Continued on Page 7 ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf shaking hands with Leader of the Op- position in the National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan at Parliament House. KABUL—Taliban militants tar- geted the headquarters of Kabul Traffic Police on Monday morn- ing, killing at least three police and injuring 16 others and thus causing panic among the war- weary residents. The offensive which trig- gered counter-attack by security forces, according to a police of- ficer, have so far left one police dead and 16 others injured. “It was 05:50 a.m. local time when a blast rocked Dehmazang area where Traffic Police head- quarters located and the blast fol- lowed by gun shots. Three police was killed and 16 others sustained injuries,” the police officer told Xinhua but de- clined to be identified, saying au- thorized officials would brief the media after investigation. Mean- Taliban storm Kabul Traffic Police HQ, killing 3 cops TARIQ SAEED PESHAWAR—As the security has been further beefed up in troubled Bara, where curfew is clamped, with two thousands additional troops deployed on various routes leading to provincial metropolis from Khyber agency, a remote controlled explosion in Mohmand agency has resulted in martyrdom of two FC soldiers and serious injuries to nine oth- ers including members of the peace Lashker. In the wake of killings of 18 people allegedly by the security forces in Bara that has led to a series of violent protest demon- strations in Peshawar and other parts of the country even de- manding resignations KP gover- nor and high FC officials, reports reaching hers said, the security forces have beefed up surveil- lance and security in number of routs leading to Peshawar to “ check the entry of the inhabitants of Bara”. Security officials said adding the Suband , Sheikhan and Mathra check posts have been reinforced to stop entry of the trouble makers and the mili- tants from Tehsil Bara and Jamrod to Peshawar through Hayat Abad and Sakhi Pul areas. Containers have been placed on almost all routes leading to Peshawar and its outskirts from 2 FC soldiers die, several injured in terrorist blast Govt fails to ensure Karachi peace: Nawaz STAFF REPORTER LAHORE—Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Nawaz Sharif has said that the government has failed in restoration of peace in Karachi as several people fall prey to violence on daily basis. While meeting with Chief of Sunni Tehrik (ST) Sarwat Aijaz Qadri, Sharif said that there would be peace in Karachi if the orders of the Supreme Court (SC) were implemented. Both leaders discussed the overall situation of the country. MUZAFFAR ALI LAHORE—Pakistan intellignec agencies arrested five Indian spies during an action in the area in Lahore near the Indian border. The alleged spies included two Indian nationals and three Paki- stanis who have been shifted to undisclosed location for further investigation. Maps and other important documents were recovered from the possession of the alleged spies. According to details, security agencies in an operation in Burki and Jora Pul areas near Wagah border arrested five suspected spies. According to sources the law enforcement agencies took the action on a tip about the pres- ence of Indian spies in a school in Barki area. They said the spies working in connection with re- cent rise in tension along the Line of Control and were allegedly in- volved in collecting information by establishing contacts with army and rangers personnel. Sources also said that during the initial investigation the accuseds disclosed that they get close to the Pakistani soldiers, make themselves aware of their sentiments and transmitted the information across the border about their next strategy. 5 Indian spies arrested near border Missing prisoners: SC gives govt one day to resolve issue ISLAMABAD—The Supreme Court on Monday gave the gov- ernment until Tuesday to resolve the issue of Adiyala jail’s ‘miss- ing’ prisoners. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Jus- tice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the case pertain- ing to the missing prisoners. Dur- ing the hearing, the chief justice Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 Obama issues inaugural call for unity WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama issued an impassioned call for national unity and equality on Monday, warning political “absolutism” must not thwart change and renewal, as he was inaugurated for a second term. Obama was publicly sworn in for another four White House years before a crowd of hundreds of thousands on Washington’s National Mall, and delivered an inaugural Continued on Page 7 Moody keeps Pak credit rating at negative ‘Caa1’ ISLAMABAD—The Moody’s kept Pakistan’s credit rating at negative “Caa1” due to prevailing political instability which is distracting the formulation of economic policy and deters investors in the country. According to the Moody’s report, the order of Supreme Court of Pakistan to arrest the Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 15 others on charges of corruption comes in an environment of simmering Continued on Page 7 ALI SYED ISLAMABAD—The circular debt at the end of financial year (FY) 2012 stood at Rs872 bil- lion representing approxi- mately 4% of the national nominal Gross Domestic Prod- uct (GDP) and if continued unabated, will precipitate socio- economic chaos in the country as it will prevent effective operation of, and new investment in, the power sector, reveals the USAID report on ‘Pakistan’s power sec- tor and circular debt: The cause and impact of circular debt.’ The USAID report of which the copy is available with Paki- stan Observer also stressed the government to eliminate the uni- form tariff and gradually imple- ment the differential tariffs based on true costs. “The regulator (Nepra) also needs to enhance tariffs with targeted performance- based tariff to all DISCOs and remove to current cross subsidy between the efficient and inef- ficient distribution companies.” It mentioned that the pri- mary tasks before the govern- ment of Pakistan are to remove the current overhang of circu- Pak circular debt touches Rs872b mark Trend likely to lead to socio-economic crisis Continued on Page 7 Death of Kamran Faisal NAB officers on strike, want probe by SC judge ISLAMABAD—The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday re- jected a plea to halt hearing of case pertaining to implementa- tion of court’s order in mega rental power corruption case. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry, is hear- ing the case. During the hearing, SC rejects plea to stop hearing RPPs case PM withdraws review petition Dr Pervez Hasan – the counsel for Nau Dero and Piragab projects, filed a application seeking to stop further hearing of the case. While rejecting the applica- tion, Justice Choudhry said that the implementation case is being heard to review the progress made so far against those who were responsible for the massive corruption. He said that at this point of time no application from the government for a review is before the court, adding if the NAB gave a ‘clean chit’ in the case then the court will examine it. Justice Choudhry said that the court has to be satisfied that all Kamran Faisal Nisar opposes amendment in defence doctrine ISLAMABAD—Leader of the Op- position in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has opposed the amendment in the defence doctrine of the country. He said that no one has the authority to make any amend- ment individually in the settled defence strategy, adding that the mechanism is there for this pur- pose and debate is held on the government level in this regard. Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 ISLAMABAD—The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has imposed ban on the recruit- ment in the government depart- ments and the discretionary use of the developmental funds. Election Commission has taken notice of the transfer of dis- ECP bans recruitment in govt departments Development fund use halted cretionary funds in the electoral constituency of the prime minis- ter. The EC has imposed ban on the recruitment in public jobs at the federation and in the provinces before the elections. According to EC this would not apply to Fed- Continued on Page 7 JUI-F allies with PML-F for general elections OBSERVER REPORT KARACHI—The JUI (F) and the PML(F) Monday decided to form an electoral alliance during the forthcoming general election in view of the worst law and or- der situation the country was cur- rently facing. This was decided at a meet- ing held here between a delega- tion of JUI (F) headed by Khalid Mehmood Soomro, Secretary General PML(F) Imtiaz Sheikh at the latter’s residence Monday. Both the leaders discussed issues STAFF REPORTER ISLAMABAD—Employees of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have rejected the com- mission formed by the federal government to probe Kamran Faisal’s death and demanded that a commission headed by a Su- preme Court judge be formed. Employees of NAB Punjab protested the mysterious death of Kamran who was part of the team investigating the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) scam case. The protesters wore black arm bands to show solidarity with their de- ceased colleague. According to employees, Kamran was under severe stress due to the ongoing RPPs case investigation and his alleged suicide had raised grave concerns for them. The protesting employees also demanded that investigation of high profile cases should be carried out by permanent NAB officers. Another demand put forward was that no action should be taken against the protesting em- ployees. Employees of NAB also called for provision of security Continued on Page 7
ep-jan 22, 2013
Feb 13, 2016
ep-jan 22, 2013
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Continued on Page 7
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf shaking hands with Leader of the Op-position in the National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan at Parliament House.
KABUL—Taliban militants tar-geted the headquarters of KabulTraffic Police on Monday morn-ing, killing at least three policeand injuring 16 others and thuscausing panic among the war-weary residents.
The offensive which trig-gered counter-attack by securityforces, according to a police of-ficer, have so far left one policedead and 16 others injured.
“It was 05:50 a.m. local timewhen a blast rocked Dehmazangarea where Traffic Police head-quarters located and the blast fol-lowed by gun shots.
Three police was killed and16 others sustained injuries,” thepolice officer told Xinhua but de-clined to be identified, saying au-thorized officials would brief themedia after investigation. Mean-
Taliban storm Kabul TrafficPolice HQ, killing 3 cops
TARIQ SAEED
PESHAWAR—As the security hasbeen further beefed up in troubledBara, where curfew is clamped,with two thousands additionaltroops deployed on various routesleading to provincial metropolisfrom Khyber agency, a remotecontrolled explosion inMohmand agency has resulted inmartyrdom of two FC soldiersand serious injuries to nine oth-ers including members of thepeace Lashker.
In the wake of killings of 18people allegedly by the securityforces in Bara that has led to aseries of violent protest demon-strations in Peshawar and other
parts of the country even de-manding resignations KP gover-nor and high FC officials, reportsreaching hers said, the securityforces have beefed up surveil-lance and security in number ofrouts leading to Peshawar to “check the entry of the inhabitantsof Bara”. Security officials saidadding the Suband , Sheikhanand Mathra check posts havebeen reinforced to stop entry ofthe trouble makers and the mili-tants from Tehsil Bara andJamrod to Peshawar throughHayat Abad and Sakhi Pul areas.
Containers have been placedon almost all routes leading toPeshawar and its outskirts from
2 FC soldiers die, severalinjured in terrorist blast
Govt fails toensure Karachipeace: Nawaz
STAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-N Chief Nawaz Sharifhas said that the governmenthas failed in restoration ofpeace in Karachi as severalpeople fall prey to violence ondaily basis.
While meeting with Chief ofSunni Tehrik (ST) Sarwat AijazQadri, Sharif said that therewould be peace in Karachi if theorders of the Supreme Court (SC)were implemented.
Both leaders discussed theoverall situation of the country.
MUZAFFAR ALI
LAHORE—Pakistan intellignecagencies arrested five Indianspies during an action in the areain Lahore near the Indian border.The alleged spies included twoIndian nationals and three Paki-stanis who have been shifted toundisclosed location for furtherinvestigation.
Maps and other importantdocuments were recovered fromthe possession of the allegedspies.
According to details, securityagencies in an operation in Burkiand Jora Pul areas near Wagahborder arrested five suspected
spies. According to sources thelaw enforcement agencies tookthe action on a tip about the pres-ence of Indian spies in a schoolin Barki area. They said the spiesworking in connection with re-cent rise in tension along the Lineof Control and were allegedly in-volved in collecting informationby establishing contacts witharmy and rangers personnel.
Sources also said that duringthe initial investigation theaccuseds disclosed that they getclose to the Pakistani soldiers,make themselves aware of theirsentiments and transmitted theinformation across the borderabout their next strategy.
5 Indian spiesarrested near border
Missing prisoners:SC gives govt one
day to resolve issueISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Monday gave the gov-ernment until Tuesday to resolvethe issue of Adiyala jail’s ‘miss-ing’ prisoners.
A three-judge bench of theapex court, headed by Chief Jus-tice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, heard the case pertain-ing to the missing prisoners. Dur-ing the hearing, the chief justice
Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7
Obama issuesinaugural callfor unityWASHINGTON—PresidentBarack Obama issued animpassioned call for nationalunity and equality on Monday,warning political “absolutism”must not thwart change andrenewal, as he was inauguratedfor a second term.
Obama was publicly swornin for another four WhiteHouse years before a crowd ofhundreds of thousands onWashington’s National Mall,and delivered an inaugural
Continued on Page 7
Moody keeps Pakcredit rating atnegative ‘Caa1’ISLAMABAD—The Moody’skept Pakistan’s credit rating atnegative “Caa1” due toprevailing political instabilitywhich is distracting theformulation of economicpolicy and deters investors inthe country.
According to the Moody’sreport, the order of SupremeCourt of Pakistan to arrest thePrime Minister Raja PervezAshraf and 15 others oncharges of corruption comes inan environment of simmering
Continued on Page 7
ALI SYED
ISLAMABAD—The circulardebt at the end of financial year(FY) 2012 stood at Rs872 bil-lion representing approxi-mately 4% of the nationalnominal Gross Domestic Prod-uct (GDP) and if continued
unabated, will precipitate socio-economic chaos in the country asit will prevent effective operationof, and new investment in, thepower sector, reveals the USAIDreport on ‘Pakistan’s power sec-tor and circular debt: The causeand impact of circular debt.’
The USAID report of which
the copy is available with Paki-stan Observer also stressed thegovernment to eliminate the uni-form tariff and gradually imple-ment the differential tariffs basedon true costs. “The regulator(Nepra) also needs to enhancetariffs with targeted performance-based tariff to all DISCOs and
remove to current cross subsidybetween the efficient and inef-ficient distribution companies.”
It mentioned that the pri-mary tasks before the govern-ment of Pakistan are to removethe current overhang of circu-
Pak circular debt touches Rs872b markTrend likely to lead to socio-economic crisis
Continued on Page 7
Death of Kamran Faisal
NAB officers on strike,want probe by SC judge
ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan on Monday re-jected a plea to halt hearing ofcase pertaining to implementa-tion of court’s order in megarental power corruption case.
A three-member bench,headed by Chief Justice IftikharMohammad Choudhry, is hear-ing the case. During the hearing,
SC rejects plea to stop hearing RPPs casePM withdraws review petition
Dr Pervez Hasan – the counselfor Nau Dero and Piragabprojects, filed a applicationseeking to stop further hearingof the case.
While rejecting the applica-tion, Justice Choudhry said thatthe implementation case is beingheard to review the progressmade so far against those who
were responsible for the massivecorruption. He said that at thispoint of time no application fromthe government for a review isbefore the court, adding if theNAB gave a ‘clean chit’ in thecase then the court will examineit. Justice Choudhry said that thecourt has to be satisfied that all
Kamran Faisal
Nisar opposesamendment in
defence doctrineISLAMABAD—Leader of the Op-position in National AssemblyChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan hasopposed the amendment in thedefence doctrine of the country.
He said that no one has theauthority to make any amend-ment individually in the settleddefence strategy, adding that themechanism is there for this pur-pose and debate is held on thegovernment level in this regard.
Continued on Page 7
Continued on Page 7
ISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP)has imposed ban on the recruit-ment in the government depart-ments and the discretionary use ofthe developmental funds.
Election Commission hastaken notice of the transfer of dis-
ECP bans recruitmentin govt departments
Development fund use haltedcretionary funds in the electoralconstituency of the prime minis-ter. The EC has imposed ban onthe recruitment in public jobs atthe federation and in the provincesbefore the elections. According toEC this would not apply to Fed-
Continued on Page 7
JUI-F allies withPML-F for
general electionsOBSERVER REPORT
KARACHI—The JUI (F) and thePML(F) Monday decided toform an electoral alliance duringthe forthcoming general electionin view of the worst law and or-der situation the country was cur-rently facing.
This was decided at a meet-ing held here between a delega-tion of JUI (F) headed by KhalidMehmood Soomro, SecretaryGeneral PML(F) Imtiaz Sheikhat the latter’s residence Monday.Both the leaders discussed issues
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—Employees of theNational Accountability Bureau(NAB) have rejected the com-mission formed by the federalgovernment to probe KamranFaisal’s death and demanded thata commission headed by a Su-preme Court judge be formed.
Employees of NAB Punjabprotested the mysterious death ofKamran who was part of the teaminvestigating the Rental PowerProjects (RPPs) scam case. Theprotesters wore black arm bandsto show solidarity with their de-
ceased colleague. According toemployees, Kamran was undersevere stress due to the ongoingRPPs case investigation and hisalleged suicide had raised graveconcerns for them.
The protesting employeesalso demanded that investigationof high profile cases should becarried out by permanent NABofficers.
Another demand put forwardwas that no action should betaken against the protesting em-ployees. Employees of NAB alsocalled for provision of security
Continued on Page 7
4 Afghan arrestedby security forcesRAFIULLAH MANDOKHAIL
ZHOB—Security forces ar-rested four Afghan nationalswithout having legal traveldocuments, sources said.
The Frontier Corps per-sonnel arrested four Afghannationals on Monday, whenthey were traveling in a carAYR-927 from Quetta to DeraIsmail Khan via Zhob on Ra-dio Pakistan check post.
Sources said none of thearrested Afghans had theirvalid travel documents andthey were arrested under for-eign act. The Afghan nation-als were later handed over topolice for further investigation.
Robbers loot, shootdead milkmanWAQAS ASHRAF
KASUR—Robbers shot deada milkman on resistence atBurj Mahalam road in Pattokion Monday. Reportedly, amilkman Muhammad Ilyaswas on his was when six rob-bers intercepted him andsnatched cash and othervaluables from him. Theyshot him dead when heshowed some resistance dur-ing mobile snatching. Later,the heirs of the deceasedprotested and blocked theroad for two hours by put-ting dead body in the middleof the road. They protestedagainst Kasur police for fail-ing to control the law andorder situation in the district.DSP Pattoki Sabir Bhuttareached the spot and as-sured the protesters for thearrest of the accused.
*****The murder case of the
boy who was killed by aerialfiring in Khudian had beenregistered against AbdulShakoor and his two accom-plices. Arshad Ali, the fatherof the deceased Masab Alihas told police that his unclehad contracted love marriagewith the sister of AbdulShakoor and over this old en-mity he shot dead his son. Thepolice has registered a caseand started investigation.
Six-day workshopbegins at UAF
FAISALABAD—The fourth 6-day workshop on “Strength-ening Extension Skills ofYoung Professionals in Af-ghanistan and Pakistan” be-gan at University of Agricul-ture Faisalabad (UAF) here onMonday. The trilateral work-shop of USA, Afghanistanand Pakistan is an outcomeof understanding between theleadership of three countriesto make the agriculture a wayforward and an instrumentalkey to give an impetus tosocio-economic developmentof both the neighboring coun-tries.—APP
Pula Groupgangster killedin police firing
SAMAR GUL MARWAT
LAKKI MARWAT—Policehave claimed to have killed agangster of Pula group in-volved in kidnapping for ran-som, dacoity and theft in thearea of across Kurram onMonday. According to policesources, Dadiwala policeraided a den near BairgiHakeem Khan Village on tipoff. Police encircled the denbut the outlaws started firingon them. Police also retaliatedwith firing and sought forfurther police detachments.
Sources further said thatDPO Muhammad IdreesKhan, police from Naurangand Lakki Marwat police sta-tions also reached the spot.The firing between the lawenforcement personnel andoutlaws, usually called “Pulla”group, continued for one hourand as a result an outlaw andabsconder Niamtaullah Khanof Bairgi Hakeem Khan, whohad killed a youngman.
ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf Mondaysaid that Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) played leadingrole in improving the lives of
people of Gilgit Baltistan(GB) by giving administrativeand financial autonomy tothe region. The Prime Minis-ter expressed these viewswhile talking to a delegationof Gilgit Baltistan whichcalled on him at the PrimeMinister House. The delega-tion was jointly led by Gov-ernor and Chief MinisterGilgit Baltistan, Pir SyedKaram Ali Shah and SyedMehdi Shah respectively.
The Prime Minister ex-
pressed his satisfaction overthe trust people have shownin the leadership of PakistanPeoples Party (PPP). Duringthe meeting, Syed Razi-ud-
Din Rizvi, Member GilgitBaltistan Legislative Assem-bly, announced to join Paki-stan Peoples Party. Speakingon the occasion, Syed Razi-ud-Din said that he was inactive politics for the past 15years and was elected to theCouncil on an independentseat.
He said that his decisionto join Pakistan Peoples Partywas based on the policies ofthe party for the people ofGilgit Baltistan. Shaheed
Zulifqar Ali Bhutto, he said,had created awareness amongthe people of Pakistan. Paki-stan, he said, would prosperduring the PPP government.
Talking about the Chief Min-ister Gilgit Baltistan, he said,he was the first Chief Ministerwho got elected unopposed.
Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf while welcom-ing Syed Razi-ud-Din’s deci-sion to join the party said thatthis is a testimony of the loveand trust people have in theparty. Only yesterday twomembers of the National As-sembly belonging to PML(N) joined the PPP, he added.Prime Minister Ashraf said
that Shaheed Zulifqar AliBhutto had a special place forthe people of Gilgit Baltistan.This government, he said,had empowered the people of
Gilgit Baltistan which had itsown elected assembly aswell as government.
“I have always main-tained that all historic deci-sions are taken during thePPP’s rule in the country”,said the Prime Minister. ThePrime Minister also ex-pressed his satisfaction overthe way the law and ordersituation had been tackled inGilgit Baltistan and appreci-ated the GB leadership on thiscount. The delegation ap-
prised the Prime Minister ofthe financial, administrativeand other issues pertainingto Gilgit Baltistan.
The Prime Minister di-rected Federal Minister MianManzoor Ahmed Wattoo toarrange a meeting of the del-egation with Finance Minis-try so that they can work outmechanism to resolve the fi-nancial woes of GilgitBaltistan and put it on a self-sustaining path. The PrimeMinister also issued direc-tions for immediate release ofRs. 1.8 billion, approved byhim earlier during his visit toGilgit Baltistan so that theycan tide over their financialproblems.
The delegation com-prised of Prof. GhulamHussein Saleem, Advisor toPrime Minister, MoulanaAttaullah Shahab, Advisor toPrime Minister, MuhammadAli Akhtar, Minister for Fi-nance GB, Muhammad Jaffar,Senior Minister for Food GB,Wazir Shakil, Minister forLaw, Naseer Khan, Ministerfor Excise & Taxation andMembers of Gilgit BaltistanCouncil.—APP
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Me-teorological Department(PMD) on Monday forecastmainly very cold and dryweather for most parts of thecountry during next 24 hours.Shallow foggy conditions arelikely to prevail over North-east Punjab during morninghours. According to the syn-optic situation, continentalair is prevailing over mostparts of the country. Mainlycold and dry weather is ex-pected in most parts ofPunjab and Islamabad duringthe next 24 hours.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,mainly cold and dry weatheris expected in most parts dur-ing the next 24 hours. InSindh, mainly cold and dry/partly cloudy weather is ex-pected in most parts duringthe next 24 hours. MainlyCold to very cold & dryweather is expected in mostparts of Balochistan duringthe next 24 hrs. In Kashmirand Gilgit Baltistan, very cold/partly cloudy weather is ex-pected in most parts of Kash-mir during the next 24 hours.
The lowest minimum tem-peratures recorded duringthe last 24 hours were Astore-17 C, Skardu 13 C, Kalam -12C, Parachinar -10 C, Gupis andHunza -09 C, Kalat -8 C,Quetta, Gilgit andMalamjabba -6 C, Dir, Drosh
and Rawalakot -5 C, Zhoband Chitral -3 C. The PeshawrMet Office here Mondayforecast light rain with snow-falls over the hills at isolatedplaces of Malakand, Hazara,Rawalpindi Divisions, Kash-mir and Gilgit-Baltistan dur-ing Tuesday and Wednes-day night in next 48 hours.
According to a Spokesmanof Met Office here, continentalair is prevailing over most partsof the country and the tempera-ture will likely to remain downduring night.—APP
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf meeting members of the delegation from Gilgit-Baltistan led byits Governor Pir Syed Karam Ali Shah and Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah at the PM House.
PPP plays leading active rolefor improving GB people’s lives
OUR CORRESPONDENT
VEHARI—Thousands ofprotestors staged demonstra-
tion in Luddan against policefor not arresting the culpritsof Rural Health center attackon Monday. It is pertinent to
Thousands protest police attitude in Veharimention here that on 15thJanuary two traders, namelyAbdul Sattar and AbdulGhafoor, received bullet in-
juries during a raod robberyattempt. They were shifted toR.H.C. Luddan where alleg-edly the doctor on duty came
10 minutes late who afterreaching theRHC reffered theinjured persons to DHQ,Vehari.
One injured Abdul Sattarduring hisshifting to NishtarHospital Multan succumbedto his injuries. On 16th Janu-
ary the RHC authoritieshanded over the dead body ofthe deceased to his hiers afterautopsy. On 17th January onthe call of Anjuman Tajranhundreds of people gatheredin front of Luddan Police Sta-tion and later rushed to RHCand severely tortured the medi-cal and para medical staff.Against ths lawlessness theP.M.A. observed strike anddistrict administration agreedto register case against onlysix nominated and fifteen un-known attackers.
Accoding to the R.H.C.staff police has registered bo-gus case against the attackersand proper sections had notbeen imposed against them.The protestors were also of theview that the nominatedaccuseds were away fromhundred feet from P.S. Luddanbut Police had not been arrest-ing due to political pressure.The doctors and eleven in-jured members of paramedicalstaff of Luddan RHC havedemended the CM to look intothe matter and got register theircase according to law.
M HALEEM ASAD
TIMERGARA—Civil societyof the Dir Lower on Mondaydemanded of the Chief Elec-tion Commissioner to in-crease number of separatepolling stations for women inthe district in order to ensuretheir full participation in elec-toral process during the com-ing general elections. Thedemand was made during anews conference at theTimergara press club. Theexecutive director of a localNGO Strengthening Humani-tarian Aid & RehabilitationProgramme (SHARP) KhalidMansoor, Akbar Khan,Shakirullah, Qasim Hasratand others spoke on the oc-casion. Several leaders of dif-ferent political parties werealso present on the occasion.
Akbar Khan said that ban-ning women of their right tovote was not the tradition of
Dir. He said women of the areahad taken part in 1970 and1977 general elections. Healso criticized the local elec-tion commission office for set-ting up only six separate poll-ing stations for women andsaid it proved that the gov-ernment was not sincere inwomen participation in politi-cal process. Khalid Mansoordemanded of the governmentto give a constitutional coverto 10 per cent participation ofwomen in each constituency.
“The Election Commissionshould not announce result ofthe constituency wherewomen participation was lessthan 10 per cent,” he sug-gested. He also urged womenlaw makers to come forwardand play their active role inensuring women votes in allrural areas of the country. Thecivil society asked women par-liamentarians to bring particu-lar bills for amendment of the
existing election laws.They said that a man
whose family’s women arenot registered as votersshould not be allowed to sub-mit his nomination papers.They said candidates oppos-ing women participationshould be not allowed tocontest election. They alsourged political parties to takewomen in their ranks in con-fidence before making prepa-rations for elections so thattheir participation in decisionmaking should be ensured.“The constitution of Pakistangives the right of vote towomen. It is state responsi-bility to ensure their right,”Mr Khalid said, adding thecivil society would bringleaders of different politicalparties together to devise astrategy for women participa-tion. He said a protest cam-paign would be launched iftheir demands were not met.
GUL HAMAAD FAROOQI.
CHITRAL—Residents ofDrosh on Monday opposedcable network saying that itwould disturb peaceful envi-ronment of the area. Address-ing a news conference QariInamullah and others repre-senting religious leaders andelite of the area turned downstatement and allegations ofcable network operators andtermed it baseless. They saidthat Drosh was a peacefularea and majority of peopledid not want cable networkbecause it spreads obscen-ity in the conservative area.
They said that cable op-erators alleged in their pressconference that people of thearea have damaged theircable worth 250,000 and lo-cal police were silent specta-tors when this cable was be-ing damaged which is wrong.They said that some un-known people provoked lo-cal people against lady shop-ping centers, Children ParkChitral and public schools atDrosh with pasting differentposters in the area with fakesignatures. And after a few
days a lady shopping centerwas burnt by unknownpeople at Drosh.
They said that Qari FazalHaq was allegedly involved inFIR but his name was deletedby these people after a fewdays. They said that majorityof Drosh people are against ofcable Net work and PEMRAshould not issue any license atsuch tense area. They said thatcable operators blamed QariJamal Nasir who is a govern-ment servant and blame that hewas spreading insurgency inthe area is totally wrong be-cause Qari Jamal Nasir is apeaceful citizen of the area andwas never involved in any ter-rorism activity.
They hailed district admin-istration for imposing section144 and stopped cable networkin Drosh. They urged theDeputy Commissioner Chitralfor inquiry in this regard andtake steps to stop any tensesituation in the area. They ap-pealed to Chief justicePeshawar High court for can-celling PEMRA license of cableoperators for Drosh area be-cause residents of the areawould not accept it.
Drosh people opposecable network
EC urged to increase separatewomen polling stations
Very cold, dry weatherlikely across country
MUTTAHIR AHMED KHAN
THE city, again, remained in the grip ofterrorism and the re-
s u l t a n tt e n s es o c i o -e c o -n o m i cs i t u a -tion, onthe oneh a n d ,and, to
some extent, managed tosustain its literary and cul-tural activities, on the other.The Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM)MPASyed Manzar Imamand three others were shotdead in Orangi Town by un-known armed riders onThursday when the townwas emerging out of theprevious strikes and pro-tests, in connection toQuetta carnage, and the re-sultant shutdowns. TheMQM observed three-daymourning over the killing ofits MPA and his securityguards, with a request to itsworkers to maintain peaceand wear black armbands toprotest the killing of the law-maker.
The city remained de-serted on the Friday and allthe major business centres,educational institutionsand even government of-fice and banks remainedclosed in connection tomourning. The absence oftransport created inconve-nience for the common manwho could not get to of-
fices and other destinations.The preparations to cel-ebrate Eid Miladun Nabi(SAWW) are in full swing inthe City as roads and build-ings are being decoratedwith green flags, colourfulbuntings, banners andfancy lights. A large numberof banners and gigantic bill-boards have also been dis-played to celebrate the birthanniversary of Holy ProphetHazrat Muhammad(SAWW) across the City.Educational institutions areorganising Seerat Confer-ences and speech and Naatcompetitions to observe the
day with religious passion.Moreover, Mosques, homesand plazas are being deco-rated with colourful lights.
The Eid Miladun Nabiprocessions would be takenout from different areas on12th Rabiul Awwal whileMilad committees are alsobusy holding Mahafil-e-Naat in the City. Specialprogrammes are being pre-pared for paying tributesand to highlight differentaspects of the life of theHoly (SAWW). Different re-ligious, social’ cultural andeducational institutions andorganisations havefinalised their programmesto celebrate Eid MiladunNabi (SAWW) with reli-
gious fervour. All majorcommercial shopping cen-tres, bazaars, governmentand private buildings arebeing illuminated. Modelsof Khana-e-Kaaba andMasjid-e-Nabvi have beenexhibited on major squaresof the city. To grab the at-tention of the people, smallgreen coloured ponds ofdifferent sorts have beenmade and put at variousprominent places of thecity. It has been observedthat the children commemo-rate the event with more zealand zest and participate inall the related activities in
their schools and residen-tial communities.
The epoch-making shortstory-writers Saadat HasanManto was remembered onhis death anniversary on Fri-day and different sessionsand literary meetings wereheld in the city, in this re-gard. Saadat Hasan Manto,a great short story writer ofSouth Asia in Urdu, wasborn on May 11, 1916. UponAbdul Bari Alig’s motivationManto attempted Urdutranslation of The Last Daysof Condemned. Manto com-pleted the translation andsold it to the Urdu Book Stall,Lahore, under the titleSarguzasht-e-Aseer. Havingnow become a published
author, Manto aided byHasan Abbas soon at-tempted a translation of Os-car Wilde’s Vera, which waspublished in 1934. Mantoalso continued to try hishand at original short storiesin Urdu, including “InqlabPasand”. Later his, story‘Tamasha” and several oth-ers were put together intoManto’s first collection oforiginal short stories inUrdu, ‘Atish Pare’, pub-lished in 1936.
He came to Lahore andjoined newspaper Paras. Inlate 1936, he accepted an in-vitation to edit the weeklyMusawwir and justifiedLahore for Bombay. In 1941,he came to Delhi and ac-cepted the job of writing forUrdu Service of All India Ra-dio. Soon four of his collec-tion of radio plays was pub-lished. The controversialshort story collection Dhuancame out. His first collectionof topical essays, Manto keMazamin, also appeared dur-ing this time. He died on Janu-ary 18, 1955 at the age of 39years.
Another remarkableevent in the city, in connec-tion to creative arts, was anevening of lilting melodiesand thumping beats as mu-sic buffs enjoyed a delight-ful couple of hours of fusionmusic organised by TehzeebFoundation, AllianceFrancaise and the Goethe In-stitute Karachi to mark the50th anniversary of the treatyof friendship (Elysee) be-tween France and Germanyat the Alliance Francaise
Karachi on Friday. The showkicked off with the multi-tal-ented French musicianAbaji’s performance. He isno stranger to Pakistani au-diences. He in his trademarkstyle appeared on stage, putan anklet on his thigh andpicked up a clarinet.
He tapped his feet tocreate rhythm and played acomposition which had anelement of mirth in it. Hecomplemented the sound ofthe instrument with his loudchants and tried to engagethe audience in his effortand succeeded to a reason-able degree. Abaji’s next actwas with an instrumentcalled the oud. This time heproduced the beat whiledrumming the body of theinstrument with his handsand by tying the anklets tohis feet.
He turned out a shortand sweet tune. After thathe chose to play thebouzouki and told the audi-ence that it represented himbest because he was bornin Lebanon but was notLebanese, his parents wereborn in Turkey but were notTurkish. His performance onthe bouzouki was masterfulas he ran his fingers on itsneck with great alacrity with-out compromising on themelody. His last two itemswere on a small violin and aTurkish instrument calledthe saz.
The writer is an educa-tionist, analyst and afreelance journalist, can bereached [email protected]
The oscillating city pulse
BASHIR AHMAD RAHMANI
HAFIZABAD—The ChiefMinister of the Punjab hasapproved a sum of Rs. 10.8million for the improvementof different graveyards inthe district. According toofficial source, the CM hasdirected the DCO to com-plete survey of graveyardsat Tehsil level and ensureimplementation of thisproject within shortest timepossible. The DCO has alsobeen directed to get con-struction of boundary wallsaround the graveyards, re-move encroachments, if any.
The CM has further di-rected the DCO to ensure ce-mented floors, sheds for‘Janazgah’, provide drainageand proper arrangements for
CM approves Rs 10.8 m forgraveyards improvement
lighting and water for ablution.****
A case has been regis-tered at Jalalpur Bhattian po-lice station against five doc-tors, ex-SHOs JalalpurBhattian, ex-DSP PindiBhattian and Chief ChemicalExaminer Punjab and otherson the charge of preparingfake medical reports and con-cealing facts and turningmurder case of a teen-agerof Pindi Bhattian into inci-dental death. On the specificorders of the Chief Ministerthe Anti-Corruption Estab-lishment has been deputedto investigate the caseafresh.
According to FIR, a 15-year-old boy, MuhammadIkram of Jalalpur Bhattian wasallegedly sodomised and
murdered by one Waqas andhis accomplices in a Rice MillJalalpur Bhattian about a yearback but the police and doc-tors declared his death as in-cidental. Thereupon the par-ents of the deceased calledon the Chief Minister andcomplained that an influen-tial MPA of the area waspatronising the accused andthe police was also sidingwith the accused party. Thethen DPO sent behind the barMirza Ali Akbar, investigat-ing officer, for his unlawfuland biased investigation.However, the main accusedWaqas left for abroad andnone of the accused were ar-rest. The Chief Minister andIG Punjab constituted a spe-cial committee to investigatethe case afresh.
AJK people enjoy Pak citizenshipISLAMABAD—Minister for Kashmir Af-fairs and Gilgit Baltistan Mian ManzoorAhmad Wattoo Monday apprised theNational Assembly that no Pakistanicould purchase land in Azad Jammu andKashmir (AJK). It was prohibited underArticle 4 of AJK Alienation of Land Act,1995 Bik (1898 AD), he added. Replyingto various questions during QuestionHour, the minister said that Kashmirwas a disputed territory and Pakistan
wanted its durable solution according to the wishes ofKashmiri people. He said that citizen of AJK enjoyed thecitizenship of Pakistan also under section 14-B of PakistanCitizenship Act, 1951 adding that they were entitled topurchase property in Pakistan. The minister said thatShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had also the credit to makeAJK Interim Constitution 1974. Under the Constitution,AJK legislative Assembly and AJK Council could makelegislation according to their jurisdiction, he added. To asupplementary question, Wattoo said that the Councilcollected tax and transfered 80 per cent collection to AJKgovernment. Earlier, he said that PPP has always respectedthe mandate of different national institutions but it had toface the vengeance for following the constitution anddemocratic norms. He said that PPP Founder Zulfiqar AliBhutto was hanged, party chairperson Mohtarama BenazirBhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Syed Yousaf RazaGilani was removed from premiership and now Raja PervaizAshraf was target. The President PPP Punjab questionedthat why his party leadership was being victimised onlywhen leaders of various political parties were accountablein different cases.—APP
517 students get engineering degreesHYDERABAD—As many as 517 stu-dents of Mehran University of Engi-neering and Technology (MUET),Jamshoro, were awarded academic de-grees and diploma at the University’s15th annual convocation on Monday.The graduates included 7 PhDs, 44Masters of Science, 347 Bachelors ofEngineering, 27 Bachelors in Architec-ture, 30 Business Technology pass and26 honours, 14 BSIT, 22 Arts and De-
signing and 5 BCRP. The 7 best graduates includedMuhammad Asif Langah, Ali Raza, Saleem Raza Baloch,S.Anam Arshia Chandio, Anam Ali Memon, Abdul RahimAnsari and Sabir Ahmed Khan while the faculty toppersincluded Anam Ali Memon, Sara Qadeer and Sanjay Kumar.The best graduates and top position holders were awarded10 gold medals and 25 silver medals while 7 PhD degreeswere also awarded on the occasion. Addressing the con-vocation, Chairman of Higher Education Commission(HEC) Dr. Javed R Laghari congratulated the students onthe successful completion of their degree. “In the US theword commencement is used instead of convocation todenote this event. This is because commencement heremeans beginning of the professional career,” he said in hisremarks. Dr. Laghari, who is an alumni of the MUET, dweltat length on how the production of new knowledge hadgrown manifold thanks to the research initiatives taken bythe global univerisities. “The world’s biggest library in theUS has a collection of 33 million books. However, thiscolossal collection of knowlege is 66 times smaller thanwhat the educational institutions around the world are goingto produce in the year 2013,” he said. In another referenceto the fast spreading contours of knowledge, he said aregular reader of The New York Times could amass knowl-edge which was equal to the one garnered by the humansin their lifetime in the 18th century.—APP
PPP to thwart all conspiraciesStaff Reporter
PESHAWAR—Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Min-ister for Labour Sher Azam Wazir said onMonday that Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) has emerged as the most popularpolitical party of southern districts ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa and will win maxi-mum seats on the basis of performanceduring upcoming election. Talking tomedia persons after his successful visitto Bannu district, the minister said thatthe PPP will get overwhelming victory in
southern districts of KP on the basis of record developmen-tal works by the PPP leaders and ministers. He said that thepolitical opponents have been outclassed from Bannu dis-trict and the large number of participation of people in thepublic meeting held at Ghuri Wala Bannu the other day wasa testimony towards this fact. He said people from everywalk of life are joining PPP as it is the only party that has theability to take the country out of every difficult situationand provide relief to masses. The PPP leader said they wouldgave very pleasant surprise to the opponents in next gen-eral elections. The upcoming polls would be free, fair andtransparent that will further strengthened democratic sys-tem in the country. He said that the PPP would foil all con-spiracies against democracy. Ex-Nazim, others join PPP:Former nazim, Union Council, Lahori Gate, Peshawar City,Haji Mohammad Irshad, Haji Masood and MohammadZakriya along with their families and hundreds of support-ers had quit ANP and announced joining PPP.
STAFF REPORTER
PESHAWAR—The KhyberPakhtunkhwa Governor, Bar-rister Masood Kausar hereMonday asked the privatesector educational institu-tions to actively share theresponsibilities of the gov-ernment in promoting highereducational facilities in FATA.It will help to educate theyouth to make them an assetnot only for the respectivearea but also for the countryas well. The present govern-ment is committed to providemaximum possible facilities ofquality higher education toour youth. However, headded, the society shoulddevelop educational institu-tions and the well-to-do, the
philanthropists and the mis-sionaries should come for-ward to help the government.
Only then we couldbridge the gap between theeducated and uneducatedyouth of the country, he re-marked. He was addressingas the chief guest at the 9thConvocation of the SarhadUniversity of Science andInformation Technology hereon Monday morning. In all18 graduates got gold med-als for achieving distinctivepositions from amongst thegraduating students whowere awarded PhD, M.S.,leading M.Phil, masters andbachelors degrees. Besidesparents of the graduatingstudents, the ceremony wasalso attended by education-
ists, senior government offi-cials and elites of the city.
Barrister Masood furtherpointed out that the teach-ers of educational institu-tions also have a special re-sponsibility of educatingtheir students in a befittingmanner as the students, whoshine in their careers in prac-tical life, are a source of prideand happiness for them aswell. Advising the graduat-ing students that the Gover-nor said, the completion oftheir studies is an importantphase in their lives and theirinstitution has equippedthem with the requiredknowledge and expertise.
“It is now for you to applythese assets in your respectiveprofessions in the practical life
and remember that no nationcan change its destiny withoutthe conscious and sincereendeavours of its youth tobring about a revolutionarychange in the socio-economicconditions of the people”, hesaid. There is no short-cut toprogress and prosperity of acountry and this can beachieved only through sus-tained efforts of every citizen,he added.
Prof. Dr. Salim, vice chan-cellor earlier presenting theannual report of the univer-sity welcomed the Governorand the guests and said thatthe university with two cam-puses and 250 faculty mem-bers offers state of the artacademic and research facili-ties and half of its teaching
staff is either M.Phil or PhDqualified. The university, headded, is also offering dis-tanced educational facilitiesacross the province. In therecent categorization pro-cess of the Higher EducationCommission, the vice chan-cellor said, the university hasbeen placed at 53rd positionat the national level and 9thamongst 25 general univer-sities.
Earlier the Governor gaveaway medals and degrees tothe graduating students andamongst the gold medalistswere Muhammad Muzzamil,Tariq Mahmood, MuhammadArif, Akhtarullah, SyedAbdul Razzaq, MuhammadDanish Qureshi, Anwarullah,Safiullah, Sajidullah.
NAZIR SIYAL
LARKANA—A five thousandyears ancient and world re-nowned Indus Valley ofMohen-Jo-Daro walls at VSarea could fall, after the col-lapse of main DK area wall ifthat is not protected, toldDeputy Director MPRCTproject here on Monday. Ac-cording to Master Plan forRehabilitation and Cultural& Tourism (MPR& CT)Deputy Director AbdulHaque Banbhro supervisingthe present project aftercompletion in June 2012, re-started its conservation andstructural work at the site ofVS area of Mohen-Jo-Daro.
He denied violation after
work during the winter seasonand properly could not satifyabout his version, that thework was started with a costof Rs. 3.5 million and the ob-jective was to preserve the sitewalls and protect them withroof bricks without water orchemicals in winter season, heclaimed. To a question, aboutthe Mohenjo-Daro “ManualConservation Work” duringthe winter season was prohib-ited by the experts, he told thatthe walls are to collapse, sothat it is better to protect themwith bricks and others mate-rial, he said.
He said that Rs. 3.5 millionwere released through install-ments to continue conserva-tion work on Mohen-Jo-Daro,
which was delyed and couldnot be completed in June 2012,and a report for more moneyhas been submitted to theMinistry/Department con-cerned. According to the ex-perts, work cannot be carriedout at the sites of Mohen-Jo-Daro due to winter season be-low 30 degree Celsius asbriefed in manual conservationwork of MPRCT project; de-spite of this work was contin-ued at the Mohen-jo-Daro siteby the Deputy Director AbdulHaque Banbhro.
He said that according toexperts in Archaeology andManual Conservation Work,all kinds of work has beenprohibited on the sites dur-ing September to March.
GUL HAMAAD FAROOQI
CHITRAL—Residents ofBalach has urged the CivilAviation Authority (CAA)high ups to compensate themfor their land if they were notallowed construction ofhouses. A meeting was heldat Balach under the chair ofACO (Retd) Miftahuddinwhich was attended by alarge number of owners ofland near runway of ChitralAirport. Fazal Rahim Advo-cate of PML-N, MuhammadHakeem Advocate, GeneralSecretary of PPP Azmat Esaadvocate, retired public pros-ecutor and other said thatthere was no CAA Act until1997-98. They said that CAAdid not allow any body to
make any construction upto750 feet from middle of run-way at that time.
But they have issued NoObjection Certificate (NOC)to government grain godown(warehouse), vocational in-stitute within the same dis-tance but it is not allowinglocal people to constructtheir houses. They allegedthat CAA was not followinguniform policy because somebuilding have been con-structed but it has stoppedsome people to constructhouses. They said that popu-lation area is more protectedthan a barren land becausein populated area nobody candare any terrorism activity.
There is acute shortageof plain land in Chitral but
CAA was not allowing localpeople to construct housesnot they were ready to pur-chase this land on marketrate. They said that CAAshould acquire this land andkeep it for extension of air-port in future. It is worth tomention here that CAA Actwas extended to Chitral onMarch 25, 1998, but afterimplementation of that Act(law) in Chitral some govern-ment buildings were con-structed in runway area.
Local people say that acourt issued decree in favourof owner of land condition-ally that CAA should paythem according to market ratewith 15% compensation ofconstruction within one yearbut CAA kept silent.
SHAFFAAT MALIK
TALAGANG—Millions of Af-ghan refugees have beenlliving in Pakistan for the lastmore than thirty years and noone can really tell the exactnumber of refugees. Esti-mates range from half a mil-lion to over 10 million. It is afact that Aghans have suf-fered due Russian and Ameri-can attacks on their country.The Aghan refugees havesuffered untold miseries dueto their forced migration toPakistan and Iran, both theneighbouring countries ofAfghanistan but the localpopulation in Pakistan hasbeen suffering more because
of problems they are facingdue influx of Afghans. Oneof the major problems is mani-fold increase in crimes.
Recent bank robbery inTalagang has raised manyquestions on the illegal stayof Afghan immigrants inTalagang Tehsil. Car lifting,kidnapping for ransom anddacoities are increasing dayby day. People are feelingthemselves unsafe as far assecurity of lives and propertyis considered. They havedemanded of the governmentto take serious action againstAfghans illegally staying inthe country.
*****Vehicles and pedestrians
are forced to travel on mainroad in the town most care-fully avoiding manholes inTalagang, otherwise, a minorcarelessness can cost themdearly. Main road and mostof the streets of Talagang arepresenting the same pictureas on many places peoplehave put stones andbranches of trees to avoidaccidents which is creatingproblems for motorists andmay cause of any seriousaccident especially duringnight. On Talagang-Chakwalroad a number of manholesare broken and a couple ofmanholes are designed in afunny way, almost 6 inchesabove the ground.
STAFF REPORTER
PESHAWAR—All KhyberPakhtukhwa Subject Special-ists Association (AKSSA)Monday demanded of theprovincial government toensure immediate implemen-tation of four-tier promotionformula as approved by theChief Minister Amir HaiderKhan Hoti last year. In itsProvincial CoordinationCommittee (PCC) and gen-eral body meeting held hereunder the chairmanship ofProvincial President SalarIslam Tariq, expressed grati-tude to KP government forconverting Contributory
Provident Fund into GP fundand pension gratuity.
They thanked the KPgovernment for acceptingtheir 2 decades old demandand urged the government toensure the implementation offour-tier promotion formulafrom January 1, 2012. SalarIslam Tariq said that due tocertain reasons the imple-mentation of the formula hasdelayed. He emphasizedupon the officials concernedto immediately summon themeeting of provincial selec-tion board and ensure imple-mentation of the formula sothat the Principals, SubjectSpecialists.
17 most wantedarrested by police
JAVED MOAVIA
NANKANA SAHIB—Policehave arrested the 17 mostwanted fugitives includingone woman from different cit-ies of the punjab on the direc-tive of District Police OfficerGhulam Mubashar Maken.According to details policestation Sadar, Nankana Sahib,arrested Malik Shahzad fromLahore, police station SadarShahKot arrestedMuhammad Imran, Ronaq Ali,Muhammad Shareef, ZahoorAhmad, Allah Rakha, IntzarHussain and Allah Rakha fromdifferent cities of Punjab.
Police Station CityShakot arrested MuhmmadRiaz, Arif Hussain andMuhammad Yousaf and Po-lice Station Warbartn ar-rested a women fugitivePathani Bibi from Faisalabad.
STAFF REPORTER
PESHAWAR—The HannamUniversity, Republic of Ko-rea and University ofPeshawar have inked Memo-randum of Understanding tocooperate in undergraduateprograms offered at either in-stitution, which would be,deemed feasible in term of thepromotion and developmentof goodwill, between the twocountries. The MoU to remaineffective for five years wassigned by Dean of Studentand Human Resource Devel-opment Affairs of HannamUniversity IL- Gyu Jeong andVice Chancellor UoP Prof. Dr.Qibla Ayaz on Monday atUniversity of Peshawar.
Under the agreement thetwo institutions would ex-change students, facultymembers, academic materialsand besides arranging shortterm academic and culturalprograms. The institutions
have agreed to exchange fulltime students for one year, saidIL Gyu Jeong on the occasion.He added the host institutionwill accept the students se-lected by the other partner, therecord of which would be main-tained by the designated liai-sons officers of the MoU.
Established in the year1956, Hannam UniversitySouth Korea is one of theoldest institutions and hasplayed a great role in the eco-nomic development of thecountry, said the visitingDean. He added his Univer-sity is giving more focusedon exchange of students andexpertise between facultymembers of the PharmacyDepartment and Institute ofChemical Sciences Universityof Peshawar. Strongacademia industry linkagesproved the main catalyst forthe development of SouthKorea, said Vice ChancellorUoP Prof. Dr. Qibla Ayaz.
Korean HannamVarsity, UoP ink MoU
Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Convocation
Kausar invites private sector role for education uplift
Call to restore Mohen-Jo-Daro in original shape
Teachers urge implementationof 4-tier promotion formula
CAA urged to pay compensationfor runway land
Criminals pose serious threat to citizens
MULTAN: Activists of Multna Jamat-e-Islami demanding the Chief Justice of Pakistanto take suo motu notice of death of Kamran Faisal.
DIR: Commandant Scout, Col Muhammad Kamran Aslampresenting trophy to a recruit during passing out parade.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar giving away gold medal to a graduate during9th Convocation of Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology.
Murree TMAemployees
demand salarySOBAN ABBASI
MURREE—The Tehsil Mu-nicipal Authority, Murree,employees on Mondaydemonstrated against DCORawalpindi at GPO ChowkMall road, as they had notbeen paid salaries for the lasttwo months due to nonavailability of funds.
They were chanting slo-gans against the District Co-ordinating Officer. They alsowarned the DCO that if theywere not paid their salariesthey would cut the watersupply of the city.
The members of unionof TMA shut their officeson Monday and startedprotest at Mall Road. Thedemonstration was led bythe union leader NaveedAbbasi. Addressing theprotesters he said that forthe last four months divi-sional office had been put-ting hurdles in payment oftheir salary.
He said for last twomonths employees had notreceived their salaries. Theprotesters also staged a sit-in and demanded their rightof pay.
In the end of protestNaveed Abbasi,Muhammad Ali and otherleaders of the union said intheir speeches that this wasa peaceful demonstrationbut if DCO would not takenotice of our demands thenall TMA offices will be shutand people would face somany problems.
Perhaps time formajor surgery has
come in BalochistanTHE reaction to imposition of Governor’s rule in Balochistan by
members of the provincial assembly seems to be nothing except anattempt to camouflage the wrongdoing of the past about five years.
This is evident from two reports that appeared in national media on Mon-day about initiation of NAB inquiry against five more former provincialministers on charges of corruption and news conference of CCPO Quettarevealing that even officers of SP and DSP level were involved in inci-dents of kidnapping for ransom.
This is just tip of the iceberg as there have been consistent reportsabout massive corruption by the former Chief Minister and members of hiscabinet, who were supposed to protect life, property and honour of thecitizens. One can imagine plight of the people of the province when theGovernment and the most relevant government departments themselvesare involved in looting and fleecing the general public. There have alsobeen reports that despite manifold increase in provincial revenues afterannouncement of the 7th NFC Award, no worthwhile developmental activ-ity has been initiated in Balochistan and no one knows where billions ofrupees have gone. Add to this the law and order situation in the provincethat has consistently been witnessing a nosedive since long as the Gov-ernment in power was indifferent to the situation. Both local elementsand foreign agents are involved in target killings resulting into exodus ofsettlers that would badly affect the socio-economic progress of the prov-ince as doctors, engineers and professors are also targeted. All this led toproclamation of Governor’s rule in Balochistan yet it is regrettable thatinstead of accepting the decision in the interest of the province, the formerruling clique is politising the issue despite the fact that Governor’s rulewas imposed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitu-tion. In fact, there are complaints and rightly so that the authorities con-cerned lost precious time in arriving at the conclusion that there was nooption left but to impose Governor’s rule. But what has been done is notenough as the province is on the verge of total collapse and therefore, thePresident and the Governor should consult all stakeholders and launch amajor surgery to ensure rule of law and security of life and property be-sides weeding out the menace of corruption.
After IMF, WB too concernedabout Pak economy
THERE was time when the multilateral financial institutions and donors were all praise about economic performance of Pakistan that
was considered to be among the top performers in Asia. However, theneglect shown by the present Government has played havoc with theeconomy resulting into compounding of problems of the common man.
The IMF had recently warned about sorry state of the economy andnow the World Bank has come out with its observation that Pakistan’seconomic growth would remain lowest in the region as it is expected togrow at just 3.8% during the current fiscal year, much lower than notonly India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but Nepal as well. It has identifiedweak investment climate, infrastructure gaps, sovereign credit worthi-ness concerns and large fiscal deficit as major obstacles to a sustainedimprovement in investment activity and economic performance. Theseproblems have been there since day one of the present Government butunfortunately it did not pay any heed to them. No doubt, investors shyaway due to deteriorating security environment but it is also a fact thatthe policies of the Government like its failure to ensure adequate supplyof gas and electricity, jacking up of prices of utilities every now and thenand corruption are the real issues. The Government makes tall claimsabout its economic performance but the plight of the ordinary citizen hasworsened during its tenure which speaks volumes about its success onthis front. It is because of this that we have been urging political partiesto evolve consensus on fundamental economic policies.
Hindu terror may spill overin neighbouring countries
INDIAN Home Minister has done well and in the greater interest ofIndia itself by frankly admitting that extremist parties like RSS and
BJP were promoting Hindu terrorism. The admission by Mr Shinde re-flects how deep the cancer has gone in the blood veins of Indian societyand its manifestation is seen every day.
In the past, India blamed Pakistan for every act of terrorism onits soil but later investigations revealed that the real culprits in suchincidents were Hindu extremists. Mr Shinde had to concede that RSSwas behind Samjhauta express tragedy, Mecca Masjid and Malegaonblasts to name a few. In our opinion the virus of rapes taking placeevery day in India is one dimension of terrorism. In 2002 more than3000 Muslims were hacked, beaten or burned to death in a couple ofdays and what was appalling was that Narendra Modi, BJP Chief Min-ister of the State was widely believed to be behind the massacre. He isnow aspiring to become Prime Minister of India and one fears whatwould be the fate of the self proclaimed secular and biggest democ-racy, if he is elected. In Occupied Kashmir, agencies are being used forstate terrorism where women are molested and youths taken away with-out formal registration of cases and later their dead bodies are handedover to the families. As India claims to be regional leader and lookingbeyond its borders, there is a danger that Hindu terror may spill over inneighbouring countries as well. Therefore we would urge in the inter-est of peace in the region that India instead of raising accusing finger atPakistan and other countries day in and day out, must look at its ownbackyard to prevent the rising tide of Hindu terrorism.
Lal Masjid-like tragedy averted
I always like toassociate with a lotof priests becauseit makes meunderstand anti-clerical things sowell.
Before Dr Tahirul Qadristarted had his long march,a few political leaders,
anchorpersons, analysts and panel-ists saw hidden hands behind it;some pointing their fingers to theWest while others towards militaryand intelligence agencies. Tens ofthousands of his followers — men,women and children — traveledfrom Lahore and other districts ofPunjab to stage a sit-in at D-Squareat Islamabad. There was a loomingthreat of confrontation between thelong marchers and police, especiallyafter Dr Qadri gave final ultimatumfor acceptance of his demands.However, better sense prevailed,perhaps on the cue from certainquarters the government formed ahigh-powered negotiating team; andagreement was reached wherebythree of Dr Qadri’s four demandswere accepted. The salient featureis that Election Commission nowwill have 30 days to scrutinize thenominations papers instead of final-izing the nomination papers of thecandidates of national and provin-cial assemblies
It is immaterial as to whoplayed the role in bringing DrTahirul Qadri and the governmenton the negotiating table, as it averteda disaster and the participants oflong march safely went back to theirabodes. According to reports, theinterior ministry had contrived a
An appallingwaste of food
An alarming new report estimates that between 30 and50 percent of all the food
produced in the world is lost andwasted. This is a shocking findinggiven the scale of malnourishmentand hunger on our planet. While itis tempting to blame governmentsfor this appalling state of affairs, thetruth is that almost all of us contrib-ute to this problem. While govern-ments must do the lion’s share ofthe work, individual citizens can alsohelp to reduce loss, waste and hun-ger. The new report is by the Insti-tution of Mechanical Engineers, aBritish-based independent organiza-tion. The two-year study concludedthat about half of the 4.4 billion tonsof food that is produced worldwideannually is never eaten.
Those findings track with astudy by the Swedish Institute forFood and Biotechnology, conductedfor the United Nations Food and Ag-riculture Organization and releasedin 2011, which concluded that aboutone-third of all food produced — 1.3billion tons — was wasted annually,in equal measure by developed anddeveloping nations. With 870 mil-lion people already suffering fromchronic malnutrition, the worldpopulation exceeding 7 billion andclimbing, and climate change alter-ing agricultural production, there isno room for such practices. Thecauses are many: Some food is leftin the fields, more is wasted becauseof poor storage and transportation.Still more is wasted by markets andconsumers. Ultimately, the scale ofwaste is large enough to prevent theworld from “sustainably meetingour future food demands,” espe-cially when it is estimated that foodproduction must double by 2050.There are many steps that can andshould be taken to remedy this ab-surd situation. In hot climates, post-harvest wastage of fruit and veg-etables ranges between 35 and 50per cent.
Ghana lost 50 percent of itsstored corn in 2008 because of poorstorage facilities. Better storage inPakistan could reduce food lossesby 16 percent. Better roads willspeed up the time it takes for cropsto reach markets, and better infor-mation about demand — relayed bycellphone for example — could helpensure that farmers get their goodsto the right markets. In the devel-oped world, much of the food lossoccurs on the corporate end becausethe food does not meet aestheticstandards. Incredibly, as much as 30percent of the British vegetable cropis not harvested because it does notmeet marketing standards for sizeand appearance. The Japaneseshould understand that problem, asconsumers here are some of themost finicky in the world, demand-ing products that are “perfect, pris-tine and pretty.” Food scandals ofrecent years have also encouragedconsumers — and supermarkets —to keep a close eye on sell-by dates.Food retailers all over the worldadhere strictly to such warnings,resulting in severe losses.
Obviously, we need to pay moreattention to shopping and eating hab-its. It is not uncommon for shoppersin the developed world to throwaway as much as half the food theybuy. The tendency to indulge isdriven by marketing schemes thatoffer “buy one, get one free,” evenif we really do not need that seconditem. It is hard to say no to a bar-gain. We need to learn to say “no”more effectively. Indeed, consum-ers need to be more discerningthroughout their shopping experi-ence and be vocal in words anddeeds. The study of shopping hab-its is extremely advanced and cor-porations live and die by their data.If consumers make conscious effortto change their habits, retailers willnotice. Consumers can also makebetter use of food banks and otherresources that help the hungry andless fortunate. On the individuallevel, they need to be conscious ofthe less fortunate before they throwgood food out. And, they too shouldbe encouraging the organizationsthey work for and the places theyshop to be equally solicitous of theneedy. Education should emphasizethe need to avoid wasting food.Again, it is all about sending sig-nals. It is unrealistic to expect toeliminate all waste in food. But theidea that one-half of food produc-tion is wasted — and that much ofit is because of aesthetic reasons —is intolerable. — The Japan Times
MEDIA WATCH
Hilaire Belloc—British poet
plan to disperse the gath-ering by using the watercannon and tear gas, whichcould have resulted in alarge number of casualtiesduring the course of stam-pede. That way, it was ahappy ending. But, thecommentariat, analysts and
media men continue tossing aroundconspiracy theories. Earlier they be-lieved that military and judiciary hadjoined hands to evolve Bangladeshimodel in Pakistan. They insinuatedmilitary establishment despite the factthat many a time present militaryleadership expressed its resolve to actas per dictates of constitution. Sincethe federal and provincial govern-ments have failed to deliver duringthe last 5 years, they are worried thatthey may meet the wrath of thepeople, and also suffer from militaryestablishment phobia.
During the last five years, therewere many instances when an adven-turer could have been tempted to in-tervene and send the assemblies pack-ing; but that was not to be underpresent military leadership. One ofsuch occasions was long march bythe PML-N during movement of res-toration of judiciary when conflict be-tween the ruling and opposition par-ties seemed to be heading towardschaos and anarchy.
It is now an open secret that themilitary leadership had played a posi-tive role by suggesting the govern-ment to understand the gravity of thesituation and restore the judiciary,which averted the head-on collision.Last year, when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf held a huge public meeting inIqbal Park where people came indroves, they pointed their fingers to-wards military and the ISI. Last
month, when Dr Tahirul Qadri wasable to mobilize the people and putup an impressive show at Minar-e-Pakistan, they suspected military es-tablishment and the ISI behind it.
The fact remains that the countrydoes stand in dire need of drastic elec-toral reforms, and its political systemtoo must change for an honest, sincereand real leadership to emerge. But forelecting such a leadership, the elector-ate must necessarily be the master ofits own will and vote. But the bulk ofit is practically a disenfranchised citi-zenry, living in the thralldom of landedaristocracy and feudal lords, with noright even to their life. Just listen tothe street; it is the public shrieks offrustration and disappointment be-cause the people are being crushed bya juggernaut of poverty, want, disease,joblessness, inflation and lawlessness.But there are no listeners either in theruling hierarchies or the oppositiontribes, as they are preoccupied with turfwars and politics of power and pelf. Itgoes without saying that no democratwould support Martial Law, but whenthe situation becomes anarchic; whenthe people at large are fed up with thedeceit and deception of the politicians,and it becomes difficult to keep theirbody and soul together, they start look-ing for a messiah.
For controversial statements andhis shifting stances, one would nothold brief for Dr Tahirul Qadri, butthe fact remains that he challengedthe status quo forces, highlighted theircorruption, loot and plunder. How-ever, the government accepted threeof his four demands for electoral re-forms to check corrupt practices.Even if a fraction of the reforms areimplemented, it will be a greatachievement. Dr Qadri had pointedout some serious flaws in the elec-
The Supreme Court of Pakistan, irrecked with NationalAccountability Bureau perfor-
mance on implementing its verdictannounced in March 2012 on Tues-day ordered the arrest of 16 accusedin Rental Power case including thethen Minister for Water and PowerRaja Pervez Ashraf who happens tobe the sitting Prime Minister today.The Supreme Court had in its judg-ment declared all rental power con-tracts “illegal”, directing NAB totake action against the delinquents.Since no action was taken by NABfor a considerable while therefore,the Supreme Court in December2012 directed NAB to present itsfinal report on 15th January 2013.
On Tuesday when NAB re-ported that investigation against allthe nominated persons in this casehas been completed Supreme Courthas finally asked Chairman NAB tofinalize charge sheets, arrest themand produce them before the rel-evant court. The then Minister forWater and Power during whose ten-ure the Rental Power Projects wereapproved or set up, were assisted bythe then Minister of Finance ShaukatTareen and the Finance Secretaryholding charge when the down pay-ment for Rental Power Projects wasincreased from 7% to 14%. Afterthe19 RPP contracts had been signedon a second thought Finance Minis-ter Shaukat Tareen obtained cabinetapproval that the entire project ofengaging the RPPs, its pros andcons, the benefits and flaws, to bethoroughly examined by the AsianDevelopment Bank, so that the gov-ernment would be fully aware of thecorrect situation at the time of awardof contracts. According to ADB‘s
Pakistan at the crossroads again?finding, the agreements weresigned ‘in haste‘ and withoutexamining in detail the contrac-tual obligations which these en-tailed for the government. Theagreements were later changed
by the Private Power and Infrastruc-ture Board (PPIB) in favour of RPPs.Most of the agreements containedserious flaws and included even pro-visions that if a contractor gives upthe work after signing the agreement,the government would still have topay for the capacity charges. The re-port also points out the 14 per centmobilization charges paid to the 14RPPs, and did not take into accountthe tariff calculations.
Only nine of the RPPs then wereallowed to function after this damn-ing Asian Development Bank report.Subsequently, six of those nine RPPswere discontinued as well. Despitethe fact that the rental power case waspending that had brought the nick-name of Raja rental to the formerMinister of Water and Power, hisparty the ruling PPP headed by AsifAli Zardari made the Raja PervezAshraf the Prime Minster after YusufRaza Gilani, who had to step downafter disobeying another order of theSupreme Court in the NRO case towrite letter to Swiss Court to re-openthe case. This shows that the rulingPPP and its leaders are least con-cerned about good governance andare solely interested in keeping them-selves in power. Now this court deci-sion might bring their governmentdown. The reason for this is the coin-ciding of this arrest warrant with themuch-touted long march of importedDr. Tahirul Qadri that is right nowtaking place putting the capital of Pa-kistan under siege. Though muchfewer people joined the march thanexpected by Dr. Qadri and his follow-ers, the fact is that those who havejoined are there for the real reasons:they are the poor and deprived of thiscountry and society, deprived of elec-
tricity, healthcare, education, jobs andmany other things that make humanlife respectable and they have founda ray of hope in this long march call.
The news about the arrest war-rant in the rental power case comestogether with another news item thatis connected to an earlier mega cor-ruption scandal. Just a couple of daysago the Public Accounts Committee(PAC) was informed that over 82.53billion rupees were paid to IPPs byWAPDA under the head of fine andlate payment during the last fiveyears. This news is related to anotherfraud that had been committed yearsago by another member of the Bhuttoclan Benazir during her 2nd tenure.Present rulers were not satisfied withthe damaging effects brought byIPP’s to our economic health that theyfurther devised a novel corruptionformula to ‘compensate’ independentpower producers (IPPs), according towhich they will be paid Rs600 mil-lion per month for operating belowcapacity due to financial crunch withthe pledge to end load shedding by31st December 2011. The new for-mula was floated with a tag to resolvecash flow problems of IPP’s that willeventually help to a great extent inovercoming the on-going energy cri-sis. KESC happens to be a privatizedentity but over Rs100 billion havebeen doled out as stimulus packagefrom the taxpayer’s money.
All this shows that fraud and cor-ruption from top to the bottom of so-ciety is the main problem of this coun-try. By now power is in the hands ofpeople who sell postings, jobs, li-censes and degrees and it is almostimpossible for the common man notto get corrupted. This has been goingon for the last many decades with theresult that by now the Pakistani stateand most of its institutions have lostcreditability in the eyes of the people,law starting from the traffic rules andending with the first law of the coun-try, the constitution is disregarded and
tion laws which allowed the CECPto let a man with fake degree con-test elections for National Assem-bly or Provincial Assemblies’ seat.Tax evaders, loan defaulters andthose having committed other seri-ous crimes are invariably notscreened out during scrutiny of theirpapers. Exiting laws should beimplemented in letter and spirit anda few laws will have to be changedto plug the loopholes. Whether DrQadri stays in Pakistan or goes backto Canada is immaterial now, as hehas played his part in exposing thesystem, which is rotten to the core.
It is true that the commissiondoes not have the authority to removeand replace any government officialtrying to play foul in the election onthe behest of some political party orparties. Tahirul Qadri’s demand thatthe laws be changed and the ECP begiven at least one month to investi-gate the information given by thecandidates when they file their pa-pers for elections sounds just. Cur-rently, the ECP finalizes the papersof candidates within a few hours.Having that said, Dr Qadri hasachieved a lot in substance, and thenation stands to benefit as well.Agreement between Dr Qadri andthe government states: “The NationalAssembly shall be dissolved at anytime before March 16, 2013, (duedate), so that the elections may takeplace within the 90 days. One monthwill be given for scrutiny of nomi-nation papers for the purpose of pre-clearance of the candidates underarticle 62 and 63 of the constitutionso that the eligibility of the candi-dates is determined by the ElectionsCommission of Pakistan (ECP)”.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.
not worth the paper on which it iswritten. As a result the economy isfailing and poverty is reaching newheights. In the face of such a des-perate situation with the governmentweak and may be falling as respon-sible citizens we have to ask our-selves what can be done and whereshould relief come from.
As we have been repeating sev-eral times we think that democracydoesn’t suit the structure ofPakistan’s society. For democracy towork you need democraticallyminded people who hold firm opin-ion on issues confronting the nation.In our country even the educated lotis not democratically minded, mean-ing that they would accept the demo-cratic rules of equality and give ad-equate access to power to the poorwho are the majority in the country.They want to rule themselves anduse the people as voting cattle whichthose haplessly allow them to do. Ifnot, elections are manipulated bypre-poll rigging, false electoral roles,theft or filling ballot boxes with fakevotes and many others tricks. Noelection in Pakistan has ever beenfair, not even the 1970’s one.
Our bad experience with char-ter of democracy in last 5 years isbefore all of that has forced the na-tion to stage sit-ins when their voiceand problems are not noticed by therulers. Therefore, in order to solveour main two problems that is cor-ruption and poverty we don’t needdemocracy, a benevolent dictatorwould do. This statement is sup-ported by examples of countries thathave gained economic progresswithout democracy such as China,Singapore and others. Of courseChina does have a due amount ofcorruption. But in any case Pakistancan not go the Chinese way, theKorean way or anybody else’s way;we will have to find the Pakistaniway to solve our problems. Godbless Pakistan.
HURMAT GROUP OF PUBLICATIONSZahid Malik
President & Editor-in-ChiefPh: 051-2256006
Faisal Zahid MalikEditor
Ph: 021-32631102
Gauhar Zahid MalikExecutive Editor
Ph: 051-2853818
IslamabadPh Exchange: 051-2852027
Reporting Desk: 051-2852028, News Desk: 051-5879329Marketing: 051-2262254, 2852029 Fax: 051-2262258
Email: [email protected] Website: www.pakobserver.net
KarachiFaisal Zahid Malik
EditorPh: 021-32211777, 32635403
Fax: 021-32626902Email: [email protected]
LahoreNadeem SyedResident Editor
Ph: 042-37593341, 37566702Marketing Ph: 37597364
Fax: 042-36300043Email: [email protected]
QuettaGhulam TahirResident Editor
Mobile: 0333-7944760E-mail:[email protected]
PeshawarTariq SaeedResident Editor
Mobile: 0321-9001476E-mail:[email protected]
MuzaffarabadAbdul Hameed Shaheen
Resident EditorPh: 051-2852028, Mobile: 0315-5010791
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Sunday Magazine
Sadia Zahid MalikEditor
Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: [email protected]
Mohammad JamilEmail: [email protected]
News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views
Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:[email protected]
Voice of the People
Torture on rise in Afghan jails: UN
The use of torture has risen inAfghan police jails over thepast year, and there are “cred-
ible reports” the country’s intelli-gence service has created secret pris-ons and sometimes hides detaineesfrom international observers, a damn-ing UN survey has found. Just overhalf of prisoners held in connectionwith Afghanistan’s long-running warendured torture or ill-treatment whilein custody between October 2011 andOctober 2012, with 14 different meth-ods recorded, including electricshocks, twisting of genitals, beatingswith cables and rifle butts and sus-pension from the wrists or feet.
In southern Kandahar city, whichappears to have the most extensiveand deep-rooted problems with tor-ture, dozens of men have also “dis-appeared” while in police custody,according to the 123-page report bythe UN’s human rights office in Af-ghanistan, which includes a detailed,20-page response from the Afghangovernment. Torture is unlikely todiminish unless ministers and top se-curity commanders are willing to
The Rental Power Case judgment is apolitical. The arrestorder of the PM by the Apex
Court was based on evidence. Thejudgment has given hope to the pub-lic that no one is above the law. Re-portedly, the case involves mega cor-ruption of Rs. 600bn. The fury on tim-ing of the judgment and indifferenceof the opposition shows disdain forrule of law. The Supreme Court hadto order fortnightly progress on thecase due to lack of progress since thecase judgment given in March 2012.The case was registered in Septem-ber 2009 and chief executive was notPM at that time. The arrest orders of16 accused including PM are normalin such cases and in accordance toglobal jurisprudence.
The failures of National Account-ability Bureau in the RP case are dis-appointing. NAB is an independent
NAB’s credibility at stake!anti-corruption body, but its lackof progress in the case speak vol-umes. Chairman NAB statementthat the reference was faulty andthere was no loss to national ex-chequer has cast questions aboutthe credibility of NAB. The hard
facts of the case are already public.SC has called NAB report contraryto the facts. NAB Chairman state-ment of working under NAB ordi-nance not Supreme Court is unfortu-nate. NAB is an independent anti-cor-ruption setup under the Constitutionsin which judiciary is superior due toits powers of judicial review and in-terpret law. NAB therefore is answer-able to the judiciary.
The delaying tactics of NABChairman merit to be investigated.The mysterious death of RP caseNAB investigator has raised seriousquestions about the use of delayingtactics by the NAB Chairman in thecourt. There was deliberate delay inproduction of record, questioning ofSupreme Court authority and demandfor written orders for production ofthe record. It is important to investi-gate and rule out his role in the delay
Abductionsin Balochistan
IQBAL HADI ZAIDI
Yesterday late evening it was break-ing news on television channels thatin Quetta 5 police officers includ-ing SP were arrested from a policestation. It further said that a personabducted from Dalbandeen was de-tained at police station and the po-lice had demanded handsome ran-som money to release him. The raid-ing party not only found the personso abducted but also recovered ran-som money which police officialswere to share in between.
It is alleged that these law en-forcers and protectors were them-selves involved in kidnapping andpocketing ransom money whichruns into minimum 6 digits if not 7so one can very well imagine as tohow lucrative is the business for thepolice to mint and not get extramoney over and above what the gov-ernment pays to them. Now once itis established as to who abducts andwho pockets money by committingsuch heinous crime. These personsmust be punished severely and pub-licly so that all those who work inpolice dare not indulge in suchcriminality. Incidentally our policeare known for being contrary so itis not something new rather on thecontra it is the confirmation of theimpression our police carries. How-ever, relying on the past bitter expe-riences I think, eventually these of-ficers arrested could be acquittedhonorably!—Kuwait
Long marchdeclaration
S R H HASHMI
We all feel relieved that Dr. TahirulQadri’s long march ended withoutany untoward incident either inIslamabad or on the way to, or backfrom Islamabad. What is even bet-ter is that he managed to achieve themain objectives and hopefully, a bet-ter crop of parliamentarians willemerge after the forthcoming elec-tions. We must give credit to Dr.Qadri for securing an agreementsigned by the Prime Minister of Pa-kistan, which promises adequatepowers and time to the ElectionCommission to stop undesirable el-ements from sneaking into the par-liament again, and ensures dissolu-tion of the assemblies before the endof their tenure, thus ruling out theirextension for another year or so,while the talks for further electoralreforms will continue. These arespectacular achievements for a per-son who has been away from Paki-stan for some years.
Dr. Qadri has done the difficulttask of securing the agreement andI am sure his followers, and politi-cal parties, the Mutahidda QaumiMovement, Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf and others will complete therelatively simpler task of ensuringthat the agreement is implementedin full, thus giving us a capable teamof parliamentarians which will runthe government solely for the ben-efit of the country and the people.
We are really greateful to Dr.Qadri and his followers for doingthis great favour to the us, at theirown cost and suffering personalhardship, travelling nearly 300kilometres to Islamabad and stay-ing there in extremely cold weather,with amenities which could hardlybe described as five-star. We willnot let their sacrifices go in vain andI am sure we will see a better gov-ernment emerging after forthcom-ing elections.—Karachi
*****FARHAN ABBASI
It is a fantasy based story of today’spolitics of Pakistan. Today, it doesseem that this government will com-plete its tenure of five years but onthe tickets of Long Marches. Ourdemocracy’s sudden fantasy story iscrystal clear that if any democraticgovernment wants to accomplish thefive years tenure of their rule then
The menace of rapeASIM IQBAL
Rape, the worst form of violence against women, is increasing day by day in Pakistan. In 2011,(827)rape cases were reported while in 2012 the number of cases crossed the figure 2700. The situation is
so bad that even minor and early teen age girls are not safe only last month three girls 6 to 14 years of agewere raped but the culprits were not arrested. The rape incidents have become so common in Pakistanthat society hardly take any notice of brutalities with women. The reason of rape may be many becausethe rape dose not occurs only for lust. Some times it is used as weapon to humiliate the rival groups andfamilies. Some times it occurs to take revenge of personal dispute how ever the reason for increasing thismenace is one which is ineffectiveness of our law system. There is no fear of punishment among thepeople who commit sexual crimes because there are many flaws in our system which help the offendersin legal battle and justice is not served to the victim. When a woman is raped and she goes to policestation to get the case registered police does not cooperate and first refuses to file the complaint. If thecase is registered and the culprits are arrested they are released due to insufficient investigation report.If we want to protect women and eliminate this heinous crime we will have to show zero tolerance againstsexual abuse with this there is a need to set up speedy trial courts, comprising on women judges, for thehearing of rape cases because only woman can understand the sufferings of victims.—Via email
Views From Abroad
READERS
Email:[email protected]
are requested to typetheir letters legibly withdouble spacing and only onone side of the paper.
—Editor
which forced the court to forward thehearing to Jan. 23 despite initial re-marks of the Chief Justice in whichhe said that the court would deliber-ate until 10pm to reach a decision onJan 14. This delay resulted in myste-rious murder of the IO and his miss-ing laptop. These developments can-not be ignored in a high profile caseinvolving powerful people and bil-lions of rupees of corruption.
NAB Chairman merits to be re-moved and brought to book. NAB isalso dragging its feet on implement-ing SC orders on OGRA Case. Theaccused are at large despite repeatedorders of the court. The deliberatefailure of all concerned to arrest theaccused is obstruction of justice. It isa serious crime. The court observa-tions of record showing wanted ac-cused travelling in NAB vehicle re-veal that NAB has failed to dischargeits duties under its charter. to It is acommon knowledge that NAB hasbeen politicized and is unable to op-pose pressure from the powerfulforces in the country including po-litical leadership. The inefficacy ofNAB in high profile cases has clearly
the leading hit ingredient is to includelong marches and some mini marchesin between their running tenure. Nodoubt this is a fishy and tested tip.This government has witnessed twolong marches (the first was of law-yers faculty long march of the year2008 and the other was of NawazSharif’s long march of 2009 thoughboth were for the restoration of judi-ciary) and now this government set-up is going to end-up with the onelong march (Qadri March).
But one thing is sure that this timedemocratic set-up is not going to haveany army interval of ten years fordemocracy, and why not after all asby the media reports; the Interiorministry has wasted 20 carore rupeeson the security and management ofQadri march. It is obvious that allPakistani do not want to waste theirprecious taxes on these hypaethralforeigners but still it happened, andhopefully it is not a coincidence ticketto long march.—Via email
****DR IRFAN ZAFAR
If history serves us right, HazratImam Hussain (AS) sacrificed his lifeinstead of entering into an agreementwith Yazeed.—Islamabad
YouTubeCOL RIAZ JAFRI (R)
What was that that access to theYouTube was restored by the InteriorMinister but was clamped down af-ter only a few hours by the PM on areportedly telephone call from a jour-nalist?! Could the IM and the PM benot on the same page before the or-der and the counter order? In any casefor how long more do they intend tokeep the YouTube out of the reach ofthe millions in Pakistan and denythem an immensely huge source ofall kinds of academic and generalknowledge badly needed by from anordinary high school student to a postdoctorate research scholar?! As faras the availability of some objection-able material on the YouTube is con-cerned, it has been there from the dayone YouTube was aired and shall re-main there till the last day of its pres-ence on the net. It is for the indi-viduals themselves to access such amaterial or not and any right think-ing Muslim would simply not do so.
I would, therefore, earnestly re-quest the govt. to lift the ban onYouTube and trust the nation for itsmature conduct rather than yield tothe extremists who find Islam beingendangered even by a male doctortreating a female dying patient.—Rawalpindi
Anotherdeclaration
SANOBAR NADIR BUTT
Finally after the fives days longMarch came to an end. Will it be theend of people’s sufferings too? Wecan just hope so, because we do nothave any other choice. Well, undoubt-edly long march comprised of peoplefrom almost every walk of life andevery part of country and that theystood these in such chilly and bloodfreezing weather is really commend-able. This for sure proves that ournation is not sleeping or dead theycan stand for their rights, Its betterthat every government should under-stand that, they have almost all theauthorities of the state but one thingcan not be denied that, the power lieswithin the people. It is the people whoappoint them to their respective po-sitions so, if they have the power tobring them in ruling position they alsoposses the courage to challenge andoppose their wrong practices.
Though long march peacefullycame to an end and a declaration hasalso been signed which is named aslong march declaration but it surelyleaves one question in mind thatwhether the points which are men-tioned in this declaration will be fol-lowed and implemented or it will beconsider merely a “piece of a paper”.
Keeping my fingers crossed, Ihope that government will stand totheir words and follow the pointswhich are mentioned in Long March
Democracy without democrats
Many Pakistanis now realizethat their “sovereign” democratic government is nei-
ther sovereign nor democratic andis in the pocket of unaccountableelite having financial interestsabroad. Under the sitting so calldemocrats, the things are worseningall over Pakistan day by day. Poli-tics has become the business of richin Pakistan. The present parliamen-tary system suits the feudal politicalelite only, they hold reign of powerthrough this system. Present form ofdemocracy has allowed “thieves” toplunder the country.
It has little to do with genuinedemocratic representation but rathermore closely resembles a revolvingfascist dictatorship beholden to theinterests of a wealthy elite and bigbusinesses. Fake democrats surelyproduce a fake democracy as is inPakistan. Our ruling elite have notdone any service to their country, de-mocracy or the people of Pakistan.This is what our self-styled ‘liber-als’, civil society and our mediadon’t understand. Although Pakistan
is said to be a democracy, itsmedia are hardly free or ableto play a genuine watchdogrole. Our private media thatlack the vision, skills andplatforms to report effec-
tively on the serious challengesfaced by the nation and the country– corruption, poverty, poor gover-nance, loss of public institutions,shutting industry, flying capital,worst ever law and order situation,degrading or non-existent infrastruc-ture and so on…, to name but a few,is engaged only to protect theirfinancer politicians and to hide theircorruption in the name of protect-ing “democracy”, simultaneouslyweakening the national institutionson their behest.
Let us give a big hand to our“free” media for achieving this sorrystate. Let us thank them for learningthe word democracy and before re-ally knowing its essence, trying todo the nation a favor by making vil-lains look like heroes and heroes,villains. I think, during the last fiveyears almost whole system has beencorrupted. The advocates of democ-racy need to understand that merelyholding elections is not the solution.
Democracy ensures that peopleare governed no better than they de-serve. Instead of empowering thepeople in real sense, our so called
leaders have reduced democracyinto a situation where a voter canauction his vote to the highest bid-der against the spirit of the democ-racy, which truly allows people toreplace one set of rulers by anotherof similar nature. Many voters inPakistan do not exercise their rightto choose properly. Their vote isbased on factors such as caste, creedand color. As a result, they end upsending crooks and criminals toparliament. Empowerment requiresthe rule of law.
People feel empowered onlywhen they know that they haverights and that the institutions ofgovernment exist, first and foremost,to enforce them. Our leadershipshould make education its top prior-ity, set a goal of raising literacy rateto the maximum in order to empowerthe people. What kind of democracyis this where the vast majority ofpeople are destitute? Is right to votethe essence of democracy? No, it isnot! To call Pakistan a democracynow is a joke. Go through the list ofcriminals occupying high places andthe notion is not lost. Money, reli-gion and caste get votes, not democ-racy. Until this is sorted out democ-racy in Pakistan is overplayed!
This is a bitter truth that our na-tional political parties have lost theircapability to run the government due
to lack of democracy within andrunning the parties like dictators.A Parliament filled with feudallords —this is no democracy.Monarchy of one family & dynastyof one party, the name is Pakistanidemocracy. While truly “free andfair” elections are important, manykinds of election fraud have beenoutlawed in electoral legislation inPakistan.
Result is that ddemocracy ordictatorship now matter little tothe economically marginalizedmasses of Pakistan. For themmere survival is now the mostpressing issue at hand. The cur-rent government is not enjoyingthe popularity even which theMusharraf regime used to enjoyin its initial phase. Now massesare of the opinion that the mili-tary dictatorship era providedthem with better living opportu-nities and they were at ease thanthe present civilian dictators. Thepolitical instability in Pakistan,though frequently attributed bythe politicians and their paid me-dia to the frequent military take-overs, but the military only comeonce politicians fail miserably.The people always welcome thechange. Every time during thepolitical crisis the parliamentfails to deliver.
shown that NAB chairman is ob-structing justice instead of uphold-ing it. He has lost moral and legalcredibility to head the premier anti-corruption institution. He has be-come a threat to safety of NAB em-ployees and judiciary’s effortsagainst corruption at a time whencountry is losing Rs. 10bn daily tocorruption. He should be removedand punished for undermining lawand judiciary.
There should be high level ju-dicial inquiry to determine thecause of death of NAB IO. Themedia reports have shown signs ofstruggle on victim’s body. The fa-ther of the victim has also appealedfor independent inquiry. Indepen-dent inquiry is also necessary torule out any foul play under thedoctrine of fair justice. All thosepeople who visited crime scenebefore the police secured it shouldbe dealt with in accordance to thelaw for violating it. It is importantto hold inquiry to provide justiceso that there is sense of security andprotection to the staff who fightagainst corruption.
Emma G Harrisonprosecute and fire officials connectedwith mistreatment, and stop usingconfessions obtained through torturein court cases, the top UN humanrights official in Afghanistan warned.
“Torture cannot be addressed bytraining, inspections and directivesalone, but requires sound account-ability measures to stop and preventits use,” said Georgette Gagnon.“Without deterrents … Afghan of-ficials have no incentive to stop tor-ture.” The report is worrying read-ing for foreign governments sup-porting Afghanistan’s police andarmy, both with troops on theground and financially. There arelegal restrictions on handing overprisoners if they will face a substan-tial risk of torture, and even thoughtransfers have been restricted, vot-ers may be unhappy about fundingsecurity forces implicated in torture.
The Afghan government admit-ted there might be occasional lapsesin a system it was still strengthening,but denied “severe cases of inhumantreatment”, dismissed the findings ofsystematic torture as “exaggerated”,and said insurgents were trained toallege torture if captured. The Na-tional Directorate of Security (NDS)also denied hiding prisoners or run-
ning secret jails. The UN, which sur-veyed 635 prisoners, said it usedhigh standards of proof and had dis-missed 51 claims that were not cred-ible. The survey also found the na-ture of abuse reported differed fromjail to jail, but within individual de-tention centres was often consistentacross months and prisoners fromdifferent insurgent groups.
The UN team, which visited 89detention centres and was denied ac-cess to just one intelligence servicejail, found “multiple credible and re-liable incidents of torture and ill-treat-ment had occurred particularly in 34facilities”.The torture was systematicin seven police jails and two intelli-gence detention centres, all but oneof them in Kandahar, birthplace of theTaliban and long a stronghold of theinsurgency. Torture by police and in-telligence officials “was most preva-lent” in Kandahar, the UN said. It isalso the only place where “disappear-ances” in police custody were re-ported. Ten other intelligence serviceprisons and 15 other police jailsacross Afghanistan had multiple re-ports of torture, but the only otherplace where systematic use of torturewas reported was the intelligenceservice’s counter-terrorism centre in
Kabul. “The use of torture … re-sumed in most of the facilities af-ter Isaf had certified them, restartedtransfers and reduced its monitor-ing,” the report said. Just over athird of detainees experienced tor-ture in security service prisons,down 12% from the previous year.But there are concerns that becauseof the scrutiny of conflict-relatedprisoners, the NDS may have triedto hide prisoners or channelledthem into police custody, wheretorture was up 8%.
Of the prisoners interviewed,105 were children under interna-tional law, and a large majority ofthese juvenile prisoners had beentortured. Only a very small portionof prisoners had been in Afghanarmy or Afghan local police cus-tody, but they also reported tortureby those forces. Despite the train-ing and inspections, no one hasbeen fired or prosecuted for tortureby the police or intelligence ser-vices since the first UN report ontorture in jails was published inOctober 2011, and the UN de-scribed a culture where torture isoften considered a useful, legiti-mate tool.— Courtesy: The Guardian
Even as I join others in grieving the death of JacinthaSaldanha, the nurse who
committed suicide over the prankof finding out whether Kate waspregnant or not, even as I feel sorryfor the two young children she hasleft behind and also her husband, Itill wonder whether we are travers-ing a dangerous path.
Like it or not, it was suicide.Like it or not, two young childrenare without a mother, and withoutfinancial support in an adopted
country. Whether we like it or not, ahusband, who really doesn’t have asteady job, is now left not just to fendfor himself, but to care for two kidsand their terrible loss.
And whether we like it or not, itwas not a great secret she let out, notsomething that saw the eventual lossof thousands of lives or that put thecountry to risk, but just Kate’s morn-ing sickness hidden from the publicfor some reason we’ll never know.And whether we like it or not, it wasa prank. Was there a need to die? AsI see the reaction of our Indian press,I wonder whether deep down in ourminds, we think suicide somethingheroic? And if so we don’t need farto go to find the root of such thought;after all it took a law to prevent ourwives jumping into the fire to join a
dead husband, leaving behind chil-dren at the mercy of relatives.
Without being too insensitive, Iwrite this piece today because it dis-turbs me, that there are many in ourcountry, many in despair, and des-peration, who instead of realizing thatthey need to fight and win, many whoinstead of looking inward for strengthand resilience may now take theeasier path of a rope round theirnecks! Maybe immense pressuregives one thoughts of suicide, butsuch stress has to be fought, problemshave to be thrashed out, challengesto be accepted and won over.
That is what life is all about.There will always be people whostand in our way, who have to be wonover, there will always be jokes thatmake us feel small and humiliated,
A dangerous path..!but it is for us to get up and walk,not stay down and throw ourselvesaway. There are many ways tocommit suicide, not always instantdeath; alcohol, that drowns ourfailures, then kills our relation-ships and finally rots our liver,drugs, and even a constant stateof depression. What do we tell hertwo children, who have to face therest of their childhood withouttheir mother? That two Australianjockeys killed her?
What do we tell our childrenas they face challenges, criticismand critical circumstances every-day? Do we tell them to give up ordo we show them the path of win-ning? Today, we tread a dangerouspath..!—Email: [email protected]
declaration, because before this dec-laration many other declarations hadalso been signed but they were justlimited to papers and hardly any prac-tical work could be seen on thosedeclarations. But if this declarationwas just a move by the governmentto disperse the march then people willnot pardon them. Since, in earlierdeclaration there was no involvementby public but here the situation isentirely different, here public is di-rectly involved and they have facedalmost every kind of hardship toachieve their demands. At least nowgovernment should not back downfrom their words and without anykind of hesitation government shouldfulfill their pledge.—Karachi
Deaf dialogueon Kashmir
A J MALIK
India has once again turned down ourforeign minister’s invitation to holdtalks on the lingering Kashmir issue.Frustrated at prolonged non-resolu-tion of the dispute between twonuclear-capable neighbours, Mirwaiz(head priest) of Kashmir has appealedfor finding a solution even beyond thecircumference of the UN resolutions(Hindustan Times January 19, 2013).The Mirwaiz said, “If Kashmiris arehappy with arrangements other thanthe UN resolutions, we can look atother options as well, provided theyaddress the aspirations and senti-ments of people”. He appreciated‘Musharraf’s formula’ which couldnot fructify as the Pak governmentand its Kashmir policy changed.
Aware that Kashmir was a tick-ing bomb which could mushroominto another war with India, formerpresident Musharraf made some out-of-box personal proposals to resolvethe dispute. These proposals were hispersonal views, not official policy ofthe Pak government. So it is not cor-rect for the Mirwaiz to say that Kash-mir policy changed with change ofgovernment in Pakistan. Musharraf’sformula inter alia suggests demilita-rization coupled with 10-year-longself-rule and joint control by India andPakistan. Though touted as an inno-vative solution, it was actually a pre-lude to facilitating the real solutionthat is plebiscite. Musharraf clippedthe ‘solution’ from Indian foreignsecretary, Jagat S. Mehta’s article andre-marketed it with his own name-tag. Talks between India and Pakistanhave always been a zero-sum game.India goes into each dialogue with an‘oyster shell’ mindset. Indian officialskeep repeating the same old blinkeredperspective (atoot ang).
India backed out of the plebiscitecommitment through a perverted in-terpretation of the principle clasularebus sic stantibus (a fundamentalchange of circumstances). In order forthe talks to be successful, both coun-tries need to spell out their reserva-tions and inhibitions. The dialogue,even if resumed, is likely to end upin zero sum unless India leaves itsblinker-eyed position.—Via email
Commentson tsunamiIQBAL HADI ZAIDI
English dictionary has a word calledTsumani which is more bigger anddestructive than flood so from thatpoint of view Imran Khan has sweptover others so far as expression isconcerned. Gen Pervez Musharrafhas proved as general though not MAin English as far as I know when heused Earthquake which is nearing ifnot equal to tsunami. Academicallynow T faces E Please do enlightenme with your candid opinion. Whotakes initiative and where?—Kuwait
Shaukat M ZafarEmail: [email protected]
Rizwan Ghani Email:[email protected]
ZACHARY KARABELL
EARLIER this week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly inflation report. The numbers came in at 1.7percent a year for all items. Excluding the
ever-volatile food and energy, it was 1.9 percent.That’s about as low as inflation has been in the last50 years. Only 1986 (1.1 percent), 1998 and 2001(1.6 percent), 2008 (0.1 percent) and 2010 (1.5 per-cent) have come in lower, and a few years in themid-2000s registered the same. The disappearanceof inflation over the past 20 years, however, has barelydented the pervasive belief that inflation remains oneof the greatest threats to economic stability. Theseconvictions persist in spite of all evidence to the con-trary: Inflation is nowhere visible. For many, that isjust proof that we are living in a lull a phony warsoon to be disrupted when that age-old enemy reap-pears and wreaks havoc.
At the Federal Reserve legally mandated guard-ian of price stability and responsible for monitoringand containing inflation – the president of the Rich-mond Fed, Jeffrey Lacker, has been warning that thecurrent policy of very low interest rates and expan-sion of the balance sheet is almost certain to sparkinflation in the near future. In Europe, those viewsare even more deeply held. The German Bundesbankstill seared by memories of hyperinflation in the1920s and the collapse of political order that gaverise to the Nazis – remains ever vigilant. Its presi-dent, Jens Weidman, is strongly opposed to many ofthe recent sovereign bailouts to preserve the euro onthe grounds that good money chasing bad will sparkinflation.
These officials tend to be firm yet measured intheir concern - something that cannot be said of popu-list politicians and analysis. The Tea Party is fuelednot just by debt animus but by a deep-seated beliefthat “real” inflation is much higher than what thegovernment reports, and it insists that the spendinghabits of the government will end in the collapse ofthe dollar, hyperinflation and the government’s defacto stealing from hard-working Americans’ money.That is the fear of gold bugs, and added to the mixare the views of former Representative Ron Paul andhis son, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), that the Fed isputting the United States in inflation peril. Many pro-fessional investors and economists are similarly con-vinced that the current policies of zero interest ratesand deficit spending are setting the stage for mas-
Fighting inflation. But where is it?sive inflation.
How to explain the inverse relationship betweeninflation concerns and inflation realities? Yes, low
inflation in recent years has been juxtaposed with
modest economic growth and wage stagnation formost Americans - as well as for most Europeans and
Japanese. Given that perceptions of economic well-being are ultimately tied to disposable income, theseforces have largely canceled each other out. In addi-
tion, people tend to be acutely aware of the volatility
of energy and food prices, which have spiked – andthen receded – many times in past years. One of the
strongest arguments for vigilance against inflationcomes from economists following the dicta of MiltonFriedman that “inflation is always and everywhere amonetary phenomenon.” In that view, the actions ofgovernments and central bankers are the determin-ing factor, and the experience of the 20th centurywas that inflation often followed government poli-cies, especially promiscuous government spending.Since that is what happened in the past, many arefirmly convinced that it will, perforce, happen in thefuture.
Yet even with food and fuel, inflation percep-tions can be deceptive. Many people are aware thatthe price of a loaf of bread has risen from less than40 cents in the 1970s to an average of more than $2today. Food prices have also risen periodically overthe past few years in the face of global demand anddroughts. That cements a perception of inflation. Yetover the past few decades, food as an overall percentof income has gone down, down and down. In 1972,Americans spent 15 percent of their disposable in-come on food; today, that figure is 11 percent. Theonly shift has been in eating out - people spend moreon restaurants and much less on food at home. Andthat has happened even as incomes have stagnated.Gasoline, which has fluctuated widely, has maintaineda steady share of disposable income for decades, atabout 3.5 percent, which is now decreasing becauseof production from shale oil deposits and ever-more-efficient vehicles. One of the strongest arguments forvigilance against inflation comes from economistsfollowing the dicta of Milton Friedman that “infla-tion is always and everywhere a monetary phenom-enon.” In that view, the actions of governments andcentral bankers are the determining factor, and the
experience of the 20th century was that inflation of-ten followed government policies, especially promis-
PAUL COLLIER
THE international community isin no position to condemn Algeria, writes Paul Collier Mali’stragedy is the result of a misalign-
ment in the stars. Unusual geopolitical cir-cumstances triggered a shock; a further co-incidence prevented a timely response. Therepercussions are now being felt in Alge-ria and beyond. Until the Libyan revolu-tion culminating in October 2011, Maliwas not a fragile state.
In June that year, the InternationalMonetary Fund listed 48 such states. Maliwas not one of them. By the standards oflow-income countries, it was secure. Ad-mittedly, it was neither inclusive nor ef-fective: the Tuareg minority was beyondthe pale; patronage and corruption werecommon. This kind of combination leavesmany democracies more prone to political
violence than the dictatorships they re-placed. The fall of Libya’s MuammerGaddafi inflicted an avoidable militarythreat on the region. Many of the weapons
stockpiled in his country were seized bygangs bent on mischief. A parallel servedas a warning: the conflicts triggered byarms looted during Albania’s 1997 melt-down. However, there was no international
The west has let negligence in theSahel turn into a nightmare
appetite for the ground operation necessaryto secure the stockpile. The urgent task,therefore, was to protect neighbouring re-gimes. In Mali, this meant turning an armystarved of equipment and led by the less
able children of the elite into a fightingforce. The need to provide equipment wasrecognised, but the coincidence of the USand French electoral cycles made it toosensitive to do much about it. Instead, the
government received money for arms. But,as no attention was paid to the risk of cor-ruption, it was looted. This left the army illmatched against the experienced, moti-
vated, superbly equipped gangs – includ-ing Malian mercenaries returning fromLibya with their weapons – that descendedon it. The unsurprising result was theslaughter of its soldiers, provoking a mu-
tiny from the ranks that escalated into sei-zure of power.
I can only assume that governmentsthen sat down and pondered how to makea nightmare resulting from negligence
worse by action. By cutting off finance tothe new regime, it ensured both furthermilitary debacle and the meltdown of thepolitical process. Meanwhile, global andregional actors were supposedly co-ordinating an African force to retake north-ern Mali but the deadlock surrounding2012 African Union leadership electionsmay have impaired co-operation. The en-emy pre-empted this leisurely process byseizing the rest of the country: how elsewere they likely to respond? Victory forthe Islamists was within reach and wouldhave turned Mali into a second Somalia.Realising this, Paris pressed the panicbutton and sent in troops.
Beggaring belief, the US has still notauthorised military support, so the Frenchare on their own. This makes their inter-vention fraught – as Libya showed, Eu-rope lacks the military depth to mount thesophisticated intelligence and logisticsrequired.
Yet France had little choice. Had Malibecome a second Somalia, the politicaland economic costs would have been hor-rendous. Even in narrowly economicterms, Somali piracy costs the globaleconomy about $2bn a year – 30 timesthe total ransoms paid. For Mali, as theraid in Algeria shows, the Sahara is theIndian Ocean, and the oil and gas facili-ties are the tankers – the costs could behigher. The west has blundered so badlythat it is in no position to condemn Alge-ria for taking tough action against kidnap-pers.
The western approach in Somalia ofsurreptitiously paying ransoms turns ratsinto tigers. What now? Mali needs lifesupport. The Islamic gangs are wellequipped, with a dribble of terrorist sup-port, but they have no government to keepthem supplied.
—Courtesy Financial Times
PETER RUTLAND
FRANCE has intervened in Maliwith the stated intention of gaining control over the chaos currently afflicting the country. While
the justifications for this intervention havefocused on Islamist fighters, WesleyanUniversity Professor Peter Rutland arguesthat the Malian crisis primarily revolvesaround a nationalist rebellion of the Tuaregpeople that has not been adequately ad-dressed. Rutland argues that by support-ing the Malian government’s repressionof ethnic minorities, western powers haveexacerbated the causes of the crisis theyare now scrambling to contain. Withoutadequate recognition of the true nature ofthis conflict, it seems likely that the Frenchintervention will struggle to establish itsstated goal of political stability in Mali.Western powers were taken by surprise bythe sudden emergence of an Islamist re-gime in northern Mali, and are scramblingto understand what has transpired there.Increasingly, the narrative is one of mili-tant Islam. But the core of the conflict isthe nationalist secession movement of theTuareg people — one that in recent monthshas been hijacked by Islamist radicals.
In the Cold War, the West had a hardtime separating out communism from na-tionalism. That failure led to a string ofdisastrous interventions, from Cuba toVietnam. It was easier to see leaders suchas Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh as toolsof Moscow than try to deal with their le-gitimate nationalist demands. The samemistake is now being made in the “war onterror.” For many years the internationalcommunity largely ignored the demandsfor self-determination by the Tuaregs whoinhabit the northern half of Mali, knownas Azawad. The Tuaregs are nomadicpastoralists who number about 1.5 millionand speak Tamashek, one of the Berberlanguages. They are ethnically distinctfrom Arabs, who make up the nations tothe north, and the Africans who inhabitsouthern Mali and control the nationalgovernment.
Across Africa and the Middle East,Western powers supported the post-colo-nial state with economic and military aid,which more often than not was used tocrush self-determination movements byethnic minorities. Some of these werewell-known, such as the Kurds; otherswere more or less invisible to Westerneyes, such as the Berbers and Tuaregs inNorth Africa. Mali achieved independencefrom France in 1960, and the first Tuareguprising broke out in 1962. A second re-bellion in 1990 resulted in the 1991Tamanrasset Accords promising the
Nationalists or IslamistsTuaregs self-government, which wereabandoned by the Malian authorities. Af-ter 2001 the United States stepped up itsmilitary aid to the Malian government inthe name of the war on terror, though thisassistance could have been just as easilyused to crush Tuareg rebels as against Is-lamist radicals.
The third Tuareg rebellion, whichbroke out in 2006, was complicated by therise of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb
(AQIM), meaning that there was now athree-way struggle among Islamists,Tuareg nationalists and the Malian state.At first the Tuaregs and Malians formedan alliance against the Islamists, but in 2011the Tuaregs switched sides and aligned withthe Islamists. A new Islamist movementemerged, Ansar Dine, led by Iyad Ag Ghali,who had been one of the leaders of the 1990and 2006 Tuareg revolts.
October 2011 saw an influx of Tuaregfighters and Islamist radicals from Libyafollowing the defeat of the Qaddafi regime.A new unified National Movement for theLiberation of Azawad (MNLA) wasformed, and it started an all-out war againstthe Malian government in January 2012.After a string of military victories, they
achieved in a few weeks the goal that hadeluded them for decades — the expulsionof the Malian Army from northern Mali.The humiliation of the Malian armed forcesled to a coup in March that brought downthe democratically elected president,Amadou Toumani Touré. The indepen-dence of Azawad was declared on April 6,
2012.However, Ansar Dine and some
smaller jihadist groups turned on the
MNLA a contest in which they had theadvantage of economic and military sup-port from the transnational Islamist net-work. They imposed harsh Shariah rule onthe towns under their control, causing atleast 400,000 residents to flee. It was theircontinued advance south to spread Islam-ist rule, not to secure independence for theTuaregs that triggered French militaryaction this past weekend after months ofefforts by the African Union had failed toorganize a military intervention to deal withthe problem. The position of the U.S. gov-ernment (and the African Union) is still toignore the Tuareg independence movementand instead call for democracy and recon-ciliation within a unified Mali.
—Courtesy New York Times
If inflation is not a dire threat, then we need not be so concerned about government spendingor central bank policy. We should instead focus on the ability of our national economies and theglobal economic system to generate sustainable living standards for billions of people. Right now,so many are so fixated on inflation that these other challenges receive short shrift. If inflationrevives, that fixation may be justified. If not, we will have squandered our time chasing echoesinstead of meeting our present with eyes wide open to the possibilities of the future.
The western approach in Somalia of surrepti-tiously paying ransoms turns rats into tigers. What
now? Mali needs life support. The Islamic gangs arewell equipped, with a dribble of terrorist support, butthey have no government to keep them supplied. Theregional powers, Algeria and Nigeria, face the same
threat and so have an interest in success.
In Mali’s Shadow: A Short History of French Military Mishaps in Africa
The horrific 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda was a black mark for France, whichhad intervened in an earlier conflict. France was perceived to have armed and helped train the
soldiers of the regime that carried out the slaughter of nearly a million people. When the killingsbegan, French forces did little to halt the massacres, mostly securing their own nationals.
They imposed harsh Shariah rule on the townsunder their control, causing at least 400,000 residents
to flee. It was their continued advance south tospread Islamist rule, not to secure independence for
the Tuaregs that triggered French military action thispast weekend after months of efforts by the African
Union had failed to organize a military intervention todeal with the problem.
ISHAAN THAROOR
THE French are not cheese-eating surrender monkeys. That’s an old canard youknow, a French word sealed by unfortunate performances in the World Wars. But,
as France’s robust recent intervention into Malishows, there’s plenty of esprit de corps in Paris, par-ticularly when it comes to Africa. More than any ofthe other lapsed European empires, the French re-tained a domineering role in former colonies there,safeguarding their own extensive economic interestsin the region with hard power and frequently send-ing in troops to back one client regime or the other inperiods of civil strife and insurgent crisis. The Frenchhave intervened in Africa 50 times since 1960. Thelatest French foray into Mali aimed at unseating al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militias encamped in thecountry’s vast north has already summoned the spec-ter of Afghanistan over the Sahel. The French maybe able to scatter their foe with a sustained air andground offensive, but stabilizing Mali is a far greaterchallenge: the government in Bamako, hobbled by a
cuous government spending. Since that is what hap-pened in the past, many are firmly convinced that itwill, perforce, happen in the future. One perniciouscliché is that history repeats itself. It doesn’t. Histo-rians repeat each other - and economists then pile onwith theorems based on a limited amount of historythat then constitute “laws” of economics.
Unquestionably, inflation was a systemic threatnot just in the 20th century but for centuries before.Thus the absence of inflation today is explained asan anomaly soon to end; an artificial state of affairsgenerated by easy-money policies of governmentsand central banks around the world; or a false state-ment in that inflation is underreported by govern-ments interested in pretending it doesn’t exist. Thevirtue of these arguments is that they are not falsifi-able. You can’t prove there isn’t a government con-spiracy about “real” inflation, and you can’t provethat something isn’t about to happen.
The consequences of planning for a war thatnever happens can be just as deleterious as fightingthat war unprepared. If inflation is not the proxi-mate risk of today’s economy, then we are radicallymisjudging our problems and missing solutions. Ifinflation is not a dire threat, then we need not be soconcerned about government spending or centralbank policy. We should instead focus on the abilityof our national economies and the global economicsystem to generate sustainable living standards forbillions of people.
If you argue that there has been a systemic shift– that, say, technology and globalization have com-bined to send manufactured goods ever lower (withfood as much a manufactured good as a computer)– you can easily be dismissed for foolishly con-tending that “this time it’s different.” What, then, isthe statute of limitations for inflation? How longmust there be low, low inflation before the risk of itis judged as de minimus? Yes, it might rear up infuture. Yes, past patterns may prove correct. It wouldbe foolish not to be on guard about the possibilityand the risk - just as it would be foolish not to for-get that we still live in a world suffused with nuclearweapons. Yet it would be equally foolish to ignorethe weight of evidence about low inflation every-where around the globe, not just for the past fewyears but over the past few decades. The conse-quences of planning for a war that never happenscan be just as deleterious as fighting that war un-prepared.
—Courtesy Reuters
Meanwhile, the resumption of financial flowscould gradually restore more inclusive governance:
African military regimes have gone out of fashion. Thelesson from Mali is the need to nip fragile situations
in the bud. But it also carries a deeper message – thetask of building effective states in Africa has far to go.
March coup, is seen as weak and dysfunctional; theenemy militants may well be able to reorganize andintensify what’s fast turning into a regional confla-gration.
How this ends is a question both French andMalian citizens desperately want answered. And look-ing to history offers mixed results: in the 19th cen-
tury, the French were oft ruthless and devastating intheir conquest of large tracts of Africa, but were attimes made to suffer for their hubris. Here are a fewepisodes the French will prefer to forget. Napoleon’sinvasion of Egypt: The diminutive Corsican bungledin Russia, but a precedent was set by his ambitiousEgyptian misadventure. In a bid to undermine theBritish position in India, the French under NapoleonBonaparte landed in Egypt in 1798, defeated its
Mamluk overlords at the famous Battle of the Pyra-mids and briefly set up shop in Cairo. AccompanyingNapoleon was an army not just of soldiers, but ofscholars and scientists, who set out in arch-imperialfashion to make sense of and catalog all the wondersof this subjugated corner of the Orient. Napoleon’sgrip, though, would not last long defeats at the hands
of combined British and Ottoman forces, particularlyat sea, compelled the French to return home by 1801with little to show for their efforts. Egypt fell backunder Ottoman rule, Britain’s hand in the region wasstrengthened and the French even lost one of theirgreatest archaeological discoveries the Rosetta Stone.The Wars for Algeria: The French entered their mostextensive imperial project in 1830: the conquest ofAlgeria. By 1848, with tens of thousands of Euro-
pean settlers streaming in from the other side of theMediterranean, the territory would be declared an “in-tegral” part of France. But the capture of Algeria wouldnot come without setbacks and great brutality. It wasa painstaking process of first wresting control of keyport cities like Algiers from the Ottomans and then“pacifying” the hinterlands.
Resistance came most famously in the form ofthe Sufi mystic and Berber warlord Abd-el-Kader,who harried the French in a sustained guerrilla cam-paign. In 1835, at Macta, his forces ambushed a de-tachment of French regular troops and legionnairesand slaughtered hundreds. It would take more than adecade and a harsh scorched earth policy for theFrench to isolate and capture Abd-el-Kader and packhim off to exile in Syria. But the warrior’s legend
endured, making him one of Algeria’s folkloric na-tional heroes and a figure of inspiration for a latergeneration of 20th century revolutionaries. With-standing a brutal counter-insurgency of torture, massarrests and napalm bombing, the rebel fighters threwthe French and over a million European settlers outof Algeria in 1962.
Fashoda Incident: This was one of the more il-lustrative episodes of Europe’s colonial scramble forAfrica. With most of Africa’s coastal territories al-ready swallowed by one western empire or the other,European capitals eyed the continent’s interior cov-etously. Both France and Britain had dreams of trans-continental empires for the British, a north-southdominion from Cape Town to Cairo; for the French,west-to-east supremacy from Dakar, Senegal toDjibouti on the Red Sea. These competing visionscrossed paths in 1898 when a British expeditionaryforce confronted a French one at Fashoda, now inSouth Sudan. Outgunned and thousands of milesaway from bases of support, the French retreatedwith no resistance.
—Courtesy FT
The death toll for Western hostages ...
Instead of fighting inflation, UPA partners Congress and NCP are fighting ...
time, General Mohammad Zahirof the Criminal Investigation De-partment of Kabul police in talkswith media at the site confirmedkilling two attackers, saying bothwere probably killed in their blastnear the entrance gate of Trafficpolice headquarters.
However, the security forceshave yet to control the situationas some of the attackers are stillinside the compound and resist-ing over the past six hours. Nev-ertheless, Zahir asserted that fulldetails will be released wheneverthe conflict is over. Taliban out-fit, however, claimed responsibil-ity for the blatant attack.—NNI
Taliban stormFrom Page 1
Khyber agency with a view toimmediately block those exitpoints in case of emergency.Likewise people on all exit andentry points are being subjectedto strict checking.
The official sources said ad-ditional contingents have beendeployed at the border areas fromKhyber agency to Peshawar atBadhber and Matni where 12more security check posts havebeen set up. “All these measuresare aimed at checking the entryof terrorists and other troublemakers to the provincial capitalPeshawar in the disguise of resi-dents”. FC officials told PakistanObserver.
In the meanwhile at least twoFC personnel were killed andnine others including peaceLashker volunteers sustained se-rious injuries in remote con-trolled bomb blast in MohmandAgency on Monday morning.
Reports from agency head-quarters Ghalanai said the mili-tants targeted a vehicle of the se-curity forces in Dawezai area ofMohmand Agency with remotecontrolled improvised explosivedevice (IED).
2 FC soldiersFrom Page 1
COURT NOTICE
In the honorable AqsaHanif Janjua Civil Judge
ChakwalSuit for Mandatory InjectionCivil AppealTitle Noor Khan vsMohammad Ehsan etcMemo Ghulam Shabeer s/oReesham Khan cast AwanVillage Rinsial, Tehsil KallarKahar, and District ChakwalWhereas serving of summonto the respondent in the caseas titled above is not parable,the respondent is hereby informed through this ad in thisnewspapers that the respon-dent has been announced toappear in this court in personon be represented by a law-yer in this court on 26-01-2013. In case of non-compli-ance, ex-party proceedingshall take place.Given under my hand andseal of the CourtSd/- Civil Judge Chakwal
COURT NOTICE
In the honorable AqsaHanif Janjua Civil Judge
ChakwalSuit for Recovery of Mainte-nance & Recovery of DoweryArticleCivil AppealTitle Fakhra Yasmeen etc vsShahid MehmoodMemo Shahid Mehmood s/oMuhammad Shareef VillageMohallah Eid Gah ChakBeeli Khan, Tehsil & DistrictRawalpindiWhereas serving of summonto the respondent in the caseas titled above is not parable,the respondent is hereby informed through this ad in thisnewspapers that the respon-dent has been announced toappear in this court in personon be represented by a law-yer in this court on 26-01-2013. In case of non-compli-ance, ex-party proceedingshall take place.Given under my hand andseal of the CourtSd/- Civil Judge Chakwal
lar debt on the power sector, andto prevent its recurrence. The cur-rent level of debt prevents sectorentities from obtaining fundingto support improvement in man-agement and system operationsand from attracting investmentneeded to support sector expan-sion and improved services. Sec-tor reform is needed to preventits recurrence.
The report recommendedthe government to remove thecircular debt from the books ofenergy sector entities (DISCOs,CPPA) and take responsibilityfor the mismanagement of thepower sector reform process. Italso asked the government tomove the circular debt amountto the government’s debt orplace a tax on the consumer torecovery over time.
The USAID report stressedto undertake specific policies andprograms to improve the gover-nance and performance of energysector entities to increase cashflow and ensure the financial in-tegrity of the sector.
It suggested the governmentof Pakistan to redefine its role inthe power sector from primarilyacting as owner/operator, topolicy formation and sector over-sight. “A comprehensive reformprogram needs to be instituted toremove the causes of circulardebt.”
“The GOP needs to supporta more competitive market struc-ture and assist NEPRA to be in-dependent and strengthen theprofessional and technical re-quirements for members andstaff; and develop a comprehen-sive capacity building and train-ing effort initiated.
It also highlighted that tariffand subsidy disputes between theprovincial governments andCPPA and the DISCOs, need tobe resolved, either by negotiationor arbitration.
“Legislation declaring elec-tricity theft a punishable crimewith penalties ranging from finesto imprisonment needs to beimplemented with specializedcourts established for the pur-pose,” The selection criteria andmethodology for appointment ofDISCOs’ BODs needs to be im-proved. Members of the BODsneed to have high professionaland technical capabilities; be in-dependent of political influence;have full authority for decision-making at the DISCO; and re-ceive training to effectivelymonitor performance and enforceaccountability of DISCO man-agement and staff.”
The report recommends:“Eliminate the uniform tariff andgradually move toward theregulator’s differential tariffs
based on true costs. The regula-tor (Nepra) also needs to enhancetariffs with targeted performance-based tariff to all DISCOs andremove to current cross subsidybetween the efficient and ineffi-cient distribution companies.Improve the fuel allocationpolicy in the short-term to allo-cate fuel to the highest value uses(e.g., assign a high priority topower sector in the allocation ofnatural gas), and in the long termeliminate fuel allocation so thatfuel use is based on competitivemarket forces”.
The USAID report empha-sized to formulate policies andplans to promote hydro powerand other domestic sources ofenergy that will assist in balanc-ing the electricity supply port-folio.
It used the government toimplement a strong program ofenergy conservation and demandside management.
The report pinpoints that theprimary causes of circular debtinclude poor governance; delaysin tariff determination by an in-adequately empowered regulatorcompounded by interference anddelay in notification by the Gov-ernment of Pakistan (GOP); afuel price methodology that de-lays infusion of cash to the powersector; poor revenue collectionby the DISCOs; delayed and in-complete payment by the Minis-try of Finance on Tariff Differ-ential Subsidy (TDS) andKarachi Electric Supply Com-pany (KESC) contract payments;prolonged stays on fuel price ad-justments granted by the courts;plus transmission & distribution(T&D) loss improvements thatcannot be achieved based on theregulator’s targets in the tariff.
The federal government re-tains the authority for approvingcustomer tariffs, but is influencedby a legacy system that supporteda single postage stamp rate forall consumers and a single gen-eration cost for all power produc-ers. The GOP has not allowed theregulator to set the tariff byDISCO territory, which oftenovershadows commercial deci-sion-making. This results in con-ditions that contribute to circulardebt, including a reluctance topass on the full cost of electric-ity to customers; uniform tariffsdo not take into consideration theactual cost of service. Establish-ment of a TDS that is often notpaid on time or in full and is al-located primarily on the basis of“just-in-time” response to thepower sector, overstaffing andcompromised decision making atthe DISCOs, and the subsidiesprovided to tubewell customersoften result in lengthy disputes
over payment between theDISCOs and provincial govern-ments.
It mentions that the federalgovernment also has been lax inpassing appropriate legislation tocurb electricity thefts, promoteenergy conservation, increasecommercial transparency,strengthen regulatory entities,and promote an open and com-petitive energy market.
The government also ap-points the Board of Directors(BOD) of the DISCOs; politicaland bureaucratic influences con-tinue to limit the BOD’s indepen-dence and technical and manage-ment competency. At the corpo-rate level, the Boards’ authorityand efficacy in monitoring andenforcing the performance ofDISCO management is limited ornonexistent.
It suggests that the NationalElectric Power RegulatoryAuthority’s (NEPRA) role alsoneeds to be revised and its op-erations improved.
The annual determination oftariffs for the DISCOs and sub-sequent adjustments for fuel costare lengthy and ineffective, re-sulting in revenue shortfalls andcash flow problems and obscur-ing the true cost of electricity toconsumers. NEPRA also needsto improve its enforcement pow-ers over the DISCOs with regardto cases of consumer overbill-ing and requires additional au-thority to move ahead withimplementation.
There are several secondarycauses to circular debt, includingthe need to improve the thermalefficiency of the GENCOs andfor NEPRA to set tariffs basedon actual vs. estimated heat rates;inadequate budgeting of the TDS,which delays payment and in-creases financing costs;unfavourable generation mix ofthe GENCOs, due largely to theGOP’s fuel allocation policy thatdiverts natural gas to other uses;non-commercial/nonprofessionalapproach to load shedding; im-provement in terms and condi-tions of tariff; impact of courtdecisions that have delayed pay-ments to the DISCOs; late pay-ment surcharges paid by CPPAto the IPPs resulting from the in-ability of the DISCOs to fully payCPPA; the GOP’s neglect in pro-moting demand-side manage-ment, energy efficiency and re-newable energy resources; theneed to settle payment arrears(both disputed and undisputed) ina comprehensive manner; and theneed for expanded authority ofCPPA to collect payments fromthe DISCOs through formal andenforceable power purchaseagreements.
Pak circular debt touchesFrom Page 1
to them and compensation worthRs 20 million be paid to the fam-ily of Kamran Faisal. MeanwhileNAB Chairman Fasih Bokharihas agreed that an investigatorfrom the bureau will be part ofthe team investigating the deathof Kamran Faisal.
According to a NAB state-ment, officers from theRawalpindi Branch of the bureaumet Bokhari and informed himabout their reservations regard-ing the investigation.
Kamran Faisal’s body wasfound hanging from the ceilingfan of a room of his residencein the Federal Lodges on Janu-ary 18. NAB officers observedpen down strike to stress fair en-quiry on Monday to voice pro-
test against the mysterious deathof Kamran Faisal, an investiga-tion officer into Rental Powercase and demanded transparentinquiry into the incident.
The officers voiced protestand observed strike wearingblack bands around their arms inNAB offices at Islamabad,Lahore, Karachi and PeshawarMonday. They demanded that at-mosphere of pressure prevailingin NAB be brought to end andsafety of officers be ensured. Ar-bitrary powers being exercisedby contract officers of NAB beeliminated to ensure impartialinvestigations into the cases, theyadded. The protest continue fornext two days. The officers dis-played faith in the command of
the Chairman and assured him oftheir support. Chairman gaveapproval to include an investiga-tor of NAB as member of theteam inquiring into the case ofKamran Faisal.
The mysterious death ofKamran Faisal, NAB investiga-tion officer in rental power casehas triggered panic among theFIA officers and most of the of-ficers have applied for longleave. As per private TV chan-nel, FIA officers are consideringKamran Faisal tragedy as warn-ing for them and death of KamranFaisal has gripped them in waveof terror and shock, therefore,they have been forced to seekleave to come out of psychologi-cal pressure.
NAB officers on strikeFrom Page 1
rules and regulations were fol-lowed while awarding rentalpower projects.
Khawaja Tariq Rahim, thecounsel for the ministry of waterand power – informed the courtthat the government has aban-doned rental power projects.
Meanwhile, Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf on Mondaywithdrew his review petition inthe Rental Power Projects (RPPs)case. A three-member bench ofthe apex court, headed by ChiefJustice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, heard the petitionsfiled by power companies and thefederal government.
The petitions have soughtreview of the court’s verdict ofMarch 30, 2012 which had heldthe RPP contracts non-transpar-ent and had ordered that they berescinded. During the hearing,the prime minister’s counsel,Wasim Sajjad, informed thebench that his client wished towithdraw his petition.
The bench accepted the re-quest and the petition now standswithdrawn. Also during the hear-ing, four counsels representingdifferent parties had requested theapex court to adjourn the hear-
ing until a decision was reachedon the RPPs implementationcase. Pervez Hasan, counsel forthe Pakistan Power Resources(PPR), requested the court to hearthe review petition after it hadconcluded hearing the RPPimplementation case.
Responding to which, ChiefJustice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry said action still had tobe taken on the corruption per-taining to the rental powerprojects. Hasan told the bench
that the National AccountabilityBureau (NAB) had applied pres-sure on the companies and hadmanaged to recover the funds.
The chief justice said the re-view case may remain adjourned,adding that the court would con-tinue hearing the RPPs imple-mentation case.
Four counsels, representingthe parties, had requested thebench to adjourn the review hear-ing. The hearing was later ad-journed to February 18.—INP
SC rejects plea to stop hearingFrom Page 1
address steeped in poetic powerand broad hints of his newagenda.
The 44th president repeat-edly used the “We the People”preamble to the US Constitutionto suggest how to reconcileAmerica’s founding truths andthe current discord and dysfunc-tion of its embittered politicalsystem.—Agencies
Obama issuesFrom Page 1
political tensions, withparliamentary elections due be-tween March and May. Thisevent is credit negative for Pa-kistan (Caa1) because it distractsfrom the formulation of eco-nomic policy and deters inves-tors.
“This is another instancewhere the three-way battle be-tween the executive, judiciaryand military arms of governmentundermines Pakistan’s ability toformulate policies to address thecountry’s pressing domesticeconomic challenges, bolster in-vestor confidence and attract ex-ternal financial support from of-ficial creditors and donors. Un-der such conditions, the possi-bility of gaining a timely re-newal in financial support fromthe International Monetary Fund(IMF) appears dim”, Moody’ssaid.
The 15 January judicial or-der, coupled with recent anti-corruption protests by DoctorTahirul Qadri and tensions onthe India-Pakistan border, allpose immediate threats toPakistan’s political stability. Anarrest of Mr. Ashraf could welldelay the smooth appointment ofa neutral caretaker governmentto oversee the upcoming elec-tion. “The factious political situ-
Moody keeps PakFrom Page 1
ation adds further strain to theexternal situation as well. Inves-tors’ growing concerns havebeen evident in losses in both thecurrency and capital markets.Five-year credit default swapspreads have widened to 828basis points, following a spiketo 935 earlier this month, from783 at the start of this year” saidMoody’s.
The Moody’s said that theoutlook for external financing isanother trouble spot. With debtrepayment obligations to thetune of $3 billion coming due atthe end of June, and foreign re-serves having already fallen to$8.8 billion in January from$12.5 billion last year,Pakistan’s external situation isalready strained.23
Pakistan would benefit froma renewed agreement with theIMF, particularly given that aStand-By Loan Arrangementagreed upon in November 2008went off track before it was fullydisbursed and ultimately expiredin September 2011. Followinga recent IMF visit, there mayhave been a possibility of Paki-stan inking a new agreementupon completion of the electoralprocess. Now, any delays on thisfront would only add to exter-nal pressures, it said.—INP
eral and Provincial Public ServiceCommissions.
The ECP also said that devel-opment funds for a project couldnot be diverted to any other projectand if any such fund is diverted itwould be considered frozen. It isalso worth mentioning here thatthe election commission has al-ready imposed ban on the partici-pation of president, prime minis-ter, chief ministers, federal andprovincial ministers and publicoffice holders to take part in theelection campaigns of the candi-dates. —SANA
ECP bansrecruitment
From Page 1
Speaking in the NationalAssembly on Monday he saidthat he wanted the House to passa unanimous resolution sendingloud and clear message to India.
He pointed out that India haslaunched an intensive propa-ganda campaign following inci-dents at the Line of Control butgovernment of Pakistan hasadopted apologetic attitude.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khanlauded the efforts of the PakistanArmy in defending the borders.He said that the whole nation isbehind our Army for protectingevery nook and corner of thecountry.
He also said that the head ofour soldier that was beheaded atthe border must be returned. Hefurther said that the governmentshould take notice of the incidentand the honour of the countryshould be safe guarded.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khandemanded of the Pakistan Armyto present its new ideology fortackling the internal and externalthreats.
He was also of the view thatPresident Zardari did not have theauthority to constitute a commit-tee relating to the new provinces.Nisar Ali Khan said that PML-Nwas supportive of the demand forcreation of Bahawalpur andSouth Punjab provinces as envis-aged in unanimously passed reso-lutions on the subject by the pro-vincial assembly. —SANA
Nisar opposesamendment in
defence doctrineFrom Page 1
Missing prisonersSC gives govt
one dayFrom Page 1
Asfandyar callsfor joint
From Back Page
adding no country could makeprogress until lasting peace wasestablished there. We are ready tohold talks with even militants forthe elimination of terrorism fromthe country but the nation has gotto be united to achieve this target”.He maintained adding this gestureof ANP leadership, however,should not be construed as ourweakness. ANP) president saidthat was the reason his party hasdecided to convene All PartiesConference (APC) on terrorism asit is a national problem whichneeded to be addressed collec-tively by the political parties.
He said the ANP would notbudge an inch from its stance ofprotecting the country from themenace of terrorism and pledgedhis party-men would continue tofight against terrorism till the lastdrop of their blood. He, however,said ANP never leave the pathof non-violence taught to us bythe Khudai Khidmatgaar BachaKhan. Referring to the Karachiproblem, Asfandyar Wali Khanopined that all the parties wereunanimous on one point thatpeople from all over the coun-try live in Karachi for their eco-nomic enhancement hence theissue did not belong to a particu-lar political force.
Hearing ofGun, Country
From Back Page
Baig took up the case for hear-ing Monday. Earlier a 3-memberbench of SC led by the Chief Jus-tice of Pakistan (CJP) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry was topronounce decision of the caseon Monday but the CJP had dis-tanced himself from the case be-ing member of this club.
Giving brief ruling he hadsaid that he did not want to hearthis case being member of theclub therefore, he was going todistance himself from the caseand a bench comprising JusticeGulzar Ahmad and JusticeSheikh Azmat Baig will re-hearthe case. Munir Paracha appearedon behalf of CDA and RajaIrshad represented Club in thecourt during the course of hear-ing . CDA counsel prayed thecourt to adjourn the hearing ofthe case. The court also directedall the concerned officers of CDAand country club to ensure theirpresence before it on the next dateof hearing so that their stancecould be heard.—Online
JI in touch withFrom Back Page
including seat adjustments withother political forces. Agenda ofJI is close to PTI and election al-liance with it is possible, he re-plied to a question.
Sounding pessimism, he saidhe is not much hopeful to see anybig change after the elections.
Munawar Hassan was of theview that undue importance wasgiven to Dr. Tahir- ul- Qadri. “ Itis a general impression some for-eign forces are behind hisagenda.”
Opposing the policy to boy-cott elections, he said in the pastno political party could gain af-ter following this policy. By thisway, gaps are filled by other par-ties, he said.
Criticising the US for useof force in Afghanistan andother countries, he said afterfacing tough time in thosecountries, the US is trying todestabilise Pakistan to controlPakistan’s atomic assets.
regarding the electoral alliance.The two leaders agreed that it wasthe need of the time to providealternate leadership to the massesof Pakistan.
The National People’s Party(NPP), PML(N), Awami Tehrikand other parties of Sindh BachaoCommittee (SBC) are alreadypart of the grand alliance.
The two leaders said the gov-ernment of ruling PPP would beregarded as a black era in the his-tory of Pakistan.
Another meeting would soonbe held to finalize modalities forthe formation of a grand electoralalliance under the chairmanshipof Pir Pagara.
JUI-F allieswith PML-F
From Page 1
BHATINDA—Another incidentof gangrape came to light innorth India when a 24-year-oldgirl was thrown out of a movingcar after being forced upon fortwo days in Punjab.
Two man and two womenkidnapped the victim, who hadgone to Chandigarh for a job in-terview, on Friday (January 18)on the pretext of asking direc-tions, after which she wasdrugged and raped at a desertedlocation.The accused thendrugged the woman, who hailsfrom Moga district, again andthrew her out of a moving carnear Bathinda on Sunday (Janu-ary 20), where she was found andtaken to a local hospital. Thetraumatized victim recounted thehorror she had faced, allegingthat two women had helped therapists. “I had just got off at thebus stand in Sector-43,
Indian girl drugged, gangraped, filmed, thrown out of moving carChandigarh, when a man ap-proached me asking for help withan address. As I started tellinghim, two women dragged me intotheir car and gave me an injectionafter which I lost consciousness.I do not know where they took me,but the next day I was raped andthey made a video of it,” she said.
Bathinda’s Superintendent ofPolice, Dharamveer Singh, saidthat the victim’s statement hadbeen recorded and a probe hasbeen initiated. “A man namedRohitash found her on the road-side near Bathinda. She said thatshe had gone for an interview onJanuary 18, and had been kid-napped and kept in captivity fortwo days, after which she had beenthrown from a car. She has beenadmitted to the hospital and herstatement has been recorded. Shehas alleged rape and the doctorsare examining her,” Singh said.
India’s Supreme Court Mondayaccepted a plea from one of thesix accused in the horrific Delhigangrape case to move the trial toa location outside the nationalcapital. A bench headed by ChiefJustice Altamas Kabir agreed tohear the petition Tuesday after thedefense counsel for the accusedMukesh Singh pleaded with theapex court for an urgent hearingon the ground that free and fairhearing would not be possible inthe special court recently set upin the Indian capital due to strongpublic sentiments against him.
“The sentiment has gone intothe root of each home in Delhi bywhich even the judicial officersand the state are not spared and inthese circumstances, he cannot getjustice in Delhi at all,” the accusedsaid in his petition filed by his de-fense counsel M.L. Sharma.
Legal experts and police say
Ex-Ogra chiefTauqir’s passportscancelledISLAMABAD—The interior minis-try on Monday cancelled twopassports possessed by formerchairman of OGRA TauqirSadiq. According to sources,the interior ministry has can-celled Sadiq’s two passports onthe request of National Account-ability Bureau (NAB). It wasalso learnt that a team of NABofficials is currently in AbuDhabi to take him into custodyand bring back to Pakistan, andcurrently legal procedures areunderway to achieve the pur-pose.—INP
5 more childrendie of measlesMOHMAND AGENCY—Atleast 10 children have died inBalochistan while measlesclaimed five lives in MohmandAgency. The death toll hasmounted to 459 across the coun-try while 429 children died inSindh only. According to reportsgathered from different parts ofSindh, two children died inKandhkot during the last 24hours, rising the overall toll of thedistrict to 157. Among the most-affected cities, 84 in Sukkur, 55in Shikarpur, 50 in Khairpur, 33in Ghotki, 14 in Thul, 8 inLarkana while four children diedof measles in Hyderabad. InPunjab, 15 children have died ofmeasles since the outbreakgripped the province. Four chil-dren died in Dera Ghazi Khanwhile measles claimed sevenlives in Rajanpur, Ahmedpur,Sharqia, Liaqatpur, Taxila, HujraShah Muqeem. Meanwhile, 10children have died in Balochistanwhile measles claimed five livesin Mohmand Agency.—Online
2 soldiersmartyredin mine blastGHALLANAI—Two armyjawans were martyred and nineothers were injured on Mondaywhen their vehicle hit a landminein Mohmand Agency. Accordingto official sources, a vehicle ofthe security forces hit a landminein Dwezai area of the MohmandAgency in the restive tribal re-gion. Two jawans were martyredwhile nine were injured.—INP
CHAKOTHI—Villagers inKashmir are building bunkersas they brace for more clashesalong the fragile line of controlthat divides Pakistan and Indiaafter the recent killings of sol-diers on both sides in one of theworst flare-ups in violence inthe disputed Himalayan regionin a decade.
In the past two weeks, threePakistani and two Indian troopshave died in clashes on theheavily-militarized border,drawing harsh words from bothIslamabad and New Delhi.Caught in the middle are villag-ers who have lived for years
near the makeshift border splittingthe region. There has been low-level shooting and shelling acrossthe 750-kilometer (460-mile) linesince a cease-fire was signed in2003. Civilians and livestock havedied in the skirmishes, but nowsoldiers are being killed and manypeople in this village of 5,000worry that simmering tensioncould boil over. “We are perplexedand scared about recent incidentsof shooting on the line of control,”said Muhammed Shabbir, a shop-keeper in Chakothi who is build-ing a bunker near his house in thevillage, surrounded by snow-capped peaks, just 500 meters
(yards) from the line. Some vil-lagers built bunkers a decade agoduring heavy violence in the area,but many were destroyed duringa 7.6 magnitude earthquake in2005. Worried about the recentclashes, some villagers are tryingto rebuild the shelters.
“We are not certain about ourfuture after these shootings,” saidShabbir, whose wife was killed inshelling in May 2003, about sixmonths before the cease-fire tookeffect. He added that many resi-dents who used to freely grazetheir livestock near the line of con-trol are now avoiding the area.Since 2005, both countries have
let local residents cross the line tovisit relatives. But Shabbir saidthat last Monday — the travel dayfor local residents — none of thevillagers from the Pakistani sidewent to the Indian-held side be-cause they were worried aboutescalating tensions. Both coun-tries claim the Muslim-dominatedKashmir region in its entirety, andtwo of the three major wars thetwo nuclear-armed nations havefought have been over the moun-tainous Himalayan region. Multi-layered barbed wire fences sepa-rate the two sides, and Indian andPakistani troops man guard tow-ers, eyeing each other’s territory.
Tensions, however, rose on Jan. 6when Pakistan accused Indianforces of crossing the line and kill-ing a Pakistani soldier and wound-ing another in a raid. India deniedraiding the post. It said its troopsfired across the border in responseto Pakistani shelling that de-stroyed a home on the Indianside.Two days later, India claimedPakistani troops had crossed intoIndian territory and killed two ofits soldiers, beheading one. Paki-stan denied the allegations.
Then, on Jan. 10, Pakistanclaimed Indian troops fired acrossthe border, killing another Paki-stani soldier. Political rhetoric
from both capitals also intensified.Pakistan’s foreign minister ac-cused India of “warmongering”while India’s army chief urged histroops to be “aggressive and of-fensive” when dealing with gun-fire from Pakistan.
In the latest verbal barrage,Prime Minister Manmohan Singhsaid Sunday that India was re-viewing its future ties with Paki-stan in light of the “inhuman kill-ing” of its soldiers. About 30people from at least seven villagesin Indian-held Kashmir met lastMonday with government offi-cials in the town of Uri, demand-ing that the government build bun-
kers in their villages to protectthem from shelling. Almost ev-eryone there remembers what itwas like before the 2003 cease-fire. “I was born and raised amidfiring and shelling,” said 28-year-old Nadeem Abbassi, speakingby telephone from his village ofGwalta. “We don’t want to livelike before. Honestly, we don’thave any energy left in us to facesuch a situation again.”
Many people expressed frus-tration that the deaths of the In-dian soldiers had sparked a loudresponse while there had beenlittle public outcry when civilianshave died on both sides.—AP
Kashmiris along LoC girdle up for more clashes
TARIQ SAEED
PESHAWAR—Veteran politicianand president Awami NationalParty (ANP) Asfandyar WaliKhan on Monday called upon allthe political forces of the countryto sit together and find out a per-manent solution to the menace ofterrorism adding ANP was evenwilling to initiate dialogues withthe Taliban to achieve this goal.
“We have got to ensure apeaceful and conducive environ-ment for our children and the fu-
ture generation and it is a high timethat we should sit together to finda lasting solution to this chronicissue, eating the very fiber of oursociety, before it is too late.
In fact elimination of terror-ism and extremism is not the prob-lem of ANP alone as it has causedhuge damages to the entire coun-try”. Observed ANP chief whileaddressing the huge gathering tomark the 25th death anniversaryof Bacha Khan and 7th death an-niversary of Abdul Wali Khanhere at the Nishtar hall. Asfandyar
Wali said his party has renderedunprecedented sacrifices in thehistory of the country in fightingthe terrorism in the country add-ing his party was ready for talkswith the Taliban militants whichis now on the priority list of hisparty adding they believed in dia-logues and would not mind hold-ings parleys with anybody to en-sure peace on our homeland.
The ANP Chief stressed thatpeace was vital for the progress,
Asfandyar calls for jointstrategy against terrorismHoti lauds struggle of Bacha Khan, Wali, for peace
LIAQAT TOOR
ISLAMABAD—Holding free andfair elections is the only wayforward to steer the countryout of present mess andJamaat-e-Islami will vehe-mently oppose any attempt toderail democracy and post-ponement of elections.
In an interaction with edi-tors and senior journalists hereon Monday afternoon, SyedMunawar Hassan, Amir ofJamaat-e-Islami while explain-ing his party’s policy on thecurrent political developmentssaid his party in touch with allpolitical parties for possibleelection alliance.
No single party is in a po-sition to form governmentwithout the support of otherpolitical forces, he said.
Advocating strongly toimplementing all clauses of theConstitution including 62 and63 to field spotless candidates,
JI in touch with all political partiesfor possible alliance: Munawar
he said political parties havealso responsibility to issuetickets to upright persons. Heagreed to a proposal to intro-duce system of proportionaterepresentative as black mailingof ‘electables’ will come to an
end by this way.After the announcement of
election dates, he said JI willmove forward on forming al-liances
Olson reaffirmsUS commitmentto Pak security
ISLAMABAD—Ambassador Ri-chard Olson reaffirmed the impor-tance of a strong U.S.-Pakistansecurity relationship during anexchange of ideas with Chief ofAir Staff , Air Chief Marshal TahirRafique Butt here on Monday.
Both sides affirmed their mu-tual commitment to a strong de-fence relationship which theyagreed should focus on achievingcommon objectives. AmbassadorOlson and the Air Chief Marshalreviewed the Pakistani F-16 pro-gram and visited the home ofPakistan’s F-16s at PAF BaseShahbaz.
“This visit, and the PakistanAir Force (PAF) F-16 programitself, represent concrete examplesof U.S.-Pakistan cooperation tosupport our shared security goalsand to promote peace and stabil-ity in the region,” said Ambassa-dor Olson.
Chief of Air Staff Air ChiefMarshal Tahir Rafique Butt wel-comed Ambassador Olson andsaid, “Ambassador Olson’s visitis important because it focuses onachieving common objectives andit shows the U.S. and Pakistanworking together to strengthen co-operation to support eachcountry’s security interests.”
The PAF has been flying F-16s since the early 1980s. In 2008,the PAF bought the advancedBlock 52 model using their na-tional funds, which provides all-weather day/night precision tar-geting capability. —INP
Hearing of Gun andCountry Club caseadjourned to Jan 23
ISLAMABAD—Supreme Court(SC) has adjourned hearing ofGun and Country Club suo motunotice case till January, 23 besidessummoning all the record of clubland. A two members bench ofSC comprising Justice GulzarAhmad and Justice Sheikh Azmat
MUZAFFAR ALI
LAHORE—Jamaat ud DawaChief Hafiz Saeed on Mondaysought to exploit Indian HomeMinister Sushilkumar Shinde’sallegation against RSS and BJPsaying Indian “propaganda”against Pakistani organizationsof spreading terror now stood“exposed” and he asked the gov-ernment to take steps to get In-dia declared “a terrorist state” bythe UN Security Council.
A day after Shinde accusedBJP and RSS of running terrorcamps and indulging in Hinduterror, Hafiz Saeed said that In-dian organizations were “in-volved in all kinds of terrorismin Pakistan”.
Addressing a press confer-ence held here, Hafiz Saeed saidIndia always resorted to propa-
ganda against Pakistani organi-zations but it now stood “ex-posed”. He threatened to hold aprotest along the members ofthose families burnt alive onSamjhuta Express and wouldregister an FIR against the al-leged masterminds involved inthis heinous tragedy. He said itwas proved that an Indian colo-nel was architecture of this planand the government of Pakistanshould take steps to declare In-dian government a sponsor ofterrorism in sub-continent. “Theugly face of Indian secularismexposed before the world and itwas the habit of the Indian gov-ernment to put allegation againstPakistan for spreading terrorismbut in fact it was India who al-ways encouraged terrorism,”adding he said Indian propa-ganda was also exposed to the
world against Jammat ud Dawafor committing crime againstIndian soldiers on the Line ofControl. He said now it is theresponsibility of peace-lovingcountries to impose sanctionsagainst the India and declareRSS and BJP terrorists afterShinde’s statement.
Hafiz Saeed carry out saidAmerica strike drone attacks inIndia against the terrorists’ or-ganizations on the same groundit allegedly attacked Afghanistanand other countries. He allegedthat NATO forces were involvedin killing spree against Muslimsand these infidel forces werewaging wars against Islam. Heclaimed: “India tried to involveus in the Mumbai attacks butafter a passage of five years,nothing has been establishedagainst us in the courts”.
Saeed urges world to declareIndia terrorist country
STAFF REPORTER
QUETTA—A session of theBalochistan Assembly was heldon Monday, led by SpeakerMatiullah Agha despite a lack ofquorum.
Only 14 members werepresent in the Assembly against17 as required by the rules tomaintain the quorum.
Balochistan’s GovernorNawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi had
Balochistan Assembly sessionheld despite quorum lack
prorogued an assembly sessionon Jan 17 after only one sittingthat saw harsh criticism ofgovernor’s rule. A requisition wasmade on Jan 19 by a bloc com-prising members from parties,which have dismissed the procla-mation of governor’s rule as anattempt by the establishment toimpose its writ on the provinceafter removing what it saw as a“recalcitrant government” ofChief Minister Aslam Raisani.
DHAKA—Bangladesh’s contro-versial war crimes court Mon-day sentenced a top Islamictelevangelist to death by hang-ing for alleged genocide andother atrocities during thecountry’s 1971 liberationstruggle against Pakistan.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,who has been on the run forabout a year, is the first personto be convicted by the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal (ICT)created by the country’s govern-ment to try suspected war crimi-nals. Azad was found guilty ofseven out of eight charges in-cluding genocide, murder andrape, judge Obaidul Hasan tolda crowded court amid huge se-curity. “It’s a historic day forthe country. It’s victory for hu-manity. Bangladeshi people can
now heave a sigh of relief since1971,” attorney generalMahbubey Alam told reportersoutside court. The ICT, whichis a domestic tribunal with nointernational oversight, has beentainted by allegations of politi-cal influence after the entireleadership of an opposition Is-lamic party was put on trial.New York-based Human RightsWatch has complained aboutflaws in the process including thedisappearance of a defense wit-ness outside the courthouse gates.Other top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami also face prosecution.
Jamaat-e-Islami, a partnerin opposition leader Khaledaformer government, says thecharges are politically moti-vated. Authorities deny theclaim. —INP
Azad gets death penaltyfor BD war crimes
Petrol goescostly by Rs1.03Staff ReporterISLAMABAD —Oil and GasRegulatory Authority (OGRA)has sent a summary for the re-vision of prices of petroleumproducts to the ministry of pe-troleum & natural resources(MP&NR). Sources said thatnew POL prices would be ef-fective from January 22. Theprice of petrol likely to go upby Rs1.03 and that of dieselto be reduced by Rs0.75 perlitre, sources further said. Be-sides kerosene oil price willincrease by Rs00.65, whilelight is diesel price will re-main unchanged, according toOGRA proposals.
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—Foreign MinisterHina Rabbani Khar said Mondaythat Pakistan wanted to continuethe peace process with India.Speaking on the floor of the Na-tional Assembly, the foreign min-ister added that instead of in-creasing tension, options to stopviolations along the Line of Con-trol (LoC) were being explored.
“We have shown our commit-ment not to escalate any situationlike this between India and Paki-stan. We are committed tonormalising relations.” Kharadded that Pakistan could notadopt the irresponsible behaviourshown by the Indian Army Chiefand other representatives regard-ing the LoC violations. Accord-ing to Khar no benefit had comefrom hurling accusations in the
Pak wants continuation of peaceprocess with India: Hina
Exploring options to stop LoC violationspast. The foreign minister in-formed the National Assemblysession that the option to conductan investigation into LoC viola-tions by a third party had alreadybeen presented.Khar furthersaid that one Pakistani soldierwas martyred during Indianviolation along the LoC onJanuary 6 and the Indian HighCommissioner had been sum-moned to lodge a protest.
JAKARTA: A family crossing flood water with the help of self-made boat.
even if the Supreme Court ordersshifting of the trial venue, as suchit would not be of any benefit tothe five of the six accused whohave been slapped with rape andmurder charges which carry amaximum punishment ofdeath penalty. The sixth ac-cused is likely to be tried in ajuvenile court if proved to bea minor, below 18 years ofage.
“The defense counsel isfirst trying to diffuse the pub-lic sentiments by seeking achange of venue of the trial.Next he could try to prove thathis client was not present onthe bus on which the 23-year-old medical student wasgangraped by the six accusedon December 16. He will tryto use the loopholes in the le-gal system to help his client.Ultimately it may not help,”
said Delhi-based lawyer SamarVerma.However, the expertssay though the case has beenassigned to the fast track courtwhere the proceedings wouldbe held on a day- to-day basis,the case may not be fully openand shut as shoddy forensicpractice is one of the main rea-sons for a relatively low con-viction rate in rape trials. This,they said, despite the DelhiPolice gathering DNA samplesfrom bloodstains on clothes ofall five accused, curtains and seatson the bus and linking them withthe victim who died earlier this yearat a hospital in Singapore, after be-ing shifted from a government hos-pital in the Indian capital. The ex-perts say the government prosecu-tor will have to fight hard for fastconviction in this case. “The foren-sic practices in this country are veryshoddy. —NNI
3 of family killedin mishapOur CorrespondentMURREE— Three members ofa family were killed when theircar, they were travelling in, fellinto a ravine near here on Mon-day night. The car was goingfrom Kohala to Khankhala andwhen it reached near Dhakhaniit fell in a ravine killing threemembers of the family includ-ing Gul Khatab, who was driv-ing the car; his son UmarKhatab and his mother-in-law,wife of Taj. A child was injured.
Continued on Page 7
Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7
INTRODUCING laws banning smokingin enclosed public places can lead toswift and dramatic falls in the number
of children admitted to hospital sufferingasthma attacks, according to a study inEngland published onMonday.
Researchers at ImperialCollege London foundthere was a 12.3 percent fallin hospital admissions forchildhood asthma in thefirst year after laws againstsmoking in enclosed pub-lic places and workplacescame into effect in July2007.
Similar anti-smokinglegislation has been intro-duced in many other coun-tries, including in theUnited States where it hasalso been linked to a reduc-tion in childhood asthmaemergencies.
“The findings are goodnews ... and they should encourage coun-tries where public smoking is permittedto consider introducing similar legisla-tion,” said Christopher Millett fromImperial’s school of public health, wholed the study.
Asthma affects more than 300 millionpeople worldwide and is the world’s mostcommon children’s chronic illness. Symp-toms include wheezing, shortness ofbreath, coughing and chest tightness. InBritain, it affects one in every 11 children.
Before the ban on smoking in enclosedpublic spaces was implemented in En-gland, hospital admissions for children
Smoke-free laws linked todrop in child asthma attacks
suffering a severe asthma attacks wereincreasing by 2.2 percent a year, peak-ing at 26,969 in 2006/2007, the research-ers found.
That trend reversed immediately af-ter the law came into effect,with lower admission ratesamong boys and girls of allages. There were similar re-ductions among children inwealthy and poor neigh-borhoods, both in citiesand in rural areas.
The effect wasequivalent to 6,802 fewerhospital admissions in thefirst three years after thelaw came into effect, theteam wrote in a study in thejournal Pediatrics.
“There is already evi-dence that eliminatingsmoking from public placeshas resulted in substantialpopulation health benefits... and this study shows
that those benefits extend to ... child-hood asthma,” Millett said in a state-ment.
A study published in 2009 also foundthe ban on smoking in public places inEngland led to a swift and significantdrop in the number of heart attacks, sav-ing the national health service 8.4 mil-lion pounds ($13.3 million) in the firstyear. “Previous studies have also sug-gested that the smoke-free law changedpeople’s attitudes about exposing oth-ers to second-hand smoke and led morepeople to abstain from smoking volun-tarily at home and in cars,” Millett said.
ISLAMABAD: A view of Aiwan-i-Quaid in F-9 Park to share festivity organized by Nazriya-i-Pakistan Council, to celebrate sacred occasion of Eid-i-Milad un Nabi (PBUH).
ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Richard Olson called on Air Chief Marshal Tahir RafiqueButt, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force at Air Headquarters.
SANA JAMAL
ISLAMABAD—The first ladyof Pakistan Nusrat PervezAshraf called the newlypublished book “Bait-ullahPar Dastak” as a spiritualexperience. Praising the ef-forts of the author, Ms.Shahida Latif, the first ladycherished the author’s con-tribution in promoting im-age of Pakistan in the world.Speaking at the launchingceremony of the book hereon Monday, she also urgedunity among Pakistanis inthe wake of terrorism threatto the nation.
Known literary figureIftikhar Arif, presided overthe book launching cer-emony that was attended byrenowned scholars, poets,journalists and writers in-cluding prominent poetsNaseem Sehar, Bashir AseerZaidi, and Farkhanda
Shamim. The introduction ofthe book was organized byAaina, a literary and culturalorganization, headed byMalik Fida ur Rehman whoalso appreciated the effortsof author.
Expressing their viewsabout the book, mostspeakers collectively con-sidered it as a spiritual phe-nomenon inspired by firmfaith and closeness to theHouse of God. BasheerZaidi felt that the book isan inspiration towards thereligion and faith. IftikharArif termed the book as agrand contribution to Urdutravelogues.
Shahida Latif in her lat-est book “Bait-ullah PerDastak” shares her strongdevotion and emotional at-tachment towards God andthe Holy Places. The book isa poetic travelogue of herexperiences in the Holy Land
(House of God) during Pil-grimage to Makkah. Theauthor’s latest travelogue isa precious addition to herprevious works (two travel-ogues): “Burf ki Shahzadi”and “Uf Yeh Bartania”.
Ms. Latif has so farpenned four poetry books“Moejza”, “Mein Pakistanihun”, “Marka-e-Kashmir”and “Mohabbat Ho NaJaye” as well as current af-fairs books “Pakistan MeinFauj Ka Kirdar,” “America,Islam aur Almi Amn” thathave received great appre-ciation. Her novel “SaatQadeem Ishq” and researchtranslation “Dunya KaySatter Ajubay” are also con-sidered great contributionto Urdu literature. Short sto-ries and one act Plays, writ-ten by Shahida Latif, havealso included in text booksto deepen the understand-ing of students of literature.
First Lady launches ‘Bait-ullah Par Dastak’
ISLAMABAD: First Lady Begum Nusrat Pervez, Iftikhar Arif, Shahida Latif and oth-ers at the launching ceremony of a book “Baitullah Par Dastak” by Shahida Latif at alocal hotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir
Aiwan-i-QuaiddecoratedSTAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—A large num-ber of people from all walksof life and age groups is vis-iting the artistically deco-rated building of Aiwan-i-Quaid, in the F-9 Park to sharethe festivity arranged by theNazriya-i-Pakistan Council tocelebrate the sacred occa-sion of Eid-i-Milad un Nabi(PBUH).
The illuminations wouldcontinue to display everynight till 13th Rabi ul Awal.Apart from decorating theAiwan-i-Quaid, the NPC isholding a special seminaron “Khutba-i-Hajjatul Wida- Manshoor-e-Insaniat” on11th Rabi ul Awal, 24thJanuary, 2013 (Thursday) at3pm wherein renowned re-ligious scholars Dr. S. M.Zaman, Khanam TayyabaBukhari, Dr. Zia ul Haq, Dr.Muhammad Ayub Sabir andDr. Tuffail Muhammad willspeak. Zahid Malik, Chair-man NPC will preside overthe function. Prominent po-ets of twin cities will partici-pate in the Natia Mushairaon 16 Rabi ul Awal (29 Janu-ary, 2013) at 3:30 pm at theAiwan-i-Quaid.
Signboards onRawalpindi Canttsquares impede
smooth traffic flowRAWALPINDI—Signboardsinstalled on differentsquares of Rawalpindi Canttare creating hurdles in thesmooth flow of traffic, asthey hide traffic signals atmany points.
A private company tak-ing permission from theCantt Board authori t iesfew months ago installedsign boards around trafficsignal poles in manysquares, not only coveringview of the signals from themotorists but also causingtraffic hazardous.
A survey conducted onthe complaints of the resi-dents revealed that a hugeadvert isement board hasbeen instal led on themerger of the Bank Roadand Kashmir in Saddar,called Bank sqaure, whichalmost hide the signal andwas creating hindrances inthe smooth flow of traffictowards Ghakkhar Plazaand other commercial cen-ters. Residents of the areaand traders complainedthat the si tuation at theBank square has causedmany accidents so far.
When approached traf-f ic police officials de-ployed on Bank squaresaid that they had informedtheir high-up about theproblem being faced by themotorists due to signboards and assured an ap-propriate action would betaken in this regardsoon.—INP
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—The NationalArt Gallery of Pakistan Na-tional Council of the Arts(PNCA) has established afully furnished laboratoryfor restoration of damagedpaintings and art works. Ac-cording to an official atPNCA, the project got allo-cation of Rs 6.402 million forin annual budget 2012-13,therefore the councilplanned to established alaboratory to restore thatworks which was damageddue to extreme weathercondition, transportation,natural disaster or mishan-dling.
The National Art Gallery
has got an extremely valuabletreasure of masterpieces ofartwork collected over a pe-riod of time.
These are regularly dis-played for public viewingand require time to timemaintenance.The team of experts wasworking on these projectsfrom last 2 years and theamount of grant gave theencouragement to continuetheir work for maintainingthe visual arts record.
“It is a nationwide projectthat will engage all the art-ists for documenting and pre-serving their art for futuregenerations while all art col-lections will get favorableconditions,” he said.
The grant allocated for thisproject would ultimately ben-efit the promotion of culturein the country and encour-age the people related to thisfield, he added.
In this regard, the Na-tional Art Gallery has beenfrequently organizing work-shops to train stakeholdersfrom all over Pakistan to trainyoung aspirants and othersinterested in from nationaland local experts. In the pastexperts from Italy, Japan,France and Germany werealso invited to conduct work-shops in paintings on can-vas, paper, board, sculpture.
Laboratory for restorationof damaged art works
RBISE Intersupplementary
result todayRAWALPINDI—The RawalpindiBoard of Intermediate and Sec-ondary Education RBISEwould announce Supplemen-tary Examination result of Inter-mediate 2012 today (Tuesday).
According to spokes-person of RawalpindiBoard, Arsalan CheemaRBISE has prepared all re-sults of intermediatesupplementary Examina-tion and would declare re-sult today at 10 am.
He also claimed that theresult can also be obtainedon CDs.—Online
CDA startsplantation drive
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—The CapitalDevelopment Authority(CDA) has commencedplantation drive duringwhich saplings would beplanted in green belts, andrecreational places of thefederal capital. Over 2000workers of the EnvironmentDirectorate of CDA havebeen taking part in the plan-tation drive.
Director EnvironmentCDA, Khalid Malik said thatto give Islamabad, a greenlook, sapling of flowerswould be planted in theparks, recreational places andgreen belts, and added, “Wewill plant saplings in differ-ent parts of the city with aview to protecting green im-age of Islamabad”.
“We are striving hardto make Islamabad greenand beautiful . After theplantat ion of sapling, infew days there will flowerseverywhere on green beltsand parks,” he added.
STAFF REPORTER
RAWALPINDI—Graveyardsin Rawalpindi are in shamblesdue to indifference of theconcerned authorities andencroachments by the landmafia who constructedshops, workshops andhouses in graveyards’ land.
Residents of different ar-eas said that now they couldnot find place to burry deadbodies of their loved onesand have to use some influ-ential person’s reference toget pace in graveyards. Theysaid that the city administra-tion had announced to holda survey of the graveyardsto determine their boundariesso that encroachments couldbe ended but no survey hasbeen conducted yet.
The residents said thatAuqaf Department and dis-trict administration were not
paying heed to the mainte-nance of the graveyard, re-sulting in increase in the in-cidents of insolence of thegraves. Graveyards in Com-mittee Chowk, DhokKhabba, Pir Wadhai andJadeed graveyard, amongothers are in very derelictcondition.
Meanwhile, the residentslauded the allocation of Rs1billion for the maintenance ofgraveyards in the provinceby Chief Minister (CM) ofPunjab Mian Shahbaz Sharifand demanded of the CM tomake the district administra-tion responsible for the su-pervision of the project in-stead of divisional adminis-tration. They further de-manded that survey of grave-yards in Rawalpindi be con-ducted as soon as possibleand graveyard lands shouldbe vacated from land mafia.
Residents annoyed over derelictcondition of graveyards
ISLAMABAD—Former Memberof National Assembly BegumShehnaz Sheikh submitted alist of dual national lawmakersin an open letter written to theSupreme Court’s Chief JusticeIftikhar Mohammad Chaudhryalleging that all dual national-ity cases were not equallydealt with.
Belonging to PMQ-QSheikh’s membership was sus-pended by the Supreme Courtin October 2012 for holdingAustralian nationality whilebeing a Pakistani national anda Member of the National As-sembly.
In her letter, Sheikh re-quested the court to put theprocedure - aimed at reimburs-ing benefits enjoyed by dualnational MNAs - on hold untilthe case’s final verdict is out.
The letter listed the namesof 20 ‘dual national’ lawmakersadding that a few of those con-tinued to remain at their posts.
The list included names of
Asim Hussain, Raza Haroon,Shahbeen Rizvi, Tayib Hussain,Fauzia Ejaz and Jameel Ashraf.
The former PML-Q law-maker alleged that she was notjustly dealt with despite her res-ignation.
Shehnaz Sheikh pointed alldual national lawmakers werenot equally treated adding thatall dual nationality holding law-makers were not asked to re-turn monetary benefits drawnby then during the period theyoccupied at the public officeand other emoluments from the
public exchequer, includingmonthly remunerations, TA/DA and facilities of accommo-dation, along with other perks.
The suspended lawmakerrequested the court to stop allproceeding of reimbursement ofmonetary benefits granted tosuspended lawmakers until adecision was reached on re-view appeal file against againstthe supreme court’s judgmentof disqualifying 11 members ofParliament and provincial as-semblies for holding dual na-tionality.—Online
Dual national MPsnames sent to SC
Pakistan Post toprovide motorcycles
to its employeesSTAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Postwill provide motorcycles toits postmen to ensure timelydelivery of mails and impor-tant parcels. In this regard aMemorandum of Understat-ing (MoU) has signed be-tween Pakistan Post andBank of Khyber (BK).
Through the scheme,the employees of the Posthave an option to chooseeach and any brand of mo-torcycle available in marketas per their choice. DirectorGeneral, Pakistan Post,Syed Ghulam Panjtan Rizvisaid that the organizationhas earlier provided motor-cycles to its staff officialsto ensure provision of qual-ity services and it will pro-vide more motorcycles to itspostmen”, he said.
ISLAMABAD: Justice Kamal B.A. Dhan, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Libya, calledon Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in SupremeCourt.
RAWALPINDI: A view of massive traffic jam on Benazir Bhutto Road.
ISLAMABAD: President Rotary Club Islamabad Cosmopolitan, Rashid Ibrahim pre-senting a memento of RCIC to Ambassador of Spain to Pakistan Janier M. Carbajosaafter a meeting of the club at a local hotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir
ISLAMABAD: Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali with newly elected members of executivecouncil of Population Association of Pakistan.
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—The new ex-ecutive council members ofpopulation association ofPakistan (PAP), elected hereon Monday, pledged to fa-cilitate the provinces in en-suring successful devolvedgovernments.
The new Executive Coun-cil members comprising ofpopulation and social sectorspecialists took over officeon Monday with BegumShahnaz Wazir Ali, SpecialAssistant to the Prime Min-ister on the Social Sector,elected as the new President.
Speaking at the occasion,the new president appreciatedthe efforts made by the Popu-lation Association of Pakistanto highlight the populationissue in Pakistan by generat-
ing and sharing research evi-dence that establishes theimpact of rapid populationgrowth on all developmentindicators. Begum ShahnazWazir Ali also called for agreater engagement betweenpolicy makers and the re-search community.
The new committee feelsthat the association mustensure that policy makers arefully cognizant of the impor-tance of the “DemographicDividend” by making it a toppriority. Pakistan’s transit to-wards a major demographicre-structuring presents addi-tional issues for provinces todeal with; an increasinglyyouthful population, with 15to 29 year-olds representingalmost 40% of the nation’sadults, will require a robusthealth, education and em-
ployment system. Harness-ing opportunties at the righttime will help Pakistan and itspeople achieve their full po-tential, the committee out-lined.
The Population Associa-tion of Pakistan is a non-profit, non-political, scien-tific, and professional asso-ciation established in early2000 for the individuals andorganizations interested inpopulation and developmentin the Pakistani context. Theobjective of the Associationis to promote and strengthenthe disciplines of populationby providing forum to sub-ject experts, facilitating theirprofessional development,sharing scientific knowledgein population, and sharingexperiences in the differentdisciplines of population.
New PAP executive councilpledges to ease devolution process
Malik believesin inter-faith
harmonyISLAMABAD—Interior Minis-ter Rehman Malik said hebelieves in inter-faith har-mony and respects the Chris-tian community. In a state-ment, the Minister said hehas not given any statementwhich could hurt the feelingsof any one.
He regretted that if someones sentiments are harmeddue to misreporting.
It merits mentioning thatInterior Minister RehmanMalik getting overwhelmedin criticism of the chief ofTehrik Minhajul Quran,Allama Dr Tahirul Qadrilaunched a scathing tirade onhis personality and went onto say that he looks more like‘Pope’ and a ‘Padree’ then an‘Allama’.—Online
IHC dismissesplea against
re-appointment ofNaqvi as HEC EDISLAMABAD—The IslamabadHigh Court on Monday dis-missed a petition of two di-rectors general of HigherEducation Commission(HEC) against the possiblereappointment of Dr SohailNaqvi as executive directorof the commission. A single-member bench of IHC com-prising Justice MuhammadAnwar Khan Kasi resumedthe hearing of the petition,seeking direction to stop theexpected re-appointment ofDr Sohail Naqvi as ED HEC.
During the course of hear-ing, Chaudhry Mushtaq,counsel for directors Generalof HEC, informed the courtthat their clients desired towithdraw the plea againstSohail Naqvi, cliaming that anew HEC executive directorhad been appointed by thecommission.
The bench accepted therequest and dismissed thepetition as withdrawn. Itmay be mentioned here thaton last date of hearing, IHChad summoned the chair-man of the Higher Educa-tion Commission (HEC) DrJavaid Leghari, to appearbefore the court with all rel-evant record on January 21(Monday).
Chuadhry Mushtaq hadadopted before the court thatthe appointment processwas likely to be finalized onSaturday and Sunday.—APP
PSF confers Z AHashmi award to
Dr Shahina FayyazISLAMABAD—Pakistan Sci-ence Foundation (PSF) Mon-day awarded Dr. Z A Hashmigold medal to Dr. ShahinaFayyaz in recognition of heroutstanding research activi-ties.
The Gold Medal isawarded each year on com-petitive basis to Principal In-vestigators of PSF supportedresearch projects on the ba-sis of results achieved andpublished during last tenyears.
Talking to APP, Spokes-person PSF Rehana Batoolsaid Z.A. Hashmi GoldMedal has been instituted inthe memory of PSF Found-ing Chairman, late Dr. Z. A.Hashmi to acknowledge hisefforts and services for thedevelopment of Science andTechnology in the coun-try”.—APP
ISLAMABAD—Islamabad policeon Monday busted threegroups and arrested 12 crimi-nals involved in theft, sellingdrugs and recovered variouslooted items worth millions ofrupees, mobile phones, cashand weapons used in unlawfulactivities. According to aspokesman of Islamabad policehere, on the directives of In-spector General Bani AminKhan, SSP Islamabad YasinFarooq had given a task toSHOs to arrest elements in-volved in criminal activities inthe city.
On the instructions,Islamabad police initiated ac-tion against the unlawful activi-ties and arrested 12 criminals.
Police Station Bara Khohad arrested a group of threeaccused involved in robberies.
The criminal involved identifiedas Hadir Shah, Hassan Mir andFazan residence of Bara Khoand New Abadi.
They have been arrestedfrom Kohisar town and recov-ered two three bore pistols, one12 bore gun and ammunitionfrom them. The case had beenregistered against them.
CIA police Sub inspectorMuhammad Ali and ASINaseem Ahmed had arrestedfive accused of two groups ofcriminals involved in gun pointsnatching and robberies. Thecriminals identified as ShanMeshi, Rastim Meshi, BabarHussain, Javid Iqbal Abbasi.The culprits had admitted thecriminals’ activities in Abpara,Tarnol, Koral, Shahzad town,industrial areas Margalla,Shalimar police stations.
The police had also recov-ered snatched mobiles and cashfrom them and started the in-vestigation of the cases. Ramnapolice station inspector AbdurRaziq arrested accused NawazKhan and recovered 80 gmchars while Banigala police sta-tion ASI Nadar Ali arrested ac-cused Bilal and recovered 3bottles of wine. SI MuhammadHanif of Shhazad town policestation arrested ShahoorRahmid Meshi and recovered12 bottles of wine while Shalimarpolice station had arrested ac-cused Haleem involved in theft.
Inspector GeneralIslamabad Police Bani AminKhan and SSP Yasin Farooqlauded the efficient perfor-mance of police personnel andannounced certificates forthem.—APP
Three gangs busted,12 criminals held
2-day anti-poliodrive starts
RAWALPINDI—The districtadministration on Mondaylaunched a special two-dayanti polio drive in selectedareas of the city aimed atcovering those childrenwho could not be adminis-tered polio vaccine in therecently concluded cam-paign.
The drive has been ini-tiated in ten union councilsof Rawalpindi especial lywhere pakhtoons popula-tion is in majority, officialsources in the District Co-ordination Officer (DCO)office told APP.
“Polio teams are visitingunion council number oneto ten particularly focusingon Pakhtoon population assome children in selectedareas remained unattendedduring the last round”,theysaid. Around 700 policepersonnel are performingsecurity duty along withpolio teams in different lo-calities.—APP
NAYS to initiatehealth awareness
campaignI S L A M A B A D — N a t i o n a lAcademy of Young Scien-tists (NAYS) is initiatingawareness campaign regard-ing health issues and hy-giene practices so that lostof precious lives could beensured,especially in rural ar-eas. It was decided during ameeting of NAYS PublicHealth Services (PHS) mem-bers and officials,held heretoday.
The main objective ofthe meeting was to makeNAYS PHS project, moremeaningful and successfulat national level. Giving de-tails, NAYS President AftabAhmad said during the meet-ing it was emphasized to es-tablish a network of mem-bers for PHS project from allover the country. Infrastruc-ture development for basicmedical testing facility andissues related to funds andfunds raising to provide freemedicine and basic test fa-cilities were also discussedin the meeting.
President NAYS, ChiefCoordinator NAYS, Mediacoordinator NAYS and PHScoordinator of NAYS as wellas team members of theproject were also present onthe occasion.—APP
Two girlskidnapped fromChildren Park
RAWALPINDI—Two girlswere abducted from the chil-dren park of CommercialMarket here the other day inthe jurisdiction of New Townpolice station. The kidnap-ping of girls from the parkcreated panic and fear in thearea.
Police said that the resi-dents of Muslim Abad lo-cated at Pirwadhai AzharShahzad told that hisdaughter who is 13 yearsold student of 8th classwent with her fr iend andthe friend’s brother to thepark.
The brother, droppingthe girls off to the park, wentto Murree Road for somework when he came the twogirls had disappeared.
The police have regis-tered the case and startedthorough investigation.—Online
RAWALPINDI—Rawalpindi CityTraffic Police (CTP) issued5,62,557 challan tickets withfines amounting to over Rs 185million imposed on traffic rulesviolators in 2012.
Chief Traffic Officer (CTO)Superintendent Police (SP)Syed Ishtiaq Shah informed thatcity traffic police in its effortsfor the smooth flow of trafficon city roads impounded 5669vehicles and 9836 motorcyclesin various police stationsagainst severe traffic rules vio-lations while a number of driv-ers were also arrested duringthe period. He said that 71 driv-ing licenses were also sus-pended while the CTP for-warded recommendations forcancellation of 28 route permits.
CTO said that action in ac-cordance with the law was takenagainst 14784 drivers on use ofmobile phone while driving.6981 vehicles were challaned forhaving tinted glasses and theblack papers were removed onthe spot. Action was also takenagainst 714 smoke emitting ve-hicles.
Special drive was launched
to discourage under age driv-ing and more than 2851 underage drivers were fined. 9422vehicles issued challan slips onwrong parking.
Thousands two-wheelerswho were driving without hel-met were issued challan slipsduring the period. 11430 ve-hicles on violation of route per-mits, he added. 12595 driverswithout driving licenses werechallaned while 2705 drivers ofvehicles and motorcycles onnegligent and dangerous driv-ing were imposed fines.
City Traffic Officer informedthat special campaigns werealso run in 2012 where the citi-zens were educated about traf-fic rules and road safety. Edu-cation Wing of Traffic Police ismaking efforts to spread aware-ness so that the road journeycould be made safe and sound,he added.
The CTO urged the peopleto cooperate with traffic war-dens as they are on the roadsto facilitate them. A specialsquad is available to help andfacilitate the citizens onHelpline 1915, he added.—APP
5,62,557 challan slips issuedon traffic rules violation
Prize distributionof Punjab
Sports FestivalISLAMABAD—RawalpindiArts Council (RAC) Mondaydistributed prizes worthRs.6,96,700 among 580 win-ners of Punjab Sports Festi-val 2012. They were winnersof 18 different events includ-ing cricket, football, wali ball,Qiraat and Naat Khawani.
The co-organizers ofevent were RAC and SportsDepartment.
Member Punjab Assem-bly Raja Muhammad HanifAdvocate, was the guest ofhonor while Resident Direc-tor RAC, Waqar Ahmed andCoordinator Syed AmirHassan Shah were alsopresent on the occasion.
Raja Muhammad Hanif ad-dressing on the occasion saidthat Punjab Festival 2012 pro-vided opportunity to youth toshow their inner abilities with-out any discrimination. Speak-ers appreciated the efforts ofRAC for encouraging youthand said the council has setan example to promote youthat every level.—APP
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—Regularizationof services of Lady HealthWorkers (LHWs) will have astrategic impact on the out-reach programme of healthcare in the country with spe-cific emphasis on child andmother care.
According to health ex-perts, LHWs have importantrole in the health care deliv-ery system particularly in ru-ral areas which will furtherimprove with their regulariza-tion.
“After job regularizationnow LHWs will do their re-sponsibilities in more orga-nized manner that will defi-antly help reducing maternaland neonatal mortality rate in
the country,” said Dr SharifAstori from Federal Govern-ment Polyclinic (FGPC) whilecommenting on governmentdecision of regularization ofservices of LHWs.
He said that LHWs havealready an important role incountry’s health care system.Their performance have beenappreciated at many interna-tional forum and now they havebecome regular component ofthis health care system.
He said that LHWs areplaying an important role infar-flung areas of the coun-try and suggested to furtherexpand their responsibilitiesto ensure provision of bettermedical care to people.
Representatives of paramedical employees’ organiza-
tions have also hailed thedecision of PPP led coalitiongovernment to regularize theservices of Lady HealthWorkers. They expressed thehope that the governmentwill provide secure workingenvironment for other con-tractual employees workingin medical field and utilizetheir abilities for the welfareof the people of the country.
Representatives ofLHWs and supporting staffalso thanked the governmentfor fulfilling their demand andassured that they will do theirwork with more commitmentand dedication. They saidLady Health WorkersProgramme was conceivedand initiated by ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
LHWs’ regularization to have goodimpact on medicare outreach
ISLAMABAD—Unhygieniccondition of barber shopsgo unchecked in twin citiesof Islamabad andRawalpindi due to lukewarmattitude of the authoritiesconcerned. Barbers use oldand dirty tools for cuttinghair and the condition of thescissors, manual clippers,straight razors and brushesare really deplorable whichthey use for years but do notbother to change them aftera certain time which is nec-essary for keeping the bac-teria and germs from spread-ing.
A large number of people
daily visit barber shops forhair cutting, shaves andbeard trimming.
There is a mushroomgrowth of these barbershops even at roadside invarious localities such asAabpara market, sector G/7,G/8 and G/11.
A barber shop visitor atAabpara market claimed thatmost of the barbers use sameblade and towel after attend-ing a client, adding a numberof barbers do not have a NoObjection Certificate (NOC)from the authority concerned.Another resident AkbarCheema said that barbers
have fixed high prices for haircuttings, shaves etc, addingtheir is no check on the ratesplaced by them.
He said that barbers de-mand 60 rupees to offer ashave and 120 for hair cut-ting. A senior medical practi-tioner of Islamabad Dr AmirAbbas said “barber shops inthe twin cities have becomehubs of germs. Re-used ofsame blade and towel mightcaused fatal diseases includ-ing Hepatitis and skin infec-tions”. He said “there is aneed to create awarenessamong the people abouthealth care”.—APP
Barber shops hygieniccare go unchecked
06:2001:3004:15
07:15
Zohr
January 22
THE Society for Conser-vation and Protection ofEnvironment Pakistanwill hold a Media capac-ity building workshopon “Land Rights, Agrar-ian Reforms and Foodsecurity”. The two-dayworkshop will be held atlocal Hotel.
ISLAMABAD—A delegationheaded by Mr. Justice KamalB. A. Dhan, Chief Justice, Su-preme Court of Libya and com-prising Mr. Justice Saleh A. S.Abouzid, Mr. Justice RamadanF. F. Beleil, Mr. JusticeNouredeen A. Alakrmi, Judges,Supreme Court of Libya andMr. Fuad Muhamad Salem,Registrar, Supreme Court ofLibya accompanied by Mr. Jus-tice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan,Chief Justice, Federal ShariatCourt of Pakistan called onChief Justice of Pakistan Mr.Justice. Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry Monday in Supreme
Court, Islamabad.While welcoming the del-
egation, Chief Justice of Pa-kistan said, “you are our val-ued friends and it is anhonour to receive such a highlevel judicial delegation inSupreme Court today. SuchExchange of visits of delega-tions is a good traditionwhich enables us to share theexperiences of each other andto understand the judicialsystem of both countries.”
The Chief Justice of Libyatold the Chief Justice of Paki-stan that there are similaritiesbetween both the countries,
therefore, we can take advan-tage by sharing the experiencesand knowledge. It will enhancethe cooperation between thejudiciaries of both countries.
The litigation system issame in Libya as in Pakistan.He further explained the judi-cial system of Libya to ChiefJustice of Pakistan that thereare three types of courts;Court of First Instance; Ap-pellant Court and SupremeCourt. He further explainedthat judiciary in Libya is work-ing independently and impar-tially before and after revo-lution.—INP
Libyan delegation calls on CJP
Back Channel Diplomacy
Pakistan, India discuss Kashmir issue, other problemsOBSERVER REPORT
ISLAMABAD—Delhi Dia-logue comprising 30 partici-pants from India and Pakistandeliberated on a variety of bi-lateral issues from 20 – 21January, 2013.
The key areas of discus-sion entailed review of bilat-eral relations, trade, extrem-ism and terrorism, higher edu-cation and Jammu & Kashmirdispute, say a reporter receviedfrom New Dehli.
The group consisted ofretired diplomats, academi-cians, civil society activists,media personnel from bothsides. This dialogue series ini-tiate din 2011 holds that in-
creased people to people con-tact generates the momentumfor policy change and allowskey stakeholders on both sidesto devise strategies for peaceand regional cooperation. Par-ticipants unanimously agreed tothe following statement:
A joint declaration ws is-sued at the end of the delibera-tions. Following is the text:Joint Resolution
We appreciate that 2012was a year of progress in Indo-Pak relations during which therobustness of India-Pakistandialogue was tested and despitechallenges to the process, con-siderable headway was made onissues of trade and visa liberal-ization;
The political question ofJammu and Kashmir remainsunresolved. We urge thatIndia and Pakistan remain en-gaged and the four point for-mula devised in 2006-7 shouldbe used a basis for further dia-logue;
We urge that media be givenunfettered access on both sides.The governments must allowthe circulation of newspapers,distribution of television signalsand increase in the number ofaccredited journalists in bothcountries;
We recommend that visasfor journalists and their spousesshould be facilitated withoutunnecessary delays;
We urge both governments
to engage on the regional im-plications of the NATO pull outfrom Afghanistan in 2014through dialogue on regionalcooperation;
We recommend that previ-ously agreed proposals to re-solve long standing issues suchas Siachen and Sir Creek shouldbe accepted immediately so thatboth countries can move for-ward in focusing on the core is-sues between the two countries;
We note that recent inci-dents on the Line of Control(LoC) underline the need to re-inforce the 2003 ceasefireagreement and recommend thatnew mechanisms be devisedsuch as increased demilitarizedzones. There is an urgent need
to reduce the eyeball-to-eyeballconfrontation on the LoC;
We recommend that roam-ing cellular facilities should beprovided to the people of boththe countries; We recommendthat culture, sports and humani-tarian concerns should be pri-oritized by both countries in thebilateral parleys;We recommend that the govern-ments of India and Pakistanshould evolve a result-orientedand monitorable mechanism ofdialogue. This mechanismshould include representationfrom both sides of the LoCaimed at a mutually acceptableresolution of the Kashmir issue;
We demand the resumptionof the suspended bus service
and cross-LoC trade onPoonch-Rawlakot route; thestranded passengers must beallowed to return from the sameroute;
We suggest an urgent re-view of the performance andstructural feasibility of cross-LoC trade by addressing twobottle necks:a. Decentralization of the LoCtrade and travel by creating asingle independent authority onthe Indian side; b. Convert-ing the existing barter trade toroutine cross-border trade withsufficient checks;c. Opening up of the oldJammu-Sialkot and Kargil-Skardu trade routes; and d.Introducing smart card service
MIRPUR: President Azad Kashmir Sardar Yaqub Khan and Chief Secretary Arbab Shahezad with President Anjaman-i-Tajran President Ch Mohammad Naeem.
SRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir Liberation FrontChairman, Muhammad YasinMalik, led a big procession inSrinagar, today, on the occasionof the martyrdom anniversary ofover 50 innocent Kashmiriswho were killed by Indiantroops at Gaw Kadal in Srinagaron this day in 1990.
Raising forceful anti-Indiaand pro-liberation slogans,people marched from Maisumato Basant Bagh.
Addressing the demonstra-tors, Muhammad Yasin Malikpaid glowing tributes to theGaw Kadal martyrs and saidthat their mission would be ac-complished at all costs. He said
Yasin leads brisk procession in SrinagarGlowing tributes paid to Gaw Kadal martyrs
that the Kashmiris were beingmassacred in an effort to sup-press their liberation struggle.He urged the people to observecivil curfew on 26th January, theIndian Republic Day.
Meanwhile, complete shut-down was observed in GawKadal, Maisuma, BudshahChowk and Basant Bagh areasof Srinagar in remembrance ofthe Gaw Kadal martyrs. Call forthe shutdown was given by theveteran Kashmiri Hurriyetleader, Syed Ali Gilani.
APHC leaders, MukhtarAhmed Waza, addressing ameeting of his party inIslamabad town and ZafarAkbar Butt in Srinagar said that
the Kashmiri martyrs’ sacri-fices, which had centre-stagedthe Kashmir dispute at the glo-bal level, would not be allowedto go waste.
The Chairman of Jammuand Kashmir Liberation Front-R, Farooq Ahmed Dar, and theChairman of Jammu and Kash-mir Democratic Political Move-ment, Firdous Ahmed Shah,addressing their party meetingsin Srinagar said that the ongo-ing liberation movement wouldbe taken to its logical conclu-sion at all costs.
On the other hand, Indianpolice attacked and smashedthe windowpanes of the ve-hicle of a team of the High
Court Bar Association com-prising General Secretary,Muhammad Ashraf Butt, AijazBedar, Bilal Wani and HamidShafi at Qazigund when it wasreturning from its visit ofJammu jails. The Bar mem-bers staged a sit-in atQazigund against the attack.
The occupation authoritieshave shifted senior liberationleader, Mushtaq-ul-Islam,from Udhampur jail to a cellat Kot Bhalwal jail. A court inSrinagar had recently orderedthe Indian police to lodgeMushtaq-ul-Islam in a nearbyjail so that he could appear be-fore the court during hearingof his cases.—KMS
MUZAFFARABAD: Former Prime Minister of Azad Khasmir PML-N leader Raja FarooqHaider leads a rally to mark joining of PPP leader Imtiaz Awan in PML-N.
issued on the basis of State Sub-jects Certificate to overcome thecumbersome procedures forcross-LoC travel;
We recommend that bothgovernments should constitutea study group tasked to ex-plore the potential for gener-ating energy on both sides ofthe LOC, with a particular fo-cus on exploiting the substan-tial hydro-electric potential ofthe region.
This will benefit allparties involved and provide amuch needed economic impe-tus in Jammu and Kashmir.
We recommend that theagreed Investment Protocol of2012 needs to beoperationalized through the fol-
lowing measures: a.The BOIand FIPB should ensure speedyapprovals of projects; b.The liberal visa regime shouldbe a prerequisite for the invest-ment protocol. In particular,work visa category should beadded to the new visa regime,including visas for technicalexperts and trainers.
These should be one yearmultiple entry visas that allowup to ten cities, with exemp-tion from police reporting. InSeptember 2012, the JointStatement of the CommerceSecretaries had taken certaindecisions which require fullimplementation. In particular,progress needs to acceleratedin the following areas
Geelaniwelcomes
Indo-Pak truceSRINAGAR—Welcoming thetruce between India and Paki-stan over the recent LoC row,Hurriyat Conference (G) Chair-man Syed Ali Geelani said thelong-lasting peace in the regionwould prevail only if both thecountries resolve Kashmir issueas per the aspirations of thepeople of the State.
In a statement issued here,Geelani warned of a war be-tween the two neighbours un-less the ‘core’ issue of Kashmirwas resolved. “If Kashmir is-sue is not resolved, the possi-bility of war between the twocannot be ruled out,” he said.
The octogenarian leadersaid the statements coming fromIndian politicians over LoC is-sue were irresponsible andpraised the role played by Paki-stani administration during thiscrisis situation.
“Indian media also indulgedin war mongering while ignor-ing hundreds of incidents ofmassacres at the hands of troopsin Jammu and Kashmir,” hesaid. “Many soldiers have diedin clashes along the LoC, how-ever, highlighting the killings oftwo Indian troopers was aimedto create panic and deterioratethe already tense situation.”
He blamed Indian media ofbeing “most irresponsible me-dia” in the world.—NNI
SRINAGAR—In view of thesacred month of Rabbi-ul-Awaland Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi(SAW), Chairman of HurriyatConference (M) Mirwaiz UmarFarooq convened a Seerat con-ference at party headquarters ofJammu Kashmir Awami Majlis-e-Amal at Mirwaiz Manzil,here. The conference was at-tended by prominent ulema, Is-lamic scholars, pro-freedomleadership and a large numberof youth.
Participants threw light onthe life of Prophet Mohammad(SAW) and delivered theirviews on the importance of thismonth in Islam. In his inaugu-ral address, Mirwaiz said it wasonly by following the teachingsof Islam that one could find the
Mirwaiz convenes Seerat conferencesolution to his problems. Hesaid it also helps one to earnblessing for his worldly as forhis eternal life from Allah.
Terming ProphetMuhammad (SAW) as a rolemodel for the Muslims, Mirwaizsaid it was only by following histeachings and beliefs in Islamthat one can become a true hu-man being and would bring re-forms in the society by eradi-cating social ills and immoralactivities.
Expressing concern overthe deteriorating social values,Mirwaiz said that it becomesincumbent on parents to playtheir role by inculcating in theirsons and daughters Islamicteachings to bring positive re-forms in the society. Otherwise,
he warned, there is no other ef-fective way to address the issueplaguing the society.
He further said that Mus-lims should continue to learnand implement teaching ofprophet Muhammad (SAW) soas to reform the society andmake it a better living place.
On the occasion, leadersand Islamic scholars includingAgha Syed Hassan Al Moosvi,Mufti Nazir Qasmi, MoulanaAbbas Ansari, ShowkatHussein Keing, and MoulanaShams-ur-Rehman and othersalso delivered their speechesand enlightened people aboutthe significance of this monthof Islamic calendar and aboutthe teachings of prophetMuhammad (SAW).—NNI
SRINAGAR—Admitting that2010 agitation was a “peace-ful movement”, senior NCleader and Member Parlia-ment, Dr Mehboob Beg saidthe policy of slapping PublicSafety Acts (PSA) on theKashmiri youth needs to berevisited to bridge the discon-nect between people and theparty.
He also said the Truth andReconciliation Commission(TRC) should be constitutedon the lines of South Africa tofind answers to the issues ofdisappearance of youth andunmarked graves.
Beg slams extensive use of PSAAddressing the party func-
tion at NC headquarters,Nawa-e-Subah complex, DrBeg said 2010 agitation inKashmir was a peaceful onebut booking of the youth un-der PSA was a wrong decisionof the government.
“The government needsto revisit the youth-relatedpolicies. An impression is be-ing created among the youththat NC was responsible formassive political mistakes inthe past, which is not true,” DrBeg said. “We need to bridgedisconnect between NC andthe youth.”
He said Samajwadi PartyMPs stated in the Parliament(in 2010) that stone-pelters inKashmir were being paid Rs500 a day. “I strongly objectedto this statement in the Parlia-ment. I told the Parliamentthat no mother in the worldwould prefer to see her son diefor just Rs 500,” Dr Beg.
He said there is a dire needof setting up TRC to addressthe issues like enforced disap-pearances of youth and the un-marked graves. “TRC has tobe the replica of what we sawin South Africa after Apart-heid,” Dr Beg said.—NNI
SRINAGAR—Firebrand NCadditional general secretarySheikh Mustafa Kamaal said thepromise of holding referendumin Jammu and Kashmir made bythe tallest leader of India latePandit Jawahar Lal Nehru wasapplicable to erstwhile J&K forwhich unification of two di-vided parts was a “prerequisite”.
Talking to reporters on thesidelines of a function at NCheadquarters, Nawa-e-Subahcomplex here, Kamaal said NCGeneral Secretary Sheikh Nazirhas rightly made a statementthat the promise made by Nehruin 1948 at Lal Chowk, Srinagarshould be fulfilled.
“The promise was madeeight years before J&K’s con-stitution was enacted in 1956.So the option of holding refer-endum was very much rel-evant,” said Kamaal. “The firstcondition for holding plebiscitein J&K is to restore the state topre-1947 status. For that, Indiaand Pakistan have to demilita-
JK’s unification prerequisitefor plebiscite: Kamaal
rize territories under them andallow the unification of two di-vided parts. The move shouldlater be followed by the an-nouncement of plebiscite.” Hesaid as per the UN resolutionsboth, Pakistan and India have todemilitarize the parts of Kash-mir under their control.
He said senior PDP leaderMuzaffar Hussain Beig wastechnically right to say that NCleader’s demand for plebiscitewas against the constitution ofJ&K. “But that doesn’t meanthe option was no more alive.The constitution was enacted in1956 only to run the state of af-fairs. The main question of di-vision of State remained thereand continues to be same atpresent,” Kamaal said.
Later talking to GreaterKashmir, Kamaal said let theunification of two Kashmirstake place on trial basis. “Let itbe for 20 years. If it doesn’t gowell, then other options can beexplored,” he said. “But the fact
of the matter is that State has tocome to its original position asit existed on August 14, 1947.”
Earlier, addressing NC work-ers at Nawa-e-Subah, Kamaalsaid the unmarked graves are theresult of “genocide” committedby PDP patron Mufti MuhammadSayeed and the then Governor ofJK, Jagmohan. “They massacredthe people in 1990,” he said.Kamaal said it was good to seeHurriyat (M) chairman MirwaizUmar Farooq demanding DNAtesting of those buried in un-marked graves.
“There has to be somemechanism to find-out who areburied in these graves,” the NCleader said. He urged the partyworkers to make party strong sothat better results could beachieved in 2014. “Many forcesare working in Kashmir to dis-mantle NC. Your job is to givebefitting reply to them in 2014elections. It is time to shun thedifferences and work as a singleunit,” Kamaal said.—NNI
Kashmiri government employees shout slogans during a protest in Srinagar.
Kashmirisresolve to
continue struggleSRINAGAR–The Jammu andKashmir Liberation FrontChairman, Muhammad YasinMalik, has reaffirmed theKashmiris’ resolve to continuethe ongoing liberation move-ment till it reaches its logicalconclusion. Yasin Malik led abig procession from Maisuma toBasant Bagh in Srinagar, tomark the martyrdom anniver-sary of over 50 innocentKashmiris who were massacredby Indian troops at Gaw Kadalin Srinagar on this day in 1990.People on the occasion raisedforceful anti-India and pro-lib-eration slogans.
Addressing the demonstra-tors, the JKLF Chairman whilepaying rich tributes to the GawKadal martyrs said that theirmission would be accomplishedat all costs. He deplored that theKashmiris were being killed inan effort to suppress their lib-eration struggle. Yasin Malikcalled upon the people of theoccupied territory to observecivil curfew on 26th January, theIndian Republic Day, to conveyto New Delhi that they reject itsillegal occupation on theirhomeland.—KMS
SRINAGAR—Twenty threeyears have passed since Neelamlost her father in a carnage car-ried out by the Indian CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF) inSrinagar. She continues to pendown new poems every year toremember her martyred father.
On the intervening night ofJanuary 20 and 21, 1990, theparamilitary troopers duringhouse-to-house searches inChota Bazar area of Srinagardragged out people from theirhomes, arrested hundreds andmolested several women.
The incident took place im-mediately after JagmohanMalhotra took over as governorof the occupied territory on 19thJanuary, 1990, and announcedto deal sternly with those whowould demand freedom fromIndia.
As the word about the mo-lestation of the women spreadin the morning, thousands of
23 years passed sinceNeelam lost her father
people took to the streets in thecity to protest against the brutalaction of the troops. The occu-pation forces resorted to indis-criminate firing on the protest-ers in Gaw Kadal area of thecity, killing over 50 people andinjuring hundreds of others.
Neelam was only three-year-old when her father,Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, waskilled while saving people dur-ing the indiscriminate firing onprotesters by the CRPF at GawKadal.
“I have been feeling astrange pain inside me everytime, though I don’t know muchabout you. They say you havegone to a special place and theyconsole me not to cry. But Idon’t care what they say, Papait is between you and me!”Neelam, who has now com-pleted her graduation, writes inone of her poems.
Farooq, then 28-year-old,
was a driver in the Cable CarCorporation (CCC). “He(Farooq) ran towards a CRPFman who was spraying bulletson the protesters with the inten-tion to stop him from firing. Buthe in turn received bullets in hischest,” said Farooq’s wife,Dilshada, in an interview.
A liberation leader, JavedAhmad Mir, said that the pro-cession was completely peace-ful when the troops opened fire.“I saw people around me fall-ing down on the ground as thetroops fired a volley of bullets,”he added.
According to political ana-lysts, the Gaw Kadal massacreis one of the worst massacres inthe history of Kashmir.
Pertinently, the HumanRights Commission of the ter-ritory has recently orderedfresh inquiry by its investiga-tion wing into the Gaw Kadalmassacre.—Online
Snow causesdamage to many
residential housesBARAMULLA—Five residen-tial houses were completelydamaged while 103 sufferedpartial damage due to the recentsnowfall in this north Kashmirdistrict.About 143 non-residen-tial houses are also reported tohave suffered damage.
According to reports, threeresidential houses in Tangmargarea and two at Limber Boniyarwere completely damaged dueto the heavy snowfall, leavingthe families homeless.Tangmarg and Kunzar areashave been the worst-hit in thewake of at least 3-ft snow.
In block Kunzar andTangmarg together, reports said86 residential houses and 102non-residential structures in its61 villages were damaged dueto snowfall. Talking to GreaterKashmir, Tehsildar TangmargGhulam Ahmad said: “Our fieldstaff has confirmed that around188 structures have been par-tially damaged during the heavysnowfall in Tangmarg andKunzar block.”
In Pattan Block, reports saidabout 43 structures have suf-fered partial damage. These in-clude seven residential housesand 36 non-residential struc-tures.
In Baramulla, 12 residentialhouses and 13 non- residentialstructures are reported to havesuffered partial damage in areasincluding Sadipora, Nandihal,Kanispora, Kalantra, Wagooraand Heewan.—NNI
Police accusedof ‘torture,molestation
KULGAM—A family inLarnoo village of this southKashmir district accused policeof torture and molestation oftwo young girls of the house-hold. The incident triggeredmassive protests and completeshutdown in the area. Police,however, refuted the allega-tions, describing the family as‘rogue and wanted in severalcases.’
Scores of villagers as-sembled at Laroo early morn-ing and protested the incident.Raising slogans against the J&KPolice for “torturing the familyand molesting its women”, theprotesters blocked the Larnoo-Kulgam road. They demandedstrict action against the erringcops. “Police raided our houseon Saturday night at around 11PM. They beat me up severely.They also beat up my two youngdaughters aged 17 and 18. Theythrashed my 14-year-old sonand my wife. The cops rippedapart the clothes of my daugh-ters, molested them, gaggedtheir mouth and then took themalong,” Abdul Hamid Sheikh,head of the family, alleged.Sheikh’s clothes and shoes weresoaked with blood while hisbody bore injury marks. —NNI
Too many people thinkonly of their own profit.But business opportu-nity seldom knocks on
the door of self-cantered people. No
customer ever goes toa store merely to
please the storekeeper.
— Kazuo Inamori
STAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Pakistan MercantileExchange published the first ofits kind Urdu Dictionary on Fu-tures Trading in Pakistan.
Raeda Latif, PMEX Head ofMarketing, explained the con-cept behind the project, “We feelthat the commodity markets arestill in the development stageand a large population is igno-rant of the concept of futurestrading. For this purpose, theproject of a comprehensiveguide on trading in Futures wasundertaken.”
The dictionary is authoredby Shayan Ali, a financial tech-nical analyst, financialterminologist, writer andfounder of Bullion ResearchCenter. His Urdu report for gold
PMEX introduces Urdudictionary on future trading
technical and fundamentalanalysis is well appreciatedamong local traders and PMEXtraders. Expressing his views onthe dictionary, Shayan said: “Ihave explained over hundred fi-nancial terminologies from thebasic to the most advance levelfor the benefit of not only thenew traders but also experiencedanalysts.”
PMEX is the only legal plat-form in Pakistan for commod-ity futures trading that recentlyboasted a record trading volumeof Rs385.5 billion in the firstquarter of fiscal 2012-13, whichwas up by 40.7% compared tothe preceding quarter. With therise in commodity trading on theexchange, more and more inves-tors are viewing commodity fu-tures as an alternative source of
investment. However, deriva-tives are regarded as highlycomplex financial products and,therefore, investors are quitewary of trading in them. Theneed for building trust and im-parting knowledge has increasedmanifold for the purpose of de-veloping a commodity market.Publishing the Urdu dictionaryis a significant step in the direc-tion of establishing a strong re-lationship between the investorsand derivatives instruments.
The dictionary is unique inthe sense that it is specificallytargeted towards the masses ofinvestors and traders who aremostly conversant in the locallanguage, and find it difficult tounderstand the complex termi-nology of futures trading in En-glish.
Rates for conversionKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign Currency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certificates,Foreign Currency BearerCertificates, Special U.S.Dollar Bonds and profitsthereon by all banks and forproviding Forward Cover onForeign Currency Deposits(excluding F.E.25 deposits) bythe State Bank on January 22.The rates are U.S. Dollar Rs97.7212, Japanese Yen Rs1.920 Pound Sterling Rs155.2496 and Euro Rs130.1646.—APP
AMANULLAH KHAN
KARACHI—Karachi ElectricSupply Company (KESC) hasproposed to the Defence Hous-ing Authority (DHA), to insertthe energy conservation guide-lines as a mandatory clause foradherence in its bylaws. Thecore objective behind this sug-gestion is to transform all de-veloping / under constructionresidential projects in DHA into“green houses”, especially in theupcoming areas of DHA Phase8 and 9
KESC recently conveyedthe proposal to the DHA au-thorities for their considerationand the proposed clause if in-serted, would also envisage in-
KESC to partner DHA inenergy conservation
stallation of LED lighting technol-ogy at the time of construction ofnew homes, aimed to save upto70 per cent of electricity (lighting)load in any household on a sus-tainable basis. In addition it is alsoproposed that the architects wouldbe required to design structureskeeping in mind the provision ofadequate light and air, helping toreduce the cost of cooling andlighting
KESC shared with the DHAauthorities that as a first measureto lead by example, it has alreadytransformed its own head officesituated in DHA, into LED light-ing thereby making it the firstever, green building in the coun-try. The power utility furtherstated that it has also achieved
tremendous success at othersites with respect to the conver-sion of conventional lightinginto energy efficient technology,with the prime example of LEDconversion success being theQuaid’s Mazar. In order to as-sist the heavy power consumersto optimize their energy con-sumption, KESC has also con-ducted energy audits, with therecent example being in thehealthcare sector where theseoptimization audits were under-taken at the Civil Hospital,Indus Hospital, SIUT andLRBT. KESC said that it looksforward to the DHA joininghands with KESC in furtheringthis noble cause of energy con-servation.
AMANULLAH KHAN
KARACHI—The gas supplyin Sindh would be enhancedwith the additional supply ofabout 100 mmcfd gas by nextyear, this was stated by Man-aging Director Sui SouthernGas Company (SSGC) ZuhairSiddiqui.
Addressing to the mem-bers and office bearers ofKorangi Association of Tradeand Industry (KATI) , SSGCchief said that through newgas fields supply of 50 to 60mmcfd is expected by earlynext year while another 50mmcfd LPG air mix gas
100 mmcfd to be injected in SSGC system next yearKESC and Steel Mills owe Rs52b to SSGC
through LPG plant undercompletion at Port Qasim is ex-pected. He however said thatdue to this plant would becomea little higher. He further saidthat with the improvement ofgas supply the demand of gastoo will grow with the same ra-tio and to overcome this grimsituation all sectors of gas con-sumers would have to sacrificewhether they are domestic con-sumers, industrial, commercialor CNG sector. He said thatSSGC has sought permissionfrom the Oil and Gas Regula-tory Authority (OGRA) to allowSSGC to charge for gas on ac-count of theft by non-registered
consumers.Siddiqui said OGRA is not
allowing SSGC volumes on ac-count of pilferage by non-con-sumers despite a directive of thefederal cabinet, which was fol-lowed by the Ministry of Petro-leum and Natural Resources’advice to allow the same. Hesaid that KESC owes a hugeamount of over Rs42 to SSGCand another big amount of Rs12billion remained outstandingagainst Pakistan Steel due towhich SSGC is facing financialcrunch and the company is com-pelled to get bank financing inorder to run its day to day af-fairs. He further informed that
KESC has now refused to paylate payment surcharge as well.
He said that both the majordefaulters have been put on no-tice. Siddiqui says that SSGCsupplies 100 mmcfd to the CNGsector. “Although we suspendCNG supplies for three days aweek, pumps still manage to sellnearly as much gas in the remain-ing four days as they would in aweek without any CNG closure.But still, it helps us control pres-sure for other sectors on CNGsuspension days,” he said. Hesaid all car owners belonged tothe top 5% income bracket,which should be enough for thegovernment to ban CNG in pri-
vate cars. “The days of cheap gasare over. CNG should be re-stricted to public transport only.
We’re the 27th largest pro-ducer of gas globally, but we’renumber one in terms of CNGconsumption,” Zuhair said. Heinformed that recovery from in-dustrial sector is excellent. Onquery by the Chairman KATIMohammad Zubair Chhaya re-garding launching awarenesscampaign about gas conserva-tion, he said that SSGC has ini-tiated advisory service for theindustrial sector and any indus-trialist can obtain advisory ser-vice free of charge. He said thata significant amount of 110
mmcfd gas could be savedthrough adopting conservationmethods and installation of righttypes of gadgets.
Regarding exempting the in-dustry from load-shedding onSundays he said that it would bedone as soon SSGC gets the ad-ditional supply. He said that evendomestic consumers in many gasdeficient countries have beenshifted to LPG. Heagreed withthe point that that industry shouldbe given priority on all consum-ers as it provides employment tothe general masses.
Earlier, Zubair Chhaya saidthat Karachi’s industrial sector,which is major bread-earner for
the nation, is suffering badly dueto utilities crisis and law and or-der situation. He said that gasload-shedding on Sundays is caus-ing immense problems industryand SSGC should discontinue thispractice. He said that many indus-tries are facing acute problem oflow pressure of gas and their pro-ductivity is being affected badly.President All Karachi IndustrialAlliance, Mian Zahid Hussainsaid that we have to determine thatwhich sector of gas consumersshould be given priority. He saidthat gas heaters and water geysersshould not have priority at all andgovernment should come up witha policy of solar geysers and heat-
ers.He demanded of the SSGC
chief to supply gas to the indus-try on Sundays in lieu of shutdowns and days of strike in thecity as sometimes city remainsclosed due to unrest. SenatorAbdul Haseeb Khan said thatwe have to evolve comprehen-sive policies at national levelsetting up our priorities in or-der to overcome ongoing en-ergy crisis. Former ChairmenKATI Masood Naqi, FarhanurRehman, Johar Ali Qandhariand Chairman SSGC StandingCommittee Ehtesham Uddinand leading industrialists alsospoke on the occasion.
Dr Baigoff to US
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—Dr Mirza IkhtiarBaig, Federal Advisor on Tex-tile Govt. of Pakistan & DeanHon. Consular Corps Sindh Pa-kistan left for US and Jamaicato attend BOD meeting ofWorld Federation of Consulsfrom 23rd to 27th Jan ‘13 inKingston followed by meetingsin USA.
Dr Baig will be meeting Pa-kistan business community andmedia representatives at an inter-active session and dinner on 28thJan hosted by Mr. Aqil NadeemConsul General of Pakistan inHouston. He will also be meetingprominent US businessmen ofPak Chamber of Commerce –USA and will give presentation oninvestment in Energy sector andTextile City Project in Pakistan on29th Jan and also schedule to meetMayor of Houston Council for In-ternational Trade and the GreaterHouston Partnership, the mainchamber of commerce of greaterHouston for a talk on BilateralInvestment Treaty (BIT) betweenPakistan and US.
Dr Baig will also be discuss-ing with Mr Rick, Senior Advisorto the Deputy Secretary of EnergyOffice USA, for their assistancein the energy sector in Pakistan.
AMANULLAH KHAN
KARACHI—Agricultural creditdisbursement by banks surgedby 12 percent on year-on-yearbasis to Rs 140.32 billion in thefirst half (July-December, 2012)of the current fiscal year (2012-13). In absolute terms, disburse-ment of credit to the agriculturesector increased by over Rs15.11 billion in July-December,2012 when compared with thetotal disbursement of Rs 125.21billion in the same period of thelast fiscal year.
Overall credit disbursementby five major commercial banksincluding Allied Bank Limited,Habib Bank Limited, MCBBank Limited, National Bank ofPakistan and United Bank Lim-ited stood at Rs 76.04 billion in
12pc hike in agricredit disbursement
July-December, 2012 as com-pared with Rs 70.56 billion dis-bursed in July-December, 2011depicting an increase of Rs 5.47billion or 7.76 percent.
Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited(ZTBL), the largest specializedbank, disbursed a total of Rs19.28 billion in July-December,2012, down by 8.39 percentwhen compared with Rs 21.04billion disbursed in the same pe-riod of the last fiscal year. PunjabProvincial Co-operative BankLimited (PPCBL) disbursed Rs3.59 billion in July-December,2012 down by 7.02 percent whencompared with Rs 3.87 billiondisbursed in the same period ofthe last fiscal year.
Fourteen domestic privatebanks also loaned a combinedamount of Rs 33.16 billion in
July-December, 2012 up by36.84 percent as compared withRs 24.23 billion disbursed in thesame period of the last fiscalyear.
Five Microfinance Banksincluding Khushhali Bank Ltd.,NRSP Microfinance Bank Ltd.,The First Microfinance BankLtd., Pak Oman MicrofinanceBank Ltd. and TameerMicrofinance Bank Ltd. dis-bursed agri. loans amounting toRs 8.25 billion during July-De-cember, 2012 as compared to Rs5.50 billion disbursed in thesame period of the last fiscalyear. It may be pointed out thatthe State Bank has provisionallyset an indicative agriculturalcredit disbursement target of Rs315 billion to banks for the cur-rent fiscal year.
STAFF REPORTER
K A R A C H I — T a m e e rMicrofinance Bank Limited(TMFB) announced the success-ful listing of its Term Finance Cer-tificate (TFC) by the name of“Tameer Sarmaya Certificate(TSC)” on the Karachi Stock Ex-change. Tameer Sarmaya Certifi-cate is the first of its kind retailMicro Finance TFC to be launchedin the Pakistan Market with a mini-mum investment ticket of PKR5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousandonly), with purchase of certificatein Multiples of PKR 5,000/- (Ru-pees Five Thousand) thereof.
The TFC has been offered for
Tameer Bank strikes Gong at KSEa period of 1 Year (13 Months) ata rate of 12% and 2 years (24Months) at a rate of 12.50%, witha monthly profit payment mecha-nism. The TFC aimed to raisePKR 1 billion (Rupees one Bil-lion) and has been partially se-cured through the MicrofinanceCredit Guarantee Facility pro-vided by the State Bank of Paki-stan. TFC 1 (1 Year) and TFC 2(2 Years), has an issue of PKR 500Million (Rupees Five HundredMillion) each respectively and hasbeen assigned a Rating of “‘A”’by JCR-VIS, which denotes veryhigh credit quality.
The Subscription of the fundwas available through Bankers lead
by SCB. Due to the overwhelm-ing response from the market, thesubscription for the fund has beenclosed within a record five days.
Speaking on the occasion, af-ter striking the Gong at KSE, MrNadeem Hussain, CEO, Presidentand Founder, Tameer Micro Fi-nance Bank said: “We are ex-tremely pleased at this groundbreaking achievement, the first ofits kind in the Pakistani Market.This will help pave the way forother’s to offer such products. Onthis occasion, I would like to thankour Bankers to the Issue, retailinvestors, our partners and theTameer Team who made this pos-sible and helped create history.”
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—Profit takingclipped gains in scrips prices ofleading scrips as KSE 100 In-dex recorded a rise of 39.04points to close at 1,6640.81points on Monday, dealers said.
Trading volume was re-stricted to 128.251 millionshares as 156 scrips advancedwhile 146 sustained losses and
KSE 100-Index gains 39.04 points32 remained unchanged. Themarket capitalization improvedby Rs 10.3 billion to Rs 4.155trillion.
Maple Leaf Cement was thevolume leader with 16.118 mil-lion shares followed by FaujiCement 13.585 million shares,Byco Pakistan 8.716 millionshares, Jahangir Siddiqui 8.601million shares and JS GrowthFund 7.005 million shares.
Engro Foods closed at99.23, NBP 48.82, Byco Pak13.90, Attock Refinery 164.53and Maple Leaf Cement 15.92.
Bata Pak recorded the high-est gain of Rs 20 to close at Rs1250 followed by MitchellsFruit which surged by Rs 15 toRs 395 while Rafhan Maizedipped by Rs 185 to Rs 3515 andUniliver Food plunged by Rs178 to Rs 4000.
PQ shipping activityKARACHI—Shipping activityremained active at Port Qasimduring the last 24 hours wherethree ships carrying containersand chemical were allottedberth at Qasim InternationalContainers Terminal and EngroVopak Terminal. Meanwhiletwo more ships scheduled toload/ offload cement and canolaseeds also arrived at the outeranchorage of Port Qasimduring the last 24 hours. Berthoccupancy was 45% at the Porton Monday where a totalnumber of five ships namelyLantau Arrow, Maersk Georgia,Harsanadi, Star Eracle andLiberty N are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers, chemicals,fertiliser and LPG Mixrespectively. A cargo volume of38304 tonnes comprising27741 tonnes imports and10563 tonnes exports inclusiveof containerised cargo carriedin 1107 containers (Boxes)were handled at the Port duringthe last 24 hours.—APP
Japanese calendarexhibition 2013Staff ReporterKARACHI—As many as 123calendars depicting theJapanese culture and lifestylehave been put on display atJapanese calendar exhibition.The exhibition commencedhere on Monday at JapanInformation and CultureCenter of the ConsulateGeneral of Japan. It is beingheld in collaboration withPakistan Japan CulturalAssociation (PJCA) Sindhand Pakistan Japan BusinessForum (PJBF). Ms. Beo RanaZafar, was the chief guest atthe event which will beopened to public from January22 to 25. In his inauguraladdress, Consul General ofJapan in Karachi, AkiraOuchi, stated that Japanesecalendars were good messen-gers to introduce the hugevariety of the aspect ofJapanese culture and thatvisitors could also enjoysophisticated printingtechnology of Japancrystallised in the calendars.
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—The earning pershare (EPS) of Fauji FertilizerCompany (FFC) this year is ex-pected to decline by 9 percentto Rs 16.2 compared to last year,believe the market observers.
Expected to post a final divi-dend of Rs 5 per share, the FFCis like to post in 2012 an earn-ing per share of Rs 16.2, down9 percent versus last year.
The analysts at Topline be-lieve that the FFC, whose boardmeeting is due on January 23,was expected to provide a totalreturn of more than 20%, inclu-sive of dividend in 2013.
“Though net sales are ex-pected to increase by 32%, weexpect FFC to post earnings de-
FFC’s EPS likely to reduceto Rs16.2 per share
cline of 9% in 2012. This is pri-marily due to lower gross mar-gins and lower dividend fromFFBL,” said Zeeshan Afzal ofTopline Research.
Expected higher rupee salesis primarily due to improvedurea prices (up by an average32%). On the flip side, declinein gross margin is primarily dueto the imposition of GIDC (GasInfrastructure DevelopmentCess) by the government onvarious sectors including fertil-izer on feed and fuel stock gasprices. This resulted into in-crease in cost of production.Thus, compared to gross marginof 62% in 2011, we expect grossmargin to reach at 48% in 2012,down 14pps.
Besides, lower dividend in-
come from FFBL amid declinein DAP margins and lower ureasales has also led to decline inFFC’s earnings.
“We expect FFC to postEPS of Rs5.4 in 4Q2012 asagainst Rs2.72 in 3Q2012. Ex-pected increase in earnings isprimarily attributed to higherurea off-take (up 64%) and divi-dend income from FFBL,” hesaid.
However, despite highervolumetric sales in 4Q2012,earnings are expected to remainlower than the 4QCY11 EPS ofRs6.84 primarily because ofhike in gas prices.
Available at attractive 2013dividend yield of 14%, we main-tain ‘Buy’ stance on FFC at cur-rent levels.
ISLAMABAD: Secretary Azad Kashmir Small Industries Corporation Saleem Bismil and Dr Shujat Ali, Secretary PunjabSmall Industries Corporation signing MoU.
Chairman PIA, Lt General (Retd) Asif Yasin Malik presiding over the 346th PIA Board ofDirectors meeting. Managing Director PIA, Muhammad Junaid Yunus also present at themeeting.
Sindh startsjudicial probe intoSBR’s land record
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—The Sindh gov-ernment has set up a judicialcommission to ascertain andreport facts relating to the pub-lic lands allotted, leased andkept in record by the SindhBoard of Revenue (SBR) sinceDecember 27, 2007 when thePPP chairperson BenazirBhutto was assassinated inRawalpindi.
The Sindh home departmentformed the one-member InquiryCommission and appointed Jus-tice (Rtd) Zahid Kurban Alavias its member to probe and fur-nish a detailed report within next30 days.
The Commission wouldbe investigating into the allot-ment of land by the SBR dur-ing the last five years, theconversion of 30 years leaseinto 99 years during the lastfive years.
Gold Tezab 53914.00Silver Tezabi 972.85
Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 53150.00Gold 22 Ct 48600.00SilverTezabi 975.00Silver Thobi 900.00
USA 97.60 97.40
UK 154.88 154.56
EURO 130.04 129.78
Canada 98.46 98.46
Switzerland 104.42 104.20
Australia 102.62 102.41
Sweden 14.98 14.95
Japan 1.0880 1.0858
Norway 17.41 17.38
Singapore 79.40 79.24
Denmark 17.42 17.39
Omani Riyal 242.00 241.75
Saudi Arabia 26.02 25.97
Hong Kong 12.59 12.56
Kuwait 346.48 345.77
Malaysia 32.29 32.22
Newzeland 81.57 81.40
Qatar 26.81 26.75
UAE 26.57 26.52
KR WON 0.0921 0.0919
Thailand 3.287 3.281
LCCI formacroeconomicreforms, policy
changesSALIM AHMED
LAHORE—The LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI) Mondaycalled for macroeconomicreforms and policy changesin consultation with stake-holders for a sustainable eco-nomic recovery.
After IMF decision thatit will not write-off or re-schedule Pakistan’s loan, theLCCI President FarooqIftikhar, Senior Vice Presi-dent Irfan Iqbal Sheikh andVice President Mian AbuzarShad said here Monday thatthe government would haveto reorganize the power sec-tor, restructure public sectorbusinesses and reduce tradedeficit to overcome eco-nomic woes.
The LCCI office-bearersalso stressed the need for amechanism to ensure in let-ter and spirit implementationof economic policy decisionsin the larger interests of thestakeholders. “Since gas andelectricity shortage is motherof all economic ills, there-fore, a focused attention tostop pilferage and allocatemore revenues to overcomecircular debt issue is needed.
The power sector infra-structure should be up-graded as without doing sothere will be little improve-ment even if major newgeneration facilities arebuilt. The government-owned power generationcompanies should be tech-nologically refurbished as itcould close the demand-supply gap by 1500 MW.”On restructuring of publicsector businesses, the LCCIoffice-bearers said that thepublic sector entities in-cluding Pakistan Railwaysand PIA are incurring a lossof over Rs 600 billion an-nually, therefore, theyshould be privatized. TheLCCI office-bearers alsosuggested to the govern-ment to announce incen-tives for the private sectorto give boost to exports andcontrol fast widening tradedeficit.
“Pakistan’s exports areconfined to a few destina-tions while a major chunkcomprises textiles only. Mea-sures are direly needed toenhance export base by in-cluding more items and newexport destinations.” In 60sthe collective exports of anumber of Far Eastern Coun-tries were much smaller thanPakistan but today eachcountry has bigger exportthan Pakistan and theyachieved this milestone bygiving proper considerationto the proposals of their re-spective business commu-nity.
At a time when the glo-bal trade is poised for fasterthan expected upwardgrowth and climbing out ofthis painful economic reces-sion by putting people backto work, the situation in Pa-kistan is heading to point ofno return.
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—Gerry’s Interna-tional, GSA of Virgin Atlantic,Pakistan and Barclays Bank Pa-kistan has joined forces to offercustomers a wider range of ex-periences of lavish traveling.The unique partnership will pro-vide passengers exclusive traveloffers and solutions.
Signing ceremony was heldrecently at Barclays Bank’sHead office in Karachi. GerrysInternational Group DirectorMr. Arshad Wali Muhammadand BBP CEO, Mr. ShazadDada were present at the cer-emony along with their respec-tive teams.
Speaking at the occasion,Shazad Dada said, “Apart from
Gerry’s International,Barclays Bank sign deal
providing customers with anexclusive contemporary space,the partnership will meet thechanging needs and expecta-tions of both business and lei-sure travelers and better inte-grate the ground and air travelexperience. The partnershipwith Gerry’s International, GSAof Virgin Atlantic will allow usto reach a truly global audienceevery day.”
Gerry’s International GroupDirector, Mr. Arshad WaliMuhammad shared his thoughtswith the team and said, “We aredelighted to be partnering witha brand like Barclays, enablingus to cater the right clientele.Providing various solutions toour traveler, we will set bench-mark for the industry to follow”.
Gerry’s International Group Director Arshad WaliMuhammad and Barclays CEO Shazad Dada at the signingceremony.
Samsungintroduces mini
smartphoneSTAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Samsung Electron-ics Co., Ltd, a global leader indigital media and digital conver-gence technologies, has intro-duced its latest smartphone – theGALAXY SIII Mini. It is a com-pact version of Samsung’s flag-ship smartphone GALAXY SIII.
The intelligent device com-bines high performance with in-tuitive ease-of-use and a nature-inspired design. It runs on a ro-bust 1 GHz Dual Core Proces-sor with 1 GB RAM and offersa 4.0 inch WVGA SuperAMOLED display screen, witha 5 Mega Pixel camera withLED flash and a VGA frontcamera. The Android 4.1 JellyBean Operating System has fastand fluid graphics. It features“Google Now” - to bring you theright information, before youeven ask.
This compact smartphoneunderstands your gestures foreasier usage. The “Smart Stay”function tracks your eyes andkeeps the screen lit as long asyou are looking at it. “DirectCall” enables you to automati-cally dial a specified call.
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—Iqbal DawoodPakwala, Acting President ofFederation of Pakistan Cham-bers of Commerce & Industry(FPCCI) in a press statement haslauded the reconciliation effortsput in by Mr. Asif Ali Zardari,President of Pakistan resultingin peaceful conclusion of longmarch after 4 days by signingan agreement with Dr. TahirulQadri, Chief of the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran.
The FPCCI Acting Chiefadded that the agreement re-flects the wisdom and positiveintention of the Pakistan’s Presi-dent to keep great harmonyamong all cross sections of thecountry and to find peacefulpolitical solutions of all the dis-putes through dialogue.
Iqbal Dawood Pakwala saidthat the settlement would helpfurther improve image of de-mocracy and democratic processin Pakistan and resumption of
Pakwala hails reconciliationefforts of Zardari
economic activities in the coun-try as evident from the fact thatStock Exchange market index,with an increase of 311 pointsreached to the tune of 16,602point within one day on Janu-ary 18, 2013. He was of the viewthat political stability is a pre-requisite for economic growthand development of the countryin the prevailing global scenarioto offset the future fiscal chal-lenges.
He also hailed the Govern-ment delegation which was ledby Ch Shujat Hussain, Presi-dent of PML (Q) for having aconstructive negotiation withTehrik-i-Minhajul Quran Chiefwhich led to end of the longmarch with amicable atmo-sphere and reconciliatoryspirit.
He also stressed the Govern-ment to proactively deal with theongoing power and gas crisisand other issues to avert indus-trial closures and resultant eco-nomic downturn.
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—The Institute ofChartered Accountants of Paki-stan (ICAP) launched Direc-tors’ Training Programme dulyapproved by Securities and Ex-change Commission of Paki-stan (SECP) on January 21,2013. 33 participants of listedcompanies are attending theProgramme.
Abdul Rahim Suriya, Chair-man CPD said in 1998, a con-ference was organized by ICAPon the subject of Good Corpo-rate Governance. Later in 2002,SECP adopted almost all ofthese recommendations.
He put forward three com-ments. Code of Corporate Gov-ernance does not specificallyrequire what to be covered forcorporate reporting. Thereforein order to further strengthen
Directors training programmelaunched by ICAP
transparency and accountability,SECP may include the corporatereporting criteria developed bythe Joint Committee of ICAPand ICMAP as a part of CCG.CCG requires directors to annexthe statements with the Direc-tors’ Report and Financial State-ments are as per IFRS and Sys-tem of Internal Control is soundetc.
CCG requires that 2/3 direc-tors should be non executive. Inthis circumstance it is not logi-cal to bound Non Executive di-rectors to certify and take somuch exposure and responsibil-ity. In few countries these con-firmations are expected fromCEO and CFO under a separatestatement called “ResponsibilityStatement”iii. The CCG alsorequires, wherever necessaryfew information to be annexedto the Directors’ Reports, for
example: key operating and fi-nancial summarized data of lastsix years;
He suggested SECP to makethese as a part of the annual re-port instead of making it as a partof Directors’ Report so that theresponsibility remains with theOperational Management,CFOs and & CEOs.
Director, SECP, Akif Saeedcongratulated ICAP for conduct-ing DTP. He said that what iswritten in code should be imple-mented in later and sprit.E-Vot-ing, E-IPP, E-Dividered are be-ing considered by SECP.
Ahmed Saeed, PresidentICAP said that Shareholders roleis to appoint Director’s & Audi-tors. ICAP appreciates effortsof SECP in promoting Corpo-rate Governance and providingadequate grounds for DirectorsTraining.
KARACHI: Ahmed Saeed, President ICAP, Abdul Rahim Suriya, Chairman CPD, AkifSaeed, Director, SECP, Arif Saeed, Director Service Industries and others at the launchingceremony of Directors’ Training Programme by ICAP.
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—The Securitiesand Exchange Commission ofPakistan has proposed certainamendments to the 2003 Com-panies (Registration Offices)Regulations, whereby a sub-stantial reduction in the addi-tional fees for late submissionof statutory returns, annual ac-counts and other documentsfiled by the companies has beenproposed.
As per current regulations,on late filing of documents,heavy additional fee is beingcharged which might be a rea-son for non-compliance andlow rate of filing of overduestatutory returns by companies.Through this amendment,
SECP seeks to cut fees forlate filing of returns, accounts
SECP has proposed to reducethe burden of additional fee tobe paid by companies. This islikely to increase compliancerate.
Additional fees which arerequired to be paid as one timeadditional fee for a delay of notmore than 15 days, two times fora delay of not more than 45 daysand three times for delay of morethan 45 days, shall now be paidas one fourth times for a delaynot more than one month, onehalf times for a delay not morethan six months, equal to usualfee for a delay not more than oneyear, one and half times for adelay not more than two years,two times for a delay not morethan three years, two and halftimes for a delay not more than
four years and three times for adelay of more than four years.
The SECP has thus pro-posed that the additional filingfee may be revised by spread-ing the period of filing of de-layed statutory returns over aperiod of four years in sevensteps, instead of just 45 days ascontained in the existing regu-lations.
The draft amendments havebeen published in the officialgazette vide S.R.O. No. 23 (I)/2013 for information of all per-sons likely to be affectedthereby. Any objections or sug-gestions received within 14days shall be considered by theCommission. The S.R.O. No. 23(I)/2013 has also placed at theSECP website.
ISLAMABAD: Group photo on the occasion of International Seminar on “Innovations in Irrigation Water Managementfor Sustainable Food Security” organized by National Productivity Organization (NPO), Ministry of Industries, collabora-tion with APO, USDA, FAO, Ministry of Food Security and WNPO.
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—Acumen Fund, apioneering nonprofit global ven-ture firm addressing povertyacross Africa and in South Asia,hosted an event yesterday to in-troduce the first class of AcumenPakistan Fellows. In partnershipwith JS Bank, the Mahvash &Jahangir Siddiqui Foundationand the Edmond de RothschildFoundations, Acumen is work-ing to develop the next genera-tion of social change leaderswho are building innovativebusinesses and strong institu-tions across Pakistan.
Acumen Fund, JS launchesPakistan fellows programme
Twenty individuals havebeen selected out of over 500candidates to participate in thisyear-long training, while simul-taneously continuing to pursuetheir social impact initiatives.Fellows’ initiatives range fromcreating an interest-freemicrofinance institution, to adisaster relief project, to a teach-ing training program. In additionto a presentation given by thenewly selected Pakistan Fel-lows, the launch event featuredremarks by JacquelineNovogratz, Founder & CEO ofAcumen Fund, and Firoz Ladak,Executive Director, Edmond de
Rothschild Foundations.“Pakistan today faces many
challenges, and we need newleaders who are dedicated to cre-ating a better future for thiscountry,” said Farrukh Khan,Country Director, Acumen FundPakistan. “It is exciting to helpdevelop a community of leaderswith the financial skills, opera-tional excellence and moralimagination to address pressingsocial issues and we’re humbledby the support and interestwe’ve received from our part-ners and local community.”
“The depth and breadth of tal-ent in the applicant pool size isevidence that the people of thisnation want to seek ways to im-prove the prevailing conditionsand challenge the existing statusquo,” stated Ali J. Siddiqui, CEO,Mahvash & Jahangir SiddiquiFoundation. “With this inauguralclass of bright and ambitious in-dividuals, we are creating abrighter future of this country byproviding the tools and the knowl-edge required to develop a newgeneration of Pakistani leaders.”
The Pakistan Fellows pro-gram is just one part ofAcumen’s investment in leader-ship and community of the Acu-men Fund alumni network. TheEast Africa Regional FellowsProgram is in its second year andjust selected its fellows for 2013.
Boeing to cut40pc jobs
NEW YORK—Boeing Co (BA)said it will cut a little more than40 percent of jobs, or 160 posi-tions, at its El Paso plant as itlooks to reduce the impact ofplanned U.S. defense budgetcuts.
The company said it willreduce occupied square footage50 percent at the plant by mov-ing from three buildings to one.The plant in Texas manufactureselectronics for a variety ofBoeing products.
The reductions will becompleted by the end of 2014,the company said.
Boeing announced a ma-jor restructuring of its defensedivision in November thatwould cut 30 percent of man-agement jobs from 2010 lev-els, close facilities and con-solidate several businessunits.
The company’s sharesclosed at $77.09 on the NewYork Stock Exchange.—Newswire
EPZA, FIEDMCsign MoU
OBSERVER REPORT
KARACHI—A meeting washeld between Mr. M Saadat S.Cheema, Chairman Export Pro-cessing Zones Authority(EPZA) and Mr. Khawaja AsimKhurshid, Chairman FaisalabadIndustrial Estate Developmentand Management Company(FIEDMC).
FIEDMC Chairman wel-comed the Chairman EPZA andhis team on arrival at FIEDMCcorporate office while ChiefOperating Officer (COO) gavecomprehensive presentation onFIEDMC projects to ChairmanEPZA.
During the meeting EPZAand FIEDMC agreed to sign anMoU between both the organi-zations to boost export orientedindustrialization in the region.It will generate thousands ofemployment opportunities forlocal inhabitants and earning offoreign exchange for the coun-try. During the meetingFIEDMC agreed to providesome reasonable space for es-tablishment of EPZA Liaisonoffice at corporate office ofFIEDMC.
Chairman EPZA also visitedFIEDMC M3 Industrial Cityand on this occasion briefingwas given by Chief OperatingOfficer (COO) of FIEDMC onthe master plan of M3 IndustrialCity. As a goodwill gestureChairman EPZA also plantedthe first plant of M3 IndustrialCity.
ISLAMABAD: Shahab Qarni, President and CEO BankersResource Group USA sharing views about organizing Pak-US Expo and Festival.
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—Indonesia hasenjoyed free access to the Paki-stan market for many items, in-cluding palm oil, for the past sixyears and part of the Preferen-tial Trade Agreement (PTA)signed by two countries recently,We expect the same unhinderedmarket access for kinnow ex-port, said Chief Executive Of-ficer Harvest Tradings, AhmadJawad.
However, he said, as of lastmonth, Indonesian importers arebeing issued with monthly quo-tas to control volumes of Paki-stani kinnow shipments that canbe brought into the countrywhich is not accepted at all.
Pakistani Fresh produce in-dustry also concerns over thebarring of entry of our productsto the Port of Jakarta. The clo-sure of the port to fresh produceshipments was hotly debated last
Level playing field demanded forPakistani kinnow in Indonesia
year when it was announced thatall exports would have to entervia other ports.
Negotiations have sincetaken place and this port isopened again to Australia andUS oranges, but not for Paki-stan.
This means that all Pakistaniproduce exports to the countrymust instead go via SurabayaCity, Indonesia from where it isshipped over land at an addi-tional cost of $2500; said Jawad.
On the other hand issue re-garding General Rate Increase(GRI) $ 1500 on perishable ship-ments from the shipping lines isnot solved in our country.
Shipping experts mentionedthat there was no plausible rea-son for an increase as there wasneither any congestion at theKarachi Port and Port Qasim northere was any choking of con-tainers.
Ahmad Jawad said that few
shipping lines are reluctant toimpose this new levy on thebusiness community in the lightof current trade scenario of thecountry which is appreciatedand we are thankful to them.
Unfortunately, some bignames in shipping industry sup-port GRI, just to stable their fi-nancial viability.
Needless to mention thatPakistani kinnow is already ex-pensive on the internationalmarket due to high input andwith this effect cost may in-creased up to Rs 150,000. Cur-rent year’s production is 20 per-cent less at 1.8 million tonescompared to previous year’syield of two million tones.
In spite of this downwardslide, in 2010-11/12 Pakistan’sfruit export market grew by 8.1percent and in vegetables, coun-try fetched 180.6 million dollarsby exporting edible vegetablesin the respective fiscal year.
Afghan cementfactories to
return to tenderKABUL—The management ofthree cement factories in Af-ghanistan will be put out to ten-der by the end of March, theMinistry of Mines said.
Included in the three is theHerat Cement Factory whichwas previously contracted withan Iranian company but was ter-minated by the ministry becauseof the company’s failure to ful-fill their commitments in duetime, ministry officials said.
“The Iranian company couldnot address the articles in thecontract and its commitments indue time. Following review anddiscussions, the Ministry ofMines terminated the contractwith this company,” MoMspokesman Ahmad Tamim Asisaid.
“(The factory) will be put upfor international bidding in Hamal1392 (March-April 2013) to in-crease the capacity of cement pro-duction in Afghanistan,” he added.The Herat factory has the capacityto produce 3,000 tonnes of cementper day, however the company hasfailed to meet this in 27 months be-cause it does not have the essentialtechnical and financial facilities toexcavate the raw materials neededto produce the cement.
The ministry also said that inthe next Persian year of 1392 (Mar2013-Mar 2014), the cement fac-tories of Jabul Saraj in Parwanprovince and Ghori in Baghlanprovince will also be put up forbidding in order for the factoriesto produce more and meet domes-tic cement demand.—DNA
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Gemsand Jewellery DevelopmentCompany (PGJDC) has estab-lished a Gems and JewelleryTraining and ManufacturingCenter (GJTMC) in Gilgit citywhich has vastly abundant re-sources of colored gemstonetreasures.
Most important of these areruby, topaz, aquamarine, tour-maline and quartz. According toofficial sources, this centre isestablished to acquire the trueeconomic potential of the re-gion.
“Center is successfully pro-viding training and common fa-cility centre services to the
PGJDC establishes training centre in Gilgitmasses”. In an advent of expan-sion of these facilities across theregion of Azad Kashmir, PGJDCalso intends to open a Gems andJewellery Training and Manufac-turing Center in Azad Kashmir innear future, official said. He saidtraining courses offer an insightinto the gemstones, their forma-tion, their identification methodsand how they can be excavatedintact to their natural shape.
Course participants are lec-tured on daily basis and they aretrained on different real, syn-thetic and artificial stones usinglatest gemological microscopesand other equipments.
Official said course helps alot to the gem dealers and otherinterested people who want to
excel in gemstone business infuture. Duration of these coursesrange from 2 weeks (ShortCourse) to 8 weeks (LongCourse), he said.
Besides, Lapidary (GemsCutting, Faceting & Carving)course is also offered in whichvalue addition is done to the loosecrystals so that they can be usedin jewellery making that result inmore income to the seller and sat-isfaction to the buyer. Officialsaid, through these rigorous prac-tical courses, highly skilled andtrained professionals are producedhaving sound knowledge on mod-ern day cutting, faceting & carv-ing techniques along with operat-ing expertise on latest Japanese &German Lapidary Machines.
Positive imageof PakistanSTAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—A team of Pa-kistan American Expo andFestival led by Shahab Qarni,President/CEO Bankers Re-source Group USA visitedIslamabad Chamber of Com-merce & Industry (ICCI) fordiscussing the purpose of or-ganizing Pakistan AmericaTrade Expo in WashingtonD.C, USA from September 13to 16, 2013.
Shahab Qarni informed themeeting that exhibition willhave representation of theleading business and com-merce sectors of Pakistan andwill provide a grand andunique opportunity for thebusinessman from both coun-tries to meet, discuss and cre-ate new avenue.
He said that the event wouldalso provide a platform for Pa-kistanis and their foreign coun-terparts to do business.
Bitter setback for MerkelBERLIN—In an extremely tight Germanstate election that seemed to produce fewclearcut winners, there was no argumentover who the biggest loser was - ChancellorAngela Merkel. Her Christian Democrats(CDU), led in Lower Saxony by rising starDavid McAllister, had convinced themselvesover the past week that they were on theverge of a stunning come-from-behind vic-tory in the northwestern state, a major agri-cultural and industrial region that is
Germany’s closest approximation to a U.S.-style swing state. Buton Sunday, they came up agonisingly short, losing power to thecentre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens, who togethermanaged to win one more seat in the state assembly than thecentre-right. It is a bitter defeat for the 58-year-old chancellor,even if she remains a strong favourite to win a third term in afederal election eight months from now. “It is a setback. I won’tpretend it isn’t, and it hurts all the more because it was so close,”Hermann Groehe, a close Merkel ally and general secretary ofthe CDU, told German radio. In one fell swoop, the result givesthe centre-left a majority in the Bundesrat upper house of parlia-ment, meaning the opposition can block major legislation fromMerkel’s government and initiate laws themselves. That will notchange after the national election in September, even if Merkel’scentre-right coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP)manages to hold onto power. In the run-up to the federal vote,Merkel’s room for manoeuvre will be limited, and the notori-ously risk-averse German leader may take a more cautious stanceon a range of policy issues, including her management of theeuro zone debt crisis. —Reuters
Israel dismantles Palestinian protest tentsRAMALLAH—Israeli forces removed Pales-tinian protest tents from land adjoining a Jew-ish settlement in the occupied West Bank onMonday, the second such camp to be torndown in a week. Palestinian activists hadpitched tents near the village of Beit Iksa,northwest of Jerusalem, where residents facedifficulty building homes due to Israeli re-strictions and may be surrounded by a sepa-ration barrier Israel plans for the area. IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, widely
predicted to win a third term in an election on Tuesday, has pledgedto pursue settlement building in the West Bank and in East Jerusa-lem, occupied land that Israel has annexed in a move not recognisedinternationally. “Israeli border police evacuated the structures, re-moving some 20 people who were there and confiscating the tentsand equipment,” an Israeli security source told Reuters. Activistsfrom the camp, which they dubbed Bab al-Karama, “the Gatewayof Dignity”, vowed to continue pitching tents on areas they say arethreatened by Israeli settlement expansion. “The demolition of Babal-Karama does not mean the end of our stand. Activists will againoccupy the site on which the village was built and they will rebuildtheir tents when the opportunity arises,” activist Nabil Hababa said.Last week, many of the same protesters were evicted by Israeliforces from a protest camp in an area outside Jerusalem known asE1, earmarked by Israel for new settlements that Palestinians saywill split the West Bank in two. The Israeli Haaretz newspaperreported on Monday that Israel’s Defence Ministry planned tochange the proposed route of its separation barrier to prevent Pal-estinian access to the E1 area.—Reuters
Italy ‘Radical reforms’ROME—Italian Prime Minister Mario Montilaunched his campaign for a second term onSunday with a speech calling for deep-rootedreforms to kick start economic growth, fourweeks ahead of a parliamentary election.“Italy needs radical reforms. Radical reformsfor those who are outside protected interestgroups, and for young people who cannot findwork because others are over-protected,” theeconomist said at the launch of his campaignfor the February 24-25 vote. In an interview
with the premier on Sunday, daily Corriere della Sera said Montiplanned to try to modify a labour reform that was watered downduring a lengthy passage through parliament last year. Monti saidonly that nothing had been decided. In his speech Monti said hewould push for a “drastic reduction” of the number of parliamen-tarians and a rearrangement of the Italian state to make it “lessonerous”. Such reforms have long had broad cross-party support,but have stalled in parliament. The head of a technocrat govern-ment appointed in November 2011 to rescue Italy from a Greek-style meltdown with austerity and reforms, Monti said he wouldstick to cutting the country’s debt burden but that Italians couldlook forward to a gradual reduction in taxes. The promise cameafter a week in which support for the centre-right party of rivalSilvio Berlusconi rose two points to 17.7 percent according to aFriday poll by SWG. Berlusconi repeatedly promised to abolish amuch-hated property tax introduced by Monti to mend Italian pub-lic finances.—Reuters
Franco-German unity eventBERLIN—Germany and France will put on ashow of total unity this week to mark the 50thanniversary of the Elysee Treaty that cementedtheir post-war reconciliation. But beneath thepublic display of friendship, the Franco-Ger-man motor that has long driven Europe is sput-tering and unlikely to offer new policy break-throughs this year to help speed the euro zonefully out of its crisis. French President FrancoisHollande will travel to Berlin for a joint cabi-net meeting and session of parliament due on
Tuesday. He will also join German Chancellor Angela Merkel ingiving speeches in the Reichstag building where Adolf Hitler oncepresided. Hollande has been overwhelmed by domestic problemssince taking over from conservative Nicolas Sarkozy eight monthsago, and finds himself hemmed in by a growing euro-wariness withinhis Socialist Party and among the wider French public. Officials inBerlin are watching his early attempts to overhaul the strugglingFrench economy, worrying that if there is not more progress soon,the euro’s crisis could flare up again, enveloping France, and Ger-many with it. The 1963 signing of the Elysee Treaty by France’sPresident Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor KonradAdenauer aimed to foster deep ties between the nations less than twodecades after the Nazi occupation of France. Over the years the treatyhas spawned separate agreements in education, culture and defencethat have sent millions of young French and Germans on language-learning exchange trips, created a joint TV channel and Europe’sfirst cross-border army brigade.—Reuters
China rebukes US for disputed remarkBEIJING—China rebuked U.S. Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton on Monday for herpublic backing of Japan’s administrationover a string of uninhabited islands in theEast China Sea which are at the centre of amessy dispute between China and Japan.Clinton, speaking after meeting JapaneseForeign Minister Fumio Kishida, repeatedthe long-standing U.S. position that Wash-ington acknowledged the islands were un-der Japan’s administration, raising China’s
ire. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Mon-day that Clinton’s remarks were a distortion of the facts. “Therelevant comments by the U.S. side neglects the facts and con-fuses right with wrong. China is extremely dissatisfied and reso-lutely opposed to this,” he told a daily news briefing. “We urgethe U.S. side to take a responsible attitude towards dealing withthe Diaoyu Islands, be cautious in what they say and do and takeconcrete steps to maintain regional stability and overall pictureof Sino-U.S. ties to gain the trust of the Chinese people.”—AP
Pirates seizeoil tanker
ABIDJAN—Ivory Coast’s gov-ernment says armed men havehijacked an oil tanker in thecountry’s commercial capital.Authorities first reported the hi-jacking of the Panamanian-flagged vessel, ITRI, on Mon-day. It began Wednesday as thetanker was preparing to deposit5,000 tons of oil at the port ofAbidjan.
A government statementsaid officials located the vesseloff neighboring Ghana. It wasnot immediately clear how manycrew members were on board,or whether the hijackers hadgiven up control of the tanker.Authorities were mobilized overthe issue.
Most hijackings in the re-gion occur near oil-rich Nigeria.The first recorded vessel hijack-ing off Ivory Coast was in Oc-tober when 14 men armed withknives and AK-47s boarded atanker carrying 30,000 tons ofgasoline. The crew was later re-leased unharmed.—AP
West launchescurrencywar: Iran
TEHRAN—Iran’s IntelligenceMinistry says the West haslaunched a “currency war”against Tehran to destabilize theIslamic Republic. The directorof the ministry’s economy de-partment, who was unnamed inthe Monday report from thesemiofficial Fars agency, saysthat expanding domestic produc-tion can help counter Westernsanctions imposed on Iran overits nuclear program.
Sanctions include an oilembargo and banking restric-tions that make it difficult forIran’s Asian customers to pay.Iran’s national currency lostnearly 40 percent of its value in2012 alone.
It now fluctuates between30,000 rials to 34,000 rials in theopen market, compared to10,000 rials as recently as early2011. The U.S. and its allies fearIran is trying to develop anuclear weapon, a charge Tehrandenies.—AP
Petrol pumpsowners’ strikeenters 2nd day
DHAKA—Vehicle owners andcommuters have been goingthrough a tough time as petrolpump owners and tank-lorryworkers are continuing their na-tionwide indefinite strike for thesecond consecutive day on Mon-day. Bangladesh Petrol PumpOwners and Tank-Lorry Owners-Workers Unity Council enforcedthe strike on Sunday to press hometheir nine-point demands, includ-ing a hike in commission on salesof fuel.
The power and energy minis-try will hold talks with petrolpump owners at 3:00pm Mondayto talk them out of the strike, saida ministry spokesperson on Sun-day. The demands include a 3.4percent increase in commission onsales of diesel and 4 percent onsales of petrol and octane follow-ing price hike of fuel.
Other demands of the pumpowners include a rise in tank-lorryfare and necessary steps againstadulteration of fuel. Around 4,500petrol pumps remained closed and30,000 tank-lorries stayed off thestreets across the country since6:00am Sunday. —Star
BAGHDAD—Al-Qaeda’s Iraqiaffiliate said it had carried out asuicide bomb attack that killed aSunni Muslim lawmaker lastweek as he toured a constructionsite in the westerly Anbar prov-ince, where Sunnis have beenprotesting against the govern-ment for three weeks. Membersof the Sunni minority accuse theShi’ite-led government ofmarginalising them, and the waveof protests has raised fears thatthe OPEC country could againslide into widespread sectarianconflict.
The Islamic State of Iraq(ISI), an umbrella group for alQaeda-linked Sunni insurgents,said it was responsible for the as-sassination of Efan al-Esawi, de-scribing him as the “dog of theAmericans” and the “tail of theShi’ites”. Esawi was one of thearchitects of the Sahwa tribal re-sistance that helped to subdue alQaeda-linked insurgents battlingU.S. troops in the Sunni heart-land of Anbar at the height of theconflict of the last decade.
Posing as a worker, the at-tacker hugged Efan al-Esawi be-fore detonating an explosive vest,killing them both on the spot. “Heinsisted on his disbelief, treach-ery and war against Muslims ...until he died at the hands of the
Al Qaeda claims assassination of Sunni lawmaker in Iraqmujahideen in his current state, tobe an example and a lesson forthose after him,” the U.S.-based
SITE Intelligence Group quotedISI as saying in a statement onSunday.
The ISI also claimed respon-sibility for other attacks in Anbarprovince and across the country,
without giving details. OnWednesday more than 35 peopledied in a suicide bomb attack and
Residents carry the coffin of Efan al-Esawi, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, in Falluja, 50 km
other bombings in northern Iraqand Baghdad.
Al Qaeda’s Iraqi branch alsovoiced support for the Sunni pro-tests and said it was fighting to“cut off the vein that is extendingthe life of the criminal Nusayriregime to kill your brothers in theLevant”. In neighbouring Syria,mainly Sunni rebels are fightingPresident Bashar al-Assad, mostof whose ruling establishment aremembers of the Shi’ite-derivedAlawite or Nusayri sect, addingto the strain on Iraq’s own deli-cate sectarian and ethnic balance.
Sunni anti-government pro-tests erupted in Iraq in late Decem-ber after state officials arrestedmembers of a Sunni financeminister’s security team on terror-ism charges.
Authorities denied the arrestswere political, but Sunni leaderssaw them as a crackdown. Sincethe fall of Sunni strongmanSaddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion, many Sunnis feelthey have been marginalised bythe Shi’ite leadership.
Violence in Iraq is well downsince the height of sectarianbloodletting in 2006-2007. Butlast year saw a rise in violentdeaths for the first time in threeyears, with more than 4,400people killed.—Reuters
KABUL—Afghan authorities arestill torturing prisoners, such ashanging them by their wrists andbeating them with cables, theUnited Nations said, a year afterit first documented the abuse andwon government promises ofdetention reform. The latest re-port shows little progress in curb-ing abuse in Afghan prisons de-spite efforts by the U.N. and in-ternational military forces in Af-ghanistan. The report releasedSunday also cites instanceswhere Afghan authorities havetried to hide mistreatment fromU.N. monitors.
The slow progress on prisonreform has prompted NATOforces to once again stop manytransfers of detainees to Afghanauthorities out of concern thatthey would be tortured. In mul-tiple detention centers, Afghanauthorities leave detainees hang-ing from the ceiling by theirwrists, beat them with cables andwooden sticks, administer elec-
Prisoners still torturedin Afghan custody: UN
tric shocks, twist their genitals andthreaten to shove bottles up theiranuses or to kill them, the reportsaid.
In a letter responding to thelatest report, the Afghan govern-ment said that its internal moni-toring committee found that “theallegations of torture of detaineeswere untrue and thus disproved.”The Afghan government said thatit would not completely rule outthe possibility of torture at its de-tention facilities, but that it wasnowhere near the levels describedin the report and that it was check-ing on reports of abuse. The find-ings, however, highlight the typeof human rights abuses that manyactivists worry could becomemore prevalent in Afghanistan asinternational forces draw downand the country’s Western alliesbecome less watchful over a gov-ernment that so far has taken fewconcrete actions to reform the sys-tem.
As one detainee in the west-
ern province of Farah told theU.N. team: “They laid me on theground. One of them sat on myfeet and another one sat on myhead, and the third one took a pipeand started beating me with it.They were beating me for sometime like one hour and were fre-quently telling me that, ‘You arewith Taliban and this is what youdeserve.’”
More than half of the 635 de-tainees interviewed had been tor-tured, according to the report titledTreatment of Conflict-Related De-tainees in Afghan Custody: OneYear On. That is about the sameratio the U.N. found in its first re-port in 2011.
It’s a troubling finding giventhe amount of international atten-tion and pledges of reform thatcame after the first report. At thattime, the NATO military alliancetemporarily stopped transferringAfghans it had picked up to na-tional authorities until they couldset up a system free of abuse.
ALBUQUERQUE—A 15-year-old boy remained in custodySunday night as detectives triedto piece together what led to theshooting of his parents and threeof their children who were founddead in a New Mexico home.The teenager was arrested onmurder and other charges in con-nection with the shootings,which happened Saturday nightat the home in a rural area south-west of downtown Albuquerque,said Lt. Sid Covington, aBernalillo County sheriff ’sspokesman.
Authorities identified thevictims late Sunday as GregGriego, 51, his wife Sara Griego,40, and three of their children: a9-year-old boy, ZephaniaGriego, and daughters JaelGriego, 5, and Angelina Griego,2. Word of the shootings trav-elled quickly through the lawenforcement community, andofficials began offering theircondolences for Greg Griego, aspiritual leader known for hiswork with firefighters and the 13years he spent as a volunteerchaplain at the county jail.
Mexico five murders puzzle police“Chaplin Griego was a dedi-
cated professional that passion-ately served his fellow man andthe firefighters of this commu-nity,” Fire Chief James Breensaid in a statement. “His calm-ing spirit and gentle nature willbe greatly missed.” Jail ChiefRamon Rustin said Griego wasinstrumental in the creation of theMetropolitan Detention Center’schaplain program and worked toget inmates integrated back intothe community.
Griego also was a formermember of the pastoral staff atCalvary, a Christian church inAlbuquerque. As part of his workthere, he oversaw the StraightStreet program for jail inmates.Authorities said each victim suf-fered more than one gunshotwound, and several guns werefound at the home, one of whichwas a semi-automatic military-style rifle. Investigators were try-ing to determine who owned theguns.
“Right now we’re to the me-ticulous points of processing thescene and collecting physicalevidence, and this is a vast scene
with a lot of physical evidence,”Covington said. Authorities de-clined to release details of anyconversation that the 15-year-oldhad with investigators, but theysaid he was the Griegos’ son. Thesheriff’s office said he is chargedwith two counts of murder andthree counts of child abuse result-ing in death.
The Associated Press is with-holding the suspect’s name dur-ing the initial investigation be-cause he is a juvenile. Thesheriff’s office said it wouldn’trelease any further informationabout the case until Sheriff DanHouston holds a news conferenceTuesday morning.
On Sunday, a police road-block cut off public access tothe narrow dirt road that leadsto the home, which is sur-rounded by trees and an agri-cultural field on one side.Neighbours said they saw thefirst police cars and ambulancesarrive at the home Saturdaynight. The road was blockedand word of the shootings be-gan to make its way through theneighbourhood.—Reuters
WASHINGTO N—PresidentBarack Obama has prepared asecond inaugural address thatbroadly lays out his vision forthe country’s future, setting thestage for looming debates overtaxes, guns, immigration andother issues while leaving thedetails for another day.
The speech, slated right af-ter Obama takes an oath to“faithfully execute the office ofthe President of the UnitedStates” Monday on the Capitol’swest front, includes no newpolicy, aides say. Rather, thepresident plans to use the mo-ment as it traditionally has beenin most of the 56 previous inau-gurations — to talk about found-ing American values and theirimportance to the country’s suc-cess today.
But his words come on theprecipice of a second term withno shortage of tough battles.Obama may in some way refer-ence the Connecticut elementaryschool shooting that pushed guncontrol to the top of his agenda.He may also speak of a need to
Obama speech sets offpolicy wranglings
tackle comprehensive immigra-tion reform, another second-term priority, and a need to bringU.S. troops home from Afghani-stan.
White House advisers seethe inaugural speech as theopening opportunity for thepresident to discuss his second-term agenda, but in broad terms.The next major opportunity willbe at the State of the Union ad-dress Feb. 12, when aides sayObama will discuss specificpolicy proposals.
Inaugural addresses are nottypically partisan, and WhiteHouse aides say Obama doesn’tintend to call out his politicalopponents. But they say he willstand up for his values and visionthat were supported by the ma-jority of voters in the Novemberelection. Obama’s prepared textnotes that spirited debate is a hall-mark of a vibrant democracy,aides say, but that the country’sleaders can’t let disagreementprevent them from finding com-mon ground to move the countryforward. —AP
LONDON—Cambridge Univer-sity scientists say they have seenfour-stranded DNA at work inhuman cells for the first time. Thefamous “molecule of life”, whichcarries our genetic code, is morefamiliar to us as a double helix.But researchers tell the journalNature Chemistry hat the“quadruple helix” is also presentin our cells, and in ways thatmight possibly relate to cancer.
They suggest that control ofthe structures could providenovel ways to fight the disease.“The existence of these structuresmay be loaded when the cell hasa certain genotype or a certaindysfunctional state,” said ProfShankar Balasubramanian fromCambridge’s department ofchemistry. “We need to provethat; but if that is the case, target-ing them with synthetic mol-ecules could be an interestingway of selectively targeting thosecells that have this dysfunction,”he told BBC News.
‘Quadruple helix’ DNAseen in human cells
It will be exactly 60 years agoin February that James Watsonand Francis Crick famously burstinto the pub next to their Cam-bridge laboratory to announce thediscovery of the “secret of life”.What they had actually done wasdescribe the way in which twolong chemical chains wound uparound each other to encode theinformation cells need to build andmaintain our bodies.
Today, the pair’s moderncounterparts in the university citycontinue to work on DNA’s com-plexities. Balasubramanian’sgroup has been pursuing a four-stranded version of the moleculethat scientists have produced in thetest tube now for a number ofyears. It is called the G-quadruplex. The “G” refers toguanine, one of the four chemicalgroups, or “bases”, that hold DNAtogether and which encode ourgenetic information (the othersbeing adenine, cytosine, andthymine).
The G-quadruplex seems toform in DNA where guanine ex-ists in substantial quantities.Andalthough ciliates, relatively simplemicroscopic organisms, have dis-played evidence for the incidenceof such DNA, the new research issaid to be the first to firmly pin-point the quadruple helix in hu-man cells.
The team, led by GiuliaBiffi, a researcher inBalasubramaninan’s lab, pro-duced antibody proteins thatwere designed specifically totrack down and bind to regionsof human DNA that were richin the quadruplex structure. Theantibodies were tagged with afluorescence marker so that thetime and place of the structures’emergence in the cell cyclecould be noted and imaged. Thisrevealed the four-stranded DNAarose most frequently during theso-called “s-phase” when a cellcopies its DNA just prior to di-viding.—Reuters
ALGIERS—The death toll fromthe terrorist siege at a natural gasplant in the Sahara climbed past80 on Sunday as Algerian forcessearching the refinery for explo-sives found dozens more bodies,many so badly disfigured it wasunclear whether they were hos-tages or militants, a security of-ficial said.
Algerian special forcesstormed the plant on Saturday toend the four-day siege, movingin to thwart what government of-ficials said was a plot by the Is-lamic extremists to blow up thecomplex and kill all their cap-tives with mines sown through-out the site.
In a statement, the MaskedBrigade, the group that claimedto have masterminded the take-over, warned of more such at-tacks against any country back-ing France’s military interven-tion in neighbouring Mali,where the French are trying tostop an advance by Islamic ex-tremists. “We stress to our Mus-
Algeria hostagedeath toll over 80
lim brothers the necessity to stayaway from all the Western com-panies and complexes for theirown safety, and especially theFrench ones,” the statementsaid.
Algeria said after Saturday’sassault by government forcesthat at least 32 extremists and 23hostages were killed. On Sun-day, Algerian bomb squads sentin to blow up or defuse the ex-plosives found 25 more bodies,said the security official, whospoke on condition of anonym-ity because of the sensitivity ofthe situation.
“These bodies are difficult toidentify. They could be the bod-ies of foreign hostages or Algeri-ans or terrorists,” the official said.Three Britons were killed and an-other three were feared dead. Thedead hostages were also known toinclude at least one American aswell as Filipino and French work-ers. Nearly two dozen foreignersby some estimates were unac-counted for. —AP
ISTANBUL—Syrian oppositionleaders said on Monday they hadfailed to agree on a transitionalgovernment to run rebel-held ar-eas, dealing a fresh blow to theirefforts to present a credible alter-native to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule. The Syrian NationalCoalition (SNC) said in a state-ment that a five-member commit-tee would put forward proposalson forming a government within10 days, after talks in an Istanbulhotel broke up without agreementon an interim prime minister.
Formation of a government isseen as a threat to some membersof the SNC, especially the Mus-lim Brotherhood, which wouldlose influence if a smaller execu-tive body were elected. TheIstanbul talks, the opposition’ssecond bid to form a government,have only highlighted divisions inthe coalition and risk undermin-ing support for the umbrellagrouping, formed two months agoin Qatar with Western and Gulf
Syrian opposition fails toform transitional govt
backing.Power struggles within the
70-member coalition have under-mined efforts to agree on a transi-tional government, even as Syriaslides further into sectarian con-flict between the Sunni Muslimmajority and Assad’s minorityAlawite sect. “This is a big blowfor the revolution against Basharal-Assad,” said one Syrian oppo-sition leader who attended themeeting but who did not want tobe named because he operates un-derground in Syria.
He said that half of the SNCopposed the idea of a transitionalgovernment altogether, even afterthe group abandoned a previousstipulation that coalition memberswould not be allowed to serve inthe government.
Sources at the negotiationssaid on Sunday that SNC Presi-dent Moaz Alkhatib had flown toQatar to secure promises of finan-cial aid for a transitional govern-ment in rebel-held areas.—AP
K A R A C H I — Va r i o u scricket playing nationshave launched their ownbrands of T20 leagues toearn money as well as toprovide local players witha chance to exhibit theirtalent.
However, Pakistan’scase is unique in this regardbecause along with the twomentioned facts, the Paki-stan Cricket Board (PCB)has to confront with an-other daunting task ofsomewhat negatingcountry’s negative impres-sion.
In Pakistan the initia-tive was widely appreci-ated however former Paki-stan Captain Amir Sohailfeels that the ultimate ob-jective would only beachieved only if a reason-able number of current in-ternational players partici-
Only contracted foreign playersto benefit PSL: Sohail
pate in the Pakistan SuperLeague. “The objective ofthe PCB is to rope in foreignplayers to build a strongcase for the internationalcricket revival to Pakistan.This goal will only beachieved if contracted cur-rent players from majorcricket playing countriescome and play in Pakistan.”,said Amir Sohail while talk-ing a private TV channel.
“If active foreign playersshow up [for PSL] then thecase of those reluctant tovisit Pakistan would getweaker and Pakistan’s caseget stronger subsequently”,adds Amir Sohail
The Pakistan CricketBoard has recently an-nounced to launch PakistanSuper T20 league, which isscheduled to commence fromMarch 26th. Haroon Lorgat,the former CEO of the Inter-
national Cricket Council(ICC) has been hired as theconsultant for the league bythe PCB.
The former left-handedopener also questioned thewisdom behind the ap-pointment of HaroonLorgat for the PSL, addingthat the non-involvementof the Federation of Inter-national Cricketers’ Asso-ciation (FICA) might turn-out as hindrance for thePSL. “Instead of Lorgat,the PCB should havestarted off by engaging theFICA in the first place. TimMay [FIFA, CEO] couldplay a part in the future, Iam afraid”, said AmirSohail.
“Anyway now Lorgat isappointed, so let’s see howhe works. I wish him all thebest”, concludes AmirSohail.—NNI
SPORTS REPORTER
ISLAMABAD—After a thrill-ing finish, Pakistan ski con-tingent comprising MasterNoor Muhammad and Mas-ter Shah Hussain of NaltarSki School clinched two toppositions by winning Goldand Silver medals in ‘DreamProgramme -2013’ held inGangwon Province, the Re-public of Korea.
Vice Chief of the Air Staff,Air Marshal Farhat HussainKhan, who is also the Presi-dent Ski Federation of Paki-stan, congratulated the ath-letes who called on him in hisoffice today. Air MarshalFarhat Hussain Khan laudedtheir achievements for win-ning Gold as well as SilverMedals and hoped that theirflying coloured successwould significantly boost theSFP’s ventures in Nationaland International ski events.
He said, “It shows thatwe have made hugeprogress since our joiningthe Dream trainingProgramme only 02 yearsago in 2011”.
He also acknowledgedthe contributions and effortsof Embassy of Korea in Paki-stan, especially the Ambas-sador, His Excellency MrChoong-joo Choi for extend-ing his full support and co-operation in materializingthese ski training sessions inKorea.
Later, these promisingskiers met with His Excellency
Pakistan Ski team winGold Medal in Korea
KOREA: Air Marshal Farhat Hussain Khan, President Ski Federation of Pakistan with the winning Pakistan Skiteam of ‘Dream Program-2013’ held at the Republic of Korea.
Mr Choong-joo Choi at theembassy of Republic of Ko-rea. The ambassador appre-ciated the outstanding per-formance of these buddingplayers in Dream Programme– 2013.
‘Dream Programme’ wascommenced by GangwonProvince, Korea, the host of
Pyeong Chang 2018 WinterOlympics. The purpose ofthe Programme is to fulfil thepromise with InternationalSports World to expand thebase of winter sports. Since2004, the Province is invitingyoung people from countries,where winter sports facilitiesare not fully developed.
Pakistan, however,joined the Programme in2011. This year about 150participants from 40 differentcountries participated in thetraining after which the ath-letes were divided intogroups and competitionswere held among them.
The Programme
endeavours to provide sys-tematic and specialized train-ing of winter sports for which‘Winter Sports Academy’has been established underthe guidance of KoreanOlympic medallists and na-tional team level athletes fortraining opportunity to prom-ising young athletes.
JOHANNESBURG—Pakistanshould be allowed to stageinternational cricket again,captain Misbah-ul-Haq saidMonday as his team pre-pared to face top-rankedSouth Africain a three-Testseries.
No Testseries hasbeen stagedin Pakistansince armedmilitants at-tacked a buscarrying theSri Lankanteam in Lahore four yearsago, killing eight locals andwounding six visiting play-ers.
“Pakistan is such a bigcricketing nation and theworld has to think aboutbringing international cricketback to the country,” the 38-year-old right-hand batsmansaid.
“A Twenty20 tournamentin Pakistan saw full stadiumsfor every game and therewere no security concerns.The people should have in-
Safe to play Tests inPakistan: Misbah
ternational cricket,” he told amedia conference.
Team manager NaveedAkram Cheema backed theviews of Misbah, stressingthat the security situation in
the countrywas muchsafer than theoutside worldrealised.
“There is adifference be-tween percep-tion and real-ity. Otherteams do notcome to Paki-
stan on the pretext of secu-rity concerns, but it is as safeas any other country in theworld,” he said.
Misbah said having toplay ‘home’ Tests abroad —often in the United Arab Emir-ates cities of Dubai and AbuDhabi — was affecting thecompetiveness of the team.
“It is very difficult whenyou are not playing a formaton a regular basis — you re-ally have to work hard. Youcould say it is a limitation forus, but we are professionals
and have to do well.“We play only about five
or six Tests a year while othercountries play 15 or 16 a year.This really does affect ourteam,” he said ahead of thefirst Test from February 1 atthe Wanderers inJohannesburg.
Pakistan will also playTests in Cape Town and Cen-turion, two Twenty 20internationals and five one-day internationals during atour that stretches to lateMarch.—AFP
MELBOURNE—Defendingchampion Victoria Azarenkabreezed into the AustralianOpen quarter-finals on Mon-day with an easy straight-sets defeat of unseeded Rus-sian Elena Vesnina.
The top-seededBelarusian prevailed 6-1, 6-1on Rod Laver Arena and willmeet another Russian, two-time Grand Slam winnerSvetlana Kuznetsova, for aplace in the last four.
The world number one,who was pushed to threesets in a tough third roundclash with American JamieHampton, was in red-hotform off the baseline, butseven double-faults blottedher performance.
Defending championAzarenka into Open quarters
“The top battles are start-ing now,” she said, lookingahead to her next match. “I’mreally excited to be so far inthe tournament again.”
Vesnina, who won theHobart International warm-up tournament, has neverbeaten a world number oneand she did not look like im-proving her record on Mon-day.
Azarenka immediatelybroke the 47th-ranked Rus-sian in her opening servicegame to pile the early pres-sure on.
The Belarusian comfort-ably held before breakingVesnina to love for a 3-0 leadwith the Russian overawedand not getting in the game,
having no answers to the siz-zling Azarenka forehand.
She finally held serve toget a game on the board be-fore the top seed wrapped upthe set in 33 minutes.
While Azarenka’sground strokes were nearfaultless, her serve was way-ward and this gave Vesninaa glimmer of hope, but shefailed to capitalise andAzarenka broke for a 3-1 lead.
There was no stoppingAzarenka, who needs to de-fend her title to have anychance of remaining worldnumber one with Serena Wil-liams and Maria Sharapovabreathing down her neck, asshe raced to victory in lessthan an hour.—AFP
MELBOURNE: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacting following her fourth round vic-tory over Russia’s Elena Vesnina at the Australian Open Tennis Championship.
B A R C E L O N A —Cris t i anoRonaldo netted two goalsand set up another to powerReal Madrid’s blistering at-tack to a 5-0 demolition ofValencia in the Spanishleague on Sunday, whileAtletico Madrid chipped intoBarcelona’s lead by main-taining its perfect record athome.
Madrid decided thematch by halftime withdoubles by Ronaldo andAngel Di Maria after GonzaloHiguain had opened the scor-ing.
Atletico, meanwhile,eased to a 2-0 win overLevante despite losingstriker Radamel Falcao to in-jury for its 11th win in 11 homegames this season, breathingan inkling of life into the titlechase.
Atletico took advantageof Barcelona’s first leaguedefeat of the season the daybefore to reduce the gap tothe pacesetters to eightpoints.
Madrid’s best perfor-mance, and arguably the best
CAPE TOWN—Francois‘Faf’ du Plessis was handedthe captaincy of the SouthAfrican one-day interna-tional team Sunday after ABde Villiers was suspended fora slow over rate in the firstmatch against New Zealand.
It was another twist in atale of two cricketers whowere schoolboy team-matesat the Afrikaans Boys Highschool in Pretoria.
Back then it was DuPlessis who was the captainof the first XI, although DeVilliers was always the moreobvious future star, playingfor South African Schools inhis last two years at school,while Du Plessis missed se-lection. But Du Plessis earneda place on a South African un-der-19 tour of England in 2003and was made vice-captain toImraan Khan, who played inone Test for South Africa inthe 2008/09 season.
De Villiers was playinginternational cricket barelytwo years after leavingschool and was named cap-tain of South Africa’s one-day international andTwenty20 teams soon after
Du Plessis replaces bannedDe Villiers as captain
Gary Kirsten took over ascoach two years ago.
Du Plessis made slowerprogress, making his one-day international debut twoseasons ago.
But he quickly earnedrecognition as one of theleaders in a team environment— a reputation which soaredwhen he made a match-sav-ing century on his Test de-but against Australia inAdelaide this season.
When De Villiers soughta rest ahead of a Test series
against New Zealand, DuPlessis captained the SouthAfrican Twenty20 team inthree matches during Decem-ber, and now he will be incharge for the remaining twoone-day internationalsagainst the Kiwis, inKimberley Tuesday andPotchefstroom Friday.
Left-handed batsmanDavid Miller was added tothe squad to fill the gap inpersonnel left by De Villiers.
In addition to De Villiersbeing suspended, the SouthAfrican players, alreadystung by a surprise one-wicket defeat against theBlack Caps in Paarl on Satur-day, will lose their entirematch fee after it was foundthe home side were six oversshort of their target even af-ter time allowances weretaken into account.
De Villiers admitted hehad failed to ensure an ac-ceptable over rate for thematch, which finished morethan half an hour late.
Match referee DavidBoon imposed the suspen-sion after De Villiers pleadedguilty to the offence.—AFP
Ronaldo nets two as Madrid beat Valencia 5-0
first half played by any teamin Spain this season, of itsotherwise trouble-filled
league campaign left JoseMourinho’s team in thirdplace 15 points adrift of
Barcelona.Madrid finally resembled
the side that strolled throughthe league last season enroute to the championshipwith a record haul of points(100) and goals (121).
”We made the game easyby pressuring them hardfrom the start,” said Di Maria,whose season had been sub-dued until Sunday’s match.”We played a great game. Ona personal level, I played welland shut a few mouths.”
Madrid had alreadybeaten Valencia 2-0 just fivedays before in the first leg oftheir Copa del Reyquarterfinal. The two teamswill meet for a third time innine days on Wednesday inthe return leg.
Valencia’s collapse wascomplete.
Its attack was toothless,its midfield sloppy with theball, and its defense uncoor-dinated and repeatedly un-done with the simplest ofthrough passes into wideopen spaces behind its backline.—AP
Australiaunveil revamped
T20 squadSYDNEY—Top-order bats-man Shaun Marsh was re-called to Australia’sTwenty20 side Monday, join-ing others who impressed inthe domestic Big BashLeague to take on Sri Lankalater this month.
Chief selector JohnInverarity said Marsh wasamong six players in thesquad who did not feature inlast year’s ICC WorldTwenty20 event in Sri Lanka,where Australia were beatenby the West Indies in thesemi-finals.
Marsh was the BBL’shighest run-scorer, finishingwith 412 runs, while Finchwas player of the tournament.Laughlin was the leadingwicket-taker on 14, closelyfollowed by Cutting, with 13wickets.
Australia T20 squad:George Bailey (capt), BenCutting, Xavier Doherty,James Faulkner, Aaron Finch,Ben Laughlin, Shaun Marsh,Glenn Maxwell, MitchellStarc, Adam Voges, MatthewWade, David Warner.—AFP
CDGL topromote sports
in Lahore: DCOMUZAFFAR ALI
LAHORE—District Coordi-nation Officer (DCO) LahoreNoor-ul-Amin Mengal saidthat City District GovernmentLahore (CDGL) had been uti-lizing all its resources for thepromotion of sports inLahore City as games are im-portant for healthy body andsound mind.
He revealed that CDGLhas been organizing a SportsGalla at Town, College andSchool levels from 29th Janu-ary 2013.
He expressed these viewswhile chairing a meeting ofDistrict Sports Galla at NadirHall on Monday.
The meeting was at-tended by MPA Kh. ImranNazir, Mohsin Rasheed con-vener of CM Punjab forWrestling, EDO (Education)Dr. Pervaiz, EDO (Finance &Planning) Moazam IqbalSipra, District Sports OfficerLahore Malik Waqar and oth-ers.
Mengal also revealedthat citizen could registertheir free registration in DOsports office.
BJP protestsagainst Pakistan’s
matchesBHUBANESWAR—Activistsof the opposition BJP andmembers of rightwing groupssuch as the Bajrang Dal onMonday protested outsidethe office of the OdishaCricket Association inCuttack against the plan tohost World Cup matches ofthe Pakistan women’s team.
Hundreds of BharatiyaJanata Party workers andthose of the Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) as well as theBajrang Dal demonstrated atthe Odisha Cricket Associa-tion in Cutttack, about 25 kmfrom here. They also blockedthe national highway.
“Pakistan players wouldnot be allowed to play in Indiatill the army of that countrybehaves in accordance withinternational conventions,”Ashok Sahu, state vice presi-dent, told IANS. He was refer-ring to the alleged killing of twoIndian soldiers, one of whomwas allegedly beheaded andhis head taken away, along theLine of Control in Jammu andKashmir.—INP
Introducing laws banning smoking in enclosed public places can lead to swift anddramatic falls in the number of children
admitted to hospital suffering asthma attacks,according to a study in England publishedon Monday.
Researchers at ImperialCollege London found therewas a 12.3 percent fall inhospital admissions forchildhood asthma in the firstyear after laws againstsmoking in enclosed publicplaces and workplacescame into effect in July2007.
Similar anti-smokinglegislation has been intro-duced in many other coun-tries, including in theUnited States where it hasalso been linked to a reduc-tion in childhood asthmaemergencies.
“The findings aregood news ... and they should encouragecountries where public smoking is per-mitted to consider introducing similarlegislation,” said Christopher Millettfrom Imperial’s school of public health,who led the study.
Asthma affects more than 300 millionpeople worldwide and is the world’s mostcommon children’s chronic illness. Symp-toms include wheezing, shortness of breath,coughing and chest tightness. In Britain, itaffects one in every 11 children.
Before the ban on smoking in enclosedpublic spaces was implemented in En-gland, hospital admissions for children
suffering a severe asthma attacks wereincreasing by 2.2 percent a year, peak-ing at 26,969 in 2006/2007, the research-ers found.
That trend reversed immediately afterthe law came into effect,with lower admission ratesamong boys and girls of allages. There were similar re-ductions among children inwealthy and poor neighbor-hoods, both in cities and inrural areas.
The effect was equiva-lent to 6,802 fewer hospitaladmissions in the first threeyears after the law came intoeffect, the team wrote in astudy in the journal Pediat-rics.
“There is already evi-dence that eliminatingsmoking from public placeshas resulted in substantialpopulation health benefits ...
and this study shows that those benefitsextend to ... childhood asthma,” Millettsaid in a statement.
A study published in 2009 also foundthe ban on smoking in public places inEngland led to a swift and significant dropin the number of heart attacks, saving thenational health service 8.4 million pounds($13.3 million) in the first year.
“Previous studies have also suggestedthat the smoke-free law changed people’sattitudes about exposing others to second-hand smoke and led more people to ab-stain from smoking voluntarily at homeand in cars,” Millett said.
Smoke-free laws linked to dropin child asthma attacks
Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan addressing at a function, to celebrate the 93rd anniversary ofShaheed Hakim Mohammed Said was held at Bait al-Hikmah Auditorium, Madinat al-Hikmah.
KARACHI: Relatives of a man who was allegedly killed by torture of police, stage a demon-stration against his death outside Mangopir Police Station.
KARACHI: MNAs, MPAs and office-bearers of PPP from Kambar-Shahdadkot district called on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at Bilawal House.
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—The 93rd birth an-niversary of Shaheed HakimMohammed Said was celebratedat Bait al-Hikmah Auditorium,Madinat al-Hikmah, Speakingon the occasion, senator AbdulHaseeb Khan said that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnahwanted to see Pakistan a strongand stable country and ShaheedHakim Mohammed Said didright job in right direction tosupport this cause by workingon education and health, becausea healthy and educated nationcould make its country strongand invincible.
‘Alllah Almighty says inHoly Quran that those who dowork for welfare of the peoplewill go in paradise. Hakim Said
Birth anniversary of Hakim Said celebratedfollowed the ordain of Allah anddid a lot of philanthropic workand dedicated every moment ofhis life to the service of the peopleand new generation in particular.So that he is hopeful that the newgeneration would take the coun-try out of the prevailing circum-stances’, he said adding that thepeople sitting in parliament wereof low caliber and statesmanshipand would not be able to delivergood to the nation.
Sadia Rashid, President,Hamdard Foundation Pakistanwhile addressing the functionsaid that after the rights of Allahthen came the rights of His crea-ture, including all living souls andthe greatness of a human beingwas bound to the services he/sherendered to the humanity. Thewhole world gave respect to all
those, irrespective of their caste,race and creed, who worked forthe betterment and welfare ofhumanity, she added. She saidthat Shaheed Hakim MohammedSaid always emphasized on ser-vice to humanity in his sayings.An introduction of “Young RootsSocial Society”, formed by thestudents of Hamdard College ofScience and Commerce, for thehelp of poor students of otherschools and a report on its per-formance was submitted by itsoffice bearers on the occasion.Child speakers AngabinMushtaque, Ubaidur Rehman,Mohammed Ghufran, UmemaShahid, Nashrah Ahmed,Maryam Akbar and Alina Beggalso spoke. Besides, teachers andstudents in alarge number at-tended the function.
OBSERVER REPORT
KARACHI—The Japanese cal-endars were good messengers tointroduce the huge variety of theaspect of Japanese culture.
This was stated by AkiraOuchi, the Consul General ofJapan in Karachi, on Monday.Akira mad the statement here atthe Japan Information and Cul-ture Center of the ConsulateGeneral of Japan.
The Japan Information andCulture Center organized an in-auguration ceremony of theJapanese Calendar Exhibition2013 in collaboration with Pa-kistan Japan Cultural Associa-tion, Sindh (PJCA) and PakistanJapan Business Forum (PJBF).
The event saw Pakistani ce-lebrity Beo Rana Zafar attend-ing the ceremony as a chief
Calendars good messengers ofJapanese culture: CG
guest.In his inaugural address,
Akira, the consul general of Ja-pan in Karachi, said the Japa-nese calendars were good mes-sengers to introduce the hugevariety of the aspect of Japaneseculture. He said that the visitorscould also enjoy sophisticatedprinting technology of Japancrystallized in the calendars.
At the exhibition, about 100Japanese calendars were dis-played. The calendars were cat-egorized as art, landscape,ikebana, kimono, architecture,beauty of four seasons and so on.
They portrayed Japan’srichness of traditional arts, ad-vanced technology and naturalbeauty. The exhibition wouldbe open from 21st to 25thJanuary at the Japan Informa-tion and Culture Center.
Training for socialmedia managers
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—Marketing expertAsif Iqbal will conduct ‘Certi-fied Social Media Manager’here next month, starting from4 February.
Keeping in view the wide-spread popularity of social me-dia, particularly among theyoung generation, and mush-room growth of digital advertis-ing agencies in Pakistan in lasta few years, there is an emerg-ing demand of qualified socialmedia experts and managers, butnone of university or college inPakistan offering professionaldegree in the social media orinternet marketing currently.This programme has beenadeptly designed in view of theincreasing demand of qualifiedand trained workforce in bothpublic and private business sec-tors of the country.
KARACHI—Pakistan’s promi-nent female singer MehnazBegum, who died in Bahrain onSaturday, was laid to rest here onMonday. Her funeral prayer of-fered after Zohar in KhairulAmal Masjid at Ancholi area.She was buried in Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard near KarachiSuper Highway.
The well-known playbacksinger breathed her last on Sat-urday after a protracted illness.She was being shifted to theUnited States from Bahrain fortreatment when her conditionworsened.
Earlier she remained hospi-talized in Karachi for two weeks.
Born in 1958 in Karachi,Mehnaz Begum sung a variety
Mehnaz Begum laidto rest in Karachi
of genres but specialized inghazal, thumri, dadra, khayal,drupad and reciting salam, nohaand marsiya. She was thedaughter of celebrated sub-con-tinental singer Kajjan Begum
Legendary songstressMehnaz Begum’s body arrivedon Monday who had passedaway in Bahrain on Saturdaywhile on her way to UnitedStates for medical treatment ar-rived in Karachi two days afterher death. A chronic patient ofdiabetes and asthma, Mehnazwas travelling to the US for ad-vanced medical care, but deathcut her journey short.
According to sources herfuneral prayer will be offered atImam Bargah Ancholi follow-
ing Zohar Prayer today (Mon-day). He last resting place willbe in Wadi-e-Hussain graveyardin Sohrab Goth, they added.
Reportedly she collapsed af-ter her condition worsened whileshe was waiting for her flight toUS in the boarding lounge atBahrain airport.
Mehnaz, 55, was rushed toa healthcare facility in the gulfstate where she breathed her last.Doctors pronounced her deadsoon after. Mehnaz was thedaughter of celebrated sub-con-tinental singer KajjanBegum.She sang over 2,500songs for radio, television, andfilms in a variety of genres likeghazal, thumri, dadra, khayal,and drupad.—Online
STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—The Founder andLeader of Muttahida QuamiMovement (MQM) Mr AltafHussain has strongly condemnedthe killing of Muhammad Adnanand Amir Iqbal, workers of Unit142 of the New Karachi Sectorof the MQM.
He expressed his sinceresympathies to the grieving fam-ily members and said that the
Altaf condemns killingof two MQM workers
sacrifices given by elected rep-resentatives and workers of theMQM would not go in vain.
He said that the brutal kill-ers would meet their deservedend one day.
He prayed for Allah to blessthe departed souls and givecourage and patience to the fam-ily members to bear the irrepa-rable loss.
Condemning the brutalmurder, the Co-ordination
Committee of the MQM calledit a continuation of the evil con-spiracy to undermine peace andorder in Karachi.
It said that certain ele-ments were targeting electedrepresentatives and workersof the MQM, leaders of otherpolitical parties and religiousscholars in order to destabi-lize the country by creating alaw and order situation inKarachi.
KARACHI—Senior Minister forEducation and Literacy PirMazhar ul Haq has said thatSindh Education Department isbringing a law that transfers ofthe teachers will be done only invacations.
The purpose of this is not todisturb education of the students.This he said as chief guest here atGovernment Degree Girls CollegeMetroville SITE Karachi in launch-ing ceremony of Magazine Koonjon Monday. He said that govern-ment believed in empowerment of
Govt believes in empowerment of womenthe women and trying to providetransport to female teachers andstudents in remote areas as well asin cities.He announced that theshortage of teachers, furniture andnecessary equipment would alsobe provided to overcome the diffi-culties.
Provincial Minister forEducation directed DirectorGeneral Colleges to providefour computers to governmentDegree Girls College SITEKarachi. He also directed engi-neer education works to built
eight feet boundary wall aroundthe college in order to providesafety to girls students and staffmembers.
He said that interference incertain matters in education de-partment had affected the per-formance of the department. Hesaid illiteracy breeds ignorancewhile education creates peaceand it is very essential thatwomen should be empoweredand community ownershipshould be developed in promot-ing education.—DNA
Shahrukh Jatoiundergoes
medical tests forage confirmation
KARACHI—The family ofShahrukh Jatoi, the prime ac-cused of Shahzeb Khan murdercase, Monday claimed that theirson is under 18-year, the authori-ties on Monday took an x-rayand other tests of the accused toconfirm his age. A police sur-geon shifted Shahrukh Jatoi tocivil hospital for the x-ray understrict security.
Sources said that the reportof the x-ray would be repre-sented before the local anti-ter-ror court today (Tuesday).
Meanwhile investigatorsprobing the Shahzeb Khan mur-der case have nominatedShahrukh Jatoi’s cousins SalmanJatoi and Asif Lund as suspectsThe decision was taken in lightof the statements provided byeye-witnesses.
Shahzeb, the young son of apolice officer, was shot dead in theupscale Defence neighbourhood ofKarachi on December 25 over apetty dispute.
Prime suspect Shahrukh,who had slipped away from thecountry to evade arrest after themurder, was brought back bythe police after he was deportedfrom Dubai.
He was identified as the al-leged killer by the witnessesduring an identification pa-rade.—Online
PML-F toboycott next
month by-polls OBSERVER REPORT
KARACHI—The Pakistan Mus-lim-League-Functional (PML-F) has decided to boycott thebye-polls due to be held nextmonth in the province.
This was announced here bythe spiritual leader of “Hur”Movement and PML-F chiefSibghatullah Shah Rashidi, bestknown as Pir Pagara, while ad-dressing a briefing here at hisresidence called Raja HouseMonday. The bye-elections arescheduled to be held on the 18thof February on six seats.
He said our workers andleaders do not have any blackmoney. Pir Pgara urged all theworkers to prepare for generalelections. He said very soon agrand alliance would be formedcomprising all parties and thisalliance would actively partici-pate in the general election.
Speaking on the occasion,Secretary General PML(F)Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh said hisside was in contact with allparties and very soon seat ad-justment and electoral alliancewith these parties would be an-nounced.
He expressed his no con-fidence over the verification ofelectoral rolls being carried outin Karachi without the super-vision of Army. Sheikh de-manded that the Election Com-mission of Pakistan review thebye-election process in Sindh.
Administratorsof Cooperative
Society appointedSTAFF REPORTER
KARACHI—The provincial co-operative department has ap-pointed Munawar Sultan as ad-ministrator of M/s SaudagranCooperative Housing Society,with immediate effect.
Further, Saeed AhmedSiddiqui has taken the helm ofM/s Shamsi Cooperative Hous-ing Society as an administratorwith immediate effect. The twoofficials would perform the du-ties of the managing committeesof their respective societies, sub-ject to the condition imposed bythe department.
Elected reps, PPPoffice-bearers
brief Bilawal onuplift activities
KARACHI—Elected represen-tatives and office bearers of Pa-kistan Peoples Party from fourdistricts of Sindh called onChairman PPP Bilawal BhuttoZardari separately and briefedhim about the develop-ment ac-tivities in their respective areas.
These districts includedQambar-Shahdadkot, Badin,Ma-tiari and Tharparker.
The PPP leaders informedthe PPP Chair-man about thepace of develop-ment schemesand impact of the social sectorprogrammes in each district.
They also apprised theChairman about the politicalsituation of each district.
PPP Chairman BilawalBhutto Zardari directed them tokeep close con-tact with themasses and start preparations forthe next general elections.
He stressed that massesshould be apprised about thepropaganda of opponentsagainst the party and its govern-ment.
He said that PPP has pro-vided de-velopment schemesand jobs on merit to every dis-trict and so far implementeda large portion of its electionmanifesto despite economicconstraints and inher-ent lawand order problem.
PPP government deliversand fulfills its promises “, headded.—APP
DROWNING is one of the leadingcauses of child mortality nearly1,100 deaths per year of children
aged 1 to 19 years in the United States. Forthat reason, it has been a target of localand state governments for some time. Pub-lic information campaignsand drives for fencingaround private swimmingpools, use of proper lifevests as well as other pro-visions, such as “safe”swim areas in beaches andparks that are patrolled andmonitored by life guards,have been part of their ef-forts. Florida, Hawaii andAlaska have the highestrates of drowning inci-dents, and 2009 figures citeFlorida with a shocking fa-tality rate of 8 deaths per100,000 in the age 1 to 4category.
It is good news thenthat figures published inPediatrics, The OfficialJournal of the AmericanAcademy of Perdiatrics, show a large de-cline in hospital admissions for drowningincidents over the last sixteen years.
Around half the number of childrenwere hospitalized in 2008 compared to 1993.The figures show nearly 3,700 admissionsof children 19 and under in 1993 versusfewer than 1800 in 2008.
By comparison to Florida’s num-bers, this means a drop from 4.2 per100,000 children, down to 2.4 per 100,000in more recent years. The south andwestern states appear to be the onesdeserving credit, with their figures de-
Fewer children admitted tohospital for drowning incidents
clining rapidly, although still havingmore incidents than the Northeast andMidwest states. Comparisons are notentirely fair though, since those liv-ing in sunnier, warmer climates likesouthern California and Florida are
likely to be in and aroundthe water year round,whilst cold winters andchil l ier summers, espe-cial ly in the northeast ,mean children find otheractivities in certain states.
Stephen Bowman, fromthe Johns HopkinsBloomberg School of Pub-lic Health in Baltimore, wholed the study said :
“I think there have beensome very good efforts...totry to educate parents onthe importance of helping toprevent drowning at allpoints in childhood devel-opment.”
Along with educationand public awareness, tech-nology and safety standards
have improved since 1993 and parentsare more likely to find full life vests fortheir children in their local supermarket,than they might have been ten, twentyyears ago.
It’s also becoming less common tofind children that never learned to swimand parents that are ignorant of drown-ing risks, which could in part be attrib-uted to the Internet and the informationage that we now live in. Researchers es-timated that the number of kids who diedafter being hospitalized dropped fromapproximately 359 in 1993 to 207 in 2008.
LAHORE: PU VC Prof Mujahid Kamran with newly elected body and members of LahoreEducation Reporters Association after lunch hosted in their honour.
LAHORE: Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif inspecting Metro Bus Project during his visit.
LAHORE: A large number of mourners attending the Chup Tazia procession at IslamPura.
SALIM AHMED
LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has said thatthe Pakistan Muslim League-N government is fulfilling thedream of the poor of havingtheir own house, by givingproprietary rights to thedwellers of Katchi Abadiesthroughout the province. Hesaid Punjab government hastaken a historic and revolu-tionary step by granting pro-prietary rights to the resi-dents of Katchi Abadies.
He informed that the pro-cess of distribution of pro-prietary certificates wouldsoon be initiated among theresidents of Katchi Abadies.He said proprietary rights ofmore than three lakhs resi-dential units in urban andrural Katchi Abadies are be-ing awarded in the provinceand over 22 lakh personswould benefit from this revo-lutionary step taken byPunjab government. He said,under the new policy of theprovincial government, hus-band and wife, both, wouldhave collective proprietaryrights and, for the first time
PML-N fulfilling dream of homesto poor in Punjab: Shahbaz
in the history, women havebeen made equal partner inownership.
He was presiding over ahigh level meeting which re-viewed in detail the processof distribution of certificatesof proprietary rights amongthe residents of KatchiAbadies at Model Town, hereMonday. Deputy SpeakerPunjab Assembly RanaMashhood Ahmad Khan,Members Assembly, RanaMuhammad Afzal Khan, HafizMian Muhammad Nauman,Khawaja Imran Nazir,Mukhtar Ahmad Bharth, AtifMazari, Allah Rakha, Chair-man Planning & Develop-ment, Senior Member Boardof Revenue, Secretaries ofHousing, Finance, Law, Com-missioner Lahore Division,District Coordination OfficerLahore, Director GeneralKatchi Abadies and other of-ficers were present.
Addressing the meeting,Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifsaid that no fee is beingcharged from widows andorphans for the proprietaryrights in Katchi Abadies,while from the rest, just anominal fee of Rs.172 per
Marla is being charged. Hesaid it is for the first time inthe history that proprietaryrights are being granted tothe residents of rural KatchiAbadies along with the ur-ban ones. He said Punjabgovernment has diverted na-tional resources towards thebetterment of highly down-trodden segment of the soci-ety, which is a step in the rightdirection, thus fulfilling thedream of the residents ofKatchi Abadies of havingtheir own house.
He said the governmentof PML-N has always takeneffective steps for progressand prosperity of low-incomepeople and distribution ofproprietary rights to thedwellers of Katchi Abadies,throughout the province, isa part of that policy.
The Chief Minister saidthat the survey of all districtsof the province with regardto granting of proprietaryrights has been completedwhereas this scheme wouldbe applicable to all thoseKatchi Abadies, which wereestablished before 31st De-cember 2011.
He said, under this
scheme, proprietary rights,worth over 35 thousand acreland, would be awarded tothe deserving persons. Hesaid the poor would get theirdue rights under this pro-cess, who will not only begiven proprietary right butdevelopment works wouldalso be undertaken in orderto provide them best civicamenities.
The Chief Minister di-rected Commissioners andDCOs to take strict actionagainst those submitting fakedocuments regarding KatchiAbadies. The Chief Ministerconstituted a committee, un-der the chairmanship ofDeputy Speaker Punjab As-sembly Rana MashhoodAhmad Khan, for awardingof proprietary rights, whichwould submit its reportwithin three days.
He further directed that theprocess of distribution of pro-prietary right certificatesamong the residents ofKutchi Abadies should be ini-tiated without any delay. Se-nior Member Board of Rev-enue and DG Katchi Abadiesgave a detailed briefing to theChief Minister.
VC PU stressespreservation of
calligraphySTAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Punjab Univer-sity Vice Chancellor Prof DrMujahid Kamran hasstressed the need to preserveart of calligraphy and urgedthe authorities concerned totake steps for promotion ofthe traditional art.
He was addressing thecertificate distribution cer-emony at Senate Hall, OldCampus where certificateswere distributed among theorganizers of PU’s first-evercalligraphy conference “Sarir-e-Khama: the Art of Pen” heldin December. PUCAD Princi-pal Prof Dr Rahat NaveedMasood, General SecretaryPakistan Calligraphy Associa-tion Irfan Qureshi, facultymembers, employees and alarge number of studentswere present on the occa-sion. Admiring the servicesof the college principal, DrKamran said that the collegewas being ignored since 40years but its current leader-ship had taken it to newheights by taking initiativesand organizing creative andhealthy activities.
YDA strikecontinuesSTAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Patients contin-ued to suffer as Young Doc-tors Association’s (YDA)strike on Monday enteredsixth day across Punjab.
The doctors boycottedoutdoor patient departments(OPDs) and establishedcamps outside hospitals toattend the patients.
According to Punjabgovernment, YDA presidentis involved in torture ofGujranwala hospital’s MS,therefore, legal action wouldbe taken against him.
The protesting doctorshave demanded of the gov-ernment to free the arresteddoctors and withdraw trans-fer orders. The Punjabgovernment’s action againststriking doctors continuedand suspension orders wereissued against three doctors.
Moreover, the provincialgovernment has alsoauthorised hospital adminis-trations to take actionagainst doctors causing ob-struction to daily routine op-erations. The Health Depart-ment warned that protestingdoctors who were attendingthe patients in the campswould be considered absentfrom their duties.
2 LDA officialsdismissed
LAHORE—Director GeneralLahore Development Au-thority Ahad Khan Cheemahas dismissed two officialson account of their involve-ment in preparation of bogusproperty file of MustafaTown, forged exemption andillegal transfer of plot in thescheme.
According to LDA offi-cials, the dismissed officialsinclude Muhammad Anwar,Staff Officer and Khalid Iqbal,Senior Accountant.
They had been pro-ceeded against under PunjabEmployees Efficiency, Disci-pline and Accountability Act2006 and they failed to sub-mit their reply to the showcause notice.—APP
STAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—More than hun-dreds students ofBalochistan and PeshawarUniversities including girlstudents along with theirteachers on Monday vis-ited the main electronic li-brary of the Punjab Univer-sity, the largest in the coun-try with a collection of over550,000 books.
Jointly briefing the visi-tors, PU Chief LibrarianChaudhry MuhammadHanif and Haseeb Ahmad,Deputy Chief Librarian toldthem the centrally air-con-dit ioned l ibrary has nowbeen equipped with the lat-est information technology
Balochistan, Peshawaruniversities students visit PU
“Wi-Fi” to faci l i tate re-searchers, teachers ands tudents .
They further informedthat on the special directiveof VC PU Prof Dr.MujahidKarman, entire data ofbooks had been uploadedon i ts website“ w w w. p u l i b r a r y. e d u . p k ”for users worldwide. Hesaid that al l researcherscould use their personallaptops and varsity laptopsby using the free latesttechnology of Wi-Fi sys-tem on the library premiseswhich, they added, is agood addition and specialfacility to researchers.
He said that it was alsothe largest electronic l i -
brary in Pakistan with550,000 rare books andspecial collections.
He said that it had nowbecome a real centre oflearning for teachers, stu-dents, researchers andscholars.
He said that all latestfacilities of IT, Internet andwebsite were available tousers without any discrimi-nation.
Chief Librarian said,“We have rare collect ionand volumes of books andscripts which have beensaved”.
He said referencebooks were also availableon all subjects for indoors tudy.
LAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt on Monday extendedban on the sale of Tynocough syrup and adjournedthe hearing till February 4 af-ter federal and provincial lawofficers sought time to file re-ply.
Justice Sh Najam ul Hasanpassed the orders on petitionsfiled by Judicial ActivismPanel, a public interest litiga-tion firm, and others seekingdirections for judicial inquiryinto deaths caused by Tynocough syrup.
Naatia mushairaon Jan 28
LAHORE—Lahore ArtsCouncil will arrange a NaatiaMushaira in connection withEid Milad un Nabi (PBUH)here on January 28 during itsAlhamra Adbi Baithak.Prominent poet MashkoorHussain Yaad will presideover the event while NajeebAhmad, Ajmal Niazi, AliAsghar Abbas, Dr SugraSadaf, Sofia Baidar, RahatZahid, Islam Uzmi, ShaheenAbbas, Shazia Noreen andothers will present their po-etry on the occasion.—APP
LHC extends ban onsale of Tyno cough syrup
LAHORE—Special Assistantto Chief Minister Punjab forHealth Khawaja SalmanRafique has said that with re-gard to measles outbreak, thesituation in Punjab is not likethat prevailing in the Sindhprovince.
He expressed these viewswhile talking to media repre-sentatives after a high levelmeeting to reviewing measlessituation prevailing in theprovince.
The meeting was at-tended by Secretary HealthPunjab Arif Nadeem, DirectorGeneral Health Punjab Dr.Nisar Ahmed Cheema, Direc-tor EPI Dr. Tanvir Hussain,Additional Director GeneralHealth Vector Born Disease,Dr. Jaffar Ilyas, Dr. Babar Alamof WHO, Mushtaq Rana ofUNICEF, Prof. Tahir Masoodof Dean Institute of ChildHealth/Children Hospital,Prof. Dr. Ashraf Sultan pro-fessor of Pediatrics of King
‘Govt taking effective measuresto stop spread of measles’
The petitioner, in his peti-tion, submitted that the factsregarding deaths caused byTyno syrup in Novembercould not be brought forthand government also failed totake appropriate measures.
He mentioned that recentlymore than 30 persons expiredin Gujranawala due to use oftoxic cough syrups and theirwas every possibility of moredeaths. He submitted that if saleof medicine was not stopped, itwould lead to deaths on a mas-sive scale..—APP
Edward University, Prof. TariqBhutta, Dr. Akhtar RashidMalik Provincial Coordinatorof Lady Health WorkerProgramme as well as con-cerned officers of Health De-partment.
However, the Special As-sistant pointed out thatPunjab government has takenall necessary effective stepsto ensure medical care of pa-tients and to stop furtherspread of the disease.
He said mop up campaignin the affected areas, in accor-dance with the guideline ofWorld Health Organization(WHO) is continuing in theareas from where measlescases are being reported. Hesaid that under this campaign,preventive vaccination is be-ing carried out for childrenbelonging to age groups ofsix months to ten years.
Khawaja Salman Rafiqueinformed that it has been de-cided to launched an effective
social mobilization campaignthrough media in order ap-prise parents about the impor-tance of preventive vaccina-tion against measles for theirchildren. He said at the dis-trict level, DCOs are beinggiven the responsibility ofsurveillance of measles dis-ease, preventive vaccinationof children and monitoring ofcase reporting, and, in thisconnation, Secretary HealthArif Nadeem is approachingthe Chief Secretary Punjab.
Khawaja Salman Rafiquefurther informed that routineimmunization is being mademore effective to ensure theeradication of measles virusamong the children. He saidthat as many as 1476 measlescases have been reportedduring the current year inPunjab, whereas seven sus-pected deaths have occurred,one each at Gujranwala andKasur, while five have beenreported at Rajanpur.—Online
Punjab govt setsup free Youth
HelplineSTAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Punjab govern-ment has set up a ‘YouthHelpline’ with the aim toprovide career counsellingas well as authentic solutionto problems faced byyounger people with re-gards their career, health,psychological issues etcfaced in day to day life. Thefacilitation can be availedby dialling toll free number-0800-12145 as the servicewould be available from 9am to 5 pm daily, seven daysa week.
According to a handout issued here Monday,this initiative has the jointwork by Punjab youth af-fairs, sports department,department of archaeologyand museums and NGOPlan international.
Sahibzada Sialvimeets Shahbaz
STAFF REPORTER
LAHORE—Sajjada NasheenSial Sharif Sahibzada Hameed-ud-Din Sialvi, Members As-sembly Ghulam BibiBharwana, Ghulam Nazim-ud-Din Sialvi and Iftikhar KhanBaloach met Punjab ChiefMinister Muhammad ShahbazSharif at Model Town today.
They offered condolencesto the Chief Minister on thedeath of his younger brotherAbbas Sharif and offeredfateha for the departed soul.
Related Documents
