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SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N)President Mian Nawaz SharifThursday presented thePML-N manifesto for elec-tion 2013 and expressed hisfirm resolve to get the coun-try out of the enormity of themultiple challenges of un-precedented loadshedding,massive unemployment, in-creasing poverty, poor gov-ernance, deteriorating lawand order, widespread cor-ruption and galloping infla-tion.

Announcing the partymanifesto at a press confer-ence here on Thursday ,Nawaz Sharif said the PML-N manifesto is an all embrac-ing agenda for national re-newal and real change to re-vive the confidence of peopleby instilling hope, restoringnational dignity and resur-recting Pakistan as a pro-gressive and prosperous na-tion.

Explaining salient fea-tures of the Manifesto, the

PML-N President said a Cabi-net committee on Defence

and National Securityheaded by the prime minister

will be established to main-tain democratic oversight of

all aspects of foreign anddefence policies, ensure that

Nawaz announcesPML-N manifestoParty to create Hazara, South Punjab, Bahawalpur provinces;

eliminate VIP culture Minimum wages of workers to be enhancedto Rs15,000 per month Commitment to CoD reiterated

Continued on Page 7

all institutions i.e. civil or mili-tary act in accordance withthe law and under the in-structions and directives ofthe Federal Cabinet. Needsand requirements of thearmed forces would be metunder all circumstances, andstrategic assets would beprotected.

He announced thatHazara, South Punjab andBahawalpur provinces will becreated. The party govern-ment will eliminate VIP cul-ture and expenses of Presi-dency, Prime Minister, Gov-ernors and Chief Ministerswill be significantly reduced.A specially deigned employ-ment programme will be de-signed to generate three mil-lion new jobs in public andprivate sectors including onemillion each in IT and SMEssectors. Minimum wages of

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LIAQAT TOOR

LAHORE—After temporaryshocks in Lahore suffered atthe hands of PTI which gavealarming signals to two ma-jor parties after its mammothpublic meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan by the end of 2011,PML-N is optimistic to sweepall seats in Lahore.

Lahore, a traditionalstrong-hold of ‘Sharif Broth-ers’ is in the up-beat moodfor PML-N as after PTI trem-ors, metro bus service, con-struction of roads includingmost part of Ring Road,Laptop scheme, AshianaHousing Scheme and othersuch welfare plans have im-pacted positively.

When contacted thepeople in various localities

of Lahore in-cludingShahdara, walled city, MianMir, Gulberg, Achra, JoharTown, Raiwand Road, it wasfound that mostly of thepeople have again turned toPML-N.

The popularity graph ofPPP has gone down as itcould not de-liver, particu-larly the recent spell of heavyloadshedding has badly af-fected the people. The thirdpolitical force, PTI, whichsprang up after successfulpublic meetings in Lahoreand Karachi has suffered inrecent weeks.

When contacted politicalanalysts in the city to knowthe contours of politics, theysaid PTI has en-tangled in itsparty elections and its partyechelons are out of touch with

the people while general elec-tions are just reached on thedoor step. A strong mediateam of PML-N has alsoplayed well in the fast chang-ing situation de-fendingPML-N affectively, turningblames of all ills against PPP.However, the analysts saidthe politics will take newturns after dissolution of na-tional and pro-vincial assem-blies. The victory in electionswill depend on how tactfullyelections campaigns are con-ducted in the city by differ-ent political parties particu-larly PTI. The impact of pub-lic meeting of PTI scheduledfor March 23 in Lahore is yetto be seen, but it is a fact thatLahore is still a strong holdof PML-N, poised for win-ning all eats so far.

PML-N upbeat on sweepingall seats in Lahore

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan willcomplete the $7.5 billion gaspipeline from Iran to Pakistandespite pressure from theUnited States, a spokesmanfor the foreign office saidThursday.

Addressing a press con-ference in Islamabad, foreignministry spokesmanMoazzam Ahmad Khan an-nounced that President AsifAli Zardari would be visitingIran on Monday for the

groundbreaking of the muchdelayed project.

“President Zardari willvisit Iran for thegroundbreaking ceremonyand it will take place onMarch 11,” foreign ministryspokesman Moazzam AhmadKhan told reporters.

He did not give furtherdetails but a senior Pakistaniofficial told news agencyAFP that the ceremonywould be held on the Iran-Pakistan border.

It will be Zardari’s second

visit to Iran since February27 and comes after officialssaid a consortium would startwork on the pipeline on Paki-stani territory on March 11despite American warningsof possible sanctions.

Pakistan suffers from acrushing energy crisis, butthe United States is pushingIslamabad to use its offeredalternative solutions to helpavoid sanctions.

“We are not in a fix… weare very clear about it that

Islamabad to complete Pak-Iranpipeline ‘despite US pressure’

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Rangers forceslaunched an intensive targeted

operation in Karachi’s Lyariarea on Thursday, hours after

the severely tortured bodies oftwo paramilitary personnelwere recovered from MewaShah Graveyard.

All entry and exit points ofthe restive area, marred bygang wars and drug mafias,

Kidnapped Rangers found dead

Operationlaunched in Lyari

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SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Federal Infor-mation Minister, QamarZaman Kaira Thursdaytermed the names proposedby Pakistan Muslim League-N for the caretaker prime min-ister as ‘a political joke’.

He expressed the aboveviews while briefing the me-dia persons on the decisionstaken by the Federal Cabinetin its 130th meeting held hereThursday. Kaira said thatPML-N has itself been criti-cizing the politician whosename is among the three pro-posed by PML-N for the care-taker PM.

“The nominations ofPML-N are nothing morethan a political joke,” he said,claiming “our nominationswould be acceptable to all”.

He said, the Federal Cabi-net, in its meeting , decidedto extend provincial quota infederal government jobs foranother 20 years. Briefing newsmen about

proceedings of the Cabinetalong with Finance MinisterSaleem Mandviwalla, Minis-ter for Information andBroadcasting Qamar ZamanKaira said the meeting alsoallowed import of non-pro-hibited bore arms to curb theirsmuggling. He said these arms wouldbe purchased those to whomprohibited bore licenses areissued. The cabinet decided toprovide 12 billion rupee worthof subsidy on agriculturaltubewells for the benefit offarmers. The Minister saidunlike the general impressionneighbouring countries ofPakistan are offering moresubsidies to their farmersthen we are giving to ourfarmers. The cabinet allowed Un-accounted For Gas (UFG) atfifty percent of the demandmade by the gas companiesas an interim relief to them.It formed a committee to de-

PML-N nominationsfor caretaker PM ‘apolitical joke’: Kaira

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Corps Commandersdiscuss country’s

securitySTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The 158thCorps Commanders’ Confer-ence was held at GeneralHeadquarters on Thursday.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS)General Ashfaq ParvezKayani chaired the meeting.

Apart from professionalContinued on Page 7

SC ordersimmediate returnof ex-OGRAChairmanISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt, while hearing OGRACorruption Case, hasdirected Secretary ForeignAffairs to take immediatemeasures for the comebackof OGRA’s former ChairmanTauqeer Sadiq to Pakistan.

The apex court hasasked the Foreign Secretaryto remove all the documen-tal loopholes related toSadiq’s return to thecountry.

A two-member benchheaded by Justice Jawad SKhwaja heard the OGRACorruption Case onThursday.

During the hearing,

SC constituteslarger bench forhearing AbbasTown carnage caseISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan onThursday constituted alarger bench for the hearingof suo moto case overAbbas Town bombing. OnWednesday, a three-member bench comprisingChief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry,Justice Amir Hani Muslimand Justice Ejaz Afzal heldan initial hearing and issuedan interim order.

But the Supreme Courthas decided to constitute alarger bench and includedJustice Jawwad S Khawajaand Justice Khilji Arif. Thechief justice will be headingthe bench. The bench willresume the hearing today(Friday).—INP

LAHORE: PMl-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharifannouncing PML-N Manifesto for Election 2013.

CJCSC calls onPresident

ISLAMABAD—General KhalidShameem Wynne, ChairmanJoint Chiefs of Staff Commit-tee (CJCSC) called on Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari at thePresident House here Thurs-

day.Professional matters per-

taining to the armed forceswere discussed during themeeting, said a press releaseissued here from the Presi-dent House.—Online

‘Govt to give itsinput to EC fornomination formfor candidates’ISLAMABAD —LawMinister Farooq H. Naekhas said that the Govern-ment would give its inputto the Election Commis-sion by for incorporationin the proposed nomina-tion form for the electioncandidates.

Talking to newsmenafter meeting with theCommission in Islamabadthis afternoon‚ he said theform should be finalizedkeeping in view thequalifications and dis-qualifications of thecandidates as contained inArticles-62 and 63 of theConstitution.

He said after finaliza-tion of the form by theCommission‚ it would besent to the President forapproval.

He said the Presidentwould decide the matteraccording to the law andthe Constitution.—Online

Election likely todelay due to

chaos: Pir PagaraISLAMABAD—Pakistan Mus-lim League-Functional(PML-F) chief Pir PagaraSibghatullah Shah Rashidihas said that general elec-tions are likely to delay dueto poor law and order situa-tion in the country.

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Assailants shootmother, daughter

in DI KhanPESHAWAR—Unknown as-sailants have gunned downa mother and her daughternear Gomal University in DeraIsmail Khan district, policesaid Thursday. According toUniversity Police Station DIKhan, unidentified attackersequipped with automaticweapons entered in thehouse of Roshan Khan atFateh Mor villege andopened indiscriminate firingon his family. As result, hiswife Waheeda and daughterNaseern were died on thespot.

The reason behind thecold blooded murder couldnot be immediately ascer-tained. Police have registeredcase against unknown ac-cused on the complaint ofRoshan Khan and started in-vestigation.

BannuMar 7 (APP): Un-known culprits have killedman at a village, Hassan Khelin the limits of Cantonmentpolice station, police said onThursday. Sharifullah, resi-dent of North WaziristanAgency was ambushed byunidentified assailants inHassankhel when he cameout from home for some work.The reason behind the coldblooded murder could not beascertained. Police have reg-istered case against the ac-cused and started investiga-tion.—APP

800 kg narcoticsseized in GulistanQUETTA—Law enforcementpersonnel recovered hugequantity of narcotics from avehicle in Gulistan area ofKilla Abdullah district onThursday. According to Lev-ies force, a suspected vehiclewas signaled to stop forchecking when its driver didnot stop the vehicle at themoment. Law enforcementpersonnel chased the ve-hicle when the driver left italong with 800 kg hashish.

Further investigation wasunderway. Launching a crack-down against anti social ele-ments, police claimed on Thurs-day to have arrested 60 out-laws and recovered ammunitionfrom their possession. Accord-ing to details, in a crackdownconducted on the directives ofCCPO a total of 60 outlaws werearrested from Charsadda,Nowshera and environs of pro-vincial metropolis.

Police also recovered fiveKalashnikovs, two shotguns, 20 pistols and three ki-lograms hashish from theirhideouts. Cases have beenregistered against the ar-rested in relevant police sta-tions and investigation isunderway.—APP

QUETTA—Irritated protestorson Thursday blocked nationalhighway linking Balochistanwith rest of the country againstthe power outages. The sup-porters of National Party,Balochistan National Party,and representatives of tradeunions, Zameendar ActionCommittee converged at Na-tional High way in Wadh andMastung areas of Balochistandisrupting smooth flow of traf-fic on the road.

Protest demonstrationcaused long queue of ve-hicles in Mastung and Wadhfor some time, however, lateron the assurance of local ad-ministration, the infuriatedprotestors allowed vehiclesremoving barricades from theroad. Steps afoot for peacein Quetta, says Dashti: Com-missioner Quetta divisionQambar Dashti said onThursday that steps wereafoot to maintain peace inQuetta.

Talking to participants of40th Common Training Pro-

gram here at Commissioneroffice, he said that Police andLevis Force in their respec-tive areas vigilant, in view ofthe contemporary challengesfaced by the LEAs person-nel they were being trainedon modern lines to cope withthe menace of terror in theregion. He said that work onthe construction of small andbig dams were underway,Scarcity of water is a globalissue, however, completionof dams and other suchprojects would bring aboutpositive change in the livesof farmers and other people.

He said that Quetta divi-sion is rich in mines and min-erals and measure were be-ing taken to explore thembenefiting the area people.NAB arrests official of FoodDeptt: National Accountabil-ity Bureau (NAB)Balochistan on Thursday ar-rested Nazar MuhammadKakar chief accounts officerof Food DepartmentBalochistan.—APP

Girls’ schooldamaged inbomb blastSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—A low-intensitybomb planted to the outerwall of the Government GirlsPrimary School at KaramKhan Banda in Mardan dis-trict was blasted with hugesound on late night, howeverno casualty was reported.

According to Mardanpolice, the incident occurredin the limits of Katlang po-lice station when a low inten-sity bomb was planted to theouter wall of the school andexploded late night. The walland a room of the structuredamaged. No casualty hasbeen reported. The Policerushed to the spot andstarted investigation. Powershutdown notice forPeshawar, Mardan: ThePeshawar Electric SupplyCompany (PESCO) hereThursday issued power shut-down notice for Peshawar,Mardan and DargaiMalakand.

According to PESCOSpokesman here, power sup-ply will remain closedfrom132 KV Peshawar indus-trial grid station on March 10from 8.30am to 2.30pm due totechnical work andresultantly the consumers of11 KV Kohat Raod, IndustrialEstate, Deh Bahadar, newDehbahadar, Murshadabadfeeders will face inconve-nience. From 132 KV HussaiGrid station on 8th,12thMarch from 8:am to 2:pmpower supply will not avail-able and resultantly the con-sumers of 11 kv Ismaila, KaluKhan, Bakhshali.—APP

PSF educatesmore than

145,386 studentsISLAMABAD—Pakistan Sci-ence Foundation (PSF) haseducated more than 145,386Students of 440 Schoolsthroughout the country, byarranging science caravansand mobile science exhibition,mounted on especially de-signed vehicles. They consistof display items like Panel Ex-hibits having photographsand write-ups, equipment, in-flatable planetarium, documen-taries, microscopes, comput-ers, laser holograms and work-ing models reflecting variousphenomena of physics, chem-istry, mathematics and biology.

At present, nine ScienceCaravan Units are in opera-tion, two for each of the fourprovinces and one is sta-tioned at Islamabad. Talkingto APP, Spokesperson PSFRehana Batool said ScienceCaravans are meant for orga-nizing Mobile Science Exhibi-tions for the students andgeneral public. Science Cara-van is a specially designedtruck which carries a consign-ment of scientific and techno-logical concepts displayedthrough simple exhibits, col-orful diagrams and photo-graphs, specimens along withtheir write-ups, inflatable Plan-etarium system and workingmodels on various subjects.

The science exhibition isinstalled in a central school/college and the students fromthe neighboring schools aswell as general public visitthese exhibitions. The visitsare arranged in collaborationwith the relevant Directorateof Education.—APP

FAISALABAD—Chief Minis-ter Punjab MuhammadShahbaz Sharif will visitFaisalabad on Saturday(March 9). According to aspokesman of the city dis-trict government, the CMPunjab was scheduled tovisit Faisalabad on March 2,but due to certain reasons thevisit was postponed.

The Chief MinisterPunjab will inaugurate Medi-cal College at Susan Roadadjacent to Social SecurityHospital. The Chief Minis-ter will also visit the underconstruction site ofAbdullahpur Underpasswhere he would be briefedabout the pace of develop-ment project.

Later, the CM will alsoaddress a meeting at UstadNusrat Fateh Ali Khan Audi-torium of Faisalabad Arts

Council where PML-N lead-ers and area notables willparticipate. The spokesmanfurther told that the CMwould also visit the new cam-pus of Government CollegeUniversity Faisalabad(GCUF) and lay foundationstone for its constructionbesides distributing laptopsand solar lamps among thestudents and proprietary let-ters among the residents ofKatchi Abadies.

The Chief MinisterPunjab is also expected tomake announcement for theestablishment of LahoreHigh Court (LHC) bench atFaisalabad, the spokesmansaid and added that a rous-ing reception would be ac-corded to the CM on his ar-rival at Faisalabad and forthis purpose all arrangementshave been finalized.—APP

KARACHI—Public Health, asteadily growing field inrealms of medical educationremains neglected in our con-text despite its establishedbenefit for both healthy, dis-eased populations followedby its implications on socialdevelopment and economicgrowth. Experts speaking ata session organised bySchool of Public Health, DowUniversity of Health Sci-ences (DUHS) Thursday la-mented indifference of policymakers towards mandatoryprovision of public healtheducation in the fast grow-ing network of public sectormedical universities in thecountry.

There was said to exists

just one Institute of PublicHealth in Lahore followed bySchool of Public Health atDUHS. Dr. Hussain BuxKolachi said the establishmentof School of Public Health(SPH) at DUHS was a land markstep in health care deliverysystem in the country. “Ourhealthcare system is curativeand hospital oriented. SPHSchool will change this para-digm leading to expansion incommunity and populationbased services,” he said.

He said the country withlow budgetary allocationsfor health sector with almostnon existent healthcare strat-egies to address steady in-crease in communicable andnon communicable diseases

needs a health educationsystem that is more preven-tive, promotive and educa-tional in nature. Dr. Kolachisaid M.Phil course in publichealth education will be of-fered to medical, dental, nurs-ing and allied medical sci-ence graduates. Dr. SabinaJalil said SPH would producepublic health professionalswho shall be self directed lifelong learners employing evi-dence- based decision mak-ing approach.

“The SPH aims at devel-oping public health profes-sionals who shall assumeleadership positions inacademia, health related in-stitutions, international do-nor agencies and research

institutions,” she said. Dr.Sabeena mentioned thatPMDC has approved fouryears as well as two yearsdegree programmes to be of-fered at SPH including MS inPublic Health Nutritional Sci-ences, MS in Public HealthPolicy and Management,M.Phil in public health andMasters in Public Health.

She sounded confidentthat the graduates shall becritical thinkers equippedwith the knowledge, attitudeand skills to address the pub-lic health problems at policyformulation, programmeimplementation, programmemonitoring and evaluationwith an emphasis on re-search. This shall be

achieved through state ofthe art innovative educa-tional strategies involvingvariety of learning and teach-ing methods including use ofadvanced educational elec-tronic technologies.

Dr. Nilofer Safdar, Coordi-nator for Master of Science inPublic Health Nutritional Sci-ences said malnutrition is onthe rise in Pakistan as morethan 23% of the populationof Sindh suffers from chronicmalnutrition. More than 40%of the population suffers fromchronic malnutrition nation-ally (National Nutrition Sur-vey 2012). Dr. Nilofer Safdarsaid challenges in nutrition areproblems of chronic diseases,malnutrition, infectious dis-

eases and nutritional defi-ciencies that require applica-tion of knowledge in varieddisciplines of public health inorder to aim for optimum nu-trition status among themasses.

“Comprehensive inter-disciplinary programme witha broad educational back-ground can blend nutritionalsciences with epidemiology,social and behavioural sci-ences, health policy and man-agement, community educa-tion and research,” she said.Students enrolled with Mas-ters in Public Health Nutri-tional Sciences will equipthemselves to deal with nu-tritional problems in a publichealth setting.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for Science and Technol-ogy (S&T) Mir ChangezKhan Jamali on Thursdaycalled upon the students tofind solutions to energy cri-sis being faced by the coun-try. Addressing the launch-ing cermony of InternationalTravelling Expo titled “En-ergy for a Sustainable World”here at National Centre forPhysics (NCP), Quaid-i-Azam University, he said stu-dents’ attention towardsresolution of such issuescould only be divertedthrough science populariza-tion through Expos.

French AmbassadorPhilippe Thiebuad, SecretaryMinistry of S&T AkhlaqAhmad Tarar, Chairman Pa-kistan Science Foundation(PSF), Prof. Dr. Manzoor H.Soomro and Chairman NCP

Board of Governors Prof. Dr.Ishfaq Ahmed were alsopresent on the occasion. PSFin collaboration with Em-bassy of France has arrangedthe two-month long Expo inPakistan which will travelfrom Islamabad toMuzzafarabad (AJK), Gilgit,Abbottabad, Gujrat, Larkanaand Quetta.

Jamali said Expos providean opportunity to young sci-entists to develop new ideasand concepts of science. Helauded the PSF and FranceEmbassy’s role in arrangingthe international travellingexpos in Pakistan and as-sured his full support to con-tinue such activities. FrenchAmbassador PhilippeThiebuad said during Paki-stani President Asif AliZardari’s meeting withFrench President in Paris, it

was decided that Pakistanand France will enhance theircooperation in the field ofhigher education and energysector.

The Ambassador saidthe countries of the entireworld are facing the chal-lenge of energy crisis. Hesaid in order to overcome thisissue there was a need todevelop new technologies.He said this exhibition willcreate interest among thestudents to develop newideas of energy efficiencyand its sustainable use fornational development.

Secretary Ministry ofS&T Akhlaq Ahmad Tararcongratulated PSF for creat-ing awareness among stu-dents and general massesabout the scientific con-cepts. He said the Expo onenergy in Pakistan was a tes-

timony to their visit to Francelast year. Tarar said the exhi-bition create a lot of interestamong the young scientiststo develop new ideas aboutsustainable use of energy.

He assured Ministry’scontinued support to PSF inits different programmesmeant for promotion of sci-ence and technology. PSFChairman Prof. Dr. ManzoorH. Soomro said though theExpo was opened for stu-dents in Islamabad on Marchit was formally launched onMarch 7.

He said PSF has alsotaken up the task to sendPakistani students in Lon-don International Youth Sci-ence Forum so that theycould exchange their ideaswith other students of theworld for betterment of themankind.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Me-teorological Department onThursday forecasts mainlydry weather in most parts ofthe country during next 24hours. According to met of-fice, Continental air is prevail-ing over most parts of thecountry. In KhyberPakhtunkhwa, mainly dryweather is expected in mostparts of the province duringnext 24 hours.

However Thunderstorm-rain may occur at few placesof Malakand division andGilgit-Baltistan on Fridaynight. Day temperatureslikely to continue above nor-mal 4-6øC in plain areas of thecountry. In Sindh, dryweather is expected in mostparts of the province duringnext 24 hours. Day tempera-tures are likely to rise in theprovince. Dry weather is alsoexpected in most parts ofBalochistan during next 24hours. KP Provincial Met of-fice has forecast dry andwarm weather for the provin-cial capital and most parts ofthe province in next 24 hours.

The maximum tempera-ture remained 31 degree cen-tigrade in the provincial me-tropolis on Thursdaywhereas the minimum re-corded temperature stood at11 degrees. People have al-ready started wearing sum-mers outfits due to risingtemperature and sunshine atday time. According to metoffice the current dry spell

would continue for the nextfew days. The MetrologicalStation here on Thursdaypredicted thunderstorm rainat few places of MalakandDivision and Gilgit Baltistanduring next 48 hours.

According to Met Officehere, thunderstorm rain mayoccur in some places ofMalakand Division and Gilgit

Baltistan on Friday evening/night that will make the ris-ing temperature down.Meanwhile, continental air isprevailing over most parts ofthe country. However, thetemperature will remain dry inmost parts of the countryduring next 24 hours whileday temperatures will likelyto remain above normal 4-6Cin plain areas of the country.

Astore with -4C remainedthe coldest place of the coun-try followed by Parachinar -2C, Kalam -1C, Hunza andSkardu 0C and pollen countremained 96 per cubic meter.Hot and dry weather is ex-pected in the city during thenext 24 hours. According toMet Office here, mainly dryweather will prevail in Sindhand Balochistan region overthis period.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for Information andBroadcasting, Qamar ZamanKaira urged the politicians tofollow the ideological politicsand avoid changing theirloyalties for political gains.Talking to PTV, he said thatthe politicians, who are notfollowing ideological normswould lose their politicalcredibility. He said that Paki-stan Peoples Party (PPP) be-lieves in ideological politics,follows the democratic norms

and is against changing thepolitical loyalties.

Replying to a question, hesaid that Pakistan MuslimLeague (N) for the first time inthe country’s politics was con-testing a free and fair elections,adding that in the past thisparty had got victory in pollsthrough the support of stateagencies. He said that thePML-N had strongly criticizedthe Raisani provincial govern-ment for not maintaining peacein Balochistan and questioned

that now how they includedLashkari Raisani in their party.Replying to another question,Kaira said that interim setupwould have limited power andit would not influence thecoming general elections atany cost, he said. Kaira saidthat nomination of caretakerPrime Minister is under theConstitution of Pakistan. Hesaid that interim prime minis-ter would be nominated inconsultation with leaders ofthe house.—APP

New health strategies on anvil to fight contagious diseases

Educated youth capable to seek energy solutions: Jamali

Kaira urges politiciansto avoid swinging sides

Shahbaz to visitFaisalabad tomorrow

Dry weather to continue

National highway blockedas power outages protest

7m saplings tobe planted

HYDERABAD—Sindh ForestDepartment has fixed a tar-get of planting of seven mil-lion saplings during SpringTree Plantation Campaign2013. Sindh Conservator ofForests informed here onThursday that during thecampaign saplings will beplanted in forests, nurseriesand other public places ofthe province.

In order to create aware-ness about the benefits ofplanting saplings, he in-formed that the departmentwill also conduct seminarsand workshops with partici-pation of officers of govern-ment departments, represen-tatives of the growers’organisations, non-govern-ment organisations and civilsociety.

The experts will briefthe participants of theworkshops about the careand protection of the sap-lings with the objective ofsaving the province frompolluted environment, headded.—APP

QUETTA: Lawyers hold a demonstration for recovery of Prosecutor General Balochistan Wasay Tareen.

CHINIOT: An attractive view of Chiniot Railway and Chenab Bridge from hills.

PESHAWAR: Members of FATA Ad-hoc Lecturers Association protesting in favour oftheir demands.

Continuity in democratic systemISLAMABAD—Member National Assem-bly of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP),Nafeesa Shah said that all-out effortsshould be made to continue democraticsystem in the country. She said thatsome elements wanted to derail democ-racy in the country. Nafeesa Shah saidthat those elements involved in theQuetta and Karachi incidents, wantedto delay elections and derail democracy.Talking to a private television channel,

she said that election process should continue to achiev-ing progress and prosperity for the people of this country.She said that elements targeting Karachi, wanted to dis-turb peace in the country. Replying to a question, PPPMNA said that there are challenges which should be tack-led with collective efforts of all parties and stakeholders.She urged all the political parties to work for smooth func-tioning of democracy in the country. She said that actionshould be taken against the defunct organizations. Shesaid that the people should inform the law enforcementagencies about any suspected elements so that quick ac-tion could be taken to arrest these elements. Replying toanother question she said that present government wantedto transfer the powers after the election process. She saidthat consensus for caretaker set-up should be made withall the political parties and stakeholders for continuity ofdemocratic system in the country.—APP

Peace in country priorityISLAMABAD—Member National Assem-bly (MNA) of Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP), Shazia Mari has said that anti-social elements are involved in derail-ing peace in Karachi city. Expressing herheartfelt grief over Abbas Town inci-dent in which several innocent peoplewere killed and injured, she said thatsome elements wanted to create unrestin Karachi areas. She said that all thepolitical parties including coalition part-

ners are responsible to maintain peace and tranquility intheir respective areas. Talking to a private television chan-nel, she said that political point scoring on the tragic inci-dent of Abbas Town should be avoided. Shazia Mari saidthat courts should take notice of these incidents and ar-rest the culprits involved in disrupting peace in the Karachi.She said “We are deeply shocked over the loss of lives inthe recent Karachi blast.” Replying to a question, she saidthat there is no conflict between Shia and Sunni. She saidthat some relatives of Deputy Speaker Sindh Assemblyhad also lost lives in the Abbas Town incident. Shazia saidthat all-out efforts are being made to maintain peace in thecountry. Earlier, Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly, ShehlaRaza on Wednesday said that the government had issuedRs 250 million to compensate victim families killed and in-jured persons of Abbas Town, blast in Karachi. The gov-ernment was also allocating Rs 130 million for the recon-struction of the targeted building in Abbas Town, she saidwhile talking to a private TV channel. She informed thatgovernment was providing all health facilities to the in-jured persons. The government was fully in contact withthe victim families of the incident, she added. Replying toa question, she stressed on collective efforts of politicalparties and security institutions to establish a strategy forcurbing terrorism. She said that some elements tried topoliticize the issue of terrorism in the country.—APP

Farewell to MPAs, administrative headsStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Chief Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa Amir Haider Khan Hotihosted a farewell luncheon in the honorof member provincial assembly and ad-ministrative heads of the provincialgovernment departments here at CMHouse. who were in attendance at thefarewell function included Speaker Pro-vincial Assembly Khyber PakhtunkhwaKirmatullah Khan, Senior ProvincialMinister Rahim Dad Khan, MPAs of all

political parties including Pir Sabir Shah, Abdul AkbarKhan, Mufti Kifayatullah, Javed Abbasi and others, Sena-tor and president ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa AfrasayabKhattak, Secretary General ANP, Arbab Muhammad Tahir,Secretary Information ANP, Malik Mustafa, ProvincialMinisters, Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir, InspectorGeneral Police Akbar Khan Hoti, Administrative Secretar-ies of all provincial departments, commissioners, DIGs andother high officials attended the luncheon. ANP will comeinto power again: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa AmirHaider Khan Hoti hope that Awami National Party will comeinto power again with an overwhelming majority on thebasis of its performance. Talking to a private news chan-nel, he said that during the last 5 years there had beensuch a tremendous development in the province whichcould not be possible during the last sixty years. The CMsaid all the districts of province had been treated equallyin terms of developmental projects, and he is fully satis-fied that no discrimination had been made with any area ofthe province. He said that work on Children Hospitals inMardan and Charsadda is also in progress. The peoplewill get better health facilities on completion of all ongoingprojects in health sector in the province, he added.

Women playing pivotal roleGUJAR KHAN—First Lady BegumNusrat Pervez Ashraf said that womenare integral part of the society and play-ing pivotal role for socio-economic de-velopment of the country. She ex-pressed these views during a Mehfil-e-Milad here at Karanb Ilyas, in order tocommemorate the auspicious occasionof Eid-e-Milad un Nabi (Peace Be UponHim). The First Lady said that womenhad always been an important segment

of the society and without their active participation thecountry could not achieve the desired goals of progressand prosperity. On this occasion, the women participantsoffered Durood-o-Salam for the blessed soul of ProphetHazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). The orators high-lighted the Usswa-e- Hasana (the life style) of the ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) featuring his compassion for the man-kind. They offered prayers for the prosperity of countryand unity of Muslim Ummah. A large number of womenfrom different walks of life attended the Mehfil-e- Milad.Begum Nusrat Pervez also heard the problems of the peopleof the area and assured them that government is deter-mined to resolve them on priority basis. Later, the firstlady also distributed sewing machines and cheques amongthe deserving women. PPP has maximum support inPakistan:No matter who wins Pakistan’s general electionsscheduled for May, the next government will have to reckonwith a strong opposition, said a new survey by a Germaninstitute. The survey by Heinrich Boll Stiftung gave leadto Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), with 29 percent of therespondents supporting the martyred Benazir Bhutto’sparty that heads the current coalition government. Nearly25 percent said they would vote for the main oppositionparty, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), ledby former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Another 20 percent supported cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan ofthe Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).—APP

THATTA—Sindh Chief Min-ister Syed Qaim Ali Shah whois also the President, Paki-stan Peoples Party (PPP)Sindh has said that the ele-ments who do not want elec-tions in the country are in-volved in creating law andorder situation. Being ademocratic party the PPP isfully determined to conductgeneral elections within thetime frame which accordingto him is the only way to re-solve the problems and makethe country stronger andprosperous. “We have facedmany anti-democratic con-spiracies in the past andwould meet them with suc-cess in future as well,” theChief Minister said while ad-dressing a big public gath-ering at Mirpur Sakro in Dis-trict Thatta late Wednesdayevening.

Chief Minister said thatthe PPP is the only party,

which sacrificed its leader-ship and party workers to re-store democracy and basicrights of the people.Criticising the political oppo-nents, he said that the mainopponent of PPP had surren-dered to a dictator soon afterlosing the government andwithin two to three monthsof languishing in jail whereasShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhuttopreferred to sacrifice his liferather than compromise withthe dictator.

Similarly, ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhuttonot only rendered marvellousservices for the nation butalso fought for basic rightsof the people, restoration ofdemocracy and finally sacri-ficed her life in the way, hesaid. Qaim Ali Shah said thatafter assassination ofShaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto, Pakistan MuslimLeague (N) had announced

the boycott of the generalelections in 2007 but when itsleadership came to Nauderoto offer fateha, President AsifAli Zardari persuaded themfor contesting the electionsand they agreed. Thus thePresident taught them poli-tics but now they have turnedagainst PPP.

He said that people arewitness that Muslim League(N) leadership is being wel-comed only by leaders styl-ing themselves as national-ists. The PML (N) is a bigsupporter of Kala Bagh Damand had announced for itsconstruction when they werein power, he said and askedthe nationalists as to whythey were supporting a lead-ership which is keen to buildKala Bagh Dam. He said thatthis is a double standard ofboth the elements only tomisguide the innocentpeople of Sindh but now the

people are more aware andwill not pay heed to them.

He said that during thelast five years, PPP had servedthe people at large. Hugeamount has been invested indevelopment schemes, hesaid and added that the PPPgovernment has provided 0.1million direct jobs to unem-ployed youth and enhancedthe skills capacity of 0.175million youth, who were ad-mitted to different trainingprogrammes. Out of them 30thousands youth have beenabsorbed in the private sec-tor, the Sindh CM said.

Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah said that it isan irony that the PPP govern-ment is providing jobs to thepeople while the nationalistswith the support of otherpeople are obtaining “stay”from the courts to stop theprocess of employment in thisregard. He informed that the

present government has built2000 houses in Makli with thehelp of Turkish Government,four thousands houses inShikarpur, seven thousandsin Kashmore and 200 to 300houses in each district ofSindh to provide shelter toshelterless people / flood vic-tims.

While discussing geo-graphical importance ofMirpur Sakro, the Chief Min-ister said that by virtue of its60 kms coastal belt and richsurface and sub surface re-sources, Mirpur Sakro is veryimportant economically. Hesaid that it is a matter of ap-prehension that sea intrusionwas damaging economic re-sources of Thatta district. Heinformed that the PPP gov-ernment had conceived manyprojects to get the sea intru-sion stopped and make effi-cient utilisation of the re-sources of the area for pros-

perity in the area and theZulfikarabad Project is one ofthem, he added.

He said that this was theconcept of ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhuttowhich she had presented bythe name of Keti BandarProject. Responding to thedemands made in welcomeaddress by Ex-MPA GhulamQadir Palijo, the Chief Minis-ter announced for establish-ment of Sindh UniversityCampus, Medical College,Engineering College and aDegree College at MirpurSakro, reconstruction ofGhulamullah to Mirpur SakroRoad and Gharo toGhulamullah Road,implemention of the schemeapproved for providing gasto Bhohara Town, rehabilita-tion and strengthening of lo-cal hospital including ZaidBin Al-Nahiyan Hospitalbuilt in 1970.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Governor, Engr.Shaukatullah has stressed theneed to complete feasibilitystudies on small dam projects:materialize the ongoing devel-opment schemes to the maxi-mum number and extent: fo-cus on seeking employmentopportunities for the skilledyouth and encourage solarbased energy system in theareas which lack normal elec-trification system in particu-lar in FATA

Presiding over the 7thmeeting of the Steering Com-mittee of FATA DevelopmentAuthority at Governor’sHouse, Peshawar, the Gover-nor while taking highly keeninterest in the prevailing stateof the implementation processof the various development

projects and said that we needto further streamline the on-going arrangements as well asexploitation of mineral wealthis concerned. Responding ona point the Governor alsostressed the need to vigor-ously persue the projects re-quired to be cleared for imple-mentation from the respectivecompetent forums.

Ex-Federal Minister, Dr.Ghazi Gulab Jamal.and ex-MNA, Haji Bismillah JanKhan also attended the meet-ing besides the AdditionalSecretary of the Federal Min-istry of SAFRAN, Tahira Zia,Additional Chief Secretary,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Attaullah Khan, AdditionalChief Secretary, FATA, Dr.Tashfin Khan, Principal Sec-retary to the Governor,Muhammad Abid Majeedwhile Mr. Shah Sahib, Chief

Executive of the Authorityhighlighted the agenda items.

The meeting after thor-oughly examining the pre-vailing state of the projectsencompassed under the An-nual Reports of the years,2010-11, 2011-12 and the An-nual Development Plan,2012-13 observed that theachievements of the organi-zation especially in respect ofpromoting economic activi-ties are of great importancefor ensuring better outcomeof the available resources.The meeting was informedthat the Authority with thetask of a total of 43 majorprojects in seven sectors;including construction ofsmall dams; exploitation anddevelopment of mineralwealth; skills developmentfor youth; promotion of in-dustries; physical planning.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The KhyberMedical University (KMU)Peshawar will organize distri-bution ceremony of “NawaySahr (new dawn) Laptop”scheme here. Laptops wouldbe distributed among distin-guished students and posi-tion holders at the convoca-tion hall of University ofPeshawar, says a statementof KMU here Thursday.

This is continuity of theprovincial government’sprogramme under “NawaySehr laptop scheme” thatwas launched in Feb 10,bythe Chief Minister KP AmeerHaider Khan Hoti to encour-age students, who had se-cured highest positions intheir respective examina-tions. Earlier, Chief MinisterKhyber Pakhtunkhwa AmirHaider Khan Hoti Wednes-day hosted a farewell lun-

cheon in the honor of mem-ber provincial assembly andadministrative heads of theprovincial government de-partments here at CMHouse.

Those who were in atten-dance at the farewell functionincluded Speaker ProvincialAssembly KhyberPakhtunkhwa KirmatullahKhan, Senior Provincial Minis-ter Rahim Dad Khan, MPAs ofall political parties including PirSabir Shah, Abdul Akbar Khan,Mufti Kifayatullah, JavedAbbasi and others, Senator andpresident ANP KhyberPakhtunkhwa AfrasayabKhattak, Secretary GeneralANP, Arbab Muhammad Tahir,Secretary Information ANP,Malik Mustafa, Provincial Min-isters, Chief Secretary GhulamDastagir, Inspector GeneralPolice Akbar Khan Hoti, Ad-ministrative Secretaries of allprovincial departments.

Multan womento join

Islamabad MelaMULTAN—Women entrepre-neurs from Multan will jointhree-day women Mela (Fes-tival) being organized by LokVirsa in collaboration withLok Parya at Islamabad fromMarch 8 to mark the WorldWomen Day on Friday. Foodstalls, jewellery, dress, kids’products, work of artisansand craftsmen and skilledwomen would be displayedat the three-day festival. Cul-tural programme would alsobe held there. Women entre-preneurs from Multan includ-ing Samina Waqar, Mrs Zaidi,Masooma Zaidi, RehanaKausar.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Minister for In-formation & Culture and Par-liamentary Leader of ANP,Mian Iftikhar Hussain Thurs-day said that environment fortalks with Taliban was veryconducive as all the politicalforces were unanimous ontalks with them for peace andthe Taliban also have ex-pressed their consent for it.He urged the federal govern-ment to convene a nationallevel conference comprisingof all the stake-holders to forma powerful committee to ini-tiate formal efforts for lastingpeace in the region, he added.

This, he said, while address-ing the oath taking ceremonyof Timergara Press Club, DirLower here on Thursday.Provincial Minister for Live-stock, Haji Hidayatullah Khanalso addressed on the occa-sion while Director Informa-tion, Shuaib ud Din and As-sistant Director, JournalisticAffairs, Waheedullah werealso present. Referring to thewelcome address presentedby the Chairman of the Execu-tive Council of the Press Club,Abdullah Madani, the Infor-mation Minister announced agrant of Rs 50 million, con-struction of Hall and practicalsteps for the proposed Me-dia Colony in Dir Lower.

Talking on the political situ-ation of the country, MianIftikhar maintained, it was forthe first time in the history ofthe country that a democraticgovernment was completing itsfive-year constitutional tenurein complete democratic envi-ronment. He said that creditalso goes to the Opposition ofthe country which played aconstructive role in stabilizingthe democracy instead of top-pling the government.

He also praised the role ofANP which fully supportedthe central government anddiscourage the politics ofblack-mailing, adding it didnot make any unjust demandfrom the government.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Local leaders ofPML-N, Major (Retd) LiaquatAli Gilani and PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) LibasKhan Thursday announcedto join Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) by expressing confi-dence in its leadership. Bothpolitical leaders announcedtheir decision in the presenceof president, PPP, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, AnwarSaifullah Khan. Provincialsecretary information, PPP,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Min-ister for Excise & Taxation,

Liaquat Shabab, SaeedAhmad Khan, Akbar Khanadvocate, Nighat YasminOrakzai, Sher Azam Wazir andZamin Khan advocate werealso present on the occasion.

Announcing his decisionof quitting PML-N, LiaquatAli Gilani said he is joiningPPP under the leadership ofAnwar Saifullah Khan un-conditionally. He said that hewas invited to the party byLiaquat Shabab, Mian YahyaShah and Mian Rahim Shahand pledged to remain loyalto the party till death. Speak-ing on the occasion, provin-

cial president, PPP, AnwarSaifullah Khan said they arerecommending the name ofMajor (Retd) Liaquat AliGilani as candidate from NA-6, Nowshera II, saying he willprove a strong candidate forthe party.

The PPP provincial chiefsaid that PPP is the largestpolitical party both at na-tional and KhyberPakhtunkhwa levels. He saidthat the joining of the largenumber of political activistsof different political partieshad further turned it into aninvincible political force.

Antagonists of general polls creating law, order problems: CM

KMU laptopdistribution ceremony

MU LTA N—Former primeminister and PPP SeniorVice Chairman Syed YusufRaza Gilani congratulatedthe people of SouthPunjab over the passageof the bill for creation ofnew province with two-thirds majority in the Sen-ate despite boycott of thePML-N. Briefing mediahere at his residence, hesaid, “The passage of thebil l in Senate with two-thirds majority is unprec-edented.”

To a question, Gilanisaid the PML-N was creat-ing hurdles in creation ofnew province, adding that

new province was possiblein just one day if the PML-Nextended its support.

To a question aboutPML-N terming the forma-tion of new province was aPPP’s political stunt, Gilanisaid that he had announcedabout it at Jalalpur Pirwalathree years ago. He addedthat South Punjab had greatpotential for unprec-edented progress as it hadcotton, wheat, mango, sug-arcane and other agricul-tural commodities, while alarge numbers of investorsfrom Karachi were ready toinvest in this rich agricul-tural region.—APP

Gilani congratulates S Punjab peopleTalks with Taliban conducive

Feasibility study on small dams sought

PML-N, PTI districtNowshera leaders join PPP

MIRPUR SAKRO: Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah offering dua after inaugurating different roads andschool projects.

QUETTA: Activists of All Pakistan Clerks Association Balochistan sitting in a tokenhunger strike camp.

CHAMAN: Pakistani men taking green tea from a vendor at Pakistani border townChaman, along with Afghanistan border.

Bills passage

Karachi: It is politicalparties, Mr CJ…

ONCE again, the credit goes to the Supreme Court of Pakistan forits due focus on the ever-deteriorating situation in Karachi. A benchof the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar

Muhammad Chaudhary, is reviewing the law and order situation in thecity in the context of Abbas Town tragedy. No one knows for sure whatwould be the outcome of the hearing but during proceedings of the case,the worthy Chief Justice has made some of the very pertinent remarksthat should serve as an eye-opener for those at the helm of affairs andother stakeholders in Karachi.

There are no two opinions among neutral observers and analysts thatnothing short of a surgical but targeted operation could help restore themuch-needed peace and tranquility in the city but the ruling coalitionavoided the course just because of political expediencies. The rulers havethrown the largest city of the country, which is nerve centre of all com-mercial, economic and financial activities, virtually before the vestedinterests. It is in this context that the court has observed that operationcleanup has become inevitable in Karachi but the question arises whoand how the objective would or could be achieved when concerned po-litical parties are hands in glove in crime. It is a known fact that theparties having stakes in Karachi have their militant rather criminal wingsthat not only safeguard interests of their parties and help them expandtheir clout but are also involved in abhorring crimes like kidnapping forransom, target killing, extortion, land grabbing, arson, looting of publicand private properties during uncertain situations and spreading terror.There are also credible reports that these parties have managed to inducttheir hardcore criminals into the ranks of police force and such law-en-forcers are providing shelter to the activities of their cohorts and are alsobelieved to be themselves involved in criminal activities. Under thesecircumstances, what one can expect from the Provincial Police force?Removal of IG, DIG, SSP and other concerned police officers is just asymbolic action but it is unlikely to lead to the desired improvement inthe situation as in the first place police is politicized and secondly even ifit succeeds in nabbing the culprits and trouble-makers they are got re-leased by their masters. And in other cases, where honest police officersinsist on taking the legal course, they are eliminated in fake incidents oraccidents. Same is the case with judges who hear cases of criminals andterrorists as their own lives and lives of their family members are alwaysat stake and they are compelled to adopt a toned down approach. Theproblem would remain there until and unless the tendency of using criminalwings to advance party agenda is discarded and an across the board ruth-less operation is carried out to eliminate all types of criminals. No oneknows what actually transpired during the visit of Army Chief GeneralAshfaq Parvez Kayani to Karachi on March 06 but people legitimatelyexpect some firm action to stem the rot as further delay would itself be acrime. It is also unfortunate that throughout their tenure, the Chief Min-ister and members of his cabinet paid only lip-service to Karachi prob-lem and along with Interior Minister Rehman Malik they preferred todirect their guns towards Punjab rather than taking remedial measures inKarachi. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi might have any connection with Quetta andAbbas Town blasts as alleged by Malik, but the group can definitely benot held responsible for other dozen or more killings daily in Karachi.The apex court has already declared that the Sindh Government has mis-erably failed in its fundamental duty of providing protection to the livesand properties of the citizen but this observation is hardly of any conse-quence as assemblies have just a few days left to dissolve. We welcomedecision of the MQM to retract its call for indefinite strike as strikes andshutter down do more harm to Karachi and the country than to serve anypurpose. But political parties will have to agree on practical steps to saveKarachi. This means dismantling of their militant wings and supportingArmy-backed operation clean up on priority basis.

… Perhaps Army isthe answer

THE track record of COAS General General Ashfaq Parvez Kayaniof being a true professional speaks for itself as he kept the army

detached from the political matters, concentrated on ensuring securityof the country and preserving national interests. Not only that he alsoplayed a crucial role in keeping the democratic system afloat in diffi-cult situations when there were all sorts of speculations of dooms dayscenario.

There are however some forces which want to entangle the army indomestic matters. We, in these columns, have been emphasising thatarmy should not get itself involved in internal law and order situationbecause the situation has deteriorated in several parts of the countryand without unanimous political backing it might not come up to theexpectations of the people. But now, we think that perhaps time hascome when army might have to come in aid of the civilian power.Wednesday’s dash of General Kayani to Karachi and his meetingwith the Corps Commander where he had detailed discussion overthe fast deteriorating situation in the Mega city gave the impressionthat the army leadership might be genuinely perturbed over the secu-rity situation. The incidents of target killings, the Abbas Town trag-edy, kidnapping for ransom, drugs and arms smuggling into the cityhave created a sense of insecurity among the citizens and the securityinstitutions have a duty to address their concerns. There have beenrepeated demands from some of the political parties for a clean upoperation by the army in Karachi warning that if the armed wings andgroups were not eliminated, there would be blood shed during elec-tions and Wednesday’s events when the city was paralysed within anhour, indicate the dangers that lay ahead. In this scenario, we believethat perhaps army is the answer and it may act in aid of the civil admin-istration after going through all the pros and cons.

Send William Hague to Golan

It is absurd to dividepeople into good andbad. People are eithercharming or tedious.

Our moralobligation

WILLIAM Hague, theForeign Secretary, hasannounced that Britain is

going to make “more active efforts”to protect the lives of rebels fight-ing the regime of Syria’s PresidentBashar al-Assad. This means sup-plying non-lethal military equip-ment such as body armour andarmoured cars, as well as testingequipment to find evidence ofchemical weapons. We might re-gret the fact that Britain has to getinvolved at all in a civil war thatfinds both sides compromised byallegations of human rightsabuses, but standing by and watch-ing the slaughter unfold is nolonger an option.

We certainly have a moral ob-ligation to act as the UN released areport that put the number of refu-gees fleeing Syria at more than onemillion. Around half are children.The destabilising of the region alsothreatens Britain’s strategic inter-ests: Lebanon’s population has in-creased by 10 per cent and Iraq,which already has more than a mil-lion internally displaced people, hastaken on an additional 100,000mouths to feed. This chaos couldcreate a breeding ground for Is-lamic radicals, adding to the ranksof the global jihadist network. Toend the conflict, Mr Assad has togo. Although he has clung on topower for far longer than expected,his money reserves are running lowand the rebels are making militaryprogress. By offering limited, butpotentially invaluable, support,Britain might add to the pressurefor Mr Assad to leave the countrypeacefully – something that wouldadmittedly require a change of hearton the part of his Russian allies. Ofcourse, the strategy contains someelement of risk – we have to becareful that the hardware does notfall into the wrong hands. Full-scalemilitary intervention may be out ofthe question, but the growing scaleof the carnage justifies a morehands-on policy. — The Telegraph

*****

Chavezvoice

WHEN historians come towrite and analyse thelife and times of Hugo

Chavez, they will ponder the icono-clastic ideologue who was adoredand vilified alike. The passing onTuesday of the Venezuelan presi-dent after a long struggle with can-cer closes the book on one of themost colourful political charactersof recent times. The former para-trooper, who was jailed for leadinga coup against his national govern-ment, later went on to become itsnational hero, the leader of LatinAmerica, and a friend to all whobelieved that non-aligned nationscould forge a path independent ofthe political and economic influ-ence of Washington.

As national leaders in the late20th Century embraced greatertrade links, multinational corpora-tions and a globalised economy,Chavez took over energy and re-source companies, nationalisedthem, and used the profits to pro-vide his people with better educa-tion and health care. But while herailed against international capital-ism, he led a country and a regimethat was inherently corrupt —ranked 165 on the global transpar-ency index. For Latin Americans,Chavez represented a style of popu-list leader that stood up against thepan-American military and eco-nomic clout of Washington. Herailed against president George W.Bush, polarising the internationalcommunity. He made friends withand subsidised the Castro regimein Cuba — and he inspired popu-lar leftist leaders in Peru, Argen-tina, Brazil and Bolivia. After Hur-ricane Katrina devastated New Or-leans, Chavez cheekily offered todeliver petrol free for those affectedby the crisis. But Chavez was morethan a thorn in the side of the US.He was a leader who leaned towardsruling by decree with his popularlyweekly television show making uppolicy between advertising breaks.His polarisation on Venezuelan poli-tics will at least now allow Caracasto hopefully forge renew ties withthe US. And its oil industry now hasa chance to reform and improve pro-duction techniques. Some historianswill write that he was the SimonBolivar of our times — a giant whocast a shadow far beyond Caracas.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

—Oscar WildeBritish dramatist

From the first weeks of theNATO-GCC campaign in2011 to overthrow Muammar

Kaddafy,this columnist warned thatsuccess would lead to an intensifi-cation of terror threats inEurope,principally France. WhileMali has shown the correctness ofthis forecast, it needs to be remem-bered that the more potent threat willcome from within France,from theactivation of sleeper cells within thatcountry. The NATO-facilitated vic-tory of Wahabbi-Salafist groups inLibya has energized ideologicalcousins across North Africa,almostall of whom regard France as theirprimary European target.

Now that Libya has - in effect -become a congeries of principalities,each controlled by armed gangs,cash and other forms of assistancehave begun flowing from that coun-try to cells across the region, pre-paring for the activation of sleepercells within France itself at a suit-able point in time. Just as errors inUS policy towards Afghanistan ledto 9/11, so too will NicholasSarkozy’s folly in North Africa leadto a similar result in France. Duringthe conflict with Kaddafy’s forces,itwas surreal to watch US,French andother MATO Special Forces trainand assist the Wahabbi-Salafistfighters on the ground in theiroffensives. During none of these op-erations does there seem to have

‘Together for peace’

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

The theme for Pakistan Navy(PN)’s multinational exerciseAman-13 is “Together for

Peace”. The multinational exerciseAman (peace) is a major initiative,which is being held biennially since2007 to enhance interoperability,plan and execute maritime opera-tions to jointly tackle the asymmet-ric threat to the region from terror-ism, piracy and drugs/weapons/hu-man trafficking. Previous Aman ex-ercises were conducted with me-ticulous planning and brought outvaluable lessons, which have beenincorporated in the latest of the se-ries, Aman-13, which was executedin North Arabian Sea from 4-8March 2013.

The concept of the exercise wasdesigned to provide common forumfor information sharing, mutual un-derstanding and identifying areas ofcommon interests; develop and prac-tice response tactics, techniques andprocedures against asymmetric andtraditional threats during sea phaseof the exercise and intermingling ofmultinationals with depiction of theirrespective cultures.

Alongside Aman-13, PN in con-junction with National Centre ofMaritime Policy Research(NCMPR) conducted internationalconferences on maritime issues.These intellectual encounters atNCMPR have become a hallmark ofExercise Aman, since they providethe opportunity to have enriched dis-courses and a platform to promotemaritime awareness in Pakistan be-sides enhancing the country’s imagein international fora. Besides inter-national naval officers, the presence

of global academia enlightenedthe participants with thoughtprovoking threat analyses andproposed means to meet thechallenges head on.

The planners of Aman-13not only provided impetus to

joint planning and execution of op-erations but emphasized the focus ob-jectives as display of united resolveagainst terrorism and crimes in mari-time domain; contributing towards re-gional peace and stability; enhancinginteroperability between regional andextra regional navies thereby actingas bridge between regions.

Multifarious activities at sea in-volving boarding drills, cross decklanding serial, helicopter landings,Anti-Surface Warfare serials, includ-ing Naval gun firings on target at sea,Night Encounter Exercise and Mari-time Interdiction Operation, Coordi-nated Missile attacks Exercise fromMissile Boats and fighter aircraft,Anti Submarine Warfare exercise in-volving ships, Helos and Aircraft, aninternational Fleet Review includingreplenishment between ships while atsea, Anti-Piracy exercise, Naval gunfirings on target at sea and Fly-Pastby aircraft from various participatingnations will immensely enrich theexperience of the participating units.An extraordinary feature is the utili-zation of Special Operations Forces(SOF) through HVBSS Ops, SVBSSOps, Static line and Freefall WaterJumps, Special Purpose Insertion andExtraction (SPIE) Ops, EOD Exer-cise, Maritime Counter Terrorist Ex-ercise, ATT/Close Quarter Combat(CQC) Exercise, Frogman Exerciseand VBSS Operations during MIO.

Simultaneously Indian Navy (IN)has been conducting one of its big-gest exercises, “Tropex” (Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exer-cises) in the Arabian Sea over the last30 days, involving over 50 warships,including the new stealth frigates and

nuclear-powered submarine INSChakra, as well as 75 fighter jets,patrol aircraft and helicopters. In thebackdrop, were two completely net-worked fleets, widely dispersedacross seas in the Indian Ocean, op-erating in a dense electronic environ-ment to match their professional andtechnical proficiency. New platforms,weapons sensors, communicationsystems and tactics were being testedand tried to optimize the net combatpower of the fleets. Over forty sur-face combatants of various classes,submarines and a large number ofaircraft including UAVs participatedin the IN exercise. As would be thecase in any operation of the twentyfirst century, the exercise had ajointmanship element as IAF aircraftsuch as AWACS, Sukhois, Miragesand Jaguars also participated.

Closer to home, it is a matter ofconcern that 94% of Pakistan’s im-ports and exports are transported viathe maritime route, yet adequate at-tention is not paid to the developmentof PN or the Maritime SecurityAgency (MSA), which can ensure thesafe passage of Pakistan’s commer-cial interests both during peacetimeas well as during war. Keeping theSea Lines of Communication(SLOC) open is the primary task ofany navy but PN requires the teeth todo so in a befitting manner. Simulta-neously, Pakistan’s Exclusive Eco-nomic Zone (EEZ) is spread over anarea of 201, 520 square kilometers.The EEZ is a sea-zone prescribed bythe United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea over which a statehas special rights over the explora-tion and use of marine resources, in-cluding energy production from wa-ter and wind. It stretches from theseaward edge of the state’s territorialsea out to 200 nautical miles from itscoast. Without a potent navy, Paki-stan would lack the capability of ex-ploiting the marine resources as well

as guarding them from other nationspoaching in our waters or makingaway with the rich marine life in ourEEZ. Pakistan’s EEZ is virtually itsfifth province and needs to beguarded and its resources can enrichour impoverished nation.

The successful execution ofAman-13 is a significant demonstra-tion of Pakistan’s commitment to-wards peace and stability throughharmony and collaborative maritimesecurity between navies of theoccident and the orient. Neverthe-less, maritime security exercisesbeing successfully organized andexecuted in Pakistan should add tothe confidence of international visi-tors to Pakistan.

In fact it appears that both thenational media and the media man-agers of Pakistan Navy missed theopportunity to capitalize on thenovelty of the occasion. Pakistanin general and Karachi in particu-lar are teetering under the impactof frequent terror attacks. The se-curity situation is so tense that for-eign investors have fled to saferclimes. Despite assurances, inter-national sports teams refuse to par-ticipate in fixtures in Pakistan. Ourcricket board is forced to organizematches with international teamson neutral grounds outside Paki-stan. In this milieu 33 navies, theirpersonnel and maritime platformsnot only visited Karachi but despitethe bloody carnage which rockedKarachi and claimed 50 preciouslives in a bomb attack at a housingcomplex, the sailors and officersof the international navies, heldfood and fun galas. Undeterred bythe regular visit of the grimreaper—death to Karachi—don-ning their traditional attire, the in-ternational visitors served theirnational cuisines and presentedvariety programmes depicting theirculture and traditions; strengthen-ing the belief in the slogan forAman-13: “Together for Peace”.

been the most cursory real-ization that these regional el-ements are implacably op-posed to the West and to anysort of civilisation that theysee as having been influ-enced by Europe and its cul-tural offshoots

While Tony Blair distin-guished himself for being a

poodle of the US,the present PrimeMinister of the UK,DavidCameron,seems to have less loftyambitions,being satisfied to trot alongbesides France in the Libyan opera-tion. Those who assumed NATO’smilitary planners to be rational wereconvinced that events in Benghazi -which took away the life of a US dip-lomat by the same elements whomhe had earlier helped to weaponize -would reduce the chances of a freshmisadventure,this time in Syria.Unfortunately,UK Foreign SecretaryWilliam Hague is making it explicitthat commonsense or learning frompast errors is not a desired virtue inthe Cameron team. Hague wouldlike weapons to be given by NATOto the armed fighters active inSyria,the “Good Boys”, so that theycan take on the “Bad Boys” ie theAssad regime.

While both Ankara as well asDoha seek regime change inDamascus,much of that can be ex-plained by the desire of both capitalsto ensure the replacement of a (Shia)Alwaite dynasty with rulers who areWahabbi. It has been claimed thatPresident Recip Erdogan has takenTurkey back to the Ottomanperiod.While he has cetainly turnedhis back on Kemalist socialdoctrine,the Turkey being fashionedby Erdogan has little in common withthe relaxed ethos of the Ottoman pe-riod. Instead,what is being created is

a Wahabbi Lite state,which bringsTurkey closer to Saudi Arabia andQatar in the philosophy and theologywhich it follows. It is this adherenceto Wahabbism,albeit in a camou-flaged way,that has impelledErdogan to risk the stability of hiscountry in a effort to oust the Assadfamily from power in Damascus,andto ensure that they meet the samefate as Kaddafy did.

The “Syrian Government in Ex-ile” represents only its paymasters inQatar,Saudi Arabia and other GCCcapitals. Those manning its imaginarybranches have zero inluence withinthe fighters taking on regime ele-ments in Syria. Indeed,these fightershave contempt for the exiles and oth-ers raising cash in their name. It takesa remarkably obtuse individual to failto recognize that all - repeat all - thefighting in Syria is now being car-ried out by groups indistinguishablefrom those that attacked the US con-sulate in Benghazi some monthsback, and that to separate them into“moderate” and “extremist” factionsis to indulge in fantasy. The weaponsthat William Hague is so insistent besupplied to the “freedom fighters” inSyria will get turned against NATOtargets as soon as the Assad regimefalls,if it does. The reality is that theentirety of the minority communitiesin Syria ( Druze,Christian and Shia)back the Assad regime against theSalafist-Wahabbi groups targettingthe regime, as do the bulk of thecountry’s Sunni population,few ofwhom are eager to see Libya repeatedin Libya. Had NATO not pulled outall except clandestine operators fromSyria,this fact would have been evi-dent to the alliance.

The problem with relying onclandestine channels is that these usu-ally have an agenda,and send only

that information up the chain whichsupports their cause,distorting andconcealing inconvenient facts. Theexcessive reliance by NATO on clan-destine channels (including the se-cret services of regional allies) hashelped to create a skewed picture ofthe ground reality in Libya,therebygiving an opportunity for Friends ofthe GCC such as William Hague topromote the cause of this West Asianalliance in the guise of boosting Brit-ish interests. In actuality,a “liber-ated” Syria will be for the UK what“free” Libya is for France,a secu-rity threat. Should the Assad regimefall - and this is unlikely,unlessNATO boosts its support to Libyanlevels - it is the UK that will be inthe sights of the fighters activethere,many of whom indeed are citi-zens of that monarchy,albeit ofSouth Asian origin.

The kidnapping of nearly twodozen UN peacekeepers in the GolanHeights by Hague’s allies has givena chance to the Foreign Secretary toshow his mettle. Now that he hasemerged as a champion of the verygroups that have carried out thiskidnapping,t is incumbent on the partof Hague to go at once to the Golanand negotiate the safe release of thepeacekeepers. Of course,he may endup the way that US diplomat inBenghazi did,who so faithfullyimplemented the Susan Rice-HillaryClinton NGO model of regimechange in Libya. However,despitesuch a risk,if William Hague trulybelieves the nonsense that he isspouting,it is time that he packed upand left for the Golan Heights.—The writer is Vice-Chair,Manipal Advanced ResearchGroup, UNESCO Peace Chair &Professor of Geopolitics, ManipalUniversity, Haryana State, India.

M D NalapatEmail: mgnalapat@gmail.com

GeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalnotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from India

Sultan M HaliEmail: sm_hali@yahoo.com

Voice of the PeoplePrior to Islam, a woman’s status

in the sight of all nations of theworld was nothing more than

the value of household goods. Theywere treated like animals. They werebought and sold. They had no civilrights. They had no real status in thesociety, not being respected as wife,mother or daughter. In fact, daugh-ters were considered worthless andwere often killed at birth.

Women were given little or noeducation, and had no say in religiousmatters, being regarded as limited inspirituality and intellect. During theRoman civilization, for example, awoman was regarded as a slave. TheGreeks considered her a commodityto be bought and sold. Early Chris-tianity regarded women as tempt-resses, responsible for the fall ofAdam. The Hindus until recently con-sidered their women worse thandeath, pests, serpents or even hell. Awife’s life ended with the death of herhusband. In the past, she had to jumpinto the flames of her husband’s cre-mation to fire herself.

Islam is a religion of commonsense and is in line with human na-ture. It recognizes the realities of life.Islam gave honours to womangreatly. Some 1400 years ago, theMuslim woman was given a role,duties, and rights that most womendo not enjoy even today in the west.Islam made women aware of theirrights and gave them an identity, a

Status of women in Islam

National interestSULEMAN MANSHA

Pakistan is a sovereign country andit has every right to pursue the poli-cies in its national interest. Presidentof Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has saidthis. The belief in the said right andthe practical implementation of thepolicies based on national interestis essential for making progress.This principle deserves to be fol-lowed not only at national but at in-ternational level as well.

All the serious problems i.e. ter-rorism, corruption, energy crisis etccan be rooted out only by formulat-ing and enforcing the policies re-volving around the national interest,National interest always demandssacrifice of vested interests. Ourleaders have never ever been readyto pursue the national interest on thecost of their personal interest. Thepoliticians who prefer their nations’interest do not tolerate the violationof any law, rule, or principle of anyinstitution of the country. Since thepublic interest can be saved only bysticking to the rules. Every criminaland the person involved in corruptand illegal practices should be heldaccountable regardless of his politi-cal affiliations and power.

The person who habitually vio-lates traffic rules always follows therules while driving on the motorway. The reason behind that is not amagic, but the fear of being fined orpunished makes him a law abidingdriver. Our governments must en-sure the implementation of the lawsconcerned, like motorway police, inall the public and private offices.

Similarly there are no friendsand foes at international level, butonly interests. The nations havemade rapid progress, who alwaystake reasonable care for their inter-est. The nations, who go their rightway, always have to face the musicby some hypocrite elements andenemies. They achieve their goal ifthey don’t care for the undue criti-cism. The example which deservesa special mention is of Iran-Pakistangas pipeline. Unfortunately it is toolate. We, throughout our history,have suffered many a loss by ignor-ing our national interest. Had thegovernment taken such steps on timemany crises faced by our belovedmother land would have been re-solved to a remarkable extent.—Lahore

Fear of shadowsNIDA GHULAM

Twin bombs were blasts in a denselypopulated Shia residential area inKarachi. Unknown militants blastedan explosive-laden car at the en-trance of Iqra-City and demolishedtwo apartment buildings and nearbyshops. Eyes only could see the redblood of innocent people, and earscould listen to the voice of pain,there was nothing left except mourn-ing. Immediately, the entire city wascrippled. Rescue teams are unableto bring heavy machinery into theaffected area because of the narrowroads, and police were not there toguide the volunteers and familymembers of those affected familiesbecause they were busy at engage-ment security of PPP LeaderSharmila Farooqi.

This irresponsible behaviour ofPakistan’s government is clearlyshows; they are not capable to givesecurity to citizens. This was the firstmajor incident within the city sincea wave of target killings but still gov-ernment is helpless to take actionagainst terrorists because they areheading to election and at this time,they cannot go for clean up opera-tion. We are living in a metro citybut have not any advance securitysystem, which could help to providesecurity to citizens of this city.Teacher’s, Doctors, Children’s,Women and Shi’ite Muslims are be-ing killed in our free country. Nowmajority of Pakistani’s are waitingfor Imam Mehdi to come and giveat least security to follow our reli-gion faith without fear.

Even so, I do believe, Imammehdi can be anyone of us who everstands up and raises his voice forjustice. We should help each other

Caretaker PMCOL RIAZ JAFRI (R)

What apparently looks to be the concern of almost all political parties is that the caretaker PMshould be someone who would not be a partisan in the coming elections and, surprisingly for this

they all want to have a person of their own choice! Would the person so chosen be a robot and devoid ofall human feelings and sensitivities or have no likings and disliking, weaknesses or penchant whatsoeverfor his ‘benefactors’ to have selected him for the highest executive position in the country?! Anyway, Iam not much concerned about his being partial or impartial – that is for the ECP to take care of. All Iwant is that my ‘caretaker’ should be able to ‘take care’ of me and for that he must be a very capableadministrator to steer the country out of the morass that the present rulers have pushed it into. He mustnot just act as a simple ‘caretaker’ to while away the time and enjoy the perks and the privileges includ-ing a couple of Umeras and jaunts abroad but should take care of me and the many ills that I sufferfrom. Most important of all is to ensure the safety and security of my life and property. Thereafter, atleast two square meals a day for me and my family which can only come if I have the means to buy them.That calls for a job for me which can only come from better economy. Industry is the main stay of theeconomy but it needs electricity and gas, better transportation for the finished goods and raw materialsand healthy labour to run it. Agreed the Caretaker may not have enough time for it all but he can at leastset the pace for the, hopefully, Sadiq and Ameen elected democrats to follow suit.—Rawalpindi

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

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

—Editor

rather than waiting for someone whomight come after a hundred years.

Our rangers and police are stand-ing awaiting orders from higher au-thorities, but we should not need towait for orders. We have to stand upnow and protect Pakistan from ter-rorism as it’s not a killing of justShi’ite Muslims; in fact, our broth-ers and sisters are brutally killed ev-eryday. Enemies of Pakistan are try-ing to destroy us, but we will rise upwith the confidence that we can pro-tect our Pakistan from terrorism andgive secure future to our generations.—Karachi

Where citiesburn & people die

HASHIM ABRO

Regrettably, nothing is safe and se-cure in Pakistan today. Our cities areburning and our innocent people arebeing ruthlessly killed. However, thishorrendous situation has made ourShia Muslims an extremely vulner-able, dehumanized, and threatenedminority in the capital city of Sindhprovince, Karachi, and that ofBalochistan, Quetta.

Lamentably, provincial govern-ments have made little progress incurbing the growing menace of themilitancy in the provincial capitals ofSindh and Balochistan- Karachi andQuetta. The enemies of humanityappear bent on destroying the follow-ers of Shia Muslims. All violentmeans are being used by the extrem-ist forces to physically exterminatethe shia population in Pakistan. Itappears that the enemies of human-ity, Islam and Pakistan are making alldevilish and destructive efforts to di-vide the country on sectarian and eth-nic lines but pacifist, progressive anddemocratic people of Pakistan haveupset their nefarious schemes anddesigns and proved that they can’t bedivided on sectarian and ethnic lines.The civil society, the enlightenedgroups and individuals should comeforward to provide useful informa-tion to the security agencies to pre-vent crime, curb the menace of mili-tancy, and root out extremists so asto save humanity and Pakistan.—Islamabad

Apathy ofprivate hospitalsJAWED AHMED KHURSHEED

Soon after the recent blasts at AbbasTown, Karachi claiming lives of in-nocent people and leaving many in-jured severely, the injured werequickly shifted to the state-run hos-pitals and some of the private hos-pitals in Karachi to save their lives.The government hospitals remainedalert to receive the injured all overKarachi as the government declareda state of emergency for its hospi-tals. Meanwhile, some of the injuredwere shifted to the known privatehospitals which are known to havemedical facilities. Every hospitaleither government or private don’thave such medical facilities whichthe injured of these tragic blast re-quired.

I can share with you a firsthandexperience how are the injured beingtreated in one of the known privatehospital, I visited a private hospitalwith my friend whose two relativeswere there unattended as the hospitalhad nothing to do with providing itsdue care to them for which it isknown, for reasons best known to it-self. I happened to see there an eld-erly injured lady whom no one vis-ited for days as most of her familymembers were reported either diedor injured.

The private hospitals all overPakistan are equally responsible forsaving the lives of its patients as thegovernment hospitals are. These pri-vate hospitals must treat their AbbasTown tragic incident as they treattheir patients who bear their hugefees. Saving the precious lives of thiscountryman must come first as theydo roaring business in Pakistan.They charge hefty amount of me-dicinal charges on them. I also wantto invite attention of the governmentofficials responsible to see these af-fairs and visit those hospitalized in

Obama made Guantanamo worse

In his letters, Guantánamo Bayprisoner Shaker Aamer appeals indesperation to his captors and the

outside world: “Please … torture mein the old way. Here they destroypeople mentally and physically with-out leaving marks.”

The 44-year-old British residentand father of four has spent over 11years incarcerated at Guantánamodespite being cleared for release asearly as 2007. To this day nevercharged with a crime, Aamer is justone of hundreds of detainees whoremain imprisoned in Guantánamo.Despite running on an explicit cam-paign promise to shut down the is-land prison which has become a sym-bol of the abuses of the “war on ter-ror”, President Obama has continuedto preside over its operation. And byrecent accounts, under his tenure, theconditions for prisoners there – fromboth a physical and legal standpoint– have become markedly worse.

This past month, the majority of

prisoners at Guantánamo began ahunger strike in protest of allegedmistreatment at the hands of guardsat the facility. According to lawyersfor over a dozen men involved in theprotest, after weeks of refusing food,their clients are “coughing blood, los-ing consciousness and becomingweak and fatigued”. At least five menare reportedly being strapped downby guards and force-fed through theirnostrils – an excruciatingly painfulprocedure that the UN Human RightsCommission has said it considers tobe torture. For the prisoners, the over-whelming majority of whom havenever been charged with a crime andover 50 of whom have been clearedfor release for years, this representstheir last desperate avenue to protesttheir fate. Under President Obama’stenure, the Kafkaesque legal night-mare of detainees such as these hasbecome even more entrenched.

The deterioration in detainees’living conditions is believed to be tiedto a recent change in the military com-mand of the prison. It has been re-ported that under the new commandregime, mistreatment of prisoners has

increased, exacerbating a situationalready desperate after over a decadeof torture, solitary confinement, anddetainee deaths at the camp.

Earlier this year, it was revealedthat a detainee was shot in the neckby a guard, the first incident of gun-fire known to have occurred in thecamp’s history. In addition to a per-vasive atmosphere of violence at thefacility – characterized by beatingsand other forms of abuse by campguards – detainees have increasinglyhad their meager personal effectsconfiscated or damaged, withoutcause or explanation. Mundaneitems such as family photos, lettersand CDs have recently been takenaway by camp guards and prisonerscopies of the Qur’an have been des-ecrated under the guise of searchingfor contraband.

That the hunger strike is, in largepart, a reflection of the increasinghopelessness of the detainees’ situa-tion is obvious to all parties, as wellas a direct consequence of the poli-cies of the Obama administration.The passage into law earlier this yearof the National Defence Authoriza-

tion Act (NDAA) – which containedlanguage and provisions intended toprevent the closure of Guantánamoand make the transfer of detaineesfrom there impossible – has effec-tively doomed prisoners prospectsof freedom. Even those alreadycleared for release now face theprospect of indefinite incarcerationat the facility – without even thepretence of legal recourse. Despitebeing publicly petitioned by humanrights groups to veto the bill, theNDAA was signed by PresidentObama – a direct contradiction ofhis campaign promise to close theprison. For the men who have spentyears trapped in Guantánamo andnow stare into the legal abyss of per-manent detention there, the policiesof this administration have meant aworsening of their already fraughtconditions. Those who have expe-rienced and borne witness to beat-ings, torture, and even death atGuantánamo Bay over the past de-cade, Barack Obama has ensuredthat the prospect of freedom willremain as remote as ever.— Courtesy: The Guardian

Murtaza Hussain

personality, freedom, and indepen-dence. The Holy Prophet (PBUH)enforced justice, making it obliga-tory for men to ful-fill the rights ofwomen; Just as it isnecessary for them tofulfill the right ofmen. He freedwomen from the sla-very of man. Awoman was grantedthe ownership of herlife and property.Thus, no man, noteven a father or agrand father couldforce a maturewoman to marryagainst her wishesand desires, nor without her consent.

According to Islam, being a hu-man, woman is even superior to an-gels and all other living organisms.In Islam there is absolutely no dif-ference between men and women asfar as their relationship to God isconcerned, as both are promised thesame reward for good conduct andthe same punishment for evil con-duct. The Shari’a (Islamic Law) re-gards women as the spiritual andintellectual equals of men. The maindistinction it makes between themis in the physical realm based on theequitable principle of fair divisionof labor. Woman is recognized byIslam as equal partner in the procre-

ation of humankind. Islam goes onto teach a father that he must raisehis daughters in the same way as his

sons. The HolyProphet (PBUH)said: “Whoever takescare of two girls un-til they reach adult-hood, he and I willcome like this on theDay of Resurrec-tion,” and he held hisfingers together. Infact, taking good careof a daughter opensthe door to Paradisefor a Muslim. So,fourteen centuriesago, Islam made menand women equally

accountable to God in glorifying andworshiping Him - setting no limitson her spiritual progress. In the HolyQur’an in the first verse of the chap-ter entitled “Women”, God says:

“O mankind! Be careful of yourduty to your Lord Who created youfrom a single soul and from it itsmate and from them both havespread abroad a multitude of menand women. Be careful of your dutytoward Allah in Whom you claim(your rights) of one another, and to-wards the wombs (that bore you).Lo! Allah has been a Watcher overyou.” (4:1)

In His farewell speech at ArafahProphet Muhammad (peace be upon

Views From Abroad

Even as I hear such statementsby misguided leaders, Ithank God our founding fa-

thers, the ones who brought inde-pendence to our country in theirwisdom, did not heed such voices.

But then it’s not just here, Ihear these voices all over theworld, springing from differentgroups, where a majority are fear-ful of a smaller group and try toimpose their own ways on them,to ‘re-establish their identities’

Forced re-establishment I wouldsay. Faith, my dear sirs, is a personalthing, and needn’t be enforced, re-established (whatever that means) orthrust on anybody.

I remember many years ago,when both my children reachedschool going age.

Next to my home was an Englishconvent, just farther away was thecity’s best school, again one belong-ing to the community I belong. ButI made a strange decision. I decidedto put both my children into an AryaSamaj School.

Sorry Mr Bhagwat, my childrendid not change their faith, they didnot get re-established, they came outunderstanding the religions of theirfriends, but they are both firm be-

lievers in the faith they were borninto.

Now, you may ask sir, how thathappened: According to them, theywatched the lives of their parents.You can build temples, mosques, andhuge cathedrals, you can send yourchildren for the most intense reli-gious instruction, other than the factthat you may condition and brainwash them to a way of thinking,which happens to terrorists, the onlyreligion your children will follow,will be the example you set themwith your own life.

And I would beg of our leadersto start setting an example, becausesadly in our country, we have noicons, no men of integrity, no leaderwho speaks about love; nobody but

Reestablishing our identity..!hate mongers. Our country has thelargest number of youth in theworld, 500 million under the ageof 25, and 225 million between 10and 19. That’s nearly three quar-ters of our country!

We have to change our think-ing. Yes, these statements from theRSS chief may excite the middleaged and senior citizens; haven’twe seen only this in our lifetimesto now accept this as truth? But tothe youth, this is unacceptable.

If we need to re-establish ourlost identity, we need to establishgood, honest, men and women asour leaders, who’s life will be rolemodels, sorely needed by theyouth of today..!—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com

Women in Pakistani society

On 8th March of every year, wecelebrate InternationalWomen’s Day to wish the

women in the fullness of what itmeans and to celebrate their achieve-ments and struggles. Woman’s is anintegral segment of society by play-ing a vital role in building the societyon healthier and stronger foundations.No country or society can prosper oreven survive without the prominentrole of women. The role of womenin our society has changed signifi-cantly in the past three decades. Awoman is considering equally impor-tant member of society. They havemany more opportunities and facedifficult challenges. She is not wait-ing for someone to ‘help’ her. She isnot demanding any special treatment.Not waiting for assistance. She isready, prepared, even eager, to over-come whatever hurdles come in herway. She just wants to cross the roadon her own.

Women in Pakistan have contin-ued to play a very important role inevery aspect of life. In order to grow

as nation, we need their actively in-volvement or presence in all fieldsas educationist, political leader, doc-tors, business women, bankers, man-agers, engineers, lawyers, diplomats,ambassadors, artists, teachers, writ-ers, poets, workers, farmers, moth-ers, wives, students, and the list goeson and on. Gradually things are im-proving for a woman, which has beencaused by their tremendous determi-nation and courage. Today womenare sitting on important positions andachieved great stature in variousfields of education, business, army,health, engineering, IT and active par-ticipation is seen in the sports andpolitics area. About 60% of womenentrepreneurs in Pakistan run tradi-tional business such as parlors, bak-eries, boutiques and the largest num-ber are employed in the Telecom andmultinational companies.

Being a major segment of soci-ety, women’s role in the country’s de-velopment cannot be ignored. Thewomen in Pakistan feel disappointedon being mistreated by the male-ori-ented set up in Pakistan. It is com-mon for men to be seen as strong andwomen to be seen as weak. They arehandicapped in society, therefore they

face many challenges, as they do notenjoy the same opportunities as men.The segregation of the sexes startsearly and becomes a way of life. Theyare not only deprived of financial re-sources but also have limited accessto the essentials of life, which under-mines their capabilities, limits theirability to secure gainful employment,and results in income, poverty andsocial exclusion. The culture thinksthat women cannot do jobs like mendo. Now, women are fighting forequality in the workplace. Their am-bitions and aspirations are sup-pressed. They strongly claim that ifthey are given a chance, they cancontribute more positively as com-pared to males towards the develop-ment of all social aspects.

Pakistani society usually adoptsa hostile attitude towards the women,wants a woman to be a house wife,to just stay home to serve the wholefamily and take care of children. Ihave seen a lot of talented, highlyeducated ladies who could becomevery good entrepreneurs, are spend-ing their time in managing the houseand the family despite their strongurge to set up their own businesses.The reason comes out as usual “they

are not allowed by their families orhusbands”. I consider that this is vio-lation of basic human rights that ourreligion gave the women 1400 yearsago. The man’s ego won’t allow hislife partner to earn equally or morethan him. Why should they? Womenhave the right to make their owndecisions. If a woman is interestedin a job and meets the qualificationsthat employer requires, she shouldbe considered eligible for that job.The point is that men have treatedwomen as subordinates throughouthistory because that is what theyhave been taught by the culture thatwomen are not equal to men.

Women play role of daughter,wife, mother, and sister and yet she isconsidered inferior and her role is al-ways downplayed. If girl tries to sup-port herself or family, she is ridiculedand laughed away. Still, the “kamai”earning of the girl is considered shame-ful in many quarters of our society. Atthe end I want to say that women areconsider as the architects of our soci-ety and the mothers of the world, noother creature on the surface of thisearth is capable of that, so all Paki-stani women be happy, be healthy andbe confident to rule the world.

the private hospitals to save theirlives as some of them have been ig-norant of their medical care. Theyare really in a critical state as mostof them belong to the lower middleclass families who don’t have suffi-cient financial resource to run theirdaily life let alone to face this or-deal. Announcement made by thegovernment regarding compensationto the dead and injured is not enough.It is the prime responsibility of thegovernment to take suitable measureto prevent such tragic incident againand take care of those injured whocan return to normalcy.—Karachi

A fighter is deadFAKHIR KHAN

Hugo Chavez, the President of Ven-ezuela, has died. He was fighting along, hard battle with cancer and nowhe has moved on. There was a hugeoutpouring of grief on the streets ofhis country and his people have an-nounced a seven-days mourning pe-riod for their departed leader.

This truly is sad news, not justfor the country but for the wholeworld where true leftists are becom-ing a dying species in these times ofmanipulated commercialisation andcapitalism. Chavez was a symbol ofLatin American socialism and willbe remembered for years to come forhis strong character and consistency.The world has lost a true mark of abegotten era.—Lahore

Corruptioncrushes poor

SADIA RAHMAN

I am a resident of Jacobabad. We haveapplied for a pension GP fund and asix month salary in the district ac-counts office for our late father whopassed away last year in the monthof May. However, all our documentsare still in process due to a stated‘lack’ of resources.

We have never seen such agrossly corrupt office in our lives.Almost all the persons in the accountsoffice are involved in corruption.Their official office timings start af-ter 12 pm. The clerks in the officefirst ask us to submit charges for thecompletion of any task — they evenoffer to increase the amount from theGP fund and the pension for a certainamount of money.

I appeal to the authorities to lookinto this issue and to help us poorpeople who are still waiting for theirpensions after retirement and thedeaths of their parents. Local news-papers are not highlighting this issueand so we are left on our own.—Via email

Revival ofint cricket

ASIF HAMEED

Four years on from the terror attackon the Sri Lankan cricket team’s busin Lahore, we are no further awayfrom the sporting isolation we areplunged into. The Sri Lankan teamwas on its way to Gaddafi Stadiumfor the third day of the second testmatch against Pakistan when gunmenopened fire and threw grenades at thebus, killing eight people at Libertyroundabout.

It was a tragic episode in the his-tory of Pakistan’s cricket — there hasbeen no international cricket in thecountry since. Pakistan has suffereda lot in its fight against terrorism. Insuch a situation the whole worldshould stand with Pakistan in help-ing revive international cricket andthe reduction of terrorism in Pakistan.—Turbat

him) was also most emphatic in en-joining upon Muslims, to be kind totheir women. This was in the pres-ence of one hundred and twenty-fourthousand of his Companions. whohad gathered there for hajj- tull-wida’ (farewell pilgrimage) whenProphet Muhammad (peace be uponhim) said, “ O people, your wiveshave certain rights over you and youhave certain rights over them. Treatthem well and be kind to them, forthey are your partners and commit-ted helpers.” The Holy Prophet(PBUH) also said, “ The best amongyou is the one who is best towardshis wife.” These sayings clearlyprove the important position givento women in Islam.

Pleasing one’s mother is re-garded as part of pleasing Allah.Mothers, in Islam, are accorded aspecial place of honor. Islam tells usthat Paradise lies at the mother’sfeet, i.e. that the best way to reachParadise is through one’s mother. Aman came to the Holy Prophet(peace be upon him) and said: OMessenger of God, who among thepeople is the most worthy of mygood company? The Holy Prophet(PBUH) said, Your mother. The mansaid then who else: The HolyProphet (PBUH) said, Your mother.The man asked, Then who else?Only then did the Holy Prophet(PBUH) said, Your father. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

The Spirit Of Islam

Shaukat M Zafar

Sara Ehsan

STEVE FINCH

Violence has escalated onSabah, where the Sultanof Sulu and his troops re-

main firm in their demands.When about 200 supporters of theSultan of Sulu packed M16s intoboats and made the one-hourcrossing from Sulu in the south-ern Philippines to Lahad Datu inMalaysian Borneo’s easternSabah on February 9, no-onetook much notice.

Initial international mediareports a few days later werevague about who the group was.Even in their native Philippines,many had no idea what JamalulKiram III, who claims to be theheir to the Islamic sultanate ofSulu, was prepared to fight for.But they certainly do now.

Even before Malaysia at-tacked the group with fighter jetson Tuesday,the crisis had esca-lated and spread rapidly. LastFriday, 12 Filipinos and twoMalaysian counter-terrorism po-lice were killed in a shootout,while six more police and 11 Fili-pinos, including two imams,were reportedly killed 190 miles(300 km) south in Semporna.Meanwhile, the sultan’s son andthe group’s leader Raja MudaKiram have dispersed with sur-viving members of the group.Political fallout in both the Phil-ippines and Malaysia has grownby the day.

The standoff has not onlytested Philippine-Malaysia ties, ithas also had implications for theimminent elections in both coun-tries as well as the fragile Philip-pines peace process.

Dating back to the late 19thcentury when the British ruledMalaya, the sultan’s claim toparts of the eastern half of Sabah(formerly known as NorthBorneo) has resurrected one ofthe biggest sovereignty disputesby land area in the region. Suc-cessive Malaysian and Philippineadministrations have found it

much simpler to sweep the issueunder the carpet than resolve itonce and for all.

It’s a status quo that AbrahamIdjirani, secretary-general andspokesperson for the sultanate,says Manila has tried to preservein the name of safeguarding tieswith Kuala Lumpur as the dis-

pute has come to a boil. “The only request from both

sides is to surrender – this appearsto be the policy of both govern-ments,” he told The Diplomat onSunday after the violence spreadto Semporna.

In trying to rein in the sul-tan, Philippine President BenignoAquino has changed his stancealmost daily. At first, he tried toentice the sultan’s men back.Then, Aquino said his adminis-tration would seek to prosecutethe sultan and his followers. Af-ter violence erupted last Fridayhe said all would be forgotten, if

only the group would return.As the election campaign

kicks off ahead of Senate andmayoral polls in mid-May,Aquino and his ruling LiberalParty are coming under growingcriticism by the press, public andan opposition keen to score po-litical points. An opinion article

in the Philippines Star calledAquino “clueless” on Sunday,while the Opposition NationalAlliance – opponents for the Sen-ate race – complained of “arro-gance” in dealings with the sul-tan during a press briefing thesame day.

Following Tuesday’s assault,headlines in the Philippine presswill likely reflect the severity ofthe situation that many view as abattle between Filipinos andMalaysians, with Aquino doinglittle to help his countrymen.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s ap-proach to handling the situation

has been viewed as heavy-handed outside the country buttoo lax at home.

When the sultan’s followersfirst landed, the Malaysian gov-ernment ordered police to sur-round the group, with initial or-ders to keep the army withdrawnto avoid escalating the situation.

They also imposed a food block-ade aimed at flushing out the in-surgents.

Speaking during an electioncampaign visit to Sabah on Feb-ruary 14, Malaysian Prime Min-ister Najib Razak emphasized theneed for a peaceful solutionwhich he backed with a gentlewarning.

“In terms of strength, wehave the upper hand in combatpower to arrest them, but the gov-ernment opts for negotiation tobreak the stalemate so that theyleave peacefully to southern Phil-ippines,” Malaysian state news

agency Bernama quoted Najib assaying. Najib’s comments in thisinstance were the only timeMalaysia’s leader spokepublically about the crisis beforethe death toll started to climb onFriday. On Tuesday, as warplanesattacked the Sultan’s supporters,only 30 of whom were reportedto be armed, Najib attempted tojustify the assault in democraticterms.

“The government has to takethe appropriate action to protectnational pride and sovereignty asour people have demanded,” hesaid in a statement issued throughstate news agency Bernama.

Najib’s handling of the cri-sis is seen domestically as a criti-cal test of his leadership – espe-cially in Sabah – ahead of atightly fought general electiondue by the end of June.

On Sunday, the prime min-ister retaliated after the main op-position accused the rulingUnited Malays National Organi-zation of staging the shootout aspart of a pre-election set-piecedesigned to rally Malaysiansaround the administration. Thisclaim has been fuelled by overtpropagandizing. Immediately af-ter Friday’s shootout, the govern-ment claimed it had captured 10insurgents and that the standoffwas over after the sultan’s sup-porters had fled back to the Phil-ippines, an account which provedto be entirely false.

Although a recent survey bythe Merdeka Institute in KualaLumpur found 70 percent supportamong ethnic Malays for the rul-ing United Malays National Or-ganization, Jerry Kamijan,deputy chief editor of the NewSabah Times, said that the longerthe crisis drags on, the morepeople will criticize thegovernment’s handling of it.

“There is a lot of concern onthe ground,” he said. “It is as ifwe have been held to ransom bythe intruders.” While Kamijandismisses the sultan’s move as an

attempt to extract money, sup-porters say the strengths of thesultan’s claims are historic and re-portedly significant. The Malay-sian Embassy in Manila pays5,300 ringgits (US$1,715) to thesultanate every year, the terms ofthe British colonial-era deal.There is also the question of thelarge Filipino population inSabah, particularly in the dis-puted area.

No one knows just howmany Filipinos live in Sabah –many are illegal – but in callingfor a lasting solution, Philippinesenators on Saturday put the fig-ure at more than 800,000, out ofa total population of 3.2 million.This suggests that around a quar-ter of the population of Sabah areFilipinos, who mostly live in thedisputed eastern side of the state.

“A just and peaceful resolu-tion of the sovereign claim of the

Sulu Sultanate … will remove athorny issue that has causedmuch uncertainty in the relation-ship between Malaysia and thePhilippines,” Amina Rasul, presi-dent of the Philippine Center forIslam and Democracy, said in astatement.

Ties between the two coun-tries are almost certain to bestrained further before they canbegin to heal, as the Philippinegovernment has talked openly inrecent days about the prospect offiling a case with the Interna-tional Court of Justice.

On the ground in Sabah, re-lations between nationals of bothcountries have already started todeteriorate rapidly. Idjirani saysthe violence in Semporno tookplace after Malaysian securityforces went to the area to searchfor key figures from the SuluSultanate. After Malaysian forces

reportedly killed two imams whohave lived in the area for decades– but who are originally from theislands of Sulu and Tawi Tawiwithin the sultanate – gunmenthen retaliated and killed fiveMalaysians, he said.

“There are organized, patri-otic efforts by people in thisarea,” Idjirani adds.

Amid rising tensions, newsreports this week say that someMalaysian bosses are firing theirFilipino workers – many fromareas within the sultanate – amida crackdown on Filipinos inSabah.

The original group report-edly scattered after Tuesday’sassault and Malaysian securityforces in the area have doubled.Yet, there is little sign the secu-rity situation will improve soon.

Meanwhile, on Tawi Tawiand Sulu and in the west of

Mindanao, the Moro NationalLiberation Front (MNLF) – aformer rebel group which signeda ceasefire deal in 1996 but whichretains limited arms – is report-edly on alert and is standing byto support the sultan. MNLFleaders, however, have denieddirect involvement in the ongo-ing standoff.

Both MNLF and the sultan’sinner circle have indicated thatthey feel increasinglymarginalized by the Philippinesongoing peace process, whichhas directly involved just a hand-ful of the 13 Muslim groups thatoccupy large swathes of thesouthern island of Mindanao.

A few days after the Aquinoadministration signed an Octoberpeace framework with the MoroIslamic Liberation Front (MILF),another insurgent group inMindanao, MNLF attempted to

call on supporters in the city ofDavao to rise up, an effort whichultimately failed.

Since then, MILF has takenthe lead in fleshing out a peacedeal with Manila that is expectedto result in a newly calibratedautonomous region in Mindanaocalled Bangsamoro.

With Malaysia acting as me-diator – the latest chapter of thedeal was signed in Kuala Lumpurlast week – critics in the Philip-pines are increasingly adamantthat Malaysia is far from objec-tive in resolving this complexpolitical problem. Malaysian sol-diers on the ground monitoring aceasefire in Mindanao were ad-vised on Saturday to limit theirmovements amid fears of retali-ation by supporters of the sultan.

Earl Parreno, a political ana-lyst and member of the board oftrustees of the Institute for Po-

litical and Electoral Reforms, aManila-based think-tank, says thesultan’s recent gambit makessense if he is to seize the initia-tive within the evolving powerdynamics of the southern Philip-pines.

“It’s the perfect time for thesultan to address it now, beforethe peace process goes into moredetail,” Parreno told The Diplo-mat.

Kiram has remained defiantsince the day his supporters madethe trip across the sea. He said:“We are prepared to defend ourlives and aspirations”.—Courtesy: TDSteve Finch is a freelance jour-nalist based in Bangkok. Hiswork has appeared in the Wash-ington Post, Foreign Policy,TIME, The Independent,Toronto Star and Bangkok Postamong others.

Fighting and Fallout in Sabah

Pakatan Rakyat supporters during nomination day during the Batu Sapi by-election lastyear which BN won in a three-way fight involving both PKR for Pakatan and SAPP.

The standoff has not only tested Philippine-Malaysia ties, it has also had implications for the

imminent elections in both countries as well as thefragile Philippines peace process.

LU SHAYE

As leaders of the BRICSgroup of major emergingeconomies—Brazil, Rus-

sia, India, China and South Af-rica—are slated to hold theirsummit for the first time in Af-rica in March, BRICS-Africa re-lations are being thrust into thespotlight. In a recent interviewwith Beijing Review, Lu Shaye,Director General of the Depart-ment of African Affairs ofChina’s Foreign Ministry, offeredhis thoughts on the importanceof deepening ties. Excerpts fol-low: Beijing Review: Leading upto the first BRICS Summit in Af-rica, media reports said the grouphas helped raise Africa’s interna-tional status. Would you like tocomment on this?

Lu Shaye: BRICS leaderswill gather for the first time inAfrica in late March for their fifthsummit, which will be held inDurban, South Africa. The eventwill be conducive not only todeepening cooperation amongBRICS countries, but also to pro-moting collaboration with Africa.While the summit is set to ex-plore the theme of BRICS andAfrica—partnerships for devel-opment integration and industri-alization, a conference forBRICS and African leaders willbe convened on the sidelines.

The arrangements highlightthe importance of BRICS coun-tries’ attachments to Africa, aswell as their optimism about thecontinent’s future developmentand readiness to work moreclosely with African countries.Against the backdrop of a com-plex and changing internationalenvironment and a bumpy glo-bal economic recovery, strength-ened BRICS-Africa coordina-tion and cooperation will facili-tate efforts to jointly continuedevelopment, enhance bothsides’ international status andbrighten the prospects for worldpeace and development.

What role has South Africaplayed in cementing China-Af-rica bonds since joining theBRICS group in 2010?

South Africa, a country thathas major influence in Africa,took over as the African co-chairof the Forum on China-AfricaCooperation (FOCAC) last year.Its acceptance into the BRICSgroup has presented new oppor-tunities for the development ofstrategic partnerships betweenChina and South Africa, whilealso unleashing new potentialfor the expansion of China-Af-rica ties. China’s cooperationwith South Africa and Africa atlarge in the areas of politics, se-curity, trade, finance and inter-national affairs has since madefurther headway. We are willingto work together with South Af-rica and other African countriesto boost BRICS-Africa dialogueand cooperation, and to make

greater contributions to the de-velopment of relations betweenChina and Africa, as well as be-tween emerging markets andAfrica.

It’s been reported that theupcoming South African summitwill produce a blueprint for aBRICS bank. How are BRICScountries advancing this initia-tive, and why do they want toestablish a bank?

China is supportive of, andtakes an active part in, BRICSfinancial cooperation. BRICSleaders came up with the visionfor a new development bank attheir fourth summit in New Delhiin 2012. The bank is designed tofinance infrastructure and sus-

tainable development projects inBRICS countries and other de-veloping countries as a comple-ment to the role of existing mul-tilateral and regional financial

institutions in spurring globalgrowth and development. Theestablishment of the developmentbank is an important part ofBRICS financial cooperation. Itwill help propel reforms of inter-national financial and monetarysystems and increase the rightsof emerging economies and de-veloping countries in interna-tional institutions. China supportsprogress in this area at theDurban summit

The three-year reform to re-affirm government’s role in fi-nancing health care yields con-siderable results

The attendance of 10 Africanleaders at the World Economic

Forum in Davos, Switzerland, inJanuary captured the world’s at-tention. How do you interpretAfrican countries’ eagerness toengage in international coopera-tion?

It was very significant to see10 African leaders jointly attendthe 2013 Davos forum. It was asign that Africa’s interactionswith the world have becomemore frequent under our currentinternational political and eco-nomic circumstances.

African leaders have demon-strated a strong willingness toactively participate in interna-tional affairs, integrate into theglobalization process and achievedevelopment in Africa. Their at-

tendance also showed that theworld is interested in Africa, andmore optimistic about its futuredevelopment. We hope the inter-national community becomes

more responsive to the calls ofAfrican countries, renders greatersupport to their pursuit of peaceand development, and contrib-utes more to bigger and better de-velopment in Africa.

Despite the fact that eco-nomic topics have dominated theagenda of BRICS summits, ob-servers argue BRICS countriesare playing an increasingly im-portant role in politics as well asworld peace and security. In yourview, will the countriesstrengthen cooperation in theseareas in the years to come?

BRICS countries have al-ways closely communicated andcoordinated on political and se-

curity issues of common concern.They have played a constructiverole in safeguarding world peace,security and stability.

In addition to political andsecurity discussions at BRICSsummits, BRICS countries havelaunched platforms for discus-sion—such as meetings of highrepresentatives for security is-sues, foreign ministers and per-manent representatives to multi-lateral institutions—at whichthey have addressed major inter-national political and security is-sues and reached broad consen-sus.This year marks the 15th an-niversary of the establishment ofdiplomatic relations betweenChina and South Africa. What,

in your opinion, have been thehighlights of bilateral relations inthese years? What are your ex-pectations for the future develop-ment of relations between the two

nations?Chinese and South African

people enjoy a profound friend-ship. The Chinese people stoodfirmly by the side of the SouthAfrican people during theirperseverant struggle againstapartheid. Since the two coun-tries forged diplomatic ties 15years ago, their relations havedeveloped rapidly in a compre-hensive manner. Their bilateralrelationship has leaped from aPartnership to a Strategic Partner-ship and then to a Comprehen-sive Strategic Partnership, mak-ing it one of the fastest develop-ing, most vibrant and importantrelationships each country has.

With frequent high-level ex-changes, China and South Africahave been able to understand andsupport each other with deepen-ing political trust. On the eco-nomic side of things, the totalvalue of bilateral trade betweenthe two nations approached $60billion in 2012, 37 times that of1997, the year before they estab-lished diplomatic relations.

Cooperation in areas such asfinance, energy and infrastructureconstruction has also been in fullswing. When it comes to culturalexchanges, among all Africancountries, South Africa has estab-lished the most friendship-city(province and state) relationshipswith China, and hosts the mostConfucius Institutes and has at-tracted the largest numbers ofChinese tourists and students.Moreover, China and South Af-rica have closely coordinatedwithin multilateral frameworkssuch as the United Nations, theG20, the WTO and BRICS, aswell as on major international andregional issues including climatechange and the reform of inter-national financial system. As theyjoin hands to protect the sharedinterests of developing countries,the strategic importance and glo-bal influence of the bilateral re-lationship have both grown.

This year not only com-memorates the 15th anniversaryof the establishment of diplo-matic relations between Chinaand South Africa, but is also thefirst year for the implementa-tion of the outcomes of the FifthMinisterial Conference ofFOCAC in 2012, and a startingpoint for us to build on pastachievements and usher in anew era of China’s relationswith South Africa and Africa atlarge. China stands ready towork in concert with South Af-rica to further deepen coopera-tion in bilateral, African andinternational affairs, and tomake the China-South AfricaComprehensive Strategic Part-nership a model of solidarityand cooperation between majoremerging economies. Courtesy:Beijing Review.

As leaders of the BRICSgroup of major emerging econo-mies—Brazil, Russia, India,China and South Africa—areslated to hold their summit for thefirst time in Africa in March,BRICS-Africa relations are be-ing thrust into the spotlight. In arecent interview with BeijingReview, Lu Shaye, Director Gen-eral of the Department of Afri-can Affairs of China’s ForeignMinistry, offered his thoughts onthe importance of deepening ties.Excerpts follow:

Beijing Review: Leading upto the first BRICS Summit inAfrica, media reports said thegroup has helped raise Africa’sinternational status. Would youlike to comment on this?—Courtesy: Beijing Review.

BRICS Focusing on AfricaDAVID IGNATIUS

As Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhoodgovernment slides toward the fi-nancial cliff, what’s the rightpolicy for the United States?That’s becoming an urgent ques-tion, as Egypt’s financial reservesdecline and the country nears anew breaking point.

The economic facts are stark:Egypt’s official foreign-currencyreserves in February were $13.5billion, which would cover a littleless than three months of imports.But U.S. officials say that acces-sible, liquid reserves total only $6billion to $7 billion.

Already, imports are harderto find, including the raw mate-rials needed by Egyptian manu-facturers. The Egyptian stockmarket tumbled 5 percent early

this week, sensing danger ahead.Deadly unrest in Egypt:?Fromrioting soccer fans to those op-posed to the Islamists-led govern-ment, discontent is on display inprotests across the nation.

And what is the governmentof President Mohamed Morsidoing to halt the economic de-cline? Not a lot. Morsi has beendithering for a year in negotiat-

ing a roughly $5?billion rescuepackage from the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) that Egyptdesperately needs. He is delay-ing because he is wary of publicanger at the reforms the IMF de-mands, including reductions insubsidies, which take 25?percentof Egypt’s budget. (Debt serviceand public-sector employmentaccount for another 50?percent.)

The wolf is two or three

months from Egypt’s door, topU.S. officials believe. Mean-while, the country is facing in-creasing political turmoil, withriots Tuesday in Port Said that left50 wounded. Morsi’s govern-ment sent a new proposal to theIMF last week, but it may fallshort of the IMF’s reform targets,further delaying action.

Welcome to Phase 2 of theArab Spring, which we might callthe “reality check.”

The United States and its al-lies made a bet two years ago thatif the Muslim Brotherhood tookpower in Egypt, it would beforced to deal with the responsi-bilities of governing, such as ne-gotiating loans with the IMF andadopting economic reforms towoo investors. These economicrealities are now enveloping

Morsi. But he hasn’t shown theleadership the United States hadhoped.

So what are U.S. policy op-tions as Egypt nears the brink?Some of Morsi’s critics argue thatthe United States should let himfail. That’s certainly the view ofEgypt’s secular opposition, alongwith conservative Persian Gulfregimes. They hope Egyptians

will reject Morsi and his party inparliamentary elections that be-gin in late April but might be de-layed because of legal challenges.

U.S. policy is more support-ive than “sink or swim.”

The White House has en-couraged Morsi and the IMF tocome to a deal before it’s too lateand the economic damage getsworse. One good move is a U.S.“Enterprise Fund” for Egyptian

small- and medium-size busi-nesses that will start to distributeits first $60?million this month.

When Secretary of StateJohn Kerry met Morsi privatelyin Cairo last weekend, he is saidto have warned that Egypt mustmake choices soon and that itshouldn’t expect any last-minuterescue from Washington. But it’sclear Washington wants Morsi tosucceed, fearing that the alterna-tive would be chaos or a militarycoup.

The Egyptian military is in-deed waiting in the wings, andsome generals are all too eagerto intervene. The United Stateswisely opposes any such militarytakeover. In backing Morsi, theUnited States is improbablystanding against both conserva-tive Saudis and liberal activists

in Egypt. Morsi has been able toavoid tough decisions partly be-cause of emergency assistancefrom Qatar, which has pumpedabout $7 billion into Egypt’s for-eign-currency reserves. The U.S.message to Qatar should be: Stopenabling Morsi’s flight from eco-nomic reality.

The Obama administration’scontinuing bet on Muslim de-

mocracy is evident in Turkey aswell as in Egypt. Kerry visitedAnkara, too, as part of his firstdiplomatic foray abroad, and hebluntly criticized Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan for his“objectionable” attack on Zion-ism.—Courtesy: WPIgnatius writes a twice-a-weekforeign affairs column and con-tributes to the PostPartisan blog.

As Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government slidestoward the financial cliff, what’s the right policy for

the United States? That’s becoming an urgentquestion, as Egypt’s financial reserves decline and the

country nears a new breaking point.

Ever changing politico-social scenario

In Egypt, sliding toward ruin

Clashes break out in restive Egyptian city despite army deployment to try to curb unrest.

Despite the fact that economic topics have dominatedthe agenda of BRICS summits, observers argue BRICScountries are playing an increasingly important role in

politics as well as world peace and security. In yourview, will the countries strengthen cooperation in these

areas in the years to come?

At BRICS meeting in Moscow, focus lies on engaging Africa.

Nawaz announces PML-N manifestoFrom Page 1

workers will be gradually en-hanced to Rs15,000 permonth. The PML-N wouldstrive to eventually providea house to each Pakistanifamily through pubic-privatepartnership.

The PML-N governmentwill revive the economy,double the GDP growth toover six percent, reduce bud-get deficit to 4%, reducecountry’s dependence onforeign loans and assistance,revamp State enterprises eat-ing Rs 400 billion, decreasetax rates, ensure lower inter-est rates and make Pakistanemerge as one of the top teneconomies of the world in21st century. All major exportsectors will be sales tax free,an Export Import Bank(EXIM) will be set up.

Nawaz Sharif said thegovernment will improve taxto GDP ratio to 15% by 2018,informal economy will bebrought into Tax net, reducetax evasion, reduce the num-ber of federal and provincialtaxes. Short and mediumterms measures would be ini-tiated to end load sheddingin 3 years, invest US $ 20 bil-lion to generate 10,000MWof electricity in next five yearsand permanently eliminatecircular debt. High prioritywould be given to import gasthrough pipelines, intensifyoil and gas exploration, de-velop Thar coalfields by set-ting up of atleast 5,000MWof new coal fired powerplants under the IPP mode inSindh, develop alternativesources of energy.

He said agriculture will beturned into a fully viable eco-nomic industry, high priorityto be given to developmentof livestock and fisheries sec-tors, reclaim and irrigate addi-tional land for allotment tolandless, women haris andtenants and achieve food se-curity. The PML-N govern-ment will introduce a transpar-ent system of income supportprogramme for needy familieswith special focus on widows,orphans and girl child.

National Education Emer-gency will be declared toeradicate illiteracy on warfooting basis, a vision 2025for Pakistan’s education shallbe formulated to transformthe country to be amongworld’s best and a uniformsystem of education will beintroduced step by stepwhile education budgetwould be enhanced to 4% ofGDP by 2018. Computer labswill be established in all govthigh schools, Danishschools will be set in all prov-inces, HEC will be givengreater autonomy, vocationaland technical education willbe promoted.

A new national health in-surance card scheme will beintroduced for free treatmentof children upto 12 years,senior citizens of over 65years and families with lowincome. He said the govern-ment will promote participa-tion of women in nationaldevelopment, give preferenceto women teachers in pri-mary education, enact andimprove legislation on vio-lence against women, expandmicro credit for female bor-rowers and inheritance andproperty rights of femaleheirs shall be safeguarded.

A dynamic NationalYouth Policy will be imple-mented through skill devel-opment programme to createone million positions for ap-prenticeship, self employ-ment loans shall be extended,services of youth will be uti-lized in national literacyprogramme and involveyouth in governance at locallevel through special seatsreserved for them in Unionand District councils. Na-tional Day for Minorities willbe celebrated, they will havecomplete freedom of wor-ship, legislative measures willbe undertaken to preventforced conversion of religion,development funds for mi-norities will be doubled andChristian community will bepermitted to run their owneducational institutions.

Nawaz Sharif reiteratedcommitment to Charter ofDemocracy and vowed tobuild strong dimension ofdemocratic governance bybuilding institutions includ-ing an effective parliament,independent judiciary, elec-tion commission and a vigi-lant media. He said Localgovernment elections will beheld within six months ofgeneral elections, police lawswill be reviewed todepoliticize police, improvethana culture.

The PML-N governmentwill grant voting rights to alloverseas Pakistanis and dualnationals and “Aao BadleinPakistan” programme to belaunched to motivate overseasPakistanis towards develop-ment of Pakistan. Freedom ofmedia to be guaranteed and re-spected, comprehensive insur-ance scheme to be introducedfor journalists against deathand injury, Fund establishedfor training of journalists andPTV/PBC to be made autono-mous bodies, he assured.

PML-N will ensure pro-vincial autonomy in accor-dance with constitution andvision of founding father. Nowater project will be com-menced without consensusamong all the federatingunits, Status of national lan-guage to be given to all ma-jor languages, Truth andReconciliation commissionto be established to discoverand reveal truth about pastwrong doings. Hearts andminds of people ofBalochistan would be wonthrough meaningful politicaldialogue and their politicaland economic rights re-stored. Nawaz pledged touphold the independence ofjudiciary, number of judgeswill be substantially in-creased, all vacancies to befilled and civil cases trialcompleted within one year.

PML-N will form an au-tonomous National Account-ability commission, adoptzero tolerance policy for cor-ruption, ruthlessly stamp out

corruption and across theboard accountability of allholders of public officeswould be ensured. The PML-N President said that despitedifficulties created by federalgovernment, Punjab govern-ment of PML-N has carriedout record developmentworks during the last fiveyears. He said that qualityand transparency has beenmaintained in the implemen-tation of developmentprojects. Nawaz Sharif saidthat an opposition camp wasset up in Governor’s Houseagainst Punjab governmentand Governors have alsobeen issuing statementsagainst Punjab governmentcontinuously. He said thatGovernor’s rule was also im-posed in Punjab after top-pling the provincial govern-ment. Nawaz Sharif said thatan unjust attitude wasadopted towards Punjabgovernment and people ofthe province with regard toloadshedding of electricityand gas but in spite of allproblems and hindrances,Punjab government servedthe people round the clockand provided relief to themby completing mega devel-opment projects throughoutthe province. He said that ifa conducive and free atmo-sphere of investment is pro-vided to the foreign inves-tors, they make liberal invest-ments and metro bus systemis proof of this fact. NawazSharif said that due to a fa-vorable atmosphere of in-vestment in Punjab, Turkcompanies have made in-vestment of billions of ru-pees in Punjab. He said thatPunjab government also con-trolled dengue virus due toan effective strategy andconcrete steps taken for thispurpose. He said that landrecord computerization is abig achievement of Punjabgovernment which has pro-vided relief to the people inobtaining Fard Malkiat (own-ership deed) and transferdeeds of their property.

the pipeline is in our nationalinterest being an energy de-ficient country,” Khan said.

“Yes we know about theirconcerns but hope our friends,including the US, will under-stand our economic compul-sions,” said Khan. Officialshave said Monday’s cer-emony will mark the start ofwork on the 780-kilometre pipe-line earmarked for the Pakistaniside of the border, which is saidto cost some $1.5 billion.

Although the pipeline onthe Iranian side has almostbeen completed, Pakistan hasrun into repeated difficulties,both in financing the projectand over a US threat of pos-sible sanctions due to Iran’snuclear activities. Iran eventu-ally agreed to finance a thirdof the costs of laying the pipe-line through Pakistan, with thework to be carried out by anIranian company.

Islamabad to completePak-Iran pipeline

‘despite US pressure’From Page 1

Operationlaunched in Lyari

From Page 1

Corps Commandersdiscuss country’s

securityFrom Page 1

termine the pricing formulaand arrive at the exact vol-ume of the UFG within threemonths. The Cabinet Committeeon prevention of corruptionpresented its twelve pointrecommendations to theCabinet which were ap-proved by it. The Information Ministersaid a review of the perfor-mance of the present Cabi-net was also presented be-fore the meeting. It was toldthat the cabinet held 130meetings and made 1561 de-cisions. Out of them, 1227have already been imple-mented and the remaining334 are under implementa-tion. Minister for Finance saida Budget Strategy document2013-16 was presented be-fore the Cabinet.

PML-N nominationsfor caretaker PM ‘a

political joke’: KairaFrom Page 1

Prosecutor General NAB,K K Agha told the apex courtthat all the arrangements forfacilitating the return were fi-nal but in the last moments,the UAE Police stated thathis documents were incom-plete.

At this, Justice Jawad SKhwaja inquired why NABtook no action against theinstitutions that createdhurdles in the way of TauqeerSadiq’s return. ProsecutorGeneral NAB replied that ac-

SC orders immediate returnof ex-OGRA Chairman

From Page 1tion would be taken againstthose responsible in this re-gard. Justice Khwaja furthernoted that no reference hasbeen filed against those sup-porting the escape ofTauqeer Sadiq. Subse-quently, Judicial AssistantKhwaja Haris observed thata case could be filed againstsuch persons under Article212 and 216 of Pakistan Pe-nal Code.

Justice Jawad S Khwaja

remarked that the nationalinstitutions take actionagainst a Deputy Post Mas-ter accused of embezzlementof Rs 160,000, while theyseem reluctant with regard toother more important issues.

The court ordered Secre-tary Foreign Affairs topresent the report relevant tothe comeback of TauqeerSadiq on the next hearing.

Afterwards, the court ad-journed the hearing till March11.—Online

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif submitting his application for partyticket for NA and PA seats at PML-N Secretariat, Model Town.

BANGKOK —A proposal bythe United States to bancross-border trade in polarbears and their parts was de-feated Thursday at an inter-national meeting of conser-vationists, marking a victoryfor Canada’s indigenousInuit people over their bigneighbor to the south. Del-egates at the triennial meet-ing of the Convention on In-ternational Trade in Endan-gered Species, or CITES, rejected Washington’s pro-posal to change the status ofthe polar bear from a specieswhose trade is merely regu-lated, not banned. The pro-posal fell far short of the two-thirds needed to pass, gar-nering 38 votes in favor, 42against and 46 abstentions.

A similar proposal was de-feated three years ago at thelast CITES meeting.

While support for most ofthe meeting’s 70 proposalscovering the trade in other spe-cies fell along predictable lines,the U.S. proposal made forsome odd bedfellows. Russiaendorsed Washington’s pro-posal, which was also sup-ported by a cluster of animalhumane societies. Canada wasjoined in opposition by someof the larger conservation or-ganizations, including theCITES Secretariat and the Wild-life Trade Monitoring Network,better known as TRAFFIC. Theworldwide population of polarbears is estimated to be 20,000-28,000, with about two-thirds inCanada.—AP

Conservation body rejectspolar bear trade ban

Talks on for releaseof peacekeepers

MANILA, Philippines—ThePhilippine government saidThursday that talks were un-der way for the release of 21unarmed Filipino U.N. peace-keepers who were detained bySyrian rebels in the GolanHeights in the increasingly vola-tile zone separating Israeli andSyrian troops. Foreign AffairsDepartment spokesman RaulHernandez said the peacekeep-ers, who were detained onWednesday, were unharmedand were being treated as “visi-tors and guests.”

Hernandez told reportersin Manila that the U.N. forcecommander in the area was ne-gotiating with the leader of therebel group, whose demandsconcerned the positioning ofSyrian government forces inthe area.—AP

IRFAN ALIGI

K A R A C H I — M u t t a h i d aQaumi Movement (MQM)Chief Altaf Hussain hassaid that despite the crimi-nals had kidnapped twoRangers intell igence per-sonnel and killed them inLiyari , the Rangers andArmy was si t t ing idle assheer spectators.

He said “It was thenight of June 18, 1992 whenPakistan Rangers MajorKalim had along with threeother Rangers personnelled the Haqiqi group to

capture Landhi. The Rang-ers had formed Haqiqi andwith the support of Rang-ers, had occupied the Sec-tor Office of the MuttahidaQaumi Movement inLandhi.

“Hundreds of MQMworkers and MQM mem-bers of assemblies wereheld hostage. One yearlater, on June 19, 2992, theArmy had started opera-t ion clean-up against theMQM and had allowed thetrained terrorists of Haqiqito punish the MQM work-ers. As a result, thousandsof MQM workers werekilled in that Army opera-tion, hundreds of workerswere forced to change theirloyalty while homes ofhundreds of MQM workerswere set ablaze.

“However, on receivingtortured bodies of the ab-ducted Rangers personnelfrom Liyari, the entire Armyremained as sheer specta-tor.”

He was talking to themembers of the MQM Co-Ordination Committees inKarachi and in London onThursday.

He said that the peopleof Landhi had held armedmilitants in Landhi includ-ing Major Kalim and histhree accomplices and in re-turn the people that hadheld them were sentenced

for 27 years in jail but theArmy was remaining assheer spectator on receiv-ing dead bodies of ab-ducted Rangers personnelfrom Liyari.

He questioned if theArmy and Rangers werehelpless to the terroristsand whether they wouldtake any stern action in thisregard?

He appealed to thepeople of Karachi that theyshould take measures fortheir safety on their ownand form teams of volun-teers to perform as vigilant.He also demanded of thegovernment to pay thecompensation money tothe aggrieved families ofthe Abbas Town on warfooting basis.

The governmentshould commence the reha-bil i tat ion process at thestate’s expense.

He said that the peopleof Abbas Town had losttheir apartments and shopsand were forced to live un-der the open sky.

The affected familieshad taken shelter to theirrelatives under compulsionwhile there were some fami-lies that were still living intheir destroyed apart-ments. He also demandedthe government to ensurebest medical treatment tothe injured.

Army only spectator on murder ofRangers personnel in Lyari: Altaf

military matters, the meetingunder took a comprehensivereview of internal and exter-nal security environment ofthe country.

The meeting also dis-cussed the law and ordersituation in Karachi and itwas decided that intelli-gence agencies will increaseintelligence sharing with lawenforcement agencies.

were blocked as a large con-tingent of paramilitary person-nel launched the operationagainst alleged criminals.

More than 12 people werealso arrested in the operation.

Rangers personnel alsoclaimed to have freed at leastthree people held captive bycriminals in the ongoing opera-tion. Earlier on Thursday, eightpeople, including two Rangerspersonnel, were killed in the vio-lence-ridden city, police said.

The bodies of two Rang-ers personnel, bearing torturemarks, were found from MewaShah Graveyard in Lyari.

Police said both personnelwere severely tortured beforebeing killed. The victims be-longed to the intelligence wingof Sindh Rangers and wentmissing since Wednesdaywhile performing duty in Lyari.

cur in time, the PPP would beable to win only 40 to 50seats. He said that short-sighted politicians were un-derestimating the country fortheir personal interests. Allthe institutions of the coun-try have been destroyed bycorrupt mafia which hasnothing to do with nationalinterests.

Furthering his statement,he said if the PML had ex-pressed unity and unanimity,its situation would have beendifferent from that of thepresent one. He said that it isreality that no worker of thePML can think in negativesense about the mother-land.—INP

Election likely todelay due to

chaos: Pir PagaraFrom Page 1

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shameem Wynne called on President AsifAli Zardari. SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Complainants fromHaveli Lakha, Okara and Sialkotmet Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif atModel Town, here Thursday.

The Chief Minister gavecheques for Rs.5 lakh to thefamily of girl of Haveli LakhaOkara who was raped and acheque for Rs.3 lakh to the chil-dren of a person of Sialkot whowas murdered. He also assuredthe affected families that no ef-fort would be spared to providejustice to them and ensuringdue punishment to the culprits.

He directed DPO Okara totake immediate steps for ensur-ing punishment under the lawto the criminals. He said thatthe elements which molestwomen and girls are a blotchon the society and deservemaximum punishment. He saidthat Punjab government hasprovided all out resources tothe police for the eradication ofcrime.

He said that elements in-

Shahbaz redresses publiccomplaints

volved in heinous crimes de-serve no leniency and wouldbe awarded deterrent punish-ment. He said that no societybased on cruelty and injusticecan survive or prosper. Talkingto the family of the victim whowas killed in Sialkot he said thatimmediate justice will be pro-vided to the affectees. Thecomplainants thanked the ChiefMinister for taking immediatesteps for redressing their griev-ances and prayed for his longlife. Meanwhile, Chief MinisterPunjab Muhammad ShahbazSharif will visit Faisalabad onSaturday.

According to a spokesmanof the city district government,the CM Punjab was scheduledto visit Faisalabad on March 2,but due to certain reasons thevisit was postponed.

The Chief Minister Punjabwill inaugurate Medical Collegeat Susan Road adjacent to So-cial Security Hospital.

The Chief Minister will alsovisit the under constructionsite of Abdullahpur Underpass

where he would be briefedabout the pace of developmentproject.

Later, the CM will also ad-dress a meeting at Ustad NusratFateh Ali Khan Auditorium ofFaisalabad Arts Council wherePML-N leaders and area no-tables will participate.

The spokesman furthertold that the CM would alsovisit the new campus of Gov-ernment College UniversityFaisalabad (GCUF) and layfoundation stone for its con-struction besides distributinglaptops and solar lamps amongthe students and proprietaryletters among the residents ofKatchi Abadies.

The Chief Minister Punjabis also expected to make an-nouncement for the establish-ment of Lahore High Court(LHC) bench at Faisalabad, thespokesman said and added thata rousing reception would beaccorded to the CM on his ar-rival at Faisalabad and for thispurpose all arrangements havebeen finalized.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has resolvedto ensure the protection ofall rights of women and elimi-nate every kind of violenceagainst them.

JI demanded of the gov-ernment to provide health,education, employment op-portunities and social justiceto the women as prescribedby Islam and the constitu-tion.

JI Secretary GeneralLiaqat Baloch, JI Womenwing Secretary GeneralRukhsana Jabeen, seniorleader Aafia Serwar andformer MNA SameehaRaheel Qazi said this whileannouncing its electionmanifesto during a pressconference here at theLahore Press Club in con-

JI announces electionmanifesto on women rights

nection with the worldWomen’s Day on Thursday.

Liaqat Baloch said thatthe JI would introduce legis-lation on every issue relatedto the women rights accord-ing to the Islamic system sothat they could live their livesin a better way.

He said that JI after com-ing into power, would im-prove the living standard ofthe women in rural and urbanareas through provision of allbasic necessities and equalchances of development.

He said that Pakistaniwomen had very low oppor-tunity of getting educationdue to which they were be-ing exploited and JI wouldprovide this basic facility toevery woman to make them auseful citizen.

Baloch said that health isanother major problem faced

by the women and JI wouldensure free health care re-garding maternity care andmothers health to promotehealthy family system.

JI would eliminate eviltrend of dowry besides allsuch traditions which areagainst Islam and severe vio-lation of the women rightsincluding honour killing,right of inheritance property,marriage with Quran, acidthrowing, Vani, Sawara, ovenburn etc.

Baloch said that specialage relaxation for jobs towomen and a safe environ-ment at work place would beprovided.

He added that JI wouldset up medical colleges anduniversities for women be-sides promoting cottage in-dustry to empower thewomen.

Fashion showLAHORE—The Lahore Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry(LCCI)’s Standing Committeeon Women Entrepreneurs De-velopment & Resource Centreis holding a Fashion Show anda three-day exhibition here onFriday. The events have beenorganized to mark the Interna-tional Women’s Day. Theseevents have been arrangedwith an objective to promotewomen entrepreneurship andfor the awareness of womenempowerment in the country.

The Fashion Show with atheme of Spring-Summer Col-lection is being participatedby the top names of the fash-ion industry while a largenumber of leading brands areshowing up.—APP

DHAKA—The fight for the fu-ture of Bangladesh is playingout in the streets of this troubledsouth Asian nation.

For a month, masses ofmoderate activists have campedat a Dhaka intersection demand-ing harsh punishment for thoseaccused of crimes during the1971 independence war fromPakistan, a stance that dovetailswith the prime minister’s posi-tion. Meanwhile, their bitter en-emies in a hardline Islamic op-position party that wants to in-stall Shariah law have been at-tacking government buildingsand setting fire to trains in a ram-page that — along with a crack-down by security forces — haskilled more than 60 people. Theparty, Jamaat-e-islami, says thegovernment is using a warcrimes tribunal to decimate the

party leadership, and claims it isin a fight for its very existence.

“Our backs have been pushedto the wall. If we can’t stop thefascist government from holdingthe trials, all our main leaders willbe hanged,” said Rafiqul Haq, aJamaat leader based in Dhaka’sUttara district. “We will die ratherthan let the government kill ourleaders.”

The latest round of violence— sparked by the tribunal sen-tencing a party leader to death —has prompted calls for Jamaat tobe branded a terrorist organiza-tion, and Law Minister ShafiqAhmed told Parliament this weekthat the government was lookinginto ways to ban the party.

Looming over the protestsand violence are general electionsexpected within the next year, andfears that in this fledgling democ-

racy with a history of coups, themilitary might take over if the situ-ation in the streets gets too far outof hand. “The people are deeplyworried about what is going on,”said Hassan Shahriar, a politicalanalyst. “If the violence continues,the government may hit back withharsh measures like a state ofemergency.” Military interventionis possible as well, he said.

Much of the chaos centers onthe fate of Jamaat, the country’slargest Islamic party. Its leadersare facing charges they helpedPakistani forces in the fightingfour decades ago, whichBangladesh says left 3 millionpeople dead and 200,000 womenraped. Jamaat had opposedbreaking away from Pakistan, ar-guing that staying as one strongMuslim-majority nation would bebetter for Islam. Citizen brigades

formed by Jamaat helped Paki-stani forces, unfamiliar withBangladesh, identify indepen-dence activists. Jamaat leadersdeny any link to war crimes.

After independence, found-ing President Sheikh MujiburRahman, father of current PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina, bannedthe party and stripped many ofits leaders of citizenship. But hewas slain in 1975 and militaryruler Ziaur Rahman, husband ofcurrent opposition leaderKhaleda Zia, lifted the ban andwooed Jamaat as an ally for hisBangladesh Nationalist Party.

Though Jamaat has neverwon big at the ballot box, rou-tinely garnering around 4 per-cent, it has been an importantcoalition ally for Zia, and evenreceived Cabinet posts when shewon elections in 2001—AP

UNITED NATIONS —The U.N.Security Council voted unani-mously Thursday for tough newsanctions to punish North Ko-rea for its latest nuclear test, amove that sparked a furiousPyongyang to threaten a nuclearstrike against the United States.

The vote by the U.N.’s mostpowerful body on a resolutiondrafted by North Korea’s clos-est ally, China, and the UnitedStates sends a powerful messagethat the international communitycondemns the ballistic missileand nuclear tests — and repeatedviolation of Security Councilresolutions.

Immediately before thevote, an unidentified spokesmanfor Pyongyang’s Foreign Min-istry said the North will exerciseits right for “a preemptivenuclear attack to destroy thestrongholds of the aggressors”because Washington is pushingto start a nuclear war against theNorth. It appeared to be the

UN approves new sanctionsagainst North Korea

most specific open threat of anuclear strike by any countryagainst another. Although NorthKorea boasts of nuclear bombsand pre-emptive strikes, it is notthought to have mastered theability to produce a warheadsmall enough to put on a mis-sile capable of reaching the U.S.It is believed to have enoughnuclear fuel, however, for sev-eral crude nuclear devices.The new sanctions are aimed atreining in North Korea’s nuclearand missile programs by mak-ing it more difficult forPyongyang to finance and obtainmaterial for these programs,tracking illegal diplomatic activ-ity and intensifying inspectionsof cargo to and from the coun-try. In a measure targeted at thereclusive nation’s ruling elite,the resolution bans all nationsfrom exporting expensive jew-elry, yachts, luxury automobilesand racing cars to the North.

After the 15-0 vote, U.S.

Ambassador Susan Rice toldreporters that “taken together,these sanctions will bite and bitehard. Responding toPyongyang’s nuclear strikethreat, she said, “North Koreawill achieve nothing by contin-ued threats and provocation.”

She urged North Korea’sleaders to heed President BarackObama’s call to follow the pathof peace. If it doesn’t, she said,the Security Council is commit-ted in the resolution to take fur-ther measures.

China’s U.N. Ambassa-dor Li Bao Dong said the toppriority now is to “bring downthe heat” and focus on diplo-macy and restarting the six-partytalks aimed at denuclearizing theKorean peninsula.

In North Korea, Army Gen.Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd oftens of thousands that NorthKorea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles atWashington.—AP

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Thursday issued no-tices to the managing directorof Pakistan International Air-lines (PIA) directing him toappear before in person andclarify his stance over the is-sue of women’s victimisationand sexual harassment in theentity.

The bench comprisingChief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry, JusticeGulzar Ahmad and JusticeSheikh Azmat Saeed was hear-ing a case pertaining to mis-management, corruption andnepotism in the national flagcarrier.

The court issued notices tothe PIA MD when CaptainRiffat Hayee submitted beforethe bench an application re-questing the court to include heras a party in the case, enablingher to tell about thevictimisation and sexual ha-rassment of women staffers bysome of the PIA officers.

Hayee told the court thatshe had submitted many appli-

cations, on the mater, to theconcerned officials but no ac-tion had been taken and thatwas why she had decided tobecome a party in the case.

She said any employee whoraises voice against the man-agement is victimised, addingthat she herself was an exampleto the professionalvictimisation. The captain saidshe was forced to sit at homefor over a year, saying the at-mosphere for women was notsuitable in the PIA.

To a court query, she saidshe had submitted many appli-cations to the officials regard-ing the harassment andvictimisation, however no ap-plication had been considered.

Raja Bashir Ahmed, coun-sel for PIA, told the court thatAttorney General Irfan Qadirwas engaged with the PIAchairman, as he would appearon next hearing on his behalf.He also sought time for prepa-ration, which the court allowedand adjourned the hearing toMarch 14.—APP

SC summons PIA MDto clarify sexual

harassment of women

Turkish Admiralfor concerted

efforts to deal withMaritime Security

KARACHI—The 5th Interna-tional Maritime Conference(IMC 2013) concluded after anopen discussion by the groupsrepresenting security, economyand environment sessions.

They evaluated and reas-sessed modalities which cameunder discussions during theconference on the topic Re-gional Maritime Security Dy-namics, Imperatives and Inter-Dependencies.

The conference was orga-nized under the auspices of Na-tional Centre for MaritimePolicy Research (NCMPR) ofBahria University, concurrentlywith the 4th Biennial Interna-tional Maritime Exercise“AMAN 2013”.

While speaking to the audi-ence, the chief guest of theevent, Commander Turkish Na-val Force Admiral Emin MuratBilgel pointed out all the aspectsconcerning security threats, theiradverse impacts on the globaltrade and commerce and finally,highlighted need for the con-certed efforts and coordinatedstrategic plan to deal with theissues. —INP

BJP bill to bringprosperity in South

Punjab: WattooLAHORE —Federal Minister forKashmir Affairs ManzoorAhmed Wattoo has said that un-opposed adoption ofBahawalpur Janoobi Punjab Billby Senate is government’sworth mentioning achievementwhich is highly appreciable.

He was talking to the mediaat his residence on Thursday. Hesaid that PPP is the largest partyof the country which alwaysmade service to the people itsaim.

Now it has fulfilled anotherpromise by realizing the dreamof people from Southern Punjab. “We believe in the practicalservices to the people instead oftall claims and negative tactics.He said that Southern Punjabhad been ignored in the past.

Unluckily Shahbaz Sharif isspending the entire resources ofSouthern Punjab in Lahore. Butnow its destitute would be re-moved”, he added.—Online

Raja linkseducationto uplift

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf says impart-ing education to new generationis imperative for the developmentand prosperity of the country. He was addressing the inau-gural ceremony of Sweet Homefor orphan children here on Thurs-day. Federal Ministers QamarZaman Kaira, Syed KhursheedShah, Nazar Muhammad Godaland Managing Director PakistanBaitul Mal Zamurd Khan werealso present on the occasion. The Prime Minister said pro-vision of quality education to thepeople is part of Pakistan PeoplesParty manifesto.

He said Sweet Home childrenare getting high standard educa-tion which can be matched withany standard educational institu-tion.

PTI flays PM forvisit to India

ISLAMABAD—Central Infor-mation Secretary PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf, ShafqatMahmood questioning the tim-ing of Prime Minister RajaPervaiz Ahsraf and his family’strip to India said that at a timewhen the country is faced withthe tragedy of severe sectarianviolence and grappling with thedeteriorating law and ordersituation in Karachi, plans forsuch a visit are absolutely ri-diculous.

In a statement issued here,she said with the governmententering the last week of its ten-ure the purpose of such a visitis incomprehensible.

Unjustified visits abroadwhen the country is faced bysuch a harrowing state of affairsare beyond logic.

Karachi has been broughtto a point of complete shutdown due to those sitting inpower failing miserably to con-trol the situation.

He further added that in ourpolitical system ethics arehardly followed by those inpower. “Private visits on state ex-penses are unacceptable.”—INP

InternationalWomen’s DaySUKKUR—Scores of Sukkur-based women organisations andNGOs will be observing the In-ternational Women’s Day onMarch 8 in a befitting manner.The organisations, including theInter Global Human Develop-ment Society (IGHDS) andWorking Women Organisation(WWO) held separate meetingsand chalked out a programme tohighlight their problems on theWomen’s Day. The IGHDS at ameeting presided over by MsAsima Rehman resolved thatthey would fully utilise the dayfor identifying the issues per-taining to women who consti-tuted 50 per cent of the country’spopulation. —APP

I S L A M A B A D — C h a i r m a nPakitan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)Imran Khan announced hereon Thursday that his partywould finalise the name oftheir chosen candidate for thepost of caretaker prime minis-ter by Friday.

Speaking at a press confer-ence held at the party secre-tariat in Islamabad, Khan saidhis party would not award tick-ets to politicians who fail todeclare their assets, addingthat the PTI did not wish tohave a bank defaulter contest-ing the coming election on itsticket.

Moreover, he said the pro-cess of reviewing applicationsof all new members had beencompleted, adding that PTI’sintra-party elections wouldconclude by March 15.

The PTI chief said theElection Commission of Paki-stan must be pressured into

holding a transparent election.He alleged that those in-

volved in corruption hadjoined the Pakistan MuslimLeague – Nawaz (PML-N).

Khan claimed the member-ship of the country’s two larg-est political parties, PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) and thePML-N, consisted of tax de-faulters. He added that five bil-lion rupees of taxes were be-ing lost on a daily basis.

Claiming that both PPPand PML-N had failed to passany anti-corruption laws in thelast five years, Khan said hisparty would approach the Su-preme Court if no such legis-lation was done.

In response to a question,he said PTI’s popularity haddropped due to lack of anorganisational setup. However,Khan claimed the situationwould clarify during hisparty’s rally on March 23.

PTI to finalisename for caretaker

PM, says Imran

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—A professor from auniversity in Peshawar under cap-tivity of the Pakistani Taliban hasappealed again to the governmentin Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinceto accept the militants’ demandsfor his release.

In a new video receivedThursday, Professor Ajmal Khan,vice-chancellor of the IslamiaCollege University (ICU), calledout to Awami National Party(ANP) chief Asfandyar WaliKhan, the Peshawar High Court,the Governor and the Chief Min-ister of Khyber Pakhtunkhawaprovince to ensure his releasefrom captivity by the extremistmilitants. Prof Khan, who was ab-ducted by the Pakistani Talibantwo years ago, said his health wasdeteriorating by the day.

“Its been more than 2 and ahalf years I am in captivity but noconcrete steps have been taken bythe government for my release,”said Professor Ajmal Khan,

speaking in Pashto language in thetwo and a half minute video.

The VC was kidnapped fromProfessors Colony on Peshawar’sUniversity Road in September2010. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Paki-stan (TTP) had demanded the re-lease of four Taliban prisoners inthe bargain of his release but gov-ernment had earlier refused theoffer.

Prof Khan is also a close rela-tive of ANP chief Asfandyar WaliKhan and had been a staunch sup-porter of the war against militancy.The TTP had threatened to kill theprofessor if the government failedto accept their demands and anearlier deadline had been extendedby militants after appeals by hisfamily and religious scholars hail-ing from Khan’s native Charsaddadistrict.

Security officials said Talibaninsurgents have been using kid-napping as ransom tool, and tobargain for the release of theirmilitants being held by Pakistanauthorities.

Professor undercaptivity appeals

for release

CEC discusses pollsbudget issues withFinance Minister

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC)Fakhruddin G Ebrahim has metwith Finance Minister SaleemMandviwala in Islamabad onThursday. According to sources,the CEC and the Finance Min-ister discussed the issue of fund-ing needed by the Election Com-mission of Pakistan for the com-ing elections.

The Election Commissionhas so far received Rs 2 billionout of the required Rs 6 billionand the remaining Rs 4 billionfunds have not been releasedyet.Brushing aside all the con-cerns about whether the generalelections would be held or notgiven prevailing situation in thecountry, CEC Fakhruddin GEbrahim said there was no un-certainty and elections would beheld on time.

The CEC said that the lawand order situation in Karachiwould not create any hurdle inway of holding elections.

He said that all the arrange-ments have been finalized forholding general elections.

CIA seizes binLaden son-in-

law after Turkeydeportation

ANKARA—Osama bin Laden’sson-in-law Sulaiman AbuGhaith was seized by CIAagents and taken to the UnitedStates after Turkey deportedhim to Jordan this month, aTurkish newspaper reported onThursday.

Abu Ghaith, the formerspokesman of the Al Qaeda net-work, was seized last month ata luxury hotel in Ankara after atip-off from CIA and was heldthere by the police despite a USrequest for his extradition.

Turkish authorities de-ported Abu Ghaith to Jordan onMarch 1 to be sent back to Ku-wait but he was seized by CIAagents in Jordan and taken tothe United States, the Hurriyetnewspaper said.

His deportation coincidedwith a visit by US Secretary ofState John Kerry to Ankara aspart of a regional tour, itadded—AP

Fight for future of Bangladesh plays out in street

Shahbaz appliesfor election ticketLAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif Thursday submitted anapplication form at PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz Secre-tariat for ticket to participate ingeneral elections. Media reportssaid that the Chief Minister sub-mitted the application forms fornational and provincial assem-bly constituencies. Talking onthe occasion, MuhammadShahbaz Sharif said that he hasgiven selfless services to thepeople during the last five years,and considers himself answer-able to Allah Almighty and inthe court of the people. He saidthat PPP would be completelydefeated in the forthcoming gen-eral elections, adding that thecountry is drowned in darkness,while load shedding and unem-ployment have made the lives ofthe people miserable. He reaf-firmed his resolve that if peoplegave another opportunity toserve, a new Pakistan would bebuilt.—Online

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani presiding over the 158th Corps Commander’s Confer-ence at General Headquarters.

KARACHI: Men in hood seen under the custody of Rangers after their arrest during searchoperation in the area of Lyari.

Removal of politicialbillboardsISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP)has set Monday as the deadlinefor the removal of political wallchalking and billboards. Ac-cording to the ECP, directiveshave been issued to the provin-cial election commissioner andchief secretary for the removalof billboards and wall chalking.If billboards and wall chalkingare not removed the concernedDCO and DPO will be held re-sponsible. Meanwhile a meet-ing to discuss the deployment ofthe army during the electionswill be held on Friday. SecretaryElection Commission IshtiaqueAhmed will represent the ECPin this meeting which will takeplace at the GHQ in Rawalpindi.According to sources, the ECPis seeking more army deploy-ment during the elections ascompared to past polls. —INP

PTI’s intra-partyelection postponedLAHORE—The intra-partyelection of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) for 44 seats ofthe provincial capital was to beheld at Aiwan-e-Iqbal here onThursday has been postponed.The election was postponeddue to certain mistakes by theelection commission of theparty. PTI City president andgeneral secretary have alreadybeen elected on Feb 26 last.Farooq Amjad Mir and his sup-porters demanded the partychairman Imran Khan for set-ting up a new election commis-sion. Talking to APP, PTIleader Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed said that electioncommission could not fulfili ts important responsibil-ity.—APP

ORAKZAI AGENCY—Twenty-five militants have been killedas jet fighters on Thursday tar-geted militant hideouts in upperOrakzai Agency.

Earlier in the morning a se-curity forces convoy was tar-geted in Nadar Mela with anIED, which resulted in the deathof one soldier while three oth-ers were injured.

Assistant political agentRafiq Mohmand told that themilitant stronghold of GundaiMela in Mamozai has been takenover by security forces. Eightmilitants were killed during theoffensive.

He said that during airstrikes in Inzar Mela, JandriKalle and Adu Khel area ofMamozai, four militant hideouts

were destroyed while 12 mili-tants were also killed, adding“those killed are mostly affili-ated with the TTP.”

Five militants were alsokilled in another clash.

Officials also believe thatthe fall of Gundai Mela to thesecurity forces is a huge successdue to the strategic location ofthe village.

The adjoining mountainousregion, near the Dogar village ofKurram Agency, is also a keyweapon supply route for Orakzaimilitants.

However security forces,after taking over key villages inthe TTP stronghold of Mamozai,are not advancing to the areasbordering Kurram Agency andTirah Valley.—Agencies

Orakzai offensiveleaves 25 militants dead

A STUDY has found that people whoeat more processed meat such asham, bacon, sausages and burgers

run a greater risk of premature death anddeveloping conditions such as cancer andheart disease, the daily Guardian reported.

The study, which in-cluded data from 448,568people in 10 Europeancountries, including theUK, found that the biggestconsumers of processedmeat were 44% morelikely to die prematurelyfrom any cause than thosewho ate little of it. Highlevels of consumption in-creased the risk of deathfrom heart disease by 72%and cancer by 11%.

If everyone ate nomore than 20g a day ofprocessed meat - aboutone rasher of bacon,chipolata sausage or thinslice of ham - then 3% ofall premature deaths couldbe avoided, according to an estimate bythe authors, led by Professor SabineRohrmann from the University of Zurich.Their results are published in the journalBMC Medicine.

But a small amount of red meat alsoseems to benefit health, because it containsimportant nutrients and minerals, theyadded. Risks rise in line with the level ofconsumption, the researchers found. Theresults are in line with previous studies.Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of sci-ence at the World Cancer Research Fund,said the research bore out its own findingsin 2007 - disputed by the meat industry at

the time - about the health risks of pro-cessed meat.

It has found that consuming bacon,ham, hot dogs, salami and some sausagesheightened the risk of bowel cancer. Thecharity estimates that 4,100 fewer Brit-

ons a year would be diag-nosed with the disease if ev-eryone ate no more than 10gof processed meat a day,though advises avoiding italtogether.

Dr Carrie Ruxton, anutritionist who sits on themeat industry-funded MeatAdvisory Panel, said thestudy’s findings were notrobust enough to justifychanging public health ad-vice. The fact those whoconsumed the largestamounts of processed meatalso displayed other un-healthy habits meant it washard to confidently ascriberisk of death to meat eatingalone, she said.

“The occasional bacon butty isn’t go-ing to do you much harm. Peopleshouldn’t avoid bacon or salami becausethey think it’s going to kill them, becauseit won’t. We can’t say that from this study.But we do know that processed meat hasa higher salt and fat content, so havingbacon or salami in moderation, andswitching to lean red meat products, is agood idea,” Ruxton added. Tracy Parker,a heart health dietitian with the BritishHeart Foundation, said people who ate alot of processed meat should try to eat amore varied diet, such as chicken, fish,beans or lentils.

Cancer risk higher among peoplewho eat more processed meat

ISLAMABAD: A group of youngsters holding first of its kind flash mob in Jinnah Super Market to create awareness regarding sexual and repro-ductive health rights.

ISLAMABAD: Participants taking part in painting competition during 2nd National Womenat Work Festival to mark International Women’s Day at Aiwan-e-Quaid.

ISLAMABAD—The Competi-tion Commission of Pakistan(CCP) has imposed a totalpenalty of Rs. 25 million on 5universities which were ad-vertising un-accredited engi-neering programmes in viola-tion of Section 10 of the Com-petition Act, 2010.

A CCP Bench comprisingChairperson Ms. RahatKaunain Hassan and Mem-bers, Abdul Ghaffar and Dr.Shahzad Ansar passed an or-der in respect of show causenotices issued to 27 institu-tions/universities offering en-gineering programmes andclaiming to be either accred-ited or approved/recognizedby Pakistan EngineeringCouncil (PEC) for, prima fa-cie, violation of Section 10 ofthe Competition Act.

The order states that it isclear that the term ‘accreditedby PEC’ implies that an engi-neering program has effec-

Rs25m fine imposed on 5 universitiestively met the norms and proce-dures prescribed by PEC andonly those students that obtainan accredited engineeringprogramme degree are able toregister with PEC as qualifiedengineers.

The Bench held that as ac-credited status holds value forboth, the engineering institu-tions and students; therefore,claims to this effect cannot bemade in a casual manner. Asnone of the 27 universities hadbeen accredited by PEC for in-take of students in 2011, theBench concluded that they hadviolated the provisions of Sec-tion 10 (1) of the CompetitionAct.

The CCP Bench in view ofits findings established that the27 universities that had been is-sued show cause notices couldnot be treated in the same man-ner.

The subject 27 universitieshave been divided by the Bench

in to 3 distinct categories (a)those claiming to have been ap-proved/recognized/permitted byPEC in respect of introductionof new programs (b) thoseclaiming to have been accreditedby PEC but ensuring that no stu-dents graduate without an ac-credited engineering programdegree and (c) those claiming tobe accredited by PEC but whosegraduates have obtained un-ac-credited engineeringprogramme degrees.

The order highlights thatthe proceeds generated by the 27universities from studentsgraduating in a year are approxi-mately over 500 million for afour-year engineeringprogramme.

As the financial impact onstudents and their parents ofsuch practices of engineeringuniversities is substantial, duedisclosures must be ensured bythe universities to enable stu-dents to make informed deci-

sions. The CCP Bench repri-manded all the 27 universitiesand directed all universities of-fering engineering programsmake due disclosures in the fu-ture. The Bench is of the viewthat minimum mandatory dis-closures must include informa-tion in respect of each engineer-ing program relating to lastbatch that was accredited byPEC, status of application of re-accreditation and/or grant ofgreen signal by PEC.

The bench also observedthat PEC being the only accred-iting body in Pakistan for theengineering institutions has toremain conscious that its mo-nopoly in the market of grant-ing accreditation has to be trans-parent and above board.

The PEC was also directedto issue clear and concise guide-lines in respect of the accredita-tion procedure and a code ofconduct in order to facilitate en-gineering institutions in comply-

ISLAMABAD—Supreme Courtwas informed Thursday that asmany as 720 cases pertaining tothe allotment of governmenthouses were pending in the dis-trict courts of the federal capi-tal.

This information was givento a three-judge bench compris-ing Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry, JusticeGulzar Ahmed and Justice Sh.Azmat Saeed during the hearingof the illegal and unauthorizedallotment of government housesin the federal capital. During thecourse of proceeding, AdditionalSecretary Housing presented a

720 allotment cases of govt housespending in district courts: SC

report before the bench com-prising the details of the casespending in different courts.

The CJ remarked that due tothe unauthorized allotment ofhouses, government employeeshave to face lot of difficulties andthus the real beneficiaries are de-prived of their right. He furtherstated that in order to dispose offpending cases, separate districtjudge should be appointed add-ing that the apex court also wantsthat the allotment cases should bedealt on merit.

Justice Gulzar expresseddisappointment over not provid-ing the detailed list of the allot-

ment of houses to the bench whowere given houses out of theway.

The court also issued showcause notice to the minister ofstate for housing to appear be-fore the court in the next hear-ing to clear his point of view onthe matter. The bench also di-rected to carry out action againstthe illegal and unauthorized oc-cupants on the governmenthouses and also directed offi-cials of housing ministry andstate office to ensure their pres-ence in the next hearing.

Later, the court adjournedthe case for two weeks.—APP

ing with due process of ac-creditation in an efficient man-ner. The Commission hastaken a lenient view in respectof the universities falling in thefirst two categories.

In respect of the third cat-egory where graduates havecome in the market and are un-able to register with PEC, theBench finds that this is too se-rious a violation to be con-doned without penalty. The feeof the 5 universities falling inthis category ranges betweenRs. 400,000 to 800,000.

The students that have ob-tained degrees in respect of un-accredited engineering pro-grams not only suffer financialloss but also loss of employ-ment opportunities within andoutside Pakistan.

In order to create deter-rence a penalty of Rs. 5 mil-lion is imposed on each of the5 universities falling in thethird category.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Most of water fil-tration plants in the federal capi-tal are in very poor condition asmany plants are broken and haveleaking taps.The water filtrationplants at F-6, G-6, G-7,I-10 andI-8 Sitara Market are in dilapi-dated conditions as the taps arebroken and huge amount of wa-ter is being wasted daily.

The residents of the areasaid that official time for wateris 10:00am to 10:00pm but stillthey were facing water shortageduring the time fixed by the au-thorities concerned.

They maintained that they had

Faulty water filtration plantsannoy residents in capital

to wait to get water because of therush of the people waiting for theirturn as only two taps are opera-tional at most of the water filtra-tion plants. Ahmed Ali, a residentof F-6, alleged that due to negli-gence of the concern authority, thewater filtration plants installed atvarious sectors for provision ofclean drinking water were neitherrepaired nor their filters were re-placed on regular basis.

The residents urged the au-thorities to take immediate mea-sures for the timely provision ofclean drinking water and main-tenance of these plants.

Residents of G-7 sector saidthat it was the fundamental rightof every citizen to have cleandrinking water but sector G-7 andF-6 were still lacking this facil-ity as there was no installation ofwater filtration plant.

An official of CDA told thatfiltration plants have been installedby the authority in different sectorsto facilitate the residents with cleandrinking water. He said that thecivic body would install sameplants in other areas of the federalcapital. He also advised the resi-dents to avoid misuse of cleandrinking water.—APP

ISLAMABAD—An internationalconference titled “US-NATOExit from Afghanistan: Chal-lenges and Options Beyond2014” concluded here on Thurs-day at National University ofModern Languages (NUML).

NUML arranged a two-dayconference to provide a forum forscholarly debates and opinions oflatest research to elucidate theprospects of withdrawal of USforces from Afghanistan and thepossible challengesafter.President of the Institute ofRegional Studies IslamabadMohammad Ashraf Azeemchaired the first session.

Pervez Iqbal Cheema, Dean,Faculty of Contemporary Studies(FCS) NUML in his research pre-sentation said that Pakistan’s role

Int’l conference on US-NATOexit from Afghanistan

as a frontline state was interna-tionally recognized and appreci-ated. He said that the US not onlyappreciated Pakistan’s contribu-tions but also confered the sta-tus of being a ‘major non-NATOally’. He shared in detail thePakistan’s contributions towardpeace, security and stability inAfghanistan over the years es-

pecially after the outbreak of waron terror. Ambassador of GeorgeSavuica President, RomanianInstitute for European AsianStudies (IRSEA) who chaired thesecond session of the second dayof seminar said that the South-West Asia region holds tremen-dous strategic importance inworld geopolitics.—APP

Iftikhar Arifappointed

President ECICITY REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —Renownedscholar and famous literary fig-ure Iftikhar Arif has been ap-pointed as President EconomicCultural Institute (ECI) of Eco-nomic Cooperation Organization(ECO). Iftikhar Arif held higherpositions in different organiza-tions in Pakistan and abroad in-cluding National Language Au-thority, National Book Founda-tion of Pakistan and Urdu MarkazLondon, said a news release is-sued here Thursday.

At present he is attached withNational University of ModernLanguages (NUML) as a Profes-sor of Hindi and Sanskrit Lan-guage. Economic CooperationOrganization is an inter-govern-mental regional organization estab-lished in 1985 by Iran,Pakistan andTurkey for promoting economic,technical and cultural cooperationamong its members. In 1992 theorganization was expanded and in-cluded seven new membersnamely Islamic Republic of Af-ghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan,Republic of Kazakhstan, KyrgyzRepublic, Republic of Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Republic ofUzbekistan.

Short storycompetition heldat Campus RadioRAWALPINDI—Campus RadioVoice of Women (VoW) ofFatima Jinnah Women Univer-sity (FJWU) has arranged UrduShort Story Competition to cel-ebrate International Women’sDay.

The theme of the short storycompetition was “Aurat TareyRang Hazar”. Realization ofwomen issues and importance ofwomen education in the devel-opment of societies was high-lighted in these stories.

Ms. Mehmooda Ghazia andDr. Huma Jhangir, well knownfiction stories writers, adjudgedthe competition. Students fromdifferent department of the uni-versity participated in it.Thepurpose of arranging this com-petition was provision of plat-form to students where they canshow off their writing powersand express their emotions andthoughts in words.—APP

RAWALPINDI: Lawyers protesting against Cantonment Board employees.

ISLAMABAD: Afghan refuge girls playing with mud outside their makeshift house atSector I-11.

ISLAMABAD: Eminent Writer Kishwar Naheed cutting the ribbon to inaugurate a workshop and exhibition by women artistsorganized by UN Women in collaboration with Nomad Gallery in connection to International Women’s Day.—PO photo

ISLAMABAD: Imran Ghulam Ali performs during Sham-e-Ghazal organized at Sir SyedMemorial Society.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Illegalconstructions on

rise in cityRAWALPINDI—Illegal con-structions are on the rise in thecity with the connivance ofTown Municipal officials andbuilding Inspectors.

Illegal construction ofhouses 4, 5 and 7 marlas is con-tinuing on 4 kanal plots in satel-lite town with the connivance ofcorrupt elements of the TownMunicipal Admistration.

The houses are being builtwithout seeking approval ofmaps from concerned authoritiesand they are now running intohundreds, said Mumtaz Shah aresident of E-block.

Illegal constructions in vari-ous blocks specialy on 4th Broad and E-block are causingloss of millions of rupees to thenational treasury.

Building Inspectors haveturned a blind eye to the illegalconstructions after allegedly re-ceiving hefty bribes.

The residents demandedoperation against the illegal con-structions besides initiating sternaction against the corrupt ele-ments.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Director Gen-eral, Ministry of the ClimateChange Javed Ali Khan hassaid that water borne diseasesrelated to children spreadthrough schools due to whichsafe drinking water with goodsanitation services is need ofschools.

According to a statementissued here, Federal Ministry ofClimate Change, Federal Direc-torate of education Islamabadhas initiated ‘Water, Sanitationand Hygiene’ (WASH) projectwith the collaboration of UnitedNations Human SettlementsProgramme (UN-Habitat) whileDistrict Education office

Sanitation and hygiene forschools project launched

Rawalpindi and Coca-Colafoundation also support thisproject.

Addressing on the occasionof the launching Workshop hereJaved Ali Khan highlighted needof such project in the twin citiesinforming about hazards relatedwith the use of contaminateddrinking water and unsafe sani-tation.

He further said that Minis-try of Climate Change wouldcontinue support to all the de-partments and international or-ganizations for the WASH inter-ventions including ground wa-ter recharge across the country.

He commended the contri-

bution of Coca Cola Pakistanand UN-Habitat.

Qazi Zahoor ul haq EDOeducation district Rawalpindisaid that school children will bethe primary beneficiaries of thisproject and government schoolsadministration acknowledgesefforts of UN-Habitat for imple-menting this project.

Officer In-Charge, UN-Habitat Pakistan, Bella Evidentewelcomed the participants andthanked Ministry of ClimateChange and other stakholdersfor their keen interest in thisproject which aimed to evolvebehavior change throughschools.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Democratic dis-pensation empowered women-folk on economic and socialfronts with efficacy throughslew of women welfare pro-grams including Benazir In-come Support Program duringits five years tenure.

Setting examples for suc-cessors, democratic order en-sured transparency in womenwelfare programs which wasrecognized as a giant leap to-wards betterment and empow-erment of poor women, FederalMinister for National Heritageand Integration Samina Khalidtold APP on Thursday.

The government had takenremarkable steps for empower-ing women in the country whilepaying special attention to busi-nesswomen in urban and ruralareas, she added.

Giving serious heed towelfare and empowerment ofwomen across the country, shesaid various projects werelaunched for them. The govern-ment launched Benazir IncomeSupport Programme for the em-powerment of women in the ru-ral areas to ensure their partici-pation in the development ofthe country.

Ghurki further said,” leg-islation with focus on women,is reflective of our commitmentto strengthening the women”.She said that expos was an ef-fective tool to empower womenand government will fully sup-

Democracy empowers women oneconomic and social horizons

port Islamabad Expo 2013 be-ing organized by IWCCI.

Private sector participa-tion, she said will help boost ca-pacity of the women, ensuringprosperous future of the nextgenerations.

The Government also setup Malala Yousfzai Fund thatwould provide free and qualityeducation to the girls.

It is for the first time in thecountry’s political history thatthe women are being ensuredtheir rights and protectionthrough legislation which isevident from election of awoman as Speaker, NationalAssembly.

The process of womenemancipation moved forwardduring the last two years underthe coalition government de-spite facing numerous chal-lenges. The government tookintrinsic steps to pursue thecommitment made by ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto forthe uplift of womenfolk and“Protection Against Harass-ment of Women at WorkplaceAct-2009” is a laudableprogress in this regard.

The Ministry in collabora-tion with civil society organi-zations made it possible to en-sure secure environment forwomen enabling them to con-tribute to the national develop-ment process.

Allocating 10 percentquota for women in civil ser-

vices was another landmarkachievement of the presentdemocratic government.

The official sources saidthe government allocated addi-tional funds amounting to Rs.100 million for economic em-powerment of women.

For social empowerment,25 Shaheed Benazir BhuttoWomen Centers in selected dis-tricts across the country areworking to provide protection,free medical, legal and psycho-logical aid to women victims ofviolence.

The main purpose of theShaheed Benazir Bhutto Cen-ters for Women was to providerehabilitation facilities towomen in distress.

These centres provide tem-porary shelter to victims of vio-lence in emergencies, besidesgiving them free legal aid andcounselling. The centers havebeen set up at Islamabad,Shahiwal, Vehari, Karachi,Lahore, Peshawar, Kohat,Mianwali, Quetta, Sialkot,Faisalabad, Multan,Bahawalpur, Sibi, Khushab,Hyderabad, Nawabshah,Abbottabad, Mirpur,Jacobabad, Khuzdar,Muzaffargarh, Swat,Rawalpindi and DG Khan.Women are already providingvaluable services in all walksof life and the initiatives beingtaken by the Ministry wouldfurther encourage them.—APP

Police nabbed16 outlaws

RAWALPINDI—Rawalpindi po-lice on Thursday arrested 16outlaws and recovered drugs,weapons, bottles of liquor, kitesand stolen motorcycle from theirpossession.

According to policespokesman, Naseerabad Po-lice held Islam and recovered115 gram charas from his pos-session while Rawat police ar-rested Pervez and recovered71 bottles of liquor from hispossession.

Kahuta police nabbedMasood and recovered 40bottles of liquor from his pos-session. Pirwadhi police heldAsif and recovered 10 bottleof liquor from his possession.Cantt police arrested Raza andrecovered a bottle of liquorfrom his pocket.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Citizens havedemanded the concerned authori-ties to immediately start full-fledged evening shift at Out Pa-tient Department (OPD) of Pa-kistan Institute of Medical Sci-ences (PIMS) keeping in viewthe patients’ burden at morningtime.

According to them, due toheavy load at OPD in daytimeand limited hospital timing, sev-eral patients who visit here fromfar-flung areas of the country faceseveral problems and fail to getconsultation from the doctors.

They also complained of in-adequate staff at PIMS emer-gency and its OPD and appealedto deploy sufficient staff includ-ing medical and para medicalstaff at emergency ward andOPD for delivery of better ser-

Full-fledged evening shift atPIMS OPD demanded

vices to the patients.Over 4,000 patients daily

visit PIMS OPD for treatment ofvarious health problems, adding,out of total incoming patients’visits, 75 percent are follow upvisits while 25 percent new pa-tients come to the hospital’s OPDdaily, an official of PIMS said.

He said seven to eight mem-bers team of doctors perform du-ties in the hospital’s OPDs in-cluding Medical officer, Profes-sor, Assistant Professor and PostGraduates while in Filter Clinicseach section has two to threemembers team of doctors.

He said around 800 to 900patients also visit hospital’sEmergency Ward including 400in main emergency while othersvisit to children emergency ward,burn hospital emergency and

mother and child emergency unit.He said five to six commu-

nity medical officers remain onduties in each emergency wardwhere 80 percent patients visitwith minor diseases like coughor headache while only 20 per-cent patients admit in the wardwith serious conditions includinghead injury, heart attack etc..

He said the hospital had es-tablished with an aim to providespecial health services to the pa-tients with critical diseases how-ever now the hospital has becomea major center for all patients whovisit here from various parts of thecountry. He said unlike medicalpractices in abroad where one doc-tor examines five to seven patientsin a day, here at PIMS each doc-tor has to examine 100 patientsdaily at OPD.—APP

WomenFestival from

todayISLAMABAD—A 3-day WomenFestival to mark InternationalWomen Day would start atShakarparian under aegis of LokVirsa (National Institute of Folkand Traditional Heritage) andthe Parliamentarian Commis-sion for Human Rights and LokParya. First Lady, BegumNusrat Pervez Ashraf will be theChief Guest at the inaugural cer-emony on Friday.

The main features of thefestival include, women confer-ence, women artisans-at-work,stalls of organizations workingfor women empowerment,women games, exhibition ofposters by girl students, musi-cal performances and muchmore. A number of importantpersonalities, dignitaries, diplo-mats and mediapersons besidesgeneral public are expected toattend the event.—APP

AIOU impartsquality education:

Dr SangiISLAMABAD—Dr. NazirAhmed Sangi, Vice-ChancellorAllama Iqbal Open University(AIOU) Thursday said thatAIOU has effectively main-tained its role in providing qual-ity education to the peoplethrough distance learning sys-tem. Addressing a seventymembers students delegation onstudy tour to AIOU, from Ca-dets College, Larkana, he saidthat during the last three years,AIOU made good efforts furtherupgrade its academic standardand its educational ranking.

Dr. Sangi said that consid-erable progress has been madein term of students’ enrolmentand quality education as well asexpansion of its infrastructuralnetwork throughout the country,particularly far-flung and ne-glected regions.

The Vice-Chancellor fur-ther said, over 1.3 million stu-dents are getting benefits fromthe educational services ofAIOU in all provinces, districts,tehsils, towns and villages.

“A comprehensive plan isunderway to reach everybody atits door-step through the latest`State-of-the-art’ technology likevideo conferencing and translat-ing its printing material into elec-tronic version, making it availablethrough e-mail to each and everystudent, he added. Prof. Dr. SyedZafar Ilyas and Syed Zia-ul-Hasnain, Director Admissions/Students’ affairs briefed the stu-dents’ delegation about the edu-cational system and academic ac-tivities of the University.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Stand-ing Committee on Law, Justiceand Parliamentary Affairs onThursday unanimously approved“Federal Ombudsman Institu-tional Reforms Bill 2013” whichhas already been passed by theNational Assembly. The meetingof Senate Standing Committee onLaw was held in Parliament Houseunder the Chairmanship of Sena-tor Muhammad Kazim Khan.

According to the approvedreforms bill, the Ombudsman isbound to dispose of the com-plaints within a period of sixtydays of filing date and competentauthority would inform ombuds-man about the action taken on hisdecisions against any particularofficial under sub-section 3.

An Ombudsman would alsohave power to punish for con-tempt in case of non complianceof orders by authority as pro-vided in the contempt of court

ordinance, 2003, Bill added. The Ombudsman may also

grant stay operation of the im-pugned order for a period ofsixty days, however a reviewpetition can also be filed againstthe stay orders, it maintained.

Moreover, the aggrievedparty can also file a plea to thePresident against the decision ofOmbudsman within thirty daysand a retired Federal ombuds-man or a senior lawyer of Su-preme Court would decide itwithin 90 days. The removal ofOmbudsman from his officewould be through Supreme Ju-dicial Council on the grounds ofbeing incapable of properly per-forming duties or found to havebeen guilty of misconduct.

The tenure of the Ombuds-man would be for a period offour years and he could not beentitled for re-appoint or get fur-ther extension.—APP

Senate approves‘Federal Ombudsman

Institutional Bill’ Bright students tobe facilitated toachieve laurels

ISLAMABAD—Young brightstudents are national asset andthey would be facilitated in allterms to further achieve laurelsfor the country, Secretary Infor-mation Technology (IT), ZafarIqbal Qadir said.

He was talking tomediapersons here on Thursdayafter attending a regional con-ference of IT experts. TheseExperts were invited to have in-puts in order to make the sectormore flourishing.

Three youngest microsoftprofessionals who broke recordof Irfa Karim and got microsoftcertificates, Microsoft CertifiedIT Professional (MCITP) certi-fication and Microsoft CertifiedTechnology specialist (MCTS)certification were also present.

The Secretary appreciatedthe youngest Microsoft CertifiedTechnology Specialist (MCTS)certification microsoft profes-sionals and said his Ministrywould bear expense of their fur-ther education.—APP

Human Rightsministry postpones

functionISLAMABAD—Ministry of Hu-man Rights on Thursday an-nounced to postpone a functionin connection with InternationalWomen Day.

The function scheduled tobe held on Friday was to be or-ganized in collaboration withUnited Nations (UN).

A news release issued hereby the ministry said that thefunction relating to InternationalWomen Day has been postponeddue to certain reasons.

The new date will be an-nounced later.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Inspector Gen-eral Islamabad Police Bani AminKhan has said that conduciveworking environment will beprovided to policemen to ensuretheir better performance and re-solve public complaints on im-mediate basis.

He stated this while inaugu-rating ““Modern Reporting Sec-tion” at Aabpara police station.On the occasion HeadquartersDIG Sultan Azam Temuri, SSPYaseen Farooq, SSP (Security)Mir Vais Niaz, ASP RizwanGondal, DSPs Liaqat Hyat Niazi,Khursheed Khan, Habib UllahKhan Niazi, SHO Aabpara policeStation Haq Nawaz Ranjha, SHOKohsar Hakam Khan, SHOShalimr Ghulam MuhammadBaqir and local notable were alsopresent.

The staff would be availablein the reporting section round the

Conducive environmentvital at police stations

clock to help the people of thecity. The reporting section will tryto solve the problems of themasses and facilitate them with-out wasting any time.

The well-educated officialwould be deployed in the report-ing section.Cameras have beeninstalled for security purpose andkeep eyes on people coming inthe police station. On the occa-sion IGP said, it was the respon-sibility of the police to protect thelife and provide security to citi-zens.

He said the modern report-ing section would help residenceof area to register their com-plaints without any difficulties.

He said more modern re-porting sections would be openedin remaining police stations aswork in this regard is under way.

“We will facilitate and try toresolve the problems of people

and I have directed all the policeofficials to utilize their energiesto serve the masses”, he said

He said the best possiblework environment will be pro-vided to the Islamabad Police, sothey can perform their duties in aresponsible and dignified man-ner.

Amin said police officialsdeputed at police stations wereour backbone and Islamabad Po-lice would make every effort tostrengthen their cops. This report-ing section, he said, would helpthem to perform duties in respon-sible manner and play a leadingrole in ensuring effective polic-ing.

He said that he had accordedpriority to boost the confidenceof lowers cadres, especially con-stables, as they braved challeng-ing circumstances to uphold thelaw and order.—APP

Radio to hold prizedistribution

ceremony of Malalapoetic contest

ISLAMABAD—Radio Pakistanwill hold a prize distributionceremony of poetic competitionin Urdu and other Pakistani lan-guages titled “Harf Hamary TereNam” here on Friday to pay trib-ute to Malala Yousafzai.

Minister for Information andBroadcasting Qamar ZamanKaira is expected to be the chiefguest. In Urdu, Seyyed Arif gotfirst position, Nasir Bashir secondand Nisar Nasik third while inEnglish Hadia Hameed got firstposition, Rahima Yasin secondand Sohaib Pasha third position.

In Punjabi, Sultan Kharvisecured first position, ZubaidaHaider Zebi second andMudassir Qadeer third and inSaraiki, Rizwana TabassumDurrani got first position, SaeedNoshahi second and Sajjad Barithird.In Pashto, Ajab Khan Ajabgot first position, Noor RehmanSahar second and ShidaUmarzai third.—APP

March 8-10

LOK Virsa is going toorganise ‘Women Lok andFolk Festival’ that will startfrom March 8 and concludeon March 10. The festivalis aimed at encouraging thewomen who performedwell in their respectivefields. Skilled women fromall over the country willparticipate in the festival,especially the makers ofhandicrafts.

March 8

PAKISTAN National Coun-cil of the Arts, Ministry ofNational Heritage and Inte-gration in collaboration withMinistry of Narcotics Con-trol has arranged Stagy Play‘Suhani Mai’ on Friday, at7 pm at PNCA auditorium,F-5/1.

06:00 01:3004:45

07:45

ISLAMABAD: AJK Education Minister meeting President Haji Muhammad Yaqoob Khan.

SRINAGAR: Indian police detaining an innocent Kashmiri during curfew hours.

ISLAMABAD: AJK Prime Minister Ch Abdul Majeed talking to senior party leaders.

Afzal Guru’s—Victim of farce investigationABDUL MAJID ZARGAR

THERE is no denying the fact that the attack on the Indian Parliament was themost serious challenge to Indian democracy and if it had been successful it would

have had very long term consequences not onlyfor India but for the entire region. Precisely forthis reason it was imperative that the police andinvestigation agencies should have carried out anhonest and vigorous investigation into the crime.Instead, the investigation agencies did a shoddyinvestigation, fabricated evidence and manipulatedthe sentiments of people by telling lies throughthe Media which culminated in surreptitious hang-ing of Afzal Guroo on 9th February 2013.

Consider the fact that the so-called compre-hensive investigation of the attack on Parliamentwas completed in 17 days flat by the investigat-ing Agency the Special Cell of the Delhi Policeteam headed by Assistant Commissioner of Po-lice (ACP) Rajbir Singh.

Since the quality & outcome of investigationdepends much on the character of the investigatoras also the tools & methods employed by him dur-

ing the process of investigation, it is, thereforeof importance to know who this Rajbir SinghWas?

Rajbir Singh joined the Delhi Police in 1982as a sub-inspector who finally made his way tobecome an ACP. He is the only officer in theDelhi police history to be promoted to the rankof ACP in just 13 years. He came into the lime-light on November 3, 2002 when he claimed tohave killed two alleged ‘terrorists’ in an encoun-ter in the basement of the Ansal Plaza shoppingMall in south Delhi. A man, Dr. Hari Krishna,who claimed he saw the deaths, labelled it fakeencounter. According to his version, ACP RajbirSingh brought the two alleged terrorists in thebasement alive and killed them in cold blood.The eye-witness, Mr. Hari krishna was sohounded & harassed by Rajbir Singh and hiscohorts that he had to go in hiding without leav-ing a trace till date. After this incident RajbirSingh was touted as an “Encounter specialist”

In his early career, Rajbir Singh served forsix years with the Delhi Police special cell butwas soon shunted out to an insignificant post inthe Delhi Armed Police (DAP) and later to thetraffic department after tapes of his conversa-tions with a contractor on a land deal were re-vealed. Thereafter during his stint in the crimebranch of Delhi Police, his links with a drugmafia also came to fore where-after he wasshunted out. In the Department & outside he wasusually referred to as a ‘property grabber’. TheDelhi High Court also issued notices to him oncharges that he and his colleagues manhandledsome people in west Delhi’s Kirti Nagar in con-nection with a property dispute.

Rajbir’s alleged links with a drug traffickeralso came to be known after a telephonic con-versation between him & Drug Mafia - tappedby the narcotics wing - was made available tothe media. An inquiry headed by the joint com-missioner of police (Vigilance) was ordered but

Rajbir let off for unknown & unexplainable rea-sons. He arrested one Mr. Devender Singh, aknown exporter of dry fruits, in 2005 fromAnupam restaurant in Munirka. Five and a halfkilograms of cocaine was allegedly seized fromthe Amritsar-based businessman’s possession.According to Mr. Devender Singh, he wasframed by Rajbir Singh for his refusal to pay ahefty sum of Rs. 50 lacs as extortion money.

In 2008, on March 20, ACP Rajbir Singhwas shot dead by his friend & partner, Mr. VijayBhardwaj, a property dealer of Gurgaon over adispute on “investments” he had made with therealtor. In his statement , the accused Bhardwaj,confessed, among other things, that he was un-able to re-pay Rajbir the money invested inshoddy land deals and the Gun used in the kill-ing, with apparent marking “E-8256”, was givento him by Rajbir singh to help recover moneyfrom his business clients.

Further enquiries revealed that the serial

number of the revolver used in the murder ofRajbir was tampered with and that its real num-ber was “A-1031.” The said revolver was is-sued by the Kanpur ordnance factory on Febru-ary 26, 1993, and allotted to the ASP (Hissar)from where it was reported stolen in a policeencounter.

This is the character of Rajbir Singh, whoclaimed to have cracked the Parliament attackcase in just seventeen days and implicatedMohammad Afzal Guroo as the brain behind theconspiracy. During the media trial of the Parlia-ment case held at Lodhi Road, he snubbed AfzalGuroo for speaking something contrary to whathe had been directed to. This was noted byShamas Tahir, reporter of AAJ TAK, who latertestified it before the court.

The most unfortunate thing is that the trialCourt believed his version when many detailsof his dubious & illegal dealings were alreadyin public domain. Though the confession ex-tracted from Afzal was finally set aside by theSupreme court, the death penalty was upheld tosatisfy the collective conscience of Indian pub-lic. Courtesy:—Kashmir Watch.

SRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the Jammu and Kash-mir Peoples League (JKPL)has said that the Indian govern-ment has given a free hand toits troops to kill innocentpeople of Kashmir.The JKPLspokesman in a statement is-sued in Srinagar said that In-dian troops were perpetratinggross human rights abuses inthe territory with impunity.“Such incidents have becomea routine and common man isvery insecure”, he added.

He also denounced the kill-ing of an innocent youth, TahirAhmad Sofi of Baramulla byIndian troops and 50 othersyouths wounded by firing indifferent areas of the occupiedterritory.

He deplore that forces

‘Troops given free hand tokill Kashmiris in IHK’

raided the house of JKPLChairman, Mukhtar AhmadWaza and harassed his familymembers. He said that the resi-dents of the territory were facingthe worst kind of state terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Chairmanof Islamic Political PartyJammu and KashmirMohammad Yousuf Naqash inhis statement condemned thecold-blooded murder of yet an-other young scholar of Indianoccupied Kashmir TahirAhmad Sofi by Indian armyand said that the unabated stateterrorism at the behest of In-dian colonial rulers would in-vite them more curse, insultand condemnation as they havevirtually converted Kashmirinto hell. He said that Indiancolonial rulers were perpetuat-

ing brutal repression to crushthe sentiment of freedom ofKashmiri people but Indiancolonial rulers, their stateagents, puppet administrationsand lakhs of armed forceswould never succeed in break-ing the resolve of Kashmiripeople.

He said that people of Kash-mir would very soon get rid ofthe colonial rule and oppressionof India due to the supreme sac-rifices of our great martyr’s per-petual resistance of our valiantMujahedeen and pro-freedompeople and will very met withinsulting defeat in Kashmir.These colonial rulers of Indiacan never crush the missionfreedom as every Kashmirihates India and do not want anyassociation with it.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kash-mir, the Indian authorities haveimposed curfew and strict restric-tions in Srinagar and other partsof the Kashmir Valley on secondconsecutive day, today, to preventpeople from protesting against thekilling of a student and stepped-up Indian state terrorism in theterritory.Curfew was imposed inSrinagar, Baramulla, Sopore,Trehgam, Pulwama, Pamporeand Shopian while strict restric-tions were enforced in all othercities and towns.

The authorities have alsoblocked all roads across the Val-ley. Indian paramilitary forces andpolice personnel, deployed instrength, were patrolling the de-

Indian police intensifycrackdown on protestors

serted streets in Srinagar and othertowns. An assessment meetingwas held in Srinagar to discussfallout of the killing. The meet-ing decided to keep curfew con-tinue on Thursday, an official toldmedia men. Meanwhile, scores ofyouths have been arrested by theIndian police from the past fewdays from Srinagar, Baramulla,Islamabad, Shopian, Pulwamaand other districts of the Valley.Police are also pressurizing thefamilies to handover their relativeyouth who are on run to evade thearrest, the families said. The resi-dents of downtown Srinagar said,police have arrested over 50-youth during nocturnal raids fromthe past few days. “Over 60 youth

have been arrested by the policefrom the past couple of days inHawal, Nawakadal, RajouriKadal, Batamaloo and the adja-cent areas of Srinagar. Police arealso detaining those who had beenpart of protests in 2010 and 2011,”a police official said.

“We are being harassed with-out any crime. If any youth hadbeen part of the 2010 agitation,police have launched manhunt toarrest those youth which is unnec-essary. Even youth are also pickedup for protesting peacefully, whichdoesn’t happen anywhere acrossthe globe,” said Ali Mohammad,a resident Nawakadal, whosenephew was arrested by police onTuesday.—KMS

World urged toplay role in

Kashmir resolutionSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, Director of KashmirInstitute of Strategic Studies,Khalid Jehangir has urged theinternational community to playrole in resolving the long-pend-ing Kashmir dispute and askedNew Delhi to hand over thebody of Afzal Guru. KhalidJehangir in a statement inSrinagar maintained that theKashmiris as the prime partyand main stakeholder of this dis-pute should be part of the pro-cess aimed at settling the dis-pute and no solution can be im-posed on them, which wasagainst their aspirations.

The director also urged theIndian Prime Minister to initiatedialogue process and remindedabout the Confidence BuildingMeasures (CBMs). He im-pressed upon the need of end-ing political uncertainty inKashmir as the domino effect ofKashmir can destabilize peaceand stability of not only Indiaand Pakistan but of whole re-gion. He observed denial of jus-tice “adds to the alienation ofpeople of Kashmir.” The Direc-tor of Kashmir Institute of Stra-tegic Studies added that pres-ence of troops in populated ar-eas and bunkers and camps inurban and rural areas needs tobe dismantled to provide breath-ing space to people and at placeswhere camps have been erectedon farm land need to be liftedurgently.—KMS

Mirwaiz asks‘helpless’ Omar to

resign, join movementSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the Chairman of AllParties Hurriyet Conference,Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has saidthat puppet Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah has no right tohold the office as he has him-self admitted that he is helplessto stop the killing of theKashmiris.The APHC Chair-man in a media interview in-vited pro-India National Con-ference and Peoples DemocraticParty MLAs including OmarAbdullah to resign from the so-called Legislative Assembly tojoin the freedom movement “ifthey feel helpless to stop thekilling of Kashmiris.”

“Omar Abdullah has him-self admitted that he is helpless.We know it and agree with hisstatement. It is time for him tointrospect and resign,” theMirwaiz added. “If these peoplereally have a conscience and lis-ten to it, they should resign as amark of protest and send mes-sage out to the internationalcommunity and world thatthey’re helpless and have failedto protect the precious lives ofinnocent people in Kashmir. Letthem admit that they have failedto deliver justice to the murder-ers of the innocent Kashmiris”.

Calling the chief minister aperson in power but not in au-thority, Mirwaiz Umar Farooqsaid, “What people could expectfrom a government which failedto revoke AFSPA. If it cannothave this concession from Indiahow could it solve the Kashmirissue or problems of thepeople?”The APHC Chairmansaid that pro-India parties werethe puppets of the Indian gov-ernment. He said that India hadgiven the ‘contract of killing’ tovarious agencies. “These agen-cies have been assigned a jobto kill as many Kashmiris asthey could”.—KMS

Clashes eruptin uptownBatamaloo

SRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, people defying curfewand restrictions took to thestreets in Srinagar and otherparts of the valley to protestagainst Indian state terrorism.

Clashes erupted betweengroups of youth and Indian armedforces in uptown Batmaloo areaof summer capital Srinagar today,witnesses said. They said thatforces resorted to teargas shellingand baton charge on the protest-ers. The angry youth retaliatedwith stone-pelting.The residentsblamed the forces for breakingwindow panes and ransackingproperty. Reports said that awoman was injured in the protest.“She was hit in the face byforces,” a witness said, adding,she has been hospitalized.—KMS

Two womenabducted, gang-raped

near Delhi: policeNEW DELHI— Two womenhave been kidnapped and gang-raped near Delhi, police toldAFP on Thursday, in two sepa-rate incidents that highlightedthe persistent risk of sexual as-sault in India. In one case, threemen abducted and attacked a19-year-old woman, who hailedan auto rickshaw carrying twomale passengers near a popularshopping centre in Delhi’s sat-ellite city of Ghaziabad lastweekend, a police official said.

“The driver drove the rick-shaw to a remote forested areawhere he and the two other menrepeatedly raped her before flee-ing the area,” Nitin Tiwari,Ghaziabad’s senior superinten-dent of police, told AFP. The teen-ager then made her way to a localpolice station where she filed acase against her attackers, two ofwhom confessed to their crimesearlier this week, Tiwari said.Police are still in pursuit of thethird man, he added. The secondincident involved a 25-year-oldwoman who met one of her al-leged attackers in a park in eastDelhi on Wednesday to discuss apossible job opportunity.—APP

RAO ATIQ UL AMIN KHAN

MIRPUR—Britain-based glo-bal human rights organisationKashmir Watch InternationalMonday vehemntly con-demned the recent brutal as-sassination of a visi t ingKashmiri student – identifiedas Mudasir Kamran in Indiacity of Hyderabad.Address-ing extra-ordinary session ofhis organisation yesterday,the KWI Chairman MirMuhammad SideequeKhawaja and his associates inthe human rights forum ex-pressed deep with the familyof the deceased kashmiri stu-dents Mudasir Kamran inthese hours of grief, says amedia release issued by theKWI Information Wing hereon Monday.

The KWI demanded thor-

KW condemns murder of Kashmiriresearch scholar in Indian city

ough investigation into thecase and immediate arrest ofculprits involved in the mur-der of Mudasir Kamran.

The People of Jammu &Kashmir were already an-guish and furious over theunfair execution of AfzalGuru who was hanged insecracy in Tehar jail on 9thof last month.

Chairman Kashmir Watchcalled upon the internationalcommunity to pay special at-tention towards the fastdeterkorating situation in In-dian held Kashmir and inter-vene to get stopped the hu-man right violation in the ter-ritory.

He said that unfortu-nately Kashmiris, particu-larly, youth were being tar-geted by the Indian suppres-sive forces not only in Indian

held Kashmir but also in vari-ous Indian states under Indiastraditional hatred and preju-dicial attitude.

“It is crystal clear thatgrave atrocities are beingcommitted against the peopleof Indian-held Jammu andKashmir and every day is wit-nessed of killings of innocentKashmiris including womenand children.

People in IHK particu-larly youth are being disap-peared and large scale un-named graves were discov-ered in the valley but no oneof the world powers supportsthe Kashmiris and neither anyinternational organisationpays any attention on thecries”, he pointed out

The KWI chief refered tothe deployment of 800,000Indian forces are deployed in

Indian Held Kashmir (IHK)and they are involved in theatrocities against the innocentpeople of the held territory.

Mudasir Kamran, a resi-dent of Parigam area ofPulwama district of Indianheld Kashmir was presentlydoing his Ph.D in English atEnglish and Foreign Lan-guages Universi ty,Hyderabad.

Report received said, hewas killed by some Hindu fa-natics during last night due totaking part in peaceful pro-cession against execution ofShaheed Afzal Guroo inHyderabad. Earlier, the In-dian police had also arrestedand released him after tortur-ing in the evening, accordingto a report reaching hereMonday from across the lineof control.

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kash-mir, curfew and strict restrictionsremained enforced in Srinagarand other parts of the KashmirValley on the second consecutiveday, today, to prevent peoplefrom protesting against stepped-up Indian state terrorism in theterritory.

Indian paramilitary forcesand police personnel, deployedin strength, could be seen patrol-ling the deserted streets inSrinagar, Baramulla, Sopore,Kulgam, Pulwama, Pampore,Shopian and other areas of theValley. However, people defy-ing curfew and restrictions tookto the streets and protestedagainst Indian brutalities.Clashes erupted at many placesincluding Batamaloo area ofSrinagar today. Scores of peopleincluding a woman were injuredin the police shelling. The forcesbarged into many houses,smashed windowpanes and ran-

Curfew, restrictionscontinue in IHK

sacked property. Dozens ofyouth were arrested by the In-dian police over the past fewdays in the territory.

The APHC ChairmanMirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a state-ment, denounced the continuedcurfew and restrictions across theKashmir Valley and said that In-dia under a well-hatched con-spiracy was making the lives ofthe people miserable. He con-demned the arrests of Hurriyetleaders and activists includingGhulam Nabi Zaki, the actingGeneral Secretary of AwamiAction Committee.

The authorities arrested vet-eran Hurriyet leader, Syed AliGilani immediately after helanded at Srinagar airport, today.He was, later, dropped at his resi-dence and put under house arrest.People thronged residence of theveteran leader to have hisglimpse, but police resorted toteargas shelling and baton

charge. This prompted them toraise anti-India and pro-freedomslogans. Syed Ali Gilani, who ar-rived in Srinagar today, remainedconfined to one-room in NewDelhi for 19 days since Febru-ary 9, when Muhammad AfzalGuru was secretly executed inDelhi’s Tihar Jail.

Earlier, talking to mediamen at the airport, Syed AliGilani said that the Kashmiriswould continue their protest onone point-agenda to seek thebodies of martyred leaders,Muhammad Maqbool Butt andMuhammad Afzal Guru.Hurriyet leaders including,JKLF Chairman, MuhammadYasin Malik, Bilal Ghani Lone,Muhammad Yousuf Naqash,Muhammad Azam Inqilabi andKashmiri leader, Sajjad GhaniLone condemned the killing ofuniversity student, TahirAhmad Sofi in indiscriminatefiring by Indian troops.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the killing of anotherKashmiri student, Tahir AhmadSofi in the indiscriminate firingby Indian troops in Baramullahas evoked widespread con-demnation from variousKashmiri liberation leaders andorganizations.

Senior APHC leader, SyedAgha Hassan Al-Moosvi andAl-Safvi in his statement ap-pealed to the International com-munity to play its role to savethe people of Kashmir from In-dian barbarism.

The Chairman of JammuKashmir Liberation FrontMuhammad Yasin Malik, cur-rently in Pakistan, said that trig-ger happy forces had been givena free license to kill the

Student’s killing evokeswidespread condemnation in IHK

Kashmiris. He urged interna-tional human rights organiza-tions to raise their voices againstIndia’s unilateral violence inKashmir, a JKLF spokesmanquoted Malik as having said.

Another senior APHCleader, Bilal Ghani Lone de-scribed the killing of TahirAhmad Sofi as barbaric and yetanother instance of the failureof the authorities to protect theinnocent lives in Kashmir.

A spokesman for theJammu and Kashmir NationalFront in a statement in Srinagarsaid that by shedding crocodiletears and staging drama in theso-called Legislative Assembly,the murderers “can’t save them-selves from the fact that they arethe killers of thousands of Tahir

Ahmads across Kashmir.”The Jamaat-e-Islami of oc-

cupied Kashmir, while de-nouncing the killing, demandeda probe into the killing and othersuch incidents by the Interna-tional Court of Justice.

The chief patron of JammuKashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi,Muhammad Azam Inqilabi saidthat India was committing warcrimes in Kashmir to fulfill itsexpansionist designs. “It is try-ing to crush the resistancemovement with brute force.

The nominated Mufti Azam,Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam, and theJamiat-e-Hamdaniya chief,Maulana Riyaz Ahmad Hamdanitermed the incident as barbarousand inhuman act by the Indianarmed forces personnel. .—KMS

The Great Depression,like most other periods

of severe unemploy-ment, was produced bygovernment misman-

agement rather than byany inherent instabilityof the private economy.

— Milton Friedman

TARIQ KHATTAK

ISLAMABAD—The Competi-tion Commission of Pakistan(CCP) has imposed a totalpenalty of Rs. 25 Million on5 universities which were ad-vertising un-accredited engi-neering programs in violationof Section 10 of the Competi-tion Act, 2010.

A CCP Bench comprisingof Chairperson Ms. RahatKaunain Hassan and Mem-bers, Mr. Abdul Ghaffar andDr. Shahzad Ansar passed anorder in respect of show causenotices issued to 27 institu-tions/universities offering en-

CCP penalises engineering universities for deceptive marketinggineering programs and claim-ing to be either accredited orapproved/recognized by Paki-stan Engineering Council (PEC)for, prima facie, violation ofSection 10 of the CompetitionAct.

The order states that it isclear that the term ‘accredited byPEC’ implies that an engineer-ing program has effectively metthe norms and procedures pre-scribed by PEC and only thosestudents that obtain an accred-ited engineering program degreeare able to register with PEC asqualified engineers. The Benchheld that as accredited statusholds value for both, the engi-

neering institutions and stu-dents; therefore, claims to thiseffect cannot be made in a ca-sual manner. As none of the 27universities had been accreditedby PEC for intake of students in2011, the Bench concluded thatthey had violated the provisionsof Section 10 (1) of the Compe-tition Act.

The CCP Bench in view ofits findings established that the27 universities that had been is-sued show cause notices couldnot be treated in the same man-ner. The subject 27 universitieshave been divided by the Benchin to 3 distinct categories (a)those claiming to have been ap-

proved/recognized/permitted byPEC in respect of introductionof new programs (b) thoseclaiming to have been accreditedby PEC but ensuring that no stu-dents graduate without an ac-credited engineering programdegree and (c) those claiming tobe accredited by PEC but whosegraduates have obtained un-ac-credited engineering programdegrees.

The order highlights that theproceeds generated by the 27universities from studentsgraduating in a year are approxi-mately over 500 million for afour year engineering program.As the financial impact on stu-

dents and their parents of suchpractices of engineering univer-sities is substantial, due disclo-sures must be ensured by theuniversities to enable students tomake informed decisions.

The CCP Bench repri-manded all the 27 universitiesand directed all universities of-fering engineering programsmake due disclosures in the fu-ture. The Bench is of the viewthat minimum mandatory dis-closures must include informa-tion in respect of each engineer-ing program relating to lastbatch that was accredited byPEC, status of application of re-accreditation and/or grant of

green signal by PEC. The benchalso observed that PEC beingthe only accrediting body in Pa-kistan for the engineering insti-tutions has to remain consciousthat its monopoly in the marketof granting accreditation has tobe transparent and above board.PEC was also directed to issueclear and concise guidelines inrespect of the accreditation pro-cedure and a code of conduct inorder to facilitate engineeringinstitutions in complying withdue process of accreditation inan efficient manner.

The Commission has takena lenient view in respect of theuniversities falling in the first

two categories. In respect of thethird category where graduateshave come in the market and areunable to register with PEC, theBench finds that this is too seri-ous a violation to be condonedwithout penalty. The fee of the5 universities falling in this cat-egory ranges between Rs.400,000 to 800,000.

The students that have ob-tained degrees in respect of un-accredited engineering pro-grams not only suffer financialloss but also loss of employmentopportunities within and outsidePakistan. In order to create de-terrence a penalty of Rs. 5 Mil-lion is imposed on each of the 5

universities falling in the thirdcategory. The subject universi-ties have been directed to filewritten commitments with theRegistrar of the Commissionreporting compliance with theorder within 30 days of the is-suance of the order. If violationof the order is a continuing one,such university shall be liableto pay a penalty of Rs. 100,000/- everyday in terms of Section38 of the Competition Act.

The CCP Bench also ob-served that for financial loss ormissed career opportunities, thestudents or their parents mayclaim compensation before thecourts of competent jurisdiction.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Dr. AsimHussain, Advisor to Prime Min-ister for Petroleum & NaturalResources grace the occasion ofsigning ceremony of Gas SalesAgreement (GSA) of OGDCL& its JV partners namely M/sSpud Energy, M/s IPR & M/sGHPL with Fertilizer Compa-nies for supply of 10 MMCF gasper day from Rati & Maru GasFields located in DistrictRajanpur Ghotki & Kashmoreheld here today at OGDCL HeadOffice, Islamabad.

Earlier the gas sale agree-ment of fertilizer companieswere with the distribution com-panies i.e. SSGCL & SNGPL.Now this practice is beingchanged in order to fast track gassales to the fertilizer industry.This new strategy has been de-

OGDCL, ITS JV partners signdirect GSA with fertilizer producers

fined by the Ministry of Pet. &N.R during the last three monthsin order to extend hydrocarbonbenefits to the industrial andpower sectors directly resultingin value addition of gas, reduc-tion of circular debt and mak-ing available cheap fertilizer forthe Agriculture sector in view ofthe share of agriculture in na-tional GDP.

OGDCL initiated negotia-tion under the above strategyand concluded signing of a GasSale Agreement (GSA) with M/s Dawood Hercules, Lahore, M/s Agri Tech Ltd, Lahore, M/sPak Arab Fertilizer, Lahore andM/s Engro Fertilizer co. Ltd,Karachi. OGDCL earlier signedGSA with Fertilizer Companieson 15th February 2013 for sup-ply of 130 MMCFD gas fromKunnar Pashaki DevelopmentProject (KPD) District

Hyderabad.It is worth mentioning that

this step has enabled commer-cialization of Low BTU gas res-ervoirs across the country aswell. Some of these reservoirshad been lying dormant for thelast many years due to lack ofinfrastructure, poor pricing andvarious restrictions on the E&Pcompanies. This new dimensionhas been identified under theguidance and vision of the Ad-visor Dr. Asim Hussain, whotook keen interest in resolvingthe commercialization issues ofthe E&P companies operating inthe country and to enhance fer-tilizer production in the country.Additionally, through this newapproach the gas saved (freed)by the fertilizer from the mainSSGCL & SNGPL system willbe diverted to the starved do-mestic users.

TARIQ KHATTAK

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan hasshown slight improvement onthe Travel and Tourism Com-petitiveness Report 2013. Thebiennial report, published underthe theme, Reducing Barriers toEconomic Growth and Job Cre-ation, sees considerable move-ment in the Travel & TourismCompetitiveness Index’s 14 pil-lars in terms of Pakistan’s per-formance according to the fifthTravel & Tourism Competitive-ness Report, released today bythe World Economic Forum(WEF).

Amongst the areas, where

Pakistan improves 3 ranks on Travel,Tourism Competitiveness Report of WEF

Pakistan showed poor perfor-mance are policy rules and regu-lations dropping ranking from106 in 2011 to 120 this year andprioritizing of travel & tourism,which secured 131 in 2013 ascompared to 121 in 2011.

Pakistan showed improve-ments in the areas of human re-sources, where the indices oneducation and training have im-proved to the rank of 125 thisyear to 134 in 2011, similarlyavailability of qualified laborshowed an improvement of 79in 2013 as compared to 100 in2011, an indication of a returnof skilled labour force frommiddle east and other countries.

Other area where policy,rules & regulations impactedPakistan was the business im-pact of rules on FDI ranking,which deteriorated from 73 in2011 to 94 in 2013

The war on terror has im-pacted the countries travel andtourism competitiveness, interms of the safety and securitypillar; Pakistan was ranked atbusiness costs of crime and vio-lence (128), road traffic acci-dents/100,000 population (101)and business costs of terrorism(139).

Pakistan showed lack of at-tention and prioritization of the

Continued on Page 14

Foreign reservesat $12.80bStaff ReporterISLAMABAD—The total liquidforeign reserves held by thecountry stood at $ 12,804.7million on March 1, 2013.Giving break-up of the foreignreserves position, a statementof the Central Bank said thatForeign reserves held by theState Bank of Pakistan stood $7,860.9 million while netforeign reserves held by banks(other than SBP) stood at $4,943.8 million on March1,2013.

Rates for conversionKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign Currency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certificates,Foreign Currency BearerCertificates, Special U.S.Dollar Bonds and profitsthereon by all banks and forproviding Forward Cover onForeign Currency Deposits(excluding F.E. 25 deposits) bythe State Bank on March 8,2013. The rates are U.S. DollarRs 98.0183, Japanese Yen Rs1.0403, Pound Sterling Rs146.9392 and Euro127.7669.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Exports ofsports goods witnessed positivegrowth of 0.31 percent duringthe first seven months of thecurrent fiscal year and 3.57 per-cent in January 2013.

Exports of sports goodswere recorded at $177.055 mil-lion in July-January (2012-13)against the exports of $176.505million registered in July-Janu-ary (2011-12), according to thedata of Pakistan Bureau of Sta-tistics (PBS).

Among the sports goods, thehighest increase of 25.06 waswitnessed in the trade of gloves,exports of which increased from$57.796 million last year to$72.280 million during the cur-

Sports exports witness positive growthrent year.

However, the exports offootballs decreased by 2.81 per-cent during the period under re-view by going down from$79.206 million to $76.679 mil-lion.

The exports of other sportsgoods also decreased from$39.503 million in 2011-12 toUS$ 27.796 million in 2012-13,showing negative growth of29.64 percent, the PBS data re-vealed.

Meanwhile, on year-on-yearbasis, the export of sports goodswitnessed increase of 3.57 per-cent during January 2013 whencompared to the same month oflast year.

The sports goods exportsduring January 2013 stood at

$27.382 million against the ex-ports of $26.437 million duringJanuary 2012.

During the month under, theexports of gloves increased by28.79 percent while the exportsof football and other sports gooddecreased by 38.69 percent and12.66 percent respectively ascompared to the same month oflast year.

On month-on-month basis,the exports of sports goods in-creased by 7.09 percent January2013 as compared to the exportsof $25.569 million in December2012, the data said. During themonth, the exports of gloves in-creased by 4.52 percent while ex-ports of footballs and other sportsgoods decreased by 15.22 percentand 14.01 percent respectively.

Sugar mills donatescomputersObserver ReporterMULTAN—President, MultanChamber of Commerce andIndustry (MCCI) and executivedirector Layyah Sugar Mills,Muhammad Khan SaddozaiThursday donated 20 moderncomputer systems to MultanTechnical Education Centre(MTEC) for its informationtechnology laboratory. MTECexecutive director BrigadierShah Muhammad received thegift from the philanthropist in aceremony held at MCCI hereThursday. While speaking onthe occasion, MTEC executivedirector thanked MuhammadKhan Saddozai on thisgenerous gesture and appealedthe philanthropists to follow thesuit to strengthen country’stechnical education sector inharmony with the needs of thelocal industry. He stressed thatthis public-private partnershipshould move ahead with moreenthusiasm.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan andChina are committed to takevolume of bilateral trade to$15 billion by 2015.China isPakistan’s largest trading part-ner and Pakistan is China’ssecond largest trading partnerin South Asia. Tariq SayeedPatron in-chief Pak-ChinaBusiness Council talking toWang Xiaoguang Deputy Di-rector of Sichuan Bureau ofExpo Affairs Chingdu andChinese delegation at Federa-tion of Pakistan Chambers ofCommerce and Industry

Pakistan, China trade toreach $15b by 2015

(FPCCI) said Pakistan andChina enjoy a commercial rela-tionship with the volume oftrade standing at $12 billion.

He informed Pakistan-China trade increased by 17.6percent to a total of $12.4 bil-lion in 2012. Pakistan ’s exportsto China increased by 48.2 per-cent to $3.14 billion. Importsfrom China increased by 9.9percent to $9.2 billion. The two-way trade in 2011 was $10.6 bil-lion. China has helped the busi-ness community of Pakistan byproviding maximum facilitationto FPCCI’s participation in vari-ous events, such as Kunming

and Chengdu Fairs, as well ashelping us establish two FPCCIinternational offices in the cit-ies of Chengdu and Kunmingand a display centre inKunming.

Chinese delegation is vis-iting Pakistan to introduce 14thWestern China InternationalFair (WCIF), which will beheld on October 23-27 2013.WCIF is an opportunities forPakistani exporters to introducetheir products. WangXiaoguang said Chinese peoplelike Pakistani very much andwe wanted to achieve good re-sults of our historic friendship.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The recent deci-sion regarding the removal ofcondition of National Tax Num-ber (NTN) for purchasing newcars could facilitate election rig-ging.

This was stated by All Pa-kistan Motors Dealers Associa-tion (APMDA) Chairman H MShahzad in a letter to Chief Elec-tion Commissioner.

When the elections arearound the corner, decisions thatare clearly in favour of a particu-lar class should not be allowed,he added. As a result of thispolicy non-taxpayers can buyany number of cars by remain-ing anonymous, which could beused as bribery for horse trad-ing in the upcoming electioncampaign.

Shahzad has demanded res-toration of old policy saying that

APDMA says purchase of newcar sans NTN is pre-poll rigging

it was implemented 10 years agoto control the influx of blackmoney and document theeconomy while no governmenthad demolished this policy dur-ing the last decade because itbenefits the most. It is quiteawkward that the current gov-ernment has removed the con-dition of NTN on purchasing ofnew cars ahead of elections, headded.

It is contrary togovernment’s claim that it isworking for documentation ofthe economy and broadening thetax base because this decision istotally in favour of non-taxpay-ers, he further added.

Shahzad believed that thegovernment’s giving of protec-tion to tax evaders and encour-aging them to take their blackmoney out and invest in auto-mobile sector is already infestedwith plague of black marketing.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Deputy Prime Minis-ter Chaudhary Pervaiz ElahiThursday inaugurated GujranwalaExport Processing Zone (GEPZ)here at the State Guest House.

Saadat S. Cheema, Chair-man Export Processing ZoneAuthority (EPZA), KhawajaAmir Hasan, PresidentGujranwala Chamber of Com-merce and Industry, ZafarBakhtawri, President IslamabadChamber of Commerce and In-dustry, Chaudhary Zaheer- ud-

Pervaiz Elahi inaugurates GEPZDin, Basharat Raja and tradersfrom all over the country werepresent on the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony,Ch. Pervaiz Elahi said that theaim of setting up export process-ing zones was to facilitate export-ers and traders through one win-dow operation besides increasingthe country’s exports and attract-ing local and foreign investment.The deputy prime minister saidthat efforts for setting up anEPZA office in every chamber ofcommerce were being made toattract foreign investment.

“Unemployment can never beended by government alone andprivate sector’s role is of vitalimportance in this regard”, he said.He said that the Punjab govern-ment had blocked one billion dol-lars investment and an opportu-nity for thirty thousand jobs bystopping the project of MubarikCentre,Asia’s tallest building.

Criticising the Punjab govern-ment for its poor performance,Pervaiz Elahi said medicines werenot available in hospitals, doctorswere protesting, law and ordersituation was worst.

Ministry of Commerceto conduct Trade

Policy Research withEU’s support

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The EuropeanUnion will assist Ministry ofCommerce in policy research onthe initiatives contained in therecently announced 3-year Stra-tegic Trade Policy Framework(STPF) 2012-15. A meeting ofthe Public Private DialogueSteering Committee (PPDSC)established by the Ministry ofCommerce to hold public pri-vate dialogues on specific tradepolicy issues and commissionpolicy research studies was heldin the Committee room of Min-istry of Commerce on 07 March2013. The meeting, co-chairedby Additional Secretary Minis-try of Commerce and DirectorGeneral Pakistan Institute ofTrade and Development, wasattended by stakeholders in pub-lic and private sector.

Recently, the Ministry ofCommerce has announced Stra-tegic Trade Policy Framework2012-15 in which the policyprinciples and initiatives for in-creasing Pakistan’s exports anddomestic commerce have beenannounced. The EuropeanUnion has agreed to assist theGovernment of Pakistan in con-ducting policy research tocomplement the government ini-tiatives. International TradeCentre is the executing agencyof these EU interventions.

SCB profitincreases 8pc

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Standard Char-tered Bank (Pakistan) Limited(SCB) has announced profitsand income for the year 2012.

The Bank’s profit before taxhave grown by 8 percent to Rs9.1 billion in 2012, with earn-ings per share up at Rs 1.53 pershare from Rs 1.41 per share in2011. Revenue has been resilientat Rs 26.8 billion despite reduc-tion in net interest margins.

Strategy of focused growth,improved cost discipline andprudent credit expansion hasbeen successfully executed re-sulting in improved financialperformance with steady rev-enue and reducing net provi-sions, which were 20 percentlower than same period last year.

Administrative costs in-creased by only 4.7 percent de-spite ongoing inflation and in-vestments in the franchise. Thecost to income ratio howeverremained more or less the sameat 52 percent.

LCCI fashion show,exhibitionStaff ReporterLAHORE—The LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI)’s StandingCommittee on WomenEntrepreneurs Development &Resource Centre is holding aFashion Show and a three-dayexhibition here on Friday. Theevents have been organized tomark the InternationalWomen’s Day. These eventshave been arranged with anobjective to promote womenentrepreneurship and for theawareness of women empow-erment in the country.

MFN afterremoving

apprehensionsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—India would onlybe granted the status of MostFavoured Nation (MFN) afterremoving the apprehensions ofall stakeholders, State MinisterAbbas Khan Afridi said.

Answering a question inSenate he said the Ministry wasconsulting other ministries andprivate sector stakeholders toassess and evaluate level play-ing field enjoyed by Pakistaniexporters to India, Non TariffBarriers being faced by Pakistanexporters and issues of marketexcess of Pakistani products toIndia.

He said the Ministry ofCommerce would submit thecase to the cabinet for completenormalisation of trade relationswith Indian in due course.

OGDCL and partners exchanging documents after agreement. Dr Asim Hussain also seen in the picture.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Amnesty schemeto regularise non duty paidsmuggled vehicles being consid-ered as a favor to the corrupt el-ements and a blow to local automobile industry.

Vice Chairman PakistanAuto Manufacturers AuthorizedDealers Association(Pamada)Iqbal Hussain Shahlamented the decision of FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR) toregularise non-duty paidsmuggled vehicles under newamnesty scheme as it will fur-ther the crises of local auto in-dustry while giving a cover toillegal business at the same time.

“It is very sad that the gov-ernment is patronizing the ille-gal trade to benefit few and todemolish the local auto indus-try thousands of people are as-sociated with. This is beyondany comprehension,” he added.

‘Amnesty to smuggled vehicles —a serious blow to local industry’

FBR on Tuesday issuedSRO 172(1)/2013 stating thatthe federal government is“pleased” to direct thatsmuggled or non-duty paid mo-tor vehicles, having non-tem-pered engine or chassis num-bers, which have been seized orvoluntarily presented to Cus-toms on or before the 31stMarch 2013 shall be allowedrelease on payment of redemp-tion fine along with duty andtaxes.

The deplorable thing, headds, is that the scheme wouldalso be applicable on the ve-hicles, having age beyond theperiod of 5 years, which is aclear attempt to jeopardize thelocal auto industry. “It is strangethat the government is takingsuch steps and instead of sup-porting local industries they areout to destabilize the investmentof billions of rupees,” he addedruefully.

He further said that thescheme is meant to help the in-fluential of the country who areinvolved in this smuggling anddoing a great damage to theeconomy. “A media report cit-ing the Customs intelligencesays the scheme is to benefit 2.3million non-duty paid smuggledvehicles. This is no doubt a hugedamage to the local car industryof the country,” said VCPamada.

It is to be noted that thisscheme has allowed 60 to 70%depreciation in value of usedcars for assessment of duty incase of five-year-old used cars,while in case of more than five-year-old cars, five percent realdepreciation in value per yearfor assessment of duty is al-lowed. Similarly, more than 14-year-old cars will be made sub-ject to a flat rate of Rs 50,000 toRs 100,000 depending on their

Continued on Page 14

Gold Tezab 51600.00Silver Tezabi 917.14

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 51000.00Gold 22 Ct 50000.00SilverTezabi 900.00Silver Thobi 910.00

USA 98.00 97.80

UK 148.25 147.95

EURO 127.70 127.44

Canada 95.53 95.33

Switzerland 104.18 103.97

Australia 100.30 100.09

Sweden 15.27 15.24

Japan 1.0514 1.0493

Norway 17.15 17.11

Singapore 78.77 78.61

Denmark 17.13 17.09

Omani Riyal 256.00 246.00

Saudi Arabia 26.13 26.08

Hong Kong 12.64 12.61

Kuwait 345.42 344.72

Malaysia 31.62 31.56

Newzeland 81.30 81.13

Qatar 26.92 26.86

UAE 26.68 26.63

KR WON 0.0902 0.0900

Thailand 3.290 3.283

Women leadershailed for their rolein nation-building

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The develop-ment, political empower-ment and leadership forwomen politicians must beensured by the governmentwhile all political partiesshould make it a part of theirpolitical manifestos, saidwomen parliamentarians andexperts at a women’s leader-ship forum.

Women’s LeadershipForum was organised to cel-ebrate the achievements ofwomen leaders, especiallyfrom the provincial assem-blies of Punjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP),Balochistan, Sindh and theFederally AdministratedTribal Areas (FATA).

Among participatingwomen political leaders,Raheela Khadim Hussain,MPA – PMLN, Saima Aziz,MPA-PMLN, Nasim NasirKhwaja, MPA-PMLN,Sajida Mir, MPA-PPP, MunirAlam , Aspiring Leader –PMLN, Summara Khan, As-piring Leader – PPP, AmnaZaidi, Aspiring Leader –PPP, Kehkashan Ijaz, Aspir-ing Leader- PMLQ, SbrinaJaved, Aspiring Leader-PTI,Ghazala Gola, Minister So-cial Welfare and Women De-velopment- MPA-PPP,Nasreen Rehman Khetran,MPA-PMLQ, Shahida Rauf,MPA-MMA, RukhsanaAhmad, Aspiring Leader-PTI, Nausheen Naz, Aspir-ing Leader-PPP, JamilaBaloch, Aspiring LeaderBNP; Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa,Political Analyst; AmmaraDurrani, Country DirectorSFCG|Pakistan; andKishwar Sultana, DirectorInsaan Foundation Trustspoke on the occasion.

“Women Parliamentar-ians need to connect withwomen bureaucrats andcommon women of the coun-try to establish strong com-munication networkingamong themselves,” said DrAyesha Siddiqa during herkeynote address. “Theyshould talk about women’ssecurity issues in parliamentand political parties shouldhave research wings andthink tanks working withthem round the clock.”

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Tariq Sayeed,Chairman of the Pakistan IranBusiness Council of FPCCI andformer President of FPCCI andfounder and former President ofSAARC CCI has stressed theneed for exchange in trade del-egations and opening new landroutes in Iran in order to increasethe level of formal trade betweenthe two countries. He stated thiswhile welcoming H.E. Mr.Mehdi Sobhani, the ConsulGeneral of Iran in Karachi , dur-ing his visit to the Federation ofPakistan Chambers of Com-merce and Industry Head Office.

Tariq Sayeed appreciatedthe recent progress on the Pak-Iran pipeline project and calledfor its early completion in orderto address the energy crisis fac-ing Pakistan . He said that hewas pleased to note that theGovernment of Pakistan was notbacking down on this issue inspite of international pressure.He reiterated that Pakistan wasa sovereign state, and nobody

Ways discussed toenhance trade with Iran

could dictate us on issues of na-tional interest. He said that Pa-kistan was currently facing anacute shortage of gas, and thepipeline project would help ad-dress this shortage to a greatextent. He also appreciated therole of the Iranian Governmentin financing the project.

Furthermore, Mr. TariqSayeed spoke about the need tocurb smuggling along the Pak-Iran border, ensuring better ac-cess for Pakistan ’s competitiveitems such as rice and citrusfruits, and the duty structure inIran for textile products. He alsoexpressed FPCCI’s desire to or-ganize a single country exhibi-tion for Pakistani products inIran , which would allow Paki-stan ’s exports to gain more vis-ibility in the neighboring coun-try. Appreciating the efforts ofMr. Sobhani’s predecessor inKarachi to increase Pak-Irantrade, he hoped that FPCCI andthe Iranian Consulate wouldcontinue to have as strong aworking relationship in the fu-ture as had been witnessed in the

past.While thanking Mr. Tariq

Sayeed for his welcome remarks,Mr. Mehdi Sobhani said that theIran-Pak pipeline would meetone third of Pakistan ’s energyneeds. He said that Iran was im-porting 1 million tons of rice fromaround the world every year,while Pakistani rice was alreadyhighly appreciated in Iran . Paki-stan also had very good qualitytextiles, which Iran could use.Iran could provide requisite tech-nology to Pakistan in meat andagri-processing. He announcedthe commencement of a directflight between Karachi andMashhad . He pledged his round-the-clock assistance in resolvingvisa issues for business travelersfrom Pakistan . He also said thatthe issue of curbing smuggling,tariff and non-tariff barriers andnew border opening were beingdeliberated by the Iranian gov-ernment. He invited FPCCI toconstitute a strong delegation toIran, and also promised to expe-dite Pakistan ’s single-countryexhibition in Iran.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Procter & Gamble(P&G) Pakistan has won thecoveted awards in the catego-ries of Cause-Related Market-ing and CommunicatingSustainability at the 7th Na-tional CSR Excellence awardsceremony held at Indus ValleySchool of Art & Architecture,Karachi. The P&G Thank YouMaa / 1 Pack = 1 ContributionSports Development Campaignand P&G Pakistan communica-tion publications and cam-paigns were selected from over100 nominations received thisyear. The participants of theawards were the leading localand multinational firms of Pa-kistan who are in the forefrontof Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR) efforts in Pakistan.The awards are yet anothermilestone for P&G in its en-deavor to touch and improvelives.

National CSR ExcellenceAwards are hosted by the CSRAssociation of Pakistan to rec-ognize best practices and excel-lence in Corporate Social Re-

P&G wins two CRSexcellence awards

sponsibility in sustainable busi-ness. It aims to showcase inno-vative corporate initiativeswhich are part of a comprehen-sive sustainable strategy andaddress the most pressing en-vironmental and social chal-lenges. The finalists are se-lected by an independent jurywho evaluate the participantson their performance in the pastand their ongoing projects inthe CSR realm.

Through its Thank You Maa

/ 1 Pack = 1 Contribution SportsDevelopment Campaign, P&Grecognizes the important rolemothers play in helping theirchildren achieve their dreamsand ambitions and is helpingmoms fulfill their aspiration ofraising healthy kids throughsports. Several schools acrossPakistan benefitted from thecontribution made by consum-ers using P&G products underthe 1 pack = 1 contribution cam-paign.

P&G representative Claudia Manuel receiving award at the7th National CSR Excellence Awards.

As part of Tetra Pak’s ‘Little Things Renew Nature’ campaign it participated in the recentWWF Nature Carnival. Picture shows students gather around the Tetra Pak stand to wit-ness the live demonstration of the recycling kit.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Ministerfor Science and Technology(S&T) Mir Changez Khan

Jamali on Thursday called uponthe students to find solutions toissues like energy crisis whichhas gripped the entire world.

He was speaking at thelaunching of International Trav-elling Expo titled “Energy for aSustainable World” at NationalCentre for Physics (NCP),Quaid-e-Azam University.

French AmbassadorPhilippe Thiebuad, SecretaryMinistry of S&T Mr. AkhlaqAhmad Tarar, Pakistan Science

S&T Minister asks students tofind solutions to energy crisis

Foundation (PSF) ChairmanProf. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro,NCP Board of Governors Chair-man Prof. Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed, alarge number of scientists,teachers and students were

present on this occasion.PSF in collaboration with

Embassy of France has ar-ranged the two-month longExpo in Pakistan which willtravel from Islamabad toMuzzafarabad (AJK), Gilgit,Abbottabad, Gujrat, Larkanaand Quetta.

The Federal Minister saidstudents’ attention towards reso-lution of such issues could onlybe diverted through sciencepopularization through Expos

that pave way for national de-velopment.

Mr. Jamali said Expos pro-vide an opportunity to youngscientists to develop new ideasand concepts of science. He

lauded PSF and France Embassyrole in arranging the interna-tional travelling expos in Paki-stan and assured his full supportto continue such activities.

French Ambassador Mr.Philippe Thiebuad said duringPakistani President Mr. Asif AliZardari’s meeting with FrenchPresident in Paris it was decidedthat Pakistan and France will en-hance their cooperation in thefield of higher education and en-ergy sector.

FWBL toobserve int’lwomen’s day

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—First Women BankLtd. has chalked out programsfor the International WomenDay throughout the country.Mrs. Shafqat Sultana PresidentFWBL will attend the main cer-emony to be held in the FirstWomen Bank Ltd. RegionalOffice Islamabad.

A two-day exhibition hasstarted today at the FWBL Busi-ness Development & TrainingCentre Islamabad where womenentrepreneurs from differentwalks of life have setup theirstalls of summer collection For-mal/Casual Wear, Bed Linen,and Designer Jewelry. A similarkind of exhibition is being or-ganized by the Business andTraining Centre Lahore onMarch 8, 2013.

The purpose of organizingsuch events is to provide thewomen buyers a one –windowshopping facility under one roofin a family atmosphere and to pro-mote businesses of women entre-preneurs and provide them a plat-form to get market exposure.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—High Commis-sioner of Australia PeterHeyward has pointed out thatflexible taxation and local con-tract arrangements are impera-tive for attracting Australian in-vestment in to Pakistan.

Exchanging views withbusiness leaders during his visitto Karachi Chamber of Com-merce and Industry today, theAustralian diplomat said thatAustralian investment in min-ing, safety & security, licencinghe said that mining requiremulti-billion dollars investment,hence need a lot of due-dili-gence. Australia can help intechnical and vocational educa-tion training to produce skilledhuman resource. Pakistan canalso benefit from Australian ex-pertise in clean energy resourcesand green environment friendlytechnology.

Peter said that Pakistan and

Flexible taxation imperative toattract investment: Hevward

Australia have cordial politicalrelationship however, bilateraltrade is not aligned with the ex-isting trade potential betweentwo countries.

He pointed out that Pakistan-Australia Joint Trade Committee(JTC) meetings were held alter-natively in Australia and Paki-stan. Last year JTC’s meetingwas held in Australia while thenext meeting will be held inIslamabad after the newly electedgovernment assumes charge.Australia’s assistance to Pakistanincludes support for basic healthcare and education. Commentingon the questions he informed thatto evolve business dispute reso-lution mechanism, KCCI shouldcontact its Australian counter-parts. He was of the view that topractically explore the existingbilateral trade and investmentpotential, research by both coun-tries is essential. Impediments inenhancing trade are lack of in-formation, confidence and trust.

The privates sectors on both sideshave to play their role in this re-gard. Australia has the biggestmining industry and the Austra-lian companies are operatingthroughout the world. Severalcompanies are also operating inPakistan. He appreciated the vi-tal role of KCCI in the socio-eco-nomic development of Pakistanand to promote trade and indus-try in Karachi and elsewhere.

Muhammad Haroon Agar,President KCCI in his welcomeaddress asserted upon the needto foster Pakistan-Australia bi-lateral economic and commer-cial cooperation. While ex-changing views with the HighCommissioner of Australia Pe-ter Heyward during his visit toKCCI, he articulated that sign-ing and implementation of Pa-kistan-Australia Bilateral In-vestment Treaty will open newavenues of economic and com-mercial cooperation. Australianeconomy is dominated by its

Boeing proposesfull 787 battery

fix to FAAWASHINGTON—Boeing Cogave U.S. aviation regulators itsplan to fix the volatile batteryaboard its new 787 Dreamliner,even though investigators havenot yet determined what causedthe batteries to overheat on twoplanes last month.

Boeing did not proposeabandoning the lithium-ion bat-teries and is not working on abackup or longer-term fix for theproblem that has grounded itsentire fleet of 50 Dreamliners fornearly five weeks, three sourcesfamiliar with the plan said.

The company and the U.S.Federal Aviation Administrationsaid no firm result emerged fromthe meeting between DeputyTransportation Secretary JohnPorcari, FAA AdministratorMichael Huerta and other FAAofficials and Boeing Commer-cial Airplanes CEO Ray Connerand other senior Boeing execu-tives in Washington.—Newswire

MOL to launchint’l graduateprogrammeSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—MOL Group haslaunched Growww2013, a pro-gram that aims to hire the bestgraduates and young talentsfrom various professions frompetroleum and mechanical engi-neers to geologist, economistsand other business administra-tion specialists.

Apart from a general train-ing program, trainees will alsoparticipate in MOL Group’sBusiness Education Program togain a better understanding of alarge set of Oil & Gas businessspecifics, analytical methodsand tools, as well as to get anoverview of O&G supportingbusiness activities.

Business Education Pro-gram consists of visits to explo-ration & production sites andrefineries of MOL Group, lec-tures by Group managementand international team tasks.

This is the seventh con-secutive year that MOL Groupoffers graduates opportunity tostart their career at one of theleading Central-European com-panies, gain work experienceunder professional guidanceand prove in a cross-culturalworking environment analyticalmethods and tools, as well as toget an overview of O&G sup-porting business activities.

make-up, while only one percent redemption fine will beimposed on used cars.

“At present the governmentallows import of only three-year-old used cars. However, theamnesty for smuggled vehicleshas no age limit and can be usedfor legalisation of any carsmuggled into the countrythrough non-notified routes.Who is going to save the localauto industry from this blatantdamage?” he asked.

For example, he adds, withminimum cap of $500 on1800cc and below and $1000 forabove 1800cc, a land cruiser of1998 or 2000 model will just pay$1000 to get the status of offi-cially duty paid vehicle. “Thisadvantage will only be for par-ticular class – which havebought smuggled used cars inlast few years and not paid anyduty and were using fake num-ber plates,” he added.

He said if we recall the mis-use of a similar sort of amnestyscheme given to ambulances itis sad to notice that those ve-hicles are nowadays used ascommercial vehicles. “The big-gest threat is Afghan TransitTrade as those vehicles now canbe easily given the official sta-tus at extremely low duty rates,”he added.

For example, he adds, aseverybody knows the issue ofsmuggling from Afghan border

any latest vehicles can easily besmuggled and get official bypaying a small amount of duty.“This scheme has opened up aanother opportunity for thugswho have always misused gov-ernment policies for their owninterests,” he added.

Iqbal said how funny theestimation appears which saysthat the amnesty scheme willyield Rs 8-10 billion for the gov-ernment exchequer, because thegovernment has ignored the factthat the local auto industry paymore than this amount only interms of taxes. “They are goingto make themselves content ona small share of revenue throughsmuggled and illegal used cars”trade at the cost of huge revenuethe government receives fromlocal auto industry. This is notsane on the part of the govern-ment,” he reasoned.

Iqbal said it is beyond com-prehension why the governmenthas taken another unpopular de-cision ahead of general elec-tions, and at the time when theyare being criticized for their anti-investment policies in their five-year tenure. “It seems the deci-sion makers have lost their in-terest in making the country aninvestment friendly nation,which is quite evident from justone example of their policiesthey have adopted in their ten-ure to severely damage localauto industry,” he added.

AmnestyFrom Page 13

travel and tourism in 2011/12,ranking 131 out of 140. Thepoor performance of railwaysand the quality of railroad in-frastructure also deterioratedin the last two years where Pa-kistan scored 65 this year ascompared to 55 in 2011.

Government’s policy onthe information technologyand telecommunicationsalso showed lack of focus asthe Report signifies that theICT use for business-to-business has dropped from103 to 115 from 211 to 2013respectively. The perfor-mance of the regulatorybody for ICT also showed analarming figure, wherePakistan’s lost 20 ranks in2013 as of 119 as comparedto 99 two years ago.

PakistanFrom Page 13

Electric fansexport increases

45.32pcSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Electric fans ex-ports from the country duringfirst seven months of current fi-nancial year increased by 45.32percent as compared to the ex-ports of same period last year.

Electric fans export proceedsreached to US$ 20.13 millionduring the period from July-Janu-ary, 2012-13 which were re-corded at US$ 13.98 million inthe corresponding period of lastfinancial year.

According the data of Pa-kistan Bureau of Statistics, about895,000 of electric fans weremanufactured to export from thecountry during the period underreview which stood at 619,000in the same period of last year.

On-month-on month basis,the export of fans recorded an in-crease of 39.47 percent in themonth of January, 2013 as com-pared to same months of last finan-cial year. In month of January, 2013about 170,000 electric fans worthUS$3.8 million exported as against138,000 costing US$ 3.11 millionof same months last year.

STAFF REPORT

KARACHI—The urea sales re-corded 21 percent monthly de-cline to stand at 407,000 tonnesin February 2013 as comparedwith January 2013, whileDiammonium Phosphate fertil-izer (DAP) sales slumped 64percent to stand at 19,000 tonsin the period under review.

However, the urea sales fig-ure of 407,000 tonnes showedan increase of 155 percent onyearly basis, while that of DAP58 percent.

During two months (Janu-ary to February) of 2013, ureasale was up 20 percent as com-pared to the same period of2012, hence concluding a better

Urea, DAP sales dropstart for 2013 in terms of offtakefor the fertilizer sector. FaujiFertilizer Company’s (FFC)urea offtake dropped 15 percenton monthly basis to stand at180,000 tonnes while Engro’sdeclined by 30 percent to 85,000tonnes. Fatima showed a posi-tive 37 percent monthly growthin urea sales, mainly owing tolow base-effect of January 2013sales, the sources said.

National Fertilizer Market-ing Limited’s (NFML) sale inFebruary 2013 was recorded at122,000 tonnes, down 23 per-cent on monthly basis in Febru-ary 2013, due to high base-ef-fect of January 2013 sales (dueto per bag price arbitrage avail-able on NFML’s urea).

PIAF wants extensionin constructionperiod in SIE

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan Industrial &Traders Association Front (PIAF)on Thursday demanded a three-year extension in constructionperiod in Sundar Industrial Estate.In a statement, Vice ChairmanPIAF Amjad Ali Jawa said that alarge number of businessmencould not start construction oftheir industrial units because of en-ergy crisis. He said that the man-agement of Sundar Industrial Es-tate should understand ground re-alities and allow an extension inthe construction period would bea great favour to the economy.

service sector particularly inmining and agriculture; Paki-stan should benefit from theAustralian expertise in mining,agriculture, food processing,dairy, livestock, technical-leveleducation in food processing,post-harvesting techniques,biogas and clean energysources. He stated that to en-hance reciprocal trade, KCCIcan sign MoU with Australiancounterpart for mutual coopera-tion. There is a dire need to en-hance people to people contact,exchange of business delega-tion. He said that Pakistan ex-ports to Australia in Jan-Jun2012 were around $ 103 Mil-lion while the imports werearound $ 183 Million. Trade isin favour of Australia.Pakistan’s main exports to Aus-tralia are textiles, apparels, ce-reals, articles of leather etc.whereas main imports are dairyproducts, livestock, fruits, veg-etables, fertilizers, etc.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—With the signingof License Agreement withNational Industrial Parks De-velopment & ManagementCompany (NIP), MullaEbrahimji Karimbhoy (MEK)has been authorized to startconstruction of its manufactur-ing plant at the site of KorangiCreek Industrial Park (KCIP),a state-of-the-art, first-of-its-kind industrial zone.

The Agreement was signedtoday by Mohsin Syed, CEO ofNIP and Yousuf Mohsin, ownerof MEK, a professional enter-prise involved in the planning,designing, production and salesof banking, office and industrialsteel furniture and equipment.

Earlier GETZ Pharma,Mobil Askari Limited, Al-Rehaman Lubricants and FarooqImpex signed License Agree-ment with NIP and are gettingready to start construction oftheir manufacturing plant at theallotted site.

With the setting up of in-dustrial units at KCIP, which

Korangi Creek industrialpark attracts investment

include consumer, food &pharmaceutical, garments/tex-tile, light engineering & pack-aging & printing, the city ofKarachi will enter in to a newera of economic prosperity. Assoon as the industrial units es-tablished at KCIP start produc-tion, this industrial zone alonewill start contributing Rs. 40billion annually to GDP andprovide approximately 30,000direct and 180,000 indirectemployments. The project de-signed by Jurong Singapore,renowned internationally fortheir expertise is being devel-oped at an estimated cost ofRs. 3.3 billion which will havean investment opportunity ofRs. 20 billion.

The KCIP project launchedby National Industrial Parks De-velopment & ManagementCompany (NIP) through its ownwindow operation system offersentrepreneurs with guaranteeduninterrupted power supplythrough 48 MW captive powerplant and all essential utilitieslike water, gas and telecommu-nication at their doorstep. The

main attraction of this industrialzone is perimeter wall with con-trolled entry and exit to the com-plex spreading over an area of250 acres at Korangi Creek of-fering a safe and secure environ-ment to the industrialists. Todate approximately 80 per centof the total saleable plots havebeen sold-out while a number ofapplications are still in the pipe-line. This shows the confidencethat NIP has earned over theyears through its hard work,transparent policies and efficientteamwork.

The Park has zones namelyLow Density and High Rise.The Low density zones cater forindustrial sectors including gar-ments, consumer food, pharma-ceutical, value-added garments/textiles, printing/packaging andlight engineering. The High Risezone is reserved for high-riseflattened factories, multi-storyoffice complex for banks, mul-tinationals, corporate sector be-sides a dedicated Gems and Jew-elry workshops and sales centerand Information TechnologyCentre.

OFER PRISON—In a sprawlingIsraeli prison, Palestinian activ-ist Hassan Karajeh sat througha hurried court hearing in a lan-guage he didn’t understand un-der the authority of a militaryoccupation he and his peoplereject.

The translator in thecramped portacabin-turned-courtroom seldom bothered torelay the military judge’s words,and the tall, bearded detaineespent most of the time whisper-ing to his family and blowingkisses to his young fiancée.

Outside Ofer Prison’s wallsand throughout the West Bank,Israeli troops have clashed inrecent weeks with Palestinianprotesters fed up with Israelidetention policies, an emblem ofwhat they see as Israel’s unjustrule over their lives.

The violence raised concernin Israel that it could snowballinto a third mass Palestinianuprising if either of two detain-ees on a months-long hungerstrike dies, further buryinghopes of reviving a long-stalledpeace process.

Some 4,800 Palestinians areheld in Israeli jails and are fetedat home as political prisoners orfreedom fighters. Israel says themajority are terrorists withblood on their hands, and somehave pleaded guilty to killingIsraeli civilians en masse.

But the arrests have netted15 members of parliament, afootball player, a political car-toonist, hundreds of stone-

throwing youths and a handful ofwhat Amnesty International callshuman rights defenders and pris-oners of conscience.

Karajeh, a member of the“Stop the Wall” rights group thatcampaigns against Israel’s vastmetal and concrete separationbarrier in the West Bank, has yetto be charged. “We’re just con-

fused,” said Sundous Mahsiri, hisfiancée and a student at a localuniversity. “Their group doesn’teven organize protests, only ad-

vocacy work. None of this makesany sense to us.”

Seized from his house in thedead of night on January 22,Karajeh has spent the last fiveweeks in solitary confinement,

and complains of being deniedmedicine for an old leg injury.

According to Israel’s militarylaws in the occupied West Bank,

Palestinians can be held for 90days without charge. In cases thatprosecutors believe are especiallysensitive, detention can be indefi-nite. The latest hearing endedwith Karajeh being dispatched

back to his interrogators andaway again from loved ones, in apattern that is making Palestin-ians increasingly furious.

When an apparently healthy,30-year-old Palestinian died lastmonth after a week in interroga-tion, massive demonstrationsrocked the West Bank. Palestin-ian leaders said the man was tor-

tured to death. Israel rejects this,saying cracked ribs and bruisesfound in an autopsy were likelycaused by resuscitation efforts.But it said more tests wereneeded to determine why the fa-ther of two died.

Samer al-Issawi and AymanSharawneh, the two hunger strik-ers at the heart of the recent un-rest, were sentenced by Israel todecades behind bars after beingconvicted of attacking Israeli ci-vilians on behalf of armedgroups. They were released in aprisoner swap in 2011 only to bere-arrested last year and told toserve out their full sentences forfleeing jurisdiction and engagingin unspecified “terror activities”.

In coffins or as free men, theyhave resolved to extract them-selves from the legal maze.

Unrest in solidarity with theircause just weeks before US Presi-dent Barack Obama is due to visitJerusalem and Ramallah may yetapply pressure on Israel to cut adeal for the release of the duo,while keeping detention policiesintact. Few issues raise as muchpassion or fury as the question ofthe prisoners, uniting the frac-tured Palestinian political land-scape unlike any other issue.

“There’s no Hamas, no Is-lamic Jihad and no Fatah when itcomes to the sons of the Pales-tinian people, our heroic prison-ers,” one activist shouted througha bullhorn at a protest in the WestBank city of Ramallah last week,listing the main factions that areoften deeply at odds.—Reuters

Palestinian street boils at plight of prisoners

BETHLEHEM: Israeli soldiers and border police walk towards Palestinian demonstrators during a protest calling for therelease of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in the West Bank.

Rebels, troopsclashes intensify, 21UN peacekeepers

abductedBEIRUT—Syrian activists saynew clashes have erupted be-tween government troops andrebels near an area where gun-men fighting President BasharAssad’s forces abducted 21 U.N.peacekeepers. Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observa-tory for Human Rights says thearmy is battling opposition fight-ers in the southern province ofDaraa, the birthplace of the 2-year-old revolt against Assad.

Thursday’s fighting is con-centrated on the edge of the Syr-ian village of Jamlah, where gun-men took hostage 21 U.N. peace-keepers from the Philippines onWednesday.

The peacekeepers patrol theIsrael-Syria cease-fire zone in theGolan Heights. They were ab-ducted allegedly while they werenear Jamlah. In an online video,a man identified as a spokesmanfor the Martyrs of Yarmouk Bri-gades said his group will hold thepeacekeepers until Assad’s forceswithdraw from Jamlah.—AP

China facesfiscal risk in

massiveurbanization

BEIJING—China’s urbanizationdrive could fuel social unrestover land disputes and pose fi-nancial risks if money is thrownaround recklessly, a senior com-munist party official and a lead-ing economist said on Thursday.

Shifting people from thecountryside to cities is a policypriority for China’s new leadersas they seek to sustain economicgrowth that last year slowed toa 13-year low of 7.8 percent. Thegovernment hopes 60 percent ofChina’s population of almost 1.4billion will be urban residents by2020.

The urban populationjumped to above 700 millionfrom less than 200 million in theprevious three decades, but thatexplosion has triggered some-times violent clashes over expro-priation of farmland for devel-opment as well as water short-ages, pollution and other prob-lems.—Reuters

SEOUL—North Korea threat-ened the United States onThursday with a preemptivenuclear strike, raising the levelof rhetoric while the U.N. Se-curity Council considers newsanctions against the reclusivecountry.

North Korea has accusedthe United States of using mili-tary drills in South Korea as alaunch pad for a nuclear war andhas scrapped the armistice withWashington that ended hostili-ties in the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea, which has onemajor ally, neighboring China,threatens the United States andits “puppet”, South Korea, on analmost daily basis.

“Since the United States isabout to ignite a nuclear war, wewill be exercising our right topreemptive nuclear attackagainst the headquarters of theaggressor in order to protect oursupreme interest,” the North’sforeign ministry spokesman saidin a statement carried by the of-ficial KCNA news agency.

North Korea conducted athird nuclear test on February12, in defiance of U.N. resolu-tions, and declared it hadachieved progress in securing a

functioning atomic arsenal. It iswidely believed the North doesnot have the capacity to deliver anuclear strike on the mainlandUnited States.

The North’s unnamed for-eign ministry spokesman alsosaid it would be entitled to takemilitary action as of March 11when U.S.-South Korea militarydrills move into a full-scale phaseas it had declared the truce in-valid.

It is the latest in an escala-tion of tough words from bothsides of the armed Korean bor-der this week as the U.N. Secu-rity Council deliberates a resolu-tion to tighten financial sanctionsand a naval blockade against theNorth.

North Korea, which held amass military rally in Pyongyangon Thursday in support of its re-cent threats, has protested againstthe U.N. censures of its rocketlaunches. It says they are part ofa peaceful space program andthat the criticism is an exerciseof double standards by the UnitedStates.

But North Korea’s shrillrhetoric rarely goes beyond justthat. Its latest armed aggressionagainst the South in 2010 came

unannounced, bombing a SouthKorean island killing two civil-ians. It is widely accused of sink-ing a South Korean navy shipearlier in the year, killing 46 sail-ors.

North Korea was conductinga series of military drills and get-ting ready for state-wide warpractice of an unusual scale,South Korea’s defense ministrysaid earlier on Thursday.

South Korea and the UnitedStates, which are conducting an-nual military drills until the endof April, are watching the North’sactivities for signs they turn froman exercise to an actual attack, aSouth Korean official said.

“It hasn’t been frequent thatthe North conducted military ex-ercise at the state level,” SouthKorea’s defense ministry spokes-man, Kim Min-seok, said. “TheNorth is currently conductingvarious drills on land, at sea andaerially.

Kim declined to confirmnews reports that the North hasimposed no-fly zones off itscoasts in a possible move to firemissiles, but he said any flightban limited to near the coastwould not be for weapons withmeaningful ranges.—Reuters

North Korea warns US ofpreemptive nuclear strike

FELDA SAHABAT—Malaysiansecurity forces said they killed31 Filipino militants in over-night clashes in eastern Sabahstate as Prime Minister NajibRazak rejected a ceasefire offerfrom the armed group stakingan ancient claim to the resource-rich region.

At least 52 militants andeight Malaysian policeman havedied in clashes that began in thenorthern tip of Borneo islandlast Friday and intensified intoan all-out assault by army troopsearly this week.

Security officials said manymilitants escaped the militaryattacks aimed at a coastal vil-lage where they had been holedup for weeks. The obscure groupis believed to be at large in sur-rounding oil palm estates. “Wewant the militants to uncondi-

tionally surrender and hand overtheir weapons,” Najib said in hisfirst trip to the conflict area sincethe standoff began a month ago.

If they did not surrender,Najib said the military wouldcontinue to track them down “foras long as it takes to eliminatethem.”

Malaysia’s police chief,Ismail Omar, addressing a sepa-rate news conference, announcedthe toll of 31 militants killed inthe latest clashes.

“We’ve narrowed it to twovillage areas,” Omar told report-ers, referring to two settlementsclose to the site of the initial mili-tary attack.

The month-old confronta-tion in Sabah was sparked whenthe armed group numberingabout 200 arrived from thenearby southern Philippines to

press an old claim to the re-source-rich region.

The conflict has strained re-lations between the SoutheastAsian neighbors and promptedspeculation that Najib may delaya national election he had beenexpected to call as early as Marchand which must be held by June.

The group is demanding rec-ognition and an increased pay-ment from Malaysia for theirclaim as the rightful owners ofSabah, part of Borneo islandleased by the sultanate to Britishcolonialists in the 19th century.

Malaysia has refused the de-mands and Manila has repeatedlytold the group to put down itsweapons and come home.

Najib said he had conveyedMalaysia’s position to PhilippinePresident Benigno Aquino bytelephone. —Reuters

Malaysia troops kill 31 Philippinemilitants; ceasefire offer rejected

DUBAI—Iran’s supreme leadercriticized Western powers onThursday for not offering conces-sions in talks last week, sayingthe West was using the nuclearissue as a pretext to impose sanc-tions and harm the Islamic Re-public.

It was Ayatollah AliKhamenei’s first reaction to whatIranian officials described as“positive” nuclear talks inAlmaty, Kazakhstan, duringwhich the P5+1 group of nationsoffered modest sanctions relief inreturn for Iran curbing highergrade uranium enrichment.

“Western nations did not ac-complish anything that can beconstrued as a concession, andinstead they admitted Iran’srights only to a degree,”Khamenei said in an address re-ported on his official website.

“To assess their integrity, wemust wait until the next round oftalks,” he added.

Khamenei said the West wasusing Iran’s nuclear program asa “pretext” to impose sanctionsand pressure Iranians to “con-front the system.” After the talksended last Wednesday, Iran’schief nuclear negotiator Saeed

Jalili said the P5+1 - UnitedStates, China, France, Russia,Britain and Germany - had triedto “get closer to our viewpoint”and said he believed the meetingcould be “a turning point”.

Western officials said the of-fer presented by the six powersincluded easing a ban on trade ingold and other precious metals,and a relaxation of an embargoon Iranian petrochemical prod-ucts. They gave no further details.

In exchange, a senior U.S.official said that Iran would,among other things, have to sus-pend uranium enrichment to afissile concentration of 20 per-cent at its Fordow undergroundfacility and “constrain the abilityto quickly resume operationsthere”. Iran maintains it has theright to enrich uranium, both fornuclear power plants and formaking medical isotopes whichrequires fuel enriched to a fissilepurity of 20 percent.

But the U.S. and its allies areconcerned that 20-percent purityis a major step towards produc-ing weapons-grade uranium andthat Tehran is covertly develop-ing weapons capability, accusa-tions Iran denies.—Reuters

Iran’s leader condemns Westfor not making N concessions

Cameron stays put on deficit cutsLONDON—British Prime Minister DavidCameron will promise on Thursday to stickto his deficit reduction plan despite the lackof growth and loss of his country’s top-notchAAA credit rating, saying Britain wouldplunge “back into the abyss” if he changedcourse. His comments come after a top min-ister in his junior coalition partner - the Lib-eral Democrats - publicly questionedCameron’s focus on cutting debt, suggestingit may be time to borrow more to invest in

infrastructure. That intervention, by Vince Cable, the businessminister, on the eve of the prime minister’s speech, was the stron-gest call yet from inside government to change course and ex-posed a deep rift in the coalition over the country’s economicpolicy. But Cameron, speaking ahead of a March 20 budget, willsay there are signs his economic policies are beginning to workand will say it is imperative to “hold firm to the path”. “The deci-sions we make now will set the course of our economic future foryears to come,” he will tell an audience in Yorkshire, northernEngland. “And while some would falter and plunge us back intothe abyss we will stick to the course.” The state of Britain’s ane-mic economy is linked to Cameron’s own political fortunes. Hisadvisers are banking on an economic recovery being underwayby the time of the next general election in 2015, allowing Cameronto whittle away the opposition Labour Party’s lead in the opinionpolls and win. But for now the economy appears stuck in a rut andcould already be in its third recession since 2008, while publicdebt is set to carry on rising for another three years despite somepublic spending cuts. However, Cameron will tell his audience hehas cut the country’s deficit by a quarter, interest rates are at arecord low, exports are reviving, the number of people on welfarehas fallen, and there are more people in work “than ever before inour history”. “But the very moment when we’re just getting somesigns that we can turn our economy round and make out country asuccess ... is the very moment to hold firm to the path we haveset,” he will say.” —Reuters

France calls on Europe to ease off austerityBRUSSELS—France has called on fellowEuropean nations to ease off on painful aus-terity policies to give the economy somebreathing space and avoid social upheaval.Continuing a strict course of spending cutsand tax increases would only “nourish a so-cial crisis that leads to populism,” FrenchFinance Minister Pierre Moscovici warnedThursday. “There is no alternative to start-ing a path that will lead to a return of growth,”he added, speaking at a conference of the

European Parliament’s group of center-left parties in Brussels.France’s appeal comes as the debt crisis, which had grown tothreaten the 17-nation eurozone’s existence over the past threeyears, is easing in financial markets in the wake of political andeconomic reforms and a pledge by the European Central Bank todo whatever it takes to defend the common currency. But the aus-terity cuts made to restore confidence in financial markets havehad nasty side-effects on the economy - they have helped push theregion into recession and increase unemployment to record highs.Voters in several crisis-hit nations have protested such EU-ledausterity by supporting euroskeptic parties, most recently in Italy.Moscovici stressed Italy’s election result “was a message” thatinsisting on the current pace of budget cuts and structural reformswithout a credible growth strategy is not sustainable and will ulti-mately backfire. The minister reiterated his demand that theeurozone should have its own budget to finance initiatives favor-ing job creation and growth. Germany, which together with Francemakes up almost half of the bloc’s economic output, has signaledit is open to that idea, but Chancellor Angela Merkel has floated amaximum ceiling of about (EURO)15 billion - a small sum com-pared to the bloc’s annual GDP of (EURO)10 trillion. Moscoviciprovided few other details on what growth-friendly initiatives orpolicies he wants Europe to pursue, but vowed that France willpush for a substantial debate on the matter at next week’s summitof the European Union’s 27 leaders.—AP

Group backing Obama won’t take corporate moneyWASHINGTON—Reversing course amidcriticism, a nonprofit group run by formeradvisers to President Barack Obama saidThursday it would not accept corporate do-nations and would disclose the specificamount of money it receives from donorsafter being accused of selling access to theWhite House. Jim Messina, the chairman ofOrganizing for Action, wrote in an op-edpublished Thursday by CNN.com that thegroup believes in being “open and transpar-ent” and had decided not to accept corporate

money, a move in keeping with Obama’s past campaign prac-tices. Every donor who gives $250 or more will be disclosed onthe group’s website with the exact amount on a quarterly basis, hesaid. The close ties between the White House and Organizing forAction, a nonprofit that was formed from Obama’s 2012 cam-paign, have drawn questions about whether bundlers who raise$500,000 or more for OFA will get quarterly meetings withObama. OFA and the White House have disputed those charges.Open-government groups have said Obama has changed coursesince being critical of the role of money in politics during hisfirst campaign and the start of his presidency, and they say thenonprofit provides new ways for corporations and individualsto influence the administration. Messina wrote in the op-ed thatwhile OFA “is a nonprofit social welfare organization that facesa lower disclosure threshold than a political campaign, we be-lieve in being open and transparent.” “That’s why every donorwho gives $250 or more to this organization will be disclosedon the website with the exact amount they give on a quarterlybasis,” he wrote. Messina said the group would not accept con-tributions from corporations, federal lobbyists or foreign do-nors. Obama has rejected donations from those entities in thepast, although the committee running his second inaugural ac-cepted contributions from corporations and did not release spe-cific donation amounts from its donors.—AP

Berlusconi sentenced in wiretap trialMILAN—An Italian court sentenced ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thurs-day to one year in jail over the publicationby his family’s newspaper of a transcript ofa leaked wiretap connected to a bankingscandal in 2006. Italian justice system rulesmean that the 76-year-old media billionairewould not have to serve any jail time untilthe appeals process has been exhausted, anda higher court may still overturn the rul-ing. It came in the middle of a complexpolitical impasse arising from an incon-

clusive election last week that left no party able to form a gov-ernment on its own, although Berlusconi’s center-right forma-tion emerged as the second strongest in parliament. Berlusconiis in the middle of a series of trials, with separate cases overcharges of tax fraud and paying for sex with an underage pros-titute due to wind up this month. He has denied any wrongdo-ing in the case and the verdict was immediately criticized byhis lawyer Piero Longo, who has frequently criticized Milanjudges over the long series of trials Berlusconi has faced overthe years. “I’m not surprised, given that it’s Milan and it has todo with Berlusconi,” he told reporters after the verdict. “But Iam concerned and shocked because I’m quite convinced thatthe charges against Berlusconi were weak and contradictoryand even completely lacking.” Berlusconi’s brother Paolo,publisher of the family-owned Il Giornale daily, was sentencedto two years and three months over the same case, which cen-tered on confidential wiretap transcripts related to a bank take-over which appeared in the newspaper.—Reuters

ROME—Italy is likely to returnto the polls very soon after lastweek’s inconclusive vote, themayor of Florence, seen as alikely new leader of the centre-left in the next election, said onThursday.

The centre-left won a major-ity in the lower house of parlia-ment but failed to gain the Sen-ate majority it would need togovern, leaving Italy facingweeks of uncertainty and thepossibility of elections within afew months.

“I’ll limit myself to sayingthat this legislature has all thesigns of beating the record forduration in a negative sense,”Matteo Renzi told the daily IlMessaggero newspaper.

The 38-year-old Renzi hasbeen widely seen as a likely re-placement for veteran Demo-cratic Party (PD) leader PierLuigi Bersani after the centre-left failed to secure victory de-spite a commanding opinion poll

lead in the weeks before thevote. Renzi, who lost to Bersaniin last year’s leadership primary,has repeatedly declared his loy-alty but said the party needed todraw lessons from the election,which was overshadowed by therunaway success of the anti-es-tablishment 5-Star Movementfounded by comic and bloggerBeppe Grillo.

“The model of a solid, old-style party has been profoundlyput into question,” Renzi told thenewspaper.

He said another primary tochoose a future election candidatewas “inevitable”, but he declinedto say whether he himself wouldbe a candidate.

Renzi, a moderate who ispopular outside the PD but isviewed with suspicion by manyleftwing traditionalists, has beencareful to avoid any overt chal-lenge to Bersani, but his remarkssuggest he will play a leading rolein any future election.—Reuters

Rivals agreeon fresh Italy polls

NAIROBI—The running mateof presidential candidate RailaOdinga called for the vote countto be halted on Thursday andcast doubt on the fairness of aprocess that is still incompletethree days after the poll, remarksthat could inflame a largelypeaceful election.

Odinga, Kenya’s primeminister, is trailing UhuruKenyatta in the partial count.His running mate KalonzoMusyoka said his commentswere not a call for mass actionand he urged voters to stay calmand patient. Disputes overKenya’s last election in 2007sparked ethnic violence thatkilled 1,200 people.

“We as a coalition take the

position the national vote tally-ing process lacks integrity andhas to be stopped and re-startedusing primary documents fromthe polling stations,” Musyokatold a news conference.

“We have evidence the re-sults we are receiving have beendoctored,” he said.

Authorities have insisted theprocess is fair and said the resultwould not be compromised bythe failure of electronic countingtechnology that has slowed downthe tally.

Western donors are watchingclosely, worried about a nationseen as vital to the region’s sta-bility but also fretting about howthey might deal with a win byKenyatta, who is indicted for

crimes against humanity overelection violence last time.

Kenyans have been hopingthis vote will restore its image asone of Africa’s more stable de-mocracy after the mayhem fiveyears ago and many have voicedetermination not to take theirdifferences to the streets but toturn to a reformed judiciary.

“It is not a call to mass ac-tion,” Musyoka said. “We musttell them (Kenyans) there will beno mass action. We are commit-ted as a coalition to the principleof the rule of law.”

Ahmed Issack Hassan, chair-man of the Independent Electoraland Boundaries Commission,said late on Wednesday thatcounting could be concluded on

Kenya presidential hopeful challenges vote countFriday but might drag on tillMonday, the last day on whichby law the results must be pub-licly declared.

Kenyatta’s coalition had noimmediate comment but has pre-viously questioned aspects of theprocess without calling for a halt.Kenyatta’s team have also urgedvoters to be patient.

Kenyatta and his runningmate, William Ruto, are chargedby the International CriminalCourt in The Hague for orches-trating the tribal blood-letting af-ter the 2007 vote. They both denythe charges but said they wouldcooperate to clear their names.

Musyoka questioned thesharp in fall in the number ofspoiled ballots counted as Kenya

scrapped an electronic tallyingsystem and switched to relysolely on a manual one. Theamount of those ballots could sig-nificantly impact the outcome.

If no candidate gets morethan 50 percent of votes in thefirst round, the top two will go toa run-off, provisionally set forApril depending on any legalchallenges.

The electronic system thatbroke down had been aimed toprovide speedy provisional re-sults before the final figures weremanually gathered, but thevacuum left when that systemfailed has been filled by com-plaints by rivals over the process.

But even with a technologi-cal set-back, this poll has been

far more transparent and interna-tional observers have praised theconduct of the vote so far.

“I also want to emphasizethat the fact that we are nowabandoning the electronic votertransmission does not in any waymean that the integrity of the re-sults which we are being an-nounced are compromised,”Hassan told a news conference.

By 0920 GMT, with about4.7 million votes tallied,Kenyatta had about 2.5 millionvotes to Odinga’s 1.9 million,giving the deputy prime ministermore than 50 percent. But thereis still a long way to go, as turn-out was estimated at more than70 percent of the 14.3 millionvoters.—Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Students taking part in different events during the Athletics’ competition in the Sports Week of Air University at Sports Complex.

DUNEDIN—England’s pow-erful batting line-up wasskittled for just 167 by NewZealand Thursday as theunfancied Black Caps took afirm grip on the opening Testin Dunedin.

England’s batsmen self-destructed in two nightmaresessions on a tame pitch, of-fering a succession of rashshots in the face of disci-plined bowling fromdebutant Bruce Martin andNeil Wagner, who eachbagged four wickets.

In reply, New Zealandmade the most of batting-friendly conditions at Univer-sity Oval to plunder 131 runswithout loss at stumps, withHamish Rutherford, also mak-ing his debut, unbeaten on 77and Peter Fulton 46 not out.

After the first day’s playwas abandoned due to badweather, England lasted just55 overs against the eighth-ranked team in Test cricket,Jonathan Trott top-scoringwith 45 on a day when the tour-ists’ big names failed to fire.

Tim Southee grabbed anearly breakthrough for NewZealand to dismiss NickCompton for a duck in thethird over, putting pressureon the opener, who facescalls for Joe Root to take hisspot at the top of the order.

Left-arm pacemanWagner, a late inclusion inthe New Zealand side afteran injury to Doug Bracewell,then claimed the wickets ofAlastair Cook (10) andPietersen (0) in successiveballs to leave England reel-ing at 18 for three.

Pietersen, short of cricketafter playing only one warm-up match for meager returnsof 14 and eight, was trapped

lbw by Wagner off his firstball at the crease.

Ian Bell and Trott dug infor a partnership of 46 beforeBell fell for 24 trying to driveWagner through mid-wicket,instead scooping the ball toRutherford.

Root (4) departed justbefore lunch after tentativelyswiping at a Trent Boult de-livery and edging to DeanBrownlie in the slips, leavingEngland, second in the Testrankings, 71-5.

Left-arm spinner Martinkept up the pressure on themiddle order, dismissing thedangerous Matt Prior for 23and then enticing Trott intoa sweep shot that caught thetop edge and carried toBoult.

Stuart Broad (10) tried tohit the spinner out of the parkbut instead sent the ballstraight to Brownlie on theboundary.

With England teeteringon 119-8, Steven Finn (20)and James Anderson (23)

added useful tail-end runsbefore Anderson gifted Mar-tin his fourth wicket with awild swing that flew toWagner at point to close theinnings.

Rutherford, the son offormer Black Caps skipperKen Rutherford, brought uphis half century off 65 balls,including eight fours and asix, which hit the head of anunfortunate spectator, wholooked dazed but otherwiseunhurt.

Nothing went right on afrustrating day for England,with Broad missing a caughtand bowled opportunity offRutherford on 52 andPietersen dropping a catchfrom the debutant when hewas on 64.

Fulton, recalled after athree-year absence, will aimto bring up his half centuryearly Friday as New Zealandlook to overhaul the narrow36-run deficit and turn thescrews with a big first inningslead.—AFP

New Zealand dominate afterdismissing England cheaply

England 1st innings:Cook c Rutherfordb Wagner ........................ 10Compton b Southee ........ 0Trott c Boult b Martin .. 45Pietersen lbw b Wagner . 0Bell b Wagner ................ 24Root c Brownlie b Boult . 4Prior b Martin ................ 23Broad c Brownlieb Martin .......................... 10ST Finn c Rutherford bWagner ........................... 20Anderson c Wagnerb Martin .......................... 23Panesar not out ............... 1Extras: (b 4, lb 1, w 2) ...... 7Total: (all out) .............. 167Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-

18, 4-64, 5-71, 6-108, 7-109,8-119, 9-166, 10-167Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WTG Southee ........ 15-3-45-1TA Boult ............. 15-4-32-1N Wagner ........... 11-2-42-4BP Martin ........... 14-4-43-4New Zealand 1st inning:PG Fulton not out ......... 46Rutherford not out ........ 77Extras: (lb 8) ..................... 8Total: (0 wickets) ......... 131Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WJM Anderson ....... 9-1-35-0ST Finn ............... 12-2-35-0Broad .................. 10-1-23-0Panesar ................. 8-1-26-0IJL Trott .................. 2-0-4-0JE Root ................... 1-1-0-0

INDIAN WELLS (California)—Svetlana Kuznetsova contin-ued her encouraging resur-gence from an injury-ham-pered 2012 campaign with a 6-3 6-1 demolition of Czech An-drea Hlavackova in the BNPParibas Open first round.

The Russian, whose worldranking has plummeted to 46thfrom a career-high second,swept past Hlavackova afterconverting all five of her breakpoint chances at the IndianWells Tennis Garden.

Kuznetsova, a losing final-ist here in 2007 and 2008 and awinner of 13 WTA singlestitles, was sidelined by a rightknee injury for six months lastyear after losing in the firstround of Wimbledon.

Having since had surgery,the Russian has made a prom-ising 14-5 (win-loss) start to the2013 season, reaching the quar-ter-finals in Sydney and alsoat the Australian Open.

In other first-roundmatches on Wednesday, Span-iard Silvia Soler Espinosabattled past American VaniaKing 6-7 6-2 6-1 whileKazakhstan’s Ksenia Pervakbrushed aside Zheng Jie ofChina 6-1 6-2.

Qualifier Mallory Burdettewas elated after beatingwildcard and fellow AmericanJill Craybas 6-3 6-1.

Australian Open cham-pion and top seed VictoriaAzarenka of Belarus, who de-molished Russia’s MariaSharapova 6-2 6-3 in lastyear’s BNP Paribas Open fi-

Kuznetsova makes a winningstart at Indian Wells

CALIF: Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, returns a shot toAndrea Hlavackova, of the Czech Republic, at the BNPParibas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells.nal, has a bye into the secondround, as do the other seededplayers in the WTA tourna-ment.

The men’s event at Indian

Wells, where four-times cham-pion Roger Federer will defendhis title, gets under way onThursday with the openinground.—AP

PARIS—Big-spending ParisSaint-Germain ended an 18-year wait to reach the Cham-pions League quarter-finalson Wednesday while two-time winners Juventus madethe last-eight for the firsttime in seven years.

PSG, with DavidBeckham left on the bench,drew 1-1 at home to Spanishside Valencia at the Parc desPrinces which allowed themto progress 3-2 on aggre-gate.

They had to survivesomething of a scare, how-ever, with Brazilian attackingmidfielder Jonas putting thevisitors in front on the night10 minutes into the secondhalf.

But PSG settled theirnerves when EzequielLavezzi, who had alsoscored at the Mestalla in thefirst leg, levelled in the 66thminute and PSG held out tosecure their place in the lasteight for the first time since1995.

In Turin, Juventus, thechampions in 1985 and 1996,cruised into the quarter-fi-nals with a 2-0 win overCeltic for an impressive 5-0aggregate scoreline.

Strikes in either half fromAlessandro Matri and FabioQuaglirella earned Juventusthe win, ending all hopes ofthe “minor miracle” whichCeltic manager Neil Lennonhad deemed necessary onthe eve of the tie.

PARIS: Saint-Germain’s Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi shoots and scores duringthe UEFA Champions League round match.

Champions League: PSG, Juventusend long waits to reach last-eight

“It may have lookedeasy, but if we had con-ceded a goal, then you knowhow things can turn around,you start to worry,” saidMatri.

“But we scored a goodgoal and I am happy to havegot the goal.”Lennon ac-cepted that the Italian chal-lenge was a step too far butpraised his side for a memo-

rable campaign which hadincluded a famous groupstage win over Barcelona.

“On the night, was it afair result? Class tells in theend,” said Lennon.

Juve were ahead after 24minutes when FedericoPeluso robbed Celtic strikerGary Hooper and fedQuagliarella to the left of goal.

When Fraser Forster

failed to hold the Italian’sshot, Matri ran in to sweepthe ball home.

Lennon replaced right-back Adam Matthews withEfe Ambrose – blamed fortwo of Juve’s first leg goals– at half-time, but it was Juvewho moved up a gear.

When Juve’s secondgoal came, it exposed Celtic’sdefence all too easily.—AFP

KARACHI—Disgraced Paki-stani leg-spinner DanishKaneria will seek compen-sation from English cricketauthorities for delaying hisappeal against a life ban im-posed for spot-fixing lastyear, his lawyer saidThursday.

The 32-year-old’s ap-peal against the ban was ad-journed until April 22 afterKaneria’s accuser, formerEssex bowler MervynWestfield reportedly re-fused to appear in the hear-ing in December last year.

Kaneria, Pakistan’smost successful Test spin-ner with 261 wickets in 61matches, was banned afterWestfield named him in anEngland and Wales CricketBoard (ECB) inquiry in Junelast year. Westfield wasbanned for five years.

Kaneria’s lawyerFarogh Naseem said his cli-ent was distraught by thedelay in hearing his appeal.

“We will definitely seek

Kaneria to seekcompensation from ECB

compensation from the ECBas because of the ban my cli-ent has been unable to playand earn a living,” Naseemtold AFP.

Naseem refused to dis-close the exact figure butwent on to say that it will be“substantial”.

“We feel that they not

only have delayed the pro-cedure, but they refused toallow an interim measure un-til it was decided.

Kaner ia should have

been allowed to continueto p lay whi le the mat terwas se t t led ,” the lawyersaid.

Two years ago, Kaneria

was arrested by Essex po-lice on charges of inducinghis teammate Westfield toconcede a certain numberof runs in an over in returnof money during a Pro-40match against Durham in2009.

The Pakistani leg-spin-ner was not charged butWestfield named Kaneriaas the go-between duringa criminal inquiry last year,which ended in a four-month jail term for the En-glishman.

Under InternationalCricket Council rules bansimposed on a player byany country have to beapplied by all memberboards.

Naseem said his clientwants the appeal to beheard in public.

“We do not have any-thing to hide and, if theECB is confident they havea strong case, they shouldhave nothing to hide aswell,” he said.—APP

K I M B E R L E Y — P a k i s t a nscrambled to a one-wicketwin with two balls to spareagainst a makeshift SouthAfrican Invitation XI at theDiamond Oval.

Last wicket pair AbdurRehman (35 not out) andJunaid Khan (nine not out)put on an unbeaten 28 to taketheir team to victory in theironly warm-up match beforea five-game one-day interna-tional series against SouthAfrica, starting inBloemfontein on Sunday.

The Invitation team, in-cluding only players not in-

Pak beat African Invitation XIvolved in two domestic fran-chise Twenty20 matches onWednesday, made 266 foreight in their 50 overs, withthe major contribution com-ing from 20-year-old left-hander Quinton de Kock.

De Kock, who played ina recent one-day interna-tional series against NewZealand but was not pickedfor the series against Paki-stan, hit 65 off 73 balls withsix fours and a six.

He and captain StephenCook (34) got the Invitationside off to a good start witha first wicket stand of 55,

which was followed by part-nerships of 54 withJonathan Vandiar (24) and45 with Vaughn vanJaarsveld (36).

Pakistan spinners ShoaibMalik, Abdur Rehman andShahid Afridi were the mosteffective bowlers for the tour-ists.

No Pakistan batsmanreached fifty, with ImranFarhat (40) and KamranAkmal (47) the most success-ful batsmen, while fastbowler Hardus Viljoen andleg-spinner Imran Tahir tookthree wickets apiece.—AFP

Sehwag droppedfor remaining

TestsMOHALI—Virender Sehwaghas been dropped fromIndia’s Test side for the firsttime since he made an em-phatic comeback to the longformat with a century inAdelaide in 2008-09. That,incidentally, remains his lastcentury outside Asia. No re-placement has been namedfor Sehwag for the remainingtwo Tests of the seriesagainst Australia, whichmakes Shikhar Dhawan afavourite to open in theMohali Test starting onMarch 14.

The two remaining Testsof the current series, whichIndia lead 2-0, are the lastones they are scheduled toplay before they go on fourcontinuous overseas toursbeginning with South Africalater this year.

In his first reaction,Sehwag - who had beendropped from the ODI sidefor the series against En-gland in January - tweeted:“Will continue to work hardfor my place in the team. Itrust my game and am confi-dent that, ‘I’ll be back.’ Bestwishes to the team.”

Since his comeback,Sehwag’s performance out-side Asia might have beenquestionable, but he kept hisplace in the side with typi-cally dazzling match-winningknocks on the lower andslower tracks. Outside Asia,since Adelaide, Sehwag hasscored just 523 runs in 12Tests, at an average of 22.73with a highest of 67. In Asia,though, over the same periodhe has amassed 3622 runs at57.49, at a game-changingstrike rate of 94.1.—AFP

Hyderabadshocks Karachi

Dolphins inOne-day Cup

K A R A C H I — H y d e r a b a dHawks pulled off a shockwhen they defeated fanciedKarachi Dolphins by sixwickets in Faysal Bank CupOne-day National CricketTournament at ShaheedMohtarma Benzair BhuttoInternational Stadium, GarhiKhuda Baksh on Thursday.

Faisal Athar smashed abrilliant 61 in 62 balls withnine boundaries and informRizwan Ahmed scored asteady 52 in 92 balls with fourboundaries to star inHyderabad’s triumph.

Rehan Riaz capturedthree and Mir Ali Talpurand Nasir Owais claimedtwo wickets apiece as bat-ting first, Karachi Dolphinswere restricted to 196 forthe loss of nine wickets in50 overs. Daniyal Ahsantop-scored with 94-ballknock of 66.—APP

A STUDY has found that people whoeat more processed meat such asham, bacon, sausages and burgers

run a greater risk of premature death anddeveloping conditions such as cancer andheart disease, the dailyGuardian reported.

The study, which in-cluded data from 448,568people in 10 Europeancountries, including theUK, found that the biggestconsumers of processedmeat were 44% more likelyto die prematurely fromany cause than those whoate little of it. High levelsof consumption increasedthe risk of death from heartdisease by 72% and can-cer by 11%.

If everyone ate no morethan 20g a day of processedmeat - about one rasher ofbacon, chipolata sausage orthin slice of ham - then 3%of all premature deathscould be avoided, according to an estimateby the authors, led by Professor SabineRohrmann from the University of Zurich.Their results are published in the journal BMCMedicine. But a small amount of red meatalso seems to benefit health, because itcontains important nutrients and minerals,they added. Risks rise in line with the levelof consumption, the researchers found.The results are in line with previous stud-ies. Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head ofscience at the World Cancer ResearchFund, said the research bore out its ownfindings in 2007 - disputed by the meat

Cancer risk higher among peoplewho eat more processed meat

industry at the time - about the healthrisks of processed meat. It has foundthat consuming bacon, ham, hot dogs,salami and some sausages heightened therisk of bowel cancer. The charity esti-

mates that 4,100 fewer Brit-ons a year would be diag-nosed with the disease if ev-eryone ate no more than 10gof processed meat a day,though advises avoiding italtogether.

Dr Carrie Ruxton, anutritionist who sits on themeat industry-funded MeatAdvisory Panel, said thestudy’s findings were notrobust enough to justifychanging public health ad-vice. The fact those whoconsumed the largestamounts of processed meatalso displayed other un-healthy habits meant it washard to confidently ascriberisk of death to meat eating

alone, she said. “The occasional bacon butty isn’t go-

ing to do you much harm. People shouldn’tavoid bacon or salami because they thinkit’s going to kill them, because it won’t. Wecan’t say that from this study. But we doknow that processed meat has a higher saltand fat content, so having bacon or salamiin moderation, and switching to lean redmeat products, is a good idea,” Ruxtonadded. Tracy Parker, a heart health dieti-tian with the British Heart Foundation, saidpeople who ate a lot of processed meatshould try to eat a more varied diet, suchas chicken, fish, beans or lentils.

KARACHI: Dr Fauzia Siddiqui and workers of Aafia Movement standing at a campoutside Karachi Press Club where a pictures exhibition was held in connection with theWomen’s Day and completion of 10 years of Dr Aafia Siddiqui in US prison.

KARACHI: Members of Sindh Assembly posing for a group photo outside the Sindh Assembly building.

KARACHI: Political analyst Aisha Siddiqq addressing the First Women LeadershipForum at a local hotel.

CM attendssoyem of

Rafiq EngineerKARACHI—Sindh ChiefMinister Syed Qaim Ali Shahon Thursday visited the resi-dence of late Sindh MinisterRafiq Engineer on the occa-sion of his soyem, here.

The Sindh CM condoledwith Atiq-ur-Rehman, brotherof Rafiq Engineer and otherrelatives of the deceased,said a statement.

Sindh Chief Minister of-fered fateha for the departedsoul of Rafiq Engineer, whodied of cardiac arrest onMarch 5 in Karachi. SpeakerSindh Assembly, NisarAhmed Khuhro, Special As-sistant to Sindh CM, RashidHussain Rabbani and Princi-pal Secretary to Sindh CM,Muhammad Siddiq Memonwere also present.—APP

Art exhibition on eve ofInternational Women’s Day

KARACHI—An art exhibitionwas organised on the eve ofInternational Women’s Dayon Thursday at the AllianceFrancaise Gallery.

The event was jointlyorganised by the New WorldConcepts and the GrandeurArt Gallery.

Adviser to the SindhChief Minister on Media,Sharmila Faruqui, performedthe inauguration.

Speaking on the occa-sion she said that Pakistaniwomen are doing wonderfulwork in every field as well asin arts.

Faruqui said that this ex-hibition on the eve of Inter-national Women’s Day is anhonour for the country. She

also underlined the need forsocial and economic empow-erment of women in the coun-try.

The innovative exhibi-tion features works ofPakistan’s senior women art-ists as well as a collection byyounger upcoming talent.

The artists include RiffatAlvi, Zahrah David, HajraMansur, Rabia Zuberi, NahidRaza, Sabiha Nasruddin,Mona Naqsh, TabindaChinoy, Sayeda Habib,Romilla Kareem, ShakiraMasood, Shammi Ahmed,Nuraya Sheikh, Sarwat Gilani,Marium Agha, ReemKhurshid, Cyra Ali, FariyaZaeem, Mzna Zbedi, RabiaDawood, Shazia Qaiser,

Marium Khan, Marvi Malikand Samind Islam.

This display on innova-tive works in diverse mediumcaptures various issues ofwomen.

The artists managed tobring different moods andsituations of women to life.

Each painting displayedcreativity and skilful execu-tion, appealing to the view-ers. The powerful and brightcolours of paintings depictthe vibrant and positivemood of artists, giving astrong message of hope.

Yasmin Hyder, CEO, NewWorld Concepts, under-scored the theme of the In-ternational Women’s Day inconnecting women and

stated that the purpose of theexhibition, all created by di-verse women, is to inspire,challenge and provokethought. Neshmia Ahmad,Curator, Granduer Art Gallery,commented that the exhibi-tion highlights and connectsthe artworks of seniorwomen and young femaleartists on InternationalWomen’s Day.

These artworks celebratethe artistic grace of womenthrough paintings andsketches.

A number of diplomatsincluding Murat M. OnartConsul General of Turkey,Christian Ramage ConsulGeneral of France as well asguests such as Arif Ali Shah

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Excise & Taxa-tion Department Karachihave raided in different partsof Karachi and recovered 77bottles of illicit liquor, 270gram charas, 60 gram heroinand arrested seven accused.According to details variousteams under Director ExciseKarachi Aamir Jamil raided inareas of Kamran Chowrangi,Old Golimar, Railway LineCantt Station, ChristanColony F.C. Area, near MuftiRasheed Mosque, IbrahimHaidri Goth Punjabi Mohalla

Liquor, charas recovered,seven accused arrested

and drug den of SaleemBaloch and recovered 77bottles of illicit liquor, 270gram charas and 60 gramheroin from the possessionof accused Shahid, RabNawaz, Babar Khan, Riaz,Muhammad Asif, AbdulWaheed, Muhammad Qamanand Saleem Baloch. Caseshave been registered againstthem and investigation is inprogress.

Further, 270 kilogramcharas, 70 bottles illicit liquorand arrested 9 accused whileimpounding two trucks invarious raids in Karachi and

Kandiaro. According to de-tails Excise DepartmentKarachi raided in differentparts of Karachi MehranTown, Jiskani Mohallah,Parsi Gate nearMehmoodabad, Crown Cin-ema Mari Pur, KBR Society,Labour Colony IbrahimHaideri, Mujahid ColonyNazimabad No.7 andChanesar Goth and recov-ered 150 kilogrram charas, 95gram heroine and 70 bottlesillicit liqour and arrested 7accused Naseer Ahmed,Muhammad Haji,Muhammad Ali, Rashid

KARACHI—Sindh ChiefMinister Syed Qaim Ali Shahon Thursday rejected thenotion that government offi-cials and police were busy ata dinner rather than tendingto victims of the twin bomb-ings in Abbas Town onMarch 3, 2013.

According to media re-ports Shah said that told theSindh Assembly on Thurs-day that the blast took placeat 7pm while SharmilaFarooqui’s event was sched-uled for 9pm.

“We reached the blastsite 40 minutes after the inci-

Abbas Town Blast

Qaim rejects notion of govtofficials busy in attending dinner

dent.” He said that he is notpleased with the SupremeCourt of Pakistan’s verdictover the Abbas Town bomb-ings. “I have full respect forall the courts. I am saddenedwith the orders of SupremeCourt which was issued with-out hearing the version ofthe Sindh govt and IGPSindh,” Shah said .

It is pertinent to mentionthat on Wednesday SupremeCourt of Pakistan in its suomoto hearing over the AbbasTown bombing held Sindhgovernment responsible forthe incident. The court also

ordered to suspend seniorofficials of the police.

He denied reports thatIGP Sindh did not visit theSunday’s blast site at AbbasTown, adding IG was therewithin 40 minutes of the inci-dent. Shah also criticized me-dia reports that all senior of-ficials of the Sindh govern-ment and the entire city’spolice were present at theengagement ceremony ofSharmeela Faroqui.

Only a special force of 200men was present at Faroqui’sengagement ceremony, hesaid adding such reports were

absolutely baseless. Shahsaid that nobody resigned af-ter 9/11 attacks in the UnitedStates where around 5,000people were killed. The minis-ter also told the assembly thatthe government is taking theincident seriously and an in-vestigation is being carriedout. Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) leader Sharmila Farooqireceived widespread publiccriticism after it was reportedthat large contingents of po-lice personnel in the city weredeployed at her engagement-related celebrations at thetime of the blast.—Online

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Karachi Metro-politan Corporation (KMC)Chief Officer (CO) Matanat AliKhan has said that Fire BrigadeDepartment after calling firetenders from different fire sta-tions of the city controlled thefire in New Sabzi Mandi.

He said this while review-ing the efforts made for fireextinguishing in New SabziMandi where he was accom-panied by Chief Fire Officer(CFO) Ehtisham Ud Din, fire

KMC CO reviews fire extinguishingwork in New Sabzi Mandi

officers from different fire sta-tions and other staff. Khansaid that more than 22 fire ten-ders and 3 water bouzeres tookpart in fire extinguishing. Thefire caught sheds of FruitMandi and Sabzi Mandi whichharmed above 500 shops how-ever no casualties took placein this incident.

On this occasion CFO in-formed that the fire got higherdue to dry weather and fastwinds which was controlledby a big operation in which alarge number of fire tenders,

water bouzers and rescue staffparticipated. Afterwards theKMC CO also visited AbbasTown and met with officers inthe relief camp and issueddirectives.He said that cleanli-ness and lifting debris workshould be carried out withdedication. He said Urban Res-cue Centre Team and heavymachinery were doing thiswork. On this occasion victimsinformed Chief Officer abouttheir problems on which hedirected to resolve them imme-diately.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—All Pakistan Mus-lim League (APML) Central In-formation Secretary AasiaIshaq has said that the APMLwould contest the coming gen-eral elections only for the sakeof the country and not for ful-filling the lust of attainingpower for personal interests.

APML to contest elections forsaving country: Aasia Ishaq

The rivals that had alwaysbeen frightened of the legacyof the former President PervezMusharraf wanted to intimidatehim for his arrest on his returnto the country but the frustratedrivals would see their desirescollapsed head down becausethe President was afraid ofnone.

However, he always paid

respect to the Judiciary and hadhoped that the free Judiciarywould do the justice. She wastalking to a delegation of office-bearers and workers of theAPML from Baldia Town thatincluded APML Central leaderMuslim Bhutto, Malik AyazGabol and APML ProvincialDeputy Information secretaryMuhammad Ali Sherwani.

Transfers andpostings of

judgesSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Government ofSindh with the approval ofSindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah had appointedDistrict and Sessions Judgesof Grade-21 as Special JudgeAnti- Corruption (Provin-cial).

According to the notifi-cation issued by Governmentof Sindh Law Department,Irshad Ali Shah, District &Sessions Judge (BPS-21),Ghotki has appointed as Spe-cial Judge, Anti-Corruption(Provincial) Larkana andGulshan Ara Chandio, Dis-trict & Sessions JudgeMirpurkhas appointed asSpecial Judge Anti-Corrup-tion (Provincial) Karachiagainst the post lying va-cant. Abrar Hussain F.Memon on his promotion asDistrict & Session Judge(BPS-21) as appointed as Pre-siding Officer Labour CourtNo. VIII, Larkana against thepost lying vacant.

DUHS to offerdiploma

programme inaviation medicine

KARACHI—Dow Universityof Health Sciences hasfinalised all arrangements tostart with first ever aviationmedicine course being offeredin private sector of the coun-try. Course Coordinator, Dr.Nayyar Naqvi, sharing detailsof the programme here at theday-one ceremony of Schoolof Public Health, DUHSThursday said professionalswith MBBS degree and oneyear house job are eligible toapply for the course.

“This is a full time sixmonth diploma course and isdesigned for doctors/medicalpractitioners wishing to prac-tice as Aviation MedicineSpecialists, who are com-monly known as Flight Sur-geons,” said the senior spe-cialist is aviation medicine.

Dr. Naqvi mentioned thatAviation Medicine is abranch of OccupationalMedicine that deals with thehealth and well being of per-sonnel associated with avia-tion industry and passengerstravelling by air.

“They deal with humanfactors related to aviation in-cluding selection, airlinemedical examination, preven-tive and curative treatment,air and ground safety and air-craft accident investigation,”he said.—APP

THE brains of children from low-income families process informationdifferently to those of their wealthier

counterparts, US research suggests.Normal nine and 10-year-olds from rich

and poor backgrounds haddiffering electrical activityin a part of the brain linkedto problem solving.

The Journal of Cogni-tive Neuroscience studywas described as a “wake-up call” about the impactof deprivation.

A UK researcher said itcould shed light on earlybrain development.

The 26 children in thestudy, conducted at theUniversity of California,Berkeley, were measuredusing an electroencepha-lograph (EEG), which mea-sured activity in the “pre-frontal cortex” of the brain.

Half were from low in-come homes, and half from high incomefamilies.

During the test, an image the childrenhad not been briefed to expect was flashedonto a screen, and their brain responseswere measured.

Those from lower income familiesshowed a lower prefrontal cortex re-sponse to it than those from wealthierhouseholds. Dr Mark Kishiyama, one ofthe researchers, said: “The low socio-economic kids were not detecting or pro-cessing the visual stimuli as well - theywere not getting that extra boost fromthe prefrontal cortex.”

Brain tests show childwealth gap

Since the children were, in healthterms, normal in every way, the research-ers suspected that “stressful environ-ments” created by low socioeconomicstatus might be to blame.

Previous studies havesuggested that children inlow-income families are spo-ken to far less - on averagehearing 30 million fewerwords by the age of four.

Professor ThomasBoyce, another of the re-searchers, said that talkingmore to children couldboost prefrontal cortex de-velopment.

“We are certainly notblaming lower socioeco-nomic families for not talk-ing to their kids - there areprobably a zillion reasonswhy that happens.”

His colleague, Profes-sor Robert Knight, added:“This is a wake-up call - it’s

not just that these kids are poor andmore likely to have health problems, butthey might actually not be getting fullbrain development from the stressfuland relatively impoverished environ-ment associated with low socioeco-nomic status.”

He said that with “proper interven-tion and training”, improvements couldbe made, even in older children.DrEmese Nagy, from the University ofDundee, said that it was a “pioneering”study which could aid understanding ofhow environment could affect brain de-velopment.

LAHORE: Affectees of Lahore Press Club Housing Scheme F Block on hunger strikein favour of their demands.

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif submitting his application for party ticket for NA PA seats at PML-N Secretariat.

LAHORE: A woman dragging a push cart on Wahdat Road to earn livelihood for herfamily on the eve of International Women’s Day.

LAHORE—Approximately 12million people in Pakistan aresuffering from hypertension,while women around 50 yearsof age are more prone to thisailment. National Health Sur-vey conducted by PakistanMedical Research Council en-dorsed that hypertension isnumber one health problem ofPakistan. According to an esti-mate about 65 percent womenin Pakistan, meaning their 50s,who are over-weight, are likelyto develop high blood pressure.

An estimated incidence inchildren and in adolescents,it ranges between 2 percentto 8 per cent,” said Dr ZunairaSheikh, working in differentlocalities voluntarily for thepeople. She said that 50

Crackdownagainst beggars

launchedLAHORE—Capital City Po-lice Officer Amjad JavedSaleemi on Thursday orderedofficers to launch crackdownagainst beggars.

On continuous complaintsby citizens, the CCPO issuedorders to all divisional SPs tolaunch campaign against beg-gars at important roads andregistered cases against themunder anti beggary act.—APP

Crafts expositionto mark Int’l

Women’s DayLAHORE—A three-day provin-cial arts and craft exhibition wasinaugurated here at QasreBahbood complex in connec-tion with the InternationalWomen’s Day globally cel-ebrated on March 8.

The event has been ar-ranged by Social welfare de-partment Punjab in collabora-tion with seven studentorganisations, NGOs,Sanatzars—skill developmentcentres in 34 districts of theprovince and local craftswomen.

Secretary social welfareand Baitul mal Punjab, MalikTahir Sarfaraz inaugurated theevent that has drawn the pres-ence of a large number ofwomen who are displaying theirfine needle work and skills forvarious itemes suchensemblement, accessories,household use and decorationitem etc, said social welfaresources —APP

Fashion showLAHORE—The LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI)’s StandingCommittee on Women Entre-preneurs Development &Resource Centre is holding aFashion Show and a three-day exhibition here on Fri-day.

The events have beenorganized to mark the Inter-national Women’s Day.These events have been ar-ranged with an objective topromote women entrepre-neurship and for the aware-ness of women empowermentin the country.

The Fashion Show with atheme of Spring-Summer Col-lection is being participatedby the top names of the fash-ion industry while a largenumber of leading brands areshowing up.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has resolvedto ensure the protection ofall rights of women and elimi-nate every kind of violenceagainst them.

JI demanded of the gov-ernment to provide health,education, employment op-portunities and social justiceto the women as prescribedby Islam and the constitu-tion.

JI Secretary GeneralLiaqat Baloch, JI Womenwing Secretary GeneralRukhsana Jabeen, seniorleader Aafia Serwar andformer MNA SameehaRaheel Qazi said this whileannouncing its electionmanifesto during a pressconference here at theLahore Press Club in con-

JI announces electionmanifesto on women rights

nection with the worldWomen’s Day on Thursday.

Liaqat Baloch said thatthe JI would introduce legis-lation on every issue relatedto the women rights accord-ing to the Islamic system sothat they could live their livesin a better way.

He said that JI after com-ing into power, would im-prove the living standard ofthe women in rural and urbanareas through provision of allbasic necessities and equalchances of development.

He said that Pakistaniwomen had very low oppor-tunity of getting educationdue to which they were be-ing exploited and JI wouldprovide this basic facility toevery woman to make them auseful citizen.

Baloch said that health isanother major problem faced

by the women and JI wouldensure free health care re-garding maternity care andmothers health to promotehealthy family system.

JI would eliminate eviltrend of dowry besides allsuch traditions which areagainst Islam and severe vio-lation of the women rightsincluding honour killing,right of inheritance property,marriage with Quran, acidthrowing, Vani, Sawara, ovenburn etc.

Baloch said that specialage relaxation for jobs towomen and a safe environ-ment at work place would beprovided.

He added that JI wouldset up medical colleges anduniversities for women be-sides promoting cottage in-dustry to empower thewomen.

PTI’s intra-party election

postponedLAHORE—The intra-partyelection of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) for44 seats of the provincialcapital was to be held atAiwan-e-Iqbal here onThursday has been post-poned .

The election was post-poned due to certain mis-takes by the election com-mission of the party. PTICity president and generalsecretary have alreadybeen elected on Feb 26 last.

Farooq Amjad Mir andhis supporters demandedthe party chairman ImranKhan for setting up a newelection commission.

Talking to APP, PTIleader Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed said that electioncommission could not ful-fil its important responsibil-ity.

He said that there wereso many mistakes and ir-regularities in the electionof president and generalsecretary of the party dueto which party workers andleaders were suffering.

A spokesman of PTIsaid that new date for theelection of 44 seats wouldsoon be announced.—APP

WASA, PHA staffcontinues protestfor regularization

LAHORE—The contractualand work charge staff ofWater and SanitationAgency (WASA) and Parksand Horticulture Authority(PHA) continued their pro-test on Thursday and stagedsit in at the WASA Head-quarters in Gulberg for theregularization of service.

A large number of employ-ees led by the CBA union rep-resentatives attended the sitin to press for their demands.The participants were chant-ing slogans in favour of theemployments and their rights.

Special Advisor to theChief Minister attended thedemonstration and assuredthe staffers of his full sup-port. WASA CBA unionspresident Dr Moeen, GeneralSecretary Ch Shahid, PHAunion president AnwarSohna and Hafiz Ibrar ad-dressing the gathering de-manded the Punjab CM toimplement his announce-ment regarding regularizationof 10,0000 employees andgive job protection to thecontractual staff.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Women should beprovided conducive environ-ment in playing their impor-tant role for establishingpeace in the country.

Zohra Yusuf, ChairpersonHuman Rights Commission ofPakistan (HRCP) said in astatement on the eve of Inter-national Women’s Day.

The HRCP also expresssolidarity with the womenwho are suffering due to grow-

Women’s role vitalfor peace progress

ing violence and variousforms of discrimination, shesaid.

The chairperson said thatthe rise in ghastly incidents,such as sectarian violencewitnessed in the form of cow-ardly bomb blasts has put thewomen in greater jeopardy.

The women affected bysuch atrocities need assis-tance in various aspects oftheir life in order to fully re-cover from the horrors causedby such brutal incidents.

“Not only do the womenrequire financial compensa-tion to run their households,especially if the traditionalmale figure head has passedaway due to the incident, theyalso require psychological re-habilitation and care in insti-tutions specializing in the careof women traumatized in suchviolent acts”, she viewed.

The HRCP urged the gov-ernment to take concrete stepsto address the issues of womenviolence in the country.

per cent deaths between theage of 35 to 61 year in indus-trial world while in Pakistanthese figures are as high as12 percent meaning some10,000 deaths per hour. Sherecommended that peopleabove the age of 40 yearsshould have their blood pres-sure checked once a year orat least once after every twoyears because if it go unde-tected for some time, therechances of it affect other bodyorgans becomes more acutefor example it may cause heartfailure, heart attacks, heart en-largement, even renal failurebesides high blood pressureis one of major cause ofhaemorrhage leading to pa-ralysis.—APP

Para-medicalstaff continue

protestLAHORE—Para-medical staffAssociation on Thursday con-tinued their protest to press thegovernment for their demand.

Para-medical staff of allpublic sector hospitals ofLahore staged a protest dem-onstration at Punjab InstituteofCardiology and demanded theimplementation of the notifica-tion issued by the Punjab gov-ernment one year ago abouttheir service structure.

Association’s president,Muneer Malik told APP thatthey were in contact withKhawaja Sulman Rafiq, SpecialAssistant to Chief Minister onHealth and Secretary HealthPunjab to resolve their prob-lems.—APP

12 mln people sufferinghypertension

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Complainants fromHaveli Lakha, Okara and Sialkotmet Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif atModel Town, here Thursday.

The Chief Minister gavecheques for Rs.5 lakh to thefamily of girl of Haveli LakhaOkara who was raped and acheque for Rs.3 lakh to the chil-dren of a person of Sialkot whowas murdered. He also assuredthe affected families that no ef-fort would be spared to providejustice to them and ensuringdue punishment to the culprits.

He directed DPO Okara totake immediate steps for ensur-ing punishment under the lawto the criminals. He said thatthe elements which molestwomen and girls are a blotchon the society and deservemaximum punishment. He saidthat Punjab government hasprovided all out resources tothe police for the eradication ofcrime.

He said that elements in-

Shahbaz redressespublic complaints

volved in heinous crimes de-serve no leniency and wouldbe awarded deterrent punish-ment. He said that no societybased on cruelty and injusticecan survive or prosper. Talkingto the family of the victim whowas killed in Sialkot he said thatimmediate justice will be pro-vided to the affectees. Thecomplainants thanked the ChiefMinister for taking immediatesteps for redressing their griev-ances and prayed for his longlife. Meanwhile, Chief MinisterPunjab Muhammad ShahbazSharif will visit Faisalabad onSaturday.

According to a spokesmanof the city district government,the CM Punjab was scheduledto visit Faisalabad on March 2,but due to certain reasons thevisit was postponed.

The Chief Minister Punjabwill inaugurate Medical Collegeat Susan Road adjacent to So-cial Security Hospital.

The Chief Minister will alsovisit the under constructionsite of Abdullahpur Underpass

where he would be briefedabout the pace of developmentproject.

Later, the CM will also ad-dress a meeting at Ustad NusratFateh Ali Khan Auditorium ofFaisalabad Arts Council wherePML-N leaders and area no-tables will participate.

The spokesman furthertold that the CM would alsovisit the new campus of Gov-ernment College UniversityFaisalabad (GCUF) and layfoundation stone for its con-struction besides distributinglaptops and solar lamps amongthe students and proprietaryletters among the residents ofKatchi Abadies.

The Chief Minister Punjabis also expected to make an-nouncement for the establish-ment of Lahore High Court(LHC) bench at Faisalabad, thespokesman said and added thata rousing reception would beaccorded to the CM on his ar-rival at Faisalabad and for thispurpose all arrangements havebeen finalized.