RTC on IslamicBanking onJanuary 15

Announcement

Due to suspension of mobileservice in Karachi on 14January 2014 (Tuesday),please contact on the follow-ing landlines of Pakistan Ob-server for any query regard-ing RTCIslamabad: 051-2852027-8,2256006

Karachi: 021-32211777,021-32631102 & 021-35308447-9

Sri Lanka beatPak by 9 wicketsDUBAI—Sri Lanka beat Paki-stan by nine wickets in the sec-ond Test in Dubai on Sunday,taking a 1-0 lead in the three-

match series.Pakistan were bowled

out for 359 in their sec-ond innings, giving SriLanka a target of 137 towin in 80 overs.

Openers DimuthKarunaratne and Kaushal Silvaput on 124 for the first wicket be-fore Kumar Sangakkara (nine notout) did the job for Sri Lanka’sbiggest win over Pakistan in termsof wickets.—Agency

Detailed story on Sports Page

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—Twin blasts tar-geting the motorcade of advisorto Prime Minister and formerminister for Water & PowerEngineer Amir Muqam inShangla district Sunday morn-ing killed at least six people in-cluding three policemen. AmirMuqam escaped narrowly inwhat he said sixth attempt onhis life. Meanwhile a formerprovincial vice president ofAwami National party (ANP)Mian Mushtaq Shah was shotdead along with his two com-rades in Peshawar.

A remote controlled explo-sive device was detonatedclosed to the convoy of AmirMuqam Kunhaar area when he

was returning from in Martongarea where he had gone to re-

solve a dispute between the twofamilies. Another explosion fol-

lowed moments after the firstblast playing hell in the area.

A number of vehicles in-cluding a Police van were de-stroyed killing six people includ-ing three cops while a few oth-ers sustained injuries. The advi-sor to Prime Minister remainedunhurt in the explosions. Therescue workers and the law en-forcers rushed to the site of theblast and cordoned off the areaas the victims were rushed tothe hospital where the medicspronounced at least six peopledead. Three cops and equalnumber of private guards areamong the dead.

“At least six people includ-ing security personnel werekilled in twin blasts carried outwith the help of remote con-

trolled device near the convoyof Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader andAdvisor to Prime Minister, AmirMuqam in Shangla”. MartongPolice Officials said addingthree police men on board thevehicle escorting the Advisor’svehicles also succumbed to theirinjuries as the police vehicle wasdestroyed completely. “Thebomb exploded Sunday in theShangla area targeting the con-voy of Amir Muqam”. DeputyInspector General Police

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The President,Mr. Mamnoon Hussain, andPrime Minister, MianMuhammad Nawaz Sharif,have urged the banking indus-try to facilitate believers inShari’ah while dischargingeconomic obligations.

In their separate messagesto the Pakistan Observer for itshigh-profile Round Table Con-ference on Islamic Banking to

be held at Governor House inKarachi, both the leaders em-

phasized the need to expand thenetwork of Islamic Banking inPakistan.

Observer’s RTC on Islamic Banking

President, PM urgebanks to do more

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa terror attacks

Amir Muqam escapes,six killed in Shangla blasts

ANP ex-provincial vice-president gunned down in Peshawar

While appreciating theinitiative of the Pakistan Ob-server to inspire the bankingindustry for Islamic Banking,the President in his messageexpressed satisfaction overthe present government’s ef-forts which it is making to-wards the implementation ofIslamic Banking in the coun-try. He also called on the pri-vate sector to supplementGovernment efforts towards

Continued on Page 7Continued on Page 7

LIAQAT TOOR

ISLAMABAD—After failingto build capital city on mod-ern lines, the cash-starvedCapital Development Author-ity is waiting for approvalfrom the government to allowprivate sector to start jointventures in Islamabad to up-grade the capital.

Sources in the CDA told thisscribe a summary has been sentto Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifto approve amendments in therelevant laws for inducting pri-vate land developers to developstalled sectors, mega projectsand high- rise buildings to givea new look to the city.

The sources said the bigland developers have ap-

proached the government to helpbuild the city and also to retrieveland from the affectees and en-croachers of the announced sec-tors which could not be built forthe last twenty five years due tooccupation of land.

The unlucky capital as com-pared to other big cities of Paki-stan like Lahore and Karachiwhich are expanding vertically

and horizontally, could not beshaped according to original layout plan due to corrupt elementsin CDA, land mafia, lack of willand planning and some greedyaffectees which are not vacat-ing land despite getting com-pensation of their land.

The present over-con-gested and over-burdened

Capital awaits govt nodon private partnershipGovt giving final touches to one-million houses scheme

Continued on Page 7

Ch Aslamattack mysterydeepensKARACHI—As the investiga-tion into the suicide blast thatmartyred Karachi police officerChaudhry Aslam proceeding,the matter relating to the modeof operation of the terroristsgetting further confounded, onSunday.

The taxi driver under

Continued on Page 7

ISLAMABAD—Federal InteriorMinister Ch Nisar Ali Khan hassaid that back channels talks areunderway with several factionsof Taliban and pinned hope thatthey will be fruitful. Talking tonewsmen at Punjab House hereon Sunday, he said the govern-ment will hold serious talks withthose groups of Taliban who willrespond positively to its offerand those who will respond witharms will be chased and elimi-nated. He said talks will be heldwithin the ambit of the law andthe constitution.

The interior minister saidholding of meaningful dialoguewith Taliban is the topmost pri-ority of the government but theTaliban’s high command is re-fusing to come up on the nego-tiation table. He said some of thepeople are demanding an army

operation in case if the Talibanrefuse the govt offer of talks andexecute their subversive activi-

ties. Ch Nisar asked these peoplewhere the army operation shouldbe conducted as the troubledarea is vast and the Taliban arescattered? He said problem will

not be solved by operation only.He said in case of an army

operation the efforts for talkswill not only come to an end butthe use of power could furtheraggravate the problem. Continu-ing, the interior minister said thegovt is pursuing its policy in ac-cordance with the decision of AllParties Conference and will con-tinue its efforts for positivehonour, integrity, sovereignty,constitution and law of thelandCh Nisar asked militants tocome on the negotiation tablewhich is right path and forgiv-ing is noble way.

To a question he said on onehand Taliban group led by MolviFazlullah is refusing to hold dia-logue and on the other those whoare behind the drone attacks donot want talks on positive note.

Dialogue, operationboth difficult: Nisar

Back channel talks underway with Taliban factions

Continued on Page 7

LAHORE—Chairman PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ImranKhan expressed disappointmentover Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gov-ernment as Chief MinisterPervez Khattak did not go toAitzaz Hassan’s residence forcondolence soon after his death.

Imran Khan said thatHangu’s student Aitzaz Hassanset example of bravery and hisparty will support his family.

Talking to media PTI leadersaid, shaheed Aitzaz Hassan, tack-led the bomber as he tried to entera government school. Hassan and

the bomber died but no other stu-dents or staff were hurt.

Imran Khan noted thatcrimes are on the increase inPunjab and extremism is in-creasing with drone attacks inPakistan.

He said the Punjab gov-ernment has politicized the po-lice and its standard has comedown because appointmentswere not made on merit.

Chairman PTI said theblockade of NATO supply linein Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will

Imran resents KP govt’s lackof response to Aitzaz’ death

Continued on Page 7

Floralwreath laid onAitzaz’s grave

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—On behalf of theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Gover-nor, Engineer Shaukatullah, thePolitical Agent of OrakzaiAgency laid floral wreath at thegrave of Shaheed AitzazHussain at village Ibrahimkhelin District Hangu on Sundayand conveyed his deep spiritand heartiest condolence to theparents of the Shaheed.

Continued on Page 7

Engineer Amir Muqam

HYDERABAD: A woman reciting Naat during a function in connection with Milad cel-ebrations at Latifabad No. 5.

PTI fails todeliver in KP

ISLAMABAD—Awami Na-tional Party (ANP) SenatorZahid Khan has claimed thatthe Pakistan Tehreek-i-Inasaaf (PTI) government inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa hadfailed to deliver according towishes of people.

The PTI got votes forpledges to restore peace, butit has not fulfilled even asingle promise after comingto power, Zahid said. Headded that people of KhyberPakhtunkhwa voted PTI fora change and the ANP wouldsupport it for peace and pros-perity of the province.

Zahid Khan said the gov-ernment should take steps toalleviate poverty, overcomeinflation, unemployment, law-lessness, economic disparityand power load shedding. Hesaid that his party was readyto cooperate with central andprovincial governments forachieving lasting peace inthe province.—APP

Medical collegein Attock soon

ATTOCK—Minister of Statefor Parliamentary AffairsSheikh Aftab Ahmad has saidthat Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif hasgiven approval for establish-ment of a medical college inAttock for which 200 acre landhas also been allotted.

Talking to newsmen af-ter visiting the proposed sitefor the college, he said theconstruction of collegebuilding would be startedsoon while a colony for thefaculty of the college wouldalso be constructed.

The minister was accom-panied by the officers of thedistrict administration also.He said that establishment ofthe medical college was along out standing demand ofthe residents of the Attockdistrict which has been met.

He said the federal gov-ernment was committed toresolve the problems facedby the country and specialattention was being paid toprovide basic facilities to thepeople specially those livingin remote areas.—APP

Sana dismissesImran’s negative

propagandaLAHORE—Provincial LawMinister Rana Sanaul-lahKhan has said that PTI Chair-man Imran Khan is earningnotoriety for his negativepropaganda for political pointscoring.

In a statement issued hereSunday, the PML-N provin-cial Minister defended hisgovernment, add-ing thatmerit was the hallmark ofPunjab govern-ment. He saidthe flop PTI rally in Lahorewas enough proof thatpeople had rejected ImranKhan’s poli-tics.—APP

IS L A M A B A D —Tehreek-e-Ittehad Islami (TII) has de-manded that Nishan-e-Haider should be given toshaheed Aitzaz Hassan ofHungu who saved his schoolfrom terrorism.

Tehreek-e-Ittehad Islamiar-ranged tenth annualSeerat-ul-Nabi conference atJamia Masjid Hasnainabad,Chattar Park here on Sunday.

A prominent scholar Dr.Ghazanfar Mehdi, ChairmanMarkazi Imam Hussain Coun-cil chaired the conferencespeaking on the occasion Dr.Mehdi said that we can ob-tain the objective of unity ofIslamic Umma.

He said that Eid Miladshould be observed with col-lective look and if it is pos-sible then President, PrimeMinister, Governor’s, ChiefMinister’s & Heads of All Po-litical and Religious Parties,Federal and Provincial Minis-ters & Members of Parliament

Nishan-e-Haider begiven to Aitzaz: TII

should take part in the pro-cessions of Eid Milad un Nabi.

He said if all religiousscholars and parties can par-ticipate in pro-test proces-sions against any writ-ing orbook then in the same man-ner they should participate inEid Milad processions to ex-press their love and solidar-ity and this will give a mes-sage to global world thatMuslims are united for theirfaith and loveSenator Dr. Abdul Khaliq PirZada, Qasim Muradi DeputyCul-tural Counsellor, AmirGul Di-rector General, IranCultural Center, Syed Muti ulHasnain Sherazi, Haji NoorMuhammad, Allama SaleemHaider & Others Scholarspaid glowing tribute to HolyProphet (PBUH) Muham-mad Hussain Toori ChairmanKurram Welfare Society ten-dered a few resolutionswhich were unanimously ap-proved.—Online

PTI leader’smurder: FIR

registered against16 suspects

KASUR—A First InformationReport (FIR) was filedagainst 16 suspects for themurder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaderMaqsood Bhatti and fourothers on Sunday. The FIRmentions 10 of the suspectsby name while six are uniden-tified. However, no arrestshave been made yet.

Bhatti was killed alongwith four other people onSaturday evening whentheir convoy was ambushednear Kasur. The attackers,believed to be on motor-cycles, had sprayed bulletson the two cars. Bhatti wastravelling in his SUV alongwith three guards. Accord-ing to police, the attackseems to be motivated bypersonal enmity. Chief Min-ister Punjab Shahbaz Shariftook notice of the incidentand sought a report from IGpo-lice.—Online

All schools of thought urged forunity to foil enemies’ conspiracies

STAFF REPORTER

GUJRAT—Scholars belong-ing to all schools of thoughtshould rise up to end sectar-ian violence. Some forceswant to spark Shia-Sunni andDeo-bandi-Barelvi conflict inthe country. Their con-spiracies will be foiled at anycost. The only way to endsectarian violence in thecountry is to follow the teach-ings of Prophet PBUH. He[PBUH] saved mankind fromignorance and gave themknowledge and He [PBUH]was not only the benefactorof Muslims but every personborn on earth.

These views were ex-pressed by representativesof political parties and schol-ars and clerics belonging toall schools of thought whileaddressing the Seerat Con-ference and speech and es-say competition organizedby Pakistan Ulema Councilfor the students and teach-ers of religious seminaries inGujrat. The conference was

presided by PUC CentralChairman Hafiz MuhammadTahir Mahmood Ashrafi.

The speakers said that itis declared the honor of aMuslim more sacred than theHoly Kab’a. However, theblood of Muslims has todaybecome cheaper than waterin Pakistan and the entireMuslim world. Harmony, notdivisions, is the solution toproblems facing Pakistan.People belonging to all reli-gions and schools ofthought should becomeunited for the sake ofPakistan’s security and sta-bility.

They said that the char-acter of Prophet [PBUH] wasthe binding force for all man-kind. By safeguarding therights of both Muslims andnon-Muslims in the State ofMedina, he [PBUH] set a rolemodel for all of humanity un-til the Day of Resurrection.

PUC Central ChairmanHafiz Muhammad TahirMahmood Ashrafi said thatsome forces wanted to spark

turmoil in the month of Rabiul Awwal, just like they did inMuharram. However, schol-ars be-longing to all schoolsof thought have announcedthat they are all united whenit comes to expressing theirlove for Prophet [PBUH].They would foil the attemptsof forces that want to sparkturmoil in Pakistan.

The PUC central chair-man further said that the at-tendance of non-Muslim rep-resentatives in the eventsheld with reference to thecharacter of Prophet [PBUH]proves that he [PBUH] wasnot only the benefactor ofMuslims but every personborn on earth.

PUC Central SecretaryGeneral Sahibzada ZahidMahmood Qasmi said thatfor the first time in the his-tory of Pakistan, joint gath-erings have been held withreference to the character ofProphet [PBUH] and speechand essay competitionshave been organized for stu-dents and teachers of reli-

gious seminar-ies belongingto all schools of thought.This was a great effort by thePUC. He said that AalmiSeerat Conference wouldsoon be held in Islamabad.

Sunni Ittehad Councilleader Allama Pir MahfoozMashadi said that we are allunited for celebrating thebirth of Prophet [PBUH].Those who want to createdivisions within the nation inthe name of religion or sectare enemies of Islam and Pa-kistan. He added that ex-pressing love for Prophet[PBUH] and organizing gath-erings in praise of him[PBUH] were indeed veryblessed deeds. Nobody canstop us from these activities.

Jamiat Ulema Ahle SunnatGujrat leader Maulana UmarUsmani said that Pakistanwas created for implementingthe system of Prophet [PBUH]and we can only achieve thisgoal by promoting unityamong scholars. IslamicSharia is the only solution toproblems facing Pakistan.

Six including woman killed over land disputeCHARSADDA—At least sixpersons including a womanwere killed while three other

injured in a clash betweentwo brothers in the jurisdic-tion of Umer Zai Police Sta-

tion here on Sunday. Ac-cording to media reports,the clash took place be-

tween two brothers andtheir children due to landdispute.—Online

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Chief MinisterPervez Khattak has an-nounced the abolition of thecolonial class-based educa-tion system in the provincefrom upcoming month ofMarch and introduction ofunified academic systemacross the province. He wasaddressing a gathering on theoccasion of the joining of ex-nazim Union Council, Jati Pind,Haripur to PTI along with histhousands of supporters.

On this occasion provin-cial president PTI Azam KhanSwati, general secretary KhalidMasood, Advisor to ChiefMinister Mian Jamshiduddin,district president KamalGhaznavi, former ministerYousaf Ayub Khan and otherparty elite were also present.The chief minister urged thePTI workers to start prepara-

CM for unified syllabi fromnew session across province

tion for local bodies’ polls un-der which a system of empow-ering people at grass-root levelis being introduced. Theyshould tell the people that incase of the other representa-tive than PTI they should con-sider their vote as wasted.

He said that in generalelections PTI have made thecommitment of brining changein system and this could notbe brought with the cement-ing of street, construction ofdrains, roads, bridges, hospi-tals and schools. But, he said,it would come when thepeople get rid of the rotten andoutdated system of the lootand plunder, exploitation andinjustices. For this purpose,he said the elimination of dif-ference between rich and pooris must. He vowed the first bigdifference is the class-basededucation system for the abo-lition of which they had com-

pleted their all homework andfrom the upcoming academicyear this system would beabolished to introduce uni-fied education system for bothrich and poor of the province.

The measure, he saidwould be a foundation for realand peaceful revolution in thesociety. He said in past througha well-planned conspiracy theclass-based education systemwas introduced to exploit mil-lions of people of the countryand we would take rest after itsabolition and changing lot ofthe poor. Pervez Khttak saidthat in the local bodies’ elec-tions to be held in March-Aprilthey were introducing a verypowerful local governmentsystem, where all powers/re-sources and funds would behanded over to the representa-tives of village councils and allpublic sector departmentswould be answerable to them.

Imran last ray of hopeISLAMABAD—Vice Chairman PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Mukhdoom ShahMehmood Qureshi has said that ImranKhan is the only hope to put the coun-try on the track of prosperity and de-velopment. Talking to APP, Qureshi saidthat his party would devolve power tothe grassroots level and the public is-sues would be resolved on door-stepsof the people. To a question, he clamedhis party was the only real representa-

tive party of the nation especially youth. He said that PTIwould play an active role on opposition benches addingthat his party had emerged as the second biggest politicalparty in the country. Meanwhile, senior leader of PakistanTe-hreek-e-Insaf Asad Umar has said that the main focusof provincial government will be the strength-ening of in-stitutions. Talking to Radio Pakistan, Senior Leader of Pa-kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Asad Umar has said that his partygovernment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has laid the founda-tion of change in the province by doing the necessarylegislation. Asad Umar said the provincial government isfocusing on the strengthening of institutions. He said thelegislation such as the local gov-ernment act will ensuretransfer of powers to the grass roots level while establish-ment of an inde-pendent accountability institution willensure across the board accountability. He said taht theKPK gov-ernment plans to completely revamp two relatedinstitutions including Pakhtunkhwa Hydel Devel-opmentOrganization. “There are huge reserves of oil and gas inthe province which will be also exploited”, he said.—APP

Tree plantation on 400 acres of landOKARA—As many as 400 acres of for-est department land will be brought un-der tree plantation in the district duringthe coming drive. Talking to the media,provincial parliamentary secretary forexcise and taxation Mian MuhammadMunir along with divisional forest officerOkara Muhammad Nawaz Sandheela saidthat a 17-member committee comprisingpro-vincial assembly members has beenformed which would supervise the plan-

tation in Okara district and other parts of the province. Hesaid that sheesham, papular, keeker and eucalyptus treeswould be planted on forest department lands in the prov-ince during the drive. Meanwhile, it was reported earlier thatthe Punjab government has approved an expenditure of Rs117.62 million for mass afforestation, Divisional Forest Of-ficer Liaqat Gulzaar said from Multan. The campaign aims tocreate a healthy environment and address the shortage offorests in the province. Millions of trees will be planted over2,530 acres in Kasur, Okara, Gujarat, Faisalabad, Jhang,Checha-watni, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Mian-wali and Murree. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has consti-tuted a special committee headed by provincial forests min-ister, MPA Rai Mansib Ali, and MNA Abdul Ghaf-far Dogarto carry out the plantation work. Gulzar said trees such asshisham, mulberry, oak and eucalyptus among others wouldbe planted. In Multan, Gulzaar said 150,000 trees would beplanted on 187 acres in the century-old Pirowal forest, whichcovers around 70,000 acres. He said that trees would also beplanted over a total of 877 acres in the southern region ofPunjab. Dogar visited the Pirowal forest on Wednesday tocheck the arrangements for forestation, said Liaqat.—APP

Some elements destroying ideology of IslamABDL KHALIQ QURESHI

ABBOTTABAD—Senior Minister Gov-ernment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP),Siraj ul Haq while lamenting on variouseducational institutions atmosphere hassaid that few elements were entirelyplaying adverse role to sabotage ideol-ogy of Islam keeping in view such a badstrategy striving hard to put the stu-dents of various private educationalinstitutions to taught them dancing and

singing, and to abduct girls from such institutions was aconstant game devices being played by them on everycoming day and night. He said that such education basedon crime full strategy, hence, that could not be consideredless than drone attacks on them. This, he said while ad-dressing a prize distributing, and parents day ceremony asa chief guest held in a private educational institution, Sun-day. Beside, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Divisional Amir, AbdulRazaq Abbasi amongst many other were also present onthe occasion. Siraj-ul-Haq said that lack of education sys-tem was not only a problem prevailing within the districtand the province level, but it’s a great problem to all overthe country. That’s why the government is extremely busyto establish various educational institutions to encouragerural areas population at large scale this time. However,most of none Muslim powers had put our great Muslimstate of affairs i.e. faith, sense of honour, cicilization toeliminate them from top to bottom entirely for achievingtheir ulterior motives, thus now they put its sanctity onthe stake hit list, he lamented. So much so such foreignlobby was taking keen interest to clinch our educationalinstitutions for the completion of their nefarious designs.He said that despite the fact that we are living in sovereignMuslim State, we are unable to view Islamic values withinthe ambit of our all the institutions along with its entireexisting judiciary.

Delimitation to be done by govt servantsHYDERABAD—The Sindh In-formationMinister Sharjeel Memon has said thedelimitation of constituencies is alwayscarried out by the bureaucracy and onthe court’s order it will be done againby the same government servants. Thishe stated while addressing a press con-fer-ence here on Sunday, the ministerdefended the delimitation carried out inSindh for the local government elec-tions. In a reply to a query Memon said

“The 2002 delimitation was grossly wrong. We have norrectified those mistakes,” Responding to another ques-tion, Memon, who also holds the portfolio of the LocalGovernment Ministry, told that the district municipal ad-ministration had been given 72 hours ultimatum to cleargarbage dumps and address drainage issues in all the ar-eas in downtown Hyderabad. “I have strictly warned theofficers and no excuse will be accepted if they didn’t fol-low the instructions” he informed. Talking about the lawand order situation in Hyderabad, the minister said thatthe new SSP of Hyderabad Syed Irfan Bahadur was doinga satisfactory job yet more needed to be done to curbcrime in the district. Earlier, the minister informed that theleaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional fromHyderabad rural taluka have joined the Pakistan PeoplesParty. FIR lodged: The Qasimabad police have lodged anFIR of the killing of Zahid Solangi during an inci-dent ofmotorbike snatching which also left Infor-mation OfficerRafique Solangi injured late on Sat-urday night. Accord-ing to the police, the FIR has been lodged here Sunday onthe complaint of Javed Solangi, Rafique’s son, against 3unidentified attackers. Javed reported in the FIR that hisfather and brother were riding over a motorbike when theywere intercepted by 3 unknown bike snatchers who openedfire when their attempt was resisted.—APP

UPPER DIR: Men showing a morter missile which did not blow during terrorist attack of 2010 in Dhog Dara.

BANNU: Mufti Zafaryab addressing a jirga organized by nine tribes regarding stop-ping WAPDA workers from entering the areas of the jirga members.

QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch meeting with a delega-tion of European Commission.

CGPA demands increase inKP district health budgets

PESHAWAR—The Centre forGovernance and Public Ac-countability (CGPA) has de-manded an increase in dis-trict health budgets alloca-tion for repair, operation andmaintenance works acrossKhyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The CGPA’s recent pub-lication titled ‘Budget Analy-sis of Health Departments:Mardan, Peshawar andSwabi districts reveals hugeneglect for the repair andmaintenance of the equip-ment and health infrastruc-ture at district level. In finan-cial year 2013-2014, total es-timated health budgets forKP province is Rs 19,108.77million.

This is a phenomenal in-crease of almost 150 percentas compared to 2012-2013 es-timated health budget, whichstood at Rs 7646.44 million.However, this increase doesnot coincide with districthealth budgets. In 2012-2013,total revised budgets forhealth in Swabi, Mardan and

Peshawar districts was Rs1584 million, which increasedto Rs 1723.7 million in 2013-2014 estimated budgets, withonly 8.8 percent increase overthe last year.

The study further revealsthat per capita health expen-diture of the district is aroundRs 240 which is very low. Theper capita spending of thedistrict on health in 2013-14for Peshawar, Mardan andSwabi are Rs 229, Rs 223 andRs 268 respectively. Thisshows a steady rise from theper capita expenditure of thedistricts on health in the year2011-12. The pattern prevailsthroughout the province.

The first and foremostproblem of the health sectoris lower budget allocation inthe budgets despite the factthat in KP ComprehensiveDevelopment Strategy,health sector was the prior-ity sector for the provincialgovernment. In all three dis-tricts health budgets, a ma-jor chunk of health budgets

goes to the employee’s re-lated expenses.

The mere comparison of2011-12 with the year 2013-14 brings home the fact thatpercentage share of salaryhas increased and it hasgained more than 10 percent-age point (82 to 92) over thethree years. Whereas thebudgets of other heads havebeen compromised; e.g. op-erating expenses decreasedfrom 17% in 2011-12 to 8% in2013-14.

The allocation of healthbudget for Peshawar has beeninconsistent. Though itgained an average increase of10% between 2011-12 and2013-14, it does not matchwith the increasing populationand its needs in the district.Lack of medicine at BHUs andother government hospital atthe village level is a major con-cern and the doctors in-chargewere complaining as patientsonly visit government healthfacility if free medicines areavailable.—INP

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Governor, En-gineer Shaukatullah hasstrongly condemned the ter-rorist attack at the convoy ofEngineer Ameer Maqam, Ad-visor to Prime Minister atShangla on Sunday

Engineer Shaukatullahexpressed his deep shockand sorrow over the loss ofprecious lives.

Soon after listening to thetragic news, the Governortelephonically con-tactedEngineer Ameer Maqam; en-

Governor, CM describes Muqamattack highly cowardly terror act

quired after his health; ex-pressed solidarity with himand wished his well being.

The Governor describedthe incident a highly cow-ardly act of terrorism and saidthat it deserves to e con-demned by all. Expressinghis deep sympathies withmembers of the bereavedfamilies, the Governor saidthat the elements involved inthe heinous crime will nomore remain at large and willbe brought to court of jus-tice.

The Governor has alsoprayed for the eternal peaceof the departed souls of themartyred and courage to thebereaved families to bear theirrepara-ble loss with pa-tience.

Meanwhile, KhyberPakhtunkhwa Chief Minister,Pervaiz Khattak here Sundayexpressed grief over the lossof precious lives in the fireeruption incident at NothiaBazar.

In a message, Chief Min-ister also expressed solidarity

with bereaved family membersand trader’s community. Healso prayed for eternal peaceof the departed souls andearly recovery of injured.

Meanwhile, Chief Minis-ter also condemned the ter-rorist attack on PML-NLeader Ameer Maqam andsaid that elements involvedin the incidents would bebrought to justices. He saidthat attacks on political lead-ership would be taken as anattack on provincial govern-ment.—Agencies

Three-day craftbazaar concludes

PESHAWAR—A three-dayCraft Bazaar held under theauspices of Women BusinessDevelopment Centre (WBDC)Peshawar concluded hereSunday. The Bazar was orga-nized to facilitate women en-trepreneurs for exhibitinghandicrafts prepared by them.

The exhibition was inau-gurated by Special As-sistantto Chief Minister, KhyberPakhtunkhwa for Social Wel-fare and Women Empower-ment, Profes-sor Dr. Mehr TajRoghani while President,Women Chamber of Com-merce & Industry (WCCI),Rohi Zahir Shah was chief inthe concluding ceremony.

The women entrepreneursfrom Peshawar, Charsadda,Swat, D.I. Khan, Haripur andAbbotta-bad participated inthe Bazar by showcasing theirproducts on 25 stalls.

During the three-day exhi-bition the participants werealso provided training on be-ginning of entre-preneurship,investment, colour & dying,marketing, credit, micro-financeand finance related matters.

Talking on the occasion,Project Manager, WBDC,Peshawar, Nabeela Farmansaid that women have showntremendous interest in theevent and hundreds of fami-lies visited the centre duringlast three days.

Addressing the conclud-ing ceremony, President,WCCI, Peshawar, Rohi ZahirShah said that after improve-ment the products would bemarketed in United Statesand other countries.

She said in this connec-tion, Islamabad based US am-bassador has assured full co-operation. She said that withthe cooperation of US em-bassy a special training wouldalso be started for womenentrepre-neurs..—APP

JAND—Punjab ExaminationCommission (PEC) has estab-lished 335 examination cen-ters for primary and middlelevel examinations scheduledto be held from February 6,said official sources. The sources said that formiddle level examination 155examination centers havebeen established which in-clude 28 centers at Attock ,34 centers at Jand , 27 cen-

PEC establishes 335 centresfor primary, middle exams

ters at Hazro , 23 centers atHazro , 23 centers atPindigheb , 28 centers atFatehjang , 15 centers atHasanabdal. While for primary levelexamination 180 examinationcenters have been estab-lished which include 32 cen-ters at Attock, 37 at Jand, 31at Hazro, 30 at Pindigheb, 35at Fatehjang and 16 examina-tion centers have been estab-

lished at tehsil Hassanabdal. As per the sources morethan 50 thousand students(girls and boys) will appearin these centers for primaryand middle level examination. Roll Number slips to regu-lar students have been dis-patched to their respectiveschools while the roll numberslips of private candidateshave been dispatched at theirgiven addresses.—APP

GHOTKI—Breech in a canaldestroyed cultivated cropsbesides inundating the sur-rounding populated areashere on Sunday.

Irrigation Department saidthat 30 feet breech emergedin Shahmines Canal nearDehrki. The water outflowfrom the canal destroyed

30ft canal breachdestroys crops, houses

crops on hundreds of acresof land besides partially dam-aging dozens of houses lo-cated in nearby area.

Irrigation Departmentstaff along with machineryreached the site soon aftergetting the information andstarted efforts to plug thebreech.—INP

JACOBABAD—A tribal jirgaimposed Rs1.2 million fine ona ‘karo kari’ accused besidesgiving his two daughters in‘wani’ here on Sunday.

According to details, apoliceman namely SamadBanglani hailing from villageGai Khan Banglani ofJacobbad, some two monthsago had gunned down histwo wives after terming them‘kali’ with a tribesman namedSanaullah Banglani.

Mir Jahangir Khan

Jirga gives 2-daughter ofkaro kari accused in wani

Banglani, an elder of Banglanitribe, made the decision ofgiving Sanaullah Banglani’stwo daughters in ‘wani’ andimposing the fine on him.

On the other hand,Sanaullah Banglani said thathe is being falsely accusedfor not casting his vote forthe influential people in thegeneral elections. He ap-pealed to the Chief Justice ofPakistan and other high offi-cials to provide him jus-tice.—INP

ISLAMABAD—A Shallowwesterly wave is prevailingover western and upper partsof the country and likely topersist during next 24 to 36hours. More-over, mainlycold, dry and cloudy weatherexpected in most parts of thecountry, however light rain(with light snowfall over hills)is expected at isolated placesof Quetta, Kallat, Malakand,Hazara, Rawalpindi divisions,Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In addition, in next 48hours mainly cold and dryweather is expected in mostparts of the country. How-ever cloudy weather withchances of light rain (lightsnowfall over the hills) ex-pected in Malakand, Hazaradivisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Furthermore, cold-est places Last 24 hrs: Astore-13°C, Parachinar -12°C,Skardu & Hunza -10°C, Gupis-09, Kalam & Quetta -08, Gilgit-07, Malam-jabba & Kalat -06°C, Rawalakot -04°C. andPollen count Today: 06 perm3 of air.

Meanwhile, Deputy Direc-tor Meteorologist, ZawarHussain, said that there wasno chance of rain across southPunjab during next week. Talk-

Cold, dry and cloudyweather persists

ing to APP here on Sunday,he said that less rain was ob-served in the recent year ascom-pared to previous yearsand rain was expected by theend of the month or the firstweek of the next month. Hesaid less fog was observedacross south Pun-jab whilethe intensity of winter had in-creased this year.

He said that frost (Kora)was also noticed few daysago while it was reducinggradually. Zawar said wheatproduction would increasethis year due to pleasantweather.

The local Met office hasforecast cold and partycloudy weather for the cityand its suburbs during thenext 24 hours.

On Sunday, the maximumand minimum temperatureswere recorded 21C and 5C re-spectively. Humidity was 79 percent at 8 am and 33 per.—APP

SWAT—Jamat-e-Islami Swatchapter in a meeting hereSunday discussed matterspertaining to upcoming localgovernment elections anddecided to field their candi-dates in all union councils ofthe region.

Expressing views in themeeting, Incharge politicalcommittee, Muzafar KhanAdvocate said the partywould field candidates in allthe districts, tehsil and vil-lage councils. The meetingalso discussed ways andmeans for devising a compre-hensive plan to expedite theparty’s work besides sug-gesting proposals to achievethe desired results.

The meeting among oth-ers was attended by formerprovincial minister, HussainAhmed Kanju, JI GeneralSecretary Swat, Hafiz IsrarAhmed and leading partymembers including Prof.Muhammad Saleem, Dr.Lutfullha and Shah Wazir.

On the oherside, it wasreported earlier that the Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is

Jamaat to field candidatesfrom all zones in LB polls

thinking about joining handswith coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami’s chapter in Sindh forthe impending local govern-ment (LG) elections, saidKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa Infor-mation Minister ShahFarman. The two partieshave already announcedtheir coop-eration in the pollsin K-P.

An official announce-ment, however, has not beenmade yet as the party still hasto discuss options with otherpolitical parties, includingthe Awami Jamhoori IttehadPakistan (AJIP), Farman saidat Peshawar Press Club’sguest hour programme. Headded the governmentwould try to facilitate jour-nalists as much as it could.While responding to a ques-tion about certain PTI MPAs’opposition to the alliance,Farman said nothing hadbeen finalised. He maintainedthe party’s MPAs were freeto raise objections over thestrategy for the upcominglocal government electionsin the province.—APP

EAC takes agood start

IN its maiden session on Saturday, the newly constituted Eco-n o m i c

Advisory Council identified seven areas for formulation of specialpolicies to revive overall economic growth. The 22-member high-pro-

file Council, after four hours of deliberations, identified power, explora-tion of natural resources, agriculture, social, resource mobilization, pub-lic sector disinvestment and foreign remittances as critical areas whereexpertise of the members could be utilized.

The very fact that the Government has convened meeting of the Coun-cil soon after its formation speaks about its commitment to benefit fromthe knowledge, expertise and vision of its members in economic policyformulation. The areas and sectors it has chosen for analysis and recom-mendations are indeed the main challenges of the economy and hopefullythese would be addressed through the collective wisdom. One of the ma-jor causes of failure of our policies to produce desired results was thatthese were framed in isolation of the ground realities by bureaucraticcircles. Hopefully, the members of EAC with varied background wouldhelp devise prudent policies to pursue by economic ministries and wouldultimately spur growth and improve lot of the common man. Though theCouncil held four hour of discussions yet in the first meeting it confineditself to only identification of the areas of review and utterances of theFinance Minister. This is not enough as time factor is critical and both theEAC and the Government will have to deliver in the shortest possibletime because already months seem to have been wasted in a state of inde-cision. The Council can prove productive only if its meetings are heldmore frequently say fortnightly and every member is informed well inadvance about agenda of the next meeting so that they can contributemeaningfully to discussions. Now that the exercise for preparation of thebudget for the next financial year must have begun in ministries and divi-sions concerned, it would be worthwhile if input of the Council formspart of the budgetary proposals. The decision taken in the first meeting toset up sector specific sub-committees with expertise of members is alsostep in the right direction but the key issue is that whether or not theGovernment will give due importance to recommendations of the Coun-cil. This is because in the past, recommendations by different committeesand commissions were either totally ignored by whimsical decision-mak-ers or partially implemented on various pretexts.

President focuseson FATA too

PRESIDENT Mamnoon Hussain on Saturday announced to set up acell at Aiwan-e-Sadr Islamabad to coordinate with government de-

partments to resolve problems of Tribal Areas. Addressing a tribal jirga inPeshawar, he spoke in an elaborate manner on the issue of polio vaccina-tion in the problematic region and also announced a number of develop-mental and uplift projects for FATA.

For the first time, it seems, the Government is demonstrating its seri-ousness in addressing the problems and difficulties of the people of FATA,which would surely go a long way in restoring peace in the troubled re-gion that has become focus of global attention due to terrorism relatedissues. Soon after assumption of the coveted office of the President, Mr.Mamnoon Hussain embarked upon the mission of promoting thecause of education, which is key to socio-economic development.And we are glad that after prioritizing education, he has now de-cided to focus on FATA too by creating a special cell in the Presi-dency for the purpose. No doubt, there is FATA Secretariat inPeshawar and the KP Governor has traditionally been lookingafter the affairs of the tribal regions that are supposed to bedirectly administered by the Federation but it is, perhaps, for thefirst time that the Presidency would be actively involved in FATArelated matters. The personal interest and attention of the Presi-dent would surely expedite decision-making and help resolveproblems of people of FATA. In case of any hiccups, the Presi-dent, who enjoys cordial ties with the PML(N) leadership, wouldbe in a better position to get them removed. While appreciatinginterest of the President in the development of the backward re-gion, we would also urge him to concentrate on the issue of powertheft and non-payment of electricity bills in FATA, as the issue hasassumed alarming dimensions.

Curb culture ofholidays, please!

PAKISTAN is, perhaps, the only country of the globe where lavishholiday culture is prevalent even in the 21st century. Apart from nu-

merous and gazetted holidays and numerous other forms of leave, specialholidays are announced frequently by local, provincial or federal authori-ties misusing their discretionary powers in this regard.

What happened on the occasion of the last two Eids is knownto all when offices and educational institutions remained closed for elevendays each. The entire country was virtually standstill for so long despiteour claims regarding efforts and plans aimed at economic recovery. Sindhis particularly notorious in this regard as economic activity is halted ev-ery now and then due to violence, strikes, shutter downs and protests.And now on the auspicious occasion of Eid Milad, the provincial govern-ment thought it appropriate to grant an additional holiday on Mondayover and above the nation-wide holiday for Tuesday and preceding two-day week-end. Celebrations of Eid Milad is OK but this lavish attituderuns contrary to the spirit and teachings of our religion and the HolyProphet (PBUH), who exhorted for Taqwa and Rizk-e-Halal . Govern-ment employees already enjoy 20 casual and 48 earned leave annuallybesides gazetted holidays and add to them the days of violence, curfewand strikes; one can easily imagine for how many days they really work.Worst is the case of educational institutions which formally remain closedfor almost six months besides closures forced by circumstances. Wewould strongly recommend that the discretionary power of announcingholidays should be done away with and a thorough review of annual holi-

Human Rights violations in Kashmir

Aitzaz —the

Pakistanihero

AITZAZ Hasan Bangash,15, bravely confronted asuicide bomber as the lat-

ter was on his way to detonate him-self at a nearby school, and thebomb went off in the ensuingscuffle. The boy apparently didwhat the state and its robust secu-rity machinery had not been ableto do all these years in checkingterrorists. Aitzaz, who has beenrecommended for the country’s topcivilian award for bravery, Sitara-e-Shujaat, is now a role model forthe millions of his security-starvedcountrymen, who are clueless tothe maddening wave of terrorismfor the last two decades.

The chubby Hangu residentfrom a minority-dominated region,which had for long been under theTaleban’s onslaught, has managedto save the lives of hundreds offellow students. There were almost2,000 students in attendance at thetime of the attack in the school.Aitzaz’s courage is an outstandingfeat and even surpasses the contri-bution of Malala Yousafzai and thelikes. What he did can hardly bematched by anybody else as it in-volved sacrificing life. His cour-age to confront the enemy with theexplicit understanding that the lat-ter was wearing an explosive-ladenbelt and chase the assassin awayin the nick of time before he couldreach the target is highly com-mendable. Aitzaz deserves thehighest tributes for laying down hisown life to save hundreds of oth-ers. The country and his familyhave every reason to be proud ofhim. It’s time for the political par-ties and civil society to rallyaround the spirit of Aitzaz in theirfight against terrorism. As rightlystated by Aitzaz’s father,“rather than focus on the sor-row brought about by hisdeath, they want to focus ontheir pride in his actions”. Thecountry has a message to re-member from this father.— Khaleej Times

*****

China’s rapidgrowth

IF there was ever any doubt thatChina’s economy was roaringwhile the rest of the world wal-

lowed in the handover of the glo-bal financial crisis, then the latesttrade figures have finally under-scored its success. According todata released by Beijing on Thurs-day, China became the world’s big-gest trader in goods in 2013. Andit finished the year with recordtrade figures in December.

According to the report, thetotal value of China’s imports andexports in 2013 was worth $4.16trillion and represented an increaseof 7.6 per cent on 2012. The UnitedStates is due to release its final2013 data in February, but the ex-pectation is that it will come inbehind the Chinese. What analystsand economists do know is thatcombined US trade for the first 11months of 2013 was worth $3.57trillion, making it virtually certainthat Beijing won the title as theworld’s largest trader. For theUAE, China’s continued growth ispositive, meaning more containersof goods packed with everythingfrom pencils to consumer durableswill be shipped through our ports.Already there are close ties whenit comes to trade and construction,and these partnerships will bearfurther fruit as China’s economycontinues to go from strength tostrength. The data from Beijing isalso good news when it comes toenergy exports from the Gulf:Beijing is eager to have a secureand plentiful supply of oil andpetro products on which to buildand fuel further trading growth.China’s rise to the top of the trad-ing table is all the more impres-sive given its rapid and unprec-edented growth. Careful manage-ment of the economy and of itscurrency has resulted in Beijingrecording roughly doubled tradinggrowth over the past three decades.For any nation willing to ensure italso registers continued growth,developing trading links and assist-ing China’s advancement is key. Ifthere is a negative to China’sextraordinary economic growthreflected in these trading fig-

MEDIA WATCH

EVER since its establishmentin 1945, the United NationsOrganization (UNO) has

regulated and managed many re-gional and global conflicts. Duringthe cold war, this international bodyhas been quite effective in ensuringglobal peace through forestallingmany impending wars and conflicts.Kashmir and Palestine however aretwo such issues, where UN coulddo little. Resultantly, the people ofboth states are practically statelessunder identical occupation powers;both having alliance and are coop-erating on the use of illegal meansagainst real subjects of Kashmirand Palestine. Both have the sametype of track record of violating thehuman rights through their securityforces. Indeed, among the contem-porary global disputes, Kashmir isthe longest unresolved dispute on theagenda of the United Nations Secu-rity Council.

There are 23 United Nationsresolutions on Kashmir, all askingfor the resolution of the dispute, onthe basis of right of self-determina-tion for the people of Kashmirthrough a neutral mechanism ofplebiscite under UN Administrator.In the light of UN resolutions, peopleof the state have been demandingtheir right of self-determination fromthe successive Indian governments.When ever, Kashmiri demandedtheir rights, Indian authorities un-leashed a reign of terror on the un-armed innocent Kashmiri people.There have been massive humanrights violations by Indian securityforces in the Indian Occupied Kash-mir. This suppression has been a rou-

tine matter with the Kashmiris. How-ever, the most horrific phase of hu-man rights violation in IOK has beenin the decade of 1990s, where throughthe deployment of its 700,000 secu-rity forces, Indian security forceshave killed over 93,000 Kashmiris,struggling for their right of self-de-termination. Various Human Rightsgroups, especially, the Amnesty In-ternational has identified the Indianbrutalities on innocent Kashmiris.

In its annual reports on humanrights, Amnesty International haspointed-out discriminatory lawswhich gave Indian security forces un-precedented powers to kill torture andexploit the people. These laws wereimposed in the state in early 1990sand include; Jammu and KashmirPublic Safety Act (PSA), the Terror-ist and Disruptive Activities (Pre-vention) Act (TADA) and ArmedForces Special Power Act (AFSPA).Under extreme international pres-sure, Indian Government had revokeTADA later on; however, the othertwo extreme laws are still imposeddespite strong resistance from inter-national community, human rightsorganizations and Kashmiris.

Indeed, through these laws, In-dian security forces were givensweeping powers of arrest and deten-tions even shoot to kill with virtualimmunity. As per Amnesty Interna-tional, “The AFSPA violates India’sinternational legal obligations andseveral fundamental rights, includ-ing the right to life, the right to lib-erty and security and the right toremedy. This law has alienatedpeople and is an impediment toachieving peace, and an obstacle tojustice.” As record shows, the hu-man rights violations committed byIndian security forces in IOK, whilemaking use of these laws have no par-allel in the contemporary world.

Unfortunately, the long standingKashmir dispute itself and the humanrights violations in the state could notattract the global attention as givento other international disputes mainlybecause the neutral observers and in-ternational media had no access in thestate, as India had totally sealed themovement for outside people to wit-ness the happenings there since 1990.Upon the denouncement of armedstruggle by Kashmiri freedom fight-ers in 2002, it was expected that, In-dian security forces would stop hu-man rights violations in IOK. Indeed,thereafter, Kashmiris decided to re-sume their traditional peaceful politi-cal struggle for their right of self-de-termination. Regretfully, this peace-ful Kashmiri struggle did not obligeIndia, and its security forces are stillcontinuing with the human rights vio-lations. According to a recent reportof China Daily (January 2, 2014),compared to 2012, there has been38% increase in the human rights vio-lations in the Indian Occupied Kash-mir during year-2013. Whereas, thedeath tolls due to violence during2012 were 148, in 2013, the humanrights violation has caused 204deaths. This data has been compliedby a rights group; ‘Coalition of CivilSociety’ (CCS) in its annual report,‘Human Rights Review-2013.’

Today a common Kashmirispend his life in a state of total frightand insecurity from the Indian secu-rity forces. This fear is felt alikeamong the larger Kashmiri commu-nity as well as single individual; thehuman security indeed. The humansecurity is the most significant aspectof international law and is extensionof the logic of social contract of lib-eral school of thought and specificallycovers the security of individual andgenerally security of communitiesand societies. The right to live is ex-

Afghanistan a base of terrorism

WHEN war against theS o

viet forces in Afghanistanwas won by the

Mujahideen duly supported by Pa-kistan in 1989, the US claimed thatthe war couldn’t have been wonwithout surface to air stinger mis-siles. In its view, stingers made thedifference and forced the Sovietsto beat a hasty retreat. In the ongo-ing war on terror in which the USfor all practical purposes has lostthe war and its forces are in the pro-cess of pulling out from Af-ghanistan and will depart byDecember 2014, the US is try-ing to project drone as the win-ning weapon against terrorism.

It must not be forgottenthat it is not the gun whichmatters but the man behind thegun. ISAF has the most so-phisticated and lethal weap-onry of all kinds together withlatest technology but stillcouldn’t defeat the ill-clad andill-equipped and under-strength Taliban. Drone hasbeen selected as a choiceweapon since it is unmannedand free of combat risks to USsoldiers. Mounting casualties,suicides and loss of heart byNATO soldiers were the rea-sons to bank upon drones.

Pakistan is host to three mil-lion Afghan refugees since1979. These refugees besidesbeing a huge economic burdenhave created immense socialand security problems, espe-cially in KP and Balochistan.

HURMAT GROUP OF PUBLICATIONSZahid Malik

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Sunday Magazine

Sadia Zahid MalikEditor

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

—Niel Bohr Danish physicist

plicitly sanctioned in internationallaw, to every individual, regardlessof cast, creed, faith or geographicidentity. The provision of humanrights’ and security are categori-cally stated both in internationallaw and International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights (ICCPR).But the human security situation inIndian Occupied Kashmir is ironi-cally an ignored fact by interna-tional community.

Then there are other aspects oftorture and rapes by Indian Army.This all has happened, despite hav-ing a global prohibition on tortureeven during the times of nationalemergencies. Nevertheless, deathsthrough torture of Kashmiri youthhave been a common phenomenonin IOK. India is a signatory of theUniversal Declaration of HumanRights (UDHR)-1948. According toArticle 5 of UDHR-1948, “No oneshall be subjected to torture or tocruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment or punishment.” The factualposition however is that, torture,hostage-taking, and rape has beenprominent abuses in IOK since lasttwo and half decades, after Kashmiristarted mass struggle against Indianoccupation of their state in 1990.

Solution of the long-standingKashmir issues as per desires of itssubjects is vital for stability in SouthAsia, however, as a CMB, Indiashould stop human rights violationin its occupied part of Kashmir. Forthis purpose, the pre-requisiteswould be to repeal the discrimina-tory laws especially; AFSPA andPSA. Amnesty International andcivilized world community considerthat, today Kashmir has become ahumanitarian issue, rather a politi-cal or religious one.— The writer is Islamabad-basedIR analyst.

Many among them are in-formers of foreign agen-cies while some are linkedwith banned outfits likeTTP and quite many areinvolved in crimes.It is also a hard fact that

successive Afghan governmentsjoined hands with enemies of Pa-kistan. Excepting Taliban gov-ernment, all Afghan govts werepro-India. The incumbent gov-ernment led by Hamid Karzai isworst of all since it not only madeavailable Afghan soil to the en-emies of Pakistan including itsarch enemy India but also be-came party to covert operationsto harm Pakistan. Karzai allowedIndia to open Pakistan specificconsulates in Kandahar,Jalalabad, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif which turned into RAW’sdens for coordinating psycho-logical and clandestine opera-tions against FATA andBalochistan and to create mis-givings between Afghans andPakistanis and to spoil Pak-USrelations.

17 intelligence units were in-ducted to supplement efforts ofRAW against Pakistan and alsoto penetrate each and every de-partment of Afghanistan. De-fence Attaché in Indian Em-bassy Kabul became the overallcoordinator to supply arms, am-munition, explosives, equipmentand funds to the cultivatedsaboteurs in FATA andBalochistan. Large numbers oftraining camps were establishedunder the supervision of IndianArmy officers to train, equipand launch terrorists into Paki-stan from 2002 onwards to de-stabilize Pakistan. RAW had in-dulged in this practice during1971 insurgency in erstwhile

East Pakistan and during theBaloch insurgency from 1973 to1977.

Cultural centres were alsoopened to inject poison into theminds of Afghans against Paki-stan. This exercise was carriedout in Indian run educational in-stitutes in Afghanistan and uponAfghan students studying inIndia. While it was not difficultto infuse hatred into the mindsof non-Pashtun Afghans sincetheir minds had already beenpoisoned since 1994, Indiansworked hard to instill misgivingsinto the minds of AfghanPashtuns as well. Investment of$1.3 billion for various develop-ment projects and promotion ofeducation was touted as a proofof India’s friendship with Af-ghanistan. India undertookmassive covert operationsagainst Pakistan with the bless-ing and connivance of its stra-tegic partners USA, UK andMossad. To say that India hasbeen undertaking clandestineoperations without the knowl-edge of USA and Afghanistan issimply outlandish. It has been ateam work pursuing common ob-jectives, using Afghanistan as abase for fuelling terrorism in Pa-kistan.

Worst part of the narrativeis that USA, India and Afghani-stan have been secretly med-dling in internal affairs of Paki-stan while pretending to be al-lies of Pakistan. The story be-comes more painful when theaggressors declare themselvesvictims of aggression and cryout in unison blaming Pakistanthat it is involved in cross bor-der terrorism in Afghanistanand in India and that it hasgiven safe havens to anti-US/

An expert is a manwho has made all themistakes, which canbe made, in a verynarrow field.

Afghan militants in NorthWaziristan (NW) and to Jihadisin AJK. The US goes a stepfurther and holds Pakistan re-sponsible for all its failures inAfghanistan.

The trio has been subject-ing Pakistan to a malicious pro-paganda campaign and haspasted large number of allega-tions. One of the most repeatedallegations is that Pak Army andISI are aligned with militants.No proof has been furnished tosupport their contention. Onthe contrary, Pakistan hashanded over concrete proofs toboth Karzai and ManmohanSingh several times about Af-ghan and Indian intelligenceagencies deep-rooted involve-ment in Balochistan and FATA.On his visit to Kabul in 2012,former PM Yusaf Raza Gilanipresented concrete proofs ofIndian intervention inBalochistan to Karzai regime.

Rather than restraining India,Afghan National Directorate of Se-curity (NDS) in league with RAWand with the blessing of CIA acti-vated the western border with thehelp of fugitive Maulana Fazlullahfrom Swat. He and his men as wellas Khalid Omar Khurasani and hismen from Mehmand are settled inKunar and Nuristan where they areprovided accommodation and fulllogistic support as well as arma-ments and training facilities to striketargets in Dir, Mehmand, Bajaur andChitral. NDS and RAW are alsosupporting TTP. HakimullahMehsud was on their payroll as longas he was fighting Pak securityforces and striking assigned targetsin Pakistan. The moment he got in-clined to peace talks, he became amarked man and was killed by adrone on November 1, 2013.

Dr Muhammad Khan Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com

Asif Haroon RajaEmail: asifharoon7751@yahoo.com

Voice of the People

ConfusedemotionsSUMAYA ABBASI

“I love you very much and won’tregret that I never told you aboutthis,” cried 17 years old Hassan. In-terestingly, these dialogs have be-come very common in our youthlately. It seems that every third girlis in-love with every third teenageor young boy. But sadly, this lovepersists only for months or evenweeks. The notion here is, is lovehas become this much cheap or con-fused with emotions like infatuation,addiction or even lust?

When examining the aspects ofpromotion of this ‘love’ betweenyoung girls and boys, we will ob-serve that it has become more wide-spread as the use of mobile phonesand social media websites increased.Evidently, both these gadgets aremore used by youths and so are the‘love’ among them has increased.Despondently, this ‘love’ is not theunity or respect among the youngmembers of community but devel-ops only for one particular indi-vidual and alters or ends as soon asone of them either gets bore or fellin love with another individual. An-other but more respectable way ofconclusion of such love is when theparents of one of them, mostly girl’sfather, finds about his child’s ‘love’and restrictions on the use of mo-bile phones and social mediawebsites are imposed.

Moreover, many youths whohave still not found the ‘love of theirlife’ are also being desperate and arein search of such kind of ‘love’. No-tably, the family system as well isbeing negatively influenced by thisintensifying custom. As I have men-tioned before, the means of strength-ening this love is chiefly mobilephones and social media websiteslike Facebook, Twitter, Badoo, Hi5and many more. The question herearises, if young members of our so-ciety are busy in such type of love,would it be possible for them tobuild a prosperous community andwork for the betterment of theircountry or countries like Pakistanwould be facing similar issues inupcoming years as well?

This kind of ‘love’ among youthmight become another dilemma ofour society. All responsible personsshould work to create awareness ofoutcomes of such practices thatmight lead to the destruction of notonly the societal norms and standardethics and values, but also theyoungsters themselves. The parentsshould keep a check on the activi-ties of their children, especially teen-agers and give them adequateamount of time so they could ab-stain from these practices. Teachers,being the important players in teen-agers’ character building, shouldprovide them prospects to show notjust their ‘love’ side but the produc-tive side as well.—Via email

Why privatisenational pride!

M A BUTT

Apropos to your editorial”Doprivatise with caution” (Jan 10)while welcoming the decision ofgovernment to privatise 32organisations that include high valueassets like PIA, Steel Mill andWapda but has suggested propercaution.The fact of the matter is thatour past record of privatisationlacked proper transparency and highvalue assets were sold at throw awayprice that includes Habib Bank Ltd,Zeal Pak Cement Factory, OGDCLwell and PTCL. We were lucky thesale of Pakistan Steel was stoppedby the Supreme Court.

No one is against privatisationbut start should be made fromsmaller units to larger units. Beforetheir privatisation proper value of theentity being sold must be determinedand made public for their informa-tion. It is very strange that like PTCLany one who buys 26 percent shareswill also be handed over the man-agement. This is very funny bargainas per law 51 percent shares are

Death of a brave copAKBAR JAN MARWAT

Chaudhary Aslam, was certainly not the average cop living next door. He was a hard nosed policeman, who knew the crime world of Karachi, like the palm of his hand; and acted with ruthless-

ness, against criminals of all hue. Chaudary Aslam was known for his unconventional methods ofpolicing; with charges of fake encounters, made frequently against him. But despite these eccentrici-ties, Chaudhary Aslam , was a brave cop who always lead his force from the front, and went aftercriminals of all kind, including religious and sectarian militants, with the same zeal and fearlessness.Chaudhary Aslam was originally from Mansehra, KPK, and Chaudhary was not his cast or familyname but a sobriquet given to him by his colleagues for his fearless and unorthodox style. With manyattempts already been made on his life, SP Aslam Khan knew that he was a marked man, but that didnot make him slow down and become more circumspect in his fight against perpetrators of crime andterror. It would not be easy to find a substitute to the indomitable Chaudhary Aslam. It was for thisunusual bravery and gallantry that the whole nation salutes Chadhary Aslam. The professionallyplanned manner, in which Chaudhary Aslam, was assassinated; speaks volumes about the capacityand preparedness of the militants in karachi. The federal government, should also be reassess, itsstrategy in dealing with the militants. Desperate appeals for talks, without any credible threat of useof force against them, may not achieve the desired results.—Via email

Looming economic problems

AS 2014 begins, efforts to revive growth in the world’smost influential economies

— with the exception of the eurozone— are having a beneficial effectworldwide. All of the looming prob-lems for the global economy are po-litical in character. After 25 years ofstagnation, Japan is attempting to re-invigorate its economy by engagingin quantitative easing on an unprec-edented scale.

It is a risky experiment: fastergrowth could drive up interest rates,making debt-servicing costs unsus-tainable. But Prime Minister ShinzoAbe would rather take that risk thancondemn Japan to a slow death. And,judging from public’s enthusiasticsupport, so would ordinary Japanese.

By contrast, the European Unionis heading toward the type of long-lasting stagnation from which Japanis desperate to escape. The stakes arehigh: Nation-states can survive a lostdecade or more; but the EU, an in-complete association of nation-states,could easily be destroyed by it.

The euro’s design — which wasmodelled on the Deutsche mark —has a fatal flaw. Creating a commoncentral bank without a common trea-sury means that government debtsare denominated in a currency thatno single member country controls,making them subject to the risk ofdefault. As a consequence of thecrash of 2008, several member coun-tries became over indebted, and riskpremiums made the eurozone’s di-vision into creditor and debtor coun-tries permanent.

This defect could have been cor-rected by replacing individual coun-tries’ bonds with Eurobonds. Unfor-tunately, German Chancellor AngelaMerkel, reflecting the radical changethat Germans’ attitudes toward Eu-ropean integration have undergone,ruled that out. Prior to reunification,Germany was the main motor of in-tegration; now, weighed down byreunification’s costs, German taxpay-ers are determined to avoid becom-ing European debtors’ deep pocket.

After the crash of 2008, Merkelinsisted that each country should lookafter its own financial institutions andgovernment debts should be paid infull. Without realizing it, Germany isrepeating the tragic error of theFrench after World War I. Prime Min-ister Aristide Briand’s insistence onreparations led to the rise of AdolfHitler in Germany; Merkel’s policiesare giving rise to extremist move-ments in the rest of Europe.

The current arrangements gov-erning the euro are here to stay, be-cause Germany will always do thebare minimum to preserve the com-mon currency — and because themarkets and the European authoritieswould punish any other country thatchallenged these arrangements.Nonetheless, the acute phase of thefinancial crisis is now over. The Eu-ropean financial authorities have tac-itly recognized that austerity is coun-terproductive and have stopped im-posing additional fiscal constraints.This has given the debtor countriessome breathing room, and, even inthe absence of any growth prospects,financial markets have stabilized.

Future crises will be political inorigin. Indeed, this is already appar-ent, because the EU has become soinward-looking that it cannot ad-equately respond to external threats,be they in Syria or Ukraine. But theoutlook is far from hopeless; the re-vival of a threat from Russia may re-verse the prevailing trend towardEuropean disintegration. As a result,the crisis has transformed the EUfrom the “fantastic object” that in-spired enthusiasm into somethingradically different. What was meantto be a voluntary association of equalstates that sacrificed part of their sov-ereignty for the common good — theembodiment of the principles of anopen society — has now been trans-formed by the euro crisis into a rela-tionship between creditor and debtorcountries that is neither voluntary norequal. Indeed, the euro could destroythe EU altogether.

In contrast to Europe, the UnitedStates is emerging as the developedworld’s strongest economy. Shaleenergy has given the US an impor-tant competitive advantage in manu-

Views From Abroad

facturing in general and in petro-chemicals in particular. The bank-ing and household sectors have madesome progress in deleveraging.Quantitative easing has boosted as-set values. And the housing markethas improved, with constructionlowering unemployment. The fiscaldrag exerted by sequestration is alsoabout to expire.

More surprising, the polariza-tion of American politics showssigns of reversing. The two-partysystem worked reasonably well fortwo centuries, because both partieshad to compete for the middleground in general elections. Then theRepublican Party was captured by acoalition of religious and marketfundamentalists, later reinforced byneo-conservatives, that moved it toa far-right extreme.

The Democrats tried to catch upin order to capture the middle ground,and both parties colluded in gerry-mandering Congressional districts.As a consequence, activist-dominatedparty primaries took precedence overgeneral elections. That completed thepolarization of American politics.Eventually, the Republican Party’s teaparty wing overplayed its hand. Af-ter the recent debacle of the govern-ment shutdown, what remains of theRepublican establishment has begunfighting back, and this should lead toa revival of the two-party system.

The major uncertainty facing theworld today is not the euro but thefuture direction of China. The growthmodel responsible for its rapid risehas run out of steam. That model de-pended on financial repression of thehousehold sector, in order to drive thegrowth of exports and investments.As a result, the household sector hasnow shrunk to 35 percent of GDP,and its forced savings are no longersufficient to finance the currentgrowth model. This has led to an ex-ponential rise in the use of variousforms of debt financing.

There are some eerie resem-blances with the financial conditionsthat prevailed in the US in the yearspreceding the crash of 2008. But thereis a significant difference, too. In theUS, financial markets tend to domi-nate politics; in China, the state owns

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How to deal with militancy?

ONE can get the impressionthat Islamic militancy is aPakistani problem and its cre-

ation connected to the US sponsoredwar in Afghanistan in the eighties andPakistan’s support for the Taliban.But taking a closer look at it one cansee that militancy is an internationalproblem that has multiple sources andpatronage. Among them are the Saudistate and its ideology, policy of sup-port for sunni extremists by the gulfemirates, the unattended and un-solved for decades political disputesof Palestine and Kashmir and the US‘war against terror’ that has createdand spread militancy into regions likeIraq that had been free from it previ-ously. Today Islamic militancy hasspread in the Middle East, Iraq, Syriaand the post- Arab-spring countriesEgypt, Libya and Tunesia, Yemen,Central Asia and China and largeparts of the African continent.

Pakistani militancy is connectedto and fuelled by these multiple in-ternational sources and as a result allPakistan can do, if it wants to solvethe militancy problem in the coun-try, is to join international forces andalliances that are aimed at solving theproblem and not those who havespread this problem to fulfill theiragenda of colonization of resources.Pakistan’s decision to join the US andWestern alliance that decided – fortheir own reasons- to wage war onAfghanistan in 2001 though has defi-nitely turned out to have been the

wrong decision by an autocraticruler who was suffering badlyfor want of US patronage .Twelve years down the road Af-ghanistan is up in arms, Talibanare controlling a good part ofthat country and Pakistan as an

ally of the West has been at the re-ceiving end of militancy from Af-ghanistan spreading out into our cit-ies and creating a Pakistani varietyof the same.

This process of creating andspreading militancy is largely aidedby American drone attacks on Paki-stani territory – tribal and settled both-that has been killing and maiming anunknown number of civilians includ-ing women and children. That is whyPTI and Jamat-e-Islami rightly de-mand the end to drone attacks; but asa matter of fact this has proven to beimpossible without Pakistan leavingthe Western alliance. Pakistan’s gov-ernment – the current as much as theprevious- feels bound by the writtenand unwritten agreements and themoney that is reimbursed by theWestern allies in total disregard ofour national interests. This situationis eroding the national fabric of Pa-kistani society and is ruining it eco-nomically. The quantum of financialloss due to our engagement in USproxy war is more than $120 billionduring last 12 years, while they havenot reimbursed even $ 20 billion onthis account.

Therefore, to save our country,get rid of militancy effectively in or-der to cater to the revival of oureconomy and state Pakistan needs toleave the unsuccessful alliance andreplace this with newly emerging in-ternational partners – but this timepartners from the region who have a

real interest in this part of the worldand not only a colonial one. The ris-ing power in this regard is Iran thatafter the interim deal with the fiveplus one (UNSC five permanentmembers plus Germany) is back inbusiness and is going to play a lead-ing role in an emerging regional alli-ance against Islamic militancy. Giventhe fact that Iran is a neighbor of Af-ghanistan that after the withdrawal ofWestern troops Iran’s engagement inSyria and Iraq, Iran will play a cen-tral role in tackling militancy in theMiddle East. Iraq as much as Turkeywill be interested in this and join theefforts once the mess in Syria is readyfor clean-up. Even Egypt that is fight-ing with growing militancy in its SinaiPeninsula would join the efforts. Thatleaves the Saudis and the Gulf Emir-ates that have been financing militancyin the form of Taliban in Afghanistanand Pakistan and the ‘freedom fight-ers’ in Syria isolated. Pakistani foreignpolicy has to take these new facts intoaccount and readjust its position tomeet the new conditions. Russia andChina and the other BRICS states willsupport this new development andPakistan should make sure it standson the right side this time.

The World witnessed a majormove on 13th December 2013 whenthe Kuwait Summit attempted to showGCC unity in the wake of the P5+1interim agreement. The Summit meet-ing took on new urgency after theevents in Geneva regarding Iran’snuclear program. Consequently, theGCC states needed to make a state-ment about “jointness” in militarycommand and operations while at thesame time acknowledging the fact thatother threats exist to the GCC—namely the Muslim Brotherhood and

al-Qaeda franchise groups and theirbrigades. One can assume that theGCC leadership that at least in themeantime, is claiming to transforminto a type of EU or NATO style de-fense organization, may become ashield for Saudi Kingdom and UAEin the future. The threat complexionfor some of the GCC countries ischanging— Iran and the MuslimBrotherhood were at the top of thethreat list to the GCC states. Nowwith the interim agreement, the GCCseems to be rallying around a newthreat—that of non-state actors fromthroughout the Middle East & NorthAfrican (MENA) region, that threatenthe bulk of the monarchies, as op-posed to the Iranian threat, whichseems to be, at the time of this writ-ing, reducing its menacing actionsand making peaceful overtures andengaging with Qatar and Oman toname a few, who might not feel com-fortable in this system. Secretary ofState John Kerry on the other hand isrunning from pillar to post but facinggreat resistance from Israel to showsoftness towards Palestinian problem.

In the face of this newly emerg-ing situation with US and Westernalliance on their way out it is timefor the countries of the Middle Eastand South Asia to take their des-tiny into their own hands. The timehas come to help ourselves and notto look towards ‘big brother’ forhelp. Even Qur’an says that Godwill help you when you change yourways. Let’s hope that Pakistan, itsgovernment and its people will readthe writing on the wall and take astep in the right direction this time.God bless Pakistan.—The writer is Karachi-basedsenior columnist.

WHEN I’m down and out,I get stuck in my room!”said my philosophical

friend Sam. “Depression?” I asked,“It’s not a good thing!” “Who’s talk-ing about depression,” said Sam ashe took me into his room, “Whatdoes the ceiling tell you?” “Oh itspeaks to you does it?” I asked inmock seriousness looking up. “Yesit does,” said Sam, “Look up Bob,look what it’s saying all the time!”

I looked up and from its loftiness Iheard a message, “Aim high!”

“Wow!” I said, “and to think I’venever listened.” “And didn’t you hearmy door said when you walked in?”asked Sam. “No,” I said and thenstared hard at the door, till I heard adeep rumble, “Push hard to achieveBob!” “The clock is speaking!” I said.“Every second, every second, everysecond, every second!” “What’s ittrying to say?”

I asked Sam “Every secondcounts!” “This is cool!” I said.“You’ve taken the words from mymouth!” said a voice above my headand as I looked up I heard the gentlewhisper of the fan blades saying,“Be cool! Be cool!”

“Sam!” I said, “does every roomspeak as yours does?” “You just haveto listen hard,” said Sam with a grin,“most of us don’t, we just throw our-selves into bed in despair and closeour ears to gentle advice all around,look at yourself in the mirror Bob!”“You want me to look at myself?”

“No listen to it!” I did and fromthe tall glass I heard mercurial voicesaying, “Always reflect before youact!” “That, has been my problem,” Isaid looking at the mirror, “hey I’mtalking back to it!” “Of course youwill!” said Sam, “You can argue withthem, even throw a tantrum, but whatthey have to say doesn’t change abit!” “Maybe I’m old fashioned!” Isaid, “and this room talking stuff is a

My own lil room..!little hard to believe!” “There’ssomeone on the wall who has tosay something about that,” saidSam smiling at the calendar.

“Be up to date!” whispered thecalendar to me. “Yes I will!” I said,“Yes I will!” I moved to the win-dow and looked out, “See theworld!” said the window openingherself wider.

“Yes,” said Sam, “when youhave a world perspective, yourproblems automatically growsmaller!” I went back home, lay onmy bed, listened hard and heardgentle voices speaking to me;words of wisdom! Listen to yourown lil room today..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

the banks and the bulk of theeconomy, and the Communist Partycontrols the state-owned enterprises.

Aware of the dangers, thePeople’s Bank of China took stepsstarting in 2012 to curb the growthof debt; but when the slowdownstarted to cause real distress in theeconomy, the party asserted its su-premacy. In July 2013, the leader-ship ordered the steel industry to re-start the furnaces and the PBOC toease credit. The economy turnedaround on a dime. In November, theThird Plenum of the 18th CentralCommittee announced far-reachingreforms. These developments arelargely responsible for the recentimprovement in the global outlook.

The Chinese leadership wasright to give precedence to economicgrowth over structural reforms, be-cause structural reforms, when com-bined with fiscal austerity, pusheconomies into a deflationary tail-spin. But there is an unresolved self-contradiction in China’s current poli-cies: restarting the furnaces also re-ignites exponential debt growth,which cannot be sustained for muchlonger than a couple of years.

How and when this contradic-tion will be resolved will have pro-found consequences for China andthe world. A successful transition inChina will most likely entail politi-cal as well as economic reforms,while failure would undermine still-widespread trust in the country’spolitical leadership, resulting in re-pression at home and military con-frontation abroad.

The other great unresolved prob-lem is the absence of proper globalgovernance. The lack of agreementamong the United Nations SecurityCouncil’s five permanent membersis exacerbating humanitarian catas-trophes in countries like Syria — notto mention allowing global warm-ing to proceed largely unhindered.In contrast to the Chinese conun-drum, which will come to a head inthe next few years, the absence ofglobal governance may continue in-definitely. The writer is chairman ofSoros Fund Management and of theOpen Society Foundations.— Courtesy: The Japan Times

needed to take over the management.What ails PIA? Yes over stuff-

ing is one issue but name anyorganisation in Pakistan that has notbeen overstaffed. Almost all theorganisations have surplus manpower but these are being badly man-aged. Most of the heads are politicalappointees and they are only answer-able to their masters and not thepeople.PM Nawaz Sharif promisedto replace these heads but has donenothing except making adhoc ar-rangements. Corrupt people still call-ing shots, honest people are beingside lined juniors heading theorganisations resulting in furtherdamaging the national assets. PIAdoes not require privatisation it needsjust 10 aircrafts, provide them andthey will ake it profitableorganisation. We strongly opposeprivatisation of PIA and handing overto a buyer with just 26 percent sharesis total nonsense.

Even other wise all high valueassets that are defence related mustnever be privatised. Unless it is partof Aman ki Asha it is a differentstory.For the interest of readers Pa-kistan Steel land costs over Rs 100billion. Lastly will the governmentgive details what happened to themoney received in previousprivatisation, how many debts wereretired and where the money wasspent Let us not deprive the nation ofits high value assets that is regardedas pride of the nation!—Karachi Cantt

Rasoolpur- Aheaven on earth?

SHIREEN GUL

Today, we human beings live in aworld which is engulfed by numer-ous afflictions: terrorism, poverty,disease and illiteracy, just to men-tion a few. However, Rasoolpur, avillage located 56 kilometres northfrom Rajanpur, which is has becomea haven for the notorious criminalsof the country, has emerged as a rayof light in these dire circumstances.This village is a small,celestial islandamidst a world which is plagued by amyriad of crises.

The most astonishing fact aboutthis exemplary village is that the lit-eracy rate is close to 100%. Althoughthe United Nations defines literacy asone’s ability to sign his or her name,the Rasoolpuris categorize those whohave attained high school educationas literate. With all of its 2000 inhab-itants educated, Rasoolpur hasachieved a benchmark for scaling thedevelopment of a region. Till now, thearea has produced five PhD doctorsand innumerable professionals in thefields of medical, engineering, agri-culture, banking, finance, administra-tion and teaching. The region has twohigh schools (one for girls and theother for boys) to educate the futurescholars, and a public library, whichpossesses all kinds of books, rangingfrom those related to religion to sci-entific books. The nil crime rate andhigh level of gender equity – whichis represented by the fact that evenwomen of this village have jobs-prevalent in the village have beenestablished only as a result of soar-ing level of literacy.

Furthermore, even the localpeople who do not hold practice anyprofession in an office are financiallystable as they work hard on the or-chards of mangoes and date palms,and conduct prolific businesses byselling their produce.

The evidence of this self-confi-dence among the people ofRasoolpur is the origin of countlessSaraiki writers and poets from thisregion, such as Aslam Rasoolpuri,the most famous Saraiki writer of histime, and Mohammed IsmailAhmadani, whose exceptional liter-ary work in Saraiki earned him the“Khawaja Ghulam Farid Award” byPakistan Academy of Letters twice,and the central position of themosque, which depicts the reverencethat the Rasoolpuris hold in theirhearts for the religious place.

Although ethnic Balochis are inmajority in the region, the local popu-lation believes in nationalism andsolidarity of the state, as is apparentfrom surveys. In addition to all theabove, the adoption of solar power

to generate electricity and cleanlinessof the area has resulted only from theefforts of Rasoolpur DevelopmentSociety, a functional welfare organi-zation which strives to achieve anenvironmentally healthy atmospherein the village for the villagers to livein. Therefore, it can be concluded thatif positivity can thrive in an areawhich contains dens of many of theworst criminals of Pakistan, the se-vere issues we face today can also becurbed, provided that we seriouslyendeavour to eliminate them.—Via email

Waterconservation

ANUM ELAHI

Water conservation is a practice inwhich people, companies, and gov-ernments attempt to reduce their wa-ter usage. The goal may be to addressan ongoing water shortage or to makelifestyle modifications to be moreenvironmentally friendly. Water isan integral part of land/soil produc-tivity. Its misuse can cause both deg-radation and erosion of soils. Man-agement of water resource s consid-ered to necessary for well being ofhuman life as well as crop yields,and by conserving water we can alsosave the money.

There is a gap between the sea-sonal availability of water and itsequitable supply throughout the year.Accordingly the storage of water andpassage through soils is very impor-tant. It is well known that about 70%area in this country is subject to vary-ing degree of water stress. There areareas with heavy rainfall but waterproblems become predominant dur-ing non-monsoon periods. It is thus amatter of concern to create a redistri-bution system and requirements asand when it is needed. Although

Few simple changes about thewater consumption make a vast con-tribution to water conservation. Thebasic changes we have to do are stopleaking of water. We have to seewhether there is a leakage in our taps.Because of the water leakage taps wecan’t protect the water. We can alsoprotect the water by Installing Low-Flow Showerheads. With these wecan protect the water because it flowslower. And we won’t use much wa-ter with these Low-FlowShowerheads. When we are brushingour teeth or when we are shaving wehave to turn off faucets. After com-pleting the work we have to use thewater. By this change also we canpreserve the water. Using sprinklersfor yard is also a good remedy forwater conservation. Turn off the wa-ter in the shower when shampooingthe hair Water will be saved. it is bet-ter to replace the new toilets in placeof old toilets. These are high effi-ciency and will use less water. Tocollect a rain water use a rain barrelat the bottom of gutter down spouts.It may use for watering plants. Theseare some of the things to follow toconserve the water.

Water harvesting technologieshave established the economic andpractical feasibility for inclusion inintegrated watershed managementplans. This would also help in in-creased production based productiv-ity for generation of employment ofopportunities. So, it is the responsi-bility of every one to educate our chil-dren. With this we are indirectly con-serving the water in future also.

All in all, water conservation isour moral and ethical responsibilityas when we waste water we depriveothers of their right to use that wa-ter for fulfilling their basic necessi-ties. So the next time think beforewasting water.—Haripur

George Soros

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti@super.net.pk

Mediators meet Machar in S. Sudan as fighting rages

An Iraqi family who fled Fallujah arrive at an army checkpoint at the Ayn al-Tamercrossing into Karbala province.

RAMADI—Iraqi governmentemployees returned to workunder tight security inRamadi, but militants stillheld parts of the Anbar pro-vincial capital and all of an-other nearby city.

Gunmen also holdFallujah, another Anbar cityand former insurgent strong-hold located 60 kilometres (37miles) from Baghdad.

It is the first time militantshave exercised such opencontrol in major cities sincethe insurgency that followedthe 2003 US-led invasion.

Anbar governor AhmedKhalaf al-Dulaimi had calledfor government employees toreturn to work on Sunday, thefirst day of the work week inmuch of the Arab world.

Many civil servants hadstopped working days agodue to clashes and the pres-ence of militants in the city.

Also on Sunday, securityforces battled militants inAlbubali, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda-linked fighters be-tween Ramadi and Fallujah,a policeman in the area said.

And Sabah Noori, thespokesman for Iraq’sCounter-Terrorism Service,said that some of its members

were missing in the area.On Saturday, Fallujah

residents who had fled thecity began to return after thefighting died down, and mostbusinesses had reopened.

But tribal leaders said acombination of anti-govern-ment tribesmen and fightersloyal to the Al-Qaeda-linkedIslamic State of Iraq and theLevant (ISIL) still held thecity.

Washington has piledpressure on Baghdad to fo-cus on political reconcilia-tion, in addition to ongoingmilitary operations.

The UN Security Councilhas voiced support for thegovernment campaign to re-take the two cities, while con-cern mounted over the battlefor Anbar.

It urged “Iraqi tribes, lo-cal leaders, and Iraqi securityforces in Anbar province, tocontinue, expand andstrengthen their cooperationagainst violence and terror,and it stresses the criticalimportance of continued na-tional dialogue and unity.”

And Prime Minister Nurial-Maliki has called for Iraqisto back the security forces intheir fight against militants,

saying that “it is up to us tostand on the side of our armedforces and our security ser-vices”.

On Friday, tribesmen andpolice retook two areas ofRamadi from Al-Qaeda-linkedmilitants, tribal military com-mander Mohammed KhamisAbu Risha told AFP.

ISIL has been active inthe Anbar fighting, but sohave anti-government tribes-men.

At the same time, secu-rity forces have recruitedtheir own tribal allies in thefighting that has raged inAnbar.

The army has for themost part stayed outside ofFallujah during the crisis,with analysts warning thatany assault on the citywould likely cause significantcivilian casualties.

“The Iraqi army does nothave the sort of precisionweapons, intelligence andfire discipline to assaultFallujah without causing ci-vilian casualties,” said Jes-sica Lewis, a former US armyintelligence officer who isnow research director at theInstitute for the Study ofWar.—AFP

Back to work under tightsecurity in violence-hit Iraq city

AYLIN KOCAMAN

A PEEP into the pastwill make it clear tomany that unity has

always laid the founda-tions of ideological tri-umphs. People believing ina particular idea join handsfor a common cause, drawstrength from one anotherand find a way forward.

History tells us thatsometimes people fol-lowed superstitions —ideas that are dangerousand toxic — and emergedtriumphant. The key factorin the success of thoseskewed ideas was unity.With the spirit of together-ness people can achievegreat feats and beat allodds.

So what is wrong withus, the Muslims? Whyaren’t we united in thesame manner? We are theadherents to a true and

powerful ideology then whatis the cause of our deca-dence. Is it because we are afragmented nation? Is it be-cause we have abandonedthe true ideology that callson us to think as one?

The true path requiresstrength and wants us to actlike a single body; that is theonly way to fight supersti-tious and false ideologies.That is the only way to ridthe world of threats, fearsand wars. Without forgingunity among believers andgood people, it will not bepossible to save the world.Does anybody have any ideaabout the consequences ofthis fragmentation or divisionamong Muslims? It is due tothis division that instead ofpeople spreading love, weare seen as hatemongers. Weare no longer a nation but anunruly crowd with no senseof direction. As long as Mus-lims remain fragmented, they

will never gain the strengthto wage an intellectual cam-paign against materialismand irreligious ideologies.Unfortunately, we are busyfighting each other. Take outa map of the world and pointyour finger at any Muslimcountry, you will find thatcountry up in flames — Mus-lims fighting Muslims.

It is very much due to thisfragmentation that we as anation are slowly and gradu-ally losing the zeal to contrib-ute anything positive to theworld. Our creativity hasnosedived. Taking the advan-tage of the situation, fanat-ics are trying to hijack thisbeautiful religion and tryingto replace their illogical ideas,which even they can neverback by any part of theQur’an. As long as Muslimswill remain divided, they willalways find themselves at thereceiving end of clusterbombs, missiles launched by

drones and guns of the west-ern powers.

Currently, Turkey needsto display the spirit of togeth-erness. Elements within Tur-key are on the move to pitchMuslims against each other.Efforts are on to weaken acountry that has made effortsto protect Muslims in variousparts of the world, such asSyria, Rakhine and Somalia,and that has placed thou-sands of refugees under pro-tection in its own territory.Those elements are using theformula: Divide and rule. Syriais a glaring example of the cur-rent situation of Muslims as anation. The once beautifulcountry is in ruins. It is left torot at the mercy of a brutal dic-tator and has become a toy inthe hands of radicals. And weawait a solution from the Westinstead of Muslim countries.This will continue to happenas long as we are fragmented.

If Muslims remain frag-

mented, stability in Muslimcountries will be compro-mised. The growth of arts andscience will be hindered. Theeconomy will continue toshrink. Unstable Muslimcountries will always be ex-ploited by foreign powers;they will be condemned tocoups and uprisings.

If Muslims remain frag-mented, then the enemies ofIslam who say, “Let them fightand destroy one anotherwhile we relax” will get theirway. It is due to these divi-sions that the lives of Mus-lims have become literallyworthless. The western world— that swings into action tosave a seal — takes no inter-est in the mass slaughter ofMuslims. (Rescuing animalsis a noble act and that is notwhat is under criticism here.)

As the Qur’an says, “Thedeniers are always oneanother’s guardians, protec-tors and friends.”

But what about Mus-lims? Muslims should notstand divided when the worldis in such turmoil. Muslimshave no right to be in disputewith one another when Mus-lims are being carelesslyslaughtered, the innocent arebeing forced from their homesand refugee camps inMyanmar are being burned.Muslims have no right to fightamong themselves when sin-ister forces are making terri-fying plans for the MiddleEast. Muslims are not solelyresponsible for only them-selves as individuals: Theyhave a responsibility for allMuslims, all the weak and in-deed, the entire world. If theythink only of themselves,worry only about their ownpetty problems and engagein their own conflicts, thenthe responsibility for the suf-fering of the weak and op-pressed will be on their heads.

—Courtesy Arab News

We are paying the price of disunity

A week of victoriesfor cold weather

and Al QaedaSERGE SCHMEMANNJAN

THE first full week of the new year dutifully served upsome of the themes likely to command attention in2014.

The raising of Al Qaeda banners over the cities of Fallujaand Ramadi, where some of the costliest battles of the Ameri-can war in Iraq were fought, raised painful memories andrenewed questioning about the efficacy of outside effortsto resolve the deep and bitter conflicts of the Middle East.As if to drive the point home, Afghanistan’s United States-installed president, Hamid Karzai, infuriated the Obama ad-ministration by releasing dozens of prisoners accused ofattacking Americans.

Then there was the “Arctic vortex,” a meteorologicalphenomenon usually restricted to the top of the earth thatbecame intimately familiar to millions when it sent a roguesouthward loop of frigid air over all the states and prov-inces of North America. Temperatures abruptly plummetedto record lows, partially freezing Niagara Falls and evenprompting Anana, the resident polar bear at Chicago’s Lin-coln Park Zoo, to take refuge indoors. The brutal cold raisedthe usual nyah-nyah chorus from climate-change deniers,but even as temperatures returned to seasonal norms, me-teorologists and lots of other people anxiously wonderedwhat other climactic quirks lay ahead.

The advances of Al Qaeda-backed Sunni insurgents inFalluja and Ramadi, the largest cities of Anbar Province,carried considerable dangers for Syria, Jordan and SaudiArabia, countries that border on Anbar, and for the govern-ment of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose dis-criminatory policies against Sunnis have been at least partlyresponsible for the eruption of violence. The main insur-gent group, which calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq andthe Levant, has been increasingly active in Syria. Thou-sands of people have fled in anticipation of major fighting.

But outside Iraq, it was the symbolism of black insur-gent flags over Falluja that struck painful chords. For manyAmericans, the images of destroyed buildings, burned-outvehicles, frightened Arabs and dusty Marines became theimages of the war. Over two major operations, AmericanMarines and soldiers did succeed in driving insurgents outor underground. But Sunni resentment continued to fester,waiting only for the Americans to pull out. One quote thatsurfaced several times over the past week was the conclu-sion of an analysis of the battle in 2005 by Jonathan F.Keiler on Military.com: “The Battle of Fallujah was not adefeat,” he wrote, “but we cannot afford many more victo-ries like it.”

In fact, Falluja was never really “lost” or “won.” A formerBaathist stronghold that enjoyed a privileged status underSaddam Hussein, it has been rebellious ever since his fall.Mr. Maliki contributed to the problem by discriminatingagainst Sunnis in government. The immediate trigger forthe latest violence was a government dismantling of a Sunniprotest camp. So the latest battle for Falluja will not be thelast.

Still, the images of black flags and masked insurgentsbrandishing AK-47s in Falluja led to wrenching questionsabout how and why the United States got into Iraq — andhow it got out. Like Khe Sanh or Hamburger Hill in theVietnam War, bloody battlefields won at huge cost by Ameri-can troops and abandoned soon after, Falluja has now as-sumed the burden of a bloody question mark over the en-tire American war in Iraq. Many veterans of the battle nowwonder what their sacrifice, and that of their fallen com-rades, was for.

The debates and finger-pointing are likely to continue,especially as conflicts in places like Afghanistan, Libya,Egypt and Syria continue to fester. But neither PresidentObama nor the public shows any inclination to return toIraq. Perhaps that is why in Afghanistan, from which UnitedStates troops are preparing to leave by year’s end, Mr. Karzaishows so little regard for American sentiments. In this partof the world, it is not the outsiders who determine the out-come.

The week’s drama in New Jersey was more entertainingthan wrenching for most of those who followed it — exceptof course for Governor Christie, who suddenly ran upagainst a major obstacle on his road to the White House.Until now, the going had been good: Mr. Christie easilywon re-election in November in a historically Democraticstate, and as the chairman of the Republican GovernorsAssociation, he had secured a nationwide lectern.

Then came the revelation that a deputy chief of staff,Bridget Anne Kelly, and other close aides had sent emailsto friends on the Port Authority of New York and New Jer-sey, which controls the George Washington Bridge, that itwas “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Fort Lee ison the New Jersey side of the bridge, and its mayor is aDemocrat. So a few lanes were closed, and a nightmarishfour-day jam developed in Fort Lee.

—The New York Times

Taking stock of theAsian space race

LIU BO

FOR many Chinese people, the successful moon landing of the Chang’-3 spacecraft on December 14 lastyear was a moment of particular pride and joy. China

has become the third country in the world to independentlyachieve a soft landing on the moon and begin a round oflunar prospecting. It is also a milestone in China’s spaceindustry development after a lapse of 37 years since thelast Russian lunar landing.

However, not everyone here was so thrilled. “So thered state flag has made it to the moon. What has this got todo with us?” one Chinese online comment read, summingup much of the public scepticism.

Indeed, China’s official media had already published aQ-and-A style commentary to explain why China is explor-ing the moon, even as masses of ordinary people can’teven make ends meet or feel secure about their future.

In John F Kennedy’s famous 1962 “We Choose to Go tothe Moon, speech, the American president explained thelogic of his country’s space programme:

“But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as ourgoal? ... We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to themoon in this decade and do the other things, not because theyare easy, but because they are hard, because that goal willserve to organise and measure the best of our energies andskills, because that challenge is one that we are willing toaccept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which weintend to win.”Yes, people and a nation need to have dreams,and we can imagine how much Kennedy’s remarks encour-aged many young people to go into aerospace studies.

This does not dismiss the public’s questioning, butrather tackles it from that person’s point of view, acceptingit as reasonable doubt. In China, whether it’s about theatomic bomb research of earlier days or about the spaceprogramme today, we hear about the “Chinese national re-naissance” or about “scrubbing away the Chinese humilia-tion of the past hundred years” - both of which embody acollective sense of competition.

—Gulf Times

JUBA—Mediators pushedfor a ceasefire in South Sudanas fighting raged for the lastrebel-held town and the fullextent of the destructionwrought began to emerge.

Envoys from the UnitedStates and South Sudan’sneighbours met Saturdaywith Riek Machar, who headsthe rebel forces that havebeen fighting governmenttroops for the past month, therebels said.

There were unconfirmednews reports that mediatorswill meet with President SalvaKiir on Monday.

Meanwhile the full extentof the destruction wroughtduring recent battles beganto emerge.

An AFP photographertouring villages aroundBentiu, the Unity state capi-tal, which government forceswrested back from rebels onFriday, saw corpses lying in

the streets and the thatchedroofs of torched mud hutsstill smouldering.

Meanwhile the SatelliteSentinel Project, co-foundedby Hollywood star GeorgeClooney, released images de-tailing destruction to homesand markets in two towns,Mayom in oil-rich Unity andBor, the Jonglei state capital,which government forces aretrying to take back fromrebels for the second time ina month.

“Evidence of atrocitiesagainst civilians should becollected and used for futureprosecution for war crimes.There will be no peace if mas-sive human rights abuses canbe committed with no ac-countability,” Clooney saidin a statement. “This time inSouth Sudan there needs tobe an end to impunity,” hesaid.

Fighting continued Sun-

day around the flashpointtown of Bor, rebel militaryspokesman General Lul RuaiKoang told AFP.

“We are still holding ourpositions, but the govern-ment forces are shellingthem,” he said, adding he didnot know if close combat wasalso taking place.

“The American Specialenvoy to South Sudan andSudan, Donald Booth to-gether with (regional) media-tors travelled to an undis-closed location in SouthSudan to meet Dr. RiekMachar,” said a statementsigned by Machar’s formerpress officer Miyong G.Kuon.The meeting withMachar, a former vice presi-dent and seasoned rebelfighter, comes as talks in theEthiopian capital AddisAbaba appear to be stalling.Mediators for the East Afri-can regional bloc IGAD have

been trying to incorporate theproposals of both sides intoa draft ceasefire document.

Fighting erupted inSouth Sudan on December15. Kiir accused Machar ofattempting a coup. Machar inturn accused Kiir of using thecoup accusation as an excuseto carry out a purge.

The biggest stumblingblock in peace talks is still the11 Machar sympathisers ar-rested by Kiir ’s forcesshortly after the fightingbegan.Machar’s side has in-sisted the detainees shouldbe released to they can takepart in the talks, while Kiir isequally adamant they shouldface justice.

UN chief Ban Ki-moonand the Security Councilhave both urged Kiir to freethe 11 in order to kickstart thestalled talks.

The UN secretary gen-eral also warned that evi-

dence of widespread atroci-ties committed during themonth-long conflict would beinvestigated, and the perpe-trators “held accountable.”

The fighting has forcednearly 400,000 people to fleetheir homes and caused“very substantially in ex-cess” of 1,000 dead, accord-ing to the United Nations.

Of those forced to flee,some 350,000 are internallydisplaced and the remainderhave fled into neighbouringcountries.

The International CrisisGroup, an independentthink-tank, estimated asmany as 10,000 people havebeen killed in the month offighting in the world’syoungest nation, which wonindependence fromKhartoum only in 2011.

When the army recap-tured Bentiu, the rebels in-sisted they had withdrawn to

“save civilian lives” and thatthey would fight on and de-fend Bor, which lies some 200kilometres (120 miles) northof national capital Juba.

A rebel military spokes-man also claimed anti-gov-ernment forces still con-trolled vital oil infrastructurenear Bentiu. South Sudan’scrude production, a keysource of income for the im-poverished nation, hasdropped by around a fifthsince the fighting began.

Fighting began asclashes within army units,but spread rapidly with gov-ernment troops fightinghuge battles againstbreakaway soldiers and eth-nic militiamen loosely alliedto Machar.The conflict hasalso sparked a sharp upsurgein ethnic violence betweenmembers of Kiir’s majorityDinka tribe and Machar ’sNuer community.—AFP

KATMANDU—Nepal’s gov-ernment on Sunday sum-moned for next week thenewly elected ConstituentAssembly, a month behindschedule after the presidentand the head of governmentresolved their differences.

The assembly will at-tempt to write a new consti-tution and also function asthe parliament.

A notice to legislators is-sued by the head of the in-terim government, Khil RajRegmi, said the assemblywould convene Wednesday.

Regmi and President RamBaran Yadav could not pre-viously agree on who shouldsend the notice, but finallyreached the deal late Satur-day.

The Himalayan countryhas stumbled through thelast five years with no con-stitution and parliamentaryparalysis in addressingchronic problems.

The row between the

Nepal summons newassembly to convene Jan 22

president and Regmi was thelatest hurdle to delay the newconstitution that was sup-posed to have been writtenby the first assembly electedin 2008, following the end ofa 10-year Maoist insurgencyand the overthrow of the cen-turies-old monarchy. But theassembly was riven by in-fighting and never finishedits work.

A new assembly waselected on Nov. 19, but im-mediately hit problems afterthe Communist Party ofNepal Maoist, the party offormer communist rebels, de-clared a boycott saying therewere election irregularities.The Maoists finally agreedto join the new assemblyweeks later. The assembly isexpected to first elect a newgovernment. None of theparties has a clear majority inthe assembly, and it couldpave the way for the forma-tion of a coalition govern-ment.—AP

80 armed militantsgive up fighting innorthern Afghan

provincePUL-E-KHUMRI—A total of80 armed militants gave upfighting and handed overtheir weapons to governmentin Afghanistan’s northernBaghlan province, provincialgovernor Sultan MohammadAbadi said.“Today we arewelcoming a group of 80former dissident brotherswho laid down arms andhanded over their weaponsto government,” Abadi saidat a ceremony to welcome theformer militants.

“With these brothers join-ing the peace process, securitywill be further improved inBaghlan province,” the officialsaid.The former militants group,Abadi said, was involved inanti- government activities inDeh Salah district over the pastcouple of years, adding thatthe government wants morefighters to follow the step andjoin the peace process.

More than 4,000 militants,according to government of-ficials, have given up fight-ing and joined the govern-ment-backed peace processover the past one year, whichhowever has been spurnedby the Taliban outfit asgroundless.— Xinhua

S.Korea, US agree on defensecost sharing for next 5 years

SEOUL—South Korea andthe United States reached afinal agreement to share an-nual defense costs for the 28,500 U.S. troops stationedhere over the next five years,according to sources withSouth Korean Foreign Min-istry.

Delegations from bothsides held the ninth round ofnegotiations for the five-yearSpecial Measures Agree-ment (SMA) in Seoul, and fi-nally succeeded in narrowingdifferences over how muchSouth Korea should pay forthe presence of the U.S.Forces Korea (USFK), theministry said in a press re-lease on its website on Sun-day.

South Korea agreed topay 920 billion won (870 mil-lion U.S. dollars) in 2014 forthe USFK presence costs, up5.8 percent from last year’s869.5 billion won. The priorSMA expired at the end oflast year.

The agreed figure seemedin favor of South Korea asSeoul had offered to keep itspayment share at 869.5 bil-lion won, while Washington

had demanded a hike toabout 1 trillion won.

The agreement will be ef-fective over the next fiveyears through 2018. An an-nual hike in the defense costswill be calculated on multiply-ing the prior year’s figure bythe headline inflation twoyears earlier, but the ceilingon the annual hike rate wasset at 4 percent.

The United States facedgrowing financial burden tostation its 28,500-strongforces in South Korea asWashington was hit hard bythe partial government shut-down amid lackluster eco-nomic growth.

U.S. President BarackObama has sought the rebal-ancing towards the Asia-Pa-cific, but Washing asked itsAsian allies such as SouthKorea and Japan to contrib-ute more to its policy shift.

To improve transparencyof the cost expenditure, the twoallies agreed to strengthen thefine-turning in advance of theactual spending, while report-ing to lawmakers of SouthKorea on the budgeting andsettling of the costs.—AP

Ukraine protestsmaller, butstill visible

KIEV—Thousands of activistsare rallying in the center of theUkrainian capital, as the orga-nizers of the weeks-long anti-government protests look for afuture strategy.The demonstra-tions, known as Euromaidan,were sparked by PresidentViktor Yanukovych’s decisionin November to freeze ties withthe West and tilt toward Mos-cow. The pact was later sealedby a $15 billion bailout loan fromthe Kremlin.

The protests drew hun-dreds of thousands in theearly weeks, but havedwindled to tens of thou-sands recently.Oppositionleader Vitali Klitschko told acrowd of more than 20,000people Sunday that a quickvictory should not be ex-pected and urged Ukrainiansacross the country to pressahead with street and otherprotests.—AP

Malakand Abdullah Khan said.. Martong police officials haveconfirmed that three policemenand four civilians were amongthose killed in the two blastscarried out using remote-con-trolled bombs.

Those killed were identifiedas Jawad, Liaquat, Faisal Hayat,Asif and Jafar.

Engineer Amir Muqam latertold media that such kind of in-cidents could not deter his re-solve against the terrorism.“This was the sixth attack on mylife as I already survived fifeattempts on my life earlier but Iwould keep fighting against theterrorism till my last breath.

On the other hand a localANP leader and the party’sformer provincial vice presidentMian Mushtaq Shah Bacha wasgunned downed along with histwo accomplices in the outskirtsof provincial metropolis Sundaymorning.

The Police said unknownmiscreants showered the vehicleof Mian Mushtaq Shah with thebullets in Mashoo Khel area inthe jurisdiction of Badhber Po-lice station on Kohat road. MianMushtaq and his two companionswere rushed to Lady ReadingHospital Peshawar where thedoctors pronounced them dead.Another local leader of the Partynamely Gul Rehman is also in-cluded among the dead. Mashoo

Khel is hardly a couple of milesaway from Khyber agency.

“Mian Mushtaq and hisother accomplices were passingthrough Mashoo Khel area whenmiscreants hiding alongside theroad ambushed their vehiclekilling all the three people onboard”. Police said adding theassassins managed to flee aftercommitting the crime. However,locals told Observer MianMushtaq most likely fell prey tothe personal enmity.

Chief Minister PervezKattak condemned the bombattack on Advisor to Prime Min-ister Amir Muqam in Martungarea of Shangla district and di-rected the local administrationfor immediately reaching to thespot besides contacting AmirMuqam to bringing of involvedculprits to justice.

Pervez Khattak has alsostrongly condemned the incidentof firing and assassination ofANP leader Mian Mushtaq andhis other colleagues in Badhberarea of Peshawar. He soon afterlistening about the incident con-tacted the authorities concernedand strictly directed them to fo-cus on arresting the culprits in-volved to unearth all such gangshatching anti-state and anti-so-cial plans and coward acts.

He made it clear that attacks

on political leaders and their as-sassinations are not acceptablein any circumstances and anysuch attempt in KhyberPukhtunkhwa would be consid-ered attack on the provincialgovernment either why are nottheir political opponents.

The Khyber PukhtunkhwaGovernor, Engineer Shaukatullahhas also strongly condemned theterrorist attack at the convoy ofEngineer Ameer Muqam, Advisorto Prime Minister at Shangla onSunday and expressed his deepshock and sorrow over the loss ofprecious lives.

Soon after listening to thetragic news, the Governor tele-phonically contacted EngineerAmeer Muqam; enquired afterhis health; expressed solidaritywith him and wished hiswellbeing. The Governor de-scribed the incident a highlycowardly act of terrorism andsaid that it deserves to e con-demned by all.

Expressing his deep sympa-thies with members of the be-reaved families, the Governorsaid that the elements involved inthe heinous crime will no moreremain at large and will be broughtto court of justice. The Governorhas also prayed for the eternalpeace of the departed souls of themartyred and courage to the be-reaved families to bear the irrepa-rable loss with patience.

Amir Muqam escapes,six killed in Shangla blasts

From Page 1

President, PMurge banks to

do moreFrom Page 1

Dialogue,operation

From Page 1

Later while conveying hisgood will message to the parentsof the Shaheed he said “theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor,Engineer Shaukatullah has de-scribed Shaheed Aitizaz Hussainas our national hero and his par-ents also deserve for rich trib-utes who have been blessed bynature with such a noble child”.

Mr. Mahmood Aslam con-veyed solidarity; affectionatespirit and goodwill gesture onbehalf of the Governor to theparents of the Shaheed and fur-ther communicated that greatsacrifice rendered by their proudson will never go in vain andwill always been rememberedwith honour and dignity.

Floralwreath laid onAitizaz’s grave

From Page 1

continue till the halt of droneattacks.

Imran Khan clarified that hisparty will not compromise overthe issue of supply line block-ade.

To a question, he highly ap-preciated the great sacrifice ren-dered by young Aitzaz Hassanat Hangu, to save a large num-ber of people from a terroristattack.

He said KhyberPakhtunkhwa is most affectedby terrorism. 172 terrorist at-tacks have been reported in theprovince during the last oneyear. On the other hand, he said,103 terror incidents were re-ported in all other three prov-inces during the last year.

Imran said the rulers are notserious in holding the local bod-ies elections and come up withnew excuses every day.—Online

Imran resentsKP govt’s

From Page 1

Islamabad could not go beyondF-11 sector and under-devel-oped G-14 sector since launch-ing of the capital in 1960 as in-efficiency and corruption havea telling affect on the capitalwhich is dotted with shanties inall sectors providing shelter toterrorists and criminals.

The sources said the devel-opers have assured the govern-ment that they will get the landvacated from some greedyaffectees and encroachers on theland sharing formula within sixmonths and will build up thehousing stock in the shortestpossible time, making up shortfall of over fifty thousand units.

They have assured the gov-ernment prices of land whichhave artificially been raised bythe mafia in the capital will bebrought down to affordable levelfor the low income people andthe businessmen to launch theirbusinesses.

The sources said the govern-ment is also busy in giving finaltouches to the mega housingscheme for constructing onemillion low-cost houses for thelow income groups in the coun-try. Initially four hundred 5-marla houses will be built inIslamabad.

The encouragement in hous-ing sector alone can raise GDPform four to five percent as fortytwo allied industries will getboost as happened in the China,US and other developed coun-tries.

Capital awaitsgovt nod

From Page 1

custody in his statement told thepolice that the pickup used in theblast was standing on the jackwithout wheel.

As regards the latestprogress made in the investiga-tion into the suicide attack onCh, Aslam, police said that thesamples of the limbs found fromthe scene of suicide blast havebeen sent to Islamabad for DNAtest.

The investigation officialssaid, besides the samples of thelimbs found at the blast site onLyari Expressway, samples ofShafiullah, the brother of thealleged suicide bomberNaeemullah taken at the JinnahHospital have also been sent toIslamabad for DNA test.

Police are also questioningemployees at the home and of-fice of late SP ChaudhryAslam Khan.

Ch Aslamattack: mystery

deepensFrom Page 1

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Traders of Karachihad given an ultimatum of 72hours for arresting the killers ofa local trader and Sindh TajirIttehad (Sindh Traders Alliance)Vice President Naeem Aziz, whowas gunned down in NewKarachi over resisting foiling abid of dacoity. The robbers hadsilenced him to death on the spot.

In this regard, STI ChairmanJamil Ahmed Paracha while con-demning the brutal murder ofAziz said that at one hand, Rang-ers and Police were making tallclaims for controlling the crimerate while the fact was that theafter murder of traders in casesof kidnapping for ransom, thetarget killers and dacoits hadstarted killing them on the spot.

Traders give ultimatum of72 hours for arrest of killers

He asked the Sindh provin-cial government to explain aswhy the criminals had yet beenoperating freely in the metropo-lis while hundreds of criminalswere being arrested every day.

The metropolis was pan-icked by the law of jungle andthe perpetrators had no fear ofany and carried out their crimi-nal activities with complete lib-erty.

Sindh provincial govern-ment and the law enforcementagencieshad made tall claimsduring past 4 months regardingthe success achieved in curbingthe crime rate in 4-months datedtargeted operation against thecriminals and terrorists but thetraders and businessmen did notsee any concrete improvementon the ground, he said.

the fact was that the law en-forcement agencies personnel,traders, businessmen and the ci-vilians were not safe in the cityand were on the mercy of thekillers, kidnappers for ransomand others.

He said that the KarachiPolice Chief Shahid Hayat haddespite his claims failed to per-form as per the aspirations of thetraders, businessmen and thepeople of the city and for hisfailure he should quit so thatsomeone competent should per-form and protect the lives of thepeople and the traders.

Paracha warned the civil ad-ministration that if the killerswere not arrested in 72 hours, thetraders would launch their pro-test campaign and would take tostreet from Karachi to Peshawar.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e Islami(JI) Pakistan will launch a mas-sive anti-privatization move-ment after taking political par-ties and trade unions into con-fidence.

This was announced by JIChief Syed Munawar Hasanwhile addressing a crowdedpress conference at Idara-eNoor-e Haq Sunday.JI Karachi Chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Naib Ameers JIKarachi Muslim Pervez,Muzaffar Hashmi, InformationSecretary Zahid Askari, Gen-eral Secretary PASLU ZafarKhan, General SecretaryPIACE Union Obaidullah andother leaders of trade unionswere also present on the occa-sion. He said that the JI had de-cided to take into streets againstthe privatization, adding thatthe party had evolved a strat-egy to initiate countrywide

Munawar: JI to launch massiveanti-privatization movement

peaceful protests against theprivatization of the national in-stitutions.

He said when the govern-ment on failing to fulfill itspromises made before the elec-tion had decided to privatizethe national institutions forspreading corruption, unem-ployment and lawlessness. Thegovernment through a letter byFinance Minister Ishaq Dar andGovernor State Bank of Paki-stan Yaseen Anwar to IMFstated that a consensus hadbeen made with all politicalparties and parliament to priva-tize the national institutions.He said when the governmenton failing to fulfill its promisesmade before the election haddecided to privatize the na-tional institutions for spreadingcorruption, unemployment andlawlessness

They misguided the IMFby telling lie that the Councilof Common Inertest (CCI) and

all political parties have agreedupon for privatization of na-tional institutions, he said.Hasan demanded that the issueof privatization must be raisedin Parliament and a committeeshould be formed which reviewthe performance of privatizedinstitutions.

JI Chief informed the me-dia that a meeting of the repre-sentatives of all political partiesand trade unions under the ae-gis of JI is to be scheduled onJan, 16, adding that a conven-tion in this regard had alreadybeen conducted in Lahore inwhich all political parties andtrade unions had agreed uponto initiate joint struggle againstthe privatization of the nationalinstitutions. Munawar Hasantermed the non-payment ofsalaries to the employees andunemployment an act of stateterrorism, adding that it wasone of the forms to ignite ter-rorism.

KARACHI—No less than 2200forms were issued for 220 seatsat Computer Science Depart-ment of Karachi University foracademic session 2014-2015while 2038 candidates appearedin the aptitude test held for ad-missions to the same on Sun-day.

KU administration sharingdetails of the exercise said itwas most peacefully conductedwith fool proof security ar-rangements and that Rangerswere also deployed at the siteof test.

In context of the test itself,

2038 appear in aptitude test forBSSE/BSCS against 220 seats

they mentioned that a totalnumber of 3148 students ap-peared in the Aptitude Test foradmissions to Computer Sci-ence (BSSE/BSCS) and Busi-ness Administration (MBA)besides Applied Physics (B.ScHons) respectively.

There were said to be 50seats for MBA program forwhich 550 forms were issuedhowever 490 students, bothboys and girls appeared in thesame.

As for 40 seats in AppliedPhysics (B.Sc Hons) 780 formswere issued and 620 appeared in

the test. A monitoring teamcomprising Director for Admin-istration, Dr Khalid Iraqi, ProfDr Ansar Rizvi, Prof Dr AbdulRahman Zaki, Dr Shabih urRehman and Prof Badar Sami,Head of Computer Scienceskept strict vigil on the candidateswho appeared in the test.

On the occasion six of theindividuals impersonating forcandidates were handed to theRangers. The KU administra-tion to avoid any untoward in-cident had imposed ban on theentry of all un authorized onthe test site.—APP

KARACHI: A view of a street at Liaquatabad which has been decorated with lights ahead of Jashn-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi(PBUH).

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan SuuniUlema Board (PSUB) had ap-pealed to the target killers andterrorist to stop their anti-socialactivities in the sacred month ofEid-e Milad Un Nabi (Peace beupon him).

In this regard, the PSUBmembers comprising MuftiGhufran Mehmood Sayalvi,Shaikh Al Hadith Qazi Saeed UrRehman, Mufti Liaquat Ali Rizvi,Allama Mujahid Ur Rasool Khan,Mufti Muhammad Arif Chishti,Pir Syed Waseem Ul HassanNaqvi advocate, Allama AbdulLateef Qadri, Allama BashirAhmed Naqshbandi, Allama SyedIrfan Shah Majadadi, AllamaAbdul Hafeez Rizvi, MuftiMuhammad Haseeb Attari, MuftiMuhammad Ayaz Saeedi, AllamaNiaz Ahmed Kahdmi, Pir SyedAbid Hussain Shah, Allama TariqShahzad, Allama Sarfaraz AhmedChishti, Mufti Dr MuhammadShahbaz, Mufti MuhammadAhsan Naeemi, Allama Khalil UrRehman Qadri, Pir SyedMubashir Hussain Shah, AllamaDr Ayaz Naeemi, Allama Riaz UrRehman, Allama Ghulam

Sunni Ulema appealterrorists to stop activities

Murtaza Naqshbandi, MuftiMuhammad Abrar Ahmed Attari,Allama Shaikh MuhammadIdrees Chishti, Mufti MuhammadSaleem Naqshbandi and DrMuhammad Rizwan Raza ap-pealed the terrorists, target killersand criminals to refrain from con-ducting any act of terrorism, tar-get killing in the sacred month ofEid-e Milad Un Nabi (peace beupon him).

The terrorists and targetkillers should instead of carry-ing out activities against thepeople should join the strugglefor imposing the IslamicShariat in the country.

They said that Islam was thereligion of peace and killings onthe basis of sects and school ofthought or otherwise were nowallowed in Islam and the terror-ism in the name of Islam hadbrought a very bad name to thereligion of peace, Islam.

They said that the countrywas passing through various cri-ses and terrorism was the worstone. The terrorist should adoptthe way of argument for con-vincing the others and theyshould not play into hands ofenemies of Pakistan.

Adherence toSunnah mustfor Progress

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh ChiefMinister’s Coordinator for Cul-ture with ministerial portfolioSharmilla Farooqui said thatsince Islam was the religion ofpeace hence it was not difficultfor the Muslim to prosper andmake advancement in all fieldprovided that they would havestrictly adhered to the true teach-ings of Islam.

The prosperity and advance-ment in all fields was so easy be-cause only Islam had urged theMuslim to acquire knowledgeunder all circumstances andQuran, the base of Islam had onhundreds of occasions motivatedthe Muslim to discover the uni-verse but the internal differencesand terrorism had smashed thepath of prosperity and advance-ment for the Muslim.

Even today, the Muslimcould reach their destiny andmake the world a place as wasconceived for heaven but for thatpurpose they would have to fo-cus on learning and promotion ofbrotherhood not only among theMuslims but the world.

He said that both talks with andoperation against Taliban aredifficult tasks. He said that theyare facing criticism for talkswith Tehrik-e-Taliban.—INP

this cause.The Prime Minister in his

message hoped that the PakistanObserver’s initiative will go along way in promoting the modeof Islamic Banking highlightedthe rising role of Banks in themodern economies. He ex-pressed his confidence that theIslamic Banking had more scopeof clientage than traditionalbanking.

The Finance Minister, Sena-tor Muhammad Ishaq Dar, in hismessage has also appreciated thePakistan Observer and has de-scribed this RTC in line with thePaper’s acknowledged policy ofadvancing the national cause.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Assembly Membersfrom various districts metPunjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif,here on Sunday.

Talking to the parliamentar-ians, the Chief Minister said thatPunjab government is imple-menting a comprehensiveprogramme for the welfare of the

Parliamentarians callon Shahbaz Sharif

people and it will set newrecords of public service duringits current tenure. He said thatPunjab will be made a modelprovince.

He said that government hasallocated billions of rupees inthe current financial year for thewelfare of the people and pro-vision of relief to the citizensand solid measures are beingtaken for the development of

education, health, infrastructure,energy and other sectors.The Chief stressed upon parlia-mentarians to maintain a closecontact with the masses andspare no effort for the solutionof their problems.

Assembly Members in-formed the Chief Minister aboutthe pace of developmental ac-tivities in their respective con-stituencies.

LAHORE—The training acad-emy for Water and SanitationAgency (WASA) officials inTownship is about to completeand it will start functioning byApril.

The project after completonwill not only professionally ben-efit staffers of WASA Lahore butalso be an international standardtraining platform for the wholePunjab. Wasa is going to com-plete the project with financialand technical assistance of JapanInternational CooperationAgency (JICA) with the aim totrain its workforce on modernlines. The developmental workof Punjab Water and Sanitation

WASA Academy to startfunctioning by April

Academy covers an area of12,135 square feet at Townshipand construction was to com-plete in November 2013 but fi-nancial pressures on the depart-ment also affected the pace ofwork besides incrreasing thecost of the project.

The initial estimate of theproject was Rs 484.81 millionwhich was feared to increase upto another millions of rupees.

After the construction of theacademy, capacity of WASA of-ficers and staff will increase andofficers from the rank of sub-engineer to director would getinternational standard training.The aim to start the academy is

to provide training to officialson latest lines with a distinctionof enabling the participants tocope with any awkward situa-tion.

Deputy Management Direc-tor (DMD) Engineering AftabAhmad Dhilloon talking to APPon Sunday stated that work hadbeen resumed on the project andhopefully first training sessionwould start in April 2014. Hesaid that WASA would not payany additional cost due to latecompletion of the project. Re-quired machinery would be im-ported and installed at the acad-emy soon after construction, headded.—APP

LAHORE: A view of damaged vehicle after a road accident at Canal Road.

Dar laudssteps for Data

Sahib UrsLAHORE—Finance Minister,Senator, Muhammad Ishaq Dar onSunday presided over a meetingof the Data Darbar religious af-fairs committee to review arrange-ments for the last Urs.

The finance minister ex-pressed satisfaction over the ar-rangements made for facilitatingdevotees on the Urs and particu-larly lauded Secretary AuqafPunjab Dr. Saqib Aziz for excel-lent arrangements. The financeminister also appreciated theworking of various committeesfor logistic work, security, food fordevotees, arrangements for Qirat,Naat programmes, lodging andboarding facilities for Ulema andMushaikh, transport and commu-nication. The minister congratu-lated the committees for arrange-ments made during the Urs. Themeeting also took stock of expen-diture on the Urs and the financeminister directed that transparencyand strict adherence to the rulesand regulations must be followed.The meeting was also attended bysenior officials of the Punjab Gov-ernment and members of the DataDarbar religious affairs commit-tee.—APP

CTP measuresto avoid

traffic mess’LAHORE—SP Traffic Head-quarters Chaudhry Azhar GujjarSunday said traffic police hadtaken effective measures to en-sure smooth flow of traffic andavoid mess on various roards inthe city.

Talking to APP, he said thecity traffic police had launcheda crackdown against encroach-ments and wrong parking standsat various places in the city, add-ing that they had got registereda number of cases against en-croachers to maintain trafficflow.

The SP said the CTP hadevolved a comprehensive trafficplan with the cooperation ofother departments to take strictaction against violators.

He said they had alsolaunched awareness campaigns,including lectures, seminars,walks and others, to createawareness among the massesabout rules and laws.

He said traffic wardens per-formed their duties with a respon-sibility and they educate peopleon minor violations besides tick-eting on major violations.—APP

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

ISLAMABAD—Former Presi-dent Musharraf has saidthat violation of 1973 Con-stitution is not treason, as itis not formulated by a con-stitutional Assembly, but anact of parliament.

In his review petition,against Supreme Court’sverdict about 3 Nov 2007emergency, issued in 2009,Musharraf expressed hopesover CJP, Tassaduq Jillaniforming a 14-member bench.

Justice Ameer Hani hasalready approved the re-view petition, after rejectingthe reservations of Regis-

trar. The review petition chal-lenges the constitutionalstanding of 1973 Constitu-tion, violation of which hadbeen blamed on formerCOAS, President Musharraf.

The petition terms the1973 Constitution as merelyan act of Parliament, ap-proved by West Pakistan’sAssembly, while the (then)Eastern half, East Pakistanhad already rejected it; henceit was not formulated by ma-jority of legislative.

The review petition alsoprays that in its short verdict,even the Supreme Court had

not asked for Musharraf ’strail over treason; while alsonoting that no such actionwas even taken against (late)President Zia-ul-Haq forkeeping the constitution inabeyance after 05th July 1977action.

The petition notes thateven Supreme Court wasaware of the fact that the veryparliament which formulatedthe 1973 Constitution wasformed by (late) military dic-tator, Gen. Yahya Khan, whowas called as the biggestusurper.

Expressing his criticism

over being charged with trea-son, Musharraf also pointedout that the Courts of law ,and parliaments had en-dorsed such acts under ‘thedoctrine of necessity”.The act of 3 Nov 2007 wasalso conducted according tothis very doctrine of neces-sity.

It was also pointed outthat during the Zafar AliShah Case the Court haddeclared its verdict infavour of 12th Oct 1999takeover, which entailedviolation of 25 articles ofConstitution. —Online

Violation of 1973 constitution not treasonMusharraf says in his review petition

Senate sessiontodayISLAMABAD—Senate ses-sion will resume today (Mon-day) afternoon after two-daybreak. According to sources,session of parliament’s upperhouse underways to com-plete days of parliamentaryyear and ministers and sena-tors were not taking interestas there is no proposedagenda of this meeting. It isbeing said that session hasbeen the summoned to com-plete days of parliamentarycalendar and there is no is-sue of public nature to bediscussed here. Governmentand opposition have de-cided to call the session af-ter a break of one day andone day break is being giv-ing due to absence ofagenda. —Online

Miscreants blowup 132KV towerLORALAI—Militants blewup a pylon of main electric-ity line with explosives re-sulting in disruption ofpower supply to several ar-eas on Sunday. Leviessources said that unknownmiscreants had planted ex-plosive material with 132KVtower in Rakhni area ofLoralai which exploded witha big bang. The electricitypylon was completely de-stroyed in the explosion re-sulting in suspension ofpower supply to 10 unioncouncils of Barkhan andeight of Kohlu. The domes-tic consumers as well as farm-ers who irrigate their cropsthrough tube wells had tosuffer due to suspension ofelectricity supply. —INP

NADRA Chairmanvacancy to beadvertisedISLAMABAD—The federalgovernment has decided toadvertise the vacancy ofNational Database and Reg-istration Authority(NADRA) Chairman. Earlier,former NADRA chief TariqMalik had resigned fromthe post. It is decided thatexperts in Information Tech-nology (IT) will be givenpreference. The hiring pro-cess has expected to becompleted in three months.—INP

PO killed inencounterOKARA—A proclaimed of-fender was killed and fourpolicmen were injured dur-ing an encounter near hereon Sunday. An Elite Forcepolice team, on a tip off,raided a house at HaiderTown where the accusedopened firing on the teamwhich led to cross firing.As a result, four policemen,including Iftikhar Hussain,Muhammad Arif , AsgharAli and another, were in-jured while a robber waskilled in the shootout. Po-lice arrested two accused,including a woman, whiletwo others fled.

DHAKA—Sheikh Hasinawas sworn in for a third spellas Bangladesh’s prime min-ister on Sunday after adeadly general election boy-cotted by the oppositionamid an ongoing politicalcrisis.

President Abdul Hamidled the oath at the presiden-tial palace in the capitalDhaka in a ceremony broad-cast live on television chan-nels, one week after the pollswhich were condemned bythe opposition as a farce.

“I am, Sheikh Hasina,taking oath... that I will dis-charge my duties faithfullyas the prime minister of thegovernment as per the law,”Hasina said, sparking ap-plause during the ceremonywhich included recitationsfrom the Koran. H a s i n a ’s48 cabinet colleagues werealso sworn into office dur-ing the ceremony attendedby about 1,000 governmentand top military officials,along with foreign diplomatsand newly elected membersof parliament. H a s i n ahas insisted her walkoverwin in the Jan 5 electionswas legitimate, despite aboycott by the oppositionand its allies and the deadli-est election violence in thecountry’s history.

Hasina’s Awami Leagueparty won nearly 80 per cent

of the seats, which shouldallow her to rule for anotherfive years.But analysts saythe new government couldbe short-lived since Hasinafaces a deepening politicalcrisis and mounting calls fornew polls from the interna-tional community and theopposition. The opposition,led by two-times formerprime minister and arch en-emy Khaleda Zia, has sinceWednesday called for ablockade of roads, rail andwaterways to try to topplethe government.

Zia, who has been underde facto house arrest, wasallowed to leave her home in

Dhaka late Saturday for thefirst time in more than twoweeks.She was permitted toattend a meeting at her of-fice but it is unclear if herhouse arrest, which authori-ties have officially denied,has been completely lifted.Sunday’s ceremony comesafter the country’s newlyelected lawmakers weresworn in on Thursday. A to-tal of 153 Awami Leaguemembers or allies wereelected unopposed ahead ofpolling day as a result of theopposition boycott, im-posed over Hasina’s deci-sion to change the electoralsystem.—AP

Hasina swornin as BD PM

NEW DELHI—India, Satur-day, refused visa to chief Pa-kistan Awami Tehreek (PAT),Allama Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri who wanted to payspecial visit to India.

Reason of his visa plearejection was not disclosed.

Canada-based Pakistanischolar Qadri was scheduledto address at least 40 eventsin India over a month in 40Indian cities.

Minhaj-ul-Quran Interna-tional (MQI), in a statementexpressed utmost dismayover Indian government’sdecision as Qadri had visitedthe country several timesbefore.

The visa denial has left

KABUL—Afghanistan Minis-try of Interior has rejected in-volvement in assassinatingmembers of Taliban council inQuetta.

In a press release issuedby Ministry of Interior saidPakistan media based onanonymous resources ofTaliban groups and official in-stitutions of Pakistan has re-cently reported that a numberof leading members of Talibancouncil in Quetta had beenkilled by particular govern-ment organs of Afghanistan inthe past one month.

Interior Ministry of IslamicRepublic of Afghanistan hasrejected any involvement ofAfghanistan government or-gans in terrorist activities andconsidered the claims as totallybaseless, stressing that Af-

ghanistan government par-ticularly Afghan securityforces were involved in no ter-rorist activity and called thePakistan media reports relatedto killing Taliban leaders by Af-ghan organs as conspiracy.

MoI also said Afghanistangovernment has been makingefforts in the past few years toencourage armed oppositiongroups join peace program andreturn to their normal life.

Afghanistan Ministry ofInterior considered killing ofTaliban members in Quettacouncil as internal gaps in thegroup and infiltration of theregional intelligence networks,stressing that internal gapsamong Taliban have causedassassinating of leadingTaliban members by their col-leagues.—Online

Kabul rejects involvement in assassination of Taliban

Musharraf casenot against anindividual: PR

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for Information and

Broadcas t -ing, SenatorP e r v a i zRashid hassaid thatM u s h a r r a ftreason caseis notagainst an

individual but it is tostrengthen democracy in thecountry and block the wayof dictatorship in future. Inan interview on Sunday,Pervez Rasheed said that aimof the treason case is to carryout accountability of uncon-stitutional actions, addingthat the court will decide thefate of the former military dic-tator. —INP

OBSERVER REPORT

BARKHAN—Police and Anti-Terrorist Force conducted araid at the private jail of formerprovincial minister educationand member of BalochistanAssembly, Sardar AbdulRehman Khetran on Sunday.

Police said seven peopleincluding two women, threechildren were recovered fromthe private jail of the formerprovincial minister.

Six proclaimed absconderswere also picked up by ATFand police.

Police recovered arms andammunition from their

possession.Earlier on Sunday,Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetransurrendered to police in the af-termath of the registration ofthe kidnapping case againsthim in Barkhan Police Station.

Police had registered casesagainst Khetran, his son andeight others for kidnappingthree policemen and snatchingweapons from them.

A senior police official whodeclined to be named told me-dia that a team of police com-prising personnel of ATF wasalready dispatched to Barkhanto arrest the Sardar.

“Before the arrival of ATFparty, Sardar Khetran surren-

dered before police”, he added.Sardar Abdul Rehman

Khetran is the member ofBalochistan Assembly and hebelongs to Jamiat Ulema Islam(F).

He remained provincialminister for education in thepast and several times electedas member of BalochistanAssembly.

The police officer saidthat Sardar Khetran had sub-jected the police personnel totorture after kidnapping andsnatched weapons from theirpossession. “We will notspare anyone targeting thepolice”, he said.

JUI-F MPA Sardar Khetransurrenders to police

Women, children rescued from private jail

Protesters inThailand moveto shut down

BangkokBANGKOK — Anti-govern-ment protesters seeking toblock next month’s electionstook over major roads inBangkok on Sunday as theybegan their campaign to shutdown the city.

In this vast metropolis ofwell over 10 million people,the protesters were unlikelyto paralyze all movement andcommerce. But they vowedthat by Monday morningthey would close busy inter-sections, make major govern-ment offices inaccessible andbesiege the homes of top of-ficials in the administration ofPrime Minister YingluckShinawatra, whose party islikely to win the general elec-tions if they are held on Feb.2.—Agencies

Khattak: KP govtto raise Hazara

province issue inassembly

OBSERVER REPORT

P E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Chief MinisterPervez Khattak said on Sun-day that his governmentwould raise issue of Hazaraprovince in the provincialassembly and committee hadalso been formed in this re-gard.

Talking to media, he saidthat the federal governmentwas not taking his govern-ment into confidence regard-ing talks with the Taliban mili-tants. The chief minister saidthat the provincial govern-ment would cooperate withMaulana Samiul Haq if heheld talks with the Taliban.

BANGKOK: Anti-govt protesters blocked roads on Sunday prior to their complete Bangkok shut down today, Monday.

Qadri’s hosts, Observer Re-search Foundation (ORF),Mumbai and Minhaj-ul-Quran International (India),distraught and his followersdisappointed.

“It is shocking as DrQadri has millions of follow-ers in India, and it is not thefirst time he is visiting thecountry”, said an MQIspokesperson.

The statement furtheradded that all the programswere organized after MQI (In-dia) and ORF held talks withthe Indian home minister.

ORF Mumbai’s chairmanSudheendra Kulkarni, alongwith MQI (India)’s presidentRafeeq Ahmed Khan called

India refuses visato Tahir-ul-Qadri

on Indian home ministerSushil Kumar Shinde lastweek and briefed him onQadri’s background.

“Shinde promised us thathe would hold a meeting withofficials and try to sort outthe issue,” said Khan.

Kulkarni, while talking toreporters, said, “Officials inthe home ministry told us thatDr Qadri’s visa has been de-nied because of IntelligenceBureau’s (IB) note. We werenot informed on whatgrounds the IB has issuedthe note in question,” headded. Now, Allama Tahir-Ul-Qadri will expectedly addressthe gatherings throughvideo conference.—Online

BENGHAZI—Libya’s deputyindustry minister, Hassan al-Droui, was shot dead duringa visit to his hometown ofSirte, east of Tripoli, secu-rity and hospital sourcessaid. The identity of theshooters was not immedi-ately known, but theofficial’s death was the firstassassination of a memberof the transitional govern-ment since the fall ofMuammar Qaddafi’s govern-ment in October 2011.

Droui was killed nearMekmdas market in centralSirte after evening prayerson Sunday, media coordina-tor for the Tripoli SecurityDirectorate, Essam Naas,confirmed to local newspa-per, Libya Herald. “Hassanal-Droui, the deputy minis-ter for industry, was killed byunknown attackers over-night, during a visit to hisnative city of Sirte,” a secu-rity official told AFP newsagency.

“Unidentified gunmensprayed bullets on Mr Drouiin central Sirte,” the officialsaid, speaking on conditionof anonymity. An official atthe city’s Ibn Sina hospitalconfirmed the deputyminister’s death and addedthat he had suffered bulletwounds to several parts ofhis body.

Droui was a former mem-ber of the National Transi-tional Council, the politicalarm of the rebellion thatbrought an end to Gaddafi’s42-year rule. He was ap-pointed deputy minister forindustry by the transitionalgovernment’s first primeminister, Abdelrahim al-Kib,and kept his job when AliZeidan took over.

Droui’s hometown,which lies on the Mediterra-nean coast about 400kilometres east of the capitalTripoli, was the last govern-ment bastion to fall into rebelhands in 2011.—Agencies

Libya’s deputyindustry minister

shot dead

WH confirms Irannuclear deal to

take effect Jan 20WASHINGTON—The WhiteHouse confirmed Sundaythat a nuclear agreementwith Iran will take effect fromJanuary 20, but US PresidentBarack Obama said he wasunder “no illusions” howhard it would be to reach acomprehensive resolution.

“Beginning January20th, Iran will for the firsttime start eliminating itsstockpile of higher levels ofenriched uranium and dis-mantling some of the infra-structure that makes suchenrichment possible,” astatement from the WhiteHouse said.

Tehran earlier on Sundaygave the same start date forthe landmark agreement thatthe Islamic republic clinchedwith world powers.

Under the deal reachedin November, Iran agreed tocurb parts of its nuclear drivefor six months in exchangefor receiving modest relieffrom international sanctionsand a promise by Westernpowers not to impose newmeasures against its hard-hit economy.—AFP

RESOLUTIONS to lose weight are oftenmade in January yet almost as frequentlyabandoned as heavy hopefuls find diets

that demand fasting, virtually no carbs or liq-uid food shakes notoriously hard to stick to.But even “fad” diets can leadto a slimmer, lighter New Yearfor those whose resolve re-mains robust, according todoctors and nutritionistsanalysing them.

Gathering for a Londonconference to review evi-dence behind popular weightloss diets - at just the time ofyear when slimming ideas arein peak demand - specialistsconcluded that food fads suchas the hunter-gatherer “Paleo”plan or the 5:2 diet can de-liver. But it’s hard work. “Ifit was easy, our species wouldhave died out years ago. Ashumans we have a default toeat,” said Gary Frost, a pro-fessor and chair of nutritionand dietetics at Imperial Col-lege London.

The results of that default are looming largein a global “wave of obesity”, he said. Accord-ing to the World Health Organisation, world-wide obesity - defined as having a body massindex of more than 30 - has nearly doubled since1980. The latest global figure is that in 2008,more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight.

According to the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, almost 36 percent ofAmerican adults are obese and almost 70 per-cent are either obese or overweight. In Britain,a government health study predicts 60 percentof men, 50 percent of women and 25 percentof children will be obese by 2050. Against this

background, experts say the search for ef-fective diets must always take account ofhow easy it is for people to understand andfollow, and how likely they are to abide byits restrictions.

Michelle Harvie, a re-search dietician from the Gen-esis Prevention Centre atBritain’s University Hospitalof South Manchester, said thaton this front, fasting diets -sometimes called intermittentdiets - can be successful. “En-ergy restriction is difficult tomaintain over the long termand people tend to find iteasier to follow a diet withintermittent energy restric-tion,” she said.

She said that while a regu-lar weight loss plan might requirethe dieter to take in 25 percentfewer calories, intermittent dietsmay suggest two days of a 75percent calorie cut interspersedwith five days of normal healthyeating. But the key to these diets

- such as the 5:2 diet in which followers eat aslittle as 400 calories on two “fasting” days perweek - is that dieters won’t succeed if they “pigout” and eat whatever they want on non-fastingdays. Harvie’s research shows those who suc-ceed in losing weigh on these diets find the fast-ing days lead them to also have a lower foodintake on normal days - leading to lower calorieintake overall. Mark Berry, head of plantbiology and biochemistry at the consumer com-pany Unilever’s research and development unit,says there are also positive signs in data fromstudies of “Palaeolithic” or stone-age diets - plansdesigned to mimic the diet of pre-agriculturalhunter-gatherers of that era.

Fad diets can work, but expertsfind no magic slimming bullet

Models posing for a group photo during the Red Carpet Launch Event of TONI&GUYSaloon, in Islamabad.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

A view of lights powered on during broad daylight at expressway despite severe power shortage.

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Senator RajaMuhammad Zafar-ul-Haq onSunday said that media isfree and independent in Pa-kistan.

Addressing a seminar“Peace and Role of Media”,here at a local hotel, he urgedthe media to play its due rolefor promoting rel igious,moral and social values inthe society.

The Leader of the Housein Senate, said that mediashould come forward to playits role to educate the nationespecially the youth so as tohelp curtail the rising crime

rate in the society.He said, media in Paki-

stan is enjoying freedom. Pa-kistani journalists have paidhuge prices for it. Severaljournalists lost their lives, headded.

He said that informationis directly linked with the in-evitable media growth acrossthe world. Today the mediais altogether a different en-tity as it used to be in thepast. The vibrant, indepen-dent and responsible mediais inevitable to nurturedemocratic societies. Theseminar was attended amongothers by a large number ofjournalists.

Media free, independent in Pakistan

Leader of the House in the Senate, Senator Raja Muhammad Zafar ul Haq addressing aseminar on ‘Peace and Role of Media’.

Stall holders displayed hand-made decoration items during Cultural Week at National Col-lege of Arts, Liaquat Bagh.

Gate houses tobe constructed

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The CapitalDevelopment Authori ty(CDA) would construct GateHouses and Bunkers in andout of Parliament Lodges toensure security of the parlia-mentarians.

The authority in this re-gard has allocated an amountRs3.766 million in the finan-cial year 2013-14 budget.

An official of Capital De-velopment Authority said thatthe completion of the projectwould help to provide propersecurity to the residents ofParliament Lodges.

He further said that fundsare also allocated for the re-placement of broken and dam-aged doors, windows andshutters at Parliament Lodges,costing Rs2.132 million.

The official also con-firmed that the Capital Devel-opment Authority has alsoplaned to provide and fixingof Television, Liquid CrystalDisplay (LCD) monitors inlobbies and receptions ofBlock A, B, C, D, E, F, G, Hand J at Parliament lodges,costing Rs4 million.

To a question, he saidCDA has allocated sufficientfunds for the maintenance ofParliament Lodges addingthat the work will be com-pleted in the given time pe-riod.

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Capi-tal Territory Police have chalkedout comprehensive security planfor processions of Eid Milad unNabi and decided to deploy morethan 2200 personnel along withpersonnel of Rangers for the se-curity of various processions inthe city. SSP IslamabadMuhammad Rizwan in consul-tation with other police officialsincluding SPs, DSPs and SHOshas finalized this security plan.Four SPs, six ASPs/DSPs, 11Inspectors will supervise the se-curity arrangements of the pro-cessions and to be assisted bySHO of respective police sta-tions.

As per plan,more than 2200policemen along with Rangerspersonnel would remain engagedfor security duties during proces-

sions on various routes. Mainprocession will start from G-7.

Parking lots would be faraway from the routes of proces-sions with proper security ar-rangements there. Metal detec-tors as well as walk throughgates would be used at entry andexit points of the processions.Police officers, who will be onsecurity duty, will not be al-lowed to leave the specifiedplace before end of the proces-sions. Advance police party willmove on foot ahead of proces-sion.

The procession will becompletely covered by the po-licemen form the front and rearside. Special walk through gateswill be installed while police-men will perform street plug-ging duty so that no outsider canenter into the procession. Spe-cial deployment would be made

at roof tops while patrolling willbe ensured on the routes of pro-cession before its passage fromthere.

Police Reserves will re-main stand-by for assistance incase of any untoward incident.All in-charge points and pla-toons force have been directedto keep roll of force deployedunder their command. Parkingalong with the routes of proces-sion will not be allowed andfolk lifters have been arrangedto remove vehicles if parkedalong with route.

It will be also ensured thatall police officers/men deployedon duty to display their servicecard on chest. Bomb DisposalSquad will ensure technicalsweeping at the routes and ven-ues. Plain Cloth police officialswill keep watch on the suspi-cious persons while monitoring

cameras will be installed alongthe routes of procession.

Islamabad Traffic Police(ITP) has also devised a specialtraffic plan to ensure smoothflow of traffic at the time of pro-cession in connection with EidMilad un Nabi and decided todepute an additional staff of po-licemen at various locations forthe guidance of road users. Su-perintendent of Police (Traffic)Asmat Ullaj Junejo will overallsupervise the traffic plan whileheads of respective circleswould remain present along withroutes of procession to ensureconvenience to road users.

ITP has also appealed thecitizens to cooperate inimplemenation of this plan. TheSSP Muhammad Rizwan hassaid that he would himself moni-tor security arrangements andeffective security to be ensured.

Processions of Eid Milad-un-Nabi

Police chalk out security plan

ISLAMABAD—The Capital Devel-opment Authority (CDA) has pro-posed amendments in its by-lawsframed in 1960, seeking raise in thefine amount for sellers of unhy-gienic edible items in the FederalCapital. According to CDA’s Di-rector Health Services HasanOrooj, a summary seeking amend-ments in the by-laws has been for-warded to the Cabinet Division forapproval. It has been proposed thatthe fine for selling unhygienic fooditems should be increased fron Rs200-2000 to Rs 15,000, he saidwhile talikng to APP.

He said two teams of CDA’sHealth Directorate were deputed tocheck sale of perishable and unhy-gienic food items at hotels, restau-rants and shops in the Hederal

Capital. During the last six months,the teams had raided 2,500 shopsand served notices to 1,300 for vio-lating hygiene rules, out of which500 were challaned, he added.

The inspection procedure hasbeen improved and all food out-lets, wholesale stores, and cafete-rias in the city, particularly in G-6,G-7, I-10, G-9, F-7, F-11 and F-10sectors are under constant vigil, hesaid. He said the inspection teamson the spot destroyed sub-standardfood items, mineral water bottles,and cooking oil. Hassan said some90 hotels and bakeries were sealedpartially for violation of food lawsand 75 filthy utensils were confis-cated. Some 35 first informationreports were also lodged against theviolaters, he added.—APP

Violators of hygiene rules

CDA proposes raisein fine amount

NA Speaker, Deputycondole demise ofAnusha’s fatherSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Speaker, SardarAyaz Sadiq and Deputy SpeakerMurtaza Javed Abbasi have con-doled on the demise of father ofAnusha Rahman Khan, Minis-ter of State for InformationTechnology and Telecommuni-cation.

In their separate condolencemessages to Anusha RahmanKhan on Sunday, the Speakerand the Deputy Speaker ex-pressed their heartfelt grief andsorrow over the sad demise.

They prayed to AlmightyAllah to rest the departed soulin eternal peace and grantcourage to her and other mem-bers of the bereaved family tobear the irreparable loss withequanimity.

IESCO gives 86,000new connections

ISLAMABAD—The IslamabadElectric Supply Company(IESCO) gave around 86,000new connections to various con-sumers during the last financialyear. Official sources told APPhere that out of total connections,75,833 domestic, 9323 commer-cial, 463 industrial, 290tubewells and others connectionswere given during the said pe-riod.

They said four new grid sta-tions of 132 KV were also setup with an estimated cost of Rs798.392 million besidesupgradation of seven grid sta-tions costing Rs 756.86 millionduring the same period.

The sources said with theupgradation and installation ofnew grid stations, low voltage andtripping issues were also addressedand the consumers were gettingsmooth and uninterrupted powersupply. Meanwhile, the IESCOcollected Rs. 79,445 million rev-enue with 100 percent recoveryfrom private consumers during thefiscal year 2012-13.—APP

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Around 400cops of Islamabad police in weehours on Sunday conductedsearch operation in rural areasand nabbed several hardenedcriminals, drug pushers, sus-pects and targetted offenders.

According to details, IGPIslamabad Sikandar Hayat andSSP Islamabad MuhammadRizwan have assigned task toIslamabad police for effectivesearch operation in various lo-cations of Islamabad and ensurearrest of hardened criminals andsuspects.

In compliance of these di-rections, SP (City) MustansarFeeroz along with various teamsof Islamabad police headed byASP Secretariat, SDP Shehzadtown, SHOs of Koral, Shehzadtown, Lio Bher police stationsand others condcuted a compre-hensive targetted search opera-

tion in Sohan, Zia Masjid areaand New Sharkial.

Around 400 policemenand police commandos par-ticipated in this search opera-tion and nabbed several hard-ened criminals , drugpushers,suspects andtargetted offenders.

As per breakup of these ar-rests, Capital police arrested 10target offenders, 47 suspects andsix Afghan nationals residing il-legally in the city. Police alsorecovered one van, seven bikes,two pistols, 1.5 gram hashish,50 gram heroin, 50 liquor bottlesand spare parts of three motor-bikes from them. Senior Super-intendent of Police IslamabadMuhammad Rizwan has appre-ciated the overall performanceand directed all police officialsto extend this search operationin other areas to ensure securityto peace loving people ofIslamabad.

Search operation in ruralareas, several arrested

IIUI’s QuarterlyInsights wins

National Sirah AwardISLAMABAD—The NationalSirah Committee of the Ministryof Religious Affairs has selectedthe “Muhammad (peace be onhim) and the West,” number ofthe quarterly Insights for NationalSirah Award 1435/ 2014.

The National Competitionfor the Journals focusing onSirah for the year 1435/2014 hasbeen organised by the Ministryof Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, said an IIUIpress release.

The award will be conferredin a special ceremony to be heldon the occasion of National SirahConference at Presidency, onRabi’ al-Awwal 12 (January 14).The special number of the quar-terly Insights includes four re-search papers selected via dueinternational blind peer-reviewingprocess and two book reviews onSirah works, by renowned Is-lamic scholars and Sirah expertsfrom around the world.—APP

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Zohr

Brothers in Islam establishregular prayers and charity

Continuing

EXHIBITION of paintings byMasood A. Khan, at the NomadGallery, House No. 72, Street32, Sector F-6/1, Islamabad,continuing up to January 16, 10a.m.-7 p.m. daily (except forFridays).

President PISA Ammar Jaffry addressing the closing session of training workshop on Chal-lenges of Cyber Security in Pakistan-2014 organized by Cyber Secure Pakistan.

A view of pedestrian bridge at Expressway.

Women and children holding placards during a protest against gas loadshedding at Benezir Bhutto Road near Committee Chowk.

CITY REPORTER

RAWA L P I N D I—Saj j adahNasheen Eidgah Sharif PirNaqib-ur-Rehman, while ad-dressing religious scholars,Ulema Karam and office bearersof various Markazi Milad Com-mittees at Darbar Eidgah SharifRawalpindi, said that Milad ofProphet Muhammad (PBUH)will be celebrated with full reli-gious spirit, enthusiasm and fer-vor and security and other ar-rangements for protection ofMilad professions by the divi-sional, district and local adminis-tration are appreciable. He as-sured all out cooperation for ar-rangements on the occasion ofEid-Milad-un-Nabi by the office

bearers of Milad committees. Hesaid that our Holy Prophet (PBUH)gave message of peace and love inthe world and the lovers of the HolyProphet Muhammad (PBUH)should spread the message of loveand peace of Holy Prophet (PBUH)for human beings throughout theworld.

The meeting of Ulema,Mashaikh, and office bearers ofmilad committees was held atDarbar Eid Ghah SharifRawalpindi. CommissionerRawalpindi division KhalidMasood Chaudhry, RPO AkhtarUmar Hayat Laleeka, DCORawalpindi Sajid Zafar Dall,former MNA Muhammad HanifAbbasi, Sh. Tariq Masood, Sh.Nasir, Shahid Mansoor Chisti, Ch.

Khursheed, Fakhar Zaman, MalikAkhtar Ali, Ch. Ashraf, prominentreligious scholars and office bear-ers of Milad Committees werepresent in the meeting.

Commissioner RawalpindiKhalid Masood Chaudhry ad-dressing the office bearers ofMilad Committees said that theadministration has finalized foolproof arrangements of securityand provision of all possible fa-cilities on the route of MarkaziMilad Procession on the occasionof Eid Milad-un-Nabi. He addedthat all concerned departmentsshould remain present and alert toensure the arrangements. He saidthat administration and concernedgovt. departments are in touchwith office bearers of Divisional

& District Milad Committees toimplement the arrangement planin the light of the suggestions ofthe office bearers of Milad Com-mittees. Regional Police OfficerAkhar Umar Hayat Laleeka saidthat fool-proof security coverwould be provided to the proces-sions of the milad and strict vigi-lance would be kept with the co-operation of organizers of variousMilad processions.

He added that Holy ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) spread themessage of love and peace for thewhole humanity and Almighty Al-lah himself called him as “Rehmat-tulil-Aalimaeen” meaning bless-ings for the all worlds. FormerMNA Muhammad Hanif Abbasisaid that lovers of Holy Prophet

(PBUH) would observe Eid-milad-un-Nabi with full spirit andenthusiasm. He added that the be-lief of a Muslim does not becomecomplete unless he has deep andtrue love for Muhammad(PBUH). He further said that thebirth anniversary of Holy ProphetMuhammad (PBUH) itself givesmessage of peace and security tothe humanity. Muhammad HanifAbbasi said that all nation shouldbecome united and steadfastagainst sectarian hatred and ex-tremism to foil designs of anti-Pakistan elements who are set outto disrupt unity of the country byresorting to bloodshed throughterrorist activities. He assured allout cooperation for maintenanceof security and peace in the city.

Milad will be celebrated with full religious spirit

Sajjadah Nasheen Eidgah Sharif Pir Naqib-ur-Rehman, Commissioner Rawalpindi Divi-sion Khalid Masood Chaudhry, RPO Akhtar Umar Hayat Laleeka, DCO Rawalpindi SajidZafar Dall, former MNA Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, prominent religious scholars and of-fice-bearers of Milad Committees offering Dua.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Punjab Minis-ter for Labour and ManpowerRaja Ashfaq Sarwer has said thata comprehensive action plan willbe prepared to coordinate anti-dengue campaign and activitiesafter winter. He said dengue vi-rus could be controlled andeliminated through concertedand continuous efforts and solidsteps would be taken to kill den-gue mosquito larva.

He was presiding over aweekly meeting of the adminis-tration and government depart-ments and public representativeson dengue here. MNAs, MPAs

and party ticket holders includ-ing Raja Javed Ikhlas, Dr. TariqFazal Chaudhry, Asfand YarBhandara, Aasia Ayub Tanoli,Tahira Orangzeb, Malik ShakeelAwan, Muhammad HanifAbbasi, Sardar Naseem, SardarMumtaz, Dr. Jamal Nasir, ZiaUllah Shah, Raja Atiq Sarwar,Haji Pervez Khan, MirzaMansoor Baig, Zaib-un-NisaAwan, Tehseen Fawad, RajaHanif Advocate, Sobia Satti andother party leaders attended themeeting. CommissionerRawalpindi Khalid Masood Ch.,Deputy CommissionerIslamabad Mujahid Sher Dil,DCO Rawalpindi Sajid Zafar

Dal and divisional and districtheads of various governmentdepartments were also present.

The provincial minister di-rected the District Health Officerto prepare a plan for controllingdengue and provide training toteams for identification of larvain various places of the city. Healso emphasized on all govern-ment departments to makepreparations and chalk out theirprogrammes for initiating anti-dengue campaign after winterseason.

He also directed the authori-ties concerned to specify places

Action plan to be preparedfor anti-dengue campaign

CITY REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Plan is underconsideration to supply waterfrom Tarbella Dam Reservoir inorder to meet the present andfuture requirements of Sectoralarea of Islamabad, ICT andRawalpindi. This project hasbeen planned to bring 655 Mil-lion Gallons per Day (MGD)water by the year 2050 in threephases.

Currently, water from Simly

Dam, Khanpur Dam and TubeWells installed by CapitalDevlopment Authority (CDA) isbeing supplied to the residentsof Sectoral area of Islamabad(being maintained by CDA),official sources said, adding itis a fact that the water being sup-plied by CDA is not enough tomeet the increasing demand ofwater of Sectoral area.

No water is supplied fromthese sources to the areas ofIslamabad which fall under the

jurisdiction of Islamabad Capi-tal Territory (ICT) Administra-tion.

Feasibility study for thescheme has been completed.However, certification by IndusRiver system Authority (IRSA)regarding River Indus water ap-portionment for Islamabad andRawalpindi is required to pro-ceed further, for which Minis-try of Water and Power has al-ready been requested, throughCabinet Division.

Twin Cities may get watersupply from Tarbella Dam

Senate think-tank

Raja Zafar,Aitzaz to finalise

committeeSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chairman SenateNayyar Hussain Bokhari has nomi-nated Leader of the Upper Houseand Opposition Leader to finalizethe formation of steering commit-tee on Senate think-tank. Accord-ing to details, leader of the UpperHouse Raja Zafar-ul-Haq and op-position leader Chaudhry AitzazAhsan will soon deliberate on for-mation of steering committee.

The steering committee willfinalize name of the think-tank, itsaims and objectives and terms ofreferences. The think-tank willwork to propose recommenda-tions and policies relating to na-tional security and legislations toimprove performance of the up-per house. One of the main objec-tives of the think-tank also in-cludes transforming the Senatemore functional and effective.

53 suspectsarrested

ISLAMABAD—Rawalpindi andIslamabad police during jointsearch operation in the Capitalarrested 53 suspects includingAfghan nationals on Sunday.

SP City Mustansar Feroz saidthat the twin cities police on se-cret information of presence ofsuspected persons launched crack-downs in Sohan, New Shakrialand other areas of the federal capi-tal. During operation, 53 criminalsincluding six Afghan citizens weredetained. Police claimed to haverecovered two pistols, drugs, a vanand seven motorcycles from thepossession of nabbed culprits. Thepolice sources said that 10 amongthe detainees were wanted by twincity police in various cases.—INP

NAB to probe‘Safe City Project’ISLAMABAD—The NationalAccountability Bureau (NAB)has decided to conduct an inves-tigation into the alleged em-bezzlement in the $124 million‘Safe City Project’ by formerInterior Minister Rehman Malik.

According to sources, RehmanMalik arranged payment of $68million for a Chinese company, butthat company did not do any workand returned.

The government had re-ceived $124 million loan for theproject from a Chinese company,out of which $68 million werepaid to another Chinese companydue to which the national exche-quer suffered losses. The NABhas decided to conduct probeagainst Rehman Malik over al-leged embezzlement. —INP

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) leaderand social activist Jahangir Akhtarsaid that people are pinning highhopes in the Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif to re-solve their problems.

He lauded the government forappointing Federal Minister forPlanning Development and Re-forms Ahsan Iqbal to head a six-member parliamentary committeeto review and recommend actionon the stalled developmentalprojects of the former regime.

Talking to a delegation of no-tables from Kallar Syedan and

Kahuta, Jahangir Akhtar said thatformer Prime Minister RajaPervaiz Ashraf initiated develop-mental projects worth billions dur-ing his last days to ensure victoryin the general elections. However,rules were violated therefore theSupreme Court stopped theprojects and directed that compe-tent authority should decide the fateof projects. The committee wouldtake a decision in two weeks andsubmit recommendations to thePM who would take the final deci-sion, he said. Jahangir Akhtar saidthat early completion of some ofthe projects would provide relief

to masses and add to the popular-ity of the PML-N led government.

He said that now the formerPM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is not amember of parliament and has nopolitical power therefore he shouldrefrain from misguiding masses byclaiming to get the developmentalprojects completed. He said thePPP which gave nothing to thepeople except load-shedding, infla-tion and joblessness during the pastfive years seems to be afraid of therising popularity of the PML-Nwhich has emerged as popularparty at both national and provin-cial level.—INP

People pinning hopes onNawaz: Jahangir

CITY REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Street crimesthat were rare in Rawalpindicity, have raised their ugly headhere too. The residents ofRawalpindi are concerned withthe prevailing insecurity due tostreet crimes and other criminalincidents in various parts of thecity.

The increasing incidents ofstreet crimes, car lifting andmobile and purse snatching arethe major concern for Pindiitesand they demand the high au-thorities to take notice of thesituation.

The residents complainedthat the muggers were roamingfreely in the city and looting thepeople while the policemenwere unable to check them.

The residents said the city

goes dark due to loadsheddingin evening and during that timeyoung boys are out on roads andstreets on bikes without numberplates snatching cell phones andcash from the people.

The police do not take theabsence of number plates onthe bikes, they added. AzharHussain, a resident of BaniPolice Station said that he reg-istered a complaint of robberywhile he was standing with hisfriends ner Imam Bara chowkAl-Madina dairy that sud-denly three robbers riding mo-torcycle appeared andsnatched Rs 0.1 million andfired on us.

They said that mostly thestreet crime is increasing in thejurisdiction of New Town,Banni and Sadiqabad policestations as the residents of

these areas complain of be-coming victims of these inci-dents. Working women,mostly become easy targets ofpurse and mobile snatchers orobnoxious remarks when theycome back home from work inthe evening.

A resident of Sadiqabad,Bilal Hashmi said he lost hisi-phone and laptop while go-ing back to my home. He said,“Such incidents not only dis-courage us but also give us asense of insecurity during per-formance of our duties”.

Another working woman,Shiasta Durrani said the lackof lights around the newly con-structed flyover of ChandaniChowk also makes the areadeserted in late hours, luringcriminals to snatch cell phonesand cash from the people.

Street crimes on peak inRawalpindi worry residents

Two killed overfinancial dispute

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Two personswere killed in exchange of firebetween members of two groupsover a financial dispute here onSunday.

Police said that armed menof two groups hailing fromDhowk Elahi Bakhsh area ofRawalpindi traded fire as onegroup had acquired loan fromthe other and was not returningit.

In cross firing two personssustained critical wounds andwere rushed to Benazir BhuttoHospital where one of them suc-cumbed to his wounds.

The armed men of opponentgroup reached the emergencyward of hospital, shot dead theother wounded person and es-caped the scene.

A case has been registeredagainst the accused and policehave started raids for their arrest.

PMDC stopsadmission of two

more medicalcolleges

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Medi-cal and Dental College (PMDC)has directed to stop admissionsto Yusra Medical and DentalCollege and Mohtrama BenazirBhutto Shaheed Medical Col-lege Mirpur AJK for the year2014-15 due to lack of facilitiesand other deficiencies.

According to the RegistrarPMDC Dr Amjad Mahmoodthese colleges were stopped foradmission after the surprise in-spections by the PMDC.

Talking to media persons onSunday, he said Yusra MedicalCollege, Islamabad had beenstopped for admission as theyfailed to build their own 200-bedhospital and at present their at-tached hospital was not up to themark according to the PMDCcriteria.

Mohtrama Benazir BhuttoShaheed Medical CollegeMirpur AJK had also beenstopped for admissions, due tonot having proper full time fac-ulty. Dr Amjad Mehmood saidthat PMDC would not compro-mise over the standards of medi-cal dental education. He ap-prised that all the postgraduateinstitutions should get accredi-tation from PMDC as a post-graduate training site in order toget the qualifications granted bythem to be registered withPMDC.—APP

Gas shortage

Citizens’miseries

multipliedSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Miseries of citi-zens have been multiplied dueto intense gas load shedding ingovernment flats of G-9/2 andadjacent areas of federal capi-tal. According to reports, Citi-zens have complained manytimes against gas load sheddingto Sui Southern Gas PipelinesLimited (SSGPL) office but noone turned deaf ear to their ap-plications.

Citizens were becomingvictims of different diseasesas they were forced to takesub-standard food from hoteldue to absence of natural gasat homes.

It has been reported thatresidents of G-9 governmentflats have constantly been un-dergoing gas load sheddingfor the last many days while,gas supply continues in pri-vate houses of that sectorwithout any hindrance.

The citizens warned thegovernment and Sui SouthernGas Pipelines Limited offi-cials to lodge protest if thisfavouritism continues.

HEC awardsforeign, indigenous

scholarshipsISLAMABAD—The Higher Edu-cation Commission (HEC) hasawarded 2,528 foreign, 4,108indigenous scholarships to vari-ous scholars in the last fiveyears, said an official of Minis-try of Education, Training andStandards in Higher Education.Talking to APP, he said the HEChas sent 4,204 scholars to abroadand also extended financial as-sistance to 8,178 students underdifferent need basedprogrammes in last five years.

Giving detail of the foreignscholarships, he said 1,432 for-eign scholarships including 238female scholars of Punjab havebeen awarded in last five years.

A total of 304 scholarshipsincluding 68 female scholarshailing from Sindh have beenawarded since the year 2008. Yetother 482 scholarships including43 female scholars have beenawarded to the students ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. While 75scholarships including 13 fe-male students of Balochistanhave also been awarded in lastfive years, he said. Likewise,116 scholarships including 25female scholars belonging toAzad Jammu and Kashmir havebeen awarded.—APP

SRINAGAR—The veteranHurriyet leader, Syed AliGeelani, has said that minori-ties, the Muslims in particular,in India have suffered im-mensely during the Congressrule.

Syed Ali Geelani in a state-ment issued in Srinagar dis-missed as election stunt the as-sertion of Indian Home Minis-ter, Sushil Kumar Shinde, ask-ing the governments of all In-dian states to set up review orscreening committees to assessrole of minority youth languish-ing in jails on terror chargeswithout trial.

Minorities in India suffered immenselyduring Congress rule: Geelani

“During Congress rule,Muslim community in Indiaand people of Kashmir in par-ticular were the worst sufferersand thousands of Muslim youthare languishing in different jailson fictitious cases,” the veteranleader said. He pointed out thatthe Kashmiri youth were sub-jected to the worst type of sup-pression for being a part of thefreedom movement, whileMuslim community in Indiawas being targeted for their as-sociation with so-called IndianMujahedeen.

Syed Ali Geelani said thatCongress under the cover of so-

called secularism, promoted theagenda of the rightwing com-munal parties whose soleagenda was killing, destructionand humiliation of Kashmiripeople and Muslim communityin India.

“It is in view of the forth-coming elections that SushilKumar Shinde has raised the is-sue of fake cases against Mus-lim population and this is allmockery and only to lure Mus-lim community,” he added.

The veteran leader main-tained that the Congress partyignored all norms of justicewhen Kashmiri youth,

Muhammad Afzal Guru, wasexecuted mercilessly to satisfythe so-called conscience of thepeople of India.

Referring to the MeccaMasjid, Malegaon andSamjhauta Express blasts, hesaid that these elementsblamed Muslim youth in In-dia for these terror acts.“However, after the investiga-tions revealed the facts aboutthese incidents, they neverapologized for their mislead-ing statements and their alle-gations against the Muslimcommunity,” he added.—KMS

SRINAGAR—Doctors Associa-tion Kashmir (DAK) Friday saidthat untreated Hepatitis-C pa-tients were a constant source oftransmission of infection to thecommunity.

Dr Nisar ul Hassan, presi-dent DAK said in a statementthat with the outbreak of Hepa-titis-C in south Kashmir last yearand surfacing of cluster of casesin old city was a concern and acolossal human tragedy indeed.

“Government has failed inpreventing hepatitis c in commu-nity and by not providing treat-ment to hepatitis c positive pa-tients, is responsible for theirdeaths and secondary transmis-sion of the virus in the commu-nity”, he said.

“Politicians by making falsepromises of free treatment toHepatitis-C patients during pub-lic rallies are playing with hu-man lives’, Hassan said.

“The enormous burden of

Hepatitis-C patients transforminfection to community

secondary transmission of hepa-titis c has been compounded bygovernment issuing chemistshop licenses to unqualified per-sons who by way of their wrongmedical practices are a majorsource of infection of the virus.Government has failed to closeunhygienic clinics responsiblefor spreading hepatitis c dis-ease”, DAK chief said.

He further said that Govern-ment has violated constitutionalobligation by not providing treat-ment to hepatitis c patients. Rightto health as integral part of rightto live is a fundamental and con-stitutional right of every personunder Article 21.Preservation ofhuman life is thus of paramountimportance and government isduty bound to extend medicalassistance to protect human lives.Lack of financial resources can-not be a reason for the state toshy away from its constitutionalobligation.—KMS

S R I N A G A R — T e r m i n gMuzafarnagar roits and subse-quent oppression on Muslimcommunity as a blot on Indiandemocracy, Awami IttihaadParty (AIP) president Er. Rashidhas said that Hindu extremistshave acted like beasts by exter-minating, raping, and mutilatingthe bodies of innocent poorMuslims. “I was shocked to hearhorror stories from the Muslimsof Muzafar Nagar living likecattle’s in relief camps,” Rashidtold CNS adding that mediamust highlight the plight ofMuzafarnagar victims.

Muzaffarnagar riots blot on Indian democracy

Rashid shocked to hear horrortales from Muslim victims

“I along with ShiromaniAkali Dal chief Simranjit SinghMan met affected Muslim fami-lies and what we hear and wit-ness was shocking. The sightexposed the so-called Indiansecular set-up,” Rashid said.

He said that it was hearten-ing and painful to hear that in-nocent Muslim women and girlswere raped by Hindu zealots.Muslims were killed and theirbodies were mutilated to the ex-tent that they could not be iden-tified.

He said that at least 40,000people of Muzafarnagar are liv-

ing a wretched life in reliefcamps. “Some of them arecamping in grave yards. I wastold by people that Hindu zeal-ots let loose a reign of terror onSeptember 7 and all of them re-lied on one slogan, “Ya tum jaoPakistan, Ya phir jao Qabristan”(Either go to Pakistan or facedeath). People told me that itwas a nightmare for them andthey are still feeling insecure,”Rashid said adding thatMulayem Singh did nothing toprotect Muslims while BJP in-stigated violence and Congresspatronized the goons.—CNS

Ghani enunciates‘settlement of

Kashmir disputeis essential’

SRINAGAR—Leader of the AllParties Hurriyet Conference(APHC), Professor Abdul GhaniBhatt said that settlement of theKashmir dispute is essential forthe betterment of the people ofSouth Asia.

In an interview with mediain Srinagar, Professor AbdulGhani Bhatt said that resolutionof Kashmir is not only for thebetterment of the people ofKashmir but also in the largerinterests of South Asia, Chinaand America.

He said, the long-pendingdispute should be resolved sothat no wars and confrontationsbetween two nuclear powers –Pakistan and India – take placein future.

The APHC leader deploredthat the United Nations hadfailed to resolve the conflictover Kashmir and even after 65years, nothing concrete hadhappened vis-à-vis its settle-ment.

Maintaining that the so-called elections in the occupiedterritory had no relevance tothe Kashmir dispute, he saidthat the sham polls were heldfor better roads and electricityand they had nothing to dowith the ongoing liberationstruggle.

He pointed out that even theUN resolutions on Kashmir de-liberated in detail that the elec-tion process in the territorycould not affect the disputedcharacter of Jammu and Kash-mir.—NNI

Indian armycatches dustafter failedoperation

SRINAGAR—Freedom fightersgave slip to a joint party of Armyand Special Operations Group(SOG) of police after a briefencounter at Marble, Sopore.

Sources said that acting oninformation regarding the pres-ence of some fighters, Army’s27 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) andSpecial Operations Group ofpolice cordoned off Chirhar for-est area of Marble in Sopore to-day morning and started comb-ing operation.

As the team started searchoperations, the fighters hiding inthe forest area opened severalshots at them before fleeing.

Though the forces intensi-fied the searches in the area, thefighters, sources said, have man-aged to escape.

Later in the day, army andSOG busted the freedom fight-ers hideout in the forest area andbut recovered only some eatableitems. The search operation wasin progress when the last reportscame in.

A police officer was killedand three other cops sustainedserious bullet injuries whenfighters attacked a joint team ofSOG and army during searchoperation in Chankhan area ofSopore.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The All PartiesHurriyet Conference (APHC)leader, Muhammad YousufNaqash, has said that the sacri-fices rendered by the Kashmiripeople for securing their right toself-determination will not gowaste.

Mohammad Yousuf Naqashaddressing corner meetings indifferent areas of Srinagar saidthat it was the historical fact thatIndia itself had taken the Kash-mir dispute to the United Na-tions and promised to give thepeople of Jammu and Kashmirthe right to decide their fate bythemselves. He said that Indiawas hell bent on curbing and

Kashmiris’ sacrifices willnot go waste: Naqash

crushing the voice of freedomthrough military might.

The APHC leader said thatthe people of Kashmir had beenpeacefully struggling for resolu-tion of the Kashmir dispute butIndia with the arrogance of mili-tary might had adopted unreal-istic and obdurate policy forimpeding its settlement.

He asked the people to re-main vigilant from pro-Indiaparties as they were befoolingthem in the name of resolutionof the Kashmir dispute and shed-ding crocodile tears on humanrights violations for gainingfavour in farcical elections. “Ac-tually they are hand in glow with

India, helping it strengthen itsillegal occupation and theirhands are soaked in the blood ofKashmiri people. So it is neces-sary to maintain distance fromthem,” he maintained.

Yousuf Naqash said that forpeace and progress in South Asialasting and honourable settle-ment of the Kashmir dispute asper the aspirations of Kashmiripeople was a must.

Shah Ghulam Hassan,Mushtaq Ahmad Butt,Mohammad Yousuf Mir, NazirAhmad Sofi, Mohammad AbbasButt and Tantray Ejaz also ac-companied Yousuf Naqash.—KMS

JAMMU—Jammu and Kash-mir Chief Minister OmarAbdullah has said all disputesexisting between India andPakistan can be only be re-solved through dialogue, andadded that history has shownthat war has never been a so-lution.

According to Indian me-dia reports, addressing a pub-l ic meeting in Vijaypur,Abdullah said: “Wars in thepast have never solved anyproblem and will not solveany issue in the future.”

Abdullah also spoke onthe issue of corruption, say-

Omar: Dialogue vital forresolution of Kashmir dispute

ing that his government hastaken steps to appoint theright people in the r ightplaces, and introduced laws totackle the menace.

“To curb corruption hasremained our first target. Webrought historic initiatives toempower people to be impor-tant players in achieving thisgoal,” he said, while referringto laws like the Public Ser-vices Guarantee Act and theRight to Information Act.

He also said that the stateaccountability commissionhad been reconstituted and astate vigilance commission

had been appointed to makegovernment functioning trans-parent, and to ensure that ba-sic civic services are deliveredon time.

“Some 80 basic servicesfrom 13 departments havebeen brought under the ambitof the Public Services Guar-antee Act to be delivered toconsumer in a fixed timeframe,” he said.

Any official who delays orfails to deliver these servicesin a fixed time frame is liablefor a fine, which shall then begiven to be affected consumer,he added.—Online

SRINAGAR—A delegation ofHurriyat Conference led by se-nior resistance leader and chair-man Democratic Freedom Party,Shabir Ahmad Shah visited thefamily of Shaheed WaseemAhmad Dar at their Dogripuraresidence in South Kashmir’sAwantipora.

In a statement issued toKNS, senior Hurriyat leader andchairman, National Front,Nayeem Ahmad Khan, IslamicPolitical Party, MuhammadYusuf Naqash and MuhammadYasin Ataai were also among thedelegation.

The leaders while payingrich tributes to Shaheed Waseemsaid the whole nation is theguardian of his precious sacri-fice and that no one will be al-lowed to play with their sacredblood.

Earlier, the leaders ad-

No one will be allowed to misuseHurriyat platform: Shah

dressed a large public gather-ing in the area. Shabir Shah,while reiterating his demand ofresolving Kashmir issue as perthe wishes and aspirations of itspeople said that had India re-solved this longstanding issuerather than resorting to forceand implementing black lawsagainst freedom fighters, lakhsof lives could have been saved.“The massacres and killingstaking place in Kashmir is theresult of India’s stubbornness inresolving this burning issue,”Shah added.

Terming Waseem AhmadDar’s martyrdom as a part ofthose invaluable sacrifices whofought against the illegal occu-pation of India, Shah said theyall laid their lives for the rightto self determination.

The senior Hurriyat leadersaid, those showing dishonesty

with the freedom movementwill not be allowed to useHurriyat platform. “We are us-ing Hurriyat platform for re-solving the Kashmir issue asper the wishes of our martyrsand our constitution is crystalclear that we want Kashmir is-sue to be resolved by imple-menting UN resolutions orthrough tripartite talks.”

Shah said the UN resolu-tions provide constitutional ba-sis for Kashmir issue and it isthe responsibility of United Na-tions to find the solution to thisissue and to stress upon Indiain resolving this longstandingdispute.

“The issue of Jammu andKashmir is not any border dis-pute between India and Paki-stan but is an issue concerningthe future of a nation,” Shahadded.—KMS

Indian troopsviolate truce,injure civilian

MU Z A F FA R A B A D—Indiantroops again violated theceasefire on the Line of Control(LoC), injuring a 55-year-oldcivilian in Tatapani sector, some180 kilometres fromMuzaffarabad, local residentsand the administration told.

According to details, Indiansoldiers opened indiscriminatefire on the civilian population ofRadkhathar village in the unioncouncil of Goyai, close to theLoC around 4:00 pm in theevening. An elderly villager,Mahmood Khan, was injured inthe firing.—Agencies

A Kashmirrefugee’s longing

for homeMUZAFFARABAD—A dark,rented room with dilapidatedwalls and peeling paint appearsto be the final home of 75-year-old retired daily-wage workerAbdul Karim, a Kashmiri refu-gee. But in what seem to be thelast few years of his life, the ail-ing elderly man yearns for thehome he hasn’t seen since hewas a young boy.

Karim migrated at the ageof 13 from Karnah, a town closeto the LoC in Kupwara districtof Indian-held Jammu and Kash-mir, and spent more than 40years working as a labourer indifferent areas of Muzaffarabad,the capital of Azad Jammu andKashmir (AJK). “My last wishis to die in my ancestral area,”he says. “I hope that the Paki-stan and Indian governmentshonour my last wish.”

He was married in the earlysixties; however, despite a hap-pily married 49 years, he had nochildren. Last year, Karim’s wifepassed away and he was left toface isolation, with twice asmany hardships. He mourns theloss of his life companion andmoans that he has no one to lookafter him. The hospital admin-istration refuses to admit himwithout an attendant, he says.

“I need a glass of water totake my medicine; but who willgive me that?” he cries. “At thisage, I need help even to use thewashroom. Sometimes, when Itry to take the few steps to thewashroom, I tumble down to thefloor as I cannot control myself.It is too painful,” he tells as tearsroll down his shrivelled cheeks.

Karim dreams of returningto Karnah, Kupwara, in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir topass his last few days with hisrelatives.

“My last wish is to be in mychildhood home, close my eyesand say goodbye to this world.I want to be buried close to thegraves of my father and motherin my ancestral graveyard,” hesighs.Karim urges the govern-ments of India and Pakistan toallow him to be taken care ofby his relatives on his mother’sand father’s side back ‘home’..—Agencies

Temperatureimproves in

KashmirSRINAGAR—After a fresh spellof snow for past two days,weather improved in Kashmiron Sunday with increase inmaximum temperature by overthree degree celsius.

According to the report ofMeteorological department, ithas forecasts dry weather in theweek ahead. Improvement inweather helped traffic police toclear the stranded traffic on theSrinagar-Jammu highway withover 2,000 vehicles allowed totravel on the mountainous route.Director

Meteorological Department,Sonam Lotus, said in next sevendays, the weather will remaindry in Kashmir.

“However on January 13,there is possibility of snowfallin higher reaches,” Lotus said.—NNI

MUZAFFARABAD: IG Police Malik Khuda Bakhsh Awan awarding certificate to policeofficer Noor Din on his performance.

SRINAGAR: Women mourning after seeing dead body of their beloved one who was killed by Indian Army.

MUZAFFARABAD: Senior Divisional Vice President of PML-N Ashiq Mughal addressingpress conference.

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed presenting gift to ChiefMinister of Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah.

KML condemnspolitical

victimizationof its chairman

SRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir Muslim League(JKML) on Sunday expressedserious concern over the politi-cal victimization of its Chair-man, Dr Muhammad QasimFakhtoo, by the authorities.

The JKML spokesman,Muhammad Rafique Ganai, ina statement issued in Srinagarsaid that the puppet authoritieshad shifted Dr Fakhtoo to thehospital after his health deterio-rated at Srinagar Central jail.

However, he deplored thatthe authorities were trying toshift him back to jail withoutproper check-up and completetreatment which was a violationof human rights.

It may be noted here DrMuhammad Qasim Fakhtoo,who has spent more than twentyyears in different Indian jails, ispresently undergoing treatmentat SMHS hospital in Srinagarunder police custody.

The spokesman also de-nounced the continued illegaldetention of party’s ViceChairman, Masarrat AalamButt. He said that MasarratAalam was presented beforethe court of Chief JudicialMagistrate, Srinagar, who senthim to police remand till Janu-ary 18.—NNI

Most sought-afterairlinesABU DHABI—Emiratesand Etihad Airways haveestablished their positionas most sought-afterairlines in the aviationindustry for their world-class services and safety.That’s the reason both thecarriers have also earnedthe distinction of beingranked among top 10 safestairlines in the world lastyear. Emirates ranked fourthfollowed by Etihad at 5th inthe ranking. Emirate’s closepartner Qantas Airwaystopped the list after goingwithout a fatal crash since1951, according toAirlineRatings.com’s lateststudy. The world’s onlysafety and product ratingwebsite has announced itstop 10 safest airlines for2013 from the 448 itmonitors.—Agencies

Sign, graphicindustry sector growsDUBAI—Over 400 exhibi-tors from across 30 coun-tries were present at thisofficial DSF 2014 event. The‘SGI Dubai 2015’ show willbe held from January 11thto 13th at the Dubai WorldTrade Centre. “We aredelighted to state that SGIDubai 2014 show hasgrown by approximately 20per cent this year. Theindustry in the Middle Eastis growing at a rapid paceand we have seen a lot ofinterest from the exhibitorsfrom across these regions,”said Abdul RahmanFalaknaz, Chairman of IEC.He said the UAE, Qatar andSaudi Arabia have created ahuge demand within thesign, graphic and imagingindustry with several high-end malls, new airports,industry exhibitions aroundthe clock and launch ofmany other upscaleclusters. —AFP

Paper stocks may beon its way out in USNEW YORK—“The stockcertificate is no longer themost effective or efficientmeans of accomplishing thegoal of certified ownership,”said Brad Vopni, who was anexecutive at New York- basedNasdaq’s US equitiesdepartment until the middle oflast year. “They havegenerally become collectors’items.” Five decades afterWall Street’s shift to comput-ers began, Bank of AmericaCorp and Walt Disney Co,whose shares featuringcharacters such as MickeyMouse were popularchildren’s gifts, have recentlygone digital. Twitter Incabandoned plans to providepaper stock following itsinitial public offering inNovember, said spokesmanJim Prosser.—AFP

Nandipur to startproduction on May 14SIALKOT—The production ofelectricity from the firstturbine of the NandipurPower House will begin inMay 2014 and the Gepco hasalready completed the work oflaying new 500 KV High-tension transmission lines forconnecting Gepco powergeneration system with thenational grid. Gepco ChiefExecutive Muneer Ahmedsaid this while addressing ameeting of senior officialsafter reviewing pace of layingthe main transmission linesnear Nandipur. He said afterthe beginning of the powerproduction at NandipurThermal Power House, the500 KV high transmissionlines of Gepco would belinked with the national grid.He said the project would behelpful in overcoming theissue of loadshedding in theGujranwala region.—APP

Whenever you findyourself on the side ofthe majority, it is timeto pause and reflect.

—Mark Twain

Pak find niche in used car business

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Pakistan’s agri-culture seed market isworth almost US$ 1500 mil-lion and it has huge poten-tial and opportunities forinvestors. DG Federal SeedCertif ication & Registra-t ion, Syed MuhammadNasir Ali expressed theseviews while talking to re-porter here on Sunday. Hesaid that investment in ag-riculture seed and supplyof certified seed was impor-tant not only to boost ag-riculture sector but alsooveral l economy of thecountry.

He said the value of seed

produced in Pakistan wasUS$ 500 million while the

value of imported seed wasUS $ 300 million which

showed a market gap for in-vestment of US$ 700 million.

He said certified seedavailability of major crops in

Pakistan was just 20% whileauthorities had set a targetfor certified seed availabilityof 30% for the next year.

He said the share of thepublic sector in seed avail-ability was 22% while privatesector’s share was 78%. Hesaid that there were four pub-lic sector seed organizationswhile five multinational seedcompanies and 789 nationalseed companies were oper-ating in the private sector.The DG said that legalhickups in the way of privateseed breeders were being re-moved so that they could getan adequate and convenientway to produce and breedagriculture seed.

Investment in agriculture seedmarket can boost economy

STAFF REPORTER

SIALKOT—The city receiveda big export order of 6.2 mil-lion hand stitched footballs,disclosed former ChairmanPakistan Sports GoodsAssociation(PSGA) Prof.Safdar Sandal.

Talking to reporter hereon Sunday, he said that over2 million footballs have so farbeen prepared and ready forthe shipment.

The export order of foot-balls was diverted from

China to Pakistan as a resultof which about ten to fifteen

very large companies of

Sialkot gets football export order

ISLAMABAD—Sindh EngroCoal Mining Company(SECMC) is planning to initiatemining activity of Thar coal bythe mid of 2014, and it will take3.5 years to reach Coal Produc-tion stage.

Ministry of Water andPower has an allocation ofRs.50 Million during currentFinancial Year for constructionof transmission network fromThar to Matiari (Total Cost Rs.

22 billion).According to

details,Planning Commissionhas approved a UCG Block-V Pilot project led by Dr.Samar Mubarakmand for 8c10MW with an allocation ofRs.900 Million for FY2013c2014 . Total cost for thePilot project is Rs. 1.8 billion,sources added.

Currently Government ofSindh has issued three leases

to mine developers in Thar andaccording to the planned time-liness of the existing lease hold-ers at Thar, SECMC plans togenerate power based on TharCoal by 2017-18.

Similarly, the other leaseholders Sino Sindh ResourcesLimited & Oracle CoalfieldsPvt. Ltd have plans to initiateMining Activity in BlockcI &Viduring 2014, official sourcestold APP, here.—APP

Power generation fromThar coal by 2017-18

HUB: Parts of ship seen piled up at the coast of Gaddani ship breaking yard.

RAWALPINDI: MNA Malik Abrar Ahmed administering oath to the newly elected trad-ers union office-bearers.

ISLAMABAD—The growingcellular subscribers, in-creased traffic and highertaxes have encouragedtelecom sector contribu-tion to national exchequer,touching Rs124 bil l ionmark during f iscal year2012-13.

Though the year 2012-13 saw lesser contributionfrom telecom sector ascompared to Rs133.41 bil-lion deposited in 2011-12,the sector can be termed asone of the highest con-tributors, putting Rs119 bil-lion per year in the nationalkitty on average for the last

five years.A latest data of Paki-

stan TelecommunicationAuthori ty (PTA) on Sun-day revealed that GeneralSales Tax (GST) forms themajor part of the contribu-tion with Rs57.78 billioncollected by Federal Bu-reau of Revenue (FBR) fromtelecom sector.

A huge sum of Rs53.52bil l ion has been paid bytelecom operators undervarious heads such as du-ties, withholding tax, feesetc.

PTA has also receivedRs6.8 billion from operators

under various regulatoryheads and deposited intothe national exchequer tillMarch 2013, while Rs7.52billion was collected underthe Activation Tax head.

Pakistan Telecommunica-tion Authority contributionscomprise of all its receiptsincluding Init ial and An-nual License Fee, AnnualRadio Frequency SpectrumFee, Annual Spectrum Ad-ministrative Fee, APC forUSF, Numbering Charges,License Applicat ion Fee,etc. Others include cus-toms duties, WithholdingTax and other taxes.—APP

Telecom contribution tonational kitty reaches Rs124b

Sialkot are now busy in pro-ducing machine stitchedfootballs and this numberwas growing rapidly, he said.Prof. Sandal said that theworld demand of handstitched footballs is 45 per-cent while the demand ofmachine stitched footballs is55 percent.

He further stated the gov-ernment should take appropri-ate steps for promoting sportsindustries development centreto facilitate the business com-munity of the city.

STAFF REPORTER

IS L A M A B A D —Pakis tan’sCitrus (Kinnow) has becomea major export item, but it haslargely failed to reach its truepotential because lack ofproper focus and research.

The growth of this in-dustry in the country can bepossible only when thedominating role of middle-man is diminished in thewhole process and the ex-ports of citrus fruit could beenhanced manifold providedthe farmers are provided di-rect benefit said AhmadJawad, Senior Member ICCI.

Talking to Media, he saidIt’s time for Pakistan’s plan-

ners to realize national cred-ibility came before the actualquality of consignments,highlighting the need for anintegrated pest managementplan; In the last few yearscountry has regularly lostand regained some exportmarkets because it could notensure quality of the pro-duce. But it has hardlyfound new ones by improv-ing domestic production,both in quality and variety.

He said unfortunately,each time a ban is slapped,all official and unofficial ef-forts are riveted on dealingwith that particular situationarising out of that singleban. There has been scant

effort to deal with issuesthat lead to the ban in thefirst place.”

However government in-stitutions like the PakistanHorticulture Development &Export Company (PHDEC)played the roles of “troubleshooters” rather than stra-tegic planners.

The annual productionof citrus on an average isestimated about two mil-lion tons, of which 90% iskinnow, Currently, theworld market for citrus isvalued more than $2.135billion in which Pakistan’sshare has remained $33 mil-lion per annum, just around2.5 percent.

Kinnow has becomemajor export item: ICCI

Better planningurged to boost

rice yieldLAHORE—Pakistan AgriFourm has urged the agri-culture department to reviseits policy to boost rice pro-duce to meet domestic re-quirements and increase ex-ports.

Agri Fourm Chairman DrIbrahim Mughal talking toAPP on Sunday said thatabout 5.9 million tonne ricewas produced in the countrythis year whereas last year itsproduction was 6.9 milliontonne.

He said this year the priceof the commodity had surgedfrom 60 to 70 percent. Mughaladded that Pakistan couldexport rice worth about $ 5 to7 billion with better plan-ning.—APP

No companyexempt fromlabor action

RIYADH —A senior LaborMinistry official said that theministry would continue itscampaign against violatorsof residency and labor lawsin a systematic manner in itsbid to overhaul theKingdom’s labor market.“These are not random raidsbut a systematic campaign totrack down illegal workers inprivate firms,” said AbdullahAbu Thunain,undersecretary for inspec-tions and development at theministry. He said the minis-try was conducting raids onthe basis of an electronicdata.

“This is different from in-spections carried out by theLabor Office on the basis ofspecific information it has re-ceived.” Since the beginningof the campaign on Nov. 4 fol-lowing the seven-month am-nesty, the ministry has deniedabout 50,000 private firms ac-cess to its services. “The cor-rection campaign will continueand the ministry is very seri-ous about it,” he said. Speak-ing about the wage protectionprogram, Abu Thunain said itwas not aimed at controllingforeign remittances of expatworkers. —AFP

WASHINGTON—The Inter-national Finance Corp., theWorld Bank’s private fi-nance arm, said Saturday itwas taking action to remedyproblems in a Honduraspalm oil project assailed forhuman rights violations. Af-ter a report by the Bank’sinternal ombudsman deeplycritical of the IFC’s supportfor the Dinant Corp project,the finance body said it wasworking to rectify the prob-lems and would cancel itsloans if the company did notadequately address con-cerns.

On Friday, the Bank’s

Compliance Advisor Om-budsman said the IFC wasnot diligent enough in re-viewing questions aboutfights over land rights andmurders of local farm work-ers in approving a $30 mil-lion loan to Dinant’s palm oilplantation and processingexpansion plans in 2008.

The project, inHonduras’s northern AguanValley, has long been criti-cized by non-governmentalorganizations due to the landconflicts tied to Dinant plan-tations.

“IFC takes the audit andits findings seriously. We

have worked with the clienton an action plan moving for-ward,” an IFC spokeswomansaid. “If the client does notmeet its obligations underthese plans, we reserve theright to exercise all remediesavailable, including cancel-lation of the investment.”

The CAO report saidthe IFC’s agreement to lend$30 million to the $75 mil-lion project was not sup-ported by an adequate en-vironmental and social as-sessment of the project,given the history of conflictbetween Dinant and localpeasants.—AFP

World Bank’s IFC says itis fixing Honduras project

TOKYO—Led by Pakistanisliving in Japan, exports ofJapanese used cars are grow-ing, thanks to their durabilityand high technology. In par-ticular, Pakistanis atRitsumeikan Asia Pacific Uni-versity (APU) in Beppu, OitaPrefecture, have been veryactive in the used-car busi-ness, using social networkingservices to build up contactsaround the world.

In late November, duringthe Tokyo Motor Show, thecountry’s largest, a used-carauction in the city of Oyama,Tochigi Prefecture, attracteda lot of Pakistani buyers. A38-year-old used-car trader,Hamlin Ozawa, who doesbusiness in Mito, Ibaraki Pre-fecture, had four vehicles upfor auction, including dump

trucks.Bidding on one of the cars

started at ¥1.92 million, butquickly shot up to ¥3.85 million.Although the final bid didn’treach his asking price, Ozawa

had a chance to talk to the high-est bidder. The following week,he managed to sell anothertruck he bought for ¥850,000 for¥2.6 million. “I am making aprofit of up to ¥5 million to ¥6

million a month,” Ozawa said.“I have associates fromHokkaido to Fukuoka Prefec-ture, and get a call when theyfind salable used cars.” Ozawacame to Japan to study atAPU in 2002, but droppedout. He married a Japanesewoman and, through contactswith compatriots, entered theused-car business. The used-car industry is now in Paki-stani hands. It’s thought tohave started when a Pakistanitrainee who came to Japan inthe 1970s sent four used carsto his home country. This trig-gered demand for Japanesecars in Pak, as well as the num-ber of Pakistanis coming here.It is thought that Pakistanisaccount for more than half ofthe people in the used-carbusiness in Japan.—Online

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Federationof Pakistan Chambers of Com-merce and Industry (FPCCI) onSunday lauded the historic de-cision of China to constructtwin nuclear power stations tobridge gap between demandand supply of electricity. Thelargest ever financing deal by abest friend for a single projectin Pakistan with a $6.5bn loanwill not only reduce the energycrisis but also bring two coun-tries closer and enhance Chi-nese influence in the region,said Zubair Ahmed Malik.

In a statement issued heretoday, he said that move wouldreduce load shedding by 15 percent and cut unemploymentwhile improving energy mix as

well as rate of economic growth.He said that great projects

like Iran gas pipeline andKalabagh dam have becomehighly controversial and almostunworkable therefore govern-ment should aggressively pe-ruse nuclear energy option.Zubair Ahmed Malik said thatPakistan is not allowed to usecivil nuclear technology butIndia and some other countrieshave been allowed which is dis-crimination.

The countries raising hueand cry over Islamabad-Beijingdeal have ulterior motives asboth countries have a right tosign such deals and Pakistan isnot in a position to compromiseits energy security, the FPCCIchief said.

He said that Pakistan was

left with no option but to bro-ker deal with a true friend aswest wasn’t ready to providethe much-needed technologyto Pakistan so that its economycould be salvaged.

Malik categorically said,“Those helping us tame energycrisis are friends and those whoare blocking our access are en-emies.” The FPCCI chieflauded the efforts of the gov-ernment to tame the crisis andtermed deal to get $6.5bn loanfrom China repayable in 20years a great success of eco-nomic managers. Pakistan willbecome the first country to useChinese civil nuclear technol-ogy which will open massivebusiness opportunities forcompanies of the friendly coun-tries, remarked Malik.

FPCCI praises Chineseenergy cooperation

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

KARACHI:

MULTAN:

Currency Selling Buying

Bullion Rates

RS PER 10 GRAMS

USA 105.30 104.88

UK 172.67 172.34

Euro 143.44 143.17

Canada 97.55 97.36

Switzerland 115.89 115.67

Australia 93.95 93.77

Sweden 16.17 16.14

Japan 1.0038 1.0019

Norway 17.08 17.05

Singapore 82.84 82.69

Denmark 19.23 19.19

Saudi Arabia 28.08 28.02

Hong Kong 13.55 13.52

Kuwait 372.92 372.23

Malaysia 32.07 31.01

Newzealand 87.28 87.11

Qatar 28.92 28.86

UAE 28.67 28.61

KR. WON 0.0988 0.0987

Thailand 3.283 3.177

Gold Tezabi 44,485.00Silver Tezabi 702.85

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

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Senator SaeedGhani said that the federalgovernment had not yet de-fined the parameters ofprivatisation policy due towhich an ambiguity had pre-vailed as how many nationalinstitutions had so far beenprivatized and what were theresults of institutional so farthe privatized.

Investigation were con-ducted in 14 cases ofprivatisation, which report ofwhich was not yet made pub-lic while various casesagainst the privatisation ofnational institutions werepending with the courts formany years.

He said this while ad-dressing a seminar on thetheme of “Privatisation ofNational Institutions- A GreatTragedy”, which was orga-nized by Karachi Electric

Senator Ghani terms KESC’sprivatisation a great national tragedy

Supply Company LabourUnion.

Senator Ghani was of theopinion that even the Judgesof the higher courts had ac-cepted the pressure fromowners of the privatized na-tional institutions, whichadded the agony to the al-ready affected labourers. Themanagement of institutionsprivatized would certainlybow down if a million work-ers take to street against in-justices and tyranny.

He said that PakistanPeople’s Party Parliamentar-ian had a resentment for fail-ing to resolve the issue ofworkers of the KESC duringits previous tenure.

While condemning thefederal government’sprivatisaion policy, he saidthat the federal governmenthad further decided toprivatise more national insti-tutions.

While speaking on theoccasion, Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz leader NihalHashmi said that the processof privatisation was initiatedin 1990 and by privatizing theMCB Bank, the federal gov-ernment had earned Rs 86billion in terms of revenue.

He said those criticizingthe process of privatisationhad sought jobs for their chil-dren for hefty salary andperks packages and there-fore, they should not criticisethe process of privatisationtaken by the federal govern-ment.

He said that he had fer-vent hopes that the KESC’sworkers that were retrenchedforcefully would soon be re-instated.

Barrister Salahuddin inhis address said that theprivatisation of KESC was agreat national tragedy andagainst its privatisation, he

had himself filed a petition in2005, which was still pend-ing with the court while thefact was that the privatisationof KESC was an unlawful andunconstitutional act becausethe then government hadviolated rules and regula-tions and the KESC was soldto blue-eyed investors at therates as cheap as a penny.

He said that workers andlabourers were leading a lifeoif utter misery across thecountry while their casesweer pending with the Na-tional Industrial relationsCommission (NIRC), LabourCourts and High Courts.Workers and labourers wereimplicated in fake cases ofcrimes and terrorism for stag-ing protest against injusticesand tyranny.

He said that theprivatisation was an interna-tional agenda of powerfulcountries of the world.

ISLAMABAD—The publicsector entity-Oil and GasDevelopment CompanyLimited (OGDCL) is effec-tively pursuing its projectsto meet the country’s grow-ing energy needs.

As part of such efforts,an official source says thecompany has acceleratedits efforts and its Nashpa-IV project is in final stage,which would go a long wayin easing the energy crisis.

According to thesource, the project complet-ing soon would contributeadditional 4500 bbl oil and12-15 MMCD gas to thesystem.

The source added, thegovernment had startedwork on the import of LNGon a fast-track basis and the

OGDCL’s Nashpa-IV project toadd more gas to system

Qatar has agreed to provide400 MMCFD LNG to Paki-stan by November 2014.

There is no LNG termi-nal in the country and pro-posals have been presentedto the ECC in this regard,which include Conversion ofexisting LPG to an LNG ter-minal for 200 MMCFD andestablishment of a long-termfacility through a competitiveprocess for 500- 1000MMCFD, the source says.

It added that import of400 MMCFD Fast Track LNGTerminal and the 500MMCFD SSGC LPG RetrofitTerminal are in process.

Besides, the governmentis also making solid measuresto effectively explore indig-enous hydro-carbon re-sources, amending and then

implementing the PetroleumExploration and ProductionPolicy 2012 and implementedafter approval from the CCIto encourage investment inthe oil and gas sector.

Moreover, the PPL hasstarted first-ever Tight Gasproduction of 1 0 MMCFDin Sindh and the explorationand production has madefour discoveries which willadd 135 MMC gas and 860bbl oil per day in the system.

The source said supplyof 152 MMCFD gas to 4 IPPs- Saif, Sapphire, Orient andHall more - has provided ad-ditional efficient power gen-eration of 800 MW.

The source said the PSOwas currently supplying24,000 M tonnes of oil ascompared to previous sup-

plies of 17,000 M tonnes tothe power sector to ad-dress power shortages.

All fertilizer factories inthe country have beenprovided gas which has re-sulted in reduction of ureaimports by more than300,000 tonnes.

PARCO refinery pro-duction capacity has beenincreased to 100 percentcompared to 80 percent inthe past.

And above all, thesource added effective co-ordination with Explorationand Production companieshas resulted in increasedgas and oil supplies fromexisting fields. Gas produc-tion has reached 4.2 BCFDand Oil 80,000 barrels/day.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The exports ofleather goods from the coun-try witnessed increase of 9.89percent during first fivemonths of current fiscal year2013-14 against the same pe-riod of last year.

The leather goods ex-ports were recorded at US$263.097 million in July-No-vember 2013-14 against$239.421 million of last year.

According to data re-leased by Pakistan Bureauof Statistics (PBS), the ex-ports of leather garments in-creased by 8.72 percent dur-ing the period under reviewagainst the same period lastyear.

The leather garments ex-ports during the period un-der review were recorded at$179.66 million against $165.257 million of last year.

Similarly exports of

Leather goods’ exports up by9.89% in July-November

leather gloves increased by13.85 percent which stood at$78.646 million during July-November 2013-14 against$69.079 million during July-November 2012-13.

Other leather goods,however, witnessed nega-tive growth of 5.85 percentduring the period under re-view. On month on monthbasis, the leather manufac-tures export also increasedby 9.45 percent and de-creased by 8.8 percent inNovember, 2013 when com-pared with the exports inNovember 2012 and October2013, respectively.

The exports in November2013 were recorded at $45.94million where as in Novem-ber 2012 and October 2013the value of exports re-mained $41.997 million and$50.4 million, respectively.

Similarly the exports ofleather garments increasedby 8.39 percent and de-creased by 7.98 percent dur-ing November 2013 whencompared to November 2012and October 2013 respec-tively. The leather glovesexports, also increased from$10.589 million in November2012 to $12.362 million inNovember 2013 showing agrowth of 16.74 percent.

The exports of otherleather manufactures, how-ever decreased by 32.59 per-cent and 10.5 in November2013, when compared to thatof November 2012 and Octo-ber 2013 respectively. Theother leather goods’ exportsdecreased from 1.062 millionin November 2012 and $0.8million in October 2013 to$0.716 million in November2013.—APP

BEIJING—Beijing Engineer-ing Research Center for Hy-brid Wheat (BERCHW), hasprovided selected varieties ofhybrid wheat to Pakistan,suitable for plantation in dif-ferent parts of the countrywith the objective to boostcrop production.

For last few yearsBERCHW, China’s leadingscientific research institute,was in close collaborationwith Pakistan’s both publicand private sector to en-hance staple crop produc-tion.

Some of the varieties weresuitable for local environ-ments and have shown posi-tive results.

BERCHW, besides ex-tending technical & scientificassistance to Pakistan, hasso far also provided free ofcost 12000 KGs of hybrid

China collaborates with Pakistanin hybrid wheat to boost crop yield

wheat seeds. For on the spotexpert advice, several Chi-nese agriculture scientistsalso visited Pakistan.

Besides, transfer of tech-nology, Chinese expertshave trained Pakistani coun-terparts so that they coulddisseminate their knowledgeto their colleagues to makethe country achieve foodautarky.

It is expected that withincouple of years, hybridwheat will be cultivated invast areas on commercial ba-sis in Pakistan.

Pakistani students, num-bering in hundred, were alsostudying in various areas ofagriculture and livestock indifferent higher learningeducational institutions inBeijing and other provincesof China.

These students also in-

cluded those doing their doc-torate degrees.

Pakistan Embassy inBeijing has played a signifi-cant role in establishing suchcollaborations and alwaysextended complete supportand best possible facilitationto both sides.

BERCHW which worksunder Beijing Academy ofAgriculture and Forestry Sci-ences (BAAFS) and is theleading scientific research in-stitute of hybrid wheat.

About 150 researchershave devoted themselves onresearch and scientific work.BERCHW achievementshave also been acknowl-edged by Chinese govern-ment.

It also greatly contributedin addressing food securityissue for such a huge Chinesepopulation.—Agencies

PARIS—After dramaticallyimproving sales of its A320jet by revamping it withnewer and more efficient en-gines, Europe’s Airbus isstudying whether to applythe same formula to a biggerjet, the A330, industrysources and analysts said.

Sales of the 20-year-oldlong-haul plane have en-joyed an unexpected boom inrecent years after three yearsof delays in Boeing’s radi-cally new 787 Dreamlinerdrove many airlines to investin the cheaper and provenAirbus model.

But momentum is fadingand analysts say Airbusfaces questions overwhether it can maintain cur-rent A330 production rates inthe second half of the decadewithout something else of itssize to offer airlines temptedby the chic new jets.

“They have been doing

Airbus studies enginerevamp of A330 jet

fine with the A330 becauseBoeing was late, but it is be-coming painfully obviousthat Boeing has newer tech-nology than the A330,” saidAdam Pilarski, senior vicepresident at US-based avia-tion consultancy Avitas.

Officially, Airbus ishappy with the way sales ofits most popular big jet areholding up, following asteady pattern of designtweaks that have increasedrange and capability. Lastmonth it sold 25 A330s worth$6 billion to AirAsiaX.

But behind the scenes,suppliers and industry ex-perts say Airbus is lookingseriously at whether to re-engine the A330 to cut fuelconsumption, somethingAirAsiaX is also pushing for.

“It is being discussed. Itis one of the options in themix,” said an industry sourcebriefed on the plans.

Airbus said it had nothing toadd to recent commentsmade by a senior marketingexecutive, CrawfordHamilton, who told Air In-sight website there was noimmediate need to revamp theA330. Airbus holds its an-nual news conference onMonday.

The idea of a facelift forthe A330 is not new.

Airbus originally plannedto answer Boeing’s carbon-fiber 787 with a modestmakeover of the A330, butabandoned the idea to takethe same leap in technologyas its rival and come out withthe all-new A350, which isdue to enter service this year.

Now, after a decade of am-bitious and challengingplane developments, theworld’s largest aircraft manu-facturers are once again fo-cusing on derivatives of ex-isting models.

Shippingactivity at Port

QasimKARACHI—Two ships ar-rived at Port to load /offload containers at QICT,fertilizer at FAP.

Berth occupancy wasmaintained at 50% at thePort on Saturday where aseven ships namely M.VKps-I Alican Bey -Powership, M.V NeuvaEsperanza, M.V MscDidum, M,T Al-Soor-II, M.TAtlantic Glory, M.V Boral,M.V Gemini Pioneer are cur-rently occupying berths toload/offload, containers,cement, diesel Oil, meg,paraxylene, sunflower seed,fertilizer.

Cargo handling opera-tions were carried outsmoothly at the Port wherea cargo volume 32167tonnes comprising 16195tonnes import, 15972tonnes export and (1154)Tues was handled at thePort during last 24 hours.

M.V Ria Blanco, M.T AlSoor-II, M.V Boreal sailedon Saturday morning.

M.V Msc Didem sailedon Sunday morning. M.VMsc Natalia at QICT. M.TGenie at FOTCO arrival onJanuary 12, as per arrivalschedule.—Agencies

Gold jumpsaround 1%

after weak USjobs repor t

LONDON—Gold rosearound one percent aftersharply weaker-than-ex-pected US jobs data sup-ported the view that the USFederal Reserve will take agradual approach to taper-ing its bond-buying pro-gram this year.

US nonfarm payrollsrose just 74,000 in Decem-ber, the smallest increase innearly three years and farbelow the 196,000 forecastby economists. The unem-ployment rate fell 0.3 per-centage point to 6.7 per-cent.

“This is a bad NFP re-lease and has given gold aboost ... but one swallowdoes not make a summerand one bad NFP printdoesn’t change 12 monthsof gold-bearish macroeco-nomic news,” Macquarieanalyst Matthew Turnersaid.

“Gold has been on thefirm side this year and thisdata helps support that butthe effect is being moder-ated by the fact that the Fedhas begun tapering,”Turner added.

“And so it wouldneed a bigger shock to shiftit from that course ... no-body is now thinking the USeconomy is near collaps-ing.”Spot gold rose as much as1.4 percent to a sessionhigh of $1,244.90 an ounce,and was up 1.3 percent to$1,243.40 by 1453 GMT.—Arab News

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Finance economic affairs and revenue Division Senator Muhammad Ishaq Darchairing a meeting of Data Darbar religious committee.

BHAKAR: DCO Mumtaz Hussain Zahid visits Sabzi Mandi on Sunday.

JEDDAH—Greater integra-tion into the global economyof the MENA ex-GCC regionthrough increased tradeopenness and enhancedcompetitiveness could raiselong-term regional growthprospects, according to QNBGroup.

MENA growth is a tale oftwo regions, the MENA ex-GCC and the GCC acting as alocomotive of growth forother countries. High hydro-carbon production and priceshave lifted export and fiscalrevenue in the GCC, enablingthese countries to pressahead with major infrastruc-ture spending plans.

The GCC leads the regionin terms of integration intothe global economy throughtrade openness and competi-tiveness. Nonetheless,structural reforms aimed atliberalizing trade and invest-ment would most likely yielda growth dividend in the long-term across MENA, accord-ing to QNB Group.

QNB Group estimatesthat real GDP growth in theGCC was 3.7 percent in 2013,compared with 1.2 percent inthe rest of MENA. This isrelatively sluggish comparedwith potential and historicalaverage MENA growth ofaround 5 percent or higher.

A number of MENAcountries outside the GCCare undergoing political tran-sition, creating uncertainty

GCC states recorded3.7% GDP growth in 2013

LONDON—Iran and Russiaare negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billiona month that would enableIran to lift oil exports substan-tially, undermining Westernsanctions that helped per-suade Tehran in November toagree to a preliminary deal tocurb its nuclear program. Rus-

Iran, Russia negotiating $1.5bn amonth oil-for-goods deal

sian and Iranian sources closeto the barter negotiations saidfinal details were in discus-sion for a deal under whichRussia would buy up to500,000 barrels a day of Ira-nian oil in exchange for Rus-sian equipment and goods.“Good progress is being madeat the moment with strong

chances of success,” said aRussian source. “We are dis-cussing the details, and thedate of signing a deal dependson those details.” The Kremlindeclined comment. “Our desireis to sign the deal as soon aspossible,” said a senior Iranianofficial, who declined to benamed.—Arab News

that deters investment, weak-ens short-term growth anddelays much-needed re-forms. However, a graduallyimproving political outlook insome of these countries, com-bined with the potential up-side from economic reform,leaves room for higher short-and long-term growth acrossthe region.

Integration into the glo-bal economy can be mea-sured by the degree of tradeopenness, defined as the ra-tio of the sum of exports andimports of goods and ser-vices over nominal GDP. Ac-cording to this measure, thereis a strong positive relation-ship between greater integra-tion and higher growth overthe long-term.

GCC countries continueto be at the top of the MENAgroup, partly reflecting theirlarge hydrocarbon exportsectors.

However, both the GCCand the rest of MENA stilldemonstrate room for im-provement compare to globalleaders in trade openness,such as Singapore.

This suggests thatgreater trade openness hasthe potential to yield a sig-nificant long-term growthdividend for MENA and canbe achieved through policiesto remove barriers to trade.

Competitiveness is an-other key aspect of globalintegration.—Arab New

Another toughyear for aluminum

producersLONDON—A new year it maybe but there will be no newdawn for the beleaguered alu-minum smelter sector, just an-other year of fighting to sur-vive. Setting an appropriatelydownbeat tone for 2014 wasDutch producer Aldel’s filingfor bankruptcy on Dec. 30.

US producer Alcoa, mean-while, kicked off the financialreporting season with a mas-sive $1.7 billion write-down ofsmelter assets. It has alreadyclosed and mothballed signifi-cant amounts of capacity andhas more under review.

As the cumulative paincontinues and the capacitycurtailments mount, there is agrowing belief that the alumi-num market, outside China atleast, will record a supply-de-mand deficit this year.

The problem is that it willprobably be far too small tomake any appreciable dent inthe huge stocks that have ac-cumulated over many years ofconsecutive surplus.

Those legacy stocks hanglike a dead weight around theLondon Metal Exchange(LME) three-month priceCMAL3, currently tradingjust north of $1,750 per ton andin imminent danger of revisit-ing December’s four-year lowof $1,736.25 per ton. Producerprofitability remains depen-dent on the physical premi-ums that can be achieved overand above that LME basisprice.—Arab News

KSA, Kuwaitand Bahrain to

exchangecredit data

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia, Ku-wait and Bahrain have ex-pressed willingness to set upa joint credit information cen-ter, local media said quotinginformed sources.

The application of acredit information exchangeprogram will minimize risks onthe GCC financial system ascertain firms and familieshave been heavily involvedin huge debt with some GCCbanks and financing agen-cies, said sources cited by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.

The sources said a recentgathering of credit informa-tion centers of the GCC coun-tries adjourned a meeting inRiyadh after some represen-tatives failed to attend thetalks for lack of technicalreadiness.

The sources, however,said that the application ofthe proposed credit informa-tion exchange program couldpossibly be started with twoor three countries and ex-panded to cover the remain-ing GCC countries in fewyears.

In this context, the Cen-tral Bank of Bahrain hasstressed the importance ofapplication of the credit infor-mation exchange program be-tween the GCC countries toavert possible financial risksemerging from the absence ofcooperation related to creditinformation.—Arab New

LAHORE: A view of final match of Dimal Polo Cup 2014 between Wanhar and Monnoo polo teams. Wanhar polo team won the match 8/3.

HYDERABAD: Major Umer giving winners’ trophy to the captain of cricket team of Fatmid Greens after the defeat ofHayatian Tigers team at Hyderabad Club.

ISLAMABAD: Air Marshal Athar Hussain Bukhari, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, PAFwho is also President Ski Federation of Pakistan talking to Pakistan Ski athletesbefore their departure to Korea.

PESHAWAR—Mardan liftedthe coveted trophy afterhanding an upsetting defeatto strong Peshawar in the fi-nal of the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Inter-RegionalWomen Hockey Champion-ship played at Post GraduateGirls College Mardan groundon Sunday.

Principal of the College,Professor Haleema was thechief guest on this occasionand before the start of the fi-nal the players of both thefinalist teams Mardan andPeshawar were introduced toher.

Organizing Secretary andDirector Sports and PhysicalEducation Miss Gul Nar, Di-rector (Women Games) MissRashida Ghaznavi, officials,players and spectators werealso present and witnessedthe thrilling match.

Peshawar jolted Mardanby taking lead in the 4thminute through Shaista, thecenter striker, on the field at-tempt. Unmarked Shaista re-ceived a free ball fromMaryum, the center-half anddid nothing wrong in dis-

Mardan lift KP Inter-Regional Women Hockey

Championship titlepatching it into the net tomake the tally 1-0.

The early goal gave extraboost to the Peshawaritesand they made some fine at-tacking moves as a result itwas in the 15th minute whenPeshawar got a penaltystroke. This time Lubna, theinside left was wrongly in-cepted by Gul Rukh ofMardan in D area and refereeawarded a penalty stroke toPeshawar while goal-keeperJaveria saved it nicely.

It was in the 23rd minutewhen Mardan found theequalizer through SundasKhan on the field attemptwhile in a quick successionHaseena made it 2-1 by scor-ing a beautiful goal from thetop of the circle.

After 2-1, Mardan man-aged their position andplayed with player to playmarking by giving no roomsto Peshawar onrushing for-wards to strike back. Mardanwas leading by 2-1.

It was the second sessionin which Peshawar got threeconsecutive penalty cornersbut due to poor handling,

none of them could be uti-lized. Mardan also playedwell and with a better teamcombination succeeded inscoring another goal in the57th minute when Haseenaslammed in her second andteam’s third goal to make thetally 3-1.

Peshawar after conced-ing three goals, tried theirhard to make a comeback butthey were failed due to tightmarking and thus Mardanwon the final match by 3-1.Mardan after winning thebasketball title, got thehockey trophy as well.

At the end, the chiefguest Professor Haleema,Director Physical EducationGirls College Nowshera MissFarhad Sami gave away tro-phies and cash prizes.Mardan got winner trophyand Rs 7000 cash prize whilePeshawar took the runners-up trophy and cash prize ofRs 5000.

Teams from seven re-gions – Dera Ismail Khan,Bannu, Kohat, Swat,Mardan, Hazara andPeshawar took part.—APP

DUBAI—The ICC CricketWorld Cup Qualifier NewZealand 2014 gets under wayon Monday January 13 with10 of the leading Associateand Affiliate sides in theworld vying for the final twoqualification spots in the ICCs pinnacle event the ICCCricket World Cup 2015.

The 10 sides taking partin the World Cup Qualifierformerly known as the ICCTrophy have been spli tinto two groups of f iveteams each with top rankedUnited Arab Emirates inGroup A alongside 2005winner Scotland, 2009 fi-nalist Canada, Hong Kongand Nepal.

Group B includes 2001champion Netherlands, twotime finalist Kenya, 2001 fi-

ICC Cricket World CupQualifier begins today

nalist Namibia, Papua NewGuinea and Uganda.

The top three sides fromeach group will progress to

the Super Six stage wherethey will play the teams fromthe opposing group.

The top two sides fromthis stage will progress to theFebruary 1 final which will beplayed at Bert Sutcliffe Ovalin Lincoln.

The finalists will join the10 Full Members as well asAfghanistan and Ireland inthe ICC Cricket World Cup inAustralia and New Zealandwhich will be played fromFebruary 14 to March 29,2015.

The winner of the Febru-ary 1 final will join co-hostsAustralia and New Zealandalongside Afghanistan,Bangladesh, England and SriLanka in Pool A while the run-ner up will team up with de-fending champion India, Ire-land, Pakistan, South Africa,West Indies and Zimbabwein Pool B.—APP

LAHORE: Players in action during Inter-Regional women’s Hockey Championship 2014.

PM extends tenureof PCB’s interim

committeeSPORTS REPORTER

KARACHI—Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharif, whois also Patron of PCB, has ex-tended the period of InterimManagement Committee (IMC)of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)for further 90 days with effectfrom January 12, PCB an-nounced on Sunday.

The members of IMC con-stituted in October 2013, includ-ing Najam Sethi, Shaharyar M.Khan, Naveed Akram Cheema,Zaheer Abbas and HaroonRashid, will continue to holdtheir respective positions.

I S L A M A B A D —Pakis tan’sSki team comprising threeathletes and a coach de-parted for Korea to partici-pate in Winter Sports‘Dream TrainingProgramme-2014’.

Pakistani contingentconsists of Zia-ur-Rehman,Muhammad Imtaz, Sajidand coach Nadeem Ashraf.Vice Chief of the Air Staff,Pakistan Air Force Air Mar-shal Athar HussainBukhari , who is also thePresident Ski Federation ofPakistan, met the contin-gent before their departurefor Korea.

He urged the contingentmembers to utilize the op-portunity not only for pol-ishing their ski faculties butalso for promotion of Paki-stani culture and nationalimage among the participat-ing nations.

“Dream Training

Skiers depart to participate in ‘dreamtraining programme’ of Korea

Programme” is initiated byKorean Gangwon Province,the host of Pyeong ChangWinter Olympics-2018, as apromotion plan for youngwinter sports athletes.

Since 2004, the Provinceis inviting skiers from coun-tries, where winter sportsfacilities are not amply pro-vided.

In order to expand anddevelop the Dream TrainingProgramme, the Province isoperating a Winter SportsAcademy which provideslessons from Korean Na-

tional team level athletes toraise quality of training.

About 150 participantsfrom 40 different countriesare participating in ‘DreamTraining Programme-2014’.Pakistan has been partici-pating in the DreamProgramme every year,since 2011.

It is also worth mention-ing here that Pakistani Ski-ers secured gold and silvermedals in their categories infriendly competitions con-ducted at the end of lastyear’s training camp.—APP

Faisalabad win InterRegion CM WomenHockey TournamentFAISALABAD—Faisalabad haswon the Inter Region ChiefMinister (CM) Women HockeyTournament by defeatingLahore with 4-2 goals at MadinaTown Hockey Stadium here.

The team of Faisalabad re-gion scored 2 goals in the earlyminutes of the play but theteam of Lahore region equal-ized the match up to the end offirst half.

However, during secondhalf, the team of Faisalabadproved itself victorious by scor-ing another two goals whereasthe team of Lahore region couldnot score any goal in the sec-ond half.

President FaisalabadChamber of Commerce andIndustry (FCCI) EngineerSohail Bin Rasheed wit-nessed the final match aschief guest and later distrib-uted trophies and prizesamong the position holderteams.

Bahawalpur region got thirdposition in the tournament bydefeating Sargodha Regionwith 1-0 goals.

The first position holderteam was awarded a cashprize of Rs.15000 along with atrophy whereas second andthird position holders weregiven cash prizes of Rs 10,000each.—APP

K A R A C H I — F i g h t i n gKhizer Aziz annexed the22nd Sindh Cup SnookerTournament in a style atAly’s Parlor on Sundaywhen he overpoweredZulfiqar A. Qadir 6-5 aftera nerve-wracking final.

Against the expecta-tions, final turned out bean exciting contest and for-tunes fluctuated through-out a marathon tie.

Khizer made sluggishstart by losing the opening

SLC securityteam visitsBangladesh

COLOMBO—Sri LankaCricket’s two-member secu-rity committee has arrived inDhaka on Sunday, a day ear-lier than scheduled, to inspectthe venues for the upcominghome series against Sri Lanka.According to sources in theBangladesh Cricket Board,former SLC CEO AjitJayasekara and vice-presidentMohan de Silva will be visit-ing the Zahur AhmedChowdhury Stadium inChittagong and the ShereBangla National Stadium inDhaka over the next two days.

Sylhet, the original venuefor the first ODI on February17, is not in their schedule,which effectively rules out thenortheastern town’s debut asan international venue.

The inspection is the fi-nal hurdle for the tour, afterthe violence due to the politi-cal situation in Bangladesh

raised questions about it. SLCpresident JayanthaDharmadasa said earlier thisweek that they would heedthe inspection team’s recom-mendations before giving thegreen signal.

This followed the BCB’sannouncement earlier thesame day that SLC had giventhem the go-ahead for the tour.

M e a n w h i l e , t h eBangladesh Nationalist Party,the country’s main opposi-tion party till today, have with-drawn their countrywideblockade after Sunday.—APP

KARACHI—Two former Pa-kistan Test cricketersShahid Nazir and FazleAkbar and ex-first classcricketer Sajid Shah, whonearly donned national cap,are under financial distress.

Fazle, Shahid and Sajidare under financial distress,former medium pace bowlerTanvir Ahmed told APP onSunday.

“Its alarming situationfor Pakistan cricket thatthese known cricketers arefacing such a situation de-spite representing the na-tional team” he said.

Khizer annexes Sindh CupSnooker crown in a thrilling finish

frame. But came back toconjured up the next threeframes to gain healthy 3-1lead.

However, despite in-tense pressure, Zulfiqarkept fighting the last. It was5-all after intriguing tussle.But in the deciding frame,Khizer kept his cool to out-play his opponent 61-8 toseize victory.

At the presentation cer-emony, winner Khizer gottrophy and cash purse of

Rs 35,000 while Zulfiqargot runner-up trophy andRs 20,000.

Top six from the SindhCup - Khizar Aziz, ZulfiqarA.Qadir MuhammadIshtiaq, Aneel John, SohailShehzad and Salman Shaikhhave qualified for the Na-tional Snooker Champion-ship. Result: Khizar Aziz btZulfiqar A.Qadir 6-5 (29-77,64-39, 64-16, 55-42, 56-67,78-46, 08-52, 56-46, 68-38,29-69, 61-08).—APP

Ex-Test cricketers in financial distressTanvir Ahmed said he

was in contact with the fastbowlers, who were his goodfriends.

He expressed the hopethat keeping in view thecontribution of cricketers,Pakistan Cricket Board offi-cials would get in touchwith these cricketers andhelp them.

F a i s a l a b a d - b a s e dShahid Nazir, formerly ofHabib Bank, played 15 Testand 17 one dayinternationals (ODIs) aftermaking his debut againstZimbabwe in 1996 and also

took 458 wickets in 128 firstclass matches.

Similarly Fazl-e-Akbarof PIA played five Tests andtwo ODIs, and ended hisfirst class career with awhooping 600 wickets in136 games.

Sajid Shah from Mardantook 587 wickets while play-ing for HBL, Peshawar.

Tanvir Ahmad said play-ers playing for the regionalteams were finding it verydifficult to keep going be-cause of low payments indaily and travelling allow-ance.

He said it was job of Pa-kistan Cricket Board (PCB)to take steps for the welfareof players if they were fac-ing financial distress.

Tanvir Ahmed ofKarachi and Port QasimAuthority said he mighthave been facing the samesituation, had he not beenable to play for Pakistan fortwo years.

He said concrete stepswere needed from PCB toraise the cash incentives forthe first class cricketersplaying on the domestic cir-cuit.—APP

BIPIN DANI

OBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

JAIPUR—The members ofthe Team India which leftfor New Zealand on Sun-day morning (SingaporeAirlines) were not requiredto be reminded of theAuckland 2002 fiasco, ac-cording to the team man-ager, T. C. Mathews.

It may be recalled herethat in 2002, India captainSaurav Ganguly andHarbhajan Singh, had eachbeen slapped a $200 fine fornot correctly declaring thenumber of pairs of usedfootwear they were carry-ing on tour. Instead of four,

Team India leaves withhope of incident-free

landing in New Zealandthey unintentionally declaredthree pairs and that too withtraces of grass on some ofthem.

“No special instructionswere required to be directed.Only the general instruc-tions were passed on”,Mathews said exclusivelyover telephone fromMumbai, few hours beforethe departure.

Sachin Tendulkar beingthe last to retire from that2002 squad, and Sehwag notin the current squad, no mem-ber of the present team hadwitnessed the fiasco.

The fines to Ganguly andBhajji were imposed by NewZealand’s ministry of agricul-ture.

“India will be playing itsfirst ODI in McLean Park,Napier (next Sunday) butour entry point in NewZealand is same Aucklandwhere this incident hap-pened”.

“Mahendra SinghDhoni is an experiencedIndia captain who had alsotravelled with the team in2009 and is well awareabout the “hygiene” con-dition to be adhered to inthat country”, Mathewsadded.

“The players have beenguided and general ruleshave been explained andtherefore incident-free touris expected”, the managersigned off.

DU B A I—Sri Lanka pro-duced a professional per-formance to register theirbiggest victory over Paki-stan by nine wickets in thesecond Test in Dubai, tak-ing a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Paceman SurangaLakmal took all three wick-ets to fall on the fifth morn-ing to finish with a career-best 4-78 to wrap upPakistan’s second inningsfor 359 before Sri Lankaknocked off the meager 137-run target for one wicket. Inachieveing the victory, SriLanka also defied thecloudy weather in Dubaiand rain forecast for laterSunday.

Opener DimuthKarunaratne (62 not out) hitthe winning runs after put-

Dominant Sri Lanka beatPakistan in second Test

t ing on 124 for the firstwicket with Kaushal Silvawho fell after scoring 58.Kumar Sangakkara re-mained unbeaten on nine.Sri Lankan captain AngeloMathews praised hisbowlers.

“The bowlers did reallywell and the batsmen cameto the party to set up thiswin,” said Mathews.“That’s the beauty of Testcricket, we have to keepfighting despite the situa-tion.”

Pakistan’s lowest de-fended target was 127achieved against NewZealand at Hamilton in 1993,when they dismissed theiropponents for 93 but SriLanka ensured the goodwork was not lost.

Sri Lanka had previ-

ously beaten Pakistan byeight wickets on two occa-sions in 45 Tests betweenthe two nations. In a sur-prise move Pakistan openedthe bowling with off-spin-ner Mohammad Hafeez butboth openers played withauthority.

Silva hit five boundariesbefore trapped leg-beforeby Saeed Ajmal.Karunaratne hit eightboundaries off 125 balls.Ajmal was once again inef-fective, having now takenfive wickets in two matches.

Pakistan will be desper-ate to level the series in thethird Test starting in Sharjahfrom Thursday to avoidtheir first-ever series defeatin United Arab Emirates,their adopted base forcricket since 2010 becauseof security fears back home.

The first Test ended in adraw in Abu Dhabi. Paki-stan captain Misbah-ul Haqcriticised the Dubai stadiumpitch. “We are not gettingthe pitch we want,” saidMisbah.

“It’s a worry as there wasno spin, even on the fifthday, and spinners are ourstrength.” MahelaJayawardene, declared man-of-the-match for his 129,said he was happy to con-tribute in the win. “Obvi-ously the hand dictated theway I batted and the matchsituation as well,” saidJayawardene, who battedwith stitches in his left hand.

“Our bowlers did reallywell to limit the Pakistan bat-ting. It’s good to play withthis bunch of boys and we

have one more Test to goso hope we do well inSharjah as well.”

Earlier, Pakistan failed toprolong their resistance ofthe fourth day as they lostthree wickets in the spaceof just 29 runs. Lakmal re-moved Sarfraz Ahmed in thefourth over of the day,bringing one in sharply tobeat the Pakistani’s forwarddefensive push and hit theoff-stump. Sarfraz scored74, batting for 211 minutesand hitting seven bound-aries in a fighting inningsthat took the game to thefinal day.

Lakmal then had RahatAli caught behind for eight,for PrasannaJayawardene’s ninth catchin the match. Prasannaequalled Sri Lanka’s recordof nine catches by awicketkeeper in a match settwice in successive Testsby Amal Silva against Indiaat home in 1985.

Lakmal bowled Ajmal(21) to end Pakistan’s sec-ond innings. Lakmal’s pre-vious best was 3-55 againstAustralia at Galle in 2011.Nuwan Pradeep, ShamindaEranga and Rangana Herathtook two wickets apiece.

Sri Lankan pacemanbowled well on the first dayto get Pakistan out for a lowscore of 165 and thengained a big 223-run lead.

Pakistan did put up afight, taking the game to thefinal day with Misbah hit-ting 97 and Younis Khanscoring 77 on the fourth daybut the first-innings deficitled to their downfall.—AFP

Pakistan 1st innings:165s Lanka 1st innings: 388Pakistan 2nd innings (over-night 330-7)Khurram Manzoor cPrasanna b Pradeep ........ 6Ahmed Shehzad b Herath 9Hafeez c Prasannab Pradeep ......................... 1Younis Khan c Prasannab Lakmal ......................... 77Misbah b Herath ........... 97Asad Shafiq b Eranga .. 23Sarfraz Ahmed b Lakmal74Bilawal Bhatti b Eranga 32Saeed Ajmal b Lakmal .. 21Rahat Ali b Lakmal .......... 8Junaid Khan not out ....... 2Extras: (b1, lb8) ................ 9Total: (all out) .............. 359Fall of wicket: 1-11, 2-12, 3-

19, 4-148, 5-200, 6-245, 7-312,8-334, 9-354, 10-359Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WLakmal .............. 28.3-4-78-4Pradeep ............... 19-3-50-2Herath ............. 48-10-132-2Eranga ................. 36-9-74-2Mathews ................ 5-1-9-0Sangakkara ............. 1-0-7-0Sri Lanka 2nd innings:D. Karunaratne not out 62K. Silva lbw b Ajmal ...... 58K. Sangakkara not out .... 9Extras: (b3, lb4, nb1) ....... 8Total: (for one wkt) ..... 137Fall of wickets: 1-124Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WHafeez ................... 8-3-22-0Junaid ................. 10-2-34-0Ali ........................ 11-1-29-0Ajmal ................ 17.2-5-45-1

DUBAI: Saeed Ajmal was bowled by a Yorker during Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test on Sunday.

MELBOURNE—A superbcentury from opener AaronFinch helped Australia to acomprehensive six-wicketwin over England in the firstone-day international at theMelbourne Cricket Groundon Sunday.

After being dropped byGary Ballance when he wason just eight, Finch contin-ued to blast 121 runs from128 balls as Australia wonwith 4.2 overs to spare.

Finch rode his luck earlyin his innings but quicklyseized control, racing to 50from just 47 balls and outpac-ing opening partner DavidWarner. Finch and Warnerput on 163 for the openingwicket but not without somecontroversy.

Warner was given a re-prieve by the television um-pire when he was on 22 de-spite the Australian openeraccepting that a low catchclaimed by wicketkeeper JosButtler had carried. Warner,who had walked to theboundary, was recalled to themiddle and went on to make65.

He was eventually dis-missed holing out to EdStokes on the boundary offpart-time spinner Joe Root,and when Chris Jordanbowled Shane Watson for aduck two runs later Englandhad a slim hope of peggingAustralia back.

But Finch and captainMichael Clarke (43) quicklytook the game away from En-gland with a 72-run partner-ship, which ended whenFinch sliced a Stokes deliv-ery to Ballance at third man.Earlier, a patient 79 fromBallance and a whirlwind 50from Eoin Morgan helpedEngland to post what hadlooked like a competitive to-tal.

Ballance, who came tothe crease when Englandwere struggling at 22-2, heldthe innings together beforeaccelerating towards the endwhen quick runs wereneeded. He shared in an 83-

England Innings:Cook c Haddin b McKay 4Bell b Doherty ............... 41Root lbw b McKay ......... 3Ballance c Doherty bMcKay ............................ 79Morgan c Coulter-Nile bMaxwell .......................... 50Bopara b Coulter-Nile ... 17Stokes b Faulkner ......... 21Buttler not out ............... 34T. Bresnan not out ........ 16Extras: (w3 lb1) ................ 4Total: (for 7 wickets) ... 269Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-22, 3-62, 4-145, 5-173, 6-206, 7-228Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WMcKay ................ 10-0-44-3Coulte ................. 10-0-51-1Maxwell ................ 8-0-40-1Doherty ................ 7-0-29-1

Faulkner .............. 10-0-68-1Watson ................. 5-0-36-0Australia Innings:Finch c Ballanceb Stokes ........................ 121Warner c Stokes b Root 65Watson b Jordan ............. 0Clarke c Cook b Bresnan43Bailey not out ............... 17G. Maxwell not out .......... 8Extras: (w10 lb6) ............ 16Total: (for 4 wickets) ... 270Fall of wickets: 1-163, 2-165,3-237, 4-247Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WRankin ................... 8-0-53-0Jordan ................. 10-0-50-1Bresnan ............. 9.4-0-56-1Stokes ................. 10-0-64-1Bopara .................. 6-0-30-0Root ...................... 2-0-11-1

Finch century helpsAustralia thrash England

run partnership with Mor-gan, who blasted his 20thODI half-century off just 47balls with five fours and atowering six.

England had earlier wonthe toss, with skipperAlastair Cook having nohesitation in batting first ona flat MCG wicket.—AFP

MELBOURNE: Eoin Morgan lofts straight down the groundduring Australia vs England 1st ODI.

ADELBODEN, Switzerland: Germany’s Neureuther crossing the finishing lines to win Adelboden giant slalom.

AD E L B O D E N (Switzer-land)—Germany’s FelixNeureuther followed up onlast week’s Bormio slalomtriumph with victory inSaturday’s World Cup gi-ant slalom in the Swiss re-sort of Adelboden.

The German clocked acombined t ime of 2min34.60sec to finish 0.10secahead of French racer Tho-mas Fanara, who had ledafter the first run.

In front of a massivecrowd in unseasonablyclement condit ions, Aus-tr ian Marcel Hirscherclaimed third, at 0.19sec.

It was Neureuther’s firstever World Cup win in thediscipline and the first bya German since 1973 in GS,in which is American TedLigety.

Germany’s Neureuther winsAdelboden giant slalom

The American, how-ever, failed to improve onhis first run, when he fin-ished third, catching a gateon his second run to senda ski shooting off.

“It’s incredible, mas-sive, crazy!” saidNeureuther after his sev-enth World Cup career vic-tory. “I’d never havedreamed about winning agiant slalom.”

Hirscher remains atopthe giant slalom standingson 380 points from France’sAlexis Pinturault (305) andLigety (260).

The Austr ian consoli-dated his second place inthe overal l World Cupstandings on 575 points ,with leader Aksel LundSvindal (652) picking up afurther 22 points with a 12th

placed finish in the giantslalom.

Ligety was not toodownhearted by his outing.

“I feel like I was start-ing to ski okay and find therhythm of the course andthen just crappy bad luckand just bounced into thegate a little bit unexpect-edly,” the American said.

“That’s just part of skiracing, but it’s a kick in thegroin, that’s for sure.”

Ligety added: “Felix isskiing well. He’s one of mybetter friends on the WorldCup tour and i t’s cool tosee him get a win.

“That’s not really a sur-prise. I think he’s beenpushing the envelope inGS for the last year and fi-nally put together twogood runs.”—AFP

Djokovic happyto gamble on

BeckerM E L B O U R N E — S i x - t i m eGrand Slam champion NovakDjokovic said he was happyto take a risk on his untriednew coach Boris BeckerSunday as he prepared to en-ter a new era under the flam-boyant German.

The defending Austra-lian Open champion admittedadding Becker to his team,after his coach Marian Vajdarequested more time with hisfamily, was a potentialgamble.

But he is excited abouthis new partnership with thesix-time major-winner, whohas hung up hiscommentator’s microphoneto return to the tour.

“Whenever you make achange in life, it’s a potentialrisk, right? How is it going toaffect you?” said Djokovicahead of his title defence.

“But I don’t want to thinkfrom that perspective. I’m re-ally excited about this coop-eration. I’m excited about thispartnership that I have withBoris that also has been ap-proved and supported byMarian, who is still in theteam.—AFP

Kirk’s closingbirdie grabs PGA

lead in HawaiiHONOLULU—Chris Kirksank a nine-foot birdie putton the last hole to grab a one-stroke lead over fellowAmericans Will Wilcox andHarris English afterSaturday’s third round of theUS PGA Sony Open.

Kirk’s clutch putt com-pleted a round of five-underpar 65 to stand on 12-under198 through 54 holes at the$5.6 million event at WaialaeCountry club.

Kirk, who won his firstUS PGA title at the 2011 Vi-king Classic, already owns atour title this season from lastNovember’s McGladrey Clas-sic in this first-ever US tourcampaign to extend over twodifferent years. After birdiesat the second and sixth holes,Kirk closed the front ninewith a birdie before taking hislone bogey to begin the backside.—AFP

Dubai pitchesworry Misbah

DUBAI—Pakistan captainMisbah-ul Haq expressedhis disappointment at notgetting turning pitches toplay up to his team’s strengthafter suffering a heavy defeatby Sri Lanka in Dubai on Sun-

day.Pakistan went down by

nine wickets in the secondTest to concede a 1-0 lead inthe three-match series afterthe first Test ended in a drawin Abu Dhabi.

That defeat was largelydue to the ineffectivenesssof Pakistan’s main weaponSaeed Ajmal, with the off-spinner having bagged onlyfive wickets to show in thetwo Tests.

Ajmal went wicketless inhis 49 overs in the secondinnings of the first Test.

In contrast he took 18when Pakistan beat SriLanka 1-0 in a three-Test se-ries in United Arab Emiratesin 2011.

Misbah admitted that thepitches were disappointing.

“Obviously, we are notgetting support as per ourstrength (of spinners) andthat is a worry for us,” saida visibly upset Pakistancaptain, whose team alsolost to South Africa at thesame pitch three monthsago.—AFP

RESOLUTIONS to lose weight are often made in January yet almost as frequently abandoned as heavy hopefuls

find diets that demand fasting, virtually nocarbs or liquid food shakes notoriously hard tostick to. But even “fad” dietscan lead to a slimmer, lighterNew Year for those whoseresolve remains robust, ac-cording to doctors and nutri-tionists analysing them.

Gathering for a Londonconference to review evi-dence behind popular weightloss diets - at just the time ofyear when slimming ideasare in peak demand - special-ists concluded that food fadssuch as the hunter-gatherer“Paleo” plan or the 5:2 dietcan deliver.

But it’s hard work. “If itwas easy, our species wouldhave died out years ago. Ashumans we have a default toeat,” said Gary Frost, a pro-fessor and chair of nutritionand dietetics at Imperial College London.

The results of that default are looming largein a global “wave of obesity”, he said. Accord-ing to the World Health Organisation, world-wide obesity - defined as having a body massindex of more than 30 - has nearly doubledsince 1980. The latest global figure is that in2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were over-weight.

According to the U.S. Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention, almost 36 per-cent of American adults are obese and almost70 percent are either obese or overweight. InBritain, a government health study predicts

60 percent of men, 50 percent of women and25 percent of children will be obese by 2050.Against this background, experts say thesearch for effective diets must always takeaccount of how easy it is for people to un-

derstand and follow, and howlikely they are to abide by itsrestrictions.

“Energy restriction isdifficult to maintain over thelong term and people tend tofind it easier to follow a dietwith intermittent energy re-striction,” she said.

She said that while aregular weight loss plan mightrequire the dieter to take in 25percent fewer calories, inter-mittent diets may suggest twodays of a 75 percent calorie cutinterspersed with five days ofnormal healthy eating. But thekey to these diets - such as the5:2 diet in which followers eatas little as 400 calories on two“fasting” days per week - is thatdieters won’t succeed if they

“pig out” and eat whatever they want on non-fasting days.

Harvie’s research shows those who suc-ceed in losing weigh on these diets find thefasting days lead them to also have a lowerfood intake on normal days - leading to lowercalorie intake overall. Mark Berry, head ofplant biology and biochemistry at the con-sumer company Unilever’s research and de-velopment unit, says there are also positivesigns in data from studies of “Palaeolithic”or stone-age diets - plans designed to mimicthe diet of pre-agricultural hunter-gatherersof that era.

Fad diets can work, but expertsfind no magic slimming bullet

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Traders of Karachihad given an ultimatum of 72hours for arresting the killers ofa local trader and Sindh TajirIttehad (Sindh Traders Alliance)Vice President Naeem Aziz, whowas gunned down in NewKarachi over resisting foiling abid of dacoity. The robbers hadsilenced him to death on the spot.

In this regard, STI ChairmanJamil Ahmed Paracha while con-demning the brutal murder ofAziz said that at one hand, Rang-ers and Police were making tallclaims for controlling the crimerate while the fact was that theafter murder of traders in casesof kidnapping for ransom, thetarget killers and dacoits hadstarted killing them on the spot.

Traders give ultimatum of72 hours for arrest of killers

He asked the Sindh provin-cial government to explain aswhy the criminals had yet beenoperating freely in the metropo-lis while hundreds of criminalswere being arrested every day.

The metropolis was pan-icked by the law of jungle andthe perpetrators had no fear ofany and carried out their crimi-nal activities with complete lib-erty.

Sindh provincial govern-ment and the law enforcementagencieshad made tall claimsduring past 4 months regardingthe success achieved in curbingthe crime rate in 4-months datedtargeted operation against thecriminals and terrorists but thetraders and businessmen did notsee any concrete improvementon the ground, he said.

the fact was that the law en-forcement agencies personnel,traders, businessmen and the ci-vilians were not safe in the cityand were on the mercy of thekillers, kidnappers for ransomand others.

He said that the KarachiPolice Chief Shahid Hayat haddespite his claims failed to per-form as per the aspirations of thetraders, businessmen and thepeople of the city and for hisfailure he should quit so thatsomeone competent should per-form and protect the lives of thepeople and the traders.

Paracha warned the civil ad-ministration that if the killerswere not arrested in 72 hours, thetraders would launch their pro-test campaign and would take tostreet from Karachi to Peshawar.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan SuuniUlema Board (PSUB) had ap-pealed to the target killers andterrorist to stop their anti-socialactivities in the sacred monthof Eid-e Milad Un Nabi (Peacebe upon him).

In this regard, the PSUBmembers comprising MuftiGhufran Mehmood Sayalvi,Shaikh Al Hadith Qazi SaeedUr Rehman, Mufti Liaquat AliRizvi, Allama Mujahid UrRasool Khan, MuftiMuhammad Arif Chishti, PirSyed Waseem Ul Hassan Naqvi

Sunni Ulema appeal terrorists to stopactivities for sanctity of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi

advocate, Allama Abdul LateefQadri, Allama Bashir AhmedNaqshbandi, Allama Syed IrfanShah Majadadi, Allama AbdulHafeez Rizvi, MuftiMuhammad Haseeb Attari,Mufti Muhammad Ayaz Saeedi,Allama Niaz Ahmed Kahdmi,Pir Syed Abid Hussain Shah,Allama Tariq Shahzad, AllamaSarfaraz Ahmed Chishti, MuftiDr Muhammad Shahbaz, MuftiMuhammad Ahsan Naeemi,Allama Khalil Ur RehmanQadri, Pir Syed MubashirHussain Shah, Allama Dr AyazNaeemi, Allama Riaz UrRehman, Allama Ghulam

Murtaza Naqshbandi, MuftiMuhammad Abrar AhmedAttari, Allama ShaikhMuhammad Idrees Chishti,Mufti Muhammad SaleemNaqshbandi and Dr MuhammadRizwan Raza appealed the ter-rorists, target killers and crimi-nals to refrain from conductingany act of terrorism, target kill-ing in the sacred month of Eid-eMilad Un Nabi (peace be uponhim).

The terrorists and targetkillers should instead of carry-ing out activities against thepeople should join the strugglefor imposing the Islamic

Shariat in the country.They said that Islam was

the religion of peace and kill-ings on the basis of sects andschool of thought or otherwisewere now allowed in Islam andthe terrorism in the name of Is-lam had brought a very badname to the religion of peace,Islam.

They said that the countrywas passing through variouscrises and terrorism was theworst one. The terrorist shouldadopt the way of argument forconvincing the others and theyshould not play into hands ofenemies of Pakistan.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Jamaat-e Islami (JI)Pakistan will launch a massiveanti-privatization movement af-ter taking political parties andtrade unions into confidence.

This was announced by JIChief Syed Munawar Hasanwhile addressing a crowded pressconference at Idara-e Noor-e HaqSunday.JI Karachi Chief HafizNaeem-ur-Rehman, Naib AmeersJI Karachi Muslim Pervez,Muzaffar Hashmi, InformationSecretary Zahid Askari, GeneralSecretary PASLU Zafar Khan,General Secretary PIACE UnionObaidullah and other leaders oftrade unions were also present onthe occasion. He said that the JIhad decided to take into streetsagainst the privatization, addingthat the party had evolved a strat-

Munawar: JI to launch massiveanti-privatization movement

egy to initiate countrywide peace-ful protests against theprivatization of the national insti-tutions.

He said when the governmenton failing to fulfill its promisesmade before the election had de-cided to privatize the national in-stitutions for spreading corrup-tion, unemployment and lawless-ness. The government through aletter by Finance Minister IshaqDar and Governor State Bank ofPakistan Yaseen Anwar to IMFstated that a consensus had beenmade with all political parties andparliament to privatize the na-tional institutions.

They misguided the IMF bytelling lie that the Council ofCommon Inertest (CCI) and allpolitical parties have agreedupon for privatization of nationalinstitutions, he said. Hasan de-

manded that the issue ofprivatization must be raised inParliament and a committeeshould be formed which reviewthe performance of privatizedinstitutions.

JI Chief informed the mediathat a meeting of the representa-tives of all political parties andtrade unions under the aegis ofJI is to be scheduled on Jan, 16,adding that a convention in thisregard had already been con-ducted in Lahore in which allpolitical parties and trade unionshad agreed upon to initiate jointstruggle against the privatizationof the national institutions.Munawar Hasan termed the non-payment of salaries to the em-ployees and unemployment anact of state terrorism, adding thatit was one of the forms to igniteterrorism.

KARACHI—No less than 2200forms were issued for 220 seatsat Computer Science Depart-ment of Karachi University foracademic session 2014-2015while 2038 candidates appearedin the aptitude test held for ad-missions to the same on Sun-day.

KU administration sharingdetails of the exercise said itwas most peacefully conductedwith fool proof security ar-rangements and that Rangerswere also deployed at the siteof test.

In context of the test itself,

2038 appear in aptitude test forBSSE/BSCS against 220 seats

they mentioned that a totalnumber of 3148 students ap-peared in the Aptitude Test foradmissions to Computer Sci-ence (BSSE/BSCS) and Busi-ness Administration (MBA)besides Applied Physics (B.ScHons) respectively.

There were said to be 50seats for MBA program forwhich 550 forms were issuedhowever 490 students, bothboys and girls appeared in thesame.

As for 40 seats in AppliedPhysics (B.Sc Hons) 780 formswere issued and 620 appeared in

the test. A monitoring teamcomprising Director for Admin-istration, Dr Khalid Iraqi, ProfDr Ansar Rizvi, Prof Dr AbdulRahman Zaki, Dr Shabih urRehman and Prof Badar Sami,Head of Computer Scienceskept strict vigil on the candidateswho appeared in the test.

On the occasion six of theindividuals impersonating forcandidates were handed to theRangers. The KU administra-tion to avoid any untoward in-cident had imposed ban on theentry of all un authorized onthe test site.—APP

48 hardenedcriminals arrested

by rangersKARACHI—Pakistan RangersSindh during its crackdown onbanned outfits and hardenedcriminals have conducted tar-geted operations in different partsof the metropolis and arrested 48criminals.

According to press releaseissued here on Sunday, Rangersconducted operations in GulGoth, Al Asif Square, ChakraGoth, Mehran Town, BakhtawarGoth, Esssa Nagri, Gulshan eGhazi, Firdous Colony, Peerabadand Lyari areas last night. Whilea joint operation with police wasalso conducted in Lyari area, onseeing LEAs, gangsters resortedfiring and after an exchange offire one gangster got killed.

During the targeted opera-tions 48 criminals includingmembers of banned outfits andLyari Gang War elements havebeen arrested. Weapons includ-ing automatic rifles and mixedammunition recovered.—APP

Courts to remainclosed on

January 13, 14KARACHI—The Sindh HighCourt and all the District andSub-ordinate Courts will remainclosed on January, 13 and 14 onthe account of Eid Milad-un-Nabi.

According to a notificationissued by SHC, the courts willremain closed on Monday andTuesaday.—APP

KARACHI: A view of a street at Liaquatabad which has been decorated with lights ahead of Jashn-e-Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH).

KARACHI: Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Syed Munawar Hassan addressing a press conferenceat Idara Noor-e-Haq.

KARACHI: Workers of Pasban stage a demonstration to demand release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.Altaf declaresAsma Jehangir

as ‘Bravo’STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) Chief AltafHussain had while appreciatingeminent lawyers, SupremeCourt Bar Association’s formerPresident and Human RightsCommission of Pakistan’sformer President AsimaJehangir for her courageousstance over prevailing situationin the country termed her as awoman of valour and declaredher as ‘Bravo’. A statement is-sued Sunday said.

This the MQM Chief haddone on phone call from Lon-don Sunday evening.

While talking to Jehangir, hetold her that her stance onPervez Musharraf’s trial undertreason charges under Article 6of the Constitution of Pakistanwas full of courage and basedon principals.

Jehangir in reply toHussain’s admiration said that allshould speak the truth and shouldhave a candid point of view.

Adherence toSunnah mustfor Progress

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh ChiefMinister’s Coordinator for Cul-ture with ministerial portfolioSharmilla Farooqui said thatsince Islam was the religion ofpeace hence it was not difficultfor the Muslim to prosper andmake advancement in all fieldprovided that they would havestrictly adhered to the trueteachings of Islam.

The prosperity and ad-vancement in all fields was soeasy because only Islam hadurged the Muslim to acquireknowledge under all circum-stances and Quran, the base ofIslam had on hundreds of oc-casions motivated the Muslimto discover the universe but theinternal differences and terror-ism had smashed the path ofprosperity and advancement forthe Muslim.

Even today, the Muslimcould reach their destiny andmake the world a place as wasconceived for heaven but forthat purpose they would haveto focus on learning and pro-motion of brotherhood not onlyamong the Muslims but theworld.

Mah Noor, Hafiz Hassan Aliand Samina from Hyderabad se-cured all first, second and thirdpositions in the Naat competition.

RESOLUTIONS to lose weight are often made in January yet almost as frequently abandoned as heavy hopefuls

find diets that demand fasting, virtually nocarbs or liquid food shakes notoriously hard tostick to. But even “fad” dietscan lead to a slimmer, lighterNew Year for those whoseresolve remains robust, ac-cording to doctors and nutri-tionists analysing them.

Gathering for a Londonconference to review evi-dence behind popular weightloss diets - at just the time ofyear when slimming ideasare in peak demand - special-ists concluded that food fadssuch as the hunter-gatherer“Paleo” plan or the 5:2 dietcan deliver.

But it’s hard work. “If itwas easy, our species wouldhave died out years ago. Ashumans we have a default toeat,” said Gary Frost, a pro-fessor and chair of nutritionand dietetics at Imperial College London.

The results of that default are looming largein a global “wave of obesity”, he said. Accord-ing to the World Health Organisation, world-wide obesity - defined as having a body massindex of more than 30 - has nearly doubledsince 1980. The latest global figure is that in2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were over-weight.

According to the U.S. Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention, almost 36 per-cent of American adults are obese and almost70 percent are either obese or overweight. InBritain, a government health study predicts

60 percent of men, 50 percent of women and25 percent of children will be obese by 2050.Against this background, experts say thesearch for effective diets must always takeaccount of how easy it is for people to un-

derstand and follow, and howlikely they are to abide by itsrestrictions.

“Energy restriction isdifficult to maintain over thelong term and people tend tofind it easier to follow a dietwith intermittent energy re-striction,” she said.

She said that while aregular weight loss plan mightrequire the dieter to take in 25percent fewer calories, inter-mittent diets may suggest twodays of a 75 percent calorie cutinterspersed with five days ofnormal healthy eating. But thekey to these diets - such as the5:2 diet in which followers eatas little as 400 calories on two“fasting” days per week - is thatdieters won’t succeed if they

“pig out” and eat whatever they want on non-fasting days.

Harvie’s research shows those who suc-ceed in losing weigh on these diets find thefasting days lead them to also have a lowerfood intake on normal days - leading to lowercalorie intake overall. Mark Berry, head ofplant biology and biochemistry at the con-sumer company Unilever’s research and de-velopment unit, says there are also positivesigns in data from studies of “Palaeolithic”or stone-age diets - plans designed to mimicthe diet of pre-agricultural hunter-gatherersof that era.

Fad diets can work, but expertsfind no magic slimming bullet

CM condemnsbomb blasts in Shangla

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has strongly condemnedthe bomb blasts near the vehicleof Ameer Muqam in Shanglaand expressed deep sense of sor-row and grief over the loss ofprecious human lives.

The Chief Minister said thatsuch cowardly acts cannot de-moralize the nation which isunited and fully determined toroot out terrorism.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Assembly Membersfrom various districts metPunjab Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharif,here on Sunday.

Talking to the parliamentar-ians, the Chief Minister said thatPunjab government is imple-menting a comprehensiveprogramme for the welfare of the

Parliamentarians callon Shahbaz Sharif

people and it will set newrecords of public service duringits current tenure. He said thatPunjab will be made a modelprovince.

He said that government hasallocated billions of rupees inthe current financial year for thewelfare of the people and pro-vision of relief to the citizensand solid measures are beingtaken for the development of

education, health, infrastructure,energy and other sectors.The Chief stressed upon parlia-mentarians to maintain a closecontact with the masses andspare no effort for the solutionof their problems.

Assembly Members in-formed the Chief Minister aboutthe pace of developmental ac-tivities in their respective con-stituencies.

STAFF REPORTER

Lahore—A 15-Day AnnualThesis Show comprising theconceptual works of art createdby 160 students prerequisite forqualifying their degrees com-menced on Sunday at Zahoorul Akhlaque Gallery, NCALahore. Provincial Minister forEducation Rana MashhoodAhmed Khan was the chiefguest on the opening day.

The Minister witnessed the

Art annual thesis show startsThesis Work contributed by thefinal year students of Fine Arts,Design, Architecture, Multime-dia, interior design, Film & TVProduction, Print making, Prod-uct design, Sculpture, Painting& Miniature Painting, TextileDesign, Ceramic Design, Com-munication Design and othervisual arts.

He lauded the extraordinarycreativity exhibited in the piecesof art particularly inmomentomery paintings from

Aroosha Khalil in which theugly looking animal viscera aremixed with appetite provokingattractive sketches of fruits tocreate a beauty as a whole.

The Minister also appreci-ated the work of Miss. Kiran forcreating remarkable charcoalsketches depicting the mother’ssentiments for child-care andprotection. Principal NCA Dr.Murtaza Jafri informed the Min-ister that the event is the largestexhibition of the arts under one

roof. He said, the Thesis Showwill continue till January 26this year and the gallery willbe opened from 9.00 a.m to5.00 p.m daily.

The principal announcedlaunching of three new di-ploma courses in Screen &Script Writing, BroadcastJournalism and Makeup &Lighting will be started thisyear in the faculty of Films &TV Production at NCA,Lahore.

CTP measuresto avoid

traffic mess’LAHORE—SP Traffic Head-quarters Chaudhry Azhar GujjarSunday said traffic police hadtaken effective measures to en-sure smooth flow of traffic andavoid mess on various roards inthe city.

Talking to APP, he said thecity traffic police had launcheda crackdown against encroach-ments and wrong parking standsat various places in the city, add-ing that they had got registereda number of cases against en-croachers to maintain trafficflow.

The SP said the CTP hadevolved a comprehensive trafficplan with the cooperation ofother departments to take strictaction against violators.

He said they had alsolaunched awareness campaigns,including lectures, seminars,walks and others, to createawareness among the massesabout rules and laws.

He said traffic wardens per-formed their duties with a respon-sibility and they educate peopleon minor violations besides tick-eting on major violations.

Azhar Gujjar said the CTPhad issued 5,195 duplicate li-censes, 47,642 renewal, 5,776 in-ternational and 3,337 endorse-ment licenses during the last yearbesides issuing fresh driving li-censes after driving tests.—APP

All dengue patientsrecover at LGH

LAHORE—Principal PostGraduate Medical Institute(PGMI) and Ameeruddin Medi-cal College (AMC) Prof AnjumHabib Vohra Sunday said alldengue patients referred toLahore General Hospital(LGH)during 2012 and 2013 got recov-ered.

He said a comprehensivestrategy had been evolved tosave dengue patients during2014 to continue zero death tollby dengue in the hospital for thethird consecutive year.

Training workshops andseminars for medical staff andthe general public would be con-ducted whereas cleanlinessdrive and thrust on hygienic lifestyle would also be continued,he said. Talking to the media,Prof Vohra said our doctors,nurses and paramedics were ex-pert and that fact had been rec-ognized by the foreign medicalexperts.—APP

InternationalMilad

ConferenceLAHORE—Tehrik MinhajulQuran (TMQ) will hold the 30thannual International Milad Con-ference at the Minar- i-Pakistanground on Monday.

Dr Muhammad Tahir ulQadri will address the Interna-tional Milad Conferencethrough video link from Canadato be broadcasted in 200 citiesof the country.

Patron-in-chief of theMilad 2014, Sheikh ZahidFayyaz, said that all arrange-ments in this regard have beencompleted.

He said that Ulema,

Dacoits gangsmashed

LAHORE—Green Town policehave smashed a dacoit gang andarrested its two members be-sides recovering Rs 50,000,eight mobile phones and illegalweapons.

A special police led by SDPOTownship arrested QamarMehmood a ringleader of the gangand his accomplice Javed. Duringinterrogations, the accused con-fessed dozens of robberies in dif-ferent areas of the city.—APP

LAHORE—The training acad-emy for Water and SanitationAgency (WASA) officials inTownship is about to completeand it will start functioning byApril.

The project after completonwill not only professionally ben-efit staffers of WASA Lahore butalso be an international standardtraining platform for the wholePunjab. Wasa is going to com-plete the project with financialand technical assistance of JapanInternational CooperationAgency (JICA) with the aim totrain its workforce on modernlines. The developmental workof Punjab Water and Sanitation

WASA Academy to startfunctioning by April

Academy covers an area of12,135 square feet at Townshipand construction was to com-plete in November 2013 but fi-nancial pressures on the depart-ment also affected the pace ofwork besides incrreasing thecost of the project.

The initial estimate of theproject was Rs 484.81 millionwhich was feared to increase upto another millions of rupees.

After the construction of theacademy, capacity of WASA of-ficers and staff will increase andofficers from the rank of sub-engineer to director would getinternational standard training.The aim to start the academy is

to provide training to officialson latest lines with a distinctionof enabling the participants tocope with any awkward situa-tion.

Deputy Management Direc-tor (DMD) Engineering AftabAhmad Dhilloon talking to APPon Sunday stated that work hadbeen resumed on the project andhopefully first training sessionwould start in April 2014. Hesaid that WASA would not payany additional cost due to latecompletion of the project. Re-quired machinery would be im-ported and installed at the acad-emy soon after construction, headded.—APP

LAHORE—Finance Minister,Senator, Muhammad Ishaq Dar onSunday presided over a meetingof the Data Darbar religious affairscommittee to review arrangementsfor the last Urs.

The finance minister ex-pressed satisfaction over the ar-rangements made for facilitatingdevotees on the Urs and particu-larly lauded Secretary Auqaf

Dar lauds steps for Data Sahib UrsPunjab Dr. Saqib Aziz for excel-lent arrangements. The financeminister also appreciated theworking of various committeesfor logistic work, security, foodfor devotees, arrangements forQirat, Naat programmes, lodgingand boarding facilities for Ulemaand Mushaikh, transport andcommunication. The ministercongratulated the committees for

arrangements made during theUrs. The meeting also took stockof expenditure on the Urs and thefinance minister directed thattransparency and strict adherenceto the rules and regulations mustbe followed. The meeting wasalso attended by senior officialsof the Punjab Government andmembers of the Data Darbar reli-gious affairs committee.—APP

MUZAFFAR ALI

LAHORE—Lahore Waste Man-agement Company (LWMC) hasreleased its special cleanlinessplan on the sacred occasion ofEid Milad-un-Nabi.

The objective is to ensurewaste free surroundings in thecity especially on the 100 majorroutes of processions.

The company has issued aduty roaster of some 1000 dedi-cated workers including officerswho will perform duties in threeequal shifts during 11 and 12Rabbi-ul-Awal.

According to the plan, sani-tary crew along with machinerywill be deployed on procession’sroutes on town levels.

Besides manual sweeping,mechanical sweeping and wash-ing of the major roads whereprocessions are expected will beensured earlier. On the major

LWMC up and alert for Eid Milad

procession routes, timely emp-tying of waste containers willalso be made sure. In this regard,instructions have been issued toAlbayrak and OzPak, both Turk-ish companies.

This cleanliness plan alsoincludes the washing of city’smajor mosques and sprinkling ofwater and liming of pavementsin order to give a neat and cleanlook to the city.

LWMC will especially fo-cus on wall city, Shahdra,Thokar Niaz baig, Jallo More,Islam Pura, LDA Avenue, Rail-way Station, Nishtar Town andChungi Amr Sadhu.

General Manager Opera-tions Khalid Majeed and Man-ager Operations Mr. Asif Iqbaland Sohail Malik will remain infield to supervise the operationsand ensure the timely implemen-tation of the plan.

Further Chairman LWMC

Khawaja Ahmed Hassan andMD LWMC Waseem AjmalChaudhry has expressed bestwishes for all the Lahorites onthis holy occasion.

They have requested thecommunities to observe cau-tions regarding cleanliness of theoverall city while celebratingEid Milad with traditional spiritand zest.

According to company’sspokesperson, Memoona ArslanBhatti, though this cleanlinessplan focuses on 11th-12th Rabiul Awal, but in actual it has beenchalked out for the whole monthof Rabbi-ul-Awal keeping inview its religious significance sothat citizens may observe theirsacred occasion in a waste freeenvironment and the waste gen-erated through multiple activi-ties across the city, can be col-lected and transported withoutany delay.

LAHORE: A view of damaged vehicle after a road accident at Canal Road.

LAHORE: Vendors displaying the decorative stuff to attract the customers in connection with Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) celebrations.

LAHORE: Raheela Qazi addressing the national conference of Jamatt-e-Islami in the memoryof Qazi Hussain Ahmad. Liaqat Baloch, Farid Ahmed Paracha and others sitting on the stage.