SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Functional (PML-F)Chief Pir Sahib Pagara Fridayhas said that coming generalelections in the country wouldbe bloody in which moneywould be utilised to buy thevotes.

Talking to reporters inLahore, he said though generalelections are necessary yet theresults of these elections would

not help resolve the multipleproblems being faced by thecountry.

Former advisor to PrimeMinister Chaudhry ZaheerAhmed on the occasion an-nounced his decision to join thePML-F alongwith his compan-ions reposing full confidence inthe leadership of Pir SahibPagara.

Answering a question,Pagara said that Chaudhry broth-ers earlier had desire for unity of

all factions of the MuslimLeague. If this was happened,today there was Prime Ministerof Muslim League because it hadmuch strength. However, thiswas not happened. He said he feltthat now Nawaz Sharif andShahbaz Sharif also want to seeunity of all factions of MuslimLeague.

Pir Sahib Pagara maintainedthat the country’s situation is go-ing from bad to worst. The coun-try is moving backward instead

of moving forward, he said. Headded that he would meet allpatriotic and like minded peoplewho are sincere with the coun-try as well as people.

Pir Pagara said earlier therewas target killing in Karachi butnow terrorist incidents takeplace in interior Sindh.

The PML-F chief furthersaid that earlier there were ap-prehensions about general elec-tions in the country but after

Pagara fears bloodshed in elections

Taliban welcome JUI-F APC declaration

Fazl claims dialogue process beginsSTAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Hoping that themilitary would also back peacetalks with Taliban, JUI-F ChiefFazlur Rehman on Fridayclaimed initiation of the dialogueprocess as militants has wel-comed APC declaration.

“Dialogue process, as per thedecisions of All Parties Confer-ence, is being initiated today (Fri-day),” said JUI-F chief MaulanaFazlur Rehman while talking tomedia persons at the ParliamentHouse.

Asked about his meeting USAmbassador Richard Olson, Fazltermed it as successful. “The Law

and order situation in Pakistanand Afghanistan came under dis-cussion during the meeting,” he

added. Later in the day,Maulana Fazlur Rehman alongwith members of Jirga metGovernor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Engineer Shaukatullah andsought the help of the Gover-nor as the consultations with the

Governor are important as he isthe head of FATA region.

Meanwhile Pakistani mili-tants have welcomed the five-

point declaration of an All Par-ties Conference (APC) convenedby the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam–F

(JUI-f) for steps to restore peacein Pakistan’s restive tribal areas.

Mainstream political and re-ligious parties and civil society

groups agreed at the moot onThursday to negotiate peace withmilitant elements through abroadened tribal jirga earlierformed by JUI-F.

ISLAMABAD: Richard G Olson, Ambassador of US, called on JUI-F President MaulanaFazlur Rehman on Friday.

Continued on Page 7

Fazl takeson board USambassador

ISLAMABAD—A day afterMaulana Fazlur Rehmanhosted All Parties Conferencewhich emphasized negotiationwith Taliban, United StatesAmbassador to Pakistan Rich-ard Olson met Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief here onFriday.

Sources said that the mat-ters of mutual interest and dia-logue efforts with the Talibancame under discussion in themeeting. Maulana told US en-

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —Protes t ingagainst the latest hike in petroland diesel prices, the main op-position party, the Pakistan Mus-lim League-N and the MuttahidaQaumi Movement staged a walkout of Friday session of the Na-tional Assembly.

At the start of the session,lawmakers belonging to severalpolitical parties chanted slogansand protested against the in-crease of about four per cent inthe prices of petrol and otherpetroleum products for March.

The price of petrol has beenincreased by Rs3.53 per litre(3.42 per cent) to Rs106.60, thatof high speed diesel by Rs4.35(3.99 per cent) to Rs113.56,kerosene by Rs3.75 (3.76 percent) to Rs103.69 and light die-sel by Rs3.93 (4.2 per cent) toRs98.25.

The decision for the pricehike was announced Thursdayfollowing consultations amongthe companies, the petroleumministry and the Oil and Gas

Latest fuel pricehike sparks

protests in NARegulatory Authority. Speak-ing on a point of order, MQMlawmaker Asif Hasnain saidOgra had once again in-

creased the petroleum priceswithout mandatory consulta-tion with the parliamentarycommittee formed for thepurpose.

He said the people already

Musharraf toreturn after

interim setupIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—All Pakistan Mus-lim League (APML) ChiefPervez Musharraf has announcedthat he would return to Pakistanin a week after the assemblieswere dissolved and interim gov-ernment formed.

Facing trials in any court oflaw was not an issue and it wouldbe the sole discretion of country’scourt of law to decide whetherthe step that were initiated dur-ing my tenure were just or un-just, in country’s favour and in-terest or against the country.

He was addressing a tele-video conference from Dubai,UAE on Friday at the CentralInformation Secretariat in the cityof Karachi.

Continued on Page 7

PM for optimumgeneration ofelectricityISLAMABAD—Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf presidedover a high level meeting atPrime Minister House Friday toreview the energy situation inthe country.

Those who attended themeeting included Dr. AsimHussain, Advisor to PrimeMinister on Petroleum andNatural Resources, Mr. SaleemH. Mandiwalla, FinanceMinister, Syed Raghib AbbasShah, Chairman WAPDA andsenior officials.

The meeting was informedthat the cost of electricity hasincreased due to its dependenceon generation from oil. Themeeting was told that thegovernment has injected a sumof Rs. 1.4 Trillion in the energysector in the last five years tosubsidize electricity and ensurethat that the common man isnot burdened by risingelectricity prices.

The Prime Ministerdirected the Ministry of water

No reinstatementof 2 SSPs: SCSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI: The SupremeCourt of Pakistan rejected onFriday petitions filed by SSPThatta and SSP Hyderababadagainst their suspension andinstructed the officers toresolve the cases filed againstthem.

A larger bench of the apexcourt, headed by JusticeAnwer Zaheer Jamali, heardthe petitions submitted by thesuspended officers at theKarachi registry of theSupreme Court.

In a petition submitted in theapex court’s Karachi registrySSP Hyderabad FarrukhBasheer and SSP Thatta FaridJan Sarhandi had said that theywere removed from their postsin an illegal manner and hadrequested the court to order theirreinstatement.

The court in its remarkssaid that it had not issued anyorder against any specificofficer in the Karachi unrestcase and that the petitionersshould resolve the cases filedagainst them before approach-ing the court. The courtrejected the petition submittedby the officers requesting fortheir reinstatement.

Continued on Page 7

More procedural actions coming up to plug loopholes

EC to take over steeringas NA completes term

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

ISLAMABAD—Warding off con-troversies on the issue of fakedegrees, the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan (ECP) has de-cided to stay firm on all election-related procedures meant toblock corrupt peoples’ way toParliament.

ECP sources told PakistanObserver that after jumbling upwith sitting members of Parlia-ment on fake degrees issue, theEC without wasting time has re-solved the issue to the satisfac-

tion of all. “In future, everythingwill be made crystal clear aboutthe procedures as EC is fully de-termined to plug all loopholes,making the elections credible andacceptable to all,” the sourcesadded..

After approving draft elec-toral reforms last week, the ECis contemplating to tighten up theprocedures for allowing onlygood and honest people to con-test elections, they said.

While the media and otherstakeholders with the army on topof them are on the back of the

EC, parameters are being definedclearly for prospective candi-dates, the sources observed..

According to sources, theparameters and proceduresframed so far will debar morethan 800 sitting members of Par-liament and provincial assem-blies from taking part in elec-tions.

Meanwhile, according tonew form to be filled by everyelection candidate, the Constitu-tional provisions of the Articles62 and 63 have been made all the

Continued on Page 7

APC deliberations to helprestore peace: Qadeer

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—Welcoming theAll Parties Conference convenedby JUI (F) Chief Maulana Fazl-ur Rehman, to pave the way for

restoring peace, Dr. AbdulQadeer Khan, head of Tehrik-e-Tahafuz-e-Pakistan said he is

optimistic about the outcome ofsuch an important meeting ofmajor political and religious par-ties to rid the country of the men-ace of lawlessness.

Talking to Pakistan Observeron Friday, Dr. Qadeer Khan,Mohsin-e- Pakistan said it was awelcoming sign that there was aspirit of cooperation among theparticipants including the mem-bers of Tribal Jirga. Everybodywas honest, sincere and candidfor putting the country on theroad to peace and progress. Thefive point declaration adopted atthe end of the day-long delibera-tions is an ample proof that al-most the entire political and reli-gious spectrum in the countrywas on the same page to resolvethe issues through dialogue andnot using force. A Grand TribalJirga will start its actions imme-

Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 7

KP govt for‘independent’

TTP teamPESHAWAR—The KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) govern-

Continued on Page 7

Acting NEPRAchairman resigns

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—Acting Na-tional Electric Power Regula-tory Authority (NPRA) chair-man Habibullah Khilji has re-signed from the post.

Sources said that the act-ing chairman had sent his res-ignation to the Cabinet Divi-sion. He was appointed as act-ing chairman of the (NEPRA)three months ago.

Continued on Page 7

HALEEM ASAD

TIMERGARA—Teachers ofDir Lower and their organiza-tions have warned to come onroads and boycott examina-tion duties if the present post-ing and adjustment policy ofthe education department wasnot reviewed. Talking to jour-nalists here, president Itteha-e-Asateza, Dir Lower,Khalique Rahman, presidentAll Teachers AssociationSyed Muhammad Shah, presi-dent Malgari Ustazan WazirMuhammad, presidentT a n z e e m - e - A s a t e z aSahibzada Sadiq Jan, AbdulKhaliq and others said thatposting and adjustment po-lice of the education depart-

ment was not acceptable tothem. They said whole of theeducation system would bedisturbed if the policy wasforcefully implemented.

They said that the KhyberPakhtunkhwa government hadtaken a positive step by pro-moting lower grade teachers inthe province. They said thatbureaucracy had been puttinghurdles in its way. Thousandsof teachers, they said wouldbe dislocated from their sta-tions which would badly affectteaching/learning process.“Primary school teacherwhether in grade 12, 14 or 15will teach to primary classes,”Muhammad Shah said, addingthat CT, DM, PET, TT and ATin grade 15 and 16 were similar

as their job description had notbeen changed.

He said the managementwanted to send all teachers ingrade 16 to high and highersecondary schools. The teach-ers’ leaders said that the cur-rent policy of education depart-ment was beyond comprehen-sion and should therefore beimmediately withdrawn. Theywarned to close schools andboycott next examination andgeneral elections if their demandwas not met. They demandedof the government and higherauthorities to give personalscale to teachers instead of giv-ing it the name of promotion.

*****A local chapter of the Re-

lief International, an interna-

tional NGO, organized an aware-ness walk about Zoonotic dis-eases (diseases that transmitfrom animal to human and fromhuman to animal) here whichwas participated by social ac-tivists, teachers, elders, mem-bers of the RI project supportcommittees and volunteers.

The participantsmarched on BalambatTimergara road and gatheredin front of the local pressclub. They were carrying ban-ners and placards inscribedwith slogans about zoonoticdiseases, its causes andtreatment. Later briefing jour-nalists district project man-ager of the Relief Interna-tional Jamal Nasir, veterinaryspecialist Dr Muhammad

Tuyyab and RI social mobi-lize Hashmat Khan said thatseveral diseases spread inhuman from pet animals.They said the RI had beenworking in five union coun-cils of Dir Lower where dis-ease control committeescomprised of experts and lo-cal community members hadbeen formed. They said thatmasses should be madeaware of these diseaseswhich sometime proved fatal.The RI, they said wanted tomobilize people from localcommunity up to nationallevel. “We can prevent our-selves by taking care of thesediseases,” Dr Tayyab said,adding that masses shouldbe aware of it.

Laws amendedto ensure

property rightsOUR CORRESPONDENT

SAHIWAL—CommissionerSahiwal Division NabeelAhmed Awan has said thatPunjab Government amendedthe relevant laws to ensurewomen rights regarding inher-itance and now every revenueofficer should distribute suchproperties according toShariah by considering all le-gal heirs. Addressing an aware-ness seminar held at Zila Coun-cil Hall, he called upon all seg-ments of society to recognisethe rights of women grantedthem by Allah and safeguardtheir interests while distribut-ing inherited property.

The seminar was also at-tended by DCO ZulfiqarAhmed Ghumman, DeputySecretary BoR Rai Arif Mahdiand AC (G) Rana SaleemAhmed Khan besides revenueofficers, women lawyers,’ jour-nalists and representatives ofn o n - g o v e r n m e n t a lorganisations working for safe-guarding the rights of thewomen. During the seminar, itwas told that Punjab Govern-ment amended Punjab LandRevenue Act 1967 and enactedthe Punjab Partition of Immove-able Properties Act 2012 to givepowers to revenue officers todistribute inherited propertiesaccording to Form B of the de-ceased and constituted a com-mittee headed by DCOs to lis-ten the complaints of womenregarding non distribution ofproperty fairly and accordingto Shariah. These laws alsogave powers to courts to auc-tion the disputed properties sothat due share should be givento every claimant.

ISLAMABAD—InternationalIslamic Relief Organisation(IIRO) Friday sent 12 trucksloaded with various reliefitems worth over Rs 15 mil-lion to snow fall and torren-tial rain affectees of Gilgit-Baltistan Azad Jammu andKashmir. The relief items in-clude blankets, warm clothes,jackets, etc would be distrib-uted among 7000 families ofAJK and Gilgit- Baltistan.Saudi Ambassador Dr AbdulAziz Bin Ibrahim al Ghudairwas the chief guest.

Talking to media, the am-bassador said that Pakistanand Saudi Arabia enjoybrotherly relations. SaudiArabia will continue helpingthe people of Pakistan. Both

Pakistanis and Saudis are onenation of two countries. Thetrucks have been sent to Swat,Muzaffarabad, Battgram,Dhirkot, Gilgit, Swabi, Ayubia,Bagh, Ghadar, Dera IsmaelKhan and two trucks to Jarid.Regional Director GeneralRaabtai Alim e Islami Abda binMuhammad Atin said Saudipeople and government wantprosperous Pakistan.

International Islamic Re-lief Organisation (IIRO) wasoffering scholarships to over3000 students of Pakistan.IIRO was also taking care ofover 500 destitute children.Two homes have been estab-lished for the destitute chil-dren in Islamabad andMansehra. Speaking on the

occasion advisor to PrimeMinsiter for Gilgit- BaltistanMaulana Attaullah Shahabthanked the Saudi help for thepeople of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a delegationof the Pakistan Islamic Medi-cal Association (PIMA) is ona three-month visit to Gaza,Palestine to provide free ofcost treatment facilities to eyedisease patients. The delega-tion included experienceddoctors, who would alsotrain local doctors and para-medics staff, said a PIMApress release.

Chairman Prevention ofBlind (POB), a project ofPIMA, Dr Intizaar HussainButt said patients having eyedisease suffered seriously

due to unavailability of qual-ity treatment in Gaza and asection of them, who couldafford heavy expenses, flewto Cairo for treatment, whilemajority of them failed to getvisa for the purpose. He saidthe delegation’s visit wasaimed at enhancing capacityof Palestinian doctors, sothat they could ensureproper treatment of eye pa-tients at local level. The Pa-kistani doctors and consult-ants will carry out free eyeoperations in various hospi-tals of Gaza, he added. Hesaid that PIMA project POBhas remarkable services forthe prevention of blindnessnational and InternationalLevels.—APP

QUETTA: Lawyers holding black flag during a protest rally against kidnapping of Prosecutor General Balochistan,Abdul Wasay Tareen.

PIMA team to provide free treatment in Gaza

IIRO sends 15m relief items to AJK, GBFormer MPAjoins PML-N

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Former MemberProvincial Assembly fromTaunsa Sharif, KhawajaMuhammad DawoodSuleman Taunsavi called onPunjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifand joined Pakistan MuslimLeague-N. Senator SirdarZulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa andother leaders of MuslimLeague-N were also presenton the occasion. In the meet-ing, the political situation ofdistrict Dera Ghazi Khan, par-ticularly of Tehsil TaunsaSharif was reviewed in detail.

Khawaja MuhammadDawood Suleman speakingon this occasion said thatPakistan is passing througha difficult time and PML-N isthe only party which canbring the country out of cri-ses. He also expressed his fullconfidence in the leadershipof President PML-N,Muhammad Nawaz Sharifand Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif.

Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifon this occasion welcomedthe decision of KhawajaMuhammad DawoodSuleman Taunsavi to joinPML-N. He said that serviceto the people and develop-ment of the country is theagenda of PML-N. He saidthat PML-N led byMuhammad Nawaz Sharif isdetermined to resolve theproblems being faced by thecountry.

Lawyers boycottcourts againstAbdul Wasaydisappearance

QUETTA—Lawyers boy-cotted court proceedingsacross Balochistan provinceSaturday against the disap-pearance of the BalochistanProsecutor General WasayTareen. The lawyers heldmeetings at the Bar Roomsand demanded of the provin-cial government to trace outthe missing prosecutor gen-eral. They said life and prop-erty of the people was notsafe and called for beefing ofsecurity of the lawyers.

They pointed out that if thesenior most legal officer of theprovincial government can bekidnapped, how other lawyersand professionals could beassured security of life. Thetop prosecutor of the provincedisappeared in the Zhob dis-trict while traveling by road toIslamabad from Quetta. ChiefJustice of the Balochistan HighCourt Qazi Faez Essa onThursday took suo motu no-tice of the disappearance of theProsecutor General.—INP

ISLAMABAD—A three-day‘World Summit on HumanRights and Peace 2013’ ses-sion concluded here on Fri-day underscoring the needto ensure mechanism regard-ing implementation of lawsfor curbing Human Rights’violation, women traffickingand Child labour. The del-egates attending the WorldSummit of International Hu-man Rights Commission(IHRC) addressing the eventheld responsible the politicalelites of the under develop-ing countries for poverty,

disease and challenges dueto their bad governance intheir respective countries.

They also stated thatgovernments of under devel-oping and developing coun-tries should be held account-able for poor mechanism toensure implementation onlegislations and laws pertain-ing for avoiding violation ofhuman rights. Their govern-ments should take notice offailure to ensure basic neces-sities of life for the under-privileged sections of thesociety, they noted. Dr Amin

Shahid, Chairman IHRC,sharing his vies underscoredthe need to identify the flawsfor which the rights and lawsof women and children arenot being implemented andwhy did the state actors failto implement those laws.

The delegates pointed outthat amidst prevailing chal-lenges across the world, ourglobe is in a fix and a mecha-nism should be devised to ad-dress the threats and issuesof women trafficking and do-mestic violence should be tack-led effectively.—APP

Teachers urge review of posting, adjustment policy

Threaten to boycott exams, elections duty if demands not met

World summit on humanrights, peace concludes

JAMPUR: Commander Multan Corps Lt Gen Abid Pervaiz inquiring about health ofpatients during his visit at Free Eye Medical Camp organized by Pakistan Army.

Miscreants blow upschool building

SAMAR GUL MARWAT

LAKKI MARWAT—Un-known miscreants blew up aprimary school on Fridaynight in the suburbs of LakkiMarwat city in WandaZeraan through locally im-provised explosive device.According to police sources,unknown militants hadplanted locally improvisedexplosive device in Govern-ment Boys Primary SchoolWanda Zeraan (Abba Khel),which exploded with heart-trembling big bang at 3.30 inthe wee hours. The bang washeard through out the area.Police sources further toldthat two rooms.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s Am-bassador to Germany AbdulBasit on Friday said Pakistanhas learnt from its past mis-takes and hopes that othercountries, too, would not re-peat the past blunders whenit comes to Afghanistan, saysa message received here fromBerlin. He was speaking to theparticipants of the GermanSocial Democratic Party(SPD)’s Task Force on Af-ghanistan and Pakistan at

Pak learnt from past mistakes: BasitBundestag (German Parlia-ment) on its invitation.

President of the TaskForce and Member Parlia-ment, Johannes Pfleg chairedthe meeting. Several SPD Par-liamentarians, members, rep-resentatives of German thinktanks and the German For-eign Office attended the meet-ing. The Ambassador’s talkwas followed by a lively ques-tion and answer session.Ambassador Basit dilated

upon the Afghan issue, itsgenesis and way forward indetail and underscored theneed for measures to accel-erate the reconciliation pro-cess for responsible transi-tion in Afghanistan after theexit of Coalition Forces.

He said that Pakistan con-tinued to suffer because ofinstability in Afghanistan.And unless the situation inAfghanistan stabilized—APP

ISLAMABAD—MetereologicalChief Arif Mehmood has saidthat cold and dry weatherwould prevail throughout thecountry on Friday. “Mainlycold and dry weather is ex-pected in most parts of thecountry during the next 24hours”, he said. Meanwhile,scattered rain and snowfallover the hills is forecasted inupper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmirduring the next 24 hours.

The lowest minimum tem-perature of 11 degrees centi-grade was recorded inParachinar on Friday. Theminimum temperature of somemajor cities was: Islamabad 9degrees centigrade, Lahore 8C , Karachi 14 C, Peshawar 6C, Gilgit 4 C and Muzaffarabad7 Cm and Murree -1 C. TheMet Office has forecast a dryweather for the provincialcapital on Saturday. The maxi-mum temperature is likely be-tween 10 to 12 C and the mini-mum temperature is expectedbetween 1 to 2 C.

On Friday, the highestmaximum temperature of 28 Cwas recorded in Lasbella andthe lowest minimum tempera-ture of 01 C in Kalat. Dryweather with cool night hasbeen forecast over the next24 hours in the metropolis,said a weather report on Fri-day. According to theweather report, the minimumtemperature is expected toremain in the range of 15 to17 degree celsius. It saidmainly cold/very cold anddry weather is likely to pre-vail in north/northwestBalochistan. Dry weather isexpected elsewhere in the re-

Cold, dry weather toprevail across country

gion.The weather report said

night temperatures havegenerally risen by 2 to 5 de-gree celsius in the region. Thelocal meteorological depart-ment on Thursday forecastmainly cold and partlycloudy weather with mist inthe morning for the provin-cial capital during next 24

hours. The weather punditssay that mainly cold andpartly cloudy weather is ex-pected over most parts of thecountry with misty condi-tions in plain areas of thePunjab during morninghours. However thunder-storm/rain with light snowfallover the hills likely to occurat one or two places ofMalakan division, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.

The maximum tempera-ture was recorded in the city23 degrees celsius while mini-mum temperature was re-corded as 9.5 degreescelsius. The local Meteoro-logical Office has forecastdry weather for KhyberPakhtunkhwa including pro-vincial metropolis during next24 hours. During last 24hours 1mm rain was recordedin Balakot. The met officehowever said that lightclouds would hover on thehorizon of Peshawar and itsadjoining areas.—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has said that there is aneed for police force to fur-ther improves its efficiency inorder to ensure provision ofjustice. He said sufficient re-sources have been madeavailable, during the last fiveyears for the capacity build-ing and training of policeforce. He said hundred per-cent merit-oriented recruit-ments have been ensured inthe police department, fromthe level of a policeman to of-ficer, and no political influ-

ence or interference was tol-erated in this regard. He saidthat performance of Elite Po-lice Force in protection of lifeand property of the people issplendid.

Muhammad ShahbazSharif said he salutes the po-lice force for its sacrifices dur-ing action against terrorists.The Chief Minister said thatpolice training school was re-activated and provided re-sources, which had earlierbeen left paralyzed in the pre-vious rule, but present Punjabgovernment has taken effec-tive steps due to which theinstitution of Elite Police

Force has been rejuvenated.Chief Minister

Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifexpressed these views whileaddressing the 15th passing-out parade of Elite Force atElite Police Training SchoolBedian Road. MemberPunjab Assembly Col. ®Shuja Khanzada, SecretaryHome, acting Inspector Gen-eral Police Punjab, DIG ElitePolice Force, CommandantElite Police Training Schoolas well as police officers,jawans and their relativeswere present in the function.

Addressing the passing-out parade, Muhammad

Shahbaz Sharif said Elite Po-lice Force is displaying bestperformance against heinouscrimes and terrorism. He said,unfortunately, terrorists hadalso attacked this institution,but its officers and jawansfoiled the nefarious aims of theterrorists. He said officers andjawans of Elite Force andPunjab police have shownvalor and achieved distin-guished position in the soci-ety. The Chief Minister said hesalutes the sacrifices renderedby officers and jawans and tothose who embraced martyr-dom, while fighting against ter-rorists to protect life and prop-

erty and honor of the citizens.He said that the history of

Elite Police Force and Punjabpolice is full of dedication toduty and both forces havedisplayed unprecedentedperformance to ensure protec-tion of life and property of thepeople. He said, during theprevious era, Elite PoliceTraining School was left para-lyzed, due to which the per-formance of police force wasnegatively impacted. He saidpresent Punjab governmenthas taken effective steps dueto which Elite Police TrainingSchool is imparting latesttraining to the officers.

Turkey to help improve law,order graph in Punjab: Shahbaz

Fehmida lauds good governanceISLAMABAD—Speaker of National As-sembly Dr Fehmida Mirza Friday laudedPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led gov-ernment for setting an example of goodgovernance throughout the tenure.While talking to APP, she opined thatPPP government has marked an impor-tant milestone in the political history ofPakistan, as it is about to complete itsperiod successfully. Dr Mirza empha-sized that it is the victory of democracy

and the political institution that have been flourishing andstrengthening day by day in the country. She assured thatthe present government is committed to hold free, fair andtransparent elections timely. The Speaker expressed thatshe is heartily grateful to the government for appointingher on a precious position and she is ready to provide herservices if required in the future too with all her dedicationand sincerity. PPP welcomes Nolang dam project inBalochistan: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders wel-comed the stone laying of the Nolang dam at Gandawa,Jhal Magsi, Balochistan. In a joint statement on Friday,PPP Lahore President and Federal Minister Samina KhalidGhurki and Information Secretary Abid Husain Siddiquisaid the PPP was trying its best to cope with energy crisis.They said the PPP had launched several energy projectsduring its tenure, adding the crisis could be worse if thePPP had not planned to address loadshedding. EarlierPresident Asif Ali Zardari laid the foundation stone ofNolang Dam in Quetta to be constructed at a cost of 18billion rupees. Targeting any tribe or community inBalochistan would not be allowed adding the governmentwas taking all possible measures to protect the life andproperty of the people.—APP

Fresh beginning in Pak-China friendshipISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s Ambassadorto China Masood Khan has said theChinese year of the snake this year,marks a fresh beginning for the friend-ship between China and Pakistan thatwill continue to prosper in future. “Let’swish Sino-Pakistan relations scale newheights and our bilateral cooperation isfurther enhanced,” said AmbassadorKhan while addressing a large gather-ing at the Pakistan Embassy on Thurs-

day evening to mark the Chinese Spring Festival and theNew Year celebrations that will run up to the Pakistan DayMarch 23, says a messge received here from BEIJING. Thefunction was attended by senior Chinese government of-ficials including Ambassador Luo Zhaohui, Director Gen-eral, Asia Department, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs; Madam Li Min, Vice-Mayor Yibin City, Sichuan Prov-ince; Ambassador Lu Shumin, Vice-President, China’sPeople’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA); WangShaofeng, Vice President, CWE; Chen Zuming, Vice Presi-dent, China Association for International Friendly Con-tact (CAIFC); Zhang Huling, Director Communist Party ofChina and others. Wishing a very happy New Year to thegovernment and Chinese friends, he said, as we start theNew Year, both China and Pakistan can reflect on an out-standing last year, which saw expanded two-way trade,strengthened cultural ties and enhanced people to peoplecontact. Ambassador Khan pointed out that Pakistanipeople and government equally share this joyful occasionwith their Chinese friends. In this connection, he referredto President Asif Ali Zardari’s attending a Chinese NewYear reception in Islamabad last week.—APP

Contractual to be regularizedHYDERABAD—Sindh Minister for Lo-cal Government Agha Siraj Durrani hassaid that all contract employees of theprovincial government will be regular-ized after passage of bill, which will besoon tabled in Sindh Assembly for ap-proval. Talking to reporters after inau-gurating the Regional Office of SindhBuilding Control Authority here atCivic Centre late Thursday night, theminister said that Pakistan Peoples

Party fully committed to provide jobs to unemployedyouth and whenever the government of the party cameinto power, it opened the doors of employment insteadto retrenching the men in service. Responding to a ques-tion about the restoration of 1979 Local Government Sys-tem, he said that the government respected the demandof the people and restored the 1979 Local GovernmentSystem. Replying to a question about establishment ofthe university in Hyderabad, the minister said that PPPalways made decisions on the will of the people. Aboutformation of alliance of different political parties andgroups in Sindh against PPP, Agha Siraj Durrani remindedthat such alliances were also formed against the party inthe past and the people witnessed that PPP defeated thecandidates of such alliances in the elections. The PML(N) Chief Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has made alli-ance with those people who could not win the seat ofnational or provincial constituency in the past, he saidand added that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is thesupporter of the construction of Kala Bagh Dam and alli-ance with his party is against of the interest of Sindh.Responding to a question about the conduct of generalelections, the minister maintained that the assemblies willbe dissolved within two weeks and elections will be heldon time.—APP

PPP set to sweep upcoming electionsStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Khyber PakhtunkhwaMinister for Technical Education andMineral Development, NawabzadaMehmoodzeb Khan has said that PPPwill sweep the upcoming general elec-tions in Dir Lower and will come intopower again in the country. He ex-pressed these views while addressing afunction held in connections with thejoining of staunch workers of Jamaat-e-Islami (J.I) into PPP at Chamanabad, Dir

Lower. The provincial minister said that due to the betterperformance and positive approach in politics PPP is allset to eliminate other political parties from the district. Hesaid the collective welfare-oriented projects will continue.He said that PPP has fulfilled all commitments made withthe electorates before the general elections of 2008, say-ing the people-friendly and positive approach of the partyis attracting the people towards it. He said that PPP hasbecome undefeatable political force of Dir Lower. On thisoccasion, Habib-ur-Rehman, Fazal Rabi, Hussein, Abid,Abdul Rehman, Usman, Saeed-ur-Rehman, Rafiullah,Ehsanullah, Fayyaz, Ismail, Sami-ur-Rehman and Ghaus-ur-Rehman quit JI and announced joining PPP along withtheir families and associates. The provincial minister con-gratulated the new entrants into PPP and assured them ofmaking all-out efforts for meeting their all due demands.Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Labour Sher Azam Wazirhas said that PPP was a strong bond among the federatingunits and draws its strength from every nook and cornerof the country. Talking to media persons here on Thurs-day, Sher Azam Wazir said that PPP would win in the up-coming general election because of its popularity in themasses.

HYDERABAD—The head ofthe Neurosurgery depart-ment Jinnah PostgraduateMedical Centre (JPMC)Karachi Prof. Sattar Hashimin connection with Continu-ing Medical Education(CME) Friday delivered apresentation on “GammaKnife Radio Surgery in BrainLesions” at Liaquat Univer-sity of Medical and HealthSciences Jamshoro(LUMHS). According to aLUMHS spokesman, whiledelivering his presentationto a large numbers of stu-dents and members of thefaculty, Prof. Sattar Hashimhighlighted the importanceof newly adopted technol-ogy to cure the brain

tumours/ tumour-like condi-tions without any surgicalintervention.

At present, he informedthat the facility of Gamma KnifeRadio Surgery is only avail-able in Karachi which catersto a large number of patientswho are not candidates for anopen Surgery, with very littlechance of radiation to theother parts of the body. Heunderlined the need to knowthis new technology for medi-cal professionals and urgedthat such facility should beprovided in the public sectorhospitals for the poor peopleof the country. Vice Chancel-lor LUMHS Prof. MashoorAlam Shah called upon theyoung doctors.—APP

BASHIR AHMAD RAHMANI

HAFIZABAD—Deputy PrimeMinister of Pakistan Ch.Pervaiz Ilahi has declaredthat PML (Q) believed inelimination of illiteracy, hun-ger poverty, unemploymentand to provide better healthcare to the masses and as-sured that after coming in topower it would devise suchpolicies as to brighten thefuture of Pakistan.

Addressing a gatheringin Vanike Chowk Friday af-ternoon, he said that PunjabGovernment has wasted itsbudget for Jangla Bus projectand in fact Jangla Busproject has convertedPunjab Government as‘Kangla’ (bankrupt). He enu-merated various public wel-

fare projects for Hafizabadwhich included anti-hepatitiscentre costing Rs. 150 mil-lion, 1,000 km metalled roads,upgraded 60 bed to 150 bedin the DHQ hospital, two cen-tres for special children, es-tablished nine filtration plant,provided free medicine to thepatients and upgraded 950schools in the Punjab,opened 200 new schools pro-vided free education and freebooks up to 10th class andincreased literacy rates from43 percent to 65 percent, butShahbaz Sharif has closed4000 schools in the Punjab.

He regretted that thepresent PML (N) Govern-ment has shelved out all on-going projects viz; under-pass Gujranwala-HafizabadRoad, Jalhan-Keleke Road,

Kolo Road and assured hisaudience that after coming topower he would resolve allproblems of the masses ofthe district. He said thatLaptop distribution, AahianaScheme, Roti Schemelaunched by the so-calledKhadim-e-Aala were farce tohoodwink the masses.

He said that “lion” (sym-bol of PML (N)) has no brainso the Sharif brothers weredevising policies withoutapplying their minds. He saidthat he had made colossaldevelopment in the rural aswell urban area in the Punjabduring his tenure as PunjabCM but they had only devel-oped Lahore and Road Lead-ing to Raiwind. He appealedto his audience to vote forPML (Q) candidates during

the upcoming elections tomitigate their sufferings. Hethanked the people ofHafizabad for according himrousing welcome which hewould not forget for ever.

Earlier, Monis Ilahi Cen-tral Leader of PML (Q) hassaid that the present PunjabGovernment has failed to re-solve the problems particu-larly unemployment in thePunjab due to which morethan 6,000 youth have com-mitted suicide. He said thatso-called Khadim-e-Aalawas incapable and incompe-tent. Ch. Mehdi HassanBhatti President DistrictPML (Q), Ch. Liaquat AbbasBhatti Federal Minister forWorks and Former PunjabMinister Shoukat Ali Bhattihave thanked Ch. Pervaiz

Ilahi for his love and affec-tion during his last tenure andhe had provided billion ofrupees for the developmentof the area which was no par-allel in the history ofHafizabad.

They told the audiencethat when Ch. Perviaz Ilahibecome Chief Minister of thePunjab he visited Hafizabadand they submitted 27 de-mands of the district and hefulfilled all of them during histenure but contrary toChaudhary Sahib, ShahbazSharif visited Hafizabad twiceand made only two promiseswhich have not yet been ma-terialized which proved thatSharif Brothers were liarswhile Ch. Perviaz believed inservice to humanity. Theydeclared that PML (Q) can-

didates would sweep all thefive seats of MNAs andMPAs in the district.

Ch. Perviaz Ilahi andMonis Ilahi were given warmwelcome when he reachedthe venue of Public Meeting.Prominent among those whowere present in the publicmeeting included MaulanaZia Ullah Shah Bukhari Presi-dent PML (Q) Ulema Wing,Prince Saleh Muhammad ofSaudi Arabia, Ch. Zaheer-ud-Din, Federal Minister for Inet-faith Harmony Akram MasihGill, Senior Vice PresidentPML (Q) (Minority Wing)Tariq Javed, Former DistrictNazim Mubashar AbbasBhatti, Ex-Tehsil Nazim RaiJahangir Ali Kharal and hun-dred of Ex-Nazimeen of thedistrict.

MULTAN: Police officials presenting the arrested dacoits with recovered stuff beforethe media persons at CIA Police Station.

Students urged to learnGamma Knife Radio Surgery

PML-Q for end of illiteracy, poverty: Elahi

QUETTA: Dr Mohammad Asim Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum visits Februaryblast victims at Command and Military Hospital on behalf of the President Asif Ali Zaradari.

HARIPUR: MPA Dr Faiza Rasheed and participants of rally of TIP employees who have been regularized by PM RajaPervez Ashraf.

RAHMATULLAH KHAN

PESHAWAR—Senior VicePresident Provincial DoctorsAssociation (PDA) has de-manded of the government toimmediate to create additionalpositions of Trainee MedicalOfficers (TMOs) at majorteaching hospitals in the prov-ince. Speaking at a press con-ference here at Press Club, DrMunir Mahmood, SVP ofPDA said that a total of 320doctors had qualified exami-nation of FCPS part-I, but thegovernment gave approval aslot for induction of around191 doctors.

Flanked by the associa-tion information secretary, Dr

Amir Taj, Dr Jawad, and DrQazi Ahmad, he said that gov-ernment had intended for in-duction of all doctors, whowere qualified examination ofFCPS-part I. But, he said theauthorities had approved aslot for induction of only 191doctors, which was createdgreat unrest among the restof 150 doctors. He said thatit was totally unjust with restof doctors, who were de-prived of the induction inmajor medical facilities de-spite waiting for a long pe-riod. He demanded of thegovernment to immediate in-duct rest of 150 doctors, tosave their future and precioustime. “We want to address

the issue by peaceful man-ner,” he ensured.

The government, he de-manded, should have as-sessed the gravity of the situ-ation, and immediate createfurther position of traineesmedical officers in the prov-ince, which was imminent toplay the community its role fordelivery best health services.The SVP also demanded forraise in stipends of the exist-ing TMOs and house offic-ers as per increasing ratio ofinflation in the country. Theassociation warned that if thegovernment failed to accepttheir demands immediately,they would be compelled tohold protest against it.

PDA wants more TMOsat teaching hospitals

Educationguarantees changes

RAZA NAQVI

ATTOCK—Chairman Stand-ing Committee for DefenceProduction Sheikh AftabAhmad has said that govt isaccording priority to educa-tion sector as only educationcan guarantee developmentand prosperity of thecountry.he said this whileaddressing a function held inconnection with “Distribu-tion of Solar lamps” underUjala Programme here atGovt College Attock.

He said under the schemesolar lamps are being givento thousand of studentsacross the Punjab so thatthey may keep continue theirstudies during load sheddinghours also.

STAFF REPORTER

PE S H AWA R—Consequentupon nomination of AkhtarHayat Gandapur BS-19 DIGMalakand Region, Swat andFlt. Lt. (R) Imtiaz Shah BS-19) DIG Kohat Region Kohatfor 13th Senior ManagementCourse, Government ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa hasreshuffled senior police hi-erarchy in the province.

According to a notifica-tion issued here Friday,Akhtar Hayat Gandapur BS-19, Deputy Inspector Generalof Police, Malakand Region,Swat has been asked to re-port to Central Police Office,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forproceeding on SMC, Flt. Lt.(R) Imtiaz Shah BS-19),Deputy Inspector General ofPolice Kohat Region Kohathas been asked to report toCentral Police Office Khyber

KP reshuffles seniorpolice hierarchy

Pakhtunkhwa for proceedingon SMC.

Abdullah Khan BS-19,Deputy Inspector General ofPolice, Mardan Region,Mardan has been transferredand posted as Deputy Inspec-tor General of Police,Malakand Region, Swat in hisown pay and scale,Muhammad Jaffar Khan BS-19, Director General PCUKhyber Pakhtunkhwa hasbeen transferred and postedas Deputy Inspector Generalof Police Mardan Region,Mardan in his own pay andscale and Azad Khan BS-19,Deputy Inspector General ofPolice, Investigation Wing,CPO has been transferred andposted as Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police, Kohat Re-gion, Kohat in his own payand scale, said a notificationissued by Establishment De-partment, Govt: of KP.

KARACHI—Konpal ChildAbuse Prevention Societyon Friday appreciated SindhAssembly (SA) members foradoption of a resolutionagainst “Corporal Punish-ment” in local educationalinstitutions. Dr. AyeshaMehnaz, a senior child spe-cialist and coordinatorKonpal said there was an ur-gent need to raise publicawareness, particularlyamong parents and teachers,about the implication of cor-poral punishment on physi-cal and emotional growth ofchildren. “This is not thatthe practice causing signifi-cant drop-out rate from lo-

cal schools can be ignored,”she told APP.

“Resolution to scrap alaw, Section 89 of PakistanPenal Code used to justifycorporal punishment, is defi-nitely a positive develop-ment,” she said in reply to aquestion. Dr. Ayesha saidKonpal has always been veryproactive in raising voice forthe rights of children andagainst all kinds of injusticetowards children. Konpal thatincludes senior doctors, in-cluding child psychologists,pediatricians and medical ex-perts from different fields ofmedicine have been con-stantly struggling for a law

that may ban corporal pun-ishment at all schools andmadaressahs in the country.

“It is appreciable that atleast the issue has beenraised and a resolutionagainst the practice has beenunanimously adopted by themembers of the Assembly,”said Dr. Ayesha. In reply to aquestion, she said protectionof children against all formsof abuse must be the primaryconcern of not only the gov-ernment but also of all mem-bers of the society. KonpalChild Abuse Prevention So-ciety is an NGO workingagainst all forms of childabuse in the society.— APP

SA resolution againstcorporal punishment hailed

IS L A M A B A D—Unemploy-ment hurts more than yourwallet may damage yourheart. That’s according to astudy linking joblessnesswith heart attacks in olderAmerican workers. The in-creased odds were not huge,although multiple job lossesposed as big a threat as smok-ing, high blood pressure andother conditions that are badfor the heart, Arab healthnews reported.

The researchers ana-lyzed data on more than13,000 US men and womenaged 51 to 75 taking part inan ongoing health and retire-ment survey partly spon-

Unemployment increasesdangers of heart attacks

sored by the National Insti-tute on Aging. Since 1992,participants have been inter-viewed every two yearsabout their employment andhealth. The new analysis hasseveral limitations. The datashow periods of unemploy-ment but don’t indicatewhether people were fired,laid off, out of work whileswitching jobs, or had vol-untarily left a job.

The researchers consid-ered all of these situations“job losses,” but it is likelythe greatest risks for heartattacks were from being firedor laid off, said researcherMatthew Dupre, an assistant

professor at Duke Universityand the lead author. SarahBurgard, a University ofMichigan researcher whohas studied the relationshipbetween job loss and health,called the research solid butsaid it would be important toknow the reason for the un-employment.

“There probably are dif-ferences in consequences ofjob loss when it’s voluntaryor more or less expected” andwhen it comes as a suddenshock, said Burgard, whowas not involved in thestudy. The analysis appearsin Monday’s Archives of In-ternal Medicine.—APP

Talks with Talibanto usher peace

IN yet another welcome development, All Parties Conference (APC),convened by JUI-F, has decided to support and participate in everypeace process and back talks with Taliban within the ambit of the

Constitution and the law. The gathering, representing political and reli-gious parties, demanded of the Government to respond positively to theoffer of talks by Taliban.

We have been emphasizing in these columns that collective wisdomalways prevails and the two APCs organized by ANP and JUI-F haveproved it beyond any doubt as these moots not only backed the dialoguebut also gave general framework on how to achieve the objective of peaceand reconciliation. Thursday’s APC demanded that the grand tribal jirgamay be authorized to hold talks with Taliban and give roadmap for peace;military operation, drone strikes in tribal regions must be stopped andtrust should be established to take care of terror-affected families. Theseclear guidelines offer answer to the question raised by Army Chief GeneralAshfaq Parvez Kayani who implied during his media interaction recentlythat civilians were not giving policy directions on how to address suchissues. Earlier too, the Parliament passed unanimous resolutions thatprovided a detailed framework for addressing the challenge of extremismand terrorism but they remain unimplemented till today. Now again, offerof talks has come from Taliban and it is for about a month that our policy-makers have failed to respond to it, raising specter of loss of the goldenopportunity. This is despite the fact that all political and religious partiesare supportive of the dialogue process but our approach has all alongbeen on use of force ostensibly under pressure from the United States.But now the United States, Britain and Karzai Government themselvesare exploring every avenue of talks with Afghan Taliban and for thispurpose they are also pressurizing Pakistan to extend necessary supportin delivering Taliban at the negotiating table. The PPP Government boastsof its policy of reconciliation but we saw no such reconciliation withTaliban and as a result the country has been pushed into an abyss ofinsecurity and uncertainty. We hope that after expression of support bythe entire country, the Government would move towards dialogue andreconciliation with Pakistani Taliban as this is the only way out of themess created by the United States in this region.

Law ultimatelyprevails, Tauqir is back

THE main accused in the OGRA corruption case and former chairmanOGRA Tauqir Sadiq has been returned to Pakistan through Interpol.

On 25 November last year, the Supreme Court had declared Tauqir Sadiq’sappointment as OGRA Chairman illegal, ordered NAB to investigatecorruption cases against him and submit a report in 45 day.

Tauqir Sadiq is the central character in one of the biggest corrup-tion scandals in the history of the country involving Rs 82 billion andthe fact that the law has finally prevailed and the accused is back toface the court raises hopes for recovery of the looted national wealth. Itis triumph of the law as he had fled from the country apparently withthe connivance of some influential people and even hurdles were cre-ated in the way of his arrest and bringing back to Pakistan. Credit re-ally goes to the Supreme Court and especially Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhary who showed due interest in the case and also tothe officials of NAB and other agencies who ultimately succeeded innetting him and bringing him back. But we must not lose sight of thefact that his return is not an end itself but a means to achieve the goal oftaking corrupt people to task. It now depends on the ability of the apexcourt and law-enforcing agencies to expose the massive corruption andmake him to pay back each and every rupee. There is consensus in thecountry that there should be zero tolerance for corruption and exem-plary punishment to likes of Tauqir Sadiq would send right message toeveryone. There are many others who have digested billions and arenot only roaming freely but also trying to stage another comeback afternext elections and they too should face the music.

Hike in POL prices tomake life more miserableIT is rather astonishing that usually in many countries of the world

incumbent Governments announced relief packages for their peopleon the eve of general elections but is perhaps a unique country in thisrespect as well. Only a fortnight before completion of the term of theGovernment, it has given a gift of substantial hike in the prices of POLproducts.

Up to Rs 4.35 per litre increase in the prices of petroleum productsunder the garb of monthly adjustment in prices would surely make livesof the people more miserable as they are already groaning under price-hike and shortages of energy. This is because the increase in POL priceswill also jack up the prices of other commodities and services and bringa new wave of inflation. Unfortunately, the PPP Government, through-out its tenure, raised POL prices and deprived people of the due reliefwhen prices of oil fell in the international market on different excusesincluding fall in the worth of the rupee. In fact, instead of taxing the richand influential people, the PPP Government adopted the policy of bur-dening the masses by hiking POL prices every now and then. It is classi-cal failure of the Government that despite adding to the woes of the gen-eral public it could not address the issues facing our energy sector. Risingcircular debt and non-availability of oil to power stations are clear ex-amples of lack of interest on the part of the Government to resolve theseills of the economy. Situation would have been different if internal issueswere resolved to give a kickstart to the local exploration activities.

Hagel exposes India

The superior man issatisfied andcomposed; the meanman is always full ofdistress.

Blair showsno remorse

TONY Blair, the former British prime minister, whojoined President George W.

Bush in the ill-starred invasion ofIraq, 10 years ago next month, hasadmitted that a decade on, Iraq isnot as he hoped. The ouster ofSaddam, he insisted to the BBC inan interview broadcast on Tuesdayto mark this pivotal event in recentMiddle East history, had still beenjustified. However he added: “Ihave long since given up trying topersuade people that it was the rightdecision.” It remains Blair’s con-tention that had Saddam not beenoverthrown, the Middle East wouldhave been far more dangerous andmany more lives would have beenlost in violence generated by theIraqi regime. What he did not ad-dress is the stark reality that sinceUS, British, Australian and Polishtroops began the invasion on March20, 2003, at a conservative esti-mate, some 100,000 mostly Iraqilives have been lost, a great deal interrorist violence.

The destruction of Saddam’sdictatorship opened up Iraq as anew battlefield for Al-Qaeda, so re-cently driven from their bases inAfghanistan. Saddam was guilty ofmany evils but though he had toyedwith the idea of using Osama BinLaden’s killers to further his ownregional ambitions, for reasons thatmay never now be known, he re-jected the idea. Indeed it does seemclear that he realized that givingAl-Qaeda any sort of a home couldbe a double-edged sword. Thus inhis tightly run police state, the ter-rorists were kept out. All thatchanged when Bush and Blair or-dered the invasion. In the chaosthat followed the dictator’s over-throw, the terrorists moved in, ini-tially making common cause withfugitive members of Iraq’sBaathist machine and Sunnis whobelieved that their community wasnow threatened by the country’sresurgent Shiite majority.

It was not simple miscalcula-tion by Bush and Blair; it was acomplete lack of understanding ofthe consequences of Saddam’sdownfall and thus no clear strategyto deal with the resulting turmoil.Instead US troops rode into townas conquerors, sure that they werethe good guys. They were then byturns, mystified and then angeredby the lackluster reception they re-ceived after the heady first few daysof their entry into Baghdad. More-over this was an attack that wasjustified by a tissue of lies. Britishintelligence supposedly told Blairthat Saddam had chemical weap-ons almost armed and ready to fire.This justified the attack. Yet monthslater, after conquered Iraq had beenscoured by international weaponsinspectors, no evidence whatsoeverof weapons of mass destructionwas found.

Before the invasion, one mil-lion Britons took to the streets de-manding that no attack take place.Blair ignored them. Americans bycontrast, pleased at the apparentlyeasy overthrow of the Taleban inAfghanistan, were more relaxedabout the deployment of over-whelming firepower to destroySaddam’s forces in Iraq. It is thelies, deceptions and half-truths thatLondon and Washington used tocover the real purpose of the inva-sion, that stick in the craw for somany people around the world, notleast the Iraqis themselves. Thetruth remains that the attack on Iraqwas for George W. Bush to finishhis Daddy’s unfinished businesswith Saddam, because Gen.Schwarzkopf, having driven Iraqisfrom Kuwait, had the road toBaghdad wide open but decided notto press on. A key decider was theimmense slaughter of Iraqis flee-ing Kuwait, carnage which ap-palled a watching world.

Thus the awful reality is thatthe second attack on Iraq waspurely personal. So blinded by thissingle motive was Bush, that hestood on the deck of the carrier USSAbraham Lincoln and declared thatthe fighting was over — when itfact it had only really just begun,though he and his neocon advisershad neither the knowledge nor in-telligence to perceive this. Thechances are that Bush would nothave moved alone. Blair played animportant role in bolstering the USpolitical campaign in the run-up tothe invasion. It was the British whoworked out, to their satisfactionanyway, that a UN Security Coun-cil resolution backing the assaultwas not necessary.—Arab News

MEDIA WATCH

—ConfuciusChinese philosopher

Senator Chuck Hagel has swornin on Wednesday as Secretaryof Defence replacing Leon

Panetta, who has been a source ofpain for Pakistan, first as CIA chiefand later as Secretary Defence. Ofcourse, Chuck Hagel is likely topursue the policies of the govern-ment, but it appears that PresidentObama wants to change his policywith regard to Israel and Iran other-wise he would not have nominatedHagel for this position. In a speechat the Cameron University in Okla-homa in 2011, he had exposed Indiafor the devious role played by heragainst Pakistan. Hagel had said:“India has over the years financedproblems for Pakistan from acrossthe border in Afghanistan…Indiahad been using Afghanistan as a sec-ond front against Pakistan.” Onewonders as to why the video of hisspeech reappeared on a website ofthe Washington Free Beach only aday before Hagel poised for a con-firmation vote in the US Senate. DidNeocons tried to pull the fast one,or is there is a belated realization onthe part of America that the CIA wasplaying a wolf in sheep’s clothingto Pakistan.

Last year, the Oversight and In-vestigations Sub-committee of theUnited States House of Representa-tives Committee on Foreign Affairsconvened a hearing on Balochistanchaired by Congressman DanaRohrabacher. A week later, Con-

Sabotage & security risks

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Sunday Magazine

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Ph: 2852027-8, Ext: 116Email: magazinesocialdiary@hotmail.com

The pervasive breach of anation’s power grid, nuclearpower plant or cyber-attacks on

installations of military and nationalimportance are some of the top risksthat a country can face in this increas-ingly cyber world. Sabotage as de-fined by Oxford dictionary is an act,which “deliberately destroy, damage,or obstruct (something), especially forpolitical or military advantage”. Thisbrings us back to cyber war and howfuture internal/external security riskswill be out of control – whether thenew form of technological advantagegives major powers including the USsuperiority over other nations, andthat is likely to continue. The funda-mental question however is that giventoday’s asymmetrical vulnerabilities,how cyber weapon can be usedagainst the most vulnerable nations.Every country including the US isvulnerable. The US military for in-stance is “highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks because it is ‘net centric’,bringing access to databases and in-formation further down into the op-eration of every imaginable type ofmilitary operation”. While the UScontinue to dominate cyberspace,and prepare battlefields for futurewars, extraction of information andsabotage may weaken the govern-ment systems of allay countries. Therisk is that militant organizationsmight be violating regularly, andwould pose significant challenge tonations that have less advanced sys-tem of cyber security.

This defenseless premise is a con-sistent challenge to national securityestablishment and needless to say,casts deleterious impact on strategic

and intelligence affairs of agovernment. Most of the at-tempts to ensure that the cur-rent system of security at anyinstallation is foolproof, in factis a basic technique to showcyber ambiguity to the enemy,

and thus assigning a deceptive and un-approachable scenario. Largely, due tochanging policies of major powers,which is of a particular importance tosingle-mindedly focus of sharing tech-nological advancement only withinamong elite clubs of states. For themost part, the US, Israel and Europeancountries have managed to put theirtraditional rivalries aside and substan-tial coordination and partnership isincreased to develop effective systemsand software to protect all branchesof military/intelligence and nuclear in-dustry – also to destroy and disruptenemy’s strategic assets.

The Israeli military for instance re-veals for the first time that the IsraeliDefence Force (IDF)“uses cyberspaceto gather intelligence, attack enemiesand conduct various military opera-tions, the military revealed […] post-ing on its official website…it engagesin cyber warfare for offensive pur-poses. It also came a week after a newvirus was discovered to have attackedIran. The IDF’s Operations Director-ate recently drafted a document defin-ing the purpose and use of cyber war-fare for the Israeli military. Accordingto the document, cyberspace is viewedby the army as another battlefield –like land, sea and airspace… “Profes-sionally speaking, the IDF is fightingconsistently and relentlessly incyberspace, is collecting intelligenceand protecting the IDF networks aswell,” the army posting said. “Whenneeded, cyberspace is also used to ex-ecute attacks and other information op-erations.” The IDF said that the pur-pose of operations in cyberspace in-cluded “thwarting initiatives byIsrael’s enemies to undermine the

IDF’s and Israel’s operational free-dom” in a wide variety of conflicts.(March 1, 2013: The Jerusalem Post).

This of type of strategic thinkinginforms the developing nations that ifpotential adversaries engage in unlim-ited cyber warfare, they might do moredamage to the entire security systemsand military installations than effec-tively invading a country. Accordingto press reports in 2012, the UnitedStates and Israel jointly developed asophisticated computer virus nick-named Flame that collected intelli-gence in preparation for cyber-sabo-tage aimed at slowing Iran’s ability todevelop a nuclear weapon, accordingto Western officials with knowledgeof the effort.

Few nations other than the UShave more of their essential nationalsystems protected by highly advancedsystems and thus opening opportuni-ties for an unauthorized penetration by,on behalf, in support of, governmentsinto another nation’s computer or net-work systems. Application of numer-ous sabotage/hacking operationsserves the purpose of adding, alteringand falsifying data or causing suspen-sion of weapon system or networkdevice. Often such operations are con-ducted under the cover of private/for-eign enterprise companies, the spon-sors of which benefits from the falsi-fied material, usually being generatedto serve their counterintelligence pro-cedures. The technical superiority isperhaps the main reason that a coun-try such the US is at an advantage tosend deep-cover agents to surprise tra-ditional espionage techniques. If con-sequences can be generated for cer-tain type of destabilizing sabotageoperations, the countries facing asym-metrical warfare are vulnerable to cor-responding amount of damage to theirgovernment systems.

However, with the multi-layeredimplications of cyber warfare, thethinking to limit or control the dam-

age from such operations is problem-atic. Nations such as China and Rus-sia faced allegations of infiltrating theU.S. electric grid and leaving behindsoftware that could be used to dis-rupt the system. “The hackers camefrom China, Russia and other nationsand were on a fishing expedition tomap out the system”, reported TheWall Street Journal in April 2009.Inanother incident, (June 2008), theHatch nuke plant in Georgia was shutdown for two days after an engineerloaded a software update for a busi-ness network that also rebooted theplant’s power control system.

As issues of security risks havegrown in Afghanistan and Pakistan,the incidents of sabotage have alsobecome matter of serious attention.The most common incidents of wa-ter pollution, rise in epidemics, com-plete power grid shut-down etc. areconsidered as steps to sabotage andbreach the security of institutions incountries fighting war on terror.Noticeably, as much as people fearsmall arms and bombs, the fear ofdrones and robots/artificial intelli-gence is sufficiently affecting theminds of world population. Due tothe US drone strikes, the people ofFATA region in Pakistan are beingwithheld against acceptable risk totheir lives. Drawing on the sufferingsof people, fighting asymmetricalwarfare and protecting power gridsand gas pipelines is an enormoustask. That’s where the US and otherEuropean countries should form con-sortium to support Research & De-velopment, and thus building a part-nership between Pakistan and thedeveloped nations. Under foresee-able circumstances, such policy de-sign will not only disable the non-state actors, but would also protectthe fundamental infrastructures there.—The author is a Denmark-basedNational Security Expert andDefence Analyst.

gressman Rohrabacher in-troduced a Resolution“Expressing the sense ofCongress that the peopleof Balochistan, currentlydivided between Pakistan,Iran, and Afghanistan,have the right to self-de-termination and to their

own sovereign country.” For the lastfour years, there was a propagandablitz against Pakistan in internationalmedia, and efforts were made to notonly demonize Pakistan’s military butalso to destabilize Pakistan. There isa perception that whatever India didto harm Pakistan was with the con-nivance of the US. In fact, Americahad prepared an exit strategy from Af-ghanistan with the help of India, andhad envisaged a bigger role for it af-ter withdrawal of NATO forces fromAfghanistan. It looks like that nowAmerica has changed its strategy andrealized that smooth exit from Af-ghanistan is not possible withoutPakistan’s cooperation.

India has been desperately tryingto bring Afghanistan under its eco-nomic and political control with themain objective of damagingPakistan’s interests. Indian Consu-lates, under the cover of reconstruc-tion activities in bordering provincesof Pakistan had purposely selectedbordering provinces of Afghanistanto influence the tribes along Pak-Af-ghan border. Since America and itsallies are occupying Afghanistan, In-dia could not have done it without theblessings of the US. Reportedly,Maliks of Pakistani tribes were per-suaded through middlemen and takento Kabul for meetings with high rank-ing RAW officials. FATA and othersettled areas like Swat and Malakandremained violent in the past due toheavy investment by RAW with the

collaboration of Afghan intelligence.The problem was that Pakistan tookall the insult and the onslaught lyingdown. After Pakistan put its footdown and stopped supplies for NATOforces in Afghanistan after attack onSalala checkposts, there seems to bea change of ‘heart and mind’.

There is a perception that RAWagents are operating from the Indianconsulates in the adjoining areas of theneighboring countries that are close toBalochistan and NWFP. Former chiefminister Balochistan Jam Yousuf hadsaid that Indian RAW was involvedin terrorist activities, which inspiredawe so that ongoing developmentwork in Balochistan could not becompleted. Political and defence ana-lysts are of the opinion that Indiaseems to be worried about the paceof development at Gwadar Port, be-cause with its completion and becom-ing fully operational a new era willdawn on Balochistan, and of coursePakistan. In order to reduce the im-portance of Gawadar, India expeditedthe construction of road to Iran’sChahbahar port. But such intriguescannot create fissures between twofriendly countries. Pakistan and Iranare resolved to complete Iran-Pakistangas pipeline, and Iran has been kindto give loan of $500 million for con-struction of pipeline on Pakistani side.

It is not in good taste to recountone’s good deeds or sacrifices for thefriends, but sometimes one has to re-mind the friendly country when in-stead of reciprocating it becomes atool in others’ hands. It is unfortunatethat Pakistan after having played animportant role in Afghanistan’s warof independence in 1980s, and laterparticipating in war on terror to thedispleasure of people of tribal areas,Afghan government was giving pref-erence to Indian government and

India’s businessmen in almost everyfield. It should be remembered thatduring Afghanistan’s struggleagainst former Soviet Union’sforces, India did not issue any state-ment to condemn the invasion, notto speak of providing moral or othersupport to Afghanistan. India was infact an ally of former USSR duringthe Cold War era. But it is an eideticreality that India has no border withAfghanistan; therefore it would notbe able to play any bigger role forthe stability and solidarity of Af-ghanistan.

America has indeed suffered onaccount of delay in taking vital deci-sions. During Vietnam War also,American leaders’ failure to taketimely decisions led to their ignomini-ous defeat. In Afghanistan, Americanleadership’s procrastination has costit more than two hundred billion dol-lars. Now, after almost 11 yearsAmerican leadership has realized thatwithout Pakistan neither war on ter-ror in Afghanistan is winnable nor canit have an honorable exit from themorass it is in. Instead of realizingthis reality, America had relied moreon India and gave it a free hand inAfghanistan to create problems forPakistan. Anyhow, change in itspolicy was visible from PresidentKarzai’s assurance some time ago thatIndia would not be allowed to useAfghanistan’s soil to destabilize Pa-kistan. During his visit to Pakistan,he had promised to keep Pakistan onboard about any political engagementwith the Taliban. He also sent outpositive signals aimed at addressingPakistan’s strategic concerns. Thesituation appears to be moving in theright direction so far as Pakistan isconcerned. Let us hope for the best.—The writer is Lahore-basedsenior journalist.

Mohammad JamilEmail: mjamil1938@hotmail.com

News & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & ViewsNews & Views

Rana Athar Javed Email: ma_javed@hotmail.com

Voice of the People

The strategic stability of southAsia depends directly on thevery stable regional relations

by taking their nuclear arsenals intoaccount. The kind of regional stra-tegic environment we live in todaycan be patched-up only by creatingtransparency through mutual effortsin the bi-lateral dialogues and nego-tiations. In addition, take effectiveinfluential confidence building mea-sures with regard to the nuclear in-stallations and all the other conven-tional forces. Though agreeing tothe fact that India got superiorityover Pakistan in relation to its con-ventional weapons but pragmati-cally, India lost its superiority withthe prologue of Nuclear Weapon inthe region. Indeed, India unfortu-nately itself begun the arms race insouth Asia whereas, Pakistan pur-sued for nuclear weapons only to fillthe gap of conventional disparitybetween the two countries and in factto maintain the credible deterrencecapability—a need for Pakistan rec-ognizing the old antagonistic historyof Indo-Pak.

In the face of many attacks onPakistani soil from India, Pakistan

Strategic security in South Asia

Retired Generalsbe carefulMUKHTAR BUTT

This is with reference to your timelyeditorial “Abhorring trend amongretired Army officers”(1 Mar) hastouched a very important subjectregarding senior retired army offic-ers who have started appearing invarious talk shows and started writ-ing books about their past experi-ences and services rendered to thearmy. Group of these officers areacting against the discipline of thearmy and violating official secret actto gain cheap popularity. In fact theyall must be ashamed defaming theirmother institution that gave them somuch of respect and money in theshape of plots and agricultural lands.

Your editorial is a slap on theface of such group of officers whohave lost their sense of proportion.I being a very senior retired officerhas many secrets and grievances toshare but can never think of defam-ing my institution. Invariably all re-tired officers have their own expe-riences to share but you have to bediscreet so that no harm comes tothe institution. It is true every one isentitled to air his views but not thestate secrets. Unfortunately ourISPR is not equipped properly tohandle such matters and more inter-ested in SOP’s those are out dated.

I am not here to defendMusharraf or criticize Lt Gen ShahidAziz but to advise them and otherswho may be planning to enter in tosuch adventure, have pity on thecountry and the institution they be-long. What prevented Shahid Aziznot to resign in protest? Why did heaccept promotion by GenMusharraf? Why did he accept jobof Chairman NAB? As ChairmanNAB he developed differences withGen Musharraf from day one, whyhe did not exercise option of quit-ting? Pakistan army has not pro-duced any Rommel and Gudarian;otherwise our record could havebeen different.

One thing is very clear that thereis something wrong with our sys-tem of selection and promotion inGHQ and it needs drastic changesand revision so that any officer af-ter gaining heights and the privilegesand lucrative jobs even after retire-ment at least respects his institutionand official secret act and violatorsshould be brought to justice. Myadvice to all the generals in uniformand out of uniform is that anatomyof the human body is known to allof us but we still cover it.—Karachi

Punjab Policewell-done

REHAN ALI

Punjab Police is on a roll as everysecond day they arrest four to fivecriminals, involved in differentcrimes. Now they have arrested fourpeople for stealing oil from ParcoPipeline. The police have also seized1000 litres of oil from the thieves.

The way Punjab Police is work-ing and if they continue to work likethis with diligence and enthusiasm,they can reduce the crime rate inPunjab to a very low level. PunjabPolice well done and keep it up.—Islamabad

PPP bargainssovereignty, again?

ALI ASHRAF KHAN

The upsetting news that the PPPgovernment seems to have grantedpermission to the US Army Corpsof Engineers to build a tactical com-mand and operations facilitationcentre compound at the Jinnah In-ternational Airport in Karachi to ex-change information with PakistanCustoms Drug Enforcement Cell isanother proof for their radical dis-regard of Pakistani national interestsand sovereignty. After all the dam-age that has been done by PPP to

Morning shows & dangersMUKHTAR AHMED

When our private TV channels started morning shows the idea was to follow and copy the Indianand foreign channels. The time that these programmes are aired in Pakistan is when people are

actually rushing to their offices. With the male gender absent from viewership the targeted audiences ofthese programmes are primarily the female gender. Almost all channels collect a large number of womenof every walk of life in their morning shows with fancy dresses depicting a particular mindset. Unfortu-nately the culture being displayed is exact copy of Indian culture that has no resemblance with ourculture. Everyone has right of freedom of action but that does not provide them license to spoil theyounger generation showing acts that bear no relevance to our day-to-day cultures. At times thediscussion is so embarrassing that one is forced to switch off the TV set if sitting with family. Morningshows have been converted in to dancing clubs where there is total freedom to all the participantsirrespective of gender to display their dancing skills. It appears we have crossed all the limits ofdecency and there is no come back until some checks are enforced. This reminds me speech of SoniaGandhi President of Congress party of 1995 when she said that India has no need to fight a waragainst Pakistan, since they have already won on cultural lines. We shall win Pakistan with ourculture that is being penetrated in their homes on daily basis. Although it has taken good 18 years buther words have proved that she was right. There is tremendous increase in piracy of films and televisionshows. We feel so proud in showing their films but on the other hand Indian government does not allowtelecasting Pakistani programmes. We cannot do much to change the wave of future but we must doeverything to guard and protect our values and culture—Karachi

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

are requested to typetheir letters legibly withdouble spacing and only onone side of the paper.

—Editor

institutions like ECP and others, toPakistan’s industry and economy thatis hardly surviving and to governanceof the country damaged by misruleand corruption never before seen inany proportions for third time, theyare reportedly selling out the sover-eignty of the state.

First they did it when they offeredUS take-over of government institu-tions when the US would help pre-vent a (seemingly) looming militarycoup the details of which werehandled by the former Pakistani am-bassador Hussain Haqqani who isnow an absconder of the SupremeCourt. Next it was allowed to be vio-lated when the PPP governmentknowingly allowed US intrusioninto Pakistan for the Abbottabad op-eration. And now for the third timethe same game shortly before theforthcoming election which may ormay not take place and which in bothcases could be marred by violencethat might threaten the very exist-ence of Pakistan, if the policy of di-vide and rule is not buried. Generalimpression is floating that perhaps thePPP is now relying on the US armyto keep them in power?

This is such an upsetting happen-ing that even the party’s own mem-bers of PPP are taken by surprise.Senator Raza Rabbani who is alsoheading the Parliamentary Commit-tee on National Security (PCNS) wasblasting his own government duringthe Senate session that this decisionis violating the new “Terms of En-gagement with US” that had beenapproved by a joint sitting of parlia-ment after the Salala attacks on Pa-kistan in April 2012. The ministerconcerned was unable to state whotook the decision and why the parlia-mentary commission was not in-cluded into the decision-making pro-cess as required. In another twist it isnow being stated that the wholeproject was inaugurated “on the re-quest of the Pakistani government”and the US Department of Defenceagreed to fund and, for quality con-trol purposes, oversee the building ofa 7900 sq ft facility, to provide thePakistan Customs’ Drug Enforce-ment Agency a rapid response mecha-nism for narcotics smuggling to andfrom Karachi airport.

The structure, which is expectedto cost up to $2 million, is to be com-posed of both, an administration andoperations centre; fully staffed, op-erated and manned by only Pakistaniofficials upon its completion but willhave no role during equipment instal-lation, which is important fromPakistan’s point and is expected to beoperational in summer 2014. Whowill believe this? US withdrawalfrom Afghanistan and the leakingnews about the small number oftroops they want to leave in Afghani-stan but what need is for this centre?Or this is going to be an Americanarmy operational base?—Karachi

Roller coasterFAQIR AHMAD PARACHA

Air Marshal (r) Shahid Lateef, in hisarticle ‘Into the pit again?’ (Feb 26),remarked that the gullible and hap-less people of this country are beingmade to believe that the ballot boxwill set everything right and that thecountry is “all set for another roller-coaster ride in the name of continua-tion of democracy”. He also raisedobjections to the role and composi-tion of the Election Commission.

It is only in this roller-coaster ridethat we can utter slogans like ‘aglibari phir Zardari’. The other types ofmerry-go-rounds we have had in thepast would not have permitted this.It is the world’s considered opinionthat even the worst type of democ-racy is better than the best autocracy.So, let democracy prevail; it willeventually evolve into a smooth ride.—Peshawar

A good omenSULEMAN MANSHA

General Kayani’s statement that freeand fair elections should be held ontime is a good omen. Had Generals

Al-Maliki, Saudi Arabia and Qatar

THE stance of these two statesis very strange,” Iraqi PrimeMinister Nuri Al-Maliki re-

marked in mid-2012, in reference toQatar and Saudi Arabia. Accordingto him, it was strange that these twocountries were providing military,logistic and humanitarian support tothe Syrian people in the face ofBashar Assad’s daily slaughter. Al-Maliki then rolled up his sleeves indefiance, proclaiming: “It has beenone year and the regime did not fall,and it will not fall and why should itfall?” Now, in the wake of news re-ports that the Syrian fighters are be-ing provided with weapons, most re-cently through an arms shipmentfrom Croatia, the truth is that Al-Maliki’s stance is the one that isstrange. He sits on the border withSyria and provides its regime with oil,fuel, and arms.

He allows Iranian planes to passthrough and provide Assad with any-thing he asks for. Al-Maliki has neverrenounced his support of a regime thatis committing the gravest massacresof the 21st century, thus he is an ac-complice to these crimes. All he hasdone is voice his surprise toward two

states (Saudi Arabia and Qatar) thatare seeking to help people who arebeing killed every day.

The equation in Syria is as fol-lows: The Assad regime is armed tothe teeth because of its military-se-curity structure and because it is be-ing openly supported by Iran, Rus-sia, Iraq and Hezbollah. They provideAssad with funds, weapons, oil, fight-ers, intelligence, diplomatic data andpropaganda. On the other hand, theoppressed Syrian people have so farreceived limited support because ofclosed borders, legal problems andpolitical caveats. The opposition hasarmed some of its members, some ofwhom are army defectors, but themajority are mere citizens defendingtheir neighborhoods. Now, after allthe bloodshed, they are still insistenton overthrowing the regime.

We must not forget that the Syr-ian revolution began peacefully andcontinued as such for the first fourmonths. However, it was brutally con-fronted by the Assad regime. Envoysfrom the world’s superpowers wit-nessed the revolution’s peaceful naturefirst-hand when they visited protest-ing cities such as Hama. Yet after theregime’s troops began to slaughter theinnocent demonstrators, it was onlynatural that the Syrians would resort

to arms and defend themselves. Dur-ing the past 20 months, rebellion hasspread across the country. The regimehas responded with warplanes, tanks,artillery and missiles, bombarding cit-ies and towns. Most of the victimshave been civilians. There is no simi-lar case in modern history wherebytanks and warplanes have bombed cit-ies for almost two years without anyinternational organizations doing any-thing to stop them.

Amid this blood and destruction,the countries and people of the regioncould not simply watch these calami-ties unfold on television while hav-ing dinner. A few Arab states haveadopted critical stances toward theAssad regime; naturally they haverushed to the aid of the Syrian refu-gees with shelter and blankets. Nev-ertheless, this is their duty. We shouldbe very proud of those states that Al-Maliki referred to as “strange,” be-cause they are helping millions ofSyrians defend themselves and deterthe regime’s troops who are commit-ting massacres nearly on a daily ba-sis. Had the UN intervened and im-posed a no-fly zone, this supportwould not have been required. HadAssad accepted a political solution,these “strange” states would have cer-tainly backed this solution. It is the

duty of the Arab governments, andall the governments of the civilizedworld, to stop any massacre beingcommitted by a state regime. Onecannot compare an opposition ac-tivist holding a rifle to an entire armyusing MiG warplanes, Sukhoifighter jets and tanks to shell townsand cities. Al-Maliki once com-plained that the world was doingnothing with regards to what washappening in southern Iraq duringthe reign of Saddam Hussein, whenthe latter’s forces slaughtered rebelsfor a period of four days. Today, heis criticizing the support being pro-vided for the Syrian people, whohave been brutally massacred for al-most two years.

What happened in Iraq was acrime but the Syrian regime’s atroci-ties are far graver. Al-Maliki couldhave adopted a fair political stanceto prove to the Arabs, the Syrians,and his own people first and fore-most, that he stands against injustice.This stance could have dispelled thesuspicions circling around him andhis positions. Yet today Al-Maliki isstanding by a regime fighting against20 million civilians — the majorityof the Syrian people. I do not knowhow he believes that the Syrian re-gime will not fall.—Arab News

A Rahman Al-Rashed

being a responsible nuclearweapon state acknowl-edges the fact that nuclearweapons are meant to bal-ance out deterrence and arenot for tangible use there-

fore, never opted for the use ofWeapons of Mass of Destruction(WMD). Similarly, Pakistan pursuedfor the peaceful use of nuclear toolsas it refrained from the use of nucleartechnology even in the face of nu-merous brinkmanship encounteredbetween them. Analyzing the roleplayed by the international commu-nity in the wake of normalization ofrelationships between India and Pa-kistan is worth imperative to figureout the balancing equation in southAsia. Since the “security-insecurityparadox” depends on the mutual ef-forts and measures espoused for thenational stability, it is, therefore re-ciprocal. In this regard, the globalactions make certain to cloak theirself-seeking interests and customs ofdiscrimination that espouse theirstate of affairs.

Likewise, India has been privi-leged and given the status of a re-sponsible state by the internationalregime of nuclear arms control anddisarmament, and non proliferationestablishment by means of exempt-ing it from the conditions restrainedby the International Trade Manage-ment Groups and Nuclear Suppliers

Group (NSG) despite of having themost terrible proliferation record.The 123 agreement of nuclear co-operation between India and the USmanaged to lift several ban from anon-NPT signatory state (India) witha moral and legal obligated country(the US). This act of proliferationenabled grounds for further execu-tion of such deal among other NPTnorms obligated countries likeFrance and India, Russia and India,China and Pakistan.

More to the point, both southAsian nuclear-armed states enteredunder several agreements with thehelp of certain CBMs; a) the 1998India-Pakistan Non-Attack Agree-ment prohibit attacks againstnuclear installations and facilities.This requires an exchange of listsof each state’s respective nuclearinstallations on January 1st of ev-ery year, b) the 2005 agreement onadvance notification of ballisticmissile tests, c) the 2007 agree-ment on reducing the risk fromaccidents relating to nuclear weap-ons. Undeniably recounting, de-spite to harmonize the agreementsas bona fide efforts, India neitherput into effect the nuclear instal-lation list exchange per year norpre-notified the January 27, 2013Submarine-Launched BallisticMissile (SLBM) test, K-15 withthe code name of B05. The test-

Views From Abroad

Suddenly everybody seems tobe jumping onto the ‘anti-rape’ bandwagon; showing

women they are on their side, evenif the move is mere tokenism.

The move of the finance min-ister in starting an all women’sbank, to be run by women, havecustomers who are only women andlend to only women makes one feelwe are traveling at super speed backinto the dark ages, where women

are going to be segregated and iso-lated instead of being allowed to jointhe mainstream of business activity.

When traveling in Mumbai’strains, very often I used to see a ladygetting into the general compartmentalong with her gentleman friend sothey could share moments togetherduring the otherwise boring train ride;if she occupied a seat, there wouldbe sighs and whispers from menaround, “Now we are deprived of aseat, can’t she go to the ladies com-partment?” I can imagine this trendstarting in our country: “Why aren’tour employees listening to me?” asksthe lady CEO of a corporate organi-zation. “Only the men ma’am, onlythe men aren’t listening, they feel you

and the other women should leaveand start your own ladies unit!”

I can well imagine the financeministry team going home worriedafter the rape in Delhi, worried, be-cause other than allotting funds forwomen safety, they could not get intothe mainstream of doing some majortoken act for the sake of women.“What have you done for us womenhusband, in your budget?” “This is afinance budget!” “Yes, but what do Itell my kitty party friends husband?”

And the next day at the minis-try: “We need to also make an entryinto the women’s sympathy market!”“What do you propose sir?” “That allmen may do only online banking, andonly women be allowed to come into

Women’s banks..!banks to transact business!” “Butwhat about the men working in thebank sir?”

“Yes, that is dangerous, menand women working so close toeach other, handling cheques to-gether, doing the same accounts…”“Don’t go on sir, these are the situ-ations that lead to that four letterword!” “Eureka!”

“What is it sir?” “We will havean all women bank!” “Sir as usualyou are brilliant! What a wonder-ful idea!” And after the budget, athome: “Husband! Husband! Whathave you done?” “Aren’t youhappy?” “To be married to some-one from the Taliban?”—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com

Gwadar Port agreement

This is with the reference ofnews that said “Pakistan formally awarded the contract for

the operation of Gwadar Deep Sea-port to China. The President saidGwadar will soon be a hub of tradeand commerce in the region and itholds the key to bring together thecountries of Central Asia and lend-ing a new impetus to Pak- China re-lations. President Asif Ali Zardarisaid the Gwadar project had very sig-nificant and strategic importance forChina adding that nearly 60% ofChina’s crude oil was imported fromthe Gulf countries which would in-crease in the next decade.”

This is the very best initiativefrom Pakistani Government whichwill be fruitful for Pakistani Nationand obviously for China. Experts sayit would slash thousands ofkilometres off the distance oil and gasimports from Africa and the Middle

East have to be transported to reachChina, making Gwadar a potentiallyvital link in its supply chain.

China’s acquisition of strategicGwadar Port is the latest addition toits drive to secure energy and mari-time routes and give it a potentialnaval base in Arabian Sea. The Paki-stani cabinet on Jan 30 approved theport’s transfer, a commercial failurecut off from the national road net-work, from Singapore’s PSA Inter-national to the state-owned ChinaOverseas Port Holdings Limited.

Andrew Small, an expert onChina - Pakistan relations, told anews agency “ In the near- to- me-dium term, it appears that China’s in-terests in this part of the world leanfar more towards developing capaci-ties to deal with threats to sea lanesof communication, Chinese citizensoverseas and soon .”Other Pakistaniexperts suggest that Islamabad ismore likely t o give the Chinese navyaccess to its existing naval bases ofKarachi or Qasim. “ China can al-ways use those. So they do not haveto build another naval base at this

stage,” said Hamayoun Khan, whoteaches at the National Defence Uni-versity in Islamabad.

Chinese Ambassador to PakistanLiu Jian said no third country shouldhave reservations over this bilateralarrangement which had been decidedby Pakistan and China mutually.About India’s criticism and concernsregarding the handing over of theport, he replied to a newspaper jour-nalist that no country should haveapprehensions over Pak-China coop-eration. “ This bilateral arrangementis in the economic interest of thepeoples of China and Pakistan ,” hewent on to say.

Asked that certain countries werethinking China would use this portfor military purposes, the diplomatsaid this hypothesis was absolutelybaseless. To another query thatwhether China was worried becauseof the law and order situation inBalochistan, Jian said security wasthe responsibility of the Pakistan gov-ernment. He said at present China hadbeen working on at least 120 differ-ent projects in Pakistan; the govern-

ment had given them security andthey were not worried at all.

Now Pakistani Nation hashoped that if the Gawadar port willbe developed then the Dollar ratewill be decrease from its presentlevel, Pakistan will trade with othercountries especially Chine with itsown currency and most of the Pa-kistani people will have gottenmaximum jobs. This deal as an en-ergy and trade corridor would con-nect China to Arabian Sea and Straitof Hormuz, a gateway for a thirdof the world’s traded oil, overlandthrough an expanded KarakoramHigh way. But the question how itwill be possible?

This is the question which risesin the minds of people becauseChina has become more cautiousabout big investment projects in Pa-kistan due to security concerns.Taliban, sectarian and separatistviolence blight Balochistan. So thisis very dangerous fear for China.Pakistan government will have tomake sure the safety of China’scompanies workers.

Ayub, Ziaul Haq and PervezMusharraf thought in the same man-ner, the country would have been ina far better condition. Not only didthese dictators ruin the country bytheir unwise decisions, they are alsoresponsible for patronising a wholelot of politicians who, following inthe footsteps of their mentors, playedhavoc with the country’s future when-ever they got a chance to rule.—Lahore

Historical truthABID MAHMUD ANSARI

In his article, ‘Our founders andguardians’ (Feb 26), Zafar Hilaly cor-rectly stated that the partition of In-dia was inevitable. But the writerthinks that the founders and guard-ians of our country must share theblame for what took place after1947. In his opinion, there were twodistinct groups among the Muslimleadership. One group wanted a re-ligion-based state and the other wasin favour of a state system along thelines of western liberalism. Surpris-ingly, the writer thinks that theQuaid failed to see any conflict be-tween these two groups. Here, thewriter himself doesn’t seem to beclear on the ‘clarity of thought’among the founders.

It’s an undeniable fact that theUlema-e-Hind opposed the idea of aseparate homeland for Muslims of theSubcontinent. This group includedulema who belonged to the Deobandi,Barelvi and Ahle-Hadith schools ofthought. They were joined and sup-ported by some Congress Muslimssuch as Abdul Ghaffar Khan (KhudaiKhidmatgars), Nawabzada NasrullahKhan (Ahrari) and the Khaksars.Why did all these ulema oppose theidea of Pakistan if there existed agroup that wanted a state based onreligion? This means that there wasno such group among the Muslimleadership. This view is furtherstrengthened by a 1946 interviewof the Quaid with Reuters. An-swering a question, the Quaid said,“The new state would be a moderndemocratic state, the members ofthe new nation having equal rightsof citizenship, regardless of theirreligion, caste and creed”.—Islamabad

PTI’s confusedpolicies

DR ZAFAR QURESHI

Kamila Hyat’s article, ‘Searching fora clearer vision’ (Feb 28), presents agood analysis of our current politicalsituation. While she correctly nar-rated the history of mainstream po-litical parties, her analysis of the ris-ing political star, Imran Khan, needsto be debated. No doubt Imran Khanhas done outstanding charitable work,but his political leadership style isquite baffling. Also, the variouspolicy postures of the PTI and its topleadership have not helped the massesunderstand its actual position on dif-ferent occasions. If anything, therehas been a lot of inconsistency in theparty’s views on various issues. Takefor instance Dr Tahirul Qadri’s casewherein the party took contradictorystands. Second, its views on theTaliban have been equally confusing.

In politics, one has to combineidealism with pragmatism. Withoutattaining this combination, merelycapturing political power will be use-less. It is time for Imran Khan andhis top team to engage in seriousthinking to put their own house inorder. Most of all, Imran Khan mustlearn to appreciate what others aredoing for development.—Lahore

fired launched from a submergedpontoon off the Visakhapathnamcoast by piercing the water of theBay of Bangal that ranged approxi-mately 700km. So, India onceagain violated the spirit of agree-ment that binds it legally.

Furthermore, the January 6,2013 a ray of cross-border assaulton the Pakistani soil was in actualan Indian propaganda either to halttrade links connecting India and Pa-kistan or might be India want to cre-ate room for its missile test that wasdependent for any genuine reasonto go for. At the juncture of Indianpropaganda here, Indian ArmyChief General Bikram Singh said,“I expect all my commanders at theline of control to be both aggres-sive and offensive in the face ofprovocation and fire.” It is alsoworth noted that Indian Air ChiefMarshal created menacing environ-ment by stating that Indian militarymay have to look at some otheroptions for compliance.

Sarcastically, if India still stickand act according to the statementmade by the Former Prime MinisterIndra Gandhi against Pakistan thatIndia cannot shake hands with aclenched fist, then no doubts the re-gional and nuclear security would beat-stake no matter how much Paki-stan does efforts as clap can neverbe single-handed.

Sher M KhanEmail: shermkhan1@gmail.com

Nawaz Khan, Beenish AltafEmails: nawazverdag915@hotmail.com,

beenishaltaf7@gmail.com

DAVID MAKOVSKY, GHAITH AL-OMARI

THE White House announcement that President Obamawill not bring a peace initiative on his upcoming trip to

Israel and the West Bank reinforcesthe sense that he sees the visit as anopportunity to reset ties with both theIsraeli and Palestinian peoples at thestart of his second term. There is, ofcourse, value in bolstering public sup-port for intergovernmental relations.It is hard to conceive of any sort ofbreakthrough between Israeli and Pal-estinian leaders so long as the publicon both sides are so skeptical ofprogress. Yet if the White House fo-cuses on people, and not just on gov-ernments, and points to significantstatements that leaders on both sideshave made, the result could be realprogress.

There are still majorities — albeitshrinking ones — for a two-state so-lution. Polls show, however, that eachside is convinced the other does notaccept a two-state solution. Becauseboth Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu and Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas are risk-averse, onlysupport from their respective constitu-encies will alter the risk-benefit calcu-lus when it comes to making conces-sions. Ironically, these public attitudesthat constrain the leaders are oftencreated or reinforced by the leaders’own negative messaging.

Despite their differences, however,Netanyahu and Abbas have madesome significant public statements onkey issues in recent years. In hisspeech to a joint session of Congressin 2011, for example, Netanyahu an-nounced that “We seek a peace .?.?.in which [the Palestinians will] be nei-ther Israel’s subjects nor its citizens.They should enjoy a national life ofdignity as a free, viable and indepen-dent people living in their own state.”

Abbas said publicly in June 2010:“Nobody denies the Jewish history inthe Middle East. A third of [the] holyKoran talks about the Jews in theMiddle East, in this area. Nobody from

our side, at least, denies that the Jewswere in Palestine, were in the MiddleEast.” Later that year, Abbas said, “We

can put an end to the conflict and tothe historical demands. .?.?. When wehave an agreement and sign this agree-ment, nobody from both sides is al-lowed to talk about historical de-

mands.”Unfortunately, many such positive

statements are often overlooked or for-gotten, as they are sporadic and notcoordinated so as to maximize theirimpact. People then remember the dam-aging statements of one side, forget-ting the positive. And one side alonewill not make generous statements, fear-ing pillory by the hard-liners fromwithin, who believe that such moveswill not be reciprocated. For such mes-saging to be effective, it should not befragmented or episodic but, rather, re-peated to optimize impact. The ques-tion then is whether these leaders are

willing to make a concerted effort torepeat such statements as part of avirtuous cycle, whereby one state-

ment would reinforce another, ratherthan undermine it.

Public attitudes are especially cru-cial to peacemaking now that the eraof larger-than-life leaders who blazed

the path to peace has passed. Thereis no Anwar Sadat or Yitzhak Rabin tomobilize the moderate majority in eachpublic. In the past, these majoritiesfollowed their bold leaders; today,public skepticism and cynicism pre-vent leaders from leading. A shift inpublic attitudes will not be easy, butit is a prerequisite for decisive politi-cal action. The main Palestinian fearis that Israel will extend its borders allthe way to the Jordan River, effec-tively annexing the West Bank andprolonging the occupation indefi-nitely.

—Courtesy: Washington

TREFOR MOSS

CHINA is developing its own dronetechnology for its own military andfor sale around the world. Unmanned systems have become the le-

gal and ethical problem child of the global de-fense industry and the governments they sup-ply, rewriting the rules of military engagementin ways that many find disturbing. And thissense of unease about where we’re headed ishardly unfamiliar. Much like the emergence ofdrone technology, the rise of China and itsreshaping of the geopolitical landscape hasstirred up a sometimes understandable, some-times irrational, fear of the unknown. It’s safeto say, then, that Chinese drones conjure up aparticularly intense sense of alarm that the me-dia has begun to embrace as a license to panic.China is indeed developing a range of un-manned aerial vehicles/systems (UAVs/UASs)at a time when relations with Japan are tense,and when those with the U.S. are delicate. Butthat hardly justifies claims that “drones havetaken center stage in an escalating arms racebetween China and Japan,” or that the “Chinadrone threat highlights [a] new global armsrace,” as some observers would have it. Thishyperbole was perhaps fed by a 2012 U.S. De-partment of Defense report which describedChina’s development of UAVs as “alarming.”

That’s quite unreasonable. All of theworld’s advanced militaries are adoptingdrones, not just the PLA. That isn’t an armsrace, or a reason to fear China, it’s just thedirection in which defense technology is natu-rally progressing. Secondly, while China maybe demonstrating impressive advances, Israeland the U.S. retain a substantial lead in theUAV field, with China alongside Europe, Indiaand Russia still in the second tier. And thirdly,China is modernizing in all areas of militarytechnology – unmanned systems being noexception. New unmanned missions: None-theless, China has started to show its hand in

terms of the roles that it expects its growingfleet of UAVs to fulfill. In a clear indicationthat the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) hasan operational armed UAV capability in whichit feels relatively confident, last week reportsof a plan to send a UAV into Myanmar to as-sassinate a drug trafficker who had murdered13 Chinese nationals came to light. The Chi-nese government ultimately rejected this tac-

New international muscles straightening

Here Come…China’s Dronestic, but it is evidently tempted to followWashington’s lead in reserving the right to

use UAVs to target enemies of the state, evenon foreign soil.

Territorial disputes in the East China Sea

and the South China Sea have also persuadedBeijing to accelerate its deployment of UAVs,

which are ideally suited to maritime surveil-lance missions. UAVs are already used rou-tinely to monitor the disputed Diaoyu/Senkakuislands, a PLA general recently claimed. “[BothChina and Japan] seem intent on establishingmore presence in these disputed zones,” com-ments Peter Singer, Director of the Center for21st Century Security and Intelligence at theBrookings Institution,“both to establish their

own claims … and to watch what the other isdoing. UAS are helpful in those aims, espe-

cially with their longer duration versus tradi-tional manned platforms.” The PLA Air Forcehas also converted its obsolete J-6 fighters into

UAVs; based in Fujian, the J-6s are apparentlybeing used for Diaoyu surveillance, as well as

being expendable strike assets in the event ofan armed engagement. Nor is China’s deploy-ment of UAVs limited to the military realm. Thegovernment of Liaoning Province is reportedlyusing UAVs to monitor the North Korean bor-der, and is also said to be establishing twocoastal UAV bases from which it will overseeits areas of jurisdiction in the Yellow Sea andthe Bohai Gulf. Meanwhile, the State Oceanic

Administration (SOA) – one of China’s mainmaritime agencies – announced in August that

it is setting up 11 UAV bases, one in each ofChina’s coastal provinces. It expects to havethese bases up and running by 2015 (imagesof some of the SOA’s current UAVs can beseen here). It’s also worth recalling that all ofChina’s UAV advances have been enabled bythe Beidou satellite constellation, which nowincludes 16 active satellites providing cover-age across China and the Asia-Pacific.

If provincial governments and civilian lawenforcement agencies plan to induct UAVs intandem with the PLA, then that’s a large fleet ofunmanned aircraft able to perform a variety ofdifferent functions that China will need to bringonline over the next few years. But, there is noshortage of technology programs competingto make the cut. China’s UAV programs: Doz-ens of Chinese UAV concepts have appearedover the years, most of which will never leavethe laboratory, let alone the runway. However,the Chinese aerospace sector has clearly de-voted a great deal of energy to producing arange of designs from which the PLA has beenable to cherry-pick. Chinese engineers have alsobeen able to draw on Israeli technology, havingacquired Harpy UAVs from Israel AerospaceIndustries in the 1990s. “They’ve gone in the

last few years from having none in develop-ment to at least 25 different models displayed atarms shows,” says Singer.“So, it’s a very ambi-tious program. But again, it parallels their growthin capabilities and ambitions in many othersbeyond UAS, from jet fighters to missiles.” Hewarns against overhyping China’s UAV effort,noting that for now “we’re talking very smallnumbers [of Chinese UAVs] … and not yet near

U.S. capabilities.”If the example of the U.S military is any-

thing to go by, the PLA should only have op-erational requirements for around six to tenUAVs. It appears closer to filling some of theseoperational niches than others. The ChinaNational Aero-Technology Import & ExportCorporation (CATIC) has developed a numberof ASN series UAVs, at least two of which ap-pear to be in operational use. First is the ASN-15, a small intelligence, surveillance, target ac-quisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) UAVsimilar to the U.S. RQ-11 Raven, a small, man-portable system able to perform basic battle-field ISTAR duties. Second is the ASN-209medium altitude and medium endurance UAVcomparable to the U.S. ScanEagle, a larger ISRasset than the Raven with up to 20 hours offlight time for longer-range battlefield and mari-time surveillance. The ASN-209 is probablythe same aircraft as the “Silver Eagle” whichwas widely reported to have taken part in na-val exercises over the South China Sea in 2011.Vertical takeoff UAVs (VTUAV), which are es-pecially useful for naval ISTAR and fire con-trol, are also beginning to enter service(though the U.S. Navy’s comparable MQ-8Fire Scout is itself yet to receive operationalclearance). A PLA Navy frigate was picturedin 2012 operating what was probably one ofthe 18 Camcopter S-100s China acquired fromAustrian company Schiebel, supposedly in-tended for civilian use.

Another VTUAV, the SVU-200, made itsfirst flight late last year, while a third un-manned helicopter, the V750, recently enteredcivilian service. The PLA Navy is known tobe exploring the possible applications ofVTUAVs, including their use in anti-subma-rine warfare, and to be interested in the use ofUAVs more broadly on its new and future air-craft carriers, not least because UAVs can sig-nificantly augment China’s anti-access/areadenial (A2/AD) capabilities. “A2/AD placesa premium on extending your range of moni-toring and tracking targets from afar,” Singersays.“UAS are very helpful in that.”

Bigger, more advanced UAVs are also nowbreaking cover. Two in particular appear to besimilar to the U.S.’s MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones, medium altitude, long en-durance (MALE) UAVs best known for con-ducting lethal operations in Pakistan and else-where. These are the Yilong/Wing Loong“Pterodactyl”, built by the Chengdu AircraftDesign and Research Institute (CADI), andthe China Aerospace Science and Technol-ogy Corporation’s (CASC’s) CH-4.

—Courtesy: TD

So if there is an alarm bell worth ringing about the emergence of Chinese UAVs, it is probably not the threat they will pose to theU.S. or Japan in the Asia-Pacific it is the proliferation to the developing world of armed, unmanned systems that China’s low prices,

and even lower export barriers, may soon begin to drive.

TRITA PARSI

THIS week’s P5+1-Iran meetingwas highly encouraging butthe long shadow of the pastlooms large. For the first time,

United States and Iran appear to havebegun real negotiations. Though noagreement has been reached yet, themeeting in Kazakhstan this week wasa relative success. Previous rounds oftalks resembled stare-offs before box-ing matches. They centered on coer-cion: the main motivator for conces-sions was the threat of new sanctionsor other escalatory steps.

This time around there was a genu-ine give-and-take. If the next meetingin Istanbul strengthens this positivetrend, a major achievement can be inthe making. The two sides have beenstuck in an escalatory dynamic. Both

are pursuing a dual track policy of seek-ing negotiations while continuouslyescalating pressure on the other sideat the same time. But rather than hav-ing the pressure compel the other sideto adopt more a flexible attitude, theopposite has happened. Both sideshave hardened their positions and dugin.

The unprecedented sanctionspressure on Iran, which has caused

The Ball is in Iran’s Courttremendous damage to the Iranianeconomy including cutting Iran’s oilincome in half and slashing the valueof Iran’s currency by almost 70%, did

not result in Iran softening its posi-tion. Instead, Iran escalated by in-creasing its enrichment program, add-ing new centrifuges, including newadvanced centrifuges, and growing itsstockpile of enriched uranium. Whilethe U.S. moved closer to the potentialcollapse of the Iranian economythrough sanctions, Iran moved closerto a nuclear breakout capability. The

escalation game left both sides in aworse position. What is potentially agame-changer with the meeting inAlmaty is that the paradigm of the talksshifted from perpetual escalation to anexchange of concessions and incen-tives. Both sides shifted their positionsand moved a bit closer to the other.

The updated supposed P5+1 pro-posal is neither smaller nor bigger, it’s

just more sophisticated. By restrictingthe accumulation of near 20 percentenriched uranium in Iran while enablingthe Iranians to produce sufficient fuel

for the Tehran Research Reactor,Washington has focused on what’s im-portant. The production of near 20percent enriched uranium is not a prob-lem as long as the Iranians turn theuranium into fuel pads for the reactor(which, according to the latest IAEAreport, they are doing).

So there is no need to waste politi-cal capital on demanding a completehalt to 20 percent at this stage. To en-sure Tehran’s compliance – and ad-dress the potential dangers of Iran’supdated centrifuges that can improveits dash-out capability – the new pro-posal calls for enhanced IAEA moni-toring measures that provide earlywarning of any attempt to rapidly orsecretly abandon agreed limits andproduce weapons-grade uranium. Theshift towards enhanced inspections iscritical – ultimately, only an inspectionsand verification based solution canprovide the necessary limitations andtransparency the international commu-nity is seeking.

In regards to the demand of shut-ting down Fordo – a request the Irani-ans have dismissed as a non-starter –the P5+1 is now demanding that ac-tivities there be suspended. In return,there were discussions about sus-pending sanctions such as the recentlyimposed gold trade sanctions. Thoughthe sanctions relief offered is notnearly as substantive as Tehran wouldprefer, this may still be digestible forIran since the demands have in a wayalso decreased. The gold sanctionsmay carry additional political symbol-ism since Congress regulates them.President Barack Obama would haveto exercise his waiver rights to sus-pend them.

—Courtesy: Diplomat

A campaign to talk up a two-state solution

hough the gap between the two sides is still wide,the fact that two additional meetings were scheduledwithout any Iranian foot-dragging – in the midst of the

Iranian holiday season mind you – may also signalincreased seriousness.

ELIZABETH C. ECONOMY

WHEN it came to China, Secretaryof State John Kerry’s confirmation hearing touched on a littlebit of everything. Here is what he

said he wants: - To compete with China eco-nomically in Africa this will be tough given theextraordinary government resources Chinapours into its trade and investment effort inthe continent; - To use the Trans-Pacific Part-nership (TPP) as leverage with China to ensurecommonly accepted rules of the road on tradeof course the TPP has to move forward for thisto happen; - To cooperate with China moreclosely on North Korea that’s been an item onthe U.S. wish list for twenty years…but thechances are better than ever before - And towork together with China on the full range ofregional and global challenges, such as climatechange. Excellent, but it would really help ifSecretary Kerry could persuade his former col-leagues in Congress to pass climate legislationhere at home.

What has garnered all the attention, how-ever, is what the Secretary said with regard tothe pivot: “I’m not convinced that increasedmilitary ramp-up is critical yet. I’m not con-

China’s Predator Drone Ripoff Crashes…

China’s drone boom: The aerospace sector must now supply huge demand from both the PLAand civilian authorities. So it is not hard to envisage several of these seemingly competing UAVs,

rather than just one winner, being produced in large numbers in order to help the defense industrymeet its growing demand. In fact, last November a senior CASIC executive forecast that Chinese

UAV sales would double in 2013. Chinese firms also have high hopes for export sales.

Politics Now - politics, campaign….

New internationalism

John Kerry on China and the Pivotvinced of that. That’s something I’d want tolook at very carefully when and if you folksconfirm me and I can get in there and sort of diginto this a little deeper. But we have a lot more

bases out there than any other nation in theworld, including China today. We have a lotmore forces out there than any other nation inthe world, including China today. And we’vejust augmented the president’s announcementin Australia with additional Marines. You know,the Chinese take a look at that and say, what’sthe United States doing? They trying to circleus? What’s going on? And so, you know, ev-ery action has its reaction. It’s the old you know,it’s not just the law of physics; it’s the law of

politics and diplomacy. I think we have to bethoughtful about, you know, sort of how we goforward.”

Secretary Kerry’s apparent unease with the

pivot has unsurprisingly set the Chinese pressall atwitter and given Chinese analysts somehope that President Obama has appointed akinder, gentler Secretary of State. The majorChinese state-supported newspapers the Glo-bal Times, People’s Daily, and Xinhua high-lighted his remarks on the pivot and then of-fered some thoughts on Kerry’s likely diplo-matic approach: China Institute of InternationalStudies’ Ruan Zongze: “Compared withClinton’s tough diplomatic approach, Kerry as

a moderate democrat is expected to stress therole of bilateral or multilateral dialogues”;

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ NiFeng: Kerry’s “diplomatic measures” will

“greatly embody Obama’s concepts.” In review-ing Secretary Kerry’s congressional votingrecord, Chinese observers also noted that he“generally voted in favor of bills conducive topromoting the development China-U.S. rela-tions and generally voted against or expresseddifferent opinions for bills not conducive toChina-U.S. relations.” Overall, as People’s Dailyobserved, “Kerry stresses more on coordina-tion rather than confrontation in foreign rela-tions…”

Secretary Kerry does not, of course, standalone in his questioning of the pivot. CSIS Se-nior Associate Edward Luttwak recently sug-gested in a panel discussion at the Council onForeign Relations that the United States shouldrefrain from putting itself front and center inAsia; instead, it should give the other coun-tries in the region time to coalesce among them-selves. This is an attractive idea it conservesU.S. resources and keeps the United States outof Beijing’s crosshairs, at least a little bit. How-ever, it’s not entirely practical. Some of our al-lies such as Japan and South Korea don’t actu-ally get along that well right now and may needa gentle push from the United States. Also, arelatively inchoate set of cross-cutting alliancesor joint military exercises in the region is quitedifferent from a well-thought-out, well-designedregional security effort that can mobilize assetsefficiently. By suggesting that the pivot may beout of favor, Secretary Kerry has also drawninto question U.S. credibility. Officials and ana-lysts abroad have already raised doubts aboutU.S. staying power in the Asia-Pacific; Secre-tary Kerry’s doubts will only add fuel to the fire.

And Secretary Kerry might recast his “ac-tion-reaction” narrative.

—Courtesy Diplomat

Secretary Kerry understandably wants to make his mark on U.S. foreign policy over the next fewyears, and he appears to be setting himself a challenging agenda, including making progress on a

free trade agreement with Europe and restarting the Middle East peace talks.

They fear that the peace process will merelyproduce more process, never leading to Palestiniansovereignty. The main Israeli fear is that the Palestin-ian Authority will not accept the moral legitimacy ofIsrael as a state for the Jewish people, with equal

rights for all of its citizens.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greets the people of Tabriz, in thecountry’s northwest.

diately in this direction.Dr. Qadeer said the irony of

the situation is that nobodyknows as how much collateraldamage is inflicted on the peopleof FATA through drone attacksand other military actions. Me-dia has no access to report aboutthe facts on the ground.

He said he was given highhonour during the meeting. Thetribesmen highly welcomed himby kissing his hands. He said, “Iwas also included among thoseeminent personalities such asNawaz Sharif and ProfessorMunawwar Hassan who werenominated by Taliban and othergroups in FATA as guarantors inthe talks.

Due to follies of DictatorPervez Musharraf, who acceptedthe dictates of Americans, thecountry plunged into lawless-ness, he said.

Pakistan wants peace forprogress and this APC did a won-derful job by building consensusand a concrete action was pro-posed to start negotiations

APC deliberationsto help

From Page 1

facing economic issues haveonce again been hit by theoil price hike that was unjustand announced to stagewalkout of the House alongwith his party colleagues.

PML-N lawmaker PervaizMalik said the oil price increasewas uncalled for adding that thegovernment should strive to fa-cilitate the people ahead ofelections. Protesting against theincrease, PML-N and MQMlawmakers staged a walkout ofassembly hall in protest.

Lawmakers also chantedslogans against NEPRA duringthe NA session. State Ministerfor Water and Power TasneemAhmed Qureshi complainedthat WAPDA had over 18,000employees, all were enjoyingfree monthly electricity.

To a question, he said thatthe fuel price adjustment wasbeing determined on the basisof oil prices in the country. He

Latest fuel price hike sparksprotests in NA

From Page 1said that NEPRA was mainhurdle in power tariff deter-mination and asked theCabinet Division to takeaction against it . He saidthat a committee was alsoconstituted to probe thepower breakdown in thecountry.

The National Assembly wassubsequently adjourned to 5pmon Monday.

Meanwhile, State Ministerfor Water and Power, TasneemQureshi has said that NEPRA isthe biggest hurdle in way ofeliminating electricity loadshedding in the country.

During question hour in theNational Assembly’s Friday ses-sion, Qureshi noted that Chair-man NEPRA is doing nothing tocontrol the power crisis despiteclear directions of the PrimeMinister. He further said that thestubbornness of ChairmanNEPRA, the power projects

have come to a halt. At this,Chaudhary Abdul Ghafoor ob-served that it is responsibil-ity of the government to takeaction against NEPRA. “Ifthe government does nottake a relevant action, no onecan resolve the matter,” headded.

In reply to the question ofNisar Tanveer, the State Minis-ter for Water and Power said thatthey would end the unscheduledpower outages.

He vowed to form a com-mittee in order to probe theeight-hour long power outagethat occurred few days ago.

State Minister TasneemQureshi confessed that work onsolar plant is going on, how-ever, this is a very expensivesystem.

Answering another ques-tion, Tasneem Qureshi said thathis ministry has nothing to dowith fixing tariff.

He furthered that around225,000 energy savers have beedistributed all over the country.

“The parties have sent a posi-tive message by excluding theword terrorism from the jointdeclaration. The Tehrik-i-TalibanPakistan (TTP) shura (council)gives it high regards,” EhsanullahEhsan, spokesmen for the bannedmilitant outfit, told media on Fri-day via telephone from an undis-closed location.

The spokesman, however,said that Pakistani Taliban werestill waiting for a “positive re-sponse” from the Pakistani mili-tary on the offer they already hadmade to initiate peace talks.Ehsan said that Taliban council

more important part of it. Theconditions of these provisionswill be explained in Urdu andEnglish languages, separately.

Under the new election rules,the candidate will be asked togive details of assets within andoutside the country.

Loan defaulters, dual nation-ality holders, tax evaders, benefi-ciaries of NRO, defaulters of util-ity bills, fake degree holders andthose who are not “Ameen” and“Sadiq” under constitutional pro-visions of 62 and 63 will facedisqualification.

The EC will sit in the driv-ing seat after dissolution of Par-liament and taking up charge byinterim governments.

EC to takeFrom Page 1

Fazl claims dialogue processFrom Page 1

Pagara fearsFrom Page 1

voy about recommendations ofAPC and took Olson into confi-dence over the outcome of themoot, sources added. Maulana isa senior politicians and promi-nent religious leader in the coun-try and considered to be veryclose person to Afghan and Pa-kistani Taliban.

The US ambassador has metRehman just a day after the JUI-F organized an All Parties Con-ference over peace efforts in thetribal region of the country.—Online

also respected the gesture of allthe political and non-politicalforces which have shown confi-dence in the members of the tribaljirga and have tasked them forholding peace talks. “We wel-come and respect this decision,”he said.

The Taliban spokesman saida serious sitting for peace wouldhelp assess the seriousness of thegovernment, the army and otherstakeholders in moving aheadwith the peace process. He saidthat such a step would also helpjudge “the powers of the jirga forholding such talks indepen-dently.”Asked if the militantswere willing to endorse aceasefire and seize attacks on

Pakistani security forces, thespokesman said: “It will onlybegin when we are on the table(for peace talks).”

“Ceasefire and such modali-ties can be discussed when wekick start the peace process,” hesaid. To another query about an-nouncing the TTP jirga team,which will be coming forward forthe peace talks, he said: “If mostof the country’s forces can agreeand build consensus on some fig-ures to be part of the jirga, theTaliban will also propose theirown names,” he said when askedabout members of the teamwhich may engage in peace ne-gotiations. He, however, declinedto disclose any names.

ment in its reaction to the ongo-ing peace process with PakistaniTaliban Friday urged the mili-tants to formulate an “indepen-dent team” to negotiate with thestate.

Addressing a gathering inPishtakhara area of Peshawar, KPInformation Minister MianIftikhar Hussain said that firsttime in the history of the county,all the political and non politicalforces have endorsed the peacedialogue with the Taliban.

“I must say Taliban withoutwasting anymore time should an-nounce an independent teamwhich could hold peace talks withthe government,” he said. “Thisis the best chance for the govern-ment, political parties as well asTaliban and they should not loosethis golden chance for peace,”Hussain added.—Agencies

KP govtFrom Page 1

through Grand Tribal Jirga. Dr.Qadeer said during his speechand talks with the participantsincluding members of TribalJirga, he offered his services inrestoration of peace.

He said Pakistan has to getrid of menaces like sectarianism,if it wants to move on the path ofpeace and progress. The enemywants us to divide in groups tofurther its interests. The Britishadopted a policy of divide andrule in the United India and de-feated freedom fighters like TipuSultan and Nawab Sirjul Dola.

We should not lower ourguards and be united to defeatdesigns of the enemy, he said.

He appreciated the great ef-fort made by Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman in getting political andreligious leadership under oneroof on this important issue.

The overall political, socialand law and order situation hadthrown the country into a stateof devastations and there was adire need that the country shouldbe blessed with the change in thepolitical canvasses. The comingelections should bring thatchange and the new party shouldbe given the honour to govern thecountry so that it could come outof serious crises and move to-ward the goal of prosperity, hesaid. It was high time in the his-tory of the country as the elec-tions would soon be held in thecountry so the pro-Pakistan po-litical forces should benefit fromthat specific moment and getunited. The country was drawingclose to the change that thepeople had longed for and fail-ing to grasp that moment wouldprove a lethal loss to the countryand the nation, he added.

He said that he had no badintensions or designs for any andbelieved that the unity was thebest of all things especially in thepolitical situation that had wors-ened and ruined the country. Thesituation in the country was so

agonizing that the people had letgo hopes for the improvementand entered into the dearth of ut-ter despondency. The economyof the country had almost col-lapsed, the buying power hadseriously squeezed and the infla-tion had been skyrocketing as thevalue of Pakistani currency haddeclined to Rs 100 per on USdollar. The direct or indirect for-eign investment had already van-ished. The investors had movedabroad and the capital flight andbrain drain was being continuedat an alarming scale, he deplored.

The religious intolerance andsectarianism was on rise andTalibanisation and suicide attackshad defamed the country andbrought a very bad name to Is-lam, the religion of peace, tran-quility and harmony. No onecould force the other to accept theideology of the others and thatparticular mindset had createdunprecedented problems for thecountry, he lamented.

In order to make progressand live with the internationalcommunity with pride and dig-nity, it was imperative that the

culture of intolerance, hatred andtyranny should be eradicated andreligious decree for declaring theopponent as worthy to be ex-ecuted should be discontinued.Instead, the country had neededreciprocal harmony and toler-ance, suggested Musharraf.

“As a nation, we should im-prove our internal scenario”, hesaid. He said that he had raisedthe living standard of people’sliving and the law and order situ-ation was under control, heclaimed. The founder of PakistanMuhammad Ali Jinnah had cho-sen the city of Karachi to landafter Pakistan was created so Iwould also land in the city ofKarachi in a week after the dis-solution of assemblies and for-mation of the interim governmentin the country, he explained.

He announced that theAPML would contest comingelection on all seats in the pro-vincial and national constituen-cies. He demanded full enforce-ment of the Constitution 62 and63 in letter and spirit so that thecorrupt elements could be thrownout of the circle.

Musharraf to returnFrom Page 1

and Power to ensure optimumgeneration so that power supplyto consumer remains unaffected.

Raja Pervez Ashraf also di-rected the Ministry of Water andPower to constantly monitor thefuel availability and stocks situ-ation in thermal power plants sothat they remain operative. In thisconnection, he directed Ministryof Water and Power to closelycoordinate with Ministry of Pe-troleum and Natural Resourcesand Ministry of Finance.

The meeting was also in-formed that an interim report onthe reasons behind the powerbreak-down of February 25 willbe submitted to the Prime Min-ister on Monday.—INP

PM for optimumFrom Page 1

showing unity by the oppositionin the aftermath of sit-in of DrTahir ul Qadri, now no bodywould dare to postpone the polls.

PML-N protestsagainst increase in

POL pricesIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Pakistan MuslimLeague-N Sindh chapter spokes-person Muhammad Ismail Rahuhas criticised the government forrecent increase in POL prices.

In a statement issued hereFriday, Rahu said that the un-precedented increase in prices ofpetroleum products had pushedthe poor to live below the pov-erty line while the bigwigs andrulers had become billionairesthrough corruption.

“The people of Sindh havelaid their trust in PML-N ChiefMuhammad Nawaz Sharif be-cause the Pakistan People’sParty-led coalition had ruinedthe country in its 4 year and 11month long tenure.

He said that the PMLNwould free the people of Sindhfrom target killing and terrorism.

The rulers had to answer fortheir loot and corruption afterelections, he warned.

Fazl takeson board US

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Kohatians hailEngr ShaukatUllah as KPGovernorSTAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The appoint-ment of Engineer Shaukatullahas Governor of KhyberPakhtunkhwa has been widelywelcomed by his colleagues ofCadet College Kohat Old BoyAssociation and Kohatian Foun-dation. They have thanked Presi-dent Asif Zardari for his timelyand accurate decision of ap-pointing of energetic EngrShaukat Ullah as Governor.Imtiaz Baloch, the mediaSpokesman and Ihsan Ghani,President of Kohatians statedthat the Kohatians and CadetCollege Kohat are proud of EngrShaukat Ullah who will be verybeneficial for the province.

His induction in present sen-sitive situation will reduce ten-sion on borders and with Talibanthus improving the condition oflaw and order and restoration ofeconomic developments inFATA and province.

Kohatians believed, EngrShaukat Ullah will prove veryuseful due to his wisdom, active-ness, awareness, stable mind,popularity and honesty. It wasdecided on forum to hold recep-tion in his honour by each pro-vincial branch.

Patron-in-Chief ex-PrincipalMirza Khurshid Anwar Baig, LtGen (R) Sabahat Hussain, MajGen (R) Haroon Pasha, ShahidKyani, Brig, Salahuddin Qasim,KPK Minister Hamayun Khan,Principal Brig (R) Inam Afridi,Zaheer Baber, Ikram Ghani,Nasir Hamdani Zafar Hamdani,Col (R) Tanvir, Zulfiqar MalikAdil Khattak, Maj (R) SharifAfrid, Dr Navid, Shahid Khan,Gen Ahmed Rasul Masood AfridiBrig (R) Mushtaq and thousandsothers. CNS Admiral AsifSandeela and Vice AdmiralTehsin Ullah have also studiedfrom Cadet College Kohat.

KARACHI: Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Director General Strategic Plans Divi-sion addressing the 12th Convocation ceremony of Karachi Institute of Power Engineer onFriday.—APP photo

Karachi Institute of PowerEngineering convocation held

KARACHI—Nuclear power willcontinue to play its due role inmeeting energy demand all overthe world because of its techni-cal and economic merits.

This was stated by DirectorGeneral, Strategic Plans Division(SPD), Lt. Gen. (Retd) KhalidAhmed Kid-wai while address-ing the 12th convocation cer-emony of Karachi Institute ofPower Engineering (KINPOE),as chief guest where sixty fivegraduates of the M.S. (NuclearPower Engineering) were con-ferred degrees by Pakistan Insti-tute of Engineering and AppliedSci-ences (PIEAS).

He emphasized that the useof science and technology forachieving better living standardsand general comfort for themasses, is not an easy task by anymeans.

Kidwai said that PakistanAtomic En-ergy Commission

(PAEC) is serving the countryand its people in many ways. Italso bears the ultimate responsi-bility for the implementation ofnuclear power programme of thecountry.

The Commission’s powergeneration programme remainsone of its most important com-mitments. This objective cannotbe achieved by the procurementof equipment and hardwarealone.It is critically dependentupon the availability of suffi-cient number of personnel hav-ing the necessary qualificationand competence, he added.

He appreciated the efforts ofthe faculty and staff of KINPOEin promoting education and train-ing in nu-clear technology andadded that technical education ofhigh quality is only weapon tocombat the future challenges.

In his welcome address,Chairman of Pakistan Atomic

Energy Commission (PAEC), Dr.Ansar Parvez said that educationand manpower training in thefield of nuclear technology hasalways been a prime consider-ation within PAEC, in the fieldwhere the doors of the outsideworld are no longer open for us.

Self-reliance in the trainingand educa-tion is not just impor-tant for us but it is absolutely es-sential.

Earlier, in his introductoryremarks Di-rector KINPOE Dr.Zafar Mahmood said thatKINPOE is a part of anorganisation which strongly be-lieves that nations deficient intechno-logical development can-not survive in this world.

He advised the graduatingclass to con-tinue hardwork andpursuit of knowledge withgreater zeal and con-tribute moreenthusiastically for nation build-ing.—APP

People’scooperation soughtfor polio eradication

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—District Coordina-tion Officer (DCO) Lahore Noor-ul-Amin Mengal on Friday statedthat citizens should come for-ward to eradicate polio virus par-ticularly from Lahore city andgenerally from Pakistan.

He expressed these viewswhile addressing a seminar re-garding polio awareness cam-paign at Badshahi Mosque hereon Friday.

Noor-ul-Amin further saidthat India is a country of one bil-lion people and it has no poliocase. He urged upon people tovaccinate their children the dropsof polio, measles, hepatitis A,Band C. He also said that CDGLhad made it compulsory to sub-mit vaccination card to obtainschool admission and to get birthday certificate of their children.He also asked the citizens to co-operate with the polio teams.

On this occasion, KateebBadshahi Masjid, Mulana AbdulKhubair Azad also delivered po-lio awareness lecture and toldcitizens that no anti Islamic andanti Islamic jurisprudence mate-rial had been utilized in the manu-facturing of vaccination drops.

He also revealed that re-nowned Islamic scholars hadgiven fatwa in favour of poliodrops. CDGL officers and a largegathering attended seminar.

BEIJING —A series of terri-torial disputes with its neigh-bors will ensure China boostsdefense spending when it re-veals this year’s military bud-get ahead of the annual parlia-mentary sitting next week, se-curity experts say.After almostthree decades of sharply in-creased military outlays, anincreasingly assertive Chinanow has the firepower to chal-lenge rivals claiming strategi-cally important and resource-rich territory in the East Chinaand South China seas.

The Chinese navy, nowsecond in size only to the U.S.fleet in terms of raw numbers,

has become a genuine blue-wa-ter force and is conducting al-most continuous patrols and ex-ercises in these contested waters.Over the past six months,China’s stand-off with Japanover a series of rocky islands inthe East China Sea known as theSenkaku in Japan and Diaoyu inChina has become more acrimo-nious. Beijing is also in disputewith the Philippines and Viet-nam, as well as Taiwan, Bruneiand Malaysia, over territory inthe South China Sea. To pay forthese deployments and newhardware in the pipeline, mostanalysts expect that this year’sbudget will continue the long-

term trend of double-digit per-centage increases in annualspending.

“Estimates are still forsteady growth,” said NiLexiong, a military expert atShanghai University of PoliticalScience and Law.

“With China’s current atti-tude, it’s not going to let itselfget bullied byanyone.”Alongside missions toassert sovereignty over disputedterritory, the Chinese navy isalso deploying naval flotillas tothe Gulf of Aden and waters offSomalia as part of its contribu-tion to UN-authorized anti-pi-racy operations in the Indian

MOSCOW/ANKARA—Russiaand France agreed on Thursdaythat Syria must not be allowed tobreak up but differed on other as-pects of the two-year-old conflict,Russian President Vladimir Putinsaid.

“Despite the existing differ-ences in the Russia and Frenchpositions (on Syria), we are forkeeping Syria an integral, demo-cratic state,” Putin told a jointnews conference after talks withFrench President FrancoisHollande.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary ofState John Kerry on Friday wadedinto the controversy over com-ments by Turkey’s prime minis-ter equating Zionism to a crimeagainst humanity, rebuking theleader of the NATO ally by say-ing such remarks complicate ef-forts to find peace in the MiddleEast.

Kerry said the Obama admin-istration found the statements byPrime Minister Recep TayyipErdogan “objectionable” and hestressed the “urgent need to pro-mote a spirit of tolerance, and thatincludes all of the public state-ments made by all leaders” at a

news conference in Ankara withTurkish Foreign Minister AhmetDavutoglu.

“We not only disagree with it;we found it objectionable,” Kerrysaid. He added that he had raisedthe issue with Davutoglu “verydirectly” and said he would do thesame with Erdogan. The spatcomes ahead of a trip to Israel andJordan later this month by Presi-dent Barack Obama, who wantsto try to nudge the Israelis and Pal-estinians back to peace talks.

Davutoglu, however, gave noacknowledgement of the U.S.complaint and denied that anyTurkish official had made hostileor offensive comments about Is-rael. Instead, he blamed Israel foracting in a hostile way towardTurkey. He repeatedly referred tothe deaths of nine civilians at thehands of Israeli commandosaboard a Gaza-bound Turkish aidship in 2010.

“If Israel wants to hear posi-tive statements from Turkey, itneeds to review its attitude,” hesaid. “It needs to review its atti-tude toward us, and it needs toreview its attitude toward thepeople in the region and especially

the West Bank settlements issue.”Asked for his reaction to

Davutoglu’s remarks, Kerry re-plied that they demonstrated thedifficulty of dealing with such afraught and emotional situation.

“It underscores the impor-tance of our efforts to try to find away forward to make peace in thisregion and to resolve the kind ofdifferences that excite the passionsthat the foreign minister has justarticulated and the difference ofopinions about words and abouttheir impact,” Kerry said.

Addressing the U.N. Allianceof Civilizations conference inVienna this week, Erdogan com-plained of prejudices against Mus-lims. He said Islamophobiashould be considered a crimeagainst humanity “just like Zion-ism, like anti-Semitism and likefascism.”

The White House rejected thecomparison on Thursday, callingit “offensive and wrong.” A seniorState Department official travel-ing with Kerry said comments likeErdogan’s are “corrosive” to U.S.-Turkey relations and damaging toregional and international stabil-ity.—Reuters/AP

Russia, France say Syria mustnot be allowed to break up

Kerry: Turkish comments complicate Mideast process

Raft of disputes forces China to raise defence budgetOcean. Beijing last month an-nounced the departure of the14th of these missions sinceDecember 2008.These high-tempo operations are a sharpdeparture for a military that waslargely confined to exercises andtraining within China’s land bor-ders and coastal waters until re-cent years.

But they impose a new bur-den on a budget that had largelybeen devoted to the rapid mod-ernization of military hardwareincluding big orders for newwarships, submarines, strike air-craft and missiles. Beijing lastyear announced a 11.2 per centincrease in military spending to

$106 billion. However foreignmilitary analysts say much ofChina’s military spending is notincluded in the published bud-get. The Pentagon last year esti-mated that Beijing’s real outlaysfor 2012 would be between $120billion and $180 billion. China’sspending is now second only tothe United States although thePentagon is bracing for a sharpdrop in outlays as part of gov-ernment-wide budget cuts,known as a sequester, startingfrom March 1.However, Chinahas its own budget woes as se-nior political and military offi-cials complain of rampant cor-ruption and waste in its 2.3 bil-

lion-strong People’s LiberationArmy (PLA).The PLA head-quarters has issued new rulesto tighten spending across arange of areas including con-struction, procurement, confer-ences and receptions in a bidto curb waste and corruption,the official Xinhua newsagency reported this week. Thenew rules, approved by XiJinping, China’s Communistparty leader and chairman ofthe Central Military Commis-sion, were also intended to re-direct spending toward combatreadiness, high-technologyweaponry and training, Xinhuasaid. —Reuters

Nick Clegg (R), leader of the Liberal Democrat party, congratulates newly elected MP Michael Thornton at the Ageas Bowlcricket ground in Eastleigh, southern England.

Search operationlaunchedPESHAWAR—A search opera-tion was launched for the arrestof suspicious criminals and sui-cide bomber in the area ofPeshawar Cantt on Friday.Upon receiving secret infor-mation, Police launched searchoperation in Khyber supermarket located at PeshawarCantt while the services ofelite forces; Ladies police wereused in this regard. In view ofthis, police closed all exit andentry points during search op-eration while also searched forcriminals in Plazas and flats.The operation continued fortwo hours. However, no arrestswere made —Online

Two-day gas supplyrestored in PunjabLAHORE —The gas supply tothe CNG stations located in dif-ferent cities of Punjab includ-ing the metropolis Lahore, hasbeen restored for two days af-ter weekly closure of five days.According to Media Reports,the CNG stations have been re-opened for two days in differ-ent cities of Punjab includingLahore, Gujranwala, Sahiwaland Multan regions that re-mained deprived of the gas forfive days under weekly sched-ule. The CNG stations that re-opened this morning at 6am,will be closed at 6am on Sun-day. —Online

Yasin discussesKashmir with NawazStaff ReporterLAHORE—Kashmiri leaderYasin Malik Friday met with Pa-kistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) President Mian NawazSharif at his Raiwind residenceand discussed various matters ofmutual interest including the situ-ation in Jammu and Kashmir.Both the leaders discussed theways of resolving the long-stand-ing issue of Kashmir and agreedthat Pakistan and India need toinclude the Kashmiri people’spoint of view in any dialogueprocess. Kasmiri leader toldNawaz Sharif about the latestsituation of Kashmir and thePML-N head assured full sup-port to the Kashmiri people intheir just struggle.

PPP intra-partypolls challengedI S L A M A B A D — P a k i s t a nPeople’s Party (PPP) is recentlyheld intra-party elections havebeen challenged in the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP).The applicants senator SafdarAbbasi and Nasir Ali Shah havemade Farooq H. Naik as respon-dent in the case. They have takenthe plea that PPP intra-party elec-tions were farce just to completethe formality and based on sheermalafide intention. They said theparty had kept all the matters re-garding schedule of the polls insecret, adding neither voters listwas revealed nor elections sched-ule was announced ahead of elec-tions.—INP

71 doctors restoredStaff ReporterLAHORE—Punjab Health De-partment has restored 71 youngdoctors. According to the noti-fication, the restored doctorswere associated with Jinnah hos-pital, Services hospital, Mayohospital, Children hospital andNishter hospital of Multan. Thedoctors were sacked for provok-ing their colleagues and holdingstrike in public hospitals follow-ing the Gujranwala incident.After the successful talks withchief minister, the doctors endedtheir hunger strike while thegovernment restored the protest-ing doctors.

EASTLEIGH—Prime MinisterDavid Cameron’s Conservativeparty was humiliated in the par-liamentary election in Eastleighon Friday after it was defeatedby a scandal-ridden coalitionpartner and pushed into thirdplace by UKIP.

Cameron and his party hadhoped to come second or evenwin in Eastleigh, but werepushed into third place by theUKIP, a party that advocates tak-ing Britain out of the EuropeanUnion and strongly opposes im-migration.

The result, which saw theLib Dems take first place, willpile pressure on Cameron fromdisgruntled MPs within his ownparty who fret he may not beable to lead them to victory in a2015 general election since, todo so, he will have to win par-liamentary seats like Eastleigh.One senior party figure and aformer leadership candidate,David Davis, warned before thevote that “a crisis” would ensueif the Conservatives were beaten

Anti-EU party humiliatesCameron in vote

into third place by UKIP.The result was an important

symbolic victory for the LibDems, however, who have beenhit by a sex and perjury scan-dal, and for Nick Clegg, thedeputy prime minister and partyleader, who has seen his leader-ship come under pressure in re-cent weeks.

The Lib Dems polled 13,342votes, UKIP 11,571 votes, theConservatives 10,559 votes andthe Labour party 4,088 votes.That means UKIP took almost28 percent of the vote, one oftheir best ever results in a Brit-ish parliamentary election todate.

Grant Shapps, the Conser-vative party chairman, deniedthe outcome was “a crisis” forCameron, saying it was virtuallyunheard of for a governing partyto win a new seat mid-term.

Diane James, UKIP’s can-didate, said the result was “ahumongous political shock”,while Nigel Farage, UKIP’sleader, said the result showed

Britons were weary of main-stream politics.

“It just goes to show that theUKIP message is really reallyresonating with voters,” he toldReuters. “The EU and immigra-tion are the same debate andthat’s the message the Britishpublic are now beginning to un-derstand.”

Farage’s party has siphonedoff support from Cameron’sConservatives by attacking EUbureaucracy and immigrationfrom eastern Europe, tappinginto what he says is a wide-spread feeling that mainstreamparties have ignored voters’ con-cerns. The Eastleigh vote doesnot truly reflect national senti-ment - the Labour party leads inthe polls nationally with the LibDems trailing in third or fourthplace.

The election came at a timewhen Clegg’s leadership of hisparty, without whom the right-ist Conservatives cannot governor pass legislation, faces intensepressure.—AP

US praisesPakistanis forallowing use of

land routeWASHINGTON — The UnitedStates has praised excellent co-operation from Pakistan whoseground lines will provide a keyoverland route for removing warequipment from Afghanistanwith 2014 drawdown.

Appearing for his confirma-tion hearing as Principal DeputyUndersecretary of Defence forAcquisition, Technology, andLogistics, Alan F. Estevez up-dated the Senate Armed Ser-vices Committee of the progresstowards accomplishing the re-turn of equipment under agree-ment between the two countries.

He said, we have a numberof proofs of principles, as we callthem, to move equipmentthrough Pakistan. They are on-going right now and two of themhave been successfully com-pleted.

He said the proof of prin-ciples is to hone out the pro-cesses with the Pakistanis, withtheir customs enforcement, withtheir port agencies and with theirtrucking companies, in order tofacilitate an increased volume ofthose movements, but slow,steady progress. —Online

Catholic churchpopeless

VATICAN CITY —The Catho-lic Church awoke Friday withno leader following the resigna-tion of Benedict XVI, whopledged obedience to his succes-sor and described himself as“simply a pilgrim” starting thefinal journey of his life.Nowbegins a period known as the“sede vacante” or “vacant see”— the transition between theend of one papacy and the startof another.

During this limited time,several key players take chargeof running the Holy See, guid-ing the College of Cardinals intheir deliberations and organiz-ing the conclave of cardinalswhose votes elect Benedict’ssuccessor.

With the 8 p.m. Thursdayend of Benedict’s papacy, everydepartment head in the Vaticanlost his job — except for thosewhose offices are consideredcrucial for the smooth runningof the transition period. —AP

Rs10b 10 modernscanner vehiclesto be imported

ISLAMABAD—The federal gov-ernment has decided to buy tenadvanced mobile scannersequipped for tracing explosivematerials and controlling terrorincident on Friday.

Media Reports said thesecomputerized vehicles equippedwith automatic devices would beimported from abroad at a totalcost of Rs10 billion.

The federal interior ministryhas prepared a summary for thepurchase of mobile scanners,which would soon be sent to theprime minister for his approval,sources said. Sources further saidthat these scanner vehicles wouldbe purchased either from US orChina, which would be capableof searching explosive materialsin cars, trailers and trucks and helpblock terror incidents.Federal government would bekeeping two of the ten vehicles forits use, while two each to be givento Punjab and Sindh and one eachto Khyber Pukhtunkhaw,Balochistan, Azad Kashmir andGilgit Ba—Online

Gunmen killsenior journalistin Balochistan

STAFF REPORTER

QUETTA—Armed gunmenkilled senior journalist MehmoodJan Afridi in Kalat town ofBalochistan on Friday evening.

Deputy CommissionerKalat, Bashir Ahmed Bazai saidgunmen on a motorcycle openedfire at Mehmood Jan Afridi inBus Addah area of Kalat.

He said the assailants man-aged to escape from the spot.Police and levies personnelreached the area and started in-vestigation into the incident.

“This seems to be an act oftargeted killing”, Bazai said. Thedead body of slain journalist wasshifted to civil hospital Kalat.Mehmood Jan Afridi was work-ing as reporter with DailyIntekhab.

11 released Indianshanded back

LAHORE —The Vice Chairman ofAnsar Burney Trust International,Syed Fahad Burney has said thatreleased 7 Indian Fishermen and4 other Prisoners were handedover to Indian authorities atWagah Border on Friday. Burneyappreciated PakistanGovernment’s humanitarianpolicy towards fishermen and onthe release of other Foreign pris-oners on humanitarian grounds.

He said 7 Indian Fishermenwere released from Landhi Jail inKarachi and 4 Indian Prisonerswere released from Punjab Jailsto hand them over to Indian Au-thorities and all expenses to sentprisoners to India were borne bythe Ansar Burney Trust Interna-tional on humanitariangrounds.—Online

ISLAMABAD—Interior RehmanMalik has said that the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP)and Supreme Court (SC) shouldtake action against PakistanMuslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) over its ties with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

Talking to media inIslamabad he said LeJ is in-volved in terror activitiesthroughout the country and isusing Punjab as a haven. He saidthat all the details aboutLashkar-e-Jhangvi including thelist of its 734 activists had beenprovided to the Punjab Govern-ment.

The minister hoped Lahorewould move against the bannedoutfit.

Malik said LeJ was respon-sible for eighty percent of terror

plots across the country, addingthat the militants take refuge inPunjab province after conduct-ing terror attacks.

Referring to the dialoguewith Taliban, Malik said that theTaliban should lay down theirweapons if they were serious inholding talks with the govern-ment.

He stressed that the nationneeds to unite over the matterof terrorism. He said the agree-ment of Punjab governmentwith Transparency Internationalis disappointing. He said itseems that the Punjab Govern-ment does not have trust in itsmachinery. Rehman Malik saidthat JUI’s All Parties Confer-ence was a good step towardsestablishment of peace in thecountry. —Online

Malik urges EC, SC to takenotice of PML-N ties with LeJ

KABUL—President HamidKarzai cannot offer any govern-ment position to the Taliban byway of a peace deal sweetener, butthe people could give them anyprivileges if they so wanted, saidpolitical opposition leaderMohammad Muhaqiq.

Speaking to a local Newschannel, he said that any actionthe government is taking towardsthe Taliban and any armed oppo-sition groups should be in closecollaboration with the Afghancivil society and political opposi-tion parties.

“Anything that happensshould be transparent and all theparties including the political op-position and civil societyshould be involved in negotia-tions with Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami. Karzai cannot offerthem any government positionit is the right of the people,”Muhaqiq said.

His comments come afterreports from leading mediaoutlets said Wednesday thatKarzai had offered the Talibankey positions in the Ministry

of Justice. However, these re-ports were not confirmed bythe government and requestsfor comment from the presi-dential palace went unan-swered today.

The Afghan High PeaceCouncil, which is ostensiblymeant to be leading the peacetalks, said it is unaware ofKarzai’s offer.“We are notaware of this offer - it couldbe rumors,” HPC memberShahzada Shahid said.

Other experts said that ifthe offer is true, it is prema-ture and should have donethrough the High Peace Coun-cil. “The High Peace Councilchairman should have offeredthis, not President Karzai. [Iftrue], it shows a lack of coor-dination between the peacecouncil and government. It’salso premature,” analyst JawidKohistani said.

Former Taliban com-mander Sayed Akbar Aghasaid he believes that theTaliban would not accept suchan offer. —NNI

Karzai cannot offer govtpositions to Taliban

DG Rangers,Governor discuss

law, orderIRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Rangers DirectorGeneral (DG) Maj. Gen. RizwanAkhtar called on Sindh Gover-nor Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan Fri-day evening.

The DG Rangers apprisedthe governor of law and ordersituation in the province.

The Governor directed theDG Rangers to conduct actionsagainst the terrorists and outlawswithout any discrimination ortaking any pressure from anycorner. The outlaws must be ar-rested and taken to task and theirmaster minds should also benabbed,

The Governor said that theport city was the economic hubof the country and reflected theimage of the country across theworld.

Therefore, it was imperativethat the law order in the cityshould be maintained at all cost.

The Governor said that allthe political, religious and cor-porate sectors had a consensus onstern actions against the terrorist.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Minis-ter Muhammad Shahbaz Sharifhas said that there are large re-serves of coal in the Salt Rangeof Punjab, which can be devel-oped in a scientific manner andutilized for energy purposes. Hesaid the wheel of economy is slowdue to energy crisis while electric-ity can be generated by utilizingthese coal reserves. He directedthat recommendations should besubmitted within seven days fordevelopment of mining areas.

The Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif waspresiding over a high level meet-ing to review the measures forbenefiting from coal reserves, atModel Town. The meeting wasattended by Principal Consultantof Australian companySNOWDEN Ross Broadlely,Grant Vane Heerden, BusinessDevelopment Manager of Austra-lian Trade Commission PunjabImran Saeed, Provincial Ministerfor Mines & Minerals Ch. AbdulGhafoor, Chairman Punjab Min-eral Company Mian Muhammad

Shahbaz for exploiting SaltRange reserves of coal

Mansha, Vice Chancellor PunjabUniversity, Chairman Planning &Development, secretaries of Fi-nance, Energy, Mines, DG Minesand others concerned. The Aus-tralian consultant gave the ChiefMinister a detailed briefing ondrilling and data collection at SaltRange.

Addressing the meeting,Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif saidthat there is a need to further im-prove the mining sector at nationallevel and new courses and train-ing should be introduced at min-ing school. He said we can utilizeour natural resources in an effec-tive manner by adopting modernmethods of mining. He directedconcerned authorities to utilizemodern machinery for excavatingcoal in the Salt Range, besides de-veloping mining areas on scien-tific lines. Muhammad ShahbazSharif said that Pakistan is full ofnatural resources and energy crisiscan be over come by utilizing thesenatural resources effectively. Hesaid large reserves of coal are foundin Salt Range of Punjab for whichmining industry would have to bepromoted on modern lines.

IN ORDER to have better self-control, allyou have to do is gargle sugar water.The finding came from a study at the

University of Georgia, led by professor ofpsychology Leonard Martin and MatthewSanders, a doctoral candi-date also in the UGAFranklin College of Arts andSciences, and was publishedin Psychological Science.

Fifty-one students wereinvolved in the study andwere asked to perform twoassignments so that the teamcould test self-control.

In the first assignment,the subjects were asked tocross out the Es on a pagefrom a statistics book, whichhas been known to diminishself-control.

In the second task, theywere asked to identify thecolor of different words,which actually spell out thenames of other colors, thatwere flashed on a monitor. This is called theStroop test, in which the aim is to turn off aperson’s inclination to read the word insteadof see the color.

The participants were divided into twogroups - half rinsed their mouths with lemon-ade sweetened with sugar while they com-pleted the Stroop test and the other group withSplenda-sweetened lemonade.

According to the results, students whorinsed with sugar responded to the color ratherthan the word significantly faster than thosein the artificial sweetener group.

“Researchers used to think you had todrink the glucose and get it into your body to

give you the energy to (have) self control.After this trial, it seems that glucose stimu-lates the simple carbohydrate sensors on thetongue. This, in turn, signals the motivationalcenters of the brain where our self-related

goals are represented. Thesesignals tell your body to payattention.”

The Stroop test was com-pleted in about three to fiveminutes. A measure of self-control was seen in the results,Martin said, but a glucosemouthwash might not be suf-ficient to fix certain self-con-trol hurdles such as quittingsmoking or losing weight.

“The research is not clearyet on the effects of swishingwith glucose on long-termself-control,” Martin said.“So, if you are trying to quitsmoking, a swish of lemonademay not be the total cure, butit certainly could help you inthe short run.”

The ambition is seen in the form of self-values, or emotive investment, the authorsrevealed.

“It is the self-investment,” Martin said.“It doesn’t just crank up your energy, but itcranks up your personal investment in whatyou are doing.

Clicking into the things that are impor-tant to you makes those self-related goalssalient.”

According to the scientists, emotive en-hancement is what results from the glucose,which causes people to be more aware oftheir desires and try harder at evoking thenon-dominant response.

Gargling sugar water canboost your self-control

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Ambassador Ibrahim al Ghadeer handing over the relief goods for rain affected areas.

ISLAMABAD: Chairman CDA Syed Tahir Shahbaz addressing an event in Memory of FaizAhmad Faiz organized by CDA Culture Wing.

eption.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Nazriya Paki-stan Council (NPC) arrangeda lively session of interactivediscussion, among a selectclass of intellectuals on athought provoking topic“Roshni Kahan Ruki HuiHai” at Aiwan-i-Quaid to pinpoint various problems beingfaced and bottlenecks expe-rienced in the process of ad-vancement in various fieldsof life in the society.

Presiding over the dis-cussion, eminent scientistand short story writer, Dr.Anwar Naseem said that nowit were the individuals to

Where the light is blocked: NPC holds discussioncome forward and contributetowards the betterment of so-ciety as the socio-politicalstructure of the country hasbeen failed to deliver any posi-tive results. He maintained thata nation with religious teach-ing of Holy Quran, a rolemodel like the Holy Prophet(PBUH) and, the examperlaycharacteristics of Quaid-i-Azam on the political front,can never be afraid of the pre-vailing darkness unless itkeeps strong relationship withits fundamentals and tradi-tions.

Expressing his views, Dr.Asad Shah, a former D.G of theAsian Development Bank and

a founder-contributor of a num-ber of international develop-ment projects, said that toler-ance, harmony and a messageof universal equity can bring usthe light of hope back we aremissing now due to our ownmisdeeds and misconceptionsabout ourselves and potentials.

This would improve ourimpression as a peace lovingnation both internally and ex-ternally, he said. RenownedPunjabi writer and scholarSarwat Mohi-ud-din main-tained that we should determineour national goals which are un-fortunately missing altogetherfor long including the majorsector of education, and added

that the basic education shouldbe in the mother tongue in eachProvince to get child easily fa-miliarized with the text booksin line with his natural vocabu-lary of words acquired throughhis surroundings.

Dr. Ayub Sabir, an author-ity on Iqbaliat maintained thatreligious extremism at one sideand the uncalled for efforts ofmaking Pakistan a secular stateon the other hand, are playinghavoc with the nation. Unlesswe tackle these issues with na-tional spirit, we can never un-veil the rays of sun required toenlighten the minds of ourfolks, he said. Anjum Khaleeqconducted proceedings while

others who contributed tothrow light on the issue in-cluded writer Mir TanhaYousufi, Professor NighatSeema, Poet and author ofUrdu, Punjabi and Saraikibooks Asghar Abid, ScholarDr. Inam-ul-Haq and socialworker Malik Sagheer. Theparticipants appreciating theendavour of NPC termedNuqta-i-Nazar as a very effec-tive platform of interactivedialogue which has enoughpotential of transforming in-dividual thoughts in collectivefeelings to develop a strongsense of belonging towardsPakistan and its progress in allsectors of life.

ISLAMABAD—Supreme Courtof Pakistan Friday directed theMinistry of Housing & Works tosubmit complete record of theillegal occupants on the govern-ment houses in the federal capi-tal. The court also directed thetwo concerned District & Ses-sion Judges to submit details ofstay orders and pending cases ofthe said ministry.

A three-judge bench headedby Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry resumedhearing of the non-allotment ofgovernment house to an eligibleperson.

During the course of pro-ceeding, Muhammad Iqbal,Deputy Superintendent of theministry apprised the bench thata joint officer Nazir Ahmed, who

SC seeks record of illegaloccupants of houses

was involved in illegal allot-ment of houses, was suspendedand a charge sheet was also pre-pared against him.

The Chief Justice askedwhether the whole responsibil-ity lies on the shoulders of Nazironly and there was no role ofany other official.He said itseems that Nazir was only vic-timized because he was a poorperson. Sh. Azmat Saeed ex-pressing displeasure over theperformance of housing minis-try said there is large scale em-bezzlement in the ministry.

Later, Amna Imran Khan,the acting secretary of the min-istry presented a report beforethe bench and informed that 130houses were illegally occupiedby the PTCL while 250 are un-

der control of police employees.It was also informed in the

report that the occupants hadalso got stay orders from districtand session courts thus the min-istry could do nothing againstthem.Upon which, the CJ re-marked that the judges give stayorders in haste without conduct-ing comprehensive inquiry intothe matters.

Thus the court directed theconcerned district and sessionjudges to submit details of thestay orders and also describe thereasons as to why these stay or-ders were given without goinginto details.The court also sortsa complete list of the unautho-rized occupants on the govern-ment houses and adjourned thecase till March,7.—APP

ISLAMABAD—A concert of lo-cal folk and Cuban jazz sing-ers in collaboration with theEmbassy of Republic of Cubaand the Diplomatic Insightmesmerized the audience atRawalpindi Arts Council(RAC), on Friday.

Cuban Ambassador JesusZenen Buergo Concepcion wasthe chief guest of the event,while Naheed Manzoor andRAC Resident Director WaqarAhmed graced the event as spe-cial guest.

Singers from both countriesenthralled the huge gathering.

Local folk singers includedQurban Niazi, Saadia Batool,Rukhsana Khan andMuhammad Arshad.

Addressing the gathering,

Concert of local folk, Cubansingers mesmerize audience

Ambassador Jesus ZenenBuergo Concepcion said the ob-jective of holding this event wasto introduce the Cuban music tothe people of Pakistan.

He said the concert willstrengthen people-to-peoplecontacts between Cuba andPakistan, adding he is pleasedto see a huge gathering thatshows that the people of thisregion have great interest inart and culture of other coun-tries.

Naheed Manzoor said be-sides promoting local art andculture, RAC also takes initia-tives to introduce art and cultureof foreign countries to thepeople of the twin cities ofIslamabad and Rawalpindi.

She said music is universal

language; therefore, the musicshow will bring the peoplecloser,belonging to different cul-tures.

Chief Editor DiplomaticInsight Asif Noor said that Dip-lomatic Insight is playing its roleas bridge among institutions byconducting such kind of event.

He announced to extendcooperation with RawalpindiArts Council, to organizeNauroz Festival in the end ofMarch.

Later, RAC Resident Di-rector Waqar Ahmed thankedthe Cuban ambassador and theaudience, saying the Councilwill extend its cooperation toother countries for the promo-tion of cultural activities.—APP

Youth urged to bemindful in next

general electionsISLAMABAD—Speakers here ata programme made a clarion callto the youth of the country, urg-ing them to be mindful of theirpast and future while exercisingtheir right to vote in the nextgeneral elections.

Addressing the inauguralsession of Youth ParliamentPakistan 2013 here at a localhotel, they noted that theyouth were real asset of Paki-stan and they could play theirrole in strengthening thefledgling democracy in thecountry.

Deputy Speaker NationalAssembly Faisal Karim Kundi,who is also Patron of the YouthParliament of Pakistan saidthat 60% voters in the nextgeneral elections would beyouth and they could bringabout a positive change byelecting honest and fair candi-dates.—APP

CDA to developliterary taste of

IslooitesISLAMABAD—The Capital De-velopment Authority (CDA)would enrich the literary taste ofthe residents of Islamabad byholding the brainy gatherings togive a soothing impact to theirlives, said Chairman Syed TahirShahbaz.

Addressing a Ghazal nightheld in memory of renownedpoet Faiz Ahmed Faiz by theSports and Culture Directorateof the CDA, he said Faiz’s po-etry was not only revolution-ary but also a message of cour-age for the generations tocome.

He said the CDA would optholding such literary gatheringsas a permanent feature of its ac-tivities so that their literary tastecould be enriched besides pro-viding them recreational facili-ties.

Besides, he said the Sportsand Culture Directorate of theCDA would also be upgradedand made fully functional to pro-mote the cultural and literaryactivities among youth and keepthem engaged in productiveworks.

He said this would also helpacquaint the students with theirsages and bright past of thecountry.—APP

Two killed overland dispute

ISLAMABAD–Two persons werekilled and two others injured ina clash between two differentgroups over land dispute in‘Tumair’ area of Nilore policestation.

According to details, therehad been enmity between thetwo local groups over land dis-pute.

Armed members of a groupcame at the disputed land andstarted firing on others whichresulting in death of two personsand injuries to two others.

Those who killed in this fir-ing has been identified asMuhammad Rafique s/o FazalDad, Muhammad Younus s/oMuhammad Haneef.

The injured have been iden-tified as Ghulam Sagheer,Muhammad Israr and they havebeen shifted to PIMS hospital.

Police have started investi-gation.—APP

ISLAMABAD: Participants of Youth Parliament Pakistan with Deputy Speaker NationalAssembly Faisal Karim Kundi at Parliament House.

ISLAMABAD: Farmers on their way carrying the bundles of green fodder for animals inoutskirts of Federal Capital.

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Norway Cecile Landsverk along with musicians from Sindh on the eve of a cultural perfor-mance held on Friday.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

ISLAMABAD: Youngsters busy in playing hand-game in a suburban area.

Rawalpindipolice

confiscates kitesRAWALPINDI—Launching anoperation against the kite seller,Rawalpindi police on Thursdayconfiscated kites and other ma-terial into possession.

Race Course police heldIbrar and recovered 42 kitesfrom his possession. Police haveregistered a case against him andstarted investigation.

Meanwhile, Morgah policearrested Arslan and recovered245 gram charas from his pos-session.

In another operation WahCantt police held Atif and recov-ered a bottle of liquor from hispocket, Banni police nabbedSaeed-ur Rehman and recovereda pistol from his possession,Sadiqabad police recovered apistol from Abid, Race Coursepolice held Robin and recovered30 bore pistol along 11 roundfrom his possession, Civil LinePolice arrested Azhar and recov-ered a pistol 30 bore along 4round from his possession. WahCantt police held Shahid andrecovered a pistol 30 bore along5 round from his possession,Kahuta police arrested Shadarimand recovered a pistol 30 borefrom his possession.

Airport police held Naeemand recovered a dagger from hispossession.

Police have registered a caseand started investigation.—APPResolution of

lawyers problemsISLAMABAD—Law Minister,Farooq H. Naek has said that thegovernment had always fol-lowed an unbiased and non-po-litical approach towards resolu-tion of lawyers problems.

He said this during a meet-ing with the office bearers ofDistrict Bar AssociationRawalpindi here.

Vice Chairman PakistanBar Council Syed Qalb Hussainwas also present in the meet-ing.

The minister said that dur-ing his tenure as Law Ministerhe had approved grant in aids foralmost all bar councils and as-sociation without any pre-con-dition.

He also ordered an imme-diate release of Rs. 10 millionfor the District Bar AssociationRawalpindi.

He committed that if PPPagain came to power after theelections more funds would beallocated in the next budget forthe welfare of legal commu-nity.—APP

RAWALPINDI—City Traffic Po-lice on Friday launched grandoperation against one wheelers,confiscated 9 motorcycles and10 one wheelers.

On the special directives ofChief Traffic Officer SyedIshtiaq Hussain ShahRawalpindi traffic police confis-cated the motorcycles and held10 of them on the violation.

During the operation, trafficpolice impounded the motor-cycles including in Gawalmandichowki.

The one wheelers startedstunt motorcycles on Jhelumroad towards Katcheri then theCivil sector incharge alongwith the wardens chased theone wheelers and held 9 mo-torcycle and 10 one wheelerswhile two were left from thescene leaving their motor-cycles.

CTP startsoperation against

one wheelersA special drive has been

launched to curb the activity,Chief Traffic Officer, (CTO)Superintendent Police (SP) SyedIshtiaq Hussain Shah said.

He said that city traffic po-lice take stern action against theone-wheelers.

He said those who will befounded indulged in one-wheel-ing, dangerous and rash drivingwill be issued challan tickets andfined.

Motorcycles and vehicles onsevere traffic rules violationswill be impounded in variouspolice stations of the city, headded.

The SP told traffic policeofficers are being issued specialdirectives to keep a vigilant eyeon the one-wheelers so that ac-tion in accordance with the lawcould be taken against them.—APP

Girl commitssuicide

RAWALPINDI—A 19-year oldgirl committed suicide in thearea of Adiala road here onThursday.

According to detail, a girlnamely Rabia Hassan jumpedfrom the roof. Rescue 1122 inthe initial report said that the girlwas mentally upset. Her deadbody was shifted to CombinedMilitary Hospital for autopsy.—APP

ISLAMABAD—Speakers at aconference underlined a need fordrastic reforms in the existingCriminal Justice System, sayingthe society should hate crimesnot not criminals who are pun-ished for the crime they commit-ted.

The conference titled“Criminal Justice Reform inPakistan-Developing Alterna-tive to Prison” was organised bya non-governmentalorganisation Dost Welfare Foun-dation (DWF).

The participants includingInspector General KhyberPakhtunkhwa Prison KhalidAbbas, Rob Allen of Penal Re-form International, David Mor-gan of Department for Interna-tional Development (DFID), DrParveen Azam Khan chief ex-ecutive of DWF and expertsfrom KP, Balochistan, Punjaband Sindh were also present onthe occasion.

Addressing the participants,IG Abbas said that jails through-out the country are overcrowdeddue to which the prisoners aswell as the jail staff are facing

Need for reforms stressedin Criminal Justice System

immense problems.“Those who are arrested in

petty crimes like minor theft,addiction etc are also sent to jailinstead of sending them to reha-bilitation centers,” he said.

“Besides, the criminals af-ter completing their terms arenot accepted in the society asequal citizens that increased therisk of their indulging incrimes,” he said.

He urged the governmenttake such steps so that whensuch people are released aftercompleting their term could getproper employment where theycould earn an honourable living.

The participants of the con-ference emphasised on provisionof better healthcare and counsel-ing facilities to the prisoners injail. They also stressed on imple-mentation of Juvenile JusticeSystem Ordinance (JJSO) 2000in letter and spirits.

Dr Perveen Azam in her ad-dress demanded the governmentto set the age of criminal respon-sibility as high as possible andnot below then 12 years.

“Besides, as soon as a child

is arrested, the police should in-form his/her parents or guard-ians immediately,” she said. Shesaid it is observed in Pakistanespecially in Punjab that chil-dren are kept for in prison for along time, maximizing hischances of abuse. “Proper reg-istration of detainee within atime limit, access to medicaltreatment, specialist police of-ficer to deal with children, short-est possible time of detentionthat is not more then 24 hours,protection from abuse while tak-ing samples, separation fromadults in prison and presence oflawyer and parents must also beensured,” she said.

Azam said the children mustbe released on bail immediatelyand if convicted should be keptin a facility where he is providedwith all basic facilities likehealth and education etc.

The participants demandedcomplete abolishment or neces-sary amendments in FrontierCrimes Regulation that could atleast child rights and implemen-tation of JJSO across the coun-try.—INP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—To promote stan-dards of good practice duringupcoming polls, Press Councilof Pakistan has finalized mediaguidelines for ‘Reporting Elec-tions, 2013’.

Formulated in consultationwith all media stakeholders in-cluding APNS, CPNE, PFUJ andrelevant civil society organiza-tions, these guidelines will bemade public in a launching cer-emony to be held in the secondweek of March, 2013 at a localhotel in Islamabad. To have thisacross board consensus, PCPheld consultative meetings inIslamabad, Lahore, Karachi,Multan and Quetta with all therelevant stakeholders.

This resource document has

Press Council finalizesmedia guidelines

been approved by the PCPCouncil meeting held on De-cember 20, 2012 in PCP Secre-tariat, Islamabad.

In this regard PCP has al-ready sent a copy of these guide-lines to the election commissionof Pakistan with a view to en-sure free, independent and un-biased media coverage of Elec-tion, 2013.

Basic features of these me-dia guidelines focus on equitableand creditable dissemination ofpolitical information to peopleenabling them to make their in-dependent decisions with regardto Elections.

These guidelines discourageall forms of rumor, speculation,sensationalism, publication ofunsubstantiated allegations anddenounce coverage of hate

speeches during elections. Issuesof paid content, advertisement,opinion polls and political inter-ference in the free functioning ofthe press are properly referred toin this resource document. PCPclearly outlines that no candidatewould act as anchor or a host ofany program during election.Above all, these guidelines aimat ensuring neutrality of journal-ists covering elections.

PCP believes upcomingpolls would be a litmus test forthe credibility of free media inPakistan and only growth ofethical and responsible mediacan strengthen democracy in thispart of the world. Along withthese standards of good practicein media PCP has also identified,as a media watchdog body, stepsto implement these guidelines.

ISLAMABAD—Federal PublicService Commission (FPSC)has decided to start inviting andentertaining all applications forGeneral Recruitment casesonline from April 2013 with aview to facilitating the stake-holders and ensuring fast trackprocessing.

In a press release issuedhere, all applications accord-ingly for General Recruitment inBS-18 and above shall only beinvited online through consoli-dated advertisement No. 04/2013 (April, 2013) to be pub-lished in newspapers on the firstSunday of April, 2013 i.e. 7.1.2013.

Applications on manualforms and hard copies of certifi-cates, degrees etc. will no longerbe a requirement.

Screening tests for GeneralRecruitment will now be con-ducted on bi- monthly basis. Tofacilitate the candidates admis-sion certificates for General Re-cruitment cases shall be placedonline on website of FPSCwww.fpsc.gov.pk after the pro-visional acceptance of their can-didature and candidates will be

FPSC launches onlineapplication system

intimated about their written testthrough FPSC website andSMS. Candidates are therefore,advised to visit FPSC websitefrequently after having filedtheir online applications.

The Commission has furtherdecided that after acceptance oftheir candidatures: it will bemandatory for the candidates tobring original CNIC and down-loaded admission certificates aswell as Original Treasury Re-ceipts at the time of reporting forWritten test, to determine eligi-bility of the candidates for postsrequiring, the pre-selected can-didates in the ratio of 1:5 formerit vacancies and 1:3 for pro-vincial and regional quota’s va-cancies will be required to fur-nish requisite documents within15 days of the receipt of intima-tion from the Commission, can-didates called for interview willbring their original documents aswell as one set of attested docu-ments for scrutiny and record atthe time of the interview, candi-dates, whose documents arefound deficient will be provi-sionally interviewed but will berequired to provide proof of their

eligibility within a period of 7days without fail otherwise theircandidature will be cancelled.

The Online Application Sys-tem will offer tremendous con-venience to the applicants inGeneral Recruitment cases.They will no longer be requiredto collect Manual ApplicationForms and deposit those in theFPSC Offices.

They will also not be re-quired to furnish copies of docu-ments at the time of Online Ap-plications, which may be doneon 24/7 basis rather than justwithin specific office timings.

Online applications willhave the facility of receiving in-stant confirmation and will beable to receive SMS intimationsalso. It may be pointed out thatFPSC receives more than OneHundred Thousand (100000)applications each year for over1000 vacancies.

The launching of OnlineApplication System will stream-line the process, providing sig-nificant advantage and facility tothe applicants and will signifi-cantly reduce processing time ofcases as well.—APP

Municipaldispensaries

upgradedRAWALPINDI—Six municipaldispensaries upgraded recentlyin Rawalpindi district would beinaugurated during next weekwhile one dispensary would beinaugurated on March 12.

Meanwhile, up-gradation ofthree dispensaries has been can-celled due to scarcity of funds.

This was revealed in a brief-ing to the in-charge of up-gra-dation of the dispensaries by theofficials of Building and Healthdepartments.

Dispensary in Dhok Rattawould be inaugurated on March05 while those in Mohanpura,Dhok Hassu and Dhok Matkalwould be inaugurated on March04. Dispensaries in Amarpura,Sarfaraz Road and Srajia Parkhave been cancelled, while thosein Taili Mohalla and MilatColony would be inaugurated onMarch 03. Akaal Garh dispen-sary would be inaugurated onMarch 12.It was told in the brief-ing that medical officers wouldbe deployed after the completionof buildings of the dispensa-ries.—INP

Solar panel plantsexempted from dutyISLAMABAD—The NationalAssembly was informed Fridaythat the government is encour-aging and providing necessaryincentives to promote solar en-ergy in the country to overcomethe power crisis.

Minister of State for Waterand Power Tasneem AhmadQureshi told the House duringquestion hour that three facto-ries are assembling solar panelsin the country. He said thesecompanies are located atIslamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

He said the solar energyproducts are exempt from thecustom duty to encourage the in-dustry. He said the Ministry hasrecommended the replacement ofdiesel generators by solar panelsas alternative source of energy.

To another question,Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi saidthat two hundred and twenty-five thousand energy savershave been distributed by differ-ent power distribution compa-nies throughout the country.

Replying to a call attentionnotice moved by BushraRehman and others regardingthousand of professional beg-gars roaming in the Capital Ter-ritory, Minister of State for In-terior Imtiaz Safdar Warraichinformed the House that govern-ment took a number of steps totackle the issue but due to lackof suitable legislation in this re-gard proper action could not betaken against them.—INP

RAWALPINDI—Over 500gawalas have obtained registra-tion forms in connection withModel Gawala colony to be builton GT road near Rawat.

Registration forms collec-tion work will be completed byMarch, 5 in respect of thiscolony. Gawalas from Rawaltown, Potohar town, and canttboard are eligible to obtainforms. All civic amenities in-cluding broad roads, Jamia

Registration forms collectionMasjid, water supply, veterinaryhospital, fair price shops for ani-mal foods, foolproof securityarrangement, dispensaries andcommercial areas will be pro-vided in the colony.

Cost of plot measuring onekanal has been fixed at Rs900000. City district govern-ment has appointed TOR ofPotohar town as focal person. Itwill be binding on the gawals todeposit Rs 200000 while filing

forms in connection with acqui-sition of plot in the colony.

The gawals have been pro-vided the facility of depositing theremaining amount in 16 install-ments of Rs 1,50000 each or 40installments of Rs 10000 each.About 500 plots will be allotted tothe gawalas through draw. Sourcessaid development work will becompleted in the colony followingthe completion of collection of reg-istration forms.—Online

IS L A M A B A D—Designatedbranches of banks would start re-ceiving Hajj applications underthe government scheme from in-tending pilgrims from Tuesdayon first come first serve basis. Ac-

Hajj applications from Tuesdaycording to the an official of theMinistry of Religious Affairseighty-nine thousand six hundredfive Pakistanis would performthe Hajj under private schemethis year.

He said five percent of thetotal seats under governmentscheme have been reserved forhardship cases and for pilgrimsrecommended and funded bycharitable institutions.—Online

Ten shops sealedRAWALPINDI—Rawal Townadministration has sealed tenshops located in Bunny Marketas their owners failed to pay rentand taxes.

On special directives ofRawal Town Administrator, SaifAnwar Jaappa, Town OfficerFinance Raja Iftikhar Ahmedand Taxation Officer launchedthe operation.

On the other hand, TownOfficer Regulation AftabChauhan demolished illegallyconstructed rooms of a hotel lo-cated at Liaquat road. Similarly,Inspector Sufi Khalid has alsobulldosed unlawfully built shopat Lai Expressway in addition tosealing two shops located behindNovelty Cinema.

The Administrator Rawaltown has warned the citizensthat they should approve mapbefore construction of a build-ing or otherwise stern actionwould be taken against them.—Online

Construction ofboundary wall of

36 graveyardsRAWALPINDI—District gov-ernment Rawalpindi has ac-corded approval to the con-struction of boundary wall of 36graveyards in Rawalpindi city,cantonment and other areas ofthe district.

Boundary wall will be buildaround the grave yards locatedin Dhok Ratta, Eidgah, Khiaban-e-Sirsyed, Potohar town,Chontra, Bagga Sheikhan,Lodhran, Magri, Ashraf colony,Dhamial, Khial Sharif, QasimAbad, Dhok Gujran, Jamiat-al-Quresh, Misrial and Kallar.

Punjab government willprovide funds to the tune of Rs46.189 million for the construc-tion of walls.

Approval for erection ofboundary wall was given in themeeting of district developmentcommittee Rawalpindi held un-der DCO Saqib Zafar.—Online

March 02

AL-HUDA Islamic Exhibi-tion 2013, at 58-Nazimuddin Road, F-8/4,Islamabad, 10 am-4:30 pm.

March 03

AKISTAN Green TaskForce in collaboration withHiking Club andRawalpindi Medical Col-lege is organizing 22nd An-nual Hike at MargallaTrack-3 to Gokina (PirSohawa). The Hike is titled“Fight against Corruption”.Walk will start at 9:45 am.Many Ambassadors, Bu-reaucrats, Politicians, Doc-tors, Medical students andcitizen will participate inthis walk.

06:00 01:3004:45

07:45

GARDINER HARRIS

AFTER decades of war,Kashmir is bloomingagain. Hotels are

bursting, roads are beingfixed and offices rebuilt. Butwith the guns silenced, In-dia must soon decidewhether justice will be aswelcome as the tourists.Mass murderers walk thestreets openly, having killedthousands of people whoare buried in unmarkedgraves in scores of secretcemeteries. This beautifulvillage has one such grave-yard. Nine years after Indianpolice officers and troopsdeposited hundreds of bul-let-ridden corpses, dirtmounds still rise above theshallow and unmarked plotsas if the circumstances ofthe deaths left the earth

Kashmiris Await Justiceabove the bodies unsettled.

Atta Mohamad RajaKhan, the 70-year-old farmerwho dug the graves, saidone plot contained the re-mains of a 2-year-old boy.Others held teenagers anddowagers. Mr. Khan’sgraveyard quickly filled, sohe buried only a fraction ofthe tens of thousands killedover more than 20 years ofdirty warfare.

Many of the buried weremilitants, including foreignmercenaries whose deathsand quick burials are oftenaccepted as the wages ofwar. But myriad innocentbystanders were murdered inclumsy government plots.None of the suspected kill-ers from the military has beenarrested.

Tensions still lie just be-low the surface. On June 25,

a fire in a revered Sufi Mus-lim shrine in Srinagar,Kashmir’s capital, set offclashes between the policeand rock-throwing Muslimprotesters. Six people werehurt after the police fired teargas. But so far the fire hasnot led to wider unrest.Jumma Khan, 45, was one ofthe bystanders massacred. Ablacksmith’s apprentice, helived in a mud house on amountainside in theAnantnag district with hiswife and 11 children far fromany road. At 2 a.m. on March24, 2000, soldiers brokedown his door and draggedMr. Jumma Khan away. Justfour days earlier, more than

a dozen gunmen dressed infatigues had systematicallymassacred 34 men and boysin a nearby district, and themilitary was under pressureto find the killers.

Mr. Jumma Khan’s old-est child, Abdul Rashid, saidhis father had been targetedbecause he was poor andhad a beard, which made himlook like a militant.

“They told my mother,‘Don’t worry, he’ll be backin a half-hour’,” Mr. Rashidrecalled in an interview onthe mountainside near hishome. She nonethelessthrew herself on her hus-band, and the soldiers beather, he said. Later that morn-

ing, Mr. Rashid discoveredthat three other men in thearea had been similarly taken.

The next day and milesaway, Zahoor Ahmad Dalal,22, drove home after work-ing all day in the family’s fab-ric shop. He had dinner at 6p.m. and left for his custom-ary walk 30 minutes later. Hedid not return. The familyfanned out to find him butnever did. The military soonannounced that it had foundfive foreign militants respon-sible for the recent massacrehiding in an Anantnag hut.During the battle, the hut wasburned and the militantskilled, the military said. Thecharred bodies were buried

without autopsies.After the announce-

ment, Mr. Rashid feared theworst, he said. His villageorganized a protest march todemand that they see thosearrested, but the police shotand killed seven of the pro-testers – including Mr.Rashid’s younger brother.Local outrage grew. Facinga growing revolt, officials al-lowed families to unearth thebodies of the alleged mili-tants. Families recognizedthe dead immediately. In abungled attempt to hide thevictims’ identities, soldiershad forced each to don mili-tary fatigues but had ne-glected to remove the vic-

tims’ old clothing, still vis-ible under the burned fa-tigues. Genetic tests eventu-ally confirmed their identi-ties. There were no foreignmilitants.

An investigation byIndia’s elite Central Bureauof Investigation charged fivesoldiers with murder. TheSupreme Court has orderedthe army to decide whetherto court-martial those in-volved or allow a civiliantrial. Mr. Rashid said he wasnot optimistic that the per-petrators would ever bebrought to justice. Twelveyears have already passed.“We are like worms to them,”he said. “We will be crushedunder their shoes and die.”

Rifat Andrabi said muchthe same thing. She and herhusband, Jalil Andrabi, aprominent Kashmiri human

rights lawyer, were drivingthrough Srinagar in 1996when they were stopped ata military roadblock. Insteadof simply checking theAndrabis’ identity papers,Mrs. Andrabi said, Maj.Avtar Singh took Mr.Andrabi into custody. Mrs.Andrabi, also a lawyer andthe mother of three youngchildren, panicked. Unableto drive, she hired a motor-ized rickshaw to follow. Butthe rickshaw could not keepup, and she returned home.

Mr. Andrabi’s mutilatedbody was found threeweeks later in a burlap bagon the banks of the JhelumRiver. Mrs. Andrabi and herhusband’s brother, ArshadAndrabi, have spent 16years seeking justiceagainst Mr. Singh and oth-ers. —Courtesy: KMS

BHIMBER: Police officials presenting guard of honour to late Deputy Commissioner Raja Saqib Muneer.

I S L A M A B A D —Pro- Ind iaNational Conference leaderand member of Indian Par-liament from Kashmir,Ghulam Nabi Ratanpuriterming party founder,Sheikh MuhammadAbdullah as a “man offlaws, failures and falla-cies,” has described theveteran Kashmiri Hurriyetleader, Syed Ali Gilani asthe tallest leader of the 21stcentury.

Ratanpuri, in a hard-hit-ting open letter to NationalConference Additional Gen-eral Secretary, Dr SheikhMustafa Kamal said that NCfounder Sheikh MuhammadAbdullah was a “mortal withhis share of flaws, failuresand fallacies,” KMS re-ported.

Ratanpuri’s latest dia-tribe comes barely 24-hours

after Dr Kamal asked him notto compare Syed Ali Gilaniwith Sheikh Abdullah.

“He (Kamal) chose tocriticize me through news-papers, I will use the samemedium to share the truthin which I believe,” the NCMP told a Srinagar-basedEnglish newspaper overphone from New Delhi. “Ihave written a letter ad-dressed to Kamal Sahab.The letter is in reply to hiscomments why I had com-pared Gilani Sahab withSheikh Sahab.”

Ratanpuri chose socialnetworking site as a mediumto share his letter “I considerGilani Sahab as a worthy ad-versary of the NC. I owe myrespect for his (Gilani’s)steadfastness to his ideals,”the letter uploaded ofacebook reads.

The letter further states,“I cannot rule out the possi-bility of Gilani turning out tobe the tallest Kashmiri of21st Century.” Taking a digat Kamal, Ratanpuri statesthat he was surprised to seeNC labeling Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah as a “miracleman.”

He said the “miracles ofOmar” can be gauged fromthe fact that he despite writ-ing a letter to the New Delhiseeking return of body ofMuhammad Afzal Gurufailed in his attempt. “If hecan do miracles, why hisletter was ignored on thepretext that it can triggerlaw and order problem inKashmir,” he said.Facebook page of RajyaSabha member from Kash-mir, Ghulam Nabi Ratanpuriwas hacked.—APP

Sheikh was man of flaws,Gilani tallest leader: Ratanpuri

ISLAMABAD—Azad Jammuand Kashmir Council Secre-tariat has asked the studentsof Jammu and Kashmir StateSubject to apply for scholar-ships and stipends for theacademic session 2012-13 byMarch 10.

The Council has invitedapplications for the grant ofmerit based fresh scholar-ships/stipends on prescribedforms from the AJ&K StateSubject refugees settled inPakistan.

The students should benominated by the Ministryof Kashmir Affairs andGilgit-Baltistan, Govern-ment of Pakistan or Nomi-nation Board, Azad Gov-ernment of the State ofJammu and Kashmir or

those who have securedadmission on open meritfor the academic session2012-13 in various educa-tional institutions of Paki-stan and Azad Jammu andKashmir.

Students of disciplinesincluding MBBS, BDS,MSc/BSc, DVM/AH, D/BPharmacy, MSc/BSc (Agri-culture), BSc (Engineering)(all established disciplines),Masters in Applied Sci-ences, MBA/BBA, MCS/BCS/IT, MPA/HRM/HRD,Masters in Kashmir Studies/International Relations(Conflict Relations), Masterin Development Sciences,Diploma of Associate Engi-neering and Bachelor ofTechnology and Cadet Col-

leges of AJ&K/Pakistan (for8th, 9th and 1st Year stu-dents only) will be eligiblefor the award of scholar-ships/stipends.

The students shouldsend their application on toSection Officer (C-II), AJ&KCouncil Secretariat, F-5/2,Islamabad (Ph:9203201) byMarch 10, 2013.

The ‘Prescribed Form’and “Institutions/Condi-tions to fill the forms’ can beobtained from the AJ&KCouncil Secretariat or itsW e b s i t e :www.ajkcouncil.com

The Council will rejectincomplete applications andapplications received afterdue date or carrying any mis-statement.—APP

Students can apply for scholarships foracademic session 2012-13 till March 10

ISLAMABAD: Kuwait International Islamic Organization’s Country Director SheikhNasir Al Saeed presenting a shield to President AJK Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan.

Seminar voicesconcern over

fate of Kashmiriprisoners

SRINGAR—Demanding legalaction against people whoallegedly implicated AfzalGuru in Parliament attackcase, people from differentwalks of life have voicedconcern for thousands ofunder trials, inmates acrossKashmir and outside at aseminar here.

The seminar titled “AfzalGuru and Collective Con-science of Kashmir” was or-ganized by International Fo-rum for Justice and HumanRights, J&K.

The participants de-manded action on part of thecivil society to safeguardthousands of youth facingtrial, life imprisonment andcharges under Section 302CrPC. They collectively de-manded return of mortal re-mains of Guru who washanged in Tihar jail on Feb-ruary 09.

“We didn’t do anythingfor Afzal Guru during 12years of his imprisonment.But what are we planning todo for thousands of thoseKashmiris who are under trialor booked under variouscharges,” said MohammadAhsan Untoo, human rightsactivist.

The speakers with onevoice said Indian judiciaryhas adopted double stan-dards for Kashmir since1947.

Parveez Imroz, chairmanof coalition of civil societies,strongly demanding hand-ing over of Guru’s body tohis family. “It is a commonimpression that late Guruwas not provided the oppor-tunity to defend himself dur-ing the trail in court. The trailwas not conducted in a fairand a transparent manner.This is not with Guru’s caseonly,earlier also when issuesrelated to Kashmir wereraised in Indian judiciary, thelatter got involved in di-lemma,” he said. Parveezviewed that adopting newways of resistance is alsoimportant.—NNI

Afzal victim ofelection

politics: KEASRINAGAR—The KashmirEconomic Alliance has saidthe execution of MuhammadAfzal Guru was “a politicalconspiracy.” A KEA spokes-person in a statement said:“Afzal Guru was executedunder a political conspiracyhatched at Delhi by Con-gress party to gain politicalmileage in the forthcomingparliamentary elections.”

“Not only people ofKashmir, even the thinkersin India have condemned thehanging of Afzal as they toofeel that Afzal became thevictim of election politics.”

“Afzal was hanged with-out giving him a free and fairtrial,” it said, adding that thiswas done even as the gov-ernment at the centre knewthat it will hurt the sentimentsof people of Kashmir.

“How inhuman and un-just it is that the family mem-bers of Afzal were not in-formed about his executionand the irony is that eventhe mortal remains of AfzalGuru are not being returnedto his family for performingthe last religious rites whichis their legitimate right,” itsaid.

“Congress has ruled In-dia for most of the time afterits independence in 1947.And its policy towardsKashmir has all along beendubious that has kept Kash-mir in a state of political un-certainty and economic de-pendency.”—NNI

SRINAGAR—Shops andother businesses were shutin most parts of the occupiedJammu and Kashmir on Fri-day in response to a shut-down call by freedommovement’s leaders demand-ing that the body Afzal Guru,who was executed February9, by the Indian governmentbe returned to his family. In-dian authorities have im-posed restrictions in thewake of mass protests.

“Adequate steps havebeen taken to monitor the lawand order situation,” a se-nior Indian police officer toldlocal media. There washeavy deployment of policeand paramilitary troopers inthe Jammu and Kashmir in-cluding capital Srinagar andother major towns of occu-pied valley.

Public transport was offthe roads though some pri-vate vehicles were seenwhile all institutes includingschools, colleges, banks andother public and private of-fices were remained close

across the valley. Indian se-curity forces stopped pedes-trian and vehicular move-ment in the old city or up-town areas in Srinagar. TheMuttahida Majlis-e-Mushawarat (MMM) ofseparatist groups hadsought the return of AfzalGuru’s body to his familyand called for a protest shut-down on Friday.

The pro-independenceJammu and Kashmir Libera-tion Front (JKLF) has alsocalled for protests. TheMMM has been issuingweekly protest calendars tocontinue the struggle for thereturn of Afzal Guru’s bodyto his family. The same de-mand has been raised byother liberation parties of thevalley. On February 9, AfzalGuru was hung till death atthe Tihar jail in New Delhiand buried near his solitarycell. He was sentenced todeath for his alleged role inthe attack on Indian Parlia-ment House on December 13,2001.—Online

Pro-freedom partiesstage mass protests

LONDON—Jammu and Kash-mir Council for HumanRights (JKCHR) SecretaryGeneral Dr Syed Nazir Gilanihas submitted memorandumto National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) onHurriyat (G) chairman SyedAli Geelani’s prolonged de-tention. In the memorandum,JKCHR secretary generalGilani said, “Syed Ali ShahGeelani an elderly State Sub-ject has been placed underhouse arrest by the Delhiadministration in New Delhifor some time. He is deniedfreedom to receive peopleand freedom of association.”

“Member Parliament G NRatanpuri is the only personwho has succeeded to meethim. According to the MP hewas able to meet Geelanionly after media reported his

rigorous perseverance forthe meet,” Gilani said.

“You are respectfully re-quested that the NationalHuman Rights Commission(NHRC) takes an urgent cog-nizance of the situation andensures that the full regimeof rights are rehabilitated toSyed Ali Shah Geelani,” readthe memorandum.

NHRC was also notifiedthat Syed Ali Shah Geelanihas been a teacher, a mem-ber of J & K Legislature andis highly regarded as a reli-gious leader and is the headof a political party and headsa political alliance.

JKHRC in its memoran-dum urged for freedom on allthe restraints on Geelanimovement. “Syed Ali ShahGeelani should be allowed totravel to his place of resi-

dence in Kashmir, as andwhen he wishes and authori-ties should be reminded torespect all his basic free-doms in Kashmir.

The presence of any po-lice outside his residenceshould not appear to intimi-date or cause any hindrancein his rights,” the JKCHRmemorandum. JKCHR alsohighlighted that the Indiansecurity forces have a higherburden of contractual respon-sibility in Kashmir, namely, to‘defend territory’, protect‘life’, ‘property’ and ‘honour’of the people. These securityforces have to respect the 3international obligations inregard to their ‘behaviour’,‘number’ and ‘location’ stipu-lated under UN SecurityCouncil Resolution 47(1948) of21 April 1948.—NNI

JKCHR submits memo toNHRC on Geelani’s detention

SRINAGAR—Hailing variouspro-freedom parties for com-ing together through theMutahida MajliseMashavrat, Hurriyat Confer-ence (M) has condemned thearrests of youth by police.Hurriyat (M) spokesman saidthat an important meeting ofthe conglomerate was heldits Rajbagh headquarters.

“Coordination, arrests ofyouth and detaining of resis-tance leaders apart from postexecution situation were themain issues which came forconsiderations and discus-sion in the meeting,” Hurriyat(M) spokesman said. “It washeld in meeting that no peacecould prevail in the Valley till

Kashmir issue is resolvedpermanently. India shouldcome forward showing intel-lectuality for resolving theKashmir issue.”

He said those who say“peace has prevailed in Kash-mir” were living in fool’s para-dise.

“Kashmir is a sensitiveissue and needs to be re-solved immediately to ensurepeace in the subcontinent,”he said. “The establishmentof Mutahida MajliseMashavrat also came for theconsideration and discussionand it was observed thatMMM establishment is awelcome step and unificationis the key success. —NNI

Hurriyat (M)condemns arrests

MUZAFFARABAD: People participating in a rally on Civil Defence Day.

Return mortalremains of

Guru, Bhat: BarSRINAGAR—Endorsing theprotest calendar issued byJoint Advisory council, Jammuand Kashmir High Court BarAssociation took out a protestrally demanding return of themortal remains of MohammadAfzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatto their families. Addressingthe lawyers during the protest,President Bar associationZaffar Qureshi said that theyare registering the protest indemand for the return of theAfzal Guru’s body.

Former President Bar, NazirAhmed Ronga also demandedthe return of the body to thefamilies. “Both Guru and Bhatare heroes of Kashmir struggleand had committed no crime,”said Advocate Mian AbdulQayoom while addressing thelawyers during the demonstra-tion.

Qayoom said that protestmarch was carried out in con-sonance with the decisiontaken by the joint AdvisoryCouncil (JAC).

He further said that bothMaqbool Bhat andMohammad Afzal Guru wereexecuted “unconstitutionally,undemocratically and unethi-cally.” “Their hanging insideTihar was carried in undemo-cratic, unconstitutional andunethical manner,” Qayoomsaid.

Blaming Government ofIndia for deliberately delayingin informing the family of Guruabout his hanging, Qayoomsaid as per jail manual anybodywho is hanged his bodyshould be buried after 24 hoursand the relatives should be in-formed and only with their con-sent the body can be buried inthe jail premises. He said Gov-ernment of India deliberatelydelayed the letter informingabout Guru’s death.

Condemning the way Guruwas hanged, Qayoom said thathe was not allowed to chal-lenge the president’s decisionon his mercy petition in Su-preme Court. —NNI

Seven innocentKashmiris martyred

in FebruaryISLAMABAD—Indian troops,in their continued acts ofstate terrorism, martyred 6Kashmiris while anotheryouth, Muhammad AfzalGuru, was hanged in NewDelhi’s Tihar Jail during thelast month of February.

According to KashmirMedia Service, today, themartyred included 3 youngboys. These killings ren-dered 1 woman widowed and2 children orphaned.

During the month, 189people were critically injuredwhen Indian police and para-military personnel usedbrute force against peacefuldemonstrators in the occu-pied territory while 306 civil-ians, mostly youth, were ar-rested.—APP

India wants tosuppress voices

of KashmirisSRINAGAR—After keepinghim under house arrest for18 days in his New Delhi resi-dence, Delhi police lifted re-strictions on Hurriyat Con-ference (G) chairman SyedAli Geelani and handed overhis mobile phones to him.Sources said Delhi policelifted restrictions and curbson Geelani, which were inforce after hanging of AfzalGuru in Delhi’s Tihar jail onFebruary 9.

After Guru’s hanging,the Hurriyat (G) chairmanwas detained at his resi-dence in Malviya Nagar,New Delhi and placed underhouse arrest. His mobilephones were snatched andhe was not allowed to talk toanybody including his fam-ily members.

Describing his detentionas “illegal” and an act of“high-handedness” on thepart of the Centre andJammu and Kashmir govern-ment, 83-year-old Geelanisaid he will be chalking hisfuture strategy in a coupleof days including a decisionon his return to KashmirValley.

“The policemen with-drew at 7 pm this evening.The house arrest days werevery tough. It was almostsuffocation as policemenslept in my room during first32 hours of my house arrest.It was completehighhandedness of the au-thorities to detain an elderlyperson without any orderand justification,” Geelanitold Rising Kashmir overphone from Delhi.

He said he will be chalk-ing his future strategy in acouple of days including adecision on his return to theValley.—NNI

“Truth builds trust.”

— Marilyn Suttle

Bilal Mustafa MD Bank of Khyber witnessing MoU signing ceremony between BoK andUnited Insurance Company of Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Addressing the14th MAP convention orga-nized by Management Associa-tion of Pakistan Deputy Gov-ernor of the State Bank KaziAbdul Muktadir said that thecentral bank would continue toplay its role in bringing downthe inflation rate in the coun-try.

He said that the investmentin private sector can reduce theinflation rate. The State Bank

State Bank to continueleashing inflation down

has assured the Election Com-mission of its cooperation andwould give details of the default-ers. The SBP CIB wing has al-ready initiated its work in thisregards, he said. The SBP willlaunch market operation to con-trol rapid increase in the dollars’worth, he said, adding that thedollar moved up following in-crease in oil import.

He, however, said that theuse of the compressed naturalgas (CNG) has drastically cur-tailed the oil import bill that

helped increase the foreign ex-change reserves.

Muktadir said that Sri Lankawitnessed economic develop-ment following improved lawand order situation, adding thatthe situation would also improvesubject to improvement in thelaw and order situation at home.

PEL Managing DirectorHaroon A Khan said that Paki-stan has started export of trans-formers to Saudi Arabia. Priceof refrigerators has gone up by14 percent due to energy crisis.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Multan Elec-tric Power Company’s(MEPCO) Audit Committeeand Board of Directors (BOD)Chairman met with represen-tatives from the United StatesAgency for International De-velopment (USAID) PowerDistribution Program, to con-sider adopting the recentlycompleted Accounting Pro-cess Organization accountingmanual. Both this manual andinternal audit manuals werepresented to the Committee.

The new manuals updatethe legacy manuals of govern-ment-owned power distribu-tion companies (DISCOs),last revised in the 1980s, and

USAID re-structuring power distribution companies financial system

Gary Bartlet, Finance Advisor of USAID Power Distribution Programme handing over Ac-counting Manual to Board Members of MEPCO.

provide DISCOs with manuals consistent with those of a best practices modern electric utility.

The accounting manualhas been developed in accor-dance with the InternationalFinancial Reporting Stan-dards, International Account-ing Standards and CompaniesOrdinance 1984 and wil lserve as a comprehensive fi-nance and accounting re-source. The manual aims tobring transparency in the fi-nancial reporting system, fa-cilitate record keeping of eachaccounting process, ensurebooks of accounts are pre-pared in accordance to soundaccounting policies, enablemanagement to obtain accu-rate f inancial reports onmonthly, quarterly and yearlybasis,help to organize andmanage the assets and liabili-

ties of DISCOs, support co-ordination of accurate finan-cial report and adequate finan-cial disclosures, promotecompliance with applicablereporting framework, law andregulations, promote efficientf inancial managementthrough the provision of use-ful reference materials andprovide standardized docu-mentation flow including En-terprise Resource Planning(ERP) implementation in fi-nancial functions.

The Internal AuditManual was a product of thePower Distribution Program’sInternal Audit Process Opti-mization project which in-cluded a new internal auditframework that introduced the

involvement of the AuditCommittee to oversee the in-ternal audit function. The Au-dit Committee reports resultsdirectly to the BOD instead ofcentralizing accountabilityinto the hands of the CEO.The Power Distribution Pro-gram is working on improv-ing the transparency of finan-cial transactions and opera-tional efficiencies of DISCOswhile introducing better con-trols in these companies. Theindependence of the internalaudit function has introducedan improved level of financialtransparency and financial ac-countability.

A milestone was reachedwhen the first quarterly risk-basedaudit report was issued. MEPCO

became the first DISCO to is-sue the results of its internal au-dit under the new framework.Only one business process fromeight of MEPCO’s 34 revenueoffices produced an increase inrevenues of approximately 45%over what other business pro-cesses produced under its formerlegacy internal audit framework.

The new internal auditframework will examine atotal of 11 business pro-cesses on a risk-based ap-proach. The results are en-couraging and the PowerDistribution Program antici-pates realizing significantrevenue improvementsthrough the Internal AuditProcess Optimization initia-tive.

An agreement was signed by Managing Director PIA, Junaid Yunus and Dr Haroon Rashid,CEO National Testing Services for establishing a computerized Testing Lab at PIA for con-ducting Competency Test. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Chairman PIA, Ltd Gen-eral (Retd) Asif Yasin Malik. Also seen in the picture is Director HR PIA, Shahnawaz Rehmanand Director Coordination PIA, Mahmood Ahmed.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—International play-ers and producers of safetyequipment consider Pakistan asa big market for their product onthe back of frequent acts of ter-ror and bad law and order situa-tion persisting in the country.

The interest of internationalsafety equipment producers wasreflected in a large number ex-hibitors from Austria, Canada,China, France, Germany, Indo-nesia, Japan, Netherlands, SouthAfrica, UAE, UK, USA, Tur-key, Thailand, Hong Kong,Singapore, Switzerland and Italybesides Pakistan who displayedtheir brands at the international

Safety, security equipments in much demand

Pak big market forsafety equipments

exhibition held in Karachi.The foreign exhibitors in 9th

International Safe and Secure Pa-kistan Exhibition-2013 receivedpotential orders worth millions ofdollars for their state of the artsecurity equipment on the finalday of the three day extravaganza.

Big crowd visited the showon the third day of the event con-cluded on Friday. The manufac-turers from as many as 30 coun-tries have set up their stalls atthe show have said that they re-ceived many inquiries from thecompanies interested in acquir-ing security equipment put ondisplay at the fair. The safety andsecurity equipment and trainingindustry’s stakeholders have

also had B2B interaction andexchanged valuable businessprospects the entire three days.

After the 8 years success ofthe international Safe SecureExhibition, 2013 event has givenbig opportunities of investmentfor local and international ex-hibitors, brand owners andmanufacturers.

National Disaster Manage-ment Authority, Capital Devel-opment Authority, Fire Protec-tion Association of Pakistan,Emergency Rescue Services1122, Rawalpindi Chamber ofCommerce and Industry andIslamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry have partici-pated in the Safe Secure Paki-

stan 2013 Exhibition.The event showcased the

latest technology, innovationsand advancements of internalsecurity, firefighting, policing,emergency and rescue as well astransport safety. Over 150 com-panies are participating in safesecure Pakistan 2013, whichwill benefit the local and inter-national markets.

Managing Director, PegasusConsultancy, Aamer Khanzadaextended his pride for eight yearssuccess of Safe Secure Pakistan,and expressed high hopes for theevent in future. He said that theevent is an opportunity so that in-novative technologies can be dis-played from around the world.

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—To help weakand leaning rice milling indus-try of Sindh, an up-gradation/BMR package has been de-vised by combining Kiborsubsidy facility already beingoffered by Sindh EnterpriseDevelopment Fund (SEDF)with State Bank of Pakistan’songoing Refinance Scheme.

Chairman Sindh Board ofInvestment MuhammadZubair Motiwala has said thisis the first phase for 100 millsto create win-win solution forthe rice milling industry be-cause if this industry fallscompletely, it may be almostimpossible to pick it back up.

‘State Bank of Pakistan(SBP) will extend credit fi-nance to commercial banks foronward lending to rice mill-

BMR package announcedfor ricemills in Sindh

ers at 6.25% payable to SBP,while 2.75% will go to banks asservice charges/bank spread.SEDF will deposit 30% of theprincipal amount with SBP ascredit guarantee and will earn aprofit as well. Out of this, SEDFwill pick up 6.25% due to ricemillers and payable to SBP tosupport rice millers,’ he elabo-rated.

Rice millers, he adds, willonly end up paying principalamount and 2.75% charges. It isworth adding that the schemehas been approved by the Boardof Directors of SBI in its 6thmeeting followed by a meetingof the appraisal committee.

‘A range of benefits is ex-pected from this scheme, as theincome of farmers will increaseby 20%. Other benefits includeforeign investment, better reputein the world market, capturing

of untapped products like therice bran oil, end of miller de-pendency, strengthening of ru-ral economy and so on,’ headded.

It pertinent to mention thatover 800 rice mills in Sindh areproviding direct employment to50,000 individuals with deepbackward linkages with half ofmillion (0.5 million) growers.The industry however is facingtwo serious challenges; badconditions and old technology.

Mill owners on averagemake Rs 2500 per 100 moundsbecause millers can only do pe-riodic maintenance rather thanup-gradation. This is resulting innarrow margins for them be-cause of high costs, efficiencyloss (30% breakage ration) andthe profiteering of middlemen inthe form of a dozen or so export

Indonesia toenhance tradewith Pakistan

OBSERVER REPORT

MULTAN—Indonesia will workwith Pakistan in different sec-tors including CompressedNatural Gas (CNG), poultry,agriculture, fruit and vegetablesto enhance bilateral trade be-tween the two countries.

This was stated by Mr. OttoGhani, Secretary-III in Indone-sian Embassy in Pakistan, whiletalking to industrialists here lateon Wednesday night at MultanChamber of Commerce and In-dustry (MCCI).

He said that his visit to thisarea was aimed at getting feed-back and suggestions from busi-ness community to strengthentrade linkage.

President Mango GrowersAssociation Multan Major (r)Tariq said on the occasion thatimport permit and other barri-ers by Indonesia should be re-viewed to enhance bilateraltrade.

PQ shipping activityKARACHI—Six ships carryingcontainers, chemical andedible oil were berthed atQasim International Contain-ers Terminal, Multi PurposeTerminal and Engro VopakTerminal on Thursday, portsources said here Friday. Onemore ship carrying crude oilalso arrived at the outeranchorage of Port Qasimduring 24 hours. Berthoccupancy was 85% at thePort on Friday where a total ofnine ships namely HammoniaPacificum, New DehliExpress, MSC Clementina,Mercy Wisdom, Denny-Z,Anette Kosan, MT Karachi,Atlantik Glory and BungaAngsana are currentlyoccupying berths to load/offload containers, wheat, rice,chemical, furnace oil andedible oil respectively. A cargovolume of 12,5472 tonnescomprising 87,268 tonnesimports and 38,204 tonnesexports inclusive ofcontainerised cargo carried in2,732 containers (TEUs) washandled at the Port during thelast 24 hours.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SensitivePrice Indicator (SPI) for theweek ended on Feb 28 for thelowest income group up toRs.8,000 decreased by 0.15 percent as compared to the previ-ous week.

The SPI for the week underreview in the above mentionedgroup was recorded at 185.42points against 185.70 points reg-istered in the previous week,according to provisional figuresof Pakistan Bureau of Statistics(PBS). The weekly SPI has beencomputed with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urbancenters and 53 essential itemsfor all income groups and com-bined.

The SPI for the combinedgroup also decreased by 0.17 percent as it went down from190.73 points in the previousweek to 190.69 points in the

Weekly inflation decreases 0.15pcweek under review.

As compared to the corre-sponding week of last year, theSPI for the combined group inthe week under review wit-nessed increase of 6.19 percent.

As compared to the lastweek, the SPI for the incomegroups from Rs.8001-12,000,12,001-18,000 and 18001-35,000 decreased by 0.17 per-cent, 0.17 percent and 0.18 re-spectively while the SPI for theincome group above Rs.35,000decreased by 0.17 percent.

During the week under re-view average prices of 14 itemsregistered decrease, while that of12 items increase with the re-maining 27 items’ prices un-changed.

The items which registereddecrease in their prices duringthe week under review includedtomato, lPG (11Kg cylinder),chicken, gram puls (washed),red chillies powder, massor

pulse (washed), mong pulse(washed), wheat, sugar, potato,wheat flour (bag), gur, mashpulse (washed) and vegetableghee (loose)

The items which recordedincrease in their average pricesincluded onions, garlic, egg hen(farm), bananas, cooked dal(plate), cooked beef (plate), saltpowder, curd, mustard oil, en-ergy savor, mutton and ricebasmati broken.

The items with no change intheir average prices during theweek under review included riceIRRI-6, bread plain, beef, milkfresh, milk powder, cooking oil(tin), vegetable ghee (tin), teaprepared, tea, cigarettes, longcloth, shirting cloth, lawn,georgette, sandal gents, chappalsping, sandal ladies, electriccharges, gas charges, keroseneoil, fire wood, washing soap,match box, petrol, diesel, tele-phone call local and bath soap.STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Exports ofsports goods witnessed positivegrowth of 0.31 percent duringthe first seven months of thecurrent fiscal year and 3.57 per-cent in January 2013.

Exports of sports goodswere recorded at $177.055 mil-lion in July-January (2012-13)against the exports of $176.505million registered in July-Janu-ary (2011-12), according to thedata of Pakistan Bureau of Sta-tistics (PBS).

Among the sports goods, thehighest increase of 25.06 waswitnessed in the trade of gloves,

Sports exports witness positive growthexports of which increased from$57.796 million last year to$72.280 million during the cur-rent year.

However, the exports offootballs decreased by 2.81 per-cent during the period under re-view by going down from$79.206 million to $76.679 mil-lion.

The exports of other sportsgoods also decreased from$39.503 million in 2011-12 toUS$ 27.796 million in 2012-13,showing negative growth of29.64 percent, the PBS data re-vealed. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the export of sportsgoods witnessed increase of

3.57 percent during January2013 when compared to thesame month of last year.

The sports goods exportsduring January 2013 stood at$27.382 million against the ex-ports of $26.437 million duringJanuary 2012.

During the month under, theexports of gloves increased by28.79 percent while the exportsof football and other sports gooddecreased by 38.69 percent and12.66 percent respectively ascompared to the same month oflast year. On month-on-monthbasis, the exports of sportsgoods increased by 7.09 percent

Continued on Page 14

NBP ExchangeCompany opensits 14th branch

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—National Bank Ex-change Company is providingcountry wide swift money trans-fer services to the families ofPakistanis living abroad.

The number of branchesmay cross the 16 figure this year.This was stated by ChairmanNational Exchange CompanySenior Executive Vice PresidentKhalid Bin Shaheen while inau-gurating the company’s newbranch here at Cavalry GroundLahore.

He further disclosed that“two more branches are beingopened in District RahimyarKhan and Bahawalpur in nearfuture as our customers haveconcrete confidence over Ex-change Company for being thesubsidiary of National Bank ofPakistan; this is why our foreigncurrency exchange is increasingday by day and it almost doubledthe figure of business in lastthree years. While talking tonewsmen he announced that ourmarket share have exceeds up to12% due to dynamic services ofprofessional and vigilant staffer.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Livestockand Dairy Development Board(PLDDB) will execute the En-hancing Beef Production inPunjab project through crossbreeding with exotic beef semenin five districts of the provinceBhakkar, Rajanpur, Layyah,Dera Ghazi Khan and Mianwaliwith a view to meet the domes-tic requirement of beef as wellas preparing a base for meat ex-

PLDDB to enhance meat productionport.

The scheme had actuallybeen prepared by the Punjabgovernment back in year 2009under which, Livestock andDairy Development Department(LD&D) had to work in 10 dis-tricts of the province for enhanc-ing beef production.

These districts wereBhakkar, Rajanpur, Layyah, DGKhan, Mianwali, Rawalpindi,Khushab, Jehlum, Attock andChakwal. The project was aimed

at preparing a base for meat ex-port in line with the internationalstandards and opening up a newhorizon for meat industry in thecountry, sources in the livestockdepartment said.

Sources said that work onthis project could not be carriedout due to various reasons andlater it was transferred to PunjabAgriculture and Meat Company(PAMCO), the then LahoreMeat Company in year 2011 for

Continued on Page 14

Wind power plantStaff ReporterKARACHI—At a time whenlocal and foreign investors areshying away from investing innew projects because ofuncertain domestic economicand security situation, theestablishment of Tapal WindEnergy project at Jhimpir inThatta district by a group offorward looking entrepreneursis creditable. A conglomerateof three leading businesshouses, namely Tapal Group,Akhtar Group and IsmailGroup, defying all odds havecome forward to set up a30MW wind power project on200 acres of land. The projectwill be completed in 12 to 15months. Leading companies ofChina, i.e. M/S Hydrochinaand Goldwind WTGS areproject contractors. Feasibilitystudy has been submitted toAEDB for approval. The threesponsors have executed themandate with National Bankof Pakistan for arrangement ofproject debt.

Crude down in AsiaSINGAPORE—Oil priceseased in Asia Friday asrevised fourth-quarter USeconomic growth disap-pointed, while dealers eyedhuge federal spending cutsdue to take effect, analystssaid. New York’s maincontract, light sweet crude fordelivery in April, shed 12cents to $91.93 a barrel in theafternoon and Brent NorthSea crude for April deliveryslid 33 cents to $111.05. “Oilsuffered from the lower-than-expected US fourth-quarterGDP,” said Jason Hughes,head of premium clientmanagement for IG MarketsSingapore. Data Thursdayshowed growth in world’slargest economy and oilconsumer came in at 0.1percent in October-Decem-ber.—APP

Continued on Page 14

Gold Tezab 52028.00Silver Tezabi 942.85

Gold Tezabi (24-Ct) 53,850.00Gold 22 Ct 48,600.00SilverTezabi 970.00Silver Thobi 895.00

USA 98.10 97.90

UK 148.82 148.51

EURO 128.27 128.01

Canada 95.24 95.05

Switzerland 104.79 104.57

Australia 100.35 100.15

Sweden 15.21 15.17

Japan 1.0585 1.0563

Norway 17.14 17.10

Singapore 79.29 79.13

Denmark 17.20 17.17

Omani Riyal 255.00 246.00

Saudi Arabia 26.16 26.11

Hong Kong 12.65 12.62

Kuwait 346.40 345.69

Malaysia 31.71 31.64

Newzeland 81.15 80.98

Qatar 26.94 26.89

UAE 26.71 26.65

KR WON 0.0905 0.0903

Thailand 3.300 3.293

Fluttercelebrating Int’lWomen’s Day

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Flutter, aproduct by telecom giantZONG especially designedto cater women of Pakistan,will be celebrating its firstWomen’s Day by inviting thespirited women of Pakistanto share their inspirationalstories with the telecom com-pany. Flutter has announcedto honour and recognizethose women who have triedto bring about a positivechange individually, withincommunities, and in theirprofessions without losingtheir feminine side.

Women wishing to par-ticipate in the activity willjust have to dial from anynetwork to share their storieswith Flutter. In recognition oftheir efforts, women with themost inspirational storieswill win an appearance on afamous LIVE Morning showon March 08, 2013. Throughthis platform they will beable to share their storieswith the entire nation, thusinspiring countless otherwomen to follow their foot-steps.

Not only this, a luckydraw will also be conductedamong all participants forgold earrings, whereas allwomen taking part in the In-ternational Women’s Dayactivity will be able to enjoyFlutter Lounge Services ab-solutely free for one week.This lounge service is de-signed while keeping in mindthe needs of women. It offersmany interesting and interac-tive bouquets of services in-cluding Recipes, Health andFitness Tips, Family &Childcare, Islamic rights,Beauty & Style Tip, Bolly-wood Gossip, Tips fromZubaida Appa, & DramaAlerts.

Sajid Mahmood, ChiefCommercial Officer ofZONG says, “It is quite easyto overlook the efforts ofwomen in today’s fast-pacedlife. We often forget to thankthe important women aroundus like our mothers, sisters,wives, female friends andcolleagues for the positivitythey bring into our livesthrough their contributions.International Women’s Dayprovides us the opportunityto do so. And with Flutter wewant to recognize the womenwho are changing and shap-ing their lives and workingtowards a better future forthemselves and their daugh-ters.”

Realizing that womenare an underrepresented seg-ment of our society, ZONGhad introduced Flutter inJuly last year – a packagewhich talks to women di-rectly in their tone of voice.ZONG an internationalbrand of China Mobile en-tered Pakistan’s telecom in-dustry in April 2008 and hasnow spread its coverageacross the country. Amongall the Chinese investmentsin Pakistan, China Mobile isthe biggest investor in Pa-kistan.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman of theApna Microfinance Bank Limited(AMBL) Mian Shahid on Fridaysaid that Small and Medium En-terprises (SMEs) will be givenpreference in provision of credit.

He said that he will try bestto ensure the uninterrupted flowof finances to the critical SMEsector without which economycannot be revived.

Talking to a delegation offemale entrepreneurs, he saidthat the role of microfinancebanks remains crucial to ensureunobstructed flow of financialresources to the SME sectorwhich is engine of economicgrowth for country.

Shahid who was recentlyelected Chairman of the AMBL

Banks should help unleashSMEs potential to lift economy

admitted that the current levelof finance and access of SMEsto banking services remains un-satisfactory which calls for se-rious initiatives.

SME sector represents over90 per cent of all enterprises,employs some 75 per cent of thenon-agricultural workforce andcontributes 30 per cent to theGDP, he said, adding that itplays important role in povertyalleviation, and equitable re-source distribution.

He said that SMEs’ growthpotential for employment, in-come generation, and povertyreduction remains mostly un-tapped in Pakistan. Only 2.5million people are recorded asactive borrowers ofmicrofinance which is discour-aging, she said.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Co-Chairman ofPML-N Traders Wing and Ex-ecutive Committee Member ofLCCI & FPCCI Nasir Saeed hastermed the recent massive hikein petroleum prices “OGRA ter-rorism” and said that this hikewill affect trade, industry, agri-culture sector and masses badly.

In a press statement issuedhere Friday, Nasir Saeed said thatbusiness community was ex-tremely disappointed with the re-cent heavy increase in POL pricesas the oil prices in the internationalmarket are showing down trend.Nasir Saeed said that the POLprice hike will cripple the entireindustry as it was already on theverge of collapse due to gas andelectricity load shedding. He fur-

Petro price hiketermed ‘terrorism’

ther said that the industry is usingoil as fuel due to unabated loadshedding by SNGPL.

He said that hike in POLprices would further increase thecost of production and our prod-ucts would becomeuncompetitive in the interna-tional market. He said that PPPgovernment had no intention tostabilize the economy and allowthe local business and industrialcommunity to work smoothly. Hesaid that raise in petroleum pricesforcing businessmen to come outon streets and stage protests.

He said that the manufactur-ing sector was on the verge of col-lapse. He said that the economywas in major debacle because ofirregular utilities prices, hightaxes, abrupt and long duration ofgas/electricity load shedding.

Ram Menen, Emirates Senior Divisional Vice President,Cargo, receives the award from Des Vertannes, Global Headof Cargo, IATA.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—My Solutions, atechnology firm servicing finan-cial institutions in Pakistan hasannounced that it has signed anagreement with Activa FinancialLtd., a leading mobile bankingand payments service provider.The agreement will allow MySolutions to offer Activa’s mo-bile banking and payments plat-form “Nexus360”.

This cloud-based solution isthe industry’s only hosted, ex-tensible mobile banking plat-form in the industry, allowingfinancial institutions to expanda wide range of mobile servicesto its customers and will allowANY person on ANY network,ANY where, with ANY mobiledevice to send and receive pay-

Activa, My Solutions to launchMobile Payments Ecosystem

ments, access special value-added banking services throughANY channel that is SMS, IVR,USSD, GPRS, INTERNET,NFC, etc. top-up their cell

phones, pay their bills, purchaseitems from ANY shop, send /paymoney to each other locally orcross-border.

In line with the State Bankof Pakistan’s visionary Branch-less banking guidelines forbanks to reach out to the un-banked this unprecedented mo-

bile payments and banking eco-system will effectively serveboth banked and unbanked com-munities across Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Lucky Cementwon the 7th CSR NationalAward in the category of “Sup-porting and improving the edu-cation” in Pakistan. The CSRAssociation publicly announcedthe award at a ceremony held atIndus Valley School, Karachi.

The ceremony was attendedby representatives from differ-

ent organizations including phi-lanthropists, senior executives,CEOs of participating compa-nies, as well as officials fromUnited Nations Organization.

Setting itself apart fromother programs in the region, thePakistan National CSR Awardstargeted the core of CSR prac-tice rather than individualprojects. 19companies wereshortlisted for evaluation fromthe 104 entries by an elite panelof experts which this year in-cluded Amir Adnan and Dr.

Lucky Cement winsNational CSR award

Abdul Bari Khan among the12-strong international panel.

Lucky Cement Limited waslauded for its efforts in render-ing support to a large number ofeducational institutes in the coun-try including Institute of BusinessManagement (IoBM), Institute ofBusiness Administration (IBA),Lahore University of Manage-ment Sciences (LUMS), GomalUniversity, Indus Valley School

(IVS) and Hub School. The com-pany has also partnered withNGOs working in the under-privileged areas like Concern forChildren, Deaf Reach School andLABARD.

Amir Adnan, one of thisyear’s Judges, commented “Win-ners were selected on the basisof the company’s CSR activities:particularly good governance;internaland external stakehold-ers; sustainability and on-goingcommitment in incorporatingethical values into their business.

Noman Hasan, Chief Operating Officer, Lucky Cement Lim-ited receiving the 7th National CSR Award.

Major General (R) Javaid Iqbal, CEO, Director of PunjabIndustrial Estates, addressing at Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry. Zafar Bakhtawari, president ICCI isalso seen in the picture.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The PakistanEconomy Watch (PEW) on Fri-day said SRO culture has re-mained one of the biggesthurdles in ensuring national de-velopment by widening the taxnet.

SROs are the foremostsource of corruption, discrimi-nation, budget subversion andnational disgrace, it said.

FBR has become a factoryproducing SROs (StatutoryRegulatory Orders) to favourinfluential which underminescapability of the government tospend on welfare and develop-ment, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal,President PEW.

Pakistan will never be ableto break the begging bowl untilthe SRO culture is totally elimi-

SROs source ofdiscrimination

nated, he added.He said that the infamous

instrument called SRO has fre-quently been employed to pro-vide exemptions worth billionsto politically connected businesstycoons while it puts unneces-sary burden on taxpayers whichamounts to punishing them forhonesty. Dr. Murtaza Mughalsaid that the tax authorities havebeen using powers of the Par-liament by issuing SROs whilethe politicians have seldom chal-lenged the violation.

The SRO culture has keptPakistan’s tax- to-GDP ratio oneof the lowest in the world put-ting brakes on positive initia-tives, he said. Taxation systemhas developed serious flaws dueto special focus of the authori-ties on issuing SRO with no endin sight, he observed.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—After connectingpeople across the Middle East,North Africa and South-EastAfrica through its exceptionalbroadband and communicationservices, wi-tribe’s parent com-pany, Qtel Group has launchedBuzz, a Group intranet connect-ing employees across its opera-tional companies across the

Qtel group links wi-tribe employeeswith sister companies globally

globe with an objective for themto learn more, share more andconnect more.

Launched at an internal cer-emony on Tuesday at the wi-tribe Head Office in Islamabad,Buzz was unveiled by wi-tribeCEO Wasim Ahmad in front ofall wi-tribe employees, con-nected across its regions throughvideo link, a tool regularly em-ployed by wi-tribe for face-to-

face communication with itsemployees.

During a presentation, wi-tribe’s Director Human Capital,Alia Zafar highlighted Buzz’spurpose, functionalities and ben-efits, encouraging employees toupdate their ready-to-access pro-files for professional network-ing and information sharingthroughout the Qtel Group.

Emirates SkyCargonamed Global Cargo

Airline of yearSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—SkyCargo, thefreight division of Emirates, oneof the world’s fastest growingairlines, has been named GlobalCargo Airline of the Year, by TheSTAT Trade Times, organisersof the Air Cargo Africa 2013event recently held inJohannesburg, South Africa.

The STAT Trade Times,which forms part of the STATMedia Group, is an internationalmultimodal transport publica-tion, and has since 2006 pre-sented awards in various catego-ries to encourage excellence inthe air cargo industry.

Winners are chosen by theworldwide readers of the publi-cation, who nominate theirchoice in various categoriesthrough online participationover a period of a month, andthe winners are determined onthe basis of the nominations re-ceived.

“Many thanks goes out to allthe readers who voted for Emir-ates SkyCargo. Winning thisaward is a direct endorsement byour customers of our continuousdrive and focus on delivering thehighest levels of service,” saidRam Menen, Emirates Divi-sional Senior Vice PresidentCargo.

The award was presented ata ceremony attended by leadersin the Air Cargo industry, inJohannesburg, South Africa.

Another SamsungBrand-Shopin Lahore

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Samsung Electron-ics, a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumerelectronics, and telecommunica-tions, is consistently expandingits network of ‘Brand Shops’ innumerous cities across Pakistan.

A special inauguration cer-emony was held on 1st March,2013, at a new Brand Shop, es-tablished recently at the MetroCash & Carry Market in ThokarNiaz Baig area of Lahore.

Managing Director ofSamsung EC Pakistan Pvt. Ltd.- Mr. John Park inaugurated theshop and remarked; “TheSamsung Brand Shop is a revo-lutionary business model for theSamsung Retail Brand, fromwhere all retailers can learn andemulate to build a consistentbranding approach. The newbrand shop will provide world-class retail experiences to theconsumers.”

PTCL launchessmart TV app

for EVOcustomersSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Tele-communication Company Lim-ited (PTCL) has launched astandalone application enablingits EVO customers to accessdigital television service on theirPCs, laptops and smartphones.

The unique service of PTCLSmart TV PC application hasbrought Pakistan in the list of afew countries across the globe,where digital TV services areaccessible on laptops, PCs andSmartphones.

With this PTCL offer, SmartTVPC application allows cus-tomers to be more interactiveand more in control with theirTV service as compared to con-ventional TV broadcast or cableTV. The PTCL Smart TV appli-cation enables its viewers towatch content of last 7 Days ofthe available 12 TV channels. Italso allows the viewers to recordthe TV programs on their localstorage.

Omar Khalid, PTCL Execu-tive Vice President (EVP) Wire-less Business, said “PTCLSmart TV application will en-able its EVO customers to ex-perience multi-screen viewingand uninterruptable rich livecontent on their PC screens.”

“Customers can access 12TV channels through EVOWingle, EVO Dongle, EVO Ni-tro, EVO Cloud and EVO Tab”Omar added.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Meezan Bank,Pakistan’s leading Islamicbank, recently held a ceremonyat Karachi to recognize the con-tribution of those employeeswho had completed ten years ofservice with the Bank. Theevent was attended by by H. E.Sheikh Ebrahim Bin KhalifaAl-Khalifa, Chairman ofMeezan Bank’s Board of Direc-tors, Mr. Abdullateef A. Al-Asfour, Vice-Chairman, Mr.Irfan Siddiqui, President &CEO, Mr. Ariful Islam, ChiefOperating Officer, Members ofthe Bank’s Board of Directorsand around 150 senior execu-tives of the Bank from acrossPakistan.

In his message, the Bank’sChairman, H. E. Sheikh

Meezan Bank celebratesstaff contributions

Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, attributed the Bank’sgrowth and success to the bless-ings of Allah SWT and thankedthe staff members for their ef-forts in the establishment andgrowth of Riba-free banking inPakistan. The Vice-ChairmanMr. Abdullateef A. Al-Asfourcongratulated the Bank’s man-agement and staff on completionof 10 years of Islamic bankingin Pakistan.

Meezan Bank opened 35branches in 2012, bringing itsbranch network to 310 branchesin 90 cities across Pakistan andis now the country’s 8th largestbank in terms of branch net-work. The Bank has achievedsignificant growth in all busi-ness segments during 2012. ItsDeposits increased by 36% toRs. 230 billion in 2012 while the

financing portfolio grew by 26%to Rs. 89 billion. The Bank’sgrowth in both Deposits andfinancings has far exceeded thatof the industry which was 13.8%and 10.4% respectively. Further-more, the non funded businesswhich primarily includes importand export crossed Rs 200 bil-lion.

Meezan Bank has been con-sistently recognized as the bestIslamic Bank in Pakistan byvarious local and internationalinstitutions over the past severalyears. The Bank offers a com-plete range of Islamic bankingproducts and services throughPakistan’s largest Islamic bank-ing branch network, supportedby 24/7 banking services thatinclude over 240 ATMs, InternetBanking and a 24-hour CallCenter.

Demand towithdraw

amendmentsto SRO

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan Industrialand Traders Associations Front(PIAF) has urged the FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR) to im-mediately withdraw amend-ments in Sales Tax Special Pro-cedure (Withholding) Rules2007.

The PIAF Chairman MalikTahir Javaid in a statement saidthat the business communitywould resist tooth and nail allsuch decisions that would beimplemented without its consul-tation and at a time when thebusinesses were already facingmultiple challenges.

He said that it was very un-fortunate that the FBR, withoutprior consultation with thestakeholders, on February 14,2013 issued SRO 98(I)/2013and nominated manufacturersand exporters as its sales taxcollecting agents.

He said that if the FBR didnot withdraw the SRO, the busi-ness community would be boundto lodge a strong protest as in thepresence of such anti-businesspolicies, they would be unable tocontinue their businesses.

The role of the FBR is notonly to collect taxes but ensureenabling environment throughpolicies which could enhanceexports, trade, commerce, indus-trialization and creation of jobs,he commented.

January 2013 as compared to theexports of $25.569 million inDecember 2012, the data said.

During the month, the ex-ports of gloves increased by 4.52percent while exports of foot-balls and other sports goods de-creased by 15.22 percent and14.01 percent respectively.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that the country’s tradedeficit decreased by 12.05 per-cent during the first sevenmonths of the current fiscal yearas exports expanded by 7.24percent and imports witnessednegative growth of 2.44 percent.

The overall exports from thecountry increased from $13.118billion in July-December 2011-12 to US$14.068 billion duringJuly-December (2012-13).

On the other hand, the im-ports decreased from $26.327billion last year to $25.685 bil-lion during the current fiscalyear, showing negative growthof 2.44 percent, the data re-vealed.

Sports exportsFrom Page 13

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Small and Me-dium Enterprises DevelopmentAuthority (SMEDA) and theimplementation agency ofMulti-Donor Trust Fund(MDTF) funded project Eco-nomic Revitalization of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, FATA (ERKF)has surpassed the annual targetof grant distribution among ter-rorism and flood affected SMEs.

According to a spokesmanof Smeda, KP, time-period forthe implementation of theproject is 3 years and for the firstyear it was given a target ofclearing 84 cases from FATA.

However, it had surpassedthe target and distributed reha-bilitation and up-gradation grantfor 87 affected businesses.

In the wake of the prevail-ing insurgency and ongoing op-eration of security forces, the

ERKP project surpassesannual grants target

implementation of the projectwas a big challenge for the au-thority. But, still it had maderemarkable progress in that re-gard.

The value of the grant distrib-uted among the 87 entrepreneursof FATA stood at Rs.96.7 million,while 137 applications have beenrejected on the basis of not fulfill-ing the required criteria.

Moreover, 70 grant casesfrom different tribal agencies ofFATA in pipeline and will bereferred to concerned commit-tees for taking final decision onthem.

Furthermore, the staff of theproject has assisted several morecases from different tribal agen-cies of the region.

The project has already dis-tributed a grant of Rs.44 millionin Bajaur Agency, Rs.22 millionMohmand Agency, SouthWaziristan Agency Rs.17.8 mil-

lion, Khyber Agency Rs.8 mil-lion, Kurram Agency Rs.2.2million while a grant of Rs.1.4million had also been distributedin FRs, Kohat and FR Tanks.

The spokesman clarified thehigher ratio of rejection is due toincomplete documentation andadherence to set criteria while bighurdle in the clearing of the casesis the volatile security situationin FATA. The ratio of the ap-proval of the settled areas casesis higher and the yearly set targetof 221 cases has already beenachieved two month ahead ofgiven the deadline.

Moreover, the monitoringteams of World Bank in theirthree different visits to ERKFproject office and different ter-rorism affected SMEs have alsohighly appreciated the perfor-mance and professional ap-proach of the staff of ERKFproject.

implementation. Nevertheless,the Company also failed to takeup the project despite release offunds and the same was givento Directorate of LivestockFarms.

However, in a recentmeeting the sitting PunjabLivestock and Dairy Develop-ment Secretary in a jointmeeting of PAMCO, LD&Dand PLDDB decided that thePunjab Livestock and DairyDevelopment Board, whichwas already carrying out ac-tivities of artificial insemina-tion through training of youngmen and women as ArtificialInsemination Assistants(AIAs) and Women LivestockWorkers (WLWs) be made incharge of the project in fiveout of the total 10 districts tokick-off the project.

PLDDBFrom Page 13

Taxpayersget Rs9.79bn

refundsSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Calling it anotherlandmark year for his office,Shoaib Suddle Federal Tax Om-budsman (FTO) claims that at leastRs 9.79 billion have been refundedto taxpayers in 2012 as comparedto Rs 7.89 billion in 2011.

The figure included refundsamounting to Rs 822.33 millionin 375 income tax cases, Rs125.06 million in 25 sales taxcases, Rs 10.16 million in onecase of federal excise, Rs 1.89million in 3 customs cases andRs 8.83 billion in 231,250 dutydrawback customs cases. In2011, Rs 6.63 billion were re-funded in 181,880 duty draw-back customs cases against Rs4.9 billion in 194,056 cases in2010. The taxpayers also re-ceived a sum of Rs 1.61 millionin compensation for delayedpayment of refunds in 30 cases.

Talking to members of Fed-eration of Pakistan Chambers ofCommerce and Industry(FPCCI), he said the new ordi-nance and provisions introducedby the FTO have made the pro-cedures and system of resolvingtax related issues easier, trans-parent and effective. All typesof complains related to taxwould now be resolved within60 days while a review aboutany decision can be filed within30 days. The involvement of theMinistry of Law has also beendeleted in such cases, he added.

However many steps are yetto be taken by the governmentas only 8 percent of 180 millionpeople pay taxes.

ers based mostly in Karachi.The breakage ration is

unprecedentedly high because ofdilapidated mills and poor qual-ity hybrid seeds being importedfrom china. Millers are in theclutches of a vicious cycle, andsince they operate on the margins,they are particularly vulnerable toadverse external shocks like recentfloods and other natural disasters.

‘Rice milling industry desper-ately needs a support package tobe able to escape this vicious circle.A rice mill can be upgraded com-pletely with the injection of Rs 7to 10 million using a combinationof Chinese and Pakistani madecomponents. ,’ said Chairman SBI.

It is to be noted that three typesof rice plants exist in Sindh: husk-ing mills (rice paddy fed and huskremoved from grain with some pol-ishing); reprocessing mills (ricefrom husking unit fed and furtherprocessed for export quality rice);and parboiling plants (rice paddyfed directly and boiled at differenttemperatures according to rice va-rieties and then processed to cre-ate a yellow-colored, high quality,nutritious rice).

BMRFrom Page 13

Catholics in doldrumsVATICAN CITY—Roman Catholicism facesa serious challenge from the rising numberof people who believe in God but no longersee any need for a church, according to NewYork Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Opinion re-search shows that some people today haveproblems “with the very nature and meaningof the church”, Dolan, in Rome to preparefor a conclave to elect a replacement to theretired Pope Benedict, told Reuters in an in-terview. Dolan said this trend, which soci-

ologists of religion call “believing without belonging”, should behigh on the list of issues that cardinals discuss at the Vatican nextweek before they retreat into the Sistine Chapel to vote for thepope. Benedict officially stepped down on Thursday, the first popein almost six centuries to do so, and the 115 cardinals due to pickhis successor began informal meetings on Friday to discuss proce-dures for the vote and size up candidates. “We hear that more andmore people have absolutely no problem with faith, but they dowith religion,” Dolan, 63 and mentioned among possible candi-dates for the papacy, said. “While more and more people have noproblem at all with Jesus Christ, they love him and accept him astheir Lord and saviour, they do have problems with the church,” hesaid. “More and more people don’t see the need for the church.”The phrase “believing without belonging”, coined by British soci-ologist Grace Davie in the 1990s, describes the growing numberof people who say they are “spiritual but not religious” and leaveorganised religion behind. The trend, seen in Europe and NorthAmerica, has especially hurt established Christian churches thathave seen their ranks dwindle. In the United States, the “nones” -people with no religious affiliation - have grown from seven to 18percent of the population since 1972, according to a Pew Forumstudy. A third of those born after 1980 are unaffiliated, it said,compared to 15 percent among their “baby boom” parents and fivepercent in their grandparents’ generation.—Reuters

US terms Erdogan’s remak ‘offensive’ANKARA—A row over Turkish Prime Min-ister Tayyip Erdogan’s description of Zion-ism as a crime against humanity risked over-shadowing U.S. Secretary of State JohnKerry’s visit to Turkey on Friday, his first toa Muslim nation since taking office. Kerry ismeeting Turkish leaders in talks meant to fo-cus on Syria’s civil war and bilateral interestsfrom energy security to counter-terrorism. ButErdogan’s comment at a U.N. meeting inVienna this week, condemned by his Israeli

counterpart, the White House and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has clouded his trip. “This was particularly offensive, frankly,to call Zionism a crime against humanity ... It does have a corro-sive effect (on relations),” a senior U.S. official told reporters asKerry flew to Ankara. “I am sure the secretary will be very clearabout how dismayed we were to hear it,” the official, who spokeon condition of anonymity, said. Washington needs all the allies itcan get as it navigates the political currents of the Middle East, andsees Turkey as the key player in supporting Syria’s opposition andplanning for the era after President Bashar al-Assad. But the col-lapse of its ties with Israel have undermined U.S. hopes that Tur-key could play a role as a broker in the broader region. “The Tur-key-Israel relationship is frozen,” the U.S. official said. “We wantto see a normalization ... not just for the sake of the two countriesbut for the sake of the region and, frankly, for the symbolism,” hesaid. “Not that long ago (you) had these two countries demonstrat-ing that a majority Muslim country could have very positive andstrong relations with the Jewish state and that was a sign for theregion (of what was) possible.” Erdogan told the U.N. Alliance ofCivilizations meeting in Vienna on Wednesday: “Just as with Zi-onism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it has become necessary to viewIslamophobia as a crime against humanity.” The head of Europe’smain rabbinical group condemned his words as a “hateful attack”on Jews. —Reuters

Govt formation collapses, snap polls likelyJERUSALEM—Deadlocked talks with poten-tial coalition partners have forced IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seekmore time to build a new government andavert a possible snap election, officials saidon Friday. They said Netanyahu would meetPresident Shimon Peres on Saturday to askfor a two-week extension after his right-wingparty, the narrow victor in Israel’s January22 ballot, exhausted the standard four weeksallotted to build a coalition. Peres is expected

to accept Netanyahu’s request. However, should Netanyahu failto win enough allies for a parliamentary majority by March 16and a third term as premier, Peres could hand the task to a rivalparty leader. If no government emerged then, Israelis must returnto the polls. U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit Israel atthe end of March to discuss the stalemate in Palestinian state-hood talks and other regional challenges like Iran and Syria. Buthe would likely cancel if Netanyahu failed to form a coalition.Washington has not published dates for Obama’s trip, and theU.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, has said it would takeplace only after the Israelis had a new government. Netanyahu’sLikud-Beitenu ticket won 31 of the Knesset’s 120 seats in theJanuary vote - an eroded lead that required he cast a wide net forpartners while juggling their disparate demands. He has facedunified resistance from the parties that placed second and fourth,Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home),which insist Israel scale back the mass exemptions from militaryconscription and the welfare stipends it provides to ultra-Ortho-dox Jews. The third-biggest Israeli party, center-left Labour, hasruled out entering a government under Netanyahu. Likud Beitenuhas tried without success to drive a wedge between the centristYesh Atid and the ultranationalist Bayit Yehudi, which differ onother major issues such as how - and if - Israel should revivepeacemaking with the Palestinians.—Reuters

UK-France ‘entente frugale’ defence pactLondon—Dubbed the “entente frugale” bywags and criticised by some as a dangerousdilution of military sovereignty, Franco-Brit-ish defence cooperation is nonetheless grow-ing stronger. French President NicolasSarkozy (L), and British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron exchange copies after sign-ing a treaty during an Anglo-French summitat Lancaster House in London. Shrinkingbudgets, a less indulgent United States andEurope’s diminishing military clout in the

world have bolstered the two countries’ determination to worktogether. That contrasts with the prickly relations between Frenchand British politicians, who have come to blows in recent monthson everything from taxes to the European Union budget. “Whilethe politicians may trade barbs, defence knows there’s nowhereelse to go other than working closely together,” said JamesArbuthnot, head of the parliament’s Defence Select Committee.“At the defence level the cooperation and friendships are morethan cordial, they are warm,” he said, joking that he had forgivenFrance for killing an ancestor at Trafalgar. But there have beenhiccups in the complex business of bringing Europe’s two big-gest militaries together. Britain has in recent weeks helped Francewith logistics in Mali, where French forces are battling Islamistrebels, but senior military officials had to step in when Britishpilots refused to carry French ration packs containing matches.“So what? You can’t carry matches or lighters on British militaryplanes. But for decades Britain closely allied its defence strategyto that of the United States, while France sought to develop inde-pendent military muscle, and in 1966 left U.S.-dominated NATO’sintegrated military structure. Former French President NicolasSarkozy in 2009 brought France back into the NATO militaryfold. “In terms of the defence relationship, Sarkozy was a gift tous,” said an official.—Reuters

BEIRUT—Syrian governmentforces fought fierce clashes withrebels attacking a police acad-emy near the northern city ofAleppo on Friday, while the bod-ies of 10 men most of them shotin the head were found dumpedalong the side of a road outsideDamascus, activists said. Rebelsbacked by captured tanks havebeen trying to storm the policeacademy outside Aleppo sincelaunching a new offensive on thefacility last week. The school,which activists say has beenturned into a military base usedto shell rebel-held neighbor-hoods in the city and the sur-rounding countryside, has be-come a key front in the widerfight for Aleppo.

The Syrian state newsagency said Friday that govern-

Maddenning fight enrages overnorth Syria police academy

ment troops defending the schoolhad killed dozens of oppositionfighters and destroyed five rebelvehicles. The Britain-based Syr-ian Observatory for HumanRights activist group also re-ported heavy fighting Fridayaround the school, and said therewere several rebel casualtieswithout providing an exact fig-ure.

Syria’s largest city andformer commercial hub, Aleppoemerged as a major battlegroundin the country’s civil war afterrebels launched an offensivethere in July 2012. Since then, therebels and regime troops havefought street by street for controlof Aleppo in a grinding contestthat has laid waste to much of thecity, considered one of Syria’smost beautiful. The Observatory

said clashes were still ragingaround Aleppo’s landmark 12thcentury Umayyad Mosque in thewalled Old City, which is aUNESCO World Heritage Site.The mosque was heavily dam-aged in October 2012 just weeksafter a fire gutted the old city’sfamed medieval market.

There were conflicting re-ports about whether the rebelshad managed to sweep regimetroops out of the mosque andtake full control of the holy site.Mohammed al-Khatib of theAleppo Media Center activistgroup said the Great Mosquewas indeed in rebel hands, al-though clashes were still ragingin the area. “The regime forcesleft lots of ammunition in it (themosque) with guns and rocket-propelled grenades,” he said via

Skype. Observatory directorRami Abdul-Rahman said rebelshave been in control of at leasthalf of the mosque for days, buthe could not confirm that theynow had captured the entiregrounds.

The Observatory also saidthat at least eight people werekilled in a government airstrikeon the rebel-held Hanano neigh-borhood of the city. It said threechildren were among the dead.The 10 bodies were discoveredon a roadside between the Dam-ascus suburbs of Adra andDumair, said Abdul-Rahman.

All of the bodies were of menwho appeared to be between theages of 30 and 45, he added. Oneof the men had been decapitated.Their identities were not imme-diately known.—Reuters

BEIJING—An “execution pa-rade” on China’s state televisionof four foreign men sentenced todeath for killing 13 sailors on theMekong River caused anger inChina on Friday, with manypeople saying it was an unnec-essary display of vengeance. The2011 murder of the Chinese sail-ors was one of the deadliest as-saults on Chinese nationals over-seas in modern times andprompted the government tosend gunboat patrols to the re-gion downstream from its bor-der.

Chief suspect Naw Kham,extradited to China by Lao offi-cials in May, was found guiltyof the killings of the sailors lastyear in the “Golden Triangle”region known for drug smug-gling, where the borders of Laos,Myanmar and Thailand meet.Naw Kham, from Myanmar, andthe three others were executed bylethal injection in the Chinesecity of Kunming, but not beforebeing paraded live on state tele-vision, trussed with ropes andshackled in chains, as police ledthem from the jail to a bus tak-ing them to the place of execu-tion.

The actual execution was notshown. “Using two hours to

‘Execution parade’ of fourconvicts angers Chinese

broadcast live the process forthese criminals facing the deathpenalty is a violation of Article252 of the Criminal ProcedureLaw of the People’s Republic ofChina,” said prominent humanrights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan.

“This provision says thatcriminals facing the death pen-alty cannot be put on public dis-play.” The broadcast by ChinaCentral Television also violateda law by the Supreme People’sCourt that a “person’s dignityshould never be insulted”, Liusaid.

Chinese television used toshow such scenes regularly butlargely stopped almost two de-cades ago, though they still cropup occasionally on provincialchannels. The return to this prac-tice sparked outrage from manyon social media sites.

“They tied him in ropes andparaded him in front of 1.3 bil-lion Chinese — is this what thehuman rights the government al-ways stresses is really all about?”wrote on user on China’s Twit-ter-like Sina Weibo microblog. “Iknow they killed 13 Chinesepeople and it was a terrible thing,but it’s really not appropriate tolive broadcast the execution pro-cess like this and it goes against

Supreme Court rules,” wrote an-other. The hunt for Naw Khamgot heavy play in Chinese me-dia, with some newspapers trum-peting his capture as akin to thekilling of al-Qaeda leader Osamabin Laden by U.S. forces. Thewidely read tabloid the GlobalTimes said that China had evenconsidered conducting its firstdrone strikes to kill Naw Kham,but authorities decided theywanted to take him alive and puthim on trial.

One of the other three ex-ecuted men was Thai, one wasLao and the other was stateless,Chinese media said. China is be-lieved to execute thousands ofpeople annually - the exact num-ber is a state secret - and there iswidespread support for the deathpenalty, though the number ofcrimes that carry it has been re-duced in recent years. But theparading of the for convicted ofthe Mekong murders would raisequestions for Chinese peopleabout the use of executions, saidNicholas Bequelin, a researcherat Human Rights Watch, a NewYork-based advocacy group.

“It’s predatory, voyeuristicand exploitative and that defeatsthe very purpose of having a le-gal system,” he said.—Reuters

Protesters gesture in front of a policeman (2nd L) outside the Daveyton Police station, east of Johannesburg.

KUALA LUMPUR—A standoffbetween Malaysian securityforces and armed Filipinosended in violence on Friday,with two police officers and upto 12 members of the Philippinegroup killed as Malaysian PrimeMinister Najib Razak declaredhis patience had run out.

Najib, quoted by state newsagency Bernama, confirmed theMalaysian police deaths and saidthat 10 to 12 Filipinos had beenkilled after their group tried tobreak through a security cordonaround a village where they hadbeen holed up for more than twoweeks.

About 100 followers of theSultanate of Sulu in the south-ern Philippines landed in theeastern Malaysian state of Sabahlast month demanding recogni-tion and payment from the Ma-laysian government. Both thePhilippine and Malaysian gov-ernments had repeatedly urgedthem to return home.

Most of the group was stillat large after fleeing the fight-ing and Malaysian police de-clared a curfew in the area. Najibsaid he had now given Malay-sian security forces a mandateto take “any action” against thegroup.

“Do not test our patience,our patience has reached the

Malaysia, armed Filipinosstandoff ends in violence

limit,” he was quoted as sayingearlier. “We have a plan to re-move them, they should havesurrendered and left,” saidNajib, who must call nationalelections by April and has comeunder pressure from the opposi-tion for allowing the bizarrestandoff to drag on.

Three Malaysian police of-ficers were wounded in theshoot-out, police said. The Phil-ippines only confirmed onedeath among the group, sayingthat 10 had surrendered whilethe rest had fled towards the sea.A spokesman for the armedgroup, Abraham Idjirani, toldreporters in Manila that the menhad moved to another locationto continue their fight and urgedMalaysia to hold talks.

The confrontation hadthreatened to reignite tensionbetween the Philippines andMalaysia. Ties have been peri-odically frayed by security andmigration problems along theirsea border

The group is demanding rec-ognition from Malaysia and re-negotiation of the original termsof a lease on Sabah by the Sul-tanate to a British trading com-pany in the 19th century. Malay-sian officials have said thegroup’s demands will not bemet. —Reuters

J O H A N N E S B U R G —SouthAfrica’s police chief announcedFriday that eight officers alleg-edly involved in the death of aman who was bound and thendragged by a police vehicle havebeen suspended and that the lo-cal police commander has beenremoved from his post.

Gen. Riah Phiyega said Fri-day that she shares “the extremeshock and outrage” over theabuse of the Mozambican immi-grant by police officers and sup-ports the investigation by the po-lice watchdog agency. The rightsof Mido Macia, a 27-year-oldfrom neighboring Mozambique,were “violated in the most ex-treme form,” she said. The de-tention and dragging of the man,a taxi driver who had parked inthe wrong spot, was videotapedby memebrs of a horrified crowdof onlookers.

The scandal is the latest to

Cops draggingcitizen suspended

undermine confidence in SouthAfrica’s police force, which hasexpanded from 120,000 to nearly200,000 over a decade. “Whendealing with 200,000 employees,it is never an easy environment,”Phiyega said. “There will alwaysbe incident such as this.”

Late Tuesday, a crowd in theDaveyton township east ofJohannesburg watched as policeofficers tried to put Macia intothe back of their police vehicle,bound his hands to the rear of itwith his body on the ground,then drove off. A murder probeby the Independent Police Inves-tigative Directorate, the policewatchdog agency, is underway onthe evidence that Macia sufferedhead and upper abdomen injuries,including internal bleeding. Theinjuries could be from the drag-ging and he could also have beenbeaten later in police custody.—AP

LISBON—A Portuguese revolu-tionary song from 40 years agois haunting the bailed-outcountry’s government. Anti-austerity protesters are hound-ing senior officials by loudlysinging at public events a cel-ebrated tune from the 1974 Car-nation Revolution. They havemanaged to silence some oftheir targets, including theprime minister when he was try-ing to give a speech in Parlia-ment.

At the same time, people areputting the prime minister’sname and tax number on theirstore receipts. That makes itpossible, in theory at least, thatPedro Passos Coelho’s spend-ing will outstrip his official in-come and leave him liable foran end-of-year tax assessment.Portuguese unhappy about thecenter-right government’s re-lentless austerity drive aren’tjust getting mad, they’re gettingeven — in imaginative ways.

The government is lockedinto debt-cutting measures inreturn for the ailing country’s•78 billion ($102 billion) finan-cial rescue in 2011. More taxhikes this year sliced anotherchunk off wages. The result:

‘Song’ protest overwhelms Portugulpublic outrage has mounted asliving standards have tumbled.After winter weather discour-aged street protests and withstrikes petering out amid fallingincome, dissenters in Portugalhave formed civic movementswhich have come up with newways of retaliating against theirleaders’ unpopular policies.

People in other Europeancountries stricken by theeurozone financial crisis appearno less disaffected. In Italy’snational elections last weekendBeppe Grillo — a comedianwith no political experiencewhose blog fed off public dis-content with austerity — and his5 Star Movement collected al-most a quarter of the votes cast.In Spain, “Surround Parliament”protests take aim at what areperceived as discredited politi-cians amid a 26 percent unem-ployment rate.

“There’s a broad feeling ofpowerlessness” among ag-grieved Europeans, says Anto-nio Costa Pinto, a political sci-entist at Lisbon University’s In-stitute of Social Science. “Withfew resources, (the civic move-ments) can make a big impact.”In Portugal, civic movements

whose message travels quicklyon social media have to a degreeeclipsed trade unions, tradition-ally in the vanguard of protests.Those movements are behindprotest marches planned Satur-day in more than 20 Portuguesecities that are expected to drawbig crowds.

They are trying to persuadethe government to reversecourse by jettisoning austeritypolicies and switching focus tostate-fueled economic growthand job creation. Even so, whilethe protests have earned head-line media coverage, the govern-ment shows no sign of budging.The new wellspring of protestsand the novel style of the dis-sent are another sign of socialand cultural changes that haveaccompanied the financial crisis.The downbeat period hasstripped away long-standing en-titlements and modified the hab-its of many Europeans.

The Portuguese aren’t shortof reasons to grumble. The coun-try is forecast to weather a thirdstraight year of recession in2013. Unemployment has bal-looned to a record 17.6 percent,the European Union’s statisticsoffice said Friday.—Reuters

PRAGUE—Before the fall ofcommunism, Vaclav Slouptrained the soldiers who caughtthousands trying to flee acrossCzechoslovakia’s fortified borderto West Germany. Today, he helpspower a Czech communist partythat has surged to second placein polls, tapping anger over pov-erty and graft. But rivals’ rejec-tion of any alliance with a partythey see tainted by trappings ofthe Cold War era threatens tohamper future formation of gov-ernments able to manage a fraileconomy.

When communism collapsedin 1989, the once-dominant partywas slow to yield up the reform-ist wing that emerged in othereast European countries. Whilestatues of Lenin have vanished,

Economic woes push Czechsto hail back Communism

party lawmakers still greet oneanother with “comrade” andmaintain hardline foreign policyviews such as leaving NATO.The Communist Party ofBohemia and Moravia (KSCM),for all its protests that it has re-formed, remains a pariah inCzech politics, but a pariah com-manding now a 20 percent vote.

Sloup’s rise to become edu-cation councilor in the northernregion of Karlovy Vary hasaroused protests by students andformer dissidents that demon-strate the strength of emotion, butthe 63-year-old refuses to quitbecause of his past. “I carried outmy duties when Europe was di-vided by an Iron Curtain, and itwas in accordance with laws ofthe time,” he said.—Reuters

‘Friends of Syria’encourage

extremists: RussiaMOSCOW—Russia said on Fri-day that decisions made at a“Friends of Syria” meeting inRome, at which Western andArab states pledged aid for Syr-ian rebels, would emboldenPresident Bashar al-Assad’s foesseeking his overthrow.

Foreign Ministry spokes-man Alexander Lukashevichsaid rebel attempts to toppleAssad would inevitably causesuffering among civilians inSyria, where more than 70,000people have been killed in anearly two-year-old conflict.

“Decisions taken in Rome,as well as declarations voicedthere, in letter and spirit directlyencourage extremists to (seek)the seizure of power by force,”he said in a statement.

After the “Friends of Syria”meeting on Thursday, the UnitedStates said it would give non-lethal aid directly to rebels forthe first time and would morethan double its support to Syria’scivilian opposition, but Westernpowers did not offer weapons.

Russia says it is not prop-ping up Assad but has shieldedhim by blocking U.N. SecurityCouncil resolutions aimed to putpressure on him to end blood-shed and by insisting that his exitfrom power must not be a pre-condition for a negotiated solu-tion.—Reuters

Iran eyes tiesimprovement

with US chanceVIENNA—Iran’s foreign minis-ter said he sees a chance to im-prove ties with the United States,despite a longrunning standoffwith major powers over hiscountry’s disputed nuclear pro-gram. Austrian newspaperWiener Zeitung also quoted AliAkbar Salehi as saying that Iranwas reducing stockpiles of itsmost sensitive nuclear material,which the West fears could beused to make bombs. Iran deniesseeking a nuclear weapons ca-pability.

Asked whether U.S. Presi-dent Barack Obama’s re-electioncould lead to a better climate be-tween two nations that severeddiplomatic ties more than threedecades ago, Salehi said: “Thisenvironment is just being createdand shaped. I think both sideswant to use this opportunity.”Tehran struck an upbeat tone af-ter talks this week with worldpowers ended with an agreementto meet again, but Western offi-cials said it had yet to take con-crete steps to ease their fearsabout its nuclear ambitions.—AP

CONAKRY—Rival gangsfought with knives and trun-cheons in Guinea’s crumblingseaside capital on Friday as eth-nic tension worsened before anelection in the unstable WestAfrican nation, witnesses said.Security forces in full anti-riotgear piled into the backs of pick-up trucks and deployed acrossConakry to separate the fightersas President Alpha Conde’s gov-ernment appealed for calm.

“It has become very bad.People set fire to a car right infront of me. I’ve seen fourpeople injured in the fighting,”said Souleymane Bah, a residentof Bambeto, one of several ar-eas where clashes were reported.“We’ve locked ourselves insidea bank. I can see people fight-ing outside,” resident AbdoulayeSylla, told Reuters by telephonefrom Conakry’s Dixxinneighbourhood.

Residents in other areas fledin panic as the gangs from rivalethnic groups roamed the streets,according to witnesses. Thelong-delayed legislative vote,tentatively set for May, is neededto complete a transition to civil-ian rule after a 2008 militarycoup, and could open the doorto hundreds of millions of dol-lars in European aid.

Ethnic clashes erupt inGuinea capital

Politics in Guinea aremainly drawn along ethnic lineswith the opposition coalitionbroadly supported by membersof the Peul ethnicity - thecountry’s biggest ethnic group -and the government supportedby the Malinke. The fighting onFriday follows two days of anti-government protests that havesharpened those divisions.

Conde won a 2010 presiden-tial election promising to uniteGuinea in the same way NelsonMandela did after apartheid inSouth Africa, but many of hiscompatriots say he has failed.The opposition called last monthfor protests against preparationsfor the parliamentary election,saying the government wasseeking to rig the vote in ad-vance.

Two days of violent demon-strations followed in which onecivilian was killed and scores ofprotesters and police were in-jured. A government spokesmansaid on Friday that oppositionleaders should call on their sup-porters to halt the fighting. “We are going to make a dec-laration calling for calm. But theopposition leaders need to do thesame thing,” said governmentspokesman Damantang AlbertCamara.—Reuters

MULTAN: Students participating in tug-of-war competition during Sports Gala at Science Superior College.

KUALA LUMPUR—Japan’sAyumi Morita edged closerto winning her first ever WTAtitle after reaching the semi-finals of the BMW Malay-sian Open.

The fourth seed had todig deep in the quarter-finalbefore getting the better ofqualifier Luksika Kumkhum.The Thai gave as good asshe got before Moritastepped up through the gearsto win 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-1.

“I’m very happy to be inmy fourth career semi-finals.I hope to continue doing mybest and try to go further thistime,” she said.

Morita, who ranks 55 in

Morita closer to firsttitle in Malaysia

the world, will meet 127th-ranked Karolina Pliskova ofthe Czech Republic inSaturday’s semi-final.

The Japanese player callsMalaysia her “second home”after playing in the tourna-ment since the inauguralevent in 2010.

That year she alsoreached the semi-final,while in 2011 and last yearshe only managed to reachthe last eight. Morita alsogot to the semis inStrausbourg andGuangzhou in 2009.

The 22-year-old said heropponent had played “verywell” despite sweltering con-

Defending champ Hsieh out of Malaysian Tennis Open

ditions in the SoutheastAsian country. Rain delayedplay on the first three days.

Meanwhile, Pliskovaeliminated Austrian PatriciaMayr-Achleitner 7-5, 6-1 toset-up the meeting withMorita.

Pliskova is eyeing adouble in Malaysia as sheand her twin Kristyna willplay Polish pair MartaDomachowska and AlicjaRosolska in the doublessemi-final later Friday.

Meanwhile, defendingchampion Hsieh Su Wei lostin the BMW MalaysianOpen’s quarter-finals Friday,going down 7-5, 6-2 to Ameri-

can wildcard BethanieMattek-Sands.

The Taiwanese’s defeat,coupled with seed numberone Caroline Wozniacki’sfirst-round loss on Wednes-day, means no defendingchampion or top seed hasever won the MalaysianOpen.

Asked about this “tour-nament jinx”, second seedHsieh just laughed and said:“It’s a new feeling for me be-cause it’s the first time I’mdefending a title. I tried mybest to retain the title andhold on to my rankingpoints.”

The 23rd-ranked playersaid she would return in 2013“for sure”.

“I don’t have a lot of pres-sure here like some otherplayers. I’m here to enjoyKuala Lumpur,” she said.“Bethanie was once a top 30player so she knows what’sit all about. My mentalstrength was not so goodtoday.”

Mattek-Sands—who isknown as the Lady Gaga oftennis after attending the2011 pre-Wimbledon party ina dress made of tennisballs—already staged a sur-prise win Thursday whenshe crushed Duan Ying-Yingof China in two sets.

Mattek-Sands will nowmeet world number 29 andthird seed AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova, whobrushed aside Australianyoungster Ashleigh Barty 6-2, 6-0 in just an hour.

Meanwhile, Japan’sAyumi Morita edged closerto winning her first ever WTAtitle after beating LuksikaKumkhum of Thailand 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-1.—AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Ayumi Morita of Japan plays a stroke during her women’s BMWMalaysian Open match against Luksika Kumkhum.

LONDON—Ryan Giggs, whois set to make his 1,000th ap-pearance in senior footballthis weekend, has signed anew one-year contract atManchester United, the clubannounced on Friday.

The English PremierLeague leaders said the dealkeeps the 39-year-old Waleswinger at Old Trafford untilJune 2014 and sees him com-plete a 23rd season as a first-team player.

Coach Alex Ferguson toldmanutd.com: “What can Isay about Ryan that hasn’talready been said? He is amarvellous player and an ex-ceptional human being.

Ryan is an example to usall, the way in which he has,and continues to, look afterhimself.

SINGAPORE—Asia’s care-taker football chief and pre-sumed next president haspulled out of upcoming lead-ership elections, a source toldAFP , in a shock move whichthreatens further turmoil atthe troubled body.

China’s Zhang Jilong willnot contest elections in earlyMay for either the Asian Foot-ball Confederation (AFC)presidency, vacated byMohamed bin Hammam afterbribery claims, or the avail-able FIFA executive commit-tee seat.

“He’s not running. Hehas decided after long andcareful thought,” said thesource close to Zhang. “Hedoesn’t want the AFC to besplit for the next two years.”

The source, who did notwant to be identified, saidZhang made the decision “acouple of days” ago, beforeThursday’s meeting in Seoul

Football: Caretaker Asian boss inshock election pull-out

of the East Asian FootballFederation’s executive com-mittee. It has not been formally

announced.He denied the former Chi-

nese soccer boss and previ-ous election favourite lackedthe support to win the job full-time. But he said Zhang sim-

ply felt unable to unite theAsian body over a shortenedtwo-year term.

The next president of the46-member confederation, theworld’s biggest, will be decidedat an AFC Congress in KualaLumpur in May. The winnerwill complete bin Hammam’s

Giggs signs new one-yeardeal at Manchester United

“He has fantastic energyfor the game and it is won-derful to see. Ryan seems to

reach a new milestone everyweek and to think that he now

has 23 unbroken years ofleague goals behind him istruly amazing in the modern-day game.

“His form this year showshis ability and his enjoymentof the game are as strong asever and I am absolutely de-lighted that he has signed anew contract.”

Giggs signed profes-sional forms with United in1990 and made his debut onMarch 2, 1991. He has made931 appearances for theclub—a Manchester Unitedrecord—and scored 168goals.

He has been capped 64times for Wales and playedfour times for the BritishOlympic men’s football teamat last year’s LondonGames.—AFP

current term, which runs un-til 2015.

Thai football chief WorawiMakudi, a bin Hammam ally,has already thrown his hatinto the ring, along withBahrain’s Sheikh Salman binIbrahim al-Khalifa. Two morehopefuls may also be an-nounced when the candidatesare unveiled on Monday.“The member associations aresplit not in half, but in severalparts,” the source said. “It’shis (Zhang’s) wish that thefootball family can get to-gether, back to unity and soli-darity.” He added: “We hopethat the less (candidates) thebetter, otherwise it will be cer-tain chaos for the AFC.”

Zhang, who will stay onin his role as senior AFC vicepresident, was seen as asteadying hand when he waselevated to caretaker leaderin bewildering circumstancesin 2011.—AFP

England collapsein New ZealandTest warm-up

QUEENSTOWN (NewZealand)—England’s toporder collapsed to give aNew Zealand XI hope of anunlikely victory on daythree of a four-day warm-upmatch in Queenstown onFriday.

After resuming their firstinnings on 224, the NewZealanders declared at sevenfor 349, with BJ Watling (66)and Corey Anderson (67)adding useful runs to theovernight total.

England’s top orderfailed to cope with the newball and the tourists were reel-ing at four for 67 after just 18overs, with Nick Comptonout for one and KevinPietersen managing justeight after his first inningstotal of 14.—AFP

SINGAPORE: Stacy Lewis of the United States plays a shot from a fairway during thefinal round of the HSBC Women’s Championship.

P E S H A W A R — P e s h a w a rclinched the trophy after se-curing 155 points in theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Inter-Region Boxing Champion-ship played here at LalaAman Boxing Complex onFriday.

Provincial Minister forSports Syed Aqil Shah wasthe chief guest on this occa-sion. Directorate of SportsKhyber Pakhtunkhwa IltafKhan Umarzai, PresidentKhyber Pakhtunkhwa BoxingAssociation Waqar Maroof,Ex-Secretary Mirza Jalil, sit-ting Secretary Syed Kamal,Director Development MirBashar Khan, Assistant Di-rector Jamshed Baloch offi-cials and players were alsopresent.

The pugilists ofPeshawar gave stunning per-formances in the Champion-ship by taking 12 medals in-cluding six gold medals, onesilver and secured 155 points,followed by Swat with 86points and won 10 medalswhile Hazara remained at thirdwith 78 points.

The players of Peshawarreached to nine finals out of12 different weights, fol-

Peshawar clinch KP InterRegion Boxing C’ship title

lowed by Swat and Hazarapugilists. A total of 51 pugi-lists in 12 different weightcategories for both junior andsenior categories from sevenregions comprising DeraIsmail Khan, Bannu, Kohat,Mardan, Malakand, Hazaraand host Peshawar took partin the Championship orga-nized by KhyberPakhtunkhwa Boxing Asso-ciation with the support andassistance of the Directorateof Sports KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

In the 60 weight categoryMuhammad Rafiq ofPeshawar defeated Zia Shahof Swat on points, followedby Dera Ismail KhanMuhammad Nouman, win-ning the bronze medals. Inthe 69 kg weight Gul Sher ofPeshawar knocked out Majidof Dera Ismail Khan in thethird round before facingtough resistance with boththe pugilists exhibited excel-lent performances. Bilal ofHazara took bronze medal.

In the 81kg weight NisarAli grabbed gold medal afterknocking Jafar Shah of Swatout in the second round ofthe three rounds battle.

Adnan of Kohat took bronzemedal. In the 91kg weightbulky Shan of Peshawar de-feated Khurram Shehzad ofHazara and grabbed goldmedal while Haseem of Kohattook bronze medal.

In the 75kg weight AbdulQadir of Peshawar won goldmedal who defeated AyazKhan in the three roundsbattle on points 8-2, AyazKhan took silver medal whileNasir of Swat grabbed bronzemedal.

In the 52kg weight AkbarKhan of Swat upset Wisal ofPeshawar in the secondround.Akbar Khan won thegold medal, MuhammadFarman took bronze medal.

In the 64kg weight cat-egory Ismail Shah took goldmedal by defeating FaridUllah of Hazara in the finalthrough points 7-3 while Adilgot bronze medal.

At the end, the chiefguest provincial minister forSports Syed Aqil Shahawarded medals whilePeshawar got overall winnertrophy with Rs. 10,000 cashprize and Hazara wasawarded runners-up trophywith Rs. 7000 cash.—APP

S I N G A P O R E —Amer ica ’sStacy Lewis took a step for-ward in her quest to replaceTseng Yani as women’s worldnumber one as she shot a red-hot six-under-par 66 to seizecontrol of the HSBCWomen’s Champions on Fri-day.

The world number fourstarted the day two back fromovernight leader AzaharaMunoz, but she holed threebirdies on both the front andback nine to head into theweekend two shots clear atSingapore’s par-72 SentosaGolf Club.

Snapping at the heels ofher 11-under-par total of 133

Lewis leads in HSBCWomen’s golf

were Choi Na-Yeon, theworld number two, fellowSouth Korean Chella Choi,17-year-old Thai sensationAriya Jutanugarn, and PaulaCreamer, who is battlingwhiplash injuries from a carcrash last week.

First round leaderMunoz, of Spain, and SouthKorea’s Yoo Sun-Young werealso among the six playersbracketed at nine-under-par135.

Taiwan’s Tseng, who hastopped the rankings for 107weeks but is now defendinga dramatically reduced lead,got off to a bad-temperedstart when she mis-hit her

first tee shot and gesticu-lated at a photographer.

The 24-year-old thendouble-bogeyed the fourthhole and couldn’t repair thedamage, ending the day with73 and eight shots adrift ofLewis, with her hopes dimin-ishing of a first win in nearlya year.

Lewis led last week’sHonda LPGA Thailand be-fore being overhauled onday three by Ariya, andshe will be looking over hershoulder at the young Thaiwho matched her score of66, highlighted by a siz-zling iron shot to one footon the 18th.—AFP

Nishtar annualsports galaconcludes

MULTAN—A two dayNishtar annual sports galaconcluded here on lateThursday night with a prizedistribution ceremony fol-lowed by a music concert atNishtar ground.

On second day, manyevents were held includingchatti race, pillow fight, re-verse race and musical chair.

Principal Nishtar MedicalInstitute, Prof Dr SameeAkhtar, was the chief gueston the occasion.

The participants weresupported and cheered bytheir fellows who boasted themorale of the players.

Ali Hamza of final yearwas declared best athletewhile two special awardswere given to best losers.

Dancing performancesand a musical concert werealso arranged by the stu-dents on the concluding day.

Former Principal NMI,Prof Dr Naiz Baloch, Prof DrTanveer Qureshi, Prof DrMustafa Kamal Pasha, ProfDr Slaman Waris, MS DrJavaid Umer, Prof Dr ShahidRao and Prof Dr SaddiqueKhan Qadri were prominentamong those who attendedthe event.

A large number of stu-dents attended the event be-sides the faculty.—APP

Barkat Ullahlifts Tennis title

PESHAWAR—Barkat Ullahtook a sweet revenge from hisrival Saqib Umar after defeat-ing him in the final of thePeshawar District Lawn Ten-nis Championship playedhere at Synthetic Court of theQayyum Sports Complex.

Provincial Minister forSports Syed Aqil Shah wasthe chief guest on this occa-sion.

Director General Direc-torate of Sports Iltaf Umarzai,President KhyberPakhtunkhwa Tennis Asso-ciation Dr. Tahir, OrganizingSecretary Umar Ayaz, Secre-tary Khyber PakhtunkhwaOlympic AssociationZulfiqar Butt, District SportsOfficer and players were alsopresident and witnessed thefinal.

In the Under-8 finalKashan Umar defeated ObaidKhan by 4-2, 1-4 and 4-2 in athrilling final.

The final was lasted forone hour and 10 minutes.Kashan won the first set butfailed to click in the secondwon by Obaid Khan and af-ter 1-1, Kashan came backstrongly by winning the de-cisive set by 4-2.

In the Under-14 finalBarkat Ullah, who was beatenby Saqib Umar in the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Inter-RegionTennis Championship 15-dayback, took a sweet revengefrom his strong rival SaqibUmar by beating him 2-1, thescore was 6-3, 4-6 and 6-4.Barkat Ullah mostly concen-trated on long rallies by put-ting Saqib Umar under tre-mendous pressure as hemade many errors.—APP

IN ORDER to have better self-control,all you have to do is gargle sugar water.The finding came from a study at the

University of Georgia, led by professor ofpsychology Leonard Martin and MatthewSanders, a doctoral candidate also in theUGA Franklin College ofArts and Sciences, and waspublished in Psychologi-cal Science.

Fifty-one studentswere involved in the studyand were asked to performtwo assignments so thatthe team could test self-control.

In the first assignment,the subjects were asked tocross out the Es on a pagefrom a statistics book,which has been known todiminish self-control.

In the second task,they were asked to identifythe color of differentwords, which actually spellout the names of other colors, that wereflashed on a monitor. This is called theStroop test, in which the aim is to turn offa person’s inclination to read the word in-stead of see the color.

The participants were divided into twogroups - half rinsed their mouths with lem-onade sweetened with sugar while theycompleted the Stroop test and the othergroup with Splenda-sweetened lemonade.

According to the results, students whorinsed with sugar responded to the colorrather than the word significantly fasterthan those in the artificial sweetener group.

“Researchers used to think you had to

Gargling sugar water canboost your self-control

drink the glucose and get it into yourbody to give you the energy to (have)self control. After this trial, it seems thatglucose stimulates the simple carbohy-drate sensors on the tongue. This, in turn,signals the motivational centers of the

brain where our self-relatedgoals are represented.These signals tell yourbody to pay attention.”

The Stroop test wascompleted in about three tofive minutes. A measure ofself-control was seen in theresults, Martin said, but aglucose mouthwash mightnot be sufficient to fix cer-tain self-control hurdlessuch as quitting smoking orlosing weight.

“The research is notclear yet on the effects ofswishing with glucose onlong-term self-control,”Martin said. “So, if you aretrying to quit smoking, aswish of lemonade may not

be the total cure, but it certainly couldhelp you in the short run.” The ambitionis seen in the form of self-values, or emo-tive investment, the authors revealed.

“It is the self-investment,” Martinsaid. “It doesn’t just crank up your en-ergy, but it cranks up your personal in-vestment in what you are doing.

Clicking into the things that are im-portant to you makes those self-relatedgoals salient.” According to the scientists,emotive enhancement is what results fromthe glucose, which causes people to bemore aware of their desires and try harderat evoking the non-dominant response.

KARACHI: Justice Faisal Arab administering oath to acting Chief Justice Sindh HighCourt Justice Maqbool Baqir at SHC.

KARACHI: Troops from Army and Rangers participating in a joint counter terrorism exercise held under the aegisof Corps Headquarters.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—The manage-ment of private schools inthe city had asked the par-ents to deposit fees of Julyand August with fees ofMarch and April respec-tively. Parents of studentsstudying in private schoolshad protested against thedecisions and demands ofthe schools managementand had demanded of thegovernment to take strictaction against the manage-

ment of private schools.The parents had said that

the skyrocketing price-hikeand disproportionate andlimited resources of incomehad already pinned thepeople form middle and lowersocial classes of the society.It was already difficult to setaside a particular amount topay out school fee. The no-tices for depositing theschool fee for two months inadvance were a manifest ofbad governance by the gov-ernment.

They had also said thatthe management of schoolshad warned the parents thattheir children would suffer asthey would not be allowed toappear in exams if fees for thecoming two months were notpaid in advance.

Further, the traders of thecity had also approached theleaders of Sindh Tajir Ittehadfor raising the issue of pay-ment of fee in advance to theSindh Education Minister.

The traders had in a meet-ing under the chair of Sindh

Tajir Ittehad ChairmanJameel Paracha was told thatthe law and order situationin the city had already re-trenched the business upto50 percent due to which thetraders especially small scaletraders were unable to paytwo months fee in advance.

The meeting condemnedthe decision of collection oftwo o months fee in advanceand demanded the SindhEducation Minister PirMazhar Ul Haq to take no-tice of the grave situation.

Demanding July-Aug school fee inadvance act of tyranny: Parents

BIEK bars 191from appearing inexams for use of

unfair meansSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Board of Interme-diate Education Karachi (BIEK)had punished 191 candidatesfor charges of use of unfairmeans during solving the pa-pers in annual exams 2012. TheBIEK Chairman Prof. AnwarAhmed Zai had approved thedecision of awarding punish-ment to the candidates guiltyof use of unfair means and hadbarred 191 candidates from ap-pearing in exams for differentperiods. Two candidates hadbeen barred from appearing inany exam of the BIEK for 2 yearswhile 27 could not appear inexams for one year. Results of27 candidates had been can-celled and papers of 134 candi-dates in which they were caughtwhile using unfair means werecancelled. Result of one candi-date had been withheld till finalannouncement of results.

Twenty-five candidatesfrom Pre-Engineering (Science),14 from Pre-Medical (Science),76 from Commerce (Regular), 48from Commerce (Private), 7 fromHumanities Group (Regular), 14from Humanities Group (Pri-vate) had been punished foruse of unfair means in examina-tions-2012.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) leader Zubairt Khanhad said that parachuters wouldnever be successful in their de-signs to hijack the PTI. The ideo-logical workers of the partywould only accept those thatwould emerge from the grassroot level. PTI was the only po-litical party in the country thathad held elections within theparty, which was a strong mes-sage to other parties that thedemocracy could flourish andgrow stronger in the countrywhen the politics of dynastywould be rejected and workerswould be allowed to elect theirleader through the ballot withinthe party.

He was addressing a pressconference at the Insaf Housein Karachi. Muhammad AshrafQureshi, Jehangir Rehman andShireen Khan and elected of-

ficer-bearers from 18 towns ofthe city including female of-fice-bearers were present.

He said that there were cer-tain elements that had enteredthe party lines and planned tohijack the party throughspending heavy amounts ofmoney only to secure a posi-tion in the party. However, theideological workers of the PTIhad already rejected them andsoon such elements would bewashed out from the PTI as aresult of ongoing electionswithin the party.

Speaking on the occasion,Muhammad Ashraf Qureshisaid that there was no room inPTI for those that wanted tohijack the party through theirwealth. The ongoing electionsin the party were the manifestthat neither the top leadershipnor the workers at the grassroot level were convinced oftheir impressions.

No room for parachutersin PTI: Zubair Khan

Artistes amuseBeaconitesAMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—After some daz-zling performances byBeaconhouse O and A’ levelstudents in February, BSSMiddle Schools also show-cased their theatrical prow-ess at another annual theatreevent organized byBeaconhouse in Karachi.

The show opened withyoung performers of NorthNazimabad Middle Campuswinning hearts as the muchloved characters of the En-glish classic, Pride and Preju-dice.

This was followed byfrolicking performances onThe Changeling (PECHSCampus), Anna and the Kingof Siam (Jubilee Campus),Falling Stars (Defence Cam-pus) and The Merchant ofVenice (Gulshan Middle II).Around 25-30 BSS studentstook part in each play andmanaged to engage an adultaudience.

Pakistani television art-is ts Agha Sheraz andJaveria Abbasi , and pro-ducer/director Kazim Pashadistributed prizes amongstthe young actors.

Joint counterterrorism

exercise heldKARACHI—In the wake ofnew security challengesposed by extremist elements,a Joint Counter Terrorism ex-ercise in a series was heldunder the aegis of CorpsHeadquarters at Karachi onFriday. An Inter ServicesPublic Relations (ISPR)press release issued here saidthat troops from Army andrangers participated in theexercise and that they wereaided by Sindh Police,Karachi Metropolitan Corpo-ration Fire Brigade and Am-bulance Service.

It said that the exercisewas aimed at tackling the ter-ror threat by incorporatingjoint response in an effectivemanner. Highly trained ArmyTroops of a Light CommandoBattalion showed exceptionalagility and swift response totake on the simulated threatwhile troops from Rangersand Police secured the area.

In a mock up drill the hos-tages were rescued andevacuated immediatelythrough ambulanceservice.Fire tenders also as-sisted in containing the pro-jected damage to the en-trance area. The exercise wasobserved by senior militaryofficials, the ISPR press re-lease added. —APP

Altaf condemnskilling of

journalist in QalatSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The Founderand Leader of MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM)Altaf Hussain strongly con-demned the killing of the se-nior journalist MahmoodAfridi by armed terrorists inQalat. He termed the incidenta blatant attack on the free-dom of the press and addedthat journalists were beinggunned down in the countrycontinuously. He said thatthe killing of journalists andincidents of violence were asource of great concern forthe people, particularly whenthe general elections wereapproaching near.

Hussain said that the kill-ings of journalists had createda sense of insecurity amongthe among the journalists’community. He extended sym-pathies to the bereaved familymembers and journalists’ orga-nizations. He appealed to Presi-dent Asif Zardari, Prime Min-ister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Fed-eral Interior Minister RehmanMalik and GovernorBalochistan Zulfikar Ali Magsito take serious notice of thekilling of Mahmood Afridi.

Shahzeb murder case

Public Prosecutorremoved

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The governmenthad removed the public pros-ecutor in Shahzeb KhanMurder case Abdul Maroofhad been removed. His re-moval from the case was dueto his objections he hadraised against adding theclauses of terrorism in theChallan of the Murder Case.

Government had replacedAbdul Maroof by ShahidArain as the Public Prosecu-tor to deal with the case in-stead. However, AbdulMaroof would continue toplead all other cases. AbdulMaroof had beside raisingobjections on clauses of ter-rorism in the Challan askedthat the case should be trans-ferred to the Session Court in-stead of special court dealingwith the cases of terrorism.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Speaker of SindhAssembly Nisar AhmedKhuhru said that the issuanceof a notification regarding an-nouncement of leader of oppo-sition in Sindh assembly wasconditioned by approval of res-ignations of Ministers fromMuttahida Qaumi Movement.Therefore, the Speaker said thathe would request the Governorto resolve the issue of resigna-tions so that leader of opposi-tion should be announced ontime prior to dissolution of as-semblies. The assemblies com-pleted the constitutional tenure

so the period from March1-15would be fully celebrated. Op-position benches had alreadybeen allotted to 30 lawmakersfrom MQM. However, it couldnot be said if there had existeda forward block in MQM law-makers or not.

He expressed these viewswhile addressing a press con-ference on Friday in Sindh As-sembly Committee Room.Khoru said that the MQM Min-isters had tendered their resig-nations at a time when the Gov-ernor was not in the country,hence the resignations werenot approved. Later, when thewas given to him, the decision

was not taken because thegovernment wanted to find anamicable solution of the disputeso that the Coalition could haveremained intact.

He said that in order to cel-ebrate the completion of theconstitutional tenure of the as-semblies, those would invitedto attend the jubilation onMarch 4 that had played theirrole for the promotion of democ-racy. The Speaker said that thenewsmen that had played theirrole for democracy would be in-vited while on March 6 andMarch 8 would be a day for theintellectuals and women re-spectively.

Governor to resolve MQMMinisters’ resignations issue

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Karachi Metro-politan Corporation (KMC)Administrator Syed HashimRaza Zaidi said that football wasthe most popular sport of theworld but it did not have muchimportance in Asia and Futsalwas also the part of this series.He said that it was necessaryto promote sports activities sothat youths would attract to-ward healthy activities andKMC will always support andpatronize the sports.

He said this while address-ing as a chief guest to endingceremony of KMC Day andNight Futsal Tournamentwhich was won by Barma Mu-

hammadan Landhi whereas theteam of Lyari Labor WelfareCentre was runner up. The Ad-ministrator said sports, educa-tion and cultural activitieswould be improved and patron-

ized and the tournaments ofsports exist in Pakistan wouldbe arranged so that youthscould be encouraged and theycould bright the name of theirnation and country.

KMC Administrator forcontinuous support for games

A CALCULATION based on resultsfrom a large lung cancer screeningtrial projects that 12,000 deaths a

year among the highest-risk smokers andex-smokers in the U.S. could be avoidedwith a national screening program.

The National LungScreening Trial, publishedin 2010, found 20 percentfewer deaths from lungcancer in a group of peopleat highest risk for the dis-ease when they werescreened annually with CTscans, a form of high-reso-lution X-ray that can spotsuspicious lung nodules.

Based on the 8.6 millionAmericans who would fallinto that high-risk categorybecause of a decades-longhistory of smoking, re-searchers at the AmericanCancer Society say in anew study that 12,000fewer people a year woulddie of lung cancer if na-tional screening were put in place.

“This is the first paper that attempts toassess the impact of screening on lung can-cer cases nationally,” one of the authors,Ahmedin Jemal, told Reuters Health.“Twelve thousand is a lot of cases,” hesaid.In the National Lung Screening Trial,current or former smokers between the agesof 55 and 74 who had accumulated 30“pack-years” of smoking - for example bysmoking 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years,or 40 cigarettes a day for 15 years - wereconsidered to be at the highest risk for lungcancer.

The 20 percent reduction in deaths

Screening might avertmany lung cancer deaths

among people in that category in the trialwas “a singular, enormous accomplish-ment” said Larry Kessler, of the Univer-sity of Washington in Seattle, who stud-ies the diagnostic value of screening tech-nologies.

“That was a pivotalevent that should havewoken people up,” saidKessler, who also wrote aneditorial accompanying thenew study in the journalCancer.

To put a number on thepotential benefits demon-strated in the NLST, theAmerican Cancer Societyresearchers used U.S. cen-sus and health survey datato calculate the number ofAmericans at highest riskfor lung cancer.

About 60,000 of thosepeople die from lung cancerevery year, according totheir estimates, which couldbe reduced to 48,000 if ev-

ery one of those people had a CT scan toidentify early-stage nodules that couldbe removed surgically.

A national screening program wouldrepresent a breakthrough in the battleagainst lung cancer, which kills about160,000 people in the U.S. every year, theresearchers argue. Other major killers likebreast cancer and colon cancer can bescreened for with mammograms andcolonoscopies, but lung cancers are toooften caught too late for life-saving treat-ment, they point out.Although the pros-pect of reducing deaths by 20 percentsounds significant.

LAHORE: Zakia Shahnawaz speaking during a seminar on Hepatitis at King EdwardMedical College University.

LAHORE: All Parties Hurriat Conference leader Malik Yasin condoling with President PML-N Muhammad NawazSharif on the death of his brother Mian Abbas Sharif.

JudicialCommissionmeets today

LAHORE—Judicial Commis-sion (JC) meeting has beenconvened on March, 2 in con-nection with confirmation orextension in the period of 6additional judges of LahoreHigh Court (LHC).

Chief Justice of Pakistan(CJP) Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry will preside over themeeting while chief justice ofLHC Omar Atta Bandial willparticipate therein as member.

Meeting will accord ap-proval to confirmation or ex-tension in respect of 6 addi-tional judges of LHC.

Former chief justice SheikhAzmat Saeed had appointedthese 6 judges including Jus-tice Abdul Sami Khan, JusticeIbad ur Rehman Lodhi, JusticeShujaat Ali Khan, JusticeAyesha A Malik, JusticeShahid Waheed Khan andJustice Ali Baqir Najfi for oneyear on March, 27, 2012.

Court sources said 4judges are likely to be con-firmed while period of 2 judgesis likely to be extended for fur-ther one year or 6 monthseach.—Online

Nine labourersfaint after gas

leakageLAHORE—At least ninelabours were found fainteddue to gas leakage in a base-ment of Timber Market herein the wee hours of Friday.

According to rescuesources, the basement of tim-ber market got filled with gasdue to leakage, leaving thecondition of labours unstable.After getting information, therescue teams reached the siteand rushed the labours toMayo Hospital.—INP

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—The Lahore HighCourt Friday adjourned hear-ing of petitions against pro-posed Bahawalpur JunoobiPunjab province till March 5,with a direction to place theNational Assembly resolu-tion regarding provinces is-sue on record.

Justice MuhammadKhalid Mehmood Khan washearing the petitions filed byAdvocate Munsif Awan andothers.

Earlier, the petitioner’scounsel arguing before thecourt submitted that the Na-tional Assembly speakercould form parliamentarycommittees but did not haveauthority to constitute acommission.

“ Only the federal govern-ment could form a commis-sion as per the Commissionof Inquiry Act 1956”, headded.

He said that the Na-

LHC calls NA resolutionon new provinces

tional Assembly resolutionon provinces was passedagainst consti tut ion andNational Assembly rules.

However, Additional At-torney General (AAG) AbdulHai Gillani contended thatthe NA passed the resolutionafter president’s messageand the commission wasformed in the light of resolu-tion.” Parliament had author-ity to do whatever it likes”,he said.

Petitioner’s counsel op-posed the argument sayingthat parliament could not actagainst fundamental rightsand basic constitution struc-ture.

The court observed thatthe parliament could not ex-ceed beyond its powers, asthe principle was settled inthe Moulvi Tameez-ud-dincase.

The AAG said that the billwas tabled in the Senate andit could be challenged after itwas made a law.

However, the court or-

dered the AAG to place theNA resolution on record andadjourned the matter tillMarch 5.

The petitioners, in theirpetition, submitted that thepresident, the prime ministerand the National Assemblyspeaker did not have author-ity to form a parliamentarycommission on provinces is-sue.

They said that only par-liament could change theboundary of a province butit was necessary to firstamend Article 1 of the con-stitution.

The petitioners said theparliamentary committee inits recommendations had in-cluded the name of Mianwalidistrict into the proposedprovince which was not ac-ceptable to people of the dis-trict.

They pleaded the courtto set aside the commis-sion report after declaringit against the constitutionand law.

60 second filmfest concludes

LAHORE—A 60-second filmfestival concluded atAlhamra Art Council here onFriday where twenty fourfilms were presented.

A large number of stu-dents, film enthusiasts andmembers of the businesscommunity attended the fes-tival.

The films presented weremostly produced by stu-dents and young profession-als and selected from 200 en-tries.

The films centred on arange of social issues includ-ing peace, conflict andcounter-terrorism, genderdisparity, health (with a fo-cus on HIV/AIDS),tolerance,energy, education, poverty,hunger and water re-sources.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The InspectorGeneral of Prisons PunjabMian Farooq Nazeer Fridaygranted special education re-mission from 15 days upto 2years to 521 convicts of Cen-tral Jail, Kotlakhpat for suc-cessfully qualifying variousexams, courses andmemorising the Quran byheart.

Senior SuperintendentCentral Jail KotlakhpatMohsin Rafique Chaudharytold media persons here Fri-day that 18 convicts under-going various terms of sen-tences are memorizing theHoly Quran by heart under thesupervision of highly quali-fied religious teachers and willbe awarded two years specialremission on its successfulcompletion.

He said that on the spe-

IG grants special educationremission to 521 convicts

cial directive of IG, the servicesof the highly qualified reli-gious teachers have been ac-quired who teach convictsdaily and impart religiouseducation to other partici-pants in Dars-e-Nizami andQuran Nazra classes.

He said that a total of 3539prisoners are housed in jailagainst sanctioned strengthof only 1053 of which 849 con-victs work daily in differentsections of the factory. Hesaid that 65 prisoners teach-ers are also contributing to-wards education of convicts.

He said that 307 skilledconvicts are engaged in car-pet manufacturing and 45 inroll making while 130 are learn-ing the art of carpet weaving.He said that 116 convicts areinvolved in “Niwar” manufac-turing and 8 in cone makingprocess.

Mohsin said that an edu-

cated convict who teachesother convicts and under trialprisoners in jail during hisconfinement gets 8 days spe-cial remission in a month. Hesaid according to jail manual,only highly qualified convictsshowing better behaviour andexhibiting excellent disciplineare engaged for imparting ba-sic teaching to illiterate con-victs and under trial prison-ers.

He said that those work-ing in various sections of thejail factory are entitled to fivedays remission in a month andthose working even on Sun-day get six days.The convictswho perform duty at roti plantsecured seven days remis-sion.

Additional Superinten-dent, Ishtiaq Ahmad Gill saidthat one whole time DeputySuperintendent Jail, AssistantSuperintendent of Jail and oneChief Head Warder along withother force have been de-ployed in factory. He said thatoutput of each and every con-vict is monitored daily and anyinmate showing zero perfor-mance is not entitled to remis-sion.

About the quality of food,he said that best hygienicfood is being served to themwith better quality of breadwhich he claimed is hundredpercent good than open mar-ket.

He said on the special di-rective of prisons chief,healthy cows and chickensare slaughtered in jail pre-mises under the supervisionof jail doctor and on duty As-sistant Superintendent Jail.

Yasin Malikdiscusses Kashmir

with NawazSALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Kashmiri leaderYasin Malik Friday met withPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) PresidentMian Nawaz Sharif at hisRaiwind residence and dis-cussed various matters of mu-tual interest including the situ-ation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Both the leaders dis-cussed the ways of resolv-ing the long-standing issueof Kashmir and agreed thatPakistan and India need toinclude the Kashmiripeople’s point of view in anydialogue process.

Kasmiri leader told NawazSharif about the latest situa-tion of Kashmir and the PML-N head assured full supportto the Kashmiri people intheir just struggle.

Nawaz reiterated that im-proved relations betweenPakistan and India will helpresolve the Kashmir issueand increased trade will helpin this regard.

Punjab govtrestores 71

young doctorsSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab HealthDepartment has restored 71young doctors.

According to the notifi-cation, the restored doctorswere associated with Jinnahhospital, Services hospital,Mayo hospital, Children hos-pital and Nishter hospital ofMultan.

The doctors were sackedfor provoking their col-leagues and holding strike inpublic hospitals followingthe Gujranwala incident.

After the successful talkswith chief minister, the doc-tors ended their hunger strikewhile the government re-stored the protesting doc-tors.

It is important to mentionthat the inquiry launchedagainst the doctors involvedin Gujranwala torture casehas not been withdrawn asyet.

People’scooperation

sought for polioeradicationSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—District Coordi-nation Officer (DCO)Lahore Noor-ul-AminMengal on Friday statedthat citizens should comeforward to eradicate poliovirus particularly fromLahore city and generallyfrom Pakistan.

He expressed theseviews while addressing aseminar regarding polioawareness campaign atBadshahi Mosque here onFriday.

Noor-ul-Amin furthersaid that India is a countryof one billion people and ithas no polio case.

He urged upon peopleto vaccinate their childrenthe drops of polio, measles,hepatitis A,B and C.

He also said that CDGLhad made it compulsory tosubmit vaccination card toobtain school admissionand to get birth day certifi-cate of their children. Healso asked the citizens tocooperate with the polioteams.

On this occasion,Kateeb Badshahi Masjid,Mulana Abdul KhubairAzad also delivered polioawareness lecture and toldcitizens that no anti Islamicand anti Islamic jurispru-dence material had beenutilized in the manufactur-ing of vaccination drops.

He also revealed that re-nowned Islamic scholarshad given fatwa in favourof polio drops. CDGL offic-ers and a large gathering at-tended seminar.

PPP leaderpasses away

LAHORE—Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) Lahore formergeneral secretary M.AkbarKhan passed away here earlymorning on Friday.

PPP Lahore president,Federal Minister SaminaKhalid Ghurki has expressedgrief and condolence on thedemise of PPP leader in astatement here on Friday. Sheprayed for the departed soul,and the bereaved family.

In a separate statements,other PPP leaders includingPPP Punjab vice presidentHaji Aziz ur Rehman Chan,PPP Lahore information sec-retary Abid HussainSiddiqui, PPP deputy infor-mation secretary Iqbal Sialviand others also expressedtheir sorrow on the demise ofan active and committedparty worker.—APP