Ep24january2014

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LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Amid aggravat-ing security situation with a newspur of terror strikes againstarmed forces and innocent civil-ians in the country, the top ci-vilian and military brass onThursday agreed in principal togo after terrorists, particularlysurgical operation will be con-ducted in North Waziristan.

The country has recentlyshaken up with deadly attacksin Rawalpindi near GHQ,Bannu, Peshawar, Karachi andMastung with a message fromterrorists to the worried leader-ship that they can strike any-where and anytime in Pakistan.

The situation has reached tosuch a stage where the govern-ment has decided to put issue ofterrorism on the top to save Pa-kistan and its people.

The cautious Sharif chaireda series of meetings with mili-tary leadership in the last tendays to reach some conclusionsafter in-depth consultation on

launching massive or targetedoperations and its backlash in

cities.Boiling with anger over the

Top brass decides to chase terroristsEvidence of foreign hand in terror hits presented; PM to address nation on security situation

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QUETTA—Leader of Hazaracommunity, Abdul KhaliqHazara Thursday announced toend the sit-in being staged inQuetta and to bury the remainsof the slain pilgrims on Friday,following the assurances of ac-tion from Interior MinisterChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

However, Majlis-e-Wahadatul Muslimeen (MWM)announced to continue the na-tionwide sit-downs. The partici-pants of the demonstrations inQuetta and elsewhere in thecountry have also refused to dis-

perse for the time being.Earlier, talking to media

persons after holding talks withthe protesting Hazara commu-nity in Quetta, Nisar termed thetalks as successful and assuredthat all of their demands wouldbe addressed.

“We will go after the cul-prits and bring them to justice,”he said

He said the federal and pro-vincial governments would makeBalochistan and Quetta peacefulfor Hazara community which hasrepeatedly suffered pain and mis-

ery at the hands of terrorists.Protesters, including

women and children, were hold-ing sit-ins across the countryThursday, including Karachi,Quetta, Lahore, Islamabad,Multan and Hyderabad to voiceanguish at the deadly suicideattack on a bus carrying Shiapilgrims in Mastung thatclaimed more than 25 lives.

The people of the HazaraShia community carried the cof-fins of the pilgrims killed in theMastung bomb attack and con-

Mastung tragedy

Protests end after Nisarassurance of Govt action

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TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—Terror syndromecontinued to grip KhyberPukhtunkhwa with particularreference to the provincial me-tropolis Peshawar where adeadly car bomb explosion inthe outskirts of the City on busyKohat road Thursday afternoon,left at least eight people deadand around a dozen others seri-ously injured. A number of ve-hicles were also destroyed andmany buildings sustained dam-ages in the blast where in twentyfive to thirty kilograms of ex-plosive material was used.

However, an attempt to playdestruction in the City’s mainbusiness center Bacha KhanChowk where the Bomb Dis-posal Squat managed to defusea five Kg bomb before it couldbe detonated.

The Police and the eye wit-ness said an explosive laden

vehicle was detonated at thegate of a motor repairing work-shop near Scheme Chowksome ten kilometers from theCity on busy Kohat roadaround 4 in the afternoon play-

ing hell in the area as numberof vehicles were parked in theworkshop situated in the ex-tremely busy bazaar and therewas hustle bustle in the area.

Eight killed, 10 injuredin Peshawar car blast

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PESHAWAR: A boy injured in blast being treated in hospi-tal on Thursday.

KOLKATA—Indian policehave arrested 13 people overthe gang-rape of a 20-year-oldwoman, who was allegedly as-saulted on the orders of tribalelders, police said Thursday.

The attack on Tuesday tookplace in a remote village inWest Bengal state where the un-married woman from theSanthal tribal group was sus-pected of a relationship with aMuslim man from aneighbouring village.

The elders, who comprisethe informal village council,initially imposed a fine of25,000 rupees (400 dollars) onher family, but they were un-able to pay, district police su-perintendent C. Sudhakar toldAFP.

“The girl was gang-raped

for having an affair with a youth of another community and fail- ing to pay the fine which was imposed by the village coun-cil,” he said.

“All 13 men, including thechief of the village council,who were named in the com-plaint before the police, werearrested,” Sudhakar said.

Tribal or caste-based vil-lage councils composed of el-ders exert enormous influenceover rural life, particularly innorthern India, often issuingdiktats and punishments formoral and other perceived of-fences.

The attack again castsIndia’s record on sexual vio-lence into the spotlight after na-tional outrage over the fatalgang-rape of a student in NewDelhi in December 2012.

The incident also echoes an

Gang rape of woman ordered as punishment in India

KOLKATA: Suspects in a gang-rape case are led by police to a district court on Thursday. Continued on Page 7

UN chiefvoices concernover violencein Pakistan

UNITED NATIONS—UN Secre-tary-General Ban Ki-moon onWednesday strongly condemneda spate of deadly violence inPakistan, reiterating deep con-cern over continued terrorist at-tacks and sectarian violence inthe country.

In a statement issued here byhis spokesperson, Ban con-demned the bombing of a mar-ket on Monday in Rawalpindithat left at least 13 dead, includ-ing eight army personnel, aswell as Tuesday’s attack inBalochistan on a bus carryingShia pilgrims returning fromIran, which killed at least 28people and injured many more,including women and children.

“The secretary-general reit-erates his deep concern overcontinued terrorist attacks andsectarian violence in Pakistan,”said the statement.

Ban also said he is deeplyconcerned about the recent at-tacks on polio workers, whichhave resulted in several deaths.

“These unacceptable attacks

ISLAMABAD—The specialcourt setup to try former presi-dent General (Retd) PervezMusharraf has said that the ver-dict would be issued in the lightof law and constitution.

A three-member benchheard the allegations of treasonlevelled against the formerpresident on Thursday. Duringthe course of proceedings, thelawyers presented arguments ona number of applications.

One of the lawyers present-ing Musharraf, Advocate AnwarMansoor said the intervention ofSupreme Court in the formationof special bench prejudiced the

whole matter.The bench directed advocate

Anwar to submit a copy of his

arguments. Anwar Mansoor saidthe interior secretary played asignificant role in appointmentof judges and formation of spe-cial court, arguing that a grade-21 officer doesn’t enjoy the au-thority of initiating inquiryagainst any individual. He saidan approval by cabinet was man-datory in launching inquiry.

Meanwhile, special pros-ecutor Akram Sheikh said allcases related with federal gov-ernment were handled by lawministry. Therefore, all mattersregarding formation of specialcourt was also made by law min-

Musharraf case verdict tobe under constitution: SC

Full bench tohear Musharraf’sreview petition

ISLAMABAD—Chief Justice ofthe Supreme Court of PakistanJustice Tassaduq HussainJillani has constituted a 14-member bench for hearing offormer President Pervez

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situation, the top military Gen-erals were with Prime Minister

in a high-level security meetingat the PM House on Thursday

where General Raheel Sharifgave a comprehensive briefingon preparedness of armed forcesto launch all out offensive orsurgical operations against trig-ger-happy terrorists who arechallenging the Constitution andwrit of the country.

It was also decided over-whelmingly to engage those fac-tions of Taliban who are inter-ested in talks and separate thosewho are up in arms killing per-sonnel of armed forces and in-nocent civilians.

The matters relating to cre-ating, upgrading and deploy-ment of quick response forcewith advanced training andequipment, well-knitted intelli-gence sharing system and train-ing of police force were re-viewed. On legal side, differentexisting terror related legisla-tions were also reviewed, par-ticularly different clauses of theamended Pakistan ProtectionOrdinance.

Sources said evidence ofISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif chairing a high level meeting to review the security situation ofthe country. Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif is also present. Continued on Page 7

Pakistan rulesout release ofShakil Afridi

ISLAMABAD—Alleged CIAcollaborator Dr Shakil Afridiwill not be released on the re-quest of the United States ofAmerica.

Foreign Office spokesper-son Tasnim Aslam during aweekly press briefing here onThursday said that there is noquestion of the release of DrShakil Afridi at the request of

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Taliban wanttheir Sharia atgunpoint: AltafLONDON—Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) chief AltafHussain on Thursday said thatthe Taliban wanted to imposetheir own version of Sharia atgun point and their views wereagainst the Holy Quran and

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Bilawal deploresinaction asterrorismplagues PakistanKARACHI—Pakistan PeopleParty chief Bilawal BhuttoZardari on Thursday lamentedinaction despite increasingviolence and the latest spate ofterrorist attacks in the country

The young PPP leaderspoke his heart out in hismessages on social networkingwebsite twitter.

“We claim to be brave butdon’t fight for our martyredsoldiers. We claim sovereigntybut don’t protect our civilians.We claim to have honour butcan’t avenge the slaughter ofour sisters. We claim paradiselies at feet of our mothers butcan’t protect them. We claimto be human but remain silentwhen children are massacred.

ISLAMABAD—A governmentspokesperson categoricallystated on Thursday that MaulanaSamiul Haq, the JUI(S) chief,was not given any mission forinitiating peace talks withTehreek-i-Talban Pakistan(TTP).

In a statement issued here

Thursday, the spokesperson saidthat the matter of MaulanaSamiul Haq’s cooperation andusing his influence to put an endto terrorism was informally dis-cussed with him. It was alsodecided to whom he can contact,if needed in this regard. Thespokesman said that the impres-sion given by Maulana that thegovt did not listen to his advicewas not right, adding he did notinform the govt about anyprogress for the last three weekssince the meeting.

Sami-ul-Haq on Wednesdayannounced to dissociate himselffrom the proposed peace talksbetween Taliban and the govern-ment, saying the Centre was notserious in holding dialogue.

According to a statementissued by the Prime MinisterHouse, after a meeting betweenPrime Minister Nawaz Sharifand Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, gen-eral issues were discussed aswell as ways to curb terrorismin the country.

The statement denied thatPrime Minister had assignedMaulana any task to initiate dia-logue with Taliban militants.

The statement also statedthat Maulana Sami-ul-Haq didnot contact the Prime Minster inthree weeks even when he wasgiven free hand to make contactswith the Taliban.

Sami not given task tobroker Taliban talks

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Dar, Tahir Rafiqdiscuss PAFdevelopmentprogrammesISLAMABAD—Chief of AirStaff, Air Chief Marshal TahirRafiq Butt Thursday met withFinance Minister SenatorIshaq Dar and discussed withhim issues relating to PAFdevelopment schemes.

Air Chief Marshal TahirRafiq Butt briefed the FinanceMinister on the developmentneeds of the Air Force andthanked him for his continuedcooperation and support.

Secretary Finance, Dr.Waqar Masood, Advisor to theMinistry of Finance, RanaAsad Amin and senior officialsof the Ministry of Finance andPAF were present at themeeting.—INP

Iraq hangs 11convicted ofterrorismBAGHDAD—Iraq hanged 11people convicted of terroristoffences on Thursday, thejustice ministry said, pursuingwhat a U.N. official hascriticized as a “conveyor-beltof executions”.

All those executed wereIraqi nationals, justice ministryspokesman Haider al-Saadisaid in a text message toReuters, bringing the totalnumber of people executed inless than one week to 37.

Violence in Iraq has surgedin the past year to its highestlevels since the Sunni-Shi’itesectarian bloodshed thatpeaked in 2006 and 2007,when tens of thousands ofpeople were killed.

Police on Thursday saidthey had thwarted an attackagainst a meeting of theprovincial council in Diyalaprovince, killing seven suicidebombers and dismantling fivecar bombs that were apparently

Khurshid supportsgovt steps to

tackle terrorismSTAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—Opposit ionleader in the National AssemblySyed Khurshid Shah has offeredfull support to the governmentin the war on terror.

Talking to media‚ he said hisparty is ready to support govern-ment steps in this context.

PML-N’sMalik Aziz winsNA-69 by-pollsOUR CORRESPONDENT

KHUSHAB—Pakistan MuslimLeague – Nawaz has won the byelection of national Assemblyconstituency NA-69 Khushabby defeating PTI candidate.

PML-N candidate MalikAziz Khan scored 80,946 voteswhile runner up Malik UmarAslam bagged 60,785 votes.

Two hundred and ninety-eight polling stations were es-tablished. Forty-nine of thesepolling stations were declaredhighly sensitive.

Three candidates were in therun for NA-69 Khushab includ-ing Aziz Khan of PML (N) andUmar Aslam of PTI. There are327,335 registered voters in theconstituency.

Earlier, PTI candidate UmarAslam Awan alleged former MPAAli Haider Noor Niazi barged intothe polling station number 208 and209 along with some 50 armedsupporters and rigged the processin opponents favour.

Presiding officer Shah JahanAslam said that the armed mensomehow succeeded in castinga few hundred forged ballots;however, following PTI’s pro-test, the polling was stopped atthe disputed polling station at3:30 afternoon. Presiding officeralso said that over 250 fake bal-lots have been recovered frompolling station number 208.

Korean-Pakistanistudents’ friendshipfestival held at UoPPESHAWAR—Citizen diplomacywas at its peak in the one dayKOPAK cultural festival arrangedby the students of visiting SouthKorean and the host University ofPeshawar (UoP) held at the Pashtocultural Museum UoP here onThursday.

Cultural dresses, songs andsimilarities among the twocountry‘s norms especially respectfor elders and sense of patriotismwas evident from the perfor-mances on the occasion.

Vice Chancellor UoP Prof.Dr. Muhammad Rasul Jan was thechief guest on the day. DeanHannam University South KoreaMr. IL Gyu Jeong, thirty studentsof South Korea and other del-egates were also present.

Prize distribution ceremonyfor winners of the cooperationbadminton tournament arrangedby Hannam University at UoP wasalso held on the sidelines of thefestival in which students of UoPMs. Sara got first while Laiba andKiran Jamal took second and thirdposition respectively.Certificateswere distributed among studentson completion of the Korean lan-guage course arranged by theKOPAK Centre at the institute ofmanagement studies University ofPeshawar.—APP

Woman stabbedto death

FAISALABAD—An infuriatedman stabbed to death his sis-ter-in-law over a domestic dis-pute in the area of Sadar po-lice station on Wednesday.

According to police, 24-year-old Aasia Bibi wife ofShahnawaz resident ofMohallah Elahi Abad SitianaRoad exchanged hot wordswith Ali Raza, brother of herspouse, over a domestic dis-pute which infuriated Ali Razaand he attacked the womanwith a stab and injured her se-verely.

She was immediatelyshifted to the hospital whereshe breathed her last amid re-ceiving medical treatment.

The police took the bodyinto its custody and started in-vestigation.—APP

PESHAWAR—Community Re-search and Development Orga-nization (CRDO), an non-prof-itable non-governmental organi-zation joined hands with ‘Alif-Elan’ for launching a consecu-tive struggle for promotion ofeducation in KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

Under this programme bothorganizations would hold con-sultative meetings with differentsegments of society includingpoliticians, educational officials,public representatives, expertsof education sector and parents.

In this connection, CRDOin collaboration with Alif-Elanorganized a seminar on the“Promotion of Quality Educa-

CRDO, Alif Elan join handsto promote education

tion’ in Daudzai, a suburbanlocality of Peshawar city hereat Daudzai Model School,Naghuman, district Peshawarthe other day.

The seminar was attendedby JUI-F activist and formerprovincial minister, Asif IqbalDaudzai and JI affiliated formerprovincial minister, HafizHashmat Khan while Coordina-tor Alif-Elan, Omar Khan andProgramme Manager, CRDO,Mir Zaman Mohmand and theirassociates at large. The seminarwas also attended by the teach-ers of schools located in theDaudzai area, PTA members,local clerics and other membersof the community.—APP

13 SDOs promotedas Executive

EngineersPESHAWAR—The PESCOmanagement has promoted thir-teen Sub Divisional Officers(SDOs) BPS 17 to the rank ofExecutive Engineers BPS 18and posted them against variousposts, said a notification ofCompany here Thursday.

Syed Muhammad ZahirShah has been promoted andposted as Deputy Manager S&IPESCO Headquarters, NadarZaman Kundi as XEN KarakDivision, Saif Uddin as DeputyManager O&M PlanningPESCO Headquarters, ShahRas Khan posted as XENJannah Abad Division, UsmanAkbar posted as XEN Swabi-II Division, Ibrar Hussain asDeputy Manager PMU, NoorUllah Khan as XEN Bannu-IIDivision Sohaib Anwar asDeputy Director TechnicalSwat Circle,

Muhammad Tahir as XENCharsadda, Shaukat Ullah asXEN Rural Division D I Khan,Asif Jan as XEN City DivisionMansehra, Zafar Iqbal asDeputy Director TechnicalBannu Circle and Saeed UrRehman posted as XEN TankDivision.—APP

HYDERABAD—Deputy Com-missioner (DC) Hyderabad,Muhammad Nawaz Soho Thurs-day announced establishment ofa minority desk and appointedAdditional Deputy Commis-sioner-II Rao Atif and Su-perintendent of Police Head-quarters Umer Tufail as focalpersons for addressing the is-sues of minority communities.

The DC made the announce-ment while talking to a delega-tion of Hindu community here athis office, which apprised himabout the problems being facedby the minority communities.

DC Hyderabad setsup minority desk

He said that since creation ofPakistan, minorities are also play-ing vital role for the developmentof the country and they haveequal rights with other country-men.

The district administration ismaking all out efforts to addressthe grievance of the members ofthe minority communities in or-der to remove sense of depriva-tion among them, he added.

He said that establishment ofminority desk will help in earlyaddress of the problems of themembers of minority communi-ties.—APP

35 suspects arrestedPESHAWAR—Peshawar Policeduring its ongoing search andstrike operation Thursday ar-rested 35 suspects and recoveredhuge quantity of arms and am-munition from their possession.

According to details the op-eration led by SP Rural alongwith local elders was conductedin the jurisdictions of Mathra,Khazana and Daudzai PoliceStations.—APP

Javed Durranipasses away

MULTAN—Veteran journalistJaved Durrani passed away hereon Thursday morning.

Mr Durrani had been suf-fering from lungs ailment forthe last four months and spentmost of time at hospital fortreatment. Today morning hewas rushed to emergency wardof Nishtar Hospital but he couldnot survive. PTI presidentMakhdoom Javed Hashmi,PML-N MNA RanaMahmoodul Hassan, PPP lead-ers Syed Tanweerul HassanGilani and Khawaja RizwanAlam besides local ournalistsand people from different walksof life attended his Namaz-e-Janaza.

Durrani had an elaborate 35year long career as journalist. Hebegan his career from Daily‘Imroz’ and later worked forDaily Khabrain, Daily Pakistan,Daily Express besides regionalnewspapers.

He is survived by a widow, ason and two daughters. Qulwould be held at ‘Aik Minar WaliMasjid’, Hassan Parwana at 9 amon Friday.—APP

BANNU—Fearing military op-eration, locals of the restiveNorth Waziristan Agency aremigrating to safer places on thethird day after PAF jets shelledmilitant hideouts in Mir Ali andMiranshah areas, local mediareported on Thursday.

Markets were closed andbusiness activities remained sus-pended in different areas.

According to sources, thepeople were fleeing their homesahead of possible military actionin Mir Ali.

On the other hand, PoliticalAgent Siraj Ahmad Khan hasappealed the locals to stop mi-grating as there is no danger.

The air strikes in the NorthWaziristan tribal region on Tues-day followed two major Talibanattacks on military targets in asmany days.

Locals start migrationafter air strike in NWA

According to securitysources, three Germans wereamong 40 people killed whenPakistani jets and helicoptersbombarded suspected militanthideouts in North Waziristan.

Officials said some of thosekilled were linked to an attackon Sunday on paramilitarytroops in the northwestern cityof Bannu that killed 26, and adouble suicide bombing on achurch in September that killedmore than 80.

Another military officialsaid a few families had fled thefighting and moved out of thetribal areas, but so far there hasbeen no mass migration from thearea.The government officialssaid that around 500 familiesfled to Bannu district from NorthWaziristan after the bombard-ment.—Online

FAISALABAD—Mr Bharat RajPoudyal, Ambassador of Nepalin Pakistan alongwith spouseThursday visited Saleem Cam-pus of The University ofFaisalabad (TUF) here.

He had a meeting with ProDr Mohammad Iqbal Tahir, Ad-visor to Chairman Board ofGovernors (BOG) TUF andother senior faculty members.

Nepali envoy visits TUFThe Nepali Envoy was

briefed about The University ofFaisalabad, University Medical& Dental College, MadinahTeaching Hospital and otherwelfare projects running underthe auspices of Madinah Foun-dation. On this occasion, MrBharat Raj Poudyal said thatPakistan and Nepal have goodfriendly relations.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Chief MinisterBalochistan, Dr Abdul MalikBaloch has said that Balochistangovernment’s first priority is toprovide basic health, educationfacilities and to maintain lawand order situation.

CM Balochistan has calledupon the federal government toprovide ferry service for pil-grims from Karachi toChabahar.

Talking to media, DrBaloch said that ferry servicewould be safe and economical.

The buses of pilgrims re-

Balochistan Govt committedto ensuring peace: Malik

turning from Iran to Pakistan areconstantly under threat and havebeen attacked twice this month,he said.

He said that Balochistangovernment is making efforts tomaintain peace and tranquility inthe area and federal governmentis also providing help in this re-gard.

He claimed 33% crime ratehas reduced during last sevenmonths. He said that those tribeswho are annoyed with the gov-ernment will be brought on thenegotiating table, adding that

law enforcement agencies withthe support of government willdiscuss the peace matter withsuch elements.

Democracy is gettingstrength day by day in the coun-try and Balochistan governmentconducted local bodies poll forcontinuity of democratic pro-cess, he maintained.

Dr Abdul Malik said thatthe government would makeQuetta as intellectual city and forthis purpose seminars, literaryand sports activities would beconducted.—APP

FAISALABAD: Member Punjab Assembly Sheikh Ejaz Ahmad and EDO Health Dr Rana Waqar Sadiq supervising poliodrops to the children.

HYDERABAD: Members of HUJ protesting against the killing of journalists.

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

DESPITE Islamabad’swillingness to initiate adialogue with Taleban,

prospects for peace with themilitants aredim. The sce-nario hasdras t i ca l lychanged overthe past weekf o l l o w i n gtwo high-pro-file attacksthat left 39

people dead, marking a bloodyreturn for the militants.

Apparently irritated bythe lack of cohesion amongthe civilian policymakers,the Pakistan Army has en-tered the scene in retaliationfollowing Taleban attacks.This should not be seen as a

Nawaz in a quandary over talks with Talibanshift in army’s policy or anyrift between the military andcivilian leadership. The armyoperation in North Waziristanis imperative from a defensepoint of view.

However, if the civilianleadership does not swing intoaction to tackle the issue aspromised by Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, then keeping inview the country’s checkeredpolitical history one could ex-pect anything.

The hike in Taleban at-tacks in the past few daysshows that the militants areeither not at all interested inpeace talks or trying to inflictas much damage as they couldin order to negotiate from aposition of strength. WithMaulana Samiul Haq — oftenreferred to as the “Father ofTaleban” — backing out from

his role as the peace broker,the government has to act inhaste before it is too late.

Initially political leadersof all hues appeared to be onethe same page on the issue ofTaleban and terrorism. Thiswas seen as a healthy sign inPakistan’s politics. But thesituation has dramaticallychanged, as most political par-ties are at loggerheads overthe issue.

The recent at tacks onarmy personnel have elicitedmixed responses from thepoliticians. Many express thefear that if timely action is nottaken against the militants, itmay demoralize the securityforces.

On the other hand, manycalled for an environmentconducive to talks withoutfurther delay. The Pakistan

People’s Party led by formerPresident Asif Ali Zardari isalso divided on the issue. Itsyoung patron, Bilawal Bhutto(if his tweets are to be takenseriously) opposes the talkstooth and nail.

On the contrary, the PPPtroubleshooter, RehmanMalik, advocates a reconcil-iatory approach.

Amid this ruckus, Shariffinds himself in a quandaryover this issue. Interestingly,his own Cabinet is sharply di-vided over this issue. This wasevident is a recent Cabinetmeeting that disagreed with adraft national policy to dealwith the situation.

The army action has madethe entire situation more vola-tile. This time around the mili-tary cannot be blamed, as it isthe indecisiveness of politi-

cians that has aggravated thesituation. It is obvious thatfollowing the military ac-tion, Taleban will retaliatethus adding to the woes ofthe masses that are caught inthe crossfire.

The current situationcalls for a national consen-sus to eliminate terrorism.The sooner, the better. Fur-ther delay wil l onlyembolden the militants. Ifthe politicians do not rise tothe occasion, they will nolonger be in a position topass the buck to “otherforces” in case somethingunexpected takes place.

As far as Pakistanis areconcerned — who are al-ready fed up with soaringprices of essential commodi-ties — they just want peaceno matter how it is achieved.

Journalists stagedprotest camp

PESHAWAR—Peshawar basedJournalists Thursday staged a pro-test camp here in front ofPeshawar Press Club (PPC) vio-lence against journalists in coun-try. Khyber Union of JournalistsGeneral Secretary Tariq Afaq,Vice President of Peshawar PressClub Umer Younis and other Jour-nalists were present in the camp.

They were holdingplaycards describe ‘stop vio-lence against journalists’, “Wewant protection”, “Stop killingof innocent mediamen”.

Speaking on the occasionTariq Afaq said the governmentshould take pragmatic measuresto curb violence against journal-ists and also protect their lives andproperties.He said the journalistsare being targeted, killed and ha-rassed, but still they are perform-ing their duties with bravery andin difficult circumstances.—APP

Killing of ladyhealth worker

protestedMANSOOR PIRZADA

GHOTKI—District presidentMuslim League-N Raheela Sharwith other PML-N membersZarka Shar, Safiya Bhutto, ZahidaQambrani and Yaseen Bhutto pro-tested to condemn the killing oflady health worker in Karachi.

The protest was demon-strated at media center Daharkichanting slogans for the arrestof culprits who are involved inthe killing of LHW.

They further demanded thatgovernment should provide pro-tection to each LHW as theycould perform their duty, other-wise LHWs across Ghotki willboycott the duty.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The govern-ment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand United Nations Develop-ment Program (UNDP)Thursday signed a memoran-dum of Strategic partnershipon progress, development andstrengthening of public sectororganizations of the province.Under the agreement UNDPin consultations with the lo-cal people will initiateschemes worth US$ 10.5m indifferent sectors and variousposts of KP.

In this connection a simple

UNDP to initiate uplift schemesin KP worth US$10.5m

but impressive ceremony washeld here in Chief Minister’sSecretariat that was attended byChief Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak,Regional Director UNDP forAsia Pacific Mr Haoliang Xu,Advisor to Chief Minister forInvestment Rafaqatullah Babar,Incharge CM Complains’ CellDilroz Khan, Country DirectorUNDP Mr. Andre Franche, Sec-retary Planning and Develop-ment Aftab Durrani and other se-nior officials.

The four-year long termplan has been initiated under theStrategic Development Partner-

ship Framework of the provin-cial government. Under theagreement UNDP in collabora-tion with local population, pro-vincial government and con-cerned departments wouldlaunch social sector schemes inthe different districts of KhyberPakhtunkhwa includingPeshawar, Nowshera, Swabi,Kohat, Karak, Haripur, Buner,Dir Upper, Dir Lower,Malakand, Swat, Shangla,Chitral, D.I.Khan and LakkiMarwat.

The sectors identified in thisconnection would be includedthe provision of better social

services, poverty alleviation,employment opportunities,good governance, policy mak-ing, democratic rule, stabilityof democratic institutions,abolition of injustice, su-premacy of law, minimizingrisks of natural disasters andrehabilitation of the natural di-sasters affected persons.

Besides, the UNDP willespecially initiates differentprograms for the strengthen-ing of judicial system, police,prisons and prosecution de-partments and procedures foralternative dispute resolu-tion.

Patrolling officerkilled on road

SARGODHA—A man waskilled in an accident in AttaShaheed police limits onThursday.

Police said patrolling of-ficer Muhammad Arshed ofNew Satellite Town wastravelling on a motorcyclewhen a speeding bus hit himon Sargodha-FaisalabadRoad.

Resultantly, Arshed sus-tained injuries while thedriver managed to escape.

The injured was shiftedto the DHQ hospital wherehe died.

Police registered acase against the ac-cused .—APP

Traffic wardensuspended

FAISALABAD—City PoliceOfficer (CPO) Dr HaidarAshraf suspended a trafficwarden over negligence hereon Thursday.

The CPO visited thecity and found traffic war-den, Shehbaz, sitting onroad site instead of perform-ing his duties at KatcheryBazaar.

To which, the CPO is-sued orders for his immedi-ate suspension.—APP

5kg bombplanted beneathMufti Mehmoodflyover defused

PE S H AWA R—The BombDisposal Unit (BDU) hereon Thursday defused a fivekilogram bomb onCharsadda Road avertingyet another terror attempt inthe thickly populated areaof the provincial capital.

According to police, theBDU was called when infor-mation received about thepresence of a suspected ob-ject beneath the under-con-struction Mufti MehmoodFlyover at Charsadda Roadend.The BDU while takingprompt action defused thefive kg explosive device whichwas concealed in a ghee tinand connected with a timedevice.

A loud sound createdpanic in the surrounding areawhen the bomb was defused.

The entire area was sealedby the law enforcers as theinvestigation went underwayinto the matter.—APP

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—Fre-quency of street crime inci-dents has increased over aperiod of time, in MandiBahauddin, Malakwal andelsewhere within limits of thisdistrict.

The previous evening onbypass road near RailwayCrossing Malakwal three rob-bers deprived two persons ofcash. One person was sub-jected to physical torturesince he had only one hun-dred rupees in his pocket.

Victim Muhammad Sajidtold media that robbers inter-cepted him near RailwayCrossing Malakwal when hewas going on motorcycle onbypass Road, and asked himto hand over whatever he hadwith him. He took out Rs 100and mobile phone frompocket but they started tor-turing him for possessingsmall amount.

After beating, they re-turned the amount and mobileto him. Sajid further told thatthe robbers looted two othermotorcyclists in front of him.A few days ago robberssnatched cash from a clerk oflawyer when he was goinghome along with his wife.

This happened at the cen-tre of Malkwal. The samenight the robbers looted a

Street crime on the risetrader and escaped with cashin thousands. Similar occur-rences are taking place inMandi Bahauddin. Two daysearlier dacoits at night bargedinto shops in Motorcyclesmarket, Phalia road afterbreaking shops roofs and fledaway undetected with bootyin lakhs. So far police couldnot trace out the culprits. Ti-ger force patrolling has failedto check crimes.

Police is well equippedwith vehicles and modernweapons. It has good commu-nication network. Last yearpolice purchased motor-cycles with the fund contrib-uted by citizens to improvepolice mobility. Police teamswere formed and each teamheaded by ASI with motor-cycle was deployed in eachunion council to maintain lawand order.

But all this arrangementhas not delivered up to expec-tation of the people. Still oldpolice culture prevails andone has to grease palm of po-lice official to get relief.

One of the citizen saidPolice Tigers pass time by sit-ting in shops and hotels anddo not perform their dutiesvigilantly.

The citizens have urgedhigher authorities to takestrong measures to save theirlife and property.

PESHAWAR—The Tribal el-ders of South WaziristanAgency here Thursday ex-pressed their deep concernover the illegal cutting oftrees in the agency and ap-pealed Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa to take neces-sary action against the po-litical administration.

Addressing a press con-ference here at PeshawarPress Club tribal elder Chiefof Ahmadzai Wazir, MalikMohammad Jamil allegedthat about 80 loaded trucksof trees were being smuggledto Afghanistan on daily ba-sis through Angor Ada.

Tribal elder calls forforest conservation

He appealed the Gover-nor to take disciplinary ac-tion against officials foundinvolved in illegal cuttingof trees and with t imbermafia.

He alleged that some of-ficials of political administra-tion are involved in makingfake ID cards to foreigners.

Malik Mohamad Jamildemanded of the GovernorKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, CorpsCommander Peshawar,Chairman NAB and InteriorMinister to start investiga-tion and take action againstthose who were involved incorruption.—APP

SYCOPHANCY has always been a time-tested toll for people

to rise to and remain in highplaces. There is an evenmore effective tool, whichis to prove oneself moreloyal than the king. In do-ing so, all one needs is topretend to be an enemy ofthe king’s opponents, andvilify them as much as pos-sible. To see this phenom-enon unravel publically onthe media is always a spec-tacle to behold. The latestsuch episode has beenSadrudding Hashwani’s in-terview with a local TVchannel.

In an otherwise on-po-

All in bad taste…

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan stillhosts over 1.61 million regis-tered Afghan refugees, thelargest and most protractedrefugee population in theworld, said a document ofUNHCR..

Since March 2002, theUnited Nations High Commis-sion for Refugees has facili-tated the return of almost 3.8million registered Afghan refu-

Pakistan hosts 1.61mregistered Afghan refugees

gees from the country. An official of UNHCR said

thanks to the generous sup-port provided by the Govern-ment of Pakistan, some refugeevillages in the provinces ofBalochistan, KP and Punjab areestablished on government-owned land; refugee childrenhave access to public schools;and refugees have access topublic health clinic.—APP

litical setting, Haswani sud-denly burst into a tiradeagainst the former president,Asif Ali Zardari. To a casualviewer, it might have comeacross as a simple matter ofpersonal or political expres-sion. However, those withany interest in the politicalmilieu and an eye for detailcould easily see whatHashwani’s was trying toachieve. Being againstZardari earns you the easi-est brownie points with theestablishment and thepresent rulers. Being an am-bitious business tycoon andbeing anti-Zardari at the sametime can earn you the mostlucrative business deals in

town.Zardari was not the only

one Hashwani pretended tohave always been up andagainst. He blamed everyruler in Pakistan to have vic-timized him at one time oranother, except the presentrulers, of course. Appar-ently, the reality is much dif-ferent. Had Haswani notbeen on good terms with thehighs and mighties of everyage, his business empire sim-ply would not be survivedor flourshihed enormously,continuously, and so fast.To praise and pamper therulers is a way of doing busi-ness .

Without the obvious

motive of pleasing thepresent rulers, there is noother reason why Hashawaniwould need to come up withconcocted stories with politi-cal implications; stories hehimself claims to be manyyears old. He spoke ill of AsifAli Zardari in a way whichnot totally not befitting to hisown old-age and stature. Itwas tirade in bad taste, fullof contradictions.

For example, at one pointHaswani claims that Zardarihad once gotten a person re-leased from the jail to getHaswani killed. In the samebreath, he informs us thatZardari’s during his exileyears used to seek favours

from Hashwani. Claimingthe moral high ground forhimself, Hashwani also in-forms that he had declinedto fulfil those favours. Imag-ine, a person trying to getyou killed, forces you toleave the country, and thenthe same person starts seek-ing your favour, and on hisreturn to Pakistan, offersyou several major projects.

In short, Hashwanimight be getting a little toodesperate to please hisnew masters; yet there areother and more honourableways to do so, than cast-ing aspersions on a formerPresident.

— By Ahmed Ali

PE S H AWA R —Direc tora teHealth Services FATA orga-nized free eye camps in dif-ferent areas of KurramAgency, Khyber Agency,South Waziristan Agencyand FR Tank to provide qual-ity health services to patientshaving eye problems at theirdoor steps.

The camps were contin-ued in the month of Decem-ber 2013 and January 2014under the effective supervi-sion of Director Health Ser-

FATA health servicesconduct free eye camps

vices FATA.The camps were ar-

ranged by the programmeEstablishment of Compre-hensive Eye Care ServicesFATA in which a team of doc-tors, eye technicians andsupporting staff participated.

In the said camps a totalof 3112 patients sufferingfrom various opthalmologicaldiseases were examined by aqualified team of medical pro-fessionals, while 73 surgerieswere done on spot.—APP

WAH CANTT: Lt Gen Muhammad Ahsan Mahmood, Chairman POF presiding over themeeting of Board of Governors of University of Wah.

Beautification of metrlopolisPESHAWAR—Special Advisor to ChiefMinister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Min-erals Ziaullah Afridi on Thursday saidthat the provincial government has allo-cated a handsome amount to revivebeautification and grandeurs of the pro-vincial metropolis. He expressed theseviews in a meeting with a representativedelegation at his office. He said that PTIhas been mandated by the people forraising slogans transformation adding

government would resolve all its pledges made to publicduring last general elections. He said that government isstriving to resolve basic issues of people by utilizing allavailable sources. He said that to ensure the safety of peoplevarious check posts have been established on differentpoints.—APP

Democratic societyISLAMABAD—Chairman Senate SyedNayyer Hussain Bokhari Thursday saidthat Pakistan is on a journey to becomea transparent, peaceful and progressivedemocratic society. Speaking Conferenceof the speakers and presiding officers ofthe commonwealth in Willington , NewZealand he said numerous initiativeshave been taken to improve and ensurethe open and transparent systems inPakistan. Nayyer Bokhari said that

Openness and transparency in parliamentary proceedings,therefore, enable public views, perceptions and intereststo reflect better in decision and policy making on issuesdirectly or indirectly affecting their lives. Referring toPakistan’s Constitution, the Chairman Senate observed theConstitution guarantees openness and transparency inpublic sector by protecting citizens’ right to Information.Inter-parliamentary forums such as this speakers and pre-siding officers’ conference provide an important mecha-nism to forge international cooperation among governmentsas well as parliaments, he added. Nayyer Bokhari observedthat the theme of the present session, Openness and Trans-parency, highlights an irrefutable imperative that lies at thevery heart of an all-inclusive participatory parliamentarydemocracy. “It is timely to sit together and reflect on theopportunities and challenges of maintaining openness andtransparency in the Parliament, the Senate Chairman re-marked, adding that in any democracy one of the over-riding principles is that its politician should be accountablefor their actions, because openness and transparency isindispensable for the development of the Democracy, Par-liament and the Nation as a whole. He said the 21st centurymay well be dubbed the age of information and awareness.The `digital revolution’ and cutting-edge Information andCommunication Technologies (ICTs) have facilitated, cata-lyzed and expedited free flow of information, ideas andknowledge exchanged across the globe, says a messagereceived here. This has, in turn, made citizenry more in-formed and highly opinionated on the intricate nuances ofall domestic, international and parliamentary affairs thatconcern them one way or the other. He observed that thedigital revolution, enabled by unprecedented developmentsin Information and Communication technologies, has fun-damentally changed the way people think, behave, com-municate, and work.—APP

PESHAWAR: Students taking interest in the unique fire brigade vehicles during an exhibition at Gor Gathri.

STAFF REPORTER

WAH CANTT—Meeting ofBoard of Governors of Uni-versity of Wah held in POFChairman ConferenceRoom. Lt Gen MuhammadAhsan Mahmood, HI(M)Chairman POF Board pre-sided over the meeting.

Those who at tendedthe meeting include Mr.Riaz Ahmed, DICR & Mem-ber POF Board, Brig (R)Taqdees Ahmed MD POFWelfare Trust, Brig JavedIqbal Director Administra-tion, Brig Kamran WaheedStation Commander POF,Mr. Muhammad RizwanMD POF Havelian, MalikTaimoor Masood MPA PP-8, Mrs Tehseen FawadMPA, Prof. Dr. Muhammad

Naeem Khalid Advisor(Academic) Higher Educa-tion Commission & Brig (R)Khaliq ur Rehman Shad,SI(M) Vice Chancellor Uni-versity of Wah.

The Board approvedthe minutes of select ionboard, HR Policy and an-nual report of the Univer-sity of Wah.

The Board also appre-ciated the establishment ofWah Engineering CollegeStudent Fund for grant ofQarz-e-Hassana to the stu-dents from the unprivilegedclass.

The Board approvedthe establishment of thisfund and the procedure forgrant of this loan to theneedy students.

Vice Chancellor Univer-

si ty of Wah briefed thehouse about HR Policy,Pay Structure, DisciplineRules, Examination Rules,Publication of Annual Re-port, Annual Magazine andQuarterly Newspapers ofUniversity of Wah.The VC University of Wahfurther briefed about intro-duction of B-Techprogrammes, linkage withPOF Hospital, constructionof academic/lab f loor atWah Engineering College,academic block and admin-istration block at MashalDegree College Wah Cantt.Establishment, of Campusnetworking, IT Lab PERN-IIconnectivity The Board ap-preciated the efforts of ViceChancellor for the develop-ment of University of Wah.

ISLAMABAD—akistan Me-teorological Department(PMD) Thursday forecastlight rain with snowfall overthe hills for isolated placesof Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan during the next 24hours.

According to the synop-tic situation, continental airwas prevailing over mostparts of the country.

A shallow westerly wavewas affecting northern partsof the country.

Mainly cold and dryweather is expected in mostparts of Punjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh andBalochistan during the next24 hours.

The lowest minimumtemperatures recorded dur-ing the last 24 hours wereGupis-7 C, Kalat, Parachinar-6 C, Astore -5 C, Quetta -4 C,Malamjabba and Hunza -3 C.

The minimum tempera-

Light rain likely inKashmir, GB

tures recorded wereIslamabad 10 C, Lahore 9 C,Karachi 11 C, Peshawar 4 C,Quetta -4 C, Murree 1 C,Muzaffarabad 5 C, Gilgit 1 C,Faisalabad 8 C, Multan 8 Cand Hyderabad 10 C.

The rainfall recorded dur-ing the last 24 hours was GarhiDupatta, Muzaffarabad 12,Mangla, Balakot and Kakul 9mm, Malamjabba 8, Kalam 6,Murree 5, Sialkot 4, Pattan,Saidu Sharif 3, Kotli, Lahore,Bunji 2, Rawalpindi and Gilgit1 mm.The snowfall recordedduring the last 24 hours wasSkardu 6 inches, Astore andMalamjabba 4 inches.—PP

Wah Engineering Collegeto help needy students

60,000 Pakistanis deportedISLAMABAD—Around 60,000 Pakistanisdeports from different countries annuallydue to fake documents, expired work per-mits and other matters, Federal Investi-gation Agency (FIA) is taking seriousnotice of the issue. “We had issued a redbook in which more than 100 most wantedhuman traffickers were nominated and theagency would conduct a large scale op-eration for their arrest and also contactother countries for those accused who

went abroad” said Director General Federal InvestigationAgency Saud Ahmed Mirza here on Wednesday. Address-ing as a chief guest at the launching ceremony of researchreport on “Human trafficking and migrant smuggling to andfrom Pakistan” organized by Country Office for United Na-tions Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) he said from Julyto December 2013 they have arrested 35 human traffickers.He said FIA has taken few major steps to check the men-ace of human trafficking from the country including intro-duction immigration vigilance unit to keep on track hu-man traffickers and persons who are helping them in thisheinous crime within and outside the country. He furthersaid FIA has also initiated a sustained campaign againstmost wanted human traffickers and launched of an aware-ness campaign for youth not to fall prey of these evilminded people. Director General FIA further said the mainreason of people especially youth to be trapped in suchactivities is unemployment.—APP

Are we headingfor operation?

STATEMENT of PTI chief Imran Khan that they were with the Armyand should be taken into confidence if military operation is to be carried out against terrorists, is a clear indication that he was expecting

full-fledged operation against militants any time and that he too was con-vinced that some sort of action was unavoidable in view of the groundrealities. Otherwise too, there is a renewed push for operation in the back-drop of dastardly and provocative attacks on troops in Bannu and suicideblast in RA Bazar in Rawalpindi.

Some elements are questioning bombing of targets in North Waziristanby Pak Army, after the terrorist attacks in Bannu and Rawalpindi and, infact, Maulana Samiul Haq, whose credentials to play any worthwhile rolefor restoration of peace in the given situation are not being seen as con-vincing by many, has disassociated from the peace process on the plea ofaerial attacks in Waziristan and Khyber Agency. Some circles believe thata kind of operation is already underway there but Minister of DefenceProduction says it was targeted action and not operation. It is understoodthat no military worth the name can tolerate attacks on its troops andtherefore, retaliation is quite justified, otherwise there would not be evensemblance of the writ of the state. But the state of indecision on the partof the governmental authorities is relaying wrong messages and there arereports of widespread resentment among troops over deadly attacks byTaliban. Months have elapsed and we are still hearing from Interior Min-ister the mantra of dialogue but the process has not moved an inch. Thisstate of affairs is unacceptable as it means providing opportunity to anti-peace lobbies to advance their nefarious designs of pushing the PakistanArmy into an unending cycle of violence and internal chaos. There islogic in the proposition to draw a clear line between those who are will-ing to talk and those who are not willing to discard violence and killings.Militant groups even if they are in scores must have some hierarchy andthey are there for over a decade and our intelligence agencies must behaving complete record of their structure and activities. Therefore, it shouldnot be difficult to contact them, extend them an olive branch and if nopositive response is received then mark them among enemies of the stateand deal them accordingly. Selective, targeted and precision action is OKbut full-fledged operation would be suicidal because of its serious conse-quences and implications for the Army as well as the country and there-fore, must be avoided. But time is passing quickly and a decision willhave to be taken right now if further destruction has to be avoided.

Excessive outagesmake winter chilly

ELECTRICITY demand falls considerably during winter because of thefall in temperature and therefore, people were expecting no load shed-

ding during the season. However, to their utter disappointment the menaceof power outages has instead increased and now in urban centres, load shed-ding is being resorted to on alternate hour basis and there are reports of upto20 hours of load shedding in rural areas.

Gas load shedding this winter is also unprecedented, as the Govern-ment has miserably failed even to ensure provision of gas for kitchens, notto speak of heating of homes. Those who can afford had the option to useelectricity to keep themselves warm during chilly weather but increasedload shedding has added to the woes of the people especially children, eld-erly and physically weak people. Industry and businesses were already suf-fering hugely because of power shortages but now even in winter people atlarge are made to suffer. This is despite the fact that the Government claimsto have added 2200 MW of electricity to the system by way of retirement ofthe circular debt. Such promises were made throughout the tenure of thePPP Government and the incumbent government is making similar claimsbut the result so far is frustrating. Chief Minister Punjab Mian ShahbazSharif has rightly equated the energy crisis to the issue of terrorism but thequestion arises as to what exactly the present Government has so far doneto overcome the problem or mitigate sufferings of the people. Rhetoric willnot work and out-of-box solutions will have to be found, otherwise peopleare fast losing patience, as they see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Pak-KSA relations get deeperTWO high level visits from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan during January -

first by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and now by DeputyDefence Minister Prince Suleman bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz - are manifes-tation of holding consultations on key regional and international issues andproof of close relations between the two brotherly countries. Prince Saud alFaisal during his January 6 visit talked of deep-rooted historic relationsbetween the two Islamic countries and promised regular consultation onissues of mutual concern.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during meeting with Deputy DefenceMinister Prince Suleman bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz on Monday emphasisedthe need to start a new era of strategic relationship to broaden and deepenthe existing bilateral relations. He also spoke of further strengthening de-fence cooperation between the two countries in view of the current chal-lenges. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy a close relationship in several spheresincluding security of the Gulf and South Asian region. During his visitPrince Suleman Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz visited different defence estab-lishments including POF Wah and the Air Defence Command of PAF. Whilegoing through the arms and ammunition manufactured at the country’s primedefence production establishment, the Saudi dignitary remarked that he fore-sees further strengthening of relations in the field of defence and laudedthe high standards of arms and ammunition produced by POF. He wasinformed by POF chief Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ahsan Mahmood that POFwas not only meeting defence requirement of the Armed Forces of Paki-stan but also exporting its products to more than 30 countries around theglobe. The series of meetings, we hope would lead to deepen relations inthe defence and strategic areas, which is need of the hour in view of fastchanging developments in the Middle East. We are sure that Saudi Arabiawould divert its attention to meet its day-to-day defence requirements fromPakistan as POF’s industrial base, which is manufacturing state of the artequipment, has all the potential and capability to undertake developmentand production of all types of conventional arms and ammunition.

Ariel Sharon hero or villain?

Syria peaceconferenceEXPECTATIONS are under

standably low for an international peace conference on

Syria that opens Wednesday inSwitzerland. It isn’t just that themeeting almost didn’t happen be-cause of a dispute over whether rep-resentatives of Iran would attend.There’s also the fact that Russia,which has spearheaded the so-calledGeneva II meeting with the UnitedStates, may be paying only lip ser-vice to the premise of the talks: thatthey will produce a “transitionalgoverning body” in Damascus, withPresident Bashar Assad ceding atleast some power.

But even if the odds of successare long, the Obama administrationwas right to press for the conven-ing of Geneva II (which will actu-ally take place in the lakeside com-munity of Montreux). It is at leastpossible that the conference willhelp to stop the killing, speed hu-manitarian assistance and lay thegroundwork for a political transi-tion. Although Russia blocked aresolution at the United Nations thatwould have forced Assad to stepaside, there are signs that its pa-tience with him may be limited. TheUS also believes there are elementsin the Assad government that seekwhat a State Department officialcalled a “way out” from a civil warthat has killed more than 100,000people, uprooted more than 2 mil-lion and ravaged Syria’s infrastruc-ture. And although the UN secre-tary-general withdrew an invitationfor Iran, an Assad ally, to partici-pate in the conference, it’s not outof the question, as Secretary of StateJohn F. Kerry has suggested, thatIran could play a constructive roleon the sidelines. Some critics insistthat instead of concentrating on thediplomatic track, the Obama admin-istration should have made goodlong ago on the president’s repeatedstatements that Assad “has to go”by providing significant military aidto rebel forces. But it’s too glib tosuggest that it would have been easyfor the US to earmark lethal assis-tance to the “right” rebels. Becauseof Assad’s brutal repression ofpeaceful dissent, Syria was plungedinto a civil war that has become ahumanitarian nightmare. But thispage has been concerned that a strat-egy of toppling Assad at all costscould have unintended conse-quences, including a chaoticstruggle for control of the countryand, potentially, the empowermentof groups sympathetic to Al Qaeda.Though far from guaranteed to suc-ceed, the search for a political so-lution remains the better alternative.— Los Angeles Times

*****

Kejriwal’svigilantism

DELHI’S new Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal waselected to office with much

fanfare, a poster boy for change whowould give fossilised politicians arun for their money in the upcom-ing elections. But just weeks later,he is being roundly criticised by across-section of the populace forbeing a “rabble-rouser” and some-one “who has missed the wood forthe trees”. He has shunned the trap-pings of power, continues to stay inan apartment and moves around ina small car. But governance goesbeyond all that. Kejriwal launchedhis protest to demand that five po-licemen whom he had accused ofmisconduct be suspended and thecity’s police force be put under hiscontrol, instead of the centralgovernment’s. He eventually calledoff the protest after an assurancefrom Delhi’s Lt. Governor that hewould look into the matter.

But vigilantism by a chief min-ister may not always be the best wayto resolve an issue. After two daysof traffic disruptions and unrulybehaviour, the common people,who elected him to office, are nowquestioning whether Kejriwal wasfighting on their behalf. Kejriwal’sstatements about threatening to dis-rupt the annual Republic Day pa-rade on Sunday too have not gonedown well with the masses. As faras Kejriwal is concerned, it has beena very short honeymoon. Realityhas hit him hard and every movethat he makes is going to beanalysed. The Delhi Governmentwill need to show fast that it is in-deed interested in making the lifeof the common man better if itwants to make a larger impact onthe country. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

ARIEL Sharon died on January 11, 2014, after spendingeight years in coma. He was

a larger than life Israeli soldier,statesman and Prime Minister. Hefought in the war of independenceof 1948 as a teenager; he helped setup Unit 101 - a commando detach-ment whose job was to conductguerrilla operations in Arab territo-ries. Unit 101 is held responsible forthe widely condemned Qibya mas-sacre in the fall of 1953. After agroup of Palestinians used Qibya asa staging point for a fedayeen attackin Yehud that killed a Jewish womanand her two children in Israel, Unit101 retaliated on the village. In theensuing attack, 65 to 70 Palestiniancivilians, half of them women andchildren were killed when Sharon’stroops dynamited 45 houses and aschool. In the 1956 Suez War,Sharon commanded Unit 202 (theParatroopers Brigade), leading thetroop to take the ground east of theSinai’s Mitla pass and eventually thepass itself against the advice of su-periors, suffering heavy Israeli ca-sualties in the process. The Mitlaincident hindered Sharon’s militarycareer for several years.

Sharon redeemed himself dur-ing the 1967 Arab-Israel War. As-signed a defensive role in the Six-day war, Sharon, in command of themost powerful armoured division onthe Sinai front, instead drew up hisown complex offensive strategy thatcombined infantry troops, tanks andparatroopers from planes and heli-

copters to destroy the Egyptianforces when it broke throughto the Kusseima-Abu-Ageilafortified area. He was nick-named the Lion of God afterthe daring tactical operation.

Sharon retired from Army inAugust 1973, but was recalled foractive duty with his assigned reservearmoured division for the Yom Kip-pur War on October 6, 1973. Sincethe Israeli armed forces were caughtby surprise, initially they sufferedserious setbacks. Despite reservationsby his superiors, Sharon executed anencircling attack and turned the tableson Egypt. Sharon’s complex groundmaneuver is regarded as a decisivemove in the Yom Kippur War, under-mining the Egyptian Second Armyand encircling the Egyptian ThirdArmy. Thus, Sharon is widely viewedas the hero of the Yom Kippur War,responsible for Israel’s ground vic-tory in the Sinai in 1973.

Ariel Sharon’s political careercommenced from 1974. One of themajor blemishes on Sharon’s politi-cal careers is when in 1982, as De-fense Minister, Sharon launched aninvasion of Lebanon called Opera-tion Peace for Galilee. During thecampaign, a three day massacre ofabout 3500 Palestinian refugees ofSabra Shatila refugee camp, com-prising mostly women, children andelderly men, earned Sharon the du-bious title of the “Butcher of Beirut”.A UN Commission set up to inves-tigate the brutality as well as an Is-raeli inquiry under the Kahan Com-mission found Sharon directly re-sponsible for the carnage and he wasforced to resign as Defence Minis-ter but continued in the cabinet asMinister without portfolio till 1984.As the Chairman of the Knessetcommittee overseeing Jewish immi-

gration, Sharon took the extremestep of displacing Palestinians fromGaza by force and replacing themwith Jewish settlers. On September28, 2000, Sharon and an escort ofover 1,000 Israeli police officersentered the al-Aqsa mosque and des-ecrated it declaring that complexwould remain under perpetual Israelicontrol. He thus sabotaged the on-going peace talks and caused theoutburst of the Second Intifada.

Sharon was opposed to the peaceprocess. He rejected the Oslo Accord,refusing to shake hands with the Pal-estinian leader Yasser Arafat. ArielSharon became the 11th Prime Min-ister of Israel in 2001 and remainedso till his stroke in 2006.

Sharon was bitterly opposed toYasser Arafat and admits havingmade thirteen attempts to eliminatehim but each time Arafat survived.While Sharon was the Prime Minis-ter, in 2004, Yasser Arafat was killedby Mossad through the administra-tion of a deadly poison Thallium,which remains undetected in the hu-man system.

Sharon also took the extreme stepof building the reprehensible westbank wall to pin down the Palestin-ians. The West Bank barrier - builton occupied land - was unacceptableto the international community andSharon was criticized.

During the latter part of his ca-reer, Sharon was investigated for al-leged involvement in a number of fi-nancial scandals, in particular, theGreek Island Affair and irregularitiesof fundraising during the 1999 elec-tion campaign. In the Greek IslandAffair, Sharon was accused of prom-ising (during his term as Foreign Min-ister) to help Israeli businessmanDavid Appel in his developmentproject on a Greek island in exchange

Geneva-II: Russia key to Assad future

SINCE the region got liberatedfrom rule by the Ottoman Caliphs into the hands of the Eu-

ropean powers and the US more thana century ago, the territories compris-ing the GCC have remained loyalpartners of the Atlantic alliance. Al-most all the money made from saleof crude oil gets sent back to theeconomies of NATO member-states,even though increasingly it is coun-tries in Asia that are the buyers forGCC oil, predominantly China, In-dia, Japan and South Korea. In2008,GCC investors lost nearly $1.5trillion because of the profit-chasingpractices followed by NATO bloc fi-nancial institutions.

Despite the constant drumbeat ofoptimistic noises, central bankers inWashington, London and Frankfurtknow that the euro is only a smallstep away from collapse. This situa-tion is unlikely to change, becauseof the fact that the measures neededto make Europe competitive onceagain are political suicide. Hence thepresent trajectory of slow choking ofjobs and prospects, a situation thatcan only get remedied if the finan-cial reserves of the GCC were to bedeployed to create jobs in Europerather than migrate to much healthierlong-term investment climes such asIndia, China and Brazil. Given thatthe GCC countries are each con-trolled by small elites without refer-ence to the will of the population asa whole, NATO is eager to fulfill theagenda of the GCC in the region, so

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for consultancy payments toSharon’s sons Gilad and Omri. OnDecember 17, police announced thatthey had found evidence of a $3million bribe paid to Sharon’s sons.Omri, a Knesset member at the time,was charged and sentenced in 2006to nine months in prison. Shortlyafter the announcement, Sharon suf-fered a stroke.

Although no top world leader at-tended the funeral services of ArielSharon, some leaders in their mes-sage of condolence, recommendedthat the Israeli leader be awarded theNobel Peace Prize. This would be aslap on the face of the relatives ofthe victims of the Sabra Shatila mas-sacre and thousands of Palestinianskilled by Israeli forces underSharon’s command.

Avi Shlaim, an Emeritus Profes-sor of International Studies at Ox-ford University, the author of Israeland Palestine: Reappraisals, Revi-sions, Refutations after Sharon’sdeath, comments: “he was a deeplyflawed character, renowned for hisbrutality, mendacity and corruptionwho as prime minister tried to sweepaway the remnants of Oslo and forgea new strategy of unilateralism, ofgiving up on the Palestinians and re-drawing unilaterally the borders ofgreater Israel.”

Noam Chomsky, the renownedJewish academic says: “He was abrutal killer. He had one fixed ideain mind, which drove him all his life:a greater Israel, as powerful as pos-sible, as few Palestinians as pos-sible—they should somehow disap-pear—and an Israel which could bepowerful enough to dominate theregion.” Certainly he was no hero.This scribe rests his case.—The writer is retired PAF GroupCaptain and a TV talk show host.

as to provide some re-pay-ment for the immense fi-nancial benefits that itsmembers are reaping at theexpense of the GCC.

Although there arestrains between Doha andRiyadh, at present Qatar isnot influential enough tochallenge the leadership ofSaudi Arabia within the

GCC. Indeed, on key issues, althoughtactics and favourites may differ, thegeopolitical objectives of both Dohaas well as Riyadh are often similar.Thus, both wanted to see an end toMuammar Kaddafy, who delighted inmaking fun of the rulers of the GCCmember-states and thereby earnedtheir ire. This was made possible in2011 because Moscow and Beijingstepped aside to allow NATO to poundthe much weaker Libyan military intosubmission. Years of sanctions, fol-lowed by the destruction of WMDstockpiles, had weakened Libya to anextent sufficient to permit the risk-averse NATO generals to march in,this time mainly from the air. Defeat-ing an emaciated military is easy, asIraq 2003 demonstrated. Of course,once the war switched from the con-ventional to the asymmetric ,NATObegan to face setbacks.

The reality is that Syria is dead.The country will no longer be ableto return to what it was before theNATO-GCC operation to removeBashar Assad from power. WhileDavid Cameron, Francois Hollandeand John Kerry do not see any ironyin “promoting democracy” togetherwith unelected GCC rulers, they arewell aware that the reason why thereis visceral hatred for Assad in An-kara, Riyadh and Doha is because heis al Alawite and a Shia. As the Syr-ian National Council’s Al Jarba saidin his opening remarks at Geneva II,”a minority should not rule over themajority”. It is another matter that Al

Jarba represents not Sunnis butWahabbis, which many consider anentirely different sect, or thatWahabbis are deeply unpopular inSyria, as they increasingly arethroughout the Muslim world.

It should never be forgotten thatgenuine Islam, with its message ofpeace, tolerance and compassion ,islight years away from the exclusivismand fanaticism of the Wahabbis,agroup that owes its origin to the needby the British Empire to create disaf-fection amongst Arabs for Turks. In-terestingly, Prime Minister Erdoganhas become the first leader in Turkeyto - in effect - embrace Wahabbism,a factor which has made him verypopular in Riyadh and Doha, and hasgiven his country much prosperitybecause of money flows from theGCC Al-Jarba and his SNC have ex-actly zero control over the multitudeof groups battling the Syrian militaryin Aleppo, Homs, Daraa and the out-skirts of Damascus. Hence there isno way an agreement with them willaffect the battlefield situation, a factknown to John Kerry, FrancoisHollande and David Cameron, theirsponsors. The fact is that the GenevaII talks are not about ending the fight-ing, for those in Geneva who claimto represent the “opposition” are littlemore than conduits for cash andweapons to the numerous groupsfighting on the ground.

These groups, while happy to getassistance from the SNC, regard these“5-star warriors” with contempt. WhatGeneva II is about is to secure at thenegotiating table what the SNC-AlQaeda partnership has failed to achievein the battlefield, the removal ofBashar Assad. What these groups seekis that Assad and his team go the wayof Saddam Hussein and MuammarKaddafy, even if the effect of such aremoval of the Syrian Head of Statewill be the Libyanisation of Syria, abreakup of the country into different

Four seasons fill themeasure of the year;There are fourseasons in the mindof men.

zones, each controlled by a warlord,most of whom would be followersof the ideology of Al Qaeda. WereNATO to ensure the removal ofAssad, it would once again showits financial lifelines in the GCCthat their personal objectives canbe achieved by a military that is inpractice useless except against ema-ciated militaries in states such as Malior Afghanistan.

Just as in Libya, the key to thesuccess of the only objective ofGeneva II, the removal of BasharAssad from power in Damascus, isMoscow. In Dmitry Medvedev,NATO has a Russian leader who isas much in sympathy with them asMikhail Gorbachev was in hisprime. Already, Medvedev has suc-ceeded in making Assad follow theSaddam-Kaddafy path of first elimi-nating the WMD in the possessionof his military. Sanctions are alreadyin effect, as they were on Iraq andLibya.Once the WMD gets fullyeliminated, a conventional air attackby NATO on Syrian military instal-lations becomes feasible. Beforethat, huge boosts of cash and weap-ons will be given to the fighters onthe ground, so that the Syrian armygets sufficiently degraded to allowNATO generals to conduct a con-ventional strike. Of course, all thisdepends on whether DmitryMedvedev can once again deliverfor NATO, the way he did in Libya.The future of Bashar Assad will getdecided not in that tortured countryor in Geneva II conference rooms,but in the Kremlin, as Medvedevseeks to convince PresidentVladimir Putin to “be a good Euro-pean” and throw Bashar Assad tothe wolves circling for his head.—The writer is Vice-Chair, ManipalAdvanced Research Group,UNESCO Peace Chair & Professorof Geopolitics, Manipal University,Haryana State, India.

M D NalapatEmail: mgnalapat@gmail.com

GeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalnotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from India

Sultan M HaliEmail: sm_hali@yahoo.com

Voice of the People

Appeasing the terrorists

ENGINEER FAWAD F ASHRAF

Terrorists have yet to succeed butTerror it seems has already won.This was visible in one of theanchorpersons’ talk with EhsanullahEhsan on telephone. The TTP’s co-spokesman seemed to be dictatinghis terms, while the anchorpersonrepeatedly assured him of extend-ing media’s cooperation and takingtheir side (terrorists’) of the ver-sion. The tone of the TTP man wasfirm and decisive, while theanchorperson was talking likebheegi billi as if he and with himthe whole media is on wrong path.

This shows that mentally wehave surrendered, one by one, to theterror – making it a monster. Why Isay one by one? Take judiciary forinstance. No court of law has everfully prosecuted and punished ter-rorists. Around 8,000 terrorists andextremists are in the row waiting fordeath sentence in jails but they arenot being executed. Courtesy theTTP threat to PM-CM, ‘Hang themand get hanged’. The court report-edly ordered release of those appre-hended red handed with IED in theirpossession, only on plea that ‘no evi-dence found of their involvementbecause detonators were not recov-ered’. Same is the case with police,city administration, witnesses, law-yers, judges. Well done.

Next come the religious and po-litical parties. They are not only ap-peasing the terrorists but also justi-fying their acts of terror – most ofthem directly or indirectlyharbouring them. Despite surge interror attacks, both PML-N govern-ment at Centre and PTI governmentin KPK are following the appease-ment option. Sometime Imran Khanseems to be speaking on behalf ofthe terrorists. JI and JUI-F hold gov-ernment responsible, while pleadingthe terror acts as justified. They arenot willing to accept that the US-Allies war has now been turned intoPakistan’s war against terror becausewe are the worst victims, we arebeing killed and we are getting in-jured. The argument to drop gun isnot convincing the terrorists. Theyare not willing to talk, because talk-ing to government is not theiragenda or objective.

Our ‘independent’ media mustbe playing role of raising people’svoice. Fighting terrorism must havebeen its national and collectiveagenda. It must not budge or bow tointimidating tactics of terrorists. Itwould be highly dangerous if itadopts same appeasement policy onlybecause of fear of being targeted.Such a situation would lead to ulti-mately state of chaos and confusion,which is main aim of terrorists.—Rawalpindi

Eco & legoliteracy needed

HASHIM ABRO

Unfortunately, Pakistan stands in thequeue of those countries where Eco-literacy and Lego-literacy is not ac-corded even an iota of importance.Being a student of Political Scienceand law, having an engineering edu-cational background, I have alwaysread in various books of law and en-vironment regarding the civilizednations of the world who firmly be-lieve that “ignorance of the law doesnot excuse” or “ignorance of the lawexcuses no one” (Latin for it is: Ig-norantia juris non excusat or igno-rantia legis neminem excusat ) andalso that Eco is the core of sustain-able living” but it is otherwise inPakistan. That’s why, our problemsare multiplying with every passingday in both the areas.

However, establishment of theCentre for Ecoliteracy and that ofLego-literacy for creating resourcesand offering professional develop-

Killing of polio workersKHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ

According to media news thousands of Pakistani children are at high risk of Polio disease after killingof several polio workers most of them were women in Karachi and other different parts of country.

After well-coordinated attack and killing of several polio vaccination program workers UN has stoppedpolio vaccination campaign in Pakistan. Due to large area to be covered government find it hard toprovide security to thousands of workers who are taking part in polio vaccination campaign. Pakistancity Peshawar is worst affected and several new case of polio reported this year. Polio female workersmost of them belong to poor families are target of recent killing which is very unfortunate. Governmentis paying only 250 rupees per day for every worker and most of them are not able to risk their lives forsmall amount of money. Pakistan is at high risk of polio disease last year more than two hundred casesof polio reported in different parts of country now after worst security situation polio vaccinatingcamping has become big challenge for government. Last year Militants organizations had bannedvaccination campaign in their influence areas. According to health officials thousands children arefacing risk of Polio disease because government in not able to organize vaccination campaign due tosecurity concern. Vaccination campaign in Pakistani tribal area is also worst affected after last yearfake vaccination campaign organized by CIA to hunt down Osama Bin Laden in Abbotabad Paki-stan. Pakistani doctor who organized fake vaccination campaign is sentenced to 33 years. AfterAbbotabad operation several foreign medical teams have left the tribal area because of securityconcern. Local health official also received threats from militants. Militants have already bannedhealth workers to enter South and North Waziristan for immunization campaign. According to healthofficials due to ban imposed by militants record number of Polio cases were reported this year. Due tolast year worst floods and army operation thousands of families have migrated to temporary sheltersand don’t have proper medical and sanitation facilities and government is not able to reach thousandsof children due to security concern which is very unfortunate.—Jeddah, KSA

Why Syria peace talks will fail

ELEMENTS of the Syrian opposition have started negotiations in Geneva with represen-

tatives of President Bashar Assad.The goal of the talks is an end to athree-year civil war that has takenmore than 130,000 lives, displaced 7million Syrians, and turned the coun-try not only into the epicentre of theMiddle East’s Sunni-Shia war butalso the hornet’s nest from which al-Qaeda-linked extremists destabilizeIraq, Lebanon and Jordan.

Absent a miracle, the talks willfail. The goal of each side is the com-plete defeat of the other. But neitherhas the means to accomplish such ob-jectives, or even understand this pro-found disconnect. Complicating thingsfurther, the Syrian opposition is as frac-tured as ever, with considerable in-fighting, and the rise of al-Qaeda af-filiates within its ranks makes it harderto work with than before. Of course,

sometimes peace talks make senseeven when the odds are long. The ges-ture of a peace offering to the enemycan help hold together the coalition wefavour (as in Afghanistan). Or talks caninvolve parties that, for all their weak-nesses, at least are capable of grapplingwith the stakes at hand (as with Israe-lis and Palestinians). They can alsohelp acquaint negotiators with eachother so that once the situation be-comes riper for compromise, channelsof communication already exist.

None of these conditions existsin Syria. Under threat of cutting allsupport, the Obama administration isforcing the Syrian opposition to joina political process that the rebels seeas a poison pill. Worse, the talks arenot based on reality.

It is worth refreshing our memo-ries on the chronology of this con-flict to see how intractable the prob-lem has become. In 2011, a popularuprising against Assad began andquickly spread to much of the Sunnipopulation, which represents two-thirds of the country. In the early daysof the Arab Spring, it seemed pos-

Views From Abroad

sible that a relatively non-violentmovement could be successful, andprompted Obama to call for Assad’souster. But that was then. By late2012, with the direct aid of Iran andHezbollah, Assad’s forces regainedbattlefield momentum. Meanwhile,many in the West began to buy intoAssad’s argument that the oppositionwas a motley crew of terrorists, anargument buttressed by the rise of al-Qaeda affiliates. The pro-Assadforces stopped the insurgency mo-mentum and reversed some losses.

Against this backdrop, there areonly two ways the Geneva talks caninfluence realities on the ground. Theopposition, including its Islamistcomponent, could lower its demands,or the opposition could become mili-tarily stronger and politically moreunified. Of the two, the second op-tion is the only realistic cornerstonefor US policy. While strengtheningthe opposition militarily is a first step,it must be part of a larger politicalstrategy. When it comes to definingwhat that strategy should be, the twoof us disagree slightly. One of us

DISCLAIMER

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

THE articles, columns andletters are published on thesepages in good faith. However,the contents of these writingsmay not necessarily match theviews of the newspaper.

—Editor

Human dignityWE are witnessing today a

clash between two opposing views of human worth.

The first holds that human beingshave an inherent dignity conferred onthem by the Creator. The other in-sists that human beings have nomore claim to dignity than otheranimals, from which they differonly in the number and sequencingof DNA molecules. From tiny bac-teria to human beings all are cre-ations of accidental processes;therefore none of them can claimspecial status over others.

We cannot ignore it as a debatethat is taking place in some obscurereligion or philosophy class whichshould not interest the rest of us. Itsvast implications affect every one ofus wherever we happen to be: in ourhomes, businesses, schools, on thestreets or at the airports. This is sobecause a society’s treatment of otherhumans depends upon its perceptionof the status and value of humanityitself. If there is no inherent humandignity than there can be no inherenthuman rights. Then human rights arereduced to the level of a policy to bedecided by the calculations of gov-ernments. If, on the other hand, weaccept the first view then humanrights become both serious and in-

alienable; they cannot be taken awayin the name of this or that expediency.

The first view is expounded bythe Qur’an whichdeclares in no un-certain terms:“Now, indeed, Wehave conferred dig-nity on the childrenof Adam” (17:70).This is brought outthrough the Story ofCreation. For Godcreated man “withMy two Hands”(38:75). Further, Hebreathed into Adamfrom His Spirit(15:29). This wasso because Manwas created as God’s vicegerent onearth (2:30). Islam is not alone in as-serting this dignity. All previousprophets had the same message. Thusboth Judaism and Christianity af-firmed it because man was created inthe image of God (Genesis 1:27). Thisview was challenged by modern sci-ence. Resting on the twin pillars ofDarwinism and Freudianism, its great“achievement” was in announcingthat dignity and nobility of the hu-man soul was a myth. Darwinclaimed that man was not specially

created. Freud added that he had nofree will that would distinguish himfrom animals. Rather man was sub-

ject to instinctivedrives, uncon-scious impulses,and emotions overwhich he had nocontrol.

It was not thatscience had dis-covered that thefirst view wasbaseless, since ithad no capacity toaffirm or rejectclaims about mat-ters it could notobserve. Rather itwas that some of

its proponents had developed a fanati-cal religious hatred against all reli-gion because of their bad experiencewith some of it. As it evolved undertheir patronage, modern science be-came a new faith that claimed to havemade the faith in God and the moralvalues based on it obsolete. Of course,it could measure the speed of light,split the atom, and analyse the struc-ture of DNA to “prove” its claims.Those who have been mesmerized bythe achievements of science havebeen torn between these opposing

THEY came over to my house,she and her husband; she tiredand weary, he, happy with the

happiness drink gives. “What hap-pened?” I asked concerned. “Hisbusiness failed!” “We tried every-thing,” he said grinning at me, “nu-merology, prayer, vastu, good luckcharms, everything!” “Did you evertry to rise again?” I asked and sawthe blank look in his eyes. I decidedI would fill today’s piece with quotesabout falling, getting up and fight-

ing, again. “Our greatest glory is notin never falling; but in rising everytime we fall.”Oliver Goldsmith. “Courage and Per-severance have a magical talisman,before which difficulties and obstaclesvanish into thin air.” John QuincyAdams “Perseverance is a great ele-ment of success. If you only knocklong enough and loud enough at thegate, you are sure to wake up some-body” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

“All things are possible to himthat believeth” Mark 9:23 “He whogains a victory over other men isstrong, but he who gains a victoryover himself is all powerful” Lao-tse.“It feels good to go fronting into ahard wind, winning against its power,but it feels a thousand times better to

go forward to a goal of inwardachievement, brushing aside all yourold internal enemies as you advance”Vash Young.

“When you get into a tight placeand everything goes against you, tillit seems as though you could not holdon a minute longer, never give upthen, for that is just the place and timethat the tide will turn” HarrietBeecher Stowe. “The lowest ebb isthe turn of the tide” Longfellow.

“Rebellion against your handi-caps gets you nowhere. Self pity getsyou nowhere. One must have the ad-venturous daring to accept oneself asa bundle of possibilities and under-take the most interesting game in theworld; making the most of one’sbest.” Harry Fosdick. “It is no dis-

Rise up and win..!

claims about human dignity. Thestory of creation that gives us spe-cial insights about this particular as-pect. It tells us that the prestigiousstatus given to mankind had its jeal-ous enemy right from the start. It wasthe devil himself who came up witha plan to show that Man did not de-serve the honour bestowed on him.And so Satan’s very first attack wason the most important reflection ofthis dignity.

This narrative reminds us thatthe uncorrupted human nature ab-hors nudity. That is why Adam andEve frantically started to search forsomething to cover themselves at itsfirst occurrence. This tendency dis-tinguishes human beings from ani-mals, for which nudity is natural.Hence the reminder from God:“Children of Adam! Let not Satantempt you as he brought your par-ents out of the Garden, strippingthem of their garments to show themtheir shameful parts” (7:27). Theimmediately preceding ayah alsotells us that clothing is a gift fromGod and concealing the parts of thebody that must be concealed is itsprimary purpose, while protectionfrom elements and adornment aresecondary objectives.— Courtesy: Albalagh.com

grace to start all over. It is usuallyan opportunity.” George Adams.

“I have lived eighty- six years. Ihave watched men climb up to suc-cess; hundreds of them, and of allthe elements that are important forsuccess, the most important is faith.No great thing comes to any manunless he has courage.” James Gib-bons. “”No one is beaten unless hegives up the fight” W. Beran Wolfe.

And let me end with these won-derful words by Dorothea Brande:“All that is necessary to break thespell of inertia and frustration is this:Act as if it is impossible to fail. Thatis the talisman, the formula, the com-mand of right about face which turnsus from failure towards success..!”—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

favours a power-sharing arrange-ment for Syria, akin to Bosnia, witha loose federal structure overseeingautonomous regions (for Kurds,Sunni and Alawite) together with acentral mixed region (that might re-quire United Nations peacekeepersto help calm tensions and fears).Assad could have a role in Alawitesector under this plan — not becausehe should, but because the opposi-tion does not have the means to pushhim out. The other of us favours aserious attempt at regime change,believing Assad to be too divisiveto be part of any arrangement.

But these kinds of disagreementsneed not paralyse us in present. Untilthe US gets real about the realities inSyria and how they link to variouspolitical strategies for talks, negotia-tions like those planned for Genevastand no chance of success. In fact,they could even do harm, becausethey are demoralizing our friendswhile emboldening worst actors onboth sides. The writers are senior fel-lows at the Brookings Institution. — Courtesy: USA Today

Michael Doran,Michael O’Hanlon

Scourge of sectarian violence

SECTARIAN violence is contentiously penetrating in almostall over the Muslim nations. To-

day, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain,Lebanon are the major victims of thisfatal crime. This prevalent ‘divideand rule’ strategy imposed by “Se-cret Society” has claimed so manyinnocent lives across Muslim nations.The brutal phenomenon is rapidlybouncing back in Pakistan and peopleof Gilgit Baltistan have also been bat-tered by this irredeemable dilemma.According to South Asian TourismPortal (SATP) almost 8000 innocentpeople have been killed in sectarianviolence so far. The region Gilgit-Baltistan, which is supposed to behub of Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) because of its strategic loca-tion, has now become quagmire andrisky region on the stump of inves-tors. As a result of this, GB is step-ping back instead of moving aheadtowards prosperity and development.

The region which is ideologicallysituated for trade and commerce iscaught up with hatred and hypocritedimensions. As we witness, hetero-geneous events are taking place in

every short span of time but neveroccur peaceful initiatives which couldchange the fragmented behavior of anindividual that consequently lead tothe inauguration of common frame-ground for wealth of whole society.Government and local NGOs claimfor doing enough work on its reha-bilitation but that too is away frompractical tones up till now .If peaceinitiatives are already organized thenwhy outcomes are not substantial?Why something practical is not yetimplemented? What are those barri-ers which do not permit any individualto divert his mind into common goalsand objectives? What are those con-crete steps which are essential to copewith uncertainty? How fragmentedbehavior of a person would replaceby common ambitions?

To understand this disorderedlyhuman dilemma of the region, oneshould concede how behavioral traitsemerge. There are three categories inwhich personality traits shape up;family, society and academic disci-plines .These elements integrateperson’s personality and allow himto behave with rest of the society. Thevarious particles of these elementsincluding cultural values, attitude,emotions, ethics, authority, rapport,motivation, perception hypnosis andpersuasion are the key factors need

to be molded and adapted in the Re-gion so to make it a comfort living-zone. The problem lies within the dis-orders of these behavioral particles.

The emotional and economic col-lapses of the people who have losttheir dears still await for impartialityand justice; this is another debatewhich will be highlighted in my up-coming article Inshallah. Meanwhilethe fundamental problem of the re-gion is tolerance and acceptance. Adriving force of motivational cam-paign carries from one person to an-other person and its impacts on be-havior traits are obligatory to be fig-ured out before making any counterStrategy. One of the noticeablechanges in our social environment isthe negative influence of word ofmouth and mass media including roleof social media. In fact mobile is alsoone of the main sources which esca-late violent strife very hastily. No oneopposes its importance as its use isinevitable in the age of current era.Researchers identified that “signifi-cant proportion of aggressive childrenare likely to grow up to be aggres-sive adults”. If situation has not tack-led in this stage then consequencesof this deadly crime will call forthchaos and annihilation to the nextgeneration. This is very easy to talkfair whilst sitting with assorted group

of people but is it possible to createa sort of environment where a per-son can speak out truth in sitting withhis own community? Well this needssustainable commitment along withproper behavioral change whichshould be focusing on intrinsic val-ues of the person and replacing traitsof common elements that make upthe personality. The current violentand destructive behavior has deep-ened its root over the mind and atti-tude of an individual. Changing sys-tematic violent behavior is not adream of months or years but hasbecome an eternal need of the inhab-itants of the universe.

In order to tackle this fragmentedbehavior, we need to address forbear-ance, self-control, tolerance and ac-ceptance to all segments of society.Moreover, creating events and peacecampaigns across all parts (Muhallah)of the city, a formal collaboration ef-fort between people of various agesfrom all parties could help a lot in thisregard. In addition empower localGovernment with all major technicaltools as well as fair judicial inquiriesalong with the coordination of all re-ligious leaders are fundamental ini-tiatives to overcome this strife issue.— The wirter is a Professor atJinnah University, RawalpindiCampus.

Ajmal HussainEmail:ajmaltrangfa@gmail.com

The Spirit Of Islam

Khalid Baig

ment to teach sustainability in thecommunities and also to teach basiclaw and constitutional rights to thecommon people to cerate law-abid-ing citizens for the country is essen-tial to augment democratic systemin the country.—Islamabad

Terroristsdeserve no mercy

HINA KHALIDA

Finally the Pakistan army hasstarted operation against the terror-ists. It is a welcome decision byNawaz Sharif as he said the otherday that extreme decisions willhave to be taken. The nation haspaid heavy price in the process ofreaching such an extreme position.The Taliban had many a time takennot serious the offer of talks, insteadthey considered it weakness ongovernment’s part. But enough isenough. There was no letup in theacts of terror by the Taliban, whichwas taking precious lives of peopleand the uniformed personnel. InBannu, the Taliban bombed anarmy compound and killed at least20 troops. In their statement, theTaliban said they would be opento talks but only if they thought thegovernment was sincere.

He accused Islamabad and armyof helping the US to target Mehsud.Islamabad vehemently denied the al-legation and accused Washington ofsabotaging the nascent peace talks(which actually have not started sofar) while, as usually practiced,blaming foreign elements instead offacing truth of TTP militants. Therecent bloody attack has upheld an-other scenario that in case there is astop to drones policy, which has beenput as a pre-condition to peace talks,the Taliban will keep taking revengefrom civilians and military person-nel in the name of their expired fel-lows regardless targeted last year oryears before last year.

Here aroused clearly that as longas we have something to give, theywill keep coming to get it. Over andover again. One way or another. Hopeof putting an end to this has kind offaded away from my mind. The mur-der of civilians and security person-nel at the hands of militant extrem-ists has become a norm in Pakistanby now. So much blood is spilled overthe course of a single day across thistroubled land, yet, nothing changes.Enough is enough.—Rawalpindi

RegulatingNGOs

M FAZAL ELAHI

An issue that has reverberated dur-ing the reigns of successive govern-ments in the country, without, how-ever, much been done to give it a con-crete shape. Most of the NGOs, bar-ring a few exceptions, have alwaysserved their personal interests and theinterests of their benefactors morethan the interests of the country andthe communities they were supposedto serve. To make the NGOs viableand effective bodies to serve the ben-eficiary communities in general andcontribute towards national develop-ment proper regulating and monitor-ing of their activities is in order.

Like successive governments thatcame to power in the country’s oversix and a half decades of existence,the present government has also an-nounced its decision to regulate theNGOs working in the country. Asreported in the print media lately, thegovernment has made it mandatoryfor all foreign-funded NGOs, local orforeign, to register themselves withthe Economic Affairs Division(EAD) of the Government of Paki-stan. Not only this, they have alsobeen asked to declare their bank ac-counts as well as the names of thedonors who provide financial supportthem. According to the directive is-

sued in this regard by the EAD, ifNGOs operating in the country wishto utilise their foreign economic as-sistance including money, servicesand goods that emanate from outsidePakistan, within Pakistan, they willbe bound to follow the new rules setforth recently. The latest notificationof the EAD clearly specifies that nounregistered non governmental orga-nization, receiving foreign funding,would be permitted to operate in thecountry. In addition to this, everyNGO would be bound to declare toEAD all its foreign contributions,along with the terms and conditionsof those contributions, as well as de-tails of all the bank accounts main-tained by them.

To further strengthen its controlover the non governmental organiza-tions, it has also been notified that allsuch NGOs will be strictly requiredto maintain their accounts accordingto a standard that is internationallyrecognized. They will be bound bythe recently framed rules to get theiraccounts audited annually by a dulyregistered firm of chartered accoun-tancy. The registered NGOs will alsofurnish to the Economic Affairs Di-vision (EAD) a copy of the auditedannual statements, along with a cer-tificate from the auditors, to the ef-fect that the foreign contributionshave been utilized for the objectivesof their organizations. It is an unde-niable fact that many foreign and lo-cal NGOs, barring a few exceptions,have been audaciously and assidu-ously engaged in serving their ownmandated (hidden) agendas morethan the interest of Pakistan. In fact,many a times, they were found to beworking against the interest of thecountry and the people.

Unambiguously, the move of theincumbent government to closelyregulate and monitor the activities ofthe NGOs in the country is a step inthe right direction. The measures pro-posed to be taken under the new rulesframed by EAD, to keep a tab on theNGOs, will certainly help in stream-lining their activities and assureproper and productive use of theirresources. Needless to say, it wouldalso eradicate anti-Pakistan activitiesof the NGOs who are involved it.What is, therefore, important for theGovernment of Pakistan is to ensurethat the rules and regulations re-cently framed by it to regulate theNGOs are implemented in letter andspirit. It should, under no circum-stances, succumb to any pressurethat is bound to come from vestedgroups in this regard. —Via email

KBD & PakistanMOHAMMAD KHAN SIAL

Three out of four Provincial Assem-blies have already passed about 10resolutions against construction ofproposed controversial Kalabaghdam (KBD) in Punjab but sorry tosay Punjab is not ready to respectresolutions passed by the said threeAssemblies and is continuously giv-ing impression that people of restthree provinces like Sindh,Balochistan & KP are real enemiesof their own provinces whereasPunjab is only their well-wisher.

Punjab must change its attitudetowards rest of three provinces asforcible building of KBD in Punjabwould definitely weaken Pakistanthat is unacceptable.—Karachi

The mother of a policeman mourns at the funeral of her son killed after masked gunmen opened fire at a police checkpointsouth of the Cairo killing several police personnel.

HARUN YAHYA

Barack Obama, a namethat emerged as a ray ofhope at a time when

then US President George W.Bush’s hawkish policies hadplaced the planet particularlythe Middle East on a powderkeg and the world was prep-ping for a massive economicbreakdown.The name became a symbol ofhope. It were not only theAmericans but people allacross the globe saw in him aman who had the audacity tosteer the world away from thecrisis.

Understandably though,taking the reins of the sole su-perpower plunged into a fright-ening morass of lies and deceitwas an uphill task. Americans

Violence begets more violence, Mr Obamahad grown weary of wars in theMiddle East.

Apart from the loss of in-nocent lives in this part of theworld, Americans saw theirown children fighting and get-ting killed in a far-flung regionunknown to them. In additionto the caskets flying backhome, thousands of war veter-ans returned with serious psy-chological disorders only toadd to the woes of an averageAmerican.

In Obama, they saw a leaderwho could simply say no to warsand pull his troops from the re-gion without further delay. Per-haps that was one of the reasonsthat helped Obama propel to thetop spot.

However, by the timeObama took over, the MiddleEast had already turned into a

maze of conflicting interestswherein it is easy to enter butvery difficult to find one’s wayout. Political observers knewthat with huge investments likeoil and weapons agreements,establishment of military basesthroughout the region and theruinous state of Iraq and Af-ghanistan would not make USpullout easy.

Yet the Obama administra-tion pulled out US troops fromIraq. The consequence of thewithdrawal, however, is anotherdebate and this writer does notwish to digress. It would not bean exaggeration to claim that so-called Arab Spring not only ag-gravated the situation in the re-gion but also added to the prob-lems of the US.

Despite being the sole super-power and enjoying consider-

able leverage in the region, theUS apparently chose to stayaway from the quagmire and didnot intervene directly and onlytime will tell, whether this ap-proach is correct or not.

Countries like Egypt,Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghani-stan, Yemen and Pakistan havebeen turned into cauldrons ofchaos. The Middle East hasnever been polarized to thecurrent extent. Militant groupsfrom the Bush era are forgingalliances and emerging asstronger militias ready to de-face the region.

Many in the region blamethe US for the current mess.Anti-US sentiments havereached to such an extent thatAmerica comes to the minds ofmany whenever the word “en-emy” is mentioned.

Al-Qaeda’s activities inIraq are almost always linkedwith the US invasion of Iraq.In Afghanistan and Pakistan,there is a view that the US ac-tually supports the Taleban.Drone attacks that kill inno-cent people have turned popu-lar hatred against America, notthe Taleban.

The idea of “let us withdrawour troops, minimize spendingand control the region withdrones” in an increasingly tu-multuous Middle East has todayrocked America’s superpowerstatus.

Unfortunately, Obama re-peated the mistake committedby his predecessor. He tried tocounter violence by violence.Obama and his advisers failedin understanding the psychologyof radicalism. It feeds off ag-

gression and violence. It is di-rectly proportional to the num-ber of drone attacks and civil-ian casualties.

Obama, undoubtedly,world’s most powerful leaderappears to be a reasonable andrational man. He can still playhis role in cleaning up themess. In order for him to dothat, he must understand thepsychology of radicalism andradicals.

As mentioned above itthrives on violence and ha-tred. Religion, in this case Is-lam, is being used to furtherselfish interests of a few. Un-fortunately, such ideas gainpopularity very fast and earndiehard supporters in notime.

Religious extremists fol-low skewed interpretation of

RAY SMITH

Switzerland facilitated family reunification for Syriansin September. So far, more than 1,100 Syrian refugeeshave benefited from the programme, while thousands

are waiting at Swiss embassies in the region, hoping for asimilar chance. Surprised by these numbers, Switzerland putan end to the programme.

Several European countries responded to an appeal bythe U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lastsummer to admit Syrian refugees. Switzerland announced itwould accept 500 “especially vulnerable refugees” over threeyears.3

Further, the country that hosts about 2,000 citizens of Syrianorigin pledged to open its borders for their relatives. By the endof November, Swiss embassies in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordanhad granted 1,600 Syrians a three-month entry visa.

At least 1,100 of these have already travelled to Switzer-land. A further 5,000 Syrians have applied for appointmentsat Swiss embassies to file similar visa requests.

Either Swiss authorities were surprised by these num-bers, or considered their humanitarian action short-lived.Already in early November, they introduced bureaucratichurdles: Swiss-based Syrians who had invited their relativesnow needed to meet certain financial requirements.

“Looking at the size of an average Syrian family, theserequirements constitute a killer criteria,” said Beat Meiner,secretary-general of the Swiss Refugee Council (SFH). “Fewof the Swiss-based Syrians have enough money to clear thesehurdles.”

Meiner’s warnings fell on deaf ears. Even worse, a monthlater Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga cancelledthe family reunification programme entirely. “We assume thatmost of those Syrians who are entitled to apply for entry vi-sas and face immediate distress have made use of our easedvisa requirements,” she argued.

Ashti Amir, a Kurdish Syrian who fled to Switzerlandfor political reasons more than a decade ago and now runsthe charity SyriAid, has a different perspective. Since Sep-tember, he managed to get the families of one of his brothersand sisters to Switzerland. Amir told IPS that he still hadtwo brothers and his parents back home in Aleppo and wantedto get them to Switzerland, too.

“Escaping from there and travelling to an embassy abroadis not only difficult, but very costly,” he said. Amir knowsdozens of other compatriots who have relatives in danger inSyria whom they want to rescue.

Another sister of his as well as a sister-in-law are strandedin Istanbul with their families, waiting for an entry visa toSwitzerland. They had applied for an appointment beforeSwitzerland cancelled its reunification programme, and Amiris optimistic that they’ll finally be granted a visa.

“But if not: where should they go? Their long stay inTurkey has eaten up their savings.”

SFH’s Beat Meiner says that many Syrians have embarkedon a dangerous trip to Swiss embassies in the Middle East,assuming they can successfully apply for an entry visa there.“Some of them are blocked now: they may neither come toSwitzerland, nor return to Syria,” he says.

He’s convinced that Swiss humanitarian action could havebeen prolonged and that considerably more human lives couldhave been saved.

Besides that, Switzerland also hesitates to treat about2,000 asylum requests by Syrians who had fled to the coun-try individually rather than as families. Some of them havebeen waiting three to four years for a decision.

IPS met Ziad Ali and his family in central Switzerland.Originally from Malikiyah in the northeast of Syria, Alimoved to Damascus as a youth, where he earned his livingas a taxi driver. “As a Kurd in Syria, you took any job youmay get anywhere,” he says.

Before he fled the country, Ali worked in Idlib region asa gardener. He was arrested at a demonstration in Qamishliand then tortured in a prison in Deir az-Zour in Syria.

After his release, escaping the country appeared to himthe only option. His wife and their two children reached Swit-zerland in June 2011, while Ali followed in January 2012.

Ali says the fate of his sister and his father, who werearrested by the Syrian regime in 2011, is constantly on hismind. He hasn’t heard from them since then.

His daughter Fatima and his son Mohamed go to schoollocally and already speak better German than Kurdish. A yearago, their youngest brother Azad was born. The family livesin a barracks established for asylum-seekers, occupying threerooms.

Their asylum request is still in limbo, leaving the familyin constant insecurity about their destiny.

Moreno Casasola, secretary-general of the refugee rightsorganisation Solidarité sans Frontières, says that asylum re-quests of Syrians are mostly put aside by the Federal Officefor Migration. Like any other European country, Switzerlandfears that answering asylum requests positively would at-tract even more Syrian refugees.

Federal Office for Migration spokesperson MichaelGlauser acknowledges that asylum requests of Syrians aren’ttreated with priority. He denies, however, any decision mora-torium. Glauser asserts that Syrian asylum-seekers enjoySwitzerland’s protection - and for the moment haven’t beensent back to Syria.

Ziad Ali and his family, along with other Syrian asylum-seekers, have protested in front of the Federal Office for Mi-gration in Bern, demanding a speedy decision on their re-quest. Getting at least temporary official admission wouldgive them a perspective for the next few years and facilitatehunting for a job.

Despite his desperation, Ziad Ali hopes for a positive out-come. He says he wouldn’t mind returning to Syria once thewar has ended, if Kurds were treated fairly. “But the longermy children live here, the more difficult it would be for themto return.”

—Courtesy Inter Press Service

Swiss springfor Syrian

refugees passes

their sacred texts. It is said: It’sall in the head. Instead of resort-ing to violence one needs to takemeasures to educate them. Incase of our part of the world, theextremists claim to be follow-ing the teachings of Islam. Well,they are wrong. Whatever theyare doing is in contrast with theteachings of Islam. It is a reli-gion of peace and love and ad-vocates coexistence.

Hatred toward others, therage and urge to kill so conve-niently cannot be described asIslam. Propagation of trueteachings of Islam is the onlyweapon to defeat these ele-ments. If Obama desires peacein the world, he must shun thecurrent tactics apparently anextension of the “shock andawe” era.

The US must support en-

lightened Muslims who be-lieve in the true essence of theQur’an to educate their devi-ated brethren. The Muslimworld and the Middle East inparticular also want to get ridof extremist elements. All kindof extremist tendencies andextremists from all religionscan be tackled through a com-prehensive educational policy.

There is no need for pil-ing up arms or establishmentof bases in far-flung areas. Acomprehensive educationalpolicy devised with the help ofenlightened and sensible Mus-lims and people of other faithscan do wonders. This is theonly option for Obama and theUS. Heeding this call canmake the world a much betterplace.

—Courtesy Arab News

CAIRO—Egypt’s military-backed interim president saidThursday that the country’s up-risings have put an end to thepolice state and to abuses, partof a campaign to rebrand thesecurity forces amid a heavyhanded crackdown on Islamistsand other critics of the govern-ment.

Adly Mansour’s commentsmarking Police Day celebrationscame despite continued reportsof abuses by security forces.Rights groups have criticizedpolice for using excessive forcein breaking up Islamist protestsin a crackdown that killed hun-dreds of protesters. Last month,female secular activists said theywere beaten in a police stationafter being arresting for holdinga protest.

Security forces have alsocarried out a wave of arrests aspart of a campaign against ter-rorism and implementing draco-nian new laws against protests,jailing a number of journalistsand many of the top secular ac-tivists who led the 2011 upris-ing that toppled autocrat Hosni

Egypt’s president:Police state has ended

Mubarak.The deputy Mideast-North

Africa director of Amnesty In-ternational on Thursday calledon Egyptian authorities to“change course and take con-crete steps to show they respecthuman rights and rule of law,”including by releasing “prison-ers of conscience.”

Otherwise, “Egypt is likelyto find its jails packed with un-lawfully detained prisoners andits morgues and hospitals withyet more victims of arbitrary andabusive force by its police,” saidHassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Mansour’s speech at Egypt’sPolice Academy underlined theawkward confluence of twocommemorations on Saturday:Police Day, traditionally markedon Jan. 25, and the third anni-versary of the 18-day uprisingagainst Mubarak, which beganon Jan. 25, 2011.

Islamists have announcedplans to escalate their protests inthe coming days. Ibrahim, theInterior Minister, vowed to con-front any act of violence withlethal force.—AP

KIEV—Protesters in Ukraine’scapital extinguished burningbarricades shielding them fromthe police, enforcing a tenuouspeace as an ultimatum issued bythe opposition to the presidentwas set to expire with no signof compromise.

The fragile truce came afterthree main opposition leaders urgedprotesters late Wednesday to refrainfrom violence for 24 hours untiltheir ultimatum to President ViktorYanukovych expired. They de-manded that he dismiss the gov-ernment, call early elections, andscrap harsh anti-protest legislationthat triggered violence at a dem-onstration on Sunday.

Opposition leader VitaliKlitschko dove behind the wallof black smoke engulfing muchof downtown Kiev on Thursday,pleading with both police andprotesters to uphold the peaceuntil the ultimatum expiresThursday evening.

Klitshcko said thatYanukovych should start by re-leasing protesters who were de-tained. “We are demonstratingour willingness to find a com-promise, but the governmentneeds to make its step in turn,”he said, according to Interfax.

On Wednesday, riot policebeat and shot at protesters, vol-unteer medics and journalists,resulting in the deaths of twodemonstrators the first casualtiesof the clashes. The oppositioncontended that as many as fivepeople died.

Ukraine faces violenceas ultimatum nears end

The Interior Ministry saidThursday that 73 people have beendetained, 52 of them being inves-tigated for “mass riots” a recentlycreated criminal charge that car-ries a prison sentence of up to eightyears. Allegations that activistshave been abducted and even tor-tured by police have spread.

The largely peaceful pro-tests against Yanukovych’s de-cision to shun the EuropeanUnion and turn toward Moscowin November descended intoviolence on Sunday when dem-onstrators, angered by lastweek’s passage of repressivelaws intended to stifle protests,marched on official buildings.For days protesters hurled firebombs and stones at police, whoretaliated with stun grenades,tear gas and rubber bullets.

Ukraine Violence Rises AsUltimatum Nears EndPlay videoThe United States has respondedby revoking the visas of Ukrai-nian officials linked to violenceand threatened more sanctions.

The three main oppositionleaders, who addressed thecrowds in the square after meet-ing the president on Wednesdayvowed to lead the demonstratorsin battles with police, if their de-mands are not met. IfYanukovych doesn’t concede,“tomorrow we will go forwardtogether. And if it’s a bullet in theforehead, then it’s a bullet in theforehead, but in an honest, fairand brave way,” declared one ofthem, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.—AP

DAVOS—Iran is determined tonegotiate a comprehensive dealon its nuclear program withmajor powers so it can developits battered economy, PresidentHassan Rouhani said, invitingWestern companies to seize op-portunities now.

Addressing the World Eco-nomic Forum in Davos, thepragmatic president said Tehranwas negotiating with the UnitedStates as part of a “constructiveengagement” with the world andwanted Washington to back upits words with actions.

However, a day after a cha-otic Syria peace conferencefrom which Iran was excluded,he was unbending in his supportfor Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Ending the “terrorism”that is backed by some of Syria’sneighbors was a precondition forany settlement of the country’scivil war, he said.

Elected last year on a prom-ise to improve Tehran’s relationswith outside world, Rouhanitook the United Nations bystorm in New York in Septem-

Rouhani: Iran wants fullnuclear deal, investment

ber. His appearance in the Swissresort launched phase two of acharm offensive aimed at end-ing international sanctions thatare crippling Iran’s economy.

An interim deal with theUnited States, Russia, China,Britain, France and Germany -known as the P5+1 - came intoforce this week. This granted Irana limited easing of the sanctionsin return for temporary con-straints on its uranium enrich-ment and nuclear development.

Rouhani stressed his com-mitment to achieving a finalsettlement. “Iran has a seriouswill to come to an agreementwith the P5+1,” he told the as-sembled business and politicalleaders. “I do not see a seriousimpediment in the way of thisagreement. The Iranian will isstrong.”

Asked what might preventa long-term settlement, he citedthe risk of “pressure from otherparties” - a veiled reference toIsrael, which denounced the in-terim deal as an “historic mis-take” and urged the U.S. Con-

gress to resist it.Rouhani broke no new dip-

lomatic ground in his speech. Ina private session with energyexecutives, he promised a new,attractive investment model foroil contracts by September aspart of a drive to lure back West-ern business barred by the U.S.-led sanctions, participants said.

Relations with Europe werebeing normalised now that theinterim nuclear accord was be-ing implemented, he said.Rouhani met European Com-mission President Jose ManuelBarroso on the sidelines of theforum, an EU official said.

“The Islamic Republic ofIran is prepared to engage inconstructive cooperation forpromoting global energy secu-rity, drawing on its vast oil andgas resources,” he said.

However, most sanctions,including a severe squeeze onIran’s access to the internationalfinancial system, remain in forceand the United States hasstressed Western companiesshould not regard Iran as “open

for business”.Rouhani promised to pursue

a consistent foreign policy of“prudence and moderation” torevive the economy. He calledfor cooperation with all Iran’sneighbours but did not mentionGulf rival Saudi Arabia by nameand refused, when pressedtwice, to include Israel amongstates with which Iran soughtfriendly relations.

Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu, who was inDavos but not in the hall duringthe speech, said in a statement:“Rouhani continues Iran’s de-ception show.

“The goal of the Iranian aya-tollahs’ regime, that hides be-hind Rouhani’s smile, is to easesanctions without giving up theirprogram to produce nuclearweapons,” Netanyahu said, urg-ing the international community“not to be duped”. “It was animpressive presentation,” saidone of three other oil executiveswho attended and spoke withReuters on condition of ano-nymity.—Reuters

France: Anti-terror operations

in MaliBAMAKO—French forces havecarried out two night-timecounter-terrorism operations inrebel-infested northern Mali,military sources in the west Af-rican nation said.

A foreign military source inBamako said troops targeted theMovement for Oneness andJihad in West Africa (MUJAO)and the Signatories in Blood, anarmed unit founded by fugitivejihadist commander MokhtarBelmokhtar.

“We do not have a death tollyet... It is clear that MUJAOfighters, heirs of Abou Zeid andBelmokhtar’s (unit) are in theviewfinder,” he said.

“They are trying to rebuild.Perhaps they even have militaryequipment from Libya,” he toldAFP, adding that the operationswere still ongoing on Thursdaymorning.

Algerians AbdelhamidAbou Zeid and Belmokhtar wereleaders of Al-Qaeda in the Is-lamic Maghreb (AQIM), which,along with MUJAO and otherIslamist groups, occupied north-ern Mali in 2012 before beingdriven out by French-ledtroops.—AFP

HAGUE—Three high-rankingSerbian officials had their sen-tences trimmed for atrocities inKosovo, but Yugoslav warcrimes appeals judges upheldkey elements of a lower court’sfinding that leaders in Belgradeorchestrated crimes against hu-manity in Kosovo in 1999.

In a lengthy and complexappeals decision, judges at theU.N. court overturned parts ofthe men’s convictions and cuttheir sentences.

Nikola Sainovic, NebojsaPavkovic, Sreten Lukic andVladimir Lazarevic were con-victed by the tribunal in 2009 forcrimes committed againstKosovo Albanians duringSerbia’s deadly crackdown onethnic Albanians in 1999. FormerSerbian President MilanMilutinovic was acquitted at trialand prosecutors didn’t appeal.

On Thursday, Sainovic hadhis 22-year sentence reduced to18 years; Lukic’s 22-year sen-tence was trimmed by two years;Lazarevic’s 15-year term wascut by one year and judges leftPavkovic’s 22-year sentence inplace.

UN court trims sentencesof Serbs in Kosovo case

The appeals chamber over-turned parts of the men’s con-victions for lack of evidence,clearing Pavkovic and Lukic ofseveral murders because it couldnot be clearly established thatthe victims were not killed inbattle. It also acquitted all fourmen of driving Albanians out ofone town because it was not cer-tain that Serb forces expelledthem.

“Given my disbelief in thistribunal, I am very happy thatMr. Sainovic got his sentencereduced by four years,”Sainovic’s lawyer, Toma Fila,said. “That means he will behome next year.”

At the time of the 1999crackdown in Kosovo, Sainovicwas deputy prime minister ofYugoslavia, Pavkovic was com-mander of the Third Army ofYugoslavia, Lazarevic com-manded the Pristina Corps of theYugoslav army and Lukic led theinterior ministry and police inPristina, Kosovo’s capital.

Kosovo, a former provinceof Serbia, declared itself an in-dependent state in 2008.

The trial verdicts came close

to posthumously convictingformer Serb strongmanSlobodan Milosevic, with thetribunal calling him the mostpowerful commander of theSerb troops and military policewho carried out a campaign ofmurder, rape and deportationsthat forced nearly 800,000 eth-nic Albanians to flee Kosovo.NATO airstrikes later forced aSerb withdrawal from Kosovoin mid-1999.

“It’s not a big surprise re-ally,” said Pristina resident, EsatDauti. “The Hague (tribunal)has lost its meaning. Justice isnot being served.” But AzemVllasi, a former senior politicianin Yugoslavia, said the court stillestablished that the officialswere guilty of the crimes despitecutting some sentences.

“The ruling does not dimin-ish the responsibility that thesepeople have for the crimes com-mitted in Kosovo,” Vllasi said.“We are talking about the mainpeople from the military, fromthe administration and from thepolice that were directly imple-menting the orders of Milosevichere (in Kosovo).”—AP

ADDIS ABABA—South Sudan’sgovernment and rebels are ex-pected to sign a peace deal laterThursday aimed at ending themonth-old conflict in theworld’s newest nation, media-tors said.

“There is going to be a sign-ing ceremony... by the SouthSudanese parties today,” media-tors from the regional blocIGAD said in a statement.

Fighting broke out betweenrival army units in the capitalJuba on December 15, withPresident Salva Kiir accusinghis sacked deputy Riek Macharof attempting a coup.

The conflict quickly deterio-rated into all-out war betweenthe regular army, who are being

South Sudangovernment, rebelsto sign peace deal

backed by Ugandan troops, anddefectors and ethnic militia, withthe violence also pitting Kiir’sDinka tribe against Machar’sNuer group.

The peace deal presented byIGAD mediators is expected tocover a ceasefire agreement andaddress the issue of 11 detain-ees close to Machar who werearrested after the fightingstarted.

Aid workers and analystssay the conflict has left up to10,000 dead, while around halfa million people have fled theirhomes.A rebel spokespersonsaid he believed a breakthroughcould happen soon, but could notprovide details of a possibledeal.—AFP

foreign hands involved in recentterror strikes was also presentedin the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Prime Min-ister will address the nation onsecurity situation and Governmentpolicy to deal with terrorists.

The meeting was attendedby Chief of the Army Staff Gen-eral Raheel Sharif, DG ISI Lt.General Zahir-ul-Islam, Chief ofGeneral Staff Lt. GeneralAshfaq Nadeem, DG MO Maj.General Amir Riaz, DG MI,Maj. Gen. Sarfaraz Sattar, Min-ister for Defence Khawaja Asif,Minister for Interior ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan, Minister for In-formation Senator PervaizRasheed, Minister for FinanceIshaq Dar, and Special Assistantto the PM Tariq Fatmi.

Top brassFrom Page 1

are hampering efforts to eradi-cate the disease in Pakistan,”one of the world’s three coun-tries along with Afghanistan andNigeria where polio still exists.

At least 11 people werekilled in two separate attacks onpolio vaccination teams in Pa-kistan on Tuesday and Wednes-day.

In the statement, the UNchief expressed his heartfelt con-dolences to the government andthe people of Pakistan, andstressed the United Nationscommitment to supporting thegovernment in its efforts to com-bat terrorism and violent ex-tremism.—INP

UN chiefFrom Page 1

As the workshop buildingwas damaged destroyed andmany vehicles were damagedbadly, tens of people inside andoutside the workshop sufferedserious injuries. A big crater wasalso formed on the site. Thesecurity forces and the rescueteams rushed to the site of theblast and kicked off rescue op-erations. The Police cordonedoff the site of the blast as thevictims were shifted to the City’smajor hospital LRH whereemergency was declared. Themedics at the Lady ReadingHospital Peshawar pronouncedfive people dead and more thandozen others were admitted fortreatment some of them in criti-cal condition. Later three moresuccumbed to their injuries rais-ing the death toll to eight.

The police said the explo-sive laden vehicle could not betaken inside the workshop ow-ing to great rush of the vehiclesand the terrorist had to park iton the main gate of the work-shop. As usual the Police in anattempt to escape responsibilitytried to give twist and the SP saidit might be a cylinder blast, yetthe Bomb Disposal Squad(BDS) declared it was a sabo-tage act where in 25 to 30 Kg ofexplosives was used. “Besidesthe explosive laden SuzukiCarry, six vehicle parked insidethe workshop were damagedcompletely in the explosion”.The law enforcers said.

Earlier, in the morning theBomb Disposal Squad defused a5 Kg explosive materials plantednear Bacha Khan Chowk. “TheBomb Disposal Squad here onThursday foiled a major terror-ism bid and defused five kilo-gram explosives planted at BachaKhan Chowk”. Police said.

Reports say unknown terror-ists had planted five kilogramsexplosives under the MuftiMehmood Flyover near BachaKhan Chowk. Acting immedi-ately the BDS personnel reachedthe site and defused the explo-sives and avoid major terror bid.

Police said that target of ter-rorists were local vehicles ply-ing closed to the under construc-tion Fly over.

The Khyber PukhtunkhwaGovernor, Engineer Shaukatullahhas strongly condemned the bombblast near Scheme Chowk inPeshawar on Thursday and hasexpressed his deep grief and sor-row over the loss of precious andinnocent lives.

Expressing his deep sympa-thies with members of bereavedfamilies, the governor said the el-ements involved in the heinouscrimes of terrorism do not haveany concern to humanity, religiousand cultural norms and traditions.

He has also assured thatsuch criminal elements will nomore remain at large and will bebrought to court of law and jus-tice. He has also prayed for eter-

nal peace of the departed soulsand courage to the bereavedfamilies to bear the irreparableloss with patience.

Chief Minister KhyberPukhtunkhwa Pervez Khattakstrongly condemned the bombblast that took place in automo-bile workshop at SchemeChowk Badhber Peshawar. Healso announced compensation ofRs. 5 lacs each for the heirs ofmartyred and Rs. 2 lacs each forthose who were injured in thetragic incident.

The Chief Minister, whiledirecting the high ups of the dis-trict administration to ensure theearly payment of the compensa-tion, said that loss of precioushuman life could no way becompensation to merge moneybut it was a humble effort on thepart of provincial Govt to sharethe grief of the affected families.

Earlier Pervez Khattak,soon after the incident contactedthe provincial Ministers ShaukatYousafzai and Shah Farman,district administration and po-lice authorities and directedthem to immediately reach thespot of incident and hospitals tocarry out the rescue operation intheir personal supervision. TheChief Minister deplored thatsuch activities were carried outjust to make the public feel in-secure which we would not al-low at any cost. Pervez Khattakprayed for the eternal peace ofthe martyred and early recoveryof the injured people.

Eight killed, 10 injuredin Peshawar car blast

From Page 1

the United States as his case issub-judice. The spokespersonadded that the US aid is not re-lated to Dr Afridi.

Regarding the truckers issueat the LoC, she said Pakistan onTuesday had given demarche tothe Indian Counselor and theIndian High Commission hasheld a series of meetings withthe FO officials and exchange ofviews were made on how tosettle the issue.

She said Pakistan and theUnited States will hold strate-gic dialogue in Washington onthe 27th and 28th of this month,for which National SecurityAdvisor Sartaj Aziz wouldleave tomorrow.

The spokesperson furthersaid that she has no knowledgeabout the dates of visit of In-dian trade minister to Paki-stan.—Online

Pakistan rules outFrom Page 1

tinued their sit-in on Alamdarroad in Quetta on the secondconsecutive day on Thursday.

“Our sit-in on ShuhadaaChowk Alamdar Road will con-tinue and we will not bury thedead until an operation islaunched against the culpritswho attacked and killed the pil-grims in the Dringer area ofMastung district,” said SyedMusarrat Agha, the ActingPresident of Balochistan ShiaConference.

Speaking to media represen-tatives, Hazara DemocraticParty (HDP) leaders AbdulHassan Hazara and MirzaHussain Hazara said that sectari-anism was being promotedthrough a planned conspiracy topush Balochistan into anarchy-like situation. “If the authoritiesdo not take notice of the sectar-ian killings immediately, thesituation will further deterio-rate,” they said.

Federal Interior MinisterChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan andInformation Minister PervezRasheed have reached Quetta asper directives of the Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif. Accordingto the sources, the ministerswould convey the message ofthe prime minister to theBalochistan chief minister.

The prime minister had di-rected the two ministers to visitQuetta to review the situationthat emerged following the at-tack on the bus of pilgrims inMastung.

The sources said that theinterior minister would apprisethe provincial government about

the roadmap of the federal gov-ernment to address the demandsof the demonstrators.

Sources in Quetta said, “thesenior officials have been askedto review the options whetherShia pilgrims of Balochistan betaken to Iran through theKarachi-Gwadar route or ferryservice from Karachi andGwadar ports to Bandar AbbasPort of Iran be started,” adding“the Quetta-Taftan route mightbe closed for the pilgrims trav-elling due to high security risk”.

In Lahore, the MajlisWahdatul Muslimeen (MWM)protesters were holding a sit-inon Mall Road. Following con-sultations between the MWMand the administration, one trackof Lahore’s Mall Road wasopened for traffic whereas pro-tests were underway on the othertrack. In view of the prevailingsituation, security has beenbeefed up and additional policepersonnel have been deployed.

MWM protesters have re-fused to end the protests and saidthe decision to call it off restedin the hands of Quetta demon-strators. The protesters further-more said they did not want tocause any trouble to the generalpublic. Meanwhile, large num-bers of demonstrators were pro-testing against the Mastung at-tack in the Faizabad area of thefederal capital and have alsodemanded a quick operationagainst terrorists.

Members of civil societyalso staged a vigil outside thePress Club in Islamabad earlier

on Wednesday night.Shia organisations also ar-

ranged protests at several loca-tions of Karachi whereas theflow of traffic was blocked inAncholi, Malir, Shah Faisal,Qayyumabad, Hino ChowkFlyover and NumaishChowrangi areas.

Karachi’s chairman of thePrivate Schools ManagementAssociation, Sharafuz Zaman,said that schools remainedclosed Thursday in those areaswhere roads were blocked. Sit-ins were staged at several placesof the metropolis’.

Hundreds of people weretaking part in a solidarity sit-inorganised in Multan. On Tues-day, over 25 people were killedand dozens injured when a pow-erful explosion ripped througha bus carrying Shia pilgrims inBalochistan’s Mastung district.

The banned militantorganisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi(LeJ) claimed responsibility forTuesday’s attack, which it de-scribed as a suicide bombing, andwarned of more such attacks.

Last year, thousands ofmourners staged a three-day sit-in from Jan 10 to 13 in the after-math of twin-bombings that hadleft more than 100 people dead.

A sit-in was staged outsidethe governor house in Lahore bythe MWM and the Imamia Stu-dents Organization. Similarly,Islamabad, Multan, Nawabshah,Jackobabad, Dadu, Shikarpurand Hyderabad also saw peopleholding sit-in against the brutalkilling of innocent people in theMustung attack.

Protests end after Nisarassurance of Govt action

From Page 1

istry while the serious matterswere forwarded to PM for ap-propriate action.

Advocate Anwar Mansoorargued that it was only federalgovernment’s discretion tolaunch inquiry under Article 6of the constitution while the de-cision to take action againstMusharraf following the inquiryreport of FIA was not taken byfederal government.

He also said it wasn’t impor-tant to take judges from all highcourts.

Justice Faisal Arab ques-tioned if all judges could be ap-pointed from same high court andif all machinery working underPM and cabinet wasn’t consid-ered to be part of federal? Advo-cate Anwar replied that officersof federal government were thecomponents of machinery andcould not be taken as federal gov-ernment as they do not have de-cision-making authority.

The court said that the judg-ment will be issued under thelight of constitution but afterhearing arguments of both sides.The case was adjourned till to-morrow.—NNI

Musharraf caseFrom Page 1

Musharraf’s review petition.The SC on Thursday an-

nounced that the full bench willstart hearing of Musharraf’s re-view case from Monday next. Itshould be mentioned that the ex-president has moved a reviewpetition against the court’s ver-dict in PCO judges case.—INP

Full bench to hearFrom Page 1

teachings of the ProphetMuhammad (PBUH).

Speaking to members of theRabita Committee, he said thathe had already voiced his con-cerns regrding Talibanization ofthe society which is a very dan-gerous trend.—INP

Taliban wantFrom Page 1

On other hand, JUI-S ChiefSamiul Haq said on Wednesdaythat the prime minister had as-signed him the task of initiatingtalks with Taliban and the pro-cess of dialogue had begun onJanuary 1 after which a positiveresponse was received from theTaliban.

“I briefed the PM on Janu-ary 2 and asked for further strat-egy, but I did not get any re-sponse despite repeated con-tacts. I appealed to the govern-ment on January 20 to declareceasefire and avoid a militaryoperation as well as use ofpower, but an operation waslaunched in North Waziristan,Tirrah Valley and other tribalareas,” Samiul Haq said in a let-ter to Prime Minister NawazSharif.—Online

Sami not giventask

From Page 1

attack on a woman inneighbouring Pakistan in 2002on orders of a village council toavenge her 12-year-old brother’salleged impropriety with awoman from a rival clan.

Six men were sentenced todeath for the rape of the illiteratePakistani woman Mukhtar Maiherin a landmark ruling there. Butfive were later acquitted and themain culprit had his sentence re-duced to life imprisonment.

The incident in India tookplace in Subalpur village, about240 kilometres (149 miles) westof state capital Kolkata, after thecouple were discovered together.

“The head of the villagecouncil held an urgent meetingin the village square on Tuesdaywhen the girl and her lover werecalled,” Sudhakar said.

“The girl and her lover weretied to two separate trees andfined 25,000 rupees each as a finefor having an affair,” he said.

“As the parents of the girl,who were also present at themeeting, expressed their inabil-ity to pay the fine, the head ofthe village council ordered thatshe should be raped by the vil-lagers as punishment,” he said.

The man was freed after heagreed to pay the fine within aweek, but the woman was takento a shed where the attack wascarried out, he said.

The woman, who was recov-ering in a local hospital in Birbhumdistrict, identified to police all 13attackers. They are expected toappear in a district session court inthe nearby town of Bolpur laterThursday, Sudhakar said.

Last month, India marked thefirst anniversary of the death ofthe 23-year-old student who wasgang-raped in New Delhi on amoving bus, in an attack that sentshockwaves across the nation.

Despite tougher laws and ef-forts to change attitudes to womenin India’s deeply patriarchal soci-ety, the number of reported sexcrimes continues to rise.

In West Bengal’s capitalKolkata, a teenager was gang-raped last year in two separateattacks and then died after be-ing set on fire, sparking protests.

The 16-year-old was as-saulted on October 26 and then

Gang rapeFrom Page 1

to be used during the foiled as-sault.

Gunmen also attacked anIraqi army base in Baghdad’sAbu Ghraib neighbourhood kill-ing 2 soldiers, and a roadsidebomb exploded when a minibuswas passing near Tarmiya, northof the capital, killing anotherperson, police said.

Iraq hanged at least 151people in 2013, up from 129 in2012 and 68 in 2011, New York-based Human Rights Watch saidin its annual world report pub-lished on Tuesday.

The United Nations humanrights chief, Navi Pillay, has fre-quently condemned Iraq’s massexecutions. “This continuedconveyor-belt of executions bythe government of Iraq is sim-ply deplorable,” her spokesman,Rupert Colville, said on Sunday,after 26 people were hanged.

“Iraq’s justice system stillhas huge deficiencies whichmean that resorting to even asmall number of executions isrisking a grave and irredeemablemiscarriage of justice,” hesaid.—Reuters

Iraq hangs 11convicted of terrorism

From Page 1

people killed, most of themmembers of the country’s long-persecuted Rohingya Muslimcommunity. Another 250,000people have fled their homes.

The state — home to 80 per-cent of the country’s 1 millionRohingya — runs along the Bayof Bengal and is cut off from therest of the country by a mountainrange. It is off-limits to foreignjournalists and access for humani-tarian aid workers is severely re-stricted, adding to the difficultiesof confirming details about theviolence. The numbers reportedby Fortify Rights, however, ap-pear to be gaining support.

Estimates by the United Na-

21 dead inTurkey accident

From Back Page

a bus rolled over several timesin the dead of night in centralTurkey in one of the deadliestaccidents in recent years.

The bus crashed in a townin Kayseri province at around 2am when its driver lost controlbecause of icy road conditionsand intense fog, according topress reports.

“The number of the dead hasrisen to 21, with one injured los-ing his life in hospital,” Kayserigovernor Orhan Duzgun toldTurkish television.

The bus, which was travel-ling from Istanbul to the easternprovince of Mus, was believedto have more than 40 peopleaboard at the time.

Duzgun said some of thepassengers died when theyjumped out of the vehicle’s win-dows, adding that the death tollcould rise as two people wereseriously injured.

tions, which sent investigators tothe region last week, also reach inthe dozens, according to embassyofficials and aid workers, follow-ing briefings on the violence. Theyasked that they not be named, say-

ing the U.N. was expected to is-sue its own statement on the inci-dent. Security forces surroundedDu Char Yar Tan on Jan. 14 afterRohingya Muslim residents alleg-edly abducted and killed a policesergeant.—AP

Myanmar mobs kill 40 MuslimsFrom Back Page

We claim to be Pakistanis but Idon’t recognise the countrywe’ve become” Bilawal BhuttoZardari tweeted with hash tagMastung, a reference to the lat-est suicide attack on a bus inMastung area of Balochistanthat killed 24 people.

“Pakistan: the countrywhere even the martyred deadprotest because the living havefailed them,” said Bilawal.—INP

Bilawal deploresFrom Page 1

Cracker bomb thrownon police stationKARACHI—A cracker washurled at a police station inKarachi, however, thesmallbomb could not explode.Police said some unknown mis-creants on motorbike threw acracker at Pirabad police station.Fortunately, the bomb could notexplode. Earlier today, two ve-hicles were torched in the citywhere protest against Tuesday’sMastung incident suspendedcivic life and triggered severetraffic mess in various areas,leaving people in suffering. Shiaorganization Majlis-e WahdatulMuslimeen staged protest sit-ins at Numaish Chowrangi,NIPA Chowrangi, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Malir 15, Drig Road,Five Star Chowrangi, Ancholi,Abbas Town, Nazimabad andother areas.—Online

Culpritstrangulates sisterGHOTKI—A wicked personstrangulated real sister over do-mestic dispute here on Thursdayand escaped the scene. Policesaid that accused hailing fromvillage Ramzan Bharo of Ghotkiwas in dispute with his youngersister over domestic issues. OnThursday morning both ex-changed hot words after whichthe culprit killed his sister andfled away. —INP

Two gas pipelinesblastedDERA BUGTI—Unknown mis-creants blasted two gas pipelinesin different areas of Dera Bugtion Thursday disrupting supplyof gas. Levies sources said thatunidentified militants had plantedexplosives with 16 inch and 04inch diameters gas pipelines in PirKoh and New Sheikh Coloniesareas of Dera Bugti respectivelywhich exploded. As a result ofboth blasts the gas pipelines wereadversely damaged resulting insuspension of supply of gas. TheSui gas authorities reached thescene after both incidents andstarted repair work on damagedgas pipelines. —INP

QUETTA: Relatives of Mastung suicide attack victims stage sit-in along with the dead bodies.

H.E. Sadik Babur Girgin, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey called on Mr. Zahid Malik, Editor-in-Chief, PakistanObserver, Thursday. They discussed matters of mutual interest.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

ISLAMABAD—Secretary De-fence Asif Yaseen has said thatUS has agreed to carry forwarddefence cooperation with Paki-stan however we have conveyedto US that any instability in Af-ghanistan would have a negativeimpact on Pakistan.

Briefing the Senate Stand-ing Committee on Defence, heldwith its Chairman MushahidHussain Sayed in the chair, Sec-retary Defence Asif Yaseen saidthat Pak-US defence consulta-tive group meeting was held ina cordial manner and mattersrelated to bilateral defence rela-tions as well as peace and sta-bility in Afghanistan were dis-cussed at length.

He told the committee thatPakistan made it clear to the USthat any instability in Afghani-stan would have a negative im-pact on Pakistan and that peacein Afghanistan is vital for sta-bility in Pakistan as well as theentire region. He said that situ-ation in Afghanistan after 2014was discussed and we have as-

Senate body told

Instable Afghanistan to havenegative impact on Pakistan

sured that Pakistan would playa positive role in moving for-ward the peace process in Af-ghanistan.

In response to a question ofsenators he said that US troopscannot stay in Afghanistan untilthe Joint Defense agreement isenforced and so far the Afghanpresident has not signed it.

Regarding stopping ofNATO supply in KP he said thatit is a political decision howeverthe armed forces are bound toensure safe passage to NATOsupply under an agreement withthe NATO countries.

Regarding recent visit ofSaudi deputy defence ministerto Pakistan he said there is nopossibility of Pakistan army in-terference in Middle East orSyria.

Regarding drone strikes hesaid Pakistan delegation ap-prised the US of country’sstance and reservation it seemslike the US has not been able tofind any target that is why therehave been no recent drone at-

tacks. He further told the com-mittee that Pakistan has con-veyed its concerns to the UnitedStates over increase in the de-fence budget by India, which isnot Chine centric but is in factPakistan centric. In response toanother question he said in thebeginning the US had some res-ervations over the provision ofCoalition Support Fund whichhave been removed and the pro-vision of funds has been started.

Chairman CommitteeSenator Mushahid condemningUS conditionalising of aid withthe relase of Dr Shakeel Afriditermed it as double standards.hes said on one side US talksof world justice and on theother side it adopts dual poli-cies. It has not released a Jew-ish spy despite the fact that Is-rael is a close friend of US. UShad also taken an Indian diplo-mat into custody over spycharges. While it is asking Pa-kistan to release a spy and evenhas conditionalised aid with hisrelease.—Online

No advice tomedia: PR

ISLAMABAD—Information Min-ister Pervaiz Rashid has said thegovernment will make every ef-fort to provide protection to thepeople.

In an inter-view, he said itis the prime re-sponsibility ofthe state to en-sure its writ.

The Infor-mation Minis-ter said the

government has brought all non-state actors under the ambit oflaw.

He said we have framed a se-curity policy within a span of sixmonths which was nonexistent inthe past.

The minister said the govern-ment has evolved consensus tomove on a path of dialogue andnegotiations.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Supreme Courtrejecting the Punjab govern-ment report on KhawarMehmmod missing person casefrom Fort Abbas has sought re-ply from Attorney GeneralAslam Butt within 24 hourswhether the federal govt is sin-cere in recovery of missing per-sons or not.

A three member benchheaded by Justice Jawwad SKhawaja heard the KhawarMehmood missing person case.Additional Attorney General

Missing persons case

Lawlessness prevails,observes Apex court

Tariq Khokar and Amina MasoodJanjua were present in the court.During the course of the hearingDPO presented a report that gov-ernment has formed a joint inves-tigative team.

Justice Jawad remarked thatmaybe there was no need for JITas the police officer had com-pleted his investigation.

He said that constitution is ofno importance to intelligenceagencies . By reading newspa-pers it seems lawlessness prevailseverywhere in the country.

“In Khawar missing personcase Prime Minister of Pakistanand CM Balochistan are the con-cerned quarters.

But no one seems serious andif work is going to be carried outin this manner then we would notbe able to recover Khawar in thenext 15 years,” he said.

Police under the criminal acthas the authority to carry oncriminal proceedings against anintelligence officer for non coop-eration in investigation, JusticeJawad remarked.—Online

YANGON, Myanmar—Bud-dhist mobs killed at least 40Muslims when they stormed avillage in western Myanmar,hunting down residents withknives, a human rights groupsaid, citing witness testimonyand a wide network of localsources.

The government has vehe-mently denied any deaths, ex-cept that of a police sergeant at-tacked by Rohingya Muslim vil-lagers, but evidence of a massa-cre is mounting.

Matthew Smith, executivedirector of Fortify Rights, calledon the government Thursday togive humanitarian aid workers,independent observers and jour-nalists unfettered access to DuChar Yar Tan village in North-ern Rakhine state, which hasbeen emptied and sealed off

Myanmar mobskill 40 Muslims

since the Jan. 14 incident. Hesaid as of Wednesday, there werestill some bodies in abandonedhomes. He also called for an endto mass arrests of Rohingya menand boys, some as young as 10.These arbitrary detentionsbroaden the scope of the humanrights violations in the area andshould be immediately broughtto an end,” Smith said. “Thereneeds to be accountability forthis wave of horrific violence ...but mass arrests of Muslim menand boys are not the way.”

Myanmar, a predominantlyBuddhist nation of 60 millionpeople, has been grappling withsectarian violence for nearly twoyears. The reported deaths in DuChar Yar Tan would bring tomore than 280 the number ofMyanmar mobs

Continued on Page 7

21 dead inTurkey accident

ANKARA—At least 21 peoplewere killed on Thursday when

Continued on Page 7

ADOLESCENTS may not be able to getout of wearing braces, but using a high-fluoride toothpaste for the duration could

help them avoid white marks the devices oftenleave behind, according to a new study fromSweden. The special pastewith almost four times theusual fluoride content helpedprevent about a third of thechalky-looking spots amongkids between the ages of 11and 16 years old, researcherssay.

Past studies have shownthat up to 85 percent of pa-tients who wear braces maydevelop these so-called whitespot lesions, which representlocal tooth decay and tend tobe permanent. “To reduce thiseffect, several products areavailable on the market, butevidence of the effectivenessof the products is lacking,”said Mikael Sonesson, leadauthor of the study and anorthodontist at Malmö Uni-versity.

To see whether a high-fluoride toothpastethat patients could use at home would pro-tect against the spots, more than 400 kids atfive dental practices who were scheduled toget braces were recruited starting in 2008.They were randomly divided into two groups,with about half receiving a paste containing5,100 parts per million fluoride to use athome and the other half receiving paste thatwas similar in every way, except it contained1,450 ppm fluoride - the amount in most stan-dard commercial brands, according to theresearchers.

Before getting their braces, all the young-

sters had detailed photos taken of their teethand photos were taken again after the braceswere removed. The participants wore bracesfor an average of 1.8 years and receivedtoothpaste supplies for as long as they did.

Two clinicians who did notknow which fluoride paste theyoungsters had used evaluatedall the before-and-after photosto assess the presence and se-verity of white spots using afour-point scale.

About 10 percent ofparticipants dropped out of thestudy for various reasons,though no side effects of thetoothpastes were reported,Sonesson and his colleaguesnote in the European Journalof Orthodontics. When the re-searchers analyzed results forthe remaining participants,they found that about 45 per-cent of patients who brushedwith regular toothpaste devel-oped white spots, whereasonly 34.6 percent of those who

used the high-fluoride paste developed spots.That translates to about 32 percent fewerwhite spots in the high-fluoride group.

The results were not surprising, givenprevious research on the use of fluoride forpreventing cavities, according to NisreenTakulla, a dentist in the Boston area. “High-fluoride toothpastes are often prescribed forpatients at a high risk of dental caries, to beused once a day instead of regular toothpaste,and topical fluorides have also been provento be very effective for caries control,” saidTakulla. Other ways to get higher doses offluoride include mouth rinses and gels ap-plied to the teeth.

High-fluoride paste mayprevent white spots from braces

Ambassador of Philippines Domingo D Lucenario, Federal Minister for Commerce andTextile Industry Khurram Dastgir and Ambassador of Argentine Rodolfo Martin Saraviaduring the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Construction of the New Philippine Chan-cery.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University, Punjab Governor Ch. Muhammad Sarwar, giving away degrees to suc-cessful students during 13th convocation of the FJMU at Jinnah Convention Centre.

Activists of Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen holding a demonstration against the Mastung in-cident, at Faizabad.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (APP):Governor Punjab MuhammadSarwar on Thursday called formaking serious efforts to edu-cate the seven million out ofschool children across the coun-try. Addressing at a 13th con-vocation of Fatima JinnahWomen University (FJWU) heldhere, Muhammad Sarwar saidthe country is faced with mul-tiple challenges and only priori-tizing education can resolve allthese issues.

He said “ignorance hasshaken the fabric of our societyand only education can inculcatethe core value of tolerance andbring peace in the country. Thegovernor said that the future ofour country is safe in the handsof youth who are makingprogress in various fields of life.

He said FJWU has achieveda prominence place among thecountry’s known universities ina short span of 14 years. Theuniversity is striving to promotequality education among thegirls and its role in groomingyoung ladies speaks of its com-mitment toward women em-powerment.

Executive Director, HigherEducation Commission (HEC),Dr Mukhtar, on the occasionsaid the access rate of highereducation has raised today from2.6 percent upto eight percent inthe year 2010 while the numberof universities has been in-creased from 56 to 153. He saidthe research publications haveincreased from 800 upto 9000 innumber which is reflective of

Efforts needed to educate out of school children

tremendous success.Dr Mukhtar said still 92 stu-

dents out of 100 have no accessto higher education in the coun-try which is still a challenge forus to cope with. FJWU ViceChancellor, Prof Dr. SaminaAmin Qadir the FJWU has im-proved its position in HEC rank-ing from 5th to 4th position inmedium-sized universities.

The students residing in the

far flung areas are studying inthe university and the varsityhas students from 89 district ofthe country.

To cope with the space andsecurity problems, she said “theuniversity has been under ex-pansion. We are in the processto construct girls hostel build-ing in the university premisesto accommodate 700 studentsand it will be functional in near

future.”She said the university is

waiting for the release of prom-ised allocation of Rs 220 mil-lion for construction of this fa-cility. The university has initi-ated various programme includ-ing M.Phil programmes in Edu-cation and Counseling Psychol-ogy. A university CounselingCenter has been establishedwhich would greatly help the

students to resolve the issues andproblem which they face at uni-versity as well in daily life, shesaid. As many as 1,491 studentswere awarded degrees on the oc-casion which include one Ph.Ddegree, 21 M.Phil degrees, 1087master ’s degrees and 382bachelor’s degrees. Around 43students received gold medal intheir respective fields while 42received silver medals.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A spectaculardance performance and musi-cal evening was organized bythe Islamabad Marriott Hotel,in collaboration withMausikaar Welfare trust at theelegant Crystal Ballroom.

The event well attended bya large number of diplomats,socialites, music lovers andfamilies from the twin cities.the General Manger of theIslamabad Marriott hotel, Mr.Jan Verduyn thanked the audi-ence for attending the eventand shared with them the forth-coming promotions of the ho-tel. Mausikaar President Dr.Seema Khan also said a fewwords about the artistes and

thanked all those who made herprogramme a success .Theshow was opened by twoyoung classical singers, agednine and ten respectively –aperformance that kept the au-dience mesmerized.

The highlight of theevening was Nighat Chaudry’stremendous classical dance,which received many accoladesfrom the audience. Her nameis indelibly linked with Kathakdance in Pakistan and all overthe world. Mr Kamal Manzoorshared his beautiful voice bysinging some memorable songsand ghazals from the past- aperformance that was enthusi-astically appreciated by every-one with a long and loud ap-plause.

A musical evening to remember

Classical dancer, Nighat Chaudhry performs during a musi-cal evening organized by Islamabad Marriott Hotel in col-laboration with Mausikaar Welfare Trust.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD —People facedenormous difficulties on Thursdayas angry and violent protestorsblocked Faizabad interchangelinking to Islamabad for all kindsof traffic against mastung carnage.A sit-in was underway inIslamabad at Faizabad interchangeand blocked Murree Road andIslamabad Expressway for all kindof traffic. The protesters braved thechilly weather the whole night in

the open. They chanted against thegovernment and demanded of thegovernment to take action againstthe militants.

People especially school go-ing children, office going peopleand others were stranded on thehighway due to protest at Faizabadinterchange. The infinite sit-in con-tinued in different cities of thecountry in protest against theMastung carnage and to expresssolidarity with the victim families,while the death toll mount to 29.

The protesters have warnedamid their protest sit-in that theirsilence should not be taken as aweakness as they could take theweapons in hands for the self de-fense now. The protest was well-attended, as men, women andchildren, turned out in large num-bers to voice their angst over thetragic incident. The protesterssaid they will continue their sit-ins until the Hazara communitybury their dead and end their pro-test in Quetta.

Mastung carnage

Commuters suffer, Faizabadinterchange blocked

HSSC Part-I, IIsupply results todayISLAMABAD—The Federal Boardof Intermediate and SecondaryEducation (FBISE) would an-nounce the result of Higher Sec-ondary School Certificate (HSSC)(Part-I and II) Supplementary Ex-amination 2013 today (Friday).The result will be available onFBISE website: www.fbise.edu.pkand on SMS unified code 5050,said a press release issued here.

The candidates may knowtheir result by sending SMS inthe following formate FB [rollnumber].—Online

NA body appreciatessteps for

improvement of PBCSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—First meeting of theSub-Committee of the StandingCommittee on Information, Broad-casting and National Heritage washeld at the Parliament House, hereon Thursday. The meeting was pre-sided over by Ms. Saman SultanaJaffri, MNA/Convener of the Sub-Committee of the Standing Com-mittee.

The Sub-Committee wasbriefed about the details of Paki-stan Broadcasting Corporation(PBC) network, installation of newtransmitter in Karachi, Peshawar,Dera Ismail Khan, and the futureplans for the improvement of PBCregarding digitalization, revival ofDramas and Music production. TheSub-Committee was also briefedabout the total sanctioned strengthof staff and about the income andexpenditure of PBC. The Sub-Committee appreciated the ef-forts made by the Department forthe improvement of PBC. TheMeeting was attended by Ms.Parveen Masood Bhatti, Dr.Muhammad Azhar Khan Jadoon,Ms. Naeema Kishwer Khan,MNAs and Officers/Officials ofM/o Information, Broadcasting& National Heritage and PBC.

ISLAMABAD—Legal and justicesector experts on Thursday urgedfor improvement of coordinationbetween the police, the prosecu-tion service and the judiciary andthe empowerment of prosecutorsto restore public confidence inthe criminal justice system. Ad-dressing a policy dialogue titled“The Case for the Prosecution,”legal experts said that empow-erment of prosecutors will en-able them to perform their du-ties in an impartial, professionaland equitable manner. This thirdpolicy dialogue on the case forthe prosecution was jointly or-ganized by the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Prosecution Ser-

vice (KPPS) and Aitebaar, afour-year programme funded bythe UK government throughDFID, with an objective tostrengthen the core institutionaland technical capacitates of theKPPS. Akhtar Ali Shah, Secre-tary, Home and Tribal AffairsKP; Asmaullah Khan,

Director General of theKPSS; Kamran Arif, co-chair ofthe Human Rights Commissionof Pakistan (HRCP); SohailNasir, Director General of thePunjab Judicial Academy; QaziAnwer, advocate of the bar coun-cil and ex Senator; Fareeha Paul,Additional secretary of theHome and Tribal Affairs Depart-

ment; Dr Osama Siddique; and,Ehsanullah Masood. Participantsof the dialogue, while termingprosecutors as a pillar of thecriminal justice system, addedthat they played a key role for thework undertaken by the judiciary.Integrity and impartiality of pros-ecutors are critical to public con-fidence in the criminal justicesystems, they said.

Akhtar Ali Shah, Secretary,Home and Tribal Affairs said thatprosecutors must possess the pro-fessional qualifications requiredfor the accomplishment of theirfunctions, through improvedmethods of recruitment and legaland professional training.—INP

Criminal justice system

Experts call for coordinationbetween police, judiciary

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Secretary Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan,Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan has saidthat electronic voting machinewould be used during next 2018general elections.

Briefing a Thursday meet-ing of N.A’s standing commit-tee for parliamentary affairs,convened by Mian AbdulManan, he deliberated that thissystem would ensure transpar-ency in elections, since eventhumb print impressions couldnot stop bogus voting, whichwould have to be stopped in or-der to ensure fair voting.

Assuring that ECP was con-

tinuously working over perfect-ing the voting reforms, processin Country, while legislationwould also be required for thepurpose, he said that during pre-vious, 2013 elections, magneticink was utilized after joint ap-proval of all stake holders, whileNADRA even went as far as useof voters’ photograph alongwiththumb prints. He also pointedout that U.K voters did not usethumb impressions.

He also informed the com-mittee that ECP had 400 elec-toral objections under review,out of which 117 alone pertainto verification of thumb impres-sions, expressing that if thumbimpressions have to be avoided

for counter files, legislationshould be carried out.

Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan alsoannounced that ECP had alreadywritten to PM for carrying out afresh census , and awaited reply, while delimitations for LGelections was rather a Provin-cial prerogative. He also dis-closed ECP being allotted 1-acreland for ECP secretariat build-ing. Regretting frequent misuseof voting pad during 2013 elec-tions, he said that this caused theentire electoral process as quitecontroversial for Nation, re-solving that amelioration ofelectoral process was indeedthe sole prerogative and re-sponsibility of ECP.

Electronic voting machineto be used in 2018 elections

Private sector’srole in edu lauded

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Pe-troleum and Natural ResourcesKhaqan Abbasi on Thursdayappreciated role of private sec-tor in promoting quality educa-tion, saying it prevented thecountry’s education system frombeing deteriorated. Addressingground breaking ceremony of agirls hostel in the Quaid-e-AzamUniversity, the minister saideducation served as backbone toa national development and thecountry’s education would havebeen deteriorated, had the pri-vate sector stayed away.

Referring to the Hostel, theminister said such work was partof the OGDCL’s responsibilitiesto return to the community andhoped the company would con-struct such more facilities.

He also appreciated the roleof the university, saying it waseffectively contributing towardsnational development throughquality education. He said it wasan encouraging to learn that 50percent of the university’s stu-dents were female who wereexcelling in every walk of life,legging men far behind.

Later, talking to media per-sons, the minister said, the con-tempt notice had been receivedand he would appear before thecourt. He said the issues includ-ing the one of gas had accumu-lated over several years andthese could not be resolved in afew months, however, the gov-ernment was taking solid mea-sures to gradually rectify them,he added. Replying to a ques-tion regarding talks withTaliban, the minister there wasa process before talks and al-ways witnessed ups and downs.

06:10

01:30

04:15

07:30

Zohr

Brothers in Islam establishregular prayers and charity

January 24

A seminar on ‘EmergingTrends in Humanitarian Ar-chitecture in Pakistan’ at 1500hours on January 24, 2014.

****

GENERAL MuhammadAsghar, Rector, NUST will bethe Chief Guest at convoca-tion ceremony of School ofElectrical Engineering andComputer Science on24.01.2014 at 9:30 a.m.

Continues

‘ROOTS Ivy Olympiad 2014will hold a four day interna-tional inter-college talentcompetition at Roots SchoolSystem DHA1 campusIslamabad from 23rd-26thJanuary 2014’.

Zia ul Mustafa, President ICMAP presenting awards to graduates while Ghulam Mustafa Qazi, VP, Abdul Khalil, Chairman CPDC and Sajjad Ahmad,Chairman Welfare Committee are also seen in the picture.

President RCIC Purvis A Hussain presenting a momento to Barrister Shahid Rasul Chaudhryduring a meeting of the club at a local hotel. Secretary RCIC Shahzad A Mir is also seen inthe picture.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Ambassador of Germany Dr Cyrill Nunn cutting the ribbon during Exhibition of Paintingsby Susanne Husemann at Nomad Gallery.—PO photo

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—It was a bigday at the Institute of Cost ofManagement Accountants ofPakistan (ICMAP) where aGrand National Award cer-emony was organized to ac-knowledge achievements andexcellence of both its studentsand members.

The ceremony for thisyear’s national award markeda number of milestones for theinstitute in which 221 associ-ate members were officiallypresented awards.

Talking to the audience,ICMAP President Mr. Zia ulMustafa Awan said that thisevent signif ies a greatachievement as the institutehas completed six decadessince its inception in 1951 andtoday’s graduates would playa pivotal role in bringing posi-tive contribution in the busi-ness management in Pakistan.He also outlined the institute’sfuture plan of expansion andsooner the institute would bebenefitting a number of stu-dents who could not get edu-cation due to their remote-ness.

Vice President , Mr.Ghulam Mustafa Qazi urgedthe graduates to be the lead-ers of change their society sodesperately needed. “At thecore leadership lies a restlessdesire to accomplish what hasnever been done before andthe willing assumption of re-sponsibility for the success ofothers.

Today, there is one othertrait that a leader must possess… conviction that the pursuitof knowledge is the key toprogress,” while added by Mr.Sajjad Ahmad Chairman Wel-fare Committee.

Addressing to the stu-dents, Mr. Abdul Khali l ,Chairman CPD Committeeadvised that they should ob-serve time management, workhard without looking forshortcuts and be proud of theirpast and added there is a greatdifference in student life andpractical life.

Speaking to the journal-ists, students expressed hap-piness that they had achieveda major milestone of their ca-reer and hoped that their jour-ney to excellence would con-tinue.

ICMAP presents National Awards to 221 graduates

CITY REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D—Scientistsfrom developing countriesgathered in Islamabad to de-liberate on matters relating toClimate Change and called forfostering extensive interna-tional cooperation among thecountries of the South formeeting common global chal-lenges pertaining to this phe-nomenon. These consensusviews were expressed duringthe third meeting ofCOMSATS’ InternationalThematic Research Group

(ITRG) on ‘Climate Changeand Environmental Protection’.The meeting had participationof scientists and researchersfrom meteorological depart-ments, scientific and researchorganizations, and higher edu-cation institutions ofBangladesh, China, Iran, Ma-laysia, Nepal, Pakistan, and SriLanka.

Led by the Director of In-ternational Center for Climateand Environment Sciences(ICCES), Prof. Zhaohui Lin,the Group was launched in No-vember 2010 and is undertak-

ing a joint research project on‘Characteristics and Mecha-nism of the Extreme ClimateEvents under the ClimateChange Background’. RelevantCOMSATS’ Centres of Excel-lence and institutions from de-veloping countries are cooper-ating for the researchprogramme.

The Executive DirectorCOMSATS, Dr. Imtinan ElahiQureshi, in his opening remarksgave the background ofCOMSATS’ ITRGs formedwith a spirit to collaborate sci-entific research aimed at find-

ing solutions to common prob-lems of the developing coun-tries. Explaining the conceptand modus operandi of thegroups, Dr. Qureshi highlightedtheir effectiveness in facilitat-ing the sharing of technicalknow-how and pooling of thenecessary laboratory resourcesavailable with the Group mem-bers. Showing satisfaction to-wards the group activity, hethanked the Group Leader,Prof. Lin.

In his welcome address,Prof. Lin expressed gratitude tothe Executive Director

COMSATS for providing greatsupport to his Group and re-called its history of establish-ment, objectives, and the con-tributions made by the membersso far. He noted that climatechange has badly affected al-most all countries of the Southin the form of flash floods,droughts, rising sea levels andreceding glaciers. Prof. Linhoped for expanding interna-tional cooperation on ClimateChange using the platform ofCOMSATS and its partner or-ganizations, such as TWAS.

The participants of the

meeting presented theirprogress reports and sharedtheir country-specific meteoro-logical data. Communicatingtheir strengths to contribute tothe joint research project of theGroup, they also pointed outareas in which trainings are re-quired, to which ICCES-Chinaoffered short-term trainings forthe interested Group members.The meeting also discussed indetail the draft Action Plan,outlining the responsibilities ofthe Group members for theyears 2014-2015. The plan en-tails gathering and preliminary

analysis of relevant and con-sistent data from the respec-tive countries, as well as ex-ecution of different researchsegments of the joint researchproject and necessary report-ing.

The meeting concludedon a high note of extensive co-operation amongst the Groupmembers. Committing to thetimeline and responsibilitieschalked out in the ActionPlan, the participants pledgedto dedicatedly contribute tothe joint research project ofthe Group.

Scientists from Developing Countries Collaborate for Climate Change Research

Sewage systemspeaks of negligenceon Ghaznavi Road

RAWALPINDI—The Guttersnear Government Girls HighSchool No 1 at Ghaznavi roadhave been overflowing for thepast many days while WASAofficials has done nothing toaddress the problem.

The area has been sub-merged by dirty water and giv-ing stinking smell for the resi-dents in the locality.

Talking to APP here onThursday, Chaudary Naaem ashopkeeper in the area said thatsewage had inundated streets,creating problems for them.

He said that choked guttershad made their lives miserable.Despite repeated complaints tothe authorities nothing has beendone and situation is aggravat-ing day by day.

Naeem said that stagnantsewage creates a lot of problemsfor students who walk down toschool.—APP

Police arrest17 proclaimed

offendersRAWALPINDI—Police onThursday claimed to have ar-rested 17 proclaimed offenders(POs) in a search operationlaunched in different localitiesof the city.

According to police, the op-eration was conducted in thelimits of Ganjmandi, Cantt.,Civil Lines, Ratta Amral, RaceCourse, Wah Cantt., Taxila,Saddar Wah, RA Bazar and Air-port Police Stations to arrest theabsconders involved in heinouscrimes.—APP

Acute water shortagehits Dhoke Matkial,New Afshan Colony

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI Jan 23 (Online):Due to negligence of WASAauthorities, the residents ofDhoke Matkial and New AfshanColony are facing acute short-age of water. In view of this, theresident started protest demon-stration and has taken decisionto approach the consumer courtin this regard.

The residents of DhokeMatkial Boring road told that thetube well number 83 is not func-tioning from five month and the20,000 to 30,000 residents livingat Boring road are compel to buywater from WASA while theWASA is acting like a silent spec-tator. Meanwhile, the residentsof New Afshan colony are alsofacing acute shortage of waterdue to the close of water pipelineform one week while the canton-ment official is not paying heedtowards this grave issue.

The residents of the areaclaimed that they lodge com-plaint in cantonment severaltimes but no head was paid totheir woos. The residents de-manded from concerned author-ity to pay attention towards thisgrave other wise they wouldstart protest demonstration.

Anti-poliodrive continues

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—District HealthOfficer Dr Khalid RandhawaThursday said a 5-day anti-poliocampaign, which started on Janu-ary 20, is continuing in the entiredistrict in successful manner.Under the drive, he said, over530,000 children have so far ad-ministered the polio vaccine.Randhawa informed that that1349 mobile health teams wereoperating in the district to com-plete the task of immunization.

He said that polio dropswere also being administered at76 health centres in order to en-sure that all children should beimmunized.

Power shortfallleads to 8-10 hours

load sheddingSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadElectric Supply Company alsoresorted to 8-10 hoursloadshedding in Islamabad andRawalpindi and all its region un-der power load-management plan.

An IESCO official told thatload management quota has in-creased due to the difference inpower demand and supply. Ac-cording to him the demand is 1400megawatt against supply of 650megawatt. He said that under theload management plan, eight toten hours power load sheddingwould be carried out in the fed-eral capital, Rawalpindi and allIESCO region. He said that thesituation is likely to improve byend of January.

ITP clears illegaltraffic around

Saudi-Pak TowersSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Acting on strictdirectives of government,Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP)has enforced orders to end allprevious illegal parking aroundSaudi-Pak Towers.

Issuing strict warnings tovehicle owners, over any futureillegal vehicle parking the ITPhas said that any refusal or fail-ure to comply with the orderswould also result in legal actionagainst voilators.

The residents had developeda habit of parking their vehiclesaround Saudi-Pak Towers, onMarvi and Nazim-ud-din roads,causing daily accidents there;besides blocking roads for regu-lar traffic flow. The issue hasbeen more compounded by ab-sence of any conducive strategy,and planning in this regard.

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadHigh Court has disposed of 6018cases whereas around 6500 newcases submitted during the last year.Out of the disposed of cases, 137were old, 2791 urgent, 457 motioncases and 2633 were notice cases.

However, the pendency ofcases with Islamabad High Courthas mounted to around 12500cases but strength of IHC judgescould not be enhanced so far tothe required level. About 8,500cases were transferred from theLahore High Court RawalpindiBench to the IHC after its re-es-tablishment.

Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan isgoing to retire on May 2014 leav-ing behind only three judges iffurther appointment were notmade by the Judicial Commis-sion. The sanctioned strength ofIHC judges is seven including the

chief justice. Currently, there arefour IHC judges including ChiefJustice Mohammed Anwar KhanKasi, Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan,Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi andJustice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui areworking in the IHC.

Under the IHC Act, totalstrength of the judges is seven be-sides chief justice: “Each of thesix other judges will be appointedfrom provinces, Islamabad Capi-tal Territory and Federally Ad-ministrated Tribal Areas.”

In January 2011, initially threejudges including former IHCChief Justice Iqbal HameedurRehman of Punjab, JusticeMohammad Anwar Khan Kasi ofBaluchistan and Justice RiazAhmed Khan of KhyberPakhtunkhawa were appointed asthe IHC judge.

The Judicial Commission of

Pakistan in its meeting on October27, 2011, recommended the namesof Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiquifrom Punjab, Justice Noorul HaqN. Quraishi from Sindh andMohammad Azim Khan Afridifrom FATA for the vacant positionsof the IHC judges.

However, the Judicial Com-mission on October 23, 2012 didnot give extension to another judgeJustice Azim Afridi. Later, on Feb-ruary 24, Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman, Chief Justice of theIslamabad High Court was el-evated as judge of the SupremeCourt creating another vacancy.

On August 03, 2013, the Com-mission meeting was held butcould not evolve consensus on thenames of lawyers includingHaroon Rashid, Anees Jillani andRaja Ishtiaq for the additional judgeof Islamabad High Court.—APP

IHC disposed of6018 cases last year

ISLAMABAD—The propri-etors of illegal housing soci-eties are minting money bytrapping innocent people with‘apparent impunity’ in thetwin cities of Islamabad andRawalpindi.

Dozens of private housingsocieties are allegedly lootinginnocent people on the pretextof making their dreams of own-ing a house into reality, some ofthe societies are working sin-cerely to make these schemessuccessful.

Affecties of the fake hous-ing societies while lamentingon the behavior of administra-

tion of illegal societies said thatpeople lost millions of rupeesand they lost their entire sav-ings to get the home but allgone in waste.

Fake people create illegalsociety and looted innocentpeople,they collect billions ofrupees and run away. No onewas there to catch them. Anothergrieved persons informed thatthe owners of houses, taking fulladvantage of the situation, in-crease rents of their houses ev-ery year. Against this backdrop,people living in rented housesdream of owning a house at theirown.

For this purpose, they turnto housing schemes or societiesto have their own houses. Theybook plots. Some pay totalamount, some buy plots in in-stallments, but in the end theyget nothing except for disap-pointment.

Citizens appealed the con-cerned authority to initiate legalproceedings against such prop-erty dealers at the earliest. Whencontacted the officials of theCDA/TMA and Revenue De-partment, said that a special op-eration would be launched soonagainst unregistered and illegalhousing societies.—APP

Illegal housing societies

Proprietors trappinginnocent people

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama Iqbal OpenUniversity (AIOU) has started itsSSC to Master level admissions forthe Semester Spring prospectus andadmission forms are available fromthe sale points of University’s maincampus in Sector H-8, Islamabadand its country-wide RegionalCampuses and Coordinating Of-fices. This was announced by Di-rector Admissions, Syed Zia-ul-Hasnain.

He said the admission formsalong-with prescribed fee can besubmitted in countrywidebranches of Bank Al-Falah,Habib Bank Ltd, First WomenBank and Allied Bank and in thenominated branches of NationalBank of Pakistan and MuslimCommercial Bank. Director Ad-missions said that the admission

forms and prospectus of Matric,FA and BA level programmesfor Pakistanis in the Middle-Eastcan be obtained / download fromwebsite del.aiou.edu.pk of theUniversity. Computerized ad-mission forms have been sent toall the continuing students aswell as they can also downloadthe continuing admission formfrom website www.aiou.edu.pkof the University. The admis-sions of M.Sc is being offeredin Forestry Extension.

The admissions of M.Com,Commonwealth of LearningMBA/MPA, MA in Distanceand Non-formal Education, Sec-ondary Teacher Education, Sci-ence Education and SpecialEducation while the admissionsof M.Ed are being offered inMaster in Distance and Non-for-mal Education,

SecondaryTeacher Education,Science Education and SpecialEducation.

The admissions in Postgradu-ate Diploma in Educational Plan-ning and Management, Teachingof English as a Foreign Language(TEFL), Computer Science (Online) and Youth Development Workare included. At the level of Bach-elor, B.Com, Mass Communica-tion, BA, BLIS while the admis-sions of FA, I.Com, FSc (Pre-En-gineering), FSc (Pre-Medical) andMatric programmes are also beingoffered. In Teacher TrainingProgramme, the admissions ofATTC and CT, In Dars-e-Nizamithe admissions of Matric, FA andBA,6-Months duration of Certifi-cate Courses, agricultural coursesand 3-months duration of ShortTerm Educational Programmes arebeing offered.

AIOU’s admission formsavailable countrywide

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A two-day inter-national workshop on issue ofKashmir would be held fromJanuary 27 at National DefenceUniversity (NDU) Islamabad.

The workshop titled “Kash-mir: Looking beyond the Peril” isorganized by Institute for Strate-gic Studies, Research and Analy-sis (ISSRA) as part of its researchprogram. The exercise that is de-signed in a conflict transformationmode, will be participated by thescholars and experts from acrossthe globe.

The guest speakers would in-clude academia from both sidesof the divide in Jammu & Kash-mir and from India. Speakers will

also be arriving from Australia,USA, Britain, China, Turkey andthe Middle East. A matching num-ber of scholars from within thecountry will also be speaking onthe occasion.

The conceptual framework ofthe workshop underlines that Kash-mir holds key to securing peace andharmony in South Asia and be-yond. The unresolved dispute runsin tandem with a nuclearized envi-ronment and therefore, serves as awarner against any flashpoint. Aspokesman of the organizers whenasked to elaborate, opined that “theone-fifth of humanity living in thisregion, has long awaited a conflict-free setting that would move thewheel of economic growth andbring prosperity.

InternationalWorkshop on Kashmir

Transportersdemand enhancedsecurity measures

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Pakistan Trans-port Welfare Association,Rawalpindi chapter has demandedenhanced security arrangements atbus terminals in the city owing topossible terror threats.

The office bearers of the as-sociation have sent requests to thedistrict government and otherconcerned departments to en-hance patrolling at Pirwadhai busstation and Mandi Morr. Theyalso demanded repair streetlightsin the areas. The transporters saidthat bus terminals are most vul-nerable to terror activities as theseremain crowded for almost 24hours a day.

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed talking to media on theoccasion of tree plantation drive.

SRINAGAR: Indian policemen ruthlessly beating a Kashmiri youth during a protest.

CHARHOI: Pakistan Muslim League-N Leader Habib Nawaz handing over prize to student of a school.

SRINAGAR—A complete shut-down was observed across theValley to mark the 24th anniver-sary of the 52 people who werekilled by CRPF troopers in GawKadal on January 21, 1990.

Reports said that all shops,offices, business establishmentsremained closed in Srinagar andother major towns of the Valleyin wake of the shutdown calledby Hurriyat Conference fac-tions, Jammu and Kashmir Lib-eration Front, Peoples PoliticalParty (PPP) and other resistancegroups. The strike also affectedthe smooth flow of traffic.

Around noon, dozens ofyouth appeared at MadinaChowk, Maisuma and stagedpro-freedom and anti-India dem-onstrations. Shouting slogans,the protesters tried to march to-wards Budshah Chowk. How-ever, CRPF and police resortedto cane charge and fired teargasshells to disperse the protesters.Police action triggered protestsin the area.

When the clashes ended,Jammu and Kashmir LiberationFront (JKLF) Chairman,Mohammad Yasin Malik joined byscores of his supporters took out arally from party headquartersMaqbool Manzil to Gaw Kadal topay homage to the victims.

Addressing the gathering,Malik made a fervent appeal tothe youth to stay away from theelections aimed at strengthening

Srinagar observescomplete shutdown

the ‘Indian occupation’ inJammu and Kashmir. Withoutnaming any pro-India group, theJKLF chairman said that theyouth will be lured and exploitedby the elements on the issueslike employment, electricity,water and roads to keep themaway from the ongoing freedommovement.

“It’s the state assembly andthe legislators who have autho-rized Indian forces to commithuman rights abuses in Kashmirunder the shield of draconianlaws,” he said. “The youth mustremain cautious to defeat thenefarious designs of anti move-ment elements. Stay away fromelections and safeguard the su-preme sacrifices offered byKashmiris. Don’t let the sacri-fices go in vain,” he added.

Referring to the mass upris-ings of 2008 and 2010, Maliksaid that the peaceful proteststhat saw deaths of hundreds ofpeople, mostly youth, broughtKashmir into limelight and theInternational community de-bated the issue threadbare.

“But as soon as the drum of2008 elections was beaten, thesame youth were assigned thetask to hoist flags and stickers ofpro-India parties,” he said. Mean-while, reports of a complete shut-down have been received fromother parts of the Valley in re-sponse to the call given by pro-freedom groups.—NNI

SRINAGAR—Paying tributes to1990 Gaw Kadal as well asHandwara and Kupwara mar-tyrs, APHC (M) has said thatKashmir struggle would betaken forward till it reaches itslogical end.

A Hurriyat (M) delegationincluding senior Hurriyat lead-ers including Zaffar Akbar Bhat,Javaid Ahmad Mir, Syed BashirAndrabi and Imtiyaz Reshi vis-ited Dalgate and other areas ofSrinagar to offer Fateh Khwaniand pay tributes to the martyrsof Gaw Kadal, Hurriyat (M)

Sacrifices of Kashmiris assetof struggle: Hurriyat (M)

statement said.Terming the ‘sacrifices laid

down by Kashmiris for the Kash-mir cause as the priceless assetof the struggle’, senior Hurriyat(M) leader Zafar Akbar Bhatstressed upon the internationalcommunity to respect the aspira-tions of Kashmiris by playingtheir role in resolving Kashmirissue either by implementing UNresolutions or though tripartitedialogue, statement added.

“The Hurriyat delegationalso visited the house ofSirajudin Farooqi, brother in law

of senior Hurriyat leaderMushtaq Ahmad Zargar, whowas subjected to enforced dis-appearance two decades ago.The leaders expressed solidaritywith the family,” statement said.

“Another Hurriyat delega-tion led by Adnan Nadwi visitedthe house of late Javed AhmadSalfi at Bulbul Nowgam andparticipated in his funeralprayers. They also expressedsolidarity with the bereavedfamily,” Hurriyat (M) statementfurther said.

The statement added that

while paying tributes to GawKadal martyrs, Hurriyat (M)leader and chairman of PeoplesPolitical Party Hilal Ahmad Warsaid that, “In the entire history ofman kind, the Gaw Kadal massa-cre would remain a blot on Indiaand would also depict how Stateplayed dirty tricks to suppress thepopular movement of Kashmiris.”

APHC (M) in its statementalso paid tributes to G N Mir,who happens to be father of se-nior Hurriyat leader JavaidAhmad Mir on his 21st deathanniversary.—NNI

Geelani inNew Delhifor medical

checkupNEW DELHI—ChairmanHurriyat (G) Syed Ali Geelanihas arrived in New Delhi for ageneral medical checkup andwill be returning to the valleysoon, a party spokesman said.

In a statement issued partyspokesman Ayaz Akbar said thatGeelani has lost weight and af-ter an endoscopy test, the resultshave shown that he has a swelledstomach. “It was decided that heshould undergo a general checkup,” he said.

Ayaz Akbar said that despitesuffering from multiple ail-ments, the Geelani preferred tostay in the valley during the win-ter. “But few days back therewas a continuous weight losswas observed in Geelani Sahiband he also complained of con-tinuous stomach ache,” he said.

“On the advice of doctors toconduct an endoscopy, it wasfound that he had a swelling in thestomach. Doctors also advisedhim to undergo a detailed generalmedical checkup,” he said.

Akbar said that continuoushouse arrest has proved detrimen-tal to the party Chairman’s health.“Omar Abdullah government haskept him in cage from past threeyears. It has not only affected hissocial, religious and political ob-ligations but also has taken tollto his health,” he said.—NNI

JAMMU—Taking a dig on theOmar Abdullah led coalition gov-ernment for most corrupt govern-ment in the state, the sitting PDPMLC and Member Parliamentcandidate for Jammu-PoonchLok Sabha Yash Pal Sharma saidthat in corruption the state hascrossed all the limits but in gov-ernance it lacks from all sides.

Addressing a public rally-cum-joining rally, organized bySalman Bhati, district president,Youth Labour Cell, PDP,Sharma said that the state is go-ing through anarchy, which hasdemoralized the people andcommoner. He asked the peopleto remain the cautious about thenefarious design of the present

IHK govt has crossed alllimits of corruption: PDP

regime, which is hell bent tomisuse all the constitutionalgovernment institutions for theirpersonal purpose. He also saidthat sitting ministers are onlyfleecing the state exchequer andthere is no accountability orcounter check.

Appealing for huge votingin the favour of PDP, Sharmasaid that PDP was the only party,which can deliver justice andequality with all the three re-gions of the state and no regionwill feel about any kind of dis-crimination. He said that MuftiMohammed Sayeed is national-ist leader and enough mature tounderstand the people aspira-tions. He said that during his ten-

ure as Union Home Minister,Mufti had taken several landmarks decision in the favour ofstate and nation.

Salman Bhati, who orga-nized this largely attended pub-lic gathering asked the people tocome out openly and join thePDP for their better future. Hesaid that people had witnessed therule of NC, Congress and otherpolitical parties but the threeyears regime of Mufti from 2002to 2005 was an exemplary gov-ernment and did much for thepeople especially youth. He putforth the demand of granting ofcitizenship right including statesubject and reservation quota toall safai karmachari.—NNI

SRINAGAR—The continuingstandoff between authorities onLoC following seizure of agoods truck allegedly carryinghuge consignment of narcoticsfrom Azad Kashmir evokedmixed reactions with some sepa-ratists calling for a thorough in-quiry into the incident.

“The way this incident is be-ing projected, it can be a conspiracybecause there is a war going on herebetween the agencies of the twocountries. If some person is in-volved in this trade, he should betaken to task but blaming Pakistanas a state for pumping in narcoticsfor Kashmir youth is ridiculous,”Shabir Shah, chairman of newlyformed Hurriyat ConferenceJammu and Kashmir said.

Shah demanded that thereshould be a full-fledged indepen-dent inquiry into the incident par-ticularly through United NationsMilitary Observers Group in In-dia and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)looking after the LoC. “Factsneed to be brought to fore. Andfor that you cannot rely on onesided inquiry. There should be an

LoC trade stalemate evokes mixed reactions

JKlF, NC urge to resolveKashmir dispute through talks

independent probe into this inci-dent,” Shah demanded.

Ayaz Akbar, spokesman ofthe Hurriyat Conference (G) hassaid that that Cross LoC trade isitself a non issue for the Hurriyat(G). “We have already opposedthe Cross LoC trade as we be-lieve that this symbolic initiativewas taken to damage the Kash-mir cause. So when Cross LoCtrade is itself a non issue for us,incidents like you mentionedhardly deserve any reaction.”

Mohammad Yasin Malik,chairman Jammu and KashmirLiberation Front (JKLF) sum-marized his opinion saying thatunless the basic issue of Kash-mir is resolved these incidentsare bound to happen. “Thesecosmetic measures (tradeacross LoC) are bound to wit-ness such incidents becausethese measures san transpar-ency. Unless the Kashmir issueis resolved permanently, theseincidents will continue to hap-pen,” Malik said.

Mehbooba Mufti, presidentPeoples Democratic Party (PDP)

observed that a single incidentlike seizure of narcotics shouldnot impede the Cross LoC tradeas lot of efforts have been put into facilitate this initiative.

“With a single incident thatis seizure of narcotics, everythingseems to have come to a stand-still. Government of India shouldtake up this matter with the au-thorities in Pakistan besides tak-ing up the issue of safety of ourdrivers who are stuck on the otherside of the LoC. I know effortsare being made to derail this con-fidence building measure be-tween the two countries but PDPwill never allow that to happen,”she added.

Mehboob Beg, NationalConference Member Parliamentechoed the opinion of JKLFchairman saying that unless po-litical instability in Kashmir isresolved such incidents will takeplace some or the other time.“These incidents are the symp-toms of Kashmir problem andthe symptomatic treatment isalright but you will have to ad-dress the basic disease.”—NNI

NEW DELHI—Putting questionmarks about 1987 Elections,puppet Chief Minister OmarAbdullah has said that Electionsin Jammu and Kashmir are notrigged. In a media interview,Omar Abdullah said that in 1987he was not in politics and there-fore can’t say what actually hap-pened that year.

To an allegation that elec-tions in Kashmir are labeled‘rigged’, Omar Abdullah said, “Idon’t think elections in Jammuand Kashmir are any worse thanelections that take place in anyother part of the subcontinent. Infact, I dare say that they are bet-

Omar: Territorial ‘give-and-take’no solution to Kashmir issue

ter than some of the elections thattake place in a lot of other places.So, I think this is a convenienttool that is used by those peoplewho are inimical to the constitu-tional relationship that Jammuand Kashmir shares with the restof India. And they are quite happyto use “elections are alwaysrigged”, sort of, handle to beat uswith, but as far as I’m concernedthere is very little truth in that.”

When asked why he let gothe Kashmiris’ right to self-de-termination, conceded even byPandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Omarsaid that the circumstances thatwere required for that right to

self-determination to be given tothe people of the Jammu andKashmir were never created.“Time has moved on. Life hasmoved on. And, even now myonly argument with the peoplewho keep raising this point iswhy you are only interested inthe right to self-determinationfor the people of Jammu andKashmir on the side of India.Why do you never talk about theright to self-determination on thepeople on the other side? Theproblem of Jammu and Kashmirhas plagued our relations since1947, and it will continue toplague our relations.” —NNI

Gawkadalmassacre blot

on Indiandemocracy

SRIANGAR—A former Indianbureaucrat, who served in Kash-mir, has termed the Gawkadalmassacre, in which 52 unarmedprotesters were killed by govern-ment force twenty four years ago,‘a blot on Indian democracy’.

Wajahat Habibullah, theformer bureaucrat, who served asKashmir’s divisional commis-sioner, said without any doubt themassacre of innocent people inGawkadal is ‘a blot on Indian de-mocracy’ and a dark day in Kash-mir history. “I was not present inKashmir when this massacre oc-curred but I believe that innocentpeople were killed and the culpritsmust be punished without any-more delay now,” Habibullah,who currently heads the NationalCommission of Minorities, said.

Habibullah said time hascome that killers need to be ex-posed. The former divisionalcommissioner said situation isdifferent now in Kashmir andthere is no reason to shield thosemen in uniform who committedheinous crimes in Kashmir.

“The facts will come out bysetting up this Commission. Itis important that facts and truthcome to surface. Whether, guiltywill face the music or not but thepeople will come to know aboutfacts,” he said, adding: time hascome that government exposesthose elements responsible forcommitting crimes like rapesand murder.—NNI

VK Singhrefuses to accept

breach ofprivilege motion

JAMMU—The Jammu andKashmir Assembly Speaker hasreferred breach of privilege mo-tion against former Army ChiefGeneral (retd) V K Singh in con-nection with his alleged remarksagainst leaders of the state tocommittee of privileges of As-sembly for examination.

“Speaker Mubarak Gul hasreferred breach of privilege no-tice (signed by 15 ministers andmembers) against former ArmyChief (retd) Gen V K Singhalong with reply received fromhim to Committee of privilegesof Assembly for further exami-nation, investigation and re-port,” Special Secretary andSpokesperson, JK Assembly, NR Singh said.

The Speaker has turneddown Gen Singh’s request forquashing the privilege motionagainst him, he said. Assertingthat various quotes ascribed tohim are inaccurate and incorrectto the extent of being “mis-quotes”, former Army ChiefGeneral (retd) V K Singh, hadin his December 13, 2013 letterto the Speaker sought quashingof privilege motion and no fur-ther proceedings against him.

“In response to the allega-tions levelled against me videthe breach of privilege motionmoved by certain members ofyour House, I almost respect-fully point out that variousquotes ascribed to me are inac-curate and incorrect to the ex-tent of being misquotes,” he hadsaid.

“In light of facts and circum-stances, it is respectfully submit-ted that the allegations levelledagainst me by way of breach ofprivilege motion by members ofLegislative Assembly are notmade out and appear to be a caseof misinformation. Gen Singhhad claimed during a TV inter-view that Army was payingmoney to politicians in Jammuand Kashmir.—NNI

‘No justificationfor Delhi to

celebrate RepublicDay in IHK’

SRINAGAR—The Chairpersonof Kashmir Tehreek-e-Khawateen, Anjum ZamurudaHabib, has said that there is nojustification for India to cel-ebrate its Republic Day, Janu-ary 26, in the territory as it hasdeprived the people of Kashmirof their inalienable right to self-determination.Anjum ZamurudaHabib in a statement issued inSrinagar said that Kashmiris hadbeen struggling for securingtheir birthright for last severaldecades but India was suppress-ing their movement through useof brute force. He said that In-dia could not prolong its occu-pation over Kashmir asKashmiris had pledged to con-tinue their struggle till completesuccess.

She deplored that Indiantroops and police personnel wereharassing the people of Kashmirespecially youth amidst IndianRepublic Day, which was unjust.She also supported the strike callgiven by the veteran Hurriyetleader, Syed Ali Gilani on Janu-ary 26 and urged people to ob-served complete strike on theday.

He said that despite the pas-sage of more than six decadesIndia yet to fulfill its commit-ment. He said that India had oc-cupied the territory against thewill of its people and it had noright to celebrate its RepublicDay in the occupied territory. Heappealed the people to observeIndian Republic Day as BlackDay and convey a message tothe international community thatKashmiris were struggling fortheir democratic right.—KMS

Doda civilsociety demands

probe intostudent’s death

JAMMU—The civil society,trade organizations and Bar andstudent associations of Dodadistrict have called upon thepuppet administration to ensuresecurity of the Kashmiris, par-ticularly students in differentstates of India.

These associations and or-ganizations demanded immedi-ate in depth probe by Indian gov-ernment into the mysteriousdeath of a final year engineer-ing student studying in RayatBhara Engineering CollegeHoshyarpur, in Indian state ofPunjab.

They said that MehrajKhalid Mintoo son of RiazHussain Mintoo, a resident ofDoda, died mysteriously andsuspected the hand of somecriminals elements behind it.

Khalid was found dead atHosyarpur on Jan 19, 2014 un-der mysterious circumstances.The student breathed his last atGovt. Civil Hospital, Hoshyarpurand the body was handed over tofamily after autopsy. The de-ceased was brought to Dodahometown on Jan 20, wherethousands of people offered hisnimaz-e-Janaza.—KMS

Three killed asmini-truck

falls in gorgeKOTLI—Three persons werekilled and more than 10 othersinjured when a mini-truckplunged in ravine here. Policesaid that an over speeding mini-truck skidded off road and fellin gorge near Rehmanpura areaof district Kotli in Azad Jammuand Kashmir.

Three persons were killed onthe spot in the accident and morethan 10 others sustained wounds.The locals and police reached thescene of the accident shifted theinjured to hospital.—INP

SRINAGAR—Jammu KashmirLiberation Front (JKLF) chair-man Mohammad Yasin Malik,who lead protest demonstrationat Basant Bagh in uptownSrinagar to protest against 1990Gaw Kadal massacre, said Indiaand Pakistan should give prior-ity to Kashmir issue and puttrade and other things behindthis human issue.

Malik led a protest rally or-ganized to commemorate theJanuary, 21 1990 Gaw Kadalmassacre in which over 50 peoplewere killed. Chanting pro-free-dom and anti-India slogans, theprocessionists were demandingprobe into the massacre and ac-tion against the guilty troopersinvolved in the killings.

While addressing theprocessionists at Basant Bagh,he said January 21 is an impor-tant day of Kashmir’s 5000 yearold history. “On this day thou-sands of unarmed people cameout of their houses to demandfreedom. These peaceful peoplewere showered with bullets byforces. Same kind of massacrescontinued at Handwara, Sopore,Sailan Poonch, Zakura, bypassBatamaloo, Magarmal Bagh,

India, Pakistan should givepriority to Kashmir dispute: Malik

Baderwah, Marmat Doda, andBijebihara etc. to terrorizepeople of Kashmir”.

Malik said today India andPakistan is showing lot ofwarmth and started a fresh pro-cess of dialogue. “Kashmiris arenot against dialogue. We are ofthe opinion that it is only thedialogue institution that resolvesissues and problems. But it isequally true that in dialogue pri-ority is given to the issues thatare concerned with sufferings ofhumans and trade and commercefollow. It is ironical that in ourcase trade and commerce aresuperseding the human suffer-ings and tragedies” .

He said when India and Pa-kistan talk and forget JammuKashmir, it is a matter of graveconcern for them. “India andPakistan should give priority toJammu Kashmir and put tradeand other things behind this hu-man issue. If Kashmir issue issolved all other issues will getresolved easily because JammuKashmir is the main issue threat-ening the peace and stability ofsouth Asia”.

Malik said India, Pakistanand the international community

must also remember that Kash-mir is not a border dispute be-tween India and Pakistan. “Thisis the issue of future of millionsof Kashmiris and cannot besolved without the active partici-pation of the people of JammuKashmir. Therefore it is neces-sary for India and Pakistan toaccept the owner status ofKashmiris and include them inthe dialogue process as principleparty to the dispute.”

While criticizing pro-Indiaparties, leaders and assemblymembers on their “hypocriticalpolitics” on Kashmir, he saidthese parties and leaders are re-sponsible for the sufferings ofKashmiris.

“These people provide a le-gal cover to massacres like atGaw Kadal and also make blacklaws like AFSPA and PSA tosuppress the voices for freedom.Some of these people call forautonomy, some for self rule andsome even have been assignedthe job of chanting Azadi slo-gans in Indian assembly tobefool people. However,Kashmiris are matured enoughnow and know their wicked poli-tics,” he added.—NNI

The entrepreneuralways searches forchange, responds toit, and exploits it as

an opportunity.

— Peter Drucker

Pak forex reservesfigure $ 8.16804 bKARACHI—The total liquidforeign reserves of thecountry stand at dollars8.16804 billion, said StateBank of Pakistan (SBP).SBP’s weekly statementissued here on Thursdaysaid that the foreignreserves held by State Bankon January 17, 2014amounted $ 3,322.3million.Whereas, the netforeign reserves held bybanks other than SBPamounted $ 4,846.1 million.During the week ending Jan17, the SBP’s liquid foreignexchange reserves decreasedby $ 145 million to $ 3,322million compared to $ 3,467million in the previous week.The decrease in the CentralBank reserves is partlyattributed to $ 59 million paidon account of external debtservicing and other officialpayments.—APP

ISE-10 index witnessesbullish trendISLAMABAD—IslamabadStock Exchange witnessedbullish trend here onThursday as the ISE-10 indexwas up by 7.03 points andclosed at 4,700.79 points. Atotal of 203,500 shares weretraded, which were up by 400shares when it comparedwith previous day’s tradingof 203,100 shares. Out of 172companies, share prices of 99companies recorded increasewhile share prices of 73companies registereddecrease where as onecompany remained stable intoday’s trading. The shareprice of Sanofi Aventisincreased by Rs. 42.21 pershare while the share pricesof Tri-Pak Films decreasedby Rs. 11.27 per share.—APP

Shipping activity atPort QasimKARACHI—Brisk shippingactivity has been observedat the Port Qasim where fiveships carrying Containers,Rice and Edible Oil wereberthed at Qasim Interna-tional Containers Terminal,FAP Terminal and LiquidCargo Terminal on Monday,21st January. Meanwhiletwo more ships carryingcontainers and cement alsoarrived at outer anchorageof Port Qasim during last 24hours. Berth occupancy was85% at the Port on Wednes-day where total nine shipsnamely Saf Marine Ngami,Maersk Kolkata, UASCSitrah, Blue Cat, MTKarachi, Dailan Star-D, GloryOcean, Feng Hai 32 andFeng Hai-35 are currentlyoccupying berths to load /offload, Containers, Cement,Furnace oil, Rice.—APP

DR. HUMAYUN BAKHT

THERE are several factors which are relatedwith both the indi-

vidual and the nationalprogress of a country. Someof these can make a nationless dependent on others.What our observations arethat the more independenta nation is the better. It is interms of maintaining foreignrelations and to apply localpolicies with freedom. Read-ers might agree that due torelaying on foreign aids andfinancial institutions, we of-ten see unwanted and un-desired involvement ofdonor’s or loan lenders in acountry’s affairs. In my viewwhat is needed a better plan-ning frame work at the grass

root level which assist inbuilding a free and an inde-pendent nation.

A government needs afreedom of choice in its se-lection of forming relations oreven drawing an annual bud-get. It can not be availedthrough short term or similarplanning rather a broaderstrategy of nation buildingshould be adopted. Unlike,countries where each newgovernment keeps goodwork going from the previousone, there may be some whichhave been an experimentalplace for new experiments. Insuch cases, it normally re-sults in resources and fundsconsumption due to givingfocus on issues which canbring one into power thenaddressing the core causes.

I will discuss this some timelater as without being con-troversial, I rather leave thaton those who are more expe-rienced to comment on thistopic. My intention is to con-tribute my thoughts which Ifeel could be beneficial forany one who can transformthem into a practical form.

Industrial revolution islinked with an active researchportfolio. It is harder to ig-nore the importance of re-lated research expertise indue course. What needsadopted is formation of Smallto Medium Size Enterprises(SME’s) for production of allitems within a country ratherthen importing the same fromoutside.

Such production mayvary from a needle to a pas-

senger plan or from a cycleto a car. I understand that itcould save foreign exchangeand will become a key factorin decreasing unemploymentrate. I do appreciate recentlyannounce ‘Youth LoanScheme’ but it requires an-swering some questions.Such as, where and how it willspend? What will achieve?How will it pay back?

In my humble view,youth should be encour-aged to present a businessplan prior to make a loan re-quest. A monitoring commit-tee in due course should as-sess presented businessplans and where there areshort comings provide feedback accordingly. Please in-troduce such scheme as onopen merit basis rather then

dividing allocated funds intodifference areas. In otherwords, please turn this intoa creative activity wherepeople conduct research tothink what exactly they in-tend to do if the loan is is-sued. A good suggestion isto choose a production ofan item or carrying out anyfurther development inone’s chosen field. A web ofSME’s could bring an indus-trial revolution even thoughthat might be at a smallerlevel.

Every one in this world isgifted with some naturalqualities. If such qualities areutilized as a part of some pro-ductive process it can unveilsome hidden prospects andbenefits. I am sure there aremany a people whose talent

have been wasted partiallydue to not utilizing in a ben-eficial way. Please let us in-vite youth to be a key playerof the future by empoweringthem with some thing theyare capable off.

The same applies to allcategories of youthweather having high orwith basic qualifications. Ifthe idea of SME’s soundsheavy for some one thenwe can ask youth’s to at-least presents theirthoughts and intentions ina way where it can attractothers to fol low. In re-search we conduct , f ind-ings are contributed forothers to fol low shouldthey choose to. Similarlyabove mentioned presenta-t ions can be taken under

some project name madeaccessible online to createa competitive environment.It would be wise to bringforward experience aca-demics from research ledinstitutions.

They could provide avaluable resource in termsof providing backgroundinformation about somepotential project proposal.In an easy sense we cantake it as a quick summa-rize feasibility report of anidea.

Trend is changingthrough out the world; I stillremember where people wereemployed at an academic po-sition without being a PhD.A PhD in my understandingis a process of developingthinkers. Thinkers who can

provide prompt advice onshort terms and potential is-sues to face in the future. Ithink many of the progressplans could assign asprojects forms under PhDstudentships program. It willdraw different benefitsnamely finding talentedpeople; saving funds andbring more and more educa-tional establishments to-wards research. I guess itwon’t take much effort onour part will it?—About the author Dr.Humayun Bakht is the au-thor of “Mobile Ad-hoc Net-working”. He is the devel-oper of MAODDP a commu-nication scheme for shortlive network. He could bereached athumayunbakht@yahoo.co.uk.

Youth Loan Scheme, a good step forward

I S L A M A B A D — C a n a d i a nHigh Commissioner toIslamabad Greg Giokas saidThursday that agriculturaldevelopment could providePakistan food security, gavejobs to the unemployed andprovide it a solid base foragricultural exports to the re-gion. Canadian envoy wasspeaking at the 5throundtable of the PakistanAgricultural Coalition (PAC)at the Canadian High Com-missioner official residencehere which was attended byrepresentatives of businessand agriculture community,the international donors andUN officials.PAC was estab-lished in June last year withthe objective to promote ag-ricultural potential of the

country.“In addition, Pakistan’s

economic success is crucialfor regional peace, prosper-ity and stability. By strength-ening its agriculture sector,Pakistan will play a leader-ship role in trade and invest-ment in the region,” said astatement of the CanadianHigh Commission here. Hesaid agricultural developmentwould play “a crucial role inthe future success of thecountry,” hence Canada waskeen to promote develop-ment of a comprehensive ag-riculture policy and privateinvestment by forging coop-eration with other stakehold-ers in the sector.

“Therefore, Canada, withAustralia and the United

States, is leading consulta-tions with Pakistan’s agricul-ture and business sector, thedonor community and policymakers,” he said. The HighCommissioner praised thePakistan Agriculture Councilfor providing leadership andguidance to all participantsin this initiative. During theRoundtable, the PAC pro-vided a presentation on theirobjectives for changes inagriculture related policy;improvement in extensionservices and provision ofknow-how and information tofarmers and sector stake-holders. Arif Nadeem, CEO ofPAC emphasized the largepotential for value additionin Pakistan’s agriculture sec-tor.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Ambassadorof Sweden, TomasRosander here on Thursdaysaid that his country waskeen to increase its eco-nomic ties with Pakistan.

The Ambassador calledon Finance Minister,Mohammad Ishaq Dar anddiscussed bilateral eco-nomic matters.

The minister said thatthe focus of the govern-ment desired expansion ofeconomic relations withother nations with focus ontrade and investment.

The Swedish Ambassa-dor said that Sweden iskeen to increase its eco-nomic ties with Pakistan. Inthis connection he in-formed the Finance Minis-ter that a trade delegation

comprising Swedish busi-

ness persons led by Speakerof the Swedish Parliament is

planning to visit Pakistan

this year.During the meeting the

Swedish Ambassador alsodiscussed the (30.4 MW)Jagran-1 Hydro PowerProject constructed in col-laboration with a SwedishCompany in Azad Jammuand Kashmir (AJK). TheFinance Minister assuredthe Swedish Ambassadorthat he would look into theissue of outstanding pay-ment of the Swedish Com-pany and take up the mat-ter with relevant authoritiesof AJK Government for itsexpeditious resolution.

The meeting was at-tended by Advisor to Min-istry of Finance Rana AsadAmin, Secretary KashmirAffairs, Shahidullah Baigand senior officials of theAJK Government and Fi-nance Ministry.—APP

Sweden keen to increaseeconomic ties with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Swedish Ambassador, Tomas Rosandercalled on Federal Minister for Finance, SenatorMuhammad Ishaq Dar.

Pak agricultural developmentcan provide food security, jobs

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Federation of Pa-kistan Chambers of Com-merce and Industry (FPCCI)on Thursday expressed seri-ous concern over vast cor-ruption in the aid receivedfrom The Global Fund to fighttuberculosis, malaria andAIDS. Massive abuse offunds, corruption and mis-management in programme fi-nanced by the Global Fundthough systematic fraud hascompromised Pakistan’s abil-ity to overcome the killer dis-eases, said Mr. Zubair AhmedMalik, President FPCCI.

Mr. Zubair said that mis-use of grants by the world’slargest donor against threediseases must be stoppedand NAB should probe thematter to bring culprits tobook bringing bad name tothe country. The mismanage-ment must be uncovered andmade public otherwise wewould be running risk of sus-pension or discontinuationof grants, he warned. ZubairAhmed Malik said that cor-ruption has led to increasedexposure of population totuberculosis, malaria andAIDS which is intolerable.

He said that Global Fund

has placed a Country Coordi-nating Mechanism to ensurelocal ownership, participatorydecision-making, multi-stake-holder partnerships and su-pervision progress duringimplementation. However, amafia has left the mechanismineffective by removing all therepresentatives of privatesector and NGOs except thosewho will endorse all the deci-sions unquestionably.

By avoiding opposition,all the decisions becomeunanimous and harmoniousenough to deceive the donor,its policy board and GlobalFund Inspector General’s of-fice, he added. The FPCCIchief said that the unabatedplunder includes award ofjuicy contracts to blue eyed,procurement of medicinesand other equipment on pa-per, promoting dishonest anddiscouraging the upright.

He said that federalhealth ministry has been in-formed about the situationtime and again by numerousstakeholders but it has failedto act accordingly or ensureappropriate use of funds.Absence of corrective mea-sures will lead to wastage ofmost of the funds in the dol-lar 350 million aid, said Malik.

FPCCI raises alarmover misuse of

Global Fund aid

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of USA, Richard Olsan meeting Federal Minister for Com-merce and Textile Industry, Engr Khurram Dastgir.

DAVOS—Australian miningmagnate Andrew Forrest hasannounced a plan which hesays will free 2.5 millionpeople from slavery in Paki-stan. Mr Forrest has signeda deal with the Pakistan’sPunjab province which willgive it access to Australiantechnology which can con-vert lignite coal into diesel.In return, he says Pakistanhas agreed to bring in lawswhich will tackle the prob-lem of slavery, or bonded

Australian mining magnateannounces deal with Punjab Govt

Convertion of lignite coal into diesel

labour.The Global Slavery Index,

compiled by Mr Forrest’sWalk Free foundation, esti-mates that some 16 millionpeople in Pakistan and Indiaare held in slave-like bond-age through debt and forcedlabour.

Mr Forrest announcedthe deal in the Swiss resortof Davos, where world lead-ers are meeting for the WorldEconomic Forum. “They[Punjab] have literally hun-

dreds of billions of tonnes ofequivalent barrel of oil energyin their lignite,” he said.

“That technology we willmake available - pro bono,without charge - and linkingthat informally, but abso-lutely, to their total commit-ment to free their people fromslavery.” The concept haswon praise from former Brit-ish prime minister Tony Blair,who described it as a greatexample of Australian philan-thropy.—INP

Hascol approvesaccounts of 2013

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Board of Di-rectors of Hascol have ap-proved the accounts of theCompany for the year endedDecember 31, 2013 in theirmeeting held on Thursday. Si-multaneously, applicationswith Karachi and LahoreStock Exchanges have beenfiled for the approval of List-ing of Shares of Hascol Pe-troleum Limited.

HPL is expecting thatafter the approval, HPL’sshares will be trading onKarachi & Lahore Stock Ex-changes by the end of Feb-ruary 2014.

There are thirteen OilMarketing Companies(“OMC”) operating in Paki-stan including foreign anddomestic players out ofwhich only four (04) arelisted on local bourses.That said, close to 90% ofthe market is dominated byfour oil marketing compa-nies with state-owned PSOhaving the largest marketshare at 63%.

RCCI concernedover prevailingenergy situation

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—RawalpindiChamber of Commerce andIndustry (RCCI) on Thurs-day expressed concern overincreased duration of elec-tricity load-shedding andsuspension of natural gassupply in most parts of thecity. RCCI President, DrShimail Daud said 10 to 12hours power load-sheddingin urban and 15 to 20 hoursoutages daily in rural areasof the Rawalpindi region es-pecially in winter season isunjustified.

He said prevailing en-ergy situation is affecting theindustrial sector as factoriesare unable to meet produc-tion demands, which is ulti-mately hampering businessactivities. He expressedthese views during a meet-ing with a delegation of trad-ers and industrialists thatcalled on him here. RCCI’sSenior Vice President MalikShahid Saleem and VicePresident Muhammad AlamChughtai were also presenton the occasion.

Daud said the businesscommunity has pinned highexpectations with the presentgovernment of PakistanMuslim League Nawaz(PML-N) and suggested it totake drastic action against theelements involved in gas andelectricity theft.

Textile exportsimproved withconsistent gassupply; PTEA

FAISALABAD—The country’stextile exports has been sig-nificantly improved with con-sistent gas supply to exportoriented textile sector, SheikhIlyas Mahmood, chairmanand Adil Tahir, vice chairman,Pakistan Textile Exporters As-sociation said here Thursday.In a joint statement, welcom-ing the growth of 22.4 percentin textile exports during De-cember 2013 they termed itgood sign for nationaleconomy.

They said, the consistentsupply of gas to export ori-ented textile sector producedthe desired results, especiallyin the Punjab.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The DirectorGeneral PAMA expressedserious concern at the rag-ing pace of import of usedcars. In the first half of out-going year (2013) the figureswas 5512 units and in thesecond half the figure almostdoubled to 11314 units forwhich there was no apparentjustification except massiveabuse of the facility by thetraders. The import and de-tention, at the port, of overone thousand units of cars,with more than permissibleage limit, is a case in pointthat whereas only this muchhave been detained maymore such offending ve-hicles might have been re-leased in the past.

Speaking to the media ata meeting here today he said“Local industry has been

Influx of used cars pinchto domestic auto industry

highlighting the abuse of theschemes meant for overseasPakistanis but unfortunatelyno action was taken againstthe unscrupulous importerswho have continued withtheir illegal activities un-checked. Regrettably, nowthey have crossed all limitsby in one go importing onethousand overage cars inblatant violation of the law.All such offending vehiclesmust be confiscated forthewith and criminal cases beinstituted against the offend-ers of the law”

DG PAMA shared thatover 12,000 all types used ve-hicles were imported duringfirst half of FY14 which is over12% of the total market. Asthere is partial exemption induty and taxes available toused cars the huge volume ofimports has deprived govern-ment of over PKR 7 billion in

duty/taxes due to lower dutyfixed as per SRO 577 back in2005. It is an irony that thereis much higher amount of dutyon a locally manufactured carthan a comparable importedused car.

“It’s going to be a decadenow since the amount ofduty on used vehicles wasfixed in SRO577; world haschanged since in terms ofvehicle technology, rise in theprices of steel, aluminum,rubber and plastics and thevehicle prices have also goneup globally; the contents ofthe SRO reflecting amount ofduty has remained un-changed, notwithstanding”The local industry is offeringbrand new vehicles at themost competitive prices withcomplete warrantee and com-prehensive after sales sup-port thereby protecting con-sumer interests.

LeadershipAwards

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Siemens andthe C40 Cities ClimateLeadership Group (C40)today launched the Sec-ond annual cycle of theprestigious City ClimateLeadership Awards, open-ing up the application pro-cess for global cities dem-onstrating excellence inurban Sustainability. Thefocus of the 2014 compe-tition is on recognizinginnovative and Environ-mentally impact cityprojects as well as “hid-den champions” – high-Performing urban projectsachieved in spite of finan-cial constraints or difficultEconomic environments.

“The C40 & SiemensCity Climate LeadershipAwards are dedicated to theidea that cities are leadingthe way in addressing therisks posed by climatechange. The success of ourinaugural event in Septem-ber 2013 made it easy for usto not only continue our ef-forts but expand on them bycreating an open applicationprocess. And through theAwards process, we are cre-ating a valuable platform tocatalog and share the mostinnovative on-the-groundcity driven solutions so thatthey can be recognized andemulated by others,” saidPresident of the C40 Boardof Directors, Michael R.Bloomberg.

Visa offerscardholders‘life-time

opportunity’AMANULLAH KHAN

·

KARACHI—As part of itssponsorship of the 2014FIFA World Cup BrazilTMVisa Inc., one of the world’slargest retail electronic pay-ments networks, haslaunched a promotiontosend one valued cardholderin Pakistan to the 2014 FIFAWorld Cup Brazil™ finalmatch, hosted at the Estádiodo Maracanã in Rio deJaneiro on Sunday 13 July2014. The 2014 FIFA WorldCup BrazilTM, which isscheduled to take place inJune and July this year, isone of the most highly an-ticipated events of the yearwhich will see 32 teams fromall around the globe com-peting for the most presti-gious prize in the sport. Bra-zil will become the centre ofattention for the world andVisa has extended an oppor-tunity for Pakistani footballfans to be part of the glam-orous show. Visacardholders who spend be-tween January 1, 2014 andFebruary 28, 2014 using theircredit card, debit card, giftor prepaid card, will earn anentry into the draw for ev-ery transaction performed –the higher the number oftransactions, the greater thechance of winning.

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

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

Currency Selling Buying

Bullion Rates

RS PER 10 GRAMS

USA 105.20 105.00

UK 174.28 173.95

Euro 142.53 142.26

Canada 94.40 94.22

Switzerland 115.38 115.16

Australia 92.55 92.37

Sweden 16.23 16.20

Japan 1.0080 1.0060

Norway 17.06 17.03

Singapore 82.10 81.94

Denmark 19.10 19.06

Saudi Arabia 28.05 28.00

Hong Kong 13.56 13.53

Kuwait 371.90 371.19

Malaysia 31.57 31.51

Newzealand 87.11 86.94

Qatar 28.89 28.83

UAE 28.64 28.59

KR. WON 0.0981 0.0979

Thailand 3.191 3.185

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s am-bassador to Tokyo FarukhAmil said Thursday the gov-ernment would utilize all ex-isting resources and wouldset up new coal, hydel powerplants and use civil nucleartechnology for overcomingthe energy crisis. He was talk-ing to members of JapanChamber of Commerce andIndustry (JCCI) during a meet-ing with its Chairman JCCIAkio Mimura and other seniorofficers at the office of theChamber in Tokyo. The envoyunderlined the government’sfocus on strengthening the

economy and attracting in-vestment, said a message re-ceived here from Tokyo.

The top priority for theGovernment, he said, was en-ergy security with the aim toincrease the efficiency of theexisting power plants. Pakistanwas on a positive trajectory ofgrowth and development andas always, valued highly theseventy six Japanese compa-nies already operating thereand warmly welcomed newones to join in to benefit fromthe huge domestic andneighbouring markets. Heurged Japanese companies to

visit Pakistan to meet their part-ners in business and prosper-ity. The ambassador sug-gested training young peoplefrom Pakistan to learn the Japa-nese corporate managementculture. In order to help Paki-stan create jobs for youngpopulation, he requested sup-port of JCCI for duty conces-sion for Pakistani textile prod-ucts on the lines of the EU. Herequested Chairman JCCI toencourage maximum participa-tion of Japanese companies forthe upcoming Joint Businessto Business Dialogue plannedfor April 2014.—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—To expedite andaccelerate the pace of ongo-ing trade with India throughWagha Border, the LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI) has calledfor an early implementationof a well-tailored and wellthought-out Integrated Bor-der Management system atWagha in consultation withall the public and privatesector stakeholders.

The call was given bythe LCCI President EngineerSohail Lashari while presid-ing over the first-ever meet-ing of Wagha Border TradeFacilitation Working Groupconstituted by the LCCIhere at the Lahore Chamberof Commerce and Industryon Thursday.

Ali Pirzada, Director Gen-eral, Policy & Projects,Punjab Board of Investmentand Trade, Brig.(r) NadeemIqbal Raja, Director Dry Portsof National Logistics Cell,Dr.Khurram Muneer, DeputyDirector, Conformity As-sessment, Pakistan Standardand Quality Control Author-ity (PSQCA), Nadeem Khan,CEO of M/s Razziq Interna-tional, Chairman LCCI Stand-ing Committee on Pak-IndiaTrade Promotion AftabAhmad Vohra and Ms NasiraTaskeen gave their respec-tive point of view on as tohow the impediments to thetwo-way trade could be re-moved. The LCCI Presidentsaid that the Lahore Cham-ber wanted of the govern-ment to introduce a new man-agement system without any

further delay so that the tradebetween Pakistan and Indiacould flourish.

He said that since thepresent government hadclearly given its view on busi-ness with regional countriesparticularly trade with Indiatherefore all the concernedPublic and Private sector en-tities should be on same pageso that a collective approachand collective wisdom couldbe applied to put the Pak-In-dia trade vehicle in top gear.Engineer Sohail Lashari wasof the view that that dry portsshould be activated insteadof managing trade activitiesat border. Trucks should begiven access to dry ports tocomplete the procedural for-malities before going to bor-der terminal to avoid longqueues. He also emphasized

to have a complete comput-erized system at both sidesof the border for an effectiveliaison and smooth and effi-cient services.

The LCCI President saidthat in Amritsar large hotelsare being constructed as In-dian government expectslarge influx of businessmenand tourists from Pakistan.Similarly, Government of In-dia had also formed the“Land Port Authority” forregulating and facilitating thetrade through land routes.Keeping in view, the impor-tance and worldwide recog-nition of regional trade, Paki-stani government shouldalso develop required infra-structure at the border termi-nal. “The two Governmentshave announced to keep theborder open for 24 hours, for

trade and business. There-fore, it is very crucial to takeimmediate steps for creatinga trade enabling environmentat the Wagha Border.”

Mr. Ali Pirzada, DirectorGeneral, Policy & Projects,Punjab Board of Investmentand Trade said that the PBITshould have a permanent of-fice at the border terminal tofacilitate the businessmen.Dr.Khurram Muneer, DeputyDirector, Conformity As-sessment, PSQCA said thatthe PSQCA was in the pro-cess of setting up its lab atthe Wagha Border thatwould be completed soon.Aftab Ahmad Vohra pointedout lack of infrastructure andscanning facilities.

He said that presentlythere is a list of 137 itemswhich are tradable through

land route and this list is go-ing to be increased to 500items very soon, it will be-come much difficult for theterminal staff to handle moregoods at the terminal. He alsoproposed that instead ofscanning all the goods go-ing across the border thesearch should be done ran-domly to save time. He alsoproposed that a trust shouldbe formed like Karachi PortTrust to handle the opera-tions at the Wagha Bordertrade terminal while the se-curity arrangements could behanded over to any law en-forcement agency like Rang-ers. Brig. ® Nadeem IqbalRaja, the Director Dry Portsof National Logistics Cellsaid that a Master Plan forthe development of theWagha Border trade terminal

is ready and as soon as thefunds are released by thegovernment the plan wouldbe executed.

He said that the strictsecurity is maintained forthe safety of goods lying inthe terminal as any miscre-ant could damage thegoods lying there while re-spectable businessmen areand will be allowed entryinto the terminal althoughthe WEBOC system of cus-toms does not need anyphysical presence of theimporter/exporter there. Inhis concluding remarks, thelCCI President EngineerSohail Lashari said that theset of suggestions wouldbe forwarded to the Minis-try of Commerce for imple-mentation and turn Pak-In-dia trade hassle free.

LCCI for integrated trade system at Wagha terminal

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Federal Min-ister for Planning, Develop-ment and Reforms, AhsanIqbal said here Thursdaythe Federal Governmenthas embarked upon a com-prehensive reforms agendaunder vision 2025 to put thecountry on path of socio-economic revitalization androad to sustainable growthand development.

Addressing the inaugu-ral session of ProvincialConsultative Workshopjointly organized by theMinistry of Planning andDevelopment Islamabadand P&D KP on vision 2025and 11th Five-Year plan2013-18 as a chief guest hereat a local hotel, the FederalMinister said the major ob-jectives of the vision 2025is to prepare a comprehen-

sive road map with the con-sultation of all stakeholdersand provinces for sustain-able and long terms socio-economic development ofPakistan.

He said Pakistan vision2025 would serve is a roadmapbased on long-term country’sdevelopment aimed at creat-ing a globally competitive andprosperous country by pro-viding a high quality of life topeople. Under the reformsagenda, he said PML-N gov-ernment was primarily focus-ing on seven key sectorskeeping in views of its para-mount importance for sus-tainable socio-economicgrowth. Focus is being madeon uplift of energy sector aswithout it the dream to makethe country prosperous oneconomic, social, industrialand agriculture sector was notpossible, he remarked.

In PML-N last govern-ment, he said we had achievedthe status of energy surpluscountry and there was no loadshedding in the country. How-ever, he regretted that no ma-jor energy project had been in-stalled during last 14 years,resulting of the current energycrisis in the country. Thepresent government concen-trate to take full advantage ofthe country’s internal re-sources for sustainable eco-nomic development keeping inview of its significant impor-tance in enhancing exports andincrease foreign exchangemanifolds, Ahsan added.

For agricultural and in-dustrial revitalization, theMinister said, an effectiveplan is being prepared to en-hance our exports and aug-ment economy on sustain-able basis. He said the gov-ernment was concentrating

Govt reforms agenda for socio-economic revitalization: Ahsan

on development of humanresource and infrastructuredevelopment, adding Paki-stan is situated in a very stra-tegic geographical locationand will take full advantageof this location through bet-ter roads/rails connectivity.

He said the Federal Gov-ernment was committed togive boost to infrastructuredevelopment for regionalconnectively directed to-wards economic progressand prosperity of people ofPakistan. In addition to goodgovernance and public sec-tor reforms for better servicedelivery to masses, the Min-ister said the governmentwas encouraging privatesector for bolstering of smalland medium enterprise sec-tor keeping in view its poten-tial to generate employmentopportunities for youth andwill help alleviate poverty.

The Minister said theGovernment has started anumber of energy projectsincluding Dasu, Dia MirBash dam besides coalprojects in the potential sitesto generate inexpensive elec-tricity for economic, agricul-ture, industrial and eco-nomic-social sectors con-sumptions. He said KP hasrich potential to generate in-expensive electricity forpeoples and domestic con-sumptions that needed to befully tapped. He said conti-nuity in national policies andeffective long, medium andshort terms planning wasvery imperative to cope withglobal changes and informa-tion revolution. He said Pa-kistan vision would help tobecome an upper middle in-come country by 2025 andwill achieve top 10 positionsin world economy by 2047.

DigitalMicrowave oven

introducedSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Dawlance Thurs-day has introduced digital mi-crowave oven model DW-391G.An elegant look & feel and ad-vanced features set this micro-wave oven a class apart. Whatmakes this particular oven morerelevant for Pakistani marketsis that it has simplified cookingof just about any meal to thepress of a button.

The DW-391G is packedwith the most-wanted cookingfeatures that would give Paki-stani homemakers a reason topamper their loved ones with achoice of recipes ranging fromtraditional Pakistani cuisines todelectable international recipesby the famous Chef Mehboob.Commenting on the launch ofthe remarkable microwaveoven, Hasan Jamil, generalmanager marketing, Dawlancesaid, “As the foremost homeappliances brand in Pakistan,our aim is to augment our prod-uct legacy further.

Therefore, keeping upwith the tradition, we haveintroduced DW-391G as thelatest addition to our micro-wave oven family.

JS Bank refutestalks show

program’s claimSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—We refer to thetalk show program “KharaSach” with Mubashir Luqmanaired on the ARY News chan-nel on January 20, 2014 tar-geting JS Bank Limited (the‘Bank’). The anchorpersonshowed a deposit report ofthe Bank and made false, in-correct, misleading and defa-matory remarks about theBank and its customers.

The anchorperson mis-stated that one of the cus-tomers was receiving belowmarket rate on a Pak rupeedeposits. However, as amatter of fact, the term de-posits referred byanchorperson are placedwith the Bank in US Dollarsand not in Pak Rupees. Thedeposit rate being receivedby the customer is in linewith market rates for institu-tional customers on US Dol-lar deposits.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—JCR-VIS CreditRating Company Limited hasassigned preliminary ratingof ‘A’ (Single A) to the pro-posed TFC/Sukuk issue of Rs2.5 billion of Shaheen Air In-ternational Limited (SAI).Outlook on the assigned rat-ing is ‘Stable’.

The airline industry indeveloped countries is char-acterized by stiff competition, with nominal growth in airtraffic projected, going for-ward, a release said onThursday. As per indepen-dent estimates, air traffic inPakistan is projected to wit-ness healthy growth whichsupports the prospects ofgrowing revenues for airlin-ers. SAI has been operatingfor the last 20 years, the in-stitution is undergoing atransition phase whereby itis expanding its fleet of air-craft that are acquired on drylease and is expanding thescale of its operations.

Shaheen Airlinesrated ‘A’ by JCR-VIS

Noteworthy growth in rev-enues has been observed inFY13 and HY14; with un-proved margins on the back ofbetter fuel efficiency, this hastranslated into healthy profitsand cash flows. Fleet size isprojected to double by FY15with the company planning tooperate up to 29 new routes.

The company is planningto issue TFC/Sukuk of Rs 2.5billion. Besides down pay-ment for lease of new aircraft,proceeds from the TFC issueare planned to be utilized forworking capital financing andrepayment of bridge loan ob-tained for leasing aircraft, Prin-cipal repayments commenceafter one year and are struc-tured in 16 stepped-up install-ments. SAI shall create firstexclusive charge: over the re-ceivables from the Saudi Ara-bian routes in favor of thetrustee to be appointed forthis purpose. Given historicaltrends, the volatility in busi-ness volumes on these routesmay not be significant.

Ambassador of Pakistan in Japan Farukh Amil along with the trade team of the Embassyin-group photograph with Chairman JCCI Akio Mimura during his visit to Japan Chamberof Commerce and Industry.

Govt taking host of steps toovercome energy shortage

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information Technology and TelecommunicationAunsha Rehman distributing shield among the participants of 1st Consumers IT andTelecom Conference organized by Consumer Association of Pakistan at local hotel.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KA R A C H I —Internat ionalbrand Oreo biscuits given arecord-breaking response inPakistan within a short spanof time. Since its launch threemonths ago, Oreo is provingto be the must-have treat withmore than 100 million iconicbiscuits sold nationwide – arecord setting pace for Oreo inPakistan. Manufactured lo-cally by Continental BiscuitsLtd. (CBL), the makers in Paki-

Oreo gets record breakingresponse in Pakistan

stan of the LU brand of bis-cuits and an exclusive affiliateof global snacks groupMondelçz International (previ-ously known as Kraft Foods),the biscuit was brought to thecountry in October last year.

Launched over 100 yearsago and sold in more than 100countries of the world, cur-rently there are around 33 mil-lion Oreo biscuit eaters aroundthe world generating a sale of$2 billion per year. The biscuitswhich were previously im-

ported and sold at high prices,are now being sold at an afford-able price: PKR 10 for 3 biscuitsand PKR 20 for 6 biscuits andPKR 40 for 12 biscuits; cover-ing impulse, family sharing andheavy usage, while maintain-ing their reputation in beingthe World’s No.1 Biscuits.

MHasan Ali Khan, Man-aging Director and Chairmanof CBL, said: “We’re de-lighted to bring the joy of theworld’s favourite biscuit topeople in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD—Recognizingthe importance of skilledmanpower and entrepre-neurship for strengtheningthe economy & society,Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce & Industry (ICCI)and Ministry of Scienceand Technology (MoST)have agreed to collaboratefor the establishment of aTechnical Business Incuba-tion Center in ICCI.

The facility would focuson promoting entrepreneur-ship in university graduatesand skills development inunder privileged youth formaking them productive

ICCI to establish TechnicalBusiness Incubation Center

citizens and to join handsfor improving the competi-tiveness of local industry.

This consensus was de-veloped during the visit ofa delegation of MoST ledby i ts Advisor Dr. SyedShahid Hussain to ICCIhere on Thursday. Speak-ing at the occasion, ShabanKhalid, President ,Islamabad Chamber ofCommerce & Industry(ICCI) appreciated the in-terest of MoST to supportICCI in Technical BusinessIncubation Center andhoped that establishmentof this Center will help sig-

nificantly in promoting en-trepreneurship in youthand skills development inunder privileged class en-abling them to carve out abetter career for themselvesas well as contribute posi-tively to the economic de-velopment of the country

He said Pakistan nor-mally exports low value in-dustrial products andMoST & its organizationshave a crucial role for im-proving the competitive-ness of industry for produc-ing the value added indus-trial products to enhancetheir exports.—APP

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—GE (NYSE: GE)and Ashoka Changemakersannounced the winners ofthe Women Powering Work:Innovations for EconomicEquality online competition,which aimed to identify inno-vative solutions that ad-vance economic opportuni-ties for women in Middle East,North Africa, Turkey and Pa-kistan. Busanti, a bus servicein Pakistan that providessafe, affordable transporta-tion for women, as well asaccess to a 24/7 health

Busanti, DoctHERS win awardshotline; and DoctHERS-in-the-House, a healthcare mar-ketplace in Pakistan that con-nects home-based, femaledoctors to patients throughtelemedicine, joinedHandasiyat.net, a virtual plat-form from Jordan that en-ables Arab female engineersacross the Middle East andNorth Africa to telecommute,to win US $25,000 each in un-restricted funding to supporttheir innovative solutions.

The winning innova-t ions were selected by apanel of expert judges thatincluded Kimberly Hessler

(Director of Sustainability,GE), Amy Millington (Presi-dent , eBay Foundation’sThe Opportunity Project),and Ahsan Jamil (CEO, TheAman Foundation).

Sarim Sheikh, GE’s Presi-dent & Chief Executive Officerfor Pakistan, said, “The GE-Ashoka ChangemakersAward aimed at identifying in-novative approaches by so-cial entrepreneurs that enablewomen to achieve full eco-nomic equality, strengthentheir families and communi-ties, and benefit equitablyfrom economic growth.

Gold Tezabi 44400.00Silver Tezabi 720.00

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct)43550.00Gold 22 Ct 39820.00SilverTezabi 686.00Silver Thobi 627.00

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of FATA Region meeting with Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf.

CKARACHI: Commissioner Karachi inaugurates ‘Wazir Ali Memorial Play for Peace Table Tennis Tournament’.

ISLAMABAD: Hashmatullah Sahidi of Afghanistan Under-19’s team receiving Man ofthe Match award.

ISLAMABAD—All the seededplayers including AqeelKhan, Yasir Khan, M. Abid,Usman Ejaz, Usman Rafiq,Jalil Khan, Sanaullah Khanand Heera Ashiq won theirmatches in straight sets andmoved into the secondround of the men’s singlesevent in the AJCL PTF Rank-ing Tennis Tournament hereat S. Dilawar Abbas PTFTennis Complex, Islamabad.

Top seed Aqeel Khaneliminated Syed NofilKaleem at a score of 6-1,7-5,while second seed YasirKhan worked hard to beatupcoming Talha Bin Asif ina well contested two setmatch.

Third seed SeedMuhammad Abid provedtoo good and won his en-counter against Abbas Khanwithout any resistance at ascore of 6-1,6-0. Fourth seedUsman Ejaz was also in finetouch and beat Jibran ul Haqin straight sets 6-2,6-2.

A total number of 37matches were decided onThursday, the second day ofthe tournament. Men’sSingles and Junior Singles

Top seed move into secondround of AJCL Tennis tourney

pre quarterfinals will beplayed on Friday at 9:30 amwhile boys under 14 andmen’s doubles will be playedat 2pm.

Following are the results.Men’s Singles first

round matchesAqeel Khan beat Syed

Nofil Kaleem 6-1,7-5; ImranShaukat beat Ahmed Babar6-1,6-1; Shahzad Khan beatM. Zaid Mujahid 6-1,6-1;Sanaullah Khan beat AmanAtiq 6-0,6-0; M. Abid beatAbbas Khan 6-1,6-0;Shahzad PAF beat HamzaBin Asif 6-0,6-1; Ejaz Khanbeat Abdal Haider 6-2,6-3;Jalil Khan beat M. Muzamil6-0,6-3; Heera Ashiq beatShahid Afridi 6-0,6-2; MalikAbdul Rehman beat MalikHamza 6-0,6-4; IrfanullahKhan beat Wakeel Khan 6-3,6-4; Usman Ejaz beat Jibranul Haq 6-2,6-2; Usman Rafiqbeat Raja Shahid 6-1,6-3;Zain Nawab beat IftikharAhmed 6-1,6-2; M. Mudasirbeat Farhad Ali Raja 6-0,6-0and Yasir Khan beat TalhaBin Asif 6-2,7-5

Boys Under 18 first

round matches M. Mudasirbeat Asad Khan 6-2,6-0;Shahryar Waqar beat RajaShafaqat 2-6,6-1,6-3; HafizArbab Ali beat ZeeshanKhan 6-0,6-0; Abdal Haiderbeat Ahmed Sarfraz 6-1,6-1;Hamza Bin Asif beat RehmatAli 6-1,6-1; M. Wamiq w/oAmer Khan; Malik Hamzabeat Ahmed Asjad 6-0,6-0;Talha Bin Asif beatAsadullah 6-0,6-2; AmanAtiq beat Kashan ul Haq 4-6,6-3,6-2; Hamza bin Rehanbeat Ahsan Waleed 6-2,6-3;M. Zaid Mujahid beat ZainKhan 6-2,6-3; Syed NofilKaleem beat Barkatullah 6-0,6-2; Saqib Umer beatYousaf Hassan 6-3,6-4;Faizan Eubaid beat NaeemKhan 6-0,6-0; M. Muzamilbeat Shoaib Khan 6-4,6-3

Boys Under 14 firstround matches AhmedAsjad w/o Hamid Israr;Kashan Umer beat NaeemKhan 6-2,6-2; Zohair Hadibeat Abdullah Hassan 5-3,0-4,5-4(8); Mir ShahzaibAhmed beat Zeeshan Khan4-0,4-0; Abdullah beatAsfandyar 5-4(3),4-0.—APP

PESHAWAR—On the specialdirectives of the GovernorKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Engr.Shaukat Ullah, who is alsoPresident FATA Olympic As-sociation, Secretary ShahidKhan Shinwari Thursday dis-tributed games equipmentamong various associationshere at Olympic SecretariatQayyum Sports Complex.

Shahid Khan Shinwarisaid that they have pur-chased equipment worth Rs0.6 millions for the cycling,weight lifting and bodybuilding on the special direc-tives of the Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa Engr. ShaukatUllah. He said with the distri-bution of the sports equip-ment among FATA CyclingAssociation, FATA WeightLifting Association andBody Building Associationwould certainly help promot-

FOA distribute sportsequipment among associations

ing these games in tribal ar-eas.

He said the musclemen,cyclists and weight liftershave performance excellentlyin the Inter-Provincial Gamesand 31st and 32nd NationalGames that is why equip-ments have been purchasedso to equip the players onmodern line.

He said as desired by theGovernor equipment of inter-national standard would begiven to all associations af-filiated with FATA OlympicAssociation very soon.

He said the allocatedgrant for purchase of sportsequipments has been re-ceived by the Directorate ofSports FATA and very soontender would be flouted. It isin the history of FATA thatsuch step has been taken likegiving sports equipment to

various associations, headded.

Shahid Khan Shinwarisaid that there is no dearthof talent in FATA but suchtalent has been neglected inthe past but now the FATAOlympic Association is work-ing very hard along withholding of various activitiesall across FATA besides pro-vision of sports equipment.

He said a summary for theallocation of sports annualgrant for the associationswould be approved very soonwhile sports equipments ofMartial Arts Games includingTaekwondo, Judo, Karate,Wushu and Ju-Jitsu mateswould be given to the asso-ciations in a ceremony at Gov-ernor House. Earlier, he dis-tributed sports equipmentamong the office-bearers ofvarious associations.—APP

SPS wins BISEInter-collegiateCricket C’ship

BAHAWALPUR—Sadiq PublicSchool (SPS) Bahawalpurhere on Thursday has wonBahawalpur BISE Intercolle-giate Cricket Championship.

In the final match playedat King Ground, Sadiq Pub-lic School beat Punjab Col-lege by 47 runs.

Batting first in 20 oversmatch, SPS set the target of128 runs. SPS bowlersbowled out Punjab College atthe score of 81.—APP

PESHAWAR—Frontier Col-lege for Women lifted the tro-phy after securing 48 pointswith five gold, three silvermedals and two bronze med-als in the Board of Interme-diate and Secondary Educa-tion Girls Inter-College Ath-letic Championship playedhere at Mohabat KhanSports Complex, insideBISE premises on Thursday.

Higher SecondarySchool, Lady Griffith wonsecond position with 26points with two gold medalsand two silver medals andthree bronze medals whilePeshawar Model DegreeCollege for Girls and Univer-sity Town grabbed jointthird position with 12 pointseach.

Sadia Gul, a current Jun-ior Asian Champion inSquash, was declared bestathlete while representingFrontier College for Womenin the athletic.

She won five gold med-als of 100m, 200m, 400m,800m, and discus throw.Saima of Lady Griffith with 16points remained second bestathlete as she won one goldmedal in high jump, and gotsilver medal in 100m, 200m.

In the 100m race, SadiaGul of FCW won gold medal,followed by Saima of LadyGriffith and Momina, alsofrom Lady Griffith. In the longjump, Saima of Lady Griffithwon gold medal, followed by

FCW win overall BISE GirlsInter-College Athletic title

Haleema of GGHSS Chamkaniand Sana, also GGHSSChamkani remained at third.In the discus throw Sadia Gulwon gold medal, followed byUrug and Mahnoor ofPMDC, in the Javelin throwSaima of Lady Griffith wongold medal, followed byAnum and Noureen ofGGHSS Chamkani, in the400m race Sadia Gul got goldmedal, followed by Maryiumof University Town HigherSecondary School, followedby Urusa of the same tookbronze medal.

In the 800m Sadia Gultook gold medal, followed byMaryum of University Townand Uruj Khan of PMDC, inthe high jump Mahnoor ofPMDC won gold medal, fol-lowed by Naheed ofHayatabad Higher Second-ary School and Saima ofLady Griffith got bronzemedal. In the 4X100m raceUruj, Kausar, Sadia and Aminof FCW won gold medal, fol-lowed by Huma, Zainab,Kainat and Marium of Uni-versity Town while Saima,Momina, Sana and Saira ofLady Griffith took bronzemedal.

At the end, the chiefguest MPA Mehmood Khangave away trophies, certifi-cates and cash prizes to thewinners and other positionholders of the major, minorand athletic events. Chair-man Board Dr. Shafi Afridi,

Secretary Hakeem UllahKhan, Administrator BISEAlam Zeb Khan and DirectorSports Manzer Khan werealso present.Meanwhile, Peshawar ModelDegree College (PMDC) forGirls clinched the overall tro-phy of the Board of Interme-diate and Secondary Educa-tion Inter-College Games con-cluded here at MahabatKhan Sports Complexground inside BISE premiseson Thursday.

Member Provincial As-sembly (MPA) Mehmood Janwas the chief guest on thisoccasion. Chairman BISEPeshawar Dr. Shafi Afridi,Secretary BISE Hakeem UllahKhan, Director Sports andformer international athleteManzar Khan besides play-ers and other officials werealso present.

The BISE organized eightdifferent events comprisingNetball, Handball, Table Ten-nis, Badminton, Cycling, Vol-leyball, Cricket and athletics.

PMDC recorded 21points by taking first posi-tion in Netball, Table Tennis,Cycling, and remained run-ners-up in cricket and hand-ball.

In the overall team posi-tion, Jinnah College forWomen got runners-up tro-phy and Government HigherSecondary School (GGHSS)Hayatabad remained at thirdin Netball.—APP

PU winsTaekwondo

Women C’shipFAISALABAD—Punjab Univer-sity Lahore won the All Paki-stan Intervarsity Taekwondo(Women) Championship 2013-14 on Wednesday. The Univer-sity of Karachi remained run-ner up while Lahore College forWomen University stood third.

Muhammad Faisal Butt,Director Sports Higher Edu-cation Commission (HEC) wit-nessed the event as chiefguest and distributed tro-phies and prizes among theposition holders.

The University ofFaisalabad (TUF) organized3rd All Pakistan IntervarsityTaekwondo (Women) Cham-pionship Session 2013-14 un-der the aegis of Higher Edu-cation Commission Pakistanfrom January 20-22, 2014.

Eleven Universities par-ticipated in the mega event.Teams were of Islamia Univer-sity Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur,University of the Punjab,Lahore, University of Veteri-nary Sciences, Lahore, Uni-versity of Engineering andTechnology, Lahore, Univer-sity of Sargodha, Sargodha,Lahore College for WomenUniversity, Lahore, The Uni-versity of Lahore, Lahore,University of Karachi,Karachi, Bahauddin ZakariyaUniversity, Multan, Govern-ment College University,Faisalabad and The Univer-sity of Faisalabad.—APP

CHINIOT: A view of kabaddi match under Punjab Youth Sports Festival.

SPORTS REPORTER

KARACHI—The city of lighthas gone into dark due to therampant violence and terror-ism and organizing sportsevents is a good response forpromoting peace in Karachi.This was stated by the Com-missioner Karachi, ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui, during theopening ceremony of “WazirAli Memorial Play for PeaceTable Tennis Tournament”here today.

Shoaib Ahmed Siddiquiwas the chief guest at theopening ceremony andpraised the efforts of NasraSchool and Karachi YouthInitiative (KYI) for organizingthe table tennis event.

Siddiqui said, “Law andorder in Karachi can be re-stored and the youth of the

Wazir Ali Memorial Play for PeaceTable Tennis Tournament begins

city can play a vital role in res-toration of peace if they areprovided with positive av-enues like Play for Peace TableTennis Tournament so thatthe youngsters consume theirenergy in constructive activi-ties which will eventually leadto restoration of normalcy inthe city.”

He requested the citizensof Karachi to fully support theevent and also come forwardand organize other suchsports events for the young-sters as it teaches them mu-tual respect and tolerance.

As many as 448 table ten-nis players from 42 schoolsacross Karachi are participat-ing in Wazir Ali Memorial Playfor Peace Table Tennis Tour-nament which is a three-dayevent at Islamia Club. 256 girlsand 192 boys have been di-

vided into 112 teams compris-ing of four players in eachteam henceforth making 64and 48 teams of boys and girlsrespectively. Top Pakistaniofficials and referees havingnational and international ex-perience will officiate the tabletennis tournament.

The Managing Trustee ofNasra School, Amir Fancy,welcomed the chief guest,Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, forgracing the event with hispresence and highlighted theimportance of sports as ahealthy and competitive ac-tivity for students who repre-sent a wide range of back-grounds.

He said, “Nasra Schoolhas joined hands withKarachi Youth Initiative topromote message of peaceand tolerance through sports.

2000 volunteersgot registered

with PSBLAHORE—Another 2,000volunteers got themselvesregistered with Punjab SportsBoard on the second day ofregistration for Punjab YouthFestival 2014 here on Thurs-day.

The registration will con-tinue till February 10, and70,000 volunteers are ex-pected to be registered forthe biggest youth festival ofthe world.

Incharge HR Classifica-tion Cell Aneela Faisal saidthat the keen interest ofyoungsters shows that thetarget of volunteers registra-tion will be achieved duringthe first 10 days of campaign.She said that the youngsterswill be registered daily from10 am to 8 pm.

The target of 500 ambas-sadors has already beenachieved within the first twodays of campaign.

According to Ambassa-dor Drive incharge MehvishBatool, the selected ambas-sadors will be given trainingto perform properly duringthe events of Punjab YouthFestival.—APP

Misbah, Moin’sconfidence in

me proved vital:Sarfraz Ahmed

K A R A C H I — T e s tw i c k e t k e e p e r / b a t s m a nSarfraz Ahmed, who playedheroics in Pakistan’s incred-ible five wicket victory overSri Lanka in the third Test inSharjah, said that he lived upto the expectations of captainMisbah-ul-Haq and managerMoin Khan.

“I am happy that I livedup to the confidence ofMisbah and Moin they re-posed in me by promoting inbatting order,” he told APPin an interview on Wednes-day.

He said both Misbahand Moin advised me toplay positive game with mynatural flair of attackingcricket.

“It was a big challengefor me.But with the help ofAlmighty I was able to fulfillmy role,” he pointed out.

“I was under a bit of pres-sure in the start.But my con-fidence grew up as I startedto hit the ball well,” he com-mented.

“It is a great honour forme that I contributed something in historic Test matchvictory while chasing a mam-moth 302 runs target,” hesaid.

“These were the greatestmovements of my short ca-reer and I am looking forwardto accomplish such feats incoming years,” he said.

Talented Sarfraz Ahmedmade an enterprising 48 off46 balls with four boundariesand one six and added quick-fire 91 runs for the fourthwicket stand after Pakistanslipped to 97-3.

“This series gave me adeal of confidence and moti-vation to perform well in thefuture,” Sarfraz Ahmedstressed.—APP

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—After the SouthAfrica tour, the Team Indiawhich has now also beenstruggling in New Zealandwill miss the challengingopportunity of bungeejumping in Auckland.

In 2009, India’s captainMahendra Singh Dhoni wasinvited by TourismAuckland for a bungee jumpfrom atop the Aucklandcity’s Harbour Bridge.

“No offer has been

No bunjee jump offer toDhoni’s men in New Zealand

made to India captain”, Ms.Sharon Nightingale, the offi-cial at the Auckland Tourismsaid over telephone. “Wehave not scheduled an activ-ity for the Indian cricket team,players or management, atthis stage”, she added.

Five years ago, theAuckland tourism had of-fered and they wanted theIndian players to experiencethe best of what city has tooffer and the thrill of abungee off their iconicharbour bridge.

India is scheduled to bein Auckland for the third ODI

MELBOURNE: Li Na of China, right, shakes hands with Eugenie Bouchard of Canada at the net after Li won theirsemifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship.

on Sunday and also for thefirst Test match (Feb. 6-10).

No reason has beengiven for not extending in-vitation this time.

International celebrities,and players like world’s topgolfer, Tiger Woods andEngland football ace DavidBeckham have had the op-portunity of this thrilledjumping from theAuckland’s Harbour Bridge.

“I can advise if we arepresented with the oppor-tunity to enable them to en-joy our wonderful city”, shesigned off.

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—There are notmany instances in ODIs’when the team batting sec-ond and scoring more runsthan the opponent and stilllosing the match.

On Wednesday, TeamIndia lost the second ODIagainst New Zealand de-spite scoring 277 runs (9wickets) in 41-3 oversagainst New Zealand’s 271for 7 wickets in 42 overs.

Team India’s chasing targetwas less in VJD system

Thanks to Duckworth andLewis method.

India may have won thematch had there been a VJDsystem in place, according tohis inventor, V. Jayadevan.

Speaking exclusveily overtelephone from Kerala, hesays, “according to VJD sys-tem India’s Target in 42 overswould have been 286 runs.

When the match is calledoff after 41.3 overs with 9wickets loss the par scorewould have been 284 and In-dia would have lost the

match by 6 runs”. “But re-member that if the target is286 only, Indian batsmenwould not have played un-der panic situation in theend and would not have lostquick wickets. Then thesituation could have beendifferent”, he added.

“The difference of 11runs (297-286) was signifi-cant”, Jayadevan said.

Sadly, the ICC has notbeen implementing the VJDsystem, despite it has SunilGavaskar’s backing.

MELBOURNE—China´s LiNa swept into her secondconsecutive AustralianOpen final on Thursday, us-ing her all experience tobrush aside Canadian teen-ager Eugenie Bouchard instraight sets.

The fourth seed endedthe 19-year-old´s inspiringrun at Melbourne Park 6-2,6-4 and will play either fifthseed Agniezska Radwanskaor 20th seed DominikaCibulkova in Saturday´s fi-nal.

Li, 31, has consistentlybeen a solid performer onMelbourne´s plexicushioncourts over the last fiveyears, now reaching three fi-nals, as well as another semi-final and the fourth round.

But Li has never takenthe next step, beaten by KimClijsters in 2011 andagonisingly by VictoriaAzarenka in the final lastyear, when she dramaticallytwice rolled her ankle andbriefly blacked out.

She now has a goldenopportunity to win her sec-ond Grand Slam after over-coming Bouchard, who hasturned heads and won plau-dits from the tennis commu-nity with her composure andall-court game here.

But in her first GrandSlam semi-final — at only herfourth attempt — Bouchardseemed overawed at the out-set on Rod Laver Arena, los-ing her first three servicegames to love.

In a dispiriting start, ittook the Canadian 13 at-tempts before she finally

Li ends Bouchard dreamto make Aussie final

won a point on her ownserve, as Li gave the 2013newcomer a chastening wel-come to the big stage.

Three sizzling Li winnersgave Bouchard no chance inher opening service game,and the Chinese star stayedfirmly in control to go 2-0 infront.

The experienced Chi-nese player rammed homethe advantage with someunstoppable winners tobreak Bouchard again tolove.

The rattled Bouchardwas not competing in the ral-lies and she again lost herserve to love before a stringof Li errors gifted her threebreak points in the sixthgame.

A double fault from theChinese number one allowedBouchard to claw a gameback at 5-1, and another Limistake — a backhand thatdropped long — gave herher very first point on herown serve.

The 19-year-old heldserve for the first time as shestarted to find her feet, butshe could not prevent Liserving out for the set in 28minutes.

Bouchard´s shots andserve began to find theirmark as the crowd, includ-ing her “Genie´s Army”cheering squad, got behindher, and she took a 1-0 leadin the second set.

Her game lifted a level asshe got into the rallies andcaused problems, and shecame through a pivotal sec-ond game to go 2-0 up on a

third break point. But poorserving cost her dearly as Libroke back and then held,with a fierce crosscourt back-hand securing the Chinesestar her third game in a row.

Undeterred, Bouchardcontinued to battle and astraightforward volley intoan open court got her backto 3-3 before yet another ser-vice break put Li on top at 4-3 and there was no wayback.Despite the loss,Bouchard is forecast tobreak into the world´s top 20when the new rankings arereleased on Monday.

M e a n w h i l e ,Switzerland’s StanislasWawrinka reached his firstGrand Slam final after edg-ing out Tomas Berdych infour tight sets at the Aus-tralian Open on Thursday.

The eighth seed beat theCzech 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4) in three hours31 minutes and will play ei-ther Rafael Nadal or fellowSwiss Roger Federer inSunday’s final.

Wawrinka, whoupset three-time defendingchampion Novak Djokovicin the quarter-finals, sup-plants Federer as the Swissnumber one by making thefinal. Federer has held thetop Swiss ranking since2001.

“I’m speechless, it’samazing. I am so happy towin that match to make myfirst final here,” Wawrinkasaid.

“I am working every dayto try and win matches. Ididn’t expect to make a final

in a Grand Slam and tonightit’s happened, so tonight I’mreally happy.”

Wawrinka didn’t loseserve and only had onebreak point against him asbig-serving Berdych dishedup seven double faults, fourof them, crucially, in the thirdand fourth set tiebreakers.

Berdych’s serve wasonly broken once andWawrinka shaded the Czechby just one point (143-142)throughout the whole match.

It will be Wawrinka’s firstmajor final after he lost toDjokovic in five sets in thesemi-finals at last year’s USOpen.

Wawrinka reaches a ma-jor final at his 36th GrandSlam appearance, and be-comes only the secondSwiss man behind Federer toplay in a slam final.

It was Wawrinka’s fourthstraight victory overBerdych and his second winover the Czech in threeSlams.

Wawrinka won the open-ing set when Berdychmissed an overhead smashon break point in the sev-enth game, but the Czech lev-elled the match by taking thesecond-set tiebreaker.

Both players were unableto break serve and the semi-final was decided withWawrinka winning the finaltwo tiebreakers to edgehome.

Wawrinka hit 18 acesamong his haul of 57 win-ners and won 82 percent ofhis first-serve points, thesame as Berdych.—AFP

COLOMBO—Sri Lanka´s se-lectors on Thursday recalledunorthodox spinner AjanthaMendis for two Test matchesin Bangladesh starting next

week after keeping him outof the recent series againstPakistan.

Mendis, 28, who bowlsboth off-spin and leg-breakswith an unusual finger-flick-ing action, last played a Testduring his team´s home se-ries against Bangladesh inMarch 2013.

Mendis, with 64 wicketsin 17 Tests, replaces off-spin-ner Sachithra Senanayake

Sri Lanka recallMendis for BD Tests

from the side that earlier thisweek drew against Pakistan1-1 in the United Arab Emir-ates.

The 15-man squad, re-leased by Sri Lanka Cricket,does not feature batsmanLahiru Thirimanne andseamer Nuwan Kulasekara,who were both injured dur-ing the Pakistan matches.

Sri Lanka, who are due toreach Bangladesh on Friday,will play two Tests, three one-day internationals and twoTwenty20 games during themonth-long tour.

The first Test starts inDhaka on Monday, followedby the second in Chittagongfrom February 4.

The squad for the limited-overs games will be pickedlater.

Sri Lanka´s Test squad:Angelo Mathews (captain),Dinesh Chandimal (vice-capt),Dimuth Karunaratne, KaushalSilva, Kumar Sangakkara,Mahela Jayawardene,Prasanna Jayawardene,Kithuruwan Vithanage,Rangana Herath, DilruwanPerera, Suranga Lakmal,Shaminda Eranga, NuwanPradeep, Vishwa Fernando,Ajantha Mendis.—AFP

M E L B O U R N E —Cricket ´smost powerful players rep-resentative says plannedreforms of world cricket willwiden the gap between thesport´s big three andsmaller nations, undermin-ing the competitiveness ofthe international game.

Paul Marsh, head of theFederation of InternationalCricketers´ Associationswhich combines the playerassociations of seven of theInternational CricketCouncil´s 10 full members,described aspects of theleaked reform proposals as“disturbing,” saying theywill broaden disparities be-tween cricket´s “rich andpoor.”

Although details of theproposals have not beenmade public, they are re-ported to give India, En-gland and Australia controlover the InternationalCricket Council, Testcricket, its revenue, and agreater say in when andwhere they play series.

The three also wouldhold dominance over theICC´s decision-making ex-ecutive board.

Marsh on Wednesdayjoined widespread criticismof the new regulationsdrawn up by a working

group of the ICC financeand commercial affairs com-mittee. South Africa has al-

ready condemned the draftdocument as “fundamen-tally flawed.

“The proposed reformswould likely see the revi-sion or abandonment of theFuture Tours Programwhich guarantees smallernations regular seriesagainst the big three sides.”

The proposals relatingto scheduling are disturb-ing,” Marsh said.

“Of significance is thesection that offers a guar-antee from Cricket Austra-

lia and the ECB to playthree Tests and five ODIsper cycle to each of the topeight members, yet there isno mention of any suchguarantee from the BCCI.”

Marsh said all ICC mem-ber nations, including Aus-tralia and England, relyheavily on proceeds fromIndia tours for thesustainability of the sportin their country.

“What chance do themajority of members have ofsurvival if the BCCI decidesnot to tour their countrieson at least a semi-regularbasis?” he said.

Marsh also raised con-cerns about the proposal´srecommendation that rev-enues be distributed to ICCmembers on a pro-rata ba-sis, “based on commercialcontribution.”

“The result of this willbe the countries that needICC income most will re-ceive the least while the´big three´ will get the lion´sshare even though they arealready financially healthybecause of the value of therights to their bilateral se-ries.”

The role of ICC eventsshould be to assist in level-ing the financial playingfield by distributing the

proceeds from these eventsfairly, rather than furtherwidening the gap betweenthe rich and poor.

“ICC chief executiveDave Richardson indicatedthere was still a long pro-cess to be followed beforeany reforms were imple-mented.

“These are just recom-mendations that they haveput together, it´s by ourworking group of membersof our finance and commer-cial affairs committee,” hesaid. “They are representa-tives from England, Austra-lia and India.

“Those proposals arestill to be discussed in fullby our finance committee asan example and the full ICCboard when it meets at theend of January.”

So at this stage it´s fartoo premature for the Inter-national Cricket Council tomake any comment on thecontent of the proposalsbecause as we speak, we´resti l l going through them,gett ing further clarif ica-tions, finding out exactlywhat is intended, and thenhopefully we will be able tohave (a) proper discussionabout these at the boardmeeting at the end of themonth.”—AP

Int’l players’ chief lashes ICC reforms

Roma oustJuventus toreach Italiancup semis

ROME—Gervinho scored alate winner as Roma beatleague leader Juventus 1-0 inthe Italian Cup quarterfinals.

The Ivory Coast forwardacrobatically finished KevinStrootman´s cross after awell-worked move with sub-stitute Miralem Pjanic to lineup a two-legged semifinalwith either Napoli or Lazio.

It was a match betweenthe top two sides in Serie A.Roma lost 3-0 in the leagueto Juventus earlier thismonth to slip eight pointsbehind the two-time reign-ing league champion. “It wasa win we wanted at allcosts,” Roma captainFrancesco Totti said. “To-day we showed that we areat the same level as a greatJuve side. For me, there´s notall this distance between usand them. But it´s normalthat everyone looks at thecurrent table. We´re doingreally well, but they´re go-ing beyond the limits.”

It was also a matchupbetween the two clubs whichhave won competition themost times, with both boast-ing nine Italian Cup victo-ries.—AP

ROME: Juventus goalkeeper trying to block the shot during the match between Roma and Juentus.

Warne to coachAussie T20 spinners

for world bid

M E L B O U R N E — B o w l i n ggreat Shane Warne wasThursday named as spincoach ahead of Australia´sWorld Twenty20 campaignstarting in Bangladesh inMarch.

Cricket Australia said the44-year-old would supporthead coach Darren Lehmannas a consultant, providingspecialist training for thesquad´s spinners.

The Australia T20 squadbegins a three-match seriesagainst South Africa onMarch 9, before heading tocompete in Bangladesh. “Webelieve our national teamscan really benefit from morespecific skill-based coachingas and when it is needed,”Lehmann said.”—AFP

Morale not hurtby defeats,

Dhoni insistsWELLINGTON—India mayhave been knocked off theirone-day international pedes-tal by low-ranked NewZealand, but captainMahendra Singh Dhoni in-sisted morale remains high.

After going 0-2 down inthe five-match series againstNew Zealand after a 15-runloss in Hamilton on Wednes-day, India dropped to numbertwo behind Australia in theODI rankings.

But Dhoni, speaking afterthe game, said that was notsomething they would dwellon.“As far as the morale is con-cerned, it’s a fantastic, livelydressing room. And what wealways emphasise is thatcricket is not something thatshould have a lot of effect onthe dressing room,” he said.

“Yes, they are linked, butat the same time it should notbe like when you’re perform-ing well you have a differentdressing room and whenyou’re not the entire scenariochanges.”

New Zealand, who wonthe first match by 24 runs inNapier on Sunday, posted 271-7 in a rain-disrupted innings inHamilton that was reduced to42 overs.— AFP

ADOLESCENTS may not be able to getout of wearing braces, but using a high-fluoride toothpaste for the duration could

help them avoid white marks the devices oftenleave behind, according to a new study fromSweden. The special pastewith almost four times theusual fluoride content helpedprevent about a third of thechalky-looking spots amongkids between the ages of 11and 16 years old, researcherssay.

Past studies have shownthat up to 85 percent of pa-tients who wear braces maydevelop these so-called whitespot lesions, which representlocal tooth decay and tend tobe permanent. “To reduce thiseffect, several products areavailable on the market, butevidence of the effectivenessof the products is lacking,”said Mikael Sonesson, leadauthor of the study and anorthodontist at Malmö Uni-versity.

To see whether a high-fluoride toothpastethat patients could use at home would protectagainst the spots, more than 400 kids at fivedental practices who were scheduled to getbraces were recruited starting in 2008.

They were randomly divided into twogroups, with about half receiving a paste con-taining 5,100 parts per million fluoride to useat home and the other half receiving paste thatwas similar in every way, except it contained1,450 ppm fluoride - the amount in most stan-dard commercial brands, according to the re-searchers. Before getting their braces, all theyoungsters had detailed photos taken of their

teeth and photos were taken again after thebraces were removed. The participants worebraces for an average of 1.8 years and re-ceived toothpaste supplies for as long as theydid. Two clinicians who did not know which

fluoride paste the youngstershad used evaluated all the be-fore-and-after photos to assessthe presence and severity ofwhite spots using a four-pointscale.

About 10 percent ofparticipants dropped out of thestudy for various reasons,though no side effects of thetoothpastes were reported,Sonesson and his colleaguesnote in the European Journalof Orthodontics.

When the researchersanalyzed results for the re-maining participants, theyfound that about 45 percent ofpatients who brushed withregular toothpaste developedwhite spots, whereas only 34.6percent of those who used the

high-fluoride paste developed spots. Thattranslates to about 32 percent fewer whitespots in the high-fluoride group.

The results were not surprising, givenprevious research on the use of fluoride forpreventing cavities, according to NisreenTakulla, a dentist in the Boston area. “High-fluoride toothpastes are often prescribed forpatients at a high risk of dental caries, to beused once a day instead of regular toothpaste,and topical fluorides have also been provento be very effective for caries control,” saidTakulla. Other ways to get higher doses offluoride include mouth rinses and gels ap-plied to the teeth.

High-fluoride paste mayprevent white spots from braces

Students presenting tableau during annual prize distribution ceremony of Aisha BawaniAcademy.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The officers ofthe departments concernedshould expedite their efforts forbringing improvements in theexisting modes of investigationand prosecution so that the per-petrators should find no flawin the system to escape duepunishments for their crimesthat they had committed. Thiswould also ensure speedy andfull justice, which is the aim ofthe Sindh Government.

The Sindh Prosecutor Gen-eral Sher Muhammad K.Shaikh said this in a high level

meeting of Police officials andprosecutors, which he chairedThursday.

Prosecutors of all Anti-Ter-rorism Court (ATC) of Karachi,District Public Prosecutors(DPP) of all five districts ofKarachi and Superintendent ofPolice (SP) District South, EastWest and Senior Superintendentof Police Investigation, Super-intendent of Police Central at-tended.

The meeting discussedabout certain important issuesthat pertained to investigation ofcriminals and terrorism casesbeing tried and to be tried in

courts and in ATCs. The meet-ing had a uniform understand-ing of the need of procedures ofinvestigation on modern lineswhile incorporating all availablescientific mechanisms to ensurefairness in the investigations.

It was decided that whiledealing with the prevailing lawand order situation in Karachi,the investigation of the caseswould be conducted minutelyand specially with the help offorensic science in order toachieve the results that thecriminals may not be spared bythe courts. The Sindh Prosecu-tor General emphasized that the

Sindh Prosecutor General urgesPolice to improve investigation

samples of evidences recoveredin cases that were not beingsent immediately for theirchemical and FSL examination,should be sent without delay.

The Sindh ProsecutorGeneral also pointed out thatthe investigating officerswould submit challan alongwith sufficient evidence tostand the test as the Prosecu-tors of ATCs have pointed outthat in number of cases, whichwere submitted by police tothe Prosecutors, the challansdid not carry incriminatingevidence except the extra-ju-dicial confessions of crimes by

the accused. Such incriminat-ing evidences were obtainedby police during interrogationand it would not help the pros-ecution to see the accused wasduly convicted.

He further pointed out thatthe Investigating Officers havebeen making delay in record-ing the confessional statementsby the accused and the testidentification parade have alsobeen conducted very late.

Such delays have provedgood for the accused to exploitthe delays and find a way tododge the courts for fleeing fromthe conviction and get set free.

Water Pump road wears a deserted look due to sit-in demonstration against Mastung incident.

People offering funeral prayers of ASI Nazeer Ahmad at Garden Headquarters after hewas killed in firing in Shah Faisal Colony.—PO photo Sultan Chaki

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sit-ins on more thana dozen key avenues of Karachihad paralysed life of the citizens.The sit-ins were being observedby different associations of ShiaMuslims in protest to the kill-ings of 29 persons of HazaraShia community in Quetta. Theaggrieved families of slain 29Shias along with thousands ofcommunity members took to thestreet in Quetta along with bod-ies of Shia victims, killed in asuicide attack.

Following the killings ofHazaras in Quetta, the Shia secthad started observing protest sit-ins across the country andKarachi was no exemption.

the participants of the sit-inshad said that they would continueto remain on streets under sit-instill the government would launcha crack-down against the killers,

arrest and take them to task. Alarge number of Shia youth,women and children had been onstreets under sit-ins.

The sit-ins were being ob-served at Numaish Chowranginear Quaid’s mausoleum,Ayesha manzil, Rizvia Society,Ancholi, Malir, Jaffer-e Tayyar,North Nazimabad 5-StarChowrangi, Nagan Chowrangi,Shadman, NIPA Chowrangi,Safoora Goth, Gulistan-eJauhar, Abbas Town on SuperHigh way, Clifton near ThreeSwords monument, DrighRoad, Shah Faisal Colony,Gulshan-e Iqbal, Orangi Town,Baldia Town, and many otherkey avenues of the city.

However, sit-ins had beenobserved on key arteries of themetropolis due to which publicand transport movement wasmore than 90 percent impeded.Shops and markets, banks and

schools and colleges remainedshut and examinations were post-poned. Thousands of childrenhad reached their schools in thwee hours of Thursday morningbut they found schools were shutwhile schools management hadnot issued any prio notice to theparents for keeping schools shut.

The sit-ins not only paraly-sed life in mid of the city but alsocertain key operations were alsobadly affected. The flight sched-ules were almost suspended be-cause the staffers and the crewof the airlines had not reachedtheir work places due to blockedstreets. Conversely, Pakistan rail-ways train schedule was also notan exemption and thousands ofpassengers could not reach Rail-way stations.

According to eminent busi-nessmen of the metropolis, thesit-ins had led to loss of around25 billion.

Mastung killings

Hazara communitysit-ins paralyse life in city

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Minis-ter (CM) Syed Qaim Ali Shahwhile expressing his apprehen-sions over the delay in comple-tion of RBOD Project, whichaccording to him is adding theproblems of pollution for thepeople stressed upon the federalgovernment for expediting thework of the RBOD-II project sothat miseries of the local peopleand degradation of the land andManchhar Lake could be averted.

He directed the Secretary Ir-rigation to complete the paperwork and submit this plan to himso that same could be got imple-mented from the federal govern-ment. The CM also took serious

notice for contamination ofManchhar Lake and directed theSecretary Irrigation to evolvesuch a strategy so that this his-torical and rich heritage of Sindhcould be rehabilitated, protectedpermanently and made morebeneficial specially for fishercommunity and common man inthe areas.

He said that huge investment,which was being made in Irriga-tion department, was aimed notonly to bring more land undercultivation through efficient irri-gation system but also to avert80 percent loss to growers, whichwere supposed to be occurred ifwe not strengthen to weaker sys-tem of Irrigation. The SecretaryIrrigation while responding the

query of CM Sindh, said thatunder the directives the a[exCourt the WAPDA Authoritieswere supposed to install 4 watertreatment plants each with capac-ity to treat 50 cusecs contami-nated water coming from MNVdrain before releasing in toManchhar Lake but WAPDA au-thority has started work only onone treatment plant as politeproject while rest 3 treatmentplants are yet to be taken in tohand by them. The cost of eachplant is Rs 3.7 billion.

This he observed while pre-siding over the meeting to exam-ine and evaluate the work perfor-mance of Sindh Irrigation De-partment held at CM HouseThursday.

RBOD project

CM stresses upon FederalGovt for expediting work

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Gorakh HillDevelopment Authority BoardChairman Sardar Rafiq AhmedJamali said the Sindh Governmentwas utilising all resources avail-able for development historicalrecreational station in Sindh,Gorakh Hill Station.

He said that Sindh Govern-ment has also taken extra-urgentsteps for construction of meansof communications especially theroads to the Gorakh Hill Stationfor which necessary funds wouldbe released shortly. He stated this

in a high level meeting withGorakh Hill Development Au-thority Board members at his of-fice, which he chaired Thursday.

Member provincial assemblySyed Ghulam Shah Jilani, DistrictDadu Deputy CommissionerNasir Abbas Soomro, Sindh Lo-cal Government Department Spe-cial Secretary Ghulam AkbarLeghari, Sindh Planning and De-velopment Department ChiefEconomist Mahtab Ul Haq,Sardar Yar Muhammad Buzdar,Gorakh Hill Development Au-thority Director General Dr IqbalSaeed Khan attended.

All resources being usedfor uplift of Gorakh Hill

Financialassistance forneedy artists

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Special Coordina-tor for the Sindh Chief Ministerfor Culture Sharmilla Faruqi saidthat senior and poor artists areasset of the country and it wasthe obligation of government tolook after them appropriately,which the Pakistan People’sParty Parliamentarian-led SindhGovernment is fulfilling withcomplete responsibilit6y andtransparency.

She expressed these views onthe occasion of a ceremony heldat the Directorate of CultureThursday. The ceremony washeld for distributing chequesamong the needy artists of theprovince under the EndowmentFund.

She said that Sindh CultureDepartment would provide finan-cial assistance to the needy art-ists through the EndowmentFunds and in this regard a sumof Rs 14, 120, 000 would be dis-tributed among 252 needy artistson 9th and 10th meeting of theEndowment Fund. She handedcheques to the needy artists fromher own hand amid the presenceof a large number of artists.

Mufti Naeemappeals forstrike today

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamia BinnoriaAalmia Administrator MuftiMuhammad Naeem has appealedto the people of Karachi, ownersof passenger transporters andleaders of political and religiousparties to support Ulema ActionCommittee for its decision toobserve strike in Karachi on Fri-day (today) in condemnation tothe killings of Sunni Ulemas, stu-dents, doctors and engineers andcommon men.

He said that hundreds ofSunni Ulemas had so far beenbrutally murdered in the me-tropolis but it was a miserablesituation that the killers werestill not arrested and were car-rying out their evil deeds withfull liberty.

He demanded of the govern-ment to immediately arrest thekillers of Ulemas especially thekillers of Mufti Usman Yar Khanand pay the compensation moneyto the aggrieved families.

The Ulemas of UAC includ-ing JUI (S) Karachi Ameer QariAbdul Mannan Anwar, JamiatUlema-e Islam (Fazal UrRehman) Karachi Ameer QariMuhammad Usman, Ahl-eSunnat Wa Jamaat leaderMaulana Taj Hanafi, Ishaat-eTauheed Wa Sunnat leaderMaulana Muhammad HanifHazarvi, Hafiz Ahmed Ali,Maulana Saif Ullah Rabbani andMaulana Muhammad Ghayassaid had in the press conferencesaid that on a famous avenue ofKarachi, Shahra-e Faisal, JamiatUlema-e Islam (Sami Ul Haq)leader Mufti Muhammad UsmanYar Khan along with his compan-ions were brutally murdered,which deserved condemnation instrongest possible manner. Mis-erably, none of the Sindh provin-cial government‘s representativeor Minister attended the funeralof Mufti Usman.

ManzoorWassan arrives

in KhairpurSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Minister forAnti-Corruption Establishment,Prisons and Mines and MineralManzoor Hussain Wassan wouldon a 4-day visit arrive atKhairpur on Jan 24.

The Minister would addressa grand public gathering at TheChondo City on Jan 25 while hewould inaugurate the BhabharRoad at Naragat Khan at 4 PMand address another grand pub-lic gathering at Mir HazarChowk in Kathore at 5 PM onsame day (Jan 25).

ADOLESCENTS may not be able to getout of wearing braces, but using a high-fluoride toothpaste for the duration could

help them avoid white marks the devices oftenleave behind, according to a new study fromSweden. The special pastewith almost four times theusual fluoride content helpedprevent about a third of thechalky-looking spots amongkids between the ages of 11and 16 years old, researcherssay.

Past studies have shownthat up to 85 percent of pa-tients who wear braces maydevelop these so-called whitespot lesions, which representlocal tooth decay and tend tobe permanent. “To reduce thiseffect, several products areavailable on the market, butevidence of the effectivenessof the products is lacking,”said Mikael Sonesson, leadauthor of the study and anorthodontist at Malmö Uni-versity.

To see whether a high-fluoride toothpastethat patients could use at home would protectagainst the spots, more than 400 kids at fivedental practices who were scheduled to getbraces were recruited starting in 2008.

They were randomly divided into twogroups, with about half receiving a paste con-taining 5,100 parts per million fluoride to useat home and the other half receiving paste thatwas similar in every way, except it contained1,450 ppm fluoride - the amount in most stan-dard commercial brands, according to the re-searchers. Before getting their braces, all theyoungsters had detailed photos taken of their

teeth and photos were taken again after thebraces were removed. The participants worebraces for an average of 1.8 years and re-ceived toothpaste supplies for as long as theydid. Two clinicians who did not know which

fluoride paste the youngstershad used evaluated all the be-fore-and-after photos to assessthe presence and severity ofwhite spots using a four-pointscale.

About 10 percent ofparticipants dropped out of thestudy for various reasons,though no side effects of thetoothpastes were reported,Sonesson and his colleaguesnote in the European Journalof Orthodontics.

When the researchersanalyzed results for the re-maining participants, theyfound that about 45 percent ofpatients who brushed withregular toothpaste developedwhite spots, whereas only 34.6percent of those who used the

high-fluoride paste developed spots. Thattranslates to about 32 percent fewer whitespots in the high-fluoride group.

The results were not surprising, givenprevious research on the use of fluoride forpreventing cavities, according to NisreenTakulla, a dentist in the Boston area. “High-fluoride toothpastes are often prescribed forpatients at a high risk of dental caries, to beused once a day instead of regular toothpaste,and topical fluorides have also been provento be very effective for caries control,” saidTakulla. Other ways to get higher doses offluoride include mouth rinses and gels ap-plied to the teeth.

High-fluoride paste mayprevent white spots from braces

People gather at the site after a traffic accident at Mall Road Underpass.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has said that youth are aprecious national asset and im-parting of modern vocationaltraining can help them not onlystand on their feet but also earnmuch-needed foreign exchangefor Pakistan by availing job op-portunities abroad.

He said that sixty percent ofPakistan’s population comprisesyouth between the age of 15 to30 years and there is a dire needfor imparting modern technicaleducation and training to theyoung generation. He said thatPunjab government is imple-menting a comprehensiveprogramme of vocational train-ing to the youth. He said thattechnical training is being im-

parted to the youth in various dis-tricts of south Punjab underPunjab Skills DevelopmentProgramme and the scope of thisprogramme is being extended toother districts as well.

He was presiding over a highlevel meeting here Thursday.Chairman Benazir Income Sup-port Programme Senator AnwarBeg, Provincial Ministers RajaAshfaq Sarwar, Malik NadeemKamran, Ch MuhammadShafique, federal secretaries, se-nior officers of TEVTA,NEWTECH, PVTC, PunjabSkills Development Programmeand concerned officers werepresent.

Various proposals to produceskilled manpower to meet mar-ket needs were reviewed in themeeting. Speaking on the occa-sion, the Chief Minister said that

Punjab government is spendingbillions of rupees on the promo-tion of vocational education inthe province and a comprehen-sive strategy is being imple-mented to prepare skilled man-power in accordance with themarket needs.

He said that skilledworkforce is in great demand inforeign countries as well andkeeping in view this fact not onlymodern vocational coursesshould be introduced but shortcourses in Arabic languageshould also be conducted so thatthey could easily get jobs in theGulf countries.

He directed that special at-tention be paid to producing mar-ket-oriented manpower andchambers of commerce and in-dustry should also be consultedfor this purpose. He said that

Youth can be empowered by vocational trainingskilled workforce should be pre-pared to meet the requirementsof private sector. He said that inview of the granting of the GSPPlus status to Pakistan, voca-tional training programme hasalso been arranged for the gar-ments sector so that it could haveskilled manpower for its require-ments. The Chief Minister saidthat the Punjab Skills Develop-ment Programme being imple-mented with the collaboration ofDFID of Britain is yielding posi-tive results and in view of thesuccess of this programme it hasbeen decided to extend its scopeto a further 18 districts.

He said that the Punjab SkillsDevelopment Programme wouldbe expanded to the whole prov-ince in phases. He said that allinstitutions associated with im-parting of vocational education

should work in a coordinatedmanner for ensuring uniformityin their training programmes. Hesaid that promotion of voca-tional education is of vital im-portance and the problems ofpoverty and unemployment canbe overcome by providing vari-ous skills to the youth.

The Chief Minister also is-sued instructions for the forma-tion of a committee for improv-ing coordination between voca-tional training institutions andpreparation of a skilledworkforce to meet future needs.

A detailed briefing wasgiven to the meeting by the of-ficials concerned with BenazirIncome Support Programme,TEVETA, PVTC, NEWTECHand Skill DevelopmentProgramme regarding voca-tional training programmes.

Activists of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen hold a sit-in demonstration against the Mastung incident outside Governor House.

Doctors checking patients during Free Nutrition Camp jointly held by the School of Nutrition,NGO, Fatima Memorial Hospital and Jahanara Memorial Trut at Fatima Memorial Hospital.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Minis-ter Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifhas said that Pakistan is passingthrough a critical phase and thereis a need for national unity forfoiling the nefarious designs ofthe enemy. He said that senti-ments of tolerance, harmony andbrotherhood will have to be pro-moted for maintaining peace inthe society.

He was presiding over ameeting to review law and ordersituation, here today. ProvincialMinisters Rana Sanaullah Khan,Col.(R) Shuja Khanzada, Secre-tary Home, Inspector GeneralPolice and concerned officerswere present.

Addressing the meeting, theChief Minister said that elimina-tion of terrorism and extremismis of vital importance forprogress and prosperity of thecountry. He said that anti-terror-ism force is being established tocurb the menace of terrorismwhile police officers are alsobeing trained abroad.

He said that arrangementsare being made for the trainingof elite force on modern lines.He said that government is tak-ing all possible steps for the pro-tection of life and property of thecitizens.

He said that modern weap-ons and more resources wouldbe provided to police and itwould have to perform its duties

with efficiency and commitment.He directed that immediate stepsbe taken for accelerating the pro-cess of setting up anti-terroristforce and security arrangementsbe tightened in the province inview of the current situation.

He directed that checking atentry and exit points of thy citybe intensified while a vigilant eyeshould be kept on miscreants. Healso directed that special check-ing of hotels, guesthouses andinns be carried out and effectivesecurity arrangements be made inthe province at every cost.

Secretary Home and Inspec-tor General Police Punjab gave adetailed briefing to the meetingon law and order situation in theprovince.

Nation should unite tocounter designs of enemy

LHC takesnotice of assaulton teenage girl

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Lahore High Courttoday took notice on a press re-port that influential persons ab-ducted at gun point and assaulteda teenaged girl in Mustafabad.District & Sessions Judge, Kasurhas been directed to look into thematter and submit a detailed re-port regarding steps taken by thelocal police along with his owncomments.

According to details, in sub-urban village Sirhali Kalan ac-cused Zeeshan, Abu al Hasan andMuhammad Haris of a landlordfamily along with their accom-plice abducted a 13-year-old girlat gun point from her home. Theytook the girl to an unknown placewhere they molested her and fledaway.

On the application of thevictim’s brother, police registereda case against the said accusedand is looking for them. Whereaspeople of the area protestedagainst the ugly incident and de-manded immediate arrest of theaccused. LHC Complaint Celltook notice of news on adminis-trative side and directed the con-cerned D&SJ to look into matterand submit report in a week.

PreservingQuranic verses

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Assemblyhas adopted a unanimous resolu-tion to preserve Quranic verses,their translation and saving fromdesecration.

All newspapers have beenasked to make seirsor and cuttingmarks around Quranic verses andtheir translation so that thesecould easily be cut and preserved,added the resolution.

Ideals of Iqbal,beacon of light

for nationOBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Provincial Parlia-mentary Secretary Information &Culture and Member ProvincialAssembly Rana MuhammadArshad visited the office ofMajlis-e-Taraqi-e-Adab.

Director Majlis-e-Taraqi-e-Adab Dr Tehsin Faraaqi re-ceived the Parliamentary Secre-tary and apprised him of theaims and objectives, workingand other affairs of the institu-tion. Rana Arshad lauded thenational services of Majlis-e-Taraqi-e-Adab and said that theideals of Allama Iqbal are a bea-con of light for the nation.

He said that social aware-ness can be created by promot-ing the ideals of the Poet of theEast. Later, the ParliamentarySecretary visited the office ofBazm-e-Iqbal where DirectorBazm-e-Iqbal Hanif Rasheedgave a briefing to him about theBazm. Rana Arshad said that onthe instructions of Khadim-e-Aala, all necessary steps are be-ing taken for the promotion ofideals of Alama Iqbal.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Advisor to ChiefMinister Punjab on Health KhSalman Rafique has said thatthere is no plan to shift LadyWellingdon Hospital to BadamiBagh whereas on the directionof Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz, a state-of-the-art 300-bed gynae & obstetrics hospitalwill be constructed at the OPDsite which will be fully equippedwith modern medical and diag-nostic facilities. He further saidthat the existing building of thehospital will not be demolisheduntil the completion of the newbuilding.

In a statement here today,Kh. Salman Rafique said thatthe up gradation of the LadyWillingdon Hospital is the needof the hour for providing mod-

ern medical facilities for gyaneand obstetrics. He said that thenew hospital will be equippedwith latest bio-medical machin-ery and other latest equipmentwhich will not only cater theneeds of people of Lahore butalso provide medical facilities tothe other areas.

Kh. Salaman Rafique fur-ther said that modern operationtheatres and wards will be es-tablished in the hospital and theestimated cost of the project isabout Rs.2 billion.

He said that some circles areengaged in propaganda regard-ing shifting of Lady WillingdonHospital to Badami Bagh whichis baseless. Kh. Salman Rafiquedisclosed that the new buildingof the state-of-the-art hospitalwill be completed within a pe-riod of one year.

Lady WellingdonHospital not to be shifted

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Vice Chancel-lor of University of Health Sci-ences (UHS), Maj Gen (R) ProfMuhammad Aslam has saidthat universities are meant tocreate, preserve and transmitknowledge.

Welcoming the new batchof on-campus postgraduate stu-dents from various disciplines,he said that UHS strived to in-stil the qualities of criticalthinking and analysis into itsgraduates through carefullystructured programmes, to pro-duce skilled professionals. Hestressed that students were ex-

pected to carry out their dutiesand activities in a manner be-fitting their responsibilities.

UHS VC further said thatthe university’s culture sup-ported academic freedom, en-couraged radical thinking andchallenged orthodoxies.

He urged the students towork hard as “there are no shortcuts to success and the post-graduate programmes at theuniversity are so rigours thatstudents will be pushed to thelimits of their potential”.

He informed that new stu-dents could benefit from exten-sive research and support fa-cilities provided by university.

UHS VC welcomesnew students

Anti-encroachmentoperation continuesLAHORE—The district adminis-tration continued anti-encroach-ments operation and removedvarious illegal structures in ninetowns of the City District Gov-ernment Lahore (CDGL).

The administration of townsfollowing directions of the DCODr Ahmad Javed Qazi partici-pated in the operation and re-moved illegally constructedshops, several pedestals andmany other illegal structures inShalimar Town, Neelum CinemaChowk, Mustafa Town, QartabaChowk, Main Boulevard JoharTown, Samanabad and Mozang.

According to the sources indistrict administration, anti- en-croachment teams also gotlodged FIRs against encroachersin various police stations besidesseizing 9 truckloads of differentmaterial.—APP

Ulema unitedto condemn

terroristsLAHORE—Pakistan UlemaCouncil (PUC) has decided toobserve Friday as the day to con-demn terrorist activities inMastung, Rawalpindi, Karachi,Bannu, attacks on polio workersand other acts of killing innocenthuman beings in the country.

Ulema all over the countrywhile delivering Friday sermonswill condemn terrorists acts inlight of the teachings of Islam,said Central Chairman PUCHafiz Muhammad Tahir Ashrafiand Central Secretary GeneralPUC Sahibzada Zahid MehmoodQasmi in a joint statement hereon Thursday.

They said it was high timefor all segments of society to ex-press solidarity, brotherhood andunity to counter internal and ex-ternal threats faced by the coun-try and to foil nefarious designsof enemies.—APP