Ep14nov2014

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Maryam quits after a lot of fuss................................................Surplus sugar shows our realpotential................................................Dirty politics over Thar deadbodies

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STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—KSE-100 despite loss of 187points maintained the bullish rally persistingfor quite sometimes at theKarachi Stock Exchange whichis being viewed as one of thebest performer in the region.

After reaching the peak, thecorrection was naturally duethat claimed 187 points yet thetrade volumes were on thehigher side as over 300 millionshares were traded inThursday’s session.

Pakistan International BulkTerminal which is one of thehot scrips was the top volume leader in day’ssession where it gained Paisa 95 in 20 millionshares trade.

KSE-100 stays bullishJahangir Siddiqi was on second position

that closed at Rs13.95 with a gain of Rs 1amid a trade of 20 million shares, Engro Fer-tilizer on the third position closed at Rs65 and

gained Rs1.17, in a trade of 14.91 millionshares.

LONDON: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif shaking hand with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

ISLAMABAD—The Supreme Court of Pakistanon Thursday extended the deadline given tothe government for the appointment of theChief Election Commissioner (CEC) to No-vember 24 and warned that failure to do sowould result in an automatic recalling of theacting chief election commissioner leaving thepost practically vacant.

The court said that in case the governmentfails to appoint a permanent chief electioncommissioner by the given deadline, the act-ing election commissioner would return to hisSupreme Court duties and the CEC post wouldbe rendered vacant.

A three-member bench of apex courtheaded by Chief Justice, Justice Nasirul Mulk

was hearing appointment of permanent chiefelection commissioner case.

During the hearing, the federal governmentpleaded with the court for more time to namethe CEC. Deadline given for the appointmentof Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by theSupreme Court ended on November 13(Thurs-day) whereas government and the oppositionfailed to have consensus over any name.

Attorney General, Salman Aslam Buttappeared before the court and apprised that thegovernment had finalized three names afterconsultation with the opposition a couple ofdays ago, however, Justice (rtd) RanaBhagwandas and Justice (rtd) Tasadduq

CEC appointment

SC extends deadline till Nov 24

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THE drama of Osama Bin Laden killingby the so-called US Navy SEALs inAbbotabad more than three years back is

likely to meet its logical end soon courtesy noneless but American officials themselves, who areridiculing the poor direction of the drama, onlymeant to befool the world.

Out-rightly refuting President Obama’sclaim that a US Navy SEALs team had killedOsama bin Laden in Abbotabad on May 2, 2011,former US Assistant Secretary of US Treasury

Department, Paul Craig Roberts, has in his re-cently published article said that bin Laden haddied due to renal failure a decade earlier in De-cember 2001.

This also confirms the story I broke in 26December 2001 edition of Pakistan Observerthat Osama bin Laden had died a peaceful deathdue to an untreated lung complication in Af-ghanistan, citing a Taliban leader who had at-tended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader.

The contents of the Story were also carriedby a leading broadcasting house when this cor-respondent was interviewed in the film titled

CommentTariq Saeed

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OBL killing drama movestowards logical end

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—On the directives of Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif, the Ministry of Water andPower on Thursday ordered all electricity dis-tribution companies to exempt the industrialsector from loadshedding until the end of nextmonth.

The ministry has directed DISCOS to im-mediately implement the decision, which wouldbe effective until the canal closure at the end ofDecember when hydel power generation comesdown to very low levels, according to a pressrelease from the power ministry.

The decision on Thursday came as NawazSharif, speaking at the Pakistan-Britain EnergyDialogue and Investment Conference in Lon-don, vowed to develop a competitive energymarket in Pakistan and transform the role of thegovernment from manager to regulator for theenergy sector.

Pakistan faces an acute power shortage and

electricity crisis. The industrial sector also faceslong power cuts, especially in the winter seasondue to shortage of gas and spike in consump-tion.

The power ministry has also directed distri-bution companies to implement a load manage-ment plan for domestic consumers during thewinter season which would keep loadsheddingat a minimum level.

“The DISCOs will implement the load man-agement plan according to their own worked-out schedule,” said the press release.

The power ministry said the decision wastaken in light of increased industrial activitywhich it attributed to the recent grant of GSPPlus status to Pakistan by the European Union.

“Industrial activity has increased manifoldas compared to the previous years,” it said, hop-ing the decision of uninterrupted power supplywould positively impact economic developmentand create job opportunities due to enhancedindustrial activity.

Power load-shedding

Industrial sector exemptedtill December end

Pakistan beatNZ in first TestABU DHABI—Pakistan beatNew Zealand in the first Testby 248 runs on the fifth and

final day in Abu Dhabion Thursday, taking a1-0 lead in the three-match series.New Zealand, set a

daunting 480-runtarget, were bowledout for 231 in 70.3

overs after resuming at 174-8.Mark Craig was out for

28 but Ish Sodhi went on tohit a career-best 63 before hewas the last man out, leg-before to paceman ImranKhan.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shahfinished with 3-74 whileRahat Ali and Zulfiqar Babartook two wickets for 48apiece. Khan took 2-37.

With this win, Misbah-ul-Haq has become Pakistan’smost successful test captainwith 15 test wins. The secondTest starts in Dubai onNovember 17.—Online

Details on Sports Page

M A KAISERIMAM

LONDON—Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif onThursday said that the designs of protesting par-ties to put the country backwardhave failed. They actuallywanted to derail Pakistan and notthe government.

Talking to media in London,the Prime Minister urged all thepolitical parties to get united toovercome all problems espe-cially energy crisis.

He pointed out that energyis the major issue faced by thecountry today and collective ef-forts to meet this challengewould ease up pressure on thenext governments. He said Pa-

kistan is moving on the path of development andclouds of darkness are fading.

Earlier, the Prime Minister addressed Paki-stan-Britain Energy Dialogue and Investment

Conference in London. On theoccasion, he said that the Gov-ernment is committed to developa competitive energy market inPakistan that provides fair returnto investors and protects rightsof consumers.

He said Pakistan also aimsto develop one of the largest coaldeposits in the world at Thar asfuture energy capital of thecountry. The vast reserves ofThar are enough to meet energyneeds of many countries of the

PM envisions Pakistan ascompetitive energy market

Protesting parties aimed to derail Pakistan

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Remittances byoverseas Pakistanis

to reach $20bAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Overseas Paki-stanis have remitted over $6billion in first four months ofthe fiscal year and remittancesmay touch $20 billion mark atthe end of the current financialyear to make history.

So far, the overseas Paki-stanis have remitted an amountof $6077.82 million in first fourmonths of current fiscal year(FY15), showing an impressive

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AfghanPresidentarrives todayMIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—PresidentAshraf Ghani of Afghanistanarrives in Islambad today fortwo day visit. A day ahead ofthe visit Afghan FinanceMinister Umer Zakhilwalheld detailed meetings withkey ministers includingCommerce, Industries andothers to finalize thesequence events as well asagenda for the discussions.

The Ministry of Com-merce is holding a sympo-sium styled seminar in thechair of visiting AfghanPresident to deliberate on thechallenges confronted bytraders community of boththe countries.

President Ashraf Ghaniwill share with Pakistanleaders his vision aboutregional security, prosperityand bilateral relationship overa 5-year perspective. The visitcomes at a historic juncture inAfghanistan, marked by therecent peaceful transfer ofpower and formation of the

Pakistan testsShaheen-II nukeballistic missileRAWALPINDI—PakistanThursday conducted asuccessful Training Launch ofIntermediate Range Shaheen-II (Hatf-VI) Ballistic Missile.

The successful launchwas the culminating point ofthe Field Training Exercise ofArmy Strategic ForcesCommand which was aimed

at ensuring operationalreadiness of a StrategicMissile Group, besides re-validating different designand technical parameters ofthe weapon system. Shaheen-II Missiles is capable ofcarrying nuclear andconventional warheads to arange of 1500 Kms.

Thursday’s having itsimpact point in Arabian Sea,was witnessed by DirectorGeneral Strategic PlansDivision, Lieutenant GeneralZubair Mahmood Hayat,Commander Army StrategicForces Command, LieutenantGeneral Obaid Ullah Khan,Chairman NESCOM, MrMuhammad Irfan Burney,senior officers from thestrategic forces, scientists andengineers of strategic

Picture on Back Page

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Pakistani Taliban Jamaat ul Ahrar spokes person EhsanullahEhsan releases picture of suicide bomber who attacked Wagahborder and killed 60 people on Nov 2, 2014.—NNI photo

Details of Wagahsuicide bomber

releasedSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The outlawedTehreek-i-Taliban PakistanJamaatul Ahrar has releaseddetails of a man they claim car-ried out a deadly suicide bomb-ing at the main Pakistan-Indiaborder crossing last week.

A spokesman for the mili-tant group, Ehsanullah Ehsan,told media on Thursday that25-year-old Hanifullah aliasHamza carried out the attack

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British ForeignSecretary calls

on NawazLONDON—British ForeignSecretary Rt. Hon. PhilipHammond MP called onPrime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif this morning,Continued on Page 7

CHAMAN: Anti-Polio workers administering polio drops to child at Pak-AfghanFriendship Gate.

QUETTA: Activists of Seed Employees Action Committee Balochistan sit on hungerstrike to protest against non-payment of salary for 16 months.

Rebuilding of apparatuscosting Rs75b to take 2 years

QUETTA—Another 18-month-old femalechild fell victim to polio virus inBalochistan’s Killa Abdullah district onThursday. With this case, the number ofpolio cases in the province has risen to11.

Sources in the province’s health depart-ment said that polio virus was found in an18-month-old female child in KillaAbdullah.This new case surfaced just a dayafter an anti-polio campaign was concludedin Quetta and other 10 districts of the prov-ince.

A polio vaccination campaign waslaunched amid tight security in 11 districtsof Balochistan earlier this week. During thecampaign, over 238,000 children below theage of five will be administered polio vac-cine.

18-month-old Balochistanchild falls prey to polio

Chief Minister Balochistan Dr MalikBaloch had taken serious notice of increas-ing polio cases in the country’s largestprovince and directed all elected membersto stay in their constituencies during thecampaign.

The districts where the campaign waslaunched included Quetta, Killa Saifullah,Killa Abdullah, Sherani, Zhob, Pishin,Loralai, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad andLasbela.

Moreover, five polio cases have beenreported so far from Killa Abdullah, five fromQuetta and one from Balochistan’s Zhobdistrict this year.

Balochistan remained polio free for morethan two years. However, first polio casewas found in July from Killa Abdullah dis-trict.—INP

PESHAWAR: Minister of State for Postal Services, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri handing over the keys of motorcycles topostmen at GPO.

ISLAMABAD—The Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) says the pro-cess of purchase of biometric ma-chines would be accomplished by theend of next year (2015).

The response submitted at theSupreme Court by Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) suggests thattender for the purchase of biometricmachines would be prepared by No-vember 28 whereas auction would takeplace by January 10.

Technical inspection of the ma-chines would take place by Januaryand the financial tender would bequoted by March 10.

The purchase order of the biomet-ric machine would be complied byMarch 10 and would be delivered byJuly 17 whereas data integration pro-cess in the biometric machines wouldbe done by September 3.

Earlier, ECP had submitted its re-ply to the Supreme Court (SC) of Paki-stan about holding of local body elec-tions through biometric system inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).

Purchase of biometricmachines by end of 2015: ECP

According to the reply submitted,demand made by Imran Khan of hold-ing local body elections in the prov-ince is not possible before September15 2015.

The report further states time isrequired to buy biometric machines.Elections can be held in KPK withoutbiometric system by April 2015 andthat the schedule for the electionswould be issued in the same month ofnext year.While hearing the case re-garding local bodies elections, ChiefJustice Nasirul Mulk remarked that theNational Database and RegistrationAuthority (NADRA) does not haverecord of fingerprints of eleven per-cent people, what will happen if bio-metric system fails during the polls.

He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwagovernment had decided to hold localgovernment elections under biomet-ric system in one district and now whythe decision has been taken to use bio-metric system in the whole province.

Biometric system was supposedto be used as a pilot project in District

Ghazi, he added.On this, Additional Advocate Gen-

eral of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, WaqarAhmed Khan prayed to court that KPgovernment wants to hold exemplarypolls.

The Chief Justice remarked thattransparent polls can be held withoutbiometric system as well. Polls underthis system will cost more and wouldcause delay. What will happen if bio-metric system fails?

Additional Advocate General toldcourt that biometric system won’tcause any delay.

Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk re-sponded that there is huge differencebetween March, April and December.

Meanwhile, the three memberbench directed Waqar Ahmed Khanto seek directives from the KhyberPakhtunkhwa government on the is-sue. The court also issued directivesto present a report regarding local gov-ernment elections in Sindh and Punjab.

The case hearing has been ad-journed till December 1.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Chairman of the National Di-saster Management Authority (NDMA)Maj Gen Mohammad Saeed Aleem has saidthat the reconstruction of installations dam-aged during the ongoing operation againstmilitants in North Waziristan tribal regionwould take two years to complete and costsRs75 billion.

The NDMA chief in an interview withBBC, said that the rehabilitation of peopleand reconstruction in North Waziristanwould take place in separate phases.

He said, “In the first phase, the urbanareas would be made hospitable, which in-clude construction of houses and marketsand the repair of roads, schools and hospi-tals. Large-scale reconstruction of the re-gion would take place in the second phase.”

Gen Saeed added that the first phasewould take six months while the completereconstruction would complete in twoyears.

The NDMA chief also participated in adonours’ conference held recently inIslamabad for the affectees of NorthWaziristan during which several agenciesgave detailed briefings over the recoveryand reconstruction work in the region.

While referring to the conference, GenSaeed gave details of the damage and saidthat large-scale destruction had taken place

in North Waziristan which had disruptedthe infrastructure system and businessesof people.

“First militants had caused damage toschools and hospitals during their activi-ties in the region, then military action againstthe militants had also damaged NorthWaziristan’s installations,” he told BBC.

Responding to a question about theassessment of losses he said that the Min-istry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron)and Federal Ministry of Finance had col-laborated with the Fata Secretariat estab-lished in Peshawar to estimate the lossescaused in the region.

He added that, “But given the specialsecurity situation these estimates wouldgreatly depend on the reports submittedby military officers deputed in the region.”

The NDMA chairman said that variousgovernment agencies and the armed forceswould participate in the reconstruction ofNorth Waziristan.

“No single department or agency canundertake this huge task which would re-quire different departments to jointly ad-dress this important and difficult endeav-our,” Gen Saeed said.He said that as soonas an area is cleared of the militants, phase-wise recovery of the area would be initi-ated.—INP

PESHAWAR—Awami National Party(ANP), Quami Watan Party (QWP)and Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) Thursday said Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan has be-come dictator within the party andhas no respect for both leaders andworkers.

Reacting to suspension of mem-bership of 10 office-bearers of PTIby Imran Khan after beating up ofKhan’s cousin Ahmed Niazi by PTIleaders and workers, they said thatPTI is on the verge of collapse dueto increasing wrangling.

Quami Watan Party ProvincialSecretary Information Salim ShahHoti talking to APP termed theKhan’s decision of suspendingparty membership of 10 office-bear-ers undemocratic and non-politicalattitude.

He questioned that how couldImran Khan bring change and fair-ness in the country since he him-self was not sincere with his partyleadership and workers.

“Imran Khan thinks and behaveslike dictators and gives no respectto party workers and even leader-ship due to which the internal con-

Imran Khan has no respect for partyleaders, workers: ANP, QWP, JUI-F

flicts within the PTI is emerging withevery passing day,” he remarked.

Salim Shah said that Imran Khanintends to set negative trends in thedemocracy where there will be norespect for any respectable person.

Awami National Party ProvincialSecretary Information GhulamMustafa said that ANP does notconsider PTI a political party ratherit is a crowd of people with mob re-action and Imran Khan is playingthe role of a royal prince.

He said PTI chief has disap-pointed the nation with his egoisticbehavior and superiority complex.He does not respect anyonewhether the person is party leaderor worker. Khan is setting wrongprecedent in the democratic set up,he viewed.

Mustafa said that internal strifeand suspension of membership ofofficer-bearers would utterly de-stroy the party adding that suchdecision and Khan’s at t i tude arespoiling political environment in thecountry.

He said Khan even does not re-spect Chief Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa and summon him to

Bani Gala whenever he likes. If ImranKhan would continue behaving likeroyal prince than no party workerand even leadership would feel him-self secure from being disrespected.

He said PTI’s ‘change’ has beenexposed to the people, the partywho could not establish its writ inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa would howrun the affairs of whole country, hequest ioned.

ANP leader said that target kill-ing, kidnapping for ransom, law andorder situation, deteriorating eco-nomic activities in KP have createddisappointment among the peopleof the province.

He said that PTI even could notcomplete the already undergoingprojects within a year. JUI-F leaderJali l Jan said PTI has attributedhooliganism and fighting to itselfand emerging as a party of hooli-g a n s .

Criticizing the clash among partymembers and suspension of mem-bership of 10 office-bearers by ImranKhan, he said there is no disciplinewithin PTI and Imran Khan has mis-erably failed to steer his party as itsleader.—APP

Terror outfitsprone to use

different namesto avoid action

PESHAWAR—Inspector Gen-eral Police KhyberPakhtunkhwa Nasir Durranion Thursday said that ter-rorist organizations hadbeen changing their namesto evade police action andarrests.

Talking to media afteroffering funeral prayers ofmartyred police officers inPeshawar, the IG said thosekilled in police encounterthe other day were targetkillers who had recentlybeen released from the jail.

Regarding reports of ter-ror outfit Daesh, also knownas Islamic State, emergencein Pakistan, Durrani said ter-rorist outfits had beenchanging their names toevade police action.

He said operation Zarb-e-Azb was continuing withfull force and “entire policeforce salutes the PakistanArmy.”—INP

Crackdownagainst

timber mafiaABBOTTABAD—AssistantCommissioner AbbottabdRaza Ozgan on Thursdayraided on many illegal tim-ber stores and slaughterhouses in Abbottabad cityand surrounding areas.

According to the details,AC Abbottabad Raza Ozganduring a crackdown againstthe timber smugglers and il-legal slaughter houses inAbbottabad and fined themat the spot.

The raiding party led byAC Abbottabad recovered350 square feet illegal timberfrom Barian and Kalus andhundreds of kilogram meat.

Raza Ozgan while warn-ing the butchers said strictaction would be takenagainst illegal slaughteringin the city.

AC also ordered to auctionthe seized meat in themarket.—APP

SSC supplementaryresult on Nov 21

FAISALABAD—Board of In-termediate & SecondaryEducation Faisalabad wouldannounce SSC supplemen-tary exam-2014 result onNovember 21.

The result can also beseen at website:www.bisefsd.edu.pk ,toldsecretary BISE Malik ZafarIqbal. He added that candi-dates can also get their re-sult through SMS to 800240by writing roll number.The CD of result can beobtained on payment of Rs200 each from designatedbank branches UBL boardbranch, UBL Kotwali Road,UBL bank square circularroad and MCB jail road byNovember 20.—APP

Members ofSenate Bodyon Defencevisit POF

ISLAMABAD—Members ofSenate Standing Committeeon Defence Productionheaded by its ChairpersonSaeeda Iqbal visited Paki-stan Ordnance Factories(POF) on Thursday.

On arrival at POF, thedelegation was received byLt Gen Muhammad AhsanMahmood, HI(M) ChairmanPOF Board. Chairman POFBoard in his welcoming re-marks told the delegationthat POF was the premierdefence organization of thecountry which was not onlymeeting defence require-ment of the Armed Forces ofPakistan but also exportingits products to more than 30countries around the globe.

Syed Naseem Raza ChiefExecutive Wah Nobel in hisdetailed briefing told the del-egation that POF is a gigan-tic complex with 14 directlycontrol factories and plants,6 subsidiaries and total workforce is more than 24 thou-sand. POFs industrial baseis strong enough to under-take development and pro-duction of all most all typesof conventional arms andammunition.

The delegation visitedPOF Product DisplayLounges, later they weretaken to some productionunits where they witnessedthe manufacturing processof arms and ammunition.The delegation showedkeen interest in the manufac-turing process of arms andammunition and lauded thehigh quality of POF prod-ucts.—APP

QUETTA—Governor Balochistan,Muhammad Khan Achakzai on Thursdayterminated chairman of the BalochistanPublic Service Commission (BPSC) AshrafMagsi over charges of irregularities andcorruption.

Governor’s House sources said that aformal letter in regard to the termination ofthe chairman has been issued. The Na-tional Accountability Bureau (NAB) hadinitiated inquiry against Magsi for recruit-ing the officers in violation of merit twoyears ago.

Two daughters of Magsi, who wereworking in grade 17 of the provincial edu-cation department, were also terminatedafter their degrees were found to be fakeby the NAB.

The then-NAB Deputy Director Opera-

BPSC Chairman sackedover corruption charges

tions Ziaullah Toro had also arrested someofficers of the BPSC. He had caught themred-handed for violating merit and issuingorders for their blue-eyed.

Balochistan High Court (BHC) judgeMr. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan con-ducted an inquiry against Chairman BPSCand found him guilty.

In view of recommendations from theinquiry conducted by the BHC judge, Gov-ernor Balochistan Muhammad KhanAchakzai terminated Magsi.

Magsi was accused of recruiting offic-ers above grade 17 in violation of meritand taking bribes from candidates.

Political parties had staged protest dem-onstrations and urged the Balochistan gov-ernment and the governor in particular toremove the controversial chairman.—INP

MITHI: Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister Sindh distributing cheques of Rs100,000 among the bereaved family members whose children diedrecently in Thar.

BANNU: Paramedical workers providing first aid to an injured journalist after theprotest of IDPs of North Waziristan Agency at Ration Center, Akram Khan DurraniSports Complex.

NAB arrests twomore accused in

illegal landallotment case

PESHAWAR—National Ac-countabil i ty Bureau(NAB) KhyberPakhtunkhwa arrestedcontractors, AkhtarHaleem and Imdad KhanKhalil for alleged manipu-lation in the bidding pro-cess by forging ring in theallotment of 5 Kanal pre-cious plot adjacent to IqraUniversity Hayatabad onvery nominal price for 33years with the provision offurther extension.

According to a press re-lease issued here Thursday,during the course of inves-tigation it came to surfacethat 5 Kanal land has beenallotted to Raz MuhammadDurrani through non-trans-parent bidding process. Itwas further revealed thatthe call deposits of all thethree bidders were preparedfrom same bank account onsame day, which manifeststhe manipulation of biddingprocess and thus the bidwas illegally acquired by thelessee.

It is worth mentioninghere that NAB (KP) had al-ready arrested IkramullahDirector PDA, MuhammadJan Deputy Director, IjazAfzal Khan Director PDA,Raz Muhammad Durrani al-lottee, in the case.

NAB KhyberPakhtunkhwa is activelypursuing the investigation.The accused persons willbe presented in the Ac-countability Court for ob-taining physical remand.—APP

PESHAWAR—Advisor to Chief MinisterKhyber Pakhtunkhwa for Technical Edu-cation and Transport, Malik ShahMuhammad Khan Wazir on Thursdaysaid that the promotion of technical edu-cation and providing opportunity of jobwas the key priority of the provincial gov-ernment.

He expressed these views while visit-ing government technical college Peshawar,he said that KP was full of talented peopleand the government was taking measures

Govt to resolve technical educationproblems: Shah Muhammad

to utilize all available resources in this re-gard.

He said that the chance would be pro-vided to the students to improve theirabilites in broad.

He said that the people have givenmandate in the province with the name ofchange and now it was the responsibilitiesof government to fulfill their promises ingeneral elections.

He assured them to resolve their prob-lems on priority basis.—APP

Dry weathercontinues to

prevailISLAMABAD—The met of-fice Thursday forecast dryweather in plain areaswhereas cold and dryweather also expected inupper parts of the countryduring the next 24 hours.

Mainly dry weather isexpected in Punjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh and

Balochistan while cold andas well as dry weather is ex-pected in Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan.

However, Skardu with -7 to -5 degree centigrade,Hunza -3 to -1 and -2 to 0would be the coldest areasduring the next 24 hours.

According to synopticsituation, continental air isprevailing over most partsof the country.The QuettaMet office has forecast adry and cold weather for theprovincial capital, on Friday.

The highest temperatureis likely between 18 to 20 Cen-tigrade and the lowest is ex-pected between 0 to 02 Cen-tigrade.—APP

Federal Ombudsman formsfour-member committee on

Khairpur accidentSUKKUR—Federal Ombudsman Salman Farooqui has takennotice of Khairpur accident and formed a four-membercommittee to collect details about factors leading to theaccident.The committee under supervision of Senior Ad-visor Imtiaz Illahi will conduct an inquiry and submit areport to the Federal Ombudsman within seven days.

Talking to APP, Director General (DG), Federal Om-budsman Regional Office Sukkur, Muhammad AbdullahSoomro said that following the notification issued by Fed-eral Ombudsman Salman Farooqui, a four-member com-mittee has been formed under the supervision of SeniorAdvisor of the Federal Ombudsman Imtiaz Illahi, formerDG NAB Sindh and Advisor Major General (Retd) HaroonSikandar Pasha, Regional Director Federal OmbdusmanSukkur M A Soomro and DG Provincial Ombudsman Of-fice Sukkur Wahid Bux Mahar as its members.

He said that action would be taken against any officialof NHA, Motorway Police or a government departmentfound responsible for the accident.Abdullah Soomro fur-ther said the committee would prepare a detailed report oncauses of road accidents on highways with a view to helpthe government to improve highways, roads and ensuresafe travel.—APP

Suicide: Injuredyouth dies atBurn Centre

MULTAN—A youth withburn injuries from self-immo-lation committed a week agodied at a burn centre here inlate hours of Wednesday.

Mohammad Waqas sonof Muhammad Jamil wasdeeply dejected and sethimself ablaze when his par-ents refused to arrange hismarriage with a girl he loved.

Out of frustration,thesecond year student alleg-edly burnt himself at hishouse at Nawan Shehr in thelimits of Cantt police stationon November 4, said a sourceof Pak Italian Burn Centre.

He had 90 per cent burnson his body,the sourcesaid,adding that he was un-der intensive care treatmentat the centre from Novem-ber 6.—APP

Two killed in Mastung firingMASTUNG—Two persons have reportedly been killed infiring on Quetta-Karachi highway passing throughMastung here on Thursday.

According to police said that unknown armed attack-ers opened fire at a vehicle, leaving two persons dead.

“Unidentified armed assailants riding motorcycleopened fire on two occupants of the vehicle dead,” policeadded.The bodies were shifted to hospital, according todoctors, the victims received multiple bullet wounds whichcaused their death.—APP

MQM delegation calls on PML-F chief

PPP govt made wholeSindh as Mithi: Pir Pagara

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The spiritual leader of Hurrclan and Pakistan Muslim League func-tional (PMLF) Pir Sabghatullah ShahRashidi said the whole of Sindh wasbeing converted as Tharparkar and theruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) hadmade Sindh province as Mithi. The lawand order in the home town of SindhChief Minister, Khairpur was so dete-riorated that no local could even dareto step out of his home after sunset.

He was talking to the newsmen atRaja House Thursday after meetingwith a delegation of Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) led by MQM Co-ordination Committee Deputy Con-vener dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.The MQM delegation consisted ofSenator Babar Khan Ghauri, DrSagheer Ahmed, Faisal Sabzwari,Waseem Akhtar, Ghazi Salahuddin.PMLF Secretary Information KamranTessori was also present.

Pagara said Sindh CM claimed thedevastation in Tharparkar was fromthe divine so he should also explainwhether it was the divine that hadadded tons of sand in wheat bags thatwas distributed free among the fam-ine-hit inhabitants of Tharparkar.

He said corruption had prevailedin all government departments andthere was not a single departmentspared of corruption.

The law and order in Sindh CM’shome town Khairpur, Sukkur,Shikarpur and other districts was sodeteriorated that the local people couldnot go out of their homes after thesunset. The situation of law and orderwas uncontrollable in that district be-cause Sindh government speedilychanged 7 SSPs in just 3 months andin case any honest Police officerwanted to curb the crime rate, he wasreadily transferred to other area.

In reply to a question, Pagara saidthere was prescribed method in theconstitution for the creation of newadministrative units and provinces andhence any new administrative unit ora province could only be created inaccordance to the provisions of theconstitution.

He said Sindh government hadfailed to deliver and its ethical posi-tion to stay in power was already lost.

As far as the question ofBahawalpur was concerned, it was aprovince in past and could be restoredwhile 2 more provinces could also becreated in Punjab. People of Punjabshould first create new provinces inPunjab and then they would be eli-gible to talk about new provinces inSindh. However, it would be manda-tory to get the demand for new prov-ince passed from Sindh assembly firstand then the matter would be passedfrom national assembly and Senate.

He said his late father used to call

MQM Chief as uncle and hence healso called him Uncle and had greatrespect for him.

While giving his share to the talkwith the newsmen, Dr Khalid MaqboolSiddiqui said the MQM delegation hadcalled on Pagara to discuss about thescenario of Tharparkar and matters ofmutual understating.

He said the situation in Tharparkarwas so dilapidated that people werebecoming bait of death daily and it wasthe responsibility of all of us to play arole to save them from dying.

He said though Sindh CM had de-clared the devastation in Tharparkaran act of the divine but the criminalnegligence of Sindh government hadbrought Tharparkar to that stage ofdestruction.

Sindh government was doingnothing to save the people ofTharparkar and hence all the peopleshould come forward to save them.

He said whole of Sindh provincewas now like Tharparkar and corrup-tion had reached beyond limits whilegovernment was taking such stepsthat would worsen the scenario inTharparkar, which would leave itsnegative impacts on whole of the prov-ince.

He said Sindh government had ar-rived at Mithi in a convoy that con-sisted of 100 luxury land cruiser jeeps,which was tantamount to mocking atthe helpless people of Tharparkar.

KOHISTAN—A team of World Bankand WAPDA authorities visitedDassu Dam site on Thursday here inDistrict Kohistan’s Head QuarterDassu. They met the Dam affectees toconvince them on the importance ofDam benefits for the country and theirbright future.

The affetees Committee expressedtheir concerns regarding the fixationof low rates of land, houses and treesby Government of KP and presentedtheir eighteen points charter demand.

After listening the detailed storyfrom affectees, Mr.JhaoHao(worldbank Team Leader) Said ,, we will refer

Dassu Dam affectees assure fullsupport if compensation paid

this matter to state of Pakistan, ourpriority is to empower Pakistan’sPeople. Dassu Dam is an importantProject for your country. I appeal allof you to let the work start for yourbright future. We want to prefer thejobs to local people personals if youhave.

The rate fixation subject is re-sponsibility of Government of Pa-kistan. Government should negoti-ate with affectees regarding the val-ues of land. We have made anagreement with Pakistan’s Govern-ment on the basis of local affecteesinvolvement to all matters includ-

ing Rate fixations for Compensa-tions”.

He hoped that the local admin-istration and Wapda authorities willsolve all kind of issues includingcurrent rate fixation issue by follow-ing the agreement between WorldBank and Government of Pakistan,

The affectees committee assureddelegation,, if the Wapda authoritiesand local administration fulfill our 18points charter of demands and re-view the previous fixed rates by con-sidering local market rate we willnever stop work on Dam site even asingle day.—INP

District statusto Talagang

soonSHAFFAAT MALIK

TALAGANG—Talagang willbe upgraded to Districtsoon. According to detailsletter no 3/NA-61/2014/pau/punjab has been issued fromthe Prime Minister Secre-tariat to chief secretaryPunjab to initiate necessaryactions in order to accorddistrict status to Talagang,on the request of MNA NA61 Sardar Mumtaz KhanTamman.

Mian Muhamad NawazSharif has promised up gra-dation of Talagang in his preelection speech in Talagangon 6th May 2013 . PML Nchief had also promised toestablish a university and afully equipped modern hos-pital for Talagang.

Residents said that it isa sign of relief that at leastsome thing has started hap-pening for largely neglectedarea.

District status forTalagang has been maindemand of the public since1986 when Govt gaveChakwal a district status.

Talagang is administra-tively subdivided into 23Union Councils.

Talagang Tehsil is one ofthe largest tehsil in Pakistanas it contains 102 villagesand more than half a millionpopulation.

Maryam quitsafter a lot of fuss

MARYAM Nawaz has done what others wouldn’t do in a countrylike ours. In the midst of rising controversy, triggered mainly byPTI, about her appointment as Chairperson of Prime Minister’s Youth

Loan Programme, she decided on Wednesday to resign. PTI had taken thematter to the court and Lahore High Court asked the Government to replaceher and devise a transparent mechanism for fresh appointment by Friday.

Maryam has quitted the job due to political criticism and interventionof the court, which shows that the resignation was not voluntary as claimedby her. However, one must appreciate the spirit with which she tendered theresignation and expressed the resolve to continue to serve the people withsame zeal and commitment in future as well. Merits of the appointmentapart, the fact remains that Maryam worked hard and took pains to put oneof the largest initiatives of the present government on firm footings. She notonly served on voluntary and honorary basis but also ran the programmewith complete transparency and honesty and no one can raise accusing fin-gers towards her on account of any corrupt practice. She certainly performedwell and demonstrated her capacity and vision to carry out important re-sponsibilities. However, it is also a fact that the episode has brought badname to the Government irrespective of the fact that she fully deserved tobe head of the programme. Her appointment as Chairperson of theProgramme was one of the charges that the opposition PTI has been level-ling against the Government. Critics viewed this as part of the overall schemeof things that convey the impression of the government being run as a fam-ily enterprise. There is almost consensus that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifhas the passion and resolve to launch giant projects of far reaching impor-tance for the country and that could turn Pakistan into an economic giant.He wants to develop Pakistan on the pattern of Hong Kong, Singapore andSouth Korea but he has to look around and trust others to implement hisvision. Intelligence and capabilities of family members as well as parentalsentiments notwithstanding, transparency and good governance demandsavoiding their association with statecraft to avoid controversies especiallythose surrounding important projects and programmes.

Surplus sugar showsour real potential

THE Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC), onWednesday, allowed export of five hundred thousand tones of surplus

sugar available with millers. In yet another related move that would benefitmillers at the cost of common man, the Committee decided to impose 20%regulatory duty on import of sugar to discourage its imports so that pricesof domestic sugar do not come down.

The decision of the ECC is highly questionable and smacks of anti-con-sumer and pro-elite mindset that has always dominated power corridors, theavailability of surplus sugar for export is testimony of Pakistan’s huge poten-tial to produce more and earn foreign exchange. Already, the country is ex-porting huge quantities of cotton with largest contribution in foreign exchangeearnings. Pakistan is also producing enough rice to export and has been ex-porting wheat as well after some lean and weak periods despite populationexplosion. Pakistan has vast potential to develop its agriculture on sound andmodern lines but unfortunately we are concentrating only on frequent in-creases in procurement price of different crops and are not doing enough tointroduce modern agricultural practices, new implements, bring down cost ofinputs and ensure availability of water and power. It is because of all this thatdespite unprecedented increase in procurement price of wheat and sugar, thebenefits are confined to big landlords while small farmers are still at a disad-vantage. There is also dire need to introduce value addition as we are justthrowing away our cotton and other crops in the international market in theabsence of value addition, grading, proper packaging and marketing. Isn’t itshame that Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of milk but it is importingdry milk in huge quantities every year at the cost of billions of rupees? It isalso unfortunate that the Government itself is a major hurdle in the way oftrickle down effect of increased production or economic development as isevident from the decision to impose 20% regulatory duty on import of sugarand 25% duty on import of wheat, which shows that wheat in the interna-tional market is much cheaper but we are adding to the burden on the con-sumer by enhancing its procurement price by Rs. 100 for 40 kg.

Dirty politics overThar dead bodies

SINDH Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has held MQM responsiblefor deaths in Tharparkar saying that the Health Ministry remained with

the party over the last three years but the Minister never came to the districtto have an on the spot assessment of the situation and the facilities in theMithi hospital. Talking to media on arrival for his first visit to the starvedand disease ridden Tharparkar, Syed Qaim Ali Shah passed the buck on theformer ally which is traditional in Pakistani politics to shift the responsibil-ity of all the failures on the opponents.

It is rather ridiculous and unacceptable to indulge in blame game whenpeople are dying due to starvation and diseases. Of course, it was duty of theformer Health Minister to have full knowledge of the malnourishment ofchildren in Tharparkar but overall the Provincial government headed by theChief Minister was, and is, responsible to address the critical issue. What ismore agonising is that instead of extending relief and treatment facilities tothe people who are passing a miserable time of their life, the PPP and MQMare doing politics on dead bodies, to which the people are tired of. Eventhough the drought in Thar has been ongoing for ten years, the governmenthas not considered this issue serious as if the people there were not humanbeings. Local experts have warned that the situation could get worse if drasticmeasures are adopted, to provide immediate relief to the Tharparkar district,with around 1.5 million inhabitants. The mud slinging by the Sindh Govern-ment and the MQM would do no service to the poor Tharis. We stronglybelieve that not only the PPP and MQM but all the political parties, NGOsand philanthropists should join hands to rescue the suffering humanity. SyedQaim Ali Shah should also realize that it is 21st century and shifting of respon-sibility and traditional trading of charges is not taken well by the people.Therefore, in addition to short term relief measures, a lasting solution ofdrought, like building a canal across Thar without delay, is need of the hour.

Hindutva targets Bangladesh

Newpolitics in

Europe, US

TWO surveys on either side ofthe Atlantic suggest how therecent recession in the United

States and Europe has shaken upthinking about traditional politics:In Spain, where about half of peopleunder 30 are still unemployed, a po-litical party that did not even existuntil this year – Podemos, or “Wecan” – is now more popular thanthe governing party or its main op-position party, according to a pollfor the El País newspaper.Podemos, in fact, is so anti-estab-lishment that it considers itself moreof a social and cultural movementthan a political party. In the US,where young people are twice aslikely as older workers to end up job-less, only 1 in 5 Millennials believespolitics can solve important issues.More than two-thirds of these 18-to-29-year-olds would prefer to volun-teer for community service to sup-port a worthy cause, according to aHarvard University poll.

The US and Europe are wellalong in their post-crisis financialreforms. And many economic indi-cators are up. Yet less noticed aregrass-roots efforts to reform thedemocratic structures and habitsthat contributed to the West’s finan-cial woes five years ago, especiallyamong young people who are stilljobless or underemployed. The anti-politics mood certainly reflects an-ger at traditional parties. In Europe,the recession helped expose corrup-tion in a few countries, such asSpain, Greece, Ireland, and Italy.For America’s midterm elections,the popularity of Congress was atan all-time low, partly over pastscandals and partly for the super-partisanship of the two parties. InEurope, a shift in thinking hasboosted a few fringe parties on boththe left and right, some of whichseek to end elitist politics. On theright, Germany has seen the rise ofthe Alternative for Germany partywhile the Party for Freedom in theNetherlands and the United King-dom Independence Party in Britainhave made gains. In Greece, wherethe eurocrisis began, the newlyformed left-wing SYRIZA mighteven gain power next year. In Spain,where democracy was restored lessthan four decades ago, the mood forchange is high. More than 90 per-cent of Spaniards say the currentpolitical situation is either “bad” or“very bad.” Specific issues, such asimmigration, joblessness, and fiscalausterity, may drive many of thesenew movements. But underneath liesa desire for wider participation, moretransparency, and better accountabil-ity in governance. Those demandshave been made easier by digitaltools that allow greater connected-ness among citizens. The flip side tothe popular rage against the systemcould be a demand for a new styleof politics. Almost every recessionleaves behind some economic re-forms. Why not for politics?— The Christian Science Monitor

*****

Climatechange talk

IT is welcome that US PresidentBarack Obama came up with astunning commitment to cut net

US greenhouse gas emissions by atleast 26 per cent by 2025, doublingits current pace of carbon reduction,and Chinese President Xi Jinpingannounced a faster time-frame forcarbon reduction and added apledge to increase China’s use ofnuclear, wind and solar energy. Ifall this is implemented and if othernations make similar pledges, theworld will be on track to achievethe all-important straight path to 80per cent reduction in emissions over2005 levels by 2050, that are abso-lutely necessary to avert the great-est temperature rises associatedwith climate change.

The China-US deal is alsoclever because both economic su-perpowers are two of the world’sbiggest producers of carbon emis-sions and they have both beenrightly accused of ignoring most ofthe Kyoto Protocol and DohaAgreement. But now they will bein a good position to lecture othermore environmentally diligentcountries when they all meet inParis in 2015 to negotiate the nextround of climate negotiations. Thereis a lot of headline-grabbing fromboth Xi and Obama, but even if theyimplement half of what they havepromised (which in Xi’s case hasnot been specific), the world willbe a safer place. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

HINDUTVA, a term coinedby Vinayak DamodarSavarkar in his 1923 pam-

phlet ‘Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?’is the prominent set of movementsadvocating Hindu nationalism inIndia. An umbrella of organizations,called the Sangh Parivar, championsthe concept of Hindutva and has en-deavoured to revive extremism inIndia, purging the society of otherreligions and has resorted to violenceat times. In the wake of the partitionof the Indian Sub-Continent in 1947,Muslim refugees were set upon byHindutvavadis (followers ofHindutva) and raped, looted andmassacred. When Gandhi tried tostop the bloodbath of Muslims, hewas eliminated by a follower of theHindu extremist group.

The first Hindutva organizationformed was the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS),founded in 1925. “Sangh Parivar”includes the RSS, Bajrang Dal andthe Vishva Hindu Parishad. Themajor political wing is the BJPwhich was in power in India’s Cen-tral Government for six years from1998 to 2004 and is currently theruling party of India with NarendraModi as the Prime Minister.

For ages, Hindutva has beenmachinating to indoctrinate Hinduyouth at an early stage of their re-cruitment in the Indian military andother important organizations. Manyof them have now risen to commandsensitive positions and have playedhavoc with Indian Muslims inGujarat, Maharashtra, Kashmir andeven in neighbouring Pakistan. The

Leaders with no accountability

PAKISTAN is in bondage. Thenation and its imagery, lawand justice, commerce, think-

ing hubs, political governance all ap-pear dysfunctional and self-contra-dictory. Eroding freedom ofthoughts and action speaks of miss-ing accountability of political elite.The nation is fast becoming victimof a US planned blue-print beingused in Iraq. Vengeful sectarian kill-ings and dismantling of economic,political and moral infrastructures toincapacitate the nation by its ownsadistic rulers. All fighting againstall to end the very existence by col-lective madness. There is a patternof cruelty to target the common citi-zens. No wonder, once conditionsfavorable to cruelty are established,it spreads like frightening wildfire.

The governance demonstratesdead-ended political conscience ofthe interest of the people. After de-cade-old American entrapment inthe bogus war on terrorism, thecountry has lost the energies andcapacity to deal with any majorproblems of security and politicalchange. The foreign agenda is fo-cused on breaking the moral andspiritual lifelines of the Pakistanination by its own agents of influ-ence. The nation faces colossal di-saster day in and day out but nobodyis held accountable for the crimes.

Daily blood baths of civilians gounabated adding to statistical recordfor lack of adequate security. Thelatest cold blooded murder of 55innocent people at Wagha borderand 150 or so injured adds nothingnew to grieving citizens belief that

Crime, like virtue,has its degrees.

Pakistan is governed by most inept,incompetent and corrupt people everwitnessed by an informed nation.There is obvious disconnect betweenthe people and the political rulersconstantly hated and feared by themasses. The conflicting time zonesare widening in which ordinarypeople suffer versus the ruling elitebreathe as daily civilian casualtiescontinued to rise because of theTaliban attacks and targeted massa-cres of the ordinary citizens. Who isa failure and who should be held ac-countability? Is the Pakistani secu-rity apparatus so incompetent and illequipped that it cannot ensure publicsafety? So the killings of the inno-cent civilians go unabated.

No sensible person or global citi-zen will ever invest or travel to acountry at the crossroads of dailybloodbaths, corruption and politicalgangsterism. Is this prevalent facthard to grasp to any responsible per-son in Pakistan? Tourism is a life-line to any developing nation like Pa-kistan. During the summer of 2013under PM Sharif, 10 internationaltourists were cold blooded murderedby Taliban group near the K2 moun-tainous region. Is Pakistan that naïveand hopeless in security that it can-not protect the international tourists?Farzana Parveen would have liked toknow why she was stoned to deathright where law and justice were sup-posedly administered to have pro-tected her at the Lahore High Courtcompound. Police were watching thehorrifying killing. “Farzana ParveenStoning Shames Pakistan.” (AsiaTimes: 6/2/2014).

The terrifying scene portrayed inthe global news media showed hun-dreds of spectators witnessing themost horrifying crime to human na-ture, not in darkness but in broad day-

light, and right where freedom, hu-man dignity, and honor of the citizensshould have been protected - theLahore High Court compound withpolice in attendance. It is incrediblyshameful to be a Pakistani and towatch this inhuman atrocity out ofthe nowhere. Why the police did notoffer protection to Farzana?Farzana’s soul must be wondering,why did society not protect heragainst this draconian act of vio-lence? Where are the concerned citi-zens who claim to be believers - theMuslims who day and night talkabout Islam as being the faith andvalue of their society? The Sharifbrother’s investigation revealed noth-ing to hold the criminal responsible.

Pakistan’s worst enemies arethose who are unable to listen tovoices of reason and peaceful activ-ism for political change. The rulingelite and the people live in a conflict-ing time zone being unable to under-stand the meaning and essence of thePakistan’s Freedom Movement. Pa-kistan faces multiple chronic prob-lems which could undermine its fu-ture. To all concerned and thinkingPakistanis, the country needs a Navi-gational Change or we could end uplosing our national freedom. What isthe cure to the current problems?There is no magic pill to deal with allcritical situations except a compre-hensive new systematic approach for‘Anew Pakistan.’ Few decades ear-lier, in “Pakistan: Enigma of Change”(Media Monitor Network, USA) and“Revisiting Pakistan Enigma ofChange”, this author offered proac-tive vision for planned politicalchange to evolve new institutions andnew-age educated leadership for asustainable future. For too long, themasses have experienced tormentingpains and political cruelty. Nawaz

massacre of Muslims in the In-dian state of Gujarat, Indianheld Kashmir, Malegaon andeven the carnage of Pakistanison board the Samjhota Expressare but some glimpses of thehorror they are wreaking.

Hindutva is now finding fresh tar-gets in Bangladesh. It is ironic that thecreation of Bangladesh came aboutwith India prompting the separationof erstwhile East Pakistan, creatinginsurgency, rebellion and mutiny, fi-nally invading East Pakistan withmassive forces and forcing the capitu-lation of Pakistani armed forces.

India did not rest on its laurelsand has interfered in the affairs ofBangladesh, prompting coup d’étatsand revolutions till it achieved a gov-ernment which would kowtow to itsdiktats. The current government ofHasina Wajid was installed to achieveits heinous ends. Her previous ten-ure was lackluster, marred with cor-ruption and bad governance. In orderto ensure her re-election, a politicalcrisis was created, which promptedthe opposition parties to boycott theelections, paving the way for Hasina.She is the daughter of Sheikh MujiburRahman, the founder of Bangladesh,who had been conspiring with Indiafrom the early sixties to break awayfrom Pakistan. He won a landslidevictory in the 1970 elections and wasexpected to form the government inUnited Pakistan. In an interview toAPP, he made his intentions quiteclear, when he declared that he would“rather be the founder of a nation(Bangladesh) than the Prime Minis-ter of Pakistan.” The rest is historybut his reign as Prime Minister ofBangladesh was cut short with hisassassination within four years be-cause of governance issues, nepotismand charges of corruption. His demisecut short India’s odious plans, but itdid manage to reinstall Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman’s daughter HasinaWajid after long periods of plotting.

Hindutva’s abhorrent agenda inBangladesh currently in execution isunder the garb of the Hasina Wajid’sgovernment’s so called War CrimesTribunal that was actually establishedby New Delhi to sentence thoseBangladeshi nationals who opposedthe disintegration of East Pakistan.Earlier, a renowned Bangladeshi poli-tician and veteran Jamaat-e-Islamileader Abdul Qadir Mollah, was sen-tenced to death. When his death sen-tence was overturned by the Judiciary,Hindutvavadis created chaos and an-archy, organized protest rallies byhired thugs demanding the hangingof Abdul Qadir Mollah. Ultimately,the sentence had to be carried out.Now the Hindutvavadis have actedwith derision and ensured thatBangladesh judiciary sentences an-other veteran politician, MotiurRahman Nizami of Jamaat-e-Islami.His alleged crime was to raise hispolitical voice against the dismem-berment of Pakistan. He wanted tofulfill his patriotic duty in accordancewith the founding fathers of Pakistan,many of whom were Bengalis. In1971, despite being a bona fideBengali himself, he resisted the con-spiracy against Pakistan. Now he isbeing branded as a traitor to the causeof Bangladesh by a puppet govern-ment, which is following the edictsof Hindutvavadis.

Patriotic Bengalis have beenmarked for elimination byHindutvavadis under the organizedverdicts of sham war crimes tribunals,on behest of Indians, under plannedcharges of torture and destruction. In-terestingly, Indian officials from Intel-ligence establishment, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs and from Indian Armyhave officially confessed to hatchingconspiracy of liberating Bangladeshand of arming, training and funding

insurgency through the militant groupMukti Bahini (Liberation Warriors).Indians still take pride in gettingcredit for Mukti Bahini’s creation,training and funding to implement theconspiracy in East Pakistan.

Hindutvavadis and their Bengalidisciples in the shape of MuktiBahini militants carried out massa-cres of non-Bengalis comprisingWest Pakistanis posted to East Pa-kistan and the Urdu-speaking set-tlers. They raped the women andbrutally murdered the non-Bengalis,later dumping their bodies in massgraves. The cruelty executed by theMukti Bahini knew no bounds; thetorture carried out and desecrationof the dead bodies would shameeven Changez Khan. Ironically, theHindutvavadis later presented thesame mass graves as those ofBengalis allegedly having beenslaughtered by Pakistani Army. Todate, no war crimes tribunal ofSheikh Hasina Wajid has ever triedor convicted any Mukti Bahini ac-tivist for high profile war crimes thatthey carried out with the connivanceof the Indian army personnel.

The unjust victimization of theveteran Bangladeshi politicians, be-longing to religiously motivatedpolitical parties is being conductedby the Hindutvavadis for creatingpolitical instability in Bangladeshand promoting religious extremism.It would provide India the perfectexcuse for declaring the religiousextremism to be a threat to India andcarrying out unilateral action insideBangladesh. Reportedly, evenHasina Wajid has also been markedfor elimination, in case she fails tocomply with the Hindutva edict.Hindutva thus is targetingBangladesh with a vengeance but isbeing aided by Bengalis themselves.—The writer is retired PAF GroupCaptain and a TV talk show host.

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Weekly Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

French dramatist

Sharif and his brother must be triedin a court of law for the killings of14 civilians and injuring 80 peace-ful activists at Minhaj al QuranAcademy Lahore and stolen wealth.Despite evidence, the FIR againstSharif was not registered by police.Nawaz Sharif has no political integ-rity and must step down or takeleave of absence. There is substan-tial evidence for the 2013 electionrigging by the Election Commissionmembers. Sharif would need a pow-erful jolt as criminals do not exitvoluntarily from powerhouses. Itwill provide a logical breathingspace for a planned and workableremedy to a highly critical politicalcrisis and to enhance a sustainableChange goal.

A new Government of NationalUnity should be formed under a non-partisan and non political leader ofmoral and intellectual integrity for aperiod of two years; a New Consti-tution should be framed with newpublic institutions under leadershipof new generation of educatedpeople; and then a new election couldgive meaning and clarity to the pur-pose of democracy and to transformthe ideals of a progressive legitimatefunctional democracy. The Need isdesperate for the Pakistani nation tothink critically and see the Mirror andstand firm in raising voices of reasonfor accountability and politicalchange. The people must ponder atpast misconceptions and errors ofjudgments and to bring 21st century’seducated, proactive and intelligentyoung people into political leadershiprole to safeguard the national inter-est and freedom and the future.—The writer specialises in globalsecurity, peace and conflictresolution and is author of severalpublications.

Sultan M HaliEmail: [email protected]

Dr Mahboob A KhwajaEmail:[email protected]

Voice of the People

MullahismMERYM SAUDAGAR

If we solely blame Taliban and simi-lar groups for preaching extremismin Pakistan, it would be wrong. Theyare just one of the few who areplaguing our society. There’s an-other group of people who preachextremism in such subtle way thatthey are never exposed. They havedisguised themselves. We see themevery day; we listen to what theysay. In fact some of us trust themblindly. They are none other than the“Mullahs” of Pakistan. Thesemullahs have been misguidingpeople since independence. Theyclaim to be the custodian of Paki-stan. Without any hesitation theysay, it was because of them Paki-stan was created. But if we look atthe history; Pakistan was created byrich, educated professional secularMuslims who had nothing to do ei-ther with the mullahs or the religion.The irony is, these mullahs wereagainst the creation of Pakistan.

Over the years, their influenceon society has increased immensely.Their version of Islam has thrownPakistan into an epidemic of honourkillings, hatred, murders and mobexecutions of fellow Muslims andminorities alike. They freely issuekufar fatwas against their opponentsand threaten those with a differentsect or belief. On the basis of theirmere fatwas, they accuse minoritieswith blasphemy and as a result theyare allegedly killed. The recent in-cident in which a Christian couplewas beaten then burned to death,was the outcome of the hate speechof such a mullah. With their grow-ing influence, our masses trustthem blindly. They treat thesemullahs as saints, even though theydon’t have true love for religion.They use their position to brain-wash the young generation. Sadly,their reach is not restricted to thetribal areas. These monsters havevery strong hold in cosmopolitancities like Karachi and Lahore.

Without an iota of doubt thesemullahs and their mullahism will de-stroy Pakistan to the point where wewill not be able to recognize thiscountry. Unless you clean up youroffices, your neighbourhoods, andyour educational institutions fromtyrannical views, Pakistan will notsurvive. If the country is to pros-per and develop, the governmenthas to play its role and has to cur-tail the role of mullahs in politicsand take constructive measures torestrict mullah’s role to mosques.Laws should be made to protect therights of both the Muslim minori-ties and other minorities.—Karachi

The WahgamassacreM FAZAL ELAHI

On November 2, 2014, after thedaily flag-lowering parade at theWahga border, a ruthless suicidebomb attack took a heavy toll on thelives of innocent spectators who hadcome to watch the vigorous paradeand the ceremony. For those whomay not be aware, a daily ceremo-nial closing of the border betweenIndia and Pakistan takes place at theWagah border with tourists andjubiliant excited visitors sitting onboth sides of the border and enthu-siastically watching the ceremony.

On the tragic day of November2, 2014, sixty people who lost theirvaluable lives and hundreds whowere injured in the heartrending in-cident didn’t know from Adams whatfate had in store for them. One won-ders whether those responsible for thesecurity of the area had any prior in-formation about the dastardly suicideattack that took so many lives andleft their next to kin in a state of ab-solute shock and awe. According toan initial report, the law-enforcementagencies had been alerted about thepossibility of an attack at Wahga bor-der. It is reported that the Director

Silver screen violence & childrenRIMSHA AHMAD

The face of violence is complex. Acts of human violence tend to create uncertainty, fear and insecurityin children. Television violence has an impact on its audience and much of the viewing audience is

made up of children. Children experience negative effects from viewing violent programmes. Terroristacts often are similar in their impact on children to other disasters, which tend to be events that are quitesudden, very disruptive and have lasting impact on people, especially the children. Children see adultsabsorbed in the news coverage. They listen to parents or teachers discussing personalities associatedwith terrorism in the news. Children often want to know the nature of the happenings, express concernand anxiety, and wonder why it is happening. Television viewing is one of the major pastimes of Paki-stani families. The trend towards news watching has increased. News are often watched by the wholefamilies and is resulting in a sense of engagement with what is reported in the news, or projected andhighlighted in documentaries and discussion programmes. A number of kids choose to watch news whilea significant number of children see or hear news because their parents are watching it. This raisesconcerns about children viewing horrifying images of terrorism on the news. As I have discussed theproblem of violence being shown in different news channels and television programmes so, I can clearlypass this request to PEMRA, which is obliged to take strict action against the channels violating PEMRALaw and showing violence and the language they use because, these kinds of programmes and newscontaining violence are not just disturbing local people or our children, but are also creating negativeimpact of the country also. So PEMRA should give proper training about the Code of Conduct andPEMRA rules to every private single channel and organize public meetings and public hearings to beattended by the public and the representatives of the broadcast channels. PEMRA should play its statu-tory role to eliminate violence and sensationalism from Pakistani media.—Via email

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View From Abroad

Wobbling on climate change

I am a climate scientist and aformer astronaut. Not surprisingly, I have a deep respect for

well-tested theories and facts. In theclimate debate, these things have away of getting blurred in political dis-cussions. In September, John P.Holdren, the head of the White HouseOffice of Science and TechnologyPolicy, was testifying to a Congres-sional committee about climatechange. Representative Steve Stock-man, a Republican from Texas, re-counted a visit he had made to NASA,where he asked what had ended theice age: “And the lead scientist atNASA said this — he said that whatended the ice age was global wob-bling. That’s what I was told. This isa lead scientist down in Maryland;you’re welcome to go down there andask him the same thing.

“So, and my second question,which I thought it was an intuitivequestion that should be followed up— is the wobbling of the earth in-cluded in any of your modelling? Andthe answer was no... “How can youtake an element which you give thecredit for the collapse of global freez-ing and into global warming but leaveit out of your models?” That “lead sci-entist at NASA” was me. In July, Mr.

Stockman spent a couple of hours atNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Cen-tre listening to presentations aboutearth science and climate change. Thesubject of ice ages came up. Mr. Stock-man asked, “How can your modelspredict the climate when no one cantell me what causes the ice ages?”

I responded that, actually, the sci-ence community understood very wellwhat takes the earth into and out ofice ages. A Serbian mathematician,Milutin Milankovitch, worked outtheory during the early years of 20thcentury. He calculated by hand thatvariations in the earth’s tilt and theshape of its orbit around the sun startand end ice ages. I said that you couldthink of ice ages as resulting fromwobbles in the earth’s tilt and orbit.

The time scales involved are onthe order of tens of thousands to hun-dreds of thousands of years. I ex-plained that this science has been welltested against the fossil record and isbroadly accepted. I added that wedon’t normally include these factorsin 100-year climate projections be-cause the effects are too tiny to beimportant on such a short time-scale.And that, I thought, was that.

So I was bit surprised to read theexchange between Dr. Holdren andRepresentative Stockman, which sug-gested that at best we couldn’t explainthe science and at worst we scientistsare clueless about ice ages. We aren’t.

Nor are we clueless about what ishappening to the climate, thanks inpart to a small fleet of satellites thatfly above our heads, measuring thepulse of the earth. Without them wewould have no useful weather fore-casts beyond a couple of days.

These satellite data are fed intocomputer models that use the lawsof motion — Sir Isaac Newton’s theo-ries — to figure out where the world’sair currents will flow, where cloudswill form and rain will fall. And —voilà — you can plan your weekend,an airline can plan a flight and a citycan prepare for a hurricane. Satellitesalso keep track of other importantvariables: polar ice, sea level rise,changes in vegetation, ocean currents,sea surface temperature and oceansalinity (that’s right — you can accu-rately measure salinity from space),cloudiness and so on.

These data are crucial for assess-ing and understanding changes in theearth system and determiningwhether they are natural or connectedto human activities. They are alsoused to challenge and correct climatemodels, which are mostly based onthe same theories used in weatherforecast models. This whole systemof observation, theory and predictionis tested daily in forecast models andalmost continuously in climate mod-els. So, if you have no faith in thepredictive capability of climate mod-

Piers J Sellers

Pun Intended..!

OUR wives hate it. Our children love it when we twofriends from college get to-

gether: We pun away to glory andbeyond and there isn’t a momentwhen we aren’t trying to outbeateach other with a better pun: So letsdo some punning today: The fattestknight at King Arthur’s round tablewas Sir Cumference. He acquiredhis size from too much pi. I thoughtI saw an eye doctor on an Alaskanisland, but it turned out to be an op-

tical Aleutian! She was only a whis-key maker, but he loved her still! Arubber band pistol was confiscatedfrom algebra class, because it was aweapon of math disruption! No mat-ter how much you push the envelope,it’ll still be stationery!

A dog gave birth to puppies nearthe road and was cited for littering! Agrenade thrown into a kitchen inFrance would result in LinoleumBlownapart! Two silk worms had arace. They ended up in a tie! Time flieslike an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana!Atheism is a non-prophet organiza-tion! Two hats were hanging on a hatrack in the hallway One hat said to theother: ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head.’

I wondered why the baseball kept get-ting bigger. Then it hit me! A sign onthe lawn at a drug rehab center said:‘Keep off the Grass.’

The midget fortune-teller who es-caped from prison was a small me-dium at large! The soldier who sur-vived mustard gas and pepper spray isnow a seasoned veteran! A backwardpoet writes inverse! In a democracyit’s your vote that counts. In feudal-ism it’s your count that votes! Whencannibals ate a missionary, they got ataste of religion! If you jumped off abridge in Paris, you’d be in Seine! Avulture boards an airplane, carryingtwo dead raccoons. The stewardesslooks at him and says, ‘I’m sorry, sir,

only one carrion allowed per passen-ger! Two fish swim into a concretewall. One turns to the other and says‘Dam!’ Two Eskimos sitting in akayak were chilly, so they lit a firein the craft Unsurprisingly it sank,proving once again that you can’thave your kayak and heat it too.

Two hydrogen atoms meet.One says, ‘I’ve lost my electron.’The other says ‘Are you sure?’ Thefirst replies, ‘Yes, I’m positive.’!And this the last is really a pun in-tended! Did you hear about theBuddhist who refused Novocainduring a root canal? His goal: tran-scend dental medication..!—Email:[email protected]

els, you should also discard yourfaith in weather forecasts and anyother predictions based onNewtonian mechanics.

The earth has warmed nearly0.8 degrees Celsius over the last cen-tury and we are confident that thebiggest factor in this increase is therelease of carbon dioxide from fos-sil fuel burning. It is almost certainthat we will see a rise of two de-grees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahren-heit) before 2100, and a three-de-gree rise (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) orhigher is a possibility. The impactsover such a short period would behuge. The longer we put off correc-tive action, the more disruptive theoutcome is likely to be.

It is my pleasure and duty as ascientist and civil servant to discussthe challenge of climate change withelected officials. My colleagues andI do our best to transmit what weknow and what we think is likely tohappen. The facts and accepted theo-ries are fundamental to understand-ing climate change, and they are tooimportant to get wrong or trivialize.Some difficult decisions lie ahead forus humans. We should debate ouroptions armed with the best informa-tion and ideas that science can pro-vide. The writer is the acting direc-tor of earth science at NASA’sGoddard Space Flight Centre.— Courtesy: The New York Times

Saleh in Quranic perspectiveDERIVED from the root “s-l-

h” with the connotation of “tobe pious, upright” or “righ-

teous”, the term Saleh, generally ren-dered into English as righteousnessor wholesomeness, means “to besound, wholesome, right, proper, andgood”. Saleh is also the name of aProphet—whom the Qur’an men-tions in many verses, at variousplaces, but especially in Surah al-Aer’af (7: 71-77)—who was sent tothe tribes of ‘Ad and Thamud/Samud:“And to Thamud (people, We sent)their brother Saleh” (7:73). The ac-count and narrative of Prophet Saleh(AS), to mention in a few words only,follows the standard Qura’nic patternof “commission, mission, rejection,and punishment”. It is in the formersense (i.e., Saleh as righteousness),that a brief outline and impression ofthe concept of Saleh is presentedhere.

Islam is concerned with differ-entiating and distinguishing right ac-tivity from wrong activity and ex-plaining and illuminating how to dothings correctly. Man adds a dimen-sion, element and facet, of under-standing, making it clear that humanactivity is deeply rooted in the Real,and that this has ever-lasting reper-

cussions, consequences and ramifi-cations, after death. Ihsan, excellence,perfection, or doing what is good; andone who does what is good is calledMuhsin adds to Islam and Iman(faith) a focus on intentionality.

The Qur’an in particular fre-quently emphasizing two or three di-mensions of Din at once is the idea ofgood or wholesome works, and theQur’an uses the term Saleh for thispurpose. According to the holyQur’an, doing righteous or wholesomedeeds, along with faith, will yield Para-dise: “And whoever does a righteousdeed, whether male or female and is atrue believer, such will enter Paradise,where they will be provided thereinwithout limit” (Sura Al-Mumin, 40:40; Cf. Q.41: 33; 4: 57; & 64: 9).

All the Prophets are included inthe category which signifies that theMuhsinun are those who are not onlyon the Sirat al-Mustaqim (the StraightPath) themselves but, in addition, bytheir good example, charismatic quali-ties, and magnetic personality lead oth-ers to the way of righteousness andhelp in establishing a social orderbased on peace, tranquility, harmony,true guidance from the Lord (Al-mighty Allah); and prosperity, rise inworldly position, power, and knowl-

edge are the by-products of their lifeof graceful righteousness or Ihsan.

The Qura’nic use of the word‘Saleh’ can be well understood bylooking at its opposite term, em-

ployed in the Qur’an, ‘Fasid’, ren-dered as corrupt, ruined, evil, wrong.The Salihun are those who live inharmony, accord and concord, withthe Real and establish wholesome-ness through their activity, action andmovement. In contrast, the Mufsidunare those who destroy, demolish, anddevastate the right relationships

Challenges to national security

PAKISTAN is facing securitychallenges from regional, sub-regional entities and even

across regional players i.e. India, Af-ghanistan, Iran, the Islamic State ofIraq and Syria (ISIS) and the US. Theturning point in the internal and ex-ternal security threat was propelledby the event of 9/11, in which Paki-stan was asked either to be ‘us’ orwith ‘the terrorists’ and thus Pakistanbecame an ally of the US in her waragainst terrorism. This major shift inour foreign policy made friends op-ponents and turns the table on Paki-stan. Now Pakistan is a security defi-cit state. And now as the US is plan-ning to partially withdraw its forcesfrom Afghanistan at the end of 2014which is biggest challenge forPakistan’s security because the US’spresence in Afghanistan is intercon-nected with the stability and nationalsecurity of Pakistan.

The Indo-US Civil Nuclear dealis also a security challenge to Paki-stan because it has led towards thearms race in the region and even In-dian has declared as de-facto nuclearweapon state by giving a special sta-tus in the NPT. India’s bid for per-manent seat in United Nations Secu-rity Council (UNSC) is also sup-ported by the US and all the majorpower of today. This will claim Indiaa dominant power in South Asia. TheIndian recent shelling on Line ofControl is a clear-cut violation ofworking boundary and it clearly in-dicates that India want to linger onKashmir issue and want to create dis-turbance in upcoming election inKashmir in November-December.Hence, to counter India is a real chal-lenge for Pakistan.

On the western side Afghanistanis situated which is considered as agateway to South Asia, Central Asiaand Middle East. Pakistan enjoyed cor-dial and friendly relationship with Af-ghanistan twice since the inception ofPakistan, once during the Soviet in-vasion of Afghanistan and second dur-

ing the reign of Taliban in Kabul, oth-erwise there is always remained hos-tility from Afghanistan’s side; even theDurand Line was not accepted by ourAfghan brothers. Furthermore, thereis always blame game of interventionand inference in Afghanistan fromboth sides across the border. However,after the newly elected governmentsin Afghanistan expectations of smoothand friendly relations are there andchances are there that the security en-vironment across the border will im-prove in the future.

Moreover, Iran is an immediateneighbour of Pakistan with a majorityShia population. It also involved individing our society on sectarian linesand its vivid example is Balochistan’scapital Quetta and the violation ofPakistan’s sovereignty and territoryrecently possess a security challengeto Pakistan’s integrity. To add more,the emerging threat to Pakistan’s se-curity can be from Islamic State of Iraqand Syria (ISIS) because it is gettinghold in Iraq and Syria. Al-Qaida andISIS are same ideologically and therecan be an alliance between both orga-

nizations in near future because nowmilitant can get refuge to this organi-zation and there is a chance that ISIScan train and provide equipment tomilitants that ultimately can destabi-lize Pakistan.

Pakistan cannot be secured un-til and unless it takes steps to im-prove smooth and friendly relationswith its neighbouring states. Paki-stan should opt to cash its geographi-cal location being at the juncture ofSouth Asia, Central Asia and MiddleEast. Similarly, Pakistan should fo-cus more and more to stabilize itsinternal security by taking counterinsurgency measures to discouragefurther terrorism and sectarian vio-lence in the country. Last but not theleast, Pakistan should improve itsfriendly relations by initiating traderelations with neighbour states thiswill lead to more and more coop-eration and in building confidenceand in solving other conflicting is-sues among the regional.— The writer is Research Associatein Strategic Vision InstituteIslamabad.

among things. Many verses, e.g.,Sura Al-Baqarah, 2: 8-12, showclearly that wholesomeness, likeIkhlas (sincerity), demands that thegood deeds be motivated by faith andTaqwa (Piety/God-Consciousness).

Taken as a whole, through theconcepts of Saleh and Fasid, theQur’an presents with a picture of thehuman role in creation that distin-guishes right activity, right thought,and right intention from their oppo-sites. Holy Qur’an associates whole-someness with mercy, compassion,paradise, and beauty, and connectscorruption to wrath, anger, hell, andthe ugly. Establishing wholeness,wholesomeness, and beauty dependsupon the full engagement of the hu-man being with the Real. The trulywholesome are those who act asAllah’s perfect servants plus as Hisperfect vicegerents because corrup-tion comes about in the earth whenhuman beings—Allah’s vicegerentson the earth—turn away fromAllah’s Commands and forget themessage of the Prophets.— The author has a PhD in IslamicStudies from Aligarh MuslimUniversity (India), and servedrecently as “Iqbal (Post Doc)Fellow” at International IslamicUniversity, Islamabad.

General Rangers Punjab confirmed,immediately after the blast, that the ex-plosion was a suicide blast saying that“the parade venue is about 600 metresahead of the blast site. Unabashedly,the responsibility of the bomb blastwas claimed separately by the out-lawed Jundallah (Pakistan) and TTP-affiliated Jamat-ul-Ahrar outfits. It isbelieved that the spokesman of thesplinter group of the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) Ahmed Marwat saidthat the attack is a reaction to PakistanArmy’s ‘Operation Zarb-e-Azb’ andWaziristan operation.

The Indian Prime Minister,Narendra Modi condemned thebombing saying “Terror attack inPakistan near the Wagah border isshocking.” He strongly condemnedsuch a dastardly act of terrorism andexpressed his condolences to the be-reaved families. The UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki Moon condemnedthe dastardly terrorist attack at Wahgaborder on November 2. Such terror-ist acts are not justifiable under anycircumstances, he asserted.

While world leaders continue tocondemn the brazen suicide attack oninnocent people on Pakistan side ofthe Wahga border, in strongest terms,and those who have lost their near anddear ones continue to sob, it is timefor the authorities responsible forensuring infallible security at thevenue of the tragedy to ponder as towhat led to occurrence of the catas-trophe at Wahga and who’s respon-sible for it. No matter who is respon-sible, the Wagah attack shows that thestrategies for uprooting the menaceof terrorism from our country’s soilneeds to be promptly revisited.—Via email

Half fried eggsWARISHA NAJAM

Most of us are unaware of the factthat eating raw or half fried egg maycause some deadly diseases. We aretold that having half fried egg or hav-ing raw milk yoke will make usstrong. But the truth is, it containssome hepatitis viruses and bacterialspecies. Which are not only unhealthybut can cause food poisoning or fataldiseases in some cases. We mustmake sure the egg is properly cookedso that all the bacteria are killed. Onlythen an egg is safe and healthy to eat.—Karachi

Intentionsto actions

MINA NAGRA

Actions and intentions share a closenexus. Actions, when motivated bysincere intentions are bound to yieldfruit. Application of this universal lawto the political scenario of Pakistanreveals the grim fact that politicalleadership here is surely not moti-vated by sincere intentions becausedoing so would have necessitated re-sponses which would have been polesapart from the ones that they are dis-playing now. The prime manifesta-tion of this reality are the politicalacts of PTI, which has been chantinganti-government slogans for quitesome time now and has been accus-ing the government representatives ofbeing motivated by nefarious actions.

In their attempt to expose thegovernment, the PTI leadership infact has exposed themselves. Ethicswould have demanded their ultimateresignation from the corridors ofpower following their brash condem-nation of a democratically electedgovernment and its affiliates. How-ever, this is not what happened, al-though the PTI leadership had ini-tially promised to do. They kept ondelaying their resignations for quitesome time and even when they wentto the Speaker of National Assemblyto verify their resignations, they wereadamant on going before him in adelegation although the Speakerwanted them to come individually toverify their resignations, and hencethey returned without verifying theirresignations. This attitude of theirsreveals the fact that the PTI leader-

The Spirit Of Islam

Tauseef A ParrayEmail:[email protected]

Saima AfzalEmail:[email protected]

ship feared the desertion of most ofits representatives as most probablythey were not willing to resign andwere being coerced into doing so.They could not agree upon a unani-mous decision as they never wantedto let go of the reins of power.

It is time we seriously ponderover as to do we want Pakistan to begoverned by such politicians whoseintentions are self interests motivatedand who want to remain or grasppower to foster their own interests atthe cost of the poor tax-payers of Pa-kistan? It is time we realize that ac-tions do speak louder than words.—Lahore

Livestockunder threat

DR. M ASHFAQ, AMAR

RAZZAQ, DR. ISHAQ

About 50 percent of world animalpopulation is residing in Asia regionbut still there are many factors that canmake the future of livestock productsdecisive. Low yield of milk per ani-mal in Pakistan is due to many fac-tors like losses due to diseases, late ageat maturity, unorganized marketingsystem, farming on traditional linesand lack of extension services. Thereis a need to create the understandingabout trans-boundary diseases andensure the control of prevailing dis-eases leading to the low productivity.A progressive control of diseases cannot only improve the inter-region tradebut also protect the countries fromtrans-boundary diseases.

Losses due to diseases are onecause of low milk production andfarm income. There are many fataldiseases in the country like Footand Mouth Disease (FMD), Partu-rient Hemoglobinuria, Bovine Vi-ral Diarrhea (BVD), and blackquarter. Farmers do not vaccinatetheir animals against the fatal dis-eases regularly which lower dairyproduction. Every third cow/buf-falo suffers from Mastitis which isgreatly responsible for loss of milk.The external parasites such as ticksare also lowering production of thissector. The other constraints facedby livestock sectors include feedand land scarcity, poor manage-ment, insufficient credit facilities,and lack of extension services.

Livestock diseases play a crucialrole in the life of dairy farmers be-cause diseases not only lower the pro-duction but also weaken the farmerseconomically. Mortality resultingfrom diseases deprives the farmersfrom dairy earnings. Morbidity dueto diseases is responsible for shortterm, and long term, product losses.These losses are economically moreimportant as compared to mortality.

A strong livestock sector can bea very good contributor to food secu-rity and reduces the poverty in ruralareas. However, prevalent livestockdiseases of economic importance un-dermine the efforts toward strength-ening this sector.

In such a study conducted byauthors in district Faisalabad onfour livestock diseases - ParturientHemoglobinuria, Mastitis, FMDand Tick Infestation, it was foundthat farmers had to bear significanteconomic losses due to these dis-eases. Farmers have to bear signifi-cant overall economic losses peranimal per year. These lossescoupled with high dairy productioncosts greatly reduce the gross mar-gins of livestock farmers.— Lahore

EL HASSAN BIN TALAL

WHAT is to be done about Jerusalem?Twenty five years after the fall ofthe Berlin Wall, this region is wit-

nessing new walls being constructed in vainattempts to contain problems between people.When will we realise that walls separatingcultures and people exacerbate sectarianismand accelerate fragmentation? How long willwalls, figurative and physical, continue topoison our humanity?

The escalating tensions in the Old City ofJerusalem, ostensibly unified but actuallynever more divided, compound the debris leftby the military campaigns of the past decades.These events typify this conflict as one notbeing played out in the courtrooms of a state,the international community, or even the ethi-cal courtrooms in our minds,

This is a conflict that uses instrumentsof aggression aimed at polarising an alreadyfragmented population. It causes us to won-der for how long we will allow holy spaces

Jerusalem, sanctuary for allto be used as tools of war.

Competing claims to Jerusalem as the capi-tal for both Israel and a future Palestine reflectthe need for a new architecture of waging com-prehensive peace, where the cultural universaldomain rises above the geo-politics to becomea template of hope.

A walk through Jerusalem is a tour of worldreligion, architectural ascendancy and the winnersand losers of war. The first stop is the Church ofthe Holy Sepulchre, to Christians the site of Jesus’crucifixion, burial and resurrection, and the holi-est place for Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

It holds a legacy of demolition; its construc-tion required the destruction of the Romantemple of Venus; the Persians destroyed thechurch in 614, in 638 the basilica entrance wasconverted into a mosque, then in 966, it wasagain destroyed during anti-Christian riots. Nextis the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Juda-ism, the first qiblah in prayer for Islam and thirdmost holy site in Islam.

According to the Bible, the first temple wasdestroyed by Babylonian forces in 586 BC. It was

rebuilt, but destroyed again by the Romans in 70AD. After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in637, the Dome of the Rock and the Al AqsaMosque were built at the site as Muslim shrines.

The stone in the Haram Al Sharif, enclosingover 144,000 square metres of fountains, mihrabs,chambers, schools, gardens, buildings and domes,is believed to mark the place where the ProphetMohammad ascended. In Judaism, it is whereAbraham offered Isaac, and the location of thetemple. The visitor might ponder what culturalopenness facilitated such a geographically con-tained flourishing of religious spirit.

That same visitor might draw inspirationfrom hearing the Muslim call to prayer punctu-ated by church bells, and two groups praying atone wall to one God of different traditions. In amomentary lapse of consciousness, one mightconfuse Jerusalem with a place that epitomisestolerance and plurality.

But of course we know that this metaphoris an illusion. The loss of trust negates the willto manage this shared heritage. The controversyover the management of the holy spaces is deep,

but ironically has little to do with religion.While the site remains within the security

control of Israel since its occupation of EastJerusalem in 1967, administration has been vestedin an Islamic waqf since 1187. Jerusalem’s longhistory demonstrates that occupation is futile.

Israel and its neighbours are legally boundto recognise the status quo ante 1947. Insteadof which, the absence of the shared manage-ment in good faith of the holy space has trig-gered violence for decades. Have we notrecognised that these clashes are not about re-ligion? They are about politics.

All sides should declare this deadlock andunify under the argument that the politicisationof holy space crosses an ethical and moral line.Holy places must be governed by the adher-ence of inter-faith, and if this is not possible,they must be governed by international law andecumenical values.

—Courtesy: Jordan Times[The writer is chairman of the West Asia

North Africa Institute. He contributed this ar-ticle to The Jordan Times]

PANKAJ MISHRA

EXACTLY 30 years ago this month, lynch mobs led by politicians slaughtered almost 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi, in somecases by hanging burning tires around their necks. The po-

grom came as retaliation for the assassination of Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. In nationwide electionsheld a few weeks later, the Congress party, some of whose mem-bers had helped supervise the killings, won in a landslide.

With state elections approaching, parts of Delhi are againawash with manufactured hate. The Trilokpuri neighborhood,which witnessed the deaths of hundreds of Sikhs in 1984, re-cently suffered clashes between Hindus and Muslims, as well asa brutal police crackdown on the minority community.

A resurgence of communal violence and hatred elsewhere inthe country also recalls the largely unpunished crimes of 1984and their bitter lessons: how mass murderers can be rewardedwith huge electoral victories and high political office, and howthe judicial system can be gamed in full view of a largely acqui-escent if not craven media.

In an insightful article in the Economic and Political Weekly,the historian Dilip Simeon argues that “the year 1984 set a newstandard for the normalization of brutality and lawlessness” inIndia. Today many Indians “do not believe that involvement inmass crimes should disqualify anyone from holding executivepower.

Simeon sees the Congress’ cynical use of violence in 1984 asa “force-multiplier” for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party,whose religious-political campaigns in the early 1990s led to thou-sands of deaths. The anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in 2002 re-suscitated the BJP in the state and set the stage for Narendra Modi’ssubsequent ascent to the summit of power in Delhi.

There is one important difference, however. Divide-and-ruleis now more than an opportunistic electoral gambit: The extendedfamily of Hindu nationalists seems to be looking past electionvictories in hopes of drastically remaking India’s social and po-litical landscape. Their aim is to consolidate a permanent Hindumajority against such real and imagined aliens as Muslims, Chris-tians, liberals, communists, secularists, Western NGOs and in-dependent-minded women.

During this year’s election campaign, Modi attacked theincumbent Congress government for allegedly killing rhi-noceroses to clear land in India’s northeast for BangladeshiMuslim settlers. As prime minister now, exposed to the fullglare of international scrutiny, Modi leaves it to his sup-porters to elaborate on the potent theme of insidious inter-nal and external enemies.

One of their favored memes is the “love jihad” — the termrecently employed by a BJP legislator to accuse Muslims ofIslamicizing India by impregnating Hindu women. As the writerSonia Faleiro wrote last month in the New York Times, “con-senting adults who have broken no laws have been threatened,beaten up and, in a medieval twist, had their faces painted blackby pumped-up bands of roving men.”

Hindu vigilantes, who have long assaulted supposedly im-moral women and burned books and paintings, enjoy a new re-spectability and influence. The books of Dinanath Batra, wholed the campaign to pulp Wendy Doniger’s “The Hindus,” havebeen made compulsory reading in Gujarat’s schools, while dis-tinguished historian Romila Thapar, who authored the “PenguinHistory of Early India,” is abused as a “sickular commie” bymainstream commentators no less than online stalkers.

The head of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh, which has been proscribed twice in independent Indiafor fomenting violence, was given a prime time slot on statetelevision to rant against Muslim infiltrators.

Indeed, a senior BJP leader appealed last month, at Delhi’sNational Museum no less, for a public bonfire of canonical his-tory books. He had previously urged that Muslims be stripped ofvoting rights until they acknowledge their Hindu ancestry. Bothproposals were resoundingly supported by his nearly 1 millionfollowers on Twitter.

Neo-Hindu tweeters and bloggers who command virtuallynch mobs on social media best embody the nihilist ethos thateverything is permitted. India’s public (or at least its online) lifesuddenly seems dominated by people Simeon bluntly describesas “sociopaths and criminally insane persons … whose lust forpower poisons the very air we breathe.”

Out of despair, Simeon invests his faith in political leaderswho “ought not to reinforce popular prejudice, but should speakreasonably to calm passions.

—Courtesy: Japan Times [Pankaj Mishra is a Bloomberg columnist]

Righteous sectarianhatred returns to India

NEIL HAWKINS

THE night sky in Brisbane, Australia is being lit up withlaser pictures of Saudi Arabia’s national flag ahead of theGroup of 20 Summit on Nov. 15-16. Each year a different

country is selected as the G-20 presidency and hosts the annualleaders’ summit. This year is Australia’s turn.

Australia is looking forward to hosting Crown Prince Salman,deputy premier and minister of defense, and more than 20 primeministers and leaders for this important summit. The 20 coun-tries that make up the G-20 account for 85 percent of the world’seconomy, over 75 percent of world trade and two-thirds of theworld’s population. Decisions taken at the summit affect us all.

Australia very much welcomes Saudi Arabia’s voice in theG-20, which reflects the Kingdom’s significant regional and glo-bal influence under the wise leadership of Custodian of the TwoHoly Mosques, King Abdullah. It also recognizes the stabilizingrole the Kingdom has played in the global economy.

King Abdullah attended the first G-20 meeting in 2008. Inhis speech, he stressed the importance of enhancing the role ofthe G-20 given that its membership is more representative of theglobal economy.

To meet the world’s biggest economic challenges of improv-ing economic growth and creating jobs, especially for the young,Australia’s G-20 Presidency has focused on two key themes.The first is the need to empower the private sector and the sec-ond is how to make the global economy more resilient to dealwith future shocks.

Saudi Arabia and Australia have strong economic records.Since the 2008 financial crisis, both our economies have per-formed much better than the majority of G-20 members. SaudiArabia and Australia are both major energy exporters and recog-nize the need to encourage private sector growth and jobs foryoung people.

Another key element required for a healthy global economyis free trade. Once again, Saudi Arabia and Australia share acommon view. Australian Prime Minister Abbott wrote, “As al-ways, trade comes first — because every time one person freelytrades with another, wealth increases.”

King Abdullah also made a similar point in his 2010 G-20speech, “In line with Saudi Arabia’s commitment to free trade, itcontinues its efforts to support trade liberalization initiatives atall levels”.

In the lead up to the summit this year, Australia has wel-comed Saudi Arabia’s active participation of a number of othermeetings linked to the G-20. This has included the B20 (busi-ness leaders), Y20 (youth leaders), and T20 (think tanks).

We look forward to receiving Crown Prince Salman and hisdelegation in Brisbane and to continuing our joint efforts to builda brighter economic future for all.

—Courtesy: Arab News[The writer is Australia’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia]

KSA’s attendance at G-20lights up Australia’s skies

RABAT (Morocco)—The Ministerial Con-tact Group on defending the cause of Pales-tine and protecting the city of Al-Quds, ema-nating from the Organization of Islamic Co-operation, held its first meeting on Wednes-day, 12 November 2014 in Rabat under thechairmanship of the Kingdom of Moroccoand membership of Palestine, Saudi Arabia,Jordan, Egypt, Guinea, Malaysia, Turkey,Azerbaijan and the OIC Secretary General.

The meeting was held in light ofIsrael’s approach of tension escalation inthe city of Al-Quds, and as a response tothe recent unprecedented procedures un-

dertaken by Israel concerning Al-Aqsamosque resulting in preventing peoplefrom praying in the Mosque and in storm-ing of the mosque by occupation soldiers.

The Ministers stressed the centrality

OIC endorses plan to endIsraeli occupation of Palestine

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city.

of the Palestinian cause and Al-Quds forthe Muslim Ummah. The Ministerial Con-tact Group also discussed and endorsed apractical Action Plan to send a clear mes-sage on the issue of Palestine and Al-Qudsto the international community. The Min-isters endorsed practical measures to beundertaken by the OIC Member States insupport of Palestine to enhance Al-Qudsresidents to remain in their city and to ex-ert pressure on Israel to end occupation ofthe State of Palestine and to respect theMuslim and Christian sanctities.

The Ministers called upon the interna-

tional community to shoulder its responsi-bility to compel Israel to abide by the inter-national law and to implement resolutionsof the international legitimacy to end Israeloccupation of Palestine which lasted for

more than 47 years, of which 23 years ofpeace negotiation sabotaged by Israel and12 years of Arab Peace Initiative whichproved the aspiration of OIC Member Statesfor achieving peace, security and stabilityin the region, however Israel only increasedoccupation, settlement and discrimination,and violation of Palestinians rights.

The Ministers emphasized that EastJerusalem, according to International Lawand International legitimacy resolutions, isan integral part of the Palestinian land occu-pied in 1967 and capital of Palestine. Hence,all measures undertaken by the Israeli occu-

pation forces, including unlawful seizure,settlement, Judaization of the city and chang-ing its demography or its Arab and Islamiccharacter are null and void and against theinternational law.—via email

Rebel fighters fire an anti-aircraft weapon towards what activists said was a helicopterbelonging to forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and dropping a barrel bombin the old city of Aleppo.

BEIRUT—With moderate rebels facing defeatby al Qaeda in Syria’s north, groups holding acorner of the south are seeking a higher profileand more help, as the last Western-backed forcesholding out against both President Bashar al-Assad and the jihadists.

The southern rebels, described by Westernofficials as the best organized of the mainstreamopposition, say they are the last hope for a revo-lution hijacked by jihadists. In recent days theyhave laid out a transition plan for a Syria with-out Assad, taking on a political role that in thepast they left to others.

Washington says backing “moderate” rebels

Moderates crushed in Syria,West hopes on Southern rebels

is central to its new strategy to defeat the jihadistswithout helping Assad, put in place since the UnitedStates began bombing Sunni Islamist fighters fromIslamic State in Syria in September. But since theU.S. bombing began, many Western-backed rebelgroups have been hammered by both the govern-ment and jihadists. Last week, al Qaeda’s Syriabranch, the Nusra Front, routed pro-Western rebelsin one of their final strongholds in the north.

Assad’s forces control Damascus, the Mediter-ranean coast and much of the area in between. Is-lamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot, controls the east,while Nusra controls much of the northwest and isexpanding at the expense of moderates.—Reuters.

China offersfriendship treaty

to ASEANMANILA—China’s PrimeMinister Li Keqiang proposeda “friendship” treaty withSoutheast Asian countries onThursday but reiterated that ter-ritorial disputes in the SouthChina Sea should be settleddirectly between the countriesinvolved.

China, Taiwan and fourAssociation of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) have com-peting claims in the sea whereconcern is growing of an esca-lation in disputes even as theclaimants work to establishagreements to resolve them.

“China ... stands ready tobecome the first dialogue part-ner to sign with ASEAN atreaty of friendship and coop-eration,” Li told leaders at asummit of East Asian countriesin Myanmar.

The treaty is seen as an at-tempt by Beijing to dispel anynotion it is a threat. Li addedChina was willing to sign le-gal documents with more coun-tries in the region on good-neighborliness and friendship.

Still, the Chinese premierreiterated Beijing’s resolve tosafeguard its territorial sover-eignty and its position that dis-putes concerning the SouthChina Sea should be settleddirectly rather than collectivelyor through arbitration.

The competing maritimeclaims have formed an under-current of tension at the EastAsian and ASEAN summits inMyanmar this week. The Phil-ippines, one of the ASEANclaimants, has previously irkedBeijing by seeking interna-tional arbitration over China’sclaims to about 90 percent ofthe South China Sea.

Diplomatic sources fromthe Philippines reacted coollyto China’s treaty proposal, say-ing that it lacked substance andwas similar to a 2012 proposalmade by Manila and ignored byBeijing.

Li will meet the heads ofASEAN countries behindclosed doors later on Thursday,with Southeast Asian leadershoping to persuade their giantneighbor to take a less bellicoseapproach to overlapping claimsin the South China Sea.—Reuters

German courtconvicts 4Qaeda men

BONN—A German court con-victed four men on Thursday ofbeing members or supporters ofal Qaeda and planning a poten-tially lethal attack on Germansoil, handing them sentences ofup to nine years behind bars.

The group, dubbed the“Duesseldorf cell” by Germanmedia, was arrested in 2011 inthe western cities of Duesseldorfand Bochum, just days beforeOsama bin Laden was killed.

During a two-year long trial,prosecutors said the men, actingunder direct orders from alQaeda, planned to detonate acluster bomb in a crowd ofpeople followed by a second ex-plosion once emergency serviceshad arrived to treat the victims.

Moroccan Abdeladim El-K, in his 30s, was the leader ofthe cell and is the highest-rank-ing member of al Qaeda to gobefore a court in Germany. Thecourt in Duesseldorf sentencedhim to nine years in prison.

Prosecutors said he trav-eled to an al Qaeda trainingcamp in the Afghanistan-Paki-stan border area in 2010 wherehe was taught how to makeexplosives and use guns. Backin Germany, he recruited theother three suspects - GermanHalil S., German-IranianAmid C.—Reuters

Power tusslehinders Kabulgovt formation

KABUL—Weeks after a newAfghan president was sworn in,a tussle for power means it couldbe weeks - if not months - be-fore a cabinet is in place, the lastthing his government needs asit gears for foreign troops toleave after 13 years of war.

President Ashraf Ghanitook office in September aftera bitter row with rival AbdullahAbdullah, who initiallyclaimed victory in the presiden-tial election but later agreed toform a unity government.

As part of a US-backeddeal, the two agreed to worktogether, with former foreignminister Abdullah as chief ex-ecutive, but several weeks onthere is still no agreement on themake-up of the government.

Ghani is aiming to as-semble a functioning govern-ment before a British-spon-sored conference in London inearly December, where he willseek to convince donors to con-tinue bankrolling Afghanistanwith billions of dollars in aid.

But he appears increas-ingly unlikely to meet thatdeadline. Aides to both teamssay there is a tussle over 26positions, with no agreementon who leads the army and po-lice, who heads the intelligenceagency and who controls thecountry’s finances.

“It is impossible for thewhole cabinet to be set up be-fore the London conferencebecause of the contradictingviews between both camps,”said Ahmad Sayedi, a Kabul-based analyst. “We expect thenew cabinet to be in place bythe spring next year.”

The deadlock is a worry forAfghanistan’s foreign backerswho spent more than a decadeencouraging democratic gover-nance while US-led troopsbattled the Taliban.

Ghani, seeking to strike abalance in a country long dividedalong ethnic lines, wants to beseen as a new leader who canhonor a pledge to appoint offi-cials based on merit.—Reuters

BEIJING—Russian PrimeMinister Dmitry Medvedevwas quoted as saying onThursday sanctions must beabandoned to overcomeproblems in relations withthe West after meeting U.S.President Barack Obama onthe sidelines of a meeting inAsia.

It is necessary “to aban-don sanctions, move relationsto a normal, working order,

Lifting sanctions to upRussia-West ties:PM

return to normal, calm, pro-ductive talks”, Interfax newsagency quoted Medvedev assaying in Myanmar, where heis attending a summit of theAssociation of SoutheastAsian Nations.

He was also quoted assaying he expected therouble to firm eventuallywhen the Russian economyfound “i ts point of bal-ance”.—Reuters

JEDDAH—Foreign mothers ofSaudi children can now applyfor permanent residency with-out having sponsors and re-gardless of whether they aremarried, divorced or wid-owed.

The Passports Departmenthas begun receiving applica-tions to grant them residency,said Col. Ahmed Al-Luhaidan,media spokesman of the de-partment. He said that thewomen also do not need tohave employers.Al-Luhaidansaid the various branches ofthe Passport Departmentwould soon be capable of han-dling requests.

However, they must provethey were legally married tocitizens and gave birth to their

Permanent residency forexpat mothers of Saudis

children. The Passport Depart-ment will submit these appli-cations to the General Direc-torate in Riyadh to issue freeiqamas, or residency permits,for a period of five years.

Al-Luhaidan said the vari-ous branches of the PassportDepartment would soon be ca-pable of handling requests.

The Cabinet had previ-ously approved permanentresidency for foreign mothersof Saudi children, with all feescovered by the state.

They are allowed to workin the private sector andcounted toward Saudizationquotas, and treated as Saudisin terms of access to publicuniversities and treatment atpublic hospitals.—AN

“Osama bin Laden, Dead or Alive , con-spiracy theories” aired by BBC World inMarch 2010. The Oman Television hadalso aired a report quoting story of thisscribe in January 2002, stressing thatOsama topping the so-called list of mostwanted men in the world was no longeralive and was believed to have breathedhis last after developing serious kidneyfailure.

Bin Laden, according to my highlycredible source , was suffering from a se-rious lung complication and succumbed tothe disease in mid-December 2001, in thevicinity of the Tora Bora mountains inNangarhaar province. We had also men-tioned, quoting our source, that about 30close associates of bin Laden in Al Qaeda,including his most trusted and personalbodyguards, his family members and some“Taliban friends,” had attended the lastritual of their leader who was laid to resthonorably in his last abode in Tora Bora.The Americans who had been ruthlesslybombing Afghanistan and combing eachand every inch of Tora Bora, failed to findOBL grave that was also believed to havevanished like other places.

The former top US official Paul Rob-erts, who had also been a former editor ofThe Wall Street Journal and has authoreda number of books including “HowAmerica was Lost: From 9/11 to the Po-lice/Warfare State” , has sharply reactedto the much publicized claims by the USmarines to have hunted Osama inAbbotabad operation.

Mr. Roberts in his article titled “An-other Fake Bin Laden Story, on a US SEALwrite up, getting wider coverage in thewestern media, said “This fake story to-gether with the fake movie and the fakebook by an alleged SEALs team memberis the way the fake story of Osama binLaden’s murder was perpetrated and aimedat propaganda orchestration to give Obamaa hero’s laurels and subvert any Demo-cratic talk of challenging his nominationfor a second term.

In fact only a few would believe thatword’s most wanted person who contin-ued to get on the nerves of Americans wellover a decade was killed in the poorly or-chestrated drama by the American NavySEALs. Yes, more than a dozen US ma-rines were killed when the vigilant Paki-stan Air Force birds shot down a US copterduring the process. Hence, a majority stillfinds it hard to digest the killing of Osamain Abbotabad episode.

Mr. Robe o Neil, a member of the USNavy SEALs team interview given toAmerican TV channel Fox News a fewdays back where in he claimed to havehimself shot Osama dead in Abbotabad,was ridiculed by the serious observers in-cluding many in his own country sayinghow could a person be shot dead who neverexisted.

No one can survive renal failure for adecade, and no machine was found in thealleged Abbotabad compound of bin Ladento facilitate the dialysis of ailing Osama,who was claimed to have been murdered

by SEALs a decade after his obituary no-tices. This impression was also confirmedby Mr. Robert in his article.

The US administration announcementthat OBL body was drowned or buried inthe seas was nothing but a laughing stock.Nobody would believe that Americans af-ter hunting their most wanted men andwhom they placed on top of the Interna-tional terrorist’s list, was buried in thewaters quietly. One wonders as to what hellwould have opened had the body of their(Americans) most wanted terrorists shownto the international media and other ob-servers.

“No one among the crew of the Shipfrom which the White House reported binLaden was buried at sea, saw any suchburial”. The ex-US Assistant Secretaryputs in his article.

In fact the announcement made in anemergently called press conference in theWhite House on May 2, 2011 that theAmerican Seals had eventually succeededin hunting Osama topping the list of mostwanted men in the world, was nothing butto befool the world and this was confirmedby many people including local and for-eign analysts.

The American marines or the so-calledNavy SEALs who were used as instrumen-tal in befooling the world in May ,2 2011,it appears have again been made scape-goats this time to facilitate the electioncampaign of president Obama who is fac-ing criticism from around the globe includ-ing his countrymen for his failed policies.

regions for tens of decades to come. The gov-ernment is committed to provide complete sup-port for successful and early exploration of thesereserves.

The Prime Minister expressed the confi-dence that “these initiatives will provide com-mercially viable economic solutions and alsopromote peace and stability in the region.”

“Regional connectivity accelerates eco-nomic growth,” the Prime Minister stated. Hesaid the PML (N) used its political capital totake tough decisions which resulted in signifi-cant improvement of major economic indicators.

He said the government reduced budget-ary deficit from over 8% to less than 6% lastyear and would bring it further down to 5% bythe end of the current financial year. GDPgrowth rate is expected to be around five per-cent this year and would be taken to over sevenpercent by the close of the term of the govern-

ment.Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan wanted to play

the role of facilitator not administrator and addedthat the energy conference had provided oppor-tunity for experts and investors to come closer.

Prime Minister Sharif stressed that Pakistanoffered immense opportunity for investment inthe energy sector. He said, he has asked his teamto attract investment in exploration, production,distribution and transmission of both power andgas sectors.

Nawaz Sharif said the Government is pre-pared to transfer management control for im-proving service delivery while retaining major-ity shares in these companies.

He said regional connectivity accelerateseconomic growth. He said he was convinced thatrecently finalized initiative of CASA-1000 con-nects Central Asian countries, Afghanistan andPakistan.—INP

PM envisionsFrom Page 1

OBL killing dramaFrom Page 1

growth of 15.21 percent com-pared with $5275.61 millionreceived during the same pe-riod of the last fiscal year(FY14) while momentum al-ways grows up in the last twomonths of the year.

The inflow of remittancesduring October 2014 fromSaudi Arabia, UAE, USA,UK, GCC countries (includ-ing Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatarand Oman) and EU countriesamounted to $374.65 million,$318.59 million, $213.39 mil-lion, $185.55 million,$153.09 million and $30.28million respectively com-pared with the inflow of$353.46 million, $276.48 mil-lion, $225.25 million,$197.08 million, $157.32 mil-lion and $40.11 million re-spectively in October 2013.Remittances received fromNorway, Switzerland, Austra-lia, Canada, Japan and othercountries during the last monthamounted to $107.58 millionas against $97.97 million re-ceived in the same month ofthe last fiscal year (FY14).

Government of National Unity.On the directions of the

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,Advisor on National Securityand Foreign Affairs Sartaj Azizduring his visit to Kabul on

Afghan PresidentFrom Page 1

organizations.Addressing the participant

troops and scientists at thelaunch area, the Director Gen-eral Strategic Plans Division,Lieutenant General ZubairMahmood Hayat, congratulatedthem on achieving yet anothermilestone towards consolidationof full spectrum credible mini-mum deterrence.—Online

Pakistan testsFrom Page 1

RemittancesFrom Page 1

Hussain Jilani excused them-selves from accepting the post.

The Attorney General ap-pealed the court to grant moretime till the end of Decemberbut the court granted 11 moredays to the government and setNov 24 deadline for appoint-ment of the top election com-mission slot.—INP

SC extendsFrom Page 1

influenced by international insti-tutions like the International Mon-etary Fund or World Bank as wellas political beliefs and the conse-quent policies of parties.

Ruling group only take inter-est to rule over for their mentionedduration like 5 years and not stayresponsible for their indecentdeeds. In this regard nation hadto bear inflation, second step situ-ation of law and order. These typesof meditation and actions are notfaithful for the innocent and un-educated nation. Policies shouldbe fully lawful but in the favor ofnation otherwise policies will staypassive and result will remain un-productive and in these circum-stances an economy will not havethe worth of to be tiger or dragonin future.

The Asian Tigers or AsianDragons is a term used in refer-ence to the highly free and devel-oped economies of Hong Kong,Singapore, South Korea, and Tai-wan. These nations and areaswere notable for maintaining ex-ceptionally high growth rates (inexcess of 7 percent a year) andrapid industrialization betweenthe early 1960s and 1990s. By the21st century, all four had devel-oped into advanced and high-in-come economies, specializing inareas of competitive advantage.For example, Hong Kong andSingapore have become world-leading international financialcenters, whereas South Korea andTaiwan are world leaders inmanufacturing information tech-nology. Their economic successstories have served as role mod-els for many developing coun-tries.

Despite a World Bank reportcrediting neoliberal policies withthe responsibility for the boom,including maintenance of export-led regimes, low taxes, and mini-mal welfare states, institutionalanalysis also states some state in-tervention was involved. TheWorld Bank report acknowledgedbenefits from policies of the re-pression of the financial sector,such as state-imposed below-mar-ket interest rates for loans to spe-cific exporting industries. How-ever, it also pointed out free tradeand less government spendingwere the driving force. As a re-sult, these economies enjoyedextremely high growth rates sus-tained over decades. A period ofliberalization did occur, and thefirst major setback experienced bythe Tiger economies was the 1997Asian financial crisis. WhileSingapore and Taiwan were rela-tively unscathed, Hong Kongcame under intense speculativeattacks against its stock marketand currency necessitating un-precedented market interventionsby the state Hong Kong MonetaryAuthority, and South Korea un-derwent a major stock marketcrash brought on by high levelsof non-performing corporateloans. As a result and in the yearsafter the crisis, all four economiesrebounded strongly. South Korea,the worst-hit of the Tigers, hasmanaged to triple its per capitaGDP in dollar terms since 1997.

Prior to the 1997 Asian finan-cial crisis, the growth of these fourAsian tiger economies (com-monly referred to as, ‘The AsianMiracle’) has been attributed toexport oriented policies and strongdevelopment policies. Unique tothese economies were the sus-tained rapid growth and high lev-els of equal income distribution.A World Bank report suggests twodevelopment policies among oth-ers as sources for the Asianmiracle: factor accumulation andmacroeconomic management.

But as well in Pakistan is still un-able to enjoy the GSP standard-ization due to energy crises whichis still a challenge since last 6years. I think this is only becauseof passive policies, otherwise itwas not a problem way back.

By the 1960s, levels in physi-cal and human capital amongst thefour countries far exceeded othercountries at similar levels of de-velopment. This subsequently ledto a rapid growth in per capita in-come levels. While high invest-ments were essential to the eco-nomic growth of these countries,the role of human capital was alsoimportant. Education in particu-lar is cited as playing a major rolein the Asian miracle. The levelsof education enrollment in the fourAsian tigers were higher than pre-dicted given their level of income.By 1965, all four nations hadachieved universal primary edu-cation. South Korea in particularhad achieved a secondary educa-tion enrollment rate of 88% by1987. There was also a notabledecrease in the gap between maleand female enrollments during theAsian miracle. Overall theseprogresses in education allowedfor high levels of literacy and cog-nitive skills.

The creation of stable mac-roeconomic environments wasthe foundation upon which theAsian miracle was built. Each ofthe four Asian tiger states man-aged, to various degrees of suc-cess, three variables in: budgetdeficits, external debt and ex-change rates. Each tiger nation’sbudget deficits were kept withinthe limits of their financial limits,as to not destabilize the macro-economy. South Korea in particu-lar had deficits lower than theOECD average in the 1980s. Ex-ternal debt was non-existent forHong Kong, Singapore and Tai-wan, as they did not borrow fromabroad.[9] While South Koreawas the exception to this as theirdebt levels during 1980-1985 wasquite high compared to their GNPratios, it was sustained by thecountry’s high levels of export.Exchange rates in the four Asiantiger nations had been changedfrom long-term fixed rate regimesto fixed-but-adjustable rate re-gimes with the occasional steepdevaluation of managed floatingrate regimes. This active exchangerate management allowed the 4tiger economies to avoid ex-change rate appreciation andmaintain a stable real exchangerate.

Export policies have been thede facto reason for the rise of thesefour Asian tiger economies. Theapproach taken has been differ-ent among the four nations. HongKong and Singapore introducedtrade regimes that were neoliberalin nature and encouraged freetrade, while South Korea and Tai-wan adopted mixed regimes thataccommodated their own exportindustries. In Hong Kong andSingapore, due to small domesticmarkets, domestic prices werelinked to international prices.South Korea and Taiwan intro-duced export incentives for thetraded-goods sector. The govern-ments of Singapore, South Koreaand Taiwan also worked to pro-mote specific exporting indus-tries, which were termed as an ex-port push strategy. All these poli-cies helped these four nations toachieve a growth averaging 7.5%each year for three decades andas such they achieved developedcountry status.

Due to existing policieswhich are purely burden for acommon man and industry of Pa-kistan. Now sales tax policy by

the imposition of SRO 608,showing their side effects uponinvestors and industrialization.Moreover according to me itwould enhance a new door ofcorruption in both ways; in shortthe treasure of government willbe unable to have the real valuesof the collection of taxes. Nowpeople are disappointed and dis-cussing upon showing a heavymandate, they are fully disap-pointed by the policies and get-ting more passionate. In this re-gard, since last 15 years nobodycould have played a vital role toenhance the rate of GDP andeconomy suffering and incomingfuture Pakistan could not achievethe regional targets. The prom-ise of massive production of en-ergy is still a dream and the nightis getting mare. So in this wayhow long any kind of govern-ment makes a better survival oflocal economy comparativelyother economies without takingloans from IMF. In industrializa-tion policies should focus the do-mestic growth for a bettereconomy. But everybody cryingfor patriotism and producingDharnaas for new Pakistan. ButI don’t know why they do notmaking better existing Pakistan.The Chamber of commerce andindustries is the hub for doingbetter promotional activities togenerate employment. But sorryto say, they have been part of po-litical chambers. In Lahore twogroups after the 14 years collabo-ration to working together, nowthey are getting separate butwhen we focus their workingprogress that is less than zero andthey have adopted chambers ofcommerce as a club of commu-nity due to in vain activities andselection of incompetent personas a president in Lahore, how canwe expect better trade and com-merce with the help of thesechambers. Moreover their activi-ties don’t consider as a real ac-tivity for a better economy evalu-ation. Even they can speak at thefront any foreign delegationwithout written statement. Ev-erybody trying to generategroups but not delivering results.So progress is still as a pointwhich not moving forward, sothe real industrialist does not con-sider these chambers shouldmove as they are moving. Be-cause they love their country andwant to live in it but due to thesecircumstances they are helplessto think upon what to do eithershould move from Pakistan orclose their industry. If they doaccording to this it will be a bigchallenge for the government torun country smoothly withoutcollecting taxes.— The Writer is Chairman Fed-eration Pakistan Chamber Gar-ments Industry

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Passive policiesFrom Back Page

Indianintelligence NSA

From Back Page

Additionally, recent progressin Indo China bilateral relationsis affording India with oppor-tunity to divert their effort fromChina and fully focus to dam-age Pakistan physically, eco-nomically and diplomatically.Narendra Modi’s offensive at-tacks during the election cam-paign on the “soft” policy ofCongress Government towardsPakistan, and his threat thatshould he come to power hewould teach such enemies alesson, had already set the stagefor severing bilateral relationswith Pakistan.

October 19 as Prime Minister’sSpecial Envoy to deliver hisformal invitation to PresidentAshraf Ghani to visit Pakistan..

Afghan President would beaccompanied by a high-leveldelegation, including seniorleaders, Cabinet Ministers,high-ranking officials, and busi-ness representatives. It will behis first visit to Pakistan afterassuming office in September2014.

Pakistan hopes its suc-cesses in army operationsagainst militants, linked to theAfghan insurgency and adher-ence to a policy of non-inter-ference in Afghanistan have setthe stage for resetting relationswith Afghanistan. Pakistanileadership expects some differ-ence in the bilateral ties withAfghanistan as Ashraf Ghaniused to use the word new be-ginning’ and a relationship thatis based on trust and does notinvolve blame game and whichis multidimensional. The basiswill be economic cooperation,trade and investment, at thesame time security cooperationand much better people-to-people contacts.

Pakistan has all along sup-ported peaceful democratictransition in Afghanistan. Tounderscore the importance Pa-kistan attached to this process,President Mamnoon Hussaintravelled to Kabul to attend theswearing-in ceremony on 29September 2014.

fighter aircraft. He met withthe PAF contingent participat-ing in the show and appreciatedtheir involvement and presen-tation in the show.

He also met with his Chi-nese counterpart General MaXiaotian, Commander PeoplesLiberation Army and Air Force(PLAAF). Both the dignitariesdiscussed matters pertaining toprofessional interest and mu-tual co-operation between thetwo Air Forces. They also ex-pressed satisfaction on joint airexercises conducted betweenthe two friendly Air Forces.Other avenues of further en-hancing the professional exper-tise of the personnel of the bothAir Forces were discussed.

Air chiefFrom Back Page

on the sidelines of Pakistan-UKEnergy Conference in London.

The two sides discussed awide range of issues of mutualinterest particularly energy cri-sis in Pakistan and security situ-ation in the region.

The Prime Minister sharedwith Foreign SecretaryHammond his government’s eco-nomic reforms agenda and chal-lenges faced in the energy sec-tor. He said during the last 17months, Pakistan’s economy hadshown improvement, with GDPgrowth rate reaching 4.1 percent.

Prime Minister Sharif alsohighlighted the government’senergy strategy to producecheap electricity by improvingfuel mix and actively imple-menting its plan to reduce linelosses and power theft.—NNI

that killed 60 people returningfrom the ‘flag-lowering’ cer-emony at the Wagah bordergate, a display of military pag-eantry which attracts thousandsof spectators and tourists everyday. The militants also releaseda photo of the alleged bomber.Sources told Dawn.com thatHanifullah belonged to a bor-dering town in Mohmand tribalagency.

Ehsan further claimed thatthe banned outfit will also re-lease a video of the attack,which they claimed to have car-ried out in retaliation to a mili-tary operation against Talibanmilitants and tribesmen in theremote Fata region borderingAfghanistan. The devastatingattack at the entrance of theWagah border parade venuekilled 60 people, including 10women and seven children, andleft more than 110 injured.

The young suicide bomberblew himself up at the entranceof the parade complex soon af-ter the completion of the flag-lowering ceremony last Sunday.

Details of Wagahsuicide bomber

releasedFrom Page 1

British ForeignSecretaryFrom Page 1

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

DUE to Inflation and Economiccrisis worldwide, Pakistan’seconomy reached a state of

Balance of Pay-ment crisis. “TheI n t e r n a t i o n a lMonetary Fundbailed out Paki-stan in November2008 to avert a bal-ance of paymentscrisis and in Julylast year increasedthe loan to $11.3 billion from an ini-tial $7.6 billion. By October 2007,Pakistan raised back its Foreign Re-

Passive policies & passionate Pakistanserves to a handsome $16.4 billion.Exceptional policies kept Pakistan’strade deficit controlled at $13 bil-lion, exports boomed to $18 billion,revenue generation increased tobecome $13 billion and attractedforeign investment of $8.4 billion.Since the beginning of 2008,Pakistan’s economic outlook hasstagnated. Security concerns fromthe nation’s role in the War on Ter-ror have created great instabilityand led to a decline in Foreign Di-rect Investment from a height of ap-proximately $8 bn to $3.5bn for thecurrent fiscal year. The gross do-mestic product (GDP) measures ofnational income and output for agiven country’s economy. Thegross domestic product (GDP) is

equal to the total expenditures forall final goods and services pro-duced within the country in a stipu-lated period of time. In Pakistan wasworth 236.62 billion US dollars in2013. The GDP value of Pakistanrepresents 0.38 percent of the worldeconomy. GDP in Pakistan averaged56.23 USD Billion from 1960 until2013, reaching an all time high of236.62 USD Billion in 2013 and arecord low of 3.71 USD Billion in1960. GDP in Pakistan is reportedby the World Bank Group.The actions taken by a governmentto influence its economy. Types ofeconomic policy actions can in-clude setting interest rates througha federal reserve, regulating thelevel of government expenditures,

creating private property rights,and setting tax rates. Economicpolicy refers to the actions thatgovernments take in the economicfield. It covers the systems for set-ting levels of taxation, governmentbudgets, the money supply and in-terest rates as well as the labor mar-ket, national ownership, and manyother areas of government inter-ventions into the economy. Mostfactors of economic policy can bedivided into either fiscal policy,which deals with government ac-tions regarding taxation and spend-ing, or monetary policy, which dealswith central banking actions regard-ing the money supply and interestrates. Such policies are often

CommentMuhammad Nadeem

Bhatti

Continued on Page 7

ZHUHAI: PAF JF-17 Thunder displayed with its full complements at Zhuhai Air show, China.

UNDISCLOSED DESTINATION: Pakistan conducted a successful Training Launchof Intermediate Range Shaheen-11 Ballistic Missile. Shaheen-11 Missile capable ofcarrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 1500 Kms.

ISLAMABAD—United States has provided 80special vehicles to Pakistan for identifica-tion of explosive material and other danger-ous chemicals.

The EUV project consists of 80 Pakistaniteams that will conduct verification checkscountrywide.

US Ambassador Richard Olson joinedFederal Board of Revenue (FBR) ChairmanTariq Bajwa to mark the launch of the Paki-stan Customs Service’s End Use Verification(EUV) project, which will help Customs moni-tor chemicals that are used both legally andillegally.

This launch also provided an opportu-nity to commemorate the partnership be-tween Pakistan Customs Services and theUnited States Homeland Security Investiga-tions Office (HSI).

Speaking at the launch of the PakistanCustoms’ EUV project, Ambassador Olsonstated, “The partnership between the Paki-stan Customs Service and HSI is based ongenuine respect and the sense of a sharedmission to keep citizens of Pakistan, theUnited States, and countries around theworld safer by preventing the illicit move-ment of dangerous chemicals.”

The EUV project will allow Pakistan Cus-

toms, a wing of the FBR, to safely facilitatethe entry of dual-use chemicals being im-ported for legitimate purposes, while alsoinvestigating and preventing the entry ofchemicals intended for use in improvisedexplosive devices (IEDs).

To bolster the effectiveness of the EUVprogram and help ensure it’s a long lastingeffort, the United States has donated 80Toyota Hilux trucks, 160 body armor suits,over 10,000 chemical test kits, five electronichand-held chemical analysis units, cameras,binoculars and gloves to Pakistan Customs.

The EUV project has already garneredattention outside Pakistan, with PakistanCustoms recognized as a trendsetter in pre-venting the illicit movement of dual-usechemicals used to build IEDs. The WorldCustoms Organization has adopted this EUVproject as the model to be replicated by cus-toms administrations around the world.The EUV project demonstrates how muchcan be achieved as a result of partnershipsbased on respect and the sense of a sharedmission-in this case, between Pakistan Cus-toms and United States HSI to keep citizensfrom Pakistan and other countries safer bypreventing the illicit movement of danger-ous chemicals.—Online

Pak gets US vehiclesto track smuggling

Air Chief visitsZhuhai air

show in ChinaOBSERVER REPORT

ZHUHAI—Air Chief MarshalTahir Rafique Butt, Chief ofthe Air Staff Pakistan AirForce visited Zhuhai AirShow (China) at the invita-tion of People’s LiberationArmy and Air Force(PLAAF). He participated inthe opening ceremony ofthe Air Show.

The Air Chief visited thePAF contingent which isparticipating in Zhuhai AirShow – 2014. He also wit-nessed the static display ofJF-17 Thunder.

The aircraft is attractionof show and thousands ofpeople including Air Chiefsof the various countries aretaking keen interest in thisco-produced

KARACHI—Rabita Committee of MuttahiddaQaumi Movement (MQM) Thursday put theentire blame of alarming situation in Thar onthe incompetence of the chief minister andnegligence of Sindh government.

Addressing a press conference alongwithother members of the Rabita Committee,MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari said Sindh ChiefMinister Syed Qaim Ali Shah was respon-sible for the affairs of the province and dur-ing the past six years he kept more than adozen ministries under his control.

Sabzwari said the chief minister was try-ing to hide his government’s incompetencyby citing lack of health facilities as the rea-son of famine, adding that Shah had, timeand again, admitted it on the floor of the SindhAssembly that malnutrition in the region wasthe actual cause.

He said putting blame on MQM’s formerhealth minister was uncalled for as theprogramme to end malnutrition in the regionwas being administered by the province’splanning and development department —headed by the chief minister himself.

He further said that Shah used to praise

MQM blames Qaim forchaotic situation in Thar

Dr Saghir Ahmed’s work on the floor of theassembly. Sabzwari lashed out at the pro-vincial government for its lack of seriousnessover the issue. “We should be ashamed ofourselves that children are dying rather thanfinding excuses,” the MQM leader said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shah said thatdeaths of children being reported inTharparkar were largely on account of mater-nity related complications and not becauseof hunger or food.

The chief minister also urged the me-dia to show some large-heartedness now asit had been very ‘generous’ in its criticism ofthe government’s performance regardingThar. Shah was quite critical of former Sindhhealth minister and MQM Coordination Com-mittee member Dr Saghir Ahmed and said thathe had never visited Thar.Faisal Sabzwari saidthat matter cannot be solved by doing dem-onstrational Sindh Cabinet meeting inMithi.MPA Dr. Sagheer claimed that CMSindh is responsible for each and every deathof famine victim, not even a single canal hasbeen allotted to Thar in the name of irrigationplanning.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Finance Minister, Ishaq Darand his Afghan counterpart, Dr. OmarZakhilwal here on Thursday agreed on con-certed efforts for enhancing bilateral tradefrom the existing 2.5 billion dollars to 5 bil-lion dollars in the next two to three years asenvisaged by leadership of the two broth-erly Islamic countries.

Finance Minister, Senator MohammadIshaq Dar received Dr. Omar Zakhilwal hereat the Finance Ministry on Thursday hav-ing detailed exchange of views on Pak-Af-ghan relations, specifically focusing onways and means to enhance economic co-operation.

Welcoming his Afghan counterpart, Fi-nance Minister Ishaq Dar congratulated himon the peaceful transfer of power in Af-ghanistan. He said, “Afghan President Mr.Ashraf Ghani is a seasoned technocrat anda wise politician to lead the country in itsfuture quest for prosperity and develop-

Pakistan, Afghanistan to takebilateral trade to $ 5 billion

ment”. He also felicitated Zakhilwal on as-sumption of the office of Senior EconomicAdvisor to the President of Afghanistan.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that aspart of his vision for a “Peaceful and Pros-perous” neighbourhood, Prime MinisterNawaz Shairf places great emphasis onstrong, stable and cooperative ties with Af-ghanistan.

Ishaq Dar emphasized on trade facilita-tion measures with a view to promote bilat-eral trade.

While highlighting Pakistan’s economicengagement in Afghanistan, he made spe-cial mention of projects like 100 beds NaebAminullah Khan Hospital at Logar, hostelbuilding for 100 students at Rehman BabaSchool and 200 beds Jinnah Hospital atKabul. He said these projects would becompleted soon as all related issues hadbeen resolved through mutual discussionat the highest level. —INP

Continued on Page 7

BY ANKA

Pakistan is facing an undeclared situationof war on its eastern border with India. WithBJP coming to power, the situation has es-calated in the last three months from theoccasional but serious ceasefire violationsby India, to more intensified and wide-spread violations, to a daily shelling fromacross the border, not only in the cover ofthe night but in broad daylight and on in-nocent civilians, mostly old folks and chil-dren, with heavy casualties.

Indian intelligence NSA, RSSjoin hands against Pakistan

Ironically, India instead of feelingembarrased on its nepharious cross LOCaggressions is insinuating Pakistan. Indianmedia has already focussed their propa-ganda guns on Pakistan and is trying hardto sensitize international communityagainst her Western neighbour.

This campaign is based on exploitinginternal sensitivities of Pakistan and blow-ing the old trumpet of phony allegationsof infilteration and interference in affairsof IOK.

Continued on Page 7

NE W YO R K—At theUnited Nations, Pakistanhas reaffirmed its opposi-tion to creating new perma-nent seats in a reformedSecurity Council.

Taking part in a GeneralAssembly’s debate onachieving equitable repre-sentation on the Council,Ambassador MasoodKhan said the 15-memberbody needs to be mademore inclusive as the

United Nations belongs toall, not a selected few.

He said India, Brazil,Germany and Japan thathave presented their can-didacies for permanentseats need to understandthat many medium-sizedstates, compete with themin terms of size, popula-tion, economy, military ca-pability, contribution toUN peacekeeping, andcommitment to democracyand human rights.—INP

Pakistan reiteratesopposition to new

UNSC permanent seats

Qadri declaredproclaimed

offenderRAWALPINDI—Anti-Terror-ism Court (ATC) inRawalpindi declared chief ofPakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT), Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri, aproclaimed offender in a casepertaining to riots on Lahore-Islamabad motorway. Thecourt, after hearing the case,ordered police authorities toissue proclamations and ad-vertisement notices and dis-play them on public places.

The ATC, which pro-ceeded the case against Qadriand 110 other accused, lateradjourned the hearing tillNov 27. Thursday’s devel-opment comes a day afterIslamabad’s Special Anti-Ter-rorism Court issued arrest war-rants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan andDr. Qadri over incitement ofviolence during anti-govern-ment protests.—INP

Iraq PMreplacesC-in-CBAGHDAD—Iraqi PrimeMinister Hayder el-Abadiallegedly has replacedGeneral Staff commanderBabekir Zebari withKurdish Hursit Rashit. TheKurdish Democratic Pary(KDP) has published ontheir official website thatGeneral Hursid Rasit whowas born in Duhok hasbeen appointed as the newgeneral staff commander.Although there is noofficial agreement betweenthe Iraqi government andthe IKBY, it is common tochoose a Kurd as theIraqi General Staffcommander. Twenty-sixIraqi Department ofDefense commanderswere dismissed onWednesday by Iraqi PrimeMinister Haidar al-Abadi,according to a statementreleased by the PrimeMinister’s office.—AP

Air waragainst ISwillintensifyWASHING-TON—Defense SecretaryChuck Hagel said onThursday the U.S.-led airwar against Islamic Statemilitants will intensify inthe future as Iraqi groundforces improve andbecome more effective.Defending the U.S.strategy during a Houseof Representativeshearing, Hagel said, “AsIraqi forces buildstrength, the tempo andintensity of our coalition’sair campaign will acceler-ate in tandem.”—Reuters

McConnellelected asUS SenateleaderWASHING-TON—Senate Republi-cans on Thursdayunanimously electedMitch McConnell as theirchief and the chamber’smajority leader for theupcoming Congress, afterthe party rode to victoryin last week’s midtermelections. As expected,McConnell will take overfrom current SenateMajority Leader HarryReid at the start of thenew congressionalsession on January 3.Reid, a Democrat, hasheld the post since hisparty won the Senate eightyears ago. McConnellspokesman DonaldStewart said the vote tookplace behind closed doorsin the US Capitol. The 72-year-old Kentuckian wasre-elected to a six-yearSenate term on November4, when Republicansrouted Democrats.—AP

A NEW study reveals how an activecomponent of green tea disrupts themetabolism of cancer cells in pan-

creatic cancer, offering an explanation forits effect on reducing risk of cancer andslowing its progression.The researchers believethe discovery signals anew approach to studyingcancer prevention. Re-ported in the journalMetabolomics, the studyexplores the effect ofepigallocatechin gallate or“EGCG,” an active biologi-cal agent of green tea. Itshows that EGCG changesthe metabolism of pancre-atic cancer cells by sup-pressing the expression oflactate dehydrogenase Aor LDHA, a critical enzymein cancer metabolism.

Metabolism is all thechemical reactions thatoccur in cells - such as ex-tracting and using energy - that keep themalive, growing and multiplying. These cellscan be normal, and they can also be can-cerous. Numerous studies have previouslysuggested green tea and its extracts mayprovide suitable treatments for cancer, aswell as other diseases. For example, onepublished in 2012 suggested that drinkinggreen tea may lower risk of digestive sys-tem cancers in women while another foundEGCG delivered intravenously directly totumours made two-thirds of them shrink ordisappear within one month.

But, until this latest study, from Dr. Wai-Nang Lee of the Los Angeles Biomedical

Research Institute (LA BioMed) andcolleagues, it has not been clear howgreen tea and its extracts work to reducethe risk of cancer or slow growth of can-cer cells. The researchers found that

EGCG - an active biologicalagent of green tea - disruptsmetabolic flux in cancer cellsin a similar way to oxamate,a known inhibitor of LDHA.

Using state-of-the-artmetabolic profiling tech-niques, Dr. Lee and col-leagues found EGCG dis-rupts the rate of turnover ofmolecules - known as “flux”- through a metabolic path-way in pancreatic cancercells. They found EGCG dis-rupts metabolic flux in can-cer cells in a similar way tooxamate, a known inhibitorof LDHA. They concludedthat both EGCG and oxamatereduced the risk of cancerby suppressing the activity

of LDHA, which in turn disrupts meta-bolic functions in cancer cells.

The study is significant becausethere is a widely held belief among sci-entists that to treat cancer you haveto use molecular mechanisms. Nowthere is a new possibility - change themetabolic system, as Dr. Lee com-ments: “By explaining how green tea’sactive component could prevent can-cer, this study will open the door to awhole new area of cancer research andhelp us understand how other foodscan prevent cancer or slow the growthof cancerous cells.”

Green tea component upsetscancer cell metabolism

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—We have tofollow the teachings ofAllama Iqbal in true letterand spirit to keep our liveson the path of respect,prosperity and dignity.

Begum Farrukh Khan,President of women wing,Nazriya Pakistan Council(NPC) made these remarksin her presidential addressin the speech competitionorganized by NPC in col-laboration with the PrivateSchool Network (PSN), atAiwan-e-Quaid in connec-tion with the Iqbal weekcelebrations.

Speaking on the occa-sion as Chief Guest,Dr.Afzal Babur, PresidentPSN maintained thatIqbal’s philosophy was a

jist of teachings of Islamand he always preachedus to become true Muslimsand honorable human be-ings.

About 20 studentsfrom twin cities partici-pated in the speech com-petition by making enthu-siastic speeches, quotingselected verses fromIqbal’s poetry.

The first prize wentto Inam ur Rehman fromPakland Public School,Golra. Second prize waswon by Sumra Haniffrom Al-Firdous School,Satra Meel, whileNauman Rafiq from theAims Education Systemgot the third prize. IdreesJawad from Rawal CadetCollege was awarded theconsolation prize.

Teachings of Iqbal a beacon light forever

Senior Member Executive Committee Nazriya Pakistan Council Mrs Farrukh Khanand President Private Schools Network Dr Muhammad Afzal Babar with the partici-pants of Debate Competition organized by NPC Islamabad in connection with IqbalWeek, at Aiwan-e-Quaid.—PO photo

RAZA-UR-REHMAN

I S L A M A B A D —Pres iden tMamnoon Hussain has saidthat measures have been takento safeguard Pakistan’s secu-rity and eliminate extremismthrough concerted politicaland military strategies andpursuing a policy of non inter-ference in the affairs of othercountries.

The President said thisduring meeting with a delega-tion of Karachi Council onForeign Relations (KCFR) thatcalled on him Thursday atAiwan-e-Sadr

The President stated thatthe foundation stone ofPakistan’s foreign policy wasQuaid-e-Azam’s dictum of“Peace within and peace with-out”.

To achieve this end, thePresident said that Pakistan iskeen to have friendly relationswith all neighboring countriesparticularly Afghanistan, Iranand India. Pakistan has suf-fered due to menace of terror-ism and wants to address thisissue jointly with these coun-tries. Pakistan has welcomedpeaceful transition of the governmentin Afghanistan and was looking for-ward to work closely on all issues withthe new dispensation, the Presidentsaid.

Mamnoon Hussain said that Paki-stan was committed to eliminate ter-rorism once and for all and has ren-dered immense sacrifices in terms ofboth human and economic losses inits fight against terrorism and extrem-ism. The President also sensitized thevisiting dignitaries about successfuloperation Zarb-e-Azb undertaken toroot out the menace of terrorism.

President says measures taken to safeguardcountry security and eliminate extremism

A delegation comprising Regional Deans, Ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Greece, Sri Lanka, EuropeanUnion, Australia and Thailand led by Dean of Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin Saravia, called on President MamnoonHussain at President House. Secretary General Karachi Council on Foreign Relations Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi alsoattended the meeting.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

He appreciated the activities of theKarachi Council on Foreign Relationssince its establishment in enhancingand strengthening cordial ties that ex-ist between Pakistan and the othercountries. He said that the importanceof foreign policy think tanks has beenincreasing as governments are nowincreasingly banking on the expertopinions and inputs of such thinktanks as they played a crucial role inforeign policy formulation and itsimplementation.

The President also congratulatedthe delegation on the 12th Anniver-

sary of Karachi Council on ForeignRelations (KCFR) and wished themluck in their future endeavours for fur-ther consolidating diplomatic relationsbetween Pakistan and other countries.

The delegation of KCFR included,inter alia, Mr. Rodolfo Martin Saravia,Ambassador of Argentina (Dean ofthe Diplomatic Corps and Dean ofAmerica), Mr. Bakhitbek Shabarbayev,Ambassador of Kazakhstan (Dean ofCentral Asia), Mr. Mohamed EbrahimAbdulqader, Ambassador of Bahrain(Dean of Arab Group) Mr. PetrosMavroidis, Ambassador of Greece

(Dean of Europe), Mr. Ahmed Benflis,Ambassador of Algeria (Dean of Afri-can Group), Mr. Jayalath Weerakkody,High Commissioner of Sri Lanka (Deanof South Asia), Mr. Lars GunnarWigemark, Ambassador of EuropeanUnion (Dean of the European Union),Mr. Peter Heyward, High Commis-sioner of Australia (Dean of the Restof the World), Mr. Tomwit Jarnson,Ambassador of Thailand (Acting Deanof the ASEAN Countries) and Mr.Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi, SecretaryGeneral of Karachi Council on ForeignRelation.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Secretary General of Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Jahangir KhanTareen has suspended basic membershipof 10 (ten) PTI workers and office-bear-ers including two MPAs of the PunjabAssembly.

Their membership has been sus-pended because of a recent brawl withthe security guards of Imran Khan’s con-tainer when they stopped them fromclimbing the container. When the inci-dent took place, Chairman of the PTI,Imran Khan was delivering his speech.

Upon being detained by the secu-rity guards the office-bearers and pro-

vincial lawmakers felt insulted and man-handled one of them. On the poorguard’s complaint and that of the PTIworkers who were also performing theirduties there and were eyewitness to allthat, the ‘rowdy’ office-bearers were sus-pended. The party secretary general hasconstituted a disciplinary committeethat will complete its investigation withinten days time and make recommenda-tions. On its recommendations, a deci-sion about their future will be taken, re-vealed the sources.

Among the suspended office-bear-ers include President of the PTI (North)Sadaqat Abbasi, Senior Vice PresidentWasiq Abbasi, General Secretary of the

PTI Rawalpindi, Rashid Hafiz, Presidentof the PTI District Rawalpindi Arif Abbasi,President PTI Youth Wing DistrictRawalpindi, Faisal Mughal, President ofthe PTI Youth Wing Pindi city SheikhFahad, General Secretary PTI Pindi YouthWing Ch Assad, Member Youth WingUmar Butt, Raja Majid and Daniyal.

The sources further said that ImranKhan had taken notice of the misbehav-ior of these office-bearers and had di-rected the Secretary General of the partyto take action against the. The said sus-pended members have also been stoppedto stand beside party leadership at thetime of Imran Khan and others’ speech,the sources further said.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad High Court onThursday adjourned the hearing into a pe-tition filed by telecom operators Telenor,Ufone, Mobilink, Zong and Warid againstimposition of sales tax on mobile phonesand sims.

On Thursday counsel for the telecomcompanies Barrister Khalid Anwar com-pleted his arguments. He concluded his ar-guments by saying that by imposing salestax on sims and mobile phones under sched-ule 9’s section 3(b) the government (FBR)has violated fundamental human rights. Thesingle bench of Islamabad High Court com-prising Justice Athar Minallah while direct-ing FBR’s counsel Hafiz Munawar Iqbal tocomplete arguments on the next date ad-journed the hearing till Nov 28.

Scuffle with Imran Khan’s security guards

PTI’s office-bearers including2 MPAs suspended

Ambassador of Argentina Rodolfo Martin Saravia and Former Deputy Speaker Na-tional Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi being briefed by the artist during an exhibition ofpaintings by Farah Khan at Nomad Art Gallery.—PO photo

Meanwhile, National AccountabilityBureau (NAB) has moved a corruption ref-erence in Islamabad’s Accountability Court(AC) against Public Works Development’sChief Engineer Shah Deen and seven oth-ers. The officials are facing charges of mis-use of funds as well as authorities in theconstituency of former Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf, NA-51 Gujar Khan.

NAB has accused the chief engineerand other officials of granting road con-struction contract illegally from RatayalChowk to Chak Beli. By doing this the pub-lic servants have caused loss to the na-tional chequer amounting to more than Rs80million, the NAB has held in the reference.It may be mentioned here that NAB in itslast executive board meeting had approvedfiling of corruption reference against ShahDeen and seven others.

AC moved against PWD chief engineer, 7 others

IHC adjourns hearing in taxeson cell phones, sims

ISLAMABAD—The Republic of Belarusopened its embassy here in Pakistanon Thursday to further promote bilat-eral relations, especially in the field oftrade and economics.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz AhmedChaudhry and visiting Deputy ForeignMinister of Republic of BelarusValentin Rybakov inaugurated the em-bassy jointly here at a simple ceremonytoday.

Mr. Andrei Ermolovich has beenappointed first ambassador of Repub-

lic of Belarus to Pakistan, who was alsopresent on the inauguration ceremonyof the embassy here today.

Deputy Foreign Minister of BelarusValentin Rybakov, who especially cameto Pakistan to participate in the open-ing of the embassy of his countryspeaking briefly on this occasion saidthe decision to open an embassy herein Islamabad was made by AlexanderLukashenko to further improve andstrengthen relations with two countries.

He said, “We are happy to be here

in Islamabad.” He said the embassy willbe helpful in further promoting peopleto people relations, expanding tradeand economic ties, relations in otherfields including education, health, ag-riculture and other areas.

The Deputy Foreign Minister ofBelarus said Bilateral Joint Trade Com-mission is being set up and its firstmeeting will be held in Belarus in earlynext year to find ways and means tofurther promote trade and economic tiesbetween two countries..—APP

Belarus opens embassy in Islamabad

Dev projects invarious sectors

ISLAMABAD—Capital De-velopment Authority hasdecided to launch newprojects in different sectors.

According to details,following the approval ofCDA board, preparationwork for PC 1 has started.CDA has decided to estab-lish a cover market on ac-quired land at sector D-12and put it on rent to privatecompanies, while over Rs.20 crore would cost thisproject, similarly Flowermarket would be establish inMelody Food park and F-11Markaz.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Environmental experts onThursday said that massive deforestationin the federal capital was causing environ-mental pollution and distorting its naturalbeauty look. They said that deforestationin the capital is harmful for the environ-ment and that pollution would reach alarm-ing levels if the CDA did not plant moretrees in the developmental areas. They be-lieved that deforestation could also causediseases such as sunstrokes and head-aches.

“However in some ares, CDA is en-gaged in deforestation to widen the roadsfor coping with increased traffic” theyopined.

Environmental expert Dr MehmoodKhalid Qamar told APP that Pakistan is al-

ready among the top ten countries whereunusual weather patterns are making majorenvironment impacts, and the situation mayfurther deteriorate in the coming years ifattention is not paid to issues related toclimate change.

“Capital beautificaion is being damagedbecause of new construction and uproot-ing of trees,” Qamar said, suggesting thatthere was a need to take satellite images ofIslamabad to gauge the most heat-emittingareas.

Former Pakistan Environmental Protec-tion Agency Director-General Asif Shujasaid that due to widespread falling of treesand rapid urbanisation, temperature in thecapital city has started to regularly cross44 degrees in summer.—APP

Deforestation main cause fordistorting capital’s beauty

06:00 01:3004:00

07:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

November 14

ALUMNI Association-Na-tional Institute of Psychol-ogy (AA-NIP) will hold an-nual Alumni Dinner, 2014 on14th November , 4:00 p.m. to8:00 p.m. at Geo Physics Au-ditorium, QAU.

November 18-19

A two day InternationalConference on “Major Pow-ers’ Interests in IndianOcean: Challenges and Op-tions for Pakistan” will beheld in Serene HotelIslamabad on November 18-19, 2014. The conference willstart at 09:00 am. It has beenorganized by IPRI andHannas Seidel Foundation.

November 19

FEDERAL Public ServiceCommission will hold Part-A Written Test for the postof Interpreter (BS-17) at threecentres/stations viz;Islamabad on 19.11.2014(Candidates of Lahore Cen-tre have been called atIslamabad.

November 20

A discussion on “EconomicScorecard and fiscal year2013-14 and Economic Re-view for the first quarter2014-15” will be held at Paki-stan Academy of Sciences,3 Constitution Avenue, G5/2 on November 20, 2: 30 p.m.

Trucks loaded with relief goods for temporary displaced persons of North Waziristan Agency by Army.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—UNESCO has urged all thestakeholders to renew their commitmentfor creating a ‘scientifically literate knowl-edge society’ for all, with sustainable de-velopment as a top priority which is needof the hour especially in Pakistan.

Vibeke Jensen, the incumbent Direc-tor of UNESCO Office Islamabad, saidthis while speaking at the World Sci-ence Day seminar titled ‘Quality ScienceEducation: Securing a Sustainable Fu-ture for all’ held here to commemoratethe World Science Day.

The seminar was organized byCOMSATS and ECO Science Founda-tion (ECOSF), in collaboration withUNESCO office Islamabad.

Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, former Advisorto PM on Science & Technology andfounder of various scientific institutionsin the country, was the chief guest atthe event while over 100 science stu-dents, representatives of scientific in-stitutions, researcher, scholars, acade-micians, as well as policy makers andmembers of the diplomatic communityin Islamabad were present there. The Di-

rector UNESCO emphasized that in or-der to have sustainable future, we mustbuild inclusive and equitable knowledgesocieties for orienting scientificprogress towards meeting the needs ofthe humankind.

In his address, Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad re-called, the efforts made by him to desig-nate the World Science Day in the list ofInternational Days observed by UN tohighlight the significance of science forthe betterment of society. He noted thatwhile Pakistan, an agrarian economy, isconfronted with huge water shortage,science and technology can providemeans for addressing the vulnerabilitydue to water scarcity as well as the chal-lenges posed by global climate change.Executive Director COMSATS, Dr.Imtinan Elahi Qureshi in his remarks onthe occasion appreciated the life-longservices of Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed for sci-ence and technology. He introducedCOMSATS as an intergovernmental fo-rum dedicated to promoting scientificcollaboration using the effective mecha-nism of South-South cooperation. Herecognized scientific cooperation as thekey to achieving sustainable develop-

ment for the developing world. Touch-ing upon the initiative taken byCOMSATS for the promotion of qualityeducation in the country, he noted thatCOMSATS CIIT was launched as asmall project in 1998, which now is wellrecognized university with seven cam-puses and over 35,000 enrolled students.

Dr. Qureshi noted that COMSATShas cooperation ties with UNESCO onmultiple levels that resulted in establish-ing UNESCO Chair for knowledge forintegrated water resources managementat CIIT Wah campus. He assured thatsuch cooperation from COMSATS willcontinue in the future as well.

Earlier, Dr. Manzoor HussainSoomro, President ECOSF, highlightedthe importance of Inquiry Based ScienceEducation (IBSE) at schools, and reck-oned it most important for the develop-ment of nations and sustainable devel-opment for all. He said that Science Edu-cation Programme (SEP) of the Inter-Academy Panel (IAP) is promoting in-quiry based science education and thecurricula around the world are being up-dated and revised to be in line with thescientific developments.

World Science Day observed at COMSATS

Call for scientifically literate‘knowledge society’

RAZA-UR-REHMAN

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Senate SyedNayyer Hussain Bokhari has said that per-sonalities who take practical measures forpromoting national unity, stability and po-litical awareness are rememberd by theirpeople, recognizing their efforts for all timeto come.

He said this in his meeting withKhurshid Ali Chitrali, the author of book‘Wisdom of Benazir Bhutto’ which the lat-ter written in recognition of the former PrimeMinister’s efforts for democracy and thestate.

Nayyer Bokhari said that in order toachieve success and perfection among thenations of the world, there is a need to work

for the betterment of the state as and na-tional in the light of the philosophy andvision of our leaders. “Every citizen at ev-ery level needs to play his/her part in thecountry’s progress”, he said.

From a far flung area of Chitral, theauthor has written the book in Englishcomprising 1500 pages. He presented acopy of the book as a gift to the Chair-man Senate. The Chairman Senate whilefelicitating him on his work said that thisbook is a new addition in the sequenceof books written on the founder of Paki-stan and the leaders of the Pakistan. Thisbook, he said, will facilitate the younggenerat ion in acquainting themselvesabout the vision and wisdom of BenazirBhutto Shaheed.

Personalities who work for nationalunity are always remembered: Bokhari

Writer Khurshid Ali Chitrali presenting his book ‘Wisdom of Benazir Bhutto’ to Chairman Senate Syed NayyarHussain Bukhari.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Furthering economic coop-eration with Pakistan, the Government ofJapan has extended a grant of Yen 3,646million to the Government of Pakistan fortwo projects, (i) “Establishment of Special-ized Medium Range Forecasting Centre(SMRFC) and Strengthening of WeatherForecasting and (ii) “Up-Grading of Me-chanical System for Sewerage and Drain-age Services in Gujranwala”.

The official notes for the grants wereexchanged here Thursday at the EconomicAffairs Division. Mr. Muhammad SaleemSethi, Secretary Economic Affairs Divisionand H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Inomata, the Ambas-sador of Japan signed the Exchange ofNotes on behalf of their Governments.

Grant Agreement was also signed byMr. Mitsuyoshi Kawasaki, Chief Represen-tative, JICA Pakistan Office and Mrs.Shaista Sohail, Joint Secretary of EconomicAffairs Division.

The grant for the project “Establishment

of Specialized Medium Range ForecastingCentre(SMRFC) and Strengthening ofWeather Forecasting” worth Japanese Yen2615 million will be utilized to minimize dam-age to people’s life and property from natu-ral disaster like heavy rain, floodetc;Promote safe operation of civil aviation,marine transport and land transport; Up-grade the living standard of the people ofPakistan; Play effective role as a member ofWorld Meteorology Organization (WMO)more efficiently.

The grant for the project “Up-Gradingof Mechanical System for Sewerage AndDrainage Services in Gujranwala” worthJapanese Yen 1031 million will be utilizedfor sewerage and drainage machinery/cleaning equipment facility as well as foroperation, maintenance and monitoring ofthe project equipment for health & safetyof the workers. Secretary, Economic AffairsDivision, while appreciating the Japanesesupport, expressed the Government’s com-mitment to further strengthen developmentcooperation between the two countries.

Japan extends grant of 3,646m yenfor Weather Forecasting System

Hiroshi Inomata, Ambassador of Japan and Saleem Sethi, Secretary Economic AffairsDivision signing the grant documents.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Pakistan Army in itscontinued efforts to mitigate suffer-ings of their brethren in need, dis-patched 10 trucks (60 ton) of reliefgoods for temporary displaced per-sons (TDPs) of North Waziristan

Agency (NWA) on Thursday. InterServices Public Relations (ISPR) saidthat this was the 7th consignment ofrelief items including flour, rice, ghee,sugar, powdered milk, pulses, clothes,crockery, quilts and blankets.

Commander Logistics 10 Corpsalong with other senior army officials

were present at the ceremony held atRawalpindi Cantt.

It is worth to mention that 10 Corpshad set up three relief assistance col-lection points on June 23 in Rawalpindiand Islamabad to collect donations forthe TDPs. The first consignment wassent on July 09, 2014.

Pak Army dispatches 10 trucksof relief goods for TDPs

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Ministry of Science andTechnology is highly appreciative of theefforts of National University of Sciencesand Technology (NUST) for aligning itsprogrammes and projects with SustainableDevelopment Goals and Vision 2025. Forthis purpose, the NUST is trying its best tofind sustainable solutions to societal prob-lems.

Mr Zahid Hamid, Federal Minister forScience and Technology expressed theseviews during his visit to NUST to inaugu-rate Wastewater Treatment Plant and Me-teorological High Precision Solar / WindMeasuring Station.

The inauguration ceremonies were at-tended by Secretary MoST and Addl Sec-retary, Ministry of Water and Power, CEOAlternative Energy Development Board, Di-rector UNESCO Pakistan, Country DirectorWorld Bank Pakistan, Director Education

Office USAID and other dignitaries fromdonor agencies.

Mr Zahid Hamid visited the sites andinaugurated the projects. The WastewaterTreatment plant is a low-cost technology,requiring minimal energy and operationalattention. It produced 75,000 gallons of re-cycled water per day for entire horticultureof NUST. It is a joint project of UNESCOand NUST.

Meteorological High Precision Solar /Wind Measuring Station, is a cutting-edgetier-2 station, second of its kind in Paki-stan.

It will provide real-time data for researchand development of sustainable technolo-gies. The station has been donated by theWorld Bank through Alternative EnergyDevelopment Board.

The Minister urged the scientists todevote their energies in finding low-costsustainable solutions for development ofPakistan.

Minister speaks highly of NUSTefforts for sustainable progress

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid offering Dua after inaugu-rating Wastewater Treatment Plant and Meteorological High Precision Solar/WindMeasuring Station.

Prolongedpower outages

in capitalISLAMABAD—Islamabad Elec-tricity Supply Company(IESCO) has said that due toongoing development worksprolonged load shedding isbeing carried out in the federalcapital. Citizens of federalcapital are facing prolongedpower outages for the lastcouple of days due to whichthey are facing enormousproblems. Often the poweroutages are being carried outfor 18 hours.

According to IESCO offi-cials due to developmentworks going on in several sec-tors they have to shut downelectricity due to which thecitizens are facing prolongedpower outages. —Online

Schedule for FinalExam of Matric

announcedSTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Final Examsof Matriculation underRawalpindi Board of Inter-mediate and Secondary Edu-cation (RBISE) will start from2nd March 2015.

According to spokes-man Board Arsalan Cheema,last date to submit admis-sion form with single fee is 9December 2014 and 18thDecember for double feewhile 31st December wouldbe the last date to submitadmission form with triplefee.—Online

Drama “LostControl” stagedISLAMABAD—The dramacompany “The Insane” pre-sented a stage drama “LostControl” at Islamabad Clubhere on Wednesday.

Federal Minister for Infor-mation, Broadcasting and Na-tional Heritage Pervaiz Rashidwas in the audience to watchthe play. The drama which ison the subject of drug use wasproduced in association withRegional Directorate Anti Nar-cotics Force, Rawalpindi andIslamabad and Fauji FertilizersCompany.—APP

ISLAMABAD—With the advent of win-ter season, the demand and sale of dryfruits has increased in Rawalpindi andIslamabad, the prices of dry fruits arenoticing upward trend which were al-ready beyond the reach of common man.

With the change of weather in twincities, Rawalpindi and Islamabad the de-mand for dry fruits has started increas-ing and the prices had gone up beyondthe reach of low income groups as apartfrom regular shop- keepers in the citymarkets of the twin cities the dry- fruitvendors have significantly hiked theprices.

The shopkeeper and dry fruit ven-dors have raised prices of dry fruits andcharging exorbitant rates as there is nomechanism to control prices of suchitems.

In winter dry fruits are an essential

part of diet as they offers more advan-tages over fresh fruits including a longershelf life and portability.

A health expert Muhammad Shahzadsaid that dried fruits should be eaten inmoderation as they contain significantlymore calories per serving than freshfruits.

A dry fruit vendor MuhammadAkram said that the dry fruit dealers useto store dry fruits, which result in short-age of the commodities in the marketand thereby leading to increasing prices.

He, however, said that this is onlyone reason of price hike adding thatthere are several other factors leadingto increasing prices during the winterseason.

The prices of dry fruits including Al-mond, pistachio, walnut, pine nut(chilghoza), date, cashew nut (Kaju),

dried apricot, coconut, fig and peanutincrease in winter season as these aremostly demanded during the winter sea-son.

Most of these fruits are grown inhilly areas like Northern Areas, AzadJammu and Kashmir (AJK),Balochistan, FATA and KPK. Somedry fruits items including pine nut(Chilghoza) are imported from Afghani-stan while main varieties of Almondsare Iranian and cost heavily which ismain cause of increase in prices of thesecommodities. A dry fruit shop owner,Ahmed in Super market said that peopleuse dry fruits mostly in winter seasonto get some relief from cold which in-creases demand besides due to pricehike of all other commodities, the ratesof dry fruits especially nowadays arenoticing upward trend.—APP

Dry fruit rates rise as chill rises

MUZAFFARABAD: Under Grand Clean-up Campaign of AJK Acting Prime Minister Ch. Latif Akbar, an employeecleaning main road here on Thursday.

MUZAFFARABAD: PML-N Women Wing President Noorin Arif participating in a kids social event at Bheri on Thursday.

SYED AADIL

HOME - a word that symbolize life, a testimonial that adds grandeur to even an ordinary hut, and a connotation without which even

the biggest and the tallest of the structures are justordinary buildings. One never finds such solace andrelaxation at any other place that one’s home provides.It is a place one spends childhood in, grows up in itslap and looks forward to rest in after coming backtired and exhausted. For me home is the most lovedplace for any one; young or old, rich or poor. A mereglimpse of one’s home gives an ultimate satisfactionand contentment that is beyond explanation.

And if for some reason you lose your home,that anguish and pain is the worst ever you can have.I had a home that for me was the most magnificentof all. But the flood fury that hit Kashmir this Sep-tember and damaged countless houses didn’t sparemine too. It left me and my family homeless andhelpless. The memories of my childhood, the remi-

And I lost my home!niscence of all the years I grew up and the happymoments of present vanished with a single jolt.

That fateful night when I was at a place morethan hundred miles away from my home stillhaunts me. Hoping against the hope to get backhome or at least talk to my parents, I could onlyget the news through a facebook post that amongmany houses that collapsed, one was ours. Dark-ness and gloom took over the entire world for meand I could not think of anything for quite sometime. Trying hard to hold my nerves, I tried everynumber that I had in my phonebook to get someinformation about my people back home but ev-ery call escalated my disappointment and appre-hension. Insomnia, restlessness and anguish wereall I could live with for five consecutive days andfinally I decided to go home come what may. TheKashmiri proverb, ‘Laer kin Lahore’ best describesmy journey to home, sometimes changing a ve-hicle after every single kilometer and somewherewalking miles through the muddy flood waters.

And eventually I reached my home and foundeveryone alive; what I couldn’t see was my homethat once stood tall and graceful. I could only seethe wreckage and debris of my house and gloomyfaces of my parents and siblings.

And then what followed is a flashback; a flash-back of all the happiness and solace I found in thelap of my sweet home, a flashback of my fightingover small things with my siblings, a flashback ofthat snowfall when I got out for a photo shoot ofmy house and surroundings and a flashback ofmy late Chachaji (uncle) calling me from outside.

Tears were about to flow from my sunken eyesbut then the thought of my family members struckmy mind who had faced the situation in my ab-sence. Being the youngest in the family, in such asituation you have to hold your father who is re-tired from his services now, facing rheumatic prob-lems and irrespective of all this looking for yourcertificates buried in the debris of the house; youhave to console your mother who is facing mul-

tiple ailments and you have to provide a shoulderto your elder brother who is working hard day inand day out to give you all the comforts of the world.I thanked Allah for their life, smiled and huggedmy mother who forgetting all sufferings of the weekwas instead worried more for me than anything else.But no matter how strong you try to be, a feeling ofdissatisfaction, insecurity and distress remains withyou every time. The feeling of disowning a housegives sleepless nights, the thoughts of starting ev-erything afresh makes you ponder deeper, seeingthe grim faces of your parents itches deep and whatworries you more is the thought of shifting to thehostel again leaving them alone for five days a week.

There is a famous saying in our own languagethat “seireh waav peyin magar deireh waav mapeyin” (hunger is bearable, homelessness not), andgoing by that though we lost majority of our be-longings in that wreckage, losing our home is wasone of the worst nightmares I have ever faced. I amnot the only one who has faced such a situation,

this is the story of thousands of people of Kashmirwhose dreams were washed away by the furiousfloods and whose houses were turned to rubble inthe course of just a day or two. Living in a make-shift house is a pain beyond explanation; I alongwith my family live in my uncle’s house that isbetter equipped than our own but that sorrow oflosing our own still remains. Whenever I returnhome at the weekend, my feet as a routine startmoving towards our old home and then seeing anempty plinth I realize that I am still homeless.

We like all other sufferers have started afresh,plans of constructing a new house have alreadytaken off, life is moving on but I still feel that aportion of my life has gone missing with my homeand only memories remain. Mere thoughts of thatchildhood abode fill me with anguish but as theysay, “sometimes being strong is the only choiceyou have”, I hold my breath, put my hands on myheart and say ‘All is Well’!

—Greater Kashmir

AMIRA KADAL, IHK—Bharitya JantaParty candidate from Amira Kadal con-stituency here Wednesday threatened totake up gun if Article 370 was revoked inJammu and Kashmir. “I am very confidentabout Article 370 and nobody can snatchit from us. People should remain confidentabout it. The day it’s revoked, I will be thefirst person to take up the gun,” the BJPcandidate, Dr Hina Bhat, told a news chan-nel on Thursday.

She also took a jibe at Union Min-ister Jitendra Singh and said, “If (he)is taking about it let him but our mani-festo has not come out and let we talkabout Article 370 then.” Yesterday,Singh said that BJP’s stand on Article370 is “very clear” and said that all is-sues which have been part of the party’smanifesto, including the provision, willbe on its agenda.

“All issues (including Article 370)which have been part of the BJP mani-festo all these years will be part of theagenda. They will continue to be so,”the Minister of State, PMO, had toldreporters while inaugurating BJP Me-dia Centre here for its “Mission 44+”.Singh was replying to a question if BJP

Kashmiris to take up gun ifArticle 370 is revoked: BJP leader

SRINAGAR—Describing the romping campaignby BJP, Congress and other pro-India PoliticalParties of Jammu and Kashmir for ‘so called’Assembly Elections as a useless stunt thespokesman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference(Mirwaiz) said the Kashmir Issue was a starkreality which could not be wished away andwhich could be resolved only through the imple-mentation of UN Resolutions on Kashmir orthrough a purposeful and meaningful dialogueamong all the three parties to the dispute.

Reacting sharply to the suggestion of a BJPleader that pro freedom leadership should shuntheir stand on Kashmir and participate in mainstream politics the spokesman of APHC de-scribed it as ignorance of BJP leadership aboutKashmir Issue and ground realities of the state.The Spokesman said that Jammu & Kashmir isa disputed territory on United Nations agendaand Hurriyat Conference is engaged in a struggleto find a peaceful resolution of Kashmir Issueacceptable to the people of Jammu & Kashmir.Politics of Power and Concession is not part ofHurriyat Agenda.

The spokesman further said, so called elec-tion is a useless exercise and is associated withthe administrative arrangement and this processneither in past has changed the disputed status ofKashmir nor is it going to do in future. TheSpokesman said that the stand of BJP not to talkto resistance leadership of Kashmir is not onlyaway from the political realities of Kashmir butit does not conform to the universally acceptedmeans of dispute settlement. He said that such astand cannot change the nature and status of Kash-

Politics of power not inour agenda: APHC

mir Issue. The resolutions passed by United Na-tions in addition to providing a legitimate legalstatus to Kashmir Dispute also provide a mecha-nism to settle this dispute through its reference tothe people. The Spokesman said that adopting astubborn stand cannot help in finding a solutionsto problems and so far as Kashmir Issue is con-cerned it has become the cause of military con-frontations between India and Pakistan in the pastand now when both these countries possessnuclear weapons the need for a solution throughdialogue has become all the more important.

The spokesman further said that the Pro In-dian Parties of Jammu & Kashmir have alwaysexploited the political and economic interest ofthe people and now the way these parties are shed-ding crocodile tears for Kashmiries by makingdemands of the resolution of Kashmir Issue andrevocation of the black-law (AFSPA) is nothingbut an attempt to befool the people. He said thefact is that these parties have actually been re-sponsible for the imposition of black-laws andfor killing a generation as well as for creatinghurdles in the resolution of Kashmir Issue. Hesaid that these leaders are expert in changing col-ors like chameleon for their petty interests.The Spokesman made it clear that the resolu-tion of Kashmir Issue in accordance with theaspiration of the people of Kashmir is the con-stitutional responsibility and first priority ofAPHC and in this regard the innumerable sacri-fices made by the people of Jammu and Kash-mir will bear fruit. He said the use of cursivetactics by the government is not going to changethe stand of Hurriyat Leadership.—KW

has dumped the issue of Article 370,which gives special status to Jammuand Kashmir, during the upcoming As-sembly elections. “The ideological is-sue (Article 370), toward which youpoint to, BJP’s stand is very clear on itand it is known to you,” he said.

“But in each election at each giventime, you have to prioritise and youhave to go by the aspiration of thepeople. The aspiration of the people asof now, in 2014, in November and De-cember, when we go to polls, is to lib-erate this state and people from yearsand years of mis-governance, corrup-tion and misappropriation of Centralfunds,” Singh had said.

To a question on some sitting BJPMLA’S resigning from party to fightagainst it, he had said, “I do not wantto indulge into a debate over it. Thereis inner party democracy in BJP. It isthe only party which is not governedby dynasty or family.”

“There is selection of panels and itis being approved by the ParliamentaryBoard. Everybody should consider him-self as a contestant, but once a candi-date is announced, the party and its

leaders and worker forces stand by thecandidate,” he said.

On a question if the party here isbanking solely on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Singh said, “Acrossparty lines, it is being accepted by oneand all that Narendra Modi is the tall-est leader in the country now. Can youdeny him that privilege which he en-joys by virtue of his popularity.

Having said that I also add that youshould not underestimate the wisdomof the voter of this country –they aregoing to judge us by our performance,”he said.

“People vote to our governancemodel of government with transpar-ency, accountability and development,”he said.

On setting up a media cell, he said,“BJP is the only party which has shownthe era of high-tech media campaign.Before the last general elections, oursused to be a high-tech media cell. Amedia high-tech cell was set up in BJPcentral office”. “From our models,other political parties took a cue. Wehave been on the forefront in this me-dia campaign,” he had said.—GK

BJPcandidate

escapes bidon life

KULGAM—With an inten-tion to ‘assassinate’ the BJPcandidate for Kulgam Con-stituency, unidentified gun-men raided his house locatedat Bogund.

The son of the BJP can-didate Ghulam Hasan Zargartold CNS that his father man-aged to hid himself in one ofthe dark corners of the housethat saved his life.

“The gunmen were fourin number. Two of them en-tered into our house whilerest of them took position onthe gate.

They were looking formy father and after not find-ing him in the room, theythrashed a worker merci-lessly,”

He said adding that be-fore leaving the house theythreatened us of dire conse-quences and said that theywill kill Zargar today or to-morrow.

The son of the BJP can-didate added that the gunmenfired two shots in air beforefleeing from the spot.

“My father spent thenight in police station and weare anxious about his secu-rity,” he said.

Meanwhile a police offi-cial said that the security ofthe BJP candidate has beentightened and he is now safeand secure.—KW

GENEVA—A rare step-cut Kashmir sapphire inrich velvety blue has sold for a world record ata Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, where it fetchedUSD 6 million. “A rare 27.54 carat step-cutKashmir sapphire which exhibited a rich, satu-rated velvety blue colour achieved USD5,984,474, a world auction record for a Kash-mir sapphire,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.

The gem was purchased by a buyer from Asia,auctioneers said. Previous record was set by a Kash-mir sapphire weighing 28.18 carats when it sold forUSD 5,093,000 at Sotheby’s New York in April2014. Kashmir sapphires sport a rich lustrous bluecolour often compared to that of a cornflower. Inthe 1880s a landslide in Kashmir, caused the leg-endary sapphires to be discovered. With a limitedproduction, Kashmir sapphires make up a tiny per-centage of the world’s total sapphire supply.

The American Gemological Laboratorieslabels this stone a “Classic Kashmir,” denot-ing that it not only exhibits the classicgemological features of the Kashmir region,

Kashmir sapphire sells forworld record $6 million

but also represents the top quality of stonesfrom the region. Meanwhile, the sale of “Mag-nificent and Noble jewels” on November 12was led by a ‘Graff Ruby’ from the collectionof Dimitri Mavrommatis. The 8.62 carat cush-ion-shaped gemstone soared above estimateand set a world auction record for a ruby atUSD 8,600,410, as well as a record price percarat for a ruby at USD 997,727 when it soldto Laurence Graff, auctioneers said.

Another highlight of the sale was a naturalpearl and diamond necklace formerly in the col-lection of Josephine de Beauharnais, Queen ofSweden and Norway and likely once the prop-erty of Josephine de Beauharnais the first wifeof Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress of theFrench. Comprising 111 pearls, the necklaceachieved USD 3,426,669. In addition toBeauharnais’s necklace, the sale featured the‘English Rose’ a diamond pendant, dating 1876,once the property of Queen Victoria of GreatBritain, which made USD 71,367.—KD

GANDERBAL, IHK—Prime Minister NarendraModi will address public rallies in Jammu and Kash-mir Nov 21 and 22, BJP sources said Thursday.“Modi will address public rallies in Ganderbal dis-trict and Srinagar district Nov 21. He will also ad-dress public rallies in Jammu region Nov 22,” topBJP sources said here.

The BJP is fielding candidates in all the 87 as-sembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir and is fightingthese elections without forging alliances with any

Modi rally in Kashmir on Nov 21political party in the state. The BJP recently revisedits much hyped 44 plus plan for the state assemblypolls to 50 plus, indicating the party’s seriousnessabout winning as many seats as possible. Sajad Loneof the People’s Conference recently met Modi inNew Delhi. In an interview to IANS, Sajad said heis not working on any pre-poll alliance with the BJP.Sajad, however, admitted that his party was open toconsidering options after the poll results, dependingon the numbers thrown up by the results.—KDNEW DELHI—Handing the verdict, the Gen-

eral Court Martial also suspended the ser-vice benefits of Col DK Pathania of the 4Rajput regiment (the unit which was in-volved in the encounter), Captain UpendraSingh, Subedar Satbir Singh, Havildar BirSingh, Sepoy Chadraban, Sepoy NagendraSingh and Sepoy Narinder Singh.

On April 30, 2010, the Army had claimedthat they had killed three infiltrators in the

Machil fake encounter: 2 armyofficers among 7 troops get lifer

Machil sector along the Line of Control. Ithad later claimed that they were Pakistaniterrorists. However, they were later identi-fied as Mohamad Shafi, Shehzad Ahmed andRiyaz Ahmed — all residents of Nadihal inBaramulla district.They were allegedly lured to a border areaand shot dead. The fake encounter had trig-gered a two month-long agitation in theKashmir Valley.—KD

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the AllParties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) leaderand the Chairman of Kashmir Freedom Front(KFF), Syed Bashir Andrabi has condemnedthe continued arrest and raids on the houseof party leaders by the Indian police and de-scribed it as frustration of the authorities.

Syed Bashir Andrabi in a statement is-sued in Srinagar said that India was usingevery tactic to suppress the ongoing libera-tion movement but would never succeed in

Bashir Andrabi condemnsarrest of party activists

its sinister designs. He said that Kashmir wasa disputed territory and should be settled inaccordance with the UN resolutions and as-pirations of the Kashmiri people.

Syed Bashir Andrabi said that durablepeace in the region was impossible withoutthe resolution of Kashmir dispute. He urgedIndia to give up its rigid stance and comeforward to settle the dispute peacefully whichwas also in the interest of India and Paki-stan besides the South Asian region.—KMS

BJP ignorant aboutbackground of

Kashmir dispute:APHC

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kash-mir, the All Parties Hurriyet Con-ference (APHC) has asked BJPto consult history and correct it-self about the background of theKashmir dispute.The APHCspokesman in a statement issuedin Srinagar said that by askingHurriyet leadership to join elec-toral process, the BJP was show-ing its ignorance about the Kash-mir dispute.—KMS

Womanfound dead in

RajbaghRAJBAGH, IHK—An unidenti-fied woman was found dead inan uptown area of Jammu andKashmir’s summer capitalSrinagar, a police official said hereon Thursday. He said the body ofan unidentified woman, about 60years old, was found near Con-vent crossing in Raj Bagh thismorning.—KD

Profit in businesscomes from repeat

customers, cus-tomers that boastabout your project

or service, andthat bring friends

with them.

—W. Edwards Deming

Pak forex figure$ 13.267 bKARACHI—The totalliquid foreign exchangereserves of the countrystand at dollars 13.26708billion, said State Bank ofPakistan (SBP). Accord-ing to SBP’s weeklystatement issued here onThursday, the foreigninvestment held by SBPon Nov. 07, amounteddollars 8.48704 billion andthe net foreign reservesheld by other banks wereof dollars 4.78004 billion.During the week, SBP’sliquid foreign exchangereserves decreased bydollars 131 million to 8.437billion compared to 8.618billion of the previousweek. Over this period,SBP made payments of $89 million on account ofexternal debit servicingand other official pay-ments.—APP

ISE-10 index staysBearishISLAMABAD—TheIslamabad Stock Exchange(ISE) on Thursdaywitnessed bearish trend asthe ISE-10 index was downby 40.37 points to close at4212.10 points. A total of128,000 shares were traded,which showed a negativegrowth of 113,500 shares,when compared withprevious day’s trading of14,500 shares. Out of 173companies, share prices of56 companies recordedincrease while those of 117companies decreased andno company remainedstable in today’s trading.The share price of FazalTextile increased by Rs44.68 while that of IndusMotors decreased by Rs34.71 per share. Bank ofPunjab,Sui Southern Gas,Pakistan Oilfields remainedthe top trading companieswith 120,000, 4,000 and2,500 shares respec-tively.—APP

Conversion ratesKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign Currency Depos-its, Dollar Bearer Certifi-cates, Foreign CurrencyBearer Certificates, SpecialU.S. Dollar Bonds andprofits thereon by allbanks and for providingForward Cover on ForeignCurrency Deposits(excluding F.E- 25 depos-its) by the State Bank onNovember 14, 2014. Therates are U.S. Dollar101.6901 Japanese Yen0.8797 Pound Sterling160.2433 and Euro126.6957.—APP

CEO PIBT toparticipate inUK-Pakistan

energy dialogueLAHORE—Punjab Board ofInvestment & Trade (PBIT)Chief Executive OfficerMuhammad Ilyas Ghauri willparticipate in the UK-Paki-stan Energy Dialogue 2014,which is being hosted at theLancaster House, London,UK. He is part of the delega-tion led by Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif.Addressing the UK-Paki-stan Energy Dialogue, theCEO PBIT will inform par-ticipants about investmentopportunities in the powersector, followed by an intro-duction and presentationregarding investment op-portunities in Solar Powerand incentives given by thePunjab government.

It may be mentioned thatan objective of the UK-Paki-stan Energy Dialogue 2014is to assist Pakistan in ad-dressing its energy needsthrough sharing expertiseand the best practice in theenergy sector and facilitat-ing the private sector con-tact that can be developedfurther by the government ofPakistan. The UK and Paki-stan will share expertise andexperience in the energy sec-tor through a series of inter-active meetings.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pak Qatar Family Takaful Lim-ited (PQFTL) is a leading company offeringTakaful solutions in Pakistan. To fulfill itscommitment towards providing a higherstandard of Shariah-compliant services toa wider and more diverse range of custom-ers in Pakistan, PQFTL has signed aBancaTakaful agreement with JS Bank Lim-ited. This agreement marks the first directarrangement between Pak-Qatar FamilyTakaful & any Bank for Banca Takaful.

The signing ceremony was held at JSBank’s Head office in the presence of se-nior officials from both partners, includingMr. Muhammad Menhas, Deputy CEO andCountry Sales Head, Mr. Kamran Rashid,Head of BancaTakaful & ADC and Mr. SAdnan Hasan, Head of Marketing & Cor-porate Communication from Pak-Qatar Fam-ily Takaful Ltd. JS Bank was represented at

KARACHI: Signing ceremony for Banca Takaful agreement being chaired by Mr. KhalidImran, President and CEO, JS Bank; and Mr. Muhammad Menhas, Deputy CEO, PakQatar Family Takaful Limited with senior members from both organizations.

the session by Mr. Khalid Imran, President& CEO, Mr. Kamran Jafar, Group Head -Corporate & Retail Banking Group, and Mr.Babbar Wajid, Head of Product Develop-ment & Business Management.

Mr. Muhammad Menhas, Deputy CEOand Country Sales Head at PQFTL, vowedthat “This relationship will act as a bench-mark of quality and service in the comingdays for BancaTakaful industry. It wouldalso help PQFTL achieve its mission of pro-viding Takaful to everyone. We are proudto partner with JS Bank, and we are confi-dent that JS Bank, being one of the fastestgrowing banks with its 212 branch networkin urban and rural areas, will help promoteawareness & distribution of Takaful acrossPakistan.” JS Bank’s President & CEO Mr.Khalid Imran, while speaking at the occasionsaid “This association is testament to JS Bank’sunderstanding of the Wealth Managementmarket in Pakistan.

Pak-Qatar Family Takaful signs BancaTakaful Agreement with JS Bank

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (LCCI) hasdemanded of the State Bank of Paki-stan to bring down interest rate by atleast 150 to 200 basis points to give ajumpstart to the economic activitiesand to revive the industrial sector.The LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtazinterest rate is an important input forthe industrial and always influencesthe cost of production.

He said that how we can evenimagine to compete the countries likeJapan, Sweden and Switzerland in theinternational market where industryis being financed at 0% interest rates.He also cited the examples of Aus-tria, Belgium, Canada, France, Ger-many, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy,Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Thai-land, United Kingdom and UnitedStates where interest rates are 0.05%,

LCCI for drastic cut in interest rate0.05%, 1%, 0.05%, 0.05%, 0.05%,0.50%, 0.05%, 3.25%, 0.12%, 0.05%,2%, 0.50% and 0.25%.

Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that thebenchmark interest rate in Pakistanwas last recorded at 10 percent. Hesaid that interest Rate in Pakistanaveraged 12.55 Percent from 1992until 2014, reaching an all time highof 20 Percent in October of 1996 anda record low of 7.50 Percent in No-vember of 2002. He said that StateBank of Pakistan has to bring downthe interest rates keeping in view theground realities and strict competi-tion in the international market. Hesaid that a cut of 50 to 100 basispoints would not be doing any ser-vice to the challenged economy. Hesaid that it was very unfortunate thatwe have failed to learn any lessonfrom the tighter monetary policystance adopted by the State bank ofPakistan in the yester years.

LCCI President said that ongo-ing economic scenario shows thatthere is hardly any time left for eco-nomic managers of the country andthey all should understand well thata 50 to 100 basis point cut will betoo little. He said that it is now be-fore all of us that high markup rateis no more sustainable. It has beencausing a great harm to economyand would continue to do so unlessand until a realist approach isadopted. Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that theState Bank of Pakistan should under-stand that its continued tighter stanceis inflicting a very heavy loss on thenation as the economy has alreadypaid a very high price because of highinterest rate. He urged the State Bankof Pakistan to announce at least 150to 200 basic points cut in markuprates that would certainly givejumpstart to the economic activitiesin the country.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A World Bank Missionwill make “Karachi TransformationStrategy” for the development andimproved facilities in Karachi througha project of financial assistance in col-laboration with Korean Green GrowthTrust (KGGT). According to a state-ment issued by Commissioner Karachioffice on Thursday, the purpose of thestrategy was to improve living stan-dard of Karachities and provide thembetter amenities.

A 10-member delegation of WorldBank (WB) met Commissioner KarachiCommissioner Karachi Shoaib AhmedSiddiqui on Thursday at his office. The

World Bank to prepare Karachitransformation strategy

delegation was consisted of SectorManager MINGZHANG, DevelopmentUrban Specialist, Urban Planning &Strategy Consultant, Energy Specialistand Solid Waste Management. Theymainly emphasized to excel drainagesystem, solid waste management, sup-ply of water, sewerage, filtration of dirtywater and mass transit system. Address-ing the delegation on the occasion theCommissioner said that Master Plan2020 would be revisited and updated ifneeded in the best interest of the public.

He said that master plan was pre-pared in coordination with federal,provincial, district and city institu-tions. Shoaib said that he had beeninformed that some suggestions for

amendments had been proposed forthe plan and those could be includedas to provide better facilities to thepeople and to fulfill all the require-ments of strategy. To remove ob-stacles from the plan concerned orga-nizations would be consulted soonand the plan would be updated withtheir coordination by calling themseparately, he added Karachi Trans-formation Strategy would help to workin right direction, he said. Shoaib fur-ther said that Sindh government hadbeen offered KGGT’s cooperation forthe strategy by WB. City’s Industrialstatus and economic zones would alsobe reviewed in the strategy and Mas-ter plan 2020, he said.

ISLAMABAD: Vice President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry IftikharAli Malik, known businessman SM Muneer, Mian Idrees candidate for the presidentialslot of FPCCI and others in a group photo on the occasion of dinner hosted by MuhammadRauf Chairman Founder Group.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief Executive Trade Devel-opment Authority Pakistan S.M.Muneer an-nounced that new leadership of the Federa-tion of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (FPCCI) will also take small tradersinto confidence on all policy making deci-sions in future. Speaking at a reception cumdinner in his honor and Chairman UnitedBusiness Group (UBG) Iftikhar Ali Malik hereWednesday night by Abdul Rauf, formerPresident ICCI and chairman founder group,he said that in past small traders, a source ofstrengthen for federation, were always ne-glected and their genuine problems werenever taken care of at appropriate forum.

He said that first time in trade politichistory, he has constituted a 10-membercommittee comprising leading trade lead-ers for preparation of comprehensive mani-festo to be implemented by the FPCCI andall its affiliated chambers and trade bodies.He said that core committee of UBG afterproper deliberation in a true democraticmanners and consultation with all presi-dents of chambers will accord its approval.

S.M.Munir who is also patron-in-chiefof UBG said that now all decisions were be-ing taken on merit for the promotion of tradeand industry across the country and inter-ests of the business community will be ac-corded priority besides fair and transparentworking of FPCCI and all its regional officesthroughout the country. He said that onlytrue democracy will prevail in trade politicsand core committee of UBG has awardedgroup ticket to Muhammad Adress for thetop slot of the President of FPCCI who is

Continued on Page 14

New leadership of FPCCI to accordpriority to small traders: SM Muneer

enjoying the support of 127 executive com-mittee and general body members of theFPCCI out a total strength of 160 house.

Iftikhar Ali Malik said that now no onewill be allowed to hijack FPCCI and only meritbased democracy will prevail in trade politic.He said UBG will purge the trade politics ofcorruption, nepotism and unfair practices.He claimed that his group will provide neatand clean new FPCCI leadership who coulddeliver the goods. Abdul Rauf the UnitedBusiness Group Leader of KPK andIslamabad, who is also former President ofIslamabad Chamber of Commerce & Indus-try (ICCI) and Chairman, Founder Group ofICCI said that today it is a great honor for meand the business community of KPK andIslamabad, prominent business leaders ofPakistan, Khyber to Karachi are here underthe dynamic leadership of S.M Muneer andIftikhar Ali Malik. Rauf said that inshaallah ifwe follow the saying of Quaid-e-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnah “Unity Faith Disci-pline” the United Business Group will winthe upcoming election of FPCCI.

Senator Ghulam Ali who is also formerFPCCI President stressed the urgent needfor addressing the genuine problems beingconfronted by the business community inKPK province in the wake of war on terror-ism. Senator Ilyas Bilour said that hethroughout his life always firmly believesin rule of law, promotion of democracy andonly supported such people who advocatethe cause of poor segment of the societyand traders in the country. He said he nevercompromised on principles.

FPCCI to undergo hotly contested electionsAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The Federation of PakistanChambers of Commerce and Industry(FPCCI) is expected to witness a hotly con-tested elections for the year 2014-15 as mostof time unopposed and unanimously elec-tion of the candidate had become a usualfeature at this highest representative forumof the business community in Pakistan. Infact, the business politics at FPCCI so farruled by its top ranking leaders speciallyTariq Saeed Group which had a strong sayin the business community so far, howevernow with the passage of time, yet anothergroup led by SM Muneer, Mian Iftikhar

Malik, Mian Zahid and others which is yetanother strong group seems to have devel-oped some differences on principle issuesthat the FPCCI should be run on merit andthe candidates elected at this highest fo-rum should have the capacity to deliverrather than serving the personal interest.

The United Business Group which hasinstalled Mian Idrees as the main presiden-tial candidate for the upcoming electionshowever enjoys an immaculate reputationwho is the chairman of a prestigious busi-ness house known as Sitara group of com-panies.

Continued on Page 14

New leadershipof FPCCI

Presidential candidateMuhammad Adress who isformer FPCCI VP and ZonalChairman Punjab region,promised that if voted topower, all chambers, affili-ated trade bodies and dis-trict heads of Anjuman-i-Tijran throughout thecountry will be consultedon regular basis on all im-portant issues. He saidthat he will try his best tolive upto the aspiration ofthe business communityand announced not toavail any perks attached tothe portfolio of president.

The newly electedPresidents of Chaman,Larkana, Hazara, Sialkot,Gujranwala, Mardan,Quetta, Bahwalpur,Rawalpindi, Ch akwal,Faisalabad and scores ofother chambers includingformer federation VPsHameed Akhtar Chaddaand Tanvir A Sheikh alsospoke. Prominent amongthem attended receptionincluded Senator HajiAdeel Ahmad, MNAAbdul Manan, MunawarMughal, Haroon Rashid,Zafar Bakhtawari, MianMaqbool, Malik SohialHussain, Zubair Malik,Shakeel Munir and AshfaqAhmad Chattah, ActingPresident and Vice Presi-dent of ICCI besidesscores of others.

Shipping activityat Port Qasim

KARACHI—Four ships C.VMaersk Hartfort, C.V CMACGM Corneille, M.T Hori-zon and M.T Stoll Couregecarrying containers palm oiland chemicals were berthedat Qasim International Con-tainer Terminal, LiquidCargo Terminal and EngroVopak Terminal respec-tively at Port Qasim onWednesday. Meanwhilefour more ships with con-tainer, general cargo, wheatand palm oil also arrived atouter anchorage of PortQasim (during last 24 hours.

Berth occupancy wasmanaged at the Port at 64%on Wednesday, where tenships namely ships C.VMaersk Hartfort, C.V CMACGM Corneille, M.V PllaJoy, M.V Ikan Prang, M.VFinja, M.V Sea Luck-II,M.V Flagmersindi, M.THorizon, M.T StoltCourege and M.T Al-Soor-II are currently occupyingPQA berths to load/offloadcontainers, cement, gen-eral cargo, sunflowersseeds, wheat, palm oil,chemicals and diesel oilrespectively during last 24hours.

A record cargo han-dling was observed at thePort where a cargo volumeat 166,376 tonnes, com-prises 105,139 tonnes im-ports and 61,237 tonnesexports inclusive contain-erized cargo carried in3,455 containers (TEUs)(1,348 imports and 2,107exports TEUs) werehandled during last 24hours. General cargo car-rier ‘Finja’ sailed out to seaon Thursday morningwhile two more containerships ‘Maersk Hartfort’and CMA CCGM Corneille’are expected to sail on sameday afternoon. Five shipsC.V Saigon Express, C.VLily Schulte, C.V Tabea andM.V BBC Washington car-rying containers and gen-eral cargo are expected totake berths at ContainersTerminal.—APP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 101.50 101.30

UK 160.12 159.81

Euro 126.30 126.05

Canada 89.72 89.54

Switzerland 105.05 104.84

Australia 88.31 88.14

Sweden 13.68 13.65

Japan 0.8770 0.8753

Norway 14.91 14.88

Singapore 78.56 78.41

Denmark 16.97 16.94

Saudi Arabia 27.05 27.00

Hong Kong 13.09 13.06

Kuwait 348.39 347.70

Malaysia 30.42 30.36

Newzealand 79.87 79.71

Qatar 27.87 27.82

UAE 27.63 27.58

Kr Won 0.0924 0.0922

Thailand 3.091 3.085

Daily opening& closing ratesPMEX Index 2,754Total Volume (Lots): 9,072Traded Value (Rs): 1,491,925,614

Commodity -------------------- Price Quotation --------------- Open ---------- CloseCRUDE OIL ------------------- $ Per Barrel --------------------- 77.69 ---------- 76.92SILVER ------------------------- $ Per Ounce -------------------- 15.753 --------- 15.648GOLD --------------------------- $ Per Ounce -------------------- 1,166.6 -------- 1,159.1GOLD --------------------------- Rs Per 10 gms ------------------ 38,196 --------- 37,926MTOLAGOLD --------------- Rs Per Tola --------------------- 45,384 --------- 45,436GOLD --------------------------- Rs Per Tola --------------------- 45,384 --------- 45,436RICEIRRI6 --------------------- Rs Per 100 kg ------------------- 3,276 ---------- 3,275PALMOLEIN ----------------- Rs Per Maund ----------------- 3,887 ---------- 3,885SUGAR ------------------------- Rs Per kg ------------------------ 46.54 ---------- 48.71ICOTTON --------------------- US Cents per pound --------- 64.08 ---------- 62.07WHEAT ------------------------ Rs Per 100 kg ------------------- 3,408 ---------- 3,432

The total value traded was PKR 1.492 billion and number of lots traded was 9,072.PMEX Commodity Index closed at 2,754. Major business was contributed by crudeoil amounting to PKR 960 million followed by gold (PKR 490 million) and silver(PKR 41 million).

ISLAMABAD—The international media in itscontinued coverage of the economic turnaround in Pakistan and the proactive economicpolicies being pursued by the government ofPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif noted the assur-ance by German Chancellor Angela Merkel ofincreasing her country’s investments inPakistan’s energy sector. The Arab News in anarticle titled Germany eyes energy investmentsin Pakistan quoted Merkel as saying that in-vestment climate in Pakistan would further im-prove if companies were reassured about thesecurity situation in the country.

Merkel said Germany’s KfW state devel-opment bank was already involved in projectsin Pakistan, including hydro power plants.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also appreciatedthat several German firms were keen to investin Pakistani power sectors. Turkey’s Anadoluagency reported that Sharif told reporters inGermany how keen his nation was for invest-ment in all sectors. The news agency quotedNawaz Sharif as saying that Pakistan was fac-

International media notes economicturnaround in Pakistan

ing an acute shortage of energy and couldbenefit from Germany’s role as a leader in re-newable energy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met withPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif and held talks thatfocused mainly on trade and fighting terror-ism. Pakistan is courting German investors notonly for the energy industry, but in the agricul-tural and environmental sectors as well. Ger-man Chancellor said her meeting with the Paki-stani Prime Minister had largely focused onbilateral ties, international and regional secu-rity issues, economic and trade cooperationand announced that the two countries hadsigned an agreement on cooperation in thefield of renewable energies.

Meanwhile a report in the Guardian saidthe government led by Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif was pushing asidethe bottlenecks caused by the protests andsit-ins has decided to move on and pursue itsambitious agenda to put country’s economyback on track, foreign media reports.—APP

Continued on Page 13

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Nether-lands hosted an interactive session on “Exploring Opportu-nities in the Dairy Sector: Avenues of Pak-Dutch Coopera-tion” at a local hotel in collaboration with the Dairy TrainingCentre and Solve AgriPak. Frans van Rijn, Charge d’Affairesof the Embassy, welcomed the guests, who represented thecorporate dairy sector, academia, various government andskills development bodies and the media. Coming on theheels of the resumption of cattle trade between the Nether-lands and Pakistan, the event was an interactive gatheringand an occasion for information sharing.

Mr. Van Rijn said, “Pakistan is the third largest milkproducing country in the world. However, its populationis growing fast and so is the demand for dairy products.The sector will need to expand and modernise quickly toprovide in this growing demand. As a fellow dairy pro-ducing nation, the Netherlands can help Pakistan in thisregard. He added, “Indeed it’s a perfect match: the Dutchhave the products, the expertise and the services neededby Pakistan to make this transition in the dairy sector.The Netherlands is a small country with less than 17 mil-lion people but it is the 2nd biggest agricultural exporterin the world.The Dutch are known for their high-quality,high-intensity and high-sustainability agribusiness –especially in this field.”

Mr. Anne Terpstra, a representative of DTC, spokeabout how the right management and the right animalscan increase profitability: “Managing dairy animals is theone of the most complex jobs in the world. Dairy farming

WASHINGTON—A rally in Pakistanbonds bodes well for the world’s sec-ond-biggest Muslim nation as it pre-pares to sell global sukuk for the firsttime since 2005. The government mayissue $500 million of dollar Islamicnotes by month-end, Finance Minis-ter Ishaq Dar told reporters in Dubaion recently reviving the sale initiallyscheduled for September. The yield onthe nation’s conventional five-yearU.S. currency debt sold in Aprildropped to a five-month low of 6.16percent and Union InvestmentPrivatfonds GmbH is predicting 6 per-cent for a similar-maturity sukuk.

Investors have sent the bench-mark stock index to a record and therupee to its strongest in more than twomonths as they focus back on theeconomy as Prime Minister NawazSharif overcame pressure from oppo-sition members to step down in Au-gust. Global sales of sukuk are head-ing for the worst fourth quarter since2008, aggravating a shortage of Islamicsecurities that may support demandfor Pakistan’s offering. “The macro-economic outlook of the country hasvastly improved,” Vasseh Ahmed,chief investment officer of Faysal As-

Weathering protest againstSharif revives Pakistan plan

of Islamic finance: Bloombergset Management Ltd., which oversees$85 million in Karachi, said in a Nov.11 e-mail. “There is expected to besubstantial interest owing to the lackof investment avenues for Islamic in-vestors.”

Worldwide sales of Islamic bondsdropped 81 percent this quarter to $2billion from the previous three months,data compiled by Bloomberg show.Issuance climbed 11 percent in 2014to $38.9 billion, trailing 2012’s record$46.8 billion total. Pakistan tapped theinternational debt market in April forthe first time since 2007. It sold $2 bil-lion in total of 7.25 percent non-Shariah-compliant notes due in 2019and 10-year 8.25 percent bonds whoseyield was at a three-month low of 7.46percent, data compiled by Bloombergshow. Demand exceeded the amounton offer by 14 times.

The nation has no global sukukoutstanding, only local-currencyShariah-compliant notes that werelast issued in June. The governmenthasn’t indicated the maturity for itsplanned Islamic bonds. SergeyDergachev, who helps oversee $10billion at Union Investment in Frank-furt, predicts a 10-year sukuk would

probably yield about 7.25 percent. Afive-year note will pay from 6 per-cent to 6.5 percent and 10-year se-curities 7 percent to 7.5 percent,Mohammed Sohail, Karachi-basedchief executive officer at ToplineSecurities Pakistan Ltd., said in aNov. 11 e-mail.

While the economy has improved,Prime Minister Sharif is still facing astandoff with former cricketer ImranKhan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party that’sdemanding he resign on allegationsof vote-rigging in last year’s election.The South Asian nation’s foreign-ex-change reserves totaled $14 billion inSeptember, compared with $8.7 billionat end-2013, central bank data show.The fiscal deficit narrowed to 5.8 per-cent of gross domestic product in the12 months through June, from 8.2 per-cent the previous year, according toofficial data. “The key factor will bethe domestic political situation,”Sajjad Anwar, chief investment officerat NBP Fullerton Asset ManagementLtd., which manages $456 million, saidby phone on Nov. 11 from Karachi.“The economy is in better shape nowand the response to the sukuk will bevery encouraging.” —INP

Interactive session on Pak-Dutchdairy opportunities enhancement

professionals in Pakistan need to brush-up their practi-cal skills in a way that they are able to communicate withtheir cows in order to identify issues in the farm manage-ment and provide corrective measures for enhanced pro-ductivity. With such good management, Dutch dairy ani-mals in Pakistan can produce at the same high levels astheydo in the Netherlands.” Mr. Terpstra has thereforebeen conducting a five-day training on Applied DairyFarm Management and has had the opportunity to visitsome local farms around Lahore. He explained how theDutch Holstein Frisian cows have been bred over gen-erations to become the premier breed of cattle for highquality and high quantity dairy production.Such cattlecould also fare very well in Pakistan.

Mr. Adil Shakeel, a representative of the CorporateDairy Farmers Association, spoke about the opportuni-ties present in the dairy sector and the need to enhanceproductivity and profitability through engaging with theDutch who had cattle, technical expertise, products andservices that could help the Pakistan dairy sector ad-vance rapidly. Answering questions from the audience,the panellists expressed their belief that engagements inthe dairy sector would be lucrative for all parties involvedand would increase the quality and quantity of milk pro-duction in Pakistan. Dutch Holstein Frisian cows havean average total life span 5 years and 10 months, which isthe highest in the world and an average lifetime produc-tion 30,999 kg of milk per year with 2,443 kg fat and pro-tein, which is also the highest in the world – characteris-tics the Pakistani dairy sector could attain with the rightmanagement and the right cattle.

Trade bodiessupport

Anjum NisarSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Trade & Indus-trial Associations of Gujrathave announced to supportMian Anjum Nisar in thepresidential elections ofFederation of PakistanChambers of Commerce &Industry (FPCCI). MianAnjum Nisar visited Gujratalong with former Presi-dents of the Lahore Cham-ber of Commerce & Indus-try Mian Shafqat Ali, Engi-neer Sohail Lashari, ZafarIqbal Chaudhry,Muhammad Ali Mian,former Senior Vice Presi-dent Sheikh MuhammadArshad, LCCI Vice Presi-dent Syed MahmoodGhanavi.

Chairman of Fan Asso-ciation Azhar Alsm,Rameez Dar and ExecutiveCommittee Memberswarmly welcomed the del-egation and assured theirfull support to Mian AnjumNisar. Speaking on the oc-casion, Azhar Aslam saidthat as President of theLahore Chamber of Com-merce & Industry, MianAnjum Nisar has renderedunmatched service for thecause of business commu-nity and got a number ofissues solved.

He said that businesscommunity has collectivelydecided to support MianAnjum Nisar in the elec-tions of Federation of Paki-stan Chambers of Com-merce & Industry. In hisaddress, Mian Anjum Nisarsaid that he would utilizehis best abilities to makeFederation of PakistanChambers of Commerce &Industry (FPCCI) a trueplateform for the businesscommunity.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—On the back of steep declinein oil prices resulting in bringing downthe inflation to 17 month low the busi-ness community has demanded of thegovernment for a 200 bps cut in the policyrate of the State Bank of Pakistan. ThePresident Lasbela Chamber of Commerceand Industry (LCCI), Yakoob A Karim hasurged the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) toreduce the discount rate by at least 200basis points in order to provide some re-lief to the industry and for the revival ofeconomic activities. LCCI PresidentYakoob A Karim said that SBP has to makea drastic cut at least by 2500 to 300 basispoints in the monetary policy being an-nounced on Saturday, November 15, 2014for two months. He said that due to high-est interest rate in the region the bankfinancing for industrial sector has becomeunaffordable.

Trade & industry demands200 bps cut in interest rate

The LCCI chief said that unchangedor a cut of 50 to 100 basis points wouldnot be doing any service to the dwindlingeconomy. “It is very unfortunate that wehave failed to learn any lesson from thetighter monetary policy stance adopted bythe State bank of Pakistan in the past fewyears”, Yakoob said adding that thepresent government is also following theanti-economy and anti-investment policiesof the previous regime. He said that eco-nomic managers should understand wellthat a 50 or even 100 basis points cut wouldbe too little. He said that despite higherinflation all the major economies have ei-ther curtailed or are in the process of re-ducing high interest rates to protect theireconomies.

He said that the central bank shouldunderstand that its continued tighter stanceis inflicting a very heavy loss as theeconomy has already paid a very high pricebecause of high interest rate.

KARACHI: Stockbrokers looking at the digital screen during the descending trend inKSE-100 index at Karachi Stock Exchange.

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for IT Ms. Anusha Rehman chairing a TIP Boardmeeting.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan is meet-ing with the Minister for Textile Industry, Abbas Khan Afridi and Minister for HealthRegulations Saira Afzal Tarrar to discuss strategies to enhance Pakistan’s exports.

ISLAMABAD: USAID Mission Director, Greg Gottlieb, presented PESCO and IESCO withtools and maintenance vehicle as part of US government energy sector assistance efforts.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar in a meet-ing with Finance Minister of Afghanistan Dr Omaz Zakhilwal.

CHITTAGONG: Sikandar Raza cuts on his way to fifty during Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe 3rd Test’s 2nd day onThursday.

ISLAMABAD: Players of Afghanistan and Bangladesh Women Football teams struggling to get hold on the ballduring 3rd SAFF Women Championship Pakistan-2014 at Sports Complex, Jinnah Stadium.

Hanif, Miandadhail Misbah’sachievements

KARACHI—Batting leg-ends and former skippersHanif Muhammad andJaved Miandad hailedMisbah-ul-Haq’s accom-plishments as he becamePakistan’s most successfulTest captain after his teamwhipped New Zealand by248 runs in the first Test inAbu Dhabi on Thursday.

Veteran Misbah with his15th victory becamePakistan’s most successfulcaptain taking him ahead ofImran Khan and JavedMiandad, under whom Pa-kistan won 14 Test matches.

“Winning the test in justten sessions showedPakistan’s domination overKiwis,” Little Master said.

“From the very first day,Pakistan got an edge andmaintained it till the fourthday,” he said.

He congratulatedMisbah for achieving theglory for him and the coun-try.

“These are great accom-plishments and Misbahshould be proud of it,”Hanif said.

He said left arm pacemanRahat Ali bowled well on abald pitch. But addedMuhammad Hafeez de-served the man of the matchaward.

“Misbah and his teamdeserved all the credit forhis grand achievements,”Miandad said. “Records arealways there to bebroken.But, personally Ionly recognize the worldrecords,” he said.—APP

CH I T TA G O N G (Bangladesh)—Zimbabwe’s top order came good toput up a strong reply toBangladesh’s huge first innings to-tal of 503 on the second day of thethird and final Test in Chittagong onThursday.

Opener Sikandar Raza remainedunbeaten on 54 and HamiltonMasakadza was on 51 as the tour-ists reached 113-1 by stumps, stilltrailing by 390 runs with nine wick-ets in hand.

The pair added 104 for the un-broken second wicket after openerBrian Chari was caught behind offRubel Hossain without scoring.

Rubel had earlier shone with thebat, making an entertaining 45 off 44balls to help Bangladesh post theirhighest total against Zimbabwe, sur-passing the 488 in Chittagong in2005.

After nine wickets had fallen for452 runs, Rubel smashed four sixesand two boundaries during a last-wicket stand of 51 with JubairHossain.

Openers Tamim Iqbal (109) andImrul Kayes (130) had laid the plat-form for a big total on Wednesdayand Shakib Al Hasan ledBangladesh’s batting charge on thesecond day with 71.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers prevented abigger total by claiming eight wick-ets in the first two sessions after thehosts resumed the day at a com-manding 303-2. Mominul Haqueadded just two runs to his overnight

Bangladesh 1st innings:Tamim b Sikandar Raza109Imrul b H Masakadza .. 130Mominul c Taylorb Panyangara ................. 48Mahmudullah lbw b SWMasakadza ..................... 16Shakib c Ervine b Raza . 71Mushfiqur b Masakadza15Shuvagata Hom runo u t ................................... 35Taijul b SW Masakadza . 1Shafiul b Sikandar ......... 10Rubel not out ................. 45Jubair b Panyangara ....... 5Extras: (b 2, lb 10, w 6) .. 18Total: (all out) .............. 503Fall of wickets: 1-224, 2-272,3-312, 4-339, 5-378, 6-428, 7-429, 8-451, 9-452, 10-503Bowling: ........... O-M-R-W

SCOREBOARDT Panyangara . 20.4-2-70-2E Chigumbura .... 14-4-40-0Masakadza ......... 25-5-77-2N M’shangwe .. 47-5-149-0Sikandar ............ 36-2-123-3B Chari .................... 2-0-9-0H Masakadza ....... 9-1-23-2Zimbabwe 1st innings:Sikandar Raza not out .. 54Chari b Rubel 0H Masakadza not out ... 51Extras: (b 6, lb 1, nb 1) .... 8Total: (1 wicket) ........... 113Fall of wickets: 1-9Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WShafiul Islam ........ 5-1-20-0Rubel Hossain ..... 5-1-27-1Taijul Islam ........... 9-0-31-0Shakib ................... 5-2-16-0Jubair .................... 1-0-11-0Shuvagata .............. 1-0-1-0

Zimbabwe make spiritedreply to Bangladesh’s 503

score of 46 when he was caught theslips by Brendan Taylor off TinashePanyangara.

Shingi Masakadza trappedMohammad Mahmudullah leg-be-fore for 16 before Bangladesh cap-tain Mushfiqur Rahim dragged a lowball from Hamilton Masakadza on tohis stumps after making 15.

The hosts are hoping to sweepthe series 3-0 after winning the firsttwo Tests in Dhaka and Khulna. TheTest series between the two lowest-ranked teams will be followed by fiveone-day internationals.

Meanwhile, a final onslaughtbookended a great opening stand topower Bangladesh to 503 all out onthe second day of the third Test. ButZimbabwe began their reply firmly too,ending up on113 for one at stumpswith Sikandar Raza and HamiltonMasakadza on unbeaten fifties.

Zimbabwe have more than just afair distance to cover to remain com-petitive in the game but that didn’tstop Raza and Masakadza, who saidbefore the game that they would goall out for the win, to go after theBangladesh bowling and pick up easyboundaries.

Raza was unbeaten on 54 off 65balls, having struck nine boundaries.He was severe against anythingpitched in his half by Shafiul Islam andTaijul Islam, and used his feet very wellagainst the spin. He drove the ball withconfidence though there were mo-ments when he looked slightly like los-ing control while attacking the spin-

ners. This wasRaza’s third Testfifty, and itc o m p l e m e n t e dthe surprising rolehe had playedwith the ball inpicking up threewickets.

M a s a k a d z aalso reached hissixth half-century,off 71 balls. Heplayed a relativelysubdued role, butstill struck sevenfours and one six,a big hit overmidwicket offShakib Al Hasan.

Rubel pickedup the only wicketof the day forBangladesh, get-ting Brian Chari to

thinly edge one to the keeper in thesecond over. The decision, initiallygiven not out, had to be reviewed byMushfiqur Rahim and he was provedright as the third umpire heard or sawsomething that amounted to an edge.This continued Rubel’s great day af-ter he had hammered four sixes towardsthe end of the Bangladesh innings.

Rubel’s unbeaten career-best 45,coming off 44 balls with four sixesthrough midwicket and two fours, tookthe score past the 500-run mark. Heshared a 51-run tenth wicket standwith Jubair Hossain, who was the fi-nal wicket to fall, in the 154th over.

Bangladesh scored exactly 200runs on day two but their scoring ratewasn’t as impressive as it had beenon the first day. Shakib Al Hasan’s 17thTest fifty, 71 off 110 balls, helped themconsolidate losses in the middle-or-der. He struck seven boundaries, acouple of drives through cover andmid-off and two dinks through andover midwicket among them.

But he was dismissed to a superbcatch by Craig Ervine, who dived full-length to his right in the covers tosnap up a top-edge off Sikandar Raza.It was one of the bright spots in theday for the visitors who had to fieldfor two-thirds of the day.

The day began well for Zimbabwewhen Tinashe Panyangara removedMominul with a delivery that movedslightly in the air, squaring upBangladesh’s No 4. Mominul made 48off 100 balls with three fours.

Shakib started with the two glori-ous drives off Panyangara before see-ing Mahmudullah and MushfiqurRahim fall after short partnerships.Mahmudullah made a lengthy 16, andnever looked comfortable. Mushfiqurchopped on a Hamilton Masakadzadelivery after making 15.

Shakib reached his fifty after thelunch break and was looking primedfor the third century of the match whenErvine intervened with his long arms.Zimbabwe took three more wickets andgot close to bowling out Bangladeshwell before the tea break. But Rubeltook a liking to Raza and Panyangara,smashing four sixes and even posingfor the cameras with his final hit, whichfinished on one knee.

Raza finished with the best bowl-ing figures, taking three for 123 from36 overs. Panyangara, ShingiraiMasakadza and Hamilton Masakadzatook two wickets apiece but NatsaiM’shangwe went wicketless through47 overs.—AFP

India thrashMaldives in

SAFF WomenChampionshipI S L A M A B A D — I n d i athrashed Maldives 8-0,while Bangladesh over-whelmed Afghanistan 6-1on Thursday in their open-ing matches of 3rd SouthAsian Football Federation(SAFF) Women Champion-ship here at Jinnah Stadium.

Ngangom Bala Devi wasthe key player for India inthe match against Maldivesas she scored four goals in24th, 46th, 72nd and 74thminutes of the match.

Yumnam Kamla Devi wasother main contributor, scor-ing two goals in 64th and85th minute of the match.Oinam Bembem Devi andJvoti Ann Burrett scored onegoal apiece in 76th and 9thminutes of the match.In the second match of theday Bangladesh outclassedAfghanistan in all depart-ments of the game.Maynumrama scored firstgoal of the match in 34 min-utes, while Srimatai KrishnaRani scored three goals forher team in 36th, 47th and69th minutes of the match.Sabina Khatoon andMusammat Munmun scoredone goal each in 62nd and90th minutes. The only goalfor Afghanistan was scoredby Marjan in 23rd minute ofthe match.—APP

PESHAWAR—Right to Play with the collabo-ration of Government Khyber PakhtunkhwaThursday awarded a total of 80 prominentplayers, officials and sports promoters herein a award ceremony organized at LalaRafique Sports Arena here.

Member Provincial Assembly and Ad-viser to the Chief Minister on Law and Par-liamentary Affairs Arif Yousaf, former SportsMinister Syed Aqil Shah, Former World No.2 Mohib Ullah Khan, former internationalsquash player Atlas Khan, former OlympicRahim Khan, SAF Games Gold medalistKhalid Noor, PCB Peshawar Region FemaleCricket Coordinator Rahim Bibi, DirectorRight to Play Hamayun Khan, Project Man-ager Ali Khayyam, National Trainer OfficerRight to Play Kausar Banu, Director SportsTariq Mehmood, Director DevelopmentArshad Hussain leading players, officialsand sports promoters and large number ofspectators were also present.

The ceremony was aimed at to encour-age the players who excelled during 20-13and 2-14 in various games, leading sportspromotions and sports officials were hon-ored with Right to Play awards. The cer-emony was co-host by Sports Committee ofPK-4 along with Government of Khyber

Right to Play: KP Sports Boardhonours players with awards

Pakhtunkhwa and a total of 82 awards weregiven.

The colourful awards giving ceremonywas started with the recitation of Holy Quranby table tennis player Iqra, followed by na-tional anthem by school kids of GovernmentHigh School Nanakpur, Peshawar.

A penal discuss, on how to strengthensports in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hosted bySenior Sports Journalist Ijaz Ahmad withguest comprising former World ChampionQamar Zaman, Syed Aqil Shah, OlympianRahim Khan, Khalid Noor, Rahim Bibi,Samreen Khan (Kabaddi) and MPA ArifYousaf was also held with their recommen-dation like provision of due facilities to theplayers at school, college level, fulfill needof qualified coaches, construction of squashcourts, provision of facilities like separateplaying field for the female, establishing ev-ery game nurseries at grassroots level, issu-ing annual sports funds and activities basedefforts.

A stunning PT show was also enthralledthe sitting spectators who responded wellwith their cheering hands. Those honoredwith awards comprising international coachJaffar Shah, Shahab (athletic), Paris Ahmad(Athletic), Arusa Khan (Athletics).—APP

KARACHI—Selectors have picked sevennew faces in the 20-member Pakistan squadfor next month’s 35th edition of HockeyChampions Trophy being staged in Indiancity of Bhubaneshawar from December 6 to14.

Team was named here by chief selectorIslahuddin Siddiqui at Hockey Club of Pa-kistan Stadium Thursday after 2-day trials.Full-back Muhammad Imran was retainedas the captain.

Chief coach and co-opted member ofthe selection committee Shahnaz Shaikhwith selectors Ayaz Mahmood, ArshadChaudhry, Khalid Bashir and MussidiqHussain were also present on the occasion.

Islah said another round of trials will beheld on November 26-27 after which squadwill be curtailed to an 18-member.

He said two players Rashid Mehmoodand Rizwan Senior, who could not appearin the trials will take part in the final trials.

“After watching them in action and onthe basis of their form and fitness their se-lection will be decided,” Islahuddin said.

Fresh faces picked in the team includedAmjad Ali, Arsalan Khan, Ali Azfar, Ali Shan,Tasawwar Abbas, Yaqoob Azfar and ZuhaibAshraf,

New faces got into the team after threeseniors players forward Shakeel Abbasi andAbdul Haseem Khan and half back FareedAhmed have been rested for the Champi-

PHF postpones South Korean trip

7 new faces in 20-membersquad for Champions Trophy

ons Trophy. Pakistan squad: Imran Butt,Amjad Ali (goak-keepers), MuhammadImran (Captain), Muhammad Irfan, KashifShah (full-back), Ammad Butt, MuhamadTousiq, Rashid Mahmood, MuhammadRizwan Junior, Zuhaib Ashraf, TasawwarAbbas (half-back), Waqas Sharif, UmarBhutta, Muhammad Dilber, MuhammadRizwan Senior, Ali Shan, Arsalan Khan,Yaqsoob Azfar and Rizwan Ali (forwards).Meanwhile, Pakistan Hockey Federation(PHF) postponed their short tour to SouthKorea which was to start from Nov 20, PHFSecretary Rana Mujahid said on Thursday.

“Tour was postponed due to visa, fi-nancial problems and for other reasons,”he told reporters before the annoucementof Pakistan hodkey squad for the Champi-ons Trophy at Hockey Club of PakistanStadium.

He said they wanted the approval ofAsian Hockey Federation to make it an of-ficial and regular event.

“We may tour Korea after the Champi-ons Trophy if Korean Hockey authortiesagreed,” he said.

Asian Games silver medalist Pakistanteam was scheduled to play a series of 5-Test matches between Nov 20 to 28.

He said training camp of the team willcontinue till the departure to India whereChampions Trophy will be held betweenNov 6 to 14 in Bhubaneshwar.—APP

KOLKATA—Rohit Sharma’s first ODI in 10-weeks began with a touch of nerves. Hewas even kept scoreless in one AngeloMathews maiden. By the end of the innings,there was no shot he had not played. No

part of the ground he had not exploited. Nobowler who escaped his brutality. Rohitamassed 45 more runs than any ODI bats-man had ever managed in an innings, fin-ishing on 264 from 173 balls when he wasfinally caught off the last ball of the innings.India, almost incidentally, had moved to 404for 5, despite having traveled at a run rateof less than six for the first 32 overs.

Rohit’s innings was so outrageous that

4th ODI: Rohit 264 powersIndia to 404

the first 100 runs, which were hit at a run-a-ball, seem achingly humdrum in comparisonto the 164 that followed. The surge had actu-ally begun before he reached his century, whenhe plundered 14 runs in four balls, in Nuwan

Kulasekara’s 30th over. Soonafter that, the ball would beleaping off the middle of hisbat with almost every strokehe offered.

There were many incred-ible shots, from among his33 fours and nine sixes, butthe most gobsmacking wasthe six off Kulasekara at theend of the 48th over, whenhe walked across to offstump, took a half volley fromabout a foot and half awayfrom him and flicked it highover the midwicket bound-ary. It was the kind of shot,and innings, that seemed inopen defiance of physics.

Sri Lanka had played a tourmatch against Mumbai towarm-up for the series, but littledid they know Rohit was warm-ing-up against them. He hit 142from 111 in that match - his firstcompetitive game since fractur-ing a finger in August - and hehas now re-embedded himselfat the top of the India battingorder in the most resoundingfashion imaginable.

The most dispiriting as-pect of the flogging for SriLanka was their complicity init. Shaminda Eranga had ex-tracted a thick outside edgefrom Rohit in the fifth over,and though the ball carried

comfortably to Thisara Perera at third man, heshelled the chance. Having been dropped onfour, Rohit would become the third India cen-turion this series, to have been reprieved earlyin his innings. It makes sense, then, that sincehe hit a double-century, he should be droppedtwice. Seekkuge Prasanna obliged him, whenhe shelled another straightforward chance offRohit in the 46th over, with the batsman on201 this time.—AFP

KOLKATA: Rohit Sharma acknowledges the crowd afterreaching his second double-hundred during India vs SriLanka 4th ODI on Thursday.

PTF electionsto be held onNovember 28

ISLAMABAD—The electionsof Pakistan Tennis Federa-tion (PTF) for the next termwill be held on November 28,a PTF spokesman said onThursday. This time twocontestants Salim Saifullahand Brig (R) Khalid SajjadKhokar will be vying for theslot of president PTF, he toldAPP.

PTF has 14 council mem-bers: Punjab, Sindh,Balochistan, KhyberPakhtunkhawa, Railways,International Club Associa-tion, Pakistan Senior TennisPlayers Association, Army,Navy, PAFPOF Wah, ICT,HEC and WAPDA. PTFelections are held after ev-ery four years. In the lastelections held on November26, 2010, Kaleem Imam hadwon the slot of president bygetting eight votes againsthis opponent, SenatorDilawar Abbas, who baggedsix votes.—APP

ABU DHABI: Mark Craig of New Zealand was bowled in the second over of the 5th day of 1st Test on Thursday.

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Former India cricketerSubroto Banerjee has been approachedby Sachin Tendulkar “to look after” hisson Arjun’s bowling skill.

“Around three months ago, my friendSachin Tendulkar “requested” me to over-see his son’s bowling and that’s how Ihave come into the picture”, the 46-year-old former fast bowler Banerjee says.

“Actually, it was not an offer but dur-ing our discussions Arjun’s name cameup and I was asked to see his bowlingand we decided to fine-tune his bowling”.

“No, I don’t want to be called as “an-other Achrekar” for Sachin’s son, but willtry my level best to see him progress well”.

“Arjun is also an opening batsmanand not merely a tail-end batsman. But heis bit a bowler more. Sachin, whenever

Sachin asks old friend SubrotoBanerjee to hone son Arjun’s bowling

finds time, has been advising him on hisbatting and I look after his bowling”, ex-plains Banejee.

“Arjun is a talented boy and lookspromising. He is a good learner but wedon’t want to foresee whether he wouldearn as much fame as his father. Everyindividual is different and we don’t putpressure on this 14-year-old boy. Let himenjoy the game for the time being”.

Arjun has been daily practicing eitherat BKC or MIG under Banerjee’s watchfuleyes. “Initially, I will look after the boy for1 year and then decide where he goes”,Banerjee signed off.

Banejee has played only one Test (andsix ODIs) for India and during his visit toAustralia with Indian team in 1992, hebecame Sachin’s friend.

To ensure proper and professionalcoaching to his friend’s son, Banejee leftthe job of coaching Jharkhand andVidarbha teams.

Pakistan:566/3d & 175/2dNew Zealand: ........... 262New Zealand 2nd innings:Latham b Babar .......... 20McCullum lbw b Yasir 39Williamson b Hafeez .. 23Taylor lbw b Yasir ........ 8Anderson lbw b ImranKhan ............................ 23Neesham b Rahat Ali ... 0Watling b Rahat Ali ..... 0Craig b Yasir Shah ...... 28Southee b Zulfiqar Bbar5

Sodhi lbw b Imran ...... 63Boult not out .............. 19Extra: (b 1, lb 2) ............. 3Total: (all out) ........... 231Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-61,3-69, 4-111, 5-112, 6-112, 7-121, 8-138, 9-177, 10-231Bowling: ........ O-M-R-WRahat Ali .......... 11-1-48-2Imran Khan .. 10.3-1-37-2Babar ................ 24-6-48-2Yasir Shah ....... 18-1-74-3Hafeez ................ 7-0-21-1

ABU DHABI—Pakistan took a littlemore than an hour on the fifth morn-ing to claim the last two New Zealandwickets to win the Abu Dhabi Test by248 runs. The result made Misbah-ul-Haq Pakistan’s most successful Testcaptain, his 15th victory taking himahead of Imran Khan and JavedMiandad.

The finish seemed imminent whenlegspinner Yasir Shah spun throughMark Craig’s defences in the secondover of the day, but New Zealand’s

Pakistan seal 248-run victoryagainst New Zealand

last wicket added 54 runs in 15.1 overs.Ish Sodhi cut, swept and pulled hisway to his second half-century, bring-ing it up with a slog over the midwicketboundary. Trent Boult gave himdogged support.

There were plenty of close calls,though, as edges squirted wide of andbetween fielders, and batsmen got in-side edges in the nick of time, beforethe ball sneaked through to hit pad orthe stumps. The best opportunitycame in the 65th over, when Sodhi at-

tempted a sweepand the balllobbed off theglove behind thew i c k e t k e e p e r .Younis Khan atfirst slip left it toSarfaraz, who bidnot attempt thecatch. The bowlerZulfiqar Babarscowled.

Victory wasfinally achievedafter the drinksbreak, whenImran Khan re-

versed a full ball into Sodhi’s padsand successfully appealed for lbw.Pakistan’s celebrations were inter-rupted by a review of the decision,but replays showed it to be anumpire’s call. The win was Pakistan’sthird in a row, after the 2-0 sweep ofAustralia.Misbah becomes most successful Pa-kistan test captain

Pakistan won the first test matchagainst New Zealand by 248 runs onthe final day. The win also madeMisbah-ul Haq Pakistan´s most suc-cessful Test captain with 15 wins in 33Tests, bettering the 14-win record ofImran Khan (48 Tests) and JavedMiandad (34 Tests).

Speaking to reporters followingPakistan’s win, Misbah said it was aproud moment for him as his name wasmentioned alongside Imran Khan andJaved Miandad.

Misbah praised the performanceof the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)despite the changes in management.Misbah thanked the PCB for provid-ing him with the opportunity to leadthe national side for the last fouryear.—AFP

LAHORE—Pakistan’s cricket board onThursday announced a team bonus

worth nearly $150,000 to reward the sidefor their first series win over Australia in20 years.

Pakistan routed Australia 2-0 in their“home” series in the United Arab Emir-ates last week to lift themselves to num-ber three in the world Test rankings.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)said cash awards would be given to theplayers to recognise the win and indi-vidual performances.

“Chairman of the PCB ShaharyarKhan has approved bonus and perfor-mance incentives totalling 14.75 millionrupees ($147,500) to the triumphant Pa-kistan squad and team management andsupport staff that beat Australia,” said aPCB release. Captain Misbah-ul-Haq andYounis Khan would receive $14,700 each.Younis scored three successive centu-ries in two test matches while Misbahsmashed hundreds in both innings of thesecond test, including a record-equalingfastest century off 56 balls.

All 16 members of the team weregiven bonuses of $4,900 with AhmedShehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed getting anextra $2,450 each for their centuries in

Players rewarded with windfallbonus for Australia win

the first test, while Yasir Shah would getan extra $984 for bowling superblyagainst the Aussies.

The PCB also awarded $3,400 to allnine members of the coaching staff ledby head coach Waqar Younis and bat-ting coach Grant Flower.

Pakistan backed up the win over Aus-tralia with a thumping 248-run victoryagainst New Zealand in the first Test inAbu Dhabi on Thursday.

Shaharyar greetsMisbah, team

PCB chief Shaharyar Khan also fe-licitated skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, teamPakistan, manager Moin Khan, headcoach Waqar Younis and the entire sup-port staff on completing a splendid vic-tory against New Zealand in the first Testat Abu Dhabi, thus taking 1-0 lead in thethree-Test series.

He congratulated Misbah on achiev-ing several personal landmarks duringthe course of this three-Test victory se-quence as well , the most remarkableamongst them becoming Pakistan cap-tain with most triumphs.

With 15 Test victories to his creditnow, Misbah has moved ahead of ImranKhan and Javed Miandad, both of whomhad captained Pakistan to 14 winsapiece.

“I congratulate you on this splendidTest match victory, retaining the winningsequence in Tests in this home season.As I could see for myself during my day-long visit during the course of the justconcluded Test match last Monday, teamPakistan under your leadership is not justplaying brilliant cricket, its discipline,spirit and keenness to perform are itsstandout features.”

“I noticed that everybody in the teamwas motivated and involved, which re-flected in everyone being enthusiastictowards training and team meetings aswell as backing each other in a spirit ofcamaraderie.”

“I am positive that more successes arein store for this fine bunch of players un-der your steady leadership, with the as-sistance of the most competent supportstaff headed by Waqar Younis.” –APP

AB U DH A B I—Pakistan all-rounderMohammad Hafeez has been reportedwith a suspected illegal bowling actionduring the first Test against New Zealandin Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Interna-tional Cricket Council (ICC) said Thurs-day.

“The match officials’ report, which washanded over to the Pakistan team manager

Hafeez reported for illegalaction: ICC

Moin Khan, cited concerns about the le-gality of the 34-year-old’s bowling action,”the ICC said.

Pakistan won the match by 248 runs totake a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Hafeez’s bowling action will now bescrutinised further under the ICC process

relating to suspected illegalbowling actions reported inTests, one-day matches andT20Is.

As per the ICC rules ondealing with the suspectaction, Hafeez is required toundergo testing within 21days, and, during this pe-riod, Hafeez is permitted tocontinue bowling in inter-national cricket until the re-sults of the testing areknown.

Hafeez is the secondPakistani behind SaeedAjmal, also an off-spinner,to be reported in a majorcrackdown on bowlers withsuspect actions the ICClaunched in June this year.

Besides Ajmal, SriLanka’s SachitraSenanayake, New Zealand’sKane Williamson,Bangladesh’s Sohag Gaziand Zimbabwe’s ProsperUtseya — all off-spinners -were reported andsubsquently suspended toallow remedial work on theiractions.

Zimbabwe match refereeAndy Pycrot was the com-mon official in both the Ajmaland Hafez cases. He wasalso the match referee when

Ajmal was reported during the Galle Testagainst Sri Lanka in August this year.—AFP

KARACHI—The Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) will seek relaxation for fast bowlerMohammad Amir under the revised anti-corruption code of the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) but hasruled out appealing forSalman Butt and MohammadAsif. PCB chairmanShaharyar Khan said theboard wile file an appeal withthe ICC within a week for the22-year-old Amir.

“Our legal department ispreparing the documents tofile in Amir’s case but atpresent we have no plans todo the same for Salman Buttor Asif,” Khan told reportersin Lahore on Thursday.

Former captain Butt, Asifand Amir were all banned forspot-fixing during the Paki-stan team’s tour of England in2010. The spot-fixing tookplace during the fourth test atLord’s.

The trio, who also servedjail sentences in the UnitedKingdom, have been givenminimum five year bans by theanti-corruption tribunal of the ICC butwhile the ban for Butt and Amir ends inAugust, the former also has been givena two-year suspended sentence.

PCB to appeal for Amir butnot for Butt, Asif

Read also: Amir to benefit from re-vised ICC anti-corruption code

“Amir’s case is different from thoseof Butt and Asif. These two have stillnot really accepted their guilt. We want

them to do more first to convince usthey are repentant,” Khan said.

“First they convince us they wantto reform themselves and then we will

decide when to approach the ICC.”He said Amir had co-operated with

the PCB and ICC in reforming himself.Khan, however, ruled out an immediatereturn for Amir to competitive cricket.

“It is a process under the new anti-corruption code and it will take time. Onlythe ACSU can give relaxation to abanned player,” he said.—APP

Ibrahimovicback on

shortlist for bestgoal award

Z U R I C H — Z l a t a nIbrahimovic has once againmade the shortlist of forFIFA’s goal of the yearaward, giving him a chanceto retain the trophy he wonlast year.

The shortlist featuredthree goals from the WorldCup, including JamesRodriguez’s astonishingdipping volley for Colom-bia against Uruguay, andwas dominated by acro-batic volleys and long-range shots.

There were no flowingtiki-taka moves or indi-vidual runs from the half-way line among the candi-dates. Ibrahimovic, whothe award last year with hisspeculative 25-metre over-head kick for Swedenagainst England, this timemade the shortlist with aback-heeled volley in aFrench league match forParis St Germain againstBastia.

The other candidatesincluded an overhead kickby Diego Costa forAtletico Madrid, an as-tounding turn and chip byCruz Azul’s Marco Fabian,an acrobatic scissors-kickby Camilo Sanvezzo in anMLS game for VancouverWhitecaps and a loopingvolley by SanfrecceHiroshima striker HisatoSato in the J-League.—APP

Shahbazfelicitates PakCricket team

LAHORE—Chief MinisterPunjab MuhammedShahbaz Sharif has felici-tated national cricket teamfor its outstanding perfor-mance in a test matchagainst New Zealand.

In a statement, he said,national cricket team dis-played best performanceagainst New Zealand.

Shahbaz Sharif ex-pressed the hope that thecricket team would continuethe same performance andwin laurels for the countryin future too.

He also congratulatedCaptain Pakistani cricketteam for using team talentto win the game.—APP

Qatar ready tohelp organiseAfrica Cupof Nations

RIYADH—Qatar has not re-ceived an official request tohost the 2015 Africa Cup ofNations but it is “ready” tohelp in organising it, saidthe head of the Gulfcountry’s Football Asso-ciation.

Qatar was not “offi-cially asked to host” thecontinental tournament af-ter Morocco was strippedof the right to stage theevent, said Sheikh Hamadbin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani in a statement.

“If officially asked,Qatar is ready to offer anyhelp in hosting the AfricanCup due to its strong rela-tion with Issa Hayatou,president of the Confedera-tion of African Football(CAF),” he added.

The decision “concernsCAF which all world foot-ball authorities are expectedto support,” he said.

He recalled that hiscountry had alreadyorganised the 1995 WorldYouth Championship afterit was moved from Nigeriadue to an outbreak of chol-era.

French sports newspa-per L’Equipe said Wednes-day that Qatar, host to the2022 World Cup, might bethe solution if the CAF failsto find a replacement forMorocco on the continent.

But Saud al-Muhannadi, vice presidentof the Qatar Football Asso-ciation, on Wednesday de-nied the reports which hedescribed as “illogical.”

Morocco had said sinceearly October that its call fora postponement was due tothe deadly Ebola pandemic,but CAF, lost patience withthe North Africans andthrew them out as hosts andparticipants with a heavyfine likely to follow.—AFP

A NEW study reveals how an active component of green tea disrupts the metabolism of cancer cells in pancreatic can-

cer, offering an explanation for its effect onreducing risk of cancer and slowing its pro-gression. The researchers be-lieve the discovery signals anew approach to studying can-cer prevention. Reported in thejournal Metabolomics, thestudy explores the effect ofepigallocatechin gallate or“EGCG,” an active biologicalagent of green tea. It showsthat EGCG changes the me-tabolism of pancreatic cancercells by suppressing the ex-pression of lactate dehydroge-nase A or LDHA, a criticalenzyme in cancer metabolism.

Metabolism is all thechemical reactions that occurin cells - such as extracting andusing energy - that keep themalive, growing and multiply-ing. These cells can be normal,and they can also be cancerous. Numerousstudies have previously suggested green tea andits extracts may provide suitable treatments forcancer, as well as other diseases. For example,one published in 2012 suggested that drinkinggreen tea may lower risk of digestive systemcancers in women while another found EGCGdelivered intravenously directly to tumoursmade two-thirds of them shrink or disappearwithin one month.

But, until this latest study, from Dr. Wai-Nang Lee of the Los Angeles Biomedical Re-search Institute (LA BioMed) and colleagues,it has not been clear how green tea and its ex-tracts work to reduce the risk of cancer or slow

Green tea component upsetscancer cell metabolism

Consul General of the Russian Federation Oleg N Avdeev, hosted a reception on the Occasion of the National Unity Day at Consulate premises. Pictureshows Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani, Ali Gillani, Dr Tilo Klinner, Luba Klinner and Majyd Aziz with host.

growth of cancer cells. The researchers foundthat EGCG - an active biological agent of greentea - disrupts metabolic flux in cancer cells ina similar way to oxamate, a known inhibitorof LDHA.

Using state-of-the-artmetabolic profiling tech-niques, Dr. Lee and col-leagues found EGCG disruptsthe rate of turnover of mol-ecules - known as “flux” -through a metabolic pathwayin pancreatic cancer cells.They found EGCG disruptsmetabolic flux in cancer cellsin a similar way to oxamate, aknown inhibitor of LDHA.They concluded that bothEGCG and oxamate reducedthe risk of cancer by suppress-ing the activity of LDHA,which in turn disrupts meta-bolic functions in cancer cells.

The study is significant be-cause there is a widely held be-lief among scientists that to treat

cancer you have to use molecular mechanisms.Now there is a new possibility - change the meta-bolic system, as Dr. Lee comments: “By explain-ing how green tea’s active component could pre-vent cancer, this study will open the door to awhole new area of cancer research and help usunderstand how other foods can prevent canceror slow the growth of cancerous cells.”

He says the discovery also means we canlook at metabolism in an entirely new way: “It isno longer a case of glucose goes in and energycomes out. Now we understand how cancer cellmetabolism can be disrupted, and we can exam-ine how we can use this knowledge to try to alterthe course of cancer or prevent cancer.”

A woman lights candles and lamps in the memory of Balochis who were killed, during ademonstration organized by Baloch Qaumi Yakjehti Council outside Karachi Press Club.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The “Student’s PaintingContest 2014” on the theme of “Japanand Pakistan’s Friendship” was last weekorganized by the Consulate – General ofJapan in Karachi at Japan Informationand Culture Centre, Karachi in conjunc-tion with the Consulate-General’s schoolvisit programs, with the aim of provid-ing an opportunity for the Pakistani stu-dents to learn about Japan, by partici-pating in the Contest.

Five schools: Beaconhouse SchoolSystem Jubilee Campus, City SchoolPAF Chapter, Hamdard Public School,

Japan Consulate-Generalholds award ceremony

Hamdard Public School wins two prizesJennings Private School and KarachiGrammar School were selected for fivepaintings from their class nine students,which were evaluated by the judges of theContest, Ms. Majoree Hussain and Ms.Naheed Raza. Each and every paintingsin its own way has expressed the theme“Japan and Pakistan’s Friendship”, wherestudents depicted cultural interaction be-tween Japan and Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion the Consul-General Mr. Ouchi emphasized that theConsulate-General of Japan would con-tinue to conduct various cultural activitiesto bring the peoples of Pakistan and Japaneven closer and to promote mutual under-

standing and to strengthen the friendlyrelationship between the two countries.He appreciated the creativity, enthusi-asm and hard efforts of all participatingstudents.

The first prize was awarded toMs. Hannah Ashai from KarachiGrammar School, the second prize toMr. Muhammad Shaheryar Shahidfrom Hamdard Public School and thethird prize was awarded to Ms.Sharmeen Salman from HamdardPublic School. “Friendship Award”was also given to Ms. Imaan FarooqSheikh from Hamdard Public Schoolon this occasion.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-eAzam (PML-Q) Sindh President and PakistanRelief Foundation (PRF) Chief Haleem AdilSheikh said the devastating scenario in districtTharparkar would further get deteriorated.Henceforth, Sindh government needed to takepreventive measures in order to save childrenand infants from dying of acute respiratory dis-ease, which could be worsened owing to mal-nutrition.

There were 24 members of a single familyin Jhamrani Goth in Tharparkar, who were

Haleem demands preventivemeasures before winterprevails in Tharparkar

handicapped and the family was looking forwardto Sindh government for relief. There werearound 300 villages in the area where not a singletube well was available to meet the water needsof the local inhabitants and hence the peoplewere compelled to travel for longer distancesfor just a bucket of water.

It was very unfortunate to hear Sindh ChiefMinister saying what had happened to the in-habitants of Tharparkar was all from the divine.Minister of Sindh Cabinet should look at theirchildren, who had all luxuries available to thembut the people of Tharparkar were dying for fewdrops of water.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—At least four people in-cluding two gangsters were shot deadin various incidents of firing at dif-ferent places of the city on Thursday,police and Rangers claimed. As perdetails, unidentified armed persons atSuperhighway killed a 40-year-oldman.

The dead body was rushed to

Two gangsters amongfour killed in city

Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) forpostmortem where he was identified asNoor son of Lakhano. SHO MemonGoth police station said that the victimwas a truck driver and was on his waywith the luggage-carrier when he wastargeted and killed.

A dead body of a 30-year-old manwas recovered from Hawwa Goth,Orangi Town. A party of Iqbal Marketpolice station rushed to the spot which

collected the dead body and shifted itto ASH for medico-legal formalities.SHO Iqbal Market police station saidthat the identity of the deceased couldnot be made as yet. The dead body wasmoved to Edhi morgue for want of iden-tification.

Separately, two gangsters were shotdead in exchange of fire with Rangersin Lyari area of Mosa Lane. As perRangers spokesman, two bike riders

opened straight firing on paramilitaryforce patrolling mobile in Mosa Lane.Rangers retaliated and killed both ofthem. They were identified as AbdulHafeez and Hamza Hassan alias HamzaAmerican. Rangers claimed that bothgangsters were affiliated with SherazComrade group and wanted to policein 31 murder cases. The Rangers alsoseized arms and ammunition from theirpossession.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) ChairmanBilawal Bhutto Zardari had

Assassination of PPP political activist

Bilawal, Senators deploredeteriorated law, order in Swat

condemned target-killing ofPPP Swat leader Fazal HayyatChattan and castigated KhyberPakhtunkhwa government forits failure protect the citizensfrom terrorists.

He said that PPP govern-ment had flushed out terroriststhrough Operation Rah-eRaast eliminating the scourgeof terrorism from Swat valley.However, terrorists seem to be

coming out from their hide-outs and targeting PPP lead-ers and other peace lovingpeople in the valley. Thecommonmen in KhyberPakhtoonkhawa were on themercy of terrorist and unsafe.

Meanwhile, PPP centralleaders, in-charge PPP CentralMedia Cell Senator SaeedGhani, Sardar Khan, SenatorAhmed Hassan and Senator

Robina Khalid while con-demning the brutal assassina-tion of PPP former districtSwat General Secretary FazalHayat Chatan by the terroristsaid that peace and tranquilityin Swat was once again beingruined purposely and politicalactivists were being targetedthere.

They said PPP had duringits previous tenure eliminated

the terrorists through militaryoperation but today the over-all scenario in district Swatand in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa(KPK) had become devastat-ing under rule of those ele-ments that used to claim themas righteous and on a rightpath.

The common men in KPKwere on the mercy of the ter-rorist and unsafe.

A NEW study reveals how an active component of green tea disrupts the metabolism of cancer cells in pancreatic can-

cer, offering an explanation for its effect onreducing risk of cancer and slowing its pro-gression. The researchers be-lieve the discovery signals anew approach to studying can-cer prevention. Reported in thejournal Metabolomics, thestudy explores the effect ofepigallocatechin gallate or“EGCG,” an active biologicalagent of green tea. It showsthat EGCG changes the me-tabolism of pancreatic cancercells by suppressing the ex-pression of lactate dehydroge-nase A or LDHA, a criticalenzyme in cancer metabolism.

Metabolism is all thechemical reactions that occurin cells - such as extracting andusing energy - that keep themalive, growing and multiply-ing. These cells can be normal,and they can also be cancerous. Numerousstudies have previously suggested green tea andits extracts may provide suitable treatments forcancer, as well as other diseases. For example,one published in 2012 suggested that drinkinggreen tea may lower risk of digestive systemcancers in women while another found EGCGdelivered intravenously directly to tumoursmade two-thirds of them shrink or disappearwithin one month.

But, until this latest study, from Dr. Wai-Nang Lee of the Los Angeles Biomedical Re-search Institute (LA BioMed) and colleagues,it has not been clear how green tea and its ex-tracts work to reduce the risk of cancer or slow

Green tea component upsetscancer cell metabolism

Chinese Cultural Counsellor Zhang Wing Bao and Provincial Minister for Education and Law Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan inaugurating the NewChina Study Centre at GC University.

growth of cancer cells. The researchers foundthat EGCG - an active biological agent of greentea - disrupts metabolic flux in cancer cells ina similar way to oxamate, a known inhibitorof LDHA.

Using state-of-the-artmetabolic profiling tech-niques, Dr. Lee and col-leagues found EGCG disruptsthe rate of turnover of mol-ecules - known as “flux” -through a metabolic pathwayin pancreatic cancer cells.They found EGCG disruptsmetabolic flux in cancer cellsin a similar way to oxamate, aknown inhibitor of LDHA.They concluded that bothEGCG and oxamate reducedthe risk of cancer by suppress-ing the activity of LDHA,which in turn disrupts meta-bolic functions in cancer cells.

The study is significant be-cause there is a widely held be-lief among scientists that to treat

cancer you have to use molecular mechanisms.Now there is a new possibility - change the meta-bolic system, as Dr. Lee comments: “By explain-ing how green tea’s active component could pre-vent cancer, this study will open the door to awhole new area of cancer research and help usunderstand how other foods can prevent canceror slow the growth of cancerous cells.”

He says the discovery also means we canlook at metabolism in an entirely new way: “It isno longer a case of glucose goes in and energycomes out. Now we understand how cancer cellmetabolism can be disrupted, and we can exam-ine how we can use this knowledge to try to alterthe course of cancer or prevent cancer.”

PU VC Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran inaugurating newly set up Chinese and Children Cor-ners at PU library.

Indian film producer Jasbeer Singh Boparay speaks during a press conference regarding the movie ‘Blood Street’at Lahore Press Club.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Punjab University Vice ChancellorProf Dr Mujahid Kamran on Thursday inaugu-rated newly setup Chinese Corner sponsored byChinese government and China Hanban and acorner for schoolchildren here on Thursday. Inthis regard, an inauguration ceremony was heldat PU Library in which Chief Librarian ChMuhammad hanif, Dr Haroon Usmani, Instituteof Languages Incharge Dr Maria Maldonado,Prof Dr Khawaja Muhammad Zakrya, Control-ler Examination Prof Dr Shahid Munir, DrRubina Zakir, faculty members, students of Chi-nese Language and Laboratory High Schoolparticipated. Addressing the ceremony, DrMujahid Kamran appreciated Chaudhry Haniffor setting up a corner for children as it would

Chinese, children cornersinaugurated at PU Library

promote reading habits among children.Dr Mujahid Kamran said that China had be-

come the second biggest economy of the worldbecause of which importance of Chinese languagehad increased manifold. He said that China wantedto become superpower of knowledge. He said thatthe Chinese corner would help learn Chinese lan-guage and for obtaining other necessary informa-tion about China. Dr Maria Maldonado said thatChinese language was being taught at Institute ofLanguages since 2010 and the Chinese cornerwould be an asset for the students.

Chief Librarian Chaudhry Hanif said that withthe sponsorship of Chinese government, ChineseCorner had been established with 1000 titles whileChildren’s Corner also had 1000 titles. He thankedPU VC Dr Mujahid Kamran for providing all-outsupport for the development of PU Library.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—A two-day National trainingworkshop title ‘Advanced Diagnostics inParasitology’ organized by Departmentof Parasitology of the University of Vet-erinary and Animals Sciences (UVAS)Lahore, began here on Thursday. Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pashachaired the inaugural session of theworkshop, Dean Faculty of Veterinary

National workshop on AdvancedDiagnostic in Parasitology

Sciences Prof Dr Muhammad SarwarKhan, Dr Khalid Saeed and a large num-ber of UVAS faculty members and partici-pants come from all over the Pakistanpresent on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Vice-Chancel-lor said that such training programmes werenecessary for knowledge sharing, advance-ment and skills development. He said work-shop is to provide the professionals withstate-of-the-art knowledge and essential prac-

tical training to all the participants.He also said we have a numbers of

well equipped diagnostics labs in whichwe have all modern facilities where par-ticipants can learn skills that how to col-lect sample and how to handle it for fur-ther procedure. Earlier Dr Khalid Saeeddescribed about the conventional diagnos-tic techniques for parasites. Dean Prof DrMuhammad Sarwar Khan also spoke anddescribed objectives of the workshop.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister forFood Bilal Yasin has directed concernedauthorities to ensure complete imple-mentation of the new schedule of trans-port fares so that people could benefitfrom reduction in prices of petroleumproducts. He said that sugarcane-crush-ing season is being started which willresult in further decrease in the pricesof sugar.

He was addressing a press briefingat Civil Secretariat Committee Room,Thursday. Provincial Minister for In-dustry and Investment Ch. Muhammad

New schedule of transportfares to be implemented

Shafique, assembly members, secretar-ies of Industries, Finance, Food, Live-stock, Agriculture and Information de-partments were also present on the oc-casion. Provincial Minister said that dueto decrease in the prices of petroleumproducts and the measures taken by thegovernment for providing relief to thecitizens, there has been a substantialreduction in the prices of essential itemsincluding tomato, potato, onion andother articles of daily use.

The Minister said that the meetingof Cabinet Price Control Committee isheld on weekly basis for ensuring de-crease in prices of essential items and

transport fares. He said that commis-sioners and DCOs of the province arealso contacted through video link. Heinformed that 19 thousand vehicleswere checked during the last three daysand a fine of Rs.2.2 million was im-posed for overcharging. Similarly, hesaid that instructions have been issuedfor displaying new fare lists on the busstands and in intercity vans and buses.He said that disciplinary action shouldbe taken against transport officers of theconcerned districts if they failed to en-sure 100 percent implementation of newtransport fares within next two to fourdays.

Bilal Yasin further told that pricesof tomato, onion and potato have re-duced during November 1 to 11, 2014as compared to the last year and magis-trates conducted 31461 raids in differ-ent areas during the first 10 days of thecurrent month and cases were registeredagainst 354 profiteers. He said that 415shopkeepers involved in overchargingwere apprehended and a fine of5974750 rupees was recovered. He saidthat sale of sugar from 54 to 55 rupeesper kg will be ensured in the province.Similarly, three hundred tandoor own-ers were arrested for overcharging andheavy fines were also imposed.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for Human Rightsand Minorities Affairs Khalil Tahir Sindhu has saidthat promotion of a spirit of tolerance and accom-modation in the society is essential for protectionof human rights. He was addressing a consultativeworkshop on “Human Rights Policy Framework”jointly arranged by Ministry of Law and Justice and

Spirit of tolerance essentialfor protection of human rights

Human Rights and social organization SPO at a localhotel here Thursday.

I.A. Rehman, M Arshad, Salman Abid, AsadJamal and other spoke on this occasion andstressed the need for evolving a comprehensivepolicy for the protection of human rights. TheMinister in his address said that detailed consul-tations would be made with the minorities, mem-bers of civil society, as well as NGOs representa-

tives for the preparation of the draft of humanrights policy.

He said that dialogues with all stakeholders willbe promoted and monitoring process should also bestarted. He said that monitoring is essential forimplementation of the laws. He said that Constitu-tion of Pakistan guaranteed basic rights of all citi-zens. He said that relevant laws could further beimproved for ensuring human rights.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan(ICAP) and Institute of Business Management (IoBM) signed amemorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU was signedby Yaqoob Suttar, President ICAP and Talib Karim , Rector IoBM.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Operating Officer, ICAPMr. Khalid Rahman said “This collaboration is a significant as-sociation between a high ranked business school, IoBM and theleading accounting body of the nation, ICAP and would lay the

MoU signed between ICAP, IoBM toenhance collaboration in accounting

foundation of an innovative working relationship and give riseto new valuable opportunities for the youth in accounting pro-fession. This initiative will help ICAP in attracting top studentshaving strong academic knowledge of relevant subjects alongwith an excellent exposure to university education.

President ICAPYaqoob Suttar while expressing his viewsstated that Chartered Accountancy combines professional edu-cation with mentored work experience, to produce accountantswho possess greater ability to analyze and interpret business prob-lems and develop dynamic solutions.

LAHORE—Lahore High Court (LHC) admit-ted a petition Thursday filed against the killingof a Christian couple in Kot Radha Kishan foralleged blasphemy. No date has yet been set forthe hearing. The Christian couple were lynched

Petition against Kot Radha Kishan killingsand thrown in a brick kiln by an angry mob onNovember 4. Hundreds of Christians took to thestreets of Islamabad last week, to protest the kill-ings as well as the lack of protection providedto minority groups by the state.—Online