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PPP to play dual card for interim set-upPML-N to be defaced in Balochistan

JAVED MAHMOOD

ISLAMABAD—The major rul-ing party, Pakistan PeoplesParty can play dual card in theformation of the interim-set upnext year to get maximum po-litical mileage in the comingelections, sources told PakistanObserver on Wednesday.

The nomination of ex-Chief Minister of BalochistanZulfiqar Magsi, as the caretakerprime minister would be thefirst card that the PPP can useto get support from people inBalochistan.

If the major opposition party,PML-N rejected the nominationof Zulfiqar Maqsi as caretakerprime minister, the PPP wouldnominate another person butagain from Balochistan with theaim to convey a message to thepeople and international commu-nity that the PPP was very sup-portive of Balochistan, saidsources.

Sources said that if the PML-N again rejected the secondnomination from Balochistan, thepeople of the province can turnagainst the Nawaz League andthis scenario can be very

favourable for the PPP in theelections.

Sources said that PresidentAsif Ali Zardari and some othersenior leaders of PPP are willingto nominate Zulfiqar Magsi ascaretaker prime minister know-ingly that the PML-N was notmuch compassionate aboutMagsi.

The second card, the PPP canuse is to the formation of an 8-member committee, comprising4 members from the governmentand 4 from the opposition parties,said sources. Outgoing Speakerof the National Assembly Dr

Fehmida Mirza will form thiscommittee before/within eightworking days of the govern-ment in case the governmentand the Opposition (PML-N)does not agree to the nomina-tion of the caretaker prime min-ister and chief ministers.

Sources said that the NASpeaker can nominate onemember each, from the PPP,PML-Q, MQM, ANP and JUI-F while two members fromPML-N and one from the PTIcan be included in the commit-

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UNDISCLOSED LOCATION: Pakistan successfully con-ducted the training launch of Medium Range Ballistic Mis-sile Haft-V (Ghauri) on Wednesday.

Apex court for delimitingKarachi constituencies

Land transfers in Sindh stopped

Pak successfully test firesmedium range Hatf-V

R AWA L P I N D I — P a k i s t a nWednesday successfully con-ducted the training launch ofMedium Range Ballistic MissileHatf V (Ghauri). The launch wasconducted by a Strategic MissileGroup of the Army StrategicForce Command on the culmi-nation of a field training exer-cise that was aimed at testing theoperational readiness of theArmy Strategic Force Com-mand.

Ghauri ballistic missile is aliquid fuel missile which cancarry both conventional andnuclear warheads over a dis-tance of 1300 kms.

The test monitoring of thelaunch was conducted at theNational Command Centrethrough the medium of NationalCommand Authority’s fully au-tomated Strategic Commandand Control Support System(SCCSS). It may be recalledthat the SCCSS enables robustCommand and Control capabil-ity of all strategic assets withround the clock situationalawareness in a digitized networkcentric environment to decisionmakers at the National Com-mand Centre (NCC). The testconsolidates and strengthensPakistan’s deterrence capability,and national security.

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SHARAFAT KAZMI

ISLAMABAD—Federal Cabinetapproved draft of the NationalCounter Terrorism Authority Billon Wednesday. The authoritywould handle the threat of terror-ism, carry out research and drawup strategies for the purpose.

Briefing newsmen aboutproceedings of the Cabinetmeeting here, Minister for Infor-mation and Broadcasting QamarZaman Kaira said the authorityaimed at better coordinating ef-forts to defeat Taliban and alQaeda-linked violence.

The Information Ministersaid the main objective was to

Cabinet okays National CounterTerrorism Authority Bill

defeat terrorism, but he providedno details on exactly how the neworganisation would help.

To come into effect the billneeds to be approved by parlia-ment and signed into law byPresident Asif Ali Zardari.

Kaira said the new authoritywould “devise policies and im-prove coordination among pro-vincial governments and intelli-gence agencies” as well as “re-search and devise long-term poli-cies to defeat” the terroristmindset.

Meanwhile, the cabinet ap-proved amendments in ElectionLaws in the spirit of 18th consti-tutional amendment and decided

to establish a medical universityat the Pakistan Institute of Medi-cal Sciences (PIMS) inIslamabad.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said theuniversity would be named afterShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Itwould be a Federal Governmentchartered university to impartpost-graduate medical education.

The Prime Minister also di-rected the concerned Ministry toput up a proposal for expansionof emergency of PIMS to copewith the ever-increasing require-ments.

The cabinet also decided togive autonomous status to the

ISMAIL DILAWAR

KARACHI—The Supreme CourtWednesday approved as the Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan(ECP) presented before the five-member larger bench its strategyto comply with the apex court’sorder on delimitation of constitu-encies in this metropolis.

The apex court, which deemsdelimitation a remedy to “politi-cal polarization” in the violence-hit city, directed the ECP to re-port back within three days’ time.

Headed by Justice AnwarZaheer Jamali, the bench alsobarred the Sindh Board of Rev-enue (BoR) from allotting ortransferring any government landtill complete retrieval of therecord burnt in the post-Decem-ber 27 (2007) violence.

The larger bench, compris-ing Justices Khilji Arif Hussain,Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Amir HaniMuslim and Muhammad AtherSaeed, decreed this while hear-ing a case related to the imple-mentation the Supreme Court’sOct 6’s (2011) orders with regard

to its suo moto action on thelaw situation in the city.

Earlier, Secretary ECPIshtiaq Ahmed told the court thatthe Commission had devised astrategy to hold separate

meetings with the stakehold-ers. He said the ECP wouldfirst hold internal meetings,

then with the relevant provin-cial departments includingthat of the chief secretary, BoRand law enforcement agen-cies. Lastly, the Ahmed saidpolitical stakeholders representedin the city would be taken onboard on the delimitation pro-cess.

“In next two to three monthswe would delimit constituenciesin line with the honorable court’sorder,” the secretary said.

Justifying delay in the imple-mentation of the court’s earlierorder, Ahmed said the first stepfor delimitation was census thatthe provincial government didnot carry out.

The bench also asked theBoR officials as to how they havebeen allotting and transferringgovernment lands in the absenceof documentary record whichwas destroyed in violence postBenazir Bhutto’s murder on Dec27, 2007.

Shah Zar Shamoon, seniormember BoR, told the court thatAssistant Commissioners had

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$150m US aid for Manglapower house upgradation

RAO ATIQ UL AMIN KHAN

MIRPUR—The United States ofAmerica will provide $150 mil-lion to the Pakistan Water andPower Development Authority(WAPDA) for up-gradation ofMangla Power House.

This announcement wasmade by the US Ambassador to

Pakistan Richard Olson duringhis visit to Mangla Dam and thePower House at Mangla nearhere on Wednesday.

“The US Government assis-tance helped build Mangla Dam”Ambassador Olson told the me-dia. “Now, nearly 50 years later,the US is helping to repairMangla Power House to makesure it continues to produce theenergy this country needs.” he

added. “Our commitment to helprepair Mangla Power House to-day builds upon efforts begun inthe 1960s. The US was then, asit is now, committed to workingwith the Government of Pakistanon large-scale energy projectsthat help the people of Pakistanlive secure and prosperous lives.”

This project to upgradeMangla Power House is just oneelement of a comprehensive USenergy assistance programme inPakistan, which includes reno-vating the power plant at Tarbela,up-grading Guddu, Jamshoro andMuzaffar Garh power plants, andcompleting the construction ofSatpara and Gomal Zam Dam.

WAPDA Chairman RaghibShah said that WAPDA has initi-ated up-gradation project ofMangla Power House to enhanceits generation capacity to 1310

UN adoptsresolution onAfghanistan

NEW YORK—Keeping in viewthe expected pullout of interna-tional security forces by 2014from Afghanistan, the interna-tional community must stand be-side the war-torn nation and helpto usher in a decade “marked lessby aid and more by trade”, saidGeneral Assembly delegates asthey adopted a consensus reso-lution affirming their continuedsupport for the country’s peace,reconciliation and developmentprocesses. German delegate Pe-ter Wittig introduced the draftresolution.

The resolution pledged sup-port of Afghanistan and appreci-ated long-term commitment ofthe international community withAfghanistan. The General As-sembly welcomed the Afghan-led Peace & Reconciliation Pro-cess and called upon relevant

Strategydevised against

drone strikesLAHORE—The federal govern-ment on Wednesday told theLahore High Court (LHC) thatit has devised a strategy to haltdrone strikes in the country.

This was stated during thehearing of a case filed in thisregard at the LHC.

The federal government saidit is expecting the policy wouldbe approved in a few days. Fur-ther measures relating to the is-sue are underway, it added.

It was contended in the pe-tition that the drone strikes arecompletely against national sov-ereignty and security and, thus,must be stopped at once. Thecase proceedings were ad-journed till December 13. —INP

Huge quantity ofweapons missing

NAZIR SIYAL

LARKANA—A huge quantity ofsophisticated weapons have gonemissing from Police Malkhana/Store in Kamber Shahdadkot andtwo Policemen have been ar-rested.

According to details, SSPKamber-Shahdadkot districtFarakh Ali Lanjar during his visitto Police Store found depositedweapons and ammunition includ-ing 163000 rounds ofKalashnikov, 18500 bullets ofG3, mortars, bulletproof jackets,rocket launchers and others van-ished from official warehouseand reportedly sold out to thecriminal elements.

The Police arrested Headconstable Hidayatullah Mastoiand PC Ali Raza and started in-vestigation.

Police sources told news-men that the practice of missingof weapons has been going onsince 2005. Later the two Policeofficials posted themselves toother place.

Russia, India tohold joint naval

exerciseNEW DELHI—Three Russianwarships entered Mumbai onWednesday to hold joint navalexercises, code-named ‘INDRA’,with the Indian Navy from De-cember 2.

The two-day naval exerciseswill be held off the coast ofMumbai from December 2 wherethe Indian side would be repre-sented by Delhi Class destroyerINS Mysore and Tabar Classguided missile frigate along withdifferent types of aircraft in theforce, Navy officials said here.

The Russian side has comewith destroyer MarshalShaponishkov, fleet tug shipAlatau and fleet tanker Irkut forthe exercises, they said.

Navies of India and Russiahave been engaging each otherin joint drills for the last fewyears. The Armies of the two

AbductedDr SaeedrecoveredQUETTA—Dr Saeed AhmedKhan, a renowned eyespecialist, was recovered fromkidnappers after one and a halfmonths here on Wednesday.

Dr Saeed Ahmed Khan wasabducted on October 16 by

unidentified armed men fromQuetta’s Saryab Road.

Talking to media persons athis residence, Dr Saeed thankedall those who made efforts forhis recovery.

Dr Saeed expressedconcerns over the target killingand kidnapping of doctors inBalochistan saying that it mustend. “I have no idea whether

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‘Millionsof dollarssmuggled outof Afghanistan’LABUL—Hundreds of millionsof dollars from Kabul Bankwere spirited out of Afghani-stan - some smuggled in airlinefood trays - to bank accounts inmore than two dozen countries,according to an independentreview released on Wednesdayabout massive fraud that led tothe collapse of the nation’slargest financial institution.

Money from loan schemesended up in bank accounts in28 countries, including theUnited Arab Emirates, China,Britain, South Korea, Russia,the United States and Switzer-land.

The report said $861million, or 92 percent of KabulBank’s loan book, went to 19individuals and companies.

LPG price upby Rs15/kgISLAMABAD—As winter setsin, marketing companies haveadded to the miseries ofmasses by increasing the priceof (LPG) by Rs 10 to 15 perkilogram.

Chairman LPG Distribu-tors Association MuhammadIrfan Khokhar told here onWednesday that as per Oil andGas Regulatory Authority(OGRA) rules, the priceshould have been increasedafter announcement fromconcerned authorities but themarketing companies haveincreased the price withimmediate effect which isunfair the price strickenmasses of the country.

He said that price ofdomestic cylinder hasincreased to Rs 60 whilecommercial cylinder hasincreased to Rs 40.Marketing

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ISLAMABAD—Pakistan and theUnited States have restored fullmilitary and intelligence ties af-ter relations hit a low point lastyear, and Islamabad will takefurther steps to support a nascentAfghan peace process,Pakistan’s Foreign Minister saidon Wednesday.

Full cooperation betweenIslamabad and Washington iscritical to US efforts to stabiliseAfghanistan before most Natocombat troops withdraw by 2014.

“There was a fairly difficultpatch and I think we’ve movedaway from that into a positivetrajectory,” Foreign MinisterHina Rabbani Khar told Reutersin an interview, referring to Pa-kistani-US relations. “We arecoming closer to developing

what could be common positions.We wish to see a responsible tran-sition in Afghanistan.” Relationsbetween the uneasy allies were

severely strained by a series ofincidents in 2011. The crisis in

ties began when a CIA contrac-tor shot dead two men he sus-pected of trying to rob him in thecity of Lahore.

Months later, US specialforces killed Osama bin Laden ina raid and kept the Pakistan mili-tary in the dark, humiliating thecountry’s most powerful institu-tion. Then a Nato air raid mis-takenly killed 24 Pakistani sol-diers on the Afghan border in No-vember that year.

In response, Pakistan ex-pelled US military trainers andCIA agents and placed limits onthe numbers of visas given to USdiplomatic personnel.

Pakistan, which reliesheavily on American aid, alsoclosed supply routes for trucks

US, Pak ties fullyrepaired: Hina

We wish to see a responsible transition in Afghanistan

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SC suggestsdoor-to-door

voters verificationSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Chief JusticeIftikhar Mohammad Chaudhryon Wednesday, while hearinga case on the issue of irregu-larities in electoral rolls, re-marked that door-to-door veri-fication of votes should beconducted in Karachi.

A three-member bench ofthe Supreme Court, compris-

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Picture on Page 7

Current national scenariorings alarm bells: Nawaz

TARIQ SAEED

PESHAWAR—The PakistanMuslim League (Nawaz)supremo and two times formerPrime Minster Mian NawazSharif said on Wednesday theprevailing situation in the coun-try was ringing the alarm bellsand it was only his party whichcould steer the country from theworst crisis of her history sincePML-N had the back ground toprove its credibility.

“It is only PML-N whichhas the team which is fullyequipped mentally and practi-cally to deal with the problemsof Pakistan and steer the nationof the crisis it is confronting to-day”. The PML-N chief saidwhile addressing a public meet-ing after laying foundationstone of Punjab governmentfunded Kidney Hospital inMingora, Swat.

Mian Nawaz Sharif, how-ever, said the change could notbe brought in overnight and it

would take some time to resolvethe chronic issues. “Several chal-lenges and issues facing Pakistancannot be miraculously resolvedin 90 days as claimed by somepoliticians”. He added saying hisparty did not believe in makingfalse promises which could notaccomplished and which aremade only to gain votes.

“All the politicians contend-ing for forthcoming general elec-tions should talk about “realisticsolutions to people’s problemsinstead of making “election gim-micks”. Nawaz said.

PML-N chief said it was theruling alliance which was respon-sible for the all the evils and prob-lems of the country further add-ing that no person in Pakistanwould want to be a part of thisgovernment.

“I really get scared when Ithink about the problems pre-vailing in Pakistan today.Karachi is burning, while secu-rity situation in Balochistan ison a downward spiral.

Picture on Back Page

15 drown as vanplunges into canal

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SHIKARPUR— Fifteen passen-gers were killed when a speedypassenger van plunged intoKirthar Canal in Shikarpur. Fivewomen and four children are alsoamong the victims.

Local people retrieved bod-ies of four women and two chil-dren from the canal near GharhiYasin town after a van, carryingat least 25 passengers, plungedinto the canal. Officials said thedeceased belonged to Dadu city.

The dead bodies were shiftedto civil hospital, Shikarpur, aslocals and rescue teams contin-ued their efforts to recover morebodies of the ill-fated passengers.

Sources said that 15 bodieshave so far been recovered fromthe canal. Meanwhile the rescueteams also saved two passengersalive. The dead bodies of Aysha,Fiza, Umeedan, Gurnaz, Seengar,Sachal, Hassina and two childrenAbid and Rashid Jaffri were iden-tified and injured are Sifullah,Hoorna, Bahar, Sahib Dino, Mianand others, said the sources.

COURT NOTICEIn the Court of ChMohammad Nawaz

Additional Session JudgeMalakwal

Nafeesa Rani etcVs Mohammad HanifAppeal FamilyMemo:

Mohammad Hanif S/oMohammad Sharif CasteJapha Rajpoot R/o Chak No20 Tehsil Malakwal DistMandi Bahauddin.

Whereas the services ofabove mentioned respondentsis not possible through ordi-nary means, therefore, he isdirected to attend this courtpersonally or through hiscouncil on 5-12-12. Other-wise the ex party proceedingsshall be taken against him.

Given under my hand andseal of the Court.

Sd/-Additional Session Judge

Malakwal

MANGLA: US Ambassador Richard Olson with WAPDA Chairman Syed Raghib Abbas Shah on a visit to Mangla Dam.

tee. This mechanism againshows the domination of the rul-ing party and its coalition part-ners in the government, saidsources.

If the government and oppo-sition could not develop any un-derstanding on the formation ofthe caretaker set-up within theprescribed constitutional dead-line, the matter will be referredto the Election Committee,sources said, adding politicalchaos will be the next stage inthe country in case the politicalparties did not accept the EC’sinterim set-up.

mega watt (MW) from the exist-ing 1000 MW. This up-gradationis a part of the two-pronged strat-egy aimed at optimal utilizationof the indigenous hydropowerresources. In addition to con-structing new projects, WAPDAis also rehabilitating and up-grad-ing its aging power houses un-der the strategy, he further said.

Earlier, WAPDA Chairmanreferring to the support providedby the US in implementation ofvarious WAPDA projects, saidthat WAPDA highly values thisassistance.

He said that commencementof Mangla Power House up-gra-dation is yet another milestone inthe US-Pakistan cooperation for

$150m US aid for ManglaFrom Page 1

development of energy sector. Heexpressed the hope that this co-operation would further enhancein the days to come.

The US ambassador wasbriefed that Mangla Dam – thefirst-ever mega multi-purposeproject in Pakistan comprisingwater storage and four powergenerating units of 100 MWeach – was completed in 1967with financial assistance of thefriendly countries including theUS. Subsequently, units 5and 6were installed at the powerhouse in 1974 and units 7and 8in 1981.

Mangla Power House at-tained its maximum capacity i.e.1000 MW in 1994 with addition

of units 9 and 10. Since its com-missioning, the power house hascontributed more than 200 billionunits of low-cost electricity to theNational Grid. The aging factorof the generating equipment andavailability of additional waterdue to the raised Mangla Dam ne-cessitated the refurbishment andup-gradation of Mangla PowerHouse, which is currently under-way and will be completed inphases with an estimated cost of$ 400 million, the Ambassadorwas informed.

The US Ambassador andWAPDA Chairman also unveiledthe plaque to commemorate theUS financial support for up-gra-dation of Mangla Power House.

companies have increasedprice of LPG in Karachi whereprice has been increased fromRs 125 to Rs 140 and domesticcylinder price has beenincreased to Rs 1690.

LPG price has increasedfrom Rs 135 to 145 per kg inLahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat,Jehlum, Jehlum and Faisalabadand price of domestic cylinderhas been increased to Rs 1690in Multan, Bahawalpur, RahimYar khan, Muree, Rawalpindi,Islamabad, Attock, Peshawar,Mardan and Batkhela. LPGprice has been increased from Rs150 to 160 per kg and domesticcylinder has been increased toR s1870. With the advent ofcold wave in hilly areas of GilgitBaltistan price of LPG has beenincreased to Rs 200 per kg whichis a record. In Gilgit Baltistanprice of domestic cylinder hasbeen increased to Rs 2350.

LPG price in AJK has beenincreased from Rs 180 to Rs 190and domestic cylinder has beenincreased to Rs 2230.

Chairman LPG distributionassociation Irfan Khokhar saidthat LPG price has been decreasedby $50 in international marketwhile LPG maphia in the countryhas increased the prices withoutany notification.

He said that marketing com-panies in the pretext of suspen-sion of Jamshoro plant has in-creased the price which is un-just and unfair with the peopleof the country. He said that forthe first time in the history ofthe country LPG prices havebeen touched Rs 200 per kg inGilgit Baltistan and governmentshould take notice of it.

Irfan Khokhar said that LPGmarketing companies andmaphia doing black marketingand earning unjustified profit.Khokhar requested CompetitiveCommission of Pakistan (CCP),and Supreme court to take no-tice of this mass increase and toprovide maximum relief to themasses.—Online

LPG price upby Rs15/kg

From Page 1

been deputed as inquiry of-ficers to deal wit the allotmentrelated job. Shamoonsaid some 800 dehs’ recordhad been reduced to ashes inviolent incidents on the dayof Benazir’s assassination.

“Almost 72 percent of therecord has been retained,” hesaid. The BoR official later toldthe reporters that the judges werenot satisfied with his report.

The larger bench ordered theBoR officials not to allot anypublic land until complete rewrit-ing of the record. The bench alsoasked the Board for record of theland transferred since Dec 27,2007. The day also saw DGSindh Rangers Maj. GeneralRizwan Akhtar and IG SindhPolice Fayyaz Leghari appearingbefore the court. Akhtar briefedthe bench and presented a reportpertaining to the suspects arrestedin the city since November 1. Thebench returned the report withcertain objections.

Justice Khilji Arif remarkedthat the Rangers and policeshould tell the court that whyhighly sophisticated weaponslike Rocket Launchers werepresent in the city.

The DG Rangers com-plained of staff shortage whenthe bench ordered Rangers to setup its own police stations in thecity. “It seems the Rangers donot trust the police,” said Jus-tice Hani. Justice Hani alsoslammed the government for notprioritizing in its budget the in-crease of police strength to en-sure an improved law and ordersituation, a prerequisite for eco-nomic growth.

Apex courtfor delimiting

From Page 1

states and international organiza-tions to remain engaged with it.

The General Assembly wel-comed Pakistan’s initiative ofRegional Ministerial Confer-ence on Counter-Narcotics, heldthis month in Islamabad andstressed the importance of re-gional coordination to counterthe threat of narcotics from Af-ghanistan.—NNI

sides also hold their drills underthe same codename INDRA.

Recently, the Indian Armyhad sent its troops to Russia forthe Army-to-Army exercises ina province close to the China-Mongolia border there.

Since 2003, India and Rus-sia have conducted five of theINDRA-series joint ground andnaval exercises.

The last such exercise washeld between the two countries’army units in India in October2010.—INP

UN adoptsresolution

From Page 1

Russia, IndiaFrom Page 1

CORRECTION OF NAMEI, MUQTAR AHMED On my(NIC) Card my name hasbeen mentioned asMUKHTAR AHMED whichis incorrect. I want to getchange my name formMUKHTAR AHMED toMUQTAR AHMED and ifany person / organization /agency has any objection, thesame may be intimated inwriting to(NIC) Card and Any Docu-ments. Candidate Name MUQTARAHMEDFather’s Name MIR AHMEDULLAHKHUDDAABAD GILGIT

PPP to playdual card forinterim set-up

From Page 1

carrying supplies to US-led Natoforces in Afghanistan.

Now, Khar said, relationswere fully repaired, includingmilitary and intelligence con-tacts. “We are having very use-ful, deep conversations with theUS,” she said, as the two coun-tries try to find common groundon Afghanistan ahead of thescheduled 2014 pullout.

Both the United States andAfghanistan have long regardedPakistan as an unreliable partnerin the drive to bring stability toAfghanistan, accusing Pakistan’sintelligence agency of backingAfghan insurgent groups.

Pakistan recently releasedmid-level Afghan Taliban prison-ers to help facilitate peace talksbetween the militant group andthe Kabul government, theclearest sign it was committed toadvancing Afghan reconciliation.

Khar said Islamabad waswilling to take further steps butwould not say whether thatwould include releasing seniorAfghan Taliban figures, like theformer second in command,Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

“I think it is important thatwe have intensive engagementon what needs to be done,” shesaid. Afghan officials thinkBaradar may be one of the fewcommanders with the stature tobring elements of the Taliban intopeace talks after more than a de-cade of war. During a recent visitto Pakistan by members of theAfghan High Peace Council, Pa-kistan agreed to release someprisoners, although not Baradar,and to provide safe passage forthose wishing to enter talks, Kharsaid. Pakistan would also encour-age Afghan insurgents to enterinto direct talks with PresidentHamid Karzai’s government. Sofar, there have been only con-tacts. “For us in Pakistan today,the most important capital in theworld is Kabul,” said Khar, be-cause instability there could spillover into Pakistan, and fuel itsown Taliban insurgency.

She said the Afghan and Pa-kistan governments were dis-cussing ways to strengthen mili-tary cooperation.

Currently, relations arestrained. Afghanistan still sus-pects elements in Pakistan of sup-porting the Taliban, despite de-nials from Islamabad. The Paki-stan military, pursing Pakistaniinsurgents, has also shelled vil-lages across the border in Af-ghanistan, prompting protests.

In addition to improving tieswith Afghanistan, Khar said Pa-kistan also wanted to pursuecloser ties with arch-rival India.

The United States has longbelieved that Pakistan would fo-cus more closely on helping itpacify Afghanistan if relationswith India improved.

The nuclear-armedneighbours have fought threewars since their independencefrom British rule in 1947 and areat loggerheads over the status ofthe disputed territory of Kash-mir.—Reuters

US, Pak tiesFrom Page 1

ing Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry, JusticeGulzar Ahmed and JusticeSheikh Azmat Saeed, was hear-ing petitions filed by PTI chiefImran Khan and Jamaat-i-Islamicomplaining that votes of a size-able number of people — said tobe up to 3 million — living inKarachi had been registered intheir native towns of Swat,Mingora, Mansehra and Attock,although they had been living inthe city for 10 to 15 years.

During proceedings onWednesday, the chief justice saidthat a number of complaints werebeing reported regarding elec-toral lists. Chief Justice IftikharChaudhry suggested that helpcould be sought from the armedforces for verification of voters’lists in Karachi. The CJ said that

the law and order situation inKarachi may also be resolved ifRangers and Army personneltook part in door-to-door verifi-cation of votes. He added thatpolitical parties should also bekept away from the process ofvoters’ list preparation.

During the previous hearingin the case last week, the benchhad allowed the MQM’s requestto join the proceedings as a co-respondent and a party in the caseafter the petitioners did not raiseany objection.

The court had asked the Elec-tion Commission (ECP) to findout how many votes had beenregistered on the same addressesprovided in the electoral rolls of2002, 2005 and 2007 in Karachi.The ECP was also asked to checkif the votes of people were re-

corded according to their residen-tial addresses; how many peoplehad applied for shifting theirvotes outside Karachi; how manyvoters had been approached andunder which law the votes hadbeen shifted out of the city andthe legal status of such a deci-sion.

The Election Commission onthe direction of apex court sub-mitted report about the voters’lists of Karachi.

The Supreme Court hadasked the Election Commissionto find out how many voters wereverified and how many of themwere de-listed or transferred backto their native towns. ProvincialElection Commission Sindh in-formed the court that 32,281 vot-ers were transferred to their per-manent addresses.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Coordinator to Prime Minister Faisal Sakhi Butt with office-bearersof Students’ Council 2012-13 during installation ceremony at IMCG (Postgraduate), F-7/2.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Coordinator to Prime Minister Faisal Sakhi Butt with office-bearersof Students’ Council 2012-13 during installation ceremony at IMCG F-7/2.

SC suggests door-to-doorFrom Page 1

Global Change Impact StudiesCentre. It will also have repre-sentation of Gilgit-Baltistan andAzad Kashmir.

The meeting allowed start ofnegotiations with Saudi Arabiafor export financing of the fertil-izer to be imported from theKingdom.

The Cabinet gave approval tothe Interior Ministry to sign asecurity cooperation agreementwith Iran. Replying to questions, the In-formation Minister said negotia-tions are continuing betweenOGRA and CNG owners Asso-ciation aimed at determining ajudicious pricing formula forCNG. He said the Government isacting as a facilitator.

To another question he saidthe Presidency, in the past, wasmisused to conspire against de-mocracy and that is why the PPPsent its own man to the Presi-dency. He said the incumbentPresident Asif Ali Zardari is con-sistently pursuing the policy ofreconciliation.

Responding to a question hesaid wrong meanings should notbe given to reconciliatory tonesadopted by PML-N leader

Nawaz Sharif and the PPP abouteach other. He said the two par-ties might have differences but itdoesn’t mean these should betaken too far. He said remarks ofNawaz Sharif about PresidentZardari are appreciable and it isnoteworthy that he has also ad-vised similar approach to hisbrother Shahbaz Sharif.

The Information Ministersaid the Prime Minister alsobriefed the cabinet about recentlyheld D-8 conference and the roleplayed by Pakistan. He said theproposals put forth by Pakistanduring deliberations of the sum-mit and other related conferenceswere received well by othermembers.

Addressing the Cabinetmeeting, the Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf said investigationinto the incidents occurred dur-ing Muharramul Haram inRawalpindi and Dera IsmailKhan is in progress and the cul-prits would be given exemplarypunishment for their terrorism.

He pledged the resolve of thenation that defeat is the fate ofsuch elements who are playingwith the lives of the innocent citi-zens. He expressed his sorrows

and sympathies on the Shahadatof these people and prayed to theAlmighty Allah for the early re-covery of the injured.

The Prime Minister con-gratulated and appreciated allthose who played important rolein maintaining the peace duringthe Muharramul Haram. He paidtributes to all including armedforces, security agencies, police,rangers, Ulema, media and thecivil society for the maintenanceof unity during Muharram andexpressed the hope that this na-tional feeling would be exercisedin future too.

Briefing the cabinet on D-8summit in Islamabad, PrimeMinister said that it was an im-portant forum and memberswere of the view that the devel-opment and progress of the con-cerned countries are linked upwith the stability and peace inAfghanistan. Raja PervezAshraf said that D-8 also re-viewed the emerging situation inGaza and Syria.

He congratulated all thestakeholders for best arrange-ments including the Foreign Of-fice for the conducive holding ofD-8 summit in Islamabad.

Cabinet okays National CounterFrom Page 1

Abducted Dr Saeed recoveredFrom Page 1

ransom money was paid orwho paid it.” Meanwhile, presi-dent of Pakistan MedicalAssociation’s Balochistan chap-ter Dr Shehzad said there is norole of government behind the re-covery of Dr Saeed Ahmed andhe got released after paying ran-som money. The doctors whowent on strike following the ab-duction of an eye specialist willcontinue their strike until the lo-

cal police seek apology fromthem for offensive behaviour, headded. Dr Shehzad demanded thegovernment to provide securityto doctors in the province. Hesaid that a session has been sum-moned that will decide the futurecourse of action.

Referring to the on-goingstrike, he refused to give anystatement, saying that the deci-sion will be taken in the meet-

ing. He lamented that the doctorshave only demanded securityfrom government. The provin-cial government, meantime mov-ing against the striking doctors,suspended them from services,held back their salaries and ex-pelled them from official resi-dences. The government alsopublished advertisements innewspapers for the recruitment ofnew doctors.—INP

The President and the PrimeMinister have congratulated allranks of the Army StrategicForce Command on the excel-lent standard achieved duringtraining which was reflected inthe proficient handling of theweapon system in the field andthe accuracy of the traininglaunch.—INP

Pak successfullytest fires medium

From Page 1

China urges int’lcommunity to fulfil

Afghanistancommitments

UNITED NATIONS—Thepeace reconstruction process inAfghanistan is now at a crucialjuncture, a Chinese envoy saidhere, calling on the interna-tional community to fulfil itscommitments to the CentralAsian country.

Wang Min, China’s deputypermanent representative to theUnited Nations, made the state-ment while addressing a UNGeneral Assembly meeting onthe situation in Afghanistan.

In recent years, with the helpof international community andthanks to the tireless efforts ofthe Afghan people,Afghanistan’s peace reconstruc-tion process has achieved posi-tive results, including achieve-ments in political, economic,social and development areaswhich are recognized by all,Wang said.—NNI

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Progress onsome of the ongoing NationalHighway Authority (NHA)road projects in Balochistanwas slow due to various fac-tors including adverse law andorder situation and delay inpayments. However, the NHAwas taking steps to removehindrances in completion ofongoing projects in the prov-ince, a NHA source informedAPP here on Wednesday.

To a question, the sourcesaid that the NHA was per-suading FWO to remobiliseon Hoshab-Pangjur-Nag-Basima-Surab Highway (N-85). Moreover NHA was con-sidering to award contract

from completion of balanceworks on Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab section of M-8 andKhori-Wangu Hills section ofM-8 to FWO. The source saidthat 37 percent of NHA’s roadnetwork falls in Balochistan.

Talks were in advancestage with USAID for financ-ing balance work of Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Highway (N-25), one of the major projectsto be completed with foreignloan. Kalat-Khad Khoochaand Quetta-Qilla Saifullahsections of the project havebeen completed while workon Khad Koocha-Quetta andQilla Saifullah-Chaman sec-tions is being completed andprogress on these sectionsis 70 percent, he added.

IRSA releases113,917

cusecs waterSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The IndusRiver System Authority(IRSA) on Wednesday re-leased 113,917 cusecs waterfrom various rim stations withinflow of 47,125 cusecs. Ac-cording to the data releasedby IRSA, water level in theIndus River at Tarbela Damwas 1480.35 feet, which was102.35 feet higher than itsdead level 1378 feet. Waterinflow in the dam was re-corded as 23,600 cusecswhile outflow was recordedas 69,000 cusecs.

The water level in theJhelum River at Mangla Damwas 1166.90 feet, which was126.90 feet higher than itsdead level of 1040 feetwhereas the inflow and out-flow of water was recordedas 9,208 cusecs and 30,000cusecs respectively.

Opium seizedSTAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Anti NarcoticsForce, Peshawar stooped aCoaster registration No.C-2294, near PishtakharaChowk, Bara Road, Peshawar.During checking a suspectpassenger namely JehanzebKhan S/O Faza-e-Haq R/OSheikhan, Tehsil and DistrictPeshawar. On search 1.500Kgs Charas and 300 GramsOpium was recovered fromhis personal possession. Hewas arrested on the spot. In-vestigation is in progress.

Foolproof securityarrangements for

Sikh yatreesOUR CORRESPONDENT

ATTOCK—All possible fa-cilities and foolproof securitywould be provided to Sikhyatrees, those are coming tocelebrate birth anniversary ofGuru Nanak at Gurdwara SiriPunja Sahib Hassanabdal.The event will be celebratedfrom November 29 to Decem-ber 1. This was stated by Dis-trict Coordination OfficerAttock Chaudhry Usmanwhile chairing a meeting atHassanabdal on Wednesday.It was attended by SP (Inves-tigation) Abbas MajeedMarwat, ADC MuhammadAli Randhawa, AssistantCommissioner MunawarHussain Langrial and otherrelevant officers of the dis-trict.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The NationalDisaster Management Au-thority (NDMA) and UN-Habitat Pakistan held afundraising event here for the“Resilient Cities” project in 31cities of Pakistan. Accordingto a statment issued here, theproject aimed to establishsustainable Disaster Resilientand Healthy cities and town-ships in the disaster proneregions of the country.

Hosted by Dr. Zafar IqbalQadir, Chairman NDMA, thefundraising event was at-tended by Government offi-cials, Capital DevelopmentAuthority (CDA), UN Resi-dent Coordinator and donoragencies. By 2030, it is esti-

mated that the urban popula-tion of Pakistan will doubleand 50 per cent of the totalpopulation will be residing inurban areas. The rapid popu-lation growth and lack of in-stitutional framework contrib-ute to unplanned develop-ments, environmental degra-dation and poor services ren-dering these cities vulnerableto disasters and the impactsof climate change.

In his address to theguests, Chairman NDMA ac-knowledged the role of citiesin development, prosperityand innovation. “Having ex-perienced large scale disas-ters in the last 3 years, it istime to remodel our cities andmake them resilient to natu-ral hazards. Through the

launch of this project, wehave identified some of themost vulnerable cities andwill try to implement disasterrisk reduction measures inpublic infrastructures, imple-ment building codes, climatechange preparedness, citydevelopment plans and otherareas of urban livelihood,”said the NDMA chairman.

UN-Habitat CountryProgramme Manager, SiamakMoghaddam explained theNew Habitat Initiative in col-laboration with the UNISDR‘City Resilience ProfilingProgramme’ that provides na-tional and local governmentswith tools for measuring andincreasing resilience to multi-hazard impacts including thoseassociated with climate change.

“This project will extend till fouryears and will require patiencefrom the Government of Paki-stan and the community. Thefirst and foremost step is tostrengthen the capacity of thelocal target cities, only then willwe be successful in complet-ing this project,” said Mr.Moghaddam

The project is expectedto start in early January 2013and will assimilate DRR strat-egies in the respective cities.With a total requirement ofUS$ 20,500,920, UN-Habitatand the implementing part-ners hope to raise adequatefunds to achieve the projectgoal through a range of par-ticipatory planning pro-cesses incorporating climatechange and DRR activities.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister, MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has said thatpolice should spare no effortin providing help and succorto the oppressed as nothingis more noble deed than pro-vision of justice and help tothem. He said that policeshould take the criminals totask by making investigationon right direction. He saidthat demands of justiceshould be fulfilled during in-vestigation of the cases. Hesaid that societies are createddue to provision of justicewhereas injustice creates an-archy and chaos in the soci-eties. He said that thereshould be no hurdle in the

provision of justice, as if thejustice is upheld there will bepeace in the society.

He was talking to thecomplainants belonging tovarious districts at ModelTown. The Chief Minister is-sued immediate orders topolice officials for redressalof complaints of the people.MNA Pervaiz Malik, Advo-cate General Punjab, Secre-taries Home, Prosecution, IGPolice, DG Anti-Corruptionand concerned police offi-cials were also present on theoccasion. The Chief Minis-ter said that those police of-ficers and officials who con-duct investigation on wrongdirections are not performingtheir duties judiciously. Hesaid that all out resources

have been provided to thepolice, therefore, its perfor-mance should be in accor-dance with the expectationsof the people. He warned thatno negligence will be toler-ated in helping the op-pressed. MuhammadShahbaz Sharif said that thepolice officers and officialsshowing outstanding perfor-mance are pride for us.

The Chief Minister di-rected that the process ofverification of evidences ofserious crimes should beconducted immediatelythrough forensic lab. He saidthat action should be takenagainst the accused as perlaw and no pressure shouldbe accepted in this regard. Hesaid that those police offi-

cials who involve a poor manin any case deserve no le-niency and strict actionshould be taken againstsuch police officials. He saidthat justice should seem tobe done. Shahbaz Sharif di-rected the police officials toplay their active role for elimi-nating crimes in their respec-tive areas. The Chief Minis-ter said that the complaintsof the poor masses should beaddressed in their areas sothat they should not come tohim for getting justice.

The Chief MinisterMuhammad Shahbaz Sharifappreciated the excellent per-formance of police officialsfor maintaining law and or-der on Yaum-e-Aashur.While paying tributes to the

exemplary performance ofpolice officers and officialsincluding IG Police and Sec-retary Home Punjab, theChief Minister announcedthat police officers showingexcellent performance formaintaining law and order onYaum-e-Aashur will be en-couraged.

The Chief Minister alsoappreciated the role of thepeople, ulema, media and per-sons belonging to variouswalks of life and said thatdespite difficulties, everyonehas played his due role uponwhich he extends heartiestcongratulations to them. TheChief Minister issued ordersfor apprehending the policeemployees involved in 92 kgheroin case at Police Station

Raiwind within seven days.He also directed to take strictaction against the Inspectorwho involved a poor citizenin a false case of drugs atLower Mall Police Station.

The Chief Minister alsoappreciated the performanceof SP City and DSPShafiqabad to apprehendthe accused involved in acase of kidnapping for ran-som in Shafiqabad. He alsoannounced cash prize andcommendatory certificate forDSP Shafiqabad. The ChiefMinister also announcedcash prize and commenda-tory certificate for DSP onapprehending the accusedinvolved in the murder ofson of Shahnawaz Butt inMisri Shah.

MUTTAHIR AHMED KHAN

THE nuclear scientist Dr.A b d u lQadeer Khan visited

the town, the other day, tograce the launching cer-

e m o n yof theb o o kt i t l e d“ K i aK h o y aK i aP a y a ” ,held atlocal ho-

tel. The presence of a gal-axy of the learned speakers,from different walks of life,made the event an analyti-cal and informative forumfor the audience as well asthe media. The most signifi-cant aspect of this book isthat it has been penneddown by Syad Zia Abbass,a well-experienced politicianwho has been working veryactively in the sphere ofPakistan’s politics for lastforty years and his that verystatus provided him with an

opportunity to observe allthe ups and downs of thecountry and its constitu-tional and legislative devel-opment from a very closequarter.

As the book is a collec-tion of his exclusive essaysand articles based on hisown political voyage thatwitnessed an assortment ofvarious milestones andturns, the speakers, includ-ing Dr.Khan, Justice Saeed-ul-Zaman Siddiqi, Mr. YaseenAzad, Mr. Saleem Zia, Mr.Saeed Khawar, Mr. Z ANizami, Dr. Mairaj-ul-Huda,Farooq Moeen, Tahir HasanKhan and Maulana Mahentidubbed this volume as a mile-stone on the path ofcountry’s political history.The distinguished guests,most of the times, expressedtheir sheer concern over thedeteriorating law and ordersituation in the city and thehovering sense of insecurityamongst the masses in thewake of Aashura.

Setting the historicalrecords right, the Chief Guest

of the ceremony Dr. A QKhansaid, “It is a misconception,quoted often by the people,that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto calledme and asked me to work onthe nuclear program. I was nota known person that time andwas humbly studying in Hol-land when, one day, in 1974, Ilistened about India’s nuclearprogram and the resultant up-per hand it had got over Paki-stan. Being confident of myabilities in the realm of nuclearsciences, I decided to work formy country, wrote a letter toZulfiqar Ali Bhutto and con-veyed it to him throughPakistan’s ambassador in Hol-land and, then, it took me ayear to see Mr. Bhutto whoappreciated my devotion andassured full cooperation inachieving this goal.”

In response to an appealfrom a Karachi-based journal-ist, he said he was not a poli-tician or a leader or policy

maker and it was not his re-sponsibility to cure the city’splague of law and order dete-rioration. He further laid stressupon the point that themasses, instead of electingwrong people and then la-

menting on the miseries theyreceive in return, must mendtheir ways and use their votessincerely, sensibly and hon-estly to enjoy good gover-nance and prosperous soci-ety. Talking about the reli-gious parties of the country,he complained that certainparties never came forward toteach the socio-moral valuesto the successive generation

and remained engaged in“change in Islamabad”. Hadthey made such efforts onsocietal levels and preparedgood Muslims, we would defi-nitely have a prosperous so-ciety and true democracy to-

day.The victory of Justice

In the backdrop of un-leashed rampage of crimesand cruelties in the town, aray of hope, in regard to therule of the justice, blinkedvividly on the social horizon,a few days ago. War AgainstRape (WAR), an organisationworking on the issue ofwomen protection, recently,

achieved another milestonein the line of its strugglewhen it won another legalvictory in the rape case of 26-year old Nurse who was re-ported in May 2008. On 20thNovember 2012, Sixth Addi-tional ADJ East, JudgeManthar Ali Jatoi, pro-nounced the accused guiltyunder section 376 and sen-tenced him to (i) Ten yearsimprisonment and (ii) Rs. 50000/-fine.

The WAR as well as thecivil society commended theefforts of the AdvocatesFarida Moten and AsiaMuneer who, along with Ad-ditional District Public Pros-ecutor Rasheed Ahmed,worked tirelessly to ensurethat this heinous crimedidn’t go unpunished. WARis continuously playing itsrole to draw attention to thelarge number of pendingcases of sexual violence, in

general, and rape, in particu-lar, in Karachi. Meanwhile,during a conference, thepeople from different voca-tions of the society appreci-ated the efforts of theorganisation and requestedthe Chief Justice of Pakistanto take action against the in-creasing graph of crimesagainst women.Steps for Positive Change

Another auspicious occa-sion for the citizens took placewhen Citizen’s Archive of Pa-kistan (CAP) announced thelaunch of Exchange forChange 2012 – 2013 during apress conference at a localhotel in Karachi. The pressconference was addressed bythe Co- Founding Member &Co- President of CAP AmeanJan, followed by SwalehaAlam Shahzada, ExecutiveDirector. Renowned actor andmusician Ali Zafar also brieflyspoke to the media. The pressconference concluded with aQuestion & Answer sessionwhich was opened by AliReza Mumtaz, the BoardMember. Switching onto the

backdrop of the current pro-ceedings, in 2010, the CAP,in collaboration with Routes2 Roots, launched the Ex-change for Change [EFC] pi-lot project as an interactiveinitiative linking 2400 schoolstudents from 10 schoolsacross Delhi, Mumbai,Lahore and Karachi.

The project aimed tohelp students in both coun-tries realize that a sustaineddialogue is possible and toenable a clearer understand-ing of their shared history,culture and lifestyles. Dur-ing the 16-month life of theproject, a continuous ex-change of letters, post-cards, photographs, oralhistories and a final physi-cal exchange – visits toDelhi and Lahore, helped todispel misinformation abouthistorical events and en-couraged students to formtheir own opinions.

The writer is an educa-tionist, analyst and afreelance journalist, can bereached atmuttahir_khan@hotmail.com

Evaluating losses and gains

Careful help to poor is noblest act: Shahbaz

NDMA, UN-Habitat hold joint fundraising event

NHA to remove snagsin Balochistan

projects completion

SHER GONDAL

MANDI BAHAUDDIN—DistrictCoordination Officer of MandiBahauddin has given Nov 30as deadline for completion ofall development schemes inthe district. In a meeting at-tended by heads of variousgovernment departments toreview progress of ongoingdevelopment schemes, DCOTariq Chaudhry asked incharge development projectsto ensure use of good qualitymaterial, adding no compro-mise would be made in this re-spect. He expressed concernover slow progress on Public

Nov 30 deadline to complete uplift projectsHealth schemes and directedthe Xen to work till night andestablish camp office wherethe schemes were in progress.Payment to contractors shouldbe made in time, he directed.

He also asked them tosubmit daily reports onprogress of schemes to hisoffice. EDO Finance MianZahiruddin, EDO WorksWaqar Ahmed, Xen PublicHealth Muhammad Khalid,ADLG Sana Ullah Bhutta,Assistant Engineer AshrafButt, TMA Phalia AnsarSahi, TMO MandiBahauddin Tariq MahmoodParia attended the meeting.

****It should be important for

government to employ ex-ser-vicemen as they have lot to giveto society. This was stated byPresident Pakistan Ex-Service-men Society (PESS) MandiBahauddin Chapter Major(Retd) Sher MuhammadGondal talking to media per-sons the other day. He saidmost of soldiers are retired be-tween 36 to 40 years of agewhen they are young and needrehabilitation. Government hadreserved employment quota forjawans and JCOs but succes-sive governments had been notemploying them against the re-

served quota. After retirementJunior Commissioned Officers,Non-Commissioned Officersand Other Ranks keep on visit-ing government offices to findemployment but no one accom-modates them.*****

A man shot her sister todeath the other day. Report-edly, brother, on a domestic dis-pute, opened fire on his sisterMaryam Bibi in Chelianwalavillage. As a result Maryam diedon the spot. She was a marriedwoman. On the complaint hergrandfather, Sadar police hasregistered a case. Further inves-tigation is in progress.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Me-teorological Department(PMD) on Wednesday fore-cast scattered rain with snow-fall over the hills atMalakand, Hazara divisions,Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan,Isolated rain is also expectedin Quetta, Zhob, Peshawar,Kohat, Sargodha,Rawalpindi, Gujranwala divi-sions during next 24 hours.

According to Met officesynoptic situation/outlook: awestern disturbance is af-fecting upper parts of thecountry & likely to persist fornext 24 hours. Mostly partlycloudy weather conditions isexpected in most parts of thePunjab, however rain wouldoccur at isolated places ofRawalpindi, Gujranwala andSargodha divisions duringnext 24 hours.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,rain is expected at scatteredplaces of Malakand, Hazaradivisions while at isolated

Rain, snowfall predicted

UoMcleanliness

awareness walkOUR CORRESPONDENT

TIMERGARA—In order toaware the students and staffmembers of the University ofMalakand, students of Soci-ology, Social Work and Psy-chology organized an Aware-ness Walk in support ofSPADO and British Councilon Wednesday, said a pressrelease issued here. The Walkprimarily aimed at to motivateand encourage the studentsand all other people associ-ated with university to keeptheir surroundings clean andhygienic.

All heads of teachingdepartments, faculty mem-bers, and administrativestaff participated in the walk.Prof. Dean Faculty of Sci-ences, Prof Dr Rehmat AliKhan was a chief guest onthe occasion who congratu-lated the organizers.

Prof. Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad(Chairman Physics) also ex-pressed his views, showedhis ecstasy and requested thestudents to keep their sur-rounding and environmentclean that would ultimatelybring hygienic and developedsociety. After the formal open-ing of the walk, the volunteersincluding the faculty, admin-istrative staff and studentscollected the waste materialsfrom each and every cornerof the university. The volun-teers in this regard pledged tokeep such activities continuein future. A group of volun-teers for cleanliness was alsoformed in supervision of Dr.M. Saeed (Sociology), Dr.Imtiaz (Maths) and WaseemKhan (Sociology).

QUETTA: A view of dark clouds hovering over the sky of Provincial Capital.

MULTAN: People busy in purchasing the jackets at Hussain Agahi Chowk.

places of Peshawar andKohat divisions during next24 hours. Mainly dryweather is expected in mostparts of the Sindh during next24 hours.

Mostly partly cloudyweather conditions withchances of rain at isolated

places of Quetta & Zhob di-visions during next 24 hours.Scattered rain (with snowfallover the hills) is expected inKashmir Gilgit-Baltistan dur-ing next 24 hrs.

The Met Office has fore-cast a partly cloudy weatherwith chances of light rain/drizzle in the city over the next24 hours.—APP

SAHIWAL: PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz addressing apress conference.

KP has rich cultural heritage: KausarStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—The Khyber PakhtunkhwaGovernor, Barrister Masood KausarWednesday said the province ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa has a rich historyand cultural heritage and the British writ-ers have authored numerous books onthe origin, history, culture and braveryof Pakhtuns. Inaugurating a three-dayInternational Conference on KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Culture and History asthe Chief Guest, he said that little atten-

tion was given to the subject by Pakistanis especially thePakhtun writers and researchers on this subject. “It is thehigh time that our scholars, researchers and intellectualsrise to the occasion and help the nation in meeting thechanges successfully,” he remarked. The conference wasjointly arranged by the National Institute of Historical andCultural Research Quid-i-Azam University, Islamabad andthe Pakistan Study Centre of University of Peshawar at itscampus here. He pointed out, “I am happy that PakistanStudy Centre and National Institute of Historical and Cul-tural Research have taken a timely decision to hold thisconference.” The ceremony was also addressed by thevice chancellors of the University of Peshawar, Prof. Dr.Qibla Ayaz and the Bacha Khan University, Charsada Cam-pus, Prof. Dr. Fazal Rahim Marwat. Barrister Masood Kausarwho is also the Chancellor of the public sector universitiesin the province, highlighting the prevailing situation in theregion said, people of the province and FATA have in factbeen fighting for security of the motherland and its fron-tiers since long. Today, he added, the situation is muchdifferent as compared to the past and peace has been re-stored to a great extent. All these achievements, he added,have become possible at a cost of heavy sacrifices and allsegments of the society especially the officers and jawansof security forces.

‘No place for mavericks’Staff Reporter

LAHORE—The Leader of the Opposi-tion, Ch. Nisar Ali Khan has said thatthe doors of PML-N have been perma-nently shut on those who have changedtheir political affiliations four times, dur-ing the last four years. He said suchpersons, who do not have steadfast-ness to hold their ground, do not havethe right of representation of the peopleof Chichawatni and district Sahiwal. Hesaid those who knock at every door, do

not, belong anywhere. Ch. Nisar Ali Khan said that theleadership of PML-N had itself invited the former MNAZahid Iqbal to join the party, and he was prepared to joinPML-N, four years ago, after giving his resignation. Ch.Nisar Ali Khan said that he is the only politician, who hadthe honesty of openly admitting his dual nationality, whilehe has now presented himself, before the people again byrenouncing his foreign citizenship. Ch. Nisar Ali Khan saidthat it is incumbent upon every dedicated worker and localleadership of PML-N to leave no stone unturned in ensuresuccess of Zahid Iqbal, thereby laying the foundation ofPML-N’s expected victory, Inshaallah, in the forthcominggeneration elections. Ch. Nisar Ali Khan said that, if AllahAlmighty granted opportunity to PML-N in the forthcom-ing elections, then, Inshahallh, all neglect to whichChichawatni and district Sahiwal areas had been subjected,during the last 13 years, would effectively be redressed.Ch. Nisar Ali Khan said that Chichawati is a second homefor him, and hoped that the people of district Sahiwal wouldnot only ensure the success of Zahid Iqbal, in the comingelections, but would also give a concrete message to thepeople of Pakistan that those, who change their politicalloyalties, with every change in wind and desperately movefrom place to place do not deserve to be representatives oftheir area.

Legal aid to women prisonersOur Correspondent

HYDERABAD—Sindh Minister forWomen Development, Touqeer FatimaBhutto on Wednesday said that the pro-vincial government has started provid-ing free of cost legal aid to women pris-oners. This she stated while talking tomedia persons after visiting the womenjail here on Wednesday. Besides, freeof cost legal aid to women prisoners,the minister informed that the jail ad-ministration has been asked to submit

report on daily basis about the progress on the hearing ofpending cases so that the government could take up thematter in accordance with the law. The minister said thatshe has asked the officers of her department to collect thedata of the women prisoners and arrange lawyers for earlydisposal of their cases. Earlier, Superintendent of WomenJail Syeda Munawara Sultana briefed the minister aboutthe cases of women prisoners. She said that 29 women aredetained in the jail on various charges and their cases arebeing tried in relevant courts. Among others, the InchargeWomen Complaint Centre Hyderabad Syeda Qurrat-ul-Ainand Medical Officer Women Jail Humera Panhwar werealso accompanied the minister. It is pertinent to mentionhere that ordinary people either do not know the legalprocedures and relevant institutions or lack the access orlack the recourses for legal services, as it is very costly inthe country to acquire justice from the court. Accordingto some estimates 90% of the total populace is unaware ofthe legal procedure.

Joint strategy against terror neededStaff Reporter

PESHAWAR—Khyber PakhtunkhwaMinister for Agriculture, ArbabMohammad Ayub Jan has urged all po-litical parties, ulema, and general publicto join hands and evolve a joint strat-egy against terrorism. Talking to delega-tion here Wednesday, he said that theunity of political parties, ulema and na-tion can clear Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ofterrorism by the year 2013 to convert itinto a cradle of peace and harmony. He

appreciated the strategy adopted by Chief Minister AmeerHaider Khan Hoti, Inspector General of Police (IGP) andCapital City Police for maintenance of law, order and foil-ing the designs of terrorists for spreading of gruesomeacts of terrorism during Muharram-ul-Harram in the prov-ince. The provincial minister said that pickets on Bara Roadand foiling the entry of suicide bomber, seizure of explo-sive material loaded vehicle and disposal of two bombsunder Nishterabad flyover before explosion had practi-cally proved that they are the real protectors of the lives ofpeople. He said that the courage of police officers andjawans to put their own lives at risk and foil bids of terror-ism and maintenance of law and order is highlyappreciatible, saying the people of the province salute theirbravery. Talking to private television channel, she saidthat “We will utilize all available resources to eliminateterrorism in order to ensure durable peace. Meanwhile Par-liamentary Secretary said that war and conflicts breed pov-erty and deprivation. She said Pakistan has made unprec-edented sacrifices for restoring peace and prosperity, whichhas been acknowledged by the international community.

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—Chief MinisterKhyber Pakhtunkhwa AmeerHaider Khan Hoti said hereon Wednesday that terror-ists were up against the fu-ture of Pakhtun nation by de-stroying schools. He was ad-dressing peoples gatheringat PK-28 constituency GhaziBaba in Mardan District af-ter inauguration of develop-ment schemes. ANP districtpresident Farooq Akramchaired the gathering whileProvincial General SecretaryImran Mandori, Deputy Sec-retary General DistrictMardan Gohar Ali Shah

Bacha also addressed thegathering. He said that KPGovernment would constructten schools for each in replyto terrorists’ destroying oneschool in the province.

He said that educationalinstitutes and roads are thekey to unlock doors of de-velopment. Baizai IrrigationScheme will usher in devel-opmental and agriculturalrevolution in Mardan and itwill make available canal sys-tem to enable irrigation of25000 acres land. The CMsaid that the role of father ofPeace, Bacha Khan and hiscompanions in KhudaiKhidmatgar Tehrik was part

of history. Khudaikhidmatgar considered serv-ing existing and coming gen-erations as their prior respon-sibility. The enemies toknowledge were weavingconspiracies of throwing thePakhtuns into darkness ofignorance while the soldiersof Bacha Khan were commit-ted for thwarting their evilagenda.

He said that we willcounter the terror threat con-structively and will lit thecandle of knowledge at allcost. He said that this areawas intentionally deprived ofmodern facilities in British eradue to association with

khudai khidmatgar Tehrik. Hesaid that Baizai IrrigationScheme plays the role ofbackbone in economic andagriculture revolution in thearea, adding, the scheme willsoon materialize. He said thatdevelopment initiatives ofthe present government werenot limited to a particularsector, and added that effortswere undertaken throughdevelopment progress in en-tire sectors of life.

Hoti said that develop-ment initiatives and joint wel-fare schemes in entire dis-tricts of the province were farmuch greater than in eras ofdifferent governments dur-ing the past 60 years. He saidthat district Mardan was de-prived in connection withdevelopment and modern fa-cilities during the past sixdecades, adding, the present

government was committedfor removal of these injus-tices and deprivations. Hesaid that unfortunately wedon’t have an MPA in PK-28but the resources spent ondevelopment schemes herewere equal to funds of 5MPAs.

He said that developmentwithout education particu-larly girls education was im-possible to achieve, adding,that was why both forms ofthe education, and provisionof transport facilities wereour top priorities. He saidthat work on girls college,named after khudaikhidmatgar Gulab Baba inKatlang, was in progresswhile upgradation of highschools at Alo, Babuzai, KoiBarmol, Karakai and Qasmi tohigher secondary level cost-ing Rs. 120 million have been

approved.He said that middle

schools at Malosha,BartKhel, Shamozai, Peeple,Alm Ganj, Singao and Mus-lim Abad have been up-graded to high level costingRs 70 million while Rs 10.5million has been allocated toreconstruction of terrorismdevastated primary school atShamozai and girls middleschool Dheri. He said mil-lions of rupees have beenspent on construction of linkroads in the area that willprove harbinger of economicand industrial developmentin the area. He said that youthof Mardan were now not re-quired to travel to other ar-eas for higher education be-cause AWKU and BKMCwere fulfilling these needsnot for Mardan alone but as-sociated districts too.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TIMERGARA—Top managersof eight political parties in DirLower on Wednesdaypledged to motivate party ac-tivists for political toleranceduring the next general elec-tions. A non-governmentalorganization, the KhewendoKor (KK) organized a one-dayseminar on ‘manifestos ofpolitical parties in the comingelection for solution of cur-rent problems in Dir Lower.’The Jamaat-i-Islami was rep-resented by its district gen-eral secretary Noorul Wahab,the PPP by Bahadar Syed, JUI-F by Shahid Mehmood,PMAP by Shahab Khan,QWP by Arshad Khan, PML-N by Farooq Iqbal, ANP byHussain Shah Yousafzai andMinorities by Sudeesh Kumar.

The political leadershipwas invited to present theirmanifestos and top prioritiesduring the next general elec-tions. A question and answersession was also held at the

end during which the invitedpoliticians answered ques-tions of the participants ma-jority of whom were political,social activists, students andteachers. The minorities’ rep-resentative Sudeesh Kumarcomplained that they wereloyal Pakistani but had noopportunity to get jobs in thecountry except as cleaners. Hesaid that one of his brotherswas a master in computer sci-ence but was being denied ofthe job. The Pakistan MilliAwami Party Shahab whilespeaking on the occasion saidthat Pukhtun culture had beendisturbed by the British whodivided them on tribal basis.

Shahid Mehmood of theJUI-F said that enforcement ofsharia in Pakistan, establish-ing good working relationshipwith neighbouring countries,independent foreign policies,ending of ongoing war on ter-ror, creation of jobs for youth,establishment of public libraryin Dir Lower and ending ofworks and services

department’s officials commis-sion in development workswere the main priorities of hisparty. The QWP Arshad Khansaid his party want to solvethe issues of communitythrough modern nationalism,make new social contractamong the different nations ofPakistan, form Pukhtoon na-tional unit, protection of mi-norities and ensuring theirrights when came into powers.

The PPP’s Bahadar Syedsaid his party would continuedevelopment projects in thedistrict. He said thousands offamilies had been benefittingfrom the government BISPprogramme which would becontinued in future too. ThePML-N Farooq Iqbal said thatunfortunately the PML didnot complete five years of itsgovernment due to many rea-sons. He said the party be-lieved in peace, development,education and employment totheir youth and formation ofDanish school system in thecountry.

NAZIR SIYAL

LRAKANA—Sindh HighCourt issued notices to theVice Chancellor ShaheedBenazir Bhutto Medical Uni-versity, Larkana, and Educa-tion Officials against two pe-titions on a contempt of courtand appointment of staff incollusion with political per-sonalities without advertise-ment and educational certifi-cates requirement. The no-tices of contempt have beenissued to the VC SMBBMUand asked to appear on Dec12, 2012, whereas, the no-tices regarding the salariesof teachers in education de-partment have also beenserved to the Secretary Edu-cation, Jacobabad ExecutiveDistrict Officer, District Of-ficer secondary and higher

secondary education, Dis-trict Officer education (El-ementary) and district ac-counts officers.

According to the details,contempt of court against theviolation of the orders of SHCCircuit Court, Larkana, regard-ing the constitutional petitionD-1270/2012 was registeredby a petitioner Fayaz AhmedMemon along with othersunder an Article No. 204against Dr. Akbar HyderSoomro Vice ChancellorSMBBMU. The petitioner inhis contempt application hassaid that contemnor harassedhim and other petitioners andviolated the orders of SHCorders passed on 21.11.2012,the contemnor failed to obeythe orders and that the con-temnor with malafide inten-tion and ulterior motives is

deliberately trying to avoidand disobey the orders of thecourt, so that the contemnoris guilty of contempt forwhich he is liable to be con-victed under the relevant law.****

Shia Ulema Council (SUC)and Majils WahdatMuslimeen (MWM) Larkanachapter took out their ralliesagainst the attacks onAzadars in Karachi, DeraIsmail Khan and other partsof country during AshuraMuharram. The rallies startedfrom the Shah Kharasan andKhichi Imam Bargah aftermarching through variousroads culminated Jinah BaghChok while the activists ofSUC and MWM shouted slo-gans for the arresting of cul-prits involved in attacks onmourning processions.

Terrorists up against Pakhtuns’ future: Hoti

Politicians pledge to motivateparty activists for tolerance

OUR CORRESPONDENT

QUETTA—There are 3.3 mil-lion children are working inthe country as per 1996 sur-vey on child labour, Societyfor the protection of rights ofChild (SPARC) has claimedhere Wednesday. “No surveyon child labour was con-ducted in Pakistan after 1996due to which authentic esti-mates on child labour in thecountry is not possible”.

In a media workshop or-ganized by SPARC here atQuetta Press Club the Na-tional Manager SPARC(Child Labour Unit) Gulnaz

Zahid said that according toestimation of Human RightsCommission of Pakistan(HRCP), number of workingchildren in Pakistan is be-tween 11-12 million and halfof them is under age of 10.

She maintained that theInternational Labour Organi-zation (ILO) has estimated in2010 that 70 million childrenare working as laborers inPakistan. She recalled thatlast survey on child labourwas conducted inBangladesh in 2005-6, in SriLanka in 2009 and in Nepal in2011. The Regional DirectorMinistry of Human Rights,

Saeed Ahmed Khan said thattypes of child labour includechildren in beggary and rag-picking, children working inmines and brick kilns, chil-dren working in chemicalsand children working withheavy machines in industries.

The Regional ManagerSPARC Balochistan, HanifKhan Panezai emphasizedthe need to establish childprotection unit and appoint-ment of child protection of-ficer in every district ofBalochistan. He regrettedthat Balochistan is a prov-ince where no single law onchild protection exists.

No survey on child labourconducted in Pakistan after 1996

SHC issues contempt noticesto SMBBMU VC, others

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—In order to ir-rigate agricultural lands andto conserve water, the dis-trict administration ofLower Dir rehabilitatedthree water ponds and anirrigation channel in ShorSheeng Bala area ofAdenzai sub division apartfrom constructing link roadsand paving streets in villageTarnao Shahi Bagh andGarai Chakdara respectivelythat will benefit thousandsof inhabitants and farmersof the localities. A press re-lease issued by MalakandDevelopment Program(MDP) stated that in a bidto irrigate agricultural plainsin Shor Sheeng Bala, Manraivillage, three water pondsand 112 meters long exten-sive irrigation channel havebeen rehabilitated.

By the accomplishmentof irrigation scheme, hun-

Irrigation channel, link roadsconstructed in Lower Dir

dreds of acres lands in agri-culture use would get wa-tered in time as well aswould also increase thecrops productivity in thearea. Similarly, to providebest transportation facilitiesand to improve the poorcondition of damagedroads and streets, the ad-ministration has paved 1275meters long streets inTarnao Shahi Bagh village.In Garai Chakdara village ofAdenzai sub division, 444meters long link road wasconstructed besides 599meters long streets pave-ment.

Apart from these 123meters extensive properdrainage system was also becompleted to protect thestreets from future flooding.It is expected that approxi-mately 3700 community mem-bers and farmers would getbenefit of these developmen-tal schemes. BANNU: General Secretary JUI Mufti Islam Noor Wazir addressing the Ulema Jirga at Domel Wazir.

NANKANA: Sikh Yatrees participating in Palky procession to celebrate 544th birthdayof Guru Nanak Devjee.

CNG cripplescommuters

COMMUTERS throughout the country are facing enormousdifficulties due to nation-wide closure of CNG stations toprotest against reduction of prices that have brought down their

previously unjustified rather fleecing profit margin. That the CNGstation owners Association has brought the entire transport sector to avirtual halt to press for its illegal demand is reflective of the strengththat certain mafias has attained in the country and haplessness of theGovernment against their machinations. The Supreme Court, which took notice of the exploitation ofmasses by CNG stations, has given the deadline of December 5 forresolving the issuing of new pricing formula that takes into accountinterests of all concerned especially the consumers but a meeting heldbetween OGRA, Ministries of Petroleum and Finance and CNG stationowners Association indicated that none of them was serious to resolvethe problem amicably and judiciously. The Association, whose membershave been pocketing a staggering 32% profit, is not ready to part wayswith its share of the pie and has instead presented three options all ofwhich seek either reduction in taxes and duties or the price being chargedby the Government for the gas supplied to stations. Inclusion ofoperating cost in the sale price was a big scandal, which needs to bethoroughly probed to unmask each beneficiary and there was absolutelyno justification to allow any sort of operating cost to be included in thesale price, otherwise it will become a precedent for all other servicesand products. As for reduction of duties and taxes is concerned, CNGsector should be taxed like other sectors and imposition ofdevelopment surcharge is also unjustified as no one knows where itsproceeds go. We, however, fully subscribe to the view that the CNGstation owners should get gas at commercial or industrial rate. It isstrange that the Government is charging extra from the CNG sectorto compensate for the subsidy being given to the fertilizer sectordespite the fact that the agriculture sector is already enjoying all sortsof subsidies, paying no taxes and procurement prices of crops inPakistan have been raised to unprecedented levels. It is also surprisingthat the authorities concerned seem to be unmoved and instead seemto be enjoying the situation as a silent spectators. This shamefulapproach needs to be reversed without wastage of any time as peopleare politically much conscious to analyse things.

Monitoring ofdevelopment projects

PRIME Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday urged the nationaland provincial legislators to actively play their role for bringing

about positive changes in the lives of people at grassroots level. Hecalled upon them to regularly monitor the implementation of ongoingdevelopmental projects and ensure their timely completion for thebenefit of the people. This is timely advice by the Prime Minister to the electedrepresentatives and if heeded to by them in right earnest could bringabout a positive change in socio-economic conditions of their respectiveareas. Developmental projects initiated both by the provincial andfederal governments routinely face problems, hiccups and unjustifieddelays as a result of which their cost escalates significantly andsometimes doubles or triples. In the first place, it has been observedthat many projects are announced and launched without proper studiesand feasibilities and this leads to their delayed and flawedimplementation. There is a laid down procedure but often this is ignoredby the political leadership on petty political considerations. Similarly,the quality of the projects suffers because of known collusion betweenparent department/executing agency and contractors as a sizeableportion of the budgeted amount is pocketed by individuals and as aconsequences the standards are compromised. There is inbuiltmechanism to check against malpractices but we have observed thatthis is not working and in many cases this also becomes part of the lootand plunder. Under these circumstances, it is duty of the local electedleadership, which surely has political and economic stakes in the welfareof their respective areas, to take personal interest in timelyimplementation of the projects per laid down criteria and standard.

France takes principledposition on Palestine

FRANCE has announced that it would vote in the UN General Assembly in favour of recognizing a Palestinian State. The General Assembly

is likely to vote Thursday on a resolution raising the Palestine status froman observer to a non-member observer state and France will be the firstmajor European country to come out in support of the Palestinians de-mand.

The statement by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in the Parliamentabout the decision would be a major morale booster for the Palestinianswho have been struggling for their statehood for the last over six decades.The French decision means that President Francois Hollande has lived upto his promise made during election campaign to support the Palestiniansat the United Nations while French people are often considered to beEurope’s most active Palestinian supporters. Palestinian President MahmoudAbbas has also called for Britain’s backing because of its historic responsi-bility for Palestine. Reports say that Britain is prepared to back the keyvote recognising Palestinian statehood at the United Nations if MahmoudAbbas pledges not to pursue Israel for war crimes and to resume peacetalks. Decisions by Germany and Spain are still pending and Palestinianswould clearly prefer a united EU position as counterweight to the US.Washington and Tel Aviv have been strongly opposing the vote but it ap-pears that the European countries have realized that Israel was not inter-ested to resolve the problem giving the Palestinians their inalienable right.We hope that other EU countries would follow the French line. Acceptingthe ground realities and giving an Independent State to Palestinians wouldbring much needed peace in the middle east.

Governance a la Pakistan?

An actor issomething less thana man, while anactress is somethingmore than a woman.

I have been fortunate to havevisited China as part of an entourage with the President of Pa-

kistan. China fascinates many andone is personally enticed by its or-der and discipline. In my own ca-pacity I had traveled the rural areasmore than the urban areas. The rail-way journey to the border ofMongolia was fascinating and thetrain was managed by a single lady-it was a 37 hour journey and every-thing was as ordered. Its governancesystem is fascinating. I had beentaking a course of transition econo-mies at the Fatima Jinnah Univer-sity and the only communist coun-try that stood out by its singular in-tervention was China. Its policieson transition were different from theCentral Asian Republics [CARS].

Recently it had its pick of po-litburo and the fact that it had beengoverned by the previous one andthe economy had grown six timesto come out second to USA wasindication enough of good gover-nance. It has all the doings of be-coming the best. How can nomi-nated individuals do this kind of act.The world had criticized and con-demned China for many ills and yetthe USA and the EU went to chinafor help and bail out of their di-lemma. The Chinese models basedon a nominated meritocratic orderand not as democracies would haveit on popular vote. The Chinese are

New globalenergypicture

Anew report hails a crucialshift in the global economy.If current trends continue,

the United States will surpass SaudiArabia as the world’s largest oil pro-ducer by 2020. This developmentwill not only transform the world’senergy picture, but geopolitics aswell. A new energy landscape haspowerful implications for globalpolitical and economic power. TheInternational Energy Agency (IEA),the top advisory body for the devel-oped economies, notes in its authori-tative annual report, “World EnergyOutlook,” that changing US produc-tion and consumption patterns willredraw the global energy map. Asurge in US production means that“by around 2020, the US is projectedto become the largest global oil pro-ducer.”

Credit the rapid development ofhydraulic fracturing, usually referredto as “fracking,” and horizontal drill-ing, which permit the exploitationof previously unavailable hydrocar-bon reserves such as oil shale andshale gas. As a result of these twotechnologies, US oil production isexpected to peak in 2020 at 11.1million barrels a day, a marked in-crease from the 8.1 million barrels aday produced last year. The IEA isnot alone in its outlook. The Orga-nization of the Petroleum ExportingCountries also concedes that newproduction techniques could sharplyreduce US imports. It forecasts thatin 2035, the US will import less than2m barrels a day, a drop of nearly75 % from its current import bill.Some German industries are alreadyconcerned that the US energy sup-plies will give American companiesa boost in international competition.Apart from transforming US fi-nances, the question is how this shiftwill influence global politics. Forwhile the US may no longer rely onthe Middle East for its oil supplies,the rest of the world will pick up theslack. OPEC reckons that its shareof global production will continueto rise, going from 42 percent todayto 50 percent in 2035. Most of theoil — 90 percent by some estimates— will go to Asia to feed the world’smost dynamic economies. But if theUS no longer needs those oil im-ports, then many wonder if Wash-ington will continue to remain asdeeply engaged in the Middle East’ssecurity affairs. There are voices inthe US that encourage the US to letAsian and European nations foot theexpensive bill to ensure safe ship-ping. And if Washington pulls back,are Asian nations prepared to takethe place of the US in securing ship-ping lanes? Similarly, decreased de-pendence on foreign oil means thatWashington has more latitude topush for sanctions and other mea-sures against certain governments inthe Middle East, such as Iran. Thisonly goes so far since the US has tohave the support of allied govts tomake sanctions work.

There is yet another implicationfor countries like Japan and SouthKorea. They could seek closer tieswith the US to obtain access to thatnew production. In many ways, sucha move makes sense. Apart from se-curing new supplies of energy, itwould thicken ties across the Pacificand ensure that the US remains en-gaged in regional security. There isa downside risk to new productiontechniques. Fracking uses largequantities of water and the IEAwarns that this “will increasinglyimpose additional costs” and could“threaten the viability of projects.”A similar concern surrounds thegrowing use of nuclear energy,which also demands much water forits cooling systems. Planners andconsumers need to be continuallyaware of subsidiary resource de-mands as we think about responsibleenergy futures. The IEA report iden-tifies other important developments.For example, Iraq is anticipated tobecome the world’s second-largestoil producer with its production an-ticipated to reach 6 million barrels aday by 2020. By 2035, Iraq’s outputis expected to top 8m, overtakingRussia to become the world’s sec-ond-largest exporter. It is not clearwhat political condition Iraq will bein 20 years from now, or Russia forthat matter, so there are many vari-ables to consider other than merereserves. Plainly, however, the glo-bal energy landscape is shifting andmany of our basic assumptionsabout how the world will work needto be challenged more regularly.— The Japan Times

MEDIA WATCH

—Richard Burton British actor

innovative in all sec-tors and their gover-nance is no differentfor they have intro-duced a system of se-lection plus election.Basically what thismeans is that leadersare selected based onmerit and popularsupport. The process

is a vigorous one and requires strictscreening, opinion surveys, internalevaluations and various small scaleelections. The political party it seemsis the most merit oriented politicalparty with no cronyism in it.

China’s legacy is based on Con-fucians political advice. Over a cen-tury earlier Confucius had devised anexamination system for the selectionof bureaucracy.

What then are some of the at-tributes that china seeks in its politi-cal system? These include criteria de-veloped for performance evaluationas in poverty eradication, job creation[not job for one’s own relatives andfriends and constituents as in Paki-stan] local economic and social de-velopment. I am witness to this whenI visited there nurseries in agriculture.These were eleven story high andthere was competition amongst them.Is then china’s phenomenal rise de-pendent on this merit based system?There must be surely other elementsin this discussion. Of late there havebeen some scandals and the last onemeant that the person involved wascast aside by the politburo.

On the political institutional de-velopment there are strict mandatoryterms that no one dare violate. ThePresident can have maximum of twofive year terms and that is it. The se-lection-election takes place quietlyand with a minimum of fanfare. Assuch no one can be permanently in

power and there is no entrenchment.USA does the same except that in thecase of Roosevelt there was a thirdterm due to WWII.

China has effectively challengedthe democracy versus autocracy syn-drome. In other words the definingmoment of a democracy is in its sub-stantive not its cosmetics and dependson such things as good governance,competent leadership [not loyaltybased] and success in satisfaction ofsociety. Its legitimacy is then deter-mined by its people.

Hina’s progress in the agriculturesector surpasses that of USA andother developed countries. I am awitness to their success in verticalproductivity. The latest book tells meof their efforts for the next thirtyyears. I had seen the start of the ThreeGorges dam and I had the opportu-nity to see that completed dam. It is awonder and puts the cynics and thedoubters to shame. The man whostarted the dam is still in charge. Notlike us when we shed a competentperson just because we have heardthings about him. The intrigues hereare not visible in China.

Come to Pakistan. Can we talkof even an iota of work that is re-quired to be done to make it come atpar with a segment of China. I was atone of the functions of the ChineseNew Year day and there I saw the sadplight of the local Pakistanis. Is de-mocracy the least bad option forChina? Not the way it is going aboutit. There are no black spots in the sys-tem and even if one develops then theswift action takes care of the recalci-trant. The luxury of human rights isnot part of their forte and the westkeeps on haranguing about that.Confucius wanted the best of the bestfrom the society not the best of theworst as in the western system.

While working on transition

economy one felt that China hadtaken the best of capitalism and thebest of socialism and that of com-munism. The amalgam meant thatthere was mush adaptation to bedone. It has in the process ensuredthe elimination of those that are nota credit to the system. A leader iswell tested as his performance ischecked by his actions in a positiveworld and not in a normative one.The person replacing President Huhas been tested and elected after se-lection from others that were fieldedin the selection cum election pro-cess. Principles of Confucius are in-dicated in his analects. He holds highmoral grounds and his ethics seemsto be beyond reproach.

Can Pakistan emulate the atti-tude and values that are visible inthe Chinese system of governance?Can we adapt the system to our ad-vantage? The difficulty is that Chinahas paid a big price in becoming andin developing this extraordinary nononsense attitude to discipline andhard work.

Ours is not singleton economyand there are all kinds of shades inthe economy. The rural urban divideis difficult to bridge and it will be-come more difficult to do so withthe passage of time. This society hasto be built bottom up and there is noway that an authoritarian powerstructure could be implementedwithout urge to develop the wholesystem. The blind tinkering of re-forms during the Musharaf regimewas actually fulfilling the wishes ofthe western forces. We have beenmade guinea pigs in social experi-mentalism. It has been with us sincethe time we have had weaken lead-ers. Democracy is ill served whenreason and rationale are not part ofour strength. The world is else-where.

After Independence, either thecountry has been governedby the Army a period we

term as Army Dictatorship or thecountry has been governed by theCivilians/Politicians, which periodwe call, in vain imagination, asdemocratic. But according to theconnotation and its real spirit, therehas never been a democratic Gov-ernment which did anything for thebetterment of the citizens and pro-vided security to their lives and prop-erty. The general public of Pakistanhas just to caste its vote and that toonot according to their wishes but justto please their masters and they haveno chance to contest the electionsand reach Aiwan-e-Iqtidar to servetheir fellow citizens. According tothe present practice of contestingelections and huge investment in-volved, a common citizen cannoteven think of taking part in the elec-tions.

In such elections, only privi-leged class of few thousand takespart and by rotation, they reachAiwan-e-Iqtidar and through suchgeneral elections, the power re-mains within the same families.These families consider politics asa business. They invest huge moneyin this business and earn huge prof-its by hook or by crook. The poli-tics in Pakistan has now become aninheritable property which goesfrom elders to younger ones as is

Protection of democracyquite apparent in so-called present demo-cratic setup. They donot enter politics ofthe country to comein power and to servethe public, but insteadthey enter this arenawith the sole object oflooting the nationalassets for their own

benefits. If they contribute somemeager portion of the national as-sets for the welfare of the generalpublic, they make it sure that evensuch support must be headed toachieve their political objects. Forexample, the present democraticgovernment launched a scheme togive some financial support to somepoor people but to achieve their po-litical goal, they named this schemeas “Benazir Income Support” whichgives the clear impression to thecommon man that this support isbeing extended to them from thepersonal assets of late MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto whereas this is be-ing run at the cost of governmentexchequer.

If at any time, the oppositionparties raise any hue and cry againstmega corruption and other types ofmale-administration of the Govern-ment, the only answer from the Gov-ernment side is that they have beengiven mandate for five years andthey will complete the term. Thereis no denying the fact that if thepeople of Pakistan have given themandate to a party, they have a rightto remain in power for five years butonly to serve the people of Pakistanand to use the assets of the State forthe betterment of the people. In ademocratic setup, the first priorityof the Government is to serve thepeople and to improve the economicconditions and law and order situa-

tion in the country but the presentdemocratic setup has focused its at-tention and is making all out effortsto collect money through corruptionand mal-administration and lootingthe national assets. There are hugecorruption scandals and the SuperiorCourts have taken suo-motu noticeof some of them and proceedingshave been taken or are pending be-fore them. Such scandals are alsodiscussed in the local electronic andprint media. The most astonishingthing is that the culprits in such scan-dals do not feel any shame or re-morse because of their misdeeds buton the contrary, they proudly referto such scandals by saying that suchcharges are generally made againstpoliticians. They perhaps considerthat to become a successful politi-cian, it is necessary that there shouldbe mega corruption charges againstthem and they must have been inprison for a number of years.

In these days, there is outagesof electricity and natural gas and theindustries are closing down or shift-ing to neighbouring countries. Oursis an agriculture based country butunfortunately the agriculture is mosthit due to load shedding of electric-ity. The inputs like fertilizer and in-secticides have become so costly andthe prices of the commodities pro-duced by farmers are so low that ithas become very difficult, rather im-possible, to make both ends meet.The Government in power, whilegetting the mandate for five yearshad promised in their manifesto togive, “Roti, Kapra & Makan”. Butunfortunately, they have not beenable to deliver anything for the bet-terment of the general public.

The law and order situation inthe country is so bad that the peoplewho go to their offices in the morn-ing or to do their business in the ba-

zaars and the children who go toschools, are not sure of their safereturn and the inmates of the re-spective families pray for them tillthey return home. In spite of allthat, a large number of them are stillmissing. The security forces likePolice, Para Military forces andArmy who are supposed to providesecurity and protection to the citi-zen of Pakistan, themselves feelinsecure and face attacks from mili-tants which causes loss of valuablelives every day.

The business of collecting“Bhatha” from businessmen inKarachi and some other cities of thecountry has reached at such analarming level that it has becomealmost impossible for the business-men to run their business and theyare forced to shift their business toother places or to other countriesas looks suitable to them. The gen-eral population of the country is be-coming so poor that 87% of themface deficiency of food and 58%are even food insecure. Some ofthem are faced with such a situa-tion that they commit suicide to getrid of the miseries.

Contrary to this, the few fami-lies which throughout have re-mained in power and hope to stillremain in power in the future, thinkthat they are born to govern thepoor people of Pakistan and tousurp the assets of the State, notcaring how much wealth they havealready amassed both in the coun-try or outside the country. Afterconsidering the above mentionedfacts, the readers have to decidewhether there exists any democracyin the country which the Govt inpower claims or there is bad gov-erness and we have to make effortsto restore a democratic setup and tomake our country a welfare State.

Hurmat GroupZahid Malik

President & Editor-in-Chief

Faisal Zahid MalikEditor

Ph: 021-32211777, 32631102

Gauhar Zahid MalikExecutive Editor

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Voice of the People

Shaping the ‘new Egypt’

Last week highlighted the challenge posed to the Obama administration in dealing with the

“new Egypt.” On Wednesday, theWhite House thanked MohamedMorsi, Egypt’s first civilian presidentand a former leader of the MuslimBrotherhood, for his “constructive”contribution to a Gaza cease-fire, im-plicitly affirming Egypt’s role as astabilizing force in a troubled region.

Just one day later, after havingproved his strategic value in much thesame way his predecessor did, Morsitook another page from HosniMubarak’s playbook by placing hisdecrees beyond any judicial review.Many Egyptians saw this as a powergrab. Under pressure from the judi-ciary, Morsi this week appears to havepartially relented. But the signal hesent, at home and abroad, suggestshe wants near-dictatorial powers.

Washington has to ask: Who thengoverns Egypt? An ideologue bent onusing political power to IslamiseEgypt or a pragmatic national leadercommitted to advancing the interestsof all the people? Or, is he a bit ofboth? The jury is out and may be for

some time. After examining politicsin the “new Egypt” for three months,we have concluded that not only arethe answers uncertain but that therevolution that swept Mubarak frompower nearly two years ago is notover. Fundamental questions aboutthe direction of the Muslim Brother-hood, the popularity of the even moreextreme Salafists, the potential unityof non-Islamist parties, the role of themilitary in politics and the approachall these actors take toward key USinterests — including peace with Is-rael — remain profoundly unclear.

But analytical uncertainty is nota policy. Egypt is important: It is thelargest, most powerful Arab state,birthplace of both Anwar Sadat andAyman Zawahiri and all they repre-sent. Washington has a stake in thechoices its new government makes.Certain outcomes are more likely thanothers to lead to an Egypt willing tocooperate with the United States oncritical issues, and the US shouldwork to advance the prospects of suchcooperation.

The main source of American le-verage with Egypt is the substantialmilitary and economic assistance weprovide and the even more substan-tial influence we wield with interna-tional donors vital to Egypt’s effortto avert financial calamity. Some con-tend the US should speed aid and

Recent paralysis observedsince last few days in Pakistan indicates that the

government’s decade long policy hasyielded nothing except disappoint-ment and disillusionment. Protectionof life and property of citizens stillremains a dream unfulfilled, law andorder situation is getting worse, eco-nomic dilapidation is becoming evi-dent, power outages are soaring,mafias and criminal gangs havestarted to challenge writ of state withimpunity, sectarian killings, extortionand abductions have become a busi-ness as usual and worst of all nowsome of the basic facilities in any con-temporary society like telecommuni-cations and pillion riding have beenbanned for the general public mak-ing their already miserable life anightmare.

It appears that the governmentmight realize sometime in future thatit is neither the motorcycle nor thecell phone which is causing this may-hem rather these are human beings

Banning the humanswhich remain the root cause of theproblem and might considering ban-ning them as well. If this was, whatthe terrorists were seeking for, thenthey have succeeded beyond anydoubt. Probably now the time hascome to accept that the policy of gov-ernment, if there was any, has failedand consequently must be reviewedat priority.

Historically, most of the conflictswere ultimately settled at the nego-tiation table. The World War I wasbrought to an end at the Versailles,World War II was concluded at Yalta,Bosnian war was finally brought toan end through Dayton Peace Ac-cords and the list goes on. The pro-longed and excessive use of militaryforce ultimately proves to be coun-terproductive as it produces more ter-rorists and militants due to collateraldamage resulting in an unending vi-cious cycle of violence.

The frustration and strain evidentfrom the faces of police and securitypersonnel due to prolonged dutyhours, fatigue and inadequate re-sources was indicative that the break-ing point might not be too far away.Pakistani government now needs tounderstand that they can only win this

ExemplarypunishmentDR SAIFUR REHMAN

This is with reference to news re-ports regarding NA body recom-mendations about rioting doctors inPIMS. Reports say that the Stand-ing Committee on Capital Admin-istration and Development (CAD)on Wednesday(21st november) rec-ommended termination of doctorsguilty of vandalism at the PakistanInstitute of Medical Sciences((20th

october). In my opinion, this is gooddecision and it will be the harbingerof change in PIMS and Pakistan too.

On october 20, in PIMS, YDAhad created panic and violence, somuch so they attacked and stormedExecutive Director(ED) office. Itwas the worst ever violence of itsilk. As we all know very well thatevey other day YDA and other as-sociated organizations call for pro-longed and unscheduled strikes inPIMS and rest of the tertiary carehospitals of the country. In wholescenario it is the patient who has tosuffer ultimately. If any doctor re-sists them and provides services tohospital then he or she is beaten byYDA leaders. Same is true here forthis case in PIMS, associate profes-sor wanted to provide his servicesto hospital and he did not join strikecalled by YDA doctors, initially theyattacked associate professor andthen they(YDA doctors) stormed theoffice of Executive Director(ED)PIMS, which was their main target.After this bold decision by NA body,hopefully YDA doctors will not dareto take law in thier hands again andit is the exemplary punishment anda lesson should be learnt. Being adoctor and PIMS employee I fullyendorse ED PIMS prof. Riaz AhmedWarraich and NA panel recommen-dations.

Why have youg doctors forgot-ten hippocratic oath? As far as NApanel body recommendations areconcerned, these are based on factsand inputs from all relevant quar-ters.—Islamabad

Tyno killersM HASSAN ABBASI

After target killers comes anotherkillers named Tyno killers but theyare not human beings rather they areinanimate being responsible for kill-ings of innocent people. Tyno kill-ers appeared in Lahore ShahdraTown,Tyno is a cough syrup whichcaused serious causalities. The in-cident is of in taking of intoxicatingcough syrup people felt sick andtheir condition worsened and causedthe death of eighteen people.

Last year similar incident ofheart drug had claimed the lives ofmore than thousands of people andnow forty two rupees syrup claimedto be worth for the death of a per-son. According to initial medicalreports the syrup contains narcoticswhich can cause several symptoms.This incident proves to be anotherfailure of government which hasfailed to show practical implemen-tation of its own made law “DRAPACT 2012”. Like other acts this lawis also merely in the constitutionbooks as history its practical imple-mentation doesn’t seems to happenin Pakistan as law is never imple-mented here before a major incident.—Karachi

Anti-fraudeducation

SYED ZUBAIR AHMED

Our daily newspapers are filledwith stories of fraud and financialshenanigans. It has become dailyoccurrence that frauds of high pro-file cases break out and becomeheadlines. The shocking publicizedfinancial scandals have shaken theunderpinnings of our economic sys-tem. In the recent years there isenormous increase in occupationalfraud. We have witnessed that ournational enterprises have disclosedmillions of rupees in financialfraud. Millions of rupees of publicmoney have plundered, wasted andlost annually.

Association of Certified FraudExaminer (ACFE) based at Austin,

Election rulesASIM IQBAL

According to new rules and regulations of Election Commission of Pakistan the maximum limits ofexpenses for candidates of National Assembly has been increased up to Rs 5 million while the

candidates of provincial assemblies can spend maximum Rs 3 million during their election campaign.This decision shows that election commission is encouraging the use of wealth in the election campaign.This is a clear cut proof that to contest the election has become a game of rich people in our countryThere one may raise the objection that it is not compulsory to spend 5 or 3 million rupees and everycandidate has the freedom to cut his coat according to his cloth but my point of view is that how can alower class candidate fight against wealthy opponents. Here a question also arises how a man can takecare of the public interests who will pave his way to the assemblies after spending huge amount. Anotherquestion is “Is the permission for spending a large amount of money not a violation of constitutionbecause constitutionally state is obliged to provide equal opportunities to all the citizens for contestingelection. Had the election commission not better discouraged huge election expenditure? I request theChief Election Commissioner to review his decision and a ban should be imposed on high expenditures.—Via email

Views From Abroad

READERS

Email:editorial@pakobserver.net

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

—Editor

war on the negotiation table as themilitary strategy has failed to yielddesired results.

These militants which once en-joyed the state patronage and havenow become terrorists were not aproblem for the state almost a decadeago. Knee jerk and impulsive policydecisions ultimately created environ-ments where these groups foundthemselves at logger heads with thestate. The genesis of this problem canbe traced back in the aftermaths ofSoviet invasion of Afghanistan,which was never taken to its logicalend by incorporating these groupsback into the mainstream society af-ter Soviets withdrawal.

Probably now is the time to ne-gotiate with these groups and progres-sively absorb them back into themainstream society. However, thisnegotiating process would neitherfollow a linear pattern nor would bea smooth proceeding but rather wouldbe a long, uphill and uneven pathwhich would progressively help inimproving the situation. The societyalso needs to understand that this wasa war which we initiated for some-one else’s sake and must be broughtto a logical end now as it is threaten-

USA is a global organization com-mitted to fight against fraud and eco-nomic crimes worldwide. Togetherwith nearly 65,000 members, theACFE is reducing business fraudworldwide and inspiring public con-fidence in the integrity and objec-tivity within the profession in 120countries around the world. In thecrusade against the plague of fraud,ACFE is being commemorated aweek entitled, “International FraudAwareness Week” from 11th to 17thNov, 2012 in a bid to highlight thisglobal issue to the forefront andbringing awareness against this hugeglobal problem to combat with acommitment. Irrespective of the na-ture, extent and scope of the indi-viduals and organizations, whetherit is a rich or poor, small or mediumsized entities, whether it is sole-pro-prietorship, partnership, privately-held company, charitable institution,NGOs or public-limited company.All individuals or entities are proneto fraud. The effects are devastating,pernicious and over-reaching; un-doubtedly this menace has crossedthe national frontiers.

The Association of CertifiedFraud Examiners has actively en-couraged universities to offer FraudExamination course by offeringsample syllabi, videos and othermaterials. This course is offered inmore than 300 universities, manyuniversities have reported that stu-dents have enrolled in large numbersand have shown great interest insuch classes.

A course specifically targetedtoward presenting evidence in court.We will have to recognize that ourstudents need skills and requirehands-on experience. While ACFEhas provided the choice of coursematerial (textbooks, case studies,videos, software, hands-on materi-als, general discussion cases etc.) allare valuable sources that can ben-efit students. These skills can beimproved and sharpened by digest-ing the material more effectivelywhen they get hands-on experience.Fraud and forensic accounting in-ternship are almost non-existent andit needs to create opportunities forthe students. Other hands-on activi-ties that can build skills include mootcourt exercises, data mining extrac-tion and analysis, simulated casesand investigations, and fraud report-ing exercises based on case detailsand fact patterns.

Fraud and forensic accountingare comprehensive fields that pro-vide an opportunity for colleges anduniversities to integrate and assessskills developed throughout under-graduate and graduate programs.The study of fraud and forensic ac-counting engages most accountingskill sets and provides the opportu-nity to integrate with other non-busi-ness programs throughout the uni-versity community.—Via email

Communitypolicing

RASHMINA YOUSAFZAI

The nature of crimes throughout theworld is becoming more modern andcomplex. Many new crimes areemerging on the scenes, with the lat-est technological development in theworld. The people associated withcrimes are affecting the whole soci-ety. Every society in the world facesdifferent problems at the societallevel, and solves them with differentworking setups. The department ofpolice holds a great importance inguarding the over all society fromdifferent problems. The police depart-ment is in the process of undergoingseries of healthy changes worldwide.The concept of community policingis new step in our national police sys-tem. The phenomenon of communitypolicing triggers a positive changewithin the society, with an active par-ticipation of the whole society.

The main theme of building sucha concept is to build a healthy rela-tionship between the police and thesociety. The police in this case willbe as a service provider and commu-nity as a client. This step holds a greatimportance as the trust between thepolice and society was on the vergeof collapse. The society is not in aposition to render positive response,to police department, and as a resultthere was nochange. Police depart-ment in Pakistan has not enjoyed a

Obama’s re-election & Muslim world

The first visit of newly electedUS president Obama did nottake him to Palestine the place

where the conflict is taking the livesof dozens civilians each day, but toBurma, the country that had been apariah state for so long and whichseems finally to have succumbed toAmerican capitalism and its politicalsystem – democracy. Though the visitwas only short it did not fail to dem-onstrate a central principle of US for-eign policy that is you do what wewant and we will praise you. That iswhy Obama did not mention with asingle word on the ongoing genocideof Muslims in Burma, killed andmade refugees in their own countryby the ‘peaceful’ Buddhistneighbours with the connivance of the‘democratic’ Burmese governmentand the sanction of the peace Nobelprize holder Aung San Suu Kyi.

There can behardly any largerproof for the ‘prin-ciples’ on which peaceNobel prize candi-dates are chosen.Obama is one of themand during his firsttenure alone the war inAfghanistan was in-tensified without suc-

cess for the US, the crises in Libyaand Syria have been created and nowthe aggression of Israel against Gazaand its Hamas government is com-mented upon in a revealing way bypeace prize holder Obama.

All he has to say was that he con-demned the cowardly act of launch-ing rockets into Israel and that Is-rael has the right to defend itself . Itseems that according to him thepeople of Gaza don’t have that sameright nor the Afghan Mujahideens orpeople in South and NorthWaziristan have the right to defendthemselves, if they try to defend,than drone attacks will kill ourwomen and children inside Pakistanterritory. How can one expect peacewhen Ms. Clinton arrives the nightof likely truce and she has called onHamas to end rocket attacks on Is-rael as a precondition to bring du-

rable ceasefire and stressed Ameri-can commitment to Israel’s safetyand security to remain ‘Rock Solid’As a precondition for durableceasefire Hamas wants halt to Israeliattacks and lifting of restrictions ontrade and movement in and out ofGaza territory imprisoned by Israelsince 2007.

While the Egyptian, Turkish andUN leaders have not called Israeliunprovoked attack and turning Gazain rubbles as genocide in which morethen 150 people including womenand children were killed mercilesslyand nearly 1000 injured, Israel suf-fered only 5 deaths, Gaza city’s in-frastructure has been destroyed.Why not initiate under OIC, if theyare little serious, an own War CrimeTribunal to try Netanyahu and otheractors.

The new second term of Obamais not starting with a positive note.His first tenure as president wasmarred by a highly unsuccessfulpolicy towards the Muslim world.The only Muslim country which hasbeen happy with the US is Turkey.The Arab spring-states and their gov-ernments have condemned Israel’saggression not least under the pres-sure of the street where thousands ofArabs are demanding solidarity with

the Palestinian cause and the plightof their people. Egyptian presidentMursi is especially under pressure;his country’s Camp David treatywith Israel has been criticized by theEgyptian people who demand torevoke it. US is promising largeamounts of money for Egypt’s re-construction and economic upliftand President Mursi is trying tosquare the circle, i.e. to retain USaid and still keep the people in thestreet happy.

The Obama administration hasshown an aggressive attitude to-wards the Muslims world and Is-lam, be it Iran or the Libyan crisis,Syria or the attitude towards theanti-Islam film produced by anAmerican in the US and put on youtube. The re-election of Obama thathas been widely welcomed in theworld and in the Muslim countriesseem to be a rather misplaced eu-phoria as Obama’s visit to Burmaand his stand in the Israeli aggres-sion in Gaza is showing. One thingIsrael, US and their cohorts shouldknow that howsoever advance tech-nology you develop, nothing willstand in front of the will of peoplecommitted to their noble cause toliberate Baitul Maqdas from non-believers.

support to Egypt, with loose andminimal conditions, to prevent it fromgoing over its own fiscal cliff andbecoming a failed state. Others arguethat Washington should withhold aidand support because the US has nointerest in the success of an Islamistgovernment that could become amodel for the spread of radical Sunniextremism in the region.

We reject both options. It is toorisky to provide Egypt with virtu-ally unconditional aid and support,feeding a dangerous sense of entitle-ment that would free its leaders fromtaking the necessary decisions torepair the economy and pursue re-sponsible policies. But it also is toorisky to endanger America’s strate-gic situation by purposefully con-tributing to the creation of a poten-tially failed state astride the SuezCanal and across the Sinai from Is-rael.

We advocate a third course: pre-senting Egyptian leaders with a setof choices that offer a pathway to actas responsible national leaders ratherthan as religiously inspired ideo-logues. Indeed, while it is a mistaketo believe the United States can per-suade or compel the Islamists gov-erning Egypt to give up their deeplyheld ideology, it is not wrong to basepolicy on the idea that American le-verage can affect Egyptian behaviour.

ing to consume the whole state. Theforeign troops would soon leaveAfghanistan and Pakistan facesgrimmer prospects as total attentionof these groups would be divertedagainst Pakistani state and foreignaid coming to Pakistan would alsodiminish. Indian economic assis-tance would further compound theproblems in Afghanistan for Paki-stan. Thus, even if few tight condi-tions are met at this time, it wouldbe a cost effective decision ratherto head for negotiations in futureonce the situation totally becomesunfavourable for Pakistan. The ne-gotiated settlement must be fol-lowed by a political process, re-con-struction and rehabilitation programaiming to build rail road infrastruc-ture, schools, hospitals and dispen-saries etc, projects which had beenneglected for over 60 years.

Trying to establish writ withoutmeeting prime state’s responsibili-ties on a population which has be-come alienated from the state wouldotherwise remain a fallacy and ban-ning the humans would become thenext preventive measure.—The writer is an M.Phil scholarat National Defence University.

good position among the citizens ofPakistan, because of its feudalistic tilt.After the induction of such a positivedevelopment, it is quite evident thatthe traditional role of police willchange and many healthy develop-ments will be seen in communitypolice relationship. The concept ofcommunity policing will help in trig-gering positive developments in oursociety, and would help in coping lawand order challenges effectively.

The UN police have been work-ing in different distressed regions ofthe world with the support of com-munity policing. Throughout theworld, women are also a vibrant partof community policing, so it is alsonecessary that women in Pakistanmust be streamlined to communitypolicing network, so that they canalso play their active role in eradicat-ing different societal problems. Ourgovernment must divert its attentionto the phenomenon of communitypolicing, by taking some practicalsteps. This will facilitate in improv-ing the law and order condition in thecountry.—Islamabad

CNG syndrome?ALI ASHRAF KHAN

The bad governance of the currentgovernment has created yet anothercrisis: this time a CNG crisis. Andagain, it is hitting the poor and lowermiddle class people hardest, thosewho depend for their commuting onrickshaws or public transport such asbuses or who are deriving their in-come from them, those who trustingthe reason of the government con-verted their cars and other vehiclesonto CNG and are now stuck.

The gas and Petroleum policy ofthe ministry by the same name andby its minister, who still perhapsholds this charge, whose main quali-fication for the job was friendshipwith the rulers that he has had foryears. Instead of devising a secureand reliable policy in this matter hepreferred to promote CNG and CNGstations as a source of uncontrolledand illegal income without caring tocheck the remaining reserves, by is-suing an unlimited number of licensesfor CNG stations. Bribes worth sev-eral million rupees per license cameto surface from CNG Station ownerswhen Apex Court slashed heavyprofit cushion provided to them. Thenet result was that there are more sta-tions than customers and more sta-tions than gas available and the own-ers of stations now are not preparedto part with that exorbitant profitrather have arbitrarily closed theirstations with the plight that the newprice is minus the slashed cushion ofprofit is a net loss in their booty prom-ised at the time of grant of licenseagainst which the paid huge amountsof bribes before.

On the other hand, there havebeen attempts to ease the gas short-age and do business in the gas sectorby a private Gas Marketing companywho planned to import gas to Paki-stan and for that they were construct-ing a jetty at Port Qasim to unloadthe imported gas. Interestingly, thisjetty was bought by the governmentsponsored Sui Southren Gas for ahuge amount perhaps from Parogasso as to retain full control over theunder the table money making in thegas sector themselves. The good ofthe consumer which should have beenat the center of attention of the gov-ernment has never been even a smallpoint in their equation. Like in otherspheres of economy in this countryour successive governments havemisused this sector to loot the coun-try and its people, to make life mis-erable and to grab money for theirown private enrichment. By now thesituation has reached a stage whennormal life of common man is dis-turbed, local transport is breakingdown, workers can not reach theirworkplaces and children theirschools.—Karachi

We call this a policy of “engage-ment without illusions.”

Specifically, we recommendthat President Obama agree to cer-tify to Congress that Egypt mustfulfil two well-defined sets of com-mitments — on regional peace andon bilateral strategic cooperation —as a condition of continued US aidand political backing for interna-tional loans. Finally, the adminis-tration should use a portion ofEgypt’s military aid — at least $100million to start, and increasing overtime — as incentive for more ag-gressive efforts to combat terrorismin the Sinai, given the urgency ofthis issue to US interests.

But it is not enough to build thisinterest-based relationship with theMorsi government. We urge theadministration to engage with thebroadest possible spectrum of po-litical actors in Egypt. This is notan easy policy to implement. Butbuilding a relationship with Egyptbased on a clear strategic bargain— offering benefits for cooperationand penalties for noncompliance –is in the best interest of both ourcountries. Vin Weber is a formerRepublican congressman from Min-nesota while Gregory B Craig isPresident Obama’s former WhiteHouse counsel.— Courtesy: Los Angeles Times

There’s nothing random aboutanything in this world. God’saccuracy in His creation is

marvelous: God’s accuracy may beobserved in the hatching of eggs.For example: -the eggs of the po-tato bug hatch in 7 days;-those ofthe canary in 14 days;-those of thebarnyard hen in 21 days; -The eggsof ducks and geese hatch in 28days; -those of the mallard in 35days; -The eggs of the parrot and

the ostrich hatch in 42 days. God’swisdom is seen in the making of anelephant..

The four legs of this great beastall bend forward in the same direc-tion. No other quadruped is so made.God planned that this animal wouldhave a huge body, too large to liveon two legs... For this reason Hegave it four fulcrums so that it canrise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the groundon its two front legs first. A cow risesfrom the ground with its two hindlegs first. How wise the Lord is inall His works of creation! God’swisdom is also revealed in His ar-rangement of sections and segments,as well as in the number of grains. -

Each watermelon has an even num-ber of stripes on the rind. -Each or-ange has an even number of seg-ments. -Each ear of corn has an evennumber of rows. -Each stalk ofwheat has an even number of grains.-Every bunch of bananas has on itslowest row an even number of ba-nanas, and each row decreases byone, so that one row has an evennumber and the next row an oddnumber. The waves of the sea roll inon shore twenty-six to the minute inall kinds of weather.

All grains are found in evennumbers on the stalks, and the Lordspecified thirty fold, sixty fold, anda hundred fold - all even numbers.God has caused the flowers to blos-

Divine accuracy..!som at certain specified times dur-ing the day, so that Linnaeus, thegreat botanist, once said that if hehad a conservatory containing theright kind of soil, moisture andtemperature, he could tell the timeof day or night by the flowers thatwere open and those that wereclosed!

The lives of each of us is alsoordered by the Lord in a beautifulway for His glory, if you will onlyentrust Him with your life. If youtry to regulate your own life, it willonly be a mess and a failure. Onlythe One Who made the brain andthe heart can successfully guidethem to a profitable end..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Vin Weber,Gregory B Craig

Shams-uz-ZamanEmail:smszmn72@yahoo.com

Ali Ashraf KhanEmail:balti@super.net.pk

FITRI BINTANG TIMUR

THE world commemorates International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women every Novem-

ber 25. The United Nations has dedicatedthe day to the global campaign opposingviolence against women since 1999 al-though women activists have observed theday since 1981 after the Dominican Presi-dent Rafael Trujillo ordered the assassina-tion of the Mirabal sisters in 1960.

What is the moral of this story? It takestime for the truth to be known and for thewrongdoings to be fixed, provided peopledo not forget.

Another story is the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discrimina-tion against Women (Cedaw) that is com-monly referred as international bill of rightsfor women, adopted by the UN in 1979.The convention binds signatory parties totake measures to end discrimination thatrestricts women’s equal rights and free-doms in all sectors. Despite the slow adop-tion, by November, 187 out of 193 coun-

tries in the world had ratified the conven-tion.

Unfortunately due to internal politics,the United States, Iran, Somalia, Sudan,Palau and Tonga still resist. Therefore eventhough US President Barack Obamastrongly supports women’s equal rights—citing it in his campaign, which got himelected twice—unwillingness to grant suchrights still exists domestically as the USSenate has not ratified Cedaw.

Ironically, Afghanistan ratified the con-vention in 2003 after the US arrived in thecountry to fight terrorism alongside the“fight for the rights and dignity of women”as endorsed by Laura Bush.

Although an imperfect example, Af-ghanistan has made visible progress on theroad to empower its women. In 2009, thecountry’s civil society declared the KabulDeclaration of Women’s Rights. One of itsgoals is to put 30 per cent women in lead-

Elimination of violenceagainst women: Indonesia way

Finding the right balance

ership positions.Two years later, after a long contro-

versy, Afghan women won 27 per cent ofthe seats in parliament. There are 35 percent of girls enrolled in primary and sec-ondary education and more is expected asAfghanistan National Development Strat-egy 2008-2013 aims for 75 per cent.

However, for them domestic violenceis still rampant and walking outside re-mains dangerous. Leftover Taliban funda-mentalists continue to disapprove ofwomen taking part in public activities andtry to stop them by throwing acid, poison-ing drinking water or attacking buildings.Last year, there were 185 documented at-tacks on schools and hospitals. Yet, thisdoes not mean Cedaw does not work, itonly needs more time.

Ratification of Cedaw and its optionalprotocol is important because it shapesnational and domestic policies to grantmore opportunities and security for womenand their family. Examples vary from Ku-wait following the Cedaw recommenda-tion to allow women to vote in the election

starting 2005, to the Solomon Islands thatpassed the Evidence Law in 2009, whichrecognised women’s testimony as equal tomen’s where previously women’s wordwas not trusted.

An excellent model for translatingCedaw in to its legislation in Southeast Asiais the Philippines. The country enacted theMagna Carta for Women in 2009, whichaccepts the state’s duty to abolish unequalstructures and practice that perpetuate dis-crimination in all sectors, such as media,citizenship and marital life. Applause isneed to be given here because this MagnaCarta acknowledges the rights ofmarginalised women, including rural andindigenous women, informal women work-ers, migrant workers and women with dis-abilities.

The legislation guided theharmonisation of many existing laws andamended or repealed discriminatory laws

within three years. This made the Philip-pines a good place to be a woman accord-ing to Foreign Policy magazine 2012.

Indonesia has passed several laws andregulations under the convention’s spiritafter it ratified Cedaw in 1984. Those arethe presidential decree that set up a com-mission on violence against women(Komnas Perempuan) in 1998, presiden-tial instruction on gender mainstreamingin 2000, presidential decree on elimina-tion of child sexual exploitation and its na-tional action plan in 2002, 2004 law onelimination of domestic violence, 2006 lawon citizenship and the 2007 law on elimi-nation of human trafficking.

Unfortunately they are not supportedby the Criminal Code, Marriage Law, Anti-Pornography Law, Placement and Protec-tion of Indonesian Migrant Worker Lawand more than 200 discriminative bylaws.Indonesia also has yet to pass a Law ongender equality despite its initiation in2009.

The country’s recent tension with Ma-laysia due to the unpleasant “Indonesianmaids now on sale” advertisement lateOctober and two rape cases in Penang andSeremban compels the question whetherthe campaign for the elimination of vio-lence against women should be aimed do-mestically or projected outside Indonesia.

The question is more profound whenrecalling Malaysian Prime Minister NajibRazak’s comment “there is no need for awomen’s right movement in Malaysia” atthe 50th National Women Day Celebra-tion, which portrayed the leader’s half-hearted support for women.

Despite the conditions in Malaysia,one should note that Indonesia also needsto tackle its own problems to ensure theelimination of violence against women.Systematic poverty and discriminationcan be categorised as violence that forceswomen to find better lives elsewherethrough national or international migra-tion.

It was only last week that the UNHigh Commissioner for Human RightsNavi Pillay expressed shock during hervisit to Indonesia “to hear the level of dis-crimination and injustice” that womenvictims of violence face in the country. Ifthe government is not taking responsibil-ity, it is understandable that people, in-cluding women, flee for their lives.

Actions need to be taken but first thegovernment should acknowledge that in-equality exists, amend the problem poli-cies and start fixing. Improvement can bereached provided people do not forget andcontinue making the same mistakes.

The writer is an associate researchfellow at S. Rajaratnam School of Inter-national Relations, Nanyang Techno-logical University, Singapore. The ar-ticle was first published in The JakartaPost on November 27, 2012. Courtesy -Jakarta Post

LIU JUNHON

AT the Seventh East Asia Summitheld at the Peace Palace in PhnomPenh, Cambodia, a consensus was

reached on launching negotiations for theChina-Japan-Republic of Korea Free TradeArea and the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership, in pursuit of anAsian free economic zone.

In the context of intensified maritimeterritorial disputes among some Asiancountries, the consensus enhanced confi-dence that Asian countries will unite andpursue common interests, and showed theircommitment to making unremitting effortsfor regional cooperation.

But due to the countries’ different lev-els of industrial development, economicstructure and social conditions, it will bedifficult for them to pursue common de-velopment in a simple and unified way.Pursuing a “unified and single regionalrule” will undoubtedly exacerbate differ-ences, and even lead to the differentiationof the regional structure. Behind the com-mon interests of Asian countries, there isthe reality of different interests. Only byshowing fair concern for all these differ-ent interests can common interests beagreed on equal terms.

After the East Asian financial crisis inthe 1990s, East Asian countries reached aconsensus to jointly address the crisisthrough mutual assistance and cooperation.In this context, at the end of 1997 the Aseanmembers invited the leaders of China, Ja-pan and the ROK to join them to discussregional development plans, and the basicframework of regional cooperation, namelyAsean plus China, Japan and the ROK(10+3) was formed.

After 15 years of cooperation, EastAsia has built up a series of cooperationmechanisms that have promoted economic,trade and investment ties, increased cul-tural exchanges and deepened non-tradi-tional security cooperation, such as disas-ter prevention and mitigation. The coun-

tries have become each other’s importanttrading partners and managed to avoid be-ing negatively affected by the crises thathave originated in the United States andEurope.The 10+3 meeting summarised thecooperation over the past 15 years andlauded the cooperation mode, and put for-ward the Phnom Penh Declaration on theEast Asia Summit Development Initiative,pointing out the direction for future re-gional cooperation.

In the post-global financial crisis pe-riod, the faltering world economy andshrinking export market have brought newchallenges for the sustainable developmentof East Asian economies, and to seek new

ways, in accordance with regional charac-teristics, has become the regional consen-sus. But the problem of the developmentgaps between countries is still prominentas there are many developing countries,such as China, and underdeveloped coun-tries, such as Myanmar, Cambodia andLaos, as well as developed countries, suchas Japan, the ROK and Australia.

The per capita GDP of Japan,Singapore and Australia in 2010 exceededUS$40,000, which is about 10 times thatof China and 40 times that of Vietnam,

Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Japan,which monopolises a considerable propor-tion of core components, raw materials andproduction equipment, advocates the es-tablishment of a region-wide free tradezone and implementing a single zero tar-iff. By dominating industry standards andinvestment rules, Japan can build an in-dustrial chain covering the whole regionso as to monopolise the interests of regionalfree trade. The relatively weak industriesin developing countries will have to facethe impact of this. This is a foreseeablereality. A relatively uneven structure also

exists in the China-Japan-ROK coopera-tion. In 2011, a joint study by the threecountries concluded that a China-Japan-ROK FTA will benefit all the parties. How-ever, Nomura Securities argues that ben-efits brought by the FTA will be uneven,as it will expand Japanese exports byUS$60 billion, while increasing the defi-cits of China and the ROK.

Currently, 60 per cent of Japan’s ex-ports to the ROK and 70 per cent to Chinaare tariffed at a relatively higher rate thanJapan’s import tariffs. Implementing a uni-fied zero tariff would mean Japan’s exportswould enjoy a greater tariff reduction thanChina and the ROK. The tariff rate for

Japan’s construction machinery exports toChina is 8 per cent, which means, for ex-ample, that China’s Sany Heavy IndustryCo can compete with Japan’s Komatsu. Ifthe import tariffs fall to zero, to remaincompetitive against Japan’s Komatsu andHitachi, Sany must cut prices by 8 per cent,or be exempted from domestic tax by 8per cent or improve productivity by 8 percent to maintain the same market share.However, none of three conditions can bemet easily.

Those advocating the use of the FTA

to promote industrial upgrading and struc-tural adjustment have underestimated theresulting social risks. In the FTA negotia-tions, joint research conducted by the threecountries only analysed the economic ef-fects and assessed the contribution to GDPgrowth, ignoring the social effects.

Only the Ministry of Agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries of Japan seems to bemaking such assessments, which are morepessimistic than its Cabinet Office’s.

In the post-crisis era, regional coop-eration requires innovative thinking and ap-plicable approaches that are in line withregional realities and the long-term goalof sustainable development. In fact, theNorth American FTA and the EuropeanUnion economic integration suggest that asingle regional rule cannot address theproblem of imbalances in regional devel-opment.

The establishment of an FTA, espe-cially one between developed and devel-oping countries, is not necessarily boundto promote sustainable and balanced re-gional development; regional economicintegration based on an FTA does not nec-essarily achieve common interests in theregion, nor can it point to a strategic ob-jective of regional economic development.Regional cooperation among developingcountries needs to abandon dogma and pur-sue a common and sustainable develop-ment path that accords with local condi-tions and takes care of the interests of allparties.—The author is a researcher with theChina Institutes of Contemporary Inter-national Relations.

FRANK J GAFFNEY JR

DURING the so-called “Arab Spring,” theObama administration insisted that theUnited States risked being on the “wrong

side of history” if it remained aligned with seculardespots like Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Recent eventshave made it clear there is a wrong side for free-dom in the Middle East and, thanks to TeamObama’s embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood,we’re on it.

Take, for example, the cease-fire between Is-rael and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinianfranchise, the designated terrorist organizationHamas. Mohamed Morsi, the man the Muslim

Brotherhood selected to replace Mr. Mubarak aspresident of Egypt, brokered the deal and has beenlionized for doing so.

Far from representing a real contribution topeace, this truce is a coup for the Islamists. Itblocked Israel from launching ground operationsaimed at cleaning out terrorist strongholds, weap-ons caches and infrastructure in Gaza. Pursuant tothe cease-fire’s terms, the Jewish state is even sup-posed to refrain from continuing to target Hamasleadership figures from the air.

Morsi’s second Muslim brotherhood coup

BARRISTER HARUN UR RASHID

D-8 consists of the eight most populous Muslim majority countries — two from SouthEast Asia (Indonesia and Malysia), two from

South Asia (Bangladesh and Pakistan), two fromMiddle East (Turkey and Iran) and two from Africa(Egypt and Nigeria). They constitute 60 per cent ofthe total Muslim’s and 13 per cent of the world’spopulation. The presidents of Iran, Indonesia, Ni-geria and Pakistan, the prime minister of Turkey,vice-president of Egypt, deputy prime minister ofMalaysia and international affairs adviser (minis-ter) to the prime minister of Bangladesh attendedthe summit. The very fact that the heads of state/government of three countries such as, Bangladesh,Egypt and Malaysia, did not attend the summit fordifferent reasons diminishes to a large extent theimportance of this meeting.

Furthermore, the summit started in Islamabada day after militant attacks had killed 36 peopleacross the country in some of the deadliest violenceclaimed by the Taliban for months. Twenty-threepeople were killed and 62 wounded overnight inRawalpindi, the twin city of summit venueIslamabad, “It seems the new breed of religiouszealots wanted to tell the D-8 dignitaries all about

the mess dwelling the country.” The D-8 memberstates are facing massive challenges including foodsecurity, communal violence, terrorism and a tar-nished international image which needed to be ad-dressed through a joint effort.

It is necessary to create a framework of coop-eration on long-term energy security; creating a levelplaying field for all segmentsof the society, mandate scien-tific and technological coopera-tion, develop joint industrialprojects and share engineeringand management knowledgewith the D-8 centre of excel-lence at the forefront of the col-laborative effort.The summit adopted the 35-pointIslamabad Declaration which contains theorganisation’s charter and the D-8 Global Vision.However, the documents were based on pledges andcommitment and no decisions were announced. Thelast summit in Nigeria, in 2010, had also adoptedsimilar commitments but no concrete actions weretranslated into action. In Islamabad, the leaders

stressed the importance of collaborative efforts on:* Capacity-building; * Transfer of technology; *Exploration of new energy resources; * Develop-ment of alternative fuels and renewable sources ofenergy, as well as research; and * Development andproduction of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.They welcomed Pakistan’s offer to host the first

energy forum to evolve a framework of coopera-tion. They pledged to work jointly to confront com-mon challenges faced by the D-8 countries; espe-cially in achieving food security, mitigating theimpact of natural disasters and countering all formsof extremism, which undermine economic progressand adversely affect people’s livelihood. In an ap-parent reference to the unilateral sanctions against

Iran, the D-8 leaders noted with concern the conse-quences of the coercive economic measures on thelivelihood of people. They committed to creating alevel playing field for all segments of the society, inparticular for the youth to attain modern skills, tobecome participants in the emerging knowledge-based economy and the information society. They

emphasised the need for sci-entific and technological co-operation and the develop-ment of joint industrialprojects and sharing of engi-neering and managementknowledge, with the D-8 cen-tres of excellence at the fore-

front of the collaborative effort.Recognising the emerging role of Islamic bank-

ing and finance in the Muslim societies, includingthe D-8 community, they urged member states toassist in its development as a catalyst for expansionin financial and trade activities. It is reported inmedia in Pakistan that Islamabad can take comfortin the fact that the D-8 Summit of 8 major Muslim

countries could be held at all. Given Pakistan’s se-curity situation, especially in Muharram, whichhappened to coincide with the dates of the summit,its holding per se could be considered an achieve-ment.

The question among people is: What, after all,has the D-8 achieved in concrete terms during its15-year existence? Summits and conferences wereheld and tons of paperwork and documents ema-nated from summits. But the pledges were not trans-lated on the ground. At a time of global economiccrisis, the role of economic bloc D-8 in safeguard-ing the interests of member-countries has assumedmore importance.

Although Turkey and Iran attended the sum-mit, each country came with a different politicalagenda. Both countries have vastly different viewson Syria’s civil war and unless political relationsare harmonious, economic relations do not progressin multilateral forum. Observers say that forumssuch as D-8 focus on symbolism rather than sub-stance, and on rhetoric rather than action. Given thetime and money invested for such summit, peopleare starting to question its relevance. The ball nowin the leaders’ court. Courtesy - Daily Star.—The writer is former Bangladesh Ambassador tothe UN, Geneva.

Lots of pledges

D-8 consists of the eight most populous Muslim majoritycountries — two from South East Asia (Indonesia and

Malysia), two from South Asia (Bangladesh and Pakistan),two from Middle East (Turkey and Iran) and two from Africa

(Egypt and Nigeria).

Yet the Morsi-brokered cease-fire imposes noimpediment to the jihadists in the Gaza Strip re-arming for the next round of attacks on Israel. Thedeal creates the expectation that the only practicalbar to such rearmament — namely, the Israeliblockade of Gaza — will be eased.

The credit given Mr. Morsi by the Obama ad-ministration and others for engineering so mani-festly one-sided an accord ignores a central real-ity: The Brotherhood is simply buying time toachieve what the Soviets would call “a more fa-vorable correlation of forces.” Once that is accom-plished, the mother ship in Egypt and its affiliatesin Gaza and elsewhere will be delighted to aban-don the latest truce and renew their decades-longeffort to “drive the Jews into the sea.”

The over-the-top endorsements of Mr. Morsialso may have encouraged him to announce im-mediately thereafter sweeping political changes inEgypt that suggest he is not interested in a func-tioning liberal democracy in his own country anymore than he wants a durable peace with Israel.

Team Obama claims to have been “dismayed”by this second Morsi coup — in this case, effec-tively a coup d’etat — in Cairo. It should not havebeen surprised. Mr. Obama, after all, has been en-gaging and emboldening the Muslim Brotherhood

from early in his presidency. This was one pur-pose of his much ballyhooed June 2009 visit toEgypt, in which he insisted that its representativesbe allowed to attend the first Obama “outreach tothe Muslim world” speech.

Moreover, in the months since, the MuslimBrotherhood has engineered Mr. Mubarak’s over-throw with almost immediate and strong supportfrom the U.S. administration and has worked as-siduously to take control of all of the reins of gov-ernment in Egypt and to make Shariah the law ofthe land. The problem for Team Obama is thatEgyptians who did not intend to have a seculartyrant replaced by an Islamist one are beginningto find their voice.

It is far too early to say whether the fractiousEgyptian opposition that has just begun to coa-lesce under the banner of the National SalvationFront will be able to pose a real challenge to theMuslim Brotherhood and other Salafists. Withluck, they will do so, starting with large publicdemonstrations this week that could make possiblea systematic rollback of the Islamists and their ef-forts to dictate Egypt’s future.

Unfortunately, if experience in Iran is anyguide, the Obama administration will align itselfwith the jihadist oppressors rather than their anti-Islamist opponents.

It will try to thwart any congressional effortto restrict further engagement with the Morsi re-gime, for example, by cutting off or conditioningforeign aid and military sales. Team Obama prob-ably also will try to protect the Egyptian MuslimBrotherhood’s bids for additional financial assis-tance through billions of dollars’ worth of inter-national loans and debt relief.

To what extent are individuals with ties to theMuslim Brotherhood who are working in or serv-

ing as advisers to the Obama administration con-tributing to these clearly counterproductive na-tional security policies? Five Republican members

of Congress — Rep. Michele Bachmann, Rep.Louie Gohmert, Rep. Trent Franks, Rep. Lynn A.Westmoreland and Rep. Thomas J. Rooney — pre-sciently raised this concern last June and wereroundly criticized for doing so (including by somein their own party). They appear to have been vin-

dicated in their warnings that such influence op-erations are putting us on the wrong side of his-tory. We cannot afford to remain there, to the ben-

efit of our enemies and their jihadist agenda.Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is president of the Center

for Security Policy (SecureFreedom.org), a col-umnist for The Washington Times and host of Se-cure Freedom Radio on WRC-AM (1260). Cour-tesy - Washington Times

During the so-called “Arab Spring,” the Obama administra-tion insisted that the United States risked being on the

“wrong side of history” if it remained aligned with seculardespots like Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Recent events have

made it clear there is a wrong side for freedom in the MiddleEast and, thanks to Team Obama’s embrace of the Muslim

Brotherhood, we’re on it.

In the context of intensified maritime territorialdisputes among some Asian countries, theconsensus enhanced confidence that Asian

countries will unite and pursue common interests,and showed their commitment to making unremitting

efforts for regional cooperation.

COURT NOTICEIn the Court of ChMohammad Nawaz

Additional Session JudgeMalakwal

Nafeesa Rani etcVs Mohammad HanifAppeal FamilyMemo:

Mohammad Hanif S/oMohammad Sharif CasteJapha Rajpoot R/o Chak No20 Tehsil Malakwal DistMandi Bahauddin.

Whereas the services ofabove mentioned respondentsis not possible through ordi-nary means, therefore, he isdirected to attend this courtpersonally or through hiscouncil on 5-12-12. Other-wise the ex party proceedingsshall be taken against him.

Given under my hand andseal of the Court.

Sd/-Additional Session Judge

Malakwal

MANGLA: US Ambassador Richard Olson with WAPDA Chairman Syed Raghib Abbas Shah on a visit to Mangla Dam.

tee. This mechanism againshows the domination of the rul-ing party and its coalition part-ners in the government, saidsources.

If the government and oppo-sition could not develop any un-derstanding on the formation ofthe caretaker set-up within theprescribed constitutional dead-line, the matter will be referredto the Election Committee,sources said, adding politicalchaos will be the next stage inthe country in case the politicalparties did not accept the EC’sinterim set-up.

mega watt (MW) from the exist-ing 1000 MW. This up-gradationis a part of the two-pronged strat-egy aimed at optimal utilizationof the indigenous hydropowerresources. In addition to con-structing new projects, WAPDAis also rehabilitating and up-grad-ing its aging power houses un-der the strategy, he further said.

Earlier, WAPDA Chairmanreferring to the support providedby the US in implementation ofvarious WAPDA projects, saidthat WAPDA highly values thisassistance.

He said that commencementof Mangla Power House up-gra-dation is yet another milestone inthe US-Pakistan cooperation for

$150m US aid for ManglaFrom Page 1

development of energy sector. Heexpressed the hope that this co-operation would further enhancein the days to come.

The US ambassador wasbriefed that Mangla Dam – thefirst-ever mega multi-purposeproject in Pakistan comprisingwater storage and four powergenerating units of 100 MWeach – was completed in 1967with financial assistance of thefriendly countries including theUS. Subsequently, units 5and 6were installed at the powerhouse in 1974 and units 7and 8in 1981.

Mangla Power House at-tained its maximum capacity i.e.1000 MW in 1994 with addition

of units 9 and 10. Since its com-missioning, the power house hascontributed more than 200 billionunits of low-cost electricity to theNational Grid. The aging factorof the generating equipment andavailability of additional waterdue to the raised Mangla Dam ne-cessitated the refurbishment andup-gradation of Mangla PowerHouse, which is currently under-way and will be completed inphases with an estimated cost of$ 400 million, the Ambassadorwas informed.

The US Ambassador andWAPDA Chairman also unveiledthe plaque to commemorate theUS financial support for up-gra-dation of Mangla Power House.

companies have increasedprice of LPG in Karachi whereprice has been increased fromRs 125 to Rs 140 and domesticcylinder price has beenincreased to Rs 1690.

LPG price has increasedfrom Rs 135 to 145 per kg inLahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat,Jehlum, Jehlum and Faisalabadand price of domestic cylinderhas been increased to Rs 1690in Multan, Bahawalpur, RahimYar khan, Muree, Rawalpindi,Islamabad, Attock, Peshawar,Mardan and Batkhela. LPGprice has been increased from Rs150 to 160 per kg and domesticcylinder has been increased toR s1870. With the advent ofcold wave in hilly areas of GilgitBaltistan price of LPG has beenincreased to Rs 200 per kg whichis a record. In Gilgit Baltistanprice of domestic cylinder hasbeen increased to Rs 2350.

LPG price in AJK has beenincreased from Rs 180 to Rs 190and domestic cylinder has beenincreased to Rs 2230.

Chairman LPG distributionassociation Irfan Khokhar saidthat LPG price has been decreasedby $50 in international marketwhile LPG maphia in the countryhas increased the prices withoutany notification.

He said that marketing com-panies in the pretext of suspen-sion of Jamshoro plant has in-creased the price which is un-just and unfair with the peopleof the country. He said that forthe first time in the history ofthe country LPG prices havebeen touched Rs 200 per kg inGilgit Baltistan and governmentshould take notice of it.

Irfan Khokhar said that LPGmarketing companies andmaphia doing black marketingand earning unjustified profit.Khokhar requested CompetitiveCommission of Pakistan (CCP),and Supreme court to take no-tice of this mass increase and toprovide maximum relief to themasses.—Online

LPG price upby Rs15/kg

From Page 1

been deputed as inquiry of-ficers to deal wit the allotmentrelated job. Shamoonsaid some 800 dehs’ recordhad been reduced to ashes inviolent incidents on the dayof Benazir’s assassination.

“Almost 72 percent of therecord has been retained,” hesaid. The BoR official later toldthe reporters that the judges werenot satisfied with his report.

The larger bench ordered theBoR officials not to allot anypublic land until complete rewrit-ing of the record. The bench alsoasked the Board for record of theland transferred since Dec 27,2007. The day also saw DGSindh Rangers Maj. GeneralRizwan Akhtar and IG SindhPolice Fayyaz Leghari appearingbefore the court. Akhtar briefedthe bench and presented a reportpertaining to the suspects arrestedin the city since November 1. Thebench returned the report withcertain objections.

Justice Khilji Arif remarkedthat the Rangers and policeshould tell the court that whyhighly sophisticated weaponslike Rocket Launchers werepresent in the city.

The DG Rangers com-plained of staff shortage whenthe bench ordered Rangers to setup its own police stations in thecity. “It seems the Rangers donot trust the police,” said Jus-tice Hani. Justice Hani alsoslammed the government for notprioritizing in its budget the in-crease of police strength to en-sure an improved law and ordersituation, a prerequisite for eco-nomic growth.

Apex courtfor delimiting

From Page 1

states and international organiza-tions to remain engaged with it.

The General Assembly wel-comed Pakistan’s initiative ofRegional Ministerial Confer-ence on Counter-Narcotics, heldthis month in Islamabad andstressed the importance of re-gional coordination to counterthe threat of narcotics from Af-ghanistan.—NNI

sides also hold their drills underthe same codename INDRA.

Recently, the Indian Armyhad sent its troops to Russia forthe Army-to-Army exercises ina province close to the China-Mongolia border there.

Since 2003, India and Rus-sia have conducted five of theINDRA-series joint ground andnaval exercises.

The last such exercise washeld between the two countries’army units in India in October2010.—INP

UN adoptsresolution

From Page 1

Russia, IndiaFrom Page 1

CORRECTION OF NAMEI, MUQTAR AHMED On my(NIC) Card my name hasbeen mentioned asMUKHTAR AHMED whichis incorrect. I want to getchange my name formMUKHTAR AHMED toMUQTAR AHMED and ifany person / organization /agency has any objection, thesame may be intimated inwriting to(NIC) Card and Any Docu-ments. Candidate Name MUQTARAHMEDFather’s Name MIR AHMEDULLAHKHUDDAABAD GILGIT

PPP to playdual card forinterim set-up

From Page 1

carrying supplies to US-led Natoforces in Afghanistan.

Now, Khar said, relationswere fully repaired, includingmilitary and intelligence con-tacts. “We are having very use-ful, deep conversations with theUS,” she said, as the two coun-tries try to find common groundon Afghanistan ahead of thescheduled 2014 pullout.

Both the United States andAfghanistan have long regardedPakistan as an unreliable partnerin the drive to bring stability toAfghanistan, accusing Pakistan’sintelligence agency of backingAfghan insurgent groups.

Pakistan recently releasedmid-level Afghan Taliban prison-ers to help facilitate peace talksbetween the militant group andthe Kabul government, theclearest sign it was committed toadvancing Afghan reconciliation.

Khar said Islamabad waswilling to take further steps butwould not say whether thatwould include releasing seniorAfghan Taliban figures, like theformer second in command,Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

“I think it is important thatwe have intensive engagementon what needs to be done,” shesaid. Afghan officials thinkBaradar may be one of the fewcommanders with the stature tobring elements of the Taliban intopeace talks after more than a de-cade of war. During a recent visitto Pakistan by members of theAfghan High Peace Council, Pa-kistan agreed to release someprisoners, although not Baradar,and to provide safe passage forthose wishing to enter talks, Kharsaid. Pakistan would also encour-age Afghan insurgents to enterinto direct talks with PresidentHamid Karzai’s government. Sofar, there have been only con-tacts. “For us in Pakistan today,the most important capital in theworld is Kabul,” said Khar, be-cause instability there could spillover into Pakistan, and fuel itsown Taliban insurgency.

She said the Afghan and Pa-kistan governments were dis-cussing ways to strengthen mili-tary cooperation.

Currently, relations arestrained. Afghanistan still sus-pects elements in Pakistan of sup-porting the Taliban, despite de-nials from Islamabad. The Paki-stan military, pursing Pakistaniinsurgents, has also shelled vil-lages across the border in Af-ghanistan, prompting protests.

In addition to improving tieswith Afghanistan, Khar said Pa-kistan also wanted to pursuecloser ties with arch-rival India.

The United States has longbelieved that Pakistan would fo-cus more closely on helping itpacify Afghanistan if relationswith India improved.

The nuclear-armedneighbours have fought threewars since their independencefrom British rule in 1947 and areat loggerheads over the status ofthe disputed territory of Kash-mir.—Reuters

US, Pak tiesFrom Page 1

ing Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry, JusticeGulzar Ahmed and JusticeSheikh Azmat Saeed, was hear-ing petitions filed by PTI chiefImran Khan and Jamaat-i-Islamicomplaining that votes of a size-able number of people — said tobe up to 3 million — living inKarachi had been registered intheir native towns of Swat,Mingora, Mansehra and Attock,although they had been living inthe city for 10 to 15 years.

During proceedings onWednesday, the chief justice saidthat a number of complaints werebeing reported regarding elec-toral lists. Chief Justice IftikharChaudhry suggested that helpcould be sought from the armedforces for verification of voters’lists in Karachi. The CJ said that

the law and order situation inKarachi may also be resolved ifRangers and Army personneltook part in door-to-door verifi-cation of votes. He added thatpolitical parties should also bekept away from the process ofvoters’ list preparation.

During the previous hearingin the case last week, the benchhad allowed the MQM’s requestto join the proceedings as a co-respondent and a party in the caseafter the petitioners did not raiseany objection.

The court had asked the Elec-tion Commission (ECP) to findout how many votes had beenregistered on the same addressesprovided in the electoral rolls of2002, 2005 and 2007 in Karachi.The ECP was also asked to checkif the votes of people were re-

corded according to their residen-tial addresses; how many peoplehad applied for shifting theirvotes outside Karachi; how manyvoters had been approached andunder which law the votes hadbeen shifted out of the city andthe legal status of such a deci-sion.

The Election Commission onthe direction of apex court sub-mitted report about the voters’lists of Karachi.

The Supreme Court hadasked the Election Commissionto find out how many voters wereverified and how many of themwere de-listed or transferred backto their native towns. ProvincialElection Commission Sindh in-formed the court that 32,281 vot-ers were transferred to their per-manent addresses.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Coordinator to Prime Minister Faisal Sakhi Butt with office-bearersof Students’ Council 2012-13 during installation ceremony at IMCG (Postgraduate), F-7/2.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Coordinator to Prime Minister Faisal Sakhi Butt with office-bearersof Students’ Council 2012-13 during installation ceremony at IMCG F-7/2.

SC suggests door-to-doorFrom Page 1

Global Change Impact StudiesCentre. It will also have repre-sentation of Gilgit-Baltistan andAzad Kashmir.

The meeting allowed start ofnegotiations with Saudi Arabiafor export financing of the fertil-izer to be imported from theKingdom.

The Cabinet gave approval tothe Interior Ministry to sign asecurity cooperation agreementwith Iran. Replying to questions, the In-formation Minister said negotia-tions are continuing betweenOGRA and CNG owners Asso-ciation aimed at determining ajudicious pricing formula forCNG. He said the Government isacting as a facilitator.

To another question he saidthe Presidency, in the past, wasmisused to conspire against de-mocracy and that is why the PPPsent its own man to the Presi-dency. He said the incumbentPresident Asif Ali Zardari is con-sistently pursuing the policy ofreconciliation.

Responding to a question hesaid wrong meanings should notbe given to reconciliatory tonesadopted by PML-N leader

Nawaz Sharif and the PPP abouteach other. He said the two par-ties might have differences but itdoesn’t mean these should betaken too far. He said remarks ofNawaz Sharif about PresidentZardari are appreciable and it isnoteworthy that he has also ad-vised similar approach to hisbrother Shahbaz Sharif.

The Information Ministersaid the Prime Minister alsobriefed the cabinet about recentlyheld D-8 conference and the roleplayed by Pakistan. He said theproposals put forth by Pakistanduring deliberations of the sum-mit and other related conferenceswere received well by othermembers.

Addressing the Cabinetmeeting, the Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf said investigationinto the incidents occurred dur-ing Muharramul Haram inRawalpindi and Dera IsmailKhan is in progress and the cul-prits would be given exemplarypunishment for their terrorism.

He pledged the resolve of thenation that defeat is the fate ofsuch elements who are playingwith the lives of the innocent citi-zens. He expressed his sorrows

and sympathies on the Shahadatof these people and prayed to theAlmighty Allah for the early re-covery of the injured.

The Prime Minister con-gratulated and appreciated allthose who played important rolein maintaining the peace duringthe Muharramul Haram. He paidtributes to all including armedforces, security agencies, police,rangers, Ulema, media and thecivil society for the maintenanceof unity during Muharram andexpressed the hope that this na-tional feeling would be exercisedin future too.

Briefing the cabinet on D-8summit in Islamabad, PrimeMinister said that it was an im-portant forum and memberswere of the view that the devel-opment and progress of the con-cerned countries are linked upwith the stability and peace inAfghanistan. Raja PervezAshraf said that D-8 also re-viewed the emerging situation inGaza and Syria.

He congratulated all thestakeholders for best arrange-ments including the Foreign Of-fice for the conducive holding ofD-8 summit in Islamabad.

Cabinet okays National CounterFrom Page 1

Abducted Dr Saeed recoveredFrom Page 1

ransom money was paid orwho paid it.” Meanwhile, presi-dent of Pakistan MedicalAssociation’s Balochistan chap-ter Dr Shehzad said there is norole of government behind the re-covery of Dr Saeed Ahmed andhe got released after paying ran-som money. The doctors whowent on strike following the ab-duction of an eye specialist willcontinue their strike until the lo-

cal police seek apology fromthem for offensive behaviour, headded. Dr Shehzad demanded thegovernment to provide securityto doctors in the province. Hesaid that a session has been sum-moned that will decide the futurecourse of action.

Referring to the on-goingstrike, he refused to give anystatement, saying that the deci-sion will be taken in the meet-

ing. He lamented that the doctorshave only demanded securityfrom government. The provin-cial government, meantime mov-ing against the striking doctors,suspended them from services,held back their salaries and ex-pelled them from official resi-dences. The government alsopublished advertisements innewspapers for the recruitment ofnew doctors.—INP

The President and the PrimeMinister have congratulated allranks of the Army StrategicForce Command on the excel-lent standard achieved duringtraining which was reflected inthe proficient handling of theweapon system in the field andthe accuracy of the traininglaunch.—INP

Pak successfullytest fires medium

From Page 1

China urges int’lcommunity to fulfil

Afghanistancommitments

UNITED NATIONS—Thepeace reconstruction process inAfghanistan is now at a crucialjuncture, a Chinese envoy saidhere, calling on the interna-tional community to fulfil itscommitments to the CentralAsian country.

Wang Min, China’s deputypermanent representative to theUnited Nations, made the state-ment while addressing a UNGeneral Assembly meeting onthe situation in Afghanistan.

In recent years, with the helpof international community andthanks to the tireless efforts ofthe Afghan people,Afghanistan’s peace reconstruc-tion process has achieved posi-tive results, including achieve-ments in political, economic,social and development areaswhich are recognized by all,Wang said.—NNI

No alliance: ImranLAHORE—Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan hasruled out any chance of alli-ance with former PresidentPervez Musharraf and said thatno alliance will be made withthe former dictator before orafter the upcoming elections.Talking to a private TV chan-nel about the post-electionpolicies of his party, ImranKhan said that PTI is not theparty of families like others inPakistan. He expressed grati-tude over positive statementsby Pervez Musharraf abouthim but denied any possibilityof having a coalition withAPML in future. —INP

Kausar wantsideology changeP E S H A W A R — K h y b e rPakhtunkhwa Governor Barris-ter Masood Kausar Wednesdayunderscored the need for thecountry to affect changes in itsideology like other countries.Addressing a conference atPeshawar University here, hesaid myriad conflicts caused di-visions in Pakistan, adding thereligion is the biggest problemin the country. Assaying thePakistan’s ideology, the gov-ernor said this national ide-ology should a lso bechanged. He added the coun-try is more important thanany ideology.—Online

Khasadar Forcecheck post blastedLAKKI MARWAT—Unknownmiscreants blew up a securityforces check post with explo-sives here on Wednesday butno causality or injury was re-ported. According to details,unidentified assailants hadplanted explosive materialoutside a Khasadar Forcecheck post located in Paakhelarea of Lakki Marwat whichwent off with a big explosion.As a result of blast the checkpost was destroyed com-pletely but no human loss tookplace as the checkpost at thetime of the blast was empty.The securi ty forces havestarted investigations into theincident. —INP

LAHORE—PIA has receivedtenders of 8 new Boeing 737-800 planes which will be in-ducted in national airlines fleetduring March, 2013.

According to reports, PIAteam led by Managing Direc-tor Junaid Younis receivedlease tenders of 8 new Boeing737-800 planes from the re-spective Boeing manufactur-ing company. These planeswill be supplied by the con-cerned company by March2013.

Following the induction ofthese Boeing planes, three oldBoeing 737-300 and 5 airbusesA-310 will be grounded and

sold out. The new Boeingplanes will be flown on Dubai,Muscat, Doha, Kuwait, AbuDhabi, Qatar, Kabul, Mumbaiand New Delhi routes as Na-tional Air Lines is locked intough competition on theseroutes with international linesand Pakistani private airlinesincluding Shaheen and AirBlue.

PIA has lost innumerablepassengers on these routes dueto usage of old planes. The in-duction process of theseBoeing planes in its fleet hasbeen delayed by one year dueto the ineptness of former man-agement of PIA. Overlooking

PEPRA rules by previous man-agement in invitation of ten-ders with respect of supply ofthese Boeings on lease was theroot cause behind the inordi-nate delay.

Amnesty International hadalso challenged in SupremeCourt through writ petition thetenders invited by the previousmanagement; therefore, thesupply of new Boeing was de-layed by one year.

The national airlines had tosuffer loss ranging between Rs35 to Rs 40 billion against fuelexpenses in one year due to de-lay in induction of these planesin its fleet.—Online

Eight new Boeing planes to beinducted in PIA fleet by March

Gilani refuses toappear before FIA

ISLAMABAD—Lawyer offormer Prime Minister YusufRaza Gilani, Fawad Chaudharyhas said that his client will notappear before Federal Investiga-tion Agency (FIA).

Yusuf Raza Gilani had toappear before FIA on Novem-ber 28 with reference to the Hajjscam. However, he refused to doso. Yusuf Raza Gilani’s counselis of the view that all the relevantdetails have been provided toFIA so there is no need for hisclient to appear before the stateagency. Fawad Chaudharynoted that the summons againstYusuf Raza Gilani ware issuedwithout consultation with theLaw Ministry and are aimed atmalice against his client.

All the appointments madeby Gilani as the premier were inaccordance with the constitu-tional obligations, Chaudharymaintained. —Online

Balochistanlawyers observe

Black DayQUETTA—Balochistan law-yers on Wednesday observedBlack Day and boycotted courtproceedings across the prov-ince including Quetta on theappeal of Balochistan Bar As-sociation (BBA) against lifeattempt on their colleague.

The BBA general secretaryMir Attaullah Lango said thatlawyers community acrossBalochistan observed blackday against the murder attempton advocate Qari Jamil inKhuzdar.

The lawyers boycottedboth the high courts and thelocal courts while black flagswere also hoisted at bar build-ings.

The BBA has demandedthe government to immedi-ately arrest the culprits in-volved in the murder attempt.

The lawyers with placardsand banners took out rally fromvarious courts of the provinceincluding Quetta on the roadsand chanted slogans against thegovernment.—INP

Afghan FM arrives tomorrow

ISLAMABAD—Afghan ForeignMinister, Zalmay Rasool willreach Islamabad tomorrow(Friday) to discuss reconcilia-tion process related to AfghanTaliban with Pakistan’s militaryand political leadership.

Sources said the main pur-pose of Rasool’s visit is to pavethe way for acquittal of impor-tant Taliban leader, MullahBrother whose role is consid-ered as vital for negotiationsand reconciliation with the Af-ghan Taliban. Zalmay Rasoolwill also meet Foreign Minis-ter Hina Rabbani Khar. The twowill share views on the removalof Taliban leaders from the listof those who were declared ter-rorists by the UN. —Online

KA R A C H I—A man whojumped from the 8th floor ofState Life Insurance’s buildinglocated in Saddar area of thecity in a bid to escape fromblazing fire passed away at thehospital.

Fire broke out on the 8thfloor of the State Life build-ing on Zaibunnisa Street inKarachi’s Saddar area onWednesday.

According to eye wit-nesses at the time when the firestarted 25 people were presenton the floor.

Due to the smoke suffoca-tion had started and a man in abid to breath attempted tostand outside the window andlost his balance and fell 8th

floor down.He was immediately taken

to the hospital by the peopleon the ground however he suc-cumbed to his injuries.

The deceased man wasidentified as Owais and he hadcome to the State Life Build-ing for a job interview.

The late arrival of the firebrigades infuriated the citi-zens.

The fire was brought un-der control by the fire depart-ment after two hours of hecticefforts. All the other trappedpeople were evacuated fromthe building safely.

According to fire brigadeofficials, the initial findingssuggest that the fire broke out

due to faulty generator at the8th floor of the building whichhouses KESC accounts office.

Chief Fire officerEhtashamuddin talking to re-porters said that due to coop-eration of all departments ma-jor loss was averted.

The fire fighting systeminside the building also helpedin controlling the fire andstopped from spreading toother floors of the building.

Meanwhile Chief MinisterSindh Syed Qaim Ali Shahalso arrived at the site andmonitored the rescue work andinstructed that all injuredpeople in the fire should beprovided best of medicalaid.—Online

Man jumps off 8thstorey to escape fire, dies

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The SupremeCourt on Wednesday issued no-tices to the officials of IntelligenceBureau (IB) over allegedutilisation of its ‘secret fund’ in abid to topple the Punjab govern-ment in the past.

A three-member bench of theapex court, headed by Chief Jus-tice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry, was hearing a suo motucase over Rs 270 million allegedlydrawn by the Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) federal governmentsin the past from the ‘secret fund’of IB to topple the Punjab gov-ernments.

Notices have been issued totwo former director generals of the

IB, Masood Sharif Khattak andTariq Lodhi and the incumbentDG of the agency Akhtar Hussain.

During the hearing, DeputyDirector Legal of the IB NaveedaSehar submitted to the court, in asealed envelope, the details re-garding the published report in anEnglish daily on the issue.

Reporter of the English daily,Asad Kharal, read out his reportaccording to which Rs 270 mil-lion were withdrawn from the IBsecret funds in order to overthrowthe Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) provincialgovernment in Punjab during five-month tenure of former DG IBTariq Lodhi in 2008-09.

Moreover, according to thereport, some amount was also

Conspiracy against Punjab govt

SC issues noticesto IB officials

QUETTA: Dr Saeed Ahmed, Chief Medical Officer of LRBT, being received by a relativeafter he was released by kidnappers on Wednesday.

withdrawn during 1989-90 for rig-ging elections.

The bench subsequently sum-moned records and information onthe Intelligence Bureau’s budgetand money received during thesaid periods. The chiefjustice remarked that if the IB hadany information it could be ex-changed in-camera. JusticeChaudhry also directed the spyagency to submit documents in thenext hearing of the case, whichwas adjourned for two weeks.

In its detailed verdict of theAsghar Khan case, the apex courthad ordered to de-link the case ofdoling out of Rs270m in 2008-09from the accounts of IntelligenceBureau to topple the Punjab gov-ernment.

BEIJING—China is consideringchanges to its one-child policy, aformer family planning officialsaid, with government advisorybodies drafting proposals in theface of a rapidly ageing societyin the world’s most populous na-tion.

Proposed changes would al-low for urban couples to have asecond child, even if one of theparents is themselves not an onlychild, the China Daily citedZhang Weiqing, the former headof the National Population andFamily Planning Commission, assaying on Wednesday. Under cur-rent rules, urban couples are per-mitted a second child if both par-ents do not have siblings. Looserrestrictions on rural couplesmeans many have more than onechild. Population scholars havecited mounting demographicchallenges in their calls for re-form of the strict policy, intro-

duced in 1979 to limit births inChina, which now has 1.34 bil-lion people.

Zhang said the commission

China considers easing family planning rulesand other population researchinstitutes have submittedpolicy recommendations to thegovernment.—AP

ISLAMABAD: A delegation, led by Jamaat-i-Islami leader Liaquat Baloch, meeting withChief Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) Fakharuddin G Ibrahim.

PEOPLE with a common type of abnormalheart rhythm were more likely to diewithin several years if they had been pre-

scribed digoxin, a drug used to help control ab-normal heart rates, in a new analysis.

The research involved 4,060 people withatrial fibrillation, in which theheart’s upper chambers quiverchaotically instead of con-tracting normally. More thantwo-thirds of the participantswere treated with digoxin atsome point either shortly be-fore or during the 3.5-yearstudy.

Dr. Samy Claude Elayi,from the University of Ken-tucky in Lexington, saiddigoxin - which is widelyavailable in generic form - maybenefit some people whohave heart failure in additionto a heart arrhythmia.

“But in patients that haveno heart failure and (have)atrial fibrillation, I think thereis no reason to use this drug asa first line,” added Elayi, whoworked on the study.Another cardiology re-searcher, however, said the new study isn’t ro-bust enough to warrant changing treatment strat-egies, and that earlier studies have shown digoxinis safe.Elayi and his colleagues re-analyzed datafrom a past trial of people with atrial fibrillationand a high risk of stroke that were treated with avariety of drug combinations, including betablockers and calcium channel blockers.

Over the study period, 666 people died,according to results published in the EuropeanHeart Journal.People who had taken digoxin inthe previous six months, the study team found,were 41 percent more likely to die of any causeand 61 percent more likely to die from a heartrhythm problem, in particular.

That increased risk of death was seen inpeople with and without heart failure, and inboth men and women.

Digoxin works by helping to stabilize theupper heart chambers affected by atrial fi-brillation, Elayi said - but it can also cause

problems by creating a badrhythm in the heart’s lowerchambers. That can lead to diz-ziness, fainting and heart pal-pitations.

The researchers noted thatthey didn’t have data on whatdose of digoxin people wereprescribed - or how closelythey stuck to those prescrip-tions.

Because the trial wasn’toriginally intended to measurethe negative effects of digoxin,and people weren’t assignedrandomly to one arm or theother, the analysis also can’tprove that digoxin caused theextra deaths.

Dr. Ali Ahmed, who hasstudied digoxin at the Univer-sity of Alabama at Birmingham,

called that a major limitation of the new study.He said an earlier randomized controlled

trial - considered the gold standard of medicalresearch - did not find more deaths amongpeople with heart failure taking digoxin. Otherresearch, Ahmed added, has suggested thatlow doses of the drug can actually lower therisk of death among some patients.

An analysis like this one can’t fully ac-count for the likelihood that sicker patientsare prescribed certain drugs more often, hesaid.“When you do non-randomized studies,you always wonder, was it really digoxin orwas it the other confounders” such as pa-tients’ chronic diseases, that led to moredeaths.

Deaths more common onpopular heart drug

ASHRAF ANSARI

AMBASSADOR AtadjanMovlamov ofTurkmenistan hosted a

reception in Islamabad to markIndependence Day celebrationcoinciding neutrality day of thecountry. A large number ofguests attended the reception.

They included diplomaticcorps, senior military and civilofficials as well as prominentPakistani citizens from variouswalks of life. The guests alsoincluded prominent Pakistanipoliticians including Mr. GoharAyub Khan and Zafar IqbalJhagra.

Very few diplomatic recep-tions in recent days attractedsuch a great number of guests inthe current scenario of securityconcerns.

The reception began withthe playing of national anthemsof Pakistan and Turkmenistan.The Federal Minister of Scienceand Technology Mir ChanghezKhan Jamali was the chief guestat the reception who joined theambassador of Turkmenistanand other guests in cutting theceremonial cake.

Ambassador AtadjanMovlamov recently assumed

charge of Turkmenistan Em-bassy in Islamabad. He is a sea-

soned diplomat committed topromoting good will for his

country.He says that he will explore

all possibilities of strengtheningfriendly relations between Pa-kistan and his country. He be-lieves that the two countrieshave vast scope of greater bilat-eral cooperation in vital fieldsof mutual interestparticularly in theeconomic areas.

The guests atthe receptionwere warmly received by thefriendly Turkmen diplomats.They greatly relished delicaciesof Turkmenistan served to them.The gathering became informalforum for exchange of viewsamong the guests on various is-sues and the most widely topicbeing discussed was upcomingelections in Pakistan and peaceprospects of Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Turkmenistanhave historic and cultural linksgoing back to several centuries.There is a common desire on bothsides to revive and promotethese links in their mutual inter-est.

Pakistan was one of the firstcountries who recognizedTurkmenistan when it declared

ISLAMABAD: Famous French Kathak dancer and choreographer Isabelle Anna performs during a dance evening organized by Alliance Francaise incollaboration with French Embassy, at PNCA.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Turkmenistan National Day reception held

ISLAMABAD: Chief guest Federal Minister for Science & Technology Mir ChanghezKhan Jamali, Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov, President PML-L SaleemSaifullah, Ambassador of Argentine Rodolfo Martin Saravia, Ambassador of UkraineVolodymyr and Malik Sohail cutting the cake on the occasion of 21st Anniversary of theIndependence Day of Turkmenistan & 17th Anniversary of the Neutrality Day ofTurkmenistan, at a local hotel.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

its independence in 1991.Soon after Pakistan sent a

trade caravan to Ashgabat tomark Pakistan’s desire to re-open historic land trade routefrom Central Asia to the sub-continent.

Pakistan had highly wel-comed emer-gence of CentralAsian ‘Repub-lics’ as indepen-dent countriesafter the demise

of the Soviet Union. Pakistanbelieves that its sea ports, es-pecially Gwadar can cater tothe trade needs ofTurkmenistan and other Cen-tral Asian countries. Pakistanhopes that this dream wouldbe realized after return of peaceto Afghanistan.

Pakistan andTurkmenistan are parties toTAPI gas pipeline project. Thetwo countries are trying toimplement the project on pri-ority basis as it will bring un-limited economic benefits toboth the countries. The projectwill serve as a economic bridgebetween Central Asia and thesubcontinent.

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of France Philippe Thiebaud and Chairman Agha Khan CulturalService Pakistan Akbar Ali Pesnani signing a partnership agreement.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

RAWALPINDI—Rats and straycats in various parts of the citybesides hospitals, hotels andother important buildings likeParliament Lodges can cause out-break of plague in twin cities ofIslamabad and Rawalpindi.

A survey conducted by INPrevealed that rats, cockroachesand pests abound every nookand corner of twin cities. Majorhospitals including Holy Fam-ily Hospital, Pakistan Instituteof Medical Science (PIMS) andother healthcare facilities in twincities were plagued by rats, cock-roaches and fleas besides impor-tant buildings i.e. ParliamentHouse, Parliament Lodges werealso reported by a private TVchannel to be not safe from pests’invasion.

It should be mentioned herethat a newborn baby was bittenby rats on the lips, nose, cheeksand other parts of the body in

Rats, cockroaches ‘puttingpatients at risk’ in hospitals

Holy Family Hospital. The situ-ation indicates poor sanitationof the healthcare facilities andnegligence on the part of hospi-tal administration.

The Medical Superinten-dent (MS) of the Holy FamilyHospital, Captain (Retd) Fiazhas admitted presence of rats inthe hospital. However, hospi-tal administration on Wednes-day started cleanup operationagainst rats in the hospital.

Moreover, hospital admin-istration was of the opinion thatdue to the presence of children,rat poison cannot be placed inthe hospital.Citizens talking toINP said that operation shouldbe launched in all healthcare fa-cilities if not possible on largescale in twin cities and added“This is appalling and shouldnot happen in modern hospi-tals. It points to a lack of gen-eral hygiene”.

Talking to the INP, healthpractitioners said that rats cancarry infections disease, whichcan be transmitted to healthcareworkers and patients. More-over, infections by rat bitescould also put patients’ recov-ery at risk. They said that itcould cause death if victim wasnot vaccinated soon after bite.

When contented, TMORawal Town, Ahmad Kamal saidthat godowns in residential ar-eas and heaps of garbage alongside Nullah Leh was one of thereason of rats presence, addingthat comprehensive operationwould also be launched to oblit-erate pests.It may be recalled that an opera-tion against rats was initiated inRawalpindi some 13 years backand pesticide pills were spreadalongside Nullah Leh but afterfloods in 2001 the project wasabandoned.—INP

Missionaryschools to

educate 1,152students

RAWALPINDI—MissionaryBoard Rawalpindi would pro-vide free educational facilities to1,152 deserving students underEducational Afternoon CoachingClasses Project.

According to sources, 52teachers of eight missionaryschools would take part in theproject.

A launching ceremony of theEducational Afternoon CoachingClasses Project, presided overby Project Manager, JavedMasih, was held in Saint JosephHigh School Lal Kurti. Headsand teachers of the schoolsworking under the missionaryboard attended the projectlaunching ceremony.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Preparations arein full swing to celebrate theforty-sixth founding day of Pa-kistan Peoples Party on Friday.

Functions would be heldthroughout the country to high-light the mission for whichShaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hadfounded the party, his achieve-

PPP to celebrate 46thfounding day tomorrow

ments and services for the causeof the people especially thedowntrodden.

The day would also be usedto pay homage to party leadersand workers who gave their livesfor the cause of democracy andempowering people.

Radio Pakistan including its

FM-93 network and NationalBroadcasting Service has chalkedout elaborate programme tomark the day.Different stationswould broadcast excerpts fromspeeches of Zulfikar Ali BhuttoShaheed and Benazir BhuttoShaheed besides message of theparty leaders.—Online

New KattarianPark in shambles

RAWALPINDI—Residents haveexpressed concerns over the di-lapidated condition of the NewKattarian Market Park due tonegligence of Parks and Horti-culture Agency (PHA).

Residents talking to INPcomplained that there was nowatchman of the agency to lookafter the park and young boyscould be seen playing cricket allday long. PHA staff are leastconcerned to visit the park. Inaddition, poor cleanliness re-stricts children and women tovisit the park.—INP

ISLAMABAD—Higher officialsof the Islamabad Police have di-rected officials of its subordinateintelligence departments andpolice stations to tighten the sur-veillance of the seminaries andslums, especially Afghan settle-ments on backdrop of prevailinglaw and order situation in the

Tight surveillance of federalcapital slums directed

country.A meeting, chaired by SSP

Yasin Farooq, was held in thisregard that was attended bySPs besides other officials ofthe different police stations.

All the officers of the fed-eral capital police stationshave been directed to take help

of the intelligence reports andto tighten the surveillance ofthe Afghan settlements in thecity. Inspector General ofIslamabad Police, Bani Aminhas also been taken into confi-dence, who gave the permis-sion to tighten the surveil-lance.—INP

NDU delegatesvisit PNCA

ISLAMABAD—The delegates ofthe National Defence University(NDU), including foreigners andlocal members, visited the Na-tional Art Gallery, Pakistan Na-tional Council of Arts (PNCA)here on Wednesday. A colourfulcultural show, comprising pup-pet show, instrumental music,flute, rubab and violin besidesregional dances, was presentedat the PNCA for the delegates.

A PNCA official told APPthat the members of delegationtook keen interest in the Paki-stani art and appreciated thetheme and variety of perfor-mances especially arranged forthem. At the end of the show,famous national song ‘Main bePakistan hoon To be PakistanHai’ was presented. The delega-tion members also gave souve-nirs to PNCA Director GeneralTauqeer Nasir and the DirectorPerforming Arts.—APP

ISLAMABAD: Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman Senate Standing Commit-tee on Defence and Defence Production addressing a public hearing at Pakistan Insti-tute of Parliamentary Services.

RAWALPINDI: A vendor selling fish at his roadside setup.

I S L A M A B A D —Students ,faculty, staff members andothers, in a jam-packed hallamidst sounds of encore,cheered the extreme of liter-ary fun and linguisticjugglery, wrapped in heartwrenching and thoughtprovoking messages andlessons, at a PunjabiMuzahia Mushaira here atNational University ofModern Languages(NUML), on Wednesday.

Punjabi MuzahiaMushaira was organised bythe Department of PakistaniLanguages under the aus-pices of Iftikhar Arif, a re-nowned poet and scholar.

Dr Inam-ul-Haq Javed,renowned poet, and AbdulHameed, Chairman Acad-emy of Letter, were the chiefguests of ‘Mushaira’ whileit was presided over by Pro-fessor Anwar Masood, theliving legend in Urdu andPunjabi humourous poetry,and Rector NUML Maj Gen(R) Masood Hasan.

The bunch of Punjabi

Punjabi Muzahia Mushaira at NUMLpoets, including ProfessorAnwar Masood, Dr IamulHaq Javed, Sarfraz Shahid,Musafir Lodhi, SaleemAkhtar, Shahbaz Chohan,was arranged in such a care-ful manner that poetry of eachwas a virtual literary treat forthe students and lovers ofliterature.

Professor AnwarMasood mesmerized the au-dience with his linguistic andpoetic excellence and the ad-dition of pun, witticism, sat-ire, sarcasm and fun made theaudience go berserk.

He recited his all time hits‘Nak Jay Mathay UtayHunda’, ‘Banian, ‘Jhelum dapul’, ‘Ambri’ and few othercouplets, which turned theaudience upside down withbouts of laughter but his life-like narration of Punjabi poem‘Ambari’ brought tears intothe eyes of audience as therecould not have been betterdepiction of a mother’s loveand affection for his son thanhe did in the poem.

Dr Inam-ul-Haq was also

ISLAMABAD: Relatives of the kidnapped Wapda workers from Gomal Zam Dam hold-ing a demonstration for their recovery.

ISLAMABAD: Residents of G-8 block road during protest.

with no less package of funand laughter as his ‘Dieting’,

‘Bakra Mandi’ and other po-

etry convulsed the audiencewith laughter and cheers.

Sarfraz Shahid recited

his all times hit ‘Wadi tay NikiMadam’, ‘Sultana’ and made

those present in the hall fren-

zied with uncontrolledstreams of encore, encore(wah, wah; mukarer,mukerer).

Shahbaz Chohan,Musafir Lodhi, SaleemAkhtar, Shafqat HabibShafaq, Younis Ejaz andSheikh Ejaz also treated theaudience with the art of theirPunjabi poetry.

Besides, some universitystudents including KhadijaAtta, Sehrish Shahid, AyeshaZafar and others also pre-sented their humourous po-etry and received applausesfrom the audience at their de-but attempts.

Though the event wasarranged to let the audienceto give vent to poets and po-etry enthusiasts, the mes-sages and lessons it all car-ried were universal, moral,thought provoking and spiri-tual.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Rector NUML Maj Gen(R) Masood Hasan said,“University is committed toprovide an environment to

the students and facultymembers where they canhave their intellectual pur-suits and this literary eventwill encourage our studentsand teaching staff to getguidance and support fromhumourous poets whomthey idealise and love toread.” Organiser of theevent, Dr Habib Nawaz,Head of Pakistani Lan-guages Department, saidthat the purpose of this‘Mushaira’ was to providethe students of languagesand literature with an op-portunity to have exposureto see and hear all thosepoets whose literature andpoetry they read in their syl-labus.

The event was also at-tended by DG Brig AzamJamal, Registrar Brig (R)Saeed Akhtar Malik, direc-tors, deans, heads, facultymembers and students ofthe university. In the end,the Rector NUML pre-sented shields to the orga-nizers and poets.—APP

ISLAMABAD: Prof Anwar Masood mesmerized the audience at Punjabi MuzahiaMushaira at NUML.

I S L A M A B A D — S e n a t e ’sStanding Committee for In-terior has directed FinanceMinistry to release fundsworth Rs 597 million to facili-tate issuance of passports todiplomats, MPs and bureau-crats.

A meeting of Senate’sStanding Committee for In-terior, presided by its Chair-man, Talha Mehmood Aryanwas held in the ParliamentHouse on Wednesday.

The Standing Committeeasked the Printing Corpora-tion of Pakistan not to stopsupply of the passport-cop-ies to ensure provision ofpassports to ambassadors,

Finance Ministry directed tofacilitate issuance of passports

MPs, bureaucrats and gov-ernment employees.

The Committee was toldthat the government is de-laying the release of funds,which is holding back theprocess of issuance of thepassports.

The officials were of theview that around 200,000passports are experiencingdelays while the PrintingCorporation of Pakistan haswarned that if the arrears arenot paid by November 30,more copies will not begranted to the passport-of-fice. The arrears of Rs 370million are to be paid to thePrinting Corporation, they

added.The officials of Interior

Ministry told the committeethat official passports are is-sued to the MPs and theirfamily members. The Stand-ing Committee raised objec-tions on this stating thatthere should be clear differ-ence between the passportsof MPs and their family con-nections.

The Committee was alsoapprised that NECTA doesnot enjoy constitutional po-sition. At this, the StandingCommittee summonedformer Director GeneralNECTA Tariq Pervez in thenext meeting.—Online

ISLAMABAD—The CapitalDevelopment Authority(CDA) and the district gov-ernment have failed to demol-ish the structures in katchiabadi (slum) in H-9 and reoc-cupy the land grabbed by theresidents despite all their ef-forts.

According to sources,officials of the civic author-ity were busy in bulldozingthe structures in the opera-tion against the tent resi-dences of the slums the otherday, when nearly 70 womenand 30 children blocked thebulldozer’s way, claiming theCDA allowed them to oc-cupy the land. The civic au-thority officials told them thatthe CDA had sent them todemolish the structures.

CDA, district govt fail todemolish katchi abadi in H-9

The leader of the resi-dents of the slums appealedto the officials to give themthe time of 24 hours to takepermission from the con-cerned authorities.

When contacted, the as-sistant commissioner Indus-trial Area said that he hadnot been contacted to getpermission for erectingstructures on the CDA land.Speaking about the occupa-tion of land adjacent to J.Salik Colony in Sector G-8/1, he said 70 to 80 clothshacks had been demol-ished, adding that some ele-ments were still trying tograb the CDA land in H-9 andthe authority has called onthe police help in this re-gard.—INP

22 propertiessealed

RAWALPINDI—The Exciseand Taxation (E&T) Depart-ment Rawalpindi, in its ongo-ing operation against theproperty tax defaulters, hassealed 22 properties in thearea of Stadium Road, NewKatarian, Satellite Town andPindora.

According to sources,Director E&T Rawalpindi Di-vision, Chaudhry SuhailArshad has directed Excise& Taxation Officers (ETOs)Shikh Mushtaq Ahmed andSuhail Sabir to take actionagainst the property tax de-faulters.

Police inspectors, underthe supervision of ETOslaunched the operationagainst tax defaulters andsealed 22 properties.—INP

ISLAMABAD—The citizens ofIslamabad and Rawalpindicontinue to face immense dif-ficulties due to closure ofCompressed Natural Gas(CNG) stations and low pres-sure of Sui gas onWednesday.Despite SupremeCourt directives of reductionin CNG prices the owners offilling stations are raising ob-jections over the price and inprotest have closed down theirfuel stations.

Except for a few CNG out-lets all the stations are shut andOGRA has miserably failed tofulfill its responsibilities. Longqueues of vehicles were seenat CNG stations supply gas re-sulting in massive traffic jam

Citizens suffer dueto gas scarcity

at Rashid Minhas Road, TipuRoad, Muree Road, CircularRoad, Khayaban Sir Syed andAdiyala Road areas.Domesticconsumers are also facing dif-ficulties due to very low pres-sure of gas as it takes long timeto cook meal and students aswell as public and private ser-vants get late to reach their of-fices.

Due to closure of CNGstations, local transport alsoremained thin.

The citizens havestrongly criticized the Gov-ernment and said that gas,power, mobile closure, hike inprices of consumer items andlawlessness have made theirlives miserable.—INP

Encroachmentson rise in

residential areasISLAMABAD—In addition toencroachment in bazaars,similar problem can now beobserved in the streets of thefederal capital due to negli-gence of Enforcement De-partment of Capital Develop-ment Authority.

Sources said the dwellersof Islamabad have extendedthe boundary of their housesup to the road in front due towhich the passage for trafficand pedestrians has nowcontracted. This has givenway to problems for thepassers-by.

Sources informed thatencroachment can be seen inStreet 2 of G-6/2 such that itsresidents have covered avast area in front of their resi-dence and have turned it intoa garden. The fences ofthese areas have sharpnoses, which is a life-threatfor the children playinghere.—Online

Eight outlawsnabbed

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad po-lice has raided and arrested 8outlaws from different placewho were involved in hei-nous crime here the other day.

Shahzad town police gotinformation that some juve-niles who were involved indacoity and involved in im-moral activities are planningfor robbery on Jagiot road.

On getting informationpolice reached on the spotand arrested Faisal Shahzad,Muhammad Aqib, MubarakHussain and MuhammadAshfaq and recovered twopistols and one dagger fromthem.

Meanwhile, Barakahupolice arrested three crimi-nals namely Aslam Mashie,Naveed Mashie, IntizarMashie who were involvedin robbery.

Margalla police also ap-prehended Khawar AliAbbas who apparentlyclaimed to the citizens that heis the incharge of specialbranch inspector and wouldappoint them in police sta-tion through getting bribemoney.—Online

Roadside vendorsfleecing poor

ISLAMABAD—Roadside ven-dors in Aabpara Market andthe Karachi Company areasare fleecing the poor bycharging high rates for items,while the district administra-tion is acting like a silent spec-tator.

Roadside stalls of cloths,footwear, jewellery, hand-bags, bangles and cosmeticshave been set up in differentparts of the city.

The visitors at theAabpara Market complainedthat roadside vendors had setthe rate lists on their own andwere overcharging. The visi-tors said that vendors sellingsecond-hand items but hadalmost doubled the rates,which was more than that offirst new items.

On the other hand, stallsare being set up on foot-paths, causing problems andinconvenience to the resi-dents.

The Super Market, JinnahSuper Market, PeshawarRoad Market, Karachi Com-pany Market and other mar-kets are seeing the worst kindof encroachments.—Online

Hospitalsflooded with

patientsISLAMABAD—With thechange in weather condi-tions, hospitals and clinics ofthe federal capital have beenobserving a massive rush ofpatients suffering from viraldiseases since last manydays.

Patients are sufferingfrom a number of viral dis-eases like cough, flu (influ-enza), fever, swelling in vari-ous parts of body and chestinfection on a regular basis.

The unpredictableweather — a bit cosy duringthe day and chilly at nights— has given a rise to viralinfections.

A large number of pa-tients, especially children,visits healthcare facilities inthe federal capital with ail-ments like runny noses,soar throats and respiratorydisorders, said physiciansat the PIMS and Polyclinic— the two most visitedhospitals in Islamabad.—Online

Chohar Chowkrenovation

projectRAWALPINDI—Chief Min-ister of Punjab MianShahbaz Sharif would inau-gurate Chohar Chowk reno-vation project on Novem-ber 30.

According to sources,during a visi t ofRawalpindi, the Chief Min-ister of Punjab would inau-gurate the mega project ofrenovation of ChoharChowk on November 30,which would resolve themassive traffic problem.

Moreover, the chief min-ister would lay foundationstone of Pirwadhai flyoverand underpass project dur-ing the visit.—INP

15 policemenpromoted

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Po-lice have promoted one Sub-Inspector, 6 Assistant-sub-Inspectors and eight HeadConstables to next ranks.

These promotions weregiven on the recommenda-tions of departmental promo-tion committee headed byDIG Headquarters SultanAzam Temuri comprising ofSSP Traffic Dr.MoeenMasood SP Legal NematUllah Kundi and Superinten-dent Establishment Branch-ICPO Islamabad MuhammadAshraf. IGP Islamabad BaniAmin Khan has given formalapproval to these promo-tions.

One Sub-Inspector whohas been promoted to therank of Inspector in BPS 16is Abdul Sattar Shah.

Likewise, Assistant-SubInspectors Mukhtar Ahmad,Nasir Mehmood,Muhammad Farooq, ZulfiqarAli, Abdul Qayyum andMehmood Akhtar have beenpromoted to the rank ofSub=-Inspector (BPS-14),while eight Head constablesMuhammad Yousaf, MeharKhan, Muhammad Afzal,Pervaiz Khan, MuhammadYounas, Tahir Farooq,Zuhara Khan andMuhammad Naseem havebeen promoted to the rank ofAssistant-sub InspectorBPS-09. —NNI

ISLAMABAD—In order to payrich tribute to the GhulamHasnain Bukhari’ over hispoetry on Scientific Subjects,Pakistan Science Foundation(PSF) has arranged a sittingin connection his poetry ontoday (Thursday).

Renowned Poet andWriter Iftikhar Arif will pre-side over the event while EjazRahim will be the chief guest.Ali Hussain Naqvi, Dr. HamidSaleem, Sarfraz Shahid,broadcaster Kosar Samreenand Dr. Anwar Nasim will ex-press their views on literarycontributions of Mr. Bukhari.

PSF Chairman Prof. Dr.Manzoor Hussain Soomrotalking to Online said PSF isconstantly exploring differentways and means for promo-tion and popularization ofscience and arranging a liter-ary sitting is a new vision to

Scientific Poetry Eventat PSF today

create awareness amongmasses about the importanceof science for development ofthe country.

Writers, poets and intel-lectuals have direct contactwith masses through theirwritings and their role in revo-lutionizing the society is ofimmense importance, he said,adding, PSF will benefit fromtheir works to promote sci-ence. People interested inscientific poetry are welcometo attend the evening.

PSF working under theumbrella of Ministry of Sci-ence & Technology, Govern-ment of Pakistan has thehonor of initiating the SciencePopularization concept in Pa-kistan. Over the years sciencepopularization Programms arebeing organized to promotescience and technology in thecountry.—Online

Passport &Immigration Deptfacing financial

crisis: DGISLAMABAD—Director GeneralPassport and Immigration De-partment of Pakistan, WajidBukhari has said that they arefacing severe financial crisisand have a backlog of morethan 0.2 million passport appli-cations in the department.Thematter surfaced during themeeting of Senate StandingCommittee on Interior held inthe federal capital. The DGthreatened to close the opera-tion after November 30 if theirrequest was not met.

He said that they are un-able to develop passportsdue to the non-issuance ofbudget by the Defence Min-istry. He further said thatthey are receiving 10,000 to15,000 applications every-day.—INP

06:1001:3003:45

07:00

Zohr

November 29

FACULTY of Manage-ment Sciences (FMS) ofthe International IslamicUniversity (IIUI) hasscheduled a seminar on“Leadership; The Art ofManagement”. The semi-nar would be held at 10:30am, at Quaid-e-Azam Au-ditorium, Faisal MasjidCampus of the university.

November 29-30

NATIONAL media con-ference titled ‘Dissect-ing Pakistan’s media’will be held at the SerenaHotel, Islamabad from 10am to 5 pm.

December 5

THE Josh Adabi Founda-tion will organize ‘Josh Lit-erary Conference’ on De-cember 5 in collaborationwith Pakistan Academy ofLetters (PAL) to mark 116thbirth anniversary of greatrevolutionary poet JoshMalihabadi. The confer-ence will be held at Paki-stan Academy of Letters(PAL). Federal Minister forOverseas Pakistanis, DrFarooq Sattar will be thechief guest.

NILOOFAR QURESHI

PAKISTAN visit isvery important. Itshould be fruitful. Wedon’t want it to be a

mere event or photo session.It has to be productive andsuggestions from civil soci-ety will make it so,” Thoughthe Hurriyat may not agree,but the fact is that public ingeneral remains largely indif-ferent towards this conglom-erate. So, while the separat-ist leadership considers largeturnout at their rallies andhaving the masses religiouslyfollowing their hartal calls asthe absolute vindication oftheir massive popularity, theyfail to realise that the publicdoes what the Hurriyat de-mands merely since there isno alternative organisationwith a pro- azadi agenda thatmakes them believe that‘azadi’ is the ultimate pana-

cea for all their problems. Andthis indifference can be gaugedfrom the sarcastic questionposed by a trader during the re-cent meeting which theHurriyat (M) had with thetrader fraternity. The questionhurled at the Mirwaiz duringthis meeting was, “Is it that thepro-freedom leadership hasnow started focusing on pota-toes and onions?”

So, by deciding to consultall sections of society on theKashmir issue, the Hurriyat(M) has finally done what waslong overdue- asking thepeople what are their real as-pirations. And this move de-serves to be complimented asit seeks to demolish the dicta-torial philosophy associatedwith this amalgam that ‘TheHurriyat needs no advice as itknows best what the peoplewant’! Certain sections of theintelligentsia as well as detrac-

tors of Mirwaiz Umar Farooqmay dismiss his vision to“weave the political indepen-dence with economic indepen-dence” as a farfetched and im-practical proposition. Manymay also feel that these objec-tives are unattainable asIslamabad by itself can do pre-cious little till New Delhi co-operates as everyone knowsthat in the ‘politics of com-merce’ Pakistan is in no posi-tion to influence India whichhas the ‘upper hand’. TheMirwaiz may or may not beable to extract any assurancefrom Islamabad on this issueduring his Pakistan visit, butthat is another story. The factremains that by involving all‘stake- holders,’ the Mirwaizhas shown foresight andstatesmanship by giving a new

direction to the pro-indepen-dence movement which is pres-ently floundering due to a widerange of uncoordinated pur-suits ranging from militancy toprotests in the form of rallies,hartals (and more recently,stone- pelting) which havelargely proved to be ineffectiveas the heavy toll extracted bythese activities far outweigh thereturns.

However, the real test forthe Mirwaiz is not how he faresin Pakistan but how his ideasare received at home. For one,the Hurriyat (G) has not asso-ciated itself with this proposal.On the contrary, talking to anewspaper on the sidelines ofthe recent seminar on the mar-tyrdom of Imam Hussain (RA),the Hurriyat (G) chairman SASGeelani has been quoted as not

only categorically ruling outunity with Hurriyat (M) butwithout naming it, even tak-ing a swipe at the Mirwaiz ledamalgam by stating that “Thepresent position of that factionis known to everyone. Thathouse is not in order. Every-one is aware of what is hap-pening there.” Though thedeep ideological divide withinthe Hurriyat is an open secret,such a direct attack by thechairman of one faction on theother faction is unfortunateand a clear indication thatthings may have alreadyreached a point of no return!

The next hurdle which theMirwaiz will have to cross isequally daunting as it concernsthe use of violence as an in-strument of the pro-azadi

Mirwaiz and the civil societystruggle. While the Hurriyatmay have publically disassoci-ated itself from militancy, thefact of the matter is that sincethis amalgam has taken on themantle of spearheading the pro-azadi struggle, it has to proveto the international communitythat it is in complete controland that it enjoys full confi-dence of the people. So, as longas militancy continues, theHurriyat will always be viewedas a compromised organisationincapable of reining- in themilitants and should theHurriyat claim to be in totalcontrol then it would be ac-cused of abetting violence byits failure to curb militancy.

To make matters worse, theUJC chief and HizbulMujahideen supremo SyedSallaudin has made it clear that

the militant amalgam he com-mands as well as his own out-fit will not shun violence inKashmir and thus indirectlyconveyed that it is his writ andnot that of the Hurriyat whichruns in Kashmir.

Asking militant groups ac-tive in Kashmir to disarmwould be no easy task for anumber of reasons. Firstly, forSyed Sallaudin to give up thegun would mean disappearingfrom the scene and living out alife in oblivion. Secondly,those forces in Pakistan whichare using these militants fortheir own benefit would cer-tainly not allow this to happen(Remember Syed Sallaudin’s“Fighting Pakistan’s war inKashmir” statement?).

Thirdly, the emotionallycharged viewpoint that discon-tinuing ‘armed resistance’would amount to ‘betraying thesacrifices of the martyrs’ has

gained wide currency. Due tothis, the reality that violenceshould be shunned since itonly results in death and in-jury without achieving any-thing material is overshad-owed by emotions. And whereemotions rule, rationality isunfortunately the first victim!

Post script: A fore warn-ing. Let us not judge the wis-dom of the Mirwaiz’s bold ini-tiative to solicit views andopinions from the cross sec-tion of society by the outcomeof his impending Pakistanvisit.

Even if he fails there, hewill still emerge a winner athome because he has dared tochallenge the antiquated pro-independence movement ide-ology which has no definitestrategy and relies solely in se-lectively capitalising onevents, incidents and issuesthat gives it an opportunity toprotest.—Kashmir Watch

ISLAMABAD: Ch Abdul Majeed, Prime Minister AJK, called on Interior Minister Senator A Rehman Malik.

KOTLI: Administrator Kotli Municipality with staff listening to public complaints.

KOTLI: District Health Officer Raja Shakoor with other doctors leading Healthawareness rally.

SRINAGAR—Senior leaders ofthe All Parties Hurriyet Confer-ence have urged India to comeforward for political settlementof the Kashmir dispute in thelarger interest of peace in theregion.

Professor Abdul Ghani Buttin a statement issued inSrinagar, today, said that peacewould remain elusive if Indiacontinued to believe in extrem-ism.

Shabbir Ahmad Shah ad-dressing a party meeting inSrinagar asked New Delhi torepeal draconian Armed Forces

India asked to changeground situation in IHK

Authorities admit civilians killed in fake encounterSpecial Powers Act and with-draw troops from the territoryif it was serous about resolvingthe Kashmir dispute throughtalks.

APHC leader, Bilal GhaniLone speaking to a group ofpeople in Srinagar said thatKashmir was a dispute, whichneeded to be resolved as per theKashmiris’ aspirations.

The puppet authorities inreply to a query filed by Advo-cate Shafqat Nazir under Rightto Information acknowledgedthat the Indian Army had killedtwo civilians, Muhammad

Amin Tantray and Javid AhmadDar in a fake encounter on 21stFebruary in 2009 at BomaiChowk in Sopore.

The veteran KashmiriHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilaniin a statement reacting sharplyto the confession said that Indiahad given its troops a licence tokill the Kashmiris at liberty.

Hundreds of employeestook to the streets in Pulwamaagainst the anti-people policiesof the occupation authorities.

Meanwhile, tense situationprevailed in Srinagar, Badgamand adjoining areas after people

found sacrilegious words writ-ten on a shoe prepared by a for-eign factory. The mobile phoneservice remained suspended inthe areas.

In London, the ExecutiveDirector of Kashmir Centre,Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawlin a statement implored the in-ternational conscience to playrole for the release of all ille-gally detained KashmiriHurriyet leaders and activistsincluding, Mushtaq-ul-Islam,Masroor Abbas Ansari,Ghulam Qadir Butt andMasarrat Aalam Butt.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The HurriyatConference led by Syed AliGeelani has decided to intensityits public contact programmefor awareness about the ShriAmarnath Shrine Board(SASB). The decision wasmade in a meeting held at theheadquarters of the conglomer-ate. “The committee was askedto intensity the public contactprogramme…They were alsoasked to meet scholars, stu-dents, civil society membersand academicians in the com-ing days,” a press statement is-sued here said.

The Hurriyat (G) has beenaccusing the state governmentof starting the work on the roadwidening and infrastructurebuilding around the Amarnath

Hurriyat (G) to intensifypublic mobilization

Cave Shrine. It is demandingdissolution of SASB, which, itsays, has turned into a “statewithin state”, besides asking forreduction in the number ofYatris and the duration of Yatra.

While the state has been re-futing allegations and maintain-ing silence over the demands,the conglomerate constituted apublic contact committee toseek suggestions from the civilsociety over the issue. Andbased on the report of the com-mittee, it is expected to chalkout the future course of actionagainst SASB and the construc-tion work.

“The members in the meet-ing observed that the SupremeCourt’s decision to have a roadand infrastructure constructed

on the route to Amarnath CaveShrine will have seriousconsequences…They also ob-served that the state governmenthas secretly undertaken the con-structions, and that it (state gov-ernment) is focusing on issuesof lesser importance to misleadpeople,” the statement said,quoting members in the meet-ing. “The SASB shall be dis-solved and the control of Yatrashall be handed over to localPandits,” the members said.

On November 22, the Su-preme Court had asked theJammu and Kashmir govern-ment to pave the passage fromPanchtarni to Amarnath holycave with pre-fabricated cementtiles to ensure that pilgrims donot slip on the way.—NNI

SRINAGAR—In a startling rev-elation, a latest study has re-vealed that majority of the vic-tims subjected to enforced dis-appearance in Kashmir duringlast 23 years of turmoil were“innocent civilians”.

“The majority of disap-peared persons (72.72 percent)were innocent civilians, only22.42 percent had militantlinks,” reveals the study titled‘Disappeared Persons and Con-ditions of their Families inKashmir” conducted byValley’s renowned sociologist,Prof Bashir Ahmed Dabla. Thestudy has been conducted withthe support of J&K chapter ofAction Aid International.

Prof Dabla said the studywas carried out in a span of oneyear covering 700 families such

Majority of disappearedpersons innocent

No social, legal, economic security for half-widowsin Kashmir. “In Anantnag(Islamabad)106 families werecovered, 66 in Bandipora, 80 inBudgam, 134 in Baramulla, 51in Pulwama, 56 in Kupwara, 50in Shopian and 67 in Srinagar.These were taken as sample tostudy the condition of familiesof disappeared persons,” hesaid. Asked about the purposeof the study, Dabla said; “Ouraim was to move beyond thenumbers. There is lot of dis-agreement between the numbersclaimed by various rightsgroups and the state govern-ment. We profiled 700 familieswith evidence so that no one candeny or refute their disappear-ance.”

The study has also revealedthat more than 80 percent of dis-appeared persons were in the

age group of 21 to 35 while as37.14 percent were married.

Prof Dabla and his teamhave chosen social, economic,psychological and health pa-rameters to study the distur-bance of the families of disap-peared persons. “These familieslive subhuman life. In majorityof cases the disappeared personwas the sole bread-earner of thefamily. Their loss also led to thedropout of children fromschools. Relatives and friendssupported them initially. Laterthey also neglected them. Theirchildren became delinquent anddelineate. It ultimately led totheir involvement in drug addic-tion and burglaries,” he says,about the sociological implica-tions of such families after ne-glect by the society.—NNI

SRINAGAR—A Kashmir-basedcivil society group took excep-tion to the “happenings” withregard to Valley ecology and theroad leading to Amarnath Cave.

In a statement here, theKashmir Centre for Social andDevelopment Studies (KCDS)said the “collective conscienceof Kashmiris is outraged bywhatever is happening with theenvironment and ecology ofKashmir in general and alongthe road that leads to AmarnathCave in particular because the

Kashmir civil society takesexception to ‘Amarnath plans’

goings-on in relation to the roadto Amarnath Cave are happen-ing behind the backs of princi-pal stakeholders to the issue.”

“It is detrimental to fragileecology and environment of thearea,” the KCDS spokesmansaid. “It seems the state govern-ment is abysmally ignorant andcallous to the developments tak-ing place. The State Forest andEnvironment Department islooking the other way whileproposals which spell disasterto the environment and ecology

of the area are being put forth.”The KCDS said the “state

government is at best acqui-escing and at worst collabo-rating in the vandalism of theprecious and delicate envi-ronment.”

It is highly disturbing thatthe press reports suggest thatthe clearance for the plan willcome within seven days fromthe Forest Department! Weimpress upon the Departmentto come out with facts aboutthe whole issue.”— NNI

SRINAGAR—Jammu andKashmir High Court hasgranted the state governmenttwo weeks time to file its re-sponse to fresh application bythe family of Shopian “twinrape and murder”, seeking re-investigation by an “indepen-dent agency” and making pub-lic the findings of the SpecialInvestigation Team of Policeinto the case.

As the case came up forhearing before a division benchof the court comprising JusticesMansoor Ahmad Mir andMuzaffar Hussain Attar, advo-cate G N Shaheen, counsel rep-resenting the family, movedfour applications before thebench.

Besides seeking fresh probeby an independent agency and

Family urges independent probe,making SIT findings public

making SIT’s findings public,the family also demands place-ment of the CBI report as wellas Jan Commission report be-fore the court.

The bench directed govern-ment, represented by seniorAdditional Advocate General, AM Magray, to file response tothe applications within twoweeks.

Shakeel Ahmad Ahangar,the husband of Neelofer andbrother of Asiya Jan, the victimsof alleged twin rape and mur-der in 2009, seeks the re-inves-tigation of the case on a num-ber of grounds.

“There are three versionspertaining to the mysterious in-cident. One, by the (Justice Jan)Inquiry Commission; second,by the SIT which was consti-

tuted by the High Court; andthird by the CBI,” Ahangar says.

“The opinion by the one-man Commission pertaining tothe incident is abundantly clearthat the case is of rape and mur-der while the report by the CBIis not clear. Thus, the justice hasbeen made causality and pur-pose of trial and the investiga-tion has been defeated,” he says.

Doubts have been created,Ahangar says, in view of themanner and method of investi-gation conducted by the oneman commission, SIT and theCBI. “These doubts need to becleared by re-investigation.”

The family claims that theCBI inquiry was “misdirected”to extent that it led to the fail-ure of justice in bringing theactual accused to justice.—NNI

Protest againstanti-people

policiesSRINAGAR–Hundreds of em-ployees took out a protest marchin Pulwama against the anti-people policies of the occupationauthorities. Leaders of the JointConsultative Committee (JCC)of the employees union,Khursheed Alam, FarooqAhmad Trali, Manzoor Pamporiand Sayeed Aftab Andrabi ledthe protest march and presenteda memorandum to the DeputyCommissioner. The JCC leadersannounced that the employeeswould observe a complete strikeon December 14 and 15.—KMS

Shabbir unwillingto visit Pakistan on

Indian passportSRINAGAR—Senior All Par-ties Hurriyet Conference leaderand Chairman of DemocraticFreedom Party, Shabbir AhmadShah has refused to travel onIndian Passport and sought per-mission to visit Pakistan as partof Hurriyet delegation throughSrinagar-Muazaffarabad busservice.Shabbir Ahmad Shah ina media interview confirmedthat he had submitted his rel-evant papers to the passport of-ficer in Srinagar and hoped thathe would be allowed to travelby bus to Muzaffarabad.

As per the understandingbetween Islamabad and NewDelhi the bus travel does notneed the passengers to have thepassports of their respectivecountries. The travel is ratherallowed on a simple permissionletter issued after due verifica-tion and consent by the two gov-ernments.—KMS

Concern overdetainees’ plight

in IHK jailsSRINAGAR–The forumpatronised by the veteranKashmiri Hurriyet leader, SyedAli Gilani has expressed seri-ous concern over the fallinghealth of illegally detainedKashmiri Hurriyet leaders andactivists including GhulamQadir Butt of Kupwara andMuhammad Abdullah Nasir ofBaramulla. The Forum spokes-man in a statement issued inSrinagar said that Hurriyetleader, Ghulam Qadir Butt hadbeen behind the bars for the past18 years and he was being sub-jected to continued custodialtorture in jails due to which hishealth had broken down to analarming extent.

The spokesman said thatsimilarly MuhammadAbdullah Nasir, who is lodgedin Kupwara hospital, is alsosuffering from different dis-eases.—KMS

Authorities tryingto prolongMushtaq’s

detention: JKMLSRINAGAR—The Jammu andKashmir Muslim League hassaid that the authorities aretrying to implicate liberationleader, Mushtaq-ul-Islam inlegal intricacies to prolonghis detention.

The JKML spokes-man in a statement issuedin Srinagar said, “Beforetaking Mushtaq to JIC,Humhama, on Mondaythe police had first lodgedhim in Police StationBattamaloo and then inPolice Station, ShaheedGunj, Srinagar.”

“He was then lodged in aroom at DeputyCommissioner’s office inSrinagar. Finally, he wasshifted to Srinagar Central Jailin the evening. ShiftingMushtaq to different places inone day alone speaks volumesabout the designs of the au-thorities,” the statement added.

The JKML appealed tothe international human rightsorganisations to take cogni-sance of the matter and pre-vail upon India and its au-thorities in occupied Kashmirto release the leader at theearliest.—KMS

‘India has deprivedKashmiris of right toself-determination’

SRINAGAR—All Part iesHurriyet Conference (APHC)leader and the Chairman ofIslamic Poli t ical PartyJammu and Kashmir,Mohammad Yousuf Naqashhas said that India has forc-ibly deprived the people ofKashmir of their birthright toself-determination.

Mohammad YousufNaqash in a statement issuedin Srinagar said thatKashmiris even could notthink of accepting change anddeviation from the right forwhich they were perpetuallystriving and had given su-preme sacrifices.

He said it is the naturalprocess that genuine move-ments with supreme sacrificesdo get their due provided thereis sincerity, commitment anddetermination to that end.

Naqash condemned thecontinued oppression and tor-ture of Kashmiri people at thehands of Indian troops and ap-pealed the international com-munity to emancipateKashmiri people from theforcible subjugation and op-pression of India.—KMS

To succeed in busi-ness it is necessary to

make others seethings as you see

them.

Dr. Asim Hussain, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources, discussing the upcomingPak-US Energy dialogue with US Ambassador to Pakistan Mr. Richard Olson.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—PIA Chairmanand Secretary of Defence LtGeneral Asif Yasin Malik(retd) said that the year of2013 will be a year of transi-tion and change. While ad-dressing the airline employ-ees at Lahore on Tuesday,he said that by March 2013PIA will start replacing someof its fleet and revamp thepresent planes. We areevaluating the existingroutes and will open newdestinations while expand-ing our network, he said.

He emphasized the needfor customer care and that itwas of prime importancethat our passengers are fa-cilitated to the maximum.

From the point that he de-cides to travel by PIA be itreservations, check in,inflight service, baggagehandling till the time hereaches his destination atevery step his comfort andconvenience has to be takencare off.

The chairman said thatsince October 2012, we arenow in the operating profit.PIA is also planning to buyplanes for cargo as for PIAinvestments the hotels inParis and New York havealso started to earn profits.You as a team we will defi-nitely grow and control ourlosses, but we have to im-prove in every area and needto rectify our mistakes. Therewill be no compromise on

merit and discipline mean-while corruption and leak-ages will have to be severelydealt with, he emphasized.

The chairman said thathe and his managementwere reviewing the pensionsystem, medical system,and planning a complete re-vamp of the IT system. Thesalary structure will also bereviewed specially group 1to 4. Regarding daily wagesthere will definitely be a raisein their salary, he said.

He highly praised thepilots of the airline, andsaid that they were one ofthe best in the world andalso appreciated the cabincrew, saying that they takethe maximum crunch ofthe passenger.

PIA to be revamped: Malik

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Palm oil im-ports into the country wit-nessed decrease of 16 per-cent during the first fourmonths of the current fiscalyear as compared to the cor-responding period of lastyear.

The palm oil imports dur-ing July-October (2012-13)were recorded at $693.364million against the imports of$825.306 million during July-October (2011-12), accordingto the data of Pakistan Bu-reau of Statistics (PBS). Interms of quantity, the palm oilimports decreased by 5.94percent during the periodunder review by going downfrom 703,951 metric tons to662,130 metric tons, the datarevealed.

However, the soyabeanoil imports during the firstfour months of the currentfiscal year increased from$30.103 million to $39.494 mil-lion, showing positivegrowth of 31.20 percent. Dur-ing the month of October

2012, the palm oil importsdecreased by 29.48 percentand 38.47 percent when com-pared to the imports of Octo-ber 2011 and September 2012respectively.

Palm oil imports duringOctober stood at $107.343million against the imports of$171.703 million in October2011 and $176.661 million inSeptember 2012, the PBSdata revealed. On the otherhand, the soyabean importsduring October 2012 were re-corded at $2.286 millionagainst the imports of $3.646million in October 2011 and$7.453 in September 2012.

The overall food importsinto the country during cur-rent fiscal year witnesseddecrease of 7.38 percentagainst the imports of thesame period of last year. Thefood imports during 2012-13stood at $$1.514 billionagainst the imports of $1.634billion during 2011-12.

It is pertinent to mentionthat the country’s overalltrade deficit decreased by6.79 per cent.

Palm oil imports fall16pc in 4 months

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Advisor tothe Prime Minister on Petro-leum and Natural ResourcesDr.Asim Hussain has saidthat equitable tax would beimposed on CompressedNatural Gas (CNG) in a bidto make it more equitablewith Petrol to graduallyphase out CNG. Dr.AsimHussain expressed theseview during the meeting ofNational Assembly StandingCommittee on Petroleum andNatural Resources that metwith Engineer Tariq Khattakin the chair here on Wednes-day.

During the meeting leg-islative body expressed itsconcerns over closure ofCNG stations and prevail-ing disagreement over pricemechanism between Oil andGas Regulatory Authority(OGRA) and CompressedNatural Gas (CNG) associa-

tion. Legislators were ofthe view that OGRA andCNG association were stiffover their stances whilecommon man has beenforced to stay in longqueues for hours to gas fuelfor the vehicles. Dr.AsimHussain informed the com-mittee that actual CNG gasprice is Rs. 35.19 and CNGstations were charging Rs20.80 merely in operationalcost. Gas Infrastructure De-velopment Surcharge(GIDC) is Rs 13 and GeneralSales Tax (GST) on CNG isRs 12.10 “The governmentis committed to graduallyphase out CNG from thecountry as we donot havesufficient gas reserves inthe country,” the advisorsaid, adding that the gov-ernment is devising a policyfor said purpose.

He also criticized therole of Oil and Gas Regula-tory Authority as regulator

and said that being a regu-latory OGRA has beenfailed to deliver. He addedthat government has in-creased the gas price to $6which has enhanced the ex-ploration work and cur-rently forty rigs are opera-tional in the country. Advi-sor said that thirty thou-sand barrel oil from KPKwould be added into the na-tional system till March2013.

Legislators said that “firstof all we should see that ei-ther we have sufficient gas re-serves in the country to burnin the vehicles at cheap ratesor not,” We are wasting goldat cheap rates while other in-dustries are suffering due toit,”. Lawmaker Rana AfzalHussain remarked that CNGassociation has become a car-tel and they looted the inno-cent people of the country andminted million of rupees fromconsumers.

Govt to impose equitabletax on CNG: Asim

LSE gains 6.81 pointsLAHORE—The LahoreStock Exchange onWednesday witnessedbullish trend by gaining6.81 points as the LSE-25Index opened with 4108.31and closed at 4115.12points. The market’soverall situation alsocorresponded to an upwardtrend as it remained at 6.546million shares to closeagainst previous turnoverof 5.025 million shares,showing a upward move of1.521 million shares. While,out of the total 105 activescrips, 37 moved up, 21shed values and 47remained equal. UnileverPakistan Limited, EngroFoods Limited and CheratCement Company Limitedwere Major Gainer of theday by recording increasein their per share value byRs 5.00, Rs 3.99 and Rs 2.36respectively. PakistanPetroleum Limited,Kohinoor Textile Mills andHabib Bank Limited losttheir per share value by Re1.00, Re 0.82 and Re 0.50respectively. The VolumeLeader of the day includedFauji Cement CompanyLimited with 2.289 millionshares, Karachi ElectricSupply Company with440,500 shares and DewanCement Limited with405,000 shares.—APP

Conversion ratesKARACHI—The followingrates will be applicable forconversion into rupees ofForeign Currency Deposits,Dollar Bearer Certificates,Foreign Currency BearerCertificates, SpecialU.S.Dollar Bonds andprofits thereon by all banksand for providing ForwardCover on Foreign CurrencyDeposits (excluding F.E.25deposits) by the State Bankon November 29, 2012. Therates are U.S. Dollar Rs96.4542, Japanese Yen Rs1.1800, Pound Sterling Rs154.4232 and Euro Rs124.6478.—APP

FCCI for refundclaimsFAISALABAD—FaisalabadChamber of Commerce andIndustry president ZahidAslam demanded animmediate release of fundsfor clearing refund claimsof exporters. Talking to themedia here on Wednesday,he said billion of rupees ofrefund claims in thecontext of duty drawbacksand sales tax were pend-ing. He said the textileindustry was facing toughcompetition from theregional competitors,added that under thesecircumstances the indus-try was going through thecrucial time.—APP

Changes in ST,Services RulesStaff ReporterKARACHI—The SindhRevenue Board (SRB) hasnotified some amend-ments in the Sindh SalesTax on Services Rules of2011 in the wake of adecision to withdraw taxexemption on telecomservices. In the beginningof November, SRB hadwithdrawn the exemptionof tax on incominginternational callsthrough a notification.According to the SRBnotification: In exercise ofthe powers conferred bysection 72 of the SindhSales Tax on Services Act,2011 (Sindh Act No XII of2011), read with sections9, 13 and 75 thereof, theSindh Revenue Board ispleased to direct that thefollowing further amend-ments shall be made inthe Sindh Sales Tax onServices Rules, 2011.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan hasone of the best regulatoryenvironments in the worldfor microfinance and one ofthe fastest-growingmicrofinance sectors with3m borrowers. The countryis also one of the most in-novative places in the worldfor mobile banking services,partly due to the State Bankof Pakistan’s moves to en-courage the market, accord-

ing to an article recently car-ried by The Financial Times.

About 1.5m customersmake about 30m transactionsa quarter through mobiles,using a network of 20,000agents, mainly local shops,to collect their cash. The edu-cation sector in Pakistan, thearticle pointed, has a recordin picking up new approachesto learning.

Allama Iqbal Open Uni-

versity in Islamabad, the firstopen university outside theUK, is the second largest inthe world with 1.8m stu-dents. Start- ups such as TeleTaleem, tucked away on adusty industrial estate on theoutskirts of Islamabad, arepioneering ways to takelearning to schools in the re-moter regions, through sat-ellite links and cheap tabletcomputers. Donors are play-

ing a vital role in promotingsocial innovation, it main-tained.

The UK’s Department forInternational developmenthas pioneered a new roadmap for school improvementin Punjab, which Sir MichaelBarber, the education reformexpert, says is delivering oneof the world’s fastest im-provement in school perfor-mance. In Karachi, tens of

thousands of poorer familieswill next year receive vouch-ers to send their children tolow-cost private schools. Inagriculture, social venturecapitalists such as Indus Ba-sin Holdings are leading ef-forts to link groups of smallscale rice farmers to multina-tional companies.

The newspaper is of theview that at the grassroots,Pakistan is in perpetual mo-

tion, with ceaseless creativ-ity as people find affordablesolutions to their basicneeds. These largely hiddenforces of resilience offer thebest hope for the country’sfuture and the society is farstronger than many think.

Appreciating the mosteffective charitable role ofindividuals, the newspapersaid due to the great spiritof charity of Islam it was

possible that the hundredsof thousands of peopledisplaced by floods in2010 are not still living intents. More than 100,000Lady Health Workers,funded by government,has helped to reduce mark-edly the number of womenand babies who die in childbirth, according to studiesby the World Bank, thenewspaper added.—APP

Pak has best microfinance regulatory environment: Financial TimesHARIPUR: Bilal Mustafa, MD BoK, talking to BoK Haripur Branch clients during a visit.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Fruit and veg-etable export from the countryduring the first four months ofcurrent financial year recordedincrease of 4.21 percent and10.97 percent respectively.

During the period fromJuly-October 2012 about120,794 metric tons freshfruits of different varietiesworth US$ 81.48 million ex-ported as compared to the135,323 metric tons valuingUS$ 78.18 million during thesame period of last year.

According the data of Pa-kistan Bureau of Statistics(PBS), during first four monthsof current financial year about65,113 metric tons vegetablescosting US$ 31.75 billion ex-ported which was up by 10.97percent as compared to 106,752metric tons of US$ 28.6 millionduring same period of last year.

The export of fruit andvegetables witnessed in-crease in their exports in dol-lars term, however, the exportin quantity term witnessedreducing trend during lastfour months of current finan-

cial year, the data revealed.Meanwhile, the export ofsugar during the period un-der review recorded 100 per-cent increase as about 126,819metric tons of sugar worthUS$ 70.29 million exported.

From the period fromJuly-October 2012, the exportof meat and meat prepara-tions also increased by 30.64percent as about 22,836 met-ric tons of meat and meatpreparations valuing US$7.37 million exported as com-pared to 19,062 metric tons

Fruit, vegetable exportsincrease by 4.21, 10.97 pc

worth US$ 59.4 million ex-ports of same period lastyear,, it added. The data re-vealed that during the firstfour months of current finan-cial year the export of allother food items recorded30.64 percent increase asagainst the last year’s export.

During the period fromJuly-October country earnedUS$ 343.26 million by export-ing different food commodi-ties where as it was recordedat 328.15 million during sameperiod last year.

NCCPL collectsover Rs309m CGTduring six months

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—The NationalClearing Company of Paki-stan Limited (NCCPL)Wednesday announced tohave collected the CapitalGains Tax (CGT) wortharound Rs 310 million duringthe six-month period startingform April 24. The company,in a statement said, it hadcollected tax on the capitalgains on account of trades/transactions executed andsettled at the country’sstocks market to the tune ofRs 103.27 million from April24 to June 30 and Rs 206.35million from July 1 to Septem-ber 30 (2012), respectively.

“Whereas the collectionof October is underway,” itsaid. The NCCPL said it wasan immense pleasure for all thestakeholders on the success-ful implementation of the CGTsystem effective from Septem-ber 13 this year by the NCCPL.

The success of the newCGT regime, the company said,could also be assessed by wideacceptability of investors whorelied to the CGT system de-veloped by the NCCPL and dis-charged their CGT obligation ina very transparent mannerthrough automated collectionprocess without any human in-tervention.

It said various appreciationletters were received from theinvestors and brokeragehouses on the accuracy of typi-cal and complex calculationsinvolved in determination ofCGT and applause the extraor-dinary calibration of each andevery trade/transaction of thecapital market. “At this mo-ment, we highly appreciate theextraordinary initiative taken bythe Chairman of Securities andExchange Commission of Paki-stan to revive entire CGT regimeso as to achieve thegovernment’s objectives togenerate additional revenues aswell as to relieve investors fromthe complex calculation andrecord retention,” it said.

400MWelectricity to beadded to system

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Chairman Waterand Power Development Au-thority (Wapda) Syed RaghibShah has said that 400MWelectricity will be added tothe system besides one mil-lion acre feet water by themiddle of 2013.

He was addressing apress conference at theWapda House along withMember Water, MemberPower, Secretary Wapda andforeign consultants.

Briefing the media aboutwater and hydropowerprojects to media, Chairmansaid Wapda is working on 20projects to meet water andpower requirements of thecountry. The completion ofthese projects would genera-tion 20,000MW cheap elec-tricity besides storage of 12million acre feet water, headded. According to him,some 5,000MW electricitywill also be added to the sys-tem in next five year and to-tal of 14,000MW by 2020subject to availability offunds.

He said Wapda hasadopted the best strategy tocomplete under constructionprojects and each projectwould be completed inphases.

Raghib Shah said thatDiamer Basha Dam was amulti-purpose project andtop of the priority of thegovernment as well asWapda. A total of Rs13.78billion is allocated for theproject this year and landacquisition in Gilgit Baltistanand Khyber Pakhtunkhaw isunder process.

ISLAMABAD—Sufficient in-puts like seed, water and fer-tilizers are available for thesowing of Rabi crops, par-ticularly wheat - the majorfood crop of the season. Ac-cording to the estimates ofIndus River System Author-ity (IRSA) about 3.4 percentextra water will be availablefor sowing the wheat crop,said Chief of the AgriculturePolicy Institute (API) AbdulRauf Chaudhry.

Abdul Rauf Chaudhrytold APP that the availabilityof water during the Rabi sea-son was estimated at about30.4 million acre feet (MAF),whcih was 3.4 per cent higherthan that of the last year andup by 7 per cent as comparedto that during the last sevenyears. He said that all the ar-rangements had been finalizedfor sowing the Rabi crops, in-cluding wheat, mustard andother minor crops and veg-

etables. The season, whichstarted in October, will con-tinue till March, he added.

About the availability offertilizers and pesticides, hesaid that about 2.996 millionton urea would be availablealongwith 684,000 tons carryforward stock of last year.According to the estimatesof National Fertilizer Devel-opment Company, 1.9 millionton urea will be locally pro-duced while 412,000 tons willbe imported, he added.

The estimated off-take ofurea will be about 3,000 tonsthus the demand and supplyposition up to June 2013 isexpected to remain comfort-able depending upon the ar-rival of scheduled imports, headded. He said that about943,000 tons of DAP wouldbe available for Rabi 2012-13with 227,000 tons of openingstocks. Some 336,000 tonsDAP would be locally pro-

Sufficient inputs availablefor Rabi crops: API

duced while the remainingquantity would be imported.

Rauf Chaudhry said thatthe expected off-take waslikely to be 785,000 tons dur-ing the current season forsowing the wheat crop. Suffi-cient quantity of certifiedwheat seed at affordable ratesis available as the country hasbeen reaping bumper crop forthe last four years and to con-trol the herbicides attack onthe crop, the private sector isalso vigilant, he added.

It may be recalled thatwheat crop is cultivated over75 per cent area in Punjab, 12per cent in Sindh, eight percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand four percent inBalochistan. Out of the totalwheat output, about 76 percent is produced in Punjab,16 per cent in Sindh, five percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand three per cent inBalochistan.—APP

ISLAMABAD: Chairman PARC Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed and VC LUAWMS Dr. Abdul Hameed Bajoi signing an MoU.

Emirates farepromotionSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Emirates, one ofthe world’s fastest-growingairlines, is revving up for anetwork sales push, inspiringa new wave of travel aroundthe world. In the slipstreamof recently announced halfyear profits of AED 2.1 bil-lion (US$ 575 million), Emir-ates is driving forward byoffering attractive prices onEconomy fares over a 10-dayperiod.

The special network-wide promotion launches Fri-day 23rd November and runsto 2nd December for travelbetween 21st January and10th June 2013.Customers arebeing encouraged to planahead and book early to en-joy the greatest reductions.“Emirates has always beencustomer focused, providingits passengers with best op-tions for their money in or-der to make their journeymore pleasant and conve-nient. We are so pleased toshare yet another excitingoffer to encourage Pakistaniresidents to take advantageof the exceptional value onoffer and make their trip spe-cial with our award-winningservices at reasonable rates,”said Mr. Khalid Bardan, Emir-ates’ Vice President, Pakistan.

10pc of Punjab,Sindh mills begin

cane crushingSTAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Kisan Board Pa-kistan (KBP) has said thatnot even 10 per cent sugarmills of Punjab and Sindh hadstarted crushing creatinghurdles in achieving thewheat sowing targets inthese provinces.

KBP President SardarZafar Hussein Khan hastermed the delay in crushingseason start as anti-agricul-ture and anti-state attitude ofthe millers and urged thegovernments of Sindh andPunjab to issue strict ordersto the mills for immediatestart of crushing. He claimedthat not even 10 per cent ofthe mills from Punjab andSindh had started crushingby November 25.

He also urged the rulersto rise above their politicalinterests and take action un-der cane act against all thosemillers who were using de-laying tactics in crushingseason and resulted in delayin wheat sowing. KBP Presi-dent said that a few sugarmills had started crushing butthey were also looting thegrowers by both hands andimposing unjustifiable de-ductions on growers. He alsourged that the sugar millsshould be asked to make im-mediate payments of cane tothe growers and this pay-ment should be made in cashor through cheque instead ofCane Procurement Receipt(CPR). Otherwise, he pro-posed, government shouldissue notification of givingCPR status of cheque.

External debtservicing

exceeds $1bSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—The externaldebt servicing crossed a bil-lion-dollar mark during thefirst quarter of the current fis-cal year 2012-2013 (FY13)mainly because of a high bur-den of foreign debt and IMFloan repayments.

Payments under externaldebt servicing continued tosurge, adding that the coun-try spent over a billion-dol-lar on external debt servicingof principal and interest pay-ments. Expressing seriousconcern over the increase inspending on debt servicing,economists termed it analarming situation for policymarkers. High payments onforeign debt servicing willput a negative impact on thecountry’s liquid forex re-serves, which are already ondecline, they said.

Pakistan already failedto get full payment under anIMF Stand-By Arrangement(SBA) facility, availed tobuild up the country’s liq-uid forex reserves, sourcessaid. The overall debt ser-vicing is likely to increasefor during the remainingperiod of FY13 in view ofmassive repayments ofIMF’s SBA loans due in thesecond half of FY13.

KARACHI—Five ships carry-ing containers chemical andedible oil were allotted berthat Qasim International Con-tainers Terminal Engro VopakTerminal and Liquid CargoTerminal during last 24 hours.

Meanwhile two moreships scheduled to load/offload containers and steelcoil also arrived at outer an-chorage of Port Qasim dur-ing last 24 hours.

Berth occupancy was75% at the Port Qasim onWednesday where totalnumber of eight shipsnamely M.V Hanjin Elizabeth,

Maersk Kalamata, NedlloydBarentsz, Thor Indepen-dence, Genius Star II, ChemRoad Rose. AL Soor II andM.V Amagi Galaxy are cur-rently occupying berths toload/offload containers, ce-ment, rice, chemical, diesel oiland edible oil respectivelyduring last 24 hours.

A cargo volume of 130808tonnes comprising 90975tonnes imports and 40233tonnes exports inclusive ofcontainerized cargo carried in2855 containers (Boxes) werehandle at the Port Qasim dur-ing last 24 hours.—APP

PQ shipping activity

Monograph onenergy sector

launchedSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Insti-tute of Development Eco-nomics (PIDE) launched themonograph “Pakistan En-ergy Sector: From Crisis toCrisis-Breaking the Chain”authored by Ziad Alahdad,Visiting Senior Fellow, PIDEand formerly Director of Op-erations, World Bank. Thelaunching ceremony waspresided over by Member(Energy), Planning Commis-sion, Dr. Shahid Sattar.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Ziad Alahdad, stressedthe need for ensuring energysecurity for economic devel-opment saying that the re-cently held Developing Eight(D8) summit also highlight theimportance of this sector andconcluded that energy secu-rity be accorded the highestpriority. He emphasized thatthe state of the energy sectorand the economy was not atall beyond redemption, say-ing “If we believe that in ev-ery crisis there is opportunity,Pakistan, with its many crises,should have many opportu-nities.”

He introduced the con-cept of Integrated EnergyPlanning and Policy Formu-lation (IEP) and the institu-tional structure which sup-ports it to make the systemsmooth and flawless. He fur-ther stated that the IEPmechanism, tried and testedin developed and developingcountries alike, is not new toPakistan where it was intro-duced in the early 1980s.

KARACHI—Chief MinisterSindh Syed Qaim Ali Shahpresided the 8th meeting ofPublic Private PartnershipPolicy Board (PPPB) at ChiefMinister House.

The meeting was at-tended by Sindh AgricultureMinister Syed Ali NawazShah, Sindh Finance Minis-ter Syed Murad Ali Shah,Sindh Law MinisterMuhammad Ayaz Soomro,Chief Secretary Sindh RajaMuhammad Abbas, ACS(P&D) Israr Malik,ACS(Finance) MuhammadArif Khan, Secretary Energy/ Director General Public Pri-vate Partnership Mr. SohailRajput, provincial secretar-ies of Health, Agriculture,Works & Services, E&AED,

Administrator Karachi M. H.Syed and M.A Jabbar, &others.

The meeting discussedvarious issues and agenda ofpublic, private partnership,and took various decisions.Regarding Nooriabad PowerProjects (Phase-I & II), thePPP Board approved injec-tion of 49% the equity com-ponent into the project fromthe viability gap fund, andpost facto approval of theVGF funding already in-curred on the project devel-opment process. Accordingto details, two separate 50-50 MW power plants will beinstalled at Nooriabad andTariff offered is Rs:7.929 Kwh,with debt to equity of 80:20,and there will be 51% equity

worth Rs:620 Million while49% GoS equity of Rs: 596Million.

The total project cost isRs: 6080 Million and an-nual O&M cost will be Rs:662 Mill ion. Regarding,Run of the River PowerProjects , the PPP Boardapproved the process un-dertaken so far , whileTFEC will get the feasibil-ity indentified, which willcome to the Board for finalapproval. It was informedthat the consultants haveidentified Rohri Canal RD-15 as the most suitable sitefor power project underPPP mode, as the project of3MW capacity has beenlaunched for investor’s so-licitation. —NNI

Sindh CM presidesPPPPB meeting

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD —A Memoran-dum of Understanding(MoU) between PakistanAgricultural Research Coun-cil (PARC) Islamabad LasbelaUniversity of Agriculture,Water and Marine Sciences(LUAWMS) Uthal DistrictLasbela, Balochistan hasbeen signed at PARC HQsIslamabad. As per this MoUPARC and LUAWMS, recog-nizing that mutual scientificand technical cooperationwill advance the state of sci-ence and technology withinthe country and strengthenthe scientific infrastructureand will bring benefits toboth sides hereby agreed tocooperate.

The PARC andLUAWMS undertake to pur-sue a program of scientifictechnical and academic col-

laboration for the exchangeof ideas, skill and techniqueson problems of national in-terest as agreed from time totime and initially the coopera-tion may include the Ex-change and training of tech-nical personnel and materialwith no cost for research andacademic development, Jointor coordinated scientific re-search and technological de-velopment programs in se-lected areas holding of jointconferences, seminars, sym-posia, and workshops at Na-tional and International level,access to knowledge, data,library and labs at the insti-tution and establishment ofthe two parties, mutual shar-ing and exchange of scien-tific information, researchmaterial and internships andAny other areas of coopera-tion upon which both partiesmay agree.

PARC, LUAWMSsign MoU

ISE-10 sheds 8points

I S L A M A B A D —IslamabadStock Exchange (ISE-10) hereon Wednesday witnessedbearish trend as the indexwas down by 8.73 points toclose at 3205.79 as comparedto the previous day’s trading.Stock Analyst, ZaheerAhmed told APP that theprofit-taking was seen in thelocal stock market leading theindex slightly downward.

Despite this, the inves-tors had taken major posi-tions in the cement sectordue to positive aspects in thesector, he added. Ahmed saidthat the decline in the policyrate had decreased the costof interest for sector. In addi-tion, the downward tend ofcoal price in the internationalmarket will also increase theearning of the cement sector.

Apart this, the demand ofcement had been increasedin the local market and itwould be beneficial for thesector and its shareholder, hesaid. Total volume of sharestraded was 159,000, whichwas down by 277,100 ascompared to a day earlier’sclosing.

Out of 152 companies’shares traded, the price of 88was increased while the priceof 64 decreased. The price oftop gainer was increased byRs.485.00 while the price oftop loser Sanofi Aventis Pa-kistan decreased byRs.17.00.

NIB Bank, Fauji CementCo. and Karachi Electric Sup-ply reamined volume leaders,with volume of 100,000,22,000 and 29,000 shares re-spectively.— APP

Smeda’ssurvival at stake

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Small and Me-dium Enterprises Develop-ment Authority (Smeda) hasbeen striving for its survivalmainly on account of lackingappropriate funds, as thebudget cut has put this au-thority in to financial trouble.

The government has en-forced, across the board a cutof 40 per cent in the budgetof all the public sector orga-nizations and bodies includ-ing Smeda. Due to curtailmentin the Public Sector Develop-ment Programme, suchorganisations have been fac-ing difficulties in meetingtheir routine expenditures.

As far as Smeda is con-cerned, it received only Rs24million against the dueamount of Rs89 million earlythis month on account of sec-ond quarters tranche in thecurrent financial year,sources disclosed and addedthat Smeda has to spend 70per cent on the staff’s sala-ries while 15 per cent is con-sumed under the head of of-fice rent and utilities bills. Assuch, 85 per cent of the bud-get is consumed on non-de-velopment head i.e. salariesand utilities bills. The nexttranche would be due in Feb-ruary 2013 and till that timethe functioning of the au-thority would become morecrucial due to lacking finan-cial resources.

The sources further re-vealed that there exist one-thirdposts vacant in different wingsand sections of the authority,which could not be filled inmainly due to non-availabilityof required funds. Moreover,the employees could not getannual increment in their sala-ries for the last two years dueto the same account. Besides,there exists unrest among theemployees of the authoritywho could not get annual in-crements. Smelling bleak futureof this organisation due to fi-nancial constraints, some em-ployees have quit their jobswhile some are planning to fol-low them, sources added.

I S L A M A B A D — S h a h e e dZulfikar Ali Bhutto Instituteof Science and Technology(SZABIST) Islamabad cam-pus and ARK, a private con-sultative company Wednes-day jointly launched an aca-demic program consisting ofa series of diplomas. Themain objective of this col-laborative educational pro-gram is to equip students aswell as a common man withprofessional techniques andexpertise essential for joband business.

The program has beenlaunched in view of the diffi-culties of the people who areunemployed despite havingacademic degrees. Under theprogram, participants will be

trained about different pro-fessional techniques andmethodologies in varioussubjects including projectmanagement, strategic man-agement, contract manage-ment and human resourcesmanagement so that theycould perform their duties intheir respective businessand job effectively afterlearning these methods.

It will take the partici-pants three months to com-plete one diploma where asthe criteria to apply for anydiploma program is fourteenyears of academic education.Director SZABISTIslamabad campus SyedAsad Hussain and CEO ARKConsulting Group Khusro P.

SZABIST, ARK launchprogramme to cut joblessness

Malik signed the collabora-tive agreement with regardsto the program in Islamabad.

Experts belonging to dif-ferent departments includingSocial Sciences and Manage-ment Sciences will teach pro-fessional techniques and ex-pertise to the participants.Experts believe that young-sters in Pakistan are not suc-cessful in getting employ-ment despite having degrees,because of lacking profes-sional expertise and no jobexperience. Therefore peoplewilling to find bright careersmust learn professional meth-odologies in addition to thedegrees so that they couldget better job and businessopportunities.—APP

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Minister of State Saleem Mandviwala,President FPCCI Haji Ghulam Kadir Sherani and others in pleasant mood during hand-ing over presidentship of D-8 Chamber to FPCCI.

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—State Minis-ter and Chairman Board ofInvestment (BoI) Saleem H.Mandviwala has said ap-proval of Special EconomicZones (SEZs) Bill 2012 was agreat success of the govern-ment and showed thegovernment’s commitmentfor the promotion of invest-ment and industrial uplift inthe country.

He was exchanging theseviews with the PresidentRawalpindi Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (RCCI)Manzar Khurshid Sheikh athis office on Tuesday. SeniorVice President Pervaiz Ahmed

Warriach and Vice PresidentNadeem Rauf were alsopresent on the occasion.

Mandviwala said that ac-cording to the Bill industriesin the SEZs will be exemptedfrom Capital Tax and ten yearstax exemption will also beprovided to the said indus-tries. Minister said that BoIprime goal is to promote for-eign direct investment andSpecial Economic Zone willhelp a lot in this regard. Hewas of the view that for theendorsement of investmentin the country; economicpolicies must be made con-stant to develop trust of theinvestors. He further said thatRCCI is playing vital role in

the uplift of the business ac-tivities in and outside of thecountry.

He also appreciated theRCCI step for organizing tensingle country expos in thecurrent year. Speaking on theoccasion, President RCCIManzar Khurshid Sheikhsaid business communitycan bring the country out ofcrisis but government mustfacilitate the business com-munity in this regard.

He lauded the steps takenby the minister for establish-ment of SEZs in the countryand termed that this is the onlyway to restore the confidenceof the foreign and local inves-tors to invest in the country.

SEZs Bill to promoteforeign direct investment

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The leaders ofbusiness community have re-iterated the need tap energypotential in South Asia whichis must for maintainable growthand economic revival. Theseobservations surfaced in aseminar titled, “Energy Coop-eration in South Asia Commit-ment and New Dimensions”organized by SAARC CCI inNew Delhi in collaborationwith the Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce andIndustry.

After inaugurating theseminar, Gireesh B. Pradhan,Secretary Ministry of New andAlternative Energy, India em-phasized for energy coopera-

tion and stressed a shift to-wards alternative energy. Mr.Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Presi-dent Saarc CCI said that un-interrupted supply of energyat affordable price was neededto sustain this economicgrowth.

The region is faced with 50thousand MW of electricitywhich needs collective effortsto transform South Asia froman energy-starved to an en-ergy efficient region. Speak-ing on the occasion, Mr. TariqSayeed, former president ofSAARC CCI said that SouthAsia has 150,000 MW of hy-dropower potential and .5 mil-lion MW solar and wind powerpotential but the region wasfaced with 50,000 MW short-

fall. Since the energy demandin the region would be doubledby 2020, there was dire needto invest in energy relatedprojects, said Sayeed. Mr. P.S.Bami, President India Energynoted that 300 million peopleonly in India had no access toelectricity despite the fact thatIndia had more potential of en-ergy production against en-ergy demand.

Business leaders and en-ergy exports including Mr.Kosala Wikramanayake, Mr.Subodh Kumar, Dr. ArbindPrasad, Mr. Mollah Amzad, Mr.Mr Ashish Khanna, Mr NityaNanda, Gyanendra L. Pradhan,and Mr. Kanwar MuhammadJaved Iqbal also spoke on theoccasion.

SAARC countries canproduce .5m MW: Sayeed

ZONG transforms individual’slife by awarding Rs.10m

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—ZONG, the fast-est growing network of Paki-stan, has turned around lifeof an individual by awardinghim the prize money of Rs. 10million under its Karoron ka10 Offer. The campaignlaunched recently was openfor all prepaid subscribers of

ZONG and anyone spendingRs. 10 plus tax daily on theirZONG connections for mini-mum 5 days continuously,automatically became eligiblefor the lucky draw. This prizemoney is just one of the sev-eral rewards that ZONG is giv-ing away to the lucky winnersof this campaign.

Karoron ka 10 Offer cam-

paign was carried out for morethan a month and severalprizes worth millions of rupeeshave been given away to win-ners selected through luckydraw. Subscribers whowished to have the chance ofwinning Rs. 10 million wererequired to use Rs. 10 plus taxdaily for 15 continuous daysand 1 lucky winner has beenselected among all partici-pants through a lucky draw.The lucky winner is a resi-dent of Lahore and is veryexcited about this life chang-ing experience.

Speaking about the cam-paign winner said, “I couldhave never imagined winningthis kind of money so easily.It’s like one of your craziestfantasies coming true. I ampleasantly surprised and ex-tremely grateful to ZONG forturning my life around. Thisis a huge amount for me andnow I am looking forward tospend the money!”

Naveed Zafar, Regional Director, handing over cheque toImtiaz Ahmad.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—All PakistanAnjuman-e-Tajiran (APAT)has issued directives to itsall members in all districtsacross the country to displaytheir National Tax Numbersprominently at their outlets,so that the traders who haveno NTNs could get encour-agement for their registrationin tax department.

In a letter to Chairman AliArshad Hakeem, APAT cen-tral general secretary NaeemMir, appreciating the FBR’sthree-year plan of significantreduction in sales tax ratefrom 16 to 10 per cent; cor-porate income tax 35 to 30 percent and tax rate for AOPs andindividuals to a lower level,said that it is a right step inright direction to enhance tax

net.He said that department’s

aim of widening tax base withan addition of another 4 mil-lion people in tax net will alsoprovide a major relief to theexisting taxpayers. NaeemMir claimed that Pakistanibusinessmen have been onthe top in paying taxes inAsia but the unequal systemof taxation has always en-couraged the tax evaders in-stead of escalating revenue.

This is unfortunate thatcitizens living below povertyline are being forced to paysales tax on kitchen items, hesaid and added that govern-ment should reduce indirecttax ratio to 30 per cent anddirect tax ratio should be en-hanced to 70 per cent with aview to control inflation. Healso called for elimination of

Petroleum Development Leviand gas surcharges to keepinflation in control. He askedthe government to stopcharging fuel adjustment sur-charge and implement theorders of the Islamabad HighCourt in true spirit. He saidthat at least 3 million traderswill get NTN number for theirregistration at Chambers ofsmall traders, providing a sig-nificant benefit to nationalexchequer. So, the FBRshould also join hands withthe business community forearly establishment of Cham-bers of Small Traders acrossPakistan, as the presentchambers of commerce andindustry do little to enhancetax collection. He said thattax-to-GDP ratio can be im-proved to 10 per cent if agritax is brought into tax net.

APAT issues directions to membersto display visibly NTNs

Chavez heads to Cuba for treatmentCARRACAS—Venezuelan President HugoChavez will travel to Cuba on Tuesday formedical treatment, following a nearly two-week absence from the public eye, monthsafter undergoing cancer surgery on the com-munist-run island. Chavez, 58, underwentwhat appeared to be a remarkable comebackfrom an undisclosed type of cancer diag-nosed in June 2011. In October, he won re-election despite running a campaign that wasmuch more subdued than his previous bids.

In a letter to Congress, Chavez said he would receive a form oftherapy known as hyperbaric oxygenation, which is often usedfor the prevention and treatment of bone decay caused by radia-tion therapy, according to the American Cancer Society. Chavezhas not appeared in public in 12 days. The absence is unusual fora leader who routinely chats for hours during live broadcasts,and suggests his health has weakened since the campaign. “Sixmonths after I completed the last radiation therapy treatment, ithas been recommended that I begin a special treatment consist-ing of various sessions of hyperbaric oxygenation,” Chavez wrotein the letter, which was read by congressional leader DiosdadoCabello. “Together with physical therapy, (this) will consolidatethe process of strengthening my health.”Hyperbaric oxygenationtherapy, also known as HBOT, involves breathing pure oxygenwhile in a pressurized chamber. Chavez’s centralization of powerand enormous control over the country’s oil revenue have madehim the center of the OPEC nation that provides about 10 per-cent of US crude imports. If his health took a turn for the worse,his unwieldy coalition of military leaders and leftist social activ-ists could fall apart. Investors hoping for a more market-friendlygovernment tend to buy Venezuela’s widely-traded bonds on re-ports his health is worsening. The country’s benchmark Global27 bond extended gains in the wake of the announcement.—AP

Congo rebels retreat from MasisiGOMA—Rebels believed to be backed byRwanda began retreating from the territorythey seized last week and pulled out ofMasisi, their military leader said Wednes-day, in the first concrete sign that interna-tional pressures have stemmed the advanceof the ruthless fighters. Gen SultaniMakenga, the military chief of the eight-month-old rebellion said that his fightersintend to abide by an ultimatum issued bythe nations neighboring Congo, which called

for the M23 rebels to retreat no later than Friday to 20 kilome-ters (12 miles) outside of Goma, the major, eastern city whichfell to the fighters eight days ago. He said he had ordered hisfighters to retreat along the southeastern axis from Masisi toGoma, and they will then leave Goma via the northern route toRutshuru. “My soldiers began to retreat from Masisi yesterday.We will go via Goma and then after that we will retreat to 20kilometers (12 miles) past Goma toward Rutshuru,” Makengatold The Associated Press on Friday. “I think that by Friday wewill be able to complete this.” Congo’s government spokesmanLambert Mende, who is based in the country’s capital over 1,600kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west, confirmed that they hadreceived reports of troops pulling out of Masisi. “Yes, there arereports of movements (of their fighters out of Masisi) but wewon’t label it a retreat until it’s over. They have played this gamewith us before, where they say they are moving and then find areason not to,” Mende said. “There will be no negotiations withCongo until they are 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the Gomacity limit.” In Goma, there was skepticism over the rebels’ claimand confusion, after the leader of M23’s political wing insistedthat the fighters were not leaving the city of 1 million that is theeconomic heart of one of Congo’s mineral-rich regions. —AP

EU exit monumental errorLONDON—Prime Minister David Cameronrisks committing a monumental error thatwould threaten Britain’s status as a worldpower if he allows rising anti-EuropeanUnion sentiment to spiral into an EU exit,former leader Tony Blair said on Wednes-day. Britain’s tortured relations with Eu-rope have shot to the top of the politicalagenda in recent months, with rebelliousanti-EU members of Cameron’s rulingConservatives pushing for a new role in-

side the 27-nation bloc - or even leaving altogether. But whileturning away from Europe may be a vote winner in the short-term, it would isolate Britain, undermine its internationalstanding and damage its economy at a time of shifting globalpower, Blair said. “This is the last moment conceivable that weshould start talking about leaving... marginalizing ourselves atthe very point at which we should be at the centre of things,”Blair, who won three elections for the Labour Party, said in aspeech at the Chatham House thinktank in London. Cameronsuffered a humiliating defeat in parliament on October 31when rebels sided with Labour to demand EU spending cuts.He also faces a threat from the UK Independence Party, ananti-EU minority group. The anti-EU camp sees Brussels as ameddling, wasteful superstate that threatens Britain’s sover-eignty. A poll on November 17 suggested 56 percent want toleave, against 30 percent who want to stay. Urging politiciansto do more to combat the anti-EU mood, Blair said Britainfaced a “real and present danger by edging towards the exit”.”Itwould be a monumental error of statesmanship to turn ourback on it and fall away from a crucial position of power andinfluence,” Blair, wearing a navy suit and tie, told businessleaders in the basement of an elegant 18th century townhouse.Blair forged closer ties with Europe when he was prime min-ister from 1997 to 2007, although he did not take Britain intoEurope’s single currency. —Reuters

Satirical jokeBEIJING—How did a spoof article aboutNorth Korean dictator Kim Jong Un beingthe sexiest man alive end up as a real newsitem in China? Turns out it was a case oftelephone, or Chinese whispers, in the digi-tal age. Hong Kong media picked up thepiece by U.S. satirical website The Oniona week ago while explaining to readers inChinese that it was a farce. But from there,it jumped over the Great Firewall andlanded into the official, irony-free Chinese

media. When Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV website, ifeng.com,ran its story on its fashion channel on Nov. 21, the story’s sec-ond paragraph clearly stated: “The Onion is a satirical newsorganization.” But, when state-run Yangtse.com picked up thePhoenix piece a few hours later, it had morphed into straightnews. The piece never mentioned that the original was a joke,instead plucking comical reader comments attached to the Phoe-nix story and running those. “A man with so much fat on theface, and the double chin, and the excessively white skin. Andthey call him the sexiest. They do deserve the name Onion. Ican’t help but shed sad tears.” The editor cited for the story,Yang Fang, could not immediately be reached — and two em-ployees who answered the phone at the Nanjing media outletsaid Wednesday they weren’t even sure if Yang still workedthere. Five days after the Yangste piece, Beijing’s GuangmingDaily website took the story for a spin, trimming its lengthand citing Yangtse.com as its source. The Guangming piecewas still online Wednesday and the story’s editor told TheAssociated Press that she had not realized it was a joke untilthe AP called. The editor, Wang Miaomiao, said she wasn’tworried about the gaffe. “Even if it was satire, the report it-self was true. The content is not made up. Also, we have to gothrough a procedure to take something down from thewebsite,” Wang said. “In addition, it is not a fabricated re-port, and it does not jeopardize society.” —AP

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters clash with security forces near Tahrir Square on Wednesday.

DAMASCUS—Twin suicide carbombs ripped through a Dam-ascus suburb minutes apart onWednesday, killing at least 34people, state media said, andrebels claimed they shot downa Syrian air force fighter jet.

The state news agency,SANA, said suicide bombersdetonated two cars packed withexplosives early in the morningin the eastern suburb ofJaramana, a Christian and Drusearea known as mostly loyal toPresident Bashar Assad.

Suicide bombings havestruck regime targets in Dam-ascus and elsewhere since lastDecember. Such attacks are atrademark of radical Muslimgroups fighting alongside otherrebels units, raising concerns ofgrowing influence of Islamicextremists among the forcesseeking to topple the regime.

Wednesday’s bombs weredetonated in a parking lot neara cluster of commercial build-ings as groups of laborers andemployees were arriving forwork, killing 34 and injuring 83people, SANA said.

The blasts shattered win-dows, littering the street withglass and debris. Human re-mains were scattered on thepavement in pools of blood. Sixcommercial buildings weredamaged in the attacks, and doz-

Syria: Twin car bombs inDamascus kill 34 people

ens of cars were destroyed,SANA said. After the first explo-sion, people rushed to help theinjured, and then the secondbomb went off, said IsmailZlaiaa, 54, who lives in theneighborhood. “It is an areapacked with rush-hour passen-gers,” he said. “God will not for-give the criminal perpetrators.”

Ibtissam Nseir, a 45-year-oldteacher, said the bombs explodedminutes before she set off forwork. She said there were notroops around the district andwondered why the attackerswould target it. Nseir blamedrebels. “Is this the freedomwhich they want? Syria is a se-cure country and it will remainso,” she said.

There were conflicting re-ports about the death toll. Twohospital officials, speaking oncondition of anonymity becausethey were not authorized to talkto reporters, said at least 30 bod-ies were brought to two hospi-tals. The Britain-based Observa-tory for Human Rights, whichrelies on reports from the ground,said 29 people were killed.

The different tolls could notimmediately be reconciled. Theregime restricts independentmedia coverage. There was noimmediate claim of responsibil-ity for Wednesday’s bombings.

Opposition fighters are pre-

dominantly members of theSunni Muslim majority. In theirpush to take Damascus, theyhave frequently targeted stateinstitutions and troops. Theyhave also often hit districtsaround the capital with thecountry’s minority communities,perceived to be allied withAssad’s Alawite sect, an offshootof Shiite Islam.

Downtown Damascus - theseat of Assad’s power - has beenthe scene of scores of car bombsand mortar attacks targeting statesecurity institutions and troops,areas with homes of wealthySyrians, army officers, securityofficials and other members ofthe regime.

In May, two suicide carbombers blew themselves upoutside a military intelligencebuilding in Damascus, killing atleast 55 people. In July, a bombhit a building in which Cabinetministers and senior security of-ficials were meeting, killing thedefense minister and his deputy,who was Assad’s brother-in-law.A former defense minister alsodied in the attack.

Fighting between rebels andgovernment troops raged on inseveral parts of the country onWednesday. Regime warplanesstruck rebel-held areas in thenorthern Idlib province andDamascus suburbs.—AP

CAIRO—Tens of thousands ofEgyptians rallied on Tuesdayagainst President MohamedMursi in one of the biggest out-pourings of protest since HosniMubarak’s overthrow, accusingthe Islamist leader of seeking toimpose a new era of autocracy.

Police fired tear gas atstone-throwing youths in streetsnear the main protest in Cairo’sTahrir Square, heart of the up-rising that toppled Mubarak lastyear. Clashes between Mursi’sopponents and supporterserupted in a city north of Cairo.

But violence could not over-shadow the show of strength bythe normally divided opponentsof Islamists in power, posingMursi with the biggest challengein his five months in office.

“The people want to bringdown the regime,” protesters inTahrir chanted, echoing slogansused in the 2011 revolt.

Protesters also turned out inAlexandria, Suez, Minya andother Nile Delta cities.

Egyptians challenge Morsi in nationwide protestsTuesday’s unrest by leftists,

liberals and other groups deep-ened the worst crisis since theMuslim Brotherhood politicianwas elected in June, and exposedthe deep divide between thenewly empowered Islamists andtheir opponents.

A 52-year-old protester diedafter inhaling tear gas in Cairo,the second death since Mursi lastweek issued a decree that ex-panded his powers and barredcourt challenges to his decisions.

Mursi’s administration hasdefended the decree as an effortto speed up reforms and com-plete a democratic transforma-tion in the Arab world’s mostpopulous country.

“Calls for civil disobedienceand strikes will be dealt withstrictly by law and there is noretreat from the decree,” Refa’aAl-Tahtawy, Mursi’s presidentialchief of staff, told the Al-Hayatprivate satellite channel.

But opponents say Mursi isbehaving like a modern-day pha-

raoh, a jibe once leveled atMubarak. The United States, abenefactor to Egypt’s military,has expressed concern aboutmore turbulence in a country thathas a peace treaty with Israel.

“We don’t want a dictator-ship again. The Mubarak regimewas a dictatorship. We had arevolution to have justice andfreedom,” 32-year-old AhmedHusseini said in Cairo.

The fractious ranks ofEgypt’s non-Islamist oppositionhave been united on the street bycrisis, although they have yet tobuild an electoral machine tochallenge the well-organized Is-lamists, who have beaten theirmore secular-minded rivals at theballot box in two elections heldsince Mubarak was ousted.

“There are signs that overthe last couple of days that Mursiand the Brotherhood realizedtheir mistake,” said ElijahZarwan, a fellow with The Eu-ropean Council on Foreign Re-lations. He said the protests were

“a very clear illustration of howmuch of a political miscalcula-tion this was”.

Mursi’s move provoked arebellion by judges and has bat-tered confidence in an economystruggling after two years of tur-moil. The president still mustimplement unpopular measuresto rein in Egypt’s crushing bud-get deficit - action needed to fi-nalize a deal for a $4.8 billionInternational Monetary Fundloan.

Some protesters have beencamped out since Friday inTahrir and violence has flaredaround the country, including ina town north of Cairo where aMuslim Brotherhood youth waskilled in clashes on Sunday. Hun-dreds have been injured.

Supporters and opponents ofMursi threw stones at each otherand some hurled petrol bombs inthe Delta city of el-Mahalla el-Kubra. Medical sources said al-most 200 people were injured.

“The main demand is to

withdraw the constitutional dec-laration (decree). This is thepoint,” said Amr Moussa, aformer Arab League chief andpresidential candidate who hasjoined the new opposition coali-tion, the National SalvationFront. The group includes sev-eral top liberal politicians.

Some scholars from theprestigious al-Azhar mosque anduniversity joined Tuesday’s pro-test, showing that Mursi and hisBrotherhood have alienatedsome more moderate Muslims.Members of Egypt’s large Chris-tian minority also joined in.

Mursi formally quit theBrotherhood on taking office,saying he would be a presidentfor all Egyptians, but he is still amember of its Freedom and Jus-tice Party.

The decree issued on Thurs-day expanded his powers andprotected his decisions from ju-dicial review until the election ofa new parliament, expected in thefirst half of 2013.

In Washington, White Housespokesman Jay Carney urgeddemonstrators to behave peace-fully.

“The current constitutionalimpasse is an internal Egyptiansituation that can only be re-solved by the Egyptian people,through peaceful democratic dia-logue,” he told reporters.

New York-based HumanRights Watch said the decreegives Mursi more power than theinterim military junta fromwhich he took over.

U.N. Secretary-General BanKi-moon told an Austrian paperhe would encourage Mursi toresolve the issue by dialogue.

Trying to ease tensions withjudges, Mursi assured Egypt’shighest judicial authority thatelements of his decree giving hisdecisions immunity applied onlyto matters of “sovereign” impor-tance. That should limit it to is-sues such as declaring war, butexperts said there was room forinterpretation.—Reuters

Spain torecognise

Palestinian StateMADRID—Spain’s foreign min-ister says Spain will vote in fa-vor of recognition of a Palestin-ian state at the U.N. GeneralAssembly this week.

Jose Manuel GarciaMargallo told parliamentWednesday that Spain wouldsupport the Palestinian bid at theU.N. because it feels it is the bestway to advance toward peace.

France on Tuesday becamethe first major European coun-try to come out in favor of U.N.recognition, a move seen as asetback for Israel.

The assembly is expected tovote Thursday on a resolutionraising their status at the UnitedNations from an observer to anonmember observer state, amove they believe is an impor-tant step toward a two-state so-lution with Israel.—AP

Gunmen in Yemenkill Saudi Army

officerSANAA—Gunmen in Yemenopened fire on the car of a SaudiArabian army officer workingwith his embassy’s military sec-tion on Wednesday, killing himand his Yemeni bodyguard, offi-cials from both countries said.

Yemeni officials said theSaudi officer, who had diplo-matic status, was traveling to theembassy when he was shot bygunmen wearing army uniformsin another car. The officialsspoke on condition of anonym-ity because they were not autho-rized to brief reporters.

Saudi Arabia maintains closeties with Yemen, the poorestcountry in the Arab world andhome to an al-Qaida branch con-sidered to be the terror network’smost dangerous. The militantgroup is active on the Yemeniside of the two countries’ border,and has drawn Saudi nationalsinto its ranks there.

Saudi Arabia’s official newsagency confirmed the attack andsaid an investigation had beenlaunched. The Saudi officer waspart of the security detail for themilitary attaché to Yemen, it said,adding that the gunmen who at-tacked him were wearing uni-forms of the “central securityforces”.Islamic militants tookadvantage of Yemen’s popularuprising last year to seize partsof the country’s south. Last sum-mer, backed by U.S. advisers anddrones, the Yemeni military re-claimed much of the area, driv-ing militants from a series ofstrongholds.—AP

RAMALLAH—A bid for U.N.recognition of a state of Pales-tine is a last-ditch attempt to res-cue troubled Mideast peace ef-forts, a Palestinian spokes-woman said Wednesday, reject-ing Israel’s charge that it is anattempt to bypass negotiations.

Hanan Ashrawi, a seniorPalestinian official, urged theU.S. to drop its opposition to thebid, dismissing Washington’sstance as “pathetic” and harm-ful to American interests in theregion. The Palestinians havecome under intense pressurefrom the U.S., Britain and oth-ers to modify the bid but “havenot succumbed,” she said.

On Thursday, PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas plansto ask the U.N. General Assem-bly to recognize Palestine in theWest Bank, Gaza and eastJerusalem, areas Israel capturedin the 1967 Mideast war. Israelwithdrew from Gaza in 2005, butstill controls most access.

The Palestinians expectsome two-thirds of the GeneralAssembly’s 193 members willaccept Palestine as a non-mem-ber observer state. The U.S., Is-rael, Canada and a few others areopposed. The vote will notchange the situation on the

Palestinians term UN bidlast-ditch peace effort

ground, yet the Palestinians stillsay it is significant.

Abbas has said U.N. recog-nition is not meant to replacenegotiations with Israel, but toimprove Palestinian leverage andsecure the pre-1967 war frontiersas the baseline for future bordertalks — an idea Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahuhas rejected.

This does not mean the U.N.vote will pave the way for aquick resumption of talks, whichbroke down four years ago.

Abbas has said he will notnegotiate as long as Israel keepsexpanding settlements on war-won land. Half a million Israelisnow live in the West Bank andeast Jerusalem, blurring the 1967lines. Beyond a 10-month par-tial halt in 2009 that failed to re-start sustained peace talks,Netanyahu has refused to freezeconstruction in settlements, andU.N. recognition of “Palestine”will not soften Abbas’ refusal tonegotiate without a freeze, hisaides say.

“They can get pieces of pa-per from the U.N., but they arenot going to move peace for-ward, they are not going to makea Palestinian statehood morereal,” he said.—AP

DHAKA—Amid the ash, bro-ken glass and melted sewingmachines at what is left of theTazreen Fashions Ltd. factory,there are piles of blue, red andoff-white children’s shorts bear-ing Wal-Mart’s Faded Glorybrand. Shorts from hip-hop starSean Combs’ ENYCE label layon the floor, along with ahooded Mickey Mousesweatshirt from Disney.

An Associated Press re-porter searching the Bangladeshfactory Wednesday found theseand other clothes, includingsweaters from the French com-pany Teddy Smith and the Scot-tish company EdinburghWoollen Mill, among the equip-ment charred in the fire thatkilled 112 workers on Saturday.He also found entries in accountbooks indicating that the factorytook orders to produce clothesfor Disney, Sears and otherWestern brands.

Garments and documentsleft behind in the factory showit was used by a host of majorAmerican and European retail-ers, though at least one of them

Disney, sears used factory in fire- Wal-Mart - had been aware ofsafety problems. Wal-Martblames a supplier for usingTazreen Fashions without itsknowledge.

The fire has elevated aware-ness of something labor groups,retailers and governments haveknown for years: Bangladesh’sfast-growing garment industry -second only to China’s in exports- is rife with dangerous work-places. More than 300 workersthere have died in fires since2006.

Police on Wednesday ar-rested three factory officials sus-pected of locking in the workerswho died in Saturday’s fire, thedeadliest in the South Asiancountry’s less than 35-year his-tory of exporting clothing.

Local police chief HabiburRahman said the three will bequestioned amid reports thatmany workers trying to escapethe blaze had been locked inside.He said the owner of the factorywas not among those arrested.

The three officials were ar-rested Wednesday at their homesin Savar, the Dhaka suburb

where the factory is located.Rahman did not identify the of-ficials or give their job status.

About 1,400 workersworked at the plant, some 70percent of them women. Mostare from the north, the poorestregion of Bangladesh.

Workers who survived thefire say exit doors were locked,and a fire official has said thatfar fewer people would have diedif there had been even one emer-gency exit. Of the dead, 53 bod-ies were burned so badly theycould not be identified; they wereburied anonymously.

The fire started on theground floor, where a factoryworker named Nasima saidstacks of yarn and clothesblocked part of the stairway.

Nasima, who uses only onename, and other workers saidthat when they tried to flee, man-agers told them to go back totheir work stations, but they wereignored. Dense smoke filled thestairway, making it hard to see,and when the lights went out theworkers were left in total dark-ness. —AP

DUBAI—Iran will go on enrich-ing uranium “with intensity” andthe number of enrichment centri-fuges it has operating will risesubstantially in the current year,the country’s nuclear energy chiefwas quoted as saying on Wednes-day.

The comments byFereydoun Abbasi-Davani, headof Iran’s Atomic EnergyOrganisation, signaled continueddefiance in the face of interna-tional demands that Tehran haltenrichment to the higher 20 per-cent fissile purity level, closedown its Fordow enrichmentplant, and ship out its stockpileof the material.

But Abbasi-Davani also saidIran would continue and possiblyraise its output of reactor fuel us-ing 20 percent enriched uranium,which could allay concerns that agrowing stockpile of the higher-grade material could be put tomaking atom bombs.

Diplomacy between Iran andthe world powers - the UnitedStates, China, Russia, France,Germany, and Britain - has beendeadlocked since a June meetingthat ended without breakthrough.Iran has faced a tightening of

Iran will press on withenrichment: Nuke chief

Western trade sanctions in the lasttwo years, with the United Statesand its allies hoping the measureswill force Iran to curb its nuclearprogram.

“Despite the sanctions, mostlikely this year we will have asubstantial growth in centrifugemachines and we will continue(uranium) enrichment with inten-sity,” Abbasi-Davani was quotedas saying on Wednesday by thewebsite of Iranian state television(IRIB). The Iranian calendar yearruns to mid-March.

But Abbasi-Davani did notsay whether Iran would increasethe work that most worries theWest, the higher-grade enrich-ment of uranium to 20 percentpurity, as opposed to the lower-grade enrichment to 3.5 percentlevel needed for nuclear powerplants.

Abbasi-Davani said onWednesday that Iran was continu-ing its production of fuel to powerthe Tehran reactor - which usesfuel converted from 20 percentenriched uranium - and couldpossibly increase its productionfrom two “complexes” of fuel permonth to three, according to statenews agency IRNA.—AP

WASHINGTON—Deep divi-sions among Senate Democratsover whether cuts to popularbenefit programs like Medicareand Medicaid should be part ofa plan to slow the government’smushrooming debt pose a bigobstacle to a deal for avoiding apotentially economy-crushing“fiscal cliff,” even if Republicansagree to raise taxes.

Much of the focus duringnegotiations seeking an alterna-tive to $671 billion in automatictax increases and spending cutsbeginning in January has cen-tered on whether Republicanswould agree to raising taxes onthe wealthy.

President Barack Obama hasinsisted repeatedly that tax in-creases on the wealthy must bepart of any deal, even as WhiteHouse officials concede thatgovernment benefit programs

Senate Dems divided overcuts to benefit programmes

will have to be in the packagetoo. “It is the president’s posi-tion that when we’re talkingabout a broad, balanced ap-proach to dealing with our fiscalchallenges, that that includesdealing with entitlements,”White House press secretary JayCarney said Tuesday, referring tothe mammoth benefit programs.

But even if GOP lawmakersagree to raise taxes, there is noguarantee Democrats can comeup with enough votes in the Sen-ate to cut benefit programs - asRepublicans are demanding.

“I hope not if it means So-cial Security or Medicare ben-efit cuts,” said Sen. SheldonWhitehouse, D-R.I. There’s agrowing consensus among Sen-ate Democrats and the WhiteHouse that Social Securityshould be exempt from any defi-cit-reduction package.—AP

BIPIN DANIOBSERVER

CORRESPONDENT

M U M B A I — M o h a m m a dAzharuddin, who has wonthe long-pending legalbattle against the Indiancricket board had blessingsfrom his lawyer’s mother.

“Last week I lost my 77-year-old mother, who wassuffering from lung andbreast cancer since last fiveyears. Perhaps, she hadonly lived to hear the goodnews”, the lawyer,Ramakanth Reddy, saidfrom his village in AndhraParadesh, where he went toperform the last rites of hismother.

Azharuddin had my mother’sblessings, says his lawyer

“Azhar had hired morethan five lawyers (at differ-ent time), and when he finallyapproached me in June thisyear, I was hesitant to takehis case, but it was mymother who insisted me toundertake his case”, the law-yer added.

“My mother knew himsince his childhood. Wewere classmates at All SaintsSchool also studied togetherat the Nizam College inHyderabad”, he added.

“There was no evidencefound against him by the CBIand he was vindicated andwas not given enough op-portunity to prove his inno-cence. Even he was not al-lowed to appear with his law-

yer before K. Madhavan”,the lawyer added.

The BCCI or the ICChas not yet come out withany action against the HighCourt order. According tothe lawyer, it is not a con-tempt of Court Order. Thereis no ban on him now. Noquestion of lifting the banby the Indian cricket board.They can now only appealin the Supreme Court. Butthe court order was givenon the basis of SupremeCourt order for some othersimilar case”, the lawyeradded.

“The BCCI and the ICCshould now gracefully ac-cept the High Court order”,he signed off.

COLOMBO—In an intriguingday’s Test cricket, in which17 wickets fell, New Zealandleft the hosts tottering withthe top four back in the pa-vilion chasing a challenging363 on the last day at the PSara Oval. Fortunes ebbed

and flowed but it was NewZealand who started and

ended the day on a high. Af-ter wrapping up the Sri Lankainnings early, their top orderwas jolted and their plans ofpiling on a big lead before de-claring took a hit. A fightingstand frustrated Sri Lankaand the declaration did come

after tea, but the seamerswere back in business, leav-

ing Sri Lanka to battle forsurvival going into the fourthday.

New Zealand captainRoss Taylor needed suffi-cient time to try and bowl SriLanka out, keeping in mindthe time lost due to the ele-

ments over the first threedays. The declaration cameshortly after tea, and with thelight still good, New Zealandlooked to create early pres-sure. They had success in thefirst ball of the innings whenTharanga Paranavitanashuffled too far across to TimSouthee and exposed his legstump, departing for his thirdfirst-ball duck in Tests. SriLanka’s hopes of chasing thetarget rested on an aggres-sive start from TillakaratneDilshan but, after making astart, he fell off a loose driveto the same bowler.

Kumar Sangakkara, out ofsorts in the series, was alsoguilty of shuffling at thecrease and only managed toplay on to his stumps off thethigh, giving Doug Bracewellhis first wicket. He found timeto squeeze in another, andmake perhaps the most im-portant breakthrough, whenhe had Mahela Jayawardenepoking at a delivery heshould have left. Bracewell,whose stock delivery is justshort of a length, got his lineright to Jayawardene. He wasguilty of straying too wide ofoff stump in both Tests, buton this occasion got it closerto the off stump.

Coming in to this Test onthe back of five consecutive

defeats, New Zealandneeded to rely on theirstrengths - seam bowling - toreverse their horror run. Theseamers set it up first thingin the morning, nipping outthe last four wickets in just7.4 overs to take a healthyfirst-innings lead of 168.Southee completed his thirdfive-wicket haul but thebowler who inflicted the maxi-mum damage was TrentBoult, who swung the newball and dismissed the setovernight pair of ThilanSamaraweera and SurajRandiv to finish with 4 for 42.

Samaraweera failed toadd to his overnight scorewhen he was squared up bya peach from Boult, which leftthe right-hand batsman lateafter pitching on middlestump, the outside edgetaken by Martin Guptill atsecond slip. Boult struckagain in his following overwith one that swung in lateand struck the base ofRandiv’s pads. NuwanKulasekara then edgedSouthee to first slip to givethe bowler his second five-for in three matches. A dis-play of brilliance sealed theinnings as Kane Williamsonpulled off a blinder, diving tohis left at gully to catch athick outside edge to get ridof Herath.

Behind by 168, Sri Lankaneeded to win at least onesession to put the pressureright back on the visitors.They got rid of the openersbefore lunch and picked upthree more, in four balls, af-ter the break. It left Taylorwith the debutant Todd Astleto muster as much as theycould to regain control.

New Zealand at thatstage were leading by 243with five wickets in hand.Taylor’s presence was al-ways New Zealand’s safetynet, fresh off a century in thefirst innings, but Astle’s ap-proach was what allowed thestand to flourish. Rather thanget bogged down, he waspositive, pulling NuwanKulasekara over square legor his first boundary and us-ing his feet to Herath, loftingover midwicket.

Taylor displayed thesame patience that earned hisfirst-innings ton, stayingwatchful and picking thesingles and allowing Astle togo after the bowling. Beingnaturally aggressive, it wasironic that Taylor’s firstboundary came off his 77thball, when he drove Randivpast cover to bring up hisfifty. Astle had his momentsof fortune, when he was letoff at slip by Paranavitana,though it was a toughchance. He also survived arun-out at the striker’s end,though bizarrely the umpireNigel Llong did not referredit, nor did the fielders appearinterested in appealing.

With the lead going past350, Sri Lanka’s chances re-ceded. They will needSamaraweera to lead the wayagain, under pressure, withAngelo Mathews for com-pany. Six more wickets will giveNew Zealand their first win inSri Lanka since 1998.—AFP

N Zealand 1st innings:412Sri Lanka 1st innings:Paranavitana b Southee 40TM Dilshan b Southee ... 5Sangakkara b Southee .... 0Jayawardene b Boult ...... 4Mathews b Southee ..... 47Samaraweera c Guptillb Boult ............................ 76Jayawardene b Patel ..... 12S Randiv lbw b Boult .... 39Kulasekara b Southee .... 6Herath b Boult ................. 5Eranga not out ................. 3Extras: (lb 3, w 1, nb 3) .... 7Total: (all out) .............. 244Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-7, 3-12, 4-102, 5-103, 6-128, 7-225,8-232, 9-240, 10-244Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WTG Southee ........ 22-4-62-5TA Boult ............. 21-7-42-4JS Patel ............... 22-3-47-1TD Astle ............. 13-2-41-0DAJ Bracewell ... 13-1-44-0Williamson ............. 3-1-5-0New Zealand 2nd innings:Guptill b Eranga ............. 11McCullum b Herath ...... 35Williamson b Kulasekara 18Taylor run out ................ 74Flynn lbw b Kulasekara . 0CFK van Wykc Paranavitana b Herath . 0

Astle c Dilshan b Randiv35Bracewell c Kulasekarab Herath ............................ 1Southee not out .............. 8Patel b Randiv ................. 0TA Boult not out ............. 6Extras: (lb 4, nb 2) ............ 6Total: (9 wickets dec) .. 194Fall of wickets 1-32, 2-56, 3-74, 4-74, 5-75, 6-172, 7-177,8-180, 9-182Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WKulasekara ......... 12-2-47-2RMS Eranga ....... 10-1-39-1Herath ................. 21-3-67-3S Randiv 11-1-37-2Sri Lanka 2nd innings:Paranavitana lbwb Southee ......................... 0TM Dilshan b Southee . 14Sangakkara b Bracewell 16Jayawardene c van Wykb Bracewell ....................... 5Samaraweera not out ...... 1Mathews not out ............ 1Extras: (b 4, lb 6) ............ 10Total: (4 wickets) ........... 47Fall of wickets 1-0, 2-35, 3-41, 4-46Bowling: ........... O-M-R-WTG Southee .......... 6-0-19-2TA Boult ............... 5-2-12-0Bracewell ................ 4-3-5-2JS Patel ................ 0.4-0-1-0

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 2nd Test

Seamers give New Zealandshot at victory

COLOMBO: Tim Southee dismissed Tharanga Paranavitana first ball on the secondinnings during Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 2nd Test on Wednesday.

LAHORE: Director PCB Zakir Khan and other officials showing the trophy for Faysal Bank T-20 Cricket Tourna-ment at a local hotel.

LAHORE—Director Domes-tic, Pakistan Cricket Board,Zakir Khan has said that thecoming National T-20 crickettournament is a test case ofPCB and Punjab Governmentrelations for organizing a highprofile cricket activity. “It is astep forward to organizecricket with the cooperationof Punjab Government and weare focusing on holding theT-20 in successful manner”,he was speaking at trophyunveiling ceremony of thenational T-20 Cup here onWednesday at a local hotel.Aarij Ali, Head Retail, FaysalBank ,the sponsor of the tour-nament was also present.

Zakir said PCB is givingtop priority for the resump-tion of international cricket inPakistan and Chairman PCB ,Mohammad Zaka Ashraf ispleading Pakistan’s case atevery international cricket fo-rum and International Cricket

T-20 test case of PCB-PunjabGovt relations: Zakir

Council is also supportingPakistan on this issue.

“We are confident that thePunjab Government will pro-vide top security for the suc-cessful holding of the eventand we look forward to theircooperation for the cause ofcricket”, he added.

He said the tournamentwhich was to be played fromDecember 2 will now beplayed from December firstand the dates have beenbrought forward owing tosome reasons.

He said PCB’s resolve is tofurther strengthen the domes-tic game in line with our visionof providing cricketing oppor-tunities at all levels and inachieving this objective FaysalBank has been our valued part-ner. “PCB values this partner-ship that goes a long way inimproving the standard of do-mestic cricket in the country”.

As an important and qual-

ity addition to the domesticcalendar for which the spon-sors support was of critical im-portance in ensuring high stan-dard, he added. There will besix matches a day with 14 teamsparticipating in this event end-ing on December 9. Both thesemi finals will be played onDecember 8 and the final onDecember 9. The participat-ing teams have been placed inGroup A and B. Following isthe formation of Groups.(Group A), Lahore Lions,Karachi Zebras, Sialkot Stal-lions, Islalamabd Leopards,Abbottabad Falcons, MultanTigers and Quetta Bears.(Group B) ,Karachi Dolphins,Lahore eagles, RawalpindiRama, Faisalabad Wolves,Pesahwar Panthers,Hyderabad Hawks andBahawalpur Stags. The open-ing match will be played be-tween Karachi Dolphins andPeshawar Panthers.—APP

MULTAN: A view of final hockey match between Post Graduate Girls College andBurewala Degree College during Inter-School and College Hockey Tournament.

Burewala girlsclaim hockey

crown, Multanwin basketball

MULTA N—Burewala girlscollege clinched the annualinter-collegiate hockeychampionship trophy 2012by defeating post-graduategirls college Katchery roadMultan on penalty strokeson the grassy ground ofBoard of Intermediate andSecondary Education(BISE) Multan Wednesday.

In basketball champion-ship, postgraduate gir lscollege Multan defeatedsuperior gir ls collegeMultan by five points.

The annual sports galais being organized byBoard of Intermediate andSecondary EducationMultan.

During the hockey finalmatch, both teams re-mained even with no goalthroughout the 70-minutegame and organizers de-cided to test their s t ickwork skil ls on penaltystrokes.

Burewala gir l NusratMumtaz was the onlyhockey player from eitherside to successfully con-vert a penalty stroke andsecured championship tro-phy for her college.

In basketball f inal ,Ghausia Baloch scored allthe eight points for post-graduate gir ls collegeKatchery road Multanwhile the rivals, superiorgir ls college, were re-str icted to only threepoints .—APP

PARIS—Brazilian legend Zicohas resigned as coach of theIraqi national team blaming adispute over his contract.

“I would like to informvia this website that I havesent a communication toFifa ... and to the Iraq Foot-ball Association declaringthat I consider my contractto be void due to the IFA’sfailure to abide by itsterms,” he said on hisinternet website.

“I will provide further de-tails shortly.”

The 59-year-oldmidfielder was put in chargeof Iraq in the summer of lastyear and since then his sidehave played 21 games, with10 wins and six draws. Homematches have been played inDoha for security reasons.

Zico stands down as Iraq coachThe Iraqis are still in the running to qualify for the

2014 World Cup in Brazil andare currently third in GroupB of the Asia Zone final quali-fiers with five points from fivegames, trailing second-placed Australia only on goaldifference.

The top two teamsqualify directly for Brazil in2014 while the third-placeteam goes into a playoff sys-tem.

Prior to being coach ofIraq, Zico was in charge ofseveral teams including Ja-pan, Fenerbahce and CSKAMoscow.

The head coach positionis currently vacant in Brazil,but Zico has always said hehad no interest in that job asthere was too much pressureinvolved.—AFPBrazilian legend Zico

Asjad sailsin World

Snooker last64 rounds

K A R A C H I — L i k eMuhammad Asif, Pakistannumber two Asjad Iqbalalso sailed in the last 64stage of IBSF WorldSnooker Championship inSofia (Bulgaria) by beatingTom Finstad of Canada 4-1,late Tuesday night.

Asjad Iqbal fromSargodha featuring in hisfirst world championshiplost a close second framebefore stem-rolling Finstadwith a smart cue control toregister his third straightwin.

21-year-old Asjad em-phatically won the firstframe. But Finstad won theclosely fought secondframe.

However Asjad main-tained his brilliant cue con-trol to record 83-30, 43-57,95-24, 53-11, 49-14 victory.

Muhammad Asif had al-ready advanced in knockout stage of championship.

In the meantime Presi-dent and Secretary of Paki-stan Billiards and SnookerAssociation, AlamgirShaikh and MunawarShaikh are also in Sofia asthe Manager and Delegaterespectively of Pakistan’ssmall contingent.—APP

Peshawar Club,Shama advance

in PPL T20PESHAWAR—Peshawar cluband Shama club advanced tonext round after registering vic-tories against their respectiverivals in the ongoing PeshawarPremier League T20 CricketTournament being played hereat Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadiumon Wednesday.

Peshawar club recorded sixwickets victory againstPeshawar Panther whileShama club defeated Malikclub by 17 runs.

In the first match PeshawarPanther won the toss and de-cided to bat first by setting up134 runs target for the loss ofseven wickets with Zakir Khanhammered a cracking 31 runs,Asif made 29 runs.—APP

PEOPLE with a common type of abnormal heart rhythm were more likely to diewithin several years if they had been pre-

scribed digoxin, a drug used to help controlabnormal heart rates, in a new analysis

The research involved 4,060 people withatrial fibrillation, in which theheart’s upper chambers quiverchaotically instead of con-tracting normally. More thantwo-thirds of the participantswere treated with digoxin atsome point either shortly be-fore or during the 3.5-yearstudy. Dr. Samy Claude Elayi,from the University of Ken-tucky in Lexington, saiddigoxin - which is widelyavailable in generic form -may benefit some people whohave heart failure in additionto a heart arrhythmia.

“But in patients that haveno heart failure and (have) atrialfibrillation, I think there is noreason to use this drug as a firstline,” added Elayi, who workedon the study.Another cardiology researcher, how-ever, said the new study isn’t robust enough towarrant changing treatment strategies, and thatearlier studies have shown digoxin is safe.Elayiand his colleagues re-analyzed data from a pasttrial of people with atrial fibrillation and a highrisk of stroke that were treated with a variety ofdrug combinations, including beta blockers andcalcium channel blockers.

Over the study period, 666 people died,according to results published in the EuropeanHeart Journal.People who had taken digoxinin the previous six months, the study teamfound, were 41 percent more likely to die of

any cause and 61 percent more likely to diefrom a heart rhythm problem, in particular.

That increased risk of death was seen inpeople with and without heart failure, and inboth men and women. Digoxin works by help-ing to stabilize the upper heart chambers affected

by atrial fibrillation, Elayi said- but it can also cause problemsby creating a bad rhythm in theheart’s lower chambers. Thatcan lead to dizziness, faintingand heart palpitations.

The researchers noted thatthey didn’t have data on whatdose of digoxin people wereprescribed - or how closelythey stuck to those prescrip-tions.

Because the trial wasn’toriginally intended to mea-sure the negative effects ofdigoxin, and people weren’tassigned randomly to onearm or the other, the analy-sis also can’t prove thatdigoxin caused the extradeaths. Dr. Ali Ahmed, who

has studied digoxin at the University ofAlabama at Birmingham, called that a ma-jor limitation of the new study.

He said an earlier randomized controlledtrial - considered the gold standard of medi-cal research - did not find more deaths amongpeople with heart failure taking digoxin. Otherresearch, Ahmed added, has suggested thatlow doses of the drug can actually lower therisk of death among some patients.

When you do non-randomized studies,you always wonder, was it really digoxin orwas it the other confounders” such as patients’chronic diseases, that led to more deaths.

Deaths more common onpopular heart drug

KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah visiting the site of fire which broke out at the eigth floor of the 15-storey State Life building in Saddar.

KARACHI: Sunni Tahreek Leaders Sarwat Ejaz Qadri and Shahid Ghauri at Karachiairport before leaving for London.

KARACHI: Relatives of allegedly missing persons taking part in a demonstration orga-nized by Defence of Human Rights.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Secretary ElectionCommission (EC) IshtiaqAhmad has said delimitation ofconstituencies in Karachi is inthe national interest as well aspeople of Karachi.

Talking to media men aheadof commencement of Karachiviolence case hearing in Su-preme Court (SC) Karachi reg-istry Wednesday he said courthad given ruling on Karachi situ-ation in 2011 that delimitation ofconstituencies be carried outtherein but the proposed changescould not be made so far.

He went on to say that pro-vincial election commission was

Delimitation in interestof people: Secretary EC

continuously holding meetingswith the provincial governmentbut consensus could not be de-veloped so far on key issues.

He held it was responsibil-ity of the institutions to imple-ment court’s orders. “We will sitalong with Sindh government toevolve mechanism through mu-tual consultation in connectionwith implementation of court’sorders”, he remarked.

Citing to Karachi situationhe said both the government andinstitutions wanting improve-ment should come in the pre-vailing situation.

“We will decide about de-limitation of constituencies inKarachi in consultation with

government and all stake hold-ers”, he announced. Not onlytechnical problems but politicalproblems also come on the wayto delimitation process, hepointed out. “EC has to carry outprocess of delimitation all overthe country but population cen-sus comes as first phase to befinalized before undertaking as-signment of delimitation of con-stituencies, he remarked. Thisprocess has not been completedso far and two months timeframe has been sought from thecourt in this regard, he indicated.

He said three proposals hadbeen given to SC with referenceto delimitation, which had beenaccepted by the court.

Zardari, Qaimdiscuss

Karachi unrest,SPLGO strike

KARACHI—President Asif AliZardari on Wednesday held one-on-one meeting with SindhChief Minister Syed Qaim AliShah here in Karachi and dis-cussed the current political andlaw-and-order situation in theprovince.

According to media reports,the two high-ups exchangedviews over Sindh nationalists’strike call for November 30 (Fri-day) against recently introducedlocal government system whichdrew condemnation from vari-ous parties, including formerPPP allies in Sindh - AwamiNational Party and Pir Pagara’sPakistan Muslim League-Func-tional (PML-F).

In the wake of Friday’sprovince-wide strike, the presi-dent has reportedly directed theCM to establish contacts with allthe political forces opposingSindh People Local GovernmentOrdinance (SPLGO).

Shah also briefed the presi-dent over law and order situa-tion in Sindh, especially inKarachi where the SupremeCourt of Pakistan has been hear-ing a case regarding unrest in themetropolis, the hub of Pakistan’seconomic activities.—Online

PCMD seminar onGastrointestinal

Ulcers todayKARACHI—Dr. Panjwani Cen-ter for Molecular Medicine andDrug Research (PCMD), Inter-national Center for Chemicaland Biological Sciences(ICCBS), University of Karachi,is going to organise a publicawareness seminar on “Gas-trointestinal Ulcers-Most Com-mon but Most Misunderstood”today (Thursday) at LatifEbrahim Jamal National ScienceInformation Center, ICCBS,University of Karachi.

Dr. Atia-tul-Wahab, Assis-tant Professor at PCMD willdeliver the lecture on the saidissue, jointly organised byPCMD and Virtual EducationProject Pakistan (VEPP). Healthprofessionals, students, researchscholars, NGO representatives,and general public will be at-tending the program.—NNI

KARACHI—International Cen-ter for Chemical and BiologicalSciences (ICCBS), Karachi Uni-versity (KU) has signed aMemorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Doha Academy ofTertiary Studies (DATS)/ Educa-tion Trust, Republic ofMauritius, with the objective toinitiate academic exchange andscientific cooperation betweenboth the institutions.

Director International Cen-ter for Chemical and BiologicalSciences Prof. Dr. MuhammadIqbal Choudhary on behalf of the

ICCBS, KU, Mauritius ink MoUICCBS and Chairman DATSMr. Nazir Khodabux signed theMoU in the MoU-Signing cer-emony, held at ICCBS here onWednesday. Speaking at the cer-emony, Dr. Iqbal Choudharysaid that the said agreementwould further enhance educa-tional and research cooperationbetween Pakistan andMauritius. He said that educa-tion is the only solution to allproblems of Pakistan.

Chairman DATS Mr. NazirKhodabux said that Mauritianstudents feel very comfortable

in Pakistan despite poor law andorder situation is prevailing inthe country. He said that the ba-sic objective of the agreementwas to initiate and promote sci-entific cooperation and aca-demic exchange in various fieldsof sciences between DATS andICCBS. He said that DATS isan established institute of post-secondary education, recog-nized by Tertiary EducationCommission (TEC), Mauritius,and has taken initiatives tocomplement its excellence ineducation.—NNI

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Chief MinisterSindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah vis-ited of affected State Life build-ing Zainab Market, Saddarwhere fire had erupted todaymorning. Syed Qaim Ali Shahinquired details and causes ofthe fire, and directed the admin-istration to make all out preven-tive and precautionary measuresfor safety of people, and fire beextinguished.

CM visits State Life buildingChief Minister Sindh di-

rected Commissioner Karachi,Administrator KMC and Secre-tary Health Sindh to make co-ordinated and concerted effortsfor safety of people residing andworking there, and affectedpeople be shifted while medi-cal treatment be provided to anyaffected person.

Chief Minister Sindh alsodirected to maintain securitymeasures in all high rise build-ings and fire extinguishers be

checked whether the same areapplicable and usable or not. Hesaid that action be taken agsintthose owners where such appli-ances are not available or thesame are out of order.

Earlier, the Chief MinisterSindh was briefed about inci-dent by CommissionerKarachi. Mr. Hashim RazaZaidi. He was accompanied byPolitical Coordinator to ChiefMinister Sindh Mr. SiddiqueAbu Bhai and others.

MQM demandsgovt aid for

State Life firevictim family

KARACHI—Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) has de-manded the government to an-nounce financial aid for the vic-tim who died in a fire broke outincident occurred in the StateLife building.

Speaking to media, MQMleader Raza Haroon expressedsevere grief over the fatefuldeath of Owais, resident ofKorangi.

Sindh Information Technol-ogy Minister said that MQMwill soon announce financial aidfor the family of victim. “MQMcondoles the death of an ordi-nary resident of Korangi andwill do take every measure to aidthe victim’s family.”

Fire erupted at the ninth and10th floor of State Life buildinglocated near Zainab Market inthe Saddar area of Karachi, kill-ing Owais who jumped from the8th floor.—NNI

Youth festivals tobe organized inSindh: Minister

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Youth festivalswould be organized in the bigcities of Sindh to help hone upthe talents of the young genera-tion. This was stated by theSindh Minister for Youth Af-fairs, Syed Faisal Subzwari.He was talking to various del-egations in his office here onWednesday. The Minister re-ferred to the successful holdingof the youth festival here fromNovember 12 to 15.He furtherstated that this has proved thatyouth are second to none.Subzwari lauded the role ofSindh Governor, Dr. Ishrat ulEbad Khan, and Secretary YouthAffairs, Shoaib AhmedSiddiqui, as well as other offic-ers for the successful holding ofthe youth festival.

He pointed out that half ofthe country’s population consistsof youth and if their abilities andtalents are utilized properly thenthe country can make rapidheadway.

PPP most popularpolitical party

Doctors advisedto completetheir ACRsSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Health De-partment is preparing case ofdoctors of General/Specialist/Dental Cadre for their promo-tions to next scales, in compli-ance of the orders of Sindh HighCourt. The ACRs of the doctorsare due and immeidately re-quired to the Health Departmentfor their to the next scale, said astatement issued here onWednesday. In this regard, allthe doctors who are due for pro-motion to next scale as per theirseniority in respect cadre/scaleare directed to submit their An-nual Confidential Report/Perfor-mance Evaluation Reports dulyfilled in to their immediatebosses for onward submission toHealth Department.

Journalist AminYousuf’s father

passes awayKARACHI—Muhammad YousufShaikh, father of senior journal-ist, Muhammad Amin Yousuf,passed away in Hyderabad onWednesday evening, family mem-bers said. Late Yousuf Shakih,who was in his 70s, had sufferedfrom heart attack. He had returneda week ago after performing theHajj, the family members added.The burial will take place inHyderabad on Thursday, it wasfurther stated.

The president of the PakistanAssociation of Photojournalists,Mujib ur Rehman, has expresseddeep sorrow and grief on thepassing away of MuhammadYousuf Shaikh.—APP

KARACHI—Sindh Minister forLaw and Parliamentary Affairs,Muhammad Ayaz Soomro saidPakistan People’s Party (PPP) isthe most popular democraticparty in the country.

He said here on Wednesdaythat the foundation day of thePPP would be marked on No-vember 30 in a befitting manner.The Minister further stated thatthe past of PPP is before every-one and that it had faced the dic-tators and that the leadership andthe workers of the PPP renderedsacrifices for the cause of democ-racy in the country.—APP

OBSERVER REPORT

KARACHI—Central DeputySecretary Information of Paki-stan Peoples Party and Provin-cial Minister for InformationSharjeel Inam Memon Wednes-day said the local governmentlaw introduced by GeneralMusharraf was still working inPunjab.

The Sindh province, he said,was the first province of Paki-stan which had amended the lo-cal government law made byGeneral Musharraf. his the in-formation minister stated in astatement issued by his depart-ment. He said if Nawaz Sharifwas so sincere with Sindh heshould call a strike on 30th No-vember in Punjab as well.

Nawaz having supportednationalists had proved that hewas not sincere with the peopleof Sindh and he had no pain forthe people of Sindh. He said inother provinces the local bodies

Musharraf LG System stillworking in Punjab: Memon

law of General Musharraf wasbeing implemented while Sindhhad made certain changes in thelaw which would prove benefi-cial to the people of Sindh andthey would be able to use powerat the gross root level.

The provincial minister sad:“Mian Nawaz Sharif is still fol-lowing Pervaiz Musharraf lawand N-League while havingmajority in Punjab is unable tobring a new law that shows theirpolitical incapability.” Memonsaid those who opposingPSLGO 2012 had no concretearguments to oppose it and justwanted to misguide the peopleand it was unfortunate that theseso-called nationalists were strik-ing in their own province to cre-ate problems for their ownpeople.

He said those who earn ondaily basis had to face greathurdles and these strikes also cre-ate negative impacts on the prov-ince and the country as well.

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—KMC Administra-tor Muhammad Hussain Syedhas said that Safari Park on 300acres land was a vast picnicpoint in which five big animalslion, Giraffe, rhinoceros, chim-panzee and other animals dur-ing current fiscal year would beinducted to get recognition ofthis park on international stan-dard.

He said this during a de-tailed visit of Safari Park where

Hussain focused to developSafari Park as per Int’l standard

he was accompanied by Direc-tor General Parks Niaz Soomro,Sr. Director Culture Sports &Recreation Muhammad RehanKhan, Director Safari ParkSalman Shamsi and other offic-ers.

The boating would also startand a library was also being es-tablished in which books aboutanimals and birds would be keptto make it a comprehensive pic-nic point and bird aviary wasbeing made to provide birds withnatural environment, he said.

PHYSICIANS in Germany who say theyhave “functionally cured” a patientwith HIV/AIDS are warning that their

accidental breakthrough is effective foronly about one percent of patients whosuffer from AIDS.

Headlines in Novem-ber heralded an “AIDScure” after Gero Huetterand Eckhard Thiel, blood-cancer specialists atCharite Hospital in Berlin,reported that they hadseemingly cured a 42-year-old US patient of HIV/AIDS by giving him abone-marrow transplantwhilst treating him for can-cer. Their breakthroughwas made possible bystudies in the late 1990srevealing that some peoplewere resistant to HIV/AIDS, according to a re-port in New Scientist maga-zine on the Berlinhaematologists’ discovery.

In these people, the virus cannot enterand destroy the white blood cells that itinfects and destroys in most other people.They owed their resistance to a mutationin the gene that makes the molecular “doorhandle” by which HIV/AIDS gains accessto cells.

Called CCR5, the protein door handlewas misshapen in the immune individuals,locking HIV/AIDS out of their white bloodcells, the New Scientist report noted. Sincethe discovery, it has been established thatabout one percent of Europeans have thesame mutation, making them resistant toHIV/AIDS. To be resistant, they had to

‘AIDS cure’ good for only onepercent of patients: experts

inherit the same mutation from both par-ents.

Huetter and Thiel made use of thiswhen treating their patient for leukaemia,which he had developed in addition toHIV/AIDS. To treat the leukaemia, the two

doctors did the usual thingand sought a bone-marrowdonor to replenish thepatient’s blood supply fol-lowing chemotherapy to killthe existing, cancerousblood cells.

But the Berlin doctors’new approach was to get adonor who had the doubleHIV-resistant CCR5 muta-tion. This meant that thepatient’s replenished bloodsystem would effectively beresistant to HIV/AIDS, lock-ing out the virus for good.This is what appears to havehappened, according to theNew Scientist analysis, andHuetter declared his patient“functionally cured”.

Attempts to use bone-marrow trans-plants in HIV/AIDS treatment have beenmade since the 1980s. In one case, a pa-tient with both HIV/AIDS and lymphomadied of the cancer two months later, butwas found to harbour no HIV/AIDS. Itwas not known if something in the trans-plant had protected him.

And in a famous 1995 case, Jeff Getty,a prominent San Francisco advocate forHIV/AIDS patients, received bone mar-row from a baboon, which is resistant tothe human virus. The New York Timesreported that he survived for 11 years,but died of HIV/AIDS and cancer.

LAHORE: Rescue 1122 officials demonstrating after training workshop at PU Depart-ment of Applied Psychology.

LAHORE: Labourers busy in construction work of a Bus Transit Flyover duringdevelopment work.

LAHORE: PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz speaking during launching ceremony of Women Youth Wing Website.

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab ChiefMinister MuhammadShahbaz Sharif has said thatPunjab government is takingconcrete steps to bring theyounger generation into themainstream of nationalprogress and prosperity.

He said, for the first timein the history of the coun-try, consultation with theyouth is being made onpolicy making matters. Hesaid internship programmehas been initiated for stu-dents, completing their stud-ies at academic institutions,to help them advance intheir practical life.

He said, under thisprogramme, a total number of50,000 graduates would begranted internship, whilethey would also be given astipend of Rs.10,000 permonth. He said that, so far,more than 31,000 graduategirl and boy students havebeen issued internship let-ters, which include more than16,000 young women and15,000 young men.

The Chief Minister waspresiding over a high-levelmeeting to review internshipprogramme, here Wednes-day. The meeting was at-tended by Senator PervaizRashid, Special Assistant toChief Minister ZaeemHussain Qadri, ChairmanPlanning & Development,secretaries of Finance, In-dustries, Higher Education,Schools, Social Welfare andAgriculture Departments.

Addressing the meet-ing, Muhammad ShahbazSharif said that youth is thecentre of hope for Pakistan,as national progress andprosperity can never beachieved, without provid-ing them education andnecessary skills.

He said, the PML-N gov-ernment in Punjab has takenhistoric steps to ensure wel-fare and uplift of youngergeneration, which is now alsobeen followed by the otherprovinces, which is an openvote of confidence in thisprogramme of Punjab gov-ernment.

He said, Punjab govern-

ment, by formulating theYouth Council has providedthe younger generation aplatform where they can ap-prise the government abouttheir problems. He said themembers of this council havevery actively performed vol-untary duties, during thetimes of national tragedies.

He said Punjab internshipprogramme is successfullyoperating throughout theprovince under which girland boy students are beingextended necessary trainingand monthly stipend in vari-ous government and privateinstitutions.

He said the chambers ofcommerce and industry havealso been urged to cooper-ate with regard to providingskill and training to the in-ternees throughout the prov-ince.

He said internees are be-ing provided training in pri-vate institutions, so that theycan achieve professional ex-perience in practical life. Hesaid, during the last year, onelakh twenty thousand stu-dents had been distributed

laptops on merit basis, while,during the current year, simi-lar number of laptops are alsobeing distributed in a trans-parent manner. He said thesteps which have been takenfor the welfare of youngergeneration is not any favourto them, but are their right.

He said, unfortunately, atthe federal level, such ele-ments are in power who haveno other interest, but to filltheir own pockets, and in or-der to achieve their selfishinterests they can do any-thing, as they do not careabout the pressing problemsof the people. He said had thelooters sitting in Islamabadnot usurped the resources,instead of 50 thousand, wewould have included five lakhyoung persons in our intern-ship programme.

Chief Minister directedthe concerned authorities toachieve the targets of intern-ship programme as soon aspossible, with a view to en-able the girl and boy stu-dents, during their training,to effectively meet the chal-lenges of future.

Practical steps to bring youthinto mainstream: Shahbaz

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Addiction and theover-dose are the cause of thedeaths and not the coughsyrup that is being blamed forthe causalities therefore thegovernment should immedi-ately stop harassment of theowners and the distributors.Addressing a Press confer-ence here Wednesday at theLahore Chamber of Commerceand Industry, the LCCI Presi-dent Farooq Iftikhar andPharma Industry leaders in-cluding Khawaja ShahzebAkram, Mian MisbahurRehman, Amjad Ali Jawa,Mohammad Zakaur Rehman,Asad Shujaur Rehman andNadeem Shami said that 16000bottles of the same batch weresupplied across the countrywhile the incident took placein one locality only that isknown as a hub of drug ad-dicts. LCCI Senior Vice Presi-dent Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and

Cough syrup syndrome

Addiction, over-dosemain cause of deaths

Vice President Mian AbuzarShad also spoke on the occa-sion.

The LCCI President saidthat the law-enforcementagencies were well aware ofthe presence of a large num-ber of drug addicts in thatarea and they should havetaken some action againstthem well ahead of this inci-dent. Farooq Iftikhar alsoappealed to the Chief Minis-ter Punjab Mian MuhammadShahbaz Sharif to direct con-cerned officers to stop actionagainst the businessmen asit has caused much resent-ment among them because ahaphazard action had al-ready sent a wrong signal tothe pharma industry.

Khawaja Shahzeb Akramsaid that Reko Pharmacal hasbeen manufacturing the saidcough syrup since 1978 andnot a single such complaintof this nature came to thelimelight previously as in this

case the individuals who con-sumed Tyno did so with thepurpose of intoxication.

The misuse of any drugcan cause serious conse-quences, which a companycannot be held liable for.

Explaining about the in-gredients of the said syrup,Khawaja Shahzeb Akram saidthat Dextromethorphan is awidely used active ingredientin cough syrups worldwide.It is a safe antitussive/coughsuppressant and its safe dos-age is 5 ml (10 mg) every 5 to 6hours, (the dose in Tyno-SF)and the maximum dosageshould not exceed 20 ml in 24hours as per instructions onthe label. It is a safe and ef-fective cough suppressant ifused as prescribed, there areover ten formulation of thisproduct in the US alone, withsome containing 15mg per 5ml.There are at least 7 registereddextromethorphan containingproducts in Pakistan also.

Massive trafficjam chokes

cityLAHORE—City witnessedmassive traffic jam for hoursat Shahdara morr to AzadiChowk due to constructionwork on mega project “MassTransit Train” and peoplehad to face immense prob-lems here on Wednesday.

Citizens suffered loss inthe form of extra fuel forreaching their destinationsand they had to use alternateroutes.

Mall Road,LowerMall,Lawrence Road,YadgarChowk,Bhati Chowk,Ferozepur Road and someother link roads were chokedwith a large number of ve-hicles.

Commuters from all thewalks of life have demandedof the provincial governmentto take notice of these mas-sive traffic jams and takesteps for improving the situ-ation.—APP

PHA toinaugurate

park near UETLAHORE—Parks and Horti-culture Authority (PHA) isconstructing a park nearshrine of ‘Dai Anga’ adja-cent to the University of En-gineering and Technology(UET).

According to PHAspokesperson, Javed Shaida,Member National AssemblyPervaiz Malik will inauguratethe construction work onThursday.

He said that PHA wascommitted to beautifyLahore and was constructingparks at various spots for theconvenience of the citi-zens.—APP

PPP tocelebrate 46thfoundation dayLAHORE—The PakistanPeople’s Party would cel-ebrate its 46th foundation dayacross the country with zealand zest on November 30 (Fri-day). According to a spokes-man on Wednesday, the PPPwas organising a programmeto celebrate its foundationday at Aiwan- e-Iqbal here.

The PPP leadership hasdirected all party office bear-ers to ensure participation ofa large number of workers inthe ceremony.

Important figures of thePPP from Punjab like PPPPunjab President MianManzoor Ahmed Wattoo, Se-nior leader Ch Aslam Gill, PPPWomen Wing president FaizaMalik and others will addressthe ceremony.—APP

Solo show ‘Sar-e-Rah’ on Dec 3LAHORE—A solo exhibitiontitled, Sar-e- Rah’ of paint-ings of Farazeh Syed will beorganized here on December3 at the Alhamra Arts Gallery.

According to organizers,‘Sare-e-Rah’ is a work of art“A story without words, atale untold”, where one couldsee endless secrets behindhigh walls whose fragrancewould captivate the mind anddelight the soul.

Professor Saeed Akhtarwill inaugurate the showwhich will continue till De-cember 8.—APP

LAHORE—Chief Traffic Of-ficer Capt (retd) Suhail Chhas issued orders of punish-ment to seven Wardens be-sides transferring four offi-cials on the charges of neg-ligence.

As many as 28 wardensalso were served show causenotices for remaining absentfrom duty point.

The CTO took the deci-

Wardens punished for negligencesion after his surprise visit tovarious traffic sectors includ-ing Shadman, Mozang,Wahdat Road, Mall 2, RaviRoad, Railway Station andLorry Adda to inspect theperformance of wardens.

Inspector Nisar Anjumwas transferred due to hisabsence from Lorry Addasector while six wardens wereasked to attend drill at Police

lines for seven days as apunishment.

Similarly, three officialsfrom Ravi road were trans-ferred from Ravi sector be-sides referring the case ofTraffic Control Operator foraction to the SP Telecommu-nication.

The CTO asked the war-dens to ensure their presenceon duty.—APP

Drug testing researchcentre, laboratory

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—The first everdedicated state-of-the-artdrug testing research centreand laboratory will be opera-tional at Sundar IndustrialEstate by December 25.

This was stated by Chair-man Punjab Industrial EstatesDevelopment and Manage-ment Company (PIEDMC) Mr.SM Tanveer while talking tomedia. This drug testing cen-tre will help in testing the drugsto avoid incidents leading toloss of life in Shahdra Lahore.It will also earn much neededforeign exchange for Pakistan.

The Chairman SMTanveer said that the re-quired machinery and equip-ment has reached and beinginstalled now a days.

APCA end strikeafter assurance

LAHORE—All Pakistan ClerkAssociation (APCA) Punjabchapter ended their protestand strike after getting assur-ance from the government thattheir demands would be metshortly. Earlier, the clerks be-longing to different provincialdepartments staged sit-in out-side the Chief Minister Housein favour of their demands.

The Additional SecretaryPunjab Mukhtar Masud heldnegotiations with office bear-ers of APCA and assuredthem of fulfilling their de-mands soon.

It should be mentionedthat APCA chief, ArshadMuhammad Chaudhry hasdemanded that daily wagesclerks should be regularised.

STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE—Provincial Minis-ter for Labour HajiEhsanuddin Qureshi has saidthat flats were being given tothe labourers on ownershipbasis.

He said Punjab Govern-ment is taking all possiblesteps for improving thesocio-economic condition ofthe labourers and requiredfunds have been provided fortimely completion of the on-going projects under LabourDepartment.

He said that 2,000 resi-dential units would be con-structed during current fiscalyear in Sialkot, Gujranwalaand Multan, said a handout.

Flats being given to labourer onownership basis: Ehsanuddin

Talking to delegations oflabourers, EhsanuddinQureshi said the governmentwould provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities to thelabourers and labour depart-ment would spend Rs 4.30billion for the provision ofstate-of-the-art healthcarefacilities to the labourers andtheir families during currentfiscal year.

He said that new socialsecurity hospitals would besetup and existing hospitalswould be updated.

He said that during cur-rent financial year a new so-cial security hospital will beestablished at Sheikhupurawhere modern facilities andmedical equipments will be

provided.He said that the social se-

curity is introducing hospi-tal management informationsystem costing Rs 107 mil-lion, the scheme would beintroduced at the dispensarylevel in phases.

Ehsanuddin Qureshi saidthat a labour colony consist-ing of 1296 flats costing morethan Rs 2,177 million on 47acre land has been con-structed on Defence RoadLahore for labourers,whereas, labour colony con-structed in Muzaffargarhconsisting of 303 residentialunits.

He said that the labourersplay important role for thedevelopment of the country.