliban have reached Karachi and that there is urgent need to take stepsto weed them out. Thursday’s attack proved that his apprehensions werenot wrong as TTP has become entrenched in the city and is carrying outterrorist activities at will. Karachi is already volatile due to variety offactors and entrance of the TTP in the scene has given a new dimensionand added to the complexity of the problem. Karachi being nerve cen-tre of the economic activities, we must not take this development lightlyand take steps, in consultation with all stakeholders, to weed out terror-ist elements and other criminals from the city. It is particularly worri-some that this new dimension has surfaced as there are prospects ofdialogue with Taliban to restore peace and normalcy in KPK and FATA.We would suggest to the Government to take Karachi aspects also inview and urge Altaf Hussain to make necessary adjustments in the back-drop of emerging situation. All political parties should shun their dif-ferences and join hands to defeat terrorist elements.

US accelerated exitfrom Afghanistan

AS the United States and its allies seem to be in a hurry to withdrawfrom Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has tried to

sensitize them against an accelerated withdrawal that could imperil notonly prospects of peace in Afghanistan but also of the region in the post-withdrawal period. In a wide-ranging interview in New York, she criti-cized President Obama on this account and said the US was leaving with-out determining whether objectives have been accomplished.

The presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan at the heart of prob-lems in that country and the region and therefore, an early withdrawalhas always been the demand of the Afghan people and other sanervoices in the international community. However, it is also a fact thatprolonged conflict triggered by foreign aggression and occupationhas led to creation of enormous security, social and economic chal-lenges in that country, which must be addressed in tandem to ensurethat there is no civil war after the occupation force leave the country.You have destroyed everything there and it is your duty to help Af-ghan people rebuild institutions and other necessary infrastructure toensure sustainability of the state structure. Any vacuum could takeAfghanistan back to the period of post-Soviet withdrawal when therewas anarchy and strife with serious implications for Pakistan as well.Repetition of such a drama could pose more challenges to Pakistanthat is still hosting over three million Afghan refugees and therefore,its concerns must be listened to and addressed. This is particularly sowhen American plan to hand over Afghanistan virtually to India, trig-gering yet another phase of conflict and instability.

Thar Coal scam

Old habits die hard.

After Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its verdict on 7thJanuary, 2013 declaring the

agreement on Reko Diq signed onJuly 23, 1993 as void and in con-flict with the laws of the country,another mega scam appears to be inthe offing. Tethyan Copper Com-pany Pvt Limited (TCC) lost its casein the International Centre forSettlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID) on December 13, 2012.The ICSID allowed the governmentof Balochistan and Dr SamarMubarakmand to continue withtheir mining project in Reko Diq.According to a recent report, themanagement of Sindh Engro CoalMining Company (SECMC), a sub-sidiary of Engro Group, was en-gaged in feasibility study of the coalmining of Thar coal. The companyis also deliberating with Indians tosell Pakistani coal to India for theirprojects in Gujrat and Naveli TamilNadu, which is a cause of concernfor the nation.

It has been learnt that IndianEmbassy Economic and Commer-cial Counsellor, Mr. Arvind Saxena(Raw Station Chief) at Islamabadis facilitating Indian-based compa-nies for striking deal betweenSECMC and TATA & DEHL. AParliamentary trade delegationcomprising 20 members, includingNafisa Shah, daughter of ChiefMinister Sindh visited India duringJuly 2012 and discussed the possi-bilities of cooperation on Thar CoalProject. Rumors abound that USA-India backed corrupt political-cum-

Syrian crisis

Time and again in the bloodySyrian conflict, as BasharAssad seeks to crush his own

people, it has seemed that the hor-rors could not increase. Yet thisweek has seen news of yet furtherdepravities, all too often visitedupon civilians who have beencaught in the firing line. It is nowclear that, as with MuammarQaddafi in his own doomed attemptto hang on to power, rape andsexual violence are being used as atool against the civilian populationsuspected of sympathizing with, oractually assisting the fighters. Thisdespicable behavior is more than aloathsome crime which can trau-matize victims for life; it also bringsshame and dishonor upon them andtheir families. That is why bothQaddafi and now Assad see rapeas such a potent weapon. What nei-ther leader appears to have recog-nized, is the trail of white-hot furythese outrages leave in their wake.The families targeted may havebeen ambivalent about the insur-gency, wishing, like many Syrians,simply for the violence to stop andfor life to return to normal. How-ever, once their family has fallenvictim to this odious assault, therecan be no doubt where their sym-pathies will lie.

On top of this horror, it is nowclear that Assad’s air force and ar-tillery have been using clusterbombs and shells in increasingnumbers. These iniquitous weap-ons, much favored by the Israelisin their failed 2006 assault on Leba-non, are now banned under an in-ternational treaty signed by 111countries. The bomblets, intowhich the main ordinance breaks,are supposed to self-destruct aftera given period. In reality, no suchthing happens. Therefore the Assadregime, like Israel before it, is sow-ing a terrible harvest of maimingand death, to be gathered in byhelpless children, or farmers orconstruction engineers, seeking toremove and heal the devastationnow being wrought by Assad’sarmy. But there is worse, even thanthis. Though the Americans seemoddly reluctant to confirm it, therenow appears to be credible evi-dence that the regime has usedsome form of poison gas, on at leastone occasion, in the original battlefor Homs. This being the case, itseems clear that in the regime’s fi-nal death throes, Assad and his gen-erals will have no hesitation what-soever in ordering further deploy-ment of their atrocious chemicalweapons arsenal.

And finally there is the horrificweather, the worst for 20 years,which has seen torrential rain,heavy blizzards and plummetingtemperatures. These have turnedlife among the more than 600,000refuges who have fled Syria fortented camps in Jordan, Turkey andLebanon, into a miserable night-mare. Tent homes have beenflooded, the camps themselvesturned into insanitary swamps.Those refugee concentrationswhich have had to endure heavysnow and icy cold within their frailshelters, are now themselves hav-ing to cope with floods, as theweather warms, at least tempo-rarily, and the snow and ice beginto melt. Beside frostbite and hypo-thermia, there is now the clear riskof outbreaks of disease.

The outlook for some 2 mil-lion refugees, who have chosen tostay inside the country is arguablyeven worse. What internationalfood aid that has been able to reachthe country, by sea or overland, isno longer being fully distributed,because convoys cannot getthrough areas where there is fight-ing. There are reports moreoverthat the food and medicines thatthe relief trucks carry, are nowbeing seized, along with the trucksthemselves. These seizures, it ap-pears are being made by bothAssad’s forces and some of thefighters. International aid agenciesare now talking of a humanitariancrisis of “staggering” proportions,unless the international commu-nity is able the provide more fund-ing and find better ways of bring-ing the aid into Syrian’s internalrefugees. Many of these unfortu-nates, who fled their originalhomes for what they thought wassanctuary in other parts of thecountry with relatives or friends,have discovered to their dismay,that the fighting has followedthem. As the regime loses evermore ground, so further areas ofthe country become a war zone.

Even moving into territory nowfirmly in fighters’ hands, is no so-lution, since the regime continuesto bomb and shell these areas, caus-ing a steady flow of dead andmaimed, almost all of them inno-cent civilians. —Arab News

MEDIA WATCH

—Proverb

business mafia is involvedin this multi billion dollarsscam, and key players al-legedly include co-chair-man of a political party,Syeda Nafisa Shah(MNA-PPP), Dr MaheshMalani (MNA-PPP). Ex-perts are of the view that

Thar Coal project should preferablybe developed under the administra-tion and technical consultation ofMajor General (r) Pervez Akmal,Corps of Engineers, who is alreadyworking to develop an institutionalmodel for Thar Coal or Dr. ShahidMuneer, Director of Center for CoalTechnology, University of Punjab.

It has to be mentioned that theThar coal field is estimated to havereserves of 175 billion tons, 68 timeshigher than Pakistan’s total gas re-serves. Among others, German andAustralian investors are keen to in-vest in Thar Coal project. Last year,Ambassador of Australia to PakistanPeter Heyward had said that his coun-try was interested in Thar Coal de-velopment, as major Australian min-ing and oil and gas companies arekeenly watching developments inPakistan. This he stated while talk-ing to a delegation of IslamabadWomen’s Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (IWCCI) led by its founderPresident Samina Fazil. According toa press report of January 8, 2013, theThar Coal Project which has the po-tential to change the energy landscapeof Pakistan continues to move slowly,thanks to country’s economic man-agers. There is a perception vestedinterests are out to ensure it does nothappen. Currently, Pakistan’s effec-tive power generation capacity standsat 14,000MW.

At the current growth rate, Pa-kistan will require 26,000MW by2020 out of which around10,000MW could be produced fromThar Coal. Primary objective of

Thar Coal development is to provideaffordable, reliable and sustainableelectricity to consumers using indig-enous resource. Reliance on indig-enous fuel will help save billions ofdollars in foreign exchange, whichare currently being spent on importof expensive RFO (Refined FurnaceOil). Pakistan is endowed with enor-mous natural resources and miner-als, if explored and utilized properly,Pakistan can become a self-reliantcountry and get rid of dependencysyndrome. Weak economy, techni-cal resource constraints coupled withflawed decisions of the inept gov-ernments have brought the countryto the present pass. Instead of rely-ing on our own talent, the vestedinterest provided opportunities to theforeign investors to drain out ourresources for obvious reasons.

Recently, representatives ofSindh Coal Authority, project coor-dinator Engro, Oracle Coalfield UK,PCSIR and coal gasification projectgave presentations to the committeeon the progress of their projects. Itis rather strange that Dr. SamarMubarakmand the pioneer of theproject did not attend the meeting.Was he kept out because others wantto take the credit or they have axe togrind. Both federal government andSindh government should providethe committed share of the allocatedfunds for these projects. DrMubarakmand has said that coal re-serves are also available in powderform under water, and Pakistancould produce 50,000 megawattelectricity and 100 million barreldiesel just through the gasificationof these reserves. Large reserves ofcoal in Thar can help generate en-ergy to save billions of dollars spenton import of oil.

In the past, many a time it wassuggested by experts to prepare aplan for gainful exploitation of thehuge coal reserves in Thar for pro-

For centuries, the application ofoverwhelming military forceand psychological manage-

ment of ultra-offensive operationshas transformed the current defini-tion of doctrine of war. The principleof objectivity and effectiveness ofplanning have now become chal-lenging because it entails risky andspeculative undertaking as a conflictgradually advances to impact thesociopolitical format in a war-af-fected country. Since defining wardoctrine is a vast task, it is impor-tant to consider the “inherent con-tradictions in a doctrine,” especiallywhen trying to formulate or imple-ment it. Importantly, toward the endof a war, the hasty and disorderlystrategy could cause more inconsis-tencies in application of a doctrine.In practice, a sustainable approachprimarily persuades the creation ofa suitable character of ending wars,which in turn would require accept-able and neutral connotations in itsknowledge and thinking.” The pur-pose of doctrine is to provide a co-hesive body of thinking to approachthe business of war.

The expression ‘military doc-trine’ can also provoke a vision ofintellectual rigidity where the firmfoundation of experience can repre-sent an unhelpful ossification of pastmilitary practice…” (Dr.Latawski).NATO’s definition - alsobeing used by many member states,is, “fundamental principles by whichthe military forces guide their ac-tions in support of objectives. It is

Doctrines of war & peaceauthoritative but requiresjudgment in application”.Overall, the credibility andconcept of “judgment” stillremain unknown articles ofNATO doctrine of war be-

cause the methods in which both warsinitiated contained strategic re-de-signs, rather than the assessment ofpost-invasion scenarios.

However, the US glossary ex-pands the scope of doctrine, and also“includes separate entries for multina-tional, joint and multi-service doctrine.Curiously ‘multi-service’ doctrine isa cross-reference under the USglossary’s doctrine entry but is notdefined anywhere in the document”.In fleshing out the “joint” and “multi-services”, its operational approachclassically hints at impacting interna-tional environment, while for practi-cal purposes additional resources bothin terms of military and financial pro-poses variations on the basic conceptof retaining tasks of training, societybuilding and permanent outposts tomonitor and react to tactical changesin peace time. The potential cost tosuch approach would force the multi-national forces and other stakeholdersto pay a compound “price constrains”of withdrawal and the impact of sub-sequent development of doctrine.

Although any case study cannever be a perfect model to be prac-ticed in future doctrines of war andpeace, but, the biggest issue, whichremains unresolved relates to notknowing full ramifications of acounterinsurgency doctrine, as it re-quires popular decision-making toend war. By all accounts, and prefer-ably, opinion curbs focus on domes-tic arena, and thereby pressures andobligations to “new” strategic think-ing including taking major initiative,if considerations of doctrine changes.

On the other hand, in asymmetricalwarfare, doctrine of war can be usedas “general descriptor” in order todeflate enemy’s pressure for an im-mediate or sustainable operationalapproach. Still, such pressures canproduce heavy causalities and cancause a potential need for redeploy-ment of combat forces. Hence, adop-tion of a cohesive body of knowledgeand final assessment of withdrawalor application of doctrine of peaceshould be realistic and according toground realities. The peace supportdoctrine therefore requires policy in-puts of national security establish-ment, and abiding by conventionalsociopolitical environment and eco-nomic considerations of local popu-lation, because peace cannot beimplemented without looking twosteps forward. In the case of Afghani-stan and Iraq the US and allied forcesmissed several opportunities to estab-lish peace support doctrine.

The fundamental question thenis, what the US gained after a decadein two wars? Whether movement be-hind current doctrine of war has se-verely deteriorated internationalstanding of the US/NATO is a sepa-rate question, the growingcounterinsurgency fatigue is deeplyaffecting the psychological condi-tions of troops and generating domes-tic social friction within the familiesin the US and in other Western capi-tals. Also, the expensive policy of try-ing to win hearts-and-minds, build-ing roads, schools and preparing tohandover Afghanistan to the newgovernment in 2014 – Ironically, thisroadmap continue to abet terrorismand thwarted all efforts to containlocal hostilities against the occupy-ing militaries. It is this aspect of mod-ern doctrine of war, which has far-reaching consequences, especially in

ducing electricity but some ‘vestedinterests’ were reported to haveobstructed the plan. Given the pro-hibitive cost of oil, meeting energyneeds has become a challenge forboth developed and developingcountries; and to keep the wheelsof industry going every country isobliged to keep this subject on thetop of its agenda. Pakistan is en-dowed with enormous reserves ofcoal in Thar, Lakhra and otherplaces, but no serious effort hasbeen made to exploit these coal re-serves and establish the coal-firedpower plants. It is true there arefinancial constraints and interna-tional pressures on installation ofnuclear reactors and generation ofelectricity. The government shouldexpedite the development of TharCoal project, which involves muchless investment as compared withlarge reserves.

It was in 1992 that the Geologi-cal Survey of Pakistan (GSP) dis-covered huge sub-surface depositsof coal - the second largest in theworld - in Tharparkar District,Sindh. Last year, the Punjab Forum(PF) had requested the SupremeCourt (SC) to take notice of con-spiracies against Thar Coal project.“Supreme Court should immedi-ately take notice of the situation andinitiate action against lobbies whichare working to advance the agendaof foreign powers and multinationaloil companies”, said Baig Raj,President of the Punjab Forum. Theproblem is that Thar Coal projectneeds investment from $ 1 billionto $3 billion for infrastructure anddevelopment of the field, and thegovernment instead of relying on lo-cal talent and funds wants to givecontract to aliens giving overridingconsideration to personal over na-tional interest.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

terms of preserving stability in thetime of peace.

According to Col. Gian P. Gen-tile, the director of West Point’s mili-tary history program, the UnitedStates gained “not much,” from twowars [Afghan & Iraq]…“certainlynot worth the effort.” In the case ofAfghanistan, the military doctrinebecame an intricate guide tocounterinsurgency and ideologicalthreat to both domestic and interna-tional security, but, the cost and risksof dual nature of conflict was un-derestimated. As a result, the sev-eral different tasks were assigned tothe regional partners and combattroops. The doctrine of war in Iraqwas remarkably based on faulty and“cooked up” intelligence assess-ment, and the consequences ofwhich remain deadly, especially interms of loss of human life, societalconstruction and international bor-der control. Operationally, thismeans that future doctrine of warswill be more controversial, andwould eventually be treated as un-prepared and unplanned exercise ofmilitary engagement. Nonetheless,the most noteworthy component oftoday’s doctrine constitutes the waysand means to gain access to zonesthat are strategically crucial, espe-cially in terms of trade routes, natu-ral and water resources. The newconflict phenomenon in West/EastAfrica and Maghreb has opened upyet another front in doctrine of pre-emption. The French military is step-ping up its attacks on so-called Is-lamists’ hideouts in Mali – Somaliais almost lost to rebels, which iscausing further rise in migration toEuropean countries.—The author is a Denmark-basedNational Security Expert andDefence Analyst.

HURMAT GROUP OF PUBLICATIONSZahid Malik

President & Editor-in-ChiefPh: 051-2256006

Faisal Zahid MalikEditor

Ph: 021-32631102

Gauhar Zahid MalikExecutive Editor

Ph: 051-2853818

IslamabadPh Exchange: 051-2852027

Reporting Desk: 051-2852028, News Desk: 051-5879329Marketing: 051-2262254, 2852029 Fax: 051-2262258

Email: observer@pakobserver.net Website: www.pakobserver.net

KarachiFaisal Zahid Malik

EditorPh: 021-32211777, 32635403

Fax: 021-32626902Email: obskhi@pakobserver.net

LahoreNadeem SyedResident Editor

Ph: 042-37593341, 37566702Marketing Ph: 37597364

Fax: 042-36300043Email: obslhr@pakobserver.net

QuettaGhulam TahirResident Editor

Mobile: 0333-7944760E-mail:obsqta@pakobserver.net

PeshawarTariq SaeedResident Editor

Mobile: 0321-9001476E-mail:obspwr@pakobserver.net

MuzaffarabadAbdul Hameed Shaheen

Resident EditorPh: 051-2852028, Mobile: 0315-5010791

Email: obsmzd@pakobserver.net / abdulhameedshaheen@yahoo.com

Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: po2@pakobserver.net

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Rana Athar Javed Email: ma_javed@hotmail.com

Voice of the People

Afghanistan’s improving ways

For Americans weary of nearlya dozen years of war, Afghanistan often seems like a coun-

try where nothing ever changes andthe same story of ethnic and tribalstruggle repeats itself in an endlessloop. But Afghanistan’s demograph-ics have changed in significant waysover the past decade. Rather than be-ing mired in a perpetual feudal twi-light, Afghanistan is actually becom-ing a modern country. The statisti-cal evidence of change, gatheredfrom sources including data from theUS Agency for International Devel-opment, is overwhelming. Even dis-counting for the upbeat tone of theUSAID summary of “Achievementsin Afghanistan,” there still appear tobe important demographic improve-ments on the ground.

The urbanization and economicdevelopment that have reshaped Af-ghanistan do not mean that the coun-try will have a bright political fu-ture or that the Taliban won’t regaina measure of power after US troopsleave in 2014. But the future won’t

Democracy in essence is to takepeople along. Democraticform of government is, there-

fore, supposed to be the best possiblechoice. It is so because leadership andthe people are believed to be, by andlarge, on the same page. Though de-mocracy, according to my analysis,is going to decline the world over inthe days to come but at present it isthe buzzword. However, in my view,democracy in any country has to growfrom its own soil.

Democracy cannot be, andshould not be, transplanted. In fact,it cannot be transplanted as a mangotree cannot be transplanted in a hilly/snowy area. Unfortunately, whensome pseudo-intellectuals and self-styled torch-bearers of democracyand human rights etc start compar-ing democracy in their own countrieswith the Western democracies, itgives birth to problems of all sortsincluding instability. Democracy hasmany forms, shapes and colours andit takes roots in a country if it growsfrom that soil.The Sultanate of Oman where thoughthe head of the government is a Mon-arch yet it was/is a true democracy inall forms and manifestations. Eachand every day witnesses more prag-matic initiatives by HM SultanQaboos bin Said towards deepeningand widening the roots of democracyin Oman. While I will be writingabout the outcome of the recentlyconducted fairest possible MunicipalCouncil elections which I witnessedduring my visit to Oman a bit laterbut first I would briefly mention thateven before the launch of the MCelections, a unique sustainable

Oman moves to full democracymechanism of people’s par-ticipation in the decision-making at the highest levelwas very well in place.The HM, a God-fearing, soft

spoken and humble person bytemperament, was already in

touch with the people of Oman on apermanent basis. It was/is an annualfeature of the HM to undertake meet-the-people country-wide tours andpersonally meet the people in the farflung areas and have a direct interac-tion with the tribal elders. In terms ofpopulation and geography, Oman isa small country having just 2,846,145local people and 309,500 km area.The HM being a master communi-cator and a keen listener as wellmeets numerous delegations fromvarious segments of society duringhis tour of different Villayats afford-ing the people an opportunity to opentheir hearts and talk to him directly.He encourages a free and frank in-teraction. It can, therefore, be saidthat he is the most well-informedruler having his fingers on the pulseof the people.

Then the institutions Majlis-e-Daula (Upper House) and MajlisAsh’shura (Lower House) consistingof representatives, some directly ap-pointed by the HM but mostly dulyelected by the people of Oman are inplace. One gets fascinated to witnessthe proceedings of these two Houseswhere all issues and public welfare-related and development programmesare brought under discussion. I hap-pened to listen to the proceedings ofthese Houses in the past. But now theholding of the Municipal Councilelections which I observed in Mus-cat during my four-day visit to Omanon December 20-24 was a new ex-perience not only in the history ofOman but in the entire Gulf region.The Sultanate took a big leap forwardand introduced a democratic systemstemming from the people’s confi-

Long marchachievementsand lessons

ENGR SHARIQUE NAEEM

The Longmarch was the center ofattention since the last few days. Thecontrast between the leader and theled was all too apparent. Elsewherein the country, tragic events hap-pened, such as the Quetta killings andthe Bara killings. However, much ofthe limelight was on the animatedcharacter in a pseudo-cage in the fed-eral capital. Whereas victory trum-pets are being blown by the organiz-ers of the march, one wonders whathas been achieved that will decisivelychange the reality of the people ofPakistan? However, giving creditwhere it is due, there are a number of‘achievements’ that have been madeand lessons than can be learnt.

Firstly, the long march showedthat how all stake holders of presentstatus quo i.e. contesters of Rule inDemocracy will quickly come to-gether and unanimously agree on anagenda in a day’s time. Howeversuch level of concern and urgencyis nowhere to be seen on issueshaunting the masses, such as pov-erty, inflation etc. This shows thepriorities of these democratic poli-ticians. Secondly, it shows that De-mocracy like any system, has inbuiltmechanisms that prevents any radi-cal change. It can undergo tweaks,and cosmetic changes, but essen-tially as a ruling system, with rootsin the Capitalist ideology, it will re-main the same.

Thirdly, the long march showedthat ordinary people are willing tocome out to demand politicalchange. Even though they may lackclarity, and they maybe hood-winked. In order not to be fooled,it’s important for people to gatheraround an idea and an intellectualleadership and not a personalitybased leadership. People shouldhave clear insight as to what needsto be removed, and what should re-place it. Fourthly, the participants ofthe long march openly expressedtheir love for Islam. Many inter-viewed stated their desire for Islamand stated that Pakistan was madefor Islam. Even though they lackedclarity on what differentiates Islamfrom democracy, the undertone ofthe protestors, was visibly Islamic,and was not secular.

Fifth, the Long march, put intohistorical context, shows how therulers of Pakistan, after every fewyears (nowadays months) try theirbest to re-kindle the hope of peoplein this failed system of Democracy.From Tsunami marches, todharnas(Sit-ins) to block Nato Sup-ply, to Dr’s long march, such eventshave periodically vented out grow-ing frustration of the masses in themost effective manner, as to not ef-fect the status quo at all. Sixth, whileordinary people were out in cold, outof sincerity. The democratic repre-sentatives joked around about thewhole episode. Some stood on thesideline, and were looking to par-ticipate only if the situation devel-oped to a point which will serve theirelectoral ratings. This shows theiropportunist approach.—Via email

Winds ofchange

M FAZAL ELAHI

All that has been happening on thepolitical front in the country, sincethe past over six months, leaves ev-eryone totally confused. Widespreadspeculations vis-à-vis the rapidlychanging political scenario furtheradd to this growing confusion.People are at loss to understandwhich political group they shouldbelieve in and which they shouldn’t.With national elections fast ap-proaching all of them seem to beharping the same tune. They are vo-ciferously making tall claims ofbringing about the much needed‘Change’ that this country so badlyneeds. They are also talking aboutempowering the electorate of thiscountry who actually possess thepower of electing and placing peoplein positions of authority to govern.These political groups are also mak-ing big promises to the people of Pa-kistan to fulfill all their basic needsof life (food, shelter, education,health, employment etc.) as en-shrined in the constitution of the Is-lamic Republic of Pakistan. Bring-ing progress and prosperity to thecountry and the nation, and makingPakistan standout in the comity ofrespected and developed nations ofthe world are some other importantcommitments these political partiesare making to the people.

Undeniably, whatever they aresaying or promising are issues thathave always been central to the in-terest of this nation. The fact of thematter is that such commitments werealso made by every government thatwas elected to power by the massesin the past. Unfortunately, however,

Who planted Qadri?IKRAM BHATTI

Finally the drop scene of the Qadri drama has occurred and thepeaceful procession has come to an end. But a critical question

is looming in the mind of masses who planted Qadri and what wasthe hidden objective of Qadri and which country was supportinghim? I think since the Sillla incident was the turning point in Paki-stan and U.S relation and despite the weak position of his govern-ment Zardari took a firm stand against US. This para shoot jumpin Pakistani politics by Qadri was directed and planted by US butall credit goes to the GHQ and Pakistani politicians who thosehave been united to fight against a foreign funded campaign. Butone thing is observable that now what would happen in Pak-USrelations in future? I believe nothing new has been concluded inIslamabad Long March Declaration as Zardari and his coalitionis still in power and will continue their rule till the constitutionalend of tenure for this government—Rawalpindi

Views From Abroad

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

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

—Editor

dence in the Municipal Councils andtheir ability to address various prob-lems and challenges being faced byvarious Villayat themselves.

I saw jubilant crowds of peoplecasting votes in favour of their can-didates with a sense of pride. Com-paratively more enthusiasm wasseen among women voters at exclu-sive women polling stations and allthis was also a surprise to me. Myinteraction as an observer withsome of the candidates and theWalis of various Villayats was asheer pleasure as it was reflectiveof enthusiasm and deep interest ofthe people in the Oman-tailored MCelections. With conducting of thecountry-wide Municipal elections,Oman emerges as a State which hasintroduced democracy complete inall respects and aspects.

Under Municipal Election laws,any citizen of Oman, aged 30, is eli-gible to stand as a candidate provid-ing an opportunity to the successfulone for managing civic affairs them-selves. Indeed, having held MC elec-tions, Oman is ahead of many Araband African States. I wish if thoseArab/African States which have wit-nessed Arab Spring leading to tur-moil, chaos, bloodshed and uncertaincourse could have deflected theheavily loaded agendas of all sorts ifthe people’s democratic aspirationswere realized and duly addressed wellin time. It requires a lot of maturityand far-sightedness to move alongwith time and pre-empt the possibleupheavals and pitfalls of all sorts.

Oman being an island of peaceand tranquility and having cordialworking relationship with all Stateshas now taken yet another lead. I wasparticularly impressed by the maturecomments of the visiting journalistswho were invited by the Ministry ofInformation of Oman from variouscountries appreciating the cause ofdemocracy being promoted in the

none of them made any sincere effortto fulfill them. It is a known fact thatin this country people mattered to therulers only for serving their personalinterest and greed to come to power.Once voted to power, neither thepeople nor this country ever matteredto them. Had they been sincere in deal-ing with the affairs of Pakistan in ajust and judicious manner and had theyhonored the promises they made to thepeople of this country, then today’sPakistan would have been a differentPakistan. It would have been the Pa-kistan that was envisioned by itsfounding father Quaid-e-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnah.

The question that now arises isshould people believe in the rhetoricof different political groups on theissue of bringing a change in thecountry? Should they vest their trust,once again, in those who have de-ceived them over and again in thepast? If looked at from the point ofview of the past political history ofthis country, the spontaneous re-sponse should be ‘no’. Since, how-ever, things have to keep moving inthe lives of a nation some decision inthis regard will have to be arrived at.The best and the only way for thepeople to ensure that they are not de-ceived once again by the power-hun-gry rulers of this country, they shouldexercise their right to vote judiciously.They must vote those political par-ties out which have been brought tothe citadel of power by them, timeand again, but have failed to deliver.On the contrary, they should makeconscious efforts to vote those peopleto power who are people of unques-tionable integrity and unparalleledcompetence and have not been triedbefore. But all this would be possibleonly if the Chief Election Commis-sioner and the Election Commissionof Pakistan are made independent andpowerful. Needless to say that itwould also be imperative to revampthe country’s electoral system andmake it absolutely infallible if theabove objectives were to be achievedsuccessfully.—Islamabad

Turning pointMUHAMMAD OMAR IFTIKHAR

Pakistan’s political domain has re-mained instable since 1947. The as-sassination of Liaquat Ali Khan wasthe first attempt to derail democracyin Pakistan. Since then democracyhas never seen sunshine as militarycoups and president’s dissolving theassemblies ahead of their time havekept absolute democracy at bay. Thepresent government, which came inpower in 2008 following the resig-nation of General (Retired) PervezMusharraf, is set to become the firstin Pakistan’s history to complete itstenure. However, the return of Dr.Tahir-ul-Qadri has halted the celebra-tions, which Islamabad would haveplanned. Now there were millions ofPakistanis holding a protest in frontof the parliament house at D-Chowk.When many thought that the politi-cal system would remain untouched,Dr. Qadri and his “million-manmarch” became the new wave ofrevolution in Pakistan.

The first major appearance of Dr.Qadri upon his return to Pakistan wasat the Lahore rally held on Decem-ber 23, 2012. In Lahore, he assertedto bring to life a Tahrir Square inIslamabad. Dr. Qadri’s word, at thattime, seemed a far-fetched reality,however, his arrival to Islamabadalong with his supporters proved oth-erwise. Many quarters of the publicand the media view Dr. Qadri’s sud-den return into politics as a westernconspiracy. With corruption and law-lessness reigning supreme, a longmarch to Islamabad was inevitable.The problem is neither with democ-racy nor with the system, but withthose who are running the system.The ones in power have seldom con-sidered the public as human beings.Unfortunately, those who have ruledthe country have always given prior-ity to their personal gains withoutrealizing that serving the people willmake them better. A revolution, there-fore, was the last resort that couldbring the country out of its many pre-dicaments. The Chairman of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, triedhis best to bring a tsunami of changebut his timing was probably not as

All is well that ends well

By opting to compromise oncertain fundamental contentious issues, the political

belligerents have averted a huge hu-man catastrophe. I am referring to theIslamabad accord between Dr.Tahirul Qadri and his party PakistanAwami Tehrik (PAT) on one hand andthe PPP’s coalition government onthe other. One would not expect atotal accommodation of MaulanaQadri’s demands, as this could havenever be done even by most docileand pliable government. If both theparties have overcome the principalirritants and leveled off the roughends, then it is indeed a monumentalaccomplishment. Such sparkling de-velopment should be welcomed bysober and moderate onlookers andeven the stakeholders and well wish-ers of Pakistan. It was a real people’sstruggle for genuine reforms.

The most laudable and strikinghallmark of the historic sit-in wasthat it was orderly and peaceful andsustained for five days with greatdeal of poise and responsible atti-tude by the protesters. Amazinglythe participants of the unique rallywere the people most of whom werealien to the posh environs of the capi-

tal of Pakistan. Most ofthem hailed from the ru-ral or semi-urban land-scape of Pakistan. Therewere also a sizable num-ber from the cities. Ad-mirably, they all did notresort to provocativeconduct or outburst ofviolence that has re-

mained the usual tone and patternsof such rallies, processions and pub-lic meetings in Pakistan.

The Islamabad sit-in of the PATand the others affiliate groups andindividuals have set a pioneeringbrilliant precedent of the peaceful yetrigorous outlet of their pent-up an-ger and deep disapproval about adiscredited and a pernicious status-quo gnawing at the vitals of Paki-stan. It has established beyond anyshadow of doubt that peaceful dem-onstrations and sober protests weremore poignant and effective than theriotous and violent ones. There is agreat deal of resemblance betweenthe about a month long mammothprotest of Egyptian people at thehistoric Tehrir Square ultimatelythrowing a stubborn and despiseddictator Hosni Mubarak into thedustbin of infamy and lasting con-demnation. In comparison the Egyp-tian protest was a mega one and thatof Pakistan is minor. But their thrustis the same: to change a decadentsystem wholly or piecemeal.

While the stakes in Egypt weresky high, In Islamabad it had muchlimited agenda. It was not to changethe praetorian but the mode of hold-

ing elections. The Egyptian sit-in atTehrir Square was joined by allshades of political and public opin-ion. The Islamabad’s assemblage wasstaged solely by mostly students,peasants, laboring sections and lowermiddle classes. Its primary aim wasto reform the electoral system, tai-lored to reelect the representativesfrom the privileged, aristocratic, elitefeudal and wealthy classes. Both thesides have demonstrated a high levelof discretion and prudence and eventolerance in reaching the consensusand to hammer out a harmonious endof a stand-off that could have turnedugly and entail untold sufferings.Many among the protesters had comewith their whole families includingthe children and infants and with mea-ger quantity of ration. With a pro-longed stay they would have ulti-mately starved or get sick. Theywould have called off the mission thatcould be disarrayed and fraught withfrightening hazards.

It is a feather in the cap of thePPP coalition government and awell-deserved laurel for exercisingutmost patience and not resort tocoercive techniques employed insuch chaotic and challenging situa-tions. Now, one would watch withfingers crossed if the governmentearnestly implements, in letter andspirit, of what has been agreed uponbetween the two sides after lengthyparleys. Almost all the political par-ties not only kept away from the Dr.Qadri’s led procession and rallies butscathingly criticized it for being heldwith sinister motives at the behest

of some forces, at a time whenfresh elections were around thecorner. The politicians rejectedQadri’s movement and termed it acreepy plot by him to sabotage andshort-circuit the democracy topave way for the undemocraticforces to take over.

Those apprehensions andspeculations have proven to bewrong. On the contrary the popu-lar huge protests for comprehensivereform in the electoral system andits acceptance by the governmentwould spur the healthy democraticculture and traditions in Pakistan.It has established, for the first timein the checkered history of Pakistanthat the people, to whom the powerbelongs, were capable of affectinga healthy reform and meaningfultransformation in the errant andfaulty system. It has further proventhat a dysfunctional and flawed sys-tem can be brought back on trackwith unity, cohesion, resolution andindeed through a peaceful struggleby the people.

Dr Qadri achieved a landmarkobjective singlehandedly that hasremained elusive thus far and thatunfortunately was decried and boy-cotted by the super-duper politi-cians en-bloc. Who knows thatthese high sounding politicianswanted to save the stinking statusquo or were jealous of an unex-pected intruder who mobilized thepeople in a short span of time for agreat national cause?—The writer is a senior journal-ist and a former diplomat.

Sultanate. The essence of thesecomments was that democracy inany country has to suit the genesisof the people and thus the Munici-pal Elections have been masterlytailored to suit the people of Oman.After the successful conduct of theseelections, the Sultanate is set se-curely on the highway to progress.The HM Sultan Qaboos bin Saidwho from international affairs tomilitary science and strategy, ecol-ogy, fine arts, politics of his coun-try and the region and the world hastaken another major step which willcertainly promote national dignity.The fuller democracy coupled with“Omanization” which meansgradual and systematic reduction ofthe country’s dependence upon oth-ers for national service at home au-gurs well for the people of Oman.

I may also briefly say that oneof the future challenges to Omanwould be the fuller projection of theleadership and the State within theSultanate and abroad. It requiresmulti-pronged strategy to takepeople along. I am satisfied that inthis regard too Oman is on the righttrajectory. The incumbent Informa-tion Minister, Dr. AbdulmonamMansoor Al-Hasani, an expert inMass Communication and the Un-der-Secretary Mr. Ali bin Khalfanal Jabri, a career publicist, are ac-complished mass communicators.As an editor who had been Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Infor-mation, Government of Pakistan, Ibelieve the right moves of the Min-istry and a coordinated projection ofvarious people-friendly initiatives ofa Government within the countryand abroad is indeed a dauntingchallenge. In fact it is becoming astrategic requirement of any Stateand I am sure the incumbent OmanisInformation set-up is well versedwith it. All this augurs well for theSultanate of Oman.

David Ignatiussimply be a replay of the past. TheAfghanistan movie won’t just restartwhere it left off when the Talibanwere driven from power. “TheTaliban won’t have a free run,” saysa senior Indian official in a conver-sation here about Afghanistan’s fu-ture after US troops leave. “This isnot 1990 again. Afghanistan is achanged place.”

The billions that Americapumped into the country helped fos-ter corruption, to be sure, but themoney didn’t all vanish into bankaccounts in Dubai. Gross domesticproduct per capita has increasednearly fivefold since 2002, with anannual growth rate of about 9 per-cent. Only 18 percent of the popula-tion has access to reliable electricalpower, but that’s triple what it was adecade ago.

The improvements in health arestriking, even after a decade of war.Access to basic health services isavailable to more than 60 percent ofAfghans today, up from 9 percent in2001. Life expectancy has increasedfrom 44 years to 60 in the past de-cade; the maternal mortality rate hasdeclined 80 percent; the under-5mortality rate has dropped 44 per-

cent. The number of primary health-care facilities has increased nearlyfourfold.

Afghanistan has rebuilt an edu-cation system that had nearlystopped functioning. In 2002, only900,000 students were in primaryschool, nearly all boys. Today, 8million students are in school, morethan a third of them girls. Univer-sity enrollment jumped from 8,000in 2001 to 77,000 in 2011, and about20 percent of these higher-educationstudents are women. Literacy is cur-rently about 35 percent, but it’s ex-pected to grow to 55 percent in 10years and 80 percent in 20, unlessdisaster strikes.

The gains women have made arean especially visible index ofchange, but they are also a reminderthat progress is fragile and could bereversed by the Taliban. In additionto the vastly larger number of femalestudents, women now hold 27 per-cent of the seats in parliament, threeCabinet posts and 120 judicial posi-tions. By the end of this year, at least30 percent of government employ-ees will be women.

Afghanistan is a democracy, too— corrupt and capricious, but for

now it’s probably the freest coun-try in the neighbourhood, com-pared to Pakistan, Iran and the cen-tral Asian nations. It has a free andindependent media, producing ev-erything from an Afghan knockoffof “American Idol” to situationcomedies to versions of “SesameStreet” dubbed into Dari andPashto. For many Americans, theAfghan War feels like defeat — apainful waste of money and lives.Many people felt that way whenthe Vietnam War ended, littleimagining the economic boom thatwould eventually come to thatcountry after so many decades ofbrutal suffering. History is myste-rious that way; sometimes thedeeper transformations are invis-ible at the time.

Who can say what the futureholds for Afghanistan? Surely, thecountry’s turmoil and sufferingwon’t end when US troops depart;the situation may get much worse.But it’s a mistake to assume thatnothing changed during America’syears of struggle there, or thatmany of those changes weren’t forthe good. Courtesy: The Washington Post

accurate as that of Dr. Qadri’s, as thelatter created ripples right ahead ofthe elections. Nonetheless, bothImran Khan and Dr. Qadri pursue asimilar objective, which is to bringin reforms to pave way for absolutedemocracy.

While the sit-in by Dr. Qadri andhis supporters was creating ripples, theSupreme Court played out its cardwhen the orders to arrest Prime Min-ister Raja Pervez Ashraf for his in-volvement in power projects gave newlife to the long march. This also provesthat those governing Pakistan are hol-low from within and have no prin-ciples to back their rise to the echelonsof power. Until elections take place inthe country, the political spectrum willbe as unpredictable as ever. The op-position parties have found a platformto stand against the winds of changewhile Dr. Qadri and Imran Khan havepresented their own petitions. Dr.Qadri has demanded that electionsshould be held under article 62, 63,and 218 of the constitution. Regretta-bly, abiding by the constitution hasnever been the virtue of the govern-ments in Pakistan and the present situ-ation is no different. In the opinion ofthis writer, article 5(1) of the constitu-tion of Pakistan should be followedby every Pakistani, which states that,“Loyalty to the State is the basic dutyof every citizen.”

These are indeed testing times forPakistan and its people now that arevolution has arrived in Islamabadwith Dr. Qadri serving as the chiefarchitect of this revolution. However,Imran Khan was the first to plant theseeds of revolution, but it seems hewould not join forces with Dr. Qadri’sversion of revolution. Nonetheless, arevolution has marched into the capi-tal with the government finding ananswer to save their seats. This couldbe the turning point, which the coun-try and its citizens were longing towitness. How this resolution willbring a change in the political sys-tem is yet to be seen.—Via email

Euro crisis & AsiaRASHID AHMED MUGHAL

There appears to be no let-up in theEuro zone crisis as the insufficientbail-out money announced by Euro-pean central bank to pull the wholearea in general and worst-affectedcountries, on the brink of collapse, inparticular will not help over-come themounting debt, spiraling un-employ-ment and shattered confidence.Across the Atlantic, in US, the storyis not different. In the New Year isapproaching, the people, instead ofbeing in a festive mood, are worriedabout the fiscal cliff-a two prongedstrategy of less government spendingand hiking taxes- which is giving thecommon man jitters and nightmares.Whatever and whenever any thinghappens in the number one economyof the world, the impact jolts the glo-bal financial markets. No doubt, theAsian markets slipped further lastweek following losses in Europe andon Wall Street after a third straightmonthly contraction in US manufac-turing activity.

The disappointing US data fol-lowed poor numbers on factory ac-tivity from Asia and Europe but deal-ers looked forward to a EuropeanCentral Bank meeting optimisticthere would be new measures to fightthe lingering debt crisis. Dealers havebeen broadly upbeat since ECB head,Mario Braghi hinted at a restart of itssovereign bond-buying programmeto help under-pressure Euro zone na-tions suffering high borrowing costs.As expectations came true, the creditrisks faced by key European Unionbudget contributors, including Brit-ain, France and Germany, all of whichnow have negative outlooks due tothe continent’s economic crisis, be-came higher.—Via email

Zahid MalikEmail: zahidmalik@pakobserver.net

Saeed QureshiEmail: qureshisa2003@yahoo.com

Column from DallasColumn from DallasColumn from DallasColumn from DallasColumn from Dallas

ADAM ZAGORIN

PRIVATE guards responsible for protecting what may be the most at-risk U.S. diplomatic mission in the world the embassyin Kabul, Afghanistan say security weak-

nesses have left it dangerously vulnerable to attack.In interviews and written communications with theProject On Government Oversight (POGO), cur-rent and former guards said a variety of shortcom-ings, from inadequate weapons training to an over-extended guard force, have compromised securitythere security provided under a half-a-billion-dol-lar contract with Aegis Defense Services, the U.S.subsidiary of a British firm. “[I]f we ever got seri-ously hit [by terrorists], there is no doubt in mymind the guard force here would not be able tohandle it, and mass casualties and mayhem wouldensue,” a guard serving at the embassy wrote in alate November message to POGO. “[I]f we evergot seriously hit [by terrorists], there is no doubt inmy mind the guard force here would not be able tohandle it, and mass casualties and mayhem wouldensue.”

In July, dissatisfaction boiled over when morethan 40 members of the embassy’s EmergencyResponse Team signed a petition sounding an alarmabout embassy security, people familiar with thedocument said. The petition, submitted to the StateDepartment and Aegis, expressed a “vote of noconfidence” in three of the guard force leaders, ac-cusing them of “tactical incompetence” and “a dan-gerous lack of understanding of the operationalenvironment.” Two guards say they were quicklyfired after organizing the petition, in what theycalled “retaliation.” A State Department documentobtained by POGO describes a “mutiny” amongguards who defend the Kabul embassy an appar-ent reference to the petition, though the documentdoes not explicitly mention it. Dated July 18, 2012,and labeled “SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSI-FIED,” the document says that the mutiny was“baseless” but that it “undermined the chain of com-mand” and “put the security of the Embassy at risk.”

The allegations made by the Kabul guards intheir interviews with POGO are all the more dis-turbing in the wake of congressional and publicoutcry over the lax security that may have contrib-uted to the deadly attack on Ambassador Christo-pher Stevens and three others in Benghazi, Libya,last September. The official post mortem released

A ‘Mutiny’ in Kabul: Guards Allege Security Problems Have Put Embassy at Riskby the State Department’s independent commissionlast month painted the Benghazi facility as a casu-alty of bureaucratic neglect, and the assistant secre-tary for diplomatic security resigned. But the situa-

tion described by guards in Kabul suggests that dip-lomatic security problems go far beyond a make-shift, overlooked outpost in eastern Libya. Follow-ing the Benghazi attack, the State Department dis-

patched teams to assess security at a number of dip-lomatic posts but not to the Kabul embassy be-cause, according to the department, security wasalready heightened there.

The guards’ charges are simply the latest chap-ter in the ongoing saga of the Kabul embassy. In2009, Aegis’s predecessor as the security contrac-tor there, ArmorGroup North America (AGNA),

became embroiled in controversy after POGO docu-mented security shortcomings similar to those al-leged by Aegis guards from a breakdown in thechain of command to long hours, low morale, and

alleged retaliatory firings. The organization’s inves-tigation also brought to light lurid photographs ofguards engaged in nude, apparently drunken rev-elry and sexual hazing.

Testifying before a federal commission in Sep-tember 2009, an executive of AGNA’s parent com-pany said there were “no excuses” for the guards’“misbehavior” and he was “not here to defend the

indefensible.” Though AGNA “suffered from manycontractual compliance issues,” Wackenhut Servicesvice president Samuel Brinkley said in written tes-timony, “the security of the Embassy was never atrisk.” The State Department chose a replacementfor AGNA in 2010 only to conclude months laterthat that company would be unprepared to beginwork on schedule. Aegis was awarded the task inJuly 2011 and finally took over Kabul embassy pro-tection in June 2012. But, according to the Aegisguards, it rapidly became clear that the security situ-ation was untenable.

Aegis declined to answer questions for this re-port. “Per our contractual obligations, all questionsand inquiries regarding this contract should be di-rected to the Department of State’s Public AffairsOffice,” company spokesman Joshua C. Huminskiwrote. In a written response to questions, the StateDepartment said that a regional security officer hasassessed operations at the embassy and “determinedthat security policies and procedures are sound.”

The department said it takes seriously the con-cerns of Aegis personnel. After receiving the peti-tion, the embassy conducted roundtable discussions“with those who wanted to voice their concerns.”According to department, it “did not request theremoval of any contract personnel for voicing theirconcerns or signing the petition.” Some individu-als, it said, “have been removed for other reasons.”Private Force, Public Duty An atmosphere of dan-ger pervades everyday life for U.S. personnel inKabul. Almost a year to the day before the Benghaziattack, insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenadesat the U.S. compound in Kabul. And on Nov. 21 aTaliban suicide bomber claimed three victims onlyblocks from the American embassy. A former se-

ROBERT SATLOFF

LET’S stipulate that Chuck Hagelmay make an exemplary defensesecretary. That possibilitydoesn’t alter the fact that his

nomination by President Obama almostcertainly raises doubts among allies andadversaries alike that Obama may not benearly so committed to using all meansnecessary to prevent Iran from achievinga nuclear weapon as he pledged during hisreelection campaign. If the White Housedoes not take steps soon to correct that im-pression, the chances for a negotiated reso-lution of the Iran nuclear crisis will fallnearly to zero and the likelihood of Israelimilitary action will rise dramatically. TheHagel nomination comes at a critical mo-ment. Some experts believe that Iran may

soon amass enough enriched uranium togive it “breakout capacity” allowing it toquickly produce a nuclear weapon at a timeof its choosing. Meanwhile, there are signsthat the Obama administration’s strategyof tough international sanctions, backed bythe threat of force, may compel Tehran tonegotiate a deal that would forestall a con-frontation.

Achieving success in nuclear negotia-tions requires the administration’s fullcommitment to increasingly painful sanc-tions, a credible threat of military force anda reasonable diplomatic alternative. Thisapproach may not be sufficient; Iran maybe bent on achieving a nuclear weapon.But any deal will be built on a stool withthose three legs. If the administration goeswobbly on any of them, the stool collapses,at which point either Washington employsmilitary force to destroy or delay Iran’s

The message Hagel carries on Irannuclear program or Israel becomes likelyto act on its own. Even supporters ofHagel’s nomination must admit that it is

nearly impossible to find any support inhis record for the idea of “prevention” thatundergirds the strategy toward Iran. Thisconcept, which has been publicly embraced

by Obama, means that the United Statesshould deter Iran not from using a bombbut, rather, from acquiring one preventingTehran peacefully, if possible; through mili-tary means, if necessary.

While Hagel has not specifically re-pudiated prevention, he has criticized keyelements of the policy. He has expressedskepticismthat the United States shouldthreaten Iran militarily; he has suggestedthat U.S. muscle-flexing in the Persian Gulfsours the possibility for a negotiated settle-ment with Iran; and he has been critical ofthe military option to delay or destroy theIranian nuclear program. In this context,the looming fight over Hagel’s confirma-tion has obscured the strategic repercus-sion of the nomination. That Obama chosea Pentagon nominee whose public recorddiffers from his own on this critical issuesays more about the president than it does

about the nominee. Quite apart from theinternal U.S. debate over Hagel’s worthi-ness to run the Defense Department, for-

eign leaders will have serious questionsabout the credibility of the president’scommitment to prevention. None is likelyto talk openly about it; they will simplyadjust their expectations accordingly.

It’s a non-issue, Hagel advocates say;the nominee will clear the air in his con-firmation hearings. To be sure, Hagel canbe expected to provide a ringing endorse-ment of the prevention policy, with ap-propriate urgency and fervor. And he willunderscore the fact that, in the end, thepresident — not the defense secretary —decides policy. But all this misses thepoint. The hearings will address only the“Hagel worthiness test.” It has no bearingon the “Obama commitment test.” For-eign leaders will pay little heed if the ad-ministration attempts to solve this prob-lem with a parade of senior officials bal-ancing the Hagel nomination with reaf-firmations of the president’s commitmentto prevention. To the world, Obama hasspoken loudly with his choice of a nomi-nee who has never embraced the idea thatIran should be stopped at all costs fromacquiring a nuclear weapon; it will takeaction, not just words, to repair this nega-tive impression.

How to fix the problem, if Obama isindeed committed to a policy of preven-tion? First, begin contingency planningnow with NATO and other allies on howto sustain international pressure on Iranfollowing military strikes to disable itsnuclear program. This “day-after” plan-ning will send a powerful message thatthe administration is serious about possi-bly resorting to force.

Second, invite a group of journaliststo witness a demonstration of the massiveordnance penetrator, a conventional mega-bomb that has one purpose: to destroy Ira-nian nuclear facilities at Fordow, whichare hidden deep inside a mountain.

—Courtesy Washington Post

VÉRONIQUE SALZE-LOZAC’H,NINA MERCHANT-VEGA,KATHERINE LOH, SARAH

ALEXANDER

WITH Western economiesfacing serious challenges,regional cooperation,greater intra-Asia trade and

development will define the region’s fu-ture. Over the last several decades, Asiahas become increasingly integrated withthe rest of the world, its rapid develop-ment driven largely by exports to theUnited States and European Union (EU).Yet, as the world’s main economic arter-ies shift eastward, intra-regional integra-tion within Asia still lags behind. Therecent global financial crisis and eco-nomic fall-out is quickly changing thatdynamic, however. Indeed, as strong,stable economic growth in the West, par-ticularly in the U.S. and EU, remains elu-sive, regional markets are becoming moreattractive among Asian countries, high-lighting the importance for enhanced in-tegration. Despite challenges, this trendtoward regional integration should con-tinue in 2013. Currently, over half ofworld trade takes place between mem-bers of regional trade agreements, andAsia is no exception. However, in Asia,as in other parts of the world, regionalintegration is uneven. While SoutheastAsia is shoring up its economic integra-tion efforts through the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Eco-nomic Community Blueprint for 2015,with plans to continue attracting foreigndirect investment, capitalize on thegrowth of its neighbors (mainly Chinaand India), and accelerate the pace of itstrade facilitation measures through asingle market strategy, South Asia re-mains weakly integrated through theSouth Asian Association for RegionalCooperation (SAARC) both economi-cally and politically. Regionalism, notprotectionism, can help mitigate globaluncertainty:

In fact, Asia has reason for optimismabout the capacity of regional trade tocompensate for weak markets in the U.S.and the EU and to reduce vulnerabilityto external shocks. In 2012, opinion lead-ers in Southeast Asia said that they weremost positive about the ASEAN Eco-nomic Community compared to all otherregional trade agreements in Asia. In-deed, while East Asian economic coop-eration has mostly been driven by mar-ket forces, Southeast Asia has taken sig-

The Key To Asia’s Futurenificant strides in formalizing its regionas a single market and production basethrough ASEAN. Intra-regional trade andtrade with China now accounts for morethan 37 percent of ASEAN’s total trade,up from around 26 percent in 2000. Atthe same time, trade with the U.S. hasfallen from 20 percent in 2000 to 10 per-

cent in 2011, and trade with the EU from15 percent to 11 percent in the same pe-riod. On the other hand, progress on

SAARC’s goal of a South Asian Eco-nomic Union by 2020 remains relativelyslow. Though intra-regional trade in SouthAsia recently surpassed $2 billion follow-ing the full implementation of the SouthAsia Free Trade Agreement, it representsonly 5 percent of the region’s total tradevolume, compared to ASEAN’s 22 per-cent and the EU’s 55 percent. However,

South Asia has made strides integratingwith the rest of Asia. For example, whileonly 1.3 percent of South Asia’s parts andcomponents are traded within the sub-re-gion, 56.3 percent go to East Asia. Thisrepresents the enormous potential thatexists for South Asia’s future trade amongits own region.

Such economic integration in the re-gion is becoming increasingly importantto help stave off and overcome global eco-

nomic shocks. Prior to the last-minuteresolution that saved the U.S. from fall-ing off the “fiscal cliff,” the UN SocialCommission on Asia and the Pacificwarned that if the U.S. were to fall, itwould have dire consequences for Asia,decreasing growth by as much as 2.2 per-cent in some countries.

—Courtesy Diplomat

The State Department told POGO that no Aegis guard is scheduled to work more than 12hours per shift. However, during the initial transition from AGNA to Aegis, the department said,“some contract personnel were required to work additional days, partly due to the need for inten-sive in-service training.” “Through Government oversight, contract adjustments, and Aegis’ adher-ence to contract requirements, the number of hours and days the guards worked were limited tocontract requirements, and the Department maintained its primary objective of ensuring the safetyand security of the Embassy,” the department said.

Two suicide bombers launched a coordinated attack on a market near a U.S. ...

nior U.S. official who served at the embassy saidthat security is designed to defend the facility“against direct assaults, one or two or more.... Buta...breach in the [embassy] wall followed by a groupof suicide bombers, that would be a close call...thatwould be a bad day.”

The sprawling, heavily fortified facility reflectsthe threat barbed wire, bomb-sniffing dogs, ma-chine gun emplacements, perimeter walls, and tow-ers. The lives of about 1,500 embassy employeesAmerican and local staff are on the line. As inAmerican embassies around the world, there is asmall contingent of U.S. Marines, but their mainmission is to protect the chancery and destroy clas-sified materials in the event of a breach. The de-fense of the embassy falls principally to Americanand foreign contract guards including approxi-mately 100 members of the Emergency ResponseTeam, according to guards POGO interviewed over-seen by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplo-matic Security.

In Kabul, the embassy guard force is run byAegis Defense Services under a federal contract thatthe State Department said has a “current value” of$497 million. (The full scope of that contract,awarded in July 2011, is unclear; the State Depart-ment said it is for security services in Kabul “forone base year plus four option years,” but the de-partment has not responded to a request for clarifi-cation.) Aegis has also provided a variety of secu-rity services to U.S. efforts in Iraq. In interviewsand emails for this report over the past few months,about a dozen current or former ERT personnel allof whom said they are former law enforcement offi-cials or U.S. military veterans who had served inIraq or Afghanistan said they have been worriedabout the state of security at the embassy. They re-quested anonymity to avoid retaliation or career set-backs.

One of the biggest problems, guards say, is thattheir team has been stretched dangerously thin bylong hours for days on end and too few people to dothe job. Guards have worked 14- and 15-hour work-days, for six or even seven days a week, with lim-ited days off or leave time, sources said. That, inturn, has led to high job turnover, low morale, andother problems, they said. “It wears you out,” said aformer guard and Special Forces veteran now in theUnited States. “People’s concentration goes away .. . they can’t maintain focus at all.”

—Courtesy FP

Third, organize and execute high-profile exer-cises in the Gulf on safeguarding key assets againstIranian retaliation. Such exercises would focus on

defending the Strait of Hormuz and critical infrastruc-ture protection. Fourth, fast-track the delivery of lethalassistance to vetted Syrian opposition groups, whichwould signal the administration’s willingness to com-

pete against Iran on multiple fronts.

Chuck Hagel, US defence secretary’s scope expends…

The Key To Asia’s Future. With Western economies facing serious challenges, ...

ANDREY BORODAEVSKIY

MOSCOW, they say, “wasn’t built at onego” in contrast to St. Petersburg, whichemerged laid out, as if by magic, in strictconformity to Peter the Great’s plan and

it has been growing chaotically for more than 800years on seven gently sloping hills surrounding theriver of the same name. Today, Moscow is an ag-glomeration of about 12 million people, with morethan 1 million visitors coming and leaving each day.Modern suburbs are marching ever farther from the110-km-long road ringing the original city, while arecently adopted new expansion plan for the capitalis aimed at doubling the city’s size, thus making itpossible to move official institutions away from thehistoric city center.

However, the future of this grandiose plan is seenas misty at best. Expenditures necessary for the de-velopment of corresponding transport infrastructurealone are estimated at 600 billion rubles. In August,President Vladimir Putin called the first meeting of

Moscow’s not-so-friendly environmental quirkshigh officials to discuss the future of the Moscowexpansion plan. Among other things, he pointed outthat preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Vladivostok (held last Septem-ber) was costly, “to say nothing of the armamentsstate program.” Meanwhile, it has become clear that

without the prospect of a mass migration ofofficialdom to new quarters in areas around Mos-cow forecast to grow the entire plan loses its raisond’etre.

From 1992 to 2010, the head of the Moscowadministration and the city mayor was Yury Luzhkova well-known politician in President Boris Yeltsin’scircle. During his time, Moscow’s economy visibly

expanded, though city development was very unevenand involved many conflicts between the plannersand the residents. After the Soviet Union collapsed,the number of private cars in Moscow rose by 150,000to 200,000 per year, creating severe traffic problems.Under Luzhkov, the city transport system underwent

some redesign, although it didn’t help much.Now, under new Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, road

construction in Moscow has reached new dimensions.Is it solving the problem? Hardly. One could evenargue that never-ending road work around the cityhas only multiplied troubles for car owners. Trafficjams represent the inevitable consequence of manymega-policies, and in Moscow, as some experts say,

the situation looks especially hopeless and unpredict-able. Rush hour or not, you never know if you willreach your destination in, say, two hours or in five.To the faults of the former mayor may be added hisblatant disregard of the interests of ordinary citizensas well as small businesses even as he manipulated

regulations for street kiosks, small eateries, individualgarages and the like.

Under Luzhkov, such local policies were con-stantly reshuffled. For example, you might be invitedto put up a small garage chosen from a wide varietyconstructed of corrugated metal only to find thosegarages outlawed and subject to immediate removalthe following week while some lucky birds were of-

fered another, much lighter, half-open, green-coloredvariety. Officially such changes in fashion were un-dertaken to achieve a more “standardized look” foryards and small streets, but the most probable aimwas to please “friendly” companies producing thosegreen-colored boxes.

After Luzhkov’s forced retirement, the “People’sGarage” program collapsed. Investigators are nowsaid to be preparing criminal cases against some ofthe main figures involved. It is difficult to say whetherthe new mayor has his own strategy for city improve-ments or is just going with the flow. In my own re-gion of Moscow, Savelovskiy, impressions are mixed.On the one hand, the yard behind the house wheremy family lives has been radically transformed forthe better. Grass lawns and flowerbeds have beenremodeled and are well-kept (with the help of an armyof migrants from Central Asia). A new field for sportsis well-equipped and in constant use by teenagers.Before, there was always a big padlock on the de-formed gate.

—Courtesy Japan Times

Cooperation in technological innovation andresearch. ASEAN member nations have taken steps

toward such cooperation through the Krabi Initiative,which encourages collaboration across the region ona host of science and technology issues, from greentechnology and food security, to exploiting new tech-nologies such as digital media and social networking

for development and innovation.

At Timiryazevsky market a big area for stalls where ordinary people for years used to buyhousehold articles and materials for apartment repair at reasonable prices the gates are lockedamid rumors the market will be closed. There are “war” casualties, it seems, among small busi-nesses almost every day. Are we in the process of a major renovation campaign that will bring

back such amenities only raised to a new level?

tating message to the people ofJammu and Kashmir. Neither arethey exhausted by the prolongedongoing struggle since Decem-ber 1989 devouring over 100,000Kashmiri lives.

Taking this bloody scenarioin view the All Parties KashmirConference (APKC) is surelygoing to ventilate a hallmark dec-laration.

History is witness to the factthat Jammu and Kashmir has inno phase of centuries past beenthe part of India.

This fact in itself is a con-tinuous reminder to theKashmiris who raise with stron-gest voice and volition againstIndian occupation of their land.

The invitees to the APKCare: Molana Fazal ur RehmanMNA Chairman Qomi KashmirCommittee, Sardar M YaqoobKhan, President Azad Kashmir,

Ch Abdul Majeed PrimeMinsiter Azad Kashmir,Gen (R)

All Parties Kashmir Conference todayFrom Page 1

Anwar Khan, Ex-President AJK,Raja Farooq Haider,Ex-PMAJK,Justice (R) Abdul MajeedMalik, Ch Sultan Mehmud, Ex-PM AJK, Abdul Rasheed Tarabi,JI, Sardar Khalid Ibraheem, JK-PPP, Raja Zulqarnain Khan, Ex-President AJK,Pir AttiqurRehman MLA,Maulana SaeedYusuf, JUP (F),Alla SyedKafayat Hussain Naqvi,SyedGhulam Raza Naqvi,MehmoodAhmad Saghir, APHC,SyedYusuf Naseem, APHC, RarooqRehmani APHC, Ghulam MSafi, Majeed Malik, Syed ToqeerGillani, JKLF,Rafique DarJKLF, Ershad Mehmood, ProfShahbuddin Madni, AhleHadis,Maulana Abdul AzizAlvi,JD,Maulana Qazi NisarAhmed Ahle Sunnat Gilgit, QaziAnayatullah chairman Jirga GB,Maulana Haq Nawaz JUI-GB,Maulana, Malik AmeerJan,Ex-member Assembly GB,Haji Shah Baig Ex-member As-

sembly GB, and AnayatullahShamali, Ex-president NationalAlliance GB. End

It is for the first time that se-nior cadre Kashmiri politiciansare sitting together to carve outforward looking milestones in thepolitical history of Kashmir.

It were thwe immenseKashmiri sacrifices that madePresident Barack Obama andPrime Minister of China WenJibao and Secretary General UNMr Ban Ki-moon that all of thesepersonalities in their separate In-dia visits in November, Decem-ber and about six months back,asked India to solve Kashmir dis-pute with Pakistan via negotia-tions.

Kashmiri voice is very muchheard across the globe, but whatis needed is the tailoring of stra-tegic strategy to have thosevoices at the back of self-deter-mination-denied Kashmiris.APJC is expected to fill this gap.

measures ahead of elections duethis spring.

“The earliest the IMF canstep in is in June,” said SakibSherani, a former finance minis-try official who now heads theMacro Economic Insights re-search institute. “It’s a matter ofa few months before there is acrisis.”

Mohammad Khan, a formercommerce minister, said thelooming election virtually ruledout any deal soon with the Fund.

IMF refusesFrom Page 1

After the meeting, Pir Pagarasaid he would work with thePML-N chief without any greed.

He praised Nawaz Sharif foruniting the Opposition.

He said he didn’t see Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari forminggovernment in the center for thesecond stint.

He added that PresidentZardari did not listen to thepeople of Sindh, saying situationin Sindh is critical. He said that aweak Sindh would undermine thefederation. The PML-F chief saidthat he told Nawaz Sharif aboutthe situation in Sindh which hesaid was critical.

Nawaz Sharif told reportersthat the PML-N believes in de-mocracy, rule of law and pre-dominance of the constitution.

The PML-N President saidthat he held consultation with PirPagara over caretaker set up andagreed to further strengthen theOpposition.

He said those who were outto Islamabad to save the state areback to save their face in highlyworrisome situation. He addedthat those claiming of revoltingthe government had become allyof the government.

Nawaz further said that hewas wondering that after failureof two who would be the thirdone to be launched at Minar-e-Pakistan. He said what Qadri hadbeen demanding while termingthe government sheer corrupt andterming the prime minister as ex-PM, has at once vanished and thescene got totally changed.

This contradiction of wordand action is sufficient to judgecharacter on both sides, he added.

He said the articles 62 and63 are already there to judge thequalification of a candidate.

PML-N&F reject dealFrom Page 1

gional groups are in the makingwith possibility of joining byPML (Q) in the later stage. Thereis tremendous pressure of ImranKhan to shake hand with Qadrito fight off forces of status quo.

Rejecting the agreementreached between Qadri and coa-lition partners on Thursday night,PML (N) leader Mian NawazSharif, who was restricted toPunjab in the last 2008 elections,has been enlarging its base inother provinces. The estrangedPPP elements in Sindh provinceincluding PPP stalwart SyedZafar Ali Shah has already joinedPML (N) while Nabil Gabol metSharif on Friday. Pir of PagaraSibghatullah Shah, Chief ofFunctional Muslim League alsoheld crucial meeting Sharif on thefast changing political scene.

Watching these develop-ments closely, Imran Khan whoholds the same agenda as ofQadri will go for an election alli-ance with PAT in the comingweeks as he will not afford todivide his voters desirous of achange in the country, the sourcessaid. Some political elements areworking on it and the picture willbe clear next week.

The three alliances PPP andsome of its coalition partners,PML (N) with political groupsfrom Sindh and the third alliancePTI-PAT will be in the field forthe polls, the source said.

New electionFrom Page 1

is just busy in lip service ratherbringing back the accused fromthe UAE. He said, after analyz-ing NAB record, it seems that thebureau had helped him escapefrom the country and it also pro-vided Sadiq an opportunity towithdraw funds from his 40 bankaccounts.

The court observed as to whythe NAB was not able to arrestSadiq if Sindh police could ar-rest Shahrukh Jatoi in Dubai. Jus-tice Khawaja remarked that no-body including the NAB wasready to take the case seriously.

The bench noted that the ac-cused used official vehicle on themotorway but the Motorway Po-lice did not anything despite in-dication from the deputy direc-tor NAB.—Online

NAB failureFrom Page 1

government also treated themopen-heartedly.

The sit-in was ended byTahirul Qadri after an agree-ment was reached with the gov-ernment on Thursday night.The agreement was termed the‘Islamabad Long March Dec-laration’

While on the other hand,the spokesperson of Minhaj-ul-Quran contradicting the newspertaining to Qadri’s return toCanada on January 27 said Dr

Qadri assurance: Pact to be implementedFrom Page 1

Tahir-ul-Qadri booked his seatin airline prior to long marchbecause he had life threatswhile roaming in the countrybut now after inking accordwith the government, he wouldstay in Pakistan till the materi-alization of the agreement in itstrue letter and spirit.

The Minhaj-ul-Quran ac-tivists celebrated the returningof their spiritual leader Tahir-ul-Qadri with enthusiasm andfervor in Minhaj-ul-Quran Sec-

retariat on Friday and termedthe agreement signed betweenthe government and Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri a great success for de-mocracy.

They were chanting slogansin favor of their leader. Theysaid Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri inked anew history in the annals of thecountry and owing of his solidand logical stance on the elec-toral reforms, the fame ofMinhaj-ul-Quran spread acrossthe globe.

der law has landed into deeptrouble as it is unable to do sobecause of the non-availability ofRs12.10 billion.

The Nepra has fixed the sub-sidized tariff of Rs 5.63 per unitfor AJK consumers, which is alsonot being paid fully owing towhich Iesco has braved the lossof Rs 12.10 billion in the year2011-12.

According to officials ofIesco, the CDA is its defaulter ofRs2.20 billion, and federal gov-ernment owes to pay Rs 2.30 bil-lion. In addition, some corpora-tions also need to pay dues ofRs15.56 billion to Iesco.

AJK powerdues causetrouble for

IESCOFrom Page 1

NIA probing the 26/11 attack islikely to visit Pakistan in mid-January. “No dates have beenfixed so far,” an National Inves-tigation Team official said.

This was supposed to beNIA’s first visit to Pakistan andits first ever dialogue with the FIAon the 26/11 case and counter-ter-ror cooperation. —Online

LoC tensionFrom Page 1

officers, was also suspended, theofficial had said.

The Supreme Court has beenhearing a case over the imple-mentation of its March 2012 rul-ing on RPPs in which it had heldthe contracts non-transparent andhad ordered that these be re-scinded.

During a hearing of theimplementation case earlier thisweek, the court had directed theauthorities to arrest Prime Min-ister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 15other accused in the case.

Prime Minister Ashraf hasbeen accused of receiving kick-backs and commission in the RPPcase as minister for water andpower.

In the case, nine RPPs firmswere accused of receiving morethan Rs22 billion as amobilisation advance from thegovernment to commission theplants but most of them did notset up their plants and a few ofthem installed them but with in-ordinate delay.

One of Faisal’s associatestold Pakistan Observer that hehad been under considerablestress in recent weeks.

A neighbour said that Faisalhad requested a transfer from thehigh-profile case and had beenvery depressed.

The death of Faisal is the lat-est turn in the long-running cor-ruption case against the PrimeMinister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Postmortem of KamranFaisal was concluded at federalhospital and the body wasshifted to his native town, MianChannu.

According to the hospitalsources, the post-mortem of theofficial lasted for two hours andthe autopsy report would behanded over to police.

Meanwhile, samples weresent to laboratory for forensicreport which would to be ob-tained in 7 to 10 days.

Final post-mortem reportwould be prepared after receiv-ing forensic report.

The death will remain a mys-tery till a transparent probe iscarried out about the incident.

Kamran Faisal will be laid torest in Mian Channu today.

Faisal’s death came days af-ter the Supreme Court orderedthe arrest of Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf.

Ashraf has denied thecharges against him.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf(PTI) on Friday demanded of thegovernment to hold thorough in-vestigation for ascertaining rea-sons of death of Kamran Faisal.

NAB investigatorFrom Page 1

dates involved financial and pro-motion cases. Some ex-ministersare still retaining official ve-hicles, reluctant to return.

According to reports a min-ister has appointed ninety fourofficials up to grade 17 in a localdepartment and its union ob-tained stay order against such ir-regularities. The union moved theHigh Court stating that requiredfunds were not available for sala-ries of the existing staff howwould new expresses be met.

Ex-ministers signFrom Page 1

Fazl for announcementof election scheduleCriticises Governor rule in Balochistan

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—A bilateral exercisebetween Pakistan Special Ser-vices Group (SSG-N) and RoyalSaudi Naval Special Forces wasconducted Friday under the ambitof Exercise Naseem Al Bahr,which is 10th in series.

The Officers and members ofSpecial Service Group (Navy),Pakistan Navy Maritime SpecialWarfare (MSW) Group, SEALGroup and officers and membersof Royal Saudi Naval SpecialForces participated in the Exer-cise. The Exercise was conductedsimultaneously by Maritime Spe-cial Warfare (MSW) and SEALGroup encompassing seminar,lectures and special operationsexercises.

Maritime Special WarfareGroup conducted Maritime Spe-cial Operations encompassingMaritime Counter Terrorism,

Pak-Saudi joint navalexercises continue

Counter Piracy Operations at Seaand Close Quarter Combat.

The operations were con-ducted by Special OperatingForces using Special Force Boats,VBSS Boats and Helicopters. Thejoint exercise culminated on sup-posed boarding operations on asimulated pirated vessel inCounter piracy situation using theSSG(N) sea platforms. SEALGroup focused on Minor opera-tions, Marksmanship, transitiondrills, Live moving fires, Fight-ing in Built Up Area (FIBUA),Military Operations in Urban Ter-rain (MOUT), Close QuarterCombat (CQC) and Mountainwarfare. Both teams demonstratedskills in different facets of Spe-cial Operations. Joint Field Tacti-cal Exercise encompassing fieldcraft, survival techniques, naviga-tion, hide pit drills followed byambush on convoy and raid onsimulated target was undertaken

ISLAMABAD—JUI-F chiefMaulana Fazlur Rehman has saidimposition of governor rule inBalochistan is undemocratic andit is needed in KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) due to com-plete failure of civil administra-tion therein.

“ Governor rule was imposedin Balochistan in undemocraticfashion. If governor rule is im-posed on the pretext of law andorder then the prevailing situationin KP and Karachi is worse thanBalochistan. Slapping governorrule in Balochistan is tantamountto encouraging undemocraticsteps”, he said this while talkingto media men in parliament houseFriday.

He went on to say if gover-nor rule is imposed by dissolvingprovincial assembly on the basisof sit in then KP needs governorrule as people continued to stagesit in with dead bodies placingbefore them but the provincialgovernment drove them out bysubjecting them to violence. Civiladministration has failed in KPand the province is under armycontrol, he added. Over 20

persons are being killed daily inKarachi therefore, governor rulebe slapped in these provinces aswell, he underlined. Citing to theinternal situation of the country hesaid “this is not Pakistan. It looksto be a theater. Powers which mat-ter in the country need suchpeople. Tahir ul Qadri becameHussain on his own and he heldtalks with Yazid and both of themsped out of Karbala together”. Allthe opposition parties had reachedthe consensus opinion in theirmeeting at Lahore that ElectionCommission (EC) was neutraland no change could be broughtin this commission on the desireof one man. EC is acceptable toall, he held.He observed that allthe opposition parties had com-monality of views on caretaker setup. Government has been askedto constitute caretaker set up as itwas mandate of federal govern-ment to initiate steps for dissolu-tion of assemblies and installa-tion of care taker set up in de-mocracy. Opposition parties hadcalled upon the government toimmediately announce electionschedule, he remarked.

He alleged long march waslaunched to postpone generalelections and it was agenda ofTahir ul Qadri that elections arenot held in the country. Thisagenda had been thwarted by theopposition parties, he added.

“We are opposed to sectari-anism as country can not affordmenace of sectarianism, he held.We stand side by side withHazara community or other mi-nority community if any incidentof sectarianism is faced by them,he added. Sit- ins were staged onthe basis of sectarianism whichis not good omen even for Shiacommunity in future, he re-marked.

Borders situation of thecountry was very alarming, hesaid. Recent statement by Indianprime minister be taken with allseriousness as our western bor-ders are vulnerable, he stressed.

Responding to a question hesaid if MMA is restored it is goodthing. JUI-F has fought war onreligious front in the parliamentfor five years single handedly andhas made achievements due to itsstrategy. —Online

LOS ANGELES—The newMars Express images show aregion of Reull Vallis at a pointwhere the channel is almost 7km wide and 300 m deep. Thesides of Reull Vallis are par-ticularly sharp and steep, withparallel longitudinal featurescovering the floor of the chan-nel itself.

These structures believedto be caused by the passage ofloose debris and ice during the“Amazonian” period - whichcontinues to this day - due toglacial flow along the channel.

The structures wereformed long after it was origi-nally carved by liquid waterduring the Hesperian period,which is believed to haveended between 3.5 billion and1.8 billion years ago.

Similar lineated structures,believed to be rich in ice, canalso be found in many of the

in Mountainous terrain by bothSOFs.

Special Service Group(Navy) was established 1967 toundertake diversified Special Op-erations. The organization hasbeen recognized as one of potentforce globally with diversifiedcapability to undertake SEAL(Seal Air Land) operations, AntiTerrorist Operations and MaritimeSpecial Warfare (MSW) Opera-tions simultaneously with equalcompetence and professionalism.

The SSG-N regularly under-takes exercises with the contem-porary Special

Ops Forces (SOFs) of theworld to enhance professionalacumen and fighting skills.

The Exercise provided goodopportunity to both Special Op-erating Forces of exchanging ex-pertise in the domains of specialops and developing close relationbetween the two sides.

Astronomers say river ran across Marssurrounding craters. In the widercontext image, the tributary in-

branches further upstream be-fore merging back into a single

lands with their high and soft-rounded mountains shown in

Indefinite shut ofCNG stationsLAHORE—CNG filling stationsin Lahore and other areas wereclosed for indefinite period oftime on Friday morning. Ac-cording to SNGPL, CNG sta-tions in Lahore, Gujranwala,Multan and Sheikhupura re-mained open on Thursday andwere closed at 6am on Friday.However, new schedule will beissued later. Gas supply to CNGstations in Bahawalpur andIslamabad will be restored at6am today (Saturday) for 24hours, SNGPL said. CNG clo-sure has badly affected the mo-torists. —INP

Five dead ashouse caves inMuzaffar AliLAHORE—At least five peopleincluding a woman died after athree-story building caved inburying seven of a family undertonnes of rubble here on Fridaymorning. The tragic accident abefell an a poor family in TibbiCity area of Lahore. The victimswere identified as Shahzad, hiswife Kanwal, his two sons,Subhan, Anas and a daughterErum. Two other occupants werepulled out from under the debrisalive but critically injured wereambulanced to Mayo Hospital.

Five die as carfalls in gorgeBALAKOT—At least five per-sons were killed when a carplunged into a ravine here lateThursday night. According todetails, an XLI car with fivepeople on board plunged into thegorge in UC Ghanool while onthe way to Shogran fromBalakot. As a result of accidentall the five people were killedon the spot. The locals on selfhelp basis pulled out the bodiesand shifted them to Tehsil Head-quarter (THQ) Hospital Balakotfrom where they were sent toDHQ Mansehra for post-mortem. —INP

Probe demandedin KA deathsPESHAWAR—Amnesty Interna-tional on Friday called on thePakistani authorities to investi-gate and bring anyone identifiedas responsible for unlawful kill-ings of 18 people to justice infair trials. On Thursday, protest-ers gathered outside the resi-dence of the Governor ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa provinceand the Peshawar Press Clubafter 18 bodies were founddumped across Bara district ofKhyber Agency the previousday. Relatives claim the 18people were shot dead by sol-diers of the Frontier Corp, eitherduring or after raids on theirhomes. —INP

KARACHI: Pakistan, Saudi Arab special operating forces in action during exercise Naseem Al Bahr.

Lahore,Bahawalpur

CorpsCommanders

changedRAWALPINDI—The PakistanArmy on Friday saw major re-shuffles in its ranks.

According to a statementissued by the Inter-ServicesPublic Relations, Corps com-manders of Lahore andBahawalpur have been changedwith newly promoted Lt Gener-als.

Newly promoted Lt GenZubair Mehmood Hayat hasbeen appointed as Corps Com-mander Bahwalpur while LtGen Maqsood Ahmed has beenappointed as Corps CommanderLahore.

Lahore Corps CommanderRashid Mehmood has beentransferred to the General Head-quarters and posted at the keypost of Chief of General Staff.

Bahawalpur Corps Com-mander Lt Gen Haroon Aslamhas been appointed as Chief ofLogistics Staff, GHQ.—INP

NEW DELHI—India haslaunched a major plan to constructunderground shelters for storingmissiles, rockets and ammunitionclose to the borders with Pakistanand China. Apart from providingbetter logistics on the front in theevent of a war, these undergrounddumps will also ensure criticalwar-fighting ordnance is betterprotected from enemy attacks aswell as the weather.

Sources said Army chief Gen-eral Bikram Singh is keen that atleast 2,000-2,500 metric tonnes ofammunition that is “expensive andoperationally important’’ shouldbe stored in such undergroundshelters in the operational areas ofthe Northern and Eastern ArmyCommands, a report in the Indianmedia said.

With Beijing being consid-ered the “real long-term threat’’despite the current tensions withIslamabad along the Line of Con-trol, two pilot projects have beentaken up for construction of “un-derground and tunnelled’’ storageof ammunition in Leh and Sikkimalong the “northern borders’’ withChina.

Initially, Army, DRDO and

other experts had selected fivesites in the north-east and two inJ&K for the underground shelters.The choice was narrowed downto a site each in Leh and Sikkimwith the help of “geo-technicalreports’’, which looked at 40-50parameters, for the pilot projects.

“Once the first two projectstake off, similar ones will be un-dertaken along the western bor-der with Pakistan. The under-ground shelters will make it diffi-cult for the enemy to detect anddestroy our ammunition dumps.Both China and the US store mostof their ammunition in tunnels,caves and other underground shel-ters,’’ said a source.

At present, only around 4.5lakh of the 8 lakh tonnes of am-munition authorized for the Armyhas proper storage facilities in theshape of modern and fire-resistantammunition storage sheds orstorehouses.

The rest is stored mostly inthe open, exposed to the weather.This often leads to explosions,fires and “mishandling of ammu-nition incidents’’ causing regulardeaths as well as destruction ofammunition.—INP

India to store missiles, rocketsnear Pak, China borders

VIENNA—UN experts returnedfrom Tehran on Friday withoutsealing a long-sought deal thatwould restart a probe of suspicionsthat Iran worked on atomic arms,adding to doubts that upcomingseparate talks between six worldpowers and the Islamic Republicwill succeed in reducing fearsabout Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Herman Nackaerts, whoheaded the team of InternationalAtomic Energy Agency experts,said the two sides would meetagain in the Iranian capital Feb.12. But even if those talks makeprogress, they will come too latefor an Iran-six nation meeting ten-tatively scheduled for the end ofthis month.

Those nations — the UnitedStates, Russia, China, Britain,

France and Germany — hadlooked to the Tehran meeting asproviding a signal for Iranianreadiness to compromise whenthey sit down with Tehran. Theyhope those talks will result in anagreement by the Islamic Repub-lic to stop enriching uranium to ahigher level that could be turnedrelatively quickly into the fissilecore of nuclear arms.

Iran says it is enriching onlyto make nuclear reactor fuel andfor scientific and medical pur-poses.

This week Iran’s ForeignMinistry again cited a 2005 fatwaby the supreme leader, AyatollahAli Khamenei, that bannednuclear weapons — a declarationthe West has dismissed as a stall-ing tactic.

By compromising on the

IAEA probe, Iran could have ar-gued that the onus was now onthe six powers to show some flex-ibility, temper their demands, androll back U.S. and European sanc-tions that have hit Iran’s criticaloil exports and blacklisted thecountry from international bank-ing networks.

Although Tehran may hopethat agreement to meet again nextmonth with the IAEA shows it isinterested in a deal, that may betoo little for the six powers, whoare growingly frustrated that theirown talks with Tehran have barelyprogressed.

Iran denies any interest innuclear weapons, asserting that allits nuclear activities are peaceful.It stopped answering questionsabout allegations that it secretlydid research and developmentwork on such arms more than fouryears ago, saying it had providedenough information to disprovethe claims. New attempts to re-start the investigation havedragged on for more than a year,with Tehran insisting on a detailedoutline of what U.N. experts ofthe International Atomic EnergyAgency may or may not do in theirinvestigations.

Nackaerts, in brief arrivalcomments Friday said that “dif-ferences remain,” and no deal wasreached.

Agency officials say they arewilling to continue negotiationsbut some privately have describedthe delays as a tactic to further stallthe investigations. They are par-ticularly concerned that such de-lays can hurt their efforts to in-vestigate the military site knownas Parchin.

The IAEA suspects that Iranhas conducted live tests of con-ventional explosives at the sitesoutheast of Tehran that could beused to detonate a nuclear chargeand have cited satellite photos in-dicating a cleanup there.—AP

UN fails in attempt torestart Iran nuke probe

NEW DELHI—Pakistan’s HighCommissioner to India SalmanBashir has made a call for toningdown the “Pakistan bashing” inIndia following clashes along theLine of Control (LoC) betweenthe Armies of the two countries.

In an interview to an interna-tional news agency, Bashir alsoreiterated Pakistan’s offer for for-eign minister-level talks to try tocool tensions. “I think it is impor-tant not to let this cycle escalateinto something which becomeseven more ugly than it is today,”Bashir said. “Let’s try to see if wecan cool down and resume nor-mal business.”

The envoy said instead of in-dulging in “Pakistan bashing”,New Delhi could have approachedIslamabad to get to the bottom ofwhat happened instead of “stirringraw emotions and upping therhetoric”.

Bashir was referring to the

January 8 gruesome killing of twoIndian troops on the LoC inJammu and Kashmir’s Poonchdistrict. He said that “Pakistanbashing has become fashionable”in India. Bashir denied that Paki-stani troops were behind the kill-ing of the soldiers on the Indianside of the LoC dividing Kashmir.

“Such heinous acts ... are ofcourse condemnable irrespectiveof where they happen and whenthey happen. But to say that thesewere done by Pakistan, that thePakistan Army was responsible,is something that we cannot agreeto,” he said.

Bashir said the PakistaniArmy and government could notspeculate on who might have beenbehind the attack. He pointed toan offer made on Wednesday byPakistani Foreign Minister HinaRabbani Khar to her Indian coun-terpart for talks to ratchet downthe tension.—Online

Pak bashing fashion inIndia: Salman Bashir

Anti-Indiabroadcasts worry

New DelhiNEW DELHI—For some timenow, India’s security establish-ment has been tracking radiobroadcasts by Iran-Bangla Ra-dio, a Bengali-language radioservice which is part of anIran-Bangladesh goodwill ini-tiative, broadcasting radioprogrammes insideBangladesh.

The radio service has beenconsistently putting out anti-India polemic and messaging,which is now a matter of grow-ing concern to the Indian gov-ernment and security establish-ment, Indian media reportedFriday. India andBangladesh have worked hardto improve relations with eachother in the past couple ofyears. In fact, this bilateral re-lationship has seen the great-est degree of investment by theUPA government. —INP

tersecting the main channel ap-pears to be part of a forking ofthe main valley into two distinct

main valley. The northern partof the main image is dominatedby the Promethei Terra High-

The perspective view belowshows one of these mountainswith nearby sediment-filled im-pact craters. The region showsa striking resemblance to themorphology found in regions onEarth affected by glaciation.

The images show circularstep-like structures on the innerwalls of the sediment-filled cra-ter in the foreground of the sec-ond perspective view. Planetaryscientists think that these mayrepresent former high water orglacial levels, before ice and wa-ter sublimated or evaporatedaway in stages at various times.

The morphology of ReullVallis suggests it has experienceda diverse and complex history,with analogies seen in glacialactivity on Earth.

New astonishing pictures bythe European Space Agency haverevealed a 1500 km long and 7kilometre wide river that once ran

across Mars. The agency’s MarsExpress imaged the striking up-per part of the remnants of ReullVallis river on Mars with itshigh-resolution stereo camera,ESA said in a statement analo-gies are giving planetary geolo-gists tantalising glimpses of apast on the Red Planet not toodissimilar to events on our ownworld today.Reull Vallis, is be-lieved to have formed when run-ning water flowed in the distantmartian past, cutting a steep-sided channel through thePromethei Terra Highlands be-fore running on towards thefloor of the vast Hellas basin.

This sinuous structure,which stretches for almost 1500km across the martian land-scape, is flanked by numeroustributaries, one of which can beclearly seen cutting in to themain valley towards the upper(north) side. —AP

these images, rising around 2500m above the surrounding flatplains, the statement said.

Targetedoperation

continues inBalochistan:

MagsiQUETTA—Balochistan Gover-nor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali MagsiFriday said that targeted opera-tion has been initiated in partsof the province to maintainpeace and bring the culprits tojustice. He was talking to a del-egation of Hazara communitywho called on him at GovernorHouse led by their leader formerprovincial minister SaadatHussain Hazara. The Governorsaid that FIR lodged against theHazara people would be with-drawn and authorities concernedhave been directed for paymentof compensation to the heirs ofQuetta twin blast by January, 31.“Effective strategy has beenevolved to provide foolproofsecurity to the zahereen,” he re-iterated.

Nawab Magsi expressingsatisfaction over the measuresput in place by the law enforce-ment agencies to maintain peaceand tranquility said that situationhas improved after the imposi-tion of Governor’s rule in theprovince.—APP

Gabol wantsKarachi operation

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) leader and MNANabeel Gabol on Friday saidpeace could not be established inKarachi until the government car-ries out an operation as the oneordered by Naseerullah Babar inthe city. He said Karachi hadslipped out of the hands of politi-cal leaders, adding that theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) was also perturbed overthe situation in the country’s fi-nancial capital. The PPPleader was in Raiwind to meetwith chief of the Pakistan Mus-lim League – Nawaz (PML-N)Nawaz Sharif at the latter’s resi-dence. Gabol offered condolencesto Nawaz over the recent death ofAbbas Sharif, a brother of thePML-N chief.

The MNA said he was notacquiring membership of thePML-N, adding that he was still alawmaker associated with the PPP

LDA: Directorateof recordmanagement setupStaff ReporterLAHORE—Director GeneralLahore Development AuthorityAhad Khan Cheema has estab-lished the Directorate of RecordManagement under the administra-tive control of Additional DirectorGeneral (Housing). According tothe officials of LDA, the DG alsoapproved the creation of one postof Director (BS 19) and three postsof Deputy Directors (BS-18) byabolishing one post of Deputy Di-rector Architect, one post of DeputyDirector Research and Evaluationand four posts of Assistant Direc-tor Architect for the new director-ate. A total of 15 posts of subjectspecialists have also been re-des-ignated as Assistant Director (BS-17) for posting as many assistantdirectors in the new directorate.

ACCORDING to an article published inCirculation: Journal of the AmericanHeart Association, heart attack risk af-

ter bereavement is much higher for severalweeks after the loss. The day the loved onedies, the risk of a heart attack is a stunningtwenty one times higher.

The article also warnsfriends and family to look forsigns of heart failure in thebereaved person, ensuringthey relax and maintain anymedication regime they maybe on.

The study was con-ducted with nearly 2000 adultheart attack survivors andwhile the risk of a heart prob-lem declined over the firstmonth, it still remained at sixtimes the normal risk duringthe first week after a lovedone died.

Murray Mittleman,M.D., Dr.P.H., a preventivecardiologist and epidemiolo-gist at Harvard MedicalSchool’s Beth Israel Deacon-ess Medical Center and School of PublicHealth’s epidemiology department in Boston,Mass. said:

“Caretakers, healthcare providers, and thebereaved themselves need to recognize theyare in a period of heightened risk in the daysand weeks after hearing of someone close dy-ing.”

This is the first study of its kind to focuson the effects of emotional events in our lives,on the heart.

Broken heart syndrome is a well docu-mented effect, but it is not thought to produceany lasting health problems, and while it maybe true that those suffering from symptoms ofa broken heart generally recover with no ill

effect, it certainly appears that others, whilenot suffering from the “pseudo” heart attackof broken heart syndrome, jump straight intofull blown symptoms and physical heart is-sues.

Researchers say that figures show that 1in 320 people who are at highrisk for heart failure and 1 innearly 1,400 people who are atlow risk, will suffer increasedheart problems due to a be-reavement. Additionally, thegrieving spouses are more likelyto die in the future, with heartattacks and strokes accountingfor 53 percent of their deaths.

As part of the multicenterstudy, the scientists analyzedcharts and talked with patientswhile in the hospital, after aconfirmed heart attack between1989 and 1994. Patients an-swered questions about cir-cumstances surrounding theirheart attack, as well as whetherthey recently lost someone sig-nificant in their lives over thepast year, when the death hap-

pened, and the importance of theirrelationship.Researchers used a case cross-over design to compare patients over the pastsix months. The approach eliminated the pos-sible confounding factors of comparing dif-ferent people. The authors also estimated therelative risk of a heart attack by comparingthe number of patients who had someone closeto them die in the week before their heartattack, to the number of deaths of significantpeople in their lives from one to six monthsbefore their heart attack. Psychological stress,such as that caused by intense grief, can in-crease heart rate, blood pressure, and bloodclotting, which can raise the chances of a heartattack.

A broken heart breaksyour heart, literally!

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—Protectingrights of the media and work-ing journalists, especially insecurity sensitive areas hasseriously become a tough is-sue to address to these daysin Pakistan.

Press as well as legal fra-ternity of Pakistan hadplayed a vital role in uphold-ing true values of democracyfor the rule of law and citi-zens’ right of expressiongranted under the Constitu-tion.

Whereas Pakistan Bar

Council under its mandate isto provide legal aid in termsof sub-section 1(la) of section13 of Legal Petitioners andBar Council Act, 1973 whilePress Council of Pakistan isbound to act as a shield to pro-tect freedom of expression andfinds it imperative to defendfreedom of press from any in-terference from any quarter interms of sub-section (2) ofsection 8 of the PCP Ordi-nance, 2002.

Both the apex bodies i.e.Pakistan Bar Council andPress Council of Pakistanhave vowed to work together

as strategic partners to providelegal aid to media persons atall levels.

In this regards, Raja M.Shafqat Khan Abbasi, Chair-man (PCP) and Mr. AkhtarHussain, Vice Chairman, Pa-kistan Bar Council have signeda MoU which covers the fol-lowing salient features:1 Pakistan Bar Council andPress Council of Pakistanhave agreed to become stra-tegic partners to collaboratein providing legal aid tothe press and media per-sons who fell victim to attack/harassment or murder while

during their professionalwork.2. The scope of collabora-tion shall include at all levelsthroughout Pakistan.3. Pakistan Bar Council andPress Council of Pakistanshall support and strengtheneach other’s ongoing initia-tives in this regard.4. Pakistan Bar Council andPress Council of Pakistanshall jointly develop newconcepts and ideas to pro-tect rights of the mediaand working journalists inany part of the coun-try.

5. Both the PBC and PCPshall form a working groupto review progress on quar-terly basis and explore newareas to promote ethical jour-nalism and safe environmentfor the media persons in thecountry.6. Both the bodies will sup-port each other in case of anyattack or assault on the free-dom of press.7. Both the sides agree tomake short, medium and longterms arrangements to meetthe stipulated objectiveswithin ambits of their work-ing charters.

ISLAMABAD: CDA workers cleaning Jinnah Avenue after sit-in protest which was staged by Tehrik-e-Minhajul Quran.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

PBC, PCP to provide legal aid to media person

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik addressing those who per-formed duties during Long March to maintain law and order at Liaquat Gymnasium.

Dedication of LEAs ensuredsecurity during long march

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Capital Devel-opment Authority (CDA) sani-tation staff is putting in cumber-some efforts to remove around100 tons of the waste and gar-bage accumulated in the BlueArea by the participants of thelong march and sit-in to restorethe beauty of Jinnah Avenue andadjacent areas of the city througha massive clean up campaignlaunched by the Authority. Fromthe very next morning of themarchers’ return to their desti-nations, the Capital Develop-ment Authority started the clean-liness operation at the venue.

Chairman CDA, Syed TahirShahbaz on the direction of theSecretary Cabinet Division, Ms

CDA starts operationclean up at Jinnah Avenue

Nargis Sethi has directed thatall relevant directorates of theAuthority including Sanitation,Health Services, Environmentand CDA Secretariat would re-main opened on Saturday to fur-ther cleanse up the venue, pro-vide clean and friendly environ-ment and to prevent spread ofany epidemic in the capital city.

The Environment Wing ofthe Authority is also accessingthe damage cost to the environ-ment, especially the grassplanted in the median strip,decorative plants and the sprin-kling system designed for wa-tering of the plants as well asthe grills along the Jinnah Av-enue.

Chairman CDA, Syed TahirShahbaz visited the venue of the

sit-in in Blue Area to inspect thecleanliness operation being car-ried out by the Authority underthe supervision of the MemberAdministration of CDA, MunirAhmad Chaudhry. Member En-vironment, Dr Kazim Niaz alongwith the officers of the Environ-ment Wing also visited the area.Director General, Civic Manage-ment Rawal Khan Maitla,Deputy Director General Mu-nicipal Administration,Mansoor Ahmad Khan remainedalso present during sanitationdrive.

The green belts and veran-das of the plazas, which werelittered with rappers and wasteof eatables, were also cleansedduring the operation in additionto cleanliness of main avenue,

green belts and adjoining areas.The garbage contained plasticbottles, bags, wasted food, foodpacks, sticks and peels of fruitsetc.

Chairman CDA Syed TahirShahbaz had formed teams un-der the supervision of MemberAdministration and MemberEnvironment to accomplish thecleanliness operation at the ear-liest. Around 200 staffers of theSanitation Directorate reachedthe Avenue at the morning alongwith their fleet of 65 vehiclesand necessary equipments.

During the visit, ChairmanCDA told the media that theCDA has revived the originalbeautiful look of Islamabad’sdowntown as the Authority wasused to deal with such tasks.

Quality educationfor progressof society

ISLAMABAD—International Is-lamic University is providingquality education to the variouspeoples of the society at domes-tic and foreign level so that theymay play their role not only inthe progress of their society butfor the whole Muslim Ummah.

This was said by Prof. Dr.Ahmad Yousif Al-Draiweesh,President International IslamicUniversity, Islamabad (IIUI)while he was briefing the mediarepresentatives regarding upcoming Seerat-e-Tayyaba(P.B.U.H) Celebrations ofDawah Academy. Prof. Dr.Sahibzada Sajid ur Rehman, Di-rector General Dawah Academyand Vice President IIUI was alsopresent on the occasion.

Dr. Al-Draiweesh said thatthe world has become a globalvillage and now it is the duty ofthe media representatives thatthey present the real picture ofIslam to the world and to resolvethe misunderstandings in thisregard.

He urged the media repre-sentatives that they build linkswith scholars and publish theirthoughts and ideas, who pre-sents Islam as a balanced andmoderate religion and are againstthe extremism and terrorism.

He also invited the mediarepresentatives to visits IIUI andto inform the public about theeducational system and other ac-tivities of the university.—DNA

SC disposes of 503cases in a week

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan has disposedof 503 cases whereas 323 newcases have been instituted dur-ing the period from Saturday12th January 2013 to Friday 18thJanuary 2013. The backlog re-mains 19655.

The backlog in the apexCourt on 12th January 2013 was19835 cases. As 323 new caseswere instituted during the week,the progressive total of pendingcases as on 18th January 2013came to 20158 cases. Out ofthese, 503 cases were disposedof from Monday 14th January2013 to Friday 18th January2013. The backlog on 18th Janu-ary 2013 remains 19655 cases.

The Chief Justice of Paki-stan Mr. Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry consti-tuted various Benches at the prin-cipal seat, Islamabad and branchregistries to expedite the casehearings and clear the backlog.

The Chief Justice of Paki-stan and the Judges of SupremeCourt remained committed toaccelerate disposal of the casesand diminish the backlog.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Minister for In-terior, Rehman Malik Fridaylauded professional and dedica-tion shown by Police, Rangersand other Law EnforcementAgencies (LEAs) in performingtheir duties to ensure securityduring long march.

Speaking at a reception hehosted in honour of police andrangers here at Pakistan SportsBoard (PSB), the Minister ap-preciated Islamabad Administra-tion led by Chief Commissioner,particularly the Deputy Com-missioner of ICT, who actedmaturely and carried out the in-structions in full letter and spiritin coordinating and directing tokeep the marchers fully secured.

He spoke high about DG,Rangers of Punjab for providinglogistic support in terms of de-ployment of officers and menof the force to assist ICT Policein maintaining peace and secu-

rity to the life and property ofthe residents of Islamabad aswell as the participants.

The Minister also com-mended officers and men ofFrontier Constabulary and itsCommandant and Deputy Com-mandant for providing assis-tance to the ICT police andIslamabad Administration.

Inspectors General of Po-lice of Punjab and Azad Jammu& Kashmir were also appreci-ated while Rehman Malikthanked the Chairman of CDAfor providing all necessary as-sistance.

On the occasion, he an-nounced Rs 50 million for po-lice, rangers and FC while he rec-ommended medals for seniormost female police personnel ofIslamabad police.

The Minister announcedSitara-e-Imtiaz for InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP) and

medals for DC Islamabad, AmirAhmed Ali and Director, PublicRelations to the Minister,Nawazish Malik.

Rehman Malik said hewould recommend to provincialIGPs for award of medals andcertificates to their personnel.

The Minister said he hasalso recommended Chairman,Capital Development Authority(CDA) for one month additionalsalary to its employees whoperformed duties during thelong march of Tahirul Qadri.

Earlier, addressing the re-ception, he said the PPP leader-ship and coalition partners dem-onstrated remarkable patienceand tolerance in the face ofprovocations and warnings.

He said politics is the nameof converting impossibilitiesinto possibilities and added is-sues can be resolved onlythrough talks.—APP

RAWALPINDI: Workers busy in preparing different replicas in connection with celebra-tion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi.

ISLAMABAD: Activists of Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat shouting slogans during Peghambar-e-Inqilab Conference at Karachi Company.—PO photo

ISLAMABAD: Vehicles on their way during foggy morning after last four days sit-in by TMQ as Jinnah Avenue has beenopened for traffic.

ISLAMABAD: —Trailers seen parked at Blue Area as drives wait to carry their containersused for blocking roads during TMQ’s sit-in at Jinnah Avenue.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Interior MinisterRehman Malik has said that theoutcome of the Long March is aclear message to the world thatthe entire Pakistani nation isunited to safeguard democracy.

Speaking to media represen-tatives in Islamabad, Malik saidhe was grateful to Tahirul Qadri,chief of the Tehrik-i-MinhajulQuran (TMQ), for his coopera-tion with the government andadded that the nation had stoodunited in the face of conspira-cies against the country.

The minister said the perfor-mance of the government del-egation was commendable andadded that the president and theprime minister had played a

Nation united tosafeguard democracy

positive role in the situation.Malik said the nation had

remained united in the face ofconspiracies of all kinds and thatthe opposition leaders had alsostood up to safeguard the demo-cratic system. He said it has alsoconveyed a message that thereis no danger to the democracyand the country would move for-ward on the road to progress andprosperity.He said in order to dohis job to provide security to theparticipants of the long marchand the subsequent sit-in inIslamabad, he had to deploy11,000 security personnel fromoutside the federal capital.

Malik said security agencieshad done an impressive job tominimise disturbances duringthe sit-in. He added that the In-

ter-Services Intelligence (ISI)had also played a commendablerole during the event.

On threats to the long marchand the sit-in, Malik said theTehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)had threatened to launch an at-tack during the event.

Malik said despite threats ofterrorism, the Government de-cided not to restrict movementof the protestors and this helpedeased the situation.

He also thanked the partici-pants of the March for remain-ing peaceful. The minister saidhe sympathised with theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) over the killing ofManzar Imam, an MPA of theparty who was shot dead onThursday in Karachi.

IHC judges’appointment

hearing adjournedtill indefinite periodISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Friday adjourned hear-ing of petition of judges’ ap-pointment in Islamabad HighCourt (IHC) and review petitionfiled by the government in thisregard for indefinite period.

During the hearing, JusticeKaliji Arif remarked that thepetitions had remained nonhearable after issuing notice forjudges’ appointment in IHC.

Nadeem Ahmed Advocatesubmitted a petition against thepresident, prime minister andlaw minister who conductedcontempt of court for not issu-ing notification of appointmentof judges in IHC after SupremeCourt’s order.

The five-member bench ofthe apex court headed by KalijiArif was hearing of the petitionsfiled for judges’ appointment inIHC.

Abdul Rauf advocate toldthe court that petitioner NadeemAhmed’s lawyer Akram Sheikhrequested for pending the peti-tion in this regard. On this Jus-tice Kaliji Arif said that there isno need for pending the petitionafter the government issued no-tice for judges’ appointment inIHC, adding that now reviewpetition filed by the governmentin this regard had remained non-hearable.

Attorney General of Paki-stan Irfan Qadar pleaded thecourt that review petition of thegovernment be pending untildetailed verdict by the court wasmade.—INP

ISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan is hold-ing bye-elections on 18-02-2013in multiple Constituencies ofProvincial Assembly of Sindhand Punjab.

According to ECP press re-lease, the executive authoritiesin the Federation and in theProvinces shall not use State re-sources anywhere in Pakistanfor unfair advantage of a particu-lar candidate or political partynor exercise undue influenceaffecting the interest of a candi-date or party for participating inany election to be held herein-after;

If any person in the serviceof Pakistan misuses his officialposition in any manner calcu-lated to influence the result ofthe election, he may be tried bya Court of Sessions as contem-plated under Section 95 of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct, 1976 and, if found guiltyof the offence, may be punishedwith imprisonment for a termwhich may extend to two yearsor with fine which may extend

ECP to hold by polls inmultiple constituencies

to two thousand rupees, or withboth under Section 92 of the Act;

Bulk transfers/postings ofthe civil servants shall not bemade after the issuance ofSchedule of an election till thecompletion thereof; Individualtransfers/postings of civil ser-vants shall also not be made af-ter the issuance of Schedule ofan election except under excep-tional circumstances, in exi-gency of service and in publicinterest, with prior approval ofthe Election Commission.

After the issuance ofSchedule of an election, thePrime Minister, Chief Minister,Federal Ministers, State Minis-ters, Advisors to the Presidentand the Prime Minister, Provin-cial Ministers and Advisors tothe Chief Ministers will neithervisit the area of any constitu-ency where an election is be-ing held nor shall openly or insecret give any subscription ordonation or make promise forgiving such subscription or do-nation to any institution of aconstituency, nor shall inaugu-

rate, commit to undertake orannounce any developmentproject therein for the advance-ment of the campaign of a can-didate of his choice and therebyinfluence the results of thatelection.

The Prime Minister, ChiefMinisters, Federal Ministers,State Ministers, Advisors to thePresident and the Prime Minis-ter, Provincial Ministers andAdvisors to the Chief Ministersor any person on their behalfshall not visit the Constituencyor a polling station after the is-suance of Schedule of an elec-tion till the completion of poll.

If any of the public officeholders mentioned in para (v)and (vi) above is found tohave misused his official po-sition to influence the resultof an election in any mannerwhatsoever, legal action shallbe taken against such personin accordance with law undersection 103A of the Represen-tation of the People Act, 1976,relating to contempt proceed-ings.—DNA

ISLAMABAD—The preparationsfor commemorating Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) are gainingmomentum and roads andbuildings are being decoratedwith colourful buntings, bannersand fancy lights in twin citiesofIslamabad and Rawalpindi.

Large banner and giganticbillboards are being displayedacross the cities to celebrate thebirth of Holy Prophet HazratMuhammad (PBUH).Mosques,homes and plazas arebeing decorated with colorful lightsand buntings. In Islamabad, themain procession would startfrom Police Ground G/7. Incaseof rain the procession wouldemerge from Mosque Jamia Al-Raza, Markaz G/7.Before theprocession a Eid Milad-un-Nabiconference would be held.

An International ‘Milad’

Mustafa rally would be taken outfrom Rawat on Sunday. Therally would culminate at G/9Karachi Company after passingthrough Islamabad Highway.

Special programmes are be-ing prepared for paying tributesand to high- light different as-pects of the life of Holy ProphetMuhammad (PBUH).’Milad’committees are collecting dona-tions for celebrating the event ina befitting manner.

On Rabi-ul-Awal 12, EidMilad-un-Nabi processions wouldalso be taken out from differentareas of Rawalpindi. ‘Milad’Committees are also busy in fi-nalizing schedule of ‘Mahafil-e-Naat’.Various social, cultural,educational institutions and reli-gious rganisations are finalisingtheir programmes for celebratingEid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) withreligious fervour.—APP

Eid Milad preparationsgaining momentum

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—US Ambassa-dor Richard Olson met Fridaywith more than 100 studentswho have studied in theUnited States and encouragedthem to work hard to makePakistan a better place.

“Education is the key tofuture prosperity and eco-nomic growth,” said Ambas-sador Olson. “I’m proud thatmy country has had a role inyour education and helpedyour country, one student at atime,” he told 100 alumni ofthe Study of the U.S. Institute(SUSI) exchange program.

The SUSI program sendsstudents from all regions ofPakistan and a variety ofbackgrounds to the UnitedStates for six weeks to studyat a U.S. university. Duringthe reunion, participants dis-cussed their experiences in theUnited States and how theyused what they learned andmade plans to develop serviceprojects in their hometowns inPakistan.

“Your country needs you.Devote your time and energyto making Pakistan the coun-try you want it to be,” Ambas-sador Olson said.

“We will continue to sup-port you.” The Ambassadorencouraged the students to ap-ply for funding from the U.S.Small Grants program, whichawards grants to individualswith promising proposals

aimed at improving their com-munities in Pakistan.

He also encouraged thestudents to remain engaged intheir alumni networks,through which they can orga-nize community serviceprojects, plan social activities,and benefit from professionaldevelopment opportunities.

Since 2005, the U.S. Em-bassy has sent over 100 Paki-stani university students froma wide range of backgroundsand locations to the UnitedStates to attend the SUSI pro-gram. This summer, 32 morestudents will attend this pro-gram.

Through SUSI, studentsgain skills to implement long-term civic and economicchanges in their communities,receive leadership training,and participate in communityservice projects while in theUnited States.

The U.S. Embassy in Paki-stan sponsors the largest U.S.exchange program in the world,with over 1,000 students and pro-fessionals traveling to the UnitedStates each year.

More than 10,600 low-in-come students attend collegein Pakistan with the supportof U.S.-funded scholarships.In cooperation with the Gov-ernment of Pakistan, theUnited States is also helpingto establish Centers for Ad-vanced Studies at Pakistaniuniversities focused on en-ergy, water, and agriculture.

US to continue supportingPakistani students: envoy

SANA JAMAL

ISLAMABAD—Five universitystudents along with a supervisorof the delegation have been se-lected to visit Japan for a studytour from 20th January to 2ndFebruary, 2013. The Governmentof Japan has invited the studentsunder the Japan-SAARC Kizuna(bond) Programme for the Japa-nese Language Learners that isparticularly for the languagelearners from 8 member coun-tries of SAARC.

Pakistani students to leave forJapan on study tour

On Friday, Mr. ToshikazuIsomura, Counselor of PublicAffairs Department at Japanembassy, handed over traveldocuments to the selected Paki-stani students, who have beennominated by their respectiveuniversities, in an orientationceremony held at the Embassyof Japan. The participants areexpected to expand their under-standing on Japan’s reconstruc-tion efforts through visits andvolunteer activities in the disas-ter affected areas as part of thestudy tour.

SAARC Kizuna Programmeis a youth exchange project be-tween Japan and SAARC coun-tries to reiterate and strengthen thebond between Japan and SouthAsian countries, all of which pro-vided their assistance and supportfollowing the Great East JapanEarthquake in March 2011.

This programme is a part ofJapanese reconstruction plansfrom the damages caused by theGreat East Japan Earthquake andis aimed at promoting global un-derstanding of Japan’s revival ef-forts in response to the earthquake.

Police officialsto be trained by

Rescue 1122RAWALPINDI—Rescue 1122will impart second trainingcourse on Basic Life Support,First Aid and Fire Safety Orien-tation at Police College Sihala onFriday to develop professionalapproach of police officials inrescuing the victims in case ofany emergency or disaster.

The first course on Basic LifeSupport, First Aid & Fire Safetyfor police had been conducted formore than 400 police officials ofpromoting zone for Inspectorsand DSP level on 10 and 11 Janu-ary, 2013, whereas 515 policeofficials are being trained in re-cent training course by the pro-fessional trainers of CommunitySafety & Training Wing, Rescue1122, Rawalpindi.

The police officials are beingtrained through lectures, presen-tations and practical demonstra-tions on golden hours manage-ment, foreign body airway ob-struction, medical emergencies,traumatic emergencies, woundmanagement, fracture manage-ment snake bite and electric shocketc. All participants of the train-ing will be evaluated through writ-ten and practical tests.

The Director General, Rescue1122 Dr Rizwan Naseer said therole of police officials at incidentsite is very important. The gradedprofessional emergency manage-ment trainings at peace time arereally playing an effective role fordeveloping professional workingunderstanding.—APP

Court orders Canttboard to removedumping point

RAWALPINDI—The High CourtRawalpindi Bench, JusticeKhawaja Imtiaz Ahmad express-ing anguish over the dumpinggarbage in playground in DhokSyedan despite court instruc-tions to the Cantonment Boardto remove the same immedi-ately.

The petitioner, Anwar DarAdvocate prayed the court toorder removal of filth depot, say-ing that RCB authorities haveconverted the playground intofilth point which pollutes atmo-sphere and causing spread ofvarious diseases including hepa-titis, tuberculoses and other res-piratory ailments.

Justice Khawaja ImtaizAhmad taking strict notice of thefilth depot in playground againstcourt orders, ordered Canton-ment Board administration toremove heaps of garbage fromthe site immediately.

Moreover, the court servednotices to Punjab government tosubmit written reply in this con-nection.

The representative of thePunjab government informedthe court that land was propertyof Punjab government and Canttauthorities cannot sell it.—INP

Blue Areabusinessmenearning Rs2.4

billion per monthISLAMABAD—The anxietyduring the Tehrik-e-MinhajulQuran (TMQ) Long Marchmade the Blue Area business-men to unveil their true incomei.e. Rs2.4 billion per month,inviting an action from theFederal Board of Revenue(FBR).

Majority of the business-men do not display the NTNcertificates in their shops andoutlets, which was illegal.

Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) had made it mandatoryfor the shopkeepers and busi-nessmen earning taxable in-come to display their NTN cer-tificates in their shops underIncome Tax Rules 2002. Butmajority of the business com-munity of Islamabad andRawalpindi were not followingthe rule.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that being annoyed andperplexed during the longmarch, the representatives ofthe traders association of BlueArea admitted in a press con-ference that owners of over500 shops of the area werefacing a loss of Rs80 millionper day due to the sit-in ofTMQ.

That shows that the BlueArea businessmen were earn-ing Rs2.4 billion monthly butthey did not display NTN cer-tificates in their shops and out-lets.—INPJ Salik complains

about comparinghim with Qadri

ISLAMABAD—The JamiatUlma-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)chief Maulana Fazlur Rehmanhas said that J Salik complainedto him on phone about callingDr Tahirul Qadri the “J Salik ofMuslims”.

Talking to media outside theParliament House on Friday,Fazlur Rehman said he freed JSalik from a “cage”, while thegovernment freed Qadri from a“container”. He said that he hasfriendly relationship with JSalik, adding the Christian per-sonality complained on phonethat why he was compared withDr Tahirul Qadri.Fazlur Rehman further said thatJ Salik, in a protest, locked him-self up in a cage in past andcalled him, complaining he didnot go to see J Salik. When hewent, Salik asked him to openthe cage to free him, FazlurRehman said, adding that hefreed J Salik from a “cage”,while the government freed DrQadri from a “container”.—INP

70 encroacherschallaned

RAWALPINDI—Rawal Townadministration, in an operationagainst encroachments,challaned 70 shopkeepers andfined them Rs70,000.

The administration also con-fiscated the goods and objectsused to encroach on the foot-paths and roads in different partsof the city.

The anti-encroachment op-eration was conducted in IqbalRoad, Bara Bazaar, MuslimTown, Jamia Masjid Road, GanjMandi, Commercial Market,Benazir Bhutto Road (MurreeRoad), Khayaban-e-Sir Syedand Pir Wadhai areas. All thehandcarts and stalls were seizedby the officials as well.—INP

Section 144extended inPindi district

RAWALPINDI—Home Depart-ment Punjab has extended theimposition of section 144 in thejurisdictions of Rawalpindi dis-trict for 15 more days.

Under the section, five ormore than five persons are pro-hibited to gather at any publicplace in the district. The orderwould remain enacted fromJanuary 17 to 31.

It is relevant to mention herethat section 144 was imposed toensure peace and order duringDr Tahirul Qadri’s Long Marchfor four days.—INP

Sixth RoadFlyover: Water

pipeline repairingRAWALPINDI—Water and Sani-tation Agency (WASA) hasstarted repairing of the mainwater supply pipeline damagedduring the construction of SixthRoad Flyover.

According to Managing Di-rector (MD) WASA, RajaShoukat Mehmood, the repair-ing work would be completedtill tomorrow (Sunday) and thewater supply would be resumed.Till then, the water supply fromRawal Dam would remain sus-pended to areas of SatelliteTown, D Block, Pandora,Chishtia Abad, though the areaswould be supplied water fromtube wells, he said.

The MD WASA appealed tothe residents of the areas not towash floors of their houses andplazas to save water till the wa-ter supply is not resumed.—INP

06:2001:3004:15

07:15

Zohr

Continuing

DA’WAH Academy of theInternational Islamic Uni-versity, Islamabad (IIUI)will hold Seerat-e-Tayyabacelebrations which will con-tinue till January 21.

AH RAO

MIRPUR—Under the spirit toturn various nation-building in-stitutions vibrant for extendingquality services to the masses,the AJK government has madetransfers and postings of severalof senior officials of its manage-ment and police groups, officialsources revealed.

Among top AJK govern-ment officials who weretransfered and posted with newassignments included seasonedsenior officer of AJK govern-ment Khawaja MuhammadShafique who yesterday tookover the charge of the office ofSecretary Transport to the AJKgovernment, it was officiallydeclared.

An official notification is-sued by the AJK governmentlate yesterday revealed thepostings and transfers of severalof senior officials of the AJK

AJK-wide posting,transfers of senior officials

government belonging to policeand the management groupsheading various public-sectorinstitutions.

The newly-inducted Secre-tary Transport to AJK govt.Khawaja Muhammad Shafiqueenjoys the distinction of beinga seasoned official with longcareer in various top positionsin different government func-tionaries in AJK.

He has been holding the of-fice of Director General SmallIndustries AJK till he was el-evated to the top slot of the AJKTransport Department. He hadalso been performing as Direc-tor General Sports, Youth andCulture, Additional Secretary,Finance, Services & GeneralAdministration (S & GAD) inthe AJK government in the past.

Senior officials of the manage-ment and police groups whowere transferred and posted innew top positions includedCommissioner Poonch divisionSardar Khurshid Ahmed whohas been posted as SecretarySports and Culture, Commis-sioner Muzaffarabad divisionSardar Muhammad Zafar, hasbeen trasfered and posted asCommissioner Poonch Divi-sion, Secretary Population Wel-fare and Director General StateDisaster Management AuthoritySayed Zahoor ul Hassan Gillaniwho has been posted as Com-missioner Muzaffarabad divi-sion.

Similarly senior most offi-cial of police group SardarFaheem Ahmed Abbasi hasbeen inducted as Director Gen-

eral State Disaster ManagementAuthroity, Director Social Wel-fare Abdul Qayyum Awan in-ducted as officiating DirdctorGeneral Sports & Culture.

Similarly SuperintendentPolice HeadquarterMuzaffarabad Ch. MuhammadAmin has been posted as SeniorSuperintendent police Mirpurreplacing SSP Ch. MunirHussain who was transferredand posted as SuperintendentPolice Kotli.

The S.P Kotli Ch. GhulamAkber has been transferred andposted as SSP CapitalMuzaffarabad district. Anothersenior Superintendent Policefrom mirpur Ch. Kabir has beentransferred and posted as Direc-tor Protocol Services & Gen.Administration.

Salahuddin paystribute to Ghulam

Rasool DarM U Z A F F A R A B A D — T h eHizbul Mujahideen has paidrich tributes to the Chief Com-mander (Operations) of theorganisation, Ghulam RasoolDar, alias Riyaz Rasool on his9th martyrdom anniversary ob-served on Friday.

A meeting of the CentralCommand Council of HizbulMujahideen held inMuzaffarabad with its SupremeCommander, Syed Salahuddinin chair. The Supreme Com-mander, addressing the meeting,threw light on different aspectsof the life of the the martyredleader and hailed his contribu-tion to the Kashmir liberationmovement.

The speakers in the meet-ing described Ghulam RasoolDar as a great freedom fighterand religious scholar whothroughout his life worked forfreedom of Jammu Kashmir andunity of all pro-freedom orga-nizations. They said thatGhulam Rasool Dar was amongthe founder members of HizbulMujahideen and had played akey role in the organisation.

Dar was martyred on Janu-ary 18, 2004 during a clash withIndian troops on the outskirts ofSrinagar.

The participants of themeeting reiterated theKashmiris’ pledge that the lib-eration movement would betaken to its logical conclusion,against all odds.—INP

Hurriyat (G)shocked at

youth’s killingat Sopore

SRINAGAR—Blaming OmarAbdullah led government forpromoting ‘hooliganism’ underthe garb of Panchayati Raj, theHurriyat Conference (G) hasexpressed deep sorrow andshock over the killing of 22 yearold youth Nisar Ahmad by aSarpanch in Zalpora, Sopore, innorth Kashmir.

Demanding severe punish-ment to the “killer” Panch, theHurriyat (G) vowed to monitorthe proceedings and warned ifany attempt to save the assassinon political grounds would haveserious consequences.

Terming the ‘PanchayatRaj as ‘hooliganism’, theHurriyat spokesman (G), in astatement said” “Almost all thePanchs and Sarpanchs behavelike the renegades of yester-years and have resorted to ex-tortion and are collecting taxesfrom common man.”

“The Sarpanch, who hadaccused Nisar Ahmad of theftin his house, killed him beforeinvestigating the matter. TheIkhwani type Sarpanch keepingall norms and rules aside killedan innocent youth. This hasproved that Ikhwanirule hasonce again revived under thegarb of so called Panchayat Rajand once again lawlessness andhooliganism is being pro-moted,” said the

He alleged that armedforces are using the services ofPanchs and Sarpanchs againston-going movement.

The spokesman has askedthe Panchs and Sarpanchs tokeep in mind the supreme sac-rifices rendered by people andnot to play in the hands of NewDelhi. “They need to ponderand without any pressure or fearand decide as per their con-sciences about the way they arebeing exploited,” he said.

Expressing grief and sor-row over the incident, Hurriyathas extended condolence to thebereaved family and prayed forthe departed soul. It demandedthe stern action against the as-sassin.—NNI

Kashmircarpeted whiteSRINAGAR—A fresh snowfallhit Kashmir Valley, promptingauthorities to close the Srinagar-Jammu highway even as theweatherman predicted the con-ditions would continue till Fri-day evening.

While the snowfall whichintensified by evening broughtrelief to Valleyites from intensecold, it prompted State Govern-ment to issue avalanche warningin areas close to the Line of Con-trol and in far flung areas of northKashmir.

“It is snowing almost allacross the Valley,” said Directorof local Meteorological Depart-ment, Sonam Lotus. “The snow-fall and rains will continue tillFriday morning and improve-ment in weather is expected onlyby evening.”

Intermittent rainfall dottedthe summer capital here fromearly afternoon but it startedsnowing by evening. The thicksnowflakes had already blan-keted far off places from northto south Kashmir.

The places along theSrinagar-Jammu highway in-cluding the gateway to Kashmir-Qazigund- Banihal and Rambanreceived rain and snowfall dur-ing the day. But the snowfall in-tensified late afternoon. The situ-ation was alike in districts likeBudgam, Ganderbal, Kupwaraand Baramulla.

The change in weather cameas a good omen for the tourismindustry as hill resorts likeGulmarg in north Kashmir andPahalgam in south of the Valleywelcome the much-awaitedchange in weather.—NNI

Jamaatdemands probeSRINAGAR—Jama’at-e-IslamiJammu and Kashmir expresseddeep sorrow over the tragic ac-cident occurring near Bhala inBhaderwah in which nine per-sons lost their life and 13 oth-ers got injured.

Jama’at demands a thor-ough probe into this accidentabout which it is reported thatthe conductor instead of itsdriver was driving it very fast.

“Unless stringent action istaken in such cases, there is noexpectation of any decrease inthe occurrence of such tragediesin the future,” said a spokesmanof Jama’at in a statement onThursday. Jama’at has expressedits deep sympathy with the be-reaved families and demandedspecialized treatment for the in-jured passengers.—NNI

JAMMU—Regretting that PrimeMinister Dr Manmohan Singhhad chosen to lend his voice tothe hawks on the current Indo-Pakistan problems, People’sDemocratic Party expressedstrong disapproval of measuresthat undermine the peace pro-cess.

Addressing the members ofparty’s district committeeKathua here, the PDP patronMufti Muhammad Sayeed saidthese developments had come asa severe setback to the aspira-tions of the people of Jammu andKashmir. Mufti said suspensionof the implementation of newliberal visa regime and virtual de-portation of hockey players ofPakistan sent extremely negativesignals to people in the state whowere looking up to the PrimeMinister for carrying forward thepeace process that had impactedlives of the people very posi-tively in the last 10 years.

He said the ceasefire be-tween the two armies hadbrought back normalcy and hap-piness into the lives of peoplefrom Kathua to Kargil who had

Don’t abandon your Pakpolicy: Mufti to PM

been condemned to incessantshelling and exchange of fire fordecades and fear that forcedthem into bunkers and safehouses. “Same was true of thepeople living on the other sideof the border and the two gov-ernments owe it to this vulner-able population to de-escalate thetension and restore normalcy onthe LoC,” Mufti said.

Mufti said it was dishearten-ing for the large peace constitu-ency in the country that thePrime Minister should have in-dicated the end of “business asusual” with Pakistan in the wakeof the unfortunate incidents onthe LOC and the shrill debatethat followed it in a section ofmedia. He said two successivegovernments led by Dr Singhand Atal Bihari Vajpayee hadinvested heavily in the peace pro-cess and it would be unfortunateif Dr Singh for any reason feltobliged to go back on his ownpainstaking effort by concedingspace to extremist views on hisPakistan policy.

“There is no reason why aprocess that was put in place in

the aftermath of Parliament at-tack when two armies were incombat positions, Kargil beforethat and had survived Mumbaiatrocities should be abandonedfor recent incidents on the LoC,”Mufti said. Referring to ups anddowns in any engagement withPakistan, Mufti said there was nodoubt that complexities of ourhistory would make this no easytask. “The intervention of forcesinimical to peace was never toofar from the efforts to bridge thegap and it is only the kind ofstatesmanship displayed byVajpayee and after him by DrSingh that could take it forward,”he said.

He said people of the stateare in direct line of fire and it isthis state that has taken the bruntof open wars and low grade hos-tilities for the last six decades andpeople living outside should un-derstand our pain before raisingwar cries on either side of theborder.

Prime Minister must inter-vene on the side of peace andresolution rather than let his ownlegacy be wasted,” he added.

Spies & India’s narrative on terrorismISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Mian ManzoorAhmad Wattoo in a meeting with the Law Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Wazir Shakkel.

ISLAMABAD—The JammuKashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi(MeA) has said that it endorsesand supports the campaignlaunched by the Jammu anKashmir Liberation Front(JKLF) against the life impris-onment to the Kashmiris by In-dian courts.

The MeA Chief Patron,Muhammad Azam Inqilabi in astatement, while expressingsolidarity with JKLF freedom

Mahaz-e-Azadi endorsesJKLF anti-terror campaign

zealots, said, “JKLF through its“court-arrest” movement im-bued the political prisoners withhope and optimism, KashmirMedia Service reported.

These prisoners of con-science felt inspired, elated andgratified. We were already fedup with the brawn-assertion ofthe gun-wielding armed person-nel of India in Kashmir.”

He said now the Indian liegelords and imperialists want to

create an atmosphere of horrorand terror through judicial row-dyism and terrorism.

“It is true that our dearprison-devotees are, indeed,metaphysically safeguardingthe cherished objective of thegreat martyrs of Kashmir. How-ever, a pertinent question ariseshere. What is the effective wayof breaking the shackles of sla-very?”, he said.—APP

MUZAFFARABAD: Former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan inquiring about health of Hania Agha,grand daughter of Ch Akbar.

THE brouhaha over the return of Surjeet Singh, onJune 28, this year, has

once again served to underscorethe issue of spies being relent-lessly pushed into Pakistan bythe Indian agencies, throughcontrolled gates of the formi-dable fence, erected by Indiaalong its entire border with Pa-kistan and in Kashmir.

Surjeet returned to his na-tive village Phidde in FerozepurDistrict after 31 years of jail andhas rekindled the issue of In-dian spies caught in Pakistan.Before him, spies Gopal Dasand Kashmir Singh foundthemselves in the focus of me-dia attention; Gopal Das wasreleased in April 2011 after 27years in jail while KashmirSingh, sentenced to death likeSurjeet, was released in March2008 after serving a 35-year

long term. The latest episode hasbrought into renewed focus thefate of another Indian spy,Sarabjeet Singh, who has spentmore than 21 years on a deathrow after being convicted of spy-ing and launching bomb attacksin Pakistan in which scores ofpeople were killed in Lahore andits surroundings.

Incidentally a pardon for himis on top of the ‘to do list’ of thenew Indian President PranabMukherjee, on obvious recom-mendations of the Foreign Of-fice-Intelligence establishmentcombine.

While the Indian govern-ment wants nothing to do withthe subject of spies inundatingPakistan, the returning individu-als openly admitted that theywere spies and went on to claimcompensation for their sacrificesand the services rendered for the

Indian government. SurjeetSingh, while talking to the me-dia, candidly admitted that hehad crossed over into Pakistanon a number of occasions andwas a spy hired by RAW.

His admissions have beenrejected by the Indian Home Sec-retary, Raj Kumar Singh, whohas dutifully parroted out the of-ficial Indian stance that the coun-try was not pushing spies intoPakistan; confronting his com-patriots with the dilemma of ei-ther believing him or the personwho had spent over three de-cades of his life behind bars inPakistani jails.

Surjeet’s repatriation hasprovided impetus for the ongo-ing Indian efforts to demand thereturn of Sarabjeet Singh for thepractical reason of sustaining themorale of its hordes of spies in-habiting the border villages of

Gurdaspur and Amritsar dis-tricts who are furious over theinaction of the Indian govern-ment to own them up oncecaught in Pakistan. Respondingto Surjeet Singh’s release, theIndian External Affairs Minis-ter, SM Krishna, said that thegovernment “welcomed” the re-patriation, but it was now “timefor Sarabjeet to be freed.”

While articulating suchhopes, the Indian Ministerseemed to sidestep the issue thatSarabjeet was held in Pakistannot simply for espionage, butfor committing acts of terrorismduring the early 90s when eventhe Indians had yet to coin upthe terminology of the “crossborder terrorism”; a mantra thatafter 9/11 embodies the Indianrefusal to pursue serious diplo-matic negotiations with Paki-stan. —Kashmir Media Service

The Greatest SalesStrategy in the world:

Don’t tell me how goodyou make it; tell me

how it makes me feelwhen I use it.

— Leo Burnett

Rates for conversionKARACHI—The following rateswill be applicable for conversioninto rupees of Foreign CurrencyDeposits, Dollar BearerCertificates, Foreign CurrencyBearer Certificates, Special USDollar Bonds and profits thereonby all banks and for providingForward Cover on ForeignCurrency Deposits (excludingF.E.25 deposits) by the StateBank on January 21, 2013. Therates are U.S. Dollar Rs 97.7135,Japanese Yen Rs 1.0866 PoundSterling Rs 155.6674.—APP

SBP injectsRs 605.600bStaff ReporterKARACHI—State Bank ofPakistan (SBP) in its reverserepo open market operation(OMO) for 10 days inTreasury Bills and PakistanInvestment Bonds has injectedRs 605.600 billion. Accordingto SBP here Friday, the offeredamount was Rs 649.600 billionwhile the rate of return stoodat 8.77 percent.

AMANULLAH KHAN

K A R A C H I — M i c h a e lDodman, the Consul Generalof the United States ofAmerica has said that theUnited States was among thelargest investors in Pakistan ’seconomy, and was eager to ex-pand its investment in Paki-stan that is why the invest-ment treaty was important.

Speaking at a meetingduring his visit to Federation

Under GSP system Pakistan tycoons can have duty-free access to US marketof Pakistan Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (FPCCI) theUS diplomat agreed that bothcountries should focus on tryingto expand market access for Pa-kistan to USA for the time be-ing, and asked the local businesscommunity to study the GSPsystem, under which Pakistancould enjoy duty-free access incertain items to the Americanmarket.

The US Consulate wouldsoon share details about the

GSP scheme with FPCCI.While sharing details of theprojects undertaken by theUnited States in energy,healthcare, education and eco-nomic development in Paki-stan, Dodman said that the USwas keen to continue support-ing projects that would benefitPakistan and further cementbilateral ties. He was accompa-nied by a team of officers fromthe American Consulate

Speaking on the occasion

Haji Fazal Kadir Khan Sherani,President FPCCI said that Pa-kistan appreciates the projectsundertaken by the United Statesto help overcome Pakistan’s en-ergy crisis, especially in thebackward areas of the country,and would like to see moreprojects undertaken by Ameri-can companies to help overcomethe energy crisis facing thecountry.

Present on the occasionwere including FPCCI Vice

Presidents Shaikh HaroonRashid, Sheikh Shakil AhmedDhingra, Iqbal DawoodPakwalla, Begum SalmaAhmed and several leadingmembers of the business com-munity.

FPCCI President calledfor a strengthened relation-ship between the two coun-tries which were only tradingin a limited number of items,such as textiles, leather, rawcotton and some machinery.

He asked the American gov-ernment to allow better mar-ket access to Pakistan’s com-petitive exports, such as tex-tiles and garments. At thesame time, he also said thatwith the help of better tech-nology, Pakistan could in-crease the productivity of itsfruits, vegetables and agricul-tural sectors. He also sug-gested that the US Consulateshould support the educationof Pakistan’s business com-

munity regarding how tomeet the Food and DrugsRegulations so that Pakistancould export fruits and fooditems to the American mar-ket . He also informedDodman about FPCCI’s up-coming delegation to theUnited States under hischairmanship, which wouldalso comprise women entre-preneurs, and would meetmembers of the Americanbusiness community.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The All Paki-stan CNG Associat ion(APCNGA) on Friday saidweather intensity has beenreduced therefore all theCNG filling stations acrossthe country should be re-opened.

The extreme weatherwhich had heated up demandfor natural gas hasnormalised which call forimmediate revisit of theCNG schedule, it said.

The closure of CNG out-lets has taken toll on masses,transport sector andeconomy which must berealised at earliest, said Abid

CNG sector pinhopes on Dr Asim

Hayat, Central ChairmanAPCNGA.

In a statement issued heretoday he said that the CNG cri-sis has shut transport sector, leftmillions jobless while addi-tional imports of petrol is put-ting additional strain on forexreserves which are already be-low the satisfactory level.

The CNG closure has alsostoked inflation, eroded cur-rency and disturbed budget ofmiddleclass while the man onthe street has been hard hit, headded.

Abid Hayat said that Ad-viser to the PM on PetroleumDr. Asim had promised to re-open all CNG stations on Jan21st according to the former

timetable which must beimplemented.

He said that all the CNGoutlets which have beenclosed by gas utility compa-nies should also be re-opened.

Hayat said that uninter-rupted supply of gas to CNGfilling stations will relievemasses, transport sector andthe owners of the outlets fac-ing acute uncertainty andthat we will be highly thank-ful to Dr. Asim.

He said that energyshortages in the country callfor expediting exploration ofhydrocarbons and providingincentives as well as secu-rity to the investors.

ISMAIL DILAWAR

KARACHI—Governor SindhDr Ishratul Ebad Khan andChief Minister Qaim Ali ShahThursday approved the con-struction of Hoshang Tower ata cost of Rs 2 billion.

The approval was givenduring a meeting of the HighDensity Diplomat Board(HDDB) held here on Thurs-day.

The two leaders said in ac-count of safety and parking oftower, the Board would notgave exceptions in fool provesecurity of tower. The meet-ing was attended by Provin-cial Minister local govern-ment Agha Siraj Khan

Sindh Governor, CM okayconstruction of Rs2b Hoshang Tower

Durrani, Principal SectoryDoctor Noshad Sheikh, Ad-minister Karachi MuhammadHussain Syed, Sindh BulidingControl Authority DirectorGeneral Manzor Qadir andother state officials.

Briefing was given duringmeeting on the 42 story build-ing which will consist of threebasement and nine parkingfloor that the covered esti-mated area of building is twolac twenty four thousand andseven hundred square yard or-ganized by private sector, itestimated cost is two Billionand its estimated total lengthis one hundred thirty meterslong.

Both leaders have empha-

sized to insure the approvedparking floors in big building.They said the building wouldbe asset for the city if the sur-rounding environment ofbuilding would also upgradein modern style.

Governor and CM Sindhsaid all important majors likefire safety and fire existswould be made for any pos-sible incident in the buildingand for this proposed param-eters of board should be fol-lowed. They appreciated thatbuilding will have there ownwater supply system. All themodern facilities should beused like under constructionbuildings in developed coun-tries, they said.

Dr Asif A Brohiappointed President,

CEO NBPSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Government hasappointed Dr Asif A Brohi, asPresident/CEO ofNat ionalBank ofPakistan.A Masterin Busi-ness Ad-ministra-tion fromNorthrop,Californiaand Doctorate in Public Admin-istration, he joined NationalBank of Pakistan in 1984 as anAssistant Vice President.

Dr Brohi prior to becomingPresident of the Bank, was serv-ing as Chief Operating Officer& Head of Commercial & Re-tail Banking Group of NBP, andcarries rich experience in allspheres of banking spanningover almost three decades. Hehas in the past headed Bank’sOperations Group, StrategicPlanning Group, InformationTechnology Group, CultureChange Programme Group andTraining.

He was also Regional ChiefExecutive, Karachi. Prior tojoining NBP, he was AssistantProfessor of Management,teaching in various Universitiesin the United States of America.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—CEO HarvestTradings, Ahmad Jawad andbusiness experts have said thattrade with India in agri productswithout subsidy would not bebeneficial for Pakistan in any as-pect.

Talking to media here onFriday, Ahmad Jawad said thatPakistan agriculture sectorwould face real difficulties sdopening of trade while India willdeprive Pakistan of water by2020.

He said that Pakistan indus-try was affected after opening offree trade with China and thesame situation may be faced atthe start of trade with India.

CEO Harvest Tradings saidthat Indian PM ManmohanSingh already had announcedthat there could be no “business

Agri trade with Indianot in national interest

as usual” with Pakistan after aclash last week, but we believein free trade and frequent inter-actions that is a future of twocountries, volume of which be-tween India and Pakistan isabout $2.5 billion and it is ex-pected that this can be enhancedto $8 billion in the next twoyears.

He said Pakistan must urgeIndia to remove barriers and pro-vide level playing field to Paki-stani exporters.

Jawad reminded, Pakistaniagriculturists are not againsttrade with India but they expectto be protected against thehighly subsidized agricultureproducts of India

On average, each agricul-ture hectare gets a subsidy of$300 per year in India,” Thisworks out to be around Rs11,900 per acre of subsidy or 30

maunds average production ofany commodity

Pakistan can only benefitand target the huge retail mar-ket in India if subsidies are pro-vided to the farmers and alsosubstitute imports with cheaperimports from India. The poten-tial import items include tea,spices, auto parts, consumer andlight engineering goods, tyresand transport equipment, enter-tainment, healthcare, informa-tion technology, and pharmaceu-ticals.

The resultant potential sav-ings would be up to $1bn for Pa-kistan and benefit the local con-sumer, who will have access tomore choices and cheaper prod-ucts; Jawad added.

He said Pakistan must urgeIndia to remove barriers and pro-vide level playing field to Paki-stani exporters.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The stock marketclosed higher on Friday follow-ing news that the governmenthad struck a deal with protest-ers occupying the main street inthe capital and the protesters hadagreed to go home.

The Karachi StockExchange’s (KSE) benchmark100-share index ended 1.91per cent, or 310.68 points,higher at 16,601.77. Investorsbought stocks in Fauji Cement,Maple Leaf Cement, Byco Pe-troleum and finance firm

Stock market bounces backJahangir Siddiqui. The KSE-100 had fallen 525 points onTuesday — the worst single-day decline in over four years— over fears of political tur-moil after the Supreme Courtordered the arrest of PrimeMinister Raja Pervez Ashraf ina corruption case.

There were higher volumesof trading in the Karachi StockExchange on Friday despite astrike in Karachi over the mur-der of a leading politician, saiddealer Mohammad Rizwan, thesenior manager of equity salesat Topline Securities. Fauji Ce-

ment rose 7.26 per cent to 7.39rupees per share while BycoPetroleum was up 4.75 per centto 13.90 rupees per share.

D.G. Khan Cement rose2.83 per cent to 52.60 rupees pershare and Engro Foods was up4.55 per cent to 99.29 rupees pershare. In the currency market,the Pakistani rupee endedweaker at 97.64/97.69 againstthe dollar, compared toThursday’s close of 97.58/97.65.Overnight rates in the moneymarket ended at 9.25 per centcompared to Thursday’s close of9.40 per cent.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—In spite of assur-ing the IMF team of generatingan additional Rs150 billion tominimise the revenue shortfallof Rs200 billion through am-nesty scheme, the FederalBoard of Revenue is unlikelyto achieve the desired resultsfollowing present political tur-moil.

According to tax experts,there is a slim chance for thelaunch of amnesty scheme in thecurrent political scenario and ifthe same was approved by par-liament, the FBR would not beable to generate substantial rev-enue through the scheme.

Replying to a question, ex-perts said the amnesty schemecould have been fruitful, if it was

FBR unlikely to achievedesired results

launched in December 2012 asthe scheme would offer 90 daysto the potential taxpayers forwhitening their untaxed income.

Moreover, experts said al-though the FBR has compiledthe record of 3.75 million poten-tial taxpayers, no legal actioncould be taken against any af-fluent before 90 days.

They said the bill in this re-gard was expected to be pre-sented in the National Assem-bly on January 14, 2013 but theparliamentary approval has beendelayed due to ‘long march’ byTahirul Qadri, chief of MinhajulQuran.

The tax experts further saidif the caretaker setup was an-nounced before March, the pro-posed amnesty scheme wouldfell into abeyance.

“As against the said as-sumption, the FBR would get amonth or two to generate sub-stantial revenue, if the schemewas approved and launched byincumbent government in Janu-ary,” they added.

On the other hand, the FBRofficials were optimistic aboutthe prospects of amnestyscheme, saying that the revenuebody would minimise the gap ofRs200 billion shortfall by gen-erating around Rs150 billionadditional revenue through thisscheme.

They said the IMF team,which was earlier reluctant tosupport amnesty scheme, hadnow been convinced and thedelegation had given go aheadsignal to the revenue body forits launch.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SensitivePrice Indicator (SPI) for theweek ended on January 17 forthe lowest income group up toRs 8,000 registered decrease of0.33 per cent as compared to theprevious week.

The SPI for the week underreview in the above mentionedgroup was recorded at 185.84points against 186.45 points reg-istered in the previous week,according to provisional figuresof Pakistan Bureau of Statistics(PBS).

The weekly SPI has beencomputed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urbancenters and 53 essential itemsfor all income groups and com-bined.

The SPI for the combined

Weekly inflationgoes down

group decreased by 0.41 percent as it went down from191.79 points in the previousweek to 191.01 points in theweek under review. As com-pared to the correspondingweek of last year, the SPI forthe group in the week underreview witnessed increase of7.31 percent.

As compared to the lastweek, the SPI for the incomegroups from Rs 8001-12,000,12,001-18,000, 18001-35,000and above Rs.35,000 decreasedby 0.36 percent, 0.40 percent,0.43 and 0.43 percent respec-tively.

During the week under re-view average prices of 7 itemsregistered decrease, while that of23 items increase with the re-maining 23 items’ prices un-changed.

US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard G Olson called on Federal Minister for CommerceMakhdoom Amin Fahim. State Minister for Commerce Abbas Afridi is also present.

About 12.022mcotton bales

in marketSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—About 12.022million cotton bales have ar-rived in the local markets uptoJanuary 15, 2013 for local con-sumption as well as to exportsas compared to the 12.829 mil-lion bales of same period lastyear. According the estimatesof Pakistan Cotton Ginners As-sociation (PCGA), about8,785,980 bales arrived fromthe Punjab Province which isone of the largest producers ofthe major cash crop in the coun-try, said Cotton DevelopmentCommissioner.

However, he said that cottonarrival from the Sindh in the localmarkets registered increasing trendas it was recorded at 3,296,060bales as compared to the last year’sarrival of 2,516,905 bales.

Additional gasadded to system

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—An additional 80Million Cubic Feet per Day(mmcfd) gas supply fromZamzama and Makori fields hasbeen added to the system of SuiNorthern Gas Pipelines Limited(SNGPL).

According to SNGPLsources, the gas supply was sus-pended in early January from thetwo gas fields due to some tech-nical defects which have beenpartially removed now.

Due to damage to thesefields, the SNGPL was deprivedof over 100 mmcfd of gas dueto which the management com-pletely suspended gas supply tothe Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) stations in Punjab.

They said that because of dam-age to Zamzama gas field up to 30mmcfd gas was not available toSNGPL and supply of 75 mmcfdfrom Makhori gas field situated inKhyber Pakhtunkhawa was sus-pended because of technical prob-lems, adding that complete resto-ration of gas from these fieldswould be possible next week.

Tameer SarmayaCertificate launchedStaff ReporterKARACHI—TameerMicrofinance Bank Limited(TMFB) announced thesuccessful listing of its TermFinance Certificate (TFC) bythe name of “Tameer SarmayaCertificate (TSC)” on theKarachi Stock Exchange.Tameer Sarmaya Certificate isthe first of its kind retail MicroFinance TFC to be launched inthe Pakistan Market with aminimum investment ticket ofRs. 5,000 (Rupees FiveThousand only), with purchaseof certificate in Multiples ofRs. 5,000 (Rupees FiveThousand) thereof. The TFChas been offered for a periodof 1 Year (13 Months) at a rateof 12% and 2 years (24Months) at a rate of 12.50%,with a monthly profit paymentmechanism. The TFC aimed toraise Rs. 1 billion (Rupees oneBillion) and has been partiallysecured through theMicrofinance Credit GuaranteeFacility provided by the StateBank of Pakistan. TFC 1 (1Year) and TFC 2 (2 Years), hasan issue of Rs. 500 Million(Rupees Five HundredMillion) each respectively andhas been assigned a Rating of“‘A”’ by JCR-VIS, whichdenotes very high creditquality. The subscription of thefund was available throughbankers lead by SCB. Due tothe overwhelming responsefrom the market, the subscrip-tion for the fund has beenclosed within a record fivedays.

Yarn importsStaff ReporterKARACHI—Increase in yarnimports by China will boostPakistani and Indian yarnexports besides it will alsoboost US cotton prices, as theUnited States is the largestexporter of the fibre to China.This step by China, the world’sbiggest cotton consumer andimporter, is forcing the world’slargest textile industry to boostimports of yarn by as much as athird in 2013 in order to lowerdown the costs. Pakistan YarnMerchant Association memberGhulam Rabbani said Chinesetextile mills were turning toneighbours India and Pakistanto buy cotton yarn. Such anattempt by Chinese yarnimporters would increasearound 10 percent yarn exportsfrom Pakistan. Rabbani said,“Only 25 percent of the yarn isexported while remaining isalways sufficient for the value-added apparel sector in thecountry.” Country producesaround 252,000 pound yarn permonth while local consumptionincluding downstream textilesector stands at about 205,000pound per month.

Advisor to PM on Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain and Federal Minister for National Regulations andServices Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Gold Tezab 53,200.00Silver Tezabi 990.00

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 53240.00Gold 22 Ct 48670.00SilverTezabi 975.00Silver Thobi 900.00

USA 97.50 97.30

UK 155.78 155.46

EURO 130.46 130.19

Canada 98.79 98.59

Switzerland 103.87 103.66

Australia 102.53 102.32

Sweden 15.99 14.97

Japan 1.0836 1.0814

Norway 17.48 17.44

Singapore 79.56 79.39

Denmark 17.48 17.45

Omani Riyal 232.00 231.75

Saudi Arabia 26.00 25.95

Hong Kong 12.58 12.55

Kuwait 346.54 345.83

Malaysia 32.37 32.30

Newzeland 81.40 81.23

Qatar 26.78 26.72

UAE 26.55 26.49

KR WON 0.0923 0.0921

Thailand 3.273 3.266

Samsung’snew offerSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Samsung Elec-tronics has launched a spe-cial campaign from 15thJanuary till 14th February,2013, to add excitement andcreate value for customersduring the wedding season inPakistan.

This offer named“Khushiyon Bhara Aghaz”presents a wide range ofproducts based on cutting-edge technologies for newly-wed couples. These productsare tailored to double-up thejoys of those memorablemoments in their lives. Allnewly-wed couples can nowpurchase the latest HomeAppliances and Electronics,to enrich their lifestyle withSamsung’s LED TV, PlasmaTV, Automatic Washing Ma-chine, No-Frost Refrigera-tors and Vacuum Cleaner.

The Managing Directorof Samsung EC Pakistan Pvt.Ltd. – Mr. John Park said;Samsung has once again cre-ated this delightful offer forits customers. This time wedecided to share the joy withall the excited couples whoare planning a shoppingspree for their wedding.Samsung aims to ensure thattheir new journey in life be-comes a pleasant, convenientand comfortable experience,as they enjoy the innovative,luxurious appliances anddigital entertainment prod-ucts from a global technol-ogy leader.

Being a socially embed-ded enterprise, Samsungconsistently seeks a deep in-sight into the changingneeds, preferences, lifestylesand traditions of its custom-ers dwelling in all regions ofthe world. This helpsSamsung in creating prod-ucts that are built to enhancethe living standards of theconsumers and ensure itscustomer’s happiness. Thiscustomized wedding pack-age - “Khushion BharaAghaz” is a testimony toSamsung’s customer-centricapproach.

Disney looksfor cost savingsLOS ANGELES—WaltDisney Co started an inter-nal cost-cutting review sev-eral weeks ago that may in-clude layoffs at its studio andother units, three people withknowledge of the effort said,in an early sign that big com-panies may not be finishedtightening their belts.

Disney, whose empirespans TV, film, merchan-dise and theme parks, isexploring cutbacks in jobsit no longer needs becauseof improvements in tech-nology, one of the peoplesaid.

It is also looking at re-dundant operations thatcould be eliminated follow-ing a string of major acqui-sitions over the past fewyears, said the person.

The people did not wantto be identified becauseDisney has not disclosed theinternal review.—Newswire

Haji Fazal Kadir Khan Sherani, President FPCCI presenting crest to Micheal Dodman, US Consul General in Karachi. Sh.Haroon Rashid, Sh. Shakil Dhingra, Iqbal Dawood Pakwala, Begum Salma Ahmed Shah, Vice Presidents FPCCI, ZakariaUsman, Zubair Tufail and others present on the occasion.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—National Voca-tional and Technical TrainingCommission (NVTTC) is for-mulating a labour market infor-mation framework, enablingPakistan to introduce a mecha-nism of collecting and forecast-ing the information about de-mand and supply of the techni-cally skilled workforce at na-tional level.

To this end, a specializedLabour Market Information Unit(LMIU) is being set up atNAVTTC headquarters in col-laboration with TVET ReformSupport Programme, a multilat-eral initiative funded by Euro-pean Union, Kingdom of Neth-erlands and Federal Republic ofGermany, and United NationsIndustrial Development Organi-zation (UNIDO).

To discuss and agree upon aroadmap for Labour Market In-formation (LMI) framework

Labour market informationframework formed

between NAVTTC and provin-cial and national key stakehold-ers, a one-day workshop washeld here , jointly organized bythe NAVTTC, UNIDO andTVET Reform SupportProgramme.

Executive DirectorNAVTTC Tariq Shafi Chak,Chairperson Punjab TechnicalEducation and Vocational Train-ing Authority (TEVTA) ArifSaeed, Chairman Punjab Voca-tional Training Council FaisalEjaz Khan, Director Administra-tion Sindh TEVTA Dr. MasroorSheikh, Secretary AJK TEVTAKhalid Niaz, Director GeneralTechnical Education KhyberPakhtunkhwa Prof ShakeelAhmed and heads of differentpublic sector institutes and de-partments participated in theworkshop.

Speaking on the occasion,Executive Director NAVTTCTariq Shafi Chak said effectivepublic policy greatly relies on

credible and authentic informa-tion and data. In case of theTechnical and Vocational Edu-cation and Training (TVET) sec-tor of Pakistan this informationis not sufficiently available,There is no mechanism avail-able, which can feed thepolicymakers in terms of fore-casting the skill needs both onthe demand and supply side.

The NAVTTC, being theapex body for TVET sector, hesaid, intends having an LMIsystem that should give a realtime picture of the labour mar-ket demands. This is a gigantictask involving both the publicsector entities, working at na-tional and provincial level, andthe private sector, particularlythe enterprises and industry. Hesaid NAVTTC would workclosely with all these stakehold-ers in a participatory way, aswithout their active participa-tion this task cannot be com-pleted.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan ScienceFoundation Chairman Prof. Dr.Manzoor H. Soomro inaugu-rated a two-day workshop onProject Formulation on January17-18, 2013 at University ofKarachi, Karachi. Pakistan Sci-ence Foundation (PSF)organised the workshop to in-crease the research proposalwriting skills of scientists work-ing in different public sectoruniversities and R&D organiza-tions in Karachi.

Addressing the inauguralceremony of the workshop,Prof. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro,Chairman, PSF explained therole of PSF called upon the par-ticipants of workshop to takeguidance from the PSF expertsand speakers to formulate thefund-winning quality proposals.

Applied research imperative foreconomic development: Chairman PSF

He said quality of research needsto be at par with the internationalstandards and it can only be pos-sible if researchers concentrateon the problem solving ap-proach.

Vice-Chancellor, Universityof Karachi, Dr. MuhammadQaiser welcomed the ChairmanPSF, worthy guests and thankedPSF for organizing the work-shop at University of Karachi.He urged participants to take fulladvantage of the workshop andlearn valuable techniques of for-mulating the quality project pro-posals.

Earlier Dr. Mirza Habib Ali,Principal Scientific Officer,Natural Sciences LinkagesProgramme (NSLP) explainedthe role of PSF for the promo-tion of S&T in the country aswell as main objectives of theworkshop. He said the workshop

is aimed to train the researchersin good proposal writing, createawareness about PSF-NSLPfunding process and proceduresand encourage the scientists toprepare need based research pro-posal within the NSLP priorityareas.

The workshop will proveto be a great success as it isbeing attended by the research-ers hailing from different uni-versities and research insti-tutes of Karachi. Scientists arebeing trained on different as-pects of writing a good qual-ity research proposal by re-nowned researchers namelyDr. Kazi Suleman Memon, co-ordinator projects andprogramme, Sindh AgricultureUniversity, Tandojam and Dr.Muhammad Afzal, DirectorGeneral (Retired), PASTIC,Islamabad.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —IslamabadChamber of Commerce and In-dustry (ICC) hails the decisionof Dr.Tahirul Qadri, Chief of theTehrik-i-Minhajul Quran as heannounced to end of the LongMarch after reaching an agree-ment with the Governmentwhich would help improve im-age of democracy in Pakistan aswell as maintaining political sta-bility in the country.

Zafar Bakhtawari, PresidentICCI appreciated the peacefulattitude of participants of theLong March, who have exhib-ited a new example of patienceand commitment in the historyof our country. He said that busi-ness community of FederalCapital had many reservationsabout Long March but it is veryadmiring that not a single inci-

ICCI hails settlementof TMQ dharna

dent of damage to public andprivate property was reported inthe last four days due to peace-ful gesture of the participants.

Bakhtawari also hailed theGovernment delegation whichwas led by Ch.Shujat Hussain,President of PML(Q) for havinga positive negotiation withTehrik-i-Minhajul Quran Chiefas Long March ended up withamiable atmosphere and recon-ciliatory spirit.

He was of the view that po-litical stability is a pre-requisitefor economic growth and devel-opment of the country in the pre-vailing global scenario to offsetthe future fiscal challenges.There should have been plan forpracticing good governance forsustaining and maintaining asound political and socio-eco-nomic system in the country, hemaintained.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The businesscommunity here Friday ob-served that due to the recent longmarch and sit-in at Blue area ofthe federal capital, the businesscommunity has suffered a dailytransaction of about Rs 7 billionand it will also have long termnegative impact on business ofthe capital.

In a bid to recover thelosses incurred due to the re-cent long march to the busi-nessmen of the federal capital,the business community alsodemanded of the governmentto provide tax concession to allcommercial outlets situatedalong the most affected areafor one year.

“Due to the sit in of Dr.Tahirul Qadri and his support-ers, the routine life ofIslamabad remained disturbedfor about a week due to whichbusiness community suffered

Business community demandstax concession for one year

billions of rupees”, said SohailMalik, the Media coordinatorof Federation of PakistanChamber of Commerce and In-dustry (FPCCI).

He claimed that a dailytransaction of about Rs 7 billionin the blue area was badly af-fected due to the long march andit will also have long term im-pact on the business of the capi-tal.

With the end of long march,the normal life can not reviveimmediately, it will take a weekor more to resume the hustle andbustle in the commercial mar-kets of the capital, he added.

He said the participants ofthe long march were allowed togather at a place which is the hubof business activities of the citywhich created nuisance to thebusinessmen.

He said in blue area thereare a number of money changerexchanges, hotels, restaurants,multinational business offices,

branded outlets and stock ex-change which remained shut for4-5 days.

Ever since the TMQ’s sit-in started, almost all the 50 pla-zas of the blue area remainedshut down.

Talking to media, Presi-dent, Islamabad Chamber ofCommerce & Industry (ICCI),Zafar Bakhtawari said that al-though the markets in the capi-tal other than blue area remainedpartially opened but residents ofthe capital did not come out tovisit the markets due to the un-certain situation.

The business communityhad raised their concerns aheadof the long march and raisedtheir voice to stop this march asit would disturb the normal lifeof the capital.

“Business community wasnothing to do with the ongoingpolitical situation, but still thiscommunity suffered most”, headded.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—National Pro-ductivity Organization (NPO) incollaboration with APO, USDA,FAO, Ministry of Food Securityand WNPO will be organizingFive-Day International Seminaron “Innovations in IrrigationWater Management for Sustain-able Food Security”.

NPO to address Innovationsin Irrigation Water Managementfor Sustainable Food SecurityIslamabad – National Productiv-ity Organization (NPO) in col-laboration with APO, USDA,FAO, Ministry of Food Securityand WNPO will be organizing

Seminar on innovations inirrigation water management

International Seminar on Inno-vations in Irrigation Water Man-agement for Sustainable FoodSecurity.

This five day session willgather international participantsfrom twenty different countrieswith an objective to address thechallenges of complex solutionof food insecurity. Another pur-pose of this session would beto share innovative approachestowards cropping/farming sys-tems practices in irrigated ar-eas.

The session will includethree experts from Asian Pro-ductivi ty Organization(APO), one local and one

from USA. This internationalprogram comes with a realiza-tion that achieving food secu-rity in the face of additionalfood demand could be pos-sible through raising produc-tivity of existing irrigatedfarmland, upgrading rainfedfarming and increasing inter-national trade in food forovercoming food securityconcerns of the future.

In view of the huge un-tapped food production potentialof the irrigated agriculture inPakistan, raising productivity ofthis sector must be the key con-sideration in producing the ad-ditional food needed.

FatburgerclarificationOBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—This is apropos anew item published in daily Pa-kistan Observer on January 9,2013. In the said articleSamiullah Mohabbat, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of BIL Foods,Fatburger’s partners in Pakistan,was quoted to have said thatFatburger needed “a lean part ofthe grass-fed animals” for itsburgers. A spokesperson ofFatburger has clarified that: “It’sgrain-fed not grass-fed”.

ISLAMABAD: FPCCI has awarded Gold Medal to the Am-bassador of Tajikistan Dr Zubaydullo N Zubaydov for his con-tribution to enhance trade between the two countries. Groupphotograph shows; Senator Ghulam Ali, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig,Irshad Ali Kassim and Dr Zubaydullo N Zubaydov.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Punjab Gov-ernment on Friday has approvedthe scheme of Industries Sectorwith an estimated cost of Rs.19636.125 million for “Pro-posed Islamic DevelopmentBank’s (IDB) Assistance forGovernment of Punjab’s Inter-est Free Self-Employee Scheme(Concept Clearance Proposal)”.

Six other developmentschemes of various sectors of theeconomy were also approvedworth Rs. 7425.391 million inthe 28th meeting of ProvincialDevelopment working Party ofcurrent financial year 2012-13presided over by the PunjabPlanning and Development

Rs 19636.125m forindustrial sector approved

Board Chairman, Javaid Aslam.Secretary Planning & Devel-

opment Punjab Arif AnwarBaloch, members of the Planning& Development Board and othersenior representatives of the rel-evant Provincial Departmentsalso participated in the meeting.

The approved developmentschemes included: Upgradation(Reconstruction) District Head-quarter Hospital Sargodha at thecost of Rs. 894.404 million,Construction of Flyover on G.T.Road in Gujranwala (Revised)at the cost of Rs. 4117.376 mil-lion, Construction of road &high level bridge length=900Rft, between District Mianwaliand Jand, District Attock &Mianwali (Revised) at the cost

of Rs. 1305.811million, Widen-ing / Improvement & Raising ofGojra to Mureed Wala Roadlength=27.65 Km, District T.T.Singh (2nd Revised) at the costof Rs. 274.154 million,Dualization of road fromArifwala to BahawalnagarReach km No.24.00 to 40.93 kmlength: 16.93 km DistrictBahawalnagar (Revised) at thecost of Rs. 648.646 million andHiring of Consultancy Servicesfor Feasibility Studies, TenderDesign, Procurement Docu-ments and Supervision of 50MW Coal Thermal PowerProject on EPC at IndustrialEstates (i) Sundar Lahore (ii) M-3 Industrial City Faisalabad atthe cost of Rs. 185.000 million.

Intel YouthEnterprise

programme soonSALIM AHMED

LAHORE—With a goal to dra-matically accelerate the paceand scale of entrepreneurshipin the country, Intel Pakistanis piloting a new initiative,titled Intel Youth Enterpriseunder its Intel Entrepreneur-ship program umbrella. Thiswas undersigned in an MoUwith Higher Education Depart-ment (HED), Government ofPunjab (GoP) for conductingtrainings and implementing theEntrepreneurship BasicsCourse for the students in theprovince of Punjab. Under thispilot, Intel Pakistan aspires totrain 2,000 students till De-cember 2013, of the institu-tions under HED, GoP.

The Intel® Youth Enterprise:Entrepreneurship Basics pro-gram is a training program tar-geted at unemployed youths andadults who are interested in set-ting up their own businesses butare lacking most of the basicskills required by an entrepre-neur. The overall objective of thistraining program is to provide thestudent entrepreneurs with thenecessary skills and knowledgeto allow them to identify a busi-ness opportunity and to then setup and successfully manage abusiness.

The curriculum aims to de-liver a wide range of skills in-cluding developing a businessplan, improving communicationand negotiation skills, and the useof technology in business. Thistraining program is designed tobe delivered through a blendedlearning approach, with instruc-tor-led and e-learning compo-nents.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—In today’s world,IT knowledge is of prime im-portance as not only it unlocksthe doors of progress and pros-perity but also provides achance to get access to globalopportunities. This was statedby LCCI Senior Vice PresidentIrfan Iqbal Sheikh whilespeaking at certificate-award-ing ceremony arranged for theparticipants of “LCCI WebGraphic Skill Course withSEO” here at the LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry.

LCCI Vice President MianAbuzar Shad also spoke on theoccasion. The LCCI SeniorVice President said in theknowledge race in the 21stcentury and rapid globaliza-tion, the quality of informationtechnology-based educationhas to be enhanced to bring it

IT knowledge vital for progressat par with international stan-dards for bringing the countryout of economic mire. “And toachieve the goal, the govern-ment would have to spendmore on education as the ex-isting budget is too meager toproduce desired and requiredresults.”

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said thatit had now become very impor-tant to extend every possiblehelp to students as their com-petitors into the job market arethe students from the developedworld. “Right out of the gate oftheir Alma Mater, our studentsface altogether new challenges,therefore they must beequipped well to cope withthese challenges and for thepurpose the educational institu-tions must continue to reviewand upgrade their curricula.

He said that the education-ists must stay in touch withprivate sector to get a feedback

on upcoming industry require-ments regarding new hiring.The curriculum should be de-signed in proper consultationwith the private sector that hasboth the ability and the capac-ity to guide the educationistsin right direction. He said inthe job market the people hav-ing knowledge of informationtechnology are given prefer-ence over those who are with-out it. He said that the onlyobjective behind starting com-puter courses at LCCI is toequip members of this cham-ber with latest business tech-nologies so that they could beable to get a respectable placein the world market.

Speaking on the occasion,the LCCI Vice President MianAbuzar Shad said that theLahore Chamber of Commerceand Industry would continue toconduct such courses in the ITfield.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Chairman NishatGroup and MCB Bank MianMuhammad Mansha has calledupon Pakistan and India to re-solve their differences bilater-ally for economic prosperity andpromotion of trade between thetwo countries without interven-tion of third party.

While speaking at a semi-nar on “Doing Business withIndia” organised by MarketingAssociation of Pakistan, he re-ferred to a US business tycoonJack Welch’s statement whohas invested more than hun-dred billion dollars in India,asking the Indian governmentto remove tension with Paki-stan. Mansha said that no third

Pakistan, India asked to resolvedifferences for real prosperity

party should tell us what to dorather we should sit togetherfor resolving our own prob-lems.

He further said that a goodnumber of poor people live onboth side of the border and thetrade between Pakistan and In-dia should benefit them inshape of cheaper goods. He fur-ther said that the subsidy givento the power sector alone is al-most equal to the Pakistan’sdefence budget. He said thatafter privatization the bankingsector has tremendously per-formed and urged the govern-ment to get out of the businessand privatize other stated ownentities.

Mian Muhammad Manshaalso said the Pakistan’s financial

sector is viable and his bank cancompete any bank in India. Ex-pressing his desire to set up thenetwork of his bank, MianMansha said, balance sheet ofmy bank is better than any bankof India, he added. When youwill open up border for trade, itwould be win-win situation forboth Pakistan and India, hemaintained.

He also said that the Indiangovernment had provided a listof heavyweight businessmenwith the assignment to removeimpediments in the bilateraltrade between two countries. Heurged the Pakistan governmentto avoid engaging politicians formeetings rather the Pakistanibusinessmen should be giventask in this regard.

18pc growth inSLICP’s premium

a positive signSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—State Life Insur-ance Corporation of Pakistan’s(SLICP) total premium and In-vestment Income in the year2012 reached Rs 89.71 billionup from Rs 75.77 billion in2011, showing an increase of 18percent, while the total premiumhas increased from Rs. 45.03billion in 2011 to Rs 53.913 bil-lion in 2012.

Shahid Aziz Siddiqui,Chairman, State Life InsuranceCorporation of Pakistan said thiswhile addressing a press confer-ence at State Life office. He saidthat State Life had paid totalamount of Rs 24.36 billionagainst death and maturityclaims (individual & group poli-cies) and an amount of Rs.19.49billion were paid to the policy-holders and their families withthe percentage increase of 25percent.

Siddiqui also pointed outtowards the firm InvestmentPortfolio of SLIC. The Invest-ment Income during the preced-ing year stood at Rs 30.74 bil-lion which has increased to Rs35.8 billion in 2012 showing anincrease of 16 percent.

He said that the Life Fundof State Life has increased fromRs 268.58 billion in 2011 to Rs314.8 billion in 2012.

“The numbers of IndividualLife Policy Holders increasedfrom 38, 00,000 in 2011 to4400,000 in 2012. In the Group& Pension Sector.

Spot rate firmSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Trading remainedfirm with fine lint in focus amidsteady spot rate with firm trad-ing session, traders at theKarachi Cotton Association(KCA) said.

The KCA kept the spot rateunchanged at Rs 5,900 permaund, floor brokers said.

During the trading session,mills in Sindh and Punjab sta-tions purchased all grades tostrengthen their long positionsbesides to cater cloth orders, saidtraders.

Grade issue remained one ofthe reasons that would likely topersist in the next coming trad-ing sessions as better cottonseedarrival has been slowed down inthe ginneries, said ginners.

The buyers in Punjab andSindh stations purchased fine linton slightly higher prices at aroundRs 6,050 per maund on back ofpaucity of the produce, they added.

Spinners in Sindh stationsbought fine lint on competitiveprices at around Rs 6,025 permaund and in Punjab stationsmost of the buyers made dealsat Rs 6,000 per maund, floorbrokers added. Buyers with lessliquidity in Sindh and Punjabstations made deals for lint ofall grades on competitive pricesat around Rs 5,650 per maundand Rs 5,750 per maund.

More than 9,000 baleschanged hands with more than80 percent of Punjab’s share intrading. Private sector commer-cial exporters bought all gradeson competitive rates at aroundRs 5,525 per maund in Sindhand Punjab stations.

Opposition winning pollsNICOSIA—The main opposition candidate,Nicos Anastasiades of the right-wing Demo-cratic Rally Party, is leading the race to be-come Cyprus’s president, an opinion pollshowed on Friday, as 11 hopefuls submittedbids for the February 17 election. The win-ner of the vote, which may extend to a run-off on February 24, will be mandated to ne-gotiate with prospective lenders for a multi-billion-euro bailout for the island. Damagedby its exposure to Greece, Cyprus applied

for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the Euro-pean Union last year. It is estimated that Cyprus needs up to 17.5billion euros to recapitalize its banks and put the economy backon a stable footing. That amount is equal to the entire output ofthe Cypriot economy, meaning any bailout may not be sustain-able. “Our manifesto offers hope and prospects for the countrythrough a national unity government,” said Anastasiades, run-ning more than 10 points clear of his closest rival according tothe latest opinion poll. In the survey for the state broadcaster,Anastasiades polled 38 percent compared with 23.7 percent forStavros Malas, an independent backed by the now-ruling Com-munist party AKEL, and 19.7 percent for independent candidateGeorge Lillikas. Incumbent President Demetris Christofias, acommunist whose tenure has seen economic demise and record-high unemployment at 14 percent, is not seeking re-election.Conclusion of a bailout deal with lenders is awaiting the calcula-tion of the precise recapitalization needs of Cypriot banks. Talkshave also been overshadowed by concerns from some Europeannations, notably EU paymaster Germany, of an opaque bankingsystem which may encourage money laundering.—Reuters

Merkel popularity higherGERMANY —German Chancellor AngelaMerkel doesn’t make rousing speeches, butshe had 1,200 supporters wildly cheering herstandard sober delivery, fired up about theirbrightening chances of winning a key re-gional election on Sunday. At a campaignrally in the northern town of Stade late onThursday, Merkel and Lower Saxony statepremier David McAllister exhorted an en-thusiastic crowd of Christian Democrats(CDU) to ensure a high turnout for the elec-

tion of the regional assembly, which in turn chooses the statepremier. Merkel’s CDU has been battered by the centre-left So-cial Democrats (SPD) and Greens in 12 regional elections stretch-ing back to 2009. A come-from-behind win in Lower Saxonywould end that losing streak and give the chancellor a timely liftfor her own re-election hopes in September. “We’re all excitedabout the outcome on Sunday,” said Merkel, who is seeking athird term against the SPD, which is on the ropes thanks to blun-ders by Peer Steinbrueck, its candidate for Merkel’s job. “Andit’s not only the people of Lower Saxony who are interested inthis election. It’s a pivotal election. So get out and talk to yourfriends and neighbours and tell them how important this is,” sheadded. Lower Saxony, an industrial and farming heartland andGermany’s fourth most populous state, can go either way; boththe centre-left and centre-right have taken turns running the vastregion bordering the Netherlands and North Sea. If the CDU canhold power in Lower Saxony for a third straight term on Sunday,it would send a powerful signal across Germany and galvaniseMerkel supporters.—Reuters

Acid attack on art directorMOSCOW—A director of Russia’s Bolshoiballet suffered severe burns when acid wasthrown in his face, police and media said onFriday, in an attack the head of the presti-gious theatre said was part of an intimida-tion campaign. The troupe’s artistic direc-tor, Sergei Filin, was attacked outside hisapartment building late on Thursday, policeand colleagues said. Interfax news agencycited a medical source who described hiscondition as stable. First Channel TV said

doctors were “trying to preserve his eyesight”. The theatre in theheart of Moscow is an enduring symbol of Russian culture and abig draw for both locals and foreign tourists, but has seen powerstruggles among both dancers and directors during its more than200-year history. Its head Anatoly Iksanov said he believed theattack was aimed at sowing discord at the Bolshoi, and that theculprit “should be sought among those for whom it was benefi-cial to compromise the theatre leadership.” He said Filin, 42, hadtold him of incidents this month in which his car tires were slashedand his email hacked into. Filin’s mother, Natalya, said he hadbeen threatened but that she did not know who could have beenbehind the attack, state-run RIA news agency reported “What’simportant to me now is the health of my son, that he not lose hiseyesight,” she was quoted as saying. Moscow police said an uni-dentified attacker had splashed acid on the face of a manager atthe Bolshoi but did not name the victim.—Reuters

Netanyahu set to win Israel voteJERUSALEM—Four days before Israel’s par-liamentary election, opinion polls published onFriday showed Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu still set to win, although his sup-port had slipped to its lowest point in the cam-paign so far. Two polls showed Israel’s right-wing and religious bloc winning a slim parlia-mentary majority of 63 out of 120 seats, withNetanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu group on courseto be the largest party in the Knesset, albeitwith eroding support. The polls in Haaretz and

Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers both showed Netanyahu’s party win-ning 32 seats, its poorest predicted showing so far and some 10 seatsfewer than Likud and Yisrael Beitenu took in 2009 when they ranseparately. “The gap is shrinking,” leading Israeli daily Yedioth saidin a headline, adding that some 15 percent of voters remained unde-cided. Friday is the last day opinion polls can be published in Israelbefore Tuesday’s election.But in newspaper interviews published onFriday, Netanyahu said he would not give in to calls to halt orreverse his settlement drive if he was re-elected. While supportfor centre-left parties has edged higher, they have failed to presenta united front or convince most Israelis that they are ready totake charge of a country concerned by turmoil in neighbouringArab states.—Reuters

Berlusconi’s wiretap trial postponedJERUSALEM—Four days before Israel’sparliamentary election, opinion polls pub-lished on Friday showed Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu still set to win, al-though his support had slipped to its lowestpoint in the campaign so far. Two pollsshowed Israel’s right-wing and religious blocwinning a slim parliamentary majority of 63out of 120 seats, with Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu group on course to be the largestparty in the Knesset, albeit with eroding sup-

port. The polls in Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers bothshowed Netanyahu’s party winning 32 seats, its poorest predictedshowing so far and some 10 seats fewer than Likud and YisraelBeitenu took in 2009 when they ran separately. “The gap is shrink-ing,” leading Israeli daily Yedioth said in a headline, adding thatsome 15 percent of voters remained undecided. Friday is the lastday opinion polls can be published in Israel before Tuesday’selection. A relatively weak showing at the ballot box forNetanyahu would make him more susceptible to the demands ofhis prospective coalition partners, smaller right-wing and reli-gious parties on which his government would have to rely tosurvive. Those parties are likely to include Netanyahu’s naturalpartners, the fiercely pro-settler Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) andultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism.—Reuters

BAMAKO—The first West Af-rican regional forces arrived inMali on Thursday to reinforceFrench and Malian troops bat-tling to push back al Qaeda-linked rebels after seven days ofFrench air strikes. A contingentof around 100 Togolese troopslanded in Bamako and was dueto be joined by Nigerian forcesalready en route. Nigerien andChadian forces were massing inNiger, Mali’s neighbor to theeast.

The scrambling of the U.N.-mandated African mission,which previously had not beendue for deployment until Sep-tember, will be a boon forFrance, the former colonialpower in Mali. French troops,which had moved northwardsfrom Bamako in an armoredcolumn on Tuesday, pinneddown some Islamist fighters inthe small town of Diabaly.

But French forces held backfrom launching an all-out assaultas the insurgents had taken ref-uge in the homes of civilians,residents said.

“The Islamists are still in

W African troops in Mali to back French, native fightersDiabaly. They are very many ofthem. Every time they hear aplane overhead, they run intohomes, traumatizing the people,”said one woman who fled thetown with her three childrenovernight. Residents in the townof Konna, to the north of the cen-tral garrison town of Sevare, saidIslamists had fled as Malian sol-diers backed by French troopsdeployed.

“Life is difficult for thepeople of northern Mali and theinternational community has theduty to help these people,” saidTogolese Lieutenant ColonelMawoute BayassimGnamkoulamba. “That is why wethink that it is necessary for us toprotect Mali and we are proudtoday to fulfill that mission.”

French forces, numberingsome 1,400 soldiers, beganground operations on Wednesdayagainst an Islamist coalitiongrouping al Qaeda’s North Afri-can wing AQIM and the home-grown Ansar Dine and MUJWAmilitants. President FrancoisHollande ordered the interven-tion on the grounds that the Is-

lamists who had taken over thepoor West African country’snorth could turn it into a “terror-ist state” which would radiate athreat beyond its borders.

Hollande has pledged theywill stay until stability returns toMali but, in the first apparent re-taliatory attack, al Qaeda-linkedmilitants took dozens of foreign-ers hostage at a gas plant in Al-geria, blaming Algerian coopera-tion with France. A total of 2,500French troops are expected inMali but Paris is keen to swiftlyhand the mission over to WestAfrica’s ECOWAS bloc, whichin December secured a U.N.mandate for a 3,300-strong mis-sion to help Mali recapture itsnorth.

A rebel push into central Maliwas last week halted by bomb-ings by French aircraft and thedeployment of ground troops. Aconvoy of armored vehicles, fueltankers and ambulances andaround 200 soldiers from Mali’seastern neighbor Niger was po-sitioned at that eastern border,witnesses said.

A Reuters witness at the

scene said heavy weapons firerang out as troops tested artillery.

Communications with resi-dents in Islamist-controlledtowns have become more diffi-cult as some mobile phone tow-ers have stopped working. Resi-dents said rebel fighters are sus-picious of anyone using phones,fearing they are passing informa-tion to the enemy.

“There are no longer anypolice stations. (The I) have dis-persed across the city, mixing inwith the population,” saidIbrahim Mamane, a resident fromthe town of Gao who reached theborder with Niger. “The popula-tion is ready and is waiting forthe French forces with open arms.If they attack Gao, the people willfight the Islamists with their barehands,” he added.

Reuters journalists travellingnorth of Bamako saw residentswelcoming French troops and, inplaces, French and Malian flagshung side by side. Mali’s recenttroubles began with a coup inBamako last March, ending aperiod of stable rule that saw aseries of elections. In the confu-

sion that followed, Islamist forcesseized large swathes of the northand imposed a strict rule remi-niscent of Afghanistan under theTaliban. Military experts sayFrance and its African allies mustnow capitalize on a week of hard-hitting air strikes by seizing theinitiative on the ground to pre-vent the insurgents from with-drawing into the desert and reor-ganizing.

“The whole world clearlyneeds to unite and do much morethan is presently being done tocontain terrorism,” NigerianPresident Goodluck Jonathansaid. Diabaly is a country townwith a population of about35,000, about 360 km (220 miles)from Bamako and near the bor-der with Mauritania, whereAQIM has bases.

A spokesman for MUJWAconfirmed that their positions inDiabaly had been fired on butsaid French forces had not pen-etrated the town itself. DiabalyMayor Salif Ouedrago, who fledon Wednesday, told Malian stateradio: “There were deaths on theside of the jihadists. They buried

their dead yesterday.”Meanwhile, the Malian army

rushed reinforcements to a towncloser to Bamako on Thursdayafter Islamist fighters were spot-ted near the frontier withMauritania.

“Banamba is in a state ofalert. Reinforcements have beensent. Nigerian troops expected toarrive in Bamako today could bedeployed there to secure thezone,” a senior Malian militarysource told Reuters.

An inhabitant of Banamba,140 km (90 miles) from the capi-tal, reported the arrival of soldiersafter insurgents were seen in theBoron border area. With Africanstates facing huge logistical andtransport challenges, Germanypromised two Transall militarytransport planes to help fly intheir soldiers.

Britain has supplied two C-17 military transport planes toferry in French armored vehiclesand medical supplies. The UnitedStates is considering logisticaland surveillance support but hasruled out sending in U.S.troops.—Reuters

Workers walk through a flooded street as they head to work in the business district in Jakarta.

TOKYO—Japan and China need“rules of the game” to keep a feudover tiny islands from escalatinginto a military clash, an adviserto Japan’s prime minister said onFriday, as a ruling coalition part-ner prepared to visit Beijing insearch of better ties. Sino-Japa-nese ties chilled sharply after Ja-pan bought the disputed islandsin the East China Sea from a pri-vate Japanese citizen last Septem-ber.

China scrambled two J-10fighters last week in the area af-ter two Japanese F-15s followeda Chinese military aircraft, whichChina said was on a “routine pa-trol”. Japan has sent up fighter jetsseveral times recently to interceptChinese planes near the islands,called the Senkaku by Japan andthe Diaoyu by China.

Both sides have also sent pa-trol vessels to the area. “We needsome rules of the game. We haveto discuss preventative mea-sures,” Shotaro Yachi, a formersenior diplomat now advisingPrime Minister Shinzo Abe onforeign policy told Reuters in aninterview.

Yachi said he was very con-cerned about a possible unin-tended clash. “During the Cold

Sino-Japan new gamerules can avert clash

War, the United States and theSoviet Union had such ‘rules ofthe game’ to avoid a possible con-flict. We can learn a lesson fromtheir experience,” he said.

Abe, who returned to thepremiership after a five-year gapfollowing his Liberal DemocraticParty’s (LDP) election win lastmonth, has taken a tough stancein the row over the islands, vow-ing not to negotiate. The dispute,which has coincided with a U.S.“pivot” in diplomatic and securityfocus to Asia, is hurting businessties between Asia’s two biggesteconomies, creating pressure forsome resolution.

In a sign of a possible bid toreach out to China, Abe’s coali-tion partner, Natsuo Yamaguchi,leader of the smaller, more dov-ish New Komeito party, is sched-uled to visit China next week -perhaps carrying a message fromthe prime minister. “There mustbe a tacit understanding betweenMr. Yamaguchi and the primeminister for seeking improved bi-lateral ties,” Yachi said. LDP VicePresident Masahiko Komura isalso planning a China trip, thoughno dates have been set.

Still, a formula for resolvingthe dispute remains elusive, de-

spite suggestions that the mattercould somehow be “shelved” ashistorians say the two countriesagreed to do decades ago. “Thesituation now is that their govern-ment ships come to the adjacentzone and Japan’s territorial watersand government airplanes invadeJapan’s airspace,” Yachi said.

“We don’t want to ‘shelve’this situation.” On Friday, Abewound up a trip to Vietnam, Thai-land and Indonesia, part of a pushfor stronger ties with SoutheastAsia to help counterbalanceChina’s growing influence.

Japan is also talking to its keyally the United States about revis-ing 15-year-old guidelines on de-fense cooperation while planninga make-over of its own long-termbasic defense policy and biggerdefense spending. Yachi said someon the Chinese side were think-ing in a “realistic and rational”way, so there was hope the twocountries could engage. At thesame time, a lack of transparencyhad left Tokyo guessing just whatBeijing intends.

“We have no intention to ‘en-circle’ them, but if they come, wewill respond. If they want to oc-cupy the Senkaku islands, we haveto respond.—Reuters

ALGIERS—At least 22 foreignhostages were unaccounted foron Friday and their al-Qaeda-linked captors threatened to at-tack other energy installationsafter Algerian forces stormed adesert gas complex to free hun-dreds of captives, resulting indozens of deaths. With Westernleaders clamoring for details ofthe assault they said Algeria hadlaunched on Thursday withoutconsulting them, a local sourcesaid the gas base was still sur-rounded by Algerian specialforces and some hostages re-mained inside.

Thirty hostages, includingseveral Westerners, were killedduring the storming, the sourcesaid, along with at least 11 oftheir captors, who said they hadtaken the site as retaliation forFrench intervention against Is-lamists in neighboring Mali. Thecrisis represents a serious esca-lation of unrest in North Africa,where French forces have been

in Mali since last week to fightan Islamist takeover of the north,and strikes a heavy blow toAlgeria’s vital oil industry, justrecovering from years of civilwar.

Fourteen Japanese wereamong those still unaccounted forby the early hours of Friday, theirJapanese employer said, whileNorwegian energy companyStatoil, which runs theTigantourine gas field withBritain’s BP and Algeria’s na-tional oil company, said eightNorwegian employees were stillmissing. A French hostage em-ployed by a French catering com-pany said Algerian militaryforces were combing the sprawl-ing In Amenas site for hostageswhen he was escorted away bythe military.

“They are still counting themup,” Alexandre Berceaux toldEurope 1 radio. The crisis poseda serious dilemma for formercolonial power Paris and its al-

lies as French troops attacked thehostage-takers’ al Qaeda allies inMali, another former colony.

The kidnappers warned Al-gerians to stay away from foreigncompanies’ installations in theOPEC-member oil and gas pro-ducing state, threatening moreattacks, Mauritania’s newsagency ANI said, citing a spokes-man for the group. Algerianworkers form the backbone of anoil and gas industry that has at-tracted international firms in re-cent years partly because of mili-tary-style security. The kidnap-ping, storming and further threatcast a deep shadow over its fu-ture.

An Irish engineer who sur-vived said he saw four jeeps fullof hostages blown up by Alge-rian troops whose commanderssaid they moved in about 30hours after the siege began be-cause the gunmen had demandedto be allowed to take their cap-tives abroad.—Reuters

TOKYO—U.S. safety officialsand Boeing inspectors joined aJapanese investigation Friday intothe 787 jet at the center of a world-wide grounding of the technologi-cally advanced aircraft. JapaneseTV footage showed the Americaninvestigators one each from theFederal Aviation Administrationand the National TransportationSafety Board and two fromBoeing Co. inspecting the AllNippon Airways jet on the tarmacat Takamatsu airport in westernJapan.

The investigation is being ledby the Japan Transport SafetyBoard. The pilot of the ANA planemade an emergency landingWednesday morning after hesmelled something burning andreceived a cockpit warning of bat-tery problems. All passengersevacuated the plane on emergencyslides. The American inspectorswere expected to examine the bat-tery later Friday, said MamoruTakahashi, a JTSB official. Pho-tos of the battery provided byJSTB show a blackened mass ofwires and other componentswithin a distorted blue casing. In

US aviators join aircraftgrounding probers

the wake of the incident, nearlyall 50 of the 787s in use aroundthe world have been grounded.Aviation authorities in Japan havedirected ANA, which owns 17 ofthe planes, and Japan Airlines,with seven, not to fly the jets untilquestions over their safety havebeen resolved.

The 787, known as theDreamliner, is Boeing’s newestjet, and the company is countingheavily on its success. Since itslaunch after delays of more thanthree years, the plane has beenplagued by a series of problemsincluding a battery fire and fuelleaks. An initial inspection byJapanese officials of the 787 inTakamatsu found that a flammablebattery fluid known as electrolytehad leaked from the plane’s mainlithium-ion battery beneath thecockpit. It also found burn marksaround the battery.

The 787 relies more than anyother modern airliner on electricalsignals to help power nearly every-thing the plane does. It’s also thefirst Boeing plane to use recharge-able lithium-ion batteries for itsmain electrical system.—AP

JAKARTA—Authorities wereworking Friday to repair a dikethat collapsed amid floods thatswamped the Indonesian capitalas the waters gradually recededfrom the main streets of theteeming city. But more monsoonrains were expected over Jakartalater Friday into Saturday, rais-ing the prospect of fresh flood-ing, said Fadli, an official at thecountry’s meteorology agencywho goes by a single name.

Jakarta, a low-lying city onthe sea, has long been prone tofloods, but their scale has be-come worse over the last 10years as infrastructure develop-ment has not kept pace with thecity’s growth. Other SoutheastAsian cities, Bangkok and Ma-nila especially, have also provedvulnerable to widespread floodsin recent years. Authorities saidthe death toll had risen to 11,most electrocuted or drowned.Police were searching for at leastthree other people reportedmissing in the flooded basementof a building in central Jakarta.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho,from the city’s disaster mitiga-tion agency, said electricity sup-plies had been cut to several ar-eas to prevent electrocutions.“Our focus now is to save more

Jakarta residentsbattle massive floods

lives,” he said.While life slowly got back

to normal downtown, tens ofthousands remained affected bythe waters elsewhere in the cityof 14 million people. The policeand army deployed rubber boatsto help evacuate or bring sup-plies to people, said Jakarta Po-lice Spokesman Col. Rikwanto.Elsewhere, hundreds of soldiersused backhoes to attempt to re-pair a collapsed canal dike thatlet floodwater pour into parts ofdowntown Jakarta on Thursdayafter hours of rains caused riv-ers and canals to burst theirbanks.

At their peak, almost250,000 people were affected bythe floods, which covered about30 percent of the city. They werethe most widespread to hit thecity since 2007, when almost 80died and more than half of thecity as affected. Unlike in 2007,Jakarta’s downturn area wasswamped this time around.

Successive governmentshave done little to mitigate thethreat of flooding, the latestmade worse by heavy down-pours Wednesday and Thursdaythat added pressure to rivers al-ready swollen by a long mon-soon season.—Reuters

Hostage captors renewkilling threats

Palestinianssaddened over

likelyNatenyahu win

RAMALLAH—Palestinian offi-cials largely view BenjaminNetanyahu’s expected re-electionwith despair, fearing the Israelihard-liner’s ambitious plans forsettlement construction over thenext four years could prove lethalto their dreams of a state. Some inPalestinian President MahmoudAbbas’ circle hold out hope thatPresident Barack Obama will re-engage in the Israeli-Palestinianconflict, and, freed from domes-tic electoral considerations in hissecond term, get tougher withNetanyahu on settlements. Oneaide suggested Europe is ready tojump in with its own peace plan ifWashington is not.

But short of trying to rally in-ternational opinion, it seemsAbbas can do little if Netanyahuwins Tuesday. Israeli polls indi-cate that a majority of seats inIsrael’s 120-member parliamentwill go to right-wing, pro-settleror Jewish ultra-Orthodox religiousparties, with Netanyahu’s Likudthe largest among them.Netanyahu could comfortablyform a coalition government withthese parties, seen as his naturalideological allies.

Even if he adds a centrist partyto the mix, he’s unlikely to shiftcourse from the pro-settler poli-cies of his current government.Under Netanyahu, constructionreportedly began on nearly 6,900settlement homes in the WestBank, captured by Israel in the1967 war, along with Gaza andeast Jerusalem. The Palestinianswant to set up a state in the threeterritories.

That’s a bit less than what wasstarted by Netanyahu’s predeces-sor, but many of the new homesare deeper in the West Bank, theIsraeli anti-settlement group PeaceNow said this week. Thousandsmore apartments are in variousstages of planning, Peace Nowsaid, predicting an “explosion” ofsettlement construction in comingyears. Since 1967, Israel hasmoved more than half a millionof its citizens to the West Bankand east Jerusalem.

The conflict with the Pales-tinians and the fate of the occu-pied lands, hotly debated in Israelfor decades, were largely missingfrom Israeli political discourse thiscampaign season. The centristLabor Party, which led peace talkswith the Palestinians in the past,has shifted almost exclusively todomestic concerns, such as grow-ing income gaps. —AP

VIENNA—U.N. nuclear inspec-tors returned from Iran on Fri-day without securing an agree-ment to investigate suspectedatom bomb research, they saidafter two days of talks in Tehran.

Herman Nackaerts, deputydirector general of the Interna-tional Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), said his inspectors hadnot been granted the access theyhave long sought to a militarysite and that further talks hadbeen scheduled for February 12.

The absence of a break-through was a new setback fordiplomatic efforts to allay in-ternational concerns overTehran’s atomic ambitions andavert the threat of a new MiddleEast war. The IAEA,whose mission is to prevent thespread of nuclear weapons, has

IAEA-Iran talks fail,agree on next meeting

been trying for a year to nego-tiate a so-called structured ap-proach with Iran giving the in-spectors access to sites, offi-cials and documents for theirlong-stalled inquiry.

At the centre of its con-cerns, the IAEA wants accessto the Parchin military complexsoutheast of Tehran where itbelieves explosives tests rel-evant for nuclear weapons de-velopment may have takenplace, something Iran denies.

“We had two days of inten-sive discussions. Differencesremain so we could not final-ize the structured approach toresolve the outstanding issuesregarding possible military di-mensions of Iran’s nuclear pro-gram,” Nackaerts told reportersat Vienna airport.—Reuters

LAHORE: BRISBANE: Lasith Malinga bowls Mitchell Johnson during Australia vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI on Friday.

BRISBANE (Australia)—SriLanka found prodigiousswing Friday to shoot outAustralia for 74 runs, theirlowest one-day internationaltotal in 27 years, and take a2-1 lead in the series.

The tourists also swungtheir bats at everything Aus-tralia threw at them, missingfrequently and losing sixwickets before struggling to75, in a bizarre match thatended with thirty overs tospare.

Mitchell Johnson ledAustralia’s riposte with threewickets for 11 runs off justthree overs.

But the hosts put downthree catches and fumbled aclear runout chance to foregoany real hope of defendingsuch a low total.

They did manage to makeit tough for the touriststhough.

Sri Lankan captainMahela Jayawardene scoredjust one, caught brilliantly byDavid Warner at backwardpoint off Clint McKay in thefirst over.

Lahiru Thirimanne, whomade a maiden century inAdelaide on Sunday, was outfor seven from a Johnson de-livery that Warner snatchedout of the air.

Angelo Mathews wentfirst ball caught Mitchell Starcagain off Johnson.

Upal Tharanga battled to

Australia innings:Warner b Mathews ......... 4Hughes c Jayawardeneb Kulasekara .................... 3Clarke b Kulasekara ........ 9Hussey b Kulasekara ..... 4Bailey lbw Kulasekara .... 0M Wade c Dilshanb Malinga ......................... 8Henriques b Kulasekara . 2M. Johnson b Malinga ... 2M. Starc not out ............ 22C. McKay c K Pererab Malinga ......................... 0X. Doherty c Mendisb Eranga ......................... 15Extras: (2lb, 3w) ............... 5Total: (all out) ................ 74Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-13, 3-21, 4-21, 5-28, 6-30, 7-35, 8-38, 9-40Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WMathews .............. 4-0-10-1Kulasekara ......... 10-2-22-5

Malinga ................ 7-2-14-3Perera .................... 3-0-14-0Eranga ................ 2.4-0-12-1Sri Lanka innings:Jayawardene b McKay .. 1Dilshan b Johnson ........ 22Thirimanne c Warnerb Johnson ........................ 7Perera not out ................ 22Mathews c Starcb Johnson ........................ 0Tharanga c Clarkeb Starc ............................ 12Mendis c McKay b Starc 2Perera not out .................. 4Extras: (1lb, 1nb, 3w) ....... 5Total: (six wickets) ........ 75Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-33, 3-37, 4-37, 5-63, 6-71Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WMcKay .................. 8-0-31-1Starc ...................... 7-0-25-2Johnson ................ 3-0-11-3Moises Henriques 2-0-7-0

Australia vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI

Sri Lanka shoot out Australiafor 74 to take 2-1 series lead

12 before Starc had himcaught by Michael Clarkeand Jeevan Mendis soon topedged the same bowler toMcKay for two.

It was replacement

wicket-keeper Kushal Perera,showing great poise andpower with the ball zippingaround, who found theboundaries after tea to en-sure victory.

The youngster was notout 22, the same total asDilshan who rode his luckbefore edging Johnson toClarke in the slips with thescore on 33.

Man-of-the matchNuwan Kulasekara did thedamage for Sri Lanka takingfive wickets for 22 and LasithMalinga picked up three for14.

Skipper Clarke won thetoss and decided to bat onwhat he called “a really goodwicket”.

However his team fell toa prolonged inswing on-slaught in the third match ofa series of five.

Australia’s lowest ODIscore of 70 came against En-gland in 1977 at Edgbaston,with the embarrassingscoreline repeated againstNew Zealand in 1986 atAdelaide.

At one stage, Australia

were 40-9, but ninth man Starchelped them avoid the igno-miny of a new record-lowwith a knock of 22, when ithad looked like no one wouldget into double figures.

“A horrible day to behonest, our batting perfor-mance was very poor,”Clarke admitted. “We are re-ally disappointed.”

Warner was first to go,for four, clubbing a catch toShaminda Eranga at mid-offoff Mathews in the third over.

Phillip Hughes had madeonly three when Jayawardeneheld a slip catch offKulasekara who was on fire.

Clarke drove for the firstboundary while DavidHussey followed suit with aglance for four, but it was notto last.

Hussey was given notout to a Kulasekarainswinger caught by keeperPerera,but Jayawardene wonthe wicket on appeal. Televi-sion replays showed a clearedge.

Australia were 21-3 in theeighth over.

The Sri Lankan swinger

had George Bailey lbw firstball and then beat Clarke, oneof the best Test batsmen inthe world, to hit middle stump.

New boy MoisesHenriques, back in the sideafter three years out,went twoballs later with the score 6-30.

Johnson, Matthew Wadeand McKay soon followedas slinger Malinga picked upquick wickets.

Starc proved batting wasnot impossible and clipped22 runs off 28 balls beforeXavier Doherty offered asimple catch off Eranga toput an end to the innings.

Clarke refused to makeexcuses.

“I think the wicket wasfine, there’s always a bit ofpace and bounce,” he said.

“We have no excuse ...our execution needs to im-prove in two days time.

It’s going to be tough. SriLanka are full of confidence

The next match is at theSydney Cricket Ground onSunday and the final gamein Hobart on Wednes-day.—AFP

MUMBAI—Pakistan Womenwill play their ICC Women’sWorld Cup group matches inCuttack, in the eastern Indianstate of Orissa, followingthreats from political activistsin Mumbai. The World Cup,which starts on January 31,will now be played acrosstwo cities, instead of takingplace only in Mumbai.However, there is no confir-mation regarding the venuesof the knock-out stages yet.

A BCCI official toldESPNcricinfo that “Group Bgames will be played inCuttack”, while Group Agames will be played inMumbai. An ICC insider alsorevealed that the fixtures are“being reworked”, keepingCuttack in mind.

Orissa Cricket Associa-tion president Ranjib Biswal,however, said he was un-aware of the development.“Till now, neither ICC norBCCI have contacted us, soit won’t be prudent on mypart to comment right now,”Biswal said.

While England, India,West Indies and Sri Lanka willbe based in Mumbai for theirGroup A games, Group B

ICC Women’s World Cup 2013

Pak Women’s matchesshifted to Cuttack

Pakistan Women will play their World Cup matches inCuttack.

comprises Australia, NewZealand, Pakistan and SouthAfrica for the event that will

run for just over two weeks,culminating in the final onFebruary 17.—Agencies

KARACHI—Pakistan need to“stand up and be counted”against South Africa’s paceattack in their series with theworld’s top-ranked Test na-tion starting next month, cap-tain Misbah-ul-Haq said onFriday.

“This series is one of thebiggest challenges of mycaptaincy tenure but I amconfident that we can pose aserious threat to South Af-rica,” Misbah told Reuters.

The 16-member Pakistansquad leave on Sunday for atwo-month tour that beginswith a three-Test series fromFebruary 1.Pakistan are tour-ing South Africa for the firsttime since 2007.

“The coming series isvery important for Pakistancricket because we havemostly played our cricket inSouth Asia or the UAE since2010,” Misbah added.

“The last few years havebeen a big challenge for Pa-kistan cricket and the play-ers have come through wellmost of the time. But this is atour where we have to playour best cricket.”

No Test playing nationhas visited Pakistan sinceMarch, 2009 when militantsattacked the Sri Lankan teamin Lahore. Misbah said hewas confident about the se-ries because Pakistan, likeSouth Africa, had a strongbowling attack.

“Until now our spinners

Time for our pace attack todeliver against SA: Misbah

have come through for usnow it is the turn of the pacebowlers to deliver. I am con-fident that players like UmarGul and Junaid Khan will beour strike bowlers and wehave a good spin backup inSaeed Ajmal,” he said.

Misbah said his biggestconcern was putting sub-stantial runs on the boardagainst an attack boastingDale Steyn, Morne Morkeland Vernon Philander.

“South Africa has one ofthe best pace attacks in theworld so we have to stand

up and be counted. If we canpost decent totals in the testsI know our bowlers will de-liver.”

Misbah said his team’smain strength had been theirunity which had helped themwhitewash England in early2011 in a three-Test series inthe UAE.

“No one gave us a seri-ous chance of beating En-gland but we did that be-cause we have gelled well asa team. That will be our mainstrength in South Africa de-spite their formidable batting

and bowling resources,” hesaid. South Africa completeda 2-0 series win over NewZealand on Monday afterthumping the visitors by aninnings and 13 runs, onlytheir second home Test se-ries win in four years.

The Proteas have risen tothe top of the InternationalCricket Council’s Test teamrankings thanks to their won-derful away form during whichthey have won back-to-backseries in Australia and En-gland and remain unbeaten ontheir travels since 2006.—AFP

SNGPL takeinaugural

President’sTrophy

KARACHI—Sui Northern GasPipelines Limited lifted theinaugural President’s Tro-phy, beating Habib Bank Lim-ited by 75 in Karachi. WhenHBL resumed the day at 169for 6, they had to score an-other 160 to lay their handson the title. SNGPL’s spin-ners took three of the lastfour wickets, led byMohammad Hafeez whoscalped two on the last day,taking just over 24 overs towrap up the innings.

Chasing 329 was going tobe a daunting task after HBLwere dismissed for 137 in thefirst innings. Ahmed Shehzadwas the only batsman to pro-vide resistance with a half-cen-tury while the other ten playersscored only 57 runs combined.Hafeez took four wickets in thefirst innings in less than 14overs, giving away only 16runs. That gave SNGPL a first-innings lead of 146 as they hadscored 283 after they were putin to bat. Even though theywere in trouble at 49 for 3, theywere rescued by Azhar Ali (32)and half-centuries fromMisbah-ul-Haq and Ali Waqas.

When they came out tobat again, Umar Gul not onlygot rid of the openers, he dis-missed their first-innings topscorers - Misbah and Waqas- for ducks. His six wickets,which included a hat-trick,kept SNGPL to 182 but thelead by then had alreadyreached to 328.—APP

MELBOURNE—Second seedMaria Sharapova sent VenusWilliams crashing out of theAustralian Open Friday in acrushing straight sets defeatin the third round.

The Russian, who waschampion at Melbourne Parkin 2008, was in rampant form,winning 6-1, 6-3 in 79 minuteson Rod Laver Arena againstthe vastly experiencedAmerican. Next up for theworld number two, who wasbeaten in the final last yearby Victoria Azarenka, isKirsten Flipkens of Belgium,who overcame Russianqualifier Valeria Savinykh.

Sharapova has been inirresistible form inMelbourne, becoming thefirst person to score two‘double bagel’ 6-0, 6-0 GrandSlam wins in a row since 1985in her opening two matches.

She failed to make it threebut gave it a good crack andhas now won 36 of the 40games she has played at theopening Grand Slam of theseason.

Williams is only seeded25 but the seven-time GrandSlam winner has been climb-ing back up the rankings af-ter injury and illness, and wasexpected to offer more resis-tance.

Williams, who has notwon a Grand Slam sinceWimbledon in 2008, knewshe had her work cut outwhen she was immediatelybroken to trail 1-0.

She had a break point inthe second game but failedto convert, and went 3-0down when she blasted a

Sharapova crushes Venusto reach fourth round

MELBOURNE: Russia’s Maria Sharapova reacts duringher third round match against Venus Williams of the USat the Australian Open tennis championship.

forehand into the net.The American finally got

off the mark when the Rus-sian netted a backhand re-turn, but the reprieve wasshortlived and Sharapovaraced to the set in just 29 min-utes.

Williams was out of herdepth and struggling to evenwin a point as she fell 3-0

behind in the second set be-fore rallying to claw back to3-1. She started finding herrange and managed to forcea break at 5-2 and then heldher serve but with 26 un-forced errors, most off herforehand, it was delaying theinevitable and Sharapova fin-ished the match with anace.—AFP

NEW YORK—LanceArmstrong ended years of ve-

hement denial on Friday by fi-nally coming clean and admit-ting he had cheated his way toa record seven Tour de Francetitles with systematic use ofbanned, performance-enhanc-

Armstrong admits dopingin Oprah interview

ing drugs.Confessing his “toxic” tale

to chat show host OprahWinfrey, Armstrong describedhimself as a “flawed character”while at last owning up to be-ing at the centre of one of thebiggest drugs scandals inworld sport.

In just one word at the be-ginning of the interview broad-cast worldwide, cancer survi-vor Armstrong confirmed hisplace in any gallery of fallenicons who have shamed theirsport, the likes of drug-cheatsprinters Ben Johnson andMarion Jones. “Yes,” he re-plied when asked directlywhether he had used perfor-mance enhancing drugs.

Without flinching,Winfrey rapidly fired ques-tions at him, offering the 41-year-old little respite, grillinghim about every aspect of his

tainted career.Without hesitation, and

showing no signs of emotion,Armstrong replied “yes” toquestions about whether heused specific drugs, includingerythropoietin, human growthhormone, and blood doping.

When asked why he hadrepeatedly lied about usingbanned substances untilThursday’s startling admis-sion, he told Winfrey: “I don’tknow I have a great answer.“This is too late, probably formost people, and that’s myfault. I view this situation asone big lie that I repeated alot of times.

“This story is so bad … sotoxic. “It’s not as if I said noand moved off it. While I’velived through this process, Iknow the truth. The truth isn’twhat I said and now it’sgone.”—AP

ACCORDING to an article published inCirculation: Journal of the AmericanHeart Association, heart attack risk after

bereavement is much higher for several weeksafter the loss. The day the loved one dies, therisk of a heart attack is a stunning twenty onetimes higher.

The article also warnsfriends and family to look forsigns of heart failure in thebereaved person, ensuringthey relax and maintain anymedication regime they maybe on.

The study was conductedwith nearly 2000 adult heartattack survivors and while therisk of a heart problem de-clined over the first month, itstill remained at six times thenormal risk during the firstweek after a loved one died.

Murray Mittleman, M.D.,Dr.P.H., a preventive cardiolo-gist and epidemiologist atHarvard Medical School’sBeth Israel Deaconess Medi-cal Center and School of Public Health’s epide-miology department in Boston, Mass. said:

“Caretakers, healthcare providers, and thebereaved themselves need to recognize they arein a period of heightened risk in the days andweeks after hearing of someone close dying.”

This is the first study of its kind to focus onthe effects of emotional events in our lives, onthe heart.

Broken heart syndrome is a well docu-mented effect, but it is not thought to produceany lasting health problems, and while it maybe true that those suffering from symptoms of abroken heart generally recover with no ill ef-fect, it certainly appears that others, while not

suffering from the “pseudo” heart attack ofbroken heart syndrome, jump straight into fullblown symptoms and physical heart issues.

Researchers say that figures show that 1in 320 people who are at high risk for heartfailure and 1 in nearly 1,400 people who are

at low risk, will suffer in-creased heart problems due toa bereavement. Additionally,the grieving spouses are morelikely to die in the future, withheart attacks and strokes ac-counting for 53 percent of theirdeaths.

As part of the multicenterstudy, the scientists analyzedcharts and talked with patientswhile in the hospital, after aconfirmed heart attack be-tween 1989 and 1994. Patientsanswered questions about cir-cumstances surrounding theirheart attack, as well as whetherthey recently lost someonesignificant in their lives overthe past year, when the deathhappened, and the importance

of their relationship.Researchers used a casecrossover design to compare patients over thepast six months. The approach eliminated thepossible confounding factors of comparingdifferent people.

The authors also estimated the relative riskof a heart attack by comparing the number ofpatients who had someone close to them diein the week before their heart attack, to thenumber of deaths of significant people in theirlives from one to six months before their heartattack. Psychological stress, such as thatcaused by intense grief, can increase heart rate,blood pressure, and blood clotting, which canraise the chances of a heart attack.

A broken heart breaksyour heart, literally!

KARACHI: Security personnel showing weapons and ammunition recovered from the sus-pect militants during a raid.

KARACHI: People carrying coffins of MQM Member of Provincial Assembly Manzar Imam and three others to graveyard.

KARACHI—KMC Adminis-trator has said that it has beendecided to install pedestrianbridges on all important loca-tions and major corridors of cityto save the citizens from diffi-culties while crossing roads andto minimise traffic accidents onroads.

The Administrator KMCsaid this during a meeting withthe officials of transport andcommunication departmentwhich was called to review thepace of work on the installationof pedestrian bridges, accord-ing to a statement issued hereon Friday.

He said planning for dis-couraging the use of U-turn

from wrong side was also beingprepared.

Traffic signs and cat eyeswhich were in broken and worsecondition would be repaired andinstalled in fine condition alongwith removal of unnecessarycrossing from center island ofroads, he said.

He was informed that pedes-trian bridges on 11 important lo-cations were being installed tofacilitate pedestrians and to pro-tect citizens from traffic accidents.

Three of those pedestrianbridges would be installed onShaheed-e-Millat Expresswaywhere as construction of pedes-trian bridges on four locations hadstarted. He was informed that 11

locations for the installation ofpedestrian bridges had been se-lected which include ShareaFaisal near New Jinnah Termi-nal Flyover, Stadium Road nearKhatoon-e-Pakistan College/Agha Khan Hospital, Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway near IqraUniversity.

Shaheed-e-Millat Ex-pressway near Azam Basti,Shaheed-e-Millat Expresswaynear Manzoor Colony,Gulistan-e-Johar near Dar-ul-Sehat Hospital, RashidMinhas Road near KDA Flats,Korangi No.4 GovernmentCollege for Women, M.AJinnah Road near HumdardHospital. Capri Cinema,

Pedestrian bridge installationon major corridors of city

Nawab Siddique Ali KhanRoad near Farooq-e-AzamMasjid and Shah WaliullahRoad near Cafe Todaywhereas construction work onfour locations is underwaywhich included Shahrah-e-Pa-kistan Gulistan-e-Johar nearDar-ul-Sehat Hospital, RashidMinhas Raod near KDA Flatsand Korangi No.4 Govern-ment College for Women.

The Administrator Karachidirected T&C department tomake every possible effort tocurb the traffic accidents, im-prove design of roads and takemeasures for creating aware-ness of traffic rules among citi-zens.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Funeral of MQMMPA Manzar Imam who was as-sassinated by terrorists at theNishan-i-Haider Chowk area inOrangi Town was held Friday inJinnah Ground. He was laid torest in Shuhada Qabristan inAzizabad. The driver and secu-rity guards who were also killedon the attack, were buried in threeother graveyards in Orangi Town.

Deputy Conveners of the Co-ordination Committee AnisAhmed Qaimkhani, Dr NusratShoukat, other members of thecommittee, Senators, MNAs,MPAs, office-bearers of variouswings and sectors as well as thou-sands of MQM workers attendedthe funeral.

Leaders of PPP KarachiNajmi Alam, Rashid Rabbani,Waqar Mehdi, Abid Satti andMunir Khattak, ANP leadersBashir Jan, Amir Nawab, Rana

Gul Afridi, PDP leader BasharatMirza, PML (N) leader NehalHashmi, Matoloob Awan Qadriof Sunni Tehreek and Usman YarKhan of JUI (F) also participatedin the funeral of Manzar Imam.

The funeral prayer was ledby Hafiz Saquib Imam, nephewof Manzar Imam.

Earlier the dead bodies werebrought to Nine Zero where thewidows of the deceased MPA,his driver and security guards,their children, parents, brothers,sisters and other family memberswere present.

Touching scenes were wit-nessed at Nine Zero when thedead bodies were taken to JinnahGround for funeral prayer.Mourners were wearing blackarm bands. Manzar Imam waslaid to rest in the ShuhadaQabristan amid sobs and tears.

The soyem the martyredMQM MPA Manzar Imam, hisdriver and two security guards

will be held today after the Zohrprayer in the Lal Qila Ground,Azizabad.Fateha and recitation of the HolyQuran will be offered for payinghomage to the deceased MPA, hisdriver and guards.

Meanwhile, President ofAwami National Party tele-phoned International Secretariatof Muttahida Quami Movementand condoled with Altaf Hussainon the martyrdom of MQM MPASyed Manzar Imam. He said theANP is with the MQM on thistragic incident and added theANP would take part in themourning being observed by theMQM.

Wali said, “Terrorism is ourcommon enemy. Neither you norwe can fight against this enemyalone. We will not be able to com-bat terrorism unless we get unitedand make concerted efforts.”

Hussain agreed with hisviews and said, “We must wake

up to the situation and get unitedon the single point agenda to fightagainst the elements that are car-rying out terrorism in the nameof Islam. Negligence wouldcause irreparable damage to thecountry.”

Mr Wali said, “We have towalk on the same path as we haveno other option. It is the need ofthe time that we get united andbecome one.”

ANP leader Ghulam AhmedBilour has also condoled withAltaf Hussain on the martyrdomof Manzar Imam.

The ANP leader GhulamAhmed Bilour telephoned MrAltaf Hussain and offered heart-felt condolences on the martyr-dom of MPA Manzar Imam. Hesaid that the ANP leaders andworkers were grieved on thetragic incident.

He underscored the need forcloser relations between the ANPand the MQM.

Manzar Imam laid to restSoyem today; Asfand, Bilour condole with Altaf

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Minister Informa-tion Sindh Sharjeel Inam MemonFriday said Sindh governmenthad carried out record develop-ment schemes throughout theprovince details of which couldbe sent to PML-N chief NawazSharif, if he wishes.

Sharjeel, also the PPP’s cen-tral deputy secretary information,said there was no point regard-ing division of Sindh in SindhLocal Government Act whichwas introduced recently. He saidSharif should answer that why

LG system, which introduced byMusharaf was still being fol-lowed in Punjab.

He said it is the proof of incompetence of Punjab govern-ment that it failed to change theLG system, introduced by a dic-tator.

Sharjeel said more than onelac educated youth of Sindh prov-ince had been inducted in jobs.He said Sharif must answer howmany youth have been providedjobs in Punjab. He further saidthat history witnessed that otherpolitical parties have been in-volved in the sale of jobs.

He has said that Sindh Gov-ernment and Pakistan PeoplesParty only served peoples ofSindh and helped them to mini-mize their miseries during thedevastating floods in last threeyears while other parties onlyappeared for Photo Sessions.

Sharjeel said no one can de-feat the PPP through fake propa-ganda and what so ever the alli-ance is formed against the PPP.He said that those parties areblaming PPP Government of cor-ruption, who took money fromthe dictators and sold their belieffor formation of IJI.

Fake propaganda can’tdefeat PPP: Sharjeel

Saadat Mantoremembered

KARACHI—One of great shortstory-writers Saadat HasanManto was remembered on hisdeath anniversary on Friday.

Saadat Hasan Manto, a greatshort story writer of South Asiain Urdu, was born on May 11,1916. Upon Abdul Bari Alig’smotivation Manto attemptedUrdu translation of The Last Daysof Condemned. Manto completedthe translation and sold it to theUrdu Book Stall, Lahore, underthe title Sarguzasht-e-Aseer.

Having now become a pub-lished author, Manto aided byHasan Abbas soon attempted atranslation of Oscar Wilde’s Vera,which was published in 1934.

Manto also continued to tryhis hand at original short storiesin Urdu, including “InqlabPasand“. Later his, story‘Tamasha” and several otherswere put together into Manto’sfirst collection of original shortstories in Urdu, ‘Atish Pare’, pub-lished in 1936. He came toLahore and joined newspaperParas. In late 1936, he acceptedan invitation to edit the weeklyMusawwir and justified Lahorefor Bombay. —INP

MQM thankspeople for observing

day of mourningSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Co-ordinationCommittee of Muttahida QuamiMovement (MQM) has thankedpolitical and religious parties,traders, industrialists, transport-ers and other people belongingto various walks of life for ob-serving a peaceful day of mourn-ing on the martyrdom of MQMMPA Manzar Imam, his driverand two security guards.

The committee said it hadbecome evident that the peopleof Sindh are solidly unitedagainst terrorism and they wantto see the country free from ter-rorists. The Co-ordination Com-mittee thanked all those who tele-phoned to the International Sec-retariat of the MQM for offeringcondolences on the martyrdom ofManzar Imam.

Police orderedto remainhigh alertSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Inspector Gen-eral of Police (IGP), Sindh,Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari, hasasked the police to remain onhigh alert on 8 Rabi-ul-Awwal onthe occasion of ‘Chup Tazia’.

He directed that steps betaken for advance technicalsweeping and clearance along theroutes of processions and venuesof ‘Majalis’ as well as the park-ing areas.

The IGP called for deploy-ment of additional policemen atImam- Bargahs, mosques andvenues of Majalis.Policemen inplain clothes be also deployed.

He further instructed thatchecking at the entrance and exitpoints of the city be strengthenedfurther. Leghari also called forcoordinated and effective randomsnap checking and patrolling.

THERE is probaby no easy way to combat ageing. Diets and creams claiming their antioxidant properties could

cheat ageing may be worthless, a studysays.

Using Nematodeworms, scientists foundeven those given en-hanced antioxidant powersto deal with tissue damag-ing “free radicals” did notlive longer.

The team from Univer-sity College London said,in the Genes and Develop-ment journal, there was “noclear evidence” they couldslow ageing.

Antioxidants are astaple of the beauty andhealth industries.

This has been based ona 50-year-old theory. Thefree radical theory has filleda knowledge vacuum forover 50 years now, but itdoesn’t stand up to the evidence

In 1956, it was suggested that ageingwas caused by a build-up of molecular dam-age caused by reactive forms of oxygen,called superoxides or free radicals, circu-lating in the body. This is known as oxida-tive stress. Antioxidants supposedlyworked to mop up these free radicals,minimising their damage. This week’sstudy, however, could explain why manystudies aimed at proving the theory havebeen inconclusive. The tiny Nematodeworm, despite appearing to be far-removedfrom the human species, is a useful toolfor scientists who want to explore how our

Antioxidants ‘cannotslow ageing’

bodies work.They share many genes with humans,

and, crucially, have a lifespan measuredin days, which allows scientists to getclues about long-term changes.

The UCL team, led by DrDavid Gems, genetically ma-nipulated nematodes sothat their bodies were ableto “mop up” surplus freeradicals. This is theory,should give them an advan-tage over normal nematodesin terms of ageing andlifespan.

However, these wormslived just as long as the oth-ers, suggesting that “oxida-tive stress” is less of a fac-tor in the ageing of our cellsand tissues as some havesuggested.

Dr Gems said: “The factis that we don’t understandmuch about the fundamen-tal mechanisms of ageing -

the free radical theory has filled a knowl-edge vacuum for over 50 years now, butit doesn’t stand up to the evidence.

“It is clear that if superoxide is in-volved, it plays only a small part in thestory - oxidative damage is clearly not auniversal, major driver of the ageing pro-cess.” He said a healthy, balanced dietwas important for reducing the risk ofmany “old age” diseases, such as cancer,diabetes and osteoporosis, but there wasno clear evidence that eating antioxidantscould slow or prevent ageing, and evenless evidence to support the claims madeby antioxidant pills and creams.

LAHORE: Motorists passing through road during rain in the provincial capitalon Friday.

LAHORE: Relatives and friends mourning on the bodies of the people who lost their lives after the roof of a dilapidatedthree-storey building collapsed.

LDA sets upnew record inmanagement

wingSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Director GeneralLahore Development Au-thority Ahad Khan Cheemahas established the Director-ate of Record Managementunder the administrative con-trol of Additional DirectorGeneral (Housing).

According to the offi-cials of LDA, the DG alsoapproved the creation of onepost of Director (BS 19) andthree posts of Deputy Direc-tors (BS-18) by abolishingone post of Deputy DirectorArchitect, one post ofDeputy Director Researchand Evaluation and fourposts of Assistant DirectorArchitect for the new direc-torate.

A total of 15 posts of sub-ject specialists have alsobeen re-designated as Assis-tant Director (BS-17) for post-ing as many assistant direc-tors in the new directorate.

The Directorate ofRecord Management will pre-serve the record in a profes-sional manner at secureplace and keep ownershipdetails and other vital infor-mation of a property at thecentral place.

It will provide a platformfor digitalisation of propertyfiles and minimize thechances of fraudulent trans-action that mostly occur dueto theft of property files.

STAFF REPORTER

LA H O R E—The LahoreHigh Court Friday issued afresh notice to Young Doc-tors Association (YDA),Pakistan Medical and Den-tal Council (PMDC) andothers for January 25 on aplea seeking directions tocancel licences of youngdoctors for observingstrike. The single benchcomprising Justice Ijaz ulAhsan issued the notice ona plea filed by Judicial Ac-tivism Panel (JAP), a publicinterest litigation firm.

As proceedings started,

LHC issues fresh notice onplea to cancel doctors’ licences

the court was informed thatthe respondents had notappeared despite beingsummoned. Thepetitioner ’s counselpleaded the court to sus-pend licences of doctors forobserving strike.

However, the court re-fused to pass any interimorder observing that nosuch order would be passedwithout hearing the respon-dents. The JAP, in its peti-tion, submitted that YDAhad again resorted to tac-tics and strike despite theprovision of service struc-ture.

It submitted that thedoctors’ step was causingharm to citizens who weredeprived of treatment inhospitals. The act is notonly against orders of theSupreme Court but also vio-lates fundamental rights ofpatients, it added.

Meanwhile, JusticeIjazul Ahsan also adjournedthe hearing of a contemptpetition against the Punjab

health secretary for violat-ing court orders regardingservice structure of doctors,till January 25.

The petition was filedby Dr Javed through coun-sel Raja Zulqarnain. Earlier,a law officer submitted a re-ply from the health secre-tary regarding steps takenfor the provision of servicestructure to doctors.

However, thepetitioner’s counsel soughttime to study the reply. Thecourt accepting the requestadjourned the hearing untilJanuary 25.

The petitioner, in hispetition, submitted that thePunjab government hadfailed to act on court direc-tions regarding doctors’service structure whereas itresorted to coercive mea-sures and many doctorswere suspended or trans-ferred.

The counsel pleadedthe court to restrain thePunjab government fromaction against the doctors.

Court holidayon 25th

LAHORE—The Lahore Highcourt and subordinate courtsin Punjab will remain closedon Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi(SAWW) on January 25.

According to a LHC no-tification, the Lahore HighCourt Principal seat, its al-lied benches includingBahawalpur, Multan andRawalpindi and civil & ses-sions court in Punjab wouldobserve a holiday on Janu-ary 25, instead of January 24as previously was noti-fied.—APP

LHC superintendentsreshuffled

LAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt Friday issued postingand transfer orders of 15 su-perintendents, sessionscourts in Punjab.

According to a LHC noti-fication, the superintendentswho were transferred includeMuhammad Akhtar fromAttock to Rawalpindi,Muhammad Saleem FromRawalpindi to Faisalabad,Muhammad Sabir fromFaisalabad to Attock, AsifAbbas from Layyah to Okara,Malik Ghulam Nabi from Jhangto Layyah, Jam MuhammadArshad from Okara toD.G.Khan, MuhammadNadeem from D.G.Khan toPakpattan, Muhammad Abidfrom Sargodha to Jhang, FalakSher from Chakwal toSargodha, Muhammad Ariffrom Lahore to Multan, RajaMuhammad Ilyas from Multanto Lahore, Ahmad Saeed fromChiniot to Vehari, MuhammadHassan from Vehari to Chiniot,Dildar Ahamd from Pakpattanto Sheikhpura, Abdul Sattarfrom Sheikhpura toChakwal.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Punjab gov-ernment Friday approvedseven development schemes.

The schemes include ‘Pro-posed Islamic DevelopmentBank’s (IDB) Assistance forGovernment of Punjab’s Inter-est Free Self-EmployeeScheme (Concept ClearanceProposal) at an estimated costof Rs 19636.125 million.

Six other developmentschemes of various sectors ofthe economy were also ap-proved worth Rs 7425.391 mil-lion in the 28th meeting of Pro-vincial Development WorkingParty of the current financialyear 2012-13 presided over byPunjab Planning and Develop-ment Board Chairman Javaid

Seven uplift schemes approvedAslam.

Secretary Planning & De-velopment Punjab Arif AnwarBaloch, members of the Plan-ning & Development Boardand other senior representa-tives of relevant provincialdepartments also participatedin the meeting.

The approved develop-ment schemes included:Upgradation (Reconstruc-tion) District HeadquartersHospital Sargodha at a costof Rs. 894.404 million, Con-struction of Flyover on G TRoad in Gujranwala (Revised)at a cost of Rs. 4117.376 mil-lion, Construction of road &high level bridge length 900Rft, between DistrictMianwali and Jand, DistrictAttock & Mianwali (Revised)

at a cost of Rs. 1305.811 mil-lion.

Widening, Improvement& Raising of Gojra to MureedWala Road length 27.65 Km,District T.T. Singh (2nd Re-vised) at a cost of Rs. 274.154million, Dualization of roadfrom Arifwala to BahawalnagarReach km No.24.00 to 40.93 kmlength: 16.93 km districtBahawalnagar (Revised) at acost of Rs. 648.646 million andHiring of Consultancy Ser-vices for Feasibility Studies,Tender Design, ProcurementDocuments and Supervisionof 50 MW Coal Thermal PowerProject on EPC at IndustrialEstates (i) Sundar Lahore (ii)M-3 Industrial City Faisalabadat a cost of Rs. 185.000 millionare also part of the schemes.

Nabeel Gabolwants Karachi

operationSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) leader and MNANabeel Gabol on Friday saidpeace could not be estab-lished in Karachi until thegovernment carries out anoperation as the one orderedby Naseerullah Babar in thecity.

“Karachi had slipped outof the hands of political lead-ers and the Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) was alsoperturbed over the situationin the country’s financialcapital,” he said while talk-ing to reporters after meetingPML-N leader Nawaz Sharifat Raiwind. The PPP leaderoffered condolences toNawaz over the recent deathof Abbas Sharif, a brother ofthe PML-N chief. He alsodiscussed other matters ofmutual interest.

Nabeel said he was notacquiring membership of thePML-N, adding that he wasstill a lawmaker associatedwith the PPP and would notleave the party until Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari directshim to. He added that hisfamily had close ties to theSharifs.

Gabol said it was likelythat the elections in Karachimay get bloody. He furthersaid he enjoyed respect ev-erywhere except within his

Cadets advisedstandards of

emergency serviceMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The DirectorGeneral, Punjab EmergencyService (Rescue 1122) Dr.Rizwan Naseer has urged thecadets to maintain stan-dards of emergency serviceincluding its response timeof seven minutes maintainedby Rescue 1122 during lasteight years.

He was addressing over602 cadets at Emergency Ser-vices Academy here on Fri-day. These cadets are beingtrained for establishment ofRescue 1122 at Tehsil leveland will discharge their dutiesafter passing out from theAcademy.

The Director General ad-vised these cadets that swiftprovision of emergency carein life threatening condition isa primary responsibility of res-cuers and it must be ensuredwith professionalism. Empha-sizing on the importance ofethical values in any profes-sion, he asked them to main-tain their professional appear-ance, courteous handling ofpatients.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—PML-N leaderSenator Pervaiz Rashid hassaid that Maulana Tahir ulQadri had been confined in aclosed street and it was not amatter of concern if he wouldhave been stuck alone in a se-cure royal container but put-ting the lives of women andchildren at stake under an opensky during such a severe coldtantamount to an insult to hu-manity. He said that hadMaulana Qadri been sincere tohis mission, he would havebeen with his followers in thisrainy and cold weather insteadof staying in royal containeror given the same facilities tohis followers.

While talking to media,Senator Pervaiz Rashid saidsaying this by MaulanaQadri that even a single flow-erpot was not broken during

PML-N leader asksQadri to approach SC

long march is highly ridicu-lous as Tahir ul Qadri’s longmarch was for breaching theconstitution and democraticsystem of the country andnot for breaking flowerpots.

He said that the bravepeople of Pakistan can bearthe loss of breaking flower-pots but cannot toleratebreaching the constitutionand democracy. He said thatthe long march was the worstdemonstration of exploita-tion of those followers whohave blind faith in MaulanaQadri. Senator PervaizRashid said Tahir ul Qadri isfully aware of the rules of thatcountry from where he camethat if any man or woman

bring children in a protestduring such severe cold, thegovernment immediatelytakes those children in itscustody while puts that manor woman behind the bar.

Senator Pervaiz Rashidsaid that Maulana Qadri wasresponsible for bringing hisfollowers including innocentchildren, women and agedpersons in unfavorable envi-ronment and put their livesat stake. He said that thereare a number of constitu-tional provisions throughwhich one can achieve hisobjective and Tahir ul Qadrishould also had to adoptconstitutional, democraticand legal way.

Rain waterdraining

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—District Coordina-tion Officer (DCO) LahoreNoor-ul-Amin Mengal on Fri-day directed the all officialsconcerned to take propersteps for pumping out rainywater standing in low-lyingareas of City due to rain.

Mengal stated that nonegligence and excuse wouldbe tolerated if citizens wouldhave to face problems due torain water.