Is something cooking up inLondon?.................................................Put killer tobacco at rest.................................................Another possible wave ofterrorism

See Page 04

Phase 1st completedin record time

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif says generationof electricity in a record period of sevenmonths from first turbine of Nandipur PowerProject is a golden story of commitment anddetermination.

He said that this project of national im-portance was revived again and today pro-duction of electricity from Nandipur PowerProject has started. He expressed the hope

that under the leadership of Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif, the countrywould be rid of darkness, there will be lightsand economic progress. He was addressinginauguration ceremony of Nandipur PowerProject Saturday. The Chief Minister saidtoday is a historic day and this day is a proofof the fact that if there is darkness and dis-appointment everywhere, the projects likeNandipur Power Project proves to be a rayof hope in the disappointment and convert xinto lights. He said that today is the goldenday in the history of Pakistan when produc-tion of electricity has been started fromNandipur Power Project within a short pe-riod of seven months. Strongly criticizingthe criminal negligence of former rulers with

regard to Nandipur Power Project, ShahbazSharif said that the past story is very painfuland Nandipur Power Project is one of suchtragic incidents of the past. He said that theformer rulers made the life of the peoplemiserable due to greed. He said that themachinery of the plant kept rusting atKarachi Port for three years during previ-ous tenure, parts were stolen, agriculture wasruined, chimnies of industries stopped emit-ting smoke and irreparable loss was causedto economy but previous rulers did not payany attention towards it.

Had this project been completed threeyears ago, the country would not have facedeconomic loss of 165 billion rupees and anadditional amount of 30 billion rupees of

the poor nation will not have to be spent forreviving this dead project. The Chief Min-ister said that he is not levelling allegationsagainst anyone but it is the right of the na-tion that real facts should be brought beforeit about loot and plunder committed withregard to this important project.

He said that like this project, which wascompleted in a record period of sevenmonths under the leadership of Prime Min-ister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the otherenergy projects will be completed by work-ing round the clock according to the visionof Prime Minister.

Shahbaz Sharif said that all the team ofNandipur Power Project worked day andnight and completed this project speedily.

He said that Chinese company Dongfongwas convinced to start work again on theproject as due to the worst criminal negli-gence and inefficiency of previous govern-ment, Chinese company had gone back. Hesaid that Chinese company had promised tomake functional first turbine by November2014 but when we started work on theproject under the vision of Prime Minister,the officials of Chinese company surprisedto see the pace of work and today this projecthas been completed before stipulated period.

The Chief Minister said that Pakistaniand Chinese experts worked on this projectround the clock with determination and

Nandipur project golden story of commitment: Shahbaz

Continued on Page 7

NANDIPUR: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif receiving a souvenir from Chairman Dong Fang Electric Cor-poration Wang Ji during inauguration ceremony of Nandipur Power Project.

KHALID BUTT

NANDIPUR (Gujranwala)—Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif Saturday inaugurated the first95-Megawatt turbine of Nandipur PowerProject at an impressive ceremony held on theoutskirts of Gujranwala. The project was com-pleted in record seven months. The project hasfour units and after two months another tur-bine will become operational adding electric-ity to the national grid. Speaking on the occa-sion, the premier said the government has takenseveral initiatives in the energy sector. He saidprojects in energy sector would inject 9,000MW electricity to national grid.

It has been decided to speed up the comple-tion of electricity generation projects particu-larly in the hydel sector, he said. He said fortybillions of rupees have been released for theland acquisition of Diamer Bhasha Dam. Simi-larly, we have decided to undertake work onDasu dam.

These two projects will add 9,000 MW ofelectricity to the grid and are much biggerprojects than Mangla and Tarbela. The premiersaid the project of Nandipur has been completedbefore his expectation despite snags as the

machines required were held up for three yearsat the Karachi port during previous government.Congratulating Punjab chief minister and histeam, the prime minister said the present gov-ernment completed this project in a few months.He said foundation stones of Port Qasim andSahiwal power projects have also been laid.Neelam Jhelum power project would soon beinaugurated. The work speed on these projectswas unique in the history of Pakistan, he as-serted.

Referring to previous government’s crimi-nal negligence to these projects, he said thatthe delay due to withholding of machineries atKarachi port caused the national exchequerlosses in billions. Neelum Jhelum project wasanother worst example of corruption and neg-ligence of the previous government, as it wasoriginally estimated to cost Rs84 billion andnow it was going to be completed at the cost ofRs275 billion, he said. Nawaz said the upcom-ing financial budget will envisage several re-lief measures for farmers and the business com-munity. He said these measures will help eradi-cate poverty and generate economic activitiesin the country. He said that efforts were afoot

PM switcheson Nandipur IstTurbine Project

For God’s sake, let the country move forward,Nawaz tells detractors Projects in hand to inject

9,000 megawatt electricity to national grid

Continued on Page 7

SINGAPORE—The United States and Chinasquared off at an Asian security forum on Sat-urday, with the US defence secretary accus-ing Beijing of destabilizing the region and atop Chinese general retorting that his com-ments were “threat and intimidation”.

Using unusually strong language, US De-fence Secretary Chuck Hagel took aim atBeijing’s handling of territorial disputes withits Asian neighbours.

“In recent months, China has undertakendestabilizing, unilateral actions asserting itsclaims in the South China Sea,” Hagel said.

He warned Beijing that the United Stateswas committed to its geopolitical rebalance tothe Asia-Pacific region and “will not look theother way when fundamental principles of theinternational order are being challenged”.

Hagel said the United States took no posi-tion on the merits of rival territorial claims inthe region, but added: “We firmly oppose anynation’s use of intimidation, coercion, or thethreat of force to assert these claims.”

His speech at Singapore’s Shangri-La Dia-logue, Asia biggest security forum, provokedan angry reaction from the deputy chief of staff

of the Chinese Army, Lieutenant-GeneralWang Guanzhong. “I felt that SecretaryHagel’s speech is full of hegemonism, threatand intimidation,” he told reporters just afterthe speech. Wang said the speech was aimedat causing trouble in the Asia-Pacific. Hagel’scomments followed the keynote address byJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at thesame forum on Friday evening, who pledged“utmost support” to Southeast Asian countries,several of which are locked in maritime dis-putes with China.

“I felt that they were just trying to echoeach other,” Wang said. Hagel later held a bi-lateral meeting with Wang, where the Chinesemilitary leader expressed his surprise at theU.S. defense secretary’s speech.

“You were very candid this morning, andto be frank, more than our expectations,” hesaid. “Although I do think those criticisms aregroundless, I do appreciate your candor …likewise we will also share our candor.” A se-nior U.S. defense official said that, despiteWang’s opening remarks, the tone of the meet-

US, China square offat Asia security forum

Continued on Page 7

PM visits Karachitoday; major

decisions likely ontargeted operation

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharifwould arrive at Karachi on a oneday visit. The one day visit of thePM was being termed as of piv-otal importance as the well-in-formed circles said that this visitof the PM would result in accel-erating in ongoing action againstthe criminals and terrorists bylaw enforcement agencies.

According to sources, PMwould soon after reaching themetropolis hold a meeting atSindh Governor House. Themeeting would focus ongovernment’s strategy for curb-ing lawlessness from the cityand the authorities concernedwould brief the PM about ef-forts, results, achievements andimpediments in ongoing tar-geted operation.

The meeting would be at-tended by federal interior Min-ister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan,Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat UlEbad Khan, Sindh Chief Minis-ter Syed Qaim Ali Shah Jilani,Pakistan Rangers Sindh Direc-tor General Maj. Gen. RizwanAkhtar, Inspector general of Po-lice, Sindh Iqbal Mehmood,Karachi Police Chief Ghulam

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The Chinese government on Fri-day released $49 million through Exim Bankof China for Neelum-Jhelum HydropowerProject in a bid to help Pakistan acceleratethe pace of work on the mega hydel scheme.

As the government was facing financialissues for timely completion of the project,senior officials concerned termed funds fromChina a major development that would helpthem accomplish various tasks on time.

The Exim Bank of China is among fivemajor funding agencies besides Saudi Fund,Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund forInternational Development, Kuwait Fundscontributing millions of dollars to the $2.74billion project, according to a revised PC-1.

“The Exim Bank alone has committed tocontribute about $450 million to the project

under a soft loan. The bank had earlier re-leased over $17 million to our government,”a senior official said.

He said keeping in view the Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif’s interest in the earlycompletion of the project’s first unit by De-cember 2015 and power generation by Janu-ary or February 2016 after a test run, authori-ties have accelerated the pace of work.

“The project, which requires Rs2 billionper month for its completion on time, is veryimportant for the government for adding969MW to the national grid. It will consider-ably help the government reduceloadshedding by at least two hours a day,”the official explained. He said 61pc work onthe project had been completed. Approxi-mately 70pc digging for 67km tunnels and100pc digging of underground powerhouseand transformer halls had been completed.

China releases $49mmore for N-J project

Continued on Page 7

OBSERVER REPORT

ISLAMABAD—The government on Sat-urday turned down proposals to raisepetrol prices for the month of June, de-ciding instead to leave them unchangedby providing a subsidy of Rs1.78 billion.

According to an official release, Fi-nance Minister Ishaq Dar called onPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif inIslamabad on Saturday to brief him on

the price of petroleum products duringthe last three months.

The finance minister further toldNawaz Sharif that the Oil and GasRegulatory Authority has suggested anincrease in prices of Petrol, HSD, LSDand HOBC and decrease in the priceof Kerosene Oil for June.

However, the Premier directed thatthe prices of petroleum products shouldbe maintained at the current level. He

approved the decrease in price for Kero-sene oil. Following this, kerosene oilprices have been reduced from Rs98.07to Rs97.40 per liter, a decrease of Rs0.67rupees per liter.

The prices of POL products with ef-fect from June 1, 2014, will be MS(Petrol) Rs107.97; High Speed DieselRs109.34; Light Diesel Oil Rs94.13;HOBC Rs134.63; and KeroseneRs98.07.

No hike in petroleumprices, orders PM

Govt to provide subsidy of Rs 1.78b to offset difference in POL prices

Polio vaccinationcertificate mustfrom todaySTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Poliovaccination certificates willbecome mandatory fortravellers from Pakistan toforeign countries from June 1.

According to Ministry ofHealth Services, provinceshave been issued one millionhealth certificates. Officialsfrom the ministry say districthealth officers, medicalsuperintendents and EDOhealth will be authorisedofficers for issuing poliocertificates.

All major governmenthospitals and airports inprovinces will have specialpolio counters. At airportsofficials from the CivilAviation Authority and HealthMinistry will issue vaccinationcertificates. It is mandatory tocarry passports and presentthem at polio counters.

Polio cells have beenformed at PIMS and Poly-clinic hospitals in Islamabad.

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—As the crossborder aggression from theneighbouring Afghanistancontinued unabated,bloody clashes betweenthe Pakistani securityforces and intruders at aborder area in Bajauragency Saturday weehours left at least 16 mili-tants dead. A security per-sonnel also embracedShahadat while two otherssustained critical injuries.

The military sourcessaid hundreds of militantsfrom Afghanistan’s Kunarprovince armed with so-phisticated weapons,launched pre-dawn assaulton a number of Pakistani security postsat Pak-Afghan border in Bajaur agencyleaving a soldier martyred and two oth-

ers critically wounded. The security per-sonnel guarding the security posts of-fered tough resistance to more than 150

intruders as in the mean-while gunship helicoptersalso reached to assist thetroops and came heavily onthe assaulters leaving atleast 16 miscreants dead.

“In Bajaur at 5.15 in themorning 150 to 200 terror-ists from across the borderattacked group of Pakistaniposts at Nao stop yet thePakistani troops effectivelyresponded and fought val-iantly as gunship helicop-ters were dispatched as re-inforcement which shelledthe attackers. At least 16terrorist were killed in theretaliatory fire while one of

our soldiers embraced Shahadat and two

Terrorists from Afghanistanattack Pakistani posts in Bajaur16 intruders mowed down, one soldier martyred

Continued on Page 7

Karachi DCsurvivesassassinationattemptSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A deputycommissioner survived anassassination attempt whenarmed men opened fire on hisvehicle near Korangi.

The driver and guard ofthe deputy commissionersustained bullet injuries whenarmed assailants attacked thevehicle near Nasir Jump inKorangi. CommissionerKarachi Shoaib Siddique toldmedia that deputy commis-sioner remained safe in attack.

Islamabadlodges protestwith KabulSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—After a mili-tary check post came underheavy attack from the Talibanin Bajaur early on Saturday,Pakistan lodged a formal com-plaint with Afghanistan.

According to a statementfrom the Ministry of ForeignContinued on Page 7

Italy rescuesmore than3,500 migrantsROME—Italian navy patrolships rescued more than 3,500migrants including hundredsof women and children fromboats coming from NorthAfrica, authorities said onSaturday, while PrimeMinister Matteo Renzi calledfor help from the EuropeanUnion. The rescues, which thecoast guard said have beengoing on since Friday evening,are the latest in a seeminglyendless succession as thechronic migrant crisis in thesouthern Mediterranean haspicked up this year.

A total of 3,612 migrantsfrom Syria and North Africawere picked up from 11 boatsand taken to ports in Sicilyand the Mediterranean islandof Lampedusa, a coastguardspokesman told Reuters. Some43,000 people have crossedfrom North Africa to Italy sofar this year, the same amountas in the whole of 2013, thecoastguard said.

That leaves the annualtotal set to surpass the 60,000who made the trip in 2011when the Arab Springrevolutions loosened bordercontrols, according to the U.N.refugee agency UNHCR. Thenear daily arrivals of migrantboats, mostly leaving fromports in Libya, was an issue inItaly in the Europeanparliamentary elections onSunday. —Reuters

KP budget to be reflective ofpeople’s aspirations: Khattak

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattakhas asked the youth to support his govt in themission of changing the system and eliminatingthe scourge of corruption from the govt machin-ery so that the goal of real welfare society basedon supremacy of law, merit and justice could beachieved. He said that PTI led for coalition govtwas voted into power in the name of changewherein youthfully supportedus. Hence he said his govtwas endeavoring for changeof system round the clock. Heasserted that our new budgetwould be the true reflectionof the aspirations of thepeople that would be tax-freeand welfare budget despitethe meager available re-sources. He vowed that be-sides embarking upon megadevelopment plan, improvingsocial services and ameliorat-ing lot of the people especiallythe poor, comprehensiveschemes of skills and jobs foryouth have been included inthe new ADP. Similarly he saidthat improvement in the qual-ity of primary and higher edu-cation as well as technicaltraining would be given spe-cial focus in the new fiscalyear.

He was talking to delegation of Insaf YouthWing (IYW) that called on him at CM SecttPeshawar and apprised him of their plans andrecommendations for overcoming unemploymentand empowering the youth. Advisor to CM onEconomic Affairs Rafaqat Ullah Babar, MPAZareen Zia and PTI Provincial Sectary GeneralKhalid Masood were also present on this occa-sion. Pervez Khattak said that youth is our realasset and we fully believe in their high capabili-ties. He said that the nation suffered a lot due toignoring the youth and not benefitting of their

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak talking to a delegationof Insaf Youth Wing on Saturday.

talent. However he said that we would involveour youth in all spheres of life and would awakentheir leadership capabilities.

Chief Minister appreciated the youth empow-erment plan of the delegation and said that werightly expected such constructive thinking of ouryouth that would be realized in letter and spirit. Heassured that provincial govt would implement theschemes of youth empowerment, revival of youthassembly, holding youth leadership conference

and launching Provincial Internships Program(PIP) on the pattern of National Internship Pro-gram (NIP). He said that provincial govt wantedto enable its educated youth to become employ-ers and investors.

He agreed with the viewpoint that the basicreason of unemployment was substandard edu-cation and ill conceived polices of past regimesotherwise he said education was a big virtue andguarantor of employment. He said we are chang-ing the entire system of education, skills and train-ing in the province to bring it at par with interna-tional level and thus our degrees are accepted

and respected according.Pervez khattak said that his government

would honour each and every promise with themasses. He said ours is the only govt, whichimplemented its manifesto with all dedication. Hesaid that accomplishing the agenda of changewas our top most priority. However he regrettedthat even some educated people did not under-stand the meaning of change. He said that wehave to cooperate with provincial govt to realize

its reforms agenda with a spiritof sacrifices. He said thatmonitoring teams have beenconstituted to ensure the pres-ence of staff in educational in-tuitions that he said would alsodiscourage the trend of drop-outs of children from theschools. He said that unifiededucation system in Englishhas been launched throughoutthe province so that the dualsystem of education intro-duced by the past colonial re-gime could be winded up forgood and enable our poor toreach highest places as well.He said that crash programeof providing missing facilitiesin our schools including class-rooms, toilets, drinking water,boundary walls and furniturehave been started wherein Pa-kistanis from within and out-

side the county have been appealed to donatefor the purpose. He deplored that our existingschools lacked 13 thousand rooms, 9 thousandboundary walls, 8 thousand toilets and other basicfacilities of electricity, ceiling fans and drinkingwaters.

Similarly he said that due to continuous load-shedding, soaring power rates and non-coop-eration of PESCO employees, it is decided to trans-fer all the schools to solar power that would en-sure uninterrupted and cheap power supply toour schools and children besides considerablesavings in power bills.

Is something cookingup in London?

UNFORTUNATELY, London has acquired notoriety for plans andconspiracies in the context of Pakistani politics and it seems thehistory is being repeated once again. PML(Q) leaders Ch. Shujaat

Hussain and Ch. Pervez Ilahi travelled all the way to the British capital tomeet Dr. Tahirul Qadri of PAT, who prefers telephonic and video ad-dresses, and the two sides agreed to launch a joint campaign to oust theGovernment of PML(N).

The meeting has generated a lot of interest, heat and speculationsabout agenda of Chaudhary brothers and Maulana Qadri and on whosebehest they are embarking on the path of undermining the democraticdispensation. Though spokesperson of PTI Dr. Shirin Mazari has claimedthat Imran Khan had nothing to do with the rendezvous of PML(Q) andPAT and that he was in London to meet his children there, but it seems tobe a strange co-incidence and both PML(Q) and PAT leaders claimed thatthey have support of PTI as well. Correspondent of this newspaper hasalso reported that MQM can also be taken on board with the passage oftime. It is also noteworthy that while MQM has been loudly agitating theissue of disappearance of its workers, PTI is assuming threatening pos-ture as it is consistently agitating the issue of rigging in elections. Seeingall these things together in a single joint spectrum, it makes one believethat something ominous was cooking up in London. Though formation ofalliances and launching of protest campaigns against wrong doings of theGovernment or pressing for your legitimate demands are well within thedemocratic spirit but our history tells us that such alliances and move-ments were, in some ways, extra-democratic and in the past these led toderailment of the system. There is hardly any justification for launchingof any movement at this point of time when the PML(N) government hasembarked upon an all inclusive developmental strategy aimed at acceler-ating the pace of economic growth and creation of job opportunities forthe youth. We hope that all political players would learn to exercise pa-tience and wait for the next general elections to try their luck, rather thancreating problems in the way of developmental agenda of the ruling party.We would also urge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to adopt the policy ofaccommodation both within his own party and vis-à-vis other politicalparties to foil designs of those trying to destabilize the system.

Put killertobacco at rest

ON the eve of No Tobacco Day, Minister of State for National HealthServices, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar on Friday

announced that the government is proposing new taxes on tobacco items incoming budget 2014-15 to reduce prevalence of its use in the country. Ad-dressing a news conference, she said that the government has taken severalsteps to stop smoking including ban on tobacco advertisement from 31st

May in print media, on television or radio, cable television and close circuittelevision networks.

Tobacco is known as silent killer as it causes death of five million peopleannually in the globe but regrettably it is still a legal product and there arejust few restrictions on its consumption and that too are not being enforcedin letter and spirit in many countries especially in Pakistan. This is despitethe fact that it is right of every individual to breathe fresh air but smokershave taken away this right. The most dangerous aspect of smoking is thatit kills the non-smokers as well who inhale the smoke of others. Serioushealth effects of tobacco are known to all but still its business is thrivingonly because it is a power industry of $45 billion around the world. Themen who run it are some of the highest paid executives, with some earn-ing up to $2.5 million annually. But while the tobacco industry is thriv-ing, the people smoking, chewing, and using it are dying and the Govern-ments are watching the situation in a somewhat pathetic manner. In thisbackdrop, the measures announced by the Minister of State are welcomeand hopefully these would help create more awareness about ill effects ofsmoking. While appreciating the proposed steps, we would urge the Gov-ernment to ensure strict implementation of the measures already announcedbut not enforced. There should be complete ban on smoking at public places,public transport and offices and violators be punished. A foolproof mecha-nism should also be evolved ensuring complete ban on sale of cigarettes tounder 18 and the shopkeepers violating the ban be taken to task.

Another possiblewave of terrorism

AFTER split in TTP, North Waziristan Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadarhave formally revoked the peace accord with the government and an-

nounced that they are now preparing to fight against the security forces. Apamphlet distributed by the group in the tribal region alleged that the gov-ernment has broken the peace accord by launching air strikes and as suchtheir Shura has decided not to tolerate what they called as aggression.

The targeted air and ground operations against foreign and local terror-ists in retaliation to attacks on the security forces and at places in FATA,KPK and Islamabad are fully justified and Gul Bahadur and his associatescannot absolve themselves of these crimes. The militant groups, under dif-ferent names emerged in FATA due to various factors but it is time that ifthey are not ready to come to the negotiating table and keep on carrying outtheir terrorist activities, they should be handled in their own language. Nowwith no chance of resumption of peace talks, it is feared that the militantscould unleash another wave of terrorism. Secondly, the network of foreignagencies, which is now fully established, would also exploit the situation.The Gul Bahadur faction’s direction to local people to move to safer placesand particularly to the areas close to the Afghan border should be of specialconcern to the authorities because the militants mingle with the civilianswhenever they come under pressure and as they know that they cannot facethe professional army, they have prepared a strategy how to avoid losses.To ward off threats, it is appreciable that rangers and police have startedjoint patrolling in Islamabad and this system needs to be introduced in othercities. At the same time awareness campaign should be launched to seekcooperation of the people to identify suspects because history bears testi-mony that no war can be won if people are not on board.

Kashmir is still smouldering

Obama needsto show hecan deliver

US President Barack Obamafailed to offer an inspiringvision for his

administration’s foreign policy in hisspeech last week at West Point. Hewas right to deride the intervention-ists and isolationists, but his lack ofideas on how America should par-ticipate fully in a multi-polar worldleft him looking muddled.

Obama has drifted. He allowedUS Secretary of State John Kerryto get entangled in a hopeless ef-fort in Palestine when only toughaction against continued Israeli oc-cupation would have made anyheadway. It is a continuing outragethat the illegal prison inGuantanamo is still open. AndObama continues to show delightin using Special Forces and theirirregular methods, as he ended thelong hunt for Osama Bin Laden byauthorising his killing, while USdrone attacks against people of vari-ous nationalities, including Ameri-cans, continue unabated.

It is true that Obama has suc-ceeded in his centrepiece of reset-ting American foreign policy awayfrom the terrible years of GeorgeW. Bush’s direct confrontation. USforces are getting out of Iraq andAfghanistan and he has got closerto a deal with Iran than any previ-ous president. But it is a tragedy thatObama did not offer much alterna-tive to events in Syria, Ukraine andthe Central African Republic, thansitting on the sidelines and watch-ing the chaos develop. For example,he was right when he pointed out thatAmerica cannot tackle Chinese ag-gression in the South China Seawhen the Senate has repeatedly re-fused to sign the Law of the Seas.But it is not enough to simply be-moan his lack of Senate support andsuch feebleness will give little en-couragement to the Iranians, whoforesee any deal they make beingblocked by the same people on thesame Senate floor.

Obama needs to take chargeand show that he can deliver. Sup-porting the multi-lateral world doesnot mean drifting and it may notmean military action. But it needsmore than words. —Gulf News

*****

A wake-upcall

A report by the World Meteorological Organisation(WMO) reveals that carbon

dioxide levels have touched 400parts per million (ppm) in April andby 2015 or 2016 the global annualaverage carbon dioxide concentra-tion levels could breach the mark.

Michel Jarraud, secretary-gen-eral, WMO, has warned that time isrunning out, as this is the first timein history that carbon dioxide levelshave gone so high in a month. “Thisshould serve as yet another wake-up call about the constantly risinglevels of greenhouse gases which aredriving climate change,” he said. “Ifwe are to preserve our planet for fu-ture generations, we need urgent ac-tion to curb new emissions of theseheat-trapping gases.”

Unfortunately, politicians espe-cially in the developed world areblocking all efforts to tackle climatechange. A Pentagon report noted re-cently that climate change impactsare “threat multipliers” and therapid rise of global temperaturesand extreme weather events couldexacerbate poverty, environmentaldegradation, political instability andsocial tension, engendering terror-ist activity. Carbon dioxide levelshave fluctuated between 180 ppmand 280 ppm over the past 800,000years and scientists believe it hasnever exceeded 400 ppm for mil-lions of years. But the growing hun-ger for fossil fuels has seen analarming increase in carbon diox-ide, resulting in a surge in globaltemperatures, which have increasedby 0.8 degrees Celsius. Interna-tional efforts are on to ensure thattemperature increase is limited totwo degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels.

Carbon dioxide concentrationrose to 290 ppm by the end of the19th century following the in-creased use of coal and oil. Levelsshot up to 380 ppm in the last cen-tury. Atmospheric carbon dioxidehas been accelerating upwards inrecent decades. According to scien-tists, today’s rate of increase is morethan 100 times faster than the in-crease that occurred when the lastice age ended. —Khaleej Times

MEDIA WATCH

KASHMIR is the core issuebetween India and Pakistan and South Asia’s peace

and stability will remain elusive un-less Kashmir dispute is resolved. Ithas led to two major wars in the past.On the basis of partition plan, theJammu and Kashmir was to be partof Pakistan. The prejudice ofRadcliffe Award, aggressive ambi-tions of Congress and, anti-Muslimstance of Hari Singh all contributedto the present day crisis. All politi-cal parties in Pakistan consider theresolution of Kashmir as a pre-req-uisite for improved India-Pakistanrelations and regional stability, whileIndian political parties, specificallythe Congress and BJP, have diver-gent views on Kashmir. Indian lead-ership considers Kashmir as a sym-bol of Indian secularism and doesnot show flexibility in their stance,maintaining that Indian integrationdepends on Kashmir being retainedas part of India. Pakistan’s stance onKashmir issue is very clear, speci-fying it an unsolved question of3rdJune’s partition plan that needsto be solved according to UN reso-lution 1948.

Moreover, the people of Kash-mir have expressed their desire toaccede to Pakistan but India createshurdles in the fulfilment of their de-sire. Pakistan’s government andleadership today seem eager to finda solution to the issue with India.Since 1953, more than 150 sessionsof talks have been held, but all invain. Sixty-six years have passedsince then and throughout that pe-riod the Kashmiris have renderedhuge sacrifices. Six hundred thou-sand people sacrificed their lives

Agriculture funding in new budget

THE budget usage is completed by May 16th of everyyear and thereafter the left

over amount is returned to the gov-ernment. The releases are made ona quarterly basis. I do not know whathas been the implementation of thebudget and how much of the finan-cial allocation has been utilized. Infact, I am of the opinion that the fi-nancial utilization should never bemonitored but what should be moni-tored is the output. That would beconsistent with the new system ofmanagement where the wherewithalis provided then after a given timeperiod stock is taken of the workdone and if the work is not done theperson is cashiered. But we are in adifferent format from the world aswe are such sages. Wisdom residesin our malicious ways.

We take our personal prejudicesto get rid of our enemies. We can bein any organization the fact is thatwe do not go by reason. That is whywe languish in our restrictive ways.With the advent of freedom one hadassumed that reason would be theultimate winner. The problem hasbeen that we lack the ability to doour job in a manner that builds thisnation. Freedom has come our waybut we have not accepted the respon-sibility that comes with it. Philoso-phy has been more or less removedfrom the academia. In its place havecome the pragmatic subjects that aresupposed to provide jobs for theyoung. The entire episode has beenchanged for the worst. The illusions

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

There’s a blacksheep inevery flock.

that we have created for our-selves has been responsible forour undoing. All governmentshave talked of doing manythings before a budget and thenat the end of the year there areexcuses for not doing what was

established before the budget. Bud-get allocations in the modern systemare meaningless.

Take the case of our allocationsto agriculture and I can tell you fromthe growth figures that we have fal-tered. A growth rate of 2% is also dueto a hypothetical increase in livestockand poultry. Over the years this areahas been shown to grow on unknownassumptions. In the time of ShaukatAziz the livestock sector grew by 9%.I enquired this from the person incharge and he stated that actually hehad stated 1%. Some one in the Min-istry of Finance massaged the figuresto give a healthy look to the growthfactors. Since no indicative or fullfledged data was available form theStatistics Division the purpose of theclever politicians was better servedwith hazy numbers of quantification.

So what good is this appraisal ifthe figures are going to be fudged?First order critique of such a systemwould be on persons who calculatedthese figures. Do they have any moralresponsibility towards their fellow citi-zens and country? Why lie? It seemsthat the powerful always lie so as topass that particular event. There aremany different reasons and what isimportant, is how reasons are ordered.Appraisals need to be correct or at leastdefensible but in the context of Paki-stan the emotional and loyal politicianwill seek different plausibilities, de-pending on which party he or she be-longs to. The Opposition would liketo rubbish everything of the party inpower while those in power use their

influence the public through their ownspheres of influence. Consistency andcredibility is affected by various gov-ernment functionaries who have no di-rect links with the politicians. Yet it isthe politician that will be vilified as aresult of the actins by lower level mo-ron functionaries of the government.Such illusions prevail in the system.No one in the government is at allworried about these defaming exer-cises. Just consider what we haveupfront-Patwari, Foot constable, clerk,peons and nurses.

The service to the nation sets atthe lowest order. Why should thepatwari be in the office of the CM ofthe Province? Their work is in thefield. As a result of asset acquisitionthe powerful have become rich with-out working. The political system doesnot understand that the bill for thesemisdemeanors will always be paidsooner or later. Does the average Pa-kistani not deserve something better?In a federation the grass roots do mat-ter. The general complaint is that be-fore the elections the sky is promised.After assuming power these politiciansdo not even meet their constituents.Democracy is not about power posi-tions rather it is more sophisticatedsystem in which levels of self respon-sibility are enhanced. Moral responsi-bility is not about powerful assertionsbut rather about self-denial.

How is this moral dilemma to betreated? One way is to deny that therewas ever such a moral responsibility.Pakistanis do this continuously. Thesecond way is to set the Ministers onthe person that criticize them. On themedia we see that for ever point raisedthe party in power is trying to ridi-cule the opponent who might havemade this assertion in trying to genu-inely suggest an alternate route. Wein Pakistan have never understood the

— Proverb

concept of loyalty to the state for thestate is such an impersonal conceptthat it will not deliver anything atthe time of requirements. So the loy-alty to the person who heads theparty is important for that is wherethe goodies of governance are dis-tributed. The quandaries for the citi-zens are very serious.

We see the implications. Thecitizens are watching the moves veryclosely and they keep these rogueactions of the powerful with them-selves. Their thinking is that thepolitician must be like a saint. Wellhe will not be that. By definitionthere is always a weaker side to thepersonality and these emerge withtemptations that come their way.First level principles of moral think-ing are based on intuitive actions.But when the matters are more com-plex then the politician has to over-ride first level principles. The poli-tician has to be aware of the criti-cality of the moral principles. Intui-tive thinking is not visible in a po-litical democratic set up that oper-ates in a centralized tyrannical sys-tem. Totalitarians do not understandintuitive thinking and how to gofrom one principle to another.

We hear shouts of saving de-mocracy and every one seems tothink so but are the democrats help-ing the cause. They are not given toany philosophical thought. The se-riousness of the disease may be wit-nessed on the electronic media. Ifwe assume a perfect command oflogic and of facts that would con-strain the working of the govern-ment. So a via media has to befound. Countries normally havepeople that work on concepts thathave universal appeal.—The writer is a retired FederalSecretary.

while over 10,000 are missing.There are massive records of gravehuman rights violations in the In-dian-held Kashmir, besides unearth-ing the mass graves.

Draconian Indian laws leading toinhumanity and brutal human rightsviolation include: a) Jammu andKashmir Disturbed Area Act 1990;b) Jammu & Kashmir Public SafetyAct; c) Terrorist and Disruptive Ac-tivities Act (TADA) 1990; d) TheArmed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir)Special Power Act1990; e) Jammu &Kashmir PublicSafety Act 1998; f)Prevention of Ter-rorism Act 2002;g)National Secu-rity Act (NSA); h)Official SecretsAct (OSA); i)Newspapers Incite-ments to OffencesAct, j) CriminalProcedure Court;and k) Indian Tele-graph Act. Thesedraconian IndianActs provide lati-tude to Indian armydeployed in Kash-mir to play with the life, honour andproperty of hapless Kashmiris. TheseActs have been at the heart of con-cerns about gross human rights vio-lations in Kashmir, where arbitrarykillings, torture, cruelty, degradingtreatment and, enforced disappear-ances are routine acts.

Seen in the historical backdrop,there are three phases of the Kash-mir struggle aimed at getting the rightof self-determination. First phase wasfrom 1947 to 1988, which was thepeaceful effort. When Kashmiris feltthat India did not pay heed to theirvoices only then the peaceful struggleturned into a violent intifada. This

violent intifada phase spanned from1989 to 2001. During this phase thefreedom fighters and the people whosupported them suffered heavily atthe hands of Indian security forces,unleashing the indiscriminate reign ofbarbarity in the occupied Kashmir.The third phase started after 9/11when Kashmiris converted their vio-lent struggle into a peaceful politicalstruggle. This was done in the lightof the fact that after 9/11 major worldpowers got influenced by the Indian

propaganda andstarted equatingKashmiris’ free-dom struggle withterrorism. There-fore, Kashmirischanged theirstruggle to peace-ful protests to getpositive attentionof major powers.

Taking advan-tage of the interna-tional campaignagainst terrorism,the Indian BJPgovernment in2001 had steppedup its two-prongedefforts to have Pa-

kistan declared a terrorism-sponsor-ing state, and project the Kashmiristruggle for self-determination in theIndian-held Kashmir as terrorist ac-tivity. Under the circumstances, it isimportant to understand the real gen-esis of any struggle including theviolent intifada, before labellingthose or the organisations involved,as terrorists. In fact, the indigenousstruggle for self-determination in theIndian-held Kashmir, recognised bythe United Nations (UN), is a primeexample, where the oppressedpeople have been forced to take uparms for their right to self-determi-nation, and as a measure of resis-

tance against the excesses beingcommitted by more than 700,000Indian armed forces personnel, de-ployed all over the Indian-occupiedareas, to eliminate the resistance.

India is blatantly violating theright to self-determination, inter-national conventions on humanrights and agreements betweenIndia and Pakistan. Basically, theconcept of self-determination is aninternationally recognised norm.The concept started as a political(or moral) right and later duringthe decolonisation period evolvedinto a legal right. In the case of Pa-kistan, it has adopted a holistic ap-proach that gives priority to Kash-mir issue to other issues betweenIndia and Pakistan. India prefersto adopt step-by-step approach thatdeals with resolution of smallerissues first, believing that it willcreate conducive environment forthe resolution of Kashmir but thereality is that the conducive envi-ronment for the resolution ofKashmir could never be emerged.

It is an open secret that peopleof Pakistan will never forget the sac-rifices made by the Pakistanis for thecause of Kashmir. The support of180 million people of Pakistan is asource of inspiration. Pakistanshould continue to supportKashmiris on all levels, especiallyon the diplomatic front and Pakistanimedia must highlight the atrocitiescommitted by India in Kashmir. Itis being felt that Pakistani media isnot highlighting the gravity of thesituation as it should be. India on theother hand is very actively paintingthe opposite picture, emphasisingthat the use of force in Kashmir islegitimate, which is basically illegalunder the UN definition of right toself-determination.—The writer works for IslamabadPolicy Research Institute (IPRI).

Dr Zafar AltafEmail: dr_altaf@hotmail.com

M Nawaz KhanEmail:nawazverdag915@hotmail.com

India isblatantly violatingthe right to self-determination,international

conventions onhuman rights and

agreementsbetween India andPakistan. Basically,the concept of self-determination is an

internationallyrecognised norm.

Voice of the People

Outer vs innervirtues

SYEDA DANYA

Our society has become so liberaland modern now but the discrimi-nation factor can never be old.People still distinguish others onthe basis of their skin tones. Re-cently the famous campaign “Gorahoga Pakistan” is on and our me-dia is supporting it although it ismedically proven that no cream orsoap can change your skin tone ormake you fair. I feel extremely pa-thetic that even today women them-selves discriminate the girls withdark complexion and prefer fairbeauties for their son.

This is absolutely wrong that noone appreciates or even gives a lookto dark skinned people. Due to suchdifference the darker people becomemore sensitive and serious. Theybecome more conscious about theirlooks, their work and also startthinking negative about themselves.Even our society becomes morestrict and demanding towards them.we also ignore their inner capabili-ties just because of their outer look.Instead, we should appreciate thembecause they are not at all inferiorto anyone but they are more attrac-tive, strong and capable than any-body, as dark skin is more glamor-ous. Even Islam also portrays themessage of equality in every situa-tion then we are no body to discrimi-nate. We should stop discriminatingpeople on their looks and love ev-eryone because Allah has created usin the way he want us to be and hecan never go wrong.—Karachi

Expensive booksANUM ZAHRA

High prices of books has become abig problem for the people espe-cially for the students. We prefer tobuy books from urdu bazaar becausethere prices are less as compare toother books and stationery shops allaround the city. But now the shop-keepers of Urdu bazaar have alsoincreased the prices of books. So,the students are facing difficulty inpurchasing books.

There is no denying the fact thathow important is the education inour life. The students have to bear agreat set back in their studies be-cause the second hand books are alsovery expensive and many peoplecan’t afford it. If they can’t buybooks, how can they study and ifthey can’t study, how can they pro-tect the future of country.

So, it is the foremost require-ment of the day to ensure that theprices of the books are within thepurchasing power of the students,to revive and develop a book read-ing culture in the society andhence to ensure the welfare of thestudents and well being of the na-tion as a whole.—Karachi

The BalochistanprovinceIRAM UROOJ

Balochistan is the largest ofPakistan’s four administrative Prov-inces in terms of area, constitutingapproximately 44% of the country’stotal land mass and the smallest interms of population, being home toless than 5% of the country’s totalpopulation. But unfortunately it isalways deprived of basic life oppor-tunities as compared to other Prov-inces since its independence.

Sui Gas originated fromBalochistan but it was given to thepeople of Balochistan after all otherparts of the country were enjoyingthe gas for a long time. Federal andProvincial governments are not tak-ing serious steps to give such facili-ties which are given to other Prov-inces of Pakistan.

It is bestowed with inestimablenatural resources, but it lacks properinfrastructure, heavy equipment andskilled people to take advantage ofit. As feudalism is at its peak and

Brutal murder in the courtALI ASHRAF KHAN

The killing of a pregnant young woman by the members of her own family within the premises ofthe Lahore High Court and right in front of the eyes of the police, has aroused indignation in wide

circles of the Pakistani public. We can safely disregard the comments of foreigners like the AmericanJan Psaki and others including the British government, who obviously, do not have any right tocomment or interfere in our own domestic affairs; but this incident that is a symbol of a widespreadmisunderstanding in our society, especially the tribal one, that the honour of a family rests in thewomen of that family, is a sign of ignorance and false ethics, which were not there till the Westernthoughts of modern enlightenment, through multiple education system, was promoted to suit cor-porate culture and Mafias. Today no one is concerned about the bad governance in the country.Another deplorable reality crept into our society and the state institutions is the fact that the police-men who were posted there to ensure the writ of law at least within the premises of the High Court,have badly failed to come up to the expectations that their uniform and institution was holding.That is why they have to be punished with the full severity of the law; otherwise next time the samething will happen again. The Prime Minister who has taken notice of the incident should see thispart of the matter also and make sure the culprits are punished. Only if the law enforcing institu-tions are effective in enforcing the laws, the citizens will think twice to break it. So far this is not thecase and that is why lawlessness is widespread in our country.—Karachi

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

—Editor

Hoping against hope

IN his article ‘A hopeful dialogueon Mideast’ (May 30) DavidIgnatius gives us the ‘good news’

of some more initiatives to solve thePalestine-Israeli problem. As a matterof fact, there has never been a dearthof such initiatives and we had manyduring the last two decades but theyall failed because Israel wants peace,but on its own terms, which meanskeeping and colonizing all the illegally-occupied territories, no return of refu-gees and full Israeli control within andaround unarmed Palestine state, withIsraeli settlements and hundreds ofkilometre-long Israeli barrier wall criss-crossing all through the Palestine terri-tory, not leaving a contiguous peace ofland for Palestinians and Jerusalem re-maining fully under Israeli occupation.For Palestinians, such conditions arehardly worth accepting so finally thetalks break down for which the West-erners blame Palestinians and Israelisequally, even though they fail purelydue to intransigence of Israelis.

David Ignatius is not speaking thewhole truth while claiming that JohnKerry’s initiative ‘imploded last monthafter the Israeli announcement of new

apartments for settlers and the Pales-tinians’ refusal to bargain, which hetermed intransigence by both sides.The fact is that demonstrating extremecooperation, Mahmoud Abbas hadagreed to start the process even with-out any settlement-freeze. The break-ing point was Israeli refusal to free thelast batch of 26 Palestinian prisonersout of 104 that Israel had agreed tofree. Also, with the agreed period ofnine months coming to a close, andno progress on any issue, there wasno point in extending the talks up tothe end of the year,

However, despite such initiativesbreaking down due to intransigence ofIsraelis, their sponsors prefer to havesome peace process going our becausethis creates an illusion that peace is justaround the corner, and puts pressureon Palestinians not to seek enhancedstatus at the United Nations, while alsopreventing the international commu-nity, which is getting increasingly im-patient with Israeli intransigence asmanifested by Boycott, Divestmentand Sanctions (BDS) movement andsimilar initiatives, from taking puni-tive action against Israel. So, the newround between Prince Turki al-Faisal,former Saudi intelligence chief, andretired Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, formerhead of Israeli military intelligencecomes as no surprise, especially be-

cause the gathering was sponsored byGerman Marshall Fund of whichDavid Ignatius is a trustee.

And David Ignatius is not beingtruthful when he says “Even PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu andPresident Mahmoud Abbas recognizethat they have terrible options if hopefor peace really disappears.” If Israe-lis really feared ‘terrible options’emerging on failure of peace process,they would make some minimum ef-fort to reach a settlement. And fullyassured of handling any struggle byhapless Palestinians, and formidableopponents of Israel like Iraq alreadydismantled, Syria now being desta-bilized, and Egypt and Jordan boughtoff through regular US aid, Israelfeels no threat and no need to yieldon any point during its negotiationswith Palestinians. If the internationalcommunity is really serious aboutmaking peace in the Middle East, ithas to realize that the two sides Pal-estinians and Israelis, being so dis-proportionate in power, are unable toreach an agreement on their own.What Israel is prepared to offer comesnowhere near even the minimum thatthe Palestinians would be prepared toaccept. And the mighty Israeli lead-ers fear that yielding on any point willlower their popularity-rating, andeven risk their government by losing

the ‘confidence’ of their hard-lineallies in the coalition government aswell as members of public, who havebeen assured that Israel can get awaywith anything, like disregarding UNresolutions and international law,ridiculing, humiliating and utterlydismissing the high officials of thesole super power America, and stillend up getting ever-increasing USaid and support at all forums. Basi-cally, the Israeli leaders have becomeprisoners of their own success so farand left to themselves, are unable toconclude a deal with Palestinians.

The International community hasdone it before, and there is no reasonwhy it can’t do it again. It should de-cide on a package that reasonably safe-guards the core interests of Palestin-ians and Israelis and impose it on thetwo sides, with threats of sanctions ifthey failed to implement it. Such apackage would enable Israeli leadersto convey to their voters the concernsof the international community, mak-ing clear that Israel is becoming in-creasingly isolated which it can’t af-ford and therefore must accept thepackage. As for Palestinians, well,being weak and vulnerable, they willaccept any deal which meets theirminimum requirements.—The writer is Karachi-basedpolitical analyst.

Views From Abroad

Modi surprises critics

WITHIN seconds ofNarendra Modi’s inauguration as the new prime

minister of India, the PM’s officialwebsite was updated with his photo-graphs, messages and related infor-mation. It was for the first time that aprime minister’s official website hasbeen updated so swiftly. It is also thefirst time that this website containsnumerous “tweets” from the new pre-mier. This certainly indicates thatModi is very conscious about main-taining his political image.

Modi took to the Twitter to letothers know about his informal con-versation with his Pakistani counter-part. The only SAARC (South AsianAssociation for Regional Coopera-tion) leader Modi has referred to inseveral of his tweets posted on May26 is Nawaz Sharif. Per the tweets,the two had “emotional” conversa-tions. Sharif, Modi tweets, wastouched by visuals of his mother of-fering him sweets.

“The visuals touched both NawazSharifji and his mother. He (Sharif)told me after seeing the visuals, hismother got very emotional,” Modi

tweeted. Sharif, according to Modi’stweets, visits his mother once a week.

Undoubtedly, Modi took a ma-jor step by inviting SAARC leadersto his oath-taking ceremony. Interest-ingly, by adding diplomatic dash tohis inauguration, Modi shrewdly es-caped scrutiny on the domestic front.He escaped immediate deliberationsand questions about his plans to meetthe economic challenges.

Prime Minister Modi played hiscards well by holding separate talkswith each of the SAARC dignitaries.He has effectively defied speculationsabout his anti-Pakistan stance, forwhich his saffron brigade is famous.

There is a view that Modi delib-erately extended invitation to allSAARC members as inviting onlyPakistan would not have been fa-vored by other neighbors as well asthe saffron brigade.

Sharif must also be credited forhaving responded positively. Thiswas his first official visit to India.During his last two tenures, he didnot visit India. Sharif has describedhis India visit as “historic” and talkswith Modi as “constructive.”

Soon after assuming charge asnew external affairs minister, in astatement, Sushma Swaraj describedModi’s meetings with SAARC lead-

ers as “substantive and cordial.” Shestated, “PM has a vision for friendlycooperation with each of theSAARC countries. This invitationwas the first step toward realizingthis vision. A promising beginninghas been made at the start of the newgovernment in our engagement witheach of these countries.”

Responding to a question onwhether Modi and Sharif discussedterrorism, Swaraj replied, “Talks andgood relations can be successful andright only when terrorism is stopped.But if bomb blasts continue, then thetalks will be lost in the din. This iswhat Modi told Pakistani PrimeMinister Sharif. We also raised thetopic of speedy trials of the 26/11terror attack and even they said theywill work on it.”

Briefing media on Modi’s talkswith Sharif, Indian Ministry of Ex-ternal Affairs’ officials said, “ThePMs agreed that the foreign secre-taries will remain in touch and ex-plore how to move forward. PMsaid that the two countries couldmove immediately toward full tradenormalization on the basis of theSeptember 2012 roadmap. PM ex-pressed his hope that India-Pakistanrelations would progress in the eco-nomic, cultural and political fields

Nilofar Suhrawardy

Health of the health minister..!

WITH pathetic living conditions, over stretchedworking hours, and sala-

ries that even municipal sweepersearn better, the poor resident doc-tors had once gone on strike, onlyto be expelled from their poky,dingy rooms and bullied by a deafgovernment. I decided to find outwhy the government was so cal-lous to their plight and met an of-ficial who worked for the ministryof health.

“Has the minister seen the ter-rible rooms these poor doctors livein?” I asked indignantly. “Of coursehe has,” said the official proudly.

“He is the one who sanctioned thesequarters for the doctors!” “How couldhe do such a thing?” I asked. “Doeshe know what a pittance these poorresidents earn?” “Of course he does,”he’s the one who sees that their salaryisn’t being raised!”

“Does he know of their longworking hours, sometimes two tothree days without rest?” “Our min-ister knows everything! He’s the onewho recommended these timings forthe resident doctors!” “How couldhe?” I asked. “Our minister is a veryclever man, that is why he has beenmade minister for health,” said theofficial. “What happens when a doc-tor tries to sleep in cramped up rooms,gets a bad salary and works longhours?”“He is tired,” I said. “Ex-actly,” said the official grinning at me.“And what happens when he is

tired?” “He is not able to concen-trate?” “Ah! That is one point, but Iam sure you can do better.” “He be-comes irritable and cranky. He loseshis temper!” “Excellent,” said theofficial, “you are thinking just likeour beloved minister.”

“What do you mean?” I asked,“you mean to say the minister is do-ing all this on purpose? Is he tryingto see they come to work tired andangry?” “Yes,” said the official, “ourminister is a genius. He knows anangry doctor means a dissatisfied pa-tient, a dissatisfied patient means apatient who either attacks a doctoror won’t come back again, whichmeans less burden on the health min-istry!”

“I don’t believe this,” I said in-credulously. “Ah! Our minister is agenius. See how his plan has man-

aged to keep people out of hospi-tals. Everyday of the strike moreand more people are going backhome, either dead or more sick. Butprecious money is saved!” “Andwhat is this precious money goingto be used for?” I asked.

“For the health of the healthministry of course!” “What’s that?”I asked. “The minister’s healthwhen he holidays in Switzerland.My health when I go with my fam-ily for a cruise! My colleagueshealth as they fit air conditioners intheir bungalows! Ah! There’s somuch health in the health ministryto look after!” “So the money forthose poor doctors is going…””Intothe coffers of the ministry..!” smiledthe official as he turned his pocketsinside out.—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com

in the same manner that India’srelations with her other SAARCneighbors have progressed in re-cent years. He shared his visionof a SAARC region built on part-nerships for development andmutual prosperity.”

Replying to a query on whether“concrete steps” will be taken to“normalize” Indo-Pak trade ties,Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singhsaid, “The next step that needs tobe taken is for Wagah-Attari to beopened up to full trade. After that,other steps will follow.”

United States has “cautiously”applauded Modi-Sharif talks. A se-nior Obama administration officialin Washington said, “We are cau-tiously hopeful that (Modi-Sharifmeeting) could be a positive indi-cator, but we’re also mindful thatthis will be very important to thedynamic going forward.”

By shaking hands and holdingtalks, Modi and Sharif have playedan important role in displayingtheir positive attitude toward im-provement of Indo-Pak ties. Now,it is to be watched whether theyact speedily in taking steps to “nor-malize” their ties, and how do othercountries react.—Courty: Arab News

Weaponry: Ready to ruin living beings

A US based magazine has issued the list of fatal weapons spreading in the world

which can sweep the whole of the liv-ing beings in the blink of an eye. Themagazine reads, from 1945 one andhalf million atomic weapons havebeen designed and put into perfectform. Currently 97% weapons areowned by the Supreme State ofAmerica which is the supremeclaimer of the safeguarding the hu-man community and its rights. Oncethe US ex-President Mr. Bush said, Ialways take the warfare as civilizingmission and as an act of peace ofmind for human community butpeople always say it “Business”. TheUS “Civil Liberation Union” saysthat is it not a strategic juggling that97% US budget is spent on making

weapons and the good of the US popu-lation is facing acute economic andsocial problems?

Engineers and scientists all overthe world are working round the clockto design and develop fatal weaponry.The thermo baric bomb BULL 1 —118s is capable even to suck out oxy-gen from the enclosed space. TheJDAM can bring looming horror tohuman community. US scientists andengineers have invented system whichcan destroy the electronics with 1000ft flash by holding cutting and wreck-ing memory chips and ruining com-puter mother board. No doubt the de-fence is inevitable and from the dawnof human society man has to be in needof self-protection and it designed andmade weapons but weaponry has nowbeen developed on such sophisticatedgrounds that it has brought havoc tothe mankind. Every disputed and con-flict between the countries and familylevel is in progress by using the weap-ons instead of dialogue. Human com-

munity has not conceived any wisdomfrom the destruction or losses broughtby weaponry to living beings. Theatomic attack on Hiroshima is still asign of horror and terror to the wholeof the human community whether ornot it had direct or indirect link withany country and its population. Tragi-cally enough that even now almost allthe countries are heading towards thisdestination again. If an invention cameto its perfect form designer of inven-tion surely desires to see the results ofits invention; so as long as fatal weap-onry will remain to be made, it will beused by its designers.

The whole of the global humancommunity is in grip of horror and de-pression due to excessive making ofweaponry. This hysteric trend is pre-vailing all over. Adopting a strangeagenda of protectionism and securityof mankind US has launched theweapon factories in abundance. Fac-tually riding on the wave of superior-ity it is revealing its inferiority com-

plex, if we go very far back toAmerica’s historic background it isrevealed that current craze of gettingsuperiority in weaponry is acutely thegeographically and psychologicalcomplex. In 1700 the Americans werecalled the “Nation of Hunters” be-cause they were colonized by vari-ous countries and Europeans lookeddown upon them.

Tragic enough that human com-munity has not yet came into a stateof mental and spiritual maturity anddevelopment to meditate over its own“Make” by the divine hands. TheHoly Qur’an reads, “Man has to befinished after a limited time and ageby the Divine Hands then why to killeach other”. During US wars withIraq and Afghanistan people ofAmerica come to the streets chant-ing the slogans, “Stop making weap-ons don’t chop us and our children,give us peace and prosperity.”— The writer is Multan-basedfreelance columnist.

tribal lords belong to conservativeschool of thought, they don’t allow anorganized educational setup to flour-ish their Province.

There is an ongoing conflict be-tween landlords and government offi-cials that create hatred among itspeople for themselves. Moreover,some of the anti-Pakistan agencieshave created so much hatred amongBalochis for people of other Provincesthat now if any Punjabi, Sindhi orPashtun ever enter their region, theyare always ready to kill that person.

Now they are actively working forthe separation of Balochistan from Pa-kistan. And negligence of governmentabout Balochistan’s issue is clear toall of us. Issue ranges from humanrights abuses, missing persons, greaterautonomy, increased royalties fromnatural resources and Provincial rev-enues and in some cases full succes-sion. Negligence on the part of Fed-eral and Provincial government ismaking the situation worse with eachpassing day. These issues are very sen-sitive and call for immediate attentionfrom the authorities and people for thebetterment of the Province. The timehas come to heal the pains of Balochpeople. So at this time we stronglyneed to get united and must ownequally all the Provinces of Pakistan.—Via email

Karachi — criesfor helpASFA IBRAHIM

Karachi is once again under attack,after a brief love affair with peace,which flourished during the dialoguewith Taliban, situation unfortunately,is back to the usual - meaning tur-moil, fear, blasts in public places, in-jured lying in hospital beds. An ex-plosive device placed in rickshaw inthe Clifton area detonated soon af-ter the Friday prayers; so, violencehas turned on in Karachi and it hasreturned with a vengeance. A day be-fore Fridays blast, the Taliban hadclaimed responsibility for the deathof police inspector Shafiq Tanolikilled in a suicide attack. The pat-tern of killing and the perpetratorsremain the same. Sectarian and mili-tant forces continue to play the ageold vicious role.

One wonders that what on earthis going on the peace talks. Thereseems to be no clarity on either sideof the table, and that is a warningsign for the process moving forward.The recent operations that are beingcarried out in Karachi to get rid ofcriminal elements, have faded afterthe Fridays incident. Certainly thereseems to be no intent to wind up thereign of death that has held sway inour country for far to long. For ourpeaceful endurance, it is crucial thatthis finishes; living in fear, bloodspewed over streets every so often,in short, pandemonium of sorts.

The question is: what is the so-lution? Are we back to the situationof living in fear (more pertinently)of the known? People stand con-fused as to what is happening andwhere this will lead to? Who shouldwe question? Everyone is talkingabout Basic Human Rights but noone seems to implement or act uponit. Is this what they call Human Se-curity where the people live in fearof dying anytime or anywhere? Ourfuture and survival is at stake andwe do not know who to question!—Via email

Art ofcommunication

IBRAR IFTIKHAR

Communication is the nervous sys-tem of an organization. It keeps themembers of the organization in-formed about the internal and exter-nal happenings relevant to the roleinterest to the organization. It coor-dinates the efforts of the memberstowards achieving organizationalobjectives.

It is the process of influencingthe action of a person or a group. Itis a process of meaningful interac-tion among human beings to initiate,execute, accomplish, or prevent cer-tain actions. Communication is,

thus, the life blood of an organiza-tion. Without communication, an or-ganization is lifeless and its very ex-istence is in danger.

The term communication hasbeen derived from the Latin word‘cmmunis’ that means ‘common’and thus, if a person affects commu-nication, he establishes a commonground of understanding. Literally,communication means to inform, totell, to show, or to spread informa-tion. Thus, it may be interpreted asan interchange of thought or infor-mation to bring about understand-ing and confidence for good indus-trial relations. It brings about unityof purpose, interests and efforts inan organization. “Communicationis an exchange of facts, ideas, opin-ions or emotions by two or morepersons.” The communication pro-cess should have the followingcharacteristics:-

a) It is a two-way traffic, up-ward and downward. Messages, di-rectives, opinions, etc., are commu-nicated downward, from a higherlevel to a lower level in the hierar-chy of management; b) Communi-cation is a continuous process; c)The process of communication iscomplete as soon as the message isreceived and understood by the re-ceiver in the right perspective;hence, it is a short lived process; d)There may be numerous media ofcommunication but the main pur-pose of conveying the message is aproper understanding of the messageby the other party. For this purpose,it should be clearly and conciselyworded; e) it highlights the achieve-ments of the organization; dispelsmisunderstandings and mistrusts; f)serves as a bridge of camaraderieamong people.

Communication is as essential tobusiness as blood is to the humanbody. Success of the communicationsystem depends upon better plan-ning, organizational competence,clear sense of direction and leader-ship, motivation of the practitionersand job satisfaction coupled withhigh morale and continuous interac-tion, liaison and contact with outsideagencies such as customers, associa-tions, other manufacturers, advertis-ers, suppliers, trade unions, researchcouncils and institutions, etc. Com-munication increases the goodwill ofthe firm and helps in creating afavourable public attitude towardsthe organization.—Islamabad

Managementof CNGZAINAB ALI

Pakistan’s economy has been facinga slump because lack of planning ofthe available natural resources. Theplanned closure of supply of CNGfor three days in Punjab is very prob-lematic for the people. Nowadays,people particularly from rural andremote areas are facing serious prob-lems, while travelling to urban ar-eas for their jobs and education.

The second major drawback isthat the transport fares are increas-ing due to the shortage of CNG anduse of expensive petrol which thepoor people cannot afford to pay.Some CNG stations continue to sellCNG during these three days andearn a lot of money by selling it il-legally. People are suffering ondaily bases due to 3 days of CNGload shedding. It is necessary toimport cheap CNG from anywhere.Looking for alternate energy re-sources should be the top priorityfor our policy makers, to keep thewheel moving.—Via email

S R H HashmiEmail:srhhashmi@hotmail.com

Nighat LeghariEmail:nighatleghari@yahoo.com

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the ninth Jeju Forumfor Peace and Prosperity on Jejudo Island.

LU YANG

Country will no longer allow its legitimate rights to be wantonly encroachedupon by some of its neighbours. In re-

cent days, Vietnam has been disturbingChina’s routine drilling operations in the wa-ters off Zhongjian Island, part of China’sXisha Islands. In a move to attract the world’sattention, Vietnam also invited some interna-tional journalists to the operating site.

Surprisingly, the Vietnamese governmentalso encouraged anti-China demonstrationsand even acquiesced in the riots against for-eign enterprises, mostly Chinese investmentsin the country, which resulted in the loss ofinnocent lives and huge damage to property.The Vietnamese move, which finally turnedout to be a farce against itself, only provedthe government’s lack of deep thinking aboutthe situation. After all, the drilling site is just17 nautical miles from China’s Zhongjian Is-land, yet 150 nautical miles from Vietnamesecoastline. As pointed out by Chinese officialstime and again, Vietnamese vessels have tosail a long way across the stormy sea to dis-turb the normal operations of the Chinesecompany on the doorstep of China.

Meanwhile, there has also been muchspeculation about the timing of China’s drill-ing operations and the real intention behindit. Some say the drilling operations began justdays after the visit of US President BarackObama to Asia, and that by starting the drill-

Time for China to go it alone?ing, China is flexing its muscles to neutralisethe influence of the United States in the region.Others have taken it as response to Vietnam’srecent purchase of a patrol vessel from Japan.There are even those who say that China is re-solved to act on its own wishes and will in theSouth China Sea, in which the drilling opera-tions are just a starter on China’s set menu.

However, people will not understand Chinacorrectly if they do not look at a longer time frame.No one can deny the fact that under the leader-ship of the Communist Party of China, Chineseforeign policy has been very stable and consis-tent over the years. Although there have beenmany modifications and adjustments, the funda-mentals have remained unchanged over the yearsafter opening-up to the outside world. Therefore,to understand what China is doing today, we haveto review what China has done in the past.

It is now 20 years since the former Chineseleader Deng Xiaoping put forward the construc-tive initiative of shelving disputes and seekingjoint development at the Third Plenary Meetingof the Central Advisory Committee in October1984. Over the past 20 years China has upheldthis initiative and made unremitting efforts topromote it, in the hope that some day it wouldbe made a reality and put into practice.

To demonstrate its good will, China em-barked on negotiations with the members of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations coun-tries to draw up a Code of Conduct in the SouthChina Sea. These negotiations finally led to theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the

South China Sea in 2002, which has contrib-uted a lot to the peace and stability of the SouthChina Sea. China has made every effort to pushfor the full implementation of the DOC.

But when the contracting parties eventuallyagreed the Guidelines for the Implementationof the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties inthe South China Sea it was already 2011, nineyears had passed. Despite all the efforts, thecooperation stipulated in the DOC and theGuidelines has not been really started yet. Pre-dictably some signatories have not seriouslytaken the low-sensitivity fields, as clearly listedin the DOC,; let alone the joint developmentpromoted by China.

There was a glimmer of hope in 2005 whenstate oil companies of China, Vietnam and thePhilippines signed an agreement on joint seismicresearch in some areas of the South China Sea.This agreement, which can be seen as a step to-ward joint development, was actually an experi-ment in low-sensitivity cooperation. But despitethe strong feasibility of putting the agreement intopractice, the cooperation was halted abruptlywhen the new government of the Philippines re-fused to accept the former government’s deal withother nations. Later on many other initiatives wereput forward by China, but few of them have re-ceived a positive response.

To get the whole picture of the situation, wealso need to look at what other littoral states havedone at sea in the past 20-plus years. Vietnamand some other countries have unilaterally con-cluded many contracts with Western companies

and drilled many wells in the southern areas ofthe South China Sea, many of which are inareas that China also has legitimate claims to.Taking Vietnam as an example, more than 50oil wells operated by Vietnam fall within wa-ters that are disputed with China.

China lodged diplomatic protests in theface of these infringements upon its legitimaterights, but did not take any forcible measuresto stop them. As pointed out by an China For-eign Ministry official, it is not that China didnot have the ability to stop the encroaching,but China values the peace and stability inthe South China Sea more highly and waswilling to show self-restraint. Many equitableand feasible scenarios for joint developmenthave been laid out and promoted by Chinaand widely acknowledged by the internationalcommunity, sometimes including the US.

Now China might have had enough, it willnot allow its legitimate rights to be wantonlyencroached upon by some of its neighboursany more. Vietnam’s reckless move of forc-ibly disturbing the normal operations of aChinese company in areas without any dis-pute is likely to trigger new thinking fromChina about exploiting the resources in theSouth China Sea. In the coming years if Viet-nam continues its troublemaking, China willprobably have no option but to weigh the pos-sibility of blazing a trail and drilling alone insome sea areas where disputes exist betweenChina and Vietnam.

—Courtesy: China Daily

JEREMY AU YONG

US President Barack Obama spent more than an hour outlining his vision for American foreign policy before thegraduating class at the Westpoint Military Academy. When

he finished, one question puzzled observers: Where did Asia fitin this new vision? Given that the Pacific rebalance has been akey pillar of his foreign policy for the past six years, it did not gounnoticed that the word was not mentioned a single time in whatwas supposed to be a speech setting out the Obama doctrine.

Washington observers say the omission was likely the resultof a need to tailor his message to the audience, but said that itwould likely disappoint those in Asia. “I was a bit surprised bythis myself,” Dr Richard Bush, director of the Centre for EastAsia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution said of thepresident’s decision to leave Asia out of the address. “The mainanswer, I think, is that this was an army audience and the army,along with the marines, have borne the brunt of ground interven-tions in Iraq and Afghanistan. “So it’s important for army offic-ers to know, going forward, how the US government is going touse them - and, more importantly, not use them. And that’s whathe did. If he had done the graduation speech at the Naval Acad-emy, which is on the front lines of rebalancing, it would havebeen a very different, Asia-focused speech.”

The omission was made all the more glaring by the hypesurrounding Wednesday’s speech. Numerous media outlets hadbeen reporting since the weekend that the president would usethe opportunity to present a reworked vision for his much-criticised foreign policy. Dr Amitav Acharya, an internationalrelations professor and author of the book The End of AmericanWorld Order, said: “A lot of Asians will be quite surprised be-cause the White House, through media leaks, had created theexpectation that it will be a foreign policy reboot and we willhave a sweeping overview of American foreign policy. But then,how do you leave Asia out of that?”

He added: “If you are going to look at this as a reboot, thenit will raise a lot of questions. This was not a reboot. It was arefinement.” To observers, this was also a missed opportunityfor the president to finally make a case to Americans about theneed for the US to be engaged in Asia. “The public is not goingto understand it if the president does not explain it,” said DrAcharya. Obama made only a brief mention of China and itsneed to follow international law in solving maritime disputes.He focused the rest of his speech almost entirely on explaininghow he intended to take the US off a war footing and be moreselective in the conflicts that he would send troops to.

While the speech was disappointing to Asia watchers, moststress that it should not be read as a sign that the White House isgiving up on its Pacific rebalance. A move to scale back its mili-tary commitments actually has positive implications for Asia,said Dr Bush. “One can argue, as I do, that having a selectiveapproach to intervention is designed precisely because it makesrebalancing more feasible and sustainable,” he said.

For now, though, the best the administration can do to makeup for the omission is by being even clearer at future opportuni-ties to explain his foreign policy. “I hope his people will explainthe absence in this instance,” said Professor Robert Sutter, theprofessor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott Schoolof International Affairs. “We’ve had lots of speeches, what weneed is a clear plan and actions on implementing the rebalancein ways that reassure the region. “Obama’s visit last month wasgood in that regard - there are more opportunities at the Shangri-La dialogue, the Asean Regional Forum and others.”

—Courtesy:Straits Times

Why was Asia left outof the Obama doctrine?

MATTHEW D’ANCONA

The European Union is still reeling from the insurgency ofthis past week’s elections to its 751-member Parliament.But after a political “earthquake,” as the French Prime Min-

ister, Manuel Valls, called it on Sunday, it is also worth siftingthrough the rubble of hyperbole in search of resilient continu-ities. This Strasbourg assembly continues to be controlled by itscentre-right bloc; the euro is not on the brink of collapse; nego-tiations on the all-important free trade agreement between theEuropean Union and the United States proceed. The 28-nationclub still has a healthy list of aspirant members knocking on itsdoor: Turkey, Macedonia, Iceland and, of course, Ukraine.

Yet an audit of this sort can readily spawn complacency, andit is decades of complacency that have helped far-right and otherextremist parties to make their most conspicuous gains since di-rect elections to the European Parliament were first held, in 1979.Among the new members is Udo Voigt, the leader of Germany’sNational Democratic Party, who has declared Hitler a “great man”and questioned the scale of the Holocaust. In Denmark, the far-right Danish People’s Party topped the poll, and doubled its num-ber of members in the European Parliament. In France, MarineLe Pen’s National Front also achieved the best results. Acrossthe Channel, the United Kingdom Independence Party, knownas UKIP, did the same, beating all the main parties.

A tripartite compound chemically powers this uprising —anti-European Union, anti-immigrant, anti-elites —. First, thefounding fathers of what has become the European Union (prin-cipally, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman) dreamed of a Conti-nent that had twice been scorched by world war at last embrac-ing peace, but gave little thought to the cultivation of a Europeandemos, a popular emotional identity with the new apparatus.

As euro-sceptics correctly observe, the European Union af-fects most aspects of day-to-day life. But it is a vast institutionalstructure without a soul. Occasional renditions of Beethoven’s“Ode to Joy,” the European Union anthem, scarcely competewith the deep loyalties of nationhood, region and neighbourhood.Second, this is more than a question of sentimental attachment.The chasm between citizen and Union never seemed wider thanduring the euro-zone crisis of 2010 and its aftermath. Youth un-employment reached 25 percent and higher in some regions.

One can argue about the deepest causes of this contagionand the best medicine. But the famously well-padded Brusselsbureaucracy was and remains the object of much popular anger.Third, Europeans are confronting the consequences of unprec-edented population mobility and the loss of control over theirnational borders implicit in European Union membership. Theremay be no European demos, but there is certainly a rules-basedEuropean citizenship, which means that a young person fromBucharest, Sofia or Zagreb can go to London, Paris or Rome insearch of work and a new life. The restrictions governing settle-ment in each destination differ, but the core liberty is clear.

There is, in fact, little evidence that immigrant labor displacesindigenous workers. But countries that attract immigrants needsufficient new housing and public services to keep pace. The prob-lems are rarely insuperable, especially with the tax revenues thatcan be expected as a by-product of immigration. Considered witha cool eye, mobility within Europe is an engine of future sharedprosperity, not a threat to national traditions or public safety. Yetthe cool eye has been alarmingly absent. The rise of immigrationas a Pan-European issue more closely resembles a culture warthan an economic controversy. The populist parties, mostly of theright, are shaking a fist at the pluralism, turbulence and heteroge-neity of contemporary life. Precisely what some people most rel-ish about Europe’s global cities, they most dislike.

They must also be more courageous than they have been inthe past week. These election results are partly the consequenceof structural flaws in the European Union’s organization — fail-ures that should be tackled. European voters have suffered griev-ously from the global downturn, and politicians cannot expresscontrition too often for the part they played in that.

—Courtesy: New York Times

Europe’s DangerousNew Fault Line

BEINING—Japanese fighterpilots have engaged in provoca-tive behaviour and conductedirresponsible and dangerousmaneuvers - once deliberatelyflying perilously close to aChinese aircraft, Beijing ac-cuses as the details of intru-sions on a joint China-Russiamilitary drill last weekend con-tinued to unfold. “Japanesemilitary aircraft have con-ducted, on at least 10 occa-sions, deliberate close encoun-ters against regular Chineseflights” since China establishedits Air Defense IdentificationZone in the East China Sea inNovember, Geng Yansheng, aMinistry of National Defencespokesman, told reporters inBeijing.

The incident on Saturdaymorning, when two Japanesereconnaissance aircraft enteredthe East China Sea ADIZ dur-ing a China-Russia naval drill,resulted in an exchange ofheated remarks. Geng pointedto a close encounter that tookplace on Nov 23 as a primeexample of provocation. “AYun-8 cargo plane of the Chi-nese air force was trailed bytwo F-15 fighter jets of Japan’sAir Self-Defence Force for 34minutes. The closest distancebetween the Japanese and Chi-nese planes was around 10metres,” Geng said.

China “took effective coun-termeasures and has collectedconvincing evidence” regardingthe dangerous actions of theJapanese pilots, Geng said.Zhou Yongsheng, a professor ofJapan studies at China Foreign

China calls provocationsby Tokyo ‘dangerous’

Affairs University, calledJapan’s intrusion into the recentmilitary drill “a confrontationalgesture”. “What is more, Tokyohas abused the concept of free-dom of navigation on the highseas,” Zhou said.

Tokyo earlier accusedBeijing of provocation over aSaturday incident. Japan’sMinister of Defense ItsunoriOnodera said on Sunday thatthe encounter “could lead to anaccident”. A spokesman for theJapanese ministry claimed at anews conference in Tokyo thata Chinese fighter jet flewwithin about 50 metres of aJapanese reconnaissance air-craft, and another flew as closeas 30 metres from another Japa-nese warplane, AFP reported.

Geng said the Chinese pi-lots in the Saturday encounter“conducted professional opera-tions that conformed to policiesand regulations”. China’sscrambling of aircraft for iden-tification and verification wasin accordance with internation-ally accepted practices, Gengsaid. Yin Zhuo, director of theExpert Consultation Commit-tee of the PLA navy, said it hasbeen a strategy of Tokyo tohighlight what it claims isBeijing flexing its muscles,while shying away from thefact that its military aircraft in-truded into China’s ADIZ.

Geng said Japan frequentlydispatched airplanes and ves-sels to approach waters closeto China, characterising themoves as dangerous actionsthat undermine maritime andairspace security.—ANN

Hagel: Russiaaggressive actionsgalvanized NATO

SINGAPORE—Defense Secre-tary Chuck Hagel says Russia’saggressive action in Ukrainewas — quote — “a jarring gongof reality” that galvanizedNATO allies. Hagel tells an in-ternational security conferencein Singapore that Russia’s pro-vocative actions, which includethe annexation of Ukraine’sCrimean Peninsula and theplacement of thousands oftroops along Ukraine’s border,will force NATO nations totake another look at their de-fense budgets.

U.S. leaders have pressedNATO allies to increase de-fense spending and broadenefforts to cooperate and coor-dinate more on security. Hagelsays NATO partners such asPoland have increased somedefense capabilities. Hagel isexpected to attend a meeting ofNATO defense ministers nextweek. Russia’s actions haveworried NATO nations andspurred more military trainingand fighter jet patrols in theregion.—AP

SEOUL—Leading politicians and scholarshave called on Asian states to strive harderto foster mutual trust, peace and stability,which have been undermined by intensi-fying geopolitical rivalries and threatsfrom nuclear-ambitious North Korea.Former Australian Prime Minister JuliaGillard and other high-profile figures madeopening addresses at the ninth Jeju Forumfor Peace and Prosperity, expressing con-cerns over escalating territorial disputes inthe South China Sea and the unpredictableregime in Pyongyang.

Under the theme “Designing NewAsia”, the three-day conference broughttogether some 3,600 experts, governmentofficials and politicians from more than50 countries to discuss security, education,culture, the environment and other issues.Outlining a host of geopolitical challengesfacing Asia, Gillard said that Pyongyang’sunpredictability and ambition for nucleararms were one of the biggest hurdles toregional efforts to chart a “better, moresecure and more prosperous future”.

“The new leader Kim Jong-un comesacross as both dangerous and erratic. Wedo not know the limits of what he is ca-pable of doing, from brutalizing his own

Designing New Asia

Scholars, politicians call for Asian trust

people, to murdering his opponents, todeveloping his nuclear weapons,” she said.Gillard argued that to face such a regime,the international community should stay“vigilant and resolute” to meet whatevercould emerge from the provocative state.

“We do not know what he will do, butwe have to be prepared for every contin-gency including the possibility of changewithin North Korea itself,” she said. “Ifthe events of this century so far teach usanything, it is that even the most appar-ently entrenched regimes can fall quicklyand with little warning. The so-called ArabSpring has shown us that.” Along withNorth Korean threats, the former primeminister also pointed to China’s rise andescalating territorial rows in the SouthChina Sea.

“The anxiety in the many diplomaticengagements about the South China Seademonstrates that tension is at anotherlevel. But it is those diplomatic dialogues,bilaterally and through important multilat-eral forums like the East Asia Summit, thatmust be our focus,” she said. Former Chi-nese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing under-scored the importance of peace and stabil-ity in maintaining the region’s economic

prosperity. But he stressed Beijing’s re-solve to uphold China’s territorial sover-eignty.

“On the issue of the Diaoyu Islands(Senkaku in Japanese), China’s activitiesin the area are an entirely legitimate ex-ercise of its sovereignty and jurisdictionon these islands, and should not be seenas an attempt to change the status quo,”he said in his opening address. “It is ourhope that relevant countries do not over-interpret and overreact to our legitimateactions. China stands ready to work withother countries in Asia to build a peace-ful, prosperous and open Asia and upholdpeace, stability and tranquillity in Asiaby continuously enhancing political mu-tual trust.”

In his welcoming speech, Gong Ro-myung, the chairman of the East AsiaFoundation, expressed hopes that the Jejuforum would serve as a crucial conduitthrough which scholars and world leaderscould explore viable ways to create a “newAsia.” The annual forum consists of some60 sessions on an array of issues includ-ing the future role of women, regional se-curity cooperation, education, the environ-ment and public diplomacy.—ANN

RIYADH (SAUDI ARABIA)—Prince Turki bin Abdullah binAbdul Aziz disclosed here that 200 Saudi engineers will be work-ing side by side with engineers from international firms in themultibillion riyal King Abdul Aziz Public Transportation (KAPT)project which is already in the first stages of implementation.The KAPT project includes Riyadh Metro and public buses. The-state-of-the-art project is expected to be completed in four years.

Prince Turki, who is also the head of the supervising com-mittee of the KAPT implementation, in its monthly meeting saidthat Riyadh Metro has the personal support of Custodian of theTwo Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salmanand reflects their interest in addressing the needs of the publictransport in Riyadh. The meeting also discussed the smooth op-eration of the mega project.

The governor who was presiding over a follow-up meetingat the High Commission for Riyadh Development (HCRD) saidthe cooperating partners participating in the implementation ofthe project are major international companies which will workunder the HCRD and Saudi firms with a highly qualified andexperienced work force.

He also noted the close cooperation of all government insti-tutions in the city to overcome the obstacles that the project mayface during the implementation period, especially the water andelectricity departments. “HCRD has hired highly qualified Saudiengineering graduates from the United States, as part of the pro-gram of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques scholarship,”he added.

After the meeting, the governor inspected some of the drill-ing equipment used for digging tunnels on King Abdul Aziz Roadwhere he was briefed by an HCRD official on the status of theproject under implementation.—AN

200 Saudi engineers workingon Riyadh Metro project

Sisi represents‘new hope’ forEgypt: UAE

DOHA—A UAE minister saidthe election of former armychief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asEgypt’s president represented“new hope” for the most popu-lous Arab country. Thewealthy UAE is one of themain supporters of the govern-ment in Egypt and has show-ered it with aid since its mili-tary ousted elected Islamistpresident Mohammed Mursilast year.

“We all need to supportEgypt as a nation and its people... Egypt and its people are dearto us,” said Minister of Statefor Foreign Affairs AnwarGargash Gargash on Twitter.Sisi won a landslide victory ina presidential election onThursday. His country is suf-fering from corruption, highunemployment and a wideningbudget deficit.

“The challenges are greatand the expectations are huge,but the moment that we see to-day is the most hope-filled forthree years,” said Gargash.—Reuters

K I E V / D O N E T S K

(UKRAINE)—Ukraine’s gov-ernment vowed to press aheadwith a military offensiveagainst separatists, despite adeadly attack on an army heli-copter, amid increasing reportsthat fighters from Russia havebeen involved in rebellions inthe east. President-elect PetroPoroshenko, who scored anoverwhelming first-round vic-tory in a poll on May 25, sworeto punish those responsible forthe shooting down on Thursdayof the helicopter nearSlaviansk, which killed 14 ser-vicemen including a general.

Acting Defence MinisterMykhilo Koval, repeatingcharges that Russia was carry-ing out “special operations” inthe east of Ukraine, said onFriday that Ukrainian forceswould continue with militaryoperations in border areas “un-til these regions begin to livenormally, until there is peace”.Elsewhere in Ukraine’stroubled eastern regions, aseparatist group detained a sec-ond four-person team of moni-tors of the Organization forSecurity and Cooperation inEurope, the Vienna-basedOSCE said. Last Monday sepa-ratists in another area detaineda four-man OSCE team andhave not yet released them.

Ukrainian authorities havelong alleged that the rebellionshave been fomented by Mos-cow among the largely Rus-sian-speaking population,which is especially vulnerableto cross-border propagandahostile to Kiev’s “Euro-

Ukraine set to start anti-separatists army offensive

Maidan” revolution that over-threw Moscow-backed Presi-dent Viktor Yanukovich in Feb-ruary. Reports by Ukrainianborder authorities and journal-ists on the ground now appearto show increasing evidence ofdirect involvement by fightersfrom Russia in the rebellionsthat erupted two months ago inthe wake of Russia’s annex-ation of Crimea.

According to these reports,fighters may be coming intoUkraine from former hotspots inRussia and its North Caucasusfringes such as Chechnya whoseown troubles in the past 20 yearshave spawned a proliferation ofarmed groups. Ukraine’s au-thorities say Russian borderguards are doing nothing to stopfighters crossing the long landborder from Russia, along withtruck loads of ammunition andweapons.

In the latest such report,Ukrainian border guards said onFriday they had seized a cacheof weapons including guns, ma-chine-guns, grenade-launchers,sniper rifles and 84 boxes of liveammunition in two cars theystopped as they crossed fromRussia. A total of 13 people weredetained, the border guard ser-vice said in a statement on itswebsite. Reuters correspondentsin Donetsk, an industrial city andone of the main separatist cen-tres, saw coffins loaded onto avegetable truck on Thursday anddriven off after being told byrebels that “volunteers” fromRussia killed earlier in the weekin an army offensive were beingrepatriated.—Reuters

completion of this project in seven months is aproof of the fact that Pakistani nation is veryhardworking and talented. He expressed thehope that all energy generating projects will becompleted speedily in the valleys of Mehran,Balochistan, KP, Punjab, Azad Kashmir andGilgat Baltistan. He said that the country willbe transformed in accordance with the vision ofQuaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal in the real sensewhere no patient will die in the hospital due toloadshedding, no labourer or worker will beforced to remain hungry and the poor will alsoget the same respect as enjoyed by the rich.

He said “ we all will work as members ofPrime Minister’s team for making Pakistan agreat country. Shahbaz Sharif said that the dayis not far off when there will be no darknessand there will be lights. He thanked ChinesePresident, Prime Minister, leadership, peopleand officials of Dongfong company and said thatChinese government and leadership are fullysupporting Pakistan and beginnings have been

made for starting electricity projects of 20 thou-sand megawatt with the cooperation of Chinaduring next seven years. He expressed the hopethat the country would be rid of darkness underthe guidance and full cooperation of Prime Min-ister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

The Chief Minister especially thanked Fed-eral Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Minis-ter for Water & Power Kh. Muhammad Asif,Provincial Ministers Rana Sanaullah, Col. Retd.Shuja Khanzada, Chief Secretary, IG Punjab,Commissioner Gujranwala, DCO, RPO, CCPOas well as engineers and workers of DongfongCompany, Pakistani Engineers, workers andProject Director Nandipur Capt. (Retd).Mahmood for their cooperation and hard workand said entire team deserves appreciation. TheChief Minister recommended to Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif for award of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz to Capt (Retd) Mahmood as he dis-charged national responsibility efficiently, bring-ing Nandipur Power Project out of darkness.

Nandipur project goldenstory of commitment

From Page 1

to meet the expectations of the people and serveevery citizen of Pakistan without any discrimi-nation as to whom they voted.

The Prime Minister said development willbe carried out in all the provinces on equal ba-sis. Gwadar will be brought at par with otherdeveloped cities of the country.

A modern airport will be established therebesides Gwadar will be made a free port, hesaid. Nawaz Sharif said the government is alsofocusing on infrastructure projects. He saidground-breaking ceremony of Lahore-Karachimotorway project will soon be performed. Fifty-five billion rupees have been already releasedfor the land acquisition of this project.

He said every possible effort will be madeto complete the project during the current ten-ure. Similarly, we are upgrading Pakistan Rail-ways and a railway line will be laid betweenIslamabad and Muzaffarabad. The premierurged upon his opponents to let the countrymove forward. He said the agenda of thosemaking announcements from Canada and hold-ing meetings in London was not understand-able and added this had been happening for thelast 65 years. “For God sake, let the countrynow move forward.” It may be added that GE(NYSE: GE) supplied and installed 3 9E gasturbines at the newly inaugurated 425 MW

Nandipur Power Project in Gujranwala.Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited(DECL) signed a contract with GE for the sup-ply and installation of equipment and technicaladvisory services for Nandipur Power Project.The turbines were installed in 2013. SarimSheikh, President & CEO of GE Pakistan, said:“The inauguration of the Nandipur Power Plantwill play an integral role in addressing the en-ergy shortage that Pakistan currently faces.

GE continues to work closely with the gov-ernment to develop infrastructure projects thatcan fit Pakistan’s energy initiatives and strate-gies, while contributing to economic growth.We are grateful to DECL for trusting GE toprovide them with advanced technologies forthis vital project.” GE 9E gas turbines installedat Nandipur offer fuel flexibility to burn a widerange of fuels for lower operating costs and bet-ter efficiency. They also conform to guidelinesset by the World Bank relating to nitrous oxideemissions.

Together, the new installation at the GudduPower Complex, Uch-II and Nandipur will addmore than 1.5 GW to Pakistan’s national grid.GE technologies installed at these three facili-ties will generate more than 1.1 GW, helpingthe country to meet critical energy needs, whichare estimated to be growing at 8% per annum.

PM switches onNandipur Ist Turbine Project

From Page 1

Qadir Thebo, Sindh Chief Secretary SajjadSaleem Hotiana, Karachi Commissioner ShoaibAhmed Siddiqui, Sindh Home Secretary andother officials from intelligence agencies.Sources said that the meeting would decide aboutnew mechanism to deal with the criminals ele-ments and take steps for removing the hurdlesthat were preventing the law enforcers fromachieving the required target of the operationagainst criminals.

In this regard, federal interior Minister hadkept close liaison wit the law enforcers in Karachiand provincial authorities. It could government’spriority to take drastic steps to nab criminals yetaway from the clutches of law so that peace andtranquility could be maintained during fast ap-proaching holy month of Ramadan.It is pertinent to mention that Traders Associa-tions in Karachi had raising creating hue and cryafter removal of Shahid Hayat as Karachi PoliceChief and had through repeated press statements

PM visits Karachi today;major decisions likely on

targeted operationFrom Page 1

ing had been “businesslike and fairlyamicable”. While Hagel went overground he covered in his speech, Wangspent most of the meeting talking aboutU.S.-China military-to-military contacts,including Chinese participation in forth-coming military exercises, the officialsaid. The U.S. official said Hagel’s speechhad been well received by other Asiandelegations with the exception of China.In Beijing, President Xi Jinping saidChina would not initiate aggressive ac-tion in the South China Sea but wouldrespond if others did, the official Xinhuanews agency reported.

“We will never stir up trouble, butwill react in the necessary way to theprovocations of countries involved,”Xinhua quoted Xi as saying in a meetingon Friday with Prime Minister NajibRazak of Malaysia. China claims almostthe entire oil and gas-rich South ChinaSeas, and dismisses competing claimsfrom Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, the Phil-

ippines and Malaysia. Japan also has aterritorial row with China over islands inthe East China Sea. Tensions have surgedin recent weeks after China placed an oilrig in waters claimed by Vietnam, and thePhilippines said Beijing could be build-ing an airstrip on a disputed island.Japan’s defense ministry said ChineseSU-27 fighters came as close as 50 meters(170 ft) to a Japanese OP-3C surveillanceplane near disputed islets last week andwithin 30 metres of a YS-11EB electronicintelligence aircraft. Japanese DefenceMinister Itsunori Onodera said Tokyoperceived an “increasingly severe re-gional security environment”. “It is un-fortunate that there are security concernsin the East and South China Seas,” hesaid. “Japan as well as all concerned par-ties must uphold the rule of law and neverattempt to unilaterally change the statusquo by force.” On Friday, Prime Minis-ter Shinzo Abe pitched his plan for Japanto take on a bigger international security

role and told the Singapore forum thatTokyo would offer its “utmost support”to Southeast Asian countries in their ef-forts to protect their seas and airspace. Ina pointed dig at China, he said Japanwould provide coastguard patrol boats tothe Philippines and Vietnam.

Wang, China’s deputy chief of staff,also snubbed an offer for talks with Ja-pan made by Defence Minister Onodera,the semi-official China News Servicesaid. “This will hinge on whether theJapanese side is willing to amend the er-roneous policy towards China and im-prove relations between China and Ja-pan,” he said. “Japan should correct itsmistakes as soon as possible to improveChina-Japan ties.” The strong commentsat the Shangri-La Dialogue come as Abepursues a controversial push to ease re-strictions of the post-war, pacifist consti-tution that has kept Japan’s military fromfighting overseas since World WarTwo.—Reuters

US, China square off at Asia security forumFrom Page 1

others sustained criticalwounds”. Senior military of-ficials said adding the mili-tants formed part of Tehreek-e-Taliban Bajaur and Swatchapter of Taliban yet theyassembled in village Ghund ofKunar province in Afghanistanwhere they planned the attackand crossed into Pakistani ter-ritory to launch assault.

Another source in the Se-curity forces said that hundredsof terrorists from Afghanistanstormed the Pakistani checkpost titled No a Top after cross-ing into Pakistani territory ataround 5.15am in which at leastone soldier embraced martyr-dom while two others sustainedinjuries adding in a counter of-fensive by Pakistan armedforces backed by the GunshipHelicopters, around 16 terroristswere also killed.

The fierce fighting be-tween the intruders and the Pa-kistani troops lasted for almostthree hours following whichthe intruders fled to Afghani-stan. “The terrorists fromacross the border had to fleeback to Afghanistan after threehours of fight leaving manydead bodies of their comradesbehind as the Cobra gunshiphelicopters struck hard onthem”. A well placed militarysource in Peshawar told Paki-stan Observer that the two sol-diers who were injured in thecombat were airlifted to CMHPeshawar owing to their criti-cal condition.

This was not first time thatmilitants from Afghanistancrossed into Pakistani territoryand launched attacks on Paki-stani Posts. In fact the cross bor-der aggression from Afghani-stan has continued for last manyyears. Militants from the hos-tile neighboring country havelaunched offensives on Paktroops so many times in Bajauragency alone.

Hundreds of civilians andmen in uniform have beenkilled in attacks by the mili-tants from Afghanistan onBajaur agency, Chitral,Mohmand agency and Dir dis-trict during the last few years.

Terrorists fromAfghanistan

attack Pakistaniposts in Bajaur

From Page 1

13x2

Affairs, Pakistan summoned theAfghan Charge d’ Affaires inIslamabad and a protest waslodged.

The matter was also takenup by the Pakistan ambassadorin Kabul who contacted the Af-ghan Foreign Ministry to com-plain about the issue.

The attack on the militarypost on Nao Top in BajaurAgency had left one soldier deadand injured two others. As manyas 14 Taliban were also killedas Pakistani forces repulsed theattack. The statement furtheradded that Pakistan troops re-sponded with artillery and avia-tion support.

However, any allegationsabout shelling on Afghan civil-ians inside Afghanistan wereincorrect. “Pakistan aviationonly fired on attacking terror-ists,” the statement read.“Pakistan’s concerns about mis-creants

attacking from the otherside of the border have been re-peatedly shared with Afghanauthorities. We hope effectivesteps would be taken to preventrecurrence of such incidents”.

The statement added thatPakistan would continue to ex-ercise restraint and make effortsto maintain conducive environ-ment for constructive engage-ment.

“We remain committed tomaintaining a tranquil borderespecially in the run-up to sec-ond round of Afghan elections.”

Islamabadlodges protestwith Kabul

From Page 1

tried to attract federal government’s attention overescalating incidences of extortion.

Sources said that the PM had decided to cre-ate a peace zone in Karachi for which necessaryconsultation had already been completed so thatextortion should be eliminated from the city forgood and for that purpose, Rangers would begiven more powers.

Pakistan Rangers Sindh have finalized homework regarding placement of Police officers,which Rangers believe were fit for the task ofcompleting the ongoing targeted operation. Thecaptain of ongoing targeted operation, SindhChief Minister was concerned regarding thesituation. The spokesperson of Sindhgovernment, Sharjeel Innam Memon expressedreservations over attitude of federal governmentas he said in a recent press conference that federalgovernment had not fulfilled its commitments ithad made with respect to ongoing targetedoperation.

US lawmakers want Frenchwarships for NATO, not Russia

WASHINGTON—US lawmakers urged France to break its con-tract to sell two warships to Russia and instead sell or leasethem to NATO, which said Friday it was up to Paris to decide.

Three congressmen led by Eliot Engel, the top Democraton the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to the transat-lantic alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussenexpressing concern about the construction and sale to the Rus-sian navy of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers.

“It is critical that NATO countries no longer provide pow-erful weapons to enhance Russia’s ability to intimidate or eveninvade its neighbors,” the lawmakers wrote Thursday, refer-ring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression inUkraine. An agreement by NATO to buy or lease the ships in-stead “would send a strong signal to President Putin that theNATO allies will not tolerate or in any way enable his recklessmoves,” they added. The lawmakers warned that the ships would“enhance the very expeditionary capabilities Russia used to cap-ture Crimea” in March, a move strongly protested by NATOand the West.

The Mistral can carry 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 60armed vehicles and some 700 troops.

France has said it is leaving the door open to re-examiningthe $1.6 billion contract in October, when the first warship isscheduled for delivery to the Russian fleet. Since Russia’s an-nexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Washington has voiced re-peated objections to the deal, but Russia has stressed that Francewould face heavy penalties if the deal is scrapped.

Rasmussen, asked about the Mistral sale at an event inVilnius, Lithuania, said “it’s for France to decide.” “As re-gards NATO, we’re now reviewing our future relations withRussia,” he added. “We’ve already suspended practical co-operation and NATO foreign ministers will discuss our re-lations in June.”—AFP

Six Ukrainianseparatists killedDONETSK—Ukrainian separat-ist leader Denis Pushilin said onSaturday six rebels had beenkilled while trying to collect thebodies of comrades who had diedunder Ukrainian army fire ear-lier this week close to Donetskairport. Ukrainian forces re-gained control of the airport inthe east of the country on Mon-day, killing at least 50 separat-ists, after a Sunday presidentialelection which gave billionairePetro Poroshenko an over-whelming victory. It was the firsttime the Ukrainian side had un-leashed its full force on the pro-Russian two-month rebellion,caused partly by the ouster of aMoscow-friendly president andthe annexation of the Crimeanpeninsula by Russian troops.

“They died trying to takeback the Ukrainian airport, andour boys were trying to get theirbodies out,” Pushilin said overthe telephone, without givingfurther details of the violence.—Reuters

Published by: Zahid Malik from Ali Akbar House Markaz G-8, Islamabad and printed by Gauhar Zahid Malik at Al Umar Printers

No personalbusiness inofficeISLAMABAD—Chairman PTIImran Khan on Saturdayquestioned how PrimeMinister Sharif couldvisit the home of Indiansteel tycoon Jindal withhis businessman sonHassan Nawaz when it isclearly a conflict ofinterest. In a pressrelease issued here onSaturday, Khan pointedout that no westerndemocratic leader doesbusiness while in officeas it is a clear conflict ofinterest. — NNI

UK leaderscondemnwoman’sdeathsentenceLONDON — British PrimeMinister David Cameronand former leader TonyBlair have urged Sudan’sgovernment to lift thedeath sentence imposedon a Christian womanwho refused to renounceher faith. Cameron saidthe treatment of 27-year-old Meriam Ibrahim “isbarbaric and has no placein today’s world.” Blairdescribed the case as a“brutal and sickeningdistortion of faith.”—AP

Smriti asksDU toreinstateofficialsNEW DELHI—A day after five officialsfrom Delhi University’sSchool of Open Learningwere suspended forallegedly leaking to thepress documents related tothe new HRD minister’seducation, Smriti Irani hastweeted, “Since DU is anautonomous institution Ihave put forth my personalappeal to the VC to reinstatethe officials.”—AP

ISLAMABAD: Country Director World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud called on Federal Minister for Finance, IshaqDar on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD—Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud,Country Director-World Bank called on Fi-nance Minister Senator Mohammad IshaqDar Saturday at the Finance Ministry to dis-cuss issues related to World Bank assis-tance to Pakistan. The Country Director saidthat we are encouraged by the positivetrends of the economic indicators. He saidthat we are working day and night for Boardmeeting to be held on June,10 and hopethat the assistance for Dasu Project will beapproved.

He assured the Finance Minister thatthings are moving positively for Pakistanat the World Bank. The Finance Ministerexpressed his gratitude on support of theWorld Bank for Pakistan Day (May 1, 2014)and appreciated early disbursement of theUS $ 1 billion to Pakistan.

He informed the Country Director that

World Bank to approveDasu Dam aid on 10th

Pakistan’s economy is moving in the rightdirection and that we would continue toengage with multi-lateral fora includingWorld Bank for assistance in energy andinfrastructure development programmes ini-tiated by the Government. He added that,in line with the vision of the Prime Ministerto make Pakistan developed and prosper-ous country, the Government has embarkedupon a plan to meet the energy requirementsand to make Pakistan an economically vi-able country.

He emphasized that World Bank’s as-sistance in energy and developmentprojects particularly on Dasu Dam andCASA - 1000 will help Pakistan progress.The meeting was also attended by Mr.Shahid Mahmood, Special Assistant to theFinance Minister and senior officials of theFinance Ministry. —INP

PML-N MPARana Jameel

kidnappedOUR CORRESPONDENT

NANKANA SAHIB—Uni-d e n t i f i e dmen kid-napped Pa-kistan Mus-lim League–N MPARana JameelHasan fromnear PindiBhattian onSaturday.According to sources, thekidnappers have de-manded Rs50 million fromthe MPA’s wife.

Hasan was the PML-Ncandidate, from PP-174,Nankana who won his seatduring the May 11 generalelections last year.

He had received 27,390votes beating independentcandidate Agha Ali Haiderwho polled 19,099 votes.

An report says that theMPA was on his way toIslamabad along withmembers of his familywhen the kidnapping tookplace.

The kidnappers havealso threatened the MPA’sfamily with serious conse-quences in case the pay-ment is not made to thegroup within two days’time.

It was not clear whowas behind the kidnappingof the PML-N MPA whowas not flanked by any se-curity detail at the time ofthe abduction.

Locals of the area pro-tested against the kidnap-ping and set tyres on fire.

The police are looking forthe kidnappers and furtherinvestigations are underway.

TEHRAN—A commanderfrom Iran’s RevolutionaryGuards has been killed inSyria, media said Satur-day, a disclosure that runscounter to Tehran’s insis-tence it is not fightingalongside PresidentBashar al-Assad’s forces.

Reports thatAbdollah Eskandari diedwhile “defending” aShii te shrine emergedearlier this week but nei-ther the elite military unitnor Iran’s foreign minis-try have passed com-ment.

However, the Farsnews agency reportedthat a funeral servicewould be held for thecommander Sunday inthe city of Shiraz.

Eskandari was for-merly a commander of theGuards’ ground forcesand also headed a state-run chari ty in southernIran that helps war vet-erans and families offallen soldiers.

Neither the circum-stances of his killing nordetails about his role inthe Syrian civil war —where Iran has staunchlybacked the Assad regime— have been official lyconfirmed.

Since the confl ict’soutbreak in March 2011,Iran has provided Dam-ascus with intelligence,

Iran GuardsCommander

‘killed in Syria’

BANGKOK—Thai police and sol-diers flooded downtown Bangkokon Saturday to pre-empt furtherprotests against a May 22 coupafter the army chief said a returnto democracy would take morethan a year.

In a televised address late onFriday, General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the military would needtime to reconcile Thailand’s an-tagonistic political forces and toengineer reforms.

Prayuth, who ousted the gov-ernment of Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra after monthsof sometimes violent protests,appealed for patience fromThailand’s international allies af-ter outlining his reform plan to theSoutheast Asian nation.

But the response from foreign

Thai forces out to stifle unrest after army chief sets election plangovernments was to keep up thepressure on the ruling junta to callelections quickly.

At a conference in Singaporeon Saturday, U.S. Defence Secre-tary Chuck Hagel urged the Thaiarmed forces to release detainees,end censorship and “move imme-diately to restore power to thepeople of Thailand, through freeand fair elections”.

Australia scaled back rela-tions with the Thai military onSaturday and banned coup lead-ers from travelling there.

“We understand that we areliving in a democratic world. Allwe are asking for is give us timeto reform,” Prayuth said in hisaddress on Friday, seated at a tablewith flowers in front of him andportraits of King Bhumibol

Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit on awall behind him. “We believe thatyou will choose our kingdom be-fore a flawed democratic system.”

At the heart of nearly a decadeof political turmoil in SoutheastAsia’s second biggest economyis conflict between the Bangkok-based royalist establishmentdominated by the military, old-money families and the bureau-cracy, and an upstart clique ledby former telecommunication mo-gul Thaksin Shinawatra whichdraws much of its strength fromthe provinces.

Security was tight around anormally traffic- and pedestrian-clogged Victory Monument whereprotests flared earlier in the week.The closure of the overhead cityrail station at the landmark re-

duced the number of people onstreets and walkways.

Security was being enforcedpredominantly by police, who hadat least seven large trucks parkednearby. Police stood taking pho-tos of each other, chatting to asmall group of soldiers standingaround a Humvee with a loud-speaker strapped to the top.

Trucks and police alsolined the road near a central shop-ping mall where demonstrationstook place a week earlier, but therewas no sign of any rallies.

A man was arrested and an-other fled when police thwartedtheir attempt to hold a protest atanother downtown shoppingcentre. One of the men held up asign before a media scrum that said“election only” for less than a

minute before police pounced andbundled him into a police truck.Later, three women sat on thesteps of a McDonald’s restaurantand sang a song seeking the re-turn to democracy.

“There are only three of us,not five,” one of the womenshouted at police, referring to aban on gatherings of five or morepeople.

Despite martial law and a banon gatherings, small protestsagainst the military takeover havebeen held almost daily inBangkok. There has been no seri-ous violence. Activists, spreadingword through social media, hadsaid they would hold a big showof opposition at the weekend topress for the restoration of de-mocracy.—Reuters

material and military ad-visers.

But Iran insists it hasnever sent combat troopsto Syria, reject ing suchclaims made by mostlySunni rebels f ighting tooverthrow Assad.

Despite the denials ,Iranian media occasion-ally reports the deaths ofIranian volunteer fighterskilled in Syria.

Among them wasGuards commanderMohammad Jamali Paqalewho was killed in Novem-ber while “defending” theShiite holy site of Zeinabshrine in Damascus.

Iran is backing Assadto win a third seven-yearterm in a Tuesday election

that rebels, their Westernand Arab backers andcritics are dismissing as afarce.

The poll will only beheld in government-con-trolled areas inside Syriaand not in large swathesof territory that are in rebelhands .

“This elect ion wil lstrengthen the legitimacyof the Bashar al-Assadgovernment,” Ali AkbarVelayati , the senior for-eign policy adviser toIran’s supreme leader,said Friday. “ H i speople have real ised(Assad) has preventedSyria from disintegratingor falling to occupation,”Velayati added.—AFP

Palestinianunity govt tobe formedtomorrowR A M A L L A H —West Bank — The forma-tion of a Palestinian unitygovernment backed by ri-vals Hamas and Fatah willbe announced Monday,Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas said Sat-urday, adding that Israelalready warned him itwould take punitive stepsagainst the new alliance.The formation of the gov-ernment would be the mostsignificant step yet towardending a crippling seven-year-old Palestinian politi-cal split. However, it is alsobound to increase frictionbetween Abbas andIsrael’s hard-line govern-ment.— AP

I S L A M A B A D —Pakis t anAwami Tehreek and Paki-stan Muslim League-Qon Saturday agreed on a10-point agenda to bringrevolutionary reforms inthe governance system.

PAT leader Dr. Tahir ulQadri and PML-Q headChaudhry ShujaatHussain inked the declara-tion at a press conferencein London. Speaking onthis occasion, Dr. Tahir ulQadri said the current po-litical and administrativesystem has failed in solv-ing public problems.

He announced that hewould return to Pakistan inJune to launch the move-ment for implementation ofhis agenda.

He stated thatChaudhry Shujaat wouldcontact political and reli-gious parties and key fig-ures to muster support for

PAT, PML-Q agreeon 10-point

reform agendagrand political allianceagainst the government.

He continued: “PATand PML-Q have agreed totransfer the powers to thegrass-root level.

The current outdatedsystem has failed to pro-vide rights to people. Thepresent government wasestablished through an un-constitutional electioncommission.”

Chaudhry Shujaat saidDr Tahir ul Qadri has visionand passion for the poorpeople of Pakistan.

PML-Q leader PervaziElahi said that PML-Q andPAT agreed that both par-ties will get the agendaimplemented with fullforce. It’s a reform agenda,which will bring progress,”he said. Elahi said that theirmovement would be for thebetterment of commonman. —INP

WASHINGTON—Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, thelone American prisoner of war from the Af-ghan conflict, captured by insurgents nearlyfive years ago, has been released to Ameri-can forces in exchange for five Taliban pris-oners held at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,detention facility, Obama administrationofficials said Saturday.

As part of US Army Sergeant BoweBergdahl’s release, the United States is turn-ing over five Taliban detainees at the USprison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to thecustody of Qatar, US officials said.

Bergdahl’s freedom follows months ofindirect US-Taliban talks with Qatar actingas intermediary, the officials said.US special operations forces took custodyof Bergdahl in a non-violent exchange ineastern Afghanistan, the officials said, add-ing that he was believed to be in good con-dition.

Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, was theonly known missing US soldier in the Af-

US POW freed after 5 years5 Taliban prisoners to be released from Guantánamo

ghan war. He was captured under unknowncircumstances in eastern Afghanistan bymilitants on June 30, 2009, about two monthsafter arriving in the country.“Today the American people are pleasedthat we will be able to welcome home Ser-geant Bowe Bergdahl, held captive fornearly five years,” Obama said in a state-ment.

“On behalf of the American people, Iwas honored to call his parents to expressour joy that they can expect his safe return,mindful of their courage and sacrificethroughout this ordeal.”Obama thanked Qatar for its role inBergdahl’s release, as well as the Afghangovernment.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel,travelling in Asia, said in a statement thatBergdahl would be given “all the supporthe needs to help him recover from this or-deal, and we are grateful that he will soonbe reunited with his family.”—Reuters

Zardaridenounces

witch huntingISLAMABAD—Co-ChairmanPakistan People’s Party andformer President Mr. Asif AliZardari has deplored the vic-timization of former PrimeMinisters Yousuf RazaGilani and Raja PervaizAshraf and ex- federal min-ister Makhdoom AminFahim behind the façade ofaccountability as ‘witchhunting that bodes ill for thepolitics of tolerance, accom-modation and reconcilia-tion’.

In a statement today theformer President said thathe was shocked that whilethe PPP was seeking to pro-tect the democratic systemthrough political reconcilia-tion the government waschasing opponents andthereby undermining theunity of political forces.

He said that decisions innational policies whether inthe rental power plants orsubsidies and concessionsin importing commoditieswere taken collectively andtransparently by the cabinetin the light of objective re-alities and singling out thePrime Minister is patentlywrong and smacks of politi-cal victimization.—INP

CJ forms bench tohear anti-judiciary

TV programmeSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The ChiefJustice of Pakistan hasformed a three-memberbench to hear a case pertain-ing to anti-judiciaryprogramme telecast by a pri-vate TV channel.

The bench, headed byIjazul Hassan, will hear thecase on June 2.

Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Dr Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer with the officials of Embassy during a farewell dinner inthe embassy of Saudi Arabia.—PO photo Sultan Bashir

SLEEPING in a room with too much lighthas been linked to an increased risk ofpiling on the pounds, a study shows. A

team at the Institute of Cancer Research inLondon found women had larger waistlines iftheir bedroom was “lightenough to see across” atnight. However, they cau-tion there is not enoughevidence to advise peopleto buy thicker curtains orturn off lights.

The study of 113,000women was published inthe American Journal ofEpidemiology. The womenwere asked to rate theamount of light in theirbedrooms at night as:

Their answers werecompared to several mea-sures of obesity. BodyMass Index, waist-to-hipratio and waist circumfer-ence were all higher inwomen with lighter rooms.Prof Anthony Swerdlow, from the Institute ofCancer Research, told the BBC: “In this verylarge group of people there is an associationbetween reported light exposure at night andoverweight and obesity.

“But there is not sufficient evidence toknow if making your room darker would makeany difference to your weight. “There mightbe other explanations for the association, butthe findings are intriguing enough to warrantfurther scientific investigation.”

One possible explanation is that the lightis disrupting the body clock, which stems fromour evolutionary past when we were activewhen it was light in the day and resting when

it was dark at night.Light alters mood, physical strength and

even the way we process food in a 24-hourcycle. Artificial light is known to disrupt thebody clock by delaying the production of the

sleep hormone melatonin.Prof Derk-Jan Dijk, from theSurrey Sleep Centre, said therewould be no harm in trying tomake bedrooms darker. He toldthe BBC: “People in general arenot aware of the light present intheir bedroom, I think peopleshould assess their bedroom andsee how easy it would be tomake it darker.”Street lights, some alarm clocksand standby lights on electricalequipment such as televisionscould light a room, hesaid.”Overall this study points tothe importance of darkness,” heconcluded.The study was funded by Break-through Breast Cancer and thefindings emerged from a long-

term study to understand the risk factors forbreast cancer. Obesity is known to increasethe odds of the disease.

Dr Matthew Lam, from the charity, com-mented: “It’s too early to suggest that sleep-ing in the dark will help prevent obesity, aknown risk factor for breast cancer, but theassociation is certainly interesting.

“Whilst we are learning more and moreeach day about the environmental, geneticand lifestyle factors that affect breast cancerrisk, it is not yet possible to predict who willget breast cancer, and for women who havebeen diagnosed with the disease, we can’tyet say what caused it.”

Light bedrooms‘link to obesity’

Ambassador of Italy Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani with the recipients of Parveen Shakir Akas-e-Khushboo award on theoccasion of two-day Urdu Festival.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—The two-dayPerveen Shakir Urdu Adab Mela(Urdu Literature Festival) con-cluded here Saturday with apledge by the writers and poetsthat they would keep composingwonderful poems and storiesmaking Urdu their first and lastlove. After seeing their passionand dedication towards the lan-guage, one could not help think-ing the future of our language isbright. A new lot of poets andwriters were given Aks-e-Khushbu awards, awards namedafter Perveen Shakir.

It goes to the credit of PerveenShakir Trust (PST), its visionarychairperson Perveen Qadir Aghaand the concept director and pro-ducer of the festival Mazharul Is-lam that they keep celebratingPerveen Shakir (1952-1994), theimmaculate poetess’ memory andeach time come up with newideas. This year too, they took theaudience by surprise and turnedthe trust’s award giving-ceremonyinto a mega literary event. Islamwho during his tenure as MD ofthe National Book Foundation(NBF) turned the NBF from aslow, sluggish almost dead gov-ernment organization into a liv-ing, book-friendly entity said

Pakistani writers’ works getting popularity in Italy: Envoy

Poetry, fiction, music: PerveenShakir Urdu Festival gives it all

Perveen Shakir Trust has added a few newthings this year. Besides, award giving we heldsessions in which lively interaction took placebetween audience and the stage.

And right he was as a number of bookswere launched, awards given away, musicalperformances held, poetic rendition done, lec-tures delivered and discussions largely at-tended during the two day event. Friday wasdevoted to poetry and the second day was re-served for other activities like awards giving,fiction reading and book launching ceremo-nies.

On Saturday, three books translated intoItalian from Urdu were launched. Ambassa-dor of Italy Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani wasthe chief guest at the launching ceremony ofthe books. The first one is an anthology ofSaadat Hasan Manto’s stories translated intoItalian by Franco Irawan Esposito; the sec-ond is “Soliloquy” by Perveen Shakir trans-lated into Italian by Dr Sabrina Lie and thethird one “Seaon of Love Bitter Almonds andDelayed Rains” by Mazharul Islam translatedagain by Dr Lie.

A book titled “A Small Fortune” by Brit-

ish writer of Pakistani origin Rosie Dstgir wasalso launched on the occasion. Ambassadorof Italy expressed his profound gratitude tobe called for address to a ‘high profile gather-ing’. Perveen Shakir Trust is doing an excel-lent job by paying tribute to Perveen Shakirwho met an untimely death in a road accidentat the age of 42, said Italian envoy. More than150,000 strong Pakistanis are contributing tothe development of Italy and we value theircontribution, he said.

The ambassador spoke highly of theworks translated into Italian language. I hopeit will go a long way in bringing cultures ofthe two countries closer, he said. Embassyof Italy approves literary and cultural activi-ties and has been co-sponsoring Karachi,Lahore Literature Festivals for last few yearsand a major sponsor of Islamabad LiteratureFestival, said the ambassador. Towards theend, he on behalf of the PST gave away fourawards: Aks-e-Khushbu Award 2012 toAmbreen Haseeb Amber for her poetry col-lection “Dil ke Ufq per”, Aks-e-KhusbuAward 2013 to Seema Ghazal for her book“Main Sai Khud Banati Hoon”, Special

Award to Bibi Haleema Bushra for her book“Khwabon Main Likhi Tehrireen” and a goldmedalist award to Hina Habib for achievingtop position in MA English from PeshawarUniversity.

Earlier on Friday, eminent singer SaraRaza Khan mesmerized the audience with mu-sical rendition of ghazals by Ghalib, BahadurShah Zafar, Dagh Dehlvi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz,Nasir Kazmi and Sahir Ludhianvi. Among thenoted literary and showbiz personalities thatparticipated in the two-day event includedMustansar Hussain Tarar, Amjad IslamAmjad, Qawi Khan, Talat Hussain, MasoodAshar, Yousuf Hassan, Muhammad AsimButt, Neelofar Iqbal, Wafa Chishti, RanaSeerat, Sara Seerat, Nargis Sethi, GulmeenaySethi, Anwar Jahangiri, Qasera Alvi, HameedAlvi, Dr Anwar Naseem, Dr Safia Ebad,Seerat Asghar, IG Motorways ZulfiqarCheema, Prof Jalil Aali, Mukhtar Azad, TariqShahid, Dr Inam-ul-Haq Javed, YasmeenFarman Ali, Irfan Urfi, Agha Afzal, JonaidIqbal, Sadaf Raza, Khursheed Rabbani, FarahHussain, Tariq Shahid, Munir Ahmed andSaadat Kanjal.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

IS L A M A B A D —HamdardUniversity Islamabad Cam-pus on Saturday celebrated“Twelve years of Pharmacyat Hamdard”. Hamdard In-stitute of PharmaceuticalSciences in order to cel-ebrate the event organizeda Job Fair, Drama Festival& Exhibition along withscientific programme whichwas attended by more than600 participants and guestsfrom pharmaceutical indus-try, government, academia,ministry of health, media,community pharmacy andleading hospital’s of thecountry.

The event was inaugu-rated by Prof Dr AzharHussain Dean PharmacyHamdard University. At thejob fair and exhibition morethan twenty stalls were put

up by pharmaceutical com-panies, leading hospitals andcommunity pharmacieswhich provided an avenue ofinteraction and sharingamong the participants.

Prof. Dr. Azhar Hussainthe chief guest highlightedthat Hamdard University’scommitment to provide qual-ity education and best envi-ronment for the youth of Pa-kistan. At the moment wehave more than 600 studentsat the institute which repre-sents different parts of thecountry. We have more than500 alumni of pharmacy whoare very well placed at thelocal and multinational orga-nizations. Not forgetting thevision of founder chancellorShaheed HakeemMohammad Said Dr. Azharadded that we are workingfor the development of youthfor the future challenges of

the world.While highlighting the

faculty achievements DrAzhar added that in the lasttwo years we have contrib-uted 40 international publi-cations with impact factor of17 which reflect the qualityof academic staff at the in-stitute.

Over 350 projects havebeen completed in areas likedrug utilization review, ratio-nal drug use, cost of therapy,patient counselling and com-pliance, drug supply man-agement, availabil i ty ofdrugs, EDL and compliancewith standard treatmentguidelines. He added that wehave presented papers at na-tional and international con-ferences at USA, Australia,Netherlands, Turkey andMalaysia. The faculty is alsoserving on the editorialboards of international jour-

nals. He was of the view thatthe Pharm D students aretrained at Federal Govern-ment Service Hospital (PolyClinic) where they learnabout various aspects ofpharmaceutical care.

In the scientific sessionrenowned alumni ofHamdard Institute of Phar-maceutical Sciences and se-nior pharmacist shared theirexperience and views on thetheme “Eight Star Pharma-cist” in the areas of clinicalservices, Pharmaceuticalmanufacturing, Pharmaceuti-cal regulation and Pharma-ceutical Marketing, high-lighted the challenges thatwe are facing and the oppor-tunities that exist for the cur-rent and upcoming pharmacygraduates.

Students presented phar-macy profession evolution inthree eras i.e the past preset

and future of pharmacyprofession in the countryand globally. They alsopresented the role and con-tribution of Hamdard Uni-versity Pharmacy depart-ment for the betterment ofpharmacy profession in thecountry.

Rauf Khalid chiefguest appreciated the ini-tiative taken by HamdardUniversity for the develop-ment of pharmacy profes-sion and retracted that thecontribution of ShaheedHakim Mohamad Said andhis family had been tre-mendous for educationsector in Pakistan.

He assured his supportand guidance for the causeof pharmacy profession inthe country. Prof. Dr.Nazeer Ahmed DirectorGeneral presented the voteof thanks.

Hamdard varsity celebrates ‘12 years of Pharmacy’

Rangers patrolling to avert any untoward incident as security has been beefed up in thecapital.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Allama Iqbal Open Uni-versity (AIOU) has completed book mailingprocess to 62-thousands enrolled students ofits PTC program.

The mailing of books process to all theenrolled students from Matric to Postgradu-ate level programs of the Allama Iqbal OpenUniversity(AIOU) is continue in full swing,said Incharge Mailing Section, AIOU WaqarAhmed Sheikh.

In addition, the books and study materi-als sent by post so far includes CT books to10-thousands students, SSC to 80-thousands

students, FA to 1-Lack while books of BAto 1 Lack 10-thousand students, said a pressrelease.

Books to other students of CT, SSC, FAand BA are being sent. The books of B.Edprogram to one lack students are also beingsent and would be completed by June 3.

Waqar Sheikh further said that mailingof books to the students of postgraduate pro-grams would be started in the 2nd week ofJune.

The books mailing status are also beinguploaded on the Universi ty websitewww.aiou.edu.pk, so that the students cancheck their books status from this site.

AIOU completes book mailingprocess of its PTC program

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—The Rawalpindi Medical College has initiateda continued medical education program for updating knowl-edge and skill of medical professionals relating to Departmentof Obstetrics & Gynecology and Department of Urology &Renal Transplantation. This kind of training would help toemerge a new specialty of Urogynecology.

This was stated by the Principal Rawalpindi Medical Col-lege (RMC), Professor Muhammad Umar while inaugurating1st Symposium on Urogynecology held at new teaching Blockof RMC at Holy Family Hospital on Saturday.

The event was arranged by Head of Urology DepartmentRMC Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed with the collaboration of ProfessorFehmida Shaheen Head of Obs/Gynae RMC. The eminent Pro-fessors, medical students, paramedics and nursing staff also at-tended the symposia.

During in-augural ceremony Professor Umar said that sympo-sium on a very important subject would provide an endeavor ofnational standard which aimed to inform, promote and globalizeoutstanding technological innovation, knowledge and research. It

will especially help the young doctors to make an early debut onthe national stage and will also open the gateway and build a bridgebetween the Urologists and Gynecologists of Pakistan by sharingtheir experiences in the developed world. Dr. Mumtaz Ahmad saidthat organizing joint academic activity has provided an opportu-nity to discuss and share the experiences with regard to complica-tions of Gynae and Urology. He said the aim of Urogynecologypractice is to improve the care of patients with Urogynecologyproblems in collaboration with other care providers.

He said purpose of symposium is to take first step towards thedevelopment of specialty of Urogynecology in the public sectorshospital so either urologist or gynecologists have sufficient knowl-edge and expertise to deal these patients one and all for better out-come. Professor Fehmida Shaheen said that eminent the special-ists presented state of the art lectures on different aspects ofUrogynecology starting from anatomy of pelvic support to the di-agnosis and management of different urogenital problems. Dr. aheelaMohsin Rizvi, Prof. Musaddaq Khan, Prof. Shagufta Sial, Dr.Muhammad Anees Farooque, Dr. Faizan Ahmed, Dr. ShamimMimtaz and other medical professionals presented papers on dif-ferent aspects of Urogynecology.

Symposium on development of Urogynecology

04:30 01:3005:30

09:00

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

June 6

TO celebrate the Republic Dayand National Day of Nepal TheAmbassador and Mrs. BharatRaj Poudyal will hold a recep-tion on Friday 6th June 2014 from19:30 hrs to 21:30 hrs, at SheeshMahal Hall, Serena Hotel.

Two gypsy children searching valuables from different parts of the city to earn their livelihood.

Work on Metro bus project near Parliament House, which according to some people may cause security risk.

A view of rain in Federal Capital on Saturday.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Punjab Minister for Labourand Manpower Raja Ashfaq Sarwar Satur-day said that despite favourable temperatureand unexpected rains dengue is totally un-der control and for this achievement, thegovernment departments deserve apprecia-tion who worked on a comprehensive anti-dengue strategy with the cooperation of pub-lic representatives.

He said that dengue is our combine en-emy and a comprehensive plan should be

evolved to involve local community in allanti-dengue efforts.

He expressed these views while presid-ing over a meeting held here atCommissioner’s office to review anti-den-gue campaign. MNAs Raja Javed Ikhlas,Tahira Aurengzeb, Malik Ibrar, Zaib un NisaAwan and Seema Jilani, MPAs Raja HanifAdvocate, Malik Iftikhar, Tehseen Fawadand Iftikhar Warsi, PML (N) leaders SardarNasim, Dr Jamal Nasir and Farooq Khattak,senior officers of Health, Education, Envi-ronment, Agriculture and other officers con-

cerned were also present on the occasion.Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said that graveyards

could be the breeding grounds of dengue lar-vae, therefore departments concerned shouldwork on war footing to clean all graveyardsand the local community should also be in-volved in this activity.

He said that to make anti-dengue stepsmore effective, a latest IT based pilot projectof geo tagging is being launched with thecooperation of Fatima Jinnah Women Uni-versity. He said that initially this project willonly be for one union council and extended

to other UCs after evaluating its effective-ness.

Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said that adminis-tration of Rawalpindi and Federal Capitalshould work in close liaison for the moni-toring of anti dengue steps in bordering ar-eas of twin cities. Heaps of garbage and en-croachment should immediately be removedfrom IJP road, he added.

Briefing the meeting, the officials saidthat Rawalpindi Health department has madean equipment to capture dengue mosquitofor testing and its initial analysis on self help

basis. The cost of this equipment is muchless than its market price, they added.

Assisstant Commissioner Gujar KhanQurat ul Aain Fatima told the meeting that aweekly review anti-dengue meeting is heldregularly in Gujar Khan and local commu-nity is being involved in anti-dengue steps.

Managing Directior (MD), RawalpindiWaste Management Company, Irfan Qureshitold the meeting that desilting of 11 nullahsof Rawalpindi city will be completed by June30 and for this purpose staff of RWMC isusing latest machinery.

Plan to involve local communityin anti-dengue efforts

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Pakistan National Hearts Asso-ciation (PNHA) on Saturday organized a walkin connection with World Anti-Tobacco Day tocreate public awareness regarding health haz-ards of tobacco.

The walk was attended among others by Lt.Gen. (Retd) Abdul Qayyum, Deputy Superin-tendent Police (DSP) Traffic, HeadquartersShahid Yousaf, Director Operations PNHASanaullah Ghoman and a large number ofPANHA members and citizens.

Sanaullah Ghoman addressing the partici-pants said that tobacco and shisha smoking isinjurious to health as they cause cancer, heartdiseases and blood pressure problem. He said,the objective of observing World No TobaccoDay is to reduce tobacco consumption which

can lead to deadly diseases like cancer.World No Tobacco Day primarily focuses

on encouraging users to refrain from tobaccoconsumption and its related products for a pe-riod of at least 24 hours so that they could beprepared to stop tobacco consumption which isin their own interest.

Other speakers said the aim of No-TobaccoDay is to draw public and the government at-tention on the need to take effective measuresto prevent tobacco consumption which contami-nates the air we live in. So, if your dream is tolive in a pollution-free environment, then Anti-Tobacco Day is the right time to express yoursupport to help create a safe and healthy envi-ronment for future generations.

Smoking does many irreparable and irre-versible disorders in the body and tends to makethe body weak from inside, they said.

Walk to create awarenessregarding hazards of tobacco

Customsrecover goods

worth Rs. 4.8mISLAMABAD—Customs Intel-ligence, Rawalpindi recoveredsmuggled goods worth Rs. 4.8million in its operation againstthe nefarious business of smug-gling.

Director General Cus-toms Intelligence, Lutf Ullahreacted on a tip of informa-tion that certain foreign goodswere being smuggled toRawalpindi, upon which theCustoms intercepted two ve-hicles and recovered goodsworth Rs. 4.8 million, said apress release issued here.

The details show that for-eign cloth and chemical worthRs. 2.5 million was recoveredfrom one vehicle while miscel-laneous things including elec-tronics costing Rs. 2.3 millionwere recovered from the sec-ond vehicle.

The Custom officials tookthe recovered goods in custodyand further investigations areunderway.—APP

22 lawbreakersincluding four

gamblers arrestedRAWALPINDI—Police under itsongoing drive against anti-socialelements arrested 22 outlawa in-cluding four gamblers, a drunk-ard and three over immoral ac-tivities besides recovering over510 grams charras, 16 bottles ofliquor, four liter wine, six pistols30 bore with 55 rounds and onepistol 32 bore with three rounds,one kalashnikov with ninerounds and fireworks items fromthe possession of the accused.

According to Rawalpindipolice, Naseerabad police heldImdad for having 510 gramscharras. Waris Khan policerounded up Nadeem and recov-ered three liquor bottles. GujarKhan police arrested Asif forpossessing 13 bottles of liquor.Bunni police sent behind the barsYounas for carrying four literwine. Gunjmandi police nettedRehmat Ullah as he was alleg-edly under the influence of alco-hol. Other accused were bookedfor having illegal weapons andfireworks items. Sadiqabad po-lice on a tip-off, raided at abrothel house allegedly being runby Sumira Bibi and arrested threeaccused namely Kamran, Sumiraand Shazia.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The IJ Principal Road, one of thebusiest roads of twin cities of Islamabad andRawalpindi, is in extremely dilapidated condition,creating nuisance for the motorists and transporters.

The motorists continue to suffer due to the poorcondition of the road, which also contributes to traf-fic mess and accidents.They are facing difficulties owing to the unevensurface of the road and deep ditches at short dis-tances. A traffic police official claimed that approxi-mately 100,000 vehicles use the road daily.

The traffic coming from Pirwadhi, Ninth Av-enue, Double Road and Pindora Chungi towardsFaizabad use the IJP road and face traffic jams dur-ing rush hours. Moreover, motorists suffer mostly

at night due to dilapidated road and lack of roadlights. The residents expressing resentment said thatIJP Road that divides Rawalpindi and Islamabadalso has insufficient pedestrian bridges making ithard for the people to cross the road.

A motorist, Rashid Minhas, said the CDAshould repair the road and install road signs, addingthat several accidents had occurred due to poor andnot traffic worthy condition of the said road. GhulamMurtaza, another motorist, said the road is used byboth heavy and light traffic which is further break-ing it down. He said the CDA which is responsiblefor repair or up-gradation of the road should alsoexpand the road to accommodate the increased num-ber of vehicular. The motorists and transporters de-manded of the chairman CDA to order repair andexpansion of the IJP Road on priority basis.

Dilapidated condition of IJPrincipal road

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) hasasked Higher Education Commission (HEC) to revise its Equiva-lence Standard for Master’s degree programmes.

The Commission proposed that there should be an exceptionfor those who attained their Master’s degrees in a period prior tothe introduction of Equivalence Standard, to create a level play-ing field among all the Master’s degree holders.

The Equivalence Standard applies retrospectively and ren-

ders the Master’s degrees earned prior to introduction of theEquivalence Standard inferior to those earned after the introduc-tion of ES.

The Competition Commission acknowledged that the initia-tive taken by HEC to introduce the 4 year bachelor programmewas aimed at making the Pakistani degrees compatible with theforeign ones.

However, the new standard should not negatively affect thedegree holders who earned their degrees in accordance with thestandard prevalent at the time of their schooling.

Equivalence Standard for master’s degree

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Seventy-six (76) young pro-fessionals gathered here at a local hotel onSaturday for their pre-departure orientationfor a year of study at the United States Com-munity Colleges.

This is the eighth group of Pakistani stu-dents to study in the United States under USgovernment-funded Community CollegesInitiative Program (CCIP).

The program is administered by theUnited States Educational Foundation in Pa-kistan (USEFP).

Addressing the ceremony Robert Raines,Country Cultural Affairs officer of the USEmbassy in Islamabad said, “Going to theUnited States on this program will be a life-changing opportunity”.

He said that after studying in US collegesand completing internships in their fields,community college initiative students comeback to Pakistan with learning new skills andknowledge to help their communities.

“So far, 248 Pakistanis have participatedin the CCIP and had the opportunity to showeveryday Americans the true face of Paki-

stan,” he added.The Community College Initiative Pro-

gram is a one-year, non-degree scholarshipprogram that provides opportunities for Pa-kistani young professionals to develop lead-ership, professional skills and English lan-guage proficiency, while studying at a com-munity college in the United States.

Participants during their stay in theUnited States, would study agriculture, ap-plied engineering, business management andadministration, media, early childhood edu-cation or tourism and hospitality manage-ment.

The US Embassy in Pakistan adminis-ters the largest educational and cultural pro-grams of any US Embassy in the world.Around 9,000 Pakistanis have participatedin fully-funded academic or professional de-velopment programs in the United States.

Five thousand Pakistani youths currentlyare enrolled in US government-funded En-glish language programs in Pakistan.

These programs manifest the sincere in-terest of the United States to build partner-ship with and a bright future for the peopleof Pakistan.

76 youths to study in USCommunity Colleges

ISLAMABAD—Highlighting the alarmingnumber of deaths related with tobaccoevery year, health experts demanded thegovernment to raise taxes on tobacco andits products in the upcoming budget 2014-15.

They were addressing a public aware-ness seminar organized by Shifa Interna-tional Hospital (SIH) in connection with“World No Tobacco Day” here.

They said every year, on May 31World No Tobacco Day is marked, under-lining the health risks associated with to-bacco use and advocating for effectivepolicies to reduce tobacco consumption.

Executive Director Health ServicesAcademy Dr. Asad Hafeez said that gov-ernment will implement comprehensiveban on tobacco advertisement by May 31.

He said there was a dire need to im-pose more taxes on tobacco as around onethousand children from age eight to 10 startusing tobacco every day.

Consultant Pulmonologist SIH, Dr.Sohail Naseem said as many as 5000people in the country are admitted in thehospitals every day owing to tobacco re-lated diseases.

He said tobacco kills nearly six mil-lion people each year, of which more than600,000 are non-smokers dying from sec-ond-hand smoke or passive smoking.

Dr. Sohail said smoking will kill one

billion people by the end of this century.He said half of the Pakistani men are regu-lar smokers and about 55 percent familiesin Pakistan have at least one person whosmokes.

Consultant Cardiologist and Head ofCardiology Department SIH Dr Asad AliSaleem said negative effects of smokingand tobacco use are beyond lungs and pul-monary diseases. He said smoking is oneof the major causes of hypertension, heartattack and stroke.

He observed that above 70 percentpeople with cardiovascular diseases aresmokers. He said smoking causes failureto taste food, shrinks arteries and causesvarious cardiac diseases. Heart attackdeath rate is 70 percent greater in malesmokers than non-smokers, he added.

Consultant Radiation Oncologist Dr.Asif Masood said that various cancers in-cluding acute myeloid leukemia, lung can-cer, mouth cancer, throat cancer, stomachcancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the cer-vix, cancer of the esophagus, kidney can-cer, cancer of the larynx (voice box) anduterus cancer are caused by direct smok-ing, secondhand smoking, chewing to-bacco and using pan, gutka or sheesha. Alarge number of people including consult-ants, doctors, civil society representatives,medical students and citizens of twin cit-ies attended the seminar.

Meanwhile, the World Health Orga-nization (WHO) has called for increasingthe price of tobacco to reduce its use bydiscouraging potential users and helpingto prevent relapse in those who have quitsmoking. According to WHO, higher taxeson tobacco raise more revenue for gov-ernments and health programmes, whichreduce tobacco use and lead to healthiercommunities and healthier economies.

On occasion of World No-TobaccoDay 2014 observed recently, WHO saidthat tobacco taxation was one of the mosteffective ways of reducing tobacco use. Itsaid that raising taxes on tobacco was asound policy with a powerful impact onhealth and the economy of country.

Under the WHO Framework Conven-tion on Tobacco Control, countries shouldimplement tax and price policies on to-bacco products as a way to reduce tobaccoconsumption. “By raising tobacco taxes”,said Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Di-rector for the Eastern Mediterranean, “wecan reduce tobacco use and prevent youngpeople from starting to smoke”

Tobacco use is increasing in manycountries in the WHO Eastern Mediterra-nean Region. Cigarettes are the mostprevalent form of regulated tobacco, butother forms of tobacco are also prevalentin the Region, such as waterpipe andsmokeless tobacco.

Health experts for more taxes ontobacco in budget 2014-15

SRINAGAR: JKLF Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik addressing a press conference.

ISLAMABAD: J&K Panther Party Chief Prof Bhim Singh talking to AJK Senior Minister Ch Muhammad Yasinhere on Saturday.

TENS of thousands of people offeredprayers at Hazratbal shrine, observing the‘following Friday’ of the Me’raj festival.

Muslims across the globe remember Me’rajas the night when Prophet Muhammad (SAW)ascended the heavens and had a great vision.

On Friday Muslim devotees in Kashmir hadthe glimpse of a hair strand widely believed tobe from the holy Prophet (SAW) and locallycalled Moi Shareef (Holy Relic). Special prayerswere said for the peace and prosperity of Kash-mir. The devotees including men, women, eld-erly persons, youth and chilen from differentparts of Kashmir thronged the shrine, whichfor centuries has been central to Kashmir’s trystwith Islamic faith.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Presidentof the ruling National Conference, FarooqAbdullah offered prayers at Dargah Hazratbalamongst the large congregation. On the occa-

Me’raj congregation at Hazratbalsion Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah ex-tended greetings to the people and prayed fortheir well-being. They also prayed for peace andprosperity of the State.

Shab-e-Meraj was observed during the in-tervening night of May 29 and 30. Thousandsof people had offered special prayers during thenight.

For past few days, according to reports, largenumber of devotees reached the Hazrtabal shrineand offered prayers besides having the glimpseof holy relic. Devotees also converged at someother shrines of Valley including Jenab SahabSoura, Kailaspora, Pinjoora-Shopian, KhiramSirhama and Kaba Marg.

Reports said that since Friday morning, devo-tees started arriving at Hazratbal shrine here inhundreds of buses from almost all the districts-Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag,Bandipora, Kupwara, Baramulla, and Budgam.

Before the Friday prayers thousands of devo-tees had reached there. They offered Fridayprayers and had the glimpse of holy relic.

After Friday prayers, most of them startedleaving for their respective places. Even as thetraffic police had made arrangements for smoothmovement of the vehicles, huge rush of vehiclesled to traffic jamming at several places.

One-way traffic was managed on Friday fromLal Chowk to Hazratbal and back. The vehiclesgoing from Lal Chowk to Hazratbal had to movevia Lal Bazar area. However, those moving fromHazratbal to Lal Chowk had to take theSaidakadal route.

Vendors had set up stalls outside the shrinecomplex, where food items were on sale. Thedevotees were happy over offering the prayersat the shrine and having the glimpse of holyrelic.

—Courtesy:KO.

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, theChairman of All Parties Hurriyet Con-ference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, hassaid that Kashmir’s special status un-der Article 370 of the Indian Constitu-tion had been diluted after 1953 bysuccessive regimes at New Delhi.

The APHC Chairman in a mediainterview in Srinagar strongly reactedto the recent revelation of a ministerof Bharatiya Janata Party that the BJPwas working to repeal Article 370 andthat the talks in this regard were go-ing on with the stakeholders.

The Mirwaiz pointed out thatKashmir used to enjoy autonomousstatus under the Indian Constitutionbefore 1953 but the successive regimesat New Delhi diluted the same to theextent that it now remained limited topapers only. On ground, he added,Kashmir has been virtually convertedinto a police state and is being run bythe Indian Army. The APHC Chairmanmaintained that Kashmir was not theissue of its relationship with New Delhi

Successive Indian regimes dilutedarticle 370 since 1953:Mirwaiz

but was the matter pertaining to thefate of millions of Kashmiris.The Chair-man of Jammu and Kashmir LiberationFront, Muhammad Yasin Malik, ad-dressing a press conference inSrinagar said that the JKLF would re-launch the ‘Quit Kashmir’ campaignto strengthen the ongoing liberationmovement. He lashed out at Kashmiripro-India parties National Conferenceand Peoples Democratic Party for en-acting the drama of opposing the re-peal of Article 370.

He maintained the fact is thatthese parties have always strength-ened India’s illegal hold on Kashmir.He said that the objective of raisingthe issue of repeal of Article 370 wasto engage the Kashmiris in a new dis-course.

Meanwhile, the illegally detainedHurriyet leader, Dr Muhammad QasimFakhtoo, completed 22 years in illegaldetention, today. He was arrested in1993 in connection with a false mur-der case and has not been released by

the authorities despite court ordersand recommendations of an officialcommission.

APHC leader, Syed Bashir Andrabi,addressing a gathering at Wahiporain Pulwama paid glowing tributes totwo Shopian women, Aasiya andNeelofar, who were raped and mur-dered by Indian men in uniform in 2009.The Chairperson of Kashmir Thereek-e-Khawateen, Zamruda Habib, led aprocession from Abi Guzar in Srinagarto Press Enclave demanding justice forthe two women.The residents of Handwara town heldspecial prayers to remember the vic-tims of Wular Lake tragedy on their8th martyrdom anniversary. Twentychildren along with a teacher and an-other employee of Burn Candle PublicSchool, Handwara, drowned in WularLake on May 30, 2006, when a boat ofIndian Army, carrying them, capsizedin the middle of the lake due to thenegligence of the navy officials.—KMS

SHOPIAN—The family of Neelofar andAsiya Jan are nursing a double grief. Onefor having lost two young women so bru-tally to a still unexplained controversy.Other tragedy is their hurt that camethrough the alleged lies they say the inves-tigating agencies kept spinning during theprobe

“It’s five years of agony and pain. Westill don’t believe that we ever have comeacross such a tragedy,” Neelofar’s husbandShakeel Ahmad Ahanger says.

He said that the incident symbolizesbrutality, travesty of justice, a systemicpattern of abuse of power by the securityforces that goes beyond unjustified laws

CBI spun lies around ouragony: Family

like the Armed Forces Special Powers Actin a Valley that already stands psychologi-cally alienated from the rest of the country.

“We approached every forum for jus-tice which still eludes us.

Barring few, we were not supportedby anyone, but we thank people of Kash-mir especially the people of Shopian whoalways stood by us in thick and thin,”Shakeel said adding that the official in-vestigating agencies – right from the Spe-cial Investigation Team to the CBI spreadcanards of lies and rumours and used themedia as a tool to leak misinformation toconfuse people of Kashmir as well as thefamily of victims.—KO.

Kashmiris’inclusion in

Pak-India talksprocess stressed

PULWAMA—In occupiedKashmir, APHC leader andthe Chairman of KashmirFreedom Front (KFF), SyedBashir Andrabi, has calledfor inclusion of Kashmiris’genuine leadership in thedialogue process betweenPakistan and India to re-solve the Kashmirdispute.Syed BashirAndrabi addressing a gath-ering at Wahipora inPulwama said that Kashmiripeople had rendered hugesacrifices for settlement ofthe dispute and not for for-mation of puppet regimes inthe territory. He said that theongoing liberation move-ment would be taken to itslogical conclusion at allcosts.

“The people of Kashmirwant settlement of Kashmirdispute keeping in view itshistorical perspective be-cause they have been offer-ing their blood since 1931.India and Pakistan must ex-hibit their political and dip-lomatic maturity and adopta pragmatic approach aboutthe Kashmir dispute be-cause accepting facts of adispute is the very first steptowards the resolution pro-cess,” he maintained.

Syed Bashir Andrabipaid homage to victims ofShopian double rape andmurder, Aasiya andNeelofar, on their fifth deathanniversary. He demandedjustice for the victims whowere abducted, molestedand subsequently killed byIndian men in uniform inMay 2009.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The Jammu and Kashmir Lib-eration Front (JKLF) chairman MuhammadYasin Malik on Saturday accused the In-dian government of diverting attention from‘Kashmir freedom movement’ to state-cen-tre relations by raking up the issue of Ar-ticle 370 and announced that JKLF wouldmodel the ‘Quit Kashmir Movement’ on thepattern of ‘Safar-e-Azadi’ and ‘SignatureCampaign’.

Addressing a press conference in ahotel here, Yasin Malik said that on the oneside India handed over a questionnaire toPakistan, and told them to correct charac-ter and then we will talk and on the other inKashmir, which is another party, it droppeda balloon of Article 370. “Since then a stormhas raged in Kashmir and all parties, which

India-engineered Art.370debate misleading act: Malik

fight elections, have threatened that a revo-lution will come if it is revoked,” he said.

“I felt it is nothing…but to change thediscourse of Kashmir freedom movement,”he said.

Malik slammed all pro-India parties andsaid they are the ones who eroded Article370. He said 98 percent of Article 370 hasbeen eroded and it now exists only on pa-pers.

To counter the debate of Article 370,Malik announced: “we have decided thatgod willing on the pattern of signature cam-paign and Safar-e-Azadi, we will strengthenthe Quit Kashmir Movement on grassrootslevel from ground to bring new life to thefreedom movement,” adding it would haveno ‘modus operandi’.—KD.

Two teenagerscrushed to

deathJAMMU—Two teenagerswere crushed to death by aspeeding vehicle in wintercapital Jammu Saturday.

Police said two teenag-ers were crushed to deathwhen the two-wheeler theywere riding was over run bya speeding vehicle in JammuCity during the wee hoursof Saturday morning.

“Two teenagers identi-fied as Saurab Kumar Bali,19, and Aman Bali, 16, werecrushed when the Scootytwo-wheeler they wereriding was crushed by aspeeding vehicle on thehighway in Gandhi Nagararea near Hotel Asia in thecity.

“The incident occurredaround 2 a.m. today morn-ing. Both the teenagerswere taken to hospital wheredoctors said they werebrought dead.

“Both the victims werebrothers. We have launcheda manhunt to nab the ve-hicle responsible for thetragedy. The driver has fledfrom the scene of occurrencealong with the vehicle”, asenior police officer toldIANS.

A pall of gloom de-scended on the entireGandhi Nagar residentialand commercial area in thecity when the news aboutthe accident spread there.The parents of the deceasedteens live in this area.—KD.

JAMMU—At least four people died andover a dozen sustained serious burn inju-ries Saturday in a hotel blaze in winter capi-tal Jammu.

Police said four people died in the firethat occurred in Hotel Neelam near the mainbus stand in Jammu city, a kilometre fromcity centre Shaheedi Chowk, early morn-ing.

“The fire started after midnight. Imme-diately after smoke started billowing out ofthe hotel building fire tenders and rescuepersonnel reached the spot.

“Out of the injured persons, four suc-cumbed to critical burn injuries and smokepoisoning. Twelve injured persons are be-

Jammu blaze: four dead, 12 hurting treated at the Jammu Medical CollegeHospital”, a senior police officer told IANShere. Witnesses said fire started from astore room in the ground floor of the hotelwhere vehicle tyres had been stored. Re-ports also said the owner of the hotel isalso a local transporter.

Senior district and provincial adminis-tration officials rushed to the spot to su-pervise rescue and relief operation as nearlya dozen fire tenders were batting to bringthe blaze under control.

Condoling the deaths, Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah said on his Twitter accountthat he has ordered an investigation intothe blaze.—KD.

Devotees throngHazratbal to

have glimpse ofHoly Relic

SRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, thousands of devo-tees from across the territorythronged the Hazratbal shrinein Srinagar to have a glimpseof the holy relic of ProphetMuhammad (PBUH). Theholy relic was displayed fivetimes after every prayer on theFriday following the Shab-e-Meraj.Various social, reli-gious, political and other or-ganizations had erectedcamps to offer snacks andbeverages to the devotees.The devotees, includingmen, women and children, vis-ited the shrine throughout theday. As the Relic was dis-played, the devotees wereseen in tears seeking bless-ings from Allah.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyetleader, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, whohas earned the distinction of being longestdetainee in the territory, completed 22 yearsin prison, today.

Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo wasjailed under black law, TADA in 1993, a yearafter he married to Dukhtaran-e-MillatChairperson, Aasiya Andrabi. A Delhi courtquashed his detention in 2002 but the CrimeBranch of Kashmir police challenged thedecision in the Indian Supreme Court. Theyear-long trial concluded in 2003 with theapex court awarding life imprisonment tohim on charges of his involvement in themurder of noted Kashmiri human rights ac-tivist, Hriday Nath Wanchoo in 1992.

Dr Fakhtoo denied the charge and saidthat he was persecuted for his politicalviews. “When H N Wanchoo was killed onDecember 5, 1992, I was outside the terri-tory. I returned on December 8 and con-demned his killing. I had never imagined

LAL CHOWK—In occupied Kashmir, theChairman of All Parties Hurriyet Confer-ence, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has called amarch towards Lal Chowk in Srinagar onthe 20th June to observe the golden Jubi-lee of his party, Jammu and Kashmir AwamiAction Committee (AAC).

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq addressing a gath-ering in Srinagar said that on the day thepeople would assemble at the historic JamiaMasjid and march towards Lal Chowk tomark the 50 years of AAC.

He said that the party had always foughtfor the rights of Kashmiris and its leadersand workers had offered huge sacrifices tokeep the liberation sentiment alive.

He maintained that the movementstarted by late Mirwaiz Moulvi Yousuf Shahunder the banner of Muslim Conference in1931 was taken forward by Mirwaiz MoulviMuhammad Farooq in 1964 by announcingthe formation of AAC at a rally.

Meanwhile, the APHC Chairman in amedia interview in Srinagar said thatKashmir’s special status under Article 370of the Indian constitution had been dilutedafter 1953 by successive regimes at NewDelhi.

He said that Indian ruling party,

Mirwaiz announces marchtowards Lal Chowk on June 20

Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP) should avoidtalking about the abrogation of the Article370. He was reacting to the recent disclo-sure of one of the BJP ministers that theparty was working to repeal Article 370 andthat the talks in this regard were going onwith the stakeholders.

The comments of the BJP minister trig-gered a widespread debate in the occupiedterritory with both pro-liberation and pro-India parties rebuking the comments.

The Mirwaiz pointed out that Kashmirused to enjoy autonomous status under theIndian constitution before 1953 but the suc-cessive regimes at New Delhi diluted thesame to the extent that it remained limitedto papers only. “Article 370 exists on pa-pers only at present and on ground, Kash-mir has been virtually converted into a po-lice state and is being run by the IndianArmy,” he added.He said that Kashmir was not the issue ofits relationship with New Delhi but was thematter pertaining to the fate of millions ofKashmiris. He added that Hurriyet Confer-ence believed that there was no other op-tion in hand but to resolve the Kashmir dis-pute politically for ensuring durable peacein South Asia.—KMS

Dr Fakhtoo completes22 years in jail

that I would ever be charged for his kill-ing,” he had said in a media interview inCentral jail, Srinagar, in 2012.

He had stated that two months afterWachoo’s killing, he was arrested andlodged in infamous Papa-2 interrogationcentre. “CBI implicated me in his killing andproduced a challan against me in the TADAcourt. I was severely tortured and forced tosign some papers, which were later pre-sented as my confession statements beforethe TADA court,” he had said.

Asiya Andrabi in a media interview saidthat they had been married for 24 years buthad not spent more than 3 years together.“Only a woman can understand pain of liv-ing without her husband and I am used to itnow. My only hope is Allah. The puppetregime has only given us the hope to waitfor his dead body to come out of the Jail,”she said, adding that her husband was suf-fering from multiple ailments due to his pro-longed illegal detention.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, thepeople of Handwara town rememberedtwenty-two victims of Wular Lake tragedyby holding special prayers on their 8th mar-tyrdom anniversary.

Twenty children along with a teacherand another employee of Burn Candle Pub-lic School, Handwara, drowned in WularLake on May 30, 2006, when a boat of In-dian Army, carrying them, capsized in themiddle of the lake.

Residents of Handwara organized spe-cial prayers in remembrance of the martyredchildren. A delegation of the forum patron-ized by the veteran Hurriyet leader, SyedAli Gilani, also participated in the specialprayers.

Addressing the people, MuhammadYousuf Lone, representative of the forumexpressed solidarity with the families of thevictims. “Wular tragedy is among those in-cidents which are directly linked with thefreedom movement of Kashmir. It can’t beforgotten in any case or any way as 20 in-nocent students and two employees losttheir lives due to criminal negligence of In-

Victims of WullarLake tragedy in IOK

remembereddian navy. We can’t rule out conspiracyinto this incident,” he added.

Meanwhile, relatives and parents of thedeceased children holding the Indian navyofficials responsible for the tragedy de-manded stringent punishment to the re-sponsible officials for their negligence.

Talking to mediamen, the parents saidthat it was clear that their children drowneddue to insensitivity and negligence of theIndian navy officials. “When tragedy hap-pened, our children were not rescued andwhy there was no rescue boat. Why theboat was overloaded,” questioned GhulamMohiudin, father of Sadaf, who drownedon the fateful day.

On the other hand, the anniversary ofWular Lake martyrs was also observed inthe Burning Candle School in Handwara.The teachers and students took part in ameeting that offered special prayers for thedeparted tender souls.

A special congregation was observedat the Mazar-e-Shuhada where participantspaid rich tributes to the victims, said aschool handout.—KMS

Kashmir notintegral part of

India: IOK GrandMufti

SRINAGAR—Grand Muftioccupied Kashmir, MuftiBasheer-ud-Din, has cau-tioned that repealing of Ar-ticle 370, which grants spe-cial to Jammu and Kashmir,is fraught with dangerousconsequences that can jeop-ardize peace in the region.

Mufti Basheer-ud-Dinaddressing people at Charar-e-Sharief Shrine in Badgamsaid that Kashmir was notthe personal property ofanyone and that it was dueto Article 370 that India wasin Kashmir.

“Kashmir is neither apersonal enterprise of anyone nor is it the integral partof India. Article 370 guaran-tees India’s presence inKashmir. Its repealing willendanger peace and har-mony,” he added.

The Grand Mufti alsoasked New Delhi to startmeaningful dialogue andtake the visit of Pakistan’spremier in Delhi duringNarendra Modi’s oath-tak-ing ceremony as a goodgesture on part of Paki-stan.—KMS

Some people workhard in this busi-ness and become

really popular,really big stars butthey never receive

an award fromwithin the busi-ness. Somehow,when your col-

leagues andfriends believe inyou to the point of

handing you anaward it means so

much more.

—Sharon Stone

LAHORE: Dr. Hui Jiang, Vice General Manager, Runh Power, presenting a memento toSohail Lashari, President, LCCI, during a seminar, with the theme, ‘Integrated Solutionsfor Power needs’, by Runh Power Corp, a global Chinese firm, in a local hotel today.

RIYADH—The Pakistan Embassy launched an investors’secretariat in Riyadh to mobilize participation of Paki-stani traders and entrepreneurs in the Kingdom’s boom-ing economy. Demonstrating a positive trend in Pakistangovernment’s business and commerce policy to exportproducts and services and to mobilize overseas Paki-stanis for investments back home, the launch programalso highlighted outgoing Pakistani Ambassador NaeemKhan’s initiative to mobilize Pakistani traders and entre-preneurs for bolstering the ties between Saudi Arabiaand Pakistan.

Giving one of his farewell speeches before he takes uphis new position in the Organization of the Islamic Coop-eration (OIC), Khan asked the newly formed secretariat tocome up with research and business plans on potentialinvestments by Pakistanis in the Kingdom’s health, edu-cation and consumer sectors, Arab News reported Satur-day. “Pakistanis are the most active community here andtheir country’s relations with the Kingdom are at their pin-nacle,” said Khan. “It is the best of times for Pakistan in itsbilateral relations with Saudi Arabia.” The ambassadorurged Pakistani businessmen to come forward to fulfilltheir social responsibility and help others in need as theyhave been doing in the past.

Waseem Hyat Bajwa, commercial counsellor at theembassy, said on Tuesday: “Corporate Solutions, thelocal Pakistani-owned firm, will facilitate and provide theright environment for the germination of outgoingenvoy’s vision and brainchild.” Amir Shahzad, who man-ages Corporate Solutions, said: “The intent is to provide

Pakistan embassy launchesinvestors’ secretariat in Riyadh

solutions to problems being faced by Pakistani inves-tors here and to those Pakistani businesses who want todo business in the oil-rich Kingdom, which is diversify-ing its economy into health, education, infrastructure andrenewable energy.” Khalid Mehmood Chaudhury, chair-man, Pakistan Investors Forum (PIF), reminded the 100plus Pakistani entrepreneurs and community leaderspresent at the investors’ secretariat that they should dem-onstrate the highest level of professionalism and exhibitbest business practices as being followed by others inthe Kingdom.

Asghar Chaudhry, PIF president, promised to makethe secretariat an incubator of business and investmentideas and models for the benefit of both the Kingdom andPakistan. The Pakistani investors in the Kingdom ex-pressed gratitude to have a secretariat sponsored by theembassy and managed by a local firm, which providescorporate services and business solutions. According tothe embassy, about 1.5 million Pakistanis live in the King-dom and send home an estimated $4 billion every year.According to a report, the amount is expected to surpass$4.5 billion this fiscal year. The program was also attendedby Pakistani community leaders who congratulated theoutgoing envoy, PIF and organizers for establishing thesecretariat. A dozen Pakistani health and pharmaceuticalbusiness houses that participated in the Saudi Health2014 at the Riyadh exhibition centre last week garneredsome orders, including promises of investments from acouple of Saudis in the Pakistani health and pharmaceu-tical industry.—NNI

New textile policyafter June 30ISLAMABAD—FederalMinister for TextileIndustry Abbas KhanAfridi has said that thenew five-year textilepolicy would be an-nounced after June 30this year. In a statementissued here, the minister,however stated thatseveral major portions ofthe new textile policywould be consolidated inthe upcoming budget forthe fiscal year 2014-15.Afridi, while givingdetails of the textilepolicy 2014-19, said thatthe new policy wouldaddress genuine con-cerns of the industry formitigating their problemsin a genuine manner. Theminister termed the textilesector as the backboneof the country’seconomy, which was notgiven its due status inthe past. —APP

Cotton farmers warnedof red, dusky bugsMULTAN—The Agricul-ture department stressedfarmers to be highlycareful of attack of redand dusky bug on cottoncrop as these insectsdiscolours and damagequality of cottonseverely. In a releasedissued here, AgricultureMedia Liaison Unitstated that the bugs werehighly dangerous andcould affect the crop.These bugs suck fluid ofcotton flowers and alsocause falling of cotton.Adult and Immatureinsects used to suck fluidand in the meantime,these insects madeground for other insectsto attack the affectedcotton flower. Thedepartment suggestedfarmers to remove suchbugs at initial stages bypicking. Usually, itattacked crops in Apriland May. In case ofsevere attack, farmerswere proposed to contactexperts and applyrecommended pesticidesonly.—APP

Shipping activity atPort QasimKARACHI—One shiparrived at Port to load/offload containers atQICT. Berth occupancywas maintained at 57% atthe Port on Friday where aeight ships namely M.VKPS-I Alican Bey -Powership, M.V Dong Hai7001 (Dredger), M.V IkanParang, M.V RanbowLucky, M.V Hansa Africa,M.V Tabea, M.T Feng Hai-36, M.T Pamisos arecurrently occupyingberths to load/offloadcontainers, cement, projectcargo, palm oil, furnace oil.Cargo handling operationswere carried out smoothlyat the Port where a cargovolume 70979 tonnescomprising 55153 tonnesimport 15826 tonnes exportand 2308 (Tues) washandled at the Port duringlast 24 hours. Departures:M.T Pamisos sailed onSaturday morning. Arrivalschedules: M.T Pingan atMW-1. M.T AL Salam-II atFOTCO. M.V Delmas Ketaat QICT arrival on May 31,2014 as per arrivalschedule.—APP

LAHORE—The government is determinedto facilitate hand-knotted carpet industryand the new textile policy will focus majorcarpet industry issues, includinginfrastructural, skill and product develop-ment, and research to enhance trade vol-ume for economic stability and growth.

Federal Secretary Ministry of Textile In-dustry, Rukhsana Shah stated this in a meet-ing with Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers &Exporters Association (PCMEA). She vis-ited the Association office along with thedelegation of Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO) and the US Agency forInternational Development (USAID) hereSaturday. She said the government believedin consultation process to board all stake-holders regarding the upcoming textile policy.

Shortage of skilled manpower and prac-ticing old methods in carpet industry wasmain barrier to achieve targets and enhance

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—As energy demand continues toexceed supply, companies are looking forinnovative ways to solve not only short-term electricity and heating issues but alsofuture power generation needs that arecost-effective, secure, and sustainable”,this was stated by the Mr Sohail Lashari,President LCCI, (Lahore Chambers of Com-merce & Industries) while addressing aseminar held today in a local hotel. Theseminar was conducted by Runh PowerCorp., Ltd, a global Chinese firm for theEngineering, Procurement, and Construc-tion (EPC) of power plants.

“Runh Power’s fossil fuel fired, wasteto energy, and biomass power generationTechnologies are particularly attractiveto our country at this time” Mr. Lashariadded. Dr. Hui Jiang, Vice General Man-ager, Runh Power said, “We’ve enjoyeda very cooperative business relationshipwith Pakistan since 2006, during lastmonth, we were awarded 18MW co-gen-eration power plant with Century Paper

Industry needs innovativemodes of power generation

& Board Mills, and in the last year, wesigned a 150t/h Biomass Boiler IslandProject with Bullah Shah Packaging (Pvt).Ltd”, he stated. On the seminar, RunhPower’s associative in the country fromCentury Paper, Board Mills Limited andBullah Shah Packaging also delivered aspeech highlighting Runh Power ’s en-deavor and services.

Representative from private and gov-ernment power sector were also presenton the occasion and took active part inthe interactive session of the seminar.Runh Power is a professional power plantEPC contractor, complete power plantequipment supplier and a global engineer-ing firm that specializes in the construc-tion of various types of power plants in-cluding coal-fired, gas-fired, oil-fired, bio-mass-fired, combined cycle, waste heat re-covery, etc. It’s experience spans hundredsof power projects serving a range of in-dustries such as steel, chemical, cement,paper, and sugar. Its branch office in Paki-stan is located at Defense Housing Au-thority, Lahore.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —IslamabadChamber of Commerce & In-dustry has called upon thegovernment to reduce thehigh banking spread as it isimpeding the growth ofbusiness activities in thecountry. Shaban Khalid,President Islamabad Cham-ber of Commerce and Indus-try (ICCI) said that SMEs arethe backbone of anyeconomy, but highest bank-ing spread in Pakistan ishampering the growth ofprivate sector, especially theSMEs and governmentshould ensure rationaliza-tion of banking spreadbased on the current marketconditions.

According to a WorldBank report, banking spreadis more than 6 percent inPakistan while it was 1.3 per-cent in Bangladesh, 3 per-cent in China, 0.9 percent inJapan, 1.8 percent in Malay-sia and 4.6 percent in SriLanka in 2012. ShabanKhalid said about 60 percentdeposits of businessmenare lying in current ac-counts as they believe ininterest free banking, whichmeans such deposits arefree of cost to the banks asthey have to pay no inter-est on them. However,banks are investing these

New textile policy to facilitatehandmade carpet industry

trade volume at international level, she ob-served. PCMEA Central Chairman Major (R)Akhtar Nazir Khan Cooki and Vice Chair-man (Northern Zone) Kamran Razi urgedthe Secretary to help ensure PCMEA repre-sentation in the Trade Development Au-thority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Board ofExport Development Funds.

They also demanded the governmentto bring necessary reforms and give spe-cial status to export-oriented carpet indus-try besides allowing zero-rating facility. TheFAO manager for the USAID-fundedproject, David Doolan, briefed the PCMEAmembers about the mechanical sheep shear-ing skills by Baloch farmers trained underthe Balochistan Agriculture Project.

He said the use of modern shearingequipment cut down the shearing time six-folds and produced higher quality wool thatenabled farmers to get good prices. —APP

High banking spread impedingbusinesses growth: ICCI

and other deposits in riskfree government securities& other instruments andearning huge profits.

He said investment inany country depends oneasy credit facility as the lowlending rates enable inves-tors to borrow easily for ex-panding existing businessor starting new business.High banking spread alsoprevents businesses frominvesting in new plant andtechnology up-gradation toproduce world standardsquality products. Thus highinterest rates coupled withhigh mark-up rates retard thegrowth of SMEs as it leadsto higher cost of capital andreduces investment & busi-ness development.

Shaban Khalid said thehigh banking spread alsopushes up the cost of pro-duction making our productsuncompetitive and hurtingexports. He urged that theState Bank of Pakistan mustplay its role for narrowingdown the high interest ratespread, which will producehealthy results for economyas it will encourage savings,promote investment, reducecredit cost, bring down pro-duction cost leading to bet-ter growth of business ac-tivities and availability ofcheap products to the endconsumers.

ISLAMABAD—The Union of Small and Medium En-terprises (UNISAME) has urged the governmentto earnestly appreciate the role of the Small andMedium Enterprises Development Authority(SMEDA) and strengthen it on modern lines toface the challenges to the sector. SMEDA needsto be taken very seriously as an SME promotionand development authority and equipped with thebest managers and experienced officers. PresidentUNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said that SMEDA wascreated by prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif in1998 during his second term as PM.

After the overthrow of his government, thisinstitution becomes a lucrative “parking lot” post-ing for government officials. Although it is an in-dependent authority and demands the best pro-fessional managers and headed by an experiencedand expert as its chief executive officer (CEO) toimplement and execute its plans vigorously. Hesaid SMEDA deserves the best attention of thegovernment, as it is an important tool and largelyinstrumental in the growth of the economy. It ispertinent to note that the SME policy 2007 wasmade by SMEDA with the help of the stakehold-ers.

Thaver said the new five-year plan, which

SMEDA deserves devout attention of governmentcontemplates on creation of 270000 enterprises,which will create 10 million new jobs. He saidthe new business plan also has the capacity tomagnify the export potential of the local SMEs.It is believed and reported that implementationof SMEDA’s plan will raise the exports from thecurrent level of $18.21 billion to $54.20 billion by2018,” It is therefore very important that SMEDAhas a CEO who has been part and parcel of the 5year plan rather than a bureaucrat who is ap-pointed for a short period and who is merelyaiming at a promotion thereafter in the ministryas its secretary. A truly professional CEO is therequirement and it is not the cup of tea of anybureaucrat it calls for an SME expert.

Secondly he pointed out that as per the longoutstanding demand of UNISAME an SME clubis also being developed for establishing inter-firmlinkages and providing preferred value-added ser-vices, including Real Time Business Opportuni-ties (Trade Leads), access to international marketsand business networking opportunities, along withpreferred BDS Services and it is very importantthat an in house CEO who knows the subject isappointed to implement the plans and policies.

Thaver urged the federal minister of indus-

tries and production (MoI&P) Ghulam MurtuzaJatoi to give the present acting CEO of SMEDAAlamgir Chaudhry an opportunity to provehimself and consider his appointment as CEOon merit as by virtue of his experience in differ-ent positions in SMEDA he has gathered theskill in SME promotion and development. He isan SME expert and UNISAME is confident hewill be able to achieve the desired acceleratedgrowth.

UNISAME also urged the federal minister toreconstitute the board of directors with experi-enced entrepreneurs who can provide expert guid-ance to SMEDA for rapid development and upliftof the sector.

UNISAME also invited the attention ofMurtuza Jatoi to the much awaited promised ap-pointment of an ombudsman in the SME policy2007 for the sector and recommended names ofShahab Khwaja ex federal secretary industriesand production and Iqbal Kidwai ex general man-ager SMEDA who would be best suited for thepost by virtue of their long experience in SMEissues and woes. The proposed SMEDA planwas based upon three important pillars. The first,he said, was the policy advocacy, for which a

strategic SME development framework is beingdeveloped.

The framework will be based on inputs fromall stakeholders including policy making insti-tutions, business support organisations, pri-vate-sector representat ive bodies, not-for-profit organisations and international develop-ment partners and will serve as a coherent strat-egy for SME development in Pakistan. TheStrategic SME Development Framework will besupplemented by the publication of an SMEWhite Paper annually, announcing incentivesand measures for the promotion of SMEs inPakistan, Sukhera said. Sukhera further saidPakistan’s demographic profi le renders i t auniqueness that can either be an opportunityor a challenge.

Developing and promoting an entrepreneurialculture is a key pillar of SMEDA’s proposed busi-ness plan. The focus, therefore, is on our youth,women and regional development. Access to fi-nance, identified as a binding constraint for start-ups and growth of businesses is being addressedas a distinct theme and programmes have beendeveloped to address both demand and supplyside issues.—NNI

Value-added textileruns short of 40,000skilled workforce

L A H O R E — P a k i s t a n ’ svalue-added textile sector isfacing shortage of around40,000 skilled workers annu-ally with 20,000 in Karachi,10,000 in Lahore, 5,000 eachin Faisalabad and Sialkoteach. The value-added tex-tile sector’s requirement ofskilled workforce will touchthe level of 400,000 peopleannually after completion ofQauid-e-Azam Apparel Parkin Sheikhupura and GarmentCity in Faisalabad.

Pakistan ReadymadeGarments Manufacturers &Exporters Association(PRGMEA) Executive Com-mittee said this in a meetingwith visiting delegation ofTurkish International Coop-eration Agency (TIKA) hereon Saturday. The TIKACountry Coordinator Paki-stan, Mustfa Giray Tezelsaid that Turkey would co-operate in the upgrading oftextile curricula in additionto providing experts andmaster trainers to improvethe overall skill and exper-tise of the Pakistaniworkforce. “We will arrangeTurkish experts to imparttraining to Pakistaniworkforce to fulfill require-ment of local industrial tex-tile units especially thoseengaged in export to Euro-pean countries,” he added.

While, the PRGMEA(Northern Zone) Vice Chair-man Jawwad Chaudhry saidthe capitalization of GSP-Plus through skilled workersand fashion designing waslargely based on high techmanufacturing equipmentand training to 10 millionworkforce across Pakistan.The government shouldevolve a mechanism for skillsdevelopment of workers tohelp them learn more of fash-ion designing for setting firmfoot in the EU markets, headded.—APP

FAKTExhibitions,

PGBF sign MoUKARACHI—Saleem KhanTanoli, Chief Executive Of-ficer, FAKT Exhibitions(Private) Limited andMasud Akhtar, President(North) Pakistan GermanBusiness Forum (PGBF)signed the Memorandumof Understanding for Stra-tegic Partnership during aceremony recently. Speak-ing on the occasion,Saleem Tanoli said thatPakistan has always main-tained friendly ties withGermany and many Germancompanies participate inour events, as they per-ceive Pakistan offeringgreat investment opportu-nities.

While Masud Akhtarfrom PGBF said that we be-lieve this partnership willhelp facilitate German com-panies looking for pros-pect to explore and intro-duce their products in thePakistani Market.Thispartnership will also helpin developing Pakistan’senergy sector as manyGerman companies plan toenter the Pakistani marketand shown interest in par-ticipating Pakistan’s pre-mier energy exhibition EGOPakistan, scheduled totake place from 18th -20thSeptember at Lahore ExpoCenter.—PR

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Com-merce, Engineer Khurram Dastagir has saidthat Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), government was paying special atten-tion to bring improvement in trade sector.

He said that PML-N government hasstarted several projects for generating elec-tricity to meet the growing demand in thecountry. Talking to media , he said the fo-cus is being given to provide conduciveenvironment to number of foreign inves-tors taking interest in different fields.

He said that big investment would helpimprove economy of the country. Appreci-ating the Friends of Pakistan like China andTurkey, he said that these countries areshowing keen interest due to the better poli-

Govt keen to improvetrade sector: Dastgir

cies and management of the present gov-ernment. Khurram said that PML-N gov-ernment has started mega projects to im-prove the living standard of the people.

Replying to a question, he said thatspecial focus is being given to launchpower projects so that affordable electric-ity could be provided to masses. He saidthat Daso dam and other similar projectswould be completed in near future to makethe country self-sufficient in the energysector. Dastagir said that government hadsuccessfully launched the campaign to con-trol power theft cases. To another questionhe said that a record investment is comingto this region due to the trade policy of thepresent government.—APP

Coca-Cola holdsflagship event

LAHORE—‘Savvy & Suc-cessful’, Coca-Cola Bev-erages Pakistan Limited’s(CCBPL) flagship event tocelebrate women, was or-ganized at the EXPO Cen-tre Lahore, with PunjabGovernor ChaudhryMuhammad Sarwar as theGuest of Honour. TheCoca-Cola InternationalPresident Ahmet C Bozerand several other seniorexecutives of Coca-ColaIcecek (CCI), the parentcompany of CCBPL, alsoattended.

The annual eventseeks to recognize andhonour women who havebroken barriers and over-come stereotypes toachieve success in theirrespective fields. Sixiconic Pakistani womenwere presented with theSavvy & Successful 2014award. These includedOxford University PressManaging DirectorAmeena Saiyid, Pakistan’sfirst combat-ready fighterpilot Ayesha Farooq,Asian Games gold medal-ist Naseem Hameed, fash-ion designer NiloferShahid, founder of KashfFoundation RoshanehZafar and the first Paki-stani female to conquerMt. Everest, Samina Baig.Speaking at the occasion,CCBPL General ManagerJohn Seward said, “Savvy& Successful is our trib-ute to womanhood, and toall talented women of Pa-kistan; women who haveovercome impossible chal-lenges to achieve remark-able success.—PR

Meat One opensin Lahore

LAHORE—Meat One, achain of specialty meatshops launched their firstoutlet in Lahore at YBlock, DHA, today. Theoutlet was inaugurated bythe famous cricketer andex captain Inzamam ul Haqwho was present alongwith other members of thecurrent Pakistan Cricketteam. Meat One is alreadywell established inKarachi where it operates12 outlets and plans toopen additional shopsthroughout urban centresof Pakistan.

The upscale meatchain that offers 60 variet-ies of beef, chicken andmutton cuts, places greatemphasis on the qualityand safety of its products,ensuring that its productsare sold fresh and notfrozen.Al Shaheer, MeatOne’s parent company, re-ceived the Best EmergingBrand Award, the SafeFood Award 2009 and theBest Export PerformanceAward from the FPCCI(The Federation of Paki-stan Chambers of Com-merce & Industry) for 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13 and2013-14.

The meat is exportedto UAE, Oman, Bahrain,Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.Adnan Ahmed, Chief Op-erating Officer of Al-Shaheer Corporation, ex-plained, “The companyhas a stringent valuechain process wherebyanimals are raised withoutthe use of antibiotics andhormones, slaughtered atstate of the art Halal abat-toirs and their meat storedat 0-5 degree Celsius toprevent contaminationfrom bacteria.”—PR

Currency Selling Buying

USA 98.50 98.30

UK 164.84 164.51

Euro 134.02 133.75

Canada 90.89 90.71

Switzerland 109.74 109.51

Australia 91.77 91.58

Sweden 14.83 14.80

Japan 0.9695 0.9675

Norway 16.51 16.48

Singapore 78.50 78.34

Denmark 17.96 17.92

Saudi Arabia 26.26 26.21

Hong Kong 12.71 12.68

Kuwait 349.23 348.52

Malaysia 30.63 30.57

Newzealand 83.74 83.57

Qatar 27.06 27.00

UAE 26.82 26.76

Kr. Won 0.0965 0.0963

Thailand 3.005 2.999

KARACHI: President KATI Syed Farukh Mazhar is presenting shield to Greg Giokas,High Commissioner of Canada. SVP Hasham A. Razzak, VP Farazur Rehman, MasoodNaqi, Mohammed Zubair Chhaya, Athar Moeen Khan (Trade Commissioner Canada)also present.—PO Photo by Sultan Chaki

MULTAN: Provincial Minister for Finance, Excise and Taxation Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman is addressing a meeting at MCCI.

KARACHI: The Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) hosted a dinner tohonour its former and present Chairmen in DHA. Piture shows Senior Sindh MinisterNisar Ahmed Khuhro, C.M, Advisor Sharmilla Farooqui, Justice (R) Saeed uz ZamanSiddiqui, Lt Gen (R) Moin Uddin Haider, Barrister Liaqat Marchant, Vice Admiral (R)Khalid M.Mir, Secretary General & CEO, of (KCFR) Ahsan Mukhtar Zubari, diplomatsfrom Romania, Germany and France with other honourable members.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Canada is planning to work ona massive development program for Paki-stan specially on the agriculture sector, asthere is a vast potential in this area, it wasstated by Greg Giokas, High Commissionerof Canada while having meeting at KATI.President KATI Syed Farukh Mazhar, SVPHasham A. Razzak, VP Farazur Rehman,KATI diplomatic Committee ChairmanMasood Naqi, Immediate past ChairmanMohammed Zubair Chhaya, Athar MoeenKhan Trade Commissioner, also present atthe occasion.

Greg Giokas further said that almosthalf of the population of Pakistan was notyet develop to its full potential. However,we should work together for developingthe policies for the agriculture sector,specially dates which has large exportmarket. These policies should be devel-oped with the input of all stakeholders,so that Pakistan could achieve maximum

Canada to extendPak support in agri sector

per acre yield. To encourage Pakistanibusinessmen to visit Canada, we havedevelop an online visa application pro-cessing facility. We also interested indevelopment social sector in Pakistan andwilling to offer our utmost co-operation,he added.

Syed Farukh Mazhar said that atpresent the balance of payment is in favourof Pakistan but there is still huge potentialfor exports to Canada from our country.He further said that it is heartning to learnthat Canada is willing to cooperate in agri-culture sector and we suggest that miningis also a potential area, which needs de-velopment, as Pakistan is full off minirals.Masood Naqi Chairman Diplomats AffairStanding Committee KATI said that Paki-stani businessmen are willing to increasebusiness with Canadian countre parts butfor that the procedure of obtaining visa isquite cumbersome and it takes around twomonth for the complete process and itshould be reduce.

President FPCCIappoints Muzaffar

Saeed as SVCSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Zakaria Usman,P r e s i d e n tFPCCI hasa p p o i n t e dM u z a f f a rSaeed as Se-nior ViceChairman ofPakistan –Canada Busi-ness Councilof FPCCI and advised him toactively participate in the af-fairs of the Council which isone of the active BusinessCouncil of FPCCI.

Keeping in view of hisbusiness experience inCanada the President has ex-pressed his confidence overthe capabilities of Mr.Muzaffar Saeed to facilitatethe business community inboth the countries to en-hance the bilateral trade andeconomic activities underthe guidance of the Chair-man of Pakistan CanadaBusiness Council of FPCCI.

GCCI hails Nandipurpower projectinauguration

GUJRANWALA—Office bear-ers of GCCI issued a jointstatement that the inaugura-tion ceremony of Nandipurpower project is appreciable,due to which hundred mega-watt of electricity will be in-cluded in the national gridwhich also leads to decreasein the load-shading ofcountry’s industry alongwith the domestic consumer.Business community wishby welcoming the efforts ofgovernment that if the gov-ernment continues to workon the electricity producingprojects, country will get ridof load-shading completely.

But the electricity pro-ducing from fuel is muchcostly which will become thecause of increasing fiscaldeficit. Production of cheapelectricity in the country beensured. Production of elec-tricity through Hydral, coaland nuclear be possible. Theadditional production capa-bility could be increased bythe supply of fuel to closedunits of thermal.—PR

MULTAN—Punjab Minister for Finance, Excise and Taxa-tion Mujtaba Shuja Ur Rahman has urged the elites to paytaxes to contribute their due share to strengthening theeconomy of the country. Addressing at the Multan Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) late on Friday night,the minister recalled that an attempt to levy tax on luxuryhouses in three big cities was responded with filing of 800petitions in the High Court.

He said that provincial government does not wish toburden the poor with taxes and all out efforts were beingmade to provide them relief, however, it was also a factthat 80 per cent of the provincial government’s revenuecome from the federal divisible pool and rest of the 20 percent is generated by the province through taxation. Hesaid that the property tax, which should have been theleading contributor in revenue generation, stands secondafter motor vehicle taxes in Punjab. Property tax share to-day was 28 per cent while 54 per cent of the revenue comesfrom motor vehicle taxes, he added.

Shuja said that property tax had not been raised since2001 despite the fact that rental value of properties in-creased by 300 to 400 per cent during last thirteen years.The situation has now come to a stage that makes itnecessary to increase property tax, however, made itclear that every decision would be made after consult-ing stakeholders.

Shuja urges elites to pay taxes,proposes raise in property tax

FAISALABAD—A special committee headedby President FCCI (Faisalabad Chamber ofCommerce and Industry) has been consti-tuted to prepare budget proposals forPunjab Budget-2014-2015. This committeewill submit its recommendations to the pro-vincial government during next couple ofdays, stated by Khalid Masood Chaudhary,Secretary Excise & Taxation Punjab whileaddressing a gathering of trade and busi-ness leaders at the platform of FCCI on Fri-day.

He said that Chief Minster MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has issued clear instructionsthat all stakeholders must be taken intoconfidence for finalization of budged docu-ment. He assured to the take cognizance ofthe problems identified during this meetingand said that there would be no harass-ment during the process of tax collectionand recommendation of business commu-nities would be given due consideration inbudget formulation.

He also asked Director Excise and Taxa-tion to take action against the corrupt staffof excise and taxation department. He saidthat Director General Excise and Taxation hasalready visited Faisalabad and he would onceagain ask him to visit Faisalabad and resolvethe issues in consultation with the localelected representatives and up to the entiresatisfaction of the business community.

Earlier, he explained in detail the vari-ous studies conducted for Resource

FCCI forms committee toprepare Punjab govt budget

Mobilization and suggested two differ-ent options regarding income from prop-erty tax but clarified these options wouldbe discussed and final decision wouldbe taken after consultation with busi-ness community. He said that the ratioof motor vehicle tax in Provincial bud-get is 54 and property tax share is 28percent. However, on the directive ofChief Minister petty amount collectedfrom different heads of taxes have beenwithdrawn.

He said that a transparent, fair andcomputerized system is being introducedfor tax collection and necessary data ofProperty Tax and other duties would alsobe uploaded on the website of Excise &Taxation department. “We are also intro-ducing branchless banking system in or-der to facilitate people to pay their taxesand duties while sitting in their housesor workplaces,” he added. Mian AbdulMannan MNA assured business commu-nity that all taxes would be levied in con-sultation with their representatives. Healso assured that no notices for profes-sional tax would be issued in future asaccording to him it falls within the pur-view of double taxation.

Earlier, Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid presi-dent FCCI said that instead of increasingtax rate, Punjab Government should alsoenhance the tax net for resource mobiliza-tion.—APP

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Fair Taxation andstrong fiscal policies backedby long-term stability are theneed of the hour for a sus-tainable economic growth ofthe country. This was theoutcome of a pre-budgetseminar ‘Strategy for Growth’jointly organized by the As-sociation of Chartered Certi-fied Accountants (ACCA)Pakistan in collaborationwith the Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and Industry. Theevent provided a platform forpolicy makers and key stake-holders to get together andengage in an insightful dia-logue on the merits of an ef-fective taxation system.

ATTOCK: A delegation of Main Bazar Attock traders meeting with State Minister forParliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed at his residence.

Sustainable economic growth baseson fair taxation, strong fiscal policies

Explaining the importance of the property tax, hesaid that 25 per cent collection from this source go todevelopment authorities, 25 per cent to Wasa and 50per cent to TMAs for development and upgraded civicfacilities in areas concerned. He said that a fresh sur-vey of property tax has been completed and an increaseranging from 60 per cent to 105 per cent has been pro-posed depending upon the cities and different catego-ries of properties there.

He said that computerization of system and a processwas a priority of the government to minimize chances ofpeoples’ interaction with the officials to plug chances ofcoprruption. He disclosed that GIS system has been launchedin Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Gujranwalathat will enable the people assess the tax levied on them ontheir own through their computer.

He said that government wishes to facilitate taxpay-ers by enabling them to pay taxes through branch-lesssystem of banks like easy Paisa and things were movingforward to this direction. He, however, added that it wasmandatory for the government departments to maintaintheir accounts with NBP but the bank was a bit slower inadopting modern banking trends. The request has beenmade to the CM for opening of accounts with Bank ofPunjab (BoP) and the matter has been taken up with theGovernor State Bank of Pakistan.—APP

LCCI Vice PresidentKashif Anwar, Chief Com-missioner LTU MustafaAshraf, ACCA Head HaroonA. Jan and Irfan Ilyas,FCCA, were prominentamong the speakers. KashifAnwar, Vice President, LCCIspoke about the importanceof fair taxation but stressedupon the facilitation of tax-payers on part of the gov-ernment which would solvethe problem of broadeningthe tax base resulting in in-creased tax revenues. TheLTU Chief CommissionerMustafa Ashraf threw lighton the urgency of design-ing and implementing an ef-ficient tax system, whichwould bring about a posi-

tive impact on the state ofthe economy. He also en-gaged the audience and an-swered their queries on abroad range of relevant is-sues related to tax policydesign in Pakistan.

Irfan Ilyas, FCCA, pre-sented the ‘ACCA’s pre-budget proposal’. The keyrecommendations of the pre-sentation included educat-ing the taxpayer on the ben-efits of paying taxes, draft-ing a policy that is non-dis-criminatory and lastly it wassuggested that the tax legis-lation should be reviewedperiodically so that it is up-dated resulting in the execu-tion of an effective taxationstrategy.

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—With the successful conclusion of the auctionfor 3G/4G in Pakistan, the country is now poised to enter anew era of telecommunication services. As the “Carrier’sCarrier”, Wateen Telecom, Pakistan’s leading convergedcommunications provider, is pleased to announce it is fullygeared up to meet the high backhaul demands of the newlyarrived Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) withthe largest operational metro-fiber in place.

Wateen Telecom has an impressive record of estab-lishing one of the largest long-haul networks (with 9 ringsto ensure redundancy), from Karachi to Torkham compris-ing of ample capacities available both in transmission,packet and fiber networks to meet any kind of backhaulrequirements. In metro areas, Wateen is present in 50+cities nationwide with extensive dark fiber and managedfiber networks, traversing for over 4,500 Kms. Through itspresence, Wateen is the backbone to both mobile dataand voice service providers in Pakistan and is servingmultiple operators and over 200 corporate customers withover 5000 links in enabling world class broadband ser-vices.

With the latest data services soon to hit the market,Wateen’s network is ideally placed to meet the data re-quirements of all NGMNs. The company is further ensur-ing that it extends its existing fiber optic network – whichtraverses over 4500kms across 50+ cities – by replacingcopper wire with fiber optic cables for the BTS sites of

Wateen leads technically to upholdcommunication services in Pak

cellular operators such as Zong, in anticipation of theNGMNs rollout. Of late, the shift to fiber optic cables haspicked up pace and once mobile companies have accessto fiber connected networks, the possibility of genuine3G/4G technology becomes truly viable.

Wateen possesses high-level expertise in WiFi offloaddesigns and its operations are running over 200 HotSpotsat major commercial locations across Pakistan. As the“Carrier’s Carrier” Wateen’s network is available to helpgreatly economise the available spectrum for Next Genera-tion Mobile operators for high-data consuming, but sta-tionary subscribers, and freeing the new frequency foractually ‘mobile’ subscribers. With an eye to providingtelecom consumers better and faster data services, WateenTelecom has already entered into an agreement with Huawei(together with Qubee) to upgrade its network infrastruc-ture to support 4G LTE.

Mr Naeem Zamindar, CEO Wateen Telecom, said,“Wateen’s primary focus is on being the most responsivenetwork in the country. With the onset of 3G and 4G ser-vices, the countries mobile operators will start seeing addedload on their networks and Wateen has many effectivesolutions that will work for the overall benefit of the entiretelecoms sector. I am positive that by selecting Wateen forall their backhaul needs, the NGM network operators willbe able to offer their consumers a one-window servicewith no hassle, giving them the desired space and time tofocus on their primary target of maximising subscriber eq-uity and improved financial results.”

ISLAMABAD: Fatima Jinnah Women’s Cricket Championship winners Lahore with chief guest Rodolfo MartinSaravia, the ambassador of Argentina, at the Diamond Club Ground. Aitzaz Ahsan, Chairperson PCB Women’s WingBushra Aitzaz and member of PCB management committee Shakil Shaikh are also present.

PESHAWAR: Advisor to CM on Sports, Malik Amjad Afridi and Advisor to CM Rafaqatullah Babar with positionholders of Women Games.

PESHAWAR—Pakistan Army clinchedthe trophy after securing 217 points,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab with199 points and 174 runs got secondand third position respectively in theNational Paralympics Games that con-cluded here at Qayyum Sports Com-plex on Saturday.

Minister for Education Atif Khan,Sports Minister Khyber PakhtunkhwaAmjad Afridi graced the occasion aschief guest. Adiver to the Chief Min-ister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. MaharTaj Rogahni, Chairman PTI Sports andCulture Forum Rafaqat Ullah Babar,Chairman Tabaco Board Azmat HanifOrakzai, Secretary Organizing Commit-tee Kifayat Ullah and Peshawar UpliftProgram Coordinator Salahuddin, andlarge number of spectators were alsopresent.

There were many categories com-prising INCL, Blinds, Polio, Brain Dis-order, Spinal Injuries, and Lamb Am-putations while participating in justone category like Limb AmputationPakistan Army won eight gold medal,12 silver and 12 bronze medals by win-ning the general trophy. The War he-roes who once fought for the integ-rity and solidarity of the mother lands,

were in jubilation mood when they gottheir gold, silver and bronze medals.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won fivegold medal, 11 silver medal and eightbronze medals while Punjab claimedfour gold medal, 11 silver and 8 bronzemedals. Islamabad won four gold med-als, four silver and three bronze med-als by scoring 79 points and got fourthposition.

Around 300 athletes from Punjab,Sindh, Balochistan, FATA, AzadJammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan,FATA, Islamabad and host KhyberPakhtunkhwa took part in theParalympics Games’s six includingcricket, badminton, table tennis, ath-letics, lawn tennis and archery.

In the athletic 100m sports classT-13 Shehzad Khurram of Punjabwon gold medal, followed Jabar ofIslamabad and Muhammad Danishof Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the800m Class T-46 Muhammad Khanof Pakistan Army won gold medal,followed by Saqib of Punjab andMuhammad Ali of KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

In the 400m T-44 Rehmat Karim ofArmy won gold medal, followed byJalil Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and

Dilawar of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Inthe 400m T-12 Muhammad Danish ofPunjab won gold, followed by Asif ofRawalpindi took gold, and Uzair ofArmy won bronze medal. In the 200,Army Yasin won gold medal, followedby Kashif of Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand Rehmat of Army.

In the Lawn Tennis Iltaf ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa won goldmedal, Danish and Shahabuddin ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa won doublegold medal while Irfan Ullah and Iltaf,also from KP won silver medal. Inthe badminton singles Zia Ullah ofKP won gold, Junaid of Punjab wonsilver medal. In the ArcheryMuhammad Ashfaq of Army wongold, Aamir and Yasin took silvermedal while in the Table Tennis AliWaqar of Punjab won gold medal,Shahid of Army got silver medal. InTT-5 class Iftikhar of Army won goldmedal, Arif, also from Army won sil-ver. KP won cricket trophy by de-feating Islamabad team in the final.

At the end, the chief guest gaveaway trophies and cash prizes. Healso lauded the efforts of the orga-nizing committee for holding theGames.—APP

Pakistan Army clinchNational Paralympics trophy

PESHAWAR—Saima Khan of Govern-ment Higher Secondary School LadyGriffith and Aysha Khan of Govern-ment High School Dabgari Banat gotthe honor of grabbing best player andbest athlete award in the PTI Right toPlay Female School Games which con-cluded here at PSB Coaching Centeron Saturday.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister forSports Amjad Afridi, Adviser on so-cial welfare, and Industries of the ChiefMinister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr.Mahar Taj Rogani and Rafaqat Ullah,MPA from Malakand Miss Naeema,DEO Samina Ghani, organizing Secre-tary Asif Orakzai, Secretary PTI Sportsand Culture Forum and large numberof principals of the 63 participatingschools, players and students werealso present.

Saima Khan of Lady Griffith gotone gold in javelin throw, two silvermedals at athlete 100m and long jumpbesides overall participation in othergames like Table Tennis, Badminton,Volleyball and Rounder as well and wasdeclared best player while Aysha Khan

took two gold medal in discuss throwand 100m with two bronze medals inlong jump and shot put.

In the other all athletic Rabia ofLady Griffith got gold medal, Salma ofComprehensive and Aysha of DabgariBanat, in Javelin throw Saima of LadyGriffith, Samina of Comprehensive andAmin of Banath took gold, silver andbronze medal, in the 100m Aysha tookgold, Saima of Lady Griffith andNousheen of Civil Quarters got silverand bronze medals and in the longJump Amina of Tarnab won gold, Saimaof Lady Griffith and Aysha of DabgariBanath.

In the Volleyball final Greens de-feated Blues by 3-1, the score was 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 and 25-19, in the TableTennis final Green won the final afterdefeating Yellow team by 3-2 and inthe badminton Green team outclassedYellow by 3-1 while in the rounderSidra of Civil Quarters, Sumayya ofYakha Toot, Zubaida of Nisharabad,Shehirna of Civil Coloney, Noureen ofLandi Arbab, Nimra of Comprehen-sive, Amina of Badgari, Rabia of Lady

Griffith, Momina of Yahatoot, Nazishof Tarnab and Hira of Irrigations gotthe prizes.

Earlier, the colourful closing cer-emony was started with the recitationof Holy Quran by Safi, followed bysports song of Rukhsana Shereen ofComprehensive Girls School. It wassuperb song prepared, composed andwritten its lyrics by her. The Tableausand welcome song prepared by LadyGriffith also enthralled the sitting spec-tators.

Peace Festival is meant for empow-ering girls to actively participate in thehealthy activities. The festival wasinitiative for Govt Girls schoolsPeshawar was jointly organized byRight To Play, Insaf sports and cul-ture forum KPK and Elementary &Secondary Education departmentPeshawar.

Sports Minister KP Amjad Afridiwas the chief guest who gave awaytrophies in the end. Right to PlayProject Coordinator Humayun Khanprovided shields to Minister Sportsand DEO Ms. Samina Ghani.—APP

Right to Play Girls School Games

Saima, Aysha declaredbest player, athlete

Cricketers are nationalasset: Sethi

LAHORE—Pakistani cricketers are nationalassets which must be looked after, groomedand nurtured, said Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) chairman Najam Sethi.

He was speaking to the cricketers as-sembled at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore fortraining camp led by coachMuhammad Akram at theconclusion of their dailytraining drills, said a PCBnews release.

Chairman PCB shookhands with each and everycricketer present, as well asthe ground staff and en-quired about their welfareand opinion about the train-ing camp.

Former Pakistan captainsZaheer Abbas and MoinKhan with camp comman-dant Akram and former Testfast bowler Sarfraz Nawazwere present on the occasion.

Sethi’s pep talk was frank and forthrightin a relaxed and informal environment. With-out mincing any words, he declared: “Youall are national assets. As long as I am Chair-

man, I will try and provide you with thebest training facilities and incentives.

The PCB has hired the best coachingstaff from here and abroad for the benefit ofthe team”, he added. Chairman PCB laudedthe services of Mohammad Akram as Camp

Commandant. “He has acarte blanche from me to hireanyone he finds appropriatefor this camp for as long ashe wants to improve the fit-ness and skills of the playersfor the rigours of the upcom-ing season”, he said.

“The Board shall makesure that the players aretaken care of economically.The pay scales have vastlyimproved in my time; andnot just the present butpast cricketers too are be-ing looked after through in-crease in pensions andbenefits. At the same time,

the Board is also making concerted effortto improve opportunities for players toshowcase their talent at home and abroadin various leagues”, said Sethi.—APP

Pakistancricketers

administeredpolio drops

LAHORE—Pakistan cricket-ers who are attending atraining camp here were ad-ministered polio drops.

The drops were admin-istered to support UNICEF’spolio immunisationprogramme and createawareness about devastat-ing impact of the virus, thePakistan Cricket Boardspokesman said. Mean-while, PCB chairman NajamSethi met the cricketers inthe camp and said all thecricketers were national as-sets, and they must belooked after, groomed andnurtured well. Sethi said heincreased pays and pen-sions of cricketers.

He hailed the perfor-mance of camp commandantMohammad Akram. Alsopresent on the occasionwere Zaheer Abbas, MoinKhan, Sarfraz Nawaz, be-sides Akram.

ISLAMABAD—Bismah Maroof playeda captain’s innings on Friday to helpLahore clinch the ninth Fatima JinnahWomen’s Cricket Championship titlewith an 18-run victory over arch-rivalsKarachi in the weather-hit final inIslamabad.

Lahore, who were chasing 223 atthe Diamond Club Ground, had pro-gressed to 190-4 after 43 overs whenbad light forced umpires Sumera Aftaband Hajra Sarwar to take the playersoff the field. Prospects of resumptionin play thereafter were within minutesended by heavy rain in the federal capi-tal.

What should have been a fittingfinale between the only unbeatensides in the event was spoilt byshower which, ironically, stayed awayin all matches that preceded the title-decider. Bismah, the Pakistan player,had scored an unbeaten 84 to putLahore in driving seat while receivinggood support from opener MarinaIqbal (41), Sidra Amin and all-rounderIram Javed.

Bismah, the 23-year-old right-handed batswoman, struck eightboundaries during her 113-ballknock.Marina, who set the tone witha 57-ball 41 which was decorated with

five hits to the fence, added 53 for thesecond wicket with her captain afterseeing fellow opener FareehaMahmood depart for a laboured 23-ball innings of 4 out of the first-wicketpartnership of 28. Sidra then helpedBismah put on exactly 50 for the thirdwicket. She contributed 20 off 27 de-liveries with three fours. AlthoughAliya Riaz went cheaply Lahore re-mained in full control as Bismah andIram (23 off 36 balls, two fours) com-bined in a 40-run unbroken stand.

Seamer Maham Tariq finished withtwo wickets for 27 runs in seven oversto emerge as Karachi’s best bowler,while off-spinner Ramin Shamimbowled tidily (0-35 in nine overs) withany reward.

Earlier, Karachi were all out for 222in the 49th over. Opener Javeria Khan,who had been the batswoman of thechampionship, slammed sevenboundaries in scoring 31 from 27 balls,while outscoring Rabia Shah (9 off21 balls, one four) in their openingstand of 41.

It was then left to the experiencedNain Abidi to provide a solid contri-bution with her first major innings inthe tournament. The 29-year-oldKarachi captain hit 77 off 111 balls with

the aid of nine fours and the solitarysix of the final.

Karachi suffered a big blow whenpromising all-rounder Kainat Imtiazwas run out for 12. Javeria Rauf wasthe only batswoman to play a signifi-cant innings. The all-rounder made 34off 44 balls with three boundaries andshared a fifth-wicket partnership of 62with Nain.

Iram Javed bowled well with fig-ures of 2-32 in 9.2 overs. Slow left-armer Anam Amin gave little way intaking 1-29 in 10 overs; off-spinnerElizabeth Barkat bagged the prizedscalp of Nain while grabbing two wick-ets for 36 runs in 10 overs. Elizabeth’sfellow off-spinner Hafsa Amjad alsopicked up two wickets but conceded53 runs in 10 overs.

Lahore were awarded the winners’prize of Rs100,000; Karachi receivedRs50,000. Javeria Khan (bestbatswoman), HyderabadskipperSumaiya Siddiqui (bestbowler), over after they put into batby Bismah. Sidra Amin (best fielder)and Islamabad’s Huma Shafiq (bestwicket-keeper) all got Rs10,000 apiecewhile Bismah collected Rs2,000 forbeing the player-of-the-final.—Agen-cies

Bismah steers Lahore toFatima Jinnah cricket title

KARACHI—Davis Cupper Yasir Khan an-nexed the men’s singles crown of Anti-To-bacco Day tennis tournament when heoverpowered elder brother Jalil Khan in akeenly-contested final at the Karachi Clubhard court here.

Top seed Yasir, who is known for hisbrilliant all-round craft, dominated the firstset with some lovely winners in front aswell at the back of court. The match waslocked at 4-4 at one time but Yasir brokeJalil’s serve to take the first set 6-4.

The second set saw much tougher duelbetween the brothers but at a crucial junc-ture, with the scores tied at 5-all, Yasir brokeJalil’s serve to grab the title after one hourand 12 minutes contest.

The organisers were forced to hold themen’s singles final on Friday instead ofSaturday as Yasir had to rush to Islamabadto attend the national training camp.

In the women’s singles semi-final, NehaKhan routed Sana Adnan to enter the final.Neha, playing from the base-line, kept heropponent under pressure with a series ofwinners and emerged taller than her oppo-nent.

Talented Talha Zubair and Hasan set-

Yasir annexes Anti-TobaccoDay Tennis crown

up a final date in the under-18 singles con-test after winning their pre-finals in con-trasting fashion.

Talha sailed past Murad Khan whileHasan was given a tough time by NazifAhmed before clinching the match on su-per tie-break in the two-hour contest.

Hasan got off to a sterling start bysnatching the well-fought first set 7-5. How-ever, Nazif came back to grab the secondwith identical score line. Super tie-breakersaw a keen tussle for supremacy betweenthe two opponents but luck and a coupleof forceful winners helped Hasan to seize aplace in the final.

Results: Men’s singles (final): YasirKhan bt Jalil Khan 6-4, 7-5

Women’s singles (semi-final): NehaKhan bt Sana Adnan 6-0, 6-0

Women’s singles (quarter-fnals):Shahrukh bt Kinza Ghachi 4-6, 6-4, 10-4;Shahnaz Khan bt Rida Khan 7-5, 7-5

U-18 (semi-finals): Talha Zubair btMurad Khan 6-2, 6-2, Hasan Farooq bt NazifAhmed 7-5, 5-7, 10-7

Boys U-14 (semi-finals): Nauman Aftabbt Fahad Haider 6-2, 6-0, Ebad Ahmed btMohammad Ahmed 6-2, 6-1.—APP

358 playersregister for Dr

Shah free cricketcoaching camp

KARACHI—As many as358 teenagers have regis-tered for the 20th Dr M.A.Shah Free Cricket CoachingCamp which commenceshere at the Asghar Ali ShahStadium on Sunday at11:00a.m.

“We have distributedaround 750 forms and areexpecting around 700 play-ers to attend the coachingcamp,” camp coordinatorNusrat Faheem said on Fri-day.

The Asghar Ali ShahMemorial Sports Founda-tion is organising the train-ing camp which waslaunched by former SindhSports Minister and KCCAPresident late DrMohammad Ali Shah in the1990s.

Dr Imran Ali Shah, theelder son of late Dr Shah, willinaugurate the coachingcamp.—APP

SKARDU: A view of volleyball match in KIU sports complex in connection of sportsweek 2014.

PESHAWAR—Secretary Paki-stan Taekwondo Federation(PTF) and international ref-eree Murtaza HassanBangash has urged upon Pa-kistan Sports Board to holdcamps on priority basis for theforthcoming Asian Games,Commonwealth Games andSouth Asian Games so thatto prepare the players for thetough competition well beforethe commencement of thethree major events.

This he said while ad-dressing a press conferencehere at Olympic Secretariat,Qayyum Sport Complex onSaturday. Vice President Pa-kistan Taekwondo Federa-tion Ilyas Afridi was alsopresent. He said holding ofthe camps are very vital forthe players in order to bringgood position in theseGames. He said Pakistan is ingood position to win backmedals in the Asian Games,Commonwealth Games andSouth Asian Games. He saidwithout camp one could notachieve the desire result.

PTF urges PSB to hold campsfor Asian, Commonwealth Games

He said the camps arevery much of important tokeep the players in high levelof fitness, specially in thepower games. Murtaza dis-closed that after a lapse of 18

months Pakistan SportsBoard has released funds forthe Pakistan TaekwondoFederation. He said despiteno funds from the last 18months, the Federation have

sent team to the MountEverest InternationalTaekwondo Championshipwhere Pakistani playergrabbed bronze medal among10 participating teams.—APP

PARIS: Romania’s Simona Halep returns during her third round French Open game against unseeded SpaniardMaria-Teresa Torro-Flor .

PARIS—Fourth-seeded Simona Halep,the highest-ranked woman left at theFrench Open, made the last 16 for thefirst time on Saturday as the Roma-nian continued to escape the RolandGarros carnage.

The 22-year-old brushed asideSpain’s Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-3,6-0 and next tackles 15th seededAmerican Sloane Stephens.

Halep, 22, has lost just 11 games inthree rounds in Paris.

In contrast, the failure of SerenaWilliams, Li Na and AgnieszkaRadwanska to get beyond the thirdround marked the first time in the Openera that the top three seeds had goneout before the last 16.

Halep, relegated to Court 2 for herthird round match, finished off Torro-Flor in just 64 minutes.

Stephens, 21, reached the fourthround for a third successive yearthanks to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Russian

left-hander Ekaterina Makarova.Stephens had defeated Makarova

in their only other previous meetingwhich took place in Paris in the firstround two years ago.

The American will take a 2-1 careerlead over Halep into their last-16 clashhaving won their last two matches atHobart and the Australian Open in2013.

But Halep won their only duel onclay in straight sets in Barcelona in2012.

“I’m happy to get the job doneearly,” said the American.

“It’s my third time in the last 16.Paris is awesome. Now I hope to go tothe next step and get another win.”Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova sweptinto the last

16 of the French Open with a 6-0,6-0 win over Argentina’s PaulaOrmaechea.

The seventh seed and tournament

favourite since the ousting of the topthree seeds will play 2011 US Openchampion Samantha Stosur for a placein the quarter-finals.

In what was a total mismatch onthe Roland Garros centre-courts, theRussian, champion in Paris two yearsago and losing finalist last year,needed just 51 minutes to see off anoverpowered Ormaechea.

Sharapova won 54 points to 17 forher opponent with the South Ameri-can taking just three points in the sec-ond set as her resistance to the on-slaught crumbled.

Sharapova won back-to-back titlesin Stuttgart and Madrid in the buildupto Roland Garros setting her up as oneof the favourites.

But her inability to defeat SerenaWilliams in recent years was seenas a major obstacle until theAmerican’s shock second roundloss.—APP/AFP

Halep untroubled atFrench Open

Boxing: France’sVieira victim ofown freak punch

BERLIN—French heavy-weight boxer Mickael Vieirawas the victim of his ownfreak punch when he suf-fered a first-round knock-out against Germany’sFrancesco Pianeta.

The 29-year-old lastedjust 140 seconds of Friday’sfight for the vacant WBOEuropean title in Dresdenwhen he suffered a sus-pected broken elbow afterpunching Pianeta’s rightshoulder.

After landing the punchwith his left, the Frenchmanlet out a cry of pain andcrumpled to the canvas in abizarre end to the bout.

It was Vieira’s fight out-side of France and he wasimmediately offered arematch by Pianeta, 29, whosuffered the only defeat ofhis career to world cham-pion Wladimir Klitschko inMay 2013.

“I can’t let things standlike that,” Pianeta told Ger-man daily Bild as Vieira suf-fered the fourth defeat ofhis career in 19 professionalbouts.

“I hope Mickael is bet-ter soon, because I want toknow which of us is the bet-ter fighter.”—APP/AFP

HAGUE—The Australian men’s hockeyteam has started its World Cup defence inthe Netherlands with a 4-0 win over Malay-sia.

Glen Turner speaks to ABCGrandstand’s Quentin Hull after scoringtwo goals in Australia’s 4-0 win againstMalaysia in the opening game of thehockey World Cup.

The Australian men’s hockey team hasstarted its World Cup defence in the Neth-erlands with a 4-0 win over Malaysia in theopening match on Saturday.

Playing in The Hague, Glenn Turner putthe Kookaburras ahead in the 25th minutebefore three goals in a four-minute spell inthe second.

Eddie Ockenden doubled the lead on50 minutes and Jamie Dwyer put his nameon the score sheet a couple of minutes later.

Turner added his second goal whenconverting a penalty corner to extend thelead to 4-0.

Australian coach Ric Charlesworth saidhe was happy with how his side openedtheir World Cup defence.

“I think the quality of our field play waspretty good,” he said.

“I was happy with the speed of the balland the movements of the players.

“We didn’t finish well enough and Ithink that’s obvious, we can improve onthat. And the aim, of course, is to play bet-ter as the tournament goes on.

“In the first or second minute one ofour players saved a goal from one of ourplayers on the goal line and if that had gonein it may have been different.

Australia will next meet Spain on Mon-day night.—AFP

Australia beat Malaysia 4-0 inhockey World Cup opener

HAGUE: Simon Orchard of Australia fights for the ball with Azlan Misron of Malaysiaduring the hockey World Cup.

LONDON—England will head to theAmericas with optimism intact afterovercoming Peru 3-0 in their final pre-World Cup friendly game on home soilat Wembley Stadium.

In the first of his side´s three warm-up matches, manager Roy Hodgsonsaw man-of-the-match DanielSturridge put England ahead with asweet 20-yard strike midway throughthe first half.

Centre-backs Gary Cahill and PhilJagielka got on the scoresheet in thesecond period to complete a straight-forward evening for England, whotravel to Miami for a pre-tournamenttraining camp on Sunday.

They will face Ecuador and Hon-duras there next week before openingtheir World Cup campaign againstGroup D rivals Italy in the Braziliancity of Manaus on June 14. “It was awonderful send-off to the World Cupby a quite incredible crowd,” Hodgsontold ITV. “We had to be patient, butwe were dominant throughout. It is theperfect end to a perfect two weeks. Iam delighted that 85,000 fans camehere to wish us well on our way. Whenyou play against teams with 10 men

England sink Peru 3-0 in friendly gamebehind the ball you have to be patient,but I had no doubt we would win.”

Hodgson was also able to hand adebut to young Everton defenderJohn Stones, while he will have drawnencouragement from the performanceof Adam Lallana and a late cameo fromthe fit-again Jack Wilshere.

Defeat took Peru´s run of gameswithout victory to seven, but newcoach Pablo Bengoechea had se-lected an experimental squad shornof big-name players such as ClaudioPizarro and Jefferson Farfan. “Wewere playing against a top side, whowere saying goodbye to their fansbefore the World Cup,” saidBengoechea. “They had more pos-session than us and we struggled toget it off them, but in the first halfthey didn´t hurt us.”

Hodgson opted to select DannyWelbeck instead of in-form Liverpoolwinger Raheem Sterling, with theManchester United man lining up onthe left flank in a conventional 4-2-3-1system.

It was the teams´ first meeting since1962 and Peru threatened first, withJoe Hart leaping to field a deflected

shot from Montpellier youngster JeanReza, but England cranked into gearin the last 20 minutes of the first half.

Having wastefully lashed widewith his weaker right foot following abuccaneering run from Lallana,Sturridge made amends in the 32ndminute with an excellent strike thattook his international goal tally tofour.

After collecting a throw-in fromGlen Johnson wide on the Englandright, he worked his way inside twodefenders to the edge of the box be-fore whipping a glorious left-foot shotinto the top-left corner.

Cahill headed in from a LeightonBaines corner in the 65th minute togive England breathing space.

Five minutes later Jagielka stabbedhome the third goal after visiting goal-keeper Raul Fernandez allowed an-other Baines corner to squirm from hisgrasp.

Sterling, Wilshere, Chris Smalling,James Milner, Ross Barkley andStones all entered the fray in the latterstages, while the avoidance of inju-ries completed a satisfactory eveningfor Hodgson.—AFP

LONDON: England’s Gary Cahill competes for the ball with Peru’s Alexander Callens and goalkeeper Raul Fernandezduring the international friendly soccer match between England and Peru at Wembley Stadium.

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Lalit Modi’s recent allega-tions on his twitter account whichclaimed to have learnt about a dubiousEngland women’s match in the ICC’s lastWorld Twenty20 was under investigationhas surprised Mithali Raj, the captain ofthe India’s women team.

Lalit Modi, the former chairman ofthe Indian Premier League (IPL) andBCCI’s ex-vice president, now in Lon-don, on his twitter account, has claimed: “Just learnt from an ACSU official - aEngland women’s Team World Cupmatch was under investigation. It [in-vestigation] was stopped at behest ofGiles Clarke”.

“That is news to me, but why the En-gland women match is being under in-vestigation”, Mithali Raj, speaking exclu-sively, asked.

Bookies don’t target Women’smatches, says Mithali Raj

Apparently, this is the first instancewhen the match, involving women team,is being alleged to have been under ICC’sAnti-Corruption and Security radar.

According to the captain, the womenmatches can not be targeted easily.“They (bookies) hardly know about play-ers’ profiles and no huge money is in-volved”.

“Secondly, the women matches arenot televised (globally) and (thereforenot easy) to bet on them”, she added.

“Like men players get education, thewomen players are also being guided (bythe ICC officials. Before every ICC event,the women teams have to undergo train-ing”, she added.

Elaborating more about profession-alism in female cricket, Mithali Raj says,“when the game is more popular in India,the franchises might come forward andmay be IPL matches like this in future...”,she signed off.

Marquez takessixth straight pole

of the seasonITALY—Marc Marquez madeit six pole positions out of sixthis season when he was fast-

est in qualifying for the ItalianMotoGP at Mugello on Satur-day. —APP

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s footballassociation is due to finallyhold long-postponed elec-tions for its board Saturday,following threats from thesport’s global governingbody that postponing themany further risks indefinitesuspension.

IFA board electionshave long been plagued bychaos and allegations ofpolitical meddling, with pollsoriginally held in July 2011marred by claims of mal-practice, while efforts in re-cent months to finally holda new vote have beenblighted by multiple delaysand apparent threats of vio-lence.

The never-ending cri-ses, which mirror the stand-offs and deadlocks in Iraq’snational politics, have over-shadowed a rare issue withcross-sectarian appeal in acountry grappling with frag-ile communal ties amid de-teriorating security.

A 75-member committeemade up of the heads of lo-cal clubs, provincial sportsofficials and others is dueto select a president, twodeputies and an eight-mem-ber board in a vote at 1:00pm (1000 GMT) at a centralBaghdad hotel.

The main poll pits cur-rent president NajehHmoud against his deputyAbdulkhaliq Massud, aftercontested elections wonby Hmoud in 2011 were an-nulled by the Switzerland-

Iraq holds poll amidFIFA suspension threat

based Court of Arbitrationfor Sport based on claimsof multiple problems withvote.

The IFA was originallydue to hold these electionsin January, following theCAS ruling, but ballotingwas postponed until April,and then finally to Saturday.

The multiple delaysspurred world football’sgoverning body FIFA andthe Asian Football Confed-eration to warn that if thepolls were not held by theend of May, the IFA faced“immediate and indefinitesuspension”.

FIFA and the AFC alsoalleged in a letter that in thelead-up to the planned Aprilvote, “the AFC representa-tive received threateningphone calls during his mis-sion.”

Although FIFA insiststhat football must be free ofpolitics, in Iraq politics per-meates nearly everything,including sport.

In July 2013, FIFA barredIraq from hosting interna-tional friendlies due to asurge in violence, reversinga decision three months ear-lier to allow the country tohost such matches.

But despite the near-constant chaos, footballcontinues to dominateIraq’s sporting landscape,with cafes routinelypacked with supporterscheering on the nationalside.—APP/AFP

Athletics:Rupp sets US

10,000mrecord

EUGENE, Oregon—Ameri-can Olympic silver medallistGalen Rupp ran the year’sfastest 10,000 metres to breakhis national record at theopening session of thePrefontaine Classic DiamondLeague meeting on Friday.

With British Olympic goldmedallist and training partnerMo Farah cheering him on,Rupp powered home in 26minutes, 44.36 seconds todefeat Kenyan world bronzemedallist Paul Tanui by fiveseconds at the University of

Oregon’s Hayward Field, hishome track. Only Ethiopianworld record holder KenenisaBekele has run faster(26:25.97) on American soil. “Isurprised myself a little bit torun that fast,” said the 28-year-old Rupp, who betteredthe U.S. record of 26:48.00 heset at Brussels in 2011. “Iwasn’t thinking about thetime until a quarter mile to go,the last lap,” the Oregon na-tive added.—APP

Torres shinesfor Spain in

warm-up winagainst Bolivia

SEVILLE, Spain—Spain’sstriker Fernando Torresmade a strong case for aWorld Cup place when hecapped an impressive per-formance with a well-takenpenalty as their depletedside strolled to a 2-0 friendlywin over Bolivia on Friday.

In the world and Euro-pean champions’penultimate warm-up gamebefore they begin the de-fence of their title in Brazilnext month, Torres made themost of his starting place upfront and substitute AndresIniesta was also on target asSpain ruthlessly dominateda defence-minded Bolivia.The South Americans, whofailed to qualify for theWorld Cup finals, managedto hold out until halftimebefore Javi Martinez wasbundled over in the penaltyarea and Torres calmly slot-ted the spot kick past RomelQuinonez In the 51st minute.

The Chelsea forwardhas had an indifferent sea-son with his club but lookedlively in the centre forwardrole before being replacedby Cesc Fabregas on thehour. Chances were scarcefor both sides at Sevilla’sSanchez Pizjuan stadium,with Cesar Azpilicueta strik-ing a long-range effortagainst the post in the 30thminute and Torres forcing asharp save from Quinonezshortly before the break.

Iniesta showed his classwhen he surged forward in the84th minute and curled a loweffort in off a post and SergioBusquets crashed a long-range drive off the frame of thegoal moments later as thehome side pressed forward inthe final stages.—APP

Sleeping in a room with too much lighthas been linked to an increased risk ofpiling on the pounds, a study shows.

A team at the Institute of Cancer Researchin London found women had larger waistlinesif their bedroom was “lightenough to see across” atnight. However, they cautionthere is not enough evidenceto advise people to buythicker curtains or turn offlights.

The study of 113,000women was published in theAmerican Journal of Epide-miology. The women wereasked to rate the amount oflight in their bedrooms atnight as:

Their answers werecompared to several mea-sures of obesity. Body MassIndex, waist-to-hip ratio andwaist circumference were allhigher in women with lighterrooms. Prof AnthonySwerdlow, from the Institute of Cancer Re-search, told the BBC: “In this very large groupof people there is an association between re-ported light exposure at night and overweightand obesity.

“But there is not sufficient evidence to knowif making your room darker would make anydifference to your weight. “There might be otherexplanations for the association, but the find-ings are intriguing enough to warrant furtherscientific investigation.”

One possible explanation is that the light isdisrupting the body clock, which stems from ourevolutionary past when we were active when itwas light in the day and resting when it was

dark at night.Light alters mood, physical strength and

even the way we process food in a 24-hourcycle. Artificial light is known to disrupt thebody clock by delaying the production of the

sleep hormone melatonin.Prof Derk-Jan Dijk,

from the Surrey Sleep Centre,said there would be no harm intrying to make bedrooms darker.He told the BBC: “People ingeneral are not aware of the lightpresent in their bedroom, I thinkpeople should assess their bed-room and see how easy it wouldbe to make it darker.”

Street lights, some alarmclocks and standby lights onelectrical equipment such astelevisions could light a room,he said.”Overall this studypoints to the importance of dark-ness,” he concluded.

The study was fundedby Breakthrough Breast Cancerand the findings emerged from

a long-term study to understand the risk fac-tors for breast cancer. Obesity is known toincrease the odds of the disease.

Dr Matthew Lam, from the charity, com-mented: “It’s too early to suggest that sleep-ing in the dark will help prevent obesity, aknown risk factor for breast cancer, but theassociation is certainly interesting.

“Whilst we are learning more and moreeach day about the environmental, genetic andlifestyle factors that affect breast cancer risk,it is not yet possible to predict who will getbreast cancer, and for women who have beendiagnosed with the disease, we can’t yet saywhat caused it.”

Bedrooms lightlinked to obesity

Sindh Information cSharjeel Inam Memon addressing a Press Conference.—PO Photo Sul-tan Chaki

Commander Coasts Rear Admiral Arifullah Hussani briefing National Standing Committee on defence during their visitto PN installations at Karachi on Saturday.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Karachi Bar Association(KBA) President Barrister SalahuddinAhmed said division in media was aplanned conspiracy and after media’s di-vision, conspiracies were being hatchedto divide the Judiciary, which would neverbe allowed. KBA and other associationsof lawyers would not allow any adven-turous move of shifting lower courts todistrict Malir on pretext of security mea-sures.

Barrister Salahuddin expressed theseviews while addressing a press conferenceat KBA office Saturday. KBA office-bear-ers and lawyers in large numbers werepresent.

The KBA President said that ensur-ing complete security inside premises oflower courts situated on M A Jinnah Roadwas a tedious task for the government and

Conspiracies being hatched to divide judiciaryif the lower courts would be allowed tobe shifted to district Malir, the insecuritywould reach at its apex.

He said that shifting of courts fromdistrict Korangi to district Malir througha sheer notification was part of a plannedconspiracy to create division between theBench and the Bar and while taking no-tice of the notification, Sindh High Courthad timely passed a stay order, which pre-vented the shift.

Barrister Salahuddin said that KBAwas seriously concerned over plans forshifting the lower courts and wanted gov-ernment should either discard its plans forshift of lower courts from the premise ofCity Courts or these should be shifted tothe Judicial Complex. The decision ofshifting the lower courts would createproblems in dealing with cases of the ac-cused in many courts at a time.

While lambasting government over its

proposed planas for shifting of the lowercourts, Barrister Salahuddin said that onone hand, government was making ex-cuses for provisioning the required facili-ties inside the City Court premise on pre-text of paucity of funds while on the otherhand, it was taking steps for shifting thelower courts. He questioned whether thegiant step of shifting the lower courtswould be without spending hefty sums ofmoney and if not then why governmentwas showing reluctance in providing re-quired facilities.

He also said that court record couldalso be badly damaged and lost in caselower courts were shifted. BarristerSalahuddin vehemently condemned cir-cular comments against one of SupremeCourt of Pakistan’s Justice, and added thathoisting banners in opposition to one ofJustice was a manifest of utter failure ofgovernment and intelligence agencies.

KARACHI—Acquisition of nuclear sub-marines and massive naval build up bythe adversary is a matter of great con-cern not only for Pakistan but for the re-gional peace also.

This information was given to theNational Assembly’s Standing Commit-tee on Defence at a briefing, an ISPRpress release issued here on Saturdaysaid.

The 20-member committee headedby Rohail Asghar Hayat, MNA, had vis-ited Pakistan Navy Dockyard, SubmarineCentre and Karachi Shipyard and Engi-neering Works.

The committee also visited facilitiesand installations of Pakistan Navy atKarachi and coastal areas during the 3-day visit.

NA body briefed on massivenaval build-up by adversary

Comprehensive briefing was given tothe committee on the emerging contem-porary challenges in the region and Navy’sresponse measures, infrastructuralupgradation and modernization and its fu-ture projects.

The committee undertook detailedvisit of Jinnah Naval Base at Ormarah,considered as future home port of PNFleet, where they were briefed on the ex-isting facilities and various developmen-tal projects of the base which will helpachieve early commencement of sustainedfleet operations.

The committee was briefed on the na-tion building efforts along the MakranCoast and PN’s measures aimed at socio-economic uplift of Baloch populace alongthe coastal belt.

During the visit of Cadet CollegeOrmarah, the committee members wereapprised of the facilities being providedby Pakistan Navy to the cadets andcollege’s planned development to make ita premier training institution on theMakran Coast.

During visit of 100 bed hospital PNSDarmaan Jah, the committee was apprisedthat the PN will remain in the forefront torender all possible health care facilitiesand is extending free medical support/ fa-cilities to the Baloch population, particu-larly the coastal community.

Pakistan Navy is also integrating lo-cals into national mainstream and a con-siderable strength of locals are serving atthe Jinnah Naval base in different capaci-ties, it added.—APP

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—A joint meeting ofMuttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM)Rabita Committee and elected represen-tatives were held at the KhursheedBegum Secretariat Azizabad to discusspeople’s problems and find their solu-tions. This meeting was held on the di-rection of MQM founder and leaderAltaf Hussain, who asked to pay urgentattention to pressing problems of pub-lic.

The participants of the meeting dis-

Altaf directs party leaders to pay attention to people’s problems

KARACHI—Chief Minister Sindh,Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has appreciatedthe overall achievements of theKarachi targeted operation and saidthat it was because of the spiritand commitment of Sindh Po-lice and Rangers that law andorder has been improved.

Chairing law and ordermeeting here on Saturday theChief Minister cleared the po-sition about recent changes inthe police team engaged in theoperation and said that ex-Ad-ditional IGP Karachi ShahidHayat was transferred in com-pliance of the Court’s ordersand assured that, present teamwill continue the operationagainst criminals without anyinterference.

Sindh Minister for Informa-tion Sharjeel Enam Memon,Home Secretary Dr. NiazAbassi, DG Rangers SindhRizwan Akhtar, IG PoliceSindh Iqbal Mehmood andotehr senior government offi-cials attended the meeting.

The Chief Minister said thatthe net result of the operationwould depend on the convic-tions of the arrested criminals by thecourts. He asked the other stakehold-ers to perform at par with the LEAsto make this targeted operation more

successful.He constituted three members com-

mittee comprising Provincial Secretar-ies of Home and Law and Advocate

General of Sindh to co-ordinate andconvince the judiciary to expedite thecases challaned under the targeted op-eration. He asked the IGP Sindh for

early procurement of APCs and otherequipment and expediting constructionof official residences for the depart-ment. He said more police personnel

will be recruited next year. The Inspector General of Sindh Po-

lice while briefing the meeting said that,law & order situation was quite under

control in Karachi and Interior Sindhdue to prompt action by police. He saidoperation against dacoits and highwayrobberies in the interior Sindh had

proved successful and aban-doned check posts are beingmanned. He said that a gang ofkidnappers has been busted andsome of the abductees have beenrecovered. The Home Secretarytold the meeting said that a com-mittee has been constituted toidentify the proper location forconstruction of check postsalong Sindh borders andKarachi city as per decisionmade in earlier meeting.

He said that NADRA has beenapproached to resolve the seri-ous issues of aliens / illegal im-migrants in Karachi who arebeing considered main factors ofcrime. Besides authorities con-cerned are being approached toget the illegal SIMs blocked. Healso said that the contingencyplan to stop construction of un-authorized Madaris is being pre-pared.

The Provincial Secretary LawMir Muhammad Shaikh briefedthe meeting about convictions

made by the courts in criminal cases dur-ing May, and added that 34 different con-victions have been made in heinous crimecases and 22 under the Arms Act.—APP

Qaim appreciates overall achievementsof Karachi targeted operation

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah presiding over a meeting to review law and ordersituation in the province.

cussed water, electricity, healthcareproblems faced by people and the lawand order situation of the city. They dis-cussed ways to solve these problemsurgently in accordance with the guide-lines of Hussain.

They also discussed the issue of K-Electric’s overbilling to consumers andload shedding problem. They decided totake the matter to the concerned depart-ments for find solutions to problems.

Rabita Committee has appealed topeople to submit the photo copies of theirbills and contact numbers with their

members of Sindh Assembly.The bills can be submitted from Jun

1 to June 5 between 6 pm and 10 pm attheir offices. A special desk has beenestablished in their offices to tackle theoverbilling problem of consumers.Meanwhile, the founder and leader ofMQM Altaf Hussain has said that so-cial, cultural and ideological develop-ment of a society depends on its youth.

“Societies which pay attention tohealth, welfare and development ofyouth emerge as prosperous and devel-oped nations and history remembers

them in golden words”.Altaf Hussain said this while ad-

dressing the youth on the occasion of“World No Tobacco Day”, said a state-ment of MQM issued here on Satur-day. He said our country is passingthrough a difficult time. It is facingchallenges and problems and the na-tion is looking with hope to its matureand healthy young people to steer themout of whirlpool of problems.

He said “the growing trend ofsmoking among our young people arecause of concern for me.

Sharjeel condemnsvictimization of PPP leadership

CITY REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Information MinisterSharjeel Memon has condemned the politi-cal victimization of PPP leadership and saidthey cannot be cowed down by issuing no-tices of arrests.

Addressing a press conference here onSaturday, Sharjeel Memon said the PPP ex-tended unconditional support to the govern-ment for stability of democracy but in returnexcesses have been committed with the PPPand the Sindh government which would notbe tolerated. He said the PPP would not be-come part of any grand alliance as it does notbelieve in politics of agitation.

Sharjeel said the rulers have not learnt anylesson from the past mistakes and politics ofthe 90s is being repeated by victimizing op-ponents. The Sindh information minister said

the federal government should give Sindh itsdue rights and bring an end to unscheduledloadshedding.

He said it was unacceptable to blameSindh for theft of electricity instead of Lahore.He said the prime minister considers onlyLahore as Pakistan and the federal governmentis giving step motherly treatment to Sindhbecause the people had rejected it in the elec-tions.

He said the PPP condemns politics of vic-timization. Sharjeel Memon said the govern-ment has not honoured any commitment madeto the province for Karachi operation.

He said Pakistan’s economy was movingon only due to Sindh but the federal govern-ment wants to usurp the share of Sindh fromthe federal budget. He asked the governmentto give up its dictatorial attitude and not forcethe PPP to go for agitation.

Construction ofmodern

convention centreKARACHI—The foundationstone laying ceremony ofShaheed Mohtarma Bhuttochair and convention centrewill be held here on June 4.

The event is scheduled tostart 3.00 p.m. at the ChiefMinister House, said a releasehere on Friday.

Sindh Chief Minister SyedQaim Ali Shah will be the chiefguest.

Sleeping in a room with too much lighthas been linked to an increased risk ofpiling on the pounds, a study shows.

A team at the Institute of Cancer Researchin London found women had larger waistlinesif their bedroom was “lightenough to see across” atnight. However, they cau-tion there is not enough evi-dence to advise people tobuy thicker curtains or turnoff lights.

The study of 113,000women was published in theAmerican Journal of Epide-miology. The women wereasked to rate the amount oflight in their bedrooms atnight as:

Their answers werecompared to several mea-sures of obesity. Body MassIndex, waist-to-hip ratio andwaist circumference were allhigher in women withlighter rooms. Prof AnthonySwerdlow, from the Institute of Cancer Re-search, told the BBC: “In this very large groupof people there is an association between re-ported light exposure at night and overweightand obesity.

“But there is not sufficient evidence toknow if making your room darker would makeany difference to your weight. “There mightbe other explanations for the association, butthe findings are intriguing enough to warrantfurther scientific investigation.”

One possible explanation is that the lightis disrupting the body clock, which stems fromour evolutionary past when we were activewhen it was light in the day and resting when

it was dark at night.Light alters mood, physical strength and

even the way we process food in a 24-hourcycle. Artificial light is known to disrupt thebody clock by delaying the production of the

sleep hormone melatonin.Prof Derk-Jan Dijk,

from the Surrey Sleep Centre,said there would be no harm intrying to make bedroomsdarker. He told the BBC:“People in general are notaware of the light present intheir bedroom, I think peopleshould assess their bedroomand see how easy it would beto make it darker.”

Street lights, somealarm clocks and standby lightson electrical equipment such astelevisions could light a room,he said.”Overall this studypoints to the importance ofdarkness,” he concluded.

The study was fundedby Breakthrough Breast Cancer

and the findings emerged from a long-termstudy to understand the risk factors for breastcancer. Obesity is known to increase the oddsof the disease.

Dr Matthew Lam, from the charity, com-mented: “It’s too early to suggest that sleep-ing in the dark will help prevent obesity, aknown risk factor for breast cancer, but theassociation is certainly interesting.

“Whilst we are learning more and moreeach day about the environmental, geneticand lifestyle factors that affect breast cancerrisk, it is not yet possible to predict who willget breast cancer, and for women who havebeen diagnosed with the disease, we can’tyet say what caused it.”

Bedrooms lightlinked to obesity

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif has saidthat it has been decided to set up Dol-phin police unit in Punjab on the pat-tern of Dolphin Unit of Turkey.

“High standard, merit and abilitywill be kept in view for the selection ofofficials for Dolphin Unit. He said thatestablishment of Dolphin Unit will helperadicate street crime and other crimes,”Shahbaz said while talking to a highlevel delegation of National Police ofTurkey which met him under the lead-ership of Dr. Mustafa Ozguler.

Matters relating to setting up ofDolphin Unit and Integrated Commandand Control Centre Project were dis-cussed during the meeting. ProvincialMinister Col Retd. Shuja Khanzada,

Police units to be set up onpattern of Turkish police

Inspector General Police, SecretaryHome, Chairman Punjab InformationTechnology Board and other high rank-ing officials were also present on thisoccasion.

Shahbaz Sharif said that historicand cultural relations exist betweenPakistan and Turkey. He said thatfriendly ties between both the countrieshave changed to economic relations. Hesaid that the hearts of Pakistani andTurkish people beat together and peopleof both the countries are tied with deepbrotherly bonds. The Chief Ministersaid that the recent visit of Turk Na-tional Police delegation to Lahore re-flects the increasing relations betweenthe two countries. He said that coop-eration of Turk Police in setting up ofDolphin Unit and training of PunjabPolice is a welcome step which will

further promote cooperation betweenPakistan and Turkey. He said that a teamof Dolphin Unit will consist of fourpolice officials and Turk Police expertswill impart training to Dolphin Unit. Hesaid that in the first phase, Dolphin Unitwill formally start work at the end ofcurrent year.

Shahbaz Sharif said that Turk Po-lice experts will also prepare mastertrainers for the training of officials ofDolphin Unit. He said that the Inte-grated Command and Control CentreProject in Lahore will be completed onthe pattern of Command and ControlCentre of Istanbul and modern equip-ments will be installed in this centre.He said that command and control cen-tre will be linked with CCTV camerasinstalled in the city.

The Chief Minister said that ini-

tially 1800 places have been selectedfor installing cameras in Lahore. Hesaid that cooperation of Turk Policeexperts for this centre is commendable.

He said that command and controlcentre project will be completed dur-ing the current year. He thanked Turkgovernment, leadership and police of-ficials for extending cooperation in vari-ous projects in Pakistan particularlyPunjab.

The head of Turk police delegationDr. Mustafa Ozguler speaking on theoccasion said that they are pleased towork with the Chief Minister PunjabMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif and histeam.

He assured that every possible co-operation will be extended to Punjabgovernment for command and controlproject and setting up Dolphin Unit.

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Lahore High Court (LHC)Complaint Cell on Saturday took noticeof a press report on administrative sideregarding murder of 3-year-old girl af-ter abduction.The Cell has directed the District & Ses-sions Judge, Rahim Yar Khan to look into

LAHORE—Provincial Minister for Excise andTaxation and Finance, Mujtaba Shujaur RehmanSaturday urged the doctors community forlaunching a massive awareness campaign forsensitizing people about hazardous aspects ofsmoking.

Talking to various delegations at his resi-dence regarding “No Tobacco Day”, he said itwas a common responsibility of teachers, par-ents, public opinion leaders and specifically theulema to play their effective role in this socialservice.

He said to handle such an enormous prob-lem in a third world country with limited finan-cial resources was not possible without coop-eration of philanthropists. He said in Pakistanitself, more than 40 percent of the adult popula-tion over the age of 45 suffered from one formor the other of non-communicable disease, suchas heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetesand even cancer and a trend looking on the rise.

He said it was high time for promoting so-

Doctors urged to helperadicate smoking

cial mobilization against smoking, TB and can-cer.

He said that billions of rupees were beingwasted on smoking annually which was majorcause of spread of deadly diseases like TB, lungscancer and even cardiovascular diseases as wellas other chest diseases even chronic obstructivepulmonary diseases which 4th main cause ofdeaths in the world and 600 million people werevictims of this disease in the world whereas,according to WHO 3 million people die eachyear in the world due to these complications.

Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said that Punjabgovernment was focusing on the provision ofeducation and healthcare facilities to the com-mon people specially people living in remoteand far flung areas and had taken revolutionarysteps through re-engineering of resources in thefield of education and health so that moderneducational as well as latest medical facilitiescould be provided to the people at their doorsteps.—APP

LAHORE—Inspector General NationalHighways and Motorway police ZulfiqarAhmed Cheema Saturday issued instruc-tions on operational matter especially toensure road safety to reduce accidents.

He issued the instructions in a high

level operational meeting held here.DIG Zubair Hashmi, SSP Ather

Waheed, SSP Ghulam Jaffer, Sector Com-mander Abdul Khalil and Beat Command-ers were also present.

Zulfiqar Cheema said as a prime re-

sponsibility of NH&MP, all operationalofficers should play their active role inproviding safe and secure traveling to roadusers. He said honesty and courtesy to roadusers was an identity of motorway policewhich was its precious asset.—APP

IGP for ensuring road safety

LAHORE—Computerized land record ser-vices have been extended to 114 tehsilsthrough Arazi Record Centers in Punjab.

The Punjab chief minister is deter-mined to complete the project of comput-erization of land records on fast track toremove patwar culture, a spokesperson forProject Management Unit Board of Rev-enue, Punjab said here on Saturday.

He said these centres had relieved theland owners from problems faced by themin getting record of their land ownership.

Computerized land recordservices extended to 114 tehsils

In order to maintain the highest stan-dards of service delivery, staff and centeroperations are monitored by the ProjectManagement Unit at one hand and, on theother, feedback of beneficiaries is acquiredon behalf of the chief minister Punjab.

The spokesperson told that over 99%beneficiaries had not only expressed theirsatisfaction but their gratitude towards gov-ernment for providing them such facility.However, few of them had expressed theirreservations over the legal fee for ‘Fard’

being high in the cases when a piece ofland falls within large number of khatoonis.

Keeping in view the beneficiaries andin compliance of directions by the ChiefMinister Project management Unit Boardof Revenue Punjab has made the processof getting ‘Fard’ more friendly and the le-gal fee of Fard has been reduced to Rs 150for brief extracts. The directions have beenconveyed to the District Administrationsall over Punjab vide notification no 786-2014/270-LR-II, he added.—APP

LAHORE—The Punjab Emergency Service(Rescue 1122) provided services to eightdead persons and 489 victims of 582 roadaccidents in all 36 districts of the province

during the last 24 hours. Some 112 accidentswere reported in Lahore with 128 victims,64 in Faisalabad with 80 injured and 42 inGujranwala with 48 victims. According to

data, 490 motorbikes, 63 rickshaws, 54 cars,23 vans, six buses, 15 trucks and 57 othertypes of vehicles and slow moving carts wereinvolved in the accidents.—APP

89 victims of accidents rescued

the matter and submit detailed report re-garding steps taken by police along withhis own comments within a week.

According to details, minor daugh-ter of Imran Zafar, resident of a villageKaachha Kay was playing with herbrother when unidentified suspects ab-ducted her. Police and girl’s parents

searched for four days and on fifth daythey found dead body of the victim withmarks of torture from a field.

Animals also mutilated the body ill-fated girl. On the complaint of victim’sfather, Airport police registered a caseagainst the unknown culprits and startedinvestigation.

LHC takes notice of killing minor girl

RKBA delegationmeets CJP

LAHORE—A seven-memberdelegation of Renala Khurd BarAssociation (RKBA) met withChief Justice of Pakistan,Tassaduq Hussain Jillani here atSupreme Court branch Registryon Saturday.

The delegation was headedby RKBA president, MeharMuhammad Rafique Sial whileRKBA secretary ChaudhryMuhammad Zunair Farid, mem-ber Punjab Bar Council RanaAbdul Rehman, Mian NaeemBashir and Muhammad ShafiqueBandhara were among the del-egates.—APP

A traffic warden controlling the traffic at busy State Bank Square.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ashan Iqbal addressing a press conference.

DCO Lahore Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi addressing a seminar in connection with world To-bacco Day.

CITY REPORTER

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Minister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has taken immediate notice of anews item of kidnapping of Rana Jamil Hassan

CM takes notice of MPA kidnappingMPA of Muslim League-N near Pindi Bhattian andsought a report from IG Police. The Chief Minis-ter directed that effective steps should be taken forearly recovery of MPA Rana Jamil Hassan andapprehending the culprits involved in abduction.