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Parliament being givenits due role................................................Rising FE reserves,a positive signal................................................Civil servants needto be inspired

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Chairman Arab National Construction (ANC) HoldingLLC Dubai Faris Tayeb Abdul Rahim Ahmed Al-Baker witnessing an MoU signing ceremony between Private Powerand Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Ministry of Water & Power & Arab National Construction for construction of 2coal based power generation plants in Gadani.—APP

LIAQAT TOOR/TARIQ SAEED

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR—Peace talks withTaliban have entered a decisive modenow to move forward to the second phasewhere the talks will be restructured to in-clude civil and military representatives tomake decisions to bring permanent peaceto the troubled FATA and the country.

Both government and Taliban commit-tees have their almost final session inAkora Khattak on Wednesday whereoverall satisfaction was expressed overthe initial success of announcement ofunconditional ceasefire by TTP and halt-ing of surgical strikes, though splintergroups in the country are still indulgedin terror acts.

Both the committees will have break-fast meeting with Prime Minister NawazSharif today.

According to members of governmentcommittees, the committees have donetheir initial job to act as coordinators andnow real stakeholders should come for-ward to take critical decisions. For thispurpose many options are available in-cluding restructuring and expanding ofpresent committees or constitution of newcommittees.

There is need to have direct contact

Peace talks enterdecisive modeTalks to be restructured to include decision

makers Both committees to meet PM today atbreakfast Nawaz determined to push forward talks

ISLAMABAD—A MoU was signed betweenPrivate Power and Infrastructure Board(PPIB), Ministry of Water & Power & ArabNational Construction (ANC) Holding LLCDubai for construction of two 660 mega-watt (1320 MW) coal based power genera-tion plants at Pakistan Power Park inGaddani. The company will also constructa jetty along with the construction of thepower projects. The project would bring inapprox. US $ 2.5 billion dollars investmentin Pakistan and will be completed in threeyears. The MOU was signed by Mr F a r i sTayeb Abdul Rahim Al-Baker Vice Chair-man and CEO of ANC and Mr. N. A. ZuberiMD PPIB.

Prime Minister Muhammad NawazSharif and Chairman ANC Mr. Tayeb AbdulRahim Ahmed Al-Baker witnessed the sign-ing ceremony. Khawja Muhammad Asif,Minister for Water and Power, Mr Abid SherAli, MOS for Water and Power, Mr.Saifuallah Chatta, Secretary Water andPower and other officials were also present.

Earlier the delegation of the Arab Na-tional Construction Group, headed by itsChairman Mr. Tayeb Abdul Rahim AhmedAl-Baker called on the Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif at PM House.Prime Minister appreciated the power sec-tor investment by the Company in Pakistan

Dubai Co to set up 1320 MWcoal power plants at GaddaniPM appreciates investment in power sector

and added that it would help Pakistan over-come the energy shortages.

Prime Minister said today we haveachieved another milestone in our urge to-wards energy self-reliance. The PM told thatwe have prioritized energy sector as a pri-ority sector and have planned severalprojects in this regard. He told that 10x660MW coal based power plants at PakistanPower Park will be constructed in Gadani,where Chinese have agreed to invest in 6projects, two projects will be constructedby ANC Dubai and one project has beeninitiated by Government of Pakistan.

He told that 2x660 MW coal basedpower plants at Port Qasim, 12x660MW coalbased power plants at Sahiwal and fiveother locations in Punjab Province, Coalmining at Thar coal fields and mine-mouthpower plants in Sindh Province, 1000 MWSolar Power Park in Punjab, 1420 MW HydelPower House at Tunnel 4 Tarbela Dam and1310 MW Hydel Power House at Tunnel 5Tarbela Dam have been planned. Prime Min-ister stated that the Government of Paki-stan has taken these bold initiatives to ad-dress the energy shortfall and bring pros-perity to the economy and people throughestablishing several short and long termprojects.

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—Mystery behind May 12 carnage,a day when more than 50 people were killed anddozens others were injured in incidents ofbloodshed and arson on arrival of former ChiefJustice (CJ) in Karachi, would be resolvedshortly as the law enforcers have arrested akey man who was involved in killings and ar-son on Sharae Faisal on May 12 during ongo-ing targeted operation in Karachi.

The Pakistan Rangers has picked-up a mannamely Muhammad Javed alias Javed Mohajirson of Muhammad Shariff, who is said to be aworker of a political party, from houses nearJinnah International Airport (JIA) Karachi some

Targeted operation in Karachi

Law enforcers arrest key man in May 12 carnagesix months back. He was serving as a securityguard in University of Karachi (KU) since 2006.Arrest of a university guard in cases of targetkillings has rung alarm of danger in KU.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was formedto interrogate Javed Mohajir who is also nomi-nated in cases of target killings in different ar-eas of the city besides May 12 cases.

Investigation in case of Javed Mohajir hasdisclosed that he was nominated in four out oftotal five cases of arson and killings on SharaeFaisal on May 12. A cameraman of a private TVchannel also filmed him when he was firing oncrowd at Sharae Faisal.

He was nominated in FIR no. 64/2007, 65/2007, 66/2007 and 68/2007 under section 302/34

and section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) atAirport police station for incidents of arson andkillings of number of people at Sharae Faisal.He was also wanted to police in FIR no. 181/2009 under section 302/34 in Shah Faisal Colonypolice station and FIR no. 237/10 under section302, 436, 147, 148 and 139 in Model Colony po-lice station.

“He was handed over to us for investiga-tion of May 12 cases,” an investigation officerat Airport police station, who wished not to benamed, told Pakistan Observer. “He was nomi-nated in four out of five cases which were reg-istered on account of May 12 carnage at Air-

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ISLAMABAD—Investigativeagencies released onWednesday sketches of thetwo armed men who had at-tacked the district courts inIslamabad’s sector F-8 kill-ing 11 people and injuringdozens onMarch 3.

The at-t a c k e r s ,who werebetween 18and 22years ofage, wereslightly un-shaven. One wore a capwhile the other had curlyhair, according to thesketches made on eyewit-ness accounts and the de-scriptions provided by thosewho were injured in the sui-cide and gun attack.

The police have ap-pealed to the public to pro-vide details about the at-tackers on 03005000577 and0519261510. They havesaid that the informants’names and other details

will remainc o n f i d e n -tial. Policebelieve thatfour attack-ers enteredthe districtcourts onMarch 3and started

firing after two suicide at-tacks.

Two of the suspects hadfled from the scene after theincident. A little-known mili-tant group called AhrarulHind had claimed responsi-bility for the attack.—INP

Sketches of Islamabadcourt attackers released

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—Adding to themistrust of Khakis the yetanother deadly explosionthis time in Hangu left atleast six men in uniformmartyred and eight othersseriously wounded onWednesday morning.

The government andthe Taliban negotiators heldtheir second phase of par-leys in Akora KhattakWednesday to make the dia-logue process meaningfuland decisive. They alsowarned against forces bentsabotaging the process, as

activities of the militantshave been going side byside.

Meanwhile, a convoy ofthe FC men heading fromHangu to Manatoo areawas targeted with the helpof Improvised explosive de-vice in in Wermagai area atthe converge of Hangu dis-trict and Kurram andAurakzai agencies, that ledto the Shahadat of threeJawaans of the FrontierCorps and injuries of 11 oth-ers.

The IED, as the militarysources said, was plantedby the unknown terrorists atthe rout of the FC convoyat Wermagai area some 20kilometers from Sadda theheadquarters of Kurramagency. The victims wererushed to the Tall hospitalwhere the doctors pro-nounced thee soldiers deadwhile 11 others were admit-ted for treatment who werelater shifted to CMHPeshawar with the help ofhelicopters. However, threemore victims succumbed totheir injuries in the hospitalraising the death toll to six.

The military sources la-mented that despite thepeace talks and announce-ment of ceasefire both fromthe government and theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,there was no letup in the

FC convoy attacked inHangu amid peace talks

Six soldiers martyred, 8 hurt

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Saudi Arabia,UAE, Bahrainwithdraw envoysfrom QatarRIYADH—Saudi Arabia,the United Arab Emiratesand Bahrain have saidthey are withdrawing theirambassadors to Qatarbecause Doha had notimplemented an agreementamong Gulf Arab countriesnot to interfere in eachothers’ internal affairs.

The three countriessaid the move wasnecessary “to protect theirsecurity and stability”.According to a reportpublished by Saudi statemedia on Wednesday, thedecision to withdrawdiplomatic envoys wasmade because Qatar didnot implement a securitypact about non-interfer-ence in the internal affairsof the other states thatmake up the Gulf Coopera-tion Council [GCC].

Poverty-stricken mother

strangulatesher two kids

LAHORE—In heart-breaking incident, amother strangulated hertwo minor children onWednesday after gettingfrustrated due to poverty.

According to details,the gory incident tookplace in Johar Town.Bisma, the culprit, has ad-mitted to the killing of hertwo children - 2-year oldManahil and 8-month-oldbaby boy Yousuf.

Confessing to thecrime she said she killedher kids out of sheer frus-tration because of pov-erty as her husband wasjobless and they used tohave domestic quarrelsnearly every day. Policehave taken the mother intocustody.—Online

Judge RafaqatAwan, others

were fired fromclose rangeZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—The postmor-tem report of the eleven as-sassinated persons inMonday’s gun and bombattack at the F-8 DistrictCourts has been issued.According to the 11-pagereport, the assailants firedfrom 8 to 10 feet. All the deadin the F-8 Katchery incidentwere fired from close range.Pakistan Institute of Medi-cal Sciences (PIMS) hassent the report to theIslamabad District Adminis-tration, Interior Secretaryand IG Police.

According to the post-mortem report, AdditionalSessions Judge (ASJ) MalikRafaqat Awan was firedfrom a distance of 1.5 feet.There are 11 bullet marks onhis body. He received threebullet shots in the upper partof his body and they causedhis death on the spot. Se-nior lawyer Rao Rasheedalso died due to chest inju-ries. Barrister Fizza TariqMalik received two bulletshots, one in the neck, theother in the chest. Her deathoccurred due to lung punc-

Dar dispelsAfghan worries

over Dasuhydel project

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Finance Min-ister Ishaq Dar on Wednes-day dispelled Afghan ap-prehensions over the Dasuhydel power project, assur-ing that the hydro projectwas not being built on theKabul River.

In a telephonic conver-sation with the finance min-ister, Dar’s Afghan counter-part Dr Omar Zakhilwalraised concerns expressedby the Afghan National Se-curity Council.

Dr Zakhilwal said that hewill look into the issue andif Afghanistan is not an up-per or lower riparian coun-try on the river on whichDasu Project will be con-structed then Afghanistanwill have no concern.

Dar assured him that theproject was being built onthe Indus and hence Af-ghanistan should have noobjection to the projectCASA-1000 project Afghanfinance minister also dis-cussed progress on CASA-1000 power project with Dar.

Musharraf’s trail

Defencelawyers faceTaliban threat

ISLAMABAD—Former presi-dent Pervez Musharraf ’slawyers on Wednesday pre-sented a threatening letterclaimed to be from theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) in the special courtthreatening themto dissoci-ate themselves from thetrial. During the hearingMusharraf ’s lawyers ex-pressed security concernsand said they could notcontinue with the court pro-ceedings under the prevail-ing security situation.

Counsel for the formerpresident, Ahmed RazaKasuri, read the letter in thecourt which said that if law-yers Hafeez Pirzada, AnwarMansoor and Kasuri did notdissociate themselves fromMusharraf’s trial, the threewould face dire conse-quences.

Kasuri added that theattack in a court in

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Indian electionfrom April 7

NEW DELHI—India’s mam-moth parliamentary electionwill start on April 7, the Elec-tion Commission an-nounced on Wednesday,kicking off a race that willpit BJP leader NarendraModi against the unpopu-lar Nehru-Gandhi family’sruling Congress party.

Chief Election Commis-sioner V.S. Sampath said 814million people will be eligibleto vote, a number larger thanthe population of Europe,making this the biggest elec-tion the world has ever seen.Results are due to be an-nounced on May 16.

Voting will be held in ninestages, staggered until May12 to allow security forces tofocus their strength duringan exercise that, for decadesafter independence from Brit-

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Drone strikekills four AlQaeda suspectsSANAA—A US dronestrike in northern Yemenon Wednesday killed foursuspected Al Qaedamembers, including anIraq veteran, a militaryofficial said.

The unmanned aircraftfired two rockets at a vehiclein the Khalka area of Jawfprovince, the official said,adding that among thosekilled was Ali Juraym, a localmilitant chief who hadfought in Iraq.

The American military

between TTP Shura and Government rep-resentatives. New restructured talks willbe in place in next two to three day, mem-bers added.

Earlier, the government and the Talibannegotiators held a second phase of parleyswith developing consensus that they needto adopt a comprehensive strategy to ad-vance the dialogue process for meaningfulresolution of the issue saying they havemoved to new phase.

“We have entered a new phase of thedialogue wherein we discussed to make thenegotiation process effective and result ori-ented”. The head of the government nego-tiation team Irfan Siddiqui flanked byTaliban committee chief coordinatorMaulana Sami ul Haq told media after themeeting in Akora Khattak Noshehra add-ing “in this phase, we have to take impor-tant decisions” Maulana Sami ul Haq, how-ever, waned of about the forces opposedto the peace and dialogue process sayingthe “enemies of peace will continue at-tempting to sabotage the process”.

Government and Taliban negotiatingteams as matter of fact held their meetingafter the announcement of ceasefire fromthe both sides last week. The governmentteam was headed by the Chief negotiator

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India beatAfghanistan byeight wicketsDHAKA—India easilydefeated Afghanistan byeight wickets in their last

match in the AsiaCup 2014 here at theShere BanglaNational Stadium onWednesday.

Chasing 160, theycompleted the victory,

losing only two wickets, injust 32.2 overs. This wasonly the second win in theirfour matches in thetournament after defeatingBangladesh and losingother two matches to Sri

Lanka and Pakistan, whohave already qualified forthe final to be played onSaturday.—AP

See also Sports Page

WA S H I N G T O N—Arguingthat Pakistan will remain akey player in counter terror-ism post-2014, the US hasproposed USD 280 million inmilitary assistance to thecountry, although it wantsto cut civilian aid in an ef-fort to acknowledge India’sconcerns about misuse ofthe funds.

Marred by financialconstraints, the Obama ad-ministration has proposedto substantially cut civilianaid to Pakistan to USD 446million for the next fiscalyear as against USD 703 mil-lion in 2013, which amongother things the State De-partment argued is aimed atimproving ties with India.

“The OCO (OverseasContingency Operations)resources will support criti-cal US activities such assustaining close coopera-tion with Pakistan, ensuring

US plans $280m mily aidto Pak, cuts civilian aid

the safety of Pakistaninuclear installations, work-ing with Pakistan to facili-tate the peace process inAfghanistan, and promot-ing improved relations withIndia,” the State Departmentsaid as it proposed USD 446million in civilian aid to Pa-kistan.

“FY 2015 funding forPakistan is crucial to meet-ing key US strategic priori-ties of combating terrorism,strengthening security inboth Pakistan and the re-gion, and maintaining sta-bility in Afghanistan post-transition,”the Departmentsaid.

“Pakistan will remain akey player in US counter ter-rorism and nuclear non-pro-liferation efforts in FY 2015,as well as in our long-termobjectives of economic de-velopment and stability in

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ISLAMABAD—Former federal ministerand ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour onWednesday said militants had defamedIslam and exploited it to justify their policyof violence.“Islam is a religion of peaceand brotherhood. It rejects violence andbloodshed. It is a religion of love and af-fection,” he said in his speech on NationalSecurity Policy in the National Assembly.

“Militants have exploited our sacredreligion to promote their philosophy ofviolence in the name of Jihad and Islam,”he added.

He condemned terrorism and said themenace had not only maligned the religionand nation but also inflicted unforgettablepain and anguish upon the people. “Wehave lost our forces. We have lost our rela-tives and above all poor innocent people.”

Bilour said despite all allegationsagainst the Awami National Party (ANP),they were patriotic Pakistanis and re-spected the Constitution and the law ofland. “Nobody should think himself morepatriotic and more Islamic than us. We aretrue Muslims and believe in the teachingsof Islam.” He appreciated the statementof Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar AliKhan that violence would be given a tell-ing response. “It is for the first time thatsuch a message has been sent. At least hehas categorically told militants of a strongresponse that even could not be sent pre-viously.”

Militants defame Islam: BilourAppreciates govt’s efforts for dialogue with Taliban

He said Constitution was a sacreddocument and anybody willing for dia-logue under its purview, should be listened.“We should talk to those desiring to talkunder the purview of Constitution, and notrecognize anybody, who does not recog-nize it.”

He urged all political parties to seri-ously gauge the prevailing situation andjoin hands to steer the country out of cri-sis. “We and our country cannot survivewithout democracy. We shall have to col-lectively address our problems.” Centralleader Awami National Party (ANP) HajiGhulam Ahmed Bilour on Wednesday ap-preciated the government for holding dia-logue with Taliban.

Talking to media men outside the Par-liament House, Bilour said that it wasgovernment’s right decision to hold dia-logue with “good” Taliban and operationagainst “bad” Taliban.

ANP leader said that during the era ofprevious government the erstwhile rulersonly condemn the terror incident but thecurrent government reacted sternly andlaunches operation against the culprits.

He said that dialogue with Taliban wasright of the government and political fig-ures. Taking part in the discussion, formerminister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour op-posed military operation in SouthWaziristan Agency. Democracy must flour-ish in the country, he added.

Bilour, who is a senior leader ofAwami National Party (ANP), said theTehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had givena bad name to Islam, which was a religionof peace and there was no place for terrorin its teachings.

Abdul Sattar Bachani of PakistanPeoples Party (PPP) urged the governmentto take effective steps for achieving peacein the country.

He criticised former dictators GenZia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf for dam-aging the national institutions.

Chaudhry Khadim Hussain Wattoo ofPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz laudedthe National Internal Security Policy. Heappreciated opposition’s positivebehaviour for achieving lasting peace inthe country.

Aiyasha Syed also hailed the draftNational Internal Security Policy and urgedthe government to incorporate Islamicprincipals and laws into the policy. Themenace of terrorism surfaced in 2002. Thestudents of seminaries were not terrorists,she added. She said the issue of sectari-anism should also be resolved once for all.

She said foreign policy should also belinked with the internal security policy.

She urged training of police force anddevising a merit-based appointment sys-tem for them. Merit should be ensured andcorruption be eliminated from all institu-tions, she added.—APP

ABBOTTABAD: Assistant Commissioner Osama Warich monitoring demolishing process anti-encroachment driveon KKH.

MANSEHRA: Muhammad Naseem Khan, vice Principal of USAID built school receivingUSAID sponsored food packs for school kids during ceremony.

Islam giveshonour towomen

BASHIR AHMAD

RAHMANI

H A F I Z A B A D — D C OHafizabad Mansoor Qadir hasdeclared that Islam providedhonourable status to mothers,daughters, sisters and wiveswhich is a unique institutionand stressed the need for cre-ating awareness among thewomenfolk to get their rightsguaranteed in the constitution.

Addressing a seminar toobserve International WomenDay in the Jinnah Hall, he par-ticularly referred to the rightof inheritance to the womenprovided in Islam. He alsosaid that the present govern-ment was also striving to em-power women by [‘by provid-ing equal opportunities, pro-moting female education,fixation of quota for womenin services and establishmentof Sanatzar, Dar-ul-Aman,Shelter Home and other socialwelfare institutions to miti-gate the social problems of thewomen and to enable them toget economic emancipation.

Provincial ParliamentarySecretary Ch. Asad UllahArain has said that the uniquelegislation have been made atprovincial and national levelfor empowerment of womenwhich, he said, would go along way in the social andeconomic progress of thewomen in the country.

He particularly referred toWomen Empowerment Pack-age 2012.

He also told the gatheringthat Khadim-e-Aala PunjabShahbaz Sharif has ordered tostrictly implement right of in-heritance to the women andenacted rules for providingstern action and rigorous im-prisonment for acid throwingincidents and harassment ofwomen.

He said that no other so-ciety or religion has providedequality to women as Islamand called upon them to incul-cate courage among thewomen to get their due rights.He called upon the women toplay their pivotal role to makethe society strong morally andeconomically adding that nosociety can survive withoutthe active participation ofwomen.

Female students, teachersand members of NGOs alsoaddressed the seminar and ap-preciated the steps being takenby the present government forthe empowerment of women.Prominent among those whoattended the seminar includ-ing ADC/ Administrator TMASafeena Siddique, PrincipalGovernment College forWomen Zahida Nasreen,TMO Ghulam Rasul, AC(UT) Naeem Afzal and largenumber of students, teachers,social workers and nursingstudents.

Later, a Walk wasorganised to create awarenessamong the women for theiremancipation.

ISLAMABAD—The United States Agency for In-ternational Development (USAID) deliveredfood packs to students of Mansehra Higher Sec-ondary School.

The school was reconstructed by USAID aspart of its Pakistan Reconstruction Program(PRP) under which 77 health and educationbuildings were rebuilt after the devastating 2005earthquake in Bagh district of Azad Jammu andKashmir (AJK) and Mansehra district ofKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Vice-Principal of theschool, Muhammad Naseem Khan, thankedUSAID for constructing an earthquake-resistantand spacious school.

“It is because of this remarkable and spa-cious building that enrollment has jumped from450 students to more than 1000 students and ourschool still has a capacity to accommodate 400more,” said Naseem. General Secretary of theschool’s parent-teachers council, Javaid Kabeerpraised USAID for the speedy reconstruction ofthe building. “We were pleasantly surprisedwhen this multi-story school building spanningover 84,000 square feet was completed in just

USAID distributes foodpacks to school children

18 months.” Javaid said.The 61 schools built under the USAID Pro-

gram serve 18,000 students from 556 villages.The schools have a total of 658 classrooms, 121laboratories and a library in every school.

All the schools were fully furnished withfunds provided by USAID. USAID started itspost-earthquake reconstruction program in Pa-kistan in 2006 after identification by EarthquakeReconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority(ERRA) of the buildings which were mostneeded.

‘This included 34 schools in Mansehra, 27schools, 15 health units and a 50-bed hospital inBagh district of AJK. All of these facilities werecompleted last year and are now serving theircommunities.

USAID is also constructing 7 faculties ofeducation buildings in different provinces, a 133-bed hospital in Sindh, a state-of-the-art gyne-cology ward at Karachi’s Jinnah PostgraduateMedical Centre (JPMC) and rehabilitating sev-eral flood-affected schools in Sindh andBalochistan.—INP

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The dreams of295 young people of Pakistanhave become in reality in VillaClara with the first graduationof Pakistani doctors in Cuba.

The University of Medicine“Dr. Serafín Ruiz de Zárate Ruizassumed the challenge of train-ing students of medical sciencesfrom Pakistan with high qualify.The project was initiated sevenyears ago when the first grouparrived to Cuba in response tothe gesture of the historicalleader of the Cuban Revolution,Fidel Castro, to offer one thou-sand scholarships, preferably forthe residents in the earth quakeaffected zones of Pakistan hit inOctober of 2005.

The most outstanding stu-dent Muhammad Shafgat, re-ceived gold medal from the Di-rector of Public Health in VillaClara, Dr. Raphael Ibanez Azan.

Six days after the cata-strophic earthquake event, thefirst group of the Cuban Medi-cal Brigade Henry Revee ar-rived in Pakistan to help a coun-try devastated by the phenom-

enon. Around 2600 Cubansdoctors and paramedics arrivedthat time. They were the last toleave Pakistan. During that time32 field hospitals were set upand were attended by more thanone million 700 thousand pa-tients in the spirit of a profes-sion that erases barriers of bor-ders or other divides.

Government and people ofPakistan have been greatly ap-preciative of Cuban friendlygesture.

Pakistani medical gradu-ates received warm send offbefore they left Cuba for home.

295 Pakistani doctorsgraduate in Cuba

ISLAMABAD—President Mamnoon Hussainon Wednesday reiterated firm resolve of thedemocratic government to protect and upholdthe rights and privileges of minoritycommunity as enshrined in Constitution of thecountry.

This was stated by the President during ameeting with a delegation headed by BishopTony Rubinson, Bishop of Wakefield and Chair-man of Pakistan Focus Group setup by the ArchBishop of Canterbury UK here at the Presidency.

The President said minorities were equalcitizens of the country and all possible steps wereafoot to bring them into the mainstream of na-tional life.

The delegation included Canon YaqubMasih Board of Directors, West Yorkshire Po-lice Community Trust in UK, Elvin Jalal DinChairman Pakistan Christian Concern Pakistan,Samule Payara President Bright Future Society,Chief Coordinator Rehabilitation Response UK,Wajid Nadeem, Project Director, Governor’sClean Water Initiative and M. Akmal Hameedand Pervez Barkat.

The President lauded the role being playedby the minority community in the socio-eco-nomic development of Pakistan and said Paki-stan values their invaluable contributions in na-tion building and that the government wouldcontinue to work for protection of rights of allnon-Muslim citizens.

He reaffirmed government’s commitment

Govt to protect minorities rightstowards the welfare and uplift of the Christiansand all non-Muslims living in Pakistan.

The President called upon all concernedespecially leaders of all faiths and schools ofthoughts to play their role in promoting inter-faith harmony and said that need for religiousharmony and tolerance was never as great as itwas today.

He said religious tolerance was the best wayto create interfaith harmony as all religions stresstolerance and co- existence of people of all faiths,the President said.

Discussing UK-Pakistan relations, thePresident said that the two countries enjoy closeand fraternal ties encompassing diverse areas ofcooperation, adding that Pakistan considers UKas a close friend and genuine development part-ner.

The President welcomed Bishop TonyRubinson on his visit to Pakistan for the greatcause of inter-faith harmony and also appreci-ated his noble gesture to inaugurate clean drink-ing water and water treatment plants at Gojra,Punjab.

Bishop Tony Robinson appreciated the vari-ous steps being taken by the government for thewelfare and betterment of the Christians andminority community in Pakistan.

The delegation also appreciated the effortsbeing made by the government for promotingharmony among various faiths and reli-gions.—APP

LB electionsschedule in

April: MinisterP E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Minister for Lo-cal Government and Rural De-velopment, Inayatullah Khansaid that provincial governmenthas completed all the homework for holding of local body’selection and its schedule wouldbe announced in April this year.

He was addressing a train-ing course organized by Na-tional Institute of ManagementPeshawar here Wednesday.

Balauchistan Local Body’sMinister, Sardar GhulamMustafa Tareen, Secretary Lo-cal Bodies Balauchistan, KazimNiaz, KP Secretary Local Bod-ies, Hifzur Rehman, DirectorGeneral National instiatue ofManagement, Nighat Mehroozand other concerned officialswere also present.

Local Government Secre-taries of KP and Balauchistanbriefed the course participantsabout matters of MunicipalCommittees, municipal Corpo-rations, Metropolitan Corpora-tions, Local Governance, utili-zation of Local Governmentfunds and revenue generation,administrative matters, VillageCouncil, Neighbourhood, Bio-metric System and women in-volvement in Local Body’sElections.—APP

Govt releases funds toequip LEAs with modern

weapons: AbidISLAMABAD—Minister of State for Water and Power Abid SherAli on Wednesday said that the government has released funds tofully equip law-enforcement agencies with modern weapons tomaintain law and order across the country. He said “It was theprime responsibility of the government to protect lives and prop-erty of common people throughout the country and not only inFederal Capital”.

Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House, AbidSher Ali said that the control of law and order situation was notpossible over night. He said it would take some time and the gov-ernment would take every possible measure in this regard. TheMinister said that there was dire need to overcome the deficienciesin the law-enforcement agencies.—APP

PM striving tomake country astrong: MinisterDASKA—Federal Minister forScience and Technology ZahidHamid Wednesday said thatPrime Minister Nawaz Sharifwas striving to make Pakistana strong economic power likethey had made Pakistan anuclear power in 1997.

He stated this while talkingto Media persons in Pasrur. Herevealed that the PML-N gov-ernment was pursuing revolu-tionary economic policieswhich will transform Pakistaninto a self-reliant and strongcountry, adding that the betterutilization of available re-sources would help createmaximum opportunities of eco-nomic and industrial promo-tion.

He said that the PML-Ngovernment was striving tocope with the persisting energycrisis for giving maximum re-lief to people.

He stated that the PML-Ngovernment was strengtheninginstitutions and promoting de-mocracy in the country to paveway for a welfare state.

The Federal Minister saidthat the PML-N governmentwould ensure timely comple-tion of public welfare and de-velopment projects and wouldleave no stone unturned to en-sure provision of all basic fa-cilities to people at their door-steps.

He added that the PML-Nwould continue serving themasses without any indiscrimi-nation and the time was not faroff when the country wouldbecome a strong and developedcountry.

MULTAN: MPA Sultana Shaheen visiting a stall set up in connection with InternationalWomen Day at Raza Hall.

Lawyers bookedfor beating cop

FAISALABAD—Kotwali policehave booked six persons includ-ing five lawyers on charges ofattacking police in districtcourts on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said onWednesday that after theIslamabad incident, they hadbeefed up security in the dis-trict courts by deputing addi-tional force and directed themnot to allow entery withoutsearch.

When ASI Shakeel Ahmadstopped lawyer Imtiaz Loonafor search, he became infuriatedand called his colleagues andjuniors who thrashed theASI.—APP

Land acquisitionfor Fort Munrochair-lift project

MULTAN—Chief SecretaryPunjab Naveed Akram Cheemahas ordered local administrationto complete land acquisition pro-cess for Rs 600 million Chair-Lift project at Fort Munro, a hillstation some 86 kilometres awayfrom DG Khan city.

Managing Director, TDCPHabib-Ur-Rahman Gilani toldAPP that the provincial chiefsecretary issued the instructionsin a special meeting of techni-cal staff to discuss the projectat Fort Munro.—APP

Free legal services towomen, government

priority: RoghaniPESHAWAR—Special Advisor to the Chief Minister onsocial welfare and women development, Dr Mehar TajRoghani said Wednesday that provision of free legal andadvocacy services to women was the top most priority ofPakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf Govt and no stone would be leftunturned to provide them better services at their door-steps.

Addressing a function in collection of world womenday at Darul Aman Mardan held with assistance of GIZ,she said the government was endeavouring to bring im-provement in existing services at Govt sponsored DarulAman and will introduce such a system where women andgirls in Darul Aman could returns their homes with honourand dignity.

She said the government was working on a policy toadopt such a reconciliatory mechanism to address prob-lems of women of Darul Aman and ensure their dignifiedreturn to their homes.

She said the Govt would utilize all available resourcesto address their problems and bring improvement in thelife style. The Advisor appreciated the services of GIZ andurged them to support Govt in provision of free legal ser-vices to women with some problems.

She said the Govt would earmarked special funds forprovision of health, education and other services to womenliving in Darul Aman. District Social Welfare Abdul MueedBacha and Superintendent Darul Aman Yasmin and othersofficials were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, it is reported that a two days free medicalcamp and mobile hospital under the aegis of Directorate ofHealth Services Fata was held at Khyber Agency’s TehsilTirah where medical and consultancy services were pro-vided to patients free of cost.

The camp was held at Jarobi Mashtara of Tehisl Tirahon the directives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, EngrShaukatullah Khan and Additional Chief Secretary FataArbab Muhammad Arif, said a press release here onWednesday.

The specialist doctors examined patients and con-ducted laboratory tests of 242 patients besides X-Rays of27. Medicines were also distributed amongpatients.Patients with serious ailments were referred toPeshawar.

The mobile hospital and free medical camp was heldunder the supervision of Programme Manager, Dr NiazAfridi. The tribal elders highly appreciated holding ofthe camp and expressed optimism for such more freemedical camps and mobile hospitals in future in Tirahvalley.—APP

PESHAWAR—Deputy Inspector General(DIG) Hazara Ranger Akhtar HayatGandapur Wednesday ordered targetedoperation across the division againstabsconders and criminal elements.

Presiding over a meeting of police of-ficers here at his office, he warned strictdisciplinary action if any police official isfound guilty of collusion with smugglersor criminal elements.

The DIG asked the police force to con-duct raids for the arrest of absconders.

He further directed that owners of allhotels, hostels, guest houses and housesmust be asked to maintain their record oth-erwise they would be held accountable asper the new ordinance of provincial gov-ernment.

The DIG asked police officers to in-crease police patrolling in their respectiveareas and make pickets vigilant to keep eyeon criminal elements. Islamabad: AnalystRasool Bux Rais on Wednesday called forholding the dialogue only with those ele-ments who opt for peace in the country.

Talking to private TV channel, he saidthe government should launch operationagainst anti-peace elements.

The government should identify anti-

Dialogue to be held with peace wanting elements

DIG for targeted operationin Hazzara division

peace elements and bring them to justice,he added.

He appreciated annoucement of theceasefire to further the peace process.

Rasool Bux said dialogue should beheld according to the Constitution of thecountry.

Wah Cantt: Police here launched mas-sive clean up operation against criminalsand anti social elements in Taxila.

In a fresh crackdown launched againstcriminals and anti-social elements, Policelaunched door to door search.

Female police officials, officials fromspecial branch and elite force commandosled by Inspector Sardar Shakeel Ahmedcarried out operation in suspected areas ofJameelabad, Dhoke Saidu, Pind Gondal, Bunbohla, Sarai Khola, Thatta Khalil and adja-cent areas in Taxila.

A number of criminals, including pro-claimed offenders wanted in different crimeswere arrested besides a number of liquorand narcotics were also busted in limits ofcity Police station. Sources said that searchwas also launched against illegal immigrantsand mostly Afghan nationals were taken into custody who were living without anylegal documents.—APP

PESHAWAR—Disconnection & RecoveryCampaign launched by Peshawar ElectricSupply Company (PESCO) against powertheft and recovery from defaulters is in fullswing through out the Province.

Recovery teams under the supervisionof SDO PESCO, Gul Bela Sub-Division re-stored power supply to 162 defaulter con-sumers of 11 KV Takht Abad and 38 de-faulter consumers of 11 KV Naguman-IIfeeders after recovery of the dues.

Similarly, 7 new electricity connectionswere also provided to consumers under the“Incentive Package” while work is inprogress for providing new connections.

Furthermore, a team of PESCO,Chamkani Sub-Division nabbed 5 personsRafiq Shah S/o Sher Meer of Gari MeherGul Kachori, Ali Shah S/o Qadrat Shah GariNazir Gul Kachori, Pir Muhammad Gul GhariNasir Kachori, Sulman Shah S/o Khadi GulGari Nazir Gul Kachori and Jan Bahader S/oLaal Zada Gari Meher Gul Kachori usingdirect hooks from LT line. FIRs were lodgedagainst them in concerned police stations.

Due to illegal use of electricity in theseareas, power supply system was overloaded and was causing frequent power

Traders show concern over loadshedding

PESCO recoverycampaign in full swing

break downs.The management of the company has

warned defaulters for the payment of out-standing dues with immediate effect and incase of non-payment strict legal action willalso be initiated against them.

SUKKUR: Sukkur Small Tarders andCottage Industries (SST&CI) expressedgrave concern over the prolonged and un-scheduled electricity load shedding, whichis yielding negative impact and its durationreached 9-10 hours a day, said a press re-lease of SST, issued here.

President SST&CI, Haji Javed Memon,Badar Qureshi, Lala Abid Khokhar and oth-ers said that this forced, unscheduled elec-tricity load shedding has dropped the in-dustrial production to further low and theduration of electricity outages of 09-10hours in the city and 12-15 hours in thevillages has made the life of people quitedifficult, resulting into dearth of even drink-ing water. According to a press release,the traders also expressed concern over is-suance of detection and inflated bills andcalled upon SEPCO chief to end this prac-tice.—APP

SPSC announcesresults of successful

candidatesHYDERABAD—The manage-ment of Sindh Public ServiceCommission Hyderabad onWednesday announced thenames of those candidateswho have been declaredsuccessful in the interviewsfor the post of StatisticalOfficer BPS-17 in Sindh Plan-ning and Development De-partment.

The names of the suc-cessful candidates includedNeelam Khan, Mir MohsanAli Talpur, Hafsa Shaikh,Anila Jafar, Abdul QayoomPitafi, Muhammad Asif andAmbreen Babar.

The SPSC managementalso declared the names ofthose candidates who havebeen declared successful forthe post of Chemist BPS-17in Sindh Environment andAlternative Department.The names of the success-ful candidates includedShah Khalid Bukhari andMuhammad HussainUmrani Baloch.

No candidate has beenfound fit for the post of As-sistant Director (PublicAwareness) BPS-17 in SindhEnvironment and AlternativeEnergy Department and thepost will be re-advertised indue course of time, the man-agement informed and addedthat the list of the success-ful candidates has been up-loaded at the SPSC websitewww.spsc.gov.pk/. APP

Another swineflu patient dies

MULTAN—Another swineflu patient who had been onventilator for the last fourdays died at Intensive CareUnit (ICU) of Nishtar Medi-cal Institute (NMI) onWednesday.

Focal person NMI, DrMazhar-ul-Khaliq, told APPthat Mehmood-ul-Hassan,who came from Kabirwalaand had been admitted tothe health facility around 5days back, died onWednesday.He added thatHassan was over 40 andunderwent treatment first ata private hospital of the city.

Later, he was shifted toNMI and was tested positivefor the disease by NIH,Islamabad.Two suspected fe-male patients of swine flu ad-mitted to NMI had died onThursday. Humera (43) ofDaulat Gate was brought tohospital on Thursday morn-ing and she died the samenight. Rubina, who hailedfrom Samijabad, also died atICU of NMI last week.—PP

Spring treeplantation drivekicks off at UoPPESHAWAR—The springplantation drive kicked offat the University ofPeshawar (UoP) with theaim of a greener and cleanerGreater Campus in themonth’s long campaign.

Vice Chancellor UoPProf. Dr Muhammad RasulJan inaugurated the cam-paign by planting a saplingin the lawn of the Depart-ment of Environmental Sci-ences.

He was accompanied byProf. Dr Shahida Zakir, Prof.Dr Hizbullah, Dr Fazl I Nasirand scores of green volun-teer students.

The target for this year’sdrive is to plant 10,000 treesin the vicinity of the Univer-sity of Peshawar and 10,000more in the greater campus,said Vice Chancellor in hisaddress to the inaugural cer-emony. He added that the vig-orous plantation drive hasbeen initiated in support ofthe provincial governmentgreener KhyberPakhtunkhwa (Green GrowthInitiative) programme, and allthe line institutions like thePakistan Forest Institutionwould be taken onboard toachieve the target.

Dr Jan said that wewould make it mandatory onevery student and employeeof the University to plant atleast a sapling in the cam-pus and take good care of itfor its proper nurturing. Heviewed that the growingpopulation and use of agri-cultural land for housingsocieties has posed majorthreat to the environment.

It may ultimately lead tosevere food insecurity in thecountry, he said, adding thatthe same must be avoidedand necessary correctivemeasures be taken for thepurpose to do the rescue job.

Earlier Chairperson Prof.Dr Shahida Zakir said that illeffect of rise in temperatureand the issue of global warm-ing can be minimized byplanting more trees. Sheadded that with the promo-tion of green economy,losses caused by the naturaland anthropological disas-ters can be avoided.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Anti Narcotics Force (ANF)recovered 482 kg drugs including 61.5 kgfine quality heroin being smuggled abroadand arrested a five member gang at Karachi,Sargodha and Karak.

The price of the seized drug in interna-tional market is Rs 43.35 Crore approxi-mately, said a press release.

According to details, ANF assisted byPakistan Rangers (Sindh) received informa-tion that a few individuals were busy forsmuggling of heroin abroad by using inno-vative concealment methods.

Initial ground check revealed suspi-cious activities, however to further authen-ticate the information, a discreet surveil-lance of ANF was imposed.

ANF and Pakistan Rangers conducteda well coordinated raid at House No. D-119,Musarat Colony, Malir City, Karachi and re-covered 61.5 kg of fine quality heroin. Fivepersons involved in the crime were arrestedat the spot. Post raid interrogation revealedthat the heroin was being tactfully concealedinside onions by making a hole in onionshence creating a cavity in the centre.

Later, heroin filled capsules were in-serted and finally capped by onion cover-ing with elfy. Quantity of onions recoveredfrom the site is weighing approximately 110kg. The accused also disclosed that onionswere also useful in evading the smell ofdrugs by sniffing dogs.

ANF recovers 482kg drugs57 held, ammunition seized

Initial interrogation revealed that thegang has a history of remaining in smug-gling of narcotics.

The revealed innovative method isunique in its own kind and regarded a greatsuccess for fight against drug menace.

An FIR has been lodged against all thearrested persons at ANF Police Station andfurther investigations are under process.Sargodha: Police claimed to have foiled asmuggling bid and seized a massive quan-tity of narcotics.

A police spokesman said on Wednes-day that during patrolling, police pulledover a jeep on Jhaverian Road but the ve-hicle sped away. Police chased it but theaccused abandoned it near the Lala Musaby-pass.Police recovered over 420kg cha-ras from the vehicle and registered a case.

A police spokesman said Umer Hayat,Nazir Muhammad, Nasrullah, Shamshir,Imran, Vazir Zada, Tahir Abbas, KhurramShahzad, Muhammad Usman, Bashir Ahmedand Ali Raza were arrested.

The police also seized 3,026 g heroin,1,050g hashish, two Kalashnikovs, a gunand a rifle with cartridges and rounds.

The police have registered separatecases against the accused. KARAK: Dis-trict police Wednesday claimed to arrest 41absconders and seized huge cache of am-munition and drugs during the month ofFebruary.—APP

Rain-thunderstormlikely at some places

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)on Wednesday forecast rain-thunderstorm at isolatedplaces of Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Gujranwala, Malakandand Hazara divisions during next 24 hours.

The met office forecast chances of light snowfall overthe hills during the next 24 hours.

According to the synoptic situation, continental airwas prevailing over most parts of the country.

Whereas, a shallow westerly trough was also prevail-ing over Kashmir and adjoining areas and likely to movenortheastwards during next 24hours.

The lowest minimum tem-peratures recorded during thelast 24 hours were Quetta,Kalam 03 C and Malamjabbaand Kalat 02 C.

The minimum temperatures recorded in the other cit-ies were Islamabad 09 C, Lahore 12 C, Karachi 16 C,Peshawar 07 C, Quetta -03 C, Murree 00 C, Muzaffarabad05 C, Gilgit 04 C, Faisalabad 10 C, Multan 11 C andHyderabad 15 C.

The rainfall recorded during the last 24 hours wasMuzaffarabad, Pattan 10 mm, Malamjabba, Murree 08,Balakot 06, Abbottabad 05, Lower Dir, Mirkhani, Saidu Sharif02 and Rawalpindi, Khuzdar and Dir 01 mm. The snowfallrecorded in Murree was 01 inch. ...APP/ Domestic —Weather-Report Met office forecast thunderstorm-rain forHazara, Malakand divisions. Peshawar: The Met Office hereWednesday forecast thunderstorm-rain with light snowfallover the hills at isolated places in Malakand and Hazaradivisions during next 24 hours due to a shallow westerlytrough prevailing over Kashmir and adjoining areas.

According to Met Office, this westerly trough is likelyto move to north-east wards during next 12 to 24 hourswhereas continental air is prevailing over most parts ofthe country.In next 24 hours, mainly cold and dry weatheris expected in most parts of the country, however, partlycloudy weather conditions with rain-thunderstorm withlight snow over the hills are expected at isolated placesof Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Gujranwala, Malakand andHazara divisions.—PP

Spadework forInsulin Bank at

HMC completedP E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Minister forHealth, Shaukat AliYousafzai has said that pro-vincial government is takinginitiatives to provide besthealth care facilities to thepoor people.This he saidwhile talking to the doctorsand other concerned offi-cials at Lady Reading Hos-pital Peshawar Wednesday.

Besides others fruitfulinitiatives, the Insulin Bankis being established inHayatabad Medical Com-plex (HMC) Peshawar whichwill soon be inauguratedformally. Rs 25 million hasbeen allocated for thisproject out of which 12.5million has been released tothe Health Department andthe remaining amount hasbeen transferred to HMC.

The focal persons havealso been identified in eighthospitals includedD.I.Khan, Bannu, Mardan,Abbottabad, Swat, LadyReading Hospital andKhyber Teaching Hospital.

The Health Minister onthe occasion urged doctorsand other staff to play theirvital role in bringing about avisible change as the provin-cial government was fullycommitted in this regard andhas taken these historicalsteps which were the long-standing demand of theprovince.He said a gracefulstructure had been formu-lated for the doctors, whichwould certainly be helpful toredress the problems of doc-tors. He said poor people ofthe province were dependingon public run hospitals asdue to low income they couldnot afford expenditures ofprivate hospitals.—APP

Renowned journalist Nawab Kaifee presenting his book ‘Yeh Mojza Hai’ to Prime Minister Mian Muhammad NawazSharif at PM House.

JAHANIAN: Security has been beefed up outside Civil Courts after the IslamabadKatcheri incident.

Balochistanroad projects

underwayISLAMABAD—Work onmega road developmentprojects, worth billions ofrupees, was ongoing inBalochistan and this willusher in a new era ofprogress and prosperity inthe region.

An official of NationalHighway Authority (NHA)informed APP that work onGwadar-Turbat Motorway(M-8) was going onsmoothly and it will becompleted in the next twoyears.

He said that Rs 16 billionmore were required for this234 kilometres long projecttimely completion.

He said for Sorab-Hoshab Highway (N-85)NHA will require a furtherRs 18 billion.—APP

Parliament beinggiven its due role

IT is said that modern democracies are characterized by shared decision-making by the legislative and executive branches of the states but inmany cases including Pakistan the latter has enjoyed dominance and the

former has mostly been treated as a sort of debating club or rubber-stamp toendorse decisions made in cozy offices of kitchen Cabinets or top bureau-crats. But it seems things have started changing for the good as the presentPML(N) Government is assigning due importance to the Parliament.

The speech of Sartaj Aziz, Advisor on National Security and ForeignAffairs, in the National Assembly on Tuesday also led credence to this beliefas he explained in detail the contours of the nation’s foreign policy, addingthat new defence and foreign policies are being evolved and these would bepresented before the Parliament. This augurs well as the Government hasalready presented the National Security Policy before the Parliament and it isexpected that the crucial document would be improved and refined in thelight of debate in the both Houses and proposals by members. The traditionwould mean greater ownership and transparency of the policies and theircontinuation as against pursuance of different policies by every Governmentresulting into confusion and instability. No doubt, leaders of the executivebranch typically command much of the political power, control the financialresources, possess trained staff dedicated to developing policies and imple-menting laws, produce the bulk of legislation and manage government con-tracts and administer government programmes but the relative balance ofpower between the Legislature and Executive in a country can be changed.Our legislators can make a difference by building strong legislative institu-tions, by asserting themselves in the regular law-making or oversight func-tions, or through specific structural changes via Constitutional amendments,legislation or rules of procedure. But all this can happen only if the Parlia-mentarians take their responsibilities seriously, become a role model by pay-ing taxes and abiding by the law and pay more attention to service of thepeople than their own welfare and that of their families and parties.

Rising FE reserves,a positive signal

FINANCE Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed the confidence that, as promised by him earlier, the foreign exchange reserves of the country would

exceed $10 billion mark by 31st of March. In an interview, he talked aboutthe policy measures initiated by the present Government to rectify wrongsof the economy and their impact, adding that the value of rupee againstdollar has also strengthened.

The Minister is well within his right to express exuberance over positiveeconomic indicators despite worst law and order situation and other internaland external factors. Projections of the Finance Minister about FE reservesfor end March also included possible proceeds of 3G auction during the monthbut it is satisfying that despite delay in completion of the auctioning process(which is likely to take place in mid-April) he was optimistic about meetingthe target. Building of the reserves would surely have salutary impact on theoverall economic situation and boost confidence of the prospective investorsin the economy of the country. This, coupled with satisfactory reporting onthe state of Pakistan’s economy by IMF and improvement in rating and per-ception about the country, are appreciable developments. However, one mustpoint out that there is dire need to make these gains sustainable, as frequentnose-dive of FE reserves, downgrading of the rating and perception aboutgrowing corruption jolt the economy as well as reputation of the country.Pakistan has the requisite potential to shore up its reserves to over $30 billionin foreseeable future if economic growth is accelerated, exports increased,unnecessary imports curbed and overseas Pakistanis meaningfully motivatedto remit more back home. One may also point out that claims about exchangerate stability are misplaced as we first allowed the rupee to shed its value atmind-boggling speed are now content with the unrealistic rate of Rs. 105 adollar. Similarly, have-nots bore the brunt of bitter and sour decisions of theGovernment and it is time to think about compensating them.

Civil servants needto be inspired

WHILE at this point of time when reportedly a major reshuffle in bureaucracy is in the offing, it is of utmost importance that it should be

based on merit and experience and not on liking or disliking of the Minis-ters. More than that when government is taking major initiatives to cleansethe whole system and ensure good governance, civil servants need to beduly inspired by rewarding them through right position for the right person.

We say so because civil servants in the past had been subjected to ridiculeand there was no encouragement for those who were competent, honest andfollowed the rules. On the other hand yes-men prospered as they followedright or wrong orders of their superiors and as a result the country suffered themost. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that bureaucracy underpins thesuccess of a nation and Pakistan desperately needs to restructure and refine itsbureaucracy by encouraging the intellectuals, honest and dedicated officers.Just a few decades ago, joining the Pakistan civil service was the dream ofevery top student graduating from a university but today few people withhigh academic achievements and potentials are interested in pursuing thiscareer because the vital institution has been highly politicised. Living in anera of knowledge explosion and worldwide competition, civil servants asbackbone of the country strive for excellence so that they can enhance na-tional competitiveness through innovative and epochal thinking but whenthey are asked to perform certain tasks not in country’s interest and againstthe rules, they get discouraged. Pakistan has men and women in bureaucracy,with qualities of both head and heart, intelligence, intellect, team-spirit,commonsense, originality, communication skills and leadership attributes andthey need support and encouragement to put the country back on track. It isencouraging that the Prime Minister while chairing a high level meeting toreview the civil service reforms directed that the best performing civil ser-vants should be rewarded in order to upgrade the performance of civil bu-reaucracy. We hope that the government while reshuffling the bureaucracywould ensure merit based posting and also consider increase in their salaryand other perks to match with the private sector so that there is no brain drainin the vital arm of the state which is responsible to implement the policies.

NISP: Transforming words into action?

AfridibreaksTigers’hearts

A little less than two yearsago, there was not a dryeye left at the Sher-e-

Bangla National Stadium asBangladesh lost a pulsating AsiaCup final by two cruel runs. Twoyears later, the same tournamentand the same venue was witnessto similar heartache, the only dif-ference being that yesterday it wasan astounding innings from ShahidAfridi that turned a near certainwin for Bangladesh into Pakistan’shighest ever chase in the space of5.2 overs. In the process he con-firmed Pakistan’s place in the fi-nal against Sri Lanka.

When Afridi walked in at thefall of the fifth wicket, Pakistanneeded 102 from 52 balls to over-haul Bangladesh’s mammoth 326for three, their highest score inODIs. He hit two sixes off his firsttwo balls from MahmudullahRiyad and then in the next over,smoked three maximums offShakib Al Hasan. As panic beganto grip the home team, Afridisoared higher, hitting Shafiul Is-lam for two fours and a six in the45th over. Afridi did ride his luck– he was nearly bowled by Shakibin the next over but the ball seemedto brush the stumps without dis-lodging a bail.

In the next over skipperMushfiqur Rahim dropped a skier,and Afridi rubbed salt on the Ti-gers’ wounds by hitting his nextball for a sublime six over fineleg. Shakib, returning to the na-tional team after serving out athree-match ban, threw down thestumps from cover to run Afridiout for an amazing 25-ball 59 withtwo fours and seven sixes. Paki-stan needed 33 off 19 then. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak how-ever then made things easy forPakistan as Fawad Alam cartedtwo sixes to kill any hope Afridi’sdeparture may have offered.Opener Ahmed Shehzad howevergave the platform by making hisfifth hundred (103) in his firstgame against the Tigers.

Earlier, putting aside all theiron- and off-field controversiesBangladesh bounced back to posttheir highest score and it was nearperfect batting from the Tigers’ toporder batsmen, led by AnamulHaque who anchored the inningswith a steady hundred. MominulHaque, Mushfiqur Rahim andShakib Al Hasan shreddedPakistan’s attack with rapid half-centuries. Early in the piece Paki-stan suffered a unique blow as left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, whocame on to bowl in the 11th over,was barred from bowling withoutdelivering a legitimate ball. Hebowled three consecutive fulltosses above waist height — thefirst two were to Imrul Kayes andthe third to Anamul — for dubi-ous figures of 0-0-8-0 at whichpoint umpire Johan Cloete hadenough and took him off for therest of the innings.

Bangladesh ended up with 326for three, beating their previousbest of 320 for eight against Zim-babwe in Bulawayo in 2009. It wasa rousing batting performancefrom the home side against thetournaments’ best bowling attack.Anamul’s 132-ball innings endedon 100 but by then the score was204 for two in the 40th over andthe solid platform was brilliantlyutilised by his senior teammates.Opening partner Imrul Kayes alsodeserves credit after the way hecapitalised on his early life to builda 150-run opening stand,Bangladesh’s second-highest forthe wicket. It was refreshing to seehow the Bangladesh batsmenpaced their innings. The early partof the innings was characterised bymaturity with the batsmen check-ing their impulse to attackMohammad Hafeez and SaeedAjmal. Anamul only hit the badballs, and when he did he hit thempowerfully, and Mominul andMushfiqur’s drives were a treat towatch. Interestingly, only ShakibAl Hasan made some slogs duringhis breathtaking 16-ball 44. In theend however, their batting masterywent in vain.— The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

MEDIA WATCH

THE government has unveiledinitial draft of its new National Internal Security Policy

(NISP) at a time when Pakistaniforces are conducting surgicalstrikesagainst the TTP hideouts inNorth Waziristan. Impression ema-nating from this coincidencereflectsthe incumbent government’s readi-ness to transformpolicy perspectiveof its futurecounterterrorism strategyinto action. Government is seekingsupport of major political parties andstake holders for bringing consen-sus to finalize the NISP. A compre-hensive counterterrorism policy in-corporates dialogue as an integralpart which did not produced desiredresults at least for time being. Forceand threat of use of force, therefore,persist as plausible option along withtalks in the counterterrorism efforts.Gauging the magnitude of internalsecurity problems, one anticipate thefirst ever national security manualto be a comprehensive documentcovering all important aspects ofinternal security’s modus operandi.

The interior minister ChaudaryNisar has outlined the initial draftof NISP, its objectives and its dif-ferent aspects before the parliamen-tarians. As enunciated by interiorminister, the three-pronged securitypolicy incorporates secret, opera-tional and strategic aspects as a com-prehensive plan to address the inter-nal security challenges. The secretpart of the policy has not been re-vealed due to the sensitivity at-tached. However, the operationaland strategic aspects have drawnnationwide attention and are con-stantly under discussion. The opera-tional part of the policy revealed sofar outlines a detailed program that

includes enhancing the operationalcapacity of the law enforcement agen-cies and provides comprehensivemechanisms to maintain law and or-der in cities and towns. Governmentisalso planning to deploy a 500 per-sonal Rapid Response Force (RRF)under the police initially at the fed-eral capital and later to provinces asan integrated specializedcounterterrorist force. The trainingand operational aspect of this forcehas not yet been elaborated. However,Pakistan armed forces have alreadybeen collaborating with provincialpolice commandostraining and ca-pacity building that could also behelpful in training and capacity build-ing of the RRF.

The third aspect is the strategicthat include the Counter-TerrorismAuthority (NACTA) that will be thecentral organization for formingstrategy, coordinating efforts andoverseeing executionof NSP. Theheads of armed forces have been in-cluded as members of NATCA.Allthe intelligence agencies have alsobeen synchronized under NACTA toexpedite intelligence sharing andenhance much needed coordinationat national level.

NISP also seeks to integrate thereligious seminaries and mosques tothe national education system whileundertaking legal reforms todevelopnational consensus on itscounterinsurgencystrategy in thecoming months. One can also senseurgency on the part of governmentto reverse the flow of extremism andterrorism at earliest. The Anti-terror-ism Ordinance of October 2013 andthe anti-terror law under Protectionof Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) ap-proved by the standing committee oninterior seems a coordinated po-litico-legal effort to bring a broad-based national structure against ter-rorism. However, amid all these ef-forts there are few very important

aspects that need clarityvis-à-visNISP. Pakistan internal securitythreats are indeed a litmus test foreffectiveness of NISP. First and fore-most is regarding the civil-militaryharmony over the content and intentof the NISP. As military is in theforefront of dealing with the terror-ists, therefore, their consent over thispolicy objectives and operational as-pects are imperative. Military patientsupport to talks with Taliban andlater successfully employing surgi-cal strikes on militant hideouts inFATA reflect good chemistry germi-nating between civil-military lead-ership. These strikes have been in-strumental in compelling otherwiseadamant TTP to announce a onemonth ceasefire. So, talks back byrequisite force seem the workingformula in the counterterrorismstrategy at the moment agreed bycivil-military leadership.

Secondly, the real test of pro-posed NISP lies with its implemen-tation. Terrorism, insurgency and ex-tremism are nontraditional securitythreats that require an altogether dif-ferent operational and solution. Thesethreats are as evasive as their solu-tion that requires a persistent under-standing and strategic doctrine totackle. Apart from the terrorist sanc-tuaries in FATA region, the problemrelated to political economy of ter-rorism has engulfed wholecountry.This requires a tougher ap-proach to neutralize the converginginterests such as extortion, ransomsand other criminal activities abettingthe ramification of terrorism. Along-side, the trends such as percolatingof foreign funding and indoctrina-tion of religious ideologiesrequireeffective measures.

A common national ideologicalnarrative supported by major reli-gious school of is something thatmust be envisaged by NISP to addressthe ideological aspect of extremism.

Corruption vs communalism

INDIA may not be coming apartat the seams but the polity is.Union Ministers are quarrelling

among themselves. Feuds of bureau-crats are coming out in the open.Even intelligence agencies, the In-telligence Bureau and the CentralBureau of Investigation, are at log-gerheads. Understanding betweenbureaucracy and the rulers has beenreduced to trivialities. So much sothat Finance Minister P.Chidambaram tells a top official toimprove his English and the official,in turn, complains to his minister.

On top of it comes the mannerin which the bill to bifurcate AndhraPradesh was passed by the LokSabha. The Lok Sabha televisionchannel, showing the proceedings,was stopped from telecasting livewhich negates the claim of transpar-ency. MPs in favour of a unitedAndhra Pradesh were not allowedto participate in the debate becauseas many as 17 of them had beenousted from the house a couple ofdays earlier when they, including theCongress ministers, were makingthe passage of the bill impossible.

I am concerned over the prece-dent the Congress has set and theway the Speaker went along. Tomor-row if the Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP) comes to power and decidesto have a legislation to put restric-tions on the minorities, the party hasonly to point out that the then rulingCongress had suspended the basicnorms of parliamentary democracy.

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

—Bertolt BrechtGerman dramatist

In this regard, intelligentsia, mediaandeducational institutions mustalso be brought in for a meaningfulnational discourse against ubiqui-tous extremism.

Thirdly, synchronization ofintelligence agencies under asingle directorate requires extremecare. It should be remembered thatintelligence agencies varies intheir function, expertise and do-main. Some perform highly sen-sitive activities than the others.Therefore, it would be a real testto segregate the overlapping ofactivities while maintaining thesecrecy of information. Civil-mili-tary intelligence under a single di-rectorate will also question the se-curity of intelligence emanatingfrom the military agencies that ismore sensitive in nature.

All these questions are some-what important aspects that wouldcome under scrutiny to gauge the ef-fectiveness of NISP as a comprehen-sive response to counterterrorism.Further to this, NISP as a policydocument should also explain thathowconflict resolution at nationallevel be initiated. Should it bedialoguethat needed to bechannelized or military actionneeded to be initiated or dialoguealong with military action should gohand in hand?

No doubt the incumbent gov-ernment has shown urgency in ad-dressing the internal security chal-lenges fully supported by thearmed forces. The governmentshould carry all the stakeholdersonboard before bring the finalpolicy into discussion, making ita shape of national effort againstterrorism. The NISP shouldact asinstrument in setting nationalagenda to address commonality ofcause against the menace of ex-tremism in all manifestations.—The writer is Ph.D Scholar atNDU, Islamabad.

For nearly 50 days, there wasthe government of AamAadmi Party (AAP) exposingthe status quo governancewhich two main parties, theCongress and the BJP, hadperpetrated in last three de-

cades. In a way, the AAP too has be-come a regional party as supreme inDelhi as are Mamata Banerjee’sTrinamool Congress in West Bengaland Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal(BJD) in Odisha. Indeed, politics ofidentity is the biggest danger to demo-cratic governance.

And this in no way is minimiz-ing the harm the BJP is doing to thepluralistic ethos inherited from thedays of freedom struggle. Gujaratchief minister Narendra Modi is get-ting large crowds by appealing to theHindus to imbibe Hindu nationalism.

Muslims are justifiably feelinginsecure because the soft kind ofHinduva is contaminating more andmore people. To check this danger-ous trend, the Congress is too weakand too clueless to show mirror tothe nation. Regional parties feel thatthey can fill the space vacated by theCongress. Probably, they can but itwill be at the expense of India’s unity.The constitution which binds all partsof the country together is being vio-lated by some regional parties bothin letter and in spirit.

There is no option to the federalstructure which the constituent as-sembly cherished and enshrined inthe constitution. Odisha is a typicalexample of how the Indian polityworks. The state is federal in charac-ter but dynastic in rule. It seldomdefies the central government, how-ever autocratic or arrogant in its pos-ture at times. But chief ministerNaveen Patnaik’s rule is personal and

he follows the footprints of his father,the late Biju Patnaik who governedin capricious and corrupt manner. Heis still remembered because he gaveidentity to Oriyas who even today arefighting for a place under the sun.Naveen continues to remind peopleof his father’s legacy. I saw duringmy visit to Bhubaneswar hoardingsall over the city with Biju Patnaik’sfinger pointing towards Naveen asif he was reminding that his succes-sor was his son. (There were alsohoardings carrying only the photo ofRahul Gandhi without his mother,Congress president Sonia Gandhiand Prime Minister ManmohanSingh on either side of Naveen.)

Just as Sukhbir Singh Badal inPunjab, Akhilesh Yadav in UP orFarooq Abdullah in Jammu andKashmir, Naveen Patnaik’s parentageis his asset. The polls in democracyare only up to elections. Subse-quently, people cease to count dur-ing the five-year tenure of the stateassembly. With a clutch of bureau-crats Naveen rules the state, much tothe misery and helplessness of thevoters. He is worse because he haseliminated leading politicians fromhis party methodically. He has thusbecome indispensible. In fact,Naveen’s strength is the absence of aleader in his own party and his ad-versary, the Congress. Former chiefminister JB Patnaik preferred gover-norship of Assam to the ever increas-ing wrangles in the Congress.

What surprised me was that therewas not even a hiss of AAP in state. Ithought that Odisha which has no op-position worth the name would be anideal place for AAP. The party appearsto have not gone beyond Delhi, west-ern UP, Haryana and parts ofRajasthan. No doubt, its birth and suc-

The wickedness ofthe world is sogreat you have torun your legs offto avoid havingthem stolen fromunder you.

cess in Delhi evoked a tinge of ideal-ism. But then Arvind Kejriwal be-came synonymous for party. He didnot allow anyone else to grow. In fact,some of his antics have doused theaspirations of intelligentsia whichsaw in him an alternative.

Thank god, some other nameswho will contest the Lok Sabhaelections have come out. Theyshould underline the need for a col-lective leadership. Dozens ofNGOs, with more enviable recordthan Kejriwal, are distant from theAAP. They should be persuaded tojoin the party which is, in fact, aplatform for “thousands of muti-nies” raging in the country. TheAAP, however, needs to come outwith its economic agenda becausepeople have essentially votedagainst the Congress and the BJP.

The AAP has done well in ex-posing the central government onthe price of natural gas. Even whenthe private company had signed acontract to purchase gas for $2.5 Btutill 2017, the price has been raisedto $8 Btu. It is obvious that Petro-leum Minister Veerappa Moily, whohas defended the increased price,must be mixed up with the scam,another in the Manmohan Singh re-gime, left with two months in ten-ure.Corruption looks like becomingthe poll issue. The Congress withnumerous scams will be the target.Per force, the party has made com-munalism the main issue. Both cor-ruption and communalism have tobe confronted with a plank ofcleanliness and pluralism. TheAAP can plug these lines, providedit stays together.—The writer is a veteran Indianjournalist, syndicated columnist,human rights activist and author.

Bilal ZubairEmail:bilalzubair37@yahoo.com

Kuldip NayarEmail:kuldipnayar09@gmail.com

Voice of the People

Allah hatesinjusticeHASHIM ABRO

It is a known fact that the SindhProvince produces more than 80percent of oil and gas but despite thisfact, extreme poverty has deepenedand unemployment has alarminglyincreased in the Province. I vividlyremember my elders and teachersused to tell us that Arabs from dif-ferent Middle East countries, whenat that time wealth of oil and gas wasnot still discovered in the Arab coun-tries, used to come to this resources-rich Province both for quenchingtheir thirst for knowledge, becauseSindh was a hub of schools, collegesand varsities and also in quest fortheir economic needs.

The Sindhi folks who are his-torically known as the true Loversof Allah and His beloved Prophet(S.A.W), used to respect and reverethem and also gave them in abun-dance, both, knowledge and meansto strengthen their economy. But un-fortunately, nowadays the situationis otherwise. The wealth of oil andgas like resources have changed thefate and fortune of Arabs but the ex-ploration and exploitation of theseresources have not benefited thepeople of Sindh Province at all.

Sindh is blessed with several oiland gas reservoirs but doors of em-ployment, economic development,among others, are shut to the localpeople. A plethora of fake domicileholders from other Provinces are ap-pointed against top management,technical and other positions at vari-ous fields with salary and other perksand privileges in lacs of rupees permonth but local highly talentedpeople including position holderprofessional degree holders such asBachelor of Engineering ( B.E) inChemical Engineering, Petroleumand Gas Engineering, MechanicalEngineering etc. are not hired evenfor internship or short term consul-tation - internees are also hired fromother Provinces.

Indeed, Allah is Just and hatesinjustice. Is there anyone to remindthe management of OGDCL andother national and multinational oiland gas companies based in the Fed-eral Capital, Islamabad, operating inSindh Province to stop this deep-seated discrimination and gross in-justice against the local talent andearn the pleasure of Allah by doingjustice with them - by offering dueemployment opportunities and de-veloping infrastructure and focusingon community development in andaround the fields in the Province?—Islamabad

Choked seweragein KarachiROMMAN ELIAS

While coming from Ned or KUwhen we take a left turn on serviceroad to enter in Gulistan-e-Jauharwe see large amount of water on theroad which takes vehicles and pub-lic into a problem. It is a turn whichis used by the chingchi’s to drop thestudents at the 2 biggest universi-ties of Karachi whereas it is alsoused by public to cross. It is also thechingchi stop. This problem needsto be addressed on priority basis tobring a little comfort and conve-nience for the students as well as forthe public.—Karachi

Pakistan vsAfghanistan

JAVAID BASHIR

Pakistan’s victory over a minnow likeAfghanistan cricket team was not thateasy or walk in the park. It seems thatAfghan team has become a force toreckon with. It can create trouble forany world-class teams. The bowlingand fielding was superb and they re-stricted Pak team to 258 Runs.

Umar Akmal saved the day forour team. He scored 102 not-out car-rying the bat till the end. He finishedthe game for the team. AhmadShazad with his half century gave agood stand. Sharjeel contributed 25

Incredible Pakistani teamMUHAMMAD RIZWAN AFTAB

Now once again Pakistani team has shown that they have a lot of potential and have all abilities andgauds to become a leading and number one team of world. Pakistani team on Tuesday completed

their highest ever One Day International run chase to overcome Bangladesh’s 326 run target with threewickets in hand at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, and held back their place in the Asia Cupfinal as a strong contender. Now after this heartbreak victory, Pakistan will meet Sri Lanka in Saturday’sfinal. The mixed up nature of Pakistan cricket was on full display in their last group match of the AsiaCup as Bangladesh posted their record score against the defending champions in Mirpur, after a his-torical victory against India. Afridi cover with a superior influence including Ahmed Shehzad and acalm inning by Fawad Alam, but by the attack of Afridi Pakistan overcame a tough resistance from theBangladesh team. Pakistan has completed its journey to make his place in the final of Asia Cup-2014against Sri Lanka, after a thrilling, shaping heart and a breath taking and dramatic victory. Conquestabove Bangladesh, by three wickets, in a nerve taking and high-scoring thriller amid jammed packedstadium in Mirpur is one of the biggest achievements. In this tournament, Pakistani team has againshown its effort in all three fields with ups and downs; now we wish our team to maintain its victory andsweep the Sri Lankans in the final also.—Karachi

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THE articles, columns andletters are published on thesepages in good faith. However,the contents of these writingsmay not necessarily match theviews of the newspaper.

—Editor

Are we serious about peace?

THE deadly suicide attack inthe middle of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and that too in

the District Courts premises hasstunned me as I once belonged to thelegal fraternity myself. How come theplace from where justice is deliveredWAS left at the mercy of terroristsfor more than 45 minutes that killedno less than 11 people including a ses-sion judge on Monday?

This new incident has raisedquestions in the minds of thinkingcitizens that if our law enforcementagencies are so helpless in red zoneof the capital then how will authorityof the govt be enforced throughoutthe state. Another thing that intriguesme is the agreed timeframe forceasefire without ensuring a sched-ule for talks to complete before thatlimit or is this meant to achieve only

Older women..!

Fanatics in Indian political system

THE frontrunner to be India’snext prime minister after elections in May is Narendra Modi

of the opposition Bharatiya JanataParty, so it’s time to consider whathis leadership means for his party.Can the BJP fill a vacuum in Indianpolitics by becoming a modern right-of-centre party that stands for bothsensible pro-market policies andopenness to Indians of all faiths? Alot rides on the answer.

For India to regain its economiclustre, it must reassure skittish inves-tors that it isn’t doomed to be gov-erned only by fiscally reckless popu-lists. As for the BJP, after ruling In-dia for only six of 67 years since in-dependence, the party needs to evolveas a credible alternative to the left-of-centre Congress Party—one thatcan represent all Indians, not justHindu nationalists. This requires re-assuring voters that the party can reinin a hateful fringe that stands for bookbanning, minority-bashing and con-spiracy theories.

So far the prognosis is mixed. Byrolling out a red carpet for businessin Gujarat, where he is chief minis-ter, Mr. Modi augurs a BJP that hasoutgrown a traditionalist wing long

mistrustful of capitalism. He has putinto action the modernization of eco-nomic thought needed by a party thathas long included powerful forcesmore comfortable with import sub-stitution and small-scale industry.

But Mr. Modi has yet to quietfears that his ascent suggests a partybecoming less tolerant. For his de-tractors, Mr. Modi is indelibly asso-ciated with the 2002 anti-Muslim ri-ots in Gujarat. More than 1,000people died in the violence, three-fourths of them Muslim. In Decem-ber, a court upheld a Supreme Court-ordered investigation that cleared Mr.Modi of legal culpability for the ri-ots. But for much of India’s 150 mil-lion-strong Muslim population, Mr.Modi’s name remains mud.

The candidate has tried to culti-vate a reputation as an icon of admin-istrative efficiency and personal pro-bity. He has cracked down on Hinduextremists in Gujarat guilty of break-ing the law. In a landmark speech inthe northern city of Patna in October,he declared that poor Hindus andMuslims should unite to fight theircommon enemy—poverty. His cam-paign eschews the Muslim-baiting thataccompanied the BJP’s rise to promi-nence in the 1990s. But while Mr.Modi may have tacked toward themoderate centre on inter-religiousmatters, you can’t say the same for his

Views From Abroad

party. The BJP remains an outfit whereminority baiting is more likely to earncommendation than reprimand. PartyMP Varun Gandhi, caught on tape us-ing unprintable epithets to describeMuslims in 2009, has since been pro-moted to general secretary. Last yearthe party admitted SubramanianSwamy, a former minister who wantsto disenfranchise Muslims who denyHindu ancestry, and who demands thatMuslims publicly apologize for the al-leged crimes of their forebears.

Every party in the world has itsshare of cranks, but respectable par-ties don’t generally make them lead-ers or allow them to spout off regu-larly on national television. If you askparty moderates about these egre-gious choices, they either justify thembased on short-term tactical calcula-tions or point to other parties thatpander to Muslim extremists. Outsid-ers tend to ascribe the problem to theHindu nationalist volunteer groupRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,which provides the BJP with muchof its leadership and many of its mostcommitted cadres. (Mr. Modi beganhis career as an RSS volunteer.)

Whatever the reason, this comfortwith Hindu society’s lunatic fringe hashurt BJP disproportionately. It nudgestalented Indians with no particular so-cialist bent—but also no particularhatred of Islam or Christianity—to-

ward the Congress Party or the brandnew Aam Aadmi (Common Man)Party. The result: a continued leftisttilt among India’s educated elites.

How might Mr. Modi prove thesceptics wrong? He can start byreaching out to talented Muslims,Christians and Parsis who share hiseconomic ideas. (In 2009, the BJPselected only three Muslim candi-dates to run for Parliament; Congresspicked 29.) Mr. Modi can refuse toshare platforms with hotheads andlean more on moderates such as theurbane leader of the opposition in theupper house of Parliament, ArunJaitley, and Goa Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar.

As Mr. Modi ramps up his cam-paign, it may be unrealistic to expecthim to address this problem directlyjust yet. But sooner or later he willhave to confront the extremistswithin his fold. By embracing mod-ern economic ideas and temperinghis own rhetoric toward Muslims, hehas begun the slow process of trans-forming the BJP into a modern con-servative party. But as long as it re-mains tolerant of intolerance in itsmidst, it will never become a main-stream alternative to Congress. Thewriter is a resident fellow at theAmerican Enterprise Institute.— Courtesy: The Wall StreetJournal

Sadanand Dhume

the respective goals of the TTPto reinforce its network and forthe rulers to complete pendingdeals in the pipeline?

Monday’s terror attack hasraised even more serious ques-tions. One, it shows that secu-

rity in the capital seems volatile; at-tacks like this are damaging the im-age of the state in the eyes of the citi-zens and the international communityrepresented by the diplomatic staff ofthe embassies in town. The diplomatsfeel rising insecurity and have re-ported this feeling home to their re-spective countries which is not a goodmessage to the world – especially notif we want them to come back to Pa-kistan and invest their money here.Therefore, the need for improvementof security in the capital city shouldbe one lesson taken from the incident.Failure of government to administerand ensure safety and security of citi-zen who are being attacked in thecourt premises, will rather create fearamong judicial officials, who are do-ing yeomen job of administering jus-tice, while their own court chambers

are not protected. History tells us thateven in Patiala it used to be muchbetter than this.

Secondly, this ugly incidentraises the question about the viabil-ity of the cease fire and the peace talkswith the Taliban. Already there arevoices that are saying something like‘we told you so’. But here the gov-ernment should stick to plan A: peaceis a necessary precondition for politi-cal and economic survival of Paki-stan. From the very beginning of thepeace talk plan there have been de-tractors to this on both sides of thefence and it had to be expected thatgiven any hick-up in the course theywould come out saying ‘we told youso…’ We should not listen to thosewho want revenge instead of nego-tiations. That is why peace talks haveto go ahead and the Prime Ministerhas done well to summon the gov-ernment negotiation team for decid-ing the next steps to hold marathonsessions to complete the talks expe-ditiously before the arrival of thedeadline. There is dire need for re-thinking about the concept of gover-

Runs. Then middle order crumbledas usual. When the Captain came tothe crease, the team was in deeptrouble, but he failed to steady theship. The job was left for UmarAkmal, and he delivered ironing thewrinkles. We must learn from eachdefeat and victory of the team. Umardid the Job as the finisher reachinghis century with a towering Six.

He should concentrate on the nextmatch with India. Our bowlers SaeedAjmal, Shahid Afridi and Hafeezbroke the camel’s back. We havelearnt a lesson from the match that aminnow can make the life difficultfor any team. Afghan team showedcourage, resilience, and determina-tion to fight. Pakistan on the otherhand not only won the match, butextra bonus point too.—Via email

ParliamentLodges

COL RIAZ JAFRI (RETD)

According to a news report after theChairman CDA removed the old Di-rector Parliament Lodges - probablyon account of MNA Dasti’s allega-tion - the newly appointed DirectorParliament Lodges politely declinedto assume the charge. That remindsme of an incident of about two de-cades ago – or may be even more. Iwas going to Rawalpindi fromIslamabad in my car and spotted agentleman standing near the KashmirHighway Toll Plaza as if waiting forsome transport.

I offer him a lift, which he thank-fully accepted. During our conversa-tion I was amazed to know that hewas the caretaker of the ParliamentLodges but didn’t own a car! Im-pressed by his honesty I asked himas to how did he find his job. TheGod fearing man touched his both earlobes and said, “Sir, kuch na poocheinkeh wahan kia kia kuch nahi hota”!(Sir, do not ask as to what all doesn’thappen there!) And, not only thatsome of the Parliamentarians evendecamp with the crested blankets andtowels, room refrigerators and airconditioners on vacating the roomsand that too without paying the accu-mulated rent of quite a few monthsand utility bills.—Rawalpindi

Let’s learn fromBrazlian model

SHUMAILA RAJA

Pakistan has a lot to learn from Bra-zil, its political history, the integrityof its leadership, democratic stabil-ity, rising economy, booming tourismand cultural cohesiveness, though thecountry still has miles to go towardsovercoming ethnic, racist and hetero-geneous cultural differences. Brazilis the largest country of SouthAmerica. Like North America, a Brit-ish colony, Brazil had also been acolony of the two European countries,Spain and then Portugal. These Por-tuguese settled there and founded sev-eral cities and many sugarcane plan-tations. In 19th and 20th centuries alarge number of Italians, Germans,Spaniards, Japanese and Portuguesemigrated to Brazil and settled there.They all developed it to become anemerging international power.

It became a world tourist spot.Politically it is of more economic in-terests alongside the Amazon wherenational riches such as gold mines arethe biggest attraction. So Brazil ismore European than any other Ameri-can country, most populous and moreprosperous in Latin America. After20 years of democracy, Brazil hasgrown stronger despite social, ethnicand racist problems. Its culture is richand diverse. Its economy is booming.It has the biggest soccer industry, pro-duced eminent football players, mu-sical bands and instruments. Last 20years of democracy has doubledBrazil’s international stature.

Robberies, theft, kidnappings,strife on ethnic and racist basis, andmany other ills had plagued Brazil, liketoday Pakistan is facing including ter-rorism. But the Brazilian leaders havenot only overcome such menaces, butthey have also succeeded in changingits outlook and altering its impressionin the eyes of the world. Because of

Lull before storm!

PAKISTAN is faced with numerous problems internallybut more serious externally.

The country is passing through mosttesting time of its history but our rul-ers continue display lack of priori-ties without realizing its conse-quences. At the moment there aretwo major issues, the terrorism andthe energy crisis.

Terrorism has taken away ourpeace of mind and people live instate of fear and terror forcing peopleto flee from Pakistan. The energycrisis have resulted in shutting downindustries, tremendous increase inunemployment, growing poverty, in-flation, and un checked price hikein day to day consumables, and in-dustrialists are shifting business toother countries

The media stands divided onbasic issues and are busy in push-ing their own or guided agendas.Freedom of press is being used andexploited suiting to personal agen-das without giving any consider-

ation to national interest. Some pri-vate TV channels are busy in set-tling personal scores throughprogrammes specially during primetime as a result people are gradu-ally losing interest in such uselessdiscussions and prefer to switch toforeign channels.

Take the case of government andTTP dialogue, basically a most seri-ous issue but the way this issue isdebated people are more confusedand fail to form some definite opin-ion or know exactly what is happen-ing on this most sensitive front.A se-lect group of media anchors not onlyholds prime time TV talk shows topromote their premediated ideas andskewed opinions on prnt and elec-tronic media. Some media anchorspose if they are the jack of all tradesand authority whereas in actual factmay not be aware about the geogra-phy of the FATA.

A foreigner posed very embar-rassing question when he com-mented that your nation is at war,people are being killed day andnight, target killing goes on un abet-ted, soldiers being slaughtered, In-dians killing Pakistani soldiers at Lo C, Indian army shooting unarmed

freedom fighters in Indian heldKashmir but your media is busy inairing glamorous programmes dur-ing morning shows and showing adspublicize products and celebritiesfrom India with extra elements ofnudity and eroticism, showing In-dian films un censored. Does this notbring shame to viewers? While this is happening an emailfrom TTP received agreeing toceasefire for 30 days with hope thatgovernment will also reciprocate inthe same manner. This ceasefire isalso backed up by various TTPgroups including Mohammand TTPfaction who slaughtered our 23 in-nocent soldiers and uploaded theirvideo on web site.

There are two schools ofthoughts about this ceasefire. Firstlyit is according to TTP bigger plan asafter army’s action they certainlyneeded respite and chalk out futurestrategy to re group themselves forfuture operation. Secondly TTPknows army shall never under takefull fledged operation in NorthWaziristan and shall restrict its ac-tion to surgical strikes on chosen tar-gets. There is no doubt lot of efforthas been put in by both the commit-

tees along with back door channeldiplomacy that has resulted inchange of attitude of TTP.

It is time instead of prolong-ing the talks; the governmentshould announce general amnestyto all TTP factions, to lay downtheir arms. Announce compensa-tion, reconstruct damaged proper-ties and let the affairs be run bythe tribesman as was the case inthe past. We must avoid action re-play in North Wazirstan as we cannot afford to place another threedivisions over there due to perma-nent threat from the east.what hap-pened in Swat, though army recaptured areas but can not moveout as it is beyond civil authori-ties to administer the area.

Till such time peace prevailsgovernment should put completeban on discussions, talk shows re-lated to on going talks between gov-ernment and TTP directly orthrough committees. Let us realizeour responsibilities instead of run-ning after ratings and both govern-ment and media should keep an eyeon the lull before storm—The writer is Karachi-basedpolitical analyst.

I REMEMBER the long discussion on younger men gettingmarried to older women a few

years ago, “Abhishek andAishwarya Rai are getting mar-ried!” shouted the wife reading themorning papers that day, “Howsweet they look together! Chochweet!” “She’s thirty three, he’sthirty one!” I say gruffly. “Don’tthey look happy?” “She’s thirtythree!” I say again, “And he’s thirtyone!” “Yes, I know!”

There was a bit of flutter in my housea few weeks later when an aunt anduncle who were visiting announcedwith looks of disapproval that theirclose friend Meenakshi was gettingmarried again.

“Who’s Meenakshi?” I asked.“The one who waves her hands whenshe talks and acts like an eighteen yearold!” said the wife looking at my auntand uncle who nodded affirmatively.“Is she divorcing her first husband?”I asked. “He’s dead!”

“Her second husband?” “He’salso dead!” “So this is her third?”“You can count can’t you Bob!” saidthe wife to me as she looked at myaunt and uncle who looked back ather sympathetically. “Yeah!” I said,“glad you noticed! So what’s wrong

in a third if the other two are dead?”“She’s seventy eight!”

“Wow!” I said. “And he’s onlyforty!” “Just touching forty!” saidboth aunt and uncle together. “Wow!”I said again. The aunt and unclelooked at the wife who shook herhead and they nodded again sympa-thetically. “Hey what’s going on?” Iasked. “You seem to approve of anolder woman marrying a youngerman?” asked the aunt.

“Good for her!” I said. “And youwould do the same thing?” asked thewife. “Never!” I said vehemently.“Oh Bob thank you!” “Not as longas you’re around!” I completed.“Boo hoo!” wept the wife as the auntand uncle nodded at each otherknowingly. And then that morning

she shouted as she read the morn-ing papers “Abhishek andAishwarya are getting married!How sweet they look together!”“She’s thirty three, he’s thirtyone!” I say. “Don’t they lookhappy?” “She’s thirty three!” I sayagain, “And he’s thirty one!” “Yes,I know!”

“So how come things havechanged from the time aunt anduncle visited us?” I ask angrily.“Oh Bob!” I’m sorry!” “Its okay!”I say sweetly, “I guess you real-ized as long as I’m happy, it’s finewith you huh?” “Nah!” she said,“imagine getting someone likeAbhishek after you’re gone..!”“Boo-hoo..!” I cried.—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

nance, partisan cadre in bureaucracyand dynastic political ideology pro-motion should stop forthwith, themuch talked about charter of democ-racy should be scrapped because in-stead of creating political and na-tional harmony it has rather workedto destroy what was left in our so-called democratic system. A free forall has been established with engi-neered elections in which the care-taker Chief Minister was heard tell-ing the PML (N) leader that 35 punc-tures have been done in his favour.

Law and order and security ofthe lives and properties of the citi-zens as well as bringing to justicethose who disturb it is a core task ofthe Pakistan state, actually of anystate in the world. That is why thepeace talks have to go on. One monthis a short time and we should notdrag our feet. Many more obstaclesare going to come into our way be-fore the tricky road of peace talkswith the Taliban can reach some kindof destination. God bless Pakistan.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

Mukhtar Ahmed ButtEmail:colmabutt39@hotmail.com

this, Brazil attracts a huge number oftourists every year. Its Santa Catarinastate and Salvador have the highestnumbers of tourists and equally high-est number of tourist spots, restaurantsand hotels. Western roots of Brazilianculture are largely European, espe-cially Iberian, who have adopted amore American urban way of life. Bra-zilian society and its educational sys-tem are inspired by the French. Dryand pleasant weather is also big rea-son of tourists’ visits. They prefer tovisit Brasilia, Florianopolis, Fortaleza,Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio deJaneiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo,where tourists destinations likeAmazonia, Chapada Diamantina Na-tional Park, Chapada dos Veadeiros,Fernando de Noronha, Ilha Grande,Iguacu Falls, Ilha do Marajo, LencoiseMaranhenses and Pantanal wetlandsattract the tourists most.

Since Premier Nawaz Sharif isdetermined to make Pakistan a re-gional giant, he must learn lessons,and pick positives from Latin Ameri-cans. Once he emerges successful inannihilating terrorism, for which thenation must stand shoulder to shoul-der with him, he must then focus on,among other things, Pakistan’s tour-ism industry, which could have beenexploited much earlier. Pakistan af-ter all has the richest ever touristspots in the world.—Rawalpindi

Anti-HIV/AIDSagents

TASSAWAR ALI RANA

In Pakistan estimated 100,000 peopleare suffering from HIV/Aids, andnew cases of HIV/Aids also increas-ing. In Pakistan where society ismostly governed by conservativenorms, the people are creating hurdlesin changing minds. In this scenarioour society has only few Anti-HIV/Aids agent ORWs (outreach worker)- the real change agents. The ORWsare providing services to affected cli-ents, they regularly travel to differ-ent spots for providing harm reduc-tion services.

The HIV/Aids clients in Pakistanare mostly the IDUs (injected drugusers) and they belong to both urbanand rural areas of country and manyclients also live in very remote andtough areas. The ORWs way of work-ing is very polite and caring with theaffected people and they try to trans-form change in client’s behaviour andattitude. The working on HIV/Aidsprevention and harm reduction prac-tice is biggest challenge in Pakistaniculture, and the ORWs are facing thischallenge with strong commitments.There are many harmful practices,which form the cause of HIV/Aidsin Pakistan; syringe sharing and un-safe safe sex practices are the maincause of HIV/Aids’ spreading in Pa-kistan. The work of anti HIV AidsAgents is to reduce these practicesand improve their lives with goodservices they are providing.

Few organizations are workingon HIV/Aids, and Rutgers WPF isone of the popular organization work-ing on harm reduction practice andHIV/Aids prevention. The core com-ponent of Rutgers WPF HARPproject is to provide service to HIV/Aids reactive clients and createawareness among IDUs (injecteddrug users) who are at highest risk.The organization is working in con-servative communities of three dif-ferent distracts of Pakistan Jehlum,Gujrat and Kasur. Working in theconservative communities is a chal-lenging job for the organization. TheRutgers WPF ORWs and other teammembers are the real heroes for pro-viding different services to HIV/Aidsreactive clients.—Islamabad

A Ukrainian serviceman (R) stands next to armed men, believed to be Russian troops, inside a Ukrainian military base in the Crimean town of Yevpatoria.

From Cuba to Ukraine

Internally displaced South Sudanese people wait for a water delivery from a United Na-tions mission in Malakal.

JUBA—Five soldiers diedwhen heavy fighting broke outin the main military barracks inwar-torn South Sudan’s capitalJuba on Wednesday, underscor-ing serious tensions within thenational army as it battles arebel uprising. Fierce gunfirelasting two hours was heardcoming from the main barracksnear Juba University, home tothe presidential guards andother elite troops, from 9:30 am(0630 GMT).

The government playeddown the violence as resultingfrom a “misunderstanding”over pay. Army spokesmanMalak Ayuen told AFP five sol-diers had been killed and thatthose found responsible wouldface a court martial. “It’s un-fortunate that this morningfighting ensued among thecommandos themselves oversalary,” he said.

“What happened was amisunderstanding among thecommandos and it ended intheir unit.” According to inde-pendent Tamazuj radio, thefighting started after soldiersargued with a military paycommittee. Other local mediacarried unconfirmed reportsthat the fighting broke out be-tween guards loyal to PresidentSalva Kiir and a commandounit under top general GatwechGai.

The US embassy in Jubaissued a statement advisingpeople to stay indoors as hun-dreds of terrified residentsflooded the main church in

Fighting breaks out in SouthSudan army barracks

Juba, fearing a major outbreakof violence. “When the fight-ing started we immediately ranto the church for protection,”said Annet Sitima, a localwoman.

The conflict in SouthSudan started in the capitalJuba under similar circum-stances nearly three monthsago amid tensions within theruling party between PresidentKiir and former vice presidentRiek Machar. The December15 clashes, which spilt thearmy along ethnic lines,quickly spread across the coun-try.

Since the initial week offighting in Juba, the capital hasbeen largely calm and key in-stallations have been guardedby Ugandan troops, who inter-vened in the conflict in supportof President Kiir. Fighting be-tween the national army and therebels — made up of defectorsand ethnic militia — has beencentred around the towns ofBor, Malakal and Bentiu fur-ther north.

The unrest in South Sudan,the world’s newest nation whichwon independence fromKhartoum in 2011, has left thou-sands dead and has displacedclose to 900,000 people, includ-ing tens of thousands who havecrammed into UN bases in fearof ethnic attacks. The govern-ment and rebels signed aceasefire on January 23, but thetruce has seen frequent viola-tions — including a rebel assaulton Malakal.—AFP

TIM COLLARD

Historians and journalists, especially in the English-speaking world, are fond of swooping on a coincidence of datesand making speculative connections, providing intellec-

tual depth to good stories and clever comments. It is not surpris-ing, therefore, that comparisons are being drawn between thecurrent international situation and that in 1914, on the eve ofWorld War I. The comparison acquires a new significance, how-ever, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe starts applyingit in earnest, attributing to China the position occupied by impe-rial Germany a century ago. One should know better than tocompare the ways of Europe and East Asia, for there are toomany historical, geographical and cultural differences. So howmuch attention should we pay to Abe’s remarks?

The comparison works like this: following its unification,Germany had become a fast-growing economic power, ratherlike China today, but one which was yet to carve out a clearlyrecognized role in its region. In the 19th century, the dominantpowers of Europe were Britain, France and Russia, and Ger-many was keen to claim equal status. Germany, like China inrecent years, felt that it was getting too little respect from othercountries; it wanted equality of esteem, its own “place in thesun”. Thus some parallels can be made: the role to be played byChina in the region and the world, commensurate with its sizeand power, has not yet become clear, leading to apprehensionsof how China’s potential might be exercised. And there doesexist in China a widespread sense of grievance, the feeling ofnot being treated as an equal by the United States, and of coursethe historical animus against imperial Japan.

In imperial Germany, this grievance took the form of a pow-erful arms build-up, particularly on the seas. Germany desired tocatch up with Britain, the greatest naval power of the age. China’sdeployment of the aircraft carrier Liaoning may appear similarlymotivated, but it is not clearly aimed at any other specific majorpower - more at bringing its military capability up to a levelcommensurate with China’s aspirations for strictly regional powerprojection. And this is where the differences between 1914 and2014 become apparent. Of course, other countries will worry aboutthe rapid strengthening of the armed forces of a neighbor, particu-larly given the number of minor regional disputes. And that cer-tainly applies to many of China’s neighbors, particularly in the SouthChina Sea region. But the early 20th-century German buildup hadvery clearly defined targets. The expansion of the navy was intendedto match and thereby neutralize British sea power, whereas thestrengthening and reorganization of the German army was aimedspecifically at following up the 1870 victory over France. Besides,German diplomacy tried to ensure (unsuccessfully as it turned out)that Russia would remain neutral, leaving Germany free to concen-trate on the campaign against France without any threat in the rear.

The use of this comparison is twofold for Japan. The first is towarn the Western powers, the successors of Kaiser Wilhelm’s oppo-nents, of the so-called dangers China’s position and policies pose topeace. And the second is to underpin Japan’s own current strategy.Japan has already made some unusual moves in regional diplomacy.The Abe government is attempting to strengthen relations with In-dia and even Russia. Perhaps this can be interpreted as a signal thatJapan seeks to follow the strategy of the Anglo-French entente inthe years before 1914, and ensure that, if China becomes aggres-sive, it will need to watch out on more than one front.

But the circumstances which led Europe into war in 1914simply do not exist in East Asia in 2014. Despite the eternalquarrels and mistrust between China and Japan, one cannot con-ceive of China’s military buildup as a detailed plan for invasionand conquest. Also, China has shown no sign of resolving theKorean Peninsula issue by force. Insofar as China can be seen tohave any proactive military intentions, they would seem to belimited to creating an unchallengeable fait accompli around thevarious disputed islands in the region. Another vital difference isthat East Asia lacks the network of alliances which drew oneEuropean country after another into war in 1914. There are nosecurity alliances in the Asia-Pacific region except bilateral trea-ties involving the US, and the US is certainly not going to getdragged into hostilities without an extremely compelling rea-son. So East Asia can breathe easily; there will be no re-run ofeither world wars in 2014.

—Courtesy China Daily

1914 and raising astorm in a teacup

HAZEL HENDERSON

Providing water for our still growing human population isreaching crisis levels. Water is vital for agriculture, energyproduction and industrial processes worldwide. Floods and

droughts in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the United Statesaccompanied unprecedented typhoons and winter storms. Whilenone could be linked directly to climate change, the debate sur-faced. Mainstream media started covering these issues morebroadly. The Earth’s surface is largely covered with water. So,why has the world’s attention focused on the three percent offresh water on our planet, on water management, pollution, wasteand recycling? Yet 97 percent of the water on Earth is saline:oceans, salty lakes and brackish wetlands ignored in most policy,finance, business and public debates!

At last, unnoticed research on the 10,000 salt-loving halo-phyte plants which grow in deserts and thrive on seawater iscoming to light. I have long reported on saline agriculture, not-ing that halophyte plants can provide humans with food, fibre,edible oils and biofuels. Indeed, the only biofuels that meet ethi-cal criteria are those based on algae grown on seawater. Today,as water-related risks reach crisis levels, they are changing tradi-tional risk analysts’ focus on financial risk. In the World Eco-nomic Forum’s Global Risk in 2014, water rose to third placebehind fiscal crises in key economies and structurally high un-employment/underemployment. The United Nations GeneralAssembly Open Working Group on Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) cited water and drought issues high on its agendawhile many countries’ delegates voted to make oceans a stand-alone focus of the SDGs.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) pro-vides a welcome global focus on the needed transition to renew-able energy, many forms of which will conserve water and pro-vide better methods of desalination and treatment. Fossil-fueledand nuclear power plants are prodigious gulpers of water, an-other reason for the shift to renewables. Additional risk factorsfocus on the rising ocean levels and acidification as CO2 emis-sions are absorbed by oceans which are heating faster than pre-vious models predicted. This led to renewed interest in oceanthermal differentials as a source of electricity along with oceancurrents and wave energy technologies.

Embracing this broader view, the 14th Delhi SustainableDevelopment Summit connected the dots in February 2014 asAttaining Energy, Water and Food Security for All. The Interna-tional Conference on Sustainability in the Water-Energy-FoodNexus, May 19-20, 2014 in Bonn, Germany, takes the same sys-tems approach. The Earth Systems Science programme at NASAis the most comprehensive approach to understanding how ourplanet processes the daily free photons from the Sun, throughthe atmosphere and ocean currents, which combined with geo-thermal energy from its core, create the conditions for life onEarth. None of these hazardous forms of energy are needed!Humanity can now stop digging up the Earth and look up har-vesting the free photons from our Sun as green plants do, pro-viding our food. Let’s now green our desert areas, growing salt-loving crops using abundant land, salt waters and sunlight. Letsaccelerate the global transition, to the more equitable, knowl-edge-rich, cleaner, greener economies now within our grasp!

—Courtesy Inter Press Service

Water, water, everywhere:To green our deserts

ABDULATEEF AL-MULHIM

It was during the Operation Desert Stormand the subsequent liberation of Kuwaitfrom the Iraqi invaders in 1991 that the

world for the first time saw the devastatingresult of massive armed conflicts in the re-cent history. People around the world realizedthat differences could never be resolvedthrough invasions and that armed conflictscannot help end hostilities. After tackling theIraqi invaders, the world appeared to be head-ing to a new era of lasting peace and harmony.The world was marching toward a new pe-riod of stability and bracing for a new worldorder.

The 90s saw the dismantling of the BerlinWall, collapse of the Soviet Union, rise ofChina, massive expansion of communicationtechnology and the Internet. It was duringthose days when the issue of global warmingstarted gathering pace. Within a short span,the world turned into a global village where

everybody got closer to each other and peoplegot to know others better. The most importantchange that occurred as a result of various po-litical events across the globe was the emergenceof the United States as the sole superpower ofthe world. Perhaps, this was the first time in thehistory of mankind that the world became uni-polar. With the dissolution of the USSR, manycountries and regions forged new alliances withthe NATO and the then nascent European Union.

It was a time when the US and Russia camecloser, and the past hostilities ended and theworld saw the dismantling of many nuclearweapons. During the 90s, Russia stood asidewhen the Americans were attacking the histori-cal Russian ally, the Serbs. But, did the old guardin Moscow forget the humiliation? The answeris: No. They didn’t. So, the question is why theRussians are showing defiance to the Americansnow in face of the Ukrainian crisis? Is it be-cause the Russians see weakness in the Ameri-can positions? The Americans are very hesitanton many crucial issues such as the Syrian upris-

ing?Currently the world is facing many conflicts

but the Ukrainian crisis is unique in nature.People across the globe are holding their breath,as the situation is a grim reminder of the Cubanmissile crisis of the 60s. The Ukrainian issuehas resurrected ghosts of the Cold War with theWest led by the United States set to lock hornswith Russia. The situation is volatile with Rus-sian forces on a high alert and their Ukrainiancounterparts readying themselves for a possibleonslaught. The West is also carefully monitor-ing the situation and is reportedly prepared todeal with any situation. It would not be an ex-aggeration to say that if the situation gets ugly,the entire world will be in disarray.

Ukraine is a country covering an area thesize of the American state of Texas with a popu-lation of about 50 million people. Ukraine is acountry, which can be one of the breadbasketsof our planet. It is the world’s third country ingrain export. This highly industrialized countryhas witnessed a number of political and eco-

nomic upheavals since its independence fromthe USSR in 1991.

Ukraine is the lifeline between Russia andEurope with natural gas pipelines runningthrough it. But whatever the reason for the cur-rent conflict, people on this plant now deservepeace and harmony, not wars and atrocities.The world saw the immediate consequencesof the Ukrainian crisis even before outbreakof real hostilities and confrontation. The worldstock markets plunged, oil and gold pricesstarted to fluctuate and this will have othereffects on the life of many people. The UnitedStates and Russia must resort to peacefulmeans to end the conflict in Ukraine and theUkrainian people must be given the power todecide their fate without any foreign interven-tion or pressure. Ukraine is country that cancontribute to the world, so, give the country abreak to recover from the internal unrest. Wemust learn from history and realize that fight-ing has never resolved any issue.

—Courtesy Arab News

KIEV—US and Russian top diplomats headed for cru-cial talks on Ukraine Wednesday as the EU unveiledan aid package worth at least 11 billion euros to sup-port the country’s new pro-Western leaders. The talksin Paris to defuse the worst East-West stand-off sincethe Cold War came as pro-Moscow forces seized partof two missile bases in Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula,although all missiles remained in Ukrainian hands.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s SergeiLavrov were meeting for the first time since Ukraine’sMoscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych wasousted late last month after three months of protests whichleft nearly 100 dead. US President Barack Obama saidTuesday Russia was “not fooling anyone” after it claimedit had no troops operating in Crimea, where pro-Russianforces have taken control.

Lavrov reiterated its claim on Wednesday, say-ing: “If they are the self-defence forces created bythe inhabitants of Crimea, we have no authority overthem. They do not receive our orders.” But while step-

US-Russia talks on Ukraine as EU backs massive aidping up diplomatic pressure Washington — with thesupport of European heavyweights France, Germanyand Britain — is also seeking to offer PresidentVladimir Putin a way out of the crisis in the ex-So-viet state.

But Obama also spoke to German ChancellorAngela Merkel Tuesday and agreed on the importanceof a “de-escalation” with the deployment of interna-tional observers and the start of talks between Mos-cow and Kiev, a US official said. “De-escalation” onthe Russian side would include its troops going backinside their bases in Crimea, home to Russia’s BlackSea naval fleet since the 18th century, the officialadded.

Russian doubts on the legitimacy of Kiev’s in-terim government would be resolved by electionsplanned for May. A diplomatic source told AFPWednesday that 15 member states of the Organiza-tion for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE),including the United States, have agreed to send mili-

tary observers to Ukraine.The EU’s biggest powers, France and Germany,

want “very firm” steps against Putin while movingtowards talks, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabiussaid. Merkel called on Russia not to do anything todestabilise the situation, after Putin insisted onRussia’s right to use “all available means” there.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton indefi-nitely postponed a Kiev trip but was to meet Westernand Ukrainian leaders in Brussels and Paris ahead ofan emergency Brussels summit. Announcing the cru-cial aid package for Ukraine, European Commissionpresident Jose Manuel Barroso said it was “designedto assist a committed, inclusive and reforms-orientedUkrainian government.”

He will discuss details in Brussels Thursday withinterim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who willbe attending the EU summit called to resolve a crisisfirst sparked by Yanukovych’s scrapping of a keypartnership deal with the bloc.—AFP

BEIJING—China’s government responded topublic demands for bold leadership with vowsWednesday to press long-sought market reforms,defend against terrorism after a horrific slashingattack, and heavily boost military spending amidrising tensions with Japan. The promises deliv-ered by Premier Li Keqiang in his first annualpolicy speech also included cutting official waste,combatting persistent smog and pushing aheadwith President Xi Jinping’s signature campaignto fight the rampant graft that has underminedpublic faith in the ruling Communist Party.

China announced a 12.2 percent increase inmilitary spending to $132 billion. That followedlast year’s 10.7 percent increase to $114 billion,giving China the second-highest defense bud-get for any nation behind the United States,

China vows tough reforms, stronger defensewhich spent $600.4 billion on its military lastyear. Increases in China’s military budget haveregularly exceeded both total increases in gov-ernment spending and the nation’s rate of eco-nomic growth. That has allowed lavish spend-ing on new hardware and better conditions forsoldiers, raising concerns about how China in-tends to use its new-found power amid a rise intensions with Japan over uninhabited islands inthe East China Sea.

Li emphasized that China’s many ethnicgroups were all “equal members of the Chinesenation,” an indirect response to frequent com-plaints by minority Uighurs and Tibetans thatthey are discriminated against for jobs, passportsand bank loans and unfairly subject to intensesurveillance.—AP

Iran’s Guard statesit has multiple

warhead missilesTEHRAN—Iran’s powerfulRevolutionary Guard onWednesday said it had acquiredmissiles with multiple war-heads, the latest armaments ad-vance to be claimed by the Is-lamic Republic. At a ceremonyWednesday, Defense MinisterHossein Dehghan presented adelivery of four types of ballis-tic missiles — named Qiam,Qadr H1, Fateh-110 and PersianGulf. The Qadr H1 and Qiam,he said, are equipped with mul-tiple warheads, greatly boostingtheir destructive power.

“These missiles are able tohit and destroy enemy targetswith precision, and they meeta variety of the armed forces’needs,” Dehghan said. “Theweapons have strengthenedIran’s deterrence power andmilitary might,” he added, incomments were posted on theGuard’s website. Iran regularlyannounces breakthroughs inmilitary technology that areimpossible to independentlyverify. But the Pentagon re-leased a rare public report in2012 noting significant ad-vances in Iranian missile tech-nology, acknowledging thatTehran has improved their ac-curacy and firing capabilities.

Dehghan said Western sanc-tions have not stopped Iran fromboosting its ability to deter itsenemies, a reference to Israeland the U.S. “Comprehensivesanctions enforced strictly byenemies ... didn’t cause theslightest crack in our determi-nation and will,” he said. Manyof Iran’s missiles use solid fuel,or a combination of both solidand liquid fuel, improving theaccuracy of the weapons.

Qiam, Fars said, was spe-cifically built to target U.S.bases in the region, which hesaid have encircled Iran. Witha range of 800 kilometers, the6-ton missile has been de-scribed in Iranian media as ush-ering in a new era of ballisticmissile production for thecountry. The liquid-fuel Qiamis 16 meters long and its war-head has a weight of 746 kilo-grams, Fars added.—AP

North Korea holdselection, Kim Jong

Un runs inlegendary district

SEOUL—North Korea, ac-cused of human rights viola-tions, elects its largely sym-bolic parliament this weekend,with leader Kim Jong Un, thethird in his family dynasty torule the totalitarian state, run-ning unopposed in a legendarymountain district. State newsagency KCNA said on Thurs-day that election preparationswere “gaining momentum”,with voters confirming theirnames on electoral lists for theballot held every five years.

“Agitation activities are go-ing on to encourage citizens totake active part in the electionwith high political enthusiasmand labor feats, amid the play-ing of ‘Song of the election,’”KCNA reported. North Koreans,it said, sought to “demonstrateonce again the might of single-minded unity by casting ballotsfor their candidates”.

North Korea stands ac-cused by a U.N. report issuedthis month of torture and kill-ings comparable to Nazi-eraatrocities. The North’s Su-preme People’s Assembly isempowered by law to approvethe budget and make seniorappointments, including to thepowerful National DefenceCommission. Kim Jong Il, whodied of a heart attack in 2011,held a seat in the outgoing as-sembly and was expected toremain as a member.—Reuters

ture. Regional Director ofthe Allama Iqbal Open Uni-versity (AIOUS) MianMohammad Aslam was hitby one bullet in his head.His clerk Kamran Ali re-ceived four bullet wounds.

PIMS spokesperson DrAyesha along with the Ad-ministrator Dr Altaf address-ing a news briefing told me-dia Wednesday that thebody parts of the assailantswere brought in plasticbags. “We are dispatchingthem to the laboratory forDNA test tomorrow (Thurs-day). Seeing the gravity ofthe situation, two radiolo-gists will jointly prepare theirfinal report,” she said.

Judge RafaqatAwan

From Page 1

militant’s sabotage activities and they con-tinued to target the men in uniform.

It may be recalled, that in response tothe militant’s activities specially targetingthe forces, the PAF planes had poundedareas in Hangu on February 22 killing atleast six trouble makers. None of the orga-nization has owned the responsibility theWednesday’s attack on the FC convoy.The security forces are reported to havekicked off search operation in the regionto hunt the miscreants.

In the meanwhile the North WaziristanAgency political administration onWednesday imposed curfew in most partsof the agency including Tehsil Mir Ali,Miranshah, Datta Khel, Razmak and Dosalifor an indefinite period of time while secu-rity forces were given shoot-on-sight or-

FC convoy attacked inHangu amid peace talks

From Page 1

ders against violators.The local administration made an an-

nouncement through loudspeakers regard-ing the curfew and shoot-on sight ordersagainst those violating the curfew.

According to reports, the securityforces were patrolling the streets whilesecurity has been tightened at all entry andexit points.

The residents were forced to wait tillrelaxation or lifting of curfew. Theresidentswere faced with a number of prob-lems as School, colleges and all the officesremained closed in the agency. The resi-dents are demanding of the political ad-ministration to inform them on time in caseof relaxation in curfew so that they couldresume their activities and normal life couldbe started.

port police station,” the investigationofficer confirmed, adding that “Whenwe complete over investigation, Rang-ers took him back in its custody.”

“A JIT has been formed to inter-rogate Muhammad Javed,” Senior Su-perintendent of Police (SSP) Investi-gation East Munir Sheikh said. “Thesaid person is currently in custody ofPakistan Rangers for 90 days for in-vestigation,” Sheikh said, adding that“Once JIT completes its report then Iwill be in better position to respond toyou.”

“The arrested person was servingas a security guard of the varsity since2006,” KU Advisor to Vice Chancellor(VC) on Security Affairs Prof Dr KhalidIraqi confirmed. “We have not yetbeen informed by any law enforcementagency that he has been arrested,”

Law enforcers arrest key manFrom Page 1

Prime Minister addedthat we are offering severalincentives for investmentin power sector. He toldthat the MoU with Qatar onimport of LNG and US $ 1billion investment by ADBin Jamshoro Power genera-tion project are clear mani-festations of foreign inves-tors trust in thegovernment’s pro-invest-ment policies.—INP

ANC DubaiFrom Page 1

operates all drones flyingover Yemen in support ofSanaa’s campaign againstAl Qaeda and has killeddozens of militants in asharply intensified cam-paign in the past year.

Drone strikes have trig-gered criticism from rightsactivists, who say theyhave claimed the lives ofmany innocent civilians.

The United Nationssaid 16 civilians were killedand at least 10 woundedwhen two separate wed-ding processions were tar-geted by drones in early

Drone strike killsFrom Page 1

A joint statement from the three coun-tries claimed Qatar failed to commit “to theprinciples” of the GCC. A security agree-ment signed last year by the GCC focusedon cooperation in the exchange of infor-mation and tracking down of criminals andthose who broke the law.

Joseph Kechichian, Senior Fellow atthe King Faisal center for Research & Is-lamic Studies in Riyadh, told Al Jazeerathat this goes beyond a regional disputeon a security pact because Qatar supportsthe pact.

Expert says this is much bigger than aregional dispute “This reflects a funda-mental political difference of opinionwithin the GCC, primarily between Qataralone as one country, and the other fiveover the Muslim Brotherhood situation,not just in the GCC region, but also inEgypt which has been during the past sev-eral years - the bete noire- of the ArabSpring,” the Gulf expert said.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, BahrainFrom Page 1

The statement said GCC members hadsigned an agreement on November 23 notto back “anyone threatening the securityand stability of the GCC whether as groupsor individuals - via direct security work orthrough political influence, and not to sup-port hostile media.” GCC foreign ministershad met in Riyadh on Tuesday to try topersuade Qatar to implement the agree-ment, it said.

“But unfortunately, these efforts didnot result in Qatar’s agreement to abideby these measures, which prompted thethree countries to start what they saw asnecessary, to protect their security andstability, by withdrawing their ambassa-dors from Qatar starting from today, March5 2013,” the statement said.

The move is thought to be unprec-edented in the three-decade history of theGCC, a pro-Western alliance of SaudiArabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE andOman.—INP

Iraqi claimed.“However, we have come to know

from reliable sources that he was ar-rested by the law enforcers in ongo-ing targeted operation in the metropo-lis for killing number of people,” Iraqimaintained. “We are waiting that any-one from law enforcement agencies orfrom his family contact us and in-formed us about his whereabouts,” headded.

“We have submitted a report toDeputy Registrar General (DRG) thatthe said security guard is not attend-ing the office since November 16,2013,” the security advisor said, add-ing “The DRG office has closed hissalary account and send a show causenotice at his residence for disappear-

ing from the office without any priornotice.”

“Arrest of a varsity guard on ac-count of target killing is not less thana shock,” KU VC Prof Dr MuhammadQaiser said. “I have investigated thematter by myself and I have come toknow that the guards, who were hiredfor providing security inside the cam-pus, were appointed without verifica-tion from law enforcement agencies,”the VC disclosed.

“The VC said, to address securityissues inside the campus, we havedecided to hire some guards and wehave decided that from now no guardwould be appointed without verifica-tion from law enforcement agencies,”he vowed. “As far as MuhammadJaved is concerned, we are trying toget his updates to decide his case.”

Dr Zakhilwal shared hisAfghanistan’s desire forearly completion of thepower project and hopedfor the success of forth-coming Pakistan-Tajikistantariff negotiations. The Af-ghan minister and said hiscountry is eager to provideits help and facilitation forCASA-1000 Project.

December.The victims had been

mistakenly identified asmembers of Al Qaeda, theUN quoted local securityofficials as saying at thetime.

Following the deaths,Yemen’s parliament votedfor a ban on drone strikes,but analysts say lawmak-ers have limited powersand are unlikely to have animpact on Washington’scampaign.

The United States saysthat drones are an essen-tial part of its “war on ter-ror”.

Yemen is the ancestralhome of Osama bin Ladenand the home base of AlQaeda in the Arabian Pen-insula (AQAP), whichWashington views as thejihadist network’s mostdangerous franchise.—AP

Dar dispelsAfghan worries

From Page 1

Islamabad two days earlier also appearedto have been linked to the same issue.Musharraf’s lawyers told the court that pro-testing the court attack in Islamabad, barcouncils had decided to boycott court pro-ceedings until March 9 and all lawyers weresubordinate to their instructions Rana Ijaz,one of Musharraf’s lawyers, informed thecourt that he has received credible reportsthat the special court will be attacked.

He stated that it was not just the three-member bench, led by Justice Faisal Arab,that would be targeted, but three ofMusharraf’s advocates are also in danger.Justice Arab responded to these reports,stating that they could not halt legal pro-ceedings based on threats. He said that hehad spoken to the inspector general andcommissioner of Islamabad for around anhour on March 4 and they had assuredhim that the court is secure.

Justice Faisal Arab remarked thatjudges are facing risk of attack too and ameeting in this regard was held with theLaw Secretary, IG and Chief Commissioneras well. Mansoor revealed that he wasstopped at gunpoint by two men in Karachiand he was no longer in the frame of mindto plead this case.

Justice Arab inquired from Mansoor ifhe could recommend a better security so-

Defence lawyers face Taliban threatFrom Page 1

lution to which he replied that he wouldhave to think over the matter. Mansooralso told the court that he was not pro-vided with security despite the court’searlier orders to which Justice Arab repliedthat he had refused the security on hisown. Another lawyer for Musharraf, RanaIjaz, warned the court that it would also beattacked and all the three judges and chiefprosecutor Akram Sheikh would be blownup.

After hearing this, Justice Arab re-sponded that though dangers existednothing could be done about it and thecase could not be stopped in order to waitfor a suitable time over the threats. Kasuriclaimed that if anything were to happen tohim the Sharif brothers would be held re-sponsible adding that he had taken oneprime minister to the gallows and wouldbring the Sharif brothers as well.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Akram Sheikhsaid that he would continue his struggleagainst terrorism. Akram Sheikh arguedthat his all sympathies are with the legalfraternity but courts keep working duringwars as well.

He further said that he was not underany fear with regard to the letter and thathis motive was only to inform the court re-garding the development.—INP

Irfan Siddiqui while his teamcomprised of RahimullahYousafzai, Rustam ShahMohmand and Major (retd)Amir with the Taliban-nomi-nated team comprisingMaulana Samiul Haq,Maulana Yousuf Shah andProfessor Ibrahim.

The contact betweenGovernment and the Talibancommittees was establishedafter a pause of more thanthree weeks as the peacetalks were deadlocked fol-lowing the incidents of ter-rorism specially the an-nouncement by theMohmand chapter of Talibanto massacre 23 FC personalscausing serious blow to theembryonic negotiation pro-cess between the govern-ment and the Taliban mili-tants,. This was forced thegovernment to come into ac-tion as the PAF war birdsthen pounded the militant’spositions for continuous fivedays in North Waziristan,agency Tiraah valley inKhyber agency and Hangumowing down more thaneighty trouble makers. Infact,a stage had come when tothe joy of those opposingthe peace talks, the chanceof negotiation had almostvanished as they had lost

Peace talks enter decisive modeFrom Page 1

significance following thedisplay of aggressive behav-ior from both the sides.

Following meeting onWednesday, Irfan Siddiquitold reporters that dialogueprocess now entered newphase. “We have moved tonew phase wherein we haveto take some important de-cisions”. He said addingTaliban committee has alsorequested for a meetingwith the prime minister. Hesaid the government com-mittee will facilitate in ar-ranging the meeting de-pending upon engagementsof the prime minister.

About future of thepeace committees with par-ticular reference to MajorAmir’s suggestion of dis-solving the present commit-tees, Siddiqui said that thefact they were here to holdtoday’s meeting means thatcommittees are functional.Any decision to make anychange in the committee orto dissolve the committeewill be taken by the govern-ment. Irfan Siddiqui, how-ever, said he had told PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif dur-ing meeting on Tuesdaythat in order to make the dia-logue process more effec-

the region,” the State De-partment said in its annualbudget proposals to theCongress.

“Developing an endur-ing and collaborative rela-tionship with an increas-ingly stable and prosperousPakistan that plays a con-structive role in the regionwill therefore continue to bea priority for the UnitedStates,” the State Depart-ment said proposing USD100 million to Pakistan un-der the Economic SupportFund (ESF) for the fiscal year2015.—Online

US plansFrom Page 1

tive, useful and result ori-ented, they may have to gofor changing the strategy.

Maulana Samiul Haq,who read out a joint state-ment following the meeting,said that after successful firstround of talks there was aneed to adopt a comprehen-sive strategy to carry for-ward the process for mean-ingful resolution of the issue.

He said that Taliban havedisowned the Islamabad dis-trict court attacks this week,adding Taliban have saidthey have never heard ofAhrarul Hind – an unknownmilitant group that claimedresponsibility for the attacks.Haq said that Taliban them-selves are investigating toknow whereabouts of thatmilitant group, adding en-emies of peace will continueto make their attempts tosabotage the process.

“We will have to dealwith the situation with pa-tience”. Maulana empha-sized. He also called uponboth Taliban as well as theGovernment to be on thesame page in exposing thethird force that was hell bentto disrupt and sabotage thepeace talks and did not wantthe restoration of peace inthe region.

ain in 1947, has often beenmarred by violence and bal-lot-rigging.

Running on his strongeconomic track record aschief minister of Gujarat,Modi has emerged in opin-ion polls as the favourite,reflecting popular angerover corruption and a sensethat the centre-left Congressgovernment frittered awayopportunities for rapidgrowth after coming topower in 2004.

Exuding self-confi-dence, Modi has won thesupport of many middle-class Indians who even ayear ago would not havevoted for a man accused bycritics of failing to stop, oreven tacitly encouraging, aspasm of Hindu-Muslimbloodshed in Gujarat in2002. Modi has denied anywrongdoing and the Su-preme Court has said thereis not enough evidence topursue investigations.

With half of India’s popu-lation under 25, a recordnumber of first-time voters is

Indian election fromApril 7

From Page 1

PUC condemnsFrom Back Page

addressing a press confer-ence at the Islamabad PressClub. Also present on thisoccasion were HafizMuhammad Amjad,Maulana Abdul HameedSabri, Maulana NomanHashir and other clerics.

Hafiz Muhammad TahirMahmood Ashrafi said thatthe PUC has informed thegovernment and the nationseveral times that some anti-Pakistan groups have set upcamps with the support ofAfghan intelligence agen-cies. These groups do notwant peace in Pakistan. ThePakistani governmentshould raise this issue withthe Afghan government.

He said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] canonly take responsibility forgroups operating inPakistan’s tribal areas, butsome local and foreigngroups are not under thecontrol of the TTP. Therefore,the government should im-mediately formulate a policyfor these groups.

Samiul Haq todeliver Imam-

e-Kaba’sFrom Back Page

to convince Taliban to takepeace path in Pakistan.Maulana Samiul Haq tolda private TV channel thatImam-e-Kaba urgedTaliban to resolve all is-sues through dialoguesand quit armed struggle.

He said shedding theblood of Muslims in an Is-lamic state is wrong andunislamic. In his meetingwith Taliban shura,sources said, MaulanaSamiul Haq is likely to con-vey this message to themilitants. The governmentcan also invite Imam-e-Kaba to Pakistan, if re-quired.—INP

expected to participate in theelection and many appearopen to Modi’s promises ofjob creation and efficientgovernment.

“I think everyone is look-ing for strong leadership.This places Modi at an ad-vantage. He’s showing thathe’s a strong leader,” saidMohan Guruswamy of theCentre for Policy Alterna-tives, a Delhi-based think-tank.—Online

5 foreignersarrested in KalatKALAT—Five foreigners werearrested by security forces inKalat district of Balochistan onWednesday morning. Accord-ing to levies sources, the fivesuspects traveling withoutidentity cards and legal docu-ments to Quetta from Karachiwere arrested by the securityforces. The sources added thatthe persons reportedly be-longed to Dubai and entered inBalochistan without havingany legal documents related totheir identification or stay inPakistan. They were handedover to Levies personnel inKalat in order to initiate furtherinvestigations.—INP

Arms scandal case:Ex-IG KP put on ECLPESHAWAR—The federal inte-rior ministry on the advice ofKhyber Pukhtunkhaw NationalAccountability Bureau (NAB)Wednesday put the names ofthe former IG Malik Naveedand a government contractorArshad Majeed on the ExitControl List (ECL). The inte-rior ministry has notified aboutit all the airports of the countryand other concerned agenciesnot to allow the accused toleave the country, as their nameshave been pout on ECL. Morethan seven accused includingformer KPK IG Malik Naveedand government contractorArshad Majeed are facingcharges of Rs1.82 billion of al-leged corruption in the purchaseof arms for the Provincial Po-lice department.—INP

Old enmity claimsfour livesBOLAN—At least four peoplewere killed and two others in-jured when unknown gunmenopened fire in a village onWednesday. Police said thatincident took place in villagein Dhadar area when armedmen killed four people and in-jured two others and fled. Thepolice said that the injuredwere taken to a hospital inQuetta. They said the killingwas result of an old enmitybetween two tribes—Online

ISLAMABAD—In the NationalAssembly on Wednesday, themembers said the terroristswho have no regard for theShariah and Constitutionshould be segregated for nec-essary action against them.

Holding discussion on theNational Internal SecurityPolicy, they appreciated thegovernment for presenting thepolicy and hoped that it will bemade more comprehensive toensure protection of lives andproperties of the people. Initi-ating the debate, Nawab YusufTalpur regretted that terror in-cidents rock the country when-ever the process of dialogue isstarted with the Taliban.

MNAs for operation against terroristswho violate Shariah, Constitution

Maulana Muhammad KhanSherani said the war againstterrorism has been used by theforeign powers to malign Islamand create a wedge amongst theIslamic countries.

Tahir Iqbal said no politi-cal point scoring should bedone on the issue of nationalsecurity. The National Assem-bly has passed “The Law andJustice Commission of Paki-stan (Amendment) Bill, 2013”.The bill moved by Minister forScience and Technology ZahidHamid amends the Law andJustice Commission of Paki-stan Ordinance, 1979. Refer-ring to the recent acts of ter-rorism in the country, Salman

Khan Baloch said befitting re-sponse should be given to anyviolent act. He said the govern-ment should fully implementits national internal securitypolicy for establishment ofpeace in the country. DaniyalAziz emphasized the need forbringing improvements in thefunctions of judiciary and po-lice for maintenance of law andorder. Terming the national se-curity policy as a detailed anda comprehensive one,Sahibzada Tariqullah said it isfor the first time in thecountry’s history that such adocument has been preparedproviding information on im-portant matters.—Online

NEW DELHI—Indian policebriefly detained firebrand anti-corruption champion ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday forholding a political roadshowwithout permission as thecountry’s election campaign gotinto gear, a party official said.

Kejriwal was taken to a po-lice station in the western townof Radhanpur after arriving inthe state run by opposition primeministerial candidate NarendraModi and just hours after na-tional elections were an-nounced. The 44-year-old, whohad been planning a days-longpolitical tour of Modi’s Gujaratstate, was briefly detained forfailing to adhere to an electioncode of conduct that requiresprior police permission.

“Kejriwal did not have per-mission for a rally or procession,hence was detained for violationof code of conduct which cameinto force from today,”the senior

Police detainIndian anti-graft

politician Kejriwalmagistrate of the local districttold reporters. Kejriwal’s AamAadmi (Common Man) Partyslammed the temporary deten-tion as “high-handed behaviour”after India announced the startof elections on April 7 that Modiis expected to win.

“We strongly object to thishigh-handed behaviour by thepolitical establishment inGujarat,” senior leader KumarVishwas told AFP.

“He was not there to holdany election rally. He had onlygone there to watch and observethe development that Modi isclaiming has taken place in thestate,” Vishwas told AFP.

“Why is he being harassedthen?” Kejriwal, whose stun-ning breakthrough in the Delhistate elections in Decemberhighlighted public anger to-wards the political establish-ment, is taking on the major par-ties at the election.—AFP

ISLAMABAD—In 35 missing persons case theSupreme Court (SC) has ordered defence min-istry to register case in respect of missing per-son Akhunzada within 24 hours and investigatethe matter besides seeking report on this count.. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja has re-marked “ in any case of missing person whichthe government did not want to resolve it is saidmissing person is in Afghanistan.

It has come in the media reports that 8 miss-ing persons have been brought back from KunarAfghanistan.

The court be told about Akhunzada andYasin Shah where they are. If they have not beenrecovered so far then this failure can be attrib-uted to whom. We can not close the file of miss-

We cannot close file of missingpersons unless facts are known, SC told

ing persons unless the facts are known. Nowthe link has been found and missing personsshould also be found. He gave these remarkswhile presiding over 3-member bench of SCduring the course of hearing of 35 missing per-sons case here Wednesday.

During the hearing, the petitioner MohabbatShah, Additional Attorney General (AAG) ShahKhawar, director legal ministry of defence Irfanand officials of KP government appeared in thecourt.

Amna Masud Janjua also appeared in thecourt and presented a new list of missing per-sons whose cases are pending hearing inPeshawar High Court. Yasin Shah missing per-son case is also included in this list.—Online

Samiul Haq todeliver Imam-e-Kaba’s special

message to TalibanISLAMABAD—Taliban’s chiefnegotiator, Maulana SamiulHaq, is likely to convey a mes-sage of Imam-e-Kaba SheikhSaleh bin Hameed to thehardliner militants, urging themto adopt the dialogue pathrather than armed struggle inpursuit of their demands in Pa-kistan. Maulana Samiul Haq,who is also chief of his ownfaction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Is-lam (JUI-S), went to SaudiArabia to perform Umrah lastweek where he met Imam-e-Kaba.

He requested Sheikh Salehbin Hameed to play his role

Continued on Page 7

WASHINGTON—NASA isplotting a daring robotic missionto Jupiter’s watery moonEuropa, a place where astrono-mers speculate there might besome form of life.

The space agency set aside$15 million in its 2015 budgetproposal to start planning somekind of mission to Europa. Nodetails have been decided yet,but NASA chief financial of-ficer Elizabeth Robinson saidTuesday that it would belaunched in the mid-2020s.

Robinson said the high ra-diation environment around Ju-piter and distance from Earthwould be a challenge. WhenNASA sent Galileo to Jupiter in1989, it took the spacecraft sixyears to get to the fifth planetfrom the sun.

Rensselaer Polytechnic In-stitute astronomer LaurieLeshin said it could be “a dar-ing mission to an extremelycompelling object in our solarsystem.”

Past NASA probes have

NASA plots daring mission to Jupiterflown by Europa, especiallyGalileo, but none have concen-trated on the moon, one of doz-ens orbiting Jupiter. Astrono-mers have long lobbied for amission to Europa, but propos-als would have cost billions ofdollars. Last year, scientists dis-covered liquid plumes of watershooting up through Europa’sice. Flying through those wateryjets could make Europa cheaperto explore than just circling itor landing on the ice, saidNASA Europa scientist RobertPappalardo.

NASA will look at manycompeting ideas for a Europamission, so the agency doesn’tknow how big or how much itwill cost, Robinson said. Shesaid a major mission goal wouldbe searching for life in thestrange liquid water under theice-covered surface.

Harvard astronomer AviLoeb said going to Europawould be more exciting thanexploring dry Mars: “Theremight be fish under the ice.”

Malala againnominated for

Nobel Peace PrizeOSLO—Malala Yousafzai,along with US whistleblowerEdward Snowden and RussianPresident Vladimir Putin, isamong the nominees for thisyear’s Nobel Peace Prize, as theNobel Institute announcedTuesday a record 278 candi-dates.

The Nobel committee con-vened for the first time this yearto examine the candidate listand will announce the laureatein Oslo on October 10.

As usual, the committee re-fused to reveal the identity ofany of the nominees, butLundestad said that 47 of the278 candidates were organisations. Even though the list iskept secret for at least 50 years,the sponsors can choose to re-veal the name of their nominee.Putin is thought to be on the list,since Russian figures proposedhis name in October, citing hisrole in the Syrian crisis.

Being nominated for theNobel Peace Prize is relativelyeasy, since thousands of peoplecan suggest candidates: law-makers and ministers, univer-sity professors and former lau-reates. At their first meeting,the five committee membersthemselves can add more namesto the list.

The committee insists thatbeing nominated does not implyan endorsement on its part.Putin’s chances of winning theprize appear limited given theongoing crisis in Ukraine.—INP

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon wants tokeep its US$80 billion war chest eventhough most or all US troops are to with-draw from Afghanistan by the end of thisyear, officials said on Tuesday.

“Overseas contingency operations”funds are separate from the main Penta-gon budget and have financed wars in Af-ghanistan and Iraq and counter-terrorismefforts elsewhere for more than a decade.When President Barack Obama came intooffice, his deputies vowed to shift warspending back into the Pentagon’s mainbudget.

But the Defence Department’s pro-posed budget, released on Tuesday as partof the White House’s annual spending plan,calls for US$79.4 billion in war fundingfor fiscal year 2015. That represents onlya small cut in the overseas operations fundaccorded US$85.2 billion this year. About33,700 US troops remain in Afghanistanand the bulk of the force is due to departby December.

The Obama administration hopes tokeep a small contingent of up to 10,000

Pentagon wants to keep war chest despite Afghan exit

troops in the country beyond 2014 - if theAfghan government signs a bilateral se-curity agreement. In years past, adminis-tration officials predicted that war fund-ing would decline significantly with theplanned pullout of American forces fromAfghanistan. But instead, the Pentagon hasused the category to finance maintenanceand other items that would otherwise beslashed under automatic budget cuts. Un-like the main base defence budget, the warfunding is not subject to the mandatoryspending limits enacted by Congress,known as sequestration.

Both the Pentagon and lawmakers lastyear moved about US$29 billion in fund-ing out of the base budget to the overseascontingency fund (OCO), as a way ofcountering the effect of the automatic bud-get cuts. This practice has “largely offsetthe cuts to the base budget from seques-tration,” according to Todd Harrison of theCentre for Strategic and Budgetary Assess-ments, a Washington think tank.

But if the war funding drops dramati-cally after the US exit from Afghanistan,

the Pentagon could face a major shortfallin coming years, he said Monday in a tele-conference. The proposed main defencebudget for 2015 is US$575 billion, lessthan the peak in military spending ofUS$691 billion in 2010 but still far beyondthe 2001 budget of US$316 billion.

America’s military spending far ex-ceeds any other country, with China a dis-tant second with an estimated US$132.2billion and Russia at about US$68.9 bil-lion, according to IHS Jane’s consultantgroup. But in its budget request, the Pen-tagon said it faced a shortage of fundingfor modernizing aircraft, training andmaintaining bases.

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel alreadylaid out the main priorities of the defencebudget last week, proposing a cut in thesize of the US Army while keeping up in-vestments in hi-tech weaponry.

The budget calls for scaling back thearmy from 520,000 troops to about440,000 to 450,000 soldiers by 2017, andretiring older aircraft include the A-10“Warthog” and the U-2 spy plane.—INP

Israel says seizedGaza-bound rocketshipment from Iran

JERUSALEM—The Israeli navy seized a ship in the Red Sea onWednesday that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-suppliedrockets made in Syria that were intended for Palestinian militants inthe Gaza Strip, the military said.

It said the Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel Klos-C was boardedin international waters without resis-tance from its17-strong crew,and would be escorted to the Israeli port of Eilat within days. “It wasa complex, covert operation,” military spokesman Lieutenant-Colo-nel Peter Lerner said of the seizure some 1,000 miles (1,800 km)from Is-rael. Dozens of M302 rockets were found aboard the Klos-C, a weapon which could have struck deep into Israel from Gaza andwould have significantly enhanced the firepower of Palestinian mili-tant groups such as Hamas.

“The M302 in its most advanced model can strike over 100 miles,and if they would have reached Gaza, ultimately that would havemeant millions of Israelis under threat,” said Lerner.

Israeli television footage showed what appeared to be marinesinspecting a rocket on the floor of a ship hold, with cement bagslabeled “Made in Iran” in English next to it. Lerner said the rocketswere flown from Syria to Iran, from which they were shipped first toIraq and then towards Sudan. Had they reached the African coast,they would have probably been smuggled overland through Egyptto Gaza, he said. Iran had orchestrated the shipment, Lerner said,describing the process as months in the making.

The maritime tracking site marine traffic.com showed the lastposition of the Klos-C as the Oman Gulf on Feb 22. Lerner said thecrew came from a number of differ-ent countries and there was noimmediate indication that they knew the nature of their cargo.—AP

Altaf voices concernover terrorist attack

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The founder and leader of MQM Altaf Hussain hascondemned the attack on the convoy of security forces in Hango inthe strongest possible terms. He expressed his sorrow and grief overthe martyrdom of personnel. Scores of personnel have been injuredin the attack. He said terrorists are carrying out their brazen attacks.Their subversive attacks are growing at an alarming rate. The con-tinued campaign terror and martyrdoms of personnel of the armedforces and law enforcement agencies put a question mark on theperformance of the government.

The government should initiate investigation into the attacks toknow whether Taliban are carrying out these attacks despite ceasefireand massacring people in order to achieve their goals. Hussain de-manded action from the president, prime minister and federal inte-rior minister against the terrorists responsible for Hango attack andsecurity arrangement for the protection of defense installations, lifeand property of citizens.

Khursheed Shahagainst involving

army indialogue process

ISLAMABAD—OppositionLeader in the National Assem-bly Syed Khursheed Shah onWednesday said that the gov-ernment should not involvearmy in the dialogue processwith the Taliban.

Talking to media outsidethe Parliament House, Shahsaid army’s role is to followgovernment directive and notto hold talks or deals with themilitants. Involving the army inthe dialogue process could bedangerous, he added. A danger-ous situation may emerge if thetalks fail, he warned. The op-position leader said that he hadno objection if a former mem-ber of the armed forces partici-pates in the peace talks.Khursheed Shah’s commentscame after reports emerged thatthe government may reconsti-tute its four-member negotiat-ing team in a bid to make thepeace process more ‘effectiveand result-oriented’.—NNI

PUC condemnscourt attack

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nUlema Council PUC declaresthe attack on Islamabad Ses-sion Court an unfortunate andcondemnable incident, andurges the government to takeall necessary measures to arrestthe culprits. Both the govern-ment and the Taliban have aresponsibility to tell the truthto the nation and expose ele-ments that are working againstthe ceasefire.

These views were ex-pressed by PUC Central Chair-man Hafiz Muhammad TahirMahmood Ashrafi while

CM condolesObserver ReportLAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif met chief pilot of his he-licopter Col. Retd. MuhammadSafdar and condoled the deathof his brother Rafaqat HussainAwan, Additional Session Judgewho was martyred in Islamabadkatchery terrorism incident.Provincial Minister for Environ-ment Col. (R) Shuja Khanzadaalso accompanied the ChiefMinister. Sympathizing withCol. Retd. Muhammad Safdar,Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif strongly con-demned the incident of terror-ism in Islamabad katchery. TheChief Minister said that he wasdeeply grieved over the loss ofprecious human lives includingAdditional Session JudgeRafaqat Hussain. He said thatterrorist activities of all kind areunacceptable and reiterated thatterrorism and extremism willbe eliminated.

Continued on Page 7

EXPOSURE to second-hand smoke inchildhood causes irreversible damage to children’s arteries - increasing

their risk of heart attacks or strokes whenthey grow up, according to a large interna-tional study published onWednesday. The re-search, which lendsweight to campaigns forsmoking to be banned inprivate cars and homes,found passive smokingleads to a thickening ofchildren’s artery walls,adding some 3.3 years tothe age of blood vesselsby adulthood.

“Exposure topassive smoke in child-hood causes direct andirreversible damage to thestructure of the arteries,”said Seana Gall, a re-searcher in cardiovascu-lar epidemiology who ledthe study at the Univer-sity of Tasmania. She saidparents, or even those thinking about be-coming parents, should quit smoking - bothto aid their own health and protect the fu-ture health of their children.

Smoking causes lung cancer,which is often fatal, and is the world’sbiggest cause of premature death fromchronic conditions like heart disease,stroke and high blood pressure. On topof the 6 million people a year killed bytheir own smoking, the World Health Or-ganization (WHO) says another 600,000die a year as a result of exposure to otherpeoples’ smoke - so-called second-handor passive smoking.

Of the more than 4,000 chemi-cals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 areknown to be harmful and more than 50are known to cause cancer, the WHOsays - and creating 100 percent smoke-

free environments is the onlyway to protect people fully.About 40 percent of all chil-dren are regularly exposedto second-hand smoke athome, and almost a third ofthe deaths attributable tosecond-hand smoke are inchildren.

This latest study, pub-lished in the European HeartJournal, was the first to fol-low children through toadulthood to look at linksbetween exposure to par-ents’ smoking and thicknessof the innermost two layersof the arterial wall, known ascarotid intima-media thick-ness (IMT). Researchersfrom Finland and Australialooked at data from 2,401

people in Finland 1,375 people in Aus-tralia who were asked about their par-ents’ smoking habits. The scientistsused ultrasound to measure the thick-ness of the children’s artery walls oncethey had reached adulthood.

The results showed that ca-rotid IMT in adulthood was 0.015 milli-meters thicker in those exposed to bothparents smoking than in those whoseparents did not smoke. Gall said thatwhile this was a “modest” increase, itwas nonetheless an important extra andirreversible risk for suffering heart at-tacks or strokes later in life.

Passive smoking causesdamage to kids’ arteries

Mr. Zahid Malik, Editor-in-Chief, Pakistan Observer had a meeting with the Ambassa-dor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia H.E. Mr. Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer yesterday.They discussed matters of mutual interest.—PO photo

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Benazir Income SupportProgramme (BISP) said on Wednesday that con-tinuation of BISP underlinedseriousness of the govern-ment to root out poverty fromthe country. He said it wasvery challenging task and re-quired planning to achievethe objectives

He stated this whilespeaking at a dinner hostedby Alfredo Leoni, the Ambas-sador of Brazil to Pakistan inhonour of SenatorMuhammad Enver Baig, oneve of Chairman’s BISP de-parture to Brazil to attend aSouth-South learning forum.

The forum is organized bythe World Bank in partner-ship with the Government ofBrazil and State of Rio DeJaneiro, says a statement is-sued by the BISP here.

The purpose of the forumis to promote knowledge ex-change amongst practitio-ners from low and middle-in-come countries and fragilestates on the design and de-livery of Social Protectionand Labor (SP & L) systems.

It is worth mentioning thatBrazil hosts the World’s larg-est Social Protection Systemi.e. Bolsa Familia. The dinnerwas also attended by Coun-try Heads of various UNAgencies.

It is also relevant to mention that Pakistan isone of the five countries who will be sharingtheir achievements vis-à-vis Social Protectionand will update the participants about the mar-vels achieved in successful transition of pay-ments delivery from a manual system to tech-nology-based system. The Brazilian Ambassa-dor in his welcome note highlighted the impor-tance of the Forum and observed that attendingthe meeting will not only enable BISP to see prac-

tical implementation of Bolsa Familia but will alsogo a long way in enhancing a closer coopera-tion and coordination between the twoProgrammes.

The Ambassador also extended his country’shelp in further improving the design of BISP. Onthis occasion, Chairman BISP held that continu-ation of BISP was aimed at poverty eliminationfrom the country.

He observed that while continuing with theunconditional cash transfer, the implementationof a graduation strategy is also of utmost impor-tance. In this context, he is focusing on impart-ing technical and vocational skills to the BISP

beneficiary families in order to make them self-relied and independent.

The Chairman, BISP also appreciated the ef-forts of the international financial institutions

and developing partners in helping BISP in de-signing and implementing the Programme. Hesaid that exposure to the learnings and experi-ences of other countries, specifically Brazil, willact as a catalyst in this regard. During the din-ner, the Chairman BISP also held fruitful discus-sions with Heads of the UN Agencies and waysand means were discussed as to how a strongpartnership can be forged to target the menaceof poverty, which is a common enemy.

BISP looking to forge strongpartnerships against poverty

Chairman Benazir Income Support Program Senator Anwar Baig, Ambassador of Brazil Alfredo Leoni and othersduring a reception hosted by the Brazilian Ambassador.—PO photo

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—ChairmanSenate and President ofthe Asian ParliamentaryAssembly Syed NayyerHussain Bokhari has re-iterated his commitmentto reinvigorate the AsianParliamentary Assemblyto its fullest potential toachieve the object ivesenvisaged in IslamabadDeclaration adopted dur-ing the 6th Plenary ofAPA in Pakistan in De-cember last year.

He said that APA is

an important forum andcollective efforts would bemade to make the dream ofestablishment of AsianParliament come true. Heexpressed these viewswhile talking to the Dr.M.H Nejad Hosseinian,Secretary General APA ina meeting in Islamabad to-day.

Chairman Senate ob-served that Asian regionis faced with commonchallenges and memberstates share commonalityof views on issues beingfaced by the region. As

President of APA, theChairman Senate statedthat he would play an ac-tive role to give a practi-cal shape to the line of ac-t ion delineated in theIslamabad Declarat ionand we want to move for-ward.

It is pertinent to men-t ion here that ChairmanSenate was elected as thePresident of the AsianParl iamentary Assemblyfor two years during the6th Plenary of APA whichheld in Islamabad in De-cember last year.

Chairman Senate alsohighlighted the importanceof bilateral relations be-tween Pakistan and Iran.He observed that Pakistanpalaces relations with Iranat high esteem and desiresto further strengthen theseties for mutual benefit.

The APA SecretaryGeneral , Dr. M.H NejadHosseinian appreciatedthe remarks of the Chair-man Senate and expressedthe hope that under theleadership of Syed NayyerHussain Bokhari as Presi-dent of APA, the forum

would be able to play anactive role for regionalintegration and prosper-ity of the member states.

Modalities with regardto organizing Troika Plusmeeting were also dis-cussed during the meet-ing. The Secretary Generalof APA highlighted impor-tance of the meeting. Heassured all his support foroperation and administra-tion of Troika Plus meet-ing. The APA SecretaryGeneral also appreciatedthe hospitality and warmwelcome.

Collective efforts needed to make dream of Asian Parliament come true

Chairman Senate Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari exchanging views with Dr. M.H. Nejad-Hosseinian Secretary General Asian Parliamentary Association.

Students busy in different activities during Funfair at FG Margalla College forWomen F-7/4.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Students of IslamabadModel College for Girls (IMCG) F-7/4enthusiastically participated in the an-nual funfair, enjoying a breakfrom the daily academic rou-tine.

Ex-Principal IMCG, F-7/4Mrs Samina Shamim inaugu-rated the carnival along withthe Principal of the college,Ms Firdous Fatima and otherfaculty members and tookround of the colourful stalls.

Around thirty differentstalls were arranged in thecollege premises to entertainthe visitors and students.

The food stalls carrieddifferent items includingshawarma, goalgappey,burgers, chaat, dahi bhaley,samosey, popcorns, Rolls,biryani, bar b q, coffee, icecream, liquid ice.

The other stalls featuredjewelry, decorative pieces,printing of mugs, shirts andplates, handicrafts, songdedication, singing, jumblesale, gun shooting andbubble making. The fun ridesincluding mono rail, jointwheel, dragon boat, swings,trampoline, horse and camelride attracted the students of juniorclasses.

A cleanliness campaign was also ar-ranged side by side during the funfairwhere Ms Iffat Khalid, Associate Pro-fessor of the college gave awareness

about keeping the environment clean.Ina variety show, Urdu feature film wasscreened.

Assistant Director Colleges, Fed-eral Directorate of Education (FDE),

Miss Bibi Yaseen also graced the oc-casion. Other important dignitaries in-cluding present and ex-principals fromthe colleges of twin cities, members ofother educational institutions, retiredfaculty members and many renowned

personalities were present on the oc-casion.

All the activities of the funfair werealso broadcast on the FM Radio Stationof the college ‘Voice of Margalla 98.6’

which continuously informed and at-tracted the listeners.

Expressing her views, a visitor NailaRahim said that such activities shouldbe arranged from time to time as theygive a sigh of relief in such a busy life.

Enjoying break fromdaily academic routine

Findings of F-8incident soon

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —Ministerfor Health, Services andRegulat ion Saira AfzalTarar Wednesday saidthat findings of F-8 dis-trict courts terrorist inci-dent would be presenteds o o n .

Talking to media per-sons outside the ParliamentHouse, Saira Afzal Tararsaid that investigations ofheinous terrorism are underway by the law enforcementagencies.

“The government, Paki-stan Army and all other in-stitutions are at one pagefor dialogue with Talibanunder the leadership of thePrime Minister,” she added.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMAABD—The subject of ‘Feminism’ wasdiscussed with its historic as well as modernperspective at a discussion titled “An Eveningwith Dr Fatema Hassan.’ National Commissionon Status of Women (NCSW) had hosted thereception in honour of the Karachi-based DrFatema Hassan a well-known poet, writer anda prominent feminist. Another feminist andactivist for women rights, senior poet KishwarNaheed presided over the gathering. Dr FatemaHassan addressing the feminist gathering saidfeminism is usually attributed to such womenwho are against men or they are very fashion-able. Even those men who are supportive ofwomen’s struggle for their identity can be calledfeminists. The evening turned out to be a livelydiscussion as Tahira Abdullah a strong sup-porter of women rights suggested our dictio-nary and terms needed a complete overhaul.“There are certain phrases like “MardamShumari,” (Census) “Chairman” etc which arecommonly used even by those at the helm ofaffairs, she said. These terms should be purgedof gender background.

Feminists are not necessarily anti-menDr Fatema Hassan who has carried out re-

search on the subject delighted the audiencewith the findings telling that feminist voicesexisted long before 1947. Ze, Khai, Sheen(Zahida Khatoon Shnwari) was a prominentfeminist poet who in 1915 wrote her “Aurat KaShikwa”. Maulvi Mumtaz Hussain publishedit under the title of Aina-e-Haram.

Dr Fatema Hassan has included the 60-stanza long poem in her book “Feminism aurHum.” Rabia Khuzdari of Balochistn was an-other feminist poet who raised her voice somehundreds of years ago. The hostess of theevening Khawar Mumtaz Chairperson NCSWsaid Dr Fatema Hassan’s work for the womenrights and struggle for identity has been pub-lished and republished by various publishinghouses. Revised editions of three books by DrFatema Hassan, “Feminism aur Hum”, “Kitab-e-Dostan” and “Dastak se Dar Ka Fasla” werealso launched on the occasion.

Kishwar Naheed commending the worksand poems of the guest speaker rememberedDr Fatema Hassan’s poems attracted atten-tion of even late Munir Niazi who otherwiseseldom praised any poet.

06:00 01:3004:45

07:45

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

March 7

SEMINAR on “PakistaniWomen Fighting Extremismand Violence: A Case ofKohistani Women” Friday 7March 2014, 2:30 Pm atIslamabad Hotel, in connec-tion with InternationalWomen’s Day 2014.

****SOUTH Asian Women inMedia (SAWM) Pakistanwill held a seminar on‘Equality for Women inProgress for All’ Friday,March 07, 2014 at Hill ViewHotel, F-7 Markaz (JinnahSuper Market, Islamabad.

March 8

HUMAN chain to get jus-tice for the KohistaniWomen in connectionwith InternationalWomen’s Day. Saturday 8March 2014 China Chockto D Chock 11:30 am.Organised by Pattan De-velopment Organisationand Women ConcernsNetwork.

March 17FEDERAL Public ServiceCommission has released itsconsolidated advertisement anddisplayed it on FPSC websitewww.fpsc.gov.pk. Allintending candidates can visitthe website for details ofvacancies and eligibility criteriaand apply online till 17thMarch against the posts forwhich they are eligible.

Students having information from the stall of Bahria University during Career Expo 2014organized by Office of Students Affairs and Career Services at Bahria University.—PO photo

3-day anti-polio drive in

high risk areasSTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Specialthree-day anti-polio cam-paign in the Disrict, includ-ing certain high-risk areas,will start from March 10 tovaccinate more than 200,000children.

Under the drive, the po-lio teams would visit 28union councils ofRawalpindi District, whichhave been declared high-risk areas, Executive DistrictOfficer (EDO-Health) DrZafar Iqbal Gondal told APPhere Wednesday.

In the recently con-cluded regular campaign, hesaid, 7,11,744 children uptofive years age were admin-istered polio drops to pre-vent the younger generationfrom the crippling disease.

Dasti rules outappearing before

committeeISLAMABAD—IndependentMNA Jamshed Dasti said onWednesday that the settingup of a committee to probehis claims of immoral activi-ties in the Parliament Lodgesdespite providing proofs inthis regard was beyond hiscomprehension.

Talking to media per-sons outside the ParliamentHouse, Jamshed Dasti saidhe will not appear before thecommittee if he was sum-moned.

He said everyoneknows the outcome of thecommittee probe. He said hewas disappointed by theformation of the committeeby the NA speaker despiteprovision of evidences inthis regard.

Dasti said a committeecomprising of a High Courtjudge should be constitutedfor ensuring an indepen-dent probe.

To a question, he saidthe inclusion of the army inthe peace talks was a wisedecision.

He said the governmentshould give free hand to thearmy to ensure peace in thecountry.—INP

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama Iqbal Open Univer-sity (AIOU) has dedicated its studentsadvisory affairs block to the name ofShaheed Mian Muhammad Aslam, Direc-tor Rawalpindi Region who expired in F-8 terrorist incident in Islamabad on Mon-day.

In this connection, officers and staffof the University adopted a resolutionat a Condolence reference held here, re-naming the block (Gateway) as MianMuhammad Aslam block in recognitionof his dedicated services for progressand development of University.

Whereas the Video-Conference hallin the block was renamed as Kamran AliHall who also died in the incident.

Speakers at the Condolence refer-

AIOU names Student AdvisoryBlock as Muhammad Aslam

ence paid r ich tr ibutes to MianMuhammad Aslam and Kamran Ali, stat-ing that their dedicated services for thecause of education and students will belong remembered.

Strongly condemning the acts of ter-rorism which took precious lives, theypledged to work hard to fight out illit-eracy and ignorance, the root-cause ofterrorism and extremism, by ensuringaccess to quality education across thecountry.

The AIOU being the national institu-tion will help the government to wipe outthe extremist-mind set, through propereducation. Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. NazirAhmed Sangi said, they will come out witha new educational plan this week to ex-pand educational network throughout thecountry.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Newly appointed Chair-man Rawalpindi Board of Intermediateand Secondary Education (RBISE) DrMohammad Zareef on Wednesdayformed a special squad to monitor Sec-ondary School Certificate (SSC) annualexams 2014 commenced in Rawalpindi re-gion from Mar 1.

The special squad would prepare reportof the exams which will be presented to thechairman on daily basis. Dr. MuhammadZareef chairing a meeting held here directedthe authorities concerned to ensure the full-time presence of all the inspectors in theexamination centers. On this occasion, Con-troller Examinations Dr. Umar Farooq andboard officers were present.

Controller Examinations RBISE gavebriefing on SSC annual exams. SeniorRBISE officials assured the Chairman oftheir full support to improve performanceof the board.

The RBISE chairman who assumedthe charge of his new position on Mon-day evening issued instructions that thecandidates should be provided all pos-

Special squad tomonitor SSC exams

sible facilities in the examination cen-ters .

Total 338 examination centers were setup in Rawalpindi division and a total of103.035 candidates including 64,426 regu-lar and 38,609 private students are appear-ing in the exams.

RBISE established 338 examination cen-tres in its affiliated districts including 129for male and 132 for female while 77 com-bined centers have also been set up. 57 ex-amination centers established in districtAttock, 70 in district Chakwal and 54 in dis-trict Jhelum while 66 local exam centers and91 in adjoining areas of Rawalpindi havealso been set up.

A special cell with fax number 051-5450912 has also been established whichwill be supervised directly by the Chairman.Complaints about any examination centercan be sent to the special cell and directaction to address the complaints of the can-didates as well as the examination staff willbe taken by the Chairman. Strict arrange-ments have also been arranged to avoidactivities of booti mafia. All possible stepswill be taken to control cheating and for thestudents’ safety, the Chairman added.

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — T h eIslamabad Electric SupplyCompany (IESCO) hasdistr ibuted two mill ionfree energy saver bulbsamong the domestic con-sumers so far.

According to IESCOspokesman, in first phase20 million Energy Saverbulbs (CFL) were distrib-

uted among 70 per centconsumers. Giving thebreakup of five circles, thespokesman said that asmany as 646,000 suchbulbs were delivered inRawalpindi , 555,000 inChakwal, 368,000 inAttock, 264,000 in Jehlumand 226,000 in Islamabadso far

In next phase remain-ing one mill ion energy

saver bulbs were beingdistr ibuted, he said andadded that the IESCOteams have been directedto expedite the drive.

He said that under thePrime Minister ’s EnergySavers Programme, threemill ion Energy Saverswere provided to IESCOfor onward distr ibutionamong the domestic con-sumers.

2m free energy saverbulbs distributed

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Assembled at theIslamabad High Court to offer FatehaWednesday for their assassinated col-leagues, the lawyers and the judgeslooked towards former Chief Justice Jus-tice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry askids do to a fatherly figure. Presence ofthe former Chief Justice gave a boost tothe crestfallen lawyers’ morale and someof them openly declared “We think youas our chief justice even now.”

In his first public experience after re-

Judges, lawyers remember the departed

Former CJP condoles with lawyers,terms attack govt’s failure

tirement as Chief Justice of the apex courtlast year, the ex-CJP not only attendedthe Fateha Khwani and prayed for theassassinated lawyers and the judge ofthe District Court, he also expressed hisviews candidly. Talking to media after thereference and Fateha Khwani, Justice(Retd) Iftikhar Chaudhry said judiciary isan important pillar of the State and attackon the courts is tantamount to the attackon the sovereignty of the country.

“These are my own children and Iconsider their problems as my own,”said Justice Iftikhar. Islamabad High

Court Chief Justice Anwar Khan Kasi,Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan, JusticeShaukat Aziz Siddiqui, Justice NoorulHaq N Qureshi, judges of the Districtcourt, office bearers of the IslamabadDistrict and High Court Bar associationswere also present on the occasion.

The former CJ was of the view theattack at F-8 Kutchery could have beenprevented if the administration abided bythe Supreme Court order and shifted thecourts to a safer place. Looked visiblyshocked by the death of a large numberof colleagues, Justice Iftikhar asked if

governance existed in the federal capital.“Not a single days passes when we comeacross news of the attacks on armedforces, FC jawans. Even today (Wednes-day) I heard some FC personnel cameunder attack,” said Iftikhar Chaudhry.

There were 47 policemen accordingto the government point of view but onlyone poor Constable Riaz had the nerveto counter terrorists. What the other po-licemen were doing,” asked he. JusticeIftikhar was of the view change of gov-ernment has not resulted in the changeof mindset. Security is as poor as it was

years ago, he said. Former Chief Justicesaid a number of lawyers under the lead-ership of Advocate Taufeeq Asif last yearhad move a petition for shifting of the F-8 court and the Supreme Court hadpassed clear order in this respect. How-ever, no action was taken by the admin-istration, he regretted.

IHC CJ Justice Anwar Khan Kasiwhile talking to media expressed his re-solve the judiciary and the Bar wouldjointly counter all challenges. “Wewould make sure no such incident oc-curred again,” he said.

Traders ask CDA

Curb over 7000 businessesin residential houses

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Over 7000 businesses arerunning in residential houses causing greatloss to the business set ups established incommercial centers and CDA should takeurgent measures to ban these businesseson urgent bases to save the traders fromfinancial loss.

This was stressed by Ajmal Baloch,Central Organizing Secretary of TradersAction Committee and President, TradersWelfare Association of Aabpara Market,Islamabad in a statement. He said com-mercial activities in residential areas aretotally illegal, but every fourth house isturning into a business floor. All this ishappening in connivance with the offic-ers and officials of Building Control Sec-tion of CDA.

He said BCS is responsible to controlbusiness activities in residential areas butBCS Inspector Ali Raza makes daily visitsto show rooms established in houses andreceives his share for allowing such ac-

tivities. Ajmal Baloch called upon theChairman CDA Mr. Maroof Afzal to him-self visit

F-6 sector and Nazamuddin Road to seethe factual situation as many more showrooms are being established in houses inconnivance of Inspector Ali Raza. He saidif CDA cannot control businesses in resi-dential area, then it should allow all housesto run business activities.

He said many gyms, showrooms, clin-ics, public & private offices and many othercommercial set ups are running in privatehouses while to complete the formality, BCSstaff just presents some challans to CDAMagistrate, which are cleared on paymentof fine and business activities continue asusual.

He appealed to the Chairman CDA totake measures for implementat ion ofIslamabad High Court orders for banningbusiness activities in residential areasand also take strong actions againstBCS officials who are involved in theseillegal activities.

Illegal constructions ofhigh-rise buildings

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Given theapathy and indifference ofthe Rawalpindi Develop-ment Authority (RDA), il-legal constructions ofhigh-rise buildings con-t inue to r ise in the ci tywhile risking the lives ofits residents.

According to sources,the city civic agency hasfailed badly to prevent theconstruction of i l legalbuildings in the city thatrisk the lives of the dwell-ers. The influential peoplecontinued to constructbuildings beyond thespecific limit that has ex-posed a great danger tothe ci ty residents while

the concerned authoritiesare unmoved with thispractice.

The completion plan ofhigh-rise buildings hasnot been completed by thecity civic agency yet de-spite the fact the agencyhas render a huge losses.In the past, heart-rendingincidents had occurredwhere many people havelost their lives due to lackof exit rout of the building.

According to the de-tails, Sherpao Colony nearCommittee Chowk has be-come the centre of high-rise buildings in the city.Khattak Mall plaza, AlhadTower, Greece Continentalhotel , Al-Badar hotel ,Bahadar Plaza, Toseaf

Shaheed hostel , Fiazalplaza, Larosh hotel, Anmolmarriage hall , Alfarooqhotel , Green palaceAlfalah plaza, Asia hotel,United hotel, Al Miraj ho-tel, Usmania hotel, Rawalhotel have illegally beenconstructed and theRawalpindi DevelopmentAuthori ty has fai led tostopped them from con-struction.

All these building andplaza are included in thehigh rise building that hasmade the life of the resi-dents at peril. Rescue 1122and RDA have ignored allthese buildings and thereis no exit way in case ofany untoward incident offire in the buildings.

New Islamabadairport to be

opened in 2016CITY REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — N e wIslamabad Airport - a mod-ern, well-designed andstate-of-the-art airportwould be completed by2016.

Sources said that therewere several reasons fordelay in completion of themega project includingcost of additional acquisi-tion of land for the secondrunway, increase in theprice of dollar, price esca-lation due to prolongationin execution tenure of theproject and increase incosts of consultancy ser-vices.

Sources said that therewas no proposal under con-sideration for developmentof any other new airport inIslamabad near Rawat. Hesaid according to the origi-nal PC-I, the estimated costof the project was Rs 37 bil-lion but it was revised to Rs94.8 million.

It said a number of ir-regularities had been iden-tified in the new airport anda committee constituted inthis regard had submitted itsreport.

The sources said thatthe infrastructure, includ-ing roads and availabilityof water , would also becompleted for the new air-port .

He said that by intro-duction of transparentpolicy and rules by thegovernment, the CAA canturn new Islamabad airportinto a vibrant and benefi-cial place for future air-lines passengers.

Syed Khurshid Shah, leader of opposition in National Assembly is enquiring after the health of a lawyer injured in theDistrict Courts terror attack, at PIMS.

The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin Saravia and Mrs.Susana Negri presenting a souvenir to Ambassa-dor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U San Myint Oo and Mrs. Khin Thu during a farewell reception in thehonor of the envoy of Myanmar.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Kashmiri student killed over ‘celebrating’ Pakistan’s victory against India in Budgam.

APHC leader, Zafar Akbar Butt expresses solidarity with the family of the martyred youthTahir Rasool Sofi in Baramulla on his first anniversary.

ISLAMABAD: AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan giving shield to Deputy Director Centre for StrategicStudies Azerbaijan Dr. Gulshan Pashayeva.

SRINAGAR—The statement of unionminister Dr. Farooq Abdullah thatKashmiris are the biggest thieves withreference to power theft has come un-der severe criticism in Kashmir. Aspokesman of Hurriyat Conference (G)has described Dr. Abdullah’s wrong re-marks about Kashmiris as an insult tothe whole nation.

“This man cannot give sermons onhonesty as his own life is full of dis-honesty. He thinks all other people arealso thieves.

Dr. Abdullah and his family havebeen humiliating Kashmiris in everyway and on every occasion,” he said.The spokesman added that Abdullahsand their party start liking people onlywhen they have to get votes. “For theirpersonal and family interests they soldeverything in Kashmir to Delhi. His life

Kashmiris condemnDr Farooq Abdullah’s statement

is full of scandals. This person has de-scribed Kashmiris as thieves and lev-elling such allegations is in his nature.One must not expect anything goodfrom him,” he said.

A spokesman of Hurriyat (M) hasasked Dr. Abdullah to do self-retrospec-tion before humiliating Kashmiris andhurting their self respect. “Kashmirisare not thieves. Real thieves are thepoliticians who have looted the naturalresources and exploited the masses po-litically and economically.

Dr. Abdullah and his party duringtheir rule made the people to sufferimmensely on the financial front andfor their personal interests and conces-sions, they sold the water and financialresources of the state,” he said. Thespokesman stated that care must havenot been taken at public level in refer-

ence to power, but, it is a fact that anumber of government departments, theoffices of mainstream parties, minis-ters, bureaucrats and legislators owelakhs of rupees to power developmentdepartment.

“Rather than taking them to task,the National Conference president, hastried to blow out of proportion the mi-nor mistakes of people in an attempt tohide the bungling and failures of NCgovernment,” he said.

According to the spokesman, Dr.Abdullah is also responsible for thehardships and sufferings, Kashmiripeople are facing presently. Those re-sponsible for imposing anti people lawsand policies on Kashmiris must do selfretrospection rather than level allega-tions against common masses, headded.—NNI

MIRPUR—The construction work of mega Edu-cational Complex has been started with a costof Rs 200 million for orphans and shelterlesschildren in Mirpur. The mega complex is beingconstructed under the auspices of the NGOKashmir Orphans Relief Trust (KORT) with thedonations of UK-based Kashmiri expatriates,besides the local philanthropists.

This was disclosed by the Chairman ofKORT, Ch. Muhammad Akhter, while briefing adelegation during the visit to the under-construc-tion KORT Educational Complex at Jarikas onWednesday. Chairman CH Akhter said that theAJK government had allotted 100 Kanal of landfor construction of mega educational complex atJarrikas, near Khaliqabad in the outskirt of Mirpur.

He said that at least one thousand orphanchildren will be facilitated by providing house-like environment in the Complex. The KORT is

NGO undertakes construction work ofmega Educational Complex for orphans

presently running its educational and housingcomplex in rented buildings to house hundredsof orphan children who had lost their parents indeadly earthquake of October 08, 2005 in AzadJammu Kashmir and adjoining KPK province.

Akhter invited the philanthropists to extendtheir maximum contribution for ensuring theconstruction and completion of the complex. Hesaid that those seeking details for their contri-butions for the project may visit the website ofthe organization - www-kort.org.uk. Speakingon the occasion, Joint Commissioner ManglaDam Resettlement Organization MuhammadTayyeb, paid tributes to Kashmir Orphans Re-lief Center’s Chairman Ch. Muhammd Akhterand his comrades. Earlier the delegation visitedvarious blocks of the under construction educa-tional complex and praised the efforts of theChairman KORT.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Chairman of Jammu and Kash-mir Liberation Front (JKLF), Muhammad YasinMalik, has appealed to the Kashmiri people tostay away from the forthcoming farcical polls tosafeguard the sacrifices of their martyrs. Malikaddressing a public gathering in Soibugh area ofBadgam district said that from 1930s, the peopleof Jammu Kashmir had been striving for free-dom but from time to time leaders had betrayedthem and helped foreign powers to oppress andsuppress them and snatch their freedom.

The JKLF Chairman said that although elec-tions for so-called assembly or Indian Parlia-ment were fought in the name of electricity,roads, employments and water etc but the factwas that people after being elected had always

Yasin appeals people tostay away from sham polls

used this vote to undermine the freedom move-ment in occupied Kashmir and for nourishingthe interests of India. He asked the people notto get deceived by the slogans of electricity, wa-ter, employment, tehsils and nayabats to safe-guard the sacrifices rendered by the Kashmirimartyrs.

“The history of Jammu and Kashmir bearswitness that pro-India politicians and partieshave always asked for our votes in the name ofelectricity, water, jobs and roads but have al-ways used this for snatching our freedom,strengthening tyranny and oppression on thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir. Taking part inelections is demonstration of enmity with Kash-mir and Kashmiris,” he said.—APP

‘Masarrat Aalamnot produced

beforeBaramulla court’

ISLAMABAD—The illegallydetained leader of Jammu andKashmir Muslim League(JKML), Masarrat Aalam Butt,was not produced in Baramullacourt in Indian Occupied Kash-mir in connection with thehearing of a case registeredagainst him. Butt, who islodged in district Jail,Baramulla, was to be presentedby police in Baramulla courtfor hearing on Monday.

The chief spokesman ofJKML Muhammad RafiqGanai in a statement termed theclaim of public prosecutor thatMasarrat Aalam was lodged inKupwara Jail as a sheer lie. Thepublic prosecutor had statedbefore the Session Judge thatMasarrat Aalam was lodged inKupwara Jail and not inBaramulla Jail, saidMuhammad Rafiq Ganai.

He also demanded imme-diate release of all illegally de-tained Hurriyet leaders includ-ing Masarrat Aalam Butt, DrMuhammad Qasim Fakhtoo,Dr Muhammad Shafi Shariati,Ghulam Qadir Butt, ShakeelAhmad Butt, Muhammad AyubDar, Muhammad Ayub Mir,Javed Ahmad Munshi, IshaqAhmad, Abdul Rashid,Manzoor Ahmad, Nasir-ul-Is-lam, Tariq Ahmad Dar,Muhammad Rafiq Shah andEngineer Farooq.—APP

Baramulla shutson Tahir Sofi’s

martyrdomanniversary

SRINAGAR—Complete shut-down is being observed inBaramulla town, today, on thefirst martyrdom anniversary ofa Kashmiri youth, Tahir RasoolSofi.Tahir Rasool Sofi waskilled when Indian troops hadopened indiscriminate fire onpeaceful protesters inBaramulla on this day, last year.

All shops and business es-tablishments are closed. Theoccupation authorities haveblocked most of the bridgesconnecting old town with theuptown to prevent people fromholding anti-India demonstra-tions.—KMS

Tributes paidto Kashmiri

martyrsISLAMABAD—Senior leader ofthe All Parties Hurriyet Confer-ence, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, hassaid that the Kashmiri martyrs’unparalleled sacrifices that havecenter-staged the Kashmir dis-pute at the global level would notbe allowed to go waste.

Shabbir Ahmad Shah ad-dressing in Srinagar differentdelegations from Srinagar andIslamabad said, “We have highregard for sacrifices ofKashmiri martyrs and have notforgotten the Pathribal,Machhil and Lalpora incidentswhich are open proof of Indianstate terrorism”.

Commenting on the up-coming elections in the terri-tory, the APHC leader said thatthe sham elections were nosubstitute to the right to self-determination of the Kashmiripeople. He added that by stag-ing the election drama Indiawanted to create a misconcep-tion among the world bodiesthat all was well in Kashmirand the people of Kashmirwere taking part in the demo-cratic process.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The veteran Hurriyet leader,Syed Ali Gilani, has expressed concern over theexpulsion of Kashmiri students from the SwamiVivekananda Subharti University (SVSU) inMeerat, Uttar Pradesh, and said that the puppetauthorities of Kashmir were acting as a mutespectator against the harassment of Kashmiristudents in different Indian states.

Syed Ali Geelani in a statement issued inSrinagar condemned the expulsion of 150Kashmiri students from Swami VivekanandSubharti University and stabbing of a youth in ahotel by army personnel in Gulmarg followingPakistan’s victory against India in the Asia Cupmatch on Sunday. He demanded action againstthe authorities responsible for expulsion of thestudents and the troops involved in the attackon the youth. “Kashmiris are unsafe in and out-side Jammu and Kashmir. They are not even al-lowed to express their emotions in a peacefulmanner,” he added.

The veteran leader said that the Meerut inci-dent was not the first of its kind but whereverKashmiri students went in India for study they

Concern raised over Kashmiristudents’ harassment in India

were deliberately harassed on one pretext or theother to spoil their careers. “In 2013, about half adozen Kashmiris were killed and many subjectedto custodial disappearances outside Jammu andKashmir. Although Indian Home Minister SushilKumar Shinde expressed his concern over suchincidents and claimed that the police and secu-rity forces have been instructed not to harassMuslim population especially Kashmiris, but hisstatement was merely for the sake of it and wasnever implemented,” he said.

Expressing solidarity with the students ofMeerut, the veteran leader said, “We equallyshare their concern and anguish and are keenlyobserving the situation. If the students are notcalled back, we will act against the incident.”Meanwhile, the spokesman of All PartiesHurriyet Conference in a statement issued inSrinagar also condemned the incident and de-manded strict action against the involved per-sons. “Venting anger and frustration on Kashmiristudents after a defeat in cricket match smacksof an extremely fascist and communal mental-ity,” he added.—APP

JAMMU—Of the 3500 kanals of Waqf proper-ties, which are under illegal occupation of thegovernment in J&K, 2500 kanals are held byforces, the State Government informed the Leg-islative Council.

The government came under sharp criticismin the Upper House from opposition PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) led by its legislatureparty leader Naeem Akthar over its failure to re-trieve the encroached Waqf properties. In hiswritten response to a question of Akthar, Minis-ter for Hajj and Auqaf Peerzada MuhammadSayeed informed the House that more than 3500kanals of Waqf land are under illegal occupationof the government departments in the State, ofwhich 2539 kanals are alone under defence/Army.

Giving break-up of the land under the “oc-cupation” of the forces , the Minister submittedthat 28 kanals have been encroached by them inSrinagar, 09 kanals in Bandipora, 107 inKupwara and 132 in Islamabad (Anantnag). In

3500 kanal of Waqf landunder forces’ illegal occupation

Jammu province, 465 kanals of Waqf land areunder forces in Poonch, 544 in Rajouri, 1267 inJammu district and 62 in neighboring Kathuadistrict. Jammu and Kashmir Police, accordingto the reply, has illegally encroached upon 197kanals of Waqf land.

Besides, different Central and State Govtdepartments like Education, Rural Development,Urban Local Bodies and Railways are holding700 kanals of the Waqf land, the Governmentsaid. The Minister informed the House that nocommittee was constituted in 2012 to scrutinizefunctioning of the Waqf Board, Akthar contra-dicted him by saying that Chief Minister’s of-fice has constituted a three-member panel forthe purpose. Akthar also questioned the gov-ernment for “omitting” the names of personswho are occupying Waqf properties in GandhiNagar. On Akthar’s persistence, the Ministerrevealed that Choudhary family is occupying theWaqf land at Gandhi Nagar.—NNI

Corruption hasmade life ofpoor people

miserable: VakilRAFIABAD—Member AICCand former minister, AbdulGani Vakil, has demanded set-ting up of an independent com-mission to probe complaints ofdisproportionate assets againstministers, legislators, politi-cians and government officialsin Kashmir. “I urge the ChiefMinister, Omar Abdullah, toascertain and evaluate the as-sets raised by all the politicians,ministers, former ministers,legislators and bureaucrats,”Vakil said addressing publicmeetings at Rawoocha andNadihal Rafiabad in Baramulladistrict.

“Let people know theirknown source of income andput the facts and figures in pub-lic domain. The menace of cor-ruption has now reached to alevel where it has endangeredthe coexistence and harmonyamongst the various sections inthe society and same needs tobe tackled seriously,” he said.“Corruption has made life ofpoor people miserable and gov-ernment should leave no stoneunturned in eradicating thiscorruption menace so that com-mon man gets justice,” Vakiladded.—NNI

APHCwelcomes

US statementon Kashmir

SRINAGAR—Welcoming therecent statement of US Statedepartment calling for the ur-gent need to start a meaningfuldialogue to solve Kashmir is-sue, All Parties Hurriyat Con-ference (APHC) has said thatconglomerate supports all thedialogue processes aimed tosolve the Kashmir dispute.

It further said that Kashmirissue being the basic cause oftension between India and Pa-kistan, without any progress onthis issue other issues betweenthe two countries can’t besolved and South Asia wouldcontinue to be marred with in-stability, dangers and tension.

In a statement, the spokes-man said the statement of USstate department that “IndiaPakistan has to show progresson Kashmir” is reflective of thereality promoted by theHurriyat. He stated Kashmirhas become a nuclearflashpoint between the two na-tions and the tension over theissues was not in the interest ofmillions of people living in thesub continent.

Terming the Governmentof Indian’s stand vis-à-vismeaningful dialogue as stub-born and contrary to the groundrealities, spokesman stated thatit is the responsibility of USand world community, know-ing the sensitivity of the issue,to stress upon India to start ameaningful dialogue to solvethe Kashmir issue and extricatesubcontinent from instabilityand perils.

The spokesman furthersaid that it has always been thestand of Hurriyat that beforeembarking upon any result-ori-ented dialogue to solve Kash-mir issue, it was important tocreate conducive conditions onthe ground by stopping widespread human rights violationsand rescinding the blacks lawsfrom Kashmir.

He said win or loss waspart of the cricket game, but theway university authorities ex-pressed their anger onKashmiri students was shock-ing and condemnable aswell.—Agencies

LUCKNOW—The expulsion of Kashmiri students by a privateuniversity in Meerut has snowballed into a huge controversy.Meerut’s Swami Vivekanand Subharti University (SVSU) sus-pended around 60 Kashmiri students for three days and sent themback home for celebrating Pakistan’s victory over India in anAsia Cup cricket match in Bangladesh. The students were alsosaid to be raising pro-Pakistan slogans.

University vice-chancellor Manzoor Ahmed told reportersthat the students’ gesture was completely unacceptable. Thetrouble began on Sunday night when a group of local andKashmiri students were watching the India-Pakistan cricket matchin the hall of the university’s Madan Dhingra Hostel and someKashmiri students clapped every time an Indian player’s wicketfell, and later celebrated Pakistan’s win.

Tension intensified after local student opposed and joined ina clash with Kashmiri students. Initially, authorities decided tosuspend only those students who had shouted slogans. “But athree-tier inquiry finally recommended all Kashmiri students besuspended. Around 200 Kashmiri students are enrolled in B Techand law courses in the university. The Kashmiri students werealso victimized and tortured by the protestors, whereas the au-thorities of the University ordered the Kashmiri students to leavethe university and also charged the students with 5000 rupeesfine. The issue was raised by the opposition in the Indian HeldJammu and Kashmir assembly on Tuesday. While Peoples Demo-cratic Party members supported Kashmiri students for shoutinganti-India slogans, BJP and Jammu and Kashmir National Pan-thers Party members staged a walkout from the House.—INP

Indian University suspendsKashmiri students for celebrating

Pakistan’s win over India

SRINAGAR—Kashmiri girls on educational tourwere forced to dance at Indian Army headquar-ter in Kol-kata. In a press statement today, In-dian Army confirmed that a group of 22 girlsfrom Kashmir’s Uri area showcased their danc-ing talent in the lawns of its Bengal Headquar-ters’.

According to statement, A group of 22 girlstudents from Uri in Jammu & Kashmir, here inKolkata on an educational and motivational tourunder Army’s Op Sadbhavna initiative visitedHQ Bengal Area today. The girls who are ontheir maiden outing beyond the Banihal Passwere accompanied by two female teachers andinteracted with Maj Gen Harsha Kakar, Chief

Kashmiri girls on educational tour forcedto dance at Indian Army HQ in Kolkata

of Staff, HQ Bengal Area and other officials.“The girls displayed zestful spirit and sur-

prised all at HQ Bengal Area present by break-ing into an im-promptu group dance playingtheir part as perfect ambassadors of Kashmiriculture, endearing and integrating themselveswith fellow citizens, which is one of the pri-mary aim of the army to undertake such initia-tive.” Press statement reads

The group had left Uri on February 24, andvisited Delhi and Lucknow before arrivingKolkata on Monday. During their stay they vis-ited various landmarks and tourist spots in thecity. Group is supposed to return Kashmir to-morrow.—Agencies

PDP takes tostreets against

Farooq AbdullahSRINAGAR: The main opposi-tion party, the Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) has took tostreets to register their protestagainst the National Confer-ence (NC) patron, Dr FarooqAbdullah for allegedly terming‘Kashmiris as biggest thieves’,Terming Farooq’s statement asinsulting and disgracing for theentire state, PDP leaders de-manded apology from him.

The PDP activists led bysenior leader, KhursheedAalam, took out a rally fromPDP office and marched toRegal Chowk. “FarooqAbdullah has labeled everycitizen of state as biggest thief.In a function, he had made amockery of our honour and dig-nity and hurt our sentiments.He has made audience to laughat us,” Aalam said.

Elaborating, he said, “FarooqAbdullah should look into his owndoings. He and his party have in-flicted miseries upon Kashmirisat all fronts including politically,economically and socially,” hesaid.—Agencies

To be successful, youhave to have yourheart in your busi-

ness, and yourbusiness in your

heart.

—Thomas Watson, Sr.

ISE-10 Indexwitnesses bullish trendISLAMABAD—IslamabadStock Exchange witnessedbullish trend here onWednesday as the ISE-10index was up by 40.44points and closed at4580.97 points. A total of381,840 shares weretraded, which were up by211,340 shares whencompared with previousday’s trading of 170,500shares. Out of 154 compa-nies, share prices of 95companies recordedincrease while share pricesof 59 companies registereddecrease whereas nocompany remained stablein today’s trading. Theshare price of MurreeBrewery increased by Rs.33.84 per share while theshare prices of ShifaInternational Hospitaldecreased by Rs. 3.00 pershare. Byco Petroleum,P.T.C.L and Akari Bankremained the top tradingcompanies inWednesday’s trading with137,000, 100,000 and 60,500shares respectively.—APP

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 andfor providing ForwardCover on Foreign CurrencyDeposits (excluding F.E- 25deposits) by the State Bankon March 06, 2014. Therates are U.S. Dollar Rs104.4918, Japanese Yen Rs1.0205, Pound Sterling Rs174.2924 and Euro Rs143.4568.—APP

PIAF for enhancesmarket securityLAHORE—PakistanIndustrial & TradersAssociations Front (PIAF)on Wednesday urged thePunjab government toreview security arrange-ments in all the industrialestates, markets andshopping malls to avertany intoward incident. ThePIAF Chairman Malik TahirJaved, Senior Vice Chair-man Khamis Saeed Buttand Vice Chairman AmjadAli Jawa stated here thatgovernment should directthe concerned depart-ments to convene ameeting of business andtrade leaders to identifytheir requirements toreinformce securityarrangements in andaround their industrialestates or shopping malls.They said it was a goodsign that economicactivites were gainingmomentum following theefforts and right steps ofthe government.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Pakistan has a huge potentialto become auto manufacturing and export-ing hub in Asia, said Parvez Ghias Ceo IndusMotor Company (IMC) here today. IMCChief said this on the even of Pakistan AutoShow 2014 being sponsored by IMC. He saidsuch an event serves as a platform whereuntapped capabilities can be recognized,which will lead to development of the localindustry. Indus Motor Company (IMC), thedistributor and progressive manufacturer ofToyota vehicles in Pakistan, will bring thePakistan Auto Show 2014, which is to beheld from 6th to 8th March in Expo CentreLahore. Being the diamond sponsor for theevent, IMC is contributing towards the de-velopment of local auto engineering sector.

The Pakistan Auto Show 2014 isPakistan’s premier auto show event, heldonce in two years, where almost the entirelocal auto industry comes together to show-case their products, technologies and ca-pabilities. This year’s show is also expectedto attract thousands of attendees who willbe getting first hand information on someof their favourite cars and two-wheelers.The event will also attract internationalbuyers of vehicles and automotive compo-nents which may increase local industry

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The Bank of Khyber (BOK)posted Rs.1.67 billion Profit before tax (PBT)for the period ended 31st December 2013showing increase of 6.2.% of PBT over thecorresponding period of 2012 which was Rs1.57 Billion. This was stated by Mr. ImranSamad, Acting Managing Di-rector BOK while briefing BOKBoard of Directors (BOD) in125th meeting of BOK BODhere on Wednesday.

The meeting was presidedover by Mr. Khalid Perez Addi-tional Chief Secretary Govern-ment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa& Chairman BOK BOD.The125th BOD was attended by Syed SaidBadshah Bukhari Secretary Finance ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr. Ehsan-ul-Haq,Sajjad Ahmad, Mr. Maqsood Ismail & Mr.Asad Muhammad Iqbal apart from Mr. RahatGul Chief Financial Officer of BOK.The Boardappreciated the efforts of the BOK Manage-ment and staff for their dedication and devo-tion to achieve the desired goals for the bet-terment of Bank and its vital role in socio-economic development of the KhyberPakhtunkhwa and rest of the country.

The Board was pleased to note that

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Zakaria Usman, President FPCCI,currently visiting Dubai to attend the WorldCEO Investment Conference at Dubai on Expo2020 said that FPCCI would setup an office atDubai for a proper coordination for participa-tion in Expo 2020 Dubai, which is going to bethe world largest event after Olympics andFIFA. Expo 2020 Dubai is an opportunity whichneeds to be exploited by intensive aggressiveplanning, marketing and strategies to make the

KARACHI—Sindh Revenue Board (SRB), cur-rently focussed on tax collection from servicesector, has adopted a multi-pronged strategyto activate already registered but dormant taxpayers and expanding registered tax payersfrom 7,000 to 10,000. Chairman, Sindh RevenueBoard (SRB), Tashfeen K Niaz talking to APPWednesday said equal attention is being paidto enforce tax deeper into the unorganised sec-tors through installation of Point-of-Sale ma-chines with real time connectivity.

Building sustainable organisational capac-ity in tax administration with emphasis onhuman resource development and strength-ening coordination with the Federal Govern-ment are also part of the strategy. “The abovecited measures are equally important tostrengthen our tax collection growth andachieve tax collection target of 100 billion by2017,” he said in reply to a question To a query,he agreed that there existed potentials for ad-ditional tax collection of more than 50% to

Sindh Revenue Board adopts multi pronged strategy to activate tax payers60% through the reforms.

SRB Chairman said the board had alreadyset a precedence by recovering Rs 34 billionagainst the target of Rs 32 bln in 2012- 2013and is fast on its way to surpass recoverytarget of Rs 42 bln for fiscal year 2013-2014.“We are fast on our way to register an in-crease of 31.25 percent in 2013-2014, againstan increase of 28 percent for 2012-2013, infactFeb 2014 has been the best month ever in thehistory of SRB as the collection for the monthexceeded Rs 3.7 bln” he said.

In reply to a query, he said hisorganisation’s ability to accept challengeswas consequent to the confidence reposedon him and his team by the Chief Minister ofSindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah. SRB, he said, plansto continue bringing untapped sectors intothe tax net over the next two years. “We be-lieve there is a high potential for increasingstable tax receipts in the years to come byactivating the dormant registered businesses,”

said Tashfeen K Niaz.He agreed that critical interventions are

needed at the strategic and operational levelsto redress the challenges faced by SRB. Re-ferring to proactive role of the Sindh RevenueBoard in expanding the tax base of sales taxon services, he said that almost all sectors,except for medical services, education, publictransport and a few other representingunorganised businesses, have already beencovered in the SRB tax net. “But then there isalso a flip side as against a total of 7,000 plusbusiness entities registered by SRB only 2,500or so are active tax payers,” he said.

This can be attributed to overlapping taxa-tion enabling many of the tax payers to refrainfrom paying the taxes to SRB. Moreover, persis-tent ambiguity in the interpretation of businesseseither as manufacturing or service driven enti-ties is yet another deterrent in enforcing salestax on services in the letter and spirit. SRB Chiefin reply to a question said undocumented trans-

actions are also among series of challenges SRBis currently faced with as many of the small andeven medium sized registered tax payers, whohappen to be potential tax payers, have no for-mal accounting systems.

“This is reflected in the current trend oflow ratio of actual tax payers to total registeredbusinesses,” he said. Tashfeen Niaz also re-ferred to application of legal recourse as a de-laying tactic registered to hinder SRB effortsto bring new sectors into the tax net. Despitethe express provisions of Article 199(4A) ofthe Constitution and the decision of the apexCourt that interim stay orders made by thecourts in relaxation to state properties and pub-lic revenue ceases to have effect on expirationof 6 months from the date of the order.

“They have been very liberal and lenient ingranting ad-interim orders in favour of the tax-payers which seriously affects SRB’s ability tocollect revenue as proposed in the Budget,” saidSRB chairman. He acknowledged that Sindh

Revenue Board has very limited access to validand reliable data base on tax payers and conse-quently its ability to enforce tax is constrained.

About capacity of SRB with regard toqualified tax administrators, the chairman ofthe board said there was dire need for wellgroomed tax administrators so as to help ineffective expansion of its operations. “Forfact, as of now the board has a total strengthof about 150 incumbents across the echelons,which restricts its capacity to expand hori-zontally and vertically,” said Tashfeen. He,however, mentioned that SRB has alreadytaken cognizance of the required reforms andthrough concerted efforts has achieved itsrecognition as an independent board empow-ering it to become even more effective.

Consequently measures are underway to-wards resolution of operational ambiguitiesat multiple tiers while a comprehensive train-ing curriculum has also been developed forSRB personnel.—APP

Pakistan Auto Show 2014

Pakistan to emerge as automanufacturing & export hub in Asia

access to export markets.Parvez Ghias pointed out that this is the

reason behind our initiative to supportPAAPAM so that we can practically shapethe dream of gathering all the vendors un-der one roof where they can showcase theirattained level of localization and show it tothe buyers from new markets.” He said thatdespite operating in a difficult environment,the local auto industry has shown tremen-dous improvements during the past decadeas it has achieved on average 60 per centlocalization while generating employmentfor thousands of people and bringing lat-est technology in Pakistan.

He further added that level of localiza-tion at which the industry is standing to-day is a proof that OEMs are committed tothe localization process. IMC alone hasdeveloped 60 vendors and has arranged for34 technical assistance agreements fortransfer of technology. In addition, IMC hasinvested over Rs 10 billion for progressivelocalization for its range of products in Pa-kistan and procured over Rs 18 billion worthof local parts and sub assemblies from lo-cal sources during year 2012-13.

IMC will be displaying its flagship prod-uct Corolla which has been awarded “TheBest Car of 2012-13” by consumer associa-tion of Pakistan.

BOK earns record Rs1.67b PBTduring the period under review BOK lend-ing was Rs.35.45 billion showing increaseof 32.7. % against corresponding period of2012 which was Rs 26.72 billion. During theyear 2013. The BOK deposit was Rs77.22billion showing increase of 29 % overRs60.04 billion of corresponding periods of2012, which shows the confidence of

masses on BOK. The Bank’stotal assets reached to Rs108.17 billion with an increaseof 32.% over year 2012.

The Board was informedthat with the establishment of21 new branches during 2013increased BOK Branches net-work to record 100 brancheswhich will further increase in

2014. The Board expressed their confidenceover the field staff and Head office support-ing team, adding that they have to work withmore devotion and diligently to achieve moresuccess in future. The targets of MCR set bythe State Bank of Pakistan out of which byDecember 2013 we achieved Rs. 10 billionPaid-up Capital target successfully and re-maining we will achieve as and when timecomes. Imran Samad, Acting MD BOK de-clared 2014 as “ Year of Excellence” to en-sure efficient services to the customers, witha touch of professionalism.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chairing a meeting of the committee constituted by PM Office forresolving the impasses in Pakistan-Russia relations.

FPCCI desk at Dubai to helpPakistani Exporters

RCCI to offerstipends to

needy studentsR A W A L P I N D I — T h eRawalpindi Chamber of Com-merce (RCCI) will soon intro-duce a policy to offer sipendsto the poor and needy stu-dents for acquiring highereducation, besides offeringemployment opportunities tothe educated youth. This wasstated by RCCI President DrShimail Daud while address-ing a meeting of the chamber’sCommittee on Social Servicesheld here on Wednesday.

Dr Shimail said the RCCIhad always been on fore-front to help out the poorand needy people, espe-cially during the times ofsufferings and distress. Hesaid the RCCI’s policy tohelp the needy students toaccomplish their higherstudies was in the offingand would be announcedsoon with the cooperationof members of the chamber,philanthropists and well-to-do persons. He said theRCCI would also offer op-portunities of employmentto the educated youth.

The RCCI President ap-preciated the efforts of theCommittee on Social Ser-vices for organizing a freemedical camp for the down-trodden people.—APP

maximum benefits from this event particularlyin terms of projection of Pakistan in the field ofexports, manufacturing capacity, investmentopportunities, new business ideas, tourism,heritage, culture, service sector etc, Zakariafurther added. The President FPCCI, accom-panied by Shaukat Ahmed, Sr. Vice Presidentand S. M. Naseer, Mazhar Ali Nasir andKhurram Sayeed Vice Presidents of FPCCI saidthat that Dubai Expo 2020 offers immense busi-ness opportunities to all countries particu-larly with reference to construction sector.

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Netherlands, De Vink called on Federal Minister forPlanning, Development and Reform, Prof, Ahsan Iqbal.

KARACHI—Local cement dispatchesduring February 2014 were 2.135 mil-lion tons that is highest ever in thehistory, depicting a growth of 8.70%compared with corresponding monthof last year. Revealing the perfor-mance of cement sector, Spokesmanof APCMA said that during the firsteight months of current fiscal, localcement dispatches stood at 16.274million tons that were the highest everin the country depicting a growth of2.9% compared with correspondingperiod of last fiscal year during whichthe local dispatches were 15.814 Mil-lion Tons.

“We are getting healthy demandsfrom the domestic market, he said,adding that during February, the lo-cal dispatches increased to 1.76 Mil-lion tons in northern areas againstaverage of 1.67 Million tons achieved

Cement dispatches duringFebruary breaks past record

during the previous seven months ofcurrent fiscal. In the southern region,the local dispatches were 369,000Tons during February 14 comparedwith 349,000 Tons average dispatchesper month from July 13 to January14.” he said. During the month ofFebruary 2014, exports from northdeclined to 381,000 tons against445,000 tons during same month lastyear. Exports from south also declinedto 202,000 Tons during February 2014against 209,000 tons during corre-sponding month last year.

Total exports from the country de-clined by 2.01 percent, counting to5.292 million tons during the first eightmonths of current fiscal year comparedto 5.400 million tons during same pe-riod of last fiscal year. From July 13 toFebruary 14, Afghanistan market de-clined by 15.29 percent and cement

sector was able to export only 2.487million tons to Afghanistan. Exportsto other destinations through seahowever increased by 14.60 percentto 2.513 million tons during this pe-riod compared to 2.193 million tons,during same period of last fiscal year.Spokesman of Pakistan Cement Manu-facturers Association deplored thatthe issues impacting cement sectorhave still not been addressed by thegovernment.

In last budget, cement has beenbrought within the purview of ‘3rdSchedule’ of Sales Tax Act 1990 thathas increased the overall tax burdenand has resulted in increase in the lo-cal prices. Considering the cementdynamics, industry wants governmentto reconsider its decision and removecement from 3rd Schedule and to bringit in the normal sales tax regime.—NNI

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Commerce KhurramDastagir Khanhas said that India cannot be given the sta-tus of trading partner unless it significantly reduces taxeson Pakistani textile products. In an interview with BBC,the commerce minister said that there is a proposal to giveNon Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) but made itclear that this would be approved only when India wouldreduce duties on the import of Pakistani textile products.

He said if India wants non discriminatory trade rela-tions, it would have to bring down the duties in the rangeof zero to five per cent. He said presently India has im-posed duties between 80 to 120% on Pakistani textile prod-ucts which is totally unacceptable. He said spade workhas been completed at the ministerial level and the issueto be presented before the federal cabinet for approval.

He as soon as Pakistan receives a positive response onits reservations after approval by the Indian cabinet, Paki-stan would reciprocate. The Commerce Minister said thereare other items on which Pakistan needed relief includingchemicals, medical equipment and others. In reply to a ques-tion, Khurram Dastagir said the government of Mian NawazSharif wants to enhance trade relations with India on prioritybasis and no political issue would come in their way.—INP

No trading partner statusto India: Dastagir

Pakistan makesstrong push for

international goalon energy access

UNITED NATIONS—Paki-stan has called upon theinternational communityto establish a new inter-national goal on provid-ing universal access toenergy for all. Address-ing a meeting convenedby Pakistan PermanentMission to the UN here,Ambassador MasoodKhan said that there isnear consensus on estab-lishing a three-prongedinternational goal aimed atproviding internationalsupport in promoting ac-cess to modern energyservices, enhancing effi-ciency and doubling theshare of renewable energysources in the global en-ergy mix.

Around forty seniordiplomats, from devel-oped and developingcountries including Brazil,India, China, Norway,Denmark, South Africa,Japan, South Korea, Swit-zerland, France and officeof the UN Secretary Gen-eral attended the meeting.Pakistan, Denmark andNorway have been lead-ing an effort at the UnitedNations to push for estab-lishing an internationalframework as part of thepost-2015 DevelopmentAgenda and associatedgoals on access to energyfor all. AmbassadorMasood Khan, while ap-preciating the UN Secre-tary General Ban Ki-Moonfor his initiative on Sus-tainable Energy for All,called upon internationalcommunity to ensure es-tablishing a robust globalpartnership for coopera-tion and development tosucceed in this importantobjective.

Ambassador Khanalso termed the lack ofenergy for poor in SouthAsia as one of the fore-most challenges facinghumanity. He said that outof 1.6 billion people livingin South Asia today,nearly 800 million peoplelack access to electricity.The UN SecretaryGeneral’s Advisor on En-ergy, Ms. Elizabeth Th-ompson underlined thatneed for ensuring that aninternational frameworkshould not work in silosbut rather forge key link-ages with other sectorssuch a health, water, foodand women empower-ment.

The Norwegian Am-bassador, Geir Pedersonand Denmark’s Ambassa-dor, IB Peterson laudedPakistan’s strong and con-structive engagement inpushing for such an inter-national framework andextended his government’ssupport in this endeavor.Last year, Prime MinisterMohammed Nawaz Sharif,during his visit to NewYork in September, held atrilateral meeting with hisNorwegian Counterpart,Jen Jens Stoltenberg andthe Minister for Develop-ment Co-operation of Den-mark, Christian Friis Bach.

The three leadersagreed to push for an in-ternational framework onenergy which will not onlyprovide assistance to en-ergy starved countries,mobilize the private sectorbut also deal with the chal-lenge of climate changeby doubling the share ofrenewable energy in theglobal energy mix.—NNI

Currency Selling Buying

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—As many as 21 diplomats from 17 countries onWednesday visited the Lahore Chamber of Commerce andIndustry, discussed economy, Chambers role in the eco-nomic growth, establishment of new businesses and ca-pacity building of entrepreneurs. The LCCI Vice PresidentKashif Anwar gave the briefing to the diplomatic team,headed by Director General Foreign Services AcademyMurad Ali. LCCI Executive Committee Members MianMuhammad Afzal, Zafar Mehmood, former EC memberWaqar Ahmad Mian and Secretary General Saqlain Naqvialso spoke on the occasion.

The LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar informed thevisiting diplomats about the various initiatives beingtaken by the LCCI for the revival of the economy. He saidthat the Lahore Chamber was planning to hold three singlecountry exhibitions to promote Pakistani merchandise atglobal business destinations. He said that besides theseexhibitions, the LCCI regularly sends and receives busi-ness delegations to highlight the soft image of the coun-try.

He said that the LCCI had established a MediationCentre at its premises with the help and cooperation ofInternational Finance Corporation for the out-of-courtsettlement of business disputes. A number of business-men having business disputes had already availed theopportunity to get their cases resolved amicably with thehelp of Mediation Centre. About the role of diplomats,he said, their role for the economic well being of anycountry was beyond doubt because they have enough

HD Lee Head of Consumer Electronics Samsung shaking hands with CEO Smart zoneShakir Hakim after signing of MoU.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, SikandarHayat Khan Bosan addressing a symposium on ‘Rangeland Resources of Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister forNational Food Security and Research,Mr. Sikandar Hayat Khan BosanWednesday said that 60 percent of thecountry’s geographical area wasrangeland, calling attention ofpolicymakers to rehabilitate these tosupport livestock that has been play-ing important role in food security,nutrition and livelihood of poor andvulnerable. “The total rangeland areaof Pakistan is 52.2 million hectors,which is around 60 percent of the to-tal geographical area,” the federalminister said while addressing an in-augural session of two-day RangelandSymposium here Wednesday.

The Symposium has been orga-nized by Food and Agriculture Organi-zation (FAO) in collaboration with Pa-kistan Agricultural Research Council(PARC) and Ministry of Food Securityand Research. The federal minister saidthat livestock sector contributed over11.9 percent to the national GDP, be-sides contributing 55.4 percent to theagriculture value addition during thelast fiscal year. He said that livestock

Bosan for rehabilitatingrangelands to promote livestock

production was one of the major ac-tivities, as it engages about 30-35 mil-lion people in rearing livestock in therural areas, who derive around 30.40percent of their incomes from it.

“In this case, rangelands provideforge to the livestock in various eco-logical zones, throughout the country,”he remarked and added that the range-lands also play key role in water recharg-ing and sustainable water flow for hu-man consumption, irrigation and hydel.Livestock sector contributes to the foodsecurity and nutrition of the poor andvulnerable population both in rural andurban areas in the form of milk and meat,he said adding that besides, power gen-eration. Therefore it requires special at-tention to keep these rangelands undera good vegetation cover to ensure wa-ter supply downstream, biodiversity,clean environment and eco-tourism.

The federal minister called for im-mediate attention of the policymakers,government departments, research in-stitutions, private sector organizationsand local community to initiate somekey developmental activities for the

rehabilitation of these rangelands. Heassured the participants that the min-istry would implement the recommen-dations of the symposium to help re-habilitate the rangeland. Speaking onthe occasion, Chairman PARC, Dr.Iftikhar Ahmad said that in addition toserving as production base for live-stock, the rangelands provide fuel,building material, medicinal plants andhabitat for wildlife.

He said that rangelands also serveas watersheds to the mighty Indus andits tributaries and drain into Tarbela andMangla dams. He was of the view thatthis ecosystem is under severe threatdue to climate change. Speaking on theoccasion Country RepresentativeFAO, Patrick Evans said that his orga-nization was working with Pakistan onvarious areas including productivity,management and governance to im-prove livestock quality. He said that thesymposium was organized to bring to-gether the experts to address the chal-lenges and enhance the performanceof livestock, which is backbone of theagriculture sector.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan has huge po-tential to enhance the export of agri-cultural products, but it is essentialthat the government should providesuitable infrastructure and necessarysupport to our farmers, growers andtraders at par with our competitors.This was said by Shaban Khalid, Presi-dent, Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce & Industry while exchangingviews with a delegation of IslamabadFruit Merchants Association that vis-ited ICCI led by its President BabuMuhammad Aleem.

He said the private sector is doingwhat it can to improve the standardsof hygiene and packaging of agro prod-ucts as per global standards and ifgovernment comes up with facilitativemeasures, the country could realizefull export potential of its agriculturaland horticultural products. He said the

ICCI asks businessmen to focuson exports of agri products

world horticulture market is valued at$80 billion, but Pakistan despite beingan agricultural economy has only amarginal share in this huge marketbecause the government has been ig-noring this sector for too long.

He said government should takemeasures for establishing modern coolchains, international standard certifi-cation labs, grading and labeling fa-cilities in the country. Shaban Khalidsaid Afghanistan, Russia, CentralAsian States, Middle East, Europe andmany other regions offer enormousopportunities for promoting export ofPakistani fruit products and business-men should focus on value addition,quality packaging and advanced mar-keting techniques for getting betterpenetration in export market. He saidCDA should pay priority attention toresolving Fruits Market problems and

facilitate fruit exporters in improvingexports for earning more precious for-eign exchange for the country.He said Fruit Market needs more auc-tion platforms due to increase in itssize and CDA should ensure early con-struction of said platforms to easecongestion and facilitate the traders.Speaking at the occasion, BabuMuhammad Aleem, President andTahir Abub, Secretary General ofIslamabad Wholesale Fruit MerchantsAssociation highlighted various prob-lems being faced by the local traders.They said that CDA is earning millionsof rupees as entry fee from Fruit Mar-ket but paying no attention to resolv-ing its problems. They said existenceof Afghan Basti near Fruit Market iscausing law & order problems andcalled for shifting this Basti to anyother suitable place.—INP

LSE approves listing ofUnits of NAFA Islamic

Principal ProtectedFund-1

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Lahore Stock Ex-change (LSE) Limited has ap-proved the application for for-mal listing and quotation ofthe Units of NAFA IslamicPrincipal Protected Fund-1(Open end Fund managed byNBP Fullerton Asset Manage-ment Ltd.). The Fund will bequoted under “Open-endFund” sector of the ReadyBoard Quotation of the Ex-change w.e.f. Thursday,March 06, 2014. After the list-ing of this fund number oflisted fund in open-end sec-tor of the Lahore Stock Ex-change will be 64. The addressof the Management Companyis NBP Fullerton Asset Man-agement Ltd., 7th Floor, CliftonDiamond Building, Block-4,Scheme No. 5, Clifton, Karachi.Tel # 021-111-111-632, Fax #021-35825335.

Managing Director andChief Executive Officer ofLahore Stock Exchange Mr.Aftab Ahmed Chaudhry con-gratulated the stakeholdersand management of NAFAIslamic Principal ProtectedFund-1.

IMRAN SHARIF

DASKA—Ambassador of Belgium to Paki-stan Peter Claes on Wednesday told thePakistan Observer on the ceremony ofSialkot exporters that Belgium and EuropeanUnion (EU) intending to see Pakistan a de-veloped and welfare oriented country. Hesaid that the EU was providing maximumfinancial cooperation to Pakistan, enablingits people to get the maximum benefits ofglobal peace and socio-economic develop-ment. Peter said his country was impor-tant trading partner of Pakistan and desir-ous of enhancing bilateral trade and eco-nomic ties with Pakistan.

He said that Belgium was the 5th larg-est importer of Pakistani products in theEuropean Union. He said that it was impor-tant to promote trade ties. He stressed theneed for collaborated efforts on part of theboth countries on the issue of water; biomasses and agriculture will pave the wayfor further progress, Claes said Govt of Pa-kistan has focused Trade not Aid policywhich is a very good sign, He also admiredthe current industrial and economic poli-cies of Pakistan and stressed implementa-tion of the same. He said that his countrywas a viable and trustworthy partner withsolid credentials in the industrial and busi-ness world. He said that Belgium is the 5thlargest trading partner of Pakistan fromwithin the 28 EU countries.

He hoped enhancement of bilateral

EU keen to see Pakistandeveloped state: Claes

trade relations. He also promised to sup-port forthcoming FCCI trade delegation toBelgium. A trade analysis shows that dur-ing the period 2008-12, exports betweenPakistan and Belgium have been growing@ 4% per annum compared to higher rateof 8% for imports from Belgium to Pakistanduring the same period,” he said. He saidthat Belgium is the 5th largest trading part-ner of Pakistan from within the 28 EU coun-tries. He also hailed the front line role ofPakistan in the war against global terror-ism. He said that the Pakistan was not alonein this war and it was playing pivotal role inestablishing durable global peace.

He said that social injustice led the in-surgency and militancy growing in Pakistan.He said that the people of Pakistan are thepeace-loving who want to see durable glo-bal peace in the world. He said the countryintended to develop and strengthen mu-tual trade relations with Pakistan and wouldensure easy access for Sialkot exporters tothe European Union (EU),He said Pakistaniexporters emphasised that both countriesneeded to further strengthen economic re-lations through facilitation of governmentsand close coordination of private sectors.They were of the view that the Belgiummarket had a big demand for items producedin Sialkot, creating great potential for es-tablishing joint ventures and business co-operation between the two countries espe-cially in fields of sports goods, surgical in-struments and leather products.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Mohammad Asif pre-siding over 95th meeting of Board of Private Power and Infrastructure Board.

ISLAMABAD: Director General Planning and Development National Vocational andTechnical Training Commission Headquarters, Sharukh Nusrat presiding over 7th

meeting of Technical Working Group on National Skills Information System (NSIS) atNAVTTC Headquarters.21 diplomats from 17 countries visit LCCI

knowledge to portray economic potentials of any coun-try to the outer world and thus pave way for foreign in-vestment.”

Kashif Anwar said that that in the developing tradescenario, it is necessary that the developing econo-mies enhance trade amongst themselves. There is aneed to prioritize Afro-Asian partnership. That can ei-ther be in the form of regional blocs such as ECO, Af-rican Union or through other bilateral cooperation.ECO, which has remained dormant for quite a long timeshould be activated. Pakistan has a specific importancedue to its strategic location. It is a gateway to CentralAsian States.

The development of Gwader Deep Seaport and high-ways in Pakistan is going to give a jumpstart to thetrade of Central Asian states in the regional contextand worldwide. These land locked countries would beeasily accessible to the Afro-Asian countries. He saidthat the primary objective of Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and Industry is to protect and promote the inter-ests of the business community and it acts as a bridgebetween the government and the business community.

The LCCI Vice President urged the diplomats to iden-tify tradable items, which leave a lot of room for product/market diversification. The basics for such exercises stemin the exchange of information between the diplomatic mis-sions and the Chambers. He said the diplomats shouldalso promote investment and trade between the states. Hesaid that building long-term economic ties are the bestguarantee of peace in this world and the diplomats has akey role in this regard.

ISLAMABAD—Drilling for oil and gas deposits outsideNorth America has hit the highest level in three decades,led by big exploration and production programs in theMiddle East and Africa. More than 1,300 drilling rigs havebeen operating on average over the last six months, thegreatest number since 1983, according to oilfield servicescompany Baker Hughes, Arab News Reported.

The number of rigs is up 20 percent compared with 2008and has more than doubled since hitting a nadir in 1999. Theboom is being led by the Middle East, where the number of rigsoperating has tripled since 1999, and Africa, where the rig countis up almost four times. Rig counts reported by Baker Hughesdo not include onshore China, Russia, the Caspian and certainother countries. According to the company, more than 400onshore and offshore rigs were drilling in the Middle East inDecember and January, the greatest number since the 1970s.

Over the last six months, Iraq averaged more than 90,up from zero in 1999, when the country was still under UNsanctions. Saudi Arabia also has more than 90, up fromfewer than 20 in 1999. Kuwait, too, is witnessing a drillingrevolution, with more than 30 rigs, three times as many asat the turn of the century. In Africa, the boom is led byAlgeria (almost 50) and Angola (13 offshore). In both casesdrilling has tripled over the last 15 years. These five coun-tries alone account for 30 percent of the increase in drillingoutside North America since 1999.—APP

Global oil and gasdrilling hits 30-year high

Pakistanistocks end

higher; rupeestrengthens

KARACHI—Pakistan’s mainstock exchange closedhigher on Wednesday, withthe benchmark 100-shareindex of the Karachi StockExchange rising 1.19 percent, or 312.61 points to26,521.99. The market con-tinued its rally led by Paki-stan State Oil Co Ltd andPakistan Petroleum Ltd.

Following handsomeearnings announcements,investors remained inter-ested in cement stockswhile, on the contrary,Maple Leaf closed at 5 percent lower limit, said dealerSamar Iqbal at Topline Se-curities. Pakistan State OilLtd rose 4.24 per cent to385.50 rupees while MapleLeaf Cement Factory Ltdwas down 3.54 per cent to30.50 rupees.—APP

USA 104.70 104.50

UK 174.51 174.18

Euro 143.79 143.52

Canada 94.39 94.21

Switzerland 117.99 117.77

Australia 93.78 94.60

Sweden 16.24 16.21

Japan 1.0244 1.0225

Norway 17.41 17.37

Singapore 82.38 82.23

Denmark 19.27 19.23

Saudi Arabia 27.92 27.86

Hong Kong 13.49 13.47

Kuwait 371.69 370.98

Malaysia 31.99 31.93

Newzealand 87.85 86.68

Qatar 28.75 28.70

UAE 28.50 28.45

KR. WON 0.0978 0.0976

Thailand 3.232 3.226

SUKKUR: Winning students holding the trophy of Inter-School Girls Throw Ball Championship.

FAISALABAD: Students taking part in the annual sports festival of Punjab College forWomen.

LAHORE: Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan giving champions trophy to Mustqeem Butt who beat India in Weight Liftingduring Punjab Youth Festival.

KARACHI—Former skipper WasimAkram said Pakistan team has peakedat the right time to defend their title inthe Asia Cup against Sri Lanka onMarch 8.

However, he warned Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan team to be bewareof the Sri Lankans because they areon a very good side, he told a pri-vate television channel on Wednes-day.

He said Sri Lankans are very clini-cal team so Pakistan team got to alertall the times.

“Pakistan team is playing brilliantcricket at the moment with ShahidAfridi in his supreme best,” he com-mented.

Wasim Akram said Afridi’s amaz-ing batting changed Pakistan’s for-tunes against arch-rivals India andthen against host Bangladesh whilechasing a their record total of

Pakistan peaking at right time butbeware of SL: Wasim Akram

327.“I don’t have words what to say

Afridi remarkable and amazing bat-ting,” he added.

He praised all-rounder for hittinghis career best batting by Fawad Alam.

“Fawad was making a comebackin the team after over three years.Butsteered his team to victory with a pairof sixes,” he remarked.

He was critical of Pakistan bowl-ing which allowed Bangladesh toscore 326.

“They bowled took much off-sidethe stump instead of bowling in theright areas,” he said.

He expressed the hope thatPakistan’s bowling attack will learnfrom the mistakes.

Pace duo of Umar Gul andMuhammad Talah received a heavythrashing conceding 76 and 68 runsin their 10 and seven overs respec-

tively.Another Former Pakistan captain,

Rashid Latif expressed his surprise theway left arm spinner Abdul Rehmanbowled three beamers and was disal-lowed to bowl further in the match asper the rules.

“I was surprised with Rehman’sbeamers with almost a new ball,” hesaid.

Commenting on the Rehman’s lead-ing anchor Mirza Iqbal Baig said “Ithink Rehman had played his lastmatch for Pakistan,”.

Iqbal Baig also said that he wassurprised to see Rehman was pro-moted in batting order ahead of UmarAkmal and Shahid Afridi despite play-ing his first match.

Test batsman Basit Ali said threebeamers in a row surprised me. He alsoquestioned promoting of Rehman inbatting order.—APP

PESHAWAR—All-Pakistan Men Inter-Uni-versity Hockey Championship will com-mence under the aegis of Directorate ofSports University of Peshawar here at LalaAyub Hockey Stadium today (Thursday)while the opening ceremony of the Cham-pionship will be organized at hostel No 2ground inside the camp.

This was stated by Organizing Secre-tary and Director Sports University ofPeshawar Bahre Karam while addressing apress conference here on Wednesday. Hesaid a total of 16 teams from various uni-versities affiliated with Higher EducationCommission (HEC) will be taking part in theChampionship.

He said the Directorate of Sports HigherEducation Commission had been divided64 Universities in eight different zones andamong them two teams each qualified forthe final round organizing by the Director-ate of Sports University of Peshawar forthe second consecutive years.

He said all arrangements have already

All Pakistan Men Inter-University Hockey

Championship starts todaybeen completed well in time for the smoothconduct of the Championship. He said thefinal of the Championship will be played onMarch 11, 2014 with KP Sports MinisterMehmood Khan grace the occasion as chiefguest at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium.

He said team comprising Punjab Uni-versity, Central Punjab University, the lasttime winner, Superior Science UniversityLahore, Government College UniversityLahore, Sargodha University, BahawalpurUniversity, Bannu University of Scienceand Technology, Bahria University, HazaraUniversity, Tando Jam University Jamshoro,Sindh University, Karachi University, IqraUniversity Islamabad, Quaid-e-Azam Uni-versity Islamabad, Abdul Wali Khan Uni-versity Mardan and host University ofPeshawar.

He said the opening ceremony at cam-pus will be organized at 4.30. Vice Chancel-lor University of Peshawar Professor Dr.Rasul Jan will grace the occasion as chiefguest.—APP

KARACHI—The duo of Asif Zakir andIsrarullah cracked enterprising half centu-ries as Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC)posted 292 all out in their first innings inthe second round of Patrons Cricket Tro-phy Grade-II match against Sindh Police atthe Arabian Sea Country Club CricketGround Wednesday.

When play ended on first-day in thethree-day fixture, Sindh Police scored 61for the loss of four wickets in 16 overs intheir first innings. Asif blasted nineboundaries and one six in his 81 and Israr’s56 was spiced with half a dozen boundariesand one six.Usman Tariq cracked five fours

Asif, Israr help SSGC to post292 in Patrons Trophy

and one six in his 34 as SSGC reached acompetitive total after inserted to bat first.

Off-break bowler Sheraz Ali, who took11 wickets in the drawn first game againstK.Electrics, was the most successful bowlerby grabbing four wickets for 82 runs in 20overs.Ahmed Khan and Muhammad Obaidclaimed three wickets apiece.

Summarised scores: SSGC 292 all out in71.5 overs (Asif Zakir 81, Israrullah 56,Usman Tariq 34, Mansoor Amjad 33,Saifullah Bangash 28, M Irfan 27, SherazAli 4-82, Ahmed Khan 3-60, M Obaid 3-72)Sindh Police 61-4 in 16 overs (Hassan Sajjad25 not out, Faheem Ahmed 2-6).—APP

Navy dismissCustoms for 252in Patrons Trophy

KARACHI—Navy after dis-missing Pakistan Customs for252, raced to 76-1 in their firstinnings on day one of their 3-day Patrons Cricket TrophyGrade-II second round tie atNBP Sports Complex Groundon Wednesday.

Harmaan Haris held Cus-toms’ innings together with asolid knock of 67 in 156 min-utes which included eightboundaries. Faisal Mubashirhammered 48 with eightstrikes to the ropes and AliTalpur hoisted one six andfour fours in his 37.

First class spinner NasirOwais grabbed three wicketsfor 71 runs in 28.5 overs andFaraz Ahmed and took threewickets for 116 runs in 33overs.

After losing Fazal Subhanfor a duck, Hamza Ghanchiand Jahangir Shah added 75-run for the second wicket asNavy reached 76-1 at the closein 19 overs. Hamza crackedfive fours and one six in hisunbeaten 42 and jahangir was29 not out which was stud-ded with six fours.—APP

Recent victoriesof national teamto help in final:

KamranI S L A M A B A D — W i c k e t -keeper batsman of nationalcricket team Kamran Akmalhas said that Pakistan’s per-formance against India andBangladesh will boost uptheir moral for the upcom-ing final match.

Talking to PTV news,Kamran Akmal said that teamPakistan is able to achieveany target and can troubleany side in the world withcurrent combination.

To a question, he saidthat Shahid Afridi is a leg-end and always delivers forthe team in crucial times.

“Ahmed Shehzad,Mohammed Hafeez andFawad Alam played bril-liantly in the last matchagainst Bangladesh”, headded.—APP

Lahore winsYouth Festivalbaseball title

LAHORE—Lahore gavebaseball lesson to Multanwith 8-0 drubbing in the fi-nal to win the Punjab YouthFestival inter division base-ball championship title hereon Wednesday at Univer-sity of Central Punjab.

The winners enjoyed alltime supremacy in the matchwith their astute and brilliantplanning. Lahore keptMultan under persistentpressure with their superiordisplay of skills and all roundperformance. Rawalpinditook third place in the event.

Syed Khawar Shah, Sec-retary, Pakistan Federationbaseball was the chief gueston the occasion and gaveaway the prizes. Alsopresent were Chairman,Punjab baseball associa-tion, Moazzam Khan andSecretary, PBBA, MazharAhmad and MusaddaqHanif, head coach of Paki-stan national team.—APP

CHAMAN: Pashtoon tribals cricket fans dancing to celebrating the victory of thePakistani cricket team in Asia Cup match against Bangladesh Pakistan Border townalongwith Afghanistan border.

PESHAWAR—Two-day trials for selection ofthe twelve Under-14 players for the ongo-ing Pakistan Sports Board Squash Acad-emy at Coaching Center completed hereWednesday.

This was stated by former World No. 2and Director Sports PSB Coaching CenterMohib Ullah while talking to APP here. Hesaid the two days trials meant for the selec-tion of new faces out of the exiting lot inthe squash in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the Academy is working underPakistan Sports Board since 2006 and isregularly training and coaching playersbelow Under-14. He said after the selectionof the Under-14 players, the players re-mained in the academy for a year time wherethey are being trained and coach under thequalified coaches comprising Pervez Iqbal,Shehzad Khan.

He said that they have divided thetraining and coaching in two sessionsphysical training and court practice. Heduring the academy each and every play-ers will be facilitated with a stipend ofRs. 500 PM besides providing them tworackets, two knickers , one dozens balls,one track-suite, one pair of shoes, twoshirts.

Trials for PSB SquashAcademy completed, 12

probables short-listedHe also lauded the efforts of the Direc-

tor General Pakistan Sports Board AkhtarNawaz Gunjera, who masterminded theAcademy in way back 2006 in order to pro-vide facilities to the players at grassrootslevel. Mohibullah, elder brother of squashwizard Jansher Khan, disclosed that JansherKhan also paid visit to the Academy for hisvaluable tips to the youngsters.

He said earlier there were eight players,part of the Academy with three female play-ers – Laiba Ijaz, Laila Akbar Naima Khanbut now the strength of the players havebeen increased to 12.

He said we have also sent a proposalfor approval to include female players inthe Academy and hopefully the DG PSBwould give approval for the inclusion fe-male players.

He said the four-member selection com-mittee headed by Mohib Ullah Khan withother members comprising Pervez Iqbal,Shehzad Mohib and Azam Khan.

The names of the selected players com-prising Muhammad Yasin, Ahmad Salam,Khushal Riaz, Ghulam Muhammad, WalidKhan, Ibrahim, Fahad Sharif, Jawaz Khan,Abu Zar, Juniad Khan, Hamza Sharif, LiabaIjaz, Laila Akbar and Naima Khan.—APP

KARACHI—Southpaw pace bowler MirHamza snapped-up seven in an amazing 21-ball with a hat-trick as K.Electrics bowledout Pak Saudi International for meager 53in their first innings on the first day of their3-day Patrons Cricket Trophy Grade-II sec-ond round tie at UBL Sports ComplexGround on Wednesday.

Later former international Faisal Atharblasted 107 as K.Electrics reached 286 for theloss of six wickets in 66 overs at the close.

Faisal blasted 13 boundaries and onesix in his 107 in 178- minute added 126 runsfor the third wicket with Saad Ali, whoslammed nine fours in his 53.

Mir 7-23 in 21-ball as SaudiInternational crash for 53

Mir Hamza, who enjoyed a wonderfulseason for Karachi with over 50 wickets tohis credit in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, per-formed three in a row feat by grabbing thewicket of Rashid Ali on the last ball of hisfifth over and removed MuhammadShahzaib and Nadeem Babar on the firsttwo balls of his sixth over.

At one stage, Hamza has taken sevenwickets without conceding any run. Heended with figures of 7-23 in nine overs.Pak Saudi International slipped from 20-1to 53 all out.

Opener Arsalan Khan top-scored with19 off 40-ball with fourth boundaries.—APP

Annual sportsfestival ends

ISLAMABAD—The annualsports festival of Fountain-head School concluded at itsIslamabad and Chaklalacampuses the other day.

The festival wasstretched over a number ofdays, when qualifyingmatches and races wereheld.

The students were di-vided into two groups- thePanthers and the Stallions.

Events for the pre-school sections were heldat the school premises atboth the campuses, whilethose for the older stu-dents were held at the Su-per Sports Park in F-6,Islamabad.—APP

CAPE TOWN: Nathan Lyon bowls to Kyle Abbott with plenty of catchers during South Africa vs Australia 3rd Test’s5th day on Wednesday.

DH A K A—World Cupchampions India endedtheir disappointing cam-paign in the Asia Cup withan eight-wicket romp overminnows Afghanistan intheir final league match inDhaka on Wednesday.

Spinners RavindraJadeja and RavichandranAshwin shared sevenwickets as India skit t ledAfghanistan for 159 afterelecting to field at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Openers AjinkyaRahane and ShikharDhawan then put on a 121-run stand as India sur-passed the modest targetin the 33rd over of their in-nings.

Rahane scored 56 andleft-handed Dhawan made60 before both batsmenfell in successive overs,but Rohit Sharma andDinesh Karthik saw theirteam through in the one-sided contest.

The f irst-ever one-dayer between the twoteams had no bearing onthe tournament becausePakistan and Sri Lankahave already qualified forSaturday’s final.

India finished the five-nation tournament withtwo wins against hostsBangladesh and Afghani-stan, but having lost keymatches against Sri Lankaand arch-rivals Pakistan.

Afghanistan, preparing for theirmaiden World Cup appearance nextyear, were beaten in three of their

India beat Afghanistan in deadrubber Asia Cup match

four matches, their lone victorycoming against the hosts.

S a m i u l l a hShenwari top-scored with 50and Noor AliZadran made 31,but eight Af-ghanistan bats-men fai led toreach doublefigures in goodbatt ing condi-t ions.

The bats-men appearedc o m f o r t a b l eagainst theseamers, racingto 54-1 by the12th over, be-fore wickets col-lapsed in a heapagainst theturning ball.

L e f t - a r mspinner Jadeja,

brought on to bowl the 12th over,struck with his first and third deliv-eries to reduce the Afghans to 55-3.

With Jadeja and off-spinnerAshwin quickly taking care of thenext four batsmen, Afghanistanfound themselves struggling at 95-7 in the 26th over.

Shenwari boosted the total withsix boundaries and a six in his fifthone-day half-century as the lastthree wickets added 64 valuableruns .

Jadeja returned with four for 30,but Ashwin (3-31) and team-mateMohammed Shami (2-50) finished atthe top of the tournament’s bowl-ing list with nine wickets each.

They were one ahead of SaeedAjmal of Pakistan (eight wickets)and two more than Ajantha Mendisof Sri Lanka (seven), both of whomhave games in hand.

Sri Lanka wil l take onBangladesh in the last league matchon Thursday.— AFP

Afghanistan Innings:Noor c Kohli b Jadeja ... 31Nawroz Mangal b Shami 5Rahmat lbw b Jadeja ....... 9Asghar b Jadeja .............. 5Najibullah b Ashwin ....... 5Mohammad Nabi cKarthik b Jadeja ............... 6Shahzad lbw b Ashwin . 22Samiullah lbw b Shami .. 50Mirwais b Mishra ............ 9Shapoor Zadran lbwb Ashwin .......................... 1Dawlat Zadran not out ... 2Extras: (lb2, w12) ........... 14Total: (all out, 45.2 overs)159Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-54, 3-55, 4-60, 5-64, 6-83, 7-95, 8-111, 9-137, 10-159Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WKumar ................... 8-1-25-0

Shami ................. 7.2-0-50-2Mishra ................ 10-1-21-1Jadeja .................. 10-1-30-4Ashwin ............... 10-3-31-3India innings:Rahane lbw b MirwaisAshraf ............................. 56Dhawan b MuhammadNabi ................................. 60Sharma not out .............. 18Karthik not out .............. 21Extras: (lb 1, w 3, nb 1) .... 5Total: (2 wickets) ......... 160Fall of wickets: 1-121, 2-123Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WMohammad Nabi10-0-30-1Shapoor Zadran .. 6-0-25-0Dawlat Zadran ..... 5-0-25-0Samiullah ........... 4.2-0-32-0Mirwais ................. 5-0-26-1Rahmat Shah ........ 2-0-21-0

MIRPUR: Nawroz Mangal was bowled during Afghanistan vs India in Asia Cup matchon Wednesday.

BARCELONA—Barcelona captain CarlesPuyol, 35, announced on Tuesday that hewill leave the club at the end of the seasonafter a decorated 15-year career at the Camp

Nou.Puyol, who did not reveal whether hewill continue playing elsewhere, has beenplagued by injuries over the last couple ofseasons and has undergone three knee op-erations.

“At the end of the season I will leave FCBarcelona. The club are aware of this and weare in agreement,” he said.

“We will rescind the final two years of mycontract that were still to run.”

Puyol signed a new deal with the club inJanuary last year, but admitted in June thathe would not stay if injuries continued to pre-vent him from playing a significant part onthe field.

Puyol to end decorated15-year career at Barca

And having featured just 10 times thisseason in all competitions, he said it was timefor a new challenge in a less physically de-manding environment.

“After the last two operations it has beendifficult for me to recover the level I need tobe able to continue here, more than I expectedand more than surgeons said. That is why Ihave taken this decision.”

Puyol didn’t reveal where he would go atthe end of the current campaign and insistedhe will give everything in what remains of theseason to help Barca succeed on three fronts.

“I am not leaving today, there are still threemonths of the season remaining and thosethat know me know that I will not give upuntil the end. I will continue fighting to helpthe team improve and achieve our objectivesthis season.

“I don’t know what I will do on June 30.What I do know is that I will need time to rest.I have had four years without a break due tothe injuries. That is what I will do and then wewill see.”

The announcement brings to an end anextraordinary career in the Barcelona first teamthat began in 1999. Puyol is the club’s secondmost decorated player of all-time, behind onlyteammate Xavi Hernandez, having made 593appearances.

After beginning life as a right-back, hewas converted into one of the most success-ful centre-backs in world football over thepast decade as he won three ChampionsLeagues and six La Liga titles with his boy-hood club.

He was also a key part of the Spanishsides that won the European Championshipin 2008 and the country’s first World Cup in2010, memorably heading home the goal thattook his side to the final in South Africa witha 1-0 win over Germany. “Carles is an examplefor everyone on and off the field,” Spaincoach Vicente del Bosque said on Tuesday.

In total he has represented Spain 100 timeswith his last appearance coming in a 3-1friendly win over Uruguay in February 2013,making him one of only eight players to havewon a century of caps with La Roja.— AFP

CAPE TOWN—The pace of MitchellJohnson and Ryan Harris has causedSouth Africa problems in this matchbut the part-time legspin of StevenSmith provided what could be the de-cisive moment as Australia sought aseries win on the final day. Faf duPlessis was threatening to repeat his

South Africa fight butAustralia three wickets away

stonewalling effort that salvaged amiraculous draw in Adelaide in 2012,but the loss of his wicket shortly be-fore tea left Australia only three strikesfrom victory.

Du Plessis and AB de Villiers bothdropped anchor on the final day, in-tent on occupying as much time aspossible after Australia batted SouthAfrica out of the contest on day four.It was a grind for Michael Clarke andhis men as they tried to find a waythrough the defences of the two menbut by tea they had removed themboth, and South Africa were relyingon JP Duminy, who was on 22, andVernon Philander, who had made aquick 16, with the total at 201 for 7.

The key wicket came late in thesession when Smith struck in the firstball of a spell, drifting the ball in beau-tifully and turning it just enough tobeat the bat of du Plessis, who waslbw for a 157-minute 47. Although ithad been slow going during the 37-run partnership between du Plessisand Duminy, it was nothing comparedto the laborious tempo when de Villierswas at the crease - he used up 326minutes and 228 balls for his 43.

Harris was the man who got rid ofde Villiers, who pushed half-heartedlyoutside off stump and got a thick edgebehind off a ball that nipped away justenough off the seam. It was a vitalbreakthrough for the Australians, whoknew that both de Villiers and duPlessis had the ability to bat out adraw, after they both played key roles

in denying Australia victory atAdelaide Oval in very similar circum-stances a year and a half ago.

The Adelaide parallels were appar-ent at the start of play - in that match,South Afric began the final day at 77for 4; here it was 71 for 4. By lunch notmuch had changed - in Adelaide theyadded 49 for no wicket in the first ses-sion; here it was 51 for the loss onlyof the nightwatchman Kyle Abbott.However, Abbott had frustrated Aus-tralia during a near two-hour inningsof defiant defence.

The frustration levels amongst theAustralians became apparent from thechat being picked up by the stumpmicrophone as Clarke placed men allaround the bat; at one point, all ninefielders were in catching positionswhen Abbott was facing Johnson. The27-run partnership at less than a runan over between de Villiers and Abbottended only when Abbott shoulderedarms to a delivery from JamesPattinson that nipped in and clippedthe top of off stump.

Clarke tried all sorts of bowlingoptions, including himself and Smith,but nothing else got through the de-fences of de Villiers or du Plessis untilthe second new ball had arrived afterlunch. The Australians had not foundmuch reverse swing in the first ses-sion, despite appearing to do theirbest to scuff the ball up with their re-turn throws from the field, a practicethat seemed to bring them words ofwarning from the umpires.—AFP

Australia 1st innings: ......... 494South Africa 1st innings: ... 287Australia 2nd innings: ........ 303South Africa 2nd innings:Petersen lbw b Harris ................ 9Smith c Doolan b Johnson ....... 3D Elgar b Johnson .................... 0Amla lbw b Pattinson .............. 41de Villiers c Haddin b Harris ... 43Abbott b Pattinson .................... 7F du Plessis lbw b Smith ......... 47Duminy c Lyon b Johnson ..... 43Philander not out ..................... 51DW Steyn not out ..................... 1Extras: (b 8, lb 5, w 2, nb 5) ..... 20Total: (8 wickets) .................... 265Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-12, 3-15, 4-68, 5-95, 6-136, 7-173, 8-246Bowling: ...................... O-M-R-WHarris ........................... 24-15-32-2Johnson .................... 33.5-10-92-3Pattinson ..................... 27-10-62-2Lyon ............................. 22-17-10-0Watson .............................. 9-6-6-0Smith .............................. 13-3-43-1Clarke ................................. 5-2-7-0

NE W YO R K—Lindsay Davenportwas in the middle of another majorlife milestone when she found outshe had been elected to the Inter-national Tennis Hall of Fame.

The three-t ime Grand Slamchampion got the call when she wasin a hospital about to give birth toher fourth child in early January.With daughter Haven nearly 2months old now, Davenport canstart to reflect on the honour.

‘’Growing up playing tennis,gett ing to the Hall of Fame wasnever even in my dreams,’’ she saidon a conference call Monday afterthe class of 2014 was announced.‘’It seemed a little bit too big forme.’’

It never occurred to her until af-ter she won her second major titlein 1999 and Bud Collins, a Hall ofFamer himself, mentioned the pos-sibility. The 37-year-old Davenportis thrilled that at the enshrinementceremony in Newport, R.I., on July12, her 6-year-old son Jagger willget to learn about the sport’s his-tory. He plays tennis, too.

Davenport will be joined by five-time Paralympic medalist ChantalVandierendonck in the recent playercategory and coach Nick Bollettieri,executive Jane Brown Grimes andbroadcaster John Barrett in the con-tributor category.

Davenport won the 1998 U.S.Open, 1999 Wimbledon, 2000 Aus-tralian Open and 1996 Olympic goldmedal to go with three majordoubles titles. The American heldthe world’s No. 1 ranking for 98

Lindsay Davenport electedto Tennis Hall of Fame

weeks in her career.That first major championship,

at her home Grand Slam event, al-ways will be special.

‘’For any player who has everplayed with insecuri ty, not surewhere they’re supposed to be, howgood they are, that really was a hugemoment, not just in my career butfor me personally,’’ Davenport said.

Bollettieri, now 82, has coached10 players to the No. 1 ranking, in-cluding Andre Agassi, Jim Courier,Monica Seles and Boris Becker. In1978, he founded the Nick BollettieriTennis Academy, the first full-timetennis boarding school.

At a news conference in NewYork, Bollettieri acknowledged thiswas one of the few times in his lifehe felt at a loss for words.

‘’To be standing aside some ofthe players I’ve helped achievewhat they are,’’ he said, ‘’is a dreamthat even Nick Bollettieri can’t com-prehend.’’

Vandierendonck was a top Dutchplayer before she was injured in acar accident in 1983 and went on tobecome a pioneer in wheelchair ten-nis.

Brown Grimes is a former man-aging director of the Women’s Pro-fessional Tennis Council , nowknown as the WTA Tour Board;president of the U.S. Tennis Asso-ciation; and president of the Inter-national Tennis Hall of Fame.

Barret t was the ‘’Voice ofWimbledon’’ on the BBC from 1971-06. His wife, former top-rankedplayer Angela Mortimer Barrett, wasinducted into the Hall in 1993.Agassi and Steffi Graf are the onlyother married couple in the Hall.

Davenport wishes she’d done abetter job during her career of fol-lowing Billie Jean King’s advice to‘’enjoy the process.’’ But she’sproud that she believes she alwaysplayed the sport for the right rea-sons .—AP

Indian playersreturn home

LAHORE—The 70-memberIndian Delegation returnedhome here on Wednesdayafter participating in the Paki-stan-India Punjab Games heldunder the banner of PunjabYouth Festival (PYF) 2014.

The officials of SportsBoard Punjab (SBP) saw offthe visiting Indian Delegationat the Wagha border. Duringtheir stay in Lahore, the ath-letes of neighbouring coun-tries featured in Arm-Wres-tling, Kabaddi, Tug-Of-War,Wrestling And Weightliftingevents.

Pakistani athletes domi-nated the Punjab Gamescompetitions. However, thevisiting women team took thehonours in kabaddi title clash.

Talking to media at theborder, the Indian playerscalled the Pakistan-IndiaPunjab Games as remarkableevent. The Indian players ex-pressed the hope that suchevents will continue in futureas well to lift the standard ofgames in the sub-continent.

Head of Indian Delega-tion Arvinder Singh said:“The love and respect, wereceived during our stay inPakistan, can’t be describedin words. The hospitality ofLahories was unforgettableand we enjoyed taking partin different events of thePunjab festival”.

Indian athletesSakhwinder Singh, SandeepSingh, Karmeet Singh,Satnam Singh andDharminder Singh while ex-pressing their views said thatthough they couldn’t defeatPakistani players at theirhome ground, yet they werequite happy to win the heartsof the people.—APP

EXPOSURE to second-hand smoke inchildhood causes irreversible damage tochildren’s arteries - increasing their risk

of heart attacks or strokes when they grow up,according to a large international study pub-lished on Wednesday. The re-search, which lends weight tocampaigns for smoking to bebanned in private cars andhomes, found passive smok-ing leads to a thickening ofchildren’s artery walls, addingsome 3.3 years to the age ofblood vessels by adulthood.

“Exposure to passivesmoke in childhood causesdirect and irreversible damageto the structure of the arter-ies,” said Seana Gall, a re-searcher in cardiovascularepidemiology who led thestudy at the University of Tas-mania. She said parents, oreven those thinking about be-coming parents, should quitsmoking - both to aid theirown health and protect the future health of theirchildren.

Smoking causes lung cancer, which is of-ten fatal, and is the world’s biggest cause ofpremature death from chronic conditions likeheart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.On top of the 6 million people a year killed bytheir own smoking, the World Health Organi-zation (WHO) says another 600,000 die a yearas a result of exposure to other peoples’ smoke- so-called second-hand or passive smoking.

Of the more than 4,000 chemicals in tobaccosmoke, at least 250 are known to be harmfuland more than 50 are known to cause cancer,the WHO says - and creating 100 percent

smoke-free environments is the only way toprotect people fully. About 40 percent of allchildren are regularly exposed to second-handsmoke at home, and almost a third of thedeaths attributable to second-hand smoke are

in children.This latest study, published

in the European Heart Journal,was the first to follow childrenthrough to adulthood to lookat links between exposure toparents’ smoking and thicknessof the innermost two layers ofthe arterial wall, known as ca-rotid intima-media thickness(IMT). Researchers from Fin-land and Australia looked atdata from 2,401 people in Fin-land 1,375 people in Australiawho were asked about theirparents’ smoking habits. Thescientists used ultrasound tomeasure the thickness of thechildren’s artery walls oncethey had reached adulthood.

The results showed thatcarotid IMT in adulthood was 0.015 milli-meters thicker in those exposed to both par-ents smoking than in those whose parents didnot smoke. Gall said that while this was a“modest” increase, it was nonetheless an im-portant extra and irreversible risk for suffer-ing heart attacks or strokes later in life.

Since children of parents who smoke arealso more likely to grow up to be smokersthemselves, and more likely to be overweight,their heart health risks are often already raised,she said, and the second-hand smoke adds yetmore risk. The researchers said the findingsshowed reducing children’s exposure tosmoke is a public health priority.

Passive smoking causesdamage to kids’ arteries

Business is seen closed in Patel Para area after the killing of Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaatworker allegedly in an encounter with Rangers.

Students of different colleges presenting tableau during a ceremony to celebrate Cultural Day of Govt College for Women, Shahrah-e-Liaqat.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Diabetes is increasing atan alarming rate in Pakistan. There arecurrently (approx.) 7.1million diabeticpatients in Pakistan; by 2030 Pakistanis projected to have 11.4 million dia-betics and will rank 10th in the world.

The stunning fact was highlightedat “Sanofi 1st International DiabetesConference” held at a local hotel heretoday. The conference was organizedby Sanofi Pakistan in collaborationwith the Diabetic Association of Paki-stan (DAP) and brought together thefollowing distinguished delegates fromesteemed organizations such as WorldHealth Organization, InternationalDiabetes Federation, Turkish DiabetesFoundation and Diabetes Poland As-

sociation Building upon its centurylong history in the field of Diabetes,Sanofi is committed to improving dia-betes management not only throughits integrated offering of medicines,treatments and diagnostics, but alsothrough interactive, medical educa-tional events, scientific workshopsand conferences, such as this one.

The conference was addressed byprominent specialists including SirMichael Hirst (President, Interna-tional Diabetes Federation), Dr.Akhtar Hussain (Vice President, In-ternational Diabetes Federation), Dr.Gojka Roglic (Technical Officer,WHO), Prof. Leszek Czupryniak(President, Diabetes Poland Associa-tion), Prof. Sehnaz Karadeniz (Presi-dent Elect, International Diabetes

Federation, European Region) andProf Temal Yilmaz (President, Turk-ish Diabetes Foundation) This eventbrought several global diabetes ex-perts onto a common platform to sharetheir opinions, insights, perspectives,best practices with an audience ofhealthcare professionals from Paki-stan.

Speaking at the occasion, SirMichael Hirst pointed out that 1/8thof the world’s population will havediabetes or be at risk of developingdiabetes by 2035. He said “diabetesis an increasingly serious social, eco-nomic and medical threat faced by na-tions that must be a high priority ofany developing country’s healthpolicy as diabetes is not just a healthissue, but a development issue (as it

hinders progress)”. Thanking Pakistaniclinicians, Sir Michael acknowledgedtheir “noble work not only in improv-ing the lives of diabetics but also forcontributing to IDF through insightsand perspectives that help the IDF toformulate localized strategies”.

The grand finale to the event wasthe launch of the KiDS project, a col-laborative initiative between, the IDF,DAP and Sanofi Diabetes. The KiDSproject aims to foster a safe and sup-portive school environment for childrenwith diabetes to manage their conditionand prevent discrimination while rais-ing awareness about diabetes and thebenefits of healthy eating habits andphysical activity among school-age chil-dren. Following Brazil and India, Paki-stan is 3rd country to launch this project.

Sanofi 1st International Diabetes Conference

Alarming rise in diabetes: 7.1m diabetic in Pakistan

Drug peddlers arrested by Rangers and Anti Narcotics force in Malir area.—PO photo Sul-tan Chaki

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Traders and Karachi Policehad resolved to deal with threats to thetraders of the city jointly while adoptinga uniform strategy under which joint com-mittees of traders and cops would beformed and traders would be facilitatedin their efforts for obtaining arms licensefor self-protection. Station House Officerof area concerned would after consultingtraders furnish a report about crimes toPolice high-ups on weekly basis and un-der staffing would also be addressed inareas to be identified by traders.

These steps were approved in secondtraders-Police joint conference heldWednesday at Traffic License Branch inClifton. The conference was held to lis-ten to the traders about their problems andsuggestion for making the situation of lawand order better in market areas. The trad-ers had badly faced kidnapping for ran-som, demands of hefty sums of money inextortion and killings of traders.

The conference agreed that SHOwould be responsible for leaving traderssatisfied with actions and steps and in caseof his failure, traders would lodge a com-plaint against him at the Deputy Inspec-tor General of Police’s office of districtconcerned level.

Additional Inspector General of Po-lice Shahid Hayat and All Karachi TajirIttehad Chairman Atiq Mir jointly pre-sided the conference while representingPolice and Traders respectively. Morethan 300 representatives of traders andSHOs of 20 sensitive Police Stations at-tended the conference. SSP Farooq Awanand SSP Gul Hameed Sammo were alsopresent.

Shahid Hayat told the conferencethat use of illegal mobile SIMs were adeadly tool being used by the terroristbut the mobile locators recently providedto Police had proved helpful in tracingthe callers. The Thana Culture wouldalso be improved and it would be people-friendly. He said that cops’ sacrifices for

the elimination of crimes would not goin waste and the city would return to itsfame as the city of lights and peace andtranquility.

All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Law andOrder Committee Chairman AhmedShamsi on the occasion gave suggestionsfor bringing improvement in Police per-formance and due action on complaintsof traders regarding crimes.

On the occasion, DIG Sultan AliKhawaja urged upon traders-cops liaisonand asked the traders to lodge complaintsagainst extortionist at Police Stations sothat Police could take action for arrest ofthe perpetrators.

All Karachi Tajir Ittehad ChairmanAtiq Mir while appreciating the holdingof the conference said that traders hadpractically joined Police force againstcriminals and in order to protect them andthe people, traders had to take up armsagainst the criminals. He disclosed thattraders would soon join a training cam-paign for using weapons in self-defence.

Traders, cops join hands tocombat extortion, kidnapping

Sufianaconference to helpshaping opinionagainst terrorism

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—Members ofMQM Coordination Committeeare meeting scholars, clerics andcustodians of the dargahs inPunjab in connection with the‘Sufiana Conference’, whichwill be held on March 9 inLahore’s Wahdat Colony’sDongi Ground. They are ex-tending them invitation for theconference.

Coordination members metcustodians of different dargahsand scholars and invited themto attend the Sufiana Confer-ence. Coordination Committeemember Abdul Haseeb said thatMQM wanted to spread theteachings and message of Sufisto public. He hoped that the con-ference would help in shapingthe public opinion against ter-rorism in the country.

Custodians of Dargahs andscholars praised MQM’s effortsfor organizing the conference.

Abdul Haseeb visited theshrines of Khawaja Abdul AzizMakki and Khawaja AlauddinMauj Darya and prayed for thesuccess of the conference.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—As many as 618 public complaintswere received in the month of Feburary2014by the Public Complaint Cell (PCC-919), es-tablished on the directives of Sindh Chief Min-ister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at CM House, and598 complains have resolved which is 96 per-cent.

This was observed by the Special Assis-tant to Chief Minister Sindh and PCC Incharge Imtiaz Mallah in his monthly state-ment on the performance of the Cell issuedhere on today. He said that the ProvincialMinisters and other officers received com-plaints from the public through telephone andconveyed the same to the officials of con-cerned department for early redressal.

According the monthly statement of Feb-ruary there were 84 complaints against police,

182 K-Electric, 119 PTCL, 67 SSGC, 38 KMCand 128 complains reported against KWSB.In charge PCC has said that PPP Governmentbelieves in easy access to common man to re-dress the public problems at grass root levelconsequently has established public complaintcell with toll free telephone No 0800-91915since 2008.

He said by this methodology government wasalso monitoring performance of different provin-cial administrative organizations in resolving thepublic grievances and delivering their efficientdeliveries to the people.

He advised the general public to register/convey their problems and grievances at Com-plaint Cell on telephone numbers99202065,99208081, 0800-91915, 99202007(fax), which are functioning round the clock.He assured the people that rapid action wouldbe taken for solution of their problems.

Public complaints cellresolves 598 complaints

CS emphasizes solvingwater, sewerage issues

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Secretary Sajjad Saleem Hotiana hasadvised the Secretary Local Government and AdministratorKMC to ensure provision of clean potable water and solutionof sewerage problems, being faced by the people. He noted toresolve these issue throughout the province.

He instructed this, while presiding a meeting, Wednesday,which was attended by the Additional Chief SecretaryMuhammad Waseem, Secretary Local government JavedHaneef Khan, Secretary Implementation A. Hafeez Uani, Ad-ministrator KMC, M.D., KW&SB Qutubuddin Shaikh and otherofficers.

The meeting also considered the matter of construction ofroad in Korangi Landhi Industrial Area. Eminent IndustrialistTaufeeq Chenoy and Chairman Landhi Association of Indus-trialists Zaid Basheer, who also attended the meeting with spe-cific reference of Road Issue, elaborated that construction ofRoad would also facilitate to general public in transportation,in addition to the Industrialist Community. Sajjad SaleemHotiana called a concrete proposal from the Planning & Devel-opment Department to this effect within a couple of Days.

Extra-judicialmurderIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Extra-judicial mur-der of worker of Ahl-e SunnatWa Jamaat (ASWJ), SyedFarman Shah was a test case forthe judiciary to prove its au-tonomy and freedom to deliverjustice to the people. Chief Jus-tice of Pakistan should take SuoNotice of extra-judicial murderof Syed Farman Shah by Paki-stan Rangers Sindh.

ASWJ Central informationsecretary Allama AurangzebFarooqui said this while talkingto newsmen on the occasion offuneral of slain worker SyedFarman Shah at Football groundat Patel Para Wednesday.

Meanwhile, workers ofASWJ in reaction to the extra-judicial murder of Syed FarmanShah staged protest on roadsaround Patel Para.

PMA seeksabolition ofpart-time

professorshipKARACHI—Office bearers ofPakistan Medical Association(PMA) in a press conference hereWednesday demanded that thealleged culture of part-time pro-fessorship at medical universitiesand colleges must be abolished.

Dr Shershah Syed, Dr MirzaAli Azhar, Dr Qaiser Sajjad ac-companied by PMA-KarachiPresident, Dr Idris Adhi and DrQazi Wasiq said the trend hasseverely compromised the qual-ity of education and training im-parted to medical students.

They also alleged patientsare ultimate victims of the situa-tion as they are deprived of theirbasic rights to quality medicationand healthcare.—APP

EXPOSURE to second-hand smoke inchildhood causes irreversible damage tochildren’s arteries - increasing their risk

of heart attacks or strokes when they grow up,according to a large international study pub-lished on Wednesday. The re-search, which lends weight tocampaigns for smoking to bebanned in private cars andhomes, found passive smok-ing leads to a thickening ofchildren’s artery walls, addingsome 3.3 years to the age ofblood vessels by adulthood.

“Exposure to passivesmoke in childhood causesdirect and irreversible damageto the structure of the arter-ies,” said Seana Gall, a re-searcher in cardiovascularepidemiology who led thestudy at the University of Tas-mania. She said parents, oreven those thinking about be-coming parents, should quitsmoking - both to aid theirown health and protect the future health of theirchildren.

Smoking causes lung cancer, which is of-ten fatal, and is the world’s biggest cause ofpremature death from chronic conditions likeheart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.On top of the 6 million people a year killed bytheir own smoking, the World Health Organi-zation (WHO) says another 600,000 die a yearas a result of exposure to other peoples’ smoke- so-called second-hand or passive smoking.

Of the more than 4,000 chemicals in tobaccosmoke, at least 250 are known to be harmfuland more than 50 are known to cause cancer,the WHO says - and creating 100 percent

smoke-free environments is the only way toprotect people fully. About 40 percent of allchildren are regularly exposed to second-handsmoke at home, and almost a third of thedeaths attributable to second-hand smoke are

in children.This latest study, published

in the European Heart Journal,was the first to follow childrenthrough to adulthood to lookat links between exposure toparents’ smoking and thicknessof the innermost two layers ofthe arterial wall, known as ca-rotid intima-media thickness(IMT). Researchers from Fin-land and Australia looked atdata from 2,401 people in Fin-land 1,375 people in Australiawho were asked about theirparents’ smoking habits. Thescientists used ultrasound tomeasure the thickness of thechildren’s artery walls oncethey had reached adulthood.

The results showed thatcarotid IMT in adulthood was 0.015 milli-meters thicker in those exposed to both par-ents smoking than in those whose parents didnot smoke. Gall said that while this was a“modest” increase, it was nonetheless an im-portant extra and irreversible risk for suffer-ing heart attacks or strokes later in life.

Since children of parents who smoke arealso more likely to grow up to be smokersthemselves, and more likely to be overweight,their heart health risks are often already raised,she said, and the second-hand smoke adds yetmore risk. The researchers said the findingsshowed reducing children’s exposure tosmoke is a public health priority.

Passive smoking causesdamage to kids’ arteries

Nurses belonging to Myo Hospital Nursing Association are demonstrating outside PressClub in favour of their demands.

Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar is taking oath as Provincial Commissioner Punjab Boy Scouts Association from Chief Commissioner Pakistan BoyScouts Association Abdul Karim Baloch at Governor House.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said thatafter successful experiment of solid wastemanagement in the provincial metropo-lis, this modern system of cleanliness isbeing introduced in five big cities ofPunjab including Faisalabad, Multan,Gujranwala, Sialkot and Rawalpindi.

He said that a number of projects arerunning successfully in Lahore and dif-ferent cities of the province with the co-operation of friendly country of Turkey.He said that metro bus project is a glori-ous example of Pak-Turk friendship. Hesaid that the historical fraternal relationsbetween Pakistan and Turkey have turnedinto useful economic ties and trade andeconomic relations between the two coun-tries would further strengthen in future.

He was talking to a delegation led byChairman Board of Directors of Al-Bayrak Group of companies Ahmat Al-

Bayrak who met him, here Wednesday.Cooperation in energy, solid waste man-agement and other sectors was discussedin the meeting.

Talking to the delegation, the ChiefMinister said that a system of solid wastemanagement on the pattern of Lahore isbeing devised for other cities of the prov-ince as well. He said that Punjab govern-ment is extending special facilities to for-eign investors in the province.

He said that after Lahore, metro busproject is being started in Rawalpindi andwould result in provision of speedy, com-fortable and economical travelling facili-ties to lakhs of citizens. Shahbaz Sharifsaid that more than 175,000 persons travelby metro buses in Lahore daily.

He said that government has starteda number of welfare projects for the com-mon man and metro bus project is a shin-ing example of the best utilization of pub-lic funds to facilitate the masses. He saidthat Al-Bayrak group should consider

promotion of cooperation in energy andother sectors and assured that investmentby Turk investors would be welcomed.

Chairman Al-Bayrak Group AhmatAl-Bayrak said that his group would pro-mote cooperation with Punjab in differ-ent sectors. Describing metro bus projectas a masterpiece, he said that completionof this project within a short period oftime is a big achievement of Chief Min-ister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif.

The delegation included former Di-rector General Energy and Privatizationof Turkey Hasan Koktas, former Min-ister for Environment and ForestsOsman Pepe, Managing Director Al-Bayrak Waste Management BahriTursakoz and Binyamin Karakawhereas Chairman Lahore TransportCompany Kh. Ahmad Hasaan, Addl.Chief Secretary Energy, Secretary Lo-cal Government and Managing Direc-tor Lahore Management Company werealso present on the occasion.

Solid waste managementsystem in five cities

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Provincial Minis-ter for Labour and Human Re-source, Raja Ashfaq Sarwarhas said that gypsies are Paki-stani citizens and have a beau-tiful and colourful culture.

He said that Punjab gov-ernment is utilizing all re-sources for the promotion ofculture of Punjab besides giv-ing an identity and necessaryfacilities to the gypsies.

He was talking to media-men on 2nd day of GypsyMela at Children LibraryComplex, Wednesday. Dis-trict Officer LabourMuhammad Naeem, DEOSocial Welfare and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of an NGO‘Godh’ Nazir Ahmad Ghaziand representatives of differ-ent labour organizations andNGOs were present on the oc-

casion. The Minister witnessedthe stalls of handicrafts and gar-

ments prepared by the gypsies.The Minister lauded the skill of

gypsies and also appreciated thequality of products at the stalls

set up by different departments.He appreciated the efforts

of Godh regarding identity andrights of gypsies. He said thataccording to their ancient tra-dition, gypsies move from oneplace to another due to whichthey have no permanent ad-dress and difficulty is faced inthe issuance of identity cardsto them.

However, excellent work isbeing carried out for the regis-tration of children of the gyp-sies and giving them Pakistanicitizenship.

Gypsies from all over thecountry displayed their specificskills in multi-colour dressesand expressed their culturethrough their handicrafts, songsand skills. The aim of holdingof this mela was to pinpoint theproblems of the gypsies andtheir solution by the concerneddepartments.

Skills of gypsies showcased

Folk singers performing during Gypsy Mela at Children Library Complex.Minister for Population Welfare Begum Zakia Shahnawaz and Convener and Gen Secre-tary for Punjab Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, Hina Parvez Butt chairing meeting ofPunjab Women’s Parliamentary caucus.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Parliamentary Secretary for Infor-mation & Culture, Rana Muhammad Arshadhas said that young generation should seek in-spiration from the life and achievements of theleaders of Pakistan Movement.

He said that present government is fullyaware of the role of youth in the progress anddevelopment of the country. He said that themeasures taken by Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif for the youth have also beenappreciated at international level.

He was presiding over a meeting of the com-mittee set up by Chief Minister Punjab for ob-serving birth and death anniversaries of leadersof Pakistan Movement in a befitting manner.Members of the committee including Additional

Secretary Information & Culture Rana FazalAbbas, Director PILAC Dr. Sughra Sadaf, Ex-ecutive Director Punjab Council of ArtsChaudhary Muhammad Asif, Director IqbalAcademy Hanif Shahid, Principal GovernmentCollege Township Dr. Muhammad Ijaz Butt,Principal Cadet College Sialkot Sultan SikandarGhuman, Columnist Muhammad Saleem Butt,Vice President PML-N Lahore Shahzad Sharif,Assistant Prof. Masood Ahmed and MissHareema Tariq also attended the meeting.

Rana Muhammad Arshad said that livingnations never forget their glorious history andnational heroes.

He said that government is taking all outmeasures for apprising the young generationof the struggle and sacrifices of the forefathersof the nation during independence movement.

Young generation urged

Seek inspiration from leadersof Pakistan Movement

CM condolesOBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif met chief pilot of his he-licopter Col. Retd. MuhammadSafdar and condoled the deathof his brother Rafaqat HussainAwan, Additional SessionJudge who was martyred inIslamabad katchery terrorismincident. Provincial Ministerfor Environment Col. (R) ShujaKhanzada also accompaniedthe Chief Minister.

Sympathizing with Col.Retd. Muhammad Safdar,Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif strongly con-demned the incident of terror-ism in Islamabad katchery. TheChief Minister said that he wasdeeply grieved over the loss ofprecious human lives includingAdditional Session JudgeRafaqat Hussain.

He said that terrorist activi-ties of all kind are unacceptableand reiterated that terrorismand extremism will be elimi-nated.

He said that incidents ofterrorism cannot defeat the de-termination of Pakistani na-tion. Shahbaz Sharif offeredFateha for the departed soulsof Additional Session JudgeRafaqat Hussain Awan andother persons martyred inIslambad incident.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—The Chief Justice of Lahore HighCourt, Mr. Justice Umar Ata Bandial has saidthat terrorist activities are meant to demoral-ize and intimidate the public but we shouldhave courage and demonstrate greater disci-pline among our ranks. Hon’ble Chief Justicesaid this while talking to a delegation ofWazirabad Bar Association headed by itsPresident Iftikhar Ahmad Chohan in Cham-ber here, Wednesday.

Hon’ble Chief Justice informed the del-egation that last night he had visited the in-jured advocates and court staff in PIMSIslamabad where the victims were in high

spirit. The delegation also offered Fateh forthe martyrs of the Islamabad tragedy andprayed that may Almighty Allah rest the de-parted souls in eternal peace and grant cour-age to the bereaved members to bear this ir-reparable loss with fortitude.

Earlier, office bearers Lahore High CourtBar Association led by its President Mr.Shafqat Mahmood Chohan also met theHon’ble Chief Justice and discussed securitymeasures for the courts in the Provincial Me-tropolis.

The Bar offered that even advocates bechecked thoroughly and entry points to thecourt premises be reduced in order to bettermanage the security of the courts.

Courage, disciplinerequired against terrorists

Literacy deptsets up 1500

Adult LiteracyCentres

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—A delegationheaded by Mr Nik (UK), MsRubina (Education Specialist,UNICEF) Ms. Ainee NasirJamy, (D.A.T.A) & Ms. HumaMir (D.A.T.A) met SecretaryLiteracy & NFBE Depart-ment. D.A.T.A group (Con-sultants) made a brief intro-duction of their organizationand its activities.

Secretary Literacy & NFBEDepartment shared vision, mis-sion and objectives of LiteracyDepartment. He stated that thisdepartment is imparting educa-tion to those who are deprivedof the facilities of education.