We salute Shiite leadership................................................China to ensure Paksovereignty and independence................................................While Education Policy isbeing revised

See Page 04

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has emphati-cally declared that the govern-ment will not rest till the coun-try is completely purged of themenace of terrorism.

He was addressing thepassing-out ceremony of firstbatch of counter terrorismforce in Lahore Saturday.

The Premier said he

alongwith COAS will soonvisit Karachi and Quetta topersonally monitor the situa-tion there. He said it will taketime to free the country of ter-rorists but process has beenstarted towards that end. Wewill not remain oblivious toour responsibilities.

Referring to other chal-lenges faced by the countryincluding energy, the PrimeMinister vowed to address

War on terror isnational war: PM Army to continue training LEAS: COAS Turkish experts

role laudedPM to visit Karachi,Quetta with Army Chief

SALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Satur-day announced significant reduction in domes-tic prices of various petroleum products in thewake of falling international prices.

Petrol prices have been reduced by 7.99 ru-pees per liter, high octane Rs 11.82, keroseneoil Rs 10.48, high diesel Rs 5.62 and low dieselby Rs 9.56 per liter from February first.

Talking to media personnel here Saturday,the PM said that the rate of sales tax, previously22%, has been increased to 27%. He said thegovernment intends to meet the annual target ofRs 2800 billion, therefore, it has to increase thesale tax rate on various products as the govern-

Petrol price decreasedby Rs 7.99 per litre

Farmers to get benefit of thousands of rupees afterprice cut; GST on PoL products increased by 5 pc

ment was facing shortfall of Rs 70 billion dueto reduction in prices of petroleum products.

According to the notification issued by Fed-eral Bureau of Revenue (FBR), sales tax, fromFebruary 1 onwards, would be received at therate of 27% whereas sales tax on other itemswill remain 17%.

The premier directed the provincial govern-ments to take steps for bringing down transportfares in line with cut in petroleum prices. Hesaid that the government wanted to reduce petrolprice by as much as Rs10 a litre but it decidedto increase sales tax on petrol due to huge lossesthe government was incurring under the head

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MQM rejectsgovt’s JC

KARACHI—The MuttahidaQuami Movement (MQM) onSaturday rejected the Sindhgovernment’s judicial commis-sion formed to investigate themurders of party workersSohail Ahmed and Faraz Alam.

Speaking to reporters,MQM leader Qamar Mansoorsaid a judicial inquiry shouldbe conducted to probe extra-judicial killing and disappear-ances of party workers. “Thecommission formed by the

LAHORE: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif shaking hands with Chief of ArmyStaff General Raheel Sharif during the passing out of first batch of 421 corporals at ElitePolice Training School here on Saturday.

Another picture on Page 7

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—The FinanceMinister Ishaq Dar, Saturday,advised Chairman PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) to do poli-tics on issues of governance,rigging and transparency ratherthan the national economy be-

Dar proposescharter of Economy‘Govt ready to form judicialcommission to probe rigging

cause government faced taxcollection shortfall of Rs 68billion.

He also proposed to con-vene an All Parties Conference(APC) on the issue of economyas was held on the issue of ter-

Continued on Page 7

BD plasticsfactory fire kills

13 in DhakaDHAKA—At least 13 peopleincluding two women werekilled when a fire sweptthrough a plastics factory inBangladesh’s capital Dhakaon Saturday, police said.

Scores were injured andmore people may have diedat Nasim Plastic House in acrowded market in thesuburb of Mirpur, a policeofficial said. “We aresearching under a collapsedwall ... There might be morebodies under the debris,” fireservice and civil defensedirector AKM Shakil Newaztold reporters.

About 70 workers wereinside the factory when theblaze broke out, said police.

The issue of safety inBangladeshi factories wasthrust into the spotlight bythe collapse of the RanaPlaza building in April 2013,which killed more than 1,100garment workers.—Reuters

HYDERABAD: A view of a traffic jam at Hyderabad by-pass due to protest by the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslmeenagainst the attack on Imambargah in Shikarpur.

PESHAWAR: Yellow Taxi drivers and workers hold a protest outside PeshawarPress Club.

FAISALABAD: Victim of atrocities Robina lies on the bed at Allied Hospital as herhusband cut her legs and arms with axe on Friday.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN—A man axed todeath his wife, mother in law and brotherin law over a domestic dispute in Sakandararea here on late Fri-day night Accordingto police sources, wife of the accusedKarim went to her parents house after be-ing annoying with her husband on do-mestic dispute. The accused entered hismother in law house and axed to deathhis wife, mother in law and brother in lawon the spot. The accused man-aged toflee from the scene after killing three per-sons .

Police started in-vestigation and searchoperation for arresting the accused. Mean-while, APP from Faisalabad reported thattwo married women were shot dead by theirbrothers in different incidents in the area ofLundianwala and Chak Jhumra police sta-

Two women murdered over love marriages

Man axes wife to death, 2 in-lawstions during the last 24 hours.

A police spokesman told here on Satur-day that Sanam Bibi daughter of ShaukatHayat resident of Chak No.630-GB hadsolemnised love marriage with her cousinImtiaz Hussain about six years ago and gavebirth of 4 kids. On Saturday morning, SanamBibi was preparing food in her house whenher brother Shafqat Ali entered in her houseand shot her dead.

In another incident, Riaz (25) shot his40-year-old sister Naseem Bibi dead whenshe was busy in washing clothes in herhouse in Chak No.106-JB.

According to police, Naseem Bibi hadarranged love marriage with Shahid of ChakNo.106-JB Khichian, about 7 years ago andgave birth to five kids. Cases have beenregistered against the accused.—APP

CHAKWAL—Chakwal Police in three differ-ent operations recovered illicit arms fromthe three accused involved in a daciotycase. ASI Zameer Hussain during the in-vestigation recovered 30 Bore Pistol and 5Bulletes from the accused Saeed Ahmedresident of village Dub. While pump action12 bore gun and three bulletes were recov-ered from another accused Ishaq Bashir,resident of Khanewal district.

The third accused Akhmat Aziz,ressident of Khanewal, who was alsoenvoled in this dacoity, police also recoverd30 bore pistol and bulletes from him. Sepa-rate cases of possesing illicit arms wereregisterd against them they were sent intojudicial lockup. In the time two leadingprayers were also booked by Neela andDhuman Police for illegal use ofloudspeakrs.

SHO Neela Police station FaisalManzoor booked the Imam Masjid Jawiad

Three dacoits held;illicit arms recovered

of village Cot Chaudarian as he was misus-ing the loudspeakers. While ASIMohammad Munir booked Tufail Saleemressidnet of Village Budhial as he was missusing the loud speakers in a Mehfl eMelaad in the area Dhuman Police statioin.

LAHORE: Sadar Division Police has re-covered weapons in a big quantity during asearch operation.

The recovered weapons include twokalashancoves, three rifles, 37 pistols, sixpump action, one revolver and 1073 bul-lets.

On the direction of CCPO Lahore Capt(r) Ameen Wains, the search operation wasconducted by Sadar Division Police undersupervision of SP Sadar Zahid Nawaz.

Meanwhile, DIG operations Dr HaiderAshraf said that war against terrorism cannot be win without implementing NationalAction Plan. He appealed the masses forcomplete cooperation with police.—Online

Over 600 int’lflights fly over

countryISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (APP):Prime Minister ’s AviationAdvisor Shujaat Azeem hassaid Pakistan Air-Traffic issafe and more than 600 in-ternational flights fly overthe country.

He said while talking toa private news channel,over the warning of the Eu-ropean Air Safety Agency(EASA) that was issued lastmonth.

“Our airspace is safe fortraffic. EASA’s warning is aprecautionary step that isissued not only for Paki-stanbut also for eight other coun-tries.” he said.—APP

AIOU’sadmissions

from February 1ISLAMABAD—Allama IqbalOpen University(AIOU) willopen its Matric to Ph.D leveladmissions for the SemesterSpring, 2015 from February1 simultaneously across thecountry.

Vice Chancellor Profes-sor Dr. Shahid Siddiqui hasapproved an admission planthat includes setting up pro-spectus’ sale points at its maincampus, regional and coordi-nating offices throughout thecountry, said a press releasehere on Friday.

He also directed theAdmission Department toprovide maximum facilities tothe applicants in taking theadmission in their desireddiscipline as well as en-suring availability of admis-sion forms at nearest places.

He also advised all re-gional directors to set upspecial camp at their officesfor the guidance of the stu-dents. He assured the appli-cants that proposals andcom-plaints will be properlyaddressed. For this purpose,Information and Com-plaintCentre at the main campushas been activated.

Admission forms andprospectuses could be ob-tained from the sale pointsat main campus, RegionalCampuses and CoordinatingOffices around the country.

Admission forms alongwith the required fee can besubmitted at the nation-widebranches of Habib Bank Ltd,First Women Bank,BankAlfalah, Allied Bank and atthe desig-nated branches ofNational Bank of Pakistanand Muslim CommercialBank. The detail of desig-nated branches is availablein the prospectuses as wellas in the Regional Offices.

Director Admissions ad-vised the students to sub-mit their fee in the bank bytheir own. He further saidthat fee in shape of bankdraft/pay order will not beaccepted.—APP

LAHORE—Amir Jaamat-ud-Dawah (JuD)Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that Indo-US defence ties are threat for imbalance ofpower in the region and against the inter-ests of Pakistan and Kashmiri people. Ad-dressing the Friday sermon at Jamia Al-Qadsia here, Hafiz Saeed said the claims ofPak-US and Pak-India friendships were noth-ing but a lie and both were conspiring tomake Pakistan a war zone and Afghanistanwould be their basecamp.

Hafiz Saeed that they would expresscomplete soli-darity with Kashmiris onKashmir Day on Feb 05, 2015 and wouldtake out protest rallies all across the coun-try. He said that main protest rally would be

Indo-US defence ties causeimbalance of power in region

taken out from Nasir Bagh in which thou-sands of people from all walks of life wouldtake part. He said that they would invite allother religious and political parties to theseprotest rallies and confer-ences on theKashmir Solidarity Day.

Hafiz Saeed called upon Muslims to getunited and strengthen Pakistan to foil theconspiracies of oppo-nents against Islam.He said that declaring Indian nuclear bombpeaceful, while raising concerns overPakistan’s nuclear program reveals thedouble stan-dard. He said that it’s time toset aside all differences and work for thepeace and prosperity of Pakistan. He alsolaid stress on the government.—INP

SHANGLA—The Forest Department in ajoint search operation with the PakistanArmy has recovered precious wood worthRs7 million in Shangla.

Shangla Forest Officer Farhad Ali saidthe search opera-tion was conducted inShahpur, Chakesar, Leloni, Alpuri Darraand Kormang areas.

Wood worth Rs7m recoveredThey said they received fines of

Rs518,000 from people involved in cut-ting wood from the forests and also closed120 furniture shops. Mr Ali said 28 sawma-chines working illegally in the areahave also been closed and five mules be-ing used for smuggling have also beenconfiscated.—Agencies

GB electionsto be held intime: CEC

SKARDU—GB Chief ElectionCommissionerJustice (Retd)Syed Tahir Ali Shah Saturdaysaid elections for GilgitBaltistan (GB) Assemblywould be held in time andthere would be no delay.

He said provisionalvoter lists prepared by theNational Database Registra-tion Authority would be dis-played in all the constituen-cies within next ten days andthe people could file theirobjections, if any, within 21days.

Talking to APP, the ChiefElection Commis-sioner saidthe first priority of ElectionCommission was to holdelec-tions in a free, fair,transparent and impartialman-ner.—APP

Pak, Afghanistanenjoying good

relationsF A I S A L A B A D — A f g h a nCounselor NaqibullahIbrahimi on Saturday saidPakistan and Afghanistanwere enjoying good rela-tions based on brotherhood,relig-ion and similarities inculture that will be furtherstrength-ened.

He was talking to for-eign students at the Uni-versity of AgricultureFaisalabad arranged by In-ternational Club. He saidprosperity was direct linkedto quality education as itplayed a pivotal role in up-lift of any society.

He stressed upon stu-dents to leave no stoneunturned to get educationthat was a guarantee ofbright fu-ture.

UAF Vice Chancellor ProfDr Iqrar Ahmad Khan saidPakistan scholarshipprogramme for Af-ghan stu-dents will help countriesstrengthen their bilateral tiesand to get benefit from eachother ex-periences as Paki-stan and Afghanistan werethe brother countries.—APP

KAMALIA—Jamiat-e-UlemaIslam (Sami Group) ChiefMaulana Samiul Haq con-demned the Shi-karpur inci-dent, saying no Muslim canattack on mosques and ImamBargahs. Speaking to themedia, he said the govern-ment can resolve the sectar-ian issues between Sunni andShia within one day if it isserious. He said his party isready to play role in endingdifferences between the twosects if the gov-ernment an-nounces it support.

The leadership of Sunni-Shia is aware of the currentscenario as anti-state ele-ments wanted to destabilizethe situation with sectarianviolence, he said. The chiefcleric said it is the time toget united against the en-emies and expose them infront of the masses.

Samiul Haq said all the

Sectarian differencescan be resolved if

govt is seriouspolitical parties have formu-lated a code of conduct in1995 and situation would havebeen different if it was imple-

mented letter and spirit.Earlier,speaking to media after inLahore, Maulana Sami-ul-Haqsaid Prime Minister MianMohammad Nawaz Sharifwant to resume the battlewhich even former presidentsGen.Rtd. Pervez Musharrafand Asif Ali Zardari failed towin.—Agencies

PESHAWAR—The Federal Disaster Manage-ment Authority (FDMA) has said the in-ternally displaced persons (IDPs) registeredwith NADRA will be sent back to Bara tehsilof Khyber Agency in the first phase. Ac-cording to a statement of the FDMA, IDPsfrom Shalobar, Malikdinkhel, BarKambarkhel, Storikhel and Akakhel tribeswill be sent back to their areas. It said mo-bile phone SIMs and ATM cards will alsobe given to the returning tribesmen to getrelief goods.

According to the statement, the cell

NADRA registered IDPs to berepatriated in first phase: FDMA

phone SIMs and ATM cards will be givento the IDPs of Shalobar at Haji Camp,Peshawar, to IDPs of Kambarkhel and BarKambarkhel at Lala Killi, Peshawar, toMalikdink-hel IDPs at Taru, Nowshera, toKamarkhel and Storikhel IPDs at Pabbi,Nowshera, to Akakhel IDPs at Nasirpur,Peshawar, and to the IDPs residing atJalozai camp in the same area on February4. Khy-ber Pakhtunkhwa Governor SardarMehtab Ahmed Khan had announced re-turn of IDPs to Bara tehsil of Khyber Agencyfew days ago.—INP

STAFF REPORTER

PESHAWAR—The govt of KhyberPakhtunkhwa has decided to launchnew programme of construction ofstandardized schools wherein 100high schools with international stan-dard of quality, security and educa-tional facilities would be constructedby June this year. Rs 2 billion arebeing released for this purpose. Simi-larly decisions have also been madeto give fast pace autonomy to all di-visional headquarter hospitals andupgrade all the district headquarterhospitals to the teaching status byequipping them with latest medi-carefacilities.

It is also decided to appoint

KP to construct 100 int’lstandard schools by June

members of the board of governorson emergent basis and fixed dead-line of 15th February for this pur-pose. These measures are aimed toprovide all better facilities of edu-cation and health to the people attheir door steps and hence they donot bother in future to travel to bigcities for availing these facilities.KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattakchaired a high level meeting at CMSecretariat Peshawar in this regardwherein steps taken so far and fu-ture line of action was threadbarediscussed after imposition of edu-cation and health emergencieswherein necessary decisions weretaken.

The meeting was attended by

Senior Minister for health ShahramKhan Tarakai, Minister for HigherEducation and Information MushtaqGhani, Minister for Schools and Lit-eracy Muhammad Atif Khan, ChiefSecretary Amjad Ali Khan, Addi-tional Chief Secretary Dr. HamadAwais Agha, Secretaries and otherhigh authorities of education, healthand finance departments. PervezKhattak while addressing the meet-ing said that the govt and ministriesare not bid of roses now but in-facthave turned into thrones of thornsand heavy responsibilities whereinwe have to work round the clock andgive results to the masses and partyleadership.

He said that his party head

Imran Khan contacts him and ap-prise himself of the progress aboutperformance of govt and depart-ments every second day. He ac-knowledged that though perfor-mance of the three ministers andtheir departments is outstandingbut it has to improve more andachieve targets with more momen-tum for which all the officials are tobe streamlined accordingly.

He while ordering for construc-tion of 100 standardized schoolsand immediate release of funds forthe purpose further emphasized theneed to complete the constructionand operationalization of all thesehundred top standard schools dur-ing this year.

Shahbazwelcomes cutin petroleum

products pricesSALIM AHMED

LAHORE—Punjab Chief Min-ister Muhammad ShahbazSharif has said that the recentrecord reduc-tion in the pricesof petroleum products by fed-eral government is a com-mendable decision. He saidthat substantial decrease inthe prices of petroleum prod-ucts once again is an excel-lent gift of PML(N) govern-ment for the peo-ple.

He said that continuousde-crease in the prices of pe-troleum products is a clearproof of the government ofbeing people-friendly. TheChief Minister said that ser-vice to the masses and provi-sion of relief to them is theagenda of PML(N). He saidthat the government led byPrime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif will continuesteps of pro-viding relief tothe people in fu-ture as well.

Rs 700mbeing spenton 2 bridges

RENALA KHURD—PunjabIrrigation Minister MianMuhammad Yawar Zamanhas said the provincial gov-ernment was utilizing all re-sources to provide irrigationwater to farmers at tail end.

Talking to the media af-ter inspecting under con-struction bridge at LowerBari Doab Canal (LBDC)near here he told.—APP

SHEIKHUPURA: A view of the historical fort in Sheikhupura. The US Embassy in Islamabad has provided Rs. 85 million for restoration of thehistorical fort.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN—Students in DeraIsmail Khan have demanded to further im-prove the security measurements ofschools and colleges. Educational institu-tions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were di-rected to beef up their security arrange-ments after the Peshawar attack and werenot allowed to open unless the assuranceof complete security however, despite theorders of the government no substan-tialchange appeared in the security of GomalUniversity city campus.

According to the sources, the height ofthe external wall is five-foot and branchesof trees have been placed instead of barbedwires. Further, no CCTV camera has beeninstalled in the campus and no securityguard has been deployed at the entranceand exit points of the university.

However, the students are hopeful re-garding the bright future of the country

Students want varsitysecurity measures

but some educational institutions are nothonestly working to provide them a se-cure future. Renala Khurd: Federal Parlia-mentary Secretary for Railways Syed AshiqHussain Kirmani Saturday said the gov-ernment had made necessary arrange-ments on war footing to ensure security ofeducational institutions.

He said this while checking securitymeasures taken for educational institutionsin his constituency NA-145. He said thegovernment had take solid and practicalsteps to weed out terrorism from the coun-try and the whole nation was united on thisissue and stand with the government.

Kirmani said the federal government wasendearing for day and night for the prosper-ity and development of the people. He addedthat various uplift schemes were also inprogress in his constituency for the provi-sion of basic facilities to people.—Agencies

I S L A M A B A D — N a t i o n a lHighways Authorities(NHA) will start physicalwork on Karachi-HyderabadMotorway (M-9) Projectsoon. An official of NHA in-formed APP that the im-plementation on the M-9project was priority of theauthority and Sindh Gov-ernment has been facilitat-ing NHA in administrativematters to ensure better,qualitative communicationservice to the people.

He said that 136 km longK a r a c h i - H y d e r a b a dMotorway was an importantproject not only in the per-spective to have better com-munication facilities to thepeople of both cities but is apart of Karachi-LahoreMotorway (KLM) project tofacilitate the people of theentire country.

To a question, he saidthat presently Super High-way was in dilapidated con-dition due to heavy trafficand expiry of its designedperiod. He said for repair andimprove-ment of the high-way, NHA approved periodicmaintenance schemes un-der Annual MaintenancePlan (AMP) 2013-14 amount-ing to Rs 305.28 mil-lion.

It is worth to mentionhere that twice in the pastfew years the NHA awardedthe contract to two firms onBOT basis but both failed tocomplete financial close asper conditions of the con-tract and their contractswere terminated. In Septem-

M-9 constructionto start soon: NHA

ber 2006,the Authority hadsigned a concession agree-ment for construction of the136 km M-9 with StandardConstruction but the con-tract was cancelled next yearas the firm failed to completefinancial close in time.

In 2011 the NHAawarded the contract of con-struction of Carica-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9)to Malaysian ConstructionCompany M/s Binapuri Hold-ing, on BOT basis withconces-sionaire period of 28years. However the NHA wasforced to terminate the con-tact in September 2012 as thesaid firm failed to complete fi-nancial close in stipulatedtime.

The Super Highway be-gins north of Carica at theend of Mohammad AliJinnah Road, near junctionof Kara-chi Northern By-pass (also known as M-10).It is connected with the Ka-rachi Northern Bypass witha trumpet interchange. Thenit continues out of the city.From there it continues on anorth-east track and forms ajunction with the N-5 via alink road.

The highway ends out-side of Hyderabad,in thesuburban town of Kotri witha cloverleaf interchangewhere it merges into the N-5.The M-9 Motorway willhave seven interchanges,two service areas at the mid-way points and 16 toll pla-zas on entry and exitpoints.—APP

DERAGHAZI KHAN: A view of the carnage at the site after Khushal Khan KhattakExpress rammed into a tractor trolley.

FAISALABAD—Sui Northern Gas PipelinesLim-ited (SNGPL) unearthed gas pilferageat Narwala and detached illegal gas con-nections to more than 60 hours.

General Manager (GM) distribution ofSNGPL told here on Saturday that a teamconducted raids at various parts ofGulshan-e-Barkat, a private housingcolony near Jawad Club on Narwala Road,and de-tected gas pilferage to more than60 houses.

The gas connections were provided tohouses illegal without permission of theSNGPL and resi-dents of these houses hadbeen stealing gas for the last six months.Meanwhile, it is reported from Rawalpindithat Police on special directives of CityPolice Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi HumayunBashir Tarar con-ducted raids and arrestedfour accused for running illegal liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG) agencies.

According to details, Naseerabad po-lice netted Badshah Khan and Waris Khan

Operation against sub-standard gas cylinders

Gas connections to60 houses detached

Police nabbed Kala Khan, Ijaz and Khurramfor operating illegal LPG agencies. Policeconfiscated LPG cylinders and refilling gad-gets from their possession and registeredcases against the accused.This was stated by SNGPL General Man-ager Amjad Mumtaz during a meeting withbusinessmen at the Faisalabad Chamberof Commerce and Industry.

He said that the government hadframed national energy and gas load man-agement policies and the company wouldstrictly adhere to it. “Some people havein-stalled compressors illegally to get maxi-mum gas.

MULTAN: A grand operation againstsub-standard gas cylinders manufacturershas been ordered in the city. District OfficerCivil Defence Tariq Waheed Rana on Satur-day conducted raids at four factories inJalilabad and Pak Gate police limits. Hesealed the plants and got cases registeredagainst owners of the factories.—APP

Youth killshis brother

FAISALABAD—A youthstabbed his brother to deathover a minor dispute, in thejurisdiction of GhulamMuhammad Abad police sta-tion. According to police,Mu-hammad Bilal (27) quar-relled with his youngerbrother Rashid over a domes-tic dis-pute.

In a fit of rage, Rashid at-tacked his elder brother Bilalwith a sharp edged weaponand killed him on the spot.The police have taken thebody into custody andstarted search of the accusedwho managed to escape fromthe scene.

Meanwhile, two personsin-cluding a girl were killedin separate inci-dents in cityduring last 24 hours.

According to police, a six-year-old girl Iqra was cross-ing Rajbah Road near Chak215-RB when a rashly drivencar ran over her and she diedon the spot.—APP

Khurram forexemplary

punishment toworkers’ killers

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minis-ter for Commerce EngineerKhurram Dastagir has under-lined the need for giving ex-emplary punishment to thosefound involved in killings ofpolitical workers in Karachi.

“There should be sternaction against whosoever isinvolved in killings of politicalworkers in Karachi without anydiscrimination,” he said whiletalking to a news channel.

He said restoration ofpeace in the metropolis wasresponsibility of the provincialgovernment and the federalgovernment would provide allpossible assistance in this re-gard. The Minister highlightedimportance of peace and im-proved law and order inKarachi saying that establish-ing peace there was essentialfor economic growth.— APP

PESHAWAR—Speaker KhyberPakhtunkhwa As-sembly AsadQaiser Saturday said that nocompro-mises would be made onquality in the ongoing developmen-tal projects and if anyone found inin-volving in commission or bribewould be dealt with iron hands.

He said this during inspectionat Badari Left Irrigation Scheme inZada, District Swabi. He said thereis no shortage of fund and morefunds would be allocated so that all

No compromise on dev projects qualityongoing developmental pro-jectscould be completed well in time.

Asad Qaiser said that the peoplehave given them huge mandate andthat is why all the elected represen-tatives have been told to serve themasses. “I’m very much keen toserve the people without party poli-tics,” he added. He said the peopleare better judge the performance ofthe government. He said the gov-ernment has full focused on thesolution of the problem being faced

by the common man.“I have tried more despite busy

schedule to keep myself among themasses because the masses are thereal power,” Asad Qaiser remarked.He said with the completion ofBadari Irrigation Scheme it wouldbring new prosperity in the rank offarmers of the area. He said the gov-ernment, while sensing the impor-tance, has already initiated pro-jectsrelated to male ensure easier ap-proach of the farther to the markets

He said after the completion ofthe said irriga-tion project it wouldbring revolution in the overall liv-ing standard of the farmers as morethan 1556 acres of land would beirrigated. The project, he said, wouldbe completed in two year time. Theproject would also help in avoidingdanger of blood to the area.

Speaking KP Assembly AsadQaiser said that the constructionwork on 18 kilometers of road wouldalso be completed very soon.—APP

Anti-measlesdrive in Attock

JAND—Two weeks long anti-measles special drive, beganin all tehsils and towns ofAttock district has enteredinto its sixth day on Satur-day Executive District Of-ficer (EDO-Health)DrMusarat Abdullah.

EDO Health told APPthat during this ongoing vig-orous drive about 475570children will be ad-minis-tered measles vaccine in allthe six tehsils of districtAttock. He informed that morethan 200 mobile health teamsand 62 health centers wereoperating in the district tocomplete the task of immuni-zation.—APP

ISLAMABAD—The Met Of-fice has forecast a cold andpartly cloudy weather for al-most across country on Sun-day. The Meteorological De-partment Karachi on Satur-day forecast dry weatherwith cool night and hazy/misty morning for Karachiduring the next 24 hours.

According to the Met.Office the minimum tem-perature in the city is likelyto remain between 10 and 12degrees centi-grade.

Mainly cold/very coldand dry weather is ex-pectedto prevail in Sindh and

Cold, partly cloudyweather likely

Balochistan region. Mean-while, the Multan Met officehas forecast cold and partlycloudy weather for the city

and its suburbs during thenext 24 hours. On Saturday,the maximum and minimumtem-peratures were recordedas 21.8 C and 6.0 degrees cen-tigrade, respectively.—APP

We salute Shiiteleadership

IN one of the most dastardly acts of terrorism, sixty innocent peoplelost their lives and about fifty others were injured when a powerfulbomb went off at a Shikarpur Imambargah minutes before Friday prayers.

Doomsday scenario was witnessed as roof of the two storey mosque cavedin burying many injured worshippers under the rubble and limbs of humanbodies scattered here and there.

The country is in the grip of terrorism and it is understood that fleeingterrorists, who are now being squeezed by the decisive strikes of operationZarb-e-Azb, are trying to inflict maximum damage to create panic, terror andchaos. Sectarian dimension of the terror is nothing new as the enemy has beentrying to create a wedge between two major sects of the country and incidentslike those happening in Rawalpindi a few weeks back and earlier killing ofhundreds of members of the Hazara community in Balochistan were part ofthe same strategy. However, the attack in Shikarpur has a new dimension inthat it is first such incident in interior Sindh which is known to be land ofSufis, who preached peace, love, affection and brotherhood for centuries, andwhose followers are living in complete harmony in the region. This is obvi-ously an attempt to stir violence and cause a split in an otherwise coherentenvironment and therefore, should be a cause for concern. However, creditgoes to members of the Shiite community and their leadership, who have sofar, shown complete understanding of the situation and have frustrated de-signs of the enemy. As Shiite and Sunnis have been living in peace and thetwo sides know each other fully well, the Shiite leadership has demonstratedmaturity despite extreme provocations and violence. Though the incidentslike the one in Shikparpur seems to have sectarian angle but Shiite leadersunderstand that neither Sunnis nor schools, seminaries, mosques, Imambargahsor bazaars are safe and terrorists are hitting every conceivable target. Thestate has already launched an all out operation against terrorism and extrem-ism and hopefully the sagacity shown by Shiite leaders and the communitywould contribute towards total elimination of the terror. National unity, soli-darity and harmony are key to defeat terrorism and we are glad Shiite havefull comprehensions of the prevailing situation and their role. We, therefore,salute Shiite leadership for frustrating designs of the enemy.

China to ensure Paksovereignty and independenceIT is heartening that with the passage of every day, Pakistan-China friend

ship is assuming greater meaning and depth to the mutual benefit of thetwo nations. From the day one, Sino-Pak friendship has been a source ofinspiration and strength for Pakistan but with every passing day it is be-coming more definitive and crystal clear.

A manifestation of this clarity is there in the categorical statement of theChinese Prime Minister, Mr. Li Keqiang during his meeting with SpeakerNational Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in Beijing. While welcoming theSpeaker, the Chinese Premier emphatically stated that his country alwaysattached priority to expanding relations with Pakistan and firmly supports thecountry’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and integrity ofits territories. These are not customary words as they convey the firm resolveof China to help Pakistan meet the challenges it faces due to a host of factors.The timing of these remarks is also very significant as they come in the back-drop of just concluded visit of the US President to India where the two coun-tries signed agreements and expressed desire to work for goals that run di-rectly against national interests of both Pakistan and China. While Chinesehave been quite categorical and firm in their support for Pakistan, it is some-thing unfortunate that we are lacking in giving a matching response to thegoodwill gestures from Beijing. China has not only been extending much-needed political and diplomatic support to Pakistan but also offering substan-tial financial and economic assistance. It has also undertook to invest about45 billion dollars on projects that are part of the proposed Pakistan-ChinaEconomic Corridor, which has the potential to change regional economicdynamics besides transforming development landscape in Pakistan. With thisin view, we have been urging that the Prime Minister should take personalinterest in ensuring speedy implementation of different components of theCorridor. No doubt, the Government has other problems as well like the on-going war against terror, consuming both the resources as well as energy, butthis is equally important to move forward on economic front particularly whena friend like China is there to make necessary investment.

While Education Policyis being revised

MINISTER of State for Education, Training and Standards in HigherEducation Engineer Balighur Rehman on Friday announced that the

revised National Education Policy would be launched after requiredamendments by the year 2016. Speaking at the 4th meeting of Inter-Pro-vincial Ministers’ Conference in Islamabad, he said a national level com-mittee has been notified to revisit the policy after amendments in linewith the 18th amendment in the Constitution, international commitments,vision 2025 and the latest trends.

It is understood that all is not well in the education sector and there isdefinitely a need not just for improvement but a revolution in view of whatis happening elsewhere in the world in this crucial sector. Hopefully, therevision would take care of prevailing dismal situation and propose mea-sures to upgrade quality and standard of education in every respect. Wewould also point out that in the past as well a number of committees, com-missions and task forces were set up, which recommended comprehensivemeasures but regrettably these fail to make any significant impact on theground situation just because we have been criminally slow, rather indiffer-ent as far as implementation is concerned. The fundamental issue is alloca-tion of required resources to bring about a real change but, with the excep-tion of a few years during Musharraf era, only lip service was paid andmeagre allocations were kept for education. Then there are issues related tolanguage of instruction, methods of teaching, training of teachers, IT andscience labs, syllabus, examination system, buildings, playgrounds, extra-curricular activities, strict monitoring to ensure achievement of stated goalsand above all the affordability of education for the masses. We hope allstakeholders would be taken on board during revision of the policy andtime bound targets would be fixed to achieve in the shortest possible time.

The killing spree continues!

Greececheckmates

Europe

THERE was, for the world towitness through televisioncameras and to read via social

media channels, an outpouring of joyon the streets of Athens when theCoalition of the Radical Left (whichis what the acronym ‘syriza’ standsfor) won 37.5% of the votes polledand 146 seats in the parliament.

The Syriza that has now formedthe new government brings togethera group of 13 radical and left-wingpolitical groups and factions rang-ing from democratic socialist andgreen-oriented to communist,trotskyist and maoist leftists andeven some anti-European groups.Regardless of their often divergentpolitical trajectories, their joint soli-darity is a remarkable achievement,not only for Greece but for Europe.

Already, the new Greek govern-ment is stamping upon Euro-politicsa new voice. Syriza has spoken outagainst the EU partners over thestatement that blames Russia for therecent attack on the Ukrainian cityof Mariupol (Hungary, Slovakia, andAustria had voiced similar objectionsearlier). The new government,headed by Prime Minister AlexisTsipras, said bluntly that “... it isunderlined that Greece does not con-sent to this statement”.

And that is one reason whyEurope’s parties — conservative orsocialist or some muddled admix-ture thereof — have become anx-ious at the electoral success of agenuine leftist party in one of thecountries of the European Union.They see the success of Syriza asencouraging and emboldeninggrowing leftist movements in largercountries, including Italy, Spain,France, Portugal and elsewhere, allcountries whose citizens have beenhurt by the iron heel of selective‘austerity’ imposed by the EuropeanParliament (in collaboration withthe International Monetary Fundand Europe’s central banks).

The resounding victory inGreece has halted in its tracks theprevailing neo-liberal consensus inEurope that the way to ‘reform’economies is to impose ‘austerity’,slash social programmes, hammerdown wages, boost unemployment,and privatise functions that havelong been public like transit, edu-cation, roads and health care. Thisis after all a coalition whose mani-festo stated, “The national debt isfirst and foremost a product of classrelations, and is inhumane in itsvery essence. It is produced by thetax evasion of the wealthy, the loot-ing of public funds, and the exorbi-tant procurement of military weap-ons and equipment.” Greece hasspoken and all of Europe ischanged. —Khaleej Times

*****

More car-free dayscan make

a hugedifference

COME February 4, more than7,000 private vehicles inDubai will stay off the roads

to mark the Dubai Municipality’s an-nual Car-Free Day. This initiative,which this year coincides with theNational Environment Day, is astrong reminder of our responsibil-ity towards the environment and ofconserving the planet’s depletingnatural resources. The side-effects ofour motoring lifestyles — Dubai reg-istered 1,264,315 vehicles in 2013,an increase of 11 per cent over 2012’s1,137,750 — include air pollution,fossil fuel depletion, increase in car-bon dioxide emissions, traffic acci-dents, stress and road rage.

Though observing even onecar-free day in a year has its ben-efits — 20 tonnes of carbon diox-ide emissions have been pre-vented through five editions of theCar-Free Day so far — more vol-untary car-free days by people inDubai could lead to tremendousincremental benefits overall.Dubai’s Roads and Transport Au-thority (RTA) is working towardsmaximum saturation of publictransport in the emirate and alsosetting up more integrated trans-port hubs. This should encourageresidents to go car-free more fre-quently, especially during themonths when the weather is good.— Gulf News

MEDIA WATCH

IT ISN’T for the first time thatPakistanis have got to hear ofsuicide attack, or a bomb blast

on a Friday congregation (JummaPrayer). More than dozens have hap-pened before. It has regretfully be-come a part of our lives since 30 oddyears, people of my generation re-fer to the 80s and 90s era for morecalm than today, but still it existedand so we moved on from one de-cade to the next till we landed in the2000s hearing stories of this or thatfrom the government spokesper-sons, from media, from civil soci-ety etc. Fact of the matter is; we havebeen desensitized to death/killing,massacres, we have been playedwith in the most gruesome way! Un-fortunate for the children of thiscountry who have to bear the samefantasy stories our generation usedto hear from the government.

Today’s massacre took place inShikarpur, Sindh at an ImamBargah where people had gatheredfor the Friday congregation. Over60 people died, the rest have beencritically injured, which means oversixty families got affected and thosewho are in the hospital their fami-lies continue to be on the edge!According to Bomb Disposal squad5-7 kg of explosives were used inthis attack. Horrific pictures cameon media from the site of the blastwith blood, shoes and tattered wallsof the unfortunate place. This inci-dent happened exactly 44 days af-

The concept of unfettered authority

THE big news is that theGovernor of Punjab has resigned. That is the TV big

news but the real news is that thereis really no unfettered authoritywith any one barring the supremeauthority of Allah. The real Punjabis emerging. I have known this fam-ily from early days - cricketing wiseas well as politically.

The umpire that he had whileplaying cricket, was none otherthan one related to the bastipathans of Jullunder. As the Fi-nance Minister with GovernorJillani, I had seen him lap up towhatever Jillani used to say. I hada great regard for Gen. Jillani forthe simple reason that he was aperformer and a developer with avision. Those were heady days forme for I had done my Doctoratefrom a British University and wasthe Chief Economist with the gov-ernment of Punjab.

Power oriented people feelthat they have unfettered author-ity and take any kinds of decisions.In actual fact the higher one goesin life, the higher social skills haveto be developed. Power is a trustand nothing else. The minute oneabuses it, it comes back to haunt.It is the law of nature that everydead body that is thrown up in thesocial system after an unnaturalartificial death, has to be ac-counted for and here in this world.Personally whenever I had an is-sue that was from the governmentside I used introspection as towhether I had done somemisdemeanours? This is sostrongly in me that I cannot get ridof this system of censorship. It allgoes back to my working in EastPakistan. The Governor was

Health is betterthan wealth.

Monem Khan and, believeyou me, KB was a gentlemanin front of this scoundrel.Ayub relied on him. He usedto, through the Dacca Uni-versity students, breed vipersnakes and then have them

planted in the political opponents’rooms at night. The opponent diedfor natural consequences.

When Monem Khan’s timecame the Bengalis tied his arms andlegs to four jeeps and ripped himapart. They killed all members ofhis generation for he had accumu-lated so much hate. No one cameto his rescue. His only survivor wasa grandson who was studying hereat Ghora gali. Zakir Shah the sportscommentator brought him to myhouse saying that I have to give himshelter and then sent him outsidethe country as the boys were think-ing of lynching him. We did justthat and next time I was in England,I met him accidentally at a takeaway. He was serving people. Whata fall through no fault of his. TheEast Pakistan experience that I havehad is replete with such stories.Azam Khan was successful becausehe had a soft corner for the poorBengalis. The power structure mustunderstand that what they do to thissociety they will be made to pay inthe near future.

That the bill has to be paid inhere and now. I have yet to see anyone committing a human crime gofree. I was of this firm opinion tillone day I went and met one of myold friends and stated to him thatif given another chance I will tryand be friendly with my Ministers.He disagreed with me. He askedme how could a leopard change hisstripes. I was known to battle myway through Cabinet meetings. AsChairman of Water ManagementInstitute Colombo I met and be-friended amongst others RobertMcNamara the Defence Secretaryof the USA during the Vietnam cri-sis. I enquired as to why he was

against pulling out the Americantroops at the Cabinet meetingchaired by President Johnson. Hewas surprised that I knew about it.But he gave piece of advice thatday. Zaafar, he said in his drawl,if you ever are convinced of some-thing, then speak-out; for the dan-ger of not speaking is far greaterthan the one by not speaking. Iburnt myself out many times but Ispoke out. What Governor ofPunjab has done is that he has spo-

ken out at the mal-administrationthat was and is going on in Punjab.Ironically this is only the tip of theiceberg. The stories that will comeout will be much more sensational.They have been guilty of the mostperverted crimes that a mind canever imagine.

Aristotle was right when he saidthat no political idiot should be al-lowed the right to commercializehis political life; he has to chooseone or the other. Go to any area andyou will see the most horrendouscrimes have been committed inPunjab as well as Pakistan.Pawnjab has been pawned. You cannow go and take your pick of thesecond hand Punjab. This family

ter Army Public School massacre inPeshawar on December 16th 2014where 140 plus casualties took place.What lessons have we learnt in thesealmost six weeks? What precautionsdid the Government take? How se-riously was intelligence taken?Where should the innocent peopleof Pakistan turn to? Who should theyask for justice - Government, themilitary, the Courts? Who?

So who would be the beneficiaryof killing innocent children at schoolor Namazis (worshippers) in amosque? Certainly not a Muslim!Definitely not those who believe in oneGod; who fear Him or believe in hu-manity. This has to be the act of thosewho take killing as a game, as a spree,as a hunt that would fetch fist full ofmoney. In short mercenaries!! Whosemercenaries are they? Who wouldbenefit from chaos and killing in Pa-kistan? Definitely the enemy, no friendcan do this to the other.

People of Pakistan demand an-swers! Enough of creating commit-tees, enough of taking “Notice” of thisincident, enough of ordering this orthat by the Prime Minister of Paki-stan. Enough of condemnatory notes;stop the condemnations and take anaction. If he cannot take a substantialstep in pin pointing the criminals, giv-ing a secure environment to the citi-zens of this country, he might as wellstep down from his office. Everycorner, every town, every city of Pa-kistan has been bled by these terror-ists. How many dead bodies more?How many coffins more? How manybody parts more to collect before werealize that it is time to pack them upor pack up the government who is too

scared to name an entity, or providesafety to its own people.

This present Government ex-actly knows who is behind theseattacks; they exactly know theheads of these terrorist outfits butthey are hell scared to take theirname. They want to maintainpeace in Punjab, but for how long?While the rest of Pakistan mournsand buries their dead how long canPunjab stay out of it? Let’s be re-alistic for once!

All those safe havens given tothese outfits in Punjab (North, Cen-tral and South) need to be busted,we must take them head on, or theywill take us. It is time to face themthan to hide behind closed doors.These outfits are given protection bythe political parties in power andotherwise for the sake of terrorizingopponents and used by land mafiaagents who have very hefty linkswith the ruling party Ministers, theyare so strong and resourceful thatthey can kidnap sons of Governorand ex Prime Minister of Pakistan.(One wonders why sons of both PPPfamilies have been abducted andkept away for so long) They are alsoinvolved in kidnapping of known in-dustrialists, taking millions of rupeesout of those families who are af-fected. If TTP can be taken head on,bombed by Pakistan Army, whycan’t these outfits be taken care of?What is stopping this to happen?

Education is being deliberatelyignored in this country. It is a fun-damental right of every child, it isthe most basic and important thing,in Pakistan it became a wealthy lu-crative business when turned into

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were a meek lot in front of Gover-nor Jillani. After he left, theyturned on his legacy. Pakistan andPunjab will have a rocky ride if Iknow my forty years of experi-ence. There are worst times tocome in the short run. In the not-too-distant future one sees that thecriminals will be haunted downand taken to task. There is no get-ting away from it. Justice will haveto be provided to the families thatseek redemption.

I went through the shajra ofthe elected representatives and Ifound some interesting details.One of them happened to be a filecarrier for a tout who was also theLambardar of that area. There wasanother one whose marriage wasa shot gun one. There were somewho were very decent and who aresidelined at the moment. But allof them are rolling in money somelegally but most illegally. BarringMNA Dasti, there is no concept ofserving the people.

George Orwell the author ofAnimal Farm must be turning inhis grave for no one has heard ofthis kind of double speak as isgoing on here. How can this lotbe our leaders. When moral au-thority is where it is, how can anyone believe what policy they laydown? It is bedlam and we are theones to blame. If this man is notbrought down soon the countrywill be in ruins with no chanceof developing along the rightlines. You may have the lota syn-drome or you may have Alsationlike loyalty but ultimately thisform of government has to bebrought down. When social sys-tems putrefy they go down withalarming speed.

Mackinsy or no Mackinsy thisis the end of the road. Make hastequickly so that some remnants ofstate hood are saved. We are thelaughing stock of the world.— The writer is a retired FederalSecretary.

—Proverb

privatization making it impossiblefor an ordinary man’s child to stepin the world of knowledge. Lit-eracy rate in Pakistan is not goingup but falling down becauseamong the mass population ofover 200 million only 15% to 20%can read, write and speak. No sub-stantial steps have been taken toeducate the children of poorpeople in the rural areas by thisGovernment or any that came be-fore it. This has been deliberatelydone so that the uneducated massturns to criminal ways. Majorityof these youngsters have no otheroption but to go to Madrassahswhere they are brain washed tocreate a specific line of followers.They could be against anyone tothe extent that they can kill any-one. This has nothing to do withIslam or its teachings.

Which ever entity took re-sponsibility of today’s attack isneither worth a mention, nor aconcern for a common Pakistanibecause the Government alreadyknows who they are. Already thecitizens of this country are bear-ing beyond their patience level; theincompetence of the incumbentgovernment is evident in everysphere. How can one forego thecatastrophic shortages or blackoutin these past two weeks?

Be it majority or minority, noone is safe. Pakistanis need theirdignity back, they want security,they demand respect, and theylong for peace!— The writer is a freelanceanalyst, author of two books andis based in Lahore.

Dr Zafar AltafEmail:dr_altaf@hotmail.com

Ayesha Zee Khan Email: ayeshazeekhan@live.com

Aristotle wasright when he said

that no politicalidiot should be

allowed the right tocommercialize his

political life; he hasto choose one orthe other. Go to

any area and youwill see the most

horrendous crimeshave been

committed inPunjab as well as

Pakistan.

Voice of the People

Americaand ISISSIDRA TALHA

The recent news revealingAmerica’s support and funding tothe so-called Islamic State (IS) isreally shocking. United States whichhas been so far considered to be astaunch fighter against terrorism, isnow unveiled as the creator of anextremist group.

Latest developments haveraised many questions on Americanintegrity towards Muslim world. Ithas been perceived that in order tomaintain its supremacy and control,particularly on Middle East,America created IS. In such state ofaffairs, US government shouldclarify its position and role.—Karachi

No room forabsolute freedom

ENGR. ARSALAN THAHIM

Every one has right to free speechbut no one is allowed to have li-cence. Free expressions must havesome restrictions in terms of mor-als. If one goes beyond these limits,it creates chaos and trauma in thesociety. Though, secular societiessupport the unlimited right to havefree ideas but at least they must berestricted solely for the religiouspurpose. This religion can either beIslam, Christianity and etcetera.

The attack on satirical Frenchmagazine of Charlie Hebdo was areaction of highly unchecked free-dom of expression of that mediagroup and as well many others. Asthe Charlie Hebdo magazine hadviolated the religious morals of Ju-daism, Christianity in generally andparticularly of Islam. Both Muslimand non-Muslim states condemnedthe attack of human rights violationact. On meantime, they should seeand impose restrictions on the me-dia - primarily for religious purpose– to discourage hurting one’s reli-gion. There are certain other waysto express your opinions, ideas andthoughts rather than expressing onlyto break the laws of other religions.The famous English writer hasrightly said’ Liberty is not a personalaffair but a social contract”.—Shikarpur

Z A Bhutto – acharismatic leader

JAVAID BASHIR

Very few people are born genius,who exhibit signs of greatness intheir early childhood. They tend tobecome exceptional individuals.The history does not forgive any-body and even the mythical figuresare lost in the vagaries of time andspace. The images are shattered bythe force of time. Zulifikar AliBhutto was an iconic legendary andcharismatic leader. He was born onJanuary 5, 1928. He graduatedfrom Cambridge and SouthernCalifornia University and rose tothe bar from Inner Temple.

He started his legal practice inKarachi, and later became theyoungest Foreign Minister in AyubKhan’s regime. After 65 war, ma-jor difference arose between them.Z. A Bhutto resigned from the Cabi-net, and founded an independentpolitical party, under the name of‘Pakistan People’s Party’ in 1967at Lahore. It became the most popu-lar political party and won the gen-eral elections held in 1970 in WestPakistan. Sheikh Mujib urRehman’s Awami League pocketedthe overall majority at the nationallevel, though all its winning candi-dates were from Fast Pakistan. Mr.Bhutto was a charismatic leaderand having intelligence of first or-der, could influence and prevailupon the then Martial Law Admin-istrator and President of Pakistan,Gen. Yahya Khan to mobilize theevents in his own favour. Hence,the President over-delayed thetransfer of power to the electedleaders. This denial of ‘right to rule’to Awami League, the winning

A way to reduce debt burdenSYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMAD

Three recent steps (activation of National Action Plan against terrorism, reduction of the prices ofpetroleum products [sans the lubricants] and swiftly controlling the shortages of petrol in the prov-

ince of Punjab) initiated under PM Nawaz Sharif’s direct command, speaks volumes about his concernsregarding the public welfare issues, for which you deserves full kudos. In this regards, I invite his atten-tion towards the fragile economic situation of Pakistan and the golden opportunity available to us, in theshape of an international decline of prices of the petroleum products. Pakistan’s economy is heavilyburdened by the sheer weight of debt servicing, which in coming days will keep on increasing. We mustfind some out of the box solutions to eliminate the debt burden of the country soonest possible. Nowconsidering that the poorest of the poor has had negligible benefit or the trickle down effect of thepetroleum prices reductions, in at least the public sector transport fares’ segment and also consideringthat reduction of debt burden of the country is the prime strategic objective, it is proposed that thefinancial benefit of any further reduction(s) on the petroleum products prices (except of the keroseneoil) should be deposited in a National Debt Servicing Fund, to meet the most important financial need ofthe country. I am sure many financial wizards will oppose this proposal and bring their own reasons, toresist the above suggestion, but nevertheless, they should be told that no solution is perfect/ideal and thecountry can not shift its focus from its major issues, due to minor problems.—Lahore

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View From Abroad

A breakthrough on trade in Asia

STRANGE bedfellows of 2015:As the Obama administrationpushes toward a major new

trade agreement in Asia this spring,it is developing two unlikely allies:Chinese officials abroad, who are sig-nalling that they want in, and Repub-licans in Congress, who appear will-ing to support what would be one ofPresident Obama’s biggest successes.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership,or TPP, is down to its final haggling.This week, negotiators from 12countries met in New York to resolvethe remaining issues, which havebeen narrowed from more than2,000. The toughest matters left,ironically, are agricultural disputeswith Japan and dairy and poultrydisagreements with Canada.

US negotiators hope they canclose out the TPP deal by the sum-mer and get it approved by Congress— thanks to Republican votes prom-ised by House Speaker John Boehner(Ohio) and Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell (Ky.). Republicanslike trade even more than they dis-like Obama, evidently. It’s a jobs billthat doesn’t cost any money. ThePeterson Institute for InternationalEconomics estimates that the market-opening features of the TPP will boost

US exports by about $123 billion an-nually by 2025 and add 600,000 jobs.

What’s fascinating is that Chinaseems to be catching TPP fever asthe trade negotiations accelerate.Four years ago, when the talks be-gan, Beijing was dismissive. Chi-nese leaders argued that the “GreatRecession” showed that the UnitedStates wasn’t competent to lead theglobal economy, and that the TPPwas just another scheme to encircleand contain the fast-growing Chi-nese economy.

You don’t hear that kind of carp-ing now. Chinese Prime Minister LiKeqiang sounded supportive lastweek at the World Economic Forumin Davos, where he said: “We needto act along the trend of our time,firmly advance free trade, resolutelyreject protectionism, and activelyexpand regional economic coopera-tion.” Chinese officials go further inprivate, recent conversations inBeijing and Washington.

They have said that China wantsto negotiate membership in the TPPand, indeed, would like to join in theprocess of setting its rules. The Chi-nese are more cautious in talkingwith US trade officials, asking in-stead how the process might work.But the message is clear: China seesthis train leaving the station andwants eventually to be onboard. USTrade Representative Michael

Froman is said to have cautionedthe Chinese that it will take a whilefor their economy to match theopenness that the TPP would re-quire. But in the meantime, theUnited States and China are nego-tiating a bilateral investment treatythat front-loads some of the tough-est TPP issues. Chinese PresidentXi Jinping personally decided lastyear to embrace the investmenttreaty. The two sides are bargain-ing now over the “negative list” ofindustries or products that would beexcluded from the pact; everythingelse would be included — a bigjump for Beijing.

The Chinese seem to realize thatthey have to live in a TPP world.Other Asian countries that stayed outof this round, such as South Koreaand the Philippines, have signalledthat they want in. As a trading na-tion, China either joins its neighboursor risks losing a share of the expand-ing global market.

“The current situation for Chinais unsustainable,” argues retired Adm.Dennis Blair, a former director ofnational intelligence who’s now headof the Sasakawa Peace FoundationUSA. He contends that unless Chinajoins the US-Japan led TPP consen-sus, accepting rules that will limittheft of intellectual property, its traderelations “will drop back to a conven-tional, transactional basis, without an

Peace or War: Global political quagmire

THERE’S no question that this“war” will continue indefinitely. There is no question that

US actions are the cause of that, thegasoline that fuels the fire. The onlyquestion - and it’s becoming less of aquestion for me all the time - iswhether this endless war is the in-tended result of US actions or just anunwanted miscalculation. Why wouldanyone in the US government or itsowners have any interest in putting anend to this sham bonanza of power andprofit called ‘the war on terror’?They’re preparing for more endlesswar; their actions are fuelling that war;and they continue to reap untold ben-efits from its continuation. GlennGreenwald (“The ‘War on Terror’ - byDesign - Can Never End.” The Guard-ian: 1/4/2013).

Let the Arabs be bombed,“weather is fair and clear for ac-tion”, signals the Syrian Govern-ment jet pilot. In seconds and min-utes, barrel bombs crush hundredsof innocent and inescapable humanlives into pieces. Cynicism sanc-tions insanity to watch the inhumanacts day and night as if it was noth-ing more than ‘collateral damage.’Bashar-al Assad is a dictator notopen to reason. Under Al-Sisi’smilitary regime shielded by the USinterests, Egypt once again is inlimelight with daily civilian blood-bath. The same is happening day inand day out in parts of Damascus,Homs and Aleppo and beyond. Ev-eryday, Baghdad is hit with coldblooded atrocities, some planned bythe Western coalition, others venge-ful sectarian cult operated by theIraqi forces, the ISIL and Iran. Asif the Iraqis and Syrians are not thenormal human beings.

The Western strategic plan aimsat incapacitating the entire Arab re-gion to assume political hegemoniccontrol. Bombing the Arabs is a freechoice available to most American-European leaders. There is no checkand no accountability as was the casebefore in Afghanistan and Iraq. Theworld views the stage drama sincefour years orchestrated bloodbath al-lowed to happen by inept interna-tional institutions, corrupt leadersand large segment of spectator glo-bal mankind. What went wrong withthe Crown Creation of God - the

human beings on this planet? Whatelse would turn them to be animal-istic in thoughts, behaviours and in-difference toward fellow mankind?Insanity is flourishing without ques-tioning the planned cruelty to de-stroy the humanity. Often, one won-ders, how the future generations (ifany left intact on the planet after theWW-III, already in progress), willsee the 21st century knowledge-based devilish political quagmire?What moral and intellectual heritagewould they claim from the contem-porary political governance? Howstrange, wrong people embeddedwith wrong thinking continue tomanage the global affairs withwrong priorities.

Hoax of “Islamization of Eu-rope” or Favourite Perversion fromTolerance and Societal Integration inEurope - Paris-based CharlieHebdo’s false cartoon portrayal ofProphet Mohammad (SAW) is notrare or the end in itself. Truth is oneand indivisible. French Republicmassacred 1.5 million Muslim free-dom fighters in Algeria; millionsuprooted and killed in Morocco andTunisia fighting for national free-dom. French history denies its real-ity and record. In both WWs, Frenchand Britain Empires used millionsof colonized Muslims to fight theirwars. British recruited Arabs andAsians to fight against the OttomanTurkish Empire. Both manipulatedand exploited the Muslim world’snatural resources and manpowerwhen needed in global conflicts.Today, they pretend as if Muslimsare new and unknown civic entityin Europe. Muslims are law abidingcitizens across Europe.

Those individuals, who commitcrimes, should be dealt by law ascriminals and nothing else. Someright wing agitators allege “Islam-ization of Europe” but fail to sub-stantiate any political emergence ofthis phenomenon. Muslims acrossEurope live as harmonious entity ofthe civic system and not as anoutcaste. If humour is a naturalcharacteristic of human intelligentbehaviour, it must have its moraland intellectual limits and account-ability. There was no question offreedom of expression at all. Euro-peans do enjoin freedom of expres-sion without the ‘cartoon’. SomeEuropean societies are living in thepast and do not see the enlighten-ment of the 21st century equality ofhuman beings. Islamophobia is an

organized scheme of things - an in-dustry – an anti-Islamic institution-alized hatred campaign and fear-mongering across the Westernworld. Some Europeans readilyembrace right wing fear mongeringslogans against Islam and Muslimsmore so living in France, Germanyand UK. The Right Wing activistsallege ‘Islamization of Europe’ butpolitical reality is altogether differ-ent. It is business as usual by en-trepreneurs and lobbyists propelledby certain vested political intereststo sabotage the communal harmonybetween Muslims and others. Itsultimate aims are to keep the NorthAmerican and European massesfearful of the growing Islamic pres-ence in these parts of the world asif Muslims were born in the eye ofthe storm to destroy the technologi-cal progress or to undermine the EUsecluded landscape after the WW-II. To Muslim societies, a crisissituation requires critical thinkingnot hasty actions of jumping intofireballs, verbal outbursts and burn-ing of others’ flags. Public demon-strations and competing shoutingslogans achieve nothing exceptwasting time and opportunities forpractical solutions. The crises de-serve critical thinking and matureactions to resolve the problems.

World is not as it is sensational-ized on the media screen, Arabs orMuslims are not the “terrorists” andall the Western leaders are not theindividualistically insane “war-mon-gers”. There is truth and facts of lifeoutside the news media’s box andglued labels of extremism warrant-ing serious contemplation to evolveour attitudes and perceptions as con-scientious citizens in the 21st centurychanging global affairs. People ofknowledge and intellect must initiatepresence to clarify the delusional andmonstrous mindset of the minorityruling elite across the globe.

The hoax of “Islamization ofEurope’ is more linked to plannedisolation and exclusion of the en-thusiastic young generation of Mus-lim entrepreneurs who are activelycontributing to societal peace,progress and future-building. Yet,some egoistic politicians view themas a threat to the futuristic shape andform of political configuration inEurope. The myth of ‘Islamizationof Europe’ assumes a perversion topoison the minds and hearts of Eu-ropeans against the presence of Is-lam in Europe. Ironically, the same

David Ignatius

Europeans have embarked on re-conquering the Arab-Islamicworld with thousands of groundtroops and technologically ad-vanced firepower. The goal isclear to control and manage theoil resources and landscape of theArab Middle East. How strange,they are not called “terrorists”.

If the Arabs were organizedand had the Unity of Faith andmoral and intellectual leadership,they could have been a force forinternational peacemaking andglobal order. How should the glo-bal humanity view the contem-porary Arab societies, their wartorn bloody cultures run by fewauthoritarian figures? While Is-lam taught Oneness of God andUnity of the believers, Muslimsare divided, leaderless and dis-persed in antagonistic sectarian-ism, governed by ignorant and in-tellectually bankrupt rulers,subservient to the Western mili-tary dictates. Would the Ameri-can and British political leaderslearn any lessons from their fail-ure in the on-going wars in Iraqand Afghanistan? It is just thatmost transgressors do not knowabout it when they crossover thelimits of the Laws of God.

The Roman, Austro-Hungar-ian and British Empires collapsedafter they violated the limits ofLaws of God governing the Earth.Nazis claimed to run the world forthousands of years, but ended upjust in 12 years after killing mil-lions throughout the Western hemi-sphere. Fascism met resistance atits early stages. Every beginninghas its end. On the continuing dailymassacres of the civilians in Iraq,Syria, and Yemen and across theterritories under ISIL, perhaps,Shakespeare (Julius Caesar) knewmore about the futuristic human ig-norance and arrogance and to haveimagined the 21st century’sfavourite political perversion:And let us bathe our hands inblood, up to the elbowsAnd besmear our wordsThen we will walk forth, even tothe market place.And weaving our red weapons o’erour headsLet us all cry “peace, freedom andliberty.”—The writer specialises in globalsecurity, peace and conflictresolution and is author of severalpublications.

overarching framework.”The TPP demonstration effect

isn’t lost on Europe, either. Afterdithering for much of last yearabout a similar agreement knownin trade-speak as the TransatlanticTrade and Investment Partnership,or TTIP, Europeans have held threenegotiating meetings since No-vember and will launch anotherround next week.

For a battered Europe veeringback toward recession, the tradeagreement offers the potential forexport-led growth, especially as theeuro sinks against the dollar and Eu-ropean exports become cheaper inworld markets. The transatlanticsolidarity represented by the TTIPis more welcome now, too, as Eu-ropeans and Americans contem-plate the reckless behaviour of Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin. Themoment when Europeans seemedready to walk away from TTIP be-cause of a snit over NSA surveil-lance seems long past.

What’s driving these political-economic realignments? Simply put,the US economy is stronger thananalysts expected a year ago, theChinese and European economiesare weaker and the Russian economyis much weaker. Even Republicansin Congress seem ready to let Obamaharvest the fruits.— Courtesy: The Washington Post

party, led to a precarious situationin East Pakistan where a civil warbroke out. India took advantage ofit and sent its Armed forces insideEast Pakistan. With India’s militarysupport and interference, Dacca fellto the Mukti Bahni, the local revo-lutionary militia. It was the worst de-feat in the history of Islam.

The surrender of Pak troops toIndian command was perturbing forthe nation. Finally after this surrender,the Yahya regime abdicated power andtransferred power to Z.A. Bhutto whogave new life to defeated mindset ofthe nation. A new era of reforms anddevelopment ushered in, nuclearprogramme was initiated, unity wasforged among Islamic countries underthe auspices of Islamic Summit Con-ference held at Lahore and a powerbloc of third world countries wasformed. However, after the chargesof massive rigging in the 1977 elec-tion, there erupted a mass movementagainst Bhutto that ended up in im-position of Martial Law by Gen. Ziaul Haq, on 5th July 1977, who ar-rested the entire leadership of thecountry. He initiated a murder caseof Nawab Ahmad Khan Qasuri. Ahostile Lahore high Court under theChief Justice Maulvi Mushtaq,awarded death sentence to Z.A.Bhutto; the appeal to Supreme Courtfailed to over turn sentence.

He was executed in theRawalpindi jail on April 4, 1979. Thefirst ever democratically electedPrime Minister was judicially assas-sinated by a zealot judge to settlesome score of his own. The goldenera of democracy came to end withhis him. He will be ever rememberedin the history of Pakistan.—Via email

Energy crisisand way forward

ASIM ANWAR MUGHAL

The crippling shortage of petrol andthe countrywide blackouts haveposed a grotesque picture of the wayin which the energy sector of thecountry is being managed. The recentcollapse of the power grid in the coun-try in the wee hours on Sunday exac-erbated the situation as a problemoccurred far in Baluchistan directlyimpacted on the routine life in otherparts of the country.

This unexpected crisis in the en-ergy sector makes it clear that themismanagement is a common busi-ness in institutions of the kind. Alsomanaging only the conventional waysof energy sector is not a wise deci-sion as a country with immense natu-ral resources should not be confinedonly to the non-renewable sources ofenergy. The supply of electricity andpower doesn’t seem to go in parallelwith the demand created by the grow-ing population of the country coupledwith expansion of industries and tech-nological gadgetry.Taking into con-sideration this all, structural reformsare mandatory for getting maximumbenefit of the available resources us-ing the technological and scientificknowledge. To counter this ongoingelectricity shortage and rising de-mand in the power sector, rigorouswork is necessary in the energypolicy. It is the need of the hour towork on renewable and alternate en-ergy resources as Pakistan has im-mense potential to create energy fromwind and solar sources. It is said thatPakistan has potential of wind energyranging from 10000MW to50000MW but ironically, no tangiblework has been done to get maximumbenefit of the wind resources.

If the government alone cannottake measures to work on similar re-sources, it should take some privatecompanies into the loop and collec-tively work for the national cause. Asin 2013, the Fauji Fertilizer Companypioneered the work on wind energyin Jhimpir Sindh by setting up a 50MW Wind Power project to provideenergy to the power grid but, it couldnot work more when oil mafia cre-ated hindrances in its path due to theirvested interests. The energy crisis canbe solved wisely by taking help ofsimilar companies which have alreadytaken robust steps to bringing out thecountry from widespread energy cri-sis. By taking into account the currentcrisis in the energy sector, a long term

Silence isn’t always golden..!

THERE’S a disquieting situation in India: On one handthere’s an articulate prime

minister, excellent with his rheto-ric, forceful in his content, a crowdmover with his speeches, gesturesand eyeballing, and on the otherhand, same man, stone faced indeathly silence. The preposterouslove-jihaad, silence!

Re-conversions-silence! Un-holidaying Christmas-Silence!And a host of other statements andmovements all met with a deathlyhush: One that is getting louder

than the million words he utters, non-stop! It’s his silence that once madehim unloved by the world. It’s his si-lence he will finally have to be an-swerable to! It’s his silence thatpeople still speak about in his homestate during the 2002 riots!

Thousands of years ago, Nero,the emperor of Rome is supposedto have played the fiddle whileRome burned. Nero focused muchof his attention on diplomacy, tradeand enhancing the cultural life ofthe Empire.

He ordered theatres built and pro-moted athletic games. During hisreign, the redoubtable general Corbuloconducted a successful war and nego-tiated peace with the Parthian Empire.His general Suetonius Paulinus

crushed a revolt in Britain. Nero an-nexed the Bosporan Kingdom to theEmpire and began the First Roman–Jewish War.

In 64 AD, most of Rome was de-stroyed in the Great Fire of Rome,which many Romans believed Nerohimself had started in order to clearland for his planned palatial complex,the Domus Aurea. He is infamouslyknown as the Emperor who “fiddledwhile Rome burned”.

He was rumored to have had cap-tured Christians dipped them in oil,then set them on fire in his garden atnight as a source of light!

The difference between Nero’stimes and today’s is that news trav-els faster. Tweets, Facebook and theInternet carry news to the ends of the

earth in a split second, but whenTwitter, Facebook and the Internetwhich are constantly used by thePM, on every other occasion are notused to give his comments on whatcitizens of India feel that commentsare needed on, then that silence isworse than the distant, historicsound of Nero’s fiddle!

The Prime Minister rode theelections on the wave of progress,and keeping silent on issues that arecausing a sense of unrest among theminorities will not help in anyway.Break your silence Mr Prime Min-ister, and let us hear your voice onissues that are slowly becomingburning ones. Silence isn’t alwaysgolden sometimes it’s plain yellow..!—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com

Dr Mahboob A KhwajaEmail:kmaboob@yahoo.com

energy policy must be formulated tocater this. Depending on only the ther-mal energy will not solve the issue aswith the price hikes in the basic needsand unemployment, the poor of thecountry are not in a position to bearthe expensive thermal power. Renew-able and alternate energy in the formof wind and solar must be given heedso that environmental friendly energywould be available for the people.—Via email

Media freedomKELLI MORGAN

Media is the main source of every-thing now-a-days. The other day, Iwas going through a random votingpoll that if should media be free ornot? I was quite surprised because95% had said ‘no’ to it. In my opin-ion those 95% of the people are in-volved in social media as well be-cause they had voted. Freedom ofmedia is the main topic and the mainproblem as well. Well, the first ques-tion arises, should it be free? YES andNO for me. Both the answers havemajor advantages and disadvantages.

Yes, media should be free be-cause Pakistan is a country whereanything is possible, and by anythingI mean the situation of the country,the role of our politicians and hiddentruths about the political parties wesupport and the bitter secrets abouttaxes. Many of us remember CaptainNavid and Meera. Right? Accordingto millions that was not a clip to beshown on the national television butit was the correct thing because ifcelebrities do such vulgar acts and donot get punished so will the peoplefollow them and do such acts.

In some cases Freedom of Me-dia is also a problem. Social media isthe biggest problem and the freedomof it. If you have a 1000 socializingpeople you also have 500 hackers.Girls have freedom from their housesand they upload pictures which aremostly hacked and photo-shopped.Because of this freedom access toproxy sites is accessible and porn isviewed at a large number which hasbecome a need for certain desperateand perverted ones. Living in an Is-lamic state this is surely the most dis-gusting thing to be viewed or to bepublicly told that “Pakistan is rankedas No.1 in the world in pornographicinternet searches.—Via email

Child labourcontinues

ANUM AFZAL

In the 90’s, when European countriesbanned import from countries whichhad small children working in facto-ries, the under-developed countriesrealized what ‘Child Labour’ was. Itis an outcome of a multitude of socio-economic factors which has deeproots in poverty, lack of opportuni-ties, high rate of population growth,unemployment, uneven distributionof wealth and resources, outdatedsocial customs and norms and aplethora of other factors.

To address this, Pakistan mustinvest in education. There should befree education for the poor and withit some technical skills should betaught to equip them to come out andbecome helpful and constructivemembers of the society. The Westunderstood this a long time ago andlaws were enacted very early to se-cure continued education for work-ing children. Now they have gone astep forward, and required comple-tion of at least the preliminary edu-cation in all developed countries.—Rawalpindi

JONATHAN TEPPERMAN

JONATHAN Tepperman, the managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, is writinga book on how to solve the world’s tough-

est political and economic challenges.In recent weeks, Western governments

have begun subtly shifting their positions onSyria. The Obama administration seems to havequietly dropped its demand that PresidentBashar al-Assad resign as a precondition ofpeace talks. Instead, reports suggest it has em-braced proposals that would allow Assad to bepart of an interim deal. The new approach im-plies that the White House and its allies be-lieve that the Syrian president might be opento a compromise that could end his country’sfour-year civil war.

I met with Assad on Jan. 20 in Damascus —his first interview by an American journalist since2013. And if there was one clear takeaway fromour talk, which you can read in full in ForeignAffairs, it was this: Such hopes are a fantasy.Superficially, Assad said many of the right things,appearing conciliatory and eager to involve West-ern governments in his struggle against Islamistterrorism. But underneath the pretty words, heremains as unrepentant and inflexible today ashe was at the start of the Syrian civil war fouryears ago. Assad seems to have no idea how badlythe war is going, how impractical his proposalssound and how meaningless his purported over-tures are. Which means that, whatever Westernleaders might wish, the fighting in Syria will endin one of two ways. Either Assad will defeat therebels. Or the rebels will defeat him — and stringhim up by his toes.

Visiting Syria today is a strange and un-settling experience. The signs of war are ev-

Assad is too delusional to end warerywhere. Damascus is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and concentric rings of armycheckpoints, manned by twitchy soldiers un-sure how to respond when a solitary American— I traveled without security but hired a localdriver — shows up. (Some were indifferent,others were hostile, and one grabbed my handand declared, “The Syrian Arab Republic Armyloves the American press!”) High concrete blastwalls shield most buildings, red-and-white-striped gun turrets loom over intersections,posters of Assad in shades and black militarydress hang from lampposts, United Nations aidworkers fill the hotels, and the booms and popsof artillery and mortar fire echo from the front,just a few miles away.

Yet despite the siege, cafes and marketsare bustling. The streets are thronged with fami-lies out shopping, with students heading toschool — and with hundreds of thousands ofrefugees who have more than doubled the city’spopulation since the war began.

But the most dissonant feature is the manresponsible for it all. Assad is tall, slight andbirdlike, with a vanishingly weak chin, noth-ing like the Hollywood picture of a murderousautocrat. From the moment he greeted me —with a smile, a handshake and a high-pitchedgiggle — at his private office, I entered a sortof Neverland of the dictator’s imagination.

His country may be burning, but all thatunpleasantness vanishes at the doorstep of thepresident’s Greek-revival villa, perched on ahill above town. The luxuriously modern suitewhere we talked had a huge new iMac on thedesk and a model of Westminster Abbey onthe sideboard (presumably a souvenir of hisyears spent studying ophthalmology in Brit-ain, but one that seems jarringly incongruous

now that Prime Minister David Cameron hascalled Assad “completely illegitimate”). Every-thing was designed to create an air of genteelcivility, down to the cappuccino that the ex-pensively dressed president offered. The manhimself was jovial, polite and utterly relaxed.

And he was disconcertingly good at pre-senting himself as a reasonable, rational actor.His critique of America’s Middle East policy,for example, is one shared by many lefties inthe West: The U.S. role, he told me, should be“to help peace in the region, to fight terrorism,to promote secularism, to support this area eco-nomically” and “not to launch wars. Launch-ing war doesn’t make you a great power.”

But behind the cheery aphorisms and thebarely-there mustache is a man so unyieldingand deeply deceptive — or delusional — thatit’s impossible to imagine him ever negotiat-ing an equitable end to Syria’s civil war.

Assad made that clear in several ways. Ashrewd and crafty debater, he overwhelms in-terlocutors with torrents of language that com-bine common-sense rhetoric with wild un-truths, often in a single sentence. So, for ex-ample, no sooner had he (sensibly) conceded,paraphrasing Clausewitz, that he’d never beable to triumph militarily — since “all warsanywhere in the world have ended with a po-litical solution” — than he insisted that “theSyrian people are still with the unity of Syria;they still support the government.” Given thatthe country’s turmoil began when he savagelyrepressed widespread protests during the ArabSpring, sparking a popular rebellion, this analy-sis is more than a little implausible. Especiallysince his army is now suffering mass deser-tions and recent protests in Homs and Tartussuggest that even Assad’s minority Alawite sect

is turning against him.In a similar vein, when I asked him about

independent analyses showing that his govern-ment now controls a mere 45 to 50 percent ofthe country, Assad (sensibly) reminded me thatSyria’s war is not “between two countries, be-tween two armies where you have an incur-sion and you lost some territory that you wantto regain.” But then he (nonsensically) insistedthat his army remained supreme and that“wherever [it] has wanted to go, it has suc-ceeded.” Never mind that his forces have beenunable to oust the rebels from Aleppo, for in-stance, for going on three years now.

Assad’s constant pairing of the rational withthe absurd was a neat rhetorical trick; it madethe latter seem more credible through proxim-ity to the former. And his utter, unblinking con-viction added to the effect. Either Syria’s presi-dent is an extremely competent fabulist — inwhich case he’s merely a sociopath — or heactually believes his lies, in which case he’ssomething much more dangerous (like a delu-sional psychopath). For why would he ever strikea deal to end a war he thinks he’s winning?

Assad also remains blithely unapologetic,despite presiding over a brutal conflict that hasgutted his country, killed some 200,000, renderedmore than 7 million homeless and led to Syria’sdivision into three sectarian mini-states. He in-sists that he can’t think of a single mistake he’smade: “I would have to go back to officials onthe ground,” he told me. “There’s nothing in mymind.” The man responsible for the mass tortureof thousands and the use of chemical weaponsand barrel bombs on civilians says those episodesnever really took place: All the evidence has beenfabricated by his enemies, he told me.

—Courtesy: The Washington Post

FAROOQ YOUSAF

US President Barack Obama’s high-profile visit to Indiawas something of a surprise. First, he was meeting a primeminister, Narendra Modi, who, before his election, was

barred from entering the US due to his involvement in the infa-mous Gujarat anti-Muslim riots.

And this visit sends a negative message to Islamabad. WithUS forces soon withdrawing from Afghanistan and Pakistan cur-rently bearing the brunt of the War on Terror, ignoring Pakistanindicates a new regional focus for Washington in New Delhi.

Pakistan would have hoped Obama to raise the issue of Line ofControl violations from the Indian side, but instead, Obama gave awrist slap to Islamabad for ineffective efforts on counter-terrorism.

Pakistan is currently in the middle of a major military offen-sive, Zarb-e-Azb, which has also caused a major backlash in theform of the brutal Peshawar school attack in December. Defenseanalysts in Pakistan believe that the operation, considered a ma-jor success of sorts, was primarily started on Washington’s insis-tence, even though Pakistan’s stricken economy could barelyafford it at that time.

Unfortunately, Pakistan and India barely talk nowadays. Inthis situation, even a small rogue attack on either side of the bor-der could spark major tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors.

With a long-due civil nuclear agreement between India andthe US finally pinned down, and Obama’s promise of an Indianplace in the UN Security Council, eyebrows are bound to beraised in Pakistan. The Indian media and nationalist leaders havealready started boasting of Obama’s visit as a victory for Indiaand defeat for Pakistan.

What concerns the Pakistani policymakers is the fact thateven the bans on Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, twonotorious militant outfits allegedly involved in anti-Indian ac-tivities, have drawn little appreciation or praise from the Indianside. Furthermore, while pursuing his reconciliation strategy withIndia, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan has time andagain advised the Pakistani military to show restraint againstany form of Indian violations on the Line of Control border inthe disputed Kashmir territory. Although this strategy has notgone across well with nationalist and right-wing parties, manybelieve that any form of aggression from Pakistan would onlyworsen the matters. In contrast, Modi’s narrative and policy ofoffensive defense against Pakistan has further added to the skep-ticism of those hoping for better ties among the neighbors.

But it seems that all is not lost for Pakistan. Even with thehot and cold relationship with the US and tense ties with India,Pakistan is looking to China as its ever reliable partner, neighborand friend. General Raheel Sharif’s visit to China, where he metwith his Chinese counterpart Qi Jianguo, provided some respitefor Pakistani officialdom and politicians. Both the military chiefsreiterated their decades-long friendship, where China, calling itas an irreplaceable friend, reassured Pakistan of its strategic sup-port to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Since September last year, both Modi and Obama have metfour times for various official purposes. Had both of them metthe Pakistani leadership on such a frequent basis, things wouldhave taken a positive turn in the region. Not only could betterIndo-Pak ties ensure regional security, but the same could helpimprove regional economic disparity.

Obama is walking a fine line here as his actions, if they alien-ate Pakistan, could hamper the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.Obama would not like Afghanistan to become another Iraq, andthus leave a legacy behind him marred by failure. While Obamahas made two official visits to India, not visiting Pakistan has notonly peeved politicians, but also raised doubts over the US com-mitment toward the country. Obama, who considers both Indiaand Pakistan as allies, could play a major role in restarting theIndo-Pak peace process and dialogue. Without such an interven-tion, peace will always remain an elusive dream and fantasy.

—Courtesy: GT[The author is a program consultant and editor at the Centerfor Research and Security Studies, Islamabad. farooq@crss.pk]

Obama’s Indiancourtship; Pakistan

feels snubbed by US

GEORGIY VOLOSHIN

SATURDAY’S deadly rocket attacks against a residentialarea in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, on the Azov Sea,marked a new phase of the civil war that has been ranging

in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces since the spring of2014. They prompted the government in Kiev to decree a stateof emergency in Donbas and put the rest of the country on highalert.

Since the former Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, fledKiev last February after failing to quell street protests initially directedagainst his refusal to sign an association agreement with the EuropeanUnion, Ukraine’s relations with the West have improved. In contrast,its relations with neighboring Russia are at an all-time low. It is nowhard to imagine what sort of magic is needed to bring the two sidesback to the negotiating table, let alone to restore their severed ties.

The first sanctions the West slapped on Russia were in March2014. They were followed weeks and months later by ever-tougherrestrictive measures targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s en-tourage, some oligarchs, state-owned banks and energy companies aswell as the Russian defense sector.

The economic cost of the political sanctions is difficult to quan-tify. But given the degree of dependence of some EU member statessuch as the Baltic countries, Poland and Finland on trade with Russia,they clearly knew back then they would have to sacrifice short-termgains.

The Western countries also threw their weight behind $14 billionworth of financial aid offered to Ukraine by the IMF last spring. AsKiev struggles to maintain internal stability while seeking to imple-ment early but already painful structural reforms, the IMF is consider-ing ramping up its economic assistance to the country’s pro-Westerngovernment. Some sources speak of an additional $27 billion, butUkraine still needs to demonstrate that it stands firm on the reformtrack.

The West has further been supplying direct military aid to Ukraine.In December 2014, US Congress voted to recognize the country asWashington’s overseas ally, thus paving the way for increased armsgrants and free-of-charge combat training. The Ukrainian parliamentrecently scrapped the country’s non-aligned status. This allows Kievto launch talks about an eventual accession to NATO, an obviousdeparture from its multi-vector foreign policy.

Yet, despite all the support the West has already given or onlypromised so far to Ukraine, there is still no consensus on what to donext. Within the Western camp, the US, whose economy last yeargrew faster than most of the industrialized world, is ready to leanmore heavily on Russia to make it retreat from Ukraine. Moscowcurrently accounts for less than 1 percent of Washington’s foreigntrade so that the White House has little reason to fear large-scale do-mestic fallout.

The same does not hold true for Europe. Besides the almost all-out dependence of Central and Eastern European countries on cross-border trade with Russia, the latter supplies a third of all natural gas tothe EU. Moreover, the food embargo introduced by Moscow lastAugust has been a heavy blow to many farmers across the continent,from Spain and France to Poland.

—Courtesy: Global Times[The author is a Paris-based international affairs expert whowrites for the Jamestown Foundation and the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn]

US prepared for longhaul in battle over

Ukraine, but EU cautious

TOKYO—Efforts by Japan and Jordan tosecure the release of two of their nationalsheld captive by Islamic State militants re-main “deadlocked” and the situation re-mains highly unpredictable, Japanese of-ficials said. Militants had threatened to killJordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh un-less a would-be suicide bomber being heldon death row in Amman was handed overby sunset on Thursday.

Japanese journalist Kenji Goto wasalso being held by the militants. “The situ-ation is deadlocked,” Japan’s deputy for-eign minister, Yasuhide Nakayama, saidin Jordon late on Friday according to Japa-nese public broadcaster NHK. ForeignMinister Fumio Kishida said in Tokyo onSaturday that the situation was unpredict-able and that anything could happen, NHKreported.

“Anything could happen,” he said.“We can’t predict it at all. While prepar-ing for every situation, I want to makeevery effort for Mr. Goto’s release.”Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga

Hostages talks withmilitants deadlocked: Japan

arrived at the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’soffice on Saturday afternoon, and theprime minister is on standby to receiveregular updates on the situation, NHK said.

Jordan’s army said on Friday stateagencies were “working round the clock”.An audio message purportedly from Gotosaid the pilot would be killed if Jordan didnot free Sajida al-Rishawi, jailed for herrole in a 2005 suicide bomb attack thatkilled 60 people in Amman.

The message extended a previousdeadline set on Tuesday in which Goto saidhe would be killed within 24 hours if al-Rishawi was not freed. The hostage crisiscomes as Islamic State, which has alreadyreleased videos showing the beheadingsof five Western hostages, is coming underincreased military pressure from U.S.-ledair strikes and by Kurdish and Iraqi troopspushing to reverse the Islamist group’s ter-ritorial gains in Iraq and Syria.

Abe has repeatedly said Japan wouldnot give in to terrorism and would keepcooperating with the international commu-

nity. The hostage crisis erupted after Abeannounced in Cairo $200 million in non-military aid for countries opposing IslamicState, but his government has rejected sug-gestions it acted rashly and stressed theassistance was humanitarian.

Goto went to Syria in late October.According to friends and business asso-ciates, he was attempting to secure therelease of Haruna Yukawa, his friend andfellow Japanese citizen who was cap-tured by Islamic State in August. In thefirst video purportedly of Goto, releasedjust over a week ago, a black-cladmasked figure with a knife said Goto andYukawa would be killed within 72 hoursif Japan did not pay Islamic State $200million.

A video last Saturday appeared to showGoto with a picture of a decapitated Yukawa,saying his captors’ demands had switched tothe release of al-Rishawi. Tuesday’s videofeatured an audio track over a still picturethat appeared to show Goto holding a pic-ture of Kasaesbeh.—Reuters

BAGHDAD—Islamic State in-surgents on Saturday seized asmall crude oil station near thenorthern Iraqi city Kirkukwhere 15 employees wereworking, and explosions in andaround the capital Baghdadkilled at least nine people. Twoofficials from the state-runNorth Oil Co confirmed themilitants seized a crude oilseparation unit in Khabbaz andsaid 15 oil workers were miss-ing after the company lost con-tact with them.

“We received a call fromone of the workers saying doz-ens of Daesh fighters were sur-rounding the facility and ask-ing workers to leave the pre-mises. We lost contact and nowthe workers might be takenhostage,” an engineer from theNorth Oil Co told Reuters, us-ing a derogatory acronym forIslamic State. The radicaljihadist movement seized atleast four small oilfields whenit overran large areas of north-ern Iraq last summer, and be-gan selling crude oil and gaso-line to finance their operations.

Islamic State insurgents at-tacked regional Kurdish forcessouthwest of Kirkuk on Friday,seizing some areas includingparts of the Khabbaz oilfields.Kurdish peshmerga forcessought to push back IslamicState in further fighting nearKhabbaz on Saturday, Kurdish

IS seizes oil facilityin N. Iraq, 15

workers missingmilitary sources said.

Khabbaz is a small oilfield20 km (12 miles) southwest ofKirkuk with a maximum pro-duction capacity of 15,000 bar-rels per day. It was producingaround 10,000 bpd before theattack. Further south inBaghdad, two bombs in a cen-tral neighborhood and a farm-ing district south of the capitalkilled at least seven civilians onSaturday, medics and policesaid.

Two soldiers were killedwhen a bomb exploded closeto an army patrol near Taji, apredominantly Sunni Muslimrural district north of Baghdad.At least 24 others werewounded in the explosions. InFalluja in the western provinceof Anbar, hospital sources saidfive people, including two chil-dren, were killed during Iraqiarmy shelling of Islamic Statepositions. They said at least 44others were wounded, includ-ing 19 civilians.

It is difficult to confirm re-ports from hospitals in the area,which is mostly controlled byIslamic State militants. IslamicState has declared a medieval-style caliphate in parts of Iraqand Syria to rule over all Mus-lims, and it poses the biggestchallenge to the stability ofOPEC member Iraq since thefall of Saddam Hussein in2003.—Reuters

WUHAN—China completedits first high level biosafetylaboratory Saturday after morethan a decade of construction.The lab, based in Wuhan, capi-tal city of central Hubei Prov-ince, will be used to study classfour pathogens (P4), which re-fers to the most virulent virusesthat pose a high risk of aero-sol-transmitted person-to-per-son infections.

Its completion was hailedby the country’s top sciencethink tank as crucial in the fightagainst epidemics such asEbola. Launched after the out-break of Severe Acute Respi-ratory Syndrome (SARS) in2003, the lab was jointly builtby the Chinese Academy ofSciences (CAS) and the Wuhanmunicipal government. Most ofits technology and equipmentwas imported from France,which cooperated closely with

KABUL:Afghan policemen help a wounded comrade after clashes with protesters.

A man walks in a street with abandoned vehicles and dam-aged buildings in the northern Syrian town of Kobani.

China sets up first highsecurity bio lab

China in its design.The Wuhan P4 lab enables

China to join just a handful ofdeveloped countries operatingsuch facilities to help handlethe most virulent pathogens.The lab is important for China’spublic health defense system,said CAS president Bai Chunli.

“It will play crucial rolein enhancing the country’sability to prevent and controlnew epidemics as well as todevelop related vaccines,” hesaid. The Ebola outbreak haskilled nearly 8,800 people outof 22,000 known cases, al-most all of them in the WestAfrican countries SierraLeone, Liberia and Guinea.

Chinese researchers planto use the new P4 lab to con-duct research that includesworking on the Ebola virus,according to the CAS.—Xinhua

BEIJING—Medical insurancesubsidies for China’s rural resi-dents will increase this year, thecountry’s health authority hassaid. Under the new rural co-operative medical program, theannual government grant foreach rural resident will risefrom 320 yuan to 380 yuan(60.79 U.S. dollars), the Na-tional Health and Family Plan-ning Commission said in a cir-cular.

Under the program, ruralresidents will pay 30 yuanmore. They will pay a 120yuan-per person premium,bringing the total financing foreach person to 500 yuan. Thegovernment will also takemoves to make sure the

China hikes subsidies forrural medico-insurance

program’s reimbursement ratefor outpatient and hospitaliza-tion expenses stay at around 50and 75 percent, respectively.

China launched the ruralinsurance scheme in 2003 in abid to ensure that the country’svast number of rural residentshave access to affordable medi-cal treatment and to reduce dis-ease-triggered poverty. Morethan 800 million people havejoined the new rural coopera-tive medical program, thecommission’s figures show.To reduce risk and ensure fair-ness, the government will usethe fund to buy insurance forthose with serious diseases andpunish those who abuse thefund.—Xinhua

KABUL—Two people werekilled when violence broke outat an anti-Charlie Hebdo pro-test in the Afghan capital onSaturday, according to wit-nesses, but Kabul’s police chiefsaid there were no deaths andonly two injuries.

Around 500 protestersstreamed into an eastern part ofthe city, chanting “Death toFrance” and “Death to Infi-dels”, putting residents ofnearby international com-pounds on a state of alert.

Police sources said the pro-test turned violent when protest-ers attacked policemen with burn-ing tires, stones and then gunfire.A man who gave his name onlyas Moshtaq, pointing at a pool ofblood in the road, said one pro-tester “was shot in the head andhis dead body was there. And Isaw one more dead body in a car.”

Kabul police chief Abdul

Two Afghan protestersdie in police firing

Rahman Rahimi told reporters“there were some irresponsiblearmed men among them whoopened fire on police. Primaryreports show that two protesterswere wounded.”

Protests against the Frenchnewspaper Charlie Hebdo’s car-toons of the ProphetMohammad have eruptedaround the world and takenplace weekly in the Afghancapital. Local residents andshopkeepers complained theprotesters had used the outbreakof violence as an excuse to loot.“They were opportunists, notreal lovers of the Prophet andIslam,” Mohammad Qasim, ashopkeeper caught in the middleof the protest. “A protest doesn’trequire destroying cars, shops orstreets, but they did. They werelooking for a chance to rob allthese shops and people,” hesaid.—Reuters

War on terror is national war: PMFrom Page 1

LAHORE: Passing out parade of women Counter Terrorism Force was held at Police Training School here on Saturday.

Sindh government comprisesa retired judge, which is notacceptable.”

Mansoor expressed hopethat Prime Minister NawazSharif would write a letter tothe Supreme Court and con-stitute an inquiry commis-sion headed by an activejudge.

Terming the commissionformed by the Sindh govern-ment as ‘administrative’,Mansoor said if the provin-cial government had honestintensions they would havewritten a letter to the ChiefJustice Sindh High Court(SHC). MQM leader Farooq

MQM rejects govt’s JCFrom Page 1

Sattar told reporters that 20MQM workers were missingwhile 36 had been murderedextra-judicially. “No suspectfor the extra-judicial murdershas been arrested.”

Farooq said if a moni-toring committee wasformed there might not be aneed for a judicial commis-sion. “ The MQM was thefirst party to support the tar-geted operation in Karachi.But the situation has deterio-rated since CM Sindh wasmade the captain,” he said.The MQM leader said Rang-ers had been present in thecity for some time. —Online

Rocket attack onDPO’s vehiclekills two cops

OUR CORRESPONDENT

PASNI—A rocket attack on aconvoy of Khuzdar district po-lice officer Abdul Aziz Jhakranikilled two policemen and injuredas many near Pasni area ofBalochistan’s Gwadar district onSaturday. DPO Khuzdar wastraveling to Gwadar along withhis family to attend a marriagefunction when a rocket hit the con-voy from an unknown direction.

The atmosphere was tense in the areaafter the incident, with crowds of emo-tional residents massing outside hospitals. On the call of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, a large number of men,women and children staged a sit-in at theNumaish traffic intersection. Protesterssaid that terrorists are roaming freely andthe government has failed to protect citi-zens’ lives. Protesters also staged sit-inson Abul Hasan Ispahani Road, Five StartChowrangi in North Nazimabad, Malir 15on the National Highway and near Incholion Shahrah-i-Pakistan. The MWM, Shia Ulema Council andJaffria Alliance had given the call for a‘peaceful strike’ across the provinceagainst the second bomb attack on anImambargah in recent times. The Sindhgovernment, Muttahida Qaumi Movementand traders’ alliance expressed ‘solidarity’

Thousands protest against ShikarpurFrom Back Page

with the victim families, while the strikecall attracted support of the Sunni IttehadCoucil, Sunni Alliance, Pakistan MuslimLeague-Q and the Pakistan AwamiTehreek. The Sindh government also an-nounced a day of mourning in solidaritywith the families of the victims and saidthe national flag would fly at half mast.Compensation was also announced for thevictims’ families. Businesses in almost all major citiesof Sindh remained closed early on Satur-day while sit-ins to protest thegovernment’s failure to afford protectionto members of the Shia community wereorganised in Karachi. The cause of the blast has not yet beenascertained, but suspicions are that it mayhave been the result of a suicide attack.Agencies reported that Jundullah, a splin-ter group of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan,which last year pledged support for the

Islamic State group based in Syria andIraq, had claimed responsibility. Mean-while, the government has suspended Sta-tion House Officer Lakhi Gate BashirAhmed Khokar and the head constable forshowing negligence in performing theirduties. Additionally, constable Javed whohad been designated the security of theimambargah has been arrested. A largenumber of people came out in protestagainst the attack in Shikarpur itself andset alight tyres. After the tragedy struck, InspectorGeneral Sindh Police Ghulam QadirThebo formulated a two member commit-tee to investigate the bombing under theleadership of Senior Superintendent ofPolice Raja Umar Khattab. SSP Khattabvisited the site of the fatal blast along withSSP Mazhar Mashwani today and ob-served the destruction rendered by thedeadly attack.

them with the support of nation. He saidthe problem of load shedding will be re-solved during out tenure and surplus en-ergy would be made available. He saidthe country would be put on the path ofprogress and prosperity where peoplewould be able to make their both endsmeet in a dignified way by getting re-spectable livelihood.

Nawaz Sharif said protection of lifeand property of people and maintenanceof law and order is our foremost prior-ity. He said the entire nation and insti-tutions have taken a consensus decisionthat the war on terror will be won at allcosts as it is the matter of our future gen-erations and economic prosperity.

He said the war on terror is the warof entire nation. On the one hand ourarmed forces are engaged in Zarb-e-Azboperation while on the other hand thenational institutions and federal and pro-vincial governments are striving to weedout terrorism under the national actionplan.He said the establishment ofcounter terrorism force is also part ofthe action plan. He said this force willbe equipped with modern security gad-gets and provided necessary training.Besides, its strength will also be furtherenhanced with the passage of time. He

expressed the confidence that otherprovinces will also follow the suit ofPunjab province and establish thecounter terrorism force.

Nawaz Sharif said our people in-cluding children, women and securitypersonnel have rendered matchless sac-rifices in the war on terror. The bloodof martyrs will serve as a beacon of lightfor the entire nation, he said.

Referring to the Shikarpur tragedy,the PM said the incident has aggrievedthe entire nation but he expressed thedetermination that such deplorable in-cidents will further bolster our resolveto rid the country of terrorism.

On the occasion, the personnel ofCounter Terrorism Force demonstratedtheir skills to apprehend the terrorists.

The Prime Minister said that duringhis visit to Karachi and Quetta he wouldmeet with the political and military lead-ership of Sindh and Balochistan to re-view steps being taken by the provincesto smash terrorists.

The Prime Minister also distributedcertificates and cash prizes amongst theoutstanding officers.

Director General Inter-Services Pub-lic Relations (ISPR) Major GeneralAsim Bajwa in a tweet quoted the army

chief as saying that the Pakistan Army’scommitment to train all law-enforce-ment agencies (LEAs) and build theircapacity to collectively work for secu-rity and law and order, G e n e r a lRaheel said that the training capacity ofsecurity forces has been enhanced andthe programme would be further ex-panded across the country, read the shortstatement.

The premier Sharif also thankedArmy Chief General Raheel Sharif for‘taking personal interest in the trainingof the elite force personnel’. “No crimi-nal should escape the arms of the law.The war against terrorism is the war ofthe while nation,” the prime ministersaid adding that, “The menace of terror-ism was being rooted out under the Na-tional Action Plan and action is beingtaken against the terrorists via the Zarb-i-Azb operation.”

Pakistan Army’s Special ServicesGroup (SSG), Punjab Police and Turk-ish experts shared high standard train-ing in the fields of investigation, intel-ligence and special operations.

The first batch of 468 corporals whopassed out started their general training,including Elite Police course, from April2014.

AAMIR MAJEED

KARACHI—Pak-China relations are vitalfor not only building motorways, improv-ing infrastructure and setting-up powerplants, but the relations between the twobrotherly states are important for bringingintegrity in economy of both states.

These were the words which Ministerof State and Special Assistant to Prime Min-ister for Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemisaid on launch of Karachi Council on For-eign Relations (KCFR) Research WingDeputy Head and senior member Prof DrTalat Ayesha Wizarat research paper titled‘reviving historical trade routes and; casestudy of Silk Road’ here on Saturday.

He said that the visits of the heads ofPakistan and China proved fruitful and theboth countries reached at Pak-China Eco-nomic Corridor. “The resolve and vision ofthe leaders of Pakistan and China has re-vived the relationships of both brotherlystates,” Fatemi said, adding that “Now thewishes of the both states transformed intoan agreement,” he added.

He said that PCEC is vital for Pakistanto strengthen country’s economy and theagreement would result into prosperity ofall the provinces. “Restoration of peace isimportant for promoting regional trade andthe government is addressing the issues oflaw and order seriously,” Fatemi observed.

He said that China has proved as a rolemodel for the developing countries. “I visitBeijing 30 years ago and I saw millions ofpeople were working on projects whichwere beyond belief, but when I visit Beijingagain then I saw the China metropolis trans-formed because of the visionary and dedi-cated leadership,” he maintained.

Giving examples of European Union(EU) and Malaysia-Indonesian relationship,he said that Pakistan is also working for therevival of regional trade. He said that Paki-stan has signed an agreement with theTajikistan for power import via Afghani-stan and the government is constructingQuetta-Taftaan Motorway to revive traderoutes with Iran.

Discussing Pak-India relations, Fatemisaid that the vision of Prime Minister MianMuhammad Nawaz Shariff is clear. “The

Pakistan-China relations vital foreconomic integrity of both: Fatemi

present government wants relationships withthe neighbouring countries and this is the onlyreason that the prime minister went India andparticipated in oath taking ceremony of thenewly-elected Indian premier, but continu-ous violation of working boundary and Lineof Control (LoC), pours water on his sincereefforts,” he explained.

“The government would take every stepto safeguard the national interest of Pakistan,”Fatemi vowed.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Talat AWizarat said that Pakistan could not reviveall the trade routes due to change in politicaland economical ties with the neighbouringcountries; however, the relationships of Pa-kistan and China remained unchanged be-cause of the country’s China friendly foreignpolicy. “The only reason behind closure ofroutes with regional countries is securitythreats from the non-state actors,” she ob-served, maintaining that “Technology andgeographical location were also the issues inthe past, but the technological advancementhas overcome the geographical location too,”

“The other issue behind revival of traderoutes is exchange of commodities as manyof the regional countries have become self-sufficient, but the form of inter-dependencehas been changed,” she said, adding that“Now, a time has come to revive the traderoutes to strengthen economical and strate-gic ties with the regional states.”

“Gawadar has become economical andstrategic asset of the country and Pakistan isin position to play a game changing rolehere,” she said, adding that “Instead of stra-tegic, the economical dimensions of Chinaare linked with the Gawadar as the port wouldreduce the distance of supply to the regionalstates from weeks to hours.”

“Gawadar is perceived to be in comple-tion with Chahbahar and Dubai,” Dr Wizaratexamined, explaining that “Gawadar has oneadvantage over Chahbahar as the former is adeep sea port and capable of receiving big-ger sea vessels.”

“The perceived competition completionwith Dubai and Gawadar is also misplacedas the Gawadar will be serving a differentset of client,” Dr Wizarat maintained, ex-plaining that “Gawadar with its focus onChina and a lesser degree on Afghanistan and

Central Asia will not be in competition withDubai.” She said that conspiracies have beenhatched to turn Pakistan’s trade routes to antiroutes.

“Pakistan’s provinces Balochistan andKhyber Pakhtunkhawa (KPK) throughwhich KKH passes have been in grip of tur-moil ever since the start of war on terror andQuetta Corp Commander has disclosed thatmore than a dozen foreign intelligence agen-cies at work in Balochistan,” Dr Wizarat said,adding that “In order to protect Pakistan eco-nomical and strategic interests, it is neces-sary to establish peace in the country.”

Addressing the gathering, ex-Ambassa-dor Shahid Ameen said that Pak-China rela-tionship is vital for not only economic rea-sons, but for the cultural exchanges and pro-motion of peace too. “Friendly relations withChina always remained on the top ofPakistan’s foreign policy,” he added.

“The foreign policy of any country isreflection of its internal policy and Pakistanmust have to overcome the issue of violenceand corruption as these factor caused a ma-jor dent to country’s foreign policy,” he ob-served.

Delivering welcome address, KCFRChief Executive Officer (CEO) AhsanMukhtar Zuberi said that KCFR has success-fully completed 12 years. “Since its incep-tion, the council is forwarding proposals topolicy makers for bringing improvement inthe country’s foreign policy,” he added.

“The mission of KCFR is to review andunderstand foreign policies of the states andforward proposals to the government to for-mulate country’s foreign policy accordingly,”Zuberi maintained.

He said that the success of the councilcould be gauged from the fact that many na-tional and international scholars, governmentofficials, bankers and ambassadors have be-come members of the council. “KCFR isfunctioning without financial assistance fromgovernment or private sector,” Zuberi said,adding that “The Sindh government haspledged funds for KCFR, but the councilhasn’t get a single penny as yet.

He stressed for release of funds fromthe government and explained that KCFRneeds funds to visit states for participationin policy dialogues.

rorism to devise a National Economic ActionPlan to take country’s economy forward. Hesaid that all political parties should have con-sensus on Charter of Economy.

He reiterated the willingness of the gov-ernment to form judicial commission to probeallegations of rigging in the elections leveledby PTI Chairman.

Addressing a news conference here on Sat-urday, Dar said that all major issues regardingthe constitution of judicial commission hadbeen resolved with PTI, however, agreementon a few petty issues was pending and judi-cial commission would be constituted withinhalf an hour after receipt of reply from PTI.

He said that the Leader of the Oppositionin the National Assembly Syed KhursheedShah was also ready to play his role of arbi-trator on the issue of judicial commission,therefore, the PTI leaders should not wastetime of the nation by making non-issues asissues. He said that government was ready topromulgate ordinance on the issue of judicialcommission, however, it would be promul-gated at a time when parliament will not be insession.

He said that privatization of DISCOS wasin process, but no worker would be sackedfrom job, however, line losses, which were19% would have to be controlled over.

Responding to Imran Khan’s allegations,Ishaq Dar said that government fixed tax col-lection target of Rs 300 billion from petro-leum products but due to decreased prices gov-ernment faced shortfall of Rs 68 billion.

He said that provinces were being pro-vided financial share of revenue collected bythe federal government and KhyberPakhtunkhwa would be provided 64.82% shareas per National Finance Commission (NFC)award.

He said that the Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) collected tax of Rs 1162.4 billion inlast six months which was 12.7 % higher thanthe corresponding time of the previous fiscalyears which was Rs 1031.4 billion.

This increase is despite reduced prices ofdaily commodities.

He said that budget deficit was 2.3% inlast six months whereas the target was 4.9%and government would achieve the target incase extraordinary expenses were done wayin the second half of the fiscal year, howeverapparently more expenditures were expectedin the coming six months of the fiscal year.

He observed that volume of exports re-

Dar proposes charterof Economy

From Page 1

duced to 1.93% in the first half of the fiscalyear as volume of exports was Rs 12.22 bil-lion whereas it was Rs 12.46 billion in the cor-responding period of the previous fiscal year.However, there is an increase of 4.08% inimports as volume of imports remained Rs22.02 billion whereas it was Rs 21.16 billionin the same time period of the previous fiscalyear. Thus there is an increase of 12.69% intrade deficit which is tune to Rs 9.80 billionwhich was Rs 8.7 billion in first half of thelast fiscal year.

He maintained that there was an increaseof15.26% in foreign remittances sent by over-seas Pakistanis as volume of remittances re-mained 8.98 billion in last six months whereasit was Rs 7.79 billion in first six month of theprevious fiscal year. Thus inflation recordedat 4.3% in the first half of the current fiscalyear” he said adding that there was also a dras-tic increase in the number new registered com-panies and number was 2192 whereas some1950 companies were registered last year.

He said that 37.74 % more agriculturalloan had been issued in the first six months ofthe fiscal year as Rs 219.52 billion had beenreleased while Rs 159.37 billion were lent inthe corresponding time in the previous year.However, government will lent Rs 500 billionas agricultural loan in the whole financial yearbecause agriculture makes up 21% share ofthe national economy” he observed.

He said that Karachi Stock Exchange(KSE) had set a new record in last six monthsbecause its capital volume soared up to Rs 77billion from Rs 51 billion.

To a question, he said that 5% sales taxhad been increased on petroleum products andgovernment would get Rs 28 billion from this,however, government would face a loss of Rs40 billion in next two months.

He said that foreign exchange reserves hadincreased to Rs 15.067 billion which were Rs14.1 billion on June 30, 2014 and this increasewas despite retirement of loans. Volume of for-eign exchange reserves might have touchedfigure of Rs 16 billion if there were not pro-test sit ins in the federal capital.

He said that government obtained Rs 2.2billion as loan from the International MonetaryFund (IMF) but paid back Rs 3.2 billion.Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that NationalTax Number will not be mandatory for the taxpayers from the next fiscal year.

He said individuals will be able to file taxreturns using National Identity Card Numbers.

of sales tax.With the new reduction in petrol prices, pe-

troleum will now be cheaper than CompressedNatural Gas (CNG), the price of which standsat Rs76.35 for region I (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Balochistan and the Potohar zone includingRawalpindi and Islamabad) and Rs71.50 per kgfor region II (Sindh and Punjab excluding thePotohar zone).After the decision, the per litre price of HighOctane Blending Component (HOBC) has comedown from Rs92 to Rs 80.18, the price of HighSpeed Diesel (HSD), which is widely used inheavy vehicles and the agriculture sector, hasbeen slashed by Rs5.62 per litre bringing its pricedown to Rs80.61 per litre from Rs86.23 per li-tre, the price of light diesel oil was cut down

from Rs67.5 per litre to Rs Rs57.94 per litreand the price of Kerosene oil, which is used askitchen fuel in remote areas of the country, camedown to Rs61.44 per litre from Rs71.92 per li-tre.

Nawaz said the farmers will receive benefitof thousands of rupees as a result of the pricecut while the provinces have been instructed tobring down transport fares in accordance withthe new fuel prices. “I want the people to re-ceive not just cheap petrol but cheaper electric-ity as well,” Nawaz Sharif said.

It is pertinent to mention here that crude oilprices have drastically fallen in the internationalmarket since late June, and now it stands at $47per barrel. This is the second reduction in POLprices in the past two months.

Petrol price decreasedFrom Page 1

ProfUnwanuddinpasses away

MARDAN—The renownedwriter, poet and educationist,Professor UnwanuddinKakaKhel, passed away due tocardiac arrest here on Saturday.He was 69. Late professorUnawan ud Din on Saturday at2.30 p.m reached Mardan pressclub to attend a workshop title“peace and education” duringthat time he become uncon-scious. Member of the press callrescue 1122. He was referred tohospital in unconscious condi-tion where doctor conducted hisECG and other tests. —Online

CIA, Israel plottedsenior Hezbollah

commander’s killingWASHINGTON—The CIA andIsrael’s spy agency Mossad werebehind an elaborate plot to killHezbollah commander ImadMughniyeh in a 2008 car bombattack in Syria, the WashingtonPost reported Friday.

Citing former intelligenceofficials, the newspaper reportedthat US and Israeli spy agenciesworked together to targetMughniyeh on February 12,2008 as he left a restaurant in theSyrian capital Damascus.

He was killed instantly by acar bomb planted in a spare tireon the back of a parked car,which exploded shrapnel in atight radius, the Post said.

The bomb, built by theUnited States and tested in thestate of North Carolina, was trig-gered remotely by Mossadagents in Tel Aviv who were incommunication with Central In-telligence Agency operatives onthe ground in Damascus. “Theway it was set up, the US couldobject and call it off, but it couldnot execute,” a former US intel-ligence official told the newspa-per.—AFP

Afghanistantakes steps

From Back Page

need to have good relationswith Afghanistan, said that Pa-kistan places much value toAfghanistan than any otherneighboring countries. Thus,both countries should seek ben-efits in supporting each otherrather competing. “We want terrorism, povertyand anarchy eliminated so thatthe two nations could live inpeace. Afghan-Pak JointChamber of Commerce is pre-pared to extend its contributionin this respect”, he added.

Speaking on the occasion,President PAJCCI, Khan JanAlokzai briefed PresidentGhani on activities of theChamber. Stressing the im-portance of trade expansionbetween Afghanistan and Pa-kistan, Alokzai sought AfghanPresident’s support toPAJCCI.

Ban onShikarpurblastUNITED

NATIONS—Condemning the deadlybombing of an imambargahin Shikarpur, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hascalled on the country tostep up efforts to protectreligious minorities andcombat terrorism. In astatement issued by hisspokesperson, Ban said heis appalled by such vicioustargeting of people onaccount of their religiousaffiliation. The Secretary-General “calls upon theauthorities to redoubletheir efforts to protectreligious and ethnicminorities in Pakistan andto combat terrorism in allits forms”. —Online

MattarellaelectedItalianpresidentROME—Italianlawmakers elected SergioMattarella, a constitutionalcourt judge and veterancenter-left politician, aspresident on Saturday,handing a welcomepolitical victory to PrimeMinister Matteo Renzi.Mattarella, speaking at hisoffice in the ConstitutionalCourt after the vote, said:“My first thoughts are ofthe difficulties and hopesof our citizens.”—Reuters

AMANULLAH KHAN

KARACHI—Afghanistan President AshrafGhani has attached high importance to theinvolvement of credible partners inAfghanistan’s economic activities and saidthat expansion of legal trade between Af-ghanistan and Pakistan will result prosper-ity for both nations.

He was addressing a five-member del-egation of Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) whocalled on Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.

Afghan President, while appreciating theeffective role being played by the chamber,advised them to ask Pakistani governmentto expedite work on various agreements andassurances given by Pakistani authoritiesduring his recent visit to Pakistan.

PAJCCI delegation was led by Presi-dent Karachi Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry (KCCI), Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra. It in-cluded J. Esmail Makda, A. Q. Khalil, HajiAbdul Qayyum Kakar and Zia Sarhadi. Presi-dent PAJCCI, Khan Jan Alkozai and otherimportant dignitaries from Afghan side werealso present at the meeting.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, prior toformally addressing the meeting partici-pants, extended heartfelt condolence to theFounder President PAJCCI Zubair Motiwalaon sad demise of his mother and nephew. He underscored that the smuggling ofgoods was not acceptable, and Afghanistanwill take serious measures to dismantle thegoods’ smuggling. The President soughtsimilar acts by other countries as well. High-lighting the economic opportunities emerg-ing in Afghanistan, President Ghani said,

Ghani: Kabul takesanti-smuggling stepsPAJCCI delegation stresses smooth trading

“The government of Afghanistan is deter-mined to ensure all facilities for domestic andinternational investments in Afghanistan.”He hoped that required facilities for Afghantraders in other countries could also be pro-vided.

On behalf of Zubair Motiwala, PresidentKCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, on the occasion,said that PAJCCI has successfully com-pleted threeyears in office and the chamberhas succeeded in achieving many mile-stones from time to time. PAJCCI has un-doubtedly brought business communities ofthe two countries closer by paving way forenhanced interaction.

President KCCI suggested that anamount of $100 being charged by AfghanCustoms authorities on each container en-tering Afghanistan from Pakistan may kindlybe waived off whereas the condition to sub-mit 110 percent transit guarantee on Paki-stani shipments destined to CIS countriesvia Afghanistan must also be withdrawn.“Although, the guarantee is refunded onreturn of trucks but it takes too long to getthis amount refunded, which needs to beaddressed”, he added.

President KCCI recalled that a couple ofyears ago during Karzai’s regime, LPG tran-sit from CIS countries to Pakistan wasbanned by the then ministers. As Uzbekistanand Turkmenistan have been producing ex-cess amount of LPG, therefore it would bebeneficial for Pakistan if the said ban was belifted by the present Afghan governmentwhich would help Pakistan in dealing theongoing energy crisis, he added.

President KCCI, while underscoring the

Continued on Page 7

HYDERABAD: Members of Shiite organizations shout slogans during a protest against blast in Imambargah inShikarpur on Saturday.

OBSERVER REPORT

WASHINGTON—The US State Department saidon Friday that the US has strong relationshipswith both Pakistan and India and moving for-ward Washington would continue to have aclose strategic partnership with Islamabad.

“We work with Pakistan on a range of is-sues and we work with India on a range ofissues,” said spokesperson Jen Psaki whenasked about Washington’s ties in South Asiain the wake of US President Barack Obama’svisit to New Delhi.

Responding to a question about Pakistan’sconcerns regarding the impact ofoperationalisation of the US-India civil nucleardeal, the spokesperson noted that this par-

US pledges vital strategicrelationship with Pakistan

ticular issue was one that had been ongoingfor some time. “But we certainly have reiter-ated our strong commitment to a strategic re-lationship with Pakistan.

As you know Secretary of State John Kerrywas there just a couple of weeks ago reiterat-ing our commitment.”

Speaking in the backdrop of continuedPakistan-India tensions and shelling in In-dian-held Kashmir and the Working Bound-ary, Psaki echoed Washington’s call for thetwo South Asian nuclear countries to enterinto a dialogue for peaceful resolution to is-sues. “We encourage dialogue between In-dia and Pakistan and obviously the scopeand scale of the process is for the two coun-tries to determine,” she said.

Dar proposescharter of Economy

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—The Finance Minister IshaqDar, Saturday, advised Chairman PakistanTehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) to do politics on issuesof governance, rigging and transparencyrather than the national economy becausegovernment faced tax collection shortfall ofRs 68 billion.

He also proposed to convene an AllParties Conference (APC) on the issue ofeconomy as was held on the issue of terror-ism to devise a National Economic ActionPlan to take country’s economy forward.He said that all political parties should haveconsensus on Charter of Economy.

He reiterated the willingness of the gov-ernment to form judicial commission to probeallegations of rigging in the elections lev-eled by PTI Chairman.

Addressing a news conference here onSaturday, Dar said that all major issues re-garding the constitution of judicial com-mission had been resolved with PTI, how-ever, agreement on a few petty issues waspending and judicial commission would beconstituted within half an hour after re-ceipt of reply from PTI.

He said that the Leader of the Opposi-tion in the National Assembly SyedKhursheed Shah was also ready to playhis role of arbitrator on the issue of judi-cial commission, therefore, the PTI leadersshould not waste time of the nation by

making non-issues as issues. He said thatgovernment was ready to promulgate or-dinance on the issue of judicial commis-sion, however, it would be promulgated ata time when parliament will not be in ses-sion.

He said that privatization of DISCOSwas in process, but no worker would besacked from job, however, line losses,which were 19% would have to be con-trolled over.

Responding to Imran Khan’s allega-tions, Ishaq Dar said that government fixedtax collection target of Rs 300 billion frompetroleum products but due to decreasedprices government faced shortfall of Rs 68billion.He said that provinces were beingprovided financial share of revenue col-lected by the federal government andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa would be provided64.82% share as per National Finance Com-mission (NFC) award.

He said that the Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) collected tax of Rs 1162.4 bil-lion in last six months which was 12.7 %higher than the corresponding time of theprevious fiscal years which was Rs 1031.4billion. This increase is despite reducedprices of daily commodities.

He said that budget deficit was 2.3% inlast six months whereas the target was4.9% and government would achieve the

Continued on Page 7

Shikarpur blastSindh Govt to

bear allexpenses: Dahar

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Sindh Ministerfor Health Jam MehtabHussain Dahar said that theresponse of health depart-ment was rapid and swift asShikarpur bomb blast inci-dent occurred and ambu-lances of the departmentreached on the incident spotwithin 15 minutes. This hesaid in a statement issuedhere on Saturday.

He said that emergencywas declared in all govern-ment and private hospitalsof Shikarpur and Larkanaand well-equipped ambu-lances from Larkana andSukkur also reached on thespot. He said all medical staffwas called on the duty andwere asked to donate bloodthemselves to save the livesof the injured before civilsociety comes forward andthey did so.

Dahar assured that therewas sufficient stock of medi-cines and blood in govern-ment hospitals and all pri-vate hospitals were alsotaken on board.

TWO new studies conclude that low protein intake may hold the key to a longand healthy life, at least until old age.

They also emphasize the need to examine notonly calories when deciding what constitutesa healthy diet, but alsowhere those calories comefrom - such as whether pro-tein is animal or plant-based.

Another key finding isthe suggestion that while ahigh-protein diet may in theshort term help people loseweight and body fat, in thelong term it may harm healthand reduce lifespan. Bothstudies are published in thejournal Cell Metabolism.

The first study was ledby Valter Longo, a profes-sor at the University ofSouthern California, whocounts longevity and cellbiology among his areas ofexpertise. He and his col-leagues showed that highprotein consumption islinked to increased risk of cancer, diabetes anddeath in middle-aged adults, although this wasnot the case for older adults who may benefitfrom moderate protein consumption. Also, theeffect is much reduced when the protein comesfrom plant sources.

The second study was led by StephenSimpson, a professor at the University ofSydney in Australia, whose group works at theinterface of physiology, ecology, and behav-ior. From studying mice, he and his fellow au-thors concluded that diets low in protein andhigh in carbohydrates are linked to the longestlifespans.

Both studies suggest it is not just calories,

but also diet composition - particularly interms of amount and type of protein - thatmay determine the length and health of alifespan. “We studied simple organisms,mice and humans, and provide convincing

evidence that a high- proteindiet - particularly if the proteinsare derived from animals - isnearly as bad as smoking foryour health.”

n their study, Prof.Longo and colleagues analyzeddata on over 6,800 Americanadults who took part in the Na-tional Health and NutritionExamination Survey(NHANES) III, a US nationalsurvey that assesses health anddiet.

The researchers foundthat consuming a high-proteindiet in middle age significantlyincreases the likelihood of dy-ing from cancer or diabetes.Participants aged 50 and overwho said they ate a high-pro-tein diet were four times more

likely to die from cancer or diabetes, andtwice as likely to die from any cause, in thefollowing 18 years.

Those who consumed moderateamounts of protein had a three-fold higherchance of dying of cancer. These effectseither reduced or disappeared altogetheramong participants whose high-protein dietwas mainly plant-based. However, in thoseaged 65 and over, the effect was nearly theopposite - high protein intake was linkedto a 60% reduced risk of dying from can-cer and a 28% reduced risk of dying fromany cause, with similar effects for moder-ate protein intake.

Too much protein in middleage ‘as bad as smoking’

Lawyers hold a protest against non arrest of the murderers of Syed Fayaz Hussain ShahAdvocate and his nephews.

RAZA UR REHMAN

ISLAMABAD—Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (STMU)conferred degrees on as manyas 94 MBBS students, 47Bachelors of Science in Nurs-ing (BSN) and 20 Bachelorsof Science in Nursing Post-RN (BSN Post-RN) Studentsin its 2nd convocation on Sat-urday. Chairman Higher Edu-cation Commission Prof. Dr.Mukhtar Ahmed was the chiefguest of the convocation. ViceChancellor STMU Prof. Dr.Muhammad Iqbal Khan pre-sided over the convocation.Parents of the graduating stu-dents, faculty and the univer-sity management attended theevent. 12th batch of ShifaCollege of Medicine and 8thbatch of Shifa College ofNursing passed out in theconvocation. Chairman HECProf. Dr. Mukhtar congratu-lated the passing students,and stressed on the impor-tance of field of medicine. Hesaid, “we need to investheavily in health care andhealth education sectors tomake a meaningful headwayin making this country eco-nomically prosperous.” “Pa-kistan, today, stands at thecrossroad of its history withlarge and overwhelming seg-ment of our population com-prising youth. If trained andeducated properly with rel-evant professional skills andvalues, we can use their po-tential to transform this coun-try to a flourishing economyat par with the developedworld,” he remarked.

Earlier Prof. Dr.Muhammad Iqbal Khan alsocongratulated the graduatingstudents, their parents and fac-ulty. He urged upon the stu-dents to play an active role inthe field of medicine and servethe mankind with compassion,professionalism and empathy.

Four students of MBBSreceived Gold Medals fortheir outstanding academicperformance during the classof 2014. Gold and silvermedal was awarded to twoBachelors of Science in Nurs-ing and Bachelors of Sciencein Nursing Post-RN students,respectively.

STMU convocation

94 MBBS, 67 nursinggraduates get degrees

Chairman Higher Education Commission Dr Mukhtar Ahmad awarding degrees to the students during the ConvocationCeremony of Shifa Tameer e Millat University in Islamabad. Vice Chancellor STMU Dr Muhammad Iqbal Khan is alsoseen in the picture.—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

Successful students throwing their caps into air during 2nd convocation of Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University at ConventionCentre.—PO photo

ISLAMABAD—Japan International Coopera-tion Agency (JICA) here on Saturday sent7-member group to Japan for 18-day shorttraining course on “Support System for thePersons with Disabilities.”

In-charge of JICA training programmein Economic Affairs Division (EAD), AsgharAli and Chief Representative of JICAMitsuyoshi Kawasaki attended the sendoffceremony of 18-day course, said a press re-lease issued here.

Addressing the trainees, Asghar Ali said,“You will be the representatives of yourcountry in Japan. I expect you to learn theJapanese approach towards the issues of spe-cial persons and implement them in your re-spective domain”.

Speaking on the occasion, MitsuyoshiKawasaki said, “Support system for personswith disabilities is very crucial since it pro-vides an enabling environment that would al-low full realization of the potential of spe-

JICA sends 7-member groupto Japan for training course

cial persons through their inclusivemainstreaming and providing them full sup-port of the government private sector andcivil society”.

This Training Programme for YoungLeaders of Pakistan is initiated by the Gov-ernment of Japan under technical coopera-tion scheme for Pakistan. The course hasbeen designed essentially for young socialwelfare sector professionals of the provin-cial and federal governments of the country.

It is expected to enhance and polish thecapabilities of the participants in the fieldof social welfare, especially for persons withdisabilities through the Japanese experience.

The Training Programme for YoungLeaders was started by JICA in 1991 and tilldate around 525 government officials of vari-ous ministries and departments of the countyhave been sent to Japan for training in vari-ous fields of technical and management po-sitions.

ZUBAIR QURESHI

ISLAMABAD—Managing Director of theNational Book Foundation (NBF) DrInam-ul-Haq Javed seems to have fallenin love (though in a ripe age) with the‘heroines’ of our evergreen folktales. Firstit was Laila or ‘Laila’ the captivating fe-male character in ‘Laila-o-Majnun’ a clas-sic by great Azerbaijan poet NizamiGanjavi that touched his heart and he al-located a separate corner Nizami Ganjavicorner in NBF. However, this time it isHeer that has gone to his head and he hasintroduced ‘Heer Waris Shah’ to readersin the form of a beautifully designedbook.

A mere glance of the title page of

After ‘Laila’ it is ‘Heer’ thatcharms NBF chief

‘HEER WARIS SHAH’the epic love poem by withUrdu translation byIhsanullah Tahir tells youthat Javed is alive to eventhe minutest details.

The 184-page bookis available at bookstallsfor only Rs120.

The Qissa (tale) ofHeer Ranjha by SyedWaris Shah who isknown as theShakespeare of Punjabi,gained extraordinarypopularity amongst theworld folk tales. This isa collection of expres-

sions and experiences ofWaris Shah who hastouched the topics of love,feelings, life, romance andgloom. The ‘Heer WarisShah’ undoubtedly is oneof the best books inPunjabi which posses thespiritual message for thereaders. Talking to Paki-stan Observer Dr Inam-ul-Haq Javed said it woulddefinitely prove a usefulbook for students as wellas teachers of Punjabi lit-erature and fulfills the re-quirements of researchersas well.

ISLAMABAD—Speakers have stressedupon the role of research-based evidenceto action beyond 2015 in order to buildbetter policies and practices related tomaternal and newborn health in the coun-try.

They were addressing the two-dayhealth conference held here to share thelearnings from more than six years of suc-cessful projects of Research and AdvocacyFund for Maternal and Newborn Health(RAF) and give profile to issues to deter-mine the way forward beyond 2015.

The conference organized by RAFfacilitated debates and discussions leadingto call for action to support sustainable de-velopment goals beyond 2015.

Speakers from both government anddevelopment sector of Pakistan empha-sized on the importance of research-basedevidence to improve policies and practicesrelated to maternal and newborn health inthe country.

Regional and international partici-pants also shared learnings from their own

country’s contexts and how Pakistan canbenefit from their experiences.

Minister for Planning and Develop-ment, Ahsan Iqbal emphasized on the im-portance of research funded by RAF andapplauded its role in improving mother andneonatal health situation in Pakistan.

He said that the government of Paki-stan is committed and has taken major ini-tiatives to make investments in the socialsector. “By 2025, we will see Pakistanamong the top economies of the world.”

Sharing her views Deputy Head ofDepartment for International Development(DFID) office, Judith Herbertson, said, “Itwas to tackle some of the unacceptablehealth figures pertaining to women andchildren health that the RAF was set up.The RAF is very much seen at the outsetto improve maternal and new born healthand using advocacy and research to pushfor policy change.”

Australia Head of Aid, Peter Coven-try reaffirmed Australia Aid’s commitmentto Pakistan and said, the Australian gov-

ernment is strongly committed to improv-ing maternal, neo-natal and child health inPakistan.

The RAF Programme Manager SarahHall expressed gratitude towards all thestakeholders for their support throughoutthe term of the project.

She said, “I take pride in sharing withmy partners and beneficiaries that throughits advocacy projects the RAF had a sig-nificant impact not only through country-wide on-ground activities but also on thestrategy and sustainability of the projectswhich will benefit the future of MNH inPakistan.”

John Payne, Regional Business Direc-tor British Council, Judith Herbertson,Deputy Head of Office DFID Pakistan,Peter Coventry, Head of Aid DFAT, DrSusheela Singh,Vice President for Re-search Guttmacher Institute, Dr ZulfiqarBhutta, Robert Harding Inaugural ChairGlobal Child Health The Hospital for SickChildren, and Sarah Hall, ProgrammeManager RAF also addressed the audience,

Speaker urges for improvingmaternal and child health

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Police arrested 58suspects during search operation in various ar-eas of the city, a police spokesman said.

IGP Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan directedall SDPOs and SHOs to enhance patrolling aswell as checking in various areas of the city andconduct search operation at slum areas, Afghanhabitats, under construction buildings, work-shops, bus stands and inns.

Following his directions, Sub-Divisional po-lice officer performing in Islamabad headed thissearch operation in the areas of Shalimar, Raman,Aabpara, Lohibher and Secretariat police Station

House Officers of Police station along with po-lice team conducted search in the area of ShakirParria Helipad, Malpur, Mira Bari, PakistanTown, O-9 Sector G-10 and under constructionbuildings as well as plazas there. They succeededto nab 58 suspects who are being investigatedfurther. SSP Islamabad has said the purpose ofthis search operation and high vigilance is to en-sure foolproof security in the city and he furtherdirected all SHOs to continue it.

He has also appealed the citizens to remainvigilant and inform police in case of any suspi-cious activity around them.—Online

58 suspects arrested duringsearch operation

HCBA Rawalpindielection on Feb, 28RAWALPINDI—High CourtBar Association (HCBA)Rawalpindi election will takeplace on February 28.

Voters list has been preparedon this count and 30186 lawyerswill exercise their right to vote asper this list. As per voters list sentto Punjab Bar Council, No of vot-ers in respect of Rawalpindistands at 1997, Islamabad, 194,district Attock, 152, Jhelum, 154,Chakwal, 194, Gujjar Khan, 103,Kahuta, 63, Talagang, 62, Taxila,81, Jand. 30, Pind Dadan Khan,31, Fateh Jang, 26, Pindi Gheb,22, Murree, 17, Sohawa, 17,Chuwa Syedan Shah, 15, KallarSyedan, 13 and Hassan Abdal, 15.Sources said final voters list willbe put to display subject to finalapproval by Punjab Bar Coun-cil.—Online

06:25 01:3004:00

07:15

Zohr

Asr

Isha

Fajar

Meghrab at Sunset

Brothers in Islamestablish regularprayers & charity

Civil society holds protest against Shikarpur incident at F-6.

Renowned Ghazal and Folk singer Adeel Barki performs during musical evening Baithak at PNCA.—PO photo bySultan BashirNo place for an old man. An aged man dragging a cart to earn livelihood for his family.

RAZA UR REHMAN

ISLAMABAD—On the directions of Chairman NAB,Mr. Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, National Account-ability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi/Islamabad Re-gional Bureau distributed Rs.34.26 Million among215 affectees of M/s UNAICO Pak Pvt Ltd at aceremony held at NAB Regional Bureau. DeputyChairman NAB, Rear Admiral (R) Saeed AhmedSargana handed over the cheques to the affectees.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy ChairmanRear Admiral (R) Saeed Ahmed Sargana appreci-ated the efforts of NAB Rawalpindi/Islamabad foractively pursuing the corruption cases and mak-ing recoveries of the embezzled amounts. He saidNAB is making all out efforts to recover the lootedmoney from the swindlers.

However, this practice to invest in the unau-thorized schemes in greed of more interest and re-

turns on investments must be ended and discour-aged. He urged the people to invest only in thegovernment approved banking system and invest-ment companies. He said that NAB is proactivelypursuing corruption cases to clear the backlog andtaking concrete measures to discourage and eradi-cate corruption from society.

Addressing at the event, Director General NABRawalpindi/Islamabad asked the people to be morevigilant and check credentials of such investmentcompanies before handing them over their hardearned money.

He said NAB Rawalpindi Bureau is handlingdifferent cases in which huge amount has beenembezzled by white collar criminals. He appreci-ated the efforts of staff of NAB Rawalpindi/Islamabad Regional Bureau in recovery from theculprits and delivering the looted financial as-sets to the rightful owners. He said investigat-

ing and procuring the amounts lost to corrup-tion has always been NAB’s prime responsibil-ity and honor.

He said M/s UNAICO Pak Pvt Ltd was involvedin cheating public at large through operating anillegal ‘Multi-Level Marketing’ business by allur-ing people to pay them large membership fees whichentitled them to earning commission on the mem-bership fees of any and all new members that theycan allure into getting to join as members of thecompany; and against this membership fee themember gets nothing else. The matter was reportedto NAB by a complainant, and an inquiry into thematter was authorized.

He said on the directions of Chairman NAB,Mr. Qamar Zaman Chaudhry NAB team seized thecompany’s bank accounts, closed the company’soffice and seized all its assets. In order to returnthis recovered amount to the complainants/

affectees of the company, a complaint verifica-tion committee was constituted to verify and as-certain the bonafide of the affectees’ claims priorto disbursement of the amount to these claim-ants .

The first phase of disbursements started withthe disbursement ceremony held at NAB (R) on03.12.2014, and included payments worth 23.28 mil-lion to 138 claimants. Today in 2nd phase, NABdistributed cheques amounting to Rs. 34.16 millionamong 215 effectees.

He said under the dynamic leadership of Chair-man NAB, Mr. Qamar Zaman Chaudhry NAB iscommitted to eliminate corruption and corrupt prac-tices through good governance from the countrywho has directed all the concerned Divisions/Wings of NAB that all the complaints, Inquiriesand Investigations must be conducted transpar-ently in accordance with law and merit.

National Accountability Bureaudistributes Rs34.26m among affectees

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Academicians at a con-dolence reference held a Allama IqballOpen University (AIOU) paid rich trib-utes to late scholar and ex-Vice chan-cellor Fatima Jinnah Women Univer-sity (FJWU) Prof. Dr. Saeeda AsadullahKhan for her outstanding contributiontowards development of higher edu-cation in the country. The academi-cians including the incumbent VCFJWU Samina Amin Qadir, Dr. SheezraManwar, Dr. Sheena Ayub Bhatti, Dr.Munza Yaqub and Dr. Rubnia Kamraneulogized great qualities of her headand heart and her contribution as re-searcher and educationist.

She was a towering personality inthe educational field who had been

working with dignity and gracethroughout her life as a true profes-sional. She had always been pro-ac-tive for the cause of the students anddevelopment of research-based edu-cation, particularly while working as avice chancellor, they added.

“Dr. Saeeda was a wonderfulteacher and researcher and top of thata best human-being”, said vice chan-cellor AIOU Prof. Dr. Shahid Siddiquiwhile presiding over the condolencemeeting. She had been a role-modelfor her colleagues and students in ful-filling given-responsibilities with hon-esty, dedication and commitment. Shemade effective contribution in devel-opment of Ph.D-level programs andeducating critical theories to her stu-dents. Her death brought shock to him

and many of her others friends, stu-dents and family members, he added.He recalled his last meeting with herduring which she discussed futureplan in her educational pursuits.

The speakers while recalling pleas-ant time spent with Dr. SaeedaAsadullah, said she left behind verygood memories which will keep heralive forever in the hearts of her col-leagues, friends and students. She waslegendary in her field and legendarynever die, She had earned great honourand respect among her students be-cause of valuable academic contribu-tion as a teacher and researcher.

They recalled some of dominatingfeatures of her life which raised her pro-fessional standing among others asacademician and good human-being.

Academicians pay tributes to lateeminent scholar Saeeda Asadullah

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The Capital Develop-ment Authority (CDA) is starting re-pair / maintenance of the roads, whichwere affected by the Metro Bus Projectand all funds would be made availablefrom Metro Bus project.

This was decided in a meeting heldat CDA headquarter here the other day.The Meeting was attended by theChairman CDA, Maroof Afzal, ChiefCommissioner Rawalpindi ZahidSaeed, Member Administration andEstate Amer Ali Ahmed, Member En-

CDA starts repair of roadsaffected by Metro Bus Project

STAFF REPORTER

RAWA L P I N D I—Police have registeredcases against 38 hotels and landlords forviolation of Punjab Information of Tem-porary Residence Ordinance 2015 as theaccused did not pass on to the policethe required particulars about their ten-an t s .

According to Rawalpindi Policespokesman, the cases have been regis-tered against the accused under PunjabInformation of Temporary Residence Or-dinance 2015.

City police registered FIRs againsthotel owners namely Mushtaq, Waqas,Qadeer, Akash, Tajamal and Abbas Aliwhile Gungmandi police registered casesagainst Hamad, Zakar, Nazir Ahmed,Siddique, Jahangir, Syed Zameen, RazaUllah and Shakoor. Similarly, Pirwadhaipolice registered FIRs against hotel own-ers identified as Abbas Khan, Yaseem,Israr, Ghazanfar, Usman, Rafaqat, SarfrazKhan, Muhammad Alam, MuhammadSafeer, Isht iaq Zahoor, Shehzad andFazal as they had not submitted detailsof tenants/guests to the police.

Waris Khan police have also regis-tered cases against house owners, NoorHussain, Riaz ud din, Mushtaq Khan,Abbas, Altaf , Waqar and NadeemShehzad. Two cases were also registeredagainst Majid and Zaheer in Banni po-lice station while Sadiqabad police reg-istered cases against Farooq Abbasi ,Munir Hussain, Rashid Mahmood andUsman Javed, the landlords who did notgive details of their tenants to the policestat ion.

Gujar Khan police also lodged FIRagainst hotel owner, Khurram Shehzadunder Temporary Residence Ordinance2015.

The spokesman informed that on thespecial directive of CPO, action in ac-cordance with the law is being takenagainst hotel owners not keeping recordsof their guests.

Security arrangements in the coun-try have been upgraded since December16. Under the Punjab Tenants Ordinance2015 details of new tenants should beprovided to police within 24 hours of giv-ing possession of the property, headded.

It may be noted that fearing businessbreakdown, several hotels, guest housesand property dealers are unwill ing topass on to the police the required par-ticulars about their tenants, which is hin-dering the process of data collection inthe wake of the National Action Plan.

The real estate agents and hotel man-agers state that the police are yet to es-tablish proper data collection desks atthe police stations for this purpose. Theyalso blame the police attitude and lackof coordination between the police andthe guest houses management in theimplementation of National Action Plan.

According to the Ordinance, admin-istration of hotels and guest houses isbound to provide information about therenters to the local police within threehours. Similarly, it is made compulsoryfor the real estate agents to submit theinformation about the tenants to the po-lice within 48 hours after the house isrented out.

Violation of rules

Cases registered againsthotels, landlords

gineering Shahid Sohail and other of-ficers of relevant formations of the Au-thority. During the meeting it was de-cided that not only the affected partof I.J Principal Road will be rebuilt butthe whole I.J Principal road will be re-constructed so that traffic passingthrough this road may be accommo-dated and the residents of the twin cit-ies could be further facilitated.

It was also decided during the meet-ing that modern technologies wouldbe adopted and LED lights would alsobe installed in aesthetic manner in-stead of the traditional electric lights.

On this occasion Chairman CDA,Maroof Afzal was apprised that in or-der to complete the repair / mainte-nance of affected roads, work on theroads of Sector G-9 has already beenstarted while the project for repair /maintenance of other major roads ofthe capital city would be started soon.Chairman CDA, Maroof Afzal has di-rected the concerned formations to im-mediately start repair / maintenancework on the Ninth (9th) Avenue, Nazim-ud-Din road, Luqman Hakim Road andother major roads of Islamabad affectedby Metro Project.

Nine gamblersarrested during

police raidSTAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Rawalpindipolice on Friday held ninegamblers and recovered betmoney amounting Rs 4500and seven mobile phonesfrom their possession.

According to policespokesman, Civil Line policeconducted raid on the tip ofinformer and arrested thegamblers in the area of ShafiMorr here.

The gamblers were iden-tified as Majid, Ghafoor,Nadeem, Rizwan and others.

Police have registeredseparate cases against all ofthem and started investiga-tion.

4 arrested forrunning illegalLPG agencies

STAFF REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Police onspecial directives of CityPolice Officer (CPO)Rawalpindi Humayun BashirTarar conducted raids andarrested four accused forrunning illegal liquefied pe-troleum gas (LPG) agencies.

According to details,Naseerabad police nettedBadshah Khan and WarisKhan Police nabbed KalaKhan, Ijaz and Khurram foroperating illegal LPG agen-cies.

Police confiscated LPGcylinders and refilling gad-gets from their possessionand registered cases againstthe accused.

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—Closing Ceremony of 12thTraining Course titled “Personal Devel-opment” held in CDA Training Academy(CTA) Pak China Friendship Center, CDAIslamabad. In this course CDA Officersand students from Preston University,Quaid-e-Azam University, NICS and PakTurk completed this Training course heldfrom 26 Jan to 30 Jan.

The aim of course was to improveawareness and identi ty, developmenttalents and potential building, human,capital, facilitate employability, enhancequality of life and contribute realizationof dreams and aspirations.

The concept is not limited to self-help but includes formal and informal ac-tivities for developing others in rolessuch as counselor, administrator, coor-dinator, life coach or mentor. When per-sonal developments take place in thecontext of instructions, it refers to themethods, programs, tools, techniques,

and assessment systems that supporthuman development at the individuallevel in organizations. Sanaullah AmanExecutive Director General CDA , was thechief guest . Prominent speaker andcourse coordinator was Ali Arslan Zaki,Adil Naseer CEO APGA, Ali ArsalanZaki, President APGA, Anam Fatima,Chairman APGA, Miss Aqsa Amir, GuestSpeaker faculty in ZABIST, AdnanRandava Guest Speaker AAPF.

Ali Arsalan Zaki, Instructor of thecourse in the wake of speech also threwlight on salient features of the course.

Chief Guest said he is very happy tosee holding of such courses in CDATraining Academy.

These courses are very essential forthe development and enhancement bysharing knowledge. Executive DirectorGeneral, CDA Training Academy wel-comed guest / s tudents of the courseand informed them about future plans ofthe academy (CTA). He urged studentsto take benefit out of these courses.

Training course ‘PersonalDevelopment’ concludes

Politicianscannot beat

PTI sansrigging

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Pa-kistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)Imran Khan has said that theother political parties cannotdefeat PTI and therefore,they would join hands withthe establishment and rigelections to beat them.

In a telephonic addressto PTI workers on Saturdayin Sports and Culture Forumof PTI ceremony at Aiwan-e-Iqbal, he said that theother political parties cannever beat PTI.

Imran Khan said that asportsman competes to thelast ball and learns from hismistakes. He said that he hadhad tough training as asportsman so other politi-cians could not beat him.

Imran Khan said that PTIwill bring a system of sportsin which talent will be ableto make its way to the top.—Online

LAHORE: AJK Senior Minister Ch. Muhammad Yasin with ex-Governor Punjab Ch. Muhammad Sarwar in marriageceremony here on Saturday.

MIRPUR: AJK Prime Minister Ch. Abdul Majid laying foundation stone of Krass-Pir Gali road on Saturday.

FIRDOUS SYED

IN the begening, let me confess that 25 yearshaving been passed-by since January 1990,rests heavily on my mind. Agreed, in the life

of a nations, a timeframe of 25 years hardly mat-ters. For a person, however, about to reach theage of 50 in a few months, a quarter of century, —most significant and productive period of the life—really matters. How, and why, the most popularuprising of our history, digressed into a chaoticupheaval, a most pertinent question, should betroubling every concerned Kashmiri.

In Delhi, precisely last Saturday, I asked avery senior former Indian bureaucrat, how doeshe understand the passage of last 25 years, andever evolving crisis in Kashmir? The bureaucratturned friend—though we hardly have any con-vergence of ideas, he is well-aware of mythoughts— is deeply involved with developmentsin Kashmir even after his retirement from activeservice more than a decade ago, retorted; “there isno crisis in Kashmir presently, that was overcomea long-time back”.

And he continued, “Kashmir has moved-awayfrom the violent days of 1990s; a confident newKashmiri generation has appeared”. And he was

Kashmir: 25 years, and tickingclearly referring to a talented cricket player, a boytopping Indian civil service exams, Youth “en-thusiastically” participating in elections, and thou-sands of boys and girls venturing out for studiesin the length and breadth of India; he seems todescribe them as “harbingers” of peace.

Moreover “following the footsteps of accom-plished poet, late Agha Shahid Ali, “Kashmir hasproduced few writers of international acclaim”,thus he buttressed his argument. Parvez Rasool,Shah Faisal, Basharat Peer, Mirza Waheed, alongwith numerous other budding talents, really makesus proud. How could one contradict the brillianceof our youth? Yet a barrage of questions began tohit me.

Perhaps, he is not aware of Agha Shahid’slongings, —A Country without a post-office—for Kashmir. Basharat Peer and Mirza Waheedare accomplished writers, are they not a prod-uct of a conflict? In what way their accomplish-ments negate the continuation of a conflict?Parvez Rasool indeed inspires many in Kash-mir, does that signal an end to a conflict? Andthen suddenly as a flash, Shiraz Ahmed Ganaieof Panjran Pulwama, a journalism student,comes to my mind. If he had not died at such ayoung age, maybe he too would have arrived

on scene as an author or a famed journalist. “Idon’t know why. I also don’t understand whyhe joined militancy when he could have enjoyedlife with all the wealth and business we have”,wails Shiraz’s seemingly well-to-do father.Shakeel Ahmad Wani of Pakherpora killed onlyfew days back, we are told was also a promis-ing talent. What compelled him to tread the pathof an imminent death? During the Republic DayCelebrations, visiting President of America,Barack Obama in attendance, President PranabMukherjee awarded highest peacetime militaryhonour, Ashok Chakra to two army personnelposthumously; “who laid down their lives com-bating militants in Kashmir”.

Inevitably conflict in Kashmir frustrates allthe efforts of being pushed into oblivion. Andnext very day, a senior military officer, deco-rated for his bravery a day before on January26, was killed in an encounter with militantsnear Tral. What devours these precious livesacross the ideological divide, if not a festeringwound in Kashmir?

The existence of a crisis is undeniable; thesimmering conflict only feeds instability. 25years of struggle, consuming tens of thousandsof precious lives and causing extensive destruc-

tion, has failed to produce a resolution of theconflict. While crisis is irrefutable, resistancefailing to achieve an honourable solution is acountervailing reality. Rather an apparent dis-connect with the resistance is quite palpable.During the just concluded assembly elections,a local journalist from Chenab Valley sharedwith me a photograph of an 80 year old man.With flowing white beard and donning scarfwith BJP symbol lotus embossed all-over thecloth; he was standing along with the BJP’scandidate from Inderwal, Tariq Ahmed Keen.There were many anomalies in the photograph:a pious looking elderly person campaigning forBJP; a Muslim candidate drawing huge crowdin a predominantly Muslim area, where fewyears back militants enjoyed complete sway.

Yet a shock was more in store, I am toldthat the elderly person is father of two slain mili-tants. What pushed him to campaign for BJP?Perhaps owing to deep insecurity being fatherof two militants? Maybe he has lost the com-plete hope, his joining BJP symbolises defeat?Probably he is enraged with the Hurriyat lead-ership and in disgust has joined the diametri-cally opposite camp. This is not the only sur-prise. From Chenab belt BJP wining three seats,

first of its kind, is really shocking. Some mayfeel satisfied that out of 34 BJP candidates inValley, 33 lost their deposit. BJP could field acandidate in valley. Nareandra Modi could drawsome crowd in Srinagar. Amit Shah could holda rally in Shopian. Navjot Singh Sidhu couldcampaign in downtown. This is all spectacular,however, inconceivable. Moreover a groupdaring to make public its allegiances with SanghParivar just before the conduct of elections, witha hope to gain traction and significance; even-tually wining two seats, apparently sounds dis-gusting. Yet it’s immensely revealing.

Agreed APHC leaders are absolutely inef-ficient. Indeed the resistance has utterly failedto render an accomplishment from the uprising.Even if a humiliating defeat stares in our face,BJP able to find a toehold in the Valley is some-thing purely out of character.

Whether we agree or not, this is the real cri-sis. Are we heading towards a collective suicide?Boys desperate to seek revenge, how can therebe a peace. Meanwhile defeated psyche in abso-lute submission is willing to embrace even death.Who says this is not a crisis, it’s a profound cri-sis of will. firdoussyed@yahoo.com

—Courtesy: Greater Kashmir

SRINAGAR—Chairman of Jammu andKashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)Muhammad Yasin Malik led a protest rallyin Ganderbal istrict against New Delhi’sproposal to ‘permanently settle’ West Pa-kistan refugees in Kashmir. Malik said at-tempts to change demography of the state“will be strongly resisted.”

Police had blocked several routes lead-ing to Ganderbalchowk where Malik wasscheduled to address a public gathering.Reports said several JKLF leaders andactivists were detained at Nagbal, butMalik managed to reach the venue.

After the congregational Fridayprayers, Malik led a procession from JamiaMasjid Beehama to CentralChowkGanderbal. The procession wasjoined by a large number of people includ-ing women, a JKLF spokesman said.

“Kashmiris will fight all those whowant to change demography of J&K andharm the political, social and geographi-cal environment of the state,” Malik toldthe gathering. He termed the recommen-dations of the Joint Parliamentary Com-mittee (JPC) to provide permanent citizen-ship to non-state subject refugees fromWest Pakistan as “a conspiracy to changeMuslim character of Jammu & Kashmir.”

Will resist bid to changeJK demography: Malik

“Kashmiris will defend the special sta-tus of Jammu and Kashmir even at the costof their lives. J&K is the land full of for-ests and water bodies, and fragile eco-sys-tem of this kind is protected everywhere.But unfortunately, religious fanatics inIndia portray this as something differentand are hell-bent upon destroying this spe-cial status of the state for their petty po-litical gains and forcible control of thestate,” he said.

He said these “chauvinist forces and re-ligious fanatics” in 1947 massacred lakhsof Muslims in Jammu with impunity and“changed the demography of Jammu citycompletely.” “The properties of those mas-sacred or driven out forcefully to AzadKashmir were confiscated and the whenstate assembly in 1982 passed a resolutionregarding those people, New Delhi opposedand halted the resolution. The condemnableconspiracies hatched at the behest of RSSand its allies under the garb of religion willbe opposed tooth and nail. We will fightthese conspiracies and won’t allow anyoneto play with our identity,” he said.

Malik said “as humans we also sharethe pain of refugees from West Pakistan.But if New Delhi, its Parliament and po-litical parties are concerned about them,

why don’t they settle them permanentlyin states like Punjab, Haryana, UttarPradesh? The refugees from West Pakistanare in every respect citizens of India. Theyare not part of Jammu & Kashmir and willnever be so in future. Granting them per-manent citizenship of Jammu & Kashmirand right to vote are part of a conspiracyto destroy the existing social fabric of thestate, change its demography and destroyits majority Muslim status,” he said.

On recent visit of US president BarackObama to New Delhi, Malik said Obama“gave preference to bilateral and trade ties withIndia than press for resolution of Kashmir.”

“When Obama became the US presi-dent, oppressed nations like Jammu andKashmir and Palestine assumed he willpositively break the ice and resolve thesedisputes. This assumption was because ofObama’s claims of being a follower of greatMartin Luther King Jr. During his electioncampaign, Obama made promises to makeefforts for resolution of these issues. Buttoday especially after his visit to India, in-stead of showing statesmanship, he turnedinto a trader who only wanted to secureeconomic benefits for his big companies andprovide his capitalists a chance to explorethe huge Indian market,” he said.—GK

Life resumesin Tral

SRINAGAR—The commer-cial activities in southKashmir’s Tral township re-sumed Saturday afternoon af-ter remaining shut spontane-ously since Wednesdayagainst the killing of twomilitants in a gunfight. Twolocal Hizb-ul-Mujahideenmilitants, Abid Khan andSheraz Dar, were killed in afierce gunfight with forces inHandoora village. An armycolonel identified as MN Raiand an SOG were also killed.Witnesses said that though thearea was shut till Friday after-noon but soon congregationalprayers concluded people openedshops and resumed their com-mercial activities.—KO

Resolve tocontinue Kashmir

missionSRINAGAR—In occupiedKashmir, the All PartiesHurriyet Conference leadersincluding Javaid Ahmed Mir,Muhammad Musaddiq Aadiland Abdul Majeed Wani havereaffirmed the Kashmiris’ re-solve to continue the missionof their martyrs till completesuccess.The APHC leadersvisited Tral and expressedsolidarity with the familiesof two youth, who were re-cently martyred by Indiantroops.—KMS

SRINAGAR—The Hurriyat Conference headedby Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday said the‘venomous and hateful propaganda’ of Indianmedia against the amalgam’s chairman ‘is partof a well planned conspiracy’. There has beenwidespread outrage over Geelani’s remarkswhere he hailed the slain militants of Tral andcalled them ‘martyrs’. A section of Indian me-dia is even demanding arrest of Geelani, who isin Delhi at present.

The General Secretary of Hurriyat Confer-ence, Ghulam Nabi Sumji, in a statement cau-tioned that ‘if any untoward incident’ happenswith the Geelani in New Delhi, ‘then all its re-sponsibility would be on those news channelswho are making hue and cry over a recent pressstatement of the Hurriyat conference and whoare preparing a provocative atmosphere out ofnothing’. Sumji said the Hurriyat doesn’t getpleased over the death of any human being, anapparent hint towards the slain Colonel MN Raiand a cop of Special Operation Group, who werekilled by militants in Tral, whom Geelani andother pro-freedom leaders hailed. How-ever, Hurriyat, while blaming India, said: “Butit is our standing policy that the loss of precioushuman lives going on in Jammu & Kashmir isthe result of the rigid and stubborn approach ofthe Indian government and the unrealistic atti-tude of India is proving to be the basic reasonfor the disharmony and instability in this region,”

Indian media planned anti-Geelanihateful propaganda: APHC

the amalgam’s General Secretary said.“On 29 January Thursday, reporters and

cameramen of the many TV channels arrived atthe temporary residence of Geelani sahib inDelhi and despite his refusal some of them forc-ibly entered in his house. Their purpose althoughwas to interview the Geelani sahib about a pressstatement but their attitude was very aggressiveand they were looking like a gathering of theRSS workers rather than the media persons,”Sumji said in the statement.

He alleged: “Geelani sahib although refusedto talk to them but they remained unmoved out-side his residence till the evening and harassedhim and his family members. Their behavior wasvery offensive and they were talking in a differ-ent tone which was in no way looking as a jour-nalistic language.”

The senior Hurriyat leader said debates onvarious channels were ‘full of negative propa-ganda’ aimed at creating a ‘provocative atmo-sphere’ in Delhi. “…So that the communalforces will get tip off it,” he alleged.

“Some baseless and false allegations werealso leveled against his family in these programsand his family will think over the legal actionagainst them,” the statement issued by Sumjisaid, adding there is nothing new in Hurriyatstatements, referring to hailing militants as ‘mar-tyrs’. “Indian news channels tried to make anissue out of nothing,” he said.—KD

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the All Par-ties Hurriyet Conference has said that settlementof the Kashmir dispute is essential for peace andprosperity of the South Asian region. The APHCsaid this in a meeting of its Executive Council,General Council and Working Committeechaired by senior Hurriyet leader, ProfessorAbdul Ghani Butt, in Srinagar. The participantsurged the US to impress upon India to initiatedialogue with Pakistan and the genuine Kashmirileadership to settle the Kashmir dispute. Theysaid that the APHC would make all possible ef-forts to forge greater unity among the pro-free-dom groups to take forward the liberationstruggle in a more effectivemanner.unnamedHurriyet leaders includingJavaid Ahmed Mir and Muhammad MusaddiqAadil went to Tral and expressed solidarity withthe families of two youth, who were recentlymartyred by Indian troops. A delegation of theTehreek-e-Hurriyet Jammu and Kashmir alsovisited the area. Addressing a gathering on theoccasion, the leaders said that the Kashmiri

Kashmir settlement is a mustfor peace in S Asia

martyrs’ sacrifices, which had center-staged theKashmir dispute at the global level, would notbe allowed to go waste.

Ghulam Nabi Sumjhi, the General Secre-tary of the forum patronised by the veteranHurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, in a statementin Srinagar strongly denounced the venomousand hateful propaganda of Indian media againstthe veteran leader. He said that on Thursday,reporters and cameramen of many TV channelsarrived at the residence of Syed Ali Gilani inDelhi and despite his refusal some of them forc-ibly entered the house and terrorised the inmates.He warned that all these channels would be re-sponsible if anything untoward happened toSyed Ali Gilani in New Delhi.

APHC leaders, Ghulam Nabi Zaki,Mushtaq Ahmed Sofi, Peer Ghulam Nabi andFarooq Ahmed Sodagar visited Batamalooarea of Srinagar and distributed blankets andother relief goods among the people who wereaffected by the devastating floods of Septem-ber 2014.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, Dar-ul-Khair, a cherity organization headed by the AllParties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz UmarFarooq, continuing with its relief and rehabili-tation efforts, today, distributed relief materialamong the flood victims in Batamaloo area ofSrinagar.A high-level delegation of Dar-ul-Khaircomprising Ghulam Nabi Zaki, Mushtaq AhmadSofi, Peer Ghulam Nabi, Farooq Ahmad

Dar-ul-Khair distributes reliefitems among flood victims

Saudagar and others distributed the relief mate-rial among the flood victims.Dar-ul-Khair is continuing with its efforts acrossoccupied Kashmir to help the victims of devas-tating floods of September 2014. The delega-tion assured the people on the occasion that de-spite meager resources, Dar-ul-Khair wouldcarry on its relief and rehabilitation efforts acrossKashmir.—KMS

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyetleader and the Chairman of Jammu and Kash-mir National Front (JKNF), Nayeem AhmadKhan has paid glowing tributes to Wamiq Farooqon his 5th martyrdom anniversary.WamiqFarooq was martyred on January 31, 2010 afterhe was hit by a teargas shell fired by police nearGhani Memorial Stadium, Rajouri Kadal.

Nayeem Ahmad Khan in a statement issuedin Srinagar calling Wamiq Farooq as the firstmartyr of 2010 mass uprising, said that it had

SRINAGAR—In occupied Kashmir, the GeneralSecretary of Democratic Political Movement,Advocate Mohammad Shafee Reshi has said thatIndia has been using all cheap means to sup-press the Kashmiris’ struggle for securing rightto self-determination but will never succeed inits sinister designs.

Advocate Mohammad Shafee Reshi in astatement issued in Srinagar said that Indiaclaimed to be the largest democracy in the world

Nayeem pays tributes tomartyred Wamiq Farooq

been an unending battle for Farooq Ahmed andhis wife for the past five years to get the killersof their 13-year-old beloved son punished.

He said, “India and its local collaboratorswere never serious in providing justice toKashmiris that is why their killers are roamingfree and have been promoted.”

He pledged to take the ongoing freedomstruggle to its logical conclusion for whichthe people of Kashmir have rendered greatsacrifices.—KMS

India can’t suppress Kashmir’sliberation struggle: Reshi

but its Kashmir policy exposed its claim as ithad usurped the basic rights of the Kashmiripeople including the right to self-determination.

He said that the people of Kashmir werecommitted and would not compromise on theirrights, adding that liberation movement wouldcontinue till taking it to its logical conclusion.He said that the main purpose of increase in In-dian military expenditure was to prolong its oc-cupation over the territory.—KMS

Trooper involvedin murderer ofPak prisoner

acquittedJAMMU—In occupied Kash-mir, a court has acquitted anex-trooper of Indian Armywho assaulted and killed a Pa-kistani prisoner, SanaullahRanjay, inside the KotBhalwal jail in2013.Sanaullah Ranjay, aresident of Sialkot, Pakistan,was languishing in KotBhalwal jail when he was at-tacked by the trooper, VinodKumar, on May 3, 2013.

On the morning of May3, 2013, Vinod Kumar (serv-ing jai l term) at tackedSanaullah Ranjay with asharp-edged weapon insidethe jail. Later, Sanaullah suc-cumbed to injuries at a hos-pital in Chandigarh, India, onMay 9 and Vinod wascharged for the commissionof offence.

However, the PrincipalSessions Judge of Jammu, RS Jain, acquit ted VinodKumar of the murdercharges.—KMS

People are defi-nitely a company’sgreatest asset. Itdoesn’t make any

difference whetherthe product is cars

or cosmetics. Acompany is only asgood as the people

it keeps.

—Mary Kay Ash

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain, Dean of Diplomatic Corps Rodolfo Martin Saravia, Ambassadors/ HighCommissioners of different countries and Representatives of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry posing fora group photo during the annual dinner hosted by LCCI—PO photo by Sultan Bashir

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar address-ing a press conference, giving details about current profile of National Economy anddecrease in petroleum prices.

LAHORE: Vendors selling traditional fruit orange at stall on Canal Road.

NEW YORK—It’s just a forecast, and for only one of 10industry groups in the stock market. Yet it has almostsinglehandedly turned what had been a promising earn-ings season into a grim one. Profits for companies in theStandard & Poor’s 500 index are expected to grow at oneof the lowest rates in years, just 1.4 percent. The culprit:Energy companies that suffered as oil prices plunged.Their profits are expected to drop 25 percent, a collapse offortune nearly unheard of outside of a recession, and onethat has weighed on the stock market.

Investors will find out just how ugly the earnings areas oil companies report results over the next several days.So far, things don’t look so good. Several oil producersand service companies have announced layoffs and re-ductions in spending on new drilling projects. BP toldworkers that it would freeze pay for 2015. Chevron posteda 30 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings, a day afterRoyal Dutch Shell posted a 57 percent drop. Exxon Mobilreports its results on Monday, followed by BP on Tues-day.

Lower oil prices are good for the economy and mostbusinesses, but they are bad for the stock market in theshort term. Energy companies have an outsized effect on

Markets brace for ‘Big Oil’ profit plunge

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Telenor Pakistan has an-nounced today that it has crossed the 2.6million 3G-subscriber mark in 73 cities - en-abling the company to maintain its leader-ship as the largest and fastest growing 3Gnetwork in the country. Dur-ing the current phase of com-mercial rollout, 3G serviceswere launched in Pabbi, Karak,Sheikhupura, Toba Tek Singh,Lakki Marwat, Mianwali, Khyber Agencyand Vihari.

Free trial of 3G services will be offered toTelenor Pakistan’s customers in these newlyadded areas for two weeks. The subscriberswill be notified about the end of free 3G trialservice via SMS and Telenor Pakistan’s offi-cial website. Under the free 3G trial offer, cus-tomers can enjoy 50 MBs of free data everyday. Data services on 2G will be charged asusual. Expressing his delight, Irfan WahabKhan, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Paki-stan said, “Crossing the 3G subscriber markof 2.6 million is yet another testament of ourcommitment to facilitate 3G uptake by pro-

Telenor crosses 2.6m 3Gsubscribers in 73 cities

viding best in class and affordable internetservices to all.” “We have a twofold strategyto aggressively roll out 3G sites in the coun-try: one is to increase the number of 3G siteswithin a city thus expanding the in-city cov-erage and other is to increase the number of3G cities across the country. We will continue

to strengthen our network reachand stay committed towardsbuilding an ecosystem to fur-ther facilitate 3G growth in thecountry,” he added.

It is pertinent to note that in 2013 TelenorPakistan underwent an enormous networkmodernization activity which comprised swap-ping every single facet of its network, frombase station equipment to value-added ser-vice platforms – and with this development itbecame the first mobile operator in the countrywith an end-to-end modernized network. Theequipment installed was 24% more energy effi-cient and possessed intelligent power man-agement features with reduced power con-sumption. During the modernization carbonemissions were drastically reduced makingTelenor Pakistan one of the most fuel-efficientorganizations in the country.

Entrepreneurwelcomes PM’svisit to KSEKARACHI—ChiefExecutive Officer ShahidAli Habib of Arif HabibLimited (AHL), which islisted on Karachi StockExchange, has welcomedthe visit of Prime MinisterMuhammad Nawaz Sharifto the KSE and said it willnot only contribute toeconomic prosperity of thecountry but will furtherstrengthen the confidenceof KSE members in themarket. Shahid Habib gavethese comments to mediaon the Prime Minister’svisit to KSE. He mentionedthat Muhammad NawazSharif is the first PrimeMinister of the countrywho has visited KarachiStock Exchange.—APP

FCCI hails ChairmanFBR claim to cleartax refundsFAISALABAD—FaisalabadChamber of Commerce andIndustry (FCCI) presidentEngineer Rizwan Ashrafhas welcomed theassurance of ChairmanFederal Board of Revenue(FBR) to clear all pendingRefund Claims (RC) oftextile exporters byFebruary 28. In a statementissued here on Friday, hesaid that huge sales tax RCup to Rs. 102 billion werepending with FBR, addingthat chairman FBR wouldmonitor the process of thepayments of RCs on dailybasis to ensure clearanceof all claims. He alsodemanded that cheque forthe amount of refund claimshould be collected andsame cheque could bereturned back to theconcerned exporter oncompletion of its exportproceed.—APP

Euro falls as Greecerejects bailout talkswith troikaNEW YORK—The euroretreated against othermajor currencies asstruggling Greece refusedto meet with its interna-tional creditors andrejected fresh loans, andthe eurozone showedweaker inflation. Thefinance minister of Greece’snew anti-austeritygovernment, YanisVaroufakis, said thatdespite warnings Greecewould shortly run out ofmoney, his governmentpreferred to do without theinstant fresh cash.—Agencies

Cotton market rates slightlyup on improved activity

LAHORE—Prices moved upslightly on the cotton mar-ket amid improved buyingby the mills and spinners,dealers said. The officialspot rate was unchanged atRs 4700, dealers said. In theready session, around 7,000bales of cotton-changedhands between Rs 4000 andRs 4975, they said. The seedcotton rates in Sindh at Rs1600 and Rs 2300, in Punjabprices were at Rs 1700 andRs 2500, they said.

Analysts said that pricesof quality cotton showedmarginal rise as mills andspinners indulged in freshpurchasing. Cotton analyst,Naseem Usman said that ex-pectations for positiveUSDA report and better trad-ing interest in India helpedthe rates to hold present lev-els in local market.

Reuters adds: ICE cottonrose for the fourth straightsession on Thursday on athird consecutive strong USexport sales report, thoughgains were modest due topressure from a strong USdollar and weakness acrossthe commodities complex.The most-active front-

month March cotton con-tract on ICE Futures US rose0.13 cent, or 0.2 percent, tosettle at 59.57 cents a lb. Ithad risen as high as 59.78cents a lb after the releaseof the US Department ofAgriculture’s weekly exportsales report on Thursdaymorning.

The following deals re-ported: 200 bales fromSanghar at Rs 4000, 400bales from Shahdadpur atthe same rate, 200 bales fromKhadiyro at Rs 4300, 200bales from Kotri at Rs 4500,same number fromHyderabad, same numberfrom Setharja, same figurefrom Rasoolabad all done atthe same rate, 200 bales fromChistian at Rs 4525, 400bales from Faqirwali at Rs4600, 600 bales fromHaroonabad at Rs 4600-4675, 200 bales from MianChano at Rs 4650, 400 balesfrom Fort Abbas at Rs 4675,same number from Hasilpurat Rs 4750, 600 bales fromAlipur at Rs 4800-4900, 1000bales from Rahimyar Khanat Rs 4900 and 400 bales fromMianwali at Rs 4975, theyadded.—Agencies

QatarAirways buys10pc of IAG

DU B A I—Qatar Airwaysannounced it has boughtnearly 10 percent of theparent company of BritishAirways and Spain’s Ibe-ria, deepening wealthyQatar ’s business ties toEurope and intensifyingcompetition with theairline’s fast-growing Gulfrivals.

The Qatari govern-ment-backed airline saidthe decision to buy 9.99percent of InternationalConsolidated AirlinesGroup, also known as IAG,was part of an effort to en-hance its operations andstrengthen commercial tieswith the European com-pany.

“It makes sense for usto work more closely to-gether in the near term andwe look forward to forginga long-term relationship,”Qatar Airways CEO AkbarAl-Baker said in a state-ment.

Qatar Airways said itmay consider increasing itsstake further down the road.Financial terms were not dis-closed.—AP

AMISP issuesrates of

commoditiesLAHORE—Agriculture Mar-keting Information ServicePunjab (AMISP) issued ratesof different agriculture prod-ucts as per 100 kg in localmarket on Saturday. Rice (Su-per Karnal Basmati New) mini-mum Rs 8500 and maximumRs 9500, white sugar minimum5120 and maximum Rs 5120,white gram minimum Rs 5800and maximum Rs 6000, RedChili Whole (Dry) minimumRs 22000 maximum Rs 24000.

Potato Fresh minimum Rs1800 and maximum Rs 2000,Onion minimum Rs 1500 andmaximum Rs 1700, Tomatominimum Rs 3600 and maxi-mum Rs 3800, Cucumber mini-mum Rs 5300 and maximumRs 5500, Garlic (China) mini-mum Rs 13500 and maximumRs 14000, Garlic (Local) mini-mum Rs 14200 and maximumRs 14800, Peas minimum Rs3000 and maximum Rs 3200,Cauliflower minimum Rs 2100and maximum Rs 2200, Brinjalminimum Rs 3300 and maxi-mum Rs 3500.—APP

Indonesian toenhance trade

with PakSTAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Indonesian del-egation visited Trade De-velopment Authority of Pa-kistan and discussed mat-ters related to trade devel-opment between Pakistanand Indonesia. They agreedthat the trade between thetwo brotherly countriesneeds to be increased.

They also agreed to ex-change trade delegationsbetween two countries andto participate in trade exhi-bitions. S. M. Muneer,Chief Executive Trade De-velopment Authority of Pa-kistan (TDAP) met with adelegation led by Mr. HadiSontoso, Consul General,Republic of Indonesia.Sontoso appreciated CETDAP for organizing 9thconsecutive Expo Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD—Chairman Privatisation Com-mission (PC) Mohammad Zubair informedthe Senate subcommittee on Finance thatthe government cannot use privatisationproceeds to finance its deficit as the law re-quires that 90 percent of the proceeds beused for debt retirement and 10 percent onpoverty alleviation. Perhaps MuhammadZubair needs reminding him that the FiscalResponsibility and Debt Limitation Act 2005also restricts the debt to Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) ratio at 60 percent while in2013, the first year of the PML-N govern-ment, debt-to-GDP ratio was 63.9 percent,which declined to 61.2 percent in 2014 asindicated in the Economic Survey 2013-14.

However, as has been patently evidentfrom data released post-June 2013 the fig-ures cited since 2012 are surprisingly pro-visional - a fact that is difficult to compre-hend for years 2012 and 2013 though onecan understand provisional data for 2014(end March) as the Economic Survey dataand analysis are finalised around that time.

Be that as it may, it appears that the Chair-man of the Privatisation Commission may haverelied on semantics to deal with the committeemembers’ growing accusations that the gov-

Senate body informedon privatisation

proceeds to retire debternment intends to use privatisation proceedsfor debt retirement. Three factors support thiscontention. First, the expenditure-resource gapis growing with higher than budgeted expen-ditures (due to the implementation of the Na-tional Action Plan) while resources as per theState Bank need to grow by 42 percent to meetthe budgeted target of 2810 billion rupees.Given that the budget revenue targets are rou-tinely overly ambitious in our budgets (withnot a single year during the past two decadeswhen they were actually realised) the 42 per-cent growth target is simply too unrealistic atarget that, economists are agreed, would en-tail a significant increase in government bor-rowing. Secondly, as a natural adjunct to thefirst factor, the government is already heavilyengaged in borrowing and recently repaid the450 billion rupees it borrowed from State Bankafter being compelled to do so by the Interna-tional Monetary Fund as part of the 6.64 bil-lion dollar Extended Fund Facility. However,total government borrowings from bank andnon-bank sources are well beyond one trillionrupees and therefore the consensus is that thegovernment’s borrowing to meet the growingdeficit would be retired through privatisationproceeds.—Agencies

the S&P 500 index because they are among the most valu-able members of it. Instead of giving equal weight to eachof the companies, the S&P 500 ranks them according totheir market value. Exxon Mobil, worth $385 billion, is about10 times the average value of a company in the index Whydoes that matter? Every percentage move in Exxon’s stock,up or down, pushes the index up and down as if Exxonwere 10 companies.

Exxon’s stock has fallen 16 percent from June whenoil began to slide from $107 a barrel to $44 currently.Chevron, another heavyweight in the index, has fallen27 percent. Stock prices have already suffered becauseinvestors know what’s coming. Big oil earnings are rela-tively predictable because oil production is fairly steadyand prices are set on open markets. While a companysuch as Apple can surprise investors by revealing justhow popular a new product is with consumers, oil isalways in fashion. Analysts can make reasonably goodguesses about how much oil a company produced in aquarter, and what prices they were able to sell it for.When all the results are tallied, the plunge in energycompany earnings is expected to be by far the worstamong the 10 sectors in the S&P 500, according to

FactSet, a financial data provider. Without that hit, earn-ings for the S&P 500 would be on track to grow a healthy4.6 percent.

“Rising tides lifted all ships, and now the tide iscoming down and all ships are falling,” said FadelGheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. “We knowhow this is going to end.” Companies such as Exxon,Chevron, Shell and BP don’t just produce oil, theyalso buy and refine it into fuels and chemicals. Whenoil prices fall, refining profits often rise. Exxon, Chev-ron and Shell all posted higher earnings in the thirdquarter of last year even as oil prices slumped. That’sbecause refining profits rose more than productionprofits fell.

So far, it looks as if fourth quarter refining profits havejumped again. But this time, crude prices seem to havedropped too far for refining to make up the difference.The plunge in crude prices meant the refining operationsof Chevron and Shell paid less for the oil they bought onthe open market. Demand for fuels, however, remainedsteady, so the refineries received relatively high prices fortheir gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Shell’s refining earnings jumped 167 percent in the

fourth quarter, and Chevron’s soared nearly 300 per-cent, the companies said this week. While it wasn’tenough push overall earnings higher than last year, itwas better than the alternative: ConocoPhillips, a bigoil producer that spun off its refining operations in2012, posted a rare loss when it reported results onThursday.

Big oil companies are careful not to forecast prices,especially in the short term. But they will offer cluesabout how long they think low prices will last in whatthey say about drilling plans.

The analysis firm Wood MacKenzie predicts thatoil and gas companies will spend $50 billion less thisyear in North America than last year, a drop of nearly40 percent. Oil companies are among the biggest cor-porate spenders because the cost of exploring for andproducing oil and gas in diff icult places is high.Chevron’s Gorgon natural gas project in Australia, forexample, is expected to cost $54 billion. Costs couldfall, though. When oil prices drop and drilling activityslows, rig operators and other companies that workfor big oil producers charge less. That could makesome projects more profitable.—AP

PCJCCIinitiates processto develop joint

edu venturesSALIM AHMED

L A H O R E — P a k - C h i n aJoint Chamber of Com-merce and Industry(PCJCCI) has initiated aprocess to develop jointventures between Paki-stan and China in the fieldof higher education. Inthis regard a meeting of theJiangsu Chamber of Com-merce and Industry wasarranged under aegis ofthe PCJCCI with Univer-sity of Management andTechnology (UMT) todayat UMT main campus. Mr.Wang Guogui, Supervis-ing President JiangsuChamber led the Chinesedelegation, which at-tended the meeting. Dr.Hasan Sohaib Murad,Rector UMT along withhis team attended themeeting from UMT side.Mr. Salahuddin Hanif,Secretary General, PCJCCIwas also present on thisoccasion.

The meeting discussedprospects of developingjoint degree programs inbusiness, InformationTechnology and Chineselanguage. Mr. Guongui,Leader of the JiangsuChamber offered Chineseexpertise and informationtechnology support to theeducation institutes in Pa-kistan. He was confidentthat bilateral collaborationin the fields of higher edu-cation could producegraduates of internationalstandards in Pakistan,which could not only servePakistan, but also play sig-nificant role in the interna-tional business activities.

Earlier Dr. Hasan SohaibMurad, Rector UMT deliv-ered address of welcome inhonor of the Chinese del-egation and apprised themabout the University’sambits of operation. Heurged the Chinese expertsto help opening a globallyresponsible leadership cen-ter his university. He alsoinvited Chinese entrepre-neurs dealing in educationcenter to evolve joint ven-ture for higher educationprograms in business ad-ministration, Chinese lan-guage and the software de-velopment. He offered to al-locate an exclusive area ofland in UMT vicinity for thispurpose.

Mr. Abid Sherwani,Director General, Mr.Usman, Manager IndstryLinkages, Mr. Mankooshur Rehman, Assistant Pro-fessor Retail and ServicesMarketing and Mr. Ashar,Director Center for Entre-preneurship and Innova-tion of UMT gave presen-tations to the Chinese del-egation on their respectiveareas of operation. TheJiangsu Chamber’s del-egation is also going tohold meeting with seniorofficials of the HigherEducation Commission,Punjab to discuss possi-bilities of collaboration atgovernment level in thefield of higher education.

Meanwhile Mr. ShahFaisal Afridi, PresidentPCJCCI has termed the cur-rent visit of Chinese tradedelegation highly useful forbilateral trade and invest-ment relations. He hopedthat the visit would lead tosome concrete jointprojects in the fields of con-struction, steel industryand the higher education.

Currency Selling Buying

USA 101.00 100.80

UK 152.24 151.94

Euro 114.40 114.18

Canada 79.97 79.81

Switzerland 109.67 109.45

Australia 78.62 78.46

Sweden 12.21 12.19

Japan 0.8559 0.8542

Norway 12.90 12.87

Singapore 74.74 74.59

Denmark 15.37 15.34

Saudi Arabia 26.88 26.82

Hong Kong 13.03 13.00

Kuwait 342.21 341.53

Malaysia 27.87 27.82

Newzealand 73.54 73.39

Qatar 27.74 27.68

UAE 27.50 27.44

Kr Won 0.0922 0.0920

Thailand 3.087 3.081

KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Iftikhar AhmedVohra presenting crest to Counsellor (Commercial and Political) at the High Commis-sion of Canada, Allison Stewart, during her visit to KCCI. Vice Chairman BusinessmenGroup and Former President KCCI, Anjum Nisar is also seen in the picture.—POPhoto Sultan Chaki

MIAN ARSHAD

ISLAMABAD—Islamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry has strongly opposed thegovernment move to include various sur-charges in power tariffs to cover the cost ofline losses, debt servicing and interest pay-ments due to which the electricity charges inPakistan have become highest in the region ascompared to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladeshand called upon the government to withdrawall such surcharges as well as make sufficientreduction in power tariffs which will facilitatethe growth of business & industrial activitiesand provide sufficient relief to the commonman. Muzzamil Hussain Sabri President, M.Shakeel Munir Senior Vice President andM. Ashfaq Hussain Chatha Vice President,Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry said the power tariff surcharges inPakistan accounted for more than 30 per-cent of the total charges of a commercial

ICCI calls for withdrawal ofsurcharges, hefty cut in power tariffs

bill and were major factor for enhancing costdoing business in the country. They saidinstead of bringing drastic reforms in powersector to cope with the problems of trans-mission & distribution losses, debt servic-ing& other liabilities, government was forc-ing people to pay for the inefficiency ofpower companies by imposing surchargeswhich was highly unjustifiable and in vio-lation of the rights of power consumers.

They said it was very unfortunate thatECC has directed NEPRA to include interestamount of billions of rupees, owed by thegovernment to the power companies due tolate payment, in the power tariffs of con-sumers while consumers have no role in suchlate payments. They said government hasalready included debt service surcharge ofRs.0.30 perunit in October, 2014 in additiontariff increases of Rs.0.38/unit and Rs.0.60/unit under “Universal Obligation Fund” topay the liabilities of power producers.

ISLAMABAD—The country’s large scalemanufacturing (LSM) sector has witnessedgrowth of 2.48 percent during the first fivemonths of current fiscal year as compared tothe corresponding period of last year. Theprovisional Quantum Index Numbers (QIM)of large scale manufacturing industries wasrecorded at 144.20 points during July-No-vember (2014-15) against 111.43 points dur-ing July-November (2013-14), according thedata of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The highest growth of 1.28 percent waswitnessed in the indices monitored by Pro-vincial Bureaus of Statistics (PBOS) fol-lowed by Ministry of Industries with 1.02percent and the indices of Oil CompaniesAdvisory Committee (OCAC) with 0.19 per-cent. On year-to-year basis, the industrial

growth increased by 4.89 percent duringNovember 2014 as compared to November2013 while on month-to-month basis, theindustrial growth increased by 0.77 percentduring November 2014 when compared togrowth of October 2014, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, the major sectors thatshowed growth during July-November(2014-15) included textile (0.73 percent),food beverages and tobacco (0.62 percent),coke and petroleum products (4.13 percent),pharmaceuticals (3.26 percent) chemicals(7.02 percent), non metallic mineral prod-ucts (3.47 percent), automobiles (13.47 per-cent), iron and steel products (24.58 per-cent), electronics (8.58 percent), leatherproducts (6.41 percent) and rubber prod-ucts (3.49 percent).—APP

Industrial output grows2.48pc in five months

OBSERVER REPORT

LAHORE—Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. todayannounced financial results for the fourth quar-ter ended December 31, 2014. Samsung’s rev-enue for the quarter was KRW 52.73 trillion, an11 percent increase quarter-on-quarter (QOQ),while the operating profit for the quarter wasKRW 5.29 trillion, an increase of KRW 1.23 tril-lion QOQ. In the company’s earnings guidancedisclosed on January 8, 2015, Samsung esti-mated fourth quarter consolidated revenueswould reach approximately KRW 52.0 trillionwith consolidated operating profit of approxi-mately KRW 5.2 trillion.

Overall, QOQ growth was led by the DeviceSolutions (DS) Division whose revenue increasewas attributed to solid demand for memory prod-ucts and an increase in 20-nanometer mobile ap-plication processor (AP) supply. The Display Panelsegment saw strong sales of LCD products, helpedby an increase in the average selling price (ASP)brought about by tight supply and demand con-

Samsung announces financial results, posts impressive profit gainsditions throughout the industry. OLED productshipments also increased. Meanwhile, the IT &Mobile Communications (IM) Division saw itsearnings recover, due to increased sales of high-end products, such as the Galaxy Note 4, and amore efficient management of marketing expendi-tures.

Looking ahead to 2015, earnings for compo-nents are expected to be static, due to slow sea-sonality across the IT industry. During this time,Samsung will focus on ramping up the volume ofthe System LSI Business’ 14-nanometer process,while also focusing on improving the Display Panelsegment’s premium product offerings. For the setbusiness, weak seasonality for the Consumer Elec-tronics (CE) Division, including the Visual Dis-play (VD) Business’ TVs, is expected to result inlimited earnings growth and decreased marketingexpenditures. As for the IM Division, it will focuson the successful implementation of its new prod-uct line-up strategy.

For the 2015 fiscal year, Samsung expectsto build upon its stable foundation for solid

growth over the longer term. For the MemoryBusiness, solid earnings are expected on theback of DRAM products equipped with differ-entiated technologies, such as the DDR4, whilethe company will continue on with the 20-na-nometer process migration. In order to addressthe rapidly growing SSD market, the supply ofV-NAND products will be increased. As for theSystem LSI Business, the adoption of the 14-nanometer process is expected to reinforcesystem-on-chip product competi t iveness,while the company continues to expand thefoundry customer base to drive stable growthmomentum.

The Display Panel segment will focus on theUHD TV market with TV panels that implementthe company’s industry-leading technologies,particularly the curved and ultra-large 60-plus-inchpanels. The VD Business will look to further ce-ment its market leadership by increasing shipmentsof new premium products, led by the SUHD TV.The IM Division’s Mobile Business, which hadweak earnings in 2014, will focus on recovery by

differentiating its mobile devices using new mate-rials and designs, while also more efficiently man-aging costs through, among others, streamliningproduct line-ups.

Capital expenditure (CAPEX) for 2014 totalledKRW 23.4 trillion as initially planned, includingKRW 14.3 trillion and KRW 4 trillion that werespent on semiconductors and displays, respec-tively. The 2015 CAPEX plan remains under re-view, and will be determined based on macroeco-nomic conditions, as well as the requirements andneeds of each business. The total CAPEX for 2015is expected to increase from 2014.

Components Business to Undergo FurtherGrowth Semiconductors posted KRW 10.66 tril-lion in consolidated revenue and KRW 2.7 trillionin operating profit for the quarter. The MemoryBusiness saw strong demand in the fourth quar-ter for DRAM products, such as the DDR4, drivenby new server platforms and data centres. Stabledemand for PCs also contributed. NAND prod-ucts also enjoyed strong demand in the fourthquarter, mainly due to new smartphone launches.

ISLAMABAD—The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is ex-amining a proposal to further increase sales tax on theimport and local supply of four petroleum products i.e.motor spirit including High Octane Blending Component(HOBC); kerosene oil; light diesel and high-speed dieseloil from February 1, 2014.

The tax authorities are reviewing the proposal in viewof expected reduction in the prices of POL products fromnext month. If there is a further increase in sales tax rate onPOL products, it would be the second consecutive raise inthe rate of sales tax on petroleum products. The FBR mayagain exercise powers conferred by clause (b) of sub-sec-tion (2) of section 3 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 to furtherenhance sales tax on POL products.

The prices of the major petrol products are expected tobe reduced in the range of Rs 5.5 per litre to Rs 11 per litrefrom February 1. One of the proposals under consider-ation is to increase 5 percent sales tax from 22 to 27 per-

FBR examines proposal toincrease ST on import, local

supply of POL productscent in line with expected decrease in prices of POL prod-ucts from next month.

Through SRO.1152 (I)/2014, the FBR had increasedsales tax by 5 percent from 17 to 22 percent on the importand local supply of four petroleum products ie motor spiritincluding High Octane Blending Component (HOBC);Kerosene oil; light diesel and high speed diesel oil fromJanuary 1, 2015. However, the FBR had not increased salestax from 17 to 22 percent on the import and supply offurnace oil and Jet Fuel.

At present sales tax has been charged on importand supplies of the four POL products at the rate of 22percent depending on the value of goods. The POL prod-ucts subjected to 22 percent sales tax are motor spiritincluding HOBC (Pakistan Customs Tariff heading2710.1210); kerosene (PCT heading 2710.1911); Lightdiesel oil (PCT heading 2710.1921) and High-speed die-sel oil (PCT heading 2710.1931).—Agencies

STAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—HBL has been awarded the “Is-suer of the Year” in the Middle-East and NorthAfrica (MENA) region by UnionPay Interna-tional. The award ceremony was held at theheadquarters of UnionPay International inShanghai, China and present at the ceremonywere Mr. CaiJianbo, CEO - UnionPay Interna-tional, Mr. Faiq Sadiq, Head - Payment Ser-vices, HBL and other senior officials of bothorganizations.

HBL and UnionPay International alsoheld a ceremony for HBL’s launch of UnionPayOnline Payment (UPOP), HBL is the first Is-suer and Acquirer of UPOP in MENA region.UPOP enables UnionPay debit cards issuedby HBL to be used for transactions online fore-commerce and also enables online e-com-merce businesses to accept UnionPay cardsfor payment on their websites.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Faiq Sadiq

HBL receives ‘Issuer of theYear’ award from UnionPay

said, “HBL is proud and honoured to receivethe Issuer of the Year award from UnionPay forsecond consecutive year. HBL is the largestdebit card issuer of UnionPay and is the firstbank to launch UPOP services in the entireMENA region including Pakistan. HBL andUnionPay partnership has gained tremendoussuccess over the past 2+ years and HBL haslaunched various services backed byUnionPay in the domestic market. HBL verysoon will be extending these services in inter-national markets where it has presence as well.”

Mr. CaiJianbo said, “UnionPay Interna-tional and HBL has many consensuses inenhancing the local UnionPay card accep-tance network and improving the local card-using services. UnionPay International andHBL will jointly issue the UnionPayFunongcard and premium cards to continuously en-hance the local UnionPay card products andservices and expand their cooperation to otheroverseas markets to better serve cardholders.

Gold priceremains steady

KARACHI—The yellowmetal price in global anddomestic markets closedfirm on back of upward cor-rection and internationalbuying on anticipating out-put reports. The gold pricewould be remained underleading hands by next 5months 2015, expertsopined. Gold closed at$1,262 an ounce with novariation in value an ounceas compared to previoustrading session and domes-tic bullion price witnessedfirm trend. Gold in tola termup by Rs 146 per tola to stayat Rs 47,769 per tola while ingrammage value, gold up byRs 125 per ten grams toclose at Rs 40,997 per tengrams respectively, dealerssaid.

The gold price re-mained on changing pat-tern while buying in India,Pakistan and other majorgold buying countries re-mained steady, howeverleading traders in interna-tional and domestic mar-kets were keeping eye onfuture output while poten-tial buyers in India andPakistan remained busy inhedging.—Agencies

Parliamentarydelegation visitsChina for Safe-

City ProjectSTAFF REPORTER

ISLAMABAD—The speakerof National Assembly of Pa-kistan along with 15 Mem-bers of National Assemblymade an official visit toBeijing, towards the end ofJanuary 2015, where the del-egation also visitedHuawei’s Beijing office. TheSpeaker - Mr. Ayaz Sadiq andhis 15 member delegation,accompanied by the ForeignAffairs officer of the ChinaNational People’s Congress- Mr.Wang and Huawei’sSenior Vice President - Mr.Qu, visited Huawei’s Beijing\Executive Briefing Center(EBC), which is the biggestexhibition center of Huawei.Pakistan’s Ambassador inChina - Mr. Masood andHuawei Pakistan PR Man-ager Mr.Ginger were alsopresent on the occasion.

Mr.Sadiq and the delega-tion observed and experiencedthe latest products and ser-vices offered by Huawei, in-cluding; digital home theatresand devices, besidestelepresent conference equip-ment, IT infrastructure prod-ucts and 4G/5G innovations.

Pakistani parliamentary delegation along with Speaker National Assembly SardarAyaz Sadiq during the visit of Huawei’s Beijing Executive Briefing Center for ‘SafeCity Project’.

MULTAN: Ladies purchasing old warm clothes by a roadside vendor.

Lt Gen (Retd) Abudl Qadir Baloch, Federal Minister for State and Frontier Regions ispresenting crest to Mian Muhammad Adrees, President FPCCI at seminar on ‘GwadrPotential and Propects’.

Faisal Atharslams ton asHyderabad

Hawks stun PIAKARACHI—Faisal Atharblasted a sterling hundredas Hyderabad Hawksstunned PIA by three wick-ets after a thrilling encoun-ter in President’s Silver CupOne-day Cricket Tourna-ment at Niaz StadiumHyderabad.

Faisal belted 11 bound-aries in his 111 off 108 balls,Shoaib Leghari banged ahurricane unbeaten 64 off 50balls with six four and onesix as Hyderabad rompedhome for the loss of sevenwickets with two balls tospare.

Mir Ali Talpur in thedeath overs slammed anundefeated 20 in 14 ballswith a massive sixer and onefour to steer his team to vic-tory.

Earlier Kamran Sajidmade a polished 112 in 132balls with nine fours andFaisal Iqbal scored 80 withsix hits to the ropes to helpPIA post 292-5 in their 50overs.—APPPERTH—Japanese swim-

mer Daiya Seto again up-staged American star RyanLochte on the second andfinal day of the Aquatic Su-per Series in Perth on Satur-day.

Seto, 20, is best knownfor his short-course ex-ploits, but made it four winsfor the event when he beatLochte, the world record

holder in the event, in the200m individual medley.

Lochte, an 11-time Olym-pic medallist looking for hisfirst win at the meet, led forthe opening 100m andlooked to be on track as thefield turned at the half-waymark.

But Seto surged into the

Swimming: Japan’s Setostars in Super Series

lead in the third lap.The American tried hard

to overhaul Seto in the finalfreestyle lap, but the Japa-nese swimmer maintainedhis ascendancy to win in atime of 1:58.27.

Lochte was 0.30secback, with Japan’s HiromasaFujimori finishing third.

Seto, the 2013 400m in-dividual medley world cham-

pion, had also won the 200mfreestyle, in which Lochtefinished fifth, earlier in theevening.

After that win, he com-mented that he wasn’thappy with his times duringthe meet despite his win-ning form.

On the opening day,

Seto won the 200m butter-fly and 400m individualmedley.

Seto’s Japanese team-mate, Ryosuke Irie, com-pleted a successful doublewhen he was impressive intaking out the 200m back-stroke.

Irie also won the 100mbackstroke on Friday and histime of 1:54.62 on Saturdaywas one of the fastest everswum in Australia.

In the men’s 50mfreestyle, there was an up-set when Lochte’s trainingpartner, Josh Schneider,surged past local fanciesJames Magnussen andCameron McEvoy.

The two Australianshad finished first and sec-ond in the 100m freestyle onFriday and were expected todo so again, but loweredtheir colours to Schneider ina thrilling finish.

World 100m freestylechampion Cate Campbell’ssuccessful return from ashoulder injury continuedwhen she beat her sisterBronte by the narrowest ofmargins in that event earlyin the evening.

Bronte Campbell lookedset to turn the tables on hersister for much of the race,only to be beaten by 0.01sec.

There was anAus$250,000 ($194,000) firstprize for the team that scoredthe most points over the twodays.The host nation endedup winning with a tally of 626points, 40 ahead of theUnited States on 586.

Japan were third on 548and China finished on520.—AFP

MULTAN: Player of Himalaya Football Club and Punjab College Football Club struggling to get hold on the ballduring first semi-finals of Inter-Towns Football Tournament played at Sports Ground.

P E S H AW A R — K h u r r a mAgency and Bajaur Agencyadvanced to next round af-ter securing victoriesagainst their respective ri-vals in the Governor KhyberPakhtunkhwa Twenty20FATA Cricket being playedat two different venues.

In the first match playedat Gymkhana groundKhurram Agency defeatedNorth Waziristan Agencyby six wickets. NorthWaziristan Agency skipperwon the toss and elected tobat first by setting up only77 runs all out in 18.3 oversof the allotted 20 overs.Masri Khan and Naveedscored 20 and 19 runs whileZahid scored 18 runs, noneof the other batsmen could

KABUL—At an indoor academy in Kabul,Afghanistan’s cricketers are training hardfor their debut in the upcoming World Cuptournament in Australia and New Zealandnext month.

Shuttle runs and lifting weights helpkeep out the bitter chill of the Afghan win-ter as the players tune up for the tourna-ment on warmer antipodean shores.

The Afghans’ opening match againstBangladesh in Canberra on February 18 willmark the culmination of a fairy-tale journeyfor a team born in the ashes of decades ofwar.

Afghanistan qualified for the last twoWorld Twenty20 tournaments in 2010 and2012 but lost all their matches, however thiswill be their first time in the 50-over tourna-ment.

“It really means so much to play in amega event like the World Cup,”Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil, the team’s 30-year-old captain, wearing a thick jersey andwinter hat inside the chilly training facility,told AFP.

Afghans prepare for‘dream’ World Cup debut

Cricket came to Afghanistan throughrefugee camps in Pakistan, where count-less Afghans fled the 1979 Soviet invasionof their homeland.

After learning it in exile, young Afghansbrought cricket back with them when theTaliban fell in 2001 and the game has gonefrom strength to strength ever since.

Afghanistan face a tough fight to getout of their group, which includes Testpowerhouses Australia, Sri Lanka, Englandand New Zealand.

Only the top four in each group gothrough to the knockout stages.

But the side are buoyant after beatingBangladesh in the Asia Cup last year andknow the big-name sides will be wary of apossible giant-killing.

“We have a chance, if we play to ourpotential, to qualify for the quarter-finals,”said Nabi, an off-spinning all-rounder with43 one-day internationals under his belt.

“This is a game that can bring Afghani-stan together and be a very good tool forpeace and stability.”—AFP

ORLANDO—Teen star LydiaKo birdied five straight holeson the back nine to take aone-stroke lead after the thirdround of the season-openingLPGA Tour’s Coates GolfChampionship on Friday.

The 17-year-old fromNew Zealand is a shot aheadof rookie Jang Ha-Na andcould become the youngestmale or female player ever toreach number one in theworld rankings with a victoryon Saturday.

“I have been puttinggood the last few days. I justhave to stay in that mood,”Ko said.

Ko, who finished 54holes at 14-under 202, hasfive career LPGA Tour winswith three of those cominglast year.

Jang, the second-roundleader, posted a one-under71 at Golden Ocala Golfcourse in Florida and is alonein second place at 13-under.

Choi Na-Yeon, anotherSouth Korean, carded a six-under 66 to jump into thirdplace at 12-under-par 204.

American Stacy Lewisshot two-under 70 for thesecond straight round andthe world number three isalone in fourth at 10-under206.

Amy Yang equalled Ko’s65 and jumped into a shareof fifth at nine-under. Yangwas joined there by JessicaKorda (69) and Austin Ernst(70).

Ko had a strong frontnine with four birdies. Butshe began the back ninewith back-to-back bogeysbefore catching fire and thensurging to five straight bird-ies. She closed with two pars.

“I was kind of shocked,”Ko said of the bogeys. “Butit got me fired up. I jammedmy putter in the bag and said,‘You’ve got to start workingagain,’ and I made good bird-ies on 12 to 16.”

Ko said she plans tomanage her game inSaturday’s final round andnot think about what othersare doing.

“There are so many greatplayers one to four shotsback and you just neverknow what’s going to hap-pen,” she said.

“I’m just going to con-centrate on my game, juststay really positive, and ifsomebody else shoots amuch better score than I do,I can’t really do much aboutit.”Ask about the possibilityof becoming the youngestNo. 1, Ko said: “It would be

great and it would be a hugehonour to be in that position,but we’ve still got anotherlong 18 holes to go and youjust never know what’s go-ing to happen in thoseholes.”

Ko said she can alwayshear her father shouting en-couragement from the side-lines and this round was nodifferent.

“I told my dad, ‘Dad, theonly crowd voice I can hear

is you saying like, ‘Nice,Lydia.’

“I can always spot it. It’sa voice I always hear. Andhe actually has quite a loudvoice just even talking, sohe’s always verbal out there.

“When there’s like noone and my dad does it, I’mlike, ‘Oh, there goes my dad.’

“But in a way it’s good,it kind of gives me a little bitof oomph and it’s good tohave the support.”—AFP

Golf: Teen star Ko seizes lead in Florida

ORLANDO: Lydia Ko watches her shot during the thirdround of the Coates Golf Championship.

Kurram, Bajaur Agenciesadvance in Governor

Twenty20 FATA Cricket Cupstand in front of excellentbowling by KhurramAgency bowlers.

For Khurram AgencyAshraf claimed three wick-ets for just 13 runs, Shoukatand Kamal got two wicketseach while Abid got onewicket.

In reply KhurramAgency chased the targetfor the loss of four wicketsafter playing just 12.5 overswith Kamran struck an el-egant knock of 33 runs andAbdul Aziz made anotherquick-fire 30 runs while Abidmade 16 runs. For NorthWaziristan Agency SabirGul, Nawaz and Rasool Jangot one wicket each.

In the second matchplayed at Arbab Niaz Cricket

Stadium Bajaur Agency de-feated Orakzai Agency bysix wickets. Orakzai Agencybatting first scored 158 runsas Inam made 30 runs, Ayubscored another 26 runs andZaman struck 17 runs. ForBajaur Agency Irfan andBurhan claimed three wick-ets each and Ali Rehmangot two wickets.

In reply, Bajaur Agencychased the target for the lossof four wickets with Irfanmade a cracking knock of 44runs, Walayat Khan madenot out 48 runs and Burhanscored 31 runs. Thus Bajaurchased the target in 17.4overs and won the match bysix wickets. MuhammadZaman, Sabir and Shamasgot one wicket each.—APP

LAHORE: Kids take part in the 1st “Quick Start Mini Tennis Championship” for theunderage 10 years as part of the Alam al Khayal National Tennis Championship (Jun-ior Division) at Punjab Tennis Academy.

PERTH: Japanese swimmer Daiya Seto celebrates afterbeating Lochte, the world record holder in the 200mindividual medley.

Amir will bemonitored “on

and off thefield”: PCB

K A R A C H I — P a k i s t a n ’scricket chief Saturday de-nied that Mohammad Amiris being fast-tracked backinto international cricket af-ter a five-year ban, sayinghe will be monitored “on andoff the field” before his re-entry.

The 22-year-old was onThursday cleared to play inthe domestic cricket by thesport’s top governing body,bringing him a step closerto redemption for his part inone of the most scandalousepisodes in modern cricket.

Amir was one of threePakistani players bannedfrom the game for at least fiveyears for arranging no-ballsto order in a Test against En-gland at Lord’s in 2010.

He was also jailed in Brit-ain in 2011, along withformer capital Salman Buttand Mohammad Asif.

Amir’s ban was due toexpire on September 2, butthe International CricketCouncil used discretionarypowers to allow him to re-turn to domestic cricketearly.

Pakistan Cricket Boardchairman Shaharyar Khandenied that Amir was goingto be rushed back into in-ternational cricket, sayingthat he will have to “earn hisplace in the Pakistan team”.

“Some people believethat we have fast-tracked hisreturn,” he told AFP.

“In the period before hisban expires — and even af-ter that — Amir will be con-stantly monitored on and offthe field... He has to satisfythe PCB and the ACSU (theICC’s Anti-Corruption andSecurity Unit) before get-ting into internationalcricket.”

Khan said Amir was be-ing shown some leniencybecause he had shown moreremorse for his part in thescandal than Butt andAsif.—AFP

SYDNEY: Australia’s players celebrate after winning their Asian Cup final soccermatch against South Korea at the Stadium Australia on Saturday.

SYDNEY—Substitute JamesTroisi smashed home a dra-matic extra-time winner asAustralia beat South Korea2-1 to win their first AsianCup title in an electrifyingfinal on Saturday.

Troisi broke Koreanhearts with the very last kickin the first extra period afterSon Heung-Min hadsnatched a magical injury-time equaliser at the end ofnormal time.

Australia´s triumphgave them a first title sincedefecting from Oceania nineyears ago, while SouthKorea´s anguish continuedafter they failed to break ahoodoo in the tournament

Australia down South Korea,win Asian Football Cup

stretching back to 1960.“It was a super effort

from everyone,” said Aus-tralia coach AngePostecoglou. “It was a final,it never goes to script. It wastough, you´ve got to grindit out and the courage theplayers showed tonight wasenormous.”

“I knew we´d finishstronger,” he added, beforeshaking the hands of thedevastated Korean play-ers.

“We pride ourselves onbeing very fit and it was justa matter of taking ourchance. I´m super-proud ofthem. Hopefully from nowon, us Aussies can take on

the world because I have areal belief in these guys.”

Australia´s historical tri-umph vindicatedPostecoglou´s decision tooverhaul the team after its“golden generation” passedtheir prime.

It could also furtherantagonise countries said tobe behind a movement tooust Australia from theAsian confederation aftershock revelations in thebuild-up to the final.

The Socceroos, run-ners-up to Japan in 2011,had been on the brink of vic-tory thanks to a ferociousstrike from MassimoLuongo on the stroke of

half-time, which triggeredwild celebrations from thewaves of fans in green andgold in a crowd of 76,000.

But South Korea´s su-perstar Son produced a mo-ment of sheer brilliance ininjury time, burstingthrough to fire past goal-keeper Mathew Ryan aftera clever flick from captain KiSung-Yueng.

Australia, the AsianCup´s top scorers with 14goals, were forced to digdeep in a reversal of thegroup meeting between thetwo sides earlier in the tour-nament, which was domi-nated by Australia but won1-0 by the Koreans.—AFP

Punjab policeinter range

weightliftingchampionship

SPORTS REPORTER

RAWALPINDI—Punjab Po-lice Inter RangeWeightlifting& Power Lift-ing Championship will beheld on 6th to 7th February2015 at Rawalpindi policeline.

According to organizingsecretary Riasat Ali Sahisports officer teams ofLahore range, Gujranwala,PC Farooqabad, Faisalabad,Sailkot, Chung centre,Rawalpindi range will par-ticipate.

SP Headquarter MeerAbdullah Khan Niazi willinaugrate championshipwhile Akhtar Umer HayatLallika RPO will distributeprizes to weight lifters.

Where as DR SardarGhayas Gull SP Sadar willperform opening ceremonyof powerlifting champion-ship and chief guest CCPOHamayun Bashir Tarrar willdistribute prizes at closingceremony. Event will be or-ganized by Tahir SikanderDSP HQ.

Lahore range policeweight lifting andpowerlifting team will departto Rawalpindi on February5. International Weight lifterand powerlifter Aqeel JavedButt will lead the squad.

Wolfsburg endBayern’s

unbeaten run torevive title raceBE R L I N—Second-placedVfL Wolfsburg breathednew life into the Bundesligatitle race with a 4-1 win overleaders Bayern Munich,who lost their unbeatenrecord in a dramatic restartto the league after the win-ter break on Friday.

Bas Dost scored twice inthe first half and Kevin deBruyne added two moregoals after the break asBayern, who had concededonly four times in the firsthalf of the season, saw theirgoals against tally double ina single game.—APP

Bipin DaniOBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI—Aditya Verma has found anew supporter in Naresh Makani to fighthis legal battle against N. Srinivasan.

A Mumbai and Jamshedpur basedRTI Activist and Tax Consultant NareshMakani has alleged that the Indian cricketboard officials and suspended presidentN. Srinivasan have been misleading thepublic and media and that efforts are be-ing made by India Cements Limited to sellChennai Super Kings (CSK) team to re-move the disqualification suffered by Mr.N. Srinivasan to enable the post of Presi-dent, BCCI.

In its letter (the copy of which is inour possession) to the East Zone andother board members and a copy sent tothe Court, he says, “By even suggestingthat N.Srinivasan will contest for the postof President, BCCI after selling ChennaiSuper Kings tantamount to making amockery of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’sjudgment”.

“In the course of enquiry by the (new)Committee (to be headed by Mr. Lodha)it may become necessary to enquire into

Naresh Makani shots letterto debar N Srinivasan

the conduct of Mr.N.Srinivasan vis-vishis son-in-law Mr. Gurunath Meiyappanand his close confidante Mr. SundarRaman. Mr.N.Srinivasan may be foundguilty of mis-conduct within the meaningof IPL Regulations, Anti Corruption Codeof BCCI. That is why the Hon’ble SupremeCourt has in para 110 (V) that the con-sciously held disqualification of a personhaving commercial interest in the eventsof BCCI will continue till such time theperson concerned holds such commer-cial interest or till such time the personconcerned holds such commercial inter-est or till the committee considers andawards suitable punishment to those li-able for the same whichever is later. Theexpression “award suitable punishmentto those liable for the same” includes Mr.N.Srinivasan if it becomes necessary”.

Interestingly, Makani also filed a crimi-nal case (No. 0800078/SW OF 2013)against the Indian cricket board and itsoffice bearers before the Additional Met-ropolitan Magistrate in the 8th Court,Esplanade in Mumbai. His complaint un-der sections 420, 120-B 109 NW, and the34 of the Indian Penal Code is likely tocome up for hearing soon.

New Zealand comfortablybeat Pakistan in first ODI

W E L L I N G T O N — N e wZealand cruised to a seven-wicket win over an under-done Pakistan in the first oftheir two one-dayinternationals in Wellingtonon Saturday.

After removing Pakistanfor 210 in the 46th over, NewZealand reached their targetin the 40th over with GrantElliott now out 64 and RossTaylor unbeaten on 59.NewZealand captain BrendonMcCullum credited hisside’s tight fielding with set-ting the platform for victory.

“It was probably thebest we’ve seen all summerand that creates so muchintensity and allows theseamers to be able to reallyget into the game,” he said.

“Obviously the runchase was very wellplanned by Grant and Ross.

“The comfortable vic-tory for New Zealand under-scored Pakistan’s lack ofpreparation two weeks awayfrom the start of the WorldCup.

Pakistan inningsHafeez b Mills ................ 0Shehzad c Ronchib Boult .......................... 15Younis lbw b Mills ........ 9Misbah c Latham b Elliott ...... 58Haris c Guptill bAnderson ..................... 23Umar b Elliott ............... 13Sarfraz c Latham b Ander-s o n .................................. 5Afridi c Guptill b Milne ......... 67Bhatti c Guptill b Boult . 0Ehsan c McCullum b Elliott ..... 6Irfan not out ................... 1Extras: .......................... 13Total: ........................... 210Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-29,3-32, 4-81, 5-113, 6-127, 7-198, 8-203, 9-203, 10-210Bowling: ......... O-M-R-WMills .................. 10-2-29-2

Boult ................... 9-0-25-2Milne ................. 10-0-43-1McCullum .............. 6-0-37-0Anderson .............. 6-0-47-2Elliott ................ 4.3-0-26-3\New Zealand inningsGuptill c Bhatti b Irfan ... 39McCullum c Shehzad bBhatti ............................... 17Latham c Sarfraz b Afridi ........... 23Taylor not out ................. 59Elliott not out .................. 64Extras: ............................. 11Total: .............................. 213Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-75,3-101Bowling: .......... O-M-R-WIrfan ..................... 10-2-60-1Bhatti ..................... 8-0-51-1Ehsan .................. 7.3-0-44-0Afridi .................... 10-0-39-1Haris ....................... 4-0-16-0

It was their first ODIsince they were beaten 3-2in a home series againstNew Zealand before Christ-mas, and the lack of matchplay was evident from themoment they lost the tossand were put in to bat.

The batsmen lacked tim-ing and later the bowlersstruggled with directionagainst a New Zealand sidewhich had just completed a4-2 series win over SriLanka.

Pakistan skipperMisbah-ul-Haq believedthey were about 70 runsshort of a competitive total.

“In the first 10 overs wewere nowhere, we had nomomentum,” he said.

“They bowled reallywell and we just kept on los-ing wickets. I think 280-290could have been a competi-tive total on this pitch.”

New Zealand launchedinto their chase at more thansix an over with McCullum,returning to the line-up af-ter sitting out the last game

against Sri Lanka, blastinga rapid 17 before he wasgone in the fourth over.

Tom Latham fell for 23and Martin Guptill, whostruggled against the Sri

Lankans, found the lesspressured Pakistani bowl-ing more to his liking as heposted 39.

He was gone just afterNew Zealand passed the100 mark in the 18th over, 11overs quicker than it tookPakistan to reach threefigures.Elliott and Taylorthen led New Zealand home,adding 112 in an unbeatenfourth wicket stand.

Pakistan’s innings onlynudged over the 200 markthanks to a 71-run partner-ship in 38 balls by Misbahand all-rounder ShahidAfridi.

Kyle Mills bowledMohammad Hafeez with thefifth ball of the match whichstarted a slide that saw Pa-kistan at 127-6 in the 36thover before Misbah (58) and

Afridi (67) provided a littlebackbone.But when Misbahwent it started another slidewith the last four wicketsfalling for 12 runs.

The New Zealand

bowlers were not menacingon the two-paced wicket al-though Mills found plentyof movement and was alsorewarded with the wicket ofYounis Khan for nine.

Trent Boult had AhmedShehzad caught behind for15 and Haris Sohail (23),Umar Akmal (13) and SarfrazAhmed (five) quickly fol-lowed before Afridi tookhold of the attack.He offeredone chance on 14, when hewas dropped by McCullum,as he flayed away for his 67in 29 deliveries.

Elliott, who took thewicket of Misbah andmopped up the tail, was themost successful NewZealand bowler with threefor 26 while Mills, TrentBoult and Corey Andersontook two apiece.—AFP

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s Kyle Mills celebratesbowling out Mohammad Hafeez during the first ODI atWestpac Stadium on Saturday.

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams of the US with the trophy as she celebrates after victory in her women’s singles finalmatch against Russia’s Maria Sharapova in the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament.

Williams overpowers Sharapovato win 19th grand slam

SYDNEY—Australian captain Michael Clarkeon Saturday rejected speculation about a riftwith teammates as he battles for fitness aheadof the World Cup.

Speaking as he returned to the field for agrade cricket match, Clarke said the six-and-a-half weeks he had spent recuperating fromhamstring surgery had not driven a wedgebetween him and the squad.

“It certainly hasn’t been for me, itseems like it might have been for a fewother people and I’m not talking about myteammates or the Cricket Australia staff,”said Clarke.

Clarke was forced to bow out after thefirst Test against India in December with theserious hamstring injury, with Steve Smithfilling in as captain for the three remainingTests.

Reports have suggested that the teamhave taken to Smith’s style, while specula-tion that Clarke wants to have a strong sayin when he is ready to return to the team hascaused friction with Cricket Australia.

Clarke denies rift withAustralian teammates

“I’m not going to get into it,” Clarke toldreporters.

“It seemslike somepeople inparticular aregoing towrite whatthey want towrite. I’m re-ally happyand comfort-able with myrelationshipwith CricketA u s t r a l i afirstly, cer-tainly withmy team-mates.”

“It’s wa-ter off a duck’s back for me, I’ve copped itmy whole career. It’s another day, anothernewspaper sold.—AFP

FORMER Pakistan captainand fast bowling greatWasim Akram said Austra-lia, with the likes of MitchellStarc and Mitchell Johnsonin their ranks, have what ittakes to win a fifth worldtitle.

Akram, who guided Pa-kistan to glory at the 1992World Cup final inMelbourne with a dreamperformance, said Starc, inparticular, could have a ca-reer-defining tournament atthe upcoming fixture.

“He’s got the ability, nodoubt about it. He has theability to make a difference,”the Sydney Morning Her-ald quoted Akram as say-ing..

“He’s got the pace, he’sgot the swing and he’sbowling very intelligentlyto the new batsmen, espe-cially with the new ball.”

Akram is so impressedwith the 25-year-old Starcthat he would pick the ris-ing star ahead of Johnsonif it came to balancing thesquad.

“Mitchell Johnson is

Wasim Akram tips Starcto shine at World Cup

one of the top bowlers inthe world but having twoof them in the same team isa plus. They’re both left-handers, very quick and

big lads, and they’re differ-ent,” Akram said.

“On these wicketsthey’ll be impossible to playwith their pace. If I had topick one of them for one-dayers with the new ball I’ddefinitely pick Mitchell

Starc.“I’m seeing it from the

captain’s point of view.He’s got the swing with thenew ball and he’s got a bril-liant yorker but having twoof them is unbelievable.”

Starc has proved a hitin ODIs picking up 61 wick-ets at 20.62 after 32, sur-passing the great Brett Leewho had 56 scalps at 24.3in the same number ofgames.

Australia are peaking atthe right time for a crack attheir fifth World Cup tri-umph and will go into nextmonth’s tournament athome on top of therankings.

Australia’s biggestchallenge will be how theteam handles the externalpressures as the host na-tion that will decide its win-ning chances. And ofcourse, injury to regularcaptain Michael Clarke.TheAustralians didn’t cope in1992 when they last hostedthe sport’s showpiece andthey missed out on the semi-finals.—Agencies

Starc has proved a hit inODIs picking up 61 wicketsat 20.62 after 32 matches.

MELBOURNE—Top seedSerena Williams fought offa barking cough to clinchher 19th grand slam singlestitle with a 6-3 7-6(5) victoryover Maria Sharapova in theAustralian Open final onSaturday.

Williams’s sixth title atMelbourne Park moved herinto a tie with fellow Ameri-can Helen Wills Moody inthird on the all-time list aftershe joined MartinaNavratilova and Chris Everton 18 at last year’s U.S.Open.

Only Australia’s Marga-ret Court (24) andGermany’s Steffi Graf (22),who holds the record for theOpen era, have more grandslam singles titles than the33-year-old American.

“Growing up, I wasn’tthe richest, but I had a richfamily in spirit and sup-port,” Williams said at thetrophy presentation.“Standing here with 19championships is some-thing I never thought wouldhappen.

“I went on the courtswith a ball and racquet andhope and that’s all I had.

“I’m so honoured to behere tonight and to hold this19th trophy.”

Williams had not lost toSharapova since the 2004WTA Finals, a run of 15 suc-cessive victories and wasnot about to let the Russianend that streak on Saturday.

The tone of the matchwas set in the first gamewhen Williams broke theRussian’s serve.

Even though rain forcedthem off court for 12 minutesas officials closed the roofin the sixth game, the Ameri-can was not bothered bythe disruption as she reeledoff the next six points to es-tablish a 5-2 lead after theyreturned.

Williams sealed the firstset when she brokeSharapova for the third timeand then continued her mo-mentum in the second witha powerful service gamewhile she put pressure onthe Russian’s serve.

Sharapova battled tostay in the match and didhave chances to break, butWilliams simply reachedback and smashed down asuccession of massive

serves to get out of trouble.She sealed victory in the

tiebreak on her third matchpoint when she powereddown her 18th ace and thencelebrated at the net aftershaking hands with theRussian.

“I’ve got to congratu-late Serena on creating his-tory and on playing some ofher best tennis,” Sharapovasaid.

“I haven’t beaten her ina really long time, but I loveevery time that I step on thecourt to play against herbecause she’s been the bestand, as a tennis player, youwant to play against thebest.

“So congratulations onan incredible achieve-ment.”—AFP

ICC reprimandsKulasekara for

aggressivebehaviour

W E L L I N G T O N — S r iLankan Nuwan Kulasekarahas been reprimanded bycricket’s governing bodyfor “unacceptable” aggres-sive behaviour during theOne-day Internationalagainst New Zealand inWellington.

The fast bowler wascharged with behaviourthat is either “contrary tothe spirit of the game orbrings the game into disre-pute,” the InternationalCricket Council said in itsruling delivered on Friday.

After dismissing NewZealand batsman LukeRonchi in Thursdaynight’s match, Kulasekara“aggressively changed di-rection towards the dis-missed batsman, whichwas considered unaccept-able by the match officials,”the ICC ruling said.

“Kulasekara acceptedthe offence and the pro-posed sanction of an offi-cial reprimand. “Sri Lankawon the match by 34 runswith Kulasekara’s confron-tation of Ronchi the onlysour note in the series wonby New Zealand 4-2.

The ICC has vowed tocrackdown on what it seesas “disrespectful beha-viour” ahead of the WorldCup.—AFP

UAE beat Iraq to finishthird at Asian Cup

NEWCASTLE—The United Arab Emirates overcame a 10-man Iraq 3-2 in an action-packed Asian Cup third-placedplayoff to complete an impressive tournament for MahdiAli’s side.

Ahmed Khalil netted twice before Ali Mabkhout con-verted a second-half penalty for his fifth of the tournamentto take him top of the scorers’ charts with only Saturday’sfinal between hosts Australia and South Korea to come inSydney. UAE playmaker Omar Abdulrahman was again atthe heart of his side’s good play, with two brilliant assists

for Khalil, who stepped in asskipper with goalkeeperMajed Naser rested after the2-0 semi-final loss to Austra-lia.

The opener came in the16th minute whenAbdulrahman controlled along ball from deep and playeda one-two with Mabkhout be-fore sliding an inviting pass forKhalil to slot home under theonrushing MohammedHameed in the Iraq goal.

The neat counter-attackgoal had a negative effect onthe UAE, who knocked outholders Japan in the last eight,with Iraq taking a grip of thegame and the lead just beforethe halftime break.

Careless defending in the28th minute allowed fullbackWaleed Salim to break into theUAE penalty area and his rightfoot shot deflected home offKhamis Esmaeel. The 2007champions, beaten 2-0 by the

Koreans in the semis, had already hit the post via talismanicstriker Younis Mahmoud and they deservedly took the leadthree minutes before the break. A powerful drive by AhmedYaseen Gheni was parried by debutant.—APP

UAE striker Ali Mabkhouttook his tally for the AsianCup to five with a nervelesssecond-half penalty againstIraq.

Man United’sCarrick ruled

out for a monthL O N D O N — M a n c h e s t e rUnited midfielder MichaelCarrick will be out for fourweeks with a rupturedmuscle, manager Louis vanGaal said on Saturday.

The 33-year-old En-glishman will miss the visitof Leicester City in the Pre-mier League on Saturdayand could be absent for an-other six games during Feb-ruary. Carrick has been a keymember in the United sidesince his return from injuryin November, which coin-cided with six consecutivewins after an indifferent startto the season.—APP

TWO new studies conclude that lowprotein intake may hold the key toa long and healthy life, at least until

old age. They also emphasize the needto examine not only calories when decid-ing what constitutes a healthy diet, butalso where those calo-ries come from - such aswhether protein is ani-mal or plant-based.

Another key findingis the suggestion thatwhile a high-protein dietmay in the short termhelp people lose weightand body fat, in the longterm it may harm healthand reduce lifespan.Both studies are pub-lished in the journal CellMetabolism.

The first study wasled by Valter Longo, aprofessor at the Univer-sity of Southern Califor-nia, who counts longev-ity and cell biologyamong his areas of expertise. He and hiscolleagues showed that high protein con-sumption is linked to increased risk ofcancer, diabetes and death in middle-aged adults, although this was not thecase for older adults who may benefitfrom moderate protein consumption.Also, the effect is much reduced whenthe protein comes from plant sources.

The second study was led by StephenSimpson, a professor at the Universityof Sydney in Australia, whose groupworks at the interface of physiology, ecol-ogy, and behavior. From studying mice,he and his fellow authors concluded that

diets low in protein and high in carbo-hydrates are linked to the longestlifespans.

Both studies suggest it is not justcalories, but also diet composition - par-ticularly in terms of amount and type of

protein - that may determinethe length and health of alifespan. “We studiedsimple organisms, mice andhumans, and provide con-vincing evidence that ahigh- protein diet - particu-larly if the proteins are de-rived from animals - is nearlyas bad as smoking for yourhealth.”

n their study, Prof.Longo and colleagues ana-lyzed data on over 6,800American adults who tookpart in the National Healthand Nutrition ExaminationSurvey (NHANES) III, a USnational survey that as-sesses health and diet.

The researchersfound that consuming a high-proteindiet in middle age significantly increasesthe likelihood of dying from cancer ordiabetes. Participants aged 50 and overwho said they ate a high-protein dietwere four times more likely to die fromcancer or diabetes, and twice as likelyto die from any cause, in the following18 years.

Those who consumed moderateamounts of protein had a three-fold higherchance of dying of cancer. These effectseither reduced or disappeared altogetheramong participants whose high-proteindiet was mainly plant-based.

Too much protein in middleage ‘as bad as smoking’

CITY REPORTER

KA R A C H I—The PearlContinental Karachi incollaboration with the Em-bassy of Japan and Japa-nese Consulate Karachi,organized an impressivedemonstration of Bonsekiby Madame MidoriInomata, wife of the Am-bassador of Japan in Pa-kistan.

Mr. Rehan FaizPirzada, the Hotel Man-ager in his speech saidthat “it is a matter of greatpride that we at the PearlContinental Karachi enjoya very special relationshipwith our friends in theJapanese consulateKarachi and the Japanesecommunity in the city,

Japanese Consulate organises demonstration of Bonsekievent.

We look forward to or-ganizing more eventswith the Japanese commu-nity in Karachi”.

His ExcellencyHiroshi Inomata, the Am-bassador of Japan in Pa-kistan, in his speechthanked the Managementof the Pearl ContinentalKarachi and the HashooGroup hotels for their im-mense hospitality.

He said that Japan isa land of unique mixtureof traditional and modernculture and the beautifulnatural landscape, withfour distinct seasonswhich has strong influ-ence on the cultural diver-sity and the unique spiri-tuality of Japan.

and it was last year when we celebrated“Dekho Japan” which reflected the true

colours of the land of the rising sun, Imust say that it was a very successful

Workers of Shia Ulema Council stage a protest demonstration against Shikarpur incident, outside Karachi Press Club.

IRFAN ALIGI

KARACHI—Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) Senator Saeed Ghani whilerejecting increase in General Salestax (GST) on Petroleum, Oil and Lu-bricants (POL) Products termed itwas anti-masses decision of thePMLN federal government, whichhe would mess the national unityagainst the terrorism.

Such steps on the part of thegovernment would leave themasses and the political parties withno other option except to protestagainst the government. The over-all scenario would equally affect thepeople with mounting pressure ofpoverty and sky-rocketing prices ofcommon man’s commodities.

He said making tall claims forproviding relief to the masses bylowering POL prices from one hand;

the federal government was takingthe relief back from the masses fromthe other hand.

This poor manifest of gover-nance at the federal level would failall collective efforts with grossunity at the national level to fightaway the menace of crime, extrem-ism and terrorism because theunaffordable prices of generalgoods were the root causes of es-calation in waves of crime.

Senator Ghani said the nationhad not yet fully recovered from thesevere lashes of petrol crisis in re-cent days, which was cooked by theinfluential in PML federal govern-ment and the people spent heftysums of money say Rs250 to buyone litre of petrol. In fact, the gov-ernment had razed the nations thusand imposed heightened GST onPOL products, which would be tan-

tamount to rendering the masseshand-to-mouth.

Technically speaking, the Sena-tor argued that the GST would au-tomatically be escalated with theincrease in prices of any consumerproduct especially the POL prod-ucts but the PMLN governmentnever caped the GST when the POLprices went skyrocketing high.

He advised the PMLN govern-ment to behave with the masseswith serenity and stop anti-massespolicies.

The government should notbag the PPP’s support for the demo-cratic system as support to thePMLN government because PPPonly supported the democracy andwould oppose the government forits anti-masses decisions.

The PPP Senator Ghani, whohad been very vocal on matters that

pertained to the interest of the com-mon man severely lambasted thePML government for taking theGST from 17 percent to 22 and now27 percent in just a month and saidthe government was inflictingatrocities on the masses.

PMLN government had laid inits party manifesto that it would gofor levying direct taxes and the in-direct taxes would not be levied butthe PMLN government had itselfcontradicted its manifesto and hadchosen the imposition of indirecttaxes.

He said the policies of thePMLN government looked as fo-cused on compensating the failureof finance and petroleum portfoliosin maintaining the targeted revenueowing to lowered oil prices in theinternational market from commonman’s pocket.

GST hike on POL unacceptable; anti-massespolicies condemnable: Senator Ghani

KARACHI—Sindh Health Minister, JamMehtab Hussain Dahar has said that pro-vincial health department showed rapidand swift response after Shikarpur blastand ambulances of the department reachedon the incident spot within 15 minutes.

In a statement issued here on Satur-day, Jam Mehtab said that emergency wasdeclared in all government and private hos-pitals of Shikarpur and Larkana and well-equipped ambulances from Larkana andSukkur also reached on the spot.

He claimed that all medical staff wascalled on the duty and were asked to do-nate blood themselves to save the lives ofthe injured before civil society comes for-ward and they did so.

Jam Mehtab assured that there was

sufficient stock of medicines and blood ingovernment hospitals and all private hos-pitals were also taken on board.

“To save the lives of seriously injuredof bomb blast, 14 injured were flew toKarachi’s best hospitals including AgaKhan Hopsital and others through C-130,”he added.

He said that on the directives of ChiefMinister Sindh all expenses of treatmentof those who are injured in Shikarpur bombblast incident would be borne by SindhGovernment.

“Presently 11 injured of Shikarpurbomb blast are in Sukkur, four in CMHPanu Aqil, two in Shikarpur and four arein Larkana being treated and mostly are instable condition,” he concluded.—INP

Sindh govt to bear expensesof treatment of Shikarpur

bomb blast injured

STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI—Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Karachi Divi-sion Deputy Information Secretary Manzoor Abbas whilesowing serious concern on imposition of heavy penaltyon students regarding submission of examination formsfor class IX and X, demanded Sindh Senior Minister forEducation Nisar Ahmed Khohru to take notice of the mat-ter.

He also asked the Board of Secondary EducationKarachi (BSEK) Chairman to take measures for facilitat-ing the low-income students of Karachi city and allowthem to submit their examination forms, which they couldnot owing to strike in the city on last date of submissionof forms.

He said the PPP had received many complaints fromthe parents of the students as they had expressed theirprofound anguish for spending extra money to get their

Education Minister urged to take notice

Receiving late fee from students a seriousmatter: Manzoor Abbas

forms accepted.Abbas said it was not fault of the stu-dents but the strike on that particular day had confinedthem to stay home and were thus deprived of their rightto reach the board for submitting their examination forms.

It was expected that the BSEK would announce nextdate for submission of examination forms but the Boardimposed extra penalty on low-income students. It wastantamount to punishing the students for a crime theynever committed.

The PPP Deputy Information Secretary ManzoorAbbas said that according to details collected from thestudents, the BSEK had added Rs300 for the students ofclass IX and thus they were charged with double latefees amounting to Rs. 1800 to submit their examinationforms.

He demanded the Sindh Senior Minister Nisar AhmedKhohru to take notice of the matter and direct the BSEKadministration to refund the extra late fee to the students.

Sindh Assembly Session was postponed until Monday due to lack of quorum.

KARACHI—The divisional and district ad-ministration Karachi has challaned 45 shop-keepers and recovered Rs.86,500 as fine forviolating officially approved price list.

According to a press release issued hereon Saturday, during crackdown, the admin-istration fined 18 milk sellers, one fruitsseller, five vegetable sellers and seven

KARACHI—The police arrested four for-eigners during a crackdown here on Satur-day. Three injured in hand grenade attack.

Police on a tip-off conducted raid on ahouse located in Gulistan-e-Johar area of

45 shopkeepersfined for overcharging

chicken sellers. The action against profiteerswere taken in the areas includingLiaquatabad, Gulberg, Nazimabad, NorthNazimabad, New Karachi, Murad MemonGoth, Model Colony, Shah Faisal, Saddar,Aram Bagh, Civil Line, Garden, JamshedQuarters, Gulzar Hijri, Orangi Town, BaldiaTown, Landhi, Malir and other areas.—APP

Four foreigners arrested in KarachiKarachi.During operation four foreigners il-legally staying in Pakistan without requireddocuments were nabbed. The detaineeswere shifted to undisclosed location for fur-ther interrogation.—INP

TWO new studies conclude that lowprotein intake may hold the key toa long and healthy life, at least until

old age. They also emphasize the needto examine not only calories when decid-ing what constitutes a healthy diet, butalso where those calo-ries come from - such aswhether protein is ani-mal or plant-based.

Another key findingis the suggestion thatwhile a high-protein dietmay in the short termhelp people lose weightand body fat, in the longterm it may harm healthand reduce lifespan.Both studies are pub-lished in the journal CellMetabolism.

The first study wasled by Valter Longo, aprofessor at the Univer-sity of Southern Califor-nia, who counts longev-ity and cell biologyamong his areas of expertise. He and hiscolleagues showed that high protein con-sumption is linked to increased risk ofcancer, diabetes and death in middle-aged adults, although this was not thecase for older adults who may benefitfrom moderate protein consumption.Also, the effect is much reduced whenthe protein comes from plant sources.

The second study was led by StephenSimpson, a professor at the Universityof Sydney in Australia, whose groupworks at the interface of physiology, ecol-ogy, and behavior. From studying mice,he and his fellow authors concluded that

diets low in protein and high in carbo-hydrates are linked to the longestlifespans.

Both studies suggest it is not justcalories, but also diet composition - par-ticularly in terms of amount and type of

protein - that may determinethe length and health of alifespan. “We studiedsimple organisms, mice andhumans, and provide con-vincing evidence that ahigh- protein diet - particu-larly if the proteins are de-rived from animals - is nearlyas bad as smoking for yourhealth.”

n their study, Prof.Longo and colleagues ana-lyzed data on over 6,800American adults who tookpart in the National Healthand Nutrition ExaminationSurvey (NHANES) III, a USnational survey that as-sesses health and diet.

The researchersfound that consuming a high-proteindiet in middle age significantly increasesthe likelihood of dying from cancer ordiabetes. Participants aged 50 and overwho said they ate a high-protein dietwere four times more likely to die fromcancer or diabetes, and twice as likelyto die from any cause, in the following18 years.

Those who consumed moderateamounts of protein had a three-fold higherchance of dying of cancer. These effectseither reduced or disappeared altogetheramong participants whose high-proteindiet was mainly plant-based.

Too much protein in middleage ‘as bad as smoking’

Police personnel are stopping motorcyclists from entering into Anarkali Bazaar.

People shouting slogans near the coffin of Syed Qamar Abbas Kazmi who was martyred in the Shikarpur incident, outside Lahore Press Club.

President Lahore Tax Bar Association Ayesha Qazi addressing seminar on structuralreforms of FBR.

LAHORE—FIA recovered a hugequantity of spurious life savingdrugs and arrested four accused.

Director FIA Punjab Dr UsmanAnwar disclosed this while address-ing a press conference held here athis office on Saturday.

He said FIA got an informationthat a man, Arshad, involved in print-ing of labels etc for spurious drugsat Aibak Road near Anarkali here.

Huge quantity of spurious lifesaving drugs recovered

To which, a team conducted a raidand recovered a large quantity ofprinting material pertaining to spuri-ous drugs but the accused was notthere at that time.

However, neighbours told theraiding party that Muhammad JameelAnjum was getting printed this ma-terial from Muhammad Arshad whileJameel Anjum has been arrested fromDina, Jhelum.

Dr Usman Anwar said during in-vestigation the accused, JameelAnjum, disclosed that Sajjad wasmanufacturing spurious drugs atGohar Center Wahdat Road, Lahore.

He said the team conducted a raidat Gohar Center, recovered spuriousdrugs besides arresting Sajjad,Asghar and Naeem. He said the teamwas conducting raids to arrestArshad.—APP

LAHORE—Evacuee Trust Property Board(ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq on Sat-urday visited the 15 kanal land of the boardnear the Minar-e-Pakistan to review possi-bilities of a modern hospital.

According to the ETPB sources, thechairman directed the administration ofproposed Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Hospitalto bring proposals of the project on Febru-ary 9 at the ETPB Head Office and alsobriefe to reach any conclusion.

Moreover, Siddiqul Farooq also visitedvacant plots of the board at five places to

reviewe possibility of this joint adventure.The Property Deputy Secretary, Land

Deputy Secretary and other officers werealso with him.

On this occasion, the ETPB chairmansaid video of all these plots should be madeso that investors and interested personscould be invited to show these plots andlater all things could be done as per law.

He said an advertisement in this regardwould be published in newspapers and allprocedure would be completed transpar-ently.—APP

ETPB chairman visits land ofboard for building hospital

LAHORE—Employees of Sui Northern GasPipelines Limited (SNGPL) will organize aMehfil e Milad, here at the Guru MangatOffice on Monday.

Renowned religious scholars and NaatKhawan will participate in Mehfil e Milad

Mehfil-e-Milad atSNGPL on Monday

to celebrate the birth of Holy ProphetHazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

Religious scholars Haji Tariq Wali, PeerSyed Husnain Mehboob and MuhammadShafiq Naqashbandi will address the gath-ering.—APP

LAHORE—The price control magistrates of the districtadministration ticketed 101 shopkeepers besides impos-ing fine worth Rs 1,36,600 on violators of Price Act duringa drive against hoarding and profiteering in the city. Spe-cial monitoring teams Friday conducted raids at 806 shopsin various areas of the provincial capital and inspected

Drive against overcharging continues

prices of commodities at local level. As many as 12 per-sons were got arrested after lodging cases in differentpolice stations.

DCO Capt (R) Muhammad Usman issued directions tothe price control officials to continue crackdown againstthe hoarders and profiteers.—APP

City Reporter

LAHORE—The scope of differentfree education programs of PunjabEducation Foundation was beingextended further to accommodatemore deserving children in the foldof PEF as well as to achieve the tar-gets of school enrollment drive ofthe Punjab Government.

This was stated by ChairmanPunjab Education Foundation En-

gineer Qamar-ul-Islam Raja in astatement issued here. The PEFChairman said that Punjab SchoolReforms Programs is yielding posi-tive results for the betterment of theeducation sector, adding that tar-gets have been set to enroll everychild in Punjab by the year 2018.

He further said that Punjab Gov-ernment is fully committed to thecause of education as it helps pro-mote a tolerant and forward-look-

ing society.Qamar ul Islam appreciated the

fact that 18 points new roadmapprogram is being implemented todevelop an educated society andmaintained that this would be thebiggest service to the nation. Hemaintained that besides promotionof free education for the needy,Punjab Education Foundation hasalso strengthened the privateschools through its teachers train-

ing programs. These programs areaimed at improving the professionalskills of the teachers so that the stu-dents of low-cost schools couldenjoy quality education.

As a result of concerted effortsput forth by the foundation, thechildren of disadvantageous com-munities are now enjoying free qual-ity education and this wouldchange their destiny, concluded thePEF Chairman.

Free education programsto be further expanded

llicit weaponsrecovered duringsearch operation

LAHORE—Sadar DivisionPolice has recovered weaponsin a big quantity during asearch operation. The recov-ered weapons include twokalashancoves, three rifles, 37pistols, six pump action, onerevolver and 1073 bullets. Onthe direction of CCPO LahoreCapt (r) Ameen Wains, thesearch operation was con-ducted by Sadar Division Po-lice under supervision of SPSadar Zahid Nawaz. Mean-while, DIG operations DrHaider Ashraf said that waragainst terrorism can not bewin without implementingNational Action Plan. .—APP

LAHORE—Renowned Tv, theatre art-ists and comedian, Kashif Princepasses away here on Saturday andwas laid to rest at ancestral graveyard.

Kashif Prince was under treatmentat Mayo Hospital Lahore after he suf-

fered critical wounds in wall collapseincident during a wedding ceremonysome two weeks ago and he breathedhis last on Saturday afternoon.

A large number of people includ-ing family, relatives and Tv artists at-tended the funeral prayers of the de-

ceased offered at Badami Bagh Lahoreafter he was laid to rest at native grave-yard. The Tv and theatre artists haveexpressed profound grief over thedeath of grief and said that his artisticservices would be remembered forlong.—INP

Comedian, TV, theatre artistKashif Prince passes away