Ep20nov2014

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Let 30th Nov sit-in too gopeaceful................................................Musharraf warns of proxy warin Afghanistan................................................See huge potential of economiccorridor

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AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Although KSE-100 continued tofly high at above 31000 yet it lost 250 pointson the back of investors bid tokeep their house in order beforegoing ahead the coming ses-sion.

In fact the index formed ahigher low, closing at 31,756indicating market sentiments ofprofit making as well to con-solidate their positions for com-ing trading session.

The government’s move toensure zero rated power outageis expected to help profitabil-

KSE-100 loses 250 pointsity of a large number of listed companies sit-ting idle for non-availability of power so far.This is being taken as positive step and likelyto add colors to stock market activity as well.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SARGODHA—Punjab Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif on Wednesday took no-tice of the deaths of eight infants who diedovernight in an incubator ward in DistrictTeaching Hospital Sarghoda.

Sikandar Hayat Warraich, the spokes-man for the District Teaching HospitalSarghoda said that premature birthscoupled with low birth weight led to thedeaths of the infants.

8 infants die in Sarghoda hospitalChief Minister calls report in 24 hours

He also said that midwives who wereunable to provide frontline medical carethat is imperative for a newborn baby per-formed their deliveries.

The spokesperson added that 26 in-fants had been admitted in the hospitalout of which 10 are said to be in criticalcondition. The spokesperson furthermoresaid the hospital only had a capacity of25 nursery beds, but as there was no hos-pital of its kind in the district, it often hadto deal with over admission.

Meanwhile, the chief minister toprobe the deaths, with instructions to sub-mit a report within 24 hours, has consti-tuted a three-member team.

A report published in 2012 found thatPakistan ranks fourth globally in termsof the number of pre-term births, withIndia on the top, followed by China andNigeria as third and fourth, respectively.

Pakistan fourth in premature births,says report

Continued on Page 7WASHINGTON—Chief of Army Staff (COAS)Gen Raheel Sharif said Pakistan’s operationagainst terrorists in the country’s tribal regionwas affected by Indian troops’ continuous vio-lation of ceasefire at the Line of Control (LoC)and Working Boundary (WB), said a report pub-lished by BBC Urdu.

An official in Washington told BBC Urdu,on condition of anonymity, that during his firstvisit to the United States, the army chief hadsaid that heavy firing by Indian troops along theborder and statements issued by their leaderswere affecting Pakistan’s campaign in fightingagainst extremism.

Gen Raheel told US officials that Pakistanhas deployed 140,000 troops on its Western bor-ders after getting assurance that there would bepeace with India on its Eastern borders whichdid not happen.

However, there was no word on GenRaheel’s statement by the US, but experts oftensay that the US now avoids interfering in India-Pakistan matters.

Frequency of ceasefire violation along theLoC and working boundary has increased dur-

India hurdle inoperation against

terrorists: Gen RaheelCOAS conferred with US Legion of Merit Medal

ing the past several weeks. Pakistan has alsoestablished diplomatic channels to communicatewith India over the issue. More than 19 peoplehave lost their lives on both sides as a result ofthe cross-border conflict.

According to recently released figures bythe Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), morethan 1,200 militants have been killed and 200militants hideouts have been destroyed duringthe operation.

The military has also claimed the wipingout of Haqqani Network and the East TurkistanMovement from the region, the report said.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff GenRaheel Sharif was conferred with the US Le-gion of Merit Medal in recognition of his braveleadership and efforts to ensure peace in the re-gion.

DG ISPR Maj. Gen Asim Bajwa in a messageon Twitter said that Gen Raheel was conferred withthe prestigious US military medal for his braveleadership, sagacity, vision and for making effortsfor establishing peace in the region.

The medal was conferred during Gen

WASHINGTON: General Raheel Sharif being conferred with US Legion of Merit Medal for brave leadership, sagacity,vision and efforts for peace and stability in region.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Taking credit for lowering prices ofpetroleum products, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifon Wednesday hinted at further reduction in fuel.

“We will announce a reasonable cut in theprices of petroleum products this time as well,”Nawaz said, adding that reduction in oil pricewould benefit farmers and people living in cit-ies and villages as it would lead to reduction inpassenger fares and transportation charges.

Talking to media after chairing a meeting onenergy situation in Islamabad on Wednesday, thepremier reiterated that his administration is fo-cusing on reducing load-shedding in the countrybut warned that there was no quick-fix.

Terming the agreement signed with Chinaduring his recent visit to Beijing as gamechanger, Nawaz said these projects costing bil-lions of dollars would help tackle problems con-fronting Pakistan specially electricity shortages.

Nawaz hints at furtherreduction in fuel prices

Terms agreements signed with Chinaduring his visit to Beijing as game changer

Nawaz also directed a jibe at PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf’s prolonged sit-in, claiming thatthe sponsors of the sit-ins do not want load-shed-ding to end.

“Those staging sit-ins may not want to seeof load-shedding end, but I am committed to doit and we will address this problem within ourtenure of government,” he added.

Regretting the postponement of ChinesePresident Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to Paki-stan, Nawaz said the Chinese president invitedhim to visit China so bilateral agreements couldbe signed on the occasion after he was forces tocancel his visit. He claimed that PresidentJinping has assured him that he would be visit-ing Pakistan.

Taking notice of reduction in the prices ofrice especially that of Basmati fallen in the in-ternational market, the premier said he has askedconcerned ministries to take steps to protect in-terests of farmers.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Lahore High Court (LHC) an-nounced death penalty to four indicted familymembers of Farzana Iqbal on Wednesday.

In the month of May this year, 25 year-oldand three-month pregnant Farzana Iqbal wasmurdered by her angry family members on abusy street outside LHC.

She is said to have been bludgeoned to deathwith bricks by her family members married aman without the family’s consent. One of theattackers claimed to be Perveen’s husband, say-ing the woman married another man withoutdivorcing him.Judge Haroon Latif announced death penalty forFarzana’s father who had admitted of killing hisdaughter in the name of ‘honour’.

“I killed my daughter as she had insultedall of our family by marrying a man without

Farzana ‘Honour killing’ case

4 family members get deathour consent, and I have no regret over it,” thefather was quoted as saying by police.The death penalty was given under three differ-ent laws: the Anti-Terrorism Act, Section 302of the criminal code which outlaws murder andthird under Section 338C which outlaws mur-der of a pregnant woman.

Defence lawyer Mansoor Afridi said thatother accused persons, her brother, a cousin andanother relative are also sentenced to death anda fine of Rs. 100, 000 is also imposed.The second brother Ghulam Ali, who was alsoa suspect, has been sentenced to ten years inprison with a fine of Rs. 100,000.

Family members of penalized persons pro-tested the hearing outside the court and claimedthat the false charges have been framed againstthem. Afridi said that the family planned to ap-peal. He stated that the verdict was “a decisionbased on sensationalism.”

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—Pakistan Inter-national Airlines (PIA) hassecured approval for cargoservices to the EuropeanUnion (EU) after being sus-pended over security fears,officials said Wednesday, arare boost for the beleagueredairline.

The EU tightened secu-rity controls on air freight inthe wake of a plot to smugglea bomb hidden in printer

EU clears PIA for cargo flightstoner cartridges on a planefrom Yemen in 2010.

New regulations cameinto force in July this year andin September when the EUsuspended PIA’s right to flycargo into the bloc over non-compliance.

The airline got clearancefrom the EU after installingdual view x-ray machines andexplosive trace detectors tothoroughly scan goods andparcels booked on its flights.

“It is a very big achieve-

ment for us now that EU ex-perts have audited our secu-rity installations and vali-dated our safety and securitystandards,“ Captain SalmanAzhar, PIA’s director forsafety and quality insurancesaid.

PIA acquired the valida-tion of safety and securitystandards for Lahore airportin September and nowKarachi and Islamabad air-ports have also been grantedthe EU clearance.

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—Work on public develop-ment schemes worth Rs 10 billion islikely to resume in next three days.

The Supreme Court through a judg-ment suspended work on these develop-ment projects in the course of hearing ofcases against former Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf in April last year. Thesedevelopment schemes had been submit-ted by members of the Parliament, MNAsand Senators and since the order of theSupreme Court development work onthese schemes had been suspended..

On the sidelines of the meeting of thePublic Accounts Committee of the Na-tional Assembly, Member National As-sembly (MNA) hailing from the ruling

Work on Rs 10b suspendeduplift schemes to resume soon

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Pakistani cansue over

torture claim:British judge

LONDON—A British judge onWednesday gave the go-aheadfor a Pakistani man to take Brit-ain to court over his allegedunlawful detention and tortureby UK and US forces in Iraqand Afghanistan, his lawyerssaid.

Yunus Rahmatullah wasdetained by British forces in2004 in Iraq, where he said hewas with a friend who was ona pilgrimage.

He was transferred into UScustody in Afghanistan and

Dar rebuffsPTI chief’sallegations

ISLAMABAD—Finance MinisterIshaq Dar rebuffed the PTI chair-man ImranKhan’s alle-gations thatPrime Minis-ter NawazSharif gaveRs2.7 billionto Intelli-gence Bureau(IB) to fail hisprotest sit-in.

Talking to a private newschannel, Ishaq Dar said he wasready to provide details of

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India handsdossier to BDon terror plotsDHAKA—India has handedBangladesh a list of 11 mensuspected of plotting attacksincluding one targeting itsprime minister, officials saidon Wednesday, as the twocountries tighten securitycooperation against militants.

Indian security officialsuncovered the plot againstSheikh Hasina last monthafter two members of abanned Bangladesh groupwere killed in an explosionwhile building bombs inIndia’s West Bengal state justover the border fromBangladesh.

The men were believed tobe members of the outlawedJamaat-ul-MujahideenBangladesh who were using

Pak 281-6 inreply to NewZealand’s 403DUBAI—Pakistan finishedthe third day of the secondTest on 281-6 in reply to New

Zealand´s 403 in thesecond Test in Dubaion Wednesday.

When stumps weredrawn, Sarfraz Ahmedwas unbeaten on 28and Yasir Shah not out

on one as Pakistan trail NewZealand´s first innings totalby 122 runs.

Azhar Ali scored 75 andYounis Khan made 72.

Ish Sodhi was the pickof New Zealand bowlerswith 2-65.

Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0 afterwinning the first Test by 248runs in Abu Dhabi.—AFP

Details on Sports Page

Another poliocase pushesBalochistantotal to 12STAFF REPORTER

QUETTA—A new polio casesurfaced in Qila Abdullah onWednesday, raising the totalnumber of cases inBalochistan to 12 this year.

The latest victim of thecrippling disease wasidentified as 14-month-oldBahadur, son of AbdulRazzaq, a resident of ChamanTown, Union Council DamanAshezai, a town which sharesa border with Afghanistan.

“The infected childreceived four dozes of anti-polio vaccine,” Dr IsahqPanezai, Deputy ProgramManager EPI Balochistansaid.

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Govt not to create hurdle inany peaceful rally: Nisar

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf prepares for its ‘decisive rally’ inIslamabad on November 30, Interior Minis-ter Chaudhry Nisar on Wednesday clarifiedthe government would not create hindrances

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ISLAMABAD—Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan on Wednesday saidhe does not require any certificate from the In-terior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan forthe Nov 30 rally in Islamabad.

Addressing the participants ofthe PTI sit-in camp, Imran Khansaid that the law of Pakistan provides him theright of peaceful protest. He said that the Inte-rior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan spokevery harshly on Wednesday.

“I do not require any certificate from theInterior Minister to stage a peaceful protest dem-onstration”, he said. “Would Chaudhry Nisar tellme about my democratic rights?” “Our protestwill be peaceful for we want to remain withinthe constitutional framework, however if thegovernment tried to sabotage it by engagingpolice, we will fight back”, said a defiant Khan.

He added no matter if we had to go to jails,we shall again stage a sit-in after getting released.

The PTI chairman said that the nature of hisprotest movement will be changed after Nov 30.

The cricketer-turned-politician inquired

Imran refuses to takeNoC for Nov 30 gathering

what kind of system is it, where justice is notserved even after waiting for more than one anda half year. He said we are standing here todayseeking justice.

Imran Khan restated thatworst rigging of the history tookplace in the General Elections

2013 and if we the people do not come out thistime, then the electoral irregularities will be tak-ing place in future as well.— NNI

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Raja Javed Ikhlas told Pakistan Ob-server exclusively that these developmentschemes were worth Rs 10 billions.Schemes worth two billions related toPublic Works Department (PWD) whileremaining worth Rs 8 billions were re-lated to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Lim-ited (SNGPL).

He further said that Prime Ministerhad issued directives for the release offunds to the Ministry of Finance as wellas Cabinet Division to make necessaryarrangements for the early resumption ofdevelopment work on these developmentschemes.

“However, despite directives by thePrime Minister the schemes were notbeing implemented by the concerned de-

partments which was a matter of graveconcerns for both the government andParliament” he said.

He said that members of the parlia-ment (MPs) had taken up the very issueof non implementation and execution ofdevelopment schemes of public welfare,resultantly; Prime Minister amended andreissued directives as per the desire of theMPs.

To a question about volume of de-velopment schemes specifically relatedto his constituency, NA-51 Rawalpindi-III, he said that worth of PWD projectswas around Rs 750 million while cost ofdevelopment schemes of SNGPL wasaround Rs 3 billion.

He further said that now the Cabinet

Afghanistanwon’t allowPak-India proxywar: KarzaiNEW DELHI—Formerpresident Hamid Karzaiinsisted Wednesday thatAfghanistan would not allowitself to become thebattleground in a proxy warbetween India and Pakistanafter the imminent departureof US-led troops.

Speaking in New Delhi,Karzai angrily rejectedwarnings by his one-timecounterpart in IslamabadPervez Musharraf that Indiaand Pakistan could co-optallies among Afghanistan’s

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Picture on Back Page

ISLAMABAD—President Mamnoon Hussainhas said that Pakistan is commemoratingUniversal Children’s Day with a firm com-mitment to accord high priority to safeguardthe rights of children.

In a message on Universal Children’sDay being observed on Thursday, thePresident said that he took this opportu-nity to reiterate that protection of child’srights and ensuring equal opportunitiesto them require a strong and robust part-nership between public and private agen-cies.

“I, therefore, call upon the parents,teachers, civil society, NGOs, volunteers,philanthropists, international developmentpartners, media, corporate sector and alsothe children themselves to play their roletowards promoting and protection of therights of children,” he added.

He further said “Let me also reaffirmour pledge to continue making efforts forprotection and promotion of child rights inthe country.”

The President said it is heartening tonote that Pakistan joins the InternationalCommunity today in celebration of the 25years of adoption of the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Children.

It is encouraging to note that since theadoption of Convention on the Rights ofthe Child by the United Nation, the gov-ernment has undertaken concrete steps to

Govt to safeguard children’s rights: President, PMensure better livelihood, education, healthcare and protection of children, he added.

The President said protection of chil-dren from violence and all kinds of exploi-tation is guided by Islamic injunctions andthe constitution of Islamic Republic of Pa-kistan.

“Islam enjoins upon us to protect, edu-cate and accord fair and equal treatment toour children. Similarly, the Constitution ofIslamic Republic of Pakistan binds the Stateto make special provisions for the protec-tion of children.”

He said right to education has beendeclared as a fundamental right through18th amendment in the constitution by in-sertion of Article 25-A. Article 37(e) whichstipulates that the State shall ‘make provi-sion for securing just and humane condi-tions of work, ensuring that children andwomen are not employed in vocations un-suited to their age or sex’.

The President also appreciated the UNagencies, non- governmental organizationsand media for their endeavours in supple-menting the government’s efforts to createconducive environment for all children.

“I hope they will continue pursuingthis important mission with the same zealand spirit,” he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif has said the government isbringing about transformation in all fields

of national activity including reforms forthe betterment of children.

In his message on the UniversalChildren’s Day, the Prime Minister felici-tated the Pakistani nation on joining theinternational community in commemoratingthe silver jubilee of United Nations Con-vention on Rights of Child and celebratingit as Universal Children’s Day.

He said Pakistan is a committed signa-tory of UN Convention on the Rights ofthe Child and considers it an adequate re-assurance provided to the inherent rightsof children.

He said Pakistan is fully aware of theresponsibilities this commitment entails andsince the last 25 years since becoming asignatory, has taken concrete measures toensure children’s rights to survival, devel-opment, protection and participation asenvisaged in the UNCRC.

Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistanipolity is acutely conscious about protect-ing interest of children and considers themas its future custodians. Children are verywell protected in Pakistan and provided withevery opportunity to progress in life, headded.

He said deeply cognizant of the im-pending possibility of the children beingsubjected to any untoward situation, Pa-kistan acted as the prime mover ofSAARC’s regional ‘Initiative to end vio-

lence against children’. The Prime Minister said in order to prac-

tically implement the spirit of this initiativeand as a sequel to the 25th anniversary ofadoption of UNCRC, Pakistan is launchinga national campaign to end violence againstchildren with a view to ensure that they arefree from any unbecoming treatment andare progressing well.

He said the Ministry of Law, Justiceand Human Rights is particularly entrustedwith the task to strengthen means aimed atproviding protection to vulnerable childrenand to promote healthy implementation ofrights of children.

He said he had instructed the relevantfederal and provincial authorities to initiateand implement legislative and administra-tive measures required for furthering thisnoble cause.

Sharif appreciated the sincere effortsundertaken by international agencies andsocial welfare organizations for assistingthe government in successfully carrying outthis national endeavor.

He called upon the civil society, phi-lanthropists, media, corporate sector andall relevant quarters to play their role inmaking Pakistan a children friendly coun-try.

He vowed to continue out efforts withzeal and vigor for making our noble goal asuccess.—APP

PESHAWAR: Books being distributed among the chil-dren of Bara at school established by Al-Khidmat Founda-tion at IDPs camp Ring Road.

PESHAWAR: Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan giving away certificates to the graduatesof 18th Mid Career Management Course at Governor’s House.

Mahtab awardscertificates toMCM course

graduatesSTAFF REPORTER

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Governor,Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khanhere Wednesday awardedcertificates to the graduatesof 18th Mid Career Manage-ment (MCM) Course in aceremony held at GovernorHouse.The Mid Career Manage-ment course was conductedunder the auspices ofPeshawar based NationalInstitute of Management(NIM).The ceremony was also at-tended by Director GeneralNIM, Mst. Nighat Mehrozewho highlighted salient fea-tures of course and its im-portance.

Speaking on this occa-sion, the governor con-gratulated the graduates forsuccessful completion ofcourse and expressed theconfidence that graduates ofNIM would discharge theirduties in much efficient andimproved manner.

FAISALABAD—The districtpolice recovered an eight-year-old child who was kid-napped for ransom on

PDWP approves 49 devprojects costing Rs31b

PESHAWAR—Provincial Development Working Party(PDWP) approved 49 development projects under ADP2014-15 with a total cost of Rs. 30.8 billion subject to ratio-nalization of cost in accordance with the prevailing poli-cies.

According to an official statement issued here Wednes-day, approved projects included, Reconstruction of 760Non-Strategy Earthquake affected schools, Constructionof BS Blocks in Government Colleges, Provision of Trans-port Facilities for Teaches / Students of Government Col-leges, Support for Establishment of Gandhara Hindko Acad-emy, Strengthening of Kohat University of Science andTechnology, Establishment of Rescue 1122 in Swat,D.I.Khan and Abbottabad, Improvement of Branch Roadsincluding Tambwano Chowk Tehkkal Bala to Warsak Road( 4.5 km), Canal road to Ring Link near Taj Abad (4 km),Speen Jumat to ring road linking Sufaid Dheri road (3 km)and Old Jamrud road till Bara Road, Replacement of rustedwater supply pipes in selected municipalities, construc-tion of Slaughter Houses, Improvement of Municipal Roadsin Urban Areas of the province, Improvement of WaterSupply, Sewerage, Drainage System in selected districts.

The Local Government Department’s project for estab-lishment of Local Government Resource Centers at Divi-sional level was also approved for training facilities to morethan 4000 elected members of the local government.—APP

4 of a family killedin Kamalia

KAMALIA—At least four persons, including two women,were killed in a firing incident at a native village of TobaTek Singh on early Wednesday morning. According topolice sources, the incident took place in Kamalia wherefour persons of same family were killed by the firing ofopponents.

The bodies were identified as Naseem Bibi, Syeda Bibi,Muhammad Anwar and Nawaz. Sadar police have startedinvestigation and shifted bodies to Civil Hospital for post-mortem. According to police, the incident seems to be aresult of an enmity as Nawaz shot dead husband of hisniece for entering love marriage five months back. Mean-while, it is reported from Dera Ghazi Khan that four peoplewere killed and 18 others injured when a van collided witha truck near here on Wednesday.

According to Rescue 1122, the passenger van washeading towards Barkhan from DG Khan when it collidedwith a parked truck near Tractor Factory Mithha Khoh onQuetta Road.As a result, Pir Bukhash of Gudai Shumali,Ahmed Khan, Faiz Muhammad of Lora Lai and Saifullahdied instantly while 18 passengers received injuries.

The injured were were shifted to DG Khan hospitalwhile police have started investigations.—APP

NAUSHAHROFEROZE—A 3-day anti-poliodrive would be started from Nov 24 to Nov27 in 36 union councils (UCs) of the dis-trict.

Deputy Commissioner, Mirza Nasir Alialso chaired the meeting in this regards toreview and finalize all arrangements for thecampaign, said a statement released hereon Wednesday by District Information Of-fice Naushahroferoze.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Com-missioner said that during campaign nodoctor can avail leave. Each UC medicalofficer will monitor their teams and he willbe fully responsible for any negligence.

Issuing directives to doctors, he saidthat each official had to play his effectiverole and they had to check supervisor’steams at UC level.

If any kind of negligency was found, allconcerned official would be held respon-

Polio vaccination drive from Nov 24sible, he said while warning them that thestrict action would be taken against respon-sible.

Apart from this, he said that he himselfwould visit different polio camps, he added.

Every member of the team has to ensurethat no child remains deprived from poliodrops, the DC said adding if a child is notfound in morning in the house, polio teamwould have to visit same house in theevening to administer polio drops.

District Health Officer (DHO), Dr. AbdulWahab Wadho said that the polio dropswould be administered to 208,378 childrenin the district.

As many as 536 polio teams were formedto administer drops to children in the dis-trict.

District officials, Motorway police, rep-resentative of WHO and NGOs were presenton the occasion.—APP

Crushed todeath

STAFF REPORTER

GUJRANWALA—A 17 yearsold boy was crushed todeath by train. According todetails the boy was cross-ing the railway line nearMansoor Wali when speed-ing train crushed him todeath.

In another incident it isreported that a passer by gotbullet injuries during policeencounter. According to de-tails at Rahwali Chowk Canttpolice tired to stop two sus-picious men but theyopened fire at police.

A passer by AbdulReheem got bullet injurieswhile dacoits fled away. Theinjured man was shifted toDHQ hospital.

AF governingboard electsRiffat Ullah

new chairmanSTAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The Govern-ing Board of Adam Founda-tion unanimously electedProfessor Riffat Ullah itsnew chairman for the nexttwo years in a meeting thatwas taken place in the Hallof The Message School G-14/4 Islamabad on the otherday.

Renowned proof readerof Holy Quran HafizMohammad Khan Adilgraced the occasion as chiefguest and took the oathfrom elected office bearersand other members of theboard.

President, Dr. GhulamMurtaza presided over theproceeding that startedwith the recite of HolyQuran by Talha MurtazaKhan.

Later, meeting after a de-liberate discussion thehouse unanimously electedProfessor Riffat Ullah andDr Azhar Naeem chairmanand vice chairman respec-tively.

House also approveddifferent projects for theeducation and other sectorsto help and support the or-phan children for the nextyear.

ACCA signsMoU with

University ofPeshawarSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Associationof Chartered CertifiedAccountants(ACCA) andUniversity of Peshawar haveentered into a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) forpromotion and academic en-hancement of Accountingand Finance profession inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa(KPK).

The MoU will be benefi-cial for the University ofPeshawar’s students whonow will be able to avail ex-emptions for their differentprogrammes while opting forprofessional qualificationsuch as ACCA on top of theirbachelor’s degree.

The MoU was inked bySajjeed Aslam, head ofACCA Pakistan and Prof.Muhammad Rasul Jan, ViceChancellor, University ofPeshawar, on behalf of theirrespective institute, Alsopresent at the ceremonywere, Heads of Departments,Faculty members, and othersenior representatives fromACCA Pakistan.

Abducted child recovered, kidnapper killedWednesday. According to apress release issued by thepolice department, Hamad,son of Shahid of Bhatta

Colony, Siddique Town inMillat Town police precinct,was abducted when he was

going to school.A police team traced loca-

tion of the accused in StreetNo 14 Mohalla Hyderabadand raided. Seeing police theaccused opened firing at them.

Meanwhile, police enteredthe house and recoveredHamad while an accused wasgunned down by police andhis accomplices fled. —APP

-01 C temperature recorded in Kalat

Cold, dry weather toprevail across country

ISLAMABAD—The met office on Wednesday forecastcold and dry weather in most parts of thecountry including federal capital during the next 24hours .

Mainly cold and dry weather is expected in Punjab,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan.

However, Skardu with -6 to -4 degree centigrade, Gilgit-3 to -1, Chitral,Kalat andQuetta-2 to 0, and Hunza -1 to1 would be coldest areas inthe next 24 hours.

According to synopticsituation, continental air isprevailing over most parts ofthe country. Meanwhile theQuetta Met Office recorded -01 Centigrade temperature inKalat, on Wednesday.

The highest temperature of 35 Centigrade was recordedin Lasbela.

In Quetta, the highest temperature was recorded 22Centigrade and the lowest 02-Centigrade.

The cold and dry weather has been forecast for rest ofthe region. Meanwhile, the Multan Met office has fore-cast dry weather for the city and its suburbs during thenext 24 hours.

On Wednesday, the maximum and minimum tempera-tures were recorded as 27.2 and 10.3 degrees Centigrade,respectively.

Humidity was recorded 87 per cent at 8 am and 38 percent at 5 pm.—APP

KARACHI—A spokesman of Sindh HealthDepartment, has said that from October 1to November 17 total number of deaths inMithi were 43, largely due to low weight atbirth, pneumonia and asphyxia and as suchall deaths are not associated with malnutri-tion.

He said that there were 26 deaths inOctober, which included 21 infants and 5from one to five years of age, while in No-vember that us till November 17, 15 infantsand 2 from one to five years have died inTharparkar.

The spokesman said that during thewhole year of 2014 till November 17 totalnumber of deaths in Tharparkar are 240which included 19 deaths of 1 to 5 yearsand 221 infants.

He said that all the deaths have been

Famine not reason behindchildren’ deaths in Mithi

recorded/properly in details and the recordcould be verified from hospitals.

Faqir Mohammad Shah, PPP legislatorfrom the drought-hit district, earlier told theHouse the death of 48 children in a littleover two months was not something un-common for the region. He claimed that noone had died of hunger and most of thedeaths had been caused by diseases.

Asked why he had not raised the issuein the National Assembly which was in ses-sion till last week, the MNA said things wereunder control in his constituency when heleft for Islamabad to attend the session.

He expressed complete ignorance whenhis attention was drawn to reports in theSindhi media that Thar had been facing afamine-like situation for weeks. “I have notseen such reports,” he said.—APP

MNA’s motherpasses away,

death condoledSIALKOT—The mother ofPML-N MNA SyedIftikharul Hassan Shah diedin Daska on Wednesday.

She was laid to rest inher native graveyard atAallo Mahaar Sharif Daska.

A large number of peoplefrom all walks of life attendedher funeral. Meanwhile,Speaker National AssemblySardar Ayaz Sadiq andDeputy Speaker MurtazaJaved Abbasi have con-doled the demise of themother of Member NationalA s s e m b l y ( M N A )Sahibzada Syed Iftikhar-ul-Hassan here on Wednes-day.

In their separate condo-lence messages toSahibzada Syed Iftikhar-ul-Hassan, the Speaker andDeputy Speaker expressedtheir grief and sorrow overthe said demise of hismother.

They prayed to AllahAlmighty to rest thedeparted soul in eternalpeace and grant strengthand courage him and hisfamily to bear the ir-reparable loss with equa-nimity, said a press re-lease.—APP

CHAMAN: Transporters protesting against misbehaviour of police, demand of extortion money from the drivers at Chaman-Kandahar Highway.

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Rescue workers busy in their work after a traffic accident onQuetta road.

STAFF REPORTER

JAMSHORO—The teachers should be fullyprepared before going in the class for teach-ing and they should not entre the classrooms with old culture of taking notes withthem. There is dearth of eligible officers inSindh education ministry which causeddestruction of primary education in theprovince.

The workshops and seminars contrib-ute a lot towards updating and exchange ofknowledge and information. This wasstated by the speakers, while speaking atthe inaugural session of a two day work-shop titled ‘teaching as a profession’ orga-nized by higher education commission(HEC) Islamabad at Nelson Mandela Hall,Arts Faculty Building, University of SindhJamshoro, a statement said on Wednesday.

It said the faculty members belongingto social sciences participated in the work-shop which was presided over by the DeanFaculty of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. ParvaizAhmed Pathan while Prof. Qalander ShahLakiyari, Prof. Nageena Parveen Soomroand others also were in attendance.

The Dean congratulated the HEC au-thorities, for organizing the workshop.

He, highlighting the significance of fac-ulty of social sciences in the field of educa-tion, urged the faculty members to under-

Sindh teachers’ educationuplift role criticized

take research work to a great extent.He was of the view that the develop-

ment of the university depended on theacademic excellence of the teachers, whichcould only be achieved if the teachers tookinterest in research work.

On the occasion, Prof Qalander ShahLakiyari said that the quality education wasimparted by the universities in the prov-ince but the condition of basic educationwas deplorable in Sindh.

He said that the quality of education inSindh had deteriorated during the last sev-eral years as people associated with edu-cation had not played their due role for im-provement in the quality of education.

Dr. Pathan was optimistic that the work-shop would contribute towards promotionof research in social sciences.

He gave details of the activities whichwill be conducted during the two-day moot.

He was of the view that research was atool for the quest of truth, knowledge andunderstanding.

“The main cause of deterioration of pri-mary education in Sindh is the presence ofineligible officials who are in majority; if weameliorate our primary schooling, it will bebeneficial and we will be able to developand progress”, he said. He said that educa-tion must be given top priority and addedthat only through collective efforts thecause of education can be promoted.

Sartaj statementundermined operationZarb-e-Azb: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD—PTI central leader Shah Mehmood Qureshihas said only one statement of Sartaj Aziz has com-pletely white washed peration Zarb-e- Azb to nullityadding the statement issued by foreign office is notsufficient but they will have to disown the statement.Addressing a press conference here Wednesday he said“ Sartaj Aziz is like my elders and I respect him enor-mously.

I have remained foreign minister too and I under-stand the sensitivity of the matter. Advisor to PrimeMinister on foreign affairs should have not given suchstatement. His statement has marginalized the opera-tion ZarB-e-Azb to nullity. Statement given by foreignoffice is not sufficient.

Foreign office will have to disown his statement.Advisor on Foreign affairs should clarify his statement.

He underlined that Pakistan is fighting war againstterrorism but it has gone beyond my comprehensionwhat is policy of government against terrorism. He heldthat one lobby remains active in US to malign Pakistanand this is Indian lobby. There are 300000 IDPs presentin Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and government is extendingall possible help to them, he underscored.

The journalists staged token walk out on allegationleveled by Imran Khan about receiving money by the jour-nalists and Shah Mehmood Qureshi assured them he isaware of journalists concern and he will talk to ImranKhan on this count.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Supreme Court (SC) has takennotice of non-administering of polio drops tochildren of prisoners in all the jails of the coun-try and has sought report thereof from all thechief secretaries.

The court issued these orders while takingnotice of non-administration of polio drops todaughter of Nasiban Bibi, a lady jail inmate dur-ing the hearing of her bail plea here Wednesday.

A 3-member bench of SC led by JusticeChaudhry Ejaz Ahmad and comprising JusticeDost Muhammad Khan and Justice Faiz Essa

took up bail petition for hearing Wednesday.Reacting strongly to incident of non-admin-

istration of polio drops Justice Ejaz Chaudhryremarked baby Swera became disabled being notadministered drops.

Those responsible for this should be pun-ished as per law of land. As to why daughter ofdetained woman was not administered poliodrops.

Who is responsible for it. Chief Secretariesshould give report in this respect.

He further observed country is already fac-

ing problems due to this disease and even thennegligence is being perpetrated. It should notbe done so. Drops should be administered tochildren no matter they are in jail.

It may be mentioned that Swera, daughterof Nasiban Bibi has not been administered po-lio drops. The counsel for the lady prisonertold during the hearing of the case that hisclient’s daughter has become disabled andNasiban Bibi has filed application in this re-gard too. The hearing of the case was ad-journed indefinitely.—Online

SC calls CSs reports on non-administrationof polio drops to jail inmates’ children

Abid urges powercompanies to attend

consumerscomplaints

HYDERABAD—State Minis-ter for Water and PowerAbid Sher Ali has said thatthe employees of powerdistribution companieshave been directed withclear instructions to set theirminds on right direction anddischarge their responsibili-ties with dedication, devo-tion and honesty with ad-dressing the genuine de-mands of the customers inminimum possible time.

The state minister ex-pressed these remarks whileaddressing the openkatchery here at WAPDAHussainabad and later at thereception hosted in hishonour by the office bear-ers of Hyderabad PressClub on Wednesday.

He said that the PrimeMinister Muhammad NawazSharif has issued clear direc-tives to provide justice tocustomers and address theirgrievances at their door-steps.

The government wouldnot tolerate any negligencein this direction and initiatestrict action against thosefound involved, he said andwarned that those employ-ees who found in creatinghurdles for customers or in-volved in corruption wouldbe taken to task.

He informed that direc-tives have been issued toall officers including ChiefExecutive Officers to holdopen katcheries and pro-vide relief to the custom-ers at their nearest. The Ex-ecutive Engineers andSub-Divisional Officersshould also follow thesame instructions, headded.

The state minister in-formed that during the visitof China, the Prime Minis-ter had signed agreementsfor establishment of powerprojects including 10400megawatt coal base projectand Daud Hydro Project.The ministry had detectedten spot where electricityon cheap rates can be gen-erated through gas, he saidand informed the powergeneration will be startedfrom these points withinthree years.

He said that the govern-ment fully desired to discour-age IPPS and establish gaspower plants in order to pro-vide electricity to customerson cheap rates.—APP

Senators briefedover Indian

aggression of LoCSIALKOT—Members ofSenate’s Standing Commit-tee for Defence visitedChenab Rangers headquar-ters where the lawmakerswere briefed over securitysituation at the Sialkotworking boundary and Lineof Control.

Reports said the two-member body, comprisingits chairman MushahidHussain Syed andMohsin Leghari , weregiven a two-hour off-cam-era briefing by DG Rang-ers Punjab Maj. Gen. KhanTahir Javed about Indianaggression.

The Rangers chiefbriefed the senators thatIndia has broken all previ-ous records of the shellingat the LoC, firing more than31500 mortar shells, morethan that of fired in 1971war between the two coun-tries.

Meanwhile, speaking toa private TV channel,Mushahid Hussain Syedsaid that the issue would bepursued in the Senate.—Online

KOT RADHA KISHAN—Central Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council, Hafiz MuhammadTahir Mahmood Ashrafi, addressing a joint gathering of Muslims and Christians.

STAFF REPORTER

KOT RADHA KISHAN—Theconstitution of Pakistan hasprovisioned rights of all Pa-kistani citizens. No organiza-tion, group or mob can begiven the authority to de-prive Pakistanis of theirrights on the basis of anysort of discrimination. All re-ligions condemn the KotRadha Kishan (KRK) trag-edy, and demand the govern-ment to conduct judicial in-vestigations and speedy trialfor that incident.

These views were ex-pressed by the leaders of dif-ferent religions and sectswhile addressing a joint gath-ering of thousands of Mus-lims and Christians in KotRadha Kishan. The jointgathering was chaired byPakistan Ulema Council[PUC] Central ChairmanHafiz Muhammad TahirMahmood Ashrafi.

While addressing thejoint gathering, HafizMuhammad Tahir MahmoodAshrafi said that the blas-phemy law faces no threatsin Pakistan. The leaders andfollowers of all religions inPakistan support the blas-phemy law. All religions andsects believe that those mis-using the blasphemy law areenemies of Islam and Paki-stan, and that it is the respon-sibility of all of us to stop thewrong use of this law. He fur-ther said that the PUC isstriving for the rights ofMuslims and non-Muslims.We want to make Pakistan amodel state similar to Medinawhere nobody is deprived oftheir rights. He added thatonly a person who believesin all holy prophets, messen-gers and books can be calleda Muslim. He mentioned thatthe PUC has formed a Na-tional Reconciliation Coun-cil at national level, and allissues between Muslims andnon-Muslims will now be re-solved through dialogue,God willing.

Bishop Samuel Ezra[president of the Church ofPakistan] said in his speechthat the Kot Radha Kishanincident is a disgrace to hu-manity. The incident gave abad name to both Islam andPakistan. Those who commit-ted this crime should be pun-ished severely. He further saidthat we are all creations ofAllah. All of us should re-spect each other’s beliefs andopinions. He added that noChristian can even imagineblaspheming ProphetMuhammad [PBUH] or anyother prophet. I request Is-lamic scholars to clarify what

All religions condemn KRK tragedyactions are considered to beblasphemy against ProphetMuhammad [PBUH]. Thisgathering of thousands ofpeople is a gathering of peaceand forbearance.

PUC Central SecretaryGeneral Sahibzada ZahidMahmood Qasmi said thatthe PUC assures protection

to all non-Muslims living inPakistan. This gathering ofthousands of people is a glo-rious display of Muslim-Christian forbearance in thehistory of Pakistan. This pro-cess will continue in the fu-ture as well, God willing. Hesaid that the blasphemy lawfaces no threat in Pakistan

and hence, politics shouldnot be done in its name.

Pastor Khokhar said thatIslam is a religion of love andpeace. Those who burntalive Shahzad and Shamawere not the representativesof Islam or Muslims. Instead,they were the representa-tives of oppression.

Let 30th Nov sit-intoo go peaceful

AS the new deadline of November 30 to invade the Federal Capitalis fast approaching, there are no signs of peaceful resolution of theissues involved in view of the threatening posture adopted by PTI

and the apparent decision of the Government to deal with any provoca-tion sternly. After failure of its strategy to dislodge Nawaz Sharif Gov-ernment through coercion, PTI seems to be utterly frustrated and its lead-ership and likes of Sheikh Rashid are opening throwing challenges to thewrit of the State.

The way the Government handled the first part of the sit-ins earned itappreciation and it is widely believed that the sagacious approach of theauthorities concerned avoided any tragedy. Both PTI and PAT tried theirbest and are on cameras to have attacked state institutions but their violentmethods went against them and undermined their moral strength. Dr Tahirul Qadri demonstrated more maturity by accepting the ground realities andchanging the strategy to bring about, what he calls, revolution. He is nowdetermined to enter the Parliamentary politics and contest all by-electionsand general elections. As against him, Imran Khan is still showing over-ambitiousness and is apparently not ready to settle on anything less than theoffice of the Prime Minister, come what may. He is, therefore, not onlyattacking all institutions during his speeches but also threatening to turn hisNovember 30 gathering into a violent movement. In this backdrop, theGovernment has to take necessary precautionary measures to maintain lawand order and protect lives of peaceful citizens. There are also reports thatthe Government is mulling over proposal not to allow entry into the sensi-tive Red Zone and instead would be asking the PTI to hold rally or sit-in atsome other agreed venue. Given the track non-flexible record of ImranKhan, PTI is unlikely to listen to this reasonable proposition and therefore,the situation could take some ugly turn on the day. We would urge theGovernment to allow PTI to organize the show of strength anywhere if itguarantees that the gathering would remain peaceful and within limits, al-though it violated similar understanding in August. Instead of preventingthe gathering, the Government should facilitate it by way of screening theparticipants to avoid any untoward incidents as any third party includingterrorists could take advantage of the situation to destabilize Pakistan.

Musharraf warns ofproxy war in AfghanistanIN an interview, former President Pervez Musharraf has warned that the

departure of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan could push Indiaand Pakistan towards a proxy war in the troubled state. Elaborating, hesaid, Indian involvement in Afghanistan has an anti-Pakistan connotationas they (India) want to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan.

Coming from a leader who ruled Pakistan for about a decade and whois known as a strategist, the warning must be heeded with all seriousnessthat it deserves. Musharraf has the intimate knowledge of geo-strategicmoves and strategies and game plan of anti-Pakistan forces. Withdrawalof foreign forces from Afghanistan would ideally empower Afghans todecide their own fate and run their affairs as per their own needs andpriorities. However, there are already indications that the powers that beare visualizing to push Afghanistan into a sort of area of influence ofIndia. The US reinforcement of India as a power in south Asia is an extraworrisome move that is disturbing Pakistan. Analysts point out that be-sides huge Indian investment, reconstruction work, defence and securityties and training of Afghan National Security Forces, there is, somehow,an inevitable Indian presence in Afghanistan that is posing some seriousquestions and threats for regional peace and stability. Pakistan has somevital interests in Afghanistan that primarily include the restoration of peaceand stability in Afghanistan, complete eradication of terrorism and ex-tremism, preventing Afghan soil from being used against Pakistan’s sov-ereignty and security, especially preventing hostile Indian military pres-ence which threatens Pakistan’s security and stability. There is evidencethat Indian consulates in Afghanistan have been engaged in anti-Pakistanactivities especially destabilizing Balochistan. The situation could worsenas some anti-Pakistan elements are now part of the Government in Af-ghanistan and could facilitate India in fulfilling its nefarious designs.Therefore, there is every possibility of Afghanistan to be used as a proxyagainst Pakistan and our strategists should realize the threat and formu-late policies to safeguard interests of the country.

See huge potentialof economic corridor

FEDERAL Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ch BarjeesTahir on Tuesday said that Pak-China Economic Corridor will bring

about $70 billion annual revenue in the form of transit fee. Talking toGovernor GB, he said the project like the Suez Canal will play a vital rolein the economy of the whole Asia especially Pakistan and China.

It is obvious that projections of the Minister must be based on someproper studies and research done in connection with the vitally importantcorridor. The projects under the corridor include those of building high-ways and motorways, ports and related infrastructure, airports, powerplants, dams and optic fiber link that would surely give tremendous boostto regional trade besides opening prospects of tremendous socio-economicdevelopment in hitherto neglected regions of Pakistan especially G-B andBalochistan. It is because of the monumental impact and potential of theplan that it is being described as a game changer and conspiracies arebeing hatched by some internal and external forces to thwart it. Therecent signing of a number of accords between Pakistan and China anddecision of the latter to line up finances worth $45 billion to fund projectsunder Economic Corridor augurs well but we need to move at fast paceto translate all the projects into a reality. We say so because in the pastwe missed a number of important projects including Kalabagh Damthat would have brought tremendous benefits to Pakistan but renderedcontroversial by vested interests. As implementation of the project isdeeply linked to the economic future of Pakistan, we would urge thePrime Minister and his team to ensure achievement of progress duringtheir tenure that makes the Corridor project irreversible.

Depoliticisation and its causes

Merkelchallenges

Putin’sworldview

THE issue in Ukraine is nolonger just the Ukraine issue,according to German Chan-

cellor Angela Merkel, who shouldknow. Russia’s provocations andpower plays now extend farther intoparts of Europe, from Finland to theBalkans. “It affects us all,” she saidMonday after spending hours alonein talks with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin. “How can some-thing like this happen in the middleof Europe? Old thinking aboutspheres of influence, trampling in-ternational law, must not succeed.”

Ever since the crisis in Ukrainebegan a year ago, Ms. Merkel hashoped Mr. Putin would abide by theprinciples that have long guidedrelations between nation-states. Butthen Russia took Crimea, Russian-backed rebels downed MalaysiaAirlines Flight 17, and Russiantanks rolled into eastern Ukraine.Russian spies have become moreactive in Western capitals, and Rus-sian jets and warships have edgedclose to Western borders and mili-tary forces. A few Russian officialshave even reminded others of thecountry’s nuclear arsenal. Merkelwisely does not react out of fear butasserts vital concepts such as inter-national law, backed up by the Eu-ropean Union and others in thewithholding of economic benefitsfor top Russian officials and enter-prises. Even as she speaks of up-holding the EU values of honouringborders and operating by consen-sus, she has slowly ratcheted upsanctions on Russia, measure formeasure. “Putin is testing us,” shetold German legislators. And whatthe Russian leader is testing is theWest’s worldview that peace shouldnever be coerced by greater pow-ers but must come from the freeconsent of truly independent states.Russia sees one nation’s loss as sim-ply another’s gain, whereas the EUsees compromise among nations asa means for all to benefit. As theWestern leader who knows Putinbest – Merkel grew up in East Ger-many, learning Russian – she doesnot want the EU to bend to his lat-est attempts to wield power inSerbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, andother former Soviet states. “Other-wise,” says Merkel, “one wouldhave to say: We are too weak. Becareful. We can’t accept any oth-ers. We have to first ask Moscow ifit is possible. That’s how thingswere for 40 years [under Sovietrule]; I never really wanted to re-turn to that situation.” The Ukraineissue has indeed moved to a newlevel, and not only for Europe.Merkel has intensified her mix ofdiplomacy and sanctions. But nowshe also speaks to the world aboutthe global issues at stake. Europe,the centre of three world confron-tations during the 20th century, hadto learn the hard way that there areprinciples for keeping the peace.Now it must apply them again.— The Christian Science Monitor

*****

Justiceserved

CONVICTED hammer attacker Philip Spence beganthe first of what will be many

days behind bars as he serves out aminimum sentence of at least 18years without the prospect of pa-role — and the likelihood of manymore years rotting away inBritain’s overcrowded prisons.And even when Spence does ap-pear before a parole board hearingin 2032 at the earliest, he will haveto explain a dangerous offender tagthat is stamped on his file for thebrutal manner in which he tried tokill three Emirati sisters in a drug-fuelled frenzy of violence inLondon’s Cumberland Hotel.

These women did no wrong.They were tourists visiting the Brit-ish capital and were beaten to withininches of their lives as they slept ina suite while their children lay inadjacent rooms. Spence is scum, thelowest of the criminal low, and de-serves every minute of the life sen-tence imposed on him on Monday.But that is little comfort to his threevictims. If there is a positive, it isthat London remains an inherentlysafe city — and thankfully, suchvicious attacks are extremely rareoccurrences. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

WHAT’S a depoliticised Pakistan; how is it differentfrom a politically apathetic

Pakistan; how is it damaging bothfor the society and its state; who doesnow represent it, such questionswere discussed in A depoliticisedPakistan on the rampage. In thepresent piece, some other questionswill be dwelt on such as: whydoesn’t a depoliticised India orBangladesh exist in India orBangladesh, for example? Whythat’s so only with Pakistan? Whyis Pakistan so fecund for such ele-ments? What are the elements thatfeed milk and butter to adepoliticised Pakistan?

Since long it has been my con-tention that the main culprit for thebackward Pakistan is Politicians. Inthis case also, the main culprit for adepoliticised Pakistan is again Poli-ticians. The previous article arguesthat it is barren politics that amongother things may have caused Po-litical Apathy to take root. That’snatural. Decades of experience madepeople learn: ‘Politics, Sir, is a cowthat will yield such people no moremilk, and so they are gone to milkthe bull.” (Samuel Johnson usedTruth in the place of Politics!)Though sort of a “DevelopmentPolitics” entered the political arena,but it could not change the politicalparadigm. In the midst of presentIslamabad Dharna, one must havenoticed the top leadership of thePakistan Muslim League-N harpingon its development projects in vain.

Countering Indian propaganda against ISI

INDIAN spin doctors, especiallythose associated with RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and

other extremist Hindu groups con-tinuously propagate against Pakistan,and aggressively use anti- ISI narra-tive with a view to showingIslamabad in bad light, while malign-ing Pakistan’s top intelligenceagency, ISI. Their sick mind and elu-sive psyche spread intriguingthoughts and breed wickednessagainst country’s superior agency.Driven by their crookedness andsense of acrimony, they coin freshjargons and initiate chimera to con-duct incessant psychological opera-tions which are detrimental toPakistan’s interest and cause asper-sions against ISI.

In July 2013, Indian media, fedby its Intelligence Bureau (IB),shamelessly insinuated against ISI forreactivating its terrorist network toattack Hindu leaders and their estab-lishments in several cities in India.Indian government was warned to putthe security mechanism on high alertas RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat wastouring multiple Indian states. Ulti-mately, the entire storyline-plotproved fake. Pakistan ignored theIndian malevolence, suggesting thatsuch baseless allegations will jeop-ardize the peace process between thetwo countries. But, Indian propagan-dists learnt nothing and ignored Pa-kistani advice. In this context, Indiannewspaper Deccan Chronicle pub-lished a similar story on November7, 2014, titled “Pakistan’s ISI maytarget India’s key economic centersand important installations.” In this

When you get thepersonality, you don’tneed the nudity.

regard, Namrata Biji Ahuja whowrote it, contended that IB andother Indian assets informedthat new terror module trainedby ISI have entered India tostrike at key economic installa-tions including Reserve Bank,

Bombay Stock Exchange, NewDelhi’s Tihar Jail, Bengaluru BSF HQat Jalandhar, Patiala Jail in Punjab andAvantipura in J&K. IB shared infor-mation with Indian law-enforcingagencies that the group entered Indiavia Rajasthan border and proceededtowards Pune and that they will beprovided with arms and ammunitionby local sleeper cells. Such media re-ports not only leveled serious allega-tions against Pakistan and ISI for train-ing terror modules to attack Indian tar-gets, but also inflicted serious dam-age Pakistan’s image and prestige ofISI. Above all, the storyline containsbiased figments of mental illusions andfabricated contents.

Indian patterns of propagandapose a very gruesome picture as when-ever a sabotage activity is planned byIndian RAW, Indian media pro-ac-tively accuses Pakistan and ISI for im-pending terrorist attack. The possibil-ity of RAW undertaking a dangerousterrorist activity inside their own coun-try cannot be ruled out, as they havebeen doing the same in the past. It isnotable that Indian rulers were em-phatically accusing Pakistan’s ISI andLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for theMumbai terror attacks of November26, 2008. But, on July 19, 2013 theIndian former home ministry and ex-investigating officer Satish Verma dis-closed that terror-attacks in Mumbaiin November 26, 2008 and assault onIndian Parliament in January 12, 2001were carried out by the Indian gov-ernment to strengthen anti-terrorismlaws. Similarly, Indian Home Minis-ter Sushil Kumar Shinde revealed onJanuary 20, 2013 that organized train-

ing camps run by the fundamentalistparties, RSS and BJP were promotingHindu Terrorism. He also explainedthat these extremist parties were be-hind the Samjhauta Express, MecccaMasjid and Malegaon blasts. But, In-dia always accused Pakistan’s ISI ofall these subversive acts, while, Indianofficial confession shows that theseterror attacks were, in fact, arrangedby RAW in connivance with Indianhome-grown terrorists.

While, Afghanistan has become ahub of anti-Pakistan activities con-ducted by RAW with the tactical as-sistance of American CIA and IsraeliMossad—from where particularlyRAW is sending logistic support toBaloch separatist elements to dismem-ber Pakistan. For this sinister move, areligious Madrassa of Wakhan, locatedin Afghanistan is functioning under thepatronage of RAW. It is being usedfor brainwashing of very young boyswho are Afghans and so-called IndianMuslims. Posing themselves as Paki-stani Taliban, they have joined theranks and files of the Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP), and other banned ex-tremist outfits. In the recent years, es-pecially TTP’s insurgents and its af-filiated banned groups conductedmany terror-activities like suicide at-tacks, ruthless beheadings of tribes-men, assaults on security personneland prominent figures including Shias,Ahmadis, Sufis, Christians, Sikhs andthe suicide attack at Wagah bordercheckpoint in Lahore, on November2, 2014. Besides, terror-attacks inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA,Balochistan and Karachi are part ofthe scheme to create chaotic situationin the country. Indian Consulates inAfghanistan are also playing a verynegative role in supporting TTP andBaloch separatists. Besides India isalso encouraging TTP factions show-ing allegiance for DAISH ISIS (Is-lamic State in Iraq and Syria), to get

It’s no denying that Po-litical Apathy contributed tothe solidification of adepoliticised citizenry.Moreover, it is consecutivemartial laws which bannedpolitical activities, curbed

political liberties, surgically operatedpolitical parties, built up artificialpolitical structures, and last but notleast, destroyed an independent po-litical culture. Whoever ventured inpolitics made it a point that in orderto succeed he needs to be part andparcel of the so-called establishment!It was the most successful short-cutto power in Pakistan. That it inspireda depoliticised Pakistan to love no-politics is evident.

Despite the voluminous charge-sheet against the imposers of martiallaws, it may be argued that no mar-tial law did ever succeed without thecomplicity of politicians. Let the gen-erals impose martial law, and let nopolitical party come to their aid, youwill see the generals running back totheir barracks! It is politicians whopartner with the generals and givethem constitutional cover. It is likereprieving a murderer from the gal-lows. In response to an objection thatpoliticians are an amorphous entityand thus are vulnerable to insinua-tions, one may retort that politiciansare well-organized in political partieswith a devout following, and mayprove an invincible citadel if they planto act so; however, they alwayschoose the path of submission andsubservience. In this sense martiallaws did not create such conditionswhich proved conducive to thegrowth and spread of a depoliticisedcitizenry, but it is the political oppor-tunism and political cowardice on thepart of political parties which helpeda depoliticised citizenry most in for-

tifying its depoliticised vision forPakistan.

Also, it is political parties whichdid not create an independent politi-cal culture in Pakistan; they alwayslet their trees grow in the lawns ofin-service or retired generals. Practi-cally they behave in a manner as ifthe source of power lies in the Gen-eral Head Quarters (GHQ). It’sstrange and at the same time perplex-ing that no political party ever seemsto believe in the constitution whichunequivocally declares power as re-siding with the people of Pakistan.They do vie for the people’s mandatebut never abide by its implications.Once they come to power, they donot remain in contact with the peoplewhose mandate makes them rule thesame people. That does strengthen thedepoliticised Pakistan.

Another factor is the same old re-frain: political parties did not deliver,political parties do not deliver. Thattranslates into a fact that politics donot deliver; so let it be passed, let itbe part of the past. Surprisingly it ischaracteristic of a depoliticised Pa-kistan that it does not delve into thepast; it focuses its eyes only on thefuture. It is in this sense that adepoliticised Pakistan discards all thatis part of a political past; it lives inthe future. This especially explainsthe politics of Imran Khan’s PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf: Imran Khan and hisfollowers have no inkling ofPakistan’s political past and theypresent the PTI as the first true po-litical party of Pakistan, trashing allothers. That’s not mere arrogance ofan ignoramus; it is inherent in thepolitics of PTI that it’s the only truepolitical force, whereas all other par-ties are just corrupt entities. That’sdepoliticised Pakistan in action!

One more thing requires some

elaboration as it is far more confus-ing. That’s about the number ofpeople who participate in the PTIDharnas, meetings and rallies, thelatest one held in Rahim Yar Khanon Nov 9. Actually, numbers mustnot be mixed up with principles.Hitler had much following in Ger-many; but at the end of the day hewas a fascist, who finally set out toconquer the world. Imran Khan hasa substantial following of those sec-tions of a depoliticised Pakistanwhich believe in political power le-gitimately belonging to them, andas their privileged right like divineright of the Kings of medievalworld. It is fascism pure and simple.Imran Khan also wants to conquerthe whole Pakistan, but what is char-acteristic of him and his politics anda depoliticised Pakistan also whichhe represents is his non-politicalpolitics, or his anti-political politics(a contradiction in terms). He seekspower in non-political ways.

As for India, there may be adepoliticised citizenry too weak tobe noticed; it may be more vibrantin Bangladesh; but for the same rea-sons a depoliticised citizenry seemsstronger and more damaging in Pa-kistan. It means it is not in martiallaws (Bangladesh has had its shareof which) that the rationale for adepoliticised citizenry may befound; it is in the quality of politi-cians that the process ofdepoliticisation grows it stuff andsubstance. It is politicians them-selves who depoliticised Pakistan,who fed it with milk and butter; nowthey are condemned to face the samedepoliticised Pakistan! [Concluded]—The writer is a Lahore-basedpolitical philosopher and author ofThe Rise of State Aristocracy inPakistan (Urdu) and other books.

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

—Mae West US actress

united. As regards cross-border ter-rorism, former Indian Army ChiefGen. VK Singh openly confessed inSeptember 2013 that special intelli-gence unit like Technical Services Di-vision were raised by him to operateinside Pakistan, particularly inBalochistan and Azad Kashmir toconduct terrorism and to bribe thepoliticians in the Indian-occupiedKashmir. Moreover, in July 2012,Pakistani government released Indianprisoner, Surjeet Singh as part of pris-oners’ exchange between the twocountries. But, he openly admittedthat he was in Pakistan to spy whenhe was arrested in 1982. In this con-text, Surjeet Singh said, “I was aRAW agent.” About another Indianprisoner, he revealed, “Sarabjit Singhis a terrorist who was responsible forthe string of blasts in Faisalabad,Lahore and Multan in 1990.”

Nevertheless, as military opera-tion, Zarb-e-Azb against terrorists isproceeding well in North WaziristanAgency by obtaining its objectives,and India feels out of sort. In thisconnection, Indian hawks haveplanned to keep Pakistan, its ArmedForces and ISI under pressure. There-fore, anti-ISI articles by their writ-ers, associated with media wing ofRAW clearly indicate Indian animos-ity against Pakistan and this topagency. Nonetheless, Indian recentaccusations against ISI are ridiculousand baseless. Hence, Pakistan musttake such allegations seriously andan assertive rejoinder be issuedagainst such media reports. While,countering Indian propaganda againstISI, our media must contest that Pa-kistan is a peace loving country anddoes not tolerate such insinuations.Indian media must owe an apologyfor publishing such a defamatory ar-ticle in its national newspaper.—The writer is Lahore-basedfreelance columnist.

Dr Khalil AhmadEmal:[email protected]

Sajjad ShaukatEmail: [email protected]

Voice of the People

Power woesM AYAZ AYUB

Our power shortfall and power tar-iffs are both increasing. Frequentload-shedding is adversely affectingeveryone, including the industrialsector. Very soon the cost of elec-tricity will be beyond the reach ofmost Pakistanis. Unfortunately, theincumbent government has failed totake essential measures to check theworsening situation. The govern-ment ministerial team has not beenable to exploit the full potential ofpower supply available from differ-ent sources, have not been able tocut down line losses and have notbeen able to check rampant powertheft. Hundreds of billions of duesremain un-recovered.

The government should alsopay priority attention to theutilisation of the comparativelyshort-term run-of-the-river hydroprojects on the AJK and KP rivers.Such projects could generate up to4000MW of electricity in a com-paratively short time. Another areais that of harnessing solar energy.The government should invest inindigenous production of photovol-taic cells and panels, sell them atsubsidised rates and assist people ininstallation of solar systems in theirhouses. This would take consider-able load off WAPDA. However, thegovt needs a visionary and dynamicministerial team to achieve all this.—Karachi

Child labourRIDA MAZHAR

Child labour is a practice that de-prives children of getting education,having a proper childhood; all thewhile affecting them mentally,physically and socially. Yet this is apractice that is very common in Pa-kistan. Children are made to workfrom very tender age in order to sup-port their families when it should bethe other way around. The maincause of this is poverty.

Poverty-stricken families oftenhave several children because theybelieve that the more children theyhave, the more sources of income,and all of them are put to work fromas young as 5 years of age. We, theeducated masses, are also at fault,because we don’t think before hiringchildren to do work; we could hireadults, or do ourselves, because kidsare easier to be exploited as comparedto adults. The young maids we em-ploy to do our housework, the boyswe hire to wash our cars, the chil-dren work in shops where our kidsbuy toys, they all deserve better. Weshould try to rectify this major flawin our society. Even by taking respon-sibility for one child’s education, wecan make a difference.—Karachi

Is terrorIslamic?

ALI ASHRAF KHAN

The western media is reporting thebeheading of Peter Cassig, a youngAmerican who worked as develop-ment aid worker and had been kid-napped last year. The young man’sbeheading with over a dozen Syriansoldiers in custody of Doulat-e-Islami (I.S) and Obama is propagat-ing his killing a jihadi spirit or cul-ture of Islam to defame this religionand gain for Christians. While blam-ing Islam for the killing, Obama andthe western media conveniently for-gets that ISIS was created with fund-ing and training by US and its alliesfor this very purpose of killing andshould be rather called Christian ter-rorism for that reason. We remem-ber the blame game in 1979 whenpropaganda was launched throughBBC documentary for the Islamic

Honour killing: Non-compoundableFARRUKH AZIZ ANSARI

The Punjab government has taken to ensure a stringent punishment to perpetrators of honour killings a non-compoundable offence. I was really struck dumb while reading the news story which said

that such an initiative by government might meet scathing criticism and sheer opposition by the reli-gious circles particularly by the council of Islamic ideology, to which, the heinous murder, no matterhowever barbarically it might have been committed, is compoundable and thus slayer may be set free ifheirs of victim come to terms with the murderer. This inane argument hurled under the religious um-brella that Islam allows a compromise in murder cases, is nothing more than a tactic played in the garbof the religion to perpetuate the most notoriously “Jirga System” conducted mostly by wanton Sardarsand Choudharies. It also suggests that one can very easily get away with Pakistan Penal code afterpressurizing or coercing the relatives of the victim into striking a bargain with one. Further, it impliesthat PPC be substituted with Jirga Verdict and that the law stands handicapped since such cases entailShariah issues. I wonder how men of such a mentality at the helm of CII have managed to cling to sucha prestigious but sensitive position, and indisputably this is the very reason why CII has miserably failedto meet the rising challenges of multi dimensions, confronting the people of Pakistan. Nowhere in Quranhas come any commandment entitling to murder mortals in cold blood, by taking law into one’s ownhands and crippling the writ of state, nor is there any such a tradition during the caliphate of four piouscompanions. According to a recent survey, just in 3 months, as many as 500 mortals were brutally slainonly in the interior of Sindh. This number would rise manifold steeply if the Urban Sindh together withthe rest of the Provinces is taken into account. The victims included minors, the married and even theold. The “Fatwas” of such an ilk as given by the religious circles serve as impetus for the criminals andit is due to this and the criminal indifference and leniency by law enforcement agencies that honourkilling is fast penetrating our society. The step taken by Punjab government should not only be com-mended but also be followed by other Provinces especially Sindh where it has turned out to be a locallegal act. Those putting impediment in the way of such a much needed legislation are either charlatansin Shariah, not well versed in it or simply, wilfully dragging the religion in this diabolic ritual. Whateverthe case, honour killing should at no cost be met with the punishment less than gallows.—Islamabad

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View From Abroad

For whom the Berlin Wall fell?

AS I was leaving Berlin lessthan a week before the 25thanniversary of the fall of the

Berlin Wall and as celebrations therewere going strong, I decided to lookat the balance sheet of “transition”countries (even if the term is nolonger fully adequate) over the pastquarter century. What naturallycomes to mind to an economist is tolook first at how these countries havedone in terms of economic growth.For clarity’s sake, let’s group thesecountries — and call “clear failures”those countries that as of 2013 arestill to reach the level of real incomeachieved back in 1990 (as measuredby real GDP per capita).

Next, let’s call “relative fail-ures” the countries that grew moreslowly than the average rich OECDcountries — that is at less than 1.7percent per capita per year. They areso labelled because they are notconverging to the rich countries’ in-come levels.The third group con-sists of countries — having grownat between 1.7 and 2 percent percapita — that are just about “keep-ing up” with the rich world. Finally,we come to the “success cases,”countries that grew by at least 2 per-cent per annum per capita over the25-year period. Note that the re-quirement of growing by 2 percentper year over a quarter of a centuryis not particularly onerous, nor issuch an achievement very stirring.A nation would need 35 years, al-most two generations, of such

growth to double its per capita in-come. (All growth rates referred tohere are expressed in per capitaterms, derived from GDPs based on2011 International ComparisonProject PPP data, anddownloadable from the World BankWorld Development Indicators.)

How does the picture look? Inthe bottom group of “clear failures,”we have seven countries with a com-bined population of almost 80 mil-lion (20 percent of the population ofall “transition” countries). They are,in order of the extent of their fail-ure: Tajikistan, Moldova, Ukraine,Kyrgyz Republic, Georgia, Bosniaand Serbia. All except Ukraine (notethat current data end in 2013) havebeen involved in civil or interna-tional conflicts. None is likely toreach its 1990 income any time soon.Basically, they are countries with atleast three to four wasted genera-tions. At current rates of growth, itmight take them some 50 or 60years—longer that they were undercommunism — to get back to theincome levels they had at the fall ofcommunism. The “relative failures”include four countries (Macedonia,Croatia, Russia and Hungary). As agroup, because of the large size ofRussia, they comprise 160 millionpeople and represent the largest ofour four groups. Some 40 percent oftransition countries’ populations livethere. Their growth rates have beenless or around 1 percent per capita.

There are five countries in theregion that are managing just “keep-ing up” with the rich capitalist world.They are the Czech Republic,Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Lithuania

and Romania. They include 40 mil-lion people (or 10 percent of transi-tion countries’ total population).Their growth rates have been be-tween 1.7 and 1.9 percent per capitaannually. Finally, we come to the“success cases,” those that are catch-ing up with the rich world. There are12 countries in this group. In increas-ing order of success, they are:Uzbekistan and Latvia (averagegrowth rate of 2 percent), Bulgaria(2.2 percent), Slovakia andKazakhstan (2.4 percent),Azerbaijan, Estonia, Mongolia andArmenia (around 3 percent), Belarus(3.5 percent), Poland (3.7 percent)and Albania (3.9 percent). The popu-lation living there amounts to 120million (almost a third of the total).

If we concentrate on successcases, several of them (Azerbaijan,Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan andMongolia) are resource-rich econo-mies whose success is entirely ex-plained by the exploitation of hydro-carbons, gold or other minerals. Thereal capitalist successes are onlyfive: Albania, Poland, Belarus, Ar-menia and Estonia. They managedto grow by at least 3 percent percapita per annum, almost at twice therate of rich countries, and withoutan obvious help of natural resources.Armenia is particularly remarkablesince its original period of transitionwas rocky, due to the war withAzerbaijan.

If we go back to our list of fivesuccess cases, then two countries —Belarus and Armenia — drop out ofthe list on account of unconsolidatedor inexistent democracy. In 2012,Belarus’s Polity Score for Democ-

Branko Milanovic

I know what it is too..!

HE was crying! “What happened?” I asked. “I can’ttake it anymore Bob, looks

like I’ve really run out of luck! Istarted this new business, put allmy money into it, worked hard,and now I don’t have a pie! Thecredit card company calls me upeveryday! My suppliers threatenme, the banks have taken back mycar and I’m afraid to look at myfamily, in case they think I am afailure! I am a failure!”

“No you’re not!” I said.“What do you know Bob?” hecried. “I know what it is too!” Isaid quietly, “I know what it’s like

to hit rock bottom!” The man lookedat me, “You?” he asked incredu-lously. “Yes,” I said, “I’ve seenworse than what you’ve beenthrough and I’ve cried like you!”“You?” he asked again and it washe that put an arm around me, “soyou know what it is?”

“And I know you can come outof it,” I said quietly, “and one dayyou’ll be telling another friend whatI’m telling you, that you’ve beenthere too! I believe God sends peoplethrough difficult situations to be ableto be compassionate later to otherswho go through them!” There was asmile in my friend’s eyes. I had em-pathized with him.

All around us are episodes ofloneliness, heartbreak, grief andother human hurts that create pow-erful suffering, but I’ve found out

that empathy can soothe those hurtsand inspire the suffering person torecover quickly. He or she knowsthat others share in those hurts; thatthey’ve been there too!

Empathy can create comfortwhere heartache exists. Empathy cangive you eyes that see and ease theloneliness in a person who may bealone in a party or other social eventor it can offer bus fare to the drunkwhose last coins rolled into the streetdrain and who with tears asked,“Now God how will I get home?”And the good Lord smiled as He sentyou to him.

Empathy impels you to stay atyour gate and talk with a lonelyneighbor who yearns for companion-ship, even though your favorite TVprogram has started and you can hearyour favorite actor’s voice calling

you in. Empathy dilutes hurt andspreads comfort. It makes us kinto strangers, and friends to en-emies! Haven’t you felt the griefof a person you don’t like, heardhe has lost a parent and called himup to talk with him, telling him youknow what he is going through?Ah that’s empathy. It heals whileit works.

I always wonder why I had togo through days of adversity andhurt, but then when I’m able to holdsomebody’s hand and tell him I’vebeen there too, and see comfortspreading into that persons eyes,than do I know what the good Lordwas doing; it wasn’t that He wasn’tthere those days, its just that he wasshowing me how I would be ableto say, “I know what it is too..!”—Email: [email protected]

racy, on a scale from minus 10 toplus 10 was -7, and Armenia’s +5.That leaves us with only three suc-cesses: Albania, Poland and Esto-nia. Albania had a somewhat lessthan exemplary transition to de-mocracy, and it still may not be in-cluded in the list of fully consoli-dated democracies. Data on pre-transition inequality are non-exis-tent for Albania, so we really donot know how much inequality in-creased there.

In this short piece, obviously, Icannot go into political develop-ments which were also much worsethan expected, nor into wars thatcontinue and have cost, conserva-tively estimated, 250,000 lives sofar (based on Nicholas Sambanis’database on ethnic conflict). Norcan I reflect major declines in lifeexpectancy in Russia and Ukraine,or the sluggish or negative popula-tion growth rates in most Europeanformer socialist countries, or per-vasive corruption and kleptocracy.So, what is the balance sheet oftransition? Only three or at mostfive or six countries could be saidto be on the road to becoming a partof the rich and (relatively) stablecapitalist world. Many of the othercountries are falling behind, andsome are so far behind that theycannot aspire to go back to the pointwhere they were when the wall fellfor several decades. The wall fellonly for some. The writer, aSerbian-American economist, isthe presidential professor at theCity University of New York’sGraduate Centre.— Courtesy: The Japan Times

The making of history

HISTORY was in the makingon the afternoon of FridayNov 14 2014. Throwing

aside diplomatic norms, AshrafGhani on his first State visit to Pa-kistan after being sworn in asAfghanistan’s President, visitedGHQ immediately after landing atIslamabad. Former Pakistani Am-bassador to Kabul Rustam ShahMohmand commented that a foreignHead of State heading straight to-wards a military HQ on arrival car-ries a lot more than ceremonial im-portance, “the Afghan Presidentmeans business, he knows where thereal power rests”. He does indeed!With the Pakistani PM still winginghis way back from UK, Mian NawazSharif’s pointman for Afghanistan,PM’s National Security and ForeignAffairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz, whomet Ashraf Ghani soon after his in-auguration as President, representedthe Cabinet. Ashraf Ghani remarkedhe had immediately made up hismind to accept Gen RaheelShareef’s invitation to visit GHQwhen the COAS visited Kabul a fewdays earlier. These visits, alongwiththat of newly appointed DG ISI LtGen Rizwan Akhtar only two daysafter assuming office, triggered avisible change in Kabul’s attitudetowards Pakistan.

A pragmatic and detailed GHQbriefing outlining the developingregional security environment post-2014, in particular the emerging ISthreat, evoked spontaneous andwarm response. Paying tributes forthe sacrifices made by our soldiers,President Ghani said his unprec-edented GHQ visit underscored afirm resolve for strengthening bilat-eral security and defence ties, hisdelegation therefore included theentire range of Afghan civilian andmilitary hierarchy, First DeputyChief Executive Mohmand Khan,

Abdullah Abdullah’s No. 2 lateAhmad Shah Masood’s brother,Ahmad Zia Masood, SpecialEnvoy to the Afghan President,Ashraf Ghani’s closest confi-dante, National Security Advi-sor Mohammad Hanif Atmar,

Afghan Defence Minister GenBismillah Muhammadi and theChief of the General Staff Gen SherMuhammad Karimi. Not physicallypresent, Vice President Gen RashidDostum and Gulbadin Hikmatyarwere represented. All decisionswould have the full backing of allthe political and military leadershipof Afghanistan.

Among major decisions takenduring the GHQ meeting, real-timeintelligence sharing, brigadestrength training for Afghan defenceand security personnel, avoiding un-necessary recrimination through themedia or through any third party, fa-cilitated by a hot link between thetwo armies, etc. Army Chief GenShareef emphasized that a peacefuland stable Afghanistan being in thebest interests of Pakistan, the onlyway to ensure regional security wasto treat terrorism ‘as our commonenemy’, preventing militants insanctuaries on either side fromcrossing the porous 1,500 mile longborder. Afghan Defence MinisterBismillah Muhammadi went evenfurther, “a proposal for “joint mili-tary” that was also floated might‘likely become a reality soon.”

Terming the full-fledged andmulti-faceted talks between the Pa-kistani PM and himself an enor-mous achievement the AfghanPresident summarized it as, “ashared vision to serve as the heartof Asia, ensuring economic inte-gration by enhancing connectivitybetween South and Central Asiathrough energy, gas and oil pipe-lines becoming a reality and notremaining a dream. In the narrativefor the future for our people, themost neglected of our people aregoing to become stakeholders in aprosperous economy and in stableand peaceful countries, our faithsare linked because terror knows no

boundaries.” In statesmanship parexcellence that the people livingacross the divide of the DurandLine have been bereft of during theKarzai-decade of venom and ha-tred, Ashraf Ghani commented,“We have overcome obstacles of 13years in three days, we will not per-mit the past to destroy the future.”

That danger of destroying the fu-ture is from the “spoilers” with avested interest to protect their “nui-sance value” by keeping the regionunstable. Paid elements in the Paki-stani media were activated at shortnotice, “how come the Afghan Presi-dent visited GHQ directly withoutbeing accompanied by (or havingmet) the President, PM or any se-nior Cabinet Minister?” With mili-tants fighting against Pakistan likelyto lose their Afghan safe havens,their religious proxies are alreadygoing to town against our securityestablishment. Both Afghanistan andPakistan have to be very watchfulabout incidents and instigation, anall-out effort will be made to createproblems. Take for example the re-marks wrongfully attributed to SartajAziz that “militants posing no threatto Pakistan should not be targetted”.Taken out of context it was a blatantmisrepresentation meant to embar-rass Army Chief during his US visit.

With Hamid Karzai singularlyfixated on anti-Pakistan rhetoric, bi-lateral ties had remained quite frosty.Once Ghani took office, his mostimportant step was cancelling thearms deal his predecessor had con-cluded with India. Pakistan does notprotest India’s friendship with Af-ghanistan but that cannot be used asa platform against Pakistan. Deter-mined to have honest cooperationand friendship, the new AfghanPresident seems bent on bringingabout a paradigm change for the bet-ter. Given the genuine open-heartedness and bonhomie seen andfelt during the visit, there has neverbeen an opportunity as favourable asexists today.

The day after the GHQ visit theIndian media went berserk, reactingadversely to the rather sudden and

Bomb threat for the same millenniumagenda. When Burmese Buddhistsmassacre Muslim Rohinyaga, do theycall it Buddhist terror? No, not at all;Aung San Suu Kyi the ‘promoter ofdemocracy and peace’, winner of theNobel peace prize who is not onlyformally responsible for the killingbut has indirectly encouraged themis seen kissing with Obama, another‘champion’ of Nobel peace.

To retain the US army in SouthKorea they forced Seoul governmentto make law to create prostitution dis-tricts for the pleasure of US army, didthey call it a Christian habit of destroy-ing morality in Korea? Okinawa hasvoted in favour of a liberal who prom-ised to throw out the US Base on thatisland which has destroyed Japaneseculture for last 70 years; did they callit Christian state destroying Japaneseyouth forcibly with power of money?The West is using the blame game todefame Islam; it was them who cre-ated jihadis to fight Afghanistanagainst Russians, it was them who cre-ated and financed Osama bin laden, itwas them who created ISIS and whoare even now refusing to stop financ-ing them as long as they fight againstAmerican bosom enemy Assad. Paki-stan is an Islamic republic and wantsto live in peace with others. The westis aiding Christian terror in the worldand thus helping to defame Islam!What an irony.—Karachi

TharNASHRA FATIMA

The heartbreaking news of infantsdying in Thar due to malnutrition anddiseases show just how poorly thecountry has fared on the social front.Pakistan is largely an agriculturalcountry and yet, for children to diedue to lack of food caused by droughtin areas they live in is unbearable.This is a case of gross negligence. Theincompetence mixed with the inatten-tion of the Provincial government hasbrought the situation in Thar to sucha disastrous point. In fact, it is not somuch irresponsibility as it is inhu-manity which is the cause behind theloss of young lives in that numbers.

Why does the PPP remain inpower when it refuses to work to-wards ensuring that people get foodto eat? Isn’t this what they promised?And isn’t this what they continue topromise every season of election?Being in power for the last six yearsin Sindh, they had more than enoughtime to assess the situation, formu-late a viable plan and implement thatplan to bring the drought conditionunder some control. The fact is thatthe PPP has made a mockery out ofits own slogan. An advice to the PPPleadership: do not scream thecatchphrase ‘roti, kapra aur makaan’in your next elections campaign. Evena child knows, not to make public thepromises he does not intend to keep.—Islamabad

Unhygienicschool toilets

SIDRA TALHA

Hygienic, clean, adequate bathroomsdon’t score top on the priority list ofschool administrations. Hence,poorly-maintained and unsupervisedtoilets. Ultimately students are reluc-tant to go latrine. Leaking bathroomceilings, cracked piping, broken doorsand fixtures, clogged commodes,writings all over the walls and non-availability of soap plus water are notunique to these negligence plaguedwashrooms. Thus, children either‘hold it in’ or resist drinking waterduring the school day. Consequentlyhealth issues like chronic constipa-tion, incontinence and urinary infec-tions are common among school go-ing kids. Students who don’t haveenough staying power are susceptibleto Hepatitis, cholera, diarrhoea and

many other problems when they stepinto germ-blasting, unsanitary bath-rooms. As Urine, blood and otherbodily excreted fluids found on toi-let seats and floors have the potentialof spreading diseases. Furthermoreslipping and falling mishaps eventu-ate more often in dilapidated,unrepaired, unsecured washrooms. Ina nutshell, provision of clean toiletsrepresents a healthy, respectful anddisciplined learning environment;filthy toilets are utterly demoralizingand unsafe.—Via email

What is PPPGovt up to?

SYEDA HIBAH AHMED

PPP government has failed miserablyto make conditions better in Sindh.With so much happenings in Pakistanand the recent amidst threat of the cy-clone, the government needs to wakeup from its slumber and deliver to itspeople. It is either now or never con-sidering the current turmoil all Paki-stanis and particularly Sindh inhabit-ants are going through. The recentcourse of blunders which the PPP gov-ernment has exhibited clearly indicatesthat they need to develop politicalmaturity. So here I would actually pro-vide an overview of what the PPP gov-ernment acquired in past few months.

Qaim Ali Shah has claimed thatthe people who got killed by the poi-soned alcohol (Kachee Sharab) con-sumption were actually martyrs. Imean firstly who gave you the author-ity to judge the criterion to be calleda martyr (shaheed) or is it some wayto disguise your own negligence? Theentire local and international mediais talking about the brutal conditionsin Tharparkar. The increasing infantmortality rate due to starvation is sim-ply undeniable but even then our be-loved PPP government claims thatnothing of this nature has occurredand that it is nothing extr-ordinary.Well; the question arises here that Mr.Shah if you could take out time fromconsuming nihari, paye, qormay andbiryani then you might be in the frameof mind to give your verdict.

Governance is not based on giv-ing your leadership to a young ladwho is alien to the dynamics of Paki-stani politics merely because hesomehow claims to be the direct an-cestor. Moreover, flying to Londonand making claims shows the politi-cal maturity young Zardari has beenengrained with. If you do not botherabout your image then kindly don’tshatter ours in front of the interna-tional media. Likewise, there is noth-ing to be proud of in paying Rs. 1000to 700,000 people as well as a com-mitment of biryani and burger tomake them your jiyalay. Your jiyalasare actually distinct and they do notrequire any bribery what so ever.

Governance is done through di-plomacy but coming up with such irk-ing comments that people choose toresign from the Parliament Houseshows what democratic principles theparty is following. Lastly, mockingand ignoring a major cyclone threatthat can rupture the paradigms of thisstate by claiming that a shrine willbe the saviour is only depressing.Despite such political responsibilitydepicted by the party leadership, I willjust say ‘Jiye Bhutto!’—Via email

unexpected rapprochement be-tween the Afghan and Pakistansecurity establishments. The de-cades of vitriol that India had in-stilled within the Afghan militarypsyche took less than two hours todissipate. By the time the MI-17helicopter carrying the AfghanPresident took off from GHQaround 5 pm, the “great game” hadundergone a 180º sea change. Thevisit of the COAS Gen Shareef tothe US thus gained added impor-tance. The US can only feel re-lieved and satisfied that the rap-prochement it has trying for the lastdecade to stabilize the region hasfinally taken place. In the face ofthe developing IS threat, the Paki-stan Army’s role is of critical im-portance to the peace and stabilityof the region. Which other Armyin the world has taken on Jihadistssuccessfully?

Even given the historical affin-ity the love-fest realpolitik willdominate emotions, a cold calcu-lated pragmatic realism based oneconomics. Dependant upon “rev-enues” from those passing throughtheir geographical location for cen-turies, Afghans stand to make bil-lions of US dollars from royaltieson gas pipelines, power transmis-sion lines and traffic on the “Cen-tral Asian Corridor”. Economi-cally Pakistan may not need Af-ghanistan as much as Afghanistanneeds Pakistan but without gas andpower, our economic resurgencewill remain moribund. Both coun-tries stand to gain exponentially.Accolades are appropriate for theSharif govt for a most significantmajor foreign policy success, andone daresays, both a political andeconomic force-multiplier. For thefirst time in three decades we canlook with some hope for peace andstability in the region. Mian Sahibmust now look inwards and carryout the electoral reforms vital forboth political and economic eman-cipation of the masses.— The writer, retired armyofficer, is a leading defence andsecurity analyst.

Ikram SehgalEmail:[email protected]

MARK GALEOTTI

SO RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putinleft the Group of 20 summit early because he needed to catch up on his sleep.

Sure. He had about 17 hours of flying timeto get back to Moscow, and somehow I doubtthat the president of Russia has the same ex-perience of economy air travel as we mor-tals, with on one side a squealing baby andon the other someone who gets you out ofyour seat every half-hour as he heads off toget something to drink or duly go to the bath-room.

So what does it say that Putin left earlyand used such a transparent excuse to do so?Obviously, Putin was smarting at the recep-tion he received in Brisbane. He is a mansensitive of his dignity and the dignity of hisoffice. The visit started badly when Putin wasgreeted only by a junior minister, instead ofthe governor general and attorney generalwho welcomed the other leaders. Then, Ca-nadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper ad-

Putin’s G20 Snubmirably overturned the usual cliches about Ca-nadian overpoliteness by saying: “I guess I’llshake your hand, but I have only one thing tosay to you: You need to get out of Ukraine.”

Putin is a president who has increasinglyallowed himself to be cocooned bylikeminded allies and craven courtiers, andwho avoids the Internet and even spends mostof his time at his Novo-Ogaryovo residencerather than come into Moscow. The experi-ence of being in the company of people whoare not intimidated or impressed by him couldhardly have been pleasant.

It’s no wonder, then, that Putin cut and ran,especially before the rest of the G20 leaders’club started talking about Ukraine and he hadto cope with the experience of being treated likethe naughty schoolboy caught smoking behindthe bike sheds. But was he really expecting any-thing different? Did he genuinely believe hecould face down other world leaders? He cer-tainly did not seem at all nervous or even ac-commodating during his trip. If anything, heseemed unusually aggressive, even to the point

of resorting to counterproductive rhetoric.He castigated Ukrainian President Petro

Poroshenko for his essentially symbolic decisionto cut off government services to eastern Ukraine,noting that Moscow did not do the same to rebel-lious Chechnya. Of course, Moscow then broughtChechnya to heel with a savage invasion markedby endemic human rights abuses and the level-ing of most of Grozny. One presumes that thiswas not quite the parallel Putin was commend-ing to his Ukrainian counterpart.

Likewise, in an interview with German tele-vision — and Russia’s European Union policystill assumes that where Berlin goes, the rest ofEurope follows — Putin wondered whetherthose in favor of sanctions against Russia had“thought about what they are doing at all or not?Was something switched off in their brains?”Who was he insulting? The last serious surveyof German public opinion revealed that morethan 70 percent of the population supportedsanctions. So did Putin simply have a nastyshock when he arrived in Brisbane?

That might be part of it, but it also says

something about how Putin feels about inter-national institutions in general and especiallythose in which Russia is a minor player. Hedoesn’t like them. He feels, not always en-tirely without reason, that they are mecha-nisms created by the West to protect its inter-ests and force a series of values —democracy,free markets, transparency — down the throatsof the rest of the world.

Of course, Putin uses international insti-tutions and systems when he can, not leastinvoking them against the sanctions. Time andagain he has argued, as in an interview withTASS last week, that they are illegal becauseand are “undermining the entire system ofinternational economic relations.” But the truetest of faith in an institution is a willingnessto subordinate yourself to it when it is not inyour direct interests. Putin’s lack of respectfor the G20 simply mirrors his lack of respectfor international law and institutions alike.

—Courtesy: MT [Mark Galeotti is professor of global af-

fairs at New York University]

KIEV: Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk addresses a news conference.

A soldier stands at the site of a suicide attack in Irbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdishregion in northern Iraq.

KIEV (MOSCOW)—Russia urgedUkraine’s leaders on Wednesday to talkdirectly to separatists to end the conflictin the east, but Kiev rejected the call andtold Moscow to stop “playing games”aimed at legitimizing “terrorists”.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia ofdestabilizing Ukraine by providing therebels with money, arms and reinforce-ments. The West has imposed sanctionson Moscow over the conflict in whichmore than 4,000 people have been killedsince mid-April.

Russia backs the separatists but de-nies it is directly involved in the conflictin the Donbass region.

“We are calling for the establishmentof stable contacts between Kiev andDonbass representatives with the aim ofreaching mutually acceptable agreements,”Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovsaid in a policy address to the lower house

Ukraine rules out directtalks with separatists

of parliament in Moscow.But Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny

Yatseniuk hit back, accusing Moscow oftrying to push Ukraine into recognizing thepro-Russian rebels who are fighting gov-ernment troops to split parts of the easternDonetsk and Luhansk regions from Kiev.

Speaking at a government meeting, hedeclared Kiev would not speak directly tothe separatists and repeated the phraseslowly in Russian for emphasis, saying:“We will not hold direct talks with yourmercenaries.”

A ceasefire was agreed on Sept. 5 inthe Belarussian capital of Minsk as part ofa wider deal between Moscow, Kiev andthe rebels under the auspices of the Orga-nization for Security and Cooperation inEurope (OSCE) - with a former presidentrepresenting Kiev to avoid formal recog-nition of the rebels.

But the truce is under constant pressure,

with deaths of government troops and civil-ians reported daily. Kiev and the West accuseRussia of sending tanks and troops to backthe rebels but Moscow denies the charges.

Lavrov and president Vladimir Putinheld talks with German Foreign MinisterFrank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow onTuesday but failed to overcome deep riftsover Ukraine. Yatseniuk called on Mos-cow to “stop playing games aimed at le-gitimizing bandits and terrorists.”

“If you (Russia) want peace - fulfillthe Minsk agreement,” he said.

Lavrov said in Moscow that the “partyof war” - supporters of Kiev’s militarycampaign against the rebels - had tried toexclude the separatists from peace movesand to “force the West to seek the consentof Russia to act as a side in the conflict.”

“This is a completely counter-produc-tive and provocative line that has no chanceof succeeding,” Lavrov said.—Reuters

JEDDAH—The Border Guardhas widened borders in theNorthern Border Province,Tabuk, and in the EasternProvince by 20 km for secu-rity reasons.

It issued a warning thatcitizens and expatriates arebanned from picnicking,hunting, grazing their animalsor participating in any otheractivity within these zones forone year.

KSA expands bufferzones on borders

The Border Guard is fol-lowing an order issued by thegovernment dated Nov. 4, saidspokesman Maj. Gen.Muhammad Al-Ghamdi in astatement on Monday.

Al-Ghamdi said the Bor-der Guard has already startedimplementing the new instruc-tions and posted signboardsdetailing the new zones. Vio-lators of the ban would be pun-ished, he said.—AN

MOHAMMED FAHAD AL-HARTHI

ON SUNDAY in Riyadh, leaders of the six-nation GulfCooperation Council (GCC) made a critical pact promising a new era of regional and global political and eco-

nomic stability. The meeting was the initiative of Custodian ofthe Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. Chairing the gathering,he used his immense stature as the most respected senior states-man in the region, and a global icon in terms of seeking dialogueamong nations and various faiths, to skillfully hammer out aconsensus agreement. This was no small task, coming as it didin the face of seemingly insurmountable differences and unprec-edented tension in the GCC over the past year.

It was a make-or-break summit that would have had far-reach-ing consequences if it had failed, considering the many chal-lenges in the region. It ended the eight-month rift with Qatar andnow the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emiratesand Bahrain will return to Doha. In addition, the GCC summitnext month in that city is assured.

The GCC leaders on Nov. 16 issued a carefully worded state-ment that they came to an agreement complementing the origi-nal Riyadh pact of April 17 this year. This was a commitment byall member states not to undermine the “interests, security andstability” of each other.

The April meeting had followed Saudi Arabia, the UnitedArab Emirates and Bahrain recalling their ambassadors fromQatar in March, having accused it of meddling in their internalaffairs. The three leading Gulf states had then said that Qatarhad failed to abide by a November 2013 agreement on non-inter-ference.

Sunday’s agreement stressed that the countries would notsupport media organizations hostile to GCC interests, or move-ments that pose a security and political threat to the region. Thepact also emphasized that member-nations must redouble theirefforts to ensure the safety and stability of the region.

The people of the Gulf are politically astute and know that amistake at this juncture would affect everyone’s future. Theyknow that continued disunity can provide ample space for hos-tile opportunists to undermine the region’s prospects for growth.

There is no doubt that the international community is acutelyaware of the Gulf region’s strategic and economic importance. Arecent article in the Daily Telegraph’s business section has ar-gued that a “fracture” in the GCC threatens the world’s oil sup-ply, a risk exceeding that of the danger posed by the IslamicState of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). It is a recognition that the GCCremains the most influential institution in the Arab political world,even more so now that there is a lack of unity among other Arabcountries in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Gulf states are facing huge internal and external chal-lenges that provide further support for the appeal by Saudi Arabiato transform the GCC into a European Union-style body, with ajoint security apparatus, a common market and monetary union.The completion of planned joint electricity and rail projects wouldgive fruition to this vision and ensure greater investment be-tween the six nations.

is clear now that time is not in favor of the people of theGulf. The Riyadh summit is only the beginning of a hard roadahead, but the history of the GCC shows it is up to the task.

—Courtesy: Arab News

King Abdullah,architect of GCC pact

OSAMA AL SHARIF

FOR the past few weeks, the Obama administration has beensending mixed messages on Syria, Iraq and how best tostave off the threat of the Islamic State in both countries.

Naturally, these messages resonated across the international coa-lition, led by the US, which has been scrambling to defeat ISmilitants, through air strikes and on the ground.

Last week reports suggested that President Barack Obamahad asked for a formal review of his Syria strategy, but on Sun-day he denied such reports. Speaking from Brisbane, Australia,he said that “while the White House was constantly reviewingits tactics in both Syria and Iraq, the basic elements of the strat-egy remained in place”.

He also rejected reports that the US was considering sendingground troops to fight IS (or ISIL), adding that this would happenonly if “we discover that ISIL had gotten possession of a nuclearweapon... and we had to run an operation to get it out of their hands”.

Syria, Obama brushed aside talk that the US was “in someways going to enter into an alliance with [President Bashar]Assad”, adding that such a thing “would alienate the country’sSunni Muslim population”. This contradicts a position that heallegedly took last week, according to senior advisers at the WhiteHouse, that it may not be possible to defeat IS militants withoutremoving Assad from power.

contradictions reflect the reality of conflicting positionsinside the White House, on the one side, and the Pentagon onthe other. They are compounded by the reality in both Iraqand Syria. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and JointChiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey denied re-ports last week that the US was considering shifting its strat-egy on Assad, IS and Syria.

They said that the focus remains on helping Iraqi forces de-feat “the Sunni militant group inside Iraq”. But this is not theway some of America’s closest regional allies, like Turkey andSaudi Arabia, see it. These two countries insist that Assad’s re-moval is key to ending the civil war in Syria, uniting the opposi-tion and eventually defeating IS.

Such differences complicated Washington’s relations withsome of its allies, such as Turkey, which has refused to allow theUS to use its airbases or dispatch its own troops to save the be-leaguered Syrian border town of Kobani from falling into IShands. Turkey wants to create a no-fly zone in Syria, a humani-tarian corridor, and makes the ouster of Assad the main objec-tive of the current campaign. It is also suspicious of US help toSyria’s Kurdish resistance group, which it considers a terroristorganisation. Commentators agree that without Turkey’s directinvolvement in the war against IS, especially in Syria, the cam-paign will be long and difficult.

The US has been following a more coherent strategy in Iraq.It dispatched more than 3,000 military advisers to train the Iraqiarmy, and in the past few days it opened training centres forSunni tribes in Anbar province. It pressured the Baghdad gov-ernment to overhaul the top leadership of the Iraqi army.

And in the past few days, the Iraqi military made importantgains in Beiji, in the north, driving out IS fighters. It is nowpreparing to move on Tikrit, but the biggest test will be to expelIS militants from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and a mainbase for the terrorist group.

Gen. Dempsey offered to send US fighting troops to Iraq,but Prime Minister Hamed Abbadi reportedly declined the of-fer. Despite Obama’s rejection of such a possibility, the num-ber of US military advisers in Iraq is likely to grow in the com-ing weeks.

Yet even if the US strategy in Iraq is finally paying off, thebiggest challenge for the coalition will be in Syria. The US andits allies are yet to carry out plans to train and arm the “moder-ate” Syrian opposition. Recently it was announced that 2,000Syrian rebels will be trained in Turkey.

But while the air campaign in Iraq is backed by groundtroops, the Iraqi army, the peshmerga and the Sunni and Shiitemilitias, the situation in Syria is different. The opposition,mainly the Free Syrian Army (FSA), has been losing ground inthe north and east of the country, to IS and Jabhat Al Nusra —who reportedly agreed to put their differences aside and unitetheir efforts — on the one hand, and to the regime’s army, onthe other.

—Courtesy: JT [The writer is a journalist and political commentator based

in Amman]

Obama’s Assad policy

Putin wants tieswith US based onequality, respect

M O S C O W — P r e s i d e n tVladimir Putin said onWednesday Russia was readyfor cooperation with the UnitedStates, provided it was basedon respect for each others’ in-terests and non-interference ininternal affairs.

Putin, who has fiercelycriticized Washington over thecrisis in Ukraine that hasstrained U.S.-Russian rela-tions, spelled out his basicterms for better ties after re-ceiving the credentials of thenew U.S. ambassador to Rus-sia, John Tefft. Putin and Tefftbriefly stood side by side, pos-ing for photographers, but saidlittle to each other at a Krem-lin ceremony where severalother envoys also handed thepresident their credentials.

“We are ready for practi-cal cooperation with ourAmerican partners in differentfields, based on the principlesof respect for each others’ in-terests, equal rights and non-interference in internal mat-ters,” Putin later told the cer-emony. “We are working onthe assumption that Russia andthe United States bear specialresponsibility for upholdinginternational security and sta-bility, and counteracting glo-bal challenges and threats.”

Putin’s remarks echoedearlier comments he has madeon relations with Washington,which he has accused of tryingto dominate world affairs andprevent Russia increasing itsglobal influence. The UnitedStates and the European Unionhave imposed sanctions onRussia over its policies inUkraine, where separatistshave risen up against govern-ment forces in the east.

US President BarackObama warned on Sunday thatRussia would remain isolatedby the international communityif Putin continued to violateinternational law in Ukraine.Putin has dismissed such criti-cism and blames the crisis onthe West.—Reuters

BAGHDAD—Kurdish peshmerga forceslaunched a new offensive Wednesday targetingIslamic State group extremists in Iraq, even as asuicide bomber killed at least five people in theKurds’ regional capital.

The operation came as Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan said details haven’t beenfinalized for a deal that would have his countryto train rebels to battle the Islamic State in Syria,where the militants also hold territory.

That will be a major topic for retired MarineGen. John Allen, the U.S. envoy for the interna-tional coalition to counter Islamic State group,during planned talks Wednesday in Ankara.

The new peshmerga offensive targeted ar-

New Kurdish offensivetargets Islamic State group

eas in Diyala and Kirkuk provinces seized bythe extremists in their August offensive that sawthem capture a third of Iraq, said Jaber Yawer, aspokesman for Kurdish forces.

In Diyala, peshmerga forces worked in co-ordination with Iraqi security forces to retakethe towns of Saadiya and Jalula, Yawer said. InKirkuk, Kurdish forces backed by US-ledairstrikes launched attacks to retake territory nearthe town of Kharbaroot, located 35 kilometers(22 miles) west of the city of Kirkuk.

The Islamic State group has declared a self-styled Islamic caliphate in areas under its con-trol in Iraq and Syria, governing it according toits violent interpretation of Shariah law.—AP

MOSCOW—Russia’s foreignpolicy chief on Wednesdayclaimed that Ukraine’s decisionto freeze budget payments tothe eastern rebel-held territo-ries could be a precursor to amilitary onslaught.

Ukrainian officials an-nounced earlier this month thatthey will freeze the $2.6 billionin state support to the areas nowin rebel hands, which could fur-ther worsen the deplorable eco-nomic situation there. In an ad-dress to the parliament, RussianForeign Minister Sergey Lavrovsaid he suspects that by doing so,Kiev is “preparing the ground foranother invasion in order to solvethe issue by force.”

Dozens of armored trucks,artillery and other heavy weap-onry were seen moving around

Russia indicates assualton eastern Ukraine

rebel-held areas in the past weeks,fueling fears of the resumption ofthe hostilities there. Despite thecease-fire, civilians and combat-ants still are dying in daily shell-ing. Fearing an imminent escala-tion in hostilities, Ukrainian Presi-dent Petro Poroshenko earlier thismonth announced a deploymentof additional troops to the east todefend cities still under govern-ment control.

Heavy artillery earlier thisweek damaged a water filter sta-tion that supplies most ofDonetsk, the largest city underseparatist control. The Donetskmayor’s office said in a state-ment on Wednesday that a ma-jority of neighborhoods have norunning water while the remain-ing capacities are used for cen-tral heating.—AP

US senate blocksnational security

overhaul bidWASHINGTON - US SenateRepublicans blocked a sweep-ing overhaul of a National Se-curity Agency program thatwould have ended thegovernment’s controversialbulk collection of data aboutAmericans.

The vote marks a blow forPresident Barack Obama, whohad supported the reforms, andsets up a showdown in 2015when crucial surveillance pro-visions are set to expire.

The USA Freedom Act,also backed by Silicon Valleygroups and major technologyfirms, marked an ambitious bi-partisan effort to reform thenation’s surveillance apparatusfollowing the revelations ofgovernment spying by formersecurity contractor EdwardSnowden.

The measure earned a ma-jority, 58-42, with four Repub-licans joining all but oneDemocrat in favor. But it fellshort of the 60-vote thresholdto overcome blocking tactics.It would have reined in theNSA, whose clandestine pro-gram has been scooping up vastamounts of electronic data oninnocent US citizens as it pur-sues information on terrorthreats. It also would have re-placed the NSA’s blanket au-thority with a far narrower oneallowing it to obtain callrecords from phone companiesbut only in specific cases.

“Obviously I’m disap-pointed by tonight’s vote,” saidthe bill’s sponsor, SenatorPatrick Leahy. “This lifelongVermonter will not give up thefight.” Proponents had been ea-ger to progress before January,when they envision a more dif-ficult path for the bill in a newCongress controlled byObama’s Republican foes, afterthe GOP swept to victory thismonth in midterm elections.

The bill would have cru-cially modified the Patriot Act,hastily approved in the aftermathof the September 2001 attacks onthe United States, by changingthe secret Foreign IntelligenceSurveillance Court to include apanel of advocates who wouldargue for civil liberties. courtcurrently hears only thegovernment’s side in the sur-veillance cases.

The reforms are likely toface another test next year, as thePatriot Act’s Section 215, whichcontains the legal justification forthe dragnet phone metadata pro-gram, comes up for renewal. Thetop Republican on the SenateIntelligence Committee, SenatorSaxby Chambliss — who retiresnext month — defended the bulkcollection and stressed Ameri-cans have not suffered fromabuse of the program.

There has been “not onesingle case” in which “anyAmerican has had their privacyrights breached,” Chamblisssaid on the Senate floor. “Itsimply has not happened.” Andincoming Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnellwarned that the reforms couldstrip intelligence agencies oftools needed to fight extremistslike the Islamic State.

The intelligence panel’schair, Senator Dianne Feinstein,had backed the reforms as per-haps “the best opportunity toreform the metadata collectionprogram while maintaining thegovernment’s ability to use thistool to prevent terrorist attacksat home and abroad.”

She also hailed its transpar-ency clause that would have al-lowed “private companies tomore fully report the number oftimes they receive governmentrequests for information.” Sena-tor Ron Wyden, a strong sup-porter of the reforms, expresseddisappointment at the vote butlooked forward to the comingdebate in full public view.—AFP

The report ‘Born toosoon: the global action reporton pre-term birth’ said thatPakistan had made very slowprogress in maternal and childhealth. It said most poorwomen at risk and receivingpoor health care in Pakistanwas in rural areas and urbanslums, which were difficult toaccess. Chronic infections,diabetes and hypertensionwere major risk factors.

8 infants dieFrom Page 1

India handsdossierFrom Page 1

India as a safe haven to planthe attacks.

The plot deepened con-cern in India that militantgroups were setting up basesin the east of the country whilesecurity forces have been fo-cused on the threat from Paki-stan-based militants on themore heavily guarded westernflank.

A team headed by thechief of India’s National In-vestigations Agency, the maincounter-terrorism arm, heldtalks with Bangladeshi offi-cials in Dhaka and handedover the list of suspectsthought to be hiding there,Mufti Mahmud Khan, an offi-cial of the Rapid Action Bat-talion said.

Under Sheikh Hasina,Bangladesh has been workingclosely with India to tacklemilitant groups includinghanding over people that In-dia suspects of stirring troublein the remote northeast region.

Khan said Bangladesh hadgiven the Indian team its ownlist of wanted men — 51 in all,most of them suspected ofcriminal acts who had slippedacross the porous border intoIndia.

The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was thought tohave been lying low since au-thorities cracked down on itafter it detonated nearly 500bombs almost simultaneouslyon one day in 2005 acrossBangladesh, including in thecapital, Dhaka.

Its militants later carriedout suicide attacks on severalcourthouses, killing 25 peopleand wounding hundreds. —AP

This year 12 cases of polio-virus have been reported inBalochistan, seven from Qila Abdullah and five from Quetta.The Quetta zone, comprising Quetta, Qila Abdullah andPishin districts, is marked as a high-risk area for polio inBalochistan and a majority of cases have been reported fromthere.

According to doctors, a child needs to be administered poliodrops more than 20 times to develop a strongerimmune system to fight the crippling virus. There are somechildren who had been administered polio drops three to seventimes but still contracted it.

Another polio caseFrom Page 1

items purchased as parts ofanti-terrorism operations fromthe money given to IB.

“I am ready to provide thelist of purchased items to ImranKhan, but he will have to prom-ise to keep it confidential,” Darsaid. He lashed out at ImranKhan saying that what the PTIchief was preaching to the younggeneration. He advised ImranKhan to stop staging a ‘strangedrama’ every evening. “Therewill be an open war if ImranKhan doesn’t refrain from thisdrama,” he warned. “I am justfed up. I am not going to tolerateanymore. I am cautioning ImranKhan through your show thatlet’s there be an open war.” Darstated that Imran Khan was notbehaving like a leader.

“Imran Khan should un-dergo blood test to prove his in-nocence in Sita White case. Mycupboard is full of evidenceagainst Imran Khan,” he said,urging him not to cross the lim-its. The finance minister deniedallegations that he had launderedNawaz Sharif’s money abroad.“The affidavit Imran Khan talksabout was taken on gun point bygenerals,” he said. He said thatFinance Ministry had zero cor-ruption, adding that he was nottaking his salary as finance min-ister.—INP

Dar rebuffsFrom Page 1 Division had given an assurance

to the Public Accounts Commit-tee to resume the suspendeddevelopment work on the saidschemes in next three days.“Additional Secretary CabinetDivision Khusro Pervaiz Khanhas assured that availability offunds for the said schemes andprojects will be ensured andconstruction work will start incoming three days” he added.

It is pertinent to note herethat on April 19, last year athree-member bench of theapex court, headed by ChiefJustice of Pakistan IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry duringhearing of suo motu caseagainst former Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf for dolingout billions of rupees in theform of development funds tendays after having completed histenure in office, directed theexecuting agencies to stopimplementation of the develop-ment schemes until its furtherorder, as former prime ministerhad approved utilization of Rs47 billion against the budgetaryallocation of Rs 22 billion dur-ing the financial year 2012-13.

The court observed thatprima facie the spending ofhuge funds by Raja for his con-stituency and obliging otherswas nothing other than pre-pollrigging and also questioned the

Work on Rs 10bFrom Page 1

way the prime ministers doledout funds on the wishes ofmembers of parliament, pro-vincial assemblies and notablesof different areas. The courtalso stopped Accountant Gen-eral Pakistan Revenues fromreleasing funds for PWP.

SA ask IKFrom Back Page

Parliamentary Leader in SindhAssembly Syed Faisal Sabzwarisaid that PTI Chairman’s statementhad hurt the feelings of the peopleof Sindh and henceforth, he shouldwithdraw his statement withoutfail. He said those, who had beenlambasting the politicians werenow behaving as the champions ofthe politics.

Govt not to create hurdleFrom Page 1in the way of a peaceful rally

but would take matters into itsown hands if the situation turnsviolent.

“If anyone wants to do ashow of strength in Islamabad,we are prepared for it but ifsomeone tries to create chaosthen we are prepared for thattoo,” Nisar said, while address-ing the media in Islamabad.

“There is no obstacle if anyone wants to hold a politicalrally on November 30 but a pro-tocol needs to be followed andpermission needs to be soughtfrom the district administra-tion.”

The interior minister furthersaid that within the next twodays the district administrationwill contact PTI’s leadershipand decide the venue for therally and agreement on certainconditions.

“If the PTI clarifies thatthey are holding a peaceful rally

main ethnic groups to effectively wage waragainst each other, saying such claims were“hurtful”.

“Of course Afghanistan will not allow aproxy war between Pakistan and India,” Karzaisaid in an address to a think tank, saying he was“sure” India wouldn’t allow such a scenario ei-ther.

In an AFP interview earlier this week,Musharraf warned that Pakistan would look touse ethnic Pashtuns to counter if India tries toachieve its goal of creating an “anti-PakistanAfghanistan”.

“If Indians are using some elements of theethnic entities in Afghanistan, then Pakistan willuse its own support for ethnic elements, and ourethnic elements are certainly Pashtuns,” theformer general said ahead of the pullout laterthis year of Nato combat troops after 13 years.

But Karzai, who has long accused Islamabadof trying to destabilise the Kabul government,said any suggestion that Pashtuns would do

Afghanistan won’t allowPak-India proxy war: Karzai

From Page 1

Pakistan’s bidding was “hurtful” and an insultto Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group.

“That was a very unfortunate remark,” saidKarzai, who is himself a Pashtun.

“Afghanistan has a history of 5,000 years.Saying that Pashtuns will be used as a tool isinsulting to Pashtuns, insulting to the people ofAfghanistan.”

Pakistan was one of only three countries thatrecognised the Taliban regime that ruled inKabul before being toppled in late 2001 after aUS-led invasion in the wake of the September11 attacks.

The Taliban’s downfall led to Karzai’s in-stallation as Afghan leader and he remained inpower until standing down as president earlierthis year.

Musharraf, who was a key ally of the USduring the invasion, is currently confined to hishome in Karachi as he battles a series of crimi-nal cases dating back to his near decade-longrule that ended in 2008.—AFP

held for 10 years withoutcharge before being releasedthis year, and currently lives inPakistan.

Rahmatullah alleges thathe was subjected to torturewhile in detention, includingbeing beaten on the soles of hisfeet with rubber flex, beingexposed to tear gas and beingimmersed upside down in wa-ter tanks.

The British defence min-istry had argued that the casecould not be heard as Britishcourts did not have jurisdictionover the actions of US forces.

Pakistani can sue overFrom Page 1

Court orders release of Paki-stani in US custody

But judge George Legattsaid in his ruling that for a Brit-ish court to refuse to hear a caseon those grounds “would seemto me to be an abdication of itsconstitutional function”.

The judgment, which waspublished by the British justiceministry, also concerns claimsmade by three Iraqi civilians ofabuse by British soldiers inIraq before they were handedover to US forces.

“It is now high time for theBritish government to abandon

its attempts to evade judicialscrutiny of its conduct in op-erations involving the US inIraq and Afghanistan, so thatjustice may finally be served,”said Sapna Malik,Rahmatullah’s lawyer.

The decision comes after aBritish court last month issueda similar ruling in a separatecase saying that a Libyan poli-tician can sue the governmentover his claim that Britain con-spired with the CIA in his “ren-dition” to Libya for torture.

British officials had pur-sued the same defence ofclaiming that the US involve-ment meant the case could notbe heard by British courts.

The judgment in Abdul-Hakim Belhaj’s favour said that“unless the English courts areable to exercise jurisdiction inthis case, these very grave alle-gations against the executivewill never be subjected to judi-cial investigation”. —AP

India hurdleFrom Page 1

Raheel’s visit to the Pentagon,where he also held importantmeeting with top US military of-ficials. Gen Raheel held meet-ings with US Chairman JointChief of Staff Gen MartinDempsey, Secretary of DefenseRobert Work and CommanderUS Marines Gen JosephDunford. The focus of thesemeetings remained on regionalsecurity, Afghanistan and long-term military-to-military rela-tions between the two countries,DG ISPR said in his Twittermessage. Pentagon SpokesmanRear Adm. John Kirby in a state-ment said that the leaders dis-cussed regional security issuesand their commitment to an en-during partnership.

They also emphasized theimportance of sustained and sub-stantive dialogue as we continueto develop the bilateral military-to-military relationship. This wasGen. Sharif’s first official visit tothe United States since becom-ing the chief of army staff inNovember 2013.—Agencies

on November 30 then the gov-ernment will facilitate them andprovide security but if they wantto attack the government andstate institutions then thereshould be no doubt that the lawwill take its course before theday of their rally,” Nisar warnedharshly.

Shifting his focus from ar-rangements of the rally to thethe rally itself, the interior min-ister once again lashed out at thePTI chairman Imran Khan.

“As an interior minister, Iam indifferent to the speechesand harsh language being usedat the rallies but as a Pakistani Iwould say that I see less revo-lution in this movement andmore chaos.”

“How is standing on top ofa container everyday and ridi-culing others a revolution?”Nisar questioned, alleging that

Imran ridicules anyone whospeaks against him in his sit-in.

“Anyone who disagreeswith Imran is ridiculed. JavedHashmi was removed as partypresident because he did notagree with Imran’s decision tomarch to PM House,” he added.

Regarding the oft-heardPTI chant, “Go Nawaz Go,” theinterior minister said the PTIshould observe patience andlearn to accept behaviour simi-lar too their own — an appar-ent dig at PTI’s move to issue ashow-cause notice to PTI law-maker, Javed Naseem, forshouting slogans of “GoKhattak Go.”

On October 4, Naseem pro-tested against his own party out-side Peshawar Press Club. Hemade scathing remarks aboutrampant corruption and nepo-tism, and challenged the author-ity of K-P Chief Minister PervezKhattak.

NEW YORK—The UN SecurityCouncil has strongly condemned“the heinous and cowardly mur-ders” of US humanitarian aidworker Abdul-Rahman Kassig andat least 15 Syrian captives by theIslamic State (IS) - earlier knownas Islamic State of Iraq and theLevant (ISIL) - reiterating that theextremist rebels must be defeated.“These crimes once again demon-strate the brutality of ISIL, whichis responsible for thousands ofabuses against the Syrian andIraqi people,” said the 15-nationUN top forum in a statement hereon Tuesday.

UNSC slams killing of US aid worker

Khan’sSindhisaddressKARACHI—Speaker SindhAssemblyAgha Siraj DurraniWednesday said PPP hasopen-heartedly allowedPTI to hold its Nov 21 rallyin Larkana. “In thedemocracy, we can’t forbidanybody to hold publicgathering, the real chal-lenge will be in elections,”said the Speaker, a veteranPPP leader, in his chat withmedia persons at the SindhAssembly. “What ImranKhan will deliver to thepeople of Sindh ascompared to what ZulfiqarAli Bhutto and BenazirBhutto had given them, butit’s yet to be seen,” he said,and claimed that the PTI isnot going to organize itsrally in Larkana city, “but ina small village”. —Online

Cope ISthreat: AltafLONDON—MuttahidaQaumi Move-ment ChiefAltaf Hussain urged thegovernment to takemeasures to cope with thethreat of Islamic Statemilitants instead ofdenying their presence inthe country. In a statementissued here on Wednes-day, he said that evidenceof IS presence are poppingup in different parts of thecountry. “IS is a greaterthreat than Taliban thathas entered Pakistan,” hesaid. Hussain appealed tothe people to show unityand rid the country of thosekilling people belonging tominorities. He said that thenation should be informedabout how the jawans of thePakistan army had beenfighting militants withcourage.—Online

Erdogan hitsbackANKARA—TurkishPresidentRecep TayyipErdogan on Tuesday hitback at ridicule of hisclaim that Islamic explor-ers discovered theAmericas three centuriesbefore Columbus,accusing his Muslimcritics of lacking “self-confidence”. In anaggressive rebuttal of thecriticism heaped in somequarters on his com-ments, Erdogan alsosuggested that thepurported “discovery” ofthe Americas by Muslimsshould be taught inschools. “A big responsi-bility falls on the shoul-ders of the nationaleducation ministry andYOK (higher educationboard) on this issue,”Erdogan said at a cer-emony in Ankara. —AFP

BARWALA—Police discov-ered five bodies onWednesday after stormingthe ashram of a wanted guruin northern India and an-other of the man´s follow-ers died in hospital, an of-ficer said.

Director general of po-lice SN Vashisht said thebodies of four women werefound at the sprawling com-pound but it was unclearhow they died, while an 18-month-old child appeared tohave died of natural causes.

Another woman appar-ently suffering from a heartcondition also died afterbeing taken to hospital,Vashisht told reporters.

“All dead bodies havebeen sent to the hospitalwhere they will undergo apostmortem to ascertain theexact cause of their deaths,”he said.

Police stepped up theirsearch Wednesday for the63-year-old guru, RampalMaharaj, whom they believeis still holed up inside thecompound spread over 4.8hectares

Police on Tuesdaystormed the ashram, whichhas been guarded by hun-dreds of followers for daysafter a court ordered theirleader arrested on murderand other charges.

Police fired water canonand tear gas and baton-charged the supporters whowere armed with stones,petrol bombs and otherweapons, television foot-age showed.

6 dead after police stormIndia guru’s ashram

Overnight Tuesday, fol-lowers poured out of theashram with some of themsaying they had been heldinside against their will.

“What started as atrickle hasn´t yet stoppedand we have dropped offaround 10,000 people atnearby bus and train sta-tions,” assistant police su-perintendent JashandeepSingh said of the followers.

Police said they werechecking those leaving theashram in case Rampal, whoconsiders himself an incar-nation of the 15th-centurymystic poet Kabir, was hid-ing in the crowd.

“The people who left theashram mostly said thatthey were being heldagainst their will, as a shieldfor the guru against anypolice action,” Singh told

from outside the ashram inBarwala town.

Police are seekingRampal´s arrest after he re-peatedly refused court or-ders to appear to answercharges including con-spiracy to murder, incitingmobs and contempt of court.

India has been rockedby several scandals involv-ing immensely popular“godmen”, mostly Hinduascetics who claim to pos-sess mystical powers. Lastyear one was charged withsexually assaulting aschoolgirl.

For many Indians, gurusplay an integral role in dailylife. They say they offer apathway to enlightenment inreturn for spiritual devotionand often give donations toashrams, temples and char-ity projects.—AP

Regarding Kassig, also knownas Peter Kassig, “the members ofthe Security Council noted thathis murder is a tragic reminder ofthe increasing dangers humani-tarian personnel face every dayin Syria”, it said, adding that they“stressed again that ISIL must bedefeated and that the intolerance,violence, and hatred it espousesmust be stamped out”. The IS dis-tributed a video on Sunday show-ing that it beheaded Kassig, a fifthWestern hostage who was anAmerican aid worker and a formerArmy Ranger. The group, whosefighters seized vast swathes of

territory in northern Iraq sinceJune and announced the estab-lishment of a caliphate in areasunder its control in Syria and Iraq,earlier released videos showingthe beheading of two Americanjournalists and two British aidworkers.

The Security Council mem-bers underlined the need to bringthe perpetrators of the terror actsto justice and expressed their deepsympathy and condolences to thefamilies of the victims and to thepeoples of the United States andSyria, Xinhua cited the statementas saying. The Security Council

members demanded “the immedi-ate, safe and unconditional re-lease of all those who are kepthostage by ISIL, Al-Nusra Front,and all other individuals, groups,undertakings, and entities asso-ciated with al Qaeda”, the state-ment said. “The members of theSecurity Council recalled theirdemand that all parties involvedin an armed conflict comply fullywith the obligations applicable tothem under international humani-tarian law, including to respect andprotect all humanitarian person-nel,” said the statement.

“The members of the Security

Council also recalled their con-demnation of all forms of vio-lence and intimidation to whichthose participating in humanitar-ian operations are increasinglyexposed.” They emphasised thatsuch continued acts of barbar-ism perpetrated by the IS “do notintimidate them, but rather stiffentheir resolve that there has to bea common effort among govern-ments and institutions, includingthose in the region most affected,to counter ISIL, Al-Nusra Frontand all other individuals, groups,undertakings and entities asso-ciated with al Qaeda”.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)Nasir ul Mulk has remarked courts shouldalso not exercise administrative powers if par-liament can not exercise judicial powers. A3-member bench of SC presided over by CJPNasir ul Mulk took up for hearing petitionsfiled against increase in powers of justice ofpeace Wednesday.

He further remarked executive is resort-ing to judiciary in several matters despitedistribution of powers between the execu-tive and judiciary. Justice Mashir Alam hasremarked can justice of peace can stop ar-rest of some one if police registers wrongcase against him.

Court has raised questions if the powersrested with justice of peace are judicial thenwhat impact they will leave on powers ofhigh court. Will the balance of powers restedwith institutions under constitution not be-come upset if these powers are administra-tive Amicus Curiae Farogh Nasim took theplea that due to police injustices, registra-tion of cases after taking bribery and underorders of influential persons, powers havebeen delegated to justice of peace.

Khawaja Haris argued that presidentsand prime ministers of some countries arejustice of peace. Under the amendment made

Executive judiciary should notmeddle others domain: CJP

in criminal laws in 2002,PPC section 22 (A) 6stands illegal and the SC decision given in2014 will have to be reviewed to undo it anda larger bench will have to be constituted onthis count. Farogh Nasim argued police doesnot register case in genuine cases. Questionis this the petitioner should file writ under199 or approach justice of peace. Movinghigh court is more costly matter and it is noteasy to approach high court. It is not bind-ing on high court under 22(9) to hear thesecases.

He further argued high court can revokeFIR and change investigation under article199 in specific cases. CJP remarked “ canjustice of peace supervise or otherwise ifpolice does not perform its function duringinvestigation Farogh Nasim said the func-tion of justice of peace does not come to endand his powers are limited.

If FIR is registered under his order thenhe can not interfere more. If there is solidevidence available and police is not workingin proper manner even then justice of peacehas powers for limited interference. He doesnot supervise but he monitors.

However justice of peace wields somepowers. Police can investigate without reg-istering FIR. —Online

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh Assemblyon Wednesday resolvedagainst Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Chairman ImranKhan demanding him toapologise people of Sindhfor calling them as slaves.

Sindh Senior Minister foreducation Nisar AhmedKhohru had tabled the con-demnation resolution inwhich he carried a script ofcondemnation with citationof offensive language usedby the PTI Chairman.

He said it was highlycondemnable to declare thepeople of Sindh as slaves

SA wants apology from Imranand the statement of ImranKhan was a sheer manifestof his poor mentality.

The Senior Minister saidthe PTI Chairman had con-ducted the campaign of thereferendum on behalf of thedictator Pervez Musharrafand had now attacked thewisdom of the people ofSindh. The PTI Chairmanwas doing all he could tohold the people of Sindh ashis hostage.

Khohru asked the PTIChairman why he did notdare asking his party leaderMakhdoom Shah MehmoodQureshi to stop allowing hisfollowers to lick his hands

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Police have ex-ecuted 3 suspects in an en-counter and had held 11 oncharges of their alleged alli-ance with the banned outfits.

The first encounter wasconducted in Malir Cantt areain which 2 criminals werekilled in an exchange of fire.Police claimed the Police onpatrol received a call from thepeople that 2 criminals weresnatching belongings fromthe people on gun point. Po-lice said they had reached thespot and the criminals had re-sorted to straight firing onPolice posse after seeingthem around. Both the crimi-nals were killed after Police

and feet. The Minister saidthe PTI Chairman had al-ways criticized capitalism buton the other hand he en-joyed all luxuries of the sameas he was fond of movingfrom here to there only inchartered planes.

He warned the PTI Chair-man not to waste time in ten-dering his apology to thepeople of Sindh for declar-ing them as slave or else hewould be forced to stay con-fined in his Bani Gala resi-dence.

While seconding theresolution, MutahhidaQaumi Movement

retaliated with guns.Later, Police shifted their

bodies to the Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre forautopsy and then shifted toEdhi morgue in Sohrab Gothfor identification.Earlier late on Tuesday night,a suspected gangster wasshot dead during an encoun-ter with the police inBaghdadi area of Lyari. Po-lice said that the killed gang-ster was involved in more than20 cases of target killings in-cluding Pakistan People’sParty’s workers in Lyari,adding that the encountertook place when the policeconducted a raid on a tip-off about the presence ofthe gangsters at their hide-

out located at Moosa Lanearea.

He was later identifiedas Babar alias Baba. Policesaid that the killed gangsterwas associated with theSheraz Comrade group ofLyari gang war.

Police officials recovered20 bombs, two hand grenadesand 14 walkie-talkie sets. SSPSheeraz Nazeer said that thekilled gangster was also in-volved in various cases of kid-napping for ransom.

Three suspected militantswere arrested during an en-counter with the police inManghopir locality.

The accused persons werelater identified as Shair Ali,Abdul Wakeel and Ataullah.

Continued on Page 7

Troops to assumecharge of

DiplomaticEnclave security

ISLAMABAD—The govern-ment has decided to handover the security of theDiplomatic Enclave in thefederal capital Islamabadto the armed forces.

The decision has beentaken on the request ofsome diplomats, a privatenews channel quotingsources in the InteriorMinistry reported.

The troops have beendeployed in the area.Moreover, the troopshave been withdrawn fromthe Parliament House andthe Red Zone ofIslamabad after the Article245 lifted. —INP

October, 12, 1999military action

Petition declaredinfructuous

I S L A M A B A D — S u p r e m eCourt (SC) has disposed offa petition filed against Oc-tober 12, 1999 military ac-tion against Nawaz Sharifgovernment declaring itinfructuous.

A 3-member bench of SCpresided over by Chief Jus-tice of Pakistan (CJP) Nasirul Mulk took up the case forhearing Wednesday.

The petition was filedby Pakistan Lawyers Forumagainst former presidentPervez Musharraf militarycoup against Nawaz Sharifgovernment. The petitionwas filed in 2000 and itshearing was conducted af-ter 14 years. —Online

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—At least fivesuspects and owner of brickkiln involved in Kot RadhaKishen incident were sent to

Kot Radha Kishen case

ATC sends suspects to jail on remandjail on judicial remand onWednesday.

After ten days physicalremand, Yousaf (brick kilnowner) along with five othersuspects were presented in

Anti-terrorism Court (ATC)in Lahore.

Lawyers of suspectshave denied the allegationsof Kot Radha Kishen inci-dent and revealed that thename of brick kiln owner hasbeen filed due to pressure.

Interrogation officer hasrequested the court to ex-tend physical remand as in-vestigation is underway.

The judge sent brick kilnowner and suspects to jailby rejecting the request ofextension for physical re-mand.

16 suspects werehanded over to police onthree day physical remand.Recently a couple in KotRadha Kishan, Kasur, wasset on fire over a minor inci-dent of laying sand on thegrave. Police registered thecase and arrested 48 people.Chief Minister PunjabMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifhad set up a 3-member com-mittee to probe the incident.

Lyari gangster Baba, 3others die in encounters

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan addressing the dharna participants on Wednesday.

A NEW study from the UK and publishedin the Canadian Medical AssociationJournal claims that people who enjoy

life will have better physical function and fasterwalking speeds than their more pessimisticcounterparts. We alreadyknow there are health ben-efits associated with a posi-tive outlook on life. A studyfrom 2013 suggested peoplewho have happy marriagesalso enjoy better physicalhealth than couples in stress-ful marriages.

In 2012, Medical NewsToday reported on a study byresearchers at UniversityCollege London (UCL) inthe UK, which found seniorswho enjoy life more tend tolive longer. As part of a fol-low-up study testing the linkbetween happiness andphysical performance, theUCL researchers have as-sessed the enjoyment of lifeof 3,199 participants aged 60years or older.

The participants in the study were askedto rate on a four-point scale how much theysubscribed to the following statements: “I en-joy the things that I do,” “I enjoy being in thecompany of others,” “On balance, I look backon my life with a sense of happiness” and “Ifeel full of energy these days.” The study foundthat seniors who enjoy life had better physicalfunction than unhappy people.

Interviewing the people in the study, theresearchers then assessed to what extent theyhad difficulty performing daily activities, suchas bathing or getting dressed. They also mea-sured the walking speed of the participants. The

study found that people who had a low senseof well-being were more than three times aslikely to experience problems in perform-ing daily activities.

“Our results provide further evidencethat enjoyment of life is rel-evant to the future disabilityand mobility of older people,”says Dr. Steptoe, co-author ofthe study. “Efforts to enhancewell-being at older ages mayhave benefits to society andhealth care systems.” Althoughthe study recorded - perhapsunsurprisingly - that people suf-fering from chronic illness hadlower levels of enjoyment oflife, Dr. Steptoe says the linkbetween happiness and physi-cal health is not simply thathappier people are healthier:

“This is not because the hap-pier people are in better health,or younger, or richer, or havemore healthy lifestyles at theoutset, since even when we takethese factors into account, the re-

lationship persists. Our previous work hasshown that older people with greater enjoy-ment of life are more likely to survive overthe next 8 years; what this study shows is thatthey also keep up better physical function.”

Dr. Steptoe’s previous study found thatnearly three times more people in the studygroup of over 50s who had low enjoymentof life had died, compared with participantswho enjoyed life more. That study consid-ered social isolation in seniors - having fewhobbies or social interactions - as being afactor in a loss of enjoyment in life. It foundthat 1 in 6 people aged 50 and over living inEngland were socially isolated.

Enjoy life more-your bodywill age better, study shows

Ambassador of Romania Emilion Ion speaks during a farewell reception hosted by him in thehonor of Ambassador of Greece Petros Mavroidis and Ambassador of Austria Axel Wech at hisresidence. Dean of Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin Saravia is also seen in the picture.—PO photo

Charge d’ Affairs of the Embassy of Oman Waleed Issa Ali Al-Ladjali, Federal Ministerfor SAFRON Lt Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, President AJK Sardar Yaqub, Ambas-sador of UAE Eisa Abdullah Al Basha Al-Nuaimi, Ambassador of Algeria Dr AhmadBenflis, Ambassador of Iraq Rushdi Al-Ani, Ambassador of Palestine Walid A M AbuAliand and others cutting the cake during a ceremony.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—The Sultanate ofOman is the nearest country ofPakistan in Arab Peninsula lo-cated just across the Gulf ofOman. Its close proximity pro-duced historic and cooperativerelations between Islamabad andMuscat as a large PakistaniDiaspora holds important placein this fast developing Gulf State.Pakistan purchased Gwadar en-clave in 1958 and a large num-ber of Balochs are part of Oman.

In this back- drop, the 44thNational Day of Oman was cel-ebrated in a befitting manner byOmani diplomats and the Paki-stan elite on Tuesday eveningwhen Waleed Issa Ali Al Zadjali,Charge d’ affairs of Oman threwa grand show in a local hotel.

Politicians, parliamentar-ians, ambassadors, especiallyfrom Arab land, businessmen,mediamen, social workers andfriends of Oman were part of thecelebrations which picked up on

the arrival of Chief Guest Fed-eral Minister for States and Fron-tier Regions Abdul QadirBaloch. PML (Q) leader Ch.Shujaat Hussain, MinistersBaleeghur Rehman and SardarMuhammad Yousaf were also

part of the celebrations.After ceremonies of playing

of national anthems of both thecountries and cake cutting, thefestivity progressed with infor-mal exchange of views on allburning subjects among the par-ticipants. Waleed Issa Ali andhis diplomats greeted theirguests with warm gestures whowere also treated with tradi-tional dishes of both the coun-tries.

The Charge d’ affairs in hismessage said Pakistan and Omanenjoyed excellent relations andforward movement of such as-

sociation will continue. He in-vited Pakistani friends to ex-plore Oman which is the near-est country. Both the countriesare cooperating with each otherin international forums, he said.

Waleed Issa Ali said boththe countries have great poten-tial to increase trade and com-mercial ties. There is strongneed to take mutual steps forthe benefit of both the coun-tries.

Oman is developing fastand so its population includingPakistani expatriates. His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Saidhas turned his country into amodern state in about fortyyears. The development ofOman will also spill over to itsneighbouring country Pakistan.

Both the countries areneeded to strengthen their con-nectivity including improvingtheir sea and air routes. Omancan become an excellent exportdestination for Pak traders in-cluding food stuff.

Oman National Day

Historic links between Pakistan and Oman bridged Arabian SeaPak expatriates hold important position in Oman; encourage Pakistani friends to explore

Oman: Waleed Issa Ali Al-Zadjali; Grand show resounded with friendly gestures

RAZA UR REHMAN

I S L A M A B A D —Pres iden tMamnoon Hussain on Wednes-day said Pakistan attacheshighest priority to its relationswith Azerbaijan and stressed onfurther strengthening bilateraldefence, trade and economicrelations between the twocountries.

The President was talkingto Colonel General ZakirHasanov Defence Minister ofAzerbaijan along with a del-egation, which called on himat Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The President assured ofPakistan’s continued support toAzerbaijan on the issue ofNagorno-Karabakh. The Presi-dent also appreciated supportby Azerbaijan on the Kashmirissue and the stance of Pakistan forpeaceful settlement of the issue in ac-cordance with UN resolutions andwishes of Kashmiris.

The President said that Pakistanwelcomes Azerbaijan’s Armed Forcespersonnel for acquiring quality trainingat Pakistan’s Armed Forces TrainingInstitutions on gratis basis. He said that

President for strengthening bilateral,defence ties with Azerbaijan

Pakistan also offered English languagecourses for Azerbaijan’s officers andcadets at National University of Mod-ern Languages Islamabad and NavalEnglish Training Centre, Karachi.

The President also sought Azerbaijan’ssupport to Pakistan’s bid for membershipof Transport Corridor Europe, Caucasusand Asia (TRACEA). It is to be noted that

TRACEA is an organization dedicated toreviving the Silk Route.

The members of TRACEA includeArmenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Tur-key, Turkmenistan, Ukraine andUzbekistan. The membership ofTRACEA would boost up trade coop-eration of Pakistan with these countries.

The President wished the visitingdelegation a pleasant and fruitful visitto Pakistan. Colonel General ZakirHasanov Defence Minister ofAzerbaijan thanked the President formeeting and expressed confidence thatbilateral cooperation between the twocountries in diverse fields would be fur-ther enhanced in future.

President Mamnoon Hussain in a meeting with a delegation of Azerbaijan led by Defence Minister Colonel General ZakirHasanov at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—A division bench of theIslamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednes-day directing all the cases of the teacherson daily wages to be sent to the relevantcommittee under the supervision of theSecretary Establishment Division dis-posed of their petitions.

The court also directed the commit-tee not to take any adverse action againstthe petitioners nor should they be removedfrom service. The court also directedmeaningful steps for early payment ofsalaries to them.

The division bench however ad-

journed the appeal against single benchdecision of declaring Khurshid ShahCommittee illegal. Further hearing in thatcase will be held on Dec 17. JusticeNoorul Haq Qureshi and Justice AtharMinallah were hearing the petitioners ap-peal against Justice Shaukat AzizSiddiqui’s decision that had declaredKhurshid Shah committee illegal and un-constitutional.

Counsels for the teachers on dailywages held before the court that duringthe last PPP government a cabinet sub-committee under the senior federal min-ister Syed Khushid Shah as its chairmanhad recommend to the authorities con-

cerned to regularize daily wage teachershowever a number of cases are still pend-ing.

Still a large number of teachers arewaiting to be regularized, said theteachers’ counsels. Counsel for thedaily wage teachers working in theeducational institutions of the FederalDirectorate of Education (FDE) toldthe court that around 2,000 daily wa-gers were regularized however the di-rectorate of education is not ready tolet them join as permanent teachers.Regarding status of the Khurshid Shahcommittee, the court adjourned thehearing till December 17.

IHC stops govt from removingdaily wage teachers

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Women Research andResource Center (WRRC), Fatima JinnahWomen University (FJWU) on Wednes-day arranged launching ceremony of Pro-fessor Dr. Iftikhar-un-Nisa Hassan’s booktitled Women Education: Policies and Pro-grams 1970-2010.

Chief guest of the ceremony was Pro-fessor Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani, ChairmanGallup Pakistan while guest of honor wereDr. Saba Gul Khattak, Senior Gender Spe-cialist World Bank and Farman UllahAnjum, Director General Human ResourceManagement, Higher Education Commis-sion (HEC). Reviewers of the book wereDr. Rukhsana Hassan, Incharage Gender

Studies Department FJWU, and Dr.Maryam Rab, Director Research, Evalua-tion and Monitoring, British Council.

In her welcome remarks, Dr. HumairaAhmed, Director WRRC highlighted thebackground, objectives and functions ofWRRC. She congratulated Dr. I.N.Hassanon writing such an excellent book. Talk-ing about the book Professor Dr. Ijaz ShafiGilani said its a door opener book for me.The book shows the compassion and com-mitment of ther writer with her work.

He said the book is scientifically de-signed and its my suggestion to arrangeseries of workshops on it. In fact its a penpicture on female education in Pakistanand perfect combination of integrity,power and ability. Saba Gul Khattak said

the good thing about the book is that it notonly highlighted issues and problems be-ing faced by women in getting educationbut also provides their solutions.

The book highlights the imperfectionof our education system and talks aboutissues of rural and urban areas. Anotherreviewer Dr. Rukhsana Hassan said thebook provides analysis of women educa-tion in Pakistan and the initiatives takenby the government and public sector invarious decades. After that Dr. MaryamRab, said the book serves as a base forany research related to education and ca-reer of women in Pakistan. The Vice Chan-cellor, FJWU, Professor Dr. Samian AminQadir congratulated Dr. Hassan on suc-cessful launch of her book.

Dr. Iftikhar-un-Nisa’s book “WomenEducation; Policies and Programs” launched

RAWALPINDI—A five-day long special driveto create awareness among women about healthof mother and child, started in all tehsils andtowns of Rawalpindi district from November17,is in full swing.

Executive Distr ict Officer(EDO-Health)Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal said Wednes-

day.Under the vigorous drive, EDO told APP

that lady health workers, were participating inthe drive launched from November 17 to 22and educate women about their health and tak-ing preventive measures specially during preg-nancy, delivery and for infants health. —APP

Mother-Child healthcaredrive underway

SSC supplyresult onNov 21

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Board of In-termediate and SecondaryEducation 0Rawalpindi(BISER) will announce theresults of Secondary SchoolCertificate (SSC) supplemen-tary examination 2014 onNov 21 (Friday) at 10 a.m.

According to BISERspokesman Arslan Cheema, theCDs of the results will be avail-able at the designated branchesof Habib Bank Limited (HBL).

The students can checktheir results on the board’swebsite ‘www.biserwp.edu.pk,and www. biserawalpindi.edu.pk.’ The results can also bechecked by sending short mes-sage service (SMS) at 800296on Nov 21.

06:00 01:3004:00

07:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

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.

****

ALLAMA Iqbal OpenUniversity(AIOU) will holda seminar on ‘Quality Man-agement in AIOU” (Thurs-day) at 11:00 a.m. in its Aca-demic Block. Chief Consult-ant of the World in Counsel-ling, Mushtaq Hussain Syedwill deliver his presentationon quality management.

Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Mrs. Saira Afzal Tarar is receivingshield in the conference on ‘Ministerial Panel on Health, Population and Nutrition: Post Devolution Challenges’ atBahria University.

Assistant to the Administrator of USAID Donald Larry Sampler, President IRC David Miliband, Additional SecretaryCADD & Director General FDE Malik Qaiser Majeed and Principal Islamabad Model Secondary School for GirlsChak Shahzad Afshan Malik cutting the ribbon during a ceremony to inaugurate Mobile Bus Library in Islamabad.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf is addressing the openingsession of ICWP at NUML.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—The Assistant to the Ad-ministrator of the United States Agencyfor International Development (USAID)Donald Larry Sampler and the Presidentof the International Rescue Committee(IRC), David Miliband on Wednesday in-augurated the USAID-funded PakistanReading Project’s mobile bus libraryprogramme at a government secondaryschool in Islamabad.

The Mobile Bus Library Programmewill bring interesting and informativereading materials to communities whichdo not have established libraries in or-der to help reintroduce and re-establisha national culture of reading in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion Larry Sam-pler said, “The Mobile Library Programmeis just one element of the USAID-fundedPakistan Reading Project which will helpPakistani children to start their own jour-neys in the world of books. Through thispartnership between USAID, our imple-menting partner - the International Res-cue Committee, and the Government ofPakistan, we are taking a multi-prongedapproach to help increase literacy.”

The Pakistan Reading Project, imple-mented by the International RescueCommittee, will run a mobile bus libraryprogramme in Sindh and Islamabad Capi-tal Territory (ICT) over the next two yearsand will bring reading materials directly

USAID launches mobile buslibrary to promote reading habits

to communities and help re-establish read-ing habits. Trained librarians onboard eachbus will conduct story-telling sessions ineach community they visit.

They will also issue books for school-children to take home to read. DavidMiliband, President IRC said, “The USAIDfunded Pakistan Reading Project beingimplemented by IRC is helping to improvereading skills of children across Pakistan.The mobile bus library is another step to-wards promoting a reading culture in Paki-stan.”

Later in the day, USAID Mission Direc-tor Gregory Gottlieb and Minister of Statefor Federal Education and Professional De-velopment, Muhammad Baligh ur Rehmanalso signed a Memorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) to continue working towards im-provement in the quality of education byhelping to build the skills of teachersthroughout Pakistan. At the signing, MrMuhammad Baligh ur Rehman, thanked theU.S. Government for their continued sup-port to raising standards in Pakistani edu-cation.

The USAID-funded Pakistan ReadingProject is a $165 million project, which is sup-porting Pakistan’s provincial and regionaldepartments of education to improve thereading skills of children.

It is one part of a comprehensive educa-tion programme that the United States imple-ments in Pakistan in partnership with thegovernment of Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Operational Wings ofNational Vocational and TechnicalTraining Commission (NAVTTC) gavea detailed briefing about the workingof the Commission to MuhammadImtiaz Tajwar who recently took overthe charge of Executive DirectorNAVTTC after getting promotion ofFederal Secretary in BS-22. DirectorGeneral Skills Standards & Curricula(SS&C) of NAVTTC Yahya Tajik gaveoverall briefing about NAVTTC to Ex-ecutive Director. He told that NationalVocational and Technical Education

Commission (NAVTEC) was es-tablished in 2005 for the first timethrough an Ordinance. After 18thamendment, National Vocational andTechnical Training Commission(NAVTTC) was established again in2011 through an act of Parliamentunder Prime Minister Secretariatwhich is governed by the Board ofMembers. Its mandate according toAct, is that it is an “autonomous or-ganization for regulation, coordina-

tion and policy direction for voca-tional and technical training”.

The core Functions of the Com-mission are to Formulate: Nationalpolicies, strategies & regulations &training plans, National VocationalQualification Framework (NVQF),Regulate affiliation of establishments& institutions – accreditation, De-velop national occupational stan-dards, curricula & certification sys-tems, Develop TVET through Public-Private Partnership, Coordinate withprovincial government in the field ofTVET and Review existing regulations& recommend appropriate legislation.

He said that NAVTTC is prepar-ing policies for the promotion ofTechnical & Vocational Educationand Training (TVET) through theimplementation of National SkillsStrategy prepared by the NAVTTC.D.G (SS&C) told that 22,000 less edu-cated jobless youth have beentrained in 100 different demand driventrades under first program of “PMYouth Skill Development Pro-gram2013-14”. While 116,776 trained

in over 29 trades, under PM’s Spe-cial Initiative for Hunarmand Paki-stan Program and 37,521 trained un-der President’s Fanni Maharat Pro-gram so far by NAVTTC since its es-tablishment.

Moreover 22 new training projectsapproved by NAVTTC Board of Mem-bers’ meeting held on 19th 2014. Forinter-provincial harmony, 590 youth ofBalochistan are under training in re-puted Technical Education and Voca-tional Training institutes of other prov-inces with special incentives.

Executive Director NAVTTC afterthe briefing said that Technical Edu-cation and Vocational training to job-less youth is the key for Socio-Eco-nomic development of the country. Hewhile addressing the officers ofNAVTTC on this occasion said thathe expects outstanding performancefrom all officers with full dedication andhonesty. He said that we must look farlabour markets of Gulf Countries, Afri-can Countries and China for export ofskilled manpower through our relevantministries and departments.

Vocational training to jobless youthfor socio-economic development

Pakistan’s current challenge is toachieve high quality health services

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The second day of the15th Annual PAP Conference on ‘50Years of Pakistan’s Population Pro-gram: Setting Strategic Priorities andProgram Direction for Vision 2025‘ wasconcluded at Bahria University (BU)Islamabad on 19th November 2014.The conference highlighted that Paki-stan has recently developed a Vision2025 document.

During the deliberations policymakers discussed that how this visioncan incorporate the commitment madeby the Government of Pakistan at theLondon Summit for achieving FP2020goals. Pakistan’s current challenge isto expand access to high quality, vol-untary family planning and reproduc-tive health services so that individu-als and couples can meet their desiresfor smaller families, while also improv-ing women’s standing within familiesand society.

The two days session ended withthe closing remarks of Honorable Rec-tor of BU, Vice Admiral® Shahid IqbalHI (M) and he appreciated Ms.Shahnaz Wazir Ali, President (PAP) forgiving honor to Bahria to work with(PAP).

He said that BU has also played akey role in collaboration with (PAP)by organizing this debate and provid-ing a platform for all the stakeholdersto assemble and share their concerns.Bahria University looks forward to thiscontinued collaboration with Popula-tion Association of Pakistan (PAP) andthe other contributing organizationswith the hope that in the future wemay continue academic debates andjoint research ventures on health,population and nutrition, hence, play-ing a an important role in the develop-ment of our country.

The last session was on ‘Interac-tive Session with Youth Representa-tives and Opinion Shapers‘ and

chaired by Chairman and Chief Execu-tive JJ Media (Pvt.) Limited Karachi,Mr. Javed Jabbar.

The Chief Guest of the conferencewas H.E. Mr. Muhammad KhanAchakzai, Governor of Balochistan.While talking to the audience, he saidthat the Vision 2025, envisaged by thecurrent government, has already pri-oritized social development, institu-tional and governance reforms, invest-ing in youth and poverty reduction assome of its key focus areas. This con-ference in its various sessions, hasarticulated some specific recommen-dations for consideration of policymakers.

At the end the president of PAP,Ms. Shahnaz Wazir highlighted thetwo days conference deliberated as-pects related to strategic planning andfuture population. The sessions werecovered by multiple speakers takingthe floor in each session and givingvery useful recommendations.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Non-Muslim and West-ern world judge us from our conductand actions that how peaceful we areand not from the teachings andpreaching of holy books of Islam. Ifthe Muslim of the world start practic-ing a good conduct and action thatentail peace and tranquility, the entireworld will start believing that Islam isreligion of goodness, kindness, com-passion and benevolence, said Fed-eral Minister for Religious Affairs andInter-Faith Harmony, SardarMuhammad Yousaf.

Moreover, the Federal Ministersaid that Govt had formulated a 19-point code of conduct with the unani-

Non-Muslim judge us from ourconduct, not from teachings of Islam

mous decision of Ulema and religiousscholars of all school of thoughts toeradicate any sectarian or religiousdisharmony in the country so that apeaceful environment and inter-faithharmony could be enjoyed in the coun-try.

Prof Dr Ahmad Bin Yousif A. Al-Draiweesh, while speaking at the oc-casion said the very greeting phraseof ‘Aslama-o-alikum’ by Muslimswhen they meet each other was suffi-cient to say that how peaceful the re-ligion was when its believers start theirsocial life by wishing peace to eachother. He said the effort of IslamicStudies Department of NUML wasworth appreciating as it was high timeto disseminate the message of toler-

ance and patience among human be-ings to develop a peaceful tolerantsociety, he added.

Speaking to the opening session,DG NUML Brig Azam Jamal said thatat time when entire world and espe-cially Islamic Ummah was passingthrough disharmony, uncertainty, in-ternal chaos and terrorism, terroristwere putting international peace atstake for their vested interest and thisall was being attached with Islam, thearrangement of this conference was abreather of fresh air. It was a perspica-cious attempt to analysis loomingdanger to world peace and presentsolutions in the light of the teachingand preaching of our holy ProphetHazrat Muhammad (SAW), he added.

Lt Gen (R) MujibUrahman has passedaway. Her Nimaz e Janazawill be held on Thursday,Nov 20, 2014 at 2 pm atH-8 graveyard. The fu-neral procession will startfrom H #19, St 32 , F - 7 /1,Islamabad at 1.30 pm.

Security at BenazirInt’l Airport tightenedRAWALPINDI—Security hasbeen tightened on the en-trance and exit points ofBenazir International Air-port, Islamabad.

Besides setting up a po-lice check post, a wall, beingbuilt around the airport forsecurity reasons, is in its fi-nal stages whereas screen-ing machines are being pur-chased and rooms are builtfor checking passengers.

According to reportsfrom law enforcement agen-cies and police; the securityhas been beefed up to avoidany unfortunate inci-dence.—Online

RAZA UR REHMAN

ISLAMABAD—Minister of State NationalHealth Services, Regulation & Coordina-tion Mrs. Saira Afzal Tarar Chaired a highlevel meeting of the National steering com-mittee of NHIP here Wednesday attendedby Provincial, Regional health ministers andFocal Persons .

Minister said the Government is com-mitted to providing health cover to the poor-est by health insurance to be a revolution-ary step forward Saira Afzal Tarar.

The core concept of the PMNHI is de-velopment of an insurance program for allthe population living equal to or below 32.5poverty score through a partnership withProvincial Governments. The Programmeshall be implemented in a phased mannerand shall provide coverage to a hundredmillion people eventually. Premium will beborne by Federal and Provincial Govern-ments, the former catering for a premiumfor critical illnesses/tertiary care diseases,while later paying for component related tosecondary health care only. Service deliv-ery will be through public and private sec-tor healthcare facilities, for which modali-ties will be worked out in close collabora-tion with provinces.

Dr. Asad briefed the participants aboutthe decisions taken so far that includedOpinion sought by the Law ministry regard-ing federal prerogative for insurance pro-

gram ,decision of provision of secondarycover by provincial funding, decision ofprovision of 7 disease tertiary cover by fed-eration, Benefit Package developed (trans-port will be included). It has been decidedthat a single bidding will take place at thenational level with f family based premiumoption. Decision of PMT level at 32.5 (pro-vincial flexibility)has been taken alreadywith equalization Reserve Fund and Re in-surance requirement . The scheme shall beoperated as a Cashless scheme with plasticcard (1 per family) with an assurance of In-terprovincial portability.

He stated that Meetings of provincialHealth Ministers was convened by theState Minister for consensus building andthe Concept Notes have been shared &agreed with provinces .Interaction/experi-ence sharing is already in process with stakeholders (insurance experts, companies,NADRA)

He explained that for optimum resultsInternational best practices have been iden-tified and Technical Assistance has beenSecured from partners (WHO, WB & GIZ).So far, immense progress has been maderegarding Allocations in federal and pro-vincial budgets and the Steering Commit-tee has been notified (Two meetings havetaken place). The Project management unithas been made Functional at Ministry. Pro-vincial focal persons have been appointed& PMUs notified.

Govt committed to providehealth assurance cover

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK Irrigation Minister Azhar Hussain Gilani lay foundation stone of Brarkot protection wall onWednesday.

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the vet-eran leader, Syed Ali Gilani, and otherHurriyet leaders have categorically rejectedthe Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kashmir policysaying that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputedterritory and has never been part of India.

Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued inSrinagar said that India had forcibly occu-pied the territory in negation of global normsand standards.

He pointed out that New Delhi had turneddown all UN resolutions on Kashmir back-tracking from its commitment with the in-ternational community about finding out thesolution to the Kashmir dispute through animpartial plebiscite.

The Chairman of Jammu and KashmirLiberation Front, Mohammad Yasin Malik,who is presently undergoing treatment at ahospital in Srinagar in a statement said thatsham elections were being staged only tostrengthen India’s occupation over Jammu

Gilani rejects BJP’sKashmir policy

Tributes paid to Aali Kadal martyrsand Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyet Con-ference in a statement said that farcical elec-tions cannot be substitute to the Kashmiris’right to self-determination.

It reiterated the Kashmiris’ resolve tocontinue the liberation struggle without get-ting impressed by the election drama. On theother hand, a Hurriyet delegation compris-ing Javaid Ahmad Mir, Hakeem AbdulRashid, Abdul Majeed Wani, Imtiyaz AhmadReshi and Jaffar Kashmiri offered Fateha formartyrs of Aali Kadal on their martyrdomanniversary at Mazaar-e-Shuhada, Eidgah inSrinagar, today.

Meanwhile, Hurriyet leaders at a meet-ing in Islamabad, today, said that the upcom-ing election drama in occupied Kashmir wasillegal, immoral and in violation of theUnited Nations resolutions on Kashmir.

The meeting was presided over by SyedYousuf Naseem, Ghulam Muhammad Safiand Mehmood Ahmad Saghar.—KMS

ISLAMABAD—Hurriyet leaders while describing theupcoming election drama in occupied Kashmir asillegal, immoral and in violation of the United Na-tions Resolutions has announced to hold sit-in out-side the UN Observer Office in Islamabad on No-vember 25 during the first round of the so-calledelections in the territory. The leaders at a meeting inIslamabad, today, appealed to the people of Kash-mir to stage total boycott of the elections to send aclear message to the world community that theKashmiris do not accept India’s illegal occupationover Jammu and Kashmir.

They said that Kashmir was a disputed territoryand its future could be determined by the people ofKashmir through the exercise of the right to self-determination pledged by the Untied Nations. The

Hurriyet leaders term electiondrama fraud to Kashmiris

leaders said the political changes in occupied Kash-mir, resulting from the so-called assembly polls,would not change the ground condition.

Syed Yousuf Naseem, Ghulam MuhammadSafi, Mehmood Ahmad Saghar, Syed FaizNaqshbandi, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani,Manzoor-ul-Haq Butt, Abdul Majeed Mir, SyedMuzaffar Shah, Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoob Advo-cate, Advocate Pervaiz Ahmad, Abdul HameedLone, Hassan Al-Bana, Ishtiaq Hameed, AltafHussain Wani, Nisar Mirza, Adeel Mushtaq Wani,Raja Khadim Hussain, Haji Muhammad Sultan,Abdul Majeed Malik, Muhammad Hussain Khateeb,Syed Abdullah Gilani, Muhammad Shafi Dar, NazirAhmad Karnai and Shaikh Abdul Mateenm attendedthe meeting.—KMS

JKPL condemnsarrest of Hurriyetleaders, activists

in IOKSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the Jammu and Kash-mir Peoples League (JKPL), aconstituent of the All PartiesHurriyet Conference, has ex-pressed serious concern overthe massive crackdown onHurriyet leaders and activistsby Indian police in the territory.The JKPL at its meetings inBaramulla and Kupwarachaired by the party leader,Shakeel-ur-Rehman, discussedin detail the present situation ofthe occupied territory.

The participants of themeetings said that Indiacould not suppress theKashmiris’ freedom move-ment through brutal tacticsand they would continuetheir peaceful struggle tillcomplete success. They saidthat the so-called elections inthe occupied territory couldnot be a substitute to the rightto self-determination of theKashmiri people. They urgedthe masses to stay away fromthe polling process to safe-guard the sacrifices of theirmartyrs, who had laid downtheir lives for the Kashmircause and not for the forma-tion of puppet regimes in theterritory.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of Jammuand Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Mohammad YasinMalik ridiculing assertions made by Hindu fanatic partieson Kashmir has said that all those who think that they canconquer Jammu and Kashmir with sham elections are livingin fool’s paradise.

Muhammad Yasin Malik, who is presently undergoingtreatment at a hospital in Srinagar, made these remarks inresponse to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s statementthat elections in Jammu and Kashmir provided an opportu-nity to Indianise the region.

He said that such statements had exposed those pro-In-dia parties and leaders who propagate elections as a solu-tion for day-to-day affairs having no bearing on the disputedstatus of Jammu and Kashmir. “Elections are being stagedonly to strengthen the occupation and oppression of Indianstate and parties and members elected for the assembliesthrough these so called elections are only assigned the job

Malik, others slam statementof RSS on Kashmir

of strengthening the chains of oppression,” he added. Hesaid this is the reason why Kashmiris need to boycott theseelections and reject all those who betray them in the nameof development, peace and other deceptive slogans.RSS leader Indresh Kumar had said that the upcoming as-sembly elections provided an opportunity to “reviveKashmiriyat in Jammu and Kashmir and Indianise” the ter-ritory.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Lib-eration Front-R, Farooq Ahmad Dar, commenting on thestatement said that Kumar was a mentally disturbed man.The Jammu and Kashmir Muslmi League leaders includingAbdul Ahad Parra, Sajjad Ayubi, Muhammad Akram Najarand Bashir Badgami addressing people in different areas ofIslamabad district made it clear to the RSS and BharatiyaJanata Party that Jammu and Kashmir belonged to Kashmirisand so-called elections can never Indianise Kashmir andKashmiris.—KMS

ABDUL MAJID ZARGAR

KASHMIR’S tryst with peace has provedshort lived yet again , thanks to the vacuous & barbaric killing of two young men

Meraj-ud-Din Dar and Faisal Yusuf . As if the re-cent floods were not sufficient to devastateKashmiris physically, emotionally & economically,the killing was thought necessary to notify themthat besides God there is also a demon on earth tobatter them. According to Army’s official version,the men travelling in a car did not stop on beingsignalled to do so and hence were fired upon re-sulting in instantaneous killing of two young men& critical injuries to two other young boys. Whileacknowledging the incident as a case of mistakenidentity, it has provided no answers to questionsas to why bullets were not used to deflate the cartyres instead of being pumped on inmates or forthat matter why the massive security presence inthe area and vast communication network avail-

Mystery of two young Kashmirisbarbaric killing

able with them was not used to catch them alive?It’s expression of regret over the loss of innocentlives is merely an attempt to cool down immedi-ate tempers. The callousness of our chief Minstercan be gauged from his statement terming the kill-ings as “avoidable”. He seems to have lost eventhe sense of describing an unfortunate incident.

Kashmiri Muslims have been mauled, cleavedand dehumanised by a system in which only thewrit of security forces work. These trigger happyforces have the unfailing habit of creating reasonsfor mass disruption at regular intervals just to re-mind the natives that they are here and you cannotlive in peace unless & until you are fully & trulysubjugated. A bereft political leadership at the cen-tre and a state leadership playing a mercenary rolefor them has neither the desire nor the will to in-vestigate at the macro level the reasons behind therecurring episodes of mindless killings by the vari-ous wings of the police and the military, which bytheir regularity and timing must certainly be sig-

nificantly more than the aberrations they are madeout to be. We need to ponder over the question -whether the current killing of two young boys is astage-managed military-politico operation to raiseour anger level to a point of total & massive boy-cott of forthcoming elections which at present suitsthe ruling junta at the centre ? After all there is awidespread belief that a military-politico opera-tion in the form of massive firing at LOC was alsoa stage-managed event used to enhance the elec-toral fortunes of BJP in Mahrashtra & Haryana.Credence to that belief is lent by the sudden stop-page of firing after the elections were over and therich electoral dividends it reaped in both thesestates compared to earlier reversals in Uttrakhand,Bihar, UP & Rajashtan etc. by-polls.

We are told that an enquiry has been orderedinto the gruesome incident. We have also been as-sured that the enquiry this time will be fair, trans-parent & meaningful. But Kashmiris wonder thatwhether such assurances have any meaning in view

of the past record of both the state & central Govt.Even where security forces have been held guiltyof cold blooded murder, by none other than New-Delhi’s own premium investigating agency CBI,in Pathribal fake encounter case, the highest judi-ciary has come to its rescue & provided it a safepassage. After all national interest weighs morethan the lives of ordinary kashmiri Muslims in thescale held by blindfolded statue of Justice installedin Indian courts. Pathribal is only one instance &scores of such instances can be quoted to provethat Justice in Kashmir is and has always been,subservient to national interest of retainingKashmir’s land mass with or without its masses.About the reporting of this unfortunate incidentby National media, less said the better. While mostof the media, both print & electronic, by & large,ignored the incident, Times of India, a nationaldaily of repute, reported that two “soldiers” werekilled by “terrorists”. The news went viral on So-cial media inviting sharp comments by many that

it is the only correct & truthful reporting. I takepity on reporting standards of this giant mediahouse, incidentally a co-sponsor of “Aman kiAsha” along with another media house of Paki-stan.

Great nations never try to correct the history,but only learn from it. India is doing exactly theopposite in Kashmir. Without learning anythingfrom what Pandith Kalhana has said that Kashmirismay be conquered by love but cannot be suppressedby force, it is trying to re-write and change theKashmir discourse through military pen & ink. Acrass & compliant media is helping it to advancethat false discourse. It needs to be reminded thatgreater the injustice, ferocious is the resistance. Aphysical act of resistance may be temporarilyfoiled, but the spirit behind it cannot be so easilysubdued.

—Courtesy: KW[The author is a practicing chartered Accoun-tant]

SRINAGAR—Indian Hindu nationalistBharatiya Janata Party said Wednesday it wasconfident Islam will prosper in Muslim ma-jority Jammu and Kashmir if it got to rulethe state. The BJP also said that it won’t pressfor the abrogation of article 370 of the con-stitution, which gives special status toJammu and Kashmir, if people of the statewant it to stay.

BJP state vice president Ramesh Arora,who is also in charge of the party’s Kashmiraffairs, said Kashmiris would feel more se-cure if the BJP was voted to power in thecountry’s only Muslim-majority state.“Kashmiris need to vote en masse for theBJP. This contention is wrong that the BJPis a communal party. Kashmir is a land ofSufi saints. Islam will grow better during our

Islam to prosper if werule Kashmir: BJP

regime,” he said.“The state as such has no religion but we

(BJP) respect all religions and pledge reli-gious freedom to all as guaranteed in the In-dian constitution. “Those who say the BJPwould be a threat to Kashmiriyat ... arewrong. “The actual threat is to those who sayso. Our party will end administrative, police,bureaucratic and political injustice in Jammuand Kashmir.”

Trying to play down the controversy overarticle 370, Arora said the BJP favoured adebate and discussion on the issue. “We willtake people into confidence and assess itsmerits and demerits to the state and proceedaccordingly.” Arora said a debate over thisprovision was a “serious issue and we (BJP)won’t take any vague decision.—KD

KULGAM, IHK—People blocked Kulgam-Islamabad road on Wednesday after a SpecialOperation Group (SOG) team raided SumoStand Yaripora and apprehended three personsincluding a Sumo driver. From past week at least8 persons have been picked up by governmentforces during nocturnal raids and have beentaken to unknown destinations. Eyewitnessestold CNS that an SOG team appeared in YariporaKulgam Sumo Stand and whisked away threepersons. Locals identified the arrested personsas Ishtiyaq Ahmed Mir son of Abdul Gani andTariq Ahmed Wagay son of Ghulam Qadir bothresidents of Kanji Kulla Yaripora. The identityof the third arrested person who hails fromKakapora has not been ascertained.

Arrest of youth sparksprotest in Kulgam

Reports said that soon after the arrest of the trio,people including Sumo drivers blocked Kulgam-Islamabad road and demanded their immediaterelease. Police and district administration offi-cials assured them that they will look into thematter and all the arrested persons would be re-leased. Pertinently, government forces pickedup three persons during a nocturnal raid inHavoora hamlet two days ago. They were iden-tified by locals as Bashir Ahmed Alaie son ofAbdul Hameed, Ghulam Muhammad Alaie sonof Muhammad Ahsan and Parvez Ahmed Loneson of Muhammad Abdullah. From RamporaKulgam area, government forces also arrestedtwo persons identified as Showkat Molvi andMuhammad Abbas Sheikh.—KW

CHARAR-E-SHARIF, IHK—rar-e-Sharif: Thesupporters of Peoples Democratic Party thrashedNational Conference workers and seized theirTata-Mobile van carrying electric polls at HuproBatapora area of Charar-e-Sharif Constituency.PDP supporters alleged that the NC candidate forCharar-e-Sharif Constituency is violating ModelCode of Conduct and has been forcing officialsto provide different items including rice, trans-formers, electric wires, sanitation pipes and pollsfree of cost for his voters. Eyewitnesses told CNSthat people mostly PDP supporters intercepted a

Thousands attend funeral of two militants who were killed in an encounter with government forces at Chenigam in south Kashmir’s Kulgam .

Sajjad Lone isworth 14 crore?

Tarigami onecrore?

SRINAGAR—Pro-Indian politi-cian and Peoples ConferenceChairman Sajad Lone is worth Rs14 crore while CPI(M) state sec-retary has assets worth about 1.5crores. Lone in his poll affidavithas shown that he owns two ve-hicles, a Mahindra Thar worth Rs7 lakhs and an Echo worth Rs 3.5lakh. His movable assets accord-ing to CSN are worth Rs 13.72lakh and immovable assets areworth Rs 70.5 lakh. Lone hasshown the assets of his two de-pendents worth Rs 6.5 crore eachwhile he also has disputed liabil-ity with Oriental Bank of Com-merce through MMTC of Indiato the tune of Rs 1.5 crore.—KW

Andrabi asksKashmiris to foilIndia’s election

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kash-mir, APHC leader and KashmirFreedom Front Chairman, SyedBashir Andrabi has said that In-dia wants to enslave the peopleof Kashmir by installing one af-ter another puppet regime throughstaging election drama in the ter-ritory. Syed Bashir Andrabi dur-ing his visit to flood-affected ar-eas of Wandak Pura.—KMS

NC workers thrashed atCharar-e-Sharif

Tata-Mobile Van (JK04B-0914) near HuproBatapora on Tuesday night. When they found 9electric polls in the van, they grabbed the driverand other people inside it who admitted that theyare NC workers and these electric polls are meantfor different areas to lure voters. “These NC work-ers admitted that on the directions of NC candi-date for Charar-e-Sharif Constituency, AbdulRahim Rather, PDD officials supplied these elec-tric polls to them,” a PDP worker told CNS.

PDP supporters seized the van and report-edly thrashed the opposite party workers.—KW

A consultant issomeone who

saves his clientalmost enough to

pay his fee.

—Arnold H. Glasow

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif chairing a meeting regarding Basmati rice procurementat the PM’s House.

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for IT, Ms Anusha Rahman chairing 36th Board ofDirectors meeting of USF Co.

Policy rate cutsends encouragingmessage to industry

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The reductionin interest rate by the StateBank of Pakistan has sentan encouraging message totrade and industry whichhopes yet another cut tobring down to interest rateto single digit. The leathersector has welcomed theright decision taken by theState Bank of Pakistan(SBP)to reduce 50 basis points inthe newly announced mon-etary policy.

Hamid A. Zahur, Chair-man PTA (S.Z), Vice Chair-man Aamir Majid and formerChairman PTA, Gulzar Firozhas lauded State Bank ofPakistan decision to reducethe policy rate by basic 0.50point to 9.5 percent. He saidthat the cut in interest rate,though very marginal andstill could have been madehigher which along withlower international oil priceshad significantly contrib-uted inter alia to higher ex-ports including leather andleather made–ups. The gov-ernment should haveavailed the opportunity toraise exports and improvecountry’s reserves andcould overcome current ac-count deficit he opined.

Viper Technologybags P@sha ICT

AwardsSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Viper Technol-ogy continued on its trendof achieving credibleawards and today won theP@sha ICT Awards 2014 inManaged Services at anauspicious ceremony. It isawarded for the strenuouswork done by Viper man-aged services team; underthe supervision of AsimSheikh and supported byFaisal Sheikh.

We would like to thankour customers for trustingus and also assure them forthe best support and ser-vices. A big thank to teamP@sha especially PresidentJehan Ara, Chairman, Dr.Shoaib and the group ofdedicated judges that con-sidered Viper Technologyworthy enough of such anaward.

Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Moroccan Min-ister for Energy, Mines, Water & Environment Chairman & Chief Executive of PEL,Zaheeruddin, Director General, Madame Amina Benkhadra and Governor of EssaouiraJamal Mokhtaar pose for group photo.

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Petroleum Exploration (Pvt) Ltd (PEL), a Paki-stani private sector Oil & GasExploration and Productioncompany in collaboration withONHYM, a Moroccan NationalPetroleum Company, has com-menced drilling of the first ex-ploratory well in Haha-2 Block,in Morocco at Tamanar-1 Wellsite, which is about 70 KM fromEssaouira city, in a ceremonyattended by Pakistan’s Minis-ter for Petroleum & Natural Re-sources Mr. Shahid KhaqanAbbasi and Moroccan Minis-ter for Energy, Mines, Water &Environment Dr. AbdelkaderAmara , says a report receivedfrom Rabat here today.

PEL is exploring hydro-carbons in three HahaBlocks, spread over an areaof over 5000 Sq km, in jointventure with Moroccan StatePetroleum CompanyONHYM. A high-tech, 1500HP, electrically driven rig,

Petroleum Exploration Ltd drills first well in Moroccomanufactured by a world’s renowned Chinese companyForpetro has been imported from China to Morocco forthe project. Addressing the ceremony the Chairman &

Chief Executive of PEL, Mr. Zaheeruddin appreciated thesupport and cooperation extended by the Governor ofEssaouira, the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and En-vironment, Kingdom of Morocco and ONHYM Officialsand the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources,Government of Pakistan for their presence at the ceremony.

PEL was awarded three contiguous Haha Blocks onJune 20, 2007. They have a cumulative acreage of over5,000 square kilometers, bordering to the west by the At-lantic coastline. PEL is privileged to be the first Pakistaniprivate sector E&P company to have entered into explora-tion venture and to invest in search of oil and gas resources,in hitherto scarcely explored region of Morocco. It is perti-nent to mention that first ever 3D seismic data in the HahaBlocks was acquired and processed by the world’s re-nowned French geophysical company CGG. After inten-sive geological and geophysical data integration the drill-able Tamanar prospect was delineated. The team engagedin due course comprised of high tech companies and pro-fessionals from UK, China, Morocco, France and Pakistan.

Pakistan and Morocco though geographically far apartyet they share common values and aspirations. They enjoyexcellent friendly relations which are destined to be furtherconsolidated in the time to come. Governor of EssaouiraJamal Mokhtaar, Head of Cabinet Ministry of Energy, Mines,Water and Environment Kingdom of Morocco Mr. AbdelaliGour, Secretary General Ministry of Energy, Mines, Waterand Environment Kingdom of Morocco Mr. Abderrahim ElHafidi, Pakistan’s Ambassador Mr. Muhammad Waheed ul

Hassan, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Mr.Shuzhong Sun, Director General Madame Amina Benkhadra,News Business and Cooperation Director ONHYM Mademe

Wafae Benjelloun and officials of joint venture companieswere present on this occasion.

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Presidential Candidate ofUnited Business Group for FPCCI and CEOof Sitara Chemicals, Mian Idress has saidthat textile industry is confronted with aserious challenge of sustainability on ac-count of the energy shortage, particularlygas supply, which is not being provided asper the requirement. He said that the gov-ernment needs to review its decision re-garding the provision of gas as all over theworld the priority is given to the industrythat earns revenues and creates jobs butunfortunately the situation in Pakistan wasthe other way round

Mian Idrees said that the industry isapprehended to lose a total of $2.5 billionexports in case the industry remains non-operational during winter. He said that sucha situation would create havoc in the in-dustry, as it would inflict negative impacton the country’s exports. He said thatPakistan’s external reserves are already at acritical stage and any further reduction inexport earnings is likely to worsen the bal-ance of payment situation

While showing his concerns on the gassupply situation, Iftikhar Ali Malik, Chair-man United Business Group FPCCI said thatcotton prices are on a decreasing trend be-cause of the inability of the industry to pro-

Textile industry faceingserious challenges

cure due to the prevailing confusion whetherthe production units would be operationalor not during winter. “It would also render10 million workers jobless and procurementof five millions cotton bales would be at haltdue to suspension of operations”, He added.Mr. Malik said that this situation would havea negative impact to the backward and for-ward linkages and the dream of realization ofthe generalized system of preferences (GSP)plus status would remain unmet.

Malik suggested that the textile sectorshould not be on fourth place on the list ofpriorities for gas supply. The sector comesbelow domestic, commercial and fertilizer sec-tors. He urged Prime Minister to ensure unin-terrupted electricity and gas supply to the tex-tile mills particularly in Punjab. He said that theindustry has pinned high hopes on the SNGPLfor continuous gas supply during winter

He urged the government to ensure 24/7uninterrupted gas supply to the Punjab-basedtextile mills in line with other provinces so asto realize maximum benefit of the market ac-cess facility from the EU. Iftikhar Ali Malikasked the Government and gas authorities todevise a rational load management plan torelieve the domestic textile producers duringthe winter season, as gas and power crisis arethe greatest hindrances in the way of theseproducers who are eager to expand their in-dustrial base and investments.

LAHORE: CEO of TUV Group Dr. Stefan Haas occupied by Dr, Reinhard Preiss andRashid Mehr addressing a press conference here today.—PO photo by Maqsood Shah

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Austrians are very keen in in-vesting oil and gas sector while OMV, anAustrian oil and gas company has alreadybecome the largest investor in Pakistan.TUV Austria Group’s Chief Executive Of-ficer Dr. Stefan Haas stated this while ad-dressing a press conference here Wednes-day. TUV Austria Group’s Head of Interna-tional Business Management Dr. ReinhardPreiss and Chief Executive Officer of TUVAustria Bureau of Inspection and Certifi-cation Pakistan Rashid Mehr also spoke onthis occasion.

Dr. Stefan Haas stressed the need forfurther strengthening trade ties betweenthe two countries so that existing poten-tial could be fully exploited. He also em-phasized for evolving conducive policiesto promote trade relations between Paki-stan and Austria. He urged the Pakistanibusinessmen to enter into joint ventureswith their counterparts to improve tradevolume between the two countries. High-lighting foreign direct investment in theoil and gas sector, Dr. Stefan Haas saidthat Pakistan received over US $500 mil-lion investment in first seven months of2013-2014 while oil and gas sector at-tracted the highest amount of investmentof over US $250 million.

About the TUV Austria Group, he saidit is a multi million euro company and ex-panding aggressively into Asia and in-tends to further expand its operation inthe South Asian region, particularlyBangladesh and Sri Lanka through Paki-stan. Dr. Stefan Haas said that TUV Aus-tria is very keen to further strengthen itsposition in Pakistan and wants to take com-plete advantage of the prospects available

Austrians keen toinvest in oil and gas sector

in Pakistan. Other important companiesand brands from Austria that already existin Pakistan include OMV, Red Bull andSwarovski, he added. He further added thatPakistan is an attractive place to investfor the European investors, particularly forthe Austrian companies, he said addingthat the situation in Pakistan is very prom-ising.

TUV Austria Group’s CEO alsostressed the need for exchange of busi-ness delegations and holding single-country exhibition in each other’s coun-try which would help promote trade tiesbetween Austria and Pakistan. Speakingon the occasion, Rashid Mehr said thatTUV Austria Bureau of Inspection & Cer-tification is another highly successfulbusiness venture of Austria in Pakistanwith hundreds of clients across Pakistan& has proven to be extremely successfulfor TUV Austria Group, hundreds of itsemployees in Pakistan and the localshareholders.

Mehr said the statistics for the year2013-2014 showed Austrian investors’ in-terest in Pakistan, particularly in oil andgas sector. It gives TUV Austria an op-portunity to offer its unmatched and highquality services to the oil & gas sector inthe area of Occupational Health, Safety,Environment, Technical Inspection, Con-struction Supervision Services & Tech-nical Trainings. Moreover, TUV Austriawants to offer its internationally recog-nized certification services to the indus-try at large in the field ISO 9000, ISO14000, ISO 18000, Food Safety Certifica-tion services. Certification from TUV Aus-tria will help the local industry to com-pete both internationally and locally, headded.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Minister for Excise & Taxation,Finance and Law Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehmanhas stressed upon the doctors communityfor launching massive awareness campaignfor sensitizing the people about hazardousaspects of childhood asthma / allergy asthe 40 to 45 percent population of the coun-try is victim of allergy, whereas, 60% chil-dren of the world are facing childhoodasthma complications that becomes dan-gerous in future.

He said that billions of rupees are beingwasted on smoking annually which is majorcause of spread of deadly diseases like TB,lungs cancer and even cardio vascular dis-eases as well as other chest diseases evenChronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases(COPD) which 4th main cause of deaths inthe world and 600 million people are victimsof this disease in the world, whereas, accord-ing to WHO 3 million people die each year inthe world due to these complications. He saidgovernment is working on a comprehensiveplan to provide pollution free environment aswell as to provide civic amenities to the massesso that to protect them from curse of suchfatal diseases.

While talking to various delegations athis residence, regarding World Men’sHealth Day and Chronic Obstructive Pul-monary Diseases Day, Mujtaba Shuja urRehman said that the budget allocated forhealth Rs.121.80 billon which is 11.66 per-

Billions of rupees beingwasted on smoking annually

cent of total expenditures of the govern-ment. He said that 36 percent of develop-ment budget has been allocated for southPunjab so that maximum developmentprojects will be completed in the less de-veloped districts. He said that governmenthas reserved Rs.2 billion to achieve the mil-lennium development goals(MDGs).

Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman said that pro-tective healthcare programmes would be con-tinued to save the children from epidemic, com-municable and non-communicable diseases.He said that Expanded Programme on Immuni-zation (EPI) aims at reducing morbidity, dis-abilities and mortality caused by vaccine pre-ventable diseases. He said that the govern-ment was appointing trained lady health work-ers, LHVs and community midwives at healthcenters, especially in remote areas so that in-fants and mothers could be saved from fataldiseases, whereas, LHWs were being ap-pointed in remote areas.

Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman said Rs.1.80billion are being spent for the launching ofa healthcare facilities programme to motherand child, whereas, at present new bornmortality rate is 54/1000 which would bereduced upto 25 by year 2015. He said thatpeople of rural and remote areas are alsobeing provided treatment facilities throughmobile health units and Rs. 1 billion hasbeen provided for this purpose. He said thathuge sum of Rs.47.44 billion will be spentfor treatment facility and upgrade the hos-pitals during current financial year.

ISE-10 index staysbullishISLAMABAD—TheIslamabad Stock Ex-change (ISE) on Wednes-day witnessed bearishtrend as the ISE-10 indexwas up by 17.02 points toclose at 2075.14 points. Atotal of 30,200 shares weretraded, which showed apositive growth of 5,000shares, when comparedwith previous day’strading of 25,000 shares.Out of 153 companies,share prices of 40companies recordedincrease while those of113 companies decreased.The share price of MurreeBrewery increased by Rs57.88 while that of AkzoNoble Pakistan decreasedby Rs 21.64 per share.Bank of Punjab, K-Electricand Askari Bank Ltdremained the top tradingcompanies with 10,000,10,000 and 5,000 sharesrespectively.—APP

Conversion ratesKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign CurrencyDeposits, Dollar BearerCertificates, ForeignCurrency Bearer Certifi-cates, Special U.S. DollarBonds and profits thereonby all banks and forproviding Forward Coveron Foreign CurrencyDeposits (excluding F.E-25 deposits) by the StateBank on November 20,2014. The rates are U.S.Dollar 101.6839, JapaneseYen 0.8652, Pound Sterling158.5557 and Euro127.4302.—APP

3 ships berth atPort QasimKARACHI—Three shipscarrying containers andcement were berthed atQasim InternationalContainers Terminal andMulti Purpose Terminalrespectively. Meanwhilethree more ships carryingand chemical also arrivedat outer anchorage ofPort Qasim during last.Berth occupancy was75% at the port onWednesday where eightships namely MV.Kolkata, Fowairet, AmberChampion, Ikan Prang,Sea Luck II, FlagMersinidi, Classy Victoryand SC Dong Hai arecurrently occupyingberths to load/offloadcontainers, cement, sunflower seeds, wheat,diesel oil and edible oilrespectively during last24 hours.—APP

Senator Kamranto attend flag

hoisting ceremonyIS L A M A B A D—PakistanNational Shipping Corpo-ration has added a new oiltanker in its fleet. This wasdisclosed by the Ministerfor Ports & Shipping,Senator Kamran Michaelhere today.

The Minister said thatthe oil tanker has the ca-pacity of one Lac Sixtythousand Metric tons. Hesaid that he is going toinaugurate the Flag Hoist-ing Ceremony, next week.He said that with the ad-dition of new oil tanker,Pakistan would gain ThreeMillion U.S. Dollar incomeper annum. He said thatthis is a great achievementof PNSC which wouldgreatly benefit the coun-try.—PR

Cherat Cementmanagementvisits LSESALIM AHMED

LAHORE—The senior man-agement of Cherat CementMr. Yasir Masood – Execu-tive Director Finance, Mr.Abid A. Vazir – ExecutiveDirector and Mr. AhmadShoaib Khan – ResidentDirector visited the LahoreStock Exchange (LSE) toparticipate in the CorporateBriefing Program (CBP).CBP is an interactive pro-gram initiated by the LahoreStock Exchange under theCorporate Communica-tions Department to en-courage companies to comeforward and share their fi-nancial and non financialprojects before the mem-bers, TREC Holders, inves-tors and the media toabridge the communicationgap between the listedcompanies and the marketparticipants.

In his presentation, Mr.Abid A. Vazir gave a back-ground of the GhulamFaruque Group and thebusiness activities it is in-volved in. He explainedthat in view of increase indomestic demand for ce-ment, Cherat Cement hasdecided to install a newproduction plant with aproduction capacity ofover 1,300,000 tons perannum. The new line willtake the total productioncapacity of the companyto over 2,400,000 tons perannum. Mr. Vazir informedthat the new plant is beinginstalled at the existingfactory site and will helpcater the demand for ce-ment which will further in-crease the company’s mar-ket share and profitability.

While highlighting thefinancial performance, Mr.Yasir Masood informed thatthe cement industry wit-nessed a growth of 2.5% inthe year 2014. Explaining fi-nancial performance ofCherat Cement, he informedthat the profitability of thecompany has been on anupward trajectory since theYear 2011. While deliveringthe presentation before theinvestors, Mr. Masoodshared the key financial in-dicators of the companyincluding EPS, DividendPayout and Market priceper share recorded over aperiod of past six years. Healso informed that the newplant is expected to be com-missioned in 30 monthstime at a total cost of ap-proximately Rs. 12 billion.

Currency Selling Buying

USA 101.50 101.30

UK 158.44 158.12

Euro 127.03 126.78

Canada 89.60 89.42

Switzerland 105.76 105.55

Australia 87.97 87.80

Sweden 13.73 13.70

Japan 0.8658 0.8641

Norway 15.02 14.99

Singapore 78.04 77.88

Denmark 17.06 17.03

Saudi Arabia 27.05 27.00

Hong Kong 13.09 13.06

Kuwait 348.55 347.86

Malaysia 30.23 30.17

Newzealand 79.91 79.75

Qatar 27.87 27.81

UAE 27.63 27.58

Kr Won 0.0918 0.0917

Thailand 3.092 3.086

Daily opening& closing ratesPMEX Index 2,779Total Volume (Lots): 14,225Traded Value (Rs): 2,587,072,197

Commodity -------------------- Price Quotation -------------- Open ---------- CloseCRUDE OIL ------------------- $ Per Barrel --------------------- 75.50 ---------- 74.28SILVER ------------------------- $ Per Ounce -------------------- 16.122 --------- 16.170GOLD --------------------------- $ Per Ounce -------------------- 1,185.1 -------- 1,194.8GOLD --------------------------- Rs Per 10 gms ------------------ 39,064 --------- 39,294MTOLAGOLD --------------- Rs Per Tola --------------------- 46,874 --------- 46,810GOLD --------------------------- Rs Per Tola --------------------- 46,874 --------- 46,810RICEIRRI6 --------------------- Rs Per 100 kg ------------------ 3,349 ---------- 3,294PALMOLEIN ----------------- Rs Per Maund ----------------- 3,762 ---------- 3,727SUGAR ------------------------- Rs Per kg ------------------------ 48.63 ---------- 48.62ICOTTON --------------------- US Cents per pound --------- 59.24 ---------- 60.10WHEAT ------------------------ Rs Per 100 kg ------------------ 3,427 ---------- 3,426

The total value traded was PKR 2.59 billion as compared to PKR 1.79 billion reportedon Last business day, an increase of 45 percent. Number of lots traded also increasedby 62 percent to 14,225 from 8,808. PMEX Commodity Index closed at 2,779. Majorbusiness was contributed by crude oil amounting to PKR 1.46 billion, a 33 percentincrease when compared to the previous trading day. This was followed by gold (PKR1.07 billion) and silver (PKR 53 million).

ISLAMABAD: Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, Federal Minister for National Food Secu-rity and Research chairing a meeting of all stakeholders for Soybean Promotion inPakistan at Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Deputy Director General of Yunnan Interna-tional Expositions Bureau, Mr. Wang Guoping has of-fered 100 free booths to the Karachi Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (KCCI) at 2nd China-South Asia Expoand 22nd China Import & Export Fair scheduled to beorganized from June 6 to June 10, 2014. The offer wasgiven by the Deputy Director General of Yunnan Inter-national Expositions Bureau during a meeting with a KCCIdelegation held here in a local hotel. KCCI delegationcomprised of Senior Vice Chairman Businessmen Group& Former President KCCI, Anjum Nisar, President KCCI,Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Former President KCCI, HaroonAgar, Former Senior Vice President Shamim Ahmed Firpo,KCCI Managing Committee members Asif Nisar, FaisalMukhtar, Yaqoob Warind and Sheikh Ashfaq Ahmed.

Vice Consul General of Consulate General of Chinain Karachi, Mr. Mu Yongpeng, Deputy Director ofYunnan International Expositions Bureau, Mr. Tan Yunand representatives of People’s Government of Yunnanprovince, Mr. Zhou Lin and Mr. Zhuang Zhanchuanwere also present at the meeting. Deputy Director Gen-eral of Yunnan International Expositions Bureau, whileseeking KCCI’s support in promoting these exhibitionsamongst the business community of Karachi, askedKCCI to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)for strengthening cooperation with Yunnan Interna-tional Expositions Bureau.

He informed that 2nd China-South Asia Expo will carryforward its objective of promoting all-round cooperation

KCCI offered 100 booths at China-SouthAsia expo, China Import Export Fair

and development between China and South Asia whileits theme will be focused on expanding trade in services,boosting investment-centered cooperation, acceleratinginter-connectivity, and jointly constructing economic cor-ridors. Similarly, the 22nd Kunming Fair will adhere to thetheme of inter-connectivity, cooperation and win-win,he said, adding that Kunming Fair has become an inter-national business platform featuring business negotia-tions, commodity exhibition, investment cooperation,service trade and E-business etc.

While welcoming the offer of 100 free booths toKarachi Chamber, President KCCI, Iftikhar Ahmed Vohraassured that the Karachi Chamber will utilize all availablechannels to promote these two major exhibitions in Chinain order to ensure participation of maximum number ofbusinessmen and industrialists in these events whichwould surely provide a perfect opportunity to promotePakistan products and services, strengthen business tiesand enhance Pakistan’s export share in the Chinese mar-kets. He advised the organizers to facilitate KCCI forestablishing a dedicated Pakistan’s Pavilion at the exhi-bitions.

President KCCI also invited the Chinese delegation toparticipate in Karachi Chamber’s 12th My Karachi – Oasisof Harmony exhibition scheduled to be organized fromApril 10th to April 12th, 2014 at Karachi Expo Center whichwould not only give them an opportunity to closely wit-ness Pakistani products and services but it will also be aperfect platform to promote 2nd China-South Asia Expoand 22nd China Import & Export Fair amongst thousandsof visitors and exhibitors of My Karachi Exhibition.

ISLAMABAD—The EU funded Pakistan Leather Competi-tiveness Improvement Program (PLCIP) arranged a twoday Training Workshop on Footwear for the footwear ex-port sector of Pakistan. The training was conducted byMr. Michal Špa?ek, a leather footwear expert from Interna-tional Shoe Competitiveness Centre (ISC) Germany. Thetwo day workshop was widely attended by leading Paki-stani exporters including senior management from compa-nies such as Servis, Firhaj, Starlet, Shafi Lifestyle, Deluxe,Standard Footwear and EPCOT.

The workshop was also attended by representativesfrom Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design, Government In-stitute of Leather Technology Gujranwala, Charsadda Foot-wear Institute and Leather Product Development InstituteSialkot. Earlier, PLCIP had undertaken a detailed in factoryvisits to the leading footwear exporters, and prepared aCompetitive Need Assessment for the Pakistani footwearsector. This training workshop was the first step to engagewith the shortlisted footwear exporters under PLCIP.

The major topics of the training were decision makingin shoe making, shoe material & components, plastic ma-terial in shoe making, gluing and productivity improve-ment. Furthermore, the workshop was supported with prac-

EU strengthens capacity ofPakistan’s footwear industry

tical samples and modern shoe making tools which havebeen imported and prepared specifically for the training.The training demonstrated comparisons between a goodquality shoe and a bad quality shoe, hereby leading to abetter understanding amongst the audience. Apart fromthe final shoe, various shoe components were shownwhich included lasts, insoles, counter, toe puff, upper andlasted upper without sole while highlighting the best tech-niques used in preparing these samples. Recommenda-tions were made on how to improve the quality, materialconsumption and productivity in the Pakistani footwearsector. The audience consisted of CEOs/Directors, seniormanagement and technical personnel from the attendingcompanies.

Mr. Usman Malik, Project Director PLCIP, informed theaudience that purpose of the workshop is to provide theaudience with the background knowledge necessary toimprove competitiveness of Footwear sector of Pakistan.He further added that the next step of the program will beto work with the individual firms on specific customizedinterventions identified by under the Competitiveness NeedAssessment conducted earlier, which will help in bridgingthe gap and produce quality products for exports.—INP

ISLAMABAD—The Securities and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan (SECP) initiated 62show-cause proceedings due to non-com-pliance with several legal requirements. TheSECP while enforcing compliance of cor-porate and allied laws initiated 62 show-cause proceedings due to non-compliancewith legal requirements regarding auditors’reports, directors’ powers, delayed/non-fill-ing of cost audit reports, investment in as-sociated companies, misstatement of facts,takeover regulations, disclosure of direc-tors’ interests, circulation of financial state-ments, employees’ provident funds, andsecurity deposits.

During September and October, theEnforcement Department concluded 30 pro-ceedings against the companies and chiefexecutives, directors and auditors of thecompanies, said a SECP statement issuedhere. In one such instance, the detailed ex-amination of financial statements of a listedcompany led the SECP to track and unveilmaterial concessions extended by anotherlisted company to its associates, in totalignorance of its shareholders. The lendercompany had already extended a loan ofRs50 million to its associate, which was fur-ther rescheduled for another three years,without obtaining the required approvalfrom the shareholders.

The lending company also did not

SECP initiates 62 show-causeproceedings

record this material information in its finan-cial statements, to avoid surveillance of theSECP and general shareholders, which sur-faced from the record of the borrowing com-pany. The company admitted the defaultand deposited the fine imposed. In anothercase, the change in cost formula of inven-tory valuation was accounted for as‘change in accounting estimate’ instead ofas a ‘change in accounting policy’ in ac-cordance with the requirements of IFRS/IAS.

Since the change of cost formula repre-sents a change in measurement basis there-fore it should have been accounted for ret-rospectively as nothing to the contrary ismentioned in IAS. The SECP’s point of viewwas duly endorsed by the ICAP on the is-sue. Moreover, in case of another companythe deferred tax has not properly been ac-counted for as per IAS-12, ‘income taxes’.

The company recorded the deferred taxasset without probable sufficient taxableprofits in future, which is in contradictionto the requirements of IAS- 12. The depart-ment while facilitating the companies al-lowed one listed company to issue sharesby way of right while another company wasallowed to issue shares by way of other-wise than right. The department also ac-corded approvals and relaxation from cer-tain provisions of laws and the rules.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Ministry of Textile Indus-try will organize “Buyers Conference” dur-ing next month aiming at strengthening thecompliance of Generalized Scheme of Pref-erences Plus (GSP+) Buyers’ forum will fa-cilitate and promote a dialogue platform be-tween buyers and manufacturers to discusssustainable practices and improved compli-ance and reporting on environmental, labour,health and safety standards and their imple-mentation in the textile sector of the coun-try, said a press release here Wednesday.

The conference will be organized in col-laboration with the Embassy of Netherlands,International Finance Corporation (IFC) andthe International Labour Organization (ILO).In this regard a consultative meeting washeld under the chairpersonship of Secre-tary MinTex for finalizing the names of ma-jor international buying chains as well asfocal persons from Pakistani side to attendthe buyers’ conference. It said that the fo-rum is a joint effort from all stakeholderswith the sole aim of strengthening GSP pluscompliance for sustainable development oflocal textile industry.

The purpose of this forum is to bring to-

Textile ministry to organizeBuyers Conference

gether all the stakeholders so that they comeup with a concrete mechanism that may guar-antee raised standards and compliance. Thestatement further said that GSP-Plus is con-ditional to ratification and compliance to 27international standards and covenants onlabour, human, women rights, environment,narcotics and corruption. These 27 standardscomprise eight ILO core labour conventions,six UN conventions on human rights andgender and racial discrimination, nine UN pro-tocols on environment and four UN conven-tions on narcotics and corruption.

There is a strong consensus that com-pliance with environmental, labour andhealth, safety standards is critical to main-tain GSP Plus status as well as for enhancedbusiness productivity and sustainability ofthe country. In order to meet these require-ments, Ministry of Textile Industry has de-vised an integrated approach involvinggovernment, workers’ and employers’ or-ganizations as well as international buyers.

Regional models like ‘ALLIANCE” forBangladesh workers safety and IFCBangladesh Buyers Forum may serve as anexample.—APP

e2e SCMexpands with

Singapore officeISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s pre-mier supply chain and logis-tics provider, e2e SCM, hassuccessfully launched an of-fice in Singapore. Heading thisfacility is a veteran of shippingand logistics Mr. Alan Lim.“This office will serve our pre-vailing Singapore client baseplus new clients and partnersas e2e continues to build mo-mentum in the region. e2e haslong been committed to thehigh growth in South East AsiaMarket”, said Abid Butt, CEO,e2e SCM.

“We see Singapore as astrategic economic hub. Es-tablishing an office inSingapore is an importantstep towards opening futureavenues into countries likeIndonesia, Malaysia, Philip-pines and Thailand.—PR

Capital Valleyshines at ShellTameer Awards

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Capital Valley,the world’s first online entre-preneurial & philanthropicecosystem, has been recog-nized as Role Model-2014 forEntrepreneurs in Pakistan.The title was presented thisweek at the prestigious ShellTameer Young EntrepreneursAward 2014. Capital Valley isan emerging tech startup lo-cated at DotZero, an incuba-tor and shared office space inKarachi. The startup aims tosolve funding, mentoring,and specialized networkingproblems of entrepreneursand fund seekers in Pakistan.Through Capital Valley, theteam envisions a Pakistanwhere entrepreneurs & fundseekers are connected withhuman and financial capital toachieve their dreams.

‘We are deeply humbledby the opportunity ShellTameer has provided uswith. Such initiatives are ararity and it is highly en-couraging to see a positiveshift towards cultivatingenterprise’, said founderand CEO of Capital Valley,Baqar Abbas Jafri.

e2e Supply Chain Management expands presence in South East Asia with new Singaporeoffice headed by shipping and logistics veteran, Alan Lim.

KARACHI: Baqar Abbas Jafri, Founder & CEO, Capital Valley along with Co-founder& Chief Business Development Officer, Sennen Desouza at Shell Tameer Awards 2014.

Karachi: A beach cleaning activity was organized by Pak Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd. at SeaView Beach. Pak Suzuki’s top management participated in CSR activity. The campaignpurpose ties with Suzuki’s values of respecting the environment. Suzuki MD, HirofumiNagao also briefs media explaining the initiative taken by the company to play a respon-sible role for environmental awareness.

ISLAMABAD: Players of Nepal and Bangladesh struggle for the ball during the semi-final of 3rd SAFF WomenFootball Championship at Sports Complex.

ISLAMABAD: Shahzad Khan, Regional Head JS Bank, Ms Vijiyanti, Deputy Mission Head Srilankan Embassy withPervaiz Mir, Organizing Secretary South Asian Federation Football Championship.

KARACHI—Pakistan captain ImranKhan said that financial worries arecausing trouble at the back of mind ofthe players ahead of Champions Tro-

phy scheduled in India next month.“We have been waiting for the

payments our central contract for past18 months. Things are gone too farnow,” he told APP in an interview at

Financial worries causing hardshipfor players ahead of CT: Imran

Hockey Club of Pakistan on Wednes-day.

He admitted that there was seriousresentment among the players as theyare facing great financial hardship.

He however dispelled the impres-sions that a rebellion is brewing upamong seniors players.

Muhammad Imran expressed thehope that sports authorities, PakistanSports Board and Pakistan HockeyFederation (PHF) will now urgentlycome forward to resolve the issue oftheir long standing payments.

“Players are now seriously con-cerned about their payments becausedozens of promises are not fulfilled,”he said.

“No doubt that players are facingmonetary problems. But we would befeaturing in Champions Trophy,”Olympic full-back said.

He said being captain and “A” cat-egory, he owe Rs.900,000 from PHF.

According to reports, seniorplayers like Imran Butt, MuhammadIrfan, Umar Bhutta, Shafqat Rasool,Waqas Sharif and captain Imran him-self had a secret meeting and theyare thinking different options to ex-press their dismay. “We have noplans to pull out of Champions Tro-phy. But how our families will sur-vive without non payments from

PHF,” he questioned.He said players have been sacri-

ficing to play for their beloved Paki-stan.

“We got to think for future of ourfamilies and kids. We are survivingthrough some amount by playing for-eign leagues,” Imran, who quit hisleague contract halfway in HongKong to come to play for Pakistan.

“Being Pakistan players we de-served better treatment. But things aregoing worst for us,” he remarked.

Imran Khan, who led Pakistan tosilver medal in Incheon Asian Gameslast month, said national team wasimproving but they needed regularexposure against European teams.

“By only playing regularly againstEuropean teams, players can raisetheir game.” he said.

Imran said Champions Trophy isworld’s most toughest event. But teamwas looking forward to it to show theirpotential.

He said Pakistan team badlyneeded international exposure to maketeam strong and to qualify for 2016Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro.

He said playing in European leaguein the Netherlands, Germany and othercountries are benefitting players. “Buton that basis you cannot become worldbeaters,” he concluded.—APP

NEW DELHI—Indian cricket legend SunilGavaskar has hit out at GurunathMeiyyapan, son-in-law of ICC President NSrinivasan, over his involvement in bettingand also questioned the Tamil Nadustrongman’s silence in the whole spot-fix-ing and betting issue.

“The full force of the law must comedown on Meiyyapan,”Gavaskar said while speak-ing to the ‘India TodayGroup’ in Melbourne.Gavaskar said Srinivasanneeds to explain why he didnot act against players if heknew they were involved infixing.

“There are reports whichsay the Mudgal committeereport has found thatSrinivasan knew about bet-ting but did not do anythingabout it. Srinivasan shouldanswer for why he did notact if he knew that a playerwas guilty,” Gavaskar said.Gavaskar was in Australia atthe invitation of Prime Minister NarendraModi to attend a special reception at theMelbourne Cricket Ground, which washosted by Australian PM Tony Abbot.

Gavaskar questions Srinavasan’ssilence over betting row

Several Indian and Australian cricketinglegends such as Kapil Dev, VVS Laxman,Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath, Allan Bor-der, Jason Gillespie also attended the re-ception.

Gavaskar said that there should be zerotolerance against match-fixing and bettingand if any player is found guilty of having

participated in wrong actsthen he should be jailed andhis entire cricketing historydeleted from the recordbooks. “New Zealand hascome up with a new law onbetting which says thatguilty players will be jailed.India should have the samelaw,” he said.

The former captain alsosuggested that the govern-ment should think aboutlegalising betting in India. “Alot of betting happensthrough black money. But ifyou open official bettingshop, Government will beable to increase its revenues.It’s like prohibition, if some-

one wants to bet illegally, they will. Gov-ernment should think about legalising bet-ting,” said Gavaskar.—Agencies

Kabaddi trialsin progress

LAHORE—The trials for thefinal selection of Pakistankabaddi team for taking partin the upcoming KabaddiWorld Cup Tournamentcontinued here on Wednes-day at Punjab Stadium.

The performance andfitness of each player wasjudged in the trials throughphotographs and videos.Every raider and stopper isbeing given three chanceseach to gauge their real tal-ent.

Head Coach GhulamAbbas Butt said that the fi-nal line up will be an-nounced after assessingevery player completely.“We are preparing our teamaccording to a set plan forthe Kabaddi World Cup andInshallah our teams will notlet the nation down in theshowpiece event,” he ex-pressed his determination.

Meanwhile the men andwomen kabaddi probablesalso did their routine camptraining at the same venue.APP

KARACHI—Karachi Blues clinched the in-augural PCB Inter District Regional Under-21 Women Cricket Tournament when theybeat Karachi Greens by ten wickets after anexciting final at State Bank Sports ComplexGround on Tuesday.

Areeba Hanif hit seven fours in her 66and Ayesha Zafar 47 with four fours starredin Karachi Blues triumph.

Omaima Sohail made a fine 56 with halfa dozen boundaries as Karachi Greensscored 122 for the loss of one wicket in 20overs.

Karachi Blues in reply reached the tar-get with two balls to spare without losingany wicket.

President KCCA Ejaz Ahmed Faruqi,who was the chief guest distributed the

KARACHI—The three Pakistani cueists whoopen their campaign in the InternationalBilliards and Snooker (IBSF) men’s worldamateur snooker championship in Banga-lore, face a tough task to regain the title thenation has won twice in the past.

It was veteran Mohammad Yousuf whodid the nation proud by capturing the elu-sive world crown at Johannesburg in 1994.Faisalabad’s Mohammad Asif became thesecond Pakistani to equal Yousuf’s feat atBulgaria two years back.

According to details available here, asmany as 112 cueists are competing in theannual men’s spectacle. They have beenequally drawn into 16 groups comprisingseven players apiece.

Two other events — masters andwomen’s — will run concurrently. The

Pak cueists face stiffchallenge in Bangalore

championship conclude on Nov 29.National champion Mohammad Asif

Toba, who also heads the national rankings,is drawn in group R which also include Iran’sSoheil Vahedi, the 2009 losing finalist ofworld under-21 snooker championship.

Mohammad Sajjad, a former Asian No2, heads group G together with Sweden-based Pakistani Farhan Mirza who was thefirst cueist to have won the national juniorand senior championships in the past.Hamza Akbar, the third Pakistani player inthe event, is placed in group C.

The IBSF annual elections will also takeplace on the sidelines of the championshipson Nov 26. Pakistan Billiards and SnookerFederation president, Alamgir Shaikh, is acandidate for the post of vice-president.—APP

Karachi Blues wins PCB Inter U21District Women cricket

prizes. Ayesha Zafar received the winnersTrophy and Omaima Sohail received run-ner-up Trophy.

Areeba Hanif received Omar AssociatesPlayer of the final and best batter of thetournament. Ayesha Amjad of KarachiWhites received Omar Associates bestbowler of the tournament award and MariamBukhari was prsented best wicket keeperaward. Naz Alam Sherazi representative PCBwomen wing Karachi,Shafiq Kazmi Secre-tary KCCA, Azam Khan, Shafiqullah,Muhammad Waseem, Khalid Jamil werealso present the occasion. SummarizedScores: Karachi Greens 122-1 in 20 overs(Omaima Sohail 56, Huraina Sajjad 48)Karachi Blues 126-0 in 19.4 overs (AreebaHanif 66, Ayesha Zafar 47).—APP

MULTAN: A batsman playing stroke during All-Multan T-20 Cricket Trophy tourna-ment 2014 in a match between Young Fighter Cricket Club and Young Boys CricketClub team at Sports Ground.

BARCELONA—Argentina captain LionelMessi has given the strongest hint yet

he could consider leaving Barcelona,saying in an interview published in Olenewspaper on Tuesday “things canchange a lot in football”.

The four-times World Player of theYear, who joined Barca’s academy at theage of 13, has not been at his scintillat-ing best over the past 18 months andhas also had problems with the Spanish

Messi hints he may one dayleave Barcelona

tax authorities.Now 27, Messi probably has at least

five years left at the top of the gameand if the right offer was made, likely tobe a world record fee in excess of 100million euros ($125 million), it is not in-conceivable he could quit Barca.

Probed about his future plans,Messi told Ole he was living “in thepresent” and was focusing on winningtitles with Barca after failure to securemajor silverware in 2013-14.

“After that we’ll see,” he said, whenasked if he was still planning to stay atBarca for his entire professional ca-reer.

“Things can change a lot in football.While I have always said I would like tostay there [at Barca] forever, sometimesthings don’t work out the way youwould like.”

Quizzed about whether he wouldchoose to leave or whether i t wouldhappen because of someone else’s de-cision, Messi added: “Yes, I have saidit many times. If it was up to me I wouldstay forever.

“But as I just said, sometimes noteverything happens in the way youwould l ike. The more so in football ,which is so volatile and where so manythings happen.

“It’s complicated, the more so dur-ing the moments like those Barcelona isexperiencing right now.”

Barca are second in La Liga, twopoints behind Real Madrid after 11matches, and have qualif ied for theChampions League knockout round.—AFP

JS Bank, JSGlobal -official

sponsors for SAFFWomen’s C’shipSPORTS REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—JS Bank andJS Global are pleased to beOfficial Sponsors for theSouth Asian Football Fed-eration (SAFF) Women’sCup being held inIslamabad. It is the main as-sociation football competi-tion of the Women’s na-tional football teams gov-erned by the South AsianFootball Federation and ap-proved by FIFA and AFC.On this occasion Mr. ImranShaikh, Executive Vice Presi-dent & Head of MarketingJS Bank stated “JS Bankbelieves in giving back tothe society by supportingsuch endeavours as part ofits Corporate Social Re-sponsibility and we wholeheartedly welcome ourfriends from South Asia toPakistan for the SAFF tour-nament”

The Eight countries thatare competing in the biggestwomen’s event in South Asiaare Pakistan, India,Bangladesh, Afghanistan,Nepal, Srilanka and Maldives.It is the 3rd Edition of the big-gest women’s event in SouthAsia which is held every 2years. The matches are be-ing shown live in a regionwhich has a population of 1.7Billion people.

JS Bank is one of the fast-est growing commercialbanks with a long term ratingof A+ by the Pakistan CreditRating Agency (PACRA)with Rs 100 Billion in depos-its as of September 30, 2014with a focus to provide qual-ity and innovative range ofbanking services and prod-ucts. Pakistan Football Fed-eration is FIFA’s member as-sociation and a body entitledby FIFA for governing, devel-oping and promoting footballin Pakistan. JS Bank is activewithin Retail and ConsumerBanking, Treasury, Corpo-rate & Commercial Bankingand Investment Bankingservices. It has a large net-work of 212 branches across112 cities with plans to ex-pand its outreach with morebranches nationwide servinga growing customer baseacross Pakistan.

Quetta take leadover Karachi

Zebras in QATKARACHI—Arun Lal andRameez Aziz hit contrastinghalf centuries as QuettaBears gained first lead overKarachi Zebras on the sec-ond day of their Quaid-e-Azam Cricket Trophy SilverLeague at NBP Sports Com-plex Ground on Wednesday.

Arun anchored histeam’s innings with a mara-thon unbeaten 73 and Ramizsmashed an attacking 67 asQuetta reached 256 for theloss of eight wickets in 99.3overs of their first inningsin reply to Karachi Zebras’first innings total of 187.

Batting in a copy bookfashion, Arun defied Zebrasbowlers despite a six haul bylegspinner MansoorAhmed. He batted for 345minutes faced 250 deliveriesand it included superb halfa dozen boundaries.

Ramiz was more enter-prising striking six fours andhoisting three sixes in his 67in 128 minutes stay at thecrease.

Talented Ramiz withArun added 103 runs for cru-cial 6th wicket partnershipafter they were reduced to5-145. Taimoor Khan blastedsix sizzling boundaries in hisbrief cameo of 38 runs.

Mansoor bowled smartlyand ended the day with sixwickets for 77 runs in longbowl of 33.2 overs. Quetta arealready 69-run ahead withtwo wickets in hand and in-terestingly Arun Lal is stil atthe crease.—APP

PESHAWAR—Friends club Jhagra andYoung Bahadar club advanced to nextround after recording victories againsttheir respective rivals in the ongoingPeshawar District Inter-Club CricketChampionship being played at differentvenues on Wednesday.

Friends club Jhagra defeated ICMSColts by 40 runs in the first match playedat University Campus ground.

Friends Jhagra club won the tossand elected to bat first by setting up 144runs target for the loss of all wicketsafter playing the 24.1 overs of the allot-

Friends club Jhagra, Young Bahadar clubadvance in PDCA Inter-Club Cricket

ted 25 overs. Bilal made 26 runs, Bashirsmashed another quick-fire 25 runs andJan Gul scored 27 runs.

For ICMS Colts Faisal claimed fourwickets, Fayyaz and Kamran got twowickets each and Yasir and Bakhtiarclaimed one wicket each.

In reply, ICMS Colts bundled outfor 91 runs only with Fayyaz made 36runs and Bakhtiar scored 29 runs.

For Friends Jhagra club HasnainBacha bagged four wickets, Bashir andNasrullah got two wickets each and ArdilKhan and Naseer Ahmad took one

wicket each. In the second match playedat Gymkhana ground Young Bahadarclub beat Sharjah Sports by 8 wickets.Sharjah Sports batting first made 112runs for all out with Sajjad Ibrahim madeelegant knock of 57 runs, Naveed scored28 runs. For Young Bahadar club IkramUllah took three wickets, Fawad tooktwo wickets.

In reply, Young Bahadar club chasedthe target for the loss of two wicketswith Muhammad Adil (62), Ashraf Khan(17) and Shams (16). For Sharjah SportsShajjad Ibrahim got two wickets.—APP

DUBAI: Azhar Ali swats the ball into the leg side during Pakistan vs New Zealand 2nd Test’s 3rd day on Wednesday.

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—The individual no.3, a seniorIndia player who has been in Team Indiafor some years and named in the Mudgalcommittee report is “safe” as far as hisinvolvement in having a lady in his hotelroom in Sri Lanka during the 2010 AsiaCup is concerned.

According to the highly placedsources, the lady, believed to be an ex-ecutive of the management company,which looks after other players as well,didn’t sleep with the player but she stayedin the room alone whole night till 4.00 AM.

“The player in question (Individualno. 3) went and sleep in other player’sroom”, the source close to the panel, saysexclusively.

It could not be confirmed whether theMudgal panel members met the girl afterseeking date with her. However, the girl’s

Girl stayed whole night ‘alone’ in player’s(individual no. 3) hotel room in Sri Lanka

parents are believed to have met at leastthe few members of the original Mudgalpanel and expressed their daughter’s in-nocence.

“The girl wanted to leave fromDambulla to Colombo on the night of theincident but was persuaded by the player/s to stay back and arrangement was madefor her overnight stay “alone in the room“, the powerful source added.

Interestingly, the girl is likely to marryanother member of the present Indiasquad and if everything goes accordingto the plan, their wedding will take placeafter next year’s World Cup.The above incident (girl staying inplayer’s room) was known to at least fourother BCCI officials, the probe panel hassaid in its report submitted to the SupremeCourt. And this list of four includes onemember who was actively involved in theIPL and more importantly, one minister inthe present Government.

DU B A I—New Zealand endured afruitless morning session, tied Paki-stan down after lunch for YounisKhan’s bonus wicket, and struckthrice with the second new ball aftertea. Barring the first and the lasthours, Pakistan were kept quietthrough the day, and were still trail-ing by 122 runs at stumps with thetail in.

Almost nothing happened forNew Zealand till the second newball. Younis and Azhar Ali put ontheir fourth century stand of the yearbefore the former gifted his wicketafter seeming set for what wouldhave been his fifth century in fourTests. Jimmy Neesham bowled itshort and wide, and Younis slammedit straight to cover to depart for 72.

There were still no alarms for Pa-kistan, as Azhar and Misbah-ul-Haqadded a steady 50. New Zealand took

New Zealand 1st innings: ... 403Pakistan 1st innings:Shan b Sodhi ............................ 13Taufeeq st Watling b Craig ..... 16Azhar b Sodhi ........................... 75Younis c Craig b Neesham ...... 72Misbah c Taylor b Boult ........ 28Asad c Taylor b Southee ........ 44Sarfraz not out .......................... 28Yasir Shah not out ..................... 1Extras: (b 1, lb 2, nb 1) ............... 4Total: (6 wickets) .................... 281Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-32, 3-145, 4-195, 5-220, 6-279Bowling: ...................... O-M-R-WBoult .............................. 22-8-46-1Southee ......................... 21-3-41-1Craig ............................... 24-5-94-1Sodhi .............................. 30-7-65-2Anderson ........................ 7-0-26-0Neesham ............................ 5-1-6-1

2nd Test: New Zealand eyebig lead after late strikes

the second new ball five overs aftertea. There had been next to no move-ment for New Zealand with the firstnew ball, and slight reverse swingas it got old. But the second oneswung more, and Trent Boult sentMisbah back on 28 off his fourthdelivery with it.

He set the Pakistan captain upwith a couple of inswingers beforeone went across with the angle andtook the edge to first slip. It wasBoult’s first wicket in his 48th overof the series, and also the first timethat a catch had been taken in theslips off a fast bowler for this seriesand Pakistan’s previous one againstAustralia.

The legspinner Ish Sodhi wasbrought on after nine overs from thefast bowlers and he struck immedi-ately, removing the stubborn AzharAli. Sodhi had delivered quite a fewboundary balls, and gave Azhar along hop in that over, but the lastball came on quicker and hit thestumps after brushing the pad. Azharbatted over five hours and faced 225deliveries for his 75, during whichhe hit his fourth six in Test cricket,the last one having come on thesame ground against England in Feb-ruary 2012.

Three overs later, Asad Shafiqshouldered arms to a Boult front-footno-ball and lost his bails to an incom-ing delivery from round the stumps.Shafiq was on 21 then, and he andSarfraz Ahmed countered with by farthe quickest partnership of the match,adding 59 inside 15 overs.

Sarfraz looked to score almost ev-ery ball, stepping out against thespinners and also using the sweep.Shafiq played some pleasing flicks,but he threw it away in thepenultimate over of the day, slash-ing Tim Southee to wide slip on 44.It was also Southee’s first wicket in

his 53rd over of the series.Pakistan took 65 runs in the final

hour, 50 runs in the first, and man-aged 132 in the rest of the day. TheNew Zealand spinners probed awaywithout success in the morningagainst a positive Younis and a solidAzhar. Pakistan began on a shaky34 for 2 but barring the odd deliveryfrom the spinners, Younis and Azharwere in total control. There was nomovement again for the fast bowlers,despite a change of balls after thesecond over of the day, with thestitching of the seam coming off.

The offspinner Mark Craig testedYounis from both sides of thewicket, tossing it up, pushing somewide, and varying his pace. ButYounis never allowed Craig to tie himdown as he stepped out repeatedlyto hit the offspinner for sixes andfours over midwicket. When Craigchanged the angle, Younis drove himthrough cover and kept leaving thecrease.

New Zealand turned to pace forthe first 15 overs after lunch, andYounis and Azhar were kept quietwith tight lines and some reverseswing. The wicketkeeper often stoodup to the fast bowlers to prevent thebatsmen from standing outside thecrease to counter the movement. Bar-ring a couple of run-out opportuni-ties, though, New Zealand did notcreate any chances in that period.However, they conceded only 23 runsin the first hour after lunch, bowlingwide outside off at times with apacked infield. It was one such longhop from Neesham that Younis fell toas he looked for some release in thesecond over after drinks.

The spinners were brought backafter Younis’ exit and Azhar andMisbah hit a few boundaries till teabefore New Zealand turned it aroundin the evening.—AFP

CANBERRA—Australia cruised toa 73-run victory over South Af-rica in their third one-day inter-national on Wednesday on theback of big-hit t ing innings byAaron Finch and Steve Smith.

Opener Finch cracked 109 off127 balls and Smith hit a swash-buckling unbeaten 73 off 55 ballsas Austral ia amassed a formi-dable 329 for five off their 50overs in Canberra.

The Proteas were always upagainst it and were dismissed for256 in the 45th over, with last manImran Tahir unable to bat becauseof a knee he injured while field-ing.

The Australians now lead thefive-match series 2-1 ahead of thefinal games in Melbourne on Fri-day and Sydney on Sunday.

Left-armer Mitchell Starctroubled the South Africans withhis late swing and finished withfour for 32 off eight overs,while fellow opening bowler JoshHazlewood claimed three for51.

Hashim Amla hit 102 off 115

Australia innings:Warner b Philander .... 53Finch b de Villiers ...... 109Watson b Behardien ... 40Smith not out ............... 73Bailey b Morkel ........... 12Marsh c de Villiersb Morkel ....................... 22M. Wade not out ........... 8Extras: (lb1, w7, nb4) ... 12Total: (5 wickets) ....... 329Fall of wickets: 1-118, 2-189, 3-242, 4-264, 5-295Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WM. Morkel ........ 10-0-84-2Philander .......... 10-0-70-1D. Steyn ............ 10-0-53-0Behardien ........... 8-0-39-1I. Tahir ................. 6-0-40-0Villiers ................. 6-0-42-1South Africa Innings:Amla b Hazlewood .... 102Kock b Hazlewood ...... 47Plessis b Marsh ........... 17

Rossouw c Wadeb Starc ............................. 2Villiers lbw bRichardson ................... 52Behardien b Hazlewood 12Miller lbw b Starc .......... 3Philander c Finchb Starc ............................ 1Steyn c Marsh b Starc 12Morkel not out .............. 0I. Tahir absent injured .. 0Extras: (lb5, w2, nb1) ..... 8Total: (all out; 44.3overs) .......................... 256Fall of wickets: 1-108, 2-143,3-148, 4-224, 5-226, 6-231, 7-238, 8-252, 9-256Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WM. Starc .............. 8-1-32-4Hazlewood ...... 9.3-0-51-3Watson ............... 6-0-47-0Richardson ......... 8-0-49-1Doherty .............. 6-0-31-0Marsh ................. 7-0-41-1

Finch, Smith spearhead Aussies to bigwin over South Africa

balls and skipper AB de Villierscracked a belliger-ent 52 off 34 ballsto briefly threatenA u s t r a l i a ´ sbowlers.

Smith wasnamed man-of-the-match for his in-nings which wasfull of improvisedshots, includingone boundarycheekily hi tthrough his legs.“It was a free hit,so I had pretty freerein to do what Iwanted. I waslucky enough i tcame off and wentto the boundary,”Smith said.

“Aaron wasable to lay the foun-dation and I wasable to close it out.

“The boys hi ttheir lengths welland bowled really

well, we got the ball quite soft and it started reversing.“Josh Hazlewood is

bowling outstanding andit´s great to see MitchellStarc back here as well andgetting some wickets.”

Finch was in blisteringform as the Austral iansmade full use of the slowManuka Oval pi tch afterwinning the toss.

Finch hit nine foursand three sixes to spear-head the Austral ian runplunder before he was dis-missed by part-time bowlerde Villiers in the 41st over.

Fellow opener DavidWarner pounded 53 off 50balls , with six fours andtwo sixes, in a first-wicketstand of 118 in 20 overs.

Warner looked set fora big score before he foundde Villiers, who took a leap-ing catch at mid-wicket.

Smith crashed eightfours in a majestic knock,while Shane Watson tooka more controlled 40 off 38balls before he miscuedand was caught in the deepby David Miller off the me-dium pacers of FarhaanBehardien.

Watson holds the high-est ODI score at ManukaOval with 122 against theWest Indies in 2013.

Morne Morkel was thebest of the Proteas bowlerswith two for 84, whileVernon Philander, deVilliers and Behardien tooka wicket each.

South Africa´s hopeswere pinned on the fourth-wicket stand of 76 betweenAmla and de Villiers, butonce the skipper fell legbefore wicket to KaneRichardson in the 38thover, the tourists were un-able to keep pace with theAustralian total.

Amla followed fiveballs later when he wasbowled as he tried to slogHazlewood through theleg-side.

David Miller lookedunlucky to be given outleg before wicket to Starcon three when replaysshowed the ball was slid-ing down leg. But the teamhad no more reviews leftto challenge the deci-sion.—AFPCANBERRA: Steven Smith and Matthew Wade in a football moment during Australia vs South Africa 3rd ODI.

KARACHI—Mohammad Hafeez, the Paki-stan allrounder, has been released from theTest squad so that he can undergo inde-pendent testing on his suspect bowlingaction on November 24 at LoughboroughUniversity in England.

He was ruled out of the ongoing sec-ond Test against New Zealand with a ham-string injury after his action was reportedfollowing the opening Test in Abu Dhabiwhich Pakistan won by 248 runs. An ICCaccredited team of biomechanics experts atone of the newly authorised laboratories inLoughborough will assess Hafeez’s action

“Allrounder Mohammad Hafeez is re-turning back home tonight,” Moin Khan,the team manager said in a statement, “fromwhere he shall proceed toLoughborough University,the latest of ICC accreditedfacilities for testing onbowlers with suspect ac-tions, on November 23 forhis appointment for tests onNovember 24.

“After tests atLoughborough, Hafeez shallfly back directly to Dubaifrom Birmingham on Nov 25.If physically fit, he shall bein contention to regain hisspot for the third Testagainst New Zealand atSharjah.”

Hafeez, 34, has becomethe second Pakistan bowlerin recent months to havecome under ICC’s scanner.The drive against suspectactions has focused mostlyon offspinners with SaeedAjmal, Sohag Gazi, SachithraSenanayake, Prosper Utseyaand Kane Williamson, allsuffering suspensions.Bangladesh pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain, whose bowl-ing action was also reportedsuspect, has found to be legal following

Hafeez to undergoICC testing

testing.Hafeez, who has been defiant about his

bowling action, was initially reported fol-lowing the Champions League T20 matchbetween Lahore Lions and Dolphins al-though reports in that tournament did nothave international jurisdiction. He wasgiven a warning at the event but was al-lowed to continue bowling.

Hafeez’s team-mate Ajmal has recentlyundergone an unofficial re-test atLoughborough following the extensivework on his action which was measured tosignificantly breach the 15-degree limit. Hewas found to have made substantialprogress but still needed further work.

Hafeez to undergo test on his bowling

action on Nov 24.—APP

Mohammad Hafeez is the latest offspinner to have to gothrough the ICC’s testing process.—File photo

Real’s Modricsuffers injury

blowMADRID—Real Madridmidfielder Luka Modric isset to miss the rest of theyear with a thigh injury, theLa Liga leaders said in astatement.

Modric went off injuredin the first half of Croatia’sEuro 2016 qualifier in Italyon Sunday and team doctorBoris Nemec’s initial fearsthat tendon damage wouldkeep him on the sidelines forover a month have beenconfirmed by tests at hisclub.

“An examination bymedical staff from RealMadrid have discovered atear in a thigh tendon in hisleft leg,” Real said.—AFP

PA R I S—Organisers ofEuro 2016 unveiled thetournament mascot, a car-toon boy in the France teamkit with a red cape flutter-ing behind.

The mascot, which hasyet to be named and wasunveiled on Twitter, was dueto make its first public ap-pearance later on Tuesdaybefore a friendly betweenFrance and Sweden at StadeVelodrome in Marseille.

Euro 2016 mascot unveiledIt will be named later this

month after a vote by fans.The new mascot is takingover Slavek and Slavko, thetwin figures in football kitsof Poland and Ukraine whowere chosen for the previ-ous tournament.

The 2016 UEFA Euro-pean Championship, morefrequently known as Euro2016, is set to take place inFrance during the summer of2016.—AP

A NEW study from the UK and publishedin the Canadian Medical AssociationJournal claims that people who enjoy

life will have better physical function and fasterwalking speeds than their more pessimisticcounterparts. We alreadyknow there are health benefitsassociated with a positive out-look on life. A study from2013 suggested people whohave happy marriages alsoenjoy better physical healththan couples in stressful mar-riages.

In 2012, Medical NewsToday reported on a study byresearchers at University Col-lege London (UCL) in the UK,which found seniors who en-joy life more tend to livelonger. As part of a follow-upstudy testing the link betweenhappiness and physical perfor-mance, the UCL researchershave assessed the enjoymentof life of 3,199 participantsaged 60 years or older.

The participants in the study were askedto rate on a four-point scale how much theysubscribed to the following statements: “I en-joy the things that I do,” “I enjoy being in thecompany of others,” “On balance, I look backon my life with a sense of happiness” and “Ifeel full of energy these days.” The study foundthat seniors who enjoy life had better physicalfunction than unhappy people.

Interviewing the people in the study, theresearchers then assessed to what extent theyhad difficulty performing daily activities, suchas bathing or getting dressed. They also mea-sured the walking speed of the participants.

Enjoy life more - your bodywill age better, study shows

Haider Abbas Rizvi leader of MQM speaking during concluding session of three day training programme which was organized by CPNE. Raza Rabbani,Mujeebur Rehman Shami, Khalid Mahmood Soomoro and Akhtar Shaheen are also seen in the picture.—PO photo by Sultan Chaki

The study found that people who had a lowsense of well-being were more than three timesas likely to experience problems in perform-ing daily activities.

“Our results provide further evidence thatenjoyment of life is relevant tothe future disability and mobil-ity of older people,” says Dr.Steptoe, co-author of the study.“Efforts to enhance well-beingat older ages may have benefitsto society and health care sys-tems.” Although the study re-corded - perhapsunsurprisingly - that peoplesuffering from chronic illnesshad lower levels of enjoymentof life, Dr. Steptoe says the linkbetween happiness and physi-cal health is not simply thathappier people are healthier:

“This is not because thehappier people are in betterhealth, or younger, or richer,or have more healthy lifestylesat the outset, since even when

we take these factors into account, the rela-tionship persists. Our previous work has shownthat older people with greater enjoyment of lifeare more likely to survive over the next 8 years;what this study shows is that they also keep upbetter physical function.”

Dr. Steptoe’s previous study found that nearlythree times more people in the study group ofover 50s who had low enjoyment of life had died,compared with participants who enjoyed lifemore. That study considered social isolation inseniors - having few hobbies or social interac-tions - as being a factor in a loss of enjoyment inlife. It found that 1 in 6 people aged 50 and overliving in England were socially isolated.

A child collecting his belongings from debris of fire which empted in nomads’ makeshift houses at Johar Chrowngi Block-17.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister talking to a woman member during Sindh As-sembly Session.

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—Democracy and the con-stitution still face threats from undemo-cratic forces of the country. This wasstated by Council of Pakistan Newspa-per Editors ((CPNE) President Mujeeb-ur Rehman Shami while talking onPolicy Dialogue on Implementation of18th Constitutional Amendment duringconcluding session of three-day train-ing programme organized by CPNE incollaboration with the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP).

“I would like to appreciate the po-litical forces for tackling the politicalcrises in a democratic way,” Shami fe-licitated. “We would have to safeguard

Democracy, constitution facingthreats from undemocratic forces

the democracy, the constitution andfreedom of expression,” he maintained.

Speaking on the occasion, SenatorRaza Rabbani said that the political par-ties have made their due contribution inintroducing 18th amendment in the con-stitution but they have forgotten their dueright to safeguard this amendment.

“If the democracy derailed by in-troducing technocratic government orif the 18th constitutional amendmentwas tried to roll back, then it would bedifficult to save the constitution,”Rabbani remarked.

“After passing few days, PrimeMinister Nawaz Shariff violated theconstitution by issuing orders to HigherEducation Commission (HEC) for mak-

ing amendments in the curriculum aseducation has become provincial sub-ject after introduction of 18th amend-ment.

“The federal government is tryingto privatize Steel Mill, Pakistan Inter-national Airline (PIA) and OGDCLwhich is unconstitutional because theabove mentioned institutions come un-der control of CCI,” he blamed.

Muttaheda Qaumi Movement(MQM) leader Haider Abbas Rizvi saidthat when United Nation (UN) wasformed in 1945, it has only 49 memberstates but now it has 214 member states.“The 175 member states which becamemember of the UN after 1945 came intobeing after division in 49 states,” he added.

“However, when we talk aboutmore administrative units in the coun-try then we draw criticism from all quar-ters,” he maintained. It is known factthat the population of urban part of theSindh is higher than the rural part ofthe province but it is a bitter reality thatthe seats of rural Sindh in the NationalAssembly are higher than the urban partof the province.”

In his welcome address, CPNE Sec-retary General Dr Jabbar Khattak saidthat the capacity building of the mem-bers is among the top agenda of CPNE.He said that the three-day trainingprogramme was organized to under-stand the purpose and importance of the18th constitutional amendment.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The adviser to thePrime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif onForeign Affairs, Sartaj Azizshould either volunteer his res-ignation so that a politicallymature man could be given the

Pakistan must have a full time FM: PPP MNAs

Sartaj Aziz made senseless attempt to categoriseterrorists as ‘unharmful and harmful’

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—“Reform Support Unit Educa-tion and Literacy Department is working forintroduction of Early Childhood Educationin public schools of Sindh.” said Ms. SabaMahmood, Chief Program Manager at Re-form Support Unit (RSU), Education. Shewas addressing the Task Force of ECE, com-prising of members from public organiza-tions, NGO/INGOs and practitioners. TheTask Force was further divided into fiveTechnical Working Groups (TWGs) to for-mulate Policy of Early Childhood Education.

She also briefed participants about ECEtargets and achievements in Sindh EducationSector Plan. “As far as the implementationplan is concerned RSU will play the role of afocal institute for ECE initiatives”, she added.Ms. Mahmood discussed ECE related issueslike establishment of ECE Resource Centersat each Taluka, implementation of ECE cur-riculum, start of ECE class ,selection andtraining of ECE teachers, awareness aboutECE among communities and most impor-tantly exploring resources and partnerships toachieve these targets. Mr. Zahid Jatoi, Focal

Early childhood education policyfor Sindh to be prepared soon

Person for ECE Task Force, informed the par-ticipants about several initiatives to supportimplementation of ECE in Sindh.

Reform Support Unit is planning to startECE classes in some of consolidated schoolsin the province. Ms Sheena Mozaffar, Con-sultant for ECE policy gave a detailed pre-sentation on draft “ECE Policy for Sindh”covering all key areas including Investiga-tion, Analysis, Policy Focus, Policy Imple-mentation and All the participants appreci-ated the draft policy paper and suggestedsome recommendations to align it with otherinitiatives already placed in the province aswell as more comfortable for local desires.

Ms. Divya Lata, Early Learning and Edu-cation Advisor for Plan Asia Regional Of-fice, Bangkok, also participated as specialobserver and proposed some good examplesexist in Asia region. The recommendationswill be incorporated in final draft before sub-mission for its approval. The meeting wasattended by representatives from Plan Inter-national, AKU-HRD, IRC, ITA, UNICEF,SAFWCO, PITE, Bureau of Curriculum,STEDA, ECDNP, Right to Play, DevCon andmembers of Reform.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The Deputy SpeakerSindh Assembly Syeda Shehla Razasaid the terrorist Taliban did not havethe courage to write a letter of threatto her directly but a warning letter inthis regard was received by Pakistanrangers Sindh instead. She was talk-ing to the newsmen inside the SindhAssembly premise prior to the com-mencement of Sindh Assembly ses-

Taliban could not dare sendingthreats directly: Shehla Raza

sion Wednesday.She said the Tanqeed Khan (Imran

Khan) should read the manifesto of hisparty, the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf atLarkana while he would be on the ros-trum to make a speech to the people ofSindh. People of Sindh had never beenslave to any in their entire history. Shesaid she could not be intimidated by thethreats from the terrorists. Indeed, therewas a need for security but in this re-gard, no authority was approached in

black and white, she added.She said it was the democratic right

of any political part to hold public gath-ering and the PTI, too. She said the PTIhad in its manifesto carried a negationon the construction of the controversialKala Bagh Dam and that the PTI Chair-man Imran Khan should read aloud thepage No 22 of the manifesto of the PTI.She said that Dimagh Ki Dahi was nota non-parliamentary term and that shehad well studied the chemistry.

task of dealing with country’sneeds of ease and comforts atthe international level, or heshould consult some seniorsprior to making any senselessstatements. The statement hehad made to a foreign mediathrough interview had severelyundermined Pakistan’s seriousstruggle for the elimination ofterrorism and Pakistan as a re-sponsible and sovereign state

was fully determined to elimi-nate the terrorism.

Members national assem-bly (MNA) Dr Nafeesa Shah,Shazia Marri and Dr ShahidaRehmani said this in a state-ment issued here from PakistanPeople’s Party Media CellSindh Wednesday.

They said that the state-ment of Sartaj Aziz, though,was not seconded by any from

the ruling federal governmentbut sadly it was also not con-demned. In fact, his statementmight portray a different pic-ture of the country with respectto its determination for elimi-nating the terrorism.

The PPP MNAs said that thePakistan Army was paying thehuge price for moving deep in-side the dens of the terrorist thathad not only jeopardized the peace

of the country and the region butwere also an open threat to peaceand harmony across the world.

They said that the terroristcould not be segregated intoclass as they had one uniformagenda of destroying peace andharmony but the Adviser’sstatement was a sheer attemptto categorise the terrorists as‘unharmful and undestructiveand harmful and destructive’

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Mutahhida Qaumi Movement (MQM) member pro-vincial assembly (MPA) Kamran Akhtar while speaking on thefloor of the Sindh Assembly demanded the Sindh government toimpose ban on all those parties that were supporting the IslamicState of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) especially the Jamaat-e Islami Pa-kistan.

He said the walls of the city were hugely painted with the

MQM demands ban on JI for supporting ISISgraffiti about the ISIS and the situation was fast being expandedand the terrorists were now joining the ISIS with a rapid pace andin large number.

He said the MQM Chief Altaf Hussain had time and againpointed out the presence of the terrorist groups and that the terror-ists of the ISIS were more dangerous than those of the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan. In case, the ISIS would get strength in the me-tropolis, there would be heaps of bodies in nook and cranny of theport city.

A NEW study from the UK and publishedin the Canadian Medical AssociationJournal claims that people who enjoy

life will have better physical function and fasterwalking speeds than their more pessimisticcounterparts. We alreadyknow there are health benefitsassociated with a positive out-look on life. A study from2013 suggested people whohave happy marriages alsoenjoy better physical healththan couples in stressful mar-riages.

In 2012, Medical NewsToday reported on a study byresearchers at University Col-lege London (UCL) in the UK,which found seniors who en-joy life more tend to livelonger. As part of a follow-upstudy testing the link betweenhappiness and physical perfor-mance, the UCL researchershave assessed the enjoymentof life of 3,199 participantsaged 60 years or older.

The participants in the study were askedto rate on a four-point scale how much theysubscribed to the following statements: “I en-joy the things that I do,” “I enjoy being in thecompany of others,” “On balance, I look backon my life with a sense of happiness” and “Ifeel full of energy these days.” The study foundthat seniors who enjoy life had better physicalfunction than unhappy people.

Interviewing the people in the study, theresearchers then assessed to what extent theyhad difficulty performing daily activities, suchas bathing or getting dressed. They also mea-sured the walking speed of the participants.

Enjoy life more - your bodywill age better, study shows

The Chairman Evacuee Trust Property Board Saddique ul Farooq is inspecting an unauthorised building during a raid in Urdu Bazar.

The study found that people who had a lowsense of well-being were more than three timesas likely to experience problems in perform-ing daily activities.

“Our results provide further evidence thatenjoyment of life is relevant tothe future disability and mobil-ity of older people,” says Dr.Steptoe, co-author of the study.“Efforts to enhance well-beingat older ages may have benefitsto society and health care sys-tems.” Although the study re-corded - perhapsunsurprisingly - that peoplesuffering from chronic illnesshad lower levels of enjoymentof life, Dr. Steptoe says the linkbetween happiness and physi-cal health is not simply thathappier people are healthier:

“This is not because thehappier people are in betterhealth, or younger, or richer,or have more healthy lifestylesat the outset, since even when

we take these factors into account, the rela-tionship persists. Our previous work has shownthat older people with greater enjoyment of lifeare more likely to survive over the next 8 years;what this study shows is that they also keep upbetter physical function.”

Dr. Steptoe’s previous study found that nearlythree times more people in the study group ofover 50s who had low enjoyment of life had died,compared with participants who enjoyed lifemore. That study considered social isolation inseniors - having few hobbies or social interac-tions - as being a factor in a loss of enjoyment inlife. It found that 1 in 6 people aged 50 and overliving in England were socially isolated.

Wapda workers hold a demonstration in support of their demands.

Minister for Population Welfare Begum Zakia Shahnawaz is addressing a meeting on ‘Popu-lation Welfare Vision 2015’ on Wednesday.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Six health mobile healthunits (MHUs) are providing diagnos-tic and treatment facilities to thepeople of under-developed districtsand this experience has been very suc-cessful. In view of this, the govern-ment has decided to purchase moreMHUs and a grant of Rs. one billionhas been allocated for this purpose.The government would take final de-cision in this regard after compara-tive analysis of imported and locallymanufactured mobile health units andChief Minister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has constituted a committeeconsisting of technical experts whichwould submit its recommendationswithin 10 days.

It was stated by Advisor to Chief

Mobile health units providing treatmentin under-developed districts

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Country Head of British Departmentfor International Development (DFID) RichardMontgomery met Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif here Wednesday.DFID cooperation in ongoing skill development,education and health programme were discussedon the occasion.

The Chief Minister said that comprehensivereforms are being introduced in education andhealth sectors. He also appreciated the coopera-tion of DFID in education and health sectors.

Comprehensive reforms are beingintroduced in education, health sectors

He said that skill development programme forimparting vocational education to the youth isalso continuing successfully with the coopera-tion of DFID.

Shahbaz Sharif said that work force is be-ing prepared under skill developmentprogramme to meet the market needs. He saidthat public health facilities are also being im-proved under Punjab Health Reforms Roadmap.Richard Montgomery said that Punjab govern-ment led by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif hasshown commendable performance in educationand health sectors.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Management and Profes-sional Development Department held a2-day training workshop regardingPunjab Transparency and Right to In-formation Act. Eighteen officers fromdifferent departments of Punjab govern-ment attended workshop. The workshopwas held at the Lahore Headquarter ofMPDD during which, Information Com-missioner Punjab Mukhtar Ahmed Aliprovided training to the participants

Training workshop on transparencyand right to information act

about the ideology, need and practicabil-ity of Right to Information Act.

DIG Ahmed Mubarik Ahmed pro-vided detailed information about show-ing best performance and filing early re-ply to the applications of Right to Infor-mation Act. Director Centre for Peaceand Development Initiatives ZahidAbdullah imparted training to the par-ticipants about various dimensions ofPunjab Transparency and Right to Infor-mation Act. Chief Information Commis-sioner Mazhar Hussain provided detailed

information about the action on objec-tions and applications submitted by thepeople.

It may be mentioned that it was thefourth training workshop about PunjabTransparency and Right to InformationAct held under MPDD. It wants to or-ganize a total of fourteen workshops inwhich senior officers of all departmentsof Punjab government will be imparteddetailed training about this Act so thatthey could perform their duties accord-ing to law in this regard.

LAHORE—Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) on Wednesday has issued a reminder let-ter to Punjab government regarding local bod-ies elections. According to details, letter statedthat information of delimitation has not been pro-vided to ECP yet.

ECP reminds Punjab govt tosubmit delimitation’s details

Elections can be deferred due to the negli-gence of provincial government in processinglocal bodies demarcation. ECP has also urgedPunjab government to submit details of unioncouncils and wards so that ECP would be ableto analyse them for further procedure.—Online

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Punjab University Geographi-cal Information System Centre organizeda ceremony to celebrate world GIS daywith zeal here on Wednesday. Director GISCentre Prof Dr Sajid Rashid, Controllerof Examinations Prof Dr Shahid Munir,representatives of WWF, DSPATIO, Ur-

PU celebrates world GIS dayban Unit, Government College University,FC College University, various govern-ment organizations and private companies,faculty members and a large number of stu-dents were present on the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony, Prof DrSajid Rashid said that GIS played impor-tant role not only in defence of a countrybut also in various sections of everyday

life but people were unaware of its im-portance. He said that students wouldlearn from their interaction with profes-sional companies and enhance their ca-pabilities. On the occasion, teachers andstudents presented their projects regard-ing GIS’ role in everyday life. Later, acake-cutting ceremony was also held out-side the centre.

LAHORE—Shahid Aziz Butt alias Gullo Butt, convicted forsmashing windowpanes of cars at Minhaj ul Quran Secre-tariat, has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for bail.

Gullo Butt filed a bail application through his coun-sel Kashif Abbas submitting that Anti-Terrorism Court(ATC) awarded him 11 years and three months jail termon the charge of smashing windowpanes of cars against

Gullo Butt moves LHC for bail11 motorcycles

seized,two arrestedCITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Anti Vehicle Lift-ing Staff City police havesmashed a vehicle lifting gangand arrested its two membersbesides recovering stolen mo-torcycles and illegal weapons.Police arrested Imdad (ring-leader) and his accompliceAjmal besides recovering 11motorcycles and weapons.

Minister Punjab, Kh. Salman Rafiquewhile presiding over the first meet-ing of the committee constituted forthe purchase of MHUs, at Civil Sec-retariat today. Besides SecretaryHealth Jawad Rafique Malik, Mem-bers Punjab Assembly fromBahawalpur Qazi Adnan Fareed,Amanat Ali Khan Shadekhel fromMianwali, DCO Mianwali, senior of-ficers from Finance and P&D depart-ments, engineers from University ofEngineering & Technology Lahore,Director General PCSIR Lahore, Di-rector General Health Punjab andother senior officers of the concerneddepartments were present.

The meeting discussed in detailthe third-party evaluation report re-garding the working of mobile healthunits operating in different districts

of South Punjab and Mianwali. Themembers of Punjab assembly ob-served that launching of mobile healthunits was a good decision and theseMHUs are providing healthcare to thepeople of remote areas. They said thatespecially in the flood affected areasthe people have benefitted a lot fromthis facility. They also presented pro-posals for further improving the per-formance of mobile health units. Theexperts discussed in detail proposalsfor reducing capital cost of MHUs andtheir running expenditure.

They also reviewed different as-pects for modification in the designof MHUs so that these could reachnarrow streets and desert areas. Themeeting also discussed options to getMHUs manufactured at the locallevel. Kh. Salman Rafique said that

no compromise would be made on thestandard and the facilities provided inthe MHUs rather these facilitieswould be enhanced and improved.The meeting decided to constitute twosub-committees. The technical com-mittee will review the specificationsof MHUs and other technical aspectswhereas the second sub-committeewould formulate recommendationsregarding services package.

Secretary Health informed themeeting that government has allocatedRs. one billion for the purchase of mo-bile health units and the efforts ofHealth Department is to purchase ofmaximum MHUs of good quality byutilizing these funds in a efficient man-ner. He said that option of purchasinglocally manufactured long vehicles forMHUs would also be considered.

the facts of the matter. He submitted that neither cars own-ers lodged any complaint against him nor they gave evi-dence before the court, but the ATC convicted him with-out appreciating case facts.

Gullo pointed out that he had already challenged his con-viction before the LHC which was pending. He pleaded thecourt to grant the bail after suspending the conviction.—APP