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Beware! terroristsmay hit back................................................Altaf ’s surprising,distracting call................................................Alarming death toll ofnew-born babies

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ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah meeting Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif inthe National Assembly on Wednesday.

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—The top civil and militarybrass has again put their heads togetheron Wednesday to strategise their thinkingon eliminating terrorism from the soil ofPakistan as Chief of the Army Staff GeneralRaheel Sharif along with DG ISI Lt. GenZaheerul Islam briefed Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif on the progress of the recentair strikes and other related plans at thePM Office here.

Initially, the Prime Minister and theArmy Chief had one-on-one meeting fol-lowed by a larger meeting attended by Di-rector General Military Operations, MajGeneral Aamer Riaz, Defence MinisterKhawaja Asif and Interior MinisterChaudhry Nisar Ali, sources said.

The meeting discussed threadbare thesecurity environment and particularly threat

Civil, military brass put heads together again

Terrorists can beeliminated from

NW in two weeksOperation to be targeted, surgical and tit-for-tatArmy to defeat every threat to motherland: Raheel

from terrorists within the country.The military leadership informed the

meeting hideouts of terrorists in NorthWaziristan can be eliminated in two weekstime as the recent strikes have inflictedheavy damage to them in the jungles andon the mountains, sources said. Their com-munication network has also been affected.

The national security policy presentedin the National Assembly on Wednesdayalso came under discussion.

While expressing satisfaction over theon- going strikes, it was decided that op-eration will be targeted, surgical and tit fortat with utmost care to prevent collateraldamage. The handling of IDPs as a result ofmilitary action also came under discussion.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff GeneralRaheel Sharif on Wednesday reiterated theresolve of Armed Forces and said in un-

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif attendedthe National Assembly pro-ceedings on Wednesdayduring which he said thatthere was no ambiguity re-garding the security policy.

Our approach is wellthought-out but the policyis not the final word and anygood suggestion in this re-gard would be welcomed.

Moreover, Sharif as-sured the opposition that allmatters would be jointly re-solved.

Security policy notfinal word: Nawaz

Previous govt under fire for inertia; Talibanattacks to be responded with force: Nisar

Appreciating the earlierspeech of Leader of the Op-position, Syed KhurshidShah, he said the govern-ment was not in a state onconfusion and the nationhad been informed of everyprogress on the dialogueprocess between the gov-ernment and Taliban medi-ating committees.

Sharif also said that theatmosphere in the housetoday was much better thanfrom 20- 25 years ago.

In order to deal with themenace of terrorism, thegovernment has decided on

a major policy shift underwhich attacks from militantswould be met with an appro-priate military response, In-terior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan told the Na-tional Assembly onWednesday.

Formally unveiling thedocument of the country’snational security policy inthe House, Nisar said thedirection was agreed uponunanimously, adding thatthe government had con-sulted all political forces forits formulation.

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SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has said thatin order to strengthen deep-rooted and lasting friend-ship, Chinese leadership hasopened up new avenues ofeconomic prosperity for Pa-kistan.

He was talking to Chi-nese Ambassador in Paki-stan Sun Weidong who

Shahbaz lauds Chineserole in Pak progress

called on him on Wednes-day. Shahbaz said that be-sides helping in overcomingenergy crisis, Chinese in-

vestment will result in cre-ation of vast opportunitiesof economic developmentas well as business and jobopportunities. He said thatpeople of Pakistan fully ap-

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Picture on Back Page

Indian navy chiefresigns aftersub accidentNEW DELHI—India’snavy chief resigned onWednesday after asubmarine accident off thecoast of Mumbai saw twosailors missing andanother seven injured, thedefence ministry said.

“Taking moral respon-sibility for the accidentsand incidents which havetaken place during the pastfew months, the Chief ofNaval Staff Admiral DKJoshi today resigned,” aministry statement said.

The seven sailorssuffered breathing

US intensifiescampaign

againstHaqqanis

WASHINGTON—The UnitedStates has intensified itsdrive against the Talibanlinked Haqqani network inan attempt to deal a lastingblow to the militants in Af-ghanistan before foreigncombat forces depart thisyear, according to multipleUS officials.

The effort is taking onadded urgency as the clockticks down on a NATO com-bat mission in Afghanistanset to end in December, andas questions persist aboutwhether Pakistan will takeaction against a group someUS officials believe is qui-etly supported by Pakistani

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Crown PrinceSalman arrivesin New Delhi

NEW DELHI–Crown PrinceSalman, deputy premier andminister of defense, arrivedhere Wednesday at the headof a high-level delegation fortalks with Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, Presi-dent Pranab Mukherjee,Defense Minister A.K.Antony and other seniorofficials.

On arrival at airport, theSaudi crown prince was re-

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STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Islamabad Accountabil-ity Court on Wednesday granted formerprime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf perma-nent exemption from appearance before itin the rental power case.

Ashraf’s advocate Farooq H. Naek ap-

RPP case

Raja Pervez grantedexemption from appearance

peared for the hearing and accountabilitycourt judge Muhammad Bashir heard the case.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the courtcompleted its cross-examination of govern-ment witness Yousuf Joya.

Meanwhile, Naek on behalf of his clientsaid that due to security concerns, the former

Talibancommander held

OBSERVER REPORT

PESHAWAR—Police and sen-sitive organizations have ar-rested Taliban commanderQari Anas and his two accom-plices wading off planned at-tempts on the lives of KhyberPakhtunkhaw Inspector Gen-eral and other high police of-ficials.

Police sources said thatTaliban commander QariAnas alis Abu Musa washoled up near Swabi Inter-

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PESHAWAR—The banned Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) has reportedly rejectedgovernment’s condition for unilateralceasefire, a day after the Federal Cabineturged militants to renounce terror activi-ties without pre-conditions.

TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahidcontacted media persons on Wednesdayand rejected the condition.

“It’s not acceptable to us, we are seri-ous in talks but government demonstratesthat it’s not willing to hold talks in a seriousmanner. We warn that the government willhave to bear more loss than us,” he said,but signaled that the talks could move for-ward if the government guaranteed protec-

Taliban reject govt’s conditionof unilateral ceasefire

tion of arrested insurgents.The Taliban’s statement came an hour

after Federal Interior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan unveiled government’s Na-tional Security Policy in the National As-sembly under which attacks from militantswould be met with an appropriate militaryresponse.

TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahidsaid they are ready to face consequencesof military operation in North Waziristan,adding that the tribal people will be atgreater loss than the Taliban.

According to reports, commenting onthe statement of MQM chief, TTP spokes- Iran fires mortar

shells intoBalochistanOBSERVER REPORT

QUETTA—Iranian borderguards again fired mortarshells into Balochistan onWednesday morning. Nodamages were reported as aresult of the explosions.

Explosions took placethousand yards fromPeshuk Checkpost inPanjgur district.

“Iranian border guardsfired two mortar shells

QUETTA: Former interim Chief Minister Balochistan, Nawab Ghous Bux Barozai address-ing the Advocacy Seminar on Religious Freedom and Rights of Minorities.

SWAT: Engr. Amir Muqam, Advisor to Prime Minister, addressing a gathering of notablesfrom PK-86.

MULTAN: Students wearing traditional colourful dresses during Jashan-e-Baharan celebrations at a local college.

Committee meets toexpedite work on PM LIHS

ISLAMABAD—Minister of State for Housing & Works BarristerUsman Ibrahim Wednesday chaired a meeting of Steering Com-mittee members to expedite the policy framework for PrimeMinister’s Low Income Housing Scheme.

Discussing the financing matter, the Minister said that loanfacility would be extended through House Building Finance Com-pany (HBFC) with 8% mark-up, which would be provided bythe government.

The meeting was discussed that the housing scheme is com-pletely on Public Private Partnership mode and everything wouldbe finalized according to terms and conditions of the govern-ment.

The Minister said that incumbent leadership has a clear vi-sion to provide shelter to homeless people. The commitment andsincerity of the government is evident from its announcement of500,000 housing units for low income groups during the nextfive years to overcome the housing shortfall,he added.

He said that a separate company Apna Ghar Limited (AGL)has already been constituted to accomplish this task.

He appreciated that Association of Builders and Developersof Pakistan (ABAD) is ready to participate in this task with theobjective to build low-income housing units on ‘kacchiAbaadies’in rural areas, causing unemployment and security con-cerns. The Minister stated that 50 million people will benefitfrom Prime Minister’s Housing Scheme for low-income sections.

He assured that besides gearing up the indigenous industry,the housing scheme will also galvanize the private sector.—APP

PESHAWAR—Advisor to Prime Minister andcentral senior vice president, PML-N, EngineerAmir Muqaam has urged the people of KhyberPakhtunkhwa provincial assembly constituencyPK-86 Swat to support the candidate of theirparty for the sake of progress and developmentof Swat and keeping above their political affili-ation.

Addressing a meeting of the notables, po-litical elders and party workers in Sangota, dis-trict Swat he said that they have served thepeople of Swat indiscriminately in past and car-rying the mission today also.

The meeting was also addressed by districtpresident, PML-N, Swat Qaimoos Khan, chiefof aman jirga, Sultane Room and Haider Ali ofANP and announced support for the party can-didate in by-election.

On this occasion, president, Charbagh Ba-zaar, Toti Zargar and elders of jirga and otherorganizations announced full support to AmirMuqaam backed candidates for the sake of de-

Muqam urges people to vote forPML-N candidate in by-election

velopment and prosperity of the people of dis-trict Swat.

Advisor to Prime Minister said that 20/26MVA transformer had been approved forKhwazakhela Grid Station, which will cost anamount of Rs.100 million.

The completion of the scheme will help re-solve the overloading problem of electricity inthe area. He said that the opening of the officesof NADRA have been approved in Charbagh,Sheen, Bahrain and Dandi while work on theestablishment of separate division and sub-di-vision Charbagh and Madiyan grid will startsoon.

He said that talks with provincial govern-ment for the rehabilitation of PMA Charbaghand up-gradation of hospital were continued withprovincial government. He said they wishedearly start of rehabilitation work on PTDC Ho-tel, Swat. He said that tenders for improvementin Landaki-Kalam Road would be issuedsoon.—APP

Rs6.4m specialcharges

recovered fromwater pilferers

MULTAN—Irrigation depart-ment has recovered a total ofRs 6.4 million special charges(Tawan) from water pilferersduring the last six months.

According to irrigationsources, the irrigation teamsraided at various places at fourdistricts included Multan,Lodhran, Vehari and Pakpatttanunder Multan zone and recov-ered Rs 6.4 millions specialcharges from water pilferersduring Ist August 2013 to Jan31,2014 and deposited theamount with Revenue depart-ment.

Similarly, Irrigation depart-ment also recovered 61.042millions water rates (abiana)from growers during last sixmonths and deposited it withRevenue department.

Owing to higher water theftincidence across south Punjab,the Punjab Government has di-rected irrigation officials con-cerned to take strict actionagainst water pilferers withoutany discrimination, sourcesconcluded.—APP

First graduationof Pakistani

doctors in CubaSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Three hundredand eight Pakistani´s studentstoday will receive in Cuba thetitle of medical doctors, for thefirst time, after seven years ofstudy of Medicine in the Car-ibbean Island, which hastrained over 23 thousand doc-tors of 125 countries.

The initiative arose after theearthquake of 2005 that af-fected Pakistan. At that time,more than 2600 Cuban doctorscame to Pakistan in order toprovide medical assistance inareas of difficult access affectedby the disaster.

The work in the field re-vealed the inadequacies in thehealth of a region with millionsof inhabitants and very fewdoctors. For these reasons, theCommander in Chief FidelCastro Ruz then offered him tothe Pakistani government onethousand scholarships free, foryoung people of humble origin,that they did not have the pos-sibility to afford the career ofMedical Sciences in its owncountry or abroad.

In 2007, the first group ar-rived in Havana and in 2008 thesecond group. All students onarriving in Cuba spent their firstyear to learn the Spanish lan-guage and the six remainingyears to the study of medicalcareer, during which countedwith a professor’s team with ahigh professional quality.

In the next few days, thePakistani people will be able tocount with 308 new medicalgraduates in the Caribbean Is-land, who have the commitmentto return to their origin placesto work for 5 years and to putits knowledge, acquired inCuba, at the service of itspeople.

The graduation ceremonywill be held this February 27 atthe University Of Medical Sci-ences Of Villa Clara. Thisproject has become in reality adream of two nations. The restof the Pakistanis students willgraduate in February 2015, con-tributing to the strengthening ofthe bonds of friendship betweenthe peoples of Pakistan andCuba.

Secy Housinginaugurates

rehabilitation workof Academic BlockP E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Secretary Hous-ing, Engr. Zahid Arif said thatprovincial government wasutilising all available resourcesfor progress of educational in-stitutions and ensuring conge-nial environment to facilitatestudents.

Inaugurating rehabilitationwork in Academic Bloc ofFrontier College for Women(FCW) here Wednesday, hesaid priorities of KP govern-ment in education sector haveresulted in upgrading of educa-tional institutions.

Speaking on the occasion,Farah Hamid thanked ChiefMinister for his all out coopera-tion in starting rehabilitationwork in the college and said thatit would facilitate students byproviding them best availableenvironment for upgrading edu-cational qualifications.

The ceremony among oth-ers was attended by SecretaryHigher Education, FarahHamid, Principal FCW, Dur-e-Shawar and teachers. He saidthat rehabilitation and revamp-ing of educational institutionswould help reviving their oldgrandeur besides improvingworking standards.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govt hasdecided to launch the largest ever mass aware-ness campaign of the history in the countryagainst the fatal decease of hepatitis in the nextphase of “Sehat Ka Insaf” Programme.

More than 12500 Insaf volunteers will par-ticipate in this crucial drive besides officials ofthe heath and other government departments whowill distribute awareness materials door to door.

Decision to this was taken at a high levelmeeting with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak inthe chair on Wedndesday.

Similarly, during the campaign besides vac-cinating the left over babies against nine fataldiseases, as many as four lac detergents andhealth kits would be distributed among themasses for which resources have been arranged.

Decision has also been taken to make im-proved and foolproof security arrangements forthe next phase of the program.

The meeting highly appreciated the role ofPTI volunteers and police personnel in the ini-tial phase of the program, and decided to en-hance their number and ensure the maximumparticipation of women folk to make the door todoor campaign a real success in the next phase.

It also stressed the need to activate thewomen wing of PTI and female teachers for thepurpose.Addressing the participants of the meet-ing, the Chief Minister said that because of thesub-standard health facilities and deterioratinghealth of the people, the provincial governmenthad announced health emergency in the prov-ince, and as such all the segments of the societyneeded to fully participate in the campaign.

He also announced to launch a motivationcampaign through the PTI leaders and to con-vene their meetings to this effect. The ChiefMinister said, “Ensuring the health of the pub-lic specially the women and children at homes,

KP to launch largest massawareness drive against hepatitis

developing hygienic habits in them and preven-tion of deceases is the need of the hour.

In order to realize the dream of a healthysociety is must so that the limited financial re-sources and energies of the poor people are notwasted on the treatment of diseases.

He directed the concerned authorities tocarry out the Sehat Ka Insaf campaign in theremaining settled areas adjacent to FR on sepa-rate days and launch hygiene and sanitation cam-paign in five union councils per week.

He also directed the provincial ministers andMPAs to closely monitor the campaign, checkthe sanitation in various union councils and takeactions against the sanitary workers on poorperformance.

The Chief Minister further directed to ar-range free medical camps for five consecutivedays in the union councils lacking sufficienthealth facilities, and to provide free medicaltreatment and medicines to the visiting patientstherein.

Jehangir Tareen highly appreciated the“Sehat Ka Insaf” program and stressed the needto further improve and make it a success storyin all respects. He acknowledged that he wasreally impressed by the program and desired toreplicate the same in other provinces includingPunjab as well.He said that people from Karachiand Lahore were visiting Peshawar to analyzethe program which is a historical achievementof the provincial government.The meeting wasattended by Secretary General PTI JehangirTareen, while other participants included pro-vincial ministers Shaukat Yousafzai, ShehramKhan Tarkai and Mohammad Atif Khan, IGPNasir Durrani, focal person of the program andSecretary General PTI Peshawar Younas Zaheer,representatives of WHO, administrative secre-taries of health, education and home depart-ments, commissioner and deputy commission-ers Peshawar and other relevant quarters.

Youth dies inpolice custody

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—ZahidImran, a youth of 24 year diedin police detention last night.According to details he wascaught by residents of GurhaMohalla while stealing a mo-torcycle the other day. He washanded over to city police.

According to police the ac-cused hanged him to death byhanging from a water pipe inthe bath room.

On the other hand heirs ofthe deceased blamed that policesubjected him to brutal physi-cal torture that caused his death.Relatives of the deceased re-fused to receive dead body tilltheir case was not registered incity police station.

However after autopsy thedead body was shifted in policevehicle to his native village ChakBasawa, a suburban village ofMandi. On the application ofDPO, DSJ had ordered judicialinquiry of the murder case.

Tax offices to remainopen on Saturday, Sunday

ABDUL KHALIQ QURESHI

ABBOTTABAD—Chief Commissioner, Regional Income TaxOffice, Abbottabad, Sajjad Haider Khan has decided to keep openall field offices of income tax in Hazara Division on comingSaturday and Sunday to facilitate tax payers and business com-munity in taking benefit of the Prime Minister Amnesty Scheme.

He expressed these views while addressing a meeting of theoffice bearers and members of Hazara Chamber of Commerceand Industry (HCCI) and office bearers of Hazara Tax Bar Asso-ciation on Wednesday.Sajjad Haider said that those tax payerswho have obtained National Tax Number (NTN) and but due tosome reasons they have not filed their tax returns for last fiveyears can also filed their returns on a one-page application formavailable on the website of FBR will not any kind of fine oradditional tax and will also be exempted from the audit of therespective years but on one conditions of depositing minimumamount of Rs 20,000/-per year on basis of self assessment.

He told Regional Tax Office Abbottabad staff is assistingbusiness community and tax payers in Haripur, Abbottabad andMansehra and all the field formations will remain open on com-ing Saturday and Sunday. He said that office and staff of theRTO office will distribute pamphlets regarding the scheme inshopkeepers and general public of Hazara division.

Two injured inseparate hand

grenade attacksPESHAWAR—At least two per-sons were injured in three sepa-rate hand grenade attacks inBannu, Khyber Agency andNorth Waziristan Agency onWednesday.

According to officialsources, unknown militantshurled a hand grenade outsidethe house of a police official,Rafiullah on D.I. Khan Road,Bannu and fled from scene.Rafiullah’s father sustained in-juries in the blast and wasshifted to District HeadquartersHospital for treatment.

In another incident an ex-plosion took place outside thehouse of personnel ofKhassadar Force AmjadKhan in Keti de Bazar inTehsil Jamrud of KhyberAgency..—APP

Multan to getPak Tea HouseMULTAN—The city is going toget a spacious cafe on a patternof once operational in Lahore,the Pak Tea House, for intellec-tuals, poets and writers to pro-mote literary activities.

DCO Zahid Saleem Gondaltold APP on Wednesday that thetwo-storey cafe titled ‘MultanTea House’ would decorate thecity landscape inside the bound-ary walls of the Multan ArtsCouncil (MAC) on an emptyspace by the side of MAC’sgorgeous edifice.

The ground floor wouldserve as cafe where poets, writ-ers and intellectuals would beable to assemble for literarydiscussions while enjoying teaand eatables at affordableprice.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Senate’s Standing Com-mittee on Ports and Shipping uesday saidGwadar Port was a precious asset but short-age of staff was hampering its developmentprojects.

Senator Sardar Fateh MuhammadMuhammad Hassani, who chaired the com-mittee meeting here, said a talented team andbetter communication infrastructure couldimprove performance of the port.

He said ban on government jobs or adhocjob policy was badly affecting performanceof government offices, which were facingproblem of staff shortage.

He asked the government to provide jobson merit for improving their perfor-mance.

The committee discussed issues in de-tail with regard to handing over of posses-sion of land by Pakistan Navy to the Gwadar

Staff shortage hampersdevelopment work at Gwadar

Port Authority (GPA) as recommended by it. The committee also decided to visit the

Gwadar Port next month and took up issuesregarding fulfillment of electricity require-ments for the Gwadar Port.

The committee took notice of absence ofSecretary Water and Power from the meet-ing.

The committee directed Ministry ofCommerce to ensure representation of rel-evant departments to discuss issues regard-ing Gwadar Port in next meeting.

The committee was also given briefingon import and export through Gwadar Portas decided by the ECC in 2008.

The meeting was attended by senatorsSardar Muhammad Yaqoob Nasir, NuzhatSadiq, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, HafizHamdullah and Saeedul Hassan Mandokhail,and Federal Minister for Ports and ShippingKamran Micheal, Chairman Gwadar Port andAdditional Secretary Commerce.

BISE releasesroll number slipsFAISALABAD—The Board ofIntermediate and SecondaryEducation (BISE), Faisalabadfirst time uploaded roll numberslips of 124,369 candidates onwebsite appearing in annualmatric examination-2014 start-ing from March 01.

Now all regular and privatecandidates appearing in the ex-amination can get print of theirroll number slips at their homesfrom BISE websitewww.bisefsd.edu.pk, saidMalik Zafar Iqbal ControllerExaminations BISE while talk-ing to APP here Wednesday.

He said the board had alsodispatched roll number slips toall candidates at their postaladdress provided in their admis-sion forms, however, if any can-didates fails to receive the rollnumber slip, he can contactwith BISE examination branch.

He said 58,402 girls and65,967 boys both science and artsgroups were participating in theexamination for which 510 ex-amination centers had been set upat all the four districts Faisalabad,Chiniot, Jhang and Toba TekSingh, where 510 superinten-dents and 4,500 other supervisorystaff had been deputed to conductthe examination.He said 314 ex-amination centers had been set upin district Faisalabad, 31 inChiniot, 83 in Jhang and 82 cen-ters in Toba Tek singh.As 50combined examination centersfor boys and girls have also beenset up 17 in Faisalabad, nine inChiniot, 13 in Jhang and 11 inToba Tek Singh. Malik said writ-ten examination will end on April2 and practical examination forscience students would com-mence from April 05.—APP

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Supreme Court of Paki-stan (SCP) on Wednesday orderedSindh government to produce com-plete report on Land Allotment Policyof Sindh Government in the SCP within15 days. The SCP heard the case per-taining to allotment of land at KarachiRegistry. The hearing was being con-ducted at the SCP Karachi Registryby a 5-member bench comprising ChiefJustice of Pakistan (CJP) as head ofthe bench and Justice Sarmad JalalUsmani, Justice Ameer Hani Muslim,Justice Gulzar Sheikh and JusticeMusheer Alam.

Counsel for the Inter-Services In-telligence (ISI) in the said case hadduring the hearing enquired the apexcourt as which authority the ISI shouldapproach for seeking allotment for ISIHOusin Scheme, which Justice AmeerHani Muslim relied that cops werekilled in Karachi every other day butthere was no land allotted to them forHousing Scheme and hence how anyland could be allotted to ISI for itsHousing Scheme. Sindh Governmenthad to adopt a crystal clear policy forthe allotment of land and the Sindh

Apex court orders Sindh Govt tosubmit report of land allotment

Chief Minister did not have any legalright to allot any land to any individualor an institution.

He said that land could be allottedfor meeting needs of the state but itwould come to allotment of land to anindividual, Sindh government shouldcarry a policy.

Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani on theoccasion asked the counsel for the ISIas why the ISI did not approach thecantonment board for allotment of landfor its Housing Scheme.

During the hearing, Anti-Encroach-ment cell of Sindh Government SSPArif Aziz apprised the apex court thatthere were 145 cases registered oncharges of illegal occupation of landof which 63 were settled while render-ing those 63 cases as C Class. He ap-prised the SCP that the Senior Mem-ber Sindh Board of Revenue LalaFazlur Rehman was sick nowadays dueto which he could not appear in theSCP.

Justice Ameer Hani Muslim on thatstatement by SSP Arif Aziz remarkedthat any officer, who fell sick wasposted at Sindh Board of revenue. Hesaid that in past 3 officers were madesenior members of Sindh Board of

Revenue and they were all sick.The apex court enquired about C

Class on which the Senior MemberBoard of revenue Counsel AhmedPirzada apprised the apex court thatcase under which land was not locatedto confirm illegal occupation weresettled under C Class. The apex courtasked SSP Arif Aziz whether he wasaware of the fact that around60000=acre of land in Karachi had beenillegally occupied.

SSP Arif Aziz apprised the apexcourt that he was posted as SSP Anti-Encroachment cell 3 months ago andhad come to know about illegal occu-pation of land just a day earlier.

He also apprised the apex courtthat only 3 cases of illegal occupa-tion of land were registered duringpast 3 months and also said that theAnti-Encroachment Cell was notlinked to Police on which JusticeSarmad Jalal Usmani asked as whyhe had worn the Police uniform if theAnti-Encroachment Cell was notlinked to Police.

The apex court had directed SindhGovernment to submit a detailed re-port on allotment of land within 15days.

Rain-thunderstormexpected at

isolated placesISLAMABAD—Rain-thunderstorm is expected at isolatedplaces of the country including Rawalpindi, Gujranwala,Sargodha, Lahore, Sahiwal, Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar,Kohat, Bannu divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan dur-ing next 24 hours.

Met office reported that a westerly wave is affectingupper parts of the country and likely to persist during nexttwo days.

Light rain may also occurat one or two places ofD.G.Khan, Multan,Bahawalpur divisions duringnext 24 hours while snowfall isalso expected at scatteredplaces in Murree, Gallyat dur-ing the period, Met office said.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rain-thunderstorm is expectedat isolated places of KPK including Malakand, Hazara,Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu divisions during next 24 hoursand snowfall is also expected at scattered places ofMalakand division during the period.

In Sindh and Balochistan mainly cold and dry weatheris expected in most parts of the province during next 24hours, however, rain is expected at isolated places of Zhobdivision. Snowfall is also expected at scattered places ofKashmir during the same time span.

The lowest minimum temperature recorded during last24 hours remained Kalam -05øC, Kalat -04øC, Malamjabba,Astore -02øC. In other Cities recorded minimum tempera-tures were Islamabad 07øC, Lahore 08øC, Karachi 13øC,Peshawar 07øC, Quetta 01øC, Murree 03øC, Muzaffarabad08øC, Gilgit 03øC, Faisalabad 09øC, Multan 11øC,Hyderabad 14øC.—APP

Int’l Women’sDay programsRAHIM YAR KHAN—Inter-national Women’s daywould be actively celebratedin the district as variousorganisations in collabora-tion with the districtgvoernment have arrangedelaborate programmes.

From March 1 to 8 eventssuch as awareness boostingseminars, walks to highlightissues, rallies to press forrights, declamation contestson rights of women, paint-ings competitions to high-light plight of women andviolence against womenwould be held in the districtin 10 union councils ofRahim Yar Khan.

National coordinator Pa-kistan youth league, UmarAli Khan Baloch, said thatdistrict press club will alsocollaborate for women’s fes-tival on March 8 which willhave cooperation of severaldistrict government depart-ments as well.—APP

Party workersto be involved

in govtcommittees

MULTAN—Provincial Min-ister for Prisons PunjabChaudhry Abdul WaheedArain has said that PML(N)will involve party workers inthe government committeesto encourage them.

In a statement issuedhere on Wednesday, he saidthat steps would be takento encourage the real partyworkers.

The minister said thatparty workers are alwayswelcome for any help andadded that parties who didnot respect its workers al-ways failed and weakened.

Former MNA SheikhTariq Rasheed said thatworkers are the real asset ofthe party, adding that partywould be more strength-ened by giving representa-tion to the workers.—APP

Lack of fundshampering work

on drinking waterschemes

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Assemblywas informed that out of 204drinking water schemes 45schemes were not func-tional owing to unavailabil-ity of funds in district DirLower.

MPA Bakht Baidarraised a question in KP As-sembly during questionhour that there were prob-lem of unavailability ofdrinking water in his district,adding that human beingsand animals using drinkingwater from the same places.

The assembly was in-formed in written docu-ments that total Rs 21,47,000 have been releasedfor the year 2013-14 to re-solve the problem.

Parliamentary SecretaryAyesha Naeem informed thehouse that the provincialgovernment making PC-1and would start work withina month to solve the prob-lem.—APP

SWMC facing shortageof 500 sanitary staff

MULTAN—Solid Waste Management Company (SWMC)is facing shortage of about 500 sanitary staff to run thework of the company smoothly.

According to SWMC sources, about 2100 sanitaryworkers were deputed at three sectors and six zones of thecity to collect the garbage at daily basis.

The company had signed agreement with DG Khanplant for the provision of 600 ton waste on daily basiswhile about 400 ton waste being provided to themdaily.

The SWMC had sought applications for recruitmentof 300 sanitary workers few days back but owing to non-availability of regular MD of the company, the recruitmentwas not completed so far, sources added.

About 200 sanitary workers at urban UCs and 300 atnewly populated areas of the city were needed to collectthe waste from every nook and corner of the city, sourcesconcluded.

When approached Chairman Solid Waste ManagementCompany, Rai Mansab Ali, said that initiatives were beingtaken to tackle the problems and to run the work effec-tively.

He said that sanitary workers would be recruited afterthe appointment of MD as interview for recruitment ofnew MD would be conducted in first week of March.

He said that they were extending area by including 10union councils for collecting extra waste and to provide600 ton garbage to the DG Khan plant.

Mansab Ali said that negotiations were continued withTurkish company to generate energy through garbage ofthe city.—APP

Judicialofficials

reshuffledPESHAWAR—The Chief Jus-tice and Judges of PeshawarHigh Court have orderedposting and transfer of fol-lowing Judicial Officer in thepublic interest with immedi-ate effect.

According to an offi-cial statement, MuhammadHussain, Addit ional andSessions Judge, Izafi ZillaQazi Booni has been trans-ferred to Chitral as Addi-t ional Distr ict and Ses-sions Judge, Izafi Zil laQazi against the vacantpos t .

The District and Ses-sions Judge, Zilla Qazi,Chitral would visit Booniseven days in a month todispose of civil and crimi-nal cases till further or-ders.—APP

PESCO holds85th BoDmeeting

P E S H AWA R — C h a i r m a nPESCO Board of Directors(BoD), Malik MuhammadAsad Khan chaired 85thboard meeting in WapdaHouse here Wednesday.

The meeting was alsoattended by Chief Execu-tive PESCO Brig:Rtd TariqSaddozai, Sohail Akbarshah, Dr Amjadullah,Lt:Col (Rtd) Alam ZebKhan, Syed MusawarShah, Lt:Col (Rtd)Jahanzeb Khan,Nasir KhanMusazai,Iftikhar AhmadKhan, General Manager Fi-nance PESCO AnwarulHaq Yousafzai, CompanySecretary and Senior Man-agement of PESCO.

Chief Executive PESCOTariq Saddozai on the oc-casion gave a comprehen-sive presentation to theboard regarding efforts toreduce line losses and in-crease recovery.

He vowed that everystep would be taken tominimize duration of loadshedding. He said thatpublic cooperation canplay an important role inthis regard as they canhelp over efforts by avoid-ing extra and illegal use ofelectricity.

Tariq Saddozai briefedBoD in detail about the on-going PESCO Campaignagainst illegal use of elec-tricity throughout theprovince. He informed thatduring campaign PESCOteams nabbed hundreds ofpeople who were usingelectricity through illegalconnection.

He said that powertransformers have been in-stalled in different Grid Sta-tions to improve powerstability during forth com-ing summer. He said thatAsian Development Bankis financing PESCO to in-stall 20/26 MVA & 40 MVApower transformers in dif-ferent grid stations of theprovince.

Similarly a new opera-tion Division of KhawazaKhela and two sub- divi-sions Alpori and Charbaghsub- divisions have beenestablished, adding thatcreation of the division andsub-divisions would facili-tate local consumers by re-solving their electricity re-lated problems.—APP

Uniform policy forload shedding

ISLAMABAD—National Assembly was informed Wednes-day that a uniform program of load shedding from four tosix hours is being observed across the country.

Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Alitold the House in response to a Calling Attention Noticethat there is no discrimination in this regard except theareas where power is pilfered or due are not paid.

MNAs Nafeesa Shah, Ijaz Jakhrani and Imran ZafarLeghari had mentioned to different areas of Sindh prov-ince where they had claimed that power remains suspendedfor 20 to 22 hours a day.The minister replied that it is notthe policy of the government to discriminate but in theareas mentioned by the members, the government is fac-ing severe power pilferage.

He explained that in Lakhi area of Larkana sub divisionof Shikarpur circle there is 100 percent power theft. Thesituation is the same in Nasarullah feeder and Kandhkotindustrial area where 98% power is pilfered.

He however reiterated to control power theft and soughtcooperation of the member to steer country out of powercrisis. “We have also sent FIR reports to Sindh governmentfor an action against those pilfering power from national grid.”When the members contested his stance, Abid Sher Ali said,the government is trying to mend the follies of the past. “It isour mission to mend the situation. But, our efforts are thwartedby kidnapping employees of distributing companies andstealing the transformers.” He assured the members to im-prove functioning of the departments and bring them to taskwho assist the consumers in power theft. “We have alsooffered to provinces to take charge of distributing companiesand help us out in discouraging power theft.”—APP

KP police chiefcommends

BDU personnelPESHAWAR—The InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP)Khyber Pakhtunkhwa NasirKhan Durrani has said thatBomb Disposal Unit (BDU)personnel are our real heroesand symbol of pride. He wasaddressing a cash award andcertificates distribution cer-emony held at CPO PeshawarWednesday which was ar-ranged in honour of thoseBDU jawan who success-fully foiled an attempt of ter-rorist attack by defusing 60kg vehicle borne IED nearIranian consulate Peshawarthe other day.

The Police chief in-formed that had the IEDfilled vehicle exploded a ca-tastrophe would have hap-pened everywhere. The IGPmaintained that Bomb Dis-posal Unit was performingits duty by putting it livesin extreme dangerous. How-ever, he further went on tosay that inspite huge sacri-fices and lack of resourcesthe BDU was writing a newhistory of bravery.

The IGP commended thein time action of the BDUand hoped that in future toothey would response to thechallenges in the same man-ner and spirit. On this occa-sion the police chiefawarded the jawan with cashprizes and commendationcertificates. They includedhead constables SajjadAkhtar and Sabir Khan, Con-stables Iftikhar Ali,Muhammad Zaman, HabibUllah, Muhammad Ilyas,Naseer Ahmad and SamiUllah. AIG BDU ShafqatMalik was also present in theceremony.—APP

Unknowngunmen kill

Pashto singerPESHAWAR—A local singerWazir Khan Afridi was shotdead when unidentifiedgunmen opened indiscrimi-nate firing in Faqir Killayarea, a suburban locality ofPeshawar on Wednesday,local police said.

Wazir Khan Afridi, wasa renowned singer from theKhyber Agency, who hasmore than 40 albums.

Earlier there were reportsthat Afridi after being dis-placed from Bara, was fac-ing threats from militantsnot to sing any more or facedeath.—APPUoP to bring

LLM coursework at par with

M PhilPESHAWAR—The advancedstudies and research board ofthe University of Peshawar inits monthly meeting, Wednes-day, decided to bring thecourse work and other require-ments for the LLM coursework and research proposal atpar with the M. Phil degreeprogram.The meeting chairedby Vice Chancellor UoP Prof.Dr. Muhammad Rasul Janunanimously approved strictobservance of 24 credit hourscourse work for LLMstudies.They also directed thatall the LLM research propos-als should be routed throughthe Advanced Studies and Re-search Board for scrutiny be-fore the scholars could startwork on the same.

The ASRB in its meetingalso approved 16 PhD and 23M.Phil topics after they werepresented before the augustbody by the concerned schol-ars, who were flanked by theirrespective supervisors forhands on guidance on thespot.—APP

Doctor tested positivefor Swine Flu

MU LTA N—Dr Saeed, Admin Registrar at IntensiveCare Unit of Nishtar Medical Institute (NMI), was alsotested positive for swine flu.

NMI sources told APP here on Wednesday, thatDr Saeed was staying at home and added that he wasstable.

Dr Saeed is the admin registrar of ICU ward wheretwo female patients of Swine flu were being treated inIsolation rooms, he added.

Farrah (30), hailing from tehsil Taunsa of Dera GhaziKhan district as tested positive for swine flu by Na-tional Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad while re-port of another suspected patient Rubina (15) ofSamijabad was awaited.

When contacted, Head of Anaesthesia departmentand ICU at NMI, Dr Salman Waris confirmed that DrSaeed was suffering from Swine Flu (HINI).

It is pertinent to mention here that Swine flu, alsoknown as the H1N1 virus, made headlines in 2009 whenit was declared a pandemic.

Pandemics are contagious diseases affect ingpeople throughout the world or on multiple continentsat the same time.

H1N1 has already been seen in 74 countries acrossthe globe.

H1N1 is highly contagious, allowing it to spreadquickly from person to person. A simple sneeze maycause thousands of germs to spread through the air.

The virus can linger on tables and surface areaslike door knobs, waiting to be picked up.—APP

Plant clinics tobecome operational

todayMULTAN—Plant Clinics willstart functioning in eightdistricts of Punjab includingMultan from Thursday, Feb-ruary 27, under a pilotproject launched by provin-cial government for scien-tific diagnosis and treatmentagainst crop diseases andmaximize agriculture pro-duction at lower cost.

EDO agriculture ShafqatHussain told APP that plantdoctors at Multan plantclinic would start providingconsultative services togrowers from February 27 atits office located near newfruit and vegetables market.

The initiative waslaunched as pilot project withthe assistance of Cabi Inter-national which has trained adozen of officers of agricul-ture extension, pest warningand adaptive research fromall over Punjab as mastertrainers who would trainmore officers to run the plantclinics as plant doctors, theEDO said.—APP

TORKHAM: Heavy loaded trailers parked on road waiting for crossing Pak-Afghan border.

PESHAWAR: Minister for Science and Technology and Information TechnologyShahram Khan Tarakai addressing the mega certificates distribution ceremony forfree training to 1000 students under DoST Development Scheme.

HYDERABAD: Residents of Hali Road hold a protest against city police.

Beware! terroristsmay hit back

THE first-ever National Security Policy has been approved by the Cabinet with special focus on eliminating all terrorist networks through acombination of measures, including counter-insurgency, intelligence-

gathering, policing and prosecution. One expects that once put into prac-tice, it would prove to be more deterrent sending a message very clearlythat the government is committed to crush terrorists and others who areworking against the interests of the motherland.

As detailed by the Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan, the policy has amulti-layered approach to dismantle, to contain and prevent acts of terrorism.The policy calls for enhancing the capacity of civilian law enforcement agen-cies with an effective check on terror financing, protecting assets, buildingsand other potential targets and improving the judicial system and anti-terrorlaws. To counter terrorism and extremism, a coordinated approach will beensured at all Federal, Provincial and District levels under the supervision ofthe Counter-Terrorism Authority for proper implementation of the Policy.The Policy also takes care of plugging terrorist financing through creation ofcounter-terrorist financing units at the provincial level and ensuring imple-mentation of the anti-money laundering laws. Otherwise too a selective weed-ing out of terrorists is being done successfully. According to reports, PAFfighter jets and helicopters, in the current surgical strikes against the militants,targeted their hideouts after gathering precise data and information throughits own indigenous drones. With reported killing of more than a hundredmilitants and destruction of their IED making factories and hideouts, the mili-tants could be in disarray. However, in our view the security agencies andconcerned authorities must remain at high alert as there are some signals thatafter regrouping the terrorists may hit back with vengeance. Therefore, thereshould be no complacency in maintaining the highest level of preparednessto meet any emergency. The other day there was a report that Taliban hadplanned a major attack on Central Jail Peshawar, like the one that tookplace in D I Khan last year, to free key Taliban prisoners. Even there ismore danger for attacks on soft targets and therefore the authorities shouldbe more vigilant as the country is in a state of war for over a decade andevery one has to contribute a bit for the security and safety of Pakistan.

Altaf’s surprising,distracting call

MQM chief Altaf Hussain is known for periodically coming out withideas and propositions that raise eye-brows country-side, as, more

often, these are detached from ground realities and mainstream thinking.On a number of occasions in the past, he floated certain notions and madeastonishing remarks, which he had to take back due to extremely adversepolitical reaction and fall out but he continues with the tendency, perhaps,to serve immediate party interests.

Altaf Hussain, who is otherwise a seasoned and shrewd politician, madean astounding statement on Tuesday suggesting to the Armed forces to takeover if the Government does not render support for elimination of terror-ism. In an interview with a private television channel, he also pleaded thatPakistan is more important than democracy and that we cannot imperil thecountry for the sake of democracy. Such a call by a party that claims to bethe voice of the people is really shocking and difficult to digest. In the firstplace, one fails to understand what caused Altaf Hussain to make such a far-fetched request, as ground situation is quite the opposite and he is, perhaps,the lone voice supporting martial law in the country. A targeted operation iscontinuing against terrorists and it is understood that the policy has the fullapproval and support of the present Government. Both the Government andthe military leadership are on the same page as for as fight against terror isconsidered and in fact, appeals are being made to all segments of the soci-ety to extend cooperation for success of the campaign. In this backdrop, it isintriguing on the part of MQM chief to suggest that there were differencesbetween the civilian and military leadership on this crucial issue. Secondly,even if there are differences of opinion then how can these justify militarytakeover in the country. There is consensus in the country that solution ofthe problems of the country is in democracy and if problems persist then theanswer is more democracy. Democratic system, in its present form, mighthave some drawbacks but it doesn’t warrant its pack up. The major politicalparties, the judiciary and the Army leadership all are supportive of the pro-cess and that is why the PPP Government completed its five year term.Therefore, a politician of the stature and size of Altaf Hussain is not sup-posed to issue distracting statement, rather he should use his good officesand influence to strengthen unity and democratic process in the country.

Alarming death tollof new-born babies

LIFE in Pakistan has almost lost its meaning and worth as daily dozensof people are either brutally killed in terror-related incidents or on roads

and at homes and hospitals for want of necessary medical care and treat-ment. But the news report that a million newborns die within 24 hours inthe world every year, of which, 200,000 or 20% in Pakistan is really shame-ful for the country.

The investigative report by ‘Save the Children’ should be an eye openeras Pakistan has highest rate of stillbirths globally as one in twenty-five babiesdie during childbirth or on the day of birth. This is, indeed, a big tragedy forfamilies and parents but it is also a blot on the good name of Pakistan, asdespite potential and resources we have miserably failed to improve healthstandards for our people and have left them to the mercy of the circumstances.Poverty, malnutrition, ignorance, lack of health awareness, inadequate andbelow standard health facilities, purely commercial attitude towards the prob-lem by the private sector health institutions, negligence on the part of healthworkers and officials at public sector facilities and non-availability of genu-inely trained lady health workers are some of the causes leading to thiscatastrophic and shameful situation. Despite all this, experts say that thelives of most of these babies could have been saved if they had access tosome basic health-care services. It is really shocking that we never get tiredof making tall claims about increasing spending for health and educationand taking steps to meet MDGs but on ground the situation has not changedmuch, which should be a cause for concern for policy-makers, federal andprovincial governments, NGOs and the civil society as a whole.

West’s intrigue behind Ukraine crises

Stamp outpolio in

Pakistan

IN a spectacular public healthcoup, India recently declared itself polio-free, celebrating

three years without a single case.Neighbouring Pakistan, unfortu-nately, is a much grimmer story. Itis the only country in the worldwhere polio is on the rise. To riditself of this scourge, Pakistanneeds to rid itself of another: Thelegacy of Osama bin Laden con-tinues to haunt the country’s effortsto save its children from the crip-pling disease. The bin Laden-po-lio connection dates back to 2011,when American troops gunneddown the terrorist leader at hishideout in the city of Abbottabad.The CIA operation had the assis-tance of a Pakistani physician.

Dr. Shakil Afridi had at-tempted to help track down binLaden and his associates by col-lecting DNA samples, using a vac-cination program as a cover. Afridiwas arrested and jailed. Pakistanimedia followed every twist in hiscase. TV news reports typicallyshowed images of the doctor atwork administering polio vaccina-tions in public settings. Public ex-posure of his involvement in thevaccination ruse has sown suspi-cion among Pakistanis. Islamicmilitants have banned the healthprogram in parts of the countrythey dominate, leaving 350,000children unvaccinated in one areaalone. They have attacked healthworkers and security forces thatprotect them, killing at least 40 andinjuring dozens more. The predict-able outcome: more polio, whichin turn threatens to spread the vi-rus elsewhere, undoing the goodwork that has come this close tostamping out the disease world-wide. That deplorable state of af-fairs cannot continue. The Paki-stani government ought to force-fully confront the militants whocarry out attacks on health work-ers and accompanying police. Itshould follow a script written inIndia, which overcame huge ob-stacles to inoculate more than 170million children. Defeating poliodemanded an all-out commitmentfrom the government of India —the same commitment requiredfrom the government of Pakistan.The organizations that helped In-dia eliminate this scourge nowstand ready to help the Pakistanis.

India didn’t have to confrontthe legacy of bin Laden, but itschallenges arguably were eventougher. Its vaccination programhad to operate in some of theworld’s most densely populatedand impoverished urban areas,which made it difficult to keeptrack of children that polio work-ers had immunized. India had toreach remote villages made inac-cessible by monsoon seasons. Ithad to cover a population of 1.2billion, seven times that of Paki-stan, across a land mass with ev-ery extreme of climate and terrain.Add to those hurdles India’s poorhealth-care infrastructure, lack ofpublic awareness, variety of reli-gious beliefs, and it’s no wonderexperts thought India would be thelast nation to whip the virus:Barely 30 years ago, 150,000 caseswere being diagnosed in India ev-ery year. India partnered with non-governmental organizations, in-cluding the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation and Rotary Interna-tional. More than 2 million vacci-nators were trained and deployed.Celebrities backed the campaign,including Bollywood stars andcricket champions. One of the slo-gans that made a big impressionon the populace: “We Should BeAshamed.” India and its partnerstook a data-driven approach. Theymapped cases, cut off transmissionpathways and developed sophisti-cated systems to continually moni-tor progress. By accepted globalstandards, India officially becamepolio-free Jan. 13, three years tothe day after diagnosis of the lastknown case: a 4-year-old in WestBengal. Polio still survives in rarecases reported in Nigeria, Afghani-stan and Syria, but Pakistan is theonly country where its incidence isthought to be rising. The Pakistanigovernment has to get serious aboutwiping out this terrible paralytic dis-ease. Once polio is finished, welook forward to the day when thesame commitment and hard-wonlessons will eradicate the similarlybeatable scourge of malaria. — Chicago Tribune

MEDIA WATCH

THE political crises originating country-wide turbulenceand turmoil in Ukraine for the

last three months, ended at last onFebruary 22, 2014, at least for thetime being, with the victory of thepro-western Euromaidan led by theopposition parties of the country, anddefeat of the pro-Russia Ukrainegovernment. Consequently, thePresident Viktor Yanukovych hadfound no alternative other than leav-ing the presidential palace, and seek-ing shelter in the eastern city ofKharkiv eventually.

The crises, as per the chronicleof events demonstrates, commencedin the wake of the decision taken bythe former President Yanukovychwith regards to dissociating hiscountry from the Free Trade Agree-ment to be signed with the EuropeanUnion in November 2013; due to thevery reality that entering into thatagreement with the European Union(EU) appeared to be certain to bringopposition on the part of Russia. TheUkrainian political and economicinclinations towards the west wouldnot only invite the Russian displea-sure and disapproval, but also en-tering into the economic agreementwith the EU would lead to tarnishthe high hopes of retaining strongties with Ukraine’s great and tradi-tional eastern neighbour and patron,with which the country has devel-oped strong and deep-rooted recip-rocal social, cultural, financial andstrategic relations.

In addition, Russia serves as oneof the most dominant trade and com-merce ally of Ukraine, where bothstate and individuals maintain strongcorporate bonds with the Russiansat all scales. As a result, putting aside

these ground realities, erected on con-crete evident grounds, could be ex-cessively fatal for the integral andintact corporate ventures and diplo-matic relationships between Ukraineand Russia essential for the survivaland growth of the Ukraine economyand defence system as well. More-over, Russia has always offered ex-traordinary favours to Ukraine inmultiple fields, from agricultural toindustrial, from export and import tohealth and education, and from en-ergy crisis to national security plans,which endorse the very fact that allindividual and collective areas of theUkrainian socio-economic sphereshave sought support from Russiaeven after its disintegration from theformer Soviet Union in 1991.

Consequently, it was really chal-lenging for Ukraine to afford the sus-pension of colossal economic andstrategic contacts with Russia, whichwould put the hope of obtaining enor-mous export revenues, inexpensivegas supply and other advantages ofgrave concern at stake, which wereoptimistically expected to be grantedto Ukraine by Russia provided theformer kept on maintaining its politi-cal, social and economic links withthe latter instead of dissociating it-self from Russia by signing the tradeagreement with the EU.

In addition, the future of nearlyhalf million jobs, to be offered bythe Russian government to theUkrainians against various positionsin multiple public sector depart-ments, could also be in jeopardy sub-sequent to the decision made by theUkraine authorities with regards toentering into the US-led EU eco-nomic canopy. At such a precariousstate of affairs, the ousted PresidentYanukovych appeared to be prudentwhile deciding to retain strong rela-tions with Russia, instead of shak-ing hand with the EU out of the in-stigations made by the country’s

western neighbour Poland, economyof which is still dependent of cen-tral European states to a great ex-tent. Hence, the former Ukrainepresident could not be blamed to bedemonstrating the absolute irrespon-sibility or betrayal towards his coun-try or nation by retaining unabatedand unflinching association with theRussian Federation.

Somehow, the western media,and its agents involved into adminis-tering some newspapers in Englishlanguage at national level launched ahatred campaign both againstYanukovych and the Russian authori-ties in order to defame them to sucha condemnable extent that the coun-try could turn out to be the victim ofanarchy and disorder eventually. Thewestern media and its agents involvedinto print and electronic media busi-nesses in Ukraine carried out propa-ganda campaign against the formerPresident, so that the grounds couldbe prepared for the ouster of the pro-Russia government at any cost.Hence, the pace of disturbance wasaccelerated all over the country withthe intention that some pro-westerngovernment could be installed inUkraine, economy of which wouldremain entirely reliant on the aid and/or trade to be made and granted bythe western powers in the same man-ner as the west has been providingthe aid to all poor and pauper statesbelonging to third world as charity.

In other terms, the US and its Eu-ropean allies appear to be determinedto introduce and implement the neo-colonial western imperialism in theeastern part of Europe in the samepattern that has been being witnessedby them in most areas and regions ofAsia, Africa and Latin America since17th and 18th centuries onward. Con-sequently, the attempts being madefor bringing Ukraine under the west-ern sway look carrying a secretagenda of weakening its economic

Time to save Pakistan

ONE central problem of organizing human society is toprovide justice to all its

members. Tribal societies or states– all have the main task of provid-ing justice. If justice is denied oronly delayed people feel wrongedand lose their peace of mind. Thatis why the main purpose of the un-written rules of tribal societies andthe written rules and laws of a state,have the main aim of providing jus-tice to all members of the respec-tive societies living therein. Butwritten law if not implemented isdead letter only. That is, unfortu-nately, the situation in Pakistan. Wedo have laws for each and every situ-ation but we don’t implement themor we implement them haphazardly.

The basis of equal applicationof law is that there is an acceptancein society that all people have thesame rights and all should be treatedequal in front of the law without dis-crimination. This is a basic rule fora modern western society and it isalso a basic rule for a society basedon Islam. But as a matter of fact thisbasic rule is not accepted by thosewho matter in our country – by rul-ing elite and quite a large part ofsociety. Starting from the trafficrules up to the constitution – theprime law of land- most of us thinkthat those apply to the others but notto me because I am so special.

We don’t understand that lawand order is a high good that can beonly achieved if and when all rulesand laws are implemented and ob-

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Cliff Richard—British pop singer.

and socio-political fabrics on the oneside, and rendering support to itsmasses and government to standfirm against the Russians on theother, who serve to be the closestethno-racial and religious brethrenof the Ukrainians; because of theirbelonging the similar roots andethno-racial, regional and spiritualbackgrounds as well.

By this, the US could rise to theoccasion to invade Russia in orderto tame the only state existing on theface of the earth that looks resoluteto challenge the cruel military andexpansion campaigns has been be-ing launched by America againstvarious sovereign states of theworld. Thus, capturing the controlof the Ukrainian media, as well asits social and political spheres, sim-ply stands for deterioration of theeconomy of the country on the oneside, and enforcing a powerful bar-ricade on the way to the Russian re-surgence as the world superpoweronce again, on the other.

The Ukraine subjects and states-men must smell the US conspiracyand intrigue behind the chaos andpolitical instability in the country,which means nothing other thandestabilising the Ukraine economy,as well as dividing the nation on thefoundations of ethnic and racial dif-ferences in the same lines the So-viet Union was led to its ultimatedisintegration by 1990-91. The riseof a pro-US government in Ukraine,appears to be designed and articu-lated by the west, would result intothe partition of the country in thesame manner as Germany, NorthKorea and other strong sovereignstates were divided and weakenedin past just for preventing them tobecome powerful, prosperous, privi-leged, stabilised and self-reliant na-tions at the international arena.— The writer is researcher andauthor.

served always. That is the taskof the state, but it is also thetask of the families andschools to teach the childrenand for us grown-ups to liveby it. But nobody realized hisor her responsibility towards

the state, Supreme Court which is re-sponsible to interpret law, when in-terpreted a law that did not suit therulers they refused to accept thosejudgment and acted otherwise inwhich even a former Attorney Gen-eral and former federal law secretarywere the culprits acting against theinterest of country, which damagedthe national fabric that we see todaya free for all.

Law and order in Pakistan is in abad shape and not all of this situa-tion can be blamed on terrorism. Onecould even say that terrorism is anoutcome of decades of injustice andnegligence of law and order. When astate doesn’t fulfill its responsibilityto provide justice by implementingthe laws of the land it loses credit-ability and people think this statedoes not suit us. One example is thesituation in former princely states ofDir and Swat. While the Waali(Ruler) of Swat was there law andorder was strong, justice was quickand affordable for the people. Girlsand Boys primary schools were therein every Tehsil/Village. Then Waalistepped down and the territory wasincluded into Pakistan as PATA. Butthe Pakistani state was unable or un-willing to provide law and order andaffordable justice to the people andthat was when dissatisfaction rose.

People remembered the rule ofthe Waali and said we want that back.Then the mullah came and said thatwas rule according to the shariah andthe Sufi Muhammad started hismovement for the implementation of

justice according to shariah. That wasin eighties and it was a peacefulmovement except once or twice whenthey blocked Karakoram Highway inprotest. Later with deterioration of thesituation in Afghanistan militancyand terrorism took over and capturedthis and all other movements that ac-tually just wanted law and orderimplemented and access to justice.

The Pakistani state has promotedan understanding of being an Islamicstate with an Islamic constitution butgiven its negligence of laws it neverbothered to implement it. Today wehear that the Taliban’s demand ofimplementation of the shariah is notvalid because we already have a con-stitution that guaranteed in its pre-amble by inserting Objective Reso-lution that no law will be framedwhich is repugnant to Quran andSunnah. Yes, but is it implemented?We just know that the reports of theCouncil of Islamic Ideology havesuccessively been disregarded andnever implemented. We also knowthat many of our parliamentarian donot fulfil the demands of article 62of the constitution because they arecorrupt, don’t pay taxes, are involvedin shady deals and lie with regard totheir formal education, submit falsedeclaration of Assets.

Some even can’t recite basicprayers properly. Article 37 of theconstitution demands the implemen-tation of social justice in Pakistan,also a direly neglected part of it. Onegood outcome of the peace talks withthe Taliban would be to agree to startimplementing the constitution of Pa-kistan, to bring FATA finally underthe law of the land and to make surethat fast and affordable justice is de-livered. Are we aware of the conse-quences of this operation we arechoosing and have we planned for

The nice thingabout havingrelatives’ kidsaround is that theygo home.

any contingencies requirement toprovide relief to the IDP’s of thisoperation that will further generateinflation and scarcity of resources.

There is another Islamic prin-ciple also that could help us if imple-mented: the fanning of hatredagainst people who do hold differ-ent views. Pakistan Council of Is-lamic Ideology Chairman MaulanaMuhammad Khan Sherani saidwhile addressing a two day Seeratconference that Islam does not givethe lesson of fanning differences forachieving nefarious motives as theHoly Quran terms all the humanbeings as one Ummah. If this wiseword was implemented all problemsregarding the situation of non-Mus-lims and the sectarian strife wouldbe done away with.

And secondly, an army opera-tion wouldn’t be able to solve theproblems we are facing we will ul-timately have to resolve these issuesthrough dialogue. Absence of ruleof law is the biggest curse and ourcountry is worse example, our suc-cessive rulers have indulged in mas-sive corruption that has led topresent chaos, non availability ofhealthcare, education at village levelby the state and smooth functioningof economic and industrial infra-structure, which is jammed becauseof load shedding of gas and elec-tricity, clean water supply is anotherdream for the common men. As wecan see real problem in this countryis absence of law and order and eventhe refusal of our rulers to imple-ment the law. As long as this doesn’tchange we will continue sufferingand Pakistan might go down in his-tory. A military operation won’t stopit. God bless Pakistan.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

Mujtaba Haider ZaidiEmail: mzaidi@yandex.ru

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

Voice of the People

KU buses forevening students

ZAIN YASEEN

There are various issues which theevening students have to face atKarachi University. One of the mostcrucial issue is unavailability ofpoint (KU Buses). Though the stu-dents of evening programme pay thefees more than morning students,they bag no facilities. The eveningstudents are worst affectees of theKU management’s apathy and un-just decisions. I want to highlightthis major problem because a lot ofstudents live far away from the uni-versity and at night it is often verydangerous for female student to waitat bus stop owing the volatile situa-tion of the city. As a student, I ap-peal and urge the concerned peopleto increase the buses and providecomfort to students. Students andeducation are our assets and the fu-ture of this nation.—Karachi

Game changerJAVAID BASHIR

It is the third consecutive day thatour valiant pilots of the Pakistan AirForce have struck the terrorists andtheir enclaves. They have destroyedtheir safe havens and hideouts.Many wanted militants have beeneliminated or injured. The surgicaloperation is being carried out in avast territory of North Waziristan.Hangu and Kohat have also wit-nessed casualties of the militants.

Our tormentors are on the runand slipping into Afghan territoryunnoticed. They are shiffting fromplace to place and are being chasedin the mountains by the forces. Se-rious efforts are being made to avoidcivilian areas from damage.Khurshid Shah the OppositionLeader from PPP has said, if the ac-tion is not taken against the terror-ists, then the country would sufferseverely. Our security and intelli-gence agencies have traced out theiroperating places.

The terrorism is on the rise inSindh and Balochistan. We shouldnot waste time on talks with theTaliban. Pakistan’s Constitution isbased on Islam and no law can beenacted against the teachings ofQuran and Sunnah of the holyProphet, PBUH. No more amend-ments are needed in the Constitu-tion. If the military action is nottaken against them, it will be dan-gerous for the rulers too. The politi-cians should at least act in their owninterest. The spokesperson of theISPR has said, there are no womenand children in the custody of theArmy. Taliban are raising hue andcry to divert attention of the worldfrom their terrorist activities. Theterrorism and talks cannot go to-gether. It is the decisive and a gamechanger moment.—Via email

The Syriancauldron

AKBAR JAN MARWAT

Apprehensions are being expressedby certain sections of Pakistani in-telligence and some political leaders,that Islamabad on Saudi bidding, mayget involved in the Syrian cauldron.In a recently signed joint communi-que with a visiting Saudi dignitary,Pakistan called for “the formation ofa transitional governing body in Syriawith full executive powers”. Thisstatement clearly asks for the ousterof Asad’s regime and supports theSaudi position, who are actively sup-porting the anti-Asad regime rebels,most of whom are openly affiliatedwith Al- Qaida.

Pakistan with its own immenseproblems and a history of unhappyexperiences of interfering in othercountries, cannot afford to get in-volved in the Syrian quagmire; whichbesides other characteristics, has clearsectarian overtones. There arerumours that on Saudi prodding, Pa-kistan has agreed, might be indirectly,to support the Syrian rebels, are in-deed very disturbing; especially whenPakistan is involved in an existentialstruggle against our own religious

CNG problem and its solutionZAIN YASEEN

Most of the vehicles in Pakistan run on CNG nowadays. Pakistan has the greatest number of CNGrefill stations and CNG vehicles. However, Pakistan in passing through the CNG crisis now a days.

It has become a common sight that the vehicles are seen in long queues to fill their CNG tanks for hoursand hours; they waste a lot of time and are getting mentally sick. The phenomenon is adding frustrationand psychic problems in the nation while the government is least bothered to address this aspect of thenation’s health which is losing its self-esteem also. What should we do?? In my opinion and research,Government should immediately wake up as there is nothing more precious than mental health and selfesteem of the people. The installation of new CNG stations and new CNG kits in the vehicles be immedi-ately banned. Wagons and buses which were not designed to run on CNG should not be allowed to runon CNG as these public transport vehicles are more hazardous than exploding bombs and hence aredangerous for the passengers. If you restrict the provision of CNG only to cars, there will be no need togo for CNG load shedding or suspension of weekly gas supplies to these stations. Enough gas will also beavailable for industry provided a proer management of available gas resource is done. Governmentshould take serious steps to solve this problem otherwise this problem will go out of proportions.—Karachi

DISCLAIMER

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

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

—Editor

Talks amid violence?

PAKISTAN has been a target ofviolence, particularly sectarianstrife since last two decades.

The violent incidents have intensifiedwith time. While security forces areproving to be no match for the ter-rorists, the relatively prosperous, edu-cated and intellectual class of Paki-stan is fleeing the country. Pervasivechaos and spread of extremists hasbrought a bad name to country andnow Pakistan is called a country ofterrorists. Human Rights Watch re-port released last month clearly statesthat terrorist groups are operating inPakistan with absolute immunity.

Law enforcement agencies andofficials have either closed their eyesto the terrorist activities or they areincapable of firmly dealing with theterrorists. Concerns are being ex-pressed that there is highly likelihoodof terrorists soon taking over Karachi,just like the cities of Iraq and Syria.It is to be seen how the democrati-cally elected government of NawazSharif and Army chief Rahil Sharifhandle the situation, check the fall-ing morale of security forces and dealsternly with the terrorists. Murders

EVERYday on opening myemail I find kindly souls fromRussia, sometimes South

America offering me vast sums ofmoney if I hide the wealth somedictator has siphoned out of theircountry. I’ve learned from theInternet that I also have extremelywealthy acquaintances in Africawho have enormous amounts ofmoney they need to transfer intosomeone’s name; mine!

They contact me literally everyday! And if I will only help, they

will gladly share a portion oftheir bounty with me and I’ll be-

come an instant multi-millionaire.Others promise me wealth beyondmy wildest dreams if only I investin an up-and-coming business ven-ture. Daily, the net reminds me thatgreed can lead to disaster; that noteverybody has my best interest inmind and I must be sensibly cau-tious. Their letters are well writtenand some even have spiritual greet-ings; all to win you over.

Behind those innocent letters areconmen, thieves and robbers! Manyof us also use the anonymity of thenet to hide who we really are: Onewoman describes herself as “fivefeet, three inches tall and pleasinglyplump.” After she had a minor acci-dent, her mother accompanied her

to the emergency room. The nurseon duty asked for her height andweight, and she blurted out, “Five-foot-eight, 125 pounds.”

While the nurse pondered overthis information, the woman’smother leaned over to her. “Sweet-heart, “ she said gently, “this is notthe Internet!” “So what do I doBob?” asked a friend the other day,“Do I stop trusting people? Do westop believing in others because ofsuch untruths on the net?” I wouldrather trust than shut others out. Iwould rather be taken advantage offby a few than isolate myself from ev-erybody. Perhaps not everybodyshould be trusted, but I would hate toexperience life without that trust.

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it well:“Trust men and they will be true to

Trust and the net..!you; treat them greatly and they willshow themselves great.” Peoplewill more often live up to our highexpectations than not if they feelthey are being trusted and you’llfind friends and colleagues show-ing themselves to be dependablewhen they feel your trust.

The net may be invaded byconmen but the world we live in isa good world, inhabited by mostlygood people who can still becounted on. If you feel cynical,don’t give up on trust, I feel itsawful leading a suspicious life,wary of just about everyone andanyone; believe you me, trustpeople and they will somehowcome through. There’s only oneway to build up trust; by trusting..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Chuck Hagel’s nuclear exemption

THE headlines on the Pentagonbudget unveiled by DefenceSecretary Chuck Hagel this

week were all about austerity: thesmallest US Army since 1940; feweraircraft, ships and armoured ve-hicles; even some modest belt-tight-ening on future military pay and ben-efits. But one category of militaryspending largely escaped the budgetax: nuclear weapons.

The United States has about1,600 long-range nuclear weapons onactive duty — more than any othercountry, including Vladimir Putin’sRussia. Under the 2010 New STARTtreaty, the United States and Russiaagreed to reduce their arsenals to nomore than 1,550 warheads apiece by2018. The Russians are already be-low the treaty ceiling after takingmissiles out of service as part of amodernization program. But the USdoesn’t appear to be in any hurry.

Maintaining and modernizingour giant arsenal, which, happily,seems increasingly unlikely to everbe used, is expensive. The Congres-sional Budget Office estimates that

US nuclear forces will cost $355billion over the next 10 years. About$89 billion of that will go to replac-ing aging missiles, submarines andbombers, and those costs will growmuch larger after 2023, the CBOwarned in a recent report.

Worst of all, much of that spend-ing is unnecessary. Almost every ex-pert on nuclear weapons agrees thatthe United States has a far largernuclear force than it needs to deterattacks. Last year, for example, whenPresident Obama proposed reducingUS and Russian nuclear forces byabout one-third to 1,100 warheadseach, the Joint Chiefs of Staff em-braced the idea. A year earlier, anindependent panel convened by Glo-bal Zero, a disarmament group, con-cluded that 450 deployed warheadswould be enough; one of its mem-bers was a retired senator namedChuck Hagel.

But since then, Hagel has beenvirtually mute about reducing nucleararms. “If there was ever a time to startresetting this institution and restruc-turing … it’s now,” he said Tuesdayas he pitched his budget to a roomfulof defence experts. But when I askedhim whether he still harboured thegoal of shrinking the nuclear force,

Views From Abroad

he ducked the question, saying hisonly goal was to leave the militarystronger than he found it. The reasonofficials don’t like to talk about re-ducing nuclear arsenals is simple, andit applies in both Washington andMoscow: The weapons may have adiminishing role, but they are pro-tected by political sponsors — some-times based on honest disagreementsover strategy, sometimes because ofthe jobs they provide.

It would be easier to argue formore nuclear cuts if Russia were ea-ger to join in the reductions, butPutin rebuffed Obama’s most recentproposal for another round of disar-mament. “The Russians seem tohave glommed onto the idea thattheir status as a great power dependson their nuclear weapons,” saidSteven Pifer, a former US ambassa-dor to Ukraine who is now at theBrookings Institution in Washington.“It’s also about jobs. There are a lotof one-factory towns in Russia pro-ducing military hardware, and they’repart of Putin’s political base.”

Even so, Pifer notes, there areunilateral steps the administrationcould take to reduce the size and costof the US arsenal. For starters, somemissile warheads could be taken off

active duty, to match the Russians’lower number and meet the STARTtreaty ceiling now. “It’s a reversiblestep,” Pifer noted. “It seems to meto be a no-brainer.”

The costliest items, though,aren’t the nuclear warheads but thevehicles that carry them: missiles,submarines and bombers. Over thenext 20 years, the Pentagon plansto spend billions to modernize allthree legs of that nuclear triad. “Anew submarine, a new penetratingbomber, a new ICBM — that prettymuch breaks the bank,” Pifer said.Unless, that is, we decide to livewith fewer vehicles.

It might even be possible to closeone of the country’s three nuclear mis-sile bases, although closing any mili-tary base is politically thorny. So whyis Hagel’s budget, for all its cost-cut-ting, silent on those issues? “It’s anargument we don’t need to have thisyear,” one Pentagon official told me.The cost of building those new subs,bombers and missiles won’t balloonuntil 2020 or so. Until then, it’s a prob-lem both sides can ignore. And whatpresident wouldn’t choose to avoid anuclear war — even a rhetorical onewith Congress — if he could?— Courtesy: Los Angeles Times

Doyle McManus

and assassinations are now a commonpractice in Pakistan. However, in lastfew days, the violent incidents haveintensified and increased attacks bythe active Sunni militant groups andthe Taliban suggest that the only mo-tive of these forces is to create anar-chy in Pakistan and grab power bycommitting bloodshed. In Pakistan,these powers are trying to replicatethe ouster of Najib in Afghanistanby the Taliban. This is reason thatPak-based Taliban are now specifi-cally targeting army bases, securitycheckposts and defence-related es-tablishments.

Carrying out suicide attacks at re-ligious places, processions andcrowded markets is like a commonpractice for these terrorists. More-over, these illiterate extremists alsolook with suspicion, a noble drive likePolio eradication mission. They seeit as an American conspiracy. Dur-ing the last days, they have targetedmany Polio workers in which manywomen and children were killed. Inlast two years, about 30 Polio work-ers have been killed in Pakistan. Per-turbed by these attacks, Bill Gatesrecently indicated that the financialassistance being provided by hisNGO towards the polio eradicationin Pakistan might be stopped. Ex-pressing the growing desperation of

Pakistani people, Bilawal Bhutto, theson of Late Benazir Bhutto, said thatthere was an urgent need to take mili-tary action against the terrorists.Bilawal said that people like OsamaBin Laden or any other terrorist, whokill thousands of people, could notbecome the face of Pakistan. Insteadthe country’s faces should be thosewho take a stand against them andbring some hope to the people of thecountry. Meanwhile, PakistaniTaliban’s top negotiator said that “Is-lamic sharia law was necessary forpeace as the government, martial lawand democracy had failed to solve thecountry’s problems”. Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, the head of the TTP’s three-man committee set up for peace talkswith the government, said “Talibanare fighting the war for the implemen-tation of the Constitution which hasbeen violated by the leadership”

The question arises whether therewill be any decline in terrorist attacksafter the constitution of this commit-tee? Will the Taliban take the propos-als of Nawaz Sharif govt. seriously?Will the Pakistani Army keep wait-ing for the directions from the gov-ernment, even after losing many ofits personnel in Talibani strikes? Dothe Nawaz Sharif govt. and GeneralRahil Sharif have any idea about howdeeper the extremists have infiltrated

their ranks? Have the Pakistanipolicymakers learnt any lesson fromthe attack on Pak Airbase and theassassination of Governor SalmanTaseer? Don’t these incidents pro-vide enough evidence of the extentof intrusion of extremists in all theareas of Pakistani system?

It can’t be denied that NawazSharif govt. also feels threatened bythe Taliban. Probably, that’s whyNawaz Sharif himself is going slowon his poll promise of talking withthe Taliban. It is also being said thatthat the decision to constitute a four-member committee for talks was alsotaken keeping in view the growingdesperation within the Army. It seemsPakistan Army is in no mood to tol-erate more bloodshed of its person-nel and more attacks on its establish-ments. No need to mention that it wasduring the regime of General ParvezMusharraf that the army launched anoperation on Lal Masjid. The terror-ists don’t understand the language oftalks once they take the path of vio-lence. In these circumstances, whatis essentially required is a big, con-tinuous and decisive assault on theTaliban by the Army. Otherwise, itwon’t take much long before Paki-stan become another Afghanistan.—The writer is Haryana, India-based freelance columnist.

militants having nexus with Al Qaida.The Sharif’s may feel obligated to theSaudis for doing them a personalfavour and may thus not be in a posi-tion to deny their wishes. It should,however, be remembered that a favourdone at a personal level, should be re-turned at the same level only, and notat the expense of the long term inter-est of the Pakistani state.—Islamabad

Street lights in KUROMMAN ELIAS

Karachi University is the 2nd largestuniversity of Pakistan as well as itis mentioned in the Asia’s top tenuniversities. It covers a very majorarea of Karachi and produces 33000students in 52 different fields peryear. Therefore, it consists of Twoshifts - Morning and Evening. Morn-ing fee is less as compare to theEvening shift but there is a big prob-lem for the students of evening shift‘Shortage of Street Light’.

After Maghreb, there is too muchdarkness inside the university so itfeels difficult to walk or drive a ve-hicle or even it is also scary. So I wantto bring the issue to the notice of theuniversity high-ups who generallyattend the university during day-timeoffice hours and are unaware of thecampus needs after the sunset. Thisis a genuine problems and may besolved please.—Karachi

*****M ANAS KHAN

We are thankful to the Governmentof Sindh which established such alarge university for Karachi in whichthe students of all over the countrycome and study but during the con-struction care was not properly takenfor the provision of lamp posts inKarachi university. In Karachi uni-versity evening shift is also throngedwith the students paying compara-tively more fees than morning shift.Generally the most of the studentsremain at jobs in the day and attendtheir classes in evening so they needto be facilitated with street lights lestany mishaps occur.

Some of the students attendingtheir classes and have to move fromone department to other during nighthours on their two wheels or fourwheels and a number of studentshave to walk so their is always adanger of accident due shortage ofstreet lights and when in the darknight no street lights are available,it looks like an area completely pos-sessed and dreadful. So it is an ur-gent need to provide street light net-work in Karachi university.—Via email

*****KANZA ZAFAR

I want to draw an attentions to thehigher authorities towards the lack ofstreet light in karachi university , As iam the student of evening batch and iface the problem of going from onedepartment to another for classes withfew lights ,At some places street lightsare planted but are not switched on .In the evening the university seemslike a haunted place without a properstreet lights .Students of the morningbatch are not facing such a problembut the evening students face manyproblems even after paying double thefees comparing to the morning batch .I request the authorities to please payattention towards the serious matter.This is our basic need and i requestyou on behalf of every student ofevening batch to please deprive usfrom this very basic necessity .—Via email

Deception of deathJAVAID BASHIR

We are subservient to fate. We do notknow much about the secrets of thisgreat Universe. We are only given asmall portion of knowledge and therest we learn through our experience,mistakes and curiosity. Man has beengifted with the power to conquer theUniverse, i.e. the secrets of life. Wecan not get away from our fate. Deathcomes to all. It creeps upon us with-out warning. The day and time ofdeath has been preordained, and can-not be changed. The angel of death

RTI laws at Federal level

AT international level, Right toInformation (RTI) is regardedas a fundamental right of ev-

ery citizen. RTI laws not only opendoors of information to the public atlarge but also empower citizens toseek any information and record heldby the public bodies. Strong RTI lawsestablish clear procedures for request-ers and have strong oversight bodieswhich, ensures greater transparency,efficiency, good governance, reduc-tion in corruption and enhanced ac-countability, which are prerequisitesfor smooth running of a democraticsystem. Study of RTI best practicesin various countries like Mexico, In-dia, and Slovenia shows that stronglaws can lead to strong protectionsfor the public’s right to know.

The RTI Bill, 2014 also has someinherent weaknesses which werehighlighted during a roundtable dis-cussion on “Federal Right to Infor-

mation Bill, 2014 and Role of Om-budsmen” held by Consumer RightsCommission of Pakistan recently.The participants which included civilsociety representatives, officials fromOmbudsman Office and InformationMinistry, Media and academia, ob-served that preamble of a good RTIlaw talk about good governance.

To improve and to bring the pro-posed Federal Legislation, in confor-mity with the KP and Punjab laws,and in the light of participant’s vari-ous useful observations, CRCP rec-ommends following immediate andprompt changes in the proposed Fed-eral Legislation. Firstly, either theinstitution of ombudsmen should begiven more powers and its mandateshould be clearly defined in FederalRTI Bill or independent InformationCommission may be established todeal with RTI as an effective imple-mentation body. Secondly, parliamentand presidency should also be in-cluded in the list of public bodies re-sponsible to provide information.Thirdly, the legacy of the colonialsecrecy laws should be discouraged

and public bodies should be man-dated and encouraged for proactivedisclosure of information especiallyin the area of finance and budget.Fourthly, the list of exceptions shouldbe cut short and should be narrowlydefined.

Fifthly, provision of public inter-est override test may also be includedin Federal RTI Bill. Sixthly, thereshould be a provision of punishmentfor those officials who omit informa-tion by design, give false information,fabricate the information or provideirrelevant information. Seventhly,federal RTI Bill should clearly definethe mandate for trainings of Ombuds-men staff and awareness campaignsfor common people on RTI. There isa great need to mandate public bod-ies to conduct awareness raising ac-tivities, maintain official record, traintheir staff and publish annual reports.For this purposes allocation of fundsshould also be mentioned. Lastly,there should be legal protection forwhistleblowers, who expose corrup-tion in their respective departments.

Critical analysis of Federal RTI

Bill shows that it is a weak law andneeds improvement. In its presentshape, Federal RTI Bill would dolittle to improve the access to infor-mation regime in Pakistan. FederalRTI Bill is even weaker than theFreedom of Information Ordinance,2002. This shows lack of interest atpolicy level on one hand and de-mand by citizens on the other tohave strong RTI laws at federallevel. It is concluded that if we areserious and want to eradicate nui-sance of corruption from our soci-ety and to enhance governmenttransparency and accountability,then we have to enforce strong RTIlaws along with strong implemen-tation mechanism. In this backdrop,there is a great need to make Fed-eral RTI Bill more comprehensivewhere ombudsmen should be givenmore powers concerning promotionand implementation of RTI lawsand generating requisite demandamongst masses.—The writer works at ConsumerRights Commission of Pakistan(CRCP), Islamabad.

Tanveer JafriEmail: tjafri1@gmail.com

M Shafiq AnjumEmail:m.shafiq@crcp.org.pk

arrives one day and releases our soulfrom the body and we are pronounceddead, not living any more. Dust to thedust. We return to our creator.

On the Doomsday, our ultimatefate will be decided. The hereafter,the unknown world would be openedto us. We would be committed to ei-ther Heaven or the Hell. The visa willbe stamped on our passport to Heavenor Hell. The signs of death give ussome indication of its arrival, in ad-vance. We beg, beseech, but it doesnot listen to any things, and takes usaway on an unknown journey into theother world. We are kept out of theloop till the end.

We find it out that our invitationhas arrived. We fall ill or some mis-hap occurs. When we die, peoplemourn and later bury us in the gravedug for us. Life and death are oppo-site of each other and is the greatestmystery. We deceive death, and deathdeceives us. They cannot save ourloved ones. They pass away in theirsleep, without any notice or warning.It is beyond our powers to save some-one. It is all deception of death. Lifestarts after death. Finally we deceivedeath to live again. The life fluttersfor the last time in the clutches of theangel of death, who has come to claimus. Death is as real as life, both arefacts and we should be prepared toface death as we are keen to live.—Via email

Social mediaROMMAN ELIAS

We live in the modern digital worldof inter-personal communicative op-tions such as Facebook, Twitter,Skype etc. which we call social me-dia in modern connotation. Socialmedia has been around since humansbegan to communicate; these appli-cations make people from all over theworld to communicate with eachother whereas these solicitations havea negative impact also.

According to the research ofUniversity of Poland, the people onFacebook have entered into a psycho-logical state of self-mental harass-ment, for example people has startedfeeling guilty for themselves, if a guyhas less ‘likes’ as compared to hisrelative, he falls into an arena of self-defeat and inferiority complex. Sosocial applications should be used ina limited way to avoid social com-plexities and problems.—Karachi

Lack of awarenessKANZA ZAFAR

It is disappointing to see that peoplein Pakistan usually lack the civicsense to give way to an ambulanceon the road. Every time there is anambulance with the emergency lightsand siren on, one sees drivers tryingto take over the ambulance and break-ing traffic rules instead of letting theambulance pass. This behaviourclearly indicates that such drivers areonly concerned with their own wayout of the traffic and not with the livesthat are hanging by a thread in theambulance. Further, such recklessmotoring creates traffic jams, withsome decent people trying to giveway with most others trying tosqueeze into the extra space created.

For patients that are being trans-ported by ambulances, every secondis valuable and could prove to be thedifference between life and death. Ifwe want to become a genuinely pro-gressive and humane society, weshould not only be concerned withour well being but also with the wellbeing and safety of others. And oneway to start is by being considerateenough to allow an ambulance to passinstead of creating more problems.By being just a little more consider-ate, we can save many lives.—Via email

Residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queuing to receive food supplies, in Damascus. A United Nationsofficial is calling on warring sides in Syria to allow aid workers to resume distribution of food and medicines in a besiegedPalestinian district of Damascus.

ABDULATEEF AL-MULHIM

Poverty in the simplest terms can be defined as a lack of basic necessities likefood, clothing and shelter. In other

words, it is the absence of the means, of coursemoney, to fulfill those needs. It is a matter ofgreat concern that poverty is rampant in theMuslim world. What is the reason behind thatand how to eradicate poverty? Muslim intel-ligentsia must think about this issue.

As a matter of fact, poverty among Mus-lims should have been nonexistent becauseIslam strongly advocates helping others andencourages philanthropy. There are five pil-lars of Islam. Of them, four deal with one’srelationship with Allah. The fifth, which un-fortunately Muslims tend to forget, deals withties between fellow Muslims. In numericalorder, it is third in number. It is Zakat. Al-though, it is also between Allah and His ser-vant but directly impacts others. As a matterof fact, Islam has created this institution to

Zakat is the only way to effectively fight povertyfight poverty. This is why Allah has put Zakatafter Shahadah and prayer but before Fastingand Haj.

As all of us know the five pillars of Islamare:

l Shahadah: There is no god but God andMuhammad is the messenger of God.

l Salah: The five daily prayers.l Zakat: Social responsibility is considered

part of one’s service to God; the obligatory act ofZakat enshrines this duty. Zakat prescribes pay-ment of fixed proportions of a Muslim’s posses-sions for the welfare of the entire community andin particular for its neediest members. It is equalto 2.5 percent of an individual’s total net worth,excluding obligations and family expenses.

l Sawm: Fasting from sunrise to sunset dur-ing Ramadan.

l Haj: A once in a lifetime pilgrimage toMakkah if one can afford it.

After understanding the concept of Zakat abit, the question arises as to why then there ispoverty among Muslims. Despite being rich in

all kinds of natural resources and with a fairlylarge number of billionaires, majority of Mus-lims are living in poverty. Zakat on one billiondollars is around $25 million and this amount cango a long way in helping many to manage forfood, clothing and shelter. Zakat can eradicatepoverty and when you eradicate poverty, you caneradicate corruption, social injustice, human traf-ficking, reduce crimes and and most important isthat you save the dignity of a human being.

There are many countries in the Muslimworld that are rich in resources but poverty isbeyond imagination. Somalia and Yemen areexamples of how poverty is destroying the so-cial fabric. In the past, these two countries werethe main food and livestock exporters of the re-gion. We can also cite the examples of Iraq andLibya, which are two of the richest countries innatural resources and still people are sufferingfrom poverty.

Poverty can be eradicated from the Muslimworld if all Muslims start taking the institutionof Zakat seriously, which is mandatory. It would

be pertinent to mention here that Sadaqah isnot obligatory but a form of charity that eventhe poor can give the poorer. Muslims aroundthe world have simply forgotten the third pil-lar of Islam.

Zakat and Saqdah cannot only help eradi-cate poverty but can also bring people closer— not only Muslims but also even peoplefrom other faiths. Omar Bin Khattab, one ofthe rightly guided caliphs of Islam, helped anold Jew from the Bait Al-Mal. Omar Bin Al-Khattab once said: If poverty were a man, Iwould have killed him. It is a shame to seemany cities across the Muslim World full ofbeggars. And I am not talking about the orga-nized phony beggars. I am talking about thosewho are left with no other choice. The Mus-lim world is full of resources and has manyrich people but it is very important to be partof society and pay our dues. It is our respon-sibility to fight poverty and Zakat is the Is-lamic solution to this problem.

—Courtesy Arab News

Anti-government supporters hold portraits of children killed in recent blast attacks duringa memorial outside the police headquarters in Bangkok. Violence spread to another anti-government protest site in Thailand’s capital following weekend explosions that left fivepeople dead, including four children, security officials said.

ALEXANDER LEBEDEVFEB

Whenever government representatives from around theworld meet, they’re often able to make progress in manyareas of common interest: combating climate change,

poverty, the drug trade, Islamic extremism, human traffickingand modern-day slavery, even cybercrime — the list is long.What these officials often fail to dwell upon is corruption. All oftheir nations suffer from it; they agree it’s a cancer of our ageand should be stamped out. But they do precious little about it.

This is bizarre, when you consider the scale of the problem.What is corruption? The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as“dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power.” And “bythose in power” I would include those working for corporationsand institutions that are part of the ruling elite. According to theTax Justice Network, an independent group promoting efforts tocurb tax avoidance, crooked business people, working with cor-rupt officials, have embezzled $30 trillion over the last 15 years— or half of the world’s annual gross domestic product. FromRussia, the figure is close to $1 trillion. In the European Union,the total is put at $1.2 trillion.

In the West, the best-known figures linked to high-level fraudinclude Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford, Jérôme Kerviel of SociétéGénérale, Kweku Adoboli of UBS. And everyone knows of thesubprime debt scandal and the criminal rigging of the Libor rate.In my country, Russia, there have been similar scams: the theft of$5 billion from Bank of Moscow; $4 billion from BTA Bank andAMT Bank; $4 billion from Rosukrenergo; $3 billion from Globexand Sviaz Bank; $2 billion from Russian Agricultural Bank; $1billion from Rosagroleasing; and $1 billion from VEFK Bank.

Many of the perpetrators of these scams have been able tomove abroad, where they draw upon the expertise of what I termthe “financial services oligarchy” of international banks, law firmsand accountants to ensure they can continue to live off the pro-ceeds of their crimes. Some, like Andrei Borodin, former chiefexecutive of Bank of Moscow, have been granted political asy-lum (Mr. Borodin, in Britain).

Sergei Pugachev, owner of the bankrupt Mezhprombank;Viktor Khrapunov, former mayor of Almaty, Kazakhstan; andthe wife of Yuri Luzhkov, former mayor of Moscow, have allsettled freely in the European Union or Switzerland, where theyenjoy super-rich lifestyles. They contend that in their home coun-tries they would be persecuted for their political views — thoughnot much was known about their politics until they moved over-seas; even if they were involved in politics at all, they tended toalign themselves with the ruling powers.

Various nations have launched initiatives to tackle corruption.But these moves ignore the international, cross-border nature ofthe problem: Recovering stolen assets inevitably involves somedegree of cooperation with another jurisdiction. But counteringthis is an entire industry devoted to helping people hide their wealthoverseas, far from the prying eyes of the authorities. If govern-ments want to have any chance of recovering what has been lost,they must join together to create an international anticorruptionforce, along the lines of Interpol, to defeat these financial oligarchs.

The new organization should have wide powers. It wouldnot, however, be expensive to run (my estimate is about $70million a year). Its remit would be to raise awareness about cor-ruption; explain why it matters; and cross national borders toseize suspects and assets. To lead the force, I would appoint aperson of global credibility and stature. (Former Prime MinisterGordon Brown would be an excellent choice.) The leader’s man-date would be straightforward: to tackle corruption in the hopesthat those planning to deceive their countrymen, to purloin valu-able funds, would desist.

Without such a body, it is difficult to see how the battle againstcorruption can be won. Ranged against national police forcesand investigators is an entire corps of professional advisory firmswell-versed in assisting those who want to put their wealth be-yond the authorities’ reach. Aiding and abetting those who havecommitted fraud are offshore tax havens that structure their lawsto help those seeking total secrecy and security. This oligarchycan be broken only if governments fight like with like — bycreating a well-equipped sleuthing agency that is not afraid ofanybody or aligned with any particular nation.

We need to put a stop to this. Governments around the worldare struggling to raise funds to counter the global downturn, butthey can’t simply keep increasing taxes on the middle- and higher-income brackets. Rather, they must pursue cash anywhere theycan — and one source has to be the proceeds of corruption. (Afterall, in many cases, it’s government money that was spirited awayin the first place.) I propose a relatively cheap, effective solutionto one of the world’s most pressing issues: an international bodyto police corruption. And we must have it now, not at some datefar into the future. It’s our money — and we want it back.

—Courtesy The New York Times

A world corruption police

GARETH EVANS

Cambodia’s government has been getting away with murder. Not the kind of genocidal slaughter conducted by theKhmer Rouge in the 1970’s. Nor the scale of killing that

has been roiling Syria, or that has put Ukraine, Venezuela, Thai-land, and Bangladesh in the global headlines of late. But murdernonetheless, with Cambodian citizens deliberately targeted bytheir country’s security forces.

On January 3, five striking garment workers were shot deadin Phnom Penh while peacefully demanding a minimum livablewage. Many others were severely injured by gunfire and beat-ings. More than 20 have been detained without trial. This fol-lowed deadly violence against unarmed demonstrators protest-ing last year’s deeply flawed national election, won, yet again,by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party,which has dominated political life for more than three decades.

The recent killings repeat a pattern of political violence thathas recurred all too often at crucial moments in Cambodia’s his-tory – even after the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, which wereintended to bring not only peace, but also democracy and human-rights protection to the country’s long-suffering people. No coun-try in the world deserved all three more, ravaged as it was for twodecades by massive United States bombing, civil war, a genocidalreign of terror by the Khmer Rouge, invasion by Vietnam, andmore civil war – with some two million dead as a result.

Hopes were high that Cambodia had been set on a transfor-mative path by the success of the United Nations peace plan, thehuge peacekeeping operation that followed, and the remarkablypeaceful election of 1993 (in all of which Australia played aleading role during my time as Foreign Minister).

In some respects, those hopes have been realized. The KhmerRouge did wither away, and with it the lingering threat of re-newed civil war. The Cambodian economy – strongly supportedin recent years by aid and investment from China – has grownsteadily (though it lags behind most of its regional neighbors,and concerns about corruption and political instability are pre-venting it from reaching its full potential).

Australia’s new foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has talked,as foreign ministers often do, of the need to avoid unproductive“megaphone diplomacy” and to “engage, not enrage” her coun-terparts. But, it seems that no robust critique was delivered whenshe met privately with Hun Sen in Phnom Penh on February 22– even though Australia’s high standing in Cambodia (not leastowing to its historical role in the peace process) means that itsvoice certainly would have been listened to.

There is a place for quiet diplomacy that relies on genuineengagement to encourage significant behavioral change. Butwhen states behave badly enough for long enough, loud mega-phones can also be in order. I know Hun Sen and worked wellwith him in the past. I have resisted strong public criticism untilnow, because I thought there was hope for both him and his gov-ernment. But their behavior has now moved beyond the civi-lized pale. It is time for Cambodia’s political leaders to be named,shamed, investigated, and sanctioned by the international com-munity.

—Courtesy: Project Syndicate

Cambodia’s violent peace

BEIRUT—Hezbollah said that Israel carried outan airstrike targeting one of its positions nearthe border with Syria earlier this week, andvowed to retaliate. The attack, which Israel hasnot officially acknowledged, is the Jewish state’sfirst reported air attack inside Lebanese terri-tory since the start of the Syrian conflict threeyears ago.

The airstrike which occurred Monday nightcaused material damage but no casualties, ac-cording to a statement issued by Hezbollah. Is-rael has fired artillery across the border, andcarried out similar airstrikes inside Syria target-ing suspected weapons shipments believed tobe bound from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, allied to President Bashar Assadin Syria, has been battling alongside his troopsin areas near the border and has lost at least sev-eral hundred fighters. The reported airstrike near

Hezbollah vows responseto ‘Israeli air strike’

the border was initially met with silence byLebanese and Hezbollah officials who declinedto confirm if or where it had happened. But onWednesday, Hezbollah said the attack took placenear the eastern Lebanese village of Janta. Itdenied media reports that any artillery or rocketpositions had been hit or any casualties had re-sulted from the attack.

The porous border is frequently used byfighters and smugglers to move people andweapons between Lebanon and Syria. The areais a bastion of Hezbollah support and the groupis known to have several outposts and trainingcamps there. Arab media reports said Hezbollahhad suffered casualties. Hezbollah said. The Is-raeli military has declined to comment onHezbollah’s accusations. But senior defense of-ficials confirmed that Israel had indeed carriedout an airstrike late Monday.—AP

JUBA—Sick patients in SouthSudan have been shot to deathin their beds and medical facili-ties have been looted andburned to the ground, a danger-ous level of disrespect for thecountry’s strained health caresystem that is forcing the aidgroup Doctors Without Bordersto examine its operations here.

Doctors Without Bordersaid Wednesday that the ex-treme violence and lack of re-spect for health care workersshown by warring sides hasmade the group’s work almostimpossible.

Members of the aid group,which is known by its Frenchinitials MSF, discovered atleast 14 dead bodies in a hos-pital in the contested city ofMalakal over the weekend.Several of the dead bodies hadbeen shot while lying in theirbeds, the group said. Rebelshave been fighting governmentforces for control of the city,the capital of an oil-producingstate.

Group leader RaphaelGorgeu said Doctors WithoutBorders’ facilities in the townsof Leer and Bentiu have beenlooted and completely de-stroyed. He said Doctors With-out Borders does not want toleave South Sudan but must

South Sudan: Patientsshot dead in hospital beds

look at the safety situation ofits workers.

The men carrying out thefighting have shown “abso-lutely no respect for health careworkers,” he said. “How doyou want us to stay to the verylast moment with the guaran-tee that our staff and patientswill not be targeted?” he said.

Goregeu said MSF was notplanning on pulling out ofSouth Sudan, where 800,000people are displaced and 3.2million in immediate need offood due to fighting that brokeout in mid-December. Thou-sands have died in the violence.

At the end of January thou-sands of residents fled as fight-ing broke out in Leer, the hometown of rebel leader and formerVice President Riek Machar.MSF, which has worked inLeer for 25 years, evacuatedstaff while 240 others fled intothe bush. They returned thisweek to find their hospital — afacility that serves 300,000people — destroyed.

“We don’t want to leaveSouth Sudan, definitely not, butwe have to look at things verycarefully now,” he said. “It isnot the investment we put inbut the trust and the respect weput in that is actually put intoquestion.”—AP

HONG KONG—The formereditor of a liberal Hong Kongnewspaper, whose sideliningtriggered protests over mediafreedom and Beijing’s influ-ence in the territory, is in acritical condition after beingstabbed, authorities said.

Kevin Lau, former editorof the Ming Pao newspaper,was attacked in broad day-light by an unknown numberof assailants who escaped ona motorbike in the Wan Chaidistrict where thenewspaper’s headquarters islocated, police said.

“He was conscious, but hadinjuries to his back and wasthen sent to hospital,” a policespokeswoman told. A govern-ment spokesman said Lau wasin a critical condition. Lau wasreplaced in January by a pro-Beijing editor from Malaysia,prompting protests by staffwho feared the move was anattempt to stifle the paper’sstrong track record of investi-gative reporting.

The attack comes at atime of growing unease overfreedom of the press in thesouthern Chinese city, withmounting concerns thatBeijing is seeking to tightencontrol over the semi-autono-mous region. Protestors tookto the streets again on theweekend over what they saidwas the erosion of press free-dom, and earlier this monthtwo reports from international

Hong Kong editor stabbedat centre of protests

media watchdogs said self-censorship was becomingcommonplace.

Media groups, which haveraised concern over a series ofsackings of high-profile mediafigures, called on the police topursue Lau’s attackers. “Westrongly condemn violence andurge the police to take action,”Hong Kong Journalists Asso-ciation chairman Sham Yee-lantold AFP.

Lau edited the Ming Paonewspaper for two years butwas reassigned in January,spurring criticism from staffmembers at a paper cel-ebrated for its investigativejournalism and analysis.Some suspected Lau’s side-lining was politically moti-vated as the city undergoes akey debate over the future ofa political system that wassubject to numerous investi-gations under his leadership.

Top Hong Kong officialscondemned the attack on Lau.The territory’s Chief Secre-tary Carrie Lam told report-ers that she was “shocked andsaddened” by the assault.“Hong Kong is a city withrule of law. All of societyshould condemn violence,”she said. Hong Kong was re-turned from Britain to Chinain 1997 under a “One Coun-try Two Systems” arrange-ment that enshrined the rightto press freedom among otherguarantees-—AFP

ANKARA—Turkey’s presidenthas approved a controversialbill that limits the powers of thejudiciary as the governmentgrapples with new corruptionallegations that have directlyimplicated Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan.

The legislation, endorsedWednesday, gives the JusticeMinistry increased control overa council that oversees judgesand prosecutors.

A scandal that forcedErdogan to dismiss four gov-ernment ministers deepened

Turkish president OKsbill on judiciary powers

this week with the emergenceof alleged wiretapped audiorecordings purported to be ofErdogan speaking with his sonabout ways to dispose of vastamounts of cash amid the graftprobe. Erdogan says the record-ings are fabricated.

Some 1,000 oppositionparty supporters protested incentral Istanbul. Earlier, parlia-ment approved revisions to acontroversial law which criticssay aims to increase govern-ment controls over theInternet.—AP

BRUSSELS—If Afghan leaders and theWhite House can’t agree on a key securitypact, the U.S.-led alliance will pull all ofits troops and equipment out of Afghani-stan by December, NATO’s secretary gen-eral said Wednesday.

The announcement from Anders FoghRasmussen at the start of a NATO defenseministers meeting ratchets up the pressureon Afghan President Hamid Karzai tostrike a deal. On Tuesday, PresidentObama threatened to withdraw all U.S.troops from Afghanistan by the end of

NATO head: No Afghan dealmeans no troops past ‘14

2014 if the pact isn’t signed.The U.S. and Afghanistan had agreed

the details of a security pact last year, andthe agreement was also endorsed by a coun-cil of 3,000 Afghan tribal elders known asthe Loya Jirga. But Karzai caught Westernofficials off guard by then declaring hewanted his successor to sign the agreement.

Without that agreement, Rasmussensaid, forces from other alliance membernations cannot stay either. There areroughly 19,000 non-U.S. forces now inAfghanistan, along with 33,000 Ameri-

cans. “Let me stress, this is not our pre-ferred option,” Rasmussen said. “But theseare the facts — the facts that we need totake into account in our planning.”

NATO’s preference is to remain and shiftin 2015 to a mission of training, assistingand advising Afghan security forces. “But ifwe don’t have the legal framework in place,we will have to withdraw everything by theend of the year,” said Rasmussen. “Each ofthose countries are likely to have a differentanswer to that question what’s the drop deaddate,” Dempsey said.—AP

Tunisia expectspolitical stabilitywill enable record

high tourismTUNIS—Tunisia expects arecord high 7 million touriststo visit this year as the countrythat inspired the Arab Springrevolts enjoys political stabil-ity for the first time since theuprising three years ago, thetourism minister said.

After a crisis last yearbrought on by the killing of twoopposition leaders, Tunisia hasadopted a new constitution anda ruling Islamist party hasstepped down to allow a care-taker government to take overuntil elections later this year.

Tunisia’s new charter andits compromise to reach the fi-nal steps to full democracyhave been praised as a modelin a region still widely unstablesince popular revolts in 2011that ousted long-standing rul-ers in Egypt, Yemen and Libya.

“I tell Western tourists, cometo Tunisia, the first democracyin the Arab world, to share thishistoric moment and support ademocratic transition and alsoenjoy its sun, beaches, desert andculture,” tourism minister AmelKarboul told Reuters in an inter-view in her office.

“If everything goes well,our forecasts indicate that wecould receive 7 million touristsin 2014.” The small North Af-rican country, looking for itseconomy to stabilize from theturmoil since the 2011 uprising,relies heavily on Europeantourism to its Mediterraneanbeaches. Tourism accounts for8 percent of gross domesticproduct.

The threat of Islamist mili-tant attacks also casts a shadowover the country’s tourism indus-try. A suicide bomber killed him-self on a popular beach resort atthe end of last year - the first suchattack in a decade.—Reuters

change, when on a tip-off thepolice party and men fromthe sensitive organizationsconducting a raid arrestedhim and his two accom-plices. Modern weaponswere recovered from thepossession of the accused,police said.

Sources said that the ac-cused were planning to tar-get the KP IG, Nasir Durraniand other high police offi-cials passing through theSwabi Interchange.

TalibanFrom Page 1

The Minister regretted that despiteserious situation the previous governmentsdid not bother to formulate a focusednational security policy. He said thatnational security is the matter of theexistence and future of the country and forthis reason the government made untiringefforts to furnish a comprehensive policy.

The minister said only the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) had assisted thegovernment in policy formation and thankedthe party for its recommendations. Nisarfurther said that none of the provinces hadcontributed to policy formation.

Nisar said developing a political con-sensus was imperative to deal with terror-ism, adding that it was not appropriate toscore points on the issue when it was notjust peace but the state’s existence at stake.

Emphasising that the country’s politi-cal forces should be wary of developingdifferences on the issue, Nisar said if thestate failed to establish peace, little elsewould matter.

Saying the issue was complicated andits resolution not easy, Nisar said the Par-liament should have a single opinion onterrorism.

He said instead of being critical of thegovernment, political forces should assistthe government in dealing with the issue

Security policy not final wordFrom Page 1

which had assumed huge proportions.Nisar said statements issued by the

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan should not beaccorded much importance, adding that itwas not a good idea to give space to theTTP’s points of view on each and everyissue.

He said the policy document would behanded out to the parliamentarians andappealed them to stand by the governmentin ensuring security across the country.

He said the policy would be improvedstep by step and its implementation andeffectiveness would be reviewed during thenext six months. The minister said the 100-page policy document comprised threeparts, one of which was secret.

The Leader Opposition, Syed KhurshidShah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)had said that all political parties supportedthe government over the issue of tacklingterrorism and asked the government to an-nounce a clear-cut policy over the matter.

He further said that although the deci-sion to hold talks with the Taliban was takenin the All Party Conference (APC), no onewas taken into confidence during the ne-gotiation process.

However, Shah also said that no stepthat may compromise the country’s territo-rial integrity would be taken.

premier could not appear be-fore the court and requestedthat he be granted permanentexemption from appearance.

The court subsequentlyaccepted the plea and ad-journed the case to March 7.Speaking to media represen-tatives after the hearing,Naek said although grantedpermanent exemption by thecourt, the former prime min-ister would appear before itwhenever pertinent.

Ashraf, a PPP politicianwho served as premier be-tween June 22, 2012 andMarch 25, 2013, was accusedof receiving kickbacks andcommissions from ninerental power project firms forawarding contracts for set-ting up their projects in 2008to overcome electricity crisisin the country. He was sub-sequently indicted in thecase, along with six others,by the accountability courtin Islamabad on Jan 17.

Moreover, on Feb 4, thecourt had recorded thestatements of four prosecu-tion witnesses, includingthe Water and Power Devel-opment Authority (Wapda)technical director.

Raja PervezgrantedFrom Page 1

Iran fires mortarFrom Page 1

person said Altaf Hussain plans a new strat-egy against Taliban every morning.Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Tues-day called upon the Pakistan army to takecontrol of the country if govt doesn’t sup-port operation against Taliban.

Shahidullah Shahid said the war wouldgo on as long as the recommendations ofpoliticians like Altaf Hussain would getimplemented. TTP spokesperson said theTaliban were forced to take action after gov-ernment allied with the US.

Maulana Samiul Haq, coordinator of theTaliban’s committee for peace talks with thegovernment, contacted the TTP shura onWednesday to convey some requests onbehalf of the committee. According to re-ports Sami met with the TTP shura todayand conveyed some requests for the TTPcommittee. Meanwhile, another member ofthe committee Maulana Yousuf Shah saidthat Taliban have hinted at continuing thenegotiations and expressed the hope thatthey would respond positively to the re-quests. He moreover said the publicwould be apprised of the TTP’s decision.

Shah added that in order to ensure suc-

Taliban reject govt’s conditionof unilateral ceasefire

From Page 1

cessful peace talks, it was imperative thatthe government and the TTP should entera ceasefire. Earlier on Tuesday, the TTPhad rejected the government’s call for anunconditional ceasefire. “If this is what wehave to do, we would have done it 10 yearsago,” TTP’s spokesman ShahidullahShahid had said.

“It is the government which has wageda war against us and it is for the govern-ment to end it now. Let the governmenthold fire and we shall follow suit,” he hadsaid.

Meanwhile, Coordinator of the Taliban-appointed negotiation committee, YousufShah contacted the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pa-kistan (TTP) shura and conveyedgovernment’s conditions.

Shah clearly told the shura that thegovernment would not accept anythingbut unconditional announcement forceasefire.

He said that the Taliban leadership askedto give them time for consultation. It is to bementioned here that the peace talks betweenthe Taliban and government faced deadlockafter some terror attacks.—INP

preciate the spirit of sincerefriendship and cooperationof China and Pakistani lead-ership will emulate the ex-ample of China and spare noeffort for bringing about adevelopment revolution inPakistan.

The Chief Minister saidthat Chinese political leader-ship and people of China arevery sincere to Pakistan andjust as a number of megaprojects have been com-

Shahbaz lauds Chinese roleFrom Page 1

Fast Attack Craft missile firing surface to surface missile during an exercise by Pakistan Navy.

equivocal terms that withthe backing of the nation,they would accomplish theirmission of defeating everythreat to the motherland inaccordance with the expec-tation of the people.

During his visit to KotriRanges to witness Field Fir-ing and Battle InoculationExercise of Karachi Corps,he commended the standardof training of the participat-ing troops and lauded theirskills, precision and accu-racy in engaging the targets.

The COAS said thatstrenuous training andhighest standard of pre-

Terrorists can be eliminatedfrom NW in two weeks

From Page 1

paredness in peacetime arethe only guarantors ofpeace.

Perpetual quest formodern techniques, seizinginitiative from the enemyand mastery in battle proce-dures are essential for suc-cess in all kinds of militaryoperations, whether con-ventional or unconven-tional, he added.

The COAS emphasizedon all ranks to continue tofocus on training and com-bat preparedness to re-spond to full spectrum of

threat with speed and effec-tiveness.

According to ISPR here,these exercises are aimed attraining troops in varioustactical operations underbattlefield environment.

Fighter aircraft of Paki-stan Air Force and armouredfighting vehicles of Mecha-nized Division also partici-pated in live firingmaneuvres as part of thefield firing.

Earlier, on arrival atKotri, the COAS was re-ceived by Lieutenant Gen-eral Sajjad Ghani, CorpsCommander Karachi.—APP

which landed and explodednear Peshuk checkpost inPangur,” an official inPanjgur confirmed and saidit has become a commonpractice by Iranian guardseven after the issue wastaken up with the Iranianforeign mission in Pakistan.

intelligence.The Obama administra-

tion has created a specialnew unit based in Kabul tocoordinate efforts against themilitant group, according toofficials familiar with thematter. It was set up late lastyear, as part of a new strat-egy that involves multiplegovernment agencies, Theunit, headed by a colonel andknown in military parlance asa “fusion cell,” brings to-gether special forces, con-ventional forces, intelligencepersonnel, and some civil-ians to improve targeting ofHaqqani members and toheighten the focus on thegroup, the officials said.

“Things are coming to-gether in terms of the morecomprehensive approachagainst the Haqqanis. So,there’s a lot of focus - there’sa lot of energy behind it rightnow,” said a US defense of-ficial, who asked not to beidentified. It was not imme-

US intensifies campaignFrom Page 1

problems after trying to con-tain the smoke which filledthe living quarters of the INSSindhuratna during a train-ing exercise, according tothe navy.

Another two crew mem-bers have not yet beenfound on the Russian-builtsubmarine, which was stillseaworthy after the incidentand was returning to port inMumbai, the statement said.

The incident comes after18 naval crew were killed inAugust last year when thefully-armed Russian-builtINS Sindhurakshak ex-ploded in flames and sank ina military shipyard inMumbai.

The disaster wasthought to be the IndianNavy’s worst since the sink-ing of a frigate by a Pakistanisubmarine during a war withits neighbour in 1971.

Last month another sub-marine, INS Sindhughoshran aground while returningto Mumbai harbour. No lossof life or damage was re-ported.—AFP

Indian navy chiefFrom Page 1

diately clear whether the in-tensified focus on theHaqqanis has led to in-creased strikes on the groupby the US military or the CIA,which operates drones overPakistan’s tribal areas.

Some US lawmakershave complained that theObama administration hasdragged its feet in crackingdown on the group afterdesignating it a “foreign ter-rorist organization” in Sep-tember 2012. The Pentagonhas regarded the Haqqanis,seen as more skilled in at-tacks on foreign targetsthan other militants in Af-ghanistan, as an acutethreat to its soldiers foryears. US General JoeDunford, who commandsUS and allied forces in Af-ghanistan, told DefenseSecretary Chuck Hagel ofhis concern about the stateof the current US effortagainst the group in a pri-vate letter last November,

sources familiar with thematter said. During a recentvisit to Washington,Dunford told senior WhiteHouse officials that thegroup was a top priority forhim, the sources said.

Some Afghan and US of-ficials remain skeptical thatthe United States can seri-ously weaken militant groupssuch as the Haqqanis unlessPakistan cracks down onthem from within or bettercontrols its borders.

“Until the Pakistanis dosomething about the safehavens, that’s going to be aproblem. (Militants) can re-cruit and train and equipand prepare to launch in Pa-kistan,” said Major GeneralStephen Townsend, whocommands US and NATOforces in eastern Afghani-stan. Townsend was speak-ing about the array of mili-tants who infiltrate the bor-der with Pakistan, not justthe Haqqanis.—INP

for putting together the firstever holistic National PowerPolicy goes to the presentdemocratic governmentwhich has been prepared inconsultation of federatingunits and other stakehold-ers.

He further said that thegovernment is very clearthat the country cannot beput on the trajectory of socioeconomic development un-less we develop most effi-cient and consumer-centriclow-cost power generation.

Prime Minister said thatin order to resolve the cri-sis, the Ministry of Waterand Power throughWAPDA is working on anumber of water and hydro-power projects under me-dium and long-term plans.On completion, theseprojects will not only con-tribute thousands of mega-watt of low-cost electricitybut also store millions ofacres feet of water. Thephased induction of hydelpower into the systemwould reduce our depen-dence on costly thermalpower which will provide asubstantial relief to themasses, PM added.

PM warns against delays,over costing and escalations

From Back Page

Talking about the othermajor hydel power initiativesof the government he men-tioned Diamer-Basha Dam(4500 MW), Dasu (4320MW) and Bunji (7100 MW)and stated that he has al-ready directed the Ministryof Water and Power andother concerned organiza-tions to accelerate theseprojects.

Earlier ChairmanWAPDA Syed Raghib AliShah gave a detailed brief-ing on the project to thePrime Minister. Prime Min-ister was told that the ca-pacity of Tarbela HydelPower Station would in-crease from existing 3478MW to 4888 MW after thecompletion of the 4th Exten-sion.

The project, thus, wouldadd 1410 MW of cheaphydel electricity of the na-tional grid. On this occasionhe appreciated the WorldBank for financial assistanceof $ 840 million for construc-tion of this project.

PM was informed thatthe Tarbela 4th ExtensionProject will contribute about

4 billion units of low-costand environment-friendlyelectricity to the nationalpower system every year.Annual monetary benefit ofthe project has been esti-mated to be Rs.30 billion andit will pay back the cost in-curred on its construction ina short span of three years.He was told that the projectwill be completed in a periodof three and a half years.

Prime Minister said thatthe delays, over costing andescalations would not be tol-erated in the project.

The Prime Minister wastold that as per initial study,Tarbela- V Extension Projectwill generate 1320 MW elec-tricity and Austrian Govern-ment has shown its keen in-terest to finance the project.Prime Minister directed theMinistry of Water & Powerto take up feasibility ofTarbela- V Extension Projectand both Tarbela IV & Vprojects be started simulta-neously.

Later Secretary Interpro-vincial Coordination (IPC)Mr. Ijaz Chaudhry also gavea briefing to Prime Ministeron development of Touristsite in Tarbela.

Crown PrinceSalman arrivesin New Delhi

From Page 1ceived by Vice PresidentHamid Ansari, State Ministerfor External Affairs E. Ahamedand other top officials.

The crown prince camefrom Tokyo on the third legof his four-nation Asiantour, which will also take himto Maldives. He has alreadyvisited Pakistan and Japan.

Mridul Kumar, joint sec-retary (Gulf) to the IndianMinistry of External Affairs,has highlighted the signifi-cance of the crown prince’svisit to India, saying it willwitness the signing of anumber of agreements andboost cooperation in de-fense, trade, investment andenergy.—Agencies

pleted successfully in Paki-stan with Chinese coopera-tion under the leadership ofPrime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif, similarly, thenew projects are being ex-ecuted speedily for further ce-menting of bilateral relations.

The Chief Minister fur-ther said that regular highlevel meetings are usheringin a new era of Pak-Chinafriendship and cooperation.The Chief Minister said that

China has expressed deepinterest in investment inPunjab while the govern-ment is also extending maxi-mum facilities to Chinese in-vestors in Pakistan. He saidthat in order to resolve en-ergy crisis, new projectsare being launched withthe financial and technicalassistance of China whichwill result in substantialincrease in electricity pro-duction in Pakistan.

Ban on goldimport extended

From Back Page

to mills. The total reportedstock of sugar stood at 2.3million tons and the stockof various POL productsaverage of 20 days supplyon February 24, 2014.

ECC was further in-formed that workers’ remit-tances have reached to$9,033 million in July 2013-January 2014 against $8,206million during correspond-ing period in 2012-13 show-ing an increase of 10.1%.

The ECC was also in-formed that during July-Janu-ary 2013-14, FBR tax collec-tion stood at Rs.1,197 billionas compared to Rs.1,022 bil-lion in the same period lastyear, thereby posting an in-crease of 17.2%. During thisperiod inflow of Foreign Di-rect Investment stood at$1,116 million. ECC was in-formed that on 24th February2014 foreign exchange re-serves stood at $8.6 billion.Finance Minister observedthat the foreign exchange re-serves are stable and improv-ing gradually, which is ahealthy sign for the economy.

Police stations in Karachi ofwhich 119 cases werefinalised by courts. Policereport claimed to have ex-ecuted 46 criminals in en-counters with Police and 3were under Police’s custodyunder Police remand. Courtshad so far implicated 437accused for their crimes andthe ATCs had also awardedpunishments to 37 accused.

Police report claimedthey had arrested 7325 ac-cused during past 6 monthsof targeted operation and

Police submit reportFrom Back Page

299 accused were still beinglocked up in different Policestations in Karachi. As to-tal, Police submitted 6677challans against the ac-cused in courts of law andcourts had awarded varietyof punishments to 242 ac-cused while 8 had ben re-leased due to lack of evi-dences and 503 accusedwere in jails on Judicial re-mand.

Police report mentionedthat 94 cops were killed dur-ing targeted operation.

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

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharifhas said that Tarbela IV Ex-tension Hydropower Projectheralds the beginning of anew era of socio economicdevelopment in the country.He said that it is also a mani-festation of the presentgovernment’s resolve to pro-vide relief to the commonman and boost economicdevelopment through addi-tion of low-cost electricity.Prime Minister said this atground breaking ceremonyof Tarbela -IV extension Hy-

Tarbela-IV Project

PM warns againstdelays, over costing

and escalationsdropower project inTarbela.

PM stated that theworst energy outages thatthe people of Pakistan havefaced for last many yearsare the result of sustainedpolicy neglect. He said thatthe successive govern-ments could not addressthe imperative of increas-ing power generation inview of escalating needs ofeconomy and populationgrowth.

He said that the credit

WASHINGTON—The Pakistani gov-ernment is on the verge of launchinga major military offensive in the NorthWaziristan tribal region after brutalTaliban attacks in recent weeksand the apparent failure of peacetalks with the militants, accordingto a senior Pakistani official. “Itcould be any day,” said the offi-cial, adding that military planshave been shared with top U.S. of-ficials, who have long urged an of-fensive, according to The Wash-ington Post. Planning for the op-eration comes amid a Pakistan-re-quested pause in U.S. dronestrikes that is entering its thirdmonth - the longest period with-out such an attack in more thantwo years - and high-level bilat-eral meetings. Pakistan’s defensesecretary, Asif Yasin Malik, is

Pakistan plans military operation in NWA: WPheading a delegation of securityofficials in Washington. CIA Di-rector John Brennan quietly vis-ited Pakistan last week, days afterGen. Lloyd J. Austin III, head ofthe U.S. Central Command, heldmeetings at military headquartersin Rawalpindi.

With 150,000 troops alreadybased in the tribal regions, the se-nior Pakistani official said the gov-ernment is prepared to begin a full-fledged clearing operation. “Wereally don’t have to start fromscratch,” the official said.

He said an official evacuationhad yet to begin but noted thattens of thousands of residents,who he said were “spooked” byreports of an imminent governmentattack, had left on their own. U.S.officials, while hailing the current

level of cooperation and sayingthat they are encouraged byPakistan’s apparent determination,noted that they have been fre-quently disappointed in the past.“We’ll believe it when we see it,”said one U.S. official, who likeother American and Pakistani offi-cials spoke on the condition ofanonymity to discuss diplomaticcontacts and military plans.“We’re not doing it for their hap-piness,” the senior Pakistani offi-cial said of the United States’ urg-ing. Instead, he said, the execu-tion last week of 23 Pakistani sol-diers held by the Pakistani Talibansince 2010, along with several re-cent attacks, including one thatkilled 19 at a Karachi police sta-tion, have turned public opinionagainst the militants and the sput-

tering peace talks.That has opened new political

space for military action. The se-nior Pakistani official cautionedthat the government has not formallydeclared the talks a failure and saidthat “it’s politically important for thegovernment to take this to its logicalconclusion.”

At least one round of talks hadtaken place, with no discernible re-sults, when the execution of the Pa-kistani soldiers occurred. In recentdays, the government has carried outseveral retaliatory airstrikes that itsays killed dozens of militants inNorth Waziristan. The official saidgovernment targeting would “notdiscriminate” among the TTP, theHaqqani network and other militantgroups in North Waziristan, includ-ing al-Qaeda.—Agencies

Pakistan Navy firepower

demonstration atArabian sea

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—In an impres-sive display of naval firepower, front line combatunits of Pakistan NavyFleet conducted LiveWeapon Firing in NorthArabian Sea on Wednes-day. Admiral MuhammadAsif Sandila, Chief of theNaval Staff along withCommander Pakistan FleetVice Admiral Khan HashamBin Saddique witnessedthe firings onboard PNSNASR.

The demonstration in-cluded firing of anti sur-face missiles from Fast At-tack Craft (Missile) andSeaking helicopter. Themissiles successfully en-gaged the targets thus re-asserting the offensivepunch of Pakistan Navy’sFleet. Operational effi-ciency of surface and aerialattack capability ushers ina new era and a quantumincrease in combat poten-tial of Pakistan Navy.

Admiral MuhammadAsif Sandila expressed hissatisfaction on the combatreadiness of PN Fleet andappreciated display of pro-fessionalism by the partici-pating squadrons. Hepraised the Fleet’s person-nel for their commitmentand hard work to protectthe maritime interests ofPakistan.

Shahbaz, Fazldiscuss issuesSalim AhmedLAHORE—Leader of JamiatUlema-e-Islam (F) andMember National Assem-bly Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman called on PunjabChief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif onWednesday. Political situ-ation of the country, lawand order and matters ofnational solidarity werediscussed on the occa-sion. Shahbaz Sharif saidthat leading political andreligious personalities ofthe country should playtheir due role for ensuringnational solidarity andpeace in the country.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Police authorities had on Wednesday presenteda detailed report on ongoing targeted operation in Karachicity during hearing of Karachi Lawlessness Case under thesuo motto notice that the SC had taken some two and a halfyears ago. The hearing was being conducted at the SC KarachiRegistry by a 5-member bench comprising Chief Justice ofPakistan (CJP) as head of the bench and Justice Sarmad JalalUsmani, Justice Ameer Hani Muslim, Justice Gulzar Sheikhand Justice Musheer Alam.

The Police report claimed there was a 56 percent declinein target killings and 30 percent decline in routine murdercases while the street crimes rate had also reduced by 3 per-cent. However, incidents of extortion were escalated and in-cidents of terrorism were also increased as a reaction to theaction taken against the terrorists. The Police report claimedto have arrested 601 accused of crimes during past 171 daysof the ongoing targeted operation of which 213 were pro-claimed offenders. None of 153 target killer arrested duringongoing targeted operation was released on bail. Police re-ports also claimed to have arrested 71 extortionists and 158

Police submit report ontargeted operation in SC

challans of 206 accused of murders were submitted in courtsof law while challans of 7524 of total arrested accused 9195were submitted in courts of law.

Police report also carried description of other activitiessuch as it stated that 79 of 115 accused of target killings werebrought to courts of law while 37 challans of 40 held oncharges of carrying explosive, 48 challans of arrested 67 oncharges of kidnappings for ransom, 90 challans of arrested122 on charges of extortion, 208 challans of arrested 270 oncharges of robbery, 266 challans of arrested 235 on chargesof street crimes, 2480 challans of arrested 278 on charges ofcarrying illegal weapons, 1309 challans of arrested 1725 oncharges of carrying narcotics and 2489 challans were submit-ted in courts of law against 3618 accused arrested on chargesof different crimes. Police report mentioned that 393 caseswere referred to anti-terrorist courts of which 92 were in ATC-1, 54 in ATC-2, 47 in ATC-3. Further, Police claimed to havearrested 1990 absconders during targeted operation.

Police report mentioned Police had received 975 com-plaints about extortion and 150 were arrested on charges ofextortion and 308 cases of extortion were registered at differ-ent

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif offering sweets to Ambassador ofChina Sun Weidong to celebrate the Chinese large investment package for Punjab.

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—The EconomicCoordination Committee ofthe Cabinet has extendedtemporary suspension onimport of gold till 20th ofnext month.

Finance Minister IshaqDar chaired the meetingheld in Islamabad onWednesday.

The Finance Ministerdirected Ministry of Com-merce‚ Federal Board ofRevenue and the State Bank

to hold a meeting with all thestakeholders and bring pro-posals and recommenda-tions to ensure export ofgold jewellery to the extentof the gold imported forvalue addition.

The ECC was informedthat there are positive trendsin the key economic indica-tors.

The Finance Secretarypresented a review of the

Ban on gold importextended till March 20

key economic indicators.The ECC was informed thatthere are positive trend inthe key economic indica-tors. The large scale manu-facturing sector has wit-nessed a growth of 6.8% ascompared to 2.3% of corre-sponding period of the lastfiscal year. Fertilizer sectorhas shown a growth of28.5%, food beverages 18%,paper and board 17%, elec-tronic 12% and leather prod-ucts 9.61%.

The ECC was informedthat year-on-year inflationrate based on ConsumerPrice Index (CPI), WholePrice Index (WPI) and Sen-sitive Price Index (SPI) forthe month of January 2014remained at 7.9%, 8.1% and7.7% respectively. He in-formed ECC that the re-ported stock of wheat as onFebruary 2014 is 2.7 milliontons showing sufficientquantity of local wheatavailable for daily releases

NEW DELHI—India’s top court Wednes-day ordered the arrest of the head of thegiant Sahara business group for failing toappear in a case involving repayment ofbillions of dollars illegally collected fromsmall investors.

The Supreme Court issued the orderafter Subrata Roy’s lawyer said the flam-boyant billionaire could not appear becausehis elderly mother was ill, the latest twist inthe 18-month-long case.

“The arms of this court are very long.We can get him, we are issuing a warrantagainst him,” said Judge K SRadhakrishnan, rejecting the lawyer’s ar-gument and ordering Roy to appear onMarch 4. On Tuesday the court rejected

Indian court orders arrestof Sahara group boss

Roy’s request for an exemption from ap-pearing in person over delays in repayingmoney collected from rural savers throughbond sales.

Sahara, a famous name in India throughits former sponsorship of the nationalcricket team, raised around 200 billion ru-pees ($3.2 billion) from millions of saversin a process judged by authorities in 2012to be against the law.

The court then ordered the group tohand over money to the Securities and Ex-change Board of India (Sebi), the securi-ties regulator, which is overseeing the re-payment process. In February last yearSebi ordered the bank accounts of two ofSahara’s companies to be frozen.—AFP

India releases20 Pakistani

prisonersLAHORE—Indian Border Se-curity Force (BSF) onWednesday handed over 20Pakistani prisoners to the Pa-kistani Rangers at the Wagahjoint check post. The prison-ers were logged in variousjails of India and were releasedafter the completion of thesentences as per the Indianlaw, Indian mediareported.Most of them werearrested in India on the chargesof inadvertent crossing. Outof 20 Pakistani prisoners, someof them were fishermen whohad been lodged in a jail in In-dian state of Gujarat—Online

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

KOTRI: Soldiers of Pakistan Army listening to the address of Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif during his visit to Kotri Ranges towitness Field Firing and Battle Inoculation Exercise of Karachi Corps.

Continued on Page 7

Man’s death inPolice custodyStaff ReporterLAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt (LHC) Complaint Cellon Wednesday took noticeof a press report on adminis-trative side regarding deathof a 65-year-old man in po-lice custody. The Cell has di-rected the District & Ses-sions Judge, Sialkot to lookinto the matter and submit adetailed report regardingsteps taken by police alongwith his own commentswithin a week. According todetails, police raided at ahouse to arrest an allegedcriminal, Rashid alias Bhola,wanted in double murdercase but could not find him.

WomenDevelopment WeekObserver ReportLAHORE—Provincial Minis-ter for Cooperatives, MalikIqbal Channar during meet-ing with delegations of girlstudents of different col-leges said that women devel-opment week will be ob-served in the first week ofMarch in connection with In-ternational Women Day. Hesaid that seminars would beconducted in governmentcolleges and private andpublic sector universitiesof province for improvingsocial status of women andincluding them in decisionmaking process at nationallevel.

Picture on Page 7

OLDER men and women whose partners died within the past month areat an increased risk of heart attacks

and strokes, according to a new study fromthe UK. Researchers found the chance ofhaving a heart attack orstroke doubled within the30 days after people losttheir significant other.

“The period afterdeath of a loved one is atime of increased vulner-ability to a range of healthproblems, including heartattacks and strokes,” Dr.Sunil Shah said. “It is im-portant that doctors, fam-ily and friends under-stand this risk and offerhelp and support to be-reaved individuals.” Shahis one of the study’s au-thors from St. George’sUniversity of London.

“Although we knowthat the chance of dyingof a heart attack or strokeincreases after losing someone close, wehad less information on the overall effectof bereavement (on) heart attacks andstrokes,” including those that aren’t fatal,he wrote in an email to Reuters Health. “Wethink ours is the first large study to look atthis after death of a partner,” he added.

Shah and his colleagues analyzed therecords of patients seen at 401 UK primarycare offices between February 2005 andSeptember 2012. They compared informa-tion on 30,477 people between the ages of60 and 89 who lost their significant otherduring that time and 83,588 people whowere otherwise similar but did not lose a

partner.The researchers found that within

30 days of their partners’ deaths, 0.16percent of the bereaved group had aheart attack or stroke. That compared to

0.08 percent of the non-be-reaved group that had aheart attack or stroke overan equivalent period. Therisks of blood clots in thelungs - known as pulmonaryemboli - and severe and sud-den blockages in the heart’sarteries were also increasedafter a partner’s death.

Any extra risks ap-peared to dissipate after 30days, the researchers writein JAMA Internal Medicine.“We think it is importantthat doctors, friends andfamily are aware of this riskso they can ensure care isas good as possible at a timeof increased vulnerabilitybefore and after loss of aloved one,” Shah wrote.

“This can include making sure thatbereaved individuals continue with theirregular prescribed medication, attendhealth checks with their doctor or nurseas usual and report any new health prob-lems,” he added. Subu Subramanian,who was not involved with the new re-search but has studied the so-calledwidowhood effect at the HarvardSchool of Public Health in Boston, saidthe new study’s results jibe with previ-ous research.

He also said it’s good to see the in-creased risks after a partner’s death seemto eventually disappear.

Partner’s death tied to moreheart attacks, strokes

Kuwait National Day

Pakistan, Kuwait enjoy ever growing relationship based on mutual trustOver 1.6 million Pakistanis are strong link between both states; Kuwait is keen to furthersolidify economic and political ties: Nawaf Abdulaziz Alenezi; Colourful celebrations abuzz

with spirit of friendship and brotherhood

Ambassador of Kuwait Nawaf Abdulaziz Alenezi, Chief Guest Federal Minister forInformation & Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid, Ambassador of Qatar Sayar Abdul RehmanAl Mawadah , Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer, Ambassadorof Bahrain Mohamed Ebrahim Mohamed, Ambassador of Tunisia Mourad Bourehla,Ambassador of the State of Palestine Walid A M Abu Ali and Ambassador of Egypt SaidHindam cutting the cake on the occasion of the 53rd Anniversary of the IndependenceDay and the 23rd Anniversary of the Liberation Day of the State of Kuwait, at a localhotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—It was almostan end of harsh winter withIslamabad glowing with beau-tiful and colourful flowers,when Kuwait National Daysprung up in the aromatic en-vironment on Tuesdayevening. Young and energeticNawaf Abdulaziz Alenezi,Ambassador of Kuwait in-vited diplomats and Pakistanieminent personalities to cel-ebrate the 53rd Anniversary ofthe Independence Day andthe 23rd Anniversary of theLiberation Day of the State ofKuwait in a local hotel.

The jam-packed hall wasabuzz with prominent guestsincluding a large number ofmembers of diplomatic corps,politicians, parliamentarians,businessmen, scholars, opin-ion leaders and mediapersons.Among those who graced theoccasion were Sheikh RashidAhmed, Minister Ahsan Iqbal,Minister of State Jam KamalKhan and Senator Sajid Mir.On arrival of the Chief GuestSenator Pervaiz Rashid, Min-

ister for Information andBroadcasting, national an-thems of both the countrieswere played followed by cakecutting ceremony.

A strong sense of friend-ship and brotherhood wasflowing in the celebrations asthe guests were entertainedwith delicious dishes and cozyatmosphere. Screens on cor-ners were screening documen-taries on national life of Ku-wait. The Ambassador whospeaks English language flu-ently was the moving spirit ashe greeted his all guests withsmile and enthusiasm. Theguests settled in groups andtalked about all sorts of sub-jects including Pak-Kuwait re-lations and Pakistan’s devel-oping policy on counteringterrorism.

Pakistan and Kuwait havehistoric links and at one stagebefore partition of South Asia,Indian rupee was accepted ascurrency in Kuwait as tradinglinks were very strong be-tween both the regions. Eventoday, over 1.6 million Paki-stanis are serving the State of

Kuwait which has one of thehighest Per Capita Incomewith sixth largest oil reservesin the world. The ever grow-ing ties between both thestates are great hope for thepeople and the region aspolitical and diplomatic inter-actions will help to maintain

peace and tranquility in theregion. Kuwait is one of themost attractive destinationsof Pakistani job seekers. Ku-wait has always come toPakistan’s rescue in bravinghumanitarian disasters.

The assistance extendedto Pakistan during massiveearthquake in 2005 and dev-astating floods in 2010 isglowing example of such co-operation.

Kuwait and Pakistan areimportant countries in theregion and their strong as-sociations and cooperationcan help economic growthand peace in the area.

Ambassador of the Netherlands Marcel de Vink speaking on the eve of exhibition ofworks of Nazia Khan at Khaas Art Gallery, held under the aegis of the Netherlandsembassy.—PO photo

President Mamnoon Hussain being presented a shield by Dr. Manzoor Qazi, Chief Executive Officer Shifa Interna-tional during award distribution ceremony of the Shifa International Hospital.

CITY REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D —Pres iden tMamnoon Hussain onWednesday said providinghealth care to a large popula-tion of the country is a chal-lenging task that can only bemet through joint efforts ofthe government and privatesector. Addressing the awardceremony to mark 20 years ofservices of Shifa InternationalHospital at the Aiwan-e-Sadrhere, the President said pro-viding quality health care topeople is the priority of thegovernment.

For this purpose, thePresident said, the govern-ment had offered a number ofincentives to the private sec-tor to speed up investment inthe country. He urged the in-vestors to take advantage ofthese incentives and investin the health sector which be-sides social dividends alsooffers lucrative economic re-turns. He said Shifa Interna-tional Hospital was one suchexample to follow and reap thevast benefits of investment inthis sector.

President Mamnoon saidthe government was follow-ing policy of encouragingand facilitating the privatesector to invest in provisionof quality but affordablehealth services to the people.In line with its agenda, hesaid, the government wasundertaking measures to im-prove health services in thecountry with a special focuson facilitating the less-privi-leged and poor segments ofsociety to quality medicalcare. He said the governmentwas also working with its in-ternational partners to im-prove health care system inthe country and to enable thepeople have access to qual-ity health care. The President

Public-private partnership important to meetchallenges of healthcare sector: President

mentioned that the Shifa International Hospital - an initiativeof Pakistani expatriates in 1993 which was encouraged by the“Qarz Uttaro, Mulk Sanwaro” campaign of Prime MinisterMian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, had now grown into a lead-ing medical facility of the country and was known for itsexcellence in quality medical care.

He said the success of this immaculate health facility is areflection of the determination, dedication and commitmentof its founders. “Manned by highly qualified and committed

professionals and equipped with latest technology, Shifa In-ternational Hospital is a success story worthy to be emulatedin all parts of the country,” the President said. He said itsymbolized the true philanthropic spirit of the country’s peopleto serve their fellow human beings.

He paid tributes to the founders of Shifa InternationalHospital’s project and to the entire Shifa Family for their meri-torious services to the country and also for being trend-set-ters in the field of quality health care.

ISLAMABAD—The provinceshave been asked to effectivelyrun awareness campaigns toeducate parents to administeranti-polio drops to their chil-

dren during every nationaldrive.

According to an official ofExpanded Programme on Im-munization, district health

managers have been directedto properly manage the immu-nization drives following theset strategy. He said they havebeen asked to ensure 100 percent coverage during the na-tional anti-polio drive to vac-cinate all children.—APP

Polio awareness drive

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Information MinisterPervaiz Rashid Wednesday paid rich trib-utes to eminent journalist, writer and poetof our times Munno Bhai calling him atrend-setter columnist. “He has a uniqueflavor in his writings and poetry,” saidPervaiz Rashid. The Minister was ex-pressing these views at a reception inhonour of Munno Bhai. “I have alwayslearnt a great deal from the writings ofMunno Bhai— his columns, poems, sto-ries or plays,” said Pervaiz Rashid.

“In his writings, Munno Bhai dis-cussed a common man’s problems, hisdreams, his ambitions and spellbinds hisreaders with the power of his magicalpen,” Pervaiz Rashid further said.Munno Bhai, 81, also read out a numberof poems on this occasion and re-counted incidents that reflect our rulers’obsession with critical journalists.

Sustainable Development Policy In-stitute (SDPI) had hosted the reception

to acknowledge the services of the oc-togenarian writer, poet, journalist and lit-erary critic. The speakers called him anepoch-making personality and paid trib-utes to his life-long contributions to printmedia. They were of the view that a crowand a scarecrow are the trademark ofMunno Bhai’s columns and the firstthing we do after opening a newspaperis to search for that trademark.” SenatorAitzaz Ahsan said Munno Bhai exposessocial, religious, political and economicdouble standards of our society in hiscolumns which are titled “Gareban”.

His writings compel people to pauseand think, said PPP stalwart and a long-time friend of Munno Bhai. Munno Bhaiis promoter of progressivism in society,a preacher of tolerance, he said. He calledupon the authorities to promote MunnoBhai’s writings in order to promote peaceand mutual co-existence in society.Noted writer and columnist MasoodAshar delighted the gathering with an-ecdotes when Munno Bhai worked for

Daily Imroz and once it was because ofhis columns Imroz became so popular inMultan that its rival newspaper Jasarathad to close down its offices from thecity. “Munno Bhai has never been com-fortable with Martial Laws and therefore,he always bore the brunt of his criticismof the dictatorship,” said Ashar.

Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik calledMunno Bhai the distinguished voice ofour times. Aga Nasir highlighted MunnoBhai’s enlightened vision that contin-ues to guide youth and grownups alike.Kishwar Naheed lauded Munno Bhai’sperseverance and energy with which heis writing columns even today. Kishwarapplauded Munnu Bhai, particularly inthe context of his life-long struggle forhuman rights and against dictatorshipin Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion,Abid Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI,said it is important to promote aware-ness on liberal arts and literature in Paki-stan and to honor literary figures likeMunno Bhai.

Tributes paid to man behind ‘Crow and scarecrow’

‘Munno Bhai’s columns are reflection of our times’

06:00 01:3004:45

07:45

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

February 27

CONCLUDING ceremonyof the first phase of“Clean & GreenIslamabad” campaign willbe held in Jinnah SuperMarket, Opposite HillView Hotel, F-7 Markaz,Islamabad.

****

MEETING of the SubCommittee of Public Ac-count Committee underthe convenership ofSyed Naveed Qamar,MNA will be held at 10:00a.m. in Committee RoomNo. 2, First Floor, Parlia-ment House.

Vehicles on the way during light shower experienced by the Federal Capital City onWednesday.

The employees of PIMS hospital continued their protest/strike on the fifth day demand-ing of the government to separate the PIMS hospital from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali BhuttoMedical University and to maintain its federal status.

Feb 28 last date tosubmit forms withtriple fee for HSSCannual 2014 exam

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The last dateto submit forms with triple feefor Higher Secondary SchoolCertificate (HSSC)annual2014 examination is Feb 28.

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 withtriple fees till Feb 28.

He said, the candidateswho fail to submit the formswith single and tripple fees,could avail the last chance bysubmitting forms with triplefees till February 28. For ob-taining more information aboutthe schedule of forms andfees, the intending candidatescould visit BRISE websitewww.biserwp.edu.pk.

Male police officerappointed as

SHO at womenpolice station

ISLAMABAD—Male sub in-spector has been appointedas Station House Officer(SHO) in women police sta-tion in federal capital. SSPOperations has appointedsub inspector MuhammadAzam as SHO of Islamabadwomen police station.

This is second male SHOwho has been inducted inwomen police station withinspan of 3 months. Male po-lice officers have also beenappointed to investigate fe-male accused. Such stepshave defeated the very pur-pose of setting up womenpolice station.—Online

CDA changesbuilding

parametersSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Capital Devel-opment Authority (CDA) haschanged building parametersin respect of all trade centersin federal capital to make pro-spective plots auction a suc-cess. As per changed param-eters, the trade of basementsin respect of the plots to beauctioned has been declaredcommercial.

Sources said that CDAPlanning and Design depart-ment has changed the param-eters of all business centers infederal capital. The basementsof all the plazas to be built intrader centers have been de-clared commercial. Earlier thebasements were allocated forcar parking. Sources said thatCDA administration has takenthis decision to make generalauction of commercial plots tobe held in March a success.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama Iqbal Open Uni-vers i ty (AIOU) a r ranged award cer -emony here on Wednesday, in honourof i t s s tuden t s Naz ia Mazhar andAyesha Khali l ,who have achieved in-ternational awards. While addressing,Chief Guest Secretary General PakistanRed Crescen t Soc ie ty (PRCS)Dr.Mehboob Sardar said success of Pa-kistani students on international forumis incredible and highly appreciable.

He said it is a matter of pride not onlyfor PRCS and AIOU but the whole coun-try feel proud to have such talented stu-dents .

No doubt, Pakistani students are tal-ented and hard working and only needis to give them opportunity, he added.

In his welcome address, Director In-formation Technology AIOUMuhammad Qasim Haider said “ This isthe greatest day in my life and NaziaMazhar and Ayesha Khalil have providedus opportunity to feel l ike a proudpakistani”.

He said these students are precious

AIOU confers awards on its brilliant studentsassesst of the country and this successis a manifestation that whenever Paki-stanis are given chance,they prove theyare talented. The Vice-Chancellor,AIOU Prof. Dr. Nazir Ahmed Sangi con-gratulated the students for promotingthe University’s good image at the in-ternational level.

“We are proud of our students forsuch a great honour”, VC said. In theend,the chief guest conferred awards onthe students. Nazia Mazhar,a student ofAllama Iqbal Open University (AIOU),has achieved a distinction, winning theinternational volunteering developmentaward 2011. The award was bestowedupon her on the occasion of internationalvolunteers day 2014.

She has been a student of M.Phil inAIOU and is currently working in CitySchool, Islamabad. She has achieved thesuccess on her project healthy, wealthyPakistan in competition among the 187countries.

While Ayesha Khali l , is a urdu re-searcher who won first position in com-petition held recently at Geneva amonguniversities of all Asian countries.

PRCS Secretary General Dr. Mahboob Sardar and AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr. Nazir Sangi giving away shield toNazia Mazhar at the award ceremony in honour of AIOU students who have achieved international recognition.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD —Islamabad and RawalpindiPolice on Tuesday performed rehearsal totackle any kind of emergency situation af-ter SOS call. Senior officials including Bombdisposal squad, police commandos, rescue15, Operation Division, Logistic Division,Traffic Division, CDA Fire Brigade and am-bulances participated in the rehearsal.

According to details, on the special di-rectives of Interior Minister Chaudhry NisarAli Khan, Inspector General of IslamabadPolice (IGP) Sikandar Hayat has prepared acomprehensive SOP.

According SOP, a fake call made thattwo terrorists had escaped after firing onpolice picket in sector I-11. The senior of-ficers Police Commandos and other wings

Twin cities police conduct mockexercise on emergency call

of Islamabad Police reached on the spotwithin seven minutes.

It was mentioned in the SOP to reachthe spot within seven minutes and cordonoff the area and initiate search operation.All the wings reached on the spot and tooktheir positions within approach time.

A Media corner was established onthe spot to give the actual version of thepolice. It is to mention that police offic-ers were not told before that the call isfake and it was just for rehearsal purpose.Soon after the announcement of fake call,strict checking on entry and exit pointsstarted.

IGP Islamabad has said that such a re-hearsals is the essential to prepare for emer-gency situation and to ensure security inthe federal capital.

RAWALPINDI—Contrary tothe policy of Punjab govern-ment, violation of building by-laws is being committed indifferent localities of the cityespecially in Satellite Townapparently in connivancewith the Town Municipal of-ficials and building inspec-tors. Illegal constructions offour, five and seven marlahouses is underway on two,four and six kanal plots, meantfor single unit construction,in A,B,C,D, E-Blocks,4throad,5th road and aroundHoly Family hospital, whichis tantamount to sheer viola-tion of the building by-laws.

Aashir Bhatti, a residentof E-Block, told APP thathouses are being built with-out seeking approval ofmaps from the authoritiesand now they are runninginto hundreds. He said

building inspectors haveturned a blind eye to the il-legal activities taking placein the area, which is not pos-sible without backing of theconcerned staff. Anotherresident, Saeed Khan de-manded operation againstthe illegal constructions be-sides taking stern actionagainst the corrupt.

When contacted, TownMunicipal Officer (TMO),Sardar Tashfeen told APPthat they had issued severalnotices to the owners of il-legal constructions, con-ducted several raids andformed special squads todemolish the buildings con-structed illegally. Recently,he said, the town adminis-tration demolished a 36-marla plaza on Tipu Roadbehind Aryana Hotel andSuhaib Plaza at Liaquat

Road. He said the increas-ing trend of violating build-ing by-laws has compelledthe administration to takesolid steps against illegalconstructions.

The TMO said the con-cerned have also beenwarned to improve their per-formance else action wouldbe taken against those en-couraging the violators. Toa question, he said revenuegeneration has increasedconsiderably after the civicbody adoped a prudentpolicy and now the citizensare submitting their buildingplans to get formal approval.According to available data,he said, over 30 illegal com-mercial buildings and over70 residential buildings havebeen demolished in RawalTown jurisdiction during thelast six months.—APP

Building by-laws violations inRawal Town go unchecked

ISLAMABAD—National Highway Authority(NHA) has planned to install Electronic Tolland Traffic Management (ETTM) systemon all toll plazas on the motorways to im-prove toll collection system. An official ofthe NHA informed APP that so far, this sys-tem has been installed on eight toll plazas,which are linked with the Operations Cen-tre, established at NHA headquarter tomonitor traffic and toll revenue collectionround-the-clock.

The source said that out of a total of 99toll plazas, 28 are located on Motorwayswhile 71 are situated on National Highways.

He said that out of 28 toll plazas onMotorways, seven were located on

NHA to install ETTM systemto improve toll collection

Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway, 18 onIslamabad-Lahore Motorway and three onPindi Bhattian-Faisalabad Motorway.

Giving break up of toll plazas on Na-tional Highways,he said that in Punjab therewere 34 toll plazas, 18 are situated in Sindh,seven in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 12 inBalochistan.

About annual toll collection, he said thata total of Rs 13,032 million are collectedevery year out of which Rs 9763 million arecollected per year as toll money from na-tional highways while Rs 3466 million arecollected from motorways.

Besides, Rs 373 million are collectedfrom E-toll system on motorways.

I S L A M A B A D — S u p r e m eCourt (SC) has ordered MajHaider, an officer of MilitaryIntelligence (MI) allegedlyinvolved in Tasif Malik miss-ing person case to appearbefore the police for inves-tigation. A 2-member benchof SC led by Justice Nasir ulMulk took up Tasif Malikkidnapping case for hearingWednesday.

The court remarked “in-vestigation is domain ofpolice. We will see later thetrial of the accused be con-

ducted where.The court was told by

ministry of defence that it isready for prosecution of MIofficer Maj Haider underarmy act.

He will be proceededagainst under section-94 ofarmy act. Justice Nasir ulMulk remarked “ the rightto investigation can not bewithdrawn from police.

As to why the interiorsecretary be not sum-moned to explain reasonfor delay. He reprimanded

Ibrahim Satti counsel fordefence ministry for re-peatedly interfering duringthe process of issuance oforders and remarked “ Thismatter does not relate toMI now but it is now thematter of defence ministry.Defence secretary will tellus on March, 10 what he isdoing in connection withrecovery of Tasif Malik asfirst of all the missing per-son will be recovered andthen matter of trial willcome.—Online

Missing person case

SC orders Maj Haider to appearbefore police for investigation

Police net17 POs

RAWALPINDI—The policeon Wednesday claimed tohave arrested 17 Pro-claimed Offenders (POs)and 11 Court Abscondersfrom different areas of thedistrict.

According to Policespokesman, a special op-eration was launchedagainst POs and CourtAbsconders on the direc-tives of Regional Police Of-ficer (RPO) RawalpindiAkhtar Umar Hayat Lalikain the district, while todayCity police, Westridge po-lice, Waris Khan police,Sadiqabad police, Taxilapolice, Gujar Khan, KalarSyedan police, SaddarWah police, Bunni police,Cantt police Civil Line po-lice and Airport police con-ducted raids and nettedPOs and CourtAbsconders .

The spokesman in-formed that search opera-tions are also being con-ducted in different areasof the city under the su-pervision of Senior Super-intendent Police (SSP)Operations. Afghan na-tionals residing illegally inthe ci ty and other sus-pects are being appre-hended.—APP

Patients sufferdue to PIMSstaff strikeSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A large num-ber of patients failed to gettreatment at the three out-patient departments (OPD)of the Pakistan Institute ofMedical Sciences (Pims)since the past 2 days due tostrike of the hospital staff tovoice concerns against turn-ing the hospital intoShaheed Zulfiqar Ali Medi-cal University.

According to reports,patients face severe diffi-culties amid the strike. Theemployees closed downcardiology center,children’s hospital andOPD following which thepatients faced severe dif-ficulties.

PIMS employees stageda sudden protest and cameout after halting work andabandoning patients.

Explosion inRawalpindi

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—: One personwas injured as a result of abomb device explosion near aschool in Rawalpindi’s RattaAmral area on Wednesdaymorning. According to details,the bomb device explodednear Islamia School No 3 onBabu Lal Hussain Road inRatta Amral, leaving a pedes-trian injured. The injured per-son was hit with ball bearingson several body parts.

On receiving informa-tion, police and rescue teampersonnel reached the siteof the incident and shiftedthe wounded person to ahospital. Meanwhile, BombDisposal Squad personnelgathered evidence from thescene as investigation ofthe incident went underway.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWA L P I N D I—Water and SanitationAgency (WASA) on Wednesday held awalk to create awareness among massesabout the dengue virus and precaution-ary measures to prevent the lethal dis-ease.

The walk, led by Managing Director ofthe agency Raja Shaukat Mehmood, startedfrom Rawalpindi Press Club and culminatedat the Liaquat Bagh Chowk in which peoplefrom all walks of life including students, rep-resentatives of civil societies and mediaparticipated.

Addressing the participants, RajaShaukat said WASA employees have com-pleted a training session from the Health

WASA holds dengue virusawareness walk

Department and now they are impartingtraining to other staff in phases to minimizethe outbreak risk of dengue virus in theupcoming summer season.

The trained staff, he said, would be ben-eficial in anti-dengue drive as they wouldeducate the common man on safety mea-sures to stop dengue larva breeding bykeeping their surroundings dry, neat andclean.

He said that the civic body has final-ized a comprehensive strategy to tackle thedengue virus in its season. The walk orga-nizers distributed pamphlets, containingprecautionary measures to avoid denguefever and get its proper treatment, amongthe participants, pedestrians and motoristsat the Murree road.

Tree plantationcampaign

from March 5CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The CapitalDevelopment Authority(CDA) will start a tree planta-tion campaign from March 5and over 600,000 saplings willbe planted during the drive.

Different organisations,including NGOs, will collabo-rate with the CDA during thedrive. Talking to media, an of-ficial of CDA said that cleanand green environment guar-anteed healthy and hearty life.He said that trees and shrubsplay major role in improvingthe urban landscape and helpprotect the city environment.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Food Department has challaned fourfood outlets for unhygienic kitchens and violation of hy-giene and sanitation rules in the Federal Capital. Accord-ing to details, Assistant Director, Food, Islamabad,Muhammad Afzal, conducted price checking and inspec-tion of hotels and restaurants in Power Market, G-10/4.

He imposed heavy fines on the unhygienic food out-lets and profiteers for over charging and not displayingthe rate list of fruit, vegetables, chickens, milk and curd.

He imposed heavy fines of Rs 16,000 on the profiteersfor over charging and not displaying the rate list.

The food outlets were directed to immediately im-prove the hygienic and sanitary condit ions fai l ingwhich strict action would be taken against the viola-tors. He also took samples of milk and curd from shopsand sent them laboratory for chemical analysis. He hasdirected the shopkeepers to ensure the quality of fooditems and display their rate list.

Four food outlets challanedfor unhygienic kitchens

RAWALAKOT: Director Donors Tariq Mehmood Butt, sponsors Serra, Col (R) Aamir RaufKiyani inspecting newly built Girls Inter College.

Paramilitary forces of India using brute force against protestors who were demanding toarrest the killers of 7 civilian in Lolab valley of Srinagar.

ISLAMABAD: AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan chairing a meeting of University of Poonch, Rawalakot.

ISLAMABAD—Freedom leaders in the In-dian Held Kashmir, demanding the iden-tity of the slain youth in Lolab area ofKupwara, have called for a probe by aninternational agency into the killings.

The veteran Hurriyet leader, Ali Gilanireacting to the gruesome killings in the area, said, “Seven people have been killed in asuspicious manner. Human rights viola-tions by the Indian forces are at peak inKashmir. We demand an impartial probeby a transparent agency.”

He said it was unfortunate that peoplewere being killed in a doubtful manner.“People are being killed first and then in-cidents are portrayed as encounters,” hesaid. “After it was proven that Machil andPathribal encounters were fake, it becomesobligatory for the international bodies tocome forward to save the lives of peopleof Kashmir,” he stressed. He said there is

Freedom leaders demand probe byinternational body into Lolab killings

a question mark on all encounters that havetaken place so far.

The veteran leader announced a gen-eral strike on Friday against the Lolab in-cident. He demanded that the War CrimeTribunal of United Nations should probethe veracity of all encounters that havetaken place in the territory. “If world bod-ies won’t play their role at this juncture,the killings of Kashmiri youth would con-tinue,” Gilani warned.

The All Parties Hurriyet ConferenceChairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said,“Lolab incident can be another Machil. Allencounters that have taken place in Kash-mir since 1989 are under cloud. We de-mand a transparent probe into the incident.We don’t trust army and police claims,”he said. “People still remember encounterlike Pathribal, Machil, Ganderbal,Brakpora and many other incidents where

innocent civilians were first abducted andlater killed in cold blood,” he said.

The personnel of Indian army’s 18Rashtriya Rifles and other paramilitaryforces killed the youth in a fake encounterduring a siege and search operation atDardpora in Lolab area of the district.

Joining the chorus, the Jammu andKashmir Liberation Front Chairman,Muhammad Yasin Malik commenting onthe killings said, “We know the fate of hun-dreds of probes ordered in past 25 years,so rather than demanding a probe intoLolab incident, we demand identity of allthose killed should be revealed forthwith.”

APHC leader and Chairman of Jammuand Kashmir Salvation Movement, ZafarAkbar Butt paying glowing tributes toLolab martyrs said that martyrdom ofyouths was the assets of the Kashmiris’ongoing freedom struggle.—APP

SRINAGAR—It was a move aimed atdecentralising the state administration. But oncethe Jammu & Kashmir Cabinet gave its nod tocreate 659 new administrative units on 1 Febru-ary, it turned out to be anything but. The exercisecame across as a crude attempt by the ruling Na-tional Conference-Congress alliance to leveragetheir electoral fortunes just months before theforthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

Even though the government- appointedcommittee had just recommended the creationof 223 units, the Cabinet approved thrice thatnumber in its bid to woo more voters. The num-ber was proposed by a Cabinet subcommittee(CSC) constituted for the purpose. Jammu got334 units and Kashmir 274 units, triggering apublic outcry in the Valley that the governmenthad discriminated against the province.

Ladakh, which has two districts, got 48units. That was not all. Jammu got 334 unitsand Kashmir 274 units, triggering a public out-cry in the Valley that the government had dis-criminated against the province. Ladakh, whichhas two districts, got 48 units. The exercise alsoran afoul of the state’s fledgeling Panchayati Rajby not only recommending the creation of morepatwar halqas, the basic revenue unit, but alsoseeking to make these coterminous withpanchayat halqas.

New Administrative Units onlyworsen Kashmir melancholic situation

Currently, J&K has 1,602 patwar halqasagainst 4,184 panchayat halqas. But the CSCheaded by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, aCongress leader, has recommended the creationof 2,582 more patwar halqas — 733 halqas alreadyproposed by the original committee and 1849 bythe CSC. “The committee is of the opinion thatthe demand for making patwar halqas coterminouswith the panchayat halqas is justified and meritsconsideration,” says the CSC report.

“The committee is unanimous in the creationof more patwar halqas to make it coterminouswith panchayat halqas and decided to place thematter with the Cabinet to take an overall view.”Incidentally, Panchayati Raj has been Congressvice-president Rahul Gandhi’s priority democraticproject in Kashmir. In recent years, Rahul has sethimself up as the champion of the empowermentof around 34,000 panches and sarpanches whowere elected in the 2011 panchayat election thatsaw overwhelming participation.

The polls, which were held after a gap of 34years, had taken place following the five-month-long summer unrest the previous year in whicharound 120 youth died. “In the proposeddecentralisation, patwaris will now compete forauthority with panches with the balance of powerweighed in favour of the former,” says PDP chiefspokesman Nayeem Akhter. —Agencies

HCJK condemnshouse detention of

Shabir Ahmed,Nayeem Ahmad

SRINAGAR—Hurriyat Confer-ence Jammu Kashmir (HCJK)has condemned the house arrestits senior leader Shabir AhmadShah and arrest of its seniorleaders, Nayeem Ahmad Khanand Mushtaq-ul-Islam PanthaChowk here.

“Shabir Ahmad Shah, whowas scheduled to visit Pulwamawhere a youth Tawseef AhmadDar was recently slain by thearmed forces, was placed underhouse detention. NayeemAhmad Khan and Mushtaq-ul-Islam were arrested by the po-lice at Pantha Chowk here whilethey were on way to Pulwama,”said a spokesman of the HCJKin a statement.

However, another Hurriyatdelegation comprising ShabirAhmad Dar and MuhammadYusuf Naqash succeeded in reach-ing Sheeri, Baramulla, to expresssolidarity with the family ofShams-ud-Din Fafoo who wascritically injured during 2010mass uprising, left for heavenlyabode few days back,” it said.

Expressing solidarity withthe bereaved family, the HCJKsenior leaders Shabir AhmadDar said, “History is testimonyto the fact that nations whofought for their freedom gainedit ultimately. The day is not farwhen New Delhi too will haveto pack its bags from Kashmir.The desecration of the body ofShaheed Tawseef Ahmad Daris barbaric and extremely inhu-man act,” Dar said.—NNI

Curfew continuesin Lalpora,

clashesin Kupwara

SRINAGAR—Curfew contin-ued in Lalpora while in theKupwara, region securityforces burst teargas shells todisperse stone throwers. How-ever, official sources said therewere only restrictions underSection 144 CrPC in Lalpora,where massive protests brokeout yesterday after locals al-leged that seven militants killedby the Army at Dardpora onFebruary 24 were locals whohad gone to forest area for col-lecting herbs and hunting.

A senior Army officer andDeputy Inspector General ofPolice, North Kashmir dis-missed these allegations andsaid all the seven were foreignmilitants belonging to Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT). Sources saidonly restrictions continued inLalpora to maintain peace in thearea where local police stationwas attacked by a violent mob.

However, situation on theground was totally different aspeople alleged that they werenot being allowed to move outof their homes. A large numberof security force and police per-sonnel remained deployed, di-recting people to remain indoor.Security forces burst teargasshells and resorted to lathichargeto disperse demonstrators, in-cluding women, at Trehgam.

Hundreds of people took tostreets this morning, endedraising pro freedom slogans OnTuesday Police fired bulletsand tear gas as hundreds of vil-lagers tried to storm a policestation a day after troops killedseven suspected rebels.

Police said the protestersburned two police bunkers. Theprotesters shouted pro-indepen-dence slogans and demandedthat authorities identify the sus-pected rebels and hand overtheir bodies for burial. Policelater handed over the bodies tovillagers. Thousands joinedtheir funeral.—Agencies

ISLAMABAD—The Chairman of Jammu andKashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL),Muhammad Farooq Rehmani has denouncedhorrendous killings by Indian troops inDardpora, Kupwara, and shelling on the peace-ful protesters demanding probe into the cold-blooded murder of seven people on Tuesday. Muhammad Farooq Rehmani in a statementissued in Islamabad said that firing on local pro-testers, killings of civilians, restrictions on civilliberties, harassment and imprisonment of thesupporters of plebiscite by the Indian troops andpolice personnel in Kashmir had gained inten-sity during the last several months. Hr urged Pakistan to raise the question of

Rehmani denounces killingsby Indian troops in IHK

Indian brutalities and harassment and torture ofinnocent civilians and pro-movement politicalleaders with UN and launch a result-orienteddiplomatic drive during the forthcoming sessionof the United Nation’s Council for HumanRights in Geneva. He said the Kashmiris werefeeling insecure day after day owing to India’sintensified military and police tyranny andworld’s cool shoulder towards their plight. He expressed the view that the trade-campaignbetween Pakistan and India during last few years,especially in the foregoing months had not ben-efited Kashmir and the anti-Pakistan activities byIndia had become hall-mark of Indian policyaround the Eastern and Western borders.—APP

JAMMU—The government continues to disown869 persons of 268 families who returned fromPakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) duringpast three years despite New Delhi’s Return andRehabilitation Policy in place since November2010. A total of 268 families comprising of 869persons including 146 spouses and 455 childrenhave returned during the past three years fromPaK through Nepal, Minister Incharge Home,Omar Abdullah said in a written reply to a ques-tion of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) MLA,Chaman Lal Gupta.

Giving details, he said during 2011, 54youth, 16 women and 47 children had returnedduring 2011. He said in 2012, 150 youth, 90women and 281 children had returned and in2013, 61 youth, 39 women and 125 childrenreturned. This year, three youth, a woman andtwo children had returned until January 31.

In November 2010, Government of India (GoI)had notified the policy for the return and rehabili-tation of such youth. However, the government didnot clarify about the legal status of the wives andchildren of the returning Kashmiri youth who hadcrossed over the Line of Control (LoC) during the1990s when militancy was at its peak in Kashmir.GoI drew flak after it arrested one of the returningyouth Syed Liyaqat Shah, accusing him of con-spiring to attack in Delhi.

The charges were not proven and Shah wasreleased later. Omar said presently, the govern-ment did not have exact details about the num-

Regime disowns 869 familymembers of Pak returns to IHK

ber of Kashmiri youth in Pakistan and PaK butput their reported number at 4132. He said un-der the Rehabilitation Policy of 2004, the Statehad received a total of 427 such cases in past 10years. He said 427 such cases had been receivedfrom January 31, 2004 to January 31, 2014 andanother 10 had been received under an earlierpolicy.

Omar said as none of these youth in all the437 cases had returned from the routes identi-fied under the Return and Rehabilitation Policyof 2010, no benefit had been extended to any ofthem. These youth had returned from Nepal,which is not an identified route under the reha-bilitation policy. Under this policy, JCP Wagah,Attari, Salamabad, Chakan-da-Bagh crossing onthe LoC and Indira Gandhi International Air-port, New Delhi had been identified as routesof return of these youth.

Omar said the government had rejected 219of these cases while another eight were underprocess while a stipend amounting to Rs 2.95crore had been granted in 210 cases.

In addition, six women along with 13 chil-dren but without their husbands had returnedthrough Nepal during 2012 and 2013. The gov-ernment said on January 31, 2104, the govern-ment had received 1171 applications who werewilling to return under the Return and Rehabili-tation Policy of 2010. Omar said there was noreason not to trust youth who were returningafter giving up armed means.—NNI

Cross LoCtrade resumes

SRINAGAR—Cross-Line ofControl (LoC) trade on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route resumed onWednesday after remaining sus-pended for over five weeks. “Thetrade between the two sides ofKashmir on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road resumed onWednesday following agreementbetween the two sides on Mon-day to this effect,” officials said.

They said 22 trucks carry-ing goods from the Indian-heldside left Salamabad Trade Fa-cilitation Centre on Wednesdaymorning for Azad Kashmir. TheAJK authorities suspended thecross-LoC trade on January 17after 114 packets of brown sugarwere recovered from a truckcoming from Muzaffarabad andthe driver was arrested.

The travel on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road was alsosuspended. Pakistan was de-manding release of the arresteddriver. Although the officialsfrom the two sides agreed toresume travel services after twoweeks, the trade remained sus-pended till Wednesday.—INP

16,329 PSAcases slapped

since 1988ISLAMABAD—In a shockingdisclosure about the rampantuse of draconian PublicSafety Act (PSA) in occupiedKashmir, the puppet authori-ties have disclosed that16,329 cases of PSA havebeen slapped on people since1988. This is for the first timethat the authorities have comeup with statistics on the ap-plication of the law, termed asa ‘lawless law’ by rightsgroups including Amnesty In-ternational.

“It is to inform that 16,329PSAs have been slapped so farsince 1988,” the Home depart-ment has disclosed under RTI,reported English daily, GreaterKashmir. Out of the total, al-most 95 percent cases of PSAhave been slapped on peoplefrom Kashmir. Earlier, in 2012,the Home department had dis-closed that 4000 PSA caseswere slapped between 2002and 2012.—APP

Court upholdsCJM verdict

against cops inWamiq case

SRINAGAR—A court has dis-missed an appeal against a trialcourt order seeking execution ofnon-bailable arrest warrantsagainst two cops found guilty inthe Wamiq Farooq killing caseof 2010. Wamiq Farooq, a class7th student, was hit by a tear-gas shell at Ghani MemorialStadium in Srinagar during the2010 uprising in Kashmir.

The Court of 2nd Addi-tional Sessions JudgeSrinagar, Parvaiz HussainKachroo, dismissed the appealby two cops—ASI AbdulKhaliq Sofi and SPOMuhammad Akram—againstan order of Chief JudicialMagistrate Srinagar seekingexecution of arrest warrantsagainst the duo through IG Po-lice. The court justified the or-der of Chief Judicial Magis-trate on several grounds.

The victim family was rep-resented by Advocate AjazAhmad Dar. Meanwhile term-ing the verdict in the WamiqFarooq case as a victory of jus-tice, the All Parties HurriyetConference in a statement saidthe “murderers of more than100 youths killed in 2010 arestill roaming freely.”—KMS

SRINAGAR—Curfew and restrictions on themovements of locals at North Kashmir’s Lolabregion after the fierce gun battle between allegedoutsiders and forces erupted on Monday is stillunderway.

According to the reports the authorities hadto impose restrictions in the area after the localsdemanded the bodies of seven slain militants forthe burial. According to the reports when Po-lice declared that the killed militants were allforeigners, the locals expressed apprehensionsover the report. Sarpanch of the area told mediathat the Curfew was clamped down in the areaat 12 noon after the people held massive pro-tests and reportedly attacked the some govern-ment buildings.

According to the reports eleven people in-

Curfew is still underway in Lolabcluding five photojournalists and three police-men have been injured in the protests. The re-ports maintained further that the bodies of theslain militants who were seven in number werehanded over the people for the performance ofreligious rites. “There was no local among thekilled militants,” said one of the residents of theLalpora.

Reports added from Lolab that the slainmilitants were buried in the martyrs’ graveyardLolab amid the pro-azadi slogans. The eye wit-nesses told that more than eight thousand peopleparticipated in the funeral procession of the mili-tants. The civil and police administration accord-ing to sources held a detailed meet Tuesdayevening over the law and order situation per-taining in the area.—NNI

SRINAGAR—Nearly 90 percent women in vio-lence-torn Kashmir suffer from sub-clinical hy-pothyroidism (SCH), commonly known as thy-roid, that some doctors link to the effects of liv-ing in a conflict zone. Over two-decades of vio-lence has left nothing untouched in Kashmir andwomen in valley are the worst sufferers of theconflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

The Tribune newspaper on Wednesday saidthat the department of biochemistry, Govern-ment Medical College, Srinagar, in its study hasrevealed that the percentage of women suffer-ing from thyroid in Kashmir is much higher ascompared to men. “The percentage of SCHamong the study sample patients was 21.56,which is much higher as compared to other partsof the world. The percentage of women suffer-ing from SCH was more (81.8%) as comparedto males (18.2%),” the research said.

The research was conducted by four doc-tors in the Valley based on 2,550 samples, com-

Nearly 90% wearywomen suffer from Thyroid

prising 44.6% males and 56.4% females. Thepercentage of SCH among the study samplepatients was 21.56, which is much higher ascompared to other parts of the world. The per-centage of women suffering from SCH was more(81.8%) as compared to males (18.2%)

The sample size comprised 2,550 patients,who were referred to different departments ofbiochemistry associated with Shri Maharaja HariSingh (SMHS) hospital. Though roar of gunsand sound of explosions have nearly disappearedin Kashmir but the fallout of the conflict, par-ticularly on women showing up by the day. “Oneof the doctors said that conflict in Kashmir couldindirectly be the reason of this disease gettingmore common among women in the Valley,” thenewspaper added. The unrelenting violence inthe scenic valley famous for its pristine hillsides,forested valleys and soaring snow-covered peakshas strained Kashmir’s traditionally easy- go-ing society.—Agencies

SRINAGAR—A villager committed suicide byconsuming some poisonous substance at his homein a remote hamlet of south Kashmir, fifth suchcase in this month, police said on Wednesday.They said one Nazir Ahmad Saradan consumedsome poisonous substance in his house at DongarSonabrari, Kokernag, in Anantnag district.

He was immediately rushed to local hospi-tal from where he was referred to SMHS hospi-tal in a critical condition. However, he died inhospital, they said adding it was not immedi-ately clear why he took the extreme step.

Suicide rate has increased drastically – 40-

Suicides soar in valley; anotheremotionally hurt ends life

fold (from 0.5 per 100,000 people two decadesago), according to officials 400 people endedtheir lives in 2012. Psychiatrists says a declin-ing tolerance level has increased the possibilityof people resorting to suicide to ease worries.

They say depressed people are more likelyto succumb to general factors of suicide likefamily discords, illnesses and poverty. Amongthe younger lot, psychiatrists says, failed loveaffairs are also a common reason. Incidents ofsuicides, especially in Kashmir, were virtuallyzero before an armed revolt against New Delhi’srule broke out in 1989.—Agencies

There is only oneboss. The cus-

tomer. And he canfire everybody inthe company fromthe chairman ondown, simply by

spending hismoney somewhere

else.—Sam Walton

SBP reminds publicto exchange decimalcoins of paisaISLAMABAD—The StateBank of Pakistan (SBP) hasreminded the generalpublic to exchange thedecimal coins of Paisa1,2,5,10,25 and 50 from thefield offices of SBP BSCand commercial /microfinance banksbranches by last workingday of September 30. Forawareness of generalpublic, the SBP hasadvised the Commercial /Microfinance Banks todisplay posters/banners atvisible places of theirbranches for exchange ofdecimal coins. It may berecalled that the federalgovernment has alreadynotified that coins of Paisa1,2,5,10,25 and 50 willcease to be legal tender onOctober 1, 2014.—APP

ISE-10 index witnessesbearish trendISLAMABAD—IslamabadStock Exchange witnessedbearish trend here onWednesday as the ISE-10index was down by 19.86points and closed at 4442.96points. A total of 142,000shares were traded, whichwere down by 366,669shares when compared withprevious day’s trading of508,669 shares. Out of 151companies, share prices of48 companies recordedincrease while share pricesof 103 companies registereddecrease where as nocompany remained stable intoday’s trading. The shareprice of Pakistan Tobaccoincreased by Rs. 34.6 pershare while the share pricesof Sanofi Aventis Pakistandecreased by Rs. 33 pershare. P.I.A and UnitedBank remained the toptrading companies inWednesday’s trading with140,000 and 2,000 sharesrespectively.—APP

Festival to highlightculture of PotoharISLAMABAD—TheRawalpindi Chamber ofCommerce and Industry(RCCI) on Friday willorganize a two-day festivalfor the residents of twincities to showcase the richculture of Potohar region.The event titled “Coloursof Potohar” has beenarranged in collaborationwith TDAP and PunjabSmall Industries Corpora-tion to highlight a widerange of history monu-ments, handicrafts andcreative artisans ofexquisite skills of Potohar.A number of colorfulactivities includinghandicraft display, culturalshows, contest among theuniversities, Potohar foodlounge, artisans.—APP

Lt Gen NadeemAhmad newMPCL MD

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—LieutenantGeneral Nadeem Ahmad HI(M), SE, TBt (Retd) has beenappointed as ManagingDirector & CEO of Mari Pe-

t r o l e u mC o m p a n yLtd (MPCL).Lt GenN a d e e mAhmad (R)who has re-placed LtGen RazaMuhammad

Khan HI (M) after comple-tion of three years tenure willassume the charge of officefrom 26th Feb 2014. Lieuten-ant General Nadeem Ahmed(Retd) served in the Paki-stan Army until his retire-ment in May 2010. In his 40-year career he held presti-gious command and staffpositions as well as head-ing several national agen-cies. He has served as Di-rector Military Operationsand later as the Vice Chiefof General Staff at GeneralHeadquarters. He alsoplayed a pivotal role in tak-ing forward the country’sbattle against drugs whileleading the Anti-NarcoticsForce (2003-05). His last mili-tary assignment was asCorps Commander of aStrike Corps (2008-10).

Lieutenant GeneralNadeem has unique experi-ence in managing bothlarge-scale natural disastersand a complex emergencythrough all phases. Follow-ing the 2005 earthquake, asChief Military Coordinatorat the Federal Relief Com-mission, he strategized, su-pervised and implementedthe earthquake relief opera-tions for both civil and mili-tary agencies in close syn-chronization with the donorcommunity, United Nations,humanitarian agencies andforeign militaries. AsDeputy Chairman of Earth-quake Reconstruction &Rehabilitation Authority hewas responsible for the en-tire recovery, rehabilitationand reconstruction phasesof the earthquake-affectedregion from inceptionthrough planning.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Lahore Chamber of Commerceand Industry (LCCI) has asked the governmentto clarify the confusion over reduction in Gen-eral Sales Tax as early as possible because hightractor prices along with confusion over thereduction of GST on tractors has had a nega-tive impact on the tractor industry which is al-ready finding it hard to sell its tractors in thelocal market. The LCCI President EngineerSohail Lashari was talking to a delegation oftractor parts manufacturers led by EngineerMumshad Ali here at the Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry on Tuesday.

The delegation briefed the LCCI Presidenton the past and present tractor volumes and theproblems being faced by the tractor parts ven-dors. They said that the tractor industry has

Confusion over GST reduction on tractors hurting industry: LCCIseen a drop in volumes by 50% in the recent 2years, and many part makers are consideringclosing down their units or changing their facili-ties for the production of other engineeringgoods. Erratic and low volumes along with highcost of production are the main reasons are forc-ing tractor vendors to close their factories.

They were of the view that the tractor salesare expected to be below 30000 units mark thisyear compared to 50,000 units last year and70,000 units in the year 2010-11. As tractorvolumes drop so does revenue collection fromthe farmers, assemblers and part manufactur-ers. At 70000-tractor production under the 5%GST regime in the year 2011-12 the revenuecollection from the industry and farmer wasapproximately Rs 7.3 billion, this volumedropped to 50,000 units in the year 2012-13under the 10% GST regime and the revenue

collection from this sector stood at Rs 6.8 Bil-lion. This year government will be collectingaround Rs 5 Billion from this sector under the16% GST regime with tractor production ex-pected not to exceed 30,000 units. The nega-tive impact on the rural/urban economy andunemployment will be in addition to this.

Engineer Mumshad Ali criticized the gov-ernment for ignoring one basic fact about thetractor market, which is the buying power ofthe Pakistani farmer. Currently the Pakistanifarmer is paying over Rs 100,000 as GST on a50Hp tractor while this amount is overRs150,000 for a 85 Hp tractor. The tractors aresubsidized not just regionally but globally. MrAli, added that Pakistan currently produces thecheapest tractor in the world but this advan-tage has been offset by the high GST rate andnow the industry has almost closed due to

government apathy. Hundreds of tractor partsproducing factories in and around Lahore andacross the country will be shutting down pro-duction due to tractor assembly plant closuresrendering a massive surge in unemployment.This industry is estimated to employ over300,000 people in the total supply chain.

There seems to be a discord in the govern-ment in dealing with this sector. On one handgst rate has increased by 6% to the current16% form the previous 10%, while on the otherhand provincial and federal subsidy schemeshave been withdrawn, namely Benazir tractorscheme of the federal Government, Green Trac-tor scheme of the Punjab Government and Sindhtractor scheme of the Government of Sindh.Without government support to agriculturethis industry with Rs 40 billion contributionsto the GNP has dark days ahead.

On the revival of the tractor industry, EngrMumshad Ali said, a national tractor schemebe launched with an aim to provide 100,000tractors annually for five years at Rs 100,000subsidy. A Rs.10 billion annual fund be cre-ated from the taxes collected from the indus-try and farmers. The ZTBL network to be uti-lized for the disbursement purpose, while thesubsidy to be provided to only those farmerswho have an NTN number. This will also helpdocument the Agri economy of the countrywhose contribution to the treasury falls shortof its actual pie size in the national economy.

This will provide stable demand to the trac-tor industry by making the tractor more af-fordable for the farmers. This will not onlycreate employment in urban and rural areas,but also give a boost to the agri economy andhelp enhance government revenue and tax net.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The World Bank (WB) has highlypraised the efforts and consultancy servicesof NESPAK upon successful completion ofAl-Khawbah Fishery PortProject in R.O. Yemen. Mrs.Banu Setlur, Head of Missionof the World Bank lauded theprofessional attitude ofNESPAK during a meetingwith NESPAK officials inSana’a, Yemen. This project islocated at one of the most re-mote areas of Al-HodeidahGovernorate, Yemen.

The project comprisedsite preparation and demoli-tion works, construction of south break-water, new 80 meter long landing quay wall,marine signalization, dredging of port ba-sin, reconversion of existing processing hallinto an auction hall, construction of an ad-ministration office, a waste collection facil-

World Bank lauds NESPAKservices for Port Project in Yemen

ity, washing and disinfection facility fortrucks, seawater supply, drinking water sup-ply networks and a water tower, sewagenetwork, pavement works, power supplynetwork – lighting, increased diesel stor-

age capacity, new petrol anddiesel station for fishermen,removal of obsolescent andsuperseded equipment and re-furbishment.

Being consultants,NESPAK acted as the Engi-neer in administering civilworks contract, reviewing andapproving detailed designand construction drawingsfor project, ensuring that per-manent and temporary works

were designed and constructed in accor-dance with the provisions of the contractsand international sea port standards andadvised the Client on all matters concern-ing implementation of contracts includingquality control.

ISLAMABAD—The Federation ofPakistan Chambers of Commerceand Industry (FPCCI) on Wednes-day lauded the commitment of gov-ernment towards social and eco-nomic development of the country.President Mamnoon Hussain’s first3-day state visit to China will go along way in ensuring economic re-vival at a rapid pace and culmina-tion of chronic energy crisis whichhas resulted in loss of Rs 2 trillionin past five years, said Vice Presi-dent FPCCI Munawar Mughal.

He said this as head of a del-egation of leading entrepreneurs ata dinner hosted in their honour bythe President Mamnoon HussainTuesday night. Chairman of theFounder Group of ICCI Abdul Rauf,

FPCCI lauds Government’s commitment to development

Govt alive to problems ofbusiness community: President

Mian Mehboob Elahi and TariqSadiq former President of ICCI werealso present on the occasion. Ad-dressing the leaders of businesscommunity, President MamnoonHussain said that government isalive to the problems of the busi-ness community and masses. Hesaid that we have been focusing onimproving power and forex reservessituation, cull circular debt, rebuildeconomy, cut wasteful expenditure,abolish grants and unjust exemp-tions, increasing tax revenues andinvest heavily in the human andphysical infrastructure.

Cheap power generation, enhanceavailability of water, helping poor, pro-vision of loans and laptops to youth,reducing inflation, ensuring peace, in-

creasing growth rate and getting maxi-mum benefit from GSP while keepinglenders satisfied is evident from inter-national recognition of our policies, headded. The President said that we aretrying to reduce prices of essentialitems and clip borrowings, pushing ex-ports and remittances, reduce unnec-essary imports, stabilise the exchangerate and pave way for increased do-mestic and foreign investment to en-sure a better future. Munawar Mughalsaid that the visit would help furthercementing the already close and cor-dial cooperation between two coun-tries taking time-tested friendship tonew heights.

Chinese support in addressingour energy deficit by developingwind, solar, hydel and nuclear en-

ergy resources and construction ofan economic corridor will go a longway in improving standard of liv-ing of masses by reducing povertyand generating job opportunities,he noted. International, regional,economic, social, and strategic co-operation with Beijing must remaintop priority of the government asPakistan’s prosperity and future istied to China, said Mughal.

Capitalism is malfunctioningwhile China has introduced a supe-rior economic model with lower taxand regulatory burdens which mustbecome a learning model for Paki-stan, said Abdul Rauf. MehboobIlahi and Tariq Sadiq lauded thegovernment for deepening eco-nomic co-operation.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Senators and MNAsfrom Federally Administered Tribal Areas(FATA) met with the Federal Minister forFinance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar atthe Finance Ministry demanding early re-lease of development funds for FATA re-gion for the third quarter. The Finance Min-ister said that the development of FATAand other backward areas is the priority ofthe government and all steps will be takento ensure smooth release of fund forprojects in their agencies.

He assured them of his full cooperationin the matter. Senator Ishaq Dar also sharedwith them the details of his recent visit toAfghanistan for attending the 9th sessionof Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission.He informed the Parliamentarians that hehad a very useful visit to Afghanistan wherehe met with the political leadership andshared Pakistan’s vision for a peaceful and

Dar assures release of fundsfor projects in FATA

stable Afghanistan.The Finance Minister briefed the Par-

liamentarians on his visits to the major un-der construction developmental projects,undertaken by Pakistan in Afghanistanunder its bilateral assistance program in-cluding recommencement of works onTorkham-Jalalabad additional carriage way,Nishtar Kidney Center in Jalalabad and theLiaqat Ali khan Engineering Faculty ofBulkh University in Mazar-i-Sharif. Dar in-formed the Parliamentarians that NishtarKidney Center will soon be equipped withthe relevant apparatus on priority basis.The Senators and MNAs from FATA saidthat with the Finance Minister’s visit to Af-ghanistan will generate a lot of good willfor Pakistan and it will help improve rela-tions between the two countries. The meet-ing was also attended by senior officials ofthe Finance Ministry.—INP

ISLAMABAD—The National Assembly was informedWednesday that several small, medium and large multi-purpose projects are at different stages of executionto enhance capacity of water storage. Minister of Statefor Water and Power, Abid Sher Ali told the Houseduring question hour that work on Tarbela four-exten-sion project has been started which will add 1420 mega-watt of electricity to the national grid in the next threeyears.

Referring to the steps taken by the government tocope with the electricity crisis, the Minister of State saidthese steps have resulted in reducing load shedding du-ration from eighteen hour to six hours. He said a systemof smart metering is being introduced to check electricitypilferage. Minister of State for National Health Services,Saira Afzal Tarar told the House that the government ispursuing a plan to get registered all the medical instru-ments.

She said a summary in this regard has been forwardedto the Ministry of Law for consideration. She said thegovernment has moved the Supreme Court against eigh-teen international companies who raised the prices of theirmedicines. She said that these companies have taken stayorder from the court on prices of medicines.—Online

Several projects inprogress to enhance

water storage capacity

Banks, OGDCprofits rise high

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A wide range ofperformance and profitabilitywas witnessed across manyindustrial and economic sec-tors, during the recent roundof financial results, rangingfrom some highly profitablecompanies like United BankLtd. and OGDCL on the topend of the profitability spec-trum. Oil and Gas Develop-ment Company Ltd (OGDC)has reported an astoundingprofit of more than Rs. 90 Bil-lion, almost 10% higher thanthat of the previous year.

The high profitability ofOGDC is attributed to in-crease in exploration areaand in production and shiftin exchange rates. SimilarlyUnited Bank Limited re-ported a whopping after-taxprofit of more than Rs. 18 bil-lion in 2013, on the back of asubstantial 22% quarter-on-quarter growth in profit dem-onstrated by the bank in thelast leg of the year.

According to analysts,the bank’s high earnings areattributed to its prudent im-provement of its depositmix, strong revenues from itsfee and commission sectorand exceptional perfor-mance of UBL Omni andcommission from home re-mittances.

ISLAMABAD: Chairperson Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, Madam MaryamNawaz Sharif chairing a meeting on Prime Minister’s Qarz-e-Hasna Scheme at PrimeMinister office.

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for PlanningDevelopment and Reforms, ProfessorAhsan Iqbal said here that Pakistan wouldfollow export-led industrial growth to at-tract international markets. In a meeting withthe Senior Advisor of Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) Professor S.Hirashima, he said there existed immensepotential for enhancing exports throughexport-led growth strategy.

He said that for the first time in the coun-try, an extensive research is being con-ducted for cluster mapping of agriculturaland industrial potential areas in order toboost export through value addition. AhsanIqbal said that Pakistan Institute of Devel-

Export-led growth a key priorityopmental Economics (PIDE) was being de-veloped to turn it into a leading think tankfor the country. He said that the focus ofthe government is to identify the opportu-nities available in the country to producegoods of international standard.

“Our way forward is to learn from the ex-periences of Japan, China, South Korea, Ma-laysia and Turkey, but develop a PakistaniModel of development”, he added. Speakingon the occasion, Professor S. Hirachima, saidthat once large companies develop the trendto export their products to international mar-ket, it creates room for small and medium in-dustry to focus on domestic needs, givingthem opportunity to grow side by side.—APP

LAHORE—Lahore Stock Exchange organized a Pre IPO(Initial Public Offer)/Book building awareness session ofHascol Petroleum Limited (HPL) here Tuesday. The HascolChairman Mumtaz Khan along with his team shared thecompany’s financial performance before the TREC (Trad-ing Right Entitlement Certificate) Holders and the inves-tors of the Lahore Stock Exchange. The AKD SecuritiesCEO Farid Alam participated as the HPL financial advisorand Liaqat Ali as lead manager.

Liaquat Ali in his presentation covered financial de-tails indicating performance, worth and potential of thecompany, and said the HPL had applied for listing of itsordinary shares at the LSE and Karachi Stock Exchange.The present issue consists of 25,000,000 ordinary shares(27.59 percent of the post issue paid-up-capital of the Com-pany), out of which 18,750,000 ordinary shares would beoffered through book building at a floor price of Rs 20 pershare to institutional investors and high net worth indi-viduals and rest of 6,250,000 ordinary shares would beoffered to general public at a strike price that would bedefined during book building exercise, he maintained.

The HPL Lead Manager said the principal purpose ofthe issue was to inject additional equity into the Companymainly for utilization in the completion of Machike StorageFacility and for setting up new retail outlets across Paki-stan. Answering the investors’ queries, the AKD SecuritiesCEO Farid Alam explained the procedure and the pre requi-sites required in participating in the book building process.

On this occasion, the LSE Managing Director AftabAhmed Chaudhry appreciated the company and active par-ticipation of the investors that build confidence on the Ex-change by experiencing the demand and supply present inthe capital markets through such events. Besides raising capi-tal, he added, listing had numerous benefits that added on tothe overall wealth creation of the company, its employeesand subsequently to the economy on the whole.—APP

Pre IPO/book buildingawareness

session for HPL

Engrosuccessfullyconcludes

first issue oftransactionSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Engro RupiyaCertificate (ERC), Pakistan’spremier retail Term FinanceCertificate (TFC) launched in2010 successfully con-cluded its first issue of trans-action in January 2014.Engro Rupiya Certificate of-fered investors an attractiveannual rate of return in themarket of 14.5% for a periodof three years, paid semi-annually, along with a re-demption feature. Engro is apioneer in establishing theretail corporate debt marketof Pakistan, with variousother organizations intro-ducing TFCs subsequentlyto capitalize on market op-portunities. ERC was a suc-cess right from its launch,with the complete sub-scription amount of Rs. 4billion being raised beforethe end of the subscriptionperiod. The company pro-vided a dedicated cus-tomer service helplinethrough an in-house callcenter, ensuring personal-ized attention to all sub-scribers. The final profitpayment and initial invest-ment redemption to all sub-scribers of the first EngroRupiya issue took place onJanuary 31, 2014.

Based on the subscriberfeedback and in line with itstrack record of financial in-novation, Engro Corpora-tion is now planning tolaunch another financial in-strument subject to regula-tory approvals, this time aShariah Compliant certificate(Sukuk) called Engro IslamicRupiya. Similar to the initialEngro Rupiya Certificate,the new issue will offer anattractive rate of profit in themarket, whereby investorswill get a chance to invest inan institution with an AA-rating from PACRA, denot-ing high creditworthiness.

RCCI playing rolein promoting

sports: Dr ShimailRAWALPINDI—RawalpindiChamber of Commerce andIndustry (RCCI) is playingits role in promoting sportsevents in the city with anaim to provide healthy ac-tivities to younger genera-tion, RCCI President DrShimail Daud said hereWednesday. Chairing ameeting of the chamber’sStanding Committee onSports, he said, RCCI hadbeen arranging regionallevel tournaments ofSquash, Badminton andCricket and now it wouldexpand the scope of sports.

Chairman of the commit-tee Rizwan Mashahdi, ViceChairman MuhammadHaleem Sheraz, RCCI SeniorVice President Malik ShahidSaleem, Vice PresidentMuhammad Alam Chughtaiand other members werealso present on the occa-sion. He said Sialkot is thecountry’s biggest producerof sports products but it isnot yielding the desired re-sults due to non-existenceof the value addition sys-tem. Sports industry, hesaid, would have to adoptmodern techniques tomeet the internationalstandards by producinghigh quality sportsitems.—APP

Currency Selling Buying

K-Electric winsCorporate SocialResponsibility

Award 2014AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—K-Electric hasreceived Corporate SocialResponsibility Award 2014from the National Forum forEnvironment and Health inrecognition of the utility’ssupport to education sectorand youth platformsthrough its various SocialInvestment initiatives.

The award ceremonywas held at a local hotel whichmarked the ending of the 6thInternational CSR Summit. Asmany as 40 winners receivedawards including corporateand industrial heavyweightssuch as Procter & Gamble,Lucky Cement, Nestle andFauji Fertilizers were awardedfor categories like Engage-ment & Communications;Social Impact; Collaboration& Partnership; and, BusinessPractices. The day-long sum-mit featured expert speakersessions, seminars, casestudies and panel discus-sions. Several notable speak-ers representing diplomaticservices and the social, cor-porate.

Income taxoffices to remainopen on Mar 1, 2ABBOTTABAD—Chief Com-missioner, Regional IncomeTax Office, Abbottabad,Sajjad Haider Khan has de-cided to keep open all fieldoffices of income tax in HazaraDivision on March 1 and 2(Saturday, Sunday) to facili-tate tax payers and businesscommunity in taking benefitof the Prime Minister Am-nesty Scheme. He expressedthese views while addressinga meeting of the office bear-ers and members of HazaraChamber of Commerce andIndustry (HCCI) and officebearers of Hazara Tax BarAssociation on Wednesday.

Sajjad Haider said thatthose tax payers who haveobtained National Tax Num-ber (NTN) and but due tosome reasons they have notfiled their tax returns for lastfive years can also filed theirreturns on a one-page appli-cation form available on thewebsite of FBR. He furtheradded that there in not anykind of fine, additional tax andwill also be exempted from theaudit of the respective yearsbut on one conditions of de-positing minimum amount ofRs 20,000/-per year on basisof self assessment.—APP

MULTAN—Federal Secretary TextilesRukhsana Shah has advised industri-alists to gear up value addition andmaximize growth in volume of exportoriented products if they want to ex-tract maximum benefits out of the GSPPlus opportunity. The GSP Plus sta-tus would hardly be useful if manu-facturers did not intensify a drive forgrowth in volume and value addition,she said while addressing a dinnerceremony hosted in her honour by AllPakistan Bed Sheets and UpholsteryManufacturers Association(APBUMA) at a local hotel here lateon Tuesday night.

Rukhsana Shah also invited cham-bers of commerce and industry andtrade associations to form their com-mittees to discuss what apprehensionsthey carry in their minds regarding ourown business and industrial sectorsinterests. She said our manufacturingsector must also be prepared for chal-lenges, competition in the European

‘Gear up value addition to harvestGSP Plus opportunity’

market particularly after recent move byIndian government which had also ap-plied for the GSP Plus status.

Time will tell what way it goes butexpedited response from Pakistani in-dustry and manufacturers towardsvalue addition becomes more relevantin this scenario, she says. She addedchambers and trade association werealso well placed to invite attention ofthe government towards the dumpingissues so that these could be takenup at a proper forum. Explaining, shesaid products that were produced inforeign countries while enjoying sub-sidies, could hurt our interests if theyfould place or dumped into Pakistanimarkets at cheaper price, for examplethe Indian yarn.

Rukhsana Shah said while movingforward on initiatives to improve traderelations with India, Pakistan had alsoto take care of its own interests. Shesaid a lot of Chinese products werefinding space in a domestic market

following free trade agreement withChina. Likewise, she added, Pakistanalso had a free trade agreement withMalaysia and it was a task of the cham-bers and trade associations to tell thegovernment where their interests werebeing affected.

She said all industrial and busi-ness sectors must opt for modern en-vironment friendly machinery and pro-cesses and computerized delivery sys-tem. To a question, Rukhsana Shahsaid the government was withdraw-ing different SROs to bring sectorsavailing incentives into the tax net. Shealso sought feedback from businessand industry on the matter. She saidthe government would keep all stake-holders on board on cotton relatedissues, including the APTMA, gin-ners, and growers. She said chambersof commerce and trade associationsin South Punjab had to be more activeto watch business interests of theirown country—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—A delegation comprising mem-bers of Pakistan International Business andInvestment Council (PIBIC) and Royal En-ergy Partners from UAE visited PunjabBoard of Investment & Trade (PBIT) andsigned two MoUs with PBIT. The delega-tion was led by Javed Malik, PrimeMinister’s special envoy for overseas in-vestment. PBIT and Royal Energy PartnersUAE signed MoU according to which PBITwould facilitate Royal Energy Partner toinitiate process for the development of660MW Coal Fired Power Plant in Punjab.UAE based Royal Partner Energy wouldInvest in Energy Sector of Punjab and PBITwould help investors in execution of this

Royal energy partners,PIBIC and PBIT sign MoUs

project.Anwar ul Haq signed from PBIT while

Saeed Rashed Al Dhaheri signed the docu-ment from Royal Energy Partners. PIBICalso signed a memorandum of understand-ing with PBIT for establishing goodwill andhighlighting the trade and investment op-portunities in Punjab, internationally. JavedMalik, Prime Minister’s special envoy foroverseas investment and Jalal Hasan Di-rector General PBIT signed this MoU. PBITteam shared and discussed various projectsrelated to Energy, Agriculture and Livestockduring the meeting with the delegates. PBITalso facilitated the delegation in arrangingmeetings with CM Punjab, Governor Punjaband Lahore Chambers of Commerce & In-dustry (LCCI).

KARACHI—Four ships C.V Sakaka, C.V Safemarine Ngami,M.V Ocean Future and M.T Bung Angsana scheduled toload/offload containers, cement and palm oil were arrangeberthing at Qasim International Containers Terminal, MultiPurpose Terminal and Liquid Cargo Terminal respectivelyat Port Qasim on Tuesday. Meanwhile another ship withContainers also arrived at out Qasim during last 24 hours.

Berth occupancy was maintained at the port at fiftypercent on Tuesday where seven ships namely C.V SealandWashington, C.V Sakaka, C.V Safemarine Ngami, M.VOcean Future, M.T Atlantic Glory, M.T Bung Angsanaand M.T lahore are currently occupying berths to load /offload containers, cement, chemicals, palm oil and fur-nace oil respectively during last 24 hours. A cargo volumeof 152,612 tonnes, comprises 95,755 tonnes imports and56,857 tonnes exports inclusive containerized cargo car-ried in 4,828 containers (TEUs) (2,095 imports and 2,733exports TEUs) were handled at the port during last 24 hours.

Four ships C.V Sakaka, C.V Safemarine Ngami, M.T At-lantic Glory and M.T Lahore sailed out to sea on Wednes-day morning, while another ship C.V Sealand Washingtonis expected to sail afternoon. Two ships CMA CGM Beliniand M.V Nord Tradition scheduled to load/offload contain-ers and 38,270 tonnes cement are expected to take berths atContainer Terminal and Multi Purpose Terminal respectivelyon Wednesday. While another container vessel ‘HugoSochulte’ is due to arrive at Port Qasim on Thursday.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Ministry of Petroleumand Natural Resources Wednesdayreported to Sub-Committee of PublicAccounts Committee (PAC) that theministry has to recover as many as Rs97 billions in the wake of Gas Devel-opment Surcharge (GDS) from variousorganisations. In the meeting an offi-cial of Petroleum Ministry apprised themembers of Sub-Committee PAC thatSui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited(SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Pipe-line Limited (SSGPL) has to recoverthe following GDS from Water andPower Development Authority(WAPDA) and Independent PowerProducers (IPPs).

Petroleum ministry torecover Rs 97 b as GDS

IPPs, which has to pay roundabout Rs 10 billion, had submittedbank guarantees but the ministrycould not withdraw them due to pres-sure of some high-ups in the govern-ment. An auditor gave a living exampleof a company named ‘Tullow Pakistan(Development) Limited’ which has topay Rs 259.231 million to the ministryadding that though the company hadbilled and collected the GDS from con-sumer.

The auditor said that the matter issubjudice in Islamabad High Court(IHC) since 2006.

The ministry informed that the fol-lowing company has prize dispute with

the government and its Rs 1 billionfunds has been ceased in an accountand it would be disbursed after thecourt’s decision. Additional, it saidthat on the directive of present minis-ter, the ministry is pursuing the caseto settle down it out of the court andin this regard, a meeting has been donewith the company.

The auditor highlighted 11 similarcases in the report. Convener Sub-Committee PAC, MNA Sardar AshiqHussain Gopang and other membersshowed their dissatisfaction over thereport and directed to the ministry toresolve all issues pertaining to out-standing as soon as possible.—APP

PESHAWAR: The Bank of Khyber (BoK) and United Insurance Company (UIC) joinhands for Insurance Cover for BoK Account Holders. Imran Samad A/Managing Direc-tor witnessing the MoU singing ceremony, while Lal Nawaz Khattak BoK Head Busi-ness Development and Ch Aslam Feroze, executive Director UIC are signing on behalfof their respective institutions.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan’s first and leadingbranchless banking service and a joint ven-ture of Telenor Pakistan and TameerMicrofinance Bank, Easypaisa has beenannounced the winner of Best NFC/Mo-bile Money Product or Service and BestMobile Product or Service for Women inEmerging Markets at the 19th AnnualGSMA Global Mobile Awards 2014 heldduring Mobile World Congress atBarcelona, Spain on Tuesday.

Easypaisa shines at Global MobileAwards 2014 in Barcelona

The only nominee from Pakistan thisyear, Easypaisa was nominated in 2 cat-egories and competed against a numberof world renowned service providers tobring this honor to the country. Easypaisawas amongst 160 nominees across thirtyeight (38) categories, selected from over680 high-quality entries from across theglobal mobile ecosystem. More than 175independent analysts, journalists, aca-demics and subject matter experts through-out the world participated in judging ofthe 2014 awards.

ISLAMABAD—Government is taking all pos-sible steps to promote trade and investmentin the country by introducing more liberalinvestment policies and facilitating inter-national investors along with providingenabling environment for local business-men. This was stated by Chairman Boardof Investment, Miftah Ismail while address-ing a seminar on “Agriculture developmentin Pakistan”, which was organized by Al-ghurair Giga Private limited here onWednesday.

The BoI Chairman said that agriculturesector was playing a significant role in na-tional economy by providing raw materialfor industrial sector and mployment forabout 45 percent of labor force in the coun-try. He said that despite an agricultural coun-try, Pakistan was still importing most of foodproducts and spending its precious forexreserves to fulfill the domestic requirementswhich was a matter of concern for all.

He stressed the need for improving theper acre crop out-put by utilizing innovativetechnologies as well as addressing the farmmanagement issues to alleviate poverty fromthe farming community. Miftah Ismail fur-

Govt determined to promoteinvestment: Chairman BoI

ther said that government has preparedshort, medium and long term strategies totackle the issues being faced by the nationaleconomy particularly energy challenges.

He said that government has startedwork on mega power sector developmentprojects and initiated construction of wa-ter reservoirs to further boosting up the agri-sector. He invited the private sector to in-vest in different sectors of national economyas the country was offering most lucrativeinvestment opportunities and returns.

He said that BoI will provide every pos-sible support and facilitate the local as wellas international investors investing in thecountry. The BoI Head appreciated the ini-tiatives of Al-Gurair for organizing such aseminar adding that the event will help tosort out the problems of farmers. Speakingon the occasion, Vice Chancellor, Arid Ag-riculture University, Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmadsaid the country was blessed with preciousnatural resources including four seasons.

He said that a lot of work has been donein production side but it was need of time toaddress other co-related issues like cropmanagement and post harvest losses.—APP

Shipping activity at PQ GermanAmbassador to visit

PRGMEA todayMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The PakistanReadymade Garments Manu-facturers and Exporters Asso-ciation (PRGMEA) will hosta reception in honour of Ger-man Ambassador to Pakistan,Dr. Cyrill Jean Nunn, onThursday (today) at itsPRGMEA North Zone officeto appreciate the role of Ger-many for granting GSP Plusstatus to Pakistan. PRGMEANorth Zone senior vice chair-man, Jawwad Ch, said thatGermany is the biggest sup-porter of GSP Plus status toPakistan and the upcomingPRGMEA meeting with theAmbassador will discuss asto how to benefit from thistrade relaxation.

He said that Pakistan hadbeen experiencing a positivebalance of trade with Germanybut in 2012, it was not the case.However, optimism is there toget back to the same scenario.Jawwad Ch said that value-added textile sector is gratefulto Germany for supportingPakistan with regard to GSPplus status. “PRGMEA looksup to Germany to further helpus in addressing the energycrisis in Pakistan. “The upcom-ing trade opportunities underGSP plus scheme can only beavailed if we have enoughsupplies of electricity andother sources of energy,” headded.

He said that Germangovernment was well awarewith the ongoing energy cri-sis in Pakistan and ready toextend every possible helpto this regard. He said thatthe GSP Plus would givegreat boost to Pakistan’sbusiness with Europeancountries. He said that bothcountries have enjoyedgood friendly and cordialtrade relations.

LAHORE: Saeed Al-Zuhairi of UAE’s company Royal Energy and Anwar-ul-Haq of PunjabInvestment Board signing MoU. PM’s special envoy for Foreign Investment, Javed Malikwas also present.

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan Bait-ul-Mall(PBM) on Wednesday launched Eco-nomic revival project for the poor citizenof the country to extend their financialassistance from Rs.10,000 up-to 50,000 forestablishing small businesses. Address-ing a press briefing, Managing DirectorPBM Barrister Abid Wahid Sheikh saidthat initially Rs. 10 million allocated forthe project.

He said that deserving people wouldbe provided Rs. 10,000 to 50,000 loan with-out interest for establishing small busi-nesses. He said that the deserving peopleare being encouraged to apply for gettingloans, adding that professional beggarswould also be discouraged. He said thatthe forms are free of cost available on thewebsite of BPM and can be download. TheMD, PBM said that the apply form alsoavailable in all the district offices of thedepartment.

PBM launches economicrevival project for poor citizen

He said that the PBM field officerswill conduct inquiry after receiving ap-plicat ions from various parts of thecountry. He said that in future budgetwould be further increased for theproject to help as much people possible.Barrister Abid Wahid said that the aimof the project was to extend financialassistance to the poor section of soci-ety. He said that the people who are al-ready getting BISP loan can not applyfor this project.

“It was 1992, when Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal(PBM) was established by the then andtoday’s Prime Minister of Pakistan, MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif. His visionaryleadership intends to enable themarginalized segment of society to breakthe vicious circle of poverty” he remarked.He said that this organization also reflectsthe vision of making Pakistan an IslamicWelfare State in a true sense.—APP

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Growth of business activities in residentialareas is taking a taking heavy toll on the businesses beingrun in commercial areas and CDA should take urgent mea-sures to eliminate all such illegal businesses from residen-tial areas, said Khalid Mian, President, ICT Chamber ofSmall Traders and President, Traders Welfare Association,I-9 Markaz in a statement.

He said as per master plan of CDA, business activitiesin Islamabad can be done only in designated commercialcenters and markets, but mushroom growth of such activi-ties in residential areas is badly hurting the business oflegal tradersand discouraging the business activities incommercial centers. He appealed to the Prime Minister MianNawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Ch. Nisar Ali Khan and Chair-man CDA Mr. Maroof Afzal to take notice of such illegalactivities and issue orders for their urgent elimination.

Mian Khalid said illegal business activities in residen-tial areas are being done in connivance with CDA’s Build-ing Control Section Inspectors.

ICT Chamber curbing ofbusiness activities in

residential areas demanded

USA 104.90 104.70

UK 174.93 174.60

Euro 144.14 143.87

Canada 94.58 94.40

Switzerland 118.19 117.97

Australia 94.47 94.29

Sweden 16.14 16.11

Japan 1.0247 1.0227

Norway 17.36 17.32

Singapore 82.95 82.79

Denmark 19.32 19.28

Saudi Arabia 27.97 27.92

Hong Kong 13.52 13.49

Kuwait 372.41 371.70

Malaysia 32.00 31.94

Newzealand 87.40 86.23

Qatar 28.81 28.51

UAE 28.56 28.51

KR. WON 0.0982 0.0980

Thailand 3.221 3.213

ISLAMABAD: Players of local cricket club teams in action during a match played at G-7 cricket ground.

LAHORE: Athletes trying to break Guinness World Record during a ceremony in connection with Punjab Youth Festival Sports.

ISLAMABAD: Players participating in long jump competition during Inter-Board Ath-letics Championship at Jinnah Sports Complex.

LAHORE—Pak Army PACES (Physi-cal Agility and Combat Efficiency Sys-tem) Team won laurels for the countryby creating Guinness world record invarious categories of physical fitnesscompetitions under the banner ofPunjab Youth Festival here onWednesday at Punjab Sports Stadium.

In the maximum Push ups on onehand with 40 pounds back pack in oneminute event. The previous record of31 push ups in one minute by a Britishsoldier was broken by Captain Arbabof Pak Army by 60 push ups in oneminute. In the most push ups on backof hands with 60 pounds back pack inone minute category. The previousrecord of 38 push ups by a US citizenwas set by Sepoy Ali Haider with 52push ups. Most push with 40 poundsback pack in one minute by a Leba-nese national with 73 push ups wasshattered by Sepoy Zafar Iqbal with100 push ups.

The Pak Army Officers and Jawanshave maintained their supremacy invarious physical events by proving

Army men create Guinness WorldRecords in Punjab Youth Festival

‘fittest of the fittest’. PACES is an ini-tiative to improve the physical train-ing regime within the Pakistan Army.

The programme relies on modernscientific techniques to assist each sol-dier in achieving requisite fitness stan-dards by concentrating on individualrather than group based development.

Meanwhile, Provincial Minister forSports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khansaid that with the progress of thePunjab Youth Festival (PYF), the pas-sion of the Youth is also increasingrapidly who want to show the worldthat they are not less than the Youthof any other country.

Talking to the reporters at the open-ing ceremony of the Guinness WorldRecords attempts at the GymnasiumHall of the Sports Board Punjab (SBP),the Minister said: “The Punjab YouthFestival has provided a platform to theYouth. This time, we will try to attemptaround 100 Worlds Records in whichArmy Men will also take part with greatzeal and zest.”

“No one can defeat the fervor and

dedication of Pakistani Nation until wehave enthusiastic youngsters like Cap-tain Arbab,” he said and added: “Theentire world is observing our Youthcreating World Records and PYF willearn good name for the country acrossthe globe.” Mashood elaborated.

“The vision of Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif and ChiefMinister Punjab Muhammad ShahbazSharif is to make the country prosperand developed. They are taking revo-lutionary steps and are committed toweed out poverty and load-sheddingfrom this country.”

“The Youth Festival has been pre-senting a soft image of the country tothe outer world and also helping inincreasing its Foreign Investment,” heconcluded.

Speaking at the occasion, DirectorGeneral, Sports Board Punjab UsmanAnwar felicitated the Youth on theirattempts of creating new WorldRecords. “This time, our Youth hasbeen provided with more facilities andin future,” it will be enhanced.—APP

KARACHI—Newly installed chief selectorRashid Latif said that he was looking for-ward to build a strong Pakistan team for thenext year ICC Cricket World Cup beingstaged jointly in Australia and New Zealand.

“ My objectives are loud and clear tobe consistent in selection policies to pre-pare a strong team for World Cup,” he toldAPP in an interview on Wednesday afterbeing named new chief selector by Paki-stan Cricket Board (PCB).

He said he will be using all his vast ex-periences of international and domesticcricket to build and prepare strong team.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latifsaid after accepting the job, he had put hisdifference with PCB behind to work for thebetterment of the game.

He said he will be closely collaboratingwith Pakistan chief coach and ex-captainsMoin Khan and Zaheer Abbas for the Paki-stan cricket.

In the meantime PCB announced theinduction of Rashid Latif as Chief Selector.

“Rashid, currently serving in Port QasimAuthority, met with Chairman PCB NajamSethi today to discuss various plans incricket and agreed to accept the offer tobecome the Chief Selector with effect from1st April 2014.

Rashid will join PCB on deputation fromhis parent department,” PCB statement said.

Rashid looking to build strongteam for 2015 World Cup

In addi-tion to his re-s p o n s i b i l i -ties as ChiefS e l e c t o r ,Rashid willalso assistPCB in im-parting train-ing and con-ducting lec-tures onAnti-Corrup-tion matters.

C o m -menting onhis meetingtoday Rashidsaid “I am ex-cited on getting associated with PCB. I willendeavor to build a strong team keeping inview the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. I willalso assist PCB in whatever way I can inAnti-corruption matters,” PCB statementfurther said.

PCB Chairman in his comments said“Rashid is an extremely valuable additionto our team. I have keenly followed his forth-right views on cricket in the past and I trusthe will be able to bring about positivechange in our cricket,” statement con-cluded.—APP

ASCC toemerge on

PCB domesticmap fromMarch 1

KA R A C H I—Arabian SeaCountry Club (ASCC)Ground will emerge on thecricket map of Pakistanwhen it staged a three-daymatch of Patrons CricketTrophy Grade-II betweenKarachi Electrics andSindh Police starting fromMarch 1.

Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) have allocated fivematches of Patrons Trophyfor the first time since thelaunch of picturesqueground behind PakistanSteel Mills over a decadeago.

“Its definitely will be agood boost for game andplayers as it join the do-mestic circuit,” former in-ternational and GeneralManager OperationsASCC Hasan Jamil, com-mented.

“We have preparedquality tracks in a sereneenvironments to allowplayers to show their po-tential,” he said.It’s a bigoccasion for the club.

Groundman Atiq-ur-Rehman said that threepitches have been pre-pared which will be usedduring the five matchesstaged at this ground.

He expressed the hopethat pace bowlers will en-joy bowling on thesetracks with got greenishtouch.

“We are well equippedto hold these matches andlooking forward stagethese matches in a suc-cessful and befitting man-ner,” Atiq concluded.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Capital Development Au-thority (CDA) will arrange a two-day an-nual Tent Pegging (Naiza Bazi) in FatimaJinnah Park, on March 8-9.

Talking to APP, CDA Director Gen-eral (DG) sports and culture Asif ShajhanJaved said, that event was arranged bythe civic body annually to entertain thecitizens.

He said that horsemen and teamsfrom Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwawould participate in the event while col-orful stalls, cultural shows and other en-tertainment oriented festivit ies wouldalso be arrenged on the occassion.

He said that there will be no entryfee for the participating teams.

He said that Capital DevelopmentAuthority would provide all facilities to

Tent pegging in Islamabadfrom March, 8

the Horsemen and for their horses.DGS ports said that Capital Devel-

opment Authority would take all mea-sures to organize such splendid eventwith an aim to highlight the historicaland cultural heritage.

He said that CDA Chairman MaroofAfzal would be the chief guest on theoccasion.

He said that all possible measure ofsecurity would be taken to make thisevent joy full.

With the heralding of spring in thefederal capital, the horse riders partici-pating in tent pegging competition or-ganized by the capital Development Au-thority (CDA) offered a scintillating am-bience for viewers to enjoy the colors of‘Jashn-e-Baharan’.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Defending ChampionsLahore Board retained the title brushingaside Federal Board Islamabad by 3-1 in theAll Pakistan Inter Boards boys’ badmintonfinal played here at Rodham Hall.

Raja Hasnain (LHR) played first singleagainst Ali Larosh (ISB) and defeated himby 21-14, 21-12. In doubles Raja Hasnainpairing with Ammar confirmed the 2-0 leadfor Lahore when they succeeded over AliLarosh and Uaakeph Khan (ISB) with thescore 21-16, 21-11. Kumail Naqvi (ISB)struggled and clinched the second singlefrom Ammar (LHR) by 21-18, 15-21, 21-19.

This win went into the favor of FederalBoard but soon Rana Inzimam and Ali (LHR)out classed Kumail and Agha Saud (ISB) insecond doubles winning it by 18-21, 21- 10,21- 15. Lahore Board won the tie with 3-1.Earlier in semi finals Lahore Board defeatedPeshawar Board by 3-0, while Federal Boardeliminated Sahiwal Board by 3-2 to berth infinal. Players from 26 educational boardsparticipated in this Sport gala.

Lahore Board victoriousin badminton final

On the occasion International Badmin-ton Coach, Raziuddin Ahmad said that theSajjad who represented Malakand Board isa real talent who do not have badmintonhall in his District Timergrah and plays withplastic shuttlecocks.

Rana Inzimam (Lahore), Shoaib Raiz(Bannu Board) and Abdullah Rizwan fromJhelum represented Rawalpindi Boardplayed out standing in this tournament.Kahuta Model College, KRL boys AliLarosh and Uaakeph Khan who representedFederal Board in the final is their bigachievement. Muqeet from Cheechawatnirepresented Sahiwal Board also performedwell.

He said all players are the real outcomeof this tournament and most of them be-long to under developing Districts whereplaying facilities are less common as com-pare to Islamabad. “They could be the fu-ture badminton stars if considered by thePSB, PBF or Sports authorities,” Raziadded.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Promising Mehreen has be-come the fastest athlete of the Pakistan In-ter-Board Athletic Championship beingplayed at Jinnah Sports Complex Islamabadon Wednesday.

Mehreen of Gujranwala Board clocked12.48sec, winning the gold medal in the100m spring race, followed by another prom-ising athlete Turab of BISE Sahiwal, sheclocked 13.54sec and Javeria Kiran of BISEFaisalabad clocked 13.60sec.

Zaryab Arif of Sahiwal Board, Hasinaof Mardan Board and Maria of RawalpindiBoard got fourth, fifth and sixth positionsrespectively.

Athlete Sahib-e-Asra, the National Jun-ior gold medalist, ousted from the competi-tion because of cramps developed duringthe 100m race and she fell badly on the tar-tan track. It was the 800m race in whichSahib-e-Asra of Faisalabad Board won thegold medal before ousted from the compe-tition due to injury.

She clocked 2.41:50sec while FarhatBano, also from Faisalabad, got silver medaland Zainab Khan of Rawalpindi Board tookthe bronze medal.

In the Long Jump Mahreen took sec-ond gold medal with her distance of 5.16m,followed by Javeria of Faisalabad and TurabZehro of Sahiwal.

In the shot put Mahreen of Gujranwalatook third gold with a distance of 9.54m,followed by Saddique Nisa of Rawalpindi

Mehreen declared fastestathlete of Pakistan

got silver medal and Habiba of Gujranwalagot third position while in the Javelin throwFatima Hussain of BISE Faisalabad got goldmedal with 36.93m distance, followed byHabiba and Hina Arooj of Islamabad. LailaAkbar of Peshawar Board was the only ath-lete she qualified for the Javelin throw andshort-listed in the top eight positions. Sherecorded a distance of 20.66m.

In the Table Tennis Sahiwal, MardanKhairpur Board, Karachi, Rawalpindi,Abbottabad,, Islamabad and PeshawarBoard won the matches against Faisalabad,Hyderabad, Bannu, Swat, Karachi,Koaht,Gujranwala and DG Khan.

Team comprising Sahiwal, Karachi,Rawalpindi and Islamabad moved to thesemi-finals of the Table Tennis event.

In the Hockey, Sahiwal, Larkana,Islamabad and Faisalabad recorded victo-ries in their respective matches againstGujrawala, Karachi, Rawalpindi and MardanBoards.

In the Badminton a total of eightmatches were decided wherein FaisalabadBoard beat Larkana by 2-0, Abbottabad beatSwat by 2-0, Malakand beat Karachi by 2-0,Sahiwal beat Karachi by 2-0, Islamabad beatGujranwala 2-0, Mirpur AJK beat Kohat by2-0, BISE DG Khan beat Mardan by 2-0 andBISE Peshawar beat Rawalpindi by 2-1. Inthe Volleyball DG Khan beat Hyderabad by25-14, 25-22 and 25-20. DG Khan beatLahore 2-0.—APP

Shoaib wantsMisbah to be

like ImranISLAMABAD—Former pacerShoaib Akthar believes cap-tain Misbah ul haq shouldinduce into the players thebelief of winning like ImranKhan, did in the 1992 WorldCup.

Speaking of the defeat ofPakistan at the hands of SriLanka by 12 runs in theopener of the Asia Cup,Shoaib said 1992 World Cupwinning captain Imran Khaninduced into the players thebelief of winning from no-where, which Misbah needsto do.

“Misbah should leadthe team like a lion. I remem-ber Imran Khan turning or-dinary cricketers into super-stars in the 1992 WorldCup,” he said while talkingto a private news channel.

Shoaib, who made hisTest debut in November1997, said Pakistan threwaway the match to Sri Lankawhen there were no difficul-ties.

“All players includingUmar Akmal, Shahid Afridiand Misbah-ul-Haq areequally responsible for thisdefeat. All of them playedrash shots and none tookresponsibility at the righttime,” he said.

The Rawalpindi Ex-press, who has bowled thefastest delivery officially re-corded at a speed of 161.3kph, said our batsmen don’thave the thing to finish thegame off. “Umar Akmalplayed really well, but whenthe time was to finish thematch, he crumbled,” hesaid,

The Asia Cup is will con-tinue till March 8 inBangladesh. The event in-cludes teams of Pakistan, In-dia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan andhosts Bangladesh—APP

DUBAI—Kagiso Rabada’s pace,with speeds touching 90mph, pow-ered South Africa Under-19s to theirfirst World Cup final since 2008,beating Australia Under-19s com-prehensively by 80 runs in Dubai.

Rabada had earlier jolted WestIndies at the same ground nearlytwo weeks ago, but his six-wickethaul in the semi-final was thestandout bowling performance tilldate in the tournament. A target of231 was always going to test Aus-tralia but Rabada’s spell didn’t givethem an inch.” target” blankScorecard and ball-by-ball details

Kagiso Rabada’s pace, withspeeds touching 90mph, poweredSouth Africa Under-19s to their firstWorld Cup final since 2008, beating

Fortuin, Rabada power SouthAfrica to WC U-19 final

S Africa U-19s innings:Markram c Walkerb Bazley ........................ 45Fortuin c Andrewsb Short .......................... 74Christoffels c Gregoryb Short .......................... 20Oldfield c & b Andrews 9Bosch b Stanlake ........ 10Y Valli b Stanlake ......... 31B Dial b Ashkenazi ........ 4J Smith not out ............ 11D Bruwer run out .......... 3K Rabada b Ashkenazi . 0Extras: (b2, lb7, w13, nb1)23Total: (9 wickets) ....... 230Fall of wickets: 1-105, 2-150,3-161, 4-167, 5-196, 6-207, 7-218, 8-230, 9-230Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WB Stanlake ........ 10-1-36-2G Walker ............. 6-0-44-0B Ashkenazi ....... 9-0-37-2Andrews ........... 10-0-46-1Gregory ............... 5-0-25-0

JJ Bazley ............. 3-0-19-1Short ................... 7-0-14-2Australia U-19s innings:Short c Fortuin b Rabada 7J Morgan b Rabada .... 12D Mortimer b Rabada ... 4J Doran b Bosch .......... 36Gregory b Bosch ......... 31McDermott run out ..... 12JJ Bazley b Valli ........... 22Andrews c Valli b Rabada 4Ashkenazi b Rabada ..... 0Walker b Rabada ........... 4Stanlake not out ............ 0Extras: (b 1, lb 11, w 6) 18Total: (all out) ............ 150Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-18, 3-33, 4-96, 5-114, 6-114, 7-132,8-143, 9-150, 10-150Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WK Rabada ......... 8.2-0-25-6D Bruwer .......... 10-1-32-0JG Dill .................. 8-2-29-0C Bosch .............. 8-1-25-2Y Valli .................. 8-1-27-1

LONDON—Goals from Curtis Davies andRobert Koren earned Hull City a place inthe FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 replaywin at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Charlton Athletic lifted some more oftheir gloom as the relegation-threateneds e c o n d - t i e rside won 2-1at fellowC h a m p i o n -ship outfitS h e f f i e l dWe d n e s d a yto end hopesof a Sheffieldderby in thelast eight.

D a v i e sscored Hull´sopening goalwith a loop-ing headerfrom Koren´s corner in the 14th minute asthe Premier League team dictated play.

Koren then added a second in the 36thminute when his free kick - via a deflectionfrom Keith Andrews - beat Peter Brezovanin the visiting goal.

Second tier Brighton managed to halvethe deficit in the 68th minute through topscorer Leonardo Ulloa, who also scored inthe 1-1 draw in the initial tie last Monday,but they struggled to carve out any moremeaningful opportunities.

Hull host boss Steve Bruce´s formerside Sunderland in the quarter-finals whileCharlton face a trip to third tier Sheffield

Hull City, Charlton advanceto FA Cup quarter-finals

United with the ties to be played March 8-9.

Arsenal host Everton and ManchesterCity welcome holders Wigan Athletic in arepeat of last season´s final in the othermatches.

Charlton,who sit inthe Champi-onship rel-e g a t i o nzone, beatp r o m o t i o nc h a s i n gQueens ParkRangers onS a t u r d a yand the mo-mentum thatresult pro-vided con-tinued onMonday as

they dominated the early proceedings atHillsborough.

Callum Herriott opened the scoring forthe visitors in the 22nd minute when hisswerving strike nestled in the top corner.

Leon Best equalised for Wednesday inthe 57th minute, converting from closerange, but Simon Church restoredCharlton´s advantage when he noddedhome Johnnie Jackson´s free kick eight min-utes later. Wednesday had chances to forcea replay, with the initial tie postponed be-cause of a waterlogged pitch, but London-ers Charlton held on.—AFP

Australia Under-19s comprehen-sively by 80 runs in Dubai. Rabadahad earlier jolted West Indies at thesame ground nearly two weeks ago,but his six-wicket haul in the semi-final was the standout bowling per-

formance till date in the tournament.A target of 231 was always going totest Australia but Rabada’s spelldidn’t give them an inch.

It was an innings of two halvesfor South Africa Under-19s. A cen-tury opening stand between cap-tain Aiden Markram and ClydeFortuin put them on the path to ascore of 250 and above, butAustralia’s spinners did well to pullthem back and restrict them to a parscore of 230 in the second semi-fi-nal. Late hitting by Yaseen Valli took

South Africa to a very defendablescore on this ground and it meantthat Australia would have to matchthe highest successful chase in thetournament to enter the final.

For a change, wickets didn’t fallin a clump at the startof the innings, as hadbeen the case withteams batting first inDubai. AidenMarkram and Fortuinproduced the beststart of the tourna-ment at the venue bat-ting first, nullifyingAustralia’s pace at-tack by batting posi-tively. There washardly any deviationto cause trouble andthe batsmen wereable to hit through theline with ease. Battingsides had struggledto do the same earlier.Australia weren’tvery disciplined withthe ball either, con-ceding eight widesand a no-ball in thefirst 15 overs, duringwhich South Africahad reached ahealthy 66 for 0.

Spin was intro-duced as early as theninth over, as theseamers were ineffec-

tive in provid-ing a break-t h r o u g h .Fortuin wass t r o n gagainst any-thing shortand looked atease againstthe left-armspinner Tho-m a sA n d r e w s ,pulling and

sweeping. After passing fifty, heclipped the seamer Guy Walker overmid-on before pulling him to fine leg.

Markram had scored two centu-ries prior to this match and had faced237 balls without being dismissed. Heextended that to 300 balls before hewas caught brilliantly by Walker atbackward point, diving to his left.Markram had made a steady 45 andhis drives found the middle of the bat.

South Africa had progressed atfive an over till the 30th but that’swhen their control began to slip. Theoffspinner Matthew Short struckfirst ball in his opening spell whenhe had Fortuin driving straight toextra cover. He then removed KirwinChristoffels with a leading edge tocover and Andrews claimed anotherwith a return catch, sending backGreg Oldfield. South Africa had sud-denly lost 3 for 17 and thePowerplay didn’t change their for-tunes either. The Australia spinnerskept things tight and conceded just12 runs in the Powerplay.

The seamers ensured South Af-rica didn’t motor along in the lastten, where they scored 56. Valliplayed some innovative shots, mak-ing room and scooping down tofine leg and clearing the infield. BillyStanlake’s yorkers were tough toget away for the lower order butValli’s presence was important forSouth Africa. He departed in the49th over, caught at short cover offStanlake.—AFP

DUBAI: Clyde Fortuin of South Africa goes on the attack against Australia in the 2ndsemi-final of Under-19 World Cup on Wednesday.

India record6-wicket win

against BangladeshFATULLAH—India defeated Bangladesh by six wicketsin a high-scoring match in the Asia Cup 2014 here at the

Khan Shaheb Osman AliStadium on Wednesday.

Chasing an improbabletarget of 280, India earlierwere finding it difficult asthey lost both their open-ers for 54 but captain ViratKohli and Ajinkya Rahanecame to rescue and re-paired the damage.

They batted first cau-tiously and later with easeto put their team on the

path of victory. They made 213 runs for the third wicketpartnership before Kohli departed after hitting 136, his19th century in ODI cricket.

Just after Kohli’s departure, his partner Rahane alsowent out after scoring 73, his fourth ODI fifty.

Then, India needed only eight runs to win whichthey made to complete the victory with just one overleft.—AFP

LOS ANGELES—Undefeated welter-weight world champion FloydMayweather celebrated his 37th birth-day on Wednesday by announcing he´llput his 45-0 record on the line on May 3against Marcos Maidana.

The move comes after weeks ofspeculation as to whether Mayweatherwould fill his May fight date withArgentina´s Maidana or England´s AmirKhan.

The brash American evenran an internet poll in which fansvoted for the Khan match-up,but World Boxing Council wel-terweight championMayweather instead will take onWorld Boxing Associationchamp Maidana in a unificationbout.

“Marcos Maidana´s lastperformance immediatelybrought him to my attention,”Mayweather said of Maidana´scomprehensive defeat of thepreviously unbeaten AdrienBroner on December 14.The 30-year-old Maidana dominatedBroner from the opening belland registered two knockdownsagainst the three-time worldchampion.

“He is an extremely skilledfighter who brings knockoutdanger to the ring,”Mayweather said. “I think thisis a great fight for me and hedeserves the opportunity to seeif he can do what 45 others havetried to do before him - beat me.”

At 45-0 with 26 knockouts,Mayweather is approaching the46-0 career mark of retired Welshstar Joe Calzaghe and the iconic 49-0mark of heavyweight legend RockyMarciano.Mayweather beat Saul“Canelo” Alvarez last September in hismost recent bout for the WBA and WorldBoxing Council light middleweight titles.The May 3 bout will be the third in hislucrative six-fight deal with Showtime.

Mayweather rejects Khan forMaidana in May

“I am extremely happy to be facingFloyd Mayweather because it will giveme the opportunity to show the worldthat I am the best welterweight in thedivision,” Maidana said. “I just handeda great defensive fighter his first lossand I plan to do the same toMayweather.”

But Khan fans are sure to be riled.Mayweather set in motion a flurry ofonline polls following a message postedto his Twitter and Instagram accounts

earlier this month asking fans to voicetheir opinion on his next opponent.

At least one of the online pollsshowed Khan had swept past Maidanato get the nod from fans 20,105 votes to15,474.However, the statement an-nouncing the bout on Monday said thatoverall opinion expressed on social me-

dia backed a Mayweather-Maidanaclash.

“Through the accumulation of morethan 100,000 votes on the various onlinepolls, more than 100,000 comments onMayweather´s Facebook and Instagrampages, as well as nonstop fan Tweets,Mayweather saw an overwhelming ma-jority favor Maidana,” the promotionalstatement said.

Khan, 28-3 with 19 knockouts, pulledout of a planned December world title

fight for the chance to take the ring withMayweather and has not fought sincelast April. The 27-year-old Englishmanlast week tweeted his frustration at thedelays and said he will meet with pro-moter Golden Boy this week to decidewhat to do next as his patience worethin.—AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO—In the women´s finalat the combined ATP-WTA Rio Open,Kurumi Nara of Japan defeated top-seededKlara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 to win her first WTA singles titlehere.

Nara, the 22-year-old Japanese, wasseeded fifth in the tournament and is Japan´stop-ranked woman at No. 62. She prefers toplay on hard courts but has adapted to theheat and clay in Rio.

“I love Rio,” Nara said, cracking a hugesmile. “I can´t believe I won the tournament,

but I am very happy.”The victory is projected to push Nara

into the top 50 — probably No. 48 — whenthe WTA publishes its rankings on Mon-day.

“I don´t want to think too much aboutbeing No. 1 in Japan,” Nara said. “I just

Nara takes women’s titleat Rio Open

want to focus on my game — every game.”Nara said she thrived on the hot, humid

weather in Rio and said Japanese playersare getting better on clay because a newclay-court facility has been built in the coun-try.

Maria Bueno, Brazil´s greatest femaleplayer who won seven Grand Slam singlestitles — her last in the US Open in 1966 —helped hand the winning trophy to Nara.

Zakopalova won two WTA titles 10years ago, but has now lost 12 consecutivesingles finals. In parts of the match she

seemed unwell, probably bothered by the32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) heat and intensehumidity.

“I have an asthma problem so I couldn´tbreathe,” Zakopalova said. “But it´s not anexcuse. Well done to Kurumi. She deservedit. She played really well.”—AP

South Africadismiss ball

tampering claimCAPE TOWN—South Africadismissed Wednesday anAustralian claim that theymight have tampered theball during a 231-run sec-ond-Test victory last week-end.

Proteas managerMohammed Moosajee toldreporters the allegationswere “disappointing” and“discouraging” and “tooksome gloss off the victory”.

Controversial Australiabatsman David Warnernamed South Africawicketkeeper AB de Villiersas a possible suspect dur-ing a radio interview.

“We were questioningwhether or not AB de Villierswould get the ball in hishand and, with his glove,wipe the rough side everyball,” he said.

Warner, who punchedEngland batsman Joe Rootin a nightclub last year,added that they would bringthe issue to the attention ofthe third-Test umpires.

De Villiers dismissed theclaim ahead of the series-deciding Newlands Test thatstarts Saturday:

“We are not a team thatscratches the ball—we donot cheat.”

Moosajee added:“Warner is trying to dis-tract our attention aheadof the decisive third Test.We will not pursue thematter—let the ICC studyhis remarks.”

After a 281-run first Testhiding at Centurion, SouthAfrica exacted revenge inPort Elizabeth last weekendthanks to a fourth-day DaleSteyn reverse-swingmasterclass.—AFP

England preparefor life without

PietersenLONDON—England will playtheir first major match sincethe controversial decision tocall time on Kevin Pietersen’sinternational career when theyface West Indies in the first ofthree one-day internationals inAntigua on Friday.

English cricket is stillcoming to terms with the de-cision to dispense with theservices of the nationalside’s all-time leading runscorer across all formats.

There is a sense thatformer England wicket-keeper Paul Downton, nowthe England and WalesCricket Board’s managingdirector and Test captainAlastair Cook, rested fromthe Caribbean series, knowthey will be judged on theteam’s results and so wouldnot be as perverse to ‘cut offtheir nose to spite their face’by prematurely ditching aworld-class player.—AFP

OLDER men and women whose partnersdied within the past month are at an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes,

according to a new study from the UK. Re-searchers found the chance of having a heartattack or stroke doubledwithin the 30 days after peoplelost their significant other.

“The period after death ofa loved one is a time of in-creased vulnerability to arange of health problems, in-cluding heart attacks andstrokes,” Dr. Sunil Shah said.“It is important that doctors,family and friends understandthis risk and offer help andsupport to bereaved individu-als.” Shah is one of the study’sauthors from St. George’sUniversity of London.

“Although we know thatthe chance of dying of a heartattack or stroke increases af-ter losing someone close, wehad less information on theoverall effect of bereavement (on) heart attacksand strokes,” including those that aren’t fatal,he wrote in an email to Reuters Health. “Wethink ours is the first large study to look at thisafter death of a partner,” he added.

Shah and his colleagues analyzed therecords of patients seen at 401 UK primary careoffices between February 2005 and September2012. They compared information on 30,477people between the ages of 60 and 89 who losttheir significant other during that time and83,588 people who were otherwise similar butdid not lose a partner.

The researchers found that within 30 daysof their partners’ deaths, 0.16 percent of the

bereaved group had a heart attack or stroke.That compared to 0.08 percent of the non-bereaved group that had a heart attack orstroke over an equivalent period. The risks ofblood clots in the lungs - known as pulmo-

nary emboli - and severe andsudden blockages in the heart’sarteries were also increasedafter a partner’s death.

Any extra risks ap-peared to dissipate after 30days, the researchers write inJAMA Internal Medicine. “Wethink it is important that doc-tors, friends and family areaware of this risk so they canensure care is as good as pos-sible at a time of increased vul-nerability before and after lossof a loved one,” Shah wrote.

“This can include mak-ing sure that bereaved indi-viduals continue with theirregular prescribed medication,attend health checks with theirdoctor or nurse as usual and

report any new health problems,” he added.Subu Subramanian, who was not involvedwith the new research but has studied the so-called widowhood effect at the HarvardSchool of Public Health in Boston, said thenew study’s results jibe with previous re-search.

He also said it’s good to see the increasedrisks after a partner’s death seem to eventu-ally disappear. “It’s just that you need to bringin some resources at that time in a very tar-geted and intense way to alleviate that,” hesaid. “Even the types of interventions we maythink about could vary if you’re only think-ing short term,” he added.

Partner’s death tied tomore heart attacks, strokes

Prof Dr Justice (R) Qazi Khalid Ali Vice Chancellor of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto LawUniversity receiving shielf from Regional Legal Advisor of Intel Committee of Red CrossCharles R Sabga on the occasion of joint seminar of ICRC and S M Law College, Karachi.Principal S M Law College Prof Khalid A Hashmi is also seen in the picture.

Water cannons are being used by Police to disperse the members of Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association during a demonstration seeking timescaleand promotions, outside Sindh Secretariat.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Acting US Consul Gen-eral Leon S. Waskin joined local gov-ernment officials, public health ex-perts, and medical professionals at theProvincial Dissemination Seminar ofthe Pakistan Demographic and HealthSurvey 2012-2013 in Karachi onWednesday.

The seminar was the first suchevent in Sindh to discuss the surveyresults, recently unveiled in Islamabad,which present a comprehensive sum-

mary of data on infant and child mor-tality, reproductive health, familyplanning, fertility, and nutritionamong Pakistan’s women and chil-dren.

The survey, conducted by theNational Institute for Population Stud-ies with financial and technical sup-port from USAID, will enable policy-makers and planners to review popu-lation welfare and health programs toreduce high mortality among moth-ers and children. Speaking at theevent, Waskin, who is also USAID’s

Deputy Mission Director for pro-grams in Sindh and Balochistan, notedthat, when compared to the prior sur-vey conducted in 2006-2007, the newsurvey showed improvements in someareas, such as a decrease in infantmortality. At the same time, Waskinexplained, the survey data showsnegative trends in the areas of childnutrition and immunization.

To combat these negative trends,Waskin said, “The U.S. Government,through USAID,has implemented a$387 million Maternal and Child

Health Project, most of which is basedin Sindh, that will help save the livesof women and children by improvingthe quality and availability of key fam-ily planning, reproductive health, andmaternal, neonatal, and child healthservices.”

Also present at the event were:Sajjad Saleem Hotiana, Chief Secre-tary, Government of Sindh; USAIDOffice of Health, Deputy DirectorRandolph Augustin; and BegumShahnazWazir Ali, President, Popula-tion Association of Pakistan.

Acting US CG oversees discussion on resultsof Pakistan Demographic, Health Survey

Abdul Sattar Edhi leading a peace walk on MA Jinnah Road.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh Governor Dr IshratUl Ebad Khan Wednesday ascended Pro-vincial Assembly Bill to provide for pre-vention of defacement of property andprohibition of expression of matters onwalls in the Province of Sindh.

The Act will be called the Preven-tion of Defacement of Property Act, 2013,shall extend to the whole of Province ofSindh and shall come into force at once.

According to this Act, unless the con-text otherwise requires would mean “Af-fixing Material” means any poster, bill,notice, placard, or any other material onproperty without the prior permission ofthe owner and “Defacement” or “Deface”would mean without the permission ofthe owner, impairing or interfering withthe appearance or the beauty of Propertyor damaging, disfiguring, spoiling, orinjuring and in any other manner. Withthe promulgation of the said Act, writingon the property, affixing Material on the

Property or including any act which re-sults in the Defacement of Property;

According to the Act no person shallDeface any Property, in any manner what-soever with an intention to attract publicattention. Any person found in contraven-tion of any provisions of this Act, shallbe punished with imprisonment for a termwhich may extend to six months or witha fine which may extend to five thousandrupees or with both and if an offence is acontinuing one with a further fine whichmay extend to one thousand rupees forevery day after the date of the first com-mission during which period the offenderhas persisted an offence.

It shall not be an offence under thissection, if the owner or possessor of theProperty expresses any particulars relat-ing to himself or his business thereon.

Within a period of fifteen days of thepromulgation of this Act, Governmentshall constitute an Anti-Property Deface-ment Task Force which shall assess thescope and nature of the Defacement and

suggest ways to augment enforcementcapability, survey the efforts of other ju-risdiction to combat Defacement and con-sider the replication of such programmes,and propose a comprehensive anti-De-facement programme.

The Anti-Property Defacement TaskForce shall comprise of 6 members in-cluding the Chairperson. The Chairper-son and members shall be experiencedpersons of eminence and shall be ap-pointed by Government from the follow-ing sectors such as Law, Civil societyorganization engaged in civic or culturalprojects, Education, Electronic or PrintMedia, Business Community andEngineering or Architecture. Accordingto the said Act, every Council shall withina period of thirty days from the com-mencement of this Act, cause to be re-moved all existing Defacement of Prop-erty within its Jurisdiction which is pro-hibited by this Act and the cost of suchremoval shall be recovered from the per-sons responsible for such matters.

Ebad approves anti-graffiti Bill

Steps for restorationof lasting peace in city

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e Islami (JI) Karachi Ameer HafizNaeem Ur Rehman demanded of the government to decisivesteps against the terrorists, so that lasting peace could be re-stored in the city.

He made this demand during his visit to different officesof the party in District Central. JI Karachi General SecretaryAbdul Wahab, Naib Ameers JI Karachi Muzaffar Hashmi,Nasrullah Khan Shajih, Muslim Pervez, deputy secretary JIKarachi Rashid Qureshi, JI District Central Ameer MunimZafar, Secretary Muhammad Yousuf and others accompa-nied the JI Karachi Chief.

Hafiz Naeem said that the reconciliation policy of thepresent and previous governments has destroyed the peaceof the city and pushed the city into the hands of terrorists.

“The city is being under terror for last 25 years and morethan 11,000 innocent people have been killed during last sixyears and the targeted killings are still continued in the city”,he added.

He said that the previous government of PPP had madethe terrorists part of the coalition government and gave themlicense to kill innocent people of the city.

Commenting on the ongoing targeted operation, HafizNaeem said that the government through its targeted opera-tion against the criminal elements is making the people fool,as the government is being freed the criminals.

He reiterated that the government should take effectivesteps towards the elimination of the criminals and their crimi-nal activities for the restoration of pace in the city.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—KMC Administrator Rauf AkhtarFarooqui said focusing on education sector wasa necessity as this would ensure better futureof new generation. All possible steps werebeing taken for bringing improvement in theeducation facilities and standard of educationin KMC run schools.

He said this during a meeting with Direc-tor Education Abdul Khaliq. Senior DirectorMunicipal Services Masood Alam, SeniorDirector HRM Shoaib Waqar and Sr. DirectorFinance Munawwar Imam were also presenton this occasion.

Administrator Karachi expressed dissat-isfaction over the performance of education

department and warned officers to bring im-provement in the overall performance ofschools without delay. He said to DirectorEducation and Assistant Director to immedi-ately visit all schools in the city and ensurethere attendance of teaching and non teachingstaff on regular basis and submit a compre-hensive report in this connection.

He said clear difference must be seen inthe performance of KMC run schools.

Director Education Abdul Khaliq whilegiving a briefing said the number of KMC runschools in the city was 637 which include 37English medium and 58 secondary schools.The total number of staff in these schools wasabout 8 thousand which include 5 thousandteachers and 3 thousand non teaching staff.

KMC Administrator termsfocusing on education

sector a necessity

Govt ordered topresent SP Rao’s

service recordIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Supreme Court ofPakistan (SCP) on Wednesdayordered Sindh government toproduce complete record per-taining to posting of Rao Anwaras SP of district Malir within aweek. The SCP had taken sternnotice of posting Rao Anwar asSP Malir, which could be con-tempt to court as the SCP hadsuspended the said Police of-ficer and only the SCP couldcancel the suspension orders.

This was observed duringhearing of long standingKarachi Lawlessness Case atSCP Karachi Registry. Thehearing was being conducted a5-member bench comprisingChief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)as head of the bench and Jus-tice Sarmad Jalal Usmani, Jus-tice Ameer Hani Muslim, Jus-tice Gulzar Sheikh and JusticeMusheer Alam.

The advocate general Sindhhad during the hearing of saidcase presented a report about SPRao Anwar and apprised theSCP that the said Police officerwas on a VIOP duty at the timeof Abbas Town tragedy due towhich he could not move to thevenue of the said incident.

The Bench said that the SCPhad taken notice of his absenceand ordered for his suspensionbut in violation to orders of theapex court, said Police officerwas posted as SP of Malir.

National Healthsymposium

KARACHI—People betweenthe ages of 15 to 45 years arethe commonest victims of roadtraffic accidents that itself ac-count for nearly 30,000 visits toemergency departments eachyear in Karachi alone, said DrJunaid Razzak, an expert inEmergency Medicine.

In his presentation during17th National Health SciencesResearch Symposium, focussedon Non Communicable Dis-eases, organized by Aga KhanUniversity on Wednesday hementioned stroke and trauma/injuries as the most commoncauses for disability in country.

Local and international ex-perts are part of the two-dayevent to discuss how best totackle the growing menace ofNoncommunicable Diseases.

Dr Jeyaraj Pandian of theWorld Stroke Organisation, In-dia pointed out that between1990 and 2010 the incidence ofstroke in middle income coun-tries had increased by 12 per-cent and cited health and demo-graphic transition, a sedentarylifestyle, rise in obesity and arise in hypertension and diabe-tes as primary causes.—APP

Nadia ensuresrelease of child

KARACHI—Nadia Gabol,Sindh Chief Minister’s Coordi-nator for Human Rights onWednesday deposited suretyamount of Rs 50,000 and gotreleased Latif Khan, an eightyear old inmate of Juvenile andCorrection School, KarachiCentral Prison.

The child reportedly wasarrested for murder of a 74 yearold man during an attempt torobbery at the latter’s home.

Gabol during her visit toWomen prison and JuvenileCentre of Karachi CentralPrison also announced to paytransportation expenses, includ-ing air-fare of a Zambianwoman, to help her get backhome with her one and a halfyear old daughter.

The Zambian women, jailedunder drug smuggling charges,has completed her sentencesome three months ago, how-ever, could not manage to ar-range the air-fare. The Coordi-nator also enquired the womenand child inmates about theirproblems and visited technicalworkshop, gymnasium and artsand music school functional onthe prison premises.—APP

OLDER men and women whose partnersdied within the past month are at an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes,

according to a new study from the UK. Re-searchers found the chance of having a heartattack or stroke doubledwithin the 30 days after peoplelost their significant other.

“The period after death ofa loved one is a time of in-creased vulnerability to arange of health problems, in-cluding heart attacks andstrokes,” Dr. Sunil Shah said.“It is important that doctors,family and friends understandthis risk and offer help andsupport to bereaved individu-als.” Shah is one of the study’sauthors from St. George’sUniversity of London.

“Although we know thatthe chance of dying of a heartattack or stroke increases af-ter losing someone close, wehad less information on theoverall effect of bereavement (on) heart attacksand strokes,” including those that aren’t fatal,he wrote in an email to Reuters Health. “Wethink ours is the first large study to look at thisafter death of a partner,” he added.

Shah and his colleagues analyzed therecords of patients seen at 401 UK primary careoffices between February 2005 and September2012. They compared information on 30,477people between the ages of 60 and 89 who losttheir significant other during that time and83,588 people who were otherwise similar butdid not lose a partner.

The researchers found that within 30 daysof their partners’ deaths, 0.16 percent of the

bereaved group had a heart attack or stroke.That compared to 0.08 percent of the non-bereaved group that had a heart attack orstroke over an equivalent period. The risks ofblood clots in the lungs - known as pulmo-

nary emboli - and severe andsudden blockages in the heart’sarteries were also increasedafter a partner’s death.

Any extra risks ap-peared to dissipate after 30days, the researchers write inJAMA Internal Medicine. “Wethink it is important that doc-tors, friends and family areaware of this risk so they canensure care is as good as pos-sible at a time of increased vul-nerability before and after lossof a loved one,” Shah wrote.

“This can include mak-ing sure that bereaved indi-viduals continue with theirregular prescribed medication,attend health checks with theirdoctor or nurse as usual and

report any new health problems,” he added.Subu Subramanian, who was not involvedwith the new research but has studied the so-called widowhood effect at the HarvardSchool of Public Health in Boston, said thenew study’s results jibe with previous re-search.

He also said it’s good to see the increasedrisks after a partner’s death seem to eventu-ally disappear. “It’s just that you need to bringin some resources at that time in a very tar-geted and intense way to alleviate that,” hesaid. “Even the types of interventions we maythink about could vary if you’re only think-ing short term,” he added.

Partner’s death tied tomore heart attacks, strokes

Vice Chancellor Govt College University, Prof Dr Muhammad Khaleequr Rehman takingkeen interest in artworks at annual exhibition of GCU Fine Arts Department.

People taking interest in books displayed at 28th Lahore International Book Festival at Expo Centre.

School children washing their traditional writing pad made of wood in a village in suburbsof the provincial capital.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Provincial Minister forSports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khansaid that with the progress of thePunjab Youth Festival (PYF), the pas-sion of the Youth is also increasing rap-idly who want to show the world thatthey are not less than the Youth of anyother country.

Talking to the reporters at theopening ceremony of the Guinness

World Records attempts at the Gym-nasium Hall of the Sports BoardPunjab (SBP), Mr. Minister said: “ThePunjab Youth Festival has provided aplatform to the Youth.

This time, we will try to attemptaround 100 Worlds Records in whichArmy Men will also take part withgreat zeal and zest.” “No one can de-feat the fervor and dedication of Pa-kistani Nation until we have enthusi-astic youngsters like Captain Arbab,”

he said and added: “The entire worldis observing our Youth creating WorldRecords and PYF will earn good namefor the country across the globe.”

Mr. Minister elaborated: “The vi-sion of Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif and ChiefMinister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharifis to make the country prosper anddeveloped.

They are taking revolutionarysteps and are committed to weed out

poverty and load-shedding from thiscountry.” “The Youth Festival has beenpresenting a softer image of the coun-try to the outer world and also helpingin increasing its Foreign Investment,”he concluded.

Speaking at the occasion, DG SBPMr. Usman Anwar felicitated the Youthon their attempts of creating new WorldRecords. “This time, our Youth hasbeen provided with more facilities andin future, it will be enhanced.

Youth is determined, fully capable tochallenge talent of any other country’s youth

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said thatthe shortage of energy being faced byPakistan has affected national economyas well as all sectors of life.

He said that controlling of energycrisis is essential for promotion of busi-ness activities and stability of economy.He said that government is sincerely en-deavouring to cope with the problem ofshortage of electricity. He said that spe-cial incentives are being offered to localand foreign investors for investment inenergy sector.

He said that agreements have signedwith several foreign companies, whichare being implemented expeditiously. Hesaid that there are vast opportunities ofinvestment in energy and other sectors inPunjab and German investors should ben-efit from them.

He was talking to German Ambassa-dor in Pakistan Dr. Cyrill Nunn who methim, here Wednesday. Matters of mutual

interest as well cooperation in differentsectors including energy were discussedon the occasion.

The Chief Minister said that there arefriendly relations between Pakistan andGermany and Germany is a big tradingpartner of Pakistan, however, there is aneed to further increase the volume oftrade between the two countries. He saidthat Germany can increase bilateral co-operation in energy and other sectors.

The Chief Minister said that sincereefforts are being to resolve energy prob-lem being faced by Pakistan. He said thatbesides federal government, provincialgovernment is also working on hydle,solar, coal-based and other projects ofpower generation through alternativessources.

He said that work is being carried outon a big project of power generation fromcoal in Punjab while the project of Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park, over a vast area inBahawalpur, is being implemented speed-ily. He said that basic infrastructure hasbeen provided in the solar park.

He said that Punjab government issetting up a 100 megawatt solar powerproject in Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park withits own resources and it will start pro-duction from this year. He said that Ger-many has expertise in solar energy andPunjab government wants to benefit fromit.

Shahbaz Sharif said that governmenthas taken effective measures for provid-ing complete protection to foreign inves-tors in Punjab. He assured that Germaninvestors as well as their capital will beextended full protection in the province.

German Ambassador Dr Cyrill Nunnsaid that there is a vast scope of bilateralcooperation between Pakistan and Ger-many and promotion of trade relationscan help strengthen the bonds of friend-ship between the two countries.

Chairman Lahore Transport Com-pany Kh Ahmed Hassan, AdditionalChief Secretary Energy, Chairman PunjabInvestment Board and Managing Direc-tor Punjab Metro Bus Authority were alsopresent on the occasion.

Energy shortage affectingeconomy: Shahbaz

Special incentives being offered to local, foreign investors

LHC takes notice of man’sdeath in Police custody

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Lahore High Court (LHC) Complaint Cell onWednesday took notice of a press report on administrative sideregarding death of a 65-year-old man in police custody.

The Cell has directed the District & Sessions Judge, Sialkotto look into the matter and submit a detailed report regardingsteps taken by police along with his own comments within aweek.

According to details, police raided at a house to arrest analleged criminal, Rashid alias Bhola, wanted in double murdercase but could not find him. Instead police picked MahmoodAhmad, father of Bhola, for allegedly sheltering his son andtook him to Pasrur City police station where they tortured theold man to death.

Victim’s family staged a demonstration in Pasrur city byplacing the body in front of Civil Hospital and demanded amurder case against the policemen. Senior police officials ne-gotiated with the protesting people and assured them of actionagainst the accused police officials. The family told media thatthe police brutally tortured Mahmood. They said instead ofarresting Rashid in a two-year-old double murder case, thepolice arrested and killed his father.

Health workersdoing duties

despite danger totheir lives

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Advisor to ChiefMinister Punjab on Health,Khawaja Salman Rafique hassaid that all resources are beingutilized to eliminate polio fromthe province. He said healthworkers are performing theirduties in the fields, despite dan-ger to their lives, to administerpolio drops to the children.

He expressed these viewswhile administering polio dropsin the houses adjacent to M.A.OCollege in a Afghan Basti nearSagian Bridge on the 3rd day ofAnti-Polio campaign, duringwhich Director General HealthDr. Zahid Pervaiz, DirectorHealth EPI Dr. Munir Ahmed,EDO Health Lahore Dr.Zulfiqar Ali and representativeof Melinda Gates FoundationDr. Aslam Chaudhary were alsopresent.

Khawaja Salman Rafiqueinformed that more than 39thousand teams are working toadminister polio vaccine dropsto 17.5 million children inPunjab. He said that specialcheck posts have been set up at42 transactional points of theprovince to ensure polio dropsto every travelling children.Hesaid that media has played a sig-nificant role in raising aware-ness against polio disease.

Chequesdistribution forbestac treatment

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Provincial Minis-ter for Zakat & Ushr MalikNadeem Kamran will distrib-ute cheques for financial assis-tance among medical superin-tendents of the hospitals ofSahiwal, Multan andBahawalpur divisions for theprovision of free treatment andmedicines to the deserving pa-tients.

He will also distributecheques among principals ofvocational training institutes.

The Minister will distributecheques on February 27 amonghospitals of Sahiwal Division at11.00 am at Commissioner Of-ficer Sahiwal and at 4.00 pm atRaza Hall Multan.

Lord Mayorof Manchestercalls on CMOBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Lord Mayor ofManchester, UK Naeem-ul-Hassan and former Lord MayorAfzal Khan called on PunjabChief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif here today. Pro-vincial Minister for EducationRana Mashhood Ahmed Khan,Federal Secretary Overseas Pa-kistanis & Human Resource,Vice Chairman Punjab Invest-ment Board and concerned of-ficers were also present.

Speaking on the occasionMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifsaid that overseas Pakistanisare playing an important rolein the development of the coun-try. He said that government istaking all possible steps forresolution of problems of over-seas Pakistanis.

Newly appointed civil judgesto get pre-service training

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Chief Justice of Lahore High Court (LHC) JusticeUmar Ata Bandial has issued posting orders of newly appointed175 Civil Judges-cum-Judicial Magistrates in the different dis-tricts of the Province.

The above said judicial officers have been directed to re-port at Punjab Judicial Academy on 28th of this month for fourweeks pre-service training course and, on 1st March, they willbe present in Seminar Hall in proper court dress where theRegistrar will administer Oath of office to them.

The trainee judicial officers shall submit their charge as-sumption reports to their concerned District & Sessions Judgethrough the Director General of Academy.

According to the notification, newly appointed officers willfurther receive training in civil/criminal work for fifteen dayswith the Senior Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate Section-30 atthe District Headquarters in order to acquaint themselves withthe practical functioning of the Court.

After completion of said training, the judicial officers willbe interviewed by the District & Sessions Judge concernedwho shall submit assessment reports to Lahore High Court.The officers will also submit their declaration of assets alongwith documentary proofs to Lahore High Court.

WomenDevelopment Week

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Provincial Ministerfor Cooperatives, Malik IqbalChannar during meeting withdelegations of girl students ofdifferent colleges said thatwomen development week willbe observed in the first week ofMarch in connection with Inter-national Women Day.

He said that seminars wouldbe conducted in governmentcolleges and private and publicsector universities of provincefor improving social status ofwomen and including them indecision making process at na-tional level. Special functionswill be held in the honour ofwomen playing their role in thedevelopment of country by ren-dering invaluable services indifferent walks of life through-out the province.