ISLAMABAD: Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani paid a farewell call on Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif at Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.

Is ANP at the verge of collapse?

THE Awami NationalParty that is yet to absorbnumber of blows it has

been receiving in the past, wasconfronted with an extremelyawkward situation when theformer provincial president ofthe party and widow of ANPRehber and veteran politicianKhan Abdul Wali Khan (late)also revolted against the partyleadership casting serious ap-prehensions on the integrity,honesty and the political acu-

men of the incumbents. She hasalso announced to stage a come-back in the active politics to savethe party which is at the “vergeof destruction at the hands of in-competent and corrupt leaders”

The political observers be-lieve this new development wasdestined to cause serious dent tothe ANP that is already fightingfor its survival. The Awami Na-tional Party, that ruled the prov-ince for five years in the previ-ous government, received majorblow in the May 11 general elec-tions when it was literally re-duced to a regional Party after it

could bag only three seats in theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa and a loneNational Assembly seat.

While cracks had startedappearing in the Party and theWali Khan family, the ANP re-ceived yet another blow whenthe senior ANP leader andformer federal Minister for com-munication and Begum Nasim’sbrother Azam Khan Hoti cameup with a barrage of accusationsand disclosures in the last weekof October charging the ANPpresident Asfandyar Wali andprovincial president AfrasiyabKhattak of receiving billions of

rupees from America for serv-ing latters interest and strikinga secret deal. He also accusedthe incumbent ANP leaders ofcausing irreparable loss to theparty saying she was left withno option but jump into activepolitics to rejuvenate the Bachakhan and Wali Khan Party.

And last but not the leastwas the revolt of Begum NasimWali Khan against the party ledby non else but her son. Hold-ing the ANP leadership respon-sible for all the evils includingcrushing defeat in May 11 gen-

Continued on Page 7

SituationerTariq Saeed

Continued on Page 7

SC orders presentation of 35 missing persons on Dec 2FC running parallel government in Balochistan

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The SupremeCourt of Pakistan on Thursdaydirected defence minister toproduce 35 missing personsbefore it on December 2 whowere allegedly detained by fed-eral law enforcement agencies.A five-judge bench headed byChief Justice of PakistanIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhryand other members includ-ingJustice Jawad S Khuwaja Jus-tice Khiliji Arif Hussain and

Justice Amir Hani Muslim is-sued direction while hearing dif-ferent cases related to missingpersons at the apex court’sKarachi registry.

Defence secretary told thecourt that information regardingYaseen Shah, a missing personof Mardan was un-known tothem. The bench took exceptionto his statement and observedthat there was evidence to estab-lish that Yassen was picked upby agencies. The bench directedhim to give written undertaking

that they don’t have informationregarding Yassen Shah. De-fence minister KhawajaMuhammad Asif appeared be-fore the court and assured that itwould soon resolve the missingpersons issue. He submitted thatimportant development hadbeen made in the case relatingto missing persons while legis-lation in this regard was also inthe process. Asif said 738 miss-ing persons have been found.

Expressing extreme displea-sure against federal authorities

Kayani hands over Pak Armycommand to new chief today

Gen Rashad takes charge as CJCSCRAWALPINDI —OutgoingArmy chief General AshfaqParvez Kayani would hand overthe command of Pakistan Armyto the new Army today.

Army Chief General RaheelSharif today.In this connection, a change ofcommand ceremony would beheld at General Headquarters inRawalpindi.

Outgoing Chief of ArmyStaff General Ashfaq ParvezKayani would hand over thecommand of Pakistan Army tothe new Army Chief. General

Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ends histenure today after six years ofserving as head of the powerfulmilitary.

When Gen Ashfaq ParvezKayani retires from military ser-vice on Friday, it would not justbe the end of the career of ahigh-profile general ranked lastyear by Forbes as the world’s28th most powerful man. Theday will also mark the firstchange in command of the armysince the country returned todemocracy in 2008.

Kayani, known as the ‘quiet

general of Pakistani politics,’has been given much credit forresisting the temptation tomeddle in politics despitePakistan’s frequent security,economic, power and politicalcrises.

Kayani was appointed armychief by former military rulerPervez Musharraf in 2007 andreceived an unprecedentedthree-year extension from pre-mier Yousuf Raza Gilani in2010.

During his six years tenureContinued on Page 7

President, PMlaud servicesof ex-COAS

ISLAMABAD—The outgoingChief of Army Staff GeneralAshfaq Parvez Kayani paid afarewell call on PresidentMamnoon Hassain and PrimeMinister Muhammad NawazSharif separately here onThursday.

The Prime Minister laudedthe services rendered by Gen-eral Kayani for defence of thecountry and strengthening ofdemocracy.

Gen Kayani’stenure as ‘most

powerfulman’ ends

I S L A M A B A D — G e n e r a lAshfaq Parvez Kayani endshis tenure today after six yearsof serving as head of the pow-erful military.

When Gen Ashfaq ParvezKayani retires from militaryservice on Friday, it would notjust be the end of the careerof a high-profile generalranked last year by Forbes as

Lt GeneralHaroon

Aslam resignsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The seniormost general, Lt GeneralHaroon Aslam tendered hisresignation Thursday and sentthe letter to the Defence Min-istry from GHQ.

Lt Gen Haroon Aslam reg-istered his silent protest by notattending the prime minister’sdinner on Wednesday night.Sources claim that the corridors

Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7

Stop praisingTendulkar, TTPwarns mediaMIRANSHAH—Tehrik-i-TalibanPakistan warned country’s mediato stop praising Indian cricketlegend Sachin Tendulkar, whoretired this month after aglittering 24-year career. A TTPspokesman said Pakistanisshould get behind their embattledcaptain Misbah-ul-Haq, eventhough he was a “substandardand low-level player”.

Newspapers and TVstations across South Asia havebeen plastered with tributes tomaster batsman Tendulkar, whobowed out on November 16 asthe world’s leading run-scorerin both Test and one-daycricket. Pakistan and Indiashare one of the fiercestrivalries in world sport and thenear-universal outpouring ofpraise for Tendulkar, the onlyman to score 100 internationalcenturies, was a rare moment ofagreement.—Online

30,000medicines pricesup by 15 pcISLAMABAD—Ministry ofHealth has raised prices of atleast 30,000 medicines sayingprices of life saving drugs willremain unchanged.

However, it did notmention that the prices of lifesaving drugs were raised lastyear on the pressure ofpharmaceutical firms.

The price was surged afterthe recommendations from theNational Drug Authority of thecountry.

All pharma firms andministry officials have beenconsulted before the soaringof the prices of medicines,which the ministry claimedhad not see surge since2001.

Up to 15 percentincrease has to be paid to thepharma industry, which isalready enjoying an unparal-leled profit rate, by peoplenow to medicate their lovedones.—Online

Continued on Page 7

and FC over non-recovery ofmissing persons, the benchobserved that FC force wasrunning parallel to the provin-cial government and was do-ing whatever they want. ChiefJustice of Pakistan JusticeIftikhar Muhammad ChaudhryThursday said that the FrontierCorps had established a paral-lel government in Balochistan.Balochistan Chief Ministeralso sated on one occasion thatthe Frontier Corps was not

ISLAMABAD—Election Com-mission of Pakistan (ECP) hasdeferred Local Bodies (LB)polls schedule for Punjab beingthe delimitation process of con-stituencies incomplete.

As per media reports ECPwas to issue election schedulein respect of Punjab and Sindhon November, 29 but no formali-ties including issuance of noti-fication on delimitation weremet by government of Punjab.

Election schedule will beissued on completion of delimi-tation of constituencies processin Punjab and no LB pollsschedule will now be issued onNovember 29 for this province.

ECP sources said Sindh hasheld out assurance in connectionwith completion of all preparationstill the evening and schedule in re-spect of Sindh will be issued to dayif preparations are completed in theprovince.—Online

Punjab LB pollsschedule deferred

KABUL—The Afghanpresident’s push to delay a se-curity pact with the U.S. hasundermined confidence inAfghanistan’s future, testing in-ternational support for the coun-try at a crucial moment, theU.S.-led coalition’s top com-mander said.

U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Jo-seph Dunford warned that Presi-dent Hamid Karzai’s failure to

quickly sign the agreementcould weaken the Afghaneconomy, embolden thecountry’s powerful neighborsand ultimately lead to the col-lapse of the country’s securityforces. “I don’t know if he fullyrealizes the risks,” Gen. Dunfordsaid in an interview with TheWall Street Journal. “He cer-tainly understands it from anAfghan perspective.—INP

US Gen warns Karzaion Afghanistan’s future

Continued on Page 7

Startling exposure of CIAStation Chief ‘Craig Osth’

AKHTAR JAMAL

ISLAMABAD—The name of thealleged CIA Station ChiefIslamabad revealed as “CraigOsth” by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on November 27th 2013is said to be an American offi-cial who had been earlier iden-tified as Craig Peters Osth, whoworked as the CIA Station Chiefin Brazil back in 1999.

The name of CIA StationChief was first leaked by a Bra-

zilian magazine “Carta Capital”which put out a story related touncovering involvement of CIAofficials bugging the telephonesof the then Brazilian PresidentFernando Enrique Cardoso.

Accordingly to U.S. Con-gressional Record of the 110thCongress (2007-08) listed CraigPeters Osth as “Consular Offic-ers and Secretaries in the Dip-lomatic Service of the UnitedStates of America”. At the timeit was then reported that Craig

Peters Osth hailed from Vir-ginia, United States.

An internet search resultshowed there is only one indi-vidual named ‘Craig P. Osth’who was the resident of 11641Charter Oak Ct, Apartment 30,Reston,VA-20190.

A report dated 4th October1974 said that an American offi-cial named as “Craig PetersOsth” worked with the then U.S.Secretary of State Henry

Continued on Page 7

ISLAMABAD—Both govern-ment and Opposition haveagreed to introduce amendmentsin laws of Federal Public Ser-vice Commission (FPSC) pav-ing a way for appointment ofJustice (Retd.) RanaBhagwandas as new Chief Elec-tion Commissioner (CEC).

Well placed sources toldINP on Thursday in a meetingbetween Leader of the Opposi-tion in the National Assembly

Khursheed Ahmed Shah andFinance Minister Ishaq Dar,both finally agreed on the nameof Rana Bhagwandas for cov-eted CEC slot. Sources said thatdirectives have been issued tothe law ministry for scraping ofthe legal impediments to facili-tate appointment of new CEC.It should be mentioned that af-ter amendment in FPSC Act2000, ban was imposed on an

Bhagwandas appointment as new CEC

Govt, opposition toamend FPSC laws

Continued on Page 7

Sindh govt cancelslicences of

46 arms dealersKARACHI—Sindh’s home de-partment on Thursday cancelledlicenses of as many as 46 armsdealers in Karachi.

According to a private TVchannel, the provincial homedepartment had sought detailsand record about arms and am-munition that was sold byaround 120 dealers operating inKarachi.

Out of those, 46 dealersfailed to provide details andrecord of selling various typesof arms and bullets. Sindhhome department subsequentlycancelled licenses of those 46dealers with immediate ef-fect.—Online

Shaukat Aziz getsGlobal Islamic

FinanceLeadership award

OBSERVER REPORT

DUBAI—Former Prime Minis-ter of PakistanShaukat Azizwas awardedthe Global Is-lamic FinanceL e a d e r s h i pAward 2013 atan impressiveceremony inDubai hosted

by Global Islamic FinanceAwards in collaboration withWorld Islamic Retail BankingConference.

Speaking at the largely at-tended event Shaukat Aziz saidthe Muslim Ummah is blessedwith many assets which includehuman, financial, natural and in-frastructure resources whichprovide a strong base for growthif accompanied by good gover-nance, structural reforms andeffective policies.

Islamic banking is growingrapidly and its assets are ex-pected to reach two trillion dol-lars in the near future. This is animpressive record with furtherpotential for Shariah compliantproducts in and outside the Mus-lim world. Islamic Bankingproducts include Banking,Funds, Sukuk, Takaful whichoffer substantial potential forgrowth and development withinand outside the Muslim world.

Continued on Page 7

SBP suspendsGohar ExchangeCompany licenseAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—The State Bankof Pakistan in order to ensurestability of Pakistan rupee hastaken a stern view of thoseforeign exchange companiesviolating the forex rules.

In this respect State Bankof Pakistan has suspended withimmediate effect the license ofM/s Gohar ExchangeCompany-B (Pvt) Limited tillfurther orders on account ofviolations of State Bank’s rulesand regulations.

The said ExchangeCompany, its Head Office andbranches have been debarredfrom undertaking any kind ofbusiness activity during thesuspension period.

At the moment, thedepressed forex reserves with MQM slams Sindh

govt for manipulatingLocal Body polls

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Members of theCentral Coordination Commit-tee of the Muttahidda QuamiMovement (MQM) Dr FarooqSattar, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqiand Khalid Sultan said that theillegal and cheap resorts adoptedby the Sindh government re-garding local body electionswere against the spirit of democ-racy and Sindh government hadeven violated the constitution inorder to maintain their mo-nopoly in the upcoming localbodies elections.

They expressed these viewsduring their mass contact cam-paign at Shah Faisal colony,Orangi town and New Karachiyesterday while addressing dif-ferent gathering and talking tothe area’s members from busi-ness community.

On this occasion, Parlia-mentarians Mehboob Alam,Saifuddin Khalid, MohammedHussain, Nishat Zia, IrtizaFarooqi and members of KTCwere present.

7 gunned downin Karachi

KARACHI—Seven more peopleincluding a former MQMworker were killed here in dif-ferent incidents on Thursday.

According to details, a ho-tel owner Abdullah was gunneddown on resisting a robbery at-tempt in Kashmir Colony in ju-risdiction of Mehmoodabad po-lice station.

Forty year old RafaqatHassan was gunned down whilehe was sitting along the roadside near foot ball ground atChanaser Goth Railway cross-

Continued on Page 7

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD— Prime MinisterMian Nawaz Sharif on Thurs-day announced a package of in-centives to attract investmentand promote tax payment cul-ture. He unfolded its salient fea-tures during his address to mem-bers of the business communityin Islamabad. Prime MinisterMian Nawaz Sharif proposed toset up Prime Minister’s advisorycouncil on business and agricul-ture to debate and formulate vi-

able policies for these sectors.The Prime Minister said

ministers and officials as well asrepresentatives of the businessand agriculture communityshould sit together at least oncein three months through theseforums for consultations and ef-fective coordination. He said Pa-kistan has huge potential interms of resources and man-power and there is no reason itshould not grow expeditiouslyprovided prudent policies areformulated and imple-mented.

Mian Nawaz Sharif recalledthat nationalization of 1972 wasa serious setback to the indus-trial development of the coun-try. He said had that momentumnot broken‚ the exports wouldhave touched hundreds of bil-lions of dollars as against thefigure of 25 billion dollars to-day. During his address he saidthat the government wouldforego the requisite re-quirement of asking for thesource of investment, if they are

PM sets up BusinessAdvisory Council

Reforms package to promote investment, taxpayment culture announced

Continued on Page 7

QUETTA: Relatives of a woman patient shifting her to private hospital as doctors of govern-ment-run hospital on strike against non-recovery of abducted Dr Munaf Tareen.

HYDERABAD: Bomb disposal squad personnel swiping after a huge gas explosion in aBungalow of Latifabad in which 3 people were injured.

SALAHUDDIN HAIDER

WHILE a debate is already on as to thetiming of General

Pervez Musharraf’s trial fortreason, yetanother in-t e r e s t i n gp h e n o m -enon isabout to un-fold whichmay havedeep impacton thePakistan’s political life. Theretirement of chief justiceIftikhar Chaudhury on De-cember 12, is being awaitedwith considerable keenness.He has been a lone warrior torid the society of corruptionand enforce rule of law, butthe success has only been par-tial. The common man wasgenerally happy but influen-tial segments—the army,politicians and the bureaucratwere clearly unnerved.

The Zardari governmenttried its best to ignore judge-ments from his court, but theNawaz Sharif administration, as his successor too, has notbeen very enthusiastic either.A constitution amendment billto extend his term in office fortwo years beyond the age of65, was seen as an eye wash.The ruling party never reallytried to save the intended leg-islation from being thrown out

of the parliament.Born in 1948 in the south-

western backward province ofBalochistan, Chaudhury had hadhis failings, the biggest being en-dorsing Pervez Musharraf’s mili-tary rule of October 1999. Yet an-other blot on his career was tak-ing oath as supreme court judgeon a constitution defaced by theformer strongman, when five ofhis colleagues, including the thenchief justice, SaeeduzzamanSiddiqi, had refused to do so.

A Musharraf mistake, sug-gested by his hand-picked primeminister Shaukat Aziz, to forciblyremove him from the coveted of-fice in March 2007, was resistedby him. He knew that, as head ofthe country’s highest judicial fo-rum, he enjoyed constitutionalprotection. He and his familywere house arrested, and com-pletely disconnected with theoutside world. That broughtabout lawyers agitation whichsoon developed into a massmovement, and was recorded inhistory books as the biggest law-yers movement of Pakistan.

Gaining strength from thetremendous public support andhis own legal fraternity,Chaudhury when restored be-cause of a long march by NawazSharif, changed himself com-pletely. Months of incarcerationand humiliation by the army hadtaught him a lesson that the jobof a judge was to provide reliefto the people, and not be seen asan ineffective wing of the admin-

istration.Within a few days of rein-

statement, he launched a crusadeto clean the administration of themaladies destroying it. His effortsbrought back quite a huge amountof stolen money back to the trea-sury. A number of senior civil ser-vants, and even those in the armywere changed, retired, or jailed.Some of them were brought backfrom self exiles under his ordersto face the consequences of thekind they had not even dreamt ofin life before. The army and itselite intelligence wing, the ISI,treating themselves as unchal-lenged masters of the country, toohad to face music, when snubbedin his courtroom for picking uppersons and keeping them in il-legal custody. A three-star Gen-eral, serving as defence secretaryafter retirement, was ordered toappear before him, and servedcontempt notice for disobeyingthe court to produce these “miss-ing” persons.

The army’s plea that theirpersonnel were governed by spe-cial army act, and can not be triedin civilian court, stood rejected.Chaudhury was furious earierthis week and ordered the armyto produce a group of 35 persons,taken from jail to unknown placesby the military. “If you don’t dothat within 48 hours, I will sum-mon the Prime Minister to an-swer as to what kind of adminis-tration was he running?” hiswarning was clear, reminding thepeople that he had already re-

moved Yusuf Reza Gilani frompremiership for refusing tobring back some 60 million USdollars, stacked in Swiss Banksby former president, AsifZardari.

Critism from a handful butreputed figures like AitzazAhsan, and Asma Jehangir, bothformer supreme court Bar Presi-dents, and known human rightactivists, that Chaudhury wasrunning a parallel administra-tion at the cost of the litigantpublic, was shrugged off. Hepersevered with his mission,warning that courts in Pakistanknew their responsibilities, andwill continue with the task hehad set for them, even after hisretirement in two weeks time.

Whether this will reallyhappen remains to be seen.Most lawyers doubt that the roleplayed by Iftikhar Chaudhury,may not be fully followed, andthe judges taking his seat, willperhaps prefer to go by thebook. That feeling in itself, hasbeen a matter of immense re-lief for the military, high gov-ernment officials, and politi-cians, generally considered tobe masters of the people, insteadof being their servants as em-ployees paid from tax payersmoney. Since a number of cor-ruption cases, involving fabu-lous sums of money, remainuninvestigated perhaps will beshelved. Coming weeks, andnext four to five months, there-fore, will be worth watching.

Chief Justice retirement a worthwatching development

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Till the use, reuseand misuse of syringes contin-ues, health experts do not see thegovernment winning the battleagainst the spread of hepatitis Cvirus in Pakistan.

In a public awareness semi-nar on hepatitis C, held here atthe University of Health Sciences(UHS) on Thursday, Pakistan’s’leading liver and gastroenterol-ogy physician and PrincipalGujranwala Medical CollegeGujranwala, Prof Aftab Moshinsaid that out of country’s 200million, an estimated 16 to 148million are infected with variousforms of hepatitis viruses.

“Pakistan has the highestnumber of patients with chronicliver disease in the world”, saidProf Aftab Mohsin who is alsothe former national programmemanager of the Prime Minister’sProgramme for Prevention andControl of Hepatitis (which hasnow been devolved to the prov-inces).

9 out of 10 injections administeredin Pakistan are unnecessary

He said that all evidence forthe spread of hepatitis C virus(HCV) points to the use of non-sterile syringes in Pakistan.

“Annually, an estimated 16billion therapeutic injections areadministered the world over outof which 800 to 900 million areadministered in Pakistan only”,Prof Aftab said adding that nineout of 10 injections administeredin the country are unnecessary.

He said that doctors particu-larly those practising in smalltowns and rural areas do obligepatients when they demand in-fusion drips and injections.

“It’s not just quacks, I holdqualified dentists and medicalpractitioners responsible for un-safe practices of administeringunnecessary injections, and us-ing non-sterile syringes orneedles”, said Mohsin.

Prof Aftab Mohsin furthersaid that unfortunately there isno legislation in place to banreuse and misuse of syringes asthere is no law to date that pro-hibits quacks from practising.

Prof Arif M. Siddiqui, Presi-dent Pakistan Society of Gastro-enterology and professor ofmedicine at Allama Iqbal Medi-cal College, Lahore, said thatcoupled with poverty and illit-eracy, other reasons for the spreadof what is known as a silent epi-demic (as the symptoms do notshow until 15 to 20 years later),are use of non-sterilized razorsand dental instruments by road-side barbers and dentists and con-taminated blood transfusions.

He added that the risk of in-fection could be reduced by tak-ing precautionary measures andcreating awareness amongmasses. UHS acting vice chancel-lor Prof Mohammad Tahir saidthat around 66 per cent populationof Pakistan is living in rural areasand they are ignorant about thetransmission of viral infections.

UHS Director of Centre forInnovation in Learning and Teach-ing and noted liver surgeon Dr ArifRashid Khawaja stressed the needof combine efforts to combat themenace of hepatitis C.

KKH reopenedfor traffic

IS L A M A B A D—KarakoramHighway was reopened for gen-eral traffic Thursday on the di-rectives of ChaudhryMuhammad Barjees Tahir, Fed-eral Minister for Kashmir Af-fairs and Gilgit-Baltistan. ChMuhammad Barjees Tahir haddirected Gilgit-Baltistan govern-ment to make coordinatedmechanism for the security ofcommuters on this highway.Special endeavours on the partof the Ministry and the provin-cial governments have ulti-mately brought about reopeningof the strategically importantroad.

The KKH had been closed forgeneral traffic due to security rea-sons after Rawalpindi incident onAshura. Ch. Muhammad BarjeesTahir has appealed the people ofGilgit-Baltistan and KhyberPakhtunkhawa to observe inter-faith harmony to foil the nefari-ous designs of miscreants and tohelp the government fighting suchelements. He said that FederalGovernment, by the help of pro-vincial governments, was tryingto ensure fool-proof security of theregion by raising a specializedcompany of Gilgit-BaltistanScouts. —APP

37 powerpilferers held

FAISALABAD—The FESCO in-telligence team has claimed toarrest 37 consumers red-handedwhile stealing electricity directfrom Wapda main lines throughdifferent modes.

Deputy Director IntelligenceFESCO Maj.(R) Akhtar Awan toldhere on Thursday that the powerpilferers were nabbed fromKhurarianwala subdivision,Gattwala Subdivision, JaranwalaRoad subdivision, Jaranwala Citysubdivision, Garden Colony sub-division and FESCO City subdi-vision. The FESCO teams also re-moved the electricity supply metersof these pilferers and heavy finesare being imposed on them besidesforwarding complaints againstthem in the respective police sta-tions for registration of cases, headded.—APP

SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Qunli HAN ,Di-rector Division of Ecologicaland Earth Sciences , Man andBiosphere Programme(MAB) ofUNESCO called on Science&Technology Minister Mr.Zahid Hamid here in Islamabadand discussed the UN globaldevelopment network’s pro-grammers in Pakistan, espe-cially the ongoing Man and Bio-sphere (MAB) programme ledby Ministry of Science andTechnology (MoST) throughPakistan Science Foundation(PSF).

Mr. Kamran ali Qureshi,Secretary Ministry for Scienceand Technology, Dr.K.kNagata,Director UNESCO

UNESCO assures approvalof Biosphere reserves

Islamabad, Dr, Khalil Ahmad,Chairman Pakistan sciencefoundation were also present inthe meeting.

They discussed the UN glo-bal development network’s pro-grammers in Pakistan, espe-cially the ongoing Man and Bio-sphere (MAB) programme ledby Ministry of Science andTechnology (MoST) throughPakistan Science Foundation(PSF).

Pakistan has only two Bio-sphere Reserves 1) The LalSohanra National Park locatedin Cholistan Desert which wasapproved by UNESCO in 1977and 2) the Juniper forest ofZiarat, believed to be the sec-ond largest juniper Forest of itskind in the world, which was

PESHAWAR—Chief of hisown faction of JamiatUlema-i-Islam, MaulanaFazlur Rehman Thursdayurged the government to takeconcrete step for endingdrone strikes in country’stribal areas.

Speaking to media per-sons after grand Jirga,Maulana said that drone at-tacks have been affectinglives of tribal people sincemany years added that theJirga has recorded its protestagainst drone strikes in FATA

Fazl urges govt to stop drone attacksarea.

He demanded the govern-ment to take solid steps to con-vince United States for not car-rying out drone strikes insidePakistan’s territory added thatthese attacks are open violationof country’s sovereignty.

Maulana said grand Jirgacould play its positive role torestore peace in FATA and restof the country.

Maulana Fazlur Rehmansaid that the Jirga members wassit to deliberate upon chalkingout line of action as to how,

when and where to hold talkswith the militants.

He said Jirga wants a per-

manent solution of terrorism inthe country and for this purposeimmediate actions are need ofthe hour.

Maulana said both civilianand military leadership shouldcome on a same page to makea common policy to tackle ter-rorism problem in the coun-try.

Fazlur Rehman said the na-tional leadership has givenunanimous mandate to thetribal Jirga for holding talkswith the Pakistani Talibanleadership.

He thanked the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader-ship for giving positive re-sponse to the peace efforts andsaid that the Taliban leadersdemonstrated sagacity by wel-coming formation of the grandtribal Jirga.

He said banned Taliban out-fit TTP had also accepted rec-ommendations made by thetribal grand Jirga added that thegovernment should consult theJirga to move forward in wakeof dialogue process withTaliban.—Online

ISLAMABAD—The State Min-ister for Housing and WorksBarrister Usman Ibrahim onThursday informed the com-mittee that housing policy2013 was finalized to presentit to the cabinet for approval.

He said government willconstruct 0.5 million housesfor low income people in thecountry so that they have theirown houses to live.

The committee met underthe chairmanship of SeedulHassan Mandoukhail. TheMinister said that governmentwas giving priority to solvingthe housing problem in thecountry by ensuring afford-able and cost-effective hous-ing units to the ordinary citi-zens.

Housing policy 2013ready for approval

The Senate Standing Com-mittee on Housing and Worksexpressed serious reservationsover the illegal occupation ofgovernment owned housesasked for a strict action as perrules and report to committeein next meeting.

The Joint Secretary ofHousing and Works Ministryinformed that act ion wastaken against the illegal occu-pants of government ownedhouses and 262 house werevacated and the remaininghouses will be vacated as soonas possible.

He said 474 houses aresublet and 1066 illegal occu-pants were issued notices. Thecommittee was also informedthat around one thirds of

allottees were residing in gov-ernment houses illegally inthe federal capital.

The committee was in-formed that 154 governmentflats had been illegally occu-pied by Islamabad Police of-ficials and in so many casesthere were stay orders againstthe vacation of these flats.

The committee directedthe officials to review the sta-tus of illegal occupants ingovernment owned houses.

The committee appreci-ated the steps taken by theState Minister BarristerUsman Ibharim for improve-ment in the Ministry of Hous-ing and works and his effortsfor resolving housing issuesof the people.—APP

Cold, dry weatherto prevail

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Meteo-rological Department (PMD) onThursday forecast cold and dryweather for most parts of thecountry during the next fewdays.

According to the synopticsituation, continental air wasprevailing over most parts of thecountry. The weather would re-

main cold and dry in most partsof Punjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sindh,Balochistan, Kashmir and GilgitBaltistan during the next 24hours.

The lowest minimum tem-peratures recorded during thelast 24 hours were Skardu - 6 C,Parachinar -4 C, Gupis, Kalat -3 C, Gilgit, Kalam -2 C, andChitral -1 C.—APP

approved in May, 2013.The Minister appraised the

delegation that Pakistan hadprepared requisite documents,including a Management Plan,for approval of the KarakoramPamir Biosphere Reserve inGilgit Baltistan which would bethe third Biosphere Reserve inPakistan.and working for theKhirthar in Sindh provincewhich would be the fourth Bio-sphere Reserves in the country.

The UNESCO delegationassured their support for gettingthe approval of the KarakoramPamir Biosphere Reserve inGilgit Baltistan which would besigned during the scheduledvisit of the Director General ofUNESCO to Pakistan in June2014.

National Commissionon Curriculum soon

ISLAMABAD—State Minister forInterior, Education, Training andStandard in Higher Education,Engineer Baleegh-ur-Rehman saidthe federation has proposed theconstitution of a National Commis-sion for Curriculum to ensure uni-form syllabus in the country. Ad-dressing the Vice Chancellors ofUniversities, he said the proposedcommission would give represen-tation to all the provinces and thefederation. The commission wouldbe headed by all the provinces andthe federal government by turn.

The education budget wouldbe enhanced upto 4 percent ofGDP from 2 percent. A mini-mum standard of syllabus forprivate schools is also impera-tive. Government would en-hance the budget of Higher Edu-cation Commission despite dif-ficult economic conditions asper manifesto of PML-N.—APP

State institutionsstand strengthenedTHE smooth and orderly transfer of command in the Pakistan Army

and appointment of the next Chief Justice of Pakistan would surelygo a long way in strengthening the state institutions. There is a

clearly laid down principle for appointment of the Chief Justice of Paki-stan on the basis of seniority but discretion of the Prime Minister in thematter of appointment of Services’ Chiefs has always triggered specula-tions but Wednesday’s decision of the Prime Minister has ended rumourmongering on the subject.

The appointments have generally been welcomed by almost all sec-tions of the society and notably the Opposition as well, which augurswell for the country. The approval of the decision stems from the factthat both the new Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and ChairmanJoint Chief of Staff Committee General Rashid Mahmood are thoroughprofessional with varied and rich experience that made them eligible tocommand one of the most shining force of the world. Both the GeneralOfficers come from families having proud military background and thenew COAS is younger brother of war hero Shabbir Sharif, recipient ofhighest gallantry award Nishan-e-Haider. Similarly, appointment of thenew CJP is based on pure merit and as per Constitutional requirements.As the state institutions now stand strengthened due to smooth changeof command, it is hoped that the country’s march on the road to stabilityand progress would be accelerated. While appreciating and welcomingthe new appointments, one must pay rich tribute to outgoing Army ChiefGeneral Ashfaq Parvez Kayani who played a key role during most criti-cal phase of the country’s history. He successfully commanded the Pa-kistan Army during peak of war on terror and the related security chal-lenges and it was in recognition of his contribution that he got a fulltenure extension in service. He also deserves credit for setting healthytradition of not meddling into political arena and instead concentratingon attainment of new professional standards in Pakistan Army. We hopethat his successor too would uphold these traditions.

Job quotas,murder of merit

IN a retrogressive development, Standing Committee of the NationalAssembly on Law and Justice, on Wednesday, approved with majority

vote Constitution 23rd Amendment Bill that envisages extension of jobquota for Provinces in the Federal Government for another 20 years. MQMjustly opposed the amendment but others supported it on the pretext ofremoving the sense of deprivation of the smaller Provinces.

In the first place the very concept of allocation of quotas for recruit-ment in the Federal Government runs contrary to the universally recog-nized and accepted principle of merit and therefore, should not havebeen included in the Constitution as a provision by its framers. How-ever, they did it for a specified period of ten years and the timeframeexpired in 1983 but since then the successive governments have beengoing for extension after extension just for the sake of political expedi-encies. The rationale offered for this murder of merit is that candidatesfrom backward areas would not be able to compete in open merit butthis also means utter failure of the governments in addressing the plightof people in such areas especially provision of educational opportuni-ties even after 67 years of independence, which is nothing but sheershameful. Continuation of the quota is also serving as a disincentive forstudents of the backward regions to work hard or excel as they get of-fers of recruitment even if they are placed at the bottom of the merit listand at the cost of those who are at the top but hail from other regions.Apart from other flaws in recruitment procedure, it is also because ofthe unjust provision of quota that is blamed for steep fall in standards ofsuperior services. Reins of a nuclear country of the size and potential ofPakistan should not be handed over to mediocre and therefore, there isneed to reconsider the proposed Constitutional amendment.

Poverty alleviationneeds new approach

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to provide $ 430 million to strengthen Benazir Income Support Programme

(BISP) to help reduce poverty among most vulnerable groups especiallywomen. It is a welcome support of the Bank, which shows its commit-ment to alleviate poverty in Pakistan.

Over the past several years, more people have gone below the pov-erty line due to economic slow down, unemployment and inflation. Mov-ing a person from a position of poverty, and in many cases hopelessness,to a position of economic self-sufficiency and self-worth is one of thehardest challenges we face as a society. The ability to positively impactnot just one person’s situation, but that of the whole family and ultimatelythe entire community, should be the ultimate goal. Over the past fiveyears, hundreds of billions of rupees have been distributed among de-serving people, majority of them were women to help them survive butthe situation has not improved that they are standing at the same placeand wait for the next release of their monthly stipends. These institutionshave been extending a helping hand but the money is used for meeting theimmediate needs of the poor. In order to address the problem, time hascome that institutions like BISP, Zakat and Baitul Mall should be revis-ited and run in a way that they contribute for the permanent empower-ment of those below the poverty line. The support through the BISP andother institutions is like a few drops of rain over a vast thirsty plain. Itwould be appropriate if allocations made for these programmes arechannelized in a way to provide jobs including self employment to themajority of the needy through skill development programmes to pro-mote the interests of the poor through income generation schemes. Weare confident that the new Chairman of BISP Mr Anwar Baig, havingvast experience and rightly perceived as a doer would transform theinstitution into a dynamic one. His voice is heard in the corridors ofpower and through a visionary approach he can ensure that poverty al-leviation is accorded high priority, which is need of the time.

Needed: A China-Japan hotline

Ninety per cent ofinspiration isperspiration.

Japan andChina:

Collisioncourse

IS it Europe before the firstworld war or the second? Analysts disagree, but all see the es-

calation of military threats betweenthe two industrial giants China andJapan over disputed islands in theEast China Sea with growing alarm.The latest crisis was caused byChina’s decision to extend its “airdefence identification zone” (ADIZ)over a group of uninhabited islandswhich Japan calls the Senkakus andChina knows as the Diaoyutai. Sev-eral overflights later, not least by apair of US B-52 bombers, and noth-ing much has changed, except thata hairtrigger that originally was tobe measured in hours and governedby the speed of boats, has now be-come a matter of seconds.

Few can say what prompted thelatest Chinese move. This is a timewhen the Chinese leader, XiJinping, is attempting to drive ma-jor economic reform and the an-nouncement may be a sop to themilitary, when its voice in the na-tional debate could be weakening.It is hard to avoid the conclusion,though, that the declaration was away of testing the waters for a re-action – which they duly got. Thestate-run China Daily accused Ja-pan and the US of overreacting,saying that if the world’s sole su-perpower needed multiple ADIZsto fend off perceived threats, Chinashould be allowed theirs. Besides,they claimed the measure was nottargeted at any particular country.This is not how it is seen in Japan,which has witnessed a growingnumber of confrontations, or “in-cidents”, over islands in whichBeijing showed little interest formuch of the last decade. For Japan,the dispute over the islands is partof a major naval push to extendChina’s maritime influence beyondthe first island chain of the Pacific.China claims the status quo waschanged by Japan’s decision tonationalise the islands. What theydon’t want to admit is that this wasdone to stop the islands being usedby Japanese nationalists on mad-cap flag waving stunts.

The land to which the islandsare closest is neither Japan norChina, but Taiwan – with whichTokyo has few problems. Last yearTaiwan showed the way out of thesedisputes by signing an agreementwith Tokyo which sidestepped theissue of sovereignty and divided thefisheries to mutual benefit. Thismodel, first applied in the North Sea,is the only rational way out of thesedisputes – although it is not one thatBritain is particularly keen on ap-plying to the Falklands. China andJapan agreed in 2008 to co-operateon the joint development of the EastChina Sea. Further talks have neverbeen pursued and, to date, not evena hotline exists between the twopowers to avert another incident inthe sea or in the air. It is time forpeople in China and Japan to turndown the volume of simplistic na-tionalist rhetoric and to pursue prag-matic dialogue. — The Guardian

*****

Protests inThailand

FOR the past three years, politics in Thailand has beendominated by a man who

hasn’t been in power for almost adecade yet who casts a long shadowover swathes of the electorate.Thaksin Shinawatra was the primeminister but has since been con-victed — the voracity of the evi-dence against him is at least ques-tionable — of corruption.

His sister is now the primeminister and has been fighting toclear his name through passage ofan amnesty bill — a law that hasbeen rejected by Thailand’s senate.But protests still continue fromthose opposed to passage of the law,with demonstrations targeting gov-ernment buildings on a rotatingbasis. Life in Bangkok is stalled bythese demonstrations while thenation’s economy is suffering be-cause of the government’s preoc-cupation with the political unrest.All sides in this dispute need to bearin mind that there is a long historyof Thailand’s military interveningto end political crises, with democ-racy being suspended for years at atime. If this impasse continues formuch longer, the troops may verywell be mobilised once more.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

A single spark can light aprarie fire”, was the lessontaught by Mao Zedong, the

creator of the Peoples Republic ofChina. History provides numerousexamples of the way in which asingle incident creates a chain ofconsequences that may ultimatelylead to disaster. An example is the1914-19 WW-I, which began afterArchduke Francis Ferdinand ofAustria was killed by GavriloPrincip in Sarajevo in 1914.

The cost of war has become in-tolerably high, such that the mosteffective way to destroy the econo-mies of Europe or the US would beto lure them into a conflict involv-ing ground forces. At an averagecost of $600,000 per soldier de-ployed on the field, NATO is finan-cially unable to bear the costs ofbattle even against ragtag groupssuch as the Taliban. Only againstmuch weaker - and conventional -forces such as those of SaddamiteIraq or Kaddafy-ruled Libya can thealliance prevail, and that only aslong as the conflict remains con-ventional.

Once irregulars enter the field,NATO is doomed to face attrition.Unlike in the case of Europe in theprevious century or Africa now,relatively few modern wars havetaken place in Asia between twocountries from the world’s largestcontinent. Rather, outside powershave sought to impose their will onAsian countries,as for exmple

France and subsequentlythe US in Vietnam or theUS and the UK in Iraq. Af-ter 1945,two countrieswhich had a long history oftension and conflict haveever once taken up armsagainst each other, despitebeing heavily-armedneighbours. Japan andChina have in fact become

significant economic partners ofeach other. After Taipei, Tokyo is thelargest external investor in China,with Japanese companies providingjobs to more than twenty millionChinese across the gamut of theroduction, distribution and servicelines of these enterprises.

China has also by far been thebiggest recipient of cash aid fromJapan,a s well as being given sev-eral technologies. Both economieshave formed a symbiotic relation-ship with each other, and any break-down of commercial ties would leadto immense economic pain for both.This is especially important forChina, for if growth falls below the6% level, there would almost cer-tainly be widespread unrest in thatcountry. The people of China areseeing the lavish manner in whichthe elite live their lives, and theywant a share of such dazzling pros-perity. In the past, the people ofChina were content to toil away at aprimitive standard of living but sincethe 1990s their concept of minimumacceptable needs has changed, andthey expect the Chinese CommunistParty (CCP) to deliver such a stan-dard of life in exchange for popularsupport. If Chairman (of the CCP)Mao was the creator of the PRC, itwas Deng Xiaoping who was the ar-chitect of the immense prosperitythat the country has witnessed dur-ing the previous three decades.

Deng de-emphasized the mili-tary and made it explicit that the use

of force or even the threat of forcewas off the table, save in extraordi-nary circumstances. The last warfought by China against any othercountry was in 1979,with Vietnam,and this when Deng had yet to es-tablish his supremacy over the Com-munist Party. Since then, there hasnot been a single war fought byChina. A frontier (that numerousNATO-funded or influenced thinktanks across the globe characteriseas “extremely tense” - the Sino-In-dian border) has in fact seen exactlyzero bullets fired across either sideduring the past five decades. Con-trast such an absence of conflict withNATO, especially after that militaryalliance’s post- 9/11 avatar of sav-ing the (rest of) the world.

The first response of majorNATO powers, especially France intheatres in Asia and Africa, where itboasted significant colonial posses-sions during the previous century ,isfirst the threat of force, followed bythe use of force. Had it not beenmade clear by President VladimirPutin that Moscow would not con-fine itself to words during theplanned NATO campaign againstSyria in early 2013 as took place inLibya two years before, but thatRussia would provide armed assis-tance to Bashar Assad, by now Dam-ascus would have followed Tripoliand Benghazi by being under the ef-fective control of groups that areideological cousins of Al Qaeda.

Deng’s insistence on peacefulmeans to resolve conflicts createdimmense goodwill for China. Al-though Jiang Zemin used a flurry ofmissiles in the mid-1990s to makethe point that Beijing had more pro-jectiles than Taipei, all that such ashow of force did was to ensure thatChen Sui-bian of the DemocraticProgressive Party, a trenchant criticof China, won the presidential elec-tion in Taiwan. It was Jiang whose

Awami League’s anti-ISI propaganda

AWAMI League’s incompetence and petty politicshave caused the current

murky political scenario inBangladesh. The League, which isinfamous not only for its Indianleanings but also for blindly takingdictations from India, has failed toaddress the problems of the impov-erished masses of Bangladesh.Awami League’s subservience toIndia is so dominant that the partyleadership feels obliged to kowtowdutifully to the Indians even whenthe Hindu extremists in Indian gov-ernment demand that Bangladeshfoul mouth both Pakistan and itsprime security agency, the ISI.

Indian interference in the foreignrelations of Bangladesh and med-dling in its internal affairs has resultedin political turmoil and sullied thesocial milieu that it is having farreaching effects. Myopic vision of theAwami League led government, cor-ruption of the political cadre, ineffi-ciency and self aggrandizement of thegovernment has blind sighted its lead-ership to an extent that they have be-come oblivious to the real issues andproblems of the Bangladeshi citizens.The negative aspect of this attitudeof the Awami League, currently rul-ing Bangladesh is that its masses re-main stuck in morass of ineptitudeof the leaders while the people havelost their trust over their rulers. AsBangladesh heads for fresh polls, itis quite predictable that owing to itspoor performance, incompetence andselfish approach to governance,

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tactics ensured Chen’s victory. HuJintao, who succeeded the Shang-hai tycoon as CCP supremo,changed course and used softpower and business carrots to woothe Taiwanese, a softening of stancewhich helped the pro-ChinaKuomintang (KMT) to win the lasttwo presidential elections.

While Hu Jintao was in officeuntil a year ago, the situation be-tween China and its neighbours wastranquil overall. However, duringhis final months in power, tensionsbegan to rise on the South Chinaseas issue, and these have reacheda dangerous flashpoint, withBeijing’s implied threat of forceagainst any military aircraft thatdoes not identify itself to Chineseauthorities before entering the vastairspace over the South China seas.The US has responded by sendingtwo B-52 bombers sans any notice,and Japan may follow suit. Shoulda Japanese airctaftbe brought downby an over-zealous Chinese pilot,the consequences may be grave,with the possibility that the incidentmay ignite a broader war, whichwould involve many of China’sneighbours What is needed is fortensions to be rolled back.

There is too much at stake forAsia to allow its two most advancedcountries to exchange bullets ormissiles against each other. Whatis needed are two hotlines, one con-necting the Prime Minister of Chinawith his Japanese counterpart, andthe other the military leadership ofboth countries. The time for suchinstant emergency communicationis now, before a tragedy occurs be-cause of an error of judgement ineither Beijing or Tokyo.—The writer is Vice-Chair,Manipal Advanced ResearchGroup, UNESCO Peace Chair &Professor of Geopolitics, ManipalUniversity, Haryana State, India.

Awami League is likely to berouted and rejected by the vot-ers. Bangladeshi citizens, evenif they lack in prosperity, theypossess political maturity andhave the acumen to see throughthe political manipulations of

the Awami League. Recent eventsand polling pundits’ observations in-dicate that Bangladeshis have losthope in Awami League bringingabout any positive change in theirpoverty ridden socio-economicstanding and status of deprivation.The political awareness of thefiercely independent and patrioticBangladeshis has caused them to losefaith and respect for Awami League,which has made their country into anIndian protégé and a subservient col-laborator of Hindu extremists.

On the other hand, AwamiLeague’s rival party, Begum KhaledaZia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) is likely to challenge the cur-rent incumbents in power AwamiLeague in the forthcoming elections.Fearing the impending loss in thepolls and feeling the pinch of the like-lihood of losing to BNP, the AwamiLeague has launched a venomouspropaganda campaign to malignBNP. The Awami League is insinu-ating that BNP leadership has linkswith ISI. In this malicious campaignof mudslinging, Awami League isbeing guided by its Indian mentors.The aim of their nervous slander op-eration is Pakistan bashing andsmearing ISI in the same style thatRAW, BJP and extremist Hindus tar-get and torment Pakistan. The elec-tion campaign of Awami League haslittle to show to its voters in terms ofprogress so perhaps at the bidding ofits Indian tutors; it has adopted thenegative route of inculcating hate andfalsely tarnishing the image of its

opponents: the BNP.Even a cursoryglance of the contents of the propa-ganda campaign carried byBangladeshi print media depicts slurand libellous allegations againstBegum Khaleda Zia and her familymembers. One such story claims thatMr. Tarique Rehman son of the BNPChairperson, Begum Khalida Zia tobe linked with ISI and receiving fi-nancial support from the Pakistani se-curity agency. The apparently malevo-lent slander is quoted to be sourcedfrom Bangladeshi Intelligence agency.The strategy is double edged; firstlyto instil doubts in the minds ofBangladeshi voters against BNP lead-ership especially since Mr. TariqueRehman is likely to take over the lead-ership of BNP from his mother(Begum Khalida Zia) and is a strongcontestant to win elections inBangladesh and secondly to appeaseAwami League’s Indian masters,whose sworn aim is to bring Pakistandown by hook or by crook. In the bar-gain, the Awami League expects to winthe elections despite its poor perfor-mance while in the seat of government.From Pakistan’s point of view, inter-nal affairs of Bangladesh are its ownproblem. Pakistan remains its wellwisher but deplores the aspersionsbeing cast on it and one of its presti-gious organizations the ISI.Bangladeshi media including colum-nists and academia should maintaina balance in their writings when theycriticize Pakistan for its alleged med-dling in its electoral process.

The people of Bangladesh reignsupreme in the final verdict as to whoshould rule them. It is neither for In-dia nor Pakistan to play theirfavourites. It is true that Bangladeshliberated itself from Pakistan with thehelp of India and as such AwamiLeague may be feeling obliged to lis-

ten to it. During the civil war thatraged in 1971, madness gripped bothsides i.e. the people of erstwhile EastPakistan and the Pakistan Army.Atrocities were committed by bothprotagonists and Bangladeshi politi-cians rake them up, whenever AwamiLeague is in power. However, thepeople of Bangladesh and Pakistanenjoy a special camaraderie whichcannot be breached through propa-ganda. It has been observed duringPakistan-India cricket matchesplayed on Bangladeshi grounds thatthe entire stadium supports Paki-stani players. The Indian team man-agement and political leadershiphas complained to Bangladeshi au-thorities time and again but the loveand respect for each other is sospontaneous that no amount of po-litical intervention can change it.

Under these circumstances, thecurrent wave of anti Pakistan pro-paganda by a desperate and belea-guered Awami League is not onlyin bad taste but is likely to backfireas majority of the Bangladeshis willsee through the ploy and reject theLeague in the elections. If some gull-ible persons do swallow the bait, thatwould be unfortunate.

On Pakistan’s part, its ForeignOffice should take cognizance ofthis naked aggression on the part ofAwami League to besmirch thereputation of Pakistan. Simulta-neously, Pakistani media must takeup the cudgels for its country andISI to protect its good name. Unfor-tunately, some members of Pakistanimedia are so dazzled by Indian pro-paganda that they are willing toswallow hook line and sinker anysmear against Pakistan. They needto see the reality.—The writer is retired PAF GroupCaptain and a TV talk show host.

Sultan M HaliEmail: sm_hali@yahoo.com

M D NalapatEmail: mgnalapat@gmail.com

GeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalGeopoliticalnotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from Indianotes from India

Voice of the People

Hope dies lastTAYYABA PARACHA

Often called underprivileged peopleof a poor terrorists-hit county, Paki-stanis do not seem to have a goodreputation in international world. Itcertainly has become a place whereno one cares people live or die andwhere people themselves feel nohesitation in putting their lives onstakes for money, passion and faith.Though it sounds miserable but ithas a positive aspect too. Who elsein the world is so fearless than us?A true strength of a person or a na-tion comes to exposure when theyhave nothing to lose. We certainlycome in that category.

When everything turns you indespair, you try a different perspec-tive to think on. Today, I see mycountry through a different eye. Theeye of hope and faith. Where yousee my country burnt down by sec-tarian violence and invaded by ter-rorists local and foreign, I see ourbrave and fearless forces sacrificingthe lives for us. Those brave armymen leaving their families behindwilling to die just so that the weakcan sleep fearlessly. Where you seecorrupt politicians and greedy land-lords doing horrible things for greed,I take a look on that honest farmerwho teaches his little boy honestyand truth lessons. Where the TV‘Talk Shows’ make us think the fu-ture is dark for us, I see in the eyesof people, optimism, passion andcourage to pass through the badphase. The people volunteering forgood causes and arranging eventsfor awareness all on their own, juston the belief that they can bring alittle change and the enthusiasticyouth striving to built a good inter-national image ; they are the realface of Pakistan.

The general stereotype impres-sion about us for being terrorists canbe removed by media showing theefforts of these people to the view-ers. The real spirit of patriotism canbe restored when people put on alittle faith in what they have. As hopedies the last, we will struggle untilthe end to see a peaceful and pros-perous Pakistan.—Via email

Improving indoorair naturally

KIRAN FAUZIA

If you were to ask people what theythought the highest risk from pol-luted air was – most people wouldanswer that it would be by a busyroad, or near a smoke-belching fac-tory, or some other urban environ-ment. Most would not answer “inthe home”. Now the home might notnecessarily contain the most pol-luted air of all – but part of the prob-lem is that people spend a great dealof time indoors, meaning greaterexposure to whatever might be inthe air.

Also, in the modern age of en-ergy saving, advanced insulation hasbecome a major goal – and manymodern homes are quite well sealed;meaning that if there are pollutantsin the air, they stay around forlonger. Did you know that indoor airis 2-5 times more polluted than out-door air? We are typically sur-rounded by manufactured syntheticproducts, many of which are knownto “off gas” – gradually exudingtoxic volatile chemicals such as ben-zene or formaldehyde. The EPA hasstated that indoor air quality is oneof the top 5 risks to public health.Our home environment has beendestroyed due to cleaners, air-freshners and other chemical prod-ucts. The three main household tox-ins of concern are: Benzene, Form-aldehyde, and Trichloroethylene.

Household products such as de-tergent, floor and furniture polish,paints, and various cleaning prod-ucts for glass, wood, metal, ovens,toilets, and drains may contain haz-ardous chemicals such as ammonia,sulfuric and phosphoric acids, dye,chlorine, formaldehyde and phenol.Air fresheners can also contain

The morning showsHINA HUSSAIN

What makes a morning more relaxing is when you see your favorite celebrity in morning showdiscussing their professional life experiences and answering to phone calls. Pakistani media has

tremendously polished the content of morning shows. Different channels broadcast different shows,which has made it more colorful and interesting for an individual who hates violence and crime. I re-member when I was a kid the only activity I enjoyed was to watch morning show with a bowl of cereal.But nowadays, the trends of morning shows have taken a new phase. The pioneer theme is to conductwedding ceremonies, match making, crime issues, divided and disturbed family issues and more alarm-ing is, the adult conversation which sometimes makes the show depressing and vulgar. Wearing all thatfancy dresses and dancing is not what the audience demand for, especially in the morning shows. Keep-ing aside the point of ratings, the idea of a morning show is badly spoiled and disfigured. There shouldbe something that deals with the main interest of housewives, like guide lines for educated girls abouttheir online career, tips to remain fit and healthy, interviews with doctors regarding the health issues(pregnant ladies), interviews of female professionals, which would educate the housewives in prudenthouse keeping and encourage the young ones towards a better sense of direction. It has been observedthat morning shows are the best way to communicate and to stay update. But still a large number of thewomen lack behind the updates and they don’t usually love to watch, just because of the costumes andthe conversation is so cheap and hopeless and even devoid of decency. There should be a proper contentscheme for these shows so that it is worth watching and according to the values and traditions of oursociety. It should be sanner, simple, educative and moral presented in a fascinating manner.—Via email

A most dangerous deal

JUST after the signing ceremonyin Geneva on Sunday, PresidentHassan Rouhani of Iran declared

that the world had recognized hiscountry’s “nuclear rights.” He wasright. The agreement Iran reachedwith the so-called P5+1 — the UnitedStates, Britain, China, France andRussia, plus Germany — does notsignificantly roll back Iran’s nuclearcapabilities. Iran made only cosmeticconcessions to preserve its primarygoal, which is to continue enrichinguranium. The agreement representsa failure, not a triumph, of diplomacy.With North Korea, too, there weretalks and ceremonies and agreements— but then there was the bomb. Thisis not an outcome Israel could acceptwith Iran.

Harsh sanctions led Iran to thenegotiating table. The easing of thosesanctions will now send companiesfrom around the world racing intoIran to do business, which will leadto the eventual collapse of the sanc-tions that supposedly remain. Mighteconomic relief, reduced isolationand new goodwill lead to greaterpressure on the Iranian regime toreach a fuller agreement later? I doubt

it: As recently as last week, Iran’ssupreme leader, Ayatollah AliKhamenei, denounced Israel as a “ra-bid dog,” a jab that Western leadersfailed to condemn.

The deal will only lead Iran to bemore stubborn. Anyone who has con-ducted business or diplomatic nego-tiations knows that you don’t reducethe pressure on your opponent on theeve of negotiations. Yet that is essen-tially what happened in Geneva. Iranwill not only get to keep its existing18,000 centrifuges; it will also be al-lowed to continue developing the nextgeneration of centrifuges, provided itdoes not install them in uranium-en-richment facilities. Which is to say:Its uranium-enrichment capability isno weaker. Under the deal Iran is sup-posed to convert its nearly 200 kilo-grams of uranium enriched to 20 per-cent purity — a short step away frombomb-grade material — into mate-rial that cannot be used for a weapon.In practice, this concession is almostcompletely meaningless.

The agreement does not requireIran to reduce its stockpile of ura-nium enriched to 3.5 percent, noteven by one gram. Transforming un-processed uranium into 3.5 percent-enriched uranium accounts for morethan two-thirds of the time neededto transform unprocessed uranium

Views From Abroad

into weapons-grade material. Andgiven the thousands of centrifugesIran has, the regime can enrich itsstock of low-level uranium to weap-ons-grade quality in a matter ofmonths. Iran already has enough ofthis material to make four bombs.

The Geneva deal, in short, did notaddress the nuclear threat at all. Thiswas Iran’s great accomplishment. Nowonder Mr. Rouhani boasted that theworld had recognized Iran’s nuclearrights. The United States, at the di-rection of President Obama, has de-veloped sophisticated weaponry spe-cifically in order to deter Iran fromgoing nuclear. But heaven forbidthose should have to be used is thedominant feeling in Western capitals.As a result, greater US military ca-pabilities may have given the P5+1more reason, rather than less, to strikea deal in Geneva. And while theObama administration maintains thatthe military option is still on the tablein case Iran does not comply with thenew agreement, that threat is becom-ing less and less credible.

Supporters of the agreement em-phasize that future inspections in Iranwill be frequent and strict. But peoplefamiliar with the history of past in-spections are sceptical, to say theleast. If the Iranians decide to deceivethe inspectors, they will succeed; they

Yaakov Amidror

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Importance of ZakatACCORDING to the Islamic

Shariah, an Islamic State cannot impose any taxes upon its

Muslim citizens, besides Zakat. Asfar as the non-Muslims living in anIslamic state are concerned, they be-come citizens of an Islamic statethrough an agreement between them-selves and the Islamic state. Taxesupon these non-Muslims shall begoverned by the agreement that wasmutually agreed upon between themand the Islamic state. The taxes pro-posed on the non-Muslim citizens inthe agreement may or may not beequal to or related with the ratesspecified for Zakat.

In view of the above explanation,imposition of Income tax, Wealth taxand all other direct or indirect taxes,by an Islamic state upon its Muslimcitizens, is not in accordance with thedirectives of the Islamic Shariah. Theword ‘tax’ first appeared in the En-glish language only in the 14th cen-tury. It derives from the Latin taxarewhich means ‘to assess’. Before that,English used the related word ‘task’,derived from Old French. For a while,‘task’ and ‘tax’ were both in commonuse, the first requiring labour, the sec-ond money. ‘Tax’ then developed its

meaning to imply something weari-some or challenging. So words like‘duty’ were used to suggest a moreappealing purpose.Political spin hasjust as long a his-tory as taxation, andneither has been de-tained unduly bythe meaning ofwords.

The history ofZakat is the same asthat of Salat. It isevident from theHoly Qur’an thatlike Salat its direc-tive always existedin the Shariah of theprevious Prophets.When the Almighty asked the Mus-lims to pay it, it was not somethingunknown to them. All the followersof the religion of Ibrahim (AS) werefully aware of it. For this very reasonSurah Al-Ma’arij (70:25) describes itas “A specified right.”

Thus it was a pre-existing Sunnahwhich the Holy Prophet (PBUH),with necessary reformations, upheldat the behest of the Almighty. Thereis a clear difference between Zakat

and Taxation. Zakat is the only taxan Islamic government can imposeupon its Muslim citizens. It is not

merely a charityfund but can bespent on the col-lective needs of thepeople as well:The Zakat moneycan be used to paythe salaries of allgovernment offi-cials including thatof the head of state,to build all worksof public interest,to cater for defencerequirements andto establish an Is-lamic system of In-

surance. In short, the system of Zakatenvisaged by the Holy Qur’ân andSunnah totally meets the require-ments of running a welfare state.

Elimination of interest in theeconomy and the imposition of thetrue concept of Zakat will not onlygenerate enough money to meet therunning expenses of the state but aconsiderable amount for develop-ment as well. However, a major partof the revenue for development

would be obtained by means of allstate owned enterprises whose man-agement would be transferred to theprivate sector through either or bothof the two modes: (i) selling a cer-tain quantity of shares to the pri-vate sector, (ii) imposing kharaaj(tribute) on the party of the privatesector which is entrusted with thejob of management.

One of the major objectives ofZakat is poverty alleviation. The is-sue is can Zakat be spent on Non-Muslims for this purpose. Though anumber of Jurists have viewed thatZakat can be spent on non-Muslims,the majurity view is that for povertyalleviation of Non-Muslims non-Zakat resources should be spent.There is no disagreement on thepoint that poverty alleviation andwelfare of non-Muslims is an impor-tant concern for an Islamic state.Zakat and tax are not same. Zakat isvery small part of yearly incomewhile tax is a huge share of monthlyincome one earns. Zakat eradicatespoverty while tax increases in manyfolds. Hence, people pay taxes hap-pily but they avoid paying Zakatwhich is lesser than taxes and betterin use than the taxes.

ONE of the most absurdthings that we carry are theprejudices we have for

another’s race or colour. “He is aPunjabi,” somebody shouts withdisdain. “A Muslim,” anothershouts with anger. “A Pakistani orChinese,” and the refrain goes on. Idoubt we have any choice over thecolour of the skin we are born with,the caste or religion we are born intoor the country we are born in........and this choice was also not given

to the people we ridicule or the peoplewe treat with contempt.

There is a lovely little versewhich I read and would like to sharewith you, by Elizabeth Hart. It goeslike this: She spoke of heaven Andan angelic host She spoke and GodAnd the Holy Ghost

She spoke of the Lords teachingsOf man’s brotherhood, Yet when shehad to sit beside a Negro once – Shestood. Just like many of us, isn’t it?.I was shocked the other day when agood friend of mine, looked at me andpointing to another man said, “don’ttrust him, he’s a Manglorean”. Andyet we can fight about our religiousbeliefs and we can speak about God’slove, till it comes to loving anotherbrother or sister, whom God also cre-

ated. Did we ever realise that the sameGod we believe in, created not onlyus but all the others on the earth....?

Yet our prejudices becomesstronger and stronger. There is alegand in the Talmud of a travellercoming at twilight to a camping place.As he looked off into the distance hesaw a strange object. Through thegathering dusk it seemed to take theshape of a terrible monster, and heresolved to go closer to see, if pos-sible what it was. Drawing nearer, hesaw that it was a man.

Much of his fear than vanished.Thereupon he ventured closer andfound that not only was the object aman like himself but... that it was hisown brother! .......... yes my dear read-ers what a monster prejudice is.

Race and colour..!The great Voltaire called

“Prejudice as the reasoning of thestupid”. In our country, where weof many diverse faiths and differ-ent colours live side by side, let uslook beyond this so called monster,and find a brother instead. Let usstop being stupid.....! If you do notlike me because I am ignorant, Ican be sent to school and educated.If you do not like me because Iam dirty, I can be taught to washand be clean. If you do not likeme because of my un-social hab-its, I can be taught how to live insociety. But if you do not like mebecause of the colour of my skin,I can only refer you to the Godwho made me..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Dilemma of entrance examination

EVERY summer hundreds ofthousands of students aroundthe country get engaged in con-

templating a smooth, steady, and re-warding transformation from collegeto university. They apply for admis-sion at various seats of higher learn-ing within the country and overseas.This dreary process involves not onlythe applicants but also their parents.Both the students and their parentsgo through an unnecessary monetary,emotional, and occasional ordeal inthe process of reaching the right pathto the academic destination and pro-fessional options of the youth.

Entrance examination can beused by any educational institution toselect best quality students for its aca-demic programs at any level of higherlearning—from primary to higher. Itis more common at higher levels,though. No doubt, this is an effectivemechanism to standardize the selec-tion of students by any educationalinstitution. Entrance test system is

available in many countries aroundthe globe, for example in China –National Higher Education EntranceExamination, in Japan - NationalCenter for University Entrance Ex-aminations, and in most of the USAUniversities the popular test of SATis used for admission to undergradu-ate studies. Pakistan, however, isamongst those few countries whichhave no standardized test systemavailable; instead, every universitytakes its own entrance test for admis-sion. Some of the universities feelpride in the number of students ap-pearing in their test despite the levelof difficulty of the test.

NTS could be one of the best op-tions available, but unfortunatelyNTS could not gain popularity be-cause of reasons unknown. Absenceof accessibility and availability of testin remote cities may be one of themajor hurdles in its popularity. Thequality and aptness of the tests ad-ministered by NTS might be anotherprobable reason of its inefficacy.

The major issue for students andparents regarding this tedious task ofgoing through university admissionprocess is that universities are taking

entrance test on different dates andtimings. Appearing in test of eachuniversity requires a lot of financewhich may not be affordable for somestudents. Universities with modestranking and humble standards takeentrance tests only for psychologi-cal satisfaction because they carryon with the admission process evenafter the test date. Students whocome after the entrance test find iteasier to get admission as comparedto those who appear in entrance testof these universities.

We have made our education sys-tem so complex and difficult for stu-dents and parents to choose the rightuniversity. It would be in the interestof our education system if all univer-sities make a unified test systemacross the country. The unified testshould also be available to studentsin the remote areas so they do notneed to travel. Some of the outstand-ing students in the rural areas of thecountry do not even know how andwhere to submit an application form.Some assistance in this regard is re-quired too. None of the universitieshas made a statistical comparison toshow how many brilliant students

could not qualify their test; hence,there is no quality check of thesetests. My intent is not to criticize herethe quality or authenticity of the en-trance tests but to advocate an easyand cost-effective system where ev-ery eligible student could take partand show his/her talent. It would bein the interest of the country if alluniversities in a particular town orregion make a generic universityadmission system where studentsmake a single application indicatingthe order of preference for universi-ties and academic programs. Stu-dents submit score of the unified testdirectly to the universities of theirchoice and/or send the same with theadmission application forms. Uni-versities will gauge the adequacyof students as per their requirementand capacities. In this way the uni-versities will continue exercisingtheir right to set different levels/standards of scores to select stu-dents for the academic programswithout compromising either on theinterests of the students or their ownquality parameters.—The writer is VC, AbasynUniversity, Peshawar.

have in the past. Proponents of thedeal also say that it is only a pre-liminary agreement and that the realfight will take place down the road.The experience of the past severalweeks does not inspire optimism.

The six powers — the UnitedStates, Britain, China, France, Ger-many and Russia — have shown thatthey wanted an agreement more thanIran did. The party that was targetedby the sanctions has achieved morethan the parties that imposed them.There is no reason to think that thesix powers will have more leveragein the future than they had before theGeneva agreement. On the contrary,they just gave that leverage away.After years of disingenuous nego-tiations, Iran is now just a fewmonths away from a bomb.

The West has surrendered itsmost effective diplomatic tool in ex-change for baseless promises ofgoodwill. I pray its gamble pays off,for if it does not there will be onlyone tool left to prevent Iran fromgetting a nuclear weapon. TheGeneva agreement has made theworld a more dangerous place. It didnot have to be this way. The writerwas the head of the Israeli NationalSecurity Council from March 2011until earlier this month.— Courtesy: The New York Times

The Spirit Of Islam

Atif Noor Khan

Dr Jamil AhmadEmail:rana8276@yahoo.com

chemicals that are harmful to health.Art supplies, such as markers, paintand glue, also contain hazardousmaterials. When not properlyhandled, these products can make thehome environment a dangerous place,especially for kids.

Home furnishings, such as car-pets, curtains, wall decorations andsome furniture, may be treated withchemicals and are potentially unsafe.It is important to note that a few daysafter installation, new carpets emitvolatile organic compounds, whichare chemicals associated with carpetmanufacturing that can be harmful tohumans and the environment. Gasand wood stoves and kerosene heat-ers also liberate hazardous chemicals.

Building materials such as par-ticle board, insulation, asbestos andtreated wood (used for decks andoutdoor furniture), can also posehealth threats. Some play-sets andtoys, as well as outdoor swing setsand play grounds, may also betreated with toxic chemicals, madefrom toxic plastics or include haz-ardous materials.

Here are some beneficial plants.Aloe Vera, not only can it be used forburns on the skin, it is also known toremove formaldehyde from the air.It needs well-drained soil with slightdrying between waterings, full sun isbest with protection from high heatsgeneral air purifier, especially as itgrows larger. It’s known for one ofthe best performers in purifying theair. Moderately drought tolerant andprefers partial sun and well-drainedsoil. Baby Rubber Plant is also use-ful. These houseplants clean the airby emitting high oxygen content, andpurify indoor air by removing chemi-cals, such as formaldehyde or othertoxins. Bamboo Palm is another orReed Palm also removes formalde-hyde and is also said to act as a natu-ral humidifier. Common name Bos-ton Fern, said to act as a natural airhumidifier, removes formaldehydeand is a general air purifier. Brightlight and damp soil is good for thatplant but can be tolerant of droughtor partial light. Chinese Evergreen,emits high oxygen content and puri-fies indoor air by removing chemi-cals, such as formaldehyde, benzeneor other toxins. Does well with fullshade and good draining; variegatedplants need more sunlight. The sapof this plant is considered poisonousand is an irritant.

List of some plants which aretoxic to be kept in-door. Flower Gar-den Plants, Autumn Crocus, Bleed-ing heart, Chrysanthemum, Daffo-dils, Four-o’clocks, Foxglove, Hya-cinth, Hydrangea, Iris, Jonquil, Lilyof the valley, Morning glory Narcis-sus, Snow on the mountain, Trees andShrubs, Black locust, Boxwood,Chokecherry, Elderberry, Englishyew, Ground ivy, Horse chestnut,buckeye, Juniper, Oak tree, Waterhemlock, Yew, Vegetable GardenPlants, Asparagus Sprouts and greenparts of potato, Rhubarb leaves,Green parts of tomato, House Plants,Bird of paradise etc.—Faisalabad

Just a girl!HINA ANJUM

I was just a girl living in of my self-created world. I played with dolls andhad small dreams. Lost in my ownimagination, I was the girl too busydaydreaming and waiting for myPrince Charming to come. I knew thatmy dreams can’t be wrong and thathe’ll come one day. He’ll be therewithout any trumpets or any drums butI knew that I’ll still recognize him themoment he’ll come. Then the momentI was waiting for was here! The entirewait, all the time, all the worry wasbehind me now because the one whowas meant for me was here. Every-thing turned pale and all I could seewas him. He became the wings for myflight and vision to my sight.

Then one day he left me withheartbroken! I was wronged by thebest and was left by the one whom Iloved the most. I had the dreams leftso broken and there was no chancethey’d ever come true! My hopeswere shattered. I was betting on adream that I never knew had the po-

tential to divest me of common sense,personal financial resourcefulness,and self-fulfillment directed fromwithin. But today I believe that I ammuch better off quitting the fantasiz-ing and sizing up my life’s plans withboldness and sagacity instead. PrinceCharming is the idealized male whomost of us girls dream about. It isn’tfair to hold every potential futuremate to the high standard of being soperfect, handsome, and so clued intoyour every wish and need. And thinkabout where that leaves you – do youstill expect to be independent, finan-cially resourceful, able to make yourown decisions, and happy to pursueyour chosen life goals?

Remember that Prince Charmingcomes after everything else. Life goeson regardless of whether or notyou’ve found Prince Charming, orlost Prince Charming. Understandingas soon as possible that life is morethan the sum of your Prince Charm-ing dream will liberate you to expecta lot more from life and a lot less fromPrince Charming. So, what are youwaiting for? Stop looking, start liv-ing!Girls whose perceptions of loveand romance have been seriously dis-torted by a culture intent on breakingtheir hearts need to grasp these con-victions. And just not be the girl whocan easily become a doll in anyone’shand. Love yourself through main-taining high self-esteem. That wayyou will always respect yourself andnot get yourself into untenablescrapes with guys who aren’t worthyour time. Know yourself, be strongand you can conquer the world!—Rawalpindi

First checkthe credibility

KHURRAM SHAHZAD AWAN

People of the present age only wantto earn more and more money to en-hance their bank balance through anymeans of earning - may be wrong orillegal. Students want success with-out any effort and hardwork so theybecome the hunt of such corruptpeople of the society. Now a daysmany people have opened the over-seas educational consistency officesto trap the students in their net by giv-ing them the wrongful examples ofthe luxurious life abroad. Thesepeople have neither any licence orauthority to open a consultancy firmnor do they have enough competenceto guide the educated youth; however,the business is booming to trap theyoungsters as no governmental per-mission is required to open this busi-ness. Some fake consultants areopenly dealing with the students asthey will provide the visa in lieu ofmillions of rupees.

Students are not aware of the trueand legal consultants who are regis-tered with the government taxationdepartment and have better reputationin the market. So they are payingmillions of rupees to these fake con-sultants and for paying that hugemoney the poor parents often selleven their homes for the future oftheir children. Parents of the studentsshould get the details of the consult-ant to whom they are going to hirethe services from the National Taxdepartment and also from the Fed-eral Investigation Agency; if they findthe satisfactory results then theyshould hire the services of that edu-cational consistency firm. Govern-ment should impose strict rules andregulation on the overseas educa-tional consultant firms to stop the il-legal activities of corrupt people inthis business.—Islamabad

NUPUR BASU

ACCORDING to statistics from the UnitedNations, one in five

cases of honour killing inter-nationally every year comesfrom India. Of the 5000 casesreported internationally, 1000are from India. Non-govern-mental organisations put thenumber at four times this fig-ure. They claim it is around20,000 cases globally everyyear.

While traditionallyoccuring in villages andsmaller towns in India, thecases of ‘honour killing’ havebeen on the rise and are re-ported sporadically in the me-dia. The double murder of a 14-year-old school girl and a 50-year-old domestic help in aNew Delhi suburb with its

‘honour killing’ sub text has re-ceived unprecedented attention,and is perhaps urban India’s mosthyped alleged ‘honour killing’.

Although the Talwars, theparents of the girl, were chargedwith the murders of their daugh-ter, Aarushi and their domestichelp, Hemraj, the ‘motive’ for themurders has always been attrib-uted to ‘honour killing’. SpecialCBI Judge Shyam Lal, whileconvicting the parents earlier thisweek, said that the dentist couplehad found their daughter and thehelp in an “objectionable posi-tion”.

The judgement, based on cir-cumstantial evidence, has how-ever left many unconvinced. Butirrespective of what the truth is,the Aarushi case has shone thespotlight on honour killings.

“The social moorings of thiscase and its ramifications on

India’s middle class could nothave been lost on anyone,” ob-served Anubha Bhonsle, an an-chor for CNN-IBN, in one of herprogrammes.

However, if the judiciary,through this verdict, is trying todrive home the message that therewill be zero tolerance for ‘honourkilling’ regardless of how pow-erful the perpetrators are, thequestion that will come up iswhether the judiciary will applythe same rigour in some of themost gruesome cases of ‘honourkillings’ taking place in rural In-dia, far from the gaze of televi-sion cameras.

Some gruesome cases thathave been reported in the mediain recent times from different re-gions in the country include thatof 23 year old Dharmender Barakand 18 year old Nidhi Barak, whopaid a heavy price for defying

their families and falling in love.The couple, from a village in

Rohtak district in Harayana, weretortured, mutilated and killed bythe girl’s father and their relativeswhen they tried to run away andmarry. A friend whom the couplehad confided in, leaked theirplans to the girl’s parents, wholured them back with assurances,only to allegedly kill them in themost cruel manner. The police istreating the ‘double murder’ as a‘honour crime’.

The accused surrendered,then fled bail and was finally re-arrested in 2011. The court con-victed him for murdering hisdaughter this year. The court said‘honour’ was the motive behindthe murder.

On November 1, 2013, inBhopal, a lower court announceda life term for 10 men in a caseof ‘honour killing’. The men

were accused of killing AmarSingh, the elder brother of SawarSingh who had allegedly elopedwith Hema, the wife of BalbirSingh, one of the accused men.

The men went to AmarSingh’s house, questioned himabout the whereabouts of thecouple and then poured keroseneon him and set him on fire. AmarSingh died of the burns.

All these cases have led to anew discourse on legislation.Does India acutely need a sepa-rate legislation on ‘honour kill-ing’? A proposal to that effect hasbeen made by a study done forUNFPA on gender laws.

Voices have also been raisedto reign in the ‘khap panchayats’,self-elected village councils com-prising male village elders whoperpetuate values that, in turn,covertly endorse these killings inthe name of saving the ‘family’s

honour’.In rural India and middle

class urban India, the onus forupholding the family moralityfalls on the women in the fam-ily - the daughter, daughter-in-law, wife and mother. By daringto choose a life partner, otherthan the one chosen for her byher family or by committingadultery, she violates thefamily’s honour. Both she andher lover face death as a conse-quence.

Recently, a group of khappanchayats filed a documentbefore the country’s highestcourt saying they had beenwrongly charged for encourag-ing honour killings in rural In-dia. Earlier, a women’s rightsgroup, Shakti Vahini, had peti-tioned the Supreme Court seek-ing a direction to the governmentto be more proactive when

Honour killings: India’s crying shame

Arabs, let’s gonuclear

RAED OMARI

THE least that should be learnt from the recently reacheddeal between the P5+1 and Iran is that Arabs, now moregeopolitically rivaled, should push for securing a mem-

bership in the world’s still-exclusive nuclear club.The explicit and implicit intentions behind the nuclear

deal the P5+1 goup reached with Iran and its ultimate goalshould not be a big concern for Arab countries, particularlythose allied under the so-called “axis of moderation” com-prising Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and most Gulfstates.

For these countries, the agreement with Iran – nowa-days-promoted as “historic” – and its undeniable politicalimplications should mean one thing – the Arab world is nowgeopolitically rivaled by the two internationally-recognizednuclear powers – Israel from the west and now Iran from theeast.

For the oil-rich Arab states and their allies, Jordan andEgypt, the simplest way to alleviate such an “internation-ally-accredited” challenge and consequently keep balancedwithin the Middle East’s political and military rivalry is toinvest in large-scale, covert nuclear programs for peacefulor even military purposes.

This might be interpreted by many as pure deviation ortendency to “madness” – the term always attached to nuclearweapons – but with regard to the unprecedented geopoliticalpressure resulting from the deal with Iran, “going nuclear”might be the best mechanism for the massively-rivaled Ar-abs.

Helpless and dismayed Arabs, who have long urged forobliging Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation ofNuclear Weapons to reach the ultimate goal of a Middle Eastfree of weapons of mass destruction and have always hadtheir call unheard are now required to adapt to a new politi-cal situation – Iran as a regional power as accredited by theirlongtime ally the U.S.

One would argue against such a rationale, saying that theU.S.’s ultimate goal in the breakthrough agreement is to elimi-nate Iran’s nuclear weapons before they are built when stipu-lating in the deal the limitation of uranium enrichment – themain point of contention over Tehran’s alleged nuclear weap-ons drive to low levels that can only be used for civilianenergy purposes.

The whole oil-rich Arab region knows that while nuclearenergy is expensive and environmentally risky, obtainingnuclear technology even for exclusively peaceful purposeshas long been a state’s source of power and influence

Scientifically and totally not politically, such an argu-ment is valid to a greater extent. Despite President BarackObama’s and Secretary of State John Kerry’s forceful de-fence of the “historic” accord, Iran succeeded in gaining in-ternational recognition for its controversial nuclear programand, more importantly, as a regional power.

While getting such recognition from world powers of itsright of nuclear technology is for many observers the majoraspect of Iran’s victory in the recently-announced deal inGeneva, Tehran’s success in preserving its regime is the majortriumph and the primary goal of the deal for many others,including George Friedman of the Texas-based Stratfor Glo-bal Intelligence think tank.

In a recently published report, Friedman argued that thelessening of Western sanctions on Iran in exchange of lim-ited uranium enrichment would result in reducing Iranian eco-nomic hardships and alleviating their hidden anger over theirrulers.

For Ari Shavit of The New York Times, with the Ameri-cans and their allies loosening the economic siege on Iran,they “allow Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,the economic oxygen needed to sustain his autocratic regime.”Shavit has gone further as arguing that the accord would helpslow down Iran’s race to the nuclear bomb but it would alsoguarantee that Tehran would eventually cross the finish line.

If the deal were accompanied by a U.S.’s decisive stanceon Syria with a clear roadmap, Arab longtime allies’ frustra-tion, dismay and perplexity over the deal would have been alot lower.

Once more, let us not be too bothered and annoyed bythe repercussions of the six-month interim agreement andfocus more on how to remain influential in the region’s never-ended state of rivalry again through entering the nuclear race.

In fact, Arab states trying to obtain nuclear technologiesin a bid to be balanced with the intensively-backed Israel isnot something new, beginning from the time of Gamal AbdelNasser’s Egypt through Iraq, Algeria and Libya.

What is so remarkable is that, right after the announce-ment of the deal with Iran, Jordanian officials began takingwith ease about uranium to be enriched locally in the kingdom’sprojected nuclear plants instead of nuclear fuel, certainly hav-ing seen the United States’ softening stance with Iran.

The whole oil-rich Arab region knows that while nuclearenergy is expensive and environmentally risky, obtaining nucleartechnology even for exclusively peaceful purposes has long beena state’s source of power and influence. This is one of the driv-ing factors behind Iran’s determination on obtaining nuclear tech-nologies. The angry Israelis are aware of that already.

Taking into account such an aspect, along with the newgeopolitical challenges the nuclear deal has brought with it,Arab states are requested to think of embarking on large-scale nuclear programs with no fear whatsoever of being sus-pected or sanctioned as nuclear bomb seekers.

Israel, which struck Iraq’s and Syria’s covert nuclear fa-cilities in 1981 and 2007 respectively, is less expected toattack any of the moderate Arab states’ future nuclear facili-ties even if operating overtly on a large scale - due to thehigh price of such a unilateral move that is difficult to beapproved by the U.S. which opposed any military action byIsrael against its nemesis, Iran.

To the extent that the P5+1 deal has given Iran legiti-macy for nuclear activities, it will and should give otherMiddle Eastern states the right to also go nuclear.

—Courtesy Alarabiya

‘honour killings’ are carried out.They blamed the khap

panchayats for endorsing patriar-chy, which reinforced the subju-gation of women in society andthe resultant ‘honour killings’.

The court summoned 67 rep-resentatives of the khappanchayats to explain their rolein ‘honour killings’. They did thatin a written reply, saying it is notthey who are responsible for suchkillings but the families who failto prevent their daughters and sis-ters and wives from interactingwith men, which results in shameand ostracisation by the commu-nity.

They argued that womenwho feared their male relativesnever committed such acts andtherefore never had to face suchconsequences. In short, the khappanchayat representatives overtlydefended ‘honour killings’.

The problem, however, isthat in the majority of the coun-tries, there is confusion aboutthe definition of what consti-tutes an ‘honour killing’. Thisconfusion often results in thevictims not getting justice.Many families report these kill-ings as ‘suicide’ and escapepunishment under the law, ac-cording to international rightsand women’s groups.

According to UN statistics,the United Kingdom has 12cases of honour killings everyyear, the majority of them fromthe Asian and west Asiandiaspora. Will countries abroadhave to also legislate on ‘honourkilling’ if South Asian men andthose from west Asia carry theirpatriarchy to foreign shores andmurder women who break theso-called ‘cultural norms’?

—Courtesy Aljazeera

People dressed in outfits of various popular professions in Ukraine carry a coffin symbolising Ukraine’s Euro-associationduring an anti-Europe rally in Kiev

VILNIUS—The EuropeanUnion told Ukraine on Thursdayits rejection of a free-trade dealin favor of closer ties with Rus-sia would risk its economic fu-ture, as EU leaders prepared forwhat is likely to be a fraughtmeeting with President ViktorYanukovich.

Yanukovich was due to flyinto the Lithuanian capitalVilnius in time for a dinner inhonor of the Eastern Partnership,the EU’s four-year-old programof outreach to former Sovietstates Including Ukraine.

He had been expected tosign a far-reaching free-tradeand political association dealwith the EU at the Vilnius sum-mit, the result of years of nego-tiation.

But last week, following in-tense pressure from Moscowand growing concerns aboutUkraine’s dire economic situa-tion, Yanukovich announced hewas not ready to sign the EUdeal yet and would instead fo-cus on reviving economic dia-logue with Russia.

Speaking a few hours beforeYanukovich was due to arrive,EU enlargement commissionerStefan Fuele warned Ukrainethat its decision to walk awayfrom the agreement could im-peril its future.

Disputing Ukraine’s figuresfor the cost of upgrading its eco-nomic base to European stan-dards, Fuele said: “The Ukrai-nian economy needs huge in-vestments but these are notcosts. They represent future in-come, more growth, more jobsand more wealth.”

“The only costs that I can

see are the costs of inaction al-lowing more stagnation of theeconomy and risking the eco-nomic future and health of thecountry,” he told a business fo-rum in Vilnius, adding that theEU offer remained on the table.

Yanukovich himself set thescene for a frosty encounter bydismissing the EU’s trade offeras “humiliating”. The 600 mil-lion euros ($800 million), or so,of support on offer was “candyin a pretty wrapper”, he said.

But his presence at the EUgathering - without signing theagreement - indicates he doesnot want to burn his bridgeswith the EU and leave hiscountry’s economic futuresolely to Russia. His govern-ment says the suspension of thedeal with the EU marks only a“pause” in moves to integrateUkraine into the Europeanmainstream.

He has accepted short-termsupport from Moscow, whichsupplies Ukraine half of its gasneeds, without committing toRussia’s Customs Union withKazakhstan and Belarus, and allthe while keeping the EU withinreach.

Defending Kiev’s decision,First Deputy Prime MinisterSerhiy Arbuzov told the Vilniusforum: “The country cannot beready for such serious decision(to sign) if the social-economicsituation is not balanced.”

“No about-face has takenplace. We are confidentlymoving towards an aim whichwe have set. Ukrainians needEurope and the European pathis the only one for us,” hesaid.—Reuters

EU leaders set for toughtable-talk with Ukraine

Central AfricanRepublic needs

peacekeepers: EUABIDJAN—Central AfricanRepublic needs up to fourtimes more peacekeepers thanare currently deployed to quellthe worsening sectarian con-flict and provide security foraid workers, the EuropeanUnion’s top humanitarian of-ficial said.

The country has descendedinto chaos since the Seleka coa-lition of rebels, many of themfrom neighboring Chad andSudan, ousted President FrancoisBozize in March. France ispreparing to boost its force in itsanarchic former colony to at least1,000 soldiers once a U.N. reso-lution is passed next week to im-prove security until a 3,600-strong African Union force is op-erational.

Paris already has around 400troops based at the airport in thecapital Bangui. Around 2,500regional peacekeepers deployedin the country are to be broughtinto the AU force.

“Clearly what needs to bedone is beefing up of peace-keeping forces.

Tripling or quadruplingwhat is there,” EU aid chiefKristalina Georgieva said,warning they face a twin riskof a Somalia-like state col-lapse and potential geno-cide.—Reuters

VIENNA—Iran has invitedU.N. inspectors to visit its Arakheavy-water production plant onDecember 8, the first concretestep under a new cooperationpact aimed at clarifying con-cerns about the IslamicRepublic’s nuclear program.

U.N. nuclear agency chiefYukiya Amano also said it wouldtake some time to look into howSunday’s separate, landmarkagreement between Iran and sixworld powers on curbingTehran’s disputed nuclear activ-ity could be “put into practice”with respect to his inspectors’role in verifying compliance.

Amano, addressing the 35-nation board of the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA),suggested that additional finan-cial resources and staff may beneeded.

Both agreements indicatehow Iran is acting quickly toaddress fears about its nuclearprogram after the election inJune of a relative moderate,Hassan Rouhani, as new presi-dent on a platform to smooth itstroubled relations with theworld.

The Arak facility producesheavy water intended for use ina nearby research reactor that isunder construction. The West is

concerned that the reactor,which Iran has said could startup next year, could yield pluto-nium as fuel for atomic bombsonce operational. Iran says itwill make medical isotopes only.

As part of its agreementwith the powers, Iran is to haltinstallation work at the reactorand stop making fuel for it.

The IAEA will be able tosignificantly expand monitoringof Iran’s uranium enrichmentplants and other sites under theNovember 24 interim accordreached after marathon talksbetween Iran and the UnitedStates, Russia, China, France,Germany and Britain.

“This will include the impli-cations for funding and staff-ing,” Amano said, according toa copy of his speech.

“This analysis will takesome time. I will consult theboard as soon as possible whenit has been completed.”

Western diplomats say theU.N. watchdog, which regularlyvisits Iranian nuclear sites toensure that no nuclear materialthere is diverted for militarypurpose, will require extra re-sources to cope with an in-creased workload.

About 10 percent of its an-nual 121-million-euro ($164

million) budget for inspectionsis already devoted to Iran. Theagency has about 1-2 staff on theground every day of the year,with about 20 staff dedicated toinspector activity in Iran.

“There is significant extrawork and they will require ex-tra resources to do it,” a West-ern envoy said, with “the ex-tremely complex and difficultimplementation” of Sunday’sinterim accord expected to startin January.

The agreement betweenIran and the powers is designedto halt any further advances inIran’s nuclear campaign andbuy time for talks on a finalsettlement of the decade-olddispute.

After years of confrontation,it underlined a thaw in relationsbetween Iran and the West afterthe June election of Rouhani ona platform to end Tehran’s iso-lation and win relief from sanc-tions that have battered the oilproducer’s economy.

But Western officials andexperts caution that finding apermanent solution to the Ira-nian nuclear issue will likely bean uphill struggle, with the twosides still far apart on the finalscope and capacity of the Iraniannuclear program.—Reuters

IAEA to visit nuclear-linkedIran site under new accord

ISTANBUL—Turkey’s ambassa-dor to Cairo has returned homeafter being expelled in a diplo-matic spat over Ankara’s supportfor Egypt’s ousted Islamistpresident, the foreign ministrysaid Thursday.

The row erupted at theweekend after Turkish PrimeMinister Prime Recep TayyipErdogan again criticised themilitary “coup” in Egypt thatousted president MohamedMorsi in July.

Egypt kicked out the Turk-ish ambassador, prompting An-kara to declare the Egyptian en-voy “persona non grata” anddowngrading diplomatic rela-tions. The Turkish envoyHuseyin Avni Botsali landed inIstanbul and left the airport with-out making any comments, theforeign ministry said.

Turkish President Abdullah

Turkey’s envoy to Cairoreturns home amid spat

Gul has voiced hope that rela-tions would be put on a betterfooting soon, saying afterEgypt’s decision on Saturdaythat the situation was “tempo-rary”.

“We will not stop sayingwhat is right and standing by theEgyptian people just because thecoup-installed government inEgypt is disturbed,” he said onTuesday.

Erdogan’s Islamic-rootedgovernment had forged an alli-ance with Morsi and his Mus-lim Brotherhood after the Islam-ist leader won Egypt’s first freepresidential election in June lastyear.

Turkey, a predominantlySunni Muslim country, hasfound itself increasingly isolatedin the Middle East and now hasno ambassadors in Egypt, Israeland Syria.—AFP

COLOMBO—Sri Lanka’s gov-ernment started counting thedead, wounded and missing inits quarter-century civil waramid international pressure toconduct a credible investigationinto war crimes allegations.

It comes two years after alocal war commission recom-mended a census to determinethe number of civilian deaths inthe civil war which ended in2009. Tens of thousands are saidto have perished in just the lastfew months of the fighting.

Government census officialA.J. Satharasinghe said thecountrywide count by some15,000 workers will be com-pleted on Dec. 20.

Sri Lanka is under pressure

over its delay to implement therecommendations of the Les-sons Learnt and ReconciliationCommission which includes alocal inquiry into allegations ofwar abuse against governmentsoldiers and the now-defeatedTamil Tiger rebels.

Countries like the UnitedStates and Britain have warnedthat Sri Lanka could face an in-ternational war crimes investi-gation if it fails to conduct itsown inquiry.

The U.N. Human RightsCouncil has passed two succes-sive resolutions calling for aninquiry. U.N human rights chiefNavi Pillay is expected to sub-mit her findings from a visit toSri Lanka at the council’s next

session next March.Sri Lankan troops in May

2009 defeated Tamil Tiger rebelswho had fought since 1983 tocreate an independent state forthe country’s ethnic minorityTamils.

The government expelledinternational aid workers andU.N. staff from the war zone inthe last stages of the fighting andblocked independent journalistsfrom covering the war, makingit impossible for outsiders toknow the extent of civiliandeaths.

According to a U.N. report,as many as 40,000 Tamil civil-ians may have died in the lastfew months of the fighting,which the government disputes.

For two years after the war,Sri Lanka’s government had in-sisted that not a single civilianwas killed. But later in 2011 itacknowledged some civiliandeaths and announced a censusof the war dead but its resultswere vague.

Government troops wereaccused of deliberately shellingcivilians, hospitals and blockingfood and medical aid to hun-dreds of thousands of peopleboxed inside a tiny strip of landas the rebels mounted their laststand.

The rebels were accused ofholding civilians as humanshields, killing those escapedtheir control and recruiting childsoldiers.—AP

Sri Lanka starts countingthe civil war dead

BAMAKO—Malian soldiersopened fire on demonstrators inthe troubled northern city ofKidal on Thursday, residentssaid, injuring five people in analtercation that highlighted ten-sions over the country’s newgovernment.

The demonstrators had gath-ered at Kidal airfield to protestthe arrival of Prime MinisterOumar Tatam Ly on an officialvisit one day after the govern-ment announced provisional re-sults from the first round of leg-islative elections Sunday.

After refusing requests fromUnited Nations peacekeepersand the Malian military to leave,demonstrators began throwingrocks at Malian soldiers, whoresponded with live ammuni-tion, witnesses said.

“It was when they beganthrowing stones at the militarythat the military retaliated andshot at the crowd. Four women

Army and demonstratorsclash in northern Mali

and a man were wounded,” saidKidal resident Moussa Maiga.

However, Mamary Camara,zone commander for the Malianarmy in Kidal, disputed the wit-nesses’ account, saying stone-throwing protesters had used thewomen as shields to block themfrom the Malian soldiers, andthat Malian soldiers only firedinto the air.

“We began to shoot in theair to clear the protesters andthen we returned to camp,”Camara said. “The women whowere injured were certainly in-jured by the protesters, not byus.”

At Kidal hospital, twowomen were in critical condi-tion, and a team from theFrench-led mission known asServal came to evacuate the se-riously injured by air, saidMohamed Ag Abdoulhamid, alocal journalist who went to thehospital.—AP

COURT NOTICE

Before: Mr. KhalidMahmood Malik JudgeBanking Court# I, P-92

Malik Road, GujjarBasti Faisalabad

NBP Adda DijkotVsMohammad Bashir

SUMMONS U/s 9(5) of theFinancial Institutions (Re-covery of Finances) Ordi-nance (2001)NOTICE TO: M. Bashir S/o Din Mohammad R/o ChakNo. 262/RB FaisalabadWhereas the aforesaid plain-tiff has instituted a suitagainst you and others for therecovery of Rs- 123263/-along with markup / interestand cost etc claimed to bepayable by you. A summonU/s 9(5) of ordinance no.XLVI of 2001 referred aboveis hereby issued requiring youto make within 30 days fromthe service of this summon,an application for leave todefend the suit U/S 10(1).

Take notice that on yourfailure to file such applica-tion within time specifiedabove, the Banking Courtshall pass a decree as prayedfor in the plaint, in favor ofin the plaintiff BankingCompany. Next date of thefurther proceedings in thiscase has been fixed on 20-01-2014.

Given under my hand andseal of this court on 25-11-2013.

JudgeBanking Court-1

Faisalabad

the world’s 28th most powerfulman. The day will also mark thefirst change in command of thearmy since the country returnedto democracy in 2008.

Kayani, known as the ‘quietgeneral of Pakistani politics,’has been given much credit forresisting the temptation tomeddle in politics despitePakistan’s frequent security,economic, power and politicalcrises.

Kayani was appointed armychief by former military rulerPervez Musharraf in 2007 andreceived an unprecedentedthree-year extension from pre-mier Yousuf Raza Gilani in2010. During his six years ten-ure he came across formidablechallenges.

One of the major legacies ofGen Kayani, as he exits the pow-erful GHQ, is his consistent sup-port for democracy though themilitary establishment keptstringent checks on the politicalleaders during his tenure. Thisis a legacy that the retired gen-eral was well aware of.

Just recently in Octoberwhile addressing the passing outparade at Kakul, he had hopedthat his successor could carry onhis legacy and help establishdemocracy on firmer footings.

But Kayani may also be re-membered as the longest servingCOAS under a civilian set up.Though he was appointed by his

Gen Kayani’s tenureFrom Page 1

predecessor and a military dicta-tor, Pervez Musharraf in 2007,Kayani ended up getting anotherthree years thanks to the PPPgovernment in power in 2010.

When he was elevated to theoffice of army chief in 2007 byMusharraf, the expectation wasthat he would be the dictator’sman. But he dashed these hopeswhen he played neutral in thethen developing tensions be-tween the newly elected PPPgovernment and Musharraf,which led to the latter’s exit.

But perhaps even earlierthan the Musharraf-PPP-PML-N showdown in the summer of2008, Kayani showed the firsthints of his independence whenhe began reducing the army’sdirect involvement in gover-nance by calling back the offic-ers who had been seconded togovernment departments. Hedid this soon after taking over.

This is not to say howeverthat Kayani was able to achievea complete separation of thecivil-military affairs in a coun-try, which had a history of mili-tary involvement in politics. Is-sues therefore continued to cropup between the civilian and themilitary leaders beginning withthe controversy over the Kerry-Lugar Aid legislation that, to thearmy’s chagrin, included clausesfor strengthening civilian over-sight over the military.

The public and private ex-

pression of reservations by themilitary led to an impression ofconfrontation, but in retrospectit was a managed affair in whichthe army had its way withoutrocking the democracy boat. Itwas after this that Kayani got anextension from the PPP govern-ment in 2010. The next yearproved to be the most challeng-ing not only for country’s for-eign relations, but also for civil-military relations.

From the Raymond Davisepisode to the killing of Osamabin Laden to Memogate Scandaland Salala incident - they alltested the resilience of the na-scent democracy. The securitysituation in Balochistan andKarachi also remained sorepoints in the civil-military bal-ance. In fact, if there was oneprovince where Kayani was seento continue with Musharraf’spolicy it was in Balochistan.

But despite all the difficul-ties, the PPP government com-pleted its tenure and for the firsttime in the country’s history, onecivilian government transferredpower to a second one - underGen Kayani’s watch. The otherhighlight of Gen Kayani’s ten-ure was the fight against terror-ism. He had inherited a highlydemoralised force, some ofwhose men surrendered to theTaliban months before he as-sumed the command.—Online

eral elections , she also said theANP government during its ten-ure mercilessly failed to deliveras its leaders were only inter-ested in loot and plunder. Hence,she announced to reactivate theideological leaders and workersof Awami National Party and acampaign for the removal of thepresent top leadership of theparty from their positions.

Though quite aged and frag-ile, yet appeared determined tosave the party, Begum NasimWali, serious political circlesbelieve, has all the political acu-men to pull out the ideologicalleadership of the ANP to formnew party. “Though she may befragile and confront health prob-lems obstructing her from theactive politics, she has all thecharisma to attract large numberof party workers if she wants totake in her hands the party af-fairs, remarked a senior partyleader.

As a matter of fact BegumNasim Wali Khan called asMoar Bibi (respected mother) bythe party workers out of rever-ence, has been active in the partyaffairs for over 35 years (1970

Is ANP at the verge of collapse?From Page 1

to 2007) and had been a movingspirit behind the party affairsspecially after the demise of herhusband late Khan Abdul WaliKhan some seven years back tillthe time she was sidelined by theincumbent party leadershipheaded by Asfandyar WaliKhan. During this period,Begum Nasim Wali, consideredas Iron Lady, also survived anattempt on her life.

As a matter of fact quiteunhappy with the affairs of theparty, a large number of seniorand ideological party workersbesides those who were side-lined by the ANP leadership, itis believed, will find no diffi-culty in enthusiastically re-sponding to the call of theirformer leader and spouse of lateWali Khan who declared to re-organize the party on modernlines and regain its lost gloryand repute. Political circlesbelieve the nerves center of theAwami National Party contin-ues to be the Wali Bagh, thehome of Red-Shirt leaderBacha Khan and Abdul WaliKhan where Begum Nasim

Wali is still residing.“She still has vast follow-

ing and the major chunk of ANPleaders and diehard supporterswould not hesitate to accumu-late under the leadership of theparty”, remarked a former ANPstalwart who has gone to evento the extent to say that BegumNasim was in a position to mus-ter support of more than 80%party workers if she jumps tothe active Party politics.

On the other hand a size-able leadership of the ANPstill insists that all the majorrevolts against the presentleadership were the internalaffairs of the Party as well asthe Wali Khan family andwould be resolved amicablyyet the political observers be-lieve this time the things arenot easy to be handled. Thefast emerging cracks in theANP both on party and fam-ily basis and then the mostrevered Party leader openlyrevolting against what shetermed the most corrupt andincompetent party leadership, it appears, are destined tochange the very face of ANP.

complying orders of the Ba-lochistan provincial govern-ment. Whenever the apex judi-ciary talked about reforms in thegovernment, doors of criticismwere abruptly opened againstthe judiciary.

The Larger bench expressedits severe anguish over the ab-sence of Frontier Corps officialsduring the hearing on the miss-ing persons in Ba-lochistan.

The apex court summonedthe Frontier Corps InspectorGeneral today (Friday) and saidthat if he would fail to appear inthe apex court, the court wouldpass orders for his arrest andregistration of a case against himand the apex court would alsosee who would refuse to arresthim. The CJP asked the Advo-cate General of Balochistan tolet the apex court know if he wasagainst the supremacy of thelaw. It was against the Balochtradition that women come onstreets but they had done so be-cause they were disappointed astheir relatives had not yet beenrecov-ered.

The CJP paid tribute to therelatives of those kidnapped andwere yet missing for reachingKarachi on foot from Quetta,which was at a dis-tance of 70kilometers. People of Karachiare known for their hospitalityand the missing persons’ rela-tives would not leave for any-where and would stay inKarachi. Their bare feet marchfrom Quetta to Karachi hadbrought a bad name to the coun-try while there was a democraticgovern-ment in the country. Re-covery of any missing personwas from the cus-tody of the

Frontier Corps. The affectedpeople had solid evidencesagainst the Frontier Corps re-garding atrocities inflicted ontothem. The representative of theBaloch missing personsNasarullah Baloch apprised theapex court that beside failing tocomply to the orders of the SCPfor safe recovery of the kid-napped persons, the relatives ofthe miss-ing persons were con-tinuously intimidated of direconsequences and the recoveryof dead bodies with smashedfaces so as to hide their identitywere still being continued inBalochistan.

Meanwhile, Karachi policeChief, additional Inspector Gen-eral of Police, Shahid Hayat ap-prised the SCP that police hadtaken a machine in its custody,which was used for activatingthe dead SIMs and around 3000dead SIMs had so far been acti-vated through that machine ofChi-nese make.

Hayat further apprised theapex court that the perpetratorshad obtained SIMs throughcomputerized national identitycards numbers from voters’ listsand used them for kidnappingsfor ransom. Blocking thus acti-vated SIMs would result in curb-ing the rate of kidnappings forransom and ex-tortion upto 50percent, he added.

Pakistan Telecommunica-tion Authority (PTA) ChairmanDr Ismail Shah apprised the SCPthat the PTA would be applyingthe bio-metric system for regis-tration of SIMs and that as yetthere were 10.25 million SIMswere in use by the consumers.

Dr Shah also apprised the

apex court that the PTA hadtaken action against 61 illegalgateway exchanges from 2009to 2012 while further 224 wereeliminated in 2013. RamzanBhatti, who had appeared in theSCP on a summon issued onWednesday following objec-tions raised by the Federal Bu-reau of revenue (FBR), re-quested the apex court to writeoff sections 31, 32 and 36 fromhis Ramzan Bhatti CommissionReport. The FBR had objectedon those sections while claim-ing that Ramzan Bhatti hadmade attempts to save the Cus-toms clearing and forwardingAgents. The SCP had orderedfor re-moving those sections.

FBR Chairman TariqBajwah apprised the SCP thatPakistan Customs had identifiedsome vulnerable areas in themetropolis that were strong densfor weapons and narcotics in-cluding Sohrab Goth, YousufGoth, Ali Goth, Al-Asif Squarewhere Customs could not con-duct any action alone and hencehad approached the Sindh pro-vincial government and law en-forcement agencies for assis-tance. He said that Pakistan Cus-toms was taking steps for up-grading the Cus-toms system forthe prevention of tax evasionand pilferage and that the newsystem would ensure preventionof tax evasion by 100 percent.

The CJP assigned the mem-bers Customs, Judicial and fi-nance to con-duct surprise raidsat Customs venues to check thetax evasion and other financial ir-regularities that inflictyed colos-sal loss to the national excheq-uer.

Anti-Narcotics Force(ANF) Regional DirectorateSindh Force Com-mander Brig.Muhammad Abu zar apprisedthe apex court that the ANF hadidentified some 20 spots in thecity where giant size warehousefor storing the narcotics werepresent.

However, the CJP in his re-marks said that it was of no useto arrest petty addicts. The ANFwas a part of Pakistatan Army,which was led by a General;hence the ANF should showsome progress.

SC orders presentation ofFrom Page 1

Kissinger in American Embassyin Madrid, Spain. At that timeCraig Peters Osth was stationedin Spain. According to a de-clas-sified communication known as‘Electronic Telegram Document’No. 1974MADRID06305 fromAmerican Embassy in Madrid,dated 7 October 1974, the offi-cial Craig Peters Osth at that timelived at this address: Calle MValdes, 63-3, Madrid 15.

The Brazilian publication“Carta Capital” on March 312004, in an exclusive reportnamed Craig Peters Osth as theCIA Station Chief posted at theUnited States Embassy inBrasilia. The magazine thenpublished a long list of what itcalled “covert agents of theCIA who have developed theirmalicious activities in Brazil.”

According to the report in thedecade of 90, Vicente Chelottiwas Chief of the Federal Policeto the service of the Chief of theCIA Bramson Brian, followed byCraig Peters Osth.

According to the report of‘Carta Capital’ about 30 U.S.diplomatic ‘counselors’, ana-lysts and other ‘diplomatic’ of-ficials develop their clandestineactivities under the diplomaticcoverage, with the mission ofspying the politicians of thegovernment (of Lula da Silva),entrepreneurs, managers of for-eign companies, and govern-ment officials.

Startling exposureFrom Page 1

appointment of any member ofthe commission in any consti-tutional or governmentorganisation.

The reliable sources addedthat after meeting between op-position leader and FinanceMinister, special advisor to PMKhwaja Zaheer was consultedand later secretary law Justice(Retd.) Raza Khan was asked toprepare a legal draft to removelegal obstacle and paving a wayleading to appointment of anymember of FPSC eligible tohold government or constitu-tional office.

Sources further said that af-ter introducing amendment inthe FPSC Act 2000, SyedKhurshid Shah will proposethree names for the CEC includ-ing name of Rana Bhagwandas.It should be mentioned that Jus-tice Tasadduq Hussain Jilani isserving as acting CEC and gov-ernment wanted permanent ap-pointment on the slot soon afterretirement of Chief JusticeIftikhar MuhammadChaudhry.—INP

Govt, oppositionFrom Page 1

ing. According to the police thedeceased was a resident of Sol-dier Bazaar. It is suspected thathe was killed over a brawl.

In Saranjani town unknownmotorcycle riders sprayed bul-lets on Madina Tea House as aresult of which 35 year oldAbdul Jabbar was killed andAlauddin was injured.

The deceased was said to bea former member of MQM andfather of three. He was an ownerof an Estate Agency.

According to police he wasprobably killed over somemoney matters

A dead body was foundfrom North Karachi, while an-other bullet riddled body wasfound from Gadap city.

Another dead body was re-covered from KBR Society ofBuffer Zone. Police said, thedeceased identified as Saleemwas an employee of ‘SensitiveAgency’. A 30 year old mancommitted suicide in Aagra TajColony of Lyari, while a childplunged into a Malir river nearKhokhrapar area and his bodywas taken out by rescue work-ers.—Online

7 gunned downFrom Page 1

he came across formidable chal-lenges.

Meanwhile, some roads inRawalpindi Saddr and its vicin-ity would remained closed from1020 hours to 1230 hours onFriday for all kinds of traffic.

These include Mall Roadfrom PTCL crossing to Shalimarcrossing; Kashmir Road fromPTCL crossing to Chungi No.22; Tamizuddin Road from PearlContinental turn to CSD cross-ing and Iftikhar Janjua RoadEME Mess crossing to GHQ.General Rashad Mahmood,Chairman Joint Chiefs of StaffCommittee assumed the chargeof his office on Thursday.

A simple but impressive cer-emony was held at the Joint StaffHeadquarters to formally wel-come the newly appointedChairman Joint Chiefs of StaffCommittee, General RashadMahmood on assumption of theappointment.

On arrival at the Joint StaffHeadquarters he was receivedby the Director General JointStaff, Lieutenant GeneralMuhammad Asif. A smartlyturned out contingent of theThree-Services presented theguard of honour to the Chair-man Joint Chiefs of Staff Com-mittee, who reviewed the pa-rade. Later, Director Generalsof the Joint Staff Headquarterswere introduced to the newChairman.

General Mahmood was ap-pointed as the CJCSC onWednesday while GeneralRaheel Sharif was appointed asArmy Chief. With the outgoingArmy Chief General Kayanispending his last day in com-mand, his successor GeneralSharif will assume charge onFriday.—INP

Kayani hands overFrom Page 1

of power were already abuzz withthe information that GeneralHaroon had played a key role asDirector of Military Operations onOctober 12, 1999 along with the-then DGMO Major GeneralShahid Aziz to oust Nawaz Shariffrom power. Then, BrigadierHaroon led the team to arrest allthe cabinet members, includingthe then Nawaz. Yes, Haroon wasone of the two directors at the MODirectorate, under my command,who did whatever I ordered himto do on October 12, 1999, Lt Gen(retd) Shahid Aziz told on July 7,2013. Aziz was then a major gen-eral and DGMO who has openlyconfessed to his role in the lastmilitary coup in his recently-pub-lished autobiography YahKhamoshi Kahan Tak .

However, Shahid had addedin the same breath that all the se-nior generals, including HaroonAslam, were fit for the slot of thechief of army staff. On the otherhand, Lt Gen Haroon had his sideof the story that he used to tell hisconfidants. What he did was noton his own. He was following theorders of his chain of command.Another possible reason Lt GenHaroon Aslam could not win anyslot, according to the sources, isthat he was a Special ServicesGroup commando and NawazSharif does not like commandos,particularly after his experiencewith Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Lt GeneralFrom Page 1

Prime Minister Mian NawazSharif paid glowing tributes to theoutgoing Chief of Army Staff(COAS) General Ashfaq ParvezKayani for the latter’s professionalservices for the nation. NawazSharif said the whole nation isproud of the sacrifices rendered byPakistan Army. “General Kayaniplayed a commendable role to-wards strengthening the country’sdefence and stability of the demo-cratic set-up,” Nawaz Sharif added.

Recounting General AshfaqParvez Kayani experience span-ning well over four decades in uni-form and six years as chief of armystaff, he will formally retire on Fri-day (today). President lauded theservices rendered by GeneralKayani for defence of the countryand strengthening of democracy.

He said that General Kayaniplayed a commendable role to-wards strengthening the country’s

defence and stability of the demo-cratic set-up. Earlier Chief of ArmyStaff (COAS) General AshfaqParvez Kayani held a farewellmeeting with the corps command-ers Thursday at the Army GeneralHeadquarters (GHQ) inRawalpindi. The conference at theGHQ, under the leadership ofKayani, discussed the country’sinternal security situation alongwith professional matters pertain-ing to the armed forces. During themeeting, the corps commanderspaid glowing tributes to the ser-vices rendered by Gen Kayani,who will step down on Friday fromhis office, after six years at thehelm. On the occasion, Gen Kayanialso lauded the cooperation andprofessional services delivered bythe corps commanders.

The army chief said the mili-tary was capable and equipped todeal with any challenge, adding

that the troops had been trained tomodernise from a professionalpoint of view. Sources said themeeting of the corps commandersalso welcomed the appointment ofLt General Raheel Sharif as thenew COAS. Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif appointed Sharif thenew COAS on Nov 27, while LtGeneral Rashad Mahmood wasappointed the Chairman JointChief of Staff Committee. Bothgenerals would take up their newposts from Friday, the day the in-cumbent Chief of Army Staff re-tires. Gen Kayani has also beenholding the charge of actingCJCSC after his predecessor GenKhalid Shameem Wynne retired onOct 7. Raheel’s selection as armychief implies that frontrunner andthe senior most military officer LtGen Haroon Aslam, who was serv-ing as Chief of Logistic Staff, wasignored for the elevation.

President, PM laud servicesFrom Page 1

the State Bank of Pakistan areat worrisome stage of $3,463million while the total foreignreserves including of commer-cial banks stood at $8,796.0million.

The declining rupee againstdollar has a potential risk of fur-ther decline in rupee value whichmay be detrimental to investmentclimate on one hand besides add-ing to inflationary pressure anderoding the purchasing power ofthe common man due to risingprice inflation in the country.

SBP suspendsFrom Page 1

Muttahidda Qaumi Movement(MQM) had always been afriendly Party to the PakistanPeople’s party Parliamentarian(PPPP).

Talks with MQM was inprogress and there were strongindications that the reservationswould be addressed and disputeswould be resolved soon.

CM declares MQMFrom Back Page

Sindh was the land of poetsand mystics so the provincialgovernment would continue tostrive for making the province aland of tolerance, peace and har-mony.

The poets and writers werethe crow=n of the society andthe power of pen was greaterthan the sword.

PM sets up Business Advisory CouncilFrom Page 1

made in the govern-ment’s greenfield projects or expansionprojects in certain sectors afterJanuary 2014.

Standard regulations underNarcotics Act of 1977, Anti-Ter-rorism Act of 1977 and the Anti-Money Laundering Law will stillbe applicable to curb inflow ofblack money. He told the businesscommunity that he “hopes to makeit possible that the coun-try’s poli-cies are approved by [businessmenand traders].”

The incentive scheme is beingextended to the investment starvedThar coal pro-ject, and low costhousing schemes – a manifestopromise of the incumbent gov-ernment. A negative list of indus-tries, to which these incentives willremain inac-cessible, include am-munition, weapons, fertiliser,sugar, cigarettes, beverages, textilespinning units, ghee, flourmills, ce-ment and edible oil mills. “We arefar behind other countries… so farbehind that we are mentionedamongst the lowest countries in theworld,” said Prime MinisterNawaz. “I hope that the spirit of

nationalism will rise in all of youand that you will pay your taxes,”he added.

He said there would be anegative list of industries to whichthis incentive would not be appli-cable. These are weapons‚ ammu-nition‚ fertilizer‚ sugar‚ cigarettes‚beverages‚ cement‚ textile spin-ning units‚ flour mills and gheeand edible oil mills. The PrimeMinister‚ however‚ made it clearthat the sources of income that arehit by Narcot-ics Act of 1977;Anti-Terrorism Act of 1977 andAnti-Money Laundering Lawwould not be protected under thenew incentive. He said in order toencourage tax payers; PrivilegedTax Payers Cards would be issuedto four hundred people payingmore tax in different categoriesincluding chief executive officers;association of persons; salariedand non-salaried. Holders of thecard would be able to use VIPlounges at airports; their immigra-tion would be done on fast track‚passports would be issued gratisand their existing baggage allow-ance would be increased from 500

to 5000 dollars from March nextyear.

The Prime Minister said ex-cellence awards would also begiven to ten top most tax payersin each category and he himselfwould be hosting annual dinner intheir honour. Mian Nawaz Sharifannounced tax returns of all thosewho have paid at least 25% moretax than last year would be exemptfrom total audit. For this purpose‚the last date for filing of tax re-turns is being extended to 15th ofnext month. Those who have al-ready filed their returns can alsoavail this facility by revising theirreturns.

He said tax returns of thosewho have been filing for the lastfive years would also be exemptfrom audit pro-vided they pay atleast twenty thousand rupee oftax. He said those acquiring NTNfor the first time would be ex-empt from penalty and defaultsurcharge provided they pay atleast 25000 rupees tax. Specialincentives would also be avail-able to ten top most tax payersfrom among the new tax payers.

ShinawatraFrom Back Page

Speaking outside the Parlia-ment, PM Yingluck Shinawatraurged the protesters to calmdown offering a negotiation.

“We must not regard this asa win-or-lose situation...Todayno one is winning or losing, onlythe country is hurting,” she toldreporters. UN leader Ban Ki-moon “is concerned by the ris-ing political tensions inBangkok,” said his spokesmanMartin Nesirky yesterday asprotests spread beyond the Thaicapital. “The secretary-generalcalls on all sides to exercise theutmost restraint, refrain from theuse of violence and to show fullrespect for the rule of law andhuman rights.”—Online

They termed the delimita-tion work as an act to discrimi-nate between rural and urbanareas by the Sindh governmentto manipulate the results of up-coming local body’s elections,which is quite deplorable andshows the feudalistic mentalityof the Sindh government tousurp the powers and resourcesof the people

They said that the countrywas passing through the mostcrucial juncture of the historybut few political and religiousparties instead of learning fromtheir past mistakes were stillbusy in yielding their vested in-terests without taking into ac-count the interest of the nation.

They said that on the onehand people are being killed bythe terrorists in the suicidalbomb attacks and on the otherhand fake protest demonstrationwere being held against thedrone attacks to mislead the na-tion, and instead of uniting thenation to develop unanimousapproach against terrorism theyare following ant state policy todestabilize & disintegrate thecountry.

MQM slams SindhFrom Page 1

KARACHI: Khwaja Asif, Defence Minister, talking to media after hearing of the miss-ing persons’ case in Supreme Court Karachi Registry.

Doctors allowedto carry gunsPESHAWAR—In an interest-ing development, theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa gov-ernment has allowed doctorsto carry guns and has de-cided to give arms licensesto doctors in the wake of ris-ing incidents of extortion andkidnapping. Doctors had re-quested the government toallow them to carry weapons.Provincial Health MinisterShaukat Yousafzai said that thepolice will decide about whattypes of weapons doctorswould be allowed. But somedoctors have also criticized themove.—Online

Altaf felicitatesRashad, RaheelLONDON—Muttahida QaumiMovement chief AltafHussain felicitated new Chiefof Army Staff General RaheelSharif and Chairman JointChiefs of Staff CommitteeGeneral Rashad Mahmood.In a statement, Altaf Hussainexpressed his best wishesand expressed hope that thearmed forces of Pakistanwould perform their duties ina professional manner andwith full dedication under theleadership of new COAS andCJCSC.—Online

Man kills 4relative womenCHARSADDA—Four womenwere killed and four othersinjured when a mentallyhandicapped man openedfire in his house on Thurs-day. According to police, amentally challenged manopened indiscriminate firingin his house in Charsaddathat killed two women on thespot, while two others suc-cumbed to injuries later. Fourother persons sustained in-juries as a result of firing whowere shifted to District Head-quarter Hospital for treat-ment, police added.—Online

Box packed deadbody recoveredPESHAWAR—The police onThursday recovered deadbody of a man packed in boxfrom Ring Road here. Ac-cording to details, dwellers ofthe area spotted presence ofa suspected box inAkhondabad area after whichpolice reached the scenealong with bomb disposalsquad.—INP

Man throws acidon wifeJHANIAN—A enraged manthrew acid at his wife for notbearing a male child for himhere on Thursday. Accordingto details, the accused hail-ing from Jinnah Colony ofJhanian, threw acid at his wifeafter she gave birth to a babygirl. As a result of acid attackthe woman was burnt andrushed to Tehsil Headquar-ters Hospital where accord-ing to hospital sources hercondition was serious.—INP

BANGKOK—As attempts byThailand’s opposition to bringdown the governmentthrough worsening street pro-tests continues, EducationMinister Chaturon Chaisenghas told the BBC that thereare no chances of coup as theArmy is still not backing theprotesters.

The Education Ministertold the BBC that the govern-ment needed to “regain thetrust and faith of people”.

However, Chaiseng alsosaid that if some people don’tbelieve in the incumbent gov-ernment that doesn’t meanthat the protesters can toppleit.

Meanwhile, Thailand’sembattled Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra onThursday easily survived aparliamentary no-confidencevote against her, the HouseSpeaker said.

“Prime Minister Yingluckwon the vote of confidence,”said Somsak Kiatsuranont,

Shinawatra survives no-trustvote, protests continue

with 297 lawmakers voting inher favour and 134 against.

The vote follows massstreet protests in Bangkok byopposition protesters seekingto topple Yingluck’s electedgovernment. Thai crowdsnumbering tens of thousandscontinued protesting for thefifth day in a bid to topple theYingluck Shinawatra govern-ment.

The protesters are beingspearheaded by former oppo-sition Democrat Party law-maker Suthep Thaugsuban,and they have resorted to amethod of shutting down thegovernment ministries in or-der to topple the present gov-ernment which they claim isbeing run by the PM’sbrother Thaksin Shinawatra.At the centre of the protestsis a controversial politicalamnesty bill that people saywill enable the ousted ex-PMThaksin Shinawatra to comeback to Thailand without serv-ing a jail sentence for corrup-

tion. Thaksin Shinawatra wasousted in a military coup in2006 for alleged corruption.The protests began on Sun-day when more than 150,000demonstrators took to streetsin Bangkok, shouting slogansagainst the so-called“Thaksin regime”.

The protesters then tar-geted the Finance, Foreignand the Interior Ministry inlast two days. Reacting to therallies, the PM invoked atough security law namely,Internal Security Act whichallows the officials to blockroads, impose curfews andban the use of electronic de-vices.

However, the demonstra-tors have been defying thelaw and going on with theirprotests. Speaking outsidethe Parliament, PM YingluckShinawatra urged the protest-ers to calm down offering anegotiation.

Continued on Page 7

WASHINGTON—The UnitedStates say Washingtonlooks forward to workingwith the new Pakistan ArmyChief General Raheel Sharif.

Replying to questions,State Department spokes-person Jen Psaki said onWednesday the US worked

US looks forward toworking with new COAS

closely with General Kayanion a range of issues over thecourse of his time as COAS.She said as General Kayaniis leaving the position, theylook forward to working withhis replacement.

She refused to commenton reports about the disclo-

I S L A M A B A D — N a t i o n a lAssembly’s (NA) standingcommittee for Food Security& Research while severelycriticizing granting of MostFavoured Nation (MFN) sta-tus to India urged the gov-ernment to consider the de-cision.

The committee said thatgranting MFN to India wouldultimately exploit Pakistanifarmers and destroy agricul-ture sector of Pakistan.

The meeting of commit-tee held here in Parliament

NA body rejects grantingMFN status to India

house under the supervisionof Chairman CommitteeShakir Bashir Awan onThursday.

The committee has sum-moned chairman APTMA(All Pakistan Textile MillsAssociation) and secretaryTextile and all provincial foodsecretaries in the next meet-ing.

Food secretaries sum-moned over not announcingsupport price of wheat whilesecretary textile and chair-man APTMA has been sum-

moned over clear-cut de-crease in cotton price.

The committee while ex-pressing reservations overnot paying attention towardswater reserves noted that ifattention will not be given toincrease water reserves im-mediately then provincewould fight with each otherinstead of India in future.

Minister for Food Secu-rity, Sikandar Bosan said thatprices of potatoes would belessen after 15 days as new

Thai opposition protesters cut the power to the national police headquarters on Thursday, ignoring a plea by the primeminister to end their rallies after she survived a no-confidence vote in parliament.

US politicalcounsellor

meets QureshiISLAMABAD—Rick Waters, thePolitical Counselor at the USEmbassy in Islamabad held ameeting with senior PakistanTehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) leaderShah Mehmood Qureshi dur-ing which issues related toPTI-led protests against dronestrikes and blockade of Natosupplies were discussed.

According to media re-ports topic discussed duringthe meeting, which was heldat the Parliament Lodges in thefederal capital city, includedthe overall political issues ofthe country, PTI protestsagainst drone strikes in Paki-stan and the blockade of Natosupplies via KhyberPakhtunkhwa.—Online

NEW DELHI—The manag-ing editor of Indian investi-gative magazine Tehelka re-signed Thursday after com-ing under fire over her han-dling of allegations that thepublication’s founder sexu-ally assaulted a young re-porter. In an email to staff,Shoma Chaudhury deniedbeing part of a “cover-up” toprotect Tehelka’s founderand editor Tarun Tejpal whois under investigation overclaims he sexually assaultedthe woman in a hotel in theholiday state of Goa.

However Chaudhury,who announced last weekthat Tejpal was standing asidefor six months over what hehas described as “a bad lapseof judgement”, acknowl-edged that “she could havedone many things differ-ently”. The alleged victim,who has since resigned fromthe magazine, first made theallegations against Tejpal in adetailed email to Chaudhury.

“As a result of what’stranspired over the past fewdays my integrity has repeat-edly been questioned by

people from our fraternity and,in fact, by the public at large,”Chaudhury wrote in her mailwhich has been seen by AFP.“I do not want questionsraised about my integrity totarnish the image of Tehelka,which it has done in the pastweek. Therefore, I resign asManaging Editor with imme-diate effect,” she added.

Chaudhury’s resignationcomes three days after the al-leged victim also quit themagazine, saying she hadcome under pressure fromTejpal’s family to drop her al-

legations. Tejpal, 50, is dueto be questioned by Goa po-lice later Thursday.

Tehelka has garnered areputation for hard-hittinginvestigations on corruptionas well as sexual violenceagainst women and genderinequality, and was hailed forits reporting of a deadlygang-rape in New Delhi lastDecember.

The Tehelka scandal hasdominated the Indian newsagenda for the last week, withrivals accusing the magazineof hypocrisy.—AP

Tehelka’s managing editor resignsover sexual assault case handling

sure of the name of CIA sta-tion chief in Islamabad.

She however said theUS have a range of securitydialogues with the Paki-stanis on different issuesand as a standard process,they don’t speak on them.—INP

PM to visitAfghanistantomorrow

ISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif will embark onan important visit to Afghani-stan on Saturday (tomorrow).

According to reports,during his stay in Afghani-stan, PM Sharif will discusshost of issues with AfghanPresident Hamid Karzai withspecial focus on construc-tion of Peshawar Kabulmotorway besides demand-ing immediate halt to infiltra-tion from Afghanistan to Pa-kistan.

The discussions will befocused on efforts for thepromotion of peace and rec-onciliation process in Af-ghanistan while the visit ispart of Pakistan’s continuingengagement with HPC for thefacilitation of peace and rec-onciliation in Afghanistan.”

Prime Minister NawazSharif will further discuss onAfghan peace and reconcili-ation process with leadershipof Afghanistan.—Online

IP gas pipeline tobe completed in a

year: KhaqanISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for Petroleum and NaturalResources Shahid KhaqanAbbasi said Pakistan wouldfind an opportunity to com-plete the proposed Iran gaspipeline project within a year.

While talking to a privatenews channel, the ministersaid, “I think trade restric-tions against Iran would belifted, following an agreementbetween Iran and world pow-ers.”

He said Pakistan had in-tensified its efforts tomaterialise the Iran-Pakistangas pipeline project.

Khaqan said that thepresent situation seemed ap-propriate for carrying out theproposed Iran-Pakistan gaspipeline project, following adeal on Tehran’s nuclearprogramme between Iran andworld powers.

The minister added thathe is scheduled to hold ameeting with his Iranian coun-terpart next month.—Online

LONDON—Malala Yousafzai,the Pakistani teenager shotin the head by the Taliban forcampaigning for girls’ educa-tion, has been named asBritain’s most influentialAsian by a weekly publica-tion in London.

At the ‘GG2 (GaraviGujarat2) Leadership Awards2013’ on Wednesday night,Malala, along Kainat Riazand Shazia Ramzan, whowere shot and wounded bythe Taliban in Swat Valley lastyear, were chosen for the GG2Hammer Award, for their brav-ery.

British Deputy PremierNick Clegg was the chiefguest on the occasion whereshe was ranked Number 1 inthe latest edition of ‘GG2Power 101’ list.

Though Malala was notpresent to receive the award,she said in a recorded mes-sage: “We must recognisethe children’s struggle fortheir right and help childrenwho are victims of child traf-

Malala declared Britain’smost influential Asian

ficking. No terrorist threatscan deter us and we will carryon with our campaign for theright to education for girls.”

The publication noted:“Malala, who was unknownover a year ago, has becomesynonymous with a type ofgirl power that should be cel-ebrated and applauded ev-erywhere. Today, presidents,prime ministers, people of in-fluence and power listen tothis remarkable 16-year-old.

“The GG2 Hammer Awardwinner of 2013 transcendsevery boundary and appealsto the very core of our hu-manity.” Labour Member ofParliament Keith Vaz, chair-man of the home affairs com-mittee, who headed thepower list last year, has beenranked as Number 2.

Once Britain’s richestman, steel tycoon LakshmiMittal has slipped “almostunnoticed into the ranks ofthe country’s mere billion-aires”, the list noted, puttinghim on Number 3.

CM declaresMQM a friend

of PPPPIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Sindh ChiefMinister (CM) Syed Qaim AliShah said that Sindh LocalGovernment Act-2013 waspassed by the elected SindhAsembly with majority ofvotes and it was in contrastto norms and values of de-mocracy to reject or refuse toaccept any Act thus passedfrom the assembly.

It was very much in accor-dance to law to contest thelocal body elections in formof a group or panel of 9 con-testants as it was in favour ofthe contestants and wouldalso facilitates the voters ingeneral while providing themmore liberty to elect the can-didates of their choice.

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

P E S H A W A R — P a k i s t a nTehreek-e-Insaaf and its al-lied parties continue their sit-in in various areas of KhyberPakhtunkhwa to block Natosupply on sixth consecutiveday on Thursday.

In Peshawar, PTI andJamaat-e-Islami workers set-up protest camp at Ring Roadnear Hayatabad toll plaza.

PTI chief Imran Khan an-nounced that his party gov-ernment in KP would offi-cially block the NATO sup-ply line in the province fromWednesday.

On the other hand, thePTI and JI workers carried ontheir protests by setting upcamps at major highways ofthe province where theystopped vehicles carrying

PTI sit-in againstNATO supply

continued on 6th daygoods for US-led Natotroops in Afghanistan.

Protest camps have beenset up since Saturday at fivemajor highways in KP, includ-ing Ring Road in Peshawar’sHayatabad, Khairabad Bridein Noushera, Indus HighwayChowk in Bannu, CharsaddaInterchange and Kohat’sIndus Highway.

Supporters of PTI andJamaat-e-Islami are present atthe protest camps and check-ing identification documentsto distinguish Nato trucksfrom regular cargo carriers.

“We have not forgottenour promises as eliminationof corruption and restorationof peace is our top priority,”Khan spoke to media inLahore.—Online

An open manhole in the middle of BB Road may cause any severe accident.

Inspector General National Highways and Motorway Police Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema is offering dua after stone laying ceremony of Zonal Office ofMotorway Police. DIG Wasal Fakhar Sultan, DIG Zubair Hashmi and other officers are also present.

06:10

01:30

03:45

07:00

Zohr

Brothers in Islam establishregular prayers and charity

I S L A M A B A D —JapaneseAmbassador to PakistanHiroshi Inomata has main-tained that effective gov-ernance and communitydevelopment is essentialfor peace and, based onthis recognit ion, Japanhas been collaborat ingwith the UN agencies topromote socio-economicdevelopment in the regionnear the border betweenAfghanistan and Paki-s t an .

Effective governance & community development must for peaceAddressing the con-

cluding ceremony of athree-day training work-shop on Decentral isedGovernance and PeaceBuilding here on Wednes-day, H.E. Inomata said thatthe Japanese assistance tothe Social Cohesion andPeace Building Programmefor the Refugee Affectedand Hosting Areas wasaimed at improving liveli-hoods of the communityand building the capacity

of local government enti-t ies.

It also worked towardsimprovement of public ser-vice delivery mechanismsfor communities.

The training workshopconcluded with the partici-pants preparing plans ofactions with strategies thatpromoted localized rule oflaw solutions and partici-patory budgeting involv-ing communities.

The part icipants

significant in the context ofPakistan, especial ly con-sidering that the countrywas grappling with theimplementation of the 18thconstitutional amendmentunder which many sub-jects on the federal andconcurrent l ists had beendevolved to the provinciallist.

Aspects of decentrali-zation could be used as anopportunity to bring thegovernment closer to the

people; and empower themin part icipatory decisionmaking in aspects of ser-vice delivery which affectstheir lives directly.

The three-day trainingworkshop was facilitatedby a team of trainers fromthe United Nations SystemStaff College.

It will be followed by atwo-day workshop onConflict Analysis Toolsstart ing Thursday, 28thNovember.—INP

Minister of State for Interior, Education and Training, Baligh ur Rehman addressingvice Chancellors committee meeting.

analysed some of the rootcauses of conflict and dis-cussed factors that wouldcontribute towards diffus-ing conflict and enabling amore peaceful environmentamongst various groups.The part icipants wereworking in areas that arecurrently facing a deterio-rat ing securi ty si tuat ion.The trainers shared experi-ences of Nepal and Boliviawhich illustrated the linkbetween decentral ized

governance and peacebuilding.

The Japanese ambassa-dor informed participantsthat the two-yearprogramme included inter-ventions ranging from im-provement of communityinfrastructure and l ivel i-hoods, and provision ofbasic social services, to so-cial mobilization.

“The programme alsogives priority to capacitydevelopment of provincial

and local government per-sonnel, as can be seen fromthis training,” he said.

H.E. Inomata distr ib-uted certificates among thepart icipants, comprisingsenior officials of provin-cial government depart-ments and agencies work-ing for disaster manage-ment and rehabilitation.

UNDP Deputy CountryDirector Tracy Vienings,speaking on the occasion,said that the workshop was

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Debate com-petition amongst the officersof Motorway Police NorthZone held on the topic of“Rizqe Hallal Police MuhafizKi Shan”.

The debate was orga-nized on the directives of IGNH&MP Zulfiqar Cheema,DIG NH&MP MuhammadZubair Hashmi.

As many as 9 officersqualified for the final compe-tition from entire force zonefrom Peshawar to Lahore.

DIG Muhammad Zubair

NH&MP arrangesdebate contest

Hashmi was the chief gueston the occasion.InspectorSageer of Gujranwala sectorgot first position, InspectorSaid Ahmad of Kamra Sectorsecond wherease ConstableMuhammad Atiq ofGujranwala secured third po-sition.

While talking to the par-ticipants, DIG said that dueto the activity, sense of re-sponsibility may be estab-lished in true spirit.

He also stressed thatOfficers have to perform theirduty with devotion, zeal andzest.

DIG further added thatNorth Zone has started roadsafety campaigns to familiar-ize road users with the impor-tance of Safety Seat Belt andSafety Helmets while ridingMotorcycle.

He further added thatMotorcycle riders will not al-lowed to ride motorcyclewithout wearing safety hel-met.

At the end of the com-petition DIG distributed Rs10,000 to first prize holder,Rs7,000 to second whearase Rs5,000 to third positionholder.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Students fromvarious schools and collegesshowed their talents andunique oratorical skills in thefinal session of ‘All PakistanBilingual Declamation Con-test’ held at Fazaia Inter Col-lege on Thursday.

The contest was ar-ranged by Directorate ofSchools and Colleges, Train-ing Branch, Air Headquar-ters, Peshawar.

The twelve finalists, se-lected among the 43 partici-pants from 21 prestigious in-stitutions, presented theirspeeches on various topics.

President Pakistan AirForce Women Association(PAFWA), Begum ShehlaTahir was the chief guest onthe occasion.

Vice Chancellor, FatimaJinnah Women University(FJWU), Professor DoctorSaeeda Asadullah, Chairper-

Students exhibitoratorical skills

son Engineering Depart-ment, Abdul Wali Khan Uni-versity, Professor NaveedKhattak and Director Paki-stan National Council of theArts, Hassan Abbas Razawere the judges of the con-test.

In the English Debate,Faruzan Anwar Butt fromBeacon House (Girls) F-10/3,Islamabad clinched first po-sition while Nimra Khurshidsecured second prize. Theconsolation prize was givento Amna Afzal from BahriaCollege, E-8 Islamabad.

In the Urdu Debate,Fasih ur Rehman of BahriaCollege, E-8 bagged first po-sition and Mubeen urRehman from Fazaia ModelInter College, Mushaf ob-tained second position. Theconsolation prize was givento Farhan Sajid from FazaiaDegree College, Faisal.

The over all trophy forthe best performance was

given to Bahria College, E-8,Islamabad.

The topics for the En-glish Debate were ‘Tolerancebreeds tolerance’, Growingold is mandatory, growing upis optional’,‘Buttering is keyto success’, ‘Yes Sir, RightSir, Wonderful Sir’ and ‘Bet-ter to be untaught than to beill-taught”.

While the topics for Urdudebate were ‘Baat jo ChaliHey Ghar Ki tu Hum BtateyHain’,‘Lahu Mujh Ko RulatiHey Jawanun Ki Tan Asani’,‘Hirs Ney Kar Deya HyTukrey Tukrey Noey Insaniko’, ‘Fitrat Kabhi Karti NahiMillat Ki Khataun Ko Maaf’,‘Yeh Ghar Tera Bhi Hey MeraBhi Hey’ and ‘Zindagi KayaHey Kitabun Ko Hata KartDekho’.

Students from 24 Fazaia,13 FG Fazaia and 14 institu-tions from Islamabad,Rawalpindi and Peshawar ar-eas participated in the contest.

Special trafficplan

RAWALPINDI—City TrafficPolice (CTP) has devised aspecial traffic plan for theChange of Command cer-emony scheduled to be heldat the General Headquartershere on Friday, said CTOSyed Ishtiaq Hussain Shah.

According to the plan,Mall road from ShalimarChowk to T&T Chowk, Kash-mir road from PTCL Crossingto Chungi No.22, Tamiz-ud-Din road from PC Hotel turnto CSD Chowk and IftikharJanjua road from EME MessChowk to GHQ will remainclosed for all kinds of trafficfrom 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

He said traffic would bediverted to alternate routesincluding Sarwar road andHaider road where CTP offic-ers would be deployed toavoid any traffic jam on thedesignated-routes.—APP

AccountabilityCourt awards

imprisonment toEx-DG

ISLAMABAD—The JudgeAccountability Court onThursday convicted Ex-Di-rector General (Finance) Pa-kistan TelecommunicationAuthority (PTA), ImranAhmed Zubairi for a term ofseven years rigorous impris-onment and imposed a fineof Rs 70 million.

The National Account-ability Bureau (NAB)Rawalpindi had filed a refer-ence against Imran AhmedZubairi S/o Sultan AhmedZubairi, Ex-DG (Finance) Pa-kistan TelecommunicationAuthority (PTA), Islamabadand Muhammad Riaz S/oMuhammad Din, Ex-ManagerNBP, Blue Area Branch,Islamabad on February 12,2010 before AccountabilityCourt No. 1, Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

The accused ImranAhmed Zubairi, in collusionwith accused MuhammadRiaz, opened a fake bank ac-count where he channelizedGovernment Revenues forsubsequent embezzling thesame.—APP

Police arrest34 criminals

RAWALPINDI—Police in itsdrive against anti-social ele-ments on Thursday arrested34 accused from different lo-calities and recovered illegalarms and drugs from theirpossession.

Police seized 780 gramscharas, 77 bottles of liquor,six 30-bore pistols, a 12-boregun, a dagger and an iron-fist from the arrested ac-cused.

According to details,Waris Khan, Airport, GujjarKhan, Mandra and SaddarBairooni Police apprehendedYousaf Masih, Shafiq,Waqas, Irfan and Faisal re-spectively and recoveredcharas from them.

Ratta Amral, Waris Khan,Cantt., Gujjar Khan, Kahuta,Pirwadhai, Banni and CivilLines Police arrested 16 ac-cused for carrying liquor.While, 10 accused were ar-rested from different localitiesincluding Banni, Canton-ment, Gujjar Khan, Saddar andMurree with illegal arms. Be-sides, Waris Khan Police heldNisar for carrying a dagger.Kahuta Police caught Mehranwith an iron-fist and AirportPolice nabbed Sohrab.—APP

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Allama IqbalOpen University(AIOU) isexpanding its infrastructureby setting up Regional Cam-puses across the country, en-suring equal access to qual-ity education in order toachieve the desired targets.

This was expressed by theVice-Chancellor, AIOU Prof. Dr.Nazir Ahmed Sangi while ad-dressing to the pre-qualificationmeeting of the constructioncompanies held here at AIOUfor the construction work of the2nd phase of AIOU’scampuses.The increasing in in-frastructure, the Vice-Chancel-lor said is being made with theratio by 70% in rural and far-flung areas and 30% in thesettled parts of the countryaimed at ensuring equal access

Construction of regionalcampuses by AIOU

to quality education.The construction of

Mandi Bahuddin Campus willbe started next month, neces-sary fund of Rs. 350 millionhave been allocated for thecivil work of the constructionof Regional Campuses whileRs.400 million have been ap-proved for providing the most-modern IT based facilities inthese regional campuses.

In the 2nd phase, the re-gional buildings will be con-structed in Hunza, Gilgit,Skardu, Turbat, Qallat, Loralai,Uthal, Qila Saifullah, Gwadar,Kohat, Batagram and Moro(Sindh).The Most-Modern fa-cilities like, Computer labs, Sci-ence labs, Video-conferencingsystem, exams hall will be pro-vided in all the regional cam-puses to facilities the stu-dents, Dr. Sangi added.

ISLAMABAD—Despite pas-sage of many months, largenumber of students studyingin government schools of thefederal capital could not getfree course books.

This situation has spreadpanic among the studentsand their parents, who areworried about the fast ap-proaching annual examina-tions. Principals and teach-ers of some governmentschools in the Capital city, onthe condition of anonymity,

Students deprived of course booksinformed that the concernedauthorities have failed toprovide free educationalcourse books to the stu-dents.

They said that they havewritten letters to the FederalDirectorate of Education(FDE) regarding the shortageof course books but got nopositive response from thedirectorate.

They said that shortageof books was affecting theprogress of students and

teachers. On the other hand,Director Schools FDE,Ghulam Hussain Saho saidthat around 90 percent bookshave been sent to theschools.

He said they were facingsome issues regarding print-ing and bills with NationalBook Foundation and AGPR.He said a committee hasbeen formed to resolve theproblem and provision ofbooks will be ensuredsoon.—INP

3 cases againstNawaz Sharif,

familyadjourned

RAWALPINDI—Accountabil-ity Court judge Mian AltafHussain has adjourned thehearing of three referencesagainst Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif and his familymembers till December 18.

Three references(Hudabya Papers mill, IttefaqFoundaries and Raiwind pal-ace) against Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, Chief MinisterPunjab Shahbaz Sharif andtheir family members werefiled in NAB duringMusharraf regime.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that earlier high courthad issued stay order againstSharif families’ petition.—Online

Incidents ofstray dogattacks

RAWA L P I N D I —Owing toabundance of stray dogsin the garrison city, inci-dents of dog attacks havegone rampant.

According to reports ,during last one week, 38persons bi t ten by dogshave come to the al l iedhospitals of Rawalpindi ,creating panic among theresidents .

The ci t izens toldINPthat that the stray dogsin the streets and on roadsof the city are a danger forthem as they are the carri-ers of viruses.

They said that the dogskeep wandering every-where and the city admin-istration does not take anynotice of the situation un-less many people are af-fected.

They said the dogs be-come aggressive part icu-larly during night t imewhen people come or goout of their homes in emer-gency.

The residents de-manded of the TMA au-thori t ies to start a driveagainst the stray dogs inthe city on priority basis.—INP

Illegal buildup property

in G-14ISLAMABAD—Housing foun-dation of federal capital fol-lowing the decision of thecourt has decided to demol-ish the build up property ofsector G-14 declaring theproperty claim illegal.

Details said, more than2 million square feet buildup property has been de-clared illegal by court, whileDirector General (DG) hous-ing has sent the letter toadministration to demolishthe houses constructedthere.

Due to property claimhousing foundation wasunable occupy or to initiateany development work onthis place, after that districtand session judge con-ducted the inquiry of mat-ter and finally declared theclaim of property illegal.

DG housing Malik ZafarAbbas has sent the letter toICT administration in re-gard to demolish the buildup property and stated thatafter this decision of courtnew ways of developmentwill open in this sector.—Online

November 30

International Conferenceon ‘Sufism and Peace”Peaceful Individual, Peace-ful Nation’, organised bythe Azeemia Foundation,UK, at the Marriott, AgaKhan Road, Islamabad, 2p.m.

December 1

Exhibition of winterdresses with variety ofhand embroidery fromBahawalpur and Multan,block-prints, screen printsand other items, atFlashman’s The Mall,Rawalpindi, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.,continuing up to Decem-ber 3

18 cops ofIslamabad Police

promotedISLAMABAD—Islamabad Po-lice have promoted three Sub-Inspectors, four Assistant-sub-Inspectors and 11 HeadConstables to next ranks af-ter approval from the depart-mental promotion committee.

These promotions weregiven on the recommenda-tions of departmental promo-tion committee presided byDIG HeadquartersMuhammad Khalid Khattakand also attended by othermembers AIG (Establishment)Ashraf Zubair Siddiqui, SSP(Headquarters) Sajid Kiyani,SP (Traffic) Asmat UllahJunejo and Office Superinten-dent Central Police Office Ch.Muhammad Ashraf.

Three Sub-Inspectors whohave been promoted to therank of Inspector in BPS-16 areMuhammad Ilyas, AsjadMehmud and Hameed ul Haq.

Likewise, four Assistant-Sub Inspectors Babar Shah,Muhammad Javed,Muhammad Arif and AzharMehmud have been promotedto the rank of Sub-Inspector(BPS-14), while 11Head con-stables Fiaz Ahmed, BasharatAli, Naveed Sabir, RazaHussain, Muhammad Arshad,Iftikhar Ahmed, Naeem ullah,Sher Ali, Liaqat Ali, MuhammadSher and Muhammad Shafiquehave been promoted to the rankof Assistant-sub Inspector(BPS-09).—NNI

WHENEVER there isdiscussion on Indo-Pak ties, attention is

automatically drawn towardsKashmir that has, at times, beendeclared nuclear flashpoint bysome global powers. And when-ever there is discussion onnuclearisation of the twoneighbours, the first-use or sec-ond-use options also come underconsideration.

It is strange why the worldfraternity or other leading pow-ers don’t give serious thought tothe first-use of force in the Kash-mir context? It is a historical factproven with concrete evidencethat India was the first to use(brute) force and aggression tolaunch an attack on Jammu andKashmir 66 years ago on 27thOctober.

If the world adheres to trueprinciples of justice and fair play,

the one who initiates the aggres-sion is to be treated as an aggres-sor having no entitlement to le-niency (either of opinion or action).And, apart from the laid down prin-ciples of justice that ought to beobeyed worldwide, the rules ofnatural justice also don’t allow fortreating an aggressor on equal foot-ing with the wronged party (or theinnocent party). The distinctionmust be drawn for the sake of re-gional and global peace and in theinterest of the fundamental right offreedom to live.

It is this right to live freely andindependently whose implemen-tation Kashmiris and their Paki-stani brethren have been demand-ing for the last 66 years in keep-ing with the resolutions of theUnited Nations Security Council.Quite interestingly, these resolu-tions had, for quite some time,been enjoying ownership by one

of the most popular prime minis-ters of India, Jawaharlal Nehru,but unfortunately, somersaults onKashmir resolutions have re-mained the hallmark of Indianleaders and governments, notwith-standing, the solemn pledge byone of their most popular electedleaders to implement the UN Se-curity Council resolutions onKashmir.

The fact is that New Delhi hasbeen toeing the line of obduracyquite brazenly with the sole objec-tive of perpetuating its imperialist,forced accession/subjugation ofKashmir. It is now a very well-known fact that all sorts of atroci-ties have been committed againstinnocent Kashmiris whose voicefor freedom would be suppressed(and is suppressed even now) withbrute force and through the en-forcement of black laws likeTADA, POTA and Armed Forces

Special Powers Act. These lawsempower the Indian troops andother security setups to detainKashmiri ‘suspects (freedommovement activists)’ for inhu-manly lengthy period of time. TheKashmiris have also been subjectedto intolerable mental torture, hu-miliation and third degree methods.Mass killings, mass graves and rapeof Kashmiri womenfolk have beenreported time and again in interna-tional fora and reports. Accordingto these reports, Indian troops’ de-ployment in occupied Kashmir(IHK) is about half (even more) ofthe total personnel strength of theIndian armed forces. So far, theyhave killed around one hundredthousand Kashmiris who were in-nocent, their only ‘crime’ being de-manding the right of self-determi-nation.

Paradoxically, even this rightof self-determination of Kashmiris

is not acceptable to Indian estab-lishment and political cadre al-though it is something short oftotal independence. As is evidentfrom its title ‘self-determination’,it is the basic, inalienable right ofany fraternity or community to de-cide its own fate. In the case ofKashmiris, had they been giventhe opportunity to exercise theirright of self-determination, theycould have been able to decidetheir fate.

Instead, India has remainedstuck to its stubborn standpointon Kashmir declaring it as itsintegral part. Even the forcedaccession of Kashmir by Indiantroops in 1947 was carried outon the basis of a dubious/fakeletter purportedly issued byformer Maharaja of Kashmir. Itis, however, very saddening tonote that the world consciencehas most of the time remained

Indian aggression persists in IHK

Muzaffarabad: AJK Finance Minister Chaudhry Lateef Akbar, Minister of InformationSyed Bazil Naqvi and others cutting cake on Yom-e-Tasees.

Indian Army personnel with satanic smile on their faces unorthodoxly arresting a woman in Srinagar.

SRINAGAR—Senior pro-free-dom Kashmiri leader and chair-man Democratic Freedom PartyShabir Ahmad Shah has termedJammu and Kashmir as the‘most unfortunate territory’ say-ing that people here (Kashmir)have been living under suppres-sion since 1947.

“Not a life of single personis safe and secure here. We can-not find a single day when thehands of forces do not get redby the blood of innocentKashmiris. Every nook and cor-ner of the valley is painted withthe blood of more than 5 lakhpeople who preferred death withhonor rather than living underslavery,” said Shah in a state-ment here.

Shabir Shah added that alarge number of widows and or-phans are living a life of desti-tute in valley and the ‘forces’involved in unfortunate inci-dents like Kunan Poshpora and

Shopian continue to roam free.He said that, “In order to

cover such injustices that areperpetrated on Kashmiri people;it is again the people of the samesoil who are used to cover upsuch heinous crimes.”

They (India) are stagingdramas of appointing theelected representatives to de-ceive the world community thatthere is no ‘police or army rule’but a democratic governmentrunning the show in the State,he said.

Targeting Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah, Shah said ifthere are elected representa-tives ruling the State or if theyreally believe in democraticnorms, then, “Where is theneed to put the separatist lead-ers behind bars or under housearrest? Why are separatistleaders kept away from thepolitical arena?” Shah ques-tioned.

Lashing out at OmarAbdullah government for notallowing him to visit the affectedand bereaved families of Gool,Ramban, the senior separatistleader said that to express soli-darity with the bereaved fami-lies is crime here. “I was pre-vented to visit the said placethrice,” he said.

Shah added that the refus-ing to participate in OmarAbdullah’s rally in Tral by pro-Hurriyat people should be aneye-opener for him.

“I applaud the courage of thepeople of Tral by setting a wor-thy example for others. We areextremely delighted over theircourage,” he said.

Expressing satisfaction overthe release of Kashmiri Ameri-can Council Chairman DrGhulam Nabi Fai, Shah ex-pressed hope that Fai will con-tinue to work for the future ofKashmiris.—NNI

Sponsored polls can’t changeKashmir’s disputed status

Kashmiris livingunder suppressionsince 1947: Shah

ISLAMABAD—All PartiesHurriyet Conference has saidthat the disputed status ofJammu and Kashmir cannot bechanged by India- sponsoredelections.

This was stated at a meet-ing of the APHC executivecouncil at its Rajbagh headquar-ters in Srinagar with its Chair-man Mirwaiz Muhammad UmarFarooq in the chair.

“Taking a stock of thepresent political situation in theValley, the participants said se-rious efforts needed to be under-taken to work towards creatinga conducive atmosphere for ini-tiating a meaningful dialogue toresolve the Kashmir issue andthereby securing the future ofmillions of people living in the

region,” said a statement.“Keeping in view of the

constructive thinking of interna-tional community regarding thedispute, the members said timehas come to get rid of stubborn-ness and undertake the policybased on reality and resolve theKashmir issue according to thewishes and aspirations of peopleeither by implementing pendingUN resolution or through mean-ingful result oriented tripartitetalks between the stakeholdersof the dispute,” it added.

During the meeting, the par-ticipants finalized the arrange-ments for observing humanrights week from December 5 toDecember 10, in connectionwith international human rightsday.

Detailing out the venues ofthe proposed programme, theAPHC spokesman said firstseminar would be held inKupwara on December 5, sec-ond on December 6 inIslamabad, on December 8 atHurriyat headquarters Rajbaghin Srinagar.

On December 9 the Hurriyetwould conduct photo exhibitionand films featuring HR violationsin Kashmir, and on December10,the Hurriyet leadership wouldstage a peaceful sit-in in Srinagarto apprise the world about rightviolations in Kashmir.

The meeting was attendedby Prof. Abdul Ghani Butt, BilalGhani Lone, Musaddiq Adil,Maulana Abbas Ansari andMukhtar Ahmad Waza.—APP

Intermediateexams to startfrom Dec 10

MIRPUR—Annual Intermedi-ate Practical Examination(Supplementary-2013) willbegin across Azad JammuKashmir from December, 10this year under the auspices ofIntermediate & SecondaryEducation (BISE) Mirpur.

The role number slips ofthe candidates have been dis-patched through the con-cerned superintendents of theexamination centers, saidController Examination (Col-leges).

The candidates have beenadvised to collect their rolenumber slips from the con-cerned superintendents of theexamination centers by De-cember, 5 or contact the Con-troller Examination (Colleges)branch at the BISE, AJK,Mirpur, he added.—APP

Five IndianMuslim students

arrestedISLAMABAD—Indian troops ar-rested five Indian students ofMaharashtra who reportedly hadarrived in Pattan town in occu-pied Kashmir along with theirKashmiri friends.

The Muslim students fromIndian state of Maharashtra wereenjoying the scenic beauty atZangam Pattan along with theirKashmiri friends when theywere busted and lodged at Po-lice Station Pattan.

Confirming their arrest,Deputy Inspector General ofPolice, North Kashmir J P Singhtold media men that they werein touch with Maharashtra po-lice to ascertain the backgroundof the detained students.

Singh further claimed thatthe troops arrested these youthas they were taking videos andpictures of Zangam Army campand the even shot a video ofmoving Army Convoy.—APP

JAMMU—In a significant state-ment with political and diplo-matic over-tunes, J&K’s policechief Ashok Prasad has saidthere was a need to have a re-view of the dialogue policy withPakistan over Kashmir as it hasnot proved fruitful on theground.

“The civilized strategy,which we have adopted againstPakistani aggression particularlyin Kashmir, has not yielded thedesired results as we expected,”Prasad said while speaking at

National Security seminarorganised here by Indian Insti-tute of Public Administration(IIPA) on, ‘Terror and Tres-passes in India’s Northern Bor-ders’.

In his valedictory address,Director General of Police saidthat despite India’s efforts topromote dialogue process,“Pakistan continues to supportsecessionism, cross-borderinfiltration and whip-up anti-national sentiment in Kash-mir.”

“Pakistan’s aggression inKashmir continues and thepolicy of talks has not yieldedany positive response. Thereis a need to rethink how to se-cure the national interest andsafety of people”, Indian me-dia quoted Prasad as saying.

He said India’s internal se-curity was extremely determinedfrom outside threats includingthe strategic national securitythreat, organized crime and eco-nomic offences like circulationof fake currency.—NNI

Review of the dialogue policywith Pakistan needed Ali Geelani for portraying

Kashmir situation rightlySRINAGAR—Advising VishalBardwaj the bollywood filmmaker to portray the situation inKashmir in its right perspective,Syed Ali Geelani, the chairmanHurriyat Conference (G) hassaid filmmaking in Kashmir canneither minimize the ‘warcrimes’ nor can it reduce the suf-ferings of people.

In a statement Geelani saidthat so far no film made on Kash-mir has portrayed the ground situ-ation in its right perspective andthe sufferings of people. “All thefilms made on Kashmir so farhave advocated Indian stand onKashmir and have portrayed thepolitical aspirations of Kashmirisin a negative manner.”

Hurriyat (G) also stronglycondemned police action againstthe students in Kashmir Univer-sity asking the authorities to re-spect the sensitivities and reser-vations shown by the studentcommunity.

“The fresh resentmentshown by the students in thevarsity has vindicated the factthat the youth at present havebecome conscious about theirprinciples and political aspira-tions,” Geelani said while laud-ing the university students forregistering their protest.

“It is pitiable that our edu-cational centers are being usedfor politicking rather than dis-seminating knowledge. The edu-cational institutions are beingmade launching pad for young

politicians. Our students are notlike mute lambs that they can betaken forgranted so it is advis-able that before organizing ac-tivity within the educational in-stitutions our students should beinformed prior to that activity.”

Geelani in the issued state-ment stated that the educationinstitutes in Kashmir are beingmade the hubs of cultural andpolitical activities and the vital-ity of spreading education andknowledge is being continu-ously ignored on ground. “Thestudents at the university mustbe appreciated for their belief inthe freedom movement andthese students have alwaysplayed the important role in theongoing freedom movement.”

Geelani said that the filmmakers must understand that thereaction of the students at Kash-mir University at the time whenthe tri-color was hoisted in thecampus was not any film or thedrama scene but the reality ofKashmir and the aspirations ofits people.—NNI

SRINAGAR—Majlis-e-Tahafuz-Iman (MTI) held a meeting to dis-cuss various religious issues atMirwaiz Manzil Srinagar.

The meeting was convenedand chaired by MTI PatronMirwaiz Umar Farooq. The rep-resentatives of various Islamicparties, institutions, and heads ofnoted Islamic seminaries partici-pated in the meet.

The meeting took stock of theconversion issue in Kashmir dur-ing which the role of Christianmissionary NGOs was discussedthreadbare among the participants.They also debated the recent ver-dict of a Muslim judge in the J&KHigh Court.

During the meeting, the mem-bers decided to expose some ofthe local elements, actively pro-moting Christianity for monetary

benefits in Kashmir, MTI state-ment said.

The participants expressedconcern over the ‘recent judg-ment’ of High Court which it saidwas contrary to the basic teach-ings of Islam and would bear farreaching consequences.

Asking the judge to clear hisposition over the subject, the par-ticipants agreed that a MTI sub-committee representing jurists ofvarious sects would analyze thejudgment and would bring its gistbefore the people in the light ofIslam and Sharia.

Those who participated inthe meeting included Chair-man MTI Molana RahmatullahQasmi of DarululoomRahimiya, Advocate Zahid Aliof Jama’at -e-Islami, PresidentJamiat Ahlihadees Molana

Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, DrYousuf Alumar of IslamicStudy Circle, Molana ShowkatKeng , Molana Khursheedahmed Qanoongo of AnjumanHimayatul Islam, MolanaAkhzar Hussain of AnjumanUlamaye Ahnaf, Mufti AbdulRashid of DarululoomBilaliya, Molana GhulamMohammad Qasmi ofA h l i s u n n a t - w a l - J a m a t ,Molana Abdul Lateef Bukhariof Ahjuman Mazharul Haq,Mufti Ghulam Rasool ofAnjuman Nusratul Islam,Molana Ali Akbar of TableegulIslam, Molvi Manzoor Ahmedof Karwane Islami, Mufti Sul-tan Qasmi, Molana SyedRehman Shams and represen-tative of J&K High Court Ad-vocate Arshad Andrabi.—NNI

Awakening of religious consciousnessamong masses stressed

Kashmir Barreport raises

plight of Kishtwarjail inmates

SRINAGAR—The Kashmir BarAssociation has released a reportdetailing the conditions of pris-oners lodged at Kishtwar jail inJammu division.

“All the under-trials lodgedin district Jail, Kishtwar, havecomplaints against the courtsand all of them have been sub-jected to the tyranny of the le-gal process which is going onendlessly without any fault oftheirs. In some cases, judgeshave heard arguments but havenot passed judgments for yearstogether. In other cases wit-nesses are called but they are notturning up and the court is nottaking any action against them,”a team of KBA comprised ofMian Abdul Qayoom, MuftiMehraj-ud-din, ManzoorAhmad Dar and Advocate SajadBashir which visited the jail aweek ago said in its report.

The Bar team has claimed onthe eve of Eid, this year, policearrested a number of youth in thedistrict and were still languishingin the jail. They said that all ofthem are innocent and have beenfalsely implicated in the case.

According to Bar Team allthe arrested youth said they hadfiled bail applications but thejudge is not passing any orderdespite the fact that more thantwo months have passed. Thereport says among the arrestedyouth one is a store keeper, andanother a junior engineer.

“Another accused said that heis working in Vodafone as an En-gineer in Jammu and he had cometo Kishtwar to celebrate Eid withhis family, but he was arrested bythe police and is now in jail. Hesaid that because of his arrest, hehas lost his job and his future isalso ruined,” the report said.

The Bar alleged that thejail authorities are also notproducing these accused per-sons regularly before thecourts on the dates of hearingand as a result the trial dragson. “Out of 126 prisonerlodged 85 were ordinaryundertrials and 41 were de-tained on militancy relatedactivities.”

The team while quoting jailsuperintendent, MuneerHussain Khan in its report saidthat committee appointed bythe High Court has not visitedthe jail though the court haddirected such committees com-prised of district and sessionsjudge, district magistrate, se-nior superintendent of policeand chief medical officer ofeach district to visit the jailslocated in their jurisdiction af-ter every two months.—NNI

AJK PMcondemns

construction ofwall along LoC

KOTLI—The Prime MinisterAJK Chaudhry Abdul Majeedsaid that the Kashmiris are fullyvigilant about the nefarious de-signs of India to construct sla-very wall along the Line of Con-trol (LoC) and appealed the glo-bal community to prevent Delhito stop this futile effort, other-wise Kashmiris will launch aglobal protest movement.

While addressing a publicgathering at Dolaya Jattan, AJKpremier has said that theKashmiris will not allow Indiato build this wall over the chestof their mother land.

Majeed further said thatAJK government have estab-lished three Medical College andfive Universities in different dis-tricts of liberated state. He alsoannounce to construct an inter-national airport and cadet col-lege in Mirpur and Dadyal re-spectively.

Prime also inaugurated theestablishment of a new TehsilDolaya Jattan and also announcevarious uplifts projects for thearea.—APP

Dogs have morerights than

humans: RashidS R I N A G A R —Lambas t ingarmed forces for “committinghuman rights violations” inJammu and Kashmir, the Presi-dent of the Awami Ittehad Party(AIP) and Member of Legisla-tive Assembly from Langate, ErAbdur Rashid has said “dogshave more rights than humansin Kashmir.”

“It is difficult to kill a dogthan a human being in Kashmir.Dogs have more rights than hu-mans here,” Rashid said whileposing a query to panelists at thebook launch event.

Rashid said Kashmiris haveto make their stand harder to“force New Delhi to resolve thedispute as it takes us for grantedwhen we soften our stand.”

“The stubborn approachadopted by New Delhi vis-à-visKashmir issue is pushing us tothe wall,” this stubborness hasonce jeopardized the fate of theSouth Asian not only once butthrice in a row, India should nowrealize that the Kashmir disputeshould be resolved according toUN resolution which India itselfled it to UN court, on the otherhand Pakistan trying its levelbest not to get involve in any sortof confilict with India becausenow both countries possesNuclear Arsonals , furthermorehe said, adding that New Delhihas thrown the resolution of au-tonomy passed by the State leg-islature into dustbin.—NNI

apathetic towards the sad plightand predicament of Kashmirisand because of this apathy andacquiescence, India has contin-ued to pursue its policy of bla-tant subjugation and oppressionin Kashmir to date with no signsof repentance, let alone refor-mation.

Good news is that Pakistan’sPrime Minister, Mian NawazSharif, has undertaken seriousendeavours to highlight the causeof Kashmir which have beenhighly appreciated by Kashmirileaders. In a recently held jointnews conference, former PM ofAzad Jammu and Kashmir, Bar-rister Sultan Mehmood, and otherKashmiri leaders appreciatedPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif fortaking a clear stand on the Kash-mir issue during his address to theUN General Assembly.

—KMSBaby girl visits grave of his uncle Shariq Ahmad Bakshi inSrinagar.

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

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

Currency Selling Buying

Bullion Rates

RS PER 10 GRAMS

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Skills de-velopment Fund (PSDF) orga-nized its second workshop todesign industry-led interven-tion for skills needs for theconstruction sector. PSDF ar-ranged the workshop - SkillsNeed Assessment for the Con-struction Sector - in partner-ship with Constructors Asso-ciation of Pakistan (CAP) hereat a local hotel. The workshopbrought together coherentforces with in the constructionsector coupled with the train-ing institutes for better under-standing the skills shortagesand to devise an interventionfor the industry.

In his opening remarks,CEO PSDF Mr. Ali Sarfraz saidthat the workshop will enable

PSDF to design a scheme thatdirectly addresses the needsof the Construction Industry.He said that the Fund has al-ready launched a specializedscheme – Skills for Garments_ for provision of betterskilled manpower to the Gar-ments Sector. PSDF in its pastand current schemes - Skillsfor Employability & Skills forJob - introduced trades thatfocus on producing skilledlabour such as masons, shut-tering carpenters, steel fixers,plumbers etc.

Addressing the partici-pants, Chairman Construc-tion Association Pakistan(CAP) Mr. Afzal-Ur-Rahmanappreciated PSDF efforts forthe construction sector. Healso lauded Government’s ef-forts to improve productivity

of manpower through variousinterventions especially byPSDF. He said that by utiliz-ing PSDF’s expertise in skillsdevelopment, the construc-tion industry will get a muchneeded boast as trainedlabour will be better equippedwith all essential skill set totake on the future challenges.

The workshop for con-struction industry was sec-ond in series of workshopsplanned by PSDF for poten-tial growth sectors. The firstworkshop was dedicated togarments sector and led tothe launch of PSDF schemefor garments sector – Skillsfor Garments. Other work-shops planned will targetlight engineering, footwear,food processing and furni-ture sectors.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Ahsan Iqbal,Federal Minister for Planning,Development and Reformsand Deputy Chairman Plan-ning Commission has said thatthe government is determineto remove all the business ir-ritant with a view to stream-line foreign invetment inflowin the country. He also empha-sized the need for close work-ing relations between variousMinistries and Overseas In-vestors Chamber of Com-merce & Industry (OICCI) forfacilitating a business friendlyclimate and create a soft im-age of Pakisan which hasgreat potential and an encour-aging environment for For-eign Direct Investment in vari-ous sectors

He expressed these viewsduring his visit to OverseasInvestors Chamber of Com-

merce & Industry (OICCI).The Minister was welcomed

by the OICCI President MrKimihide Ando, Vice Presi-dent Asad S. Jafar, Manag-ing Committee Members Mr.Saad Amanullah, Mr FaisalSabzwari and the OICCI CE/Secretary General, Mr. M.Abdul Aleem. He said thattrade and commerce is the

Govt to remove all business irritants

Ufone recently conducted a blood donation drive in collabo-ration with PRCS for thalassaemia patients.

Mr Sikhand Naqi, CPO, Zong and Syed Ismail Shah, Chair-man, PTA during launch of Biometric Verification Sys-tem of SIMs for the first time in Pakistan.

backbone of nationaleconomy and providing maxi-mum facilities to create con-ducive business environ-ment for local and foreign in-vestors is Government’s toppriority. He also mentionedthat Pakistan has great po-tential and an encouragingenvironment for Foreign Di-rect Investment in varioussectors.

Mr Kimihide introducedall participants to the Min-ister and also informed himthat importantorganistations like the IMF,China Investment Company,Business delegations fromvarious countries always in-teract with OICCI and rou-tinely consult the Chamberto get their opinion on thebusiness climate in Paki-stan. Mr M. Abdul Aleem inhis presentation informedthe Minister about the pro-

file and contribution of theOICCI to the Pakistaneconomy, including its’ rolein facilitating FDI, OICCImembers Perception & In-vestment Survey 2011, Busi-ness Confidence Index sur-vey done in August 2013covering 80% of theeconomy, FDI inflow in Pa-kistan and the Regionalcountries in the last fiveyears, Investors issues ham-pering FDI growth, overviewof recent recommendationsmade to the government andOICCI view and suggestionson the Government’s Vision2025 initiative being driven bythe Minister, which inter-aliaincluded a request for partici-pation of all major politicalparties who should all takeownership to ensure continu-ity and sustainability of theprogram beyond the tenure ofthe present government.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Tele-communication CompanyLimited (PTCL) has todayinked an agreement for Inte-grated Communication Tech-nology (ICT) services and in-frastructure development withDHA City Karachi (DCK).The partnership is aimed to-wards developing DHA CityKarachi as the first Smart Cityof Pakistan. Walid Irshaid,President and CEO PTCLwhile speaking at the occa-sion said that “We are pleasedto extend cooperation andpartnership with DefenceHousing Authority. This stra-tegic partnership is gearedtowards meeting the higherbandwidth and telecommuni-cations needs of the firstsmart city in Pakistan”.

“PTCL will develop inte-grated physical and digital in-frastructures for the residentsof DHA City Karachi that pro-vides optimal ICT services in areliable and sustainable manner

PTCL extends partnershipwith DHA Karachi

and improves the overall qual-ity of life.” added Walid Irshaid.Administrator DHA BrigMuhammad Abdullah con-gratulated PTCL for becomingthe partner of DHA in makingthe first Smart City project ofthe country. He said that theevent was yet another land-mark towards developing DHACity Karachi as a planned, sus-tainable and futuristic city ofinternational stature. He reiter-ated that DHA would contrib-ute in every way to ensure thatthe vision of Smart City wastransformed into a reality.

Brig Abdullah said that withdevelopment of DHA CityKarachi we would enter a newera of modernity where resi-dents would enjoy their liveswith international living stan-dards. He said that the new ICTnetworks and technologiespresent a huge opportunity interms of making DCK more sus-tainable through providingreal-time information to the resi-dents, stakeholders and ser-vice operators.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Zong has be-come the first mobile opera-tor in Pakistan to implementBiometric Verification Systemat their customer service cen-ters. The installation of theBiometric Verification Sys-tems displays the commitmentof Zong towards PTA direc-tives; highlighting its compli-ance and contributions in thenational policies implementa-tion.

SIM verification mecha-nisms were first introducedin Pakistan in 2007-2008. Ini-tially, all the SIMs were veri-fied by NADRA through anoffline channel. In 2009, anew method was introducedwhere customers had to call789 after inserting their SIMfor the first time and verifytheir NADRA record to acti-vate their SIM. From 2009 to2012, a SMS based SIM veri-fication process was intro-duced in four differentphases. However, none ofthese measures helped PTAovercome the problem of un-

Zong deploys Biometric Verification System

registered SIMs. Hence, PTAis now encouraging telecomoperators to start offeringbiometric system to have afoolproof system to curtailunregistered SIM.

The new verification sys-tem introduced by Zong willrequire each citizen to ap-proach retailer, franchisee orCustomer Service Centers ofZong.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Mian KhalidMahmood, nominated Presi-dent for ICT Chamber ofSmall Traders & Small Indus-try has challenged the li-cense issued to IslamabadChamber of Smaller Tradersin Islamabad High Court.Hearing the writ petition,Chief Justice IHC has issuednotices to the parties in dis-pute and adjourned the casetill the first week of Decem-ber 2013. The President ofIslamabad Chamber of SmallTraders, Secretary Ministryof Commerce and FPCCI hasbeen made parties to the dis-pute in the writ petition.

The petitioner haspleaded that ICT Chamber ofSmall Traders and Small In-dustry had deposited appli-

cation in Directorate Generalof Trade Organizations for li-cense on 26th July 2013 af-ter completing all formalitiesand we approached manytimes to the Regulator ofTrade Organizations, but wewere kept in the dark and wecame to know through pressreports about the issuanceof license to IslamabadChamber of Small Traders(ICST). Later on, the RTOsaid that the license is issuedon first come first servedbasis and as ICST had ap-plied in 2008 for license,therefore, it has been issuedthe license.

Mian Khalid Mahmoodclaimed that Trades Organi-zation Act was notified on30th March 2013 containingthe provisions for creation ofSmall Traders Chambers.

Pakistani productsattract Indian

delegationAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Pakistani prod-ucts are of high quality andhave comparative advantagewhile showcasing local prod-ucts with internationalbrands under one roof willattract local and internationalbuyers. Indian journalistsstated this during their visitto the Ocean Mall in theshadow of the country’s tall-est Tower.

The Indian media delega-tion comprised of members ofMumbai Press Club, led byits President Gurbir Singhadmired the services, prod-ucts and price of the goods.Indian delegation was ac-companied with a group ofPakistani journalists headedby Karachi Press Club Presi-dent Muhammad Imtiaz Faranand Sajid Aziz PresidentKarachi Union of Journalistson the occasion.

Meanwhile, Chief Operat-ing Officer of The Ocean Mall& Tower, Samier Aziz alsobriefed the delegation andsaid the objective of TheOcean Mall is to spur busi-ness and commercial activi-ties in the state-of-art safe,secure and elegant worldclass environment.

PM economicagenda lauded

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI) on Thurs-day appreciated Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif for takingthe business community inconfidence over ongoingeconomic policies and shar-ing his economic agendawith the stakeholders. TheLCCI Acting President MianTariq Misbah and Vice Presi-dent Kashif Anwar said thatthis is great initiative on thepart of the government as ithas removed lot many mis-conceptions besidesstrengthening public-pri-vate sector liaison. Theysaid that the practice shouldbe made a regular feature forthe sake of continuity inpolicies.

“It is a great confidencebuilding measure that woulddefinitely help increase thevolume of local investment inthe country.” The LCCI of-fice-bearers said that thePrime Minister’s decision toinclude private sector repre-sentatives in Business andAgriculture Advisory com-mittees would helpstrengthen the country’seconomy. They said that thedecision to facilitate Cham-bers of Commerce and indus-try for the establishment ofnew economic zones wouldhelp promote local invest-ment in the country besidesbringing down the fast gal-loping graph of unemploy-ment.

They said that issuanceof honor cards to tax payersand excellence awards to toptax payers would help pro-mote taxation culture in thecountry and encourage moreand more people to join taxnet. Removal of proceduralhitches for the businessmenintend to put up powerplants would go a long wayin overcoming the shortageof energy in the country, theLCCI office-bearers added.They said that the LahoreChamber of Commerce andIndustry would extend everypossible help to the govern-ment aimed at putting thecountry on road to progressand prosperity.

SECP extendsfiling date of

annual returnsSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Securitiesand Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) has extendedthe date of filing of Form-A/Bup to Monday, December 2, forother than listed companies andto Monday, December 16, forlisted companies. The exten-sions have been granted dueto weekly holidays falling onNovember 30, and December15—being filing dates for otherthan listed and for listed com-panies respectively—whichheld their annual general meet-ings (AGMs) on October 31.

The filing date for annualaudited accounts has alsobeen extended up to Decem-ber 2, for all companies, whichheld their AGMs on October31, and are required by the lawto file annual audited accountswith the SECP. In order to ex-tend maximum facilitation, theCompany Registration Officesof the SECP shall also remainopen until 8 p.m. to collect re-turns/accounts of the compa-nies on December 2.

It may be noted that it ismandatory for companies tofile Form-A/B with the SECPwithin 30 days, in case ofother than listed companiesand within 45 days, in case oflisted companies, from thedate of holding of their AGMs.

Furthermore, it is manda-tory for certain categories ofcompanies to file annual au-dited accounts within 30days of holding of theirAGMs. These categories in-clude, private companieshaving paid-up capital ofRs7.5 million or above, listed/unlisted public companies,non-profit associations.

License of chamber of smalltraders challenged in IHC

PSDF holds workshopfor construction sector

Pakistan urbanforum on Jan 9

OBSERVER REPORT

KA R A C H I—The Planningand Development Depart-ment of the Government ofSindh, the South Asia Insti-tute of Harvard University,Urban Unit, Government ofPunjab and the Institute ofArchitects, Pakistan arepartnering to hold the Paki-stan Urban Forum -SouthAsian Cities Conference inJanuary, 2014. Major Uni-versities in Pakistan are col-laborating at this Forum ofdiscourse, deliberation andseeking innovative solu-tions to common challengesof urbanity in Pakistan andthe region.

This unique event is ex-pected to get participationfrom Pakistan, South Asiancountries and other parts ofthe world.

Shipping activityat Port Qasim

KARACHI—Two ships carry-ing containers and chemicalwere berthed at Qasim Inter-national Containers Terminaland Engro Vopak Terminal onWednesday. Meanwhile fivemore ships carrying contain-ers, steel and edible oil alsoarrived at outer anchorage ofPort Qasim during last 24 hours.

Berth occupancy was55% at the Port on Thursdaywhere six ships namely CGMdubbussy, CGM Rossini,Star Epsilon, Lito, As Oreliaand Al Salam-II are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers cement,sunflower seed, chemical anddiesel oil respectively duringlast 24 hours. A cargo vol-ume of 92458 tonnes com-prising 54950 tonnes im-ports.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Warid Telecomhas been ranked as number onesocially devoted brand onFacebook during October 2013,said a report published by So-cial Bakers. With it’s around635K fans and growing, Waridhas retained its top slot for so-cially devoted brands onFacebook since July 2013.

Average response ratefor queries posted onWarid’s Facebook page re-mained 83 percent during

Warid becomes the mostsocially dedicated brand

October, which oncetouched 91 percent mark inJuly 2013. The average re-sponse rate is calculated bynumber of questions brandsanswered minus questionthat went unanswered on itsFacebook wall. Moreover,response time for respondingqueries posted by Warid cus-tomers on its Facebook pagestood incredibly well at 267minutes during the month ofOctober 2013.

Not surprisingly, telecombrands have scored better

amongst all sectors.Facebook, lately, has becomea hub for customers to raisevoice over general and indi-vidual issues. Brands, at thesame time, are taking suchplatforms more seriously inorder to make sure that cus-tomers are reached and sat-isfied in person. These newchannels are allowing com-panies to interact withmasses on personal level.And this is exactly whereWarid has topped the chartsin local brands.

Abdul Rehman Durwaish, PTCL EVP and Brig. Muhammad RafiqQaimkhani Project Director DHA City Karachi signing an MoU.

The teachers, who won awards, with Naveed Siraj, CountryManager Intel Pakistan and Alan S. Mckenzie, Director PunjabEducation and English Language Initiative, British Council.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Intel Pakistan to-day organized the Intel Edu-cation Awards Ceremony inLahore, under the Intel Educa-tion Initiative, to recognize theimpressive performance intechnology integration byteachers and schools acrossPakistan. Present at the occa-sion was the Secretary ofSchool Education Department,Mr. Abdul Jabbar Shaheen asthe chief guest. Of all the par-ticipants in the Intel TeachProgram contest, 15 wonawards, in recognition of theiraccomplishments in imple-

Intel honors teachers andschools with awards

menting technology to pro-mote inquiry-based learning.

“Intel has made concrete,consistent efforts for recog-nizing the teachers andschools taking part in this ini-tiative and rewarding them fortheir considerable efforts inhighlighting ICT in theirclassrooms and in turn, facili-tating a conducive environ-ment to experience technol-ogy first-hand,” said NaveedSiraj, Country Manager, IntelPakistan. “Intel Pakistan isworking hand in hand with thegovernment to make the dis-semination of and access totechnology easily.

Turkish Airlinesoperates its firstflight to Lahore

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Turkish Airlinesoperates its first flight to Lahoreon Thursday. Provincial Min-ister for Education & TourismPunjab Rana MashhoodAhmed Khan warmly received125 passengers reachingLahore directly from Istanbul atLahore Airport. The passengersincluded a 6-member delegationof Turk aviation experts led bythe General Manager TurkishAirlines Alp Yavuzeser.Pakistan’s Ambassador in An-kara Shaukat Haroon and hiswife also accompanied the del-egation.

The passengers of the in-augural flight of Turkish Air-lines, Crew members and thedelegation of Turk Aviationexperts were accorded red car-pet reception at Lahore Air-port. Besides Rana MashhoodAhmed Khan, the ChairmanLahore Transport CompanyKhawaja Ahmed Hasaan, TurkAmbassador to IslamabadBabur Girgin, President TurkCulture Forum ChaudharyAnees Iqbal, Lahore AirportManager Syed AamirMehmood, Omar Abid Mirzaand Turkish Airlines Inchargein Pakistan Ms. Zahra TulinAkbulut were also present onthe occasion. With this opera-tion, Lahore becomes the 3rddestination to be served in Pa-kistan. Round trip flights be-tween Istanbul and Lahore willoperate 3 times per week onMondays, Wednesdays andFridays from Istanbul and onTuesdays, Thursdays andSaturdays from Lahore.

Improving urbanenvironmental

conditionsunderlined

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—A workshopto discuss the draft of an up-coming awareness-raisingstrategy under a sustainabletransportation project washeld with the objective offirming up the draft strategythrough stakeholder andpartner inputs. The aware-ness raising strategy will as-sist the Pakistan SustainableTransport Project(PAKSTRAN) – beingimplemented by the Govern-ment of Pakistan with IUCNas a partner – in addressingtransport related issues inthe country, reducing emis-sions and improving urbanenvironmental conditions.PAKSTRAN is supportedby Global Environment Fa-cility (GEF) and United Na-tions DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP).

The strategy will guidein boosting awareness ofsustainability concepts inthe transport sector andhelp bring about a subse-quent behavioral shift to-wards alternative and sus-tainable means of urbantransport. The consultativeworkshop was attended byrepresentatives from fed-eral and provincial govern-ments, experts, the civil so-ciety and academia. Speak-ing on the occasion, Mr.Arif Alauddin, ManagingDirector, National EnergyConservation Centre(ENERCON, Ministry ofWater & Power) who is alsothe National Project Direc-tor, PAKSTRAN, high-lighted the importance ofsustainable transport link-ing it to sustainable devel-opment. “Access to safeand sound transportationis a must to promote socialequity and ensure health ofurban dwellers,” he added.

MoU signed topromote studentfaculty exchange

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Ghulam IshaqKhan (GIK) Institute hassigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withthe Karabuk University Tur-key on Thursday, to promotestudent and faculty ex-change, between the partnerinstitutions. In addition,“The Mevlana ExchangeProgramme Protocol” wasalso signed between the twouniversities. Students ex-change ranging from 3-36months and faculty exchangeranging from 2 weeks tothree months are possibleunder the signed agreement.

The MoU and MevlanaExchange Programme Proto-col was the result of a re-cent visit of Dean FES, Prof.Dr. Jameel-Un Nabi toKarabuk University, in orderto foster international re-search linkages between thetwo universities.

USA 107.90 107.70

UK 174.29 173.96

Euro 146.00 145.73

Canada 102.43 102.24

Switzerland 118.43 118.21

Australia 99.18 98.99

Sweden 16.43 16.40

Japan 1.0632 1.0612

Norway 17.70 17.67

Singapore 86.25 85.09

Denmark 19.57 19.54

Saudi Arabia 28.77 28.72

Hong Kong 13.92 13.89

Kuwait 381.14 380.44

Malaysia 33.51 33.45

Newzealand 88.93 88.76

Qatar 29.38 29.58

UAE 29.38 29.32

KR. WON 0.1018 0.1016

Thailand 3.369 3.363

Gold Tezabi 44,485.00Silver Tezabi 702.85

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct)44580.00Gold 22 Ct 40750.00SilverTezabi s695.00Silver Thobi 635.00

HYDERABAD: Players in action in volleyball match during Inter-Collegiate Girls Volleyball Tournament 2013-14.

MULTAN: Students participating in 100-meter race during Inter-District Schools Tournament played at Govt Girls High School, Shamsabad.

FAISALABAD: Naveed Yasin of KRL receiving man of the match award againstUnited Bank Limited.

KARACHI: Students particpating in Inter-Regional Cricket O-Level Tournament.

Asif, Sajjadmake sterlingstart in IBSF

World SnookerKARACHI—Pakistan’s acecueists Muhammad Asif andMuhammad Sajjad got off awinning start in the Interna-tional Billiards and SnookerFederation (IBSF) Worldchampionship in Latvian cityDaugavpils which com-menced on Thursday.

Defending ChampionAsif carved out the breaks of65, 60, 58 and 71 while ham-mering Ahmed Al Elsyed ofUSA 4-1.

Faisalabad-based Asif,who also hold the title ofWorld Team Snooker titlealongwith with Sajjad andwon the 6-Red Asian cham-pionship, lost thepenultimate frame beforereaching to 107-20, 101-09,118-14, 20-59, 122-0 victory.

After making the break of66 in the second frame, Asifcompiled the break of 60 and58 in the third frame to puthis opponent under pres-sure.

Like his team-mate Asif,highly talented MuhammadSajjad launched his cam-paign in style by smashing110 century break in the thirdwhile routing AndrejMaksimov of Lithuania 4-0.

2010 Asian championshiprunner-up, Sajjad fromSargodha, demonstrated im-peccable potting and mas-terly dipping of themulticoloured ball to out-pothis opponent. Pakistan othertwo players Shahid Aftab andImran Shahzad will play theirmatches later today.—APP

Rashid Latif’spetition vs PCBmaintainable,

says SHCKARACHI—Sindh HighCourt (SHC) in its verdict onthe matter between RashidLatif vs the PCB & NajamSethi filed by him through hislawyer, Barrister Umair A.Qazi, was pleased to observethat the constitutional peti-tions were maintainableagainst the PCB in the highcourt of Sindh distinguishingthe case of Danish Kaneriaon the issue of territorial ju-risdiction.

According to the courtalso went onto observe thatsince the Islamabad HighCourt (IHC) had already de-cided the issue of NajamSethi being a caretaker chair-man and not an acting chair-man of the PCB and since in-tra court appeals were stillpending adjudication beforethe IHC, the SHC would notcause confusion by issuingconflicting judgments andhence disposed off the peti-tion in terms of the IHC orderdated July 4, 2013

Furthermore, it also ob-served that the petitioner i.e.Rashid Latif was at liberty tojoin the proceedings beforethe IHC in the intra court ap-peals if so desired.—APP

National tabletennis from

Dec 27LAHORE—The 50th GoldenJubilee national table tennischampionship will be held herefrom December 27-31 under thesupervision of Punjab tabletennis association.

Men’s team event, womenteam event, men’s singles,men’s double, women’sdoubles and mixed doubleswill be played during thechampionship whose finalwill be December 31.—APP

KARACHI—The second dis-ability cricket series betweenPakistan and England wouldbe played in Dubai (UAE) inFebruary 2014, Pakistan Dis-able Cricket Association(PDCA) announced onThursday.

This was decided afterthe meeting of PDCA delega-tion headed by PresidentSaleem Karim and SecretaryAmiruddin Ansari and Headof Disability, England andWales Cricket Board (ECB)Ian Martin and Support Of-ficer Richard Hill during theirmeeting in London.

During the short seriestwo T20 Internationals andthree One-Day Internationalscomprising of 40 overs willbe played.

It was discussed duringthe meeting that a match or

Pakistan, England to playdisability series in Feb

two may be staged either atDubai Sports Stadium,Sharjah and Abu Dhabi apartfrom ICC Academy Ground inDubai.

A final meeting to confirmthe series arrangementsshould be held in Dubai at alater stage may in December.

During the meeting it wasdecided to raise the questionof whether a joint propositionbe put to the ICC to coverthe cost of the series.

However, Ian Martinstated that at the moment theICC do not have a mandatefrom their members to sup-port disability cricket in thisway and at present he feltthat it was the responsibilityof both ECB and PDCA coverthe cost of the series.

ECB Disability officialsaid that disability cricket is

now on their ICC’s radar andthat ICC are seeking to agreea framework as to how towork with world bodies thatcontrol disabled cricket.

PDCA SecretaryAmiruddin Ansari sug-gested that invitations besent out to representativesfor disability cricket acrossthe Test playing nations tothe event in Dubai.

Ian Martin supported theidea and said it was a possi-bility; however, he felt thatas part of an invite, thoseaccepting might be expectedto be accommodated and thatECB did not have the avail-able funding to facilitate this.

Saleem Karim put forwardthe proposal that other coun-tries such as Australia andNew Zealand involved indisabled cricket.—APP

Wrestlingcoaches, referees

course beginsL A H O R E — W r e s t l i n gcoaches and referees coursecommenced here on Thurs-day under the aegis of Paki-stan Wrestling Federation ata local hotel.

“The participants will betaught latest knowledge ofcoaching referring with theaid of latest material”, said aspokesman of PWF. He saidthe coaches and referees willbe updated on the revisedinternational rules and theirapplication in practical situ-ations.

He said all the affiliatedunits of PWF have confirmedtheir participation in thethree-day beneficial activity.

He said the next nationalwrestling championship willbe held in accordance withthe revised internationalcompetition rules.—APP

Distt govt toorganise festival

for special personsMULTAN—The district gov-ernment has announced afestival on Dec 3 for specialpersons. A meeting chairedby DCO Zahid SaleemGondal was held here onThursday to review arrange-ments regarding the festival,the DCO said the festivalwould be held at sportsground in which special per-sons, special kids and theirfamilies would participate.

He said it was our dutyto provide maximum oppor-tunities of happiness andentertainment to special per-sons. He also announced acommittee led by EDO Com-munity Asif Ali Farrukh forholding the festival.—APP

I S L A M A B A D —Pakis tan’smaiden series win againstProtease on Wednesdaynight gave a new breath tothe dejected national sidestuck in the whirlpool ofconsistent defeats bringingjoy at the faces of cricketloving nation as well.

A way of happinesssprawled across the coun-try when Pakistan defeatedSouth Africa in the secondODI claiming the maidenseries victory in Protease’shome ground.

Fans thronged roads ofthe major cities of thecricket-crazy Nation to ex-press their delight at thelandmark victory at PortElizabeth (South Africa).

Former stalwarts havehailed the performance ofthe national side, especiallytheir fighting spirit as thematch was seemingly slip-ping out of the hands of Pa-kistan when AB De Villiers

Pakistan victory sparkscricket phobia, celebrations

across the landwas batting. But the waynational side came back inthe game has forced manycritics to change theirviews.

Talking to APP, FormerPakistan captain AmirSohail said Pakistan sur-prised him in their triumphover the Protease. “This isconsistency what was lack-ing in the previousgames Pakistan played,”he said.

Amir said there was al-ways a blend of youth andexperience that makes ateam successful.

“For victory Pakistanneeds to keep its batting or-der consistent as the morethe same order plays themore their skills will de-velop,” he added.

Speaking about the fu-ture replacement for captainMisbah ul Haq, Amir saidcurrently he sees no otherplayer who can replace

Misbah as captain, adding,Misbah has been perform-ing tremendously well forthe last few years and a cap-tain like him was the direneed of the hour.

Former coach and chiefselector Mohsin HasanKhan while praising theteam’s performance said theteam played as a unitcoupled with fighting spirit.He gave credit to Junaid andAjmal for staying calm inthe latter part of the inningswithout getting panic.

“I am glad to see thatthere is a healthy competi-tion developing within ourteam and If all-rounders likeAnwar Ali and BilawalBhatti kept coming in to theteam then it would be greatfor Pakistan,” Mohsin said.

He said young playershad no fear in their heartwhich had brought themissing aggressiveness inthe team.—APP

I S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a ncaptain Misbah-ul-Haqpraised his team’s first winan ODI series against SouthAfrica and termed it as col-lective effort.

Team Pakistan pulled offa thrilling one-run win in thesecond one-day interna-tional at St George’s Park inPort Elizabeth ended upwinning the series by 2-0with one ODI left, reportedPTV.

Hashim Amla (98) andAB de Vil l iers (74) tookSouth Africa to the brink ofvictory but South Africacould score only sevenruns off the last nineballs , while losing twowickets.

Set to make 263 to win,they finished on 261 for six.Misbah admitted that a winseemed unlikely with twoovers to go.

The good over was pro-vided by off-spinner SaeedAjmal, who conceded onlytwo runs in the penultimateover and finished with thewicket of Amla, caught at

Misbah terms seriesvictory as team effort

deep square leg going for abig hit.

Junaid Khan had JPDuminy caught in the deepoff the second ball of thefinal over during which heconceded only threesingles before the last ballwent for four leg byes.

Pakistani opening bats-man Ahmed Shehzad wasnamed Man of the Match.He made 102 after Pakistanstarted their innings underrainy weather.

South African fastbowler Dale Steyn took acareer-best six for 39, in-cluding two wickets in thelast over of the innings, butthe other South Africanbowlers struggled to con-tain their opponents, whowon the first match in CapeTown by 23 runs on Sun-day.

It was especially con-tent victory for visitors be-cause Pakistan were re-cently beaten 4-1 by thesame opponents in theUnited Arab Emirates.—APP

Sports facilitiesneed Board’s

attentionISLAMABAD—The PakistanSports Board (PSB) is notpaying attention to the main-tenance of gymnasiums andstadium here at the PakistanSports Complex causing prob-lems for sportsmen. TheLiaquat Gymnasium, whereindoor games are played, is ina dilapidated condition.Change rooms and wash-rooms require upgradation,while it lacks a fitness facility.The gymnasium’s basementlooks like a dumping ground.

Similarly, seepage canseen be on the walls and roofsof Jinnah Stadium. Water fromwashrooms is pouring out inthe stadium. The seats instands have not been paintedor renovated for many years.The construction of a boxinggymnasium was started in2002 when Pakistani boxerMehar Allah Khan won a goldmedal in the Asian Games. Itwas to be completed in 2011.Despite lapse of aroundeleven years, an incompletestructure shows lethargy ofauthorities concerned to-wards the sports.—APP

Inter RegionalCricket Tournament

STAFF REPORTER

K A R A C H I —BeaconhouseSchool System’s Inter Re-gional Cricket O’ Level BoysTournament 2013-14 was heldat Moin Khan Academy. Itwas inaugurated by Ian Tho-mas Darlington-AssistantDirector Sports, BSS.

Teams of O’ Level North-ern, Central and Southern(under 17) regions are partici-pating in this tournament. It’san annual and regular featureof the school system in or-der to promote sports,namely cricket, on a largerscale and create room forsports and academics to ex-ist alongside and contributeto physical development aswell.

The Southern Region en-joyed the privilege of beingthe host while everyone inthe ground witnessed thesportsmanship of theseyoung boys displaying asplendid game. Day 1 had 2matches of 20 overs each.

The chief guest of theday, Nadeem Khan, formerbowler of Pakistan CricketTeam appreciated the effortsof the students as well as theorganisers in contributing tothe game cherished by theentire nation and was de-lighted to be a part of such ahigh profile cricket tourna-ment.

ISLAMABAD—Man of theMatch Ahmed Shehzad appre-ciated the positive influence ofPakistan’s leadership and man-agement staff, afterWedneday’s one-run win - andunassailable two-nil series lead- over South Africa in the sec-ond ODI at St George’s Park inPort Elizabeth.

Inclement weather reducedthe fixture to 45 overs per side,with the visitors posting a for-midable total of 262 all out onthe back of Shehzad’s century,which spanned 112 deliveries,eight boundaries and twinsixes.

The Proteas later slippedto an insufficient 261 for six, asa commanding 98 from openerHashim Amla and a cavalier 74from captain AB de Villierswent in vain. Seamer JunaidKhan and leg-spinner ShahidAfridi, meanwhile, shared fivekey wickets.

“My captain has reallysupported me throughout. Wehaven’t been clicking much thelast few series. The way themanagement is treating us, andthe way manager Moin Khanhas been handling us, it hasgone a long way in helping ourbelief after we lost series in theUAE,” said Shehzad.

“Those guys are doing atremendous job off the field

Shehzad laudsmanagerial support

and have supported us. It’svery pleasing for any openingbatsman to make a ton in SouthAfrica. Sometimes it’s reallyquick, sometimes it is two-paced, so it is especially pleas-ing to do well in these condi-tions.”

Shehzad’s solid alliancewith fellow right-hander SohaibMaqsood, who scored a pa-tient 42 before perishing to all-rounder Ryan McLaren, wascrucial. The pair added 124runs inside 22 overs for thethird wicket, ensuring a promptrecovery in the wake of openerNasir Jamshed and the out-of-form Mohammad Hafeez’searly departures.

“The pitch wasn’t easy tobat on. Ball wasn’t comingon to the bat. First few oversball wasn’t coming, but assoon as the lights came on itgot easier. I want to mentionthe spinners. Shahid hasbeen bowling tremendously,along with Saeed Ajmal,while Junaid took the respon-sibility at the end to bowlwell,” he added.

“Maqsood is a free strokeplayer and we need his kind oftalent in the pressure oversand Powerplay. I told him totake his chances but hecouldn’t connect. It happensin this game.”—INP

BRISBANE: Tim Bresnan took 4 for 31, showing he is working his way back to fitness, Queensland Second XI vEngland Performance Programme, 2nd day.

SYDNEY: Adam Scott of Austalia plays a shot on the 18th fairway during the Australian Open golf tournament.

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

DUBAI—’Why the hell didyou try to obstruct the field?’, will be the first immedi-ate question Aaqib Javedis set to ask to his pupil,Anwar Ali, if the later comesto play the series againstSri Lanka in UAE early nextmonth.

The Pakistani tail-ender, who turned 26 ear-lier in the week, was de-clared out ‘Obstructing thefield’ in the ODI againstSouth Africa on Wednes-day. Interestingly, all fiveare from Asia (barringIndia’s MohinderAmarnath, other four arefrom Pakistan) who havebeen out under this law(Obstructing the field-Law37) in ODI.

Anwar Ali had no

Pak players ‘passionate’about obstructing the field

proper pair of shoes when heturned up at the PCB (Paki-stan Cricket Board (PCB)-runNational Cricket Academy(NCA) in Lahore. It wasAaqib Javed who took himunder his training and guidedhim to success. ‘Yes, he cameat a very young age to me’.

‘Pakistani players are‘passionate’ about this (get-ting out under this law) andthey want to be in news...’,Aaqib Javed, now coach withthe UAE team, said in jest.

‘If you put Pak team onone side and rest of the teamson other side, the news sur-rounding Pak players aremore’, he says.

‘There is no propercoaching structure at youthlevel in Pakistan as comparedto some other countries likeAustralia, England, SouthAfrica and New Zealand. Ig-norance of laws and lack ofknowledge is the reason why

more Pakistani players areout in this fashion’, headded.

‘There is no propercoaching in schools andboys play cricket on streetsand parking areas. Unlessno serious thought is given,no improvement is likely tohappen’, Javed added.

Rameez Raza, Inzamam-ul-Haq and MohammadHafeez were the other Paki-stani players who were outin this fashion.

In the latest incident,Pakistani camp has notbeen happy with the um-pires decision. ‘Anwar wasgiven wrongly out. Nowhere he was running outside the line and he was notobstructing the field inten-tionally. His head was alsodownside and he shouldnot have been made thevictim in this fashion’, amember of the PCB said.

SHARJAH: Secretary Pakistan Cycling Federation, Syed Azhar Ali presenting thePCF souvenir to Ruler of Sharjah, Emir Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qasimi.

IS L A M A B A D—Pakistan isranked 168 in the FIFA-CocaCola World Rankingswith 102 points released onThursday but the PakistanFootball Federation (PFF)seems to do nothing for theimprovement of the game.

The other Asian teamsranked in the WorldRankings are above Paki-stan in the table with Indiaon 154 with 151 points ,Bangladesh on 162 with 120points and Sri Lanka on 166with 108 points. However,Spain still leads the WorldRankings while Germanyand Argentina are placedsecond and third respec-tively.

The next FIFA-CocaCola World Rankingswill be published on De-cember 19. Talking to APP,Former football team cap-tain Lt Col ® Mujahid UllahTareen said the national

team cannot improve untiland unless PFF won’t stopstuffing foreign-basedplayers in the team.

Afghanistan beat Paki-stan with a 3-0 margin in afr iendly match held acouple of months agowhile Pakistan lost its 1stmatch against India by 1-0in the SAFF Cup 2013. Forthe SAFF Cup, PFF calledforeign-based players in-cluding Adnan Ahmed,former Fulham defenderZesh Rehman, HassanBashir, Yousuf Butt andYacoob Butt . MujahidUllah who has also beenthe former PFF secretary,said the team has failed toproduce many t imes andtherefore an operat ionclean up is needed in theteam.

“I feel the team’s down-fall at major events is be-cause of the inclusion of

foreign-based players inthe team,” he said.Mujahidwho is also the DirectorMedia of Pakistan OlympicAssociation, said our localplayers perform with theirhearts out in the domesticchampionships and at theend the PFF awards themby calling in foreign-basedplayers who occupy theirspace in the team.

“Our players get disap-pointed with this,” he saidadding that Pakistan teamshould have pure Pakistaniplayers in it who performwhole year at the domesticcircuit here. Mujahid Ullahfurther advised nationalteam’s head coach to in-clude as many as localplayers he can in the teamin future as to make i t aPakistan team rather than aforeign-based players teamwho come play and go.—Agencies

PORT ELIZABETH—DaleSteyn, South Africa’s pre-mier fast bowler, and vet-eran al lrounder JacquesKallis have been ruled outof South Africa’s third ODIagainst Pakistan with in-jury niggles.

Steyn has a mild leftside strain while Kallis, whomade his comeback to the50-over format at the startof the series, has a badlysprained joint on the littlefinger of his right hand.

South Africa’s thinktank decided it was betterto take the precautionarymeasure of leaving the pairout for the f inal matchagainst Pakistan, who areaiming for 3-0 sweep, sothey could be in “primecondition” for the upcom-ing series against India.. Steyn, widely regardedas the best fast bowler cur-rently in world cricket ,

SYDNEY—Australia’s NathanLyon is confident he has thetools to spin England out inthe second test in Adelaideand will not need much helpfrom team mates rolling over afew part-time overs.

Lyon captured key wicketsin Australia’s 381-run victoryover the tourists in the first testbut question marks remainover whether the 26-year-oldhas the game to close out avictory.

Some of the doubt stemsfrom last year’s test seriesagainst South Africa whenAustralia needed six wicketson the last day at AdelaideOval to win on a deterioratingpitch.

Lyon took only one wicketthat day, with paceman Peter

I will handle Englandmyself: Nathan

Siddle taking the leading rolewith three wickets but SouthAfrica, led by test debutant Fafdu Plessis, held on to save thegame before routing Australiain Perth to win the series.

“I’ve learnt a fair amountplaying a few test matchesdown there,” Lyon told report-ers on Thursday.

“I’ve learnt a fair amountabout my game and what Ineed to do and what I need todo to get better.

“Fingers crossed there’s alittle bit more spin down thereand we’ll see how we go.”

Lyon is famous for hav-ing worked as a curator atAdelaide Oval in 2010 be-fore being spotted by localcoach Darren Berry andcompleting a remarkable rise

to the test team the follow-ing year.

The offspinner took fivewickets on debut against SriLanka and has 89 wickets from26 test matches at a respect-able average of 32.44.

He has often had a luke-warm reception fromAustralia’s selectors, how-ever, who left him out of theopening two tests of the north-ern Ashes series in favour ofan untried teenager in AshtonAgar.

Lyon will head into thesecond test with his statusas Australia’s number onespinner in little doubt, how-ever, though may have somepart-time support from SteveSmith or captain MichaelClarke.—Online

missed the Proteas’ open-ing 26-run Group B defeatby India in Cardiff with aside strain.

It is pertinent to men-tion that on Sunday, SouthAfrica captain AB deVilliers, speaking to report-ers at Edgbaston , waspessimistic about Steyn’schances of facing Pakistan.

“The f inal decisionhasn’t been made yet, butit’s not looking good,” deVilliers said. “The chancesare he’ll only be ready forthe last one (South Africa’sfinal group match againstthe West Indies in Cardiffon June 14).

South Africa’s fastbowling resources werefurther depleted whenMorne Morkel, who limpedoff while bowling his sev-enth over against India,was ruled out of the tour-

nament with a leg injury.India capitalised to pile

up 331 for seven but SouthAfrica gave them a scare

before fal l ing short in adaunting chase.

The Proteas havecalled up Chris Morris, a26-year-old seamer whohas played two Twenty20matches for South Africa,but has yet to appear in aone-day international , asMorkel’s replacement.

And de Villiers, havingseen the way in which En-gland beat Australia by 48runs in a Group A encoun-ter at Edgbaston on Sun-day, reckoned pace wasstill the way forward.

“It looked a similar kindof wicket to the one we’llbe playing on. The onespinner for England,(James) Tredwell bowledreally well but it was the

Pakistan in South Africa 2013-14

Steyn, Kallis ruledout of final ODI

seamers, who started re-versing the ball, who reallyrestricted the batters andmade them look like theycan’t get it off the square.”

The wicketkeeper-bats-man added now was thenot the time for the Proteasto change tactics.On the other side, it was re-ported earlier that MahelaJayawardene has beenrested for the limited-oversleg of Sri Lanka’s seriesagainst Pakistan in theUnited Arab Emirates start-ing next month.

Sri Lanka Cricket said ina statement on Mondaythat 36-year-oldJayawardene, who hasplayed 407 ODIs andscored over 11,000 runs,had requested leave onpersonal grounds.

Left-handed batsmanKithuruwan Vithanage,who has played two Testsbut has yet to represent SriLanka in l imited overscricket, was named as hisreplacement.

Left-arm spinnerRangana Herath wasnamed in the one-daysquad but was not consid-ered for the Twenty20 se-ries as “he was beingrested considering the ex-cessive amount of crickethe played and the availablecricket for him up to the2015 World Cup.”

Sri Lanka play Pakistanin two T20 internationals inDubai on Dec. 11 and 13 be-fore moving to Sharjah forthe start of the five-matchone-day international serieson Dec. 18.—AFP

Vonn confidentshe will ski

in SochiNEW YORK—Reigning Win-ter Olympic downhill cham-pion Lindsey Vonn said sheis confident that she will beable to ski at the Sochi Gamesin February despite being in-jured in a crash last week.

Vonn told US Olympictelecaster NBC’s Todayshow that tearing a recon-structed ligament in her sur-gically repaired right kneewhen she fell at Colorado’sCopper Mountain during atraining run has not endedher hopes for a strong sea-son and more Olympic gold.

“Unfortunately, it was re-ally bad timing for me, but I’mstill confident,” Vonn said. “Istill feel like I have a lot leftto achieve this season. I justhave to kind of take it day byday right now, but I still havetime before Sochi.”

Vonn, the girlfriend of14-time major golf championTiger Woods, was hoping toreturn to competition in aWorld Cup event this weekat Beaver Creek, Colorado,on the new Raptor coursewhere the 2015 World Cham-pionships will be staged.

Instead, the crash —which also bruised her shoul-ders and left her with minorfacial cuts — forced her toskip the US races. She hopesto regain enough stability inher knee to race next week inWorld Cup events at LakeLouise, Canada.—AFP

Athletics: Kenyato set up doping

test centreNAIROBI—Kenya’s athleticsboss said Thursday thecountry will soon set up itsfirst doping test lab amid ef-forts by the distance runninggiant to shake off allegationsit was failing to tackle cheats.

Officials from the WorldAnti-doping Agency(WADA) and the IAAF arealso due in Kenya next weekto help establish the centre,Athletics Kenya presidentIsaiah Kiplagat told AFP.

The delegation will in-clude Gabriel Dolle, the direc-tor of the IAAF Medical andAnti-Doping Department.

“We will have to liaisewith the relevant authoritiesin the government in thebuilding of the laboratory.Depending on the logistics,we hope it will fully opera-tional by January next year,”Kiplagat said.

He said the new centrewill act as a regional bloodand urine collection andanalysis point.

“Nairobi has been chosenbecause it is more central. Itis intended to serve not onlyKenya but the rest of the re-gion,” Kiplagat said.

Kenya has been underpressure to act on the issueof doping since a German tele-vision investigation last yearalleged that banned drugsincluding the blood boosterEPO were readily available.

Since January 2012, in-creased tests have netted 17Kenyan cheats. While noneof them have been big-namerecord breakers, the findingshave contradicted previousassertions from AthleticsKenya that its runners arespotless.—AFP

Football: Bayern’sLahm to miss next

two gamesMUNICH (Germany)—Bayern Munich captainPhilipp Lahm will miss theEuropean champions’ nexttwo games after injuring hisright hamstring, the clubconfirmed on Thursday.

The 30-year-old limpedout of Bayern’s 3-1 win atCSKA Moscow on Wednes-day as they extended theirwinning streak in the Cham-pions League to a record 10matches. A scan in Munich re-vealed a strained hamstring.

Lahm will sit out bothSaturday’s Bundesliga clashat home to bottom sideEintracht Braunschweig andWednesday’s German Cupthird-round match at home toAugsburg.

This will be the firstBundesliga game Lahm willhave missed under Bayerncoach Pep Guardiola this sea-son as Munich look to ex-tend their record unbeatenrun in the league to 39matches.

The Bavarian giants arehoping to have Lahm backfor their Bundesliga clash atWerder Bremen on SaturdayDecember 7, in time for theirfinal Champions Leaguegame at home to Manches-ter City three days later, butit will depend on how the in-jury heals.—AFP

Pakistan ranked 168 inFIFA rankings

RESEARCHERS have found a higher rateof dangerous blood clots in patients whoreceived Thoratec Corp’s HeartMate II

heart pump than had been seen in clinical trialsor prior experience, according to a study pub-lished on Wednesday. They also found that whenblood clots do develop, theyare occurring closer to the timeof HeartMate implantationthan had been previously ob-served. The findings were re-ported in the New EnglandJournal of Medicine.

The HeartMate II is a so-called LVAD, or left ventricu-lar assist device, that is usedto keep alive heart patientswho are either ineligible for orawaiting a heart transplant.The devices have been shownto significantly improve thequality of life by assisting theheart’s pumping function, pri-marily in those with advancedheart failure. HeartMate is byfar Thoratec’s most importantproduct line. It reported thirdquarter HeartMate sales of $112.8 million outof total revenue of $126.4 million.

Researchers examined the outcomes of 895HeartMate II implants in 837 patients from 2004through mid-2013 to try to determine if therehad been an increase in incidence of pumpthrombosis, or blood clots in or around the heartpump. Since March 2011, they found clot for-mation had occurred in 8.4 percent of HeartMateII implants compared with a rate of 2.2 percentprior to that date. They also noted that thrombo-sis was forming on average 2.7 months afterimplant since March 2011 compared with amedian of 18.6 months prior to that date. “Thereare no changes that have been made to the de-

vice that the manufacturer has identified aspotentially responsible,” Dr. Randall Starling,the study’s lead author, said in a telephone in-terview. “From our data set, at this point intime we do not have an explanation,” said Star-ling, head of heart failure and cardiac trans-

plant management at the Cleve-land Clinic.

Starling said researchersplanned to collect comprehen-sive data and work withThoratec “and be in a positionhopefully by the middle of nextyear to have more detailed in-formation.” Dr. AlexReyentovich, medical directorof the LVAD program at NYULangone Medical Center inNew York, said the problem ofpump thrombosis had been ob-served at many centers.

“What’s unique to thisstudy is their reported incidenceseems to be quite a bit higherthan what has been reported inthe mandatory registry forLVAD. It is worrisome,” said

Reyentovich, who was not involved in thestudy. “Unfortunately, for these patients therereally are not other options. This is a therapyof last resort,” he added.

Implant patients are typically treated withthe blood thinners warfarin and aspirin to pre-vent clots. Starling said variations in antico-agulation therapy did not appear to accountfor the increased clot risk, but Reyentovichsaid anticoagulation must be carefully deter-mined and monitored for each patient to mini-mize clot and serious bleeding risks. Thoratecsaid survival of HeartMate II patients has im-proved since the device’s initial clinical trialwith six-month survival rates at 86 percent.

Higher clot risk seen withThoratec heart pump: Study

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah addressing the participants of 6th International Urdu Conference at Arts Council.

Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan addressing National Legal Education Conference underthe auspices of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto University of Law.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz Sindh chapterwhile expressing reservations onsequel of amendments in theSindh Local Government Bill-2013 announced to reject theadded clause for the formation ofa panel of 9 contestants.

In this regard, the PMLNSindh chapter meeting was heldat the residence of PMLN SindhGeneral Secretary Saleem ZiaAwan advocate in Karachi Thurs-day, which was attended bymember provincial assemblyIrfanullah Khan Marwat, FederalMinister Abdul Hakeem Baloch,

Imdad Chandio, ShahMuhammad Shah, Ismail Rahu,Ali Akbar Gujjar, HajiMuhammad Shafi Jamot,Humayoon Khan, DostMuhammad Faizi, Khawaja TariqNazeer, Nasiruddin Mehmood,Raja Abdullah, Munawwar Raza,Ghulam Mustafa advocate andNadeem Arain.

MPA Marwat briefed themeeting about the fresh ordinancefor the local government systemin the province.

The meeting was told that theprovincial government led by Pa-kistan People’s Party Parliamen-tarian (PPPP) had passed theSindh Local Bodies Act-2012 fol-

lowed by a second version in2013. The later was amended forthe first time in form of a Bill,which the PPPP-led provincialgovernment further amended onNov 26, 2013. The amendmentsso far done were based on politi-cal bias of the provincial govern-ment.

The meeting discussed abouta situation that had emerged aftercreation of new district in the city,which called for fresh process ofdelimitation but were not yet car-ried out. However, schedule of lo-cal body polls was announced onNov 29, which would be uselesswithout fresh process of delimi-tations. The meeting decided that

PML-N rejects panel of 9contestants clause in SLGO

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf MNA Dr Arif Alvi and MPA Dr Seema Zia showing solidarity withrelatives and well-wishers of Baloch missing persons, outside Press Club.

since the PPPP-led provincialgovernment had through amend-ments made it an obligation forthe contestants to form a groupof 9 contestants, which was abasic human rights violation.Therefore, the PMLN Sindhwould reject that amendment.

The meeting also objected onselection of union council chair-man and vice chairman throughshow of hands as it was alsoagainst the rules.

The meeting was told that ameeting of PMLN Sindh chap-ter office-bearers would soon beconvened and future strategywould be announced after collec-tion of recommendations.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Chief Minis-ter Syed Qaim Ali Shah said thatlegal mechanism is required toensure access and standard edu-cation to each citizen. A commit-tee with academic and legal ex-perts has been constituted to pro-pose the universities amendmentsbill carefully for the improve-ment, capacity building of theuniversities, teaching communityand students to ensure quality ofeducation in each public sectoruniversity.

This he said while presidingover meeting to review proposeduniversities amendment bill heldat CM House Thursday.

Sindh senior Minister foreducation Nisar Ahmed Khuhro,Sindh Minister for Parliamentaryaffairs Dr Sikandar Mendhro, DrAzra Pechuho, VC Ziauddin uni-versity Dr Asim, Secretary LawParkash Lal Ambwani, Secretary

to CM Sindh Rai Sikandar, Sec-retary Universities and BoardsRiaz Memon and other officersattended the meeting and par-ticipated in discussion and de-liberations.

The CM was of the view thatgovt was fully funding to thepublic sector universities forhaving qualitative education butuniversities have failed becauseof poor legal mechanism there.He said that instead of fundingto the public universities the criti-cism about sub standard educa-tion is being made on the govtone hand and students of theprovince are deprived from qual-ity of education on other hand.

He said that government ispaying to the teachers more ascompared to private institutionsbut getting result below the stan-dard. He said that quality of edu-cation in the province was themain challenge not only to thegovernment, institutions and na-

tion as well “we all must have toundertake tri-angle approach tostandarise the education” headded. He asked the members ofthe committee to make, univer-sities and its academic and ad-ministrative bodies more viablewith these powers and duties insuch a way so that the universi-ties could be strengthened andbe made capable to deliver qual-ity education.He said that pro-posed universities bill would begot approved from the cabinetbefore tabling it in the assembly.

The CM said that he was op-timistic, that by transfer of uni-versities power to Sindh govern-ment and subsequent amendmentof universities bill, the access andquality of education would beimproved at large.

He said that campus manage-ment system (CMS) would beintroduced to monitor the perfor-mances of the universitiesthrough modern technology.

Qaim forms committee foramendments in University Bill

JI KarachiNaib Ameerpasses away

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Naib AmeerJamaat-e Islami (JI) KarachiShaikh Rafeeq passed away dueto cardiac arrest. His funeralprayer was performed at JamiaMasjid Muhammadi in Gulistan-e Jauhar, Block No.6.

JI leaders including SindhChief Dr Mairaj-ul-HudaSiddiqui, JI Karachi Chief HafizNaeem-ur-Rehman, Naib AmeerSindh Abdul Ghaffar Umer,Muhammad Deen, Naib GeneralSecretary Nasrullah Aziz, Secre-tary Information Sindh MujahidChana, General Secretary JIKarachi Abdul Wahab, NaibAmeers JI Karachi NasrullahKhan Shajih, Muslim Pervez,Naib general secretaries AbdurRasheed Shaikh, Rashid Qureshi,Secretary Information JI KarachiZahid Askari, District AmeersYounus Barai, Ishaq Khan, AbdulWahid Shaikh, Muhammad Is-lam, President Al-Khidmat Foun-dation, Sindh Dr TabassumJaffery, Secretary Al-KhidmatWelfare Karachi Engr AbdulAziz, Director Islamic ResearchAcademy Shahid Hashmi,Naseem Siddiqui, BarjeesAhmed, Raja Arif Sultan, SyedMuhammad Iqbal, SarfarazAhmed, former JI lawmakersLaeeq Khan and HameedullahKhan Advocate attended funeralprayers of deceased JI leader.

Fire erupts atfactory

KARACHI—A fire that brokeout at a foam factory on lateWednesday night, could not beextinguished despite eight-hourhectic efforts.

25 fire tenders were busy indousing the fire which eruptedat the factory located on theNational Highway, officialsources said.

The Fire Brigade depart-ment declared the fire as third-degree inferno.

The authorities seem to havefailed in putting in place a bet-ter system to overcome such asituation despite the killing ofhundreds of people in such in-cidents.—Online

Trainingworkshopon dengueSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Following the di-rectives of Karachi MetropolitanCorporation (KMC) Administra-tor Rauf Akhtar Farooqui, theMedical and Health Departmentwith the coordination of Fisher-ies Department held a trainingworkshop for officials workingon Larva Control Programthrough Biological Method. Theworkshop was attended by offic-ers & experts from FisheriesDepartment, Agriculture Depart-ment, Parks & Horticulture De-partment & Malaria Control Cell.

The participants were pro-vided with useful informationregarding use of Guppi Fishes incontrolling Larva. Experts gavetraining on water sampling andwater testing surrounding tem-perature for use of Guppi fishes.

Senior Director Health andMedical Services Dr MuhammadAli Abbasi said KMC had beenusing different methods to con-trol spread of dengue virus in-cluding fumigation and biologi-cal method. He said such mea-sures should be taken on prefer-ential basis which could helpcontrol dengue in the city. TheSenior Director said pond ofGuppi fishes and collectionpoints were established to makethis campaign more effective.

Evening withSeraiki poet Aziz

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The literature Com-mittee of Karachi Press Clubwould host an event in com-memoration of versatile poetry ofSeraiki poet Shahid Aziz on Nov30 at the KPC.

Scholars and critics wouldpresent their critique about theSeraiki poet Aziz while the poetwould also recite his latest po-etry for the amusement of theparticipants.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Consul Gen-eral of the state of Qatar SaadAbdulla Al-Sharif Al Mahmudcalled on Sindh senior Ministerfor education Nisar AhmedKhuhro at his Sindh AssemblyOffice Thursday.

They exchange views re-garding education system ofQatar and Sindh and discussedthe trade, economic and socialsituation and stressed that co-op-eration will be enhanced regard-ing education and bilateral rela-tions between Sindh and Qatar.

On the occasion ConsulGeneral of the state of Qatar in-vite Senior Minister NisarAhmed Khuhro on the National

Day of the Qatar to attend cer-emony on 18th December. Se-nior Minister accepts the invi-tation and thanked him.

Meanwhile talking to jour-nalists Senior Minister NisarAhmed Khuhro said still no anyformula is finalized with MQMregarding their joining SindhCabinet.

He said people’s party be-lieves in reconciliation policyand did not believe in solo flightand the doors of people’s partyfor talks with political parties areopen every time.

Replying in a question hesaid sittings with MQM or otherpolitical parties are not playinggame because politics is notname of any game.

Pak, Qatar relationsto be enhanced

KARACHI—Karachi ElectricSupply Company (KESC) hassigned its ninth Memorandum ofUnderstanding under Social In-vestment Program with Bait-ul-Sukoon Cancer Hospital to pro-vide absolutely free of cost elec-tricity for the benefit of its pa-tients.

The Memorandum wassigned by Nayyer Hussain, CEOof KESC and Zainab Ali RazaEbrahim, Executive Trustee ofthe Hospital. Also representingthe hospital was Syed MasoudAli Naqvi.

Bait-ul-Sukoon Foundationmaintains a purpose-builtpremise in Karachi that standsout as the only free cancer hos-pital with a hospice in the coun-try. The 50-bed benevolent insti-

tution provides complete treat-ment, laboratory assistance,medicines and lodging facilitiesto all its patients without anycharges at all. This is the ninthsocial welfare institution in arow to receive KESC’s Empow-erment aimed at assisting theunder-privileged and the needyof the society.

Bait-ul-Sukoon Hospitalbears complete costs of cancertreatment including boardingand lodging. The institution of-fers diagnostic facilities ofmammography, ultrasound radi-ography, and pathological labo-ratory.

Its in-house pharmacy pro-vides complete range of cancertreatment drugs. Palliative aswell as curative treatment are

also provided free of cost to allpatients. The hospital treats over5,000 patients a year.

While signing the memoran-dum on Nov 27, Nayyer Hussainsaid that to keep going as a re-sponsible corporate citizen, itwas essential for KESC to reachout to those who could not helpthemselves. “Sharing the bless-ings with all the citizens is theonly way that a society can sus-tain itself,” he remarked.

Ms. Zainab of Bait ulSukoon said: ‘We really appre-ciate KESC’s support to thewelfare sector. Our aim is togive back to the society that hasgiven us so much. This contri-bution to our cause will go along way in helping us achieveour goals.’—NNI

Accord for free electricityto Cancer Hospital

ChairmanNADRA

suspends fouremployees

KARACHI—Chairman Na-tional Database and Registra-tion Authority (NADRA), TariqMalik paid a surprise visit toNADRA Registration Centers(NRCs) in Karachi and sus-pended four employees on ac-count of their alleged un-friendly customer service, neg-ligence, incompetency and in-volvement in illegal practices.

In the wake of vigilance re-ports and complaints receivedfrom media, Tariq Malik hasstarted conducting unannouncedvisits at NRCs across the coun-try. His visit involved inspectionand monitoring of swift workingat centers.—NNI

RESEARCHERS have found a higher rateof dangerous blood clots in patients whoreceived Thoratec Corp’s HeartMate II

heart pump than had been seen in clinical trialsor prior experience, according to a study pub-lished on Wednesday. They also found that whenblood clots do develop, theyare occurring closer to thetime of HeartMate implanta-tion than had been previouslyobserved. The findings werereported in the New EnglandJournal of Medicine.

The HeartMate II is a so-called LVAD, or left ventricu-lar assist device, that is usedto keep alive heart patientswho are either ineligible foror awaiting a heart transplant.The devices have been shownto significantly improve thequality of life by assisting theheart’s pumping function, pri-marily in those with advancedheart failure. HeartMate is byfar Thoratec’s most importantproduct line. It reported thirdquarter HeartMate sales of $112.8 million outof total revenue of $126.4 million.

Researchers examined the outcomes of 895HeartMate II implants in 837 patients from 2004through mid-2013 to try to determine if therehad been an increase in incidence of pumpthrombosis, or blood clots in or around the heartpump. Since March 2011, they found clot for-mation had occurred in 8.4 percent of HeartMateII implants compared with a rate of 2.2 percentprior to that date. They also noted that throm-bosis was forming on average 2.7 months afterimplant since March 2011 compared with amedian of 18.6 months prior to that date. “Thereare no changes that have been made to the de-

vice that the manufacturer has identified aspotentially responsible,” Dr. Randall Starling,the study’s lead author, said in a telephoneinterview. “From our data set, at this point intime we do not have an explanation,” said Star-ling, head of heart failure and cardiac trans-

plant management at the Cleve-land Clinic.

Starling said researchersplanned to collect comprehen-sive data and work withThoratec “and be in a positionhopefully by the middle of nextyear to have more detailed in-formation.” Dr. AlexReyentovich, medical directorof the LVAD program at NYULangone Medical Center inNew York, said the problem ofpump thrombosis had been ob-served at many centers.

“What’s unique to thisstudy is their reported incidenceseems to be quite a bit higherthan what has been reported inthe mandatory registry forLVAD. It is worrisome,” said

Reyentovich, who was not involved in thestudy. “Unfortunately, for these patients therereally are not other options. This is a therapyof last resort,” he added.

Implant patients are typically treated withthe blood thinners warfarin and aspirin to pre-vent clots. Starling said variations in antico-agulation therapy did not appear to accountfor the increased clot risk, but Reyentovichsaid anticoagulation must be carefully deter-mined and monitored for each patient to mini-mize clot and serious bleeding risks. Thoratecsaid survival of HeartMate II patients has im-proved since the device’s initial clinical trialwith six-month survival rates at 86 percent.

Higher clot risk seen withThoratec heart pump: Study

Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Umar Ata Bandial cutting ribbon to inaugurateMCB Branch at LHC.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Food Minis-ter, Bilal Yasin has said thatPunjab government has setup142 Sasta bazaars in 36 districtsof the province to ensure provi-sion of essential everyday itemsat fix rates, and these inexpen-sive bazaars would beoperationalized from tomorrow.He said, as many as eight Sastabazaars would be setup inLahore, which would be gradu-ally increased in view of futureneeds.

Minister Food Bilal Yasinwas presiding over a high levelmeeting of Price Control Cabi-net Committee at Secretariat,

here today, during which, Agri-culture Minister Dr FarrukhJaved, Minister Industries ChShafiq, members assembly, AddlChief Secretary, Secretary Infor-mation Moman Agha, heads ofall departments and other con-cerned officers were present.

Minister Food said that in-expensive bazaars would besetup in various districts ofPunjab on Friday, Saturday andSunday, where availability ofeveryday items would be en-sured, in accordance with the ratefixed by the government.

Minister Food Bilal Yasinsaid that, as a result of effectiveand timely steps taken by thegovernment, a marked reduction

in the rates of potatoes, toma-toes and onions have been reg-istered, while the rates of fruitsand vegetables are fast ap-proaching to normalcy.

He said, all magistrateshave been directed to furtherstrengthen price monitoring sys-tem in their concerned bazaars.He said availability of Atta, atfixed rate would continue to bemade available to the people inSasta bazaars, while quota ofthose flour mills which wouldovercharged, would be can-celled and action would be takenagainst them without any dis-crimination.

Minister Food Bilal Yasin,directed the Special Branch au-

142 Sasta bazaars in 36 districtsthorities to provide their owndata in this regard to Punjab In-formation Technology Board ondaily basis, so that a compara-tive data report could be pre-sented to Cabinet Committee inevery meeting.

Punjab Minister Food BilalYasin informed the meeting that,on the directive of Punjab ChiefMinister, Punjab InformationTechnology Board has prepareda software, which would helppeople to access rate chart of ev-eryday items, through their mo-biles.

He said people would cometo know about daily prices of es-sential items through SMS, toll-free number and internet

Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif addressing the Governing Body of LDA on Thursday.

Vice President Lahore Press Club Javed Farooqi presenting a shield to visiting President ofMumbai Press Club Jattan Dasae at LPC.

website, while complaints couldalso be registered with DCOs inthis regard, in case of overcharg-ing, throughout the province.

The meeting was informedthat as many as 5624 patrolpumps have been checked in acrackdown against overcharg-ing, while 49 patrol pumps havebeen sealed and a fine of Rs. 56lac 24 thousand has been levied.

The meeting was further in-formed that, from Novembertill now, a fine of Rs. one crore76 lack has been imposedagainst those who were indulg-ing in profiteering of everydayitems, while cases have beenregistered against 203 persons,in this regard.

LAHORE—Punjab Law Minis-ter Rana Sanaullah has said thataccused involved in theRawalpindi riots would be de-tained soon and presented beforeAnti-Terrorism Court (ATC)which would announce its ver-dict in few weeks.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Thursday, RanaSanaullah lauded Ulema, reli-gious scholars, civil society andmedia for playing a positive roleto tackle the situation after theRawalpindi carnage and said thatefforts to create harmony pre-vented the sectarian violence

from spreading to entire coun-try. He said that the governmentis studying the report of the factfinding committee and the cul-prits will be dealt according.

The law minister said thatPunjab government had madefoolproof security arrangementsfor Muharram processions butthe Rawalpindi occurrence tookplace due to slackness of policepersonnel.

He said wisdom and far-sightedness of the ulema, me-dia and civil society helped thegovernment to handle it in bestpossible way otherwise the vio-

lence would have gripped theentire country.

Rana Sanaullah said that ameeting has been summoned inthe Punjab Assembly to discusslaw and order situation and lo-cal bodies’ elections in theprovince.

Commenting over the caseregistered against CIA chief inUS drone strikes, he said thatthose taking such steps lack wis-dom that decision regardingstopping US drone strikes andhalting NATO supplies couldnot be made while sitting inHayatabad, Peshawar.—INP

Sanaullah lauds Ulema fortackling Rawalpindi situation

LAHORE—Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami, Syed Munawar Hasan hasstressed upon the government toimmediately announce stoppageof NATO supplies and pull outof the US war in accordance withthe sentiments of the masses.

Talking to party workers atMansoora on return from a five-day Karachi visit, he said peopleall over the country were protest-ing against the NATO suppliesand the rulers should not fight withtheir own people. He said the USarms and ammunition going to Af-ghanistan through our roads werebeing used in terrorist activities inour tribal areas and cities besides

Afghanistan. Syed MunawarHasan said that, for the last 12years, Pakistan, an Islamic state,had been an ally of the US in itsso called war on terror, which wasactually a war against Islam andthe Muslims, and had been a partyin the killing of innocent Muslimsas also our own people.

He said Pakistan had notgained any thing in this war. Onthe other hand, it had incurred fi-nancial losses to the tune of 100billion dollars besides losing itsimage in the comity of the na-tions and also put its indepen-dence and sovereignty at stake.However, he said, that instead of

giving any weight to Pakistan’ssacrifices in the war, the US wasbusy in destabilizing this coun-try. The JI Ameer said, in thepast, Pakistan never felt the needfor having an army on the Afghanborder. However, our relationswith Afghan people had been se-verely damaged because of theintrigues of US and India, and oursafest border was now insecure.

The US aggression was in-creasing day by day and NATOtroops were intruding in our northwestern borders every day and at-tacking our tribal people, killingscores of innocent men, womenand children. —INP

Munawar urges govt tostop NATO supplies

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Chief SecretaryPunjab, Naveed Akram Cheemahas directed education authoritiesto ensure that enrollment targetsare achieved in accordance withMillennium Development Goals(MDGs).

Chief Secretary further di-rected that missing facilities atvarious schools be provided atthe earliest, while necessaryfunds allocated for the purpose,during the current financial year,are fully utilized to achieve thetarget. Chief Secretary Punjab,Naveed Akram Cheema was pre-siding over a high-level meetingregarding implementation of Mil-lennium Development Goals,here today. Secretary School Edu-cation Department briefed theChief Secretary in detail about the

progress and the initiatives takenby the department in this regard.

Talking on the occasion,Chief Secretary said that provi-sion of quality education is thetop priority of PunjabGovernment’s developmentgoals. He said that the Punjabgovernment is comprehensivelyfollowing the road map forschool education reforms, focus-ing on 100% enrolment and re-tention of students of five to six-teen years old, to ensure that ev-ery child in Punjab is providedfree, compulsory and qualityeducation, compatible with inter-national standards and relevantto market requirements.

Chief Secretary said thatthere is a need to comprehend theclose linkage between provisionof quality education and achieve-ment of socio-economic devel-opment targets, in accordancewith MDGs.

CS for achieving enrollmenttargets under MDGs

LHC CJ opensbank branch incourt premises

LAHORE—Lahore High CourtChief Justice Umar Ata BandialThursday inaugurated a branch ofMuslim Commercial Bank(MCB) in the premises of theLHC for litigants, lawyers andcourt officials. LHC judges, of-ficers, advocates and manage-ment of bank were also present.

Speaking on the occasion,the chief justice said prime dutyof the judiciary was to servepeople and provide justice to thelitigant public.

Therefore, efforts are afootto initiate measures that couldhelp easy and inexpensive justicewith an active cooperation oflawyers community.

“Judiciary is cut off from theouter world but cannot remainaloof from technical advance-ments that play an effective rolewithin the ambit of law for quickdispensation of justice and es-tablishment of the bank branchwill help safe transactions forlawyers, their clients and thecourt staff,” he said.—APP

PTI warns againstpostponement of

LB electionsLAHORE—PTI ProvincialPresident Punjab Ejaz Ch, PTIGen. Secretary Dr. YasminRashid and PTI Sec. Informa-tion Punjab held a meeting ofmajor dist.

Office holders. PresidentEjaz Ch said that the Punjabgovt. was deliberately trying todelay the process of local bodyelections because they wereafraid that now that they havebeing told by the high court tohave LB elections on party ba-sis, they will be getting a badthreshing by PTI.

Ejaz ch said that there wasonly one reason for the delay forthese elections and that was tofull prepare for all types of rig-ging as PML-N feared that theywill not get public support inthese elections.

He criticized the govt. per-formance by saying that everytwo weeks the prices of electric-ity and petrol were increasingand creating historical inflation.—Online

Punjab WorkersEmpowerment

Forum heldSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Labour andHuman Resource Department,Literacy and NFBE Departmentsorganized first ever “PunjabWorkers Empowerment Forum”in Centre for Improvement ofWorking Conditions and Envi-ronment (CIWC&E) in the De-partment of Labour today.

The objective of the eventwas to highlight the achieve-ments of “Empowering Vulner-able Groups through Education,Employment and Training (EET)Project” implemented by ILO.

A way forward was also pre-sented to stakeholders for theirownership. Nadeem AslamChaudhry, Director GeneralLabour Department assured thatthe initiatives taken under theOne UN funded project of theILO, EET are being taken on bythe government.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The 15th meetingof the Management Committeeof Punjab Pension Fund washeld in Finance Departmentunder the Chairmanship of theMinister Finance, Excise &Taxation Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman.

The meeting was attendedby the Finance Secretary, Sec-retary Law & Parliamentary

Affairs, Secretary Services,Secretary I&C, private mem-bers and the General Manager.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehmancommended the efforts of themembers of the ManagementCommittee and the Fund’smanagement for such a com-mendable performance andhoped that their professionalapproach in managing the Fundwill bring greater success.

He said that Punjab Gov-

ernment is taking concretesteps for the welfare of the re-tired civil servants/pensioners.

He expressed satisfactionwith the way the Punjab Pen-sion Fund has established it-self as a credible and wellmanaged institution and ex-pressed the resolve that fundwould continue to play an im-portant role in prudent man-agement of the pension liabili-ties of the province.

Steps for welfare of retired employees

29 more newdengue cases

LAHORE—At least 29 new den-gue infected cases were con-firmed across Punjab within 24hours, raising number of dengueaffected patients to 2349 duringcurrent year.

According to Punjab healthdepartment, as many as 29 newdengue affected patients werebrought in the government runhospitals of the province. 18 pa-tients from Lahore, 9 fromRawalpindi, one fromSheikhupura and one fromBhahwalpur were brought to hos-pitals.

The department said that dur-ing current year, so far at least2349 people have been affectedfrom dengue virus across theprovince. Free medical treatmentand other facilities are being pro-vided to the patients in the gov-ernment hospitals.—INP

PES providesservice to

508 injuredLAHORE—The Punjab Emer-gency Service (Rescue 1122)has provided emergency serviceto 508 injured in 444 accidentsin all districts of the province inlast 24 hours.

As 98 accidents were re-ported in Lahore with 109 vic-tims, 49 in Faisalabad with 53injured and 33 in Gujranwalawith 33 victims.

According to a data of Pro-vincial Monitoring Cell of theRescue 1122, the staff shifted theinjured to different hospitals.—APP