Ep06july2013

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ISLAMABAD—Leader of theopposition in National Assem-bly Syed Khurshid Shah has saidhis party will bring the name forpresidential elections in consul-tation with opposition and al-lied parties.

Opposition leader in NAsaid this when contacted byOnline to comment on the up-coming presidential elections .

He declared oppositionwould participate in the presi-dential elections with full force.

“Opposition has started makingpreparations for participating inthe polls for the office of presi-dent”, he remarked.

President Zardari tenure isgoing to expire on September 1and it is constitutional obligationthat presidential elections areheld a month before expiry ofpresidential term of sitting presi-dent. Therefore, presidential elec-tions will take place during theperiod from July 9 to August 9.

Meanwhile, Syed Khurshid

Shah called for obtaining ap-proval from the parliament withrespect to terms under whichloan has been acquired from In-ternational Monitory Fund.

Talking to media personsoutside the parliament house onFriday he said that PPP led gov-ernment allowed subsidy of Rs1400 billion on power whilepresent government has en-larged more burden on public bytaking back this subsidy.

PPP presidential candidateafter consultations: Khurshid

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Special envoydelivers Nawaz

letter to Indian PMSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Special Envoyof Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif, AmbassadorShaharyar M. Khan called onIndian Prime Minister DrManmohan Singh in New Delhi

on Friday and delivered a letterfrom the Prime Minister.

The letter contained warmexpressions of goodwill andgood wishes from Prime Minis-ter Sharif for Prime MinisterSingh, the government andpeople of India as well as con-veying Pakistan’s sincere desireto move forward on improvingrelations with India.

These sentiments werewarmly reciprocated by PrimeMinister Dr Manmohan Singh,

Nine killed, 19injured in

Chaman blastOUR CORRESPONDENT

CHAMAN—At least ninepeople, including six Afghanofficials, were killed and 19 oth-ers injured on Friday in a sui-cide attack that took place at thePak-Afghan border in theChaman region of Balochistan.

Pakistani security officials,who did not want to be named,told a private channel that the

CNG stations inresidential areasillegal: LHCMUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt on Friday declaredconstruction of CNG stationsin the residential areas as‘illegal.’ The court was hearinga petition challengingconstruction of a CNG stationin residential area of AllamaIqbal Town. The court alsoordered immediate closure of apump in the Allama IqbalTown.

Residents of the area hadfiled the petition and statedthat a CNG station was beingconstructed on a land afterchanging its status fromresidential to commercial.

They said the conversionof the residential area intocommercial by the Lahore

SC calls details ofGST charged fromCNG consumersISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan on Fridaysought details of general salestax charged from CNGconsumers over the last 6years.

A three- member bench ofapex court headed by chiefjustice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhary was hearing CNGprice hike case.

The court remarked underwhich law an additional taxwas being collected from CNGconsumers.

The bench asked AttorneyGeneral Munir A Malik why26 percent tax was imposed onCNG while the maximumGST rate is at 17 percent.

The attorney general toldthe court that 17 percent GSTwas being charged fromconsumers while the remain-ing 9 percent was collectedfrom CNG pump owners.

The chief justice Iftikhar

Cameron winsvote on EUreferendumLONDON—Prime MinisterDavid Cameron’s attempt tomake a referendum onBritain’s European Unionmembership legally-bindingeasily passed its first hurdle onFriday when his ConservativeParty won a vote on the issuein parliament.

Lawmakers supported abill that legislates for an EUreferendum by the end of 2017by 304 votes to zero, in anexercise seen as a way toconvince eurosceptic Britonsbefore a 2015 election thatCameron will give them an in/out EU vote.

The draft law could yet bedefeated as it makes its waythrough parliament and won’tbind the hands of the nextgovernment after the 2015election, even if it doesbecome law and is thereforelargely symbolic.

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IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Gang war hitLyari has been a battle field forthe past 6 days but it was a dayin hell for the Katchi commu-nity on Friday. The Katchiswere exposed to indiscriminatefiring from the gang war crimi-nals of Lyari when they werepreparing for the funeralprayers of those Katchi youththat were gunned down on

Thursday and wanted to stage apeaceful sit-in on MauripurRoad. During the violence asmany as 8 were killed and morethan 50 injured in the incidentsof violence in Lyari and the ma-jority of the fateful remained tobe the Katchis of Lyari.

Meanwhile, PresidentZardari has called a meeting to-day to review and take stringentmeasures to normalize situationin the area.

Soon after the Katchis hadstarted their peaceful sit-in, thegang war criminals broughtthem under direct indiscriminatefiring from the back and occu-pied their homes after robbingthe houses. A heavy contingentof Police arrived at the scene andresorted to tear gas and aerialfiring to disperse the protestingKatchis. They were exposed topolice water cannon. However,the measures did not work and

the Katchi is continued to pro-test against the indiscriminatekillings of the Katchi youth bythe Lyari gang war criminals.

The protestors were sand-wiched amid the firing from theback and front. The gang warcriminals continued targetingthe protestors from front side ofMachar Colony area while therival group retaliated from theother side, from Agra Taj side.The situation was so frightening

and critical that the protestorsgave up and ran for their lives.Police also stuck in the middleand ran for their own safety andwas able to give a come-backafter an hour. Later, Rangersjoined police.

The Katchi Rabita Com-mittee had held dialogue withthe provincial authorities at theSindh Chief Minister Houseand on assurances by the pro-

Bullets, rockets chase Katchis of LyariKatchis including women, children expelled from houses; 8 killed, 50 injured

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BEIJING—Pakistan and ChinaFriday resolved to promote thepolicies aimed at advancing thecause of peace, co-operation andharmony creating a win-winsituation in the region. PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif told hisChinese counterpart Li Keqiangthat their countries’ relationshipwas “sweeter than honey”, dur-ing the five-day visit to Beijingwith economic ties at the top ofthe agenda.

At the Great Hall of thePeople in the Chinese capital,Sharif said his welcome “re-minds me of the saying, ourfriendship is higher than theHimalayas and deeper than thedeepest sea in the world, andsweeter than honey”. Li toldhim: “I greatly appreciate yourgreat warmth and deep affection

for the people of China.”The Chinese premier was

the first foreign leader to visitPakistan after Sharif’s victory atthe polls. In a joint statementissued after the meeting betweenthe two premiers, both leadersreaffirmed their commitment to

pursue people-centric policies to“mitigate poverty, promote so-cial and economic developmentand diminish the roots of con-flict”.

During the meeting, the Pa-kistani prime minister reaf-firmed the commitment of hisgovernment to promote anddeepen the bilateral strategic

cooperation between China andPakistan. Pakistan reiterated thatfriendship with China was thecornerstone of its foreign policy,enjoying a national consensusand appreciated the support andassistance of the Chinese gov-ernment and people forPakistan’s sovereignty andsocio-economic development.“Pakistan will continue to ad-here to its one-China policy,oppose Taiwan and Tibet’s in-dependence and support China’sefforts in combating the “ThreeEvils” of extremism, terrorismand separatism. We regardETIM as our common threat andstand united in combating thismenace,” said Sharif.

The Chinese side agreed tosupport the efforts of the Gov-

Pakistan, China topromote regional peaceNawaz, Li hold talks 8 agreements including $18bEconomic Corridor signed ‘Ties sweeter than honey’

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Gwadar may be givenspecial status for speedyuplift: PM—See page on 10

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Fi-nance and Economic AffairsSenator Mohammad Ishaq Daron Friday said nothing had beenkept secret in reaching an agree-ment with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) for thethree-year US $ 5.3 billionprogramme under an ExtendedFund Facility (EFF). “The gov-ernment believes in transpar-ency, fiscal discipline,openeness and zero tolerance forcorruption. Nothing will be con-cealed about the policy review

with the IMF from 180 millionpeople of Pakistan. The agree-ment will be presented in thenext sessions of National As-sembly and Senate, besides put-ting it on the website of FinanceMinistry”, Dar said in an inter-view with Pakistan Television.The Finance Minister said thenegotiated programme with IMFwas in the best interest of thecountry. It aims at stabilizingPakistan’s economy and creat-ing an enabling environment forthe revival of economy, fiscal

consolidation, containing infla-tion, resolution of the energycrisis, including settlement ofcircular debt and promotion ofsocial safety nets, he added.

The minister said promotingforeign investment, restructur-ing of publicsector corporations,revival of privatizationprogramme, strengthening ofcorporate governance and build-ing up foreign exchange re-serves with exchange rate sta-bility were the major objectives

Dar: Nothing kept secret inconcluding accord with IMFNegotiated programme in best interest of country

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ISLAMABAD—US Secretary ofState John Kerry will visit Pa-kistan towards the end of Julyto discuss bilateral relations,situation in the region and othersubjects of mutual interest, theForeign Office spokespersonAizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said onFriday. Giving details of the visitof John Kerry in his weeklypress briefing, Chaudhry saidthat the exact dates and agendaof the visit are being finalisedby the two countries.

Kerry was scheduled to visit

Pakistan at the end of June, butengagements over the develop-ing situation in Syria and theMiddle East meant that the visitwas pushed forward. Replyingto a question, he said that dronestrikes constitute a breach ofPakistan’s sovereignty, violationof international law and humanrights besides being counter-productive to the fight againstterror.

He said that the issue hasbeen taken up with the United

Kerry to visit Pakistanat end of July

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Fogh urges Pakistanto assist Afghanpeace process

BRUSSELS—NATO SecretaryGeneral Anders FoghRasmussen called on Pakistangovernment and army to takefurther steps to assist Afghani-stan peace efforts.

While speaking during hismonthly press conference inBrussels, Anders FoghRasmussen insisted that humanrights and specifically women’srights including the Afghan con-stitutions should be respectedduring peace process.

Rasmussen said, “First ofall, let me stress the importanceof a positive engagement of Pa-

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CAIRO—A deadly gunfighterupted in Cairo as thousands ofsupporters of deposed Egyptianpresident Mohamed Morsimarched on the RepublicanGuard headquarters during massrallies Friday to reject theIslamist’s ouster. An AFP cor-respondent said at least threepeople had been killed and manyothers injured in the clashes,which broke out as thousands ofIslamist demonstrators ap-proached the headquarterschanting “traitors” and “Morsiis our president”.

The protesters had streamed

towards the Guards headquar-ters on foot from a MuslimBrotherhood rally that drew intens of thousands at Cairo’sRabaa al-Adawiya mosque.Shortly before the rallies,around a dozen low-flying mili-tary jets screeched across Cairo,a day after they staged a paradeleaving a trail of smoke in theshape of a heart in the sky.

It was a show of force thatfailed to deter Morsi’s support-ers, however. The deposed presi-dent, who has not been seensince Wednesday, had issued a

3 dead as Morsi backersmarch on Egypt army

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STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Federal Ministerfor Water and Power KhawajaMuhammad Asif has said thegovernment, in order to over-power the financial crisis in en-ergy sector, has decided to in-crease electricity rates from nextmonth.

Khawaja Asif, giving an in-terview to BBC news, said thatpower rates for the industrial andexporters will be increased inJuly. He further said that for thedomestic consumers especiallythose having extensive use ofelectricity the rates will be in-

creased in 2 to 3 months.Khawaja Asif said the gov-

ernment has earmarked somesubsidy in the budget but it wasless as compared to previousgovernment, adding that govern-ment had now decided to endsubsidy completely.

Talking about the circulardebt the minister said, it can betackled by increasing electricitytariff, adding that if the electric-ity rate increase was deferred for2 to 3 months then circular debtwill increase by 100 and 150billion.

Talking about the power cri-

Power tariff to beincreased next month

BEIJING: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif shaking hand with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqing.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—“More than16,000 women die of preg-nancy and childbirth-relatedcomplications each year inPakistan and this staggeringfigure shows that a maternaldeath occurs every 30 min-utes while Pakistan ranksthird highest in the worldwith the number of maternaldeaths,” medical experts at aseminar said. “Pakistan hasthe highest Maternal Mortal-ity Ratio (MMR) in SouthAsia, at 276/100,000 livebirths and the actual figurescould be alarming than theofficial one. The majority ofmaternal deaths are causedby Post-Partum Hemorrhage(PPH) or post abortion com-

plications,” they added.National Committee for

Maternal and Neonatal Health(NCMNH) organized a semi-nar “Saving Women’s Lives:the way forward withMisoprostol” here at a localhotel on Wednesday. Presi-dent NCMNH Dr Sadiqua NJafarey, PML-N MPA UzmaBukhari, Programme ManagerRAF Sarah Hall and NCMNHPunjab chapter representativeDr Noreen Zafar addressedthe participants. NCMNHPresident Dr Sadiqua N Jafareysaid in a country with the thirdhighest rates of maternal andnewborn mortality in the world,some politicians seem to havefinally woken up to the needto tackle the crisis. “Most par-ties have included maternal

and newborn health in theirmanifestos,” adding she saidthe fact that maternal health ison the national agenda at all issomething that she and hercolleagues on the NCMNHcan take succor from.

“I feel very proud that wehave got maternal health onthe radar because bothers allover the world and especiallyin the developing world, theyare neglected and we have todo something for them,” sheadded. Jafarey was one of thefirst to argue that lasting im-provements to maternal healthcould be made only by tack-ling a culture that, in manycases, made mothers-in-lawfeel the need to wait for awife’s husband to return homebefore they could travel to a

hospital, or tackling a lack ofeducation that left womenunsure of when help shouldbe sought. And while thesecultural factors were a prob-lem in Pakistan’s urban areas,they were particularly deep-rooted in the country’s pov-erty stricken rural areas.

PML-N PMA UzmaBukhari said a mother couldbe saved from death duringchild birth provided birth at-tendants and midwives wereimparted proper training. Shesaid the Punjab governmenthas allocated a huge chunkof money to improve infra-structure of Rural Health Cen-ters and Basic Health Unitsacross the province. DrNoreen Zafar said Post-Partum Hemorrhage (PPH)

and post abortion complica-tions are among the commonreasons for women dyingduring childbirth. “PPH is theleading cause of maternaldeath (27percent), with over5, 000 women dying eachyear in Pakistan. Abortioncontributes to 11 percent ofMMR,” adding she saidmost of the women die are inthe prime of their lives, poor,live in rural areas and haveno skilled attendance at birth.

She said one effectivestrategy to address and pre-vent these maternal deathsis through the use ofMisoprostol, a simple, easyto administer medicine thathas been included in theWorld Health Organization’slist of essential medicines.

Over 16,000 women die annually of pregnancy complications

Kuthiala Sheikhanresidents demand

road repairSHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—Resi-dents of Kuthiala Sheikhanhave urged Chief MinisterPunjab Mian Shahbaz Sharifto repair main bazaar road oftheir town.

Amir Shah ad Sheikhwho is a well known advo-cate of the area when speak-ing to media persons herethe other day said that dur-ing this rainy season lot ofwater gets accumulated onthe road and serves asbreeding place for the mos-quitoes and many other in-sects which become causeof spreading many diseaseslike dengue etc. He said thatresidents have many timereported the matter to dis-trict administration but invain.

He said drainage systemof the town due to poor main-tenance and neglect of localgovernment has become nonfunctional. He demanded al-location of special funds torepair the drainage systemand the road of the town atpriority basis. He warned thegovernment of unrest if theirproblems would not besolved.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The AdditionalChief secretary FATA ArbabMuhammad Arif has directedthe officials particularly thepolitical administration tostart effective delivery of theservices within a fortnightand leave no stone unturnedto come up to the expecta-tions of the masses.

Presiding over the Politi-cal agents conference hare atthe committee room of FATASecretariat on Friday theACS, who has assumed thecharge of FATA secretariat acouple of weeks back, de-clared that government wasdam serious to bring theTribal areas at par with thoseof settled areas and ensurelasting peace in the regionbesides spreading a networkof speedy developmental ac-tivities.

The meeting took stock ofthe overall law and order situ-ation in the tribal areas and thesteps taken for the restorationof peace in the region. He saidall out efforts were being madeand conducive environmentwas being created for the re-patriation of the IDPS, affected

from the operations in the tribalareas, to their home. “We haveto spend all our energies andutilize all resources to mitigatethe sufferings of the tribalfolk”.

Officials directed foreffective delivery of service

Govt committed toresolve masses’

problems: MinisterBAHAWALPUR—Minister ofState for Education, Training& Standards in Higher Edu-cation Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman said that the presentgovernment is committed toresolve the issues beingfaced by the masses on pri-ority basis. He said the Gov-ernment was also takingsteps to check corruption inthe society. He said this whiletalking to APP on Friday. TheMinister said the Governmentwas also taking practicalsteps to further promote edu-cation in the country.

He said opening ofHigher Education Commis-sion (HEC) Regional Office atBahawalpur, from the currentmonth, will help youth of thearea to excel in various walksof life. He said HEC wouldalso establish sub-offices atSukkar, Muzaffarabad andGilgit in order to facilitateyoung people from remoteand far-flung areas. He thatPrime Minister Youth Train-ing Programme had also beenapproved with an allocationof Rs 3 billion, adding 50,000graduates will be given in-ternship of Rs 10,000 for 3months at various profes-sional institutions.—APP

Bid to smuggleheroin foiledOBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Anti NarcoticsForce, Karachi recoveredHeroin, which were to besmuggled to United King-dom. The parcel was bookedby a drug smuggler namelyby Shahid Ibrahim s/oMuhammad Ibrahim r/o TobaTek Singh. Parcel was bookedfor Mr. Samir, Manchester,United Kingdom. Accordingto details, Anti NarcoticsForce intercepted a consign-ment at T&T Logistics Cou-rier Services, Karachi and re-covered 390 Gram Heroin.The Heroin was tactfully con-cealed in 8x ladies suits.

FIR against the culprithas been launched, effortsare in hand to arrest the ac-cused persons.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan hassought Polish governmentcooperation in energy sectoras Chairman Senate SyedNayyer Hussain Bokhariconcluded his five-day visitto Poland on Friday. A state-ment issued in this regard bythe Chairman Senate officehas revealed that Pakistanand Poland have potential forstrengthening economic tiesas the Polish governmentassured for their support ofPakistan’s quest for Autono-mous Trade Preferences inEuropean Union.

The Chairman who washeading an eight-memberSenate delegation, duringmeetings with Polish authori-ties sought greater collabo-ration in the energy sectorand capacity building in thedrilling for oil and gas explo-ration. During his stay in Po-

land, the Chairman Senatecalled on PresidentBronislaw Komorowski andmet Deputy Prime Minister,Bogdan Borusewicz, Mar-shal of Polish Senate, Minis-ter for Economy, JanuszPiechocinski, Minister forNational Defence, TomaszSiemoniak, Speaker of Sejm(Lower House) Ms. EwaKopacz and the President ofPolish Chamber of CommerceAndrzej Arendarski.

He highlighted the strongdemocratic base of Pakistanand first transition of powerfrom one democraticallyelected government to thenext one. Bokhari thanked thePolish government for theirsupport to Pakistan’s questfor Autonomous Trade Pref-erences in the EuropeanUnion. He briefed the PolishPresident about develop-

ments in South Asia, under-lined the need for stability inregion and to have good rela-tions with India and progressin the Afghan-led and Af-ghan-owned process of rec-onciliation in Afghanistan.The Chairman renewed theinvitation of the President ofPakistan to the Polish Presi-dent to visit Pakistan.

In his meetings withDeputy Prime Minister andMinister of Economy, Presi-dent of the Polish Chamberof Commerce and Polish oilcompanies, the Chairmansought greater collaborationin the energy sector and ca-pacity building in the drillingfor oil and gas exploration,especially through scholar-ships for Pakistani studentsin the Polish universities. Heexpressed satisfaction at cur-rent level of trade.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The HigherEducation Commission(HEC) has announced theranking of Pakistani univer-sities 2013 on the basis ofquality and research. Ad-dressing a press conferencehere on Friday, ChairpersonHigher Education Commis-sion, Dr. Javaid R. Laghari,here Friday said the primarypurpose of the ranking exer-cise was to drive the highereducation institutions.

Towards improved qual-ity, research and promote aculture among HEIs of Paki-stan for participation in theworld rankings.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Dr. Laghari said to

HEC announces ranking ofPakistani universities 2013

strengthen the quality ofhigher education in Pakistan,HEC has taken various initia-tives to bring the HEIs of Pa-kistan at par with internationalstandards. Ranking is one ofthe measures to scale the suc-cess of efforts of the HEIs toachieve the internationalcompetitiveness in education,research and innovation. “Itwill also provide a transpar-ent mechanism to universitieson how they compare againsttheir peers, and will inculcatea spirit of competition to raisethe standard of education.

The recent inclusion of 10Pakistani universities amongtop world and Asian univer-sities is the result of regular

ranking efforts by HEC. Thisactivity also promoted a cul-ture of participation in theworld university rankingswhich led to significant reflec-tion of Pakistan’s higher edu-cation development at the in-ternational level,” he re-marked.

Prof. Dr. Mukhtar AhmedExecutive Director HEC andthe vice chancellors of topranker universities were alsopresent on the occasion. Rank-ing criteria for the universitiesrevolve around three main pa-rameters including implemen-tation status of quality assur-ance criteria, teaching qualityand research.

The HEIs established af-

ter December 2008 and the dis-tance education like AllamaIqbal Open University and Vir-tual University were excludedfrom the ranking lists. Theranking 2013 was based on theyear 2011-12 data provided byHEIs. Keeping in view the na-tional context and problemsfaced by the universities inPakistan, the primarily identi-fied QS world ranking criteriawas amended as per feedbackreceived from the higher edu-cation institutions.

In spite of the difficul-ties associated with ranking,HEC is the first one in theIslamic world that has donerankings twice, first time in2006.—APP

Bokhari concludes Poland visit,seeks cooperation in energy sector

ISLAMABAD—Chief ElectionCommissioner Justice (r)Fakhurddin G Ibrahim has setAugust. 6 as last date for re-ceipt of applications forpostal ballot papers for by-elections in 16 National As-sembly and 26 ProvincialAssemblies constituencies.This facility, under the law,has been extended only tothe persons in governmentservice, members of armedforces, holders of public of-fices, their wives and such oftheir children as are regis-tered voters and ordinarilyreside with them providedthey are stationed at a placeother than the place in which

Last date for applications toget postal ballots is August 6

their constituency is situ-ated.

Persons detained inprison or held in other cus-tody are also entitled to voteby postal ballot. The Electionhas set August 22, 2013 forholding by-elections in 16National Assembly constitu-encies including NA-1Peshawar-I, NA-5Nowshera-I, NA-13 Swabi-II,NA-25 D.I.Khan-cum-Tank,NA-27 Lakki Marwat, NA-48Islamabad-I, NA-68Sargodha-V, NA-71Mianwali-I, NA-83Faisalabad-IX, NA-103Hafizabad-II, NA-129Lahore-XII, NA-177

Muzaffargarh-II, NA-235Sanghar-II, NA-237 Thatta,NA-254 Karachi- XVI andNA-262 Killa Abdullah.

By-election will also beheld on the same date in 26constituencies of four pro-vincial assemblies. Theseconstituencies from PunjabAssembly include PP-6Rawalpindi-VI, PP-51-Faisalabad-I, PP-118M.B.Din-III, PP-123 Sialkot-III, PP-142 Lahore-VI, PP-150Lahore-XIV, PP-161 Lahore-XXV, PP-193 Oakara-IX, PP-210 Lodhran-IV, PP-217Khanewal-VI, PP-243D.G.Khan-IV, PP-247Rajanpur-I, PP-254.—APP

Agri reforms keyfor uplift

SHAFFAAT MALIK

TALAGANG—Improvementin Agriculture sector is a keyto make Pakistan a devel-oped and prosperous coun-try, said by Punjab provin-cial minister for AgricultureDr. Farakh Javeed while talk-ing with newsmen inTalagang. He was visitingOlive and Grapes form nearTalagang.

The Administrator of theform gave briefing at the timeand said that we are produc-ing many kinds of grapes andthis form is one of its kinds inentire area. He said that thisarea is very fertile and accord-ing to new research TehsilTalagang is most suitableplace for production of Olivesand Grapes. Minister for Ag-riculture Dr. Farakh Javeedappreciated the Azad Groupof Companies for its efforts todevelop fruit form of this kind.

DCs ordered toensure flow to tail-

end growersH Y D E R A B A D — C o m m i s -sioner Hyderabad JamalMustafa Syed while taking aserious notice of water short-age particularly at the tail end,causing economic losses tothe growers. He has directedall the Deputy Commission-ers of the districts to pay sur-prise visits to the water chan-nels/ watercourses of theirrespective areas to detectwater theft and take actionagainst the persons involvedin this crime. In his directives,issued here on Friday, theCommissioner also asked theDCs to ensure that all themodules of watercourses arewithin the designed specifica-tion and water reaches the tailend.—APP

QUETTA: Chief Logistic Staff Lieutenant General Haroon Aslam giving away prizes to recruits at passing out paradeat EME centre.

GILGIT: Federal Minister for Kashmri Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Muhammad Berjees Tahir distributing thecheques to affectees of Lulusur.

HYDERABAD: People of Noonari tribe stage a protest against arrest of their relativesafter a clash between two groups, at National Highway.

Higher education quality to be improved

QU E T TA —An impressivepassing out parade of therecruits was held at Quettacant here on Friday underthe aegis of EME Center ofPakistan Army. Chief of Lo-gist ic Staff , LieutenantGeneral Haroon Aslam,Hilal-e- Imtiaz Mili tary,Sitara-e-Bisalat was thechief guest while IG FCMajor General ObaidullahKhatak, Commandant EMECenter Brigadier TariqJaved, other mili tary andcivil off icials were alsopresent .

Addressing the cer-emony, Haroon Aslam con-gratulated the recruits oncompletion of their suc-cessful t raining and saidthe passing out recruitswould enhance the pride ofnation. He said the impres-sive military bearing, im-maculate turnout and out-standing standard of drillbear testament to the qual-ity of training imparted inthe EME center.

He urged the aspir ingyoung recruits to serve

Army and nation with theirbest abilities. Stressing theneed for maintaining thewar equipment in order, hesaid that unless the equip-ment are well maintained, itis difficult to defeat enemyin the contemporary world.

Let Gen on the occa-sion, gave away prizesamong the recruits fordistinction.Earlier, he vis-ited Balochistan Insti tuteof Technical Education(BITE) and lauded the stan-dard of training being im-parted to the pupils.

Commandant EME Cen-ter Brigadier Tariq whilebriefing the chief guestsaid that as many as 6,000students have been im-parted training at BITE dur-ing the last sevencourses.” As many as 460students in 23 various dis-ciplines were enrolled inthe 8th course, he added.Let Gen termed BITE an ex-cellent and exemplary tech-nical inst i tute for theskilled youth of the prov-ince.—APP

Passing outparade of EME

recruits held

Improving education prioritisedISLAMABAD—Punjab Education Minis-ter Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan hassaid that priority of Punjab governmentto provide all basic facilities to the edu-cational institutions for the raising thestandard of education in the province.He said that Pakistan Muslim league-Nprovincial government has allocated26% for education in the current bud-get to focus on development of educa-tion. Replying to a question, he said the

provincial government has prepared the future road mapfor development of education to focus on quality educa-tion and teacher training in Punjab. He added that his gov-ernment has established the District Education Authorityto improve the monitoring mechanism at the grassrootslevel. Talking to private television channel, he said thatprovincial government was fully committed to enhancegirl education in province to save the future of women inthe society. The Minister that his government has con-sulted education experts to establish curriculum authorityfor review of education curriculum. Replying to a ques-tion, he said the provincial government has fully focusedto make reform in the provincial education system andevolved accountability mechanism at the grassroots level.He said that Punjab government has discouraged politicalinterference in educational institutions and followed meritpolicy in appointment of 80,000 teachers in the province.Rana Mashood Ahmad said that provincial governmenthas committed to hold local bodies elections for develop-ment and prosperity of the commonman.—APP

Badin’s tail-end growers to get waterBADIN—Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah has directed the officialsof Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Au-thority (SIDA) and Sindh Irrigation De-partment to ensure supply of water upto tail end in Badin district within threeto four days. Addressing an openkatchery at a local circuit house here,he directed DIG Police Hyderabad andCommissioner Hyderabad Division toset up their camp offices in Badin for

extending administrative support to supply water up tothe tail end. He also directed them to inquire into watershortage so that action could be taken against respon-sible persons. Qaim Ali Shah asked the Secretary Irriga-tion to coordinate with growers to resolve water shortageproblem. On the complaints of water theft by influentiallandlords, he instructed police officers to take strict actionagainst such landlords under Irrigation Act. ManagingDirector SIDA Ahsan Leghari said that water supply tocanals is being increased after receiving water from up-stream. However, Director SIDA Ursani pointed out sometechnical problems in the system which, according to him,are creating hindrances in water supply to tail end. On anincident of water tank collapse in Golarchi which causedthree casualties, the Chief Minister directed the officersconcerned to conduct an inquiry into the matter. Syed QaimAli Shah along with Sindh Law Minister Dr. SikandarMendhro, MNA Sardar Kamal Khan Chang, MPA Barris-ter Hasnain Mirza, MPA Nawaz Chandio, MPA BashirHalepoto, Commissioner Hyderabad Jamal Mustafa Syed,Deputy Commissioner Badin, Secretary Irrigation, Man-aging Director SIDA and other officers visited Phuleli Ca-nal, Akram Wah, and Gooni Canal.—APP

Distance learning can help build capacityFAISALABAD—Speakers at a seminarhere on Friday said that distance learn-ing could help capacity building andpeople, who could not get higher edu-cation because of their jobs, must availthe opportunity. The seminar on“GCUF Model of Distance Learning”was arranged by the Directorate of Dis-tance Learning, GC UniversityFaisalabad (GCUF) which was presidedover by Acting Vice Chancellor GCUF/

Dean Faculty of Science and Technology Prof Dr NaureenAziz Qureshi. Dr Naureen Aziz said that distance educa-tion had evolved as an alternative to formal education tomeet the demands of the increasing population and helpemployed people to continue their studies. Deputy Di-rector Higher Education Commission (HEC) Hakim Alistressed the need to motivate employed people to enrolunder the system to polish their skills. Director DistanceLearning Programme Dr Naeem Mohsan said that GCUFwas offering BBA and MBA (Banking and Finance), BBABusiness Administration, MPA, MSc (Mathematics), MSc(Economics), MEd, B.Ed, B.Com, M.Com, MA (English),MA and MPhil (Islamic Studies) and MPhil (Education).Osama Saleem from HEC and Research Associate HECRubina Shakoor also spoke. The government shouldevolve a comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue ofwater scarcity. This was stressed by the speakers at aseminar on Environmental Awareness” organized by De-partment of Environmental Sciences, Government Col-lege University Faisalabad (GCUF) in collaboration withPunjab Youth Council and Lok Sanjh Foundation. ActingVice Chancellor GCUF/Dean Faculty of Science and Tech-nology Prof Dr Naureen Aziz Qureshi presided over theevent while Director Admin Ch Muhammad Mushtaq, LokSanjh Foundation Director Shahid Zia and DepartmentChairman Dr Farhat Abbas also spoke on the occasion.Prof Dr Naureen Aziz Qureshi stressed the need to mobi-lize the public on the issue by giving them awareness tosave the water for the coming generation. Ch MuhammadMushtaq urged the students to mobilize the society onthe issue. He stressed upon controlling the populationand creating the awareness for maximum plantation inthe country.—APP

Govt striving to solve people’s problemATTOCK—Minister of State for Par-l iamentary Affairs Sheikh AftabAhmed said that government will for-mulate a policy to regularize the ad-hoc employees of the public sector.He expressed these views while ad-dressing the Oath taking ceremonyof Al-Pakistan Clerk Associat ion(APCA) Attock Chapter here at Dis-trict Council hall. Aftab Khan, alsoMNA from Attock district, said that

country was passing through a crucial stage due tothe financial and energy crises besides the challengeof terrorism. He said the PML-N government, with thehelp of masses would certainly face theses challengesand will address the major issues of the country. Heurged the workers and people to extend full support tothe PML-N government in its endeavour to solve thepeople’s problems. Later, the chief guest administeredthe oath from the newly elected office bearers of APCA.MPA Malik Zafar Iqbal and Shawaiz Khan were alsopresent in the ceremony. It was attended by large num-bers of government employees and APCA’s represen-tat ives including Central President APCA HajiMuhammad Aslam, Central President Azad KashmirSyed Saddique Hussian Shah, Central Chairman Al-Pakistan Government employees Federation Haji AbdulMunaf and distr ict President APCA Attock SardarMumtaz Khan Saral.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Mainly hotand dry weather would con-tinue in most parts of thecountry for next two dayswhile an isolated rain spellexpected in upper parts onthe country from Sunday.An official of Met Office toldAPP here on Friday the rainspell is expected from Sun-day evening. He said sea-sonal low lies over northBalochistan and adjoiningareas.

Mainly hot and humidweather is expected in mostparts of Punjab and KhyberPakhtunkhwa provincesduring next 24 hours.

While in Sindh mainlyhot and humid weather is ex-pected in most parts of theprovince, however rain-thunderstorm is expected atscattered places ofMirpurkhas, Hyderabad di-visions, while at isolatedplaces of sukkur divisionduring the same time span.

In Baluchistan mainlyhot and humid weather isexpected in most parts ofthe province during next 24hours while rain-thunder-storm is expected at Kalatdivision during the period.Rain-thunderstorm is ex-pected at isolated places ofKashmir and adjoining hillyareas during next 24 hourswhile in Gilgit-Baltistan dry/partly cloudy weather is ex-pected in most parts.

Partly cloudy/ cloudyweather with chances of

drizzle has been forecast forSaturday in the metropolis,said a weather report here onFriday. According to theweather report issued by Pa-kistan Meteorological De-partment, the maximum tem-perature is expected to re-main in the range of 33 to 35degree celsius.

Thunderstorm/ rain islikely to occur at a few placesin Mirpurkhas division ofSindh, at one or two placesin Hyderabad, Sukkur divi-sions of Sindh and Kalat di-vision of Balochistan. Hot/

very hot and dry weather islikely to prevail elsewhere inthe region.

The Met Office has fore-cast a dry and hot weatherfor the provincial capital onSaturday. According to Metoffice weather report, themaximum highest tempera-ture is likely 38 Centigradeand the minimum lowest 23Centigrade on Saturday. OnFriday, the maximum highesttemperature was 38 Centi-grade and the minimum low-est 24 Centigrade. The dryand hot weather has beenforecast for rest of the re-gion.—APP

Hot, humid weather tocontinue till Sunday

RAO ATIQ

MIRPUR—Pakistan Engi-neering Council (PEC) hasaccorded formal accredita-tion to the four-year degreeprograms of Civil and SoftWare Engineering besidesgiving the approval to thefour-year degree program ofPower Engineering, beingstudied in the public-sectorMirpur University of Scienceand Technology (MUST), itwas official declared.

Disclosing this theMUST Vice Chancellor Dr.Muhammad Sarwar told re-porters here today that avisitation team of the experts

of Pakistan EngineeringCouncil (PEC) visited theCivil and Software Engineer-ing Departments in theMirpur University of Science& Technology Capital Cam-pus to assess the curricularand extra-curricular activitiesof the faculty in line with thestipulated criteria for grant-ing the accreditation of thefour-year B.Sc Engineeringprograms in both of the dis-ciplines.

The VC told that the ac-creditation visit of the Civiland Software EngineeringDepartments was con-ducted by the PEC’s expertsfrom different concerned

sections of the PEC fromIslamabad. He said that thePEC’s Visitation team in-spected all blocks of boththe faculties of Civil andSoftware Engineering at theMUST and expressed satis-faction over the facilities be-ing provided to the stu-dents.

The four-year B.Sc CivilEngineering program in theMUST was started in 2009 andthe accreditation, for the firsttime, to this faculty wouldhelp in issuance of the requi-site degree of B.Sc Civil Engi-neering to the students suc-cessfully completing the edu-cation.

PEC accords accreditation toMUST engineering degree

MULTAN: Former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani addressing the lawyers.

BASHIR AHMAD RAHMANI

HAFIZABAD—Subsidized 10kgs bag of wheat flour and20 kgs wheat flour would bemade available to the con-sumers in six Ramazan Bazarsand 10 special sale pointseach in Fawara Chowk,Vanike Tarar, Kaleke Mandi,Qatal Garha Chowk, NearMasjid Shabbir Shah,Kassoke Road, PuraniChungi Hafizabad, JalalpurBhattiand Sukheke Mandi atthe rate of Rs. 315/- and 630/- respectively as againstprevalent market price of Rs.335/- and 670/-, according toofficial handout. The provin-cial government would sup-ply wheat to the flourmills atsubsidized rates to supply

the same at the sale pointsand Ramazan Bazars.

Meanwhile, Acting DCOSafeena Siddique, with theconsultation of traders, hasfixed the following rates fordifferent articles to be sold indifferent Ramazan Bazars inthe district: mutton Rs. 430/-,beef Rs. 210/-, rice SuperKarnal Rs. 105/-, Basmati KS-386 Rs. 60/-, Kashmir Gee Rs.162/-, Sufi Gee Rs. 158/-, PrimeGee Rs.145/-, Golden/KiranRs. 143/-, Sugar Rs. 51/-, grampulses Rs. 55/-, Mash Rs. 120/-, Masoor Rs. 90-100/-, whitegram Canada Rs. 100/-, Paki-stani gram Rs. 70, black gramRs. 55/-, basin Rs. 57/-, redchili Rs. 120/-. She has ap-pealed to the traders to reducetheir profit to provide relief to

the consumers during theupcoming holy month ofRamazan and to get the bless-ing of Almighty Allah.

She, however, has warnedthe profiteers that thosefound violating Price ControlOrdinance would be dealtwith iron hands. Meanwhile,traders here have started in-creasing the rates of all theessential commodities beforethe start of holy month ofRamazan. The prices of milk,yoghurt, onion, garlic, beef,mutton, all sorts of vegetablesand fruits, dates have beenshot up to Rs. 10 to 15 per kgbut surprisingly the chickenprices has been shot up to Rs.300 per kg which has becomebeyond the reach of middleclass not to speak of the poor.

Ramazan Bazars to offersubsidized wheat flour

ISLAMABAD—Federal Min-ister for Kashmir Affairs andGilgit Baltistan Barjees Tahiron Friday said the govern-ment is taking steps to main-tain law and order and re-move backwardness of GilgitBaltistan through promotionof tourism. Talking to a del-egation of Qaumi Jirga(Diamer) during his visit toChilas, the Minister ex-pressed anguish over the in-cident at base camp inDiamer and said the incident

hurt image of Pakistan.He said a probe is con-

tinuing into the incidentand after completion of in-quiry, those responsible forthe reprehensible act will bebrought to justice. TheMinister said poverty, un-employment and price hikeare causes of unrest in so-ciety. People of GilgitBaltistan depend on tour-ism for employment andDiamer incident has in-creased their economic dif-

ficulties, he added.He said he visited embas-

sies of the countries whosecitizens became victims inthe attack and informedthem about the progress be-ing made in investigations.The Minister pointed thatthe matter was raised in fed-eral cabinet and National As-sembly took serious noticeof the incident and held athorough debate on the is-sue.

Meanwhile, the Minister

also spoke to leaders andworkers of Pakistan MuslimLeague(N) who gathered onthe occasion. He saidPML(N) will keep in closecontact with political work-ers of Gilgit Baltistan. Thegovernment is determined totake the country out of eco-nomic mess in which it is bur-dened with loans of Rs.14500 billion. People in-formed that this is first visitof a federal minister to thearea.—APP

GB law, order, tourism promotionatop govt agenda: Barjees

Hurriyet delegationvisits Tral martyrs’

familiesISLAMABAD—A high-leveldelegation of the All PartiesHurriyet Conference visitedTral where they met the rela-tives of three youth, who weremartyred by Indian troops.The APHC spokesman in astatement issued in Srinagarsaid that the members visitedthe houses of the three mar-tyrs, Shabbir Ahmad Butt,Shahnawaz Ahmad Mir andAijaz Ahmad Laway and ex-pressed solidarity with theirfamilies, KMS reported.

He said the delegationexpressed solidarity with thefamily members and paid trib-utes to the martyred youth.On the occasion, the del-egates addressing the peopleapprised them about the re-pression.—APP

HYDERABAD: Workers of bricks kiln protesting against water shortage.

ISLAMABAD—The FederalFlood Commission (FFC) onThursday said that all main riv-ers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab,Ravi and Sutlej are flowingnormal while River Kabul wascontinue to run in low floodwith falling trend at Nowshera.According to daily FFC report,the River Swat was also at lowflood stage at Charsadda RoadBridge. The actual river flowsand reservoir elevations indi-cates that Tarbela and ManglaDams are at elevations of1507.20 feet and 1189.15 feetrespectively, which are 42.80feet & 52.85 feet below theirrespective Maximum Conser-vation Levels of 1550.00 feetand 1242.00 feet.

The combined live stor-age position of Tarbela,Chashma and Mangla reser-voirs is 8.113 MAF as com-pared to last year’s 1.647MAF. According to FloodForecasting Division (FFD),Lahore, yesterday’s troughof Westerly Wave overNorthern Afghanistan lies

over Northeastern Afghani-stan, whereas yesterday’sLow Pressure Area overNorthern Madhya Pradesh(India) has become insignifi-cant. Well Marked SeasonalLow lies over NorthernBalochistan and its trough isextending Northeast-wards.

Moist current from Ara-bian Sea is penetrating intoupper parts of the countryupto 5000 feet. As predictedby the Flood Forecasting Di-vision (FFD), Lahore, scat-tered thunderstorm/rain is ex-pected over Kashmir, South-eastern Sindh & KhyberPakhtunkhwa including uppercatchment of rivers Indus,Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi andSutlej during the next 24 hours.

Isolated thunderstorm/rain may also occur overNorthern and NortheasternPunjab (Rawalpindi,Sargodha, Gujranwala, andLahore Divisions), D.G. KhanDivision and NortheasternBalochistan during the sameperiod.—APP

Rivers Kabul,Swat in low flood

IMF’s Pakistan-designed package

INTENSIVE deliberations between the Government’s team led byworkaholic Ishaq Dar and IMF mission culminated successfully withthe announcement by the two sides on Thursday that they have agreed

on a 5.3 billion dollar IMF package for Pakistan under Extended FundFacility. Flanked by Information Minister Pervez Rashid and other mem-bers of his own team and delegation of the IMF, the Finance Minister ap-peared jubilant at the news conference where he disclosed salient featuresof the agreement and said the IMF has given positive response to his pro-posal for enhancing the package to $7.3 billion and release of tranches tomatch Pakistan’s repayment schedule to IMF.

Loans and grants from any source are not a matter of pride as theycome with a price either in term of economic and financial pains for peopleor dent to the good reputation of the country concerned. However, giventhe peculiar situation that Pakistan finds itself in today when the foreignexchange reserves are dwindling swiftly and specter of default is there onrepayments of the previous loans, there is no escape from taking loans toshore up reserves and send right kind of message to local and foreign finan-cial markets. The previous Government secured unprecedented loans fromthe IMF but failed to invest them in a way to mobilize domestic resourcesfor repayments and therefore, Dar had no option but to negotiate anotherprogramme with the Fund. But it is encouraging that as against in the pastwhen bitter IMF conditions were accepted, the present Government is get-ting loans on its own terms i.e. on the basis of already announcedprogrammes and the plans that it has made known to implement in futureto put the economy back on track. However, the fact remains that the Gov-ernment will have to mobilize additional resources to pay back these loansand that means addition of difficulties of the common man. In fact, Paki-stan cannot pursue independent foreign and economic policies until andunless it stands on its own feet, which in turn means adoption of prudentpolicies by the Government for exploitation of the natural and other re-sources and sacrifices by all segments of the society. However, the mainburden should be shifted on those who have the capacity to pay and thosewho have all along been enjoying exemptions and privileges.

Don’t close missionsabroad, sir

ACCORDING to a media report, the Government is mulling over theidea of closing down about 22 missions of the country in different

parts of the globe. On the face of it, the move is motivated by the desire ofthe Government to curtail expenditure and the missions identified for thepurpose are considered to be relatively less important.

The country is facing economic and financial constraints and the Gov-ernment announced a number of measures in the new budget to reducenon-developmental budget. For this purpose, the Prime Minister made abeginning from himself by cutting down expenditure of the PM Office andabolishing his discretionary funds and therefore, it is but natural that othersshould also follow the suit. However, it is to be kept in mind that austerityshould not be at the cost of fundamental responsibilities of the Govern-ment, which also include projection of the country, maintenance of thecountry’s relations with the outside world and above all promotion of tradeand commerce. Pakistan’s image in the comity of nations stands bruiseddue to terrorism, extremism and also because of venomous propaganda ofthe enemy and we have to reach out to the world with counter measures.One fails to understand how this objective can be achieved without pres-ence in important countries and regions. The approach of closing downmissions, offices, departments; reducing overseas scholarships for Paki-stani students; and winding up good developmental and welfare programmeson the pretext of austerity is indicative of defeatist mentality. It is job of theGovernment to mobilize necessary resources so as to be able to dischargeits core functions at home and abroad. We would, therefore, recommend tothe Prime Minister and the Government to thoroughly review the proposaland wind up only those missions which failed to prove their worth andthere is no scope for improvement in the situation.

Mass migrationwithin Pakistan!

A report appearing in this newspaper says the severity of gang war inLyari area of Karachi has escalated to a stage that the criminals are

freely using rockets to destroy their rivals, forcing residents of the area tostay home for the fear of their lives. Residents of some localities have alsostarted migrating to safer places in the face of free for all situation in Lyariand inability of the Government to protect their lives.

People migrate from one country to others during conflicts as we havewitnessed in the case of Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syriabut internal migration is rare elsewhere in the world. However, in Pakistan,this has become almost an order of the day as people are forced to leavetheir homes and hearth during clashes among rival tribes, groups, mafia,and between the law enforcing agencies and criminal elements. Over threemillion people were displaced from their homes during military operationin Dir, Swat and Buner in 2009, which was described as the largest dis-placement of human beings in the recent history. Settlers in Sindh andBalochistan were forced to leave their properties in the face of life threats,Bugtis are living here and there and now people are leaving their homesin Karachi, which was once considered to be oasis of peace and liveli-hood. It is understood that this situation did not arise overnight and thequestion arises why the authorities kept sleeping over the simmeringtrouble and did not take corrective measures. Lyari and some other areasof Karachi have become dens of criminals and it is time to cleanse themfor the sake of the peace-loving people and peace of the city.

Attempt to malign Pakistan

Happiness is amystery like religion,and should never berationalised.

Amnestyextension:

Undoubtablewisdom

There can be no doubting thewisdom of the interventionby Custodian of the Two

Holy Mosques King Abdullah toextend the earlier three-month am-nesty for expatriates living andworking illegally in the Kingdom.

The immensity of the task be-fore the authorities and all the con-cerned embassies has meant that ithas simply not been possible to pro-cess the hundreds of thousands ofpieces of documentation in time tomeet this week’s deadline. The kingtook care to consult carefully withthe ministries of foreign affairs, la-bor and the interior before makinghis announcement through the Inte-rior Ministry. There will be thosewho will say that the whole originaltime-frame was overly ambitiousfrom the start, which would seemto be borne out by the disruption andconcerns that have been caused tobusiness. Economists are still prob-ably working out the extent of thelosses caused to the Saudi economyby the sudden disappearance of for-eign staff without the proper docu-mentation, who feared that theywere about to be caught up in a drag-net by the authorities.

The weeks before Ramadan arenormally the busiest of the year forthe retail sector, as people buy pre-sents and new clothes and lay inextra supplies of more expensivefoodstuffs. Anecdotal evidence sug-gests that some retailers havestruggled to meet demand from theircustomers, not simply because someof their staff are away, in the pro-cess of regularizing their work andresidency, but also because whole-salers and delivery firms are suffer-ing from a similar lack of workers.

Yet there is another importantside to this, which is that it is nowclear that the number of illegal work-ers in the Kingdom was seriouslyunderestimated. There have beencalls for an inquiry into how so manyindividuals could become lost to theview of the authorities, given thestrict controls that are in place onthe admission of pilgrims, and theregular tightening of procedures thatpermit the hiring and entry of for-eign workers. Those who look tosuch an inquiry to apportion blameand perhaps punishment on those,including unscrupulous Saudis whoabused and exploited the system,and very often the expatriate work-ers involved, are probably wrong.

Nevertheless, an inquiry thereshould be, to establish how the sys-tem was manipulated so extensivelyand to work out how much tighterand more effective controls can beapplied. As the Kingdom moves to-ward greater e-government, itshould be possible to apply withrelative ease the sort of rigorousimmigration systems as those found,for instance, in the US and the UK.

But as they say, we are wherewe are. With Ramadan almost uponus, despite the assurances from min-istries that during the holy month,they would not slacken their effortsto work through their massiveworkload, it is clear that the majorpush to sort out the remaining un-documented workers will take placein the two months after Eid. WhileKing Abdullah’s second wise inter-vention has brought relief to hun-dreds of thousands of expatriateswho, through bureaucratic delaysor maybe their own fault, have stillnot sorted out their situation in theKingdom, it must be hoped that thisis the last time the warning call willbe necessary. The clear danger isthat what is an act of mercy will betaken as a signal by some that thisprocess can be strung out indefi-nitely. This must not be the case. Thelaw is the law and must be enforced.That this will be done humanely butfirmly is likely to be the case, thoughwith so many cases to be processed,it must be feared that some expatri-ates may suffer through unfortunateerrors. Nevertheless one sign of thedetermination of the government tobehave with humanity is the changeto the law which will now allowfamily members of the age of 18 towork in the Kingdom, provided thatthe legal worker in the family, to-gether with the family members,have spent at least two years here.

Come Nov 3, when the amnestyperiod finally ends, it can be ex-pected that this long and difficultprocess for expatriates, for theircountries’ consular staff and for theauthorities here in the Kingdom, willhave come to an end. —Arab News

MEDIA WATCH

G K Chesterton—British writer

In a BBC interview, chief of staffof the Afghan National ArmyGeneral Sher Mohammad

Karimi said that “Pakistan could endthe Afghan war in weeks if it wereserious about peace, as Pakistan hasstrong control over the Taliban andhas unleashed them on Afghani-stan”. Pakistan’s Foreign Office hasdescribed Afghan General’s allega-tions yet another attempt to malignthe country. The foreign office state-ment said: “Pakistan has exercisedextreme restraint in the face ofhighly provocative language used bythe Afghan civil and military offi-cials over the last few months, notto mention some totally fabricatedaccusations”. The foreign officestressed that Pakistan will not bedeterred in its efforts to support theinternational community’s efforts tobring peace and stability to Afghani-stan. It appears that Afghan leader-ship is averse to reconciliation withthe Taliban and does not want toshare power with it.

On Monday, Afghan DeputyForeign Minister Ershad Ahmadisaid that Pakistan floated the con-cept of an Afghan power-sharing ar-rangement between Kabul and theTaliban as part of a peace talks in ameeting between Pakistani NationalSecurity Adviser Sartaj Aziz andAfghan ambassador Umer Daudzai.He said it involved a form of feder-alism and ceding power in someAfghan provinces to the Taliban add-ing that this federalism is a means

Involve mosques in uplift activities

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: [email protected]

In the initial period of Islamichistory mosque played a six-foldrole. Primarily, it was a center

for worship and secondarily it wasa focal point for political, judicial,educational, social, and health ac-tivities. These activities, weretaken away, one by one, as theoriginal Islamic governance ofKhulafa-e-Rashideen was con-verted into Turkic and Iranian stylemonarchies by Omayyad andAbbasid dynasties.

As a result, political activitieswere shifted to the caliph’s Darbargiving first blow to the identity ofmosque. The second blow camewhen parallel judiciary system ofMozalim was introduced in Qazi’scourt in 8th century AD. This wasfollowed by the third blow whenschools mushroomed in 9th cen-tury AD as a result of unprec-edented proliferation of Ahadith inresponse to caliph’s decision tocompile them. With mushroomingof schools and the associated up-surge of sectarianism, the social ac-tivities slipped out quietly frommosque giving it the fourth blow.Before talking about the next blow,let us look at the link between healthand mosque.

It is a historical fact that mosquewas used as center for health activi-ties in the first few decades of Is-lamic regimes. For example, in thefirst holy war of Badr, when thecasualties arrived in the city theywere taken to the mosque for treat-ment. This practice carried on laterin peacetime. The first female who

for the Pakistanis toachieve what they couldnot achieve through theirproxy (the Taliban) on thebattlefield. In Islamabad,Foreign Ministry spokes-man Aizaz Chaudry de-nied any suggestion ofpower-sharing formula orceding territory made dur-

ing the meeting. In fact, PresidentHamid Karzai is jittery for the talksin Doha and secondly because Indiais not involved in the endgame.

India had reportedly expressedits desire to be a part of Doha talksin order to protect its interests in Af-ghanistan; but the US did not agree.Fact of the matter is that Talibanleadership and Pushtuns would nei-ther accept mediatory nor any otherkind of role for India, as the latterhas had very close relations with theNorthern Alliance – archenemy ofthe Taliban. Secondly India has beenstrongly opposing the reconciliationprocess because both India and theNorthern Alliance would stand tolose in case majority-Pushtuns gettheir due share in the government.There is a perception that India isbehind acerbic remarks of PresidentKarzai and others, as India has itsstrategic objectives in Afghanistanvis-à-vis to encircle Pakistan, to un-dermine Pakistan and the Taliban’sinfluence in Afghanistan. Apart fromits projection as a regional power, italso seeks political influence in Af-ghanistan through aid to enhance itsaccess to Central Asian republics.

On the other hand, Pakistanwould like to block Indian influencein Afghanistan to prevent encircle-ment from its western border and toforestall the Afghan’s claims andabout non-acceptance of DurandLine by Afghanistan. From KingZahir Shah to President Najeebullah,Pakistan has had to face anti-Paki-

stan and pro-Indian governmentsbacked by then super power SovietUnion. Despite the fact Pakistan hadto accommodate millions of Afghanrefugees during Afghan jihad, andgiven tremendous sacrifices in menand treasury in the war on terror, yetIndia was rewarded in reconstruc-tion contracts and a strategic pact.One can ask the question if Indiafrom a distance of more than 1200miles away has the right to protectits interests in Afghanistan, does Pa-kistan not have the right to protectits interests in Afghanistan, whichis a next-door neighbour? Anyhow,Pakistan-bashing has become a regu-lar feature with Afghan and civil andmilitary leadership.

Last month, in an interview witha Pakistan TV channel, PresidentHamid Karzai was critical ofPakistan’s establishment, which heclarified that he meant armed forcesand intelligence agencies. But in or-der to give a soothing effect, he addedthat he had no complaint whatsoeverwith the political government andpeople of Pakistan. He always joinedthe chorus with the US and NATO inaccusing Pakistan of ensconcingHaqqani group and for funding andtraining terrorists in North Waziristan.To an answer, he admitted that TTPleader Maulvi Faqir Muhammad wasin Afghan prison, and Fazlullah andothers are in Kunar in Afghanistan. Ithas to be mentioned that PresidentKarzai on one hand accuses Pakistanof providing sanctuaries to militantsbelonging to Haqqani group, but at thesame time turns a blind to those whooperate from Afghanistan to attackPakistani check posts and villages bor-dering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

When the interviewer asked thequestion as to what sort of help hewanted from Pakistan for promotionof peace, which it did not provide, hereplied Pakistan has done ‘virtually

nothing’. Pakistan has so far freed26 mid-level Afghan Taliban lead-ers on the request of the Afghan gov-ernment. When Pakistan askedKabul government to hand over TTPleader Maulvi Faqir Muhammad inAfghan prison, it refused to do sotaking the plea that two countriesdo not have an agreement on ex-change of prisoners. Kabul’s re-fusal to reciprocate the peace andreconciliation efforts initiated byPakistan authorities is deplorable.Some analysts had expressed con-cerns that in case Pakistan helps inbringing the Taliban to the negoti-ating table, detractors of Pakistanwould say that Pakistan has controlover the Taliban.

President Hamid Karzai has toshare the blame for ignoringPakhtun ethnicity by the occupi-ers and arrogantly kept the wholeof the community as an outcastfrom the power dispensation. Af-ghan minorities mainly Tajik wereinducted in Afghan army, intelli-gence, police and administrationwith Hamid Karzai sitting at thehead virtually as a lame duck andmere showpiece. The communityof erstwhile kings and king-mak-ers was surely not to take kindlyto the raw deal dealt to it. On thetop of that, President Karzai, dis-regarding Pakistan’s security con-cerns, signed strategic pacts withIndia and the US. Pakistan has notbeen lucky to have friendly gov-ernment in Afghanistan. FromKing Zahir Shah to PresidentNajibullah had refused to acceptthe Durand Line. Whether Presi-dent Karazai rejects it or not wouldnot make any difference, as theUS, Britain and the UN considerDurand Line as a border betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

offered her services as anurse and bandaged thewounded and looked afterthe sick was Ku’aiba BintSa’d Al Aslamiyya. A spe-cial tent was erected for herin the mosque for the pur-

pose. One of her patients was animportant companion, Sa’d IbnMu’adh, who suffered a spear woundin the battle of Khandaq. UmayyadCaliphs knew that the mosque beinga powerful tool could be used by thepatients and their relatives as propa-ganda front against the government,so they took away this facility giv-ing the fifth blow to the mosque.

Thus mosque was left only withone activity of worship. The secondCaliph gave it a spiritual impingingby introducing Taraweeh during themonth of Ramadhan. But with pas-sage of time worship and its spiri-tual contour changed to matter-of-routine rituals because of control andthus interference by the caliphs overthe custodians of mosque. This wasfinal and the most damaging blow tothe mosque as the control trickleddown to interest groups in the fol-lowing centuries. Today, we find allmosques are taken over by the inter-est groups and used only for ritualsor hate-dispersing propaganda.Thus, mosque which was the hubof Islamic teachings of peace andfraternity is dubbed by the enemiesof Islam as the center of terror. Theremay be falsified exaggeration in thispropaganda but it does carry someweight. The reason being that overthe centuries, the political custodi-ans of religion denuded the mosquefrom its six accolades one by onewhich were bestowed upon by theconceiver of Islam (PBH).

It would be naive to suggest togive back all the lost laurels in theirtotalities to the mosque at this junc-

ture, but it would also be gullible notto return some of these essentials inone form or another. And that’s wherethe spiritual aspect of health as de-fined by WHO comes in mind whichcan play important role in activitiesof mosque relevant to the present dayneeds. How?

The idea was provided by anNGO run by a Pakistani psychiatristtrained in Guys Hospital, London. Heinvolved a mosque and its attachedMadrisa in healthcare activities byextending its premises and openingan out-patient facility and a day-careoperation theater where patients of allcolor, creed and religions were treatedfree of charge. Most of the doctorsand specialists were either part tim-ers or volunteers. The Imam of themosque who was also the head of theMadrisa engaged his staff and stu-dents in out-patient department andout-reach preventive healthcare ac-tivities. One could see a refreshingchange in the mindset of the imam,his staff and students involved inhelping the ailing humanity. Equallyrefreshing was the thought that thosestudents were the future imams ofmosques spread all over Pakistan.The scene brought back the memo-ries of original notion of mosque inearly days of Islam.

After knowing about the NGO,the then PML-N government sent ateam to study the project and make afeasibility report whether it could bemade a WHO-sponsored pilot activ-ity. After a few visits and discussionsit appeared to have positive poten-tials. In consultation with local WHO,the health ministry prepared a con-cept paper. Then, a team funded byWHO was sent to Cairo where it hadmeetings with the highest authorityof East Mediterranean Region ofWHO at its Regional Head Quarters.In those meetings its wider impact on

the society was discussed against thebackground of fundamentalism/ter-rorism which was surfacing in Pa-kistan. After deliberations, the con-cept paper was accepted in principleand was converted into a projectdocument for Pakistan. Finally itwas decided that the final agreementwould be signed at Islamabad be-tween the ministry of health and ahigh-powered WHO team on Octo-ber 18, 1999.

The plan of PML-N govern-ment was to start the WHO-spon-sored activity in four provinces aspilot projects and run it for fouryears and see its impact on themindset of Imams of mosques, thestaff and the students of attachedMadrisas and the community. If theresults were satisfactory both forthe custodians of mosques,Madrisas and the community, thenthe government would own it by in-corporating it in Five Year Plan.

Four days before the signingceremony, Nawaz Sharif govern-ment was packed and with that, theactivity was buried. This was twoyears before the mosque andMadrisa came under stringent glo-bal scrutiny after 9/11. If the activ-ity was given chance to flourish,Pakistan could have become a lead-ing player to show the world thatmosque is not what it is portrayedby the enemies of Islam by prov-ing it practically.

Now that the PML-N govern-ment is in place, can it retrieve thosefiles in the ministry of health whichwere set aside by the Musharaf gov-ernment and revive the projectwhich has potential benefits of notonly involving the mosque in socio-health activities but help in bluntingthe propaganda drummed by theworld media against the mosque, theMadrisa and Islam.

Mohammad JamilEmail: [email protected]

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Dr Ghayur AyubEmail:[email protected]

Voice of the People

Lesson notlearned

MUKKHTAR AHMED

As reported in the press PIA Boardof Directors has been reconstituted.It was hoped that Prime MinisterMian Nawaz Sharif would burry thepast practice of appointing cronieshas once again proved the point thatthere can not be any change frompast practice. Firstly selection ofShujat Azeem who had interest inCAA and PIA could have beenavoided. He is bringing in his friendsin the boards who would remainobliged to him as long as theyremain on the board. If you go tothis link www.hunarpakistan.org/founder member.html you findmajority of the members of PIAincluding acting chairman PIA hasbeen picked up from the foundermembers hunar Pakistan.

They all may be good peoplein their respective fields but howcan they be beneficial to PIA hav-ing no aviation background? Sometransparency should have been ob-served in the selection of BoardMembers. Adviser on aviation hasremained supplier of telephone ex-changes to CAA and PIA and in allprobabilities he would furtherwiden the scope of his business.

As the things move, PrimeMinister will certainly realize thathe erred in the selection by not ap-pointing a neutral person. It is nevertoo late, he may review the activi-ties of adviser since his inductionshould give some food for thought.People are looking forward for achange, a better change, a changefree of friends, sifarshi culture,change that should reflect transpar-ency, change to ensure bettermentof the organization, a healthychange to revamp PIA and CAA toturn them into model organization.CAA without any effort earnsaround Rs 27 billion annually onaccount of aeronautical charges itcould be further enhanced if com-petent team is placed to managethe affairs. CAA is infested withair force officers and is being runby junior officers causing greatunrest in regular senior officersthat has resulted in great frustra-tion and must be attended at prior-ity. PM should translate his state-ments into reality to weed out cor-rupt and contract employees with-out losing any time—Karachi

Internecinestrife

ALI MUHAMMAD

President Obama speaking to re-porters on Tuesday in Washingtonstated that every country has theright to carry out espionage activi-ties in every other country of theworld. As such, the coup in Egyptshould prove an eye opener for thepoor countries who should expectnothing but subversion and sabo-tage from their rich counterparts.

It is better that we should setour own house in order and bringall the institutions of the state un-der one sincere command becausethere is a lot of internecine strugglegoing on in our own powerful in-stitutions providing inroads to theactivities referred to above. Weshould have one national agenda:to provide level playing field andequal opportunity to every citizenof the country. This can only beachieved by ignoring all other ide-ologies and instilling a strong senseof independent rational thoughtthrough childhood schooling.

Our last government printednotes to the tune of about one thou-sand billion rupees per year. Butstill the country did not go into hy-perinflation. The reason is the sup-port provided by our agriculturalproduction. But our industrialgrowth stands at zero, thanks to theoutside interference. Just imagine,we have 190 million people and ifall can be trained to contribute tonational productivity, the resultscan be fantastic, as in China. TheIMF delegation visiting our coun-try is exhorted our government toimpose more and more taxes andbring the agricultural sector into taxnet. This sector is actually alreadyovertaxed and being eaten into by

In moments of crisisHASHIM ABRO

And O my people! Give full measure and weight in justice and reduce not the things that are due tothe people, and do not commit mischief in the land, causing corruption”- Holy Qur’an –Surah Hud

11:85. After successfully completing a number of tests, Prophet Hazrat Ibrahim ( A.S) is given the gladtidings that he has been appointed a leader of all the people. “What about my progeny?” asks Ibrahim.“My covenant does not include the dhalimeen (oppressors)”, here comes the divine reply (Al-Qur’an2:124). An important point emerges from this dialogue: an oppressor is not fit to be the leader of people.This is just a single example of how leadership is dealt within the Holy Quran. There are several morelessons and guidelines in the Quran which provide exemplary leadership principles for everyone tofollow but are we following those? We live in the new global economy but unfortunately we do not havethe desired leadership in all walks of life in Pakistan today. The current lot of the leadership, more ofless, in all disciplines and domains has become somewhat contemptible. Is there any institution, anyorganization to arouse this spirit among our leaders that leaders have a tough job in the best of times?—Islamabad

READERS

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

—Editor

Mandela, Obama and other men of straw

There are some men who lift theage they live in till all men walkon higher ground in their life-

time. Nelson Mandela belongs to thatrare breed of men. A lifetime agowhen the freedom icon had com-pleted a quarter century in prison,yours truly had come up with an em-barrassingly sentimental poem that anewspaper thought fit to print. For ayoung, impressionable mind, the ideaof someone spending 25 long years,locked away in a dark, damp prisoncell, was overwhelming. But thenthat’s what makes great men. Theydefy impossible adversities and per-sonal insecurities for their beliefsand ideals. Recently, in a blog afriend wondered why South Asianpoliticians couldn’t take a leaf outof Mandela’s book. The immedi-ate provocation was the decisionof Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif totry Gen. Pervez Musharraf fortreason and more specifically forsacking Supreme Court judges,suspending the constitution andother sins. My friend recalled ananecdote shared by former US Presi-dent Bill Clinton in a speech atAmerican University of Dubai.

Speaking on leadership quali-ties, Clinton reminisced about hismeeting with Mandela years ago andasking the great man why he didn’tgo after former leaders of the Apart-heid regime when he came to power.They had persecuted and imprisonedhim for 27 years after all, not tomention the appalling crimes visitedon his people for decades and cen-turies. Clinton, a fixture of lecturecircuits in the Gulf, bowled over hisyoung audience in Dubai with thesimple yet profound explanation thatMandela offered: “Bill, I was theircaptive for 27 years and I do notwant to be their captive for the restof life planning revenge against themI have forgiven them.” Recalling hisrelease, Mandela later wrote: “As Iwalked out the door toward the gatethat would lead to my freedom, Iknew if I did not leave my bitter-ness and hatred behind, I would still

be in prison.’’ Here’s someone whohad suffered what few men everhave, my friend wrote. “Yet sostrong is he in character and spiritthat he forgave the tormentors whosubjected him to solitary confine-ment and instead vowed to work toerase the ugly wounds of a dividedcountry. And here is Pakistan’s third-time lucky prime minister who in-stead of addressing himself to thedaunting challenges facing his na-tion chooses to go after his bêtenoire,” he added.

Well, few of us are capable ofrising above our angst and agendas.It takes real courage to forgive one’senemies. As Gandhi said, forgive-ness is the attribute of the strong.The weak cannot forgive. Not ev-eryone can offer the other cheek tobe hit again, as Jesus did. Or pardonone’s mortal enemies on the daywhen the world is at one’s feet, asthe Prophet did after the conquestof Makkah. Sharif’s detractors arguethat he could have assured himself apermanent place in history by givinghis long tormented people a newdawn of hope. He could have been aMandela, healing the wounds of hispeople and building a better tomor-row. That said, even if Sharif wereto forgive and forget, it’s unlikelythat people of Pakistan will. Thehighest court in the land is monitor-ing the case and wants the Generalheld to account. Of course,Musharraf had his redeeming points.He started well when power wasthrust upon him. But in his hubrisand hunger for power, he ended upadding to Pakistan’s woes. Thecountry continues to pay, and will dofor a long time to come, a heavy pricefor being thrown headlong intoAmerica’s all-consuming global war.

With his reckless abuse of powerand targeting of institutions like ju-diciary, the General who is nowtrapped in his own labyrinth aftercoming home to “save Pakistan”once again inflicted irreparable dam-age on the country. Even after allthose years of limitless power andall that that came with it, includingnumerous foreign bank accounts andmansions in London and Dubai,Musharraf’s ardor to “serve” Paki-

stan remains as strong as ever. Poweris a strange thing. It seems to benever enough as far as politicians inIndia and Pakistan are concerned. Soat the ripe age of 86, BJP veteranAdvani still dreams of making it tothe top job in the land. And afternearly ten years in power, the lastfew being marked by one scam af-ter another, the 81-year oldManmohan Singh hasn’t entirelygiven up on a third term. His job iseyed by someone who calmly pre-sided over a state massacre of nearly3,000 people.

In the Middle East, people havehad to drag their ‘socialist, repub-lican’ leaders out after decades ofabsolute power. Syria’s Assad hasto kill his people in their thousandsso he could serve them. How doesthis compare with Mandela’slegacy? After his release and endof Apartheid, he served as SouthAfrica’s first black President foronly one term—from 1994 to 1999.At the height of his power andpopularity, he decided to makeway for a younger generation ofleaders and devote himself to na-tion-building and reconciliation. IfSouth Asian politicians, or anypolitician for that matter, had paidthe price that Mandela did in hislong political career, spending onethird of his life behind bars, theywould have deemed it their right torule till kingdom come. So today, ifthe Africans — and the whole worldwith them — are endlessly prayingfor Madiba, in an outpouring ofspontaneous love and support notseen anywhere in the world in a longtime, it makes sense. This is some-thing that you cannot earn withforce, as a Persian proverb advises,or money and clever PR campaigns.

This week, Barack Obamajoined millions of South Africans inpaying tributes to the charismaticicon of freedom, emphasizing howMandela had inspired him and otherleaders around the world. The USleader visited the Robben Islandprison, spending some time alone inthe cell that once housed his hero.

Obama wrote in the visitors’book: “We’re deeply humbled tostand where men of such courage

Views From Abroad

Why politicise peace efforts?

Reading the commentariesabout the expected Dohatalks and the frustration about

their repeated breakdown a coupleof days ago it seems necessary togive the matter another seriousthought to achieve peace in Pakistanand Afghanistan the two victims ofthe great game, which failed to at-tract serious attention due to vestedinterest of the proverbial monkeywho are playing hide and see whilePKP and Karachi are bleeding pro-fusely and the world conscience isin deep slumber: What is actuallyhappening and what can be expectedfrom all the efforts? Twelve yearsafter the US and NATO invaded Af-ghanistan and brought down theTaliban government after first fail-ing to reach an agreement in Texasfor protecting US Oil cartels inter-est in Afghanistan, they developedanother plot on the surface to pun-ish them for not surrendering OsamaBin Laden but actually in order toput their foot in the door of this re-source-rich region the US had tolearn the same lesson as the Russiansin the eighties and the British in the19th Century: History records thatAfghanistan cannot be conqueredand held by occupying forces.

One of the largest problems ofthe US that is in the middle of an eco-nomic crisis and experiences grow-ing unrest and poverty in their owncountry is the need to wind up the

Afghan war and pull out occu-pation troops from there. Whilein the early years when Talibanseemed defeated talks withthem were rejected from 2005onwards on flimsy groundswhen they reorganized them-

selves and their efforts were sup-ported by a popular uprising of Af-ghan people who grew frustrated withmissing improvement in their lives,with continued killing of civilians bythe foreign occupation troops and justby the arrogant and culturally insen-sible behavior of them the US devel-oped the idea to undermine the unityamong the insurgents by trying tomake out and talk to ‘moderate’ and‘good’ Taliban. That of course didnot work. Neither worked the troopsurge that president Obama had or-dered shortly after his election. Withthe military success lacking, the eco-nomic situation worsening and thepopularity of the war dwindling fastin all the involved countries since2010 all are running for the exit. Agroup intoxicated with power in USexploited this so-called war on ter-ror to fill their personal coffersthrough securing outsourced con-tracts to destroy humanity. Pakistanwas threatened to support this planor get ready to be sent into Stone Age,our spineless dictator compromisednational interest for his personal gainsand Pakistan’s economy got crippledand we have suffered over $ 100 bil-lion in this melee drama.

Why talks in such a situation arealso being politicized by certainquarters? It is the defeated US thatis eager to have talks and arrive atcertain agreement with Taliban.What do they want from Taliban

now? In the first place they want tokeep their foot in the door. Thatmeans they have installed a stoogegovernment that they got ‘elected’and that is supposed to representtheir interests in future. Secondly,the foreign forces have produced aconstitution that is supposed to makeAfghanistan a ‘democracy’ and asecular state which is of course im-possible and against the aspirationsof the majority of the Afghans. Thisconstitution –the only sign of some‘progress’ in this ‘backward’ coun-try (according to the West) has to besustained to protect US interest. Andthirdly and mainly, the US wants tokeep troops and military bases in Af-ghanistan in order to keep the stoogegovernment in place and the foot inthe door. It is not enough to negoti-ate this with the Karzai governmentwhich is weak and has control onlyover a small part of the country. Inorder to secure their interests theyneed some agreement with theTaliban who after the withdrawalwill be a formidable military and po-litical force in Afghanistan.

Now what is the interest of theTaliban in an agreement with the de-feated occupational army and coun-try? We read that the Taliban are tiredof fighting and want peace now.How probable is this? While weap-ons and fighting has never been afar away matter from Pashtun andother Afghan people even if the oldergeneration would be ‘tired’ there isa numerically strong and influentialyoung and middle-aged generationthat surely is not tired. Secondly, theTaliban have won the war. Whywould they negotiate at all? Theycould wait until the foreigners are

gone and then act. But they can seethat the Karzai government whichthey do not recognize is negotiat-ing a deal with the US for troops tostay. This they want to prevent andthey want to destabilize Karzai andthat is why Karazai is also playinghis cards. In addition, they are in-terested to get their fighters outfrom the prisons in Guantanamobay and Bagraam. For this latestpurpose they have agreed to openthe Doha office with diplomaticstatus and to hold talks there. Theywill enjoy the hick-ups resultingfrom their flag flying and not beworried about the breakdown oftalks. They have all the time in theworld and they know the Ameri-cans will have to come back. Theywon’t accept Karzai though at anypoint as Mullah Omar has repeat-edly announced. Even if at somepoint an agreement is signed –which is very improbable- whosays that they will keep to it?

The upsetting fact in the storyis that though the US is desperateto talk to the Afghan Taliban theydo not want Pakistan to talk to Pa-kistani Tehrik-e-Taliban. For thatreason they keep on their drone at-tacks on Pakistani tribal territoryand the latest success they couldyield was the killing of WaliurRehman who was in favor of peacetalks with the government. As aresult, peace talks are a far cry rightnow, and blasts and target killingin different parts of Pakistan areprojected on media to have beenowned while Pakistan needs imme-diate steps on war footing. Otherthan the Afghan Taliban ours haveno foreign occupation to fight.

Aijaz Zaka Syed

Let’s get this right, today’s column has nothing to do withme: I realize all my readers

know my wife left home for amonth yesterday to visit my twogirls in America, and I have no in-tention of advertising for a newwife. But I couldn’t help chucklingas I read these different matrimo-nial ads put in the newspaper bypeople of different professions:

Salesman: Once in a lifetime of-

fer, to get yourself the original, genu-ine article. One of the most handsomeand smartest bachelor’s around is nowlooking for a wife. And you could bethe lucky one he chooses! Has ownhouse, car and successful career!

Economist: I am in demand of awife. Supply is great though my re-quirements are high. However theElasticity of my demands should notbear too heavy a burden upon thenational interest. Mathematician:Wife required to complete the for-mula of my life. Must be numerateand understand complex algebraiclogarithms. Needed to help furthermy family unit. Business Man: Wifewanted for company.

Politician: feel there is a need in

this world, to improve the ways welive, to harmonize the processes oflife and to build upon past differencesand short comings. I believe that wethe people need someone to share ourlives. To feel the joys of parent hood,and bear the social responsibilities,as we should in a civilized society.(etcetc and never getting to the point).

Car Dealer: Wanted a sturdy, re-liable, low depreciating wife. Shouldbe in excellent working condition andthe latest model.. Farmer: Wanted awife from good stock. Required forbreeding. Banker: Wanted wife whotakes interest in me and credits mewith her service. Builder: Wanted awife to help build upon the founda-tions of my life. Must be homely and

Wife wanted..!willing to build relationship fromthe ground up.

Doctor: I am looking for a wifeto cure the emptiness in my life.However if you feel the need for asecond opinion then it’s fine by me.Army Commando: My mission inlife is to find myself the perfectwife. Successful applicants must beable to use a penknife and a com-pass. She who dares wins. Camou-flage provided.

I know my wife reads my col-umn wherever she goes, so here’sher quip after she reads this piece:‘Husband for sale, in as is where iscondition, on second thoughts takehim free..!’—Email:[email protected]

the patwari and tehsildar. It is largelyilliterate and cannot maintain booksand file income tax returns. Anymove to force them to do so wouldresult in complete collapse of thisvital sector resulting in famines.

In any case, direct taxation in anilliterate country suppresses what-ever little entrepreneurship there isand power generation on importedfuel is already ruining our economy.We need foreign exchange which wecan only get from exports. We canignore rupee collection, but we mustdo something about our foreign ex-change reserves, which are holdingus in bondage to the IMF. We musttake corrective measures immedi-ately and stop our internecine strife.—Muzaffargarh

Media failureHAROON SIKANDAR PASHA

The recent disclosure by the AGabout the second letter written by theLaw Ministry in PPP regime toSwiss authorities has taken every-one by surprise. I am surprised, too.However, my surprise is not relatedto the letter or its contents.

Instead, I am surprised at thefailure of the alert and awake jour-nalists /anchors to report this episodeduring last eight months. The me-dia-men who proudly claim to digout stories even out of the bedrooms,miserably failed in this case. I amconfused whether to attribute thisfailure of our media to professionalincompetence or the influence ofcurrency stacks. Let someone inmedia comment on it.—Islamabad

Egyptian turmoilMUHAMMAD IBRAHIM

Once again Cairo’s Tahrir Square isfilled with protesters. This timearound, the protests are against thedemocratically elected PresidentMohamed Morsi’s policies. Peopleare unhappy with some of his poli-cies including his failure to beingabout reforms in the security forces.The Egyptian economy has alsogone from bad to worse under hisrule and unemployment has in-creased to an unprecedented level.What will come next can’t be pre-dicted. Morsi would do well to re-view his decisions.—Sobra city

Women & cropproductionSHIREEN FAYYAZ

Pakistan being a Less DevelopedCountry largely relies on agricultureas an important component of theeconomy and employment genera-tion. A large population of Pakistanis directly or indirectly involved inthe agricultural sector but women ascompared to men are less involvedin the sector because of the socialand cultural barriers. Pakistan’s to-tal female population is 47.5% outof which 79.4% of the total ruralwomen are engaged in agriculture.Women extensively participate in theproduction of major crops but theintensity to which they participatedepends on the type of crop and la-bor. According to survey, a Pakistanirural women works 15 hours a day,in agricultural activities speciallycrop production.

Women perform activities likesowing, weeding, harvesting, post-harvest operations such as threshing,drying, grinding, husking and stor-age along with the routine domesticchores at their homes. Women re-main extremely busy especially dur-ing the two farming seasons in sow-ing and harvesting. Their participa-tion is particularly high in majorcrops like wheat, cotton, rice, pulsesand also in the production of veg-etables. Vegetables are most com-monly grown in Pakistan by womenbecause they require less labor andcan be done on marginal lands. Onthe other hand picking cotton is ex-tensively a women task and massivegrowth rates in cotton productionhave generated tremendous demandfor female labor and this type of pro-duction-labor interaction had leadtowards a lot of feminization in ag-riculture sector of Pakistan. But infuture the role of women in agricul-

faced down injustice and refused toyield. The world is grateful for theheroes of Robben Island who re-mind us that no shackles or cellscan match the strength of the hu-man spirit.”Profound and sublimeas ever, Obama’s words remindedme of memorable lines from Rich-ard Lovelace’s poem — Stone wallsdo not a prison make, Nor iron barsa cage. But even as Obama’s stir-ring words move you, as they oftendo, you cannot help but wonder ifhe has remained faithful to the ide-als and values of his hero that havetransformed a whole continent.

From fighting secret wars andcalmly targeting innocent, unsus-pecting people in distant lands topresiding over the largest ever se-cret spying operation on one’s owncitizens and friends and allies, thispresident has done everything thatwould make the Neocons proud.

As Tariq Ali argues, the moststriking feature about the Obamapresidency is the continuity with thereviled Bush regime. And thosewho have tried to draw attention tothis side of the Land of the Free —whistleblowers like Bradley Man-ning, Julian Assange and now Ed-ward Snowden — they are beinghunted like wild animals by the em-pire. The other major letdown of theNobel presidency has been the to-tal and abject surrender to Israel.

How someone who believesthat no prison cell can cage humanspirit and is moved by the suffer-ing of the South Africans underApartheid can remain indifferent tothe predicament of Palestiniansunder Israel? Thousands of Pales-tinians including women and chil-dren have been rotting away foryears in Israeli prisons that areworse than Robben Island. Gazaand the West Bank are the world’slargest open-air prisons. But I guessthey are no burden on the con-science of politicians who are ac-countable to lobbies and vote banks.That is the difference between aMandela and an Obama and be-tween real leaders and men of straw.While everyone aspires for great-ness, few can pay the price it de-mands. —Courty: Arab News

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:[email protected]

ture seems to be diminishing be-cause of the mechanization beingintroduced. Most of the work doneby women in crop production is noweasily done, with less time consump-tion by the machines being intro-duced in the agriculture sector.

On the other hand there are nosuch measures taken by the agricul-tural extension department for the en-couragement and participation of therural women. Government shouldprovide easy incentives to the ruralwomen so that they can utilize themoney for activities like buying smalllandholdings and growing vegetablesand other minor crops on these landsfor their income generation. The de-partment of agricultural extensionshould provide trainings to thewomen so that they know their right-ful place in agricultural sector wherethey can contribute even after themechanization being introduced.—Rawalpindi

Musharraf return-his own decision

MUKHTAR AHMED

This is with reference to two lettersmore or less advocating trial ofMusharraf. It is true that for too longnow people have taken the law intotheir hands and have never been pun-ished. But the question arises wasthis his independent decision or col-lective wisdom?

A close friend of Gen Musharrafwho travelled with him from Dubaito Karachi revealed that coming toPakistan was Gen Musharraf’s owndecision but there were many who ad-vised him not to return. His only re-ply was that he had done nothingwrong and knows that there are scoresof cases filed against him and he isready to face them and shall defendall the cases. Let us not challenge hisintellect, give him due credit he ruledthe country for 8 years and it wasmore stable as compared to past andnow ended up in worst conditionwhere the writ of he government isfast disappearing.

To put the record straight muchbefore the arrival of Musharraf se-ries of cases had been filed againsthim including demand of trial un-der article 6 of the constitution. Hereturned to Pakistan to fight out hiscases. The government is on weakwicket because his take over on 12Oct 1999 was not by him but it wasthe army reaction and to avoid divi-sion of the army he accepted the re-sponsibility. The idea is not to pro-tect Gen Musharraf but to draw at-tention towards ground realities thatultimately prevail in such situations

The ground reality is that armyaction of 12 Oct 1999 was ratifiedby the Supreme Court and he wasgiven three years to hold electionsthat he had never prayed, so is thecase of his action taken on 3 Nov2007 that was upheld by the Su-preme Court. By reversing the deci-sion the history can not be changedit stays as a permanent feature forall times to come. His trial has al-ready started, and he is attendingcourts and fighting his cases. Let uswait . So what if he is punished?

It is true that law breakers mustbe punished but won’t it be advis-able to bring everyone in the loopirrespective of his past and presentposition. Justice is not only to bedone but it must be seen that it isbeing done. Pro active approach bySC in this case is not understand-able at all. Lastly is Gen Musharraf’strial more important than the writ ofgovernment being challenged every-where by every tom dick and harry?What has happened in Egypt shouldprovide ample food for thought to ourrulers who should aim only to takethe country out of this impasse andwaste no time in establishing the writof the government in the country andimprove law and order situation thatis fast deteriorating which is moreimportant than Musharraf’s case.—Via email

He said that PML (N) hasdeviated from its stance by tak-ing the loan from IMF and havealso increased the General SalesTax.

Syed Khurshid Shah saidthat PPP led government re-turned 3.5 billion dollar loanback to IMF. PML (N) govern-ment should public the detailsof loans taken by PPP govern-ment.

“We left foreign exchangereserves of 4.5 billion dollars forthe government, increased theexports from 18 to 36 billionsdollars, while took Tax recover-ies up to 2000 billion dollars”,he added.

He said that consensusshould be made on the names ofChairman National Account-ability Bureau (NAB) till July5, 2013 by following the deci-sion of Supreme Court (SC).Opposition will not give nameof any biased or person havingaffiliation with any party.“We will see how governmentwill work with us in legislationif government neglected us itwill have to face difficulties insenate in this regard”, he con-cluded.—Online

PPP presidentialFrom Page 1

suicide bomber blew himselfwhile targeting the vehicle ofAfghan border forces.

“Our forces miraculouslysurvived since the blast hap-pened at Friendship Gate at Pak-Afghan border”, the source said.

Meanwhile, Afghan securityofficials told private channel thatAfghan border commanderAkhtar Muhammad was the in-tended target of the suicide attack.However, the sources said thatMuhammad survived the attack.

The condition of five of theinjured persons was stated to beserious and they were rushed toQuetta’s bordering town ofChaman for medical treatment.

Frontier Corps sources,however, said that some Paki-stanis were also among the in-

jured.Pak-Afghan border was im-

mediately closed after the blast.Later, FC persons were called atthe border to control the situa-tion. Moreover, security wastightened on both sides of theborder to avert another untowardincident. Chaman is a smalltown in the southwestern prov-ince of Balochistan and is oneof the two main crossing pointsfor supplies for American andNato troops fighting the Talibanin Afghanistan.

Balochistan, which bordersIran and Afghanistan, suffersfrom a local separatist insur-gency. Apart from a long-run-ning nationalist movement,there has also been an alarmingrise in sectarian terrorism in the

province recently, with ethnicand religious minorities oftentargeted by militants.

In related news, three per-sons were arrested during asearch operation carried out bysecurity forces in Killi Nasaranin the Kuchlak region ofQuetta. During the operation,security forces seized a largequantity of explosive materials,manufactured bombs and sui-cide jackets.

Security forces said the ar-rested persons included a suicidebomber who was preparing foran attack on Quetta. The arrestedwere said to belong to an ex-tremist organisation.

Nine killed, 19 injured in blastFrom Page 1

Development Authority wasalso illegal. Petitioners re-quested the court to impose acomplete ban on the construc-tion of CNG stations in residen-tial areas.

During case hearing on Fri-day, the presiding judge an-nounced that under the LahoreDevelopment Authority Act,1975, and the Local Govern-ment Ordinance, 2001 commer-cial activities could not be car-ried out in residential areas.

CNG stationsFrom Page 1

Muhammad Chaudhary re-marked that the apex court hadordered to check price hike dueto the increase in GST rate. Thecourt should be told what stepshave been taken by the govern-ment in this regard.

The government has no con-trol to check rising prices of es-sential items in markets.

Justice Ejaz Chaudhry saidthat the national exchequer wasempty over corruption and thatits burden should not be trans-ferred to people.

Later, the court ruled thatdetails of the GST charged onCNG from June 13 2007 to June30, 2013 should be submitted inthe next hearing. The hearing wasadjourned till July 24.—INP

SC calls detailsFrom Page 1

Cameron’s pro-EU coalition part-ners, the Liberal Democrats, ab-stained after dismissing the voteas a parliamentary stunt. MostLabor lawmakers also boycottedthe vote, describing it as the Con-servatives “talking to themselves”.

Cameron, who wants Britainto stay inside a reformed EU, saidin January that he would hold areferendum in the first half of thenext parliament, providing he isre-elected.—Reuters

Cameron winsFrom Page 1

vincial authorities for clearingthe area and rehabilitate theKatchis back in their homes, theKRC consented to end the pro-test. However, the KRC gave anultimatum to the provincial au-thorities till 12 midnight andwarned them that the Katchiswould resume the protest if theprovincial government failed torestore peace in Lyari especiallythe Katchi dominated areas. Thelaw enforcement agenciesclosed the venues leading to-ward Sindh Governor Houseand Sindh Chief MinisterHouse.

The Katchis were on roadsas the gang war militants hadexpelled them from their

houses. Hundreds of womenand children were sitting underthe open sky and waiting for themaintenance of peace from thegovernment side. After an hourof the dialogue between theKRC and the provincial au-thorities, the militants fired twomore rockets in the Katchis-dominated areas and startedheavy firing in Hingorabad,Juma Goth, Agra Taj and otherareas. Police armoured carswere also attacked by the mili-tants.

Meanwhile, eleven sus-pects, including a suicidebomber, were arrested during asearch operation in Karachi’sManghopir area on Friday. The

search operation, conducted byRangers in collaboration witharea police, lasted for severalhours.

During the raid, Rangersseized huge amount of arms, afew motorcycles, a monitor,mobile phones and threateningpamphlets. One of the pam-phlets warned women againstvisiting marketplaces.

According to initial investi-gations, the suicide bomber hadreached Karachi from NorthWaziristan. Security officerssaid all the arrested suspectsbelonged to banned outfits.Around 1,500 Rangers officerstook part in the operation, whichwas conducted on a tip off.

Bullets, rockets chaseFrom Page 1

of the government under theleadership of Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Dar said the Pakistan Mus-lim League-N government in-herited an economy in ashambles with fiscal indisciplineand 9 per cent budget deficit.However, the government iscommitted to correct the fiscalimbalances. Under mediumterm goals 2013-16, the fiscaldeficit will be reduced to 3 percent, with raising investmentratio from 14 to 20 per cent, ac-celerating economic growth rateby 7 per cent, enhancingrevenuesto increase tax to GDPratio, which is currently hover-ing at 8.5 per cent and broaden-ing tax net base.

The government has fixed arevenue target of Rs 2,475 bil-lion for the fiscal year 2013-14,he added. Ishaq Dar said theagreement with the IMF wasnecessary to retire the loanstaken by the previous govern-

ments as the country did nothave adequate foreign exchangereserves. There was no optionbut to obtain the new loan pack-age to avoid default in the pay-ment of IMF’s debt, he added.

He regretted that the previousgovernment in its last year, hadincreased debt by Rs 1,450 billionwhile the total loan accumulatedsince August 1947 to October 12,1999 was Rs 3,000 billion. Thedefault in debt payment wouldhave brought bad name for thecountry,besides harming its cred-ibility and image, he added.

“We are paying the amountborrowed by the previous gov-ernment”, he remarked. He saidPakistan had avoided going tothe Paris Club by opting for theIMF loan. Being a member ofInternational Monetary Fund(IMF), it was Pakistan’s right toavail the facility to avoid defaultin due payments.

Dar said that the EuropeanUnion countries had to take loans

when their economies were facingeconomic crisis. He said the Fundhad declared its loan package withthe previous governmenta failedone and was reluctant to agree fora new programme with Pakistandue to trust deficit. The PML-Ngovernment announced prudentand transparent economicpoliciesand measures in the bud-get 2013-14, which were appreci-ated by the IMF, which was evi-dent from its 3-year US $ 5.3 bil-lion programme, he added.

He said the government hadalso repaid a US $ 160 millionloan to the IDB while US $ 3billion would be paid to the IMFnext year. The Finance Ministersaid a plan had been chalked outforreducing debt to GDP ratio by2 per cent every year. Theratio,which was currently hov-ering around 63.5 per cent,would be reduced to 61.5 percent next year and so on. Itwould gradually be reduced tothe minimum level.—APP

Dar: Nothing kept secretFrom Page 1

ernment of Pakistan in address-ing its urgent energy needs. Thetwo sides agreed to hold the thirdmeeting of the China- PakistanJoint Energy Working Group atan early date and deepen coop-eration in conventional energy,renewable energy and othersources of energy. China stressedthat it will continue to encourageand support Chinese enterprises’investment in Pakistan. It wasalso agreed that both sides willsupport enterprises of the twocountries in conducting coopera-tion on establishment of indus-trial zones in Gwadar.

Earlier this year Chinatook control of Pakistan’sGwadar port, giving it accessto the Arabian Sea and Straitof Hormuz, a gateway for athird of the world’s traded oil.Xi, who referred to Sharif asan old friend and a goodbrother, said strengtheningstrategic cooperation withIslamabad was a priority forChina’s diplomacy, the state-run broadcaster China CentralTelevision reported.

Sharif said his country wel-

comed Chinese investment andwould work to create a friendlyenvironment for it. Meanwhile,Pakistan and China signed eightdocuments of cooperation invarious areas of economy forfurthering already strong eco-nomic and technical ties be-tween two friendly countries.The first pact pertaining to anambitious long term project ap-proximately costing $18 billionthat would include buildingaround 200 kilomters tunnelswas Pak-China Economic cor-ridor. Federal Minister for Plan-ning and Development AhsanIqbal signed the pact from Pa-kistani side while ChairmanNational Development and Re-forms Commission of PRC, XuShao Shi inked the pact onChina side.

The Chinese Premier saidthat China has strategic interestin this Corridor. The Agreementon Economic and Technical co-operation between the Govern-ment of Pakistan and China wasalso inked. The Advisor to PrimeMinister on foreign Affairs TariqFatemi signed the agreement.

Two letter of exchanges werealso signed one on trainingcourses for textile, flood reliefand disastrous management andprovision of equipment foreradication of Polio.

Another MoU was signed forcooperation and exchanges be-tween Pakistan Muslim League(N) and Ruling Communist Partyof China . Advisor Tariq Fatemisigned an other MoU for coop-eration between Institute of Stra-tegic Study and China Instituteof Contemporary Study.

Another document wassigned between Strategic Com-munication organization of Pa-kistan and Huawei company forlaying optic fiber for setting upcommunication link betweenPakistan and China. The PunjabMinister of Energy ChoudhrySher Ali Khan signed MoU onLocal home solar solutionproject. The Chief of the ZTEsigned the documents on Chi-nese side. These agreementsand MoU were signed in thepresence of Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif and Premier LiKeqaing.—Agencies

Pakistan, China to promoteFrom Page 1

States and would also be takenup again in forthcoming contactswith America. The spokesper-son, while commenting on Af-ghan Army Chief’s statementaccusing Pakistan of controllingthe Taliban, said that Pakistan issincere in its efforts to see re-turn of peace and stability inAfghanistan.

“The best route to achievepeace and stability is a robustreconciliation process for whichPakistan is willing to extendevery possible help,” he said.Chaudhry hoped that the sincer-ity of Pakistan will be appreci-

ated and reciprocated and thatnegative statements avoided.

Answering a question, hesaid that former Foreign Secre-tary Shahryar Ahmad Khan hasbeen asked by Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif to conduct Track-II diplomacy with India, some-thing for which he is already inIndia. Chaudhry said that Track-II diplomacy has always beenpart of the overall peace processwith India, complementing andsupporting efforts for peacewherever they were possible.

Replying to a question onreports of the Indian Border Se-

curity Force facilitating mili-tants entering Pakistan, thespokesperson said that the twocountries have a border manage-ment mechanism and contacteach other whenever need arises.He, however, said that Pakistanexpects that its policy of havinggood neighbourly relations withIndia would be reciprocatedfrom the other side.

The spokesperson said thatPakistan and China have signedeight agreements and MoUs dur-ing the current visit of PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif to thatcountry.—AP

Kerry to visit PakistanFrom Page 1

kistan. That’s been our positionright from the outset that weneed a positive engagement ofPakistan if we are to ensurelong-term peace and stability notonly in Afghanistan; but in thewhole region. And in that re-spect, Pakistani authorities, thegovernment, the armed forces todo their utmost to fight extrem-ism and terrorism in the borderregion between Pakistan andAfghanistan.”

He said, “I also think Paki-stan can play a crucial role whenit comes to facilitating a politi-cal process in Afghanistan. Asyou know, NATO as such is notinvolved in that political pro-cess. But we have a very clearposition on that. And that wasexpressed at the NATO Summitin Chicago.”

Rasmussen also said that toensure a successful outcome ofa political process, three condi-tions need to be met.

“Firstly, that there is astrong Afghan ownership thatthe process is Afghan-led.That’s a first thing. Sec-ondly that those involved in thatpolitical process fully respectthe democratic constitution ofAfghanistan, including full re-spect for human rights. Andthat, of course, also includeswomen’s rights. And thirdly,that those involved in such apolitical process cut their linkswith terrorist groups. If theseconditions are met, I think theremight be a fair chance to see apositive outcome of such a po-litical process. And I think weshould give it a chance,” hesaid.—Online

Fogh urges PakistanFrom Page 1

says a press release received herefrom New Delhi. The SpecialEnvoy also met with NationalSecurity Adviser ShivshankarMenon and Foreign SecretaryRanjan Mathai. He will also callon the External Affairs MinisterSalman Khurshid.

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RAWALPINDI—The Inter Ser-vices Public Relations (ISPR) onFriday announced that thesearch operation in the Gyarisector of the Siachin Glacier hasbeen completed. The search op-eration for recovering the deadbodies of the 140 Pakistan Armytroops, which got trapped underthe heavy ice rubble due to landsliding in Gyari Sector last year,has been accomplished afterfourteen months of extensivework.

In this regard, the DirectorGeneral ISPR Major GeneralAsim Salim Bajwa in his Twit-ter message from Skardu, an-nounced the accomplishment ofthe operation which was under-way for the past 14 months.During the operation, PakistanArmy troops and engineers be-sides severe climatic conditions,

rendered their untiring servicesday and night, he added.

The DG ISPR further said thata tribute will be given to thesemartyrs in a ceremony on Monday.It should be noticed that on April

7, 2012 the headquarters of the 6Northern Light Infantry Battalionwas destroyed due to an avalanche.As a consequence, all of the 140troops and civilians deployed therewere martyred. —INP

Search operation in Gyarisector completed: ISPR

sis he said the government hasevolved the strategy accordingto which cost of per unit will bebrought down to rupees 10 or 11which at present costs rupees 14per unit.

Power tariffFrom Page 1

defiant call for supporters to pro-tect his elected “legitimacy”, ina recorded speech aired hoursafter he was toppled.—AFP

3 deadFrom Page 1

Two Air ViceMarshals promoted

as Air MarshalSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Governmentof Pakistan has promoted Air ViceMarshal Muhmmad JamshedKhan and Air Vice Marshal SohailAman to the rank of Air Marshal.Air Marshal Muhammad JamshedKhan was commissioned in Pa-kistan Air Force on April, 1979 inGD (P) Branch. During his career,he has commanded a FighterSquadron, a Fighter Wing and anOperational Air Base. He is agraduate of Combat Command-ers’ School and Air War College.He has also served as DirectorGeneral at Air HeadquartersIslamabad. He is a recipient ofHilal-i-Imtiaz (Military).

Air Marshal Sohail Amanwas commissioned in PakistanAir Force on November, 1980in GD (P) Branch. During hiscareer, he has commanded aFighter Squadron, a FighterWing and an Operational AirBase. He is a graduate ofCombat Commanders’ School,Air War College and KingsCollege (London).

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Like India’sB.S. Chandrasekhar, theNew Zealander Chris Mar-tin has scored less runsthan number of wicketsgrabbed in Tests.

The 38-year-old right-arm medium pacer, Martin,who retired earlier this weekhas captured 233 wickets in71 Tests but scored only123 runs.

‘There will always beregrets, especially whenthere will perhaps never benumbers quite like minewith the bat, however I

Chris Martin regretful onbeing world’s worse batsman

never backed away, I stoodmy ground and never lostmy sense of humour’, hesaid exclusively fromAuckland.

“I have never metChandrasekhar, if we were tomeet I am sure we would getalong well, after all the broth-erhood of less runs thanwickets is an exclusive club”,he added.

Bhagwat Chandrasekhar,in his 58 Tests, took 242 wick-ets but could score only 167runs. He could not bereached for comments in Cali-fornia where he has beenholidaying now.

“We all have things weare not very good at, unfor-

tunately I had to show theworld the very thing I wasnot good at every time Iwalked to the crease... thebowling was a differentmatter entirely. Some willfocus on the downside tomy game however there aremany more who will cel-ebrate the upside”, Martinadded further.

Martin holds the dubi-ous record of having“pairs” seven times.

“Far too many ducks,some can blame nervous-ness, mine was pure lack ofability against fast bowl-ing... however I did turndown a lot of singles overthe years !”, he signed off.

LOUGHBOROUGH: Asmavia Iqbal is bowled by Danielle Hazell during England vs Pakistan 1st women’s T20.

ISLAMABAD—Athletics Fed-eration of Pakistan (AFP)President Major General (R)Muhammad Akram Sahi bag-ging 78 utmost votes becamethe new Pakistan OlympicAssociation chief in the elec-tions held here at a local ho-tel on Friday.

The other candidate forPresident Nadeem AftabSindhu could only manage tograb 7 votes. A total of 87votes were casted out of 98.

In the second contest forthe appointment of SecretaryKhawaja Farooq Saeed,former Justice and chairmanInland Revenue Tribunal Pa-kistan and currently seniorvice-president Wushu Fed-eration was able to fill in theseat with 69 votes. Othercontender Rana Mujahid, exhockey Olympian could onlymanage to get 11 votes.

However 11 vice-presi-dents including one lady vicepresident, one treasurer and17 executive committee mem-bers were elected unop-posed. The election commis-sion which held the POA elec-tions included former JusticeSupreme court Justice (R)Mian Muhammad Ajmal;Former chief JusticeBaluchistan High Court Jus-tice Aman Ullah Yasin Zaiand former chairman FBRMumtaz Haider Rizvi.

The vice presidentselected include Zafar Aabbs,Shahnawaz Muri, FaizAhmed, Brig Iqtidar Naseer,Commodore Shahid Azmat,Air Commodore Musarat Ali,Brig (R) Arif MehmoodSiddiqui, Capt (R) afar Iqbal,Senator Ghulam Ali, ImranBashir and Shaheen Khan.

Akram Sahi leads tableto become POA chief

Associate secretaries in-clude Naseem Butt, SyedAzhar Ali Shah, ImtaizAhmed Gull, Majid IqbalSatti, Mudassir Arian, Col.

Qasir Mustafa and NabeelaKamran.

The executive committeeof POA comprises Col (R)Mujahid Khan, Ahmed Ijaz

Yousaf, Ch. Mumtaz Yousaf,Faiz Ali, Shahjahan,Muhammad Akram, ShakeelYousaf, Habib Al Rehman,Khizar Hayat, Haji Ahmed,Rashid Mehmood Butt, Brig(R) Sultan Mehmood Dasti,Maj (R) Muhammad Afzal,Farooq Iqbal Sheikh,

Muhammad Naveed, MianMasood Ahmed andMuhammad Sarwar.

Briefing to media after theelections, Muhammad AkramSahi said these electionshave been conducted as perthe Supreme Court’s orderwhich were observed by PSBand Ministry of IPC’s repre-sentatives.

“If in any way I wouldfeel that I am not performingmy duties well as POA presi-dent that I vow to resign frommy post the very next day,”he said.

Commenting on RanaMujahid boycotting the elec-tions for not being made assecretary POA, Akram Sahisaid it was decided beforethat Khawaja Farooq will bethe next secretary POA but ifat the last moment people tryto make things complicatedby creating scenes, than Ican’t help it as I am a man ofmy commitment.

“Pakistan Hockey Fed-eration President Qasim Ziais with me and he was the onewho had earlier nominatedKhawaja Farooq for the sec-retary POA,” he said.

He further said that thehead office of POA will be inLahore as per constriction.“All the funds and otherthings with the POA belongto us now,” he said.

He also praised the Min-ister for Inter Provincial Co-ordination Riaz HussainPirzada for his commitment inpromoting sports to a higherlevel. Responding to a ques-tion, the president said POAelections details will be sentto the International OlympicCommittee (IOC).—APP

R AWA L P I N D I — S h e h z a dGugo lifted free class cat-egory of Second NationalLogistics Cell (NLC)Motocross Challenge on Fri-day in an exciting and nailbiting competition here atMotocross Track, Ayub Na-tional Park.

The facility of Motocrosstrack is the first of its kind inthe region and has been es-tablished by NLC to helpstem the growing trend ofone wheeling in the midst ofheavy traffic on main cityroads and save preciouslives of young adventurerswhile providing them chal-lenging opportunities of ad-venture sports in safe andsecure environment.

The track is opened tomembers who have attainedthe age limit of 18 years andabove and are in possessionof a valid motorbike drivinglicence.

Motorcyclists are beingprovided with safety gearsincluding helmet, goggles,neck brace, chest protector,under gear shoes, knee brace,gloves, moto socks, boots

and elbow protection beforeembarking on the track.

Over 235 bikers got them-selves registered for all thefour categories of the compe-tition out of which only 70 metthe criterion set by the orga-nizers. Teams were divided into four classes as per the ca-pacity of the motorbikes. Thefirst class was dedicated to70cc road bikes, the secondclass included road bikes of100cc to 125cc, third class hasdesignated 100cc to 125 trail,while the fourth one was thefree class category.

As many as 24 bikersqualified for the final contest.The teams were divided in agroup of six for four lapseson 1.4 kilometer track. Thebikers skillfully negotiatedthe sharp turns and crossedobstacles exhibiting full con-trol and speed.

In the first class categoryGulyar Guli won first posi-tion, Ali Munna secured sec-ond while Kamran Com-mando clinched third posi-tion in the competition. Thesecond class category waswon by Shehzad Doctor

while Ali Munna and AdnanMasih stood second andthird, respectively. In thethird class category AdnanBobi got first position, whileZeeshan and Atif werefinshed second and third re-spectively.

Shehzad Gugo won freeclass. Zaigham clinched sec-ond position while AlamgirKhan got third position in thefree class category. DirectorGeneral Army Heritage Foun-dation Brigadier (Retd)Waqar Gul was the chiefguest on the occasion andgave away cash prizes,shields and certificate to thewinners of the adventuresport. The primary objectiveof the Track is to hone the tal-ent of youth by providing todevelop their adventurousstreak on a modern track inhighly secure and safe envi-ronment. The spirit behind theidea is to regulate the thrillingsport without endangeringlives of youth. Land for 1.4kilometer long other requisiteinfrastructure has been pro-vided by Army Heritage Foun-dation (AHF).—APP

RAWALPINDI: A view of 2nd NLC Motocross Challenge compeition held at Motocross track established by theNational Logistics Cell at Ayub National Park.

Shehzad Gugo lifts NLCMotocross Challenge

LO N D O N—Sabine Lisickibecame the first Germanwoman since 1999 to reacha Grand Slam final when shedefeated Poland’sAgnieszka Radwanska 6-4,2-6, 9-7 in a thrillingWimbledon semi-final.

The 24th seed Lisickiwill face France’s 15th-seeded Marion Bartoli, the2007 runner-up, inSaturday’s title match look-ing to become Germany’sfirst champion at a majorsince Steffi Graf beatMartina Hingis to claim the1999 French Open.

Lisicki into final afterRadwanska thriller

Graf was also the lastGerman to reach a final at amajor when she was runner-up to Lindsay Davenport atWimbledon that same year.

But 23-year-old Lisicki,the smiling darling of the AllEngland club crowd, did itthe hard way.

She was a set and abreak ahead before an as-tonishing collapse put her0-3 down in the deciderwith errors flying off bothsides.

But Lisicki, who put outfive-time champion SerenaWilliams in the fourth

round, mounted an aston-ishing and memorablefightback against a playerwho made the semi-finalhaving spent three hoursmore on court.

She finished with nineaces and 60 winners whichcompensated for the 46 un-forced errors she sentdown, a worthwhile price forher all-out assault.

Lisicki, who was a semi-finalist in 2011, grabbed thefirst break to lead 4-3 whena groundstroke clipped thetop of the net just enoughto throw Radwanska off

balance whose hesitantforehand dropped wide.

The 23-year-old Germanfired down a 119mph ace tohold for 5-3 but Radwanska,with both thighs heavilystrapped, put the onus ontoher opponent to serve outthe set with a solid hold inthe ninth game.

Lisicki saved a breakpoint before taking theopener when Radwanskapushed a backhand servicereturn wide. The Germanwas a break to the good inthe first game of the secondset but Radwanska, therunner-up to Serena lastyear, hit back for 1-1.

Suddenly, Lisicki, thegirl who has smiled her waythrough the tournament,was looking decidedly grimas Radwanska broke againto lead 3-1.

In a roller-coaster of aset, the German re-gatheredher composure to comeback at 2-3 before a fifthbreak in the sixth gamehanded the initiative backto Radwanska for a 4-2 lead.

The fourth-seededRadwanska held for a cru-cial 5-2 advantage and lev-elled the semi-final whenLisicki fired her 17th errorof the second set.

Radwanska was quickly3-0 up in the decider thanksto having bagged ninegames in 10 and breakingthe Lisicki serve five timesin succession.

But Lisicki broke for 5-4before Radwanska repaidthe favour for 5-5.

It was the German whoheld her nerve when it mat-tered, taking the match af-ter two hours and 18 min-utes with a booming fore-hand winner.—AFPLONDON—Sabine Lisicki celebrating after defeating Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska

in Wimbledon semi-final.

FFC welcomesworld snooker

championISLAMABAD—The worldnumber one of snookerMuhammad Asif visitedFauji Fertilizer Company(FFC) Head OfficeRawalpindi.

Upon his arrival, he wasgreeted by Brig (Retd)Munawar Hayat Khan Niazi,Senior Manager CSR andCorporate Communications.

Muhammad Asif was ac-companied by Alamgir A.Shaikh, President PakistanBilliards and Snooker Fed-eration.

Muhammad Asif broughtpride to the nation by clench-ing gold after defeatingEngland’s Gary Wilson in theIBSF World Snooker Cham-pionship in Sofia, Bulgaria,December 2012.

Since its inception, FFChas extensively engaged inCSR programmes contribut-ing in the uplift, well beingand welfare of underprivi-leged and neglected commu-nities across Pakistan withspecial emphasis on locali-ties near its Fertilizer plantsin Goth Machi and MirpurMathelo.—APP

PCB imposeslife-ban on

Danish KaneriaLAHORE—Pakistan CricketBoard said on Friday thatDanish Keneria is suspendedfor life from any involvementin the playing, organizationor administration of cricket inany form or manner under thejurisdiction of PCB.

“PCB has been madeaware of the decision of Ap-peal Panel of the Cricket Dis-cipline Commission of En-gland & Wales Cricket Boardwhich upheld the life ban im-posed on Kaneria “, said aspokesman of PCB here.

Kaneria was duly repre-

sented in the proceedingsthrough a legal counsel ofhis choice and no questionwith regard to jurisdiction,composition, procedure orfairness of the Appeal Panelwas raised by his (Kaneria’s)counsel.

Under ICC Anti-Corrup-tion Code and PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code (Article-9)PCB is bound to recognize,respect and enforce the banin Pakistan, meaning this banis also being enforced byPCB in Pakistan.—APP

Laiba clinchessquash trophy

PESHAWAR—Laiba Ijazclinched the trophy of thefemale squash event afterdefeating Laila Akbar in thefinal of the Peshawar DistrictSports Festival Squash finalplayed here at Qamar ZamanSquash Complex on Friday.

Former World No. 2Mohib Ullah Khan was thechief guest on this occasionwho witnessed the match.National coach Falak Naz,District Sports Officer ArbabAsad and large number ofspectators witnessed the fi-nal.

Laiba Ijaz, the currentlyKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Inter-Region Champion, defeatedLaila Akbar after a tough fightby 3-2 wherein Laila took thefirst two sets by 7-11 and 6-11 but Laiba staged a strongcome back by winning the set3-2. Laiba took three con-secutive sets by 11-4, 12-10and 11-9.—APP

WASHINGTON—The Obamaadministration is turning to its topofficials to tout democracy andpolitical transparency for Egypt,a message that took on a hollowtone as the Egyptian military in-stalled a new leader for the coun-try and began rounding up itsousted president and his support-ers.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chair-man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,on Friday called Israel’s militarychief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, fora second time in as many days.The Pentagon said Dempsey hadspoken earlier with Lt. Gen.

Sedki Sobhi, the chief of staff ofEgypt’s military, although thePentagon wouldn’t disclose de-tails about any of the calls.

High-level diplomacy consul-tations took place Thursday whenSecretary of State John Kerry,Defense Secretary Chuck Hageland national security adviser Su-san Rice briefed President BarackObama on their calls to counter-parts in Egypt, Israel, Turkey andother U.S. partners in the region.

That round of calls conveyed“the importance of a quick andresponsible return of full author-ity to a democratically elected ci-

vilian government as soon as pos-sible,” Bernadette Meehan, aspokeswoman for the WhiteHouse National Security Council,said at the time. The U.S. officialsalso pushed for what Meehancalled “a transparent political pro-cess that is inclusive of all partiesand groups” and urged all partiesto avoid violence, she said in astatement. Behind the scenes, theU.S. was signaling to Egypt andits allies that it accepts themilitary’s decision to deposePresident Mohammed Morsi, andwas hoping that what fills thevacuum of power would be more

favorable to U.S. interests andvalues than Morsi’s Islamist gov-ernment. But those hopes weretempered by very real concernsthat a newly emboldened militarywould deal violently with theMuslim Brotherhood, sendingEgyptian society further intochaos and making reconciliationmore difficult. The Obamaadministration’s stance, whichcarefully avoided the legal impli-cations of calling the military’sintervention a coup, won some-thing of a bipartisan endorsementFriday from the Republican chair-man and the top Democrat of the

House Foreign Affairs Commit-tee.

Republican Rep. Ed Royce ofCalifornia and Democrat EliotEngel of New York issued a jointstatement that criticized Morsi fornot embracing “inclusiveness,compromise, respect for humanand minority rights and a com-mitment to the rule of law. “

“We are encouraged that abroad cross-section of Egyp-tians will gather to rewrite theconstitution,” the lawmakerssaid. Like Obama, they urgedthe Egyptian military “to exer-cise extreme caution moving

forward and support sounddemocratic institutions throughwhich the people and futuregovernments can flourish.”In spite of U.S. urging, Egyp-tian authorities arrested and de-tained the leader of the MuslimBrotherhood, General GuideMohammed Badie, on Thurs-day, although he was later re-leased and emerged publiclyFriday to speak defiantly beforea cheering crowd of pro-Morsisupporters, vowing to reinstateousted Morsi and end militaryrule. Morsi, a leading memberof the Brotherhood, and at least

a dozen presidential aides al-ready had been placed underhouse arrest. Meanwhile, themilitary opened fire Friday onpro-Morsi protesters march-ing on the Republican Guardheadquarters in Cairo, threat-ening to further escalate theconfrontation. But the militaryalso oversaw the swearing-inof Adly Mansour, the head ofthe Supreme ConstitutionalCourt, as Egypt’s interimpresident, illustrating themilitary’s desire to be seen asquickly returning the nationquickly to civilian control.—AP

NEW DELHI—Indian ExternalAffairs Minister SalmanKhurshid hopes that Pakistan’snew government will respond toits ‘immediate concerns’ such asaccountability for the 2008Mumbai terror attacks, PressTrust of India reported.

“It is important to let them(the new Pakistan government)settle down, and let them takestock of the situation. Hopefully,they will start giving us signalsthat they mean business on thoseissues which are of immediateconcern to us, and that includesaccountability for the 2008 ter-ror attack on Mumbai,”Khurshid said.

“That is something we can-not wash away and should notwash away,” Khurshid said in aninterview to Straits Times inSingapore. He also noted thatthe messages given out byNawaz Sharif both during andafter the campaign, publicly aswell as privately have been verypositive and meaningful and thatthe Indian Foreign Office had re-sponded to that in a meaningfulway. Responding to a question

India hopes Pakistan would respondto its immediate concerns: Khurshid

on whether there had been anynew movement in the Indo-Pakpeace process, Khurshid said,“There’s a lot happening. But theactual dialogue, the resumed dia-logue, has to be re-resumed be-cause, as you know, there wereevents that caused matters tocome to a virtual halt.”“Many ofthe important decisions we weretaking as confidence-buildingmeasures were slowed down. Asfar as the actual dialogue is con-cerned, we will get back gradu-ally,” Khurshid said.He also said that India was alsolooking at Pakistan’s growingenergy demands. “Due to the ur-gency of supply of power andgas in Pakistan, we sent an ex-perts team right way and they arenow sending their team back tous. So we are already looking atone major area of importance tothem,” he said. When askedwhether he sees better ties withPakistan under Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, when 1999 KargilWar started, Khurshid replied,“The Kargil War is now history,we don’t want to go into that. Ithink he (Nawaz Sharif), like

BEIRUT— Backed by LebaneseHezbollah militants, Syrian troopsunleashed some of the civil war’sheaviest bombardments on thecentral city of Homs Friday,pounding opposition-held areaswith artillery and airstrikes for thesixth straight day, activists said.

In Geneva, the U.N. agencyfor human rights said it is “ex-tremely concerned about the hu-man rights and humanitarian im-pact” of the government offensivein Syria’s third largest city.

Homs is the latest target of aseries of government offensivesaimed at driving rebels out of ar-eas they control.

Homs, a city of about 1 mil-lion people, has been an opposi-

Syrian army assaultsrebel held areas of Homs

tion stronghold since the earlydays of the uprising against Presi-dent Bashar Assad. Mass ArabSpring-inspired protests therestarting in early 2011 brought re-peated army offensives onto thecity. Hundreds of people werekilled and thousands driven fromtheir homes.The governmentnow controls much of Homs,though several neighborhoods inthe center are still oppositionstrongholds. Building on its cap-ture of the strategic town of Qusairbetween the Lebanese border andHoms last month, the armylaunched an offensive Saturday,battling rebels in the old part ofHoms and the northern district ofKhaldiyeh, where fighters are en-

trenched. “It appears the regimewants to take Khaldiyeh, no mat-ter what the price is,” said TarekBadrakhan, who is based inKhaldiyeh. He said troops are fo-cused on taking the district be-cause from there, they could cutoff rebel units in their other strong-holds of Old Homs and the areasof Jouret el-Shayah and Qusour.Badrakhan was speaking to TheAssociated Press via Skype. Hesaid there were two airstrikes onKhaldiyeh early Friday. Armytroops, pro-government militia-men and members of Lebanon’sHezbollah militant group areshelling Khaldiyeh from threesides with rockets, tank and mor-tars shells.—AP

US touts democracy as Egyptian military takes over

No vaccination inhospitalDERA MURAD JAMALI—Vac-cination has disappeared fromcivil hospital Quetta includingother centers due to which theparents of newborn children areworried. All vaccination hasvanished from the civil hospitalof Quetta located in the capitalof Balochistan, Seryab, Old busterminal, Mecka road and otherVaccination and ImmunizationCentres, BHU on account ofwhich a large number of parentsare waiting to get their childrenvaccinated.—Online

Cop killed inPeshawar firingStaff ReporterPESHAWAR—A policeman waskilled when unknown gunmenopened fire in Pishtakhara areaof Peshawar Friday. Accordingto police, unidentified armedculprits opened fire inUmeedabad area in the vicinityof Pishtakhara police station thatseverely injured an on-duty copdeployed outside a church. Thewounded policeman, identifiedas Shehzad Gul, was immedi-ately shifted to Lady ReadingHospital for treatment where hesuccumbed to his injuries

Vehicle ambushed,2 killedOur CorrespondentANDI KOTAL—Two personswere killed and three otherswere wounded when unknownculprits opened fire on a passen-ger vehicle in Khyber AgencyFriday. According to sources, apassenger pickup van wasenroute to a nearby market fromAkakhel when unidentified gun-men opened fire, killing twopassengers on the spot. Threeothers were also injured in thefiring who were shifted tonearby hospital.

LHC cancels list of62 tour operatorsStaff ReporterLAHORE—Lahore High Courthas cancelled the list of 62 touroperators who were given quotaby the Ministry of ReligiousAffairs. Hearing the Hajj Quotacase in Lahore on Friday, theChief Justice Umer Ata Bandialdirected the Ministry of Reli-gious Affairs to award Hajjquota on merit.

3 suspectedmilitants heldQUETTA—Three suspectedmilitants linked with a bannedoutfit were apprehended by se-curity forces from Kuchlak townof Balochistan on Friday. Act-ing on a tip-off, security forcesraided a house in Kuchlak to-day and arrested the suspectedterrorists. Weapons were alsorecovered from their custody.They have been shifted tosome undisclosed location forinterrogation. Sources say thatmore arrests are expected onthe basis of information ob-tained from the initial investi-gation.—Online

Chinese firm toresume work onNandipur power

projectBEIJING—A Chinese firm hasagreed to resume work onNandipur Power project, whichhas a capacity to generate 450MWof electricity.

The decision was made afterChief Minister Shahbaz Sharif,who is part of Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif’s delegation toChina, met the company and as-sured his government’s fullsupport.The Chinese companyasked its engineers to reach Paki-stan and start work on the project.

The project was stalled afterChinese engineers left Pakistanover long delays in arrival of ma-chineries during the previous PPPregime.

Chinese officials reportedlytold Sharif that they had told Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari that delaywas causing cause a loss.

The chief minister assuredthat the current federal govern-ment would extend every supportto the Chinese staffers in Pakistanto complete the project.—Online

Russian opponentaccused of stealing

$482,000MOSCOW——Russian prosecu-tors demanded a six-year jail sen-tence for protest leader AlexeiNavalny on theft charges on Fri-day at a trial that he says is in-tended to sideline him as a rivalto President Vladimir Putin.

Prosecutor Sergei Bogdanovdid not seek the maximum 10-yearsentence, but a six-year termwould keep the anti-corruptioncampaigner in jail until after thenext presidential election sched-uled in 2018.

Navalny, the most prominentopposition leader to be tried inpost-Soviet Russia, denies chargesof stealing 16 million roubles($482,000) from a local timberfirm that he was advising in 2009while working for the liberal re-gional governor.—WB

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Ombuds-man Javed Mahmood has or-dered that “one advance incre-ment”, is admissible in casethe civil servant was at themaximum of Basic Pay Scale,acquired under rules. He hasordered to give benefit of “oneadvance increment” on promo-tion to higher post to all thoseemployees who had alreadyholding post in same scale byvirtue of move over before De-cember 01, 2001.

Ombudsman has also di-rected Accountant GeneralPunjab to circulate his judg-ment as judgment in rem sothat all the District AccountsOfficers may provide relief inidentical cases to those evenwho were not party to thiscase.

The Ombudsman issuedthis order on the complaint ofSafdar Ali, SST GovernmentLiaqat High School,Sheikhupura, who requestedpremature increment on pro-motion as personal pay being

him occupying the maximumstage of BPS-16. Ombudsmanin his order clarified that as perFinance Department notifica-tion dated September 19,1990,“one advance increment” is ad-missible in case the civil ser-vant was at the maximum ofBasic Pay Scale, acquired un-der Rule 8 ibid. Denial of oneadvance increment to com-plainant would amount to mal-administration, opined Om-budsman Punjab.

He directed District Ac-counts Officer Sheikhupura toallow one advance incrementto Safdar Ali, SST, on Septem-ber 9, 2001 as personal pay,revise pay slip, admit his claimof arrear of pay and allowancesas a result thereof and reportcompliance to this officewithin one month. The Om-budsman has also directed Ac-countant General Punjab tocirculate his judgment as judg-ment in rem so that all the Dis-trict Accounts Officers mayprovide relief in identical casesto those even who were notparty to this case.

‘One advance increment’ admissibleto civil servant: Ombudsman

Work on India-BDrailline to

start this yearDHAKA—Work on a new raillink between India andBangladesh along Tripura toease surface transport in themountainous northeasternstates would start this year, of-ficials of the two countries saidon Friday.

India will build a 15-kmrailway track linking Tripuracapital Agartala withBangladesh’s southeastern cityof Akhaurah, which is also animportant railway junction con-nected to Chittagong port, re-source-rich Sylhet and Dhaka.

“Necessary survey andalignment of the railway trackshave been completed.Bangladesh’s PlanningCommission’s approval isawaited. —Agencies

Suicide bomber inuniform kills 12

Afghan policemenKANDAHAR—A suicide bomberwearing an Afghan police uniformdetonated an explosive-laden vestin a police dining room on Fridayin the country’s volatile south, kill-ing 12 police in an apparent in-sider attack, local officials said.

The bombing took place in-side a police reserve unit diningroom in Trinkot, in Uruzganprovince, on Friday afternoon,when dozens of officers werehaving lunch ahead of the Fridayprayers.

“Police were having lunchwhen a man with police uniformdetonated his suicide vest, kill-ing 12 police and wounding five.

Four of those are in criticalcondition,” said Farid Haeel, aspokesman for the provincial po-lice chief. The Taliban have prom-ised to attack Afghan forces aswell as Nato-led forces still in thecountry, and earlier this year saidinsider attacks would be a centraltactic used over the summer fight-ing months.

Many insider attacks are so-called green-on-blue, in whichuniformed Afghan police or sol-diers attack Western troops.–AP

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The fate of theeight employees of the GomalZam dam project D I Khan , kid-napped by the Taliban militants, almost a year ago , continuedto hang in balance as the Taliban, in video released on Friday,threatened to kill them if thegovernment failed to accepttheir demands at the earliest.The Taliban released a freshvideo of kidnapped eight em-ployees of Gomal Zam Damfrom an undisclosed location inSouth Waziristan showing theabducted employees pleading tothe government to accept thecaptors demand to facilitate theirearly release. The employees of

the Gomal Zam dam Project, itmay be recalled, were kid-napped by Taliban on August 15,2012.

The one-and a half minutevideo is in Urdu in which thehostages can be seen sitting out-side a brick house recording theirmessage.

In the video message with re-quest of efforts for the early re-lease of the kidnapped employ-ees, an official namely Shahid AliKhan, along with other workers,is shown appealing to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engi-neer Shaukat Ullah, CM PervezKhattak, WAPDA ChairmanShakil Durrani and Member Wa-ter GM North Rashid AliBangash to take practical steps

Fate of kidnapped Gomal ZamDam employees hangs in balance

NEW DELHI: Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Ambassador Shaharyar M. Khan called on PrimeMinister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and delivered a letter from Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

ISLAMABAD—Supreme CourtChief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry Fridaysaid that the apex court keptstruggling to safeguard thepeople’s interests and wouldcontiune to do so.

SC three-member benchheaded by Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry washearing the case relating to thepetroleum products’ price-hike.

During the hearing CJ en-quired from the Attorney Gen-eral why the amounts amassedthrough corruption were not be-ing recovered and why the gov-ernment was shifting the entireburden of the shortfall to the citi-zens? CJ told AG that the court

has to be given satisfactory jus-tification for additional 9 percentincrease in sales tax on CNG, asGST law says it would be 17percent and added that whateveradditional tax levied is ulti-mately shifted to the people tobear it—corruption has gonebeyond the limit—theft galorefrom top to bottom—gas sup-ply not enough to supply forpower generation, while OGRAgave permission to set up 17CNG stations in area of 3 kilo-meters. The Chief Justice alsoenquired from AG how much ad-ditional tax was recovered duringJuly 1, 2007 to July 1, 2013? Later, the court adjourned thehearing until July 24. —Agencies

SC struggling forpeople’s interests: CJ

anyone else, comes with a lot ofexperience from his time in theopposition.”“I think that he is showing signsof great statesmanship. He hascertainly become a focal pointof tremendous amounts of hopein Pakistan. He has given out agood message all around. We areresponding to it with an openmind and with a positive attitudeand hope that we can move for-ward rather than look back atwhat happened in the past,”Khurshid said. On a question onwhether Prime MinisterManmohan Singh would be ableto visit Pakistan before the endof his tenure, Khursid said thathe could not make a statement.

“I cannot predict and cannotanticipate anything. But obvi-ously, I think the story wouldremain incomplete if therewasn’t a face to face meetingbetween him and Nawaz Sharif.But there has to be a consider-able amount of backgroundwork done. Once that work isdone and we place it before theprime minister, he will make thecall,” he said.—Agencies

and negotiate with Taliban theirearly recovery.

The Taliban militants whohad earlier also released a videoof the hostages asking the gov-ernment meet their demands,have in the fresh video threat-ened to shoot the hostages todeath in the next video if theirdemands were not accepted add-ing the government would beresponsible for the killing of theabducted employees of theGomal Zam Dam project.

In the meanwhile, the Inspec-tor General Khyber PakhtunkhwaPolice Ehsan Ghani said on Fri-day that operation against miscre-ants would continue without anycompromise or compulsion when-ever and where needed.

OVER 90% of cases of a common formof food poisoning seen this year weredue to people eating undercooked

chicken liver pate, often at weddings, infec-tion experts have said.

The Health ProtectionAgency (HPA) analysed 18outbreaks of Campylobacterin 2011 across England. Inall, 443 people became un-well and one had to behospitalised.

The Food StandardsAgency (FSA) has remindedcaterers to cook poultry liv-ers to prevent infection.

Campylobacter is themost common cause of bac-terial food poisoning in Brit-ain - there were estimated tohave been more than600,000 cases in 2010 inEngland and Wales.

Symptoms include diar-rhoea, stomach pains andcramps, fever, and generallyfeeling unwell. Most people are only ill for afew days.

In 2008 there were just three outbreakslinked to undercooked chicken liver pate, butthat rose to nine in 2009 and 14 in 2010.

“It’s really important that chefs cook liv-ers thoroughly to kill any bacteria, even ifrecipes call for them to be seared and left pinkin the middle.”

Poultry livers carry a particularly high riskof Campylobacter as the bacteria can bepresent throughout the liver, not just the sur-face as is the case for other poultry meat, andmay remain a source of infection if they arenot cooked sufficiently.

Of the 18 outbreaks, 14 occurred in ca-tering venues, and 13 of these were linkedto chicken or duck liver pate.

Seven were linked to wedding receptionsat hotels, banqueting venues or public houses

and six were associated withcatering at other functionssuch as hotels, clubs and res-taurants.

The HPA found that liv-ers used to make the parfait orpate were undercooked allow-ing the liver to remain pink inthe centre.

It said caterers can re-duce the risk of their peoplebecoming infected by ensur-ing that Campylobacter iskilled through proper cookingand by avoiding cross-con-tamination to other foods.

Dr Christine Little, anexpert in gastrointestinal in-fections at the HPA, said:“The increase in outbreakswhich are due to the consump-

tion of chicken liver pate has been steadilyincreasing over the last few years.

“Not only is this dish popular in foodrecipe magazines, it is being served in a va-riety of different catering venues.

“Illness occurs because the livers areonly cooked until they are pink, and inad-equate cooking will not be sufficient to killthe bacteria. “Both the public and the cater-ing industry need to be aware thatundercooking this product can result in foodpoisoning.” She said anyone planning a wed-ding, or other special event, should be awareof the risks if they were having chicken liverpate to prevent people becoming unwell.

Chicken liver foodpoisoning link

RAWALPINDI: PPP workers offering Fateha at the memorial site of former PM Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on the occasion of Black Day on Friday.

ISLAMABAD: Dean of Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin J Saravia, Director General For-eign Service Academy Khalid Usman Qaisar, Ambassadors of Norway, Maldives, Romania,Cuba, Morocco, Egypt on the occasion of a dinners hosted by outgoing Kenyan High Com-missioner Mrs. Mishi Masika Mwatsahu, at a local hotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

CITY REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — R i c h a r dBoyum, Head of the Univer-sity Partnership Program inWashington, and RobertRaines, Deputy CulturalAttaché, American Embassy,Islamabad, Friday visited Na-tional University of ModernLanguages (NUML) and hada detailed meeting with Rec-tor Maj Gen (Retd) MasoodHasan and Director General(DG) Brig Azam Jamal.

During his meeting withthe Rector and DG, RichardBoyum said that presently En-glish Access Micro-scholar-

Head of UPP in Washington visits NUMLship program in collaborationwith USA Embassy and an In-house Faculty DevelopmentTraining session in collaborationwith University of North Texas(UNT) was going on at NUML.It reflected the seriousness andinterests of NUML administra-tion to get maximum benefit outof such academic partnerships.

He said that English Lan-guage capacity building in thispart of the world was a key toeconomic and social develop-ment.

Robert Raines, Deputy Cul-tural Attaché, USA Embassy,said that as long as connectingPakistani and American univer-

sities academically was con-cerned US embassy ensured allout supports in this kinds of pro-gram. It was pleasant to see theoutcome of such partnership asthe participants and studentsappeared very serious in takingmaximum benefit out of them,he added.

Rector NUML told the vis-iting guests that with the helpof such partnership programs,many new professional activi-ties and changes had been in-stitutionalized and as a resultthere were remarkable positivechanges in the learning andteaching phenomenon. He toldthat presently Prof Dr Masood

Ashraf Raja and Prof Dr KyleJenson from UNT were holdingsessions at NUML for the Fac-ulty Development Training andthe Development of WritingResource Centre respectively, headded.

DG Brig Azam Jamal urgedthe visiting guests not to restrictthe partnership programs only toone faculty but more partnershipprograms in Social Sciences,Management Sciences, Engi-neering and IT should also beintroduced between NUML andUS Universities. The meetingwas also attended by TanveerHassan, Cultural Affairs Spe-cialist, Abdul Majeed, English

Programs Manager, US Em-bassy and Registrar Brig (R)Saeed Akhtar Malik.

Later Mr Richard Boyumand others also visited theUNT’s resource centre,UNT’s Writing Resource Cen-tre, and classes where differ-ent training sessions were inprogress. Richard Boyum andRobert Raines also had an in-teraction with the facultymembers of English Languageand Literature Departmentand learned about their learn-ing experience. In the endRector NUML presented uni-versity shields to the visitingguests.

JULY 6

Third session of Youth Par-liament Pakistan will starttoday at 10 a.m, HotelMargalla Islamabad.LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—This is a seasonof departure of friends of Paki-stan as Islamabad has witnessedso many farewells during the lastone month.This time a verygood friend of Pakistan MishiMasika Mwatsahu, High Com-missioner of Republic of Kenyais leaving us on July 11.

“It is always hard time say-ing goodbye to friends andsupporters but it is a life whichgoes on,” she said in a farewellreception and thanks givingdinner hosted by her in a localhotel on Thursday. Spendingeight years in Pakistan, one ofthe longest stay for any diplo-mat, generally known as Mishideveloped a large network offriends. “I am sad leaving my

It is always hard timesaying goodbye: Mishi

friends in all walks of life whoextended support to me includ-ing my diplomatic commu-nity.”

“Pakistan is my secondhome and I am carrying greatmemories with me”, she said.

Diplomats, particularlyfrom African countries andMiddle East, businessmen, intel-lectuals, politicians includingMushahid Hussain Syed andFormer AJK Prime MinisterBarrister Sultan Mahmud at-tended the dinner.

She concluded by offeringprayers for Pakistan’s prosper-ity and peace.

A group of musicians enter-tained the participants with clas-sical music of Pakistan on theoccasion.

Security Soldierspass out

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—An impressivepassing out parade of a batch of250 Security Soldiers was heldat the Strategic Plans Division(SPD) Training Academy onFriday.

Major General MohammadFarrukh Rashid, Director Gen-eral Military Training was chiefguest, said an ISPR press releaseissued here.

While addressing the train-ees, the chief guest congratu-lated them on their successfultraining and commended thefaculty for their professional-ism and dedication towardstraining the batch.Het urged thegraduates to maintain the highprofessional standards in per-formance of their duties. Later,he awarded prizes to the out-standing trainees.

IHC nullifiesappointment ofDy DG CDA

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadHigh Court (IHC) on Thursdaydeclared the posting of DeputyDirector General of the CDAGhulam Sarwar Sandhu as nulland void from the date of his ini-tial appointment against the postof Director Housing Societiesvirtually reverting him to his ini-tial position of 2006 as a DeputyDirector.

The court also directed theCDA to withdraw the chargefrom Sandhu ordering to ap-point new Dy DG and Direc-tor by adopting set rules andregulation of the authority. Asingle member bench of theIHC comprising JusticeNoorul Haq N Qureshi re-sumed hearing of a plea filedby Muhammad Qasim chal-lenging the posting of GhulamSarwar Sadhu to the post ofDDG, also enjoying the currentcharge of DG Planning, a BS-20 post.—INP

Farheen’scontributionrecognizedCITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—RawalpindiArts Council in collaborationwith literary organizationSukhanwar arranged specialgathering in the recognition ofthe services of famous story,drama writer and poetessFarheen Chaudhary.

Renowned poets and writersrecognized the incredible ser-vices rendered by the FarheenChaudhary in the field of litera-ture.

Maqsood Jaffri was thechief guest of the event whilefamous Fakhre-e-Alam Nomaniand Sarfraz Shahid famous poetof the country were presidedover the function.

A Mehfil-e-Mushaira wasalso arranged on the occasion.

ISLAMABAD—US Deputy Chiefof Mission Ambassador RichardHoagland congratulated 95 Pa-kistani students traveling to theUnited States for undergraduatestudy as part of the U.S. govern-ment-funded Global Under-graduate (Global UGRAD) Pro-gram.

“The United States has along tradition of embracing in-ternational students and celebrat-ing the diversity that they bringto our campuses and country,which is why we receive moreforeign students than any othercountry in the world,” said Am-bassador Hoagland. “We wel-come more than 1,000 Pakistanisin the United States each year onour many exchange programs,which clearly demonstrates thedepth of our commitment toPakistan’s young people.”

Pakistani students to undertakeundergraduate study in US

Ninety-five Pakistani stu-dents will soon depart for a se-mester of study at U.S. collegesand universities under the Glo-bal UGRAD fellowship pro-gram, an initiative of the U.S.Department of State. The U.S.government fully funds thesefellowships for the entire periodof study. The United StatesEducational Foundation in Pa-kistan (USEFP) administers theprogram.

“The really exciting thingabout this group of undergradu-ates is that so many of these stu-dents come from remote or eco-nomically disadvantaged areasof Pakistan.” said Rita Akhtar,Executive Director of USEFP ata pre-departure orientation tohelp students prepare to studyin the United States. Akhtarnoted that this year’s group in-

cludes 36 students from Punjab,28 from Sindh, 20 from KhyberPakhtunkhwa, 14 from Gilgit-Baltistan, nine fromBalochistan, four from AJK,three from FATA, and two fromIslamabad Capital Territory.Fifty-four percent of the stu-dents are women. Students willpursue degrees in a wide vari-ety of disciplines, including hu-manities and social sciences,engineering, basic sciences, law,art and design, economics, andbusiness administration. Thestudents are attending more than50 different colleges and univer-sities located throughout theUnited States.

The Global UGRAD pro-gram was launched in the fall of2010 when the first cohort ofaround 50 students departed forthe United States.—INP

Police nab15 offenders

RAWALPINDI—The City Policein its drive against anti-socialelements on Friday arrested fif-teen accused from different lo-calities and recovered illegalarms and drugs from their pos-session. Police seized 3207grams charas, five bottles of li-quor and three 30-bore pistolsfrom the arrested accused.

According to details,Pirwadhai Police apprehendedAbdul Rashid and Khalil andrecovered 217 grams charas and175 grams charas from them re-spectively. Besides, it arrestedHaider Ali for carrying fivebottles of liquor.

Banni, Sadiqabad and WahCantt Police nabbed four ac-cused for carrying drugs includ-ing Amir, Saqi, Abdul Aziz andSuleman. Saddar Wah andKahuta Police held Wajid andAsghar with 110 grams charaseach respectively.—APP

Briefs

It is not the employerwho pays the wages.He only handles the

money. It is theproduct that pays the

wages.

— Henry Ford

Rates for conversionKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign Currency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certificates,Foreign Currency BearerCertificates, Special U.S. DollarBonds and profits thereon by allbanks and for providingForward Cover on ForeignCurrency Deposits (excludingF.E. 25 deposits) by the StateBank on July 8, 2013. The ratesare U.S. Dollar Rs 100.0345,Japanese Yen Rs 1.0004, PoundSterling Rs 149.8416 and EuroRs 128.8444.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SensitivePrice Indicator (SPI) for theweek ended on July 04 for thelowest income group up toRs.8,000 registered increase of0.55 per cent as compared to theprevious week.

The SPI for the week underreview in the above mentionedgroup was recorded at 194.93points against 193.86 points reg-istered in the previous week,according to data of PakistanBureau of Statistics (PBS).

The weekly SPI has beencomputed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urbancenters and 53 essential itemsfor all income groups and com-bined.

The SPI for the combinedgroup increased by 0.55 per centas it went up from 199.44 pointsin the previous week to 200.53

Weekly inflation up by 0.55pcpoints in the week under review.As compared to the correspond-ing week of last year, the SPIfor the combined group in theweek under review witnessedincrease of 9.22 percent.

As compared to the lastweek, the SPI for the incomegroups from Rs.8001- 12,000,12,001-18,000, 18001-35,000and above Rs.35,000 increasedby 0.52 percent, 0.53 percent,0.54 and 0.57 percent respec-tively.

During the week under re-view average prices of 3 itemsregistered decrease, while that of34 items increase with the re-maining 16 items’ prices un-changed.

The items which registereddecrease in their prices during theweek under review includedchicken live (farm), gram pulsewashed and sugar. The itemswhich recorded increase in their

average prices included potatoes,onions, tomatoes, bananas, lawn,cigarettes, match box, diesel,petrol, L.P.G (11 kg Cylinder),garlic, kerosene oil, masoor pulse(washed), egg hen (farm), riceIRRI-6, vegetable ghee (tin),moong pulse, red chillies powder(loose), bath soap, energy savor,tea, cooked beef, rice basmati(broken), cooked beef, wheatflour, curd, milk fresh, bread plain,gur, long cloth, wheat, cooking oil(tin), vegetable ghee (loose) andwashing soap.

The items with no change intheir average prices during theweek under review includedbeef, mutton, milk powdered,mustard oil, mash pulse(washed), salt powdered (loose),tea prepared, shirting, georgette,sandal gents, chappal (gents),sandal (ladies), electric charges,gas charges, firewood and tele-phone local call.

PQ shipping activityKARACHI—Five shipscarrying containers, chemicaland diesel oil were berthed atQasim International Contain-ers Terminal, Engro VopakTerminal and FOTCOTerminal on Thursday.Meanwhile three more shipscarrying containers, furnace oiland edible oil also arrived atouter anchorage of Port Qasimduring last 24 hours. Berthoccupancy was 85% at thePort on Friday where a totalnine ships namely CGMEiffel, Kerstin, MSC Kerry,MV. Faith, Vindo Nissa,Argent Eye Bright, Peral JabelAli, Norgas Challenger andAl-Soor-II are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers, cement,edible oil, iron ore, chemicaland diesel oil respectivelyduring last 24 hours. A cargovolume of 108290 tonnescomprising 79543 tonnesimports and 28747 tonnesexports inclusive of container-ized cargo carried in 1696containers (TEUs) washandled at the Port during last24 hours.—APP

BEIJING—Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif saidon Friday that the governmentdesires to develop Gwadar Porton Hong Kong model and itmay be given special statusthrough necessary legislation toensure speedy execution of theproject.

In a meeting with Presi-dent China Overseas PortHolding Company LimitedSun Ziyun, the Prime Minis-ter said there should be no de-lay in the infrastructural de-velopment of Gwadar and as-sured government’s all out co-operation to the companiesengaged in Gwadar’s devel-opment.

He said the governmentwanted to develop an airport ofinternational standard inGwadar and called for earlycompletion of the repair and re-habilitation works onKarakorum Highway.

Gwadar being given specialstatus for speedy dev: Nawaz

Nawaz Sharif said KKHwas of utmost importance thatshould be rehabilitated withoutany delay so that the bilateraltrade between Pakistan andChina may flourish.

He also urged the Chinesecompany’s head to accomplishthe rehabilitation work onAttabad Lake and surroundingareas.

In response, Sun Ziyun saidwork on Attabad Lake would becompleted by 2016 while the

rehabilitation of KKH wouldcomplete a year earlier.

President of China OverseasPort Holding Company Limitedtold Prime Minister NawazSharif that for Gwadar’s devel-opment, assistance would besought from China Develop-ment Bank. He said the roadsinfrastructure in Gwadar wouldbe connected with the commu-nication network of rest of thecountry to facilitate transporta-tion of goods.—APP

NIB Bank’sratings

maintainedOBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—The PakistanCredit Rating Agency (Pacra)has maintained the long-termand short-term entity ratings ofNIB Bank Limited (NIB) at“AA-” (Double A Minus) and“A1+” (A One Plus), respec-tively. The rating of the unse-cured TFC issue of Rs. 4,000mhas also been maintained at“A+” (Single A Plus). These rat-ings denote a very low expecta-tion of credit risk emanatingfrom very strong capacity fortimely payment of financialcommitments.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Karachi Waterand Sewerage Board(KW&SB) and China Inter-national Water & ElectricCorporation (CWE) onThursday signed Memoran-dum of Understanding(MoU) for cooperation inGreater Karachi Water Sup-ply Project K-IV.

The signing ceremony washeld at KW&SB head officehere in the presence of Secre-tary Local Government AliMohammad Lund. Li Zhilli,General Manager CWE Paki-stan and Managing DirectorKW&SB Misbahuddin Faridsigned the MoU. Ms Dong

Wenting Assistant General Man-ager CWE and others were alsopresent.

The MoU betweenKW&SB and CWE is signedafter several meetings and dis-cussion lead after CWE’s re-cently displayed interest inGreater Karachi Water SupplyScheme K-IV. MD KW&SBMisbahuddin Farid briefingmedia present stated that devel-opment work on GreaterKarachi Water Supply ProjectK-IV has been initiated afterECNEC and the governmentapproval. He said that with thecompletion of this projectKarachi would be self-sufficientin water supply for next 20years.

He said that the project isimportant not only for

Karachi but for Pakistan’seconomy and it will bringpositive change in industrial,trade and business activitiesas well as environment. MDKW&SB said that under this

MoU CWE would helpKW&SB acquire soft loan at1 percent interest from China.However, this is subject toChinese Government andGovernment of Sindh ap-proval.

CWE would commencetheir work in 90 days. Speak-ing on the occasion Zhilli ofCWE said that CWE is a largestate-owned enterprise whichis one of the few key Chineseenterprises specialising in in-ternational construction,mainly in the areas of infra-structure, including road andbridges, irrigation, hydro-power, electrical engineeringand housing, etc. He said thatCWE has been active in Paki-

stan since 1980 and withtwenty three successfullycompleted projects.

Whereas currently, sev-eral projects are underwayincluding Mangla Dam Ris-ing Project (ResettlementWorks), Pakistan KarachiPort –Dredging and Recla-mation Project, KhanewalProject (M4), Package–I, Re-habilitation of Upper andLower Nara Canals, Reha-bilitation of Makhi Complexand Khipro Canal with totalcontract value over 800 mil-lion dollars. ThankingKW&SB he further ex-plained that Water SupplyProject is in their top mostpriorities.

KWSB, Chinese company sign MoU

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rahman chairing ameeting with PTA authorities on YouTube.

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—JCR-VIS CreditRating Co Ltd. (JCR-VIS) hasupgraded the short-term ratingof Sindh Bank Limited (SBL) to‘A-1+’ (A One Plus) from ‘A-1’(A One). The medium to long-term entity rating of SBL hasbeen maintained at ‘AA-’(Double A Minus) with a stableoutlook. Ratings take into ac-count 100 per cent holding ofGovernment of Sindh (GoS) inSBL and its strong equity base.

There has been rapid expan-sion in branch network of SBLthat increased to 150 branchesand 10 sub-branches by end2012. Proportion of GoS depos-its has declined notably from 78per cent at end Dec’11 to 21 percent lately. Concentration in de-posit mix persists. An increas-ing branch network is likely toenhance market based access todeposits.

Sindh Bank rating upgradedThe rating decision takes

into account overall liquidityprofile of the bank, which re-mains healthy with sizeable liq-uid assets carried on balancesheet vis-a-vis deposits & bor-rowings. Capital Adequacy Ra-tio (CAR) of the bank is also

high at current levels, providingsignificant room for growth.Sectoral and client concentrationin the lending portfolio is on thehigher side; some dilution maybe achieved as the bank matures.

SBL is largely engaged inshort-term lending includingseasonal working capital loansagainst pledge of stock to sugarmils. Long-term loans are pro-vided only as part of syndicatefinancing. The bank has also en-gaged in agriculture financing

although its proportion in over-all financing is small. Invest-ment portfolio largely comprisesshort-term government securi-ties that carry limited credit andprice risk; risk arising on theremaining investments is alsomanageable.

Profitability of the bank im-proved on account of higherspreads in 2012 as SBL shed ofhigh cost deposits. While cost ofdeposits has declined further,spreads have come under pres-sure in 1Q13 on account ofhigher fall in return on markupearning assets in line with de-crease in the discount rate.

On account of rapid expan-sion during 2012 with openingof 100 branches and 10 sub-branches, the efficiency ratiohas remained under pressure,which will continue in the on-going year on account of fullyear impact of branches openedin 2012.

Samba Bank’sratings reaffirmedObserver ReportKARACHI—JCR-VIS CreditRating Company Ltd hasreaffirmed the medium tolong-term entity ratings ofSamba Bank Limited (SBL) at‘AA-’ (AA minus) and itsshort-term rating at ‘A-1’ (A-One). Outlook on the assignedratings is ‘stable’. These shortand long-term ratings of thebank denote high credit qualitywith adequate protection factorand high certainty for timelypayments to all financialcommitment owing to strongliquidity position. The currentratings are a testament toSBL’s overall financialperformance, with continuedgrowth in its ConsumerBanking, Corporate &Investment Banking, andTreasury businesses.

JWT, EFU joinhands in life

insuranceOBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—JWT Pakistan andEFU Life Assurance Ltd havejoined hands to reinvent the faceof Life Insurance in Pakistan. EFULife is the largest private sector lifeinsurance company with a rich 20year history of leading the insur-ance industry of Pakistan.

The company has an IFSrating of AA and the strongestfinancial base in the private sec-tor. EFU Life’s products are de-signed to meet the varying needsof clients, and offer the very bestin financial services. JWT isPakistan’s leading multinationalagency serving a broad portfo-lio of local and internationalbrands.

JWT Pakistan looks forwardto working with EFU Life, andis eager to drive this relationshipto its fullest potential. The agree-ment was signed by Taher CSachak, MD & CEO EFU Lifeand Mansoor Karim Shaikh,CEO JWT Pakistan. Alsopresent on the occasion were,Mohammed Ali Ahmed, DeputyExecutive Director EFU Life,Ms. Aman Hussain, Head ofMarketing EFU Life and Ms.Samia Ahmed, General Man-ager, JWT.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Securitiesand Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) has passednine orders against insurancecompanies, including threeTakaful operators for compro-mising the principles of IslamicShariah.

The orders were passed bythe Insurance Division of theapex regulator during June2013. The Insurance Divisionpassed four Orders againstthree conventional insurers forcontravening the various provi-sions of the law, while two or-ders were passed in respect ofthe appeals filed against theOrders of the Federal InsuranceOmbudsman.

The Insurance division hasalso issued a show cause no-

SECP acts against Takaful operatorstice to a conventional insurerfor not complying with themandatory requirement relat-ing to maintenance of statutorydeposit with the State Bank of

Pakistan.In addition to this, the SECP

has also issued a direction for con-vening the annual general meeting,and a warning was also issued bya conventional insurer on a matterinvolving non-compliance.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that while taking cogni-zance of violations of various

provisions of Insurance Ordi-nance and Companies Ordi-nance, the SECP had issued atotal of 49 show-cause notices,29 orders and 54 warning lettersand directions to insurance com-panies during the preceding fis-cal year i.e. from July 2012 toJune 30, 2013.

Moreover, the Pakistan In-surance Institute (PII), in activecoordination with the InsuranceDivision of SECP, has con-ducted an examination for thefresh authorized surveying offic-ers during the month of May2013. The results were an-nounced during the last week ofJune 2013, and have been placedon the official website of theSECP.ISLAMABAD: Standard Chartered CEO Mohsin Ali Nathani

presenting shield to British High Commissioner AdamThomson on the occasion of celebration of 150th anniver-sary of Bank’s operations in Pakistan.

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

LAHORE—Ambassador ofSweden Lars-Hjalmar Wide, hasacknowledged that Pakistanientrepreneurs are proactivelyengaged with Swedish compa-nies to enhance their capacity.He has also affirmed that Swed-ish companies that have alreadyinitiated their operations in Pa-kistan are very comfortable withthe business environment pro-vided here. Swedish envoy wastalking to Chief Executive Of-ficer, Punjab Board of Invest-ment and Trade (PBIT) JavedAkbar Bhatti and his team dur-

Pakistani entrepreneurs laudeding his visit to PBIT office.

Lars-Hjalmar Wide assumedoffice as Swedish Ambassador toPakistan in late 2011. He previ-ously led a Green Tech delega-tion from Sweden to visit PBITand actively participated in GreenTech seminars in February 2013.Mr. Wide informed CEO PunjabBoard of Investment and Trade,Javed Akbar Bhatti, about a po-tential follow-up visit of Swed-ish Clean Tech companies to Pa-kistan in fall this year.

After been briefed about thedevelopments in Special Eco-nomic Zones in Punjab by CEOPBIT Javed Akbar Bhatti, Mr.

Wide showed keen interest ininviting potential Swedish com-panies to explore the untappedopportunities in Pakistani mar-kets. Mr. Wide also took theopportunity to communicateSweden’s full support for Paki-stan to gain the GeneralizedScheme of Preferences Plus sta-tus subject to implementation ofinternational conventions.

Wide also acknowledged theefforts of Punjab Board of In-vestment and Trade in playing avital role in enhancing trade andeconomic potential of the prov-ince and termed his stay in Pa-kistan as a memorable one.

Argentineambassador calls on

Finance MinisterSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Ambassador ofArgentine Rodolfo J. MartinSaravia called on Federal Min-ister for Finance SenatorMohammad Ishaq Dar in hisoffice on Friday.

The Ambassador congratu-lated Senator Ishaq Dar on hisassumption of the office of theFinance Minister in the effortsbeing made by the Governmentof Pakistan to improve theeconomy.

While talking to the Ambas-sador, the Federal Minister saidthat Argentine is a friendly coun-try with which Pakistan desiresincreased trade and economicrelations.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Increase in five per-cent withholding tax on telecomsector has started to pare its rev-enue since during the first fourdays of the imposition of levythe recharge by prepaid card us-ers registered a decline of anaverage four percent per day.

They said the revenue is ex-pected to go down further in thecoming days. This would alsofrustrate the government’s thirdgeneration auction plan, theyadded. The government has longplanned to auction licences of3G/4G and raise one billion dol-lar, which will support the cash-

WHT hurting telecom growthstrapped Pakistani economycrippled with energy crisis anddisturbed law and order situa-tion.

The Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) slapped five percentwithholding tax on alreadyheavily taxed cellular industryfrom July 1, 2013.

The officials said thesector’s monthly revenue comesaround at Rs20 billion. A fourpercent fall turns out to be a lossof one billion rupees everymonth, which is substantial inview of the industry already sur-viving with the lowest average

rate per user (ARPU) of Rs210.During the last five years, theARPU plummeted from Rs350.

The government is movingin wrong direction by jacking uptaxes on telecom sector, said aformer member of the PakistanTelecommunication Authority(PTA) on condition of anonym-ity.

This will dampen thechances of successful auction of3G spectrum licences, he said,adding that if the sector’s growthtravels in negative zone foreigninvestors will become hesitant

Continued on Page 11

Asia shares riseHONG KONG—Asian marketsclimbed on Friday after theEuropean Central Bank said itwould keep interest rates atrecord lows for “as long asnecessary”, while concerns overPortugal’s political crisis alsoabated. The euro remained underpressure in Asia after sufferinglosses late Thursday in the wakeof the ECB announcement, whilethe dollar extended its gainsagainst the yen after climbingback above 100 yen. Tokyo rose1.19 percent, Hong Kong added1.33 percent, Sydney was 0.94percent higher and Shanghai wasup 0.13 percent. Seoul climbed0.23 percent despite a dive inmarket giant Samsung Electron-ics, which announced a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast.With New York markets closedfor Independence Day, traderstook their lead from Europe,where markets rallied oncomments from the ECB that itwould maintain its easy monetarypolicy. The bank’s policy-settinggoverning council “expects thekey ECB interest rates to remainat present or lower levels for anextended period of time”, itshead, Mario Draghi, said.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman NHAHamid Ali Khan launchesprogramme to further improveIslamabad-Muzaffarabad High-way. He expressed the determina-tion to solve the problems faced bytourists to Murree. He expressedthese views while talking construc-tion experts, Project Director andConsultants during his visit toIMDC.

The Chairman National High-way Authority Hamid Ali Khanfurther said that Murree is the mostimportant tourist destination of thecountry and all resources will bebrought into use make it more at-tractive.

All modern facilities will beprovided on Murree-IslamabadExpressway. The tourist lodgingfacilities will also be modernized,the Chairman added. The Chair-

NHA chief launches highwayimprovement programme

man NHA Hamid Ali Khan, di-rected the high ups of MurreeIslamabad Expressway to keep aneye on axle-load traffic; to installfluorescent traffic signals and con-cave mirrors on steep turns alongthe highway and to increase policepatrol to avoid accidents.

He further directed that thenew Murree-Development Planshould take into account the ad-ministrative and technical aspectsas well with regard to supportsystem. He also said that all con-cerned departments will be keptin active mode to facilitate timelycompletion of the project. TheChairman NHA also gave a dead-line to remove all encroachmentsfrom the road and expressed hisresolve that no laxity or ineffi-ciency will be tolerated in thecompletion of Murree-Develop-ment Plan in accordance with thewishes of the Prime Minister.

No target forIndian rupee

MUMBAI—India’s central bankdoes not have an exchange ratetarget, its governor said, sug-gesting it will not step in to pre-vent further falls in the weaken-ing rupee.

The rupee hit a historic lowof 60.76 against the dollar onJune 26 as overseas funds pullout of emerging markets anddomestic economic woesmount.

The Reserve Bank of Indiais believed to have intervenedseveral times in the market inrecent weeks, but governorDuvvuri Subbarao said the pri-ority was managing volatility.

“We employ all instrumentsavailable to us to manage vola-tility, and we do try to managevolatility. But we do not have anexchange rate band,” Subbaraotold media in southern Chennaion Thursday, according to astatement.

The Indian currency, whichhas fallen more than 10 percentin 2013, is the worst perform-ing currency among major Asiancountries. Analysts believe thecentral bank lacks the financialfirepower needed to manage therupee and prevent it from fall-ing further.—Agencies

Gold Tezab 41571.00Silver Tezabi 668.57

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 41015.00Gold 22 Ct 38400.00SilverTezabi 686.00Silver Thobi 627.00

USA 99.70 99.50

UK 152.13 151.83

EURO 129.55 129.29

Canada 94.88 94.69

Switzerland 105.15 104.94

Australia 90.84 90.66

Sweden 14.89 14.86

Japan 0.9986 0.9966

Norway 16.31 16.28

Singapore 78.43 78.27

Denmark 17.36 17.33

Omani Riyal 256.00 253.00

Saudi Arabia 26.58 26.53

Hong Kong 12.86 12.83

Kuwait 348.97 348.27

Malaysia 31.30 31.24

Newzeland 77.59 77.44

Qatar 27.38 27.33

UAE 27.14 27.09

KR WON 0.0875 0.0873

Thailand 3.206 3.200

Role of Japaneseagencies in

developmentlauded

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—AmbassadorFarukh Amil on Thursdaylauded the role of Japan In-ternational CooperationAgency (JICA) and the Ja-pan External Trade Organi-zation (JETRO) for promot-ing Pak- Japan trade and alsobuilding the basic infrastruc-ture of Kohat tunnel.

The ambassador ex-pressed these views in hislecture on Pakistan’s history,culture, politics andeconomy and the Pak-Japanbilateral relations to the stu-dents of International De-partment of Senshu Univer-sity in Tokyo, Japan.

The ambassador high-lighted the long history ofbusiness links between Paki-stan and Japan, says a mes-sage received here from To-kyo.

Ambassador Farukhmentioned that the predeces-sor of the Bank of Tokyo hada branch in Karachi in 1925and after independence since1953.

At the 1951’s San Fran-cisco Conference, Pakistanwas the only country fromSouth Asia who attended andadvocated Japan’s right to betreated with respect and dig-nity, he added.

The ambassador appreci-ated the Government of Ja-pan for the development as-sistance and in particular dur-ing natural calamities. Healso apprised the studentsabout Pakistan’s positive roleas United Nations globalpeacekeeping missions since1950. The lecture was fol-lowed by a question answersession.

KARACHI—Follow-ing were the bullionrates in major citiesyesterday.

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

Currency Selling Buying

Bullion Rates

RS PER 10 GRAMS

SEOUL—Samsung ElectronicsCo., the world’s largest technol-ogy firm by revenue, on Fridayfuelled concerns about flaggingdemand for high-endsmartphones with a weaker-than-expected earnings forecastfor the second quarter.

The South Korean giantforecast of 9.5 trillion won ($8.3billion) in operating profit forthe April-June quarter would bea record. But analysts had ex-pected a figure of more than 10trillion won, and shares in thefirm lost more than three percentin afternoon trade.

“It’s weaker than expected.Slow mobile sales, combinedwith hefty marketing costs forthe flagship Galaxy S4smartphones, undermined thebottom line,” Jeff Kim, ofHyundai Securities, told AFP.

Samsung posts disappointingearnings forecast for Q2

And Daiwa Securities ana-lyst Jae H. Lee said the firmwould likely be hit further byhigher advertising costs in thesecond half as it tries to keepsales volumes up.

Samsung has lost nearly $30billion in market value sincemid-March, before it launchedthe Galaxy S4 smartphone amonth later.

Investors are concerned thatthe company relies too heavilyon IT and mobile business,which accounts for more than 70percent of its operating profit, ata time when the global outlookfor this sector is not so bright,Jeff Kim said.

Several brokerages havedowngraded Samsung and theirearnings forecasts for the companyon fears that the S4 is not selling asstrongly as hoped.—APP

Pak-Chinaagreements tolead to hugeinvestment

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Special Assis-tant to Prime Minister on foreignaffairs Tariq Fatemi has said thevisit of the Prime Minister willbe greatly beneficial for Paki-stan in improving its economyand generating more economicactivities.

Talking to media fromBeijing, he said Pakistan willget advantage of Chinese in-vestment in various sectors in-cluding infrastructure develop-ment, energy, transportationand other public welfareprojects.

He said under the agree-ments signed in Beijing on Fri-day, Pakistan will attract bil-lions of dollars investment fromChina which will give boost toits ailing economy.

Tariq Fatemi describedPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif’stalks with Chinese leadershipand business leaders as ex-tremely constructive and posi-tive.

He hoped that it will lead toopen new avenues for economicdevelopment and prosperity be-sides creating job opportunitiesfor youth.

AMISP issuerates of

commoditiesLAHORE—Agriculture Market-ing Information Service Punjab(AMISP) issued rates of agricul-ture products in local market onFriday.

As per details, following arethe per 100 kg rates of differentagriculture products in Lahoremarket:

Maize minimum Rs 2200and maximum 2400, Rice Su-per Basmati (New) minimumRs 11000 and maximum Rs12000, Rice Basmati (old)minimum Rs 12000 and maxi-mum Rs 13500, white sugarminimum Rs 5100 and maxi-mum Rs 5200, white gram (lo-cal) minimum Rs 6500 andmaximum Rs 6500, Red ChiliWhole (Dry) minimum Rs13500 maximum Rs 15000,Cauliflower minimum Rs 4000and maximum Rs 4500, Onionminimum Rs 2500 and maxi-mum Rs 2800, Tomato mini-mum Rs 5400 and maximumRs 5600, Ginger (china) mini-mum Rs 11500 and maximumRs 12000, Peas minimum Rs9000 and maximum Rs 9500,Brinjal minimum Rs 1600 andmaximum Rs 2000, PotatoFresh minimum Rs 2600 andmaximum Rs 2800, Apple KalaKullu (Pahari) minimum Rs12500 and maximum Rs 13000,Dates (Aseel) minimum Rs12000 and maximum Rs 14000,Mango (Desahri) minimum Rs6000 and maximum Rs 7000,Mango (Anwer Ratol) mini-mum Rs 7000 and maximumRs 7500.—APP

Pakistan Postto organizeworkshop

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Post isholding one-day workshop on“Selling and Marketing Tech-niques” on July 8. Director Gen-eral Pakistan Post Syed GhulamPanjtan Rizvi will be the chiefguest on the occasion.

The objectives of the work-shop is to explore the new mar-keting opportunities and to uti-lize selling techniques for in-creasing postal business in rela-tion to customer care manage-ment. The major focus of theworkshop will be on increasingthe commercial potential ofpostal managers and to furtherstrengthen customer care culturein Pakistan Post. Senior officialswill deliver lecture on customercare, customer satisfaction, roleof the Manager and qualities ofa good manager as well as onselling techniques.

Asia businesssentiment rises

in second quarterSEOUL—Asia’s top companieshave become more optimisticabout their business outlookwith the retail and shipping in-dustries rebounding sharply inthe second quarter of 2013.

Asia Business SentimentIndex climbed six points to 71in June, its highest level in fivequarters and the third consecu-tive quarterly rise. A readingabove 50 indicates a generallypositive outlook.

Global economic uncer-tainty remains the biggest busi-ness risk across most countriesand sectors, but 44 percent of the91 companies that participatedin the poll are now positiveabout their outlook, up from 30percent in the prior quarter.

Corporate sentiment inChina, the world’s second-larg-est economy, remained un-changed at its record low of 50as companies worried about ris-ing costs and global economicuncertainty.—Newswire

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Engr. KuhurramDastagir, State Minister forPrivatisation will inaugurateSeminar “creating synergies forRegional cooperation in SouthAsia” on Saturday, the 6th July2013 in a local hotel atIslamabad. The seminar is be-ing organised by SAARCChamber of Commerce & In-dustry (SAARC CCI) in col-laboration with FriedrichNaumann Foundation, RegionalDirectorate located at NewDelhi, India.

Qasim Niaz, SecretaryCommerce, Mr. Iftikhar AliMalik, Vice President SAARCCCI (Pakistan) and formerPresident FPCCI, Mr.

Dastagir to inaugurate seminaron regional coop in S Asian

Muhammad Ali Sheikh, VicePresident of FPCCI, SenatorMushahid Hussain Sayed,Chairman Senate Committee onDefence and Muhammad IqbalTabish, Secretary General ofSAARC CCI will also addressthe inaugural session.

The inaugural session willbe followed by a technical ses-sion to chaired by Ms. RiffatMasood, DG (South Asia), Min-istry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistanand will be addressed by Heads/representatives of SAARCOrganisations in Pakistan i.e.SAARC Energy Centre,SAARC Arbitration Council,SAARC Human Resources De-velopment Centre in Pakistanand South Asian SustainableStrategy Institute.

Nokia expandsportfolio of 3Gmobile phones

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Nokia today ex-panded its range of classicallydesigned mobile phones with thelaunch of three new, high-per-forming handsets. The Nokia207, Nokia 208 and Nokia 208Dual SIM combine the familiar‘candybar’ design with Nokia’ssignature bold colors and 3.5G-capable Internet speeds. Popu-lar social apps, smarter imagingand productivity features such asInternet-sharing and Mail forExchange support make thesephones some of the most versa-tile at their price point; perfectfor people balancing work andplay.

“The Nokia 207 and Nokia208 are designed for peoplewho like a classic phone andtraditional keypad but don’twant to miss out on smartphoneexperiences, like staying con-nected to social media and ac-cessing the Internet,” said TimoToikkanen, executive vicepresident, Mobile Phones,Nokia. “As our most affordable3G devices yet, the Nokia 207and Nokia 208 offer a perfectbalance of performance, fea-tures and quality.”

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid chairing a meeting regarding Pakistan ScienceFoundation.

ISLAMABAD: Dr Khalid Naeem Khawaja DDG NARC presenting shield and souvenir tointernational resource persons Martina Spisiakova (CAPSA) Indonesia and KathrinKriesemer (FSC) Germany at concluding session of International Workshop.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Jubilee Life,Pakistan’s largest private sec-tor life insurer in terms of mar-ket share, has been awarded byThe Federation of PakistanChambers of Commerce andIndustry (FPCCI) in apprecia-tion of its outstanding servicesin the field of Insurance (Lifeand Savings). Jubilee Life is theonly life insurance company tobe honored with this prestigiousaward.

The award was presented atthe prestigious 1stFPCCIAchievement Awards 2012 cer-emony, organized by the federa-tion. Mr. Javed Ahmed, Manag-ing Director & CEO of JubileeLife received the award from theacclaimed and notable scientist

Jubilee Life honoured withFPCCI achievement award

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, whowas the chief guest at the occa-sion.

The ceremony was also at-tended by renowned business-men, social workers, entrepre-neurs and other dignitaries fromacross the country. “It is anhonor for Jubilee Life to be rec-ognized and acknowledged bythe FPCCI for our commitmentto providing financial security tothe Pakistani people, inspiringus to continue to improve andinnovate our product and serviceproposition to meet the diversefinancial security needs of ourcustomers nationwide,” saidJaved Ahmed.

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khancongratulated the winners fortheir achievements and felici-tated the federation for taking

such an initiative to encouragethe business community to con-tribute more to the nationaleconomy. Jubilee Insurance is aglobal brand of Aga Khan Fundfor Economic Development(AKFED) that offers diverseinsurance solutions (life, healthand general) in the Asian andEast African markets. JubileeLife in Pakistan offers uniquelydesigned range of life and healthinsurance plans, catering to vari-ous customer segments andneeds.

These include retirement,child education, marriage, sav-ing & protection, wealth accu-mulation, insurance plans forwomen, rural insurance plansand life and health insurancesolutions for the less privilegedof our country.

ISLAMABAD: Photograph shows Javed Ahmed, managing director and CEO of JubileeLife shaking hands with chief guest Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, after receiving the award.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The ClimateChange Division Secretary,Rana Hasan Abbas, has urgedthe officials of the Division’swings and attached depart-ments to play their part forchecking environmental degra-dation, checking pollution andachieving sustainable develop-ment.

He said that since Pakistanis highly vulnerable to the va-

Mitigation, adaptation must to helpPakistan tackle climate change

garies of climate change andthere is strong need to tacklechanging weather patternthrough viable mitigation andadaptation plans.

The secretary told the offi-cials to chalk out effective miti-gation and adaptation planskeeping in view the country’sextreme vulnerability to the er-ratic weather patterns, floodsand landslides.

He expressed these viewswhile chairing an important re-

view meeting about the goalsand targets set for the Fiscal Year2013-14 by the Division’s inter-national cooperation, environ-ment, development and forestrywings as well as attached depart-ments that included the PakistanEnvironment Protection Agency(Pak-EPA) and the National Di-saster Management Authority(NDMA). The meeting was heldhere on Friday at the Commit-tee Room of the Climate ChangeDivision.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is thecountry, which has so manythings to cherish and it is acountry where good newsspreads all around, said Ko-rean Ambassador Jong HwanSong.

Addressing a prize distribu-tion ceremony of a quiz compe-tition ‘Quiz on Korea 2013’ inNational University of ModernLanguages (NUML), Islamabadthe Korean ambassador said thatPakistan was blessed with won-derful people, geography, cli-mate, human resources, cultureand that all reflected there wasmuch good that could be high-lighted.

The competition ‘Quiz onKorea 2013’ was contested incontext of the celebrations of the30th anniversary of diplomaticrelations between Korea andPakistan at National University

Korea to send new tradecompanies to Pak

of Modern Languages (NUML)in Islamabad.

He said Korea was going tosend many new Korean businessand trade companies and theywould take the Pakistan-Koreaties to the new heights.

Song said like his predeces-sor at the Korean embassy, hewould also make efforts tostrengthen and expand coopera-tion between Pakistan and Re-public of Korea. “The languageskills demonstrated by the par-ticipants of the quiz competitionwere worth praising and it wasassured that this language learn-ing would provide you to liveanother world of opportunities,”he added.

The Korean embassy fromthroughout Pakistan receivedapplications of the interestedpersons. In this regard, thefirst test took place on June17, 2013 at PMI, Islamabad.This was the final round of the

test and interview at NUML.Hafiz Muhammad Arsalan gotthe f irst posi t ion; HafizWaseem Iqbal got 2nd posi-tion while Nadeem Iqbal andNaveed Ahmed won the thirdposition in the quiz competi-tion.

The winner Arsalan willnow be visiting Korea to par-ticipate in a final round inSeoul and will be providedwith a round-trip airfare andaccommodation during hisstay in Korea.

The quiz competition wasalso be attended by NUMLRector Maj Gen (r) MasoodHasan, DG Brig Azam Jamal,Park Jae Woo, 2nd Secretaryand Consul, Embassy of theRepublic of Korea, Sung,Choon Ki, DG KOICA Paki-stan, Head of Korean Depart-ment Dr Atif Faraz and otherofficials of Korean Embassyand NUML.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The governmentis keen to commence wind farmprojects in the country to meetsome percentage of the nationalenergy requirement through re-newable energy technologies.According to an official ofAEDB, wind energy is cost ef-fective and can become a sub-stitute to thermal power genera-tion with investments from pri-vate sector.

According to data availablewith AEDB and Pakistan Me-teorological Department, pre-liminary site surveys carried outin late nineties and early yearsof this century indicated thatcoastal areas of Sindh andBalochistan provinces and somenorthern areas possess adequatewind resources.

The official reports identifythat in Sindh province, districtThatta, Karachi, Hyderabad andBadin and in Balochistan prov-

Coastal areas suitablefor wind energy

ince, district Gwadar andMakran Coastal Belt possessprospective sites for develop-ment, installation and commis-sioning of wind farm projects.

The government plans to

achieve up to 2,500MW fromwind energy by the end of 2015.Wind energy is sustainable,clean, safe, economically com-petitive and creates jobs. Thefirst energy wind power projectin Pakistan started working witha 50MW generation capacity inJhimpir, Sindh in December2012. Alternative Energy Devel-opment Board (AEDB) recently

approved a New Park EnergyPhase-I, 400MW wind projectnear Port Qasim.

Pakistan has the potential ofproducing approximately150,000MW of wind energy,says a recent United StatesAgency for International Devel-opment (USAID) report. Thewind projects can fetch an in-vestment of around two billiondollars. According to anotherstudy, Pakistan has identified cu-mulative potential to generate3.2 million MW from renewableenergy resources including340,000MW from wind, 2.9million MW from solar,50,000MW from hydro (large),3,100MW from hydro (small),1,800MW from bagasses cogen-eration and 500MW from waste.A mean annual wind speed (at10 m and 30 m above ground)of 18 kmph and 22 kmph respec-tively is considered as the mini-mum required for feasible gen-eration of electricity.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Chief MinisterSindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah in-augurated the Karachi Chamberof Commerce & Industry’s 10thInternational My-Karachi Exhi-bition 2013 which will be openfor businesspersons and familiesfrom Friday 5th July till Sun-day 7th July from 10am to 10pmat Expo Centre Karachi.

He said that KCCI had nocommercial ambition behindthis exhibition and we aremaking our humble contribu-tion in restoring and upliftingthe image of Karachi, which is

Western media propaganda adversely affects Pakistan image

Sindh chief minister inauguratesmy Karachi exhibition

one of the world’s fastestgrowing cities. Karachi trulyrepresents Pakistan in terms ofcultural cross section in aunique urban scenario. How-ever, continuously its image istarnished by way of adversepropaganda made by the West-ern media, and also precariouslaw and order situation. Sub-sequently, the state of affairsdemands that the Karachiitesespecially the business and in-dustrial community to comeforward to fight and rebuildthis image. He voiced thatcome what may KCCI is stead-fast to organize My-Karachi

Exhibition to promote com-mercial and industrial activi-ties in Karachi. He lamentedKarachi was suffering sincelast one decade which needGovernment’s attention.

The Chief Minister SindhSyed Qaim Ali Shah in his ad-dress to KCCI after inaugurationappreciated the initiative ofKCCI to uplift the image ofKarachi city while reciprocatingto the Nation. He lauded the ef-forts of Chairman BusinessmenGroup Siraj Kassam Teli and histeam to continue this traditionand spirit of ownership ofKarachi.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—London-basedstart up ‘Directly.me’ is launch-ing its services in Pakistan onthe 5th of July. What sets it apartfrom its competitors is that itdoes not restrict its users to a fewhundred or even thousand socialmedia connections, but allowsthem to directly contact any in-dividual in the world.

Directly.me offers an opencommunication platform to in-crease one’s social reach to an

Directly.me is now set tolaunch in Pakistan

unfathomable extent. The prereq-uisite of knowing a person priorto any kind of interaction has beendiscarded,providing the users withthe opportunity to get in touchwith anyone they wish to, be it acommon man or a celebrity. “Wehave created a medium that pro-vides our users with a much sim-pler way of connecting to anyonewithout any barriers. Exorbitantoptions such as, ‘Follow’, ‘FriendRequest’ and ‘Circles’ have beenremoved to unlock avenues foroneto one open communication.

in making investments. Thechances of the new foreigninvestment in the telecomsector are very dim due topoor law and order situation,low returns of investment,and high mark-up, he said.Decline in growth results incompromise on service qual-ity, he said, pointing out thatthere are still several areasin Pakistan where telecomnetwork has not been de-ployed. Every player has itsown network expansionplans but execution of theseplans is possible only withthe growth, he said.

The industry officialssaid following the decline inthe revenue, the industry willadopt cost cutting measures.The industry will curtail itsadvisement budget, reduceoperational expenses andhold the network expansionplans, they added.

They said that both cus-tomers and industry are di-rectly hit with the govern-ment budgetary measuresince customer talk time hasreduced, while industry suf-fers revenue loss.

They said that taxes onthe cost of usage could rep-resent a barrier to develop-ment of services since theyacted to cut down usage.

WHTFrom Page 10

OVER 90% of cases of a common form offood poisoning seen this year were dueto people eating undercooked chicken

liver pate, often at weddings, infection expertshave said. The Health Protection Agency (HPA)analysed 18 outbreaks of Campylobacter in 2011across England. In all, 443 people became un-well and one had to be hospitalised.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has re-minded caterers to cook poul-try livers to prevent infection.

Campylobacter is the mostcommon cause of bacterialfood poisoning in Britain -there were estimated to havebeen more than 600,000 casesin 2010 in England and Wales.

Symptoms include diar-rhoea, stomach pains andcramps, fever, and generallyfeeling unwell. Most peopleare only ill for a few days.

In 2008 there were justthree outbreaks linked toundercooked chicken liverpate, but that rose to nine in2009 and 14 in 2010.

“It’s really important thatchefs cook livers thoroughly tokill any bacteria, even if reci-pes call for them to be searedand left pink in the middle.”

Poultry livers carry a particularly high riskof Campylobacter as the bacteria can be presentthroughout the liver, not just the surface as is thecase for other poultry meat, and may remain asource of infection if they are not cooked suffi-ciently. Of the 18 outbreaks, 14 occurred in ca-tering venues, and 13 of these were linked tochicken or duck liver pate.

Seven were linked to wedding receptions athotels, banqueting venues or public houses andsix were associated with catering at other func-tions such as hotels, clubs and restaurants. TheHPA found that livers used to make the parfait

Chicken liver food poisoning linkor pate were undercooked allowing the liverto remain pink in the centre. It said catererscan reduce the risk of their people becominginfected by ensuring that Campylobacter iskilled through proper cooking and by avoid-ing cross-contamination to other foods.

Dr Christine Little, an expert in gastrointes-tinal infections at the HPA, said: “The increasein outbreaks which are due to the consump-

tion of chicken liver pate hasbeen steadily increasing over thelast few years. “Not only is thisdish popular in food recipemagazines, it is being served ina variety of different cateringvenues. “Illness occurs becausethe livers are only cooked untilthey are pink, and inadequatecooking will not be sufficient tokill the bacteria.

“Both the public and thecatering industry need to beaware that undercooking thisproduct can result in food poi-soning.” She said anyone plan-ning a wedding, or other specialevent, should be aware of therisks if they were havingchicken liver pate to preventpeople becoming unwell.

The FSA issued updatedadvice to caterers on the safe handling and cook-ing of livers twice in 2010, but Campylobacteroutbreaks associated with the consumption ofchicken liver pate have continued to occur.

Bob Martin, head of foodborne diseasestrategy at the FSA, said: “Unfortunately, lev-els of Campylobacter in most raw chicken arehigh, so it’s really important that chefs cooklivers thoroughly to kill any bacteria, even ifrecipes call for them to be seared and left pinkin the middle. “Caterers should also followgood general hygiene practices when cookingand handling poultry livers, to avoid cross con-tamination with Campylobacter.”

KARACHI: Director of Charity Department, Mohammed Abdul Khaleq Alkhoori address-ing media after releasing goods for needy people for Ramazan.—PO photo

KARACHI: Protesters of Lyari hold sit-in at Maripur Road against target killing.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

KARACHI—The track beingre-designed to streamline traf-fic flow at the Abbasi ShaheedHospital intersection, linkingNazimabad to NorthNazimabad, will be opened onJuly 19, said Deputy Commis-sioner (Central), Dr Saif-ur-Rehman on Friday.

In a briefing to the Com-missioner Karachi, ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui during his visitto the district, he said the inter-section that was a seriousbottleneck for traffic moving toand from North Nazimabad andbeyond from various directionshas been attempted to be ad-dressed on sound basis.

The intersection sur-rounded by major commercialcentres, eateries and hospitalscoupled with haphazard stop-pages for public vehicles waswitnessed to be a virtual point

of traffic jam round the clock.The district administration in

view of the public plight had,with the support of governmentand area representatives em-barked upon a project wherebytracks were being re-designed forpublic and private vehicles withdue care that buses and rickshawsmay halt only at designated sites.

In reply to a question by thecommissioner the DC-Centralsaid close coordination is beingdeveloped with the traffic policeso that the project may actuallyfacilitate the citizens.

Karachi Commissioner, whoas per directives of the ChiefMinister is visiting different dis-trict in the city to assess measuresadopted to address public com-plaints, directed the DC-Centralto develop strong liasion with allstakeholders in the district. Healso asked him to ensure ad-

equate security measures for all“Marriage Halls,” located in thedistrict.

He said that structureserected at the site of illegal hy-drants must be dismantled andvehicles as well as gadgets intheir use should be confiscated.

Shoaib, appreciative of thefact that district central ofKarachi is considered to be themost literate district in the coun-try said area people must be ac-tively involved against polioeradication, encroachments, ille-gal hydrants and traffic manage-ment.

“Special care must be takento address the health problems ofthe district inhabitants in particu-lar context of dengue fever andnaegleria,” said the commis-sioner. The meeting among oth-ers was also attended by Addi-tional Deputy Commissioner,

Mushtaq Ali, Assistant Commis-sioners, Syed Shujaat Hussain,Altaf Ali and Syed Waris.

The DC-Central, Dr Saif in-formed the Commissioner thatduring past six months, in a com-prehensive campaign against pro-ducers of gutka (an extremelyhazardous cock-tail of beetlenuts, tobacco and other chemicalgoods) 2,712 maunds of it wasconfiscated and destroyed while100 people engaged in the busi-ness were arrested.

Similarly, he said during thisperiod crackdown was also madeagainst butchers and their accom-plice engaged in selling unfit forhuman consumption meat, afterbeing treating under extremelyhazardous pressure technique.

The DC-Central said cam-paign against price hikers andprofiteers has emerged to be aregular exercise and during past

few months a fine money worthabove 1.8 million has been col-lected from 250 shopkeepers,found fleecing the consumers.

30 of them were arrestedand eight jailed after necessarylegal procedure, he told the com-missioner.

Shoaib was also informedthat encroachments aroundZiauddin Hospital, NorthNazimabad Block B, HyderiMarket, Saifi College,Karimabad and Water Pumphave also been removed.

Encroachments fromMohammad Shah and SakhiHasan Graveyards have alsobeen removed, said the DC-Central.He said the complaintcell in the district is workinground the clock and citizens canapproach it via phone number36966510 during any point oftime.—APP

Redesigned track at Abbasi Hospital intersection to open soon

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Senator, RobertBob Crocker, Ranking Repub-lican on the Senate Foreign Re-lations Committee, along withMichael Phelan and Jamil Jaffer,Senate Foreign Relations Com-mittee Professional Staff Mem-ber, called on Sindh Governor,Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, at theGovernor House here on Friday.

US Ambassador to Paki-stan, Richard Olson, ConsulGeneral of US in KarachiMichael Dodman and Politicaland Economics Chief, AnupamaPrattipati, were also present onthe occasion. While talking to

the Governor, the Senators saidthat American people wish thatPakistan attain progress andshow convergence towards de-veloped nations.

He said US is already play-ing its role to help Pakistan inbuilding its economy. ‘We arefully aware of the dire need ofenergy in Pakistan. We are al-ready contributing to help meetthis challenge’, he added.

Talking on the occasionSindh Governor, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, said that it was goodto see that USAID is helping thepeople of Pakistan through vari-ous programmes. These need-based programmes will have a

great impact on the society. Thisis for the first time that peopleof rural and urban areas devel-oped a feeling that they are be-ing taken care of. Still there islot to be done.

He said Pakistan is strivingto address the challenges ofeconomy, unemployment, edu-cation and poverty.

This is the high time thatAmericans may take the tangibleand non-tangible benefit of in-vestment in Pakistan especiallyin Karachi.

As Karachi being the eco-nomic hub, and an engine ofgrowth in Pakistan, needs somespecial attention from developed

countries in the shape of invest-ment.

Sectors like infrastructuredevelopment, water supplyschemes, solid waste manage-ment and energy managementwill provide direct benefit to thepeople of the city and countrybesides, co-operation in highereducation.

He said that these are the ar-eas where investment will cre-ate a soft image of America anda winning situation for all stake-holders.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan thanked the Sena-tor and the delegation for visit-ing Pakistan, specially Karachi.

Crocker calls on Governor

Pakistan striving to addressunemployment, poverty: Ebad

JI demandslifting of ban on

pillion ridingKARACHI—The Karachi Amirof Jamaat-i-Islami (JI),Muhammad Hussain Mehanti,has called for immediate liftingof ban on pillion riding.

In a statement here on Fri-day, he said that this ban wascausing inconveniences to thepeople.

The JI chief was of the viewthat there was already shortageof public transport in the me-tropolis and that ban on pillionriding compounds the problemand that affects about six millionpeople in the city.—APP

66 accusedarrested

KARACHI—The Karachi policein their drive against criminals,arrested 66 accused from differ-ent areas of the metropolis dur-ing the past 24 hours.

A police statement on Fridaysaid that those arrested included31 absconders and proclaimedoffenders as well as those alleg-edly involved in cases of murder,dacoity and extortion etc.—APP

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The purity andsafety of potable water suppliedto the people of Karachi had be-come a serious health concern.On the other hand, the people ofthe city that had no alternatesource of getting water otherthan from the Karachi Water andSewerage Board (KW&SB)were exposed to serious threatsespecially the fatal Neglaria at-tack as the virus had alreadyclaimed few lives.

Rather than the provincialand KW&SB authorities shouldinitiate concrete measures forthe safe water supply to the

Workshop forenhancing capacity

of policeKARACHI—The Sindh Police incollaboration with the FederalBureau of Investigation, US De-partment of Justice had organiseda workshop for enhancing thecapacity of police, said a state-ment.

It informed that trainingprogrammes as well as lecturesare being conducted in this re-gard. This is being done on thedirective of the Inspector Generalof Police (IGP), Sindh, ShahidNadeem Baloch. The statementsaid that a five-day workshopconcluded here on Friday.

As many as 14 police person-nel from the Bomb DisposalSquad and Criminal Investiga-tion Department attended theworkshop.—APP

people of the city of which alarge faction constituted chil-dren and infants, the supersti-tious measures like meetingsand seminars were arranged for,which did not provide any ami-cable solution to the supply ofvirus infected and toxic indus-trial waste contaminated watersupply.

Whether it would bear fruitsor not, the KW&SB manage-ment had approached theSUPARCO, PCSIR and NEDUniversity. They had held ameeting the at the office of themanaging director of the waterutility and had discussed aboutmeasures for dealing with the

contaminated and even unsafefor drinking water derived fromthe highly polluted and contami-nated Keenjhar Lake in Thattadistrict of Sindh province.

Senior Scientific Officer DrAbdul Basit Khan and PrincipalScientific Officer Seema AsmatKhan from PCISR, Acting Di-rector Rehmat Ullah Jillani andDivisional Head Dr MohammadMansha of SUPARCO, Direc-tor of Services Engineer SyedWasiuddin, Professor Dr ImranAhmed, Professor Dr AtifMustafa from NED University,Director Health Dr AslamBaloch from Karachi Metropoli-tan Corporation attended.

Karachiites getting contaminatedwater from Keenjhar Lake

99999

Chicken liver foodpoisoning link

LAHORE: Protesters chanting slogans during a demonstration organized by Jamaat-ud-Dawa against drone attacks.

OVER 90% of cases of a commonform of food poisoning seen thisyear were due to people eating

undercooked chicken liver pate, often atweddings, infection experts have said.The Health ProtectionAgency (HPA) analysed18 outbreaks ofCampylobacter in 2011across England. In all, 443people became unwelland one had to behospitalised.The Food StandardsAgency (FSA) has re-minded caterers to cookpoultry livers to preventinfection.Campylobacter is themost common cause ofbacterial food poisoningin Britain - there were es-timated to have been morethan 600,000 cases in 2010in England and Wales.Symptoms include diar-rhoea, stomach pains andcramps, fever, and generally feeling un-well. Most people are only ill for a fewdays.In 2008 there were just three outbreakslinked to undercooked chicken liver pate,but that rose to nine in 2009 and 14 in2010. “It’s really important that chefs cooklivers thoroughly to kill any bacteria, evenif recipes call for them to be seared andleft pink in the middle.”

Poultry livers carry a particularly highrisk of Campylobacter as the bacteria canbe present throughout the liver, not justthe surface as is the case for other poul-

try meat, and may remain a source ofinfection if they are not cooked suffi-ciently.

Of the 18 outbreaks, 14 occurred incatering venues, and 13 of these were

linked to chicken or duckliver pate.

Seven were linked towedding receptions at ho-tels, banqueting venues orpublic houses and six wereassociated with catering atother functions such ashotels, clubs and restau-rants.

The HPA found thatlivers used to make the par-fait or pate wereundercooked allowing theliver to remain pink in thecentre.

It said caterers canreduce the risk of theirpeople becoming infectedby ensuring thatCampylobacter is killedthrough proper cooking

and by avoiding cross-contamination toother foods. Dr Christine Little, an ex-pert in gastrointestinal infections at theHPA, said: “The increase in outbreakswhich are due to the consumption ofchicken liver pate has been steadily in-creasing over the last few years.

“Not only is this dish popular in foodrecipe magazines, it is being served in avariety of different catering venues.

“Illness occurs because the liversare only cooked until they are pink, andinadequate cooking will not be sufficientto kill the bacteria.

LAHORE: Women taking interest in the dresses displayed at an exhibition at alocal hotel.

SALIM AHMED

LA H O R E—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has orderedthe literacy teachers andfield staff working in 4610Non-Formal Basic Educa-tion Schools to conductdoor to door survey atMohallah and village levelthroughout Punjab andconvince the parents hav-ing illiterate children agingfrom five to nine years toget them enrolled inschools .

This unique survey willbe held from August 14 toOctober 30 this year. Everyliteracy teacher and hiscompanions including thefemale staff have beengiven the target to material-ize minimally five additionalenrollments during this pe-riod.

This was disclosed bythe Advisor to Punjab ChiefMinister on Literacy RaiHaider Ali Kharral while ad-dressing an orientationworkshop in which DistrictLiteracy Officers from allover the province partici-pated. Rai Haider Ali said,Pakistan is signatory of UNprogramme “Education forAll” and Millennium Goals

Massive children school enrollmentplan launched in Punjab

Treaty according to whichwe are bound to upgradeour literacy rate to hundredpercent till 2015. We willhave to enroll seven lakhchildren each year for thenext three years to achievethis Millennium Goal. Forthis purpose, Punjab Lit-eracy Department hasplanned to open 1759 moreliteracy centers in the ruralareas of Punjab and there isno “Ghost School” in thedictionary of PML-N.

The Advisor revealedthat there is a need of fivethousand literacy teachersin each district of Punjab tomeet the millennium goal re-garding achievement ofhundred percent literacyrate. This requires struggleon war footing by introduc-ing enrollment emergency,he added.

Secretary LiteracyPunjab Dr. Pervaiz Ahmad

Khan in his address, dis-closed that the departmenthas decided to provide ev-ery survey team mobilizingthe parents for additionalenrollment of their childrenon emergency basis will beprovided with enrollmenttraining booklet while sur-vey teams comprising of lit-eracy teachers will also beprovided with colourfulltextbooks meant for nurs-ery students for cost freedisbursement at their doorstep. In this way, the par-ents will not have to ap-proach any school for hav-ing their children enrolled.The Secretary further in-formed that District Imple-mentation Units will be for-mulated to select a focal per-son, a title for which hasbeen suggested as “Enroll-ment Champion.”

District Steering Com-mittees will also be formu-

Orientation workshop

lated to supervise Enroll-ment Emergency Campaignat district level besides in-corporating volunteersfrom every segment of so-ciety and Village EducationCommittees would also bemobilized to participate inthe campaign. Punjab Edu-cation Foundation will alsoachieve an additional en-rollment of 79 thousandchildren in the private sec-tor schools this year, heconcluded.

Project Director Enroll-ment Emergency ProgrammeMuhammad Usman whilegiving briefing to the par-ticipants of the workshopdisclosed that one lakh ad-ditional enrollments willsurely be achieved in theremaining six months ofthis year. He also apprisedthe participants about Ac-tivity Plan and timeline ofthe emergency campaign.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Universityvice-chancellor Prof DrMujahid Kamran has said thatPakistan can progress if wetake advantage of its geo-graphical position which isgifted by nature.

He was addressing thebook launching ceremony of“Geopolitik Pakistan” by Brig(r) Nadir Mir at Al-Raazi Hallhere on Friday. Former de-fense secretary ShamshadAhmed Khan, renowned ana-lyst Syed Mowahid HussainShah, Brig (r) Farooq Hameedand people from variouswalks of life were present onthe occasion. Dr Kamran saidthat Pakistan enjoyed greatreservoirs of natural re-sources including gold, coal,gas etc but unfortunately, wewere not exhausting them fornational development. He said

Pakistan’s location can leadto prosperity: PU VC

that international powers im-posed wars between Arabsand Turks for Israel, whichwas the bone of contentionin the world. He said thatDMG was an iron cap on thehead of Pakistani nation be-cause of which the countrywas not nourishing.

Mr Shamshad AhmedKhan said that our Army wasdoing its job and our rulersshould also do their job be-cause the country could notprogress unless we improveour governance. He said thatPakistan’s internal challengeswere more serious thenexternal’s and our institutionshad collapsed and we shouldnot blame the US and Indiafor it.

He said that we were notmeasuring up the expecta-tions of Quaid-e-Azam andAllama Iqbal and unfortu-nately, our rulers preferredpersonal interest to nationalinterest. He said that no coun-

try was so important in termsof its geographical positionlike Pakistan but we made ourasset as our liability. SyedMowahid Hussain Shah saidthat our democracy was afraud.

He said that Indonesia,being the largest Muslim coun-try, must be give veto powerin the United Nation as a rep-resentative of the Muslimworld. He said that a campaignmust be launched to activateO.I.C and an Islamic fund mustbe established. He said thatPakistan’s representation andpresentation was very poor atinternational level.

He said that creation ofnew provinces was not in theinterest of the country ratherit was equal to balkanizationof Pakistan. Brig (r) Nadir Mirsaid that his book was verydifferently written on the topicand the subject of geopoliticsmust be taught in the institu-tions of higher learning.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt on Friday sought re-ply from the Punjab govern-ment on an application seek-ing formation of a judicialcommission on measles-re-lated deaths.

The court heard argu-ments and issued notice tothe government for July 10.

Judicial Activism Panel

LHC seeks govt’s reply overjudicial inquiry on measles deaths

chairman Advocate AzharSiddique filed the applicationin an already pending peti-tion against government’sfailure to control measles epi-demic.

The lawyer stated a com-mission comprising retiredjudge or judges, along withother independent expertsenjoying good reputation,should be constituted toprobe into the deaths of in-

nocent children and to fix re-sponsibility.

He requested that thehealth authori t ies shouldbe directed to file a com-prehensive report so thatthe court might get justand fair findings in the caseto enforce fundamentalrights.

The court heard argu-ments and issued notice tothe government for July 10.

Intense loadsheddingcontinues

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—People acrossPunjab continue to sufferdue to prolonged power out-ages amid scorching heat inthe province.

Major cities are facing upto 14-hour electricity loadshedding with no letup in thehot weather while up to 18hours of load shedding isbeing carried out in rural ar-eas.

According to latest sta-tistics, the total power sup-ply is 12,500MW against ademand of 17,500MW. Thegap between generation anddemand has resulted into ashortfall of 5,000MW due towhich prolonged hours ofload shedding is being car-ried out.

The daily life of residentshas been severely impactedas there is also a reportedshortage of water.

The electricity consum-ers pointed out that repeatedvariation in supply load wasresulting into faults to theelectronic appliances. It maybe noted that humidity levelhas increased manifold andweather has become unbear-able for the electricity con-sumers.

It is also worth mention-ing that energy crisis hasbecome a challenging issuefor the country.

UHS againdeclared second

best medicaluniversity

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The University ofHealth Sciences (UHS)Lahore has again been de-clared the second best medi-cal university of Pakistan inQuality and Research basedRanking 2013 announced byHigher Education Commis-sion (HEC) on Friday.

The criteria used by HECfor ranking is based on qual-ity assurance, teaching qual-ity and excellence in re-search. While announcingthe ranking, HEC ChairmanDr Javaid R. Laghari said thatUHS has narrowed down itsmargin as compared to lastyear, with Aga Khan Univer-sity, Karachi which has beendeclared the overall bestmedical university of thecountry.

While congratulating thefaculty and staff on thisachievement, UHS ViceChancellor Maj Gen (R) ProfMuhammad Aslam paid trib-ute to their devotion, enthu-siasm and commitment. Heurged them to take universityto new heights avoidingcomplacency trap.

“We would focus moreon the quality of studentlearning and on excellence inboth academic and adminis-trative pursuits”, he saidadding that UHS had to be-come a launching pad for theinventions and creative ideasborn in its labs, to translateinto technologies to reach thegrass roots.

UHS VC further said thatthe potential for advances inhealth research was quitepromising. He added that themain target of the universitywas to develop its new cam-pus at Kala Shah Kaku. He re-solved that UHS would com-pete for QS World Ranking ofthe universities this year.

PU ICS starts8 languages

programme forstudents

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Universityof Communication Studies (PU ICS) has launched one-month international languagesprogram as a compulsorycourse for its students underwhich students will opt anylanguage from the populareight languages of the world.

This year Hindi, Chinese,and Turkish languages havebeen also included while pre-viously only five languages,German, French, Persian, En-glish and Arabic were beingoffered to the students dur-ing the summer vocations.

The students of BS, MS,Replica and Developmentsjournalism, each would optany one of the given lan-guages for one month classduring August 19-Sept 20.ICS Lecturer Maliha Leghariis the coordinator of this pro-gram while its being con-ducted uder the supervisionof In-charge director DrNoshina Saleem. Last datefor submission of applicationand Rs 1500 fee is July 8.

Dr Noshina Saleem said thisprogram was very importantbecause learning other’s lan-guage open new job and com-munication avenues for the stu-dents of communication stud-ies. She said experts of theselanguages are hired to makethis program a success.