Murder of humanity, Hamzais right................................................Expulsion of more IHKMuslim students................................................Sectarian virus is spreading

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MITHI: Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif inquiring about the health of patients of drought-hit areas ofTharparkar at Civil Hospital on Monday. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is also present on the occasion.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharifspeaking at the Army FieldHospital at Thar has as-sured the people that thebad time would come to anend as the joint efforts bythe federal and provincialgovernments and PakistanArmy stood shoulder toshoulder with the people ofthe affected area.

Accompanied by Chair-person Pakistan PeoplesParty Bilawal BhuttoZardari, Sindh Chief Minis-ter Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Fed-eral Information MinisterSenator Pervaiz Rashid, andCorps Commander KarachiLt Gen Sajjad Ghani thePrime Minister while assur-ing the firm support of thegovernment observed thatthe relief measures of thefederal, provincial govern-ments, and the PakistanArmy are bound to ease thesituation in Thar and thepeople

Addressing the peopleat an Army Field Hospitalthe prime minister also dis-tributed relief goods, includ-ing essential food stuff,among the people. Federalministers Pir SadaruddinShah Rashidi and GhulamMurtaza Jatoi, General Sec-retary PPP Sindh Taj Haider,Imtiaz Shaikh, and PML- Nleaders Shah Muhammad

Rs 1b PM packagefor drought-hit peopleNawaz, Bilawal visit Mithi to monitor relief operation

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LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—In a letter to all concerned,the Interior Ministry on Monday warnedTaliban and al Qaeda terrorists haveplanned to target former President PervezMusharraf inside or outside the court, put-ting a big question mark on his appearancebefore the Special Court today hearing atreason case against him.

The Court has summoned him to indicthim in the case.

The letter appeared just a day beforehearing of treason case has great signifi-cance as credible reports are in the circula-tion that there is tacit understanding amongstakeholders to let Musharraf go for treat-ment and also to meet his ailing motherabroad.

Musharraf’s lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasurisaid his client will not appear before the

Terrorists to target Musharraf,warns Interior Ministry

Question mark on his appearance in court today; Letterlends credibility to reports about tacit understanding

Special Court on Tuesday as summonedby it, if fool proof security is not providedto him. The letter said Musharraf can betargeted on his way to court from the hos-pital.

Kasuri said he has been warning aboutthe danger looming large over the lawyers,judges and other court officials from terror-ists. This official letter has proved his point,he said.

The defence lawyers have cited ex-amples of assassination of former gover-nor Salman Taseer and the Additional Ses-sion Judge Islamabad Rafaqat Awan whobecame victims of their own securityguards. There are elements in security agen-cies who are sympathisers of TTP or otherterror groups.

The letter dispatched to President,Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, Home

Rupee makesfresh impressive

gains, rises to101.40 to dollar

KARACHI—The Pakistanirupee maintained its upwardmomentum as the local cur-rency on Monday madefresh gains against the USdollar in the currency mar-ket. Foreign exchange deal-ers said that the rupeegained impressively by onerupee and 75 paisas againstthe greenback in early morn-ing trade in the open andinterbank markets.

The rupee is trading at

KABUL—The AfghanTaliban said on Mondaynext month’s presidentialelection was being manipu-lated by the United States,which had already chosenthe winner, and threatenedto use “full force” in attack-ing anyone taking part.

Two campaign workershave already been killed andat least one presidentialcandidate has been as-saulted during campaign-ing for the April 5 poll, thefirst democratic transitionof power in the country’shistory.

The Taliban said theproceedings were beingstage-managed by the

Afghan Taliban threatenpresidential election

United States.“The people should re-

alize that the election willbear no result because thereal elections have takenplace in CIA and Pentagonoffices and their favoritecandidate has already beenchosen,” the Taliban said ina statement.

“...All fighters are givenorders to disrupt this shamelections by full force andbring under attacks electionworkers, activists, volun-teers and those providingsecurity everywhere. Ifsomeone takes part in this(election), they will be re-sponsible for the bad con-sequences themselves.”

Dozens of Afghan se-curity forces and civilianswere killed on the day ofthe 2009 presidential elec-tion, which saw the returnof incumbent HamidKarzai to power. He isbarred from running for athird term.

The vote is taking placeagainst the background ofa stagnant economy andconcerns overAfghanistan’s long-term se-curity.

NATO is due to with-draw its troops by the endof the year, but a small con-tinent of U.S. troops mayremain behind to help with

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Monday orderedan inquiry committee to con-tinue its probe into a gun andsuicide bomb attack on acourt complex in Islamabadwhich killed 11 people.

A three-judge bench ofthe apex court, headed byChief Justice TassaduqHussain Jillani, was hearingthe suo motu case. Thechief Justice had taken suomotu notice of Monday’sattack, the deadliest to hitthe heavily-guarded capitalin more than five years.

An inquiry committee

Islamabad court attack

SC orders inquirybody to continue probeDissatisfied with IGP’s report

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No chance oftransparentelections: ImranSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf ChiefImran Khan has allegedthat rigging was carriedout in by-elections ofPunjab openly and therewas no chance of fair andtransparent elections inthe country.

Addressing a pressconference here Monday,Imran Khan said ElectionCommission of Pakistandid not comply withSupreme Court orders.

PTI chairman said: “Iwill meet acting ChiefElection Commissioner ofPakistan Thursday and willdiscuss with him thematter of rigging in 4constituencies duringgeneral elections and by-polls”.

Commenting onTharparkar situation, Khansaid feudal mentality led todrought condition in thedesert district.

PM to attendNuclear SecuritySummit, meetworld leadersAKHTAR JAMAL

ISLAMABAD—PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif willattend the NuclearSecurity Summit on March24-25 in the Netherlands’capital The Hague. ThePrime Minister will beaccompanied by seniorofficials from Pakistaninuclear establishment andexperts.

The Nuclear SecuritySummit 2014 is a worldsummit, aimed at prevent-ing nuclear terrorismaround the globe and is

Nisar callsSami, discussesTaliban talksISLAMABAD—FederalInterior Minister,Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khantelephoned the member ofTaliban-nominatedcommittee, Maulana Samiul Haq and exchangedviews with him on thecurrent situation status ofthe talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Sami stressed the needof talks with Taliban.Chaudhry Nisar told himthat an announcement willbe made regardingGovernment’s reconstitutedteam in the next 2-3 days.

Maulana Sami ul Haq

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Shah, Arbab Ghulam Rahim,Marvi Memon, Saleem Ziaand Ismail Rahu were alsopresent on the occasion.

During his visit to Mithi,the capital of the drought-

hit Tharparkar district PrimeMinister personally moni-tored the relief operationand announced Rs 1 billionpackage for the affectedpeople. The Federal govern-ment would extend all thesupport to the Sindh Gov-ernment in its support ef-forts to overcome the crisis.The Prime Minister how-ever stressed firmly that

strict action should be takenagainst those responsiblefor the negligence in distri-bution of wheat among theresidents of Tharparkar. Hestressed on evolving aproper strategy and plan-ning to prevent the droughtin Tharparkar in future afteridentification of the rootcause.

It is strange that that thedeteriorated situation inTharparkar differs fromnearby Cholistan desert,which was not affected bythe food shortage. PrimeMinister also suggestedlaunch of mobile healthunits in far-flung areas of theTharparkar district so thatthe people could get medi-cal facility within their reach.Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah and PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) Chair-man Bilawal Bhutto Zardariattended the briefing aboutdrought hit Tharparkargiven by the Deputy Com-missioner TharparkarDeputy Commissioner saidthe Sindh Government haddistributed 125,000 wheatbags among the residents ofsix Talukas of the district.

Some 2,030 bags hadbeen distributed in Mithiand 1,030 in Islamkot so far.He said wheat could be ob-tained from the help centresby the people showing iden-

Premier refuseslunch duringMithi visit

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MITHI—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif refused tohave lunch during his visitto Thar on Monday.

Sources said theprime minister, on the oc-casion, directed the offi-cials concerned to use forthe welfare of affecteesthe amount that was be-ing spent on meals. “Themoney from national ex-chequer should be spenton drought-hit people in-stead of meals.”

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Some 86 powerful bureaucratsare among the officers of various groups in-cluding Police Service of Pakistan and PakistanAdministrative Service (DMG) and SecretariatGroup who are retiring this year i.e. 2014, Paki-stan Observer has learnt.

According to the list available to this news-paper, 17 retiring bureaucrats of grade-22 offic-ers include Secretary Economic Affairs Divi-sion Nargis Sethi (retiring on Dec 25, 2014), Sec-retary Statistics Division Rukhsana Saleem (re-tiring on Sept 6), Secretary Establishment Divi-sion Shahid Rasheed ( November 18), IT andTelecom Secretary Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar (Octo-ber 31), Secretary Federal Ombudsman

DMG, Police groups to lose powerful bureaucratsNargis Sethi, Khan Baig among 86 officers retiring this year

Attaullah Khan (already retired on March 1),Secretary National Health Services Imtiaz

Inayat Elahi (retiring on March20), Member Federal Ombuds-man Secretariat Anwar AhmedKhan (retired on March 7), Sec-retary Education & TrainingAhmed Bakhsh Lahri (retired onMarch 2), Secretary Ports &Shipping Habibullah Khattak(June 21), Senior Member Fed-eral Land Commission TaimurAzmat Usman (Oct 4), former

MD NBF Mazhar Ali Khan (November 30),Nazeer Saeed (July 6), Agha Nadeem (April 24),Secretary Communications Muhammad ArshadBhatti (retired on February 14), Secretary Over-

seas Pakistanis and Human Resource Devel-opment Munir Qureshi (retired on March 4) and

Naveed Saleemi (retiring on Aril26).

12 officers of grade-21 ofSecretariat Group are also bid-ding adieu to their career. Theyare: Rukhsana Shah who is re-tiring on December 1, 2014.Najeeb Khawar Awan (retiredon January 15), Abdul Khaliq(retiring on August 1), AmjadMehmood (December 24),

Nuzhat Fatima (retired on January 19), SikandarAhmed Roy (retiring on May 5), Tahira Zia (onApril 1) Abdul Basit Khan (June 19), Shehzad

Nargis Sethi Khan Baig

Continued on Page 7

formed by the IslamabadHigh Court last week andheaded by Justice ShaukatAziz Siddiqui, had halted itswork after the SupremeCourt took sou motu noticeof the incident.

The Supreme Court di-rected the committee to con-tinue its probe and submitits report to the apex court.

Meanwhile, the SC ex-pressed its disappointmentover a report submitted bythe Inspector-General ofIslamabad police during thehearing.

The SC objected that theIG’s report did not give anyclue regarding the court’ssecurity plan nor did it ex-plain whether the policemenpursued the attackers ormade any effort to stop themfrom escaping.

The chief justice wasalso astonished at the con-flicting numbers of attack-ers being reported by differ-ent witnesses.

The chief justice saidthat according to the IGP’sreport, two gunmen at-tacked the court premises.However, he said that thenumber of attackers re-ported by lawyers wasgreater than eight.

The IG replied that fur-ther evidence was still be-ing collected. The court or-dered the IG Islamabad tosubmit a revised reportwithin two days. The hear-ing was subsequently ad-journed to March 17.

Wife’s consentfor secondmarriage

un-Islamic: CIIISLAMABAD—The Council ofIslamic Ideology (CII) hasdeclared that it is not man-datory under Sharia to seekpermission of the first wifefor the second marriage asrequested under a clause ofMuslim Family Law Ordi-nance.

The CII unanimouslydeclared the clause as un-Islamic.—Online

Trial of MPs, MLAs

Indian SC setsone-yeardeadline

NEW DELHI—The IndianSupreme Court on Mondayordered swift completion oftrial against MPs andMLAs facing charges ofcorruption and seriouscriminal charges. The apexcourt directed the trialcourts to conclude trialagainst MPs and MLAs insuch cases within one yearfrom the framing of chargesagainst them.

If a trial court cannotcomplete the trial withinone year, it has to explainthe reasons for this to con-cerned chief justice of thehigh court, the top courtsaid.

The apex court benchheaded by Justice RMLodha said the offences forwhich trial has to concludewithin one year are thosementioned under the Rep-resentation of People Act.The SC order came on a PILon decriminalization of poli-tics.

The law commission inits report had said that dis-qualification after convic-tion and sentence of morethan two years has provedineffective because of longdelay in trials.

The commission saidfiling of charge sheet in hei-nous crimes against MPsand MLAs may not be anappropriate stage to dis-qualify them.

The law commissionhowever, said that MPs andMLAs can be disqualifiedif the trial court framedcharges against them.—INP

I S L A M A B A D — S u p r e m eCourt declaring Sindh Gov-ernment responsible for theThar situation has said thatif media had not highlightedthe issue it would havebeen swept under the car-pet.

Two-member benchheaded by Chief JusticeTasadduq Hussain Jilaniheard the case on Monday.

A total of 67 death casesof infants and children havebeen reported in Tharparkar

Sindh govt responsible forThar situation: SC

in the last three months],stated a report submitted bythe chief secretary of Sindhin the Supreme Court dur-ing the hearing ofTharparkar suo motu noticecase.

The report stated that 26deaths were reported in De-cember, 18 in January and23 in February. “Most ofthese deaths have been dueto pneumonia, sepsis, birthasphyxia and very few frommalnutrition. Sepsis is

mainly due to use of unhy-gienic methods of deliveryused by midwives and un-trained local ‘Daiees’,” thereport states further.

According to the report,around 0.12 million wheatbags worth Rs429 million arebeing distributed amongstthe affected people.“Around 80,000 bags havealready been dispatchedand received in the district.”

During case proceed-

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IAEA laudsPak safety step

for nuclearpower plants

ISLAMABAD—InternationalAtomic Energy Agency(IAEA) has appreciatedPakistan’s step for safetyand security of nuclearpower plants in the country.

Director General IAEAYukiya Amano said this dur-ing his meeting with Ad-viser to the Prime Ministeron National Security and

Continued on Page 7

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OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—In line with the theme of 2014International Women’s Day -”Equality forwomen is progress for all”, a video conference,was held at Devolution Trust for CommunityEmpowerment (DTCE) with parliamentarians,newly elected female members of district coun-cils, former members of district government, ac-tivists, representatives of civil society ofBaluchistan and senior management of DTCE.

Mr. Azhar Bashir Malik, Chief OperatingOfficer-DTCE, opened the discussion by high-lighting issues pertaining to women, such aswomen engagement and participation in localgovernment, lack of female education, dearthof job opportunities for educated women andthe dismal maternal and infant health care, avail-

Government pledges support to women’seducation, health & empowerment at grass root level

able in Baluchistan.He emphasized the need for social cohesion

and involvement of women in decision makingprocesses. The participants appreciated the ef-forts of Daniyal Aziz, MNA & Chairman Devo-lution Trust for Community Empowerment(DTCE) on local governance policies and sys-tems. Manzoor Kakar, MPA from PakhtoonkhwaMilli Awami Party (PKMAP), Balochistan saidthat women’s education, health and mobilizationis the priority of the government.

“40% budget has been allocated to educa-tion. 400 new schools are being built, 300 ghostschools identified are being upgraded and 5000scholarships will be given to student. This willserve as a better opportunity, especially for fe-male students. “

The important issue of women participation

in local government elections was discussed.Manzoor Kakar said that we are trying to createan environment where women representativescan freely voice their opinion and participate indecision making process. Addressing the healthcare issue, the government has decided to em-ploy more female doctors in rural areas. Moni-toring committees are being formed for ensur-ing attendance, availability of medicines andquality of service.

The female representatives of civil societyvoiced their concerns about security and lawless-ness. They highlighted that educated women didnot have enough opportunities to utilize theirskills and talent.

Nasreen-ur-Rehman Khetran, female repre-sentative elected under local government elec-tions 2013 from of District Council Barkhan, also

shared her views on women mobilization andwomen empowerment. She said that there is anincreasing need for evidence based research tofind out the grass root problems of women.

Targeted awareness campaigns in local lan-guage and local context need to be developedfor women, to build their self worth and confi-dence. Women of today, need to find their ownidentity and purpose in life.

Azhar Bashir Malik, Chief Operating Officerof DTCE thanked the participants. He lauded theefforts of government of Baluchistan in imple-menting legislation on women protection. Hehoped that this endeavor of DTCE could bridgethe gap between civil society and policy makers.He said that women are the future of tomorrow,and it is vital to ensure their participation in fu-ture policy making.

HYDERABAD—Relief CommissionerSindh, Lala Fazal Rehman said here Mon-day that the Sindh Government has de-clared 25 villages of Taluka and districtUmerkot as calamity affected areas.

According to details Di more, Shakhro,Mokhal Bah, Dhoodher, Laplo, Horingo,Kaplore, Lal Bah, Kacholi, Souheri,Umerkot Thar, Verw Thar, Khalral Thar,Bahrahi Thar, Khaoro Thar, Diyat Bah,Junhero Thar, Sadhori Thar, Sabhri Thar,Tar Samo, Senhoi Thar, Nabi Sir Thar,Rajhar Thar, Rajari Thar, and Chhori Tharhave been declared as calamity hit areas.Peshawar: The Khyber PakhtunkhwaGovernment’s caravan of trucks carryingrelief goods and food packages has reacheddrought-hit Thar Parkar Sindh provincethat would be distributed among the af-fected people.

According to Spokesman of Provin-cial Disaster Management Authority(PDMA) here on Monday, the caravan ofthe trucks loaded with relief goods, dryfruits, milks, coking oil, pulses, flour bagssugar, and food packages, baby milks be-sides other essential items have reachedto drought hit Thar that would be distrib-uted among the affected people under thesupervision of Deputy CommissionerThar, senior officials of National DisasterManagement Authority and Sindh Govt.

The relief goods include, 60 tons rice,10,000 flour bags each 20 kilogram, 60 tonspackets of pulses, 30 tons sugar packets,10ton tea, 2000 tons dry milk packets, 5000coking oil, 10 tons dates packets, one tonsalts packets, 15000 packets of biscuits,5000 packets of high energy biscuits andmilks packets for children and infants ofThar district. The spokesman said the re-

KP trucks’ caravan carrying relief goods reachs Thar

25 Umerkot villages declared calamity hit

WPF offerslife-saving food

assistance todrought-children

ISLAMABAD—The United Na-tions World Food Programme(WFP) has offered for life-sav-ing food assistance to childrenaffected in remote districts insouthern Sindh province includ-ing desert Tharparkar, said WFPPakistan Amjad Jamal.

Talking to APP, AmjadJamal confirmed that WFP Pa-kistan was closely watching thesituation of the Tharparkar Sindhthrough media reports and WFPcountry director Lola Castro inrecent meeting with the ChiefSecretary Sindh Sajjad SaleemHotiana offered WFP operationfor life saving food assistance toaffected people especially forchildren of Tharpakar and otheraffected parts of the southernSindh province. Replying to aquestion, Amjad Jamal saidWFP Pakistan was waiting forresponse from the governmentfor launching emergency opera-tion in Tharparkar Sindh and allrelated arrangements were readyfor the life-saving operation.

It is pertinent to mentionthat Prime Minister NawazSharif has taken serious noticeof the incidents of death of chil-dren in Tharparkar district.

The prime minister whiletaking notice of the situation hasdirected the National DisasterManagement Authority(NDMA) to immediately get intouch with authorities in Sindhand provide all possible aid andassistance. After getting instruc-tions from the premier, NDMAhas contacted authorities inSindh and its provincial chapterto assess the situation on anemergency basis.

On the other hand, PakistanArmy, Sindh Rangers and vari-ous NGOs have set up their re-lief camps for the affectedpeople.According to the Inter-Services public Relations(ISPR), relief teams of the Pa-kistan Army have distributed 45tonnes of food. Army teams arehelping the people getting medi-cal treatment and food. A fieldhospital has been established toprovide healthcare to the mal-nourished and sick.

The Sindh government hasannounced Rs 100 million foodpackage for Tharpakar andmeanwhile, Sindh Chief Minis-ter Syed Qaim Ali Shah has an-nounced Rs 200,000 each forfamilies of children who died inTharparkar tragedy.—APP

Orphans’ caredonors’ conference

on March 14PESHAWAR—A donors’ con-ference on Orphans Care wouldbe held on March 14 inNowshera district with an ob-jective to raise awareness andmobilize philanthropists to helpand support orphan children.

Jamal Khan, President Al-Khidmat Foundation DistrictNowshera in a press statementhere Monday said the confer-ence would be held at KhushalKhattak Library at AkohraKhattak on March 14 where allarrangements are being final-ized.

He said Provincial Minis-ter for Ushar and Zakat HabiburRehmanb has been requested toattend the conference as ChiefGuest. Khan said theconference’s objectives was toseek donors help in making or-phans children a useful citizensof the society.

He said it was our collec-tive responsibility to help or-phan children in their educationbesides provision of others so-cial-economic services.—APP

THARPARKAR: Women gathered and wait outside Army relief camp for collection of relief goods at Mitthi districtTharparkar.

Swine flu: one moredies in Multan

MULTAN—One more persondied of Swine Flu in NishtarHospital here on Monday, in-creasing the death toll to fiveAccording to the hospitalsources, Muhammad Akram, aresident of Kotla Zareef Khanwas brought to Nishtar Hospi-tal of Multan where the doctorsdiagnosed him disease of swineflu but he died on Monday.

The deceased was undertreatment for few days, whereasaltogether there are 10 patientswho are suffering from this dis-ease. The doctors also revealedthat the patients who have beenadmitted in the hospital mostlybelong to DG Khan, Multanand Khanewal.—INP

PESHAWAR—The provincial government ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday closed downan office of a non-government organization(NGO) after it was found involved in illegalactivities and has ordered its foreign employeesto be deported.

After this incident, the provincial govern-ment has further beefed up monitoring of all for-eigners working in various non-government or-ganizations in Pakistan.

According to sources, the government be-gan monitoring of entire foreign employeeworking in non-government organizations

(NGO) after surge in terrorist attacks in thecountry.

While taking into consideration the currentworsening law and order situation in the coun-try, the law enforcement agencies have submit-ted reports about illegal activities of the foreignworkers in Pakistan and have requested to de-port them.

The sources also said that a charge sheethas been prepared by the government about theillegal activities of foreigners working in NGOsector in Pakistan to be sent back to their nativecountries.—Online

NGO closed down in KP

Foreign officials to be deported

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan Medical and DentalCouncil (PMDC) has issued warnings to severalmedical and dental colleges for having deficientfaculty facilities and other deficiencies.

PMDC Registrar Dr Amjad Mehmood toldAPP on Monday that 11 medical and dental col-leges had been stopped from admitting students intheir colleges, for being deficient.

He said 14 medical colleges, which did nothave their own 150-bed hospitals and separate 60-bed dental hospitals, had been issued warnings notto admit students for the year 2014-2O15.

He said the PMDC had inspected almost 65medical and dental colleges. The ministry con-cerned had been recommended to close three medi-cal dental colleges for not meeting the minimumcriteria of PMDC, sub-standard education and lackof teaching faculty.

These colleges include Hashmat Medical Col-lege Gujrat, Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal andAl-Razi Medical College Peshawar, he added.

He said the PMDC was in the process of

Warnings issued to medicalcolleges on deficiencies

streamlining the medical and dental education sys-tem, in order to produce good quality doctors. Headded that attention had been paid to ensure qual-ity medical education in medical colleges.

He said 74 MRCS qualification of doctors hadbeen cancelled by the Council, which were issuedillegally by the previous registrar, without Council’sapproval and notification of the federal govern-ment, required under the PMDC Ordinance 1962and Amendment Act 2012. This qualification wasregistered with the PMDC in violation of rules asMRCS qualification as per General Medical Coun-cil (GMC), UK, and PMDC had been declared abasic qualification which is an entry level to getinto advance level postgraduate qualification andat no stage this qualification was to be registered.

He added more than 60 cases of disciplinaryaction have been decided of the doctors by thePMDC for negligence and malpractice in all theprovinces in the last one year. He said 60 fake andforged registrations have been caught during re-verification campaign of degrees.—APP

Social upliftprojects opensin Faisalabad

I S L A M A B A D — H i s a s h iTsumura, First Secretary of theEmbassy of Japan in Pakistan,inaugurated a hospital improve-ment project and a special chil-dren centre expansion project inFaisalabad, on March 9 and 10respectively.

These projects were sup-ported by the Government ofJapan under the Grant Assis-tance for Grassroots HumanSecurity Projects (GGP)Programme, said a press releaseissued by the Embassy of Ja-pan here Monday.

The inauguration ceremo-nies were attended by officialsof the implementing non-profitorganizations, communitymembers and other notables ofthe area. St Raphael’s Hospi-tal, Faisalabad completed therenovation and expansion of itsmaternity health unit, with agrant of US $ 122,300.

It is expected that the im-proved facilities will enable thehospital to provide better ma-ternal health services to the lo-

SIALKOT—Federal Minister for Water and PowerKhawaja Muhammad Asif called for collective andconcerted efforts for promoting education,sayingilliteracy was impeding the process of develop-ment in the country. Talking to reporters here hesaid that Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N)government has focused its special attention onthe promotion of education at grossroots level tobring positive changes in every sphere of life.

There is a dire need of changing mindsets ofparents to ensure equal education and growth for

Illiteracy impeding developmentgirls also across the board,he stressed. KhawajaAsif said that women’s education helps in buildup economy and overcoming social problems.

“The provision of quality education,facilitiesof health and infrastructure are the sole responsi-bility of the state,and PML-N government is uti-lizing all resources for these facilities on top prior-ity basis across the country”, he said.

He said Pakistani women have the capabilityand courage to bring revolutionary changes in thesociety and face challenges.—APP

Chak Jhumra-Faisalabadroad construction begins

FAISALABAD—The construc-tion of dual carriageway of ChakJhumra-Faisalabad Road has

been started and Rs 168.118 mil-lion will be spent during its firstphase. DCO Noor-ul-AminMengal aong with MNA MianMuhammad Farooq and MPAAzad Ali Tabassum inspected theconstruction work and said thatvarious mega projects had beenstarted under the CM’s large citypackage. He said that strict moni-toring had been carried out for du-rable construction of the projectand its completion within stipu-lated time. Giving details of theFaisalabad Chak Jhumra dualcarriage 3.60 km road project, heinformed that this important roadwould be completed fromNishatabad Chowk to Dry Portin the first phase.

He said the demand of peopleof the Chak Jhumra and the in-dustrialists linked with the DryPort would be fulfilled by mak-ing the road dual carriage forsmooth flow of traffic. He saidthat different mega project hadbeen initiated in Faisalabad un-der the CM large city package forproviding the durable basic facili-ties to the people.—APP

PIMA establishes freemedical camp in Thar

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Islamic MedicalAssociation (PIMA) established a freemedical camp in Mithi, Tharparkar fordrought affectees. PIMA, president Dr.Misbahul Aziz visited Tharparkar formedical need assessment. PIMA spokes-man said in a statement that PIMA presi-dent Dr. Misbahul Aziz and provincialpresident Dr. Abdul Qadir Somro visiteddistrict headquarters hospital and met withDistrict Health Officer and Director Gen-eral Health and offered medical relief as-sistance.

He said that a joint team of PIMA andAl-Khidmat under the supervision of Dr.Khalid Mushtaq will look after the reliefwork in drought affected areas. PIMAstarted a free medical camp in Mithi andambulance service between Deplo, IslamKot and Mithi to provide emergency ser-vices.—APP

lief goods sent on the directives of ChiefMinister KP Pervez Khattak, was accom-panied by an eight member team of PDMAwith a direction to stay there for the assis-tance of their needy brothers. He said an-other caravan of trucks with relief goodswould also reached Thar from Badin to Tharon Tuesday. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwagovernment has announced a food pack-age of 100 million rupees for the affecteesof Thar.The Chief Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak has directedProvincial Disaster Management Author-ity (PDMA) to purchase food items includ-ing rice, flour, pulses, sugar, tea, cookingoil, dates, salt, water, baby milk and medi-cines from the local market on emergentbasis and arrange its transportation to thevictims of Thar. The Chief Minister hasexpressed grief over the situation in Tharand assured the residents that KP govern-ment will not leave its brethren of Tharalone in this hour of need. Islamabad: StateMinister for Health, Saira

Afzal Tarad on Monday said that fed-eral government is extending all necessarysupport to help the people particularly chil-dren living in Tharparkar area. She said thattransportation of medicine, food, water andother facilities are being ensured inTharparkar area. Talking to Pakistan Tele-vision channel, she said that some areas ofSindh are direly in need of special atten-tion.

She said that weak health of the womenof these areas are major reason due to whichthe children are fighting with multiple dis-ease. She said that federal government ishelping the provincial government to re-solve the problems being faced by the chil-dren and women of the remote and far flung

areas of Sindh. Replying to a questionMinister said that there is need to evolveshort and long term strategy to addressthe issues confronted the masses livingin Sindh areas.

Sindh Food Minister Jam Mahtab saidthat relief items including food and waterare being dispatched in the less developedareas of Sindh including Tharparkar andMithi so that the people could avail thebasic facilities without further delay. He,however said that there are some transpor-tation problems for sending the relief itemsin difficult areas.—APP

KAHUTA: Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Leader of the House in Senate visiting Dr. Abdul QadirLibrary.

FAISALABAD: Hisashi Tsumura of Japan Embassay visiting al-Masoom Centre ‘Schoolfor Special Children’ during opening ceremony of new campus sponsored by Japan.

PESHAWAR—Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa Engineer ShauakullahMonday directed health directorate ofFATA Secretariat to provide all facili-ties to polio teams on priority basis tomake anti-polio drive successful. Dur-ing his surprise visit to FATA Secre-tariat here, he reviewed arrangementsfor the anti polio drive started fromMarch 10 and directed officials con-cerned to ensure vaccination of eachand every child under age of five inFATA.

The governor was informed byofficials of Health department of FATASecretariat that as many as 0.5 millionchildren would be immunized againstpolio during the campaign. They saidthe campaign in Khyber Agencywould be started from March 17, add-ing that help and support of local el-ders would be taken to ensure vacci-nation of maximum children.

Similarly, the elders from WaziristanAgency would also be involved inanti-polio drive, the officials said add-ing that during anti polio campaign inBaara area as many as 30 thousandchildren under the age of five werevaccinated against polio. They saidthe campaign is successfully con-ducted in Bajaur, Muhmand, Kurram

and Orakzai agencies.The Governor expressed satisfac-

tion over anti polio drive and directedofficials concerned to provide all fa-cilities to polio teams. As many as 0.713million children would be inoculatedas three days anti-polio drive has beenkicked off here Monday in the Feder-ally Administered Tribal Areas andFrontier regions.

Additional Secretary FATA Capt(R) Sardar Muhammad Abbas admin-istered drops to children here at FATASecretariat to formally inaugurate thecampaign that would continue fromMarch 10 to 13, 2014. Speaking on theoccasion, ACS FATA said that thegovernment was determined to stampout polio from the region and was tak-ing every possible measure to achievethe desired results.

He underscored the need forreaching out to every child under theage of five and urged upon the com-munity to cooperate with polio teamsso that no child was missed duringthe campaign. Meanwhile, campaignhas also been postponed in Khyberagency till March 17, next due to lawand order situation the area.

According to the data collectedfrom FATA Polio Control Room 2641

teams have been constituted to reachout to the target population that standat 0.713 million children in FATA. Thenumber of mobile teams is 2324, 245fixed teams while transit teams were72. Director Health Services FATA DrPervaiz Kamal Khan, representativesof UNICEF and WHO and EPI FATAwere also in attendance.

FAISALABAD: A five-day roundof anti polio drive has commenced herefrom Monday in selected 45 unioncouncils of district Faisalabad. Aspokesman of the health departmentsaid that 209842 children up to the ageof five years would be administered antipolio drops during this polio drivewhich would continue till March 15. Hesaid that 31 union councils were electedfrom tehsil city area, 2 from TehsilJaranwala, 3 from Tehsil Sadar, 4 fromTehsil Tandlianwala, 2 from TehsilSammundri and 3 from Teshil ChakJhumra. He said that 457 teams havebeen constituted for five-day anti po-lice campaign. Out of these teams, 382teams have been deputed to pay door-to-door visit whereas 75 teams wouldremain available at railway stations,busstands,hospitals and other publicplaces in these union councils to givepolio vaccine drops, he added.

Governor wants all facilities to polio teams

0.713m kids to be inoculatedin 3-day anti-polio drive

Quetta facingSiberian winds

QUETTA—Siberian windshit the provincial capital andparts of northern and cen-tral Balochistan on Monday,turning weather very cold.

According to Met Of-fice, the lowest temperatureof 01 Centigrade was re-corded in the provincialcapital. It forecast partlycloudy weather withchances of rain in the me-tropolis and 30 kilometersaround.

On Monday, the highesttemperature of 34.5 Centi-grade was recorded inLasbela and the lowest tem-perature of 01 Centigradewas recorded in Quetta andKalat.

Chances of rain andthunderstorm are also likelyto occur in Zhob whileMakran division will facedry weather with coldnight.—APP

Legislationagainst corporal

punishmentdemanded

QUETTA—SEHER, a non-government organizationhas demanded for effectivelegislation in BalochistanAssembly to pre-empt cor-poral punishment at schoolsacross the province.

It has also hailed theprovincial assembly for theirrecent legislation of Article25-A and native languages.

“Over 30 percent chil-dren are out of schools inBalochistan, corporal pun-ishment was one of the ma-jor reasons behind theirdropout,” Project Coordina-tor SEHER Hafiz Rehamatsaid.

He deplored that a largenumber of governmentteachers did not go toschools to impart educationon children despite receiv-ing salaries every month.

He said that during thelast six decades, governmentstakeholders did not pay at-tention to bring improve-ment in education sector.Buildings of schools in ru-ral parts of the province lackbasic facilities.

Several programmes tospread education werelaunched at governmentlevel during the last fewyears but they could notachieve desired results.

Mr Rehmat noted thatchildren drop out of schoolin Balochistan every yeardue to the practice of cor-poral punishment.—APP

MULTAN—Multan Electric Power Company(MEPCO) with the cooperation of checkingteams of Monitoring and Surveillance (M&S)caught 99 power pilferers and imposed fineof over Rs 1.6 million on them across the re-gion. According to MEPCO sources, in linewith directions of Manager M&S EngineerJehangir Ahmed Khan, Test Inspector AliKamran, different checking teams raided atGulgasht sub division, Rural Sub divisionLodhran, Power house sub divisionPakpattan, Noorpur sub division Pakpattan,City sub division Arifwala, Sahiwal road subdivision, city sub division Khanpur,Sadiqabad division, Ahmedpur Luma sub di-vision, city sub division, Set- light Town subdivision and Jamal Din sub division and

99 power pilferers finedcaught 99 power pilferers. The team imposedfine of Rs 1.6 million on power pilferers.Peshawar The PESCO authorities on Mon-day here issued guidelines for consumers toavoid electrocution during rainy season.

Consumers have been requested to adoptprecautionary measures in the current rainyseason to avoid electric shocks for their ownsafety. These safety measures include toearthen electrical appliances and replace ortape all worn out wires and not to touch elec-trical appliances and cables with wet hands,says a press release by PESCO.

Public is also requested to be careful andattentive while using electric water pumps andother electrical appliances and not to tie petsand cattle with the poles and towers.—APP

CHAMAN: A view of traffic jam on Quetta-Chaman road in Kozak top area after overturn of a delivery truck due todilapidated road condition for last many years.

CHILAS: Residents hold a demonstration against price hike during the strike calledby Action Committee Gilgit-Baltistan.

DERALLAHYAR: Provincial Food Minister Mir Izhar Khosa talking to the mediapersons in Dera Allah Yar.

ISLAMABAD—Anti Narcotics Force (ANF)arrested 15 drug smugglers from variouscities and recovered heroin, opium, charasand three vehicles from their possession.

ANF conducted nine operations atRawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi,said a press release. Mostly operationshomed on airports and highways, resultingin recoveries of opium, heroin and charas.

According to details, ANF RawalpindiAirport team recovered 990 gram of heroinand arrested Muhammad Yasin resident ofDistrict Charsada. He was to travel by PIA,Flight No. PK-212 and was destined toSharjah.

In another operation, ANF RawalpindiAirport team arrested Imdad Ali Shah r/oMardan and Muhammad Saleem Khan r/oRawlakot from Benazir Bhutto AirportIslamabad and recovered 48 heroin filledcapsules. The accused Imdad Ali Shah r/oMardan was to travel by PIA Flight No.PK-749 to Italy. ANF Rawalpindi Airport teamalso arrested Muhammad Ejaz Ahmed r/oShaikhapura and Muhammad JehangirYousuf r/o Gujrat, who confessed of hav-ing 25 heroin filled ingested capsules each.Both were to travel by Emirates Airlines

ANF arrests 15 drug smugglersFlight No. EK-613 & were destined for Italy.

ANF Lahore conducted a raid near ShellPetrol Pump, Noor Jahan Road, LibertyChowk and recovered 8.4 kg of opium and1.2 kg of hashish from personal possessionof four persons, namely Zafar Iqbal Khan,Muhammad Asif, Haji Mian MuhammadRiaz Tahir and Dr Muhammad TanveerArshad. They were travelling in a car Toyotaregistration No. QC-ICT-427.

ANF Lahore arrested MuhammadSaifullah and recovered 5.5 kg of charasfrom his personal possession. He was ar-rested at Gulshan Usman Colony, ManawanRoad, Muzaffar Garh.

ANF Peshawar conducted an operationnear Motorway Toll Plaza and recovered2.4 kg hashish from secret cavities of a carbearing registration No.RIA-4569(Rawalpindi). As per information the drugswere being smuggled from tribal area toPunjab. Accused Syed Sheraz Hussain r/oDistrict Koaht was arrested at the spot.

ANF Peshawar Road Check team dur-ing its routine operation searched a SuzukiVan bearing Registration No. KW-464 andrecovered 5 kg hashish near Haripur,Abotabad.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Met Office Monday fore-cast more widespread rain-thunderstorm inUpper and Central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Gilgit-Baltistan, Upper Punjab and Kashmirduring next 24 hours as rain continues lash-ing Peshawar valley.

According to Met Office, western dis-turbance is affecting upper andcentral parts of the country andis expected to persist in Upperparts of the country during nexttwo days.

As a result of thisWeatherly system, widespreadrain-thunderstorm with snow-fall over the hills is expected in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Upper/Central KP’sMalakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannudivisions, Islamabad, Upper Punjab’sRawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore,Faisalabad divisions and scattered rain inD.I.Khan, Multan, Sahiwal, D.G.Khan,Bahawalpur and Zhob divisions.

Isolated heavy falls and hailstorm asso-ciated with gusty winds also expected inKashmir, Hazara, Rawalpindi/Islamabad,

More widespread rains likelyGujranwala and Lahore divisions. Snowfallis also expected in Nathia Gali, Donga Gali,Ayubia in Abbotabad and Kalam, MalamJabba valleys in Swat and mountainous ofChitral and Parachinar Kurram Agency.

In next 48 hours, scattered rain-thunder-storm with snowfall over the hills is expected

in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir,Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’sMalakand, Hazara, Peshawar,Kohat divisions, Islamabad,Upper Punjab’s Rawalpindi,Gujranwala, Lahore divisions,while at isolated places inSargodha and Faisalabad di-

visions. The agriculture experts termed thepresent rainfall are extremely beneficial forthe wheat crops and spring plantation cam-paign in arid and semi arid zones besidesmountainous areas.

Widespread rain-thundershower withsnowfall over the hills occurred inIslamabad, upper Punjab, upper KP, Kash-mir and Gilgit-Baltistan while at isolatedplaces in south KP, central Punjab in last 24hours.—APP

Commits suicide

Man kills wifefor losing silver

jewelleryKHANPUR—A man torturedhis wife to death after she losther silver ornaments in anearby village on Monday.According to police, the inci-dent took place in Chak No107/1-L, where Padman withthe help of his brothers Palaajand Nathu tortured his wifePathani Mai with clubs aftershe lost her silver ornaments.

Islamgarh police have ar-rested the accused and sentthe body to THQ hospitalKhanpur for postmortem.Quetta: A man killed his wifein Suny area of Bolan districton Monday.

According to Leviesforce, accused Mumtazopened fire on his wife Gulnazand fled from the sceneAs a result, she received mul-tiple bullet wounds and diedon the spot. Her body washanded over to the heirs afterlegal formalities.

The reason of killingcould not be ascertained sofar. The Levies force regis-tered a case.

Faisalabad: A womancommitted suicide over do-mestic disputes in Jaranwalapolice limits on Monday. Ac-cording to police, NaziaParveen of Chak No.61-RBhad married Shehzad of thesame locality few monthsago but they used to in-dulge in altercations overminor issues.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Patronin Chief, Pakistan People’s Party Mondaypaid a visit to drought-hit Thar district tooversee the relief operations, reviewedground situation, met with elected represen-tatives of the Party and got different brief-ings by the concerned.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardai, being the first po-litical leader who took notice of the burningscrisis drawing countrywide attention to thedeaths of children due to diseases and

Bilawal visits drought-hitThar, overseas relief operations

drought conditions in the world’s 7th larg-est desert shared by Pakistan and India.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited the Civil Hos-pital to inquire about the health of admittedpatients mainly children and discussed indetail with doctors assuring his party’s con-tinued support and cooperation for the besttreatment to all patients.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was accompaniedby his Advisor for Minority Affairs SurendarValasai, Sindh Minister for InformationSharjil Memon and other Provincial Minis-ters, MNAs, MPAs and local Party leaders.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KHANEWAL—Representatives of morethan 28 religious and political parties, Mus-lim sects and non-Islamic religions havehailed the government-Taliban negotiationsfor the restoration of peace and stability inthe country, and demanded the release ofnon-combatants and abductees in order totake the negotiation process forward. Theyhave reiterated the commitment made byPakistan Ulema Council [PUC] and its part-ner organizations to continue supportingthe negotiation process at every level.

This was stated in the joint declarationissued at the end of the Ulema Conventionand Aman Seminar held in Khanewal bythe PUC under the headship of HafizMuhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi. Thejoint declaration also advised the govern-ment to make proper arrangements forpeople fleeing Waziristan and other tribalareas. These people should be sent backhome as soon as peace is restored in theirareas.

The joint declaration said that MadarasArabia is Pakistan’s largest NGO that isproviding education using its own re-sources. We want to make it clear thatground realities, rather than the opinionsof a few people, should be considered whenformulating the policy for Madaras Arabia.The PUC and Tahafuz Madaras Arabia willnever accept any illegal or unnecessaryaction taken against religious seminaries.

The joint declaration said that ProphetMuhammad [PBUH] made education com-pulsory for not only men but women aswell. There are more than 250,000 girls cur-rently studying in Madaras Arabia and thePUC would never allow anyone to preventgirls from acquiring education.

The joint declaration further said that

Govt-Taliban negotiations hailedthe creation of Pakistan was an outcome ofthe efforts of people belonging to all sectsand religions. Today, when Pakistan is inneed of peace, all citizens of the countryare ready to work for the restoration ofpeace regardless of their sect and religiousbeliefs.

The joint declaration strongly con-demned the attack on the Islamabad Ses-sion Court, and urged the Taliban to coop-erate in the arrest of culprits behind thistragedy and identify groups that are tryingto sabotage the negotiation process.

The joint declaration also expressedgrief over the martyrdom of 23 FC officialsin Afghanistan, and urged the governmentto not just lodge a strong protest with theAfghan government over this incident butalso inform the nation about what measureswere taken for the safe release of these of-ficials between 2010 and 2014. Diplomaticchannels should be used to ask the Afghangovernment to hand over the dead bodiesof the martyrs.

The joint declaration expressed soli-darity with Pakistanis who have suffereddue to terrorism, and said that the timehas come to stop terrorism and restorepeace throughout the country. Scholarsonce again urged both the governmentand the Taliban to adopt the path of peace,rather than war, for the sake of Allah andProphet Muhammad [PBUH]. They askedthe government and other ruling institu-tions to concentrate on the real factorsbehind the current unrest in the country,and make amendments to the country’sforeign and domestic policies in line withthe joint resolutions of the parliament andrecommendations of the All Parties Con-ference, in order to steer the country outof the war of anti-Pakistan and anti-Islamicimperialist powers.

Baisakhi festivalto welcome wheat

harvest seasonMUZAFFARGARH—A two-day “Baisakhi Festival” towelcome spring and wheatharvesting period would beorganised from March 11 to12,in Rangpur Kherra,a vil-lage in Muzaffargarh.

It may be noted that aseries of such earth-rootedfestivals were beingorganised in different parts ofsouth Punjab for last hun-dreds of years.

Farmer MuhammadYusuf,resident of RangpurKherra,while talking to APPinformed that such festivalsare best sources of promot-ing brotherhood and unityamong the public.

He observed that agricul-ture department should set upstalls in order to impart nec-essary information about us-age of agriculture tools toenhance production. Hereocllected that a large num-ber of farmers used to partici-pate in such seasonal festi-vals and shared their experi-ences related to promotion ofdifferent crops especiallywheat crop.

The festivals are still verymuch common inMultan,Vehari,Khanewal,DGKhan,Layyah and other cit-ies of South Punjab,he high-lighted. Farmers Rana Sajidand Muhammad Taqqi alsoinformed that they used towait patiently for the event asBaisakhi festival was age-oldtradition and helped to revivetheir culture.—APP

KP IGP suspends3 police officialsPESHAWAR—Inspector Gen-eral of Police (IGP) KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Nasir KhanDurrani on a complaint of acitizen has suspended threeofficials of Police Station,Khazana, said a press releaseissued here on Monday.

The suspended officialsare including ex SHOMukhtiar Khan, ex CIO SIAslam and CIO SI Sabz Aliand ordered registration ofcriminal cases and initiationof departmental action forvictimizing a citizen throughfalse FIR and faulty investi-gation. The action was takenon finalization of enquiry bythe DIG (E& I).—APP

Murder of humanity,Hamza is right

AS magnitude of the Thar tragedy is becoming clear with the passage of time, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, who is emerging as vibrantand visionary political leader, has described it as ‘murder of hu-

manity’ pledging all out support of Punjab to overcome the crisis de-spite some media reports hinting that the Sindh Government was reluc-tant to accept offers of assistance. But the situation is pretty precariousand so far it seems beyond the capacity of the Province to take satisfac-tory relief measures.

Both the comments and offer of Hamza Shahbaz are aimed at high-lighting the plight of the victims of the famine and the dire need toaccelerate relief activities to prevent further deaths. We are sure that ifsimilar concern is demonstrated by other leaders and authorities con-cerned then the situation would be quite different within days. Thesehunger and poverty-related killings of people especially children arelamentable in a country where we have been claiming to have launchedsocial action programme, Benazir Income Support Programme and anumber of other poverty alleviation schemes. The unfolding humanitar-ian crisis in Tharparkar is a clear sign that almost all these programmeshave so far failed to make any visible impact on the society and that thereally deserving people have not been targeted as yet for different kindsof subsidies and programmes. The reality that a population of about twohundred thousand was badly affected, over 2500 patients have so farbeen brought to hospitals and about 150 children have lost their livesgives an impression as if Thar was not part of Pakistan. One fails todigest the fact that all this ignorance about miseries of a large popula-tion remained a mystery in this era of communication revolution. Thisis nothing but negligence and suspension of some officials would notbe enough. The authorities will have to take tangible measure to ad-dress the perennial problem of poverty and backwardness in the vasttract of Thar. High level visits like that of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifto console the grief stricken families might help mitigate psychologicalwounds but both the Federal and Provincial Governments will have todo long term planning for uplift of the people of the region.

Expulsion of moreIHK Muslim students

ACCORDING to the Times of India, another Indian university hasexpelled six students – four of them Kashmiris – from one of its

boys’ hostels after a stand-off between two groups over last Sunday’sPakistan-India cricket match. The incident at Sharda University is thesecond such controversy after a university in Meerut suspended a groupof Kashmiri students for celebrating Pakistan’s victory in the AsiaCup match.

There are also reports that the action of Kashmiri students to cel-ebrate Pakistan’s victory is being described by management of these in-stitutions as an act of sedition, which speaks volumes about the level ofextremism, intolerance and bigotry of those who claim to be championsof democracy. In early fifties, India was proud of being a secular state butwith the passage of time, the philosophy of peace pursued by Gandhi hasbeen replaced with ‘Thakarism’ and no one knows where the deteriora-tion would end. It is a pity that almost all religious minorities especiallyMuslims are considered ‘untouchables’ in India and the attitude of theadministration is also highly partisan. It is known to all that Moodypresided over killing of over two thousand Muslims in Gujerat and onecan imagine what would happen to Muslims if he returns to power atthe centre in coming elections. Expression of joyful sentiments oversports events is nothing extraordinary as almost everybody has his ownfavourite player or team and its victory is rightly celebrated. There wasabsolutely nothing wrong if Kashmiri students displayed their jubila-tion over sixers of Shahid Afridi but the reaction of fellow Hindu stu-dents and that of the university management was highly condemnable.It is unfortunate that instead of repenting the biased and intolerant atti-tude, the same is being replicated in other universities. The tendency needsto be curbed as it would further alienate religious minorities in India.

Sectarian virus is spreadingAT least 40 people have been killed in Yemen in three days of fighting

between Shia Muslim rebels and Sunni tribesmen, as sectarian fight-ing draws closer to the capital Sanaa. A local official called on govern-ment mediators to try to stop the fighting and warned in a statement car-ried by Yemeni media that failure to do so would result in a bloodbath.

It is extremely worrisome news as the country has been sufferingfrom years of political, sectarian and tribal conflicts. Of course in everycountry there are differences between different communities and wehave been witnessing this divide even between Christians and there isnothing wrong in it. But for the last few years this virus is taking dan-gerous dimensions in many Muslim countries including Syria, Somaliaand Yemen which is rather disturbing and it runs totally against thespirit of Islam. The sectarian insurgency in Yemen also known as theHouthi rebellion is a civil war which began in 2004 when an uprisingwas launched against the Yemeni government. In view of the fast-mov-ing dangerous developments in the Islamic world, it is very distressingto see the tendencies of permitting or underestimating the shedding ofblood of Muslims and those under protection in their countries. Thesectarian or ignorant utterances made by some of these people wouldbenefit none other than the greedy, vindictive and envious people andforeign enemies. Hence, we would like to draw attention to the serious-ness of the fighting among Muslims on the basis of religious sects. Wewould warn that on the one side Muslim countries on the whole lag farbehind in the race of development, education and prosperity while onthe other they are fighting amongst themselves which would serve themno purpose but cause harm to themselves. It is duty of the overall lead-ership of the Muslim countries to deal this menace seriously because ifit is not checked it will be a self destructive. It is therefore right time tohalt this tendency and the issues be resolved through dialogue ratherthan shedding blood of fellow Muslims which is like self suicide.

Pakistan’s foreign policy concerns

The planetruth

AT the time of writing this,MH370, the Malaysia Airlines plane that went miss-

ing on Saturday while heading fromKuala Lumpur to Beijing, still re-mains untraced almost 48 hours af-ter vanishing off radar screens.While joining in the prayers of thefamilies and friends of the 239people on board wishing ferventlyfor their safe return, there are nev-ertheless some dark aspects thatneed to be looked at sooner or later.

Malaysia Airlines has an envi-able safety record with the last crashreported way back in 1995 and thecaptain, who has been with the na-tional carrier, is a veteran pilot whohas logged over 18,000 flyinghours. However, on Saturday, Viet-namese air force planes detectedtwo oil slicks in the coastal areafrom where the plane went missingabout an hour after taking off. Nowreckage was spotted so far as itwould take time before the firstsighting are made due to the geo-graphical location — if there hasbeen a crash. If the plane has notmet with an accident, the secondexplanation for its disappearanceleads to speculation that it couldhave been hijacked. Investigatorsare looking into this possibility, es-pecially after the discovery that atleast two men who were on theflight had used passports stolenfrom two Europeans. Given thelarge number of Chinese passengerson board, it automatically gives riseto fears that a hijack would be di-rected against the Chinese govern-ment. China is still suffering fromthe machete carnage the previousSaturday in Kunming in Yunnanprovince that killed 29 and left 143wounded. The attacks are believedto have been carried out by at least10 people, of whom four were killedand one captured. The Chinese au-thorities blamed the massacre onseparatists from the far western re-gion of Xinjiang. In October 2013,Beijing had blamed the same forcesfor the suicide car attack at TianmenSquare in which five people werekilled, including the three people inthe car. Besides the Tibetan com-munity, Beijing has also been crack-ing down on the Muslim Uighurs ofXinjiang and repression tends to pro-duce retaliatory action. It should benoted that in June 2012 six peoplewere overpowered in Xinjiang fortrying to hijack a plane. If one looksfor a reason for discontent closerhome in Malaysia, there is the op-position anger at the fresh five-yearjail sentence slapped on its leader andformer deputy prime minister AnwarIbrahim after a court overruled hisacquittal on sodomy charges. How-ever, the opposition has not shownany signs of resorting to such pro-tests even during Anwar’s earlier im-prisonment and so, if a reason has tobe sought, it would lead more toChina than to Malaysia. But in thisage of widespread terrorism activi-ties with several parts of the worldmired in violence, nothing can beruled out. Anyone from anywherecan be a player in violent dramas toespouse a cause regarded as just.— Khaleej Times

*****

Women’s day

THE reverberations of the International Women’s Day being observed internationally

on March 8 are still being felt. Inthe roll-call of calendar days dedi-cated to many global issues by theUN, none finds such resonance asthe one dedicated to women — andfor many disconcerting reasons.

It is an incredulous happen-stance that after countless eras ofevolution, today, in the 21st century,we need to argue in favour ofwomen and their right to a life ofequal opportunities, respect andsafety, given that they are an indis-pensable half of the human race.Their importance in mankind’sprogress ought to have been the faitaccompli presented to us by naturethat successfully demolished everyattempt at subjugating them. Butthis logic has spectacularly failedat asserting itself. But the largerconcern for the condition of women,highlighted ever so often by coun-tries such as India, to take one ex-ample, with its scourge of rape andviolence against women, remains.It is an unacceptable reality thatneeds to be changed so we canmove towards commemorating aday in the year for women becauseall is well with them. — Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

AS the German poet Schillersaid in one of his works “themost pious man can’t live in

peace if his neighbour is ill-wishinghim”. That was why Pakistan wentout for international support. Afterthe unfortunate postponement andfinal cancellation of Liaquat AliKhan’s visit to Moscow it happenedthat Prime Minister Liaquat AliKhan went to USA; a decision thatpalled Pak-Soviet relation, and as aresult Pakistan ended up in the ironarms of the US and their regionalsupporters SEATO and CENTO in1954 and 1955 respectively.

This visit of the Pakistani PrimeMinister came after the Indian Pre-mier Pundit Nehru’s visit to US, andsurprisingly Liaquat Al Khan wasgiven a more fabulous welcome ascompared to the Indian Prime Min-ister. US President Harry Trumancame to receive Prime MinisterLiaquat Ali Khan on the tarmac ofWashington National Airport on 3rdMay 1950 when US protocol pre-scribed that the President receivesvisiting dignitary at White House.The Pakistani Prime Minister felt el-evated and must have thought thatnow he found a true friend. Beforeleaving for US he announced thatPakistan would remain neutral in thecold war and would not take sidesin conflict of ideologies among na-tions. Later on he realized this deci-sion as a mistake and had plannedan official visit to Moscow in May1952 but the cruel hands of conspira-tors did not allow him to repair this

damage. He asked for US as-surance and unconditionalsupport on the Kashmir andPashtunistan issues which theUS, declined. It looks like arethinking in US policy wasmade and later when our first

Finance Minister GhulamMohammad visited the US he on hisown and without the Cabinet ap-proval to please Americans by agree-ing to allow control over our fiscaland monetary system. This angeredLiaquat Ali Khan and when he arrivedin Rawalpindi for his public meetinghe summoned Ghulam Mohammadwho on return from US tour had gothimselfadmitted in RawalpindiCMH and expressed his disapprovalof this act not knowing that the diewas already cast and he was assassi-nated while addressing public meet-ing in Company Bagh, Rawalpindithe next day.

Despite many bad experiencesfrom this alliance with the US Paki-stan could not free itself from this ironclutch in the situation that cold warwas reining and that Soviet Union hadcome close to India. The end of thecold war brought another twenty fiveyears of turmoil starting from thebreak-up of the Soviet Union and thecommunist camp. The US became thesingle super power and became the‘police man’ of the world. But thissituation was not going to last andwith China coming up and Russiarecovering from the break-up anotherpolitical and economic pole has beenforming in the shape of ShanghaiCooperation Organization (SCO).Pakistan tried to mend its fences withthe Soviet when President Ayub Khanfirst rescinded the communicationagreement in 1963 and closed the USbase in Badebair from where the U2mission was undertaken. President

Ayub Khan visited Moscow in 1965,later Soviets sponsored Tashkent talksbetween India and Pakistan andhelped to finance the establishmentof the largest industrial complex-thePakistan Steel, which successive gov-ernments are hell bound to privatizeinstead of revamping this stamp ofPakistan-Russian cooperation.

This new constellation in SCO isa forebode of a new balance in inter-national politics and Pakistan for thefirst time after 1951 has a real chanceto come out from the iron clutches ofUS and rearrange its foreign align-ments. SCO was founded in 2001 asan economic organization mainly try-ing to balance the overarching influ-ence of the US and NATO. With 9/11 and its aftermath security and ter-rorism-related issues were includedin the agenda. Pakistan has been ad-mitted an observer country in 2005and since then has actively followedthe activities of this organization.Meanwhile, Pakistan’s relationshipwith Russia that had been strainedthroughout many years has improvedfundamentally.

Since 2007 Russian delegationsstarted visiting Pakistan and viceversa and in 2011 Russia changed itsformer stand and started supportingPakistan’s membership in SCO. Themilitary leadership of Russia andPakistan started interacting; in 2011Gen. Kayani went on an official visitto Moscow and in August 2013 a firststrategic dialogue was conducted be-tween the two countries. During thecurrent visit of Secretary General,Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO), Dimitry Mezentsev in Paki-stan and in the Foreign Office inIslamabad Mr. Tariq Fatemi, SpecialAssistant to the Prime Minister onForeign Affairs and Foreign Secre-tary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry both

India’s democratic facade

HUNDREDS of people protested in Indian-held Kashmir over the expulsion of

dozens of Kashmiri college studentsbecause they cheered Pakistancricket team’s victory over Indiancricket team in Asia Cup match.Police detained at least a dozen ac-tivists of pro-independence Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front includingits leader Yasin Malik, to prevent theactivists from marching to the citycenter in Srinagar. “Go India, goback!” read placards carried by sev-eral students who marched sepa-rately in the Kashmir universitycampus and medical college inSrinagar. The 66 expelled Kashmiristudents have been studying in auniversity in Meerut, and they werebooked for treason. However, thecharge of treason was dropped afterwidespread outrage in Kashmir,which is indeed a disputed territoryand United Nations Security Coun-cil resolution has bestowed uponKashmiris the right to decide abouttheir future through a plebiscite. Inthis backdrop, Kashmir is not partof India and Kashmiris are not Indi-ans; hence they cannot be tried fortreason in any case.

It is true that cricket match be-tween Indian and Pakistani teamsstirs emotions in both the countries,but the intolerance shown by the In-dian state is condemnable. The ques-tion is that how many Kashmiriswould it charge when the street inthe valley bursts out in rejoicing at

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received the Secretary General ofSCO and during their meeting madea strong case for Pakistan to be ad-mitted as a full member into SCO.

Given the fact that Pakistan bynow has intensive and good relationswith most countries in the region thisproposal may have a good chance ofbeing accepted? It would be the rightstep in the right direction for Paki-stan to intensify relations within theregion with neighbors and distancePakistan from the unfortunate connec-tion to the US. Another probable fa-vorable outcome could be to finallyfind the financial means for construc-tion of the utterly needed gas pipelinefrom Iran on the Pakistani side thathas been delayed so far because ofUS sanction threats against financialinstitutions and individual countries.Pakistan can benefit from Russia asa trading partner in the textile sectorand for developing oil and gas re-sources in the energy sector.

There could be many morefields of cooperation including mili-tary, security but also education.After all Russia is an Asian countrythat is sharing many more valueswith us than we are aware of. In anycase Russia is almost a neighbor ofours and it has proven to be a reli-able friend of its partners; just askBashar al Assad. Of course, Russiais a friend of India also and its re-lationship with Pakistani is not go-ing to affect or change that. This isonly fair and should not make usdither. Pakistan needs strongfriends and partners in the regionand at the end of the day our rela-tionship with India also will haveto come clear. Membership in theSCO would be a wonderful begin-ning. God bless Pakistan.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

every Pakistani winagainst India in any sportevent? And how manyKashmiris would theypenalise on the seditioncharge when every yearKashmiris observe India’snational republic day onJanuary 26 as black day?On the occasion, black

flags fly on rooftops of homes andshops throughout the valley. And theday’s official ceremonies are held ina massively fortified stadium inSrinagar, with an extremely selectedaudience in attendance. All roads andalleys to the venue are closed downto the public, while helicopters keepflying over it for surveillance untilthe ceremonies end. Also, days aheadof the republic day, prominentKashmiri leaders are put under housearrest or incarcerated on trumped-upcharges. Despite all these measures,the anti-India sentiment has neverbeen in short display.

With its use of brutal massivemilitary force in the occupied Kash-mir India may have driven out thefreedom sentiment from the street,but manifestly it lives in Kashmirihearts still animatedly. The trigger-happy Indian soldiers in the pastyears inflicted so much of brutalityon the risen Kashmiris to subdue andcrush their popular uprising for free-dom that not a single Kashmiri homeis left without family tragedy. Wayback, even the scion of ruling familyof the erstwhile princely state ofJammu and Kashmir, Karan Singhcried out after a visit to the valleystating “graveyards stood where oncewere lovely gardens. It was his fa-ther Hari Singh who was coerced intosigning the accession document toIndia against the will of his subjects.Yet so widespread has been the hu-man grief inflicted on the Kashmirisby Indian occupation military that

Karan Singh couldn’t hold his tearsback. Despite all the Indian military’sbarbarity, the freedom sentiment ofthe occupied Kashmiris persists andstays undiminished.

By every reckoning, theKashmiris’ alienation is now irrevers-ible. When their popular uprising wasat its peak in the 1990s, India had in-deed deployed over 700,000 soldiersto put it down. Even in the face ofthis large military force, theKashmiris didn’t cave in. To everyinhuman method the occupation armyhad to resort to crush their popularmovement, yet their dream of free-dom lives on. Although the move-ment slowed down after 9/11 eventswhen struggle for the right of self-determination, even acknowledgedby the United Nations Security Coun-cil 65 years ago, was considered asterrorism. Nevertheless, the freedomsentiment remains pulsating in theKashmiri hearts as vibrantly as in theyore years. After all, it is not with-out reason that India still maintainssome more than 600,000-strong oc-cupation army to keep the Kashmirisin its stranglehold. But that palpa-bly is not working, and people ofKashmir continue their struggle andare laying down their lives to get ridof the Indian yoke. Of course,Kashmiris have suffered the deathand destruction and passing throughthe ordeal unparalleled in the world,but India’s treatment to other minori-ties is also despicable.

Human Watch reports often pointout about the violence against 150million former untouchables and mil-lions belonging to other minorities.Human rights organizations regularlypublish reports about atrocities com-mitted on Christians, Muslims andDalits. Kashmiris are, however, theworst sufferers on earth, perhaps onlysecond to Palestinians. In June 1984,Indian army had attacked the Golden

A good listener isnot someone whohas nothing to say.A good listener is agood talkers with asore throat.

Temple with tanks and armored carskilling more than 2000 Sikhs thoughgovernment count was 492. In an-other episode, with more killingsand subsequent flight of nearly 400Christians who walked over 300 kmthrough mountains and forests toreach the Young men’s ChristianAssociation camp in Bhubaneswarto take refuge speaks volumes aboutthe plight of Christians in Hindu-dominated India’s eastern state ofOrissa. Despite condemnation ofviolence by Pope Benedict and Ital-ian government’s reaction, Chris-tians were being forced to changetheir religion in Orissa. Muslims arealso being forced by Hindu extrem-ists to convert to Hindu religion.

In many provinces, there is dis-affection because of policies of theIndian government, and whenpushed against the wall they resortto acts of terrorism, but India hasbeen blaming Pakistan for every actof terrorism. In 2009, Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh had acknowl-edged that home grown groups werenow carrying out bombing in India.Last year, the facts narrated inShinde’s statement about RSS-BJPnexus in promoting Hindu Terror-ism was confirmed by India’s Min-ister for External affairs SalmanKhurshid. He backed home minis-ter Sushilkumar Shinde’s statementon Hindu terrorism saying it wasbased entirely on facts made avail-able by investigative agencies. He,however, added that terror has noreligion and color. “Let me just saythis to you very clearly that ourstated position, that is shared fullyby the home minister and past homeminister, is based entirely on factsas the investigative agencies havemade available to the government,”Khurshid told reporters here.—The writer is Lahore-based se-nior journalist.

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

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Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti1551@gmail.com

Voice of the People

No ideasin youth

MUHAMMAD SAAD

Young boys and girls are the back-bone of any country or nation. Theyhave strong sense of thinking andability to do anything with energy.But in this age, most of the boys andgirls have no interest in reading orwriting. Without information orknowledge, no one is able to teachyou how to write effectively. Ideasare necessary to become goodwriter. Youth of Pakistan is gettingaway from reading habit. Their cre-ativity has been vanished due to theabsence of ideas. Students spend alot of time in juicy discussion in acad-emies. They go out for fun, not forknowledge. It is the alarming situa-tion for Youth that there is no studentfound in library most of the times.We can see that there is no seat forsitting in any canteen.

If a musical programme takesplace at any place, a huge crowd iswilling to go there. If there is aprogramme at the topic of Islamicliterature, just a few students wouldbe interested to attend thoseprogrammes. To bring better ideasin the mind of young boys and girls,we should change our priorities. Stu-dents must read daily newspapers,magazines, literature and watch talkshows to get positive ideas. If youread, you will succeed; if you don’tread, you will be buried..’’—Karachi

French tex worldtrade exhibition

JAVAID BASHIR

European Union has recentlygranted GSP Plus status to Pakistanfor market access. After the tax freefacility, the exporters and traders arecontacting the European marketsand business concerns. Some of thePakistani companies have receivedorders from different countries. Thecompanies are busy to improve thequality of their products and to sup-ply the orders on time. If we look atall the European markets, depart-mental stores, and warehouses, wedo not find Pakistani products. In-dia, Bangladesh and China haveflooded these markets with theirgoods. Basic reason is that the pricesof Chinese goods are less than thegoods of other countries. This pro-vides China certain edge over othercompetitors.

With the GSP Plus status Paki-stan would have great opportunityto compete with China. This wouldprovide equal footing and level play-ing field. Now it depends on us tocapture these markets. and prolifer-ate these with our products. the gov-ernment is also hopeful that export-ers will take advantage of thisgolden opportunity of tax free trad-ing and earn foreign exchange.

The companies have started tosend their representatives to the Eu-ropean countries. They have exhib-ited their quality products at tradeshows organized by the Europeanmarkets. Pakistani missions in 25countries are diligently working onthis matter to find lucrative marketsfor Pakistani products. They are ar-ranging meetings for traders fromPakistan to meet businesspersons ofEuropean countries.

This year Textile World exhibi-tion was held in Paris. The tradersof 25 countries with their 681 com-panies attended and exhibited theirgoods. 115 companies involved withmanufacturing and production ofgarments were present. France isknown as the Fashion Centre of theworld. They specialize in ladies’garments and accessories. Theirproducts are bought by businessmenand people from other countries. TheFrench fashion designers and housesbuy the fine fabrics from other coun-tries. The fashion industry is theback bone of the French economy.The tourists and traders come herefrom all over the world. They buyvariety of designer products, fash-ion garments and accessories. It isnot an easy job to create space forthe fabrics in such a progressivefashion industry. We know that fash-ion dresses are the most expensive

Dance of death in TharHASHIM ABRO

Thar is caught in a deadly cycle of drought and famine. People have nothing to eat and drink. Children, pregnant women and elderly people are the worst-affectees. The entire population of the areas

has become dangerously underweight. Reliable reports reveal that more than 200 children, 60 pregnantwomen and dozens of elderly men and women have died due to starvation and non-availability of waterin different areas. The number is set to rise due to severe acute malnutrition. Thousands of families havetravelled to different cities in the Province in search of food, shelter and livelihood. So far, hundreds ofthousands of livestock and wild animals are reported to have been destroyed by the devastation causedby drought. Thar’s cows, sheep and goats have also deteriorated due to the dwindling pastures and theill-fated poverty and drought-stricken people are forced to sell these livestock animals at a throwawayprice to buy food, something for eating to sustain life. As drought is deepening in all cities, towns andvillages there but pitiably, our thick-skinned Provincial rulers and insensitive and inept local adminis-tration is doing nothing to handle, manage the drought and famine there. However, the UN aid agencies,INGOs and national and international charity organizations, among others, are requested to take prac-tical steps to distribute food to drought-affectees and provide them also health care, veterinary servicesand livestock feed in the name of humanity.—Islamabad

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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

Ch Rahmat Ali: A visionary

FEBRUARY 3, 2014 was the63rd death anniversary of lateCh Rahmat Ali, who con-

ceived, carved, coined and composedthe name of our beloved homeland“Pakistan” as early as mid 1932 andpublicly published and announced itthrough his article titled “Now orNever” in 1933. While forwarding hisproposals to resolve the Indian prob-lem, Ch Rehmat Ali made an appeal,to all political leaders and active menof letters, with logical reasoning.

Emphasising his point of viewfor an independent Muslim state inSouth Asia, he says that, “Our reli-gion, culture, history, traditions, eco-nomic system, laws of inheritance,succession and marriage are basicallyand fundamentally different fromthose of the people living in rest ofIndia. The ideals which move ourthirty million brethren in-faith livingin those provinces are fundamentallydifferent from those which inspire theHindus. The differences are not con-fined to the broad principles; theyextend to the minute details of ourlives. We do not inter-dine, we don’tinter-marry, our national customs andcalendars, even our diet and dress aredifferent”. When the invisible hands

First step of faith..!

After 9/11, CIA brought darkness to America

LITTLE more than a week after 9/11, Cofer Black gave instructions to his CIA team be-

fore their mission. “I don’t want BinLaden and his thugs captured, I wantthem dead … I want to see photos oftheir heads on pikes. I want BinLaden’s head shipped back in a boxfilled with dry ice. I want to showBin Laden’s head to the president. Ipromised him I would do that.”

A month later, at a meeting spon-sored by Schwab Capital markets,CIA executive director “Buzzy”Krongard laid out for investors whatsuch a war would entail. “[It] will bewon in large measure by forces youdo not know about, in actions you willnot see and in ways you may not wantto know about,” he said.

Back then there wasn’t a treatythat couldn’t be violated, a principlewaived or a definition parsed in thedefence of American power and pur-suit of popular revenge. To invoke theconstitution, the Geneva Conventionor democratic oversight was evidencethat you were out of your depth in thenew reality. Laws were for the weak;for the powerful there was force. This

was not just the mood of a moment; ithas been policy for more than a de-cade. Obama’s arrival offered a shiftin focus and style but not in directionor substance. “I don’t want [people atthe CIA] to suddenly feel like they’vegot to spend all their time looking overtheir shoulders,” he said shortly be-fore his first inauguration. It was neverdifficult to see what could go wrongwith this approach. But it has, none-theless, been shocking to see howwrong things have gone. As covertoperations were shielded from over-sight, so human rights violations be-came not just inevitable but routine.

In a 2004 report military intelli-gence officers told the InternationalCommittee for the Red Cross they be-lieved between 70% and 80% of thedetainees in Iraq were innocent. Thenods and winks became permanenttics – so reflexive they embeddedthemselves in the institutional sub-conscious. “The most serious thingis the abuse of power that that allowsyou to do,” Lawrence Wilkerson,former secretary of state, ColinPowell’s chief of staff, told JeremyScahill in his book, Dirty Wars. “Youfind out the intelligence was bad andyou killed a bunch of innocent peopleand you have a bunch of innocentpeople on your hands, so you stuff

Views From Abroad

‘em in Guantánamo. No one everknows anything about that. You don’thave to prove to anyone that you didright. You did it all in secret, so youjust go to the next operation. You say,‘Chalk that one up to experience’…And believe me that happened.”

The logic driving this state of af-fairs is not only self-fulfilling, it’sself-perpetuating. Those openlycalled on to flout international law inthe interests of a higher good do notthen suddenly submit that goal to do-mestic law once they’ve gone throughcustoms. Once the state has deliber-ately created space for power to beexercised without accountabilitythose who occupy that space will pro-tect it against enemies domestic andforeign. When your war is global andunending it inevitably comes homeand keeps going. The monster the UShas unleashed on the rest of the worldis steadily devouring its own.

This is not new. The origins ofthe Watergate scandal, in which Presi-dent Richard Nixon bugged his elec-toral opponents, lies in Nixon’s se-cret bombing of Cambodia;McCarthyism had its roots in the coldwar. But during the war on terror theprocess has become particularly pro-nounced. In recent months, it hasemerged that the CIA has been spy-

ing on investigators from the Senateintelligence committee – the verycommittee charged with overseeingthe CIA. The investigators, who wereauthorised to examine CIA docu-ments relating to interrogation meth-ods, found a withering internal re-view which concluded with the find-ing that torture techniques, likewaterboarding, used in “black site”prisons had been ineffective. Thiswas particularly troublesome be-cause the CIA director had arguedthe opposite before the committee,contradicting the agency’s own find-ings. When the CIA discovered thatinvestigators had the review, it startedgoing through their computer logs tofind out how they had got hold of it.

In short the CIA spirited peopleaway and tortured them, concludedthis was useless, suppressed thoseconclusions, lied about them toelected officials and then spied on thepeople who had a democratic man-date to discover the truth preciselybecause they discovered the truth.Those black sites in far away landshave sister cities within the demo-cratic process. Those shadows arelong. They have concealed unspeak-able horrors abroad. Increasinglythey are casting darkness at home.— Courtesy: The Guardian

Gary Younge

of destiny were re-writing the historyof South Asia and making appropri-ate adjustments in the geographicalboundaries of this region, it was noneelse who could have seen the futurestate of affairs but late Ch RahmatAli; and this phenomenon continuedtill the end of Round Table Confer-ences, wherein no less that twenty sixMuslim representatives agreed withBritain and Hindus to frame an AllIndia Federal constitution. However,this development disturbed ChRahmat Ali and he vehemently op-posed this move by challenging themandate and endorsement of theseMuslim representatives and solelydecided to foil this misdemeanours.He gathered all his energy, resources,efforts, mental capabilities to fight forthe cause of Pakistan and thus pavedthe way for creation of an indepen-dent and sovereign homeland for theMuslims of South Asia.

If we revisit the historic struggleof the Muslims of sub-continent, wecome across the hard fact that rightfrom the war of Independence of1857 up to 1940, no less than 170individuals, institutions and politicalorganizations had demanded or sug-gested division of India to resolve thecommunal problems of various po-litical entities living in this area. SirSyed Ahmad Khan, Moulana AbdulHalim Sharar, Hasrat Mohani, LalaLajpat Rai, Allama Iqbal and many

others have continuously contributedto resolve of communal riots andpeaceful co-existence of all the com-munities and entities in this vast areaof south Asia. Disturbed by the agree-ment of the participants of the RoundTable Conferences held from 1930-1932, on an all India Federal Consti-tution, Late Ch Rehmat Ali vehe-mently opposed it and formed hisown political forum named, “PakistanNational Movement with cardinalmission of the spiritual, cultural, so-cial, economic, national liberation ofthe nations of South Asia from thesecular thraldom, caste tyranny, im-poverishing capitalism destructivedomination and barbarian influenceof the Hindu majority and their‘Indianism’. Ch Rahmat Ali was ofthe opinion that the federal constitu-tion will crucify the Muslims of SouthAsia on the alter of Indianism and theMuslims and their future generationswill perish for ever.

As the proportion of the Muslimsagainst Hindus will be one to ten andby virtue of their majority, Hinduswill exploit the Muslims as minorityby refusing them even their basichuman rights. When Ch Rahmat Alikicked off his campaign, the All In-dia Muslim League also started itspolitical efforts more enthusiasticallyunder the dynamic leadership ofQuaid-e-Azam Muhammad AliJinnah contested the Indian Congress

VERY often I think of Mosesstanding in front of the RedSea. Behind him he can

hear the sound of advancing Egyp-tians on their horses and chariotsbearing down, spears advanced athis defenseless group. He stares atthe Red Sea; he knows God willprovide a way; and then God tellshim to lift his staff. And only whenMoses lifts his staff do the seaspart. Only when we take the firststep in faith do miracles happen. Ialways remember the story of theIndian boy whose village prayed

for rain: The next day the boy cameto school with an open umbrella. “Areyou mad?” asked his teacher andclassmates. “I’m not; you all mustbe,” he said, “if you spent so muchtime praying for rain, shouldn’t youcome expecting it?”

And here’s another lovely inci-dent: A little girl had been shoppingwith her mother. She must have been6 years old, this beautiful brownhaired, freckle-faced image of inno-cence. It was pouring outside. Thekind of rain that gushes over the topof rain gutters, so much in a hurry tohit the earth it has no time to flowdown the spout.

We all stood there under the aw-ning and just inside the door of thestore. We waited, some patiently, oth-ers irritated because nature messed uptheir hurried day. And then we heard

her voice: It was so sweet it broke thehypnotic trance we were all caught in.“Mom, let’s run through the rain, shesaid. “What?” her mother asked.“Let’s run through the rain!” she re-peated. “No honey. We’ll wait until itslows down a bit,” her mom replied.She waited another minute and re-peated, “Mom, let’s run through therain.” “We’ll get sick if we do,” hermother said. “No, we won’t, Mom,”she said, “I just prayed and rememberwhat you said this morning!”

“About running in rain?” hermother asked. “No mother when youwere talking to Daddy about his can-cer, you said, “God can get us throughanything if we believe!” The entirecrowd stopped dead silent. I swearyou couldn’t hear anything but therain. We all stood silently. No onecame or left in the next few minutes.

Her mom paused, thought for a mo-ment and then smiled, “Honey, shesaid, “you’re right. Let’s runthrough the rain and allow God tolook after us! Maybe we just needsome washing!”

And off they ran. We all stoodwatching, smiling and laughing asthey darted past the cars and, yes,through the puddles. They gotsoaked. But we all followedscreaming and laughing like littlechildren all the way to our cars.Suddenly we knew the meaning ofstepping out in faith!”

And as Moses’ people walkedthrough the towering waves I’msure they laughed and roared withthe joy of realizing that God neededtheir little step before He could dobig things for them..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

almost in all fields and thus the his-toric Lahore Resolution was passedon 23rd March 1940, which pavedthe way for the creation of an inde-pendent Muslim state in South Asia.

The most astonishing aspect ofCh Rahmat Ali’s unique role in thePakistan movement is that, all hisHindu contemporaries have givenhim the credit of “being originatorof the idea of Pakistan and its nameand having been put forward theclaim for independent Muslimstates”. India’s first President DrRajendra Prasad in his book titled“India Divided” states at page 185“the Author (of “Now or Never” i.eCh R Ali) is thus a most uncompro-mising protagonist of the two nationstheory, or rather of Muslim stateswherever they can beestablished….He is inspired by aprophetic vision and is not disturbedby such petty considerations, ifMuslim states are once established,all will be right; if they are not es-tablished, nothing can be right”.Our present generation and incum-bent leadership could possibly de-rive a lesson from Ch Rahmat Ali’srole to safeguard the interests ofour nationhood and make all outefforts to consolidate our historicbonds as one Muslim nation dis-carding all petty disputes.— The writer is President, PakistanNational Movement.

in the world. Not every body can pur-chase these products. It is felt thatprices of these products can be re-duced drastically by lowering the costof production. In order to cut theprices the French businessmen havestarted to buy the raw material, clothand fabrics from other countries.French companies are producing thegarments in other countries. There-fore it is necessary that Pakistani busi-ness houses should also make con-tacts with the French business com-munity. Trade and industrial exhibi-tions are the best place to developbusiness relations. In the recent ex-hibition in Paris, a large number oftraders and businessmen from Paki-stan were in attendance. The bestthing is that the French businessesshowed great interest in our products.

Since the prices of our productswere more acceptable as comparedto the products of other countries, theFrench traders showed keen interestin Pakistani products. There is a greatdemand for our products due to theirquality and price. This has been pos-sible after the GSP Plus status grantedto Pakistan. We must now prepare totake advantage of this facility. Wemust attend more trade exhibitionsand shows in European countries tomarket our products.—Via email

Aafia Siddquiin NY prison

JAVAID BASHIR

The Chairperson of Dr. Aafia Siddquirelease committee, Ms. FauziaSiddiqui has criticized the Federalgovernment for not doing anythingto secure her release. She was speak-ing at meeting of an American NGOPeace Through justice. She washighly critical of the Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif for not keeping hiselection promise

She demanded that the govern-ment should spend its energies to gether released. The State must protectits citizens, whereever they may beresiding. Dr.Aafia Siddiqui was kid-napped from Islamabad in a mysteri-ous circunstances, and was kept inNATO’s base in Kabul, Afghanistanin illegal detention. She was torturedthere; later she ended up in a NewYork Jail. She was tried and sen-tenced to 88 years imprisonment bya district Court of New York.

Since then she is languishing ina NY Prison Cell. Her mental andphysical health has deteriorated. Sheshould be released on humanitariangrounds. I would suggest that gov-ernment should take up her case withthe Obama administration to get herreleased on immediate basis. Thereshould be an end to her long suffer-ing. She is a victim of American Jus-tice System.—Via email

India sanssportsman spirit

ALI ASHRAF KHAN

India made a laughing stock of itselfwhen a sedition case was registeredagainst 67 Kashmiri students fromSwami Vivekanand Subharti Univer-sity in Meerut who had cheered Pa-kistan when Pakistani cricket teambeat India in the Asia Cup match lastSunday. The support of the Kashmiriyouth for sports who are otherwisenot really known friends of Pakistanbut are preferring an independentKashmir is a glaring example of themood among Kashmiris not only inelderly but young people also. Thebeating the Indian team had beengiven by Pakistan must have been acompensation for the wounds of theyoung Kashmiris who grew up incountry under occupation by Indiawith India keeping an army as big asone soldier for every ten Kashmirisin the valley – the largest concentra-tion of military in any region in theworld. Who would mind that theyoung Kashmiris having experiencedsuch a childhood and youth have nolove lost for the occupying forces?

Sportsmen spirit is no more vis-ible in players and their supporters;money has changed the rules of thegame and become business for play-ers and promoters. I heard from myelders that in 1950s when New

Zealanders were touring Lahore. Thetest match played in Gymkhanaground was tied; Pakistan needing 2or 3 runs to win in last two overs butNew Zealand bowlers and fieldersmade it an impossible task for Paki-stani batsman. When last ball was tobe bowled, Kiwi Captain held a teamconference and then the bowler threwa loose ball and fielders raised theirhands up without moving and the bats-man stroke made the ball cross overthe fence and Pakistan won match. Butpublic hearts were won by NewZealanders; they were on shoulders ofthe dancing public who celebrated itas victory for New Zealand team.

When before the fall of the wallin Germany East Germans and WestGermans would play football againsteach other and East Germans –re-gardless of their political opinion -would cheer for West Germany, buteven the hardliners in communist re-gime of East Germany would notpush sedition charges in such a case.India, and the present Indian govern-ment has done itself no service withthis. They seem to have realized thisbecause by now the charges havebeen withdrawn. But the relationshipbetween Delhi and Srinagar hassurely not profited from this and whatwill be the impact on the forthcom-ing elections remains to be seen.—Karachi

Screeningtest conundrum

GHANIUR RAHMAN

In the year 2013, the Federal PublicService Commission had issued anotice for conducting the screen outtest to check the eligibility of the stu-dents prior to the Central SuperiorServices (CSS) Examination. All theaspirants of the CSS totally focusedon the preparation of compulsory sub-jects and Mathematics but at themeantime it was cancelled, howeverthe Commission decided that the newpattern of screening test will be exer-cised next year (2014). This suddendecision of FPSC created a lot of con-fusion in the minds of CSS aspirants.

The whole planning of the stu-dents regarding their studies was dis-rupted. The question arises here whatis the purpose of the screening test. Itis considered that it will help in theselection of competent candidates forthe CSS exam. As the number of can-didates will be minimized so the bur-den on FPSC will be abated. Simi-larly it will save the time duration.The checking of papers and an-nouncement of results will also bemuch easier for the Commission.These are benefits for the Commis-sion but for the students it has broughtserious apprehensions. Firstly, theyare doubtful whether the exam willbe held this year or not so that theyshould divert their whole attention to-wards compulsory subjects and Math-ematics. Secondly, they will know inadvance whether they have the poten-tial of taking the CSS Exam. Thirdly,there is a chance of failure of talentedstudents and a chance of success ofincapable candidates because the guessand luck factor also plays a criticalrole in attempting the MCQS.

It is now the need of the hour thatlooking to the serious concern of theCSS aspirants regarding the screen-ing test the Commission should de-cide earlier whether it will be con-ducted for the year 2015? I appeal tothe Chairman FPSC to solve the co-nundrum of screening on immediatebasis because this is the question ofthe future of thousands of students. Ihope that FPSC being the most trans-parent and credible institution of Pa-kistan will decide earlier and issue aproper notice about the screening testthis year. It will have long term posi-tive impacts on CSS aspirants.—Mardan

Vani: A disgrace for innocent women

IN Islam woman is referred to beone of the most momentousblessings on the earth. The Holy

Prophet (PBUH) used to call daugh-ters as the biggest Rehmah of AllahAlmighty. In societies across the ur-ban or non urban world woman iswithout doubt considered an honourfor a family. In Pakistan, too, I havewitnessed tens of families wheretheir women are regarded at highesteem, respected at par with menand have been offered equal oppor-tunities to shine and grow.

But ours is a mix of heterogeneouscultures and customs, norms and tra-ditions where we can see openness andenlightenment on one side and rigid-ity, fundamentalism and traditional-ism, which not only give women a

highly derogatory status, but also in-troduces objectionable inhuman cus-toms under which man in order to saveits own skin uses woman as his shieldagainst the enemies. In a number ofparts of our country, the primitive-agecustoms such as vani continue to be apart of ignorance and pride for ourtribes in the name of their honour andself-respect, but at the cost of their ownwomen. In many parts of Pakistan, aswell as Afghanistan, girls are forciblymarried to men of opponent tribe as apunishment of crime committed bytheir male relatives. Vani as called inthe Punjab, Sawara in KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sang Chatti in Sindh,Sawara and Arjai in Balochistan andBad in Afghanistan. Under this cus-tom, a man who has killed someone,will have to give one or few girls ofhis family as a punishment, otherwisehe will have to pay money (diyat).These girls will pay thier whole lifefor a crime they never committed.

They are destined to be treated asslaves, and their in-laws would takerevenge for the death of their belovedone(s) who was/were killed by thegirl’s male family member(s). Whensomeone commits a murder, he offersa female of his clan to marry any maleof the opponent family.

It is a punishment decided by acouncil of tribal elders named jirga.He would save himself from any pun-ishment but a female family memberwill pay for his crime all entire herlife. The opponent family wouldnever accept her as part of the familyand will regard her as someone de-testable. Samar MinAllah, Pakistan’sleading human rights activist, whohas dedicated herself and made com-mendable efforts to fighting againstsuch customs like vani, in one of herinterviews, said that she met a num-ber of families of crime victims vaniaffectees and most of them were ofthe view that even if they tried their

best, they were not able to forget themurder of their love ones. “When-ever we see the girl, the murderscene of my brother refreshes andyet infuriates my instinct of takingrevenge. The immediate target is thegirl in front of us.”

Nothing will come close to imag-ine how the girl will live her wholelife. Often these girls are of veryyoung age and they’ll spend theirlives among their ‘enemy family’ aspunishment, where no one is everready to forgive them. These girls willlive fearful and their uncertain life willstart even before marriage. It is ourcollective responsibility, as well ofour media, intelligentsia, civil soci-ety and religious scholars to raise aneffective voice against such customs,and lead from front in the fight againstthis awful custom which is a realshame for humanity.—The writer is Quetta-basedfreelance journalist.

M Yousuf AzizEmail:azizmyousuf@yahoo.com

Humera KarimEmail:humera.karim.pk@gmail.com

It was a lucky escape for this parachutist and pilot after the skydiver and plane became entangled during a jump at the South Lakeland Airport inMulberry, Florida. Both the jumper and the pilot suffered minor injuries in the incident.

Middle East peace process amid Obama’s pessimismHASSAN BARARI

The most recent statements by US President Barack Obama suggest that he isnot optimistic about the possibility of

peace between the Israelis and the Palestin-ians in the coming months. In an interviewgiven to an American journalists JefferyGoldberg, President Obama made it perfectlyclear that time was running out for Israel toreach a peace deal with the Palestinians. Headded that if Netanyahu thought that peacewith the Palestinian Authority is a remote pos-sibility then Netanyahu should think of an al-ternative plan.

All along US Secretary of State Kerry’swheeling and dealing to have the Palestiniansand the Israelis agree on a framework agree-ment, Obama has not shown presidential in-vestment in the process. For Kerry to exercisepressure on both sides, Obama should havedemonstrated more interest in the process.Long time observers to the Israeli politics ob-

serve that Obama’s perceived lack of interest inthe process has weakened Kerry’s effort.

It seems that Obama does not want to associatehimself with a possible failure. He seems to learnfrom his own experience. From the start of his firstterm, Obama approached the Arab-Israeli conflictin a bold manner. He exerted immense pressure onthe Israeli government asking it to freeze settlements.He failed to compel the Israeli government to offerthe necessary concessions to make peace possible.Later, Obama realized that he had exaggerated hisability to make a difference. That said, Obama hasalways said the right things.

The American administration has yet to playthe role of an honest broker. A few months ago,Prof. Rashid Khalidi published a book aboutwhat he called “Brokers of Deceit.” Khalidi’smain argument is that successive American ad-ministrations have always taken the Israeli side.It remains to be seen whether Kerry will strayfrom that course. Thus far, all leakages aboutKerry’s framework proposal indicate that he isonly getting closer to the Israeli positions. Daniel

Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Egypt andIsrael and currently teaching at Princeton Uni-versity, says, “One criticism of Kerry’s diplo-macy is that he may be bending over so far toaddress Israeli concerns that he may not be ableto meet the Palestinians concerns.”

Undoubtedly, Kerry has spent time and effortin painstaking negotiations. Unfortunately, he hasdrawn close to the Israeli perspective. With thedeadline nearing, it is not clear how Kerry couldconvince the Palestinian leader to accept his ideaswhen there is a near Arab consensus that theJewishness of the Israeli state is a non-starter!Again, I agree with Khalidi that America cannotplay a constructive role in solving the conflict.

Furthermore, it is not clear whether the Israeligovernment takes Kerry seriously. In the absenceof presidential involvement in the process, vari-ous Israeli politicians are not expected to budge.Put differently, Obama should send an unequivo-cal message that peacemaking in the Middle Eastis an American priority. He needs to put the Pales-tinian-Israeli track on the front burner.

In a week or so, Obama will meet the Pal-estinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Will Obamasucceed in convincing Abbas to sign on toKerry’s framework? Can Abbas say no? Whatwill be the price for Abbas? Given the risksinvolved, these questions are difficult to answer.Only time can help us understand the depth ofthe quandary that faces all parties involved.

In order not to lose the bigger picture, Obamahas yet to back Kerry in the latter’s ambition tosolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. A likelyfailure will further undercut the US influence inthe region. Not while ago, Obama told the NewYorker that he seeks to create what he calledgeopolitical equilibrium in the Middle East. Suchbalancing act, according to Obama, can bringstability in the otherwise tumultuous region.Perhaps, it is just about time that Obama needsto realize that short of solving the Arab-Israeliconflict, his balancing act will be in trouble.Chances are high that American’s influence willfurther diminish in the region.

—Courtesy Arab News

JOSEPH S. NYE

More than 130,000 people are said to have died in Syria’scivil war. United Nations reports of atrocities, Internetimages of attacks on civilians, and accounts of suffer-

ing refugees rend our hearts. But what is to be done – and bywhom? Recently, the Canadian scholar-politician MichaelIgnatieff urged US President Barack Obama to impose a no-flyzone over Syria, despite the near-certainty that Russia wouldveto the United Nations Security Council resolution needed tolegalize such a move. In Ignatieff’s view, if Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad is allowed to prevail, his forces will obliteratethe remaining Sunni insurgents – at least for now; with hatredsinflamed, blood eventually will flow again.

Russia, China, and others believe that the principle was mis-used in Libya, and that the guiding doctrine of international lawremains the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force except inself-defense, or when authorized by the Security Council. But,back in 1999, when faced with a Russian veto of a potential Secu-rity Council resolution in the case of Kosovo, NATO used forceanyway, and many defenders argued that, legality aside, the deci-sion was morally justified. So which arguments should politicalleaders follow when trying to decide the right policy to pursue?The answer depends, in part, on the collectivity to which he or shefeels morally obliged. Above the small-group level, human iden-tity is shaped by what Benedict Anderson calls “imagined com-munities.” Few people have direct experience of the other mem-bers of the community with which they identify. In recent centu-ries, the nation has been the imagined community for which mostpeople were willing to make sacrifices, and even to die, and mostleaders have seen their primary obligations to be national in scope.

In a world of globalization, however, many people belong tomultiple imagined communities. Some – local, regional, national,cosmopolitan – seem to be arranged as concentric circles, with thestrength of identity diminishing with distance from the core; but,in a global information age, this ordering has become confused.Today, many identities are overlapping circles – affinities sustainedby the Internet and cheap travel. Diasporas are now a mouse clickaway. Professional groups adhere to transnational standards. Ac-tivist groups, ranging from environmentalists to terrorists, alsoconnect across borders. As a result, sovereignty is no longer asabsolute and impenetrable as it once seemed. This is the realitythat the UN General Assembly acknowledged when it recognizeda responsibility to protect endangered people in sovereign states.

But what moral obligation does this place on a particular leaderlike Obama? The leadership theorist Barbara Kellerman has ac-cused former US President Bill Clinton of the moral failure ofinsularity for his inadequate response to the genocide in Rwandain 1994. In one sense, she is right. But other leaders were alsoinsular, and no country responded adequately. Had Clinton tried tosend American troops, he would have encountered stiff resistancein the US Congress. Coming so soon after the death of US soldiersin the 1993 humanitarian intervention in Somalia, the Americanpublic was in no mood for another military mission abroad.

So what should a democratically elected leader do in suchcircumstances? Clinton has acknowledged that he could havedone more to galvanize the UN and other countries to save livesin Rwanda. But good leaders today are often caught betweentheir personal cosmopolitan inclinations and their more tradi-tional obligations to the citizens who elected them. The same istrue of cosmopolitanism versus insularity. We may admire lead-ers who make efforts to increase their followers’ sense of moralduties beyond borders; but it does little good to hold leaders toan impossible standard that would undercut their capacity to re-main leaders. As Obama wrestles with determining his responsi-bilities in Syria and elsewhere, he faces a serious moral dilemma.As Appiah says, duties beyond borders are a matter of degree;and there are also degrees of intervention that range from aid torefugees and arms to different degrees of the use of force. Buteven when making these graduated choices, a leader also oweshis followers a duty of prudence – of remembering the Hippo-cratic oath to first of all, do no harm. Ignatieff says Obama al-ready owns the consequences of his inaction; Friedman remindshim of the virtue of prudence. Pity Obama.

—Courtesy Syndicate Project

Duties without borders

ZHU PING

The whereabouts of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 andthe fate of the 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese, and12 crew members aboard are still unknown. The plane lost

contact after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on Saturday. It isstill too early to judge whether there was a terrorist attack asquestions over two false IDs arise. What most urgent now is tosearch and rescue the missing plane and people on board. Searchand rescue efforts by vessels and planes from China, Malaysia,Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, the United States andSingapore are still underway in the South China Sea south ofVietnam. No country can accomplish this arduous task alone giventhe vast area of South China Sea. However, only by sharing timelyinformation and strengthening coordination can the seven coun-tries better cooperate in the joint search and rescue mission.

The South China Sea encompasses an area of about 3.5 mil-lion square kilometers. About one-third of the world’s shippingtransits through the waters, and the airspace and aviation routesover the South China Sea are also acknowledged as one of thecritical flows in the region. Since the Declaration on the Con-duct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002, China and themembers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations haveconducted joint search and rescue drills, which aims at boostingtrust between China and the ASEAN countries in the less politi-cally sensitive but very important field.

Because there are so many Chinese citizens on the missingplane, some Chinese micro bloggers have been asking why Chinadidn’t dispatch search ships and even naval vessels earlier. Eightships belonging to the Nanhai Rescue Burean and the HainanMaritime Safety Administration, and an aircraft fleet were wait-ing for orders on Saturday and could arrive the possible crashlocation as early as Sunday afternoon. Two warships of the Chi-nese navy are on their way to join the search efforts on Sunday.

Such netizens’ criticism is naive. It is sensitive for any countryto dispatch its ships, not to mention navy, overseas. Especially in theSouth China Sea where tensions have intensified in recent yearssince the US began its rebalancing to Asia. According to the 1979International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, whichChina ratified in 1985, “Unless otherwise agreed between the Statesconcerned, the authorities of a Party which wishes its rescue units toenter into or over the territorial sea or territory of another Party solelyfor the purpose of searching for the position of maritime casualtiesand rescuing the survivors of such casualties, shall transmit a re-quest, giving full details of the projected mission and the need for it,to the rescue co-ordination centre of that other Party, or to such otherauthority as has been designated by that Party.”

The Asian-Pacific region is a vast inclusive region wherecooperation coexist with confrontation and competition. The US,China and ASEAN countries are able to cooperate to tackle re-gional challenges, just as what they did in the search mission. In2013, China-ASEAN ties were put back on a sound track to markthe 10th anniversary of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership,and China proposed a maritime emergency help line among Chinaand ASEAN countries and a joint maritime search and rescuesandbox. China and ASEAN can’t wait any longer to turn theseproposals into actions. The “Maritime Silk Road” concept, pro-posed by President Xi Jinping during his Southeast Asia trip lastyear, should not be for trade alone, traditional and non-tradi-tional security cooperation should also be highlighted.

Moreover, hopefully after China’s participation in the US-led Pacific Rim military exercise in 2014, the military trust defi-cit in the region will decrease, which will pave way for efficientjoint naval research and rescue actions in the future. In the mean-time our thoughts are with the families of the passengers andcrew of Flight MH370 as they wait for news of the missing plane.

—Courtesy China Daily

Better joint search needed

SEVASTOPOL—Germany’s AngelaMerkel delivered a rebuke to PresidentVladimir Putin on Sunday, telling himthat a planned Moscow-backed refer-endum on whether Crimea should joinRussia was illegal and violatedUkraine’s constitution.

Putin defended breakaway movesby pro-Russian leaders in Crimea,where Russian forces tightened theirgrip on the Ukrainian Black Sea penin-sula by seizing another border post anda military airfield. As thousands stagedrival rallies in Crimea, street violenceflared in Sevastopol, when pro-Russianactivists and Cossacks attacked a group

Merkel raps Putin as Russianforces tighten grip on Crimea

of Ukrainians.Chinese President Xi Jinping

called for all parties to remain calmand urged a political solution to thecrisis, during telephone calls withU.S. President Barack Obama andMerkel. “The situation in Ukraine isextremely complex, and what is mosturgent is for all sides to remain calmand exercise restraint to avoid an es-calation in tensions,” China’s foreignministry on Monday cited Xi as tell-ing Obama. “Political and diplomaticroutes must be used to resolve the cri-sis,” Xi added.

Russian forces’ seizure of the region

has been bloodless but tensions aremounting following the decision by pro-Russian groups there to make Crimeapart of Russia. In the latest armed ac-tion, pro-Russian forces wearing mili-tary uniforms bearing no designatedmarkings sealed off a military airportin Crimea near the village of Saki, aUkrainian Defence Ministry spokesmanon the peninsula said.

The operation to seize Crimea be-gan within days of Ukraine’s pro-Rus-sian President Viktor Yanukovich’sflight from the country last month.Yanukovich was toppled after threemonths of demonstrations against a de-

cision to spurn a free trade deal withthe European Union for closer ties withRussia. Ukrainian Prime MinisterArseny Yatseniuk will hold talks withPresident Barack Obama in Washing-ton on Wednesday on how to find apeaceful resolution to the crisis, theWhite House said.

One of Obama’s top national secu-rity officials said the United States wouldnot recognize the annexation of Crimeaby Russia if residents vote to leaveUkraine in a referendum next week. “Wewon’t recognize it, nor will most of theworld,” deputy national security adviserTony Blinken said.—Reuters

CARACAS—As violent protests in Venezuelaalienate moderates in the opposition and showno signs of toppling President Nicolas Maduro,the socialist leader’s call for talks is deepeningdivisions between his rivals. The country’s worstcivil unrest in a decade has killed at least 20people, including supporters of both sides andmembers of the security forces, since early lastmonth.

Day after day, thousands of opposition sup-porters march peacefully in cities around the na-tion, demanding political change and an end tohigh inflation, shortages of basic foods in stores,and one of the highest murder rates in the world.Then every night, hooded opposition militantsemerge around a square in eastern Caracas bran-dishing rocks and Molotov cocktails, clashingwith riot police and turning one of the capital’smost affluent neighborhoods into a battlefield.

The violence is fueling tensions inside theopposition, with moderates scared it could spinfurther out of control and tarnish the cause ofpeaceful political change in the future. Maduroappears to have weathered the worst of the dem-onstrations on the streets for now and is repeat-edly offering talks, creating a new dilemma foropposition leaders.

So far, they have put tough conditions onany discussions, saying they refuse to be part ofa “photo opportunity” and that they fear the gov-ernment has no intention of addressing issuessuch as corruption, impunity and political pris-oners. The Democratic Unity opposition coali-tion said on Friday it would only sit down fordialogue with Maduro if the meeting were me-diated by someone “of good faith” - and broad-cast live.

“We’re sick of violence. Everyone is beingattacked,” it said in a statement. “We’re show-ing our hand to the public ... (We want) truedialogue, a clear agenda, and equal conditions.”But with pleas for talks coming from as far afieldas the White House, U.N. Secretary General BanKi-moon and Pope Francis, the refusal to at-tend any discussions to date has drawn criticism,including from within the coalition’s ranks.

Opposition lawmaker Hiram Gaviria quit his

Protests and talks widen riftsin Venezuela opposition

party Un Nuevo Tiempo (A New Time) and thecoalition on Friday over its ban on attending talksat the Miraflores presidential palace. Gaviriablamed the unrest on the government, which hesaid had imposed a broken social and economicmodel and used 15 years of “hate speech” toundermine its opponents.

But he said he would meet anyone, any-where, to try to avoid more violence, even ifdialogue stood little chance of success. “Howmany more deaths must there be before we talkand find understanding?” asked the legislatorfrom central Aragua state. “There has to be dia-logue.”

The opposition was deeply divided for yearsuntil it showed remarkable cohesion ahead ofthe 2012 presidential election and again last yearwhen a new vote was called to succeed socialistleader Hugo Chavez after his death from can-cer. The current protests, however, have re-opened old rifts between those who advocatestreet action to force the president from power,and others with a slow-boil strategy of buildingsupport in the cities and states they govern whileletting the dysfunctional economy weaken thegovernment.

Maduro’s critics, some of whom have vowedto stay in the streets until he resigns, are de-manding the release of political prisoners, jus-tice for victims of what they call repression, andthe disbandment of armed pro-government mili-tant groups that are accused of attacking oppo-sition protesters.

Another opposition lawmaker, IsmaelGarcia, said the majority of Democratic Unitywere in favor of serious talks. “Nobody hasrejected dialogue, but there have to be veryclear rules to the game, and we must work to-gether,” he said. But it is not clear how oppo-sition leaders want to handle the demonstra-tions. Though Maduro’s opponents condemnthe violence by a small but vocal minority, theycontinue to support street mobilizations thatoften lead to such clashes. Plaza Altamira, siteof the nightly battles with riot police, once en-joyed its reputation as one of the capital’s nic-est spaces.—Reuters

WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence officials are planning a sweep-ing system of electronic monitoring that would tap into govern-ment, financial and other databases to scan the behavior of manyof the 5 million federal employees with secret clearances, cur-rent and former officials told The Associated Press.

The system is intended to identify rogue agents, corrupt of-ficials and leakers, and draws on a Defense Department modelunder development for more than a decade, according to offi-cials and documents reviewed by the AP. Intelligence officialshave long wanted a computerized system that could continuouslymonitor employees, in part to prevent cases similar to formerNational Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden. His disclo-sures bared secretive U.S. surveillance operations.

An administration review of the government’s security clear-ance process due this month is expected to support continuousmonitoring as part of a package of comprehensive changes. Pri-vacy advocates and government employee union officials expressedconcerns that continuous electronic monitoring could intrude intoindividuals’ private lives, prompt flawed investigations and putsensitive personal data at greater risk. Supporters say the systemwould have safeguards. Workers with secret clearances are alreadyrequired to undergo background checks of their finances and pri-vate lives before they are hired and again during periodic re-inves-tigations. “What we need is a system of continuous evaluationwhere when someone is in the system and they’re cleared initially,then we have a way of monitoring their behavior, both their elec-tronic behavior on the job as well as off the job,” Director of Na-tional Intelligence James Clapper told Congress last month.

Clapper provided lawmakers with few details but said the pro-posed system would extend “across the government,” drawing on“six or seven data streams.” Monitoring of employees at someagencies could begin as early as September and be fully opera-tional across the government by September 2016. The price tag,Clapper conceded, “is going to be costly.” In separate commentslast week, retiring NSA Director Keith Alexander said intelligence,Defense and Cyber Command officials are collaborating on “in-sider threat” planning. Recently declassified federal documentsshow that the NSA is already conducting electronic monitoring ofagency staffers involved in surveillance operations.

Budget documents released this week show the Pentagonrequesting nearly $9 million next year for its insider threat-re-lated research. Current and former officials familiar with theDNI’s planning said the monitoring system will collect recordsfrom multiple sources of information about employees. They willuse private credit agencies, law enforcement databases and threatlists, military and other government records, licenses, data ser-vices and public record repositories. “The system only workswell,” he said, “if it has thoughtful, educated, careful humanbeings behind it.”—AP

US network to scan workerswith secret clearances

China vowssevere

punishment forstation attackersBEIJING—The top judge over-seeing China’s CommunistParty-controlled courts pledgedMonday to severely punish cul-prits in terror attacks such theknife slashing at a train stationin Kunming that killed 29people about a week ago.

In listing this year’s priori-ties, Zhou Qiang, president ofthe Supreme People’s Court,said that first among them wasmeting out heavy penalties forterrorism and crimes that en-danger public order. Zhou saidthe court would work to “main-tain national security and socialstability and increase thepeople’s sense of security.”

The court will work to “letpeople feel fairness and justicewith every judicial case,” Zhoupledged. Officials have said theMarch 1 attack in the southerncity of Kunming was instigatedby separatists from the far-westregion of Xinjiang, home to theethnic Uighur minority. Policefatally shot four of the suspectsand have the other four in cus-tody.

Zhou also said the court willactively participate in the anti-corruption campaign that hasbeen the hallmark of PresidentXi Jinping’s administration,vowing to target both low andhigh-level officials. The movesreflect Chinese leaders’ recog-nition that an increasingly pros-perous public is demanding amore predictable and fair justicesystem, though party officialsare unlikely to fully loosen theirgrasp over the courts, police andprosecutors.—AP

Israeli soldiers killPalestinian at

Jordan crossingJERUSALEM—Israeli soldiersshot and killed a Palestinianjudge from Jordan on Mondayin an altercation at a crossingpoint between Jordan and theoccupied West Bank, Palestin-ian officials said. The Israelimilitary said the man had triedto seize a soldier’s gun at theAllenby bridge, which spansthe Jordan River, and thattroops had then shot him, noconfirmation of such incidentreported yet.

The Palestinian Authoritybased in the West Bank city ofRamallah condemned what itcalled the “shooting at closerange” by Israeli troops, and itdemanded an investigation. Astatement from Prime MinisterRami Al-Hamdallah’s officeidentified the man as Raed Alaael-Deen Za’eiter, 38, a WestBank-born judge working inJordan.—Reuters

Injured Floridaskydiver says

he’ll jump againMULBERRY—A skydiver in-jured when a small planecrashed into him near Tampa,Fla., says he’ll jump again assoon as he feels safe. Forty-nine-year-old John Frost toldABC’s “Good MorningAmerica” in an interview thataired Monday that he’s sore andhas some bruises, but no bro-ken bones.

On Saturday, his parachutegot entangled with an aircraftpiloted by 87-year-old ShannonL. Trembely. Officials sayTrembely was doing takeoffand landing maneuvers in hisCessna near the South Lake-land Airport when he encoun-tered Frost on his third landingpass. They were about 75 feetabove the ground.—AP

tity cards. He said Rs 200,000 eachwould be distributed among the fami-lies of the deceased. The Prime Minis-ter was apprised that out of the 4.5million livestock, sheep was the mostaffected animal and 15 mobile teamswere vaccinating them.

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shahthanked the Prime Minister for takingemergency relief measures for the af-fected people. He said the provincialgovernment had nominated Taj Haider,General Secretary PPP Sindh, to moni-tor the transparent distribution of ed-ible commodities. He said the govern-ment would form committees, compris-ing elected representatives, media per-sons and notables of the areas, to en-sure fair distribution of goods.

The Chief Minister informed thePrime Minister that the provincial gov-ernment had engaged a non-govern-

Rs 1b PM package fordrought-hit people

From Page 1

Record increase in bankrobberies, extortion

From Back Page

Secretary Punjab, theIslamabad police chief, thechief commissioner andother officials, the InteriorMinistry has advised theconcerned officials to beextremely vigilant and makefool proof security arrange-ment for Musharraf who isfacing trial in treason case.

Terrorists totarget

MusharrafFrom Page 1

training, logistics, medicaland air support if the nextgovernment signs a deal tolet them stay.

Karzai has so far re-fused to sign the deal, put-ting billions of dollars in aidto the Afghan securityforces at risk and raisingdoubts over the long-termability of the military to co-ordinate the fight againstthe Taliban.Government security forceswere not immediately avail-able to comment on theTaliban threat, but havehired thousands of Afghansto work as security guardsat the polls and search vot-ers for bombs or weapons.

Karzai’s brother regis-tered as a candidate, but re-cently announced that hewould support anotherKarzai ally, former foreignminister Zalmay Rassoul, inthe vote.

His main rivals are con-sidered to be AbdullahAbdullah, a former aide toAfghanistan’s most famousanti-Taliban militia leader,and former finance ministerAshraf Ghani.

But campaigning wasinterrupted after the gov-ernment declared threedays of national mourningfollowing the death of VicePresident MarshalMohammad Qasim Fahimon Sunday from naturalcauses.—Reuters

AfghanTalibanthreatenFrom Page 1

DMG, Police groups to losepowerful bureaucrats

From Page 1

mental organization, Peoples’ PrimaryHealthcare Initiative (PPHI), to look af-ter the basic health units and ruralhealth centres in various districts ofthe province. The NGOs serviceswould be extended to Tharparkar sothat the people of the area could getbetter health facilities, he added. Heassured the Prime Minister that therelief work would be carried out in thedistrict without any controversies. Hesaid the area of Tharparkar was quitevast with a little means of transporta-tion. The lady doctors deputed in thearea would be given double salariesand free transportation as incentives,he added.

The Prime Minister was given an-other briefing on the Thar situationby Pakistan Army, National DisasterManagement Authority (NDMA),

Sindh Health Department, the districtadministration and officials of PakistanArmy’s Field Hospital. Chief MinisterQaim Ali Shah informed the Prime Min-ister that the Tharparkar district ex-cluding its irrigated areas, was de-clared as calamity-hit by the provin-cial government.

Corps Commander Karachi Lieu-tenant General Sajjad Ghani, Chairman(NDMA) Major General Saeed Alam,Sindh Secretary Health Iqbal Durraniand Deputy Commissioner Tharparkargave details about the human lossesas well as the relief measures. FederalInformation Minister Pervaiz Rashid,Federal Minister for National HealthServices, Regulations and Coordina-tion Saira Afzal Tarar, provincial min-ister Sharjeel Memon and PML-Nleader Marvi Memon attended thebriefings.

ings, Sindh Advocated General told courtthat children in Tharparkar died due to cold.

Parents don’t get their children treateduntil their condition gets critical, he added.On this, the Chief Justice remarked thatSindh government is responsible for what-ever happened in the Tharparkar district.He further stated that the media highlightedthe issue otherwise the matter would havebeen buried.

Advocated General Fateh Malik arguedthat situation isn’t that bad as media is high-lighting it. The apex court inquired that howmany children died in the region and whendid it came to provincial authorities’ knowl-edge. The Advocate General told court that

Sindh govt responsible forThar situation: SC

From Page 1

60 children have died during last threemonths. Justice Azmat Saeed said thatpeople in the district do not need the primeminister or the chief minister but they needfood.

“We should bow our heads in shameover what is happening there,” Chief Jus-tice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillanisaid about the situation in Tharparkar. TheAdvocate General Sindh told the court thatsituation is not as worse as media is report-ing.

The court has sought a detailed reportfrom Sindh government about total numberof deaths due to drought and adjourned thehearing till 17th March.—Online

Iqbal (July 4), Adbul Latif Leghari (July 12), Syed NazarIsmail Rizvi (June 30) and Tahir Maqsood who is retiringon November 7.

Secretariat Group’s 11 officers of grade-20 who haveeither retired or retiring this year are: Aftabul Islam Raja,SM Afaq Makhdoom, Muhammad Aslam Kundi, GayoorSultana, Fakhira T Abbaas, Pervez Akhtar, Akbar KhanAwan, Syed Qamar Mustafa Shah, Rehmatullah Khan, TariqSaeed Hashmi and Umer Ali.

Eleven Deputy Secretaries of grad-19 from the samesecretariat group who are retiring this year are: AsifMehmood, Imtiar Ahmed Khan, Hameedul Hassan,Muhammad Zubair Dar, Safdar Ali Malik, Tariq Amin Khan,Sajid Mian, Ch Muhammad Akram, Siraj Ahmed, NazirAhmed and Muhammad Javed Iqbal.

Police Service officer of grade-22 and DG IntelligenceBureau Aftab Sultan will retire on April 2. Some nine offic-ers of grade-21 from Police Service who are equal to therank of Additional Inspector General (AIG) who are retiringin 2014 are IG Punjab Khan Baig (retiring on December 9,2014), Hussain Qarar Khwaja (December 16), Sarmad SaeedKhan (Sept 12), Captain (Retd) Muhammad Zubair (July30), Shahid Nadeem Baloch (retired on Feb 20) and Maj(Retd) Syed Ibn-e-Hussain (retiring on August 27). In the

same list those who have retired in 2014 include AhmedRaza Tahir (retired on January 3), Khalid Maqsood (retiredon Jan 12) and Mirza Masood Ahmed (already retired onFeb 2).

Five officers of the rank of DIG who are retiring in 2014are: Rana Altaf Majeed (July 22), Ameer Hamza Mehsood(October 31), Masood Khan Afridi (May 26), Bin Ameen(May 17) and Ahmed Mubarak Ahmed on November 8.

SSP Iftikhar Khan and SSP Nisar Ahmed will also retirethis year. The police officers of grade-18 who are retiringthis year are Muhammad Ayub, Shah Ali Kiani andMuhammad Fayaz Khan.

Eight officers of grade-21 of Pakistan AdministrativeService (DMG) who are retiring in 2014 include FarkhandaWasim Afzal (retired on March 3), Azhar Hussain Shameem(October 20), Waqar Nazeeba (retired on Feb 8), SyedArshad Ali (June 30), Flight Lt (Retd) Hamid Ali khan (Nov14), Syed Khalid Hussain Gilani (retired on Feb 22), RaoIftikhar Ahmed (May 14) and Captain (Retd) MuhammadYousuf retiring on May 18.

Seven grade-20 officers of the same group retiring thisyear are Farooq Ahmed Khan, Abdul Jaleel, Athar HussainKhan, Ali Zaheer Hazara, Rasheed Ahmed, Tariq Feroz Khanand Nasrullah Khan.

101.40 to a dollar in the in-terbank market. Marketdealers said that anticipa-tion of fresh dollar inflowsfrom the InternationalMonetary Fund, CoalitionSupport Fund and the risein workers’ remittances ishaving a positive impact onthe rupee value.

It may be pointed outthat in the last threemonths Pakistani currencygained around 5 percentagainst the dollar recover-ing from the historic lowsof 108.65 to a dollar in thefirst week of December2013. The rupee lost awhopping 9 percent versusthe greenback in the firstsix months of the currentfiscal year.—INP

Rupee makesfresh impressive

From Page 1

Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz inIslamabad on Monday.

They discussed issuesregarding cooperation be-tween Pakistan and IAEA.

Sartaj Aziz welcomedthe positive role played byIAEA in development ofpeaceful uses of nucleartechnology in Pakistan.—Online

IAEA laudsPak safety step

From Page 1

expected to be attended by dozens ofHeads of the States and Government.

Experts agree that the chance of terror-ists carrying out an attack with nuclearmaterial is slight, but if it happened, theconsequences would be enormous.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expectedto inform the world leaders about stron-gest measures Pakistan have taken to pro-tect its nuclear installations and transpor-tation of radioactive materials while Paki-stan experts would offer presentations inthat regard.

On the sidelines of Nuclear SummitPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected tomeet American President Barak Obama, Brit-ish Prime Minister David Cameron andAndres Fogh Rasmussen.

The first Nuclear Security Summit wasorganised in Washington, DC at the initia-tive of President Obama who called ‘nuclearterrorism’ one of the greatest threats to in-ternational security. A second summit fol-lowed in Seoul in 2012 to promote the ob-jectives set out at the first Summit.

The Netherlands is preparing toorganise the third NSS with objectives to 1.reducing the amount of nuclear material andradioactive sources; 2. enhancing the se-

PM to attend Nuclear SecuritySummit, meet world leaders

From Page 1

said that the peace negotia-tions are having better im-pact on the nation and thestate. —INP

Nisar callsSami, discusses

From Page 1

not mean that the policewould be absolved of theirduties, since it was the dutyof the police to protect thelife and property of people,”he added.

“Sindh Shops and Es-tablishment (Security) Ordi-nance 2014 would bebrought in the Sindh Assem-bly very soon and would beadopted immediately if theordinance gets approvalfrom provincial legislature,”the SSP maintained.

Responding to a ques-

tion, he said that there aremany commercial and finan-cial institutions in the me-tropolis where privateguards of security provid-ing firms are working andthey are performing well.

“I have no idea that theprovincial government isgoing to promulgate anyordinance after which secu-rity of commercial and finan-cial centers would becomeresponsibility of the own-ers,” Karachi Tajir Ittehad(KTI) chief Atiq Mir said.

“We have organized aseminar and invited offi-cials of the provincial gov-ernment and police depart-ment to apprise them aboutproblem which traders arefacing due to increasingcases of extortion,” Mirsaid, adding that “At theend of seminar, it wasagreed that the manage-ment of the affected mar-kets along with collabora-tion of police would devisea strategy to provide secu-rity to the traders.

Economic indicators are as perprojection or even better: Dar

From Back Page

Additional Sales Tax @ 2% from items soldin retail markets. He said that the entire in-dustry is of the view that it will lead to in-crease in vehicle cost. He also requestedfor rationalization in taxes and introductionof automobile financing schemes for con-sumers including in production of economi-cal tractors. He also discussed issues re-lated to formulation of Pakistan Auto In-dustry Vision 2025. He also took up the is-sue of imported cars and urged for levelplaying field for the local industry as com-pared to automobiles imported from abroad.

The Finance Minister acknowledgedthat the imposition of extra tax @ 2% onsales of auto parts etc. to the automobilemanufacturers by auto parts manufactur-ers constitute a hardship for the automo-bile industry and may have the undesiredeffect of escalation in the prices of the ve-hicles. He further stated that the extra tax@ 2% was imposed to collect sales tax onthe value addition made by the distribu-tors, wholesalers and retailers of auto partsfrom the auto parts manufacturers as thetraders in the downstream supply chainwere mostly out of the sales tax net. Heagreed with the assertion that the sales

made by auto parts manufacturers to auto-mobile manufacturers/OEMs were not tobe treated as retail sales and it was not theintention of FBR to subject these sales toextra tax.

The Finance Minister directed Chair-man FBR to institute a case for removingthe above anomalies in the taxation sys-tem. The Finance Minister further directedthe officials of the Ministry of Industriesand Engineering Development Board (EDB)to hold meeting with the stakeholders ofthe automobile industry in order to resolveoutstanding issues. The Finance Ministerfurther directed officials of Ministry ofCommerce to hold meeting with the auto-mobile industry representatives andpresent a report within one month on is-sues related to the Ministry. He assuredthe PAAPAM that the recommendationswill be considered in the next financial year2014-15.

The meeting was also attended byChairman FBR, Tariq Bajwa, Advisor to Fi-nance Ministry Rana Assad Amin, Addi-tional Secretary Mr. Shahid Mahmood andsenior officials of the Ministries of Com-merce, Industries and Finance.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif with a group of special children on Monday.

Special children are ambassadorsof peace: Shahbaz

curity of nuclear material and radioactivesources; 3. tackling the smuggling of nuclearmaterial and 4. improving international co-operation.

The venue of The Hague was chosendue to the fact that the Netherlands has aglobal reputation as a country of peace,justice and security, housing InternationalCourt of Justice and the International Crimi-nal Court. The Netherlands is also home totwo major transhipment hubs – Schipholairport and the port of Rotterdam – whichheightens the risk of nuclear material beingsmuggled across our borders while thereare several Dutch companies in the nuclearsector that require tight security.

President Obama was not the first topoint out the dangers of nuclear terrorism,of course. The International Atomic EnergyAgency in Vienna has been warning sincethe 1970s about the need for physical se-curity to prevent nuclear material falling intothe wrong hands. Nuclear security has be-come even more pressing since the 1990safter the Soviet Union collapsed, and 9/11heightened the fear of nuclear terrorism butit was President Obama who gave nuclearsecurity the high political priority it enjoystoday.

OBSERVER REPORT

LA H O R E—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has saidthat special children are as talentedand gifted as the normal children andprovision of proper education andtraining facilities can help make themuseful citizens of the society.

He said that Punjab governmenthas taken a number of solid mea-sures for the rehabilitation and lookafter of special children and educa-tion and training facilities have beenimproved in the institutions for spe-cial children.

He said that a centre of excellencefor the rehabilitation of special chil-dren is being set up in the provincialmetropolis where a 100-bed hospitaland a research centre would also beestablished. He said that an effec-tive system of treatment and lookafter is essential for down syndromespecial children.

He expressed these views whileaddressing a function arranged fordown syndrome special childrenhere today. Provincial Minister forSpecial Education Asif SaeedManais, Member Provincial Assem-bly Ch. Lal Hussain, Secretary Spe-cial Education Ambreen Raza, Chair-man Al-Jalal Welfare Trust JalalAkbar Dar, teachers of down syn-drome children, their parents and alarge number of children were

present on the occasion.The Chief Minister was pre-

sented a national flag and peaceflag at the conclusion of the cer-emony. The special children alsogave an excellent performancethrough expression of their faceand speech during the function.

Speaking on the occasion, theChief Minister expressed his plea-sure that such talented and be-loved children of the nation arepresent in the hall where cabinetmeetings and other governmentfunctions are held. He said thatspecial children are messengersand ambassadors of peace andthere is a need to pay due atten-tion to their care, rehabilitation,education and training.

He said that Punjab govern-ment has adopted an effect ivestrategy for this purpose and edu-cation and training facilities havebeen improved in the centers forspecial children. Shahbaz Sharifsaid that a number of buses havebeen provided to educational in-stitutions of special children forproviding transport facility whiletalented special children have alsobeen given laptops.

He said that government hasnot only constructed new institu-tions for training and education ofspecial children but 37 computerlabs have also been set up while

99 special education centers havebeen upgraded from primary tomiddle level.

He said that 36 centers for slowlearners have been established invarious districts while a trainingcollege has been set up in Lahorefor the training of teachers of deafand dumb children. He said thatthough Punjab government hastaken a number of measures for therehabilitation of special childrenbut much is still to be done. Hesaid that it is time to resolve thatevery effort would be made forsaving the children from downsyndrome and rehabil i tat ion ofsuch children.

He commended the efforts ofAl-Jalal Welfare Trust for the re-habil i tat ion of down syndromespecial children.

The Chief Minister set up acommittee headed by ProvincialMinister for Special Education anddirected the committee to visit theinstitutions set up by Al-Jalal Wel-fare Trust for the rehabilitation ofdown syndrome special childrenas well as other institutions forspecial children in different dis-tr icts . He said that governmentwould extend all out assistance tothese institutions working for re-habilitation of special children inthe light of recommendations ofthe committee.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof DrMujahid Kamran has expressed deep sense of sorrowover causalities in drought-hit Tharparkar desert andsaid that it was deplorable that many children had tolose their lives because of the negligence of Sindh gov-ernment.

He was addressing a meeting to review arrangementsfor provision of relief goods by Punjab University to thevictims of Thar drought in Sindh. Dean Faculty of Sci-ence Prof Dr Haris Rashid, Dean Faculty of Economicsand Management Sciences Prof Dr Ehsan Malik, Dean

PU meeting laments over Thar situationFaculty of Oriental Learning Prof Dr Ismatullah Zahid,Dean Faculty of Life Sciences Prof Dr Tanveer Akhterand a large number of heads of various teaching andnon-teaching departments were present on the occasion.Addressing the ceremony, Dr Mujahid Kamran said thatit was very unfortunate that we had to face such situa-tion despite having prior intimation and resources.

He said that it was the tradition of the current PUadministration to play its role when the nation facedcrises and disasters. He said that PU set up exemplaryrelief camps to facilitate displaced people of Swat val-ley in Sawabi and provided relief goods to flood victimsin South Punjab.

NATIONAL BRIE

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—By overlooking arecord increase in cases of extor-tion and bank robberies in highlyvolatile metropolitan city last year,the Sindh government is likely topromulgate an ordinance that willbind banks and other commercialand financial institutions to takecare of their own security insteadof depending on the police for it.

The idea for the ordinance, tobe called the Sindh Shops andEstablishment (Security) Ordi-nance 2014, has been borrowedfrom the Punjab Shops and Estab-

Record increase in bank robberies, extortionBanks may be asked to have own security

lishment (Security) Ordinance1999. The Sindh Shops and Estab-lishment (Security) Ordinance wasproposed in 2009 but it could notbe materialized.Now the provincialgovernment is mulling to promul-gate this ordinance to diminishburden of police department.

In the ordinance the word ‘es-tablishment’ includes a bank, amoney changer or a financial in-stitution and any office firm, insti-tution, industrial unit, shop or pre-mises which undertakes any busi-ness, manufacturing, calling ser-vice, employment or occupation.

Once the ordinance came into

force, policemen dedicated for thesecurity of banks and other finan-cial institutions would be with-drawn as banks would be sup-posed to hire trained private secu-rity guards and install proper CloseCircuit Television (CCTV) (CCTV)camera networks.

It may be pertinent to mentionthat a record increase was reportedin cases of extortion and bank rob-beries in strife-torn metropolis dur-ing 2013. The statistics availablerevealed that 28 bank robberiesand 519 cases of extortion werereported last year.

The Shops and Establishment

Ordinance will bind owners ormanagers of banks, jewelleryshops and petrol and gas stationsto make security arrangements fortheir premises. A failure to complywith the provision of the Shop andEstablishment Ordinance wouldallow the police to make a com-plaint to the area magistrateagainst the owners for not makingappropriate security arrange-ments, a senior police officer said.

In Lahore the security of banksand money changers is not the re-sponsibility of the police and po-licemen are not posted at bankseither. In Karachi, however, the

main strength of the police remainedfocused on banks and money-changer outlets during the bankinghours, the officer said.

An SHO heaved a sigh of reliefwhen the banking hours were overfor the day, as armed hold-ups atbanks in their jurisdiction was the lastthing he wanted,” the officer added.

“Yes, we have proposed PunjabShops and Establishment (Security)Ordinance like ordinance in Sindh,”Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)Special Investigation Unit (SIU)Farooq Awan confirmed. “This did

Farmer kidnappedin NasirabadDERA MURAD JAMALI—Alocal farmer was kidnappedby unidentified gunmen inTamboo area of Nasirabaddistrict on Monday. Accord-ing to police, the victimHimat Ali was on way tohome when armed kidnap-pers took him away to anunknown destination ongunpoint. —APP

Couple shot deadSUKKUR—A newly-wedcouple was shot dead inKhairpur district late Sundaynight. According to police,unidentified men intercepteda car and opened fire thatkilled Ali Akbar and AmnaShaikh and injured their driverat Tando Masti bypass,Khairpur. The bodies wereshifted to the Civil HospitalKhairpur.Further investiga-tion was underway to traceout the killers. The couple,belonging to Kandhkot, hasmarried in court two monthsago. —APP

Talks not movingahead: AzizISLAMABAD—Talks be-tween the government andthe Tehreek-e-Taliban Paki-stan do not seem to be mov-ing ahead, Lal MasjidKhateeb Maulana AbdulAziz said, adding that onlyordinary people would suf-fer in case of a military op-eration. Speaking to me-dia representatives outsidethe Islamabad High Courton Monday, Maulana AbdulAziz, who is also a negotia-tor for the TTP, said thegovernment and the Talibanwould have to come to-gether, adding that dialoguewas the only workable op-tion to the issue. —INP

3 dacoits killed inencounterLAHORE—Three dacoitswere killed in an alleged en-counter in Johar Town areaof Lahore in the wee hoursof Monday. According topolice, police signaled threesuspects riding a motorbiketo stop near Johar TownCommercial Market afterwhich the suspects openedfire at the police. —INP

KUALA LUMPUR/PHU QUOC ISLAND,VIETNAM—The disappearance of aMalaysian airliner about an hour intoa flight to Beijing is an “unprecedentedmystery”, the civil aviation chief saidon Monday, as a massive air and seasearch now in its third day failed tofind any trace of the plane or 239 peopleon board.

Dozens of ships and aircraft from10 countries scoured the seas aroundMalaysia and south of Vietnam asquestions mounted over possible se-curity lapses and whether a bomb orhijacking attempt could have broughtdown the Boeing 777-200ER whichtook off from the Malaysian capital,Kuala Lumpur.

The area of the search would bewidened from Tuesday, AzharuddinAbdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia’sCivil Aviation Authority, told report-ers.

A senior police official told Reuters

that people armed with explosives andcarrying false identity papers had triedto fly out of Kuala Lumpur in the past,and that current investigations werefocused on two passengers who wereon the missing plane with stolen pass-ports.

“We have stopped men with falseor stolen passports and carrying ex-plosives, who have tried to get pastKLIA (airport) security and get on toa plane,” he said. “There have beentwo or three incidents, but I will notdivulge the details.”

Interpol confirmed on Sunday atleast two passengers used stolenpassports and said it was checkingwhether others aboard had used falseidentity documents.

Azharuddin said a hijacking at-tempt could not be ruled out as inves-tigators explore all theories for the lossof Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.“Unfortunately we have not found

anything that appears to be objectsfrom the aircraft, let alone the aircraft,”he told a news conference. “As far aswe are concerned, we have to find theaircraft. We have to find a piece of theaircraft if possible.”

Azharuddin also said the twomen with stolen passports did notlook like Asians, but he did not elabo-rate. Airport CCTV footage showedthey completed all security proce-dures, he said.

“We are looking at the possibilityof a stolen passport syndicate,” hesaid. About two-thirds of the 227 pas-sengers and 12 crew now presumedto have died aboard the plane wereChinese.

The airline said other nationalitiesincluded 38 Malaysians, seven Indo-nesians, six Australians, five Indians,four French and three Americans.China urged Malaysia to speed up thesearch for the plane.—Reuters

Ten countries scour seafor Malaysia jet

Rs0.5mn eachfor victims’heirs: RiazSTAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Chairman ofthe Bahria Town Malik RiazHussain has announcedRs500,000 each for the fami-lies of children died of star-vation in Tharparkar.

Malik Riaz has asked theSindh government to imme-diately provide the list of vic-tims so that the affected fami-lies could be helped timely.

IP gas pipelineno more

beneficial to IranTEHRAN—A member of theIranian Parliament’s EnergyCommission criticized Paki-stan for its repeated delays incommissioning the IP gaspipeline, stressing that theproject is no more beneficialto Tehran.

Speaking to FNA onMonday, Jalil Jafari BonehKhalkhal pointed to long de-lays in accomplishment of thePakistani side of the pipeline,and said, “Owing to the ex-isting conditions continuingthis project will no more be inthe interest of Iran as it hasno more economic justifica-tion.”

Jafari Boneh Khalkhal’sremarks came after Pakistan’sMinister for Petroleum andNatural Resources ShahidKhaqan Abbasi said that itwas not possible to work onthe pipeline due to sanctionsagainst Iran. —Online

ISLAMABAD—The Supreme Court on Mon-day ordered the government and nationalairline to explain why they have failed to takeaction over the sexual harassment of a se-nior lady pilot.

Captain Rifat Haye, who joined PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA) in 1990, said in apetition to the court that she had been sub-jected to “severe intimidation and harass-ment” by male colleagues since the earlyyears of her career.

Frustrated by the lack of action from hersuperiors over her complaints, Haye wentto the National Assembly’s Standing Com-mittee on Women’s Development in 2010.The committee found that two of Haye’s su-periors had harassed her and other womenemployees of the flag-carrier, Haye’s lawyerJawad Hassan said in his submission.

“On March 31, 2010, (the committee) had

SC demands answer overharassment of lady PIA pilot

recommended strict disciplinary actionagainst them, but so far authorities have beenavoiding its implementation,” Hassan said.“Haye also filed cases in high court whichruled in her favour but PIA management didnot take any action.”

Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillaniordered PIA Chairman Muhammad AliGardezi to explain within two weeks why noaction had been taken on Haye’s case.He also sought comments from the top bu-reaucrat in the law, justice and human rightsministry about the implementation of theworkplace harassment law.

Pakistan passed a law aimed at pro-tecting women from harassment at work inMarch 2010 and earlier amended its Code ofCriminal Procedure to make the offence ofharassment punishable by up to three yearsimprisonment.—AFP

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Mr. ThomasWilliams, Charge’d Affaires,US Embassy in Islamabadcalled on the Finance Min-ister Senator MohammadIshaq Dar at the Ministry ofFinance on Monday. TheFinance Minister informedthe Charge’d Affaires thatthe structural reforms, thenew government undertookin the last eight months havestarted to yield positive re-sults and all economic indi-cators are as per our projec-tion or even better. He saidthat today we have fairlystable foreign exchange re-serves and buoyant stockmarket which shows theconfidence of the businesscommunity in the economicpolicies.

The Finance Ministeremphasized that, at thisstage, the US need to expe-dite reimbursements to Pa-kistan on account of Coali-tion Support Fund (CSF).

Meanwhile, Federal Fi-nance Minister SenatorMohammad Ishaq Darchaired a meeting with therepresentatives of Pakistan

Economic indicators are as perprojection or even better: DarVibrant National Auto Policy to be framed

7 including fivefamily memberskilled in Karachi

KARACHI—Seven personsincluding five of a family andtwo girls were killed onMonday as lawlessnesscontinues in Karachi. Ac-cording to reports, five mem-bers of a family weregunned down in the weehours of Monday.

The opponent group ofLyari gang war allegedlykidnapped five familymembers, residents ofMawach Goth area ofBaldia Town, and threwtheir bullet-riddled bodyafter two hours.

The victims were iden-tified as Javed,Muhammad Ismail, TajMuhammad, Shoaib Janand Faisal. —INP

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Monday gave thefederal government moretime till March 14 to produceTasif Ali who went missingon Nov 23, 2012.

A two-member bench ofthe apex court, headed byJustice Nasirul Mulk, washearing the case relating tothe disappearance of Tasif,believed to be a HizbulMujahideen (HM) activist.

During the hearing, Ad-ditional Attorney GeneralShah Khawar requested thecourt to give additional time

SC gives govt time till March14 to produce HM activist

to contact the relevant au-thorities. Khawar said theaccused was present in the‘operational’ area.

Responding to which,Justice Nasir asked Khawarto name the commanding of-ficer, adding that the courtwould subsequently sum-mon him. He moreover ques-tioned as to what investiga-tion had the governmentcarried out so far.

Khawar said the govern-ment would soon meet thedefence ministry officials inthis regard. —INPContinued on Page 7

Association of AutomotiveParts Accessories Manufac-turers on Monday.

The Finance Ministerappreciated the achieve-ments made by the local au-tomobile industry and as-sured them Government’sfull cooperation and sup-port. He said that we needto make Pakistan strong,stable and prosperous coun-try in line with the PML-Nmanifesto.

He said “we are commit-ted to provide a vibrant Na-tional Auto Policy.” He saidthat ECC has already formeda sub-committee headed bythe Minister for Water andPower as its Chairman topresent a report in this re-gard.

Chairman PAAPAM,Usman Malik said that theyhad an extraordinary ses-sion with the Prime Ministerduring Pakistan Auto PartsShow 2014 in Lahore and areencouraged that the govern-ment is very serious in re-solving the issues confront-ing the country. He gave adetailed presentation to theFinance Minister on thecurrent status of Pakistan

Automobile Industry andthe future potential it has tomake Pakistan a developedcountry in this regard. Heinformed that currentlythere are 13 vehicles per1000 persons in Pakistan,whereas in Indonesia andBrazil the number of vehiclesper 1000 persons are 79 and259 respectively.

He said that Pakistan ispart of the group of 40 auto-mobile producing countriesin the world. He informedthat the auto parts beingproduced are as per globalmanufacturing standardprescribed by leaders of theindustry. He said that theindustry provides directemployment to 400,000 work-ers and indirectly employed3.2 million people. He saidthat almost 70 percent partsof automobile built in Paki-stan are being manufacturedlocally. He informed that lastyear 1.6 million motorbikeswere produced in Pakistan.

In order to strengthenthe local industry, the Chair-man, suggested clarifyingSRO 896(1) meant to recover

Continued on Page 7

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Under the di-rections of Minister of Inte-rior & Narcotics Control ChNisar Ali Khan, both Director-ate General of Immigration andPassports and National Bankof Pakistan had taken a land-mark step a week ago to facili-tate the general public by in-stalling NBP booths for de-positing passport fee at Pass-port offices’ premises acrossthe country.

The National Bank of Pa-kistan (NBP) has set up abooth at Garden Town,Lahore Regional Passport Of-fice for passport fee collection.It has started its working fromMonday, much to the satis-faction of the passport appli-cants of the area. It is perti-nent to mention that the pass-

NBP installs boothsfor passport fee

port applicants from the areaearlier underwent a lot ofhassle and mental torment asthey first had to go to the NBPbranch for fee deposition andthen to Passport Office forpassport issuance. With theopening of NBP booth atpassport office, the appli-cants would be facilitated.

It is added that the firstNBP booth for this purposehad been made functional atSargodha Passport Officefrom March 3rd, 2014.

DG Passport SikandarSultan Raja said that the ser-vice would be extended to allPassport Offices across thecountry in the near future.“With the installation of NBPBooths at Passport offices’premises, the applicantswould be facilitated,” ob-served the DG Passport.

NATHIAGALI: Workers of Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority removing snow from Murree road.

IN a first-of-its-kind study, researchershave developed a blood test forAlzheimer’s disease that predicts with

astonishing accuracy whether a healthyperson will develop the disease. Thoughmuch work still needs tobe done, it is hoped thetest will someday be avail-able in doctors’ offices,since the only methodsfor predicting Alzheimer’sright now, such as PETscans and spinal taps, areexpensive, impractical,often unreliable andsometimes risky.

Alzheimer’s & SleepStudy: Vitamin E slowedAlzheimer’s Seth Rogenslams senators. “This is apotential game-changer,”said Dr. Howard Federoff,senior author of the re-port and a neurologist atGeorgetown UniversityMedical Center. “My levelof enthusiasm is veryhigh.” The study was published in NatureMedicine.

In the beginning, the researchers knewthey wanted to find a blood test to detectAlzheimer’s but didn’t know what specificallyto look for. Should they examine patients’DNA? Their RNA? Or should they look forthe byproducts of DNA and RNA, such asfats and proteins?

They decided to start with fats, since itwas the easiest and least expensive. Theydrew blood from hundreds of healthy peopleover age 70 living near Rochester, New York,and Irvine, California. Five years later, 28 ofthe seniors had developed Alzheimer’s disease

or the mild cognitive problems that usuallyprecede it.

Scouring more than 100 fats, or lipids,for what might set this group apart, theyfound that these 28 seniors had low levels

of 10 particular lipids,compared with healthyseniors.

To confirm their find-ings, the researchers thenlooked at the blood of 54 otherpatients who had Alzheimer’sor mild cognitive impairment.This group also had low lev-els of the lipids. Overall, theblood test predicted whowould get Alzheimer’s or mildcognitive impairment withover 90% accuracy.

“We were surprised,”said Mark Mapstone, a neu-ropsychologist at the Univer-sity of Rochester Medical Cen-ter and lead author of thestudy. “But it turns out that itappears we were looking in theright place.” Alzheimer’s risk

before symptoms: Do you want to know?The beauty of this test, Mapstone says,

is that it caught Alzheimer’s before the pa-tient even had symptoms, suggesting thatthe disease process begins long beforepeople’s memories start failing. He says thatperhaps the lipid levels started decreasingat the same time as brain cells started dy-ing. He and his team plan to try out this testin people in their 40s and 50s. If that works,he says, that would be the “holy grail,”because then researchers could try experi-mental drugs and treatments in a groupthat’s almost sure to get the disease. Thatwould speed research along immensely.

Blood test predictsAlzheimer’s disease

Deans, Heads and directors of NUML with DG Brig Azam Jamal and Japanese Counse-lor Toshikazu Isamura at beginning of a two-day workshop on Haiku at NUML.

Formulation of uniform curriculumfor religious education urged

Major General Ahmed Shiyam, Chief of Defence Forces, Maldives National Defence Forces along with General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Army Staff,salutes after laying floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhuda at General Headquarters Rawalpindi.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Muslim countries, espe-cially Pakistan should focus on formulat-ing uniform curriculum of religious, pri-vate and government sector educationalinstitutions, President International Is-lamic University Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh said Monday. Addressing theinaugural ceremony of a two-day na-tional conference on “Religious Educa-tion in Pakistan, (Institutions, Curricula,Problems and Solutions) organized byFaculty OF Usuluddin of IIU, Dr. Al-Draiweesh urged Ulema and educationalpolicymakers to formulate a proper andunited curriculum of religious educationin all the three forms of educational insti-

tutions in Pakistan. In the conferenceabout 34 research papers will be pre-sented in whole five sessions.

The ceremony was attended by vari-ous educational experts and teachershailing from various institutions of coun-try, Deputy Dean of Faculty of UsuluddinDr. Haroon ur Rashid, DGs, Deans andDirectors of the university.

“Religious scholars have pivotal rolein dissemination of teachings of Islam;they must contribute actively for dissemi-nating a message of moderation throughpromotion of religious education in edu-cational institutions of the country,” Presi-dent IIU said.

He said that there was a dire need toarrange conferences and meetings on

such topics while he also hoped the con-ference would provide a platform to ana-lyze educational systems of other Islamiccountries which would help to set guide-lines for devising an exemplary educa-tional system integrated with teachingsof Islam.

He also gave an overview of his re-search paper on the topic of conferencewhich was based on a comparative analy-sis of educational systems of Pakistanand Saudi Arabia. Later, while talking tomedia, Dr. Al-Draiweesh said IIU wouldkeep playing active role for improvementin educational system of Pakistan, hestressed upon policymakers to addressthe issue of unity in curriculum of all edu-cational institutions on priority basis.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Asia Arif, 9-year old Pakistani girl, canrightly be called “Daugh-ter of Pakistan” as she hasmade a national record bysuccessfully qualifying 6-month Advanced DiplomaCourse from the Interna-tional Islamic University,(IIU). Asia has won thishonour at the age of nine.Earlier, she did Arabic Di-ploma one year ago, at the

age of eight, from AllamaIqbal Open University, againa record. Talking to PakistanObserver her father, ArifSiddiqui, a staffer of QatarNews Agency and a writerand teacher of Arabic lan-guage too, said his daugh-ter has also learnt classicalArabic words at this tenderage.

She can converse withArabs not only in modern-day Arabic but also in clas-sical Arabic with perfect

ease and comfort, he said.Asia has secured B-grade inthe diploma which meansshe got over 70 per centmarks. According to the re-sult announced on the Uni-versity website datedMarch 4, she is one of thedistinguished scholarsqualifying the diploma un-der Sunday ArabicProgramme being offeredby the university.

Asia’s success has beenrecognized not only at home

but the Arab world hashonoured her. They con-sider her a role-mode for theArabic learning peoplearound the world. Ambassa-dors of Saudi Arab, Sudanand Qatar have personallymet and feted her. Theyhave rewarded the youngPakistani scholar with cashand other awards. SaudiAmbassador’s wife hasseparately hosted a recep-tion for her and given hercash awards. Recognizing

Asia’s achievements,Pakistan’s Nuclear scientistDr AQ Khan awarded herwith a gold medal on behalfof the Nazriya PakistanCouncil (NPC).

Talking to Pakistan Ob-server Arif Siddiq said al-though he has taught hisdaughter basic knowledgeof the Arabic words yet sheis indebted to her professorsDr Bashir Dean of ArabicIIU, Dr Zaheer and DrZaitoon for their special at-

tention and guidance. Herteachers pride in her accom-plishments and consider hertheir family member, he said.

Asia is not only learn-ing Arabic fast she is alsoproficient speaker of Urduand English. “I speak onlyArabic language with her athome and perhaps that iswhy she has made stridesin that language,” said ArifSiddiq.

Asia who has written twoeasy Arabic learning books

“Al-Arabia Lughat-ul-Asia”(Arabic, The Language ofAsia) is the only daughter ofher parents and is favouritewith both of her parents. Hermother helps her in doinghomework while I take careof her Arabic language, saidArif Siddiq. To a question, hesaid he wanted his daughterto be a professor of Arabicbut I have left it to her whatshe decides for herself aftershe grows up. “After all sheis only 9 now,” he said.

Asia makes family, country proud of her

9-year-old Pakistani completes diploma in Advanced Arabic

A poetess presenting her poem during Special Mahfil-e-Mushaira in connection withInternational Women’s Day at Pakistan Academy of Letters. President Hamida Shaheen,Dr. Shaista Nuzhat and Chairman PAL Abdul Hameed sitting on the stage.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Paki-stan Academy of Letters(PAL) Abdul Hameed Mon-day vowed to continue ar-ranging Women Mushairasin future. Addressing theKhawateen Mushaira in con-nection with World WomenDay he welcomed poetessesand said PAL arranges liter-ary functions from time totime to recognize the servicesof Pakistani women writers.PAL has also published sev-eral books containing the se-lection of writings of Pakistaniwomen.

He said Pakistani womenwriters have contributed a lotin literature. They are contrib-uting successfully in everydiscipline of life.

He said a new project ofpublication (Prose & Poetry)is being executed by the PALof all Pakistani languages.The writings by Pakistaniwomen will also be includedin the books to be publishedunder this project, he added.

Mushaira was presided

Chairman PAL pledges to continuearranging Khawateen Mushairas

over by Dr Hameeda Shaheenwhile Dr Shaista Nuzhat wasthe chief guest. The names ofthe participants of Mashairaare Dr. Hameeda Shaheen,

Shaista Nuzhat, Najeeba Arif,Faryal Masood, NaeemFatima Alvi, Rizwana Syed Ali,Farrah Deeba, Jia Qureshi,Farhana Ali, Rashida Maheen

Malik, Noushaba Adnan,Huma Batool RukhsanaSehar, Fakhira Noureen,Nida Fatima, Abida Taqiand others.

Campaign againstsub-standard

eatablesSHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Acting in ac-cordance with directions ofMember AdministrationCDA Mr. Amir Ali Ahmed,Directorate of Health Ser-vices (DHS) is vigorouslyactive to eliminate the avail-ability of sub-standard, adul-terated and un-hygienicfood stuff from the CapitalCity.

Directorate of HealthServices has been carryingon its successful campaignagainst sub-standard andun-hygienic eatables in thecity for quite some time.

In line with the direc-tions of Member Adminis-tration strong and on thespot action as per law istaken against the violatorsof the principles of publichealth and the relevantlaws.

Moreover, zero toler-ance is being shown to-wards the food handlerswho don’t follow the lawand commit a second of-fence. The DHS is furthertrying that all food han-dlers must wear properdress i.e caps, aprons andgloves etc.

The DHS teams duringlast week conducted severaloperations in this regard indifferent areas of Islamabad.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Capital Develop-ment Authority Maroof Afzal has directedthe Engineering and Environment wing ofCDA for early completion of construction,repair and maintenance work on majorroads and avenues of the capital.

The CDA chairman visited the majoravenues and roads of the capital and in-spected the ongoing construction, repairand patch work of avenues and roads ini-tiated by the Engineering Wing of CDA.Member Engineering and EnvironmentSanaullah Aman briefed the CDA chairmanabout the ongoing repair and maintenancework at different avenues and roads. Onthis occasion all board members and se-nior officers of concerned wings of CDAwere also present. He also inspected theongoing lane-marking work, construction/repair and carpeting, on Jinnah Avenue op-posite Fatima Jinnah Park (F-9).

He also paid visit to different areas ofthe city to inspect the sites of ongoing

CDA chief for early completionof maintenance work

development work. He also directed for fill-ing of ditches and necessary patch workon broken roads and avenues.

He directed the concerned formationsof the Authority to decorate the greenbeltswith grass, flowering plants and trees,which would be an addition to the beauti-fication of the federal capital in the springseason. The CDA chairman further directedthe Engineering Wing for completion oflane-marking on the avenues and roads atthe earliest for smooth flow of traffic.

While visiting the Zero Point area, thechairman took notice of the sub-standard re-pair work on a loop and directed the Engineer-ing Wing to repair the road again, not compro-mising on the quality. He added that a dailyprogress report shall be submitted to him re-garding all ongoing development and mainte-nance work. He further directed officers of En-gineering Wing to pay regular visits and su-pervise the construction and repair/mainte-nance work on the roads and avenues so thatthe work could be completed within the stipu-lated time to facilitate the commuters.

05:50 01:3005:00

08:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

March 11

ONE-day international con-ference on ‘Prospects ofNuclear Energy in Pakistan’:vision 2025 will be held onTuesday 11th March 2014 atSerena Hotel from 11:30 to5:00 p.m.. Renowned scien-tist Dr. Ansar Pervez Chair-man Pakistan Atomic En-ergy Commission will bechief guest at the occasion.The conference is to be or-ganized by South AsianStudents Institute (SASSI).

March 12

PAF Retired Officers’ Asso-ciation (PAFROA)Rawalpindi / Islamabadchapter is holding monthlymeeting at 1630 hours on 12March, 2014 at Officers’Mess, PAF Base Nur Khan.All the members and theirfamilies are cordially invitedand are requested to inti-mate about their attendanceto Secretary PAFROA, WgCdr (Retd) Zafar Hameed onTelephone No – 9525811,9280376. PAF retired offic-ers who desire to becomemember of the associationare also cordially invited.

March 17

FEDERAL Public ServiceCommission has released itsconsolidated advertisement anddisplayed it on FPSC websitewww.fpsc.gov.pk. Allintending candidates can visitthe website for details ofvacancies and eligibility criteriaand apply online till 17thMarch against the posts forwhich they are eligible.

Former Deputy Speaker National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi giving prize to famous artist Laila Zubairi during a cer-emony organized by Al-Ain International Eye Trust in connection to World Glaucuma Week.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Nurses taking part in a walk in connection to Cleanliness Campaign in Holy FamilyHospital.

Children running to cross the busy road in Federal Capital that may cause any mishap.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—To celebrate Interna-tional Women’s Day (IWD), survivorsof gender based violence (GBV) per-formed at a theatre play “InspiringChange” organized by Aurat Foun-dation under USAID supported Gen-der Equity Program (GEP).

“It was like telling our story to theworld. We did not have to act,” saidWarda, a survivor of acid burn attack,who performed on the stage for thefirst time. “I enjoyed doing this playthoroughly. We appreciate the orga-nizers for providing us with this op-portunity,” she added.

The performance was themedaround social mindset that terms do-mestic violence a private matter. The-atrical performance by GBV survivorswas the result of intensive trainingand rehearsals with GBV survivorsconducted by Director Interactive Re-

source Centre Muhammad Waseem and choreographer Imran Nafees. “It took us fifteen days to preparefor this play. The GBV survivors wereincredible in all sense. We are alsoimpressed with the level of confi-dence they have displayed,” said Di-rector Interact ive Resource CenterMuhammad Waseem.

Combating GBV is one of the fourmain objectives of GEP. To meet thisobjective, GEP supported private shel-ters for psycho-social counselling andeconomic rehabilitation of GBV sur-vivors. Under this initiative, GEP pro-vided support to 12 private shelters,954 women took refuge in these shel-ters, 598 were rehabilitated and 1,870were trained for economic rehabilita-tion under 94 trainings.

Rehabil i tat ion centres appliedmany innovative techniques to reha-bilitate the GBV survivors. One suchtechnique was drama therapy whichwas meant to combine theatre tech-niques and choreography with psy-

chological intervention method.To further rehabil i tate and en-

courage the GBV survivors and high-light their resolve to live and con-tribute as useful citizens, the GEPteam decided to involve the GBVsurvivors trained under differentGEP projects, in its main events.

The theatr ical performance onIWD was part of the same effort. Itprovided GBV survivors of Dastakand Acid Survivors Foundation withan opportunity to exhibit their talentbesides further rehabilitating them.

At the end, anchorperson Qurat-ul-Ain Ali distr ibuted cert if icatesamong the survivors. She said thatIn Pakistan, GBV is a complex issueand major forms of violence are con-sidered private matter, as it occursin the family. “When women haveconfidence in their selves, no one canstop them from perusing theirdreams,” she said.

Theatre performance of GBVsurvivors mesmerises audience

Artists presenting a stage play “Tabdeeli Ki Naveed” during a ceremony orga-nized by Aurat Foundation in collaboration with USAID at a local hotel.—PO photo

CCTV camerasto be installed inbusiness centers

STAFF REPORTER

RAWA L P I N D I —Decisionhas been taken to installCCTV cameras on entry andexit points of Rawalpindi cityand in all commercial centersand plazas to monitor secu-rity situation and curb everrising street crimes.

These cameras will beinstalled through commu-nity participation. Installa-tion of cameras process willbe completed in phases. Inthe first phase cameras willbe installed on entry and exitpoints of Rawalpindi cityand cantt.

Later all business cen-ters including commercialmarket, bank road, Khiaban-e-Sirsyed, Murree road,Sadiq Abad, Raja bazaarand all main plazas will beequipped with cameras.Control room of these cam-eras will be set up in CIAofficer wherefrom the secu-rity situation in the respec-tive areas will be monitored.

This move will help con-trol street crimes particularlycar lifting and motor cyclesjacking incidents.

32 outlawsarrested

RAWALPINDI—RawalpindiPolice have arrested 32 out-laws including one drunk-ard and 12 Proclaimed Of-fenders (POs) besides re-covering 955 grams charras,26 bottles of liquor, five li-ter wine, six pistols 30 borewith 16 rounds, 1530 kitesand kite flying string rollsfrom the possession of theaccused. According to de-tails, Pirwadhai police net-ted Yousaf for having 350grams charras.

Bunni police held Aminwith 220 grams charras.Rattaamral police appre-hended Adnan for pos-sessing eight bottles of li-quor while Ghulam Murtazawas sent behind the bars aspolice recovered six liquorbottles from his custody.Sadiqabad police roundedup Nasir Masih with five li-quor bottles. Westridge po-lice nabbed Mudassar Alifor carrying five bottles ofliquor. Airport police recov-ered four liquor bottlesfrom Kashif.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Chairman, Rawalpindi Boardof Intermediate and Secondary Education(RBISE) Dr. Muhammad Zareef on Mon-day visited three examination centers setup for Secondary School Certificate (SSC)annual 2014 exams.

The chairman visited Asif PublicSchool, Al-Noor Colony, Rawalpindi, Gov-ernment High School Station Road,Rawalpindi and Government High School,ARL, Rawalpindi and expressed satisfac-tion over the arrangements made by theBoard for transparent and smooth holdingof the exams. The Chairman said that con-crete steps have been taken to preventcheating in the examinations.

He said that the examination staff hasbeen directed to take action against the stu-dents involved in cheating. The concernedstaff has also been asked to take actionagainst the fake candidates as well.

Bringing improvement in the overallsystem of education, it is perquisite to raisethe standard of education, which would beonly possible when we will discourage theuse of unfair means in the examinations.He said that the Board has also constitutedteams to pay visits of the examination cen-

RBISE staff to take action againststudents involved in cheating

ters in different parts of the region.On the special directives of the Board

Chairman, some problems being faced inthe examination centers have also been re-solved. District Coordination Officer (DCO)Attock, Assistant Commissioner Jand andAssistant Commissioner Kotli Sattian alsotook various steps to ensure transparency.Total 338 examination centers were set upin Rawalpindi division and a total of 103.035candidates including 64,426 regular and38,609 private students are appearing in theexams.

RBISE established 338 examinationcentres in its affiliated districts including129 for male and 132 for female while 77combined centers have also been set up.57 examination centers established in dis-trict Attock, 70 in district Chakwal and 54in district Jhelum while 66 local exam cen-ters and 91 in adjoining areas ofRawalpindi have also been set up. A spe-cial cell with fax number 051-5450912 hasalso been established which is being su-pervised directly by the Chairman. Com-plaints about any examination center canbe sent to the special cell and direct ac-tion to address the complaints of the can-didates as well as the examination staffwill be taken by the Chairman.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadHigh Court (IHC) on Mondayreinstated a director general ofthe Higher Education Com-mission (HEC), MuhammadAnees Sadozai , by suspend-ing his contract terminationorder. The court issued theorders on a petition filed byMr. Anees. Justice RiazAhmed Khan directed the ex-ecutive director HEC, DrMukhtar Ahmad, to implementthe court orders. It may benoted that on March 7 , theHEC terminated the contractof Mr. Anees Sadozai.

The next day, he filed anapplication with the IHC.

Umair Baloch, the counsel forMr. Anees, submitted beforethe court that his client hadbeen working with the HECsince 2007 on contractual ba-sis. In January 2012, he andanother director general, MsZia Battol , filed a petition withthe IHC seeking regularisationof their services. Justice RiazAhmad Khan on March 7,2012, accepted the petition anddirected the HEC administra-tion to forward the case of thetwo DGs to the cabinet sub-committee for regularisation oftheir services.

The HEC, however, filedan intra-court appeal againstthe single bench order, whichwas dismissed. The counsel

said when the HEC adminis-tration did not implement thecourt order, his clients filed acontempt of court petition.While the contempt matterwas pending in the IHC, a le-gal adviser of the commissioninformed the court that theHEC had no objection on theirregularization and wouldregularise the services of boththe HEC officers.

This led to the filing of acontempt petition by Mr.Anees and Ms Batool. Buteven after submitting its state-ment to the court, the HECadministration did notregularise his services andused delaying tactics in imple-menting court orders.

IHC sets aside removalorders of HEC DG

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Kosovo’s Foreign MinisterEnver Hoxhaj along with a delegation calledon Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natu-ral Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inIslamabad.

The Minister for Petroleum and NaturalResources appraised the delegation of theenergy sector of Pakistan, informing thedelegation that the present Government ofPakistan is committed to resolve the energyproblem of Pakistan in shortest possibletime. “In this regard both long term andshort term measures are being taken”, theMinister told the delegation.

“LNG import is short-term solutionwhile to meet the long-term energy require-

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Mr. Hiroshi Inomata, Ambas-sador of Japan to Pakistan, has expressedhis sincere thanks and gratitude to the Gov-ernment and the people of Pakistan on be-half of Japanese people for their valuablesupport to the Japanese people in the af-termath of Great East Japan Earthquakewhich devastated Japan on the fateful dayof March 11, 2011.

In his message on the third anniversaryof Great East Japan Earthquake, Ambassa-dor Hiroshi Inomata while thanking the sup-port from Pakistan said, “Three years ago

Japanese Ambassador thanks Pakfor support after 2011 earthquake

today, Japan was hit by triple disaster, dev-astating earthquake with the magnitude 9.0,gigantic Tsunami and a nuclear power sta-tion accident. People in the damaged areahave lost their families, friends, houses,cars, jobs and things they loved.

But Japanese people have never losthope, since we have been encouraged andsupported by friends in all over the worldincluding Pakistan. The affected area ofJapan is still in the process of recoverybut thanks to your help as well as under-standing it has steadily revitalized. Wewill never forget about your compassionand friendship” he said.

Kosovo offers studentsscholarships in its varsities

ments of the country coal and gas basepower plants are being constructed withhelp of international energy companies”.

Enver Hoxhaj expressed his gratitudeto the Government of Pakistan for recogni-tion of Kosovo as an independent state andPeople of Pakistan for reconstruction andrebuilding of Kosovo. He informed thatKosovo being an investment friendly coun-try offers immense investment opportuni-ties in various sector like energy, mines &minerals, textile and pharmaceuticals indus-tries, for which Pakistan has a very goodreputation around the globe.

He also offered scholarships for Paki-stani students in the fields of Mines &Min-erals in Universities of Kosovo which havevery good faculty of mining sciences.

Non reopening ofu-turn on

Kashmir highwaySTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Non restora-tion of U-turn on Kashmirhigh way has caused enor-mous traffic problems for thecitizens particularly govern-ment employees working inthe offices located in thearea.

The citizens said thatdespite assurance from con-cerned quarters, the lonelyU-turn which links officeslocated in G-7/1 and residen-tial areas on Kashmir High-way has not been reopened.On the occasion of con-struction of zero point inter-change, all the avenues fortraffic flow from Aabpara,Murree road and club roadto the residential areas of G-7-1, Media houses, officesof Capital Development Au-thority, Wafaqi Urdu univer-sity and other offices wereshut down owing to flaw inthe planning and design ofinterchange.

The citizens have de-manded of the governmentto take immediate action forreopening of u-turn onKashmir highway to miti-gate their miseries.

Cleanliness weekkicks off in

Allied HospitalsSTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Cleanlinessweek has kicked off here onMonday in the allied hospi-tals. The Allied hospitals in-clude Benazir General Hos-pital, Holy Family Hospital,District Headquarter Hospi-tal, all Tehsil HeadquarterHospitals and Basic HealthUnits.

To this effect, leaves ofall sanitation staff havebeen cancelled and theyhave been instructed to en-sure their presence on duty.Punjab government had an-nounced cleanliness week inall government hospitalsfrom 10 to 16 March.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD —Traders Welfare Association,Peshawar More Market on Monday de-manded construction of bridge over Nullahin G-9/4 market that creates problems for bothtraders and customers. A delegation of Trad-ers Welfare Association, Peshawar More Mar-ket, led by its President Haji Nisar Langahand Secretary General Dr. Tehzeeb ul Hasanvisited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce &Industry to discuss the problems being facedby them due to unavailability of bridge on theNullah in G-9/4 Peshawar More market.

Khalid Chaudhry, Senior Vice President,

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industrywelcomed the delegation and assured themthat their problems and grievances would besolved soon.

He also stressed on the need of unityamongst the business community of the fed-eral capital so as to carry out concerted effortfor resolution of the problems being faced bythe trader communities.

The construction of bridge was promisedmany times in the past, but it has not beenconstructed for the last 40 years. KhalidChaudhry called upon the Chairman and Mem-ber Engineering CDA to release funds for theconstruction of the bridge without any delay.

Bridge over nullah inG-9/4 market demanded

MUZAFFARABAD: Central Joint Secretary of PML (N) and Chairman Nawaz Sharif lov-ers with party workers after listening to masses’ problems.

MUZAFFARABAD: Women participating in a rally organized by Kashmir Bank’s self-sufficient women programme.

Indian police using brute force against women participants of anti-India demonstrators in Soura, Srinagar.

SRINAGAR—Hurriyat Conference (M) ledby Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has observed theconglomerate’s 21st Foundation Day andtermed any bilateral dialogue betweenNew Delhi and Islamabad as futile. Dur-ing a joint session of its executive coun-cil, general council and working commit-tee held at party’s headquarters at Rajbagh,Hurriyat (M) adopted an eight-point reso-lution calling upon New Delhi andIslamabad to resolveKashmir issue byholding tripartite talks.

The amalgam resolved that Kashmirresolution was a key to India-Pakistanfriendship and a lasting peace in the sub-continent and called for tripartite talks onthe issue with Kashmiri leadership beingthe principal party. Referring to 1993, theconglomerate members said on this day21 years back, the representative assem-bly of various religious, social and politi-cal organizations of Kashmir at MirwaizManzil in Srinagar under the chairmanshipof Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had decided tohave a common political platform – AllParties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

They said that the objective of the

Indo-Pak bilateral talks futile; tripartite talksonly way to resolve Kashmir dispute: Mirwaiz

amalgam was to strive peacefully to se-cure for the people of the Jammu and Kash-mir the exercise of the “right of self-de-termination” and make endeavors for an“alternative negotiated settlement” ofKashmir with all the three parties to thedispute people of the Jammu and Kash-mir, India and Pakistan.

During the session, the heads of theconstituents’ of the conglomerate expressedtheir views and suggestions to makeHurriyat (M) more vibrant and to put inmore effective and result-oriented efforts forthe resolution of Kashmirissue. They saidright from the day of its foundation, HurriyatConference had been engaged at politicaland diplomatic level, both locally as wellas internationally to try to find a peaceful,just and permanent solution of the long-pendingKashmir issue in accordance withthe wishes of the people of Kashmir.

The leaders said the amalgam was mak-ing every possible effort in this direction. Onthis occasion, the conglomerate adopted aresolution stated that Hurriyat Conference(M) was a symbol of unity and political soli-darity of freedom-loving people of Jammu

and Kashmir, which in accordance with itsconstitutional stand was pursuing the causeof Kashmiri people at all levels includinginternational level, with dedication and dis-cipline and despite difficulties, continues itsefforts to find a just, honorable and a perma-nent solution of Kashmir issue.

Hurriyat (M) reiterated that this rep-resentative alliance would continue its ef-forts to achieve the purpose for which ithad been formed. The amalgam resolvedthat abiding by the principles laid down inits constitution, it would continue its juststruggle with discipline and determination.The conglomerate resolved that it had al-ways stood for the unity of thought andaction and as such kept and continued tokeep its doors open for any sincere personor group belonging to the “resistancemovement”.

Hurriyat (M) paid tributes to all those“who laid their lives for the Kashmir cause”including Moulvi Muhammad Farooq,Khawaja Abdul Gani Lone, Sheikh AbdulAziz, Sheikh Hameed, Maqbool Bhat, AfzalGuru, Muhammad Rafiq Shaheen and other“martyrs of the movement”.—NNI

MIRPUR—The 26th death anniversary of re-nowned Kashmiri leader and Ex-President ofAzad Jammu & Kashmir K.H.Khurshid will beobserved on March 11 across Azad Jammu Kash-mir with the renewal of the pledge to continuethe mission of the departed leader to bring theKashmir freedom movement to its logical end.

President Jammu and Kashmir Liberationleague Justice (Retd) Abdul Majeed Malik toldhere on Monday that rich tributes will be paid

26th death anniversaryof K.H.Khurshid today

to the departed soul in special ceremonies to beheld under the auspices of his organization theJammu & Kashmir Liberation League at all dis-trict and tehsil headquarters in the liberated ter-ritory including all the three districts of Mirpurdivision.

All arrangements have been made for ob-serving the death anniversary of the departedKashmiri leader with great respect and honour,he added.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Jammu and KashmirPeople’s League Mukhtar Ahmad Waza has saidthat early resolution of the Kashmir disputethrough peaceful means could transform SouthAsia into a region of economic prosperity.

Waza said the entire South Asian region issuffering from abject poverty and others prob-lems due to the unresolved Kashmir dispute,adding the Kashmiris themselves are the worst

Kashmir resolution to transform SouthAsia ‘region of economic prosperity’

sufferers of the conflict because of Indian op-pression and loot of resourcess.

“If the issue of Kashmir is settled once andfor all it can surely pave the way for economicprosperity in the whole region especially thecountries engaged in arms race,” he added. TheAPHC leader urged India and Pakistan to comeforward for the early resolution of the Kashmirissue.—APP

ISLAMABAD—”To combat impunity, interna-tional law, including treaties to which India is aparty, guarantees the right to an effective rem-edy for victims of gross human rights violations,including disappearances and extrajudicial ex-ecutions,” says the paper submitted to UN Hu-man Rights Council (UNHRC) at its 25th ses-sion under agenda item 3.

The paper was submitted by Professor NazirAhmad Shawl, deputy leader of the World Mus-lim Congress delegation in Geneva. “A victim’sright to an effective remedy obligates the stateto take the necessary investigative, judicial, andreparatory steps to redress the violation and ad-dress the victim’s rights to knowledge, justice,and reparations,” the paper said.

“The state is under a continuing obligationto provide an effective remedy; there is no timelimit on legal action and the right cannot be com-promised even during a state of emergency,” itadded. “In theory, India’s domestic law is notinconsistent with international law. The Indian

UNHRC’s attention drawntowards rights abuses in IHK

Supreme Court has repeatedly stressed the re-spect given to the national implementation ofinternational law, and the need to accommodateinternational law even without express legisla-tive sanction,” the paper says.

“Moreover, the Supreme Court has held thatinternational law can be incorporated into thefundamental rights under the Indian Constitu-tion. Thus, the standards of international humanrights law, including the right to an effectiveremedy in cases of disappearances and extraju-dicial executions, are part of the fundamentalrights protected by the Indian Constitution.”

“It is clear that the Indian authorities, de-spite their obligations under both internationallaw and their own domestic law, have singu-larly failed to administer justice in the case ofthe (Chattisinghpora and Pathribal) atrocitiesdescribed. There is no judicial will or politicalwill to deliver justice and there is no hope ofjustice on the part of the victims unless the UNitself intervenes.—APP

NC never hadany ideology:Hurriyat (G)

SRINAGAR—Terming ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah’s‘elections are the battle of ide-ologies’ statement as joke, theHurriyat Conference (G) saidthat National Conference neverbelieved in any ideology.

“If elections are really thebattle of ideologies then OmarAbdullah must set free all thepro-freedom leadership includ-ing Geelani and give themchance to present their viewpoints in front of people andrun election boycott campaignwhich stands endorsed even bySupreme Court of India”, saidHurriyat (G) spokesman AyazAkbar in a statement.

“NC and its leadershiphave a single motive i.e. toachieve power by hook or bycrook. It once promisedKashmiri nation that it will re-store their honour and dignity,but instead pushed the wholenation into the marsh of slaveryand disgrace”, said Akbar.

“The state machinery is notused in the battle of ideologiesbut the opposition is also givena chance to present its viewpoints in a democratic way andnot stopped. However, for thelast three years, Omar Abdullahand Congress are busy in tout-ing that the freedom of Geelaniis a threat to the law and ordersituation. But the mass gather-ings of late 2013 proved theseassertions wrong and baselessfor being cent percent peace-ful”, Akbar said.—NNI

Protests go shrilleragainst TosaMaidan lease

SRINAGAR—Hundreds ofpeople protested over the pro-posal to extend the lease toarmy over the Tosa Maidan fir-ing range in central Kashmir’sBudgam district. The protest-ors said a large number ofpeople have died in artilleryshelling and even the educationof children has been hit in ar-eas surrounding the firingrange.

People from over 50 vil-lages around the Tosa Maidanmeadow started a protest rallyfrom Beerwah which culmi-nated at Press Encalve here thisafternoon. Shouting slogansagainst the government, dem-onstrators threatened that theywill be forced to intensify theagitation if the government ex-tends the lease. State govern-ment last November consti-tuted a committee headed bychief secretary to look into thearmy demand for extension oflease. However people of theaffected villages said that noneof the members of the commit-tee has visited them for theiropinion over the issue.

Protestors said due to thearmy shelling hundreds havedied in areas surrounding TosaMaidan and cattle have alsobeen lost while students are notable to attend the schools andwrite their exams. A youth,Mukhtar Ahmed, of Drang saidthe students are not able to at-tend their studies due to con-tinuous firing by army duringsummers. “Students were notable to write their papers dur-ing exams,” he said. ProjectCoordinator of Tosa MaidanBachao Front (TBF), NazirAhmed, said hundreds ofpeople have died due to the fir-ing by army around TosaMaidan area. “Only the perma-nent closure of the firing rangewill ensure that people’s futureis safeguarded,” he said.—NNI

ISLAMABAD—Acclaimed writer and essayist,Pankaj Mishra, says that filing sedition chargesagainst 67 Kashmiri students for cheering forthe Pakistani cricket team during a recent matchwith India is absurd.

“While I don’t completely know the factsof the case but to punish students just becausethey expressed a perfectly harmless opinion, inmy understanding, mocks India’s claims to be amature democracy,” Mishra said on the sidelinesof the sixth Emirates Literature Festival inDubai.

The UP police had filed sedition charges(which were later dropped) against most of theKashmiri students studying in the SwamiVivekanand Subharti University in Meerut af-ter the boys were suspended by their institutionfor cheering Pakistan’s victory.

Mishra, who is globally acclaimed for his

Sedition charges mocks India’sclaim to be democratic: Mishra

expressions of intellectual confidence and lin-guistic inventiveness, said, “Anyone who hasfollowed this dreadful story will not be surprisedat what is happening. The incident goes on toestablish the fact that Bigotry has gone in India.Expressing an opinion over a cricket matchshouldn’t bother a democracy.”

“Democracy in India is going to be furtherundermined if India continues to deny demo-cratic rights to the people of Kashmir. It justmakes a mockery of our claims to be the cham-pions of freedom of speech,” he said.

“There is routine denial of freedom of speechto the people of Kashmir. Democracy cannotflourish if India continues to crack down on theInternet in the Valley and shut off mobile phoneconnections whenever it suits them. It makes alaughing stock of our claims to be the largest de-mocracy in the world,” Mishra added.—APP

Kashmiris cannever forget

sacrifices: DeMSRINAGAR—A senior memberof Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM)Rubina Firdous visited SoibugBudgam to pay homage to el-der brother of United JihadCouncil (UJC) chairman SyedSalahudin, DeM statement said.

Speaking on the occasion,Rubina Firdous said that peopleof Kashmir can never forget thesacrifices of people who have lefttheir homes for Kashmirstruggle,statement added.

“The girls who are partici-pating in army sponsored edu-cational tours and perform indisgraceful manner there hasbrought shame to the State. It isunfortunate that 300 girls areparticipating in the army spon-sored tours and are disgracefullyjoining the army for un-Islamicactivities. They have made ourheads bow down in shame,”statement quoting Rubina said.

“In Meerut and in otherstates our youth are making usproud by showing great resil-ience against the autocratic ruleof India but on the other handthese girls make big dent in ourstruggle,” Statement quotingRubina said, adding, “Rubinasaid that the parents of thesegirls need to introspect and stoptheir children to indulge in suchactivities.”—NNI

Stay away frompolls: Aasiya

to peopleSRINAGAR—Appealing thepeople to boycott the forthcom-ing elections, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Andrabisaid they should stay from ev-ery process of polls in the state.

“New Delhi has blown thetrumpet of elections but people instate will stay away from the pollprocess. Whether it is NationalConference, Congress, PDP orAam Aadmi Party, they are all theserving the purpose of New Delhiin continuing its forcible controlon the state,” a spokesperson ofthe DeM, in a statement, quotedAasiya as having said.

Aasiya has expressed herdispleasure and concern that 300Kashmiri girls have left forBharat Darshan tour with army,terming it highly unfortunate.“These girls are maligning theimage of Kashmiris by partici-pating in indecent programmesoutside Jammu Kashmir,” sheadded. The members offeredspecial prayers for the departedsouls and expressed sympathieswith the bereaved family.—NNI

Indian universitybars ArundhatiRoy to talk on

KashmirISLAMABAD—The Englishand Foreign Language Univer-sity Hyderbabad authoritieshave denied Booker Prize win-ner, noted Indian writer andhuman rights activist,Arundhati Roy, the permissionto address students in the cam-pus. Roy was invited by the stu-dent organisations to speak onthe topic ‘Fractures of IndianIdeology Re-imaging Democ-racy and Re-drawing Resis-tance’ on the first death anni-versary of Kashmiri studentMuddasir Kamran.

The university initiallygranted permission on Friday,March 7. However, at the lastmoment, the university de-nied permission claiming thatthe talk might spark ten-sions,” said MohanDharavath, DAMSA studentunion president.—APP

SRINAGAR—At least ten parents, whose chil-dren were subjected to enforced disappearancesin Kashmir since the outbreak of freedomstruggle in 1990s, have died waiting in last twoyears, the Association of Parents of DisappearedPersons (APDP) said on Monday.

The group which seeks the whereabouts ofnearly 9000 missing people in the region stageda protest at Pratap Park in summer capitalSrinagar on Monday. “All but 10 parents frompast couple of years breathed their last withouthaving a glimpse of their loved ones who weresubjected to enforced disappearance in theJammu and Kashmir, the group headed byParveen Ahangar said.

The group said that Hussina Begam passedaway recently with the hope that she could havea glimpse of his son, Anwar Shah, was pickedup and subject to enforced disappearance by theIndian forces on July 21, 2000 in Srinagar. “Atthe time of his disappearance he was workingas a painter. Hussina Begum, along with the halfwidow and daughter of his disappeared son,struggled for thirteen years to know the where-abouts of his son before she passed away.”

Mehtaba Begum of Karihama, Kupwaramet similar fate. She passed away during herstruggle to know the whereabouts of her son,Mohammad Yaqub Khan, who was labor byprofession. Khan up by the 76 and 56 Battal-ion of Border Security Forces in a crackdownat his native village on 14th October 1990 andwas subsequently subjected to enforced dis-appearance, the group said.

Disappearances: Ten parents diedwaiting for children in two years

Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, father of ShabirHussain Bhat, a resident of Chattabal, passedaway on January 7 this year. Shabir was pickedup by 21 Battalion Border Security Forces fromBemina, Srinagar, the group said.

Another parent, Abdul Ahad Sofi of Daribal,Naid Kadal, has passed away in the year 2012.His son, Bashir Ahmad Sofi, was picked up bythe 61 Battalion of Border Security Forces onJune 17, 2003 from his home, in front of hisfamily.

Misra Begum of Boatman colony, Beminaalso passed away during her struggle to knowthe whereabouts of her son, Shabir HussainGassi, who was picked up by 6 Rashtriya Riflesof the Indian army from his home on January21 2000.

Similarly, Hameeda Parveen, mother ofAbid Hussain Dar, died in the year 2012. Abidwas a student at the time of his arrest and sub-sequent disappearance by the army personal of15 JAKLI.

Zoona Begum, mother of Imtiyaz AhmadWani of Rajbagh passed away in the 2011. Herson got disappeared on 15th of May 1996 afterhe was picked up by BSF and STF from hishome. Imtiyaz was a government employee,working as Forester in J&K Forest Department.”

Muhammad Jamal Bhat of Kupwara passedaway in the year 2012. His son Ghulam HassanBhat was disappeared on 25th January 1992.Wali Mohammad of Hanjiwara, Baramulla alsodied in his struggle to know the whereabouts ofhis disappeared son.”—Agencies

HAJAN—Clashes erupted in Naidkhai areaof District Bandipore after scores of youthresorted to stone pelting and forced shop-keepers to down their shutters. The protest-ors were alleging that Armed Policemen, In-dian Reserve Police personnel and CRPFransacked their houses in Tengpora Naidkhaiand thrashed men and women on Sundayevening.

Reports said that people assembled onroads and pelted stones on police and CRPFpersonnel, however, the timely interventionof police officials and assurances given bythem to people normalize the situation.

A resident of Tengpora Naidkhai ,Ghulam Nabi Najar told that he was beatenby Armed police personnel to pulp whilesome policemen snatched Rs 3000 from himoutside Armed police camp of 14 Battalionat Hajin.

“On Friday after prayers there were strayincidents of stone-pelting after which CRPFand Armed police personnel barged into myhouse and beat my daughters and wife with-out any provocation. These men in uniformsmashed the windowpanes, broke our gateand locker, however did not decamp with the

Clashes erupt against ransackingof houses in Bandipore

cash,” he said adding that when people pro-tested against this harassment, he was calledby top police officials to redress his griev-ance. “As i reached outside Armed camp,some Armed personnel thrashed me andsnatched Rs 3000 without any provocation.I was saved by SDPO and concerned SHOfrom their wrath,” he said.

Situation usually remains chaotic in oc-cupied Kashmir because Indian Army notonly uses brute forces against innocentKashmiris but also harass Kashmiris throughdifferent psychological warfare, Indian Armyhas been utilizing all resources to crush thefreedom voice of Kahsmiri people but nosuccess yet gained by the Indian Army. Inlast few days surrounding areas of Srinagarbecome hell for the residents of Kashmirbecause Ransacking of houses makes peoplelives so miserable and people of the area de-mand Indian vicious force to stop all sort oftactics for defusing freedom struggle.

When contacted SDPO Sumbal BashirAhmed refuted these allegations and said thatsome miscreants tried to disrupt the peace inthe area while police exercised maximum re-straint to avoid any confrontation.—Agencies

Happiness doesnot come from

doing easy workbut from the after-

glow of satisfactionthat comes after

the achievement ofa difficult task that

demanded ourbest.

—Theodore Isaac Rubin

EPZA exports riseby 14 percentKARACHI—The ExportProcessing Zones Authority(EPZA) registered a 14percent increase in exportsin February 2014. Accordingto EPZA performance reportfor February 2014, exportsof $29.62 million wererecorded in Feb 2014 ascompared to $25.88 millionexports registered in Feb2013. It is worth mentioningthat the EPZA recorded a 22percent increase in exportsfrom December 2013 toFebruary 2014.—APP

Shipping activity atPort QasimKARACHI—Three shipscarrying containers andchemical were berthed atQasim InternationalContainers Terminal, MultiPurpose Terminal and EngroVopak Terminal respectively.Meanwhile two more shipscarrying containers andfurnace oil also arrived atouter anchorage of PortQasim during last 24 hours.Berth occupancy was 55%at the port on Monday weretotal six ships namelyMaersk Columbus, MSCLevina, SFL Yukon, AtlanticGlory, Genuine Hercules andBeech-4 are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers, cement,chemical and furnace oilrespectively during last 24hours. A cargo volume of43890 tones comprising16926 tones imports and26964 tones exportsinclusive of containerizedcargo carried in 1711containers (TEUs) werehandled at the port duringlast 24 hours.—APP

Plan for new globalaccountingprinciples launchedKARACHI—The CharteredInstitute of ManagementAccountants (CIMA) andthe American Institute ofCPAs (AICPA) haveproposed a comprehensiveframework to bringconsistency to manage-ment accounting practicesaround the world and helporganizations to makesmarter, faster decisionsfor the long-term amidstgrowing complexity andchange. The draft frame-work, entitled ‘GlobalManagement AccountingPrinciples©: Driving betterbusiness through im-proved performance’, isnow out for consultationwith feedback sought frombusinesses and institu-tions across the world –public and private, smalland large. The draftPrinciples outline thevalues and qualities thatrepresent best practicemanagement accountingon a global scale.—APP

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar chairing a meeting to discuss automobile industries issues.

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Science and Technology/Chancellor COMSATS Gov-ernment of Pakistan Zahid Hamid presenting shield to Imran Samad, Managing Direc-tor Bank of Khyber for supporting 3-day COMSATS’s Global Forum on Islamic Fi-nance 2014-Development and the way forward.

KARACHI—In line with the bank’s brandpromise of being “Here for good” and tobuild the country’s talent pipeline StandardChartered Pakistan in collaboration withInstitute of Business Administrationlaunched a one of a kind course on “Prin-ciples of Consumer Banking”. This courseintroduces the concepts of Consumer Bank-ing to business students and is designedto bridge the gap between theory and prac-tice. It builds on the experience of seasonedbanking practitioners who being mastersin their fields will facilitate sessions using

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Special Representative ofEstonia to Pakistan Mr. Vaino Reinarton Monday expressed keen interestin Pakistan’s energy and Informationand communications technology(ICT) sectors, which have great invest-ment potential. Pakistan is emergingas an investment ground for globalenergy sector companies while it re-

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—“Quality Standard Awardhas vital importance for business com-munity and consumers in Pakistan be-cause manufacturers and businessmenneeds recognition for their Products andServices as they maintain quality stan-dard so that they could stand and com-pete not only in Pakistan but in the for-eign market with pride and honor. It isvery important that the business entre-preneurs and capitalist community ofPakistan have realized the importance ofconsumers in their business. In view ofsweeping changes in technology andtrade of today’s world, we have the op-portunity as we are one of the largestconsumer markets is available in Paki-stan. I am confident that the businesscommunity of Pakistan will become moreaware about the importance of QualityStandard and consumer rights and willconvert their products and services upto the Pakistan standards not only tosatisfy domestic consumers but also to

Quality Standard Award is momentous for business community: Ebadbe the part of the fortune Products ofthe world.”

This was stated by Governor ofSindh Dr Ishrat-Ul-Ebad Khan in hismessage in 4th Quality Standard Award2013 and the Seminar on Theme of 44thWorld Standards Day “InternationalStandards Ensure Positive Change”jointly organized by The Consumers EyePakistan (TCEP) and Pakistan Standardsand Quality Control Authority (PSQCA)Ministry of Science and TechnologyGovernment of Pakistan on occasion ofdistribution ceremony of 4th QualityStandard Award 2013.

Prime Minister’s message was readin the Seminar on occasion of 4th Qual-ity Standard Award. Governor Sindhadmires the efforts of The ConsumersEye Pakistan (TCEP) and other organiz-ers of Quality Standard Award 2013. Hecongratulated to the winner Awardeesfor their superiors. Chief Guest Engr. M.A. Jabbar, Renowned industrialist andHonorary Consul of Ukraine, Former VicePresident FPCCI/ former Chairman SITE

Association of Industry and BODsMember of PSQCA, in his Speech ap-preciated organizers of Quality StandardAward. He said that business commu-nity of Pakistan would be more con-scious of the Quality Standard he added.

He congratulated to the Awardeesfor their unrelenting struggle makingtheir Products and Services an outstand-ing success for their Customers. UmarGhauri, Chairman “The consumers EyePakistan” and CEO OF Quality StandardAward in his welcome Address thanksto the Chief Guest. He said that QualityStandard Award is the most prestigiousTribute, to those Businesses and indi-vidual who not only maintain QualityStandards but also cares and Servestheir Customers and becomes Championof Quality Standard in Pakistan. Barris-ter Shahida Jamil (Former federal lawminister and human rights affairs) KhalidSalim Saeed Bardan, (Vice PresidentEmirates Air Line, Pakistan), H. E ObaidAl Kaabi (2nd Secretary from UAE Con-sulate), Col. Nasser Al Talay (UAE Dip-

lomat) Omar Al Suwaidi, Etisalat PTCL,Abraruddin CEO Naheed Super Market,Col ® Mirza Rasul Bux Baig, XenithGroup, Rasim Khan President ConsumerVoice Pakistan and other Guest alsospeak on the occasion and appreciatedthe organizers for their efforts to pro-mote quality Standard culture in Paki-stan.

fter the Seminar, Honorable, H. EObaid Al Kaabi (2nd Secretary from UAEConsulate), distributed The 4th QualityStandard Award 2013 among Awardees :(1) Emirates Air Line, (2) Shan Spices,(3) Bukhari Travels, (4) Sui Southern GasCompany, (5) Pakistan State Oil, (6) Sea-sons Canola, (7) Shangrila Ketchup, (8)Soya Supreme, (9) Naheed Super Store,(10) CRLF Motor Cycle/Spare Parts, (11)Dany Technologies, (12) Audionic Mul-timedia Speakers, (13) LunarComputersand Accessories, (14) ImtiazSuper Market, (15) Xenith 3D Pure Drink-ing Water, (16) A V M Chemicals, (17)Karim cooking Oil, (18) Atrium ShoppingMall, (19) Hotel Ramada Plaza, (20) Maaz

Banaspati, (21) API Water Pumps, (22)Karim Banaspati. (23) Pak Oasis, (24) APIPipe and Fitting, (25) Care Cooking oil,,(26) Essa Lab, (27) Universal Brothers ,(28) Consumer VOICE Magazine. (29)USF Consults. In the Category of BestC.E.O Award given to (30) Sikandar Sul-tan of Shan Foods, (31) Abrar ud Din ofNaheed Super Market, (32) FreddySidhwa, Finance Manager Emirates Pa-kistan, (33) Col ® Mirza Rasul Bux Baigof Xenith Group, (34) Rizwan Macheraof Artium Mall-Cinema. In the individu-als Category “Services for Pakistan”Award given to, (35) Dr Ishratul EbadKhan Governor Sindh for longest serv-ing as Governor of Sindh (36) Malik RiazHussain of Bahria Town for housingdevelopment in Pakistan.

fter the Award distribution CeremonyShields and Mementos were presentedto Chief Guest and Guest of Honors, M.A. Jabbar, Barrister Shahida Jamil andH. E Obaid Al Kaabi (2nd Secretary fromUAE Consulate), Abdul WaheedMemon Media Adviser PSQCA.

SC & IBA launch course on‘Principles of Consumer Banking’

cases studies, real life dilemmas and chal-lenges they face in everyday life.

The course covers all areas of ConsumerBanking, from Product Management andSales Strategy to SME, Risk Management,Analytics, and Islamic Banking. After at-tending this course students will be able todemonstrate a better understanding of Con-sumer Banking, along with insight into thestructure and functions. The course willalso give them better insights to possiblecareer options for them based on their indi-vidual strengths and preferences.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sohail P. Ahmed, Chairman ofPJBF, led a delegation of medium sized busi-nesses of Pakistan to Japan. The forum hadarranged matchmaking appointments withtheir potential counterparts in Japan. The del-egation was the second of its kind by PJBF.The first one went in March last year. Mem-bers joining were from Indus Pharma, NovaLeather, GIA Associates, Al Hadeed, Mullerand Phipps, Federal Engineering, PAPMPAK,Clifton Soccer and Mehmood Textile cover-ing pharmaceutical, leather, plant & machin-ery, telecom, energy, electronics, sportinggoods and textile sector.

The first day in Osaka B2B meetings werearranged by PJBF, which were followed up

Pakistan Japan Business Forum sends SME delegation to Japanthe next day by B2B meetings arrangedthrough the courtesy of the Bank of TokyoMitsubishi UFJ whose Country Manager inPakistan, Kazuhiro Abe, is on the currentBoard of Directors of PJBF. The visit also pro-vided an occasion to Sohail P. Ahmed to meetGo Watanabe, Managing Executive Officerand CEO for Asia and Oceania of the bank inJapan. Whilst still in Osaka, M. Naseer, theConsul General of Pakistan, arranged for ad-ditional business networking with relevantcompanies for interacting with the visitingdelegates. He was instrumental in generatinginterest of the Japanese Companies to look atPakistan as a potential destination for tradeand investments with their counterparts as33 known companies turned up for the event.Following a three day stay in Osaka, the del-

egation was taken by Sohail P. Ahmed to To-kyo where they were received by Pakistan’sAmbassador, Farukh Amil.

Prior arrangements between Pakistan’sEmbassy and PJBF enabled 130 representa-tives of the Japanese Companies to assembleat the Embassy hall to meet the delegation.Speaking at the occasion, both the Chairmanof PJBF and the Pakistan Ambassadorstressed upon the need for greater interac-tion between the business community of Pa-kistan and Japan. To a number of Japaneseentrepreneurs, it was an eye opener when theywere informed of the available resources inPakistan, both human and natural.

The Ambassador, while appreciating thevisit of the delegates and the efforts made byPJBF in bringing them along, was confident

that such initiatives will go a long way in cre-ating awareness amongst the Japanese busi-ness community. At the same time, he stated,that Pakistan business community would un-derstand the requirements and the ethics fol-lowed by the Japanese in matters of business.He offered himself and the embassy staff forall out support to PJBF in all such activities.

Sohail P. Ahmed in his vote of thanks ap-preciated the cooperation and understandingof the Embassy staff and particularly mentionedShehzad Ahmed Khan, the Commercial Officerwhose persistent efforts, perseverance andcoordination with Shaheena Anjum, the Execu-tive Officer of PJBF, was helpful in making theSME delegation visit a big success.

The accompanying delegates expressedtheir sincere appreciation and gratitude to

both the PJBF and the Pakistan Embassy inTokyo for the admirable arrangements madeto interact with business houses in Japan.Besides the B2B meetings, Sohail P. Ahmedalso called upon PJBF’s counterpart in Japanand met with Manager in Chief of Japan Paki-stan Business Cooperation Committee(JPBCC) and heads of relevant bodies as ,Executive Managing Director Textile Import-ers Association, Director, Japan ForeignTrade Council (JFTC), MD & Board membersof South Asia Japan Business Federationcommonly referred to as KEIDANREN, a com-prehensive economic organization with a mem-bership comprising of 1,300 representativecompanies of Japan, 121 nationwide indus-trial associations and 47 regional economicorganizations.

Estonia evinces interest inPakistan’s energy, ICT sectors

mains a gateway to Afghan market, hesaid while talking to Vice PresidentFPCCI Munawar Mughal and Chair-man Coordination FPCCI FaisalSaleem Rehman.

Vaino Reinart who is on his first-ever visit to Pakistan said that Esto-nia is world leader in ICT while windpower is a sector in which it has excel-lent expertise. Pakistan is in a goodposition to exploit wind and solar en-

ergy, which is in abundance here, headded. Further, he said that trade vol-ume between the two countries is notsatisfactory which can be increasedby the governments and businesscommunities of the both countries. Anofficial delegation from Pakistan wouldsoon visit Estonia for holding high-level meeting in which avoidance ofdouble taxation will figure prominently,the envoy said.

BOK supportsglobal forumon Islamic

financeSTAFF REPORTR

PESHAWAR—The Bank ofKhyber (BOK) supported 3-days Global Forum on IslamicFinance organised byCOMSATS Government ofPakistan. This 3-day interna-tionally attended event is sig-nificant Developments & theway forward in very impor-tant part of Global Finances.

BOK supported this fo-rum and MD BOK Mr. ImranSamad alongwith BOK RaastIslamic Banking team attendthe event. The Federal Min-ister Science & TechnologyZahid Hamid present shieldto BOK MD Imran Samad onthe occasion and appreciatethe supporting role.

LAHORE—Pakistan Industrial and Traders AssociationsFront (PIAF) has decided on Monday to take all trade andindustry associations on board for preparation of propos-als for the budget 2014-15. The decision to this regard wastaken at a meeting headed by PIAF Chairman Malik TahirJavaid and participated by representatives of a number oftrade and industry leaders.

The PIAF Chairman said that efforts would be made togive government a set of suggestions for upcoming bud-get to make it business-friendly. He said the business com-munity understood that Federal Finance Minister IshaqDar was utilizing his best abilities to overcome economicchallenges but at the same the private sector considereditself duty-bound to point the government out hitches forspeedy economic recovery.

He said the PIAF had evolved a two-pronged strategyto prepare proposals for the upcoming budget, elaborat-ing that on the first leg, all PIAF Executive CommitteeMembers would be asked to submit sector-specific detailsabout the problems being faced by their respective busi-nesses and secondly, a meeting of all trade.—APP

PIAF wants trading bodieson-board for budget proposals

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—President FPCCI Zakaria Usman,has appreciated the government move togrant Non Discriminative Market Access(NDMA) status to India, as India has agreedto remove all non tariff barriers along withreduction in tariff on 300 Pakistani items ap-proximately. He said that the decision will bea milestone for increasing volume of bilat-eral trade at a desirable level that nearly US $10 billion in next few years. He also urgedthe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Com-merce Minister Engr. Khurram Dastagir totake personal interest in finalizing the deci-sion at the earliest so that the optimum po-tential of bilateral trade available betweenboth the countries may be materialized.

The President FPCCI said that India hadgranted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996 af-ter becoming member of WTO, thereafter,the Indian exports started gradually in-

NDMA status for India willemerge competitive market

crease in Pakistan while the Pakistan’s ex-ports to India is still remain low. AfterNDMA status to India and availing the con-cessions and incentives of Indian govern-ment the volume of bilateral trade betweenboth the countries will increase.

He further stated that NDMA status toIndia will help to improve competitive oppor-tunities for Pakistani and Indian manufactur-ers in each other’s market, which is being en-joyed by all other trading partners of both thecountries. Trade normalization between Paki-stan and India will impact the South Asia FreeTrade Agreement (SAFTA) to be implementedwith zero tariff rates in 2016. He said that thebusiness community of both countries is verymuch eager to establish strong and signifi-cant investment relations. Normalization oftrade and investment will not only create em-ployment opportunities but it will also help inalleviation of poverty and boost the prosper-ity and peace in both countries.

KEPZ Registers22% GrowthSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Karachi Ex-port Processing Zone hasregistered a healthygrowth of 22% during thelast three months (Dec.2013 - Feb 2014) whencompared with the sameperiod of last year. In allKEPZ posted exports fig-ure US$94 in the abovementioned period as com-pared to US$77 million forthe same period last year.

This substantialgrowth comes in the back-drop of the recent stepstaken by the new EPZAManagement and theMinistry of Industries &Production which havebeen making efforts toproject Pakistan as a topregional investment des-tination. Ms. RabiyaJaveri Agha, Chairperson,EPZA said, “it is hearten-ing to see that EPZA isshowing significant up-ward trend in exports fromthe zone. With EPZA’s re-cently devised short andlong term plans and ag-gressive marketing strat-egy we are hopeful to seeeven better results in thenear future.”

It is worth mentioninghere that EPZA through itsone-window operationprovides developed landto investors on competi-tive rates for 30 years. Inaddition to this duty-freeimport of machinery,equipment and materials isalso allowed which makesEPZA an attractive busi-ness proposition for localand foreign investors.

Yen gains inAsia asUkraine

crisis flaresTOKYO—The Yen rose inAsia on Monday as ten-sions in Ukraine flared andas the Bank of Japan (BoJ)starts a two-day meeting,with investors looking forsigns of further monetaryeasing. In Tokyo morningtrade, the dollar fetched103.06 Yen, down from103.24 Yen in New York Fri-day afternoon. The euro,which rose last week on theEuropean Central Bank’supbeat outlook for the Eurozone, fell to 143.11 Yen from143.31 Yen, while it firmedto $1.3885 from $1.3874.

Traders moved into theYen, seen as a safe-havencurrency in times of turmoil,as fresh tensions eruptedin the Ukraine crisis. Whilefurther BoJ easing mea-sures would tend toweaken the Japanese unit,few analysts expect thecentral bank to act after itsmeeting wraps up on Tues-day. “Since expectationsamong foreign investorsare also low, it’s unlikelythat the dollar will fall wildlyeven if the bank stands paton its policy,” a senior To-kyo bank dealer told DowJones Newswires.

But there is growingspeculation that an Aprilsales tax rise will force theBoJ to act later this yearto counter a slowdown inconsumer spending andthe economy as a whole.“The Bank of Japan willalmost certainly maintainits current policy settingsat the conclusion of thetwo-day March boardmeeting,” Capital Eco-nomics said.—AFP

Currency Selling Buying

USA 102.40 102.20

UK 171.35 171.01

Euro 142.21 141.93

Canada 92.13 91.95

Switzerland 116.75 116.53

Australia 92.61 92.42

Sweden 16.06 16.03

Japan 0.9931 0.9911

Norway 17.12 17.09

Singapore 80.72 82.56

Denmark 19.06 19.02

Saudi Arabia 27.30 27.25

Hong Kong 13.19 13.17

Kuwait 364.47 363.76

Malaysia 31.19 31.13

Newzealand 86.69 86.52

Qatar 28.12 28.07

UAE 27.28 27.82

KR. WON 0.961 0.0956

Thailand 3.159 3.152

ISLAMABAD—Kosovo’s Foreign Min-ister Enver Hoxhaj along with a del-egation, called on Federal Minister forPetroleum and Natural Resources,Shahid Khaqan Abbasi here. The Min-ister for Petroleum and Natural Re-sources apprraised the delegation ofthe energy sector of Pakistan. He in-formed the delegation that the presentGovernment of Pakistan is committedto resolve the energy problem of Paki-stan in shortest possible time. “In thisregard both long term and short termmeasures are being taken”, the Minis-ter told the delegation. “LNG import isshort-term solution while to meet thelong-term energy requirements of thecountry coal and gas base powerplants are being constructed with helpof international energy companies”.

Kosovo eager to supportPakistan in energy sector

H. E. Enver Hoxhaj expressed hisgratitude to the Government of Paki-stan for recognition of Kosovo as anindependent state and People of Paki-stan for reconstruction and rebuild-ing of Kosovo. He informed thatKosovo being an investment friendlycountry offers immense investmentopportunities in various sector likeenergy, mines & minerals, textile andpharmaceuticals industries, for whichPakistan has a very good reputationaround the globe.

He also offered scholarships forPakistani students in the fields ofMines &Minerals in Universities ofKosovo which have very good fac-ulty of mining sciences. He also in-vited the Minister for Petroleum &Natural Resources to visit Kosovo

in the coming months and to meetwith energy experts there. He hopedthat this exchange of visits will openup a new chapter of relationships be-tween Pakistan and Kosovo. TheKosovo’s Foreign Minister said thatin future Kosovo can be a hub forPakistan in the Europe while Paki-stan for

Kosovo in South Asia. The Minis-ter for Petroleum & Natural Resourcesappreciated that the Kosovo is blessedwith immense mineral resources; par-ticularly it is third largest country pos-sessing lignite coal reserves in the en-tire Europe. Pakistan which also has thefourth largest lignite coal reserves canbenefit from the expertise and experi-ence gained by Kosovo over the yearsin this energy rich resource.—INP

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid KhaqanAbbasi, in a meeting with the delegation led by Enver Hoxhaj, Foreign Minister of Kosovo.

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal andFederal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique jointly having a press conference.

KARACHI: Khalid Salim Saeed Bardan, (Vice President Emirates Air Line), Abrar-ud-Din (CEO Naheed Super Market), Umar Ghauri, (Chairman TCEP), Engr M A Jabbar(former Vice President FPCCI), Barrister Shahida Jamil and Obaid Al Kaabi in ‘Semi-nar on International Standards on the occasion of 4th ‘Quality Standard Awarrd’ distri-bution ceremony jointly organized by The Consumers Eye Pakistan and Pakistan Stan-dard and Quality Control Authority.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Patron-in-Chief KATI,S.M.Muneer, President All Karachi Indus-trial Alliance, Mian Zahid Hussain andPresident KATI, Syed Farukh Mazhar haveexpressed their grief on the misery ofdrought and shortage of food, death ofhundreds of innocent children and tragedyof drought affected families in Thar. Theydemanded the government to take sternaction against district administration, en-forced emergency in drought hit areas andconducted an enquiry.

S.M.Muneer, said that Pakistan is anagriculture country in spite of this, situa-tion is alarming due to shortage of foodin Thar. He said that business commu-nity of the country is in grief on this trag-edy in Thar and demanded the govern-

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The business community has risen to the oc-casion by despatching food for the drought hit people ofTharparkar, while medical and life essential are in the pipe-line. In this respect, Karachi Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (KCCI) has dispatched a consignment of rationpacks for 10,000 people inhabiting in the drought-hitTharparkar District with a view to share the sufferings andgive some relief to distressed families. The ration pack ofhousehold commodities for one month contains wheat,sugar, rice, pulses and mineral water.

Chairman of Businessmen Group and Former PresidentKCCI, Siraj Kassam Teli, Vice Chairmen KCCI, Tahir Khaliq,Zubair Motiwala, Haroon Farooki & Anjum Nisar, Presi-dent KCCI, Abdullah Zaki, Senior Vice President KCCI,Muffasar A. Malik and Vice President KCCI, MuhammadIdrees responded to the hardships being faced by thepeople of Thar and made sincere efforts to immediatelydispatch relief goods to the poor drought-hit inhabitants.

President KCCI, Abdullah Zaki, while expressing deepsympathies with the inhabitants of Tharparkar district, ex-pressed deep concerns over the loss of lives, particularly thedeath of more than 125 children, in the drought-hit areas. Heurged people from all walks of life to come forward and do-

Business community aims tohelp drought-hit Thar areas

nate generously for this noble cause. Abdullah informed thata 4-member delegation of Karachi Chamber has also left forTharparkar district to witness the ground realities and moni-tor distribution of ration packs to the needy families.

He said that the Karachi Chamber will be closely moni-toring relief activities in drought-hit areas and will makeefforts to extend further support in future. He urged thebusiness community to come forward and give a helpinghand to the brothers and sisters of Tharparkar who areliving their lives in extremely dire circumstances. Presi-dent KCCI further commented that although many organi-zations have come forward to provide relief and the gov-ernment is also utilizing all its resources to minimize thesufferings of people of Thar but long term strategies mustbe devised to avoid such tragedies in future.

“Providing relief to people of Thar is not the responsi-bility of Sindh province alone but the federal governmentand other provinces must also play their due role bydensely participating in the relief activities as Tharparkaris an important part of Pakistan”, he stressed. “People ofThar should not be left stranded at any cost and it is theobligation for all of us to support the poor families in dis-tress”, he added. Abdullah also appreciated the positiverole played by the media in effectively highlighting thisissue, which has caught everybody’s attention.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan TelecommunicationCompany Limited (PTCL) has today inkedan agreement with Khushali Bank Limited(KBL) to provide end-to-end connectivitysolutions through its Managed WAN ser-vices. The agreement entails provision ofData Connectivity, Hosted IP Video Surveil-lance and Managed Router to more than 100branches of Khushali Bank, which is one ofthe largest Micro Finance Bank in Pakistan.

Walid Irshaid, President and CEO, PTCLwhile speaking at the occasion said, “Byleveraging PTCL’s cutting edge ICT ser-vices, we are committed to boost efficiency,improve services and operations deliveryfor organizations across Pakistan and em-power businesses to reach their full poten-tial through technology”. “The signing ofthis agreement reflects our preparednessto implement strategic projects that enable

PTCL inks accord with Khushali Bank toprovide managed WAN services

banks and other financial intuitions in Pa-kistan to use state-of-the-art telecommuni-cations and IT solutions to better serve theircustomers”, added Mr. Walid.

The MoU was signed by Kamal Ahmed,Chief Digital & Corporate Services OfficerPTCL and Nasir Naqvi, Chief InformationOfficer, Khushali Bank in the presence ofWalid Irshaid, President & CEO, PTCL andGhalib Nishtar, President, Khushali Bank.Samer Ajjawi, Advisory Team MemberEtisalat; Zahid Mahmood, GM Corp SalesNorth, PTCL; Nauman Ashraf, GM Busi-ness Development, PTCL and Yawar Afridi,Head Operations, Khushali Bank were alsopresent at the occasion.

The deployment of PTCL’s ManagedWAN & Surveillance services will ensure24X7 business continuity, security and im-proved customer experience for KhushaliBank in a cost effective manner without anycapital expenditure.

Kamal Ahmed, Chief Digital & Corporate Services Officer, PTCL (right) and NasirNaqvi, Chief Information Officer, Khushali Bank after signing an MoU for provision ofmanaged WAN services. Walid Irshaid, President and CEO, PTCL and Ghalib Nishtar,President, Khushali Bank are also seen in the picture.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI— Abbott has been ranked thenumber one employer in the pharmaceuti-cal industry. The rankings were announcedby ROZEE.PK, and based on a survey of14,876 people from across Pakistan. In theoverall rankings of more than 760 employ-ers in Pakistan, Abbott ranked on number5. In the pharmaceutical category, Abbottled from the front and attained the numberone ranking with 65 percent of the votes.Career growth, brand image, compensationand benefits, better work environment andsocial responsibility were the key reasonsfor selection of Abbott as the most pre-ferred employer.

“It is an excellent achievement forAbbott to be ranked as the number one em-ployer in the pharmaceutical industry andas one of the top five employers in the coun-try,” said Arshad Saeed Husain, Managing

Abbott ranks No. 1 employerin pharmaceutical industry

Director, Abbott in Pakistan.“This accomplishment has been

made possible by the highly talentedteam of professionals at Abbott whodemonstrate excellent performance andunrelenting determination to deliverstrong results for the company and theright products for the people of Paki-stan. We continue to focus on invest-ing in our people and providing an en-gaging working environment that helpsour colleagues build extraordinary ca-reers.” According to the survey reportfor 2013, a total of 14,876 respondentstook the survey in the span of 8 weeksand specified their preference to workfor the top employer in the country. Re-spondents had the choice to pick oneemployer from a list of 760 companies orchoose an al ternate company. Demo-graphics of respondents broadly repre-sent the educated workforce of Pakistan.

KARACHI: Stockbrokers busy in trading during the ascending trend at Karachi StockExchange.

K-Electricraids power

thievesSTAFF REPORTER

K A R A C H I — K - E l e c t r i cteams raided West Wharfon Friday and unearthedtwo major cases of elec-tricity theft which werebeing carried out throughdirect illegal connections,and has issued recoverynotices to the culprits ac-cumulating to more thanRs 9.0 million.

At Data Steel Pipe In-dustry in West Wharf, to-tal detected stolen loadwas found to be 68 kW ofelectricity worth more thanRs 7.0 million while at theoffices of Speedway in thesame area, around 17 kWpower load worth Rs 2.3million had been stolen. Atboth places, the thieveshad jointed 35 mm cablethrough service cablesbefore energy meters forthe purpose of powertheft. As per KE’s calcula-tions, due to this theft, KEwas incurring monthlylosses in the range of Rs2.0 to Rs 2.5 million.

K-Electr ic has ex-horted the law-abidingcitizens to support KE ini ts ongoing anti- theftdrive by pointing out suchtheft in their neighbor-hood .

KE has also warnedthe electricity thieves torefrain from this anti-so-cial and criminal act whichhas been the main reasonbehind load shedding andthe huge financial lossesto the power utility.

KATI grieved over Thar dilemmament to take stern action. He appreciatedRiaz Malik of Bahria Foundation for giv-ing donation for drought affected fami-lies of Thar and said that business com-munity would help the people of Thar asmuch as possible. The people of Thar,Mithi, Tharparkar, Rani Kot, Umer Kotand other drought affected areas are fac-ing difficulties.

Mian Zahid Hussain, President AllKarachi Industrial Alliance said that aidgiven by Sindh government is insufficientand help could not be provide to people ofdrought affected areas as yet and helpshould be provided on emergency basis.He said that to make it possible to providefood items and health facilities to effecteesof Thar, Umer Kot and other drought af-fected areas, special arrangement shouldbe made.

NPO getsnew CEOSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Dr. SherMuhammadhas been ap-pointed asnew CEO ofNational Pro-ductivity Or-g a n i z a t i o nMinistry ofI n d u s t r i e s ;Govt. of Paki-stan. He has replaced Mr.Khawaja Muhammad Yousufwho served CEO-NPO for fouryears.Dr. Sher Muhammadwill also act as Laison Officerfor APO Activities/Projects.Dr. Sher Muhammad has wideexperience in field of agricul-ture and has been servingNARC as Chief Scientific Of-ficer (CSO) and later as Gen-eral Manager - NFC/NFML.

WAH CANTT: Lt Gen Muhammad Ahsan Mahmood, Chairman POF Board giving away Trophy to the captain ofPakistan Army Kabaddi team winner of 12th Asian Style National Kabaddi Championship-2014

SIALKOT: Maj Gen Naseer Ali Khan awarding trophy to Usman Rahat on winning of1st All Pakistan Muhammad Fazal Elahi Shooting Championship.

LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood and Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman with winner of 90 kg categoryShaukat Shazad who won South Asia Bodybuilding contest 2014 and 10th South Asia Men’s Bodybuilding Championship 2014 in connection withPunjab Youth Festival.

LARKANA: Students during opening ceremony of 7th Shaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto Annual Sports Week 2014 at Chandka Medical College.

SPORTS REPORTER

WA H CA N T T—Final of 12th Asian Style NationalKabaddi Championship-2014 was played between Pa-kistan Army and Pakistan Navy at POF Sports Com-plex, Wah Cantt. Pakistan Army clinched the final tro-phy by defeating Pakistan Navy by 13-2. Lt GenMuhammad Ahsan Mahmood, HI(M) Chairman POFBoard was the Chief Guest of the concluding ceremonywho give away medal and trophies among the play-ers.

Prominent teams of the country participated in thischampionship. Addressing on the occasion Vice Presi-dent POF Sports Control Board Col (R) Inam Ullah Khansaid that POF Sports Control Board earlier arrangedNational Cycle Race, National Junior Basketball Cham-pionship, POF Open Volleyball Championship and POFOpen Shooting Competit ion under the guidance ofChairman POF Board and looking forward to hold 47thNational Volleyball Championship.

53rd National Basketball Championship, NationalTug of War Competition 2014, School Sports Gala 2014and POF Open T-20 Cricket competitions in near fu-ture.

He further added that POF administration is striv-ing to provide healthy environment to the employeesand their children as they are the assets of POF.

Secretary General of Pakistan Kabaddi FederationMuhammad Sarwar, senior officers of POF and a largenumber of spectators witnessed this final match.

CMC Larkanaannual sportsweek starts

LARKANA—The SeventhShaheed Mohatrma BenazirBhutto Annual SportsWeek-2014, organizedjointly by Sind Peoples Stu-dents Federation (SPSF)CMC Unit, ShaheedMohtarma Benazir BhuttoMedical University(SMBBMU) and ChandkaMedical College (CMC)started on Monday.

Former Sindh Ministerfor Law and MNAMuhammad Ayaz Soomro,Vice Chancellor SMBBMULarkana ProfessorAssadullah Mahar, alongwith Principal CMC Profes-sor Khursheed AhmedAbbasi inaugurated theweek.—APP

PESHAWAR—Punjab and Navy have wontheir matches while Army drew withWAPDA-B on the second day of the on-going First Brigadier Manzoor HussainAtif Memorial Hockey Tournament be-ing played at the Sargodha Hockey Sta-dium on Monday.

Punjab outclassed Railways 3-0,Navy beat Air Force 3-2 and Army andWAPDA-B played 1-1 draw. Two fieldgoals by Rizwan guided Punjab to de-feat Railways 3-0 in the opening match.Rizwan scored two field goals in the 19thand 39th minutes respectively. HafizShahbaz scored the third goal in the 47thminute.

Railways, which were playing a na-tional tournament after a lapse of almosttwo decade played well in the first halfbut lost their tempo in the second. Eventhey failed to convert any of the threepenalty corners they got in the match.

Navy defeated PAF 3-2 in a hardlyfought second match. Both teamsadopted defensive strategy in the firsthalf in which no goal was scored. How-ever, they amused the spectators withaggressive game in the second halfwhich produced five goals.

The Airmen opened their accountwith a f ield goal in the 42nd minutethrough Mohammed Shahbaz.

Punjab, Navy record victoriesin Atif Memorial Hockey

Mohammed Fiaz scored a field goal inthe 49th minute to give Airmen 2-0 lead.Navy men bounced back furiously afterconceding two goals . Their forwardsmade combined attacks and got five cor-ners in a span of 11 minutes. Asad Azizleveled the score with two goals in the54th and 65thminutes respectively. Bothgoals were scored on penalty corners.In the 68thminute Mohammed Asifscored a field goal to take the lead whichremained intact till the end.

The last match of the day betweenArmy and WAPDA-B ended into a draw.Both teams demonstrated aggressivestick work to dominate the proceedingsof the match.

Army scored the first goal in the 13thminute on a penalty corner which washit by their captain Mohammed Imran.They were leading 1-0 at the half timeand maintained their dominance overtheir opponent till the 62nd minute whenWAPDA’s forwards passed throughtheir defense and Rana Umair scored abeautiful goal to level the score.

Today’s (Tuesday) Matches:WAPDA-A vs Police at 11 am. Navy vsNBP at 1 pm. PIA vs Army at 3 pm.Former Olympian Shahbaz Ahmed Seniorwill be the chief guest during the thirdmatch between PIA and Army.—APP

KARACHI—Mercurial Muhammad AsifToba, who failed to qualify for national cir-cuit for nearly a year won his maiden crownin the Jubilee Insurance 39th NationalSnooker Championship in style when hedethroned holder Hamza Akbar 8-5 after anexciting final at Karachi Gymkhana BilliardsHall on Monday.

34-year-old Asif from Toba Tek Singh,produced a superb show throughout themega event to emerge deserving winner afterbeing 2-4 down.

Playing under an intense pressure aftertwo frame down, Asif Toba reaffirmed hisclass with consistent potting to clinch thefinal after gruelling under six hours tussle.

21-year-old diminutive Hamza startedbrilliantly by grabbing the opening frame73-38 with a break of 73. Toba pulled backthe second and next two frames were playedin similar manner with scored tied 2-2.

Hamza playing tactical positional playand showing superior brand of potting cap-tured the next two frames to make it 4-2 in-cluding a break of 62 in third frame to con-solidate his position.

Afterwards it was all Asif Toba as play-ing confidently, he lost the penultimate

Asif dethrones Hamzato claim maiden National

Snooker crownframe before seizing the title 38-73, 59-49, 8-103, 80-49, 32-59, 23-58, 60-48, 64-50, 49-14,64-14, 44-62, 76-07, 58-15.

Asif Toba, who had represented Paki-stan in 2011 IBSF World Snooker Champi-onship, constructed the breaks of 64 and52 at the fag end of the match.

Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Siddiqui,who the chief guest presented the glitter-ing trophy and cash purse of Rs.70,000 toAsif Toba while Hamza Akbar collectedRs.50,000.

Managing Director Jubilee Insurance,Tahir Ahmed, President, Pakistan Billiardsand Snooker Association (PBSA), AlamgirShaikh, President KG Ali Rahim, NaveedKapadia and other officials were alsopresent on the occasion.

“Its dream come true to win this title. Iam now looking forward to perform well inthe Asian championship,” he said after win-ning the title.

“It was hard-fought game. But I keptmy nerves and focused on my game,” hesaid.

He lauded Hamza Akbar for his fightingqualities and offering him a great chal-lenge.—APP

Army clinch nationalkabaddi c’ship-2014

Traders can playvital role in

promotion ofsports activities

P E S H AWA R — P r e s i d e n tPeshawar District CyclingAssociation and knownbusinessman Haji SohailRauf has urged upon thetraders to come forward andplay role as far as promotionof various sports activitiesare concerned.

This he said during the in-auguration ceremony of theJuly Collection newly storeopened on the main Univer-sity Road here Monday. Hesaid the J-Collection is alwaysthere and have due role as faras promotion of varioussports are concerned. Heurged upon the traders com-munities to service more in thefield of sports as it directly re-lated to youth which are thefuture builders of the nation.He said the trading commu-nities would not let the Citydown and will always standup by facing any chal-lenges to serve our ownpeople.—APP

KA R A C H I —Chief batt ing consultantZaheer Abbas on Monday called for im-provement, if Pakistan team wanted towin the ICC World T20 Cricket Champi-onship starting in Bangladesh on March16.

“Despite top-order batting setback inthe Asia Cup final, Pakistan recoveredto post 260. But our fielding and bowl-ing was not up to the mark,” he told APP.

Pakistan will clash arch rivals Indiain their opening match at Sher-e-BanglaStadium, Dhaka on March 22.

He credited the team for reaching thefinal, thanks to brilliant batting displayby Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, AhmedShehzad and Muhammad Hafeez.

“But fielders dropped vital catchesand bowlers except for Saeed Ajmal,bowled wayward,” he commented.

He said Fawad making a comeback inthe team after three and a half years andskipper Misbah-ul-Haq rescued the teamwith magnificent partnership of 122.

“Pakistan eventually reached a fight-ing total. But wayward bowling and field-ing let the team down,” he added.

He complimented Fawad Alam for his

Team needs improvementahead of World T20: Zaheer

outstanding batting.He was promoted in batting order be-

cause he was good in taking singles,which helped in rotating the strike andkept the scoreboard ticking.

“Playing in Bangladesh conditionsahead of ICC World T20 would benefitthe team,” the legendary batsman said.

Zaheer declared upcoming ICC WorldT20 as a very tough and unpredictableevent .

“Even a small mistake can be fatal andchange the direction of the matches,” hemaintained.

He said he was giving batting tips tothe Pakistani batsmen for improvingtheir skills.

Zaheer Abbas said four players -former captain Shoaib Malik, KamranAkmal, Sohail Tanvir and Zulfiqar Babar- would join the team for World T20.

“They are all experienced players andwe expect them to contribute in a bigway,” he added.

“Being seasoned campaigners Malik,Kamran, Sohail and Zuliqar must beaware of their roles and responsibilities,”he said.—APP

SB Governor’sCup Cricket

Tournament tostart today

PESHAWAR—The 10th edi-tion of the State BankGovernor’s Cup Super Se-ries Cricket Tournament willstart today (Tuesday) inLahore.

Players participating inthe tournament belong to vari-ous banks including SBPBSC field offices. Youngcricketing talent hired bybanks are also playing in thetournament. The finalists ofeach region and previous yearfinalists are participating inthe Super Series being ar-ranged at Lahore. The themeof the tournament is to pro-mote cricket and encouragehealthy activities amongst thebanking community.

Tournament matcheswill be played at six differ-ent cricket grounds ofLahore and the final will beheld on March 21 at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore. ActingGovernor, State Bank of Pa-kistan Ashraf MahmoodWathra will be the chiefguest on the occasion.

The Tournament is incontinuation of the SBPGovernor Cup held at fivedifferent regions: Karachi,Quetta, Lahore, Multan andRawalpindi.—APP

ICC announcematch officialsfor T20 CWC

ISLAMABAD—The ICC onMonday announced thematch officials and the sched-ule of warm-up matches forthe Twenty20 World Cup tobe staged in Bangladeshfrom March 16 to April 6.

The match referees’ re-sponsibilities throughoutthe tournament will beshared between DavidBoon, Ranjan Madugalle,Roshan Mahanama andJavagal Srinath of the Emir-ates Elite Panel of ICCMatch Referees, says apress release issued here.

The on-field responsibili-ties will be shared by all 11 ofthe Emirates Elite Panel of ICCUmpires including Aleem Dar,Kumar Dharmasena, SteveDavis,Marais Erasmus, IanGould, Richard Illingworth,Richard Kettleborough, NigelLlong, Bruce Oxenford, PaulReiffel and Rod Tucker, aswell as Billy Bowden,Ranmore Martinesz and S.Ravi of the Emirates Interna-tional Panel of ICC Um-pires.—APP

Razzaq wantsMisbah,

Hafeez to batpositively

ISLAMABAD—Talented all-rounder Abdul Razzaq feelsPakistan captains Misbah ulhaq and Muhammad Hafeezneed to bat more positivelysaying why to take a singlewhen a six can be hit on thatdelivery.

Razzaq, who had repre-sented Pakistan on morethan 300 occasions, scoringover 7,000 international runsand taking almost 400 wick-ets, said both Misbah andHafeez are good cricketersbut cricket has changed inthe recent times and is muchquicker now. “If you batslowly than that has an im-pact on the whole inningsand on your team mates.Both Hafeez and Misbahneed to bat in a more posi-tive manner,” he toldPakpassion.net.

Razzaq, who’s last ODIwas in November 2011, saidMisbah and Hafeez need toshow more intent at thecrease and show more posi-tivity so that their battingdoes not put a negative im-pact on their team mates.

Speaking of the upcom-ing T20 World Cup, Razzaqsaid he was disappointed fornot selected for the megaevent but there’s nothing hecan do about it. “It was theselectors’ decision andwhether I agree or disagreeit makes no difference,” hesaid adding he still has it inhim to play for Pakistan.

Razzaq further said inAsian conditions you cannever write off Pakistan inany format. “Our bowlingunit is capable of winningany match from any situa-tion and I am confident thatPakistan can win the WorldTwenty20 crown, just like wedid in 2009,” he said.—APP

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—South Africa’s 34-year-old retiring captain Graeme Smith is ason- in- law of Ireland. He is marriedto an Irish pop-singer and modelMorgan Deane.

The holder of the dual citizenshipSmith has announced he would notbe playing for Ireland but that hasnot stopped the Cricket Ireland (CI)to think of hiring his services in fu-ture.

“Of course, if he were to live inIreland, we would be delighted to tapinto his enormous experience, al-though whether in a formal or infor-

Cricket Ireland ‘keen’ on hiringservices of Graeme Smith

BRIDGETOWN: Denesh Ramdin of West Indies completed the stumping of Ben Stokes of England in the 1st T20 on Monday.

INDIAN WELLS: Zheng Jie, of China, returns a shot to Li Na, of China, during theirmatch at the Indian Wells ATP Masters.

mal capacity is of course far too earlyto say”, Warren Deutron, the CricketIreland CEO said exclusively fromEngland, where he is on a businesstrip.

“My understanding is thatGraeme (Smith) has retired from in-ternational cricket, is a proud SouthAfrican and I suspect hasn’t consid-ered transferring his international al-legiance. So, I suspect it’s a fairlymoot point (of asking him to play forour nation) !”, he added.

It would have needed the four-year cooling period for Smith to playfor the country outside his birth andat the then age of 39, it would havebeen difficult also.

“I’m not sure whether Graemeand his wife have even determinedto live in Ireland, especially if he iscurrently playing for Surrey”,Deutron added.

According to the two South Afri-can Tax Consultants, Peter Dachsand Bdernard du Plessis, Smith canhave exemption of Income Tax for hisservices rendered outside his coun-try.This exemption only applies if theemployee is outside South Africa fora period or periods exceeding 183days in total during any 12 monthperiod and for a continuous periodexceeding 60 full days during that 12month period.

BRIDGETOWN (Barbados)—WestIndies returned to winning ways in theshortest variety, defeating England by27 runs in the first T20 Internationalof a three-match series at KensingtonOval in Bridgetown on Sunday.

Marlon Samuels, the star when theCaribbean side defeated Sri Lanka inthe final of the last World T20 in Co-lombo 17 months ago, led the hometeam’s effort with an unbeaten 69 asthe West Indies totalled a competitive170 for three.

Samuels finished off a goodafternoon’s work in front of acelebratory full house with two wick-ets to seal the man of the match award.

Classy Samuels leads Windiesto easy win over England

West Indies innings:DR Smith b Bopara ....... 27CH Gayle lbw b Tredwell43Samuels not out ............ 69Simmons b Bopara .......... 3AD Russell not out ....... 24Extras: (lb 3, nb 1) ............ 4Total: (3 wickets) ......... 170Fall of wkts: 1-57, 2-87, 3-112Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WBroad .................... 2-0-26-0Dernbach .............. 4-0-36-0Bresnan ................ 4-0-36-0Stokes ................... 2-0-30-0Bopara .................. 4-0-23-2Tredwell ................ 4-0-16-1England innings:Lumb b Badree .............. 18Hales st Ramdin b Badree 3Wright st Ramdin b Badree0Morgan b Samuels ........ 19

Buttler c sub (J Charles)b Narine ............................ 0RS Bopara c & b Bravo 42Stokes st Ramdin b Samuels4Bresnan not out ............ 47Broad run out .................. 5Tredwell run out .............. 1Dernbach not out ............ 1Extras: (b 1, lb 2) .............. 3Total: (9 wickets) ......... 143Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-36, 4-40, 5-55, 6-73, 7-101, 8-123, 9-133Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WS Badree ............... 4-0-17-3Rampaul ................ 3-0-31-0Narine ..................... 2-0-8-1DJ Bravo ............... 4-0-30-1Samuels ................ 4-0-21-2Sammy .................. 1-0-12-0Russell .................. 2-0-21-0

Wrist-spinner Samuel Badree putthe tourists on the back foot early onwith three wickets and although all-rounders Tim Bresnan (47 not out) andRavi Bopara (42) made useful contri-butions, England were always strug-gling to keep up with the required rateand were restricted to 143 for nine.

“We didn’t get going today butthat’s something that can happen inTwenty20 cricket, especially whenyou’re chasing a decent score,” saidEngland captain Stuart Broad.

“It’s certainly not something topanic about.”Broad did suggest how-ever that he is likely to miss the re-maining two matches of the series on

Tuesday andThursday be-cause of tendoni-tis in his knee.

For the WestIndies, the cel-ebrations over avictory thatsends a messageto all challengersfor their WorldT20 title inBangladesh laterin the monthwould have beentempered by con-cerns over the fit-ness of ace spin-ners Sunil Narineand Badree.

Narine onlybowled two oversand left the fieldafter jarring hisright knee tryingto make a save on

the boundary while Badree, whoclaimed three for 17 off his allotted fourovers, injured the fingers of his bowl-ing hand attempting to take a returncatch just before completing his spell.

“He’ll be going for a scan thisevening so hopefully he’ll be okay,”said West Indies captain DarrenSammy in commenting on Narine’s in-jury.

“We’re already without KieronPollard so we can’t afford to lose an-other key player so close to the WorldCup.”Injury has also limited ChrisGayle’s appearances for the WestIndies over the past two months, buthe returned on Sunday, contributinga typically robust 43.

However, it was his opening part-ner Dwayne Smith who stole the showat the very start, hoisting the first de-livery of the match off Broad out ofthe ground and taking 19 runs off thatopening over.

Smith eventually was first to gofor 27, one of two wickets for Boparawho, together with the spinner JamesTredwell, were England’s bestbowlers.

Samuels’ 46-ball innings (10 fours,1 six) was not without moments ofgood fortune.

Missed on 37 by a leaping EoinMorgan at backward-point offBroad, he had even greater luckwhen Tredwell dropped a straight-forward chance at extra-cover offJade Dernbach at the start of the18th over.

As if to rub salt in Englandwounds, the Jamaican right-handersmashed the next five deliveries forboundaries.— AFP

CAPE TOWN—South Africa captainGraeme Smith, who last week announcedhis retirement from international cricket, wasinfluenced by his family in taking the deci-sion, media reported.

Smith, 33, told the Sunday Times news-paper that he knew he had made the rightdecision while at the hospital bedside ofhis 18-month-old daughter, who had suf-fered burns from hot water.

He says the toddler reached out to himand touched his Proteas badge.

“That’s all she’s known of me really.”“She sees me on the TV and that was a

moment where I realised I’m pretty happywith the decision I’ve made,” he said.

The Proteas captian stunned thecricketing world on Monday when he an-nounced he would quit international cricketat the end of the Test series against Aus-tralia. “I’ll have more time to see my chil-dren grow and I’ll be mentally more there.”

Smith is the most capped Test captainin the history of the game with 9,262 Testruns at an average of 48.49 with 27 hun-dreds and 38 half-centuries.

He has captained the Proteas for 12years since the age of 22.

“As a captain, even when you are athome your brain is still elsewhere a lot ofthe time,” he said.

The batsman, who married Irish pop

I won’t be playing forIreland: Graeme Smith

singer Morgan Deane in 2011 also has anIrish citizenship, but says he has no plansof playing for his second country.

“I won’t be picking up a bat for thatcountry. Iwon’t beplaying forIreland.”

“If amgoing to playfor anyone, itwould be theProteas,” hesaid.

He saidbreaking thenews of hisdecision tohis team wasdifficult, andhe struggledto get hiswords out.

“After I’dsaid my piece, I had to get out and get somefresh air because I was a bit of a wreck.”

The skipper said his wife has carryingthe load of raising their two young childrenwhile he played cricket.

“I think of her with the two kids travel-ling to wherever I am in the world, and mak-ing it work. She is a strong woman.”—AFP

INDIAN WELLS (United States)—NovakDjokovic made it safely into the third roundof the Indian Wells ATP Masters on Sun-day, but said his straight-sets win over Vic-tor Hanescu left room for improvement.

The world number two and secondseed, a two-time winner in the Californiadesert, saved all five break points he facedon the way to a 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 victory.

“It was one of those days where youget to serve well and everything else is justkind of trying to find the way to play theright shots at the right time,” said Djokovic,who notched his seventh win over the87th-ranked Romanian in as many careermeetings.

“I didn’t make any returns in the firstset. Second set I also struggled with thereturn, which is one of my better sides inthe game generally speaking.”

Djokovic, who won the title here in 2008and 2011, has played sparingly this sea-son, falling in the quarter-finals of the Aus-tralian Open to eventual champion StanislasWawrinka and losing in the semi-finals atDubai to Federer.

He didn’t get a break chance in theopening set, but dominated the tiebreakerand took a quick 3-0 lead in the second. Hesaid he’d be working on a few things be-

Djokovic advances, Berdychbounced at Indian Wells

fore his third-round match against Colom-bian Alejandro Gonzalez, a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5)winner over Croatian Ivan Dodig.

Roberto Bautista Agut of Spainbounced fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Top seed Rafa Nadal survived ascare from Radek Stepanek before winninghis BNP Paribas Open second round matchin three tight sets at Indian Wells on Satur-day. The Spaniard, in his first match as de-fending champion, was stretched to the limitbefore prevailing 2-6 6-4 7-5 in night matchthat lasted two hours, 24 minutes in theCalifornia desert. Nadal served eight doublefaults and was broken three times, but healso broke his Czech opponent three times,including twice in the final set.

The pivotal moment came in the sixthgame of the third set, when Nadal fendedoff three break points to hold serve. Earlier,Briton Andy Murray recorded his 300thhardcourt victory when he beat Stepanek’scompatriot Lukas Rosol in three sets. Fifthseed Murray recovered from a slow start tobeat his Czech opponent 4-6 6-3 6-2 as thetop seeds took to the courts for the firsttime after receiving first round byes.

“I got broken three times in a row theend of the first set, beginning of the sec-ond,” Murray told reporters.—AFP

DORAL—He wore black pants and a red shirt, his Sundaycolours. He took a lead into the final round, quickly ex-panded it with a pair of birdies and then relied on his shortgame to keep everyone chasing him. He even played it safeoff the 18th tee, caring moreabout the trophy than the fi-nal score.

Patrick Reed followed itperfectly to win the CadillacChampionship, replacingWoods as the youngest win-ner of a World Golf Champi-onship.

“The best player ever tolive when I was growing upwore black pants, a red shirt,”Reed said after closing withan even-par 72 for a one-shotvictory at Doral. “I was grow-ing up watching him. I alwaysthought, ‘You know, it wouldbe cool to wear black and redcoming down on Sunday.

“Just happens to be thatwe both wear it on Sundaynow.”Only one of themstood out at the new BlueMonster. Even with Woodsand his red shirt only threeshots behind and in thegroup directly in front of him,the 23-year-old Reedstretched his lead to four shots at one point until making apair of bogeys in the final hour. He held off Bubba Watson

Pakistan ingood shape for

World T20:Misbah

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan cap-tain Misbah-ul-Haq saidMonday his players’ perfor-

mance in the Asia Cup hadraised his hopes for the teamin the upcoming WorldTwenty20. Pakistan pulledoff stunning run chasesagainst India andBangladesh, but lost thelopsided final to Sri Lanka.

Misbah said the run-scor-ing by the likes of AhmedShehzad, Umar Akmal andShahid Afridi on Bangladeshwickets indicated the team canperform well when that coun-try hosts the World Twenty20from March 16.

“There’s a disappointmentthat we couldn’t win the final,but the morale of the team isvery good,” Misbah said af-ter arriving home fromBangladesh. We have a verygood chance (in WorldTwenty20) ... especially be-cause the batsmen are in goodform.”

Pakistan is in a challeng-ing group for the WorldTwenty20; facing India,Australia, defending cham-pion West Indies and aqualifier.— AP

DORAL, FLA: Patrick Reed holds The Gene Sarazen Cupafter winning the Cadillac Championship golf tournament.

Reed on a roll, wins a World Golf Championshipand Jamie Donaldson of Wales.

Woods, in his best chance this year to win a tourna-ment, said his back flared up after an awkward shot out ofthe bunker on the sixth hole. He failed to make a birdie in the

final round for the first timein his PGA Tour career, andhis 78 was his worst Sundayscore ever.

“Just let me get throughthis day, get some treatmentand we’ll assess it as timegoes on,” Woods said abouthis back. He withdrew fromthe Honda Classic after 13holes of the final round lastweek because of backspasms.Reed has three winsin 14 starts and should moveto No. 20 in the world. Hefeels his ranking should beeven better. Reed cited anamateur career that includesgoing 6-0 in matches to leadAugusta State to two NCAAtitles, followed by three PGATour wins in seven months.

“I don’t see a lot of guysthat have done that besidesTiger Woods and the leg-ends of the game,” Reedsaid. “I believe in myself, es-pecially with how hard I’ve

worked. I’m one of the top five players in the world. I feellike I’ve proven myself.—AP

IN a first-of-its-kind study, researchers havedeveloped a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease that predicts with astonishing accuracy

whether a healthy person will develop the dis-ease. Though much work still needs to be done,it is hoped the test will some-day be available in doctors’ of-fices, since the only methodsfor predicting Alzheimer’sright now, such as PET scansand spinal taps, are expensive,impractical, often unreliableand sometimes risky.

Alzheimer’s & SleepStudy: Vitamin E slowedAlzheimer’s Seth Rogenslams senators. “This is a po-tential game-changer,” saidDr. Howard Federoff, seniorauthor of the report and a neu-rologist at Georgetown Uni-versity Medical Center. “Mylevel of enthusiasm is veryhigh.” The study was pub-lished in Nature Medicine.

In the beginning, the re-searchers knew they wanted to find a blood testto detect Alzheimer’s but didn’t know what spe-cifically to look for. Should they examine pa-tients’ DNA? Their RNA? Or should they lookfor the byproducts of DNA and RNA, such asfats and proteins?

They decided to start with fats, since it wasthe easiest and least expensive. They drew bloodfrom hundreds of healthy people over age 70living near Rochester, New York, and Irvine,California. Five years later, 28 of the seniorshad developed Alzheimer’s disease or the mildcognitive problems that usually precede it.

Scouring more than 100 fats, or lipids,for what might set this group apart, they found

that these 28 seniors had low levels of 10particular lipids, compared with healthyseniors.

To confirm their findings, the research-ers then looked at the blood of 54 other pa-

tients who had Alzheimer’s ormild cognitive impairment.This group also had low levelsof the lipids.

Overall, the blood testpredicted who would getAlzheimer’s or mild cognitiveimpairment with over 90% ac-curacy.

“We were surprised,”said Mark Mapstone, a neurop-sychologist at the University ofRochester Medical Center andlead author of the study. “Butit turns out that it appears wewere looking in the rightplace.” Alzheimer’s risk beforesymptoms: Do you want toknow?

The beauty of this test,Mapstone says, is that it caught

Alzheimer’s before the patient even hadsymptoms, suggesting that the disease pro-cess begins long before people’s memoriesstart failing. He says that perhaps the lipidlevels started decreasing at the same time asbrain cells started dying.

If any of these tests work out — andthat’s still an if — it would take years tomake it to doctors’ offices, since the testwould need to be validated by other labs andwith larger groups of people. Thee test de-veloped by the Georgetown and Rochesterresearchers, for example, was used mainlyin white people, and it might not work aswell with other groups.

Blood test predictsAlzheimer’s disease

H E John Tucknott, Shazad Dada, CEO Barclays Pakistan, Ameena Syed, Mushraf Hai,Ayesha Temi Haq, Sadia Rizvi and others to celebrate International Women’s Day.—PO photo

Fashion Designer Nabeen Khwaja inaugurating Nabox Clothing. Singer Muskan Khan, Samiya, Midhat Mahmood are also seen in the picture.—POphoto Sultan Chaki

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—In compliance with theorders of Sindh High Court, KMCAnti-Encroachments Task Force dur-ing an operation against encroach-ments has removed above 300 en-croachments including patharas, cab-ins, carts, hotels, shops and out of or-der vehicles near Sohrab Goth Al-AsifSquare whereas illegal bus stops werealso removed. Security arrangementswere also made due to which resistancewas not faced.

Operation was monitored byChairman Task Force Anti-Encroach-ments Bilal Manzar and Director Anti-Encroachments Mazhar Khan whereasKMC staff, District Administration,Police and Rangers took part in theoperation. Operation against encroach-ments would be carried out fromSohrab Goth to Tool Plaza in secondphase which would improve traffic

flow and citizens would also be fa-cilitated. Meanwhile, the Administra-tor has said that operation against en-croachments has been successful inNew Truck Stand Maripur whereasplan has been prepared to take actionagainst land mafia and officers in-volved in illegal lease in Truck Standwhich would be implemented soon.

He said this during a review meet-ing held on problems of MaripurStand. On this occasion SecretaryTransport Sindh Taha Farooqui, MDKWSB Qutubuddin Shaikh, Presidentof Karachi Goods Career AssociationMuhammad Khalid Khan, AzamBakhsh Javed, other officials, DeputyDirector Land Shaikh MuhammadAslam and other officers were alsopresent. During the meeting KGCAofficials informed about various prob-lems including elimination of illegallease, repairing of water & seweragesystem and repairing & construction

of inside roads and demanded neces-sary measures in this regard.

Administrator Karachi said thatwe were with you for prompt resolu-tion of problems being faced byMaripur Truck Stand. Chief SecretarySindh was also taking keen interestin matters of Maripur Truck Stand. Weall have to run this city with mutualcooperation.

He said that operation against en-croachments was successful inMaripur Truck Stand. PC-I for con-struction of inside roads has been pre-pared and sent to Government ofSindh and work on it would com-mence just after its approval whereasplan was also being prepared forelimination of illegal lease in TruckStand. He said that fire brigade staffwould be provided to Maripur TruckStand so that any emergency situationcould be handled immediately and co-operation would also be provided in

establishment of KGCA Hospital inMaripur Truck Stand.

Administrator Karachi said that wewere short of resources with lots ofwork however development workshave to be carried out for the city.

On this occasion Secretary Trans-port Sindh Taha Farooqui said that ef-forts were being made to provideKGCA officials with arms licensewhereas lease problems would also beresolved with mutual cooperation ofKarachi Port Trust soon.

KWSB Managing DirectorQutubuddin Shaikh informed duringthe meeting that water and seweragesystem was supplied in Maripur TruckStand in 2007 which was being im-proved now. Administrator Karachisaid that every individual has to playtheir role in the development of the city.Problems of Maripur Truck Standwould be resolved with the coopera-tion of Government of Sindh.

Operation against encroachmentscarried out near Sohrab Goth

Visitors admire cars from history at the classic car show.—PO photo

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Food Department has dis-tributed 883000 kilogram wheat amongdrought affected people of Tharparkar yet andfurther supply is in progress while relief workis being done day in and day out.

According to details, 2217wheat bags inMithi 2932 bags in Islamkot,1221 wheat bagsin Diplo,1859 bags in chachro and 594 wheatbags in Nangharparkar have been distributedamong famine-hit people of Tharparkarthrough Relief Department Sindh. Each wheatbag is weighted 100 Kilogram.

In a statement issued here Sindh Ministerfor Food Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar has saidthat there is sufficient wheat available atTharparkar procurement centres of Food De-partment Sindh and said department is in con-stant touch with Sindh Relief Department.

He added Food Department has taken all

measures to redress the problems of droughtaffected people of Tharparkar.

Meanwhile, Sindh Institute of Urology andTransplantation (SIUT) has established threemedical relief camps in the drought affectedarea of Tharparkar district.

The camps are located in Mithi districtheadquarter hospital beside Chilar andIslamkot. The camps have been set up withthe assistance of Sindh Health Department andEdhi Foundation.

Soon after the three medical relief campsstarted functioning hundreds of peoplethronged to these camps seeking immediatemedical relief.

Patients mostly children suffering frommalnutrition, water born diseases, chest infec-tions, diarrhea and skin diseases reported atthese camps. The three camps are equippedwith doctors, para-medical staff, laboratoryfacilities and medicines.

8,83,000 wheat bagsdistributed among

famine-hit people of Thar

KMC launchescrackdown against

illegal, obscene sinagesIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) hadon directives of Sindh local government Minister launched acampaign to remove obscene and semi-nude sinages fromthe city within its administrative limits.

Banners and smaller billboards had also been removedform polls in the city.

In this regard, KMC Local tax Department senior Direc-tor Rashid Khan, the action against illegal and obscene sinageshad been expedited on Minister’s orders in North Nazimabad,Shahra-e Faisal, main University Road, Tariq Road, Landhi,Korangi, Malir, Clifton Bridge, Shah Faisal Colony and otherareas of the city.

During that campaign, around 5000 sinages had so farbeen removed and billboards had also been confiscated.

He said that many outdoor advertisement companies hadobtained stay orders from courts due to which a good num-ber of billboards was not yet removed and courts concernedwould be approached for vacation of stay orders.

He said that cantonment boards had also permitted tovarious outdoor advertisement companies to display theirbillboards within the limits of KMC and in this regard, ad-ministrations of cantonment boards would shortly be ap-proached to resolve that situation.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh High Court had Mondayextended the stay order on Zeeshan MurderCase. Zeeshan, a civilian was killed by Paki-stan Rangers Sindh personnel near NaganChowrangi in Karachi.

A 2-member bench of the Sindh HighCourt heard the case. The court had repri-manded the New Karachi Police Station’s in-charge for failing to reach the venue of inci-dent of murder of Zeeshan. The SHO hadapprised the court an ASI was sent to the

venue of incident as there was unrest in manyareas of the city.

The counsel of accused Rangers person-nel requested the court to extend date for oneday as advocate Habib Ahmed would pleadthe case. Thus the court had extended the dateof stay order on registration of FIR againstthe accused.

The court had issued contempt to courtnotice to New Karachi Police Station in-charge for failing to lodge FIR against theaccused Rangers personnel on petition of sis-ter of the slain Zeeshan.

SHC extends stay order onnon-registration of FIR

NotificationSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—With the approvalof the competent authority, SindhChief Minister Syed Qaim AliShah, on attaining the age of su-perannuation, Lal MuhammadKhero, District and SessionsJudge (BPS-21) shall stand re-tired from service with effectfrom 31.12.2014 in the after-noon; Allah Jurio Parhyar, Ad-ditional District and SessionsJudge (BPS-20) shall stand re-tired from service with effectfrom 30-09-2014 in the after-noon; Mrs. Naseem Mansoor,District and Sessions Judge(BPS-21) shall stand retired fromservice with effect from 04-08-2014 in the afternoon; JanMuhammad Lanjar, District andSessions Judge (BPS-21) shallstand retired from service witheffect from 31-03-2014 in theafternoon; Nasibul HassanSiddiqui, Senior Civil Judge(BPS-19) shall stand retired fromservice with effect from 14-05-2014 in the afternoon; SyedZakir Hussain, District and Ses-sions Judge (BPS-21) shall standretired from service with effectfrom 13-07-2014 in afternoon

PIMA expeditesits relief

activities inaffected areasof Tharparkar

KARACHI—A team of doctorscomprising members of Paki-stan Islamic Medical Associa-tion (PIMA) has expedited itsmedical relief activities inTharparkar through establish-ment of medical camps in Mithiand other affected villages.

In this context, PIMA hasalso started an ambulance ser-vice between Deplo, Islam Kotand Mithi to provide emergencyservices to the affectees.

To further strengthen theexercise a joint team of PIMAand Al-Khidmat under the su-pervision of Dr KhalidMushtaq are also looking afterthe relief work in drought af-fected areas.

Central President of PIMA,Dr Misbahul Aziz and its SindhPresident, Dr Abdul QadirSomro have also reachedTharparkar for medical needassessment.—APP

Verdict on155,000 stolenNICs delayed

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The final verdicton a 26-year old case of 155000national identity cards that werestolen from the Security Print-ing Press of Pakistan was yet tobe announced.

The federal anti-corruptioncourt in Karachi had preservedthe verdict on that case, whichwas filed by the federal investi-gation agency in 1988 and hadarrested 8 key officials.

During that 26-year longhearing of the case, investiga-tion officer and 3 accused hadpassed away and one sufferedfrom paralysis.

The court had after notingdown the arguments ofShahadat Awan, counsel for theaccrued preserved the verdict,which was supposed to be an-nounced yesterday but was fur-ther delayed due to lack of pres-ence of counsels in the court.

SID providingmaximumfacilities tojournalists

KARACHI—The Secretary,Sindh Information Department,Dr Zulfiqar Ali ShallwaniMonday said that provincialgovernment was providingmaximum facilities to journal-ists with a view to enable themto discharge their duties with-out any fear.

This he said while talkingto a delegation of US basedCommittee to Protect Journal-ists here.—APP

IN a first-of-its-kind study, researchers havedeveloped a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease that predicts with astonishing accuracy

whether a healthy person will develop the dis-ease. Though much work still needs to be done,it is hoped the test will some-day be available in doctors’ of-fices, since the only methodsfor predicting Alzheimer’sright now, such as PET scansand spinal taps, are expensive,impractical, often unreliableand sometimes risky.

Alzheimer’s & SleepStudy: Vitamin E slowedAlzheimer’s Seth Rogenslams senators. “This is a po-tential game-changer,” saidDr. Howard Federoff, seniorauthor of the report and a neu-rologist at Georgetown Uni-versity Medical Center. “Mylevel of enthusiasm is veryhigh.” The study was pub-lished in Nature Medicine.

In the beginning, the re-searchers knew they wanted to find a blood testto detect Alzheimer’s but didn’t know what spe-cifically to look for. Should they examine pa-tients’ DNA? Their RNA? Or should they lookfor the byproducts of DNA and RNA, such asfats and proteins?

They decided to start with fats, since it wasthe easiest and least expensive. They drew bloodfrom hundreds of healthy people over age 70living near Rochester, New York, and Irvine,California. Five years later, 28 of the seniorshad developed Alzheimer’s disease or the mildcognitive problems that usually precede it.

Scouring more than 100 fats, or lipids,for what might set this group apart, they found

that these 28 seniors had low levels of 10particular lipids, compared with healthyseniors.

To confirm their findings, the research-ers then looked at the blood of 54 other pa-

tients who had Alzheimer’s ormild cognitive impairment.This group also had low levelsof the lipids.

Overall, the blood testpredicted who would getAlzheimer’s or mild cognitiveimpairment with over 90% ac-curacy.

“We were surprised,”said Mark Mapstone, a neurop-sychologist at the University ofRochester Medical Center andlead author of the study. “Butit turns out that it appears wewere looking in the rightplace.” Alzheimer’s risk beforesymptoms: Do you want toknow?

The beauty of this test,Mapstone says, is that it caught

Alzheimer’s before the patient even hadsymptoms, suggesting that the disease pro-cess begins long before people’s memoriesstart failing. He says that perhaps the lipidlevels started decreasing at the same time asbrain cells started dying.

If any of these tests work out — andthat’s still an if — it would take years tomake it to doctors’ offices, since the testwould need to be validated by other labs andwith larger groups of people. Thee test de-veloped by the Georgetown and Rochesterresearchers, for example, was used mainlyin white people, and it might not work aswell with other groups.

Blood test predictsAlzheimer’s disease

PU Hailey College of Commerce Principal Prof Dr Liaqat Ali, former Principal ChaudhryNazir Ahmed, Raja Munawar and others cutting cake on the Foundation Day of HCC.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif with a group of special children on Monday.

Nurses hold a demonstration in support of their demands.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minister forSports and Education Rana MashhoodAhmad Khan has said that the poten-tial youth of the country will give Pa-kistan its due status among the worldcommunity.

Addressing the prize distributionceremony of Film Festival on Mon-day, the Minister said: “The Punjabgovernment will do every possibleeffort to turn the dreams of the youth

into reality and our youth has provedthat Pakistanis are the most intelli-gent nation of the world.”

He also appreciated the hardwork of students belonging to differ-ent educational institutions for pro-ducing several quality dramas anddocumentary films.

Responding to the criticism onyouth festival, the minister said thatthe festival had turned into a move-ment which also helped in creatingsoft image of the country through-

out the world. “Pakistani youth dem-onstrated wonderful discipline infront of Guinness World Record(GWR) team and proved that they aremore disciplined than the rest of theworld,” he added.

“We want to upgrade the educa-tional institutions of Multan,Khanewal, Rahim Yar Khan andother areas of South Punjab on thepattern of Lahore institutions.

The work has started on thistask,” he added. He said that Punjab

Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharifhad not started the youth festival forany political motive but to groom theyouth of the province only.

“Education is the top priority ofPunjab government but it has to fightagainst price-hike, lawlessness andunemployment,” he further said.Mashhood admired the role of Direc-tor General Sports Board Punjab(SBP) Usman Anwar and his entireteam during the on-going PunjabYouth Festival (PYF) 2014.

Film festival to help create softimage of country: Rana

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said thatspecial children are as talented and giftedas the normal children and provision ofproper education and training facilitiescan help make them useful citizens ofthe society.

He said that Punjab government hastaken a number of solid measures for therehabilitation and look after of specialchildren and education and training facili-ties have been improved in the institutionsfor special children.

He said that a centre of excellence forthe rehabilitation of special children isbeing set up in the provincial metropoliswhere a 100-bed hospital and a researchcentre would also be established. He saidthat an effective system of treatment andlook after is essential for down syndromespecial children.

He expressed these views while ad-dressing a function arranged for downsyndrome special children here today.Provincial Minister for Special EducationAsif Saeed Manais, Member ProvincialAssembly Ch. Lal Hussain, SecretarySpecial Education Ambreen Raza, Chair-man Al-Jalal Welfare Trust Jalal Akbar

Dar, teachers of down syndrome children,their parents and a large number of chil-dren were present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister was presented anational flag and peace flag at the con-clusion of the ceremony. The special chil-dren also gave an excellent performancethrough expression of their face andspeech during the function.

Speaking on the occasion, the ChiefMinister expressed his pleasure that suchtalented and beloved children of the na-tion are present in the hall where cabi-net meetings and other government func-tions are held. He said that special chil-dren are messengers and ambassadors ofpeace and there is a need to pay due at-tention to their care, rehabilitation, edu-cation and training.

He said that Punjab government hasadopted an effective strategy for this pur-pose and education and training facilitieshave been improved in the centers forspecial children. Shahbaz Sharif said thata number of buses have been provided toeducational institutions of special childrenfor providing transport facility while tal-ented special children have also beengiven laptops.

He said that government has not onlyconstructed new institutions for training

and education of special children but 37computer labs have also been set up while99 special education centers have beenupgraded from primary to middle level.

He said that 36 centers for slow learn-ers have been established in various dis-tricts while a training college has been setup in Lahore for the training of teachersof deaf and dumb children. He said thatthough Punjab government has taken anumber of measures for the rehabilitationof special children but much is still to bedone. He said that it is time to resolvethat every effort would be made for sav-ing the children from down syndrome andrehabilitation of such children.

He commended the efforts of Al-JalalWelfare Trust for the rehabilitation ofdown syndrome special children.

The Chief Minister set up a commit-tee headed by Provincial Minister forSpecial Education and directed the com-mittee to visit the institutions set up byAl-Jalal Welfare Trust for the rehabilita-tion of down syndrome special childrenas well as other institutions for specialchildren in different districts. He said thatgovernment would extend all out assis-tance to these institutions working for re-habilitation of special children in the lightof recommendations of the committee.

Special children are ambassadorsof peace: Shahbaz

More relief itemssent to drought

affectees of TharOBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—On the direction of Chief Minister Punjab, secondconsignment of relief items including 5200 food hampers and16000 bottles of mineral water worth Rs. 11.125 million havebeen sent to drought affectees of Thar through 15 trucks.

President Pakistan Muslim League-N Lahore Pervaiz MalikMNA and Mehr Ishtiaq MPA dispatched these trucks under theirsupervision. Director General PDMA Muhammad Asif and otherofficers were also present on the occasion.

According to the details, each food hamper contains 10 kgatta, 2 kg sugar, 2 kg gram pulse, 2 kg Masoor pulse, 2 kg rice,2 kg ghee, 200 gram tea, 800 gram salt, 500 gram Chilli powderand one packet of matches.

Addressing on the occasion, Pervaiz Malik and Mehr Ishtiaqsaid that Punjab province has always played the role of elderbrother and took lead in relief activities at the time of naturalcalamity anywhere in the country. He said that on the directionof Chief Minister Punjab, PDMA will dispatch 30 more trucksof relief items on the next three consecutive days. Two Provin-cial Ministers and DG PDMA will distribute relief items amongdrought affectees in Thar under their supervision.

PU meeting lamentsover Thar situation

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof DrMujahid Kamran has expressed deep sense of sorrow over cau-salities in drought-hit Tharparkar desert and said that it wasdeplorable that many children had to lose their lives becauseof the negligence of Sindh government.

He was addressing a meeting to review arrangements forprovision of relief goods by Punjab University to the victimsof Thar drought in Sindh. Dean Faculty of Science Prof DrHaris Rashid, Dean Faculty of Economics and ManagementSciences Prof Dr Ehsan Malik, Dean Faculty of Oriental Learn-ing Prof Dr Ismatullah Zahid, Dean Faculty of Life SciencesProf Dr Tanveer Akhter and a large number of heads of variousteaching and non-teaching departments were present on theoccasion. Addressing the ceremony, Dr Mujahid Kamran saidthat it was very unfortunate that we had to face such situationdespite having prior intimation and resources.

He said that it was the tradition of the current PU adminis-tration to play its role when the nation faced crises and disas-ters. He said that PU set up exemplary relief camps to facili-tate displaced people of Swat valley in Sawabi and providedrelief goods to flood victims in South Punjab.

Found guiltyof throwing

acid on loverSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Lahore High Court(LHC) Complaint Cell on Mon-day has disposed off its notice“female homeopathic doctor at-tacked her lover with acid” aspolice report has been submit-ted in the Anti-Terrorism Courtand was sent to judicial lock up.As the needful has been doneand for the time being no fur-ther directions are required bythe Cell on administrative side.

According to details,Muhammad Naveed Ahmed,24, of Faisal Town in MianChannu had an affair with Dr.Naheed Chaudhry, 28, who rana private clinic in Chak 114/15-L. He had first met her when hevisited her clinic for treatmentof his skin allergy. Naveed’sparents had recently arrangedhis marriage with his cousin, buthe had not disclosed this to Dr.Naheed and she learnt aboutNaveed’s wedding through acommon friend. The next day,Naheed called Naveed at herclinic. As soon as he entered theclinic, she threw acid at his faceand fled away. However, hemanaged to save his body, buthis face was badly hurt. Victimwas taken to a private clinic,from where he was referred tothe Tehsil Headquarters Hospi-tal Mian Channu. Doctors treat-ing him said that a part of hisface had burned and was at riskof losing vision in one eye.

LHC staysyoung doctors

sackingSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Justice KhalidMehmood Khan of LahoreHigh Court (LHC) on Mon-day was informed during theproceedings of a case thatPunjab government wantedthe doctors to sign bond bar-ring them from marrying aforeigner and taking leave forthree years.

They were also to be barredfrom applying for transfer tosome other station.

The Health Department hasthe right to sack them during thefirst three years of service.

It was prayed before thecourt that signing of such affi-davit was against the law andthose refusing to sign wereabout to be fired.

Int’lconference

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—“Pakistan has be-come a hub of terrorist activi-ties so there is a dire need ofrealizing the world that Paki-stanis are moderate people andtaking this mission in view fa-mous artists will stage dramasto raise soft image of the coun-try in a conference to be heldin Stockholm on March 23.”this was revealed by VB Me-dia chairman Mabs Ahmedwhile talking to media here onMonday.

Mabs Ahmed said Paki-stanis artists will stage dramasduring this conference wherethey will create awareness aboutour cultural heritage which is thetorch bearer of moderation, lib-eration and non-violence.

Turkish delegationcalls on PU VC

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—A delegation ofTurkey’s Afyon Kocatepe Uni-versity consisting of its ViceSecretary Prof Dr KenanCagan, Assistant Prof Depart-ment of Mechatronics Engi-neering, Technology Dr BarisGokce and Faculty of Veteri-nary Medicine Dr AbdurRahman called on PU VC DrMujahid Kamran on Monday athis office.

PU Registrar Prof DrAmin Athar, Director ExternalLinkages Dr MariaMaldonado and deans of vari-ous faculties were also presenton the occasion. The meetingstressed the need to enhancecollaboration in various aca-demic spheres and exchangeprograms and issued variousissues of mutual interest.