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Ulema come forward forpeace................................................Who will deal with non tax-payer MPs?................................................Dar displays optimism

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ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security Sartaj Aziz meeting with Saudi Crown PrinceHRH Salman Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Saudi Crown Prince SalmanBin Abdul Aziz held a meeting with DefenceMinister Khawaja Mohammad Asif on Sun-day and discussed ways to further promotebilateral cooperation in the defence sector.

The Defense Minister Khawaja Asifsaid the visit of the Crown Prince is highlysignificant and it will further strengthen re-lations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.He said the defence of Pakistan and SaudiArabia is the same thing. Saudi CrownPrince greatly appreciated the capacity ofPakistan defence industry.

Both sides showed keen interest in ex-tending cooperation in the field of defenceand matters of defence training.

The two sides also agreed to exchangeof military personnel for training and jointventure in defence production.

During the meeting, the Minister forDefence warmly greeted the distinguished

Saudi Arabia stands byPakistan: Prince SalmanAssures support to Pakistan in diverse fields

guest and said that the visit of the CrownPrince is highly significant, adding, “Wethank excellency for underataking this mostimportant visit at the most important time”.

The Minister reiterated that both thecountries could be self sufficient in defenseequipment production for both the countriesbesides exporting to international market.

The Saudi Prince also called on Adviserto the Prime Minister on National Securityand Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and dis-cussed bilateral and regional issues.

During meeting with Speaker of theNational Assembly Sardar Ayaz SadiqPrince Salman said that Saudi Arabia wouldextend all-out support to Pakistan in diversefields and would always stand by its Paki-stani brethren whenever needed.

The Crown Prince termed relations be-tween the two countries as historic andunique. He said that Pakistan is the closestfriend and ally to the Kingdom. He said that

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ZAHID MALIK

ISLAMABAD–The Ambassador of the King-dom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ghadeer, a perfectionist and one of themost vibrant member of the diplomaticcorps in Islamabad, hosted a fabulous 20-course banquet in honour of His RoyalHighness Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Deputy Premierof the Kingdom on Sunday.

The venue was the Punjab House,which after the Aiwan-i-Sadr and the PrimeMinister House, is considered to be thethird most prestigious Hill Top House, anda seat of decisive power in Islamabad. Itwas chilly evening and in the backdrop ofovercast Margalla Hills, about 150 guests,50 high-profile Saudis and about 100 mostinfluential Pakistanis, gathered in a fes-tive mood at the lights-drenched PunjabHouse. It was a rare scene of jubilationand genuine respect for the Crown Princewho was understandably the center of at-tention for all the guests.

Prime Minister Mian MuhammadNawaz Sharif, who had personally wel-comed the Royal guest at the Nur KhanChaklala Airbase on Saturday, was mov-ing all around to say Ahlan-wa-Sahlanto the Saudi dignitaries and Assalam-o-Alaikum to the distinguished Pakistanisincluding smartly dressed ServicesChiefs and other prominent personali-ties from different walks of life. MianShahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab,

When Punjab House lookeda part of the Holy Land

who enjoys an enviable clout and rap-port in the Kingdom, was particularlytaking care of the Saudi guests. Amongthe Islamabad-based Ambassadorsonly the Arab Ambassadors were in-vited and the Excellencies att ired intheir traditional national dresses addedanother Arabian touch to the fabulousRoyal event.

It was for the first time in the historyof Pakistan that the fool-proof, high alertsecurity of the Royal entourage wastasked to the ever-ready ‘triple one’, nowa house-hold name in Pakistan.

As the Crown Prince is also DefenceMinister of the Kingdom, therefore, anecho of a message was quite clear andaudible that Saudi Arabia has now finallydecided to give a new deeper and widerdimension to its relations with nuclearPakistan, including, of course, its strate-gic relations. It augurs well for Pakistan aswell as Saudi Arabia.

There were only two ladies visible:Elegant Tasnim Aslam, Spokesperson ofthe Foreign Office and Ms Naila Chohan,Additional Secretary Foreign Affairs. An-other towering lady could have addedgrace and sublimity to Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ghadeer’s banquet but alas she is no morewith us i.e. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.Leaders of the political parties in the Par-liament were also present.

It was, in any case, a memorablebanquet at the picturesque Punjab House,which looked like a part of the Holy Land.

LIAQAT TOOR/TARIQ SAEED

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR—Asthe pressure on TTP ismounting to announceceasefire before any mean-ingful dialogue, Talibancommittee sources saidsuch announcement is ex-pected in the next twentyfour hours.

The two members ofTaliban Committee Profes-sor Ibrahim and YousufShah have been droppinghints for the last two daysthat Taliban have almostagreed to ceasefire when

Pressure mounts onTTP for ceasefire

Announcement expected in next 24 hours;Irfan Siddiqui briefs PM on progress in talks

Yousuf Shah contactedthem on the subject after thetragic killings of police com-mandos in Karachi.

The government com-mittee took a firm stand thattalks and violence can notgo side by side and put acondition that talks will goahead only when terror ac-tivities will stop. Thesources said TTP Shura hasagreed in principle forceasefire with a condition torelease women, old men andchildren from governmentjails. In return Taliban willrelease Professor Ajmal andother prisoners.

Meanwhile, on Sunday,Irfan Siddiqui, Coordinatorof Government Committee

ALI SYED

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan and Indiaare soon to sign deal for electricitytrade between them as ministry hassend a draft of MoU to federal cabi-net seeking permission for singingwith New Dehli.

According to top official, theministry of water and power hassent the said MoU draft vetted byLaw Division, Foreign Affairs andother departments to federal cabi-net for approval and once we getthe nod from federal cabinet thatMoU will be sent to Foreign Minis-try for further action.

The official said that infrastruc-ture in both sides that is essential

Pak, India will soon sign deal for electricity tradeto materialize the electricity tradewill be constructed and financed byrespective governments. PGCIL(Grid Corporation of India Limited)on behalf of India will construct thepart of interconnection falling inIndian Territory and NTDC (Na-tional Transmission DispatchCompany) on behalf of Pakistanwill construct the part of intercon-nection falling in terrorist of Paki-stan..

He said that an interconnec-tion will be built between Amritsarand Lahore and the interconnec-tion would be on 400 kV DC or 500kV DC depending on the joint de-termination of experts of NTDCand Grid Corporation of India Lim-

ited. The interconnection wouldrun on 22 kV AC in the beginningphase but would convert to DC oncommissioning of back to backconverter station.

The nominated teams, he said,of engineers of NTDC and PGCILwill address system compatibilityissues and decide on voltage leveland best nodes on both sides ofinterconnection. Both the teamswould also work on engineeringdesign of interconnection..

To a question the official saidthat the government of Pakistanor NTDC will have to employ anappropriate power trade companyin India to purchase power fromenergy exchange in India or from

IPPS, captive power plants, Stateor central government of Indiaowned power plants or any othersources accessible. Thesesources also include the genera-tion plants connected to Indiapower system installed in othercountries other than India. Indiaside has recommended powertrading company (PTC) of Indiaas trading agent of NTDC as ithas vast experience of power im-port or trade and is Public SectorCompany. However, the govern-ment of Pakistan will be free to makeany choice of its convenience. Thedecision of power purchase tradewould be solely on discretion ofgovernment of Pakistan.

18 feareddead in Nepalair crashKATMANDU—A NepalAirlines plane bound for thecity of Jumla fromKatmandu, the capital,crashed in the forests ofwestern Nepal on Sunday,almost certainly killing all 18people aboard, officials said.

An official atTribhuvuwan InternationalAirport in Katmandublamed bad weather for thecrash, saying it had beensnowing for much of theday. The plane did nothave de-icing equipment,which is needed in suchconditions, the official said.

The plane crashedaround 1 p.m. in the forestsnear Arghakhachi. ShushilGhimire, Nepal’s tourismsecretary, said that itsburning wreckage had beenlocated. Civil aviationofficials said there wasalmost no chance thatanyone could be rescuedfrom the crash site.

KASHMORE—At least seven people werekilled when a blast derailed three bogies ofKhushhal Khan Expresss at Tangwani nearKashmore of Sindh province on Sunday.

According to Railway officials‚ onehundred meters rail track was also damageddue to blast. The train was on its way fromKarachi to Peshawar.

President Mamnoon Hussain and PrimeMinister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif havestrongly condemned the terror attack.

The Railways Minister Khawaja SaadRafiq has also condemned the blast anddirected the concerned officials to completethe inquiry report about the incident withinthree days. He also directed to speed upthe rescue activities on the site of blast andsend a relief train immediately.

7 killed as blast hitsKhushhal Khan Express

Three bogies derailed at Tangwani near KashmoreMeanwhile, Railway authorities dis-

patched teams to the blast site for relief andrescue operations as rail traffic on both upand down tracks was suspended.

No group has claimed responsibility ofblast immediately, however officials sus-pecting Baloch rebel group which increasedtheir activities in recent days could be be-hind this incident too.

It is pertinent to mention here that ear-lier on 17th of last month, three passen-gers, including a child, were killed and 18others sustained injuries, eleven of themseriously, after a remote-controlled bombplanted under the rail track hit the same train‘Khushhal Khan Khattak Express’ nearKotla Hassan Shah, town of Rajanpur dis-trict in south Punjab.—Online

NEW DELHI—Indian Bor-der Security Force, deployedlong with Pakistan border,has decided to upgrade itswar stores including artillery

Indian BSF to upgrade itswar store along Pak border

guns and firing systems forwhich it has sought a whop-ping Rs 100 crore budgetsanction, Indian media re-ported on Sunday.

The border guardingforce, which has over 20 ar-tillery regiments, exclusivewith any paramilitary in thecountry, has decided tomodernise its weapons andarmoury on the lines of theArmy which has integratedits firing systems with thehelp of computer-basedsynchronised technology.

“As part of the moder-nisation drive in the force,we have decided to upgradethe artillery unit of theforce.The proposal hasbeen prepared and will besent to the Home Ministrysoon. This will require aseparate budgetary alloca-tion of Rs 100 crore,” BSFDirector General (DG)Subhash Joshi told PTI.

The DG said the me-dium-range guns and othermortar shelling weapons

possessed by the forceneed to be put on a digitaland electronic platform, onthe lines of the Army, sothat in any exigency or emer-gency the force could re-spond effectively.

This decision, officialssaid, has been taken aftermany decades and wasprompted by the new doc-trine of modern warfare andchallenges of securing sen-sitive borders.

The force, which formsthe first line of defencealong India’s sensitive bor-der with Pakistan is taskedwith guarding the Interna-tional border under the op-erational command of theArmy.

The battalions of theparamilitary are spreadacross border posts in thestates of Gujarat, Punjab,Rajasthan and Jammu andKashmir.

Officials said while theforce possesses the military

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Cop killedin Peshawar

explosionPESHAWAR—A blast near aCNG station on Peshawar’sCharsadda road on Sundaykilled one policeman and in-jured another.

According to SP RahimShah the bomb was plantednear a post of the ‘Sehat KaInsaf ’ programme whichwas set up near a graveyard.

AIG Shafqat Malik of theBomb Disposal Squad toldnewsmen two kilograms ofexplosive material was usedin the blast.

Security in the districtwas put on a ‘red alert’ fol-lowing the incident. More-over the district administra-tion had earlier also imposeda ban on pillion riding keep-ing in view the inititation ofthe third stage of the ‘SehatKa Insaf ’ programme inPeshawar.

Rescue sources saidthat one policeman died inthe incident whereas an-other was wounded.

The victims were shiftedto Lady Reading Hospital.

The ‘Sehat ka Insaf ’programme has replaced thepolio campaigns in KhyberPakhtunkhwa provincewhere instead of running apolio-specific drive, thehealth workers now targetall nine vaccine-preventablediseases, including polio,tuberculosis, tetanus,

KANDAHAR—Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai says he is not against a“limited” presence of internationalforces in the country. Karzai flewdown to Kandahar for the inaugura-tion of an agricultural university builtwith Indian assistance worth close to$2-million. He inaugurated the univer-sity jointly with visiting Indian foreignminister Salman Khurshid. Karzai alsomet Khurshid separately to discusssecurity related issues including hisreluctance to sign with the US a bilat-eral security agreement which is im-portant for ensuring a residual pres-ence of US troops.

“I’m not against a limited presenceof of Nato troops but this presence

Karzai not against Nato troopslimited presence in Afghanistan

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Key ShiiteIraqi cleric Sadrquits politicsBAGHDAD — One of Iraq’smost influential Shiiteclerics, Muqtada al-Sadr,says he has decided toquit politics, distancinghimself from any politicalmovement that uses hisname.

Al-Sadr has made suchannouncements before,but the current declarationcomes only two monthsbefore national parliamen-tary elections. Sadristshold 40 out of 325 seats inthe legislature, makingthem the largest singleShiite bloc, and hold sixCabinet seats.

In the late Saturdaystatement, al-Sadr said hismove was to “preserve thereputation of the al-Sadr(family)... and to put anend to all the wrongdoingsthat were conducted, orcould be conducted, undertheir title.” It did not

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must become a source of support forAfghanistan,” Karzai told Times ofIndia after the meeting. He added thatfor that to happen Afghanistan neededsupport of both US and Pakistan.Khurshid later said that India wantedsome international forces to stay backin Afghanistan but added that Karzaihad made a “careful calculation” in notsigning the agreement with the US atthis stage. He also appreciated the roleof Afghan security forces in ensuringpeace in the country. On recent reportsthat he had clandestinely opened hisown channel of communication withAfghan Taliban, Karzai said it was im-portant to find “all opportunities forengagement”. Khurshid praised

Karzai for his efforts to establish agenuine Afghan owned, Afghan ledand Afghan controlled reconciliationprocess in Afghanistan.

“To offer a chance to members ofarmed opposition groups willing togive up terror and abide by the Af-ghan Constitution, the possibility ofparticipating as equal citizens inAfghanistan’s national life,” he said.While Karzai has repeatedly de-manded more military assistance, in-cluding lethal equipment, from Indiawithout much success, he expressedsatisfaction over help received fromIndia. “We are very satisfied becauseIndia, despite traditionally not being

TTP killskidnapped

23 FC soldiersSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Taliban mili-tants in MohmandAgency on late Sundaynight claimed to have

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ISLAMABAD—The National Highway Author-ity (NHA) is committed to provide internationalstandard road links to all parts of the countryand for achievement of this target it is planningto build several new motorways and express-ways.

For achievement of this target,the NHA hasplanned to build several new motorways andhighways and Karachi-Lahore Motorway andGawadar-Kashgar Motorway are among the toppriority future projects.

An official of NHA said that the alignmentfor the Gawadar-Kashgar Motorway has beencleared subject to feasibility studies containingcommercial, technical and hydraulic aspects ofthe project. The official said that the projectwould facilitate transit trade in the country.

It would have economic zones en-route andallow reaping full benefits ofdevelopment,which include economic and so-cial uplift and creation of jobs in the country.

He said that construction of Lahore-KarachiMotorway would not only ease commuting be-tween Karachi and other major cities of the coun-try but also serve for speedy and early tradingof goods.

The feasibility study for Karachi-Lahore1,160 kilometres Motorway has been approvedby the Central Development Working Party. He

NHA plans to buildseveral new road projects

said that work on Faisalabad-KhanewalMotorway (M-4) and Khanewal-Multan section(M-4 Extension) is going on presently.

Replying to a question, he said that workon M-8 section of Gawadar-Turbat-Hoshab re-mained pending due the security situation.

However, efforts are being made to revisethe project.

Meanwhile, work on 60 km Shahdadkot-Khuzdar section was progressing well and over80 per cent work is completed.

To a question about the planned alignmentsof future motorways and expressways projects,he said that work on 165 km Multan-Rajanpursection(M-5) would commence this year andwould likely to complete in 2017.

He said work on 264 km Rajanpur-Ratoderomotorway (M-6A) was being planned to startthis year and its completion was envisaged by2017 while 150 km Ratodero-Dadu Motorway(M-6B) would also be completed in the sametimeframe. About 350 km Dadu-Dureji-Hub-Dureji-Liyari Link (M-7), he said that the projectwas likely to commence aoon and will be com-pleted in 2017.

Similarly 136 kilometre long Karachi-Hyderabad (M-9) would also be completed dur-ing four year time after its commencement,hesaid.—APP

199 drugpeddlers held

FAISALABAD—Police arrested199 drug peddlers from differ-ent parts of the city during thelast 15 days.

A police spokesman said onSunday they had also recovered4.503kg heroin, 15.587kg cha-ras, 227 gram opium and 1591litre liquor.

Police also unearthed fourdistilleries and nabbed ninedrinkers. 36kg hashish seized:The anti-narcotics force seized36kg hashish from a car onSammundri Road and arresteda drug pusher.

The anti-narcotics forcesignaled a car to stop at a picketon Sammundri Road and recov-ered 36kg hashish from differ-ent parts of the vehicle.

The driver, Fakhar, wasarrested and shifted to a policestation for further investiga-tions. Multan: Police claimedon Sunday to have arrested 24criminals and recovered drugsand illegal weapons from theirpossession during separateraids across the district.

The police conducted raidsat various locations and appre-hended four drug pushers, twoillegal weapon holders andseized 26 litres liquor, one pis-tol, a revolver and bullets fromtheir possession.—APP

NOWSHERA—Central Leader of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf and Member of National Assem-bly, Dr. Imran Khattak has announced Rs 60million under developmental package forGandheri Union Council.

Addressing a public gathering at GandherUnion Council, he said the allocated amountwould be utilized for the construction of roads,streets besides replacing worn out electricitycables. The gathering was also addressed byRohul Amin and Wali Khanpar.

Dr.Imran Khattak said that provincial gov-ernment would induce revolution by initiatingpublic welfare and uplift schemes in the prov-ince. He said that the dream of Green KhyberPakhtunkhwa would be materialized soon andmega project of education, City would providefacilities of higher education to students of thearea.On the occasion, ANP’s activist, GulzarAmeer also announced joining of PTI. Mean-while, Lowari road tunnel project will be com-pleted by 2018 subject to availability of adequatefunds, said an official of National Highway

Rs60m announced foruplift schemes in Gandheri

Authority (NHA).He said that the work on Lowari Rail Tun-

nel was envisaged to be completed by Oct 2010but its completion period was extended after itsconversion to a road tunnel.

To a question, he said that total allocationas per revised PC-1 of the Lowari tunnel wasRs.18.13 billion, out of which Rs 8.3 billion hasbeen incurred so far.

To another question, he said National High-way Authority (NHA) and Frontier WorksOrganisation have joined hands to keep theLowari Tunnel open for traffic during the heavysnow fall.

The NHA has made arrangements to keepthe under-construction tunnel two days a weekto facilitate the people of Chitral. However hesaid sometimes due to heavy snowfall aroundthe tunnel, it has to be closed for some days.

Sometimes the tunnel gets snowed in andthe snowfall is so heavy and incessant that itremains humanly impossible to keep the trackopen, he said.—APP

32 Afghansheld underforeign act

CHAGHI—Security forces de-tained 32 Afghan nationals un-der foreign act in Chaghi townarea of Balochistan on Sunday.

According to Levies forceofficial, these Afghan nationalshad been arrested by Securityforces, because they had en-tered in the country withoutvalid traveling documents.

Apprehended Afghan na-tionals were handed over toFederal Investigation Agency(FIA) for further investigationby Levies force, officialadded.—APP

Free medicalcamps for

Bajaur womenPESHAWAR—In a bid to pro-vide medical facilities to peopleof far flung areas, DirectorateFATA Health Services on Sun-day arranged free medicalcamps for women in remotevillages of Bajaur Agency.

The camps were arranged onthe directives of GovernorKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Engr.Shoukat Ullah in areas ofCharmang, Hilal Khel,Intermina, Mamoond,SalarzaiBatwar, Loisim, Lagraeeand Nawagai.Two teams ofhighly qualified medical profes-sionals examined 15136 womenpatients besides conducting diag-nostic tests of 2099 patients. 334needy were provided radiologyfacilities for confirming ailmentsthey were suffering with.

All the services includingmedicines were provided free ofcharge with an objective to helpthose who were unable to getproper medical cover owing tomeagre financial resources andinaccessibility of their residingareas.Program Manager, Dr. NiazAfridi said that FATA Directoratewould continue its endeavours tomitigate suffering of poor andneedy by ensuring them the bestavailable medical facilities.—APP

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health Shaukat Ali Yousafzai adminis-tering polio drops to children during 3rd phase of ‘Sahat Ka Insaf’ campaign.

PESHAWAR: Security officials collecting the evidence from the site of militants attack near a graveyard on Charsadda road.

World Day ofSocial Justiceon Thursday

ISLAMABAD—The United Na-tions’ (UN) World Day of So-cial Justice will be observed onFebruary 20 to encouragepeople to look at how socialjustice affects poverty eradica-tion. It also focuses on the goalof achieving full employmentand support for social integra-tion.

Many organizations, in-cluding the UN and the Inter-national Labour Office makestatements on the importance ofsocial justice for people.

Many organizations alsopresent plans for greater socialjustice by tackling poverty so-cial and economic exclusionand unemployment.

Trade unions and cam-paign groups are invited to callon their members and support-ers to mark the day.

The Russian General Con-federation of Trade Unions de-clared that the common sloganwill be “Social Justice and De-cent Life for All”.

Schools, colleges and uni-versities will prepare specialactivities for the day or plan aweek of events around a themerelated to poverty, social andeconomic exclusion or unem-ployment.

Different media, includingradio and television stations,newspapers and Internet sites,may give attention to the issuesaround the World Day of So-cial Justice.

The World Summit forSocial Development was heldin Copenhagen, Denmark, in1995 and resulted in theCopenhagen Declaration andProgramme of Action.

At this summit, more than100 political leaders pledged tomake the conquest of povertyand full employment, as well asstable, safe and just societies,their overriding objectives.

They also agreed on theneed to put people at the centerof development plans.

Nearly 10 years later, theUN’s member states reviewedthe Copenhagen Declaration andProgramme of Action when theygathered at a session of the Com-mission for Social Developmentin New York in February 2005. They also agreed to commit toadvance social development. OnNovember 26, 2007, the UNGeneral Assembly named Feb-ruary 20 as the annual WorldDay of Social Justice. The daywas scheduled to be first ob-served in 2009.—APP

Punjab govt toestablish Quettacardiac hospital

ISLAMABAD—BalochistanHealth Department spokesmanhas said that Punjab Chief Min-ister Shahbaz Sharif had assuredthe Balochistan government ofproviding financial assistance forinitiating long-pending cardiachospital project in Quetta soon.

According to Radio Paki-stan, a spokesman of the depart-ment said the Balochistan gov-ernment had allocated a piece ofland for the hospital on SpiniRoad in Quetta and the construc-tion work would start soon.

About the health reforms,the spokesman said hospitals inOrmara, Turbat, Sui andPanjgur had been made func-tional while equipment worthRs 1 billion had been purchasedto overcome the shortage andprovide best healthcare to theneedy and poor people at gov-ernment run hospitals.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Meteorological Department Sunday predictsmainly dry weather in most of the country with light rain in iso-lated parts of Malakand and Hazara Divisions Gilgit- Baltistanduring next 24 hours.

According to details weather conditions were associated withprevailing of continental air over most parts of the country. Coldand dry weather with cloudy condition were expected in parts ofGilgit- Baltistan.

The coldest weather conditions were reported in Kalam with aminimum temperature of 11 de-gree Celsius while Astore, Skardu,Hunza, Gilgit, Malajabba and pro-vincial metropolis remained on -8, -7, -6, -4, -3, -5 Celsius respec-tively. The Quetta Met Office hasforecast a cold and dry weather forthe provincial capital for Monday.The maximum temperature is likely between 10 to 12 Centigradeand the minimum is expected between -6 to 4 Centigrade.

The cold and dry weather has been forecast for rest of theregion. The weather pundits have forecast sunny weather withthe temperatures around 25 celsius during the day in the comingweeks in the provincial metropolis.

Director local Meterological department Mahr Sahibzad Khantold APP on Sunday that the mercury during the days would gradu-ally rise with the advent of the Spring while the nights and the morn-ings are expected to stay cold recording the minimum temperaturearound 7 degree celsius.He said the sunny days would the patternduring the rest of February with occasional clouds during the rest ofthe February, adding that the temperatures would soar during theweek.He said no rains are the forecast in the coming weeks, addingthat 30 percent less rains are expected as compared with the sameperiod between January and February during the previous years.

The director said the present nip of cold was due to the glo-bal weather as well as the cold weather in the Northern areas ofthe country.Vis-a-vis the synoptic situation, he said continentalair prevailed over most parts of the country including thePunjab.—APP

Cold, dry weather likelyUS Ambassador

visitsMoenjodaroOBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—US AmbassadorRichard G Olson, Consul Gen-eral Michael Dodman, and USAgency for International Devel-opment Mission Director GregGottlieb toured the Moenjodaroarchaeological site on Sunday.

It was the Ambassador’sfirst visit to the famedUNESCO World Heritage Site.The group also visited the mau-soleums of the late Prime Min-isters Zulfikar Bhutto andBenazir Bhutto in Larkana.

“Moenjodaro is an extraor-dinary cultural site and I ampleased to have the opportunityto see it first hand,” Ambassa-dor Olson said. “Moenjodarois a magnificent example of therich, ancient heritage of Sindh.In fact, it is a treasure for theentire world.”

Denmark to spend$3.5m on democratic

uplift in PakistanISLAMABAD—Denmark has launched a US$ 3.5 million a three-year new programme for Pakistan on democratic developmentand good governance.The programme, a joint collaboration withPakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency(PILDAT), was announced during the presentation of PakistanReport of State of Democracy in South Asia an event organizedrecently by PILDAT with support of the Danish Internationaldevelopment agency (Danida) here. An important feature of the new programnme is the engage-ment of youth in democratic processes and dialogue. According to Denmark Ambassador to Pakistan, Sorensen thatthis programme has a special focus on instilling democratic val-ues in the youth through the Youth Parliament programme.

Under this programme, young people from across the countryare trained in the values of democracy. This creates understanding,respect and tolerance for other people’s opinions - besides beingan innovative approach to engage youth in such an important pro-cess, he added. He said that Denmark is also providing support toprimary education in the conflict affected areas.

“We are now also more focused on facilitating contacts be-tween Danish and Pakistani businesses so that we can create jobs,growth and ultimately eliminate poverty”, he added. Appreciat-ing the Denmark support, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Di-rector of PILDAT said, It is in everyone’s interest that westrengthen the democratic progressive forces in Pakistan, so thatwe do not leave the playing field to the radical forces.—APP

OGDCL’s healthcare initiativesbenefit 60,000people monthly

ISLAMABAD—The public-sec-tor company-Oil and Gas De-velopment CompanyLimited(OGDCL) is pursuingseveral welfare projects inhealth sector, benefitting60,000 people in one month,across the country.

“The inivitiates includedseveral projects and the com-pany has established a networkof public welafare dispensariesaround its operational areas,established a Tuberculoseclinic, a truama center and haspartnered with the UNICEF foreradication of polio,” says anofficial of the company.

The official said companyhad planned in 2013-14, 20 freeeye camps and 11 had alreadybeen setup to provide freeopthomological treatment to thepeople.

The official added thecompany had undertaken anumber of initiatives in all ar-eas including education, and ithas set up the Oil and Gas In-stitute of Science and Technol-ogy which was a now degreeawarding institute and hadcolloborated with Quaid-e-Azam university for affiliation.

The company had also es-tablished two techinical train-ing centers and women’s voca-tional training center, con-structed and renovated schools,allocated funds for school uni-forms, books, furniture andtransport service for schoolchildern.

The company had also pro-vided a number of scholarshipsto the students belonging to dif-ferent far-flung areas, addingsepecial attention had beengiven to the remote areas ofDera Bugti in Balochistanwhere 600 million had beenspent on development of infra-structure-road, health and edu-cation.—APP

Rs130m RasulPower House to

be completedin 4 months

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—Ad-visor to Punjab CM for En-ergy Shahid Riaz Gondalalong with Wapda ChairmanSyed Raghib Ali inaugu-rated a hydropower projectat Rasul, some 15km awayfrom here. Addressing agathering at GovernmentCollege of Technology,Rasul, and Shahid RiazGondal said that the projectwould be completed withinfour months and a sum ofRs 130 million would bespent on it.

He said that RasullPower house would be up-graded and the Wapda hadallocated a huge sum of Rs450 million for installation ofnew turbines to increase thepower generation to 35MW.

The PML-N govern-ment fully knows the inten-sity of the power crisis andworking on war-footing toovercome menace of loadshedding, he said andadded that although thisenergy crisis was given tous by our predecessors butwe took this as a challenge.

Wapda Chairman SyedRaghib Ali in his address saidthat under the directions ofthe government, hectic ef-forts were being made andsoon the nation would heargood news of end to powerload shedding. Al-HamraCouncil chairman AttaulHaq Qasmi said that thegovernment was striving tomeet the current challenges.

Meanwhile a youthcommitted suicide. Report-edly, Naeem, a student ofthird year, and resident ofvillage Kot Baluch ended hislife by jumping into LowerJhelum Canal. The motivebehind the incident is toldas a domestic dispute.

CHITRAL: Women carrying drinking water in pitchers on their heads from a water stream in Bakarabad area. Theyhave daily to travel more than two kilometres on mountains to fetch water. There is no electricity for the last 20 daysto use water pump to get water.

WAH CANTT—The Chief Minister PunjabShahbaz Sharif has approved multimilliondevelopment package including construc-tion of sports stadium, sports complex,upgradation of boys and girl colleges, wa-ter supply schemes and provision of firefighting vehicles for PP-17, Hassanabdal-Fateh Jang.

Talking to newsmen here on Sundaymember Punjab Assembly MuhammadShawez Khan has said that the CM Punjabhas approved multimillion mega projectsfor this constituency which would be ex-ecuted during this year as CM has alsoreleased the funds for execution of theseprojects.

He said that under this package insports sector an indoor sports complex on10 canals of land would be constructed inHassanabdal and a sports stadium wouldbe constructed in Fateh Jang city.

In education sector, the boys inter col-lege would be upgraded to degree level and

Shahbaz approves multimilliondevelopment package for PP-17

women degree college would be upgradedto post graduate level in Hassanabdal andwork on construction of additional classrooms would began this year while classeswould be commenced from next academicsession.

He said that funds for plying the girlscollege has also approved which were sus-pended from last five years.

He said that under a mega project worthRs 600 million would be chalked out forconstruction of complete water supply sys-tem for the Fateh Jang city under whicheach and every house would provided cleanwater supply.

Mr Khan has said that provision ofclean drinking water was long outstandingdemand of the dwellers of the city. He fur-ther added that a modern fire tender wouldalso be provided to TMA Hassanabdal tomeet any emergency and for this purposePunjab government has released a sum ofRs 10.40 million rupees.—APP

QUETTA—WHO Representative to Paki-stan Dr, Ni’ma Saeed Abid and CountryRepresentative of UNICEF Dan Rohrmannvisited Quetta to meet high governmentfunctionaries and discuss the risk of polio-virus circulation in the province.

The UN officials met Chief Minister ofBalochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch andMinister of Health Rahmat Baloch.

They appreciated the immense effortsput by the Government to improve over-sight and accountability of the polio cam-paigns, and shared their observations re-garding the current situation.

“Balochistan has shown remarkableprogress in Polio Eradication in last twoyears” said Dr. Jawahir Habib Communica-tion Specialist from UNICEF Quetta.

“However, the province is still at a riskof polio virus circulation due to sub opti-mal quality of campaigns and extensivepopulation movement between the prov-inces and across the borders “, she added.

Balochistan had no polio cases lastyear; however confirmation of virus in en-vironmental sample and recent polio casein Helmand district of southern Afghani-

Balochistan still at risk ofpoliovirus circulation: WHO

stan has placed 2.24 million children ofBalochistan at a risk of polio outbreak.

The Minister of Health in a press con-ference shared that Polio Eradication is atop priority for the Government ofBalochistan and efforts will be intensifiedto sustain the progress made in the pro-gram.

“I am personally monitoring the poliocampaigns to ensure accountability” saidBaloch. “Routine Immunization rates inBalochistan are lowest in the country, andcurrent government is focusing onstrengthening Expanded Program on Immu-nization” he added Meanwhile, it is re-ported from Lahore that the ExtendedProgramme for Immunization (EPI) of theHealth Department of Punjab has declared292 union councils of seven districts at highrisk of polio cases.Talking to APP here onSunday, Additional Director of EPI Dr NazirHussain said that on February 10 an anti-polio drive had been launched in the high-risk UCs of seven districts including 67 UCsof Lahore, 37 of Multan, 20 of Mianwali, 37of Faisalabad, 51 of Toba Tek Singh, 28 ofRawalpindi and 52 of Attock district.—APP

Ulema comeforward for peace

ULEMA and Mushaikh at a convention in Lahore have calledupon the Government and Taliban to announce a ceasefire as afirst step to restore peace and order in the country because a

dialogue process direly requires a peaceful atmosphere. In a joint state-ment after a meeting held at an initiative by chief of the Taliban’s nego-tiating committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, Ulema belonging to all schoolsof thought fully supported the peace dialogue and appealed to bothparties to observe restraint and let peace prevail.

The support to peace process by Ulema indicates that religious lead-ers are perturbed over the deteriorating law and order situation andready to use their influence to achieve desired results because theirvoice is listened to and given due consideration in the country. It is alsoheartening that similar conventions would be held in other cities in-cluding Karachi in order to give a clear and loud message that countryneeds peace. The emphasis for a ceasefire in the joint statement wasvery timely because talks between government and TTP could nei-ther be meaningful nor successful when acts of terrorism or fightingwere going on. Therefore the two sides must show patience and re-straint in view of possible efforts by the anti-Pakistan and anti-Islamforces to derail the peace process again. There has been lot of un-called for bloodshed and killing, which is extremely damaging forPakistan yet a matter of satisfaction for the enemies of Pakistan andIslam. Thousands of innocent persons have already lost their livesand this killing spree must come to an end, as it would benefit nonebut our common enemies. There is a danger that certain splinter groupswho are being armed and financed by enemies of the country wouldtry to sabotage the dialogue process but once an agreement is reachedbetween Government and Taliban, these elements could be dealt within due course of time. Therefore the initiative by Maulana Samiul Haq,should be supported by all and sundry as it would build a conduciveatmosphere and we hope that Taliban would also listen the voice ofUlema and the nation who are yearning for peace.

Who will deal withnon taxpayer MPs?

THE Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has come out with a timely andcourageous exercise by publishing Tax Directory for 2013 sharing

details about taxes paid and not paid by elected representatives. Accordingto the information 100 parliamentarians belonging to all political partiesare non tax filers out of 1172 which should be an eye opener for every oneabout how the people who should be role model were indulging in taxevasion, which is a major crime.

|The elected representatives, no doubt, are very influential and wealthypeople because no one can contest Parliament and Provincial Assemblieselections without having enough resources. By not filing the tax returns,these non filers have flouted the law and irony is that they are roaming allaround in their four wheelers but no one appears to be in a mood to ques-tion them from where they got the money and why they have not paid duetaxes. What is more shocking is that their lust for perks and privilegesnever ends and they continue to demand increases in their salaries, al-lowances and other benefits as elected representatives without caringfrom where the poor country would pay them. This state of affairs isprevalent only in Pakistan because elected representatives enjoy influ-ence in their parties and when pressurised to pay their dues they joinhands and form forward blocks to black mail the government that theywould move or support a vote of No-confidence against it. As a result inthe past successive governments overlooked the wrong doings of theseelected representatives but something must be done to get rid of thistendency once and for all times to come. The question thus arises whowould deal with these non-compliant and arrogant MPs who do not feelany shame when their names are published as tax evaders? The respon-sibility ultimately lies with the FBR to prove that they have the re-sources and were not paying their taxes, which the institution has doneand now it is for the Election Commission to take action and disqualifythem for life from contesting elections while the law should take itscourse to punish the guilty and put them behind bars.

Dar displays optimismFINANCE Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in two separate statements

Saturday expressed his optimism about handling the energy crisisand putting the economy back on track. While talking to the Vice Presi-dent of European Investment Bank, he said in the medium term, gov-ernment would be able to increase power generation potential upto24,000 MW to meet future energy needs.

Since coming to power, the PML-N government has been layingspecial emphasis on overcoming energy crisis. The retirement of circu-lar debt, launching of a number of mega generation projects and plansfor building of hydel resources are proof of the government’s commit-ment to rid the country of power crisis which has affected industry onthe one hand and created immense problems for the ordinary consum-ers on the other particularly during scorching summer temperatures. Inthe short term, people are witnessing a significant improvement as theduration of load shedding has been brought down but the need is tototally get out of this irritating problem. Expectations are that if thegovernment continued to pay due attention and funds were made avail-able; load shedding would become a thing of the past in the next fourto five years. In his second statement the Finance Minister told theEconomic Advisory Council that remittances have registered 10%increase while revenue collection targets have shown 17.5% growthin seven months and 21% in January, 2014, the GDP growth is goingup and inflation is declining. This is a message of hope and the opti-mism expressed by the Finance Minister is based on solid facts. Thefact remains that Pakistan has all the potential to get out of present daydifficulties considering the huge resources and a hard working man-power. However in our view the Minister would have to continue toinspire all organisations and institutions to do more to stimulate theeconomy on which depends development of the country.

ME peace process falling to pieces

The fall ofKejriwal

ARVIND Kejriwal’s resignation was inevitable the moment he petulantly an-

nounced that he would step downas chief minister of Delhi if his an-ticorruption bill wasn’t tabled dur-ing a four-day assembly sessioncalled by the Delhi government ex-pressly for the purpose of passingthe acridly contentious Jan LokpalBill and Swaraj Bill. Kejriwal isn’tgone yet. His Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) will continue to be a care-taker government for three or fourdays, minus the power to take anypolicy decisions. Not that thisshould matter: The AAP’s stint hasnot seen much policymaking. Thereis some apprehension among Con-gressmen, in particular, thatKejriwal will use his time to rattlethe authorities with civic disrup-tions to prove that his popularitywith the aam aadmi remains intact.

For many, Kejriwal’s resigna-tion lacks the reasonableness ofethical conduct. The AAP’s extraor-dinarily articulate top echelon hasnot so far explained why Kejriwaltook the bill to an assembly sessioninstead of taking it to his followersat the Ramlila Maidan, the publicgrounds where he had taken oathof office and where the bill’s vic-tory was a given. Had Kejriwalarmed himself with documentedpopular support for his 18-point bill,the matter of his resignation mightnot have arisen. This illogica per-formance has all the signs of a manas desperate as he is ambitious.Kejriwal has repeatedly suggestedthat his government would (be al-lowed to) last as long as — and nolonger than — the end of the fiscalor the general election, whichevercame earlier. The rejection of theanticorruption bill is nothing if notthe perfect opportunity to abdicate— and to do so while marching toa triumphal choral. The questionthat everybody’s asking is: Whatnow? The Lok Sabha election, ob-viously. The AAP has decided tocontest in more than 300 seats (ofthe total 543). It believes that it hasenough goodwill — and has dem-onstrated enough mojo — to winenough seats to figure significantlyin parliament. This might be stretch-ing things a bit: The only stateswhere it will contest all seats are inDelhi, Gujarat, Haryana,Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. InGujarat, say observers, it’s unlikelyto more than scratch the surface; andits leaders, comprising mostly Cen-tral and North Indians, have not thefaintest idea about how to steer theparty around the byzantine, cultur-ally complex, nearly abstractedpolitics of the southern reaches ofthe country. Even as he steppeddown after 49 days in office — thesecond shortest tenure of gover-nance in India, after Atal BihariVajpayee’s miserable 13-day stintas prime minister in 1996 —Kejriwal has left behind a slew ofunsorted issues, a bombed-out capi-tal budget, and allegations and ac-cusations that, going by India’shardheaded laws, border on slander.Not that he has the wrong targets inhis sights but these targets, big asbarns, have been around for de-cades. — Khaleej Times

*****

Child abuseon the rise

IT is a silent epidemic, the reason why it slinks about in society drawing comparatively less

attention to itself. But it has devas-tating consequences for a child andhis parents. Child abuse is a deeplydisturbing social malaise that is un-fortunately on the rise in the UAEand it needs urgent and forceful at-tention. Last year, 124 cases of do-mestic violence and abuse againstchildren were recorded in the UAE.

As a problem, it is not confinedto the family that is impacted by it.On the contrary, child abuse is a col-lective social problem that asks ofparents, counsellors, teachers andhealth-care professionals to col-laborate on finding ways to worktowards eradicating it. And this canbe done more effectively if peopleare educated on how to recognisesigns of child abuse — emotionalor physical — to begin with. Anabused child is the most vulnerableaspect of society and if his condi-tion is not recognised and addressedin time, it can create a challenge forsociety’s well-being at a later stagethat cannot be easily overcome.Workshops being held in Dubai topromote awareness of the signs aretherefore a step in the right direc-tion. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

GEORGE W. Bush’s presidency proved disastrous forPalestinians, for Iraq, for

Af-Pak region, in short for the wholeMuslim world, as also for his owncountry which received back overfive thousand healthy Americansturned into corpses and thousandsothers disabled physically and/ormentally. And of course, the coun-try became poorer by a few tril-lion dollars, which went down thedrain in the course of born-againChristian George Bush’s service toIsrael, by destroying Iraq and elimi-nating Saddam Hussain, a strongopponent of Israel.

In that background, when Presi-dent Barack Obama appeared onthe horizon , with a promise of achange, the Americans welcomedhim with open arms and chose himas their President. Obama evenimpressed the Nobel Peace PrizeCommittee with his fascinatingspeeches and persuaded them topart with the coveted prize merelyon the basis of his rhetoric, notbacked by actual performance.

While Barack Obama is a defi-nite improvement on George Bush,it does raise the question whetherbeing better than a mass murdererand war criminal Bush is somethingto be proud of. All one can say witha reasonable degree of certainty isthat Obama has not proved to be astrigger-happy as Bush and insteadof looking for escalation againstIran, as demanded by Israel, someMiddle-Eastern states and pro-Israellobbyists within America, includingthose in Congress and senate, heopted for a peaceful solution of thedispute and has also been somewhatrestrained in the case of Syria. Dur-ing his earlier term, Obama eventried his hand at the Palestinian-Is-

raeli dispute and succeeded in gettingIsraeli leaders to agree to a tempo-rary freeze on the illegal settlement-building activity demanded by Pal-estinians, and rightly so, as a pre-con-dition to resume peace negotiations.

However, the negotiations did notreach a conclusion in the allotted timeand Palestinians demanded furtherfreeze in order to continue the pro-cess which Israelis flatly rejected andthe process broke down. What wasneeded was for Obama to put somepressure on Israelis to accept freezeon settlements. Instead, Obamashamefully revised his strong state-ment “freeze means freeze” to “de-mand for freeze is not a suitablepremise to build peace process on.Pro-Israeli lobbies have substantialinfluence in the US Senate, Congressand other organs of state, and a Presi-dent, especially a weak one, who islooking forward to the next term inthe White House would not normallytake the risk of incurring the displea-sure of pro-Israel lobbies, lest itspoiled his chances. For this reason,the weakness shown by Obama infacing up to Israelis did not come asmuch of a surprise. Unfortunately,this was taken by the Israeli leadersas a green signal to accelerate theirillegal settlement-building activity asalso with the barrier wall, increas-ingly threatening a two-state solutionwhich would require a contiguouspiece of land on which to establish aviable Palestinian state, with EastJerusalem as capital.

So When Barack Obama and hisSecretary of State John Kerry tookup the Palestinian-Israel case again,it was a reasonable assumption thatunlike his first term when hechickened out under Israeli pressure,in his second and last term, Obamawould demonstrate some courageand would apply the required pres-sure on Israelis without which theywon’t move towards a peace settle-ment that met at least the minimumjust requirements of the Palestinians.

Unfortunately, it is not so and theboss and his assistant remain af-flicted with the fear of pro-Israellobbies and instead of applying pres-sure on Israeli leaders to make themsee sense, have ‘prudently’ decidedto follow the past pattern.

From the leaks made about JohnKerry’s plans, it is quite shocking tolearn that instead of a final solutionby the end of the allotted nine months,we can at best expect an almost open-ended ‘framework’ agreement whichwill set general directions for a finalsolution by the end of the year. So, inaddition to the months that have al-ready passed, which Israel used toaccelerate the illegal settlement-building activity, the Palestinians willbe required to forego their right ofseeking an enhanced status at theUnited Nations General Assembly atleast up to the end of the year, with-out having anything concrete in theirhands while the Israelis will havebeen given additional months to cre-ate even more facts to kill off what-ever little possibility remained of atwo-state solution. So, notwithstand-ing his three ‘Purple Hearts’ it is anabject surrender by John Kerry andamounts to little more than washinghis hands off the whole affair.

It is really disgusting to see JohnKerry, Secretary of State of superpower American, going down on hisknees, and scaling down his plans ina futile effort to please the arrogantIsraeli ministers and others whoroundly condemned him for daringto suggest that in case of failure ofpeace talks with Palestinians (due toIsrael’s unreasonable and uncompro-mising attitude), Israel could face in-ternational isolation.

And now Israeli rightwing mem-bers of parliament, led by economicsminister Naftali Bennet, stormed outof Israeli Knesset during a speech byGerman president of the Europeanparliament who, while pledging thatthe European Union will always sup-port Israel, committed the

Beneficiary of Iranian nuke deal

THERE has been global andregional concern over thecovert Iranian nuclear

programme ever since 1990s.Whereas United States and Euro-pean Union overtly opposed theIran for its nuclear programme,which Iran claimed to be peacefulbut viewed as weapon grade enrich-ment of uranium by others. Theregional countries particularly theGGC states were worried more andat one point of time demanded anuclear programme of their own,perhaps in retaliation to the Iraniannuclear programme. The regionaland global concerns of Iraniannuclear programme were notnuclear centric only, but, it had todo something with growing Iranianinfluence, which regional countriesenvisaged as a threat to them.

The nuclear deal over Iraniannuclear programme, brokered be-tween Iran and P-5+1, in Novem-ber 2013, is viewed as a great suc-cess for both parties. For the P-5+1,it proved to be a major achieve-ment, attained after hectic diplo-macy and imposition of severalsanctions, as Iran was not comingto terms since the start of 21st cen-tury. For the Iran, the deal providesa temporary relief from the eco-nomic sanctions; it has been underever since EU and U.S knew itsnuclear developments through theirintelligence network. Iran has takena sigh of relief once some of itsfreeze accounts were unfreeze andmoney was released to Iran for

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

English drmatist

unforgiveable sin and crime of high-lighting Palestinians’ suffering and‘siege’ of Gaza Strip.

It is a real shame to see peopleof stature making a big climb-downin order to please impossible-to-sat-isfy Israeli leaders, and offering sortof apologies to dilute the affect ofhaving inadvertently committed theindiscretion of uttering a word ortwo in respect of the miserable plightof Palestinians.

The President of the EuropeanParliament made it a point to men-tion that EU had not boycotted andwould not boycott Israel over itssettlements in the occupied territo-ries because there was not major-ity support for the boycott in theEuropean parliament, which is asad reflection on the majority mem-bers of the European parliamentwho do not see anything wrongwith brutal uprooting of Palestin-ians from their ancestral land wherethey have lived for generations inorder to make way for Jews fromworldwide descending on Israeland claiming as their birth-right allthe Palestinian land.

The Europeans may have a feel-ing of guilt over the holocaust andAmericans may sympathize withJews for the same reason but nowthey are going to the other extremeby being extremely cruel and unjustwith Palestinians which is just an-other form of holocaust, with Pal-estinians as victims this time. Dothey really have to do that?

I hope the Western leaders pickup some courage to stand up to Is-raeli leaders, and instead of givingin to their blackmail - equating evengenuine criticism with anti-Semitism - suggest and enforcemeasures that bring about a justsettlement of the long-standing Is-raeli-Palestinian dispute instead ofmerely creating an illusion of beingengaged in something useful.—The writer is Karachi-basedpolitical analyst.

meeting its immediate food needs.For the world at large, Iranian

nuclear deal, the ‘Geneva Agree-ment’ is a welcoming developmentas the looming crisis over the issuecould have invited a conflict withdangerous consequences for the re-gion as well as the globe. The peace-ful brokering of the deal has avoidedthe disastrous effects, thus openednew avenues for the regional coun-tries and international community tohave a win-win situation. Theoreti-cally the development may soundgood, but, the ground realities arequite contrary. As analysed by ascholar, “The (Geneva) agreementhas reduced the Iran problem to thenuclear level only, while its regionalinterference is of key concern toGCC countries.”

The deal between Iran and P-5+1 and US perceived role in theregion has indeed initiated new de-bate in the regional politics and en-hanced the concerns of GCC statesabout the security of the region. Infact, post 1979 Iran was otherwiseviewed by GCC states as threat totheir form of government and par-ticularly the ideology. The Novem-ber-2013 deal, which is yet to beformalized, is being viewed by theGCC states as acceptance of Ira-nian role in the future politics ofthe region. “Many in Saudi Arabiaworry that Iran is not being sincere,and the worry during the negotia-tions was that any deal reachedwould mean Iran would widen theirinfluence in the region-in countrieslike Lebanon and Bahrain-and be-come a bigger threat.”

Apparently, through the deal,United States has broadened its re-gional policy, by taking on board

many more countries that were notpart of US regional partnership. Asit has developed differences withIran over hostages’ issue, in the post1979 scenario. Thereafter, U.S hasgiven special emphasis to its rela-tionship with Saudi Arabia and Jor-dan in Middle East. Besides, Is-raeli security and safety has been theprime responsibility of the US.Then, the Iranian regimes of the postIslamic Revolution-1979, demon-strated direct threat to Israel and USinterests in the region. In a way,GCC, Israel and United States wereunited against Iran, though Israelirole against the Palestinian was notto the likes of GCC states.

Among the GCC states, SaudiArabia has a distinguished status. Itis regarded with lot of respect amongthe Muslim community, being theadministrator and protector of theMuslim Holy sites. For quite sometime US has taken the responsibil-ity for the security of the importantcountry in the Middle East. Thereis a general feeling among the GCCand Saudi Arabia in particular that,US may abandon them viz-a-vizIran. With regards to Iran, its nuclearprogramme was not the only rea-sons, but its expanding influence isof more concern for the GCC states.Indeed, the 1979 Islamic Revolutionin Iran brought a major change inthe regional politics. Iranian Islam-ists voiced against the monarchs ofMiddle East, particularly Gulf Statesfor the promotion of their form ofIslam. On its part, Iran establishedits nexus with Syria, Lebanon, Gazaand those Arab localities having Shiapopulation. Eastern Saudi Arabia,the oil rich areas have Shia popula-tion. Then, Iran fully supported

Not to be abed aftermidnight is to be upbetimes.

Hezbollah during its 34 days warin 2006, Hamas against Al-Fetach,uprising in Bahrain and Syrian re-gime against insurgency. Indeed,Iran raised an active and popularvoice against monarchs in MiddleEast and particularly GCC. Theseare the real concerns of SaudiArabia and other GCC states.

Whereas, the deal over Iran’snuclear programme and apparentshift of US in the regional politicshas raised concerns for the GCCstates, the developments are indi-rectly meant to benefit Israel, aU.S strategic partner in the region.Israel was mostly concerned abouta nuclear Iran, as former IranianPresident Ahmedinejad publicallythreatened Israel many a time. AU.S friendly Iran would influenceHizbollah for not opposing andtargeting the state of Israel and sowould be Hamas in Gaza. NATOand U.S stopped short of attack-ing the Syrian regime for the ob-vious reasons.

Indeed, the deal over Iraniannuclear has secured the Israel andcreated a rift among the Iran andGCC states. Indeed, the strategyis, create rifts among Muslimstates, provide weapon to eitherside and let them fight with eachother on various pretexts and latertake the role of moderator anddecision maker in its (superpower) own national interests andfor securing their resources andmaintaining the global dominance.Should the fifty-seven members’Islamic bloc have slightest idea ofthis global strategy, if not keepsuffering indefinitely?— The writer is Islamabad-basedIR analyst.

Dr Muhammad Khan Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com

S R H HashmiEmail:srhhashmi@hotmail.com

Voice of the People

Talks outcomeMASOOD KHAN

What’s happening in Pakistan todayis exactly what governments do inSouth Asia — if they are determinednot to resolve an issue, they just forma committee to meet, discuss anddismiss, then again meet to discussuntil another issue springs up requir-ing a new committee to bury it.

This time, it’s not a single com-mittee but a host of committees rep-resenting the Taliban on both sidesof the table — political Taliban vsmilitant Taliban. Even if we expectsome outcome from these Talibanplus Taliban talks, will that be ac-ceptable to the rest of the Pakistanis?The government didn’t nominateany political leader from its side,similarly the Taliban didn’t put for-ward any commander for the talks.In other words, the faceless are ne-gotiating with the faceless. You canonly expect a faceless outcome.

When an All-Party Conferencemandated the government to givetalks with the Taliban another try,no one thought that political stake-holders will be kept out of the pro-cess. Where is the representation ofliberal political parties; don’t theyhave any say in the running of stateaffairs, especially when the govern-ment is pushing the country towardsa collective suicide.

We know the outcome of thesetalks — the Taliban want an officialhandover of the tribal belt to runtheir own government; if approvedby the right-wing government inIslamabad, that would be the sec-ond secession in the country’s shortlife-span. But the Taliban will notbe content with the tribal belt only;they are eyeing Islamabad, Lahoreand Karachi.—Jubail, KSA

Facebook andglobalisation

SARA QASIN

Globalisation through the use of so-cial media tools has huge impact onour world today. Since the beginningof the World Wide Web, countrieshave become more connected withone another with every second thatgoes by. Now social media hasheightened our ability to communi-cate, connect and share with theworld around us, the world itself isbeginning to feel a lot smaller.

Although Facebook is a greatsocial networking tool but is also astrong force in the process ofglobalisation. Facebook is a primeexample of modern dayglobalisation. Facebook allows eachindividual to easily express theirideas, views and beliefs to the restof the world. Most of the compa-nies and organizations made adver-tisement on Facebook. They makepages or groups in the name of theircompany or product. They introducetheir product on it. As it is a socialwebsite so everyone can easily visiton it. There is no restriction on thepeople of any race, sex, religion etc.for their visit on the pages or groupson Facebook. People all over theworld like the page if they foundtheir interest in it. They also get in-formation about it by simply send-ing message or by doing commenton a relative post of a page.

Through Facebook we are toomuch interconnected globally that itremoves the concept of territory. Wecan easily communicate with thepeople living outside the country orabroad. We also have video chatswith others which it seems like oth-ers sitting in front of us and we aretalking to them same as if theyphysically present there. Which inother words remove the importanceof physical presence of others. Andif we think critically on it then some-how their still exist the concept ofterritory in it. And if we think criti-

Who holds the key to parleys?MALIK ATIF MAHMOOD MAJOKA

Talks are apparently in full swing with Taliban, committees are toiling hard to further pave way fordirect face to face parleys between Pakistani state and Pakistani Taliban. Wave of terror has also

been unleashed in already terrorised Pakistan. Political parties are dancing to the tunes of self interestand state is weaving its own fabric of national interest. Denial has been the order of the day since thecreation of Pakistan. People of Pakistan have been divided by interest seekers in the name of race,religion and culture. Once an inclusive and tolerant society has now been turned into a volatile,confused and violent one. Gone are the days when governments would do secret behind the doorscompromises or deals, influx of information & ever vigilant vibrant media has been keeping thegovernments on their toes. Pakistanis have rendered great sacrifices in war against terror in the lastdecade and are the most important stake holder. Extremist forces are employing anarchist tactics tocow masses down. Extremist narrative for implementation of faith based laws in a country which isvery diverse may result in communal & political troubles. How much talks can change the lives ofPakistanis is a big question. Going back a decade when the issue of extremism got into mainstreamPakistan, the country was under military rule, if history is any reference one may recall militaryoperations & agreements between militants & military establishment of that time. It seems that thecrux of the matter involves establishment’s stand more than civil government’s initiatives for peace.The intricacies of civil & military relationship hold the key to finding lasting solutions to the men-ace of terrorism. It seems that civil & military leadership see through different spectacles. The issuehas a lot to do with Pakistan’s foreign policy as well which throughout its national history has beenrevolving around India, Afghanistan & USA. Civil governments have always had different direc-tion on foreign policy than establishment, keeping in mind the history of civil &military relation-ship & foreign policy; it’s not hard to make a conjecture about the outcome of talks between Govt& TTP. Optimism demands that one must not abandon hope .It seems that in current securitysituation, civil military relationship is the independent variable. Any endeavour over looking inde-pendent variable would not unfortunately bear fruits.—Melbourne, Australia

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Shadows of doubt over negotiations

THE unabated spree of suicidebombing and targeted killingsgoing on both in KPK, and

Karachi, since the negotiation havebegan with the Talibans, is casting along shadow of doubt, over the effi-cacy of the whole negotiating pro-cess. These attacks are denied by theTaliban, which of course has to betaken with a pinch of salt, keeping inview, their proclivity for blood andmayhem. Even if the Taliban denialsare taken at face value; the importantquestion which begs an answer is: Ifattacks on innocent civilians are tocontinue, in spite of negotiation withthe Taliban, then what is the point ofthese negotiations.

The statement of the Talibanspokesman Shahidullah Shahid thatthe main aim of the Taliban is to es-tablish Shariah in Pakistan, and thatMaulana Fazlullah would be theKhalifa, of such a set up in Pakistan,for which according to the spokes-man, Mullah Fazlullah, is eminentlyqualified. This statement should bean eye opener, for objective and dis-cerning observers of the negotiating

THE saddest bit about thewhole Kejriwal experimentis that protestors like him

cannot govern: They know how toshout at the system, provoke peopleto strike at those in authority butwhen leadership is thrust on them,it is a burden they can’t carry.

We saw this after IndiraGandhi’s emergency when a JP

government came to power and lastedall but two years before she rode backto power again. There were clownsthen, like Raj Narain, and one wholasted longer, Lalu, who even namedhis daughter MISA after the dreadedlaw during the Emergency, who mustbe recounting those days in prisonwhere he has returned.

“Mr Kejriwal you are now aCM!”“Oh no!”“Why sir?” “I want tobe Anti-CM! I am an anti man!” Andthat is what we people in India havenow realized that Kejri and his cro-nies are anti-men. They are anti-gov-ernment, anti-industries, anti-every-thing. “Why don’t you govern?” “We

know only to fast!” “We know to pro-test!” “We know to put barricades!”“And throw stones!” The poor peopleof Delhi found out the hard way, theywent to their Metro, now you doknow that every Delhiite is proud ofhis Metro! He may not be proud of itbeing the capital of India, of the Presi-dent living in his city, of the primeminister too, but about his Metro, heis very proud.

And he found his Metro stationsclosed. “Why is the Metro closed?”“The chief minister is using it as hisbedroom!” That must have been thesoundest sleep Kejri had after he be-came chief minister. “You look so

The Kejriwal experiment..!refreshed dear!” “Yes I must do thismore often!” “Maybe you shouldonly do this dear! You look so ap-pealing with those sleepy bedroomeyes, and the muffler round yourneck!” “I do? May be I should!Maybe I should!” And now he can.

He can sleep outside theMetros, on fast without fast, nightand day, and nobody will bother,because no more is India botheredwhat he does. The voters experi-mented with Kejriwal, and the ex-periment failed, because at the righttime and the right place, we had thewrong man..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Syria’s war must end

THE Greek philosopherAristotle believed that the universe had existed forever. The

reason humanity was not more de-veloped, he believed, was that floodsor other natural disasters repeatedlyset civilization back to the beginning.

Today, humans are developingever faster. Our knowledge is grow-ing exponentially and with it, ourtechnology. But humans still haveinstincts, and in particular the aggres-sive impulses, that we had in cave-man days. Aggression has had defi-nite advantages for survival, but whenmodern technology meets ancientaggression entire human race andmuch of rest of life on Earth is at risk.

Today in Syria we see moderntechnology in the form of bombs,

chemicals and other weapons beingused to further so-called intelligentpolitical ends. But it does not feel in-telligent to watch as more than100,000 people are killed or whilechildren are targeted. It feels down-right stupid, and worse, to prevent hu-manitarian supplies from reachingclinics where, as Save the Childrenwill document in a forthcoming re-port, children are having limbs am-putated for lack of basic facilities andnewborn babies are dying in incuba-tors for lack of power.

What’s happening in Syria is anabomination, one that the world iswatching coldly from a distance.Where is our emotional intelligence,our sense of collective justice? WhenI discuss intelligent life in the uni-verse, I take this to include the hu-man race, even though much of itsbehaviour throughout history appearsnot to have been calculated to aid the

Views From Abroad

survival of the species. And while itis not clear that, unlike aggression,intelligence has any long-term sur-vival value, our very human brand ofintelligence denotes an ability to rea-son and plan for not only our ownbut also our collective futures.

We must work together to endthis war and to protect the childrenof Syria. The international commu-nity has watched from the sidelinesfor three years as this conflict rages,engulfing all hope. As a father andgrandfather, I watch the sufferingof Syria’s children and must nowsay: No more.

I often wonder what we mustlook like to other beings watchingfrom deep space. As we look out atthe universe, we are looking back intime, because light leaving distantobjects reaches us much, much later.What does the light emitting fromEarth today show? When people see

our past, will we be proud of whatthey are shown — how we, as broth-ers, treat each other? How we allowour brothers to treat our children?

We now know that Aristotle waswrong: The universe has not existedforever. It began about 14 billionyears ago. But he was right that greatdisasters represent major steps back-ward for civilization. The war inSyria may not represent the end ofhumanity, but every injustice com-mitted is a chip in the facade of whatholds us together.

The universal principle of justicemay not be rooted in physics but it isno less fundamental to our existence.For without it, before long, humanbeings will surely cease to exist. Thewriter is the author of “A Brief His-tory of Time” and a former profes-sor of mathematics at the Universityof Cambridge.— Courtesy: The Washington Post

Stephen Hawking

process. Imran Khan has saidin his latest statement, given toa private TV Channel, thatPrime Minister Sharif had toldhim (Imran) in presence ofGeneral Kyani; that GeneralKayani estimated that chances

of success of an armed operationagainst the Taliban, was only fortypercent. Once hopes, that such a state-ment was never made; but even if thePrime Minister had made the pointin confidence to Imran Khan, KhanSahib should have had more sense,then making this statement public,thus undermining morale and increas-ing confusion amongst the masses.

The criticism by people likeAhtizaz Ahsan, and other intellectu-als on the composition of thegovernment’s negotiating committeeholds a lot of weight. The committeecomprising of all male members, gen-erally apologetic of the Taliban, ac-tions; cannot be termed representa-tive of the Pakistani Society. The de-mands that the committee shouldhave had representation of women;minority’s sects like the Shias; andnon-Muslims, is a very valid one.

The successful conclusion of ne-gotiations, with the Taliban could atbest be a moot point. In the mean-time, however, the real damage thatis being done is the respectability thatthe retrogressive and violent narra-

tive and mindset of the Taliban, isgetting on Prime Television. The poi-sonous narrative of the Taliban is be-ing projected, as a legitimate alterna-tive, to our national narrative. Cler-ics and divines sympathetic to theTaliban cause, regularly appear onPrime Time Television, obliquely ad-vocating the Taliban views.

The Taliban, by a master stroke,have made the State of Pakistan looklike the guilty party, from which theyare demanding not only the releaseof condemned prisoners, but alsoreparations for drone victims. Onewonders, as to who would be pro-viding compensation, to the thou-sands and thousands of innocentpeople killed in such bombings,claimed by the Taliban.

One more issue, which is causingconsiderable anxiety in the mind ofpeople, belonging to KPK, is the gov-ernment committee’s assertion, thatwhatever mechanism is decided withthe Taliban, would be implementableonly in insurgency affected areasmeaning: FATA and KPK. Now thatsmacks of provincialism on part of thefederal government. The federal gov-ernment seems to be saying: Talibanversion of Shariah would be accept-able in FATA and KPK; as long as theirheart land Punjab, is left alone. ThePTI, with its Taliban appeasing policy,seems to be on the same page with the

federal government. It must, how-ever, be said, that such a sellout,would never be acceptable, to a greatmajority of inhabitants of KPK aswell as FATA.

The longer these negotiation goon, the better it would be for theTaliban, as they are getting all theprojection, they could ever havehoped for. For the government onthe other hand, a quick resolution ofthe negotiations would be advanta-geous, which does not some to behappening. If terrorist attacks con-tinue, the way they are taking place;the very purpose of negotiation –which is the achievement of peace,would be seriously compromised.Just as I am about to conclude thiscolumn, news has just come in, thatthe Taliban have claimed responsi-bility for killing of fourteen policemen in Karachi, this morning,through a suicide attack. This claimof the Taliban should be enough tobelie their earlier denials of such at-tacks in the past.

The State of Pakistan has to ac-cept its core responsibility, which isof course, the protection of life andproperty of its citizens. A state, mustnever abdicate its basic responsibili-ties, on the bases false hopes, andwishful thinking.—The writer is author, citizenjournalist and entrepreneur.

cally on it then somehow their stillexist the concept of territory in it.When we are doing chat with ourfriends on Facebook at the below ofthe chat box there also showing thelocation of the other person. Whichmeans that the concept of territorystill exist in Facebook which is astrong force in the process ofglobalisation. As deterritorialisationis one of the major characteristics ofglobalization according to theglobalisation theorist named scholte.

On Facebook we also make newand old friends. We make chit chatwith the new friends on Facebook topass our boring time and share ourviews and information about differ-ent issues and things with them. Assometimes things which we can’t eas-ily share to our close relations canshare with them to unknown persons(news friends) without any kind of ahesitation. Sometimes to remove ourstress we also make fun of them orof others with them by tagging funnypictures or posts or by doing com-ments on their events etc. but if wethink on it in a critical way then thesocial bonding’s in relationships arenow become weaker. The socialbonding’s which we usually expectin strong relationships are not seeingnow as in the early ages. We makefriends on Facebook for time pass oraccording to our mood and alsounfriend those when we start gettingbore with them. So as much we arebecoming globalized we are forget-ting the emotions which are neces-sary needed in a relationship to makeit run. We unconsciously make smilesor emoticons while having a chat butwe actually don’t feel same asemoticons. Or as much as Facebookbecome globalized, we interact withdifferent people also with those wholiving aboard etc. our personal infor-mation leaked to unknown personsfrom our profile which is also dan-gerous for us. Facebook provideseasy access to large amount of per-sonal information which can damagea person’s reputation, cause issue inthe workplace etc.—Lahore

Bad conditionof roadsKANZA ZAFAR

Kindly allow me to draw the atten-tion of concerned authorities throughcolumns of your esteemed newspa-per to bad condition of the roads inour locality, Defence View Phase 2Karachi.

The bad conditions of the roadcauses a lot of inconvenience to thepeople of this locality and also to thestudents of Iqra University, causingtraffic jams during the peak officehours and frequent accidents. Keep-ing the above in view, I hope that theconcerned authorities will initiateexpeditious steps to ensure a goodformation of the roads in our area.—Via email

Kite flyingat what cost?MUHAMMAD K. SUFI

In every civilisation there are mo-ments of collective happiness whichpeople love to share but such mo-ments are not at the cost of tragic lossfor some. It’s not a matter of ‘total of14 deaths’ in seven years outside thewalled city, what matters is the mis-eries that affect so many families. Thedecision in 2007 was taken to bankite-flying due to a number of tragicdeaths, and frequent power outageson account of short-circuits caused bykite strings. As regards the commentthat “it took away from the poor theone true unprompted all-inclusivehappiness they loved and indulgedin,” the poor hardly have the time,resources or energy to indulge in suchextravaganza in the prevailing eco-nomic deprivations. The poor are not

even aware of where they will gettheir next morsel, what to talk aboutkite-flying. It is the poor whosethroats get cut by the attached stringswhen they go about catching kites,never heard an elitist getting injuredby kite flying.

Basant had become a flourishingbusiness before the ban and couldonly be enjoyed by the rich, so muchso that occupancy in the five-starhotels shot up in this season. Arrange-ments were made on the rooftop ofthese hotels at night with high-pow-ered floodlights brightening the sky-line. Special food was prepared inhuge cauldrons. Yes this can betermed ‘more insulting to the veryessence of the happiness of the poor’.How can a poor man afford suchluxury? The kite flying throughoutthe civilised world is enjoyed but notat the cost of someone else’s life.They believe in safety first. The kiteflying is either done on a beachfrontor in an open ground.—Islamabad

Water reservoirsKHURSHID ANWER

Some uninformed people, includingthe members of the provincial andnational assemblies, think that smalldams can solve our water problem.The Small Dams Organisation has sofar built 60 small dams in thePothohar plateau, the only place inPunjab which has sites for dams. Sitesfor another 19 small dams have beenidentified.

If 60 small dams have not addedmuch to the 104 million acre feetof water, which has been availablefor irrigation ever since the Tarbeladam was commissioned, then how19 more small dams can make anydifference. The water stored inthese dams is mainly for the con-sumption of the localities in whichthey are built. Also, they are non-power generation dams becausethey do not have the hydraulic headnecessary for power generation.Obviously, they cannot contributeto the national power grid.

The dams that have the hydrau-lic head available for power genera-tion are mostly in the mountainousKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. But beingrun-of-the-river dams they will notstore much water. Only a mega damon the Indus at the earliest can savePakistan.—Lahore

Stray dogsK ZAFAR

I want to bring to the notice of con-cerned, the issue of stray dogs in ourlocality, Defence View Phase 2. ourcountry is developing at a pace butcommon problems like this are nottaken care of. There are herds ofstray dogs wandering.

All these dogs continuouslybark all night sometimes fightingamong themselves.there is no peaceat night and in the morning they arethe main source of danger. The mu-nicipality should remove stray dogsso that they don’t harm people andget a place to live in.There must bechecks held to ensure that there areno dangerous animals wandering incolonies.Hope action shall be takensoon.—Via email

Combating violence

VIOLENCE is considered as‘an extreme form of expression’: it can either be physi-

cal, emotional, psychological, sexualor verbal. Violence is usually causedby exposure to violence either di-rectly experiencing it or watching itprevalent in a society. Moreover, frus-tration, depression, insults, provoca-tions, social injustice, discrimination,sectarianism, religious extremismand environmental factors of aggres-sion such as heat and overcrowdingcan also become some of the maincauses of violence in a society.

According to World Health Or-ganization (WHO), violence is con-sidered as one of the leading causesof death for people aged 15-44 yearsworldwide. And unfortunately, Paki-stani society has also recently wit-nessed an increase in cases of vio-lence and extreme acts of aggression.The people demonstrated these actseither in shape of their actions andbehaviors or during the reactions forregistering their protests. The soci-ety seemed to have acquired the lan-guage of force, aggression, and vio-lence for social, cultural, political andreligious discourses.

The people are and had alwaysbeen misguided under the effects ofsensationalism and emotionalism. Andfor this purpose, the tool of violencebased discourses has been employed

for exploiting the physical strength ofthe people for personal gains and self-interests. And as a result, extreme ac-tions and acts of violence had turnedto become part of our identity.

The violent and aggressive be-haviors are more learnt from a soci-ety where it is prevalent than it comesby birth – and our school-going-chil-dren are more exposed to violent acts,scenes, events, threatening behaviorsand situations than the children of thepast generations: firstly, most of theparents behave very rudely towardstheir children and other family mem-bers even in petty matters of dailyaffairs in front of them. Secondly,very often most of the teachers atmaddaris (religious seminaries) andboth in private and govt schools treattheir students not only impolitely butalso aggressively. And in some cases,severe corporal punishment had alsobeen reported in the teaching intui-tions. Thirdly, there comes commu-nity and society at large, which hadalready witnessed a growing tide ofviolence and its practice in terms ofterrorism and extremism.

Providing such violent conditionsin upbringing and training, wouldn’tit be a paradox to imagine the chil-dren or when they are grown up tobehave politely? Isn’t that we are pre-paring a more violent generation forour future? Isn’t that possible to ex-ercise love and compassion and thenexpect the same from our children inreturn? Moreover, those who remainsilent over violent acts which eitherbeing committed against them or oth-

ers are also playing a role in lettingthe violence rule over society. If theparents remain silent towards theirsons for dealing harshly or rudelywith their sisters in same family,would the parents not be equally heldresponsible for discrimination on onehand and growing violence againstthe women on other in the society?

‘The rape cases of children’, ‘acidthrowing on women faces’, ‘killingwomen for participating in traditionaldance in Kohistan by following thedecision of Jirga’, ‘making gang rapea forty-year-old woman in Sukkur byfollowing the decision of Panchayet’,‘killing parents, children or familymembers due to the fear of hunger’,or ‘committing suicide due to lack ofjob opportunities, social injustice or re-ligious extremism’ etc would not helpin resolving burning issues that coun-try has been facing. And the reasonfor these atrocities that are being com-mitted daily and shown on the mediacan be different but one thing is com-mon among all these episodes: theseactions are extreme, illegal, againsthumanity and bring nothing but a badname to country and its people.

Similarly, the corporate media re-flects the same acts of violence withmore exaggeration, repetition, sensa-tionalism and a breaking news cul-ture (which tends to break the ner-vous system of the viewers) withoutfollowing any rule or law – especiallywhile giving coverage to killing,shooting, murdering, extortion, ab-duction, bomb blasts and child abusecases and telecasting the rape victims,

and the acts of violence againstwomen, children, house workers andminorities. Likewise, media do nottake any precautionary measurementabout the effects and after-effects onthe viewers while making live tele-cast of such cases of violence.

Moreover, the social media - thefacebook is also considered as one ofthe main tools used for propagandapurposes. However, in some cases,the mindless users upload the mosttragic scene and photographs ofatrocities - without knowing the fac-tual grounds or reality about the actsor photographs. In the same way, thevideo games are also playing its rolein spreading violence in the societyas the children usually imitate theactions and make practical demon-strations of the virtual cartoons be-sides adopting aggressive behaviours.

The root causes of violence areneeded to be understood and high-lighted and then some alternativesteps should be taken. For uproot-ing different forms of violence fromthe society: firstly, there is need forcreating awareness among themasses against the violence. Sec-ondly, the victims and vulnerablesegments of society should be pro-tected besides raising their voice forspeedy justice. Thirdly, there is needfor proper legislation, its implemen-tation and strict punishments for theperpetrators. So that the public couldget a strong message that the authori-ties are playing its due role.—The writer is Islamabad-basedfreelance columnist.

Akbar Jan MarwatEmail:marwat.akbarjan@gmail.com

Taj NabiEmail: tnkhan672@gmail.com

A supporter of Egypt’s army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rallies outside a police academy, where the trial ofousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood is taking place.

Anti-government protesters attend a rally at Independence Square in Kiev.

RASHEED ABOU-ALSAMH

The new Wage Protection System beingimplemented by the Ministry of Labor,under which all companies regardless of

size will by 2015 have to pay their employeeselectronically through bank accounts, is a hugestep forward in protecting the rights of work-ers in the Kingdom.

The ministry will be given copies of allemployee payments in an effort to monitor thedisbursement of workers’ salaries on time. Amajor complaint of some workers in SaudiArabia has long been the delays by certainemployers in paying wages. And don’t thinkthat only smaller companies delay their work-ers’ salaries. An Egyptian engineer friend ofmine worked for one of the largest construc-tion firms in the country and he used to tellme that his salary was regularly delayed forthree or four months. The only way he sur-

Labour rights: Better late than nevervived was by living on credit cards, since henever had an even cash flow with which to payhis rent and bills.

The other major development, which camewith this news, was that workers who are notpaid their salaries for three months in a rowwould be allowed to find new sponsors withoutthe consent of their current sponsors. This is aloosening of the sponsoring (kafala) system,under which a disgruntled employee could notchange sponsors easily and in most cases had toleave the Kingdom to return home and then behired by a new employer in order to come back.That was a cumbersome, expensive and longprocess without any guarantees that the newsponsor would be able to hire the worker.

This new development at least gives work-ers, who are being abused by employers whodo not pay their salaries, a light at the end of thetunnel. Three months without receiving any payis disastrous and most workers would normally

in those circumstances be ready to go home af-ter not being able to pay their bills or send moneyhome to their families. Now the new law willallow them the chance to find new employerswhile still here in the country, which will lowertheir stress levels and be much better on theirwallets.

For years, I edited rivers of stories aboutforeign workers not being paid their salaries ontime in Saudi Arabia, either because their spon-sors abandoned them and disappeared, or be-cause their employers would claim they did nothave enough funds to pay all of their employ-ees. This has caused much distaste among work-ers and generated ill will against Saudi employ-ers and the country in general. By allowing un-paid workers to find new employers is a signthat the government is heeding the needs ofworkers and is seeking ways to redress situa-tions of abuse.

Having an electronic database of all sala-

ries in the Kingdom and the dates when theyare paid, will give government agencies suchas the ministries of labor and interior, a pow-erful tool with which to go after negligent em-ployers both big and small, in order to ensurethat all workers are paid on time.

The current Nitaqat system of awardingpoints to Saudi companies based on the num-bers of Saudis that they employ has also beenan effective rule in forcing the private sectorto hire more Saudis. For far too long the pri-vate sector has become addicted and depen-dent on cheaper foreign labor, to the detrimentof the many unemployed Saudis. For sure itcosts more to hire and train Saudis, but at leastwe will be training our own people and in-vesting in the country’s future. Not to men-tion the millions of riyals that will stay in thecountry instead being sent abroad through re-mittances.

—Courtesy Arab News

AMULYA GANGULI

Since theatrics have been an integral feature of ArvindKejriwal’s politics, his resignation as Delhi’s chief minister can be seen as part of a choreographed performance.

Having shaken off the burden of office — a responsibilityfor which he appeared to be temperamentally unfit — Kejriwalcan now be expected to assume the role which comes naturallyto him, that of a street-level agitator. It goes without saying thatas a rabble-rouser, he will be far more successful than what hewas as a chief minister. Moreover, he will be able to flaunt hisinability to continue as the head of a government by presentinghimself as the victim of an unscrupulous set of opponents.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is aware that to largesections, especially among the subaltern classes, he is somethingof a messiah, who is bent on cleansing the Augean stables ofpolitics. As he told the Delhi assembly in his farewell speech, heis willing to lay down his life while fighting corruption.

Following his resignation, he will be able to claim that hewas prevented by the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and the industrialist Mukesh Ambani to achieve his avowed ob-jective. Since his claim will find considerable resonance if he isable to keep some of his more enthusiastic camp followers likeformer Law Minister Somnath Bharti in check then it will not bea wild guess to say that the AAP may be able to secure a major-ity of its own in the next assembly elections in Delhi. In theparliamentary polls, too, the AAP’s tally of seats may go up fromthe present estimate of 20-odd to 40 or so. Such an outcome willresult in furrowed brows among the BJP top brass because theAAP is likely to gain mainly at the BJP’s expense since theirvote banks — the Hindu urban middle class – are largely thesame.

It is not impossible, therefore, that the latest turn of events isthe result of the Congress’s decision to fire at the BJP from theAAP’s shoulder. Since the Congress is in no position in its cur-rent demoralized state to take on the BJP, why not let the moregung-ho AAP do the job for it? Indeed, the decision to prop upthe AAP in the assembly must have been a part of this cynicalgame plan. And, now, even if Kejriwal acquires the halo of amartyr on the issue of the Jan Lokpal bill, he will be serving theCongress’s cause by eroding the BJP’s base. The Congress isprobably also aware that it is the BJP, which poses a long-termdanger, and not the AAP. Even if the AAP comes to power on itsown in Delhi, the chances are that its belligerent ways will cutshort its stint. As the party’s propensity to adopt a confrontation-ist posture toward all and sundry showed, its holier- than-thouself-image leaves little room for compromise.

For the present, however, the AAP is back where it feels athome the street. But, there is a disadvantage. While Kejriwal’soratorical skills and disdain for the norms of not making per-sonal charges are bound to draw large crowds, he will have to becareful about not repeating the earlier exercise in staging sit-inslest the resultant disruptions revive the allegations of being ananarchist.

As it is, Kejriwal is courting danger with his various allega-tions because he may well become entangled in several courtcases for defamation. It is no secret that from the time of AnnaHazare’s agitation, neither the guru nor the estranged disciplehas been unable to substantiate their charges against suspectedvillains in the establishment in any court of law.

If Kejriwal has nevertheless been able to get away with histargeting of ministers and businessmen, the reason is the wide-spread sense of disillusionment and anger against the govern-ment at the center for not only the existing corruption at variouslevels but also the government’s seeming unwillingness to actagainst the guilty, including those with black money in foreignbanks.

It is obviously the government’s apathy and culpability, whichhave enabled the anti-corruption crusaders to gain ground. But,there have been other holy warriors before Kejriwal V.P. Singhwas a notable example and Jayaprakash Narayan before him whostarted with a bang but ended in a whimper. The next few monthswill show whether Kejriwal will go down the same road or proveto be a genuine knight in shining armor.

—Courtesy Arab News

Will Kejriwal’sgamble pay off?

BIKRAM VOHRA

The nice thing about not being rich is that you really couldn’tcare less if the dollar slips, stumbles or does the tango.And if the Wall Street mandarins want to balloon shares

and make the stock prices reach the moon so what, you haven’ta single piece of paper in any company, blue chipped or gilt edged.I was seventeen when I figured out footsie had nothing to dowith flirting.

Great, abs no need to go out on a ledge and leap. That’s thenice thing about it. You are 50 years old and you still know noth-ing about bulls and bears messing up the market (and to you themarket is where you buy groceries) and you conceal your igno-rance but you really, truly don’t know what a volatile market isand if your riyal is getting you a bit more lolly in the home cur-rency hooray. The not so nice thing is that your immediate fam-ily members do not appreciate how skillfully you have maneuvredto keep away from financial coral reefs and they wonder aloudwhy you can’t make intelligent fiscal conversation in public,where everyone else is discussing their tangible assets, your as-set being one old TV, a crummy desktop, one sinking sofa and amusic system with the DVD section gone phut.

You, says my wife, are embarrassing, where was the need tolet everyone know that you have never bought a share, it is noth-ing to be proud of, not as if you have achieved anything in moneyterms.

But look at it this way, I say, we have no worries about mar-ket fluctuations, we are not even worried about the recession,there is nothing to recess, did you see how stressed our rich friendslook, they are always harping on about how much they lost, youdon’t have it you can’t lose it.

Wouldn’t mind some of those worries, she says, much betterthan trying to locate our two ends and while we are on the sub-ject let me say that it is not very funny when folks are discussingbig money to tell them you are saving up to buy a new fridge,there is nothing cosmic about new fridges, next time you havenothing smart to contribute say nothing.

We walk in and there is this heated discussion on about theDavos conference and I wonder what would have happened ifthe EC had chosen a place in Wales called Mullwrttnlidllywe tohold their conference but it is not my place to make flip remarksand, in any case, I find it very difficult to get heated up aboutDavos and why everyone is voting for whatever they are votingfor so I say, hi people, what’s new, which is a safe sort of thing tosay. Well, it used to be.

Bad, says my banker friend, get out now.But we have just come, I say.No, no, he says, get your pounds and dollars, go for yen,

there is an outflow so move before the surge.He could be speaking Latin for all I know.The he puts his arm around me all buddy type and says,

where have you kept your savings, put them in property, the priceswill shoot up very soon.

He lowers his voice to a whisper and says, mark my words.I whisper back, marked.Funny how financial folks always whisper as if someone

might overhear and go rob a bank.I try to look intelligent. If you have a yen for profit, you’ll

mark my words, and I am being frank with you.He looks mighty pleased with his word play and I touch the

hundred riyals in my pocket … should get us through the weekend.

Other side of the mirror:ignorance is bliss

ANKARA/KABUL—Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai rejected criticism of hisgovernment’s release of 65 detaineesviewed by Washington as dangerous mili-tants, further fanning tensions with theUnited States as the international missionin Afghanistan winds down.

Disregarding heated American pro-tests, Afghanistan released 65 accusedmilitants from a former US prison onThursday, despite warnings that the menare dangerous Taleban fighters and bomb-makers likely to return to killing foreignforces and Afghans.

Afghan officials described the releaseas justice for its own citizens who hadfaced unfounded US accusations. But theUnited States expressed deep concern overthe decision and NATO, which runs the12-year-old foreign military operation sup-porting the Karzai government, denouncedit as “a major step backward,”

“If Afghan judicial authorities decideto release a prisoner, it is of no concern to

Kabul rejects US warningsover freed Afghan detainees

the US,” Karzai told a news conference inthe Turkish capital Ankara after talks withTurkey’s president and Pakistan’s primeminister.

“I hope the US will stop harassingAfghanistan’s procedures and judicial au-thority. I hope the United States will nowbegin to respect Afghan sovereignty,” saidKarzai, who after more than a decade inpower is to step down after April elections.

Karzai’s government has long com-plained that foreign forces have locked upAfghans on dubious grounds, with noproper judicial process. In an unusuallystrong statement, the US military force inKabul said some of the released detaineeshad killed both Afghans and foreign sol-diers and now posed a fresh threat.

“US and Afghan forces risked theirlives to ensure the safety of the Afghanpeople. We call upon the (Kabul govern-ment) to consider the potentially lethaleffects of today’s releases,” it said, addingthat the released detainees may resume

their “criminal behavior.”US State Department spokeswoman

Marie Harf called on Kabul to ensure thatreleased detainees do not carry out any actsof violence “and to immediately bring tojustice any who would.”

“Afghanistan is a sovereign country,(Karzai) is right about that. They can maketheir own decisions,” Harf said.

“We have been very clear, however,that we have a legitimate force protectionconcern for the lives of coalition forces,of Afghan security forces and Afghan ci-vilians because these men have been re-leased.”

In the US Congress, the chairman ofthe House Armed Services Committee,Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon,said he was “appalled” by Kabul’s deci-sion. Republican Senator Lindsey Grahamhas said he would introduce a resolutioncondemning Karzai’s actions and wouldseek to cut off some US development aidin response.—Agencies

JAKARTA—Three Indonesian airports reopenedSaturday while four others remained closed, of-ficials said, after a volcanic eruption killed fourpeople and forced mass evacuations. MountKelud, considered one of the most dangerous vol-canoes on the main island of Java, spewed red-hot ash and rocks high into the air late Thursdaynight just hours after its alert status was raised.

“The airport in Malang city in East Javaprovince, and Cilacap and Semarang cities inCentral Java province have reopened. There’sno problem flying there now. We are now evalu-ating the status of other airports,” TransportMinistry spokesman Bambang Ervan told AFP.

Seven airports — including those servinginternational flights in Surabaya, Yogyakarta,

Indonesia airports reopenafter volcano eruption

Solo and Bandung — were forced to close Fri-day due to thick ash that blanketed easternJavanese cities. Ervan said the airports inBandung and Surabaya are expected to reopenSunday, while the airport in Solo may reopenMonday and the one in Yogyakarta on Feb. 18.

On Friday villagers in eastern Java describedthe terror of volcanic materials raining down ontheir homes, while AFP correspondents at thescene saw residents covered in grey dust flee-ing in cars and on motorbikes toward evacua-tion centers. Earlier this month another volcano,Mount Sinabung on western Sumatra islandunleashed an enormous eruption that left at least16 dead and has been erupting almost daily sinceSeptember.—Agencies

France: CARoperation tolast longer

than expectedPARIS—France’s military op-eration in the Central AfricanRepublic will last longer thaninitially planned because thesituation in the country is worsethan anticipated, French De-fense Minister Jean-Yves LeDrian said on Saturday.

“I think it will be longer thanexpected because the level ofhatred and violence is more im-portant than we had imagined,”Le Drian told France Inter radio.

France said on Friday itwould send another 400 troopsto help combat the crisis in theAfrican country as UN chiefBan Ki-moon pleaded for moreswift, robust international helpto stop sectarian violence thatcould turn into a genocide.

Almost a million people, ora quarter of the population of theformer French colony, have beendisplaced by fighting whicherupted after the mostly MuslimSeleka rebel group seized powerin March last year in the major-ity Christian country.

Seleka leader MichelDjotodia gave up power lastmonth as Christian militiasstepped up their attacks onMuslims. At least 2,000 peoplehave been killed since Decem-ber in what a UN official de-scribed as a wave of “ethnic-religious cleansing.”

Earlier this month, Le Drianhad said the United Nationswould probably have to renewa mandate for French troops torestore order in Central AfricanRepublic when it expires in Maybecause of continued violencethere.—Reuters

CAIRO—Deposed Egyptianpresident Mohamed Mursiappeared in court on Sundayon charges of conspiring withforeign groups to commit ter-rorist acts in Egypt, in a fur-ther escalation of the crack-down against his MuslimBrotherhood.

Declaring it “the biggestcase of conspiracy in the his-tory of Egypt”, prosecutorshave detailed a “terroristplan” dating back to 2005 andimplicating Palestinian groupHamas and the Shi’ite Islam-ist government of Iran as wellas its Lebanese allyHezbollah.

Mursi’s Muslim Brother-hood propelled him to victoryin the 2012 presidential elec-tion but has been driven un-derground since the armytook power in July after massprotests against his rule.

The state, which has de-clared the Brotherhood a ter-rorist group, has killed about1,000 of its members on thestreets and jailed thousands ofothers, including top leaders.Egypt’s Western allies haveexerted little pressure on theCairo government to endwhat critics say are wide-spread human rights viola-tions.

Mursi is on trial in threecases and charged in two oth-ers. In the latest one, the pros-ecutor also charged Brother-hood leaders MohamedBadie, Khairat El-Shater,Mahmoud Ezzat and otherswith crimes including com-mitting acts of terrorism inEgypt and divulging militarysecrets to a foreign state.

A total of 36 people areon trial. The Brotherhood ac-cuses the army of staging acoup and reviving a dictator-ship, an allegation the mili-tary denies.

The prosecutor said the

Egypt’s deposedpresident Mursi on

trial on terrorism chargesBrotherhood’s plan was tosend “elements” to the GazaStrip for military training byHezbollah and the IranianRevolutionary Guards. Upontheir return to Egypt, theywould join forces with ex-tremist groups in the SinaiPeninsula, the Egyptian-con-trolled territory that bordersIsrael to the east, it said.

After the 2011 uprisingthat ousted President HosniMubarak, the group exploitedthe chaos to carry out attackson security forces in NorthSinai and elsewhere, it said.The prosecutor said theyaimed to establish an “Islamicemirate” in North Sinai wereMursi not declared president.

Mursi’s presidential aidesincluding Essam El-Haddad,his national security adviser,had leaked secret reports toIran’s Revolutionary Guardsand Hezbollah as a reward fortheir cooperation, the pros-ecutor said. Hamas, whichgoverns the Gaza Strip, hasdismissed the charges as “fab-rications and lies”.

After crushing the Mus-lim Brotherhood at home,Egypt’s military rulers plan toundermine the Palestinianmilitant group Hamas, whichruns the neighboring GazaStrip, senior Egyptian secu-rity officials have toldReuters. The aim, which theofficials say could take yearsto pull off, includes workingwith Hamas’s political rivalsFatah and supporting popularanti-Hamas activities inGaza, four security and dip-lomatic officials said.

Egyptian security offi-cials see Hamas as a majorthreat, accusing it of support-ing militant groups in theSinai peninsula which arewaging an insurgency. Hamasdenies the allegations.—Reuters

ROME—Italy’s president mayask young center-left leaderMatteo Renzi to become itsyoungest ever prime ministerthis weekend after a party coupthat forced Enrico Letta to re-sign as premier of the euro zonestate struggling to pull out ofrecession.

Letta bowed out on Fridayafter the leadership of hisDemocratic Party (PD) forcedhim to step aside and make wayfor Renzi, 39, who is promis-ing bold economic reforms anda government than can surviveuntil 2018.

President Giorgio Napolitanoexpects to complete a round ofconsultations with parties in theevening and could summonRenzi, the PD secretary and cur-rent mayor of Florence, soon af-terwards to form a government,sources in the party said.

After receiving a mandatefrom the president, Renzi willhave to strike an accord withthe small New Center Rightparty, whose support the PDneeds to command a majorityin the Parliament of the eurozone’s third-largest economy.

The party, which split fromscandal-plagued tycoon and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi lastyear, has ruled out liberal so-cial policies that Renzi has ad-vocated, including gay civilunions, and wants a clear cen-ter-right stamp on the govern-ment.

Renzi, whose PD is thelargest party in Parliament,would become the youngestleader in Italy’s 163-year his-tory as a united country,younger even — by two

Italy tipped to haveits youngest premier

months — than Fascist dicta-tor Benito Mussolini was whenhe took over in 1922.

But before Renzi can stakehis claim on history and at-tempt to install Italy’s 65thgovernment since World WarTwo, he must overcome insti-tutional rituals and muchwheeling-and-dealing, a pro-cess likely to take several days.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the pro-devolution Northern League,both opposition groups, haveabandoned the talks, sayingthey are an empty ritual whoseoutcome is already written.

But Berlusconi, the center-right leader who was bootedout of Parliament last year af-ter a conviction for tax fraud,was to accompany leaders ofhis Forza Italia party to meetthe head of state in the after-noon.

After striking a deal withparliamentary allies, Renzimust name the members of hisCabinet, swear them in, andthen seek confidence votes inboth houses of Parliament.

He would become the thirdprime minister in a row nomi-nated by Napolitano withouthaving won an election. Lettawas chosen to helm a right-leftgovernment after last year’sdeadlocked election, and MarioMonti took over for Berlusconiduring a burgeoning euro zonedebt crisis in 2011.

“If they think that this isdemocracy, we don’t agree,”said Vito Crimi, a leadingmember of the anti-establish-ment 5-Star Movement in theSenate.—Reuters

existing rela-tions would be strength-ened in days to come and coopera-tion between Saudi Arabia and Paki-stan would be further diversified formutual benefit of both the nations.

He said that Saudi Arabia stronglydesires to see a prosperous, stable andeconomically vibrant Pakistan.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that boththe countries were intertwined in reli-gious and cul-tural bonds which havegained strength due to the commit-ment of ruling hierarchies on eitherside. He said that Pakistan greatly val-ues Saudi support during natural ca-lamities and crisis in Pakistan. He re-marked that a regular exchange of highlevel visits would play an importantrole in further strengthening relations.

Meanwhile, welcoming the Minis-ter of State of the Kingdom of SaudiArabia on Foreign Affairs Dr. Nizar BinObaid Madani, the Special Assistantto the Prime Minister on Foreign Af-fairs Syed Tariq Fatemi said Pakistanaccords high priority to its relations

Saudi Arabia stands by PakistanFrom Page 1

Some of the plane’s pas-sengers were identified asManab Sejwal, president ofthe Jumla chapter of theNepali Congress party;Gauri Kathayat, a journalist;Deepak Shrestha, an armyofficial; D.?P. Upadhyay;Dr. Bikalpa Pokharel; BarshaHamal and her son DeepHamal; and M. Mathiensen,a Danish citizen.

Crew members aboardincluded Capt. ShankarShrestha, the co-pilot,Rabindra Banjara, and MunaMaharjan, a flight atten-dant.—Agencies

18 feareddead in Nepal

air crashFrom Page 1

explain further.“I announce here that I will not inter-

fere in politics. There is no political entitythat represents me anymore nor any posi-tion in parliament and government,” it said.“Whoever acts against this will be sub-jected to legal and religious action.” He alsoordered all al-Sadr political offices to beclosed down.

Al-Sadr came to prominence in the 2003U.S.-led invasion that toppled SaddamHussein, whose regime killed his father andgrandfather. He established his Mahdi Armymilitia that fought the Americans and isblamed by many Iraqis for much of the sec-tarian violence that raged in Iraq in 2006and 2007.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s main al-Qaidabreakaway group claimed on Sunday re-sponsibility for an audacious attack on amilitary barracks that killed 15 troops lastweek.

The troops were assigned to protect anoil pipeline that sends Iraqi crude oil to in-ternational markets, as well as to guard anearby highway outside the northern cityof Mosul. Eight of the soldiers were be-headed in the Monday attack while the restwere killed by gunfire.

Along with the statement, posted on awebsite commonly used by jihadists, theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant put upan image of the beheading of one of the

Key Shiite Iraqi cleric Sadrquits politics

From Page 1

soldiers, as well as captured arms and ve-hicles. They statement also listed other at-tacks against security forces in and aroundMosul, about 360 kilometers (225 miles)northwest of Baghdad.

The authenticity of the statementcouldn’t be independently verified, but itsstyle was consistent with previous state-ments.

Gunmen attacked a police checkpointoutside the northern city of Kirkuk, killingfive policemen, said Col. Abbas Hussein.Armed with weapons fitted with silencers,the gunmen first shot two policemen whowere manning the checkpoint then movedto a trailer to kill the rest, Hussein added.

In Baghdad’s northern neighborhoodof Chikok, a parked car bomb rippedthrough a commercial area, killing four ci-vilians and wounding 14 others, a policeofficer and a medical official said on condi-tion of anonymity, as they were not autho-rized to release information.

Iraq is undergoing a surge in violence,its worst since 2008, which has become theShiite-led government’s most serious chal-lenge. Violence has spiked since last April,when security forces cracked down on aSunni protest camp north of Baghdad. Ac-cording to the U.N., 8,868 people were killedin Iraq last year — the country’s highestdeath toll since a peak of sectarian blood-letting in 2007.—APP

Karzai notagainst Nato

troopsFrom Page 1

weapons might in itsarmoury, the need of thehour is to keep in mind thestrategies of modern warfarewhich will warrant immedi-ate mobilisation of multipleplatforms to combat the en-emy.

The projected budgetrequirement for thisprogramme includes thetraining of BSF troopers andmen on the electronic firingplatforms and procuringspares for various batteriesand technical accessoriesfor the system.

The 48-year-old largestborder guarding force ofthe country has seen all thefull-fledged wars and con-flicts India had with Paki-stan and its men and offic-ers have fought with theArmy shoulder-to-shoulderon the frontier.

The BSF has also usedits artillery units in thesevarious confrontations.

Lok Sabha SpeakerMeira Kumar recently hadunderlined the role of theforce during its RaisingDay in December last year.

During the event,Kumar had recalled memo-ries about the border guard-ing force which was raisedon December 1, 1965.

“In 1971, my father(Babu Jagjivan Ram) wasthe defence minister, whenthe Bangladesh LiberationWar took place and hewould say, ‘If the Army hasa contribution to the war, therole of BSF in it is no less’.

He was a great admirerof your bravery and gal-lantry,” she had said ad-dressing the force person-nel.—Online

Indian BSF toupgradeFrom Page 1

KARACHI: University students seen voluntarily collecting garbage from sea view to keep it clean.—PO by photo Sultan Chaki

a donor country, has gonebeyond its means to help Af-ghanistan,” he said.Khurshid called upon inter-national community to fulfilits pledges to rebuild the Af-ghan National Army and theAfghan National Police.

He said the main threatto Afghanistan’s securityand its internal stability isterrorism and extremism thatcontinues to target thepeople of Afghanistan.—INP

briefed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif aboutprogress on the talks. The committeesources said the next meeting with Talibancommittee will take place after the an-nouncement of ceasefire from Taliban. ThePrime Minister has expressed satisfactionover the progress.

Maulana Samiul Haq told media per-sons at Punjab House that the nation wouldsoon hear a good news regarding govt-TTPdialogue. Maulana was there to participatein the banquet given by the Prime Ministerin honour of the Saudi Arabian CrownPrince.

Sources said, the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) Supreme council held itsmeeting at an undisclosed location some-where in North Waziristan agency on Sun-day to deliberate in detail upon thegovernment’s demand for ceasefire addingthe Taliban shoora eventually decided toconditionally respond to the government’sdemand. However, the formal announce-ment in this regard is expected sometimeon Monday (Today).

It was learnt that the Taliban Shoorawanted certain demands to be met by thegovernment before they go for formal an-nouncement of the ceasefire. They want the

Pressure mounts onTTP for ceasefire

From Page 1

government to withdraw the security forcesfrom the South Waziristan agency as a firststep to build up confidence between thetwo besides release of women, elderlypeople and their unarmed members.“Taliban have demanded of the governmentto release Taliban women, children and agedprisoners to pave way for negotiations andceasefire”, sources said. Unconfirmed re-ports say that the Taliban have also ex-pressed reservations over some of the mem-bers of the government’s committee.

In the meanwhile, Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan is also likely to release Vice chan-cellor of Islamia College UniversityPeshawar Professor Ajmal Khan as a good-will gesture in case of ceasefire. Knowneducationist Professor Ajmal Khan, it maybe recalled was abducted from his officialresidence in September 2010.

While a number of videos of VC AjmalKhan were released by the militants dur-ing his detertion wherein Ajmal Khan wasshown appealing the government to ac-cede to the Taliban demands and ensurehis early release but nothing was done inthis regard. Professor Ajmal Khan con-tinued to be in the custody of the terror-ists till date.

with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.They discussed bilateral, regional

and international matters of mutual in-terest in a very cordial and friendlyatmosphere. The Special Assistantunderscored that Prime Minister ofPakistan was desirous of taking thebilateral relations to new heights.

Referring to the existing close andfraternal relations, the Special Assis-tant remarked that the destinies of thetwo countries were interlinked and therelations were marked by mutual trustand understanding.

He emphasized the need to initiatea new era of strategic relationship be-tween the two brotherly countries andalso to further enhance bilateral tiesin diverse areas, particularly in eco-nomic, trade and investment sectors,to impart greater substance to the ex-isting cor-dial relations.

The Saudi Minister of State forForeign Affairs Dr. Madani statedthat the fact that the Crown Princehad chosen Pakistan as the first

country for his Asian visit, is sym-bolic of the importance Saudi Arabiaattached to its relations with Paki-s tan.

Recalling the recent high levelvisits to Pakistan by senior membersof the Saudi lead-ership, includingForeign Minister, Deputy DefenceMinister and Chairman Saudi Tour-ism and Antiquities, Dr. Madani ex-pressed satisfaction that the relationswere moving in the “right direction”.

He emphasized that Pakistan andSaudi Arabia were linked with bondsof brotherhood rooted in commonculture and faith of Islam. The King-dom of Saudi Arabia was desirousof enhancing ties with Pakistan indiverse areas and informed that dur-ing the visit, the Crown Prince wouldbe exchanging views with the Paki-stani leadership on the whole rangeof bilateral and international issuesof mutual interest. The two coun-tries shared a common vision andchallenges which needed to be ad-dressed together.

whooping cough, measlesand hepatitis..

In another incident theBDS defused a bomb inDalan area of Hangu.

The five-kilogram-bombwas planted near a policecheckpost adjacent toDalan Hospital and was de-fused after law enforcementagencies reached the spotupon receiving information,DSP Farid Khan of Circlearea said.

Cop killedin Peshawar

explosionFrom Page 1

KARACHI—Patron-in-Chiefof Pakistan Peoples Party ,Bilawal Bhutto Zardari em-phasized on collective ef-forts for promoting qualityeducation destined to socialand economic revolutionthrough education.

“He will also put his ownshoulder to the wheel forbringing about a revolutionin the education sector toachieve national goals,” said

Bilawal calls for collective effortsto promote quality education

KARACHI—President, Karachi TransportAction Committee, Muhammad AshrafBanglori has called for across the board op-eration against all kind of encroachmentsto ensure smooth flow of traffic in the city.

In a statement here on Sunday, Banglorimaintained that a minor operation againstthe encroachers was being carried out inselected areas of the city. However, he al-leged, because of political influence/ pres-sure on the concerned government agency, no such an operation is seen in Saddar,Liaquatabad , New Karachi, Landi andKorangi towns which has created seriousproblems for smooth flow of traffic. Thishas resulted in frequent traffic jams. Thesnatchers of mobiles and other valuablesdo find the best opportunity to commit the

Transport Action Committee foroperation against encroachers

crime during traffic blockades.He said that despite spending millions

of rupees on the construction of theflyover in Liaquatabad, the traffic fre-quently remains blocked for hours. Thecity administration and the concernedagency should take serious note of thesituation and immediately take correctivemeasures especially the removal of en-croachment along the roads and streets.

President of KTAC, MuhammadAshraf Banglori also pointed out that ille-gal rickshaw stands have been establishedat 15-Star Chaurangi, Metric Board Officeand in main Saddar area of the city whichhas added to problems in traffic flow. Hedemanded strict legal action againstthem.—APP

KARACHI—A young femalePh.D student of Interna-tional Center for Chemicaland Biological Sciences(ICCBS) at Karachi Univer-sity (KU) needs financialassistance for her liver trans-plant surgery in India cost-ing about Rs five million.

Suffering from acuteliver failure, Miss SobiaAsghar (22) has appealed tothe Federal and Sindh Gov-

ernments, NGOs and philan-thropists to provide here fi-nancial support for thesame, said a statement byUniversity of Karachi.

Sobia’s family, belongingto lower middle class, hasmade their best possible ef-forts for her treatment of liverdisease but there is no im-provement so far. Recently, ateam of Indian doctors exam-ined her and suggested a liver

KU’s Ph.D student needs financefor liver transplant abroad

transplant surgery as the onlyhope for saving her life. Esti-mated total expenses of sur-gery in India are about fivemillion Pakistani rupees.

According to SobiaAsghar belonging to lowermiddle class family has fouryounger sisters and onebrother of 14 years old. Herfather is an employee in pri-vate sector with a very nomi-nal salary.—APP

Declamationcontest by Al-

HadeedFoundation

K A R A C H I — A l - H a d e e dFoundation will hold decla-mation contest on the impor-tance of education among theregular students— both boysand girls- from schools, col-leges and universities.

The title will be “ Iss DaurMein Taaleem Hay Imraz-i-Millat Ki Dawa, Hay KhoonFasid Kay leya TaaleemMushkel Neshtar,” said a re-lease here on Sunday.

The interested studentsare advised to present theirnominations before Feb 20at House No. B-111, Phase-II, Gulshan-e-Hadeed. Theycan contact on phone num-bers 0332- 2382318, 021-34714204.

The programme will startby 9 30 am on Sunday , at E-Complex College , Phase-I ,Gulshan-e-Hadeed, BinQasim Karachi.

Former principal of Na-tional College Karachi will pre-side over the session. Mem-ber of Sindh Assembly andformer provincial minister HajiShafi Muhammad Jamote andSecretary Information, Paki-stan Muslim League-Sindh AliAkbar Gujar will the chiefguests.—APP

a statement issued by theBilawal House here on Sun-day.

He showed his resolveduring a briefing on the stateof education in Sindh by adelegation of Alif Ailaan,NGO led by Mosharraf Zaidi,at Bilawal House. Sindh Edu-cation Minister Nisar AhmedKhuhro, Secretary EducationFazalullah Pechuho andformer ambassador to theUnited States Ms. SherryRehman were also present.

Bilawal said none of thetargets are easy to achievebut this is the issue the prov-ince and party leadershiphave committed to address/pursue as a key priority.

He expressed his con-cern over the educational

situation in the province andreiterated his Party’s resolveto improve the system andprovide free and quality edu-cation to every child.

PPP’s Patron-in-Chiefhoped that the recently ap-proved Sindh EducationSector Plan (SESP) 2014-2018will play a major part in thereforms push needed for miti-gating the education emer-gency.

He appreciated the AlifAilaan team’s support for thepromotion of literacy and en-rollment. Sindh Governmentand its functionaries have towork very hard in this sectorso that every school is func-tional and every teacher per-forms his or her duty with hon-esty and dedication.—APP

Exhibition ofMalaysianinstitutions

KARACHI—13 of the bestPublic and Private highereducational institutes inMalaysia are showcased byNorth Pole International ata two day exhibition whichopened here at local hotel,Karachi.

The Exhibition is alsoendorsed by the MalaysianHigh Commission in Paki-stan.

The Study MalaysiaEducation Exhibition, nowin its 11th edition manageto draw a sizeable crowdtoday mainly high schoolstudents mostly accompa-nied by their parents look-ing at the options availablein Malaysia suiting theircareer options and studybudgets. While majority ofthese students are lookingfor September/October in-takes offered by theseUniversities, they weremainly thrilled to see thepresence of representa-tives from each MalaysianUniversity to answer theirqueries and explain admis-sion procedures.

The event earlier wasopened by the CounselGeneral of Malaysia AbuBakar Mamat in the pres-ence of local media and ea-ger students who werewaiting in numbers beforethe start of the show.Speaking on the occasion,the Counsel General ofMalaysia in Karachipraised the efforts of NorthPole International Manag-ing Director Babar BashirAhmad who has promotedMalaysia as a top studydestination in Pakistanthrough his events andconstant marketing. Healso expressed his satisfac-tion over the quality ofthese events and brandingto ensure people in Paki-stan are aware about Ma-laysian Education throughthe right channel.—Online

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah has strongly condemned thebomb blast targeting Peshawar-boundKhushhal Khan Khattak Express inTangwani area of Kashmore-Kandhkot dis-trict on Sunday and sought immediate re-port from the Commissioner and DIG Sukkur.

He also directed Sindh Inspector Generalof Police Shahid Nadeem Baloch and Districtpolice officers to take all possible security

CM orders inquiry into bombblast hitting passenger train

measures to ensure security of railways tracks.He ordered strict legal action against thoseinvolved in this heinous crime of terrorismtargeting the innocent passengers includingwomen and children. He also directed SindhSecretary Health to ensure the best possibletreatment to the injured. The Chief Ministersympathised with the bereaved families ofthe deceased and also prayed for the earliestrecovery of the injured.—APP

KARACHI—MPA Sindh belonging to Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf Khurram Sher Zamanhas termed Sindh Assembly a place of jok-ers as treasury benches of the assembly re-plying answers or asking questions in jokes.

Talking to media persons on Sunday, thePTI leader strongly criticised the Sindh As-sembly proceeding and said it has failed toraise and resolve the problems of the masses.

To a question, he said in the education

PTI MPA terms Sindh Assembly place of jokersdepartment 8000 teachers who were appointedduring the previous tenure of PakistanPeople’s Party are not being paid their sala-ries for the last 15 months. The PTI leadersaid he would raise this issue in today’s (Mon-day) assembly session and expressed his re-solve to continue his efforts for the welfare ofthe people. Sher Zaman said, “I have assuredTeachers Action Committee that their issuewill be raised in the assembly”.—Online

killed 23 FC soldiers whowere kidnapped in 2010 fromShongari checkpost inMohmand Agency.

The Mohmand AgencyTaliban chief Umar KhalidKhurrasani, in a letter is-sued on social media,claimed that they have killedthe FC soldiers to avengewhat he said was the custo-dial killing of Taliban fight-ers in various parts of Paki-stan.

The letter, written inUrdu and attributed to UmarKhalid Khurrasani, saysthat the Taliban had warnedagainst the killings of theiractivists.

Since the governmenthas allegedly continuedwith the killings, the Talibansaid in the letter that theyhave avenged the killing oftheir fighters by executingthe 23 FC soldiers.

TTP killskidnapped

23 FC soldiersFrom Page 1

Published by: Zahid Malik from Ali Akbar House Markaz G-8, Islamabad and printed by Gauhar Zahid Malik at Al Umar Printers

NATIONAL BRIE

Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Special Assistant to PM, Irfan Siddiqui called on Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif at PM Office on Sunday.

KASHMORE: Policemen standing near Peshawar bound Khushhal Khan Khattack Express which derailed due tobomb blast on railway track near Kandhok area.

JA K A RTA—Secretary ofState John F. Kerry, callingclimate change perhapsthe world’s most fearsomeweapon of mass destruc-tion, urged developing na-tions on Sunday to domore to cut greenhouse-gas emissions as he de-rided climate-change skep-tics at home and blamedbig companies for hijack-ing the debate.

Kerry painted a pictureof looming drought andfamine, massive floods anddeadly storms as a resultof global warming, and heurged ordinary citizens indeveloping nations tospeak out on the issue anddemand more from theirpolitical leaders. He la-beled those who deniedthe evidence of climatechange as “shoddy scien-tists and extreme ideo-logues.”

He was addressing agroup of students andgovernment officials at anAmerican cultural center inthe Indonesian capital,Jakarta, in a country andregion that he said were

Kerry calls climate change aweapon of mass destruction

“on the front lines of cli-mate change” and some ofthe most vulnerable to theeffects of global warming.“It’s not an exaggerationto say that the entire wayof life here is at risk,” hesaid.

Global efforts tocounter climate changehave long foundered on asharp divide between de-veloped and developing

nations.Although developing

nations now account formore than half of green-house-gas emissions, theyhave been reluctant tocommit to meaningful cutsas they seek a path toWestern industrializationand prosperity.

They argue the Westcaused the problem andshould fix it. —WP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Five miscreants were killed and aRanger injured in exchange of firing duringthe targeted operation of police and Rangersconducted at Mohammad Khan Colony inIttehad Town area and in a joint operation ofpolice and Ranger on super high way neargodown of rice on Sunday.

Sources said that the terrorists openedfire and attacked the Rangers with hand gre-nade during search operation at MohammadKhan Colony that injured one of the Rangersstaff, while the three accused were killed inretaliation.

Rangers conducting search operation ona tip-off regarding the presence of the terror-ists in Mohammad Khan Colony were firedupon and attacked with hand grenade thatleft one of the Rangers wounded and whenthe Rangers retaliated the accused ran awaytowards Hub River Road, but after a longchase an encounter took place that killed threeaccused, said the spokesman of the Rangers.

Five militants killed inKarachi operations

Three policemen arrested for robberyHand grenade, two SMG Rifles and one pis-tol were recovered from the accused, he said.

In another joint operation carried out bythe police and the Rangers on Superhighwaynear godown of rice two militants were killed.

The Rangers spokesman claimed the sus-pects’ appearance was like terrorists of bannedTehreek e Taliban Pakistan, from whom onehand grenade and 2 Kalashnikovs were alsorecovered.

The spokesman said that the Rangers of-ficer was targeted with firing on Superhigh-way near Rice godown the other day.

The Rangers personnel conducted raids in thearea where exchange of fire took place; resultantly,two accused were killed in alleged encounter, headded. Meanwhile, Police took action in Saddarlocality of the metropolis, arresting their threepersonnel red-handed, who were committingrobbery in Empress Market.

According to the police, the accused personnelhave been shifted to Preedy police station andcase has also been registered against them. Thesources said that the accused were also involved incollecting extortion.

LAHORE—Pakistan Tehreek-e-InsaafChairman Imran Khan has demanded thatthe government should expose the forcesthat are conspiring against the dialogue.

He said that Pakistan will not be able toframe and implement independent internaland external policies until it gets out of theinfluence of foreign powers. He said therulers by obeying the American orders havedestroyed the country. Speaking at a din-ner hosted for him by PTI’s overseas lead-ers Mian Tariq Javed, Nadeem Yusuf andChaudhry Mohammad Ashfaq, Imran Khan

Imran asks govt to expose thoseconspiring against dialogue

said that they would not remain silent overthe rigging of elections. He said after thehearing of the petition in the supreme courton 2nd March, the PTI would announce itsnext course of action. The PTI chiefsaid that people were ready to come onstreets because according to him the PML-N government gave them nothing exceptincrease in terrorist activities, price hike andunemployment. Imran Khan said the presentrulers were trying to save their governmentsinstead of protecting the country and in no casethey would annoy the United States. —INP

NEW DELHI—Indian External Affairs Min-ister Salman Khurshid has said that Indiawill provide helicopters to the Afghanistanarmy.

“We are giving them helicopters, and wewill be supplying them very soon,” Khurshidsaid while returning from Kandahar wherehe attended the inauguration of the Afghani-stan National Agricultural Sciences and Tech-nology University (ANASTU). “We havealso been giving them some logistical sup-port and we hopefully will be able to up-grade and refurbish their transport aircraft,”he added.

Khurshid also stressed that it is impor-tant to maintain stability in Afghanistan. “I

think Afghan army has done a great job.We have contributed to their capacitybuilding and their professional training.

They are visible and are taking respon-sibility. They are responding well to thethreats,” he said.

Khurshid also asserted that India isnot reluctant in assisting the Afghanistanand stated that India has a clear policyworld over which aims at building capac-ity. “We are not in the game of givingpeople large scale equipment which is le-thal and so on,” he added. He also de-scribed Afghanistan as ‘very special’ andsaid India is providing them whatever theyfelt up to now. —INP

India to provide copters to Afghan army

Miscreants blastBHU in BannuBANNU—Unknown miscre-ants blasted a basic healthunit (BHU) with explosiveshere on Sunday but no cau-salities were reported. Policesaid that unidentified mili-tants had planted explosivematerial with the gate ofMandiyo BHU dispensarywhich went off with a bigbang. As a result of explosionthe BHU dispensary buildingwas destroyed completelybut no human loss was re-ported in the blast. The po-lice cordoned of the area af-ter the bombing incident andlaunched search operationfor the terrorists.—INP

EconomicCorridor to

benefit region:President

I S L A M A B A D —Pres iden tMamnoon Hussain has saidthe execution of Pakistan-China Economic Corridorwill benefit the whole re-gion. In an interview withChinese media in Islamabadon Sunday,the Presidentwho is leaving for an offi-cial visit to China on Tues-day said Pakistan-ChinaEconomic Corridor project isgoing to be a monument ofthe century.

The President hoped toreach consensus with Chinato accelerate the projects re-lating to energy in order toovercome power shortage.Mamnoon Hussain said thatduring his talks with the Chi-nese leadership in his forth-coming visit to China, he willask to speed up the imple-mentation of the agreementssigned between the two gov-ernments especially on theenergy cooperation. .— INP

Shahbaz onlyMPA to pay

farm house taxSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has paid atotal tax of 60 lakh, 60 thou-sand and 880 rupees.

According to a spokes-man, Shahbaz Sharif paid 36lakh 44 thousand and 403 ru-pees as Income Tax and 17lakh, six thousand and 250rupees as Agriculture Tax.

The Chief Minister alsopaid Farm House Tax ofseven lakh, ten thousandand 627 rupees and he is theonly Member Provincial As-sembly who paid FarmHouse Tax.

Two securitypersonnel

killed in firingCH A R S A D D A—Unknownarmed men gunned downtwo persons including aspecial branch personneland an FC man here onSunday. Police said thatunknown motorcyclistsopened fire at Peshawar’sSpecial Branch officialMuhammad Ishfaq whilehe was coming out ofmosque after offeringprayers at his native vil-lage Mirzai.

As a result of firing hewas critically injured andwas rushed to Lady Read-ing Hospital (LRH)Peshawar but couldn’tsurvive. —INP

Death tool inNWA firing risesMIRANSHAH—The death tollin North Waziristan’s TehsilMiranshah firing and rocketattack has reached five. Ac-cording to details armed mili-tants on board two vehiclesfired at the passengers ofanother vehicle in Datta Khelarea and then fired rocketsat them. As a result of theattack, five persons in thevehicle died on the spot andthe vehicle caught fire. Allthe bodies were burnt be-yond recognition. Localpeople on self help basisshifted the bodies to thenearby area but faced diffi-culty to identify them..—INP

25 injured asbus overturnsTOBA TEK SINGH—Atleast 25 persons were in-jured when a passenger busover turned here on Sunday.Rescue sources said that theaccident took place atKamalia Road of Toba TekSingh where an over speed-ing passenger bus turnedturtle. As a result of accident25 sustained injuries whowere shifted to hospital byrescue personnel. —INP

THE pain of a short soak in ice water issupposed to cure the longer-lastingdiscomfort of sore muscles, but re-

searchers say it may not make enough dif-ference to be worthwhile. Compared to theirpeers who soaked inwarmer water or didn’tsoak at all, amateur ath-letes recruited from theUniversity of Ulster inNorthern Ireland re-ported a 2-point differ-ence on a 10-pointmuscle pain scale afterrepeated soaks in 6°C(43°F) water.

That 20 percent re-duction in pain - fromaround 3 points toaround 1 - might have animpact on elite athleteswho strive for the slight-est incremental improve-ments in performance,said lead study authorChris Bleakley, but per-haps not for amateur ex-ercisers. “If they are not playing at a highlevel, then I let them know it’s not going tomake a huge impact,” said Bleakley, a re-searcher and physical therapist at UlsterSports Academy, where the study tookplace.

The idea that soaking in ice water canhasten the recovery of muscles made soreby a heavy workout is popular, especiallyin the sports world. But how much differ-ence it makes, as well as the safety of re-peated cold soaks, are still debated (seeReuters Health article of February 12, 2012here: reut.rs/LYmX3b). For the study, 50students ranging in age from 18 to 35 years

old induced sore muscles by using theheaviest weight possible on a standinghamstring curl machine. They did thisfor five days in a row, and on the firstthree days a treatment was administered

after the exercise session.The participants

were divided into fivegroups, four of which gotvariations on cold-watersoaking therapy, and thefifth just had a seated restperiod after their workout.One of the therapy groupsdid hot/cold soaks, with aminute in 100°F water, fol-lowed by a minute in 50°Fwater. The second group dida cold/air soak, with a minutein 50°F water, followed by aminute outside the tub. Athird group soaked their legsfor 10 minutes in 50°F water,and a fourth group did thesame in 43°F water.

The researcherswanted to know which time

and temperature dosages worked best.But Bleakley and his team didn’t findany significant differences among all thegroups in athletes’ before and afterscores for range of motion and musclestrength. Only the group that had the10-minute, 43°F soak reported noticeablyless muscle soreness compared to theseated rest group. Pain in all groupspeaked 48 hours after the first workoutsession, but on that day the seated-restgroup rated their soreness, on average,at 3.39 on the scale of 10 while the groupthat soaked 10 minutes at 43°F rated theirpain at 1.35 out of 10.

Value of ice water soak forsore muscles still unclear

A singer performing during a concert at Pak China Friendship Centre.

ISLAMABAD—Civil Defence, Special Branchof Police, Islamabad Police, Azad Kashmirand Gilgit Baltistan will get 65 Bomb DisposalResponse Vehicles this year. These vehicleswill be equipped with bomb disposal kits,jammers, scanners and disrupters. Some ofthese vehicles will also have remote con-trolled robots.

Talking to APP here, Director General CivilDefence Air Vice Marshal (Retd) AftabHussain said that following the currentgovernment’s policy of strengthening thesecurity forces in counter terrorist activities,Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khanhas tasked him to improve the training and

Provinces, ICT to get 65 bomb disposal vehiclescapacity building of the bomb disposalsquads.

Accordingly, since May 2013, bulk of thebomb disposal squad of civil defence andICT Police has been trained on moderncounter-Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDs) techniques by the foreign trainers. Thetraining is continuing this year as well. For-eign donors have committed to provide the65 bomb disposal vehicles during the cur-rent year.

In January, Islamabad Police got first ofthese vehicles when Interior MinisterChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan handed over keysof the vehicle to Inspector General Police

Islamabad Sikandar Hayat.According to Interior Minister Chaudhry

Nisar Ali Khan, the vehicles will save pre-cious lives of bomb disposal squad mem-bers, who take years to become experts intheir field.

The vehicles will put behind an era whena technician cut off bombs with clippers inhis bare hands. Many lost lives in tragic ac-cidents. All through these past years whenthe country was hit with waves of bomb at-tacks, it was challenging for the bomb dis-posal squads to keep their morale high. AirVice Marshal (Retd) Aftab Hussain said therobots will approach bombs and a man sit-

ting in the van will control it remotely andget information about the type of device anduse computer software to decide how to de-fuse the bomb.

He further added that with this trainingand capacity building, the bomb disposalsquad will perform their task more safely andefficiently. The Civil Defence departmentplays an important role to keep people safeand prevent disasters.

Realizing the lack of coordination be-tween federal and provincial civil defence setups, the provincial civil defence directorsnow meet after every three months under thechairmanship of DG Civil Defence to discuss

issues and take steps to resolve them.Aftab said Civil Defence offers round the

year training courses of three to four weeksto citizens in fire prevention, firefighting,search and rescue, disaster management,evacuation, bomb disposal, camouflage andconcealment and first aid. In last five years,about 30,000 citizens including a large num-ber of women attended these courses. TheDG Civil Defence said number of steps havebeen taken to improve efficiency and perfor-mance of volunteers. Now volunteers whoact as first responders to any emergency getRs.400 remuneration instead of meager Rs150 per day, he added.—APP

NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq called on HRH Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Deputy Premier andMinister for Defence of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Speaker Na-tional Assembly Sardar AyazSadiq called on Saudi CrownPrince and Defense MinisterPrince Salman bin Abdul AzizAl Saud here on Sunday andexchanged views on mattersof mutual interest and waysof strengthening relations.

Referring to the immemo-rial brotherly ties with Paki-stan and Saudi Arabia, theSpeaker said that both thecountries were intertwined inreligious and cultural bondswhich have gained strengthdue to the commitment of rul-ing hierarchies on both sides.

He said that Pakistangreatly values Saudi supportduring natural calamities andcrisis. The Speaker expressedhis desire to further intensifycooperation between the twosides. He remarked that aregular exchange of high levelvisits would play an impor-tant role in further strength-ening relations.

The Crown Prince termedrelations between the twosides as historic and unique.He said that Pakistan is theclosest friend and ally of theKingdom.

He said that existing rela-tions would be strengthenedin days to come and coop-eration between Saudi Arabia andPakistan would be further diversi-fied for mutual benefit of both the

Pakistan values Saudi support duringnatural calamities, crisis: Ayaz

countries. He said that Saudi Arabiastrongly desires to see a prosper-ous, stable and economically vi-

brant Pakistan. The Crown Princesaid Saudi Arabia will extend all outsupport to Pakistan in diverse fields.

He said that Saudi Arabia would al-ways stand by its Pakistani breth-ren whenever needed.

ISLAMABAD—Allottees of Sector G-14have urged the authorities concerned forearly possession of allotted plots. Talk-ing to APP, allottees of G-14 said that atthe time of launching this sector, it wasexpected that within three to four yearsdevelopment of the sector will be com-pleted and possession of their plots willbe handed over.

They said they are still awaiting theposession of their despite lapse of 10years.

They said that people were sufferinga lot from delay in development of sub-sectors and facing residential problemsas their investment has stuck up whichthey secured for their residence.

Aasim, an allottee said that the en-croachments by land mafia in all threesub-sectors of G-14 are still continuingas apparently no tangible measures havebeen taken to stop illegal constructionsin the area.

He also expressed fear that the genu-ine people affected in the process of landacquisition, would be deprived of their

G-14 allottees for earlypossession of plots

due compensation and allottees of theplots in the sector would further sufferdue to delay in development work andhanding over possession of plots tothem.

The Federal Government EmployeesHousing Foundation (FGEHF) in 2003had announced allotment of Sector G-14’s sub sectors 1, 2 and 3 for the differ-ent categories of government officersand other segments through ballotingand almost 8,000 applicants were allot-ted plots in three sub-sectors. Sourcessay that amazingly the rate of encroach-ment in Sector G-14/1 was much less ascompared to other sub-sectors as peoplepass through this area and they maycomplain in this regard.

Minister of State for Housing &Works Barrister Usman Ibrahim on No-vember 20, 2013 chaired a meeting ofallottees of sector G-13 and G-14 andassured the affectees to resolve theirproblems and completion of incompletework in different areas will be expe-dited.—APP

Today last dateto deposit fee

for HSSCannual examSTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The last dateto deposit admission fee forHigher Secondary SchoolCertificate (HSSC) annual2014 examination is Feb 17.

According toRawalpindi Board of Interme-diate and Secondary Educa-tion (RBISE) Spokesman,Arslan Cheema, the intend-ing candidates of HSSC, PartI and Part II could submittheir admission forms withsingle fees till Feb 17.

The last date for submis-sion of forms with double feeswould be February 24.Whereas the candidates whofail to follow this process couldavail the last chance by sub-mitting forms with triple feesfrom February 25 to February28. For obtaining more infor-mation about the schedule offorms and fees, the intendingcandidates could visit BRISEwebsite www.biserwp.edu.pk.

Illegal guest housesa security risk

ISLAMABAD—Hundreds ofillegal guest houses are op-erating in the posh areas ofthe federal capital in resi-dential buildings in sheerviolation of laws and alsoare posing security risks.

Over 1500 rest housesare operating in residentialareas with the connivanceof corrupt elements of con-cerned department and mostof these illegal guesthouses have been turnedinto hubs of drug peddlingand other crimes. —Online

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—In a bid to make five-daypolio campaign sucessful, strict securitymeasures have been taken to avoid any un-toward incident, said District CoordinationOfficer (DCO), Sajid Zafar Dal.

He said that 1408 teams have been con-stituted to vaccinate under five years chil-dren against the crippling diseases. Dur-ing the campaign, 711,744 chidlren wouldbe vaccinated, he added.

Talking to media, DCO said that arrange-ments for the campaign have been final-

Strict security to beensured for polio teams

ized adding that all available resourceswould be utilized to make the campaignis asuccess. The teams also have been consti-tuted that would cover bus stands, railwaystations, markets and other public places,he added.

The teams would also visit house tohouse to administer polio drops to the chil-dren. The DCO said no negligence on partof officials would be tolerated during thecampaign.

Religious scholars and parents havebeen urged to come forward and play theirrole to make the campaign a success.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—Pakistan Computer Bu-reau (PCB) is engaged in ensuring ca-pacity building of trainers to further trainemployees of Federal government on e-office system to cater optimum results.The Master trainers of the Bureau areimparting training to them as part ofgovernment’s plan to deploy e-officesystem in all Federal ministries soon.

Sources at PCB on Sunday said thee-office system is already functional inPrime Minister Office, National Assem-bly Secretariat and Ministry of Informa-tion Technology.

The sources said under Public Sec-tor Development Programme (PSDP)funded IT project, the federal ministrieswould be deployed with e-office system.

With regard to progress of e-officeproject, the sources said multiple teamshave been consti tuted in accordancewith nature of tasks and relevant to hu-man resource expertise.

Moreover, they said that acquisitionof Data Centre Facility for e-Office Host-ing, signing of contract for e-office andmiddle software with the vendors, gath-

Trainers to cater optimumresults on e-office system

ering and analysis of ministries for con-figuration of basic parameters for thesaid system has already completed.

They said Federal Ministries/Divi-sions have nominated their Focal Per-sons to liaison with Pakistan ComputerBureau (PCB) team for implementationof the system simultaneously and addedthat above 75% network connectivity ofFederal Ministr ies/Divisions throughOptical Fiber Ring has also been testedsuccessfully.

The sources said Minister of Statefor Information Technology and Tele-communications, Anusha Rehman hasalso directed to establish an IT ServiceManagement Cell to register and addressissues of end users of the system.

The said system would be a key toolto ensure efficiency, accuracy, effective-ness, good governance, t ransparency,and accountability in decision making.

The sources said the indigenoustechnological industry has been utilizedfor development and implementation ofe-office system to encourage local in-dustry and to maximize usage of local ITHuman Resource as per vision of presentgovernment.

Maintenanceof parks

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Capital De-velopment Authority (CDA)had devised special teamsfor maintenance of 50 parksin capital territory, memberEngineering and Environ-ment, Sana Ullah Maan toldAPP on Sunday. The prac-tice would be completed tillthe month of March, headded.

He said that the author-ity would also ensure the ex-amining of food and ediblequalities being sold at can-teens and kiosk operating inparks. He said that a secu-rity guard and two gardenerwould be deputed in everypark for ensuring securityand looking after of parks. Hesaid that CDA had set actionplan to monitor the situationof public parks and otherrecreational activities for thecitizens. The 15 parks hadbeen facilitated and ready forpublic recreation, he added.

He said that remaining35 parks would be clearedtill next month with provid-ing basic facilities.

Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Federal Minister Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony,speaking during a lecture.

06:10 01:3004:15

07:30

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Marhrib at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regular

prayers andcharity

Labourers busy in construction of expansion of Kashmir Highway in Federal Capital.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The CommissionerRawalpindi Captain R Zahid Saeed hassaid that Punjab government hasplanned to maintain minimum loss of theproperty during construction work ofMetro Bus Project in the City. He saidthat current model and design was ap-proved after many consultations withNESCOM Engineers and prime focus ofthe design was to maintain minimumdamages of business entities duringconstruction work.

“Affectees will be awarded reason-able compensation according to the fair

Minimum losses to property duringconstruction of Metro Bus Project

price/market value and RawalpindiChamber will be consulted in this regardto avert any injustice”, he added. He wasexchanging these views with the Presi-dent Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerceand Industry (RCCI) Dr. Shimail DaudArain during his visit to the Chamber.Group Leader Shaikh Shabbir, FormerPresidents, representatives of tradersassociations of City and Cantt, members’executive committee, affectees of thesaid project and other members of theChamber were also present on the occa-sion. Commissioner, who has the addl.charge of Director General RawalpindiDevelopment Authority (RDA), said that

RDA will monitor the entire project andit will be completed in due time.

He said that on the special direc-tives of Chief Minister Punjab MianShahbaz Sharif all the compensationswill be made on purely merit & on timeand no injustice will be tolerated in thisregard. He said that government hadmeetings with all the affectees and fi-nally approved a plan which has mini-mum destruction of the commercialbuildings. He said that government isfully committed to deliver best facili-ties to the masses of twin Cities and nostone will be left unturned in this re-gard. He said that basic purpose be-

hind his visit was to brief the businesscommunity about the said project toremove their misconception.

He ensured his full cooperation tothe President RCCI in this regard. Speak-ing on the occasion President RCCI Dr.Shiamil Daud Arain has said that trans-port system for the City was the fore-most demand of the Chamber and it is amatter of great pleasure that finally gov-ernment honoured Chamber’s demandand approved a mega project of MetroBus System for Rawalpindi. He said thatMetro Bus project is in the public inter-est and it should be completed at earli-est.

While commenting on the affecteeshe said that for the best interest of themasses ones should have to sacrificeand detailed presentation by the com-missioner had shown that how deeplythey studied all the consequences, how-ever Chamber will assist all the affecteesto get their compensation timely. Earlier,Commissioner Zahid Saeed gave 3 andhalf hours long presentation and briefedthe business community about all theaspects of said project in detail and re-plied some harsh questions from busi-ness community with patience and log-ics and made them realize that howdeeply he is prepared about the topic.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Five officials of intelligenceagencies would file their affidavits regard-ing Massod Janjua missing case in the apexcourt on Tuesday, sources said on Sun-day.

According to sources, defence minis-try would submit these affidavits in the Su-preme Court by additional Attorney Gen-eral Tariq Khokhar.

Five officials who would file their affi-

Masood Janjua missing case

5 officials of intelligenceagencies to file affidavits

davits includes Major General (R) ShafqatAhmed, General (R) Nadeem Taj, Col. (R)Habibulallah, Javed Iqbal Lodhi and formerdefence secretary Athar Ali Abbasi. AtharAli Abbasi had earlier submitted his affida-vit but the apex court had ejected it for notbeing accordance to law.

Former military dictator PervezMusharraf had also filed his affidavit in thecourt. A three member bench headed byjustice Jawad S. Khawaja would hear thecase on Tuesday.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The ban on kite-flying andmetallic strings is being violated inRawalpindi city and cantonment areas.

The residents of the city have expressedconcerns over kite flying and use of metal-lic strings, banned by the city administra-tion saying that the violation is a questionmark on the performance of the authoritiesconcerned. Despite a ban on kite flying, thelocal police have failed to stop it as the vio-lation is being witnessed in several areasof the town.

The areas of the city, where kite flyingis not checked, included Peoples Colony,Tench Bhatta, Dhoke Seydan, Kiani Road,Dhoke Chaudharian, Adyala Road, BakraMandi, Masrial and many other areas.

The administration has failed to imple-

Violation of kite-flying bangoes unchecked in city

ment the ban, a citizen said adding severalareas of the city were noticed where theactivity was openly done specially on Fri-day and Sunday. The citizens have de-manded strict compliance of the kite flyingban to prevent road accidents and loss ofprecious human lives. People have de-manded the police to ensure a complete banon sale of kite and flying along with thesale of fireworks.

They demanded of the Chief MinisterPunjab Shahbaz Sharif and the district gov-ernment to strictly implement the ban of kiteflying as the violation of kite-flying ban hasbecome a routine in the city and the mal-practice has been causing different prob-lems for the people vis-a-vis traffic. Owingto easy availability, the children are pur-chasing kites and violating the ban not onlyon rooftops but even on roads.

ISLAMABAD—Citizens urged the man-agement of public sector hospitals toproperly implement the Directly Ob-served Treatment Short-course(DOTS) to support tuberculosis pa-tients. According to them, the govern-ment allocates sufficient amount toprovide DOTS treatment methodologyfor treatment of TB patients at hospi-tals however patients face problemsdue to apathetic attitude of deployedmedical staff.

They said there is a need to haveextensive plan to provide best medi-cal care to tuberculosis patients atgovernment hospitals. They de-manded to deploy trained staff withcomplete knowledge of DOTS meth-odology at hospitals.

According to available data, theincidence of TB per 100,000 popula-tion in Pakistan is 181, case notifica-tion per 100,000 per year is 150 whilethe treatment success rate is 85 percent.

Pakistan ranks sixth globallyamong 22 high tuberculosis burden

Hospitals asked to followTB control plan

countries, and contributes 43 per centof the disease towards the Eastern-Mediterranean region of World HealthOrganization (WHO).

An estimated one-third of theworld’s population is currently in-fected with TB due to which WorldHealth Organization is working on itsplan to cut TB prevalence rates anddeaths by half by 2015. When con-tacted an official said that around 982microscopy centres have been estab-lished across the country to providefree of cost diagnostic facility to tu-berculosis patients.

He said more than 700,000 tuber-culosis patients were treated free ofcharge while 100 percent coverage ofWHO-recommended treatment strat-egy for detection and cure known asDirectly Observed Treatment,Short-course (DOTS) is achieved in thecountry. He said external quality as-surance for sputum microscopy isimplemented in 40 districts of the coun-try while five reference laboratorieshave been established included one

at federal level and one each at pro-vincial level.

He said training and health educa-tion materials have been developedand all health care providers havebeen trained. Dr. Sharif Astori fromFederal Government Poly Clinic(FGPC) said TB is an infectious bacte-rial disease caused by Mycobacteriumtuberculosis, which most commonlyaffects the lungs.

He said the disease is transmittedfrom person to person via dropletsfrom the throat and lungs of peoplewith the active respiratory disease. Hesaid in healthy people, infection withmycobacterium tuberculosis oftencauses no symptoms, since theperson’s immune system acts to walloff the bacteria.

He said the symptoms of active TBof the lung are coughing, sometimeswith sputum or blood, chest pains,weakness, weight loss, fever andnight sweats. He added tuberculosisis treatable with a six-month course ofantibiotics.—APP

44 outlawsheld

RAWALPINDI—Police in itsdrive against anti-social el-ements on Sunday arrested44 accused from differentlocalities and recovered 7060grams charras, 116 bottles ofliquor, 95 liter wine, 10 pis-tols 30 bore with 32 rounds,one revolver 32 bore withthree bullets and one stolenSuzuki Mehran car from theirpossession.

According toRawalpindi Police spokes-man, Pirwadhai police net-ted Pervaiz and seized 1120grams charras. Sadiqabadpolice held Rameez for hav-ing 1040 grams charraswhile Saud was arrestedwith 1050 grams charras.

New Town policerounded up Tamoor andShone Masih for possess-ing 125 and 135 grams char-ras.

Rattaamral police ar-rested Zulfiqar for having 25liquor bottles. New Townpolice netted Irfan with 50liquor bottles. Sadiqabadpolice nabbed Imran and re-covered 30 liquor bottles.Other bootleggers namelyJameel, Azeem, Pervaiz,Ashfaq, Hayat, Ali, Adeel,Hameed, and Shahid weresent behind the bars for pos-sessing liquor bottles andwine.

11 persons were appre-hended on recovery of ille-gal weapons while other ac-cused were held for havingdrugs. Waris Khan policearrested Naseem Gul and re-covered a stolen SuzukiMehran car.—APP

Policemen trying to handle rush of spectators outside Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

RAWALPINDI—Tehsil Municipal Administra-tion (TMA) would launch a grand operationagainst the encroachments without any dis-tinction. While talking to APP here on Sun-day, Rawal Town Administrator Imran Qureshiwarned the shopkeepers that strict actionwould be taken against them besides confis-cating their goods and imposing heavy fine.He urged the traders to cooperate with theadministration in removing all encroachments.

Qureshi said that a major operation

Grand operation againstencroachments soon

would be launched soon in the city areaand Rawalpindi would be made free fromencroachments, he added. Meanwhile, theencroachers have set their businesses atLiaquat, Iqbal Jamia Masjid, Raja Bazar,Commercial market, Said pur Road,Ganjmandi, Khybane Sir Syed, BenazirBhutto and College Roads which often leadsto traffic jams causing major problems formotorists as well as shoppers in differentareas of the city.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Rawal TownMunicipal Administration(RTMA) would launchcrackdown on rent default-ers from Feb 17 and sternaction in accordance withthe law would be takenagainst the defaulters as fi-nal notices were issued inthis regard and they weredirected to clear outstand-ing due till Feburary 15 oth-erwise, the shops would besealed.

A special campaign torecover outstanding duesfrom the tenants, runningtheir business in the shopsof Tehsil Municipal Admin-istration (TMA) has beenlaunched.

Administrator RawalTown had issued specialdirectives for the recoveryof outstanding dues fromthe tenants and asked theTaxation Officer that if thedue payments are notcleared by the shopkeep-ers within stipulated

timeframe then strict ac-tion should be takenagainst the defaulters. Af-ter the decision taken inthis regard, the defaulterswere issued final noticesfor the payment.

According to TMAspokesman, action in accor-dance with the law would betaken against the defaultersand their shops would besealed.

Town Municipal Officer(TMO) Imran Qureshi saidthat strict action will betaken against the defaulters,especially those who werenot paying outstandingdues for several months. Hesaid all the outstanding duesmust be cleared by the de-faulters to avoid any legalaction.

He said, special raids forthe recovery of the out-standing dues would nowbe conducted on regularbasis. The defaulters’ shopswould be sealed and no re-laxation would be given toanyone, he added.

Crackdown against rentdefaulters from today

Sub-standardhelmets risk

for livesISLAMABAD—The use ofsubstandard helmets by themotorcyclists travelling onthe busy roads of twin cit-ies of Islamabad andRawalpindi, putting theirlives on risk.

Motorcyclists buycheap helmets made of lowquality, while others use hel-mets which are meant for thecyclists, putting their livesin danger.

The Islamabad trafficpolice (ICT) had made itmandatory for the motor-cyclists to wear helmet tosave them from fatal headinjuries in case of any ac-cident.

A trader at G-9 Markazsaid, “We are left with nooption but to sell low qual-ity helmets as the importedones are very costly.”

He said all these helmetsare not to the mark of inter-national standards and it isdifficult to say whetherwearing such helmets couldprotect the riders from thehead injury.—APP

February 18

EXHIBITION of paintingsby Ather Jamal and VAnanda Ma, at the NomadArt Gallery, 72, Street 32,Sector F-6/1, Islamabad, 4:30p.m., continuing up toMarch 5.

February 22

LAUNCHING ceremony of abook titled ‘Josh Malihabadi:Malihabad Se Islamabad TekRodad-e-Safar, Mulazmatenand Qi-yamgahein’ byFarrukh Jamal Malihabadi,the grandson of JoshMalihabadi, to be chaired byProfessor Fateh MuhammadMalik, chef guests: FederalMinister Infor-mation,Broadcasting and NationalHeri-tage Senator PervaizRashid and poet Dr.Maqsood Jafri, at theRawalpindi Cultural Complex,Shamsabad, Murree road,Rawalpindi, 3 p.m.

February 23

Al Basira Islamabad to ar-range a book launching HajiSyed Muhammad AbbasNaqvi’s poetry collection“Arooj e Pehan” atIslamabad Hotel. Dr.Ghazanfar Mehdi will chairthe ceremony.

Senate panel seeksinclusion of girl

students inHarassment Act

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—A parlia-mentary panel has soughtfemale students of Law in-put in amending the lawrelated to harassment atworkplaces. The SenateStanding Committee onLaw and Justice has dis-cussed this issue at lengththis week. SenatorFarhatullah Babar was themover of the bill suggest-ing amendment in the Pro-tection against Harass-ment of Women at Work-place Act.

While giving the back-ground of the bill, he citedan incident of sexual harass-ment at the Quaid-e-AzamUniversity, Islamabad(QAU), where the examina-tion and a professor of theuniversity were restoredbecause of legislative lacu-nae.

The employee of theuniversity filed an appealbefore the president of Pa-kistan who is also the chan-cellor of the university.The president sought thelaw ministry’s input on hisappeal.

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Kashmir Minister for Forests and Wildlife Sardar Javed Ayublistening to problems of people of Bashaash area.

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal inspecting new NADRAoffice set up in the Secretariat.

MIRPUR: Vice Chairman, MUST, Prof Habibur Rehman with Prof Nasreen Tariq, Junaid Ansari and others during hisvisit to College of Home Economics.

SRINAGAR—Salamabad-Muzaffarabad TradeAssociation has decided to fight for the releaseof the Azad Kashmir driver held by Jammu andKashmir police for allegedly carrying drugsworth Rs 100 crore. The trade association hashired a lawyer to defend his case.

General Secretary of Salamabad-Muzaffarabad Traders Association, Hilal AhmadTurki said that the association has appointedAbdul Salam Rather of Baramulla to pursue thecase of the arrested driver.

“The association has decided to hire a law-yer for the driver on humanitarian grounds. Thearrested driver shouldn’t feel insecure here. Heshould go through a fair trial,” Turki said. “Thedriver will be brought into the court on Mondaywhere the appointed lawyer will pursue for hisanticipatory bail,” Turki said.

Turki said that there is every possibility thattrade would resume from Monday. “Even thoughwe haven’t got the official confirmation but in

LoC traders hire lawyerfor Azad Kashmir driver

view of the statement from ministry of foreignaffairs of Pakistan, it is due that the trade willstart from Monday,” he said.

Notably, on January 18 a day after Jammu andKashmir police seized a truck coming from AzadKashmir, claiming it was carrying 114 packets ofbrown sugar worth Rs 100 crore in the internationalmarket, Azad Kashmir suspended cross-border tradeand bus service seeking the release of the driver.

Amidst continued standoff on cross LoC trade,Azad Kashmir authorities had detained 27 trucksand its drivers at Chakoti across the LoC while 48other drivers from Azad Kashmir were alsostranded at Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre.

After suspending cross-LoC trade, authori-ties in Azad Kashmir also suspended Karavan-e-Aman bus service to press for the release ofdriver. However, after a number of diplomaticefforts by both India and Pakistan, the bus ser-vices were resumed and stranded drivers wereallowed to return to their respective sides.—NNI

JAMMU—New Delhi failed to persuade Islamabad to set up bank-ing facilities for the cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade, which ispresently being carried on a barter system. According to Jammu andKashmir government’s Economic Survey 2013-14, which was tabledduring the ongoing Budget session in Jammu, the representatives ofthe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made a presentation on the pro-posed banking mechanism in the Joint Working Group Meeting.

The report said Government of India had made a lot of effortto persuade the Pakistani delegation on the issue of banking fa-cilities for the cross-LoC trade considering the significant in-crease in the volume of trade across Jammu and Kashmir andAzad Kashmir. Cross-LoC trade in not an international trade andpresently, 21 items are listed as permissible for trading betweenAzad Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir.

The trade across LoC, the de facto border between India andPakistan, was started as part of Confidence Building Measures(CBMs) between New Delhiand Islamabad. The survey reportsaid there were certain issues, which were yet to be sorted out bymutual agreement by New Delhi and Islamabad.

It stated that such matters were being vigorously persuadedat the State level with New Delhi. Kashmir has witnessed tradethrough the erstwhile Jhelum Valley Road withCentral Asia sincethe Roman times. According to the Economic Survey 2013-14,during the past three years, J&K exported goods worth Rs 936.66crore from Azad Kashmir through the LoC.

In return, the State imported Rs 1566.38 crore (Pakistan cur-rency) worth of good from Azad Kashmir. In 2011-12, J&K ex-ported 465272.41 quintals of good to Azad Kashmir amountingto Rs 320.19 crore. In 2012-13, the State exported 768061.86quintals of good worth Rs 371.67 crore to the other side of Kash-mir. The following year until November, J&K exported goodsworth Rs 244.80 crore to Azad Kashmir. Shah said 50 tradersfrom J&K were initially involved in the cross-LoC trade but nowonly a handful was continuing with the trade now. “It is a bartertrade not a balance trade,” he said.—NNI

India failed to persuadePakistan on banking

facilities for LoC trade

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, Indiantroops, in their fresh act of state terrorism,martyred one Kashmiri youth, today, dur-ing a siege and search operation in Seeluarea of Sopore.

Thousands of people participated inthe funeral of the martyred youth,Muhammad Shafi Sheikh, in his native vil-lage Zaloora in Sopore. They raised high-pitched anti-India and pro-liberationslogans.Addressing the participants of thefuneral of Muhammad Shafi Sheikh, overphone from New Delhi, the veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, paidglowing tributes to him. He said thatKashmiri martyrs’ sacrifices, which hadcentre-staged the Kashmir dispute at theglobal level, would not be allowed to gowaste. He appealed to the world commu-nity to take cognizance of gross humanrights violations perpetrated by Indianforces in the occupied territory.

Indian troops martyryouth in Sopore

Hurriyet leaders arrested on way to ShopianMeanwhile, Indian police arrested

Hurriyet leaders including ShabbirAhmed Shah, Nayeem Ahmed Khan,Mushtaq-ul-Islam and Farooq Ahmed Darin Newa area of Pulwama, today. Hurriyetleaders were on their way to Shopian toexpress solidarity with the families of twoyouth, who were recently martyred by thetroops. Hurriyet leaders, MuhammadYousuf Naqash, Shabbir Ahmad Dar,Muhammad Yasin Attai and FayazAhmad, visited the area and paid hom-age to the martyred.

The Chairman of Jammu and Kash-mir Liberation Front, Muhammad YasinMalik, and the Chairperson of Jammu andKashmir Mass Movement, Farida Behenji,in their statements in Srinagar condemnedthe denial of permission to the parents ofa Kashmiri detainee, Javed Ahmed Khan,to meet him by the officials of New Delhi’sTihar Jail. They urged the world human

rights organizations to take notice of thematter.

The Jammu and Kashmir MuslimLeague in a statement in Srinagar said thatthe puppet authorities were subjecting itsillegally detained Vice Chairman,Masarrat Aalam Butt, to political ven-geance. It condemned the puppet admin-istration for shifting Masarrat Aalam tosub-jail Baramulla from Srinagar CentralJail.

The Association of Parents of Disap-peared Persons staged a sit-in protest atPratap Park in Srinagar against the closureof infamous Pathribal fake encounter caseby the Indian Army, demanding reopen-ing of the case. The APDP leader, ParveenaAhangar, talking to mediamen on the oc-casion, said that closure of the case hadagain proved that the Indian Army wasprotecting its personnel involved in hei-nous crimes.—KMS Parents denied permission

to meet wards in Tihar JailSRINAGAR—Various pro-freedom Kashmirileaders have expressed concern over the denialof permission to Kashmiris by the authorities ofTihar Jail, New Delhi, to meet their wards, term-ing it highly condemnable.

While condemning the behavior of Tihar Jailofficials for ‘not allowing’ the family membersof Javaid Ahmad Khan of Khankah MoulaSrinagar to meet him, chairman All PartiesHurriyat Conference Syed Ali Geelani said thatKashmiri prisoners are the ‘victims’ of custo-dial violence and are harassed in Jails especiallyin the Tihar jail.

“India is neither respecting the internationallaws with respect to Prisoners nor is India respect-ing the Human Rights of people in Kashmir. In-dian Jails are proving as Guantanamo Bay andAbu Ghraib detention centers for Kashmiris. Am-nesty International, World Red Cross Committeeand other Human Rights Organizations havefailed to play an effective role in stopping theinhuman treatment meted out to Kashmiri Pris-oners,” he said in a statement.

Geelani said that the Javaid Khan ofKhankah Moula Srinagar is a captive in Tiharjail for the last 19 years and his relatives whotravelled a long distance to meet him were notonly denied permission but they were humiltaedby the Tihar jail officials.

He said that according to the jail manual,“None of the prisoners should be stopped to meethis or her family members and it does not haveany constitutional or legal justification, but theTihar jail authority not only harass Kashmiri

detains, they also misbehave with their rela-tives.”

Geelani said that including Dr. GhulamMuhammad Bhat, Tariq Ah Dar, MuhammadRafeeq Shah, Muhammad Hussain Fazili, AbdulGani Goni, Mahmood Topiwala and Parvaiz AhMir, there are 64 Kashmiri prisoners in Tiharjail who are the ‘victims’ of custodial violenceeven in jail and are harassed in every possibleways.

“They are forced to work and are providedsubstandard food items and whenever they fallill, they are not provided with adequate treatment.The professional criminals who are kept withthem have also become monsters for them. Al-though the India is claiming of being a big de-mocracy in the world but with respect to Kash-mir this claim has does not hold water,” he said.

Geelani added that, “No constitution or lawin the world allows any kind of violence withany prisoner and the whole world have acceptedthe special rights and facilities for the prisonersand India is also a signatory to the agreementwhich guarantees rights of the prisoners but In-dia has failed to implement these agreements.”

Geelani said that Kashmir is a political is-sue and the whole world have accepted its dis-puted nature so, all the prisoners related to Kash-mir are political prisoners and they should notbe reckoned with professional criminals.

He said, “India is not only denying themthis political status but is also treating themworse than professional criminals and is actu-ally taking political vengeance on them.”—NNI

Indian forceskilled Kashmirifreedom fighter

SRINAGAR—Indian forceskilled one separatist freedomfighter in occupied Kashmir’sBaramulla district on Sunday.

According to Kashmirimedia reports, Indian occupiersecurity forces surrounded ahouse in Seelu village nearSopore town, about 55 kmfrom here, early Sunday fol-lowing information aboutholed up freedom fighters.

“Indian forces opened fireon a house resulted one youthwas killed so far. “Although fir-ing has stopped, searches arestill going on there,” Indianofficial said.—Online

Aalam beingsubjected to

politicalvengeance: JKMLSRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir Muslim League(JKML) has condemned thepuppet administration for shift-ing the illegally detained partyVice Chairman, MasarratAalam Butt, back to sub-jailBaramulla.

The JKML spokesman,Muhammad Rafiq Ganai, in astatement issued in Srinagar saidthat the puppet authorities weresubjecting Masarrat Aalam topolitical vengeance since 2010.He said that the police fromNowhatta Police Station inSrinagar had brought MasarratAalam Butt on judicial remandfrom Baramulla sub-jail toSrinagar Central Jail.

“He had to be kept there tillFebruary 18, but now they havegot a new order to shift himback to Baramulla,” he said.The spokesman termed the ac-tion as pure violation of basichuman rights of the unlawfullydetained leader.—KMS

Cold conditionsabate in Kashmir

SRINAGAR—The tourist resortof Pahalgam in southKashmirreceived fresh snowfall whilemany parts of the Valley werelashed by rains during the nighteven as the minimum tempera-tures rose further giving theresidents more relief from coldconditions.

Pahalgam resort received4.8 cm of fresh snow and themercury there settled at minus2.2 degrees celsius, up by overthree degrees from minus 5.7degrees celsius the previousnight, a met official said. Hesaid the night temperature inthe famous ski-resort ofGulmarg went up by over onedegree to record a low of mi-nus 7.0 degrees celsius asagainst the previous night’sminus 8.4 degrees celsius.

Srinagar recorded a low of0.6 degree celsius last night,compared to minus 0.2 degreecelsius the previous night. Thecity received 0.5 mm of rain-fall, the official said. He saidthe mercury in Qazigund – thegateway town to Kashmir val-ley – rose by one degree tosettle at minus 1.4 degreescelsius, as against the previousnight’s minus 2.6 degreescelsius.

The town recorded 5.2 mmof rainfall during the night.Kokernag and Kupwara townsregistered minimum tempera-tures of minus 1.5 degreescelsius and minus 1.6 degreescelsius respectively, the officialsaid, adding Kokernag received5.2 mm of rainfall. The townreceived 0.1 cm of fresh snow-fall, the official said.—NNI

India prosecutorswant new charge

in Frenchchild rape case

BANGALORE—Prosecutorsasked an Indian judge Saturdayto allow them to bring an addi-tional charge of sodomy againsta French consular official whohas been accused of raping histhree-year-old daughter.

Special public prosecutorB.T. Venkatesh said that thejudge Shubha Gowdar had ad-mitted his application to bringthe additional charge againstPascal Mazurier during a briefhearing in the southern city ofBangalore as there was primafacie evidence of him commit-ting sodomy.

The judge had then toldMazurier’s defense team to fileany objections to theprosecution’s application at thenext hearing of the court whichwas set for Feb. 24. The judgeis expected to set a trial dateonce a final decision has beenmade on whether to allow theadditional sodomy charge, theprosecutor added.

Mazurier had on Mondaypleaded not guilty to allega-tions that he raped his daugh-ter in a case that dates back toJune 2012. The 40-year-oldwas arrested on a complaintfiled by his wife and spent fourmonths in jail before being re-leased on bail. Mazurier’s law-yers had argued there was in-sufficient evidence against him,but the judge ruled in Januarythat there was a prima faciecase against him.

The wife and women’srights groups have accusedFrance of supporting the hus-band at the expense of the in-terests of the alleged victim andher two siblings, who are allFrench nationals. France’s For-eign Ministry has declined tocomment on whether it is pay-ing the husband’s legal bills.—Agencies

Kashmir highcourt orders freshprobe into TufailMattoo killing

SRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir high court has orderedfresh investigation into the kill-ing of teenager Tufail Mattoo,whose death in 2010 is believedto have sparked civil protestthat left over hundred protest-ers and bystanders dead in thesubsequent months.

The court rejected the clo-sure report filed by a SpecialInvestigation Team of police,observing that an attempt hasbeen made to save certain po-lice officials. Announcing thejudgment after reserving it foreight months, a single bench ofJustice Virender Singh askedDirector General of Police tohandover the investigation ofthe case to the Crime Branch,a local newspaper KashmirReader reported.

The court also directed thatan officer of the rank of Super-intendent of Police only shallconduct the investigation andsubmit status report withineight weeks. “The court will bereluctant in extending the timeexcept on bonafide grounds asthe incident relates to June2010,” the bench said.

A criminal case, court said,is totally dependent upon theinvestigation and in case theinvestigation is not conductedproperly, fairly and impartially,it will result into grave miscar-riage of justice.—NNI

Indo-Pak dialogue futile withoutKashmiris’ participation

WASHINGTON—Speakers at a seminar orga-nized by Kashmir Forum in Washington, haveurged both India and Pakistan to includeKashmiri leadership in ongoing peace processto avert future catastrophe and permanent solu-tion to the Kashmir dispute.

“It is time that both India and Pakistan real-ize that until the Kashmiri leadership is includedin the peace process, these negotiations betweenIndia and Pakistanmay not lead them to any logi-cal conclusion,” said Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Ex-ecutive Kashmir American Council at a semi-nar organized by Kashmir Form in Washington.

“Our efforts should be to persuade the worldcommunity including the United States to urgeboth India and Pakistan to include the leader-ship of the people of Jammu & Kashmir in thenegotiations to peacefully resolve the disputeoverKashmir. When we talk of Kashmir, we talkof the sentiments and enormous sacrifices madeby the Kashmiri people during the past 67 yearsfor a cause dear to all inhabitants, be they Mus-lims, Hindus, or Buddhists, Dr Fai added.

Dr. Fai stressed “I do not doubt for a minutethat to regain much of what has been lost, thepeople of Kashmir are determined to present theirpeaceful objectives to the international commu-nity. Their objective is to seek a peaceful and last-ing solution to the conflict through dialogue, withthe participation of all parties – Government ofIndia, Government of Pakistan and the peopleofKashmir. Their view is one of inclusion. Theybelieve that there is nothing to be gained by iso-lating groups with varying opinions.”

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Mir, the President of theWorld Kashmir Freedom Movement said thatthere exist apprehensions that, whether on ac-count of its internal weakness or under externalpressure, Pakistan will be forced to dilute itsstand on Kashmir. If this happens, it will notend the dispute because Kashmiris will not con-sent to rule by a power that has visited deathand destruction to brutalize them into submis-

sion from the very beginning when the first In-dian soldier set afoot on the soil of Kashmir.

Peer Sahib Ali Raza Bukhari said that Kash-mir is sacred cause because its legality has beenrecognized by the United Nations. He reiteratedthat Indiaand Pakistan both being nuclear-weaponstates are directly confronting each other, whichmakes the Kashmir dispute potentially the mostdangerous in the world. It should, therefore, be amajor interest of the U.S. to prevent this disputefrom exploding into a conflict which can be cata-strophic for a large proportion of the human race.

Sardar Sawar Khan, former Advisor to thePrime Minister of AJK said, “I firmly believethat far too long has the world viewed Jammu& Kashmir dispute from the perspective of In-dia and Pakistan and never from the perspec-tive of the people of Kashmir that are directlyaffected by the problem day after day on theground. And I believe that to ignore the Kashmiriviewpoint is a big mistake. The internationalcommunity must take into account the Kashmiriperspective which I believe is more importantthan the perspective of India orPakistan and forthat matter more important than the perspectiveof the international community.”

Lars Rise, Norwegian parliamentarian said,“I have visited Kashmir and met with the lead-ership of All Parties Hurriyet Conference. I havecome toWashington and attended the Interna-tional Peace Conferences organized by Dr. Faiat the Capitol Hill. I am sure that given a chance,the people ofKashmir will be instrumental inbuilding a bridge between India and Pakistan tosettle the long-standing dispute over Kashmirthrough peaceful negotiations.

The event was co-sponsored by KashmiriAmerican Council; Peoples Party of Pakistan,Azad Kashmir; Jammu Kashmir Muslim Con-ferences; Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front;Jammu Kashmir Muslim League; Jamaat-e-Is-lamic Azad Kashmir; and Jammu Kashmir Lib-eration League.—NNI

Guru’s executionquestion mark

over Indian courtsSRINAGAR—Hurriyat Confer-ence (M) chairman MirwaizUmar Farooq has said the se-cret execution of MohammadAfzal Guru would remain aquestion mark over the func-tioning of Indian courts fortimes to come as it was carriedout against the general courtprocedures and prescribed le-gal canons.

According to a press note,Mirwaiz along with a Hurriyatdelegation visited the nativehouse of Guru at Abgah Soporeto express their condolencesand solidarity with the affectedfamily in connection with thefirst death anniversary of Guru.

The leaders sympathizedwith the family and prayed forthe deceased soul and otherpeople of Jammu and Kashmirwho laid their lives for thecause.

“On one hand the secretexecution of Guru has unveiledthe true face of Indian democ-racy and justice hidden beneaththe mask, while on the other, ithas strengthened the resolveand commitment of Kashmirination to carry on with thestruggle,” he said. Mirwaiz saidGuru’s sacrifice would inspirethe future generations to takethe struggle forward till itreaches its conclusion.—NNI

Rs130m RasulPower House to

be completedin 4 months

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—Ad-visor to Punjab CM for En-ergy Shahid Riaz Gondalalong with Wapda ChairmanSyed Raghib Ali inaugu-rated a hydropower projectat Rasul, some 15km awayfrom here. Addressing agathering at GovernmentCollege of Technology,Rasul, and Shahid RiazGondal said that the projectwould be completed withinfour months and a sum ofRs 130 million would bespent on it.

He said that RasullPower house would be up-graded and the Wapda hadallocated a huge sum of Rs450 million for installation ofnew turbines to increase thepower generation to 35MW.

The PML-N govern-ment fully knows the inten-sity of the power crisis andworking on war-footing toovercome menace of loadshedding, he said andadded that although thisenergy crisis was given tous by our predecessors butwe took this as a challenge.

Wapda Chairman SyedRaghib Ali in his address saidthat under the directions ofthe government, hectic ef-forts were being made andsoon the nation would heargood news of end to powerload shedding. Al-HamraCouncil chairman AttaulHaq Qasmi said that thegovernment was striving tomeet the current challenges.

Meanwhile a youthcommitted suicide. Report-edly, Naeem, a student ofthird year, and resident ofvillage Kot Baluch ended hislife by jumping into LowerJhelum Canal. The motivebehind the incident is toldas a domestic dispute.

CHITRAL: Women carrying drinking water in pitchers on their heads from a water stream in Bakarabad area. Theyhave daily to travel more than two kilometres on mountains to fetch water. There is no electricity for the last 20 daysto use water pump to get water.

WAH CANTT—The Chief Minister PunjabShahbaz Sharif has approved multimilliondevelopment package including construc-tion of sports stadium, sports complex,upgradation of boys and girl colleges, wa-ter supply schemes and provision of firefighting vehicles for PP-17, Hassanabdal-Fateh Jang.

Talking to newsmen here on Sundaymember Punjab Assembly MuhammadShawez Khan has said that the CM Punjabhas approved multimillion mega projectsfor this constituency which would be ex-ecuted during this year as CM has alsoreleased the funds for execution of theseprojects.

He said that under this package insports sector an indoor sports complex on10 canals of land would be constructed inHassanabdal and a sports stadium wouldbe constructed in Fateh Jang city.

In education sector, the boys inter col-lege would be upgraded to degree level and

Shahbaz approves multimilliondevelopment package for PP-17

women degree college would be upgradedto post graduate level in Hassanabdal andwork on construction of additional classrooms would began this year while classeswould be commenced from next academicsession.

He said that funds for plying the girlscollege has also approved which were sus-pended from last five years.

He said that under a mega project worthRs 600 million would be chalked out forconstruction of complete water supply sys-tem for the Fateh Jang city under whicheach and every house would provided cleanwater supply.

Mr Khan has said that provision ofclean drinking water was long outstandingdemand of the dwellers of the city. He fur-ther added that a modern fire tender wouldalso be provided to TMA Hassanabdal tomeet any emergency and for this purposePunjab government has released a sum ofRs 10.40 million rupees.—APP

QUETTA—WHO Representative to Paki-stan Dr, Ni’ma Saeed Abid and CountryRepresentative of UNICEF Dan Rohrmannvisited Quetta to meet high governmentfunctionaries and discuss the risk of polio-virus circulation in the province.

The UN officials met Chief Minister ofBalochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch andMinister of Health Rahmat Baloch.

They appreciated the immense effortsput by the Government to improve over-sight and accountability of the polio cam-paigns, and shared their observations re-garding the current situation.

“Balochistan has shown remarkableprogress in Polio Eradication in last twoyears” said Dr. Jawahir Habib Communica-tion Specialist from UNICEF Quetta.

“However, the province is still at a riskof polio virus circulation due to sub opti-mal quality of campaigns and extensivepopulation movement between the prov-inces and across the borders “, she added.

Balochistan had no polio cases lastyear; however confirmation of virus in en-vironmental sample and recent polio casein Helmand district of southern Afghani-

Balochistan still at risk ofpoliovirus circulation: WHO

stan has placed 2.24 million children ofBalochistan at a risk of polio outbreak.

The Minister of Health in a press con-ference shared that Polio Eradication is atop priority for the Government ofBalochistan and efforts will be intensifiedto sustain the progress made in the pro-gram.

“I am personally monitoring the poliocampaigns to ensure accountability” saidBaloch. “Routine Immunization rates inBalochistan are lowest in the country, andcurrent government is focusing onstrengthening Expanded Program on Immu-nization” he added Meanwhile, it is re-ported from Lahore that the ExtendedProgramme for Immunization (EPI) of theHealth Department of Punjab has declared292 union councils of seven districts at highrisk of polio cases.Talking to APP here onSunday, Additional Director of EPI Dr NazirHussain said that on February 10 an anti-polio drive had been launched in the high-risk UCs of seven districts including 67 UCsof Lahore, 37 of Multan, 20 of Mianwali, 37of Faisalabad, 51 of Toba Tek Singh, 28 ofRawalpindi and 52 of Attock district.—APP

Petroleumpolicy attractsinvestment for

explorationOBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The minis-try of petroleum and natu-ral resources is pursuingi n v e s t m e n t - f r i e n d l ypolicy, attracting foreigninvestment to the tune ofabout $ 2.02 billion for theoil and gas explorationactivities in the countryduring the last three years.

As part of such ef-forts, the ministry has pro-visionally awarded 50 ex-ploration licenses afterextensive consultationwith the provinces to ef-fectively explore hydro-carbon resources in thefour provinces.

“The government haspromulgated investor-friendly Petroleum Policy2012 to attract further for-eign investment to copewith the domestic demandof oil and gas,” says anofficial source.

Incentives offered inthis regard includes bet-ter gas price, windfall levyreduced from 50% to 40%,base price for crude oil andcondensate increasedfrom US $30 per barrel toUS $40 pre barrel, “Ceilingof US $100 per barrel isreplaced with US $110 perbarrel, while renewal oflease will also be ensured,after expiry of lease termfor another five yearssubject to payment ofamount of 15% of the wellhead value.” the sourceadded.

Similarly the sale of90% share of pipelinespecification gas to Gov-ernment of Pakistan and10% by E&P companiesto any buyer with priorconsent of the govern-ment is another step toencourage foreign in-vestment.

The official said a bo-nanza of US $1 perMMBTU shall be givenfor first three discoveriesin offshore area. ThePolicy 2012 gas price willalso be extended to thelease for additional 10%production over andabove the commitment ofdevelopment plan ap-proved by the govern-ment, the source said.

For the purpose ofpricing and delivery obli-gations for natural gas, thesource said, the gas willbe delivered at outletflange (Field Gate/Deliv-ery Point).

While for offshore,the gas will be deliveredat the nearest access pointto an existing regulatedtransmission system or atthe shore within coastallocations.

In order to exploitshale gas reserves of thecountry, USAID is provid-ing technical assistance toMinistry of Petroleum andNatural Resources via ap-pointment of experts inthe Shale Gas policy for-mulation and technologysupport for exploitation ofunconventional gas re-sources.

Approval to com-mence project has beengranted in October 2013and it will take 9 monthsto complete.

The government hasalso introduced TightGas Policy 2011 to extractgas from tight gas reser-voir by offering addi-tional gas price, thesource added.

Currency Selling Buying

USA 104.90 104.70

UK 174.69 174.36

Euro 143.49 143.22

Canada 95.77 95.59

Switzerland 117.54 117.32

Australia 94.36 94.21

Sweden 16.24 16.21

Japan 1.0304 1.0284

Norway 17.19 17.15

Singapore 82.90 82.74

Denmark 19.23 19.19

Saudi Arabia 27.97 27.92

Hong Kong 13.52 13.50

Kuwait 371.96 371.25

Malaysia 31.61 31.55

Newzealand 87.48 87.31

Qatar 28.81 28.75

UAE 28.56 28.51

KR. WON 0.0988 0.0986

Thailand 3.225 3.219

ISLAMABAD—The Federation of Pa-kistan Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (FPCCI) on Sunday askedthe investors from Kingdom of SaudiArabia (KSA) to focus on Pakistan’spromising processing sector.

Pakistan’s energy sector, especiallyThar coal offers great opportunitiesand matchless returns, said actingPresident FPCCI Shaukat Ahmed.

Speaking to a delegation of busi-nessmen accompanying visiting SaudiCrown Prince Salman Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, he said that our relations havegrown steadily irrespective of govern-mental changes and we have reasonto believe that our ties would follow anew trajectory.

Shaukat Ahmed informed that tradewith KSA constitutes nine per cent ofour overseas trade while the brotherlycountry hosts about two million Paki-stanis sending billions of dollars as re-mittances to reduce budget deficit.Lauding the KSA’s assistance in twomajor hydel power projects he invitedthe Saudi investors to invest in differ-ent sectors including energy and pro-

FPCCI asks Saudi investors to focuson Pakistan’s processing sector

cessing industry.Despite leading producer of differ-

ent food items, only 4 to 5 per centmilk, and a fraction of meat, dates andother items are processed, he informedadding that we need to collaborate inengineering, medical equipment, ser-vices, training sectors.

Shaukat Ahmed said that bilateraltrade has been increasing which hit$4.7 billion mark in 2013 with Pakistan’sshare at dismal 488 million dollars.

Pakistan has been exporting tex-tiles, rice, meat, fish, spices, food, veg-etables etc, but trade remained heavilytilted towards the brotherly Muslimcountry, he said.

He also drew attention of Saudiinvestors to the quality and price oflocal pharmaceutical, cement and otherindustries stressing on single coun-try exhibitions and frequent exchangeof delegations.

The veteran business leader saidthat all Pakistani sectors are open toforeign investment except specified in-dustries; we ensure equal treatmentto local and foreign investors; 100 per

cent foreign equity and full remittanceof capital, profit and dividends are al-lowed, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Chair-man Saudi-Pakistani Business Coun-cil and Head of Delegation AliAbdullah Ali Al Munajem said that wewant to invest heavily in different sec-tors and facilitate Pakistani investorsin KSA.

Asking local businessmen to ex-plore Saudi market, he said that Paki-stani items are very popular in KSA.

Joint Secretary Ministry of Com-merce Fazal Abbas Maken, DG BoIFalak Sher and others said that Paki-stan is gateway to China, Afghanistanand Central Asia, it offers around 37per cent annual return on KSE and a57 million labour force offers match-less opportunities.

Earlier, Secretary General forCommittee for International Trade,Council of Saudi Chambers EngineerOmar A. Bahlaiwa gave a detailedpresentation on investment oppor-tunities and future prospects ofSaudi Arabia.—Online

ISLAMABAD—A delegation of the EuropeanInvestment Bank, headed by its Vice Presi-dent Magdalena Alverez Arza, on Sundayvisited Keyal Khwar Hydropower Project.

Minister of State for Water and PowerChaudhry Abid Sher Ali and ChairmanWAPDA Syed Raghib Abbas Shah also ac-companied the delegation during their visit,says a press release issued here.

The 128 MW Keyal Khwar HydropowerProject is being constructed by WAPDAon a tributary of Indus River in Kohistandistrict of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.The project with an estimated cost of 240million Euros is being jointly funded by theEuropean Investment Bank, the GermanDevelopment Bank (KfW) and the Govern-ment of Pakistan. The European InvestmentBank and KfW are providing 100 millionEuros and 97 million Euros respectively forconstruction of the project.

Welcoming the delegation at projectsite, the Minister of State for Water andPower said that the delegation’s visit to theproject is a manifestation of deepening co-

Least-cost power generationstrategy evolved: AbidEIB delegation visits Keyal Khwar

Hydropower Projectoperation among the European Union, Ger-many and Pakistan. He said that Pakistangreatly values the financial assistance be-ing provided by the European InvestmentBank and KfW for Keyal Khwar Hydro-power Project. He expressed the hope thatthe mutual cooperation for other power sec-tor projects will be further enhanced in thedays to come.

The Minister of State for Water andPower apprised the delegation that with aview to making Pakistan energy-secure, thepresent government under the leadership ofPrime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharifhas worked out a least-cost electricity gen-eration strategy that aims to harness indig-enous resources, the vast hydel potential inparticular. He said that the Ministry of Wa-ter and Power through WAPDA is workingon medium and long term plans to add low-cost hydel electricity in the national grid toimprove the energy mix in favour of hydel,help rationalize the power tariff and ultimatelyprovide relief to the consumers as commit-ted by the Prime Minister.—Online

ISLAMABAD: Acting President FPCCI Shaukat Ahmed, VP Munawar Mughal, Presi-dent ICCI and government officials with head and members of visiting Saudi delegation.

PIA gets ready for European Unioncertification, launching of flights to Iran

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—PIA gets ready for EuropeanUnion certification, acquisition of ATRSimulator, launching of flights to Iran andrevised policy for award of GSAs throughBoard of Directors. These decisions weretaken at PIA’s 354th Board of Directorsmeeting held at PIA Head Office.

The meeting was presided by SecretaryAviation and Chairman PIA Mr.SyedMuhamamd Ali Gardezi. Mr. Aslam Khaliq,Mr.Azam Saigol, Mr.Ghiasuddin Ahmed,Mr.Atif Bajwa, Mr.Nazir Malik, Mr.WaqarYusuf, and MD PIA were also present inthe meeting. According to decisions ofBOD PIA will acquire revalidation of EASA(European Union Safety Agency) certifica-tion by end March before the new aircrafton dry lease are inducted in PIA fleet. Thisis an essential requirement for the airline tokeep its operation in the western world but

also is imperative to obtain EASA-145 oth-erwise the new aircrafts will have to be sentabroad for inspection and maintenancechecks which certainly become very expen-sive and financially unviable. However,CAA will conduct its inspections prior tothat. Board approved acquisition of Simu-lator for the ATR aircraft which not onlywill save huge expenses being incurred onits pilots while getting training from abroadbut also will pave way for generation ofrevenues by training other airlines both for-eign as well as local.

For having more transparency in itssales business it has been decided that infuture the award of GSAs will be approvedthrough BOD approval. As per PrimeMinister ’s advice Board also reviewedairline’s preparation of launch of flights toMashad (Iran) and gave its consent. PIA’stwice weekly operation to Mashad will befrom Lahore via Quetta by 25th February.

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—The Consul General of Germany,Dr.Tilo Klinner said that status of GSP Pluswould play important role to further strength-ening the business relations between Paki-stan and Germany. Due to status of GSP Plusgiven by European countries to Pakistan,exports to European countries would be in-creased by 27%. This was stated by Dr.TiloKlinner, during a meeting at KATI. PresidentKATI, Syed Farukh Mazhar, Immediate PastChairman Mohammad Zubair Chhaya, Chair-man, Diplomats Affairs Standing Committee,Mr.Masood Naqi have also addressed whileGerman Consular Attache Economic & Cul-ture Affairs Development, Faraz-ur-Rehman,Danish Khan, Amjad Ullah Khan, UsamaAbbas Khan Niazi, Niaz Ahmed, ShahidJawed Qureshi and others were present atthis occasion.

GSP Plus status to enhancePak, Germany business ties: Tilo

The Consul General of Germany, Dr.TiloKlinner said that efforts should be madefor the increase of trade between Pakistanand Germany and for that a delegationwould visit Pakistan in this year consistingon the representatives of some 80 compa-nies. He said a plan of joint Chamber ofPakistan and Germany is also being con-sidered.

President KATI, Syed Farukh Mazharsaid that exports to European countrieswould be increased after getting status ofGSP Plus. He hopes that representationmay be given to trade Associations in JointChamber to be formed.

The Chairman, Diplomats Affairs Stand-ing Committee, Mr.Masood Naqi said thatwe should emphasize on purchase of latesttextile machineries from Germany so thatbenefits could be achieved from the latesttechnology in Pakistan.

KARACHI: President KATI, Syed Farukh Mazhar presenting shield to Dr Tilo Klinner,Consul General of Germany, Mohammad Zubair Chhaya, Masood Naqi, Faraz-ur-Rehman, Danish Khan, Amjadullah Khan, Shahid Jawed Qureshi and others are alsopresent at the occasion.

KARACHI: PIA’s 354th Board of Directors meeting was held at the airline’s headoffice. The meeting was presided by Secretary Aviation and Chairman PIA, MuhammadAli Gardezi.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The 2-daySAARC Chamber YoungEntrepreneurs Form(SCYEF) moot on “Youth inAsian Century concluded inthe city with a resolve topromote trade andstrengthen economic tiesbesides accelerating the de-velopmental activitiesamong SAARC membercountries.

Briefing the mediamenhere Sunday about the de-liberations of the moot, VicePresident SAARC Chamberof Commerce and Industry,Pak chapter and veterantrade leader Iftikhar AliMalik said that Punjab Gov-ernor ChaudharyMuhammad Sarwar, FederalCommerce Minister EngKhurram Dastagir, Presi-dent, SAARC CCI, VikramjitSingh Sahney, founder ofSCCI Tariq Sayyed and VicePresident World PunjabiForum, Pak chapter ZulfiqarAli Badar addressed themoot while the delegates ofyoung entrepreneurs fromSri Lanka, India, Maldives,Bhutan, Afghanistan,

SAARC CYEF moot endswith resolve to promote trade

Bangladesh, Nepal and hostcountry spoke in different 6sessions on the themes of“The ideas that can changethe world”, “The SouthAsian Young Entrepreneursin 21st Century”, “Experi-

ence has no substitute: lead-ers unleash success”,“Leadership and RegionalIntegration” and “SocioCultural Affairs and Re-gional Integration in SouthAsia”.

The participants unani-mously agreed in principalthat SAARC region shouldemphasis on joining handsin trade, agriculture andeconomic activities whichmust refrain from animositiesfor the region. The pro-

posed themes a catalyst forsocio-economic growth inSouth Asia” was the followup of the key decisionstaken at the recent SAARCSummit in expanding re-gional trade and economicco-operation.

Iftikhar, the host of mootsaid that deliberations willgive an impetus to liberal-ization of inter-SAARCthrough SAFTA.

It will also develop con-cert ideas in fields of tradefacilitation and on measuresto improve intra-regionalconnectivity which, headded, would contribute tosmooth trade flows and re-duced transaction costs inintra-regional trade, headded.

With the rapid advance-ment of technology, the needfor sustainability and sur-vival has become crucial per-spective for firms through-out the world as competitiongrows gruesome, he saidand added that current glo-bal crunch has become a set-back for countries through-out the world especially indeveloping and transitioneconomies.

ISLAMABAD—The government is settingup two Industrial Parks in Karachi andLahore for textile and engineering equip-ments to promote country’s exports. Thefirst- called Korangi Creek Industrial Park-is being set up in Karachi while RachnaIndustrial Park is being established atSheikhupura Road, Lahore by NationalIndustrial Parks Development and Man-agement Company.

Official sources at NIPDMC on Sundaysaid, in addition, the government of Punjabinitiated a project close to Lahore onmotorway. This project is called PunjabGarment City Industrial Estate and wouldprovide an opportunity to garment indus-tries for taking advantages of the GSP+ fa-cilities.

Highlighting the details of proposedIndustrial Parks and Estate Zones, thesources said in Korangi Creek Park, thegarments and value added textiles clusters

Industrial Parks beingset up to promote exports

in Low Density Zone (LDZ) is consisted ofaround 19 acres which is 18 per cent of thetotal saleable area of 103 acres.

They said this cluster has been success-fully sold to industrialists who would besetting up manufacturing units in the weav-ing, garments and home textile sectors etc.

Light engineering cluster consists ofaround 26 acres of the total saleable areaof 103 acres in the LDZ. This cluster hasbeen successfully sold to auto vendor,lighting equipments, steel fabrication, col-lapsible tubes and plastic items etc manu-facturers.

The sources said Rachna IndustrialPark on Lahore Sheikhupura Road is beingset-up in area of over 174 acres to accom-modate small and medium scale industries,scattered in and around Lahore and adjoin-ing cities of Sheikhupura District for theLight Engineering, Auto parts Industries,Textile and other sectors.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Secretary Economic AffairsNargis Sethi has said that government islaunching different power plants to meetgrowing energy demand in the country. Shesaid that Gaddani and Jamshoro powerplants will start functioning in the next fouryears. She said that imported and Thar coalwould be utilized in these power plants toprovide less expensive electricity in thecountry. Talking to Pakistan Television, shesaid that modern technology would be in-troduced in completing these projects for

Govt launches power plantsto meet energy demand: Nargis

protecting environment of the area. She saidthat local people of Balochistan would getjob opportunities after launching theprojects.

Chief Gaddani Power Park, Nargis Sethisaid that all necessary facilities includingroads, education, health and accommoda-tion would be provided in the area so thatthe working staff could perform their du-ties without any trouble.

She said that power plants would gen-erate electricity from coal.—APP

China banklending surges

in JanuarySHANGHAI—China’s banklending surged in Januaryfrom December, the centralbank said, but analysts at-tributed the rise to seasonalfactors.

Loans by Chinesebanks reached around 1.3trillion yuan ($216 billion) inJanuary, up 246.9 billionyuan from the same montha year ago, the People’sBank of China said in a state-ment late Saturday.

In December, banksgranted just 482.5 billionyuan in new loans, previousfigures showed.

The January lending fig-ure beat the 1.1 trillion yuanmedian forecast by 11economists polled by DowJones Newswires. Social fi-nancing, a broader measureof credit in the economythan lending alone, rose 39.9billion yuan year-on-year to2.6 trillion yuan in January,the central bank said.

But analysts said Chi-nese banks tend to lendmore at the beginning of theyear after being granted theirannual lending quotas, andthey expect the governmentto keep a grip on credit dueto worries over financial risk.“This is a common occur-rence at the beginning of theyear and we do not believeit reflects any shift inpolicy,” research firm Capi-tal Economics said.—AFP

S Korea’s Iranoil importsfall 51pc

SEOUL—South Korea’scrude imports from Iran fell51 percent in January from amonth earlier, and ship-ments are expected to re-main at around 125,000 bpdthrough the first six monthsof the interim deal onTehran’s nuclear program.

Under the Geneva ac-cord agreed between Iranand six major powers lastNovember that went intoeffect in January, South Ko-rea and other Asian buyerscan hold to crude imports atthe sanctions-reduced ratesreached at the end of 2013.

South Korea imported275,169 tons of Iranian crudelast month, or 65,064 barrelsper day (bpd), down 51 per-cent from December, alsodown 66 percent from a yearearlier, preliminary customsdata showed on Saturday.

The interim deal reachedlast November between Iranand six major powers easessome of the sanctions —including freeing up somefrozen oil payments — inreturn for curbs to Iran’snuclear enrichment pro-gram. Tehran and the so-called P5+1 group of worldpowers still have to negoti-ate their differences to settlea final deal. Until then, nobig jumps are expected incrude imports by Iran’s topfour buyers China, India,Japan and South Korea.

The four importers havebeen steadily cutting pur-chases over the last twoyears to avoid falling foul oftoughened US and EU sanc-tions put in place in 2012.

The four Asian buyerstogether cut oil imports fromIran by 15 percent on theyear to an average of 935,862bpd in 2013, governmentand industry datashowed.—Agencies

RAWALPINDI: A view of cricket match between Lahore Lions and Faisalabad Wolves during Faysal Bank T-20 Tournament 2014 at PindiCricket Stadium.

ISLAMABAD: Players struggling for ball possession during opening match between Islamabad Academy Footballand Falcon Football Club during the Wajid Zaib Khan Sawati Football Tournament organized by Federal FootballClub.

Faisalabad Wolves innings:Farrukh c Nasir b Hafeez 1Ali Waqas b Hafeez ...... 63Khurram c Riaz b Imran 11Misbah c Adnan b Aizaz 27Asif c Shehzad b Asif ... 11Imran run out ................... 0Salman b Wahab Riaz ..... 0Talha b Wahab Riaz ........ 0Saeed Ajmal c Ahmed bAizaz ................................. 1Ehsan Adil not out .......... 5Extras: (lb 5, w 4, nb 2) .. 11Total: (9 wickets) ......... 130Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-35, 3-102, 4-122, 5-123, 6-124, 7-124, 8-124, 9-130Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WAizaz Cheema ...... 4-0-29-2Hafeez ................... 4-0-20-2Wahab Riaz .......... 4-0-11-2Adnan Rasool ..... 3-0-21-0Imran Ali ............... 4-0-28-1Asif Raza .............. 1-0-16-1

SCOREBOARDLahore Lions innings:Nasir b Khurram ............ 14Ahmed Shehzad b ImranKhalid ............................. 16Hafeez c Salman b Asad . 6Umar c Salman b Ehsan 11Saad Nasim not out ...... 43Umar Akmal c Salmanb Asad Ali ...................... 14Asif Raza b Asad Ali ...... 0Wahab Riaz run out ........ 5Imran Ali not out ............. 1Extras: (b 1, lb 2, w 14, nb 4)21Total: (7 wickets) ......... 131Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-40, 3-46, 4-91, 5-110 ), 6-110, 7-127Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WMohammad Talha 4-0-31-0Khurram Shehzad .. 2-0-9-1Asad Ali ............... 4-0-32-3Ehsan Adil ............ 4-0-33-1Saeed Ajmal ......... 4-0-11-0Imran Khalid ........ 2-0-12-1

SHEIKHUPURA: IG Motorway Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema giving away silver trophy toladies officer getting 2nd position in table tennis during Sports Festival.

DUBAI—In a match that ebbed andflowed, Sri Lanka Under-19s last-wicketpair edged past England Under-19s inthe most thrilling match of the tourna-ment so far. With all men in the ring,Anuk Fernando, Sri Lanka’s No.10,dabbed the ball towards point andrisked the single even with eight ballsremaining. They scampered throughand Sri Lanka had all but booked theirplace in the quarter-finals, with winsfrom both their games.

At 160 for 7 in the 35th over chas-ing 231, England looked the favouritesbut they weren’t prepared for SriLanka’s lower-order fight. ThilakshaSumanasiri and AK Tyronne, the eighth-wicket pair, batted positively, exploit-ing an attacking field to even it up witha 43-run stand.

The required rate was never a con-cern for Sri Lanka, and it was more amatter of keeping wickets in hand.Sumanasiri’s dismissal, caught off a topedge, gave England an opening.Tyronne’s scoop to cover tilted thescales towards England, but Anuk heldhis nerve, defended the odd deliveryand saw his side through.

Both teams displayed character inan absorbing contest. Jonathan Tatter-sall grafted his way to 95 to get En-gland to a total they could defend whilethe Sri Lanka opener Sadeera

Sri Lanka fight back for one-wicketwin over England U-19s

Samarawickrama kept his side in thehunt with a more aggressive 82.

The batsmen not only had to nego-tiate a slow surface but also an unusu-ally large outfield. Curiously, the ropeswere not brought forward, which meantthat it was always going to be difficultscoring boundaries on one side of thewicket. Muscling the ball over the ropes

would have been challenging even formore mature batsmen. The junior bats-men today had to work within thoselimitations and naturally, had to covera lot of ground between the wickets.The England innings featured just tenfours, three sixes and a massive 178 dotballs.

The England top order failed afterbeing asked to bat, losing their first fourwickets for 43 within 11 overs. SriLanka’s left-arm pace duo of Anuk and

Binura Fernando hurried them on forpace and movement when the condi-tions suited them best. The left-armspinner Harsha Rajapaksa claimed twowickets in his second over, beatingHarry Finch with one that went throughwith the arm and bowling Ed Barnardoff an inside edge.

England were in a similar positionto India’s yesterday, when a quick burstof wickets put extra pressure on themiddle order. While India’s recoveryhinged on a century stand for the fifthwicket, England’s was based on threehalf-century stands, with Tattersall thepivot. Will Rhodes added 71 with himfor the fifth wicket, hitting two bound-aries in his 38 before he was trappedlbw to Binura’s inswing.

Tattersall kept pushing the singlesand eventually reached his fifty, off 89balls. His first boundary came off his55th ball, when he lofted the offspinnerAK Tyronne over long-on. He sweptthe same bowler down to deep squareleg to bring up the fifty stand with JoeClarke.

The last ten overs was the mostproductive for England as 78 came offit, with 55 of those coming off the lastfive alone. However, there were onlythree fours and two sixes in that pe-riod, indicative of the amount of run-ning they had to do.—AFP

RAWALPINDI—Lahore Lions clinches na-tional twenty 20 cricket tournament title af-ter beating Faisalabad Wolves by threewickets in final at Rawalpindi.

Batting first Faisalabad Wolves scored130 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in allotted20 over’s.

Ali Waqas remained top scorer with 63runs while skipper Misbah ul Haq hit 27runs.

For Lahore, Aizaz Cheema, MohammadHafeez and Wahab Riaz bagged two wick-ets each.

In reply Lahore Lions achieved the tar-get in last ball for the loss of 7 wickets.

Saad Nasim remained top scorer withunebaten 43 runs while Ahmed Shehzad hit

Lahore Lions clinchNational T20 cricket

tournament title16 runs.

For Faisalabad Asad Ali bagged threewickets.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Twenty20 cap-tain Mohammad Hafeez has said playersfrom his country are missing out on a “greatlearning experience” by not being allowedto play in the IPL. The PCB, he said, shouldlook into the matter and resolve it so thatPakistan players get a chance to work withother international players.

“It is strange that for years now Paki-stani players have not been allowed to playin the IPL because it is a world-class leagueand there is so much to learn from it,”Hafeez told Express newspaper. “I playedin the first season of the IPL and I got a

chance to share the dress-ing room with greats likeSourav Ganguly and RickyPonting and it was a greatlearning experience. I believethat what our players aremissing out the most is thisaspect of playing in the IPL.”

Hafeez representedKolkata Knights Riders inthe inaugural IPL season in2008, but Pakistan playershave not been allowed in thetournament since theMumbai terror attacks in2008 which strained relationsbetween the two nations.

“It is no use taking inter-est in a thing you are not partof,” he said. “But this IPLproblem is something thatour cricket board shouldlook into and resolve. Be-cause it is a world-classevent and every playerwants to take part in suchan event where the bigcrowds only add to the funand excitement.”—APP

FAISALABAD—Pakistan has won InterloopPakistan-India Blind Cricket T-20 series 2014after defeating India by nine wickets in thesecond Twenty-20 match played at IqbalStadium here on Sunday.

India won the toss and preferred to batfirst. The Indian team scored 208 runs forseven wickets. Ketan Patel scored 72 runsand Ganesh was the second best with 27runs. Haroon and Idrees from Pakistanshared a wicket each.

Pakistan chased the target of 209 runswith an ease for only one wicket in 16.2overs. Zahid Mehmood scored his maiden

Pakistan win 2nd T-20 matchcentury and remained not-out on 104 runsof 57 balls while Nisar Ali scored 55 runs.

Pakistan won the match by nine wick-ets and Zahid Mehmood was declared manof the match.

DCO Noorul Ameen Mangel, CPO DrHaidar Ashraf, Rana Afzal MNA and SyedSultan Shah, Chairman PBCC, distributedprizes among players.

Pakistan with this win gets an inacces-sible lead of 2-0 in three match Interloop T-20 series. The third and concluding T-20match of the series will be played on Mon-day (February 17) at Iqbal Stadium.—APP

LAHORE—Former Pakistan captainand pace bowling great Wasim Akramhit out at the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) for offering Moin Khan a two-month contract, terming the decisionas a “joke.”

Former Pakistan captains JavedMiandad, Wasim Akram and IntikhabAlam were involved in choosing a newcoaching team for the national side andafter weeks of deliberations the PCBsettled on Khan, choosing him overformer stars Waqar Younis andMohsin Khan among others. Akramwelcomed the move to pick the former

Akram hits out at PCB overMoin contract

wicket-keeper but was appalled at thecontract handed to Khan.

“I have been hearing that they areoffering a two-month contract forMoin Khan and that is very upsetting.When you can offer two-year con-tracts for foreign coaches, offeringyour own coach a contract of just twomonths is not good. Which coach canmake a difference in two months? I feelit is a wrong thinking by the board,”Akram said in an interview with GulfNews.

PCB chief operating officerSubhan Ahmed told reporters Khanwould coach the team only for thismonth’s Asia Cup and next month’sWorld Twenty20 for now.

“Khan has been appointed headcoach on the recommendations of thecoach committee and since we haveno cricket until October this year wewill review his contract after the twotours,” said Ahmed, the fourth mem-ber of the coach committee.

Akram, however, said the timecould have been used to help Khandevelop the team further.

“They have come up with the ar-gument that they don’t have cricketfor five months but in those fivemonths, Moin Khan can actuallychannelise his players. He can go todifferent cities and see first-classmatches. Offering a two-month con-

tract is a joke.”Khan played 69 Tests and 219 one-

day internationals for Pakistan in the1990s and 2000s. He has also coachedthe Pakistani and Indian domesticteams but never an international team.

Khan has been team manager sinceJuly this year. Former paceman ZakirKhan, a director in the PCB, takes overas manager for the two tours.

Pakistan had former Australianbatsman Whatmore as head coachfrom March 2012 to last month.

Former opening batsman ShoaibMohammad, son of batting legendHanif Mohammad, meanwhile hasbeen appointed as fielding coach toreplace Englishman Julian Fountainwhose contract also expired lastmonth.

Another former captain ZaheerAbbas was appointed “chief cricketconsultant” and will accompany theteam on tours, said Ahmed.

Abbas, known as Asia’s DonBradman, will be in charge of batting.

Former captain Aamir Sohail’s ap-pointment as chief selector last weekwas declared null and void, with formerTest batsman Azhar Khan taking hisplace.

Bowling coach MohammadAkram’s contract is also renewed foranother two years, said Ahmed.—APP

Sethi forreviving Int’l

cricket inPakistan

IS L A M A B A D —ChairmanPakistan Cricket Board(PCB), Najam Sathi onSunday vowed to reviveInternational cricket in Pa-kistan.

Talking to PakistanTelevision, he said that allimportant steps would betaken to bring back Inter-national cricket in thecountry.

He said that all formerchairmans of PCB wouldbe consulted in revivingthe international cricketingin Pakistan.

He said that there isneed to focus on domesticcricket to hunt talented andyoung men for playing na-tional and Internationallevel cricket.

He said that a commit-tee would be formed tolegislate new constitutionfor bringing improvementin the selection, electionand other matters in thePCB.

Replying to a questionhe said that Imran Khan’svision for restoring na-tional cricketing would begiven importance.

Chairman PCB said thatthere is mismanagement inthe auditing area whichwould be made apt soon.

To another question hesaid that PCB would takeall necessary measures tobring improvement in allmatters.

He said that all out ef-forts would be made to en-sure security for the inter-national teams in Paki-stan.—APP

LAHORE—Former chairman PakistanCricket Board (PCB) said that the idea ofBig Three was originated by India whothreatened him for opposing it.

He said that initially five countries op-posed the idea for which India termed Paki-stan responsible for that opposition. Whileaddressing at a ceremony in Lahore, ZakaAshraf said that he had no political agendaand Pakistan was his priority.

He further said that he never gave anypriority to political matters in cricket. The

India threatened Pakistan foropposing Big Three: Zaka

former chairman PCB said that cricket is thevoice of the entire nation and it makes thenation united. He said that the constitutionmaking was the job of the government andnot of the PCB chairman.

Zaka Ashraf said that his decision ofnot to be a part of Big Three was appreci-ated all over the country but when he cameback to Pakistan everybody was criticisinghis action.

He said that he respects the courtwhether it gives verdict in his favour ornot.—APP

NH&MP sportsfestival ends

LAHORE—Inspector GeneralNational Highways &Motorway Police ZulfiqarAhmad Cheema has said thatsports play a vital role in sharp-ening the human mind. He wasaddressing a closing cer-emony of the third NH&MPannual sports festival held atSheikhupura on Sunday. TheIG said that NH&MP wasknown not only in Pakistanbut all over the world as a cour-teous, honest and helpingforce. People from all walks oflife appreciate its honesty, headded.—APP

SOCHI (Russia)—Sweden on Sun-day took gold with a dominant per-formance in the men’s 4x10km crosscountry relay, completing a famousdouble for the nordic nation afteralso winning the women’s event.

Swedish anchorman MarcusHellner was able to enjoy a victori-ous run into the finish, waving theSwedish flag attached to one of hisski poles, crossing the line for a to-tal time of 1hr 28min 42sec.

Watched by President VladimirPutin and other top Russian offi-cials at the Laura cross country cen-tre, Russia finally showed somecross country form to take silver in1hr 29min 9.3sec

France’s quartet cel-

ebrated a surprise bronze.Meanwhile, Eva Samkova ofthe Czech Republic hailedthe moustache she paints onher face as a lucky charm af-ter she stormed to Olympicsnowboard cross gold onSunday.

The 20-year-old led fromstart to finish in the final totake the title ahead ofCanada’s world number oneDominique Maltais.

“It’s simple, it’s just forluck. It’s a lucky moustachebut this one is special. Be-cause of this special day it’sin the national colours,” saidSamkova.

“It was 2011 in La Molina(at the) world champion-ships. That was my firstworld championships and Ipainted a moustache and Iwas fifth.

“It was my best result inthat time so I decided topaint it all the time, and it gives meluck.”

France’s Chloe Trespeuch tookbronze after avoiding a late collisionbetween Michela Moioli of Italy andAlexandra Jekova of Bulgaria.

Samkova was in a class of her

Surging Swedes take relay doubleown throughout the day’s compe-tition, finishing top of the pile in themorning’s time-trial runs to decideseedings for the competitionproper. Meanwhile, two competitorsin the women’s Olympic snowboardcross event at the Sochi Games werestretchered off after crashing badlyin Sunday morning’s seeding races.

Medal hopeful Helene Olafsenfrom Norway—the firstsnowboarder on the course—wastaken to hospital with a knee injury.

The other casualty in the seed-ing run—where riders competealone against the clock for a betterseeding for the afternoon quarter-finals when there are six athletes

racing together—was AmericanJacqueline Hernandez.

Many athletes have describedthe course as fast, forcing them tocontrol their speed on certain sec-tions rather than just go hell forleather all the way down.

It was the second time in threedays Olafsen, who finished third atlast year’s world championships andfourth at the 2010 VancouverGames, had crashed.

She was also carried off on astretcher on Friday after cutting herforehead in a fall.

“She’s being taken to the localhospital with a knee injury and shewill not compete,” a Norwegian teamspokesman said.

Hernandez appeared to hit herhead after falling awkwardly andwas also stretchered off, althoughshe was conscious at that point.

She was also unable take part inthe second seeding run.

The end of the snowboard crosscourse uses part of the slopestylepiste, which was heavily criticisedearlier in the Games after a series ofcrashes. However, the snowboardcross crashes happened further upthe course before it merges onto the

slopestyle track.By the time the freestyle skiers

took to the slopestyle course, a fewdays after the snowboarders, manywere describing it as perfect.

During snowboard training onthe slopestyle course another Nor-wegian, medal hope TorsteinHorgmo, broke his collarbone in afall while in the women’s freestyleskiing training American HeidiKloser broke her thighbone and toreher cruciate knee ligament aftercrashing.

Russian freestyle skier MariaKomissarova, who fractured herspine in a ski-cross training acci-dent, remains in a stable but seri-

ous condition.Komissarova, 23, underwent a

six-and-a-half hour operation onSaturday which was described assuccessful and where doctors in-serted a metallic implant into herspine.—AFP

Defiant McCullum, Watlingkeep New Zealand alive

SYDNEY: Karrie Webb kissing the trophy after beating South Korea’s Chella Choi inWomen’s Australian Open final.

Snowboard cross racers stretchered off after crashes

WELLINGTON—A dogged 158-run standby century-maker Brendon McCullum andBJ Watling kept New Zealand alive in thesecond Test against India on Sunday, al-though the odds continue to favour thetourists.

After New Zealand looked on the ropesat 94-5, McCullum and Watling ensuredIndia will have to bat again as they wipedout the 246-run first innings deficit to reach252-5 at stumps on the third day.

McCullum, who brought up his ninthTest century with a powerful six off IshantSharma, was on 114 with Watling on 52.

However, despite their heroic partner-ship, New Zealand will likely need to batthrough the fourth day, with only a brittletail to come, if they are to deny India a seem-ingly inevitable series-levelling victory.

It has been an impressive innings byMcCullum who, despite his reputation as apunishing batsman, showed that when thechips are down he can still graft away forthe good of the team.

He faced 146 deliveries to bring up his50, reaching the milestone sweeping Jadejato the square leg boundary, before uppingthe pace to cover the second 50 in only 54balls.

As the score mounted, India were leftto rue lost chances when McCullum wasdropped on nine by Virat Kohli at shortmid-on, and then at 36 when Ishant Sharmaput down a caught and bowled opportu-nity.

At the other end Watling proved theideal companion as the pair posted a recordsixth-wicket partnership for New Zealandagainst India, eclipsing the previous markof 137 set by Chris Cairns and CraigMcMillan in 1998.

Watling, who brought up his seventhhalf century, has faced 208 deliveries forhis patient 52.

However, with two days remaining, timefavours India registering their first win ontour after losing the first Test by 40 runsand being beaten in the one-day series 4-0.

Winning the toss put them on the frontfoot immediately as the Indian seamersmade full use of a green wicket to roll New

Zealand for 192.India replied with an impressive 438 for

a 246-run lead which New Zealandstruggled to reel in until McCullum andWatling mounted their rearguard action.

After resuming Sunday at 24-1, NewZealand lost three wickets before lunch, twoto Zaheer Khan who had figures of 3-60.

Kane Williamson edged an attemptedcover drive to wicketkeeper MahendraSingh Donhi and he was out for seven.

New Zealand were then 27-2 and slippedto 52-3 when Hamish Rutherford also nickedKhan to Dhoni and was gone for 35.

Debutant Tom Latham, who made aduck in the first innings, looked more as-sured the second time around — until hereached 29, when he prodded at a wideMohammed Shami delivery and was caughtbehind.

Corey Anderson went for two shortlyafter lunch, caught and bowled by

Ravindra Jadeja, before McCullum andWatling batted through more than 61 oversand weathered the new ball to get NewZealand through to stumps.—AFP

WELLINGTON: Brendon McCullum guides one over the cordon during New Zealandvs India 2nd Test’s 3rd day on Sunday.

Country ....... G ...... S ..... B TotalGermany ....... 7 ...... 3 ...... 2 ..... 12Norway ......... 5 ...... 3 ...... 6 ..... 14Switzerland ... 5 ...... 1 ...... 1 ....... 7Russia ........... 4 ...... 7 ...... 5 ..... 16Canada .......... 4 ...... 6 ...... 4 ..... 14United States 4 ...... 4 ...... 8 ..... 16Netherlands . 4 ...... 4 ...... 6 ..... 14Poland ........... 4 ...... 0 ...... 0 ....... 4China ............. 3 ...... 2 ...... 0 ....... 5Belarus .......... 3 ...... 0 ...... 1 ....... 4Sweden ......... 2 ...... 5 ...... 2 ....... 9Austria .......... 2 ...... 4 ...... 1 ....... 7France ........... 2 ...... 0 ...... 4 ....... 6Japan ............. 1 ...... 3 .... 1 5Czech ............ 1 ...... 2 ...... 1 ....... 4Slovenia ........ 1 ...... 1 ...... 3 ....... 5S Korea ......... 1 ...... 1 ...... 1 ....... 3Great Britain . 1 ...... 0 ...... 1 ....... 2Slovakia ........ 1 ...... 0 ...... 0 ....... 1Italy ............... 0 ...... 2 ...... 3 ....... 5Finland .......... 0 ...... 2 ...... 0 ....... 2Latvia ............ 0 ...... 1 ...... 2 ....... 3Australia ....... 0 ...... 1 ...... 1 ....... 2Croatia .......... 0 ...... 1 ...... 0 ....... 1Kazakhstan .. 0 ...... 0 ...... 1 ....... 1Ukraine ......... 0 ...... 0 ...... 1 ....... 1

KRASNAYA POLYANA: Marcus Hellner, Johan Olsson, Daniel Richardsson and Lars Nelson of Sweden celebrateafter winning the Men’s 4 X 10km Relay competition at the Laura Cross Country Centre during the Sochi 2014Olympic Games.

SYDNEY—Karrie Webb edged SouthKorea’s Chella Choi in a “nerve-rack-ing” battle to win her fifth Women’sAustralian Open and 40th tour titleSunday with a 12-under-par.

The veteran Australian came fromfive behind at the start of the day towin by a shot from Choi, the overnightleader who shot a course record 10-under 62 in the third round.

Webb, 39 and a former world num-ber one, thrived in gusty conditions totake her first home Open crown since2008, finishing with a final round four-under 68. She faced a tense wait asChoi—chasing her first US LPGA title—missed a birdie putt on the par-five 18thwhich would have forced a playoff.

“It was nerve-racking. I actuallythought once Chella had that putt onthe last—I’ve played with her quite abit and I was expecting that one to go

PRETORIA—South Africa will turn their at-tention to finding a way to negate the for-midable threat posed by fiery AustralianMitchell Johnson, captain Graeme Smithsaid following his team’s comprehensive281-run defeat in the first test on Saturday.

“There is no doubt Mitchell Johnsonwas the difference in this game and wehave to find way to curb him and put himunder pressure in the next two tests,” saidSmith as South Africa licked their woundsafter losing the first of the three-test se-ries. Johnson’s 12-wicket haul came as aresult of some vicious deliveries, one ofwhich cut Ryan McLaren behind the earand the other hit Hashim Amla full in theface.

The left-arm paceman bowled consis-tently around the 150km mark and scythedthrough the home team’s batting to pro-duce career best figures. “I believe thewicket played a big part,” said Smith, con-firming the assertion of the Australian cap-tain Michael Clarke that the surface atSuperSport Park was “nasty”.

The wicket for the second test at PortElizabeth, which starts on Thursday, is ex-

No scar but need to curbJohnson, says Smith

pected to be docile in comparison. Smithdismissed media assertions his side hadbeen mentally scarred by aggression of theAustralian paceman, whose formidable formcontinued after being man of the serieswhen they won the Ashes last month aftera 5-0 whitewash of England. “I doubt thereis much mental scarring, we have lost a gameof cricket and were beaten comprehen-sively,” he said.

“It’s important that we move away fromthat, there are still two big test matches leftin this series and we need to make sure thatwe perform really well in the next one, that’sour focus.

“I feel that, even though it’s been dis-appointing, this game will benefit us goinginto the next game. I think our bowlers havegot good time on their legs and hopefullywe will have a higher intensity going intothe next game.

“From a batting perspective, I think wehave some good things to talk about, if wecan post some good totals which we havedone in the last period of time we will havethe ability to put Australia under pressure,”Smith added.—APP

New Zealand 1st innings: ....... 192India 1st innings: ..................... 438New Zealand 2nd innings:Fulton lbw b Khan ......................... 1Rutherford c Dhoni b Khan ........ 35Williamson c Dhoni b Khan ......... 7Latham c Dhoni b Shami ............. 29McCullum not out ...................... 114Anderson c & b Jadeja ................. 2Watling not out ............................ 52Extras: (b 2, lb 6, nb 4) ................. 12Total: (5 wickets) ........................ 252Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-27, 3-52, 4-87,5-94Bowling: .......................... O-M-R-WI Sharma ............................. 23-3-63-0Z Khan ............................... 25-8-60-3Shami ................................. 25-4-72-1Jadeja ................................. 26-6-49-1

Webb edges Choi to winAussie Open

in,” said a “very proud” Webb.“I was happy to see that the condi-

tions were going to be a little toughertoday because I felt like that gave me achance to make up some ground.”

World number eight Webb, dis-qualified from her title defence of theAustralian Ladies Masters last weekafter signing an incorrect scorecard,said she “got off to a great start” withbirdies on the first two holes.

“I just did a really good job men-tally today. Probably I can’t think ofanother time that I’ve held myself to-gether as well as that.”

She got her break on the par-4 11th,where she birdied a huge 45-foot down-hill putt to take the lead.

“I hadn’t even got the ball to thehole on that green all week so yeah, itwas nice to see that one drop and re-ally got things going.”—AFP

SOCHI—Russia blasted American referee Brad Meier Sat-urday for disallowing a goal that would have given them alead late in their Olympic Games hockey clash they even-tually lost to the USA in a shootout.

“The referee made a mistake,” said Russian coachZinetula Bilyaletdinov following the Russians 3-2 loss tothe Americans in a preliminary round contest.

“Of course, it would have been more effective to havea different judge.”

T.J. Oshie scored four times in the shootout after aroller-coaster contest in front of a raucous crowd of 11,678at the Bolshoi Ice Dome.

Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin insisted the goalshould have counted and said that USA goaltenderJonathan Quick deserved a penalty for intentionally dis-lodging it.

“It was definitely a goal. The goalie touched the net sothat the net moved,” Ovechkin said. “The referee had tosee it. He should have given him two minutes.”

With the score tied 2-2, the Russians appeared to havescored the go-ahead goal with just under five minutes leftin the third on a shot from the point by Fyodor Tyutin.

But Meier and his Swedish counterpart MarcusVinnerborg disallowed the goal, apparently because thenet had come off its base.—AFP

Angry Russians level theirguns at USA referee

Dibaba sets newindoor 2-mileworld record

L O N D O N — E t h i o p i a ’ sGenzebe Dibaba set a newworld record in the indoor twomiles on Sunday with victoryin a time of 9min 0.48sec atthe Birmingham Indoor GrandPrix. The achievement sawDibaba improve compatriotMeseret Defar’s previousmark of 9:06.28, set in Praguein 2009, by almost six sec-onds.

It was the third time shehad set a new indoor worldrecord this month, after pre-vious record-breaking feats inthe 1500m in Karlsruhe, Ger-many and the 3,000m inStockholm. The 23-year-old isthe sister of three-time Olym-pic champion TiruneshDibaba and Olympic silver-medallist EjegayehuDibaba.—AFP

THE pain of a short soak in ice water issupposed to cure the longer-lasting discomfort of sore muscles, but researchers

say it may not make enough difference to beworthwhile. Compared to their peers who soakedin warmer water or didn’t soak at all, amateurathletes recruited from theUniversity of Ulster in North-ern Ireland reported a 2-pointdifference on a 10-pointmuscle pain scale after re-peated soaks in 6°C (43°F)water.

That 20 percent reductionin pain - from around 3 pointsto around 1 - might have animpact on elite athletes whostrive for the slightest incre-mental improvements in per-formance, said lead studyauthor Chris Bleakley, butperhaps not for amateur ex-ercisers. “If they are not play-ing at a high level, then I letthem know it’s not going tomake a huge impact,” saidBleakley, a researcher andphysical therapist at Ulster Sports Academy,where the study took place.

The idea that soaking in ice water can has-ten the recovery of muscles made sore by a heavyworkout is popular, especially in the sportsworld. But how much difference it makes, aswell as the safety of repeated cold soaks, arestill debated (see Reuters Health article of Feb-ruary 12, 2012 here: reut.rs/LYmX3b). For thestudy, 50 students ranging in age from 18 to 35years old induced sore muscles by using theheaviest weight possible on a standing hamstringcurl machine. They did this for five days in arow, and on the first three days a treatment wasadministered after the exercise session.

The participants were divided into fivegroups, four of which got variations on cold-water soaking therapy, and the fifth just had aseated rest period after their workout. One ofthe therapy groups did hot/cold soaks, with aminute in 100°F water, followed by a minute

in 50°F water. The second groupdid a cold/air soak, with aminute in 50°F water, followedby a minute outside the tub. Athird group soaked their legs for10 minutes in 50°F water, and afourth group did the same in43°F water.

The researchers wantedto know which time and tem-perature dosages worked best.But Bleakley and his team didn’tfind any significant differencesamong all the groups in athletes’before and after scores for rangeof motion and muscle strength.Only the group that had the 10-minute, 43°F soak reported no-ticeably less muscle sorenesscompared to the seated restgroup.

Pain in all groups peaked 48 hours afterthe first workout session, but on that day theseated-rest group rated their soreness, on av-erage, at 3.39 on the scale of 10 while thegroup that soaked 10 minutes at 43°F ratedtheir pain at 1.35 out of 10. The other groups’pain ratings ranged between 2.77 and 3.4.Determining how to effectively apply coldwater immersion therapy “is certainly a basicquestion that needs to be answered in ourfield,” said exercise physiologist GillianWhite.

White, a doctoral student at The Univer-sity of Toronto in Canada, was not involvedin the study.

Value of ice water soak forsore muscles still unclear

KARACHI—Patron-in-Chief of PakistanPeoples Party , Bilawal Bhutto Zardariemphasized on collective efforts for pro-moting quality education destined to so-cial and economic revolution through edu-cation.

“He will also put his own shoulder tothe wheel for bringing about a revolutionin the education sector to achieve nationalgoals,” said a statement issued by theBilawal House here on Sunday.

He showed his resolve during a brief-ing on the state of education in Sindh by adelegation of Alif Ailaan, NGO led byMosharraf Zaidi, at Bilawal House. SindhEducation Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro,Secretary Education Fazalullah Pechuho

Bilawal Bhutto calls for collectiveefforts to promote quality education

and former ambassador to the UnitedStates Ms. Sherry Rehman were alsopresent.

Bilawal said none of the targets areeasy to achieve but this is the issue theprovince and party leadership have com-mitted to address/pursue as a key priority.

He expressed his concern over the edu-cational situation in the province and reit-erated his Party’s resolve to improve thesystem and provide free and quality edu-cation to every child.

PPP’s Patron-in-Chief hoped that therecently approved Sindh Education Sec-tor Plan (SESP) 2014-2018 will play amajor part in the reforms push needed formitigating the education emergency.

He appreciated the Alif Ailaan team’ssupport for the promotion of literacy andenrollment.

Sindh Government and its function-aries have to work very hard in this sectorso that every school is functional and ev-ery teacher performs his or her duty withhonesty and dedication.

PPP’s Chief re-affirmed that variousinitiatives being undertaken by Sindh Gov-ernment shall be coordinated and that boththe political and administrative leadershipshall work together.

These are not empty statements, hecommitted, he himself will supervise thecoordinated push to reform education inSindh.—APP

KU’s Ph.Dstudent needshelp for liver

transplant abroadKARACHI—A young ladyPh.D student of InternationalCenter for Chemical and Bio-logical Sciences (ICCBS) atKarachi University (KU) needsfinancial assistance for her livertransplant surgery in India cost-ing about Rs five million.

Suffering from acute liverfailure, Miss Sobia Asghar (22)has appealed to the Federal andSindh Governments, NGOsand philanthropists to providehere financial support for thesame, said a statement by Uni-versity of Karachi.

Sobia’s family, belongingto lower middle class, has madetheir best possible efforts forher treatment of liver diseasebut there is no improvement sofar.

Recently, a team of Indiandoctors examined her and sug-gested a liver transplant surgeryas the only hope for saving herlife. Estimated total expensesof surgery in India are aboutfive million Pakistani rupees.According to Sobia Asghar be-longing to lower middle classfamily has four younger sistersand one brother of 14 years old.Her father is an employee inprivate sector with a very nomi-nal salary. Under the presentcircumstances her family is notable to bear such huge expensesof transplant.—APP

KARACHI: University students seen voluntarily collecting garbage from sea view to keepit clean.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

KARACHI: Students of a local school participating in Health Walk on Shahrah-e-Quaideen.

KARACHI: Hazardous smoke rising from garbage burnt at the side of MA Jinnah Road.

Damaged wheatcannot be

used for humanconsumption

KARACHI—Provincial Ministerfor Food Jam Mehtab HussainDahar has said that damagedwheat can only be used for mak-ing animals and birds feed and itis not for human consumption.

This he said while presidingover a meeting regarding auctionof damaged wheat here at hisoffice, a handout issued here onSunday said.

He warned that if any oneused damaged wheat for humanconsumption would be dealt ac-cording to law and if the flourmills were found involved in thisregards, not only their wheat li-cences would be canceled but thecases would also be lodgedagainst them.

The minister directed theofficers to take every precautionin this regard and keep a vigilanteye over the working of the flourmills because it was a matter ofpeople’s health.

Jam Mehtab further said thataction is also being taken againstthose officials of Food Depart-ment who caused loss to depart-ment and were responsible fordamaged wheat.—APP

KARACHI—Sindh High Court (SHC) has di-rected the Director General of the Pakistan Stan-dards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA)to get help of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs)to check the production of substandard cookingoil, and furnish report within one month.

A divisional bench of the SHC comprisingJustice Irfan Saadat and Justice Zafar AhmedRajput issued this directive in a petition againstthe manufacturing and packaging of substandardghee and cooking oil. Earlier, Director GeneralPSQCA appeared before the court and submitted

in a statement that the PSQCA always extendsvoluntarily its full cooperation to provincial gov-ernments to counter those unscrupulous manu-facturers who produce substandard oil from ille-gal ingredients.

He further stated that PSQCA’s prime aim isadvancing national economy, promoting indus-trial efficiency and ensuring health and safety ofconsumers. The objective is to provide qualityservice in respect of products and services forconsumption of public at large. The hearing wasadjourned to a date in office.—APP

SHC orders action against productionof substandard cooking oil

KARACHI—Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul EbadKhan warmly welcomed Shaikh NooriMuhammad Ahmed Ali, the muttawali of HujraRasool (Peace Be Upon Him) on his visit to theGovernor House, here.

The Governor termed the arrival of themuttawali in the city an honour. On his request,Shaikh Noori Muhammad Ahmed Ali prayed

Muttawali Shaikh Noorivisits Governor House

for the stability and prosperity of Pakistan andfor successfully overcoming the challengesfaced by the country, said a handout issued hereon Saturday.

He said that Pakistan is the citadel of Islam,and prayed for its safety. Haji Masood Parekhand Yousuf Mastowi accompanied Shaikh NooriMuhammad Ahmed Ali.—APP

KARACHI—Al-Hadeed Foundation will holddeclamation contest on the importance of edu-cation among the regular students— both boysand girls- from schools, colleges and universi-ties.

The title will be “ Iss Daur Mein TaaleemHay Imraz-i-Millat Ki Dawa, Hay Khoon FasidKay leya Taaleem Mushkel Neshtar,” said a re-

Declamation contest by Al-Hadeed Foundationlease here on Sunday. The interested studentsare advised to present their nominations beforeFeb 20 at House No. B-111, Phase-II, Gulshan-e-Hadeed. They can contact on phone numbers0332- 2382318, 021- 34714204.

The programme will start by 9 30 am onSunday , at E-Complex College , Phase-I ,Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Bin Qasim Karachi.—APP

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Minister Syed QaimAli Shah has strongly condemned the bomb blasttargeting Peshawar-bound Khushhal KhanKhattak Express in Tangwani area of Kashmore-Kandhkot district on Sunday and sought imme-diate report from the Commissioner and DIGSukkur.

He also directed Sindh Inspector Generalof Police Shahid Nadeem Baloch and Districtpolice officers to take all possible security mea-

CM orders inquiry into bombblast hitting passenger train

sures to ensure security of railways tracks. Heordered strict legal action against those involvedin this heinous crime of terrorism targeting theinnocent passengers including women and chil-dren.

He also directed Sindh Secretary Health toensure the best possible treatment to the injured.The Chief Minister sympathised with the be-reaved families of the deceased and also prayedfor the earliest recovery of the injured.—APP

KWSBchief for

un-interruptedpower supply

KARACHI—Managing Direc-tor, Karachi Water and Sewer-age Board (KWSB) Quttebuddin Sheikh has requested theKESC management to ensureun-interrupted supply of elec-tricity to KWSB’s water pump-ing stations including that oneat Dhabeji to save heavy ma-chinery of KWSB and thepeople from facing shortage ofwater.

He said that due to suddenbreakdowns of electricity ,heavy machinery at KWSB’spumping stations includingmotors are very badly damaged, some times totally destroyed.Besides heavy financial loss, itbecomes very difficult forKWSB to maintain the level ofwater supply.

He said the city gets waterfrom two sources—throughDhabeji and from Hub Dam.Now-a-days , water level inHub Dam has drastically re-duced and this has put extrapressure to Dhabeji PumpingStation and a power breakdownwill create serious problems forKarachiites.—APP

KARACHI—MPA Sindh belonging to PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf Khurram Sher Zaman has termedSindh Assembly a place of jokers as treasurybenches of the assembly replying answers or ask-ing questions in jokes.

Talking to media persons on Sunday, the PTIleader strongly criticised the Sindh Assembly pro-ceeding and said it has failed to raise and resolvethe problems of the masses.

To a question, he said in the education de-partment 8000 teachers who were appointed dur-

PTI MPA terms SindhAssembly place of jokers

ing the previous tenure of Pakistan People’s Partyare not being paid their salaries for the last 15months. The PTI leader said he would raise thisissue in today’s (Monday) assembly session andexpressed his resolve to continue his efforts forthe welfare of the people. Sher Zaman said, “Ihave assured Teachers Action Committee thattheir issue will be raised in the assembly”. More-over, he said the education system in Sindh andparticularly in Karachi is in worse condition whichneeds to be mended.—Online

THE pain of a short soak in ice water issupposed to cure the longer-lasting discomfort of sore muscles, but research-

ers say it may not make enough difference tobe worthwhile. Compared to their peers whosoaked in warmer water or didn’t soak at all,amateur athletes recruitedfrom the University of Ul-ster in Northern Ireland re-ported a 2-point differenceon a 10-point muscle painscale after repeated soaksin 6°C (43°F) water.

That 20 percent reduc-tion in pain - from around3 points to around 1 - mighthave an impact on elite ath-letes who strive for theslightest incremental im-provements in perfor-mance, said lead study au-thor Chris Bleakley, butperhaps not for amateurexercisers. “If they are notplaying at a high level, thenI let them know it’s notgoing to make a huge im-pact,” said Bleakley, a researcher and physi-cal therapist at Ulster Sports Academy, wherethe study took place.

The idea that soaking in ice water canhasten the recovery of muscles made sore bya heavy workout is popular, especially in thesports world. But how much difference itmakes, as well as the safety of repeated coldsoaks, are still debated (see Reuters Healtharticle of February 12, 2012 here: reut.rs/LYmX3b). For the study, 50 students rangingin age from 18 to 35 years old induced soremuscles by using the heaviest weight possibleon a standing hamstring curl machine. Theydid this for five days in a row, and on the first

three days a treatment was administered af-ter the exercise session.

The participants were divided into fivegroups, four of which got variations on cold-water soaking therapy, and the fifth just hada seated rest period after their workout. One

of the therapy groups did hot/cold soaks, with a minute in100°F water, followed by aminute in 50°F water. The sec-ond group did a cold/air soak,with a minute in 50°F water,followed by a minute outsidethe tub. A third group soakedtheir legs for 10 minutes in50°F water, and a fourth groupdid the same in 43°F water.

The researchers wantedto know which time and tem-perature dosages worked best.But Bleakley and his teamdidn’t find any significant dif-ferences among all the groupsin athletes’ before and afterscores for range of motion andmuscle strength.Only the group that had the 10-

minute, 43°F soak reported noticeably lessmuscle soreness compared to the seated restgroup.

Pain in all groups peaked 48 hours af-ter the first workout session, but on that daythe seated-rest group rated their soreness,on average, at 3.39 on the scale of 10 whilethe group that soaked 10 minutes at 43°Frated their pain at 1.35 out of 10. The othergroups’ pain ratings ranged between 2.77and 3.4. Determining how to effectivelyapply cold water immersion therapy “iscertainly a basic question that needs to beanswered in our field,” said exercise physi-ologist Gillian White.

Value of ice water soak forsore muscles still unclear

LAHORE: Candidates of competitive examination reading their books at a green areabefore starting of a paper of CSS at Bagh-e-Jinnah on Sunday.

LAHORE: Arif Lohar performs during Faiz Aman Mela of Open Air Theatre at Bagh-e-Jinnah.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has saidthat the future of Pakistan depends uponits youth and a bright future for thecountry can be ensured by empower-ing the young generation. He said thatPunjab government has started revolu-tionary programmes for the empower-ment of the youth and billions of ru-pees have been provided for this pur-pose.

He said that more than fifty thou-sand poor but talented male and femalestudents are studying at local and for-eign educational institutions with thehelp of Punjab Educational EndowmentFund. He said that two lakh laptopsworth more than eight billion rupeeswere distributed among talented stu-dents on merit basis during the last ten-ure of the government and a similarprogramme has been evolved this year.He said that first Information Technol-ogy University of the country, e-learn-ing programme, IT labs and other such

steps are helping in polishing the talentof the young generation. Shahbaz Sharifsaid that Punjab Youth Festival has be-come a movement and the youth hasbrought honour to the country by set-ting world record of forming the big-gest human flag.

He was presiding over a high levelmeeting, here Sunday. Provincial Min-ister for Education and Sports RanaMashhood Ahmad Khan, Member Na-tional Assembly Hamza ShahbazSharif, Secretary Information, DirectorGeneral Sports and other concernedofficers attended the meeting. The ChiefMinister appreciated Provincial Minis-ter for Education and Sports RanaMashhood Ahmad Khan, Director Gen-eral Sports Board Usman Anwer andtalented youth who had set world recordof human flag and said that they havebrought fame to the country throughtheir discipline and hard work. TheChief Minister said that despite heavyrain, the youth displayed a nationalspirit and proved that they can achieveany objective. He said that Pakistan is

a lucky country as its sixty percentpopulation comprise youth between theage from 15 to 30 years. He said thatyouth are a precious asset and the goalof national development and prosper-ity can be achieved through their em-powerment. He said that Punjab gov-ernment is spending huge resources onthe empowerment of young generationand imparting them modern knowledgeand skills. He said that provision of re-sources to the youth is the guarantee toa glorious future of the country.Shahbaz Sharif further said that Punjabgovernment has taken revolutionarymeasures for the empowerment of theyouths during the last five years andhuge funds have been spent on theirwelfare. He said that Punjab Educa-tional Endowment Fund is an exem-plary programme of Punjab governmentand helping a large number of studentsfacing economic problems pursue theirstudies. He said that a sum of two bil-lion rupees is being allocated for PunjabEducational Endowment Fund eachyear and the total volume of the fund

has exceeded the figure of ten billionrupees while it will reach an amount ofRs.20 billion during next five years dueto which lakhs of talented students ofpoor families would be able to continuetheir educational process. The ChiefMinister further said that an internshipprogramme has been started for the edu-cated youth under which a monthly sti-pend of Rs.12 thousand is being givento them while they are also being im-parted training at private organizations.He said that Youth Festival is helpingPakistani youth display their talent andsuch programmes would continue infuture as well. He said that he is confi-dent that Pakistani youth will set moreworld record during Youth Festival2014.

The Chief Minister further said thatthe strategy adopted for the empower-ment and self-reliance of youth willyield positive results and the destiny ofthe country will be changed. He saidthat the progrmames initiated by Punjabgovernment for the uplift of the youthare yielding encouraging results.

Youth empowerment strategy tochange nation destiny: Shahbaz

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Pensioner’s Day” will be cel-ebrated in all offices of Ombudsman Punjabtoday while Ombudsman Punjab JavedMahmood will personally supervise all theactivities of the day. Wazir Ahmad Qureshi,Incharge “Mohtasib Punjab Pension Cell”,will organize Khuli Kucheri on “Pensioner’sDay” at 10:00 AM at Lahore likewise Mem-ber Incharge of concerned Regional Officesof Ombudsman Punjab at Multan, Sargodhaand Rawalpindi will also hold khuli kucheriand welcome pensioners and retired employ-ees of Punjab Government on 17th Febru-ary. Ombudsman Punjab Javed Mahmoodwhile declaring 15th of every month as“Pensioner’s Day” in all offices of Ombuds-man in Punjab has clearly has issued notifi-cation mentioning that in case of holiday on15th, “Pensioner’s Day” will be celebrated

on the next working day.Representatives of Accountant General

Punjab, Benevolent Fund & Group Insur-ance, State Life Corporation of Pakistan willalso attend Pensioner’s Day to cooperate insolving the long standing pensionary issuesof the retired employees.

Decision to celebrate “Pensioner’s Day”on every 15th is infact an acknowledgementaiming at to extend respect, honour and re-lief to the retired employees who dedicatedtheir youth age and valuable period to servethe nation and country. “The pensioners arenot merely retired civil servants but also se-nior citizens of the country and I have onlydone my duty by dedicating a day to resolvetheir issues”, says Ombudsman Punjab.

He said that concerned governmentfunctionaries will also be summoned on“Pensioner’s Day” just to resolve the pen-sion related issues of the said complainant

on spot in khuli kucheri. “Mohtasib PunjabPension Cell” is doing wonderful job tosafeguard the monetary rights of the pen-sioners and retired employees and their fam-ily members to should pay visit to Om-budsman Offices on 15th of every monthi.e. on “Pensioner’s Day” if they are victimof delayed pension case, GP Fund Payment,Group Insurance, Benevolent Fund or anypensionary benefit.

He has also directed Pension Sanc-tioning Authorities to extend cooperationto “Mohtasib Punjab Pension Cell” forspeedy redressal of grievances of the pen-sioners. Ombudsman Punjab has alsowarned the Pension Sanctioning Authori-ties to refrain from flouting the Presiden-tial Orders, Judgments of Supreme Courtand Pension Rules of the Punjab Govern-ment and award the pensionary benefitsto retiring employees without delay.

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif chairing a meeting to discuss matters relating to the Youth Festival and welfare of the Youths.

Punjab Ombudsman to supervisePensioners’ Day celebrations today

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Punjab Education Foundationwas proactively working to ensure that everydeserving child enjoys equal access to the basicrights of education because education helps tofoster universally accepted principles of peace-ful coexistence and respect for humanity at thegrassroots.

Chairman Punjab Education FoundationRaja Anwar stated this while talking to a 12member delegation of PEF partner school prin-cipals at his residence, today.

While talking to the delegation, he main-tained that education, being the most importantright, should be made accessible to each and

every child so that the poor children could breakthe vicious circle of poverty through education.Good education also broadens students’ intel-lectual ken, he added. He further maintained thatthe educational model designed in partnershipwith the private sector is playing a leading rolein promoting school education in themarginalized sections of the society. This modelhas not only strengthened the low-cost privateschools but also given an enabling opportunityto such schools to lend a hand in promoting edu-cation. It is heartening that the Punjab Educa-tion Foundation has facilitated its partnersthrough many useful interventions. He ex-pressed the satisfaction that PEF model of pub-lic private partnership is bearing fruit by pro-

PEF to educate deservingchildren: Anwar

Police arrest21 criminals

LAHORE—Lahore police havearrested 21 criminals involved inabducted for ransom, murder,dacoity, narcotics business andother cases and recovered stolenproperty worth millions of rupeesduring a crackdown in one week.

Police sources said that CIAPolice had arrested three accusedinvolved in a number of abduc-tion for ransom cases by wear-ing police uniform in KotLakhpat, Gulshan Iqbal, MustafaTown, Race Course and ShahAlam Market. The police alsorecovered police uniforms, bluelights, cell phones, a car and abike from their possession.

The police smashed an inter-district dacoit gang and arrestedits eight members involved inrobbing passengers at airport bywearing uniform of police, FIAand ANF. Police recovered cur-rency of different countries,laptops, watches, mobile phones,three cars and illegal weapons.The arrested accused confessed40 incidents committed inLahore, Islamabad and Karachi.

During a drive against per-sons involved in the narcoticsbusiness, police arrested fourdrug peddlers from FactoryArea and recovered 3kg hash-ish and 2kg heroin worth mil-lions of rupees.—APP

LAHORE—Clean Water Trust has been formedunder the chairmanship of Punjab GovernorChaudhry Muhammad Sarwar for providing cleanand hygienic drinking water to people across theprovince.

Official sources told APP here Sunday thatinitially the project titled “Clean water-save achild” was to be launched for schools exclusivelybut later on the demands of people from crosssection of the society, it has now been convertedinto a trust within the ambit of law with newtheme of “Clean Water-Save Lives” in partner-ship with Pak Oasis.

Three ultra modern water filtration plantsconsist of Europeans components with a capac-ity of 2000 litre per hour in the city, 2 in Faisalabadand one in Wazirabad have so far been installedunder the Punjab Governor initiatives with pri-vate donors without government involvement.

Clean Water Trust formed for potable water

The cost of fully operational plant is Rs 1.8 mil-lion however, the cost to the donor is Rs 1 mil-lion and difference is being paid by the vendor/partner pak Oasis as part of their CSR budget.

A team of high profile technical expertise af-ter visiting the head office of Pak Oasis in Dubaiand after thoroughly examining the offers of oth-ers approved the offer of pak Oasis on merit. PunjabGovernor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar hasasked the philanthropists to donate generously to-wards this trust for fully ensuring the free of costaccess of drinking water to all in the province.

The Governor is of the view that a numberof diseases could be prevented in Pakistan onlywith a provision of hygienic drinking water toall. Other members of the trust includedMuhammad Amjad Saqib, Vice Chairman, JunaidSubjhani, Treasury, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, MuhammadHanif and Asghar Ali Chaudhry, trustees.—APP

LAHORE—Punjab Agriculture Minister DrFarrukh Javed on Sunday said the governmentwas making an all-out effort to attain foodautarky.

“We have introduced a number of schemesto encourage farmers and cultivators to get bet-ter yield,” he told this news agency here today.

He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

Govt striving to attain foodautarky: minister

(PML-N) government was committed to over-coming food insecurity and had chalked out acomprehensive plan to double produceexpecially of wheat in years to come. “Punjabbeing the food basket, growers are being offeredlucrative incentives and in this regard a heftyamount of Rs 53 billion has been allocated in theprovincial budget,” he added. —APP

Bilal visit Sastay,Sahulat and

Sunday BazarsCITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Ministerfor Food & Chairman Price Con-trol Committee Bilal Yasin Sun-day paid surprise visit to variousSastay, Sahulat and Sundaybazars in Lahore. He checked thequality and prices of vegetables,fruits and other edible items.DCO Dr. Javed Ahmad Qazi andother senior officers of DistrictAdministration accompaniedhim.

Bilal Yasin visited Sundaybazars of Wahdat Road,Shadman, Johar Town, GulbergTown, Ravi Town and DehliGate and checked the quality ofessential items. He took feedbackabout the quality and prices ofdaily use items from the citizensat Sunday bazars. The consum-ers appreciated the steps taken byPunjab government and said thatthe government has provided realrelief to the poor segment of thesociety by reducing prices of es-sential items. Provincial FoodMinister directed administrationsof all Sunday bazars to fix theprices of all eatable items after12 noon according to their qual-ity. He also directed officers ofLabour Department to continu-ously check the weight and mea-sures so that essential items couldbe provided to the citizens ac-cording to quality and quantity.

He said that weight and mea-sures, parking, cleanliness andsecurity arrangements are beingfurther improved in all Sundaybazars so that people should notface any inconvenience.