Ep11june2013

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif called on President Asif Ali Zardari. Speaker National Assembly SardarAyaz Sadiq and Nayyer Hussain Bukhari were also present.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The NationalEconomic Council in its meetingchaired by Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif at thePrime Minister’s Office on Mon-day afternoon approved 1155 bil-lion rupees development projectsincluding federal Public SectorDevelopment Programme of Rs.540 billion and 615 billion rupeesof development projects belong-ing to the provinces.

It also decided to constitutea committee led by Minister forPlanning and Development with

Chief Ministers of the Provincesas its members to consider issuesand to chalk out a policy withclear guidelines consistent withthe functional responsibilitiesunder the constitution.

The National EconomicCouncil authorised the aforemen-tioned committee to also stream-line the process of release offunds to the provinces.

The NEC authorized Minis-try of Planning and Developmentfor making adjustments withinthe approved PSDP size as de-cided by the committee. In hiswelcome remarks, Prime Minis-

ter Muhammad Nawaz Sharifcongratulated the Chief Ministerson their assumptions of office andcompletion of smooth transition.

The Prime Minister reiter-ated that the mandate of thepeople will be respected. He ex-pressed the confidence that if wecontinue on the path of democ-racy, respect democratic tradi-tions and the mandate of thepeople, the days were not far offwhen we would be able to raiseour heads high as a civilized na-tion. The Prime Minister ex-pressed the hope that the provin-cial governments will work in

their respective provinces for theimplementation of developmentprojects with sincerity and ensurethat the funds are not only usedjudiciously but each and everyrupee is spent as a sacred trust ofthe people.

“We will not tolerate anybreach of national trust. Fundsshould be utilized for the purposethey are intended and honestly”,emphasized the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said thatthe biggest issues facing thecountry were loadshedding, ex-tremism and sectarianism whichhave a direct bearing on the

country’s economy. We needpeace for economic activities.

We have to eliminate corrup-tion and plug loopholes and leak-ages to increase revenue. Thepresent quantum of revenue col-lection, and size of the develop-ment programme is a shame fora country of the size and statusof Pakistan.

The Prime Minister said thatwe need revenues and these tar-gets can be improved providedwe rid the tax collection machin-ery of corrupt elements. He ob-served that this is a pathetic situ-ation and is unacceptable. “No

one involved in corruption willbe spared.” The Prime Ministerdirected the Minister for Plan-ning & Development to reviewthe ongoing schemes reportedlyamounting to nearly 3 trillion andcome up with recommendationsby July 31, 2013 so that aroadmap on their implementationcould also be finalized.

The Prime Minister directedthe Minister for Water & PowerKhawaja Muhammad Asif tofind a way out to provide addi-tional electricity to Balochistanin view of the urgent require-ment of water for the crops. The

direction was issued in responseto the request made by the ChiefMinister Balochistan, Dr AbdulMaalik Baloch, who informedthe Prime Minister thatBalochistan is presently receiv-ing two hours of electricity onlyand this would adversely impactthe standing crops.

The Prime Minister directedthe Ministry of Finance topresent a proposal to the Cabi-net containing recommendationsfor improvement in revenue col-lection including structural re-

Rs 1.155 trillion PSDP okayedPresent quantum of revenue collection, size of development programme are shame

for a country of the size and status of Pakistan; Nawaz presides NEC meeting

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ISLAMABAD—President Asif AliZardari Monday stressed theneed to avoid confrontation andpursue “reconciliation” by settingup a Truth and ReconciliationCommission for strengtheningdemocracy.

Addressing a joint sitting ofthe Parliament, for a record sixth-time, the President said, “Weneed to learn the truth about pastmistakes in order not to repeatthem” and emphasized to carryforward the fruit of democracyto the grassroots level. The Presi-dent, while congratulating thenewly elected Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif said,it was an honour for him to bethe first elected civilian incountry’s history to oversee the

transfer of power in a democraticmanner.

“It is a cause for whichShaheed Benazir Bhutto dedi-cated her life ... It is a cause forwhich I spent 11 and a half yearsin prison ... It is a cause for whichPrime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif suffered imprison-ment and exile ... Democracy hasarrived.”

The President also called fora Truth and Reconciliation Com-mission and expressed the con-fidence that as democracy takesroots the government will be ableto deliver.

“I have no doubt that we willrise to the dream that our found-ing fathers had about Pakistan,”the President said and added a lot

can be achieved, “if we keepaside our prejudices and egos.”

“Let us renew our commit-ment to the principles of democ-racy and the rule of law. Let usvow to uphold the supremacy ofthe Constitution.” PresidentZardari stressed that every pillarof the state must operate withinits constitutional limits. “Let noorgan of the state trespass into thedomain of others,” the Presidentremarked.

President Zardari said therewas no longer any room for dic-tatorships in today’s Pakistan.

The president stressed theneed to find solutions for issuessuch as loadshedding,Balochistan, poverty, women and

Confrontation must beavoided: President

No longer any room for dictatorship; Every Statepillar must operate within constitutional bounds

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LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Making a debuton Monday, the Cabinet set thetone for future line of action re-garding challenges on all fronts.

‘Sacrifice everything for thenational cause,” were the initialremarks made by Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif which formedthe basis for providing good gov-ernance to the country.

Though PM set 15-daydeadline to prepare action plan,but he directed to go for imme-diate action to tackle issues ofemergency nature.

APP adds the Prime Minis-ter said for certain departmentssuch a timeframe was longenough as the issues relating tothem required prompt actionwithin 24 hours. By giving them

a fortnight will enable them tohave enough input for the task,he added. “To achieve targets

well within the set timeframe isa greater task. I will support youand lend you every cooperationbut you will have to set aside yourpersonal interests and work withmore dedication, vigour andcommitment to produce betterresults,” he added.

Addressing the maiden cabi-net meeting, the Prime Ministerstressed that they would have tosolemnly promise for sacrificingeverything for the national cause.

“We have to prove with ouraction, the ability we are bornwith,” he added.

He urged the cabinet mem-bers to understand the issues oftheir respective ministries toachieve the goals well in time.

Any member failing to meetthe objectives, in his opinion, will

Debut of new Cabinet

Sacrifice everything fornational cause: PM

Set priorities, go for action within 24 hours

ALI SYED

ISLAMABAD—The EconomicSurvey 2012-13 to be madepublic here today (Tuesday)will disclose that the per capitaincome has gone up to $1368in outgoing fiscal year com-pared to $1323 in 2011-12mainly because of the increasein remittances, a senior officialtold Pakistan Observer. How-ever, we have missed all the

GDP growth targets mainly be-cause of the electricity crisis, anofficial who participated in mak-ing the economic survey told.The country, he said, sustainedthe 2 percent loss in GDP in2012-13. The size of the GDP in2012-13 remained at $ 238 bil-lion. However, the controversialfigures like the increase in pov-erty and unemployment has notbeen included in the EconomicSurvey as the labour survey has

not yet been completed and thecommittee of Planning Commis-sion that is working out on thesaid issue has not come up withits final findings on the subject.

The GDP growth has been at3.6 percent in 2012-13, followedby agriculture sector with growth3.35 percent, industrial sector3.49 percent and services sector3.71 percent.

In the agriculture sector, thegrowth has been shown at 3.35

percent, followed by five ma-jor crops such as wheat, cotton,sugarcane, rice and maize stoodat 2.31 percent, other crops 6.68percent and cotton ginning wit-nessed negative growth of 2.93percent. The wheat productionhas been shown at 24.231 mil-lion tons and rice production at61.8 million tons.

The livestock registered agrowth of 3.68 percent after

All targets missed, power crisis inflicts 2pc lossEconomic Survey 2012-13 to unveil today

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Achakzai to beBalochistanGovernor

QUETTA—The federal govern-ment has decided to appointformer bureaucrat MuhammadKhan Achakzai as the new Gov-ernor of Balochistan.

Sources in PakhtunkhwaMilli Awami Party (PkMAP) toldmedia that Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif sentthe summary regarding the ap-pointment of Achakzai as theBalochistan governor to Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari on Monday.

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ISLAMABAD—Senate StandingCommittee on Water and Powerhere on Monday underlined theneed for carrying out equal loadshedding in all parts of the coun-try to effectively handle powershortage.

Chairing the committee’smeeting in the Parliament House,Senator Mohammad Zahid Khansaid solid measures should bemade to implement thecommittee’s recommendationswhich exempted only two placesincluding government hospitalsand the army strategic installa-tions from loadshedding.

He called for provision ofauthentic and accurate reportshowing break-up ofloadshedding all over the coun-try by the concerned Disco’s

heads, all provincial capitals andthe province wise list of all theinstitutions which were ex-empted of loadshedding includ-ing the AJK and IESCO. Thecommittee was also of the viewthat Minister for Power and Wa-ter and the Secretary were neededto attend the next meeting in or-der to work out effective solutionto the power shortage in the coun-try. The committee’s chairmansaid all citizens had equal rightsin the country, thus there shouldbe no discrimination in carryingout loadshedding.

Later, the committee ad-journed its meeting till Tuesdayto take up the important issueswith regard to the powerloadshedding. The meeting was

Authentic report on load-shedding sought

Senate Committee forequal load-shedding

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21-memberPunjab Cabinet

sworn-inSALIM AHMED

LAHORE—A 21-memberPunjab Cabinet was sworn-in ata ceremony held here at theGovernor’s House on Monday.

Punjab GovernorMakhdoom Ahmad Mahmoodadministered the oath.

Chief Minister ShahbazSharif was also present on theoccasion. The relatives of newministers, elected representativesand senior officials were alsopresent on the occasion.

Those who took oath asPunjab Ministers are: RanaSanaullah‚ Rana MashhoodKhan‚ Iqbal Channar‚ Ch AbdulWaheed‚ Farrukh Javed‚ ZakiaShahnawaz‚ HameedaWaheeduddin‚ Asif Malik‚ MianAta Manika‚ Asif Saeed‚ ShujjaKhanzada‚ Mian Mujtaba

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Zafar newSenate HouseLeaderOBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—A notificationwas issued on Monday for theappointment of senior PakistanMuslim League–N SenatorRaja Zafarul Haq as Leader ofHouse in Senate.

After seeking advice fromsenior leaders of PML-N,Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifselected Haq to the post ofleader in the Senate.

He will assume hisresponsibilities in a meeting ofthe Senate scheduled to takeplace next week. His post willbe equal to that of federalminister in the cabinet.

The position fell vacantwhen former Law Minister andPakistan People’s Party Senator

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The armed clashesbetween two groups in Liyariequipped with latest ammunitionincluding rocket propelling guns(RPG) and hand grenades con-tinued on day third while theRangers and Police avoided en-tering the areas of conflict on thepretext that the hardened crimi-nals had taken positions in nar-row alleys and lanes due to whichthe law enforcement agencieswere unable to arrest them andprotect the civilian populationheld hostage.

According to reports, severalcasualties had occurred whilemore than a dozen had been in-jured. The record of the dead andthe injured was not yet availableas the dead and the injured werestill in the area and were not

shifted to hospitals. At least 12incidents of hurling the grenadesoccurred in different parts ofLiyari while the terrorists hadalso used RPG shells to destroytheir rivals.

The shops and markets in theentire area remained shut forthree consecutive days and theworst affected civilian populousof the area could not acquire es-sential goods for their living andthe infants dependent on freshdairy milk were pinned to thestage of acute starvation.

The medical facilities in theentire area were suspended andthose that were injured duringtorrent volley of bullets from ei-ther side could not be shifted tohospitals due to which the num-ber of casualties was feared toescalate. Only in Liyari’s busiestarea, Khadda Market and Naya

Abad, the terrorists had hurled 5grenades. Bihar Colony,Hingorabad and other parts ofLiyari had also come under gre-nade and RPGs attack.

The ruling party in Sindhprovince had termed the situationin Liyari was part of a plannedconspiracy to cause the two op-posite communities living inLiyari to confront each other.

In this regard, the newlyelected member provincial as-sembly and Pakistan People’sParty Parliamentarian (PPPP)district South General Secretaryand PPPP district South PresidentHaji Qasim Baloch addressed apress conference at the KarachiPress Club Monday.

They said that the PPPP wasa political parry and it did notsupport the criminals. the people

Lyari: Free use of weapons holdmillions as hostage

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SA thrash Pakistanby 67 runsBIRMINGHAM—With adaunting target of 235 runs tochase, Pakistani batting once

again failed to deliverand were bowled out for167 runs to end theirhopes of qualifying forthe next round of theICC Champions Trophy.Even though South

Africa were without star bowlersDale Steyn or Morney Morkel,the Pakistani batting line up justcould not deal with the Proteasbowling attack and at one pointreeled at 86 for four. BatsmenMisbahul Haq and Umar Amintried to stem the flow for a whilebut they could not keep the SouthAfrican bowlers out andcontinued to loose wickets.

Earlier, South Africa madea total of 234 runs while losingnine wickets against Pakistan intheir Champions Trophy GroupB day/night match—Agencies

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No dual policyon drone strikes

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif said in categori-cal terms on Monday that thedual policy of issuing publicstatements against drone at-tacks while (secretly) giving ago ahead to the US to carry onwith the strikes will not be al-lowed to continue under hisrule. “The US government willContinued on Page 6

Mandela seriousbut in stableconditionJOHANNESBURG—NelsonMandela was in serious butstable condition in a Pretoriahospital for the third dayMonday with a recurring lunginfection, and a foundation led

by retiredarchbishopDesmond Tutudescribed the94-year-oldanti-apartheidhero as an“extraordinary

gift” to South Africa. As familymembers visited South Africa’sfirst black president in thehospital, the governmentannounced — in only the secondcommunication on Mandelasince he was hospitalized onSaturday that his condition was“unchanged.”

A statement issued for theDesmond and Leah Tutu LegacyFoundation described Mandelaas “the beloved father of ournation” and offered prayers for aman seen by many around the

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NAB grillsPervez Ashrafin Ogra case

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Investigatorsfrom the National Accountabil-ity Bureau on Monday grilledformer Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf for at least threehours over the illegal appoint-ment of former Ogra chairmanTauqeer Sadiq.

Qaim felicitates CM BalochistanQUETTA—Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah has congratulatedBalochistan Chief Minister Dr. AbdulMalik Baloch on assuming charge ofChief Minister. Official sources con-firmed to APP, here on Monday thatSindh CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah felici-tated Chief Minister Balochistan byphone and expressed his well wishesfor Dr. Abdul Malik. The two discussedmatters of mutual understanding. Chief

Minister Balochistan thanked Chief Minister Sindh forshowing well wishes for him. Meanwhile it is reported thatMuhammad Nasim Lehri (BPS/B-20) has assumed chargeof Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Balochistan, offi-cial sources confirmed to APP, here on Monday. Earlier,Mr. Lehri was working on the post of Secretary Health andhe was transferred and posted as Principal Secretary toChief Minister Balochistan after Dr. Abdul Malik Balochwas elected Chief Minister unopposed. Muhammad NasimLehri has also worked as Deputy Commissioner Kohlu,Commissioner Quetta division and Secretary Livestock.PML-(Z) Chief greets Dr Maalik for becoming unopposedCM: President Pakistan Muslim League (Zia) former fed-eral minister and MNA Muhammad Ejaz Ul Haq Mondaygreeted Dr.Abdul Maalik for becoming unopposed ChiefMinister of Balochistan. Talking to APP here, Ejaz saidthat Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has takenbold historic and epoch making decision to nominate DrAbdul Maalik Baloch as Chief Minister. He said that PML(N) top leadership sacrificed his own candidate and ac-corded supremacy to national interest in case of Dr Maalik.He said PML-N wisdom based decision will help a lot tobring complete normalcy and put the province on the roadto progress,development and prosperity.—APP

Govt will overcome power shortageISLAMABAD—Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Siddique ul Farooq has saidthat the government will overcome powershortage and restore peace in the coun-try on priority basis. Talking to a privatenews channel, he said that the newlyformed cabinet will work day and nightto honour the promises made to thepeople in the PML-N manifesto and asper directions of Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif. Director Area

Study Center at Peshawar University Dr. Sarfraz has opinedthat smooth transition of democratic power has proved thematurity of democracy in the country. He remarked the worldcommunity is also recognizing that rule of law and constitu-tion is getting roots in Pakistan. Dr. Sarfraz termed the demo-cratic transition of government a good omen for Pakistan asit will increase the confidence of international community inthe institutions of the country and subsequently variouscountries will enhance their relations with Pakistan. AnalystJaved Siddiqui said that formation of Cabinet consisting ofminimum number of ministers is appreciable. He lauded thegovernment for accommodating its allied parties includingPML-F in the Cabinet. He said the PML-N has also givenrepresentation to various provinces besides Punjab in theCabinet. Meanwhile, PML-N Member of Punjab Assemblyelected from Bahawalpur Haseena Begum has said thatgovernment’s top agenda will be promotion of women edu-cation in the country. Talking to Radio Pakistan, Haseenasaid, she started her political career as ordinary worker andnever thought that she might become Member of Assemblyever in her life. Replying to a question, she said that despitebeing illiterate she is fully aware of the importance of educa-tion especially for girls.—APP

Baloch sympathizes with HashmiISLAMABAD—Minister of States andFrontier Regions (SAFRON) Abdul QadirBaloch sympathized with President Pa-kistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) Javed Hashmisaying that he should not have distortedthe facts ‘in the said pressure.’ “We un-derstand the interplay compulsion ofJaved Hashmi and sympathize with him,”he said while referring to the media inter-action of President PTI Javed Hashmi inMultan earlier. Hashmi talking to report-

ers claimed that media had not properly reported his speechand highlighted a few extracts made in the Parliament with-out context. Abdul Qadir Baloch in a statement issued heresaid Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had moreconcern about federation and abdicated their right to formthe government in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KPK) to ensure integrity of federation. Dismissing the im-pression that small provinces were not taken in the federalcabinet, he said that PML-N included three members fromSindh, who were either elected on PML-N ticket like AbdulHakeem Baloch, or who merged their party like Murtaza Jatoi,adding who made alliance with PML-N like Pakistan MuslimLeague Functional (PML-F), Sadar-ud-Din Rashdi was alsoincluded in the cabinet. Dr Abdul Qadir and Jam Kamal werenow members of the federal cabinet. From KPK provinceSardar Yusuf was made minister and Murtaza Javed AbbasiDeputy Speaker of the National Assembly. PML-N had lim-ited choice as it had smaller member available from prov-inces other than Punjab, he said. The minister said that withinPunjab Riaz Pirzada, Sikander Bosan and Baligh-ur-Rehmanwere included from south Punjab. Earlier, addressing a pressconference at his residence, he said that media had not prop-erly reported his speech and highlighted few extracts with-out context.—APP

No dialogue with DelhiISLAMABAD—Veteran Kashmiri Hurriyetleader, Syed Ali Gilani, has rejected anypossibility of dialogue unless India dem-onstrates seriousness towards resolu-tion of the Kashmir dispute. Syed AliGilani in a media interview in Srinagarreiterated that India should fulfill the pre-conditions for a dialogue to exhibit seri-ousness towards resolution of the dis-pute, KMS reported. “Unless and untilthey accept Kashmir as a dispute, agree

to withdrawal of troops, revoke black laws and release allthe prisoners, neither is there any possibility of dialoguenor can the talks succeed in achieving anything,” he said.He urged the authorities to bring to book all police andCRPF personnel responsible for killing 125 civilians during2010 agitation, file FIRs and produce them before courts toindicate that they are ready to stop human rights violations.“That alone can pave the way for a meaningful dialogue.”He blamed India for double standards as far as its dealingwith Kashmir was concerned. “On one hand they continueto rule through the barrel of gun and violate human rightswhile on the other they talk of dialogue.” In reply to a ques-tion, he said Kashmir is not a border dispute between Indiaand Pakistan which could be solved by the rulers of the twocountries. “Pakistan is a party to the dispute and has beensupporting as well as sacrificing for our demand for right toself determination. We appeal them to support Kashmiripeople on the basis of UN resolution. Pakistani leaders musttake notice of state terrorism and take a stand against it”The veteran leader said there has been no attempt to con-tact him through any emissaries on Track II. “There hasbeen no contact with us as our policy is crystal clear.—APP

MULTAN—Civil societyworkers demanded of thegovernment present apeople-friendly budget andprovid relief to the masses.Chairperson Society for Spe-cial Persons Zahida Hameed,talking to APP, stressed uponthe government to offer maxi-mum employment opportuni-ties to the people. Express-ing concern that a large num-ber of educated youth wereunemployed.

She demanded the gov-ernment create vacancies toremove the sense of frustra-tion especially among theyouth. Social activist NaeemIqbal Naeem demanded ofthe government to focus onresolving the electricity cri-sis as it had worsened prob-lems especially economic is-sues in the country. Govern-ment employees, on condi-tion of anonymity, called fora reasonable raise in salaries.They maintained that rising

inflation had aggravated theirproblems. Rs3.1b budgetapproved: The Finance andPlanning Committee of Uni-versity of AgricultureFaisalabad (UAF) on Mon-day approved the proposedbudget of Rs 3.197 billion forfiscal year 2013-14.

The committee met underthe chairmanship of ViceChancellr Prof Dr IqrarAhmad Khan. Apprising thecommittee, the vice chancel-lor said the varsity was fac-ing a budget deficit owing topayment of enhanced sala-ries by the federal govern-ment and high energy andfuel prices. He said that outof the Rs.3197.528 millionbudget, a sum of Rs.2701.332million would be placed un-der non-development bud-get which includes a Rs627.332 budget deficit.

The committee also ap-proved Rs 233.976 millionand Rs.262.220 million alloca-

Civil society for people-friendly budgettions under the federal grantand development grant bythe government of thePunjab respectively. Thecommittee appreciated theprudent leadership of the

vice chancellor for initiatingausterity measures and main-taining financial discipline inthe expenditures of the var-sity during the last fiveyears.—APP

FA I S A L A B A D—PrincipalPunjab Medical College(PMC) Prof. Dr. ZahidYaseen Hashmi has urgedthe medical experts to ascer-tain the cause of measlesoutbreak and make elaborateefforts to control this epi-demic in the district. Presid-ing over a meeting here onMonday, he said that Punjabgovernment was very muchconcerned over the outbreakof measles and the CMPunjab had announced tolaunch vigorous driveagainst measles on war-foot-ing like the drive againstdengue.

Dr. Hashmi also laidstress on initiating effectiveawareness drive about thepreventive and precaution-ary measures to save thechildren from measles. He

asked the Medical Superin-tendents of Allied, DHQ andGeneral Hospitals to arrangeadditional medical, clinicaland diagnostic facilities forthe treatment of patients ofmeasles.

EDO Health Dr. AbdulRauf informed that a crashprogramme was beinglaunched from June 24 toJuly 4 under the special ar-rangements by the Punjabgovernment to inoculate 3million children between 6months to 10 years age forwhich micro plan was beingfinalized. He explained thatvaccination drive againstthe measles would remaincontinue in community fromJune 24 to 30 while schoolswould be opened from July1 to 4 to inoculate the chil-dren.—APP

Need stressed tocontrol measles

PESHAWAR—Peshawar Elec-tric Supply Company(PESCO) has started instal-lation of Time of Use (ToU)meters for domestic and com-mercial consumers of 5 KWin a bid to encourage custom-ers to use minimum electric-ity during peak hours and get30 to 50 percent relief on elec-tricity bills. With installationof these meters the use ofelectricity during differenttimes would be monitored.During 05:00 pm to 11:00 pmnormal rates would be appli-cable and during 11:00 pm to05:00 pm concessional rateswill be applied. Keeping the

Peak hours powersavers being fixed

consumption timing, con-sumer may minimize theirelectricity bill upto 50 per-cent.

Domestic and Commer-cial consumers can get reliefif they use minimum electric-ity during Peak Hours. PerUnit Rate of a Domestic con-sumer during peak hours isRs 13.99 while in normal tim-ings the rate will be Rs.8.22.FESCO shutdown notice:The Faisalabad Electric Sup-ply Company (FESCO) hasissued a shutdown notice forrepair, maintenance and ex-pansion of electricitylines.—APP

HYDERABAD: Activists of PML-N Youth Wing stage protest against PPP leader Sharjil Inaam Memon.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Me-teorological Department(PMD) has predicted firstpre-monsoon weather sys-tem likely to grip upper andcentral parts of the countryfrom Wednesday evening ornight and may continue tillthe start of next week.Spokesman of PMD in-formed that a pre-monsoonweather system is approach-ing towards the southeast-ern parts of the country andlikely to spread towards theupper parts on Wednesdayevening.

Under the influence ofthis rain bearing system, pre-monsoon rainfall is expectedto start in Kashmir, NortheastPunjab and Southeast Sindhon Tuesday night and likelyto continue in different partsof the country till Monday.Met-Office predicted the pre-monsoon showers with dust-thunderstorm overIslamabad, upper Punjab in-cluding Rawalpindi,Sargodha, Faisalabad,Gujranwala and Lahore divi-sions, Lower Sindh includingMirpurkhas, Hyderabad andKarachi divisions, southeastBalochistan including Kalat,

Widespread rains,thundershowers likely

Makran and Naseerabad di-visions and Kashmir in next24 to36 hours.

The prevailing extremeheat wave is likely to sub-side in most parts of the

country from Wednesday orThursday. Thunderstorm-Rain is also expected at scat-tered places in southPunjab,Upper Sindh, lowerKP and Gilgit-Baltistan dur-ing the period. Spokesmanof PMD also informed that afresh westerly wave is alsoexpected to approach upperparts of the country onWednesday evening orThursday that would inter-act with pre-monsoon cur-rents. Due to this, wide-spread thunderstorm-rain as-sociated with strong gustywinds and heavy to veryheavy falls at isolated placesis expected in Upper Punjab,Upper KP.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The project ofearly childhood education(ECE) is being promoted inSindh province through thefinancial cooperation ofUSAID. This was stated byChief Executive Officer (CEO)DevCon (Local NGO), NisarMemon while talking to me-dia here on Monday. He saidthat the project of Early Child-hood Education (ECE) havebeen launched in 15 govern-ment and 15 private schoolsof District Badin, Sindh.

Besides, the twenty sevenmonths project’s interventionscover the installation of Handpumps for safe drinking water

facility, rehabilitation and con-struction of washrooms, hesaid. He said that six learningcorners in each ECE centersalong with play area and ECEresource center have been es-tablished at school level and atdistrict level respectively.

Speaking on the occasion,Product Manager DevCon,Muhammad Aslam Khatti sadthat project will include the softcore components includingactivating SMCs, mothergroups’ formation and theircapacity building. On the otherhand the 60 teachers of those30 schools will undergo a com-prehensive ECE training, he

said. Such prominent interven-tions will not only enhance theinstitutional strength but willalso help to promote ECE inaccessible private and publicinstitutions, Khatti said.

The importance of educa-tion is not only limited to stu-dents but also for those whoimpart knowledge and that iswhy the United States aimsto strengthen the educationroots in Pakistan by invest-ing in higher education andteacher’s trainingprogrammes. MuhammadTariq Khan, the senior educa-tion advisor of the UnitedStates Agency for Interna-

USAID funds Sindh ECE projectPINDI BHATTIAN—Armedmiscreants gunned down tworeal brothers and kidnappedtheir sister over old rivalryhere Monday. According todetails, armed men of rivalgroup which was in old en-mity with another group ofsame area opened fire at tworeal brothers. They were killedon the spot and the attack-ers later barged into houseof the victim group and kid-napped their sister. The at-tackers fled the scene aftercommitting dual murderalong with the abducted girl.The police after registering acase against the murderers

Two brothers shotdead, sister kidnapped

started raids for their arrest.Meanwhile in Faisalabad

an ice seller killed a boy forpicking up ice in SadarJaranwala police limits onMonday. According to po-lice, Muhammad Ashfaq ofChak No 53-GB Dhisian hadset up an ice stall where 10-year-old Saqib raised a pieceof ice and started sucking it.Seeing the ice piece in thehands of the boy, the iceseller became infuriated andattacked the boy with an icepick. The boy died on thespot and the accused fled.Police sent the body to mor-tuary.—APP

tional Development (USAID),shared these views while talk-ing to reporters earlier.

He was attending a cer-emony where 200 students,who have enrolled into two-year associate degree (ADE)and four-year Bachelorsprogramme in education (BEdHons) at public colleges anduniversities in Sindh, wereawarded Rs20,000 each in theform of scholarships. Theprogrammes were a part ofUSAID’s Teachers EducationProject to bring reforms forlong-term sustainability inPakistan’s education sec-tor.—APP

Don’t get bogged downwith some on hills

ELECTIONS-2013 have raised expectations for improvement in theoverall condition of the country but it is particularly so in the caseof Balochistan where a set up representing both Baloch and

Pakhtoon segments of the population is emerging, thanks to the saga-cious and historic decision of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, whoforgave his party’s legitimate claim to the provincial government for thesake of province and the country. The oath-taking of Baloch nationalistDr. Abdul Maalik as Chief Minister on Sunday was the most appreciatedaspect of the recent elections.

Dr Maalik’s nomination and election is significant in many respects —he is first non-elite CM of the province, is a commoner, represents nationalistthinking, and is widely respected for his personal integrity. His election is180-degree turn in the politics of the country if one takes into account whathas been happening during five black years of Nawab Aslam Raisani. Thenew Chief Minister has understandably vowed to eliminate corruption and asa first step he announced abolition of the secret fund, which has widely beenmisused in the past. We are sure that the CM would be able to pursue hisagenda of putting the province back on the right track as he enjoys totalsupport of the Federal Government of Mian Nawaz Sharif and coalition part-ners in the province including PkMAP. The province is volatile and that iswhy Dr Maalik put the issue of missing persons and dead bodies on top of theagenda of his Government. The resolution of the issue requires cooperationof all stakeholders including change of thinking on the part of both the Estab-lishment and the militants. While the Establishment is supposed to give anopportunity to, what they consider, misguided elements, the militants toowill have to change their mindset of challenging the writ of the state and learnto live like other citizens of Pakistan. The issues of missing persons andtarget killing of non-Baloch people are equally important and will have to beaddressed satisfactorily for the sake of peace and progress of the province.However, we would urge the new Chief Minister not to allow himself to bebogged down just by the issue of foreign-funded and foreign-aided handfulof miscreants. There are some elements who have all along been indulging inviolence and they cannot be transformed into patriotic souls overnight.Balochistan has many other crucial issues like poverty, unemployment, illit-eracy, ignorance, lack of infrastructure and above all corruption that needimmediate and constant attention of the Government.

Legal cover to long-termeconomic policy

THE Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, theapex body of chambers in the country, on Sunday, demanded of the

Government to evolve a long term viable Pakistan’s business-friendly eco-nomic policy with complete legislative cover for bringing sustained eco-nomic revolution in the country. Its President Zubair Ahmad Malik saidchief of all chambers met reently at Bhurban and presented unanimousrecommendations to realize this objective.

The call is timely and relevant as leadership of the new Governmentis having brainstorming sessions to give final touches to the budgetaryproposals for 2013-14. Similarly, different Ministers are taking briefingfrom their respective officials and burning mid-night oil to firm up strat-egies for the areas entrusted to them. The proposal coming from the busi-ness community is important and worth consideration as it comes from avirtual summit of chambers of the country and is based on their experi-ence. The idea to give legislative cover to economic policy is need of thehour as we have wasted precious resources and time in carving out poli-cies and then discarding them with the change of the Government. Par-liament has representation from almost all political parties and if a policyis hammered out with consensus and then given legal cover then therewould be no need for the coming Government to do away with each andevery policy and project of the previous Government. Long-term policywith legal cover would encourage and attract both local and foreign in-vestors and would ensure sustainable development.

World prays for hospitalisedMandela. Why?

NELSON Mandela, the former South African President and an anti-apartheid hero, has been in hospital since Saturday with a renewed

lung infection. He has been hospitalised three times since December andthe government described his condition this time as ‘serious’.

In South Africa, and throughout the world, Mandela supporters sentmessages of prayers, love and support to the man who became a globalicon for peace, for his leading role in battle against apartheid and madehistory by becoming South Africa’s first black president. It is so becauseNelson Mandela over a period of time acquired unique and unparalleledposition and his conduct seeking good for the humanity. He used hisinfluence for the well being of the people by his unique position, par-doned with one stroke of pen those who incarcerated him 27 long yearsand imposed racist policies in South Africa. The White Africans, in addi-tion to giving preference to a very small minority of whites, also createdclass divisions between native South Africans, forcing people to migrateto “homelands” which were divided along ethnic grounds. Blacks, Indi-ans, and Asians were treated as second-class citizens in South Africaunder apartheid. Born on 18 July 1918, Mandela spent 27 years as aprisoner. He became the first black South African to be elected in a fullyrepresentative multiracial election and served as President from 1994 to1999. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheidthrough tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fos-tering racial reconciliation. Nelson Mandela’s unparalleled acts are a les-son for the leaders world over that they have to rise above personal andpolitical considerations and work for the well being of humanity at largeand that is why people across the globe are praying for him.

PM’s policy guidelines

What can’t b ecured, must beendured.

Libya’smarauding

militias

ONE Look at the mess inLibya explains why the international community, de-

spite its antipathy for Bashar AlAssad, is hesitant to arm the Syr-ian rebels. Two years afterMuammar Gaddafi’s regime col-lapsed, the nascent state stillstruggles to impose law and orderin a territory rife with maraudingmilitias. Armed rebels, who led thefight against Gaddafi and made ademocratic order possible, are nowthe most serious problem that Libyafaces. The struggle for their disar-mament continues even after largeanti-militia protests, during whichtens of thousands of protesters de-manded the ejection of armedgroups, were held last year. Andnow, at least 25 people have diedafter clashes broke out as protest-ers demanding the disbanding ofmilitias outside the headquarters ofthe Libya Shield Brigade — mili-tia that has flatly refused to laydown its weapons.

While sources from the Syrianarmy have said that the particularbrigade is a special force of thearmy (and hence a legal entity),ordinary Libyans are frustratedwith the lack of security and intimi-dation that armed groups have cre-ated. Kidnappings and extortionhave reportedly been on the riseafter revolution. In March, heavilyarmed gunmen in Tripoli, laid atwo-week seige of the foreign andjustice ministries after the govern-ment agreed to pass a law banninganyone who held senior positionsin Gadhafi’s regime from holdingoffice in the new administration.The existence of militias also sig-nifies a failure of the governmentto unite post-revolution Libya intoa single nation-state. Even theLibyan army appears to be helplessin bringing these autonomousgroups under its control. So, it’s nosurprise that even at a time whenAssad’s forces have taken controlof the strategically important townof Qusayr and the Golan Heightscrossing, major internationalstakeholders are still balking at theidea of supplying arms to therebels. For them, a Syria wherearmed militias (most of them withIslamist leanings) reign supremeis even worse than the current stateof civil war.—Khaleej Times

*****

Obamamust halt

US snoopingoperations

It is no surprise that spies andpolicemen hang onto any extrapowers they are given by their

governments long after the need forsuch powers expires. America’sNational Security Agency (NSA)and the Federal Bureau of Investi-gation (FBI) have hung onto per-missions granted them by theGeorge W. Bush administration,and it is a disaster that BarackObama’s administration has failedto claw back these powers and re-turn the United States to the ruleof law with necessary justificationfor each government intrusion intoprivate lives.

It may be wrong, but no oneshould be surprised that US govern-ment agencies have had detailed ac-cess to digital communications fromservices provided by Microsoft, Ya-hoo, Google, Facebook, AOL,Skype, YouTube, and Apple, whichthe Washington Post and Guardianhave reported are all part of Prism,a top secret domestic surveillanceprogramme that allows govern-ment agencies to collect informa-tion “including search history, thecontent of emails, file transfersand live chats”.

This extraordinary access wasrushed through by the Bush admin-istration in the aftermath of AlQaida’s 9/11 attacks on the WorldTrade Center and Pentagon, whenthe public was united in outrage andsupported the government. That hasbecome history; today Obamashould carry out a complete reviewof what Bush rushed through after9/11 under the guise of fighting ter-ror. Obama’s Democrats owe noallegiance to Bush’s Republicanideas, and he is wrong to permitBush’s gross violation of Americanrights to continue. —Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

—Proverb

In his message for ambassadorsand all heads of Pakistan’s missions abroad, Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif provided an outline ofpriorities of the government on for-eign policy to serve as basic guide-lines for them. However, thereseems to be no paradigm shift in theforeign policy, as he envisaged cor-dial relations with all the countriesof the world. The message said that“the core of the country’s internalstrength lay in sustained economicgrowth, resulting in the overall well-being, progress and prosperity of thepeople of Pakistan”. The prime min-ister said that the government woulddevelop a comprehensive strategyand a national consensus in consul-tation will all political parties, secu-rity forces, media and the civil soci-ety in dealing with the challenge ofterrorism. As regards external di-mension of terrorism, he in his mes-sage said: “This would require plug-ging the sources of external fundingof various extremist groups besidesseeking cooperation of the regionaland global community.”

This realization could be the re-sult of Nawaz Sharif’s 3-hour meet-ing with army chief General AshfaqParvez Kayani on 19th May, and hemust be better informed about secu-rity and other related matters. Onecan infer from that meeting that therewas harmonious working relation-ship between the country’s militaryhigh command and elected leader-

TTP, still a potent threat

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After the US Congress jointresolution authorizingPresident George W Bush

to use force against the perpetratorsof 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bush useda huge hammer to kill a fly, but thefly flew away. Once the rulingTaliban regime in Kabul realizedthat Afghanistan was being system-atically destroyed through carpet-bombing without any regard to hu-man casualties, it decided to carryout a tactical withdrawal in No-vember 2001 and fight the intrud-ers through guerrilla war at a laterdate. The entire lot of Taliban lead-ership and Al-Qaeda leaders andoperatives took refuge in Tora BoraMountains to save themselvesfrom tons of molten poured onthem from the air. Daisy cutters,cruise missiles and other deadlymunitions including depleted ura-nium were used to smoke them outof the caves.

The entire lot managed to es-cape since there were no troops onground to physically surround them.The escapees fled to neighboringKurram Agency from where theytrekked to other tribal agencies. Thiswas the initial blunder committedby the US military for which it hadto pay dearly. It doesn’t appeal tosenses that the US military and itsallies didn’t take into account thateastern and southern Afghanistanwhere the Taliban were the stron-gest was contiguous to Pakistan’stribal belt in the northwest and insouthwest, both inhabited byPashtuns with blood relations withAfghan Pashtuns. The US militaryin conjunction with Pak military

ship. This relationshipdoes not have to beadversarial; it necessarilyit has to be cooperative forthe greater cause of na-tional wellbeing. After all,our military is composedof our own sons anddaughters, not aliens. And

they hold the nation’s supreme inter-ests as dear to their hearts as do anyother patriotic compatriots. In thepast, some hawks in the PML-N wereresponsible for tense relationship be-tween the civil and militaryleaderships, but Mian Nawaz Sharifwould not buy their logic of fixingup generals this time round, as he isresolved to change the destiny of thenation with the support of all the in-stitutions. Secondly, he must be awareabout the sacrifices made by thearmed forces while fighting terror andsaving the lives of the people duringnatural calamities.

Mian Nawaz Sharif may have hisgrouses, legitimately, as his govern-ment was overthrown by PervezMusharraf, yet the military just can-not be kept completely out of thecounsels in running the state. Sincesecurity matters are invariably relatedto the foreign policy, it has to be takenaboard even on the issues of foreignpolicy. This is how the things are allover the world, even in entrencheddemocracies where the civilian su-premacy is puritanically valued andheld inviolable in any conditions. Therendezvous between Prime MinsterNawaz Sharif and General Kayanilast month was heartening. SinceNawaz Sharif has spoken of majorinitiatives in the domains of internalsecurity and external relations, it wasof utmost import that he be fullyaware of the viewpoint of the secu-rity establishment on these issues.

Indeed, this would help him thinkrealistically and rationally about theinitiatives he has in his plans.

The transition from the previousto the newly elected government isin itself a unique happening, as thisis the first time that assemblies andgovernments have completed theirtenures in a democratic dispensation.With the election of prime ministerof Pakistan, the transition is completenow, and Mian Nawaz Sharif hasmade history after being elected third-time to the office of prime minister.While addressing the National As-sembly he vowed to fulfill the prom-ises made by him, and pledged toserve the country in the best, mostefficient possible manner, adding thatthere would be no nepotism orfavouritism. He said his government’spriority would be to give the countrya solid infrastructure, introduce eco-nomic reforms and take measures tostop corruption and corrupt practices.Nawaz Sharif sought support of all theparties in his efforts to change the des-tiny of the nation, which is reflectiveof his desire to take along all the par-ties. He praised the outgoing SpeakerDr. Fehmida Mirza for her conduct insmooth transition by holding electionto the new speaker.

PPP candidate Amin Fahim andPTI’s candidate Javed Hashmi alsoaddressed the National Assembly.They pledged that they would notoppose the government for the sakeof opposition but on principles. Themost significant speech was madeby Chief of Pakhtunkhwa MilliAwami Party (PkMAP), MahmoodKhan Achakzai. He opposed the roleof army in Pakistan’s politics; hehowever called for leaving the pastbehind, and a pledge not to repeatthem in future. He said: “If action isto be taken against Pervez Musharraf

then it should be across the board.Not only the dictator, but also hiscollaborators should be held ac-countable”. As regards GeneralPervez Musharraf, he said that hewas airborne when other Generalshad paved the way for imposingmilitary dispensation. Of course,Article 6 of the Constitution statesthat those who aid and abet the dic-tators have to be indicted, whichmeans politicians and judges alsowho provided him the legitimacy.

That said; Mian Nawaz Sharif’sdecision to accept the mandate of Pa-kistan Tehrik-e-Insaf in formingKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa governmentwas laudable, as Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehaman of JUI-F wanted coalitionwith the PML-N to form the govern-ment there. Nawaz Sharif’s other actof magnanimity was nomination ofAbdul Malik Baloch of NationalParty as Balochistan chief minister,though the PML-N is a majority partyand with other parties’ support hecould have nominated his party manand got him elected. Of course, thenew dispensation is yet to embark onhistory making project. He shouldhowever be careful that opportunistsof other parties may not entice himto stir crisis in Sindh and KP prov-inces. Nawaz Sharif would need sup-port of all the arms of the state in-cluding legislative branch of the state,both at the federal as well as the pro-vincial level. However, a legislatureis not adjudged by the number of leg-islative measures it has enacted oramount of legislative business it hastransacted. What makes the differ-ence is the contribution of the legis-lators to make a proposed legislativemeasure really meaningful, practi-cable and efficacious.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

should have worked out fool-proof arrangements to preventcrossing of Durand Line. Al-though Pakistan deployed70,000 troops along its west-ern border, but the effort wastoo little and one-sided, tak-

ing into account the porous nature of2600 km long border.

When the US and its western al-lies initiated global war on terror inOctober 2001 in Afghanistan, allparts of Pakistan including FATA andBalochistan were peaceful and phe-nomenon of suicide attacks was un-heard of. The two extreme flanks inthe northwest and southwest weresystematically destabilized under awell-conceived plan hatched byUSA-India-Britain-Israel-Germany-Northern Alliance regime in Kabul.All of them were to act as friends ofPakistan solely interested in fightingand eliminating scourge of terrorismwith the active help of Pak securityforces. Covert means were to beemployed using Afghan soil. Forc-ing Gen Musharraf to send regularforces into FATA was part of the plansince it helped in instigating thetribesmen to pick up arms and savetheir tribal culture and honor. For thispurpose, CIA and FBI establishedoutposts in FATA in 2002 to elimi-nate pro-Pakistan elders and promoteanti-Pakistan Maliks and clerics.

Nek Muhammad belonging toAhmadzai Wazir tribe in SouthWaziristan (SW) was the first one topick up arms against the Army. Nosooner he signed a peace deal withthe Army at Shakai Fort in 2004; hewas killed by a drone. His place wastaken over by Maulvi Nazir who alsosigned peace deal with Army andstuck to it till his death by a drone in2012. Unknown Baitullah Mehsudworking as a religious teacher inBannu suddenly emerged on the cen-tre stage and took command of mili-tant elements within extremist

Mehsuds in early 2004 and decidedto confront the security forces. TheArmy after entering Mehsud belt un-der the domination of BaitullahMehsud in 2005 could reach up toshort of Srarogha when peace dealwas signed. The Army then lockedhorns with Hafiz Gul Bahadur ledUthmanzai Wazirs in NorthWaziristan (NW) where it encoun-tered toughest opposition and suf-fered heavy casualties. Both sidesinked peace agreement in July 2007,which was broken but renewed inAugust 2008 and is still intact.

A well calculated propaganda warwas unleashed by militants portrayingPak Army as mercenaries fighting ownpeople for dollars. Extremist clericsand Maliks termed Army soldiers asnon-Muslims unworthy of burial andfateha. Pakistan’s constitution, democ-racy and legal system were declaredun-Islamic. They propagated that theirPashtunwali culture was in dire threat.People were told that their salvationwas in Shariah alone and not in pro-rich western model of governance andlaws. They were exhorted to riseagainst the state. Drone attack on aseminary in Bajaur in 2006 and mili-tary operation against Lal Masjid in2007 gave them additional propagandagrist to paint the Army in poor light.Acceleration of drone attacks from2009 onwards in which innocents werekilled gave another handle to beat thegovernment and Army with. Thesethemes became a rallying point for theTTP to muster support of the localsand to induct new recruits.

With easy money and armamentsprovided by the patrons, Baitullah wasable to unite various factions of Paki-stani Taliban fighting in different com-partments under the umbrella of TTPin December 2007. In all the seventribal agencies and in Darra AdamKhel, command structure was evolvedby Baitullah led Shura based inSrarogha. There are all-told 45 extrem-

ist groups challenging the writ of thestate. Out of these, Pakistan banned38 religious groups. It made it easierfor al-Qaeda and TTP to welcomethese ostracized groups into theirfolds and thus add to their militantstrength both in tribal belt and cities.Induction of Punjabi Taliban and link-age with Islamic Movement ofUzbekistan (IMU) further added toits strength. Uzbeks are the mosthardy and ruthless fighters.

Although the TTP was badlymauled by the Army in 2009 throughits major operations in Swat, Bajaurand SW, it regained strength becauseof material support provided byCIA, RAW and Afghan CDS. Easyflow of cash from its patrons hasenabled the TTP Shura underHakimullah Mehsud to raise themonthly pay-scale of ordinary fight-ers to Rs 30,000. Commanders ofdifferent tiers receive much higherpay. Ransom money collected fromabduction and extortion are othersources of cash. Parents of suicidebombers receive 12-15 lacs. TheTTP has established suicide jacketsand IEDs producing factories in se-cret places in inaccessible areas.Several of these facilities were un-earthed and destroyed during opera-tions Rah-e-Rast and Rah-e-Nijat inSwat and SW respectively. Thesefacilities have been reopened inOrakzai and NW agencies and nowin Tirah Maidan area. Al-Qaedaprovides technical assistance forthe improvement of IEDs. TTPmilitants are active in all the sevenagencies and making forays in ma-jor urban centres for specific tar-gets but have greater freedom ofaction in NW. With the death ofpro-Pakistan Maulvi Nazir, TTPinfluence in Ahmadzai Wazirs con-trolled SW is increasing.—The writer is a retired Brig,defence analyst, columnist andbook writer.

Mohammad JamilEmail: [email protected]

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Asif Haroon RajaEmail: [email protected]

Voice of the PeopleRs 22.5b

spent on SMSABDUL BASIT

Pakistan’s mobile phone users havebeen strictly affected with SMS ad-diction as they spent Rs 22.5 bil-lion for generating 175.6 billiontext messages in 2010.

The texting fever caused by thebundles offers and loweringcharges of cellular operators ontheir networks that showed of 15.66percent or 23.75 billion in 2010compared with 2009 numbers, Pa-kistan Telecommunication Author-ity (PTA) Report on SMS said.

The report said that an aver-aged mobile phone user exchanges4.7 or 5 text messages every day or142 SMS per month approximatelyin Pakistan.

Almost 20 percent of the SMStraffic is estimated to be exchangedover flat rate. All the operators haveoffered different flat rates.

All cellular operators offeredattractive SMS-bundle packages,which is approximately 80% of thetotal SMS traffic is assumed to beexchanged over bundle packages.Bundle packages were usuallyaround 700 SMS/week/subscriberin Year 2010, of which we assumed700 SMS/Month/Subscriber beingutilized, this averages out around25 SMS/ Day Subscriber.—Islamabad

‘Sar-e-Aam’raising awareness

SANA ADIL

I would like to appreciate thesar.e.aam team from ARY digital.They are doing a remarkable job inspreading awareness among themasses. Its indeed a brilliant ex-ample that how illiterate citizensare being betrayed by the hypo-crites using cheap techniques . Itsnot only a program but also a strongplatform to brainwash people.Sar.e.aam team has got the creditat their name to demonstrate pub-lic issues live by exposing fakemagicians through media. The pro-gram highlight the brutality offraud people at a broad scale.

I am highly thankful to Iqrarul hasan for making a positive at-tempt toward awakening people bytaking responsibility on his shoul-ders to provide justice to a com-mon lay man.—Karachi

Pakistan-Chinarelations

ADEELA BAHAR KHAN

The relations between Pakistan andChina are marked by deep rootedstrategic harmony that reflects atevery level individual, national, andinternational. The recent visit bythe Chinese premier to Pakistansymbolizes the level of importancethe Chinese leadership keeps forPakistan. But unfortunately theserelations are not properly translatedinto a workable mechanism whereboth could exploit the opportuni-ties equally and sufficiently.

Pakistan and China are two dif-ferent countries having differentcultures, values and ideas. Over theyears the mutual trust and under-standing between these twoneighbours has nurtured the rela-tionship and enriched it day by dayto the level of complete mutual har-mony. Besides this, both countriesare maintaining the relationship atdiplomatic level as well as peopleto people level. The recent visit ofChinese Prime Minister opens anew chapter of bilateral ties andstrengthens the traditional relations.

China is Pakistan’s largest tradepartner in the world and Pakistanis China’s second largest trade part-ner in South Asia, after India.Pakistan’s exports to China wereworth US$ 3.1 billion and importsworth US$ 9.2 billion in 2012. Bi-lateral trade between the two coun-tries has reached $12 billion, andboth sides are committed to bringit up to $15 billion over the nexttwo to three years. However, thereis trade imbalance which is mostlytilted towards China. It needs to beovercome to make the trade flowharmonious. Pakistan needs tochalk out policies which can pro-mote Pakistani exports to Chinesemarket so that the Pakistani localbusiness community can benefitmore. Another aspect of Pak- Chinaeconomic and trade relation is thatthe economic exchange is mainlyat governmental level which shouldbe rather at micro level. The non-government commerce has been farbelow its potential which is neededto augment further. There are mul-tiple factors which are directly orindirectly impinging upon thePakistan’s export to China whichare detrimental in some ways tofurther development of bilateraleconomic co-operation. In thisbackdrop, it would be a thaw in

Pak-India mutual interestABDUL MANAN

The rivalry and bitterness between India and Pakistan has beenthe root cause of great instability in the region. Lately though,

both sides have realized importance of close economic ties for de-velopment and prosperity of the people of the two nations. In spiteof India’s economic dominance and impressive economic growthover the last couple of years, Pakistan’s has much to gain frombilateral economic relations. Particularly, in the current energycrises, Pakistan is in need of assistance in the energy sector, andIndia can be a source of much needed support. In addition, Paki-stan high quality agricultural products can find an outstandingmarket in neighboring India, which can earn foreign exchange forPakistan. Both countries should forget old grudge and should dowhat is in favor of both countries, that is, dialogue and understand-ing between nations.—Islamabad

READERS

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

—Editor

Success gone awry?

WESTERN politicians andmedia have been scoldingTurkey’s Prime Minister

Recep Erdogan over this past week’santi-government demonstrations inIstanbul and Ankara. What began as alocal protest over the foolish plan toraze trees in Gezi Park near Istanbul’sbustling Taksim Square quickly ex-ploded into major protests thanks tothe ham-handed response of Istanbulpolice, who tear-gassed and beat dem-onstrators. Turkish police have neverbeen famed for gentleness.

PM Erdogan’s curt dismissal ofthe crowd as “looters” further in-flamed the situation. In the West,Erdogan was accused of growingauthoritarianism and trying to remakeTurkey into an Islamic state. Eventhe normally sensible “Economist”magazine accused Turkey’s leader oftrying to become a new Ottoman sul-tan. What hypocrisy. These were thesame Western newspapers and poli-ticians who ardently backed Turkey’sformer governments that were littlemore than sock puppets for the mili-tary. The very same opinion-makers

lauded Egypt’s brutal dictator, HusniMubarak, as a “statesman.” So-calledNGO’s like Freedom House and Am-nesty International, cat’s paws forwestern governments, attackedErdogan. The demonstrators inTurkey’s cities were mostly young,secular and indulging in a springtimeflash riot, facilitated by new socialmedia and support from abroad.Many were rightly angered byErdogan’s wrong-headed decision totake a lead role in trying to over-throw Syria’s government, a keytrading partner for Turkey. Others,by his plans to limit public drinkingand the eternal dispute over women’shead scarves.

What we have been witnessingis an attempt by anti-Erdogan secu-larists and far rightists, joined bymembers of Turkey’s long quiescentfar left, to achieve what they couldnot do at the ballot box: oustingErdogan’s moderate Islamic AKparty form power. These are the same forces who made a terrible mess ofTurkey when they were in powerfrom the 1940’s until the 1990’s:coups, riots, murders, regular finan-cial crisis, and brutal human rightsviolations. The United States and itsmedia have turned against Erdogan

primarily because of his clashes withIsrael. Pro-Israel groups in the USare now taking the lead in calling forErdogan’s ouster. Washington’sconservatives see him as too inde-pendent and unreliable. Over the lastdecade, Erdogan transformed bat-tered, bankrupt Turkey into an eco-nomic powerhouse by imposingsound finances and releasing thepent up power of the commercialclass that had long been stifled bythe cartels and monopolies of thesecular leadership for whom the1930’s anti-Islamic strongman,Kemal Ataturk, remains a state deity.

Ataturk was a great national herowho saved Turkey from being carvedup by the Western powers, Greece,and the Soviet Union. But he proveda destructive political leader, tearingup Turkey’s historical roots and reli-gion and replacing them with authori-tarian rule patterned on Mussolini’sItaly. Erdogan has indeed grownmildly imperious; success and thelack of any real political oppositionhas gone to his head. But he hasbrought real democracy to Turkey,financial stability, and brought itclose to European social and legalstandards. Syria aside, Erdogan hasmade great strides in restoring

Eric S Margolis

Views From Abroad

Turkey’s regional leadership andpower. As Turks used to say, “Tur-key is the center of everything.”Erdogan remains the Mideast’s mostpopular leader. Turkey’s able presi-dent, Abdullah Gul, who may be-come a rival of Erdogan in upcom-ing elections, has helped calm thewaters. Gul remains the good copwhile Erdogan the bad.

Remember, in the last election,Erdogan won a landslide in Turkey’sfractured political system, takingalmost 50 per cent of the vote in apoll with an over 80 per cent turn-out. Recent demonstrations havesent Turkey’s stock and bond mar-kets into a tailspin, threatening a fi-nancial crisis after a decade of calmand steady growth. Erdogan is onthe edge of achieving a real peacewith Turkey’s rebellious Kurds – themost important advance in modernTurkish history. One suspectsTurkey’s generals, some of themitching to stage a coup, and theirforeign allies, are trying to derailKurdish peace talks by encouragingthe current violence. It took the AKParty a decade to defang the gener-als and push them out of politics. AreTurkey’s pashas trying to stage acomeback?—Khaleej Times

these bad economic times to havepersistent Chinese economic assis-tance and support to sustain eco-nomic and trade activities in Paki-stan. Furthermore, the recent visit isa gesture to improve and promotestrategic cooperation and bilateraleconomic ties. It will also strengthenthe connectivity and will help to re-solve the looming energy crisis ofPakistan.—Via email

Private hospital’sdilemma

ALI ASHRAF KHAN

Apart from the dismal situation ofthe general health care in Pakistaneven the situation of private hospi-tals that charge handsome fees fortheir services and are out of reachfor the vast majority of Pakistanis isruled by mismanagement and ne-glect. In a private health care sys-tem that is there to earn profit thegood of the patient is often ne-glected. Patients suffer and are overcharged and in one case they gavean estimate of one lac and the finalbill stood at 3 lacs in 12 days.

There seems to be no proper ac-counting and billing procedure thatcan be easily understood or checkedand post operation care is hardly un-derstood by nursing staff. In addi-tion, the owner of one of the promi-nent Karachi hospitals who is a doc-tor and has been given political po-sitions as minister/advisor is re-ported to have been using this posi-tion to get free gas for his hospitalas has been disclosed in NAB inves-tigation lately. Who knows what elsehe has been managing in order tomake money?

Corruption and mismanagementthat have sored to unprecedentedheights under the recent PPP gov-ernment have damaged the anywayweak institutions of the Pakistanistate and society. Only a clean gov-ernment that is adamant to changethis attitude can bring a change thatis needed direly. Now when a changein government is taking place weurge upon new entrants in corridorof power to fulfill their promises bygenuinely empowering Pakistan,who need health care, education andsecurity of life.—Karachi

Let PTA act soonMAHMOOD SALEEM

I want to draw the kind attention ofPakistan Telecommunication Au-thority towards unanimously passedresolution of provincial assembliesbanning late night packages offeredby mobile networks at cheap ratesin keeping with “moral and socialvalues” and to “maintain the youth’shealth.

Reality of night packages is nothidden now. We all know well howbadly these offerings are hamperingthe minds and futures of Pakistaniyouth, who spend their nights onphone, thanks to very low hourlycalls offerings by cellular compa-nies. If we look at global trends, offpeak tariffs are always more attrac-tive for customers. With low trafficduring off peak hours, telecom com-panies give discounts on calls madeduring nights and so on.

However, in Pakistan, the ideaof off-peak hour discount was ex-ecuted in extremely dangerous man-ner. These companies offered ex-tremely low priced, on-net hourlycalls, which ended up with sleeplessnights of the (young) callers.

So the intent of night packagesby Pakistani cellular companies issomewhat clear now which harmsof the unmetered freedom they aregiving to youth, for a long term busi-ness benefit. It is pertinent to men-tion there that Senate’s StandingCommittee on Cabinet Division hasalso asked Pakistan Telecommuni-cation Authority to stop all nightpackages, offered by cellular com-panies for cheap hourly calls (usu-ally at Rs. 1-3 per hour) or even freecalls at a fixed nominal dailycharge.It is unclear so far, when PTAwill issue the directive to cellularcompanies for withdrawal of nightpackages. Even if ordered, we aren’tsure that cellular companies will re-frain from night packages – just likethey are continuing with Prize/Inami

PM’s turn on energy policy

The Finance Minister has saidthe government has devised astrategy to overcome energy

crisis, ending Rs 500bn circular debtin the Federal Budget 2013-14 whichwill be announced on June 12. Butenergy minister’s statement of no endto load shedding in near future andrequiring years to clean [energy] messof past 12-13 years shows that thereis no energy plan for the country. Al-though PM has said that energy cri-sis is complex challenge and it re-quires time, but adoption of renew-able energy by other countries showsthat it can help Pakistan overcomeproblems of economy, load sheddingand national interests.

Pakistan should adopt renewableenergy to cut energy prices 30 % an-nually. According to a BloombergNew Energy Finance report, Austra-lian Wind energy is now cheaper thencoal. Electricity can be supplied froma new wind farm in Australia at a costof A$80 per megawatt hour, com-pared with A$143 a megawatt hourfrom a new coal-fired power plant orA$116 from a new station poweredby natural gas (carbon emissionincluded).The low and falling costsof renewable energy and high and ris-ing costs of coal- and gas-fired plantssuggest that much of Australia’s newgenerating capacity will be renew-

able. Solar plans are cheaper thannew nuclear plants. The price ofsolar Pv has fallen by 70% in lastthree years. Solar cell is nowavailable between 70-80 centsper watt. Solar panels, solar paint

and photovoltaic dots allow triplingof solar energy generation in limitedspace. Newly built solar plants arenow considerably cheaper than newnuclear plants per kilowatt hour ofelectricity produced. Scotland is sup-plier of energy to UK but its 25% itsenergy comes from renewables. Tur-key will shift 30 % of total energyoutput to renewables with help of$1bn WB aid. It explains why fossilfuel rich nations adopting renewable.

Distributed (non-grid energy)can help end line losses. It reduceshuge amount of energy lost in griddistribution. Due to less load on thegrids, tripping and maintenance costsare reduced. Whole German townare shifting to renewables. Califor-nia, Italy and China have acquiredgrid parity (per unit price same asfossil fuel). The revolution in non-grid energy should be used to cutbillions of line losses in Pakistan.

Public participation in electricitygeneration will end thefts. Every 60thGerman is selling electricity to gov-ernment. Germany is generating 36Gw (1 Gw =1000MW) from solarpanels. Power will be added fromBritish farmers Barn roofs to maingrid. Repowering London is a citi-zens organization helping communi-ties to use renewable energy to takecharge of their energy needs. By al-

lowing public, industrialists and gov-ernment sector to adopt renewableenergy, Pakistan can end 80 % of Rs.500bn plus circular debt in terms ofthefts, outstanding bills and oil pay-ments, and government sector elec-tricity consumption including streetlights, hospitals, schools etc.

Gas can be surplus in Pakistan.Government should help agriculture,manufacturing and services sector toshift to coal and renewables in nextsix months to two year. It will allowgas to be surplus and available fordomestic consumption, public trans-port (CNG) and end use of costlyLNG. The recent increase in localLNG prices should be reversed be-cause international price of LNG hascome down from $910 to $760. Gov-ernment should stop giving cheap gasand importing furnace oil for IPPsproducing 8 Gw electricity. This willhelp end fuel poverty, strengthen cot-tage industry, and needy to earn theirliving including women.

Government should give incen-tives to adopt renewable energy toend circular debt. IPPs have 8Gw in-stalled capacity. Instead of fundingIPPlosses, clearing deferred oil pay-ments, wasting money on line losses/thefts, increasing prices of gas andelectricity, and or providing Rs. Onebn daily subsidy on electricity, apolicy encouraging use of solar pan-els, wind turbines, LED, solar heat-ing and lighting can help revive itseconomy, overcome energy short-ages, losses/thefts, reduce energyprices, join advanced world and meet

international plans. Banks can askedto help adopt renewable energy.They can give low interest loans (2-3 %) to individuals, public setups,councils, welfare setups, cottage in-dustry, women to adopt renewableenergy. They in turn can paymonthly installments to banks in-stead of paying bills to energy com-panies. The British energy compa-nies increased gas prices by 30 per-cent. The shifting of average house-hold and government setup torenewables will bring prices downby 50 % annually (30 % annual in-crease in gas prices and 30 % cut inprices by government due to reduc-tion of line losses, thefts, fuel im-port bill and surplus gas).

There is a need for modernizeour energy model. The global in-stalled capacity of solar energy is ex-pected to cross 100Gw in 2013. Ac-cording to IEA, 57% world energywill be produced from renewable.More countries including oil richstates are shifting to renewable toreduce energy costs, control result-ant inflation and balance of paymentin import bills. The extreme weatherfluctuations worldwide are forcingnations to adopt renewable energyto control extreme climate changes,eco-system, protect food securityand have decarbonised world. Gov-ernments are also adopting renew-able to meet UN 2020 plan, carbonneutral economies and reduce emis-sions. Pakistan needs to tailor itsenergy policy to meet internationalstandards and global expectations.

schemes even after directive thatasked operators to stop all kind ofPrize/Inami schemes.

These night packages are notonly ruining our Islamic and socialculture but also ruining the young-sters. But after the resolutions passedby 3 provincial assemblies of Paki-stan, Pakistan TelecommunicationAuthority is bound to take actionagainst the companies not banningthe night packages.

I request to the higher authori-ties of Pakistan, Pakistan Telecom-munication Authority to take imme-diate action against the Mobile com-panies accordingly.—Via email

Measles inPunjabBAILA RIAZ

Now infection of measles are tak-ing place in Punjab. According to theinvestigation from 31st of May 2013over 14000 children are distressedby this infection and over 120 chil-dren lost their lives. Punjab, largeand very earnest province of Paki-stan, lacks behind the literacy rate.Many cities of Punjab are not civi-lized and thus lag behind in educa-tion, hospitality and medications.Due to this many diseases occurwithin this province. Deficiency ofmoney and low salary do not letthem get the injections, medicationand vaccination, in result they getinfected by many diseases.

Measles infection is one of theresults of bewilderment of vaccina-tion and injections. What basicallycauses measles in children? This in-fection is transmitted by contact withdroplets from the nose, mouth, orthroat of an infected person. Sneez-ing and coughing can put contami-nated droplets into the air. Whereas,symptoms usually begin 8 - 12 daysafter you are exposed to the virus.Symptoms may include, Bloodshoteyes, cough, Fever, Muscle pain,Rash. This usually appears 3 - 5 daysafter the first signs of being sick.

How can we get rid of measles?Well there are no specific treatmentsfor measles. All you need to do isget some anti mark creams, normalenergy injections and rest. This in-fection is not deadly if taken care of.If rest and specific medication areneglected, fever may rise, and mayresult in death.—Karachi

Save the milkindustry!

KHURRAM S MAQSOOD

Pakistan’s processed milk industryhas come a long way but it has yetto make a name for itself in the in-ternational market. For years, theindustry has enjoyed subsidies, thusallowing it to competitively price itsproducts. Of course, if the govern-ment decides to levy a sales tax – alikely possibility given the an-nouncement made in this regard re-cently – the scope of the dairy in-dustry may change considerably.This would cause the price of milkto go up and companies will nolonger be able to meet the input costof fresh milk.

As a result, sales volume will godown significantly and the entire ex-ercise to generate more revenue willbe rendered futile. Over the years,the dairy industry has flourished,bringing in foreign investment andcontributing to the GDP of the coun-try. If the industry continues to flour-ish, in time milk may also be ex-ported to various, thus bringing inmuch-needed foreign exchange forPakistan. It is imperative that this in-dustry be saved from moving back-wards instead of going forward andgovernment must take all steps inthis direction.—Rawalpindi

Drone attacks & Pak national interest

For many years we have beentrying to show that the American so-called war against ter-

ror is harming Pakistani interest andGeneral Musharraf’s lonely decisionto join this war unconditionally wasthe reason that terror has swept Paki-stan and an independent PakistaniTaliban movement has been created.This process started right after theAmerican invasion of Afghanistan forwhich Pakistan was the launching padand it culminated in the spread of ter-ror into the cities of Pakistan by 2007.A major reason for that (apart fromthe Lal Masjid episode) were the USdrone attacks that were allowed bythe Musharraf government and werepartly even launched from Pakistanisoil in which hundreds of innocentPakistani women and children werekilled that has created hatred forUS. The last government of PPP,which came into power as a resultof NRO never changed the foreignpolicy and commitment of GeneralMusharraf towards the US whiledrone attacks have been an almostdaily occurrence under the PPPwith thousands of people dead as aresult; unfortunately all victimswere immediately declared as‘militants’ by the propaganda ma-chinery of the army and establish-ment for their own vested interestto perpetuate themselves in power.

Over eleven years of this situa-tion have strained the national fabricof Pakistan to the maximum. Thearmy is fighting a war in the tribalareas against the same people whomthey had been regarding as friendsbefore 9/11, Pashtuns living in the

tribal areas are refugees in theirown country and those whohave lost family members indrone attacks are a never-end-ing pool of recruitment of newfighters which is the reason whythis civil war is perpetuated and

no relief is in sight and foreign inter-ference appears to have entered inpolitical philosophy of our spinelesspoliticians who make hostage of ournation. In addition, people who arenot Pashtuns but who see ‘Islam indanger’ through drone attacks,American presence in Pakistan andPakistan’s change of position on theKashmir question – young peoplewithout education, and jobs andeven without a hope for it- are an-other pool of fighters that are de-stroying Pakistan’s peace, nationalcoherence, our economy and theminds of our children.

The new government even beforeits coming into office has announcedthat one of their most important taskswill be peace talks with the PakistaniTaliban in order to end civil war inour country, to resettle millions ofIDPs and to improve the security situ-ation in the country – a much neededprecondition for economic revival. Afew days ago a new drone attackkilled the top commander of the Pa-kistan Taliban Waliur Rehman, oneof the moderates in the movementwho would have been a partner andsupporter of peace talks with the newgovernment. The US by killing ex-actly this person (together with sixother fighters) has succeeded in pre-venting peace talks of the newlyelected government before it evenassumed power when US is facingdifficulty in reaching an agreementto secure future security to its inter-est in Afghanistan. Waliur Rehmanwas killed only a week after Presi-dent Barack Obama announced hewas scaling back the use of drones

for targeted killings outside the warzones such as Afghanistan. The USState Department in a briefing issuedwritten guidance confirming that areward had been announced forWaliur Rehman’s killing. In re-sponse, only three days after the lossof Waliur Rehman the TTP has can-celled its offer for peace talks to thePakistani government. The US hasclaimed proudly that drone attacksare made after getting clearancefrom Pakistan meaning that policyof Pakistan towards achieving peacewith TTP is shady.

Is there any more proof neededthat Pakistan’s cooperation with theUS in their war is hurting the nationalinterest of Pakistan? It is not onlydetrimental to our national interest,it has completely destroyed the eco-nomic infrastructure leading to clo-sure of industries and loss of foreigninvestment. It is known to all thatPakistan has not received more than$ 10 billion as re-imbursement for ourengagement in the US war effortwhereas our accumulated loss hasbeen more than $ 100 Billion; so thisarrangement with US has been totalloss, it undermines the very existenceand survival of our country with Pa-kistanis fighting Pakistanis and ha-tred for killing infesting new hatredin the next generations. That is whythe first and foremost task of the newgovernment should be to cancel allofficial and un-official cooperationdeals with the US in their war in Af-ghanistan and in Pakistan. Pakistanination has elected Nawaz Sharif andImran Khan into power to fulfill theircommitments on war against terror,which people consider againstPakistan’s interest. Drone attackshave been another agitating issue forevery citizen. PTI has now formedgovernment in KPK and has givenassurance during elections to stopdrone attacks, we hope concrete steps

will be taken to fulfill this commit-ment and no compromise will bemade to retain power.

This draws attention of PML (N)and Tehrik-e-Insaf to the questionabout how Pakistan is going to bringpeace to its own country in a situa-tion when Pakistan’s national inter-est collides with the US interest inthe region and when our previousgovernments remained all out to in-volve itself into peace in Afghanistanwhile neglecting the problem at homeinspite of signing peace agreementwith TTP in 2007. There is no recordthat Pakistani negotiators withClinton and her team were address-ing this question. That means USdrone attacks into Pakistan are notonly military attacks on Pakistan,they are also interfering with the po-litical situation on the Pakistani sideof the border. How will the govern-ment of Pakistan bring peace to thetribal areas and the rest of the coun-try if any agreement with actors inthe tribal areas is disregarded and dis-respected by the US? This is just an-other proof from the recent drone at-tack that killed Waliur Rehman tocreate hurdles in new peace initiativesand that goes to prove our stance thatPakistan’s and US national interestsin the conflict are not only differentbut even opposite which puts a ques-tion mark behind any cooperationbetween the two. It’s better to leavethe government than to let down itsvoters aspirations in this regard ifthey are pressurized to maintain sta-tus quo again. Those who launchdrone attacks inside Pakistani terri-tory are our enemies not our friendsor partners and if these attacks aredone with our government consentthen the government is also party tothis crime. There is a dire need tospell this out clearly and finally dowhat has to be done in the best in-terest of Pakistan.

Rizwan Ghani Email:[email protected]

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:[email protected]

Shahbaz seeks WBFrom Back Page

out corruption at every level ingovernment departments and in-stitutions. He said that for thepromotion of education, an aver-age amount of Rs. 1600/- is be-ing provided for every studentthrough Punjab Education Foun-dation. He said that steps wouldalso be taken for controlling rap-idly increasing population, sub-standard food and spurious medi-cines. He said that cooperationof World Bank and other inter-national donor agencies would bewelcomed in every sector.

Country Director WorldBank Rashid Bin Masood, DFIDhead George Turkington andother experts during a briefingtold that there is a large scope ofinvestment, creation of jobs anddevelopment of education andhealth sector in Pakistan espe-cially in Punjab and Punjab hasbetter capacity to tackle problemscompared to other provinces.

He said that after the clearmandate of masses, the Punjabgovernment led by Chief Minis-ter Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifcould take more effective stepsfor the elimination of corruption,investment, financing and cre-ation of job opportunities.

LAHORE: The Punjab Cabinet Members taking oath during a ceremony at Governor House.

forms. The Chief Ministers ofPunjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan,Gilgit Baltistan and PresidentAJ&K congratulating the PrimeMinister on the assumption ofhis office assured him of theirunconditional support to hisprogramme of revival ofeconomy for the country.

The meeting was attended byChief Ministers of Punjab,Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Ministerof Sindh, Qaim Ali Shah, ChiefMinister of KhyberPakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak,Chief Minister Balochistan Dr.Abdul Malik Baloch, Chief Min-ister Gilgit Baltistan Syed MehdiShah, Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa Eng. ShaukatUllah, Prime Minister of AzadJammu and Kashmir, ChaudhryAbdul Majeed, Advisor to ChiefMinister of Finance, Syed MuradAli Shah, Senior Minister for Fi-nance, Siraj ul Haq, Minister forWater and Power, KhawajaMuhammad Asif, Minister forPlanning and Development,Ahsan Iqbal, Chief Secretaries ofall provinces and senior officialsparticipated in the meeting.

NEC approvesFrom Page 1

minority rights. He urged thegovernment to step up efforts andbuild upon programs initiated bythe last government.

The issue of militancy, ex-tremism and terrorism pose thelargest threat to our national se-curity and the nation standsunited to tackle this, the presidenttold the National Assembly ses-sion. “We are willing to makepeace with those who renounceviolence but are also ready to takeaction against those who chal-lenge the writ of the state.”

The President urged thedemocratic forces to come to-gether and join ranks.The Presi-dent recalled his first address tothe Parliament, five years backwhen he had urged the Parlia-ment to empower itself.

He termed it a matter of greatsatisfaction and pride that theParliament purged the Constitu-tion of undemocratic Articlesunder the 17th Amendment andthe powers of the President un-der Article 58 (2)(B) of the Con-stitution. President Zardari made

it clear that the suspension andabrogation of the Constitutionwas an act of high treason.

“Let no one think of subvert-ing the Constitution,” the Presi-dent said and added “No courtshall validate it.”

The President said theachievements of the Parliamentwere a great honour for the mem-bers of the august House.

“They have reasons to beproud. They brought about thefirst major Constitutional reformin more than three decades,” hesaid. He said that earlier “piece-meal constitutional amend-ments” were designed to promotepersonal interests of the dictators.

“They were not meant tostrengthen democracy or em-power the people,” he said andadded that the outgoing Parlia-ment made a lasting contribution.

He said it made the Consti-tution truly democratic, provin-cial rights and Parliamentary sov-ereignty were restored, Concur-rent Legislative List abolishedand all subjects transferred to the

provinces. The President said theArticle 58(2) (b) that hung overthe Parliament like a sword wasbanished, Council of CommonInterests strengthened, oil, gasand natural resources in a prov-ince now belong jointly to thatprovince and the Federal Govern-ment adding, it also has an over-sight role in the selection of theChief Election Commissioner.

He said these were not smallachievements, and all of it wasachieved with consensus.

“I wish to compliment everysingle member of the outgoingparliament, commend the previ-ous government, the coalitionpartners and indeed all politicalparties who made it possible.”

“Together they worked fordemocracy to take roots,” thePresident said.

The President’s historic ad-dress to the joint sitting of theParliament, was attended byPrime Minister MohammadNawaz Sharif, Chief Ministers,Governors, Services Chiefs anddiplomats.—APP

Confrontation must beavoided: President

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of Agra Taj Colony andHingorabad were being killedwith the use of heavy weaponsand indiscriminate firing. Thepeople of Liyari were being pun-ished for supporting the PPPP inrecent elections.

They said that the peace andtranquility in the city especiallyin Liyari was being destroyed bya selective political party, whichhad started target killing in thecity and promoted the culture ofwrapping bodies of the victimsin guinea bags.

They said that there was noconflict between the Baloch andKatchi communities as they hadlived for centuries peacefully.The workers of the PPPP weredeliberately killed in the city andaround 550 party workers andoffice-bearers were gunneddown. They said that the terror-ists had converted areas of thecity under their strong dominancefor the other ethnic communitiesand social and political activitieswere not allowed to be carried outin their areas of dominance.

Lyari: Free useFrom Page 1

Muhammad Khan Achakzaiis the son of Abdul Samad KhanAchakzai, a renowned freedomfighter of the sub-continent andthe elder brother of PkMAP’sCentral Chairman, MehmoodKhan Achakzai. He belongs to astrong Pashtun nationalist fam-ily who fought against the En-glish colonial rulers and thenstruggled to acquire usurpationrights for the Pashtuns within theframework of Pakistan.

His father, Khan, spent 33years in jail during his struggleagainst the English colonial rul-ers and later the military dicta-tors in independent Pakistan. Heis a retired bureaucrat from thePlanning Commission of Paki-stan, where he served as a chiefeconomist in Grade-22.

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attended by Senator MoulaBaksh Chandio, Senator KhalidaParveen and officials of the Min-istry of Water and Power,NEPRA and other concerned of-ficials. In line with the directionof the Supreme Court for equalload shedding across the coun-try, the Senate Standing Commit-tee for Water and Power sum-moned the IESCO chief on Mon-day to give details about thepower supply situation in urbanand rural areas.

The chief executive ofIslamabad Electricity SupplyCompany said there was no load-shedding at the Presidency, PrimeMinister House, Supreme Court,GHQ, , National AccountabilityBureau and National Databaseand Registration Authority andthe Judges Colony.

The disclosure comes at atime when the country is facingworst load-shedding ranging

from 12-20 hours a day.Islamabad Electric Supply

Company chief Yousuf Awanwho was summoned by the Sen-ate Standing Committee onPower to describe the reasons forload-shedding spilled the beanswhen the committee’s chairman,Senator Zahid Khan, asked himto name government officeswhich were exempt from load-shedding.

As temperatures across thecountry continue to rise over 40degrees, the disclosure by theIESCO chief had drawn severecriticism from the Senate com-mittee.

“I am utterly disgusted thata common man is facing up to21 hours of load-shedding whilethe president, prime minister,generals and judges were facingno load-shedding even thoughthey can afford to keep genera-tors,” Khan said in his remarks.

Khan added that exemptionshould only be afforded to hos-pitals and centres managinghealthcare.

He threatened to resign incase the practice was not inter-rupted and government officesand residences were not treatedas the rest of the country.

Senator Zahid Khan alsovowed to stop the supply of600MW of electricity to KESCfrom the National Grid.

The committee chairman di-rected the officials to bring an endto the discrimination within 24hours and report back to the com-mittee on the progress.

The committee also sum-moned the minister and secre-tary for water and power to ex-plain why government officesand residences of governmentfunctionaries were not undergo-ing load-shedding as the rest ofthe country.—INP

Senate Committee for equalFrom Page 1

Shujaa‚ Raja Ashfaq Sarwar‚Haroon Sultan‚ Tanveer Aslam‚Shafeeq Malik‚ Khalil Sindhu‚Bilal Yaseen‚ Malik NadeemKamran‚ Sher Ali and YawarZaman.

The new ministers expressedtheir resolve to work devotedlyto help the people who are fac-ing difficult situation.

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rebasing in 2012-13 from revisedestimates of 3.95 percent in 2011-12, forestry sector grew by 0.13percent in 2012-13 from 1.74percent in 2011-12 and fishingsector 0.65 percent in 2012-13from 3.77 percent a year before.

In industrial sector, thegrowth stands at 3.49 percent inthe outgoing fiscal year withcontribution of mining and quar-rying sector growth of 7.58 per-cent, manufacturing 3.51 per-cent (large scale manufacturing2.83 percent and small scale8.23 percent), slaughtering 3.54percent, electricity generation &

distribution and gas distributionnegative 3.20 percent, construc-tion 5.18 percent and commod-ity producing sectors 3.71 per-cent. In automobile sector, thegrowth in numbers of buses de-clined by 9.9 percent, trucksnegative 28.24 percent, LCVs27 percent and motorcycles 2.45percent.

The number of producedtractors witnessed impressivegrowth of 60 percent in 2012-13.The official said that becauseof the huge borrowing of the fed-eral government from state bankof Pakistan and commercial

banks to finance the deficit, andthere was no more space left forprivate sector to borrow moneyto set up their new business es-tablishments and stimulate theirongoing businesses which is whythe economic activities did notpick the momentum in the out-going financial year.

The electricity generationand distribution and gas distribu-tion witnessed major dip by reg-istering a negative growth of -3.2percent during the current fiscalyear 2012-13 against a positivegrowth of 2.73 percent in fiscalyear 2011-12.

All targets missedFrom Page 1

Farooq H Naek, who wasappointed Leader of the UpperHouse by caretaker prime min-ister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso inhis government, submitted hisresignation last week when hisparty lost majority in the Parlia-ment.

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lose his status of responsibilityfurthermore, Nawaz remarked.

“Pakistan should be our pri-ority and our efforts be focussedon to tackle the issues,” he saidand added that the countrymenhad reposed complete confidencein them by giving a heavy man-date.

“We also require to gird upour loins and come upto thehopes and expectations of thepeople,” he maintained.

The Prime Minister said thatthey required to get rid of inertiaand the lethargic attitude by tak-ing on the challenges seriously.“Anew spirit is required to be in-fused for the national cause bykeeping personal interests aside,

he added.” With the weight of atroubled economy weighing onnewly elected Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, he directed all hisministries to bring down on theirexpenditures to 30 per cent dur-ing the inaugural cabinet meet-ing on Monday.

Nawaz urged the cabinetmembers to work for decreasingstate expenditures and ensurepublic service. He said that eachpublic servant should be boundfor ensuring punctuality in office.He also urged the ministers to putan end to the culture of lethargyand reinvigorate all the systemsby setting aside personal whimsand wishes and concentrating onnational interests.

As a means of accountabil-ity, the prime minister issued awarning to his federal ministers,telling them that their perfor-mance will be evaluated everythree months. “I shall reviewyour performance and I wouldnot like to fail, I advise the cabi-net members to study the Party’smanifesto and we have to reduceall non development expenditureby at least thirty percent or evenmore than half.”

Nawaz also ordered the im-mediate cancelation of a tenderearlier issued by Capital Devel-opment Authority, during the pre-vious government’s tenure, forbeautification of roads leading tothe Prime Minister’s House.

Sacrifice everything fornational cause: PM

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also have to respect the sover-eignty and territorial integrity ofPakistan,” Nawaz Sharif saidwhile addressing the maidenCabinet meeting of the newlyelected government. The Premiersaid all the stakeholders will beconsulted in formulating a policyin connection with the US-leddrone strikes.

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Sadiq is wanted by the anti-corruption body over his involve-ment in a Rs 82 billion corrup-tion scam, and is awaiting extra-dition to Pakistan after a verdictfrom a UAE court where he washiding after fleeing the country.

The former prime ministertold NAB investigators that hewas solely responsible for theappointment of Tauqeer Sadiqand was not being directed byPresident Zardari or then Paki-

stan People’s Party SecretaryGeneral Jehangir Badar to do so.Sadiq is Jehangir Badar’sbrother-in-law.

The Supreme Court, whichhad on Nov 25, 2011 declared theappointment of Tauqeer Sadiq asillegal, had disclosed that RajaPervez Ashraf was chairman ofthe interview board that approvedthe former Ogra chairman’s ap-pointment. Yousuf Raza Gilani

was prime minister at the time.Ashraf also told NAB inves-

tigators today that he was falselyaccused of issuing 200 licensesto CNG stations as alleged inmedia reports. He told NAB of-ficials that he had approved 68CNG stations’ licenses whichwere already approved in 2010by his predecessor. Meanwhile,Yousuf Raza Gillani, who wasalso summoned by NAB onMonday, did not show up.

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world as a symbol of reconciliation because of hispeacemaking role when white rac-ist rule ended in South Africa.Mandela “once again endures theravages of time in hospital,” saidthe Cape Town-based foundation,which was founded by Tutu andhis wife Leah to promote peace.“We offer our thanks to God forthe extraordinary gift of Mr.Mandela, and wish his familystrength.” Tutu, 81, was also vig-orous campaigner against apart-heid, which ended when all-raceelections were held in 1994 andMandela president. Like Mandela,Tutu was awarded the Nobel PeacePrize for his efforts on behalf ofhis compatriots. Mandela sharedhis prize with F.W. de Klerk, thelast president of the apartheid era.“We send our blessings to the doc-tors and nurses responsible for hiscare,” Tutu’s foundation said.

Meanwhile, the African Na-tional Congress, South Africa’sruling party, dismissed as false areport in Monday’s edition of TheStar newspaper that Mandela’sfamily had barred senior partyleaders and government officialsfrom visiting the hospital. —AP

Mandela seriousFrom Page 1

STAFF REPORTER

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nTehreek-e-Insaf filed a resolutionin National Assembly on Mon-day against drone attacks by USthat have killed over 3000 civil-ians in the country since 2004.According to the draft of resolu-tion submitted by PTI spokesper-son, Shireen Mazari, dronestrikes have killed more innocentPakistanis than the militantsthemselves.

The draft stated that thedrone strikes carried out by theAmerican Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA) and now by thePentagon were in direct violationof the sovereignty of Pakistan.

It said that drones do not pro-vide the suspects a chance to sur-render and the strikes are con-ducted without affirming theidentity of the suspect.

Many drone strikes have tar-geted rescue workers that cometo the site of the drone attack, itargued.

The resolution called on theGovernment of Pakistan to take

immediate steps to put an end tothe drone attacks, including ask-ing US to end drone strikes, tak-ing diplomatic and, if need be,military measures to respondfirmly to such an attack. Further-more, it said that that the govern-ment should remember the judge-ment of the Peshawar High Courton April 2013 where the Courtdecided that under Pakistan’sConstitution, the drone strikescarried out in FATA were a bla-tant violation of basic humanrights, the UN Charter, UN Gen-eral Assembly Resolution, pro-visions of Geneva Conventionand are regarded as a war crime.

It maintained that in view ofthe established facts and figureswith respect to civilian casual-ties and damaged, the US gov-ernment is bound to compensatethe victims’ families. The reso-lution filed by PTI hoped thatthe government of Pakistanwould protect the sovereignty ofPakistan, the International Lawand enforce the judgement of thePeshawar High Court as soon aspossible.

PTI files resolution againstdrone strikes in NA

PSB performingduties within

domainLAHORE—Director General,Pakistan Sports Board, SyedAmir Hamza Gillani Mondaysaid that the PSB was work-ing within its domain underits constitution to implementGovernment policies.

“We are striving for thecause of sports in the coun-try and we are performing ourduties within the given pa-rameters,” he said.

He said some officials ofthe national Sports Federa-tions/Associations were is-suing false and fabricatedstatements alleging that PSBwas instigating the personshaving vested interest tofrom the parallel Sports Fed-erations/Associations byimposing adhoc on their re-spective Federations.

“PSB is only performingaccording to its constitutionas well as implementing theGovernment’s policies andcomplying with SupremeCourt judgment,” he as-serted.

He regretted that somesports Federations/Associa-tions are all out to destroysports culture in the Coun-try by manipulation to dragPSB to un-warrant controver-sies for the promotion of theirown interest.

DG said that PSB neverindulged itself in any foulplay and had never ex-tended any kind of supportto any of the NationalSports Federation/Associa-tion to encourage them inany manner as far as theirillegal or unconstitutionalactivities.—APP

EDGBASTON: Hashim Amla prepares to reverse sweep during Pakistan vs South Africa Champions Trophy GroupB match on Monday.

NEW DELHI—Cricket of-f icials on Monday sus-pended the co-owner of anIndian Premier League(IPL) team and announcedplans for a major clean-upof the sport after an illegalbett ing and spot-f ixingscandal .

The Board of Controlfor Cricket in India (BCCI)held an emergency meetingin New Delhi into theRajasthan Royals IPL fran-chise and its co-owner RajKundra amid the ongoingscandal .

“Mr Raj Kundra hasbeen suspended, pendingan inquiry, from allcricketing activities,” BCCIinterim head JagmohanDalmiya told reporters af-ter the meeting.

Kundra, the business-man husband ofBollywood actress ShilpaShetty, has admitted ille-gally betting on his team,according to police.

Three Royals players,including Test fast bowlerS h a n t h a k u m a r a nSreesanth, and numerousbookmakers have been ar-rested over allegations ofspot-fixing during the re-cently-completed edit ionof the IPL.

India team co-ownersuspended amid clean-up

After Monday’s meet-ing Dalmiya released ablueprint cal led “Opera-t ion Clean-up” aimed atstamping out “sleaze” andcorruption in the multi-bil-lion dollar Twenty20 tour-nament.

Under the plan, IPL

players, team owners andsupport staff face a “strictcode of conduct”. Owners’movements in team dug-outs and dressing roomsduring matches will be re-stricted.

“Removal of sleaze; nocheerleaders, no after-match parties for playersand support staff,” the 12-point plan reads.

Cellphone towers willbe jammed during IPLmatches, and players willhave to “disclose all finan-cial transactions they arecarrying out with any par-ticular organisation or per-s o n ” .

A timetable for imple-menting the plan, whichalso includes a ban on play-ers using microphones andearplugs during matches,was unclear.

“If we are able to cleanit, it will be a great serviceto the game,” Dalmiya said.

Sreesanth, along withhis teammates Ajit Chandilaand Ankeet Chavan, werearrested last month over al-legations they deliberatelybowled badly in exchangefor tens of thousands ofdollars during IPL matches.

Police say the trio wereacting under orders frominternational crime syndi-cates to give away a spe-cific number of runs in cer-tain overs after s tr ikingdeals with bookmakers.

The players have de-nied wrongdoing.—AFP

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MU M B A I —The news ofK. T. Francis’ death to SriLankan team playingChampions Trophy inEngland had reached bythe t ime the matchagainst New Zealand hadalready commenced.

“Angelo Mathews’boys could not mourn thedeath of our famous um-pire but I will make all nec-essary arrangements topropose to observe a two-minute si lence and alsoplayers wear black armbands in their next matchagainst England (at theOval on Thursday)”, Pe-ter Manuel, the former SriLankan umpire and ICC’sUmpires’ Manager (AsiaZone) said from London.

“The team was play-ing the ICC ChampionsTrophy’s fourth match inCardiff whereas I am inLondon, where Francis’wife conveyed the sadnews to me”, he added.

Last two years of 73-

Sri Lankan players tomourn umpire’s death

year-old Francis’ life werevery painful. Being a dia-betic patient and due togangrene, his not legs wererequired to be amputed be-low knees.

Francis had officiated in25 Tests and 56 One DayInternationals between1982 and 1999, mostly in hisown country. “Out of these25 Tests, I have officiated,the one played between SriLanka and Australia in 1992at Colombo’s SinhaleseSports Club (SSC) groundwas the most I remember. Itwas a closely fought matchbefore Australia won by 16runs. Warne was very ef-fective in this match,” hehad said to this correspon-dent a couple of monthsago.

“He loved touring Indiavery much”, the wife,Wendy said from Colombo.“He used to tell us aboutmemories of his India tourand the crowd at Eden Gar-dens”, the wife added.

In 1999 during the AsianTest Championship be-tween India and Pakistan atEden Gardens, he was a TV

umpire and when Sachinwas run out (a mid-pitchcollision with the bowlerShoaib Akhtar) and therewas a riot in the stadium.“Francis had to demon-strate game’s Law book toan English spectator in1993", recalls JayanandaWarnaweera, the formerright handed mediumpacer, who also bowledoff-breaks, said from Co-lombo. “During England’stour to Sri Lanka,England’s Neil Fairbrotherwas given run out by um-pire Francis when thethrow came to me and Ihad to uproot the stumpswhen bails were previ-ously-off. The batsmanwas initially not ready toaccept the decision. Onespectator also abused theumpire for this decisionand Francis was boldenough to take the spec-tator to the pavilion andshowed his the rule book”,Warnaweera added.

Francis started his ca-reer as a railway guard butwas more popular as anumpire in his country.

DELHI: Jagmohan Dalmiyaaddressing a press conference.

THE OVAL—West Indieswicketkeeper DeneshRamdin has been suspendedfor two ODIs, and fined 100%of his match fees, for breach-ing the Code of Conductwhen he claimed a catch offMisbah-ul-Haq during theChampions Trophy gameagainst Pakistan at The Oval.

Ramdin has the right toappeal the decision within 24hours to a judicial commis-sioner, but even if he does,the sanction will apply untilthe outcome of the appeal,which means he will not beable to play against India onTuesday.* The West Indiesmanagement declined tocomment on whether Ramdinwould appeal the ban andfine.

“This is regarded as aserious offence as it is theresponsibility of all playersto act in the spirit of thegame,” ICC match refereeChris Broad said. “I hope MrRamdin has learnt his lessonfrom this incident and that wewill not see such behaviourby him or any player in thefuture.”

The incident took placein the ninth over of Pakistan’sinnings, when Misbah bot-tom-edged a Kemar Roachdelivery to Ramdin. Thewicketkeeper initially ap-peared to have caught theball but lost control of it ashe fell forward, and it slipped

Ramdin penalised forclaiming dropped catch

out of his gloves on to thegrass. Instead of bringing hismistake to the notice of theumpires or his team-mates,Ramdin returned the ball tothe square-leg umpire andjoined his team-mates in thecelebratory huddle.

Square-leg umpire NigelLlong, however, alerted thethird umpire and the replay

revealed the chance hadbeen dropped. Misbah, whowas on 0, was called backand went on to hit an un-beaten 96.

Misbah later had saidRamdin’s actions were not inthe spirit of the game. “Whatcan I say about that?” hesaid when asked about thecatch. “I think he should

Tennis: Dutchplayer banned,fined for illegal

bettingPARIS—Dutch tennis playerYannick Ebbinghaus hasbeen suspended for sixmonths and fined for bettingillegally on matches, an anti-corruption body announcedMonday.

The Tennis Integrity Unit(TIU) said the 23-year-oldadmitted breaching articleD.1.a of anti-corruption rules67 times between May 2012and February 2013.

The article outlaws anydirect or indirect attempted oractual wager on the outcomeof any aspect of tennis byplayers.

Three months of the banwill be suspended providedEbbinghaus does not repeatthe offence and attends “anti-corruption education train-ing”, the TIU said in an emailedstatement from London.

It added: “$5,000 of the$10,000 fine will be consid-ered paid in full if the playercooperates with the TennisIntegrity Unit in educatingothers about the prohibitionagainst betting.”

Last week, the TIU, whichis run by the sport’s GrandSlam Committee, the Interna-tional Tennis Federation,ATP and WTA tours, said ithad banned Russian playerSergei Krotiouk for life formatch-fixing.—AFP

have told them what hap-pened, but I don’t know whathe was thinking at that time.I would not be very happy ifmy wicketkeeper did that. Ifwe don’t know anything,then it’s fine, but if you knowclearly that it’s not a catch,you should not claim thatbecause it’s not in the spiritof the game.”

West Indies captainDwayne Bravo, however,had defended Ramdin, say-ing the wicketkeeper did notact deliberately. “Unfortu-nately, he did not catch it,”Bravo said. “He’s a very hon-est player, and as I said, his-tory shows if you check therecords that we don’t haveany stigma or negativesaround us as a team. Wehave been true in our cricketcareers and history hasshown that we play the gamein true spirit of the way itshould be played. I don’tthink we did something likethis deliberately.”

The charge - under article2.2.11 of the ICC Code of Con-duct which relates to “conductthat is contrary to the spirit ofthe game” - was laid by the on-field umpires Steve Davis andLlong, third umpire Tony Hilland fourth umpire RichardKettleborough.

Ramdin had pleaded notguilty and attended a hearingadjudicated by Broad onMonday.—AFP

CARSON: Marcos Maidana celebrates after his knockout win over Josesito Lopez.

CARSON (Calif)—Boxing ismore than just a contest tofind out who punches thehardest. Part of the magnifi-cence of the sport is watch-ing a fast, smart, techniciandiscover a way to defuse thepower of a knockout artist.

But 1,000 out of 1,000fighters would accept ifsomeone could promisethem that, even for a night,they could have the kind ofdevastating punchingpower that Marcos Maidanapossesses .

Maidana’s blisteringpunching power broughtone of the year’s most en-tertaining slugfests to away-too-soon conclusion,as he battered JosesitoLopez into submission at1:18 of the sixth round infront of a record crowd of8,629 at the Home DepotCenter.

Lopez was fighting bril-liantly, particularly in thefourth and fifth rounds, ashe repeatedly taggedMaidana with a series ofclean, hard shots. He founda home for his straight righttime and again, hitting thetarget like a pitcher firing afastball directly into the

Maidana stops Lopez,shows punching power isstill ultimate equalizer

catcher’s mitt.Several times through-

out the fight, Lopez seemedto stun Maidana, but hedoesn’t have the kind offight-finishing powerMaidana owns.

That became clear in thesixth when Maidana pickedup the pace after strugglingfor a couple of rounds andabsorbing a great deal ofpunishment. Midwaythrough the sixth, Maidanahit Lopez with a body shotthat seemed to suck the airout of him.

Lopez froze, andMaidana blasted him with acrushing straight right.

Lopez staggered back tothe ropes and then hit aknee, where he took theeight-count. When he gotup, he was greeted by a pun-ishing right uppercut. Ref-eree Dr. Lou Moret gaveLopez a chance to fight hisway out of trouble, but fi-nally hopped in at 1:18 of thesixth to stop it.

Lopez moaned about thestoppage, and it was under-standable given how well hewas doing, but Maidana isone of the hardest pound-for-pound punchers in the

game and too many more ofthose right hands wouldn’thave been good for Lopez’slong-term health.

“I felt it was a prematurestoppage,” Lopez said. “Hehurt me a little, but we’re pro-fessionals and we fight insituations like that. Hestunned me with a good righthand, but I was not out ofthe fight.”

Maidana is never out ofa fight, no matter how far be-hind he falls, because withhim, one punch can changeeverything. He complainedthat he couldn’t move in themiddle rounds because hewas punched on the hip, butstill was able to close theshow.

That’s why it’s neverwise to relax against a knock-out puncher.

“My character and myguts got me this victory,”Maidana said. “In the sec-ond round, he hit me on myhip and it was like I was para-lyzed. The pain lasted fortwo rounds and that’s whenhe landed the shots. But mydesire to win got me throughit. He underestimated mypower and I knew I couldknock him out.—AFP

Israr upsets seededAbbas to win

National JuniorSquash title

PESHAWAR—Israr Ahmadclinched the trophy after up-setting top seeded playerAbbas Shoukat in the final ofthe National Junior Under-19Squash Championship playedhere at PAF Squash Complexon Monday.

Member Provincial Assem-bly Zia Ullah Afridi was thechief guest on this occasion.Former International AthleteHabib-ur-Rehman, Presidentand former World Champion-ship Qamar Zaman, Flt. Lt.Ittique of PAF, players, officialsand large number of spectatorswere also present on this occa-sion and witnessed the thrill-ing final. Abbas Shaukhat ofPAF Academy has entered astop seeded player but he failedto beat qualifier Israr Ahmad ofPunjab in the thrilling final.

Abbas Shaukat took thefirst set by 10-12 when he tiedthe tally at 5-5, 7-7, 10-10 buthe failed to click in the remain-ing three sets won by IsrarAhmad of Punjab.—APP

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

Attorney Generalcalls on CJPISLAMABAD—Muneer A.Malik, the newly appointed At-torney General for Pakistan,called on the Chief Justice ofPakistan Mr. Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry in Su-preme Court, Islamabad Mon-day. The Chief Justice of Pa-kistan congratulated Mr.Muneer A. Malik on his ap-pointment as Attorney Generalfor Pakistan. During the meet-ing matters of mutual interestas well as relating to function-ing of legal/judicial system inthe country came under discus-sion. The Attorney General forPakistan also assured his co-operation in the process of ad-ministration of justice and ruleof law. —INP

Power outagesexceed 4,000MWLAHORE—People across thecountry continue to undergoworst ever electricityloadshedding in the scorchingheat with power shortfall ex-ceeding 4,000 mega watts onMonday and the duration ofloadshedding rising to 18 hoursa day in most areas. Accordingto statistics, the total power sup-ply was12,900MW against thedemand of 17,000MW on Mon-day. The gap between genera-tion and demand has resultedinto a shortfall of 4,100MWdue to which loadshedding isbeing carried out on alternatehours or continuous for twohours depending on the de-mand and supply, officialssaid. The citizens of rural ar-eas have been facing more than20 hours of loadsheddingwhile in urban areas,loadshedding is being carriedout for 18 hours.—INP

Election schedulefor reserved seatISLAMABAD—The ElectionCommission of Pakistan onMonday notified the Scheduleto fill a vacant seat reserved forwomen in the National Assem-bly and 9 reserved seats forwomen in the Punjab Assem-bly due to exhaustion of thelists earlier provided by thePML (N). Nomination paperscan be filed with the ReturningOfficers by Friday and the scru-tiny would be held the next day.The last date for filing of ap-peals against the decisions ofthe Returning Officers on thenomination papers is June 17and these would be decided byJune 19. —APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has called upon interna-tional monitory institutions anddonor agencies to extend maxi-mum cooperation for the solu-tion of energy crisis, populationcontrol and development ofhealth and other sectors.

He said that internationalinstitutions should also provideassistance in preparing reportabout the causes of spread ofmeasles and the measures forcontrolling this disease. He saidthat besides improvement ofhealth facilities, a comprehen-sive programme would also beevolved for curbing diseases aswell as adopting preventive

measures.The Chief Minister said that

it would be difficult to achievethe targets of development if therapidly increasing populationwas not controlled. He said thatgood governance and eliminationof corruption are among the toppriorities of the government andinstead of construction of build-ings, investment is being madein boy and girl students for pro-motion of education and thescope of vouchers scheme forstudents will be further ex-panded.

He was presiding over ameeting of representatives andexperts of World Bank, DFIDand other donor agencies, aspokesman of Punjab govern-ment said. Minister of State on

Health Begum Saira Afzal Tarar,Member Provincial AssemblyRana Mashhood Ahmed, Chair-

man Planning & DevelopmentSohail Ahmed, Secretary Fi-nance, Tariq Bajwa, Secretary

Health, Hassan Iqbal, Secretar-ies of School Education, WomenDevelopment and Excise &Taxation departments, CountryDirector World Bank, Rashid BinMasood, DFID head in Pakistan,George Turkington, World Bankexpert on Health Inam ul Haq andexperts in finance, private sectorand management were present.Shahbaz Sharif said that after re-ceiving a heavy mandate from thepeople, the government has de-cided to curtail its non-develop-mental expenditure by 30% andfunds will be utilized in an ef-fective manner on education,health, promotion of investmentand employment opportunities.The Chief Minister said that im-mediately after taking the oath ofhis office, he convened a meet-

ing on measles in which a strat-egy was evolved for curbingmeasles on war footing. He saidthat in addition to improvingtreatment facilities, a comprehen-sive programme would also beevolved for controlling diseasesand preventive measures. TheChief Minister directed SecretaryHealth to arrange a 2-day con-ference of experts for devising acomprehensive strategy for pre-vention and control of diseasesand solid measures should betaken for this purpose. Hestressed upon World Bank anddonor agencies to extend coop-eration for resolving energy cri-sis. Shahbaz Sharif said that be-sides hydle and thermal power,coal, windmill and other re-sources would also be utilized for

generating energy in Punjab. Hesaid that in addition to evolvinga comprehensive system for uti-lizing resources for poverty al-leviation, generation of employ-ment opportunities and betterutilization of existing resourcesin health and education, mea-sures would also be taken for in-troducing structural changes forensuring good governance andelimination of corruption. TheChief Minister said that a rational-ization commission has been setup in the province for improvingperformance of government de-partments, curtailing non-develop-mental expenditures and properutilization of resources. He saidthat a solid policy will also bedevised for rooting

Shahbaz seeks WB, donors help to end energy crisis

Militants attackNATO trucks,

kill fiveTARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The NATO con-tainers transporting goods forNATO and ISAF forces insideAfghanistan came under mili-tant attack in Khyber agency onMonday resulting in killing ofas many as five people. Threeof them were burnt to deathwhile trapped inside the con-tainer engulfed in high flames.

Reports reaching here saida group of around 15 miscreantsclad in Para-military force uni-form ambushed the NATO ve-hicles convoy in Shakai area ofTehsil Jamrod in Khyber agencyMonday morning.

The Containers, as the po-litical administration of Khyberagency said, were taking sup-plies to Afghanistan for NATOforces. “A group of 15 militantswearing Khasadaar force uni-form attacked the NATO con-tainers with hand grenades, theyalso sprayed bullets on two ve-hicles and also fired rockets onthem as a result of that one truckcaught heavy fire and three per-sons inside the vehicle wereburnt to death”. A senior officialof the Political administrationtold Observer adding the troublemakers also shot dead two driv-ers of the vehicle. Few peoplealso reportedly sustained inju-ries in the ambush.

The attackers managed toflee from the scene after launch-ing the assault. The political ad-ministration officials claimedthe NATO containers were car-rying vehicles and ambulances. to Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Monday directed thepower distribution companies toensure equal power distributionwithout any discriminationamong all rural and urban areas.

The court also directed Pa-kistan Electric Power Companyto put domestic consumers on itspriority list as they are the taxpayers and have the first prior-ity to get electricity.

This was directed by a three-judge bench comprising ChiefJustice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, Justice Ijaz AhmedChaudhry and Justice GulzarAhmed while resuming the hear-ing of a suo-motu case regard-ing prolonged load-shedding inthe country.

During the course of pro-ceeding, the bench expresseddispleasure over the lethargicbehavior of PEPCO officialssaying that no steps for the im-provement of current worsepower situation were taken byPEPCO. The Chief Justice re-

marked that it was the responsi-bility of power distribution com-panies to ensure equitable andindiscriminate distribution ofelectricity to the consumers.

The bench was informedthat currently there was a short-fall of 5100 Megawatt as thedemand was 17,800 MW andgeneration was 12,700 MW.

The CJ remarked that powergeneration and demand- supplygap was 30 per cent and thereshould not be more than 7 hoursload-shedding in any part of thecountry. However, ZarghamKhan, MD PEPCO replied thatthey had to ensure un-inter-rupted power supply to manyunits such as hospitals andschools etc, thus the averageload-shedding exceeds 7 hours.

He further stated that load-shedding time has decreased inrural areas from 16 hours to 11,while the load-shedding to in-dustries has increased from 6 to10 hours per 24 hours after thecourt’s earlier orders.—APP

SC for equitableelectricity distribution

KABUL—Seven Taliban fighterswith rocket-propelled grenadesand machine guns launched arare assault on NATO’s opera-tional headquarters at the mili-tary section of Kabul’s interna-tional airport on Monday. Allseven militants were killed.

Their failed attack showedthat despite an asphyxiating se-curity blanket around the capi-tal, Afghanistan’s insurgency isfar from defeated after nearly 12years of war, and militants canstill menace the capital.

Gunfire and explosions fromthe pre-dawn battle could beheard in many parts of Kabul. No

one was killed except the attack-ers, but it emphasized the chal-lenges faced by Afghanistan’sfledgling security forces as theyprepare to take the lead from aU.S.-led coalition that is rapidlywithdrawing its remaining forces.

The spectacular attacks areaimed at demoralizing the popu-lation and sowing mistrust in theAfghan security forces’ ability toprotect their citizens — rather thanmilitary gains.

“We can expect high profileattacks, we can expect insiderthreats and we can expect maybesome assassinations,” said Ger-man Gen. Gunter Katz, spokes-man for the U.S.-led International

Security Assistance Force. “Weadapt our security measures ap-propriately, we assess the securitysituation on a permanent basis andwe remain very vigilant.”

The Taliban, who claimed re-sponsibility for the airport attack,have been testing Afghan securityforces as foreign combat troopspull back more than a decade af-ter the U.S.-led invasion to oustthe Taliban regime for shelteringal-Qaida’s leadership after the Is-lamic extremist group launchedthe Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacksin the United States.

In declaring their spring cam-paign, the Taliban said they wouldtarget Afghan and coalition forces

and government officials aroundthe country. Although they saidthey would not target civilians, theoverwhelming number of deadand wounded so far has been or-dinary Afghans.

The attack was one of threeagainst state facilities on Mondaymorning by insurgents around thecountry.

In addition to the airport at-tack, six militants wearing suicidebomb vests tried to storm the pro-vincial council building in thecapital of southern Zabul prov-ince, while three attempted to at-tack a district police headquartersnear the capital. Elsewhere, aroadside bomb killed a Polish sol-

dier in the NATO force.Interior Ministry spokesman

Sediq Sediqi said that in Zabul theattackers wounded 18 people, in-cluding three police officers, whenthey detonated a car bomb outsidethe building in the city of Qalat,but security forces shot and killedthem before they could enter. Onthe outskirts of Kabul, policekilled one attacker and arrestedtwo others who tried to storm theheadquarters building in theSurobi district.

At the airport, the insurgentsdid not get close enough to attackaircraft and were not near therunway’s flight path. Even if theyhad managed to damage the air-

Taliban attack NATO’s operational headquarters

Kerry postponesMideast visit

TEL AVIV—US Secretary ofState John Kerry, who was toreturn to the region this week fortalks with Israelis and Palestin-ians, has postponed his visit, Is-raeli media reported on Monday.

According to Israel HaYom,a newspaper considered close toPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, Kerry had been dueto arrive on Tuesday, but put offthe visit “to give (Palestinianpresident Mahmud Abbas) moretime” to decide whether to drophis insistence on a settlementfreeze before returning to nego-tiations.

Kerry was likely to resched-ule his visit for the followingweek, it said.

Israeli and American offi-cials both refused to commenton the report.—AFP

NEW DELHI—Veteran Indianopposition leader Lal KrishnaAdvani resigned on Monday, aday after his party chosehardliner Narendra Modi tolead next year’s election cam-paign, a source in his officetold AFP.

Advani, the 85-year-oldstalwart of the BharatiyaJanata Party and a formerdeputy prime minister, re-signed from all his positionswithin the party, the sourcesaid.

“He has submitted his res-ignation letter to the partychief,” the source said on con-dition of anonymity.

The Press Trust of India re-ported that Advani, the BJP’sprime ministerial candidateduring the 2009 general elec-tions, quit the party due to dif-

Indian oppositionleader Advani resigns

ferences over its direction. “Most BJP leaders are

concerned just with their per-sonal agendas,” the newsagency quoted Advani’s resig-nation letter as saying.

The comment is an appar-ent criticism of Modi, who waschosen by the Hindu national-ist party Sunday to head itscampaign for national elec-tions due by next May.

Advani did not attend themeeting of the BJP’s nationalexecutive in an apparent pro-test over Modi’s elevation, al-though the official reasongiven was illness. Advani, whomentored Modi and defendedhim against criticism that hefailed to stop deadly anti-Mus-lim riots in 2002, is now op-posed to the 62-year-old’s rise,according to media reports.—AP

port, it would have affected ci-vilian flights but not had an im-pact on military operations,which are carried out from amilitary airfield at Bagram about50 kilometers north of the capi-tal.

But they did manage tosneak in a minivan full of explo-sives, rocket-propelled grenades,heavy machine guns and assaultrifles along with their suicidevests. Such weapons have beenused repeatedly in Kabul attacksover the recent months, includ-ing an eight-ton bomb on a truckin March that was discoveredjust before it was to be used toattack a NATO base.—AP

Kidnappers sellHaider Gilani to aparty for Rs200m

ISLAMABAD—The kidnappersof Ali Haider Gilani, son offormer Prime Minister YusufRaza Gilani, have sold him toanother ‘party’ for Rs200 mil-lion.

According to well informedsources, the party which haspurchased Ali Haider Gilani hasshifted him to a safer place inNorth Waziristan.

The sources revealed thatAli Haider Gilani, who was kid-napped during the electionscampaign from Multan, waskept at a safer hideout in Punjabby his kidnappers. Now it hasbeen revealed that the kidnap-pers have sold Ali Haider to an-other party for Rs200 millioncash. —INP

Woman soldafter declaring

her kariDERA GHAZI KHAN—Apanchayat ‘sold’ a 25-year-oldmarried woman after declaringher a ‘kari’ here, police said onMonday.

According to police apanchayat in Darkhwast JamalKhan area of Dera Ghazi Khandistrict sold the marriedwoman identified as ParveenBibi after declaring her kariwith a boy identified as Abid.

Father of the woman,Manzoor, and her husband, Al-lah Bachaya, on the orders ofthe panchayat sold the womanto a man identified as Rafiq forRs330,000. The panchayat in-cluded 500 people.

Police have arrested sixpeople, inc luding twowomen, while the ‘purchas-ers’ of the woman and otherpanchayat members are ab-sconding.—INP

QUETTA—An Anti-TerrorismCourt issued non-bailable arrestwarrants against former rulerPervez Musharraf and formerprime minister Shaukat Aziz inconnection with the Akbar Bugtimurder case on Monday.

The arrest warrants were is-sued due to repeated absencefrom the court. The former gov-

Arrest warrants for Musharraf, AzizHearing resumes on June 24

ernor of Balochistan, OwaisGhani and former deputy com-missioner of Dera Bugti, SamadLasi were also included in thelist of issued arrest warrants.

Musharraf had applied forbail in the Akbar Bugti case andthe court is due to announce itsdecision regarding bail today.

The hearing will resume on

June 24.Baloch nationalist leader

Bugti was killed in a cave onAugust 26, 2006 during a mili-tary crackdown ordered byMusharraf. Bugti was the chiefof the Jamhoori Watan Party andan influential tribal chief whocontrolled the gas-rich district ofDera Bugti.

PESHAWAR: A view of burning containers after militants attack on a convoy of trucks bound for Afghanistan in Shakai area.

Continued on Page 6

New Divisionto look after

aviation industryOBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—A new divisionhas been created to look afterthe aviation industry, which uptill now had been closely con-trolled by the Ministry of De-fence, highlighting the interestof Prime Minister NawazSharif who is largely creditedfor the country’s open skiespolicy.

“This appears to be a verygood decision. We had to doaway with bureaucratic hurdlesto move swiftly with plans andrequests like issuing licences tomore airlines,” said an aviationindustry official. “But let’shope this doesn’t turn into somegame where only a few peopleare favoured.” The Aviation Di-vision will be headed byShujaat Azeem, who has beenappointed as the Adviser to thePrime Minister on Aviation Af-fairs recently, along with othercabinet members.

Cop shot deadC H A R S A D D A —Unknownarmed miscreants gunned downa police cop here on early Mon-day morning and fled the scene.According to details, the firingincident took place in the pre-mises of Sardheri police stationwhere unknown miscreantsopened fire killing a policemanon the spot. The assailants man-aged to flee from the scene aftercommitting the crime. The policelater placed a strict cordon in thearea and started search operationfor the attackers. Police said themurder could be outcome of per-sonal enmity.—INP

Crash diet tied toincreased gallstone risk

ISLAMABAD: People of Bugti tribe staged a demonstration in support of their de-mands near Parliament House.

ISLAMABAD: The construction of Mazar of Hazrat Bari Sarkar is going on at a snails pace because of paucity of funds.

PEOPLE who go on an extremely lowcalorie diet are more likely to develop gallstones than people on a

moderately low calorie diet, according toa new study. Dr. Michael Jensen, a pro-fessor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic,said dieters typically endup with similar weightloss in the long runwhether they use extremecalorie restriction or moremoderately restricted di-ets.

“You’re going to endup in the same place(weight-wise), so why takethe risk of ending up in thehospital with a gall bladderproblem just to lose weightfaster?” said Jensen, whowas not part of the study.Gallstones affect as manyas 20 million people in theU.S. Dr. Kari Johansson, thelead author of the studyand a researcher at theKarolinska Institute inSweden, said quick weight loss from verylow calorie diets is thought to impact thesalt and cholesterol contents of bile andthe emptying of the gallbladder, both ofwhich can contribute to gallstones.

To see how these diets affect gallstonerisk in a real-world setting, Johansson andher colleagues collected information oncustomers’ progress from a weight losscompany in Sweden called Intrim. Some ofthe study authors have worked for the com-pany or serve on its scientific advisoryboard. Their study included 6,640 dieters,half of whom went on a crash diet and theother half of whom went on a low calorie

diet.The crash diet involved liquid meals

of just 500 calories a day for six to 10 weeks,followed by the gradual introduction ofnormal food, and then nine months of aweight maintenance regime of exercise and

healthy eating. The otherdieters ate 1,200 to 1,500 calo-ries a day, including two liq-uid meals, for three months,followed by the nine monthweight maintenance period.Health coaches at Intrim col-lected weight and body sizeinformation, which the re-searchers linked to a na-tional health database thathas records on gallstonetreatments.

After three months inthe weight loss program, thecrash dieters lost about 30pounds, compared toroughly 17 pounds lostamong people on the lowcalorie diet. One year out fromthe start of the diet, the ex-

tremely low calorie group had lost an aver-age of 24.5 pounds, while the other grouplost about 18 pounds. Among those on thecrash diet, 48 people developed gallstonesrequiring hospital treatment, and 16 peoplein the other group developed gallstones,Johansson and her colleagues report in theInternational Journal of Obesity. They couldnot determine why gallstones were morecommon among people in the extremely lowcalorie group. “One contributing factor wasthat they lost more weight during follow-up... another may be that they may havehad a lower fat intake,” Johansson said inan email to Reuters Health.

June 12

THE Institute of StrategicStudies, Islamabad is orga-nizing a Public Talk on ‘To-wards Improving India-Pa-kistan Relations: What canbe on the Agenda for theFuture’ by Dr RadhaKumar, Director General,Delhi Policy Group at 1130hrs at its premises.

ISLAMABAD: Folk dancer showing his skills at the Margalla Festival.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—Islamabadwould be made a hub of cul-tural activities as these ac-tivities are the best sourceof recreation and amuse-ment for the people. TheCapital Development Au-thority (CDA) would makeall out efforts to promoteregional cultures of Pakistanin the federal capital.

Chairman CDA, SyedTahir Shahbaz said this onthe occasion of concludingceremony of Margalla Fes-tival. On this occasionMember Administration,Munir Ahmad Chaudhryand officers of Sports andCulture Directorate werealso present.

Addressing the con-cluding session of MargallaFestival, Chairman CDA

said that CDA would cel-ebrate the Margalla Festivalas annual festival.

He said that the promi-nent artists and singers fromall four provinces includingGilgit-Baltistan and Kashmirperformed brilliantly and en-tertained the residents of thecity.

Chairman CDA said thatresidents of the twin cities ofRawalpindi / Islamabad haveenthusiastically participatedin Margalla Festival andhighly encouraged the per-formance of artists. Visitorshave shown their keen inter-est in handicrafts and em-broideries of regional artistswho have demonstrated theiroutstanding professional artskills at various stalls in fes-tival.

Besides, the local public,a large number of foreigners

have also visited the 10 dayMargalla Festival’s activitiesand appreciated the skills ofour hardworking artists, saidthe Chairman CDA.

Chairman CDA directedofficers of Sports and Cul-tural Directorate to orga-nized different tourna-ments of Cricket, Hockey,Football and other gameson the pattern of MargallaFestival, adding that suchsports activities would en-able the youth to showtheir abilities in differentsports events. He orderedfor necessary repair, main-tenance, upgradation andbeautif icat ion of sportsgrounds in the city. SyedTahir Shahbaz lauded theperformance of artists andsaid that they have pro-vided great entertainmentand amusement to the visi-

tors with their outstand-ing performance. Chair-man CDA visited differentstalls and pavilions of art-ists and appreciated theirhandmade work.

On this occasionMember Administrat ionMunir Ahmed Chaudhryapprised the ChairmanCDA that during the 10days Margalla Fest ival ,artists from all over thecountry, particularly theart is ts from Gilgit-Baltistan and Hunza Val-ley demonstrated theirarts skills brilliantly. Onthe last day of MargallaFestival , ar t is ts fromGilgit-Baltistan and Kash-mir displayed their profes-sional art. A large numberof people participated inthe festival and appreci-ated the efforts of CDA.

CDA making all out efforts to promote regional cultures

Acute watershortage complainedISLAMABAD—The residents offederal capital are facing acutewater shortage due to apathyand negligence of authoritiesconcerned. The residents of themost populated residential sec-tors including G-6, G-7, G-8, G-9 and G-10 are among the worsthit areas. In these sectors wa-ter supply is being available foronly half an hour insufficientto meet the requirements of themasses.

Talking to APP, the resi-dents of G-6 Ashfaq Ahmedand Salman Tahir said that theyused to lodge several com-plaints to relevant offices earlymorning requesting for watertanker to meet their daily needsbut the water inquiry does notrespond.—APP

3 car lifters among9 outlaws held

ISLAMABAD—Nine outlaws,including three car liftershave been arrested from vari-ous areas of the city, said anIslamabad police spokesmanon Monday.

According to details aBhara Kau police team led bySub-Inspector Arshad Ali ofarrested Khalid Khan andShahzad allegedly involvedin a murder case. ASI AmirSajjad held Shoaib andYaseen involved in dacoityand recovered snatchedvaluables and a 30-bore pis-tol from them.

Sub-Inspector NiazHussain of Margalla policestation arrested two per-sons Kashif Khan andAbbas Khan for their al-leged involvement in carsnatching incidents. ASIMuhammad Sharif of anti-car lifting cell arrestedNoman and recovered astolen car (UH-142) fromhim. Sub-Inspector AlamgirKhan of Sabzi Mandi policestation nabbed MuhammadIshaq with 200 bullets ofKalashnikov.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Price hike hastaken most of the fruit, veg-etables, and chicken out of thereach of common man in thetwin cities of Rawalpindi andIslamabad. According to a sur-vey conducted by this newsagency, prices of fruit, veg-etables and chicken continueto rise for the past many weeks.

A number of customerscomplained that shopkeeperswere violating the price lists is-sued by the local Price Magis-trates to the shopkeepers andvendors.

“The shopkeepers andvendors are overcharging the

customers and demandingprices of their own will,”Shahzad Butt a customer toldAPP. Mango is being sold atRs 80 to 120 per kilogram, AppleRs 120 to 200 per kilogram, Ba-nana Rs 100 to 160 per dozen,Water melon at Rs 20 to 30 perkg and Apricot Rs 110 to 140per kg. Similarly, the prices ofvegetables have also gone upas Tomato is being sold at Rs45 to 60 per kilogram, Onion Rs40 to 60 per kg, Potato Rs 25 to30, Bitter gourd Rs 40 to 60 perkg, Lady finger 60 to 80 per kg,Garlic 160 to 200 per kg and Gin-ger 120 to 160 per kg.—APP

Chicken, fruit pricesgo out of reach

ISLAMABAD—The PakistanNational Council of theArts (PNCA) in collabora-tion with the Ministry ofNational Heritage and In-tegrat ion on Mondayorganised a puppet show,which enthralled childrenof twin cities at National ArtGallery (NAG).

The puppet show atPNCA hall is a regular fea-ture of the council pre-sented by National PuppetTheatre while the PNCA hasannounced to hold thispuppet show every Mon-

day at the same venue andtime. With the movement ofpuppets, the show depictedfolk tales and skits to en-tertain and educate childrenregarding social problems,including health, education,environment, etc.

Besides entertainment,these puppet shows areaimed at explaining socio-cultural issues and nurturea sense of responsibilityamong children to combatsuch evils.

In charge Puppet Per-formers Zulfiqar Ahmad

who took training of pup-petry from China said por-trayal of folk tales was alsoattractive for children thatprovided the childrenabout the richness of theirfolk culture and traditions.

He said the puppetshows were popular as‘Children Theater’ whichentertained with differentvariet ies of puppets thatwere made of a wide rangeof materials, depending ontheir form and intended use(evil or good perfor-mance).—APP

Puppet show mesmeriseskids of twin cities

RAWALPINDI—FelicitatingMian Muhammad ShahbazSharif on his election asPunjab Chief Minister forthird term, District ConsumerProtection Council (DCPC)Monday demanded of theProvincial government to setup a consumer protectioncomplex in Rawalpinidi asbeing established inGujranwala and Sialkot.

The DCPC, in its meetingheld here, appreciated MianShahbaz Sharif for taking anumber of initiatives duringlast five years to set up con-sumer courts and councilsacross the province to protectconsumers’ rights and inter-ests. Addressing the meeting,DCPC Focal Person IdreesRandhawa highlighted impor-tance of establishing a con-sumer complex in the city, say-ing that it would provide allfacilities to consumers underone roof.

He said the council, asunique department was pro-viding counseling, awarenessand legal consultancy to theconsumers for protection oftheir rights.

Official sources in the Di-rectorate of Provincial Con-sumer Protection Council toldAPP that the Punjab govern-ment set up DCPCs and con-sumer courts in eleven dis-tricts of the province to pro-tect the consumers’ rights.These institutions are operat-ing under the Punjab Con-sumer Protection Act (PCPA),2005 in Lahore, Gujranwala,Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan,Sargodha, Gujrat, Sialkot,Multan, Bahwalpur, Faisalabdand Rawalpindi where instantand free relief is given to com-plainants.

They underlined the needfor creating awareness amongconsumers about their rightsand making them familiar withthe procedure to file com-plaints against companiesmanufacturing different prod-ucts, shopkeepers and orga-nizations.

The sources advised con-sumers to always check manu-facturing and expiry dates be-sides reading ingredients,component parts and instruc-tions of products before theirpurchase.—APP

IIUI Shariahcourse concludes

ISLAMABAD—The concludingceremony of the 54th Shariahcourse took place on Mondayat Shariah Academy FaisalMosque campus of Interna-tional Islamic UniversityIslamabad. Director GeneralShariah Academy Dr TahirMansoori was the chief gueston the occasion.

During the 16-week coursethe participants availed thegolden opportunity to visit dif-ferent countries includingEgypt, Turkey and some of theMiddle Eastern countries,where they also visited theirlaw and justice institutions,and studied their contemporaryjudicial system.—APP

DCPC demands establishmentof consumer rights complex

Garbage dumpingresented

ISLAMABAD—The residentshave expressed concern overdumping of garbage in thearea, which is troublesomefor them and could becomecause of outbreak of differ-ent diseases.

Expressing outrage, theresidents complained thatheaps of garbage on mainroad of city Streets, which leadto turned into a dirt depot dueto negligence of sanitationstaff. Sajid Ali, a resident talk-ing to APP, complained thatsanitation staff visited thespot for removing garbage butgarbage left behind was seton fire, adding that some ofthe garbage was thrown innearby nullah. Moreover, thestinky smell irks residents.

The residents demandedfrom Capital DevelopmentAuthority (CDA) to bandumping garbage in the area,which was troublesome forthem and a threat to healthof the people.—APP

Restaurantsspreading pollutionISLAMABAD—The growingtrend of setting up restau-rants at Pir Sohawa is a ma-jor reason for creating pol-lution at the picturesquelandscape of Margallla hills.

“The setup of private res-taurants and their activities isa matter of concern for naturelovers as there was a time, theplace was considered as apopular spot for those whowanted to enjoy the glimpsesof nature, but now the rush ofprivate cars and public gath-erings have spoiled thesoothing environment,” saida visitor at Pir Sohawa whilecommenting on a popular res-taurant.—APP

Sale ofunhygienic

drinks on riseISLAMABAD—The sale ofunhygienic beverages isflourishing in twin cities ofIslamabad and Rawalpindidue to lack of action by theauthorities concerned. Thevendors are busy sellingsubstandard drinks in manyparts of the twin cities ofIslamabad and Rawalpindi.

The drinks on sale in-clude different fruit juicesand ice creams. Many ven-dors are selling juice of stalefruits at low prices, especiallyat the bus stands and otherplaces.

The drinks prepared un-der poor hygienic conditionsis one of the main causes forvarious seasonal diseasesamong children in summer.

Many markets of the twincities particularly Pirwadahiand Faizabad bus stops havebecome the hub of these bev-erages as passengers haveno option but to use sub-standard stuff due to hightemperature. Mango juice isavailable just for Rs 10 perglass.—APP

It’s not what you pay aman, but what he costs

you that counts.

— Will Rogers

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Asif presiding over a meeting on KESC affairs.

TOKYO—Japan’s economy ex-panded faster than previouslythought in the first quarter, ac-cording to fresh data Mondaythat was likely to boost supportfor Tokyo’s efforts at stokinggrowth.

The Cabinet Office said re-vised data showed annualisedgrowth came in at 4.1 percentin January-March, up from apreliminary reading of 3.5 per-cent and well ahead of manyother industrialised nations whoare struggling to stoke theireconomies.

Japan economy swellsup in first quarter

The figures come days afterPrime Minister Shinzo Abe un-veiled his so-called “third ar-row” of a sweeping plan for theeconomy that includes big gov-ernment spending and aggres-sive monetary easing by theBank of Japan.

Since winning landslideDecember elections, the conser-vative premier has moved to re-vive the flaccid economy andend years of growth-sappingdeflation with a scheme dubbed“Abenomics”.

His huge programme has

sent the yen plunging around 20percent since November, whichhas in turn sent shares in To-kyo soaring as the weaker cur-rency benefits Japanese export-ers.

Markets were initially un-impressed by Abe’s announce-ment last week to put in placestructural reforms to supportgrowth but he has vowed topress on before mid-term elec-tions next month that are likelyto solidify his Liberal Demo-cratic Party’s legislativepower.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Bearish trend pre-vailed in Lahore Stock Ex-change onMonday as itshed 107.93points, follow-ing the LSE-25index openedwith 4756.90and closed at4648.97 points.

T h emarket’s over-all situation,however, corre-sponded to an upward trend asit remained at 6.159 millionshares to close against previousturnover of 4.929 million shares,showing an upward move of1.230 million shares. While, outof the total 101 active scrips only14 moved up, 43 remined equalwith 44 shed values.

LSE down by107.93 points

Highnoon LaboratoriesLimited, Pakistan State OilCompany Limited and CrescentSteel and Allied were major

gainers of theday by recordingincrease in theirper share valueby Rs 3.26, Rs2.50 and Rs 2.07respectively.

E n g r oFoods Limited,Dawood Her-cules Corpora-tion, and EngroC o r p o r a t i o n

Limited lost their per share valueby Rs 4:00, Rs 2.85 and Rs 2.43respectively. The VolumeLeader of the day included TheBank of Punjab (R) with 1.132million shares, The Bank ofPunjab Limited with 730,000shares and Dewan Salman FibreLimited with 509,000 shares.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Pakistan Indus-trial and Traders AssociationFront (PIAF) Monday hopedthat Prime Minsiter MuhammedNawaz Sharif would take pri-vate sector on board in thepolicy making process.

Talking to a delegation ofbusinessmen here, PIAF ActingChairman Khamis Saeed Butt

PIAF hopes new govt to takeprivate sector on board

said the public in general and thebusiness community in particu-lar had reposed confidence in theSharif brothers with expecta-tions that their governmentswould utilize all available re-sources to remove economic ills.

He also called for curtailingnon-developmental expendituresand bringing untaxed sectors intothe tax net to enhance governmentrevenue besides dealing with cor-

ruption with an iron hand.The PIAF leader urged the

new government to eveolve aneffective and viable strategy inconsultation with stakholders torevive economy. Uninterupptedsupply of electricity and gas andpromotion of merit and auster-ity would not only revive busi-ness activities but also attractmuch-needed foregn invest-ment, he observed.

Rates for conversionKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign Currency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certificates,Foreign Currency BearerCertificates, Special U.S.Dollar Bonds and profitsthereon by all banks and forproviding Forward Cover onForeign Currency Deposits(excluding F.E. 25 deposits) bythe State Bank on June 11,2013. The rates are U.S.Dollar Rs 98.5405, JapaneseYen Rs 0.9988, Pound SterlingRs 153.0136 and Euro Rs130.2311.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan’s first mod-ern, environment-friendly andlargest private sector steel manu-facturing project worth $350 mil-lion under Tuwairiqi Steel Mills(TSML) celebrated the highestever production of iron making inPakistan. The programme was or-ganized by the TSML at a localhotel here on Monday where ex-perts from various countries in-cluding the United States elabo-rated the qualities of the project.

Giving details of the project,Director (project) and countryhead TSML Zaigham Adil Rizvisaid iron making at its highestcapacity had been made underPlant Demonstration Test (PDT)conducted under the supervisionof the MIDREX experts whichwas the unique group of its na-ture in the world in Direct Re-

Highest ever steel productionin country celebrated

duced Iron ( DRI) technology.He said the plant produced

clean and pure iron under lesssmoked and noiseless friendly en-vironment, as it emitted one thirdof carbon pollution as compared tothe other iron manufacturing meth-ods, adding that it was the first everDRI plant in the country which wasproducing better quality DRI thanit was being produced in SaudiArabia and it met the internationalstandards in quality.

The plant has the capacityof 1.28 Metric Ton per Year(MTPY) and it is base onMIDREX natural gas based cut-ting edge technology which pro-duces high grade steels used inwide industrial applications.

The world crude steel produc-tion was 1.49 billion tons in 2011whereas the share of Pakistan init was just 4.5 million tons. Theper capita steel consumption of

Pakistan is at 38 kg against a glo-bal average of 215 kg while an-nual demand for steel in the coun-try is approximately 7.63 MTPY.

The DRI is used in electricarc furnace, induction furnace,LD converter and cupola fur-nace with different rations.

Later talking to newsmen,the director said that steel pro-duced in the plant had high de-mand in the world including In-dia but it was determination ofthe group to sell its productionin the country so steel produc-tion could be boosted up whichwas at the lowest point in Paki-stan as compared to the world.

Paul, the MIDREX expertand project developer from theUnited States, also addressed theparticipants and shared his ex-perience with them. A numberof steel traders and manufactur-ers were present.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—In a joint ef-fort, the Canadian High Com-mission and the University ofAgriculture Faisalabad col-laborated to facilitate a discus-sion with agriculture stake-holders on the need for re-search and analysis on the ben-efits of trade for Pakistan’sagricultural sector with Indiaand the world.

In this context, and as afirst step, a roundtable discus-sion was held recently here atthe Canadian HighCommissioner’s official resi-dence, says a press releasehere Monday.

The following topics

Roundtable discussion held onbenefits of agri trade for Pakistan

were discussed in the meeting,Agricultural marketing: Cur-rent status, emerging chal-lenges and policy options; Pros-pects for Pakistan in regionaltrade; WTO agreement and ag-ricultural trade from Pakistan;and The way forward and fu-ture collaboration.

The roundtable was hostedby H.E. Greg Giokas and mod-erated by Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan,the Vice-Chancellor of the Uni-versity of AgricultureFaisalabad.

In his comments, HighCommissioner Giokas said“Canada is interested in encour-aging a discussion on a marketopening with India and the restof the world, as it will provide

greater stability and muchneeded prosperity to Pakistanand the region.

Pakistan has many com-parative advantages, a good in-frastructure, a growingworkforce and the agriculturesector is a particular strength.

Improved research andanalysis on the economic ben-efits and challenges of trade inthe agriculture sector is a cru-cial componentof the decision-making process and we arepleased to work with Dr. Khanand the University of Agricul-ture Faisalabad to initiate dis-cussions with the many expertsand agriculture stakeholderswho joined us today”, Giokassaid.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—As part of BankAlfalah’s efforts to promote fi-nancial solutions that are in-novative, eco-friendly andcost-effective, the Bank hassigned a Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MOU) withBuksh Energy.

Through this collabora-tion, the Bank will lead thefinancial services industry inconverting to renewable en-ergy sources, namely solarpower with the aim of ‘’Go-ing Green’’. The signing cer-emony took place betweenBank Alfalah and Buksh En-ergy in Lahore today. Bank

Bank Alfalah takes a lead in econo-friendly financial solutionsAlfalah’s President, Mr. AtifBajwa and Buksh Energy’sCEO, Mr. Asim Buksh werepresent to mark the inception ofa promising partnership betweenthe two companies.

The initiation of this alliancebegan with the successful instal-lation of 2 KW solar plants andthe conversion of two of theBank’s ATMs to solar power byBuksh Energy. The plants arecapable of running the ATM,security system, branch serversand routers, as well as an inde-pendent light load, operating 24/7. The solar plant produces 12KWh of energy per day (4.38MWh per annum) per ATM con-verted on solar. The ATMs are

connected to the online portal,where energy production is re-corded and logged, and can bemonitored constantly.

Speaking at the occasion,Bank Alfalah’s CEO AtifBajwa said, “Given the chal-lenging energy shortfall beingfaced by the country, it is im-perative that we each take re-sponsibility and endeavor toplay our part in order to im-prove the existing situation. Tothis end, our collaboration withBuksh Energy is part of ourbroader aim to move in the di-rection of environment-friendlyalternate energy sources,whichshould also enhance our effi-ciency by both reducing costs

as well as ensuring zero down-time. ATMs are a key deliverychannel for any Bank and weare pleased that with this con-version, our ATMs are nowfunctioning 24 hours a day, 7days a week. Our financial sav-ings are considerable, the effecton our consumer service indexhas also been very positive andmost importantly, our carbonfootprint has reduced by5,760kg. We hope our effortswith Buksh energy can becomea successful example for otherinstitutions and businesses tofollow in the future.”

Bank Alfalah currentlyboasts a network of 378 ATMsand aims to convert its expan-

sive network and several of itsbranches to solar power in thenear future.

Speaking at the ceremony,Asim Buksh elaborated on theinstallation process and said,“We have found a way to makerunning ATMs increasinglycost-efficient and energy-effi-cient for Bank Alfalah, and wehope to be able to do the samefor many others in the future.The smallest things make thebiggest differences and the con-version of ATMs across thecountry to solar power will gen-erate 25,300 MWh of energyyearly. Buksh Energy is offer-ing energy audits conducted byour teams of experts to calcu-

late what the energy load is fora particular building so that wecan find the right solar solutionsand ways to conserve energy.Our process is streamlined, ef-ficient and most importantly,green.”

He also offered somecomments on what the futureholds in terms of alternativeenergy in Pakistan and therole Buksh Energy will play.“Bank Alfalah is a very en-ergy conscious bank and it’san honor for us to work withthem on this exciting venture.They will be the first of manyin what looks to be a very longline of conversions to cleanenergy, and we are confident

that Buksh Energy will beable to cater to their everyneed. Buksh Energy is look-ing forward to partnering withmore banks and initiatingsimilar deals and giving thema complete transformationalexperience.

We are committed to help-ing Pakistan deal with the en-ergy crisis and will be under-taking several major projectsin the near future to help usachieve this target. Our mostimportant goal is for 5% of thecountry’s energy needs to bemet by solar power by the year2020. Production, conserva-tion and distributed generationare the ways to tackle this situ-

ation. We have a project un-derway for construction of a10MW solar plant which ad-dresses energy production.With audits, we find ways toconserve as much energy aspossible. What we are doingwith Bank Alfalah is distrib-uted generation. The gridalone is not capable in pro-viding enough energy tomeet all of the country’selectricity needs. This shiftto green energy, even in aseemingly small amount,will do wonders forPakistan’s energy crisis, andwe are confident that we canmake the country energyself-reliant.”

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Overseas Paki-stanis remitted an amount of$12,762.44 million in elevenmonths (July 2012 – May 2013)of the current fiscal year 2012-13 (FY13), which is a source ofgreat comfort in the face of de-pleting foreign exchange re-serves.

The Pakistani workers re-mittances showed a growth of5.74 percent or $693.34 millioncompared with $12,069.10 mil-lion received during the sameperiod of the last fiscal year(July- May 2012).

The inflow of remittancesduring July-May 2013 fromSaudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK,GCC countries (includingBahrain, Kuwait, Qatar andOman) and EU countriesamounted to $3,751.55 million,$2,531.57 million, $2,006.14million, $1,774.06 million,

Overseas workers remittances issource of comfort in difficult times

$1,469.70 million and $326.34million respectively comparedwith the inflow of $3,353.32mil-lion, $2,629.72 million,$2,127.87 million, $1,394.38million, $1,366.88 million and$335.55 million respectively inJuly-May 2012. Remittancesreceived from Norway, Switzer-land, Australia, Canada, Japanand other countries during thefirst eleven months of the cur-rent fiscal year (July-May 2013)amounted to $902.98 million asagainst $861.38 million receivedin the first eleven months of thelast fiscal year (July- May2012).

The monthly average remit-tances for July-May 2013 periodcomes out to $1,160.22 millioncompared to $1,097.19 millionduring the corresponding periodof the last fiscal year.

Last month (May 2013), anamount of $1,192.62 millionwas sent home by overseas Pa-

kistanis, up by 0.04 percent,compared with $1,192.11 mil-lion received in the same monthof 2012.

In May 2013, the inflow ofremittances from Saudi Arabia,UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries(including Bahrain, Kuwait,Qatar and Oman) and EU coun-tries amounted to $379.96 mil-lion, $219.56 million, $186.29million, $162.95 million,$138.03 million and $28.65 mil-lion respectively compared withthe inflow of $365.46 million,$243.46 million, $205.52 mil-lion, $130.71 million, $140.27million and $30.96 million re-spectively in May 2012. Remit-tances received from Norway,Switzerland, Australia, Canada,Japan and other countries dur-ing May 2013 amounted to$77.18 million as against $75.73million received in the samemonth (May 2012) of the lastfiscal year.

Mango harvestguidelines for

growers, exportersOBSERVER REPORT

MULTAN—Agriculture expertshave issued guidelines formango growers and exporterswith a view to increase its shelflife.

In a press release issued bythe media liaison unit of Punjabagriculture department hereMonday, experts said that grow-ers could decide when to harvestmango by assessing few thingsincluding its shoulders’ growth,sugar content and shape in ac-cordance with the variety.

Mango is ready for harvestwhen its shoulders are fullygrown, get proper shape and hassugar content up to 10-12 degreefor local marketing. However, itshould be harvested for exportwhen sugar content is 8-10 de-gree for enhanced post-harvestlife, they added.

Growers should have directaccess to mango fruit throughmodern gadgets and cut it withstick attached while avoidinginjury to it. Harvesting shouldbe done in the morning and fruitbe put in a soft basket at a shadyplace.

FBR’s operationagainst smuggled

cigarettes continuesSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Special team ofDirectorate General Intelligenceand Investigation, Inland Rev-enue, Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) has conducted raids onwholesalers and retailers inMultan and seized smuggledcigarette brands of worth mil-lions of rupees.

According to official sources,on the instructions of DirectorGeneral, Intelligence and Investi-gation, special teams have con-ducted operation in Multan cityagainst wholesalers and retailersinvolved in trading of smuggledcigarette brand Pine and seizedhuge quantity of smuggled brandsincluding Pine cigarettes.

Smuggled cigarettes costbillions of rupees annual loss tothe national exchequer. In Paki-stan sale of smuggled cigaretteis on rise and understanding theseverity of the issue.

Oil prices upSINGAPORE—Oil prices rosein Asian trade Monday asmoderate growth in new jobsin the United States raisedhopes about a pick-up indemand in the world’s biggestcrude consumer, analysts said.New York’s main contract,West Texas Intermediate fordelivery in July, gained fivecents to $96.08 a barrel andBrent North Sea crude for Julyadded three cents to $104.59 inthe afternoon. “At thismoment, the crude market isdriven by the positivesentiment about job creation inthe United States, which pointstowards a growing economy,”Desmond Chua, marketanalyst at CMC Markets inSingapore, told AFP. US LaborDepartment figures releasedFriday showed 175,000 jobswere generated in May, despiteworries that huge governmentspending cuts would lead to aslowdown in hiring. Thenumbers for May were a firmgain from April’s 149,000 rise,though still below the193,000-a-month January-April average. The jobs data,which came after severallacklustre US economicreports last week, also boostedhopes the Fed will hold off anymoves to rein in its monetaryeasing programme any timesoon.—APP

KARACHI—The successfulcompletion of a deal betweenTrading Corporation of Pakistan(TCP) and M/s Toepfer Interna-tional for importing 50,000 tonsof urea is still doubtful, as thecontract award letter was issuedafter expiry of bid. Sources saidthat in response of TCP’’s ten-der award letter.

The bidder said that marketsin the Gulf region normally re-mained closed on Fridays, whileones in Europe were closed onSaturdays and Sundays. There-fore, the bidder said that its lo-cal agent was unable to approachits supplier and producer. Ac-cording to the terms and condi-tion of the urea import tender,all bids were valid for just 48

Urea import deal unlikely to maturehours.

TCP had opened the tenderon June 5 this year and accord-ingly all bids expired on June 6.While, TCP awarded 50,000tons of urea import contract toM/s Toepfer International onJune 7 at about 10 pm, thesources said.

Sources said that beforeawarding the urea tender to low-est bidder, a TCP official alsocalled for extending the bid’’svalidity, but M/s Pacific - thelocal agent of M/s Toepfer In-ternational - had made it clearthat because of the weekend, itwas not able to respond quickly.

In the contract award letter,TCP gave a week to M/s Toepferfor depositing performance

guarantee equivalent to five per-cent of the total contracted quan-tity as per clause (a-b) of the ten-der. The last date for depositingthe performance guarantee isJune 13, after which a Letter ofCredit will be established by thecorporation. In response ofTCP’’s urea import tender,which was opened on June 5, asmany as 15 international bid-ders/suppliers had submittedtheir offers, quoting prices rang-ing between from $335 to $371per ton Cost and Freight (C&F).

M/s Toepfer Internationalemerged as the lowest bidder,which offered to supply 50,000tons of urea at a price of $335per metric tons through

Continued on Page 11

Energy sector isgovt’s top

priority: AhsanSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Minister forPlanning and DevelopmentAhsan Iqbal on Monday saidthat energy sector would be toppriority of the government fornext year’s Public Sector Devel-opment Program.

In an interview with RadioPakistan, he said that govern-ment has allocated Rs 107 bil-lion for energy sector whileWAPDA and PEPCO wouldalso invest Rs. 118 billion sepa-rately.

He said that Rs 25.2 billionhad been allocated for construc-tion and acquisition of land forDiamir-Bhasha Dam, Rs 25 bil-lion for Neelum-Jhelum HydroElectricity Project, Rs 14 billionfor Tarbela expansion project,Rs 10 billion for KarachiNuclear Energy project and Rs42 billion rupees allocated forChashma III and IV projects.

Ahsan Iqbal said Rs. 25 bil-lion fixed for population wel-fare and education sectors foreach while government willspend 43 billion rupees in FATAand Gilgit-Baltistan, adding Rs105 billion were allocated fortransport and communicationsector.

Expected GDP target for thenext fiscal year is 4.4 per centwith 3.8 per cent growth in theagriculture sector, he said.

FCCI hails twoholidays decisionObserver ReportFAISALABAD—FaisalabadChamber of Commerce andIndustry (FCCI) here Mondayhailed the decision of Punjabgovernment for two-day weeklyoff and termed it a well thought-out decision. In a pressstatement, FCCI President MianZahid Aslam said that owing togap between demand and supplyin the country, the decision ofPunjab Government for twoweekly holidays might help insaving energy but the number ofextra holidays throughout theyear needs to be minimized. Hesaid that currently gas supply toFaisalabad industries is 4 daysin a week and increasedelectricity load-shedding to thebusiness and industries mighthave negative effect on thecurrent capacity production andemployment situation in the areato nearly 30 percent. He,however, urged the governmentto search new energy sources asthe real solution of energy crisis.

Gold Tezab 45257.00Silver Tezabi 737.14

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 45010.00Gold 22 Ct 41150.00SilverTezabi 690.00Silver Thobi 630.00

USA 98.40 98.20

UK 152.75 152.44

EURO 129.87 129.60

Canada 96.40 96.20

Switzerland 105.01 104.80

Australia 92.63 92.44

Sweden 14.97 14.94

Japan 1.0017 1.9996

Norway 17.04 17.00

Singapore 78.43 78.27

Denmark 17.42 17.38

Omani Riyal 250.50 248.50

Saudi Arabia 26.24 26.18

Hong Kong 12.68 12.65

Kuwait 345.26 344.56

Malaysia 31.52 31.46

Newzeland 77.15 76.99

Qatar 27.03 26.97

UAE 26.79 26.74

KR WON 0.0875 0.0873

Thailand 3.205 3.198

Greece delaysretrial ofjournalist

ATHENS—A Greek court onMonday postponed the retrialof a journalist who wascleared last year over thepublication of leaked Swissbank account data in a casethat has deeply embarrassedthe government.

The adjournment camejust days after Greek law-makers voted in favour ofwidening a parliamentaryprobe into a former financeminister over the handlingof the confidential docu-ment known as the“Lagarde list”.

Costas Vaxevanis, thepublisher of investigativemagazine Hot Doc, brandedhis trial a “farce” after thecourt adjourned the case toOctober 8 at the request ofthe defence.

Vaxevanis was contro-versially charged last year forpublishing an alleged copy ofthe “Lagarde list” of sus-pected tax dodgers, trigger-ing charges of Greek presscensorship.

The document containsthe names of more than2,000 wealthy Greek HSBCbank account holders inSwitzerland and was usedto pursue suspected taxevaders.

It was originally leakedby an HSBC employee andpassed to Greece in 2010 byFrance’s then finance minis-ter Christine Lagarde, whonow heads the InternationalMonetary Fund.

The list enabled au-thorities in France, Spainand Britain to recuperatemillions of euros in lost taxrevenue, but Greek authori-ties treated it as stolen dataand failed to pursue thecase.

Vaxevanis’ first trial be-came a major embarrassmentfor the government whichwas accused of trying to burythe issue and censor the jour-nalist.

The 46-year-old was ac-quitted in November but aretrial was ordered after theprosecutor said there were“legal faults” in the originalverdict.

Defence lawyer HarrisEconomopoulos branded it a“political trial” whileVaxevanis said it had becomea “farce”.

Last Thursday, Greeklawmakers decided thatGeorge Papaconstantinouwho originally received thelist from Lagarde should beinvestigated for damagingthe image of the public trea-sury during his stint as fi-nance minister.

He is also accused oftampering with the“Lagarde list” to hinder aprobe into tax evasion, bydeleting the names of threeof his relatives from thelist.

The ex-minister, whohas retired from politics,helped set up the indebtedcountry’s first austerityprogramme and EuropeanUnion-IMF bailout plan in2010, and protests that heis being used as a scape-goat.—Agencies

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

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Emirates onMonday celebrated the start ofits daily, non-stop servicefrom Dubai to Tokyo Interna-tional Airport (Haneda) withthe launch of its inauguralflight.

“We value our partnershipwith Tokyo International Airport; it is one that helps to connecttwo global hubs of developmentand growth - Japan and theUAE. We know that Hanedawill play an integral role in ourroute network and the launch ofservices demonstrates Emirates’commitment to Japan ,” saidThierry Antinori, Emirates’ Ex-ecutive Vice President, Passen-ger Sales Worldwide.

“Since the commencementof Emirates’ flights to Osaka in

Emirates starts flightsfrom Dubai to Tokyo

2002, trade relations betweenJapan and UAE have flour-

ished. According to JETRO (Ja-pan External TradeOrganisation), two-way tradebetween UAE and Japan roseto $53.1 billion in 2012, up by5.4 per cent compared to pre-vious year,” continued MrAntinori.

“Haneda is our third gate-way in Japan and we are confi-dent that the demand in termsof both passengers and cargo isstrong enough to warrant Emir-

ates operating non-stop, dailyflights to both of Tokyo ’s air-ports, offering our passengersmore flexibility on the route toDubai and onwards to over 70destinations in the IndianOcean, Middle East, Africa andEurope ,” concluded MrAntinori.

On board Emirates’ firstflight to Haneda was SalemObaidalla, Emirates’ SeniorVice President, CommercialOperation Far East &Australasia; His ExcellencyDaisuke Matsunaga, ConsulGeneral of Japan;Ravishankar Mirle, Emirates’Vice President Cargo Com-mercial; media representa-tives from the United ArabEmirates and connecting pas-sengers from 17 destinationson Emirates’ global network.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—A 40-member largebusiness delegation from Tai-wan is likely to visit Pakistan inSeptember this year to furtherstrengthen two-way trade andeconomic relation.

Taiwan Trade Center(TAITARA) Director Abrahamstated this, while talking to LahoreChamber of Commerce and In-dustry at LCCI on Monday.

LCCI President FarooqIftikhar, LCCI Senior VicePresident Irfan Iqbal Sheikh,Vice President Mian AbuzarShad, former President MianMisbah-ur-Rehman and otherswere also present.

The TAITARA Directorsaid that Taiwan Trade Centerwould consider opening up ofits liaison office either inKarachi or Islamabad with anobjective to facilitate business-

Taiwanese businessmenmay visit Pakistan soon

men of the both sides.“The TAITRA may open its

liaison office to carry out businessactivities and accelerate the paceof momentum for interaction be-tween business communities ofboth the countries,” he said, add-ing that negotiations in this regardwere well on way with the minis-tries of Finance and Commerce.

He said the visit of Taiwanbusinessmen aimed to identifyavailable trade opportunities sothat they could make more in-vestment in Pakistan.

Taiwan was already doing alot of business in Pakistan,therefore, Pakistani businesscommunity should also considerputting their money in businessventures in Taiwan particularlyin the field of auto parts, textilemachinery, steel products, ball-bearings, coils, UPS(Uniterrupted Power System)and solar power products.

While, the LCCI Presidenturged the TAITARA and Taiwangovernment to consider grantingvisas on arrival to Pakistanibusinessmen as non-availabilityof Taiwani mission in Pakistanwas hitting the business commu-nity hard as they had to go toHong Kong first for getting avisa. Soon after the visit of 40-member Taiwani business del-egation, he said, the LCCIwould also arrange a businessdelegation to Taiwan.

Farooq Iftikhar also calledfor strengthening the bankingchannels so that the businesscommunity could be able to dobusiness with each other.

The LCCI President assuredall possible cooperation and as-sistance to make the Taiwanesebusiness visit a success, addingthat it would also help expandexisting volume of trade be-tween the two countries.

Food deptprocures

3,662,000tons wheatSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Punjab Fooddepartment has so far pro-cured 3,662,000 tonnes ofwheat against the set target of4 million tons during the cur-rent wheat procurement drive.

Punjab Food DirectorCaptain (R) MuhammadUsman Younis told APP onMonday the wheat procure-ment process would be com-pleted in a few days.

He hoped the procurementtarget would be achieved andarrangements had also beenmade for storing wheat.

The director said that offi-cials of the department wouldvisit wheat storage centers toreview arrangements for therainy season. Farmers are get-ting good rates of more than Rs1200 per 40 kg of the commod-ity, he added.

He said that food require-ment of Punjab was 2.8 milliontonnes and the department hada wheat stock of more than 4million tonnes.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—President Phar-maceutical Manufacturing As-sociation (PMA) KP, ImtiazAhmad has expressed strongreservation over fixing of heavyfee by Drug Regulatory Author-ity (DRA) on import license forpharmaceutical products, issu-ance of pharmaceutical andGMB certificates.

In a press statement issuedhere Monday, Imtiaz Ahmadclaimed this step by DRA willhave negative impact on pharma-ceutical industry of the country.

PMA expresses concernover fixing DRA heavy fee

He said DRA is issuingSROs on daily basis which isimproper and unhealthy act forpharmaceutical manufacturers.Earlier, he said fee of everypharmaceutical item was Rs.250 which has now been in-creased by 20 times to Rs. 5,000.

Similarly, he added, the Cer-tificate of Pharmaceutical prod-uct was earlier issued free of costand now a fee of Rs. 20,000 hasbeen fixed for this. In the sameway, GMB certificate was alsoissued free of cost and now itsfee has been set as Rs. 50,000.

This practice by DRA of

making exorbitant increase inpharmaceutical products is cre-ating problems for the industryand resultantly fake medicineswill find way into market dam-aging the health of masses, heobserved.

President PharmaceuticalManufacturing Association KPhas requested the competent au-thorities to resend the decision.

The DRA, he added, shouldalso be asked to consult pharma-ceutical manufacturing associa-tion while taking decision aboutfixing of fees of different prod-ucts.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —IslamabadChamber of Commerce & Indus-try here on Monday urged thegovernment to provide incentivesin the upcoming federal budgetto encourage the promotion ofsolar energy in the country.

Addressing a meeting,President ICCI ZafarBakhtawari said that solar en-ergy was the best short-term so-lution to Pakistan’s growing en-ergy problem as it was very en-vironment-friendly renewableand could be produced in theshortest possible time.

Therefore, government

ICCI seeks incentives togenerate solar energy

should encourage conversion ofpower supply in governmentoffices, banking & private edu-cational institutions as well asall street lights to solar energyin phases, he added.

He urged the government toallow duty free import of solarpanels while solar solutionsshould also be encouraged inagriculture sector by convertingall tube wells to solar energy.

Zafar Bakhtawari said esti-mates indicated that Pakistanhas a huge potential of generat-ing over 2.324 million megawatts electricity per annumthrough solar system.

He said though solar panels

were expensive presently how-ever encouraging local commer-cial manufacturing would makethem cheaper and viable for allconsumers.

He stressed for manufactur-ing of all components of solarsystem locally in order to makethem viable for the local as wellas export markets.

He said USA, Germany,Australia, Brazil, UK, Japan,India, China and Thailand weregenerating electricity in bulkthrough solar system and Paki-stan should also seriously con-sider this option to overcomeenergy problems in shortesttime.

Implementationdate of Public

Sector CompaniesRules extended

ISLAMABAD—The federal gov-ernment has extended the imple-mentation date of the 2013 Pub-lic Sector Companies (Corpo-rate Governance) Rules to July8, 2013.

The rules were issued by theSecurities and Exchange Com-mission of Pakistan with theapproval of the federal govern-ment and were to come intoforce after 90 days of the issu-ance of this notification, i.e. June8, 2013.—INP

Growth edges upin most big

economies: OECDPARIS—Growth is showingsigns of edging up in most bigeconomies, but appears to befirming markedly only in theUnited States and Japan, theOrganisation for EconomicCooperation and Develop-ment (OECD) said on Mon-day.

Meanwhile among the ma-jor emerging nations Chinaand Brazil are ticking along attrend rates, while growth inRussia is “losing momentum”and in India it remains belowpar.

The Organisation for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Devel-opment said that its index ofleading indicators shows theeurozone overall appearing topick up some momentum withgrowth in Germany “returningto trend” and a “positive change”in Italy.

The outlook is based on in-dex of leading indicators in ma-jor economies and is consideredto be a reliable guide to futureeconomic activity.

However for France, whichhas fallen into recession, it “doesnot indicate any change in mo-mentum,” the Organisation forEconomic Cooperation and De-velopment said in its monthly re-port. The index points to growthclose to trend rates for Britain andCanada. The outlook is based onindex of leading indicators in ma-jor economies and is consideredto be a reliable guide to future eco-nomic activity.

The Organisation for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Devel-opment is a forum forpolicymaking and analysisgrouping 34 advanced econo-mies.—Agencies

PARIS—The French economyis set to eke out growth of 0.1percent in the second quarter ofthis year, the Bank of Francesaid on Monday, after enteringrecession in the first quarter.

But despite the gloom gen-erally clouding the prospects forgrowth and unemployment thisyear, other official data showedthat output by French industryrallied sharply in April, by 2.2percent from the March levelwhen it fell by 0.6 percent.

The rebound in April waspulled largely by the auto sec-tor, an important industry in

Industry boosts weakFrench economy

France which has been hard hitby weak economic activity inFrance and the eurozone.

The performance of theFrench economy and theprogress of structural reforms arebeing watched closely in theeurozone. Growth, and relatedtax revenues, are of critical im-portance for the Socialist-Greengovernment led by PresidentFrancois Hollande, elected a yearago with a promise to boost in-dustry, growth and employment.

France is running a bigstructural trade deficit, whichsaps growth, and the govern-

ment has launched policies toraise the competitive position ofFrench industry. Unemploymenthas risen to a new record levelbut Hollande says the trend willturn by the end of the year.

The meagre growth forecastfrom the Bank of France was inline with its last forecast. In thefirst quarter, France entered thesecond recession in four years.

The outlook from the cen-tral bank is the same as the fore-cast from the national statisticsinstitute INSEE which reportedthe data on the industrial produc-tion upturn.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A four-day train-ing workshop on Soil and Wa-ter Management Techniques forsemi arid regions was inaugu-rated at Pir Mehr Ali Shah AridAgriculture UniversityRawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) onMonday.

The aims of the workshopwas to enhance capacity of thelocal farmers in terms of soil andwater management and intro-duce them new water harvest-ing techniques to effectivelysave the surplus water and lateruse for agriculture purpose, saida press release.

The workshop was orga-nized by the Department of En-vironmental Sciences, AAUR incollaboration with Institute forPlant Protection, National Re-search Center Italy (CNR) andMinistry of Foreign Affair Italyunder the project Training and

Workshop on soil, water managementtechniques inaugurated at AAUR

Capacity Building in Sustain-able Agriculture Water Manage-ment.

On the inaugural session ofthe workshop, Dr. ManzoorHussain Somroo, Chairman Pa-kistan Sciences Foundation wasthe chief guest while Prof. Dr.Rai Niaz Ahmad was the guestof honor.

Researchers, farmers,people from NGO, AgricultureExtension Departments, Edu-cation and Research organiza-tions participated in the work-shop.

Dr. Manzoor Hussain ap-preciated the efforts of AAURto make good collaboration withCNR Italy and working on a hotissue sustainable water.

He said that if any Pakistaniscientist wished to do work withEuropean Union 2020 missionon different issues related to thewater management and its sus-tainable use in Pakistan the PSF

will supports him. Dr Manzoor stressed that

there is a need of capacitybuilding programmes to pro-mote water management sys-tem and urged the young sci-entists to come up with inno-vative solutions to the issuesbeing faced by nation in cur-rent scenario.

Rai Niaz Ahmad said thatin 1950s Pakistan had surpluswater over 5,000 M3 which isnow about 1,000 M3 and in 2050it would further be decreasednear 500 M3.

He stressed “We have towork on war footings to con-front this issues.”

He recommended that it istime to increase investments inwater reservoirs; improve wa-ter management, irrigation andcrop cultivation; introducerainwater harvesting andlaunch of mass awarenesscampaigns.

KARACHI—Cotton The vol-ume of business on the cottonmarket was once again lackadai-sical this week as mills await thefiner varieties of the new cropslated to hit the Southern cen-ters by the end of the month. Asfar as ginners are concerned, thelast 3 weeks have seen their un-sold stock slowly whittling awayand although there were someconcerns initially, sources saythe market is not completely de-void of buyers.

Traders report that al-though a large number of com-posite textile units are coveredup till August, a small numberof textile units (mostly smallertowel and undergarment pro-ducers) are still buying spo-radically. Currently, some80,000-100,000 bales ofuseable (but lower-quality)cotton are said to be in theginner’s possession, howeverhardly any trade activity is ex-

Cotton market not devoid of buyerspected in the next few weeks.

On the global front, a slow-down in buying during the earlysessions this week saw pricesfall down to settle at around 83.5cents/lb. However a fresh roundof Chinese buying at the closeof the week was enough to causeworries about the tighteningsupplies outside of Beijing.

Consequently, fiber futuresrallied on Thursday and the firstweekly gain in a month was re-corded as buyers were encour-aged by an increase in USweekly export sales and a weak-ening greenback. The most-ac-tive July cotton contract on ICEFutures hence settled up by asmuch as 1.35 cents, closing at84.87 cents/lb on Friday.

As of this week, an increas-ing global consumption of fiber,lower American production andincessant buying by the world’slargest consumer is putting thecotton stock situation in a pre-

carious situation. Though hugequantities of inventories exist,the absence of physical cottonfrom the market might meananother round of vicious rally-ing. However, as before, theChinese state policies-in all theirinherent unpredictable glory-shall continue to be the singlebiggest factor influencing thedirection of the swing that pricestake in the medium term.

WHEAT This week reports ofa rise in flour prices in areas sur-rounding the capital have pouredin from various sources. Havinghiked up by as much as Rs 100/20 kg bag in some areas, pricesare right now at the mercy of thefood departments controlling sup-ply of wheat to the mills in theregion, say sources. With procure-ment drives nearing an end inmost areas, the situation howevershould likely be resolved soonenough. But a number of sourceshave incessantly voiced their dis-

belief at the government’s insis-tence that it would easily meetthe targets. In any case, the timeis nigh that the supply side situ-ation of the country’s staple cropbecomes clearer. Amongst othernews, another week has passedwithout any news regarding fur-ther progress on the decision toship an initial 30,000 tons ofwheat to Iran. For a time being,there were some concerns aboutthe implications of the decisionto barter wheat for electricity ata time when there was alreadyan alleged shortage of the pre-cious food commodity in thecountry.

But it seems that most of thebrouhaha was much ado aboutnothing. Sources report that a lackof standardised quality of thegrain originating from Pakistanhas already been categoricallyrejected by Iran a number oftimes before and this time shouldbe no different. —Agencies

Gwadar port, besidesdepsoting a bid bond of$570,000. The second lowestbid of $337.17 per ton wassubmitted by M/s Trammo forthe supply of the same quan-tity through Gwadar, Karachiand Bin Qasim. However,TCP, declared the first lowestbid non-responsive, andawarded the contract to thesecond lowest bidder namelyM/s Trammo, which quoted

$2.17 per ton higher priceagainst the first lowest bid.

However, the ministry ofcommerce took strict notice ofthe irregularity in urea importtender on a report published inBusiness Recorder, askingTCP, via a letter (No1(1)/JS/FT-III-2013), for awarding thecontract to the first lowest bid-der, which had previously beendeclared non-responsive. OnFriday, the TCP reversed its

previous decision, awarding theurea import contract to the firstlowest bidder.

Following the directives ofthe ministry of finance, SahtoAnwar Ahmed Jaan, the GeneralManager (imports), sent a con-tract award letter to the lowestbidder namely M/s Pacific EximPvt Limited (the local agent ofM/s Toepfer International-Asia)for the supply of 50,000 tons ofurea.—Agencies

Urea importFrom Page 10

PEOPLE who go on an extremely low caloriediet are more likely to develop gallstones thanpeople on a moderately low calorie diet, ac-cording to a new study. Dr. Michael Jensen, aprofessor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, saiddieters typically end up with similar weight lossin the long run whether theyuse extreme calorie restric-tion or more moderately re-stricted diets.

“You’re going to end upin the same place (weight-wise), so why take the risk ofending up in the hospital witha gall bladder problem just tolose weight faster?” saidJensen, who was not part ofthe study. Gallstones affect asmany as 20 million people inthe U.S. Dr. Kari Johansson,the lead author of the studyand a researcher at theKarolinska Institute in Swe-den, said quick weight lossfrom very low calorie diets isthought to impact the salt andcholesterol contents of bileand the emptying of the gallbladder, both ofwhich can contribute to gallstones.

To see how these diets affect gallstone riskin a real-world setting, Johansson and her col-leagues collected information on customers’progress from a weight loss company in Swe-den called Intrim. Some of the study authorshave worked for the company or serve on itsscientific advisory board. Their study included6,640 dieters, half of whom went on a crashdiet and the other half of whom went on a lowcalorie diet.

The crash diet involved liquid meals of just500 calories a day for six to 10 weeks, fol-lowed by the gradual introduction of normal

Crash diet tied toincreased gallstone risk

food, and then nine months of a weight main-tenance regime of exercise and healthy eat-ing. The other dieters ate 1,200 to 1,500 calo-ries a day, including two liquid meals, forthree months, followed by the nine monthweight maintenance period. Health coaches

at Intrim collected weight andbody size information, whichthe researchers linked to a na-tional health database that hasrecords on gallstone treatments.

After three months in theweight loss program, the crashdieters lost about 30 pounds,compared to roughly 17 poundslost among people on the lowcalorie diet. One year out fromthe start of the diet, the ex-tremely low calorie group hadlost an average of 24.5 pounds,while the other group lost about18 pounds. Among those on thecrash diet, 48 people developedgallstones requiring hospitaltreatment, and 16 people in theother group developed gall-stones, Johansson and her col-

leagues report in the International Journal ofObesity. They could not determine why gall-stones were more common among people inthe extremely low calorie group. “One con-tributing factor was that they lost more weightduring follow-up... another may be that theymay have had a lower fat intake,” Johanssonsaid in an email to Reuters Health. Jensen saidpeople should have doctors supervise theirhealth when going on a very low calorie diet,something that is recommended in the U.S.

“They should be informed about the risk/benefit trade off compared to using the lessintensive, but also less effective, (low caloriediet) alternative,” Johansson said.

KARACHI: Dr. Choong-Jae Cho addressing a gathering celebrating the 30th anniversaryof diplomatic relations organized by Korea Pakistan Business Forum.—PO photo

KARACHI: Models pose for photographers during the summer multi-designer exhibition.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

KARACHI: Workers installing a fountain near Arts Council and Sindh Assembly building.

KARACHI Children taking bath in water to get some relief from sizzling heat during hotday in the city.—PO photo

Ukrainianworker dies

in PSMSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A Skilled Ukrai-nian worker, age 36, KalitynskyVolodymry of M/s. Concord In-dustrial Project died of a suddenheart attack during his work inPakistan Steel, today.

He was transferred to Paki-stan Steel Hospital through anAmbulance for initial aid andtreatment but the attack was sosevere that he could not surviveand Doctor has confirmed hisdeath. Volodymry was singleand had held 11 years experiencein technical field. He was as-signed in Pakistan Steel as aforeman from Feb 28, 2013 byM/s. Concord Industrial Project.

This Ukrainian Companywas working in Pakistan Steelon the repair and revampingproject of Coke Oven BatteryPlant (COBP).

KARACHI—Muttahida QaumiMovement is against the obsoletesystem prevalent in the countryand is striving for a society basedon principles of equality, said HaqParast Member of National As-sembly Sajid Ahmed. Addressingthe participants of fourth annualAll Karachi Speech Contestorganised by All PakistanMuttahida Students Organisation(APMSO) he said MQM Chief,Altaf Hussain is spearheading acampaign aimed at catapulting

MQM to continue struggleagainst obsolete system

educated and enlightened youthwith limited resources to impor-tant decision making bodies of thecountry.

“These youth are strugglingagainst the crippling system andare playing their role to get it re-placed by a dynamic system withequal opportunities for all,” hesaid. Central Secretary General ofAPMSO, Tauseef Ejaz on the oc-casion said nations and move-ments do come across difficulttimes and those who lead and con-

tribute towards social and nationalstability are always remembered.

He said struggle initiated byAltaf Hussain has gained momen-tum in all parts of the country andhas led to general awakeningamong the masses about theirrights.

Central Joint Secretary ofAPMSO, Adil Khan, its Secretaryfor information and publicationsSyed Waqas Ali Shah and seniormember Ahmer Falastini alsospoke on the occasion.—APP

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The drop scene ofthe controversies, conflicts andtorture on the doctors was seen lastweek when the higher authoritiesof the province removed the ex-ecutive Director of the JinnahPostgraduate Medical Centre(JPMC) Dr Seemi Jamali from herpost and posted her as the Profes-sor of Pharmacology departmentof the JPMC. Dr Seemi served asthe in-charge of the casualty andtrauma centre of the JPMC con-sistently for 15 years and servedwell as the Executive Director,which was a highly challengingadministrative post of grade 20.

It was also an interesting situ-

Sacked Dr Seemi tochallenge removal in SHC

ation, which developed that theadministrator of Karachi Metro-politan Corporation (KMC) wasgiven the charge of the executiveDirector of country’s largestteaching hospital, the JPMC. thepost could rather be given to anyProfessor of the JPMC for the in-terim period till the final settle-ment of the controversies.

Pakistan Observer madesome efforts to know the realcause of the controversies at theJPMC and in that regard, talkedto Dr Seemi Jamali and JPMCDoctors Association President DrJawaid Jamali. Despite the factthat the health was made a pro-vincial subject through the devo-lution plan, but still the JPMC ad-

ministration, employees and theirpostings and transfers was a fed-eral subject. Hence, the act of re-moving the Executive Director ofthe JPMC on the directives of theprovincial authorities concernedwas itself improper and unjust,said Dr Seemi adding that shewould soon move the higher courtof the province on the said matter

Those involved in admissionsin Sindh’s medical colleges andthose that wanted to become thechief of the procurement commit-tee of the JPMC and those thatheld the highest post in SindhMedical University had createdthat plot, which led to ruckus inthe JPMC and the patients hadsuffered for many days.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI–Over 1100 gradu-ates belonging to different dis-ciplines received their degreesand shields at the fourth Con-vocation of Dow University ofHealth Sciences held today atOjha Campus of Dow Univer-sity, Karachi. DUHS holds itsfourth Annual Convocation toconfer degrees upon the gradu-ates of MBBS, BDS, M.Phil,MBA, Nursing and MedicalTechnology and other post-graduates of various disci-plines. Prof. Masood HameedKhan, Vice Chancellor, DUHSpresided the Convocation asthe chief guest on the occasion.

4th Convocation of Dow University of Health SciencesProf. Umer Farooq, Pro ViceChancellor, DUHS, Prof. JunaidAshraf, Principal, Dow MedicalCollege beside a large numberof dignitaries, academic councilmembers, professors,chairmans, HoDs, lecturers, par-ents and students attended theConvocation. In his addressProf. Masood Hameed Khan,Vice-Chancellor-DUHS con-gratulated the graduates andtheir parents and also remindedall graduates of their responsi-bilities.

He also recounted theprogress of the University sinceits inception and highlighted thedevelopments of the Universitysince its inception. He informed

that since it was first establishedin 2003 from three constituentinstitutions to now with almost50 institutions. He said that thevision and mission of DUHS isfocused on three domains thatinclude academic excellence,human resource developmentand community healthcare. TheUniversity since its inceptionhas been aiming to providemaximum possible health ser-vices to the community throughvarious ways.He advised the graduates to keephigh standards of medical profes-sion in their house job and futuremedical practice. He stressed thestudent that not to involve in malpractice and bring pride and

diginity in your profession.Prof. Umer Farooq & Prof.Junaid Asrhaf addressing theconvocation congratulatedyoung doctors and their parentsfor acquiring medical degree.Later on, Prof. M. Umer Farooqalong with the students per-formed Hippocratic Oath tak-ing. In the end, Prof. MasoodHameed Khan along with Prof.Umer Farooq & Prof. JunaidAsrhaf awarded gold medals todistinct graduates and degreeother graduating doctors. BestMBBS Graduate 2012:Momina Waqar Top threeMBBS graduates 2012 (DMC):Rasheeqa Mahmood, Rooma &Ammara.

VC KU gets charge ofpresident Chartered

Inspection CommitteeKARACHI—Vice-Chancellorof Karachi University, Prof. DrMuhammad Qaiser, has re-ceived the additional charge ofpresident of Chartered Inspec-tion Committee. A Universityofficial said on Monday that thecharge has been given by theChancellor as the president ofthe Chartered Inspection Com-mittee has proceeded on onemonth’s leave.—APP

KARACHI—CommissionerKarachi, Shoaib Ahmad Siddiquihas taken strong exception to thereported sale of adulterated milkin the city and has ordered for nec-essary measures for its prevention.

Chairing an emergency meet-ing in his office on Monday toaddress the issue on war-footinghe said samples would be ran-domly selected from differentmilk shops as well as those soldin tetra-packs in the city.

All these samples would betested at PCSIR laboratories whilethe PSQCA Mobile laboratorywould be equipped with needed

Commissioner orders randomsample testing of milk

facility for on- spot test of milksamples, said the Commissioner.

The Commissioner, ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui said reports thatstarch, oil, washing powder, urea,hair removing cream and otherhazardous things are being mixedinto the milk to enhance its con-sistency as well as shelf lives cannot be acceptable to any adminis-tration.

He said the fact that humanconsumption of the impure milkcan cause cancers and other fatalhealth conditions and perpetratorsof the crime can not be allowed togo scot free.

Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui saidthe meeting chaired by him wasactually also an opportunity topromote the concept of good busi-ness ethics for the dairy farmersand other stakeholder engaged inmilk business.

Appreciative of the stanceadopted by the Sindh and KarachiDairy Farmers Association thatmilk is not contaminated at theirend and that adulteration takesplace while the product reachesthe market, the Commissionersaid adequate measures would betaken for thorough screening andlab testing at every level.—APP

CS takes notice ofviolation of trafficrules, regulations

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Sec-retary (CS), Muhammad IjazChuadhry, has expressed con-cern over the violation of trafficrules and regulations.

He directed the AdditionalIG Traffic Police and SecretaryTransport to take immediatesteps for bringing about im-provements in the situation.

A statement said that he alsotook notice of the media reportsthat many of the buses, mini-buses, taxis and rickshaws ply-ing in the metropolis are in a badshape thus causing inconve-niences to the people.

Overloading, overspeeding,uncomfortable seats as well asplaying of music in public trans-port are other problems faced bythe commuters.

The CS directed that thetraffic rules and regulationsshould be strictly implementedand that no dereliction would betolerated besides strict actionswould also be initiated.

He also instructed that en-croachments on roads at Em-press Market and Saddar areasbe also removed.—APP

Book on Sindh’shistory published

KARACHI—A new book titled“A Monograph of SindhThrough the Centuries” on thehistory of Sindh has been pub-lished, said a statement here onMonday.

It said that the book has beenwritten by Dr Muhammad AliShaikh, Vice Chancellor (VC) ofSindh Madressatul Islam Uni-versity (SMIU).

The book is a part of theSecond International SindhThrough the Centuries Confer-ence to be organised by SMIUfrom December 16 to 18, 2013in Karachi.

It covers Sindh from its an-cient period to the modern dayland, it was further stated.

The author of the book-DrShaikh, is a Professor of MediaStudies, presently serving as VCof SMIU.

He holds his PhD in MassCommunication and has servedas Faculty- Fellow/ FulbrightScholar at American University,Washington DC.

He has served as DirectorSZABIST Center for Informa-tion and Research, Karachi.

He has also written a bookon “Satellite Television and So-cial Change in Pakistan: A CaseStudy of Rural Sindh”.

In the latest book, Dr Shaikhhas tried to cover major periodsof Sindh as Indus Valley Civili-zation, Vedic era, Buddhist eraand then Islamic era.

Similarly, he hasemphasised to re-explore thechanges that came in the Sindhisociety during British rule andafter creation of Pakistan.

He also discussed on theSindh’s culture, social and po-litical life, development ofSindh’s folklore, Baloch mi-gration, local dynasties, Brit-ish rule and then Sindh beinga part of a new born country-Pakistan.—APP

Crash diet tied toincreased gallstone risk

LAHORE: Women sitting perturbed at Aiwan-e-Adl during a strike called by PunjabBar Council against the killing of Muslims in Burma.

LAHORE: A gypsy family preparing hand made decoration pieces to earn livelihood for their families.

PEOPLE who go on an extremely lowcalorie diet are more likely to develop gallstones than people on a

moderately low calorie diet, according toa new study.

Dr. Michael Jensen, a professor ofmedicine at the MayoClinic, said dieters typi-cally end up with similarweight loss in the longrun whether they use ex-treme calorie restriction ormore moderately re-stricted diets.

“You’re going to endup in the same place(weight-wise), so whytake the risk of ending upin the hospital with a gallbladder problem just tolose weight faster?” saidJensen, who was not partof the study.

Gallstones affect asmany as 20 million peoplein the U.S.

Dr. Kari Johansson,the lead author of the study and a re-searcher at the Karolinska Institute inSweden, said quick weight loss from verylow calorie diets is thought to impact thesalt and cholesterol contents of bile andthe emptying of the gallbladder, both ofwhich can contribute to gallstones.

To see how these diets affect gall-stone risk in a real-world setting,Johansson and her colleagues collectedinformation on customers’ progress froma weight loss company in Sweden calledIntrim.

Some of the study authors haveworked for the company or serve on its

scientific advisory board.Their study included 6,640 dieters,

half of whom went on a crash diet andthe other half of whom went on a lowcalorie diet.

The crash diet involved liquid mealsof just 500 calories a dayfor six to 10 weeks, fol-lowed by the gradual intro-duction of normal food,and then nine months of aweight maintenance regimeof exercise and healthy eat-ing.

The other dieters ate1,200 to 1,500 calories aday, including two liquidmeals, for three months,followed by the nine monthweight maintenance pe-riod.

Health coaches atIntrim collected weightand body size information,which the researcherslinked to a national healthdatabase that has records

on gallstone treatments.After three months in the weight loss

program, the crash dieters lost about 30pounds, compared to roughly 17 poundslost among people on the low caloriediet. One year out from the start of thediet, the extremely low calorie group hadlost an average of 24.5 pounds, whilethe other group lost about 18 pounds.

Among those on the crash diet, 48people developed gallstones requiringhospital treatment, and 16 people in theother group developed gallstones,Johansson and her colleagues report inthe International Journal of Obesity.

LAHORE: Angry protesters stopped traffic during a demonstration after robbing ofelectronics shop at Asif Centre, Garhi Shahu.

LAHORE—Lahore High CourtChief Justice, Umar Ata BandialMonday adjourning the hear-ing of petitions against sub-standard CNG cylinderssought submissions from thepetitioners’ counsels.

The chief justice passed theorders while hearing petitionsfiled by Rana Mehtab and FazalMehmood.

As proceedings started,the OGRA’s counsel appearedbefore the court and submitteda report regarding Gujrat schoolvan accident.

He also apprised that theOGRA had written letters toprovincial government for tak-ing precautionary steps but tono avail.

However, a provincial lawofficer said that the governmentwas taking precautionary stepsand many vehicles werechallaned and impounded on

CNG cylinders case

LHC seeks reportfrom counsels

violations of safety regulations.He also submitted a report

in this regard.To a court query on use of

sub-standard conversion kit inGujrat tragic van accident, thelaw officer admitted few ve-hicles managed to bypass thesystem.

To another court query, thelaw officer conceded that therewere shortage of motor vehicleinspectors.

The court observed thatfield inspection was a very criti-cal feature but OGRA had nofield force, therefore, the per-sonnel have to be provided bythe provincial government forthe purpose.

The court further observedthat the priority should be givento field inspection as well asvehicle checking to ensuresafety standards.

The chief justice adjourn-

ing the hearing of matter till July8 directed petitioners’ counselsto study the reports filed by therespondents and make submis-sions on next date of hearing.

Rana Mehtab through hispetition submitted that manypersons lost their lives due toexplosion of sub-standardCNG cylinders but respondentdepartments were not perform-ing their duty to check it.

He pleaded the court thatdirections be issued to respon-dents for taking immediate ac-tion against sub-standard CNGcylinder manufacturers andsub-standard installation work-shops.

Fazal Mehmood throughhis petition also sought di-rections for action againstoverloading in motor cycle-rickshaws besides actionagainst sub-standard cylin-ders.—APP

LAHORE—First time in Paki-stan medical history, the car-diac surgeons team of PunjabInstitute of Cardiology con-ducted a successful by-passoperation of a two and a halfyears old boy.

The PIC surgeons team’sHead Prof. Abdul Waheedtold APP here Monday thata hospital of Sialkot had re-ferred Muhammad Tabeeb,who was suffering from a rarecongenital defect of left maincoronary artery of his heart,to the PIC, Lahore.

The surgeons’ head saidthat Tabeeb’s heart was work-ing at 20 percent only.Though corrective procedurewas not possible due tocomplex nature of disease,the PIC operated upon theminor boy successfully.

A blood vessel (InternalMammary Artery) was har-vested from his chest andgrafted to left Coronary Ar-tery, he explained.

First of its kind in Paki-stan, he added, this challeng-ing task was achieved by thePIC senior surgeons com-prising Dr. Tipu Khan and Dr.Tabeeda Ejaz.

To a question, he said,the child was recoveringfast, adding that success ofthis operation, consideringthe patient’s age and com-plexity of the disease, was agreat achievement for thePIC Department of CardiacSurgery.

To another question,Prof. Waheed said that theoperation was done free ofcost.—APP

LDA DG Cheemaassumes charge

LAHORE—The newly ap-pointed Director General ofLahore Development Au-thority (LDA) Ahad KhanCheema assumed the chargeof his office here on Mon-day.

On arrival at LDA OfficeJohar Town, he was receivedby both the Additional Di-rectors General MariamKayani and MuhammadUsman, Chief MetropolitanPlanner Waseem AhmadKhan, Chief Town PlannerCh. Muhammad Akram, Di-rector DG’s HQ RanaShahzad, Director Adminis-tration Khalid Pervaiz andother officers.

The outgoing LDA DGDr. Ijaz Munir proceeded toFaisalabad for assumingcharge of his new post asCommissioner, FaisalabadDivision.—APP

Passengers faintedin overcrowded

trainLAHORE—Two passengersincluding an elderly personfainted in the overcrowdedLasani Express (Sialkot-Narowal to Lahore) due tomuggy weather, on Monday.

According to eye wit-nesses, two passengersMuhammad Zaman residentof Narowal and Rafiq residentof Narang Mandi fell uncon-scious as they were unableto bear the heat and acutesuffocation due to over-crowding.

After the incident somepassengers protestedagainst the “short composi-tion” of trains at Lahore-Narowal section and de-manded that there should beat least six bogies for eachtrain.

Talking to APP, ShabbirAhmed, a regular commuter,said that trains were runningwith only three to four bogiesat this section which com-pounded the trouble for pas-sengers, especially womenand children. Rana Shahid,Nawaz, Jahangir, Fawad,Awais and other passengerssaid that delay of trains andshort composition had madelives of passengers miserable.

They asserted that insome areas there was no al-ternate means of transport forgeneral public. Affected pas-sengers have urged RailwayMinister Khawaja SaadRafique to take measures toimprove the situation. Theystressed that at least six bo-gies should be attached totrains on this route so thatpassengers, including womenand children could travel withsome comfort.—APP

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Mon-day tabled a resolution in thePunjab Assembly against USdrone strikes.

Party’s lawmaker MianAslam Iqbal submitted theresolution with theassembly’s secretariat alongwith other PTI members. ThePTI through the resolution

PTI tables resolution againstdrone attacks in PA

has requested the federalgovernment to adopt a con-crete policy to stop the USfrom drone attacks.

Talking to the media aftersubmitting the resolution,Iqbal said drone attacks werebreeding terrorism. Answer-ing a question, he said thePTI had already tabled a reso-lution in the KPK assemblyagainst drone attacks follow-ing their commitment to vot-

ers that they would raisevoice against killings in thetribal areas. He believed theresolution would be adoptedunanimously.

He said the PTI was com-mitted to playing a construc-tive and productive role in theassembly and it would sup-port government steps forwelfare of the masses andoppose all that were againstwishes of the people.

Tax officialsmanhandled,

injuredLAHORE—Two inspectorsand six other officials of Ex-cise and Taxation departmentwere manhandled and injuredby some persons near GopalNagar, Gulbery here on Mon-day.

Reportedly, a recoveryteam of property tax led byRecovery inspectorsAmanullah and InspectorAbbas visited Gulberg to setup a property cell when somepeople attacked them.

As a result, ETO Tanvir,inspectors- Amanullah andAbbas and 6 other officialsof recovery team receivedserious injuries. The injuredwere shifted to Jinnah Hos-pital.—APP

First by-pass surgeryof minor boy at PIC

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has said thatthe time to deliver speecheshas passed and now there isa need to work, work andwork.

He said that in order tosteer the country out of thecrises and the problems ofthe last five years and lay thefoundation of a prosperous,developed and welfare state,personal and political differ-ences will have to be set asideand collective efforts willhave to be made to cope withthe challenges faced by thecountry. He said there can-not be two opinions aboutthe fact that load-sheddinghas badly affected everysegment of the society andpushed the economy of thecountry to the verge of di-saster.

He said that millions oflabourers have been ren-dered jobless while energycrisis has left a negative im-

Shahbaz for waging collectiveefforts to meet challenges

pact on agriculture and in-dustrial sectors. He said thatdue to declining trend of in-vestment, the foreign ex-change reserves of Pakistanhave fallen from sixteen bil-lion dollars to six billion dol-lars during the last five years.He said that the federal gov-ernment has to face a circu-lar debt of five hundred bil-lion rupees and this viciouscircle has trapped the nation.

He said it is unfortunatethat while Pakistani nation isburdened with foreign debtof sixty billion dollars, someinfluential persons are in-volved in theft of power, gasand furnace oil of billions ofrupees per month. He saidthat Punjab government willplay its role in curbing theftof electricity and the provin-cial administration and policewill go to any extent for thispurpose. He said that he willnot be deterred by any affili-ation or safarish in this re-gard. He said that it is time toutilize all out energies andresources to resolve the

problem of load-shedding.He said that anything is

possible with commitment,effort and determination. Hesaid that every human effortwill have to be made for en-suring a bright future for thecoming generation. He saidthat public problems will haveto be resolved and relief willbe provided to the masses.

The Chief Minister ex-pressed these views whiletalking to Coordinator to theChief Minister in GermanyShahid Riaz Gondal at ModelTown and during meetingwith various delegations andAssembly Members of ML-N at Raiwind.

The Chief Minister saidthat the massive sum of 207billion rupees in the existingcircular debt in energy sec-tor is due to power theft andif this trend was not curbed,losses will continue to in-crease. He said that the formerfederal rulers misappropri-ated billions of rupees fromvarious ministries but PML-N government will not allow

any corruption. He said thatan Australian company isengaged in preparing a fea-sibility report regarding thecoal reserves near Jehlum.

Shahbaz Sharif said thatNandipur and Chicho KiMalian projects could not beimplemented due to malafideintensions of former rulersand their machinery had be-come rusty due to lying atKarachi port. However, hesaid, PML-N government hasdecided to immediately startwork on these project withthe cooperation of Chinesecompanies. He said that over-seas Pakistanis who have theinterest of their country atheart can play a vital role inthe strengthening of nationaleconomy.

GRE trainingbegins at UVAS

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The University ofVeterinary and Animal Sci-ences Lahore in collabora-tion with the United StatesEducational Foundation inPakistan (USEFP) organizeda two-day training programfor preparation of GRE for itspostgraduate students andnon-PhD faculty members.

Vice-Chancellor Prof DrTalat Naseer Pasha chairedthe inaugural session of thetraining while Focal PersonUSEFP at UVAS Prof DrNasim Ahmad and Zafar Baig& Shiza Toor from the USEFPwere also present.

Speaking on the occasion,the vice-chancellor urged thetrainees to actively participatein the GRE training and thenplan for their PhD studies inthe United States, which, hesaid, is the best place for edu-cation in the world. He saidthat strengthening of its hu-man capital is among the pri-orities of the university andthis training is part of its ef-forts in this direction. He saidthat there are endless oppor-tunities for higher educationand training in the UnitedStates and GRE is the key toavailing theses opportunities.

Prof Dr Nasim Ahmadspoke about the objectivesof the training program. Hesaid that the five top scoringparticipants will get feewaiver for appearing in theinternational GRE.

DCO to eliminatemeasles

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—District Coordina-tion Officer (DCO) LahoreNaseem Sadiq on Monday as-sumed the charge of DCOLahore and started his officeworking.

In his first interaction withofficers of City District Gov-ernment Lahore, NaseemSadiq said the elimination ofmeasles and dengue from city,completion of developmentprojects, and solving of issuesrelated to General Bus Standand Shah Pur Kanjran CattleMarket are his top prioritiesbeing DCO Lahore.

Naseem further revealedthat crack down againstsheesha cafes would remaincontinue, however effectivemeasures would be taken inthis regard. “There will be aproper coordination among alldepartments of City DistrictGovernment Lahore” headded.

Over increasing incidentsof children drowning in canalswhile taking bath, Naseem re-vealed a ban would be im-posed on taking bath in deepspots of canals and awarenesswould be created among gen-eral messes in this regard.Naseem Sadiq also directed allTown Administrators to getcomplete on going projects oftheir towns concerned and tomonitor them.